Tag: Trumpgate

Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About Meeting With Russians

The following article by Eileen Sullivan and Adam Goldman was posted on the New York Times website July 25, 2017:

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, met with Senate Intelligence Committee investigators on Tuesday to discuss the June 2016 meeting between a Russian lawyer and Mr. Trump’s inner circle that was set up for the campaign to receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton, according to a spokesman for Mr. Manafort.

“Paul Manafort met this morning, by previous agreement, with the bipartisan staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee and answered their questions fully,” said the spokesman, Jason Maloni.

Mr. Manafort gave the investigators notes he had taken during the meeting, according to one person familiar with Tuesday’s discussion with congressional investigators at a Washington law firm. Continue reading “Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About Meeting With Russians”

Manafort testifies to Senate Intelligence Committee, turns over notes from Trump Tower meeting with Russian lawyer

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman and Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website July 25, 2017:

With some of the closest members of President Trump’s campaign slated to testify before congressional panels investigating its ties with Russia, here’s what investigators want to ask Trump’s son and former campaign manager. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Paul Manafort, a top campaign aide to President Trump, appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee early Tuesday morning to answer questions about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Before his voluntary interview, Manafort submitted to the committee notes that he took at a meeting with a Russian lawyer he and other campaign aides attended during the presidential campaign, a person familiar with the investigation said. Continue reading “Manafort testifies to Senate Intelligence Committee, turns over notes from Trump Tower meeting with Russian lawyer”

Justice Dept. Nominee Says He Once Represented Russian Bank

The following article by Charlie Savage and Adam Goldman was posted on the New York Times website July 24, 2017:

An Alfa Bank branch in Moscow. President Trump’s nominee to run the Justice Department’s criminal division, Brian A. Benczkowski, has disclosed that he did work for the bank, whose owners have ties to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. Credit Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s criminal division, Brian A. Benczkowski, has disclosed to Congress that he previously represented Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, whose owners have ties to President Vladimir V. Putin.

Mr. Trump nominated Mr. Benczkowski, a partner at the Kirkland & Ellis law firm and a former Bush administration Justice Department official, in June, and he is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Alfa Bank was at the center of scrutiny last year over potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia after computer experts discovered data suggesting a stream of communications between a server linked to the Trump Organization and a server linked to the bank. Reports about the mysterious data transmissions fueled speculation about a back channel. Continue reading “Justice Dept. Nominee Says He Once Represented Russian Bank”

Why Jared Kushner is a central piece of the Trump-Russia puzzle

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the Washington Post website July 24, 2017:

Investigators in Congress have been waiting a long time to talk to Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser. They’ll get to do so behind closed doors on Monday and Tuesday. According to his prepared statement, Kushner will say he did not do anything wrong.

“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government,” the testimony, as obtained by The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker, reads.

Whether he did anything wrong — or believes he did anything wrong — Kushner remains a central figure in the broader Trump-Russia investigation. Here’s why: Continue reading “Why Jared Kushner is a central piece of the Trump-Russia puzzle”

Kushner arrives at Senate for closed-door questioning on Russia

The following article by Philip RUcker and Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website July 24, 2017:

Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, walked into Senate offices Monday morning to begin answering questions behind closed doors about his contacts with Russian officials.

In written remarks made public prior to his appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kushner denies any improper contacts or collusion. The 11-page statement by Kushner details four meetings he had with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and transition period — including one set up by Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer. Continue reading “Kushner arrives at Senate for closed-door questioning on Russia”

Pardon

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website July 22, 2017:

Donald Trump set off another wave of excitement after news leaked this week that he is exploring with his lawyers how he could potentially use the presidential pardon to undermine Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The most explosive and unusual idea floated would be that Trump could potentially pardon himself along with others caught up in the investigation. No one, not even Richard Nixon, has seriously considered this option before. Experts disagree on the legal standing Trump would have to pardon himself while most concede it is a gray area that the Constitution does NOT specifically prohibit.

Most experts agree, however, that Trump pardoning himself could result in the following consequences: Continue reading “Pardon”

The man who drives Trump’s Russia connection

The following article by Andrew Roth was posted on the Washington Post website July 22, 2017:

From left, Crocus Group Vice President Emin Agalarov, Donald Trump and Crocus Group President Aras Agalarov hold a news conference on the Miss Universe pageant in 2013. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS via Getty Images)

MOSCOW — In 2013, the Russian oligarch Aras Agalarovand his son, Emin, arranged an extravagant party entrance for their guest, Donald Trump: an armored Mercedes stretch limo driving off a freight elevator right into a ballroom with 3,000 bedazzled Russian guests.

They were worried Trump’s security detail might spoil the surprise. Then Trump waved his team off.

“Don’t bother with them,” he said, Emin Agalarov, a pop singer, told The Washington Post last year in an interview. “I’m going where I want to go because I trust you.” Continue reading “The man who drives Trump’s Russia connection”

Sometimes it’s ‘normal’ to meet with foreign officials. For Jeff Sessions and the Russian ambassador, it wasn’t.

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the Washington Post website July 22, 2017:

The accounts from Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to his superiors, intercepted by U.S. spy agencies, contradict public assertions by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Post’s Greg Miller explains. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

As members of the Trump campaign team defend themselves from questions about contact with Russians, a common explanation has been: 1) It’s normal to meet with foreign officials and 2) We forgot about those meetings, because they were so normal.

To which former U.S. intelligence officials and security experts say: Those meetings are not normal, at least not in this extraordinary moment. Continue reading “Sometimes it’s ‘normal’ to meet with foreign officials. For Jeff Sessions and the Russian ambassador, it wasn’t.”

Sessions discussed Trump campaign-related matters with Russian ambassador, U.S. intelligence intercepts show

The following article by Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller was posted on the Washington Post website July 21, 2017:

Russia’s ambassador to Washington told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential race, contrary to public assertions by the embattled attorney general, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s accounts of two conversations with Sessions — then a top foreign policy adviser to Republican candidate Donald Trump — were intercepted by U.S. spy agencies, which monitor the communications of senior Russian officials both in the United States and in Russia. Sessions initially failed to disclose his contacts with Kislyak and then said that the meetings were not about the Trump campaign. Continue reading “Sessions discussed Trump campaign-related matters with Russian ambassador, U.S. intelligence intercepts show”

Trump team seeks to control, block Mueller’s Russia investigation

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

President Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the Russia probe, according to a person familiar with the effort. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

Some of President Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, building a case against what they allege are his conflicts of interest and discussing the president’s authority to grant pardons, according to people familiar with the effort.

Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe, according to one of those people. A second person said Trump’s lawyers have been discussing the president’s pardoning powers among themselves.

Trump’s legal team declined to comment on the issue. But one adviser said the president has simply expressed a curiosity in understanding the reach of his pardoning authority, as well as the limits of Mueller’s investigation.

“This is not in the context of, ‘I can’t wait to pardon myself,” a close adviser said. Continue reading “Trump team seeks to control, block Mueller’s Russia investigation”