Ominous or just sensible?

The Justice Department's third-ranking official, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, is resigning her post for a job in the private sector, officials said Friday.

Brand moved to depart after an unusually brief tenure in the post: just eight-and-a-half months. She's expected to take a senior position at Wal-Mart, one source close to the Justice Department said.

Brand has been the focus of recent speculation since she could be abruptly elevated to take over management of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

[...]

The possibility that Trump could fire Rosenstein has led to talk that Brand might step into his shoes, since she's next in the department's order of succession. But Trump could appoint any presidentially-confirmed official in the government — or one of hundreds of other Justice Department employees — to take Rosenstein's job on an acting basis.

  Politico

Quitting now relieves Brand of having to take a stance.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

He's even dumber than I thought

Others said Trump would try to fire Mueller, but I honestly didn't think he would be that stupid. Apparently, he is.  He tried it last summer.  I guess that's not obstruction? It's "fighting back"? Holy shit dumbass.

Who leaked this?  Bannon?  McGahn?  A frightened aid?

President Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, according to four people told of the matter, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive.

[...]

Mr. Mueller learned about the episode in recent months as his investigators interviewed current and former senior White House officials in his inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice.

[...]

[Trump said] Mr. Mueller had three conflicts of interest that disqualified him from overseeing the investigation.

[...]

First, he claimed that a dispute years ago over fees at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., had prompted Mr. Mueller, the F.B.I. director at the time, to resign his membership. The president also said Mr. Mueller could not be impartial because he had most recently worked for the law firm that previously represented the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Finally, the president said, Mr. Mueller had been interviewed to return as the F.B.I. director the day before he was appointed special counsel in May.

[...]

[White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn] disagreed with the president’s case and told senior White House officials that firing Mr. Mueller would have a catastrophic effect on Mr. Trump’s presidency. Mr. McGahn also told White House officials that Mr. Trump would not follow through on the dismissal on his own. The president then backed off.

  NYT

Ty Cobb, who manages the White House’s relationship with Mr. Mueller’s office, said in a statement, “We decline to comment out of respect for the Office of the Special Counsel and its process.”

Ha.

Mr. McGahn, a longtime Republican campaign finance lawyer in Washington who served on the Federal Election Commission, was the top lawyer on Mr. Trump’s campaign. He has been involved in nearly every key decision Mr. Trump has made — like the firing of the former F.B.I. director — that is being scrutinized by Mr. Mueller.

And if he hasn't already talked to the FBI, he'll be next.

Mr. McGahn was also concerned that firing the special counsel would incite more questions about whether the White House was trying to obstruct the Russia investigation.

Indeed it would. And it won't matter that he didn't do it. The point is Trump asked him to.

Another option that Mr. Trump considered in discussions with his advisers was dismissing the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, and elevating the department’s No. 3 official, Rachel Brand, to oversee Mr. Mueller.

Is there reason to believe she would have obstructed Mueller?

In an interview with The New York Times in the Oval Office in July, the president pointedly kept open the option of firing Mr. Mueller, saying that the special counsel would be passing a “red line” if his investigation expanded to look at Mr. Trump’s finances.

[...]

Trump has wavered for months about whether he wants to fire Mr. Mueller, whose job security is an omnipresent concern among the president’s legal team and close aides. The president’s lawyers, including Mr. Cobb, have tried to keep Mr. Trump calm by assuring him for months, amid new revelations about the inquiry, that it is close to ending.

This will set him on a rampage. Is it morning yet in Davos?



...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Leaky, Leaky

Jesus, Joseph and Mary!

The senior Justice Department official with ultimate authority over the special counsel's probe of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election has privately acknowledged to colleagues that he may have to recuse himself from the matter, which he took charge of only after Attorney General Jeff Sessions' own recusal, sources tell ABC News.

[...]

Rosenstein, who authored an extensive and publicly-released memorandum recommending Comey's firing, raised the possibility of his recusal during a recent meeting with Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, the Justice Department's new third-in-command, according to sources.

[...]

In the recent meeting with Brand, Rosenstein told her that if he were to recuse himself, she would have to step in and take over those responsibilities. She was sworn-in little more than a month ago.

[...]

Rosenstein is keenly aware that he could become a potential witness in the investigation.

[...]

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked Rosenstein specifically whether he might have a conflict of interest if he becomes a witness in the investigation. "I'm not going to answer hypothetical questions," Rosenstein said. "[But] I am working with career professionals who know these rules and are responsible for enforcing these rules, and I can assure you that we're going to do the right thing, and we're going to defend the integrity of that investigation."

[...]

As for Brand, she previously led the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, and she most recently served as a member of the government's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

  ABC

She didn't lead it so's anyone would notice.  One hardly notices we have one.

[AG Jeff] Sessions recently said Brand "has proven herself to be a brilliant lawyer."

"She is also a dedicated public servant who is strongly committed to upholding the rule of law and our Constitution," he added.

Praise from Jeff Sessions ought to be the last thing she wants.

I suppose the Trump administration is hoping Rosenstein recuses himself.  That way, they don't have to worry about the impulse-control-challenged president firing him and causing a bigger fracas.

Are we sure Trump hasn't talked to Brand about the investigation?




...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.