Democratic Probes of Trump Could Trigger Protracted Subpoena Battle

With House Democrats ramping up their wide-ranging investigations of President Donald Trump, Congress and the administration are bracing for what is shaping up to be a long, hard fight over access to documents and witnesses that could go on for the remainder of Trump’s first term in office. On Wednesday the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to authorize subpoenas to obtain the full report on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election from special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as the testimonies of five former White House officials interviewed by the special counsel While Trump has left it to Attorney General William Barr to decide whether to release the complete report, the president is expected to assert what is known as executive privilege over some portions of records other congressional committees are seeking as part of their investigation of the administration. That has set the stage for a showdown between Democrats in Congress and the White House, raising the specter that the issue may ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. But if the past is any indication, the coming battle is likely to be fought — and eventually settled — through political give and…

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Commentary: The Tables Turn in Russian Collusion Hunt

by Victor Davis Hanson   The irony of the entire Russian collusion hoax is that accusers who cried the loudest about leaking, collusion, lying, and obstruction are themselves soon very likely to be accused of just those crimes. Now that Robert Mueller’s 674-day, $30 million investigation is over and has failed to find the original goal of its mandate—evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian government to sway the 2016 election—and now that thousands of once-sealed government documents will likely be released in unredacted form, those who eagerly assumed the role of the hunters may become the hunted, due to their own zealous violation of the nation’s trust and its laws. Take Lying  Former FBI Director James Comey’s testimonies cannot be reconciled with those of his own deputy director Andrew McCabe. He falsely testified that the Steele dossier was not the main basis for obtaining FISA court warrants. On at least 245 occasions, Comey swore under oath that he either did not know, or could not remember, when asked direct questions about his conduct at the FBI. He likely lied when he testified that he did not conclude his assessment of the Clinton illegal…

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Portman Resists Lindsey Graham’s Call for New Special Counsel to Investigate FBI

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other Republicans are calling for an investigation, and possibly the appointment of a new special counsel, into the FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign. Graham told reporters on Monday that he wants to investigate the surveillance warrants obtained by the FBI against Carter Page, an adviser to the Trump campaign, which were ultimately used to wiretap Page. The warrants, however, were granted partially based on material contained in the infamous and uncorroborated “dossier” produced by Christopher Steele. Graham and his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee want to get to the bottom of the matter, and determine if the warrants were used as “a back-door to spy on the campaign.” “Whether or not it’s illegal, I don’t yet know,” Graham said. “What makes no sense to me is that all of the abuse by the Department of Justice and the FBI—the unprofessional conduct, the shady behavior—nobody seems to think that’s much important. Well that’s going to change, I hope.” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), however, told The Columbus Dispatch that he opposes calls to have Attorney General William Barr appoint a new special counsel to investigate what Graham called “the other side of the story.” Portman…

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‘No Collusion, No Obstruction,’ Sen. Blackburn Tells Fox News Regarding Results of Mueller Probe

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) stated her defense of Attorney General William Barr and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report results in an op-ed with Fox News on Tuesday. Blackburn tweeted,”AG Barr’s conclusions to Congress this weekend about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rang loud and clear. President Trump didn’t collude or conspire with Russian agents to win the 2016 election. Read op-ed for @FoxNews here:”. AG Barr’s conclusions to Congress this weekend about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rang loud and clear. President Trump didn’t collude or conspire with Russian agents to win the 2016 election. Read op-ed for @FoxNews here: https://t.co/47oHupFbQR — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 26, 2019 Blackburn’s op-ed is available in its entirety here. Her op-ed began: No collusion. No obstruction. Attorney General Bill Barr’s conclusions to Congress this weekend about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rang loud and clear. President Trump didn’t collude or conspire with Russian agents to win the 2016 election. After an exhaustive review of the record, both Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined the evidence was “not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” Barr’s decision to include…

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Rep. Cohen Tells MSNBC That Mueller Report ‘Does Not Exonerate the President’

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) has been a critic of President Donald Trump all throughout his presidency, and through his position on the House Judiciary Committee, has been one of the leading Democrats obsessing over the Robert Mueller investigation, which has now concluded. Cohen does not seem to be giving up. Cohen is calling for grilling Mueller in front of the House Judiciary Committee and is dismissing Attorney General William Barr’s statement showing that Mueller’s probe cleared the president. Cohen tweeted, “Barr didn’t make his decision on obstruction after reading the #MuellerReport; he made it in 2018 when he wrote a memo to the DOJ stating that the president couldn’t be charged with obstruction of justice. He’s not a neutral observer! #CultureOfCorruption #ReleaseTheReport” Barr didn’t make his decision on obstruction after reading the #MuellerReport; he made it in 2018 when he wrote a memo to the DOJ stating that the president couldn’t be charged with obstruction of justice. He’s not a neutral observer! #CultureOfCorruption #ReleaseTheReport pic.twitter.com/eCdxAFcVxX — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) March 25, 2019 Cohen’s tweet links to his appearance on MSNBC Sunday. He said, “First Mueller was not making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. Those are very interesting words. And then as…

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Rep. Green Says in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed That ‘Democrats Talk Tough’ Over Russian Election Meddling, But They Are Only After Trump

U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) said “Democrats talk tough” when it comes to Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections, but they are only after President Donald Trump, who has acted to counter that nation’s aggression. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found no evidence President Donald Trump, his campaign or associates conspired or coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary released Sunday by Attorney General William Barr, as The Tennessee Star reported. Green tweeted, “Democrats talk tough, but their actions reveal they’re interested only in “getting” Donald Trump. GOP has long seen Russia as a threat, and we – including the president – have acted to counter its aggression. Read my thoughts via @WSJopinion” Democrats talk tough, but their actions reveal they’re interested only in “getting” Donald Trump. GOP has long seen Russia as a threat, and we—including the president—have acted to counter its aggression. Read my thoughts via @WSJopinion https://t.co/sdfaOZJLIa — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) March 25, 2019 Green’s tweet links to an op-ed he wrote in the Wall Street Journal, which is also available here. Green said that threats by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff to investigate Mueller’s investigation…

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Jim Jordan Reminds Nation That Democrats Used to Talk About Mueller Like He’s ‘Next to Jesus’

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) sat down for an interview with George Stephanopoulos Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” where he said his Democratic colleagues viewed Robert Mueller as “next to Jesus” heading into the Russia investigation. Prior to his interview, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA-28) was on the show and suggested that a lack of indictments in the Mueller report doesn’t necessarily vindicate President Donald Trump. “Well we’ve got to read the report, but what I do know is to date not one bit of evidence to show any type of coordination, collusion, conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the election. And that was the charge, George, when this thing started almost two years ago,” Jordan said in response. “The Democrats were all saying that the president of the United States worked with a hostile foreign country to steal the election, and again, there has not been one bit of evidence to suggest that any of that happened.” Jordan repeatedly emphasized that the focus of the special counsel investigation was to determine whether or not there was “collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to impact the election.” “And again, remember, this is Bob Mueller, this was the guy…

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Adam Schiff Says House Intelligence Committee Is Willing to Subpoena Mueller

by Chris White   House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff said Friday that his committee might subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller to get a fuller understanding about the details of his report. “If necessary, we will call Bob Mueller or others before our committee,” Schiff told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, noting also that the Judiciary Committee might summon Attorney General Bill Barr to answer questions as well. The California Democrat’s comments came shortly after Mueller delivered Barr his report on Russia’s intervention into the U.S. election. Schiff added: “This began as a counterintelligence investigation by the FBI. It began as the same in our committee, and we have a right to be informed and we will demand to be informed about it.” The Department of Justice is required by regulations governing the special counsel to disclose whether the agency rebuffed any major investigative requests from the special counsel. Mueller was never ordered to stand down on any major areas of inquiry throughout the more than two-year-long probe, according to Barr. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believes the public should have the opportunity to see the document, though the president added he would ultimately like to see it beforehand. –…

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Gorka Commentary: How President Trump Broke the Left

by Sebastian Gorka   Whatever happens in the years to come, American politics can never return to what they were before Nov. 8, 2016. Why, you ask? Because a brash TV celebrity businessman from Queens broke the media, broke Washington D.C., and broke the self-appointed “elite” on both coasts. The stake he drove through their hearts will endure no matter who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. First, they laughed at Donald Trump the candidate. At his appearance, at his demeanor, at his outré stump speeches. Then, when he wiped the floor with the 16 establishment Republican candidates they panicked. The criminal cartel that is the Clinton machine hired a former British intelligence officer—who hated Donald Trump the man—to generate a “dossier” of outlandish and false opposition research that was used by Barack Obama’s thoroughly corrupt Justice Department and FBI to gain under bogus pretenses a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance warrant to spy on her opponent’s campaign. But they failed. That is when the coup plot was hatched. I do not use that word lightly. However given that both the liberal judicial authority Alan Dershowitz, and the most preeminent conservative historian and strategist, Victor Davis Hanson, have recently used the word “coup”…

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BuzzFeed Doubles-Down on Trump Story, but Won’t Discuss Documents or Sources

by Chuck Ross   BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith and reporter Anthony Cormier doubled down Sunday on their bombshell report that President Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his efforts to build a Trump Tower in Russia. “I have further confirmation that this is right. We are being told to stand our ground. Our reporting is going to be borne out to be accurate, and we’re 100 percent behind it,” Cormier told CNN’s Brian Stelter during an interview about their report, which has been directly disputed by the special counsel’s office. “The same sources that we used in the story are standing behind it, and so are we.” But while Smith and Cormier expressed unwavering confidence in their story, the pair declined to discuss the specifics about how their report came together. Cormier dodged Stelter’s questions about documents that his colleague, Jason Leopold, claims to have seen as part of the reporting process. Cormier also acknowledged he is not certain what Cohen specifically told the special counsel or what Trump allegedly told Cohen. Cormier and Leopold reported Thursday night that Cohen told the special counsel’s office Trump directed him to lie to Congress in 2017 about his efforts to build…

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Trump Praises Mueller for Knocking Down ‘Phony’ BuzzFeed Story

by Chuck Ross   President Donald Trump offered rare praise Saturday for the special counsel’s office, which issued a statement Friday night knocking down a BuzzFeed story alleging Trump instructed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about Russia. “I appreciate the special counsel coming out with a statement last night. I think it was very appropriate that they did so. I very much appreciate that,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I think that the BuzzFeed piece was a disgrace to our country. It was a disgrace to journalism,” Trump said, referring to BuzzFeed’s report as a “totally phony story.” “I think it’s going to take a long time for the mainstream media to recover its credibility,” added Trump, who has regularly in the past criticized Mueller for leading what he calls a “witch hunt” in the Russia probe. BuzzFeed reported Thursday night that Cohen told the special counsel Trump instructed him to lie to Congress in 2017 about his efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. The report, which relied on two anonymous law enforcement officials, also asserted emails and witness testimony would corroborate Cohen’s account. Cohen pleaded guilty in…

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Rep. Steve Cohen: Republicans in Congress ‘Complicit with Trump and Everything He’s Done to Violate the Constitution’

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, went on CNN this week and attacked President Donald Trump as “out of control,” without providing evidence to support this assertion. As reported, Cohen is about to assume a senior position on the House Judiciary Committee once Democrats officially retake that branch of Congress. Cohen’s statements were so transparently anti-Trump that even CNN host Dana Bash had to ask if he was concerned — as a Democrat in a red state — about overreach. “I don’t think there will be overreach because I think this man has done more things that need oversight that have been neglected for the last two years,” Cohen said. Cohen went on to say Trump is “out of control” and there “are numerous areas” where Trump needs oversight. Cohen, however, failed to offer any specifics to back up what he said. Bash then asked Cohen how he plans to proceed once Robert Mueller releases his report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cohen immediately drew a comparison between the Mueller investigation and Watergate, which brought down President Richard Nixon. “Like in Watergate it will be a roadmap in areas where we need to proceed,” Cohen said,…

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Schiff Will Subpoena Mueller Report if White House Tries to Block its Release

by Chuck Ross   California Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday that he is prepared to subpoena a report from the special counsel’s Russia investigation should the White House try to block its release. “At the end of the day, this is just — this case is just too important to keep from the American people what it’s really about,” Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” CNN host Jake Tapper had asked Schiff, a Democrat, whether he would use his subpoena power when he takes over next month as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to obtain the report, should the Trump administration attempt to block its release. “I’m prepared to make sure we do everything possible so that the public has the advantage of as much of the information as it can,” Schiff said. “That sounds like a yes,” said Tapper. “Well, that pretty much is a yes, from my point of view,” Schiff replied, adding that “we ought to make sure this report is public.” Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly planning to send his report to the Justice Department as early as mid-February, NBC News reported Friday. The Justice Department, which is currently…

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AG Nominee Lambasted Mueller Tactics in Private Memo to Rosenstein

by Kevin Daley   Attorney General nominee William Barr sent a memo to the Department of Justice criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, particularly those aspects of the probe relating to obstruction of justice in June. The unsolicited document, whose existence was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, argues President Donald Trump’s dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey does not rise to obstruction of justice, since the president was carrying out his constitutional responsibilities. “As I understand it, [Mueller’s] theory is premised on a novel and legally insupportable reading of the law,” Barr wrote. “Moreover, in my view, if credited by the Justice Department, it would have grave consequences far beyond the immediate confines of this case and would do lasting damage to the presidency and to the administration of law within the executive branch.” Barr conceded a sitting president could obstruct justice by destroying evidence or tampering with witnesses, according to the Journal. Still, he insisted that the president cannot commit obstruction of justice when exercising his lawful powers. Elsewhere in the memo, he warned that moving against Trump based on an inventive theory of criminal liability would inflame much of the country and compromise faith in…

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Michael Flynn Sentencing Delayed

A U.S. judge in Washington on Tuesday sternly rebuked President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, for lying to investigators about his contacts with Russia in the weeks before Trump assumed power in early 2017, but delayed his sentencing. “I can’t hide my disgust, my disdain,” U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said of Flynn’s behavior, before later acceding to a request by Flynn’s lawyers to postpone his sentencing. Flynn acknowledged to Sullivan, “I was aware,” that it was a crime to lie to interrogators when they asked him about his discussions with Russia’s then-ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak. The judge told Flynn that his offense was “very serious” and that “arguably, you sold your country out.” Special counsel Robert Mueller had recommended the 60-year-old Flynn, a retired Army general and once head of the country’s Defense Intelligence Agency, not be sentenced to any prison time because he had provided “substantial” cooperation with prosecutors in their ongoing 19-month investigation of Trump 2016 campaign links with Russia and whether, as president, Trump obstructed justice by trying to thwart the probe. But Sullivan said he could not guarantee that Flynn will avoid a prison term when he is eventually sentenced, sometime…

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Defeat and the Dossier Explain Everything

by Victor Davis Hanson   Donald Trump’s former consiglieri Michael Cohen, along with being charged with tax avoidance and improper business deals, allegedly is guilty also of trying to leverage money and attention by exaggerating his influence with candidate and later President Trump. In other words, Cohen to spec followed the standard creepy daily fare for Washington and New York wannabe fixers. But did we need Robert Mueller’s 18 months and $40 million to uncover and redirect to federal attorneys what was largely self-evident? Could not the U.S. government long ago, without the prompt of a special counsel, have uncovered that Michael Cohen did not fully pay his taxes—in the manner of an Al Sharpton, Timothy Geithner, and Tom Daschle? The diabolical Cohen also tried to enforce, extend, or create non-disclosure agreements (Swampese for hush money) with two women from Trump’s past. The two reappeared out of nowhere in 2016, apparently to translate their alleged Trump hookups of a few hours in years past to notoriety and additional profit in the new age of “President Trump.” Swamp Crimes In other words, Michael Cohen was a sort of rough-hewn version of former Bill Clinton crony Vernon Jordan. The latter, remember, was…

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Criminal Complaint Filed Against Robert Mueller for Allegedly Asking for ‘False Testimony’

by Chuck Ross   Conservative author Jerome Corsi filed a criminal and ethics complaint against special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday, accusing prosecutors of trying to force him into giving “false testimony” against President Donald Trump and GOP operative Roger Stone. “Dr. Corsi has been threatened with immediate indictment by Mueller’s prosecutorial staff unless he testifies falsely against Roger Stone and/or President Donald Trump and his presidential campaign, among other false testimony,” Corsi’s lawyers, Larry Klayman and David Gray, asserted in a complaint submitted to Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and others in the Justice Department. Corsi, a former InfoWars correspondent, revealed in late November that Mueller’s team offered him a plea deal that would have required him to admit to making false statements regarding his communications with Stone. Corsi says he rejected the plea offer because he did not believe he had willfully lied to prosecutors. At the center of the plea offer are three emails Corsi and Stone exchanged in late July and early August 2016. “Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging,” Corsi wrote in an Aug. 2, 2016 email to Stone, referring to…

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Sen. Mike Lee Says Mueller Protection Bill Would Create A ‘De Facto Fourth Branch of Government’

by Nick Givas   Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said Thursday he does not support the Senate bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller because it would create a “de facto fourth branch of government” unanswerable to the Constitution. Lee was discussing Michael Cohen’s guilty plea for making false statements to Congress regarding the Russia probe and said it’s time for Mueller to wrap things up. “I hope that it is wrapping soon. This has been going on for the better part of two years and I want him to finish his work and I think he ought to wrap it up soon,” Lee said on Fox’s “America’s Newsroom” Thursday. Lee said Cohen’s plea shouldn’t change anything about the Russia probe and criticized the proposed Senate bill to protect Mueller as the special counsel. “I don’t think it changes anything about how I look at the probes,” he replied. “I certainly don’t think it changes anything about how I look at the Flake/Coons bill, that would try to create a de facto fourth branch of government … unanswerable to the president of the United States, operating outside of the separation of powers system established by our Constitution.” “I still oppose that and nothing…

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Trump Responds to Mueller About Two Key Collusion Allegations

by Chuck Ross   President Donald Trump reportedly told special counsel Robert Mueller in writing earlier in November that he did not know about his son’s infamous June 2016 meeting with Russians before it occurred and that he was not informed by his longtime confidant, Roger Stone, that WikiLeaks planned to release information damaging to the Clinton campaign, according to CNN. Trump submitted the answers Nov. 20, after months of tense negotiations with Mueller’s team over the scope of the questions. Trump’s lawyers fought to exclude questions about possible obstruction of justice over the firing of James Comey as FBI director. They also opposed a sit-down interview with prosecutors, vying instead for responses provided in writing. The two sources familiar with the matter did not give CNN any direct quotes. The Trump Tower meeting and WikiLeaks email dumps have been a central focus of Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. Donald Trump Jr. met with a group of Russians on June 9, 2016, after an associate contacted him offering information on Hillary Clinton. “If it is what you say I love it,” Trump Jr. responded to the associate, a music publicist who worked for Emin Agalarov, the son of Russian…

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Jerome Corsi Says He Will Reject Plea Offer From Mueller’s Team

by Chuck Ross   Jerome Corsi, a right-wing author and associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone’s, said Monday that he will reject a plea offer from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office in the Russia probe. Corsi told One America News Network (OANN) and NBC News that he will reject the offer to plead guilty to perjury regarding his testimony about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. “The Mueller team offered me a plea bargain … it does not mean I’ve agreed. From what they’ve offered, I can tell you it’s unacceptable,” Corsi told OANN. “I will not sign a statement in front of a federal judge that says that I intentionally and willfully lied to the special counselor, because I did not.” “They wanted me to testify that … I was the conduit to WikiLeaks and Assange for Roger Stone, who in turn had a conduit to the campaign,” he continued. “And it just isn’t so.” Corsi, who testified before a federal grand jury on Sept. 21 and on Nov. 9, revealed to reporters on Friday that he was in plea discussions with the special counsel’s office. On Nov. 12, Corsi announced that he expected to be indicted, though he denied…

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Leftist Groups Have Meltdown Over Whitaker Appointment as Acting Attorney General, Organize Protests Around Nation, Including Tennessee Cities

Leftist groups organized protests in hundreds of cities across the nation, including Tennessee, Thursday to protest the appointment of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, citing fears he might interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Many protests used similar words and slogans. Demonstrators marched on Nashville, Chattanooga and Murfreesboro, among other cities. They packed the streets of Nashville Thursday night in support of Mueller, NewsChannel 5 reported. Whitaker has assumed the role of overseeing Mueller. In Murfreesboro, the Women’s March descended on downtown with signs bearing such slogans as “TIME TO IMPEACH.” The Women’s March on Nashville Facebook page called the protest “Nobody Trumps the Law” and “Rod Rosenstein Removal Protest.” Crowds also turned out in Chicago; Greensboro, North Carolina; Chattanooga, WRCB said, citing the Associated Press. Breitbart reported that Public Citizen tweeted “In firing Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump has crossed a red line and started a constitutional crisis. We are activating our rapid-response network, launching mass protests nationwide TOMORROW (11/8) at 5pm local time.” (Sessions actually resigned by President Trump’s request.) In firing Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump has crossed a red line and started a constitutional crisis. We are activating our rapid-response network, launching mass protests nationwide TOMORROW…

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Mueller Expected to Renew Pursuit of Trump Associates After Midterms

by Chuck Ross   Whether intentional or not, Robert Mueller has honored an unofficial Justice Department policy that limits major actions in political investigations 60 days before an election. But as Mueller and his team of prosecutors have worked behind the scenes on investigations of Trump associates, numerous clues about the probe have emerged through witnesses and attorneys who have shared insight from the investigation with reporters. The smoke signals have generated speculation that, if Mueller plans to issue indictments in his investigation, they will be handed down within days or weeks. There have also been reports that Mueller will submit a report on the investigation to the Justice Department by the end of the year. If Mueller makes a major move in the near future, it will likely revolve around these areas of interest. Roger Stone Mueller is focused on what longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone knew about Wikileaks’ plans to release Democrats’ emails before the election, according to numerous witnesses involved in the special counsel’s probe. Mueller has interviewed or subpoenaed at least 11 Stone associates. Some have appeared before a grand jury that Mueller is using for the investigation. Stone suggested at various points in the campaign that he was…

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Report: Mueller Will Present Findings From Trump-Russia Probe After Midterms

FBI Mueller and President Trump

by Chuck Ross   Special Counsel Robert Mueller is planning to present key findings from his investigation of President Trump after next month’s midterm elections, according to a report from Bloomberg News. Two U.S. officials told Bloomberg that Mueller could very well continue his investigation after presenting his findings to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Trump-Russia probe because of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal. Rosenstein will then have the option of releasing the Mueller findings to the public and making recommendations to Congress. Since May 2017, Mueller has been investigating whether members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russian government officials to release emails stolen from Democrats. He is also investigating whether Trump himself obstructed justice by firing James Comey as FBI director. Comey’s firing, on May 9, 2017, paved the way for Mueller’s appointment as special counsel. Mueller’s investigation so far has received mixed reviews, largely along partisan lines. Trump often calls the probe a “witch hunt” that he considers illegal. Mueller has obtained guilty pleas from former Trump associates Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, and Rick Gates, though none have admitted to colluding with Russia. He has also indicted another 25 Russian nationals…

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White House Lawyers Actively Reviewing Docs For Declassification

by Saagar Enjeti and Chuck Ross   White House lawyers are actively reviewing controversial FBI and Department of Justice documents relating to the 2016 presidential campaign for possible declassification, multiple sources with knowledge tell The Daily Caller News Foundation. The review process is being led by Emmet Flood of the White House Counsel’s office at the urging of an insistent president, two sources with knowledge of the process told TheDCNF. A source close to the president noted that Flood and his colleagues within the counsel’s office are generally opposed to declassification, out of the concern for the precedent it would set as well as any unintended consequences of making the information public. Sources cautioned that declassification could occur as soon as this week, though the uncertainty reflects the nature of the review process itself. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders demurred on declassification in a Monday briefing saying, “I can’t get into that right now.” Trump himself told The Daily Caller in a Sept. 4 Oval Office interview on declassification “we’re looking at it very seriously right now because the things that have gone on are so bad.” At issue within…

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Mueller Recommends Short Sentence for Trump Campaign Aide Papadopoulos

Robert Mueller, George Papadopoulous, Donald Trump

A former Trump campaign adviser should spend at least some time in prison for lying to the FBI during the Russia probe, prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller said in a court filing Friday that also revealed several new details about the early days of the investigation. The prosecutors disclosed that George Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 presidential race, caused irreparable damage to the investigation because he lied repeatedly during a January 2017 interview. Those lies, they said, resulted in the FBI missing an opportunity to properly question a professor Papadopoulos was in contact with during the campaign who told him that the Russians possessed “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of emails. Professor slipped away The filing by the special counsel’s office strongly suggests the FBI had contact with Professor Joseph Mifsud while he was in the U.S. during the early part of the investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. According to prosecutors, the FBI located the professor in Washington about two weeks after Papadopoulos’ interview and Papadopoulos’ lies “substantially hindered investigators’ ability to effectively question” him. But it doesn’t specifically…

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Rep. Steve Cohen Predicts That Trump Jr., Kushner Will Be Indicted But President Will Pardon Them

Wolf Blitzer, Steve Cohen

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said he believes that special counsel Robert Mueller will probably indict Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner and then the president will pardon both. The Memphis representative made the remark on CNN in response to Rudy Giuliani saying he is not sure so-called “collusion” with Russia is a crime. Cohen said it is “entirely possible” both men would be indicted and President Trump would “go totally off his rocker … not that he’s on it now” and issue pardons. When Wolf Blitzer asked what charges would be brought, Cohen said he thought Trump Jr. and Kushner were in contact with the Russians to affect the elections. Blitzer asked if he had evidence for the “very serious charge,” and Cohen said he thought he was right and time would tell. The congressman, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, is making increasingly more unhinged remarks against conservatives. Calls men ‘pathological liars’ Cohen appeared on MSNBC’s “Live With Alex Witt” Sunday to discuss the latest developments with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen (no relation) and Mueller’s ‘Trump-Russia Collusion’ investigation, as The Tennessee Star reported. The congressman has a well-established record of vitriolic statements aimed at conservatives…

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Memphis Democrat Steve Cohen Increasingly Unhinged, Calls President Trump and Rudy Giuliani ‘Pathological Liars’

Steve Cohen

Memphis-area Democrat Representative Steve Cohen appeared on MSNBC’s “Live With Alex Witt” Sunday to react to the latest, if unusual, developments with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen (no relation) and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing ‘Trump-Russia Collusion’ investigation. The five-term congressman has a well-established record of vitriolic statements aimed at conservative and Rebublicans, but Cohen managed to “find a new gear” when President Trump surprised the world with his election victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Since then, the avowed progressive has become uncreasingly unhinged as his efforts to block, obstruct, resist, and even oust President Trump or his policy agenda have failed. Regarding new questions about Michael Cohen’s credibility, Alex Witt asked if the fact that Cohen has been exposed as “wiretapping” his clients impairs his belivability on the stand, “Or do you believe it is the President who loses in the credibility department?” Rep Cohen, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee answered, “I think that Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump have about the same amount of credibility. They all use, at best, situational ethics – but probably more likely they just lie constantly, and they’re all three pathological liars.” (emphasis added) Surprised at the…

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Hannity Digs Up Dirt On Mueller’s Past And Finds He’s Not So Clean After All

Fox News host Sean Hannity devoted time on his Tuesday show to examining the past of special counsel Robert Mueller and his findings were intriguing. Hannity referred to a report from Fox News’ Sarah Carter, citing Mueller’s career as a prosecutor in the 1980’s. When Mueller was serving as assistant U.S. Attorney, four men were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit and the special counsel was in charge of the case when it happened.

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Could Robert Mueller Be Giving Up on Russia-Trump Collusion?

Responding to a congressional Republican’s call to end the House investigation into Russian election meddling, former Whitewater prosecutor Solomon Wisenberg noted Thursday night that the probe appears no closer to implicating President Donald Trump than when it first began. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told Fox News earlier in the day that the panel has “gone completely off the rails and that this investigation needs to end.”

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Lawyer Mocks Mueller’s ‘Magical Ability’ to Indict with Non-Collusion Allegations

Revelation of a new arrest in special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging probe into Russian election meddling adds to the growing body of evidence that the investigation has little to do with President Donald Trump, a lawyer said Tuesday. The latest target of the Mueller probe is Alex Van Der Zwaan, who had worked for the prominent law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Prosecutors last week charged him with lying about his talks with someone identified in court papers only as “Person A.”

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Former Reagan Attorney Believes Nunes Memo Could Undermine Mueller

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 campaign may be undermined by release of a House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee memo Friday, according to a former U.S. attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan. “The memo provides additional evidence of the animus of the Obama-Lynch FBI and Justice Department toward Donald Trump,” said Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia under Reagan.

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Trump Should Not Agree to Interview with Mueller, Legal Experts Say

President Donald Trump should not give special counsel Robert Mueller an interview in his investigation of allegations the chief executive’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russian interests to defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to multiple attorneys interviewed by LifeZette. Mueller recently interviewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions and has been in conversation with White House lawyers about…

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Commentary: Manafort Is Right, Mueller Has Gone Beyond His Original Mandate of Special Counsel and Sessions’ Recusal

Paul Manafort

By Robert Romano   “Paul Manafort is absolutely correct that the charges he is facing far exceed the original mandate of potential contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and have gone years into the past prior to the 2016 election campaign and in many cases do not even invoke official Russian government contacts.” That was Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning’s reaction to a legal complaint filed by one-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort against the Justice Department contending that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has far exceeded the original mandate set forth by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. According to the complaint, “The investigation of Mr. Manafort is completely unmoored from the special counsel’s original jurisdiction to investigate ‘any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.’” The complaint added, “Those alleged dealings had no connection whatsoever to the 2016 presidential election or even to Donald Trump.” Here, Manafort absolutely has a point. In the 31-page Manafort and Gates indictment, Russia is only mentioned four times. The first to name Manafort’s company, Davis Manafort Partners, Inc., which had some staff in Russia, which is not a crime. And…

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President Trump Says Lengthy Mueller Probe Is ‘Bad for the Country’

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is “bad for the country,” and the only collusion with Russia during the presidential campaign was by Democrats, President Trump said in an interview published Friday. “It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position,” Mr. Trump told The New York Times of the Mueller probe. “So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.”

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Robert Mueller Can’t Own Up to His Mistakes, Aides Say

Tennessee Star

Robert Mueller, special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, is a “gruff guy” who routinely undermined his subordinates and evaded responsibility as head of the FBI, according to several former aides and investigators who worked with Mueller interviewed by the Los Angeles Times. In a lengthy profile published on…

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GOP Congressman Introduces Resolution Calling Mueller ‘Compromised,’ Demands He Quit

A Republican congressman from Florida introduced a resolution Friday urging Special Counsel Robert Mueller to resign from the Russia probe, saying the one-time FBI director has his own conflicts of interest. Rep. Matt Gaetz said Mr. Mueller, who was FBI director in 2010, botched an investigation into Russian attempts to bribe and extort their way to…

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The Full Text of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Indictment of Former Trump Aide Paul Manafort

The suspense is over, and we all now know who the first to be charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller – himself in peril of being sucked into the giant vortex known loosely as the ‘Clinton-Russia Scandal.’ The indictment itself runs thirty-one pages and specifically names Paul Manafort and his aide, Richard Gates. Allegations run the gamut from conspiracy to launder as much as $21 million and funneling millions more to foreign bank accounts, to working as foreign agents (Ukraine) and making false statements. The indictment contains twelve allegations (crimes or violations of law), however, that number can change over the course of adjudication.   INDICTMENT The Grand Jury for the District of Columbia Charges: Introduction: At all times relevant to this indictment: 1. Defendants Paul J. Manafort, Jr. (MANAFORT) and Richard W. Gates III (GATES) served for years as political consultants and lobbyists. Between at least 2006 and 2015, MANAFORT and GATES acted as unregistered agents of the Government of Ukraine, the Party of Regions (a Ukrainian political party whose leader Victor Yanukovych was President from 2010 to 2014), Yanukovych, and the Opposition Bloc (a successor to the Party of Regions that formed in 2014 when Yanukovych fled to…

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Robert Mueller’s Donald Trump Investigation Hints at Russia Financial Crime Accusations

Special counsel Robert Mueller is obsessed with President Trump’s network of business interests for suspected money laundering as a critical focus of his investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election last year, according to sources from the intelligence community close to the former FBI director. One of the sources, who spoke on the condition of…

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GOP Senator: Mueller’s Hiring Spree ‘Tainted’ Russia Probe

Tennessee Star

Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) said that special counsel Robert Mueller’s hiring spree that included Democratic donors and an attorney who represented Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is “troubling” and has “tainted” the integrity of the entire probe, during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” Risch, a former attorney and a member of the Senate…

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Commentary: Trump Understates Mueller-Comey Friendship As ‘Bothersome’

President Donald Trump, in an interview with “Fox & Friends,” called the friendship between James Comey and Robert Mueller “very bothersome.” That’s the understatement of the year. The two don’t only share a warm relationship. They also share the common interest of investigating Trump and Trump-tied officials, supposedly in a non-biased, independent, above-the-political-fray type of way.…

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Gingrich on Russian Investigation: ‘The Fix Is In’

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich is deeply concerned about Robert Mueller’s ability to lead a nonpartisan, unbiased investigation, he said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The fix is in,” Gingrich said. “This is the establishment counterattacking legally when they lost politically.” Gingrich is specifically concerned about the fact that employees…

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Legal Experts Say Robert Mueller Faces Tough Obstruction Case Against Donald Trump

Special counsel Robert Mueller could have a tough time making an obstruction of justice case stick against President Trump, according to legal analysts, who said he will have to overcome a number of “unique hurdles” – not the least of which is a decades-old Justice Department ruling that a sitting president can’t be charged. Analysts say…

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Fmr. FBI Asst. Director: Mueller Has ‘Huge Conflict of Interest’

Former FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom said special counsel Robert Mueller’s 15-year friendship with fired former FBI Director James Comey is “a huge conflict of interest,” during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller to continue the probe into Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election…

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Gingrich: Mueller Investigation Will be a Trump ‘Witch Hunt’

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said it is “impossible” that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into President Donald Trump and his officials will be a “fair investigation,” during an interview Monday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” Gingrich noted that Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey are long-time friends and expressed his concern that Mueller’s…

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