Hard to say whether Trump would find that a good thing for him, but it's definitely possible, complicating both the investigation and the shutdown.Special counsel Robert Mueller's federal grand jury has been extended so it may continue to meet and vote on criminal indictments for up to six more months.
The grand jury's initial 18-month term was set to expire over the weekend.
[...]
They last met, according to CNN reporting, on December 21 for about two hours.
In recent months, there have been several signs Mueller's grand jury would press on.
Several associates of Trump adviser Roger Stone have received grand jury subpoenas. One associate is known to still be fighting a grand jury subpoena. Stone has not been charged with a crime, though has publicly stated he believes he will be indicted.
Separately, a foreign-owned company is fighting another grand jury subpoena apparently related to Mueller's investigation, with a challenge currently before the Supreme Court. And the criminal case against Concord Management is related to an "unidentified matter occurring before the grand jury," Justice Department prosecutors wrote to a judge on Thursday.
Under federal rules, the court is able to extend a grand jury's term for up to six months if it is "in the public interest."
It is not yet known how the federal government shutdown will affect the grand jury's schedule. The federal court system has not yet run out of funding, but may by the end of next week.
CNN
This is going to be a very rough year. Unless Mueller is almost finished and just needed a couple more weeks, in which case, it will be a slightly less rough year.
It's a good thing I didn't realize the grand jury was set to expire this weekend, or I'd have been terribly bummed when no indictments came out today.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if a new grand jury can be convened for the investigation if this one runs out of time. Surely it could.
UPDATE: According to ex-federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti, that's exactly what would happen.
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