Day 410: Cause and Effect: Mueller Seeks Trump Documents, Trump Fumes on Twitter
A classic pattern between special counsel Robert Mueller and Donald Trump continued Monday. Mueller, as he has been doing for ten months, is diligently investigating all things Russia interference in the 2016 election. Should he stumble upon other crimes, such as money laundering, he will charge the perpetrators, as he did with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates.
Mueller’s investigation is complex and far-reaching, and must be to understand the depth of a foreign power’s widespread interference. One of the more impressive things about the investigation is that it has largely been done without leaks or substantial press reports about the goings-on.
However, sometimes, external players reveal what have been sent to them, which helps tip Mueller’s hand to the public.
The grand jury investigating alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has sent a witness a subpoena seeking all documents involving the president and a host of his closest advisers, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by NBC News.
According to the subpoena, which was sent to a witness by special counsel Robert Mueller, investigators want emails, text messages, work papers, telephone logs and other documents going back to Nov. 1, 2015, 4½ months after Trump launched his campaign.
Subpoenas are routine and are one of an investigator’s best tools for discovering information. Documents obtained in response to a subpoena can represent a small piece of a puzzle, provide context for other shreds of information or open up entirely new areas of inquiry.
The information about the subpoena continues to confirm what the public has long known: that, in addition to his staff, Trump is under direct investigation himself. This jibes with what NBC News also reported a few days ago: that Mueller’s team is asking witnesses about Trump’s knowledge and/or involvement of various email leaks by Wikileaks.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, according to multiple people familiar with the probe.
Mueller’s investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia.
Trump’s response to the latest news has been predictable: lashing out and projecting on Twitter.
Mueller has handled his work professionally, quietly and confidently. Trump has handled his predictable responses to reports about Mueller’s work amateurishly, incoherently and nervously.
410 days in, 1052 to go
Follow us on Twitter at @TrumpTimer
