Free Republic

Steven Schrage

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Justice Department investigation of two prominent lobbyists that was spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe has concluded without charges. Justice Department lawyers recently informed representatives for Tony Podesta and former Rep. Vin Weber that they have ended the investigation. Their unregistered lobbying work for pro-Russia Ukrainian interests had come under investigation first by Mueller and later by federal prosecutors in New York. Weber lawyer Robert Trout says he and his client are “obviously” pleased with the outcome. The move, first reported by The Washington Post, follows the acquittal of prominent Washington lawyer Greg...

President Trump did not speak with Michael Cohen before he testified falsely before Congress about plans to develop a skyscraper in Moscow during the 2016 campaign, Rudy Giuliani said Monday, backing off previous assertions that such talks may have taken place. The former New York mayor, who serves as Trump’s top lawyer in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, said he had confirmed the matter with previous members of the President’s legal team, including ex-lead counsel John Dowd. “The President never spoke with Cohen about the congressional testimony,” Giuliani told the Daily News. However, Giuliani acknowledged Trump’s legal team conversed with Cohen’s...

Don't be distracted by the gossip and tittle-tattle being spread about Michael Cohen. Forget taxi medallions and porn stars. They're meant to distract. As REX explains, the true DOJ investigations are likely focussed on Cohen's connections to illegal lobbying by Clinton proxies, on behalf of Ukraine. Here's an extract of Bloomberg's misleading opening paragraph yesterday, about the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP agreement to pay $4.6 million, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. The settlement was: "over unregistered work it did with Paul Manafort to benefit the government of Ukraine in 2012 and 2013."...

An investigation referred to Justice Department prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year into possible criminal activity by Clinton-linked Washington insider Tony Podesta and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig is heating up, according to a new report that underscores federal authorities' increasing enforcement of laws governing foreign business relationships. The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta -- a Democratic lobbyist and co-founder of the onetime lobbying powerhouse known as the Podesta Group -- but also on Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman from Minnesota. The probes had been quiet for months since Mueller referred...

Clinton-connected lobbyist Tony Podesta knew he was working with Paul Manafort on behalf of a Ukrainian politician, according to an indictment released Friday by the special counsel’s office. Podesta, Manafort and Mercury Public Affairs all failed to register as foreign agents of Ukraine for the work. Manafort entered a plea agreement with the special counsel Friday. Two lobbying firms, including one owned by Democratic superlobbyist Tony Podesta, knowingly worked with Paul Manafort at the direction of the Ukrainian government, according to an indictment released Friday by the special counsel’s office. The indictment, which was released ahead of an expected plea...

Federal prosecutors are investigating former lobbyist Tony Podesta, former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig, NBC News confirmed, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. CNN first reported the existence of the investigation. Prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York opened the investigation following a referral from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources told NBC. NBC previously reported that Mueller had been looking into Podesta and his Democratic-leaning lobbying firm as part of its broader investigation into the finances of former Trump campaign chairman Paul...

Establishment Republicans may prefer Romney to Perry, but their assumption is that either man can be counted on to steer the party back toward the broad center next fall, effectively disarming the Tea Party mutiny.If that’s the case, then it now seems like only a matter of time before the Republican empire, overwhelmed by insurrection for much of the last two years, strikes back at last. “I think it’s waning now,” Scott Reed, a veteran strategist and lobbyist, told me when we talked about the Tea Party’s influence last month Party leaders have managed to bleed some of the anti-establishment...

Special counsel Robert Mueller has referred a collection of cases to New York federal prosecutors concerning whether several high-profile American lobbyists and operatives failed to register their work as foreign agents, according to people familiar with the matter. The transfer of the inquiries marks an escalation of Mueller's referrals to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in the period since he turned over a case involving President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Since the spring, Mueller has referred matters to SDNY involving longtime Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta and his work for his former...

George Papadopoulos appears to have been targeted by three individuals with ties to British and/or U.S. Intelligence. Joseph Mifsud Alexander Downer Stefan Halper George Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud reportedly both worked at the London Centre of International Law Practice. Joseph Mifsud appears to have joined LCILP around November 2015. Papadopoulos appears to have joined LCILP sometime in late February or early March 2016 after leaving Ben Carson’s campaign. Per reports, Papadopoulos and Mifsud first met on March 14, 2016. The London Centre of International Law and Practice Limited (LCILP) is an odd institution. From their website: LCILP training emphasises the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s grand jury is investigating a prominent Democratic lobbyist and a former GOP congressman for their involvement in an influence campaign on behalf of Ukrainian interests tied to Paul Manafort, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. At the center of the widening probe are Tony Podesta, a longtime Democratic operative, and Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman and leader of his own high-powered lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. The two men were hired as part of a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort directed by Manafort and longtime associate Rick Gates.

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s grand jury is investigating a prominent Democratic lobbyist and a former GOP congressman from Minnesota for their involvement in an influence campaign on behalf of Ukrainian interests tied to Paul Manafort, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. At the center of the widening probe are Tony Podesta, a longtime Democratic operative, and Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from southwestern Minnesota and leader of his own high-powered lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. The two men were hired as part of a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort directed by Manafort and longtime associate Rick...

The lobbying firms the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs are the unnamed companies in the grand jury indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, according to three sources with knowledge of the investigation. The indictment, unsealed Monday, refers to "Company A" and "Company B" as the firms Manafort and Gates solicited in 2012 to lobby on behalf of the Ukranian government. Company A is Mercury Public Affairs and Company B is the Podesta Group, the sources said. The revelation of the companies’ identities points to more details about the players involved in the...

RUSH: I can't glance at TV without seeing somebody whining now about all the free media Trump has gotten. I have here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers a story from mediaQuant. It's a firm that tracks media coverage of every candidate and computes it dollar value based on advertising rates, and it's been published here in the New York Times. According to this study, Donald Trump has earned close to $2 billion worth of free media during the campaign. The pull quote from the story: "Mr. Trump earned $400 million worth of free media last month, about what John...

Now, this piece in the New York Times illustrates the obstacles Tea Party lawmakers are up against. All these Republican freshmen in the House, for example, this article makes it plain how difficult their job is. There's even a section in this story on compromise, the bad kind of compromise, the kind of compromise that Republicans have been known for, get along with the Democrats, please the media, show that we're not the unreasonable Tea Party types. That's what's shaking down here. The Tea Party is under assault from the Democrats and the Republican elite, and now the battle has...

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, there's a big piece in the New York Times Magazine coming this weekend. It is entitled: "Does Anyone Have a Grip on the GOP?" The subhead: "The Republican Elite Tries to Take Its Party Back." This article prints like 24 pages. It is a major, major New York Times Magazine piece. It confirms everything that I have thought, everything I have speculated, everything I have said about the battle between the Republican elite and the Tea Party. I can't read the whole thing on the program; I don't intend to. I've got some highlights or quotes...

Step 1: The first rule of the establishment is: Do not admit you are part of the establishment! Step 2: Disarm them with praise Step 3: Moderate whoever they pick as the 2012 nominee. Step 4: Teach them about compromise. Step 5: Never forget reality

The Minnesota delegation’s 2012 support is suddenly up for grabs, but whether the only Minnesotan left in the 2012 GOP presidential race can capture those endorsements is far from decided. Republican Reps. John Kline and Erik Paulsen, two of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R) most prominent Capitol Hill backers, haven’t sprinted to support their home-state colleague Rep. Michele Bachmann since Pawlenty abruptly ended his candidacy Sunday. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R), a conservative who would appear to be more aligned with Bachmann’s ideals than the former governor, hasn’t rushed to her side either. When Bachmann sought the House Republican Conference chairmanship,...

Good for Romney, not so good for McCain: McCain's loss, Romney's gain. That's how Republican insiders were interpreting the surprise decision of former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber, one of the earliest supporters of Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2000 presidential bid, to sign up this time with Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign team — as policy chairman. Weber, who heads the prominent lobbying firm Clark & Weinstock, has remained influential as a national party strategist since leaving Congress more than a decade ago. Weber's opting out of Team McCain is considered particularly significant given his longtime association with the Republican Party's...

Blame GOP Malaise on Bush's Team by Robert Novak Posted Feb 19, 2006 When Dick Cheney finally broke his silence by answering questions from Fox's Brit Hume last Wednesday, four days after the hunting accident, many Republicans could hardly believe it. They were stunned that the vice president indicated he had no regrets about the way the incident was handled. Every Republican I contacted had regrets in abundance. Bush-bashers delighted in exaggerating Cheney's post-accident conduct as a metaphor for everything wrong with George W. Bush's presidency in its sixth year. Nevertheless, there are supporters of the president (and the vice...