By Betsy Woodruff
Robert Mueller may be the face of the independent investigation into
Russian meddling in the U.S. election, but a cybersecurity wonk on the
federal bench may help decide Trump & Co.’s fate.
Behind the scenes, Beryl Howell is in a position to make pivotal decisions. And her importance could only grow. Federal court rules
indicate that she signed off on Mueller’s request to assemble a grand
jury, a highly secretive gathering of about two dozen people in
Washington’s E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse that will grill witnesses
and demand Trump associates’ documents.
And if (well, when) Team
Trump’s lawyers hit back, Howell will be the umpire-in-chief: deciding
whether or not Trump allies’ lawyers can quash subpoenas, and whether or
not people like Jared Kushner can invoke what’s known as executive
privilege to get out of testifying under oath before Mueller’s grand
jury.
These decisions could be immensely consequential.
“Even
though she worked for Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee,
she’s been very straight-arrow as a judge and she wouldn’t be impaneling
a jury for the heck of it, or anything less than there being ample
justification for it,” said a former federal lobbyist, referring to
Howell’s previous work for Sen. Patrick Leahy. “She’s like Mueller: He
wouldn’t ask for it unless he had more than enough evidence to justify
it, and she wouldn’t have granted it unless he did.”
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Source: The Daily Beast
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