Why AG Sessions declined to appoint a special counsel

Matheson Court House Salt Lake City UT

Image source — By Chanilim714, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53701439

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American Thinker
by Thomas Lifson
3/30/3018

Excerpts:

A lot of conservatives are upset that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has declined for now to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate claims of FBI abuses in surveilling the Trump campaign, and in declining to investigate the Uranium One deal, followed by well over a hundred million dollars of donations to Clinton family-controlled charities by parties benefitting from approval of that sale.  CNN first broke the story, obtaining a four-page letter that Sessions sent to Senator Grassley, and Representatives Goodlatte and Gowdy, who had requested a special counsel.

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….. for the moment, at least, I see good reason for Sessions to take this position. In the letter, Sessions noted that he has asked the DOJ’s Inspector General Horowitz to investigate these matters, and, in a new disclosure, tasked US Attorney John W. Huber to investigate. Huber serves in Utah, far from the beltway, and was first appointed US Attorney by President Obama, and reappointed by Trump.

First of all, while the IG cannot convene a grand jury and subpoena witnesses outside the DOJ’s employees, Huber can. And the IG can and does make criminal referrals. There is tremendous inside expertise on the DOJ resident in the IG’s organization, meaning that there is no start-up delay and no learning curve in getting to work on abuses. So, with the IG digging up information, and referring it to Huber, further steps, including subpoenas to former DOJ and FBI employees, such as Andrew McCabe and James Comey, can be taken before a grand jury in Utah. An indictments issued by that grand jury presumably could be tried before a federal jury in Utah, whereas a special counsel would most likely work with courts in the District of Columbia, Virginia, or Maryland, beltway strongholds. Which jury pool would you prefer? The District of Columbia or Utah?

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