Tag: Mueller investigation

Trump and Russia

People walk on Red Square past the Kremlin in December. Credit: Yuri Kadobnov, AFP/Getty Images)

Despite the fallout from their last meeting, Trump has invited Putin to visit the United States this fall. Putin set fire to our democracy in 2016, and now Trump is inviting the arsonist into the White House.

Trump continues to deny that Russia interfered in our elections and threatens our democracy:

  • In a press conference with Putin, Trump said he didn’t see any reason why Russia would be responsible for interfering in our election.

  • The next day, Trump questioned our intelligence community’s finding that Russia interfered in our election, saying it could have been someone else.

  • Trump was asked if Russia continues its efforts to interfere in our elections, and he responded, “no.”

  • Trump tweeted that Russia’s interference in our election was a “big hoax.”

Continue reading “Trump and Russia”

Pence family’s failed gas stations cost taxpayers $20M+

The following article by Brian Slodysko with the Associated Press was posted on the Yahoo.com website July 13, 2018:

GARDEN CITY, Ind. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence turns nostalgic when he talks about growing up in small-town Columbus, Indiana, where his father helped build an empire of more than 200 gas stations that provided an upbringing on the “front row of the American dream.”

The collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co. in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.

Indiana alone has spent at least $21 million on the cleanup thus far, or an average of about $500,000 per site, according to an analysis of records by The Associated Press. And the work is nowhere near complete.

View the original article on the Yahoo.com website here.

Shifting Strategy, Trump’s Lawyers Set New Conditions for Mueller Interview

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman was posted on the New York Times website July 6, 2018:

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lead lawyer in the special counsel investigation, has adopted an aggressive strategy in combating the inquiry. Credit: Doug Mills, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s lawyers set new conditions on Friday on an interview with the special counsel and said that the chances that the president would be voluntarily questioned were growing increasingly unlikely.

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, needs to prove before Mr. Trump would agree to an interview that he has evidence that Mr. Trump committed a crime and that his testimony is essential to completing the investigation, said Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lead lawyer in the case.

His declaration was the latest sign that the president’s lawyers, who long cooperated quietly with the inquiry even as their client attacked it, have shifted to an openly combative stance.

View the full article on the New York Times website here.

Mike Flynn’s Delayed Sentence Suggests ‘He Still Has a Lot More to Give’ Robert Mueller: NBC Reporter

The following article by Cory Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website June 29, 2018:

The president former national security adviser has become a cooperating witness in the Russia investigation.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a cooperating witness in the ongoing Russia investigation, appears to have become a valuable source of information in special counsel Robert Mueller’s work, and according to a court filing Friday.

We know that because Mueller requested another two-month delay before Flynn’s sentencing. NBC reporter Ken Dilianian explained what that means on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” with Nicolle Wallace.

“We have to be careful about reading too much into this,” he said, “but the fact that they are continuing to delay Mike Flynn’s sentence, Mike Flynn’s cooperating with Robert Mueller’s investigation, suggests that he still has a lot more to give them.”

View the full post on the AlterNet website.

Jared Kushner’s Close Friend Rick Gerson Under Scrutiny From Mueller Team

The following article was posted on the Daily Beast website May 31, 2018:

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

A close friend of Jared Kushner’s is of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller for his supposed knowledge of meetings between Trump associates and foreign officials, NBC News reports. Five unnamed sources who are said to be familiar with the investigation say Richard Gerson, a New York hedge-fund manager, was in Seychelles in January 2017 around the same time Trump associate Erik Prince met with Russian and United Arab Emirates officials, including Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. Gerson reportedly met with Prince Mohamed and was in contact with a Lebanese-American businessman with close ties to the UAE, George Nader, who organized the Erik Prince meeting. A spokesperson for Gerson said: “Mr. Gerson was on vacation in the Seychelles prior to the meeting you reference. He knew nothing about the meeting, had left before the meeting was reported to have taken place, and has never met or communicated with Erik Prince.”

READ IT AT NBC NEWS

 

Mueller Reportedly Investigating Foreign-Linked Donors To Trump’s Inauguration Fund

The following article by Mary Papenfuss was posted on the Huffington Post website May 11, 2018:

The special counsel is looking at contributors tied to Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, ABC News says.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating contributions to Donald Trump’s massive inauguration fund from donors with ties to foreign countries, sources have told ABC News.

Trump amassed a record $107 million in contributions to his inaugural committee. Previous presidents had kept donations low in an effort to avoid the appearance of selling presidential access — or favors.

Continue reading “Mueller Reportedly Investigating Foreign-Linked Donors To Trump’s Inauguration Fund”

Mueller has evidence that Trump supporter’s meeting with Putin ally may not have been a chance encounter: Sources

The following article by Pierre Thomas and James Gordon Meek was posted on the ABC News website April 6, 2018:

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained evidence that calls into question Congressional testimony given by Trump supporter and Blackwater founder Erik Prince last year, when he described a meeting in Seychelles with a Russian financier close to Vladimir Putin as a casual chance encounter “over a beer,” sources told ABC News.

Well-connected Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, a key witness given limited immunity by Mueller, has been interviewed seven times by prosecutors on a wide range of subjects. He told investigators that he set up a meeting in the Seychelles between Prince and Russian sovereign wealth fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, mere days before Trump was inaugurated, sources familiar with the investigation said this week. Continue reading “Mueller has evidence that Trump supporter’s meeting with Putin ally may not have been a chance encounter: Sources”

Mueller asking Russian oligarchs about any donations to Trump campaign: report

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website April 4, 2018:

Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has reportedly questioned whether Russian oligarchs illegally sent cash donations to President Trump’s campaign or inauguration.

CNN reported Wednesday that Mueller’s team stopped two oligarchs during recent trips to the U.S. and made a voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch.

In one case, Mueller’s team stopped an individual after his jet landed at a New York airport to search his electronic devices. It is not clear if the second oligarch was searched, CNN reported. Continue reading “Mueller asking Russian oligarchs about any donations to Trump campaign: report”

First sentence handed down in Mueller probe

The following article by Spencer S. Hsu was posted on the Washington Post website April 3, 2018:

Alex van der Zwaan, an associate of former Trump aide Richard Gates, was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to office special counsel Robert Mueller. (Reuters)

A London-based lawyer was ordered to serve 30 days in prison after a federal judge Tuesday handed down the first sentence in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Alex van der Zwaan, 33, a son-in-law of a prominent Russian-based banker, pleaded guilty Feb. 20 to lying to the FBI about his contacts in September and October of 2016 with a business associate of onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and with Manafort’s deputy, former Trump aide Rick Gates. Prosecutors said van der Zwaan also destroyed emails the special counsel had requested. Continue reading “First sentence handed down in Mueller probe”

Justice official authorized Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign chair colluded with Russia

The following article by Spencer S. Hsu and Rosalind S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website April 3, 2018:

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was authorized by a top Justice Department official to investigate whether Paul Manafort, the onetime chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, illegally coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, new court filings show.

Manafort, who was indicted last year on felony charges related to his work in Ukraine before joining Trump’s campaign, has not been charged with any crimes connected to the presidential race. But a partly redacted memoincluded in court filings late Monday night revealed that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein authorized Mueller to pursue allegations that Manafort colluded with Russia in 2016. Continue reading “Justice official authorized Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign chair colluded with Russia”