Democrats ready to fight to make Robert Mueller report public
A top House Democrat has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller’s Russia investigation is not made public. Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said his committee will keep close watch on new Attorney General William Barr to see if he were “to try to bury any part of this report.” Schiff, D-Calif., also pledged to “take it to court if necessary.” He said anything less than complete disclosure would leave Barr, who now oversees the investigation, with “a tarnished legacy.” Schiff’s comments come as Democrats have made it clear that they are ready for an aggressive, public fight with the Justice Department if they are not satisfied with the level of access they have to Mueller’s findings. Mueller is showing signs of wrapping up his nearly 2-year-old investigation into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia’s efforts to sway the 2016 election. The report isn’t expected to be delivered to the Justice Department this coming week. Barr has said he wants to release as much information as he can. But during his confirmation hearing last month, Barr made clear that he will decide what the public sees, and that any report will be in his words, not Mueller’s. Schiff, in a television interview, suggested that anything short of Mueller’s full report would not satisfy Democrats. He pointed to a public interest in seeing some of the underlying evidence, such as information gathered from searches conducted on longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign chairman. With Democrats taking control of the House in January and Schiff now the committee chairman, he has undertaken his own investigation. That means re-examining issues covered by a now-closed GOP probe that concluded there was no evidence Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia. Schiff has said the committee also will pursue new matters, including whether foreign governments have leverage over Trump, his relatives or associates. Some Democrats are pointing to documents that Justice Department officials provided to Congress in the wake of the investigation of Hillary Clinton‘s emails, as well as information that Republicans demanded as part of their own inquiries. Schiff said he told department officials after they released information related to the Clinton investigation that “this was a new precedent they were setting and they were going to have to live by this precedent whether it was a Congress controlled by the Democrats or Republicans.” Beyond that, however, is “the intense public need to know here, which I think overrides any other consideration,” he said. Democrats could use Mueller’s findings as the basis of impeachment proceedings. In a letter Friday, Democrats warned against withholding information on Trump on the basis of department opinions that the president can’t be indicted. “We are going to get to the bottom of this,” Schiff said. “If the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report.” Many Republicans have also argued that the full report should be released, though most have stopped short of saying it should be subpoenaed. “We need to get the facts out there, get this behind us in a way that people thought that anybody that should have been talked to was talked to any question that should have been asked, was asked,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But asked if he thought there could be a subpoena, Blunt, R-Mo., said, “I don’t know that you can.” The Senate committee also has been investigating whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia. Blunt suggested a conclusion in that probe might wait until after Mueller’s report. “We’d like to have frankly a little more access to the Mueller investigation before we come to a final conclusion,” Blunt said. “His report will help us write our final report. We’ve given Mueller full access to all of our interviews all of our investigation. We haven’t had that reciprocated and so we’ll soon find out what else is out there that we might not know about.” Schiff appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” and Blunt was on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Spencer Collier lists AL.com’s John Archibald passenger day of accident on witness list in Robert Bentley case
Last week, a witness list was released in an ongoing defamation lawsuit filed against former-Gov. Robert Bentley by his former law enforcement chief Spencer Collier. Collier, who is currently the Selma police chief, sued Bentley in 2016. He contends the former Governor wrongfully fired him in March 2016 as secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) and then tried to discredit him with a sham state investigation. Flash forward to August 2017 and Collier was injured in a two vehicle car crash on Hwy 80 in Montgomery County that led to an investigation, since at the time of the crash Collier was driving an unmarked police SUV issued to him by the city of Selma. Ultimately Collier was cleared of any wrong-doing. After months of coverage on the suit, Alabama Today was tipped off this week to one glaring omission from all of the coverage written thus far: nestled 11 pages deep in a 12 page document, is one key fact: AL.com’s John Archibald was in the with Spencer the day of the wreck. “If any Defendant makes Collier’s wreck of August 14, 2017, an issue, Collier reserves the right to call any witness who has information of Collier’s condition on the day of the wreck including Selma Police Officers, the Selma PD Dispatcher, the Custodian of Records for the Selma PD and al.com columnist John Archibald who rode with Collier on the day of the wreck,” reads the subpoena. According to WSFA-12 the crash report revealed at around 7:45 p.m.: Collier’s vehicle was traveling east on U.S. 80 when it left the roadway, re-entered, then over corrected. Collier’s vehicle then began spinning before crossing the median and striking a second vehicle. The reports indicate Collier told investigators he did not remember anything about the crash or the events leading up to it. The driver of the second vehicle told investigators that when he realized Collier’s vehicle was starting to the cross the median, he hit his brakes and tried to take evasive action to avoid the collision. The report also shows investigators took a blood sample from Collier and submitted it to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. In dozens of articles about the crash — Times Daily, Lagniappe Mobile, Selma Times Journal, WSFA-12, Montgomery Advertiser, Decatur Daily, Alabama News Net — we found no mention of Archibald being in the car with Collier that day. In fact, AL.com, who usually doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to covering everything happening in the state, did not cover the accident whatsoever. Out of 810 articles that mention Collier, there’s not a single one that talks about the car crash where one of their writers, who also happens to now be a Pulitzer Prize winner, was with Collier some time prior to the wreck. Here’s where things get interesting. While the crash is seemingly unrelated to Collier’s firing and subsequent lawsuit, the toxicology report also appears to significant to Bentley in the suit with Collier. In December 2017, the former Governor attempted to subpoena the reports from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS). In addition to the toxicology results, Bentley also subpoenaed all documents related to the wreck and “any and all communications related to your investigation into Collier’s car accident… including without limitation any internal communications.” Archibald has further clarified in a tweet to Alabama Today that he was not in the car with Collier at the time of the accident, but rather with him earlier in the day. “Are you saying I was a passenger in Collier’s wreck? I was not. We filmed him in his cop car earlier in the day,” tweeted Archibald. Are you saying I was a passenger in Collier’s wreck? I was not. We filmed him in his cop car earlier in the day. — John Archibald (@JohnArchibald) January 30, 2019 See the full subpoena below: *Headline and article have been updated to reflect John Archibald were not in the wreck together. Rather Archibald was a passenger in Collier’s car that day.
Robert Bentley, others subpoenaed in impeachment investigation
Alabama’s House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to Governor Robert Bentley, his former top aide Rebekah Mason, among others as part of an ongoing impeachment investigation against the governor on Thursday. The subpoenas were issued by Alabama House of Representatives Clerk Jeff Woodard after special counsel Jack Sharman claimed he wasn’t getting voluntarily cooperation. “The office of the governor has flatly, adamantly and in every way possible made clear they are not going to cooperate,” Sharman told the committee. “The same thing is true of every other person and entity on that list I provided you.” The following were issued subpoenas: Robert Bentley, individually and as Governor Bentley for Governor, Inc. Michael H. Echols Jonathan Mason Rebekah Mason Alabama Council for Excellent Government JRM Enterprises, Inc. RCM Communications, Inc. The subpoenaed documents also include five years of the governor’s tax returns, bank records, personnel records, cellphone records, text messages and other communications with Rebekah Mason, Jon Mason, Spencer Collier, Stan Stabler, Ray Lewis and Cooper Shattuck, as well as any government payments to companies belonging to Mason and her husband. “These individuals and corporations have until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 10, 2016, to deliver the requested documentation to the special counsel,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman and Andalusia-Republican Rep. Mike Jones in a statement. “If they fail to comply, we will take appropriate action.” Bentley still maintains his innocence, claiming he has not broken any laws or done anything that would warrant impeachment.
