Full Show - MSM Doubles Down, Continues Attacks on Trump and Alex Jones - 06/15/2017
Published on Jun 15, 2017 by The Alex Jones Channel
Thursday, June 15th 2017[, with Jon Rappoport hosting the fourth hour]: MSM Fuels Shooting to Blame Trump - By pushing hatred for President Trump, mainstream reporters are complicit of the GOP shooting which they are already blaming on Trump. Infowars correspondent Jerome Corsi explains the ideology of the authoritarian left. Political insider Matt Bracken also reveals what Trump must do to stop the bloodshed. And former Navy SEAL Craig Sawyer explains the motivations behind the attacks against Trump.
Special counsel is investigating Jared Kushner’s business dealings
Jared Kushner listens as President Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
By Sari Horwitz, Matt Zapotosky and Adam Entous June 15, 2017
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is investigating the finances and business dealings of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, as part of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to officials familiar with the matter.
FBI agents and federal prosecutors have also been examining the financial dealings of other Trump associates, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Carter Page, who was listed as a foreign-policy adviser for the campaign.
The Washington Post previously reported that investigators were scrutinizing meetings that Kushner held with Russians in December — first with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and then with Sergey Gorkov, the head of a state-owned Russian development bank. At the time of that report, it was not clear that the FBI was investigating Kushner’s business dealings.
The officials who described the financial focus of the investigation spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The White House has said that the subsequent meeting with the banker was a pre-inauguration diplomatic encounter, unrelated to business matters. The Russian bank, Vnesheconombank [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/explanations-for-kushners-meeting-with-head-of-kremlin-linked-bank-dont-match-up/2017/06/01/dd1bdbb0-460a-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html ], which has been the subject of U.S. sanctions following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, has said the session was held for business reasons because of Kushner’s role as head of his family’s real estate company. The meeting occurred as Kushner’s company was seeking financing for its troubled $1.8 billion purchase of an office building on Fifth Avenue in New York, and it could raise questions about whether Kushner’s personal financial interests were colliding with his impending role as a public official.
Mueller’s investigation is in a relatively early phase, and it is unclear whether criminal charges will be brought when it is complete.
“We do not know what this report refers to,” Jamie Gorelick, an attorney for Kushner, said in an email. “It would be standard practice for the Special Counsel to examine financial records to look for anything related to Russia. Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about Russia-related matters. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry.”
Kushner has agreed to discuss his Russian contacts with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting one of several investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Kushner rarely speaks publicly about his role in the White House, but he has become a major figure in the administration with a sprawling list of policy responsibilities that includes Canada and Mexico, China, and peace in the Middle East.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment for this article but said that “the Special Counsel’s Office has undertaken stringent controls to prohibit unauthorized disclosures and will deal severely with any member who engages in this conduct.”
Trump on Thursday tweeted that the investigation was “the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history — led by some very bad and conflicted people!”
Trump compared his position with the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in another tweet.
“Crooked H destroyed phones w/ hammer, ‘bleached’ emails, & had husband meet w/AG days before she was cleared — & they talk about obstruction?” he wrote.
After Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey, Trump said that Comey had told him three times that he was not under investigation. Comey confirmed that in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week. The first time he told Trump was in his first meeting with the then-president-elect before the inauguration, on Jan. 6.
Before he met with Trump, Comey gathered his leadership team at the FBI to discuss whether he should be prepared to assure the president-elect that the FBI was not investigating him personally.
Comey testified that not everyone on his team agreed he should. Comey did not name the dissenter, but The Post has learned it was FBI general counsel James A. Baker. Comey testified that the member of his leadership team said that although it was true at the moment that Trump was not under investigation, it was possible that could change.
“His concern was, because we’re looking at the potential — again, that’s the subject of the investigation — coordination between the campaign and Russia, because it was President Trump — President-elect Trump’s campaign, this person’s view was, inevitably, his behavior, his conduct will fall within the scope of that work,” Comey said.
“And so he was reluctant to make the statement that I made,” Comey said.
Baker’s views did not change, even as Comey told Trump a second and third time that he was not being investigated.
“His view was still that it ... could be misleading, because the nature of the investigation was such that it might well touch — obviously, it would touch the campaign, and the person at the head of the campaign would be the candidate. And so that was his view throughout,” Comey said.
Baker declined to comment.
In the days following Trump’s firing of Comey on May 9 and before Mueller’s appointment, the obstruction-of-justice investigation of the president began, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussing the firing of Comey, Trump said in an interview with NBC, “In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.’”
Comey took notes after each of his nine meetings or phone calls with Trump, including one alone with the president in the Oval Office on Feb. 14, the day after Flynn was forced to resign. Comey testified that Trump said to him, “I hope you can let this go.” The president has denied that he told Comey to drop the Flynn investigation.
Comey told lawmakers he gave his notes to Mueller.
Two senior intelligence officials, Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, agreed to be interviewed by Mueller as early as this week.
Trump later telephoned Coats and Rogers to separately ask them to issue public statements denying that there was evidence of coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials. Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the president’s requests, officials said.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation has already expanded beyond Russia's interference in the election to include possible obstruction of justice by the president and potential money laundering by his associates. Duration: 7:32
Watch: Australian Prime Minister does Trump impression
All In with Chris Hayes 6/15/17
Thing 1/Thing 2: In new leaked audio from what was supposed to be an off-the-record dinner, Australian Prime Minister Turnbull roasts the American president. Duration: 2:56
Republicans don't know what's in their own health care bill
All In with Chris Hayes 6/15/17
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a member of the Senate health care working group, claims that even he doesn't know what's in his party's secret bill. Duration: 2:02
Pence hires lawyer with relevant experience; Mueller builds team
The Rachel Maddow Show 6/15/17
Rachel Maddow reports on how the new outside lawyer hired by Mike Pence, Richard Cullen, had a role representing clients in both the Watergate and and Iran Contra presidential scandals. Duration: 21:55
Mueller investigating Kushner businesses as probe follows money
The Rachel Maddow Show 6/15/17
Matt Zapotosky, Justice Department and national security reporter for the Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's legal team and new reporting that Jared Kushner's business dealings are under investigation. Duration: 5:54
Congressman Adam Schiff talks with Rachel Maddow about how the mass shooting at a congressional Republican baseball practice has changed the mood in Congress. Duration: 4:01
Trump obstruction could become part of House Intel investigation
The Rachel Maddow Show 6/15/17
Congressman Adam Schiff, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee talks with Rachel Maddow about progress in the Trump Russia investigation and whether the committee will also probe possible obstruction of justice by Donald Trump. Duration: 2:56
Officials charged with felony over deaths in Flint water crisis
The Rachel Maddow Show 6/15/17
Mayor Karen Weaver of Flint, Michigan, talks with Rachel Maddow about charges filed against Snyder administration officials in the Flint water crisis, including involuntary manslaughter related to deaths from a spike in Legionnaires disease. Duration: 7:17
Congressional game goes on with shooting victims in mind
The Rachel Maddow Show 6/15/17
Rachel Maddow reports on updates to the conditions of victims of the mass shooting at a Republicans baseball practice as the game was played as scheduled to show American unity and raise money for charity. Duration: 1:27
Trump admin takes Lawrence's advice to 'lawyer up'
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 6/15/17
VP Mike Pence hires a criminal defense lawyer to handle all Russia probe matters, likely funded through his new leadership PAC. Plus, Jared Kushner's business dealings are now reportedly under scrutiny. The Washington Post's Sari Horwitz joins Lawrence O'Donnell. Duration: 11:11
Deputy Attorney General's perplexing statement on media reports
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 6/15/17
Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein issued a statement warning Americans about unspecified media reports using anonymous sources or that don't indicate which country the source is coming from, raising more questions. David Frum and Lachlan Markay join Lawrence O'Donnell. Duration: 4:57
NY AG: What Trump's history of litigation means for Russia probe
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 6/15/17
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joins Lawrence O'Donnell exclusively to explain what he learned about Trump from facing off against him in the Trump University case. He also weighs in on the potential of a SCOTUS decision on Trump's travel ban. Duration: 5:41
Pence lawyers up as Trump reportedly obsesses over Russia probe
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/15/17
The Vice President hires a lawyer to deal with the Russia probe the president is calling a 'witch hunt' and reportedly is obsessing over, watching hours of TV news every day. Our panel reacts. Duration: 11:37
'Trumpian' statement by Sessions deputy blasts anonymous sources
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/15/17
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who works directly under Atty. General Jeff Sessions, issued a strange statement blasting reports with anonymous sources. Our panel reacts. Duration: 4:00
Why Kushner's meeting with Putin-linked Russian banker matters
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/15/17
Bianna Golodryga of Yahoo! News joins MSNBC's Brian Williams to explain what's so important about Jared Kushner's December meeting with a key Russian banker who's also a Putin confident. Duration: 1:29
Fmr. Watergate prosecutor: Donald Trump is a 'nightmare client'
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/15/17
Jill Wine-Banks, a former Watergate prosecutor, says Pres. Trump is a 'nightmare client' for any attorney and his tweeting is 'terrible' for his case. Our legal panel reacts. Duration: 3:58
Trump attacks 'Crooked H' on Twitter 220 days after election
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/15/17
Indira Lakshmanan, Jeff Mason, and Eugene Robinson react to Pres. Trump's tweets attempting to turn the Russia probe into a discussion about Hillary Clinton. Duration: 9:39
Published on Jun 16, 2017 by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Despite Jeff Sessions' promise to crackdown on marijuana, the Attorney General seemed to display some of its side effects during his Senate hearing on Tuesday.
President Trump Is Now Personally Under Investigation: A Closer Look
Published on Jun 15, 2017 by Late Night with Seth Meyers
Seth takes a closer look at reports that President Trump is personally under investigation for obstruction of justice as Senate Republicans edge closer to passing a secret health care bill.
"Day 147" Little Marco Rubio Orders Donald Trump to Shut Cuba Down. George Webb DUI
Published on Jun 15, 2017 by Bravo Alternative Media
On "Day 147" of the Donald Trump White House Regime we find Little Marco Rubio is ordering Trump to Shut Cuba Down. How Ironic is it, that Little Marco is giving orders to Big Trump. George Webb Sweigert is arrested in Zanesville Ohio for a DUI and soon after that FBI go into the Jail to ask George about his sources that led to the Closing of the Port in South Carolina to Sweep the Ship named The Memphis.., No threat was found.
How a Conspiracy Theorist’s Call About a Dirty Bomb Shut Down Part of a Port Trucks with containers line up at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina. The port was closed down for several hours after a conspiracy theorist reported a dirty bomb on a ship. JUNE 15, 2017 A section of the Port of Charleston [ http://www.scspa.com/ ] in South Carolina was shut down for several hours Wednesday night after a tip from a far-right YouTube conspiracy theorist warned that a dirty bomb might be on a container ship moored there, officials said. A section of the Port of Charleston was closed for about seven hours as nearly a dozen federal, state and local agencies searched and turned up nothing. The episode began around 8 p.m. on Wednesday when the Coast Guard said it received two phone calls about a potential dirty bomb — a crude explosive rigged to spray radioactive material — aboard the container ship Maersk Memphis [ http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:425203/mmsi:366337000/imo:9348651/vessel:MAERSK_MEMPHIS ], Lt. James B. Zorn, a Coast Guard spokesman, said on Thursday. [...] Lieutenant Zorn said the two separate calls appeared to have been prompted by a YouTube posting and that agencies responded out of “an abundance of caution.” What appeared to be an account of one call was posted to YouTube on Wednesday. In it, George Webb [ https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22george+webb%22+infowars , https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22george+webb%22+%22alex+jones%22 ], a prolific social media conspiracy theorist, describes his conversation with the Coast Guard.
“Well I just got off the phone with the Coast Guard in South Carolina, and they were very obviously, you know, hesitant to call out all the dogs and call out all the radiation meters and all that without knowing who our source is,” he said in the post, which was published on Wednesday. He described the anonymous sources who he said gave him information on a bomb at the port as being in the Midwest and that they were fearful of reprisals from Andrew G. McCabe [ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/us/politics/andrew-mccabe-fbi-acting-director.html ], the acting director of the F.B.I. “These are American patriots who spent decades even before D.H.S. was formed in service to our country saving our country from terrorists’ attacks,” Mr. Webb said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security. [...] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/us/port-dirty-bomb-south-carolina.html , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-EUz5JeFQ [as embedded; with comments]
Published on Jun 15, 2017 by The Alex Jones Channel
Alex Jones has released recordings made during a pre-interview between himself and Megyn Kelly to set the record straight after the release of the highly edited promo for the NBC hosts upcoming hit piece.
Trump Acknowledges He Is Under Investigation in Russia Inquiry President Trump at the White House on Wednesday. "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt" JUNE 16, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/us/politics/trump-investigation-comey-russia.html [with comments]
Full Show - Alex Jones Breaks Down NBC’s Plan To Kill The New Media And Stop America’s Awakening
Published on Jun 16, 2017 by The Alex Jones Channel
Friday, June 16th 2017[, with Mike Cernovich hosting the fourth hour with an appearance by Corey Stewart]: Alex Jones Megyn Kelly Full Interview Leaked - Alex Jones has released recordings made during a pre-interview between himself and Megyn Kelly to set the record straight after the release of the highly edited promo for the NBC host’s upcoming hit piece. The latest Rasmussen poll shows Trump's approval rating has hit 50%. Director of the documentary "The Red Pill" Cassie Jaye joins the broadcast to share her experiences with the deceptive MSM. Also, Infowars correspondent Jerome Corsi will discuss the increasingly tense political climate in America.
Trumplomacy: Four takeaways from Trump's Cuba policy This is a rollback, not a reversal, of Obama's Cuba policy. The number of Americans visiting Havana could diminish. 16 June 2017 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40310919 [with embedded video]
The instruction, which came from the team’s lawyer, Kory Langhofer, details how both volunteers and aides must “preserve any physical and electronic records that may be related in any way to the subject matter of the pending investigations.” The Times reports [id.]:
The so-called preservation order covers any transition team information involving Russia or Ukraine. It also seeks any background investigation records involving the former manager of the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort, and his business partner, Rick Gates; the former foreign policy adviser Carter Page; and the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.
Records involving Roger Stone, the informal Trump adviser and confidant, must be similarly preserved.
The memo includes specific instructions for travel-related materials, as well. According to Politico’s reporting, transition-team members must turn over: “emails, voicemails, text messages, instant messages, social media posts, Word or WordPerfect documents, spreadsheets, databases, telephone logs, audio recordings, videos, photographs or images, information contained on desktops, laptops, tablet computers, smartphones or other portable devices, calendar records, and diary data.”
Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, hires his own lawyer in Russia probe Attorney Stephen Ryan in 2007 at a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing in Washington. June 16, 2017 MIAMI — Michael Cohen, who for years has served as President Trump’s personal attorney, has hired a lawyer of his own to help him navigate the expanding Russia investigation. Cohen confirmed Friday to The Washington Post that he has retained Stephen M. Ryan, a Washington-based lawyer from the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery who has experience prosecuting criminal cases as an assistant U.S. attorney. Cohen’s hiring of Ryan as his personal lawyer was first reported by Katy Tur of NBC News. Cohen’s decision is the latest indication that the Russia probe overseen by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is intensifying and could end up focusing on a number of Trump associates, both inside and outside the White House. Michael Caputo, a New York-based political operative and radio commentator who served as a senior communications adviser on Trump's campaign, also has hired a lawyer of his own to navigate the Russia probe. Caputo has retained Dennis C. Vacco, a former New York state attorney general and a partner at the law firm Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman. His hiring also was first reported by NBC's Tur. On Thursday, Vice President Pence’s office announced that the vice president had hired outside legal counsel, Richard Cullen, to assist him with inquiries from the Mueller investigation as well as congressional committee probes. During a Friday morning event here in Miami, The Post asked Pence whether he had any comment about hiring his own lawyer. The vice president said only: “It’s very routine. Very routine.” [...] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/06/16/trumps-personal-lawyer-michael-cohen-hires-his-own-lawyer-in-russia-probe/ [with embedded video, and comments]
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Trump hires another high-profile lawyer as special counsel probe heats up Trump and his aides are facing multiple investigations, including a probe by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations Russian leaders tried to meddle in last year's election and that Trump's campaign colluded with the Kremlin in the effort. 06/16/2017 President Donald Trump has added another high-profile lawyer to his personal legal team as the special counsel investigation heats up. John Dowd, who investigated Pete Rose for Major League Baseball and represented John McCain during the Keating Five Scandal, among other high-profile clients, has joined the president's legal team, according to two people familiar with the pick. Dowd declined to comment Friday. The addition of Dowd, a 76-year-old former prosecutor who has practiced law in Washington for decades, adds an experienced hand in the investigation. He joins Marc Kasowitz, Trump's longtime New York lawyer, Mark Bowe, who works with Kasowitz, and Jay Sekulow. [...] http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/16/trump-new-lawyer-john-dowd-fbi-investigation-239651 [with comments] [substitute image taken from the separately very worthwhile "Reporter’s notebook: I never thought I’d be writing about Trump’s mind", https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/25/trump-speech-reporter-notebook/ (with comments)]
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Escalating investigation puts Trump and his staff at legal odds The interests of the president and his aides are diverging, increasing the legal risks for those who try to stay loyal instead of hiring their own lawyers. More White House staffers are likely to hire lawyers and splinter off as President Donald Trump's response to the investigation grows increasingly aggressive. Vice President Mike Pence this week confirmed he's retaining an attorney to represent him. 06/16/2017 http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/16/donald-trump-staff-investigation-legal-counsel-239658 [with comments]
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How the Russia Investigation Entangled a Manafort Protégé
Rick Gates said that criticism of him and Paul Manafort was based on flawed news media reports and documents whose authenticity the two men question. Damon Winter/The New York Times
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and BARRY MEIER JUNE 16, 2017
Nearly everywhere Paul Manafort went, it seemed, Rick Gates followed, his protégé and junior partner. Election campaigns in Eastern Europe and Africa. Business ventures with a Russian tycoon. The upper ranks of Donald J. Trump [ http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump ]’s presidential campaign.
Mr. Gates survived Mr. Manafort’s purge last summer amid allegations that his mentor had taken millions of dollars from Kremlin allies, retaining a central role on Mr. Trump’s campaign and transition team. But Mr. Gates, 45, soon followed in Mr. Manafort’s footsteps once again: In April, amid new questions about Russian interference in the 2016 election, he was abruptly forced out of a lobbying group formed to advance President Trump’s agenda.
Now, Mr. Gates has been drawn into the burgeoning federal investigations into diplomatic and financial dealings between Russian interests and the president’s inner circle. In a newly disclosed memo, a lawyer for the Trump campaign ordered members of the president’s transition team to preserve records relating to five Trump associates, among them Mr. Manafort — already known to be a subject of the investigation — and Mr. Gates. The memo indicates that transition lawyers believe Mr. Gates’s actions are under scrutiny by the Justice Department or the House or Senate Intelligence Committees — or soon will be.
As investigators examine Mr. Manafort’s financial and political dealings at home and abroad, they are likely to run into Mr. Gates wherever they look. During the pair’s heady days in Ukraine, it was Mr. Gates who flew to Moscow for meetings with associates of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch. His name appears on documents linked to shell companies that Mr. Manafort’s firm set up in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe, records reviewed by The New York Times show.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia greeted Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch, last year. Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant, via Getty Images
Following an inquiry from the Department of Justice, Mr. Gates and Mr. Manafort are also now weighing whether to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in connection with an effort in Washington several years ago to burnish the image of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
Mr. Gates said late Thursday night that federal investigators had not been in contact with him. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing and, in recent interviews, he said that criticism of him and Mr. Manafort was based on flawed news media reports and documents whose authenticity the two men question.
“Everything was done legally and with the approval of our lawyers,” Mr. Gates said. “Nothing to my knowledge was ever done inappropriately.”
Mr. Gates’s rapid ascent into Mr. Trump’s orbit, and his sudden ejection from it, is just one example of how the Russia-related controversies have shaken the Trump administration. The federal investigations are also casting a harsh light on the crossroads of Washington lobbying and international deal making, where Mr. Manafort made his fortune — and Mr. Gates once hoped to follow.
“I don’t know if it is a Greek tragedy, but it is certainly ironic,” said John Weaver, a Republican political consultant. Mr. Weaver feuded with a former business partner [ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/us/politics/25davis.html ] of Mr. Manafort’s and Mr. Gates’s when their work with Mr. Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, vexed the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.
The investigations into Mr. Manafort’s relationships overseas, Mr. Weaver said, are “the only reason Rick Gates isn’t in the West Wing and why Paul Manafort doesn’t have a thousand clients in Washington.”
The two men met nearly three decades ago when Mr. Gates was an intern at Black, Manafort, Stone, Kelly, a high-powered Washington consulting firm.
The firm specialized in running Republican campaigns and then lobbying the politicians they had helped elect. In Washington, Mr. Manafort worked to smooth the rough edges of various dictators and strongmen, among them Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Trump Organization was also a client, employing the firm to lobby the Treasury Department on casino transaction rules and to guide Mr. Trump’s ill-fated New York-Washington airline venture.
Mr. Manafort testified before the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Employment and Housing in 1989. Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times
Mr. Manafort left the firm the same year Mr. Gates started there. But Mr. Gates worked closely with another rising Republican lobbyist, Rick Davis, and in 2006 joined him and Mr. Manafort at their new company, Davis Manafort.
From an office in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, the firm was working a variation on Mr. Manafort’s Washington business model. While rebranding Ukraine’s Moscow-aligned president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, as a reformist candidate who favored closer ties to the European Union, they sought investment deals with politically connected industrialists in Eastern Europe. One of them was Mr. Deripaska, the Russian aluminum magnate and an ally of President Vladimir V. Putin, who has been denied a visa to the United States, apparently because of allegations linking him to organized crime — charges Mr. Deripaska has denied.
When Mr. Davis left the company to manage Mr. McCain’s 2008 campaign, Mr. Gates took over his duties in Eastern Europe, meeting with potential business partners, developing deals, and negotiating contracts. He often flew to London or Paris, according to a former colleague in the Kiev office, and made at least two business trips to Moscow.
Foreign capitals, of course, have long been a lucrative destination for American political consultants: Big-name campaign operatives can earn a small fortune working for controversial or disreputable candidates, largely out of sight of the American news media. Mr. Yanukovych’s operation boasted numerous veterans of both George W. Bush’s and John Kerry’s presidential campaigns.
Mr. Manafort’s political consulting and advising operation was run out of an office on Sofiivska Street in central Kiev. Joseph Sywenkyj for The New York Times
“Rick was Paul’s business guy,” said Tad Devine, a Democratic political consultant who worked with Davis Manafort on the Ukraine campaigns. (He quit in 2012, after Mr. Yanukovych jailed a former rival for the presidency.) Working for Mr. Yanukovych, Mr. Devine said, helped position Mr. Gates and his bosses to do business in the country.
“You elect Yanukovych, he is going to make it a market economy, so you work to do deals and get foreign investment — and that’s where the real money was,” Mr. Devine said.
One Davis Manafort venture, a private equity fund called Pericles, was set up to buy small companies in Russia and Eastern Europe within industries that had yet to consolidate: cable television, for example, or pharmaceutical manufacturing. The fund’s biggest investor was Mr. Deripaska, the Russian oligarch.
For Mr. Gates, then in his mid-30s, partnering with moguls such as Mr. Deripaska seemed like a route to the kind of financial success enjoyed by Mr. Manafort, a multimillionaire with vacation homes in the Hamptons and in Palm Beach, Fla. Mr. Gates had read news reports of Mr. Deripaska’s problems with the State Department, but said he was not overly troubled by them; the Russian was already in business with blue-chip American firms like General Motors.
In 2007, Mr. Gates and his wife traded in their $700,000 home in Richmond, Va., taking out a $1.5 million loan for a house in one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, public records show.
“We thought we had a good business model,” Mr. Gates said. “We thought we were going to be successful.”
As it turned out, the fund foundered amid the global economic crisis, and the only deal with Mr. Deripaska devolved into a legal dispute. But today, nearly a decade later, investigators are known to have an interest in the money that Mr. Manafort and his colleagues made in Eastern Europe, how those funds were paid and the offshore conduits such as Cyprus [ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/us/politics/russia-investigation-cyprus-mike-quigley.html ] through which that money traveled.
Mr. Manafort has insisted that the ledgers were forged and that he never received any secret cash payments. “Paul’s payments for his work abroad have all come through traceable wire transfers to his U.S. accounts,” said Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Mr. Manafort.
Davis Manafort used shell companies in Cyprus both to receive payments for its political consulting and for business investment activities. Documents reviewed by The Times show that Mr. Gates was among the employees who dealt with the Cypriot law firm that registered those companies.
Mr. Gates explained that Mr. Deripaska had recommended the firm, Dr. K. Chrysostomides & Co. Five shell companies were set up to facilitate anticipated business deals with Mr. Deripaska; four others were for payments received for political consulting services in Ukraine, he said.
Cyprus has long been a popular tax haven for Russian oligarchs and businesses. Mr. Gates said he was told that Davis Manafort clients had instructed the firm to use Cyprus as a financial transfer point, because American banks preferred to work with the island’s European Union-regulated banks rather than those in Eastern Europe. A representative for Mr. Deripaska and his companies did not respond to questions from The New York Times. Mr. Davis, who now works at a private equity firm, did not reply to an email seeking comment.
After protesters forced Mr. Yanukovych from power in early 2014, Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates began looking for potential political clients elsewhere: Hungary, Uganda, and Kenya. But then another revolution began to crest — the one back home, in the Republican presidential primary.
Mr. Manafort spoke to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, with Rick Gates behind him, in July. Matt Rourke/Associated Press
In the spring of 2016, when Mr. Trump found himself outmaneuvered in the arcane battle for Republican convention delegates, he turned to Mr. Manafort. Mr. Gates came along as his deputy — the man behind the man in charge. In a campaign known for its factionalism, Mr. Gates won over colleagues by managing the mundane but essential work of daily operations. He traveled often with Mr. Trump and forged relationships with Reince Priebus, the future chief of staff, and Brad Parscale, the campaign’s digital director.
“What made him valuable was, people trusted him, No. 1, and No. 2, he was effective,” said Richard F. Hohlt, a longtime Republican lobbyist who worked on Mr. Trump’s transition team.
Mr. Gates was soon established in Mr. Trump’s circle. Before the first presidential debate, he glad-handed with Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s top security adviser — now also a subject of the federal investigations — and Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul. At an election night party, Mr. Gates hit it off with Thomas J. Barrack Jr., the wealthy Los Angeles investor, who hired Mr. Gates to help run Mr. Trump’s inaugural.
After Mr. Trump was sworn in, Mr. Gates joined Mr. Parscale and other Trump aides to raise $25 million for a new pro-Trump group, America First Policies. Mr. Gates lined up office space adjacent to the Willard Hotel, a Washington power-breakfast spot, and became a frequent visitor to the White House, hoping to join the new Trump era elite.
“He did it to stand on his own,” Mr. Hohlt said. “He wanted his own presence with Trump.”
Mr. Gates, left, with Donald J. Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Sam Hodgson for The New York Times
But his work in Ukraine cast a long shadow. Amid the Russia investigations, reports on Mr. Manafort’s work for Mr. Deripaska rattled colleagues at America First Policies. Mr. Gates was let go.
Mr. Gates said he and Mr. Manafort were being unfairly smeared by Democrats and Mr. Trump’s enemies. “Everybody has tried to take these instances of anyone in the Trump orbit doing something in Russia, and then fast-forwarding however many years, and then saying it is evidence of collusion with Russia on the election,” Mr. Gates said. “It’s totally ridiculous and without merit.”
Parscale would be on the list of Trump associates that the committee wants to testify about any connections between the Republican nominee’s campaign and Russian operatives. CNN reported in May that the campaign’s data analytics operation—widely credited with securing Trump’s surprise victory—was being scrutinized by federal investigators. Agents want to know whether Russian intelligence operatives relied on Trump campaign staffers or their data to assist with Russia’s targeted use of social media bots and “fake news” sites to sway American voters, as CNN then reported [ http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/25/politics/fbi-russia-investigation-jared-kushner/index.html ].
The role of Jared Kushner, Trump son-in-law and senior adviser, in overseeing that data operation also is under scrutiny in the federal probe.
Parscale told CNN he has not been contacted by either federal or congressional investigators.
Parscale has remained in the Trump orbit since the campaign. He now serves as digital, social and media adviser for America First Policies, a non-profit organized to promote the Trump White House’s agenda.
Congressman: Trump is ‘on the verge of a meltdown’
All In with Chris Hayes 6/16/17
Acknowledging he's under investigation, the president lashed out on Twitter at his own deputy attorney general, raising fears of another Saturday Night Massacre to try and shut down the Russia probe. Duration: 4:28
GOP can’t explain what their secret bill is supposed to do
All In with Chris Hayes 6/16/17
A small group of Senate Republicans won't show the secret health care bill to Democrats, the public, or even many Republicans. And they can't even explain what it's supposed to do. Duration: 2:16
Trump appoints son's wedding planner to HUD position
All In with Chris Hayes 6/16/17
President Trump chose the woman who planned his son Eric's wedding to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s region covering New York and New Jersey. Duration: 3:01
Rachel Maddow reports on new private, outside lawyers Donald Trump is hiring to represent him in the Russia investigation, and wonders if Mike Pence fundraisers might be as much for legal bills as campaign expenses. Duration: 13:33
CIA Director Pompeo ducks query from Senate Judiciary Committee
The Rachel Maddow Show 6/16/17
Rachel Maddow reports on congressional committees building their witness lists in the Trump Russia investigation, but CIA Director Mike Pompeo missed the deadline to reply to a query from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Duration: 9:36
Bob Bauer, former White House counsel, talks with Rachel Maddow about how Donald Trump hurts himself with rash tweets, and whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein needs to recuse himself from the obstruction part of the Trump Russia investigation. Duration: 7:00
Senator Amy Klobuchar talks with Rachel Maddow about the acquittal of the police officer who killed Philando Castile, Donald Trump reverting some sanctions on Cuba, and the call for Jeff Sessions to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Duration: 6:39
Donald Trump tweeted an apparent attack on his Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein – another sign the president is more frustrated than ever with the Russia probe, as a new report says he’s yelling at White House TVs over coverage of the investigation. Duration: 7:21
Donald Trump's Twitter feed is interfering with his presidency, and his Twitter attack on his Deputy AG is just the latest in a series of harmful online tirades likely setting back his legislative agenda. Lawrence O'Donnell speaks with Eugene Robinson & David Corn. Duration: 6:16
Donald Trump's lawyer now has a lawyer for the Russia investigation – as Trump himself hires another attorney: this one, a high-profile criminal attorney, as the special counsel appears to expands his probe. Max Boot and David Cay Johnston join Lawrence O'Donnell. Duration: 7:33
Trump & his personal lawyer both hire lawyers on Russia
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/16/17
Pres. Trump adds another attorney to his Russia legal team on the same day we learn Trump's personal attorney hired a lawyer on all things Russia. MSNBC's Brian Williams & his panel react. Duration: 8:19
Furious Trump reportedly yells at TV during Russia coverage
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/16/17
Trump thinks the Russia probe is targeting him in a conspiracy to possibly end his presidency according to an AP report. Shannon Pettypiece of Bloomberg News joins MSNBC's Brian Williams. Duration: 2:50
Trump acknowledges for first time he’s under investigation President Donald Trump walks with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster from the Oval Office to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 16, 2017, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., then onto Miami. Jun 16, 2017 [...] Trump advisers and confidants describe the president as increasingly angry over the investigation, yelling at television sets in the White House carrying coverage and insisting he is the target of a conspiracy to discredit — and potentially end — his presidency. Some of his ire is aimed at Rosenstein and investigative special counsel Robert Mueller, both of whom the president believes are biased against him, associates say. Dianne Feinstein, top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she was “increasingly concerned” that Trump will fire both Mueller and Rosenstein. “The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired,” Feinstein said. “That’s undemocratic on its face and a blatant violation of the president’s oath of office.” Aides have counseled the president to stay off Twitter and focus on other aspects of his job. They have tried to highlight the positive reviews he received Wednesday when he made a statesman-like appearance in the White House to address the nation after Rep. Steve Scalise was shot during a congressional baseball practice. Yet Trump’s angry tweets on Friday underscored the near-impossible challenge his advisers and legal team have in trying to get him to avoid weighing in on an active probe. The president has denied that he has any nefarious ties to Russia and has also disputed that he’s attempted to block the investigation into his campaign’s possible role in Russia’s election-related hacking. It was unclear whether his tweet about being under investigation was based on direct knowledge or new media reports that suggest Mueller is examining whether the president obstructed justice by firing Comey. [...] https://www.apnews.com/0172a576e8124251b5478818d1944632/Trump-acknowledges-for-first-time-he's-under-investigation
Sen. Feinstein: Trump seems to think law doesn't apply to him
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/16/17
Veteran California Democrat had some choice words for President Trump after his tweets blasting those responsible for the Russia investigation. Bloomberg's Shannon Pettypiece reacts. Duration: 1:46
Trump goes from escalator to under investigation in two years
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 6/16/17
Exactly two years to the day after Donald Trump launched his long-shot bid at the White House, the President confirmed he is under investigation by the Russia Special Counsel. Our panel reacts. Duration: 8:27
Candidate Trump warned the world was laughing at the U.S. But now that he's president, are world leaders laughing at him? Anne Gearan of The Washington Post joins MSNBC's Brian Williams. Duration: 4:54
Monologue: Panic Is the Word | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Published on Jun 16, 2017 by Real Time with Bill Maher
Bill discusses the growing anxiety at the White House over the Russia investigation and President Trump's bizarre cabinet meeting in his Real Time monologue.
this is the concluding part 4 of a 4-part post; part 3 is the post to which this is a reply -- the following 'see also (linked in)' listing is common to all 4 parts
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in addition to (linked in) the post to which this is a reply and preceding and (any future other) following, see also (linked in):
Trump Asks 'Why No Action?' Amid Questions About Obama's Response To Russian Meddling
June 24, 20176:36 PM ET
Martina Stewart Windsor Johnston
[...]
On Wednesday, Jeh Johnson, who was Obama's secretary of Homeland Security during last year's election, was asked by members of Congress about the timing of the administration's response — specifically why the voting public was not informed about what Russia was up to until the fall of 2017.
One of the candidates, Johnson said, not naming but clearly referring to Donald Trump, "was predicting that the election was going to be rigged," Johnson testified before the House Intelligence Committee, "and so we were concerned that by making the statement, we might in and of itself be challenging the integrity of the election process." Johnson also told the top Democrat on the committee that he had been concerned last year that he would be criticized "for perhaps taking sides" in an ongoing election if he publicly spoke out about the Russian meddling that he knew was going on.
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