Mueller appears to respond early in subpoena fight at Supreme Court

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Politico


By JOSH GERSTEIN 12/28/2018 11:10 PM EST

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office appears to have responded to a foreign company’s bid to get the Supreme Court to step into a fight over a grand jury subpoena served on the firm.

Most details of the case remain under seal at the Supreme Court since the company asked for an emergency stay last week, but an entry in the high court’s docket indicates a response was filed Friday, three days ahead of the Monday deadline set by the court. The filing was accompanied by an application to put the filing under seal, the Supreme Court docket says.

The docket entry doesn’t indicate Mueller’s office is involved in the legal fight. Indeed, there’s not even a mention in the Supreme Court’s public records that the U.S. Government or the Justice Department is involved in the case.

Friday’s filing was likely submitted by Solicitor General Noel Francisco’s office, which handles nearly all Supreme Court briefs for the U.S. government.

When a federal appeals court issued a ruling last week turning down the company’s effort to quash the subpoena, the judges made public some details about the dispute. The D.C. Circuit order revealed that the firm involved is owned by a foreign government and was held in contempt by a district court judge who rejected the firm’s arguments that its governmental ownership makes it immune from a grand jury subpoena.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/28/mueller-probe-supreme-court-mystery-case-1076871

[cstanleytech]

1. I wonder if this means Mueller has a big fish he is getting read to put in the pan?

[Blue Owl]

2. Liking the sense of urgency

The trump cancer must be stopped before it invades every vital organ of this democracy...

[LiberalFighter]

3. Question -- Anyone on Supreme Court trying to cause trouble for Mueller?

[grantcart]

4. No I think they have high respect for him

When the head of the DOJ. Civil Division got fed up and retired earlier this year Chief Justice Roberts came by to wish him well at his retirement party.

Speaker Designate Pelosi just appointed him to Council for the House of Representatives.

He has had over 200 appearances before the Supreme Court and appellate Courts.

They view Trump as a vagabond.

[AlexSFCA]

5. and roberts already opined recently on trump's "Obama judges".

[C_U_L8R]

6. How can there be justice in secret courts?

It just seems against everything our country is supposed to stand for. It's so Russian.

[paleotn]

7. Justice comes later. This is investigation.

To keep the roaches from scurrying off we don't yet want to flip on the light switch. Once Mueller presents his evidence, I'm sure the defense will have ample opportunity to defend against it. Things will get really public then.

[reACTIONary]

8. + 100, Thanks for making the distinction nt

[reACTIONary]

9. Grand jury testemony and proceedings . ...

..... have always been held in secret and kept confidential . That is because the purpose is to determine IF a crime has been commited and, if so, to issue an indictment. If no crime has been commited it would be unjust to subject the innocent to public scrutiny. Thus secrecy SERVES justice in this case.

[meadowlander]

10. My money is on Kaspersky Lab.

It would be on Deutsche Bank or one of the Cypress based banks but it seems like they've turned over everything that was subpoenaed in the past.

[GulfCoast66]

11. I'm thinking Aramco, the Saudi oil company.

And the richest business on earth.

[politicaljunkie41910]

13. I guess we think alike. I had my post written up and when I did a preview, saw a bunch of smiley

faces where the phone numbers were posted. So I tried to correct it and by then my grand baby had woken up so I checked on her, and when I made it back I hit send never having seen your post.

Anyway, I hope it is the Saudis and Mueller grabs a large chunk of their assets in this country for what they've done. Their crime was so inhumane that the price has to be large enough so that they feel it in their pockets.

[politicaljunkie41910]

12. My guess would be that they are going after the Saudis for the death of the AP journalist Kashoggi.

The Saudis appear to own lots of companies here in the U.S. Recently we heard about a $500 Million judgement the US courts had awarded against North Korea for the death of that Student whom they sent home in a coma. It wouldn't surprise me if this is a similar case, but the Saudis are bigger fish than North Korea. Here is a list of just their U.S. holdings: They have lots of major companies in Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world:

Saudi International Bank20 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10022
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA)

a) Trump Tower
725 Fifth Ave., 18th Flr.
New York, NY 10022
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

b) Building No. 54, Terminal 2
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Jamaica, NY 11430
Tel: [phone];5340;5341
Fax: [phone];4283

c) 2600 Virginia Ave., N.W., Ste. 903
Washington, D.C. 20037
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

d) 12555 Northborough Dr.
Houston, TX 77067
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]; [phone]

e) 2049 Century Park East, #2000
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Tel: (310)277-xxxx "Phone # Changed"
Fax: [phone]

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia

a) Head Office: NSCSA America, Inc.
World Trade Center
401 East Pratt St., 26th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

b) 399 Hoes Ln., Ste. 100
Piscataway, NJ 08854
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

ARAMCO Services Company

a) 1667 K St., N.W., Room 1200
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
b) P.O.Box 4534
Houston, TX 77210-4534
Tel. [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Saudi Research and Marketing
1310 G. St., N.W., Ste. 750
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Al-Zamil Co., Inc.
2401 Fountain View, Ste. 420
Houston, TX 77057
Tel. [phone]
Fax: [phone]

ROYSPEC
(Purchasing Off. of King Faisal Hospital)
7470 Candlewood Rd.
Hanover , MD 21076
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

SABIC Americas, Inc.
2500 Citywest Boulevard
Suite 650
Houston, TX 77042
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Saudi Petroleum International, Inc.
(Subsidiary of ARAMCO)
527 Madison Ave.,22nd floor
New York, NY 10022
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Saudi Research and Marketing
Arab News
1310 G St., NW, Ste. 750
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

The World Bank, Office of the Executive Director for Saudi Arabia
1818 H St., N.W., Rm. D-12-025
Washington, D.C. 20433
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

International Monetary Fund, Office of the Executive Director for Saudi Arabia
700 19th St., N.W., Ste. 11306
Washington, D.C. 20431
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

U.S. - GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee, Inc.
1140 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Ste. 1210 Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council
1401 New York Ave., N.W., Ste. 710
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

U.S.-Saudi Joint Commission On Economic Cooperation
1401 New York Ave., Ste. 700
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Riyad Bank
700 Louisiana
Suite 4770
Houston, TX 77002
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Saudi Binladin Group - SBG-USA, Inc.
1700 Rockville Pike
Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20852
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Xenel International, USA
2637 Townsgate Rd.
Suite 300
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[meadowlander]

15. On what basis would Mueller be going after the Saudis for Khashoggi's death though?

Isn't his brief limited to investigations directly related to Russian interference? He had to hand off Cohen's taxi medallion stuff to SDNY and some of Manafort's unrelated crimes to Eastern District of Virginia.

[politicaljunkie41910]

17. Mueller and his team are already investigating the Trump Family. Jared spoke with MBS and

discussed with him (MBS) his original story regarding the death of Khashoggi that he had concocted which turned out to be a lie. That lie was that Khashoggi had left the Turkish Embassy alive. They even dressed up someone in his clothing to make it appear that he had left. It was also stated in news reports that Jared had helped MBS construct and polish up his official story. Trump once briefed on the events, denied initially that there was any proof that the Saudis had killed him as the Turks had claimed. Sec of State Pompeo went to Saudi Arabia and met with the Saudis and MSB to investigate the death of Khashoggi, a legal resident of the US. Upon meeting with him, he was smiling and grinning, which is not the seriousness one would expect for such a serious occasion. Pompeo also concluded initially that there was no proof that Khashoggi had been killed in the Turkish Embassy, a position which the CIA Director was disputing.

As far as your question goes as to what basis would Mueller have to go after the Saudis, I have no basis, and was just stating my opinion as everyone else tends to do on this board. My opinion, though, was supported by the recent fact that a US Court had assessed a $500M judgment against North Korea's leader Kim Jung Un for the death of a US Student visiting North Korea who was jailed in North Korea and was returned to the United States in a coma. Since Mueller and his team were already investigating the Trump family, it seemed logical to me that he might be the one to investigate any potential wrongdoing by members of the Trump and Kushner families and any other person or persons involved in wrongdoing, be it the actual deed or any actions taken to the covering up of any wrongdoing.

[howardmappel]

14. Francisco -- Solicitor General is a Trump stooge

And has, IIRC, publicly said that the Special Counsel's investigation is a waste of time. Wonder how hard his office is arguing for Mueller's position. I suspect this early filing may be by Mueller's office to preempt any sabotage by the solicitor general.

[Izzy Blue]

16. Didn't Trump skip over him when appointing Whitaker as AG?

The Senate democrats didn't want him.

"On March 7, 2017, the White House announced Francisco's nomination to the position of Solicitor General.[7][13][14] He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 50–47 on September 19, 2017.[15]

With the resignation of Rachel Brand as Associate Attorney General on February 8, 2018, Francisco became the fourth-ranking official in the Justice Department.[16] Francisco received an ethics waiver on April 24, 2018, which relieved him of a previous obligation to recuse himself from any investigation in which his former employer, law firm Jones Day, was involved.[17][18] Jones Day, which as of 2018 owed Francisco approximately $500,000, is representing the Trump presidential campaign in the Special Counsel investigation.[17] "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Francisco#Legal_career