More Clinton ties on Mueller team

[Theinquisition]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...-top-aide.html

More Clinton connections have emerged for members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team, amid growing Republican complaints about potential bias inside the office created to lead an independent probe.







On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mueller investigator Andrew Weissmann, a former partner at WilmerHale, attended Hillary Clinton’s election night party last November at the Javits Center in New York City. Fox News reported earlier this week that Weissmann in January also praised outgoing acting Attorney General Sally Yates, after she was fired for refusing to defend President Trump’s travel ban.


Federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann (C) is flanked by FBI agents as he speaks to the press outside the federal courthouse in Houston, Texas about the latest round of indictments stemming from the collapse of Enron, May 1, 2003. Also Lea Fastow, wife of Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, is expected to be indicted on tax and mail fraud. REUTERS/Jeff Mitchell JM/ME - RTRMRJX

Andrew Weissmann, reportedly attended the Hillary Clinton election night party in November 2016. He has donated thousands of dollars to former President Barack Obama's campaign and the DNC. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, at least two Mueller investigators' past legal work for Clinton-tied figures is getting a second look as Republicans hunt for signs of bias.




Aaron Zebley, another former partner at WilmerHale and a former chief of staff to Mueller when he served as FBI director, represented Justin Cooper, a key figure in the Hillary Clinton email controversy.

Cooper is the longtime Bill Clinton aide responsible for helping set up the now-infamous private email server. Cooper later admitted to “two instances where he destroyed [Hillary] Clinton’s old mobile devices by breaking them in half or hitting them with a hammer.”


Attorney Aaron Zebley arrives at the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, Thursday, April 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Aaron Zebley, a Mueller investigator, represented Justin Cooper. Cooper was a longtime- Bill Clinton aide who set up Hillary Clinton's private email server. (AP)

Jeannie Rhee, another former partner at WilmerHale, represented ex-Obama National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, the Clinton Foundation in a 2015 racketeering case, and Hillary Clinton herself in a lawsuit seeking access to her private emails.



TOP MUELLER INVESTIGATOR'S DEMOCRATIC TIES RAISE NEW BIAS QUESTIONS

“You’ve got Donald Trump being persecuted by Hillary Clinton’s fan club—that’s inequitable,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News on Friday. “Many of the members of Mueller’s team donated to the Clinton campaign. We have a lot of highly qualified federal prosecutors in the Justice Department and we could have found a bunch of them who didn’t donate to either candidate. But that didn’t occur, and that’s troubling.”


'[Y]ou might start seeing a real death-spiral in terms of any public support for the investigation.'
- former Justice Department official James Trusty
Those political donations have been well-known since the start of the Mueller probe. At least seven of Mueller's investigators on the Russia meddling case have donated to Democratic candidates and the Democratic National Committee.

Weissmann donated a combined $2,300 to the Obama campaign in 2008, and at least $2,000 to the DNC in 2006. Rhee donated a total of $5,400 to Hillary Clinton in 2015 and 2016 and a combined $4,800 to former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2011.

MUELLER PROBE: MEET LAWYERS WHO GAVE $$ TO HILLARY, NOW INVESTIGATING TEAM TRUMP

Zebley has no history of political donations or any affiliation with a political party.

Neither political donations nor past legal work alone proves that an investigator is biased or unable to work a case objectively. But the revelation last weekend that another investigator, Peter Strzok, was removed from the Russia probe over anti-Trump texts has critics looking closely at every bio.

“Mueller did not have to select attorneys who had made donations to, or even represented, Democratic candidates, but as those partisan connections are becoming clearer, it gives an appearance of bias that could have been avoided,” former high-ranking Justice Department official James Trusty, who served under the Bush and Obama administrations, told Fox News on Friday.

“Add a lead investigator having a 10,000 text affair with an already dubious selection for the team (in terms of litigation experience) and you might start seeing a real death-spiral in terms of any public support for the investigation,” Trusty added in an email to Fox News.

That was a reference to Strzok's anti-Trump text messages with another former Mueller investigator, Lisa Page, with whom he was romantically involved.


Peter_Strzok

Peter Strzok was removed from Mueller's team after the discovery of anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with another former Mueller investigator. (FBI )

Strzok, who was an FBI counterintelligence agent, was reassigned to the FBI’s human resources division after the discovery of the texts. Page was briefly on Mueller’s team but returned to the FBI over the summer. The two exchanged more than 10,000 text messages, Fox News reported.

Strzok has been involved in a host of significant developments in both the Clinton and Russia probes. He was present during the FBI’s July 2016 interview with Hillary Clinton at the close of the email investigation, shortly before then-FBI Director James Comey called her actions “extremely careless” without recommending criminal charges.

Strzok also oversaw the FBI’s interviews with Trump’s fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty last week to lying to FBI investigators in the Russia probe.

Trump allies routinely have sought to raise bias concerns about Mueller's team to discredit the Russia investigation.

The special counsel’s office told Fox News this week that they had no comment on such allegations, but pointed to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s comments earlier this year.

“If there were conflicts that arose, because of Director Mueller or anybody employed by Director Mueller, we have a process within the [Justice Department] to take care of that,” Rosenstein said on Fox News.

The special counsel himself has been appointed to five Senate-confirmed positions by four different presidents – two Republicans, and two Democrats. Mueller is said to be a life-long Republican, serving as FBI director for President George W. Bush.

Justice Department policies and federal law prohibit discriminating based on political affiliation when it comes to hiring for nonpolitical positions, like the FBI and Justice Department.

MUELLER DEPUTY PRAISED DOJ OFFICIAL AFTER SHE DEFIED TRUMP TRAVEL BAN ORDER: 'I AM SO PROUD'

A spokesman for the special counsel told Fox News on Friday Weissmann is still a member of Mueller's team.

Boy, it's great that we have a unbias, objective law enforcement investigative organization investigating our political leadership for corruption and wrong doing.....right?

[Ripster42]

Sure is. If no democrat can investigate a republican, that would mean we're already biased. The opposite is also true. I notice you weren't posting this garbage during the actual partisan investigation into hillary. You know, when the investigation wasn't being led by a person of her own party.

[Felya]

Boy, it's great that we have a unbias, objective law enforcement investigative organization investigating our political leadership for corruption and wrong doing.....right?

Yates, who’s praise is mentioned as a sign this guy might be biased, warned Trump about Flynn. If Trump acted on it, instead of ignoring it, until the story broke nation wide... Trump wouldn’t have the troubles he is in now. So, how exactly are people who Trump fired after warning him about Flynn, biased against Trump?

I will repeat... Yates, the evil democrat, whose ties represent bias to you... warned Trump about Flynn, just like Obama did... Trump is biased based on his actions, not what party he belongs to.

[Lenonis]

If we're going to play this game then we get to purge any member of the investigation who has supported Trump in any way as well.

Which would leave no one to investigate anyone. Wouldn't that be nice for you eh?

Fortunately this really weak smear attempt won't matter -- because this investigation will still roll on.

[Toppy]

This largely sounds like

"Politicians sometimes interact with other politicians and also tend to work with other politicians"

[Felya]

Sure is. If no democrat can investigate a republican, that would mean we're already biased. The opposite is also true. I notice you weren't posting this garbage during the actual partisan investigation into hillary. You know, when the investigation wasn't being led by a person of her own party.

It doesn’t make sense, because Yates warned Trump about Flynn, which got her fired. What exactly were democrats supposed to do here, to not be anti Trump? Obama warned Trump, he ignored it, bitching about being wiretapped. Yates then warned him, while Trump bitched about FBI being incompetent and unfair.

There is nothing else Democrats could have done to prevent Trump from giving Flynn the job he did. They warned him, but are still being treated like some evil under cover force? Trump ignoring them, to keep trusting Flynn, does not make these people biased... it makes Trump biased, to a fault...

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This largely sounds like

"Politicians sometimes interact with other politicians and also tend to work with other politicians"

With an added bonus, that part of the interaction, included warning Trump about Flynn, which Trump ignored and fired them.

[Ripster42]

It doesn’t make sense, because Yates warned Trump about Flynn, which got her fired. What exactly were democrats supposed to do here, to not be anti Trump? Obama warned Trump, he ignored it, bitching about being wiretapped. Yates then warned him, while Trump bitched about FBI being incompetent and unfair.

There is nothing else Democrats could have done to prevent Trump from giving Flynn the job he did. They warned him, but are still being treated like some evil under cover force? Trump ignoring them, to keep trusting Flynn, does not make these people biased... it makes Trump biased, to a fault...

I mean, I could understand if this was something like the 7th investigation into trump that was opened after the first 6 found no wrong doing, but that's not where we're at here. And no GOP person has the moral grounds to challenge this until it gets to that point.

[Felya]

@supertony51 would you have still posted this, if you remembered that Yates tried to save Trump from his Flynn troubles, by warning him about it? That Obama did the same? They cannot be trying to get Trump, when his current turmoil, is for ignoring these biased democrats.

[Theinquisition]

If we're going to play this game then we get to purge any member of the investigation who has supported Trump in any way as well.

Which would leave no one to investigate anyone. Wouldn't that be nice for you eh?

Fortunately this really weak smear attempt won't matter -- because this investigation will still roll on.

It's one thing to support a candidate in your own time, it's another to take action in support of or in opposition to a candidate or a leader while on the job, especially when your involved in corruption investigations.

[Kiri]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...-top-aide.html



Boy, it's great that we have a unbias, objective law enforcement investigative organization investigating our political leadership for corruption and wrong doing.....right?

You just know that if voting was not concealed, Republicans would bring that up as well.
Actually, I heard that Donald Trump also donated to the Democrats! He clearly is biased against the Republicans as well, so biased investigators are investigating biased people, just where will that lead?

[beanman12345]

Well, thanks for the reminder of how shitty fox news is with journalism.

[Felya]

I mean, I could understand if this was something like the 7th investigation into trump that was opened after the first 6 found no wrong doing, but that's not where we're at here. And no GOP person has the moral grounds to challenge this until it gets to that point.

Sorry to be so blunt, its a bit of a flaw...

That’s not relevant to what Tony is doing here. You are listing events that might lead you to believe in bias. 7 trials, without any substantive change or new information, implies bias. But, what calls bias here is simply tribalism... they are not saying democrats are doing anything biased, but that being a democrat or even knowing a democrat, implies bias.

It’s why it’s important, to point out that in this case. Actions that lead to Flynn’s troubles, were exposed to Trump before the controversy made it to national television. Both Obama and Yates, warned Trump about Flynn, well in advance of Pence displaying it on national television. Trump, because of tribalism this article pushes, ignored Yates and Obama.

This article is pushing an agenda, that resulted in Trump trusting Flynn over democrats. To now blame democrats for Trump’s action that this article pushes, is just fucked up. If this article’s rhetoric didn’t exist. Trump would have listened to democrats, wouldn’t have hired Flynn, thus wouldn’t be tied to Flynn’s guilty plea...

[Snorkles]

Fox getting their excuses in early it seems.

[Felya]

It's one thing to support a candidate in your own time, it's another to take action in support of or in opposition to a candidate or a leader while on the job, especially when your involved in corruption investigations.

Yates, the person this article claims knowing, shows bias to democrats... warned Trump about Flynn. If Trump listened to this biased democrat, instead of firing her, Flynn would never have had the job, to tie him to Trump. What was she supposed to do more to help Trump? Trap him in a closet, to stop appointing Flynn?

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Fox getting their excuses in early it seems.

... and they don’t make sense... democrats warned him! They warned him... they warned... they...

lol that’s my attempt at a fading echo in text...

[wunksta]

Boy, it's great that we have a unbias, objective law enforcement investigative organization investigating our political leadership for corruption and wrong doing.....right?

Who appointed him?

[Snorkles]

Yates, the person this article claims knowing, shows bias to democrats... warned Trump about Flynn. If Trump listened to this biased democrat, instead of firing her, Flynn would never have had the job, to tie him to Trump. What was she supposed to do more to help Trump? Trap him in a closet, to stop appointing Flynn?

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... and they don’t make sense... democrats warned him! They warned him... they warned... they...

lol that’s my attempt at a fading echo in text...

It doesn't need to make sense. It's Fox (and by extension Trump) signaling to the base that the investigation is illegitimate so when he's found guilty of something they can all scream bloody murder.

It's not even difficult. Fox could have just had a headline "Mueller. Clinton. Witch Hunt" with no actual article or qualification and as far as Trumps base is concerned that's enough to discredit the whole thing.

[Deleted]

Man, if only there was this energy and reporting for the issues with money in politics, when it wasn't to cover their own asses, but the actual people of the US.

[Ripster42]

Sorry to be so blunt, its a bit of a flaw...

Ya, I get your point. I'm just saying that the accusations of bias, no matter their founding at this stage in the process, by people who support the GOP, are laughable. They've made it abundantly clear that they don't care about bias when conducting investigations over the past 30 years. I don't think the investigation is biased as it's led by someone in the president's own party. He directs where the investigation goes. If there were only republicans or democrats in the investigation then I'd be way more inclined to believe it's biased.

[Mittens]

Authoritarian governments usually try to undermine institutions meant to check their powers and uphold the rule of law.

Anyway, I find it funny that republicans are claiming that the FBI is biased when its literally made by mostly conservatives.

[Breccia]

I do have to admit, "that one guy from the investigation went to the inauguration makes Mueller guilty, but, Sessions/Manafort/Flynn/Don Jr/Kushner/Gates/Papadoupoulus directly meeting with Russians is just normal politics" is a novel defense. Granted, it's a poorly-written novel with notes scribbled in the margin in crayon, but novel nonetheless.

"These FBI guys gave thousands to Clinton which is criminal, but Trump took hundreds of millions from Russia and that's totally fine guys!"

Also, one guy from the Mueller investigation tweets an anti-Trump message and is summarily removed. Trump admits obstruction of justice and suddenly it's "WHOA WHOA WHOA! Let's not get hasty!"

This is Whataboutism at its finest, folks. But it's not enough Whataboutism, to make objective evidence stop being objective evidence. Also, remember the time Flynn confessed? Even if every single member of the Mueller investigation was 100% biased -- just so we're clear, this OP doesn't get anywhere close to that -- but even if they were, that doesn't create evidence from thin air. This doesn't get them a guilty plea. This doesn't force the courts to give baseless warrants. And, most importantly, it doesn't make this go away.

Keep screaming into the wind. I especially like how the playbook has gone through "There was no collusion with Russia and therefore there is no obstruction of justice because there was no collusion" to "Well collusion is not illegal and Flynn was a coffee boy" to "Well they're all partisan, so of course they're going to find something because they're partisan" to "But her emaaaaaaaaails!" Maybe if Trump's rabid fanbase had stuck with actual facts, they wouldn't need to resort to an ad hominem attack.