Tag: Russia investigation

Mueller asks court to schedule Flynn sentencing

Special counsel Robert Mueller is asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to move forward with the sentencing of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, nearly 10 months after he pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his Russia contacts.

The development Monday comes after repeated delays in Flynn’s sentencing.

“The matter is now ready to be scheduled for sentencing,” Mueller’s prosecutors wrote in a joint filing with Flynn’s defense attorneys on Monday. They requested that Judge Emmet D. Sullivan set a date for sentencing, suggesting Nov. 28 or seven business days after that.

View the complete September 17 article by Morgan Chalfant on the Hill 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

Americans overwhelmingly want Trump to testify in Russia probe

Trump has a lot to answer for, and Americans want to hear those answers.

Credit: Susan Walsh, AP Photo

Trump’s lawyers are desperately try to keep him out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s hot seat — but the vast majority of Americans think Trump needs to explain himself under oath.

According to a new poll from CNN, 72 percent of Americans say Trump should testify under oath to Mueller, versus only 23 percent who say he should not.

That’s incredibly bad news for Trump, who has been waging a relentless campaign of attacks on Mueller and his investigation. But that campaign is clearly a complete failure, as public approval for the Mueller investigation has continued to climb.

View the complete September 12, 2018, article by Tommy Christopher on the ShareBlue.com website here.

Want to Know More About: The Mueller Investigation

John Avalon: “The Whole Point Of The Trump Team’s Legal Strategy Has Been To Influence The Court Of Opinion, To Run Down Mueller For Months And To Presumably Have Trump Benefit From That. It Does Not Seem To Have Worked.” JOHN AVALON: “I think what’s significant about these piping hot fresh poll numbers is the whole point of the Trump team’s legal strategy has been to influence the court of opinion, to run down Mueller for months and to presumably have Trump benefit from that. It does not seem to have worked. Impressions of Robert Mueller have improved over that period of time on his handling of the Russian probe.That to me is the starkest thing. The stated strategy of the Trump team in playing the public? Not working.” [New Day, CNN, 9/12/18; Video]

John Avalon: “Impressions Of Robert Mueller Have Improved Over That Period Of Time On His Handling Of The Russian Probe. That To Me Is The Starkest Thing. The Stated Strategy Of The Trump Team In Playing The Public? Not Working.” JOHN AVALON: “I think what’s significant about these piping hot fresh poll numbers is the whole point of the Trump team’s legal strategy has been to influence the court of opinion, to run down Mueller for months and to presumably have Trump benefit from that. It does not seem to have worked. Impressions of Robert Mueller have improved over that period of time on his handling of the Russian probe.That to me is the starkest thing. The stated strategy of the Trump team in playing the public? Not working.” [New Day, CNN, 9/12/18; Video] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: The Mueller Investigation”

Want to Know More About: The Mueller-Trump Interview

Mika Brzezinski: “In An Interview With The AP Yesterday Giuliani Said President Trump Will Not Answer Federal Investigators Questions In Writing Or In Person About Whether He Tried To Block The Probe Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Election.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/7/18; VIDEO]

George Stephanopoulos: “New Developments In The Mueller Investigation. Rudy Giuliani Really Seeming To Be Throwing Down The Gauntlet Saying Now The President Won’t Take Any Questions, Even Written Questions About Obstruction Of Justice.” STEPHANOPOULOS: “overnight new developments in the Mueller investigation. Rudy Giuliani really seeming to be throwing down the gauntlet saying now the president won’t take any questions, even written questions about obstruction of justice.” KARL: “Yeah, extraordinary statements by the president’s lawyer. He says that — he says no questions written or in person.” [Good Morning America, ABC, 9/7/18; VIDEO]

Susan Del Percio: “I Think At This Point Mueller Probably Has Everything Laid Out That He Needs So If The President Responds In Writing Or Not He Has It.” SUSAN DEL PERCIO: “I think at this point Mueller probably has everything laid out that he needs so if the president responds in writing or not he has it. What’s really interesting it’s right after labor day that line in the sand that Rudy Giuliani was saying we can talk about the Mueller investigation and should be suspended. He’s the one, not Mueller’s team, who is talking about this investigation, who is talking about questioning the president. So I think as far as everyone goes we now have to look at it, it’s no longer an issue if you talk about it based on the president’s team.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/7/18; VIDEO]

Mueller’s ‘speaking indictments’ offer clues to strategy

The following article by Morgan Chalfant was posted on the Hill website August 24, 2018:

Special counsel Robert Mueller has made use of an unusual legal tool that has allowed him to build a narrative about Russian interference in the presidential election while quietly pressing forward with his investigation behind the scenes.

Mueller has made frequent use of “speaking indictments” — a colloquial term used by attorneys and legal experts to describe indictments that go into more detail, and provide more facts, than what is required under law.

“A speaking indictment comes from the idea that the indictment does more than that — it speaks, it tells a story,” said Jack Sharman, a former special counsel to Congress during the Whitewater investigation.

View the complete article here.

Mueller investigation gains new momentum

The following article by Morgan Chalfant was posted on the Hill website August 22, 2018:

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference has new momentum following the conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and guilty plea of former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

Manafort’s conviction affirmed the credibility of an investigation that has endured near-daily attacks from President Trump, while Cohen’s guilty plea to campaign finance violations and other charges could present the special counsel with a key witness willing to cooperate.

Neither development is directly related to Mueller’s inquiry into whether there was collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Still, those closely watching the investigation say that they bolster Mueller’s probe at a critical point and insulate it further from critics calling for its swift end.

View the complete article here.

Presidential Historian Explains How Trump Is ‘Channeling’ Nixon’s Watergate-Era Defenders

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet.org website August 20, 2018:

We’ve seen this script before.

Presidential historian, Timothy Naftali Credit: CNN Screen Shot

President Donald Trump himself is now invoking allusions to the Watergate era as he attacks the ongoing investigation into his ties to Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign — and he is bizarrely only making himself look even more guilty in doing so.

Timothy Naftali, a CNN presidential historian, spoke with host Brooke Baldwin Monday and argued that Trump is now echoing President Richard Nixon’s defenders during the Watergate scandal. They discussed Trump’s recent referral to John Dean, the White House counsel who ended up testifying against the president, as a “rat.”

“I learned when I was director of the Nixon library that there is a core of people in the United States who are Nixon Watergate defenders. For them, John Dean is a villain,” he explained. “So President Trump, who was friends with Roy Cohn, is channeling that kind of hatred of John Dean.”

View the complete article here.