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Mueller moves to muscle out Manafort’s lawyers from grilling prosecutors
The Washington Times ^ | May 16, 2018 | Rowan Scarborough

Posted on 05/16/2018 11:53:05 AM PDT by jazusamo

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is trying to head off the Paul Manafort defense team from questioning his prosecutors over press leaks.

Mr. Mueller filed papers in U.S. District Court in Virginia opposing a request from Manafort attorney Kevin Downing to hold an investigative hearing into the rash of press reports on Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign manager.

Mr. Downing cited 10 stories, sourced to unnamed people who implicated Mr. Manafort in possible criminal activity. He contends the information came from grand jury testimony, which would be illegal for a prosecutor to leak.

In a footnote to his filing, Mr. Mueller’s lead prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann, makes a preemptive argument before District Court Judge T. S. Ellis III. If the judge does allow a hearing, Mr. Downing should not be allowed to question special counsel prosecutors or other Justice Department lawyers.

“To the extent Manafort contemplates testimony by Department of Justice attorneys, he would have to overcome the rule that testimony from prosecutors trying criminal cases is ‘disfavored,’” Mr. Weissmann’s brief says, citing previous court rulings.

Mr. Weissmann was in the Justice Department as chief of its fraud division before Mr. Mueller recruited him in May 2017.

Judge Ellis has set a May 25 hearing date.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: judgeellis; kevindowning; leakhearing; manafort; mueller; specialcounsel
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Mueller and his thug team are real pieces of work, like to see Judge Ellis come down on them again.
1 posted on 05/16/2018 11:53:06 AM PDT by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

Who do Manafort’s lawyers think they are, pretending their client has a right to defend himself in court?


2 posted on 05/16/2018 11:56:29 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>https://i.imgur.com/zXSEP5Z.gif)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Yep, that’s about what it’s come down to with this turkey of a special counsel.


3 posted on 05/16/2018 11:59:39 AM PDT by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: jazusamo

Hopefully the judge will say “Fine, the defense can sit quietly in the corner while I question you “


4 posted on 05/16/2018 11:59:43 AM PDT by McGavin999 ("The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood."Thomas Jefferson)
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To: jazusamo

This keeps getting better.

Read the rest of the article. :)


5 posted on 05/16/2018 12:27:23 PM PDT by Basket_of_Deplorables (President Trump: Please Fire Sessions!!! You have nothing to lose.)
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To: jazusamo

Put those prosecutors under oath!

BWAAHAAHAAHAA.


6 posted on 05/16/2018 12:28:06 PM PDT by Fido969 (In!)
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables

Yes it does.

Am anxious to see how Judge Ellis handles this. :)


7 posted on 05/16/2018 12:34:41 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: jazusamo

It’s good to see Woke Patriots taking up the slack from the MIA Justice Department.


8 posted on 05/16/2018 12:37:31 PM PDT by Basket_of_Deplorables (President Trump: Please Fire Sessions!!! You have nothing to lose.)
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To: jazusamo

Ellis seems to have a very low tolerance for BS.

This should be fun...


9 posted on 05/16/2018 12:41:52 PM PDT by MAexile (Bats left, votes rights)
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MAGA!

Support Free Republic, Folks!

Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

10 posted on 05/16/2018 12:44:41 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: jazusamo

Kudos to Kevin Downing !


11 posted on 05/16/2018 12:58:29 PM PDT by Candor7 ((Obama Fascism)http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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To: jazusamo

Judge Ellis needs to read this, pronto.

ITEM——Hillary Clinton ran in two Democratic primaries——2008 and 2016-——as well as in the general election in 2016.

ITEM——Intrepid investigator Mueller “uncovered” that the Russian scheme seems to have materialized at some point in 2014.


Here’s the $64,000 question Mueller’s indictment does not address-———

Why didn’t the CIA or the NSA or the FBI pick this up?

Were Obama’s PDB’s falsified?

Dates are important b/c Snowden’s’ revelations indicate Obama’s government spying apparatus began capturing all electronic data on everyone in the U.S. in 2001.

They succeeded in mastering the capture of all keystrokes, telephone calls and digital traffic by 2005.

This we know

<><>(A) that NSA traffic travels through FBI computers, and,

<><> (B) that the CIA keeps constant tabs on Russian spies in Russia....... and elsewhere.



12 posted on 05/16/2018 1:01:19 PM PDT by Liz
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To: All

No country in the world is untouched by the Clintons monstrous greed.

==============================

As Secy of State we list glaring examples of the Clintons criminal shakedowns--the Secy of State using the Clinton Foundation to manipulate US foreign policy for money..

LEGEND-—Donation to Clinton Foundation/Global Initiative (CGI)-—followed by State Dept favor granted in return.

<><> Prince of Abu Dhabi and Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahayan and the Al Nahayan family of Abu Dhabi. <$5,000,000 Access to HRC at State Dept. and a $500,000 environmental speech by Bill Clinton given at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi while HRC was meeting in Washington with Shaikh Abdullah.

<><> Algeria <$500,000 State Dept clearance for U.S. arms sales to Algeria. Deal included biological and chemical agents.

<><>Australia, Commonwealth of <$75,000,000 Strong State Dept. for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which stands to be a boon for Australian multinational firms.

<><>Bahrain, Kingdom of <$250,000 Muted criticism by State of Bahrain’s abysmal human rights practices.

<><>Boeing Corp.<$900,000 State Dept. clearance for $29 billion arms U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia, including Boeing’s F-15 fighter.

<><>Brunei Darussalam, Sultanate of < $5,000,000 State Dept. clearance for U.S. weapons sales to Brunei.

<><>Cameroon, Republic of <$100,000 Influence buying by the Cameroon government with the Clinton State Department.

<><>Canada $500,000 donation for State Dept support for Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline, eventually vetoed by Barack Obama (guess his cut wasnt big enough).

<><> Chagoury Group <$5,000,000 in cash and a $1,000,000,000 pledge HRC delayed designating Nigeria’s Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization because of Chagoury Group’s investments and operations in Nigeria. Chagoury Group received the “Sustainable Development Award” from the CGI. Chagooury helped the family of Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha hide his wealth stolen from Nigeria’s oil revenues.

<><> Confederation of Indian Industry <$1,000,000 Access for Indian businesses to U.S. government officials.

=======================================

NOTE WELL---In addition to the Clinton Global Initiative, there are separate Clinton family foundations that maintain their own revenue streams.

All these entities maintain separate operations for the Clintons’ pay-to-play global racketeering operations:

<><>the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI),

<><>the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton (BHCC) Foundation,

<><>the Clinton Foundation Hong Kong,

<><> William J. Clinton Foundation Charitable Trust (Kenya),

<><>William J. Clinton Foundation Charitable Trust (UK),

<><> the Clinton Foundation Insalingsstiftelse (Sweden).

<><> the Clinton/Guistra Partnership, Canada.

ANALYSIS---This is plus-perfect evidence that the Clintons operated the foundation as a shadow government, setting up the foreign policy machinery.

The Clintons separated these entities from large amounts of money b/c they had a carrot on a stick-——”sure-thing Hillary’s” election to the presidency.

13 posted on 05/16/2018 1:03:02 PM PDT by Liz
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To: jazusamo

Müeller is king. One does not question the rulings of the king.


14 posted on 05/16/2018 1:04:19 PM PDT by Flick Lives (The FBI is the Mob)
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To: jazusamo

Mr. Weissman is a bad actor who repeatedly abused his prosecutorial power.

https://www.amazon.com/Licensed-Lie-Exposing-Corruption-Department/dp/1612541496


15 posted on 05/16/2018 1:05:14 PM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: All

EXCERPT -—a February 2017 article by the New York Times said the U.S. owned a year’s worth of intercepts and phone records between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence.

On its face, the article is evidence of collusion. But former FBI Director James Comey testified to Congress that the story was wrong and that he warned senior leaders not to believe it.

The New York Times article said, “The officials said that one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Ukraine. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls.”

The story said Mr. Manafort communicated with Russian and Ukrainian intelligence.

But Mr. Downing’s brief says he has asked Mr. Mueller for any evidence that Mr. Manafort communicated with Russian officials. Mr. Mueller reported back that he had none, Mr. Downing said.

“Despite multiple discoveries…. requests in this regard, the special counsel has not produced any materials to the defense––no tapes, notes, transcripts or any other material evidencing surveillance or intercepts of communications between Mr. Manafort and Russian intelligence officials, Russian government officials (or any other foreign officials). The office of special counsel has advised that there are no materials responsive to Mr. Manafort’s requests.”


16 posted on 05/16/2018 1:05:18 PM PDT by Liz
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables

Andrew Weissmann is about to get his pee pee spanked by the Judge.

Andy has a record of being a sneek and a liar in Court Proceedings.

It would be poetic justice to see the Judge order a set of handcuffs slapped on Weissman as he is hauled off to jail for Contempt.


17 posted on 05/16/2018 1:07:40 PM PDT by VRWCarea51 (The Original 1998 Version)
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To: All

Chelsea Clinton and Ukraine's Viktor Pinchuk who donated $29 million to Clinton Foundation in Kiev, Ukraine 8/21/16.

=====================================

http://observer.com/2017/01/ukraine-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election/http://observer.com/2017/01/ukraine-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election/

OPINION Ukraine Tried to Tip the Election in Clinton’s Favor
Evidence reveals that Ukraine intervened to tilt the election in favor of its national interests
By Michael Sainato • 01/12/17

Politico reported that the Ukrainian Government worked to aid Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential elections. The actions taken by government officials included disseminating “documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.”

Those documents implicated Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who worked as an adviser for now-ousted Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych. However, the concerns that the documents raised weren’t in fact over any quasi-Russian ties, though partisan reporting pushed his narrative. Rather, the documents raised the question of whether Manafort declared the income that he had received from the position. The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm co-founded by Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta, also conducted work for Yanukovych.

However, the Manafort narrative not only painted Trump as pro-Russian, but also provided the Clinton campaign with a smear campaign while reaffirming its stance against Russia. It was in Ukraine’s best interest to tilt the election in support of Clinton, who strongly advocated for providing Ukraine with military aid and financial support in order to fight Russian separatists in the country.

Politico noted that Alexandra Chalupa, a Ukrainian-American working as a consultant for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), met with top Ukrainian Officials in Washington D.C. about forcing Manafort’s resignation in order to perpetuate the narrative that Trump is connected to Russia. Both Chalupa and her sister Andrea have strongly pushed the anti-Russian narrative on social media, in addition to advocating that the electors of the electoral college defect from Trump. The report added, “Politico’s investigation found evidence of Ukrainian government involvement in the race that appears to strain diplomatic protocol dictating that governments refrain from engaging in one another’s elections.”

In addition to the Chalupas, the co-founder and CTO of Crowdstrike, the cyber security firm that the DNC hired to investigate the alleged hacks, Dmitri Alperovitch, also serves as a senior fellow to the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, which is an openly anti-Russian organization partly . The Atlantic Council is funded by Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, who also happens to be one of the most prolific donors to the Clinton Foundation. The DNC denied multiple requests from the FBI to access their servers, effectively forcing the FBI to rely on CrowdStrike’s assessment of the hacks.

The Atlantic Council has propagated anti-Russian sentiment and advocated for bolstering NATO forces in anticipation of a military conflict between with Russia long before Wikileaks released emails from the DNC and Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta. In 2013, the Atlantic Council awarded Hillary Clinton its Distinguished International Leadership Award. In 2014, the Atlantic Council hosted one of several events with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who took over after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was removed in early 2014. In August, Politico reported that Donald Trump’s favorable rhetoric to Russia was concerning Ukraine. The article stated, “Russia wants Trump for U.S. president; Ukraine is terrified by Trump and prefers Hillary Clinton.”

In response to their preferred candidate losing the election, Ukrainian officials are now scrambling to revert from their lobbying for Hillary Clinton and the DNC. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently signed a $50,000-a-month contract with a lobbying firm to set up meetings with U.S. officials in the new administration. Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk wrote an op-ed on December 29 in the Wall Street Journal in which he argued that Ukraine needs make compromises to establish peace with Russia. After the election, reports surfaced that Pinchuk donated to Trump’s charity to try to gain the same favor and access that his donations to the Clinton Foundation afforded him. “The sole reason the Victor Pinchuk Foundation has reached out to President-elect Trump—as well as other world leaders—has been to promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West,” a spokeswoman for the Pinchuk foundation told ABC News.

While past elections in Ukraine have been viewed as proxy battles between the U.S. and Russia, it appears that the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. faced similar influence from two foreign countries attempting to influence an election outcome preferable to their own national interests.

18 posted on 05/16/2018 1:08:01 PM PDT by Liz
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To: Liz

Thanks, Liz...As always, good stuff!


19 posted on 05/16/2018 1:11:42 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: marktwain

Bump!


20 posted on 05/16/2018 1:13:45 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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