Insider reveals the specific criminal charges Robert Mueller will bring against Donald Trump and his co-conspirators
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is still quietly working his way through the various aspects of the most complex criminal investigation in United States history. His actions, such as subpoenas and FBI raids and specific hires and impending indictments, have tipped off bits and pieces of where he’s headed. But now a Department of Justice insider has revealed the specific criminal charges that Mueller can be expected to bring against Donald Trump and his co-conspirators.
Jimmy Gurulé was an Assistant Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration, giving him specific expertise when it comes to putting together the pieces and figuring out specifically what a prosecutor like Mueller is aiming toward. Gurulé appeared on the Brian Williams show on MSNBC on Wednesday night, and he laid out the various criminal charges that he expects Mueller to bring in the Trump-Russia probe.
According to Gurulé the list includes obstruction of justice, violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (a law which centers around campaign fundraising), violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, IRS tax laws, and possibly money laundering. He didn’t spell out which charges will be brought against which individuals, but based on prior reporting, some of it can be put together rather easily.
For instance, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn are accused of being in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, while the inclusion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act suggests that someone on Trump’s team may have committed criminal hacking, or conspired with the Russians to commit criminal hacking. The larger question, of course, is which of these charges apply to Donald Trump himself.
Robert Mueller cannot put Donald Trump on trial; only Congress can try the President for alleged crimes. But Mueller can ask a grand jury to name Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator, as was the case during Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal. There are legal scholars such as Professor Laurence Tribe who believe Mueller can indict Trump for crimes, even if he can’t try him for those crimes. The point of that would be to demonstrate such obvious guilt that Congress would have no choice but to finish Trump off. Once Trump is ousted from office, he can then be prosecuted in a regular court of law.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report