Russian Connection 4: Do Not Congratulate

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I'd say that  "we lie all the time so we can't afford to go under oath" is really not such a great defense but then I am not a lawyer and neither do I play one on TV.

 

[Howl]

Well, my goodness.  Paul Manafort may have his pretrial release revoked because of potential witness tampering.  My guess is that he was using What'sApp or similar encrypted messaging.

Sketchy details, though, so gotta wait for more info.

Mueller Says Manafort Attempted To Tamper With Witnesses

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Trump feels the only reason there is a Russia investigation is that Sessions didn't obstruct it and it's so unfair

 

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[GreyhoundFan]

 

[VixenToast]

7 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 

That feckless.... nah. Not gonna. Lol

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[VixenToast]

I wonder if this means that the hammer is about to fall. Rufus, please!

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 Who all lied about Jr's statement?

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[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course he did: "Trump calls for Russia to be brought back into G-7"

Spoiler

President Donald Trump on Friday called for Russia to be reinstated into the group of the world’s largest economies, from which it was removed in 2014 after its forced annexation of Crimea away from Ukraine.

“Now, I love our country. I have been Russia's worst nightmare,” Trump said. “But with that being said, Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?”

Trump made the remarks on the White House’s South Lawn as he left for the G-7 summit in Quebec, which he will depart early from in order to travel to Singapore, where he is scheduled to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week.

His suggestion that the G-7 welcome Russia back into the fold is likely to further heighten tensions in Quebec, where the president is expected to meet with allies irate over his decision to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and the European Union.

The G-7, short for group of seven, was previously the G-8 until 2014, when the group’s members expelled Russia over its invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. The G-7’s current membership includes the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

“I would recommend — and it's up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it. You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run,” Trump told reporters. “And in the G-7, which used to be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”

Trump’s support for Russia’s reentry into the group of the world’s most powerful economies adds to the lengthy list of warm gestures he has offered for the Kremlin and its leader, President Vladimir Putin. Critics of the president have long complained that his foreign policy is too soft on Russia, which the U.S. intelligence community has said sought to interfere in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, especially relative to the president’s get-tough approach to foreign policy elsewhere around the globe.

But while Trump’s rhetoric towards Russia and towards Putin in particular have been noticeably warmer than that of his predecessor, the president and his administration have pointed often to significant steps taken against the Kremlin, including new sanctions, the expulsion of dozens of diplomats and the forced closure of Russia’s two West Coast consulates in Seattle and San Francisco.

"If Hillary got in, I think Putin is probably going, ‘man, I wish Hillary won,’ because you see what I do," Trump said on Friday about his harsher actions against Russia.

Russia had been scheduled to host the G8 summit in 2014 and had been planning to hold the leaders’ gathering in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which was also the site of the Winter Olympics that year. But after Russian troops invaded Crimea, officials quickly rescheduled for Brussels, the capital of the European Union, which participates in both the G7 and the G20. Russian remains a part of the larger group.

Even before Trump's remark Friday morning, his time in Quebec appeared likely to be marked by terse conversations with leaders from some of America's closest allies.

The U.S. president has devoted significant focus in recent weeks to resetting U.S. trade relationships around the globe, complaining especially loudly about what he says is unfair treatment by top trade partners like Canada and the EU. The president's decision to impose tariffs on both earned him a stern rebuke from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the leaders of multiple major EU nations.

Trump is scheduled to meet Friday for two bilateral meetings, one with Trudeau and another with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The two leaders this week both promised to confront Trump over his recent decision to impose tariffs on U.S. allies, using blunt language to describe their positions.

“Maybe the American president doesn’t care about being isolated today, but we don’t mind being six, if needs be,” Macron said.

Trump hit back on Twitter late Thursday.

"Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers," he twieeted. "The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow."

He added, "Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!"

When asked by reporters Friday morning about the spat, Trump presented it as a temporary trade dispute that that "in the end we'll all get along."

"Look, all of these countries have been taking advantage of the United States on trade," Trump said. "We have massive trade deficits with almost every country. We will straighten that out. And I'll tell you what, it's what I do. It won't even be hard, and in the end we'll all get along... When it all straightens out, we'll all be in love again."

Despite numerous other differences, Western leaders have remained united in the need to maintain economic sanctions and other pressure on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine — not just in Crimea but in the eastern Donbas region, where it has supported an armed insurgency. An international investigative team recently announced that a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet, Flight MH-17 that was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 was destroyed by a Russian missile supplied by a specific military unit in southern Russia.

Putin has continued to deny any Russian role in that incident, which killed all the passengers on board. Putin initially denied that Russian military forces had invaded Crimea but later acknowledged that they had done so, and even bestowed awards on soldiers who participated in the operation.

I'm guessing the orange menace wanted his buddy at the summit because he's infuriated everyone else.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Special counsel Mueller indicts associate of Paul Manafort"

Quote

A longtime business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted Friday on charges he conspired to obstruct justice as investigators probed a past secret lobbying scheme on behalf of Ukraine.

Konstantin Kilimnik was charged in a superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. The new charges revolve allegations that he and Manafort tried to influence two potential witnesses in a case involving the failure to register as foreign lobbyists.

Those accusations are part of a recent effort by Mueller’s office to revoke or revise Manafort’s bail conditions while he awaits trial next month in northern Virginia. A hearing on the bail issue is scheduled for next week.

Cue the twitter meltdown, especially since the TT is upset about having to go to the G7 meeting.

[Howl]

And dropping on a Friday, no less!  A great end to another Infrastructure Week! 

I don't think there is any antiperspirant or deodorant  strong enough cover up the flop sweat and smell of desperation of those who have fibbed or tried to circumvent Mueller.  It's just a matter of time. Not to mention that some of these people will be bankrupted by legal bills.

The guys who came forward to say that Manafort was trying to compromise witnesses aren't heroes -- just saving their own asses, but they (or at least their lawyers) have at least an iota of common sense. 

[fraurosena]

For those of you who are interested in the official filing:

 

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Oh, there's a tweet storm a-coming...

The judge sided with the SDNY against the presidunce and now his objections against certain seized documents (you know, the ones the Special Master is looking at) will be made public.

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

"Mueller Team Views Giuliani More as Spokesman Than Lawyer, Sources Say"

Spoiler

Rudy Giuliani has yet to genuinely affect the course of Robert Mueller’s Russia probe despite being a near-constant presence on TV since he became President Donald Trump’s lawyer, said current and former officials familiar with the special counsel’s approach.

For example, Giuliani told several media outlets that he wants to see secret FBI documents related to the origin of the Russia investigation, including the use of a confidential informant.

So he asked for the documents -- informally. The answer? No response from the Justice Department or Mueller.

The incident illustrates how nearly two months after joining Trump’s legal team, Giuliani isn’t yet seen as a power player with the legal authority to go up against Mueller’s team of career prosecutors, current and former U.S. law enforcement officials said. He may be speaking loudly to the public but he’s not speaking the language of Mueller’s world, which comes in the form of legal filings, case law and investigative evidence. Giuliani has only met with Mueller once.

The former New York mayor’s entry into Trump’s legal team came as Mueller’s investigation was entering its second year and widening to include a growing number of Trump associates. And Mueller is showing no signs of slowing down, even though Giuliani has repeatedly called for him to wrap up the probe by September.

Speaking in an interview, Giuliani defended his strategy and asserted that public opinion related to Mueller’s probe has turned in Trump’s favor. “If we have such a bad strategy, then how do we turn public opinion with a hostile press,” he said.

“If public opinion is against them, they can’t do anything,” said Giuliani, arguing his work will undermine the credibility of any report Mueller sends to the Justice Department for possible action against Trump. “The report will go nowhere, and we will be able to counter with our own report which I’ll be involved in writing.”

Giuliani also asserted that Mueller can’t indict the president -- a position the special counsel hasn’t publicly acknowledged, but is stated in a Justice Department memo. “If they had the power to indict, it would be a different strategy,” he said. “Since I’ve been on the case I haven’t been too impressed by them.”

"Rudy is doing what his client wants him to do," said Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor. "His client is a circus master and Rudy is dancing."

"That is where long-time prosecutors and current prosecutors unfortunately look at Rudy Giuliani and shake their heads," said Cramer, who’s now managing director of the international investigation firm Berkeley Research Group LLC.

One reason Giuliani, who served as a U.S. attorney in the 1980s, is getting brushed off is because he has taken a haphazard approach to making demands and changes what he wants, one official said.

Mueller, who reports to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, has also enlisted help from officials within the FBI and U.S. attorney offices. The Justice Department, FBI and Mueller’s office all declined to comment.

U.S. prosecutors have often watched as defense lawyers mount boisterous public defenses of their clients, but officials believe that Giuliani is crossing a line by peddling conspiracy theories about the investigation.

He has repeatedly accused Mueller’s team of trying to frame Trump. "They don’t have a crime. And that’s why I say they’re trying to frame him. Because if they had any sense, they would realize they’re trying to put together a case on an innocent man. And that’s what we call in America framing somebody," Giuliani told an audience in Israel Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Cramer said, "He can’t honestly believe there is a government conspiracy to go after Trump."

Now, Giuliani may be stepping up the pressure. The former New York mayor said Wednesday that he’s prepared to work with Trump’s other lawyers to make a formal demand to see documents related to the FBI informant. He’s also renewing calls to see an unredacted copy of a memo outlining the full scope of the special counsel’s mandate.

The demand for the documents is the latest condition Giuliani has placed on having Trump sit for an interview with Mueller and his investigators, who are probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump or any of his associates cooperated in doing so.

Giuliani has previously said he’s succeeded in private talks with Mueller’s team to narrow down the number and scope of questions for the interview. Officials interviewed for this story said they weren’t aware of any such agreement.

An interview with Trump is only one aspect of Mueller’s investigation, however, and prosecutors aren’t going to give in to artificial conditions or deadlines, one official said.

Mueller has made it clear in legal filings that his investigation is ongoing, complex and fully authorized by Rosenstein.

"The Special Counsel’s investigation is not a closed matter, but an ongoing criminal investigation with multiple lines of non-public inquiry," according to a legal filing by Mueller last month.

“The investigation consists of multiple lines of inquiry within the overall scope of the Special Counsel’s authority," according to the filing. "Many aspects of the investigation are factually and legally interconnected: they involve overlapping courses of conduct, relationships, and events, and they rely on similar sources, methods, and techniques. The investigation is not complete and its details remain non-public.”

Despite Giuliani serving as the face of Trump’s legal team, much of the actual lawyering has been done by Jay Sekulow and his team of lawyers, along with Martin and Jane Raskin, a husband and wife team of defense lawyers brought in at the same time as Giuliani.

Over the past year, Sekulow and his lawyers have done the bulk of the document review and legal analysis of case law to help formulate Trump’s defense, said a person familiar with the legal team. It was Sekulow, along with former Trump attorney John Dowd, who authored a 20-page memo sent to Mueller’s team outlining their view on executive authority.

Sekulow became the point person communicating with Mueller’s team after Dowd quit in March.

Sekulow has a background in constitutional law and experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court. While most of Sekulow’s experience has been on religious liberties and freedom of speech cases, he has brought on a group of lawyers with a background in criminal defense to help.

The Raskins have decades of experience dealing with federal white-collar criminal cases. In an interview Sunday on ABC’s This Week, Giuliani said that Jane Raskin had been tasked with writing a letter laying out the conditions of an interview.

Following the departure of Dowd, Trump struggled to find an experienced criminal defense lawyer willing or able to defend him with several high profile lawyers turning him down because of concerns about conflicts of interest or damage it could do to their reputation.

After a month of looking, it was announced that Giuliani would be representing Trump. Giuliani has said he is doing the case pro bono and not charging Trump for his legal work.

Arguably, the biggest impact that Giuliani has had is when it comes to influencing public opinion, likely in case Mueller’s findings lead to impeachment proceedings against the president, Cramer said.

"There’s a logic when you consider impeachment," Cramer said.

"The court of public opinion is relevant," Cramer said. "You could make the argument that he’s doing his job by feeding into all the paranoia."

 

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Dude is a Russian agent and not even trying to hide it 

 

[Howl]

@AmazonGrace, YES! Trump's Russia collusion IS NOT HIDDEN.  Sorry to go CAP's on y'all collectively, but dagnabbit, it's so darn blatant.  Trump is actively promoting (and successfully, I might say) Russia's foreign policy objectives.  ALL OF THEM.  It's just a matter of time before he starts talking about the awful unfairness of the Magnitsky Act.  And the original Russia sanctions -- were those ever imposed?  I just googled and couldn't tell. 

[fraurosena]

Keep your fingers crossed he'll be spending his first of many, many long nights in jail that very evening.