White House lawyer writes scathing letter to DOJ – ‘A Law School Exam Paper’

 

The letter submitted by a Emmet Flood, Trump’s WH Attorney to the DOJ is well worth the read. Anyone who has been waiting for the screw to turn the opposite direction will find some comfort that the adults are now in control of salvaging the defense of Trump.

There is no question that Trump’s first legal team took a naive approach with Mueller. In fact they allowed Mueller unfettered access to his Chief of Staff and Legal Consul when Trump could easily have claimed Executive privilege for these two without much blow back and is causing most of the ruckus at this moment with statements they made to Mueller’s team.

See my earlier post Trump’s legal team’s epic fail – meet John Dowd

September 7, 2018.

We had the good fortune of hearing the setup this past week when Hannity dragged John Dowd out from under a rock to explain his thinking. Dowd thought he could trust Mueller and had a handshake on it? He’s disappointed?

I can’t say he is in much better shape with media hog Rudy, who never let a minute go without being noticed.

John Dowd, who has urged the President to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and resist attacking him publicly, resigned as his disagreements with Trump intensified and the President stepped up his attacks on the special counsel. His departure raises questions about the direction of Trump’s legal strategy and could signal a more aggressive posture on Trump’s part. (You think??) H/t: CNN

 

 

Now the update with WH Emmet Flood’s letter to the DOJ. Do take the time to read the excellent writing by Flood. Link embedded below:

In a five-page letter, a top White House lawyer argued that Trump should be able to stop officials from talking to Congress about the report.

A top White House lawyer slammed Robert Mueller in a letter made public Thursday, calling out the special counsel for playing politics by submitting findings to Attorney General William Barr that are “part ‘truth commission’ report and part law school exam paper.”

Emmet Flood’s blistering rebuke of Mueller’s work came in a five-page letter to Barr dated April 19, one day after the public release of a redacted version of the special counsel’s report that detailed President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere in the Russia probe but declined to make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice.

The missive is the latest salvo in a long-running spat between the White House and the special counsel’s office over what information Mueller’s team should be allowed to release — and what Congress should see. It argues that Trump should be able to stop officials from talking to lawmakers about the report’s findings and attempts to justify the White House refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas seeking further information about instances described in the report.

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