Mega-Thread: Mueller investigation

[Poopymonster]

Gotta wonder what Bannon will give up with all of the recent controversy with the book.

If he's still feeling like jilted gestapo everything. If he's still trying to suck up to Sweet Potato Saddam, nothing.

[Ghostpanther]

This should be interesting.

Keep this part of the article in mind.

Manafort and Gates were indicted in October on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. The charges stem from Mueller's ongoing probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Manafort and Gates have denied collusion, and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A 31-page indictment filed in October makes no mention of Manafort’s work for President Trump’s campaign, which began in March 2016 and ended with Manafort's ouster that August over ties to pro-Russia officials in Ukraine.

[NYC17]

Keep this part of the article in mind.

Manafort and Gates were indicted in October on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. The charges stem from Mueller's ongoing probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Manafort and Gates have denied collusion, and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A 31-page indictment filed in October makes no mention of Manafort’s work for President Trump’s campaign, which began in March 2016 and ended with Manafort's ouster that August over ties to pro-Russia officials in Ukraine.

Why? Are we supposed to find your inability to think critically and recognize nuance when it comes to this subject interesting or...?

[Felya]

Keep this part of the article in mind.

Manafort and Gates were indicted in October on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. The charges stem from Mueller's ongoing probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Manafort and Gates have denied collusion, and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A 31-page indictment filed in October makes no mention of Manafort’s work for President Trump’s campaign, which began in March 2016 and ended with Manafort's ouster that August over ties to pro-Russia officials in Ukraine.

Him working for Trump’s campaign wasn’t a crime. There is no reason to mention Trump in charges, of his campaign manager laundering money for Russia. Your hope is that charges won’t be brought against Trump, for firing an FBI Director that was actively working on a case that resulted in money laundering indictment for 2 members of his campaign and the guy Trump specifically asked Comey to go easy on... before being fired.

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Why? Are we supposed to find your inability to think critically and recognize nuance when it comes to this subject interesting or...?

Yeah, the charges needed every mention of Manafort, to include his former title in Trump’s campaign. Otherwise, we just don’t know how Trump’s campaign manager was involved with money laundering for Russia.

[NYC17]

Mueller has subpoenaed Bannon

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/u...8C8E29&gwt=pay

[Breccia]

Mueller has subpoenaed Bannon

Whole thread on it. Quick recap of my thoughts: HAHAHAHAHA a judge thinks it's possible Bannon might know what Team Trump did that was illegal.

[Mad_Murdock]

Whole thread on it. Quick recap of my thoughts: HAHAHAHAHA a judge thinks it's possible Bannon might know what Team Trump did that was illegal.

Laugh now, but in 2 years and 6 months, Muller is going to drop the bomb shell!! ! !

[NYC17]

Whole thread on it. Quick recap of my thoughts: HAHAHAHAHA a judge thinks it's possible Bannon might know what Team Trump did that was illegal.

I posted that prior to that thread being created.

[Breccia]

I posted that prior to that thread being created.

Deserves to be in both.

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GOP starts laying the groundwork to handwave Bannon.

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy (R) said Wednesday that former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon has a "credibility issue" revealed by his House Intelligence Panel testimony this week.

In an interview with Fox News' Martha MacCallum, Gowdy, who sits on the committee, warned Robert Mueller's special counsel office against trying to build a case around Bannon's testimony, warning that the credibility of the former Trump adviser's statements were in doubt.

"I think the only thing dangerous for President Trump or his campaign is credible evidence," Gowdy told Fox News. "This is the same witness that said there was a zero percent chance that the Russian lawyer wasn't walked up to Trump, and when he was asked what that evidence was, he came up with nothing."

"This is the same witness that said that members of the president's family committed acts of treason," the South Carolina Republican added. "So he's got a credibility issue. If they're hinging the entire case on Steve Bannon's credibility, good luck to the prosecution."

Question: if Bannon, who worked in both Trump's campaign and Trump's admin, is not credible...why was he hired? Or is this like unemployment numbers, maaaaAAAaaaagically swapping real/unreal depending on what Trump says?

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Addendum: Lewandowski also refused to answer questions.

This doesn't look like a transparent administration. This looks like swamp water.

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Mueller has subpoenaed Bannon

Subpoena replaced with interview.

Bannon, who was a close adviser during President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign and in his first months in office, had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Mueller’s probe of links between Russia and Trump’s campaign.

But the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mueller offered Bannon the option of being interviewed instead and Bannon accepted. It was unclear when the interview would take place.

An interview with prosecutors would allow Bannon to have an attorney present during his appearance, as lawyers are not permitted in grand jury rooms.

A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment on the agreement, first reported by CNN. A lawyer who represented Bannon in an appearance before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Tuesday could not be immediately reached.

Also, a recap:

After the hearing started, the New York Times dropped its story about the grand jury subpoena of Bannon [EDITOR: See abover]. Nobody in the room had their phones — it's the protocol in closed-door intelligence hearings — but an official walked in to inform the committee and Bannon's team of the story.

At that point, the committee paused its proceedings and there was a scramble to figure out how to proceed, and how to ensure they did everything properly insofar as the Mueller probe went. (The committee informed Mueller's team several days earlier that it was calling Bannon in as a witness, and they didn't hear back from Mueller's team so viewed that as a green light.)

Trey Gowdy, who led the Republican questioning, pressed Bannon hard on his description of Don Junior's Trump Tower meeting as "treasonous." Gowdy asked Bannon whether he would consider it treason for somebody close to him to approach Wikileaks' Julian Assange to get opposition research on Hillary Clinton. Bannon replied that such a scenario would be bad judgment. Then Gowdy produced emails from a Cambridge Analytica employee — the Trump campaign data firm closely affiliated with Bannon — boasting of just such contacts with Assange. Bannon claimed this was the first time he'd seen these emails (though they've been in the news.)

Bannon attacked the Republicans running these congressional committees for choosing to investigate the Trump campaign and Russia. He said it was part of an "establishment" plan to try to "nullify" the election result. Gowdy challenged him on that, asking Bannon who is this establishment you refer to who is trying to nullify Trump's victory? Bannon answered: Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Gowdy countered that Bannon couldn't have it both ways. Was he also referring to Trump confidant Kevin McCarthy — the leader of the Republican House conference — who is surely part of the same Ryan-McConnell "establishment?"

Another pointed question to Bannon: When he told author Michael Wolff there was a "zero" percent chance that Don Junior didn't bring the Russians up to see his father after their meeting, how did he know that happened? I'm told Bannon all but conceded he was purely speculating.

Throughout the hearing, Bannon kept telling the committee members: "I really want to answer this question," and "I really wish I could answer these questions." That became a sore point with members. They kept asking him why he felt liberated to abandon executive privilege and leak prolifically about the White House to journalists and author Wolff, but wouldn't talk to Congress.

Bannon, at one point, praised the committee members for the professionalism and preparedness. (But a source familiar with Bannon's thinking told me he made the compliment "tongue-in-cheek.")

[Breccia]

More interviews. Bannon's not out of the woods yet.

An associate of former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon has reportedly been questioned as part of the special counsel's investigation into Russia’s election interference and potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and the Kremlin.

Axios reported on Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have recently questioned George Nader, who often made trips to the White House during President’s Trump’s first few months in office.

A source told Axios that Nader has talked to the special counsel on at least two occasions.

Nader reportedly claims to have close ties with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, but several “well-connected and experienced Middle East hands” in D.C. told Axios they had no knowledge of Nader.

Hmm. Is someone suspected of lying under oath?

[apeiron1234]

So how is the Russia investigation going?

[Edge-]

So how is the Russia investigation going?

Seems to be going along just fine. Few of us thought it would be anywhere near over by now, it's not even been a full year and these types of investigations usually take years and years. Hell, it's already moving much faster than similar investigations.

[apeiron1234]

Seems to be going along just fine. Few of us thought it would be anywhere near over by now, it's not even been a full year and these types of investigations usually take years and years. Hell, it's already moving much faster than similar investigations.

I was really hoping Skroe would have responded with an essay and manifesto...

[Edge-]

I was really hoping Skroe would have responded with an essay and manifesto...

I'm...sorry?

[alexw]

I'm...sorry?

I think he is missing Skoe.....

[Buckeyenut88]

Jeff Sessions got questioned last week for several hours by mueller. The first I believe from the Trump cabinet.

[Breccia]

NBC News exclusievly reports that Flynn concealed his interview with the FBI from the WH.

A year ago today, Donald Trump’s newly sworn–in national security adviser, Michael Flynn, met privately in his West Wing office with FBI investigators interested in his communications with Russia's ambassador, without a lawyer or the knowledge of the president and other top White House officials, according to people familiar with the matter.

Flynn's FBI interview on Jan. 24, 2017, set in motion an extraordinary sequence of events unparalleled for the first year of a U.S. presidency. A national security adviser was fired after 24 days on the job, an acting attorney general was fired ten days after the president took office, an FBI director was allegedly pressured by the president to let go an investigation into the ousted national security adviser, and then eventually fired.

An attorney general recused himself from a federal investigation into Russia's meddling in a U.S. election and possible collusion with the sitting president's campaign, and a special counsel was appointed.

The developments ensnared the president in an obstruction of justice inquiry, which resulted in his top intelligence and law enforcement chiefs cooperating in some form with that probe.

By the end of 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller’s team had spoken with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, former FBI Director James Comey, and numerous members of Trump’s campaign and White House inner circle. Flynn pleaded guilty last month to lying to the FBI during his January 24 interview and is cooperating with the Russia investigation.

NBC News also has learned that former acting attorney general Sally Yates, who informed the White House about Flynn’s interview two days after it took place, has cooperated with the special counsel. CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who was allegedly asked by Trump to lean on Comey to drop his investigation, has also been interviewed, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

One person familiar with the matter described Pompeo, Coats and Rogers as "peripheral witnesses" to the Comey firing. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who played a key role in Comey's departure and was a top adviser on the Trump campaign, was interviewed by Mueller last week as the investigation inches closer to Mueller's team possibly questioning the president himself.

Things are getting interesting.

[Edge-]

NBC News exclusievly reports that Flynn concealed his interview with the FBI from the WH.



Things are getting interesting.

So...now to wonder if Papadopolous and Flynn were playing "dial-a-crook" for the FBI.

[cubby]

So...now to wonder if Papadopolous and Flynn were playing "dial-a-crook" for the FBI.

NBC News exclusievly reports that Flynn concealed his interview with the FBI from the WH.



Things are getting interesting.

And Gates is supposedly looking for a plea deal too.

[Breccia]

Nothing we didn't already know -- the GOP was throwing smoke because they thought something was coming. This is just a reputable source saying the same.

GOP panics as signs point to imminent Mueller blockbuster

Related:

Trump says he would speak to Mueller under oath in Russia probe

This is after the WH issued a retraction of Trump's earlier statements.

Also, another fallback position: GOP senator: 'Real possibility' that FBI 'secret society' text was a joke

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While Nunes' four-page memo alleging FBI overreach remains 100% drafted in secret, 100% concealed from the public, and likely hinges on some FBI texts between two people in a private conversation that have already both been removed from the special counsel and have also already been recovered, I want everyone to remember all the times that Team Trump "forgot" to disclose something, such as contacts with foreign governments or business holdings, and insisted everything was okay.