The investigation was never intended to be confined to a single aspect or alleged crime and, in fact, under long standing Federal Law, can be extraordinarily broad in scope if the Special Counsel finds evidence of other possible crimes; the fact is the Bill Clinton Special Prosecutor probe started off as an investigation into the Whitewater dealings, and, finding no joy there, Ken Starr went off to other threads until he came up with the stained blue dress and Clinton's denials; this is no different than that situation, nor any different than any of the other Special Prosecutor/Counsel investigations in that none of them are restricted as to scope. If you want to see an actual description, under Federal Law, of the duties and responsibilities of a Special Counsel, it is here in this
link...
It has been amusing watching and listening to the Far Right and other Trump supporters and minions flail about wildly in there effort to salvage their guy's sinking ship, even as he drills holes in the hull, himself. The "secret society" debacle was particularly laughable; maybe they can compensate by shooting up an empty pizza joint again. Although their efforts thus far have yielded no appreciable results, other than embarrassing Sen Ron Johnson, there is an interesting possibility of the GOP thwarting the prosecution of some of those who may be indicted or tried; this is something that could be called the "Ollie North Effect". A great many people believe Ollie North was actually pardoned by President GHW Bush, along with a number of other Iran-Contra figures; the actual truth is North was never given a Presidential pardon and had his case dismissed for retrial because the DOJ lost leverage against North and witnesses in their case when Bush issued the pardons of the other conspirators. North had been tried on charges and was found guilty at trial of the charges against him; however, on appeal, a judge determined some of the evidence against North was compromised by public airing of some details in open hearings held by the House and Senate in their probe of the Iran-Contra scandal. If the pardons had not been issued, the testimony and the remaining 'untainted' evidence would have most very likely resulted in a re-conviction of North. There is a possible danger of likewise tainting evidence and testimony in the current Russia investigations in the same way as in the North case. If you noticed, several of the witnesses called in the Congressional Hearings have asked to give their testimony in closed sessions rather than in public; part of this is due to sensitive intelligence concerns, but part of it also appears to be an effort to avoid possible tainting of possible evidence in the event of trials. The effort seems to be supported by most members, from both parties, of Congressional committees. The glaring exception has been the actions and activities of GOP House member and Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes. He has already been under fire for his overt actions to give classified information gleaned in closed door hearings to the Trump administration and for his continuing efforts to derail the House investigations. He has just in recent days been the target of another call for an investigation of the ethics of his recent actions by a nonpartisan Congressional watchdog group. Part of this new call has been over a "Secret Memo" Nunes and his staff have manufactured alleging misconduct by the DOJ/FBI and has been shown to other House members under pledge of confidentiality (some of the memo's source material is actual, highly classified intel), but Nunes has refused to allow the Senate, the Justice Department, the White House or the public to see the contents of the memo. Some of the House GOP members who have read the "memo" have made claims it contains 'bombshell' revelations of misconduct, yet most of those GOP House members also admit they
have not read any of the underlying intel sources cited in the memo in order to verify the context or veracity of the "memo"'s claims, in effect having them make ill-informed or uninformed judgements on the "memo". Beyond the fact Nunes has displayed a reckless disregard for the rule of law and the need to preserve and protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, and that pretty much anything Nunes says should be taken with great skepticism, Nunes does pose a threat of having the same effect of 'nullifying' testimony and/or evidence in much the same manner as occurred with the "North Effect". The other members of both the Senate and the House committees investigating the Russia matter have shown great responsibility in making every effort to ensure they do not hinder, tamper with, or 'nullify' their, or any other, legitimate scrutiny of the issues, individuals, motives, or wrongdoings involved. Nunes has already been suspended from his Chairmanship once and has been rebuked by GOP House leadership for his actions; it may be time to take him out of the process again...
Battle over secret Nunes memo could come to a head next week --
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/poli...196966409.html
In the end, Nunes' "Secret Memo" will most likely meet the same fate as the "Secret Society". What is not so secret is the absurd lengths to which the Trump minions will go to try and salvage a sinking scow...
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