A Crack in the Independent Prosecutor Wall

A Republican Congressman has admitted, publicly, on video tape, that there needs to be an independent prosecutor assigned to investigate trump!  Let's have a party!  Yipee!  Woooo wooo!  And what's more, he is a Representative known to be partisan and at least according to one fellow Congressman "acrimonious" 

Congressman Derrell Issa, a Republican from California  was on the HBO show Real Time, hosted by Bill Maher.  Issa was at first reluctant to make this declaration.  He told Maher that the investigations would happen in the House and Senate Intelligence committees.  Maher pressed the issue and Issa  ended up agreeing with maher:

“You’re right that you cannot have somebody — a friend of mine, Jeff Sessions — who was on the campaign and who is an appointee. You’re going to need to use the special prosecutor’s statute and office."

He also pointed out that handing the job to the deputy attorney general, who is also a political appointee, would be unreliable as well

Issa served as head of the House Oversight committee. Congressman Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland who is currently and was the ranking Democrat on the same committee has been quoted as saying Issa's leadership of the Oversight Committee for four years was "filled with acrimony, partisanship and sometimes vulgar displays”

In related news, we all know that the FBI is conducting its own investigation into the Russian hacking of the 2016 election and possible contact between trump's campaign staff and Russian officials during the presidential campaign. Reports by CNN and the AP have noted that White House chief of staff reince priebus contacted top FBI officials, including FBI Director James Comey, and asked them to “publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign.” The FBI refused.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/fbi-refused-white-house-request-to-knock-down-recent-trump-russia-stories/

https://www.apnews.com/947a3d6577e34e87920381f4914e20d3/White-House-adviser-asked-FBI-to-dispute-Russia-reports

In an article by a news source with the name Think Progress, which I have not seen before, but is obviously "liberal leaning", I found the following information.  The publication spoke with Harvard law professor Larry Tribe.  Tribe noted that, “[i]t could well be attempted obstruction of justice, and it’s certainly so unethical that it would be a firing offense for a chief of staff in any White House that respects the rule of law.”

https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-efforts-to-obstruct-the-russia-investigation-may-have-finally-gone-too-far-1513e5d9f3a4#.yxmmdiyof


U.S. law specifically states that anyone, ANYONE, who attempts to influence the administration of justice is in violation of this code:

18 U.S. Code § 1503 - Influencing or injuring officer or juror generally
(a)

Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, endeavors to influence, intimidate, or impede any grand or petit juror, or officer in or of any court of the United States, or officer who may be serving at any examination or other proceeding before any United States magistrate judge or other committing magistrate, in the discharge of his duty, or injures any such grand or petit juror in his person or property on account of any verdict or indictment assented to by him, or on account of his being or having been such juror, or injures any such officer, magistrate judge, or other committing magistrate in his person or property on account of the performance of his official duties, or corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

Even if priebus is not found to be in violation of this statute he certainly appears to be in violation of a DOJ rule regarding communication between White House officials and DOJ ongoing investigations.  The FBI reports to the DOJ.  In a 2009 memo from then Attorney General Holder, the White House is prohibited from directly communicating with the FBI about ongoing investigations.  The only possible communication, per the memo, is of a limited nature between the President, Vice President or the White House Counsel and the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General.

Think Progress reports that  David Cole, the National Legal Director for the ACLU, believes priebus broke those rules.  Not that I'm a lawyer, but as I've said before, I can read and comprehend what I'm reading.  Seems to me like he has definitely run afoul of the memo that draws a line between the White House and any investigations being performed by the DOJ.  Now back to the subject of an Independent prosecutor; we're not going to know what priebus said to the FBI without one, and therefore will not be able to determine if he has broken the law.