Tag: Trump campaign

Mueller casts broad net in requesting extensive records from Trump White House

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

President Trump has weighed in on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election time and time again. Here’s a look at how he can limit the probe, and what Congress is trying to do about it. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

The special counsel investigating Russian election meddling has requested extensive records and email correspondence from the White House, covering areas including the president’s private discussions about firing his FBI director and his response to news that the then-national security adviser was under investigation, according to two people briefed on the requests.

White House lawyers are now working to turn over internal documents that span 13 categories that investigators for the special counsel have identified as critical to their probe, the people said. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, appointed in May in the wake of Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, took over the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russians in that effort. Continue reading “Mueller casts broad net in requesting extensive records from Trump White House”

Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire ‘private briefings’ on 2016 campaign

The following article by Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, Carol D. Leonnig and Adam Entous was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, walks the floor at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 21, 2016. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past, these people said.

“If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,” Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, portions of which were read to The Washington Post along with other Manafort correspondence from that time. Continue reading “Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire ‘private briefings’ on 2016 campaign”

FBI wiretap of Manafort is big news, but not because it vindicates Trump’s claim

The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website September 19, 2017:

Trump’s accusation remains as groundless as ever.

Credit:  Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post

On Monday night, CNN broke news that federal agents wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort during stretches of time both before and after the 2016 election, including early this year — “a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump.”

Not only does CNN’s report suggest there could be records of communications Manafort had with Trump, but it indicates investigators had good reason to believe Trump’s former campaign chairman was serving as an “agent of a foreign power.” Manafort reportedly made millions working for an oligarch closely tied to Putin, and presided over the Trump campaign during a time when it first came under FBI scrutiny for its Russia ties. CNN reports that “[t]he FBI interest in Manafort” dates back to when he was working on behalf of pro-Putin interests in Ukraine in 2014. Continue reading “FBI wiretap of Manafort is big news, but not because it vindicates Trump’s claim”

With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller’s Inquiry Sets a Tone

The following article by Sharon LaFraniere, Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman was posted on the New York Times website September 18, 2017:

Paul J. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, in June 2016. Prosecutors in the Russia investigation told Mr. Manafort they planned to indict him, two people close to the investigation said. Credit Brendan McDermid/Reuters

WASHINGTON — Paul J. Manafort was in bed early one morning in July when federal agents bearing a search warrant picked the lock on his front door and raided his Virginia home. They took binders stuffed with documents and copied his computer files, looking for evidence that Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, set up secret offshore bank accounts. They even photographed the expensive suits in his closet.

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, then followed the house search with a warning: His prosecutors told Mr. Manafort they planned to indict him, said two people close to the investigation.

The moves against Mr. Manafort are just a glimpse of the aggressive tactics used by Mr. Mueller and his team of prosecutors in the four months since taking over the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s election, according to lawyers, witnesses and American officials who have described the approach. Dispensing with the plodding pace typical of many white-collar investigations, Mr. Mueller’s team has used what some describe as shock-and-awe tactics to intimidate witnesses and potential targets of the inquiry. Continue reading “With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller’s Inquiry Sets a Tone”

Former Justice Dept. official joins special counsel Russia probe: report

The following article by Brandon Carter was posted on the Hill website September 16, 2017:

Robert S. Mueller

Special counsel Robert Mueller has hired yet another high-profile prosecutor for the ongoing investigation into potential ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, according to a new report.

Politico reports Kyle Freeny, a former Department of Justice lawyer who specializes in money laundering, has joined Mueller’s team. She was reportedly present during the grand jury testimony on Friday from a spokesman of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Freeny was previously working on a DOJ case in their Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, part of the DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, which aims to reclaim money from foreign corruption. Continue reading “Former Justice Dept. official joins special counsel Russia probe: report”

Donald Trump Jr. to Meet With Senate Russia Investigators

The following article by Nicholas Fandos was posted on the New York Times website September 6, 2017:

Donald Trump Jr. in February in his office at Trump Tower in Manhattan. He has also agreed to testify at a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, is set to meet with Senate Judiciary Committee investigators behind closed doors on Thursday to answer questions about his June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, committee officials said.

Committee aides said the interview, Mr. Trump’s first with congressional investigators, will be transcribed and could last for much of the day. It will largely focus on the meeting in Trump Tower, which appears to have been set up to deliver harmful information about Hillary Clinton to the Trump campaign, according to emails disclosed in June.

Democrats, led by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s top-ranking Democrat, said on Wednesday that Mr. Trump had also agreed to testify at a public hearing before the committee and that he would probably be subpoenaed if he did not follow through on that agreement. Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the panel’s chairman, declined to discuss the committee’s dealings with Mr. Trump. Lawyers for Mr. Trump could not be reached for comment.

The closed-door interview is the clearest indication yet that the Senate Judiciary Committee — after months of being eclipsed by the Senate and House intelligence committees — is emerging into a higher-profile role in investigating the president, his family and his associates in the coming months. Continue reading “Donald Trump Jr. to Meet With Senate Russia Investigators”

Kremlin says it got the Trump Tower email but didn’t respond

The following article by Andrew Roth was posted on the Washington Post website August 30, 2017:

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow on April 6. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

MOSCOW — A spokesman for Russian President Vladi­mir Putin confirmed on Wednesday that he had received a request for assistance on a stalled Trump Tower real estate project in Moscow from a close aide to President Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, but added that the Kremlin did not respond to the letter.

“I confirm that among a number of emails one from Mr. Michael Cohen came to us. This indeed happened,” said Dmitry Peskov, a personal spokesman for Putin, during a telephone briefing with Russian and foreign journalists. “But as far as we don’t respond to business topics, this is not our job, we did not send a response.” Continue reading “Kremlin says it got the Trump Tower email but didn’t respond”

Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected’

The following article by Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Hagerman was posted on the New York Times website August 28, 2017:

Donald J. Trump with Felix H. Sater, right, and Tevfik Arif at the official unveiling of Trump SoHo in September 2007. Credit Mark Von Holden/WireImage

WASHINGTON — A business associate of President Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, that he said would help Mr. Trump win the presidency.

The associate, Felix Sater, wrote a series of emails to Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Mr. Putin. He predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would highlight Mr. Trump’s savvy negotiating skills and be a political boon to his candidacy.

“Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Mr. Sater wrote in an email. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.”

A portion of an email Felix Sater sent to Michael Cohen on Nov. 3, 2015. Continue reading “Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected’”

Washington lobbying firms receive subpoenas as part of Russia probe

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website August 25, 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)

Lawyers for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, have issued subpoenas to several prominent Washington lobbying firms as the probe examines the finances of two former Trump campaign advisers, according to people with knowledge of the requests.

The subpoenas asked the firms to answer questions and provide records regarding their interactions with the consulting firms led by Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to President Trump, and Paul Manafort, former chairman of the Trump presidential campaign, these people said.

The requests suggest that Mueller’s investigators are looking closely at Manafort and Flynn, both of whom face possible legal jeopardy for allegedly failing to disclose that foreign governments or parties may have been the beneficiaries of their consulting and lobbying work, as they seek potential links between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin. Continue reading “Washington lobbying firms receive subpoenas as part of Russia probe”

Trump campaign emails show aide’s repeated efforts to set up Russia meetings

The following article by Tom Hamburger, Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website August 14, 2017:

According to internal campaign emails read to the Post, a low-level foreign adviser to Donald Trump passed along multiple requests for him to meet with Russian officials, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the 2016 campaign. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Three days after Donald Trump named his campaign foreign policy team in March 2016, the youngest of the new advisers sent an email to seven campaign officials with the subject line: “Meeting with Russian Leadership – Including Putin.”

The adviser, George Papadopoulos, offered to set up “a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under President Trump,” telling them his Russian contacts welcomed the opportunity,according to internal campaign emails read to The Washington Post. Continue reading “Trump campaign emails show aide’s repeated efforts to set up Russia meetings”