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Hearing begins at 10AM EST: Live Coverage: Peter Strzok Questioned by Members of Congress House lawmakers are poised to question Peter Strzok on Thursday in what is sure to be a lengthy, tense standoff between Republicans and the FBI agent who once worked on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference. Strzok has been in Republicans' sights for several months after a Justice Department inspector general investigation revealed that he exchanged text messages before the 2016 election that were critical of Donald Trump with Lisa Page, a former FBI lawyer with whom he was having an affair at the...

For seven years, Gerhard Schröder was the leader of the most populous democracy in Western Europe. Schröder could have easily spent the rest of his career as an elder statesman, attending summits and writing books. Instead, Schröder — a friend of Vladimir Putin who has defended Moscow's top man as a “flawless democrat” — opted for a career in the Russian business world. His astonishing career in the Russian energy industry reached new heights when the former chancellor was nominated for a position as an independent director on the board of Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company — and one in...

Like dandelions in an untreated lawn, the now infamous Russian dossier apparently multiplied in numbers — and emissaries delivering it to the FBI — the closer Donald Trump got to the White House. We know from public testimony that dossier author and former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele shared his findings with the FBI in summer and fall 2016 before he was terminated as a confidential source for inappropriate media contacts. And we learned that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) provided a copy to the FBI after the November 2016 election — out of a sense of duty, his office says....

Sounding like Elizabeth Warren and other Dems with their eyes on 2020, Joe Scarborough is claiming that President Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh as his SCOTUS nominee for the basest of reasons: “to protect himself” from prosecution. On today’s Morning Joe, referring to a 2009 law review article Kavanaugh wrote in which he suggested that presidents be shielded from civil and criminal litigation while in office, Scarborough said: “There is no doubt . . . make no mistake of it, this is the reason . . . that’s why he has selected Judge Kavanaugh, because of this, single, 2009 article ....

In a very small regional jail in Warsaw, Virginia, sits Bob Mueller's big fish, Paul Manafort. Mueller, the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel appointed to investigate any possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign, has charged Manafort with multiple counts of conspiracy, money laundering, tax crimes, false statements, and anything else they can wad into a big ball and throw up against the wall to see what sticks. After his arrest, Manafort was placed on house arrest on a $10 million-dollar bail, until the government recently accused him of witness tampering and convinced U.S. District Judge Amy...

Critics of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, connected Kavanaugh’s selection to the ongoing Russia investigation, citing an article Kavanaugh wrote that claimed presidents should not be tied up in lawsuits and probes and warning that the commander in chief might be looking for a way to protect himself in a legal challenge. In a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article, Kavanaugh claimed that presidents should not be caught up in “time-consuming and distracting” lawsuits and investigations. He argued that they “would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis.” “In choosing Brett...

Special counsel Robert Mueller said in a court filing Friday that his prosecutors will not present evidence regarding Trump campaign collusion with Russia at an upcoming trial for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. “The government does not intend to present at trial evidence or argument concerning collusion with the Russian government,” reads a filing submitted by Mueller’s team in federal court in Virginia on Friday.

Rep. Devin Nunes is referring 42 Obama administration officials, FBI agents and outside political activists to a House task force for as investigation into how the Obama Justice Department targeted the Donald Trump campaign. If the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Judiciary Committee agree, their task force would conduct the most extensive probe to date on anti-Trump government operations in 2016. Mr. Nunes, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has sent letters to Oversight head Trey Gowdy of South Carolina and Judiciary’s Bob Goodlatte of Virginia. The California Republican is asking his fellow GOP legislators...

@realDonaldTrump The Rigged Witch Hunt, originally headed by FBI lover boy Peter S (for one year) & now, 13 Angry Democrats, should look into the missing DNC Server, Crooked Hillary’s illegally deleted Emails, the Pakistani Fraudster, Uranium One, Podesta & so much more. It’s a Democrat Con Job! 6:24 PM · Jul 7, 2018 ______ Public opinion has turned strongly against the Rigged Witch Hunt and the “Special” Counsel because the public understands that there was no Collusion with Russia (so ridiculous), that the two FBI lovers were a fraud against our Nation & that the only Collusion was with...

CNN host John King couldn't believe no contestant on the popular trivia show "Jeopardy!" knew the answer to a question about the Russia investigation, wondering Friday what that said about the nation's "focus." "Only the smartest of the smart get to be on Jeopardy, right?" King asked. "So what does this little exchange last night say about the nation's focus, or lack thereof, on the whole [Robert] Mueller Russia meddling and collusion investigation?" Two contestants buzzed in and responded incorrectly to the $1,000 clue Thursday night, "In 2017, this ex-National Security Adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI?" One...

Newly available records do not fully comply with congressional House subpoenas, and barring new developments Friday, recent documents from the FBI and Justice Department do not meet deadlines set by a House resolution, according to a source close to the discussions. Three House Republican committee chairmen, Trey Gowdy on Oversight, Devin Nunes on Intelligence and Bob Goodlatte on Judiciary, requested the records, with one subpoena issued as long ago as August of last year. The source said House staffers -- who reviewed records Thursday at the Justice Department (DOJ) because lawmakers were out of town for the holiday recess --...

To turn in documents or face impeachment?

Multiple reviews of whether FBI agents’ political bias affected the Russia-Trump collusion case remain in their infancy, but investigators already have unearthed troubling internal communications long withheld from public view. We already know from FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok’s now-infamous text messages with his fellow agent and reported lover, Lisa Page, that Strzok — the man driving that Russia collusion investigation — disdained Donald Trump and expressed willingness to use his law enforcement powers to “stop” the Republican from becoming president. The question that lingers, unanswered: Did those sentiments affect official actions? Memos the FBI is now producing to the...

(CNN)Prosecutors for special counsel Robert Mueller said in a court filing Friday that they intend to present evidence at the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort that a banking executive allegedly helped Manafort obtain loans of more than $6 million while the banker sought a role in the Trump campaign. Manafort faces trial on bank fraud charges in the Eastern District of Virginia beginning July 25. Until now, there had been no indication that his role in the Trump campaign would become part of the trial, and he had asked the judge to keep details about his ties...

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

A district judge on Tuesday evening tossed out a lawsuit alleging the Trump campaign conspired with the Russians and WikiLeaks to publish hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails during the 2016 presidential race. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the suit largely on the basis of jurisdiction, arguing the plaintiffs did not successfully tie the Trump campaign's actions to D.C. "Campaign meetings, canvassing voters, and other regular business activities of a political campaign do not constitute activities related to the conspiracies alleged in the complaint," Huvelle wrote. "The same is true...

A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump’s campaign and former adviser Roger Stone worked with WikiLeaks. “Plaintiffs assert that defendants engaged in a conspiracy with unidentified Russian agents and WikiLeaks to publish hacked emails,” the judge wrote Tuesday. “The Court will grant defendants’ motions to dismiss, deny plaintiffs’ motion, and dismiss plaintiffs’ suit without prejudice.” The suit was brought by former Democratic National Committee finance chief of staff and former LGBT finance chair Scott Comer and two donors, Roy Cockrum and Eric Schoenberg. Comer’s claimed damages included that the Trump campaign caused his grandmother to...

Special counsel Robert Mueller is tapping additional Justice Department resources for help with new legal battles as his year-old investigation of Russian interference with the 2016 election continues to expand. As Mueller pursues his probe, he's making more use of career prosecutors from the offices of U.S. attorneys and from Justice Department headquarters, as well as FBI agents -- a sign that he may be laying the groundwork to hand off parts of his investigation eventually, several current and former U.S. officials said.

A Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says he is worried that the Russians “never left,” raising the specter that Moscow is looking to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections through cyber or other means. “I am concerned that the Russians never left,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) told CBS News when asked about his concerns about threats to the 2018 midterm elections. Quigley also alleged that Russia-linked hackers breached “somewhere between 20 and 40 state board of elections,” including the Illinois voter database, in 2016 and alleged that states are not prepared for future interference efforts by Russia. “First, they...

full title - Rod Rosenstein’s Right-Hand-Man Who Oversees Mueller Probe Abruptly Resigning from Justice Department The Justice Department’s senior-most career attorney, Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools, is planning to step down for a job in the private sector, according to a source familiar with the matter. Schools works under Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and has had a significant role helping manage special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. NPR previously reported his departure. As the highest-ranking career official, Schools has served as a key adviser on many sensitive matters within the department, including the firing of former FBI Deputy...