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Mueller Investigation Hit With ‘Contempt’ Threat Over Major Revelation of ‘Anti-Trump’ Bias

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A contempt of Congress resolution against FBI director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is reportedly being drafted by U.S. House Republicans.

The resolution, which House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes has instructed the committee to draft, reportedly claims that Wray and Rosenstein were complicit in stonewalling the production of material relevant to the Trump-Russia investigation, Bloomberg News reported Saturday.

Nunes has demanded the Justice Department and FBI explain why they failed to reveal the reasoning behind special counsel Robert Mueller’s decision to oust a supervising FBI agent during the Trump-Russia investigation, the Washington Examiner reported.

Peter Strzok, a high-level FBI counterintelligence investigator was demoted to the FBI’s human resources department this summer after anti-Trump text messages between him and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were discovered.

“Immediately upon learning of the allegations, the special counsel’s office removed Peter Strzok from the investigation,” a spokesman for the special counsel’s office said.

However, Nunes claimed to have been made aware of Strzok’s reassignment only recently, even though roughly three months ago the committee had reportedly issued a subpoena that requested information regarding Strzok’s demotion, according to The New York Times.

According to the Washington Examiner, Nunes then requested information on Strzok’s reassignment during an Oct. 11 meeting with Rosenstein.

FBI officials then reportedly refused a request for information regarding Strzok during an Oct. 31 committee staff meeting. On Nov. 20, a request for an interview with Strzok was reportedly proposed by the committee.

Roughly one week later Nunes discussed Strzok’s demotion with Rosenstein, before the committee once again requested to interview Strzok.

However, on each of these occasions the DOJ and FBI reportedly did nothing. As Bloomberg News reported, actions such as the aforementioned have led Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to claim the investigation into Russian meddling a result of political motivation.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the revelation of Strzok’s demotion due to his supposed anti-Trump bias explained a lot about the FBI’s handling of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s email probe.

“Report: ‘ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT LED CLINTON EMAIL PROBE’ Now it all starts to make sense!” the president wrote.

“By hiding from Congress, and from the American people, documented political bias by a key FBI head investigator for both the Russia collusion probe and the Clinton email investigation, the FBI and DOJ engaged in a willful attempt to thwart Congress’ constitutional oversight responsibility,” Nunes stated Saturday.

Nunes has vowed to proceed with the resolution before the end of December unless the FBI and Justice Department meet the committee’s demands.

On Saturday, the Justice Department agreed to meet some of these demands, but Nunes didn’t seem pleased.

“The DOJ has now expressed — on a Saturday, just hours after the press reports on Strzok’s dismissal appeared — a sudden willingness to comply with some of the committee’s long-standing demands,” Nunes expressed in his statement Saturday. “This attempted 11th-hour accommodation is neither credible nor believable, and in fact is yet another example of the DOJ’s disingenuousness and obstruction.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores released a statement Sunday in response to Nunes’ claims.

“We disagree with the Chairman’s characterization and will continue to work with congressional committees to provide the information they request consistent with our national security responsibilities,” Flores stated. “The Department has already provided members of (the House Intelligence Committee) and House leadership with several hundred pages of classified documents and multiple briefings — including for example clear answers as to whether any FBI payments were made to a source in question related to the dossier — and has more recently cleared key witnesses they have requested to testify, including Mr. McCabe, Mr. Strzok, and the alleged handler in question.” (For more from the author of “Mueller Investigation Hit With ‘Contempt’ Threat Over Major Revelation of ‘Anti-Trump’ Bias” please click HERE)

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A Trump Campaign Official Reportedly Testified Before Mueller Grand Jury

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By Chuck Ross. The senior Trump campaign official who brought George Papadopoulos onto the Trump campaign met last week with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors and testified before a federal grand jury, NBC news is reporting.

Sam Clovis, the campaign’s co-chairman and top policy adviser, brought Papadopoulos onto the campaign’s foreign policy team last March, The Daily Caller was told on Monday.

Interactions between Clovis and Papadopoulos, a 30-year-old energy consultant, became a subject of intrigue on Monday after a federal court unsealed documents showing that Papadopoulos accepted a plea deal earlier this month for lying to the FBI about his interactions with three people who claimed to have links to the Russian government.

Papadopoulos’ email exchanges with Clovis, a former conservative radio host, feature prominently in a statement of offense submitted by Mueller’s prosecutors in the case.

The emails appear to show Clovis encouraging Papadopoulos to set up “off the record” meetings with Russian officials. The Mueller team’s statement of offense also suggests that Papadopoulos claimed that Clovis told him last March that a core policy focus for the Trump campaign was improving relations between the U.S. and Russia. (Read more from “A Trump Campaign Official Reportedly Testified Before Mueller Grand Jury” HERE)

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Manafort and Gates Pose ‘Serious Risk of Flight,’ Says Mueller

By Ken Dilanian. Former Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates posed a “serious risk of flight” because of their wealth and connections abroad, special counsel Robert Mueller argued in newly filed court papers.

A federal judge granted Mueller’s request for substantial bail and travel restrictions on the pair, who face a 12-count criminal indictment alleging money laundering and bank, tax and lobbying disclosure violations.

“The defendants pose a risk of flight based on the serious nature of the charges, their history of deceptive and misleading conduct, the potentially significant sentences the defendants face, the strong evidence of guilt, their significant financial resources, and their foreign connections,” Mueller’s office wrote in a bail memo unsealed Tuesday.

“Both have had substantial overseas ties, including assets held abroad, significant foreign work connections, and significant travel abroad. Those aspects of the defendants’ history and characteristics evidence a risk of flight.” (Read more from “Manafort and Gates Pose ‘Serious Risk of Flight,’ Says Mueller” HERE)

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Lindsey Graham: There ‘Will Be Holy Hell to Pay’ If Trump Fires Mueller

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By Fox News. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and two other aides mark a new phase in his sprawling investigation into Russia and President Donald Trump. But the president’s supporters on Capitol Hill have said they want all the facts to come in first.

There “will be holy hell to pay” if Mueller is dismissed, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News on Monday, unconcerned about rumblings of the ongoing threat Mueller poses to the president. He said there is zero evidence from the White House that Mueller’s investigation will be stopped or curtailed.

Asked to elaborate, Graham continued: “I’ve heard nothing from the White House to suggest that the president’s going to try to replace Mr. Mueller. Zero evidence from anybody I’ve talked to. It would be wrong to do so unless there were cause.”

People familiar with Trump’s thinking told The Associated Press the president has become increasingly concerned that the Mueller probe could be moving to an investigation into his personal dealings. (Read more from “Lindsey Graham: There ‘Will Be Holy Hell to Pay’ If Trump Fires Mueller” HERE)

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Gregg Jarrett: Still No Evidence of Trump-Russia ‘Collusion’ – but Hillary Is a Different Matter

By Gregg Jarrett. Over the weekend, the mainstream media was absolutely giddy with delight upon learning there would be an indictment by special counsel, Robert Mueller . . .

The celebration came to a crashing end when the indictments of Paul Manafort and his business associate, Rick Gates, were unsealed Monday morning. It turns out the charges are, basically, a tax fraud case. The two men stand accused of hiding their income from their lobbying work for Ukraine in order to avoid paying taxes, then lying about it. That’s it.

The 31-page indictment makes no mention of Trump or Russia or “collusion.” The media seemed as dejected as a kid who wakes up on Christmas morning, only to find there are no presents under the tree. Gee whiz. . . .

It is against the law for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to funnel millions of dollars to a British spy and to Russian sources in order to obtain the infamous and discredited Trump “dossier.” The Federal Election Campaign Act (52 USC 30101) prohibits foreign nationals and governments from giving or receiving money in U.S. campaigns. It also prohibits the filing of false or misleading campaign reports to hide the true purpose of the money (52 USC 30121). This is what Clinton and the DNC appear to have done . . .

But that’s not all. Damning new evidence appears to show that Clinton used her office as Secretary of State to confer benefits to Russia in exchange for millions of dollars in donations to her foundation and cash to her husband. Secret recordings, intercepted emails, financial records, and eyewitness accounts allegedly show that Russian nuclear officials enriched the Clintons at the very time Hillary presided over a governing body which unanimously approved the sale of one-fifth of America’s uranium supply to Russia. (Read more from “Gregg Jarrett: Still No Evidence of Trump-Russia ‘Collusion’ – but Hillary Is a Different Matter” HERE)

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Manafort Indicted, Campaign Volunteer Pleads Guilty in Russia Probe

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By WND. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate surrendered to federal authorities Monday on felony charges of conspiracy against the United States and other charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 election.

Meanwhile, a former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump, George Papadopoulos, entered a guilty plea in the investigation, admitting he lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.

The indictment swept up Manafort’s onetime business partner and protégé Rick Gates, but it makes no allegations about the 2016 election. Both pleaded not guilty.

It alleges 12 counts, including conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, being an unregistered foreign agent, misleading statements and failing to file reports of foreign bank accounts. The charges relate to overseas business operations. (Read more from “Manafort Indicted, Campaign Volunteer Pleads Guilty in Russia Probe” HERE)

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Clinton Ally Resigns as Firm Cited in Manafort Indictment

By Art Moore. The Podesta Group, founded by Democratic operative Tony Podesta and his brother, former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, appears to be one of the companies named in the indictment of Paul Manafort released Monday by special counsel Robert Mueller.

The release was followed later Monday by Tony Podesta’s announcement of his resignation from the Podesta Group. Podesta was a top campaign contributor and bundler for Hillary Clinton.

The indictment, the Daily Caller was first to report, states Manafort and associate Paul Gates – both of whom were charged with tax evasion and other crimes – chose two companies, dubbed Company A and Company B, to engage in “a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign in the United States at the direction of [former Ukrainian President Victor] Yanukovych, the Party of Regions, and the government of Ukraine” from 2006 to 2014.

NBC News previously reported, citing sources close to the investigation, that Mueller’s probe had expanded to the Podesta Group. The other lobby group in the indictment is reported to be Mercury LLC. (Read more from “Clinton Ally Resigns as Firm Cited in Manafort Indictment” HERE)

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Mueller’s Office Will Issue First Public Indictment

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By NBC News. A federal grand jury in Washington has approved the first criminal charges in the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference, two sources told NBC News, marking a significant milestone in an inquiry that has roiled Donald Trump’s presidency.

Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office will make public an indictment on Monday, a U.S. official with firsthand knowledge of the process confirmed to NBC News, without disclosing the name of the target or the nature of the charges. The timing was confirmed by a second source familiar with the matter.

CNN was the first to report on Friday that the grand jury approved charges, citing multiple sources. The network added that the charges remain sealed by order of a federal judge.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment Friday night. (Read more from “Mueller’s Office Will Issue First Public Indictment” HERE)

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Dread, Expectation Hang Over Washington Before Mueller Sweep

By Stephen Collinson. A mood of fateful anticipation is cloaking Washington, with possible arrests imminent after the federal grand jury in the Russia investigation approved its first charges.

By taking one or more people into custody, a prospect first reported by CNN Friday, Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller would create a new, perilous reality for the White House, reflecting the gravity of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and alleged collusion by President Donald Trump’s associates.

Trump and his team deny any wrongdoing, and so far there is no conclusive evidence from Mueller’s closely held investigation or several congressional probes of nefarious links with the Russians. (Read more from “Dread, Expectation Hang Over Washington Before Mueller Sweep” HERE)

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Attorney: How Robert Mueller Tried to Entrap Me

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Is special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, appointed in mid-May to lead the investigation into suspected ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and various shady (aren’t they all?) Russian officials, the choirboy that he’s being touted to be, or is he more akin to a modern-day Tomas de Torquemada, the Castilian Dominican friar who was the first Grand Inquisitor in the 15th Century Spanish Inquisition?. . .

But I have known Mueller during key moments of his career as a federal prosecutor. My experience has taught me to approach whatever he does in the Trump investigation with a requisite degree of skepticism or, at the very least, extreme caution.

When Mueller was the acting United States Attorney in Boston, I was defense counsel in a federal criminal case in which a rather odd fellow contacted me to tell me that he had information that could assist my client. He asked to see me, and I agreed to meet. He walked into my office wearing a striking, flowing white gauze-like shirt and sat down across from me at the conference table. He was prepared, he said, to give me an affidavit to the effect that certain real estate owned by my client was purchased with lawful currency rather than, as Mueller’s office was claiming, the proceeds of illegal drug activities.

My secretary typed up the affidavit that the witness was going to sign. Just as he picked up the pen, he looked at me and said something like: “You know, all of this is actually false, but your client is an old friend of mine and I want to help him.” As I threw the putative witness out of my office, I noticed, under the flowing white shirt, a lump on his back – he was obviously wired and recording every word between us.

Years later I ran into Mueller, and I told him of my disappointment in being the target of a sting where there was no reason to think that I would knowingly present perjured evidence to a court. Mueller, half-apologetically, told me that he never really thought that I would suborn perjury, but that he had a duty to pursue the lead given to him. (That “lead,” of course, was provided by a fellow that we lawyers, among ourselves, would indelicately refer to as a “scumbag.”) (Read more from “Silverglate: How Robert Mueller Tried to Entrap Me” HERE)

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Mueller Targets Brother of Hillary’s Campaign Chief

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While Special Counsel Robert Mueller continues to investigate allegations of Trump administration collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, the probe has expanded to the Democratic lobbying firm run by the brother of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign manager, according to sources who spoke to NBC News.

The report comes on the heels of news that an FBI informant was blocked from testifying of Russian efforts to influence the Clintons and the Obama administration regarding the sale of Uranium One to a Moscow-controlled company, which effectively gave the Russians control of 20 percent of U.S. uranium reserves.

The Podesta Group, run by Tony Podesta, the brother of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, has a tie to Uranium One, having received $180,000 from the company to lobby Hillary Clinton’s State Department, according to Open Secrets. The New York Times reported in April 2016 that “as the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation.”

Meanwhile, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported Monday the secretive, Kremlin-linked, green-energy company for which John Podesta served as a board member, Joule Unlimited, apparently met its demise because of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election loss.

WND reported last year that Joule received $35 million from a Putin-connected Russian government fund at the same time then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spearheaded the transfer of U.S. advanced technology, some with military uses, as part of her “reset” strategy with Russia, according to a report titled “From Russia With Money” by the Government Accountability Institute. (Read more from “Mueller Targets Brother of Hillary’s Campaign Chief” HERE)

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Judging by Mueller’s Staffing Choices, He May Not Be Very Interested in Justice

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Much has been written about the prosecutorial prowess of Robert Mueller’s team assembled to investigate allegations of Russia’s involvement in the Trump campaign. Little has been said of the danger of prosecutorial overreach and the true history of Mueller’s lead prosecutor.

What was supposed to have been a search for Russia’s cyberspace intrusions into our electoral politics has morphed into a malevolent mission targeting friends, family and colleagues of the president. The Mueller investigation has become an all-out assault to find crimes to pin on them — and it won’t matter if there are no crimes to be found. This team can make some.

Many Americans despise President Trump and anyone associated with him. Yet turning our system of justice into a political weapon is a danger we must guard against. (Read more from “Judging by Mueller’s Staffing Choices, He May Not Be Very Interested in Justice” HERE)

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