Back in October, close spectators of the ongoing Mueller probe were surprised to see what apparently is a top-secret grand jury filing in the case — a subpoena for an unnamed witness that no one outside the relevant legal parties and the presiding judges seem to know the identity of.
Politico reported at the time that the case appeared to be similar to one in which an ally of Trump campaign contact Roger Stone, Andrew Miller, unsuccessfully attempted to challenge Robert Mueller’s ultimate authority to even conduct his investigation. Miller tried to get his own subpoena squashed on those grounds, but the federal judge overseeing his case denied the motion.
If this “mystery” witness is doing the same, no one knows who it is or why.
But today lawyers are back at work on the grand jury summons, gathered in the DC Court of Appeals, where the entire proceedings are under lock and key.
No reason has been given for the utmost level of secrecy, but all appearances point to a major witness in the Mueller investigation: Only one judge has recused himself from the case, Judge Greg Katsas, who served as White House counsel to Donald Trump and promised a “broad view” of recusal in matters related to Russia when he was nominated to the federal bench.
This case, with no details visible on the docket, has bounced between Judge Beryl Howell’s courtroom and the Court of Appeals a number of times now.
Hello from the 5th floor of the US Court of Appeals in DC, where I’m on stakeout with about a dozen of my reporter colleagues. No sightings yet of either side in the mystery apparent Mueller case, which begins in a sealed courtroom in about 20 or so mins. https://t.co/njdZtYMfi1
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 14, 2018
We’re now allowed back on the floor where DC Circuit arguments were taking place, but the courtroom area is locked and no official confirmation yet that arguments are over. No spottings of note so far (your court press corps is spread out around the building and outside)
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 14, 2018
The cloak-and-dagger will surely make for an interesting part of the movie all of this is eventually made into.
Featured image via screen capture
