Section: TPM (USA)
Judge Gives Team Mueller Rough Ride
TPM’s Caitlin MacNeal just came out of a hearing in the Paul Manafort case in federal court in Virginia. She’ll be filing shortly. A quick preview: The hearing was on the former Trump campaign chairman’s motion to dismiss the federal grand jury indictment against him. It was focused on whether Special Counsel Robert Mueller...
Did Trump Link Arms Sales to Ukraine with Cutting Off Mueller?
I agree with Jon Chait. This revelation from The New York Times is a big deal. The Times reports that soon after the administration okayed the sale of Javelin missiles to Ukraine, Ukrainian officials ended their cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and essentially suspended a series of domestic investigations which touch on Paul...
Manafort Claims Deep State Leakers’ ‘Elaborate Hoax’ Boosted Mueller Probe
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort claimed in a court filing Monday evening that government leakers sought to boost Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and influence the grand juries that ultimately brought indictments against Manafort. The court document, filed in the case against Manafort brought in Virginia, zeroed in...
Disgraceful?!?
President Trump predictably went on a Twitter tear this morning about the New York Times scoop on what Special Counsel Robert Mueller wants to ask him in the Russia probe. But don’t be misled! Trump calls it “disgraceful” that the Mueller team questions were leaked. But, but, but … the Times pegs Trump’s own legal team as the indirect...
Cohen And His Father-In-Law Loaned $26M To Taxi Mogul In Marijuana Biz
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, whose business dealings are being investigated by the FBI, and the lawyer’s father-in-law have lent $26 million in recent years to a taxi mogul who is shifting into the legalized marijuana industry, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Semyon “Sam”...
This Week: Trump Distances Himself From Cohen, Special Master Appointed
President Trump distanced himself from Michael Cohen this week, as both of the cases against Cohen — the civil case involving Stormy Daniels and the federal criminal case in New York — continued to progress. Judge Kimba Wood appointed veteran prosecutor Barbara Jones as special master in the criminal probe, where she’ll be tasked with...
Mueller Team Sought Comms On Trump Tower Meeting In Manafort Raid
Prosecutors for special counsel Robert Mueller revealed in court filings Monday night that the FBI agents who raided former Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort’s home in July 2017 were searching for information on the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, among other documents. In a filing arguing that the FBI’s search warrant for...
New Jersey Pols Get Progressive, And Other News: Your Prime Week In Review
Hello, Prime subscribers. Here’s a recap of what happened in Prime this week. You likely heard that Michael Cohen was in court. Ahead of the court date, Josh Marshall pulled together the various “threads of sleaze and criminality” to explain why, while the Cohen story is ostensibly separate from the Russia probe, the two are likely closely...
Today We Learned That Manafort Has ‘Millions’ Tied Up Because Of A Money Laundering Count
At a hearing Thursday morning, Paul Manafort’s attorneys made a dense and heady argument that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s money laundering count against their client should be thrown out — and, in doing so, gave us a hint of what might be driving this particular request. One of Manafort’s attorneys, Richard Westling, told...
Manafort Wants More DOJ Records About Scope Of Mueller Probe
Paul Manafort wants to see more records of conversations between Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on the scope of the Russia probe. Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing argued for that they and the court were entitled to additional Justice Department records in a sometimes contentious federal court hearing...
