{"id":49074,"date":"2017-10-27T05:53:01","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T05:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=49074"},"modified":"2017-10-27T05:53:01","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T05:53:01","slug":"republicans-spoil-for-a-fight-over-russia-probe-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/republicans-spoil-for-a-fight-over-russia-probe-budget.html","title":{"rendered":"Republicans spoil for a fight over Russia probe budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republicans spoil for a fight over Russia probe budget<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Republicans spoil for a fight over Russia probe budget:- Republicans trying to hobble Robert Mueller\u2019s sprawling probe into President Donald Trump and Russia matters are about to get a new weapon: the special counsel\u2019s budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers haven\u2019t yet seen the Russia investigator\u2019s first spending report, which must go through a Justice Department review before being made public. But they\u2019re already setting up a fight over how much the probe is costing taxpayers \u2014 and the fact that there\u2019s no end in sight.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor them to say to us, \u2018Vote for an open-ended appropriation into a Mueller witch hunt,\u2019 I think you\u2019ll see significant objection there,\u201d Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) told POLITICO.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mueller\u2019s public budget is expected to contain only top-line figures covering broad categories like staff salaries, travel, outside contracts, supplies and equipment. But money will become a recurring fight as the investigation drags on, because Mueller is required to produce public expense reports every six months \u2014 giving opponents repeated opportunities to paint him in a negative light.<\/span><\/p>\n

Partisan complaining about the expenses that pile up during lengthy Washington investigations is a familiar ritual. As President Bill Clinton faced impeachment in the House in 1998, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) called Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr a \u201cfederally paid sex policeman spending millions of dollars to trap an unfaithful spouse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Outcry over spending of taxpayers’ money also cropped up during the Iran-Contra investigation, whose outlays ultimately exceeded $47 million. \u201cTaxpayers of this country should be absolutely up in arms about it,\u201d then-Sen. Steve Symms (R-Idaho) said during a CNN appearance in 1992, six years into that probe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Complaints about spending over the Russia probes date to before Mueller\u2019s appointment in mid-May. Trump himself took to Twitter just one day before he fired FBI Director James Comey \u2014 kick-starting the whole special counsel process \u2014 to say: \u201cThe Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics have only gained momentum as Mueller\u2019s probe has advanced. King in a July interview called for legislation imposing both a deadline and budget constraints on Mueller; otherwise, the Republican congressman warned, Trump could face \u201ca never-ending investigation that could go on for two presidential terms.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) tried in August to offer an amendment to the House budget resolution that would have halted Mueller\u2019s funding just six months into the job. \u201cNo fishing expeditions,\u201d he told Fox News as he tried to sell the measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

While DeSantis couldn\u2019t overcome a procedural technicality and never got a floor vote, conservatives say they\u2019re just getting started. The right-leaning watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit earlier this month seeking Mueller\u2019s budget documents. Several Republicans said in interviews they\u2019d be keeping tabs on the special counsel\u2019s spending through their oversight capacity, and they will hold out the threat of attaching language to DOJ\u2019s annual spending bill or other must-pass legislation that places clear restrictions or prohibitions on Mueller\u2019s authority.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have power over the Department of Justice,\u201d warned Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), another Judiciary Committee member.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a practical matter, Congress can\u2019t go after Mueller\u2019s day-to-day spending directly. His budget is being drawn out of a permanent Treasury Department account that is not subject to the annual appropriations process, and the DOJ regulations used to appoint Mueller state he \u201cshall be provided all appropriate resources\u201d to do his work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mueller is subject to some oversight. He had to produce a budget proposal to DOJ earlier this summer for the next fiscal year. And an internal DOJ audit office must review the first 4\u00bd months of his spending receipts. Mueller isn\u2019t under day-to-day DOJ supervision, but Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general overseeing the investigation after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, does have final say on some of the major decisions related to the Mueller probe, including his budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peter Carr, a Mueller spokesman, said the internal DOJ review must be completed before the special counsel\u2019s spending report is made public. He declined to comment when asked about a timeline for its release.<\/span><\/p>\n

While firm details on how much Mueller has spent to date remain under wraps, sources familiar with the special counsel\u2019s budget process say they expect the report to count up the salaries of 11 government attorneys who have been detailed from across other parts of DOJ, as well as five more people hired from outside government who are being paid using the scale for senior staff serving in a U.S. attorney\u2019s office. Mueller himself is earning the same $161,900 salary as a U.S. attorney.<\/span><\/p>\n

The special counsel\u2019s spending report also will likely count any rent for office space in a Southwest Washington, D.C., office building \u2014 whose exact location remains a closely held secret \u2014 that his team has been using since the summer, according to sources familiar with Mueller\u2019s budget process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Politically, Mueller, a former FBI director appointed by President George W. Bush, can count on some degree of bipartisan support from lawmakers who say they expect he\u2019ll lead a budget-savvy investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be inclined to approve it,\u201d said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a key member on both the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary committees. \u201cHe seems to be a pretty frugal guy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee since before the Clinton impeachment hearings, said in an interview earlier this week that he had no concerns about Mueller\u2019s spending \u201cunless it\u2019s something totally outrageous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The special counsel\u2019s Republican budget critics, Conyers added, represent the \u201cfew people who are sensitive about it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever figure he comes up with, they won\u2019t like it too much,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given Mueller\u2019s mandate \u2014 lawmakers note he\u2019s examining the authenticity of the presidential election \u2014 several Democrats said he should have some running room to spend what he needs to.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn view of the amount of money that we spend as a nation in any given year, clarifying what happened under these very serious circumstances I think is important today and it\u2019s important for history\u2019s sake,\u201d said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about the believability of any election in this county and we\u2019re talking about undue influence by a nation that has never been known to support the principles of liberty or justice and there\u2019s a lot at stake here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to do what he can to acquit himself well. He\u2019s got no ulterior motives. No fish to fry. He doesn\u2019t have any aircraft carriers he\u2019s got to buy from some contractor friend,\u201d added Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), a senior House Judiciary Committee member.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nadler also said he\u2019s not expecting Mueller to be held too tightly to subsequent budget requests because of unexpected circumstances that might arise given his wide-ranging investigation into the Trump campaign and the election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Any Republican bid to meddle with Mueller via his budget will come with political risks, according to lawmakers, several longtime congressional observers and attorneys who have worked on special counsel investigations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlie Houy, the former Democratic staff director on the Senate Appropriations Committee, acknowledged \u201cample precedent\u201d for Congress to try to gain some control over the spending on a special counsel probe. \u201cHowever,\u201d he added, \u201cit would be real tricky to not be charged with trying to impede the investigation. That in itself should cause cooler heads to urge caution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers who try to micromanage the probe could also be accused of messing with the justice system itself, said Randall Samborn, a Chicago-based lawyer who served as spokesman for then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald during the George W. Bush-era special counsel probe into who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCould you only imagine what would happen, whether it\u2019s this investigation or any criminal investigation conducted by DOJ or the FBI, if the Hill started getting involved in setting the budget on a per-investigation basis?\u201d Samborn said. \u201cYou could not conduct a confidential secretive grand jury investigation and have the accountability while it\u2019s under way being scrutinized by partisan politics. It\u2019d be the death knell of such an investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Considering his reputation running the FBI, several sources who have worked for previous special counsels said they expect Mueller will get the leeway he needs to do his work. But Julie Myers Wood, a former lead prosecutor during Starr\u2019s investigation, predicted the good will won\u2019t last forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the inquiry starts to drag on, I would expect significant attacks on the cost, both in terms of direct cost to the taxpayer and also in terms of the cost of the time it is taking the executive branch to respond to his queries,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Starr investigation \u2014 as well as the work of three other independent counsels who ran the case \u2014 remains the most expensive in U.S. history \u2014 costing more than $73 million, according to audits done by the Government Accountability Office. That single Clinton probe, which started in 1994 with an examination of the Clintons\u2019 real estate deals in Arkansas took several unexpected turns over seven-plus years and ended up covering the suicide of White House attorney Vincent Foster, irregularities in the White House travel office, allegations of misuse of confidential FBI files, false statements by a top White House attorney and finally the president\u2019s sexual affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.<\/span><\/p>\n

The investigation drew harsh political criticism for many reasons, including its spending: Over the full course of the probe it had more than 225 employees from the Justice Department and other federal agencies, including at least 65 consultants and outside advisers, according to a final report released in 2002.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the bulk of Starr\u2019s spending was detailed in summary format, on at least one occasion some of the embarrassing budget specifics did go public. House Democrats in 1998 released to the Los Angeles Times internal documents showing spending of $370 a month for a parking space for the independent counsel, a $32,380 bill to survey an Arkansas community where potential jurors would be seated in a trial of the state’s governor, and $30,517 for a psychological analysis of the evidence connected to Foster\u2019s suicide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the criticism, Starr senior counsel Paul Rosenzweig said \u201cthere was never a serious effort\u201d to strip the independent counsel\u2019s spending. \u201cThe politics of trying to do so would be terrible optics,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Six separate investigations during the Clinton administration ran up costs of more than $140 million. President Ronald Reagan faced eight different probes, including Iran-Contra, for a total of more than $84 million, according to a POLITICO review of government audits and reports on their spending.<\/span><\/p>\n

In all, there have been 21 completed independent counsel and special counsel investigations dating back to the Carter administration. Their total price tag: $231 million \u2014 $339 million when adjusted for inflation. Twelve of those cases concluded with no indictments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just two of the 21 cases ended with the successful prosecution of a federal official who was named as the primary initial target: Reagan White House aide Michael Deaver, who was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $100,000 in 1988 after being convicted on three counts of perjury stemming from a conflict-of-interest investigation; and Clinton\u2019s secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros, who pleaded guilty in 1999 to a misdemeanor charge for lying to the FBI about payments made to his former mistress. Clinton pardoned Cisneros in January 2001, on his final day in office.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dearth of successful convictions, King said, is one of the main reasons he said he\u2019s raising alarm about the Mueller probe\u2019s spending.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot many people on either side of the political aisle would point to one [special counsel investigation] and say it\u2019s a satisfactory result,\u201d King said. \u201cThey\u2019re messy. They\u2019re ugly. They\u2019re not conclusive. And there\u2019s division over them that runs in perpetuity, as long as we remember them in our history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2017\/10\/26\/robert-mueller-probe-budget-fight-244218<\/span><\/p>\n

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