March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
31
News Every Day |

Time is running out for Biden's Justice Department to prosecute Trump for 10 possible crimes detailed in the Mueller report

Trump
Former President Donald Trump spoke at a "Save America" rally in Arizona on January 15, 2022.
  • The five-year deadline is closing in to charge Donald Trump with crimes detailed by Robert Mueller.
  • Trump benefited in office from a DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
  • House Democrats are pushing to prevent future presidents from running out the clock for prosecution.

A year ago Thursday, Donald Trump boarded Air Force One for the final time in his presidency and retreated to Mar-a-Lago, refusing to stand witness for the swearing-in of Joe Biden.

It was a momentous day for Trump, marking the culmination of an electoral defeat he had pushed desperately to overturn. Now a full year out of office — and five years removed from his own swearing-in — Trump is closing in on anniversaries that carry more legal than political significance.

The five-year statute of limitations to prosecute any alleged federal crimes he committed while in office, after all, is ticking away.

Trump's tumultuous first year as president featured a string of episodes that came under scrutiny in the Russia investigation, an inquiry in which Special Counsel Robert Mueller examined whether Trump obstructed justice. 

In his more than 400-page final report, Mueller's special counsel team documented 10 episodes of possible obstruction of justice by Trump. Among them were Trump's efforts in early 2017 to pressure then-FBI Director James Comey to close an investigation into Michael Flynn, who at the time was national security advisor. Trump later fired Comey, setting in motion the events that led to Mueller's appointment as the special counsel in charge of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The special counsel's office examined not just that episode but also Trump's effort to have Mueller himself removed. Mueller declined to make a decision about whether Trump broke the law, in part because of the Justice Department's longstanding policy that sitting presidents cannot be charged with a federal crime. But, at a closely-watching congressional hearing, Mueller acknowledged that Trump could theoretically be charged with obstruction of justice after leaving office.

Charging an ex-president with a federal crime would be an unprecedented first in American history. Still, in the eyes of Trump's critics, the Mueller report provided a playbook for prosecuting him. 

But the Justice Department has been silent as the five-year deadline nears.

"What's a matter of urgency that I'm very upset about is the statute of limitations is five years for obstruction of justice, and it's going to expire in a few months," said Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who previously served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. "That Mueller report is a roadmap to an indictment of Donald Trump for obstruction of justice … Literally, a couple hours of work, and you probably have an indictment."

Robert Mueller hearing
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller III laid out 10 episodes of possible obstruction by Trump during the Russia inquiry.

A broader conspiracy?

Trump's unconventional presidency raised a number of novel legal issues and inspired legislation that specifically addressed the statute of limitations. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the No President Is Above the Law Act in 2020 to toll — or effectively pause — the statute of limitations for federal offenses committed by sitting presidents. 

Late last year, the House passed the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which includes a similar provision, along with others meant to prevent future abuses of the pardon power. The bill faces an uncertain future in the US Senate.

With the Justice Department taking no visible steps to pick up on Mueller's work, the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations will mark a largely symbolic moment in the reckoning with Trump's conduct, legal experts told Insider. Once the five-year deadline passes for the various episodes of possible obstruction, the option of "charging that as a standalone offense goes away," said Randall Eliason, a former public corruption prosecutor who now teaches law at George Washington University.

Eliason said the Justice Department could still fold conduct outside of that five-year window into a prosecution alleging a broader conspiracy to obstruct justice. If the Justice Department has weighed obstruction charges against Trump and decided not to bring them, Eliason said the public deserves an explanation.

"Given the fact that it involved a former president, given all the information that's out there in the Mueller report and elsewhere, if DOJ has considered the obstruction charges and decided not to pursue them, I think it would be good for them to issue some kind of statement to that effect explaining why, so the public knows this didn't just get ignored," he said. 

Letitia James
New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump's family business of engaging in a pattern of "fraudulent or misleading" practices.

Bigger risks in New York and Georgia

For now, Trump's most pressing legal trouble is coming from state and local authorities. New York Attorney Letitia James accused Trump's family business this week of repeatedly inflating the value of its assets, alleging that the company engaged in a pattern of "fraudulent or misleading" practices to boost its bottom line.

In Atlanta, the local district attorney asked a judge Thursday to convene a grand jury to help investigate Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Within Trump's orbit, the New York investigation is seen as presenting the direst threat. A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"I've always thought he is most vulnerable in New York state and New York City. And the thing that's most concerning is the woman who's running the investigation ran for office on the campaign pledge that she would get Trump," said Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor who defended Trump during his first Senate impeachment trial in early 2020. "So she has essentially delegitimated any kind of objective inquiry."

Dershowitz told Insider that he does not expect any federal charges stemming from the conduct Mueller examined.

"The Mueller report was too equivocal for there to be criminal charges to be based on it," he said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaking at the Justice Department a day before the January 6, 2021, anniversary.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has faced criticism for not taking stronger action against Trump and his inner circle.

Merrick Garland's dilemma

The Justice Department has not publicly shown an appetite for prosecuting Trump. 

In speeches, Attorney General Merrick Garland has emphasized the need to restore the independence of a Justice Department that had been politicized under the Trump administration, and even those clamoring for a prosecution of the former president concede that such a case would cleave an already divided country.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"On the one hand, we don't want anyone to be above the law. So if he is guilty of a crime, he should pay the same criminal accountability that any other defendant would have to encounter. On the other hand, it's not great to have one political administration of one political party prosecuting the actions of its predecessor of a different political party. That is nightmarish as well," said Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a professor at the Stetson University College of Law.

"So there are many damned if you do, damned if you don't aspects to holding Trump accountable through the federal criminal system."

Still, Garland recently appeared to address the criticism that the Justice Department was ignoring Trump and his inner circle — and instead focusing on relatively low-level offenders — in the investigation of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. On the eve of the first anniversary of the Capitol siege, Garland said the Justice Department was "committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy." 

More recently, the defense lawyer for an accused Capitol rioter said the FBI had focused its questioning of his client on establishing an "organized conspiracy" involving Trump and his inner circle, suggesting that the Justice Department is exploring the former president's role in the violence of January 6.

With Trump, "DOJ is a black box from the outside as far as what prosecutors are or are not pursuing," Torres-Spelliscy told Insider.

"What's really peculiar about this situation is that, while President Trump was president, he got the benefit of a DOJ policy that they will not indict a sitting president. We are in somewhat unprecedented legal territory, because the closest we've come to this is the Nixon presidency," she added. 

"We've never been in this situation before."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Москва

Школьница из Подольска победила на всероссийской олимпиаде по искусству

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s

Ria.city






Read also

Dejounte Murray's stellar game-winner helped the Hawks stun the Celtics twice this week

Broward 5A-1A boys basketball co-players of the year: Alexander Lloyd, Westminster Academy junior, and Alex Constanza, Westminster Academy sophomore

Auburn's Bruce Pearl rips fans who criticized Chad Baker-Mazara over NCAA tournament ejection: 'Stop it'

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s



Sports today


Новости тенниса
WTA

Россиянка покинула WTA-1000 из-за проблем со здоровьем



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

GeekVape в сотрудничестве с Absolute Racing выиграла чемпионат в категории GT3



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

GeekVape в сотрудничестве с Absolute Racing выиграла чемпионат в категории GT3


Новости России

Game News

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)


Russian.city


ATP

Хачанов победил Черундоло и пробился в 1/8 финала турнира ATP в Майами


Губернаторы России
Актриса

Актриса Яна Поплавская станет одним из почетных гостей Национальной премии «СВОИМ» в Нижнем Новгороде


Майское тепло придет в Москву на следующей неделе

Чем опасны чесночная настойка и другие народные средства для защиты собаки от клещей, объяснил кинолог

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)

Пассажир не успел войти в поезд и разбил стекло вагона на станции «Киевская»


Баста, Валерия и "Любэ" исполнили песни Муслима Магомаева

Двое ставропольцев войдут в команду музыкантов Дениса Мацуева

Ритуальный агент Борис Свистунов: комплексная поддержка в организации похоронных услуг в Санкт-Петербурге и Ленинградской области

Семен Слепаков решил избавиться от последнего бизнеса в России


Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами

Александрова обыграла первую ракетку мира на турнире WTA

«Бомж» Дарья передает всем привет»: Касаткина ответила на слова Винер

Теннисистка Александрова оказалась сильнее полячки Швентек на турнире WTA в США



Архитектурные доминанты округов Москвы

Пассажир рейса Москва — Пермь попал в реанимацию

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»

Перенос дат II этапа культурного проекта «Классика: история и современность» в Дмитрове


Эксперты КА «Главный Советник» приняли участие в форуме «Тренды и антитренды корпоративного видео сегодня»

Фильм о пришельцах снятый на деньги мафии

Кубок Орловской области по спортивной гимнастике

ТНТ запускает ежедневное утреннее шоу с Анной Хилькевич и Анатолием Цоем


Эксперт Президентской академии в Санкт-Петербурге: «Инвесторы заинтересованы в развитии Республики Коми»

Эксперт Президентской академии в Санкт-Петербурге: «Государство - драйвер роста капиталовложений в субъекты РФ»

Погибшие в «Крокусе» сёстры пережили теракт в Волгодонске в 1999 году

Руководители «Светогорского ЦБК» рассказали про новые возможности в целях укрепления технологического суверенитета



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Семён Слепаков

Семен Слепаков решил избавиться от последнего бизнеса в России



News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости