A poll of Fox News viewers believes that the Mueller probe should continue, and that it will find impeachable offenses.

Courtesy of Fox News:  

Most voters think it is important to continue investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia -- but more believe President Trump will fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller before he’s done. 

About two-thirds, 67 percent in the latest Fox News poll, say it is at least somewhat important the investigation continues, and 56 percent think it’s likely that Mueller’s probe will find Donald Trump committed criminal or impeachable offenses.

And those are FOX NEWS viewers.

The numbers are much higher for the truly informed.

Some members of the Senate are also concerned that Trump will fire Mueller.

Courtesy of the NYT:

The Senate Judiciary Committee fired a political warning shot at the White House on Thursday, advancing on a bipartisan vote long-stalled legislation to allow special counsels such as Robert S. Mueller III to appeal their firing to a panel of judges and possibly be reinstated. 

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has stated unequivocally that he will not bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. But with four Republicans, including the committee’s chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, joining Democrats to vote in favor of it, the measure sent a clear message to President Trump that there would be serious consequences to firing the special counsel. 

Even senators who voted against the legislation warned Mr. Trump against trying to dismiss Mr. Mueller. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Senate Republican, said that “firing Mueller would cause a firestorm and bring the administration’s agenda to a halt. It could even result in impeachment.”

I think that if Trump tries to fire Mueller that even Republicans like Mitch McConnell will turn on him, and then his days will truly be numbered.

Rudy Giuliani gets that sit down meeting with Robert Mueller. Is told that interview with Donald Trump is "essential."

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s new personal lawyer dealing with the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, met with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Tuesday to reopen negotiations for a presidential interview, ­according to three people familiar with the talks. 

Giuliani, who joined Trump’s legal team last week, conveyed the ongoing resistance of Trump and his advisers to an interview with federal investigators, but did not rule out the possibility, the people said, adding that Giuliani pressed Mueller for clarity on when the probe is expected to end. 

In response, Mueller reiterated that he would like a chance to ask Trump questions about steps he took during the transition and early months of his administration, the people said. The special counsel emphasized, as he did in conversations in March with Trump’s team, that an interview is essential for investigators to understand Trump’s intent in making key decisions as they seek to wrap up the portion of the probe focused on potential obstruction of justice.

I actually think that Mueller WILL ultimately get his interview with Donald Trump, assuming that he is not fired of course, it is still to be seen whether the interview is voluntary or the result of a subpoena.

Kind of interesting that though these types of negotiations have been going on for some time, that we are just now hearing about them since Giuliani joined the team

It is almost like he is an attention whore or something.

Devin Nunes is investigating the State Department because he cannot follow a simple narrative.

Courtesy of Fox Business: 

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said Sunday his review of FBI and Justice Department “electronic communication” documents shows no intelligence was used to begin the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. 

“We now know that there was no official intelligence that was used to start this investigation. We know that Sidney Blumenthal and others were pushing information into the State Department. So we’re trying to piece all that together and that’s why we continue to look at the State Department,” Nunes told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” 

The California Republican said he is now investigating the State Department due to signs of “major irregularities,” in an effort to figure out how information about former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos – who reportedly met with a foreign policy expert and Cambridge professor with connections to the CIA and Britain’s MI6 in London in 2016 – was obtained by the FBI. 

So if Nunes would bother reading the New York Times he would know exactly how the FBI found out about Papadopoulos connections with the Russian Cambridge professor:

During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton. 

About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign. 

Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role. 

Okay so yes there was "official intelligence" communicated from the Australian intelligence services to our own FBI.

And as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Nunes HAS to know this.

So WTF?

Yesterday Nunes also suggested the DNC's decision to sue the Trump Campaign, the Russians, and Wikileaks was nothing more than a fundraising scheme, and that they should actually be suing themselves.

Courtesy of the Washington Examiner:  

"This is nothing more than a scam to keep their base fired up," Nunes, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an interview Saturday with Fox News' Judge Jeanine Pirro.

"This is about the extreme left, the socialist left, wanting to never accept that the president of the United States was rightfully and duly elected, carried a number of states that nobody expected him to carry," the congressman said. "So this is a fundraising scheme. It's nothing more, nothing less. It's a fundraising scheme because the Democrats are out of money, and that's what this is about."

The lawsuit Nunes was asked to comment on alleges a conspiracy between the trio to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign in order to get Donald Trump elected. The DNC's complaint was filed Friday in a federal district court in Manhattan, N.Y. 

Nunes started out his answer quipping, "Well, they ought to be suing themselves." 

"They are the ones that colluded with the Russians. So they're the ones that have an FEC violation, they didn't report that they were paying Fusion GPS, right? That they were digging up dirt on the trump campaign. None of that was reported, so they ought to be suing themselves. This is nothing more than a scam to keep their base fired up."

The "extreme left?"

The "socialist left?"

If that he who is identifying as those never wanting to accept Donald Trump as their president then I think that about 70% of the country is now identified as the "extreme socialist left."

And if true that sounds pretty good for the Democrats heading into the 2018 election cycle.

Jeff Sessions warns the White House that if Trump fires Rod Rosenstein he might have to quit as well.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently told the White House he might have to leave his job if President Trump fired his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the exchange. 

Sessions made his position known in a phone call to White House counsel Donald McGahn last weekend, as Trump’s fury at Rosenstein peaked after the deputy attorney general approved the FBI’s raid April 9 on the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.

Sessions’s message to the White House, which has not previously been reported, underscores the political firestorm that Trump would invite should he attempt to remove the deputy attorney general. While Trump also has railed against Sessions at times, the protest resignation of an attorney general — which would be likely to incite other departures within the administration — would create a moment of profound crisis for the White House. 

In the phone call with McGahn, Sessions wanted details of a meeting Trump and Rosenstein held at the White House on April 12, according to a person with knowledge of the call. Sessions expressed relief to learn that their meeting was largely cordial. Sessions said he would have had to consider leaving as the attorney general had Trump ousted Rosenstein, this person said. 

Another person familiar with the exchange said Sessions did not intend to threaten the White House but rather wanted to convey the untenable position that Rosenstein’s firing would put him in.

Now this may seem as if Sessions is finally sticking his chest out to defy his president, but he might be doing exactly what Trump wants him to do. 

Trump has already been warned about firing Sessions by his Republican supporters, who like and support the former Senator.

But if he fires Rosenstein, who his cohorts are already vilifying, and then Sessions quits of his own accord, that leaves Trump free and clear to appoint a new Attorney General who will not have to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and can hobble Robert Mueller with new guidelines and restrictions. 

This would allow Trump to gain back a little control, enough that he might even successfully neuter Mueller and make it almost impossible for him to do his job effectively.

As much as it pains me to say, the best thing for this investigation is that Jeff Sessions stays right where he is.

Of course it would also be very helpful if he did not fire Rod Rosenstein but I feel the writing is already on the wall.

Just in case you were wondering if Donald Trump was worried about the investigation targeting his private lawyer, the answer is "Oh hell yeah." Update!

The New York Times and a third rate reporter named Maggie Haberman, known as a Crooked H flunkie who I don’t speak to and have nothing to do with, are going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will “flip.” They use....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

A number of articles have been written about Trump's relationship with Maggie Haberman, and the fact that he has her on speed dial.

But just in case you were not convinced.

There’s little evidence Trump has ever even spoken to Haberman aside from the numerous on the record interviews he’s done with her. https://t.co/C7NERDWNYf

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 21, 2018

Yeah, in fact Trump himself has been identified as the number one White House leaker.

But wait, there's more.

....non-existent “sources” and a drunk/drugged up loser who hates Michael, a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected. Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

....it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

It should be noted that the government does not offer deals, unless the target of the investigation has information about a bigger criminal.

By stating that Michael Cohen will not "flip" Trump is essentially admitting that he has information and evidence about him that he could use to make a deal.


So here we have three tweets that not only contain obvious, and easily verifiable, lies, but also an admission of guilt.

And it is still just the morning.

Update: Well this is awkward.

"who I don’t speak to and have nothing to do with.." pic.twitter.com/972GAcsxYp

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) April 21, 2018

I think you know who that is standing next to Tangerine Hitler. 

Rudy Giuliani is joining Donald Trump's legal team, because hell, why not. Update!

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a combative former prosecutor and longtime ally of President Trump, told The Washington Post on Thursday that he has joined the president’s legal team dealing with the ongoing special counsel probe. 

“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said in an interview. 

Trump counsel Jay Sekulow said Thursday in a statement that Giuliani is joining the team along with two former federal prosecutors, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, a couple who jointly run a Florida-based law firm. 

“Rudy is great,” Trump said in the statement issued by Sekulow. “He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country.”

Jesus, is that what you get when you scrape the bottom of the barrel, freaking Rudy Giuliani?

I think the last time that Giuliani practiced law he was chasing horse drawn ambulances.

It does not appear however that Giuliani is coming on board to do much legal work, but rather as a go between for Trump to reach out to the Mueller team.

just talked to Giuliani who said his role on Trump team is limited. He worked with Mueller at DOJ & as NYC Mayor (Mueller at FBI) He hopes knowing Mueller can help bring the investigation to conclusion, saying it "needs a little push." How soon? "maybe a couple of weeks"

— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) April 19, 2018

Yes, because that's how these things work.

You just need to find a friend that you and the investigator have in common, and they will convince them that you are a good guy and they should back off.

Besides isn't that kind of how Trump got into this mess in the first place?

The President then returned to the topic of Mike Flynn, saying, "He is a good guy and has been through a lot." He repeated that Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong on his calls with the Russians, but had misled the Vice President. He then said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." I replied only that "he is a good guy." (Source.)

It is VERY unlikely that Giuliani is going to be able to persuade Mueller to wrap things up quickly or see his way clear to "let it this go."

In fact there are currently rumors that Giuliani is ALREADY under investigation by the Mueller team.

That seems a little awkward.

By the way also keep in mind that Giuliani is waist deep in this Russia collusion thing as well.

July 28, 2016: https://t.co/MI4BqmvBxE

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 19, 2018

Yeah, that was a lie.

And certainly not the first or last one that Giuliani has told on Donald Trump's behalf.

Just another clown added to the clown car.

Update: This Twitter thread makes an important point. 

Giuliani isn’t there to negotiate anything; he’s there as a conduit to rogue FBI agents looking to undermine probe. https://t.co/TWO2pLkfRa

— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) April 19, 2018

Giuliani’s 2016 scheming with rogue FBI agents is an essential part of this story and any reporter who doesn’t include it should be ashamed.

— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) April 19, 2018

Excellent point.

Trump asked if he plans to fire either Robert Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, answers with "There was no collusion."

Courtesy of Raw Story:

"Have you concluded that it’s not worth the political fallout to remove either special counsel Mueller or Deputy Attorney General [Rod] Rosenstein?” Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs asked the president during his joint press conference with Japanese President Shinzo Abe. 

“I can say there was no collusion and that’s been so found, as you know, by the House Intelligence Committee,” Trump responded, citing the recent closure of the Republican-led committee’s Russia investigation. “There is no collusion. There is no collusion with Russia other than by the Democrats, or, as I call them, the obstructionists. They truly are obstructionist.” 

The president then switched gears to reiterate his belief that the Russia investigation is a “hoax,” claiming that it was “created largely by the Democrats as a way of softening the blow of a loss which is a loss that frankly they shouldn’t have had from the standpoint that it’s very easy for them to have a tremendous advantage in the electoral college.” 

“You look at the kind of money that was paid, probably some went to Russia,” he continued. “You look at [Obama White House adviser] John Podesta having a company in Russia where nothing happened and people don’t talk about it. You look at the fact that their server, the DNC server, was never gotten by the FBI.”

You will notice that at no time did Trump proclaim that he was NOT planning to get rid of either Rod Rosenstein or Robert Mueller.

And as for collusion, we are seeing it happen right before our eyes with Trump refusing to implement the Russian sanctions that were voted on by Congress, and that his own Ambassador to the UN announced were coming.

That is the pro quo for Putin's quid.

In the meantime Mitch McConell is refusing to allow a vote to protect Robert Mueller reach the House floor.

And the police in Pittsburgh are preparing for the riots that will surely erupt once Trump does fire Mueller.

Can you say "constitutional crisis?" I knew that you could. 

In upcoming interview James Comey compares Donald Trump to a mob boss. Update!

"Was President Trump obstructing justice?”

Former FBI Director James @Comey sits down with @ABC's @GStephanopoulos for an exclusive interview airing Sunday night at 10/9c on ABC. https://t.co/IE4XwxvIih #Comey pic.twitter.com/WygOAoVQzN

— ABC News (@ABC) April 11, 2018

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Ex-FBI Director James Comey compared to President Trump to a "mob boss" in a taped interview with ABC News, according to a promotional video released Wednesday. 

“How strange is it for you to sit here and compare the president to a mob boss?” host George Stephanopoulos asks Comey in a clip shared by ABC News. 

The preview also shows Stephanopoulos asking Comey if he believes President Trump obstructed justice, or if he thinks the president should be impeached. 

Comey does not speak at all in the promotional clip.

This is just the beginning of  the media blitz that will precede the release of Comey's new book "A Higher Loyalty: Truth Lies & Leadership."

Comey also has interviews scheduled with CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and PBS.

I still have a lot of issues with how Comey interfered in the 2016 election, but there is no way I am not reading this book or watching the upcoming interviews.

Comey has a particular insight into Donald Trump, and his response to the Russia investigation that I do not feel can be ignored.

Update: Axios has more:  

According to the source: 

The Comey interview left people in the room stunned — he told George things that he’s never said before. 

Some described the experience as surreal. The question will be how to fit it all into a one-hour show. 

Comey answered every question. 

If anyone wonders if Comey will go there, he goes there.

Gonna need some more popcorn. 

Search warrants reveal that Robert Mueller's interest in Paul Manafort is related to his time as the Trump campaign chairman, despite attempts by White House to say otherwise.

Courtesy of CNN:

The documents, used to obtain a search warrant in building the case against Manafort, were revealed in a court filing late Monday night. Manafort has pleaded not guilty in two federal cases, and the charges he faces do not include allegations about his time on the campaign. 

The search warrant makes clear that Mueller is also focused on Manafort's actions connected to the campaign. The White House and others have repeatedly said that the investigation into Manafort concerns his activities before he joined Trump's team in 2016.

Investigators in a search warrant application last July told a judge in Virginia that they sought evidence related to Manafort's interactions with a Russian real estate magnate and were suspicious of possible campaign finance violations. 

Specifically, the investigators sought from Manafort's apartment records "involving any of the attendees of the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower" and anything involving Aras and Emin Agalarov, an Azerbaijani-Russian billionaire and his son tied to the meeting, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and to a possible earlier unsuccessful attempt to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

So much for the argument that this investigation of Paul Manafort is only focused on activities that took place BEFORE he became the head of Trump's campaign.

And in other bad news for Paul Manafort it appears that yet another employee has sold him down the river.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

Former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort has trouble in his own house. According to court documents, one of Manafort’s former employees led an FBI agent to a storage locker filled with paperwork on Manafort’s businesses and finances. The person’s name is redacted from the filings. But he’s now at the center of a fight over evidence that could play a significant role in the government’s case against Manafort. 

“People do strange things when confronted with authoritative FBI agents,” said Sol Wisenberg, a criminal defense attorney with Nelson Mullins. 

This makes the second Manafort associate known to have aided the government in the sprawling investigation into foreign influence in U.S. politics. Rick Gates, Manafort’s long-time right hand, began cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office in February.

Currently Manafort's attorneys are fighting tooth and nail to get this evidence thrown out of court, which means that it is definitely something that Mueller does not want thrown out. 

FBI raids Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael, Cohen's, office.

Wait, where are they?

Courtesy of the New York Times:

The F.B.I. on Monday raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, seizing records related to several topics including payments to a pornographic-film actress. 

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrant after receiving a referral from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, according to Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, who called the search “completely inappropriate and unnecessary.” The search does not appear to be directly related to Mr. Mueller’s investigation, but likely resulted from information he had uncovered and gave to prosecutors in New York. 

“Today the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients,” said Stephen Ryan, his lawyer. “I have been advised by federal prosecutors that the New York action is, in part, a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.”

Mr. Cohen plays a role in aspects of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He also recently said he paid $130,000 to a pornographic-film actress, Stephanie Clifford, who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Ms. Clifford is known as Stormy Daniels.

Here is more from NBC News:

The FBI on Monday raided the office of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, seeking information about a $130,000 payment the attorney made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election, sources said. 

Several law enforcement officials confirmed the search of Cohen's office was not the work of Mueller's prosecutors. It involves a matter that the Mueller team came across, concluded did not fall under their mandate and passed on to the U.S. Attorney's office in New York. 

Legal sources familiar with the nature of the search said it involved the $130,000 payment to Daniels, who alleges that she had an affair with Trump. The sources did not say whether it might have also involved other matters. 

So the Mueller team found some incriminating information about this payoff to Stormy Daniels during their investigation of Trump and his associates, decided it did not fit comfortably with the focus of their investigation so they handed it off to the New York Attorney General, who was convinced that the evidence was sufficiently concerning enough to get a warrant to raid Cohen's office.

And that is not all. According to Vanity Fair the FBI also raided Cohen's hotel room.

And whatever is in that office clearly has Trump concerned.

Trump has been watching TV reports of the FBI raiding Cohen's office, per @jeffzeleny.

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 9, 2018

And here is how Trump responded publicly to questions about the raid.

Trump comments responding to Cohen Raid pic.twitter.com/vNhZGsqCv5

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 9, 2018

Did I not say earlier that today was going to be stressful for Donald Trump?

That might have been an understatement.

Now the question is will this be the thing that freaks Trump out so much that he finally fires Rod Rosenstein and starts working to close down the Mueller investigation?

Donald Trump preparing for possible interview with Robert Mueller. More popcorn?

Courtesy of CNN:

President Donald Trump has begun the initial steps of preparing for a possible interview with the special counsel, a White House official and a person familiar with the situation said Friday, a sign the President's legal team is intensifying its deliberations over whether to allow him to come under Robert Mueller's questioning. 

One source familiar with the proceedings stressed the preparation efforts is "in its infancy." 

The preparations have been short and informal and included going over potential topics with the President that Mueller would likely raise in an interview, the people said. 

The President has not formally agreed to sit for an interview with Mueller. 

But word of early preparations is the clearest sign yet that Trump and his team remain open to an interview with Mueller, despite concerns from some people close to the President that such an interview could expose him to possible charges of perjury.

Okay I am going to admit to being a little conflicted about this.

Part of me is convinced that Trump will NEVER voluntarily agree to be interviewed by Mueller and his team. After all it would be political suicide.

However then I remember how completely fucking arrogant this POS is and I think there is no way he will NOT volunteer to be interviewed, just to demonstrate his courage and intellectual prowess.

Ultimately I think that Mueller WILL interview him one way or another.

Just not sure exactly how that will come about.

Info Wars host seems unusually angry about Robert Mueller targeting Russian oligarchs.

Infowars is furious that Mueller is stopping Russian oligarchs at the airport:

"I wish that Russian would've beat his ass right there...that's what I would have done." https://t.co/Fct1F8eFCN pic.twitter.com/9upA2sNItw

— Media Matters (@mmfa) April 5, 2018

Courtesy of Media Matters:  

OWEN SHROYER (HOST): What an un-American scumbag. This story -- I can't say what I'd like to say to Robert Mueller right now on air because it's a family show. I'm sorry for already losing it and being inappropriate here. But, man, F that guy. 

Story breaks on CNN, "Mueller's team questioning Russian oligarchs." Ladies and gentlemen, Robert Mueller is now sitting at the airport in New York and questioning Russian oligarchs right there at the airport. Stopping them and searching their electronic devices and reading their private messages. 

Here's a question: Where's the [American Civil Liberties Union] ACLU? Oh, let me tell you, if Robert Mueller -- if Robert Mueller would've stood at the southern border and he would've questioned people crossing over the southern border illegally and reading their text messages, the ACLU would be up his butt immediately saying he's a racist and he has to be jailed. But he goes to the airport and questions Russian oligarchs and reads their electronic devices at the airport like a total insane madman, the ACLU's silent. 

Do you remember -- It was just -- I've been saying this every day now. Robert Mueller is off the chain. He has no boundaries, he is limitless, he is above the law, he is lawless, he is super Mueller. This guy needs to be brought down. Trump needs to stop this. This is out of control, man. How is it that Robert Mueller is above the entire world? He can just stop a Russian and say, "I'm reading your text messages." I wish that Russian would have beat his ass right there -- excuse me. That's what I would've done. 

[...] 

If we can't stop this, if we can't prosecute Obama, if we can't indict Hillary, then we can't do anything. We have no backbone, we have no spine, we have no testicles, we have nothing, no legs, no arms, no brain.

First off I would pay big money to see this little shit piss all over himself if he actually were to be stopped and questioned by one or more of the Mueller investigators.

The idea that this little cockroach would strike a federal officer, is laugh out loud funny.

Secondly, WTF?

Why would a supposedly American Right Wing new outlet get that worked up over American investigators questioning Russians with possible ties to the Kremlin?

I mean they do realize that we are under attack, right?

Here is the story that this douchenozzle was referring to.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has taken the unusual step of questioning Russian oligarchs who traveled into the US, stopping at least one and searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport, according to multiple sources familiar with the inquiry. 

A second Russian oligarch was stopped during a recent trip to the US, although it is not clear if he was searched, according to a person briefed on the matter. 

Mueller's team has also made an informal voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch who has not traveled to the US recently.

The situations have one thing in common: Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration. 

Investigators' interest in Russian oligarchs has not been previously reported. It reveals that Mueller's team has intensified its focus into the potential flow of money from Russia into the US election as part of its wide-ranging investigation into whether the Trump team colluded with Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Okay then I guess in order to defend Donald Trump from the Mueller investigators, certain Right Wing outlets feel it necessary to defend the rights of Russians coming to this country who may have incriminating information that can be used by the Special Counsel.

Hey, do you remember when the conservatives absolutely HATED the Russians?

Whatever happened to all of that?

Robert Mueller reveals to Donald Trump's attorneys that he is the subject of an investigation, but not yet the target.

So I'm the subject, but not the target? So then I win right?

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III informed President Trump’s attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point, according to three people familiar with the discussions. 

In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges. 

The special counsel also told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations. 

Mueller reiterated the need to interview Trump — both to understand whether he had any corrupt intent to thwart the Russia investigation and to complete this portion of his probe, the people said.

Apparently Trump himself took this as good news, because he is a fucking moron, while his attorneys are freaking out as seems appropriate.

I heard Steve Schmidt this morning suggest that the difference between being the subject of the investigation, rather than the target, is relatively the same difference that exists between being engaged to be married, and being married.

Former CIA counter intelligence agent Phil Mudd summed it up thusly: 

"If someone walked in my room—in particular, FBI investigators—I‘ve been questioned as a witness, not a subject. If someone walked in my office and said I was a subject of a multi-year criminal investigation led by a former FBI director, Robert Mueller, I’d wet my pants.”

Yeah, what he said. 

Others are also suggesting the Mueller team is choosing its words carefully in order to convince Trump to sit down for an interview, knowing full well that if Trump realizes he is the target he will flip his shit. 

As it is this report that Mueller is putting together will be out sometime around June or July. 

By the way, this is only one part of the Mueller investigation, he is still pursuing the Russia collusion part as well.  Not to mention all the other parts that he is keeping on the down low.

It is SUCH a bad idea to lie to Robert Mueller.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A Dutch lawyer tied to former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates who admitted to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller's team was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. 

Alex van der Zwaan is the first person to be sentenced in Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

He pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller's team in February and faced up to six months in prison. 

Earlier Tuesday, Van der Zwaan's attorneys begged for no jail time for their client, who mostly sat with pursed lips, slouched at the defense table. 

He did say a few sentences of contrition that he read from a paper. 

"What I did was wrong," he uttered. He also apologized. 

Van der Zwaan covered up his discussions with Gates and a business associate based in Ukraine in September 2016, while the Trump campaign operation was in full swing. He also admitted to lying to investigators about his failure to turn over email communications to the special counsel's office and to his law firm as it cooperated with Mueller on its investigation of Gates' and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's foreign lobbying.

This is the FIRST guy to be sentenced, but I am guessing he is far from the LAST guy to be sentenced.

I wonder who else might soon be a bunk mate of his?

Devin Nunes' Democratic challenger has raised more than one million dollars in the first quarter.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A Democratic candidate challenging House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes took in more than $1 million in the first quarter of 2018, a sign of Democrats' enthusiasm to oust the California congressman who has allied himself closely with President Donald Trump. 

Andrew Janz, the Deputy District Attorney in Fresno County, is still considered a long shot in his bid to unseat Nunes. CNN currently rates the 22nd District as a "safe Republican" seat. But Nunes' role in running interference for Trump on the investigations into Russia's role in the 2016 election has made him a target for Democrats nationwide. 

According to fundraising figures provided to CNN by the campaign, Janz has raised more than $1 million so far in 2018 with just three days left in the first quarter. The campaign received a huge influx in fundraising cash from donors across the country in the wake of Nunes role in releasing a controversial memo detailing concerns Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee had with the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"We feel like he is the one person that is really standing in the way of the (FBI Special Counsel) Robert Mueller investigation," Janz told CNN. "We think people deserve to know what happened to our elections in 2016 and what is happening in 2018. And every day my opponent is out there trying to undermine federal law enforcement, the special prosecutors probe and really working for Trump instead of the American people."

I think that Devin Nunes is toast.

And deservedly so.

He almost single handedly quashed the House Intelligence Commmittee's Russia investigation to protect Putin's White House asset and he deserves to be humiliated in this next election, investigated for obstructionism, and ultimately thrown in jail.

In other words Fuck Devin Nunes!

Robert Mueller turns his attention to Russian contacts during the Republican convention.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

Investigators probing whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia have been questioning witnesses about events at the 2016 Republican National Convention, according to two sources familiar with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiries. 

Mueller’s team has been asking about a convention-related event attended by both Russia’s U.S. ambassador and Jeff Sessions, the first U.S. senator to support Trump and now his attorney general, said one source, who requested anonymity due to the ongoing investigation. 

Another issue Mueller’s team has been asking about is how and why Republican Party platform language hostile to Russia was deleted from a section of the document related to Ukraine, said another source who also requested anonymity. 

Mueller’s interest in what happened at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July 2016, is an indication that Trump campaign contacts and actions related to Russia remain central to the special counsel’s investigation.

Personally I think that at this point the whole Republican party should be under investigation for obstructionism, and possible collusion with the Russians. 

They are either complicit with what Trump did during the campaign, or they were purposefully ignorant, adopting a kind of Sergeant Schultz attitude.

Sadly for the GOP that  is not an excuse that will go over well with Robert Mueller and his investigators.

Donald Trump's lawyer John Dowd once floated the idea of pardoning Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

A lawyer for President Trump broached the idea of Mr. Trump pardoning two of his former top advisers, Michael T. Flynn and Paul Manafort, with their lawyers last year, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. 

The discussions came as the special counsel was building cases against both men, and they raise questions about whether the lawyer, John Dowd, was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation. 

The talks suggest that Mr. Trump’s lawyers were concerned about what Mr. Flynn and Mr. Manafort might reveal were they to cut a deal with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in exchange for leniency. Mr. Mueller’s team could investigate the prospect that Mr. Dowd made pardon offers to thwart the inquiry, although legal experts are divided about whether such offers might constitute obstruction of justice.

I heard one of the reporters on cable news this morning clarifying that this suggestion came before Michael Flynn pleaded guilty and started cooperating with the Mueller investigation, and before Manafort's indictment.

Of course the question to ask is WHY would Donald Trump's personal attorney, who was not representing either Manafort or Flynn, have broached this option?

Just what are they so concerned about Mueller learning from these two?

And does it rhyme with "allusion?"

Of course John Dowd and the White House deny this conversation ever took place, which by the new fact checking rules of the Trump Administration means it ABSOLUTELY happened.

So what is going on with Paul Manafort and Rick Gates? Well as it turns out quite a bit.

Courtesy of Politico:

Though it is a virtual given that Gates will sell out his business partner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, less understood is the direct threat Gates could pose to President Donald Trump.

While Gates now wears a GPS monitor around his ankle, in 2016 he wore a Secret Service lapel pin that gave him easy access to Trump on the campaign trail and at Trump Tower. 

“He saw everything,” said a Republican consultant who worked with Gates during the campaign. The consultant called Gates one of the “top five” insiders whom Mueller could have tapped as a cooperative government witness. One defense attorney in the case said Gates’ plea has triggered palpable alarm in Trump world.

Manafort may have struck a larger public profile, but Gates spent more time in Trump’s orbit. Manafort left the Trump campaign under a cloud of scandal in mid-August 2016. Gates, his right-hand man, stayed on through the election before assisting the Trump inauguration and Trump’s early presidency. 

Worst of all for the White House, Gates lacks hard-wired loyalty. He is not family, like Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Nor is he among true Trump believers like Corey Lewandowski and Brad Parscale. 

“Let’s be honest, Don Jr. is not ratting out his dad. Gates is different,” said Paul Rosenzweig, who served as a senior counsel to Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr.

Yeah, while we are all distracted by the Stormy Daniels' three ring circus, the truly damaging evidence to the Trump presidency might be filling the notebooks of Mueller's investigators as we speak.

As for Paul Manafort well he is still trying to get the case against him dismissed.

Courtesy of Axios:

Paul Manafort's legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, filed in Virginia, brought against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which includes three charges for tax fraud from 2010 to 2014, failing to file reports from his foreign bank accounts, and bank fraud related to various property loans in the U.S.

This follows a nearly identical motion to dismiss his team filed on March 14, which dealt with the charges brought against him in D.C. 

Manafort's legal team argues that the charges do not “arise directly from” the Special Counsel’s investigation. His team argues that they cover things Manafort disclosed to the DOJ himself in 2014. They also write that Mueller's team acted outside of its authority, “without the discipline of limits on the public resources they consume," according to the document.

This will likely be just as unsuccessful as the last one, but it shows that Paul Manafort has a lot to hide and that he is desperate to keep it hidden from Mueller's team.

There is a lot of speculation as to what Manafort is guarding to aggressively, but there might have been a hint revealed just recently.

This new Mueller filing says Trump’s campaign chair *and* deputy campaign manager *knew* their associate was a former Russian intelligence officer. As they say in court, Um. https://t.co/oPyGU1Fnl7

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 28, 2018

Well now, isn't THAT interesting?

As the Robert Mueller Russia probe moves forward Donald Trump's legal team is in tatters.

Jay Sekulow

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

As President Trump heads into one of the most critical phases of the special counsel’s investigation, his personal legal team has shrunk to essentially just one member, and he is struggling to find any top lawyers willing to represent him. 

Working for a president is usually seen as a dream job. But leading white-collar lawyers in Washington and New York have repeatedly spurned overtures to take over the defense of Mr. Trump, a mercurial client who often ignores his advisers’ guidance. In some cases, lawyers’ firms have blocked any talks, fearing a backlash that would hurt business. 

The president lost two lawyers in just the past four days, including one who had been on board for less than a week.

That one remaining lawyer is Jay Sekulow who is essentially a legal spokesperson more than a lawyer at this point, and is wholly unqualified to handle such a complicated and important case.

However Trump's attempts to hire more legal muscle is simply not working out too well.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

Two more high-power attorneys have had to turn down President Donald Trump. Tom Buchanan and Dan Webb confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump reached out to them about representing him, and that they couldn’t do it. 

“President Trump reached out to Dan Webb and Tom Buchanan to provide legal representation,” they said in a statement. “They were unable to take on the representation due to business conflicts. However they consider the opportunity to represent the President to be the highest honor and they sincerely regret that they cannot do so. They wish the president the best and believe he has excellent representation in Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow.”

 Actually Ty Cobb's work to produce legal documentation for the Mueller team is essentially finished and there are questions concerning his ability, or his desire to continue to help defend Trump as the walls start closing in.

Remember it was Cobb who said that this investigation would have ended by Thanksgiving 2016.

I actually think that at some point Trump will find a lawyer or two to defend him in this Russia case, but they will likely be one step up from ambulance chasers who will be quickly ground to dust by Mueller's top notch legal eagles.

Yesterday Donald Trump said yet again that he is willing to testify to Robert Mueller.

Courtesy of CNN: 

President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that he would still "like to" testify before special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia's 2016 election meddling as well as potential obstruction of justice charges. 

"Yes, I would like to," Trump told CNN's Jeff Zeleny during an event on new tariffs against China.

This is the second time that Trump has said this.

He said the same thing back in January.

Trump says he's "looking forward" to meeting Mueller's team in Russia probe https://t.co/kVdcoybW8Y pic.twitter.com/4BWFUR86tC

— POLITICO (@politico) January 25, 2018

After that Trump's lawyers walked the statement back.

But one of those lawyers was John Dowd, and he just quit in disgust, so maybe it's time to "Let Trump be Trump" as his campaign staff were fond of saying back in 2016.

And we certainly know that Mueller is prepared for this Q and A.

Hell he even has a list of questions he'd like to ask:   

The legal team of the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election has reportedly identified four main topic areas they hope to discuss with President Trump in a proposed sit-down interview. 

Investigators working for Robert Mueller want to ask Trump about a highly scrutinized 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Russians and several Trump campaign officials, his involvement in a misleading statement about his son's role in the meeting, and his firing of both his national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey, sources familiar with the situation told CNN. 

Mueller's investigators also hope to learn the extent of Trump's knowledge of the phone calls Flynn made with Russians before joining the White House. Flynn was fired for lying to the FBI about that communication.

Oh yeah, I would like to hear the answers to those questions as well.

Trump's attorneys will likely each take a leg so that Trump would have to drag them down the hallway to keep him from talking directly to Mueller's team, but I think that if somebody were to call him out on Twitter and suggest that he did not have the guts to face them, that Trump would have to take that bait.

Who do we think would be best to issue that challenge?

Joe Biden?

Hillary Clinton?

Or perhaps Rosie O'Donnell?