Things are already looking bad for President Donald Trump this week thanks to new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, his botched response to Hurricane Michael, and rapper Kanye West’s insane visit to the White House, but the bad news is far from over.
It’s just been reported that a federal judge has ordered the release of a good portion of Watergate documents that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may be able to use to help his investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia. By releasing the grand jury report, Judge Beryl Howell is giving Mueller access to what was referred to as the Watergate “roadmap.”
In this report, there’s a two-page summary, 53 numbered statements, and 97 supporting documents — and Judge Howell is releasing 81 of those documents. She also told the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to look through any other materials that could be helpful. Judge Howell said:
NARA shall promptly begin the process of reviewing and releasing the 2-page summary, 53 statements, and 81 documents.”
While these documents are not being released to Mueller specifically, there’s no doubt they might be of use to him. Former Whitewater prosecutor Stephen Bates, law professor Jack Goldsmith, and Lawfare editor Benjamin Wittes had sent the request to release these documents last month in order to look into the work of Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, but recognized that Mueller might benefit from this:
If Mueller decides to send a report to Congress, perhaps through [Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein, the Road Map would be a vital touchstone for the public and Congress to assess his actions. If Mueller or Rosenstein decides to issue a report on something akin to the Road Map model, it would be important to compare the level of factual detail that they include in any transmission to Congress with the level of detail in the Road Map.”
Every time Mueller gets a little closer to him, Trump freaks out. This is definitely going to cause a meltdown.
Featured image via screen capture
