Trump team's contact with Mueller targets could taint findings

[DonViejo]

Legal experts say the president’s lawyers may be pushing ethical boundaries by communicating with people involved in the Mueller probe.

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN 10/08/2018 08:11 AM EDT

Donald Trump’s lawyers have maintained an unusual level of contact with attorneys representing clients caught up in the expanding Russia probe, communication that could taint evidence that special counsel Robert Mueller is collecting in his investigation of the president.

They’re not being shy about it either.

The president's attorneys talk openly about these “joint defense agreements” that they say were established to keep them connected with lawyers tied to the president’s aides, allies and associates. They took the lead in organizing weekly conference calls earlier this year to strategize with other counsel during an intense period of Mueller’s investigation. In total, Trump’s lawyers have publicly noted they have more than 30 so-called JDAs with Mueller probe targets. Under these agreements, Trump’s attorneys can seek details on everything from what questions and documents Mueller’s team is asking about to who’s on the verge of criminal indictment.

The arrangement itself is routine for complex investigations where scores of people get drawn in as witnesses, subjects and even targets. Staying in touch through formalized JDAs is a way to share information under the protection of attorney-client privilege.

But the Trump team’s use of JDAs has pushed legal boundaries, especially in the instances where the president’s lawyers claim to have maintained these relationships with defense teams representing Mueller targets who have flipped to cooperate with the Russia probe.

For legal experts, it’s an approach in line with the team’s broader strategy to ignore well-established norms, whether through campaign-style attacks on the special counsel or blunt, public assessments of Mueller’s movements.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/08/trump-attorneys-talk-mueller-877373

[Chickensoup]

1. Let us hope we win the house and put

an end to this corruption, obstruction
and massive tax evasion.

[Hoyt]

2. Heck, trump meeting with Rosenstein today may taint findings.

After the so-called FBI "investigation" of Kavanaugh, why should we really believe Mueller is going to get trump or his family?

I think it is past time for a preliminary report. The electorate deserves to know BEFORE the November elections.