WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Andrew Miller, a former aide of ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone, said that Miller has been held in contempt of court for refusing to appear in front of the grand jury hearing testimony in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, his lawyers said Friday. Miller had earlier fought to quash a subpoena from the special counsel's office but was ordered to appear Friday morning. He did not, said his lawyer Paul Kamenar outside U.S. District Court in Washington, and was "held in contempt, which we asked him to be in order for us to appeal the judge’s decision to the court of appeals." His lawyers are challenging the legitimacy of the special counsel and how he was appointed. The U.S. District Court rejected the argument, and his lawyers are appealing. "Mr. Miller intends to appeal the Court’s July 31 decision regarding the appointment of Mr. Mueller," Alicia Dearn, one of Miller's attorneys, told NBC News. "That is the current posture of the case." Dearn declined to comment on what duties Miller performed for Stone during 2016. "We cannot respond to these questions due to secrecy rules related to grand jury proceedings," said Dearn. Another Stone associate, Kristin Davis, is set to testify before the grand jury Friday afternoon. "[I’m] feeling good," said Davis Thursday. "Not worried at all. Ready for it to be over and moving on with my life." Davis, known as the Manhattan Madam for providing prostitutes to New York's elite, was in prison on an unrelated charge until May 2016, and said she would not know much about the Trump campaign. "I didn't work for Roger in 2016," Davis told NBC News Thursday. "I still don't know the scope of what they're going to ask me." Davis said that Miller was in charge of maintaining Stone's schedule during the presidential campaign. She said she took over that task in August 2017. Davis, 41, has done web design and office tasks for Stone's political consultancy. Davis told NBC News in July that someone in Mueller's office called her attorney to ask her to speak to investigators. A member of Mueller's team interviewed her last week, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Davis's lawyer, Miller and a spokesman for Mueller's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement to NBC News, Stone said: "Kristin Davis has been a friend and has worked on and off for me. She is a brilliant business woman who paid her debt to society and has remade her life. She is a single parent of a 2-year-old son who is my godson, Carter Stone Davis, who my wife and I love very much." "She is most certainly not involved in any illegal activity today and is not seeking a media circus surrounding her testimony while she tries to raise a child and launch a cosmetology business in New York. Kristin Davis was not working for me in either 2015 or 2016 — during the preparation and conduct of Donald Trump’s campaign." Davis was arrested in 2013 after allegedly selling drugs to an FBI cooperating witness. She pleaded guilty to a charge of selling prescription drugs. Sentenced to two years in prison, she was released in May 2016.<doc-sep>A witness in U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation was cited for contempt on Friday after he refused a court order to appear for a grand jury. Andrew Miller, a former aide to Roger Stone, last week was ordered to testify and provide documents subpoenaed by the Mueller-empaneled grand jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Miller served briefly as an assistant to Stone during the 2016 presidential campaign, reportedly handling media interviews. Stone is a longtime associate of President Donald Trump. Miller did not appear for the grand jury, which prompted U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell to hold him in contempt during a closed court hearing on Friday, said Paul Kamenar, one of his attorneys. Miller agreed he was acting in contempt of the order Howell issued last week, "and we filed a motion to that effect," said Kamenar. However, Howell stayed the contempt ruling until Monday, giving Miller's legal team an opportunity to appeal the ruling that ordered his grand jury appearance to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Had the judge not issued the stay, Miller could have been jailed until he agreed to testify before the grand jury and provide the subpoenaed documents. Kamenar said the appeal would allow Miller's legal team to continue arguments that Mueller was unconstitutionally appointed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and explore whether Trump or any of his associates conspired with that effort. "There really is no clear statute that authorizes the appointment of independent counsels," the attorney said. Miller's legal team will also argue that Mueller's power as an independent counsel "is so vast," and his supervision "is so minimal" that he should have been nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, said Kamenar. Nonetheless, Howell's 93-page order that required Miller to appear before the grand jury said: "multiple statutes authorize the Special Counsel's appointment, and the official who appointed the Special Counsel had power to do so." By ordering Miller to testify, Howell became the third federal judge to rule that the special counsel investigation being conducted by Mueller is lawful and constitutional. However, one outstanding challenge is continuing. The reason for Mueller's subpoena of Miller has not been made public. However, Mueller's investigation has focused on Stone, Miller's former boss, in part because Stone issued a series of public statements, posted tweets suggesting that he had advance knowledge of hacked Democratic emails that the group WikiLeaks released during the 2016 presidential campaign, several news organizations have reported. Mueller has also called other Stone associates to testify. In response, Stone has accused Mueller's investigative team of harassment. Contributing: Christal Hayes Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc<doc-sep>
Andrew Miller, former aide to ex-Trump advisor Roger Stone, is flirting with danger. Miller lost his challenge of Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s authority eight days ago and was ordered by a federal judge to appear before the grand jury. Today, Friday, that same judge is holding Miller in contempt of court for ignoring the subpoena. According to the Washington Post, after Miller refused to appear as scheduled on Friday, U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell held Miller in contempt. Miller’s lawyer Paul Kamenar said this is what they wanted. He said, “[W]e asked him to be [held in contempt] in order for us to appeal the judge’s decision to the court of appeals.” The judge reportedly stayed her order so that Kamenar can appeal. If they lose that appeal and Miller continues to dodge the grand jury, he may be jailed. Just over a week ago, Judge Howell shut down Miller’s attempt to quash the Mueller subpoena. “Witness [Miller]’s Second Motion to Quash Subpoena is denied. Consequently, the witness is ordered, pursuant to the grand jury subpoenas served by the Special Counsel, to appear before the grand jury to provide testimony at the earliest date available to the grand jury, and to complete production of the subpoenaed records promptly,” she wrote in her conclusion. Her opinion ran more than 90 pages. As Law&Crime previously reported, Stone’s one-time go-to guy Miller was called to appear before a grand jury in relation to Mueller’s ongoing probe but did not. Kamenar said he intended to fight the subpoena by arguing that Mueller’s appointment was unconstitutional, and he did. He’s lost that fight. As we noted then, this tactic had already been attempted–unsuccessfully–by Paul Manafort‘s attorneys, and is currently being used by an alleged Russian troll farm facing criminal charges from Mueller’s office. Miller became the third Stone acolyte to be subpoenaed by Mueller. John Kakanis and Jason Sullivan were already reportedly called to testify before the grand jury in the wide-ranging electoral interference probe. Since then, news that Mueller planned to subpoena the so-called “Manhattan Madam” came out. Kristin Davis was also reportedly linked to Stone. Davis has sat down with Mueller’s team for a voluntary interview. On Thursday, news broke that Mueller intends to subpoena another person connected to Roger Stone: Randy Credico. Credico, a radio host-comedian acquaintance of Stone’s, who Stone reportedly asked to contact WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, declined a request for a voluntary Mueller interview because he didn’t want to be known as a “rat.” Miller was once described by Stone as a “trust fund baby” who’s “like a son to me.” [Image via Saul Loeb and AFP and Getty Images] Have a tip we should know? [email protected]