Tag: Russia investigation

Mueller is Ready for Trump. The President and His Lawyers Can’t Say the Same.

The following article by Jack Holmes was posted on the Esquire website May 8, 2018:

During a four-hour practice with his legal team, Trump reportedly made it through two questions.

Giuliani speaks at the 2016 RNC Convention.
Credit: Getty Images

One particular source of angst for the attorneys of Donald J. Trump, American president, is the prospect of The Interview. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has requested a sit-down chat with the president to hear his side of things on whether he or his associates colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election, and whether he obstructed justice when he fired FBI Director James Comey. Trump’s legal team is ever-changing, but no matter who’s on staff at the moment, they can’t seem to settle on whether he should be put in the same room with the granite-nosed investigator.

That ever-changing quality reared its head last week, when lead lawyer John Dowd and primary mustache Ty Cobb both departed the team. They were replaced by Emmet Flood—a powerful Washington defense attorney who has served as outside counsel to past presidents, including President Clinton during his impeachment proceedings—and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who seems to have undergone some changes in recent years. Continue reading “Mueller is Ready for Trump. The President and His Lawyers Can’t Say the Same.”

New Revelations Suggest a President Losing Control of His Narrative

The following article by Peter Baker was posted on the New York Times website May 3, 2018:

Pres. Trump is used to dictating the terms of his own life to create a narrative that suits his desired image. Credit: Doug Mills/New York Times

As of last week, the American public had been told that President Trump’s doctor had certified he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected.” That the president was happy with his legal team and would not hire a new lawyer. That he did not know about the $130,000 payment to a former pornographic film actress who claimed to have had an affair with him.

As of this week, it turns out that the statement about his health was not actually from the doctor but had been dictated by Mr. Trump himself. That the president has split with the leaders of his legal team and hired the same new lawyer he had denied recruiting. And that Mr. Trump himself had financed the $130,000 payment intended to buy the silence of the actress known as Stormy Daniels. Continue reading “New Revelations Suggest a President Losing Control of His Narrative”

‘The gloves may be coming off’: Shake-up of Trump legal team signals combative posture toward special counsel

The following article by Robert Costa, Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey was posted on the Washington Post website May 2, 2018:

President Trump’s growing desire for his lawyers to more forcefully counter the ongoing special counsel investigation drove yet another shake-up of his legal team on Wednesday, putting the White House on war footing with federal prosecutors examining Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who repeatedly urged cooperation with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and assured the president such a strategy could shorten the investigation, announced he would leave his post at the end of the month. Continue reading “‘The gloves may be coming off’: Shake-up of Trump legal team signals combative posture toward special counsel”

Mueller Has Dozens of Inquiries for Trump in Broad Quest on Russia Ties and ObstructionMueller Has Dozens of Inquiries for Trump in Broad Quest on Russia Ties and Obstruction

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt was posted on the New York Times website April 30, 2018:

Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia’s election interference, has at least four dozen questions on an exhaustive array of subjects he wants to ask President Trump to learn more about his ties to Russia and determine whether he obstructed the inquiry itself, according to a list of the questions obtained by The New York Times.

[Read the questions here.]

The open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the president’s thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers. They deal chiefly with the president’s high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. Continue reading “Mueller Has Dozens of Inquiries for Trump in Broad Quest on Russia Ties and ObstructionMueller Has Dozens of Inquiries for Trump in Broad Quest on Russia Ties and Obstruction”

Paul Manafort Was Under FBI Scrutiny Before He Joined the Trump Campaign, Documents Show

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website April 24, 2018:

The revelation shows that the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s connections with Russia is not a political operation.

President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort was interviewed by the FBI long before the 2016 presidential race, new court documents show. This revelation shows that the FBI’s interests in the ties between Trump and Russia were not manufactured as an attempt to challenge his political legitimacy, but they instead stemmed from long-standing concerns about the very people he chose to surround himself with.

The Washington Post first reported on the new revelations contained in a court filing from the FBI, which came in response to Manafort’s efforts to suppress evidence investigators obtained in searches of his properties. Manafort had been indicted with a host of money laundering crimes and for working as an unregistered foreign agent for a Ukrainian politician who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Continue reading “Paul Manafort Was Under FBI Scrutiny Before He Joined the Trump Campaign, Documents Show”

Trump keeps saying he’s innocent. So why does he keep sounding like he’s guilty?

The following article by Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website April 24, 2018:

President Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia. (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)

As concern grew inside his orbit that Michael Cohen might become a cooperating witness to federal investigators, President Trump issued a declaration about his longtime personal lawyer and fixer.

“Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble,” Trump tweeted over the weekend. He added: “Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that.” Continue reading “Trump keeps saying he’s innocent. So why does he keep sounding like he’s guilty?”

McConnell Makes It Clear That Republicans Won’t Do Anything to Protect Mueller from Trump

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website April 17, 2018:

“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed calls on Tuesday for legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, saying that he doesn’t think President Donald Trump will fire the lead investigator in charge of the Russia investigation.

“I don’t think he should fire Mueller, and I don’t think he’s going to, so this is a piece of legislation that is not necessary, in my judgment,” Mcconnell said on Fox News.

A growing number of Republican lawmakers have endorsed legislation to protect Mueller in recent days following the president’s fury over the federal raid on his attorney Michael Cohen. Neil Cavuto, the Fox News host who interviewed McConnell, pointed this fact out to the majority leader.

“But I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor,” McConnell said. “That’s my responsibility as the majority leader. And we will not be having this on the floor of the Senate.”

McConnell said he would be “shocked” if Trump does fire Mueller.

Watch the clip below:

Continue reading “McConnell Makes It Clear That Republicans Won’t Do Anything to Protect Mueller from Trump”

McConnell Makes It Clear That Republicans Won’t Do Anything to Protect Mueller from Trump

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website April 17, 2018:

“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed calls on Tuesday for legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, saying that he doesn’t think President Donald Trump will fire the lead investigator in charge of the Russia investigation.

“I don’t think he should fire Mueller, and I don’t think he’s going to, so this is a piece of legislation that is not necessary, in my judgment,” Mcconnell said on Fox News.

A growing number of Republican lawmakers have endorsed legislation to protect Mueller in recent days following the president’s fury over the federal raid on his attorney Michael Cohen. Neil Cavuto, the Fox News host who interviewed McConnell, pointed this fact out to the majority leader.

“But I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor,” McConnell said. “That’s my responsibility as the majority leader. And we will not be having this on the floor of the Senate.”

McConnell said he would be “shocked” if Trump does fire Mueller.

Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier

The following article by Peter Stone and Greg Gordon was posted on the McClatchy website April 13, 2018:

Michael Cohen Credit: Mary Altaffer, AP

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department special counsel has evidence that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Confirmation of the trip would lend credence to a retired British spy’s report that Cohen strategized there with a powerful Kremlin figure about Russian meddling in the U.S. election. Continue reading “Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier”

Trump May Soon Discover Why It’s Too Late To Fire Mueller

The following article by Gene Lyons was posted on the National Memo website April 11, 2018:

Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

“Happiness,” wrote Jonathan Swift in 1704, “is a perpetual Possession of being well Deceived.” If so, the United States under the blundering misrule of Donald J. Trump should be the happiest nation on earth. Instead, many of his warmest supporters appear consumed with anger and tempted by preposterous make-believe.

None more than the president himself, of course. Continue reading “Trump May Soon Discover Why It’s Too Late To Fire Mueller”