Donald Trump’s day of reckoning
Over the last several months we’ve kept hearing, particularly from Donald Trump’s mouthpiece Rudy Giuliani, that sixty days before an election, the Justice Department is not supposed to make public moves on investigations into “election-related crimes.” The Hillary Clinton campaign accused James Comey of violating this protocol during the 2016 election when he released a letter about Hillary’s emails just eleven days before the 2016 presidential election. For the 2018 elections, the day of reckoning under this guideline is September 7.
The Office of the Attorney General issued a memo, “Election Year Sensitivities,” in 2008 which discussed basic sensitivities that must be taken into account during election cycles. Attorney General Eric Holder reissued the memo in 2012. A read of the memo reveals nothing said about any “sixty-day rule,” but many former United States Attorneys have discussed this unwritten guideline that is designed to avoid accusations of political interference (as were leveled against Comey).
There is no evidence that Special Counsel Robert Mueller feels bound by this unwritten rule. However, the supposed deadline keeps popping up in his recent moves. The current sentencing for George Papadopoulos is scheduled for September 7. In addition, Randy Credico, the alleged go-between for Roger Stone and WikiLeaks during the Trump campaign, is scheduled to testify on September 7.
From the matters that we already know are pending on September 7, before even getting to what else might be set for that same date that we don’t know about, it’s shaping up to be quite a day of reckoning – and it’s not likely to be a pleasing one for Donald Trump.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.