Mueller's Russian Interference investigation

**Topper** · 20-02-2019, 06:09 PM

Just read this and thought it was thought provoking....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...=.f831c43eb85a

**Maanaam** · 20-02-2019, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by CSFFan

Just read this and thought it was thought provoking....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...=.f831c43eb85a

Thought provoking? Really?
Not trying to diss you, but everything in that piece was what you and I and every non Honey Booboo/Duck Dynasty follower knows already.

**Topper** · 20-02-2019, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by Maanaam

Thought provoking? Really?

Perhaps I've got a lower thought provoking threshold ....

**Maanaam** · 21-02-2019, 05:35 AM

Originally Posted by CSFFan

Perhaps I've got a lower thought provoking threshold ....

As I said, I was not dissing you. My point was that really it was all just stuff we know. Only WWF fans and Walmart pyjama wearers would have been taken aback, which I know you're not.

**harrybarracuda** · 21-02-2019, 11:37 AM

So it seems Whittaker may have lied to congress about baldy orange cunto trying to interfere with the investigation (again).

Lying to congress is a federal crime. Another canary for the cage?

**uncle junior** · 21-02-2019, 12:39 PM

CNN saying the report to be given to DOJ next week

**raycarey** · 21-02-2019, 07:13 PM

we'll have to see...but i just don't see how that's possible if jr hasn't been interviewed yet.

perhaps he has been interviewed and somehow kept it out of the media?

i suppose it's possible since we just learned last week that sarah sanders was interviewed in november.

**Maanaam** · 21-02-2019, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by raycarey

we'll have to see...but i just don't see how that's possible if jr hasn't been interviewed yet.

perhaps he has been interviewed and somehow kept it out of the media?

i suppose it's possible since we just learned last week that sarah sanders was interviewed in november.

Or, give him enough rope, ease him into a sense of security, and he'll be subpoenaed by Congress after the report reveals he needs to be questioned.

**harrybarracuda** · 21-02-2019, 08:56 PM

President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen will testify in a public hearing before a U.S. congressional committee on February 27, and the panel's chairman said Trump's business practices would be a focus of the testimony.

Cohen was originally scheduled to testify on February 7, but his adviser Lanny Davis said he canceled because of threats against his family from Trump.

"I am pleased to announce that Michael Cohen's public testimony before the Oversight Committee is back on, despite efforts by some to intimidate his family members and prevent him from appearing," House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said in a statement.

Cohen has pleaded guilty to crimes including campaign finance violations during Trump's 2016 election campaign and has cooperated with investigators.

Trump called Cohen a "rat" in a tweet in December for cooperating with prosecutors. Cohen had been Trump's self-described longtime "fixer" and once said he would take a bullet for the New York real estate developer.

"The schedule has now been set. Looking forward to the #American people hearing my story in my voice!" Cohen tweeted late on Wednesday, linking to a fundraising effort for his legal fees.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514f3...d54/index.html

**harrybarracuda** · 22-02-2019, 05:03 PM

Paul Manafort, the longtime Republican consultant who spent five months as President Donald Trump's campaign chairman during the 2016 election, will be sentenced for multiple federal crimes at a U.S. district court in Virginia on March 8, according to a court filing posted Thursday.

In a one-page court filing dated Feb. 19, U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III said Manafort must file his sentencing memorandum by the evening of March 1. The office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, will have the opportunity to reply to Manafort's memo by March 6, according to the court order.

Mueller's prosecutors brought the case against Manafort, who a jury convicted last year on eight counts of bank and fraud tax, and told Ellis last Friday that Manafort deserves between 19.5 and 24.5 years in prison and a fine between $50,000 and $24 million in the Virginia case.

**tomcat** · 22-02-2019, 05:43 PM

...a little more information on what to expect:

The Mueller Report Is Coming. Here’s What to Expect.

A concise report will probably act as a “road map” to investigation for the Democratic House — and to further criminal investigation by other prosecutors.
By Neal K. Katyal (NYT) Mr. Katyal was an acting solicitor general under President Barack Obama

A report from Robert Mueller will most likely mark the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. CreditCreditSaul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The special counsel Robert Mueller will apparently soon turn in a report to the new attorney general, William Barr. Sure, there is still a lot of activity, including subpoenas, flying around, but that shouldn’t stop Mr. Mueller.
The report is unlikely to be a dictionary-thick tome, which will disappoint some observers. But such brevity is not necessarily good news for the president. In fact, quite the opposite.
For months, the president’s lawyers have tried to discredit Mr. Mueller and this report, but their efforts may have backfired. A concise Mueller report might act as a “road map” to investigation for the Democratic House of Representatives — and it might also lead to further criminal investigation by other prosecutors. A short Mueller report would mark the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end.

The report is unlikely to be lengthy by design: The special counsel regulations, which I had the privilege of drafting in 1999, envision a report that is concise, “a summary” of what he found. And Mr. Mueller’s mandate is limited: to look into criminal activity and counterintelligence matters surrounding Russia and the 2016 election, as well as any obstruction of justice relating to those investigations.

The regulations require the attorney general to give Congress a report, too. The regulations speak of the need for public confidence in the administration of justice and even have a provision for public release of the attorney general’s report. In a world where Mr. Mueller was the only investigator, the pressure for a comprehensive report to the public would be overwhelming.

This is where the “witch hunt” attacks on Mr. Mueller may have backfired. For 19 months, Mr. Trump and his team have had one target to shoot at, and that target has had limited jurisdiction. But now the investigation resembles the architecture of the internet, with many different nodes, and some of those nodes possess potentially unlimited jurisdiction. Their powers and scope go well beyond Mr. Mueller’s circumscribed mandate; they go to Mr. Trump’s judgment and whether he lied to the American people. They also include law enforcement investigations having nothing to do with Russia, such as whether the president directed the commission of serious campaign finance crimes, as federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have already stated in filings. These are all critical matters, each with serious factual predicates already uncovered by prosecutors.

Had Mr. Trump and his coterie done nothing wrong, they would have had little to fear from the special counsel, and a report from Mr. Mueller that cleared him would be the gold seal of approval. But Mr. Trump’s behavior, including his dangling of pardons to witnesses in the investigation, makes total exoneration unlikely, even though it is enormously difficult to prosecute crimes with international dimensions and assertions of privilege. The investigation has been further clouded by the fact that people in Mr. Trump’s inner circle lied repeatedly when it came to Russia (that long list includes Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone).

Sure, it is at least possible to envision the special counsel resolving each strand of the investigation and making such information public in detail. But it is also quite possible — and more likely — to think that the president’s bashing of Mr. Mueller may induce him to issue a more limited, by-the-book report, which will spawn further investigation. And the bashing may have encouraged Mr. Mueller to turn matters over to other investigators who have not been subject to the same sorts of public attack.
The House of Representatives has already begun its investigation. To understand the dangers Mr. Trump may face in the aftermath of a limited Mueller report, consider the request Congress made in 1974 to the special prosecutor Leon Jaworski as it opened an impeachment inquiry. Mr. Jaworski is analogous to Mr. Mueller — indeed, his appointment was a model for the special counsel regulations. In March 1974, Peter Rodino, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote to Mr. Jaworski, requesting all information he had uncovered in his investigation. Mr. Rodino understood that Mr. Jaworski’s mandate was far more limited than the House’s, and his letter stated that “it would be unthinkable if this material were kept from the House of Representatives in the course of the discharge of its most awesome constitutional responsibility.”

Of course, there is no open impeachment inquiry now. But that could quickly change if Mr. Mueller writes a report that is anything less than a full clearing of the president: Congress would be under a constitutional obligation to investigate the facts for itself. Congress cannot be satisfied that impeachable offenses were not committed when Mr. Mueller’s investigative mandate did not cover many impeachable offenses, and when his report does not provide detailed information and answers to the few offenses that are within his mandate. This is where Mr. Mueller’s “by the book” behavior may be initially unsatisfying to Mr. Trump’s critics but ultimately more threatening to the president in the long run.

The overlapping investigations by different entities, housed in different branches of government, spanning geography and even different governments (such as the New York attorney general’s investigation into the Trump Foundation), make it difficult for anyone, even Attorney General Barr, to end the inquiries.

This news may be disappointing, for various reasons, to the president’s critics and supporters alike. But the ultimate result is a good one. It means the truth is likely to come out — maybe not on the timetable anyone wants, but it will. So whenever Mr. Mueller turns in his report, do not assume that things are over. Like “The king is dead, long live the King,” the investigations here serve a purpose that transcends any one individual or law enforcement entity. This is the architecture of our Constitution, which is designed to ferret out high-level wrongdoing through a variety of channels for the American public to see.

**uncle junior** · 22-02-2019, 05:48 PM

^try posting before cocktails next time

**harrybarracuda** · 22-02-2019, 06:27 PM

If Mueller is going to hand off prosecutions to state courts, then that would be a fine strategy.

Because it means baldy orange cunto can't pardon them or - as he would have us believe he could - himself.

**Maanaam** · 22-02-2019, 06:28 PM

^^ Oh, oh.

**Dragonfly** · 22-02-2019, 07:59 PM

so it was all for nothing, as predicted

anti-trumptards royally owned !!!

**harrybarracuda** · 23-02-2019, 12:04 AM

New York prosecutors are prepared to file a criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort if he’s pardoned by President Trump for his felony convictions, Bloomberg News reports Friday.

New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has reportedly prepared the criminal case, which centers on alleged state-level tax violations and inaccurate record-keeping, as well as what Bloomberg describes as an “insurance policy” in case Manafort is pardoned for his federal crimes.

In preparing his case, Vance is said to have had to tread carefully around New York’s double-jeopardy prohibition, which rigorously prevents defendants from being tried twice on the same charges. However, Bloomberg reports the DA has assembled significant claims that won’t overlap with Mueller’s charges, which include tax and bank fraud.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-yo...im-prosecutors

**AntRobertson** · 25-02-2019, 09:48 AM

"Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort committed crimes that cut to "the heart of the criminal justice system" and over the years deceived everyone from book-keepers and banks to federal prosecutors and his own lawyers, according to a sentencing memo filed today by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office.

...

[T]hey do depict Manafort as a longtime and unrepentant criminal who committed "bold" crimes, including under the spotlight of his role as campaign chairman and later while on bail, and who does not deserve any leniency.
"For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law..."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz//world/ne...717&ref=clavis

"I will surround myself only with the best and most serious people. We want top-of-the-line professionals."

"Drain the swamp!"

**raycarey** · 09-03-2019, 09:41 PM

colossal douchebag erik prince is looking at a perjury charge for lying to congress

jump to 31:20

**Texpat** · 09-03-2019, 09:53 PM

A two-year clusterfuck results in a “road map” to investigation?

**Boon Mee** · 10-03-2019, 05:59 AM

When your intent is to mislead:

**tomcat** · 10-03-2019, 06:14 AM

...^

...I'll go with CNN over tRump News every time...

**Little Chuchok** · 10-03-2019, 06:53 AM

Originally Posted by tomcat

...^

...I'll go with CNN over tRump News every time...

I would go with neither. They are both biased as fuck.

**tomcat** · 10-03-2019, 07:35 AM

...since when is fuck biased?...

**Klondyke** · 10-03-2019, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by raycarey

colossal douchebag erik prince is looking at a perjury charge for lying to congress

jump to 31:20

Herewith transcripted:

Erik Prince acknowledges 2016 Trump Tower meeting for first time
When pressed by Mehdi Hasan on Head to Head, Blackwater founder Erik Prince said the meeting was about 'Iran policy'.

Erik Prince, the founder of the private American security company Blackwater, has admitted to meeting with members of the Trump campaign in August 2016 after, according to a public transcript, apparently failing to disclose the gathering during his testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee last year.

When asked by Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera's Head to Head programme about the August 3, 2016, Trump Tower meeting that reportedly took place between Prince, Donald Trump campaign officials, an Israeli social media specialist and an emissary for two Gulf princes, the former Blackwater CEO did not deny the meeting took place.

"We were there … to talk about Iran policy," Prince said when pressed by Hasan.

According to the New York Times, that meeting was attended by Prince, Donald Trump Jr, George Nader, a former Blackwater employee and emissary for the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Stephen Miller, then a top aide to the Trump campaign and currently a senior policy adviser to the president and Joel Zamel, whose company Psy-Group employed former Israeli intelligence operatives and specialised in social media manipulation and was reportedly contacted by Rick Gates, a top Trump campaign official, for proposals for social media manipulation to help Trump win the election.

Prince, however, apparently did not disclose information about the meeting when testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on November 30, 2017, according to a public transcript.

Prince testified under oath that he had "no official, or, really unofficial role" in the Trump campaign. He also told the House panel that he did not have any formal communications or contact with the campaign other than policy papers given to Steve Bannon, attending some fundraisers and a "yard sign".

When asked by Al Jazeera's Hasan about why he didn't then disclose the August 2016 Trump Tower meeting, Prince initially said he "disclosed any meetings, the very, very few" he had.

When pressed further by Hasan, Prince said, "I don't believe I was asked that question."

Prince later contradicted himself, saying he did tell the panel about the meeting. When asked to explain why it was not in the transcript, Prince said, "I don't know if they got the transcript wrong."

He later also said that "not all of the discussion that day was transcribed".

He added that he "certainly" remembers discussing the meeting with "investigators".

A staff member of the House Intelligence Committee told Al Jazeera that Prince was not asked about the August 3, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower during his testimony and any redactions that were made to that testimony were done to protect personally identifiable information.

The Blackwater founder's comments to Hasan is the first time that Prince or anyone else who reportedly attended the meeting has publicly acknowledged it and the first indication that it could have been about Iran policy. At the time, Nader was reportedly seeking to advance a clandestine plan to destabilise Iran through the use of private military contractors.

Since coming to office, Trump has taken a hawkish stance towards Iran, pulling out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and blaming the country for the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS). Last month in Warsaw, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the conference, "You can't achieve stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran." US National Security Advisor John Bolton has also advocated for regime change in the country.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...194101138.html

**Texpat** · 10-03-2019, 10:07 AM

Arrange enough interrogation and you can get anyone to contradict him/herself.

Stalin's secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria, famously said, "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime."

They're merely fishing -- ole Trumpy's got them in a tiz.

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