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| Mueller probe ‘purposely and illegally‘ deleted Peter Strzok and Lisa Page texts – Stock Standard | ||
By – The Washington Times – Tuesday, December 18, 2018
President accused special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on Tuesday of “purposely and illegally” erasing thousands of text messages between former employees and .
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz recently released a report that explained how around the DOJ lost 19,000 text messages when it reset the government phones for , a former agent, and , a former lawyer, so that other employees could use them.
The messages were included in a list of documents about the Russia investigation that originally ordered declassified in September.
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| trump finances and debt - Google Search | ||
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| trump as laundromat - Google Search | ||
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| Is the mysterious foreign-government-owned company Russian Sberbank? - Google Search | ||
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| Is the mysterious foreign-government-owned company Russian Sberbank? - Google Search | ||
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| Compromise: Before Trump Won His First Primary, Putin Collected His First Receipt | ||
In this post, I noted that, while important, the Buzzfeed story on Trump’s role in Michael Cohen’s lies to Congress did not advance our understanding of how the Trump Tower deal fits into the larger Trump conspiracy with Russia.
But there is a piece of the Cohen statement of the offense the significance of which hasn’t gotten sufficient attention. That’s the detail that Dmitry Peskov’s personal assistant took detailed notes from a 20-minute January 20, 2016 phone call with Cohen, which led to Putin’s office contacting Felix Sater the next day.
Cohen had lied about this, claiming that he had emailed Peskov’s public comment line just once, but gotten no response.
This language is important not just because it shows that Cohen lied. It’s important because of what Cohen would have said to Peskov’s assistant. And it’s important because a written record of what Cohen said got handed on to Putin’s office, if not Putin himself.
BuzzFeed’s piece from May reveals that Cohen would have been in discussions with one of two banks in January 2016: VTB or GenBank.
Both were sanctioned. While Sater (who seems to have knowingly set this trap) dismissed the import of the sanctions, Cohen clearly knew — and left record that he knew in communications with Sater — that they were the intended funders.
A former GRU officer contact of Sater’s was key to obtaining funding from VTB.
Obtaining funding from GenBank would have relied on Putin and Peskov.
The BuzzFeed article makes it clear that Sater’s GRU contact got back involved after Cohen’s conversation with Peskov’s assistant.
All of which is to say that when Cohen called Peskov’s assistant, he would have told her that he was speaking on behalf of Donald Trump, that Trump remained interested in a Trump Tower in Moscow (as he had been in 2013, the last time Putin had dangled a personal meeting with Trump), and that on Trump’s behalf Cohen was willing to discuss making a deal involving both a sanctioned bank (whichever one it was) and a former GRU officer.
So it’s not just that Trump was pursuing a real estate deal while running for President. He was pursuing a real estate deal involving a sanctioned bank — possibly one sanctioned for its involvement in Crimea — and involving someone with ties to the intelligence agency that was preparing to hack Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.
Cohen told Peskov’s assistant Trump was willing to negotiate that deal while running for President. The assistant wrote all that down (how Mueller knows this is an interesting question on its own right). And then she or Peskov passed on at least the content of the notes to get Putin’s office to contact Sater.
And all that happened before Trump performed unexpectedly well in the Iowa caucuses on February 1.
Last year, I argued that — pee tape or no — the kompromat Putin has on Trump consists of a series of receipts of Trump formally communicating his willingness to enter into a conspiracy with Russia, receipts that would be devastating if Putin released them.
What Cohen’s plea deal makes clear is that Putin pocketed the first of those receipts — a receipt showing Trump’s willingness to work with both sanctioned banks and the GRU — even before the first vote was cast. Even before GRU hacked its first Democratic target (though APT 29 had been spying on the Democrats since the previous summer).
Discussing a real estate deal is not, as Trump has repeated, illegal. If that’s all this were about, Trump and Cohen might not have lied about it.
But it’s not. Even before the GRU hacked John Podesta, even before Don Jr told his June 9 visitors that his dad would consider lifting sanctions if he got elected, Michael Cohen let a key Putin deputy know that Trump would be happy to discuss real estate deals that involved both partnering with the GRU and with sanctioned banks.
And Putin has been sitting on that receipt ever since.
Update: 22-paragraphs into a 1400-word story on the latest developments in the Trump Tower Moscow story yesterday, the NYT revealed the name of the officer, without explaining why the connection is important to the larger story of a GRU-led operation targeting the US election.
As I disclosed in July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post.
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| Yes, There Was Collusion. Look at the Manafort Case - Mother Jones | ||
Yes, There Was Collusion. Look at the Manafort Case Mother Jones
For years now, Donald Trump has been screeching “No collusion!” It's been a hollow cry, because throughout the 2016 campaign (and afterward as president), ...
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| Shutdown has ‘hindered’ FBI’s ability to conduct operations, union says | US news | ||
A union representing FBI agents warned on Tuesday that the partial federal government shutdown has “hindered” the bureau’s ability to conduct operations and pursue investigations. Thousands of union members are among hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors now without pay for a fifth week.
As the FBI Agents Association released a report containing firsthand accounts of how the 32-day shutdown has affected operations, its president, Tom O’Connor, demanded Congress and Donald Trump fully fund the FBI.
“The failure to fund the FBI undermines essential FBI operations, such as those designated to combat crimes against children, drug and gang crime and terrorism,” O’Connor told reporters.
He declined to say whether Americans were less safe as a result of the shutdown.
“I will leave that question up to you to answer,” he said.
The union’s plea came as the shutdown continued to affect government services across the country.
The Transportation Security Administration said the percentage of its airport screeners missing work hit 10% on Sunday, up from 3.1% on the comparable Sunday a year ago.
The screeners, who are without pay, have been citing financial hardship as the reason they cannot report to work. Even so, the agency said it screened 1.78 million passengers on Sunday with only 6.9% having to wait 15 minutes or longer to get through security.
In Washington, Senate Republicans released legislation designed to meet Trump’s offer to break the impasse and end the shutdown. The measure would include temporary relief from deportation for young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers and other threatened groups, in exchange for meeting the president’s demand for $5.7bn to build a southern border wall.
But Democrats have vowed opposition to Trump’s wall, calling it an impractical, “medieval solution” to a “21st-century problem”.
Voting is not expected to unfold until later in the week. Even then it seems doubtful the 1,300-page Senate measure, the “End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act”, has any chance of passing swiftly.
Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority but would need Democratic support to reach the 60-vote threshold for bills to advance. Not a single Democrat has publicly expressed support for Trump’s proposal. Party leadership rejected it before he spoke.
The office of the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, reiterated on Monday that Democrats are unwilling to negotiate until Trump reopens the government.
“Nothing has changed with the latest Republican offer,” spokesman Justin Goodman said. “President Trump and Senate Republicans are still saying: ‘Support my plan or the government stays shut.’ That isn’t a compromise or a negotiation – it’s simply more hostage taking.”
McConnell’s spokesman, David Popp, said on Monday that the GOP leader “will move” to vote on consideration of the president’s proposal “this week”.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley was asked by Fox News on Tuesday if Trump had given McConnell his word he would sign the legislation if it cleared both houses.
“Well, that’s a big if,” Gidley said. “We don’t know what the final bill would look like. But the president has been clear about what he wants.”
On Twitter, Trump wrote: “Never seen [McConnell] and Republicans so united on an issue as they are on the Humanitarian Crisis & Security on our Southern Border. If we create a Wall or Barrier which prevents Criminals and Drugs from flowing into our Country, Crime will go down by record numbers!”
The president has lashed out at the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accusing her of acting “irrationally”. House Democrats are pushing ahead with voting on their own legislation to reopen the government and add $1bn for border security – including 75 immigration judges and infrastructure improvements – but no funding for the wall.
The status of the annual state of the union address remains unclear, one week after Pelosi requested that Trump postpone it. On Tuesday, Fox News reported that the White House sent a letter to the House sergeant-at-arms to schedule a walk-through for the address, which is due to be held on 29 January.
Gidley said Trump could deliver the address from another venue if Pelosi blocks him from doing so in the House chamber.
“There are many ways he can deliver the state of the union address,” Gidley said. “I’m not going to get ahead of anything he would announce.”
In his offer to Democrats on Saturday, Trump offered to extend temporary protections for Dreamers and those fleeing disaster zones. On Tuesday, the supreme court said it would not pick up a case concerning Trump’s previous attempt to end protection for Dreamers, meaning they will remain in limbo for the next few months.
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| Supreme Court releases censored appeal by foreign government in mystery Mueller case | ||
Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An unidentified foreign government is asking the Supreme Court to get involved in a case that may be part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
The justices on Tuesday granted the government's request to file a censored version of an appeal to the high court in which the country is fighting a grand jury subpoena and a $50,000-a-day fine for not complying with the subpoena.
The appeal doesn't identify the country, a company it controls or even the lawyers who are representing it. But the appeal says the justices should make clear that a federal law that generally protects foreign governments from civil lawsuits in the U.S. also shields them in criminal cases.
The justices had previously refused to block the subpoena and fine on an emergency basis.
A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington had in December upheld the issuance of the subpoena and a contempt order issued by a district court judge when the company, identified only as wholly owned by a foreign country, failed to comply.
The country says that the appellate ruling would upset foreign relations in a big way if allowed to stand. It says the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is "the first appellate court in American history to exercise criminal jurisdiction over a foreign state."
The country says it is immune from being subpoenaed under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and that complying would require it to violate its own laws.
The U.S. government has until Feb. 21 to respond to the appeal. An uncensored, sealed version of the appeal also has been filed with the court.
Both Politico and The Washington Post have reported that the subpoena apparently relates to the Mueller investigation. Prosecutors have been trying to obtain information from the foreign-owned company since last summer, Judge Stephen Williams wrote in an opinion that was released by the appeals court earlier in January.
The case has been shrouded in secrecy as it has moved through the court system. Federal marshals closed an entire floor of the federal courthouse in Washington last month when the case was argued before the three-judge appellate panel. The move stymied the efforts of a group of about 15 reporters to see whether any Mueller team members or other participants had entered the hearing room.
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| Bijan Rafiekian, Michael Flynn associate, pleads not guilty to working as unregistered foreign agent – Stock Standard | ||
By – The Washington Times – Tuesday, December 18, 2018
A former associate of ex-national security adviser pleaded not guilty in a Virginia federal court on Tuesday to charges of working as an unregistered foreign agent.
A trial is set for February 11.
Bijan Kian, also known as Bijan Rafiekian, is accused of illegally lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government to influence U.S. officials. Charges against Mr. Kian and another associate, Kamil Ekim Alpetkin, were unsealed Monday.
Mr. Kian’s not guilty plea came the same day a federal judge in Washington, D.C. delayed ’s sentencing for lying to the FBI. The delay came after the judge lambasted for his crimes.
has cooperated with federal investigators in the case against his two former associates and is expected to testify if there is a trial, his defense attorney said in a Washington, D.C. courtroom Tuesday.
Prosecutors in Virginia say Kian worked “covertly and illegally” to advance the Turkish government’s agenda. Specifically, they sought to influence U.S. government officials, urging them to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Mr. Gulen has been blamed by the Turkish government for a failed coup attempt in 2016. He has lived in exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.
Mr. Alpetkin is currently evading authorities in Istanbul and is unlikely to appear in court.
Prosecutors say Mr. Alptekin and Mr. Kian hid their connections to the Turkish government through ’s international lobbying group. As part of the effort to conceal Turkey’s involvement, they named Alpetkin’s company as the client rather than the Turkish government.
A prosecutor with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team said Tuesday Flynn could have been indicted in that case had he not agreed to cooperate with the government.
The charges against the two defendants appear to stem from Mueller’s Russia investigation. However, the charges were brought by prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia and not Mueller’s team.
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| Russian spy chief met Saudi counterpart and Crown Prince - Ifax | ||
World
The head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency Sergei Naryshkin on Monday met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the head of the kingdom's intelligence services, the Interfax news agency said on Wednesday.
MOSCOW: The head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency Sergei Naryshkin on Monday met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the head of the kingdom's intelligence services, the Interfax news agency said on Wednesday.
Naryshkin discussed cooperation in the fight against international terrorism with his Saudi counterpart, Interfax cited Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service as saying.
(Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Writing by Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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| “fbi” – Google News: Government shutdown posing ‘risks to national security,’ FBI union says in 72-page report – Philly.com | ||
Government shutdown posing ‘risks to national security,’ FBI union says in 72-page report Philly.com
The FBunion said it released the report, full of personal stories from FBI special agents across the country, “to ensure that Congress, the Administration, and the …
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| “fbi” – Google News: FBI agents: Shutdown making it difficult to do job – CNN | ||
FBI agents: Shutdown making it difficult to do job CNN
… © 2019 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN Sans
 & © 2016 Cable News Network. Terms of *service* | Privacy … | ||
| “fbi” – Google News: FBI Field Offices Collect Food Donations for Unpaid Employees – GovExec.com | ||
FBI Field Offices Collect Food Donations for Unpaid Employees GovExec.com
Normally quiet and nonpolitical agents association publishes shutdown damage report.
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| Who is Michael Cohen’s father-in-law? Trump says he should be investigated washingtonexaminer.com/news/who-is-mi… | ||
Who is Michael Cohen’s father-in-law? Trump says he should be investigated washingtonexaminer.com/news/who-is-mi…
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| “fbi and trump” – Google News: Voters prefer seven top Democrats to Trump in 2020 race, survey finds – live – The Guardian | ||
Voters prefer seven top Democrats to Trump in 2020 race, survey finds – live The Guardian
The White House Correspondents Association president, Olivier Knox, issued a statement about the record absence of on-screen press briefings at the White …
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| Trump Investigations: 1:33 PM 1/22/2019 – Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsL… trumpinvestigations.blogspot.com/2019/01/133-pm… | ||
Trump Investigations: 1:33 PM 1/22/2019 – Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsL… trumpinvestigations.blogspot.com/2019/01/133-pm…
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| “fbi” – Google News: FBI agents detail damage to counterterror, MS-13 probes – KESQ | ||
FBI agents detail damage to counterterror, MS-13 probes KESQ
The FBI has lost several informants that had penetrated groups at the center of terrorism investigations.
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| Alerta de Google: fbi: Government shutdown is hurting FBI operations, agents say | ||
Anonymous FBI agents say the partial government shutdown is preventing them from effectively doing their jobs and impeding some ongoing …
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| “fbi” – Google News: FBI agents say the government shutdown has ‘eliminated any ability to operate’ – The Week Magazine | ||
FBI agents say the government shutdown has ‘eliminated any ability to operate’ The Week Magazine
Anonymous FBI agents say the partial government shutdown is preventing them from effectively doing their jobs and impeding some ongoing investigations.
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| “mueller” – Google News: Mueller wants to know about 2016 Trump campaign ties to NRA – ABC17News.com | ||
Mueller wants to know about 2016 Trump campaign ties to NRA ABC17News.com
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has expressed interest in the Trump campaign’s relationship with the National Rifle Association during the 2016 …
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| “fbi” – Google News: Senate to vote on pair of bills that could end government shutdown – The Guardian | ||
Senate to vote on pair of bills that could end government shutdown The Guardian
Republican-backed measure would meet Trump’s wall demand while the second would extend funding for closed agencies.
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| “house judiciary committee” – Google News: House Judiciary Chair Lays Out Blistering Line Of Questioning For Whitaker Hearing – TPM | ||
House Judiciary Chair Lays Out Blistering Line Of Questioning For Whitaker Hearing TPM
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to former hot tub salesman and current acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker today, …
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| “mueller” – Google News: Lawyer for ‘Putin’s Chef’ Claims Unfair Prosecution by Mueller – Bloomberg | ||
Lawyer for ‘Putin’s Chef’ Claims Unfair Prosecution by Mueller Bloomberg
Concord Management and Consulting LLC, the Russian company accused of bankrolling efforts to roil the U.S. electorate using social media before the 2016 …
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Stock Standard.
emptywheel.
"Manafort" - Google News.
The Guardian.| Note the timing: right before Putin’s the end of the year press conference, to give him something to… | ||
| Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:46:59 +0100
Note the timing: right before Putin’s the end of the year press conference, to give him something to brag about. This proves one more time that Trump IS NOT a Putin’s puppet! Now we got all sorted out!
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