Special Counsel Robert Mueller is working with agents from the IRS’s Criminal Investigations unit as part of his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast. This elite and secretive unit’s 2,500 agents work on financial crimes, including money laundering and tax evasion, and would…
The Russian lobbyist who attended a meeting with top Trump campaign aides last year has testified to a grand jury as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling, the Financial Times reports. The lobbyist, Rinat Akhmetshin, was part of a meeting that included Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner,…
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is reportedly working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to look into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s finances. According to Politico, the two sides “have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case,” and have allegedly uncovered “evidence on financial crimes, including potential money…
President Trump and his attorneys spoke about a possible real-estate deal in Moscow at least three times, said Trump Organization lawyer Michael Cohen, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Cohen said each of the brief conversations happened during the presidential campaign and that he received Trump’s signature on a letter of intent for…
The Trump Organization was actively involved in discussions to develop a Trump Tower in Moscow while Donald Trump was running for president, The Washington Post reports. Citing several sources familiar with the matter and records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers, the Post reports the discussions involved Russian-born real-estate developer Felix Sater, who at one point…
Officials in a CIA counterintelligence unit that has played a vital role in the FBI’s Russia probe say they have to “watch” CIA Director Mike Pompeo over fear he might report new information directly to President Trump, The Washington Post reports. Officials at the Counterintelligence Mission Center—which Pompeo has asked to report directly to him—say…
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn sent an email referencing an individual who was trying to arrange a meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin last year, CNN reports, citing an email recovered by congressional investigators. In the email, Dearborn, who worked on the campaign, included “information about an individual…
North Korea’s rapid missile-program improvements can likely be traced back to a black-market factory that used to produce the Soviet Union’s most deadly weaponry, according to a new report and classified assessments by U.S. intel agencies. It is not believed that North Korea could have made such big leaps forward in their nuclear-weapons program without…
Congressional investigators want to question Rhona Graff, a longtime secretary for Donald Trump who now serves as senior vice president at the Trump Organization, ABC News reported early Friday. Graff has worked at Trump Tower for nearly three decades, and officials are now scrutinizing her as part of the probe into the infamous June 2016…
President Trump on Thursday said he’s thankful to Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling U.S. diplomats because now the U.S. government can save money on that payroll. “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a…
Paul Manafort, former campaign manager to Donald Trump, tipped off authorities to the controversial meeting between Trump’s son and a Russian lawyer promising damaging information about then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. The June 9, 2016 came to light after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted emails leading up to the meeting (he initially claimed…
The FBI raided Paul Manafort’s home last month, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, executing a search warrant to seize documents. Agents allegedly entered Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Virginia before dawn on July 26. “The search warrant was wide-ranging, and FBI agents working with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III departed the home with various records,”…
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) fired back at President Trump on Monday, saying his bullying tactics will not protect him from the ongoing Russia collusion investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. “Mr. President: Your bullying hasn’t worked before and it won’t work now. No one is above the law,” Blumenthal tweeted. “This issue isn’t…
After meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday said the U.S. would issue its response by Sept. 1 to Moscow’s July 30 announcement that it is expelling 755 U.S. embassy and consulate staff from Russia. Tillerson said he told Lavrov the U.S. hasn’t yet decided how…
Why is Trump Reminding Us of the Pee Pee Tape? Just when the Steele dossier had faded from view, Trump brings it up on Twitter
President Trump on Wednesday signed the bill placing additional sanctions on Russia, but expressed deep reservations about what he described as “significantly flawed” legislation. In an official statement, Trump wrote that the law includes “unconstitutional provisions” that would hinder his presidential authority on diplomatic matters. He also suggested Congress passed the bill “in haste” as…
President Trump personally dictated the statement regarding his son Donald Trump Jr.’s June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer, saying they “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children,” several people with knowledge of the incident told The Washington Post Monday. This statement, sent to The New York Times before it ran…
Rod Wheeler, the private investigator cited by Fox News for its retracted report claiming former DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered for leaking emails to WikiLeaks, has now sued the network, claiming they: 1) Fabricated quotes from him to make the false connection; 2) Sent an article draft to the White House for review; and…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday announced 755 members of the U.S. diplomatic mission to Russia will be expelled from his country. This reduces the number of American diplomats in Russia from about 1,210 to 455, putting the American delegation on par with the Russian diplomatic contingent in the United States. Putin’s announcement comes in…
Vice President Mike Pence assured U.S. commitment to the Baltic states in the face of Russian aggression on Sunday in Tallinn, Estonia, his first stop on a four-day tour that will also include Georgia and Montenegro. While President Trump has been unclear in the past about where he draws the line with Russia, Pence confirmed…
The Russian government seized two U.S.-owned diplomatic properties Friday, hours after its foreign ministry ordered the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff in the country by Sept. 1. The New York Times reports the Kremlin will cut off American access on Aug. 1 to a Moscow warehouse and a leafy enclave where U.S. staffers often…
Senators are sending legislation slapping new sanctions on Moscow to President Trump’s desk, setting up a potential showdown with the White House over Russia. Senators voted 98-2 on the bill, which would give Congress the ability to block Trump from lifting the Russia sanctions. It also includes new penalties against Iran and North Korea. Sens.…
On Tuesday, the House voted 419-3 to pass a bill that strengthens sanctions against Russia in response to its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. The sanctions primarily target Russian oil and gas projects with companies based in the United States and a handful of other countries, and will be difficult for President Trump…
President Trump on Wednesday continued to publicly bash Attorney General Jeff Sessions, this time questioning why acting FBI chief Andrew McCabe hasn’t been fired for his ties to Hillary Clinton. “Why didn’t A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got big dollars ($700,000)…
President Trump has been publicly criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter, calling him “beleaguered” on Monday and accusing him early Tuesday of having “taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes.” Privately, Trump has been talking with advisers about possibly replacing Sessions, people familiar with the discussions told The Washington Post. They are…
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday night issued a subpoena to compel Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort’s presence at a public hearing Wednesday. “Mr. Manafort, through his attorney, said that he would be willing to provide only a single transcribed interview to Congress, which would not be available to the Judiciary Committee members or staff,”…
President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, released new details Monday about his contacts with Russian officials, including a previously undisclosed encounter with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in April 2016. In a statement prepared for his Senate Intel appearance, Kushner said he met Kislyak at a reception at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. “The ambassadors……
President Donald Trump is considering replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with former campaign adviser Rudy Giuliani, according to a new report from Mike Allen at Axios. The president has publicly voiced his displeasure with Sessions, and Axios described Trump’s “fury” directed at the attorney general after he recused himself from the Russia investigation. Trump bashed…
President Trump kicked off his week by tweeting about Russia. On Monday morning, Trump took a quote from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticizing Hillary Clinton for blaming her loss on outside factors as a suggestion that it’s time to move on from the Russia investigation since “after one year of investigation” there’s been…
Early Monday, Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, released an 11-page statement to the House and Senate intelligence committees detailing what he described as “perhaps four contacts with Russian representatives out of thousands during the campaign and transition,” insisting that he “did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who…
