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White House looking at ethics rule to weaken special investigation

Looks like they are trying to weasel their way out of this one:

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN18F2KK

The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia, two people familiar with White House thinking said on Friday.

Trump has said that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's hiring of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation "hurts our country terribly."

Within hours of Mueller's appointment on Wednesday, the White House began reviewing the Code of Federal Regulations, which restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm’s clients for one year after their hiring, the sources said.

An executive order signed by Trump in January extended that period to two years.

Mueller's former law firm, WilmerHale, represents Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who met with a Russian bank executive in December, and the president's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who is a subject of a federal investigation.

Legal experts said the ethics rule can be waived by the Justice Department, which appointed Mueller. He did not represent Kushner or Manafort directly at his former law firm.

If the department did not grant a waiver, Mueller would be barred from investigating Kushner or Manafort, and this could greatly diminish the scope of the probe, experts said.

Now they care about ethics
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Go ahead and do this and seal every Republican Congressman's defeat in 2018.
 

Speevy

Banned
3oEjHCWdU7F4hkcudy.webp
 
I hope it is about the ethics of hanging someone for treason in the modern day.

And I kinda hope they hang him, his cronies, and everyone that had a role in it for treason.
 

akira28

Member
We need an independent investigator. not a special investigator.

Trump can't be trusted even in this, lol, and why would he? he's a would be despot. Would you expect Mussolini to sit still?
 
guilty people don't do this right

That's the thing that gets me. If they were actually truly all innocent, they wouldn't give a shit about this and just let it all play out. Actively trying to impede it just brings even more attention to it and ensures it's going to keep escalating.
 

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
Sure...lets just pull out the old "emoluments clause", Logan Act , and anti-neopotism laws as a counter...

Right..... the most unethical White House ever (not even involving the collusion case) wants to bring up obscure ethic laws now.
 
Reading the full article it sounds like this would probably not come into play, but it's the White House's attempt to paint Mueller as biased or something of that sort.
 
The hell is wrong with these people.

Trump's biographer said it best. Trump doesn't do right or wrong, it's all about winning and losing.

Of course his definition of "winning" is more like Charlie Sheen.

The special prosecutor is a loss.

Finding some obscure rule to weaken Mueller is a "win".
 

Magwik

Banned
Would that stop the FBI though, I would hope not, don't care if his family or friends are involved, don't let them slip away. The worse thing that could happen if he resigns is leave them alone calls.
It's a lot easier to flee to Russia when you're not the sitting US President
 
I refuse to believe that Trump's team knows what ethics are.

They actually don't, I remember reading several stories around his inauguration/first month that the WH was pushing to get rid of their entire ethics department and also loosen up/completely eliminate the mandatory ethics training for WH staff members.
 

jelly

Member
There is still that old thing about rich people getting away with it, yeah he isn't a billionaire but god, they always seem to get off easy when they get caught. I can easily imagine the media going for Ivanka crocodile tears, leave Ivanka alone.
 
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