Tag: 2016 Trump campaign

Mueller says Manafort violated plea agreement

Special Counsel Robert Mueller said in a new filing Monday that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s one-time campaign chairman, violated his plea agreement by lying to federal prosecutors.

“After signing the plea agreement, Manafort committed federal crimes by lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Special Counsel’s Office on a variety of subject matters, which constitute breaches of the agreement,” Mueller’s team said in a joint status report with Paul Manafort’s defense attorneys filed late Monday.

Mueller’s prosecutors asked the judge to schedule a date for sentencing.

View the complete November 26 article by Lydia Wheeler and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Trump submits written answers to Mueller

President Trump has submitted his written answers to certain questions related to the Russia investigation to special counsel Robert Mueller, the president’s legal team announced Tuesday.

Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow said the answers were submitted on Tuesday and cover “issues regarding the Russia-related topics of the inquiry.”

The submission caps off months of high-stakes wrangling between Mueller’s team and the president’s lawyers about what answers Trump would provide for investigators.

View the complete November 20 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Lindsey Graham Awkwardly Tries To Walk Back Vow To Unleash ‘Holy Hell’ On Trump HuffPost

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is attempting to explain his reversal on a 2017 threat that there would be “holy hell to pay” if President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Although Sessions got the boot this week, Graham vowed instead to work with Trump “to find a confirmable, worthy successor.”

When confronted with his previous comments on Thursday, Graham chuckled.

View the complete November 9 article by Ed Mazza on the Huffington Post website on the Yahoo News website here.

Ken Starr Says If President Trump Fires Robert Mueller ‘There Would Be Hell To Pay’

Starr, the independent counsel while President Bill Clinton was in office, weighed in with Bloomberg.

Former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, who became a regular character in American politics as the independent counsel during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, said President Donald Trump would be ill-advised to get rid of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Starr made the comments on Friday after Bloomberg’s David Westin asked him what the consequences would be if Trump were to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and get rid of Mueller.

“I think that there would be hell to pay if the president fired Mueller or ordered the firing of Bob Mueller,” Starr said.

View the complete September 15 article by Andy McDonald on the HuffingtonPost.com website here.

Legal Experts Urge Release of Watergate Report to Offer Mueller a Road Map Image

Special Counsel, Robert S. Mueller III  Credit: Doug Mills, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A question has loomed over Washington: What will the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, do when he wraps up his investigation into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia and whether President Trump obstructed justice?

The leading theory is that Mr. Mueller will write a report for his supervisor at the Justice Department. That could lead to a new fight: Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, has suggested that the White House may then invoke executive privilege and order the Justice Department to keep portions of such a report confidential from Congress.

But there is historical precedent for another model. Echoing a move by the Watergate prosecutor in March 1974, the grand jury with which Mr. Mueller has been working could try to send a report about the evidence it has gathered directly to the House Judiciary Committee. And on Friday, seeking to draw more attention to that option, three prominent legal analysts asked a court to lift a veil of secrecy that has long kept that Watergate-era report hidden.

View the complete September 14 article by Charlie Savage on the New York Times website here.

Paul Manafort cuts “cooperation agreement” with Robert Mueller

Activists outside the courthouse prior to Paul Manafort’s trial. Credit: Alex Wong, Getty Images

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has pleaded guilty to charges brought forth by special counsel Robert Mueller, and has entered into a “cooperation agreement” with the Justice Department. He’ll also plead guilty to the 10 charges that were declared a mistrial last month, per ABC News.

The bottom line: It’s not clear what kind of information Manafort has to provide Mueller — or who he might implicate. But five other charges were dropped by prosecutors, the NYT reports, “encompassing money laundering and violations of a lobbying disclosure law.”

The backdrop: Manafort was found guilty on eight criminal counts in August, including bank fraud, tax fraud and hiding a foreign bank account. And per the Times, he’s been “reassessing his legal risks” ever since.

View the complete September 14 post on the Axios.com website here

Rick Gates says he lied for years at Manafort’s request and stole from him in the process

The following article by Rachel Weiner, Matt Zapotosky, Ann E. Marimow and Devlin Barrett was posted on the Washington Post website August 6, 2018:

Rick Gates testified Aug. 6 that he stole money from former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and committed an array of crimes with his former boss. (Reuters)

ick Gates — the star witness against President Trump’s former campaign chairman — admitted in federal court Monday that he committed a host of crimes with his former boss, and confessed to stealing from him and others.

In his first hour on the witness stand, Gates catalogued years of illegal activity, saying most of his wrongdoing was committed on behalf of his former boss, Paul Manafort, while other crimes were for his own benefit, including the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Gates also made clear that he was testifying against Manafort with the hope of receiving a lesser prison sentence, having pleaded guilty in February as part of a deal with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Manafort’s trial in Alexandria, Va., is the first to arise out of the Mueller probe and marks a major public test of that investigation’s credibility. Mueller’s team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether any Trump associates conspired with those efforts.

View the complete article here.

5 Things You Should Know From the Paul Manafort Trial, Day 2

The following article by Griffin Connolly was posted on the Roll Call website August 1, 2018:

President swings at a straw man and prosecutors mull shelving ‘star witness’ Rick Gates

Pres. Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is on trial, facing 18 counts involving tax evasion and bank loan fraud. Credit: Sarah Silbiger, CQ Roll Call file photo

Day Two of the tax evasion and bank fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manifort is in the books.

The day featured testimony from five witnesses — including Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign chief — and dozens of pages of evidence on Manafort’s lavish lifestyle.

The high-powered political consultant is facing 18 counts and a maximum 305-year prison sentence if the Eastern Virginia jury finds him guilty.

View the complete article here.

Paul Manafort trial Day 2: Witnesses describe extravagant clothing purchases, home remodels, lavish cars paid with wire transfers

The following article by Rachel Weiner, Rosalind Helderman, Justin Jouvenal and Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website August 1, 2018:

Before he joined the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort made a name for himself in the D.C. lobbying world, but his past caught up with him. (Dalton Bennett , Jon Gerberg, Jesse Mesner-Hage/The Washington Post)

Paul Manafort, President Trump’s onetime campaign chairman, is on trial in federal court in Alexandria on bank and tax fraud charges. Prosecutors allege he failed to pay taxes on millions he made from his work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party, then lied to get loans when the cash stopped coming in.

The case is being prosecuted by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Here is what happened on the second day of the proceedings.

  • President Trump weighed in on the trial for the first time, asking his Twitter followers if Manafort was being “treated worse” than notorious gangster Al Capone.

View the complete article here.

5 Things You Should Know From the Paul Manafort Trial, Day 2

The following article by Griffin Connolly was posted on the Roll Call website August 1, 2018:

President swings at a straw man and prosecutors mull shelving ‘star witness’ Rick Gates

Pres. Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is on trial, facing 18 counts involving tax evasion and bank loan fraud. Credit: Sarah Silbiger, CQ Roll Call file photo

Day Two of the tax evasion and bank fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manifort is in the books.

The day featured testimony from five witnesses — including Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign chief — and dozens of pages of evidence on Manafort’s lavish lifestyle.

The high-powered political consultant is facing 18 counts and a maximum 305-year prison sentence if the Eastern Virginia jury finds him guilty.

View the complete article here.