Tag: Mueller investigation

6 burning questions Robert Mueller will want to ask President Trump

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website January 9, 2018:

With indications that special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking an interview with President Trump, here are some burning questions his team will want to ask. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

President Trump could sit down with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigators as soon as the next few weeks, though any cooperation from the president is being carefully negotiated right now, according to The Post’s Carol D. Leonnig.

Leonnig reports that Trump is eager to sit down with Mueller’s team in an effort to clear his name, but his lawyers are understandably more cautious. They would like to set parameters for the discussion and possibly respond to certain questions via written answers, as President Ronald Reagan did with Iran-contra. Continue reading “6 burning questions Robert Mueller will want to ask President Trump”

Bharara: I believe Trump ‘doesn’t listen to his lawyers’

The following article by Olivia Beavers was posted on the Hill website January 7, 2018:

© Getty Images

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Sunday said President Trumpappears to ignore the advice of his legal counsel as he takes to social media to defend himself amid special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe.

“What I believe is that the president doesn’t listen to his lawyers,” Bharara said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”  Continue reading “Bharara: I believe Trump ‘doesn’t listen to his lawyers’”

Ex-Trump campaign chairman Manafort challenges his indictment in Russia probe by filing lawsuit against Mueller

The following article by Spencer S. Hsu and Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website January 3, 2018:

Trump’s former campaign head Paul Manafort, Manafort’s former business partner Rick Gates and Trump’s campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have been charged. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul J. Manafort, asked a federal court Wednesday to void the Justice Department’s appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and charges Mueller’s office filed against him, elevating Trump supporters’ attempts to discredit the probe into Russian interference in last year’s election.

Manafort’s attorneys argued in a 17-page lawsuit in federal court in Washington that the department exceeded its legal authority when, in May, acting attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein ordered Mueller to investigate “links and/or coordination” between the Russian government and Trump campaign, as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly from” that investigation. Continue reading “Ex-Trump campaign chairman Manafort challenges his indictment in Russia probe by filing lawsuit against Mueller”

The person anonymously leaking racist attacks on the Mueller grand jury sounds a lot like Trump

The following article by Judd Legum was posted on the ThinkProgress website January 3, 2018:

A tipster straight out of “central casting.”

On Tuesday, the New York Post published an extraordinary leak about the grand jury impaneled by Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential collusion with Russia.

The piece — written by Richard Johnson, a Page Six gossip columnist — quoted a source discussing the nature of the jury, even though the composition and activities of the grand jury are supposed to be secret. Continue reading “The person anonymously leaking racist attacks on the Mueller grand jury sounds a lot like Trump”

The big problem with Trump’s strategy to attack Michael Flynn’s credibility: His own mouth

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website December 28, 2017:

President Trump has a history of defending his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. (The Washington Post)

The White House has fired a warning shot in Michael Flynn’s direction, with The Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig reporting that it plans to label him a liar who can’t be trusted if he makes claims against it.

The strategy isn’t that shocking — Trump seemed to preview it with that fateful tweet, and his lawyers have hinted in this direction too — though it makes it crystal-clear that Trump’s loyalty to his former national security adviser is far from absolute. Continue reading “The big problem with Trump’s strategy to attack Michael Flynn’s credibility: His own mouth”

12 things we can definitively say the Russia investigation has uncovered so far

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the December 23, 2017:

Special counsel Robert Mueller, pictured in June, departs after a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in the election and a possible connection to the Trump campaign in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

To review everything we’ve learned about Russia this year, let’s rewind to May. That was a big month President Trump, who fired his FBI director because he thought “this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.”

His own administration didn’t see it that way. A few weeks later, the No. 2 at the Justice Department, Rod J. Rosenstein, appointed a special counsel to ramp up the FBI’s existing investigation into “this Russia thing.”

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s mission: Look into how Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election, whether it colluded with Trump’s campaign, and investigate anything else he sees fit to investigate. Continue reading “12 things we can definitively say the Russia investigation has uncovered so far”

CNN anchor gets House Republican to admit he communicated with the White House on Mueller

The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 21, 2017:

Jim Jordan went on CNN to defend his Comey/Clinton conspiracy theory. It did not go well.

During a CNN interview on Wednesday evening, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) admitted that he’s discussed Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign with the White House.

Asked by anchor John Berman if he’s “had conversations with the White House about the Mueller investigation,” Jordan initially tried to talk over Berman and ignore the question. But under sustained grilling, Jordan eventually admitted that he has in fact discussed the investigation with Trump administration officials.

“Well of co– I talk with the White House about all kinds of things,” Jordan said. “We’ve had talks with the White House about tax policy, we have talks about welfare policy, we had talks about Obamacare — of course we’ve had talks with the White House.” Continue reading “CNN anchor gets House Republican to admit he communicated with the White House on Mueller”

Judiciary Dem Issues Dire Warning: GOP Is Plotting To Let Trump Fire Mueller

The following article by Eric Boehlert was posted on the Shareblue.com website December 13, 2017:

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Republicans who used to be for law and order lashed out at the DOJ and FBI and portrayed them as out of control agencies bent on destroying Trump.

It’s not just the loud mouths on Fox News who are peddling wild conspiracies as they lash out at supposedly dark forces on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team attacking the Trump White House.

An increasing number of Republicans are making it plain that any attempt by Trump to fire Mueller would be fine with them. Continue reading “Judiciary Dem Issues Dire Warning: GOP Is Plotting To Let Trump Fire Mueller”

As Russia probes progress, one name is missing: Bannon’s

The following article by Darren Samuelsohn was posted on the Politico website December 11, 2017:

People close to the probe say the former campaign and White House strategist will be a key witness for prosecutors and Hill investigators.

Steve Bannon’s name has surfaced a handful of times in the special counsel and congressional investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

As special Russia counsel Robert Mueller wraps up interviews with senior current and former White House staff, one name has been conspicuously absent from public chatter surrounding the probe: Steve Bannon.

President Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist and campaign chief executive played critical roles in episodes that have become central to Mueller’s probe as well as to multiple Hill investigations.

Bannon was a key bystander when Trump decided to fire national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with foreign officials. He was among those Trump consulted before firing FBI Director James Comey, whose dismissal prompted Mueller’s appointment — a decision Bannon subsequently described to “60 Minutes” as the biggest mistake “in modern political history.” Continue reading “As Russia probes progress, one name is missing: Bannon’s”

Michael Flynn’s role in Mideast nuclear project could compound legal issues

The following article by Michael Kranish, Tom Hamburger and Carol D. Leonnig was posted on the Washington Post website November 27, 2017:

The Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and Michael Kranish explain why House Democrats have questions about a trip Michael Flynn took the Middle East in 2015. (Video: Jenny Starrs, Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

In June 2015, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn took a little-noticed trip to Egypt and Israel, paid for by a U.S. company he was advising. The company hoped to build more than two dozen nuclear plants in the region, in partnership with Russian interests. Continue reading “Michael Flynn’s role in Mideast nuclear project could compound legal issues”