Leakproof by @BloggersRUs

Leakproof

by Tom Sullivan

Photo by James Ledbetter via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0.

The buzz around what may be in Special counsel Robert Mueller's report is inescapable this morning. Without having read a word of the report, Fox News has declared Donald Trump vindicated of any wrongdoing. Multiple accounts circulate of investigations spun off the Trump-Russia investigations and still pending. Not to mention story after story, with the report still not public, about what comes next. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vows to oppose any Department of Justice classified briefing on the matter that would leave her members unable to discuss findings publicly.

News that Mueller will issue no new indictments could mean he found no wrongdoing by Trump, or that he did but simply issued no indictment, per Department of Justice guidelines on not indicting a sitting president. Politico reports White House aides nevertheless believe that dram of news exonerates Trump of wrongdoing before the report's contents are public:

But now, if he is exonerated, Trump aides say the president will need to acknowledge that Mueller did a thorough and fair investigation to show that the outcome is legitimate and that the House is overreaching.

Recent reports indicate that Mueller’s office was granted Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) status, to ensure information inside remained secure. Smartphones and other electronic devices that can be turned into listening devices or cameras were likely to have been restricted. The office itself has not been publicly located by Mueller’s team, although its whereabouts remains an open secret among close followers of his work.

Those interviewed by Mueller’s investigators have reported being picked up from their lawyer’s offices, hotels or even nearby stations by agents assigned to the investigation, then dropped back at the same location to avoid being spotted going in and out of the building.

The special counsel has rarely even been seen outside his offices in Washington, with two notable exceptions. In July, he and Donald Trump Jr were spotted waiting at a departure gate at Washington’s Reagan airport. Then, in September, Mueller was seen receiving technical assistance at the Apple store in Georgetown.

It should come as no surprise that Friday’s announcement came without flourish. Former colleagues describe this as simply Mueller’s method.