Special Counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed Roger Stone aide Andrew Miller to appear before a grand jury and turn over documents, but Miller's lawyer tried to quash the subpoena in court Thursday.
Mr. Miller, a registered Libertarian, worked briefly for Mr. Stone around the time of the Republican National Convention in 2016, helping to arrange media interviews and conducting other tasks, according to a person close to Mr. Stone. Mr. Miller was also an aide on the campaign for New York governor in 2010 of Kristin M. Davis, a former madam, whose main adviser was Mr. Stone.
A lawyer, Paul Kamenar, said he filed a motion on Thursday on behalf of a client who was subpoenaed to be questioned in front of the grand jury, though he did not identify Mr. Miller. Mr. Kamenar said the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit organization, was paying for his services.
His motion argued that Mr. Mueller’s appointment “was unconstitutional,” he said. Peter Flaherty, the chairman of the policy center, said, “The founders feared exactly what we see in Mueller: a runaway federal official. We hope to see Mueller’s operation disbanded, once and for all.”
“We’ve been looking for a vehicle” to challenge the constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment, said Peter Flaherty ...
Miller, whose Twitter biography describes him as a “political pirate,” “provocateur” and “shit-starter,” is one of at least five former Stone aides who have come under Mueller’s microscope.
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The motion from Miller’s lawyers to quash the special counsel’s subpoena is under a court seal. But his attorneys explained their central argument: They believe that Mueller’s appointment runs counter to the Appointments Clause of the Constitution and that only Senate-confirmed officials can serve in such posts.
Two federal judges, including Judge T.S. Ellis on Tuesday in advance of Paul Manafort's Virginia case, already have ruled against similar motions.
Politico:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named Mueller to his post under regulations issued by the Justice Department in 1999, the same year a post-Watergate-era statute supporting the use of independent counsels was allowed to sunset. The DOJ rules allow for a special counsel to be hired as a department employee in cases presenting a conflict of interest or “other extraordinary circumstances.”
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A Russian company charged by Mueller with meddling in the 2016 election filed its own legal motion Monday trying to dismiss its criminal case because the special counsel is out of step with the Appointments Clause. But that motion, involving the St. Petersburg-based Concord Management and Consulting firm, is unlikely to go up for appeal until after any conviction in the criminal charges.
Mr. Miller’s scheduled grand jury appearance was postponed after the motion was filed.
Former Roger Stone aide makes bid to oust Mueller after subpoena (Politico)
Ex-Aide to Roger Stone Is Subpoenaed in Russia Investigation (NYT)