Manafort attempted to tamper with potential witnesses -U.S. special counsel

Reuters ^

[Magnatron]

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who has been indicted by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, attempted to tamper with potential witnesses, Mueller said in a court filing on Monday.

Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, asked the judge overseeing the case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to revoke or revise an order releasing Manafort ahead of his trial.

Manafort was released to home confinement after his arraignment in October.

Mueller has indicted Manafort in federal courts in Virginia and Washington, D.C., with an array of allegations from money-laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent, to bank and tax fraud. Manafort has pleaded not guilty.

FBI Special Agent Brock Domin, in a declaration filed with Mueller's motion, said Manafort had attempted to call, text and send encrypted messages in February to two people from "The Hapsburg Group," a firm he worked with to promote the interests of Ukraine.

[caww]

Manafort was paid well to push Ukraine's interest in the US. He's played in the European loop for years, and with the elites here.

And least we forget Muller him self worked with Ukraines Yanukovych in 2013... just 6 months before John Brennan, John McCain, Victoria Nuland, were a part of the bloody coup to overthrow the Yanukovych government....soooo we now have Mueller prosecuting Manfort for doing work in Ukraine for Viktor Yanukovych back in 2013?

How is it that Mueller is investigating Manafort for business with the Ukraine when Mueller is as suspect as Manafort ever was? ..... unless of course Manafort screwed Mueller on the Ukrainian deal, so now it's payback time....

The emperor has no clothes..

June 2013...Ukraines Yanukovych and Mueller

Then we have Hillarys meddling in the Ukraine elections here with Yulia Tymoshenko

[caww]

And THEN we have the leaked US Nuland-Pyatt call..... totally setting up the way the Ukraine elections should go....

Pyatt:... I'm just thinking in terms of sort of the process moving ahead we want to keep the moderate democrats together. The problem is going to be Tyahnybok [Oleh Tyahnybok, the other opposition leader] and his guys and I'm sure that's part of what [President Viktor] Yanukovych is calculating on all this.

Nuland: [Breaks in] I think Yats is the guy who's got the economic experience, the governing experience. He's the... what he needs is Klitsch and Tyahnybok on the outside. He needs to be talking to them four times a week, you know. I just think Klitsch going in... he's going to be at that level working for Yatseniuk, it's just not going to work.

Pyatt: Yeah, no, I think that's right. OK. Good. Do you want us to set up a call with him as the next step?

Nuland: My understanding from that call - but you tell me - was that the big three were going into their own meeting and that Yats was going to offer in that context a... three-plus-one conversation or three-plus-two with you. Is that not how you understood it?

Pyatt: No. I think... I mean that's what he proposed but I think, just knowing the dynamic that's been with them where Klitschko has been the top dog, he's going to take a while to show up for whatever meeting they've got and he's probably talking to his guys at this point, so I think you reaching out directly to him helps with the personality management among the three and it gives you also a chance to move fast on all this stuff and put us behind it before they all sit down and he explains why he doesn't like it.

Nuland: OK, good. I'm happy. Why don't you reach out to him and see if he wants to talk before or after.

Pyatt: OK, will do. Thanks.

Nuland: OK... one more wrinkle for you Geoff. [A click can be heard] I can't remember if I told you this, or if I only told Washington this, that when I talked to Jeff Feltman [United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs] this morning, he had a new name for the UN guy Robert Serry did I write you that this morning?

Jonathan Marcus: An intriguing insight into the foreign policy process with work going on at a number of levels: Various officials attempting to marshal the Ukrainian opposition; efforts to get the UN to play an active role in bolstering a deal; and (as you can see below) the big guns waiting in the wings - US Vice-President JOE BIDEN clearly being lined up to give private words of encouragement at the appropriate moment.

Pyatt: Yeah I saw that.

****Nuland: OK. He's now gotten both Serry and [UN Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon to agree that Serry could come in Monday or Tuesday. So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and to have the UN help glue it and, you know,... Fuck the EU.

Jonathan Marcus: Not for the first time in an international crisis, the US expresses frustration at the EU's efforts. Washington and Brussels have not been completely in step during the Ukraine crisis. The EU is divided and to some extent hesitant about picking a fight with Moscow. It certainly cannot win a short-term battle for Ukraine's affections with Moscow - it just does not have the cash inducements available. The EU has sought to play a longer game; banking on its attraction over time. But the US clearly is determined to take a much more activist role.

Pyatt: No, exactly. And I think we've got to do something to make it stick together because you can be pretty sure that if it does start to gain altitude, that the Russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it. And again the fact that this is out there right now, I'm still trying to figure out in my mind why Yanukovych (garbled) that. In the meantime there's a Party of Regions faction meeting going on right now and I'm sure there's a lively argument going on in that group at this point. But anyway we could land jelly side up on this one if we move fast. So let me work on Klitschko and if you can just keep... we want to try to get somebody with an international personality to come out here and help to midwife this thing. The other issue is some kind of outreach to Yanukovych but we probably regroup on that tomorrow as we see how things start to fall into place.

Nuland: So on that piece Geoff, when I wrote the note [US vice-president's national security adviser Jake] Sullivan's come back to me VFR [direct to me], saying you need [US Vice-President Joe] Biden and I said probably tomorrow for an atta-boy and to get the deets [details] to stick. So Biden's willing.

Pyatt: OK. Great. Thanks.

Jonathan Marcus: Overall this is a damaging episode between Washington and Moscow. Nobody really emerges with any credit. The US is clearly much more involved in trying to broker a deal in Ukraine than it publicly lets on. There is some embarrassment too for the Americans given the ease with which their communications were hacked. But is the interception and leaking of communications really the way Russia wants to conduct its foreign policy ? Goodness - after Wikileaks, Edward Snowden and the like could the Russian government be joining the radical apostles of open government? I doubt it. Though given some of the comments from Vladimir Putin's adviser on Ukraine Sergei Glazyev - for example his interview with the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper the other day - you don't need your own listening station to be clear about Russia's intentions. Russia he said "must interfere in Ukraine" and the authorities there should use force against the demonstrators.

[ETL]

soooo we now have Mueller prosecuting Manfort for doing work in Ukraine for Viktor Yanukovych back in 2013?

Yanukovych was Putin's guy. His 'plant' in the Ukraine. Putin tried to assassinate his opponent in the Ukraine presidential election. He survived the poisoning, but his face was left badly pockmocked.

[ETL]

Yushchenko, hero of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution warns Europe that Putin won’t stop at Crimea

by Matthew Schofield - McClatchy Foreign Staff
March 27, 2014

Many Ukrainians believe you need look no further than the face of Viktor Yushchenko to understand Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Once smooth and ruggedly handsome, it still bears the scars from an assassination attempt when someone slipped dioxin into Yushchenko’s food. ...”

Read more here:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24765781.html#storylink=cpy

[ETL]

Donald Trump: ‘Putin has eaten Obama’s lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time’

Mar 13, 2014
Eun Kyung Kim: TODAY SHOW (NBC)

Donald Trump slammed President Obama Thursday on TODAY for failing to take a stronger line against President Vladimir Putin in dealing with Ukraine, saying he feared Obama would now make up for lost time with imprudent moves to “show his manhood.”

The real estate mogul and reality-TV star, who has criticized Putin for sending military troops into Crimea, said Obama must now take fierce steps to prevent the situation from escalating further.

“We should definitely do sanctions and we have to show some strengths. I mean, Putin has eaten Obama’s lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time,” Trump said. ...”

http://www.today.com/news/donald-trump-putin-has-eaten-obamas-lunch-ukraine-2D79372098
_______________________________________________

Here’s the interview w/ Matt Lauer on YouTube...

Donald Trump (2014): ‘Vladimir Putin Has Eaten Obama’s Lunch’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzURUENf1ns
___________________________________________________

JULY 2017...

Trump, in Warsaw Speech, Criticizes Russia’s ‘Destabilizing’ Role in Ukraine, Syria

The president also reaffirmed his commitment to NATO’s mutual-defense pact

Jul 6, 2017

President Trump called Russia a “destabilizing” influence in Europe and the Middle East, and urged it to “join the community of responsible nations,” in his strongest remarks yet against the regime of Vladimir Putin, whom he is scheduled to meet Friday in Hamburg for the first time.

His remarks in Warsaw’s Krasinski Square, which marks the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, came after the U.S. agreed to sell Patriot missiles to Poland. The president also used the opportunity to reiterate the NATO commitment to mutual defense, a declaration he did not make during the NATO summit in May, prompting consternation among U.S. allies wary of Russia’s ambitions.

“To those who would criticize our tough stance, I would point out that the United States has demonstrated—not merely with its words but with its actions—that we stand firmly behind Article 5, the mutual-defense commitment,” Trump said Thursday. “Words are easy, but actions are what matters. And for its own protection, Europe, and you know this, everybody knows this, everybody has to know this, Europe must do more.”

Trump has repeatedly said NATO members must spend more on defense—a position in line with past U.S. administrations. But he has been criticized because he appeared to suggest U.S. commitment to mutual defense was predicated on its allies’ defense spending. ...”

https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/07/trump-russia/532761/

[caww]

Well that’s how Ukraine politics operate. ..and Russia has always involved themselves in Ukraines politics. Lots of Russians live and have lived in Ukraine..and their northern Industrial area was mostly developed by Russia.

Ukraines politics were and remain one of the most corrupt in the world and every body knows it. They’re also one of the most violent even when in session. Not uncommon for fists to fly in a heartbeat.

HEck we’ve been interfering in Ukraines politics for years as well Europe too. It’s just the way the country operates.

[enumerated]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW. When Mueller runs out of steam and Trump is easily reelected, this idea that Sessions was so profoundly damaging will be totally forgotten.

[Fantasywriter]

If you believe what you posted then you are reading my comments exclusively. Me, I read other people’s comments too. The anti-Sessions sentiments have reached a boiling point. He is one VERY unpopular guy, at least with conservatives.

[enumerated]

“If you believe what you posted then you are reading my comments exclusively.”

?????

I sure hope that defective logic is not representative of your best reasoning skills....

[Fantasywriter]

How else would you get the idea that conservatives aren’t blasting Sessions en masse?

[Lazamataz]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW.

No. It's not just Fantasywriter. It's me too.

Just me and Fantasywriter. That's all.

[Lazamataz]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW.

No. It's not just Fantasywriter. It's me too, bashing sleepy Sessions, the Deepest Statest saboteur.

And Okeydoker.

Just me and Fantasywriter and Okeydoker. That's all.

[Fantasywriter]

Bol! Laz bringing the bantz.

[Fantasywriter]

Uh oh...I think I see where this is going. Laz is slipping the lead into the glove.

[Lazamataz]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW.

No. It's not just Fantasywriter. It's me too, bashing sleepy Sessions, the Deepest Statest saboteur.

And WashingtonFire.

Just me and Fantasywriter and Okeydoker and WashingtonFire. That's all.

[Lazamataz]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW.

No. It's not just Fantasywriter. It's me too, bashing sleepy Sessions, the Deepest Statest saboteur.

And Mouton.

Just me and Fantasywriter and Okeydoker and WashingtonFire and Mouton. That's all.

[Fantasywriter]

This could end up being a VERY long thread...

[Lazamataz]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW.

No. It's not just Fantasywriter. It's me too, bashing sleepy Sessions, the Deepest Statest saboteur.

And VideoDoctor.

Just me and Fantasywriter and Okeydoker and WashingtonFire and Mouton and VideoDoctor. That's all.

[Lazamataz]

“Why single me out? The ranks of conservatives blaming Sessions for the unconstitutional, never-ending witch hunt grows by the day.”

Not really - it’s just you FW.

No. It's not just Fantasywriter. It's me too, bashing sleepy Sessions, the Deepest Statest saboteur.

And gibsonguy.

Just me and Fantasywriter and Okeydoker and WashingtonFire and Mouton and VideoDoctor and gibsonguy. That's all.

[Fantasywriter]

Friendly tip: time to say, ‘uncle.’ Nobody wins them all, and you’re not going to win this one.