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Interview: Former Trump aide Carter Page speaks about the FBI's Russian interference investigation

Legal experts say it’s likely special counsel Robert Mueller secretly gained access to the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) tax returns as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a McClatchy report. Mueller’s team is reportedly looking into NRA donors with links to Russia and investigating whether some donors used the organization to illegally funnel foreign money to President Trump’s campaign. The NRA spent $30 million in support of Trump's campaign in the 2016 presidential race. NRA officials maintain that the organization has not been contacted by the FBI, but legal experts told McClatchy that...

Legal experts say it’s likely special counsel Robert Mueller secretly gained access to the National Rifle Association’s tax returns as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a McClatchy report. Mueller’s team is reportedly looking into NRA donors with links to Russia and investigating whether some donors used the organization to illegally funnel foreign money to President Trump’s campaign. The NRA spent $30 million backing Trump in the 2016 presidential election. NRA officials maintain that the organization has not been contacted by the FBI, but legal experts told McClatchy D.C. that it would be...

In his recent testimony to Congress, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein undoubtedly intended to sound reassuring. “I am quite confident,” he proclaimed, “about my conduct throughout this investigation.” Rosenstein may have reason to feel confident. He’s in a difficult position and his conduct may indeed be above board. And, under normal circumstances, Congress and the public might be comforted by his guarantee. But that’s the rub: These circumstances are far from normal. We’re in the midst of one of the most important scandals in memory: Our intel agencies and some public officials within them are suspected of abusing power and...

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has sought documents and information bearing on the origin of the Trump-Russia counterintelligence investigation. The official origin of the probe is dated July 31, 2016, yet the FBI had its wheels in spin well before then. At RealClearPolitics Lee Smith has now set forth “The Mysterious Seven Preludes of the FBI’s Trump-Russia Probe.” The House subpoenaed relevant documents. The Department of Justice dragged its feet. Agreed deadlines were set. One such came this past Friday afternoon when the FBI sent a classified letter disclosing whether it had used top-secret confidential informants in the Trump...

f the Muellerites lose the discovery litigation and are faced with having to disclose sensitive intelligence about the case and their investigation, should they withdraw the indictment against Concord? And, if they drop the charges, are they prepared for the resulting public relations disaster? Bottom line: how did such a purportedly smart bunch of lawyers get themselves into this fix?

Two New York Times writers have offered evidence that the actions of the Russians and former director James Comey may not have been so crucial to the defeat of Hillary Clinton after all, calling into question the raison d’etre of the Mueller investigation. First, Charlie Savage on June 28, commenting on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, noted that Donald Trump promised to name conservatives to the high court. Savage then acknowledged, "Court-focused voters helped deliver Mr. Trump's narrow victory over Hillary Clinton...." (Actually, the win was not "narrow." Trump got 304 electoral votes to Clinton's 227.) ***SNIP***Political...

A federal judge says “even a blind person” can see that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is prosecuting Paul Manafort as a way to acquire evidence against his “true target,” President Trump. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III made the comment in an opinion released this week that nonetheless sided with Mr. Mueller and against Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager. He rejected Mr. Manafort’s argument that the Mueller-brought tax-evasion indictment exceeded the special counsel’s authority and should be dismissed. Judge Ellis, sitting in the Eastern District of Virginia, expressed dismay at the special counsel system and at Mr. Mueller in particular....

Why is Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), perhaps in a near drunken state, claiming he has information that only he and Bob Mueller, the leader of the 13 Angry Democrats on a Witch Hunt, knows? Isn’t this highly illegal. Is it being investigated?

Article's full title: "Trey Gowdy: With All This Bias At The FBI, I Don’t Know How Mueller Successfully Prosecutes Anyone" Excerpt: The key bit from a long interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Watch for about two and a half minutes where the clip picks up below. On Friday, marveling at Gowdy’s anger over the IG report, I flagged the following quote about Peter Strzok from his interview with Bret Baier the night before. No one within the GOP has been as stalwart a defender of the Russiagate probe as Gowdy has. The despair was palpable:

A handful of new federal prosecutors have joined one of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s cases — an indication that he is preparing to hand off at least one prosecution to others when his office completes its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In a pair of court filings Friday, the special counsel added four assistant U.S. attorneys to the case against Russian entities and people accused of running an online influence operation targeting American voters. People familiar with the staffing decision said the new prosecutors are not joining Mueller’s team, but rather are being added to...

While generally cautious about criticizing Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the Clinton-emails investigation, Trump supporters have taken aim at its chief logical flaw: Although key investigators harbored anti-Trump and pro-Clinton bias, and even made statements indicating an intention to act on that bias, the IG did not find that this bias was the proximate cause of any particular investigative decision. This conclusion is easy to rebut; I did so myself in a column last week. Yet, the Trump camp should also be embracing it. Why? Because if this is the Justice Department’s position, then Special Counsel Robert Mueller has...

Former President Obama’s intelligence chief on Monday said he hoped special counsel Robert Mueller would wrap up his Russia investigation soon and tell the country whether there was any collusion between Moscow and President Trump’s campaign. “I think the overarching point here is that this whole issue has to come to a resolution,” Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in an interview with Hill.TV’s new morning show, "Rising." “At some point special counsel Mueller and his team I hope will wrap up the investigation and clear the air one way or the other whether or not there was...

One of the Russian companies indicted by Robert Mueller in the troll farm case has responded to the special counsel’s recently-filed motion prevent discovery of evidence with a blistering (and somewhat trolling) court filing. On Thursday, attorneys for Concord Management and Consulting LLC timely submitted their 13-page memorandum in opposition to Mueller’s requested order.

Update: Paul Manafort is heading to jail, ahead of his trials for bank fraud and money laundering, Bloomberg News reports. A judge in Washington revoked Manafort’s bail Friday after being told by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s lawyers that Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, attempted to tamper with witnesses for his trial. Manafort has "abused" the trust placed in him six months ago, the judge said. Previous report: Paul Manafort could be locked up as soon as Friday if a judge agrees with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s argument that he tried to tamper with witnesses while under house arrest. Manafort,...

Full Title: Federal judge jails ex-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort ahead of trial, citing recently filed obstruction charges.

A federal judge ordered Paul Manafort to jail Friday after revoking the former Trump campaign chairman's bail. Manafort appeared in court Friday after special counsel Robert Mueller asked a court to revoke Manafort's pretrial release conditions due to his alleged attempted witness tampering. Mueller filed a superseding indictment against Manafort, who was already facing multiple charges related to financial crime, accusing him of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal judge jails ex-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort ahead of trial, citing recently filed obstruction charges.

Shortened title. Full title: Mueller’s Fraudulent “Made Up” Cases and Indictments Are Unraveling – Time to Shut Dirty Cop Mueller Down and Indict His Entire Gang Very few Americans who voted for President Trump would believe that today we have a special investigation into the President for collusion with Russia during the election and none into the many Clinton and Obama criminal activities unearthed over the past decade. More than one year ago, on May 17, 2017, corrupt Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed a Special Counsel to look into the phony Trump – Russia collusion allegations, a total scam...

President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the special counsel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election may be taking hold not only among Republicans but Democrats and independents as well, according to a poll released Wednesday. The Politico/Morning Consult poll found Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s favorability among Democrats and independents took a slight dive over the last 11 months. Twenty-four percent of Democrats registered an unfavorable score for Mueller, while 33 percent of independents also viewed Mueller in a negative light. (snip) Overall, a record 53 percent of the poll’s respondents shared an unfavorable reaction to Mueller, a 26-point jump...