Trump’s new AG, Matt Whitaker, tweeted that The People will never see “evidence discovered by Mueller’s Grand Jury investigation.”
But, October 31, 2018, the National Archives released the Watergate “Road Map,” which Special Prosecutor sent to Congress in 1974. In short, the Special Prosecutor in Watergate, had the Grand Jury send the “evidence” they discovered directly to the US House to impeach Nixon because the Grand Jury might not be able to “indict” Nixon.
These two things: the release of the “Road Map” of Watergate and Trump’s new AG saying The People will never see the “evidence discovered by Mueller’s Grand Jury” are very important because Mueller can do what the Special Prosecutor in Watergate did and that is to have the Grand Jury send their evidence directly to the US House which now in Democrat control.
Rachel Maddow did a segment on this on her October 31, 2018 show. Here’s a partial transcript of her show
MADDOW: As you know, 45 years ago this past week was the Saturday night massacre, October, 1973. That`s when Nixon fired the special prosecutor who is investigating Watergate. That
was this guy, Archibald Cox. Nixon fired his way through the upper echelons of the Justice Department until someone would finally obey his order to fire the Watergate special prosecutor.But there was such an outcry that soon enough, another special prosecutor was appointed to take his place. His name was Leon Jaworski. Now, first under Archibald Cox, and then Leon Jaworski, there were tons of people who were indicted in the Watergate scandal, dozens of them. Nearly 50
government officials indicted for felony crimes by a grand jury, and then convicted. And a lot of them went to prison.But when it came to President Nixon, there was an issue. The grand jury that indicted all those other government officials in Watergate, turns out they heard a lot of evidence about President Nixon`s criminal behavior, as well.
Maddow continued saying
MADDOW: The grand jury collated all that evidence, enough for an indictment for sure, they made clear, but because it was the president, what happened was the judge overseeing the grand jury proceedings ruled that the secrecy of the grand jury proceeding in terms of all that
testimony they collected, all that evidence they collected about Nixon`s crimes, the secrecy of that process could be broken in one very specific way for this one very specific case.Per judge`s orders, they were cleared, the grand jury was cleared to collate all the evidence they had collected that might otherwise be used to bring an indictment against the president. They were allowed to put that evidence together in a sealed, confidential report. And instead of
creating an indictment, they were cleared by the judge to send that document over to the Judiciary Committee in the House for them to do with as they saw fit, to start the process of impeaching the president to remove him from office.
And here’s where Maddow put the cherry on top and explains why and how Mueller’s Grand Jury can do the same thing.
MADDOW: Basically, here, from the grand jury, use this information, not to put the president on trial in a courtroom, use it to put on an impeachment trial against him in the Congress. The grand jury is allowed to break its secrecy to provide that evidence to the only court in which that president will be tried, which is impeachment proceedings in Congressto potentially remove him. That`s what they did. That`s what happened.
Maddow then quotes the Judge for the Watergate Grand Jury
“The grand jury has heard evidence that it regards as having a material bearing on matters that are within the primary jurisdiction of the House of Representatives committee and its present investigation to determine whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach Richard M. Nixon, president of the United States. It`s the belief of this grand jury that it should presently defer to the House of Representatives and allow the House to determine what action may be warranted at this time by this evidence.”
~1974 Judge overseeing the Grand Jury for Watergate
This is KEY! “… primary jurisdiction is the House” so therefore, the Grand Jury was instructed to send their evidence to, as Maddow said, “the only court in which that president will be tried which is … Congress”
Maddow then concludes with:
MADDOW: They`re calling this a road map for the Mueller investigation, for how the factualfindings of the Mueller investigation that pertain to the president and potentially to the vice president, how those things should be reported to Congress and to what end. Quote, the road map is critical historical precedent for ensuring that the facts uncovered in special counsel Mueller`s investigation become public and serve as the basis for whatever accountability is necessary. Our democracy depends on it.
So, now that Trump has appointed another toady, Matt Whitaker, let’s hope Mueller requests the Judge instructs the Grand Jury in the same exact way the Watergate Grand Jury was instructed.