The Trump thread: All things Donald

[joan1984]

  As far as Washington, DC and our Grand Jury system, I can assure you, from having served once as a Grand Juror for my "month", and knowing lots of folk who have similarly been called to serve, that this is how we do it here.

  There are ALWAYS at least 5 sitting Grand Juries in Washington, DC, each with its primary responsibilities, generally being along the lines of the type of crime being investigated in any particular case.  Multiple cases are floated, different Prosecutor teams appear before the sitting Grand Juries, interview witnesses, some of whom have just visited a suspect in the DC Jail, and record the testimony of such witnesses, often I suspect limiting future testimony of that witness...

"What did you talk about?" ... "nuttin'"...  "Did Mr. X sleep at your  home last Friday night?"... "nah" or " I dunno "...How well do you know the suspect?  "Not much".  Did he ask for for anything?... "Ya, underwear..."

Compelling stuff, right?  Just saying, we have Grand Juries coming out our secret places. So many that often when some big political issue may arise, the SC will convene "his" Grand Jury outside of Washington DC proper, often in Virginia... All depends on the SC of course, but we are not strangers to Grand Juries, and the Grand Jurors who eventually may vote out the requested charges, are not always the same Grand Jurors who heard the original testimony, or the many other testimony clips that have been read into the record.

One major use of Grand Juries is to get people ON the Record, early and often, and take away (in my opinion) potential alibi use of said "witnesses" later. The stuff we saw in my Grand Jury stint was Capitol Offense, Major Crimes, mostly and yet we often observed witness interviews regarding some 'dance club' or a purse snatching from Realtors showing a home, kind of thing, when we were the only Grand Jury available for the Prosecutor to get a witness testifying that particular day. Getting them on the record, early, was the goal.

I expect if one wishes to Google: Wash DC GrandJury Service, you can get all this without the first hand reporting I just gave.
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Athos is a TROLL, and so he regards me as a troll, and you... by the way.

[Athos_131]

There are only two posters in the last recent posts that have been banned for misconduct on this message board.

I am not one of them.

#Resist

[staci]

3

[KitKat]

There are only two posters in the last recent posts that have been banned for misconduct on this message board.

I am not one of them.

#Resist

 

[staci]

now 4. lol

[Northwest]

now 4. lol

This must be an inside joke.

[Northwest]

 As far as Washington, DC and our Grand Jury system, I can assure you, from having served once as a Grand Juror for my "month", and knowing lots of folk who have similarly been called to serve, that this is how we do it here.

  There are ALWAYS at least 5 sitting Grand Juries in Washington, DC, each with its primary responsibilities, generally being along the lines of the type of crime being investigated in any particular case.  Multiple cases are floated, different Prosecutor teams appear before the sitting Grand Juries, interview witnesses, some of whom have just visited a suspect in the DC Jail, and record the testimony of such witnesses, often I suspect limiting future testimony of that witness...

"What did you talk about?" ... "nuttin'"...  "Did Mr. X sleep at your  home last Friday night?"... "nah" or " I dunno "...How well do you know the suspect?  "Not much".  Did he ask for for anything?... "Ya, underwear..."

Compelling stuff, right?  Just saying, we have Grand Juries coming out our secret places. So many that often when some big political issue may arise, the SC will convene "his" Grand Jury outside of Washington DC proper, often in Virginia... All depends on the SC of course, but we are not strangers to Grand Juries, and the Grand Jurors who eventually may vote out the requested charges, are not always the same Grand Jurors who heard the original testimony, or the many other testimony clips that have been read into the record.

One major use of Grand Juries is to get people ON the Record, early and often, and take away (in my opinion) potential alibi use of said "witnesses" later. The stuff we saw in my Grand Jury stint was Capitol Offense, Major Crimes, mostly and yet we often observed witness interviews regarding some 'dance club' or a purse snatching from Realtors showing a home, kind of thing, when we were the only Grand Jury available for the Prosecutor to get a witness testifying that particular day. Getting them on the record, early, was the goal.

I expect if one wishes to Google: Wash DC GrandJury Service, you can get all this without the first hand reporting I just gave.
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Athos is a TROLL, and so he regards me as a troll, and you... by the way.

Fine, Joan. I have no reason to challenge or question any of that.

My question is how it relates to Mueller empaneling a Grand Jury. None of the journalists, or the experts they relied on for information suggested that this was evidence of a crime, or meant that we were nearing the end of this investigation. But none of them treated it as if it were a casual or meaningless gesture either (which is, in  my view, the impression you were trying to create).

From Athos' post #2711:

"The new grand jury is a sign that the investigations are ramping up—it shows that the Russian investigation has expanded beyond Flynn to several of Trump’s family members and current and former aides and will possibly continue for many more months. It also means that criminal charges are possible (and that Mueller has evidence of possible criminal activity). It is as yet unclear who the targets of the investigation are. .."

Care to comment?

[joan1984]

  I believe the SC will use every tool available, and DC's "sitting" Grand Juries, or even empaneling one more Grand Jury gives the SC a "secure" manner to question witnesses, without their counsel in the room, about anything that the Prosecutor wishes to raise, and about anything a Grand Juror may ask.

  Doing so in DC is less usual, in my opinion, except that it is convenient for the Office of SC, which is not very far away from the Federal Courthouse here.
If I were on that team, I would use the existing Grand Juries, to demand or request documents and as a convenience for all the various lawyers in the office of SC now.  Usually, a specific panel for Federal Cases is done in Virginia and since this is all Federal DC makes sense as well.

  DC staffs the Grand Jury from the city's Registered Voter list, and is a 80% or maybe higher Democrat city as to voter base, which is interesting as well. I expect reporters who learn about use of the Federal Building, where they are effectively excluded as to TV Trucks and gaggles of Press, have yet to weigh the details about how Washington DC actually works on such details.

  We shall see. Any Grand Jury, anywhere, can serve to make document or record requests. Downtown DC is very convenient for Washington witnesses, who can literally take Metro to the Federal Building, as can the Attorneys. Just was "different" to see it NOT in the 4th District, Eastern Virginia, where they usually convene such cases.

[Athos_131]

These last walls of text with unsourced posts are probably spurious.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

What the Trump-Russia Grand Jury Means

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[Athos_131]

What is a grand jury?

#Resist

[Athos_131]

What is a grand jury? What to know about Robert Mueller's move in Russia investigation

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[Lois]

I believe Joan is correct about Grand juries for the most part. But she is mistaken with regards to the subject investigation.

Many counties do empanel a grand jury to hear various matters that come up in the course of a certain period of time. They handle a lot of cases and know there will be some ending in endictments. However, in this case we are not dealing with a county prosecutor handling various criminal matters.

Mueller is investigating just one matter, and would not have empaneled a grand jury unless he thought it likely that something criminal was afoot.

Actually, Trump is very lucky Mueller is in charge of the investigation. Mueller is non-partisan, unlike Starr and his investigation of Clinton.

[Athos_131]

Republican Shadow Campaign for 2020 Takes Shape as Trump Doubts Grow


#Resist

[Northwest]

Previously, I did not like Maureen Dowd's writing so much, but when Trump showed bigly up on the scene she found her stride. Now I'm ready to marry her, and would poke knitting needles in my eyes rather than miss one of her columns:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/opinion/sunday/dowd-trump-mueller-russia.html

(Edit: Fixed broken link. Now working.)

[Athos_131]

Rosenstein: Special counsel Mueller can investigate any crimes he uncovers in Russia probe

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[Athos_131]

Many Politicians Lie. But Trump Has Elevated the Art of Fabrication.

From his days peddling the false notion that former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, to his inflated claims about how many people attended his inaugural, to his description just last week of receiving two phone calls — one from the president of Mexico and another from the head of the Boy Scouts — that never happened, Mr. Trump is trafficking in hyperbole, distortion and fabrication on practically a daily basis.

But other presidential lies, like Mr. Trump’s false claim that millions of undocumented immigrants had cast ballots for his opponent in the 2016 election, are far more substantive, and pose a threat, scholars say, that his administration will build policies around them.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

As Mueller closes in, Trump prepares his base for the worst

It bears repeating that Mueller’s investigation is looking at how a hostile foreign power may have sabotaged our democracy, and at whether the Trump campaign colluded with it, and at conduct by Trump himself that came after the election: Whether the firing of former FBI Director James B. Comey after a demand for his loyalty was part of a pattern of obstruction of justice. The first of these has been attested to by our intelligence services, and evidence of the second (at least in the form of a willingness to collude) and the third of these has been unearthed by dogged scrutiny by news outlets. It is hardly an accident that Trump continues to cast doubt on the credibility of both those institutions, even as he and his spokespeople continue to cast the entire affair as an effort to reverse the election by illegitimate means.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Trump vows North Korea will be met with ‘fire and fury’ if threats continue

Congratulations Trumpers, you're going to die in a nuclear war.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

North Korea seriously considering strike on Guam: Reports, citing state media

Never fear, Trump is in charge to handle this in a mature way like a seasoned head of state.

#Resist