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About those DOJ Subpoenas to former White House Counsels [1]

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Date: 2022-08-07

Yeah, I got the goods. Let's talk ,,,

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I was curious how significant last week’s DOJ subpoenas really are. So I did some google searches.

Here is some of what I found out.

Justice subpoenas of Trump counsel mark turning point thehill.com — Aug 8, 2022 The Justice Department’s grand jury subpoenas to former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and others in former President Trump’s inner circle mark a turning point in the federal law enforcement investigation of the former president. The grand jury probe has considerably more power than the House Jan. 6 select committee to pierce any executive privilege claims that the former president might raise — an issue that has come up with Cipollone. [...]

This means that sooner, rather than later, Pat Cipollone will have to spill the beans, about Trump’s replies to his adamant advice that Trump should follow the law.

Patrick Philbin, the Deputy White House Counsel, will have to answer truthfully too, as to what he saw and heard in the White House — under the penalty of perjury or contempt.

Grand jury subpoenas Trump White House lawyers for Jan. 6 probe pbs.org — Aug 4, 2022 [...] The subpoenas to Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin suggest an intensifying Justice Department investigation into the events surrounding the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, when Trump loyalists stormed the building in hopes of halting the certification of election results. They also suggest that prosecutors regard close advisers to Trump as potentially vital witnesses. Cipollone was the top White House lawyer in the final days of the Trump administration and was part of the legal team that defended the Republican president in his first House impeachment trial in 2020. But Cipollone vigorously resisted attempts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the presidential election Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, saying he did not agree that there was sufficient fraud to have affected the outcome of the race. [...] Cipollone and Philbin were lawyers inside the White House and were privy to numerous private conversations with the president. [...]

Deputy White House Counsel Patrick Philbin — Yes, he knows a lot too.

It would seem both Philbin and Cipollone understood that they weren’t there to serve Trump, but rather they were there to protect the Office of the White House. Given how they both stood up against Trump’s repeated illegal schemes.

FIRST ON CNN: Former Deputy White House counsel subpoenaed in January 6 probe cnn.com — Aug 3, 2022 [...] The report said that both Philbin and Cipollone indicated that they would resign should such a plan be executed. Philbin [ Cipollone’s deputy ], has already testified about the Capitol attack in a separate probe: earlier this year he appeared before the House select committee investigating January 6, CNN previously reported. on January 6 he was joined by a number of top Trump advisers -- including Philbin -- in pushing the former President to issue a strong condemnation of the attack. During Cipollone's own testimony before the House committee, he told investigators that-- in pushing the former President to issue a strong condemnation of the attack. [...]

Surprise, surprise. Even Bill Barr has chimed in — saying these latest DOJ moves, mean they are ‘focusing now on Trump and his inner circle’ — of co-conspirators.

Bill Barr Says Evidence 'Building' Against Trump in DOJ's Jan. 6 Probe newsweek.com — Aug 6, 2022 [...] Speaking to CBS News, Barr gave his assessment on the latest reported developments of the Justice Department's probe, and said recent grand jury subpoenas for high-ranking Trump administration officials are "significant." "This suggests to me that they're taking a hard look at the group at the top, including the president and the people immediately around him who were involved in this," [...] Barr went on to say that he thinks the "evidence definitely has been building" against Trump. [...] "I'm sure what they're doing is getting deeper and deeper into it," he said, referring to the Justice Department. [...]

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It’s gotten so hot in the Mar-o-Lago rent-a-lawyer office, that Trump’s current ‘legal team’ is reaching out to the DOJ — in hopes of curtailing the ‘ton of bricks’ that is heading towards their in-box ...

DOJ talks with Trump lawyers mark a grave moment for the ex-President www.cnn.com — Aug 5, 2022 [...] CNN senior legal analyst Preet Bharara said that the fact that Trump's [personal] lawyers are already in communication with the [DOJ] investigation suggests they believe he may have some significant exposure down the line. "Actively engaging suggests to me that the lawyers think that there is some jeopardy here and they should engage sooner rather than later," Bharara, a former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Bharara cautioned that the investigation could last a long time and that a decision "about whether or not to charge Donald Trump" could occur many months from now. Learning what Trump was saying and thinking as his mob smashed its way into the US Capitol and during his prior schemes designed to overturn his election loss could help establish whether the ex-President acted with corrupt intent and could be at risk of being criminally charged. [...]

And that’s why the grand jury subpoenas to White House Counsels Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin are important. They were in the room — advising Trump to cease with the attack. They can testify to what “Trump was saying and thinking” — since they were there. Since they were employed to protect the institution of the White House — not the corrupt individual who refused to accept the certified Election results.

Remember how Cipollone was dancing around any J6 questions involving his direct conversations with Trump, during the Hearings. Well, he won’t be able to do that during the DOJ inquiry. DOJ has more tools and hammers to pierce that pretend shield of “executive privilege” — legal tools that the J6 Committee lacks.

Glenn Kirschner explains the leverage difference here. Sounds like the DOJ will get the dirt behind the executive curtain, in very short order — if Kirschner’s prosecutor experience is to be any guide.

Which is good news — because Justice Matters.

Pat Cipollone gets a grand jury subpoena. This spells real trouble for Donald Trump & "Team Crazy."

Aug 3, 2022

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These may not be earth-shaking developments — but they are progress.

Real progress towards establishing “corrupt intent” and “criminal charges” — against the former White House resident who refused to accept defeat.

The Wheels of Justice may turn slowly — but they are indeed turning. This is real progress compared to what we knew just a few months ago, about the DOJ investigations into this brazen attack on Democracy.

Slam-dunk cases — take iron-clad evidence. That kind of evidence often takes time.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/7/2115100/-About-those-DOJ-Subpoenas-to-former-White-House-Counsels

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