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Mueller Indicts Russian in Scheme to ‘Disparage’ Hillary

A grand jury indictment released Friday by Special Counsel Robert Mueller accuses 13 Russian nationals and three companies of interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

The indictment says the nationals, posing as Americans, contacted members of the Trump campaign.

But authorities said there was no allegation any American was a knowing participant . . .

A Russian organization called the Internet Research Agency sought to wage “information warfare” against the United States beginning in 2014, the indictment charges, and by early to mid-2016 the Russian nationals were “supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump … and disparaging Hillary Clinton.”

The indictment cites American laws regulating the activities of foreigners to prevent “improper foreign influences on U.S. elections and on the U.S. political system.” (Read more from “Mueller Indicts Russian in Scheme to ‘Disparage’ Hillary” HERE)

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Trump’s Lawyers Make Recommendation on Whether He Should Meet Mueller

By The Daily Wire. Lawyers representing President Donald Trump have reportedly advised the president against meeting with special counsel Robert Mueller for an interview under oath, a move many have cautioned is a perjury trap.

The report from The New York Times, published late on Monday, says that the president’s lawyers are concerned about his shoot-from-the-hip communication style in which he occasionally contradicts himself. Citing “four people briefed on the matter,” the Times claims that there is a friction brewing between the president and his lawyers as he is eager to speak with Mueller since he believes that he did nothing wrong. The Times notes:

But John Dowd, the longtime Washington defense lawyer hired last summer to represent Mr. Trump in the investigation, wants to rebuff an interview request, as do Mr. Dowd’s deputy, Jay Sekulow, and many West Wing advisers, according to the four people. The lawyers and aides believe the special counsel might be unwilling to subpoena the president and set off a showdown with the White House that Mr. Mueller could lose in court.

The decision on whether Trump will, in fact, sit down with Mueller for an interview is expected to be made sometime in the coming weeks. (Read more from “Trump’s Lawyers Make Recommendation on Whether He Should Meet Mueller” HERE)

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Trump’s Attorneys Want Him to Refuse an Interview with Mueller

By The Week. Attorneys for President Trump have advised him to not sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, four people briefed on the matter told The New York Times.

Trump has publicly declared that he is open to speaking with Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and if Trump obstructed justice, but his lawyers fear he will make false statements, which would lead to Trump being charged with lying to investigators, the Times reports. (Read more from “Trump’s Attorneys Want Him to Refuse an Interview with Mueller” HERE)

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RINO Lawmakers Consider Legislation to Protect Mueller From Trump

By The Hill. Republican lawmakers on Sunday grappled with the potential need to protect special counsel Robert Mueller in light of a report that said President Trump called for his firing last year.

Hosts on the Sunday shows questioned lawmakers about the revelations in The New York Times report and what they mean for the investigation into Russia’s election interference and any potential ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key Republican who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own Russia probe, said it “wouldn’t hurt” to pass legislation protecting Mueller.

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt to put that extra safeguard in place given the latest stories,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Collins also noted that only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller last year after the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, could fire the special counsel. (Read more from “Republican Lawmakers Consider Need to Protect Mueller” HERE)

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Republicans in Congress Divided over Protecting Mueller from Being Ousted by Trump

By Sean Sullivan. Republicans in Congress were divided Sunday over protecting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, with two senators embracing plans to make it more difficult for President Trump to have him fired but a top House lawmaker declaring them unnecessary.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) highlighted his proposal to check Trump’s power over Mueller, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said it wouldn’t hurt to pass legislation along those lines.

But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said there was no need to pass such a measure, as he defended how the president and his team have navigated Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The GOP discord came just days after the revelation that Trump sought Mueller’s ouster last June, prompting Democrats to make a renewed pitch for Congress to shore up the special counsel’s standing. It underscored the growing split in the Republican Party between Trump loyalists and others who are becoming increasingly concerned with the president’s actions. (Read more from “Republicans in Congress Divided over Protecting Mueller from Being Ousted by Trump” HERE)

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Trump: ‘Firing’ Report Is Fake News

By Washington Examiner. President Trump said Friday that the New York Times story saying he wanted to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last year was “fake news.”

“Fake news, folks, fake news,” Trump said in Davos. “Typical New York Times fake stories.”

The Times’ report said Trump ordered Mueller to be fired, and was stopped by White House counsel Don McGahn, who said firing Mueller in the middle of his probe into Russian meddling in the election would be a political disaster for Trump.

McGahn later said the idea of firing Mueller has “never been on the table, never.” (Read more from “Trump: ‘Firing’ Report Is Fake News” HERE)

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Trump Slams Report Claiming He Sought to Fire Mueller, Blames ‘Fake News’

By Fox News. President Trump on Friday denied reports that he ordered the firing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in June and only backed down after his White House counsel refused to carry out the instruction and threatened to resign . . .

The Times’ report said that White House lawyer Don McGahn said he would not deliver the order to the Justice Department, according to The Times, which cites four people familiar with the request by the president.

Trump argued at the time that Mueller could not be fair because of a dispute over golf club fees that he said Mueller owed at a Trump golf club in Sterling, Va, the report said. The president also believed Mueller he had a conflict of interest because he worked for the same law firm that was representing Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. (Read more from “Trump Slams Report Claiming He Sought to Fire Mueller, Blames ‘Fake News'” HERE)

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‘Lies’ About 9/11 Apparently ‘Approved by Mueller’

By WND. . .Now there is an eye-opening report at Judicial Watch with evidence indicating Mueller approved a series of “lies” about a federal investigation of links between a Florida family and the 9/11 terror attack on the United States.

Judicial Watch says the evidence comes from court documents in a long-running cause involving a Saudi family whose members fled their Florida home just days before the terror attack, leaving behind cars and personal belongings.

The documents, Judicial Watch explains, “further rock the credibility of Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller because they show that as FBI Director Mueller … worked to cover up the connection between a Florida Saudi family and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The documents reveal that Mueller was likely involved in publicly releasing deceptive official agency statements about a secret investigation of the Saudis, who lived in Sarasota, with ties to the hijackers.” . . .

The Bulldog reported it had issued a report in 2011 disclosing the existence of an FBI investigation about the family and the fact that it had been concealed from Congress.

What followed were statements from FBI officials in Miami and Tampa that “sought to discredit the story, asserting that agents had found no connection between the Sarasota Saudi family and the 9/11 plot.” (Read more from “‘Lies’ About 9/11 Apparently ‘Approved by Mueller'” HERE)

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As FBI Director Mueller Helped Cover up Fla. 9/11 Probe, Court Docs Show

By Judicial Watch. Director Mueller he worked to cover up the connection between a Florida Saudi family and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The documents reveal that Mueller was likely involved in publicly releasing deceptive official agency statements about a secret investigation of the Saudis, who lived in Sarasota, with ties to the hijackers. A Florida journalism nonprofit uncovered the existence of the secret FBI investigation that was also kept from Congress.

Under Mueller’s leadership, the FBI tried to discredit the story, publicly countering that agents found no connection between the Sarasota Saudi family and the 2001 terrorist plot. The reality is that the FBI’s own files contained several reports that said the opposite, according to the Ft. Lauderdale-based news group’s ongoing investigation. Files obtained by reporters in the course of their lengthy probe reveal that federal agents found “many connections” between the family and “individuals associated with the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001.” The FBI was forced to release the once-secret reports because the news group sued in federal court when the information wasn’t provided under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The disingenuous statements were issued by FBI officials in Miami and Tampa in a desperate effort to disparage a 2011 story exposing the agency’s covert investigation of the Sarasota Saudis as well as reporting that it had been concealed from Congress. Mueller is referenced in a document index that was ordered by a federal judge to be created in late November 2017. The south Florida judge, William J. Zloch, a Ronald Reagan appointee, asked the FBI to explain where it had discovered dozens of pages of documents in the public-records case filed six years ago. The index reference to then-FBI Director Mueller appears in an item involving an agency white paper written a week after the publication of a news story about the abrupt departure of Saudis Abdulaziz and Anoud al-Hijji from their Sarasota area home about two weeks before 9/11. The couple left behind their cars, clothes, furniture, jewelry and other personal items. “It was created to brief the FBI Director concerning the FBI’s investigation of 4224 Escondito Circle,” the al-Hijjis’ address, the index says. (Read more from “As FBI Director Mueller Helped Cover up Fla. 9/11 Probe, Court Docs Show” HERE)

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Explosive Claim: Missing FBI Texts Show Treasonous Plan to Harm Trump; Agents Met, Discussed ‘Secret Society’ Day After the Election

By PJ Media. There is serious talk on Capitol Hill about the appointment of a second special counsel amid several new bombshell revelations swirling around the Trump/Russia probe. First, there are the allegations of shocking and substantial government surveillance abuses under President Obama outlined in the FISA abuse memo. Secondly, the FBI lost five months of key text messages between the anti-Trump/pro-Clinton FBI officials Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page. And now there’s talk of a “secret society” of officials within the FBI that apparently met the day after the election of Donald J. Trump to plot against the president-elect.

Top Republicans now believe there may be real grounds for a second special counsel, Fox News reported Monday evening.

Reps. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Trey Gowdy (R-SC), and Bob Goodlatte (R- VA) met on Saturday to discuss the FISA memo and the text messages. On Monday, the trio put out the following statement:

(Read more from “Explosive Claim: Missing FBI Texts Show Treasonous Plan to Harm Trump; Agents Met, Discussed ‘Secret Society’ Day After the Election” HERE)

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FBI Official: FBI Agents Threatened Physical Harm to President Trump in Missing FBI Texts and Other “Frightening” Communications

By True Pundit. A high-ranking FBI official confirms a number of the missing 50,000 FBI text messages — as well as other text and email messages among FBI brass — reportedly discussed initiating physical harm to President Donald Trump.

The FBI official urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — which oversees the U.S. Secret Service — to launch an investigation of the Justice Department, the FBI and all text messages missing and otherwise that threatened the President.

“This is dangerous territory and all FBI text messages and personal phones should be examined,” the official said. “It would reveal some frightening conversations.” (Read more from “FBI Official: FBI Agents Threatened Physical Harm to President Trump in Missing FBI Texts and Other “Frightening” Communications” HERE)

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Hannity: DOJ Has Started Recovering Missing FBI Texts, DOJ Sources Say

By Fox News. Fox News’ Sean Hannity said Wednesday night on “Hannity” that the Justice Department has started recovering some of the missing texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, citing DOJ sources.

Federal law enforcement officials had notified congressional committees that a technical glitch affected thousands of FBI cellphones between Dec. 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017. This meant that 5 months’ worth of texts would be missing from Strzok and Page, both of whom are under scrutiny after it was revealed that the former members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team exchanged anti-Trump texts during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Hannity said sources at the DOJ told him they have begun to recover some of the texts from that time period. Specific content from those texts has not been released . . .

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have sent a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz noting that the IG’s office said on Dec. 13 that it had all the messages between Strzok and Page between Nov. 30, 2016, and July 28, 2017. (Read more from “Hannity: DOJ Has Started Recovering Missing FBI Texts, DOJ Sources Say” HERE)

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More Texts Turned over from FBI Agent Taken off Mueller Team

The Justice Department has turned over to Congress additional text messages involving an FBI agent who was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team following the discovery of derogatory comments about President Donald Trump.

But the department also said in a letter to lawmakers that its record of messages sent to and from the agent, Peter Strzok, was incomplete because the FBI, for technical reasons, had been unable to preserve and retrieve about five months’ worth of communications.

New text messages highlighted in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray by Sen. Ron Johnson, the Republican chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, are from the spring and summer of 2016 and involve discussion of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. They reference Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s decision to accept the FBI’s conclusion in that case and a draft statement that former FBI Director James Comey had prepared in anticipation of closing out the Clinton investigation without criminal charges. (Read more from “More Texts Turned over from FBI Agent Taken off Mueller Team” HERE)

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NYT: Anti-Mueller ‘Drunks’ With ‘Conspiracy Theories’

Downplay things we don’t like … In the past month, evidence has continued to pile up of rampant partisanship within the Justice Department during the 2016 election and by those same people who now find themselves on Robert Mueller’s special counsel team. We have learned about the watering down of Hillary Clinton’s misuse of a private email server and people involved in investigating the 2016 election plotting an “insurance policy” for if Trump won. Faced with those bombshell facts, the leftist media has retreated into full protection mode. I’ve highlighted how folks like Brian Stelter deride any mention of these things — and how they compromise Mueller’s investigation — as “conspiracy theories.” Now the New York Times editorial board has joined the fray.

NewsBusters highlights how the Times has resorted to calling Fox News personalities drunken conspiracy theorists. That is straight-up Alinsky. Rule 5 for Radicals: “‘Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.’ There is no defense. It’s irrati­onal. It’s infuri­ating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into conces­sions.” Don’t argue on facts, argue on feelings; argue on what you want the truth to be.

Times says Obama lied only 18 times as president … If you needed another data point on the level of duplicity at the New York Times, here it is. The Times published a look at the lies of Donald Trump vs. the lies of Barack Obama. The Times could only come up with 18 lies over the entire presidency of Barack Obama. Sorry for making you snort out your coffee when you guffawed. Yes, only 18. You need to read this infuriating piece lest you think I’m lying.

Cleaning its own house … Vanity Fair reports on the NY Times’ investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct against Glenn Thrush. The Times is expected to finish its investigation “before Christmas.” The piece highlights that Times employees think there is a difference between Thrush and what Matt Lauer and others have been accused of. It seems like the Times is trying to make every effort to keep Thrush. Time will tell. (For more from the author of “NYT: Anti-Mueller ‘Drunks’ With ‘Conspiracy Theories'” please click HERE)

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Mueller Investigator Previously Defended Clinton IT Staffer

It is becoming increasingly clear that special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election may be seriously compromised by Democratic partisans involved in the investigation.

The latest revelation involves Mueller’s “right-hand man,” Aaron Zebley.

Zebley previously served as Mueller’s chief of staff at the FBI and as a senior counselor in the National Security Division at the Department of Justice.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson reported Thursday night that in 2015, Zebley was an attorney for Justin Cooper, the IT staffer who set up Hillary Clinton’s private email server and the aide who destroyed Clinton’s old Blackberry phones with a hammer.

Fox News obtained documents showing that Zebley, as Cooper’s acting attorney, “stonewalled” Senate investigators, as the investigators wanted to question Cooper regarding Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information.

“We are troubled by [Zebley’s] complete refusal to engage the committee in a discussion about how to further assuage your concerns,” congressional investigators complained in a letter to Cooper.

PJ Media’s Debra Heine points out how ridiculous this entire probe of Mueller’s has become:

Let this sink in. The same attorney who played a defensive role for Hillary Clinton was tapped by Mueller in June to play an offensive role against Clinton opponent Trump.

But Aaron Zebley hasn’t been the only questionable hire. Out of a team of 16 lawyers, nine of them have donated to Democratic candidates, mostly to the campaigns of Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. None of them seem to have any Republican leanings.

Another member of the probe, Jeannie Rhee, was the personal attorney for Ben Rhodes (a former staffer and adviser of Obama) and also represented the Clinton Foundation, Fox News’ Laura Ingraham reported on Wednesday.

Two other members of the team have been revealed as blatantly partisan as well — Peter Strzok, an anti-Trumper who helped exonerate Hillary Clinton, and Andrew Weissmann, an “unscrupulous prosecutor” who told outgoing acting Attorney General Sally Yates in an email that he was “proud” of her for defying President Trump’s travel ban.

There has not been a single shred of evidence thus far linking Trump’s campaign to a crime or collusion. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates were indicted on corruption charges unrelated to Russia. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was indicted on charges of lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia after the election. No collusion there, either.

At best, the investigation has charged a former low-level Trump campaign member, George Papadopoulos, with lying to the FBI about the timing of contacts he made with fronts for the Russian government purportedly on behalf of the campaign. But National Review’s Andy McCarthy explained how Papadopoulos’ story actually shows how the Trump campaign actually took steps to avoid “express or implied deals with the Kremlin.”

As time goes on, more and more of Robert Mueller’s investigation is shown to be compromised, with members’ concerning ties to the Democratic Party. Their capacity for a fair and objective investigation is in serious question .

When will it end? (For more from the author of “Mueller Investigator Previously Defended Clinton IT Staffer” please click HERE)

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Fox News Reveals Identity of Unnamed Trump Official Who Directed Flynn to Contact Russians

Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts revealed Friday on live TV the identity of the official who reportedly told former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to talk to the Russian government about sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Russia.

In court papers filed Friday, special counsel Robert Mueller referred to a “senior” official on then-President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team. On Dec. 29, 2016, Flynn contacted that official to determine what he should tell then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak about those sanctions, according to Mueller.

Reporting from outside the White House, Roberts identified that “senior” official as K.T. McFarland, the former deputy national security adviser who is currently waiting to be confirmed by the Senate as the ambassador to Singapore.

Roberts cited “a source with intimate and full knowledge of the investigation” who he said was “very, very knowledgeable.”

Fox News host Shepard Smith then pointed out that McFarland is a name Fox viewers may recognize, and not just for her work in the Trump administration.

“K.T. McFarland was to work for the administration, and did for a short time. She’s a former Fox News contributor that viewers may recognize here,” he said.

Roberts’ reporting was backed up by The Associated Press, which cited “two former officials on President Donald Trump’s transition team” as confirming that McFarland was the official referred to by Mueller as having spoken with Flynn on Dec. 29.

Moreover, the AP also identified the “very senior transition official” whom Mueller claims met with Flynn on Dec. 22 to tell him to contact Russia regarding a U.N. resolution that involved Israeli settlements.

That official was reportedly Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law.

Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” regarding conversations he had with Kislyak.

In a statement, Flynn said the “guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel’s Office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

White House attorney Ty Cobb, meanwhile, has denied that Flynn’s guilty plea and potential cooperation with Mueller’s investigation implicate Trump or his administration.

“The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in (Flynn’s) resignation in February of this year,” Cobb said. “Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn.”

“The concussion of this phase of the Special Counsel’s work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion.” (For more from the author of “Fox News Reveals Identity of Unnamed Trump Official Who Directed Flynn to Contact Russians” please click HERE)

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