Tag: Russia investigation

Oh, oops! Mulligan time!

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

At his closed White House press conference, Trump said he meant to say that he saw no reason why it wouldn’t be Russia that interfered in the 2016 presidential election. And “it could be other people, also.”

As Katie Tur just pointed out, he repeated his “error” to Sean Hannity last night.

Oh, oops! Do-over!

The Cheato said he has “the strongest respect” and full confidence in the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that the Russians did, in fact, meddle in the 2016 election. Even though it was much more than one word that conveyed his subservience to Putin.

So, bygones. No treason, no collusion!

That’s not a joke. He really said that.

https://twitter.com/mckaycoppins/status/1019297987992973312

https://twitter.com/TAPAlerts/status/1019301353724792832

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1019285046669336577

Let’s see if the media do their jobs.

Trump’s spy

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Another one bites the dust...

Trump sent his spy to keep tabs on Sessions — and the Russia investigation:

President Donald Trump personally ordered the Department of Justice to hire a former White House official who was fired after he was caught up in a controversy over the release of intelligence material to a member of Congress, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who left the National Security Council last year, will advise Attorney General Jeff Sessions on national security matters. He was fired from the White House following reports that he had shown House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes classified documents.

The material allegedly revealed that members of the Obama administration had sought the identities of Trump campaign officials and associates inadvertently caught on government intercepts, in a process known as “unmasking.” Nunes then disclosed that information publicly in an attempt to bolster Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation that President Barack Obama had wiretapped him.

As a matter of policy, the White House generally doesn’t approve the rehiring of staff who were fired, aides said. But after it became clear the president wanted Cohen-Watnick on Sessions’ staff, the move was approved.

Rod Rosenstein rebukes the ‘fire Mueller’ crowd: ‘He was an ideal choice for this task’

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: “From a legal and...

Today’s episode of House Oversight Committee Follies featured a concerted effort on the part of Republicans to make the case that Mueller is biased and should either be fired or another special prosecutor appointed to investigate him. This is thanks to the likes of Fox News’ “Judge” Jeanine Pirro (who has a grudge and a vested… Continue reading “Rod Rosenstein rebukes the ‘fire Mueller’ crowd: ‘He was an ideal choice for this task’” →

Here’s some happy news

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

#Rusiagate: FBI allanó casa de Paul Manafort, ex jefe de campaña de Trump

The feds wiretapped Paul Manfort before and after the campaign, and may have Trump on some of the wiretaps, according to CNN:

Washington (CNN)US investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election, sources tell CNN, an extraordinary step involving a high-ranking campaign official now at the center of the Russia meddling probe.

The government snooping continued into early this year, including a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump.
Some of the intelligence collected includes communications that sparked concerns among investigators that Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign, according to three sources familiar with the investigation. Two of these sources, however, cautioned that the evidence is not conclusive.

And then there’s this from the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Paul J. Manafort was in bed early one morning in July when federal agents bearing a search warrant picked the lock on his front door and raided his Virginia home. They took binders stuffed with documents and copied his computer files, looking for evidence that Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, set up secret offshore bank accounts. They even photographed the expensive suits in his closet.

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, then followed the house search with a warning: His prosecutors told Mr. Manafort they planned to indict him, said two people close to the investigation.

The moves against Mr. Manafort are just a glimpse of the aggressive tactics used by Mr. Mueller and his team of prosecutors in the four months since taking over the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s election, according to lawyers, witnesses and American officials who have described the approach. Dispensing with the plodding pace typical of many white-collar investigations, Mr. Mueller’s team has used what some describe as shock-and-awe tactics to intimidate witnesses and potential targets of the inquiry.

Mr. Mueller has obtained a flurry of subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify before a grand jury, lawyers and witnesses say, sometimes before his prosecutors have taken the customary first step of interviewing them. One witness was called before the grand jury less than a month after his name surfaced in news accounts. The special counsel even took the unusual step of obtaining a subpoena for one of Mr. Manafort’s former lawyers, claiming an exception to the rule that shields attorney-client discussions from scrutiny.

“They are setting a tone. It’s important early on to strike terror in the hearts of people in Washington, or else you will be rolled,” said Solomon L. Wisenberg, who was deputy independent counsel in the investigation that led to the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999. “You want people saying to themselves, ‘Man, I had better tell these guys the truth.’”

A spokesman for Mr. Mueller declined to comment. Lawyers and a spokesman for Mr. Manafort also declined to comment.

And by the way, this story is connected, too.

https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/909937885582897152

Another one bites the dust

~ susie

US charges two Russian spies and two hackers in Yahoo data breach

Hmm. Lots of people quitting lately:

The woman leading the Justice Department’s investigation of foreign meddling into the 2016 election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia has told staff members she will leave the department in May.

Mary B. McCord has served at the highest levels in the national security unit, either as its leader or chief deputy, for the past three years. A longtime federal prosecutor based in Washington, McCord easily won the confidence of both career lawyers and her supervisors inside the Justice Department.

McCord did not offer a public reason for her departure. In a message to her staff earlier this week, she wrote that she did not make the decision easily, but she concluded “the time is now right for me to pursue new career opportunities.”

Her exit leaves a huge vacancy at one of the Justice Department’s most important divisions, at a time when the Trump administration is struggling to fill the ranks. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is the only leader so far in the building to have secured Senate confirmation. His picks for deputy and associate attorney general await votes by the full Senate. The administration has not yet announced political appointees for other top posts.

I am so, so tired of winning!