Tag: Trumpgate

Special counsel Robert Mueller is bad news for Trump’s embattled White House

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch was posted on the Washington Post website May 18, 2017:

Donald Trump disembarks Marine One yesterday as he returns to the White House after speaking at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement Ceremony. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: The White House tried hard last night to downplay the significance of the Justice Department appointing a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between President Trump’s associates and Russian officials. Robert S. Mueller III, who spent 12 years as FBI director, will lead the probe.

In their account, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein called up White House Counsel Don McGahn at 5:30 p.m. to give him a head’s up that he was going to make the announcement half an hour later. A senior administration official told reporters that Trump was “unbelievably calm and measured.” The press office then put out this statement under the president’s name: “A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know — there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly.” Continue reading “Special counsel Robert Mueller is bad news for Trump’s embattled White House”

Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House

The following article by Matthew Rosenberg and Mark Mazzetti was posted on the New York Times website May 17, 2017:

In February, Michael T. Flynn stepped down as national security adviser amid a scandal surrounding his contacts with Russia before President Trump took office. By SUSAN JOAN ARCHER, DAVE HORN, A.J. CHAVAR and ROBIN LINDSAY on Publish Date February 14, 2017. Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times.

WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn told President Trump’s transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case.

Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies. Continue reading “Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House”

Dutch Documentary Part II: Blood On Trump And Kushner’s Hands From Deals With Africa War Zone Diamond Mines

The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the AlterNet website May 15, 2017:

Lev Leviev’s diamond empire stretches from Angola to Moscow, London and Amsterdam.

The Trump family’s business partners have blood on their hands owing to deals with notorious diamond brokers who operate mines in wartorn Africa and own jewelry stores in London, Moscow and Amsterdam.

That’s the premise in Part Two of a documentary series by the Dutch TV network Zembla, The Dubious Friends of Donald Trump: King of Diamonds. It shows how the U.S. president and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have apparent partnerships with an Israeli billionaire who is tied to “trading in blood diamonds,” as the film’s description notes, and how this relationship overlaps with power circles in Russia reaching President Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarchs. Continue reading “Dutch Documentary Part II: Blood On Trump And Kushner’s Hands From Deals With Africa War Zone Diamond Mines”

Notes made by former FBI director Comey say Trump pressured him to end Flynn probe

The following article by Devlin Barrett, Ellen Nakashima and Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website May 16, 2017:

President Trump asked the FBI to drop its probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn and urged former FBI director James B. Comey instead to pursue reporters in leak cases, according to associates of Comey who have seen private notes he wrote recounting the conversation. Continue reading “Notes made by former FBI director Comey say Trump pressured him to end Flynn probe”

Trump’s chaotic White House once again makes a bad story worse

The following article by James Hohmann and Breanne Deppisch was posted on the Washington Post website May 16, 2017:

Donald Trump huddles with Sergey Lavrov, Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat, at the White House last Wednesday. Fourth from the right is Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. (Handout from the Russian Foreign Ministry Photo/Via AP)

THE BIG IDEA: This time it did not even take 24 hours for Donald Trump to throw his staffers under the bus and contradict their denials.

The president revealed highly classified (code word) information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador during an Oval Office meeting last week, potentially endangering a coveted intelligence asset, compromising a crucial alliance and undermining the war effort against ISIS.

After The Post broke the story, senior White House aides quickly denied it. “I was in the room. It didn’t happen,” said National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. “This story is false,” added Dina Powell, his deputy. Continue reading “Trump’s chaotic White House once again makes a bad story worse”

On the campaign trail, Trump was very worried about revealing America’s secrets

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website May 15, 2017:

Donald Trump is president today in large part because of voters’ concerns about protecting classified material. There are several layers of nuance to that point, of course, including that those concerns were generally a subset of critiques of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server as secretary of state. But the sticking point for conservative critics of Clinton’s behavior was that her use of a private server included the transmission of classified information, per the FBI — thereby putting that information at risk of being intercepted by foreign agents, should her server have been compromised. (Clinton’s team repeatedly insisted that the server hadn’t been breached; the FBI said there was no evidence that it was.) Continue reading “On the campaign trail, Trump was very worried about revealing America’s secrets”

In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred.

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt was posted on the New York Times website May 11, 2017:

James Comey boards a private jet at Los Angeles International Airport last night after Donald Trump fired him as FBI director. He learned the news on television. (KABC-TV via AP)

WASHINGTON — Only seven days after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president, James B. Comey has told associates, the F.B.I. director was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with the new commander in chief.

The conversation that night in January, Mr. Comey now believes, was a harbinger of his downfall this week as head of the F.B.I., according to two people who have heard his account of the dinner.

As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him. Continue reading “In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred.”

Acting FBI director contradicts Trump White House on Comey, Russia probe

The following article by Matt Zapotosky and Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website May 11, 2017:

Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe on Thursday rejected the Trump White House’s characterization of the Russian meddling probe as a low priority and delivered a passionate defense of former director James B. Comey — putting himself squarely at odds with the president while the bureau’s future hangs in the balance.

McCabe, who had been the No. 2 official in the FBI until President Trump fired Comey this week, said that the bureau considered the probe of possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump team during the 2016 election campaign a “highly significant investigation” and that it would not be derailed because of a change in leadership. Continue reading “Acting FBI director contradicts Trump White House on Comey, Russia probe”