Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed conservative American and political consultant Roger Stone to the newsmakers line to discuss his new book coming out, his personal struggles, and rebuilding his life.
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President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison. Democrats denounced the move as just another in a series of unprecedented interventions by the president in the nation’s justice system.
Stone had been sentenced in February to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. He was set to report to prison by Tuesday.
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On Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio.
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Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos told an FBI informant in late October 2016 that he did not believe the Trump campaign was working with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election, according to a 171-page transcript of the secretly recorded conversation obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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by Adam Mill One can imagine the unspoken question hanging in the darkness during the January 2017 ride back to the airport. A small gaggle1 of FBI agents had just concluded their long-overdue interview with Christopher Steele’s primary sub-source. The silence must have been deafening. Steele had tried to conceal2 his source from the FBI. But the FBI knew his identity and set up an interview behind Steele’s back, and the interview contradicted several Steele assertions. The downcast agents waited for somebody to ask the question on all of their minds: “Now what?” The right answer would have been to admit to the court that Steele was an unreliable source who exaggerates and lies and put an end to spying on Americans in pursuit of the mirage of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia. When presented one last opportunity to do the right thing, the FBI instead pushed harder for their now-discredited hypothesis justifying the investigation. Peter Strzok had promised his lover, Lisa Page, he would “save” the country from Donald Trump. Given a choice between bringing the FBI back into the light of the Constitution or the darkness of blind hatred of Donald Trump, the conspirators choose darkness. It was at…
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A federal judge Friday ordered the Justice Department to provide grand jury materials from the special counsel’s investigation to the House Judiciary Committee, in what will be hailed as a major legal win for congressional Democrats.
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by George Rasley President Donald Trump abruptly quit a meeting with congressional Democrats yesterday and issued a bold statement that he would no longer work with them unless they drop their attempts to re-do the Mueller investigation. After cutting short his meeting with the Democratic leaders, scheduled for a discussion of the huge infrastructure bill the White House floated a few weeks ago, the President justifiably lashed out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her comment earlier in the morning that she believed the president engaged in a “cover-up” of the Russia probe. “I don’t do cover-ups,” Trump said forcefully, after striding to the Rose Garden where aides had gathered reporters and TV cameras for his demand that Congress drop its investigations that are increasingly leading to talk of what he called the “i-word” — impeachment, according to reporting by our friends at NewsMax. He appeared behind a sign that listed the cost of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and Trump’s slogans of “No Collusion” and “No Obstruction.” “I walked into the room and I told Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi I want to do infrastructure,” he said, referring to the top Democratic senator, New York’s Chuck Schumer. “But…
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by Chuck Ross President Donald Trump has directed the heads of several government agencies to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr’s investigation of the origins of the Russia probe. In a memo sent out Thursday, Trump also authorized Barr to declassify documents related to the Russia investigation. The memo grants Barr the authority to “declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence” related to the Russia probe as he sees fit. Barr has said that he is investigating whether government agencies improperly surveilled members of the Trump campaign. In testimony to Congress, Barr has asserted that the FBI and other agencies spied on the campaign by using informants and surveillance warrants. Trump’s memo directs the heads of several federal agencies, including the CIA, FBI and State Department, to “promptly” provide assistance and information to Barr to complete his review. “Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “The Attorney General has also been…
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by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr may cancel his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday over disagreements with Democrats over the proposed format for the highly anticipated hearing. According to CNN, Democrats, led by New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, proposed allowing committee staffers to ask Barr questions during a second round of questioning at Thursday’s hearing. Nadler also wants to be able to question Barr in a closed session about the redacted parts of the Mueller report. But Barr reportedly opposes that format, saying that he should only face questioning from members of Congress in a public congressional hearing. Staffers typically do not ask questions of witnesses during public hearings. Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Both hearings are expected to focus on the special counsel’s Russia report. The standoff will escalate tensions between Nadler and Barr. The Democrat has been heavily critical of Barr’s handling of the rollout of the special counsel’s report, which said that investigators found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. Nadler threatened to subpoena Barr if he skips the hearing. “The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its…
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U.S. Reps. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) and Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) made a Facebook video Thursday having fun at the expense of U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA-28) and his obsession over the Robert Mueller report. The video is available here. “I’ve got the Schiff report,” Burchett said, brandishing a large envelope. Green opened the envelope and shook it – the envelope was empty. No report. Green also posted the video on Twitter here. BREAKING: @RepTimBurchett and I found the elusive Schiff Report that allegedly proves the president colluded with Russia! pic.twitter.com/cAvNniVWcV — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) March 28, 2019 Green recently called for the resignation of Schiff from his chairmanship of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He called Schiff a “conspiracy theorist” for implying the Russians offered intel on Hillary Clinton and saying that President Donald Trump’s son showed interest, according to Fox News. Schiff has said his committee might subpoena Mueller. The Los Angeles Times reported that Republicans and Democrats on the committee had a heated exchange on Schiff’s statements and the GOP members calling for his resignation, the Los Angeles Times said. “Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming,” said Rep. Mike…
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by George Rasley Now that the Mueller investigation has cleared President Trump and demonstrated beyond any doubt that the entire affair was a hoax founded upon lies perpetrated by the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Obama administration, Democrat political operatives and the Deep State political class embedded in the government, conservatives and other fair-minded Americans ought to demand that those whose lives and reputations have been shattered by this hoax be made whole. We’re talking about those whom the establishment media and the vile instigators of the Trump – Russia collusion narrative have dismissed as “collateral damage” in the investigation. Honest, hardworking patriotic men like Michael Caputo, who served in the Army, worked for conservative luminaries such as Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp, and advised numerous Republican political candidates before signing-on to the Trump campaign. Caputo was dragged through hell by the Mueller investigation and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence merely because he had lived in Ukraine and Russia and had done public relations and campaign work in those countries… and worked for Donald Trump. Caputo was forced to liquidate his children’s college fund to pay his legal expenses for the “crime” of being associated with Donald Trump.…
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The House voted unanimously Thursday for a resolution calling for any final report in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation to be made public, a symbolic action designed to pressure Attorney General William Barr into releasing as much information as possible when the probe is concluded. The Democratic-backed resolution, which passed 420-0, comes as Mueller is nearing an end to his investigation. Lawmakers in both parties have maintained there will have to be some sort of public resolution when the report is done — and privately hope that a report shows conclusions that are favorable to their own side. Four Republicans voted present: Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. The nonbinding resolution calls for the public release of any report Mueller provides to Barr, with an exception for classified material. The resolution also calls for the full report to be released to Congress. “This resolution is critical because of the many questions and criticisms of the investigation raised by the president and his administration,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler. “It is important that Congress stand up for the principle of full transparency.” It’s unclear exactly what documentation…
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by Chuck Ross House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday revealed a sweeping plan to investigate President Donald Trump, including whether foreign actors have leverage over the Republican, his family or associates. Schiff laid out five areas the Democrat-controlled committee plans to investigate. The California Democrat made the announcement after the committee voted to provide the special counsel’s office with transcripts of interviews conducted as part of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “The President’s actions and posture towards Russia during the campaign, transition, and administration have only heightened fears of foreign financial or other leverage over President Trump and underscore the need to determine whether he or those in his Administration have acted in service of foreign interests since taking office,” Schiff said in a statement announcing the expanded investigation. The committee in September, then under Republican control, also voted to provide the interview transcripts to the Justice Department. Devin Nunes, Schiff’s Republican counterpart, called on the committee Wednesday to make public all unclassified interview transcripts from the investigation. Schiff has long pledged under his control, the House Intelligence Committee would aggressively investigate Trump’s campaign activities, as well as his finances. Schiff has said…
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by Chuck Ross The Senate Intelligence Committee obtained phone records showing Donald Trump Jr. did not speak with his father from a blocked telephone number in the days before the infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016. The finding, first reported by CNN, undercuts Democrats’ theory Trump Jr. might have told his father in those phone calls about the Trump Tower meeting, which was held June 9, 2016, with a group of Russians who had offered dirt on Hillary Clinton. Democrats led by California Rep. Adam Schiff long theorized the phone calls were between father and son and that they could have discussed the meeting. “We wanted to get the phone records to determine, was Donald Trump talking to his son about this meeting,” Schiff told CNN in November 2018. “It’s an obvious investigative step, but one the Republicans were unwilling to take because they were afraid of where the evidence might lead.” Phone records provided to the Senate Intelligence panel shows the calls were between Trump Jr. and two business associates, according to CNN. The calls were made in the days before the Trump Tower meeting. Another call occurred several hours after the meeting. The identity of the…
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President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Roger Stone pleaded ‘not guilty’ Tuesday to seven charges linked to the release of damaging hacked emails about Trump’s 2016 Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in the midst of the presidential campaign. The 66-year-old Stone, arrested last week at his Florida home in an audacious pre-dawn FBI raid, was arraigned in a federal court in Washington on five counts of lying to Congress about his role in the WikiLeaks release of the emails, and single counts of witness tampering and obstructing a congressional investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Stone has vocally asserted his innocence in recent days but said nothing as he left court. Some onlookers outside court chanted, “Lock him up,” and carried signs calling him a “dirty traitor.” But supporters nearby said he did nothing wrong and held up photos of him. Unlike most defendants in U.S. criminal cases, Stone since his arrest has made the rounds of television news shows, to belittle the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and special counsel Robert Mueller, who brought the charges against him. On his Instagram account, Stone, a long-time self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” whose hero…
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by Evie Fordham President Donald Trump responded Saturday to news of his confidant Roger Stone’s Friday indictment with a list of Democrats and justice officials he wants to see in trouble for alleged lying. “If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by [James] Comey, [John] Brennan, [James] Clapper, Lisa Page [and] lover, [James] Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary [Clinton] to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa [and Peter Strzok’s] deleted texts [and Anthony Weiner’s] laptop? Much more!” Trump wrote Saturday. If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Lisa Page & lover, Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa & Peter’s deleted texts & Wiener’s laptop? Much more! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2019 Stone was indicted Friday morning on five counts of lying to Congress, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of a government proceeding. Stone appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Friday evening and said Trump never told him to get in touch with WikiLeaks and claimed the…
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by Evie Fordham Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff is working on a “spy drama” screenplay, although it’s unclear how much time he’ll have to devote to the project as the next chair of the House Intelligence Committee. “It’s a spy drama,” he told Jeffrey Toobin for The New Yorker in a story that appeared in the magazine’s Dec. 24 and 31 issue. “That one is a work in progress.” The screenplay will be Schiff’s third. His previous scripts, one about the aftermath of the Holocaust and another about a mysterious murder, have not been picked up. Toobin wrote: It’s less known that, like many lawyers in Los Angeles, Schiff has been writing screenplays on the side for years, which together amount to a kind of autobiography. “The first was a post-Holocaust story called ‘Remnant.” As Schiff recalled, “I had an agent at William Morris tell me it was good but no one would want to see it—too depressing. Then Schindler’s List came out, and I was, like, Come on!” His next, written when he was a prosecutor, was a murder mystery called “Minotaur.” “I had a friend who was a producer, and he said there were two answers in…
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