Tag Archives: Russia

Mueller Accuses Paul Manafort Of Attempted Witness Tampering, Demands That Court Revoke Or Revise Bail

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who has been indicted by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, attempted to tamper with potential witnesses, Mueller said in a court filing on Monday. Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, asked the judge overseeing the case in U.S. District Court for the District of …

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First Year Cost Of Robert Mueller’s Probe: $8 Million

The New York Daily News reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling has cost just under $8 million since the former FBI director was appointed last May, according to a new spending report released Thursday. The bill is a far cry from the $20 million President Trump claims that probe has cost and is only slightly higher than …

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Manafort Allies Launch Legal Defense Fund

Politico reports: Self-described friends of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are launching a defense fund to help pay the mounting legal bills he’s incurring as a result of two looming criminal cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. A newly revealed website portrays the wealthy lobbyist and political consultant as struggling to cover his debts since prosecutors froze his …

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Prosecutors Poised To Get One Million Files Seized From Trump Attorney Michael Cohen’s Three Cellphones

The Washington Post reports: Federal prosecutors investigating President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen are poised to receive on Wednesday 1 million files from three of his cellphones seized last month, according to a filing submitted to the court Tuesday night by special master Barbara Jones. In her update to the court, Jones said investigators from the Office of the U.S. …

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Russian-Made “Active Shooter” Game Gets Canceled

The New York Times reports: The online game unfolds from the point of view of an attacker, aiming a weapon down a school corridor or throwing a grenade into an auditorium. The character creeps around corners and up staircases. Bullets spray, blood spatters. SWAT team members are shot dead. Civilians are splayed out on the floor. Active Shooter was developed …

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China “Aggressively” Steps Up Nuclear Weapons Tests

The South China Morning Post reports: China is aggressively developing its next generation of nuclear weapons, conducting an average of five tests a month to simulate nuclear blasts, according to a major Chinese weapons research institute. Its number of simulated tests has in recent years outpaced that of the United States, which conducts them less than once a month on …

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Trump Claims The FBI Never Warned Him About The Russian Infiltrators (That The FBI Warned Him About)

Via Mediaite: Even as some Republicans have suggested it may not be entirely accurate, President Trump is standing by his “SpyGate” claim. He also tweeted this afternoon that the FBI and/or DOJ never contacted him about this “phony Russia problem.” However, NBC News reported late last year that “in the weeks after he became the Republican nominee on July 19, …

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Spanish Police Provide FBI With Wiretaps Of Russian “Godfather” That Met With Junior At NRA Convention

Yahoo News reports: The FBI has obtained secret wiretaps collected by Spanish police of conversations involving Alexander Torshin [photo], a deputy governor of Russia’s Central Bank who has forged close ties with U.S. lawmakers and the National Rifle Association, that led to a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. during the gun lobby’s annual convention in Louisville, Ky., in May 2016, …

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REVEALED: Cohen Met With Oligarch At Trump Tower Before Inauguration To Discuss US-Russia Relations

The New York Times reports: Eleven days before the presidential inauguration last year, a billionaire Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet with Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, according to video footage and another person who attended the meeting. In Mr. Cohen’s office on the 26th floor, he …

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Dem Senator Wants Open Hearing With Junior About His “False Testimony” On Meetings With Foreigners

NBC News reports: Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., says the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., may have provided “false testimony” to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he was asked about the Trump campaign’s involvement with foreign governments and foreign nationals. In a two-page letter Thursday to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the panel, Coons said that information in recent …

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FBI Warns Of Russian Malware: Reboot Botnet Devices

The Hill reports: The FBI on Friday issued a formal warning that a sophisticated Russia-linked hacking campaign is compromising hundreds of thousands of home network devices worldwide and it is advising owners to reboot these devices in an attempt to disrupt the malicious software. The law enforcement agency said foreign cyber actors are targeting routers in small or home offices …

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James Clapper Rips Into Trump’s Orwellian “Spygate” Lies: “Up Is Down, Black Is White, Peace Is War”

“He deliberately spun it, distorted it. I mean this is George Orwell — up is down, black is white, peace is war. That’s exactly what I didn’t say. I took aversion to the word spy, it was the most benign version of information gathering. The important thing is the whole reason the FBI was doing this was concern over what …

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Mueller Responds To Media Lawsuits: Probe Is Factually And Legally Interconnected, It Must Remain Private

Talking Points Memo reports: Special Counsel Robert Mueller stressed that his investigation into Russian election meddling was ongoing and consisted of “multiple lines of non-public inquiry,” in a court filing Wednesday evening in a lawsuit brought by media companies seeking the release of certain records related to the probe. “Many aspects of the investigation are factually and legally interconnected: they …

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RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel: The Only Reason Hillary Lost Is Because She Was So Out Of Touch [VIDEO]

“I ran Michigan. Hillary Clinton was not in our state. She did not bring a message to the voters of our state that resonated and President Trump did. He talked about trade. He talked about jobs. He talked about wages. Look where our country is already under our leadership. He won this election because he cared about average working class …

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Pompeo Vows To Thwart Russian Meddling In Midterms

The Associated Press reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the Trump administration will not tolerate Russian interference in the 2018 congressional midterm elections. Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the administration will take “appropriate countermeasures” to fight what he called “continued efforts” by Russia to meddle in November’s vote. He did not elaborate on the Russian …

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White House Announces Meeting With DOJ And FBI To Review “Highly Classified Information” On Russia Probe

PBS NewsHour reports: The White House says President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly plans to “immediately set up a meeting” with congressional leaders and the FBI, Justice Department and Director of National Intelligence to review “highly classified and other information they have requested” related to the Russia investigation. Rep. Devin Nunes, an ardent Trump supporter and head of …

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Roger Stone: It’s Not Inconceivable That Mueller Will Conjure Up “Extraneous Crime” Charges Against Me

“I can guarantee you they have found no evidence whatsoever of Russian collusion nor trafficking of allegedly hacked emails with Wikileaks. It is not inconceivable now that Mr. Mueller and his team may seek to conjure up some extraneous crime pertaining to my business or maybe not even pertaining to the 2016 election. I would chalk this up to an …

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Putin Hails Trump As “Good And Strong Entrepreneur”

Bloomberg reports: Even when Donald Trump is threatening sanctions against a vital Russian energy project, President Vladimir Putin still has nothing but praise for his American counterpart. “Donald isn’t just president of the United States, he’s also a good and strong entrepreneur,” Putin said at talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Russia’s Sochi on Friday. “He’s also promoting the …

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Trump Contradicts Giuliani On FBI Informant

Trump is contradicting his own lawyer again: Rudy Giuliani, who is representing President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation, said Friday he doesn’t know for sure if the FBI had an informant in the Trump campaign. “Here’s the issue that I really feel strongly about with this informant, if there is one. First of all, I don’t know for sure, …

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Giuliani Claims Mueller Has Limited Scope Of Trump Interview To Two Topics, Won’t Ask About Cohen

CNN reports: Rudy Giuliani said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to narrow the scope of a potential interview with President Donald Trump from five topics to two. The former New York City mayor told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” that Mueller is not considering asking the President about his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who’s under …

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