A clerk at the courthouse took the extraordinary measure of shutting down the entire fifth floor, where the hearing was taking place.
Special counsel Robert Mueller appeared to be locked in a subpoena battle with a recalcitrant witness Friday in a sealed federal appeals courtroom, the latest development in a mystery case that has piqued the curiosity of Mueller-obsessives and scoop-hungry journalists.
Oral arguments in the highly secretive fight played out behind closed doors under tight security. Officials at the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C. even took the extraordinary measure of shutting down to the public the entire fifth floor, where the hearing was taking place.
More than a dozen reporters who had been staked out in the hallway adjacent to the courtroom — in the hopes of eyeballing attorneys for Mueller or the mystery appellant’s lawyers — were kicked off the floor and lost their best chance to spot anyone involved in the months-long legal dispute as they were entering or exiting the chambers.
Journalists relocated to other stakeout spots, but few new details emerged after several hours of waiting.
……..
More anticipation had been building in recent weeks about who had gotten the subpoena after a series of additional tantalizing clues were filed in the docket, including sealed multi-page briefs and sealed letters updating the judges on recent events affecting the case.
Friday’s long-scheduled oral arguments had long been seen as the best opportunity yet to identify the litigants.
More than a dozen reporters lined up in the hallway outside the courtroom about an hour before the first of three cases were set to be argued before U.S. Court of Appeals Judges David Tatel, Thomas Griffith and Stephen Williams.
Reporters and members of the public were free to enter the courtroom during the first two cases. But the secrecy clampdown quickly followed as the court shifted gears to the sealed grand jury case. A security officer wearing blue rubber gloves checked the chambers for any devices left behind. The live audio feed went dead.
And then the clerk kicked the journalists off the entire fifth floor.
Determined to keep covering the story, reporters spread out around the courthouse and quickly set up a group email chain to pool their resources and communicate about who saw what in the hallways, elevators, staircases and entrances throughout the building. One television network reporter even stood guard at the top of a ramp leading to a secure parking garage where Mueller’s team has been known to bring in clandestine grand jury witnesses.
…….
“It’s not the norm, that’s for sure,” Manuel Retureta, a Washington-based defense lawyer not involved in the Mueller probe but who is frequently at the courthouse, said as he observed the scene.
After about 90 minutes, court security officials allowed the journalists to return to the fifth-floor hallway, where the courtroom doors were still closed. A few minutes later, reporters spotted the judges walking back to their offices. No one with any apparent ties to the case were spotted leaving the building.
- Discussion
-
Officials at the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C. even took the extraordinary measure of shutting down to the public the entire fifth floor, where the hearing was taking placehttps://t.co/V7rYx53mHd
— POLITICO (@politico) December 14, 2018
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.