Section: Daily Kos (USA)
Paul Manafort’s lawsuit against Robert Mueller gets thrown out of court
Paul Manafort’s legal team has taken every possible tack in trying to find some way to prevent Manafort from having to go to trial in July. Since the evidence of Manafort’s money laundering, foreign lobbying, and lying under oath seems abundant, getting the case thrown out was possibly the former Trump campaign chairman’s best...
Manafort and Gates were already interviewed by the FBI before they were hired by Trump campaign
Before he came on board as first an adviser, then the chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Paul Manafort had at least two meetings with the FBI. The documents filed late Monday by prosecutors in the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, show...
The investigation into Michael Cohen is a ‘second front’ in Trump’s war with the law
The revelation that Michael Cohen’s mysterious third client was Fox News commentator Sean Hannity was amusing to everyone—except Hannity, Cohen, and Donald Trump. With Trump and Hannity forming an Elliot Broidy sandwich, it’s become clear that the sort of “fixing” that occupied Cohen much of the time was following around these men to...
US adds sanctions against Russian officials—including an oligarch connected to Trump’s campaign
Donald Trump dragged his heels on Russia sanctions, taking his time in signing the bill passed by Congress and initially stating that no sanctions were needed because just passing the bill was enough. Eventually the government did issue additional sanctions, but they were primarily limited to Russians already indicted by Robert Mueller. In the...
Memo reveals that investigation into Manafort is a fraction of Mueller’s additional authority
A dive into the latest court filings shows that there’s a lot we don’t know about the activities of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team. A memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein specifically authorizes Mueller to look into Paul Manafort’s activities in Ukraine. The special counsel released the memo as part of a...
Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan becomes first person sentenced in Trump–Russia investigation
On Tuesday, Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan received a sentence of 30 days in jail and a fine of $20,000 for making false statements in relation to the investigation being directed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Van der Zwaan was the fourth person to plead guilty in the Trump–Russia investigation, admitting in federal court that he had made...
Rosenstein specifically told Mueller to look into Manafort, gave investigation additional authority
Court filings have revealed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has even broader authority than the already extensive power granted by Rod Rosenstein to investigate the Trump campaign “and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.” In an August 2, 2017 memo, Rosenstein gave the special counsel authority to investigate...
ICE deports moms and dads, but the last surviving Nazi war criminal in the U.S. gets to stay
Last April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported Maribel Trujillo, the Ohio mom of four U.S. citizens, despite having no criminal record. In August, ICE deported California nurse Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, along with her husband Eusebio, after two decades in the U.S. Neither of them had criminal records. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day...
No amount of money or prestige is worth taking on Trump as a client in the Russia probe
It’s unprecedented, folks, and that’s not an exaggeration. Donald Trump cannot find a lawyer in Washington who is willing to take on what would ordinarily be the pinnacle of one’s legal career: representing the president of the United States in a sweeping investigation involving money, spies and international intrigue. CNN...
Mueller makes two points: Manafort had active ties to Russia and don’t mess with the special counsel
Documents filed on Tuesday in connection with the indictment of Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan give some fresh insight into the investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Among the information made public: A business associate of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had a direct connection to Russian intelligence—and that...
