Tag Archives: collusion

Manafort Spox Testifies Before Grand Jury On Russia

Politico reports: A spokesman for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Jason Maloni, spent about two-and-a-half hours testifying Friday before a federal grand jury probing potential collusion between the campaign and Russia. Maloni arrived at the courthouse just before 9 a.m. and disappeared behind the frosted glass doors of the grand jury suite on the third floor of the federal …

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Roger Stone Claims He Will Testify Before US House In Closed Hearing Despite Demanding Public Hearing

The Associated Press reports: A longtime adviser to President Donald Trump says he will appear before the House intelligence committee on Sept. 26. The adviser is Roger Stone, a Republican strategist who has known Trump for many years and informally advised him during the 2016 campaign. The panel’s proceedings typically are closed, though Stone asked previously for his appearance to …

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Ethics Agency Changes Rules To Allow Anonymous Donations To White House Legal Defense Funds

Politico reports: The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has quietly reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds. The little-noticed change could help President Donald Trump’s aides raise the money they need to pay attorneys as the Russia probe expands — but raises the potential for hidden conflicts of …

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Michael Flynn’s Conspiracy Nut Son Now Subject Of Federal Probe Into Russian Meddling In US Election

NBC News reports: Michael G. Flynn, the son of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, is a subject of the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, according to four current and former government officials. The inquiry into Flynn is focused at least in part on his work …

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House Dems To Mueller: Flynn Broke The Law By Failing To Disclose Trip To Broker $100B Russia/Saudi Deal

CNN reports: House Democrats sent special counsel Robert Mueller what they say is evidence that former national security adviser Michael Flynn failed to disclose a trip he took to the Middle East to explore a business deal with the Saudi government and a Russian government agency. The Democrats allege the retired Army lieutenant general broke the law by omitting the …

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Trump Campaign Begins Handing Over Documents

The Daily Beast reports: The Trump campaign has begun handing over documents to Bob Mueller as his investigators probe potential interference by Russia in the 2016 election. A team of attorneys at Jones Day, the firm representing the Trump campaign, is finding the documents that relate to Mueller’s queries of the campaign, sources have told The Daily Beast. And John …

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REPORT: Trump Overrode Legal Team’s Advice That Kushner Should Step Down Over Russian Probe

The New York Daily News reports: Members of President Trump’s legal team recommended in June that Jared Kushner step down as a senior White House adviser because of his implication in the Russian probe — but Kushner’s doting father-in-law disagreed, according to a report. The President believed that Kushner, his trusted confidant and husband to his daughter Ivanka Trump, had …

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RUSSIA: Duma Member Boasts On Chat Show About Russian Spies Stealing The United States Presidency

The Hill reports: On a Sunday panel show, a Russian politician said U.S. “intelligence missed it when Russian intelligence stole the president of the United States.” Vyacheslav Nikonov, a member of the Russian parliamentary body, the Duma, made the remarks on the panel show “Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov.” Though the U.S. intelligence community has unequivocally stated that Russian intelligence …

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FBI Investigates Russian State News Agency As Part Of Pro-Trump “Influence Campaign” During 2016 Election

Yahoo News reports: The FBI recently questioned a former White House correspondent for Sputnik, the Russian-government-funded news agency, as part of an investigation into whether it is acting as an undeclared propaganda arm of the Kremlin in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). As part of the probe, Yahoo News has learned, the bureau has obtained a thumb …

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Mueller To White House: I’ll Probably Need To Interview Sean Spicer And Reince Priebus About Russian Collusion

The Washington Post reports: Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has alerted the White House that his team will probably seek to interview six top current and former advisers to President Trump who were witnesses to several episodes relevant to the investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the request. Mueller’s interest in the …

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Senate Judiciary Committee Member Sends Out Statute On Lying To Congress After Trump Junior’s Testimony

SNAP: Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) emailed the U.S. statute outlining punishments for lying or withholding information from Congress on Thursday just hours after Donald Trump Jr. testified before the committee. “Below is a statue to keep in mind in regards to Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony today,” Coons wrote in the email before sharing the rules of …

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Junior Tells Senate That He Only Sought Russian Dirt On Hillary To Determine Her “Fitness” To Be President

The New York Times reports: Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators on Thursday that he set up a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer because he was intrigued that she might have damaging information about Hillary Clinton, saying it was important to learn about Mrs. Clinton’s “fitness” to be president. But nothing came of the Trump Tower meeting, he …

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SAN FRANCISCO: Black Smoke Pours From Russian Consulate As Expelled Diplomats Pack Up [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Acrid, black smoke was seen pouring from a chimney at the Russian consulate in San Francisco Friday, a day after the Trump administration ordered its closure amid escalating tensions between the United States and Russia. Firefighters who arrived at the scene were turned away by consulate officials who came from inside the building. An Associated Press …

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Trump Lawyer “Vehemently” Denies Russian Collusion

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, has given Congress a point-by-point rebuttal of a dossier alleging that he has deep ties to Russian officials — an effort to clear his name as the Justice Department and congressional committees investigate Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s election. Mr. Cohen encouraged lawmakers to investigate those who …

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REPORT: Mueller Zeroes In On Trump’s “Knowingly False Statement” About Junior’s Meeting With Russian Agents

NBC News reports: Federal investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller are keenly focused on President Donald Trump’s role in crafting a response to a published article about a meeting between Russians and his son Donald Jr., three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The sources told NBC News that prosecutors want to know what Trump knew about …

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Trump Campaign Aide Emailed About Putin Meeting

CNN reports: Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, sent a brief …

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Trump Campaign Emails Reveal Staffer’s Multiple Attempts To Set Up Meeting With Vladimir Putin

The Washington Post reports: 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 …

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MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough: Putin Is Blackmailing Trump

Raw Story reports: MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough suggested President Donald Trump is being blackmailed by Russian president Vladimir Putin. “Donald Trump, at some point in his life, has insulted everybody around him in the harshest of terms, including his own children,” Scarborough said. There is only one exception to Trump’s bullying and belligerence, he said. “The only person that I certainly …

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REPORT: Investigators Learned About Donald Trump Jr’s Meeting With Russian Agents From Paul Manafort

Bloomberg reports: Manafort had alerted authorities to a controversial meeting on June 9, 2016, involving Trump’s son Donald Jr., other campaign representatives and a Russian lawyer promising damaging information on Hillary Clinton, according to people familiar with the matter. The president and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were dragged into the matter in July as details repeatedly emerged that contradicted the …

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Trump Thanks Vladimir Putin For Ejecting American Diplomats: We’ve Been Trying To Cut Down Our Payroll

The Washington Post reports: Addressing for the first time Putin’s decision late last month that the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Russia would have to cut 775 diplomatic and technical staff, Trump told reporters that he sees no reason for them to continue working in Russia. “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and …

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