On December 14, according to Law & Crime , an entire floor at the D.C. Court of Appeals was sealed. Reporters were ushered out, prompting intense media speculation: Who could the “mystery appellant” Robert Mueller is talking to be? Politico speculated that Mueller may have, in fact, subpoenaed President Donald Trump.
Talks of the mystery appellant died down, but a new Bloomberg report is reigniting them.
According to the publication, a new “mystery filing” connected to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference, appears to ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the investigation. Filed only days after an entire floor at the D.C. Court of Appeals was sealed, the mystery filing is linked to an unidentified foreign state company, which is being asked to turn over information to a grand jury.
The matter is veiled in mystery, it seems, largely due to the fact that investigators and prosecutors have done everything in their power to keep matters confidential. The mystery company is being described by as a “corporation” owned by “Country A.” According to a three-judge panel involved with the case, a federal sovereign-immunity law protects the mystery foreign corporation from complying with the investigators.
The mystery filing, apparently connected to Robert Mueller’s investigation, is asking Chief Justice John Roberts to temporarily block the panel’s ruling. It remains to be seen whether Justice John Roberts will comply with the filing and fulfill Robert Mueller’s request, if it is indeed Mueller that is asking the Supreme Court to intervene, but the fact that secrecy is surrounding the investigation comes as no surprise.
“Last week Mueller cleared out the entire fifth floor of a DC federal courthouse to mask a mysterious witness appearing before a grand jury — speculation is that it was either @DonaldJTrumpJr or Jared Kushner,” writes @JacobHeilbrunn https://t.co/uxlorXntBD
— The Spectator World (@TheSpectator) December 19, 2018
According to a report from Vox , Robert Mueller is known for keeping reporters at a distance, rarely talks to the press, and prefers to simply do his job in the shadows.
“Bob Mueller runs a very tight ship, and that ship does not leak. He’d rather do his talking through his work,” David Kris, a former assistant attorney general for national security said.
Mueller has spent a large chunk of his career finding leakers, Vox notes, which is part of the reason why getting information about the Russia probe has proven to be a daunting task for reporters.
“He’s a serious guy, and he hates people who talk to the press. It’s anathema to him,” a former federal prosecutor who worked with Mueller for years told the publication.
For Donald Trump, who continues to call Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt,” alleging bias and conflicts of interests, the mystery filing asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the investigation could be bad news. Currently, however, Trump is busy dealing with the government shutdown he is being blamed for.
“I will not be going to Florida because of the Shutdown — Staying in the White House!” the president tweeted earlier today.
