Robert Mueller’s insurance policy
Former FBI Director James Comey was dismissed from his position by Donald Trump on May 9, 2017. It was this move that pushed Comey to release memos he wrote following his interactions with Trump that partially led to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint Robert Mueller as Special Counsel. While Mueller has since created a “Dream Team” of prosecutors to investigate the Trump-Russia scandal, there are many people that believe it was Comey’s team that first produced sealed indictments against Trump through a grand jury.
When these claims first came to light a few experts publicly stated that it was unlikely there were truly sealed indictments against Trump. Nearly a year later, more and more individuals are coming to the realization that there is a high probability that sealed indictments exist. With bipartisan support from members of Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit Trump from ending Mueller’s investigation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is insistent that there is currently no need for such legislation. Despite the fact that we are aware of at least two previous occasions where Trump attempted to fire Mueller, McConnell continues to deny such allegations.
A recent article by Politico has brought the issue of sealed indictments against Trump back into the forefront. With the recent stories that Rosenstein’s comments to Trump that he was not a target of the investigation, it seems that Trump was appeased by this announcement, hopefully delaying any interference in Mueller’s investigation. While it should be noted that individuals involved in an investigation remain simply a subject right up until the point they are about to be indicted, thus becoming a target, it was a sly move by Rosenstein to make this announcement to Trump.
As long as Trump believes that he is not a target, he is much less likely to fire Rosenstein or Mueller. The longer this investigation is allowed to continue uninterrupted the better chance that justice will be done. However, knowing that there are likely sealed indictments against Trump, even if Trump fires Mueller, the indictments do not go away. No matter what happens, those indictments will eventually be unsealed and Trump will be forced to face his day in court, and that will not end well for him.
I’m a ceramic engineer living in Central New York, avid sports fan but find myself more interested in politics lately.