Federal Judge Hands Grand Jury in Mueller Probe Huge Extension
It’s never going to end, is it?
At the rate we’re going, President Donald Trump will be several months removed from the end of his second term before the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation yields anything.
That’s an exaggeration, but not much of one.
As Politico is reporting, Mueller’s Washington grand jury has had its term formally extended by a federal judge.
“The chief judge confirms that grand jury 17-1 has been extended,” an aide to Chief Judge Beryl Howell said.
The grand jury has produced several indictments related to Mueller’s investigation, including former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Most federal grand juries are given an 18-month term, meaning Mueller’s investigation would have expired Saturday given that it started on July 5, 2017.
Now, however, Howell has approved the six-month extension.
Curiously, no comment or explanation was given as to why the extension was granted.
On the one hand, as Politico notes, six-month extensions are “routinely granted” for these federal grand juries.
But on the other hand, based on what little the Mueller investigation has yielded, why would anyone think another six months would change anything?
Leftists and Democrats have long pinned their hopes for a potential Trump impeachment on the findings of Mueller. It’s why Democrats swiftly introduced legislation to essentially grant Mueller immunity from Trump in their first day of power in the House.
To be clear, Mueller absolutely should be granted an extension if there were evidence that he had something or anything that could concretely link Trump’s campaign to Russian collusion. Tampering with an election and undermining American democracy are grave offenses.
But at this point, Mueller has nothing. He has less than nothing. Oh, wait, he does have a $350 million lawsuit after he tried to bully conservative author Jerome Corsi into testifying.
Mueller might be eyeing more indictments during the six-month extension, but he still has nothing tangible linking Trump to Russia.
Trump often likens Mueller’s probe to a “witch hunt,” and it’s hard to blame the president for that particular characterization. It might even be an understatement.
With another six months, Mueller probably has a better chance of uncovering an actual coven of witches than anything that concretely connects Trump to illegal meddling in the 2016 election.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
