Tag: Russiagate

Lawyers for Rick Gates withdraw from Russia case

The following article by Darren Samuelsohn was posted on the Politico website February 1, 2018:

Rick Gates, left, with Donald Trump in 2016.Evan Vucci/AP

Three attorneys representing Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday they are immediately withdrawing as counsel for the former Donald Trump campaign aide, who is fighting special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of him on money laundering and other charges.

Lawyers Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and Annemarie McAvoy said in a two-page motion that they would explain the reasons for their abrupt move in documents filed under seal with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“The document speaks for itself,” McAvoy told POLITICO, declining further comment. Continue reading “Lawyers for Rick Gates withdraw from Russia case”

Mueller indicates he is likely to seek interview with Trump

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig was posted on the Washing Post website January 8, 2018:

With indications that special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking an interview with President Trump, here are some burning questions his team will want to ask. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has told President Trump’s legal team that his office is likely to seek an interview with the president, triggering a discussion among his attorneys about how to avoid a sit-down encounter or set limits on such a session, according to two people familiar with the talks.

Mueller raised the issue of interviewing Trump during a late-December meeting with the president’s lawyers John Dowd and Jay Sekulow. Mueller deputy James Quarles, who oversees the White House portion of the special counsel investigation, also attended. Continue reading “Mueller indicates he is likely to seek interview with Trump”

The Republicans’ Fake Investigations

The following op-ed commentary by Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch was posted on the New York Times website January 2, 2018:

Credit: Credit Harry Campbell

A generation ago, Republicans sought to protect President Richard Nixon by urging the Senate Watergate committee to look at supposed wrongdoing by Democrats in previous elections. The committee chairman, Sam Ervin, a Democrat, said that would be “as foolish as the man who went bear hunting and stopped to chase rabbits.”

Today, amid a growing criminal inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, congressional Republicans are again chasing rabbits. We know because we’re their favorite quarry. Continue reading “The Republicans’ Fake Investigations”

12 things we can definitively say the Russia investigation has uncovered so far

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the December 23, 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)

To review everything we’ve learned about Russia this year, let’s rewind to May. That was a big month President Trump, who fired his FBI director because he thought “this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.”

His own administration didn’t see it that way. A few weeks later, the No. 2 at the Justice Department, Rod J. Rosenstein, appointed a special counsel to ramp up the FBI’s existing investigation into “this Russia thing.”

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s mission: Look into how Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election, whether it colluded with Trump’s campaign, and investigate anything else he sees fit to investigate. Continue reading “12 things we can definitively say the Russia investigation has uncovered so far”

Special counsel has thousands of Trump transition emails: report

The following article by Max Greenwood was posted on the Hill website December 16, 2017:

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is shown testifying before a 2013 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing when he was FBI director. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators is in possession of tens of thousands of emails from the Trump transition team, Axios reported Saturday.

Those emails include messages belonging to President Trump‘s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, as well as other members of the transition team’s political leadership and the foreign policy team, according to Axios.

Mueller’s prosecutors reportedly used the emails to question witnesses, and are also looking to the messages to confirm information and follow new leads. Continue reading “Special counsel has thousands of Trump transition emails: report”

The Ghost of Richard Nixon

The following article by Kenneth T. Walsh was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website Deember 15, 2017:

President Donald Trump is behaving like the disgraced ex-president.

Cedit: Jae C. Hong/AP

The comparisons between Donald Trump and the disgraced Richard Nixon are getting more salient, and a big reason is that Trump is behaving like Nixon did in fundamental and troubling ways.

Echoing President Nixon’s arguments in the early and mid-1970s, Trump says many of the nation’s leaders and institutions, including prominent Democrats, some establishment Republicans, and major news organizations, are biased against him and are attempting to orchestrate his downfall. This is the same approach that Nixon took, seeing enemies everywhere and creating a fortress mentality at the White House. A lengthy New York Times story last weekend showed the depth of Trump’s preoccupation with what his adversaries say about him and with how he can get back at them using Twitter, his favorite weapon, and the overall power of the presidential bully pulpit. “For other presidents,” the Times reported, “every day is a test of how to lead a country, not just a faction, balancing competing interests. For Mr. Trump, every day is an hour-by-hour battle for self-preservation.” Continue reading “The Ghost of Richard Nixon”

Senate Republicans try to shield Mueller from criticism of his Russia probe

The following article by Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website December 14, 2017:

Former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, leaves Capitol Hill on June 21 after a closed-door meeting. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)

Senate Republicans are scrambling to shield special counsel Robert S. Mueller III from mounting GOP fury about new evidence that members of his team were biased against President Trump, as factions of the party charge that his entire investigation is tainted.

The stakes are high: If the GOP moves to hold Mueller accountable for his former subordinates’ actions, it could enable Trump to order his ouster and cripple the inquiry he has run examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether the president’s campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to tilt its outcome in his favor. Continue reading “Senate Republicans try to shield Mueller from criticism of his Russia probe”

Focus on Flynn, Trump timeline suggests obstruction is on Mueller’s mind

The following article by Carol E. Lee and Julia Ainsley was posted on the NBC News website December 11, 2017:

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller is trying to piece together what happened inside the White House over a critical 18-day period that began when senior officials were told that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was susceptible to blackmail by Russia, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The questions about what happened between Jan. 26 and Flynn’s firing on Feb. 13 appear to relate to possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump, say two people familiar with Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling and potential collusion with the Trump campaign. Continue reading “Focus on Flynn, Trump timeline suggests obstruction is on Mueller’s mind”

For Trump adviser at center of Russia probe, a rapid rise and dramatic fall in his ancestral land

The following article by Griff Witte was posted on the Washington Post website December 10, 2017:

Greece’s defence minister Panos Kammenos (3rd from left) and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin review an honor guard during an arrival ceremony at the Athens Airport. (Alexei Druzhinin/TASS)

ATHENS — A brass band played, fighter jets streaked the clear blue sky and a red carpet adorned the airport tarmac on the day in May 2016 when Vladimir Putin came to Athens for a visit.

“Mr. President, welcome to Greece,” the Greek defense minister, Panos Kammenos, said in Russian as he smiled broadly and greeted a stone-faced Putin at the base of the stairs from the plane.

Kammenos, a pro-Russian Greek nationalist who bragged often of his insider Moscow connections, would receive a second key visitor that day, but with considerably less fanfare.

Not yet 30 years old, George Papadopoulos had been unknown in Greece — and everywhere else — only two months before. Continue reading “For Trump adviser at center of Russia probe, a rapid rise and dramatic fall in his ancestral land”

House Dem: ‘We’ve seen a lot of contact’ between Trump campaign and Russians

The following article by Mallory Shelbourne was posted on the Hill website December 10, 2017:

© Greg Nash

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said Sunday that the House Intelligence Committee has “seen a lot of contact” between President Trump’s campaign and Russia during the course of its investigation.

“You know, we’ve seen a lot of contact. We’ve seen a desire to get dirt, a desire to work with the Russians, a desire to contact the Russians,” Himes told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“The question is — was there some form — and it is a question, I don’t want to prejudice the outcome — was there cooperation?”

Himes, who sits on the panel, said it matters if there was “follow up” between Donald Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer who promised damaging information about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

“So the question before us now is what happened afterward. Was there follow up?” Himes said.

Himes said Trump Jr., who met with the House Intelligence Committee last week as part of its investigation into Russia’s election meddling and any potential ties between Trump campaign staff and the Kremlin, was “forthcoming” in the meeting.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the committee, said Trump Jr. refused to answer questions about his conversation with the president about the meeting with the Russian lawyer. Trump Jr. invoked attorney-client privilege, claiming there was a lawyer present, Schiff said.

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