Mueller’s Investigation In Trouble As Judges Demand EVIDENCE And FACTS To Back Up Claims

After two years of investigations by a highly politicized FBI and a Special Counsel stacked with Clinton supporters, Robert Mueller’s “witch hunt” appears to have hit a snag. Three separate judges have now demanded evidence and facts in an “unredacted format” or Mueller runs the risk having the case tossed out altogether.

Mueller’s investigation has hit a brick wall. Without any evidence, judges don’t see how it can proceed. As Zerohedge reported, the nation has been on the edge of insanity waiting for that much-promised and long-awaited link tying President Trump to Vladimir Putin, only to find out that there is no link, and the deck appears to have been heavily stacked against Donald Trump by bad actors operating at the highest levels of the FBI, DOJ, Obama admin, and Clinton camp. It looks like the real Russian conspiracy in the 2016 election was the participation of high-level Kremlin sources used in the anti-Trump dossier that Hillary Clinton paid for – not to mention the Uranium One scandal that’s being covered up by the “bad actors” and the mainstream media for Hillary. 

The first major setback to the investigation into “Russian collusion” during the 2016 election happened in February when the federal judge (Judge Emmet G. Sullivan) assigned to the criminal case against Trump’s former National Security advisor Michael Flynn, demanded  Mueller’s team to turn over any “exculpatory evidence” to Flynn’s defense.

 According to Zerohedge, Flynn’s legal team never actually made this request, strangely enough. Instead, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued the order “sua sponte,” or at his discretion, invoking the “Brady Rule.” That rule requires prosecutors to turn over previously unfiled evidence that might have a material impact on a defendant’s case. Two days before Sullivan’s order, Mueller filed a motion for a protective order regarding the use of evidence in the case, including “sensitive materials,” which would be provided to Flynn’s lawyers by the office of the Special Counsel.

The implication was that Flynn had entered a guilty plea for reasons other than “guilt.”  We also know that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn (one of whom was anti-Trump counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok) did not think Flynn was lying to them – something James Comey was recently caught lying about himself.

Fox New‘s Judge Andrew Napolitano thought Sullivan’s decision at the time was a complete bombshell.

“Why would he we want that after General Flynn has already pleaded guilty? That is unheard of. He must suspect a defect in the guilty plea. Meaning, he must have reason to believe that General Flynn pleaded guilty for some reason other than guilt.” –Andrew Napolitano

Is it not possible he just plead guilty because of the financial burden it created and is creating on our family?? https://t.co/gx5sLLa1K9

— MFLYNNJR (@mflynnJR) April 23, 2018

Speculation is now swirling that Flynn pleaded guilty because unless one is extremely wealthy, federal investigations have a way of bankrupting anyone else.  “Your investigation and others into the allegations of Trump campaign collusion with Russia are costing my family a great deal of money — more than $125,000 — and making a visceral impact on my children.”

Then there’s the judge in the [Paul] Manafort Case, who excoriated a Special Counsel attorney on Friday during a “motion to dismiss” hearing. A leaked transcript of the heated exchange between attorney Michael Dreeben and Eastern District of Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis reveals that the entire Manafort case is in jeopardy if the Special Counsel doesn’t produce an unredacted copy of the original order from Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein authorizing the original investigation. –Zerohedge

And what could be the final nail in the investigation’s coffin, was last week’s ruling by federal Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, denying Mueller a trial delay over the high-profile February indictment of 13 Russians for interfering in the 2016 US election.  Mueller accused 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities (one of which was Concord Management and Consulting) of “knowingly and intentionally” conspiring to interfere with the election by using social media to disparage Hillary Clinton and support Donald Trump. But Mueller didn’t expect Concord Management and Consulting to fight back.

I don’t think anyone (including Mueller) anticipated that any of the defendants would appear in court to defend against the charges. Rather, the Mueller prosecutors seem to have obtained the indictment to serve a public relations purpose, laying out the case for interference as understood by the government and lending a veneer of respectability to the Mueller Switch Project.

One of the Russian corporate defendants nevertheless hired counsel to contest the charges. In April two Washington-area attorneys — Eric Dubelier and Kate Seikaly of the Reed Smith firm — filed appearances in court on behalf of Concord Management and Consulting. Josh Gerstein covered that turn of events for Politicohere. –Powerline Blog

Mueller was just denied the opportunity to kick the can down the road, and will likely be forced to produce the requested evidence or withdraw the indictment, potentially jeopardizing the PR aspect of the entire “Trump collusion” probe.

Evidence continues to mount that this probe was nothing more than a public relations (propaganda) campaign from the very beginning.  Most of us could see through it, though.

H/T Zerohedge

Podesta Group "Will Not Exist At The End Of The Year"

While all eyes (from the left and the establishment right) remain on Trump  (daring to shake Putin"s hand this weekend), the mainstream media appears to be missing the news that the lobbying firm founded by longtime Democratic operative Tony Podesta is reportedly on the verge of shuttering after being swept up in special counsel Robert Mueller"s Russia probe.

Just three weeks after we reported that special counsel Mueller was targeting lobbying firm Podesta Group. and just two weeks after Tony Podesta resigned from his position at the firm he founded, The Hill reports that Kimberley Fritts, the Podesta Group"s chief executive, told employees on Thursday that the firm would not exist at the end of the year and that they would likely not be paid through the end of November, sources told CNN.

Fritts announced her resignation from the top Washington lobbying group after Podesta left the company amid ties to indictments filed in the Russia investigation. Fritts is beginning work on launching a new firm. Her last day at the company Friday created new uncertainty for the Podesta Group after the departure of Podesta on Oct. 30.

Multiple employees who spoke to The Hill said the mood at the firm was mostly optimistic, though they said many of the firm"s dozens of employees could be in limbo as Fritts sets up the new firm and brings Podesta Group talent and clients with her.

As a reminder, Mueller is now investigating whether the Podesta Group properly identified to U.S. authorities its foreign work on behalf of a Ukrainian advocacy group in Europe, CNN reported.

An NBC report found that the Podesta Group was one of several firms working on Paul Manafort"s public relations campaign for European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, which the Podesta Group claims it thought was a nonpartisan think tank, something which this site reported first last August.

And here is one reason why we suspect more than a few on the left are now concerned...

It goes without saying, that Podesta"s brother, John, is arguably one of the top figure in Democratic politics, serving most recently as chief of staff in the Bill Clinton White House and also as the chairman of Hillary Clinton"s 2016 presidential campaign.

What happens next to Tony (and perhaps his brother John) is to be determined, but one thing is clear: both sides of the swamp should probably control themselves in any premature celebrations as this appears to be far from over.

Another Mueller Leak Suggests Charges Loom For Mike Flynn & Son

It appears Special Counsel Robert Mueller has a serial leaker. Following last weekend"s well-timed leak of Manafort"s looming arrest - which dominated the weekend media"s speculation - NBC News reports sources familiar confirming federal investigators have gathered enough evidence to bring charges in their investigation of President Donald Trump"s former national security adviser and his son.

As a reminder, Flynn was fired in February following public revelations that he had lied to Vice President Pence about his dealings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

Michael Flynn, who was fired after just 24 days on the job, was one of the first Trump associates to come under scrutiny in the federal probe into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

A week after the Manafort, Gates, Papadopoulos "smoking guns" hit the headlines, "multiple sources familiar with the investigation" that Mueller is set to apply pre pressure to Mike Flynn (and his son). As NBC News reports,the investigators are speaking to multiple witnesses in coming days to gain more information surrounding Flynn"s lobbying work, including whether he laundered money or lied to federal agents about his overseas contacts, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

Mueller"s team is also examining whether Flynn attempted to orchestrate the removal of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the U.S. to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars, two officials said.

 

Flynn"s son, Michael G. Flynn, who worked closely with his father, accompanied him during the campaign and briefly worked on the presidential transition, could be indicted separately or at the same time as his father, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

 

 

If the elder Flynn is willing to cooperate with investigators in order to help his son, two of the sources said, it could also change his own fate, potentially limiting any legal consequences.

NBC concludes that the pressure on Flynn is the latest signal that Mueller is moving at a rapid, and steady, pace in his investigation. Last week, investigators unsealed indictments of Manafort and Manafort"s business partner Rick Gates. They pleaded not guilty.

It"s also notable that nothing that hit last week ties Trump directly to collusion with Russia, just as the charges for Flynn do not; but just as is the case with Manafort and Gates, Mueller appears to believe applying pressure to these "bad actors" will force them to release details about President Trump (which a year-long investigation has failed to find).

Both Flynns have for months been subjects of the Mueller investigation...

The elder Flynn, an Army lieutenant general, was pushed out as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 and retired from the military. He then founded a lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group, where his son worked closely with him.

 

The younger Flynn was involved in the daily operations of his father"s firm and functioned as his chief of staff. He often attended meetings with his father and would communicate with prospective clients.

 

The elder Flynn was paid $530,000 last year for work the Justice Department says benefited the government of Turkey.

 

The elder Flynn did not register as a foreign lobbyist at the time, but did so retroactively this year. The issue has been part of Mueller"s probe.

 

His lawyer later said Flynn didn"t need to register because his client was a Turkish businessman and not a government official, but had opted to do so retroactively.

One wonders, given the above "sources" reporting, how long before charges are brought against Tony Podesta with regard his Foreign Agent Registration status?

We leave it to Flynn"s son to conclude...

The SJW are out in full this morning....the disappointment on your faces when I don’t go to jail will be worth all your harassment...

— ????????MFLYNNJR???????? (@mflynnJR) November 5, 2017

Here’s Why George Papadopoulos’ Guilty Plea Is Very Bad News for the White House

Former adviser admitted he lied to the FBI during the investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.

(COMMONDREAMS) — On Monday, special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the ongoing probe into allegations that President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election, unsealed documents revealing a campaign adviser admitted to lying to the FBI about his contact with Kremlin-connected individuals.

George Papadopoulos, a 30-year-old former foreign policy adviser who is believed to be cooperating with Mueller, was arrested in July and entered a guilty plea on Oct. 5. He confessed to misleading federal agents when he was initially interviewed in January, shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and before Mueller took over the investigation.

The Papadopoulos case could be an indication of what’s to come as the investigation continues. As journalist Jeremy Scahill noted, “snagging a campaign adviser like Papadopoulos can definitely lead to bigger fish.”

Snagging a campaign adviser like Papadopoulos can definitely lead to bigger fish. That’s the thing to watch for.

— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) October 30, 2017

Papadopoulos was interviewed regarding his communication with an overseas professor with ties to the Russian government—who, according to the records released Monday, “had told him about the Russians possessing ‘dirt’ on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of ‘thousands of emails"”—and a handful of other Russian nationals with connections to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Over a period of months, according to the statement of the offense, the former adviser “repeatedly sought to use the professor’s Russian connections in an effort to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials.” The indictment claims that “through his false statements and omissions,” Papadopoulos “impeded the FBI’s ongoing investigation” into whether Trump campaign officials coordinated with the Russian government in attempts to influence the election.

In addition to the indictment signed by Mueller that was released Monday, CNN published an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Papadopoulos, detailing email exchanges between the former adviser and his Russian contacts as well as Papadopoulos’ efforts to conceal messages by shutting down a Facebook account after a February interview with the FBI.

News of Papadopoulos’ guilty plea followed reports on Monday that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates were indicted on federal charges (they’ve pleaded not guilty to all charges). After the pair was ordered to surrender to federal authorities, Trump took to Twitter to declare, “there is NO COLLUSION!”

During a Monday afternoon press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders continued to deny the allegations of the campaign’s collusion with Russia, and emphasized that Papadopoulos had an “extremely limited” role within the campaign, adding: “It was a volunteer position and again, no activity was ever done in an official capacity on behalf of the campaign in that regard.”

However, as Vox co-founder Ezra Klein wrote in a piece detailing what has been uncovered and shared with the public during the investigation so far, although the unsealed documents “don’t provide a ‘smoking gun’ proving collusion… they make it almost impossible to believe there wasn’t collusion between Trump’s operation and Russia.”

And as attorney Philip Rotner writes in a column for the Huffington Post on Monday, “Forget Manafort—The Big News is the Papdapoulos Plea Deal.”

“Unlike the Manafort indictment, the Papadopoulos guilty plea goes directly to the heart of the charge of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,” argues Rotner. “Indeed, it establishes conclusively that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian representatives, although it remains unclear exactly which Trump campaign officials were involved. Remember that, unlike the charges against Manafort, which are likely to be contested, the charges against Papadopoulos have been admitted and stand as proven facts.”

Read the full Papadopoulos “statement of offense” below and the supporting affidavit here.

By Jessica Corbett / Creative Commons / Common Dreams / Report a typo

This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.

5 Things You’re Missing While the Media Obsesses Over Paul Manafort

(ANTIMEDIA) — Though according to a recent poll a majority of the American public believes the Russia investigations are hurting the country, another media feeding frenzy began over the weekend when it was revealed that an indictment would be issued Monday. Sure enough, on Monday, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were charged with a slew of different offenses, and corporate media heads have been spinning.

Considering the FBI is corrupt, the Trump administration is corrupt, and the whole of the federal government has failed to contain this corruption, the Russia story amounts to more of the same distractions. Here are five other relevant developments the media is failing to adequately cover:

1) Congress moves forward with Trump’s military-industrial appointments to the Pentagon:

At this point, it is well-known that Trump has done little to drain the swamp, instead filling it with a variety of special interests. This week, Congress will move to approve more swamp appointments, including Mark Esper, a Raytheon lobbyist, for Army Secretary, John Rood, a senior executive at Lockheed Martin, for undersecretary of defense policy, Joseph Kernan, who works as senior vice president of corporate development for SAP National Security Services, which spent over $2 million on lobbying in 2017 and has also been awarded multi-million dollar contracts from the Department of Defense in recent years. Another appointee, Robert Wilkie, made a name for himself during the Bush administration while working as an attorney for the Pentagon, where he drafted guidelines to broadly restrict testimony to congressional committees. Trump has chosen him to for the position of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

2) Your Halloween candy is probably made by child laborers subject to “slave-like” conditions:

For years, candy giants Nestle, Mars, and Hershey have relied on the labor of children in West Africa to source their cocoa beans. Victims have filed lawsuits in the heavily documented abuse, but despite pledges from the candy companies to reduce their reliance on the harsh practices, the number of child laborers had actually increased by 2014, according to a report from Tulane University. Americans will spend roughly $2.7 billion on candy this year, yet few are aware much of it was produced under brutal conditions.

3) Tony Podesta resigns from lobbying firm amid Mueller investigation: 

Though Manafort is dominating the headlines, Tony Podesta, brother of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, stepped down from his own firm. Politico reported that that the “investigation into Podesta and his firm grew out of investigators’ examination of Manafort’s finances. Manafort organized a PR campaign on behalf of a nonprofit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. Podesta Group was one of several firms that were paid to do work on the PR campaign to promote Ukraine in the U.S.” In April, the Podesta Group filed paperwork with the Department of Justice admitting it had worked for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine that “had also benefitted the same Ukrainian political party that Manafort had once advised,” Politico noted.

4) Once again, authorities find Iran is complying with nuclear deal:

Despite President Trump’s saber-rattling against Iran and his threats to pull the United States out of the Obama-era nuclear agreement, his own administration has acknowledged the Iranian government is adhering to the terms. This week, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency also verified the Middle Eastern nation’s compliance. Iran has indicated its intent to honor the deal and the other participating governments — Britain, Germany, France, Russia, China, and the E.U. — continue to support it despite Trump’s ongoing condemnations.

5) Sexual harassment allegations continue to surface across industries:

Since the Harvey Weinstein story broke earlier this month, a wave of assault allegations have surfaced, and not just in Hollywood. On Monday, Democratic candidate for Miami-Dade city commission Rafael Velasquez lost support from his party over two separate allegations of harassment, including exposing himself to one woman and groping another. Also this week, 500 female members of the art community, including writers, artists, curators, and directors, issued a letter condemning sexual harassment in response to the resignation of ArtForum magazine publisher Knight Landesman. The women said in the letter that they “have been groped, undermined, harassed, infantilized, scorned, threatened, and intimidated by those in positions of power who control access to resources and opportunities,” adding that they “have held our tongues, threatened by power wielded over us and promises of institutional access and career advancement.” A fresh batch of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein also surfaced this week, detailing incidents all the way back to the 1970s.

Though the media will almost certainly continue to focus on the Russia scandal, far more important developments will certainly continue to unfold.

Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Tony Podesta Resigns From Lobbying Group Amid Mueller Probe

As the left and the media ramp up their Manafort-ian mania against Trump, it appears the trail of destruction from special counsel Mueller"s probe has spread to Democratic power-lobbyist Tony Podesta.

As we explained in Aug 2016, Paul Manafort - now under indictment on 12 charges - and his deputy Rick gates previously worked with the Podesta Group, run by Tony Podesta, the brother of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

...emails obtained by the Associated Press showed that Gates personally directed two Washington lobbying firms, Mercury LLC and the Podesta Group, between 2012 and 2014 to set up meetings between a top Ukrainian official and senators and congressmen on influential committees involving Ukrainian interests. Gates noted in the emails that the official, Ukraine"s foreign minister, did not want to use his own embassy in the United States to help coordinate the visits.

 

...

 

And this is where the plot thickens, because while the bulk of the press has so far spun the entire Ukraine lobbying scandal, which led to Manafort"s resignation, as the latest "proof" that pro-Moscow powers were influencing not only Manafort but the Trump campaign in general (who some democrats have even painted of being a Putin agent), the reality is that a firm closely tied with the Democratic party, the Podesta Group, is just as implicated.

 

As AP further adds, the European Center for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-linked nonprofit entity which allegely ran the lobbying project, paid Mercury and the Podesta Group a combined $2.2 million over roughly two years. In papers filed in the U.S. Senate, Mercury and the Podesta Group listed the European nonprofit as an independent, nonpolitical client. The firms said the center stated in writing that it was not aligned with any foreign political entity.

And now, just hours after Manafort and Gates handed themselves over to the feds, Politico reports, the founder of the Podesta Group, is stepping down from the lobbying shop that bears his name after coming under investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Perhaps Podesta knows what is likely to happen next. Podesta announced his decision during a firm-wide meeting Monday morning and is alerting clients of his impending departure.

“[Tony] was very magnanimous and said, “This is an amazing group of people,” a source said of Podesta’s remarks.

 

Podesta also told staff he “doesn’t intend to go quietly, or learn how to play golf.” He said he “needs to fight this as an individual, but doesn’t want the firm to fight it.”

 

Fritts also addressed the gathering, telling staff that she is “thrilled at this opportunity” and that, “This is not about me, this is about y’all.”

 

Several other senior staff spoke about their excitement about the future of the firm. The meeting ended with a standing ovation for Podesta.

One thing is clear, both sides of the swamp should probably control themselves in any premature celebrations as this appears to be far from over.

Here"s one reason why we suspect more than a few on the left are now concerned...

Live: Paul Manafort Indicted on 12 Charges, Including Conspiracy Against US

(ZHE) — 

Update: President Trump has responded directly to the charges filed against his former campaign manager Manafort by special counsel Mueller…

Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren"t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017

….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017

Update: Sources close to the White House have released what appears to be an unofficial statement: “This has nothing to do with the White House.”

The statement alludes to the fact that Manafort’s alleged misdeeds took place before he joined the Trump campaign.

Source close to the White House: "Today has zero to do with the White House"
(Still no official statement, though) https://t.co/KLdpJRIBUA

— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) October 30, 2017

Update: Messages of support from Republican Congressmen for the Mueller probe are beginning to trickle in…

1/ Months ago I & many other Republicans vowed to support Mueller investigation & allow it to work its way through process to get the facts

— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) October 30, 2017

2/ In light of today’s indictments we must continue to support and allow the integrity of the process to work

— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) October 30, 2017

Update: In an apparent attempt to pre-empt criticism of the Mueller probe from President Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have both released statements defending the investigation…

INBOX: @NancyPelosi on the Mueller indictments: pic.twitter.com/DCvmIg1GOj

— Ed O"Keefe (@edatpost) October 30, 2017

INBOX: @SenSchumer on Mueller indictments: pic.twitter.com/k0ZqDD5yuh

— Ed O"Keefe (@edatpost) October 30, 2017

Update: The Justice Department has released the Manafort/Gates indictment. The indictment contains 12 counts total, and the big one appears to be conspiracy against the US. They are also facing charges of tax fraud, money laundering and giving false statements.

The two men are expected to appear in court at 1:30 am ET.

In total more than $75,000,000 flowed through Manafort’s offshore accounts, according to the Mueller indictment. Manafort allegedly laundered more than $18 million which was used by him to buy property, goods and services in the US, income that he concealed from the US Treasury, the DOJ and others. Gates was instrumental in helping Manafort move the money form his illict foreign accounts into the US, and eventually transferred more than $3 million to accounts he controlled.

According to the indictment, between at least 2006 and 2015, Gates and Manafort acted as unregistered agents of the Government of Ukraine, the Party of Regions (a Ukrainian political party whose leader Victor Yanukovych was President from 2010 to 2014), Yanukovych, and the Opposition Bloc (a successor to the Party of Regions that formed in 2014 when Yanukovych fled to Russia). The two men generated tens of millions of dollars in income as a result of their Ukraine work. In order to hide Ukraine payments from United States authorities, from approximately 2006 through at least 2016, they laundered the money through scores of United States and foreign corporations, partnerships, and bank accounts.

Manafort and Gates used money from their Cyprus accounts to finance lavish lifestyles. Manafort spent more than half a million dollars of it on clothes from stores in Beverly Hills, and $20,000 on housekeeping. Gates spent the money on his mortgage, personal expenses, tuition payments and  an interior decorator for his Virginia home.

Manafort spent $1.3MM on home automation, lighting and entertainment, $849K on men"s clothing, $655K on landscaping, $934K on antique rugs pic.twitter.com/mXJgbBqeWZ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 30, 2017

Read the indictment in its entirety below:

* * *

Update: The Washington Post reports that Manafort was seen entering the FBI’s Washington field office Monday.

* * *

Update: Manafort has been hit with several charges, including tax fraud, WSJ reported. He’s expected in federal court in Washington later Monday, a person familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, Rick Gates is also reportedly turning himself in.

* * *

Update: CBS News confirms a photojournalist has captured images of Manafort leaving his home this morning with his lawyer.

*  *  *

Surprise, surprise. The New York Times is reporting that the first indictment in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has been unsealed.

And the target is none other than Paul Manafort, who briefly served as chief executive of the Trump campaign last summer before reports about his work for Ukraine’s former leader Viktor Yanukovich forced him out. Manafort has reportedly been asked to surrender by the FBI, sparing him an embarassing perp walk.

Manafort’s former deputy Rick Gates has also been asked to surrender.

The charges against the pair weren’t immediately clear. But they do represent an escalation in the probe that has loomed over President Trump’s first year in office.

Gates is a longtime protege and junior partner at Manafort’s firm. His involvment in the probe was revealed in the spring. His name appeared in documents linked to a Cypriot firm Manafort set up to receive payments from Eastern European politicians like Yanukovich, who purportedly paid Manafort with money looted from the Ukraine state.

Manafort had been udner investigaiton for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he failed to properly disclose his foreign lobbying.

As we’ve noted, since these charges mostly stem from Manafort’s work before he became involved with the campaign, they leave ample room for Trump to declare victory.

As far as impact to the market – so far nothing – and as KBW’s Brian Gardner explains, none is expected, despite expectations for much sound and fury and told-you-so’s from the left.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indicting former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort or former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over activities separate from Trump campaign/administration would be “mostly political noise,” and would not significantly affect markets.

However, Gardner notes that any unsealing of indictments may dominate the week’s entire news cycle, drowning out coverage of tax legislation and monetary policy.

Now, we watch for the administration’s response.

Here’s the indictment:

By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / Zero Hedge / Report a typo

This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.

Mueller Reportedly Ready To File First Charges In Russia Probe

Update (10:35 pm ET): For what it"s worth, Reuters has has "confirmed" the report after talking to a single source...

Reuters confirms CNN report that charges have been filed, citing a single source.

— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) October 28, 2017

* * *

Five months after Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tasked Robert Mueller with taking over the Justice Department investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, CNN is reporting that the first charges have been filed, and that arrests could be made in the coming days.

A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.

 

The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are.

 

A spokesman for the special counsel"s office declined to comment.

To be sure, CNN"s version of events leaves room for doubt. And importantly, it doesn"t name the subject of the charges.

On Friday, top lawyers who are helping to lead the Mueller probe, including veteran prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, were seen entering the court room at the DC federal court where the grand jury meets to hear testimony in the Russia investigation.

Reporters present saw a flurry of activity at the grand jury room, but officials made no official announcements. The flurry... implies someone being charged... presumably - though CNN says it talked to a source close to the investigation who corroborated its suspicions.

The special counsel"s investigation has focused on two things: potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and obstruction of justice by the President, who might have tried to impede the investigation. CNN has previously reported that Mueller"s team was scrutinizing Trump and his associates" financial ties to Russia. Former campaign executive Paul Manafort and Trump son-in-law have both been subject to intensive scrutiny during the investigation. Manafort has had his financial records thoroughly probed and his home raided by the FBI. Mueller has also scrutinized Manafort"s foreign lobbying efforts, as well as those of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Mueller impaneled a grand jury over the summer, a sign that he intended to file charges. If the report is accurate, it"s certainly an interesting coincidence that Mueller is moving ahead with charges just as calls to shut down his investigation are picking up steam. Meanwhile, Congress has launched several investigations into the Obama-era Uranium One deal to scrutinize the Clinton"s dealings with the Russians.

Republicans have been skeptical of Mueller’s ability to be impartial in the investigation - suspicions that have intensified following reports that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research into the infamous "Trump dossier." Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona told Fox News Friday that “the federal code could not be clearer – Mueller is compromised by his apparent conflict of interest in being close with James Comey.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested Friday that Mueller should "step aside"

"If the facts that you just laid out are true, then somebody with Bob Mueller"s integrity will step aside, and should," Christie said. The Russia probe was launched in the summer of 2016 by then-FBI Director James Comey.

Manhattan US Attorneys Join Federal & State Probes Into Possible Manafort Money-Laundering

In what some might call a desperate last minute distraction from WaPo"s real news about Clinton"s lies, WSJ reports that the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is pursuing an investigation into possible money laundering by Paul Manafort (the same as the state"s probe). In case you are confused, yes, WSJ admits this is in collaboration with the same federal money-laundering probe by special counsel Robert Mueller which has so far produced nothing.

While The Wall Street Journal manages to repeat the salacious headlines in its first two brief paragraphs, the rest of the story is padding, history, and filler about Mr. Kushner"s various investigations (of which there is no new news).

The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is pursuing an investigation into possible money laundering by Paul Manafort, said three people familiar with the matter, adding to the federal and state probes concerning the former Trump campaign chairman.

 

The investigation by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is being conducted in collaboration with a probe by special counsel Robert Mueller into Mr. Manafort and possible money laundering, according to two of these people.

 

A spokesman for Mr. Manafort declined to comment. Mr. Manafort has previously said he did nothing wrong.

So in an effort to clarify...

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office is undertaking the state’s own money-laundering probe concerning Mr. Manafort.

 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is communicating with Schneiderman and investigating possible federal money-laundering by Mr. Manafort (acording to two sources).

 

Mr. Manafort has previously said he did nothing wrong.

 

And now, according to three people familiar with the matter, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is pursuing an investigation into possible money laundering by Mr. Manafort.

All we can say is - that"s a lot of probes and a lot of lawyers and will be a lot of embarassment if they are unable to get anything to stick to Mr.Manafort.

Another Collusion Narrative Dies: New Emails Support Trump Jr.'s Account Of Infamous "Russia Meeting"

Another Trump-Russia collusion narrative has bitten the dust.

In a stunning revelation that goes a long way toward alleviating the cloud of suspicion that has hovered over Donald Trump Jr. since details about a meeting organized by Trump Jr. involving Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort along with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and her entourage were first publicized in July, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that newly disclosed emails between Veselnitskaya and Azerbaijani-Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov largely support Veselnitskaya’s account that the meeting focused on her yearslong lobbying effort to kill the Magnitsky Act.

The emails, which were provided to WSJ by Scott Balber, a lawyer for Agalarov, cover a period of time leading up to the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower. They begin in October 2015, when Veselnitskaya first shared information about her anti-Magnitsky efforts with Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika.

Veselnitskaya also shared allegations about a US investment firm called Ziff Brothers possibly dodging taxes in Russia. The firm later donated to Democrats.

In October 2015, Ms. Veselnitskaya shared information about her anti-Magnitsky campaign with Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, a top official appointed by the Kremlin, Mr. Balber said. In May 2016, less than two weeks before the June 9 Trump Tower meeting, Ms. Veselnitskaya also provided Mr. Agalarov with a five-page set of talking points that included the same information she had given Mr. Chaika, Mr. Balber said.

Included in the information she shared with the men, Mr. Balber said Monday, was a single reference to Mrs. Clinton. Ms. Veselnitskaya alleged that a U.S. firm, Ziff Brothers Investments, had dodged taxes in Russia and later donated to Democrats, including possibly Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Chaika’s office released a statement in spring 2016 alleging Ziff Brothers Investments of evading taxes in Russia. The company hasn’t been charged and has previously declined to comment on the allegations.

The emails largely support Trump Jr.’s and Veselnitskaya’s version of events. Trump said the meeting proved disappointing. In July of this year, after reports of the meeting first emerged, Trump said that Ms. Veselnitskaya “stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Clinton,” but “it quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.” Trump said he cut the meeting short after Veselnitskaya started talking about the Magnitsky Act.

The meeting is now being probed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether associates of Mr. Trump colluded with Moscow as part of his probe into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election, according to people familiar with the matter.

The emails represent a blow to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who’s been aggressively investigating the meeting between Trump Jr. and Veselnitskaya. While Trump Jr. is still exposed for his infamous “if it’s what you say it is then I love it” comment made in response to publicist Ronald Goldstone’s claim that Veselnitskaya had damaging information about Clinton – the pretext for setting the meeting – all of the leaks have so far supported Trump Jr.’s version of events: Namely, that Veselnitskaya did not provide Trump Jr. with the “opposition research” he had been seeking.

We suspect this new information will not be the lead story on MSNBC, CNN, or at The Washington Post.

Manafort's Russia Meeting Notes Contain "No Damaging Information" About Don Jr.

A day ago, the New York Times dropped its latest embarrassing, but ultimately meaningless, leak from Senate investigators, who told the Grey Lady (under the cover of anonymity, of course) that Donald Trump Jr. had testified that he was trying to determine Hillary Clinton’s “fitness” for office when he took the infamous “Russia meeting” at Trump Tower in June 2016, shortly after his father had cemented his grip on the Republican nomination.

Already, the White House – or perhaps a sympathetic lawmaker – is helping Trump Jr. fight back. According to a Politico report citing unnamed government officials, notes taken by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort during the Russia meeting show nothing damaging to the Trump family or campaign officials.

“The notes from the meeting do not contain any damaging information about Clinton or references to promises of damaging information about her, nor do they indicate that officials on the campaign were promising favors or seeking them in return for money, the people who’ve seen them said.

According to these people, the notes have been with Senate officials for weeks and have been reviewed by a number of people on Capitol Hill. Also in attendance at the June 2016 meeting in New York were a Russian lawyer, a Russian businessman and other Trump campaign officials, including Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.”

Manafort is believed to be the primary target in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Earlier this month, Mueller reportedly enlisted the help of an “elite” IRS investigative unit to scrutinize Manafort’s tax returns, a sign, one expert said, that the prosecutor could be looking for a “check the box” violation – or literally anything he could use against Manafort, regardless of its relevancy to the Trump campaign. He first turned over his notes to the Senate back in June when he met with investigators for closed-door testimony.

Those who’ve seen the notes say they are “not likely to be independently vital in any case.”

“Officials who have reviewed the notes say they are not likely to be independently vital to any case, if at all, because they are difficult to follow, particularly one year later. To be sure, the notes are not an exhaustive account of the meeting, and other things could have been discussed that are not included in the notes.”

In an interesting twist, the people said the notes reference financier Bill Browder, a supporter of the Magnitsky Act and enemy of the Russian government. As Politico reminds us, the act sanctioned Russian officials for human rights abuses. In retaliation for those sanctions, Russia banned US citizens from adopting Russian children. Browder is the same Russian official who revealed to lawmakers that the opposition-research firm Fusion GPS, which commissioned former UK spy Christopher Steele to assemble the now debunked “Trump dossier,” was funded in part by money from Russian entities – complicating the investigation’s narrative of Russian interference to benefit Trump.

In accordance with the version events given by everyone in attendance who has spoken with Congressional investigators of the special counsel – a group that includes a Russian lobbyist – the notes include a spirited case on why

Trump officials should overturn the Magnitsky act, and why Republicans could support it. It indicates that the Russian officials made critical comments about Browder, but that Trump officials seemed to know little about the legislation.

There you have it, folks. The grand Russian conspiracy – to convince the Trumps to overturn a minor law that had sparked outrage back home. We wonder: when will investigators leak something that amounts to, you know, actual evidence that a crime was committed? Or will this patter of inconsequential details, sanctimoniously reported by the mainstream press, continue for the next four to eight years?
 

Former Trump Insiders Predict Paul Manafort Close To Being Indicted For Financial Crimes, Report

It has become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Special Counsel Mueller is intent upon either flipping Paul Manafort against Trump in his "Russian collusion" investigation or filing charges against him for crimes unrelated to the 2016 presidential campaign.  Either way, Manafort"s future looks to be dimming.

As the Daily Caller has just revealed in an exclusive report, former Trump campaign aides are now saying that Manafort could be indicted for financial crimes, allegedly including money laundering and/or tax evasion, in the very near future.

Former Trump campaign aides are telling The Daily Caller that they increasingly believe former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort will be indicted for crimes such as money laundering or tax evasion.

One of the former campaign advisers has knowledge of the ongoing investigations into Manafort, a longtime Republican operative who joined the Trump campaign last March. Another former aide said his own knowledge of Manafort’s past history working with despots, coupled with news reports about Mueller’s investigation, led him to believe that an indictment of Manafort is becoming more likely.

The former Trump advisers told TheDC they have no knowledge of any collusion with the Russian government on the presidential campaign. One aide stressed that any financial crimes by Manafort are his own problem and not that of the White House.

“Ill-informed speculation has become the new Washington parlor game. Despite breathless headlines, it is increasingly clear the Russia Collusion story is eroding,” Manafort’s spokesman Jason Maloni told TheDC. Maloni declined to comment when asked specifically about financial crimes.

One of the former aides was interviewed by a Congressional committee investigating Russian interference and told TheDC that many of the questions were about Manafort’s finances.

“Investigators appeared focused on finances and business relationships of the Trump family and top associates such as Paul Manafort and General Michael Flynn,” the former Trump campaign adviser told TheDC.

Of course, back in July WaPo reported that FBI agents "raided the Alexandria home of President Trump’s former campaign chairman, using a search warrant to seize documents and other materials."  Federal agents reportedly appeared at Manafort’s home without advance warning in the predawn hours on Wednesday, July 26, the day after he met voluntarily with the staff for the Senate Intelligence Committee. The WaPo reported that the served search warrant was "wide-ranging and FBI agents working with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III departed the home with various records."

The raid came as Manafort has been voluntarily producing documents to congressional committees investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. The search warrant indicates investigators may have argued to a federal judge they had reason to believe Manafort could not be trusted to turn over all records in response to a grand jury subpoena.

It could also have been intended to send a message to President Trump’s former campaign chairman that he should not expect gentle treatment or legal courtesies from Mueller’s team.

Then again, other rumors would suggest that Manafort could luck out on a technicality as Law Newz reported earlier today that FBI agents may have overstepped their bounds during their raid and collected evidence from Manafort"s home that was subject to attorney-client privilege.  If true, such a blatant abuse of power could result in all evidence from Manafort"s home being dismissed by the courts.

As the Robert Mueller investigation intensifies, new details are being leaked about the direction the probe is going. Buried in a story about the intensifying relationship between Mueller and Congress, CNN revealed some very interesting information. According to the report, Mueller’s team may have obtained evidence in the raid of Paul Manafort’s home that was not covered by the search warrant.

As the article points out, this certainly brings up concerns as to what exactly was seized, what investigators saw, and who handled the material. You can’t “unsee” evidence once you saw it.

“If they (investigators) had any kind of heads up, and they went beyond the scope of the warrant, that could be a problem,” Henry Hockeimer, a former federal prosecutor, told LawNewz.com.

Meanwhile, just one day after we found out about the FBI"s raid, we learned that Special Counsel Mueller had also been going after Manafort"s family in order gather dirt.  According to Politico"s anonymous sources, Manafort"s son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai, was approached earlier this summer regarding his "business deals" with Manafort.

Federal investigators sought cooperation from Paul Manafort’s son-in-law in an effort to increase pressure on President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, according to three people familiar with the probe.

Investigators approached Jeffrey Yohai, who has partnered in business deals with Manafort, earlier this summer, setting off “real waves” in Manafort’s orbit, one of these people said. Another of these people said investigators are trying to get “into Manafort’s head.”

Manafort, who is a focus of the broad federal and congressional investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, is also under investigation for his business and real estate transactions, including some that involve Yohai.

As Politico noted at the time, Mueller’s targeting of both Manafort and his son-in-law over potential criminal wrongdoing is a common tactic employed in white-collar cases, commonly called “climbing the ladder.”  The strategy, more or less, entails digging up whatever dirt can be found on those in Trump"s orbit and then using that dirt to coerce potential witnesses into cooperation.

“Manafort is — on many levels — a key subject of the investigation and someone who might be leveraged to share information about others,” said one Washington-based white-collar attorney with a client involved in the Russia probe.

The approach involves finding a suspected crime — false statements on tax returns or loan applications, for example — and then offering leniency on prosecution in exchange for cooperation. “They always start with the people on the low end of the ladder and try to get information on someone high up on the ladder,” said William Jeffress, a white-collar attorney who represented Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, in the President George W. Bush-era Valerie Plame leak investigation.

Mueller would clearly have jurisdiction over any real estate dealings between Yohai, Manafort and Russians, Jeffress said. In addition, he could press Yohai for details on what he knows about Manafort’s role in the campaign.

In summary, when your "Russian collusion" narrative fails miserably...keep digging until you find something on someone...Paul Manafort appears to be that "someone."

Mueller Goes After Manafort"s Family; Sought Cooperation From Son-In-Law Jeffrey Yohai

Just one day after we found out that FBI agents "raided" former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort"s Alexandria home on July 26th, we learn that Special Counsel Mueller has also been going after Manafort"s family in order gather dirt on a person they clearly view as a material witness.  According to Politico"s anonymous sources (and you know what that means), Manafort"s son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai, was approached earlier this summer regarding his "business deals" with Manafort.

Federal investigators sought cooperation from Paul Manafort’s son-in-law in an effort to increase pressure on President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, according to three people familiar with the probe.

 

Investigators approached Jeffrey Yohai, who has partnered in business deals with Manafort, earlier this summer, setting off “real waves” in Manafort’s orbit, one of these people said. Another of these people said investigators are trying to get “into Manafort’s head.”

 

Manafort, who is a focus of the broad federal and congressional investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, is also under investigation for his business and real estate transactions, including some that involve Yohai.

 

As Politico notes, Mueller’s targeting of both Manafort and his son-in-law over potential criminal wrongdoing is a common tactic employed in white-collar cases, commonly called “climbing the ladder.”  The strategy, more or less, entails digging up whatever dirt can be found on those in Trump"s orbit and then using that dirt to coerce potential witnesses into cooperation.

“Manafort is — on many levels — a key subject of the investigation and someone who might be leveraged to share information about others,” said one Washington-based white-collar attorney with a client involved in the Russia probe.

 

The approach involves finding a suspected crime — false statements on tax returns or loan applications, for example — and then offering leniency on prosecution in exchange for cooperation. “They always start with the people on the low end of the ladder and try to get information on someone high up on the ladder,” said William Jeffress, a white-collar attorney who represented Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, in the President George W. Bush-era Valerie Plame leak investigation.

 

Mueller would clearly have jurisdiction over any real estate dealings between Yohai, Manafort and Russians, Jeffress said. In addition, he could press Yohai for details on what he knows about Manafort’s role in the campaign.

Of course, these new revelations come just one day after WaPo reported that FBI agents "raided the Alexandria home of President Trump’s former campaign chairman late last month, using a search warrant to seize documents and other materials."  Federal agents reportedly appeared at

Manafort’s home without advance warning two weeks ago, in the predawn hours on Wednesday, July 26, the day after he met voluntarily with the staff for the Senate Intelligence Committee. The WaPo reported that the served search warrant was "wide-ranging and FBI agents working with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III departed the home with various records."

The raid came as Manafort has been voluntarily producing documents to congressional committees investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. The search warrant indicates investigators may have argued to a federal judge they had reason to believe Manafort could not be trusted to turn over all records in response to a grand jury subpoena.

 

It could also have been intended to send a message to President Trump’s former campaign chairman that he should not expect gentle treatment or legal courtesies from Mueller’s team.

Meanwhile, in case Yohai"s name sounds familiar, it might be because he was recently sued by actor Dustin Hoffman after an LA real estate JV between the two went sour.  Here"s more from the LA Times:

It is the most famous street in one of Los Angeles’ most coveted neighborhoods.

 

High up in the hills above the Sunset Strip, Blue Jay Way is home to several A-list celebrities who enjoy panoramic views from glassy estates that can cost $10 million or more.

 

But a property on Blue Jay Way is now at the center of legal proceedings involving actor Dustin Hoffman and Jeffrey Yohai, a real estate developer who is the son-in-law of Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

 

“The Graduate” actor and his son Jacob Hoffman invested $3 million with Yohai, who planned to raze a modest home on the street and build a $30-million mansion in its place, according to real estate records and Bankruptcy Court documents.

 

The deal has foundered as companies owning four of Yohai’s L.A.-area residential properties each went into foreclosure and then bankruptcy last year, including the Blue Jay Way parcel in the Bird Streets neighborhood. He’s also fighting a lawsuit in New York from an investor who alleges that he operated a Ponzi scheme. Yohai, 35, said in a filing that the allegations are fabrications.

All of which finally confirms our long-held suspicions that Dustin Hoffman is an undercover Russian spy.  Nice try going "full retard" with Rain Man in "88, but we"re on to you Dusty...

Deep state operative Mueller targets Paul Manafort in obvious attempt at flipping him to lie about Trump

(INTELLIHUB) — FBI agents working for deep state operative Robert Mueller raided the home of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort late last month, seizing materials they claim are related to the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“The raid, which occurred without warning on July 26, signaled an aggressive new approach by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team in dealing with a key figure in the Russia inquiry. Manafort has been under increasing pressure as the Mueller team looked into his personal finances and his professional career as a highly paid foreign political consultant,” reported The Washington Post.

“Using a search warrant, agents appeared the day Manafort was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and a day after he met voluntarily with Senate Intelligence Committee staff members.”

Despite claims throughout the mainstream media that the raid is connected to the Russian-Trump investigation, their own reports conclusively show that the targeting of Manafort has absolutely nothing to do with anything Trump may or may not have done wrong but is in reality about fishing through Manafort’s past until they find wrongdoing which would then allow Mueller and his team to flip him and eventually force him to lie about Trump and or his associates.

Think about this for a second. Mueller was hired to look into supposed Russian election interference (a narrative that was literally created by Muellers’ friends in the deep state and media) but is now focusing on an easy target that more than likely has broken some sort of law in his long years of dealing with foreign countries. (and LONG BEFORE he worked for Trump)

The Washington Post report openly admits this stunning fact.

Mueller has increased legal pressure on Manafort, consolidating under his authority unrelated investigations of various aspects of Manafort’s professional and personal life.

Manafort’s allies fear that Mueller hopes to build a case against Manafort unrelated to the 2016 campaign, in hopes that he would provide information against others in Trump’s inner circle in exchange for lessening his legal exposure.

In their own report, The New York Times also admitted that at this point the investigation isn’t even focusing on Manafort’s short lived run with the Trump campaign.

Until now, it was only known that Mr. Manafort was under investigation for his business dealings with his son-in-law, his role in the 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and the Russians and whether his work for the Ukranian government violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The government rarely prosecutes cases related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and Mr. Manafort’s consulting firm retroactively filed forms with the Justice Department last month to be in compliance with the act.

But the search warrant for the tax and foreign banking records suggests that investigators are looking at criminal charges related to the federal Bank Secrecy Act, which requires Americans to report their foreign banking accounts.

So there you have it. One giant fishing expedition with the hopes of catching Manafort in a crime committed years ago which would then allow Mueller to flip him against the president.

Keep in mind, Mueller himself is a close personal friend of fired FBI director James Comey and has a long history of working with and helping the Clinton family.

First the deep state, with help from the mainstream media, invents a fake narrative and then they insert their own guy to do the investigation.

Transparent corruption at its finest.

Alex Thomas is an opinion journalist and editor for Intellihub News. He was a founding member of what later became Intellihub.com and an integral part of the team that destroyed the mainstream media blockade of Bilderberg in 2012. You can contact him here.

©2017. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

Former CIA Director Calls For A Coup If Trump Fires Mueller

In the most vocal opposition to president Donald Trump yet, former CIA Director John Brennan said that if the White House tries to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, government officials should refuse to follow the president orders, as they would be - in his view - “inconsistent” with the duties of the executive branch.

"I think it"s the obligation of some executive branch officials to refuse to carry that out. I would just hope that this is not going to be a partisan issue. That Republicans, Democrats are going to see that the future of this government is at stake and something needs to be done for the good of the future," Brennan told CNN"s Wolf Blitzer at the Aspen Security Forum, effectively calling for a coup against the president should Trump give the order to fire Mueller.

The exchange is 43 minutes into the clip below:

(Full transcript here)

Brennan appeared alongside his former colleague, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and both men who served in the Obama administration, told Blitzer they have total confidence in Mueller. "Absolutely. It was an inspired choice- they don"t come any better, " Brennan said adding that "If Mueller is fired, I hope our elected reps will stand up and say enough is enough." Some have responded with questions where Brennan"s devotion to the Constitution was in the aftermath of the events in Benghazi.

Falling back on his neocon roots, James Clapper, who has waged a long-running vendetta with Trump, once again warned about Russian interference in US affairs. When asked about the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort with a Russian lawyer and others, he responded: "I"m an old school, Cold War warrior and all that - so I have, there"s truth in advertising, great suspicions about the Russians and what they do. A lot of this to me had kind of the standard textbook tradecraft long deployed by Russians. It would have been a really good idea maybe to have vetted whoever they were meeting with."

Clapper was also asked about Trump"s comparison of the intelligence community to Nazi Germany. Clapper said he called the President-elect nine days before he left the Obama administration saying he "couldn"t let that reference pass" and it was an insult to him, CIA Director John Brennan and the workforce. "That was a terrible, insulting affront, not just to me or John, we get paid the big bucks, but I"m talking about the rank and file, men and women, patriots and intelligence community -- that was completely inappropriate and over the top - I had to do something about it."

And so he did: on the call Clapper said Trump asked him to "to put out a statement rebutting the contents of the dossier which I couldn"t and wouldn"t do. It was kind of transactional" referring to a dossier that alleged ties between President Donald Trump"s campaign and Russia. It was not clear if he wouldn"t and couldn"t do it because the contents were legitimate, in his view, or because the dossier is what started the whole "Russian collusion" narrative in the first place. Curiously, Clapper saw it as a favor to Trump not to issue a statement: Clapper was asked by Blitzer why he didn"t put out a statement replying: "The whole point of the dossier by the way was we felt an obligation to warn him to alert him to the fact it was out there. That was the whole point."

It was not clear if James Comey, whose subsequent leak to the NYT led to the appointment of Mueller, would have applied the same reasoning when asked by Trump to rebut the dossier"s contents.