Schiff says House will make a criminal referral of Trump ally Erik Prince for possible perjury

[BumRushDaShow]

38. The whole point of "hearings"

is to put people "on the record" (whether formally under oath or not). And it adds to the pile of things they use to formulate any articles if they choose to go that route.

And re: this -

It's also directly related to Mueller's investigation and he had access to Prince's testimony to Congress. If he didn't prosecute for it, then it's not likely that a partisan DOJ would... but also unlikely that we would get much traction insisting that DOJ prosecute something he declined to.

Here is an interesting analysis done just today -

Could Erik Prince be in perjury trouble?
Schiff: House panel will seek criminal referral for Erik Prince

By Aaron Blake
April 30 at 12:25 PM


<...>

What it means

It’s worth noting that the bar for perjury is high and that Mueller’s investigation concluded without indicting Prince. But former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said that that doesn’t necessarily mean Mueller didn’t think there was a case to be made. He noted that Prince’s alleged perjury came in congressional testimony and not to Mueller’s team. “This may be an example of something Mueller felt others (e.g. Congress) should pursue if they want to, like impeachment,” Cotter said in an email. “My read of the report suggests just that.”

Schiff also acknowledged Tuesday that Prince spoke with Mueller under the terms of an unspecified proffer agreement, which sometimes insulates people from being charged based upon their statements. (This wouldn’t apply to false statements in previous congressional testimony, but it would mean Prince’s statements to Mueller couldn’t be used to make the case.)

But even if there is a case to be made, that doesn’t mean it will be. Attorney General William P. Barr has suggested it’s time to turn the page on the Mueller probe, which bodes well for Prince.

If a case of perjury was brought, it would be one of the highest-profile prosecution cases to come out of the Mueller probe. Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and a

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/30/could-erik-prince-be-perjury-trouble/?utm_term=.ed3bed41a2e9

I.e., people like Flynn, Papadopoulos, and Manafort, et. al., were charged with directly lying to DOJ (the FBI, pleading guilty as part of plea deals), so in this case with a "lying before Congress", it goes a slightly different direction that he may not have felt was under his scope - just like the "obstruction" piece was not under his scope, nor was Cohen's bagman duties, which is why all those cases were pawned off to DOJ "entities" (SDNY and EDVA). It's a shame that there are so many moving pieces (literally a tangled web) with this mess that I think Mueller decided to stick with the mandate but left enough out there for further work, and there was quite a bit that was redacted with the excuse that it was an "active investigation" so who knows? I know Stone's mess is still out there (I think the trial is scheduled for November).