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In case you’re still thinking this whole “Trump is Putin’s puppet” narrative has legs, well, think again. Vladimir Putin is a decidedly unhappy hombre’ today, and it all has to do with the ongoing efforts by the Trump Administration to depose his real puppet, Venezuelan socialist thug Nicolas Maduro. Earlier today, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced the U.S. would place severe sanctions on Maduro’s regimen and Venezuela’s national oil company, PdVSA: Steve Mnuchin: “As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of PdVSA subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and...

A federal judge in Virginia Monday abruptly canceled the sentencing hearing for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, originally scheduled for next month. The hearing in which Mr. Manafort would have learned his fate for a host of financial fraud crimes was initially set for Feb 8. But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said it was “prudent” to delay the hearing because of a separate, but related dispute in Washington, D.C. “Because it appears that resolution of the current dispute in defendant’s prosecution in the District of Columbia may have some effect on the sentencing decision in this case,...

Special counsel Robert Mueller has almost finished up his nearly two-year investigation into collusion and Russian interference in the 2016 election, the acting attorney general said Monday. "The investigation is, I think, close to being completed, and I hope that we can get the report from [Special Counsel] Mueller as soon we — as possible," acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said during a news conference after announcing criminal charges against one of China's largest telecommunications companies. "I have been fully briefed on the investigation, and I look forward to director Mueller delivering the report, and I really am not going...

The probe of possible Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is wrapping up, Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker told reporters on Monday. "I've been fully briefed on the investigation and I look forward to Director Mueller delivering the final report"

Points made by DiGenova: It was vindictive prosecution. This raid occurred after the Manafort raid. That means that neither FBI Director Chris Wray, Rosenstein or (acting AG) Whitaker said anything to Mueller about not doing anything like that again. It also means that Wray, Rosenstein, and Whittaker approved of the raid on Stone's House. Either the FBI office in Ft. Lauderdale or Mueller's office notified CNN (in advance).

CNN was the only news outlet to capture footage of Trump-confidant Roger Stone’s arrest Friday morning, raising allegations that they were tipped off to the impending raid by the FBI or the grand jury handling the case. Stone was arrested early Friday morning at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after being indicted by a grand jury on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. Dramatic footage captured by a lucky CNN producer shows the FBI surrounding Stone’s home in an armed raid and pounding on Stone’s front door. WATCH: The seemingly too-perfect scenario of CNN being the only outlet...

Civilian data obtained by sources close to law enforcement confirms that CNN crime and justice producer David Shortell lives in Washington, D.C. How did Shortell end up in Florida? Special counsel’s office leaking will be a paramount issue of the Stone case. Here is Stone on Tucker Carlson Tonight: Even though David Shortell does not live near Roger Stone, former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson apparently does: BLP reported: Exactly 618 days since Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s official investigation into “Russian collusion” began on May 17, 2017, and more than 800 days after news broke that authorities...

FULL TITLE: Fox News Hosts Create CNN, Mueller Conspiracy Theory Surrounding Roger Stone Arrest, Demand Investigation Fox News hosts past and present are touting a meta cable news conspiracy theory claiming special counsel Robert Mueller tipped off CNN prior to Roger Stone's Friday arrest. Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro are touting a baseless accusation first concocted on Twitter by former Fox News host Greta Van Susteren that their rival cable news network CNN was "obviously tipped off" by Mueller's office in cahoots with the FBI. Van Susteren later apologized and recanted the claim, but right-wing news media immediately pounced on...

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said Saturday special counsel Robert Mueller is trying to cover up his involvement with the Uranium One deal that benefited the Clintons while "trying to have a coup against the president." REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): Robert Mueller has done more damage during his 12 years as FBI director than any other -- probably all directors put together... He has wasted money right and left. Amazingly, he's hired people like [Andrew] Weissmann that worked with him and [Rod] Rosenstein in investigating the Russian illegal efforts to obtain our uranium which they quashed information in order to allow...

RUSH: The great deception continues. The out front, up and front misrepresentations and lies continue about Trump colluding with Russia. There is no and has not been any Trump collusion with Russia, and Mueller and his team have known about this. They’ve known this from the get-go. It’s not that they’ve known it for the past year. They have known it from the get-go. This continues to be one of the greatest frauds, one of the greatest political frauds perpetrated on the American people under the guise of a legitimate criminal investigation. JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny south Florida,...

By the bureau’s Trump standard, he looked like an agent of Iran. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly opened a counterintelligence investigation in 2017 to find out if President Trump was a Russian agent. What if the FBI had similarly looked into whether President Obama was an agent of Iran?

CNN producer David Shortell admitted that he was "waiting" outside Roger Stone’s house at 5am, an hour before FBI agents and police arrived to arrest the former Donald Trump associate. [Snip] When questioned as to why he was outside Stone’s home over an hour before the arrest when neither Stone or his attorney even knew the raid was coming, Shortell claimed that his "reporter's instinct" was to thank and that he "thought maybe something was happening" because of "unusual Grand Jury activity in Washington DC yesterday".

Put Rick Tyler's picture next to "schadenfreude" in the dictionary . . . As news broke during today's Morning Joe that Roger Stone had been arrested and charged with seven counts of obstruction and false statements and witness tampering, Tyler—a former Ted Cruz campaign aide turned MSNBC political analyst—took obvious delight in Stone's predicament: RICK TYLER: Roger Stone, like Donald Trump, is a political con man whose showman shtick has finally caught up with him . . . He's known for dirty tricks, and I think a lifetime of this shtick has finally caught up with him. Get the rest...

Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative and an adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was arrested early Friday morning after he was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller. Stone, a self-described “dirty trickster” who began his career under former President Richard Nixon, was arrested at his Fort Lauderdale home by FBI agents. In a seven-count indictment by a federal grand jury, Stone was charged with one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements and one count of witness tampering. Read the full indictment below:

CNN exclusively captured then aired footage captured outside Stone’s South Florida home, which you can see above.

This story is developing

More news to follow, (Reason for posting new thread "chat")

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Robert Mueller has a passion for ham. – The Special Counsel’s office nabbed itself another ham sandwich in the dark of night, arresting former Trump adviser (prior to the 2016 election campaign) Roger Stone with CNN’s cameras conveniently present for the festivities. Funny how that works, huh? The 66 year-old Stone, who is one of the most recognizable people in America at this point and not any sort of flight risk at all, was arrested at his home as FBI agents pounded on his door shouting “FBI! Open the door!” as they...

Complete title: "Witness in special counsel probe, former Stone associate, collected payments from Infowars through job Stone arranged" Over the past several months, author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi has emerged as one of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s most vexing witnesses in his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. Corsi — perhaps best known for promoting the false idea that former president Barack Obama was not born in the United States — has released internal special counsel documents, fulminated against alleged plea-deal offers and published a hastily written e-book outlining his account of interactions with his...

CNN isn't stopping at making generic accusations of witness intimidation against President Trump with respect to Michael Cohen's prospective congressional testimony. The network is instead doing so in, quite literally, the most dramatic terms. On New Day this morning, CNN played a clip from Godfather II in which the mob, in order to intimidate a witness at a Senate hearing, has brought the witness's brother into the audience. After the clip rolled, CNN commentator John Avlon broke out the old mob threat: AVLON: I think what's happening between the President and Rudy invoking the father-in-law and the wife goes well...