Tuesday Open Thread | Meet the lawyers Robert Mueller has hired for the Russia investigation

Posted on August 8, 2017 by SouthernGirl2

As the investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia gains traction, special counsel Robert Mueller has begun quietly assembling a formidable team of top lawyers and investigators.

Mueller has so far hired 16 people and intends to bring on more, his spokesman Peter Carr told The New York Times.

Only a handful have been named publicly so far, but legal experts and fellow lawyers who have spoken to media in recent days lauded the new hires as a powerhouse team of experienced professionals with sterling credentials who rank among the best in their field.

Dreeben, the deputy solicitor general overseeing the Department of Justice’s criminal docket, is widely regarded as one of the top criminal law experts in the federal government. He will work for Mueller on the investigation part-time as he juggles the DOJ’s criminal appellate cases. Dreeben is best known for having argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court — a feat that fewer than 10 other attorneys have accomplished in the court’s history. Peers say his hiring reveals how seriously Mueller is taking the investigation, and how wide-ranging it ultimately could be. “That Mueller has sought his assistance attests both to the seriousness of his effort and the depth of the intellectual bench he is building,” Paul Rosenzweig, a former Homeland Security official and Whitewater investigator, wrote on the Lawfare blog. Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York who was recently fired by Trump, called Dreeben one of the DOJ’s top legal and appellate minds in modern times
Weissmann joined Mueller’s team after taking a leave of absence from his current job leading the DOJ’s criminal fraud unit. He formerly served as general counsel to the FBI under Mueller’s leadership. Weissman also headed up the Enron Task Force between 2002 and 2005, for which he oversaw the prosecutions of 34 people connected to the collapsed energy company, including chairman Kenneth Lay and CEO Jeffrey Skilling. He spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor in the eastern district of New York, where he specialized in prosecuting mafia members and bosses from the Colombo, Gambino, and Genovese families. “As a fraud and foreign bribery expert, he knows how to follow the money. Who knows what they will find, but if there is something to be found, he will find it,” Emily Pierce, a former DOJ spokeswoman under the Obama administration, told Politico. Weissman is one of several attorneys in Mueller’s team that has donated to Democrats, although he does not appear to have donated in the 2016 election. He gave $2,300 to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, and $2,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2006, according to CNN’s review of FEC records.
Rhee is one of several attorneys to resign from the WilmerHale law firm to join Mueller’s investigation. She also has two years of DOJ experience, serving as deputy assistant attorney general under former Attorney General Eric Holder. She advised Holder and Obama administration officials on criminal law issues, as well as criminal procedure and executive issues, according to her biography on WilmerHale’s website. As many critics of Mueller’s investigation have pointed out, Rhee represented Hillary Clinton in a 2015 lawsuit that sought access to her private emails. She also represented the Clinton Foundation in a 2015 racketeering lawsuit. Rhee is also one of the members of Mueller’s team under scrutiny for her political donations, and has doled out more than $16,000 to Democrats since 2008, CNN reported. She maxed out her donations both in 2015 and 2016 to Clinton’s presidential campaign, giving a total of $5,400.
Quarles is another of Mueller’s former WilmerHale colleagues, who left the firm to join the special counsel investigation. Quarles is a well-respected, longtime litigator who served as an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate investigation early in his career — experience that gives him a significant edge in the Trump-Russia probe, according to colleagues. “There is nothing comparable to the kind of pressure and obligation that this kind of job puts on your shoulders,” Richard Ben-Veniste, one of Watergate’s special prosecutors, told CNN. “Having been there before gives [Quarles] the confidence to know how to do it and how to do it right.” Quarles is also being scrutinized for donating almost $33,000 to politicians in past years. Although most of the donations went to Democrats — including Obama and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns — FEC records show he has also donated small amounts to Republicans such as Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
Zebley is a longtime FBI staffer who spent years in the counterterrorism division as a special agent before becoming the agency’s chief of staff under Mueller’s leadership. Between FBI stints, Zebley served as assistant US attorney in the national security and terrorism unit. He then moved to the DOJ’s national security division before eventually joining the WilmerHale firm in 2014. He, like Quarles and Rhee, left his job at the firm to work on Mueller’s investigation. Zebley’s early work at the FBI consisted of grueling, complicated investigations into terrorist groups like Al Qaeda — even before 9/11 propelled the organization into infamy. Yet in recent years at WilmerHale, his focus has turned to cybersecurity. A recent profile in Wired called Zebley a “dogged FBI agent turned prosecutor turned confidant,” noting that his tenacity, history of working alongside Mueller, and globetrotting, investigatory experience will be crucial assets moving into the Trump-Russia probe.
Greg Andres joined the all-star team on August 1, according to Reuters. Andres spent two years at the US Department of Justice from 2010-2012, and is now the 16th lawyer on Mueller’s roster. During his time at the Justice Department, Andres oversaw the fraud unit as deputy assistant attorney general and managed a program targeting illegal foreign bribery. He oversaw the prosecution of Robert Allen Stanford for operating an $8 billion Ponzi scheme. Most recently, Andres practices white-collar criminal defense with David Polk & Wardwell, a New York based law firm, Reuters reported. Before his stint in the DOJ, Andres spent a decade as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, and served as the chief of the US attorney office’s criminal division, Reuters reported. Andres helped bust members of the Bonnano organized crime family. One of the family members was accused of plotting to have him killed.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
This entry was posted in 2016 Elections, Current Events, Donald Trump, Espionage, FBI, HACKING, Money Laundering, News, Obstruction of Justice, Open Thread, Politics, RICO, Russia and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

51 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread | Meet the lawyers Robert Mueller has hired for the Russia investigation

  1. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Jeb Bush on Trump’s first 200 days: Feels like world has been ‘turned upside down’
    08/08/17 04:06 PM EDT

    Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Tuesday said President Trump’s first 200 days in the White House makes it feel as if “the whole world’s been turned upside down.”

    “It’s exhausting. I mean, it’s an incomplete grade in the sense that not much has been done,” Bush told Univision News about grading Trump’s first six months in office. “But it feels like the whole world’s been turned upside down.”

    Reply
  4. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    Daniel Gross‏Verified account @grossdm

    looking forward to next Politico piece: “After failing to avert thermonuclear war, Ivanka and Jared are moving on.”

    Reply
  6. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    White House defends silence on mosque bombing, says it might have been faked by liberals

    The White House will not officially comment on the bombing of a Minnesota mosque because it may be a hate crime faked by a liberal, according to Trump national security adviser Sebastian Gorka.

    An as-of-yet unidentified individual threw a makeshift bomb through the window of a mosque in Minnesota Saturday, and Gorka was asked on MSNBC Monday if the White House will comment. Gorka said that the White House will “absolutely” comment once there is a finalized investigation into the incident.

    “There’s a great rule: All initial reports are false,” Gorka said. “You have to check them and find out who the perpetrators are. We’ve had a series of crimes committed, alleged hate crimes by right wing individuals in the last six months that turned out to be prop propagated by the left. Let’s allow the local authorities to provide their assessment and then the White House will make its comments.”

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    ——————–
    McConnell Slams Trump for ‘Excessive Expectations’
    August 8, 2017 at 2:14 pm EDT

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “offered some of his toughest criticism yet for President Donald Trump in a speech Monday,” CNN reports.

    Said McConnell: “Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before. I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”

    He added: “Part of the reason I think people think we’re under-performing is because of too many artificial deadlines unrelated to the reality of the legislature which may have not been understood.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/08/politics/mitch-mcconnell-excessive-expectations/index.html

    Reply
  9. SouthernGirl2 says:
    August 8, 2017 at 5:25 pm

    JESUS CHRIST! This imbecile here! What the hell have you done, America?

    https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/895013204849336320

    Reply
  10. SouthernGirl2 says:
    August 8, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    What is Trump up to w/ sending private appreciation messages to Robert Mueller after publicly calling the investigation a witch hunt? Is he trying to Comey him?

    https://twitter.com/make5calls/status/895044857332461569

    Reply
  11. Liza says:
    August 8, 2017 at 4:14 pm

    Glen Campbell, RIP.

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      August 8, 2017 at 4:05 pm

      The NFL owners believe they can blacklist Kaepernick, make an example of him, and never have to deal with this again. They believe the millions of dollars they pay to some players really should be enough to buy their silence on social justice issues that are offensive to their racist white fans. Apparently those are the only fans that matter.

      But 70 percent of NFL players are black. And, the projected revenue for the 2017 season is 14 billion. So, it would appear that the NFL is making boatloads of money off those black players.

      Maybe the NFL owners should stand up for them. Maybe they should try the f***ing high road just one time and see what it’s like.

      Reply
      • Liza says:
        August 8, 2017 at 4:06 pm

        NFL will reach $14 billion in 2017 revenue
        Posted by Mike Florio on March 6, 2017, 11:29 AM EDT

        Commissioner Roger Goodell said seven years ago that he’d like the NFL to reach $25 billion in annual revenue by 2027. The league is roughly on track to get there.

        Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal reports that the NFL expects to generate $14 billion in 2017. That’s a $6 billion increase from 2010, when the NFL racked up $8 billion.

        This year’s increase, per Kaplan, came from the Thursday Night Football package and the opening of the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The opening of the Falcons’ new stadium and the Chargers’ move to L.A. could contribute to future increases, culminating in what should be a major increase when the Chargers and Rams move into their new stadium in Inglewood.

        Getting to $25 billion per year by 2027 remains a challenge, especially in light of the complexities of the next wave of TV deals and potential challenges to holding the domestic audience together and growing the sport internationally.

        http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/03/06/nfl-will-reach-14-billion-in-2017-revenue/

        Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 11:46 am

    Elections have consequences….

    But…he was gonna make America great again…LOL

    On a cloud-swept landscape dotted with grain elevators, a meat producer called Prestage Farms is building a 700,000-square-foot processing plant. The gleaming new factory is both the great hope of Wright County, which voted by a 2-1 margin for Donald Trump, and the victim of one of Trump’s first policy moves, his decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

    For much of industrial America, the TPP was a suspect deal, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which some argue led to a massive offshoring of U.S. jobs to Mexico. But for the already struggling agricultural sector, the sprawling 12-nation TPP, covering 40 percent of the world’s economy, was a lifeline. It was a chance to erase punishing tariffs that restricted the United States—the onetime “breadbasket of the world”—from selling its meats, grains and dairy products to massive importers of foodstuffs such as Japan and Vietnam.

    The decision to pull out of the trade deal has become a double hit on places like Eagle Grove. The promised bump of $10 billion in agricultural output over 15 years, based on estimates by the U.S. International Trade Commission, won’t materialize. But Trump’s decision to withdraw from the pact also cleared the way for rival exporters such as Australia, New Zealand and the European Union to negotiate even lower tariffs with importing nations, creating potentially greater competitive advantages over U.S. exports.

    ………………………..

    That leaves workers in 13,000-person Wright County, whose survival depends largely on agriculture, with relatively few signs of optimism. Trump’s decision to walk away from the TPP has stoked uncertainty about U.S. trade policy and, more notably, the president’s commitment to rural America.
    “He fooled a lot of people,” said Sandy McGrath, mayor of Eagle Grove, who is not affiliated with any party and did not support Trump.

    Didn’t fool me, or millions like me, Boo. How come he ‘ fooled’ your neighbors…..

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/07/trump-tpp-deal-withdrawal-trade-effects-215459

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 11:42 am

    FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

    Landlord troubles: rich San Franciscans in uproar after their private street is sold

    Residents in the highly exclusive Presidio Terrace neighborhood got a surprise taste of the city’s infamous housing woes after a private road was sold at auction

    …………………………

    Still, in May of this year, the owners of 35 of San Francisco’s most
    exclusive and expensive homes became aware of a decidedly undesirable development: they no longer owned their private street.

    Two upstart real estate investors from San Jose, Tina Lam and Michael Cheng, had snapped up the street, the sidewalks and the landscaped islands of Presidio Terrace at a public auction
    of tax-defaulted properties in April 2015. The pair shelled out
    $90,582.50 for the plot, and they’re how exploring ways to earn a return on that investment.

    ……………………………………

    Unlike the vast majority of San Francisco streets, Presidio Terrace is
    private. Residents, via their HOA, are responsible for paying for the
    street’s maintenance and, as with any other private property, tax.

    The homeowners association stopped paying that tax many years ago, however, and in 2015, the city’s tax collector placed the property into default. That set the stage for the auction and the San Jose couple’s windfall.

    The homeowners association claims that the tax went unpaid not out of any desire to avoid payment (or inability to come up with the cash), but because the city was sending the bill to the address of an
    accountant who had not worked for them since the 1980s. They also fault the city for failing to send a notice of the default to any of the homeowners or their association.

    They are asking the city’s board of supervisors to intervene on their
    behalf and rescind the auction – a process allowed for by state law.
    They’ve also filed a lawsuit against Lam and the city. If the board of
    supervisors fails to rescind the sale – a vote is tentatively scheduled
    for October – the association will turn to the courts, said Emblidge.

    “I’m very optimistic that the city officials want to see a reasonable
    end to this, and a reasonable end is to rescind the sale and put things
    back the way they were,” Emblidge said. “The same thing that happened here could happen to anybody, poor or rich, that happens to have a parcel like this. The issue isn’t really a rich versus poor situation. It’s what should have to happen before someone can sell my property.

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      August 8, 2017 at 12:45 pm

      The decimation of the DOJ is in progress. It is just a question of how far they get before we finally get rid of Trump and Sessions and perhaps Pence. Rebuilding is harder than tearing down.

      Reply
  23. SouthernGirl2 says:
    August 8, 2017 at 10:01 am

    In the words of Martha And The Vandellas “Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide. Got nowhere to run to, baby….”

    https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/894686153323970560

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      August 8, 2017 at 11:08 am

      The future of the Democratic Party
      does not rest on the back of Kamala Harris, the junior senator from
      California. Furthermore, it is unfair for the Democratic Party to keep
      hanging its hope on black messianic figures, whom it hopes can bring new relevance to a struggling party. To be clear, there is a lot to like about Harris, the first black woman to hold a Senate position since Carol Moseley-Braun in the 1990s. Despite Ryan Cooper’s screed last week about “why leftists don’t trust Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Deval Patrick,” Harris’s policy positions free college, single payer health care, an increased minimum wage, and criminal justice reform, are solidly to the left. Still. Black women are not Jesus. It’s not right to expect us to fix what white Americans are so committed to breaking. This debate, then, isn’t about Harris, but about the emotional and political labor that black women are expected to do to save America’s soul…

      The biggest lie that members of the so-called “Sanders Left” told during the 2016 elections is that there was no appreciable difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. After six months of having Donald J. Trump lead the country, it’s quite clear that the left should have listened to 94 percent of black women voters. We know a disaster when we see one.

      Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    August 8, 2017 at 5:05 am

    Good Morning,Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

Leave a Reply to SouthernGirl2Cancel reply