Trump urges attorney general to end Russia probe 'right now'

[webfact]

Trump urges attorney general to end Russia probe 'right now'

By Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell

 

FILE PHOTO: Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after briefing members of the U.S. Senate on his investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump appealed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end an investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election, drawing a rebuke from his fellow Republicans in Congress who said the probe must go on.

 

It was Trump's most direct call for his top U.S. law enforcement officer to shut down Special Counsel Robert Mueller's criminal investigation and Democrats promptly accused the president of trying to obstruct justice. Trump's remark coincided with the start of the trial this week of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on charges arising from Mueller's inquiry.

 

In a series of tweets, Trump called a "TOTAL HOAX" the idea his campaign worked with Moscow, which Mueller is examining. "This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further," he said.

 

Since his surprise election in November 2016, Republican Trump has chafed at any suggestion that the Russian interference might have helped him win the White House. And while he has long maligned Mueller and the investigation, his tweet on Wednesday was an extraordinary bid to try to influence the course of an inquiry hanging over his presidency.

 

In any case, Sessions recused himself from the investigation in March 2017 and does not have the power to stop it.

 

The White House said the tweet was not an order to Sessions and that Trump was expressing his frustration with the length of the probe.

 

"It's not an order. It's the president's opinion," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a news briefing. She denied that Trump was trying to obstruct the probe. "He's fighting back," she said.

 

Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said Trump was expressing an opinion long espoused by his team.

 

Some U.S. lawmakers said shutting down the investigation early would be a mistake.

 

Trump also said that Mueller is "totally conflicted." He provided no evidence that the team led by Mueller, a Republican who was appointed by a Republican, is biased against him.

 

Peter Carr, spokesman for the special counsel's office, declined to comment on Trump's Twitter post. A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department had no comment.

 

STEADY ATTACKS ON SESSIONS

Trump has steadily attacked Sessions for recusing himself. Sessions cited his role as a senior adviser to Trump's presidential campaign and appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to oversee the investigation.

 

Rosenstein in turn appointed Mueller and is the person with the authority to fire him.

 

Mueller, a Republican and former FBI director who served a Republican and Democratic president, has broad support in Congress, where Republicans control both chambers.

 

Six Republican senators going into a vote on Wednesday disapproved of Trump's tweet calling for an end to the probe.

 

"They ought to let them conclude their work. What they’re doing is something that is important and we support and I don’t think any effort to truncate that or somehow shut it down early is in the public’s best interest," said Senator John Thune.

 

Senator Orrin Hatch said he did not think Sessions had the power to end the probe and it would be unwise to do so.

 

An element of Mueller's investigation includes whether Trump or anyone in the campaign tried to obstruct justice. The New York Times reported last week that Mueller's office was examining negative tweets and statements by Trump about Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey. Trump fired Comey in May 2017.

 

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Moscow meddled in the 2016 campaign to try to tip the vote in Trump's favour. Moscow has denied such interference, and Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign or any obstruction of justice.

 

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said after Trump's tweet, "It's clear to me he's very worried about it and he wants to prevent it any way he can."

 

In April, the committee approved legislation to protect Mueller but Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said there was no need to advance the bill because he did not believe Trump would fire Mueller.

 

Some legal analysts said Wednesday's tweet alone was not enough to bring an obstruction of justice charge but it could be used to establish a pattern of conduct revealing Trump's intentions.

 

"It is a piece of evidence. It is part and parcel with the other 94 things the man has done that show obstruction of justice," said Paul Rosenzweig, a former prosecutor who was part of a team that investigated President Bill Clinton.

 

Jens David Ohlin, a law professor at Cornell University, said the tweets would likely not be seen as an order to Sessions, but as "Trump venting his continued frustration with the fact that he can't control the Russia investigation."

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld, Jan Wolfe and Susan Heavey; Editing by Frances Kerry, Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-02

[mikebike]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/08/01/mueller-is-looking-at-trumps-tweets-for-obstruction-of-justice-and-trump-just-handed-him-more-potential-evidence/?utm_term=.db813c205394

[mtls2005]

"Should"? "Shouldn't"?

 

We're told by Rudy the O.G. that tRUmp can fire Mueller. So stop whining like a little biatch and fire the guy.

 

Amazing tweet-storm. He's behaving like a cornered animal. Hopefully his wife and family can comfort him, and talk him down.

 

 

Edited August 1, 2018 by mtls2005

[Silurian]

Looks like the reason for Traitor Trump's tweet storm is that he secretly doesn't want to interview with Mueller. The bluster about wanting to be interviewed is just that...bluster. He is scared...very scared!

 

Special counsel Mueller wants to ask Trump about obstruction of justice

 

Quote

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office wants to ask President Donald Trump about obstruction of justice, sources close to the White House tell ABC News. According to sources, the president learned within the last day that the special counsel will limit the scope of questioning and would like to ask questions both orally and written for the President to respond to.

According to sources familiar with the President’s reaction Wednesday morning, that was the genesis for his early morning tweet storm.

 

[mtls2005]

 

[BobBKK]

A classic waste of tax payers money. Either charge someone or give up the witch-hunt.

[mtls2005]

6 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

A classic waste of tax payers money. Either charge someone or give up the witch-hunt.

 

Whitewater.

 

Benghazi.

 

 

[Scott]

Troll post removed.  

 

[worgeordie]

Must be getting too near the truth.

regards Worgeordie

[Chomper Higgot]

July has given us treason in plain sight, and now obstruction of justice in plain sight.

 

I wonder what August will bring.

[mtls2005]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I wonder what August will bring.

 

He's an animal caught in a trap.

 

He'll chew off Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III's leg to escape.

 

Ultimately there is nothing off the table for him; he'd incite an insurrection to save his sorry fat a$$.

 

 

 

 

[Becker]

8 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

July has given us treason in plain sight, and now obstruction of justice in plain sight.

 

I wonder what August will bring.

More of the same I'll guess. The Swamp King never fails to deliver the goods turds and his orange flapping lips and his little tweeting thumbs will eventually be his downfall.

Stable genius my @**, BWAHAHAHA!

[Chomper Higgot]

31 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

He's an animal caught in a trap.

 

He'll chew off Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III's leg to escape.

 

Ultimately there is nothing off the table for him; he'd incite an insurrection to save his sorry fat a$$.

 

 

 

 

“he'd incite an insurrection to save his sorry fat a$$.”

 

I fear you are right about that.

 

True to form, he’ll let others do the fighting.

[riclag]

 All American's who voted for change,time to end the coup,the political nonsense which is the Mueller witch hunt. Contact your congress rep

Edited August 2, 2018 by riclag

[flyingtlger]

Trump is nothing but a thin skinned, racist, white collar criminal.

The sooner he's gone, the BETTER for America as well as the World!

 

[attrayant]

 All American's who voted for change,time to end the coup,the political nonsense which is the Mueller witch hunt. Contact your congress rep

It seems as though you’re okay with letting people get away with crimes.

A ‘witch hunt’ is by definition, a hunt for something that does not exist. This far, we have two dozen or more criminal indictments and five guilty pleas. Real crimes are being uncovered and people are being held accountable for them. Do you have a problem with that?

How can you possibly call this a witch hunt?

[riclag]

3 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

It seems as though you’re okay with letting people get away with crimes.

A ‘witch hunt’ is by definition, a hunt for something that does not exist. This far, we have two dozen or more criminal indictments and five guilty pleas. Real crimes are being uncovered and people are being held accountable for them. Do you have a problem with that?

How can you possibly call this a witch hunt?

 

What crimes,the 24 Russians,2 liars and a tax fraud? Goin on three years! Russian discord is proven,enough is enough! 

[mtls2005]

56 minutes ago, riclag said:

All American's who voted for change,time to end the coup,the political nonsense which is the Mueller witch hunt. Contact your congress rep

 

Prior to November 6, 2018.

 

 

After that, contact your new rep.

 

If you're Russian, contact Vlad.

 

If you're in the 4th district in Ohio, go wrestle your rep.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by mtls2005

[attrayant]

What crimes,the 24 Russians,2 liars and a tax fraud? Goin on three years! Russian discord is proven,enough is enough! 

You just wave all of that away? Is there some reason 24 Russians interfering in our election isn’t a thing that should be investigated? Just let them all off the hook so they can do it again?

And why do you seem to excuse the others, and why do you say it’s only three? And why do you say the probe has been going on for three years?

It seems like you’re woefully misinformed about, well, everything but you’re still calling for the investigation to end.

Maybe you should think about that.

For those who think we’re not getting much bang for our buck, here’s a comparison of all recent presidencies and the investigations they’ve had to endure.



Mueller has been an exceptional return on our investment so far, and there’s much more to come.

[Becker]

54 minutes ago, riclag said:

 All American's who voted for change,time to end the coup,the political nonsense which is the Mueller witch hunt. Contact your congress rep

And I urge all those who voted for sanity ( and that was 3 million more than voted for the draft dodging traitor) to do the same and demand an impeachment so that we can finally rid the WH of a Russian agent.

[attrayant]

America doesn't need a special counsel to continue this political  investigation in what it already knows.

This is a criminal investigation.

Your posts are full of Trumpian nonsense. You said America knows. What does that even mean? Knows what?

America is 326 million people. An overwhelming majority of them are law abiding and want corruption and scandals to be rooted-out of government.

That’s precisely what the Mueller probe is doing, and America has no idea what is coming next.

[riclag]

14 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

This is a criminal investigation.

Your posts are full of Trumpian nonsense. You said America knows. What does that even mean? Knows what?

America is 326 million people. An overwhelming majority of them are law abiding and want corruption and scandals to be rooted-out of government.

That’s precisely what the Mueller probe is doing, and America has no idea what is coming next.

 

America knows the Russians sowed discord in this election and past elections. Goin on 3 years Comey - Mueller!The best a special Council has proven  is several liars,a accused tax fraud and 23 out of 24 Russian's that are accused but will never ever come to testify or be tried to god knows what.All of these investigations can be done with US DOJ  prosecutors.It's a  political witch hunt  

Edited August 2, 2018 by riclag

[metisdead]

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[Briggsy]

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

He's an animal caught in a trap.

 

He'll chew off Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III's leg to escape.

 

Ultimately there is nothing off the table for him; he'd incite an insurrection to save his sorry fat a$$.

 

 

 

 

Indeed. As with the current policy of Russia, weaponise everything. Let's hope Trump doesn't start a war.

[FritsSikkink]

8 hours ago, BobBKK said:

A classic waste of tax payers money. Either charge someone or give up the witch-hunt.

They have been doing that already, where have you been the last months?

[jcsmith]

Trump sees the walls closing in on him. He's going down and getting desperate. 

[FritsSikkink]

9 hours ago, BobBKK said:

A classic waste of tax payers money. Either charge someone or give up the witch-hunt.

People charged so far:

Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman

Rick Gates, one of Manafort's business partners

George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser

Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser

13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies

California businessman Richard Pinedo

Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer tied to Manafort and Gates

12 Russian intelligence officers

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/heres-everyone-who-has-been-charged-in-muellers-russia-probe-so-far/ss-BBG1nix?ocid=spartanntp#image=9

 

Many more to come soon.

Edited August 2, 2018 by FritsSikkink

[zaphod reborn]

4 hours ago, riclag said:

America knows the Russians sowed discord in this election and past elections. Goin on 3 years Comey - Mueller!The best a special Council has proven  is several liars,a accused tax fraud and 23 out of 24 Russian's that are accused but will never ever come to testify or be tried to god knows what.All of these investigations can be done with US DOJ  prosecutors.It's a  political witch hunt  

Let's go beyond the spin and examined what really happened.  When Manafort went to trial, Mueller had to turn over to Manafort's attorneys all of the statements and reports of interviews that the FBI and DOJ obtained from Rick Gates.  Few of these related to Manafort, almost all incriminated Trump, Trump Jr and Kushner.  That's because Manafort and Gates were charged together, and Gates subsequently flipped.  It's pretty obvious now that Manafort has been promised a pardon from Trump, but that won't come until the end game of Trump's failed presidency.  As Manafort is cooperating with Trump, the Gates' statements were given to Trump's real defense attorney, Emmet Flood.  Giuliani gave up a very warped reaction to those statements in his interview with Alysin Camerota on CNN.  Giuliani and Fox News have been reduced to claiming that receiving foreign aid in an election campaign is not a crime and everyone does it.  They know there is a solid conspiracy case (election fraud, bribery, money-laundering, and election financing) against Trump and his inner circle.

 

Trump also has vaguely reasserted his "conflicts" claim against Manafort.  He previously claimed 3 conflicts that aren't conflicts at all. 1) the day prior to being selected as the Special Counsel, Mueller and Trump discussed Mueller being nominated as head of the FBI.  Trump of course is spinning this as Mueller asking for the appointment.  The opposite is true.  Mueller had already served for 12 years as head of the FBI and he is in his 70's.  More likely, Trump asked Mueller to serve, but Mueller informed Trump he wouldn't be able to serve the full 10-year term.  Regardless, this is not a basis for a conflict of interest under the DC Bar Rules of Conduct.

 

2) From 2014-2016, prior to becoming Special Counsel, Mueller worked at WilmerHale, a law firm with thousands of attorneys.  In 2016, Jared Kushner hired WilmerHale to reprsent him with respect to the DOJ probe.  In 2016, Mueller was assigned to the defense of VW in the emissions scandal case.  Mueller never worked on Kushner's defense and received no conifential information about Kushner.  The DOJ has cleared Mueller of any possible conflict.  Trump has no standing to assert a conflict, only Kushner has standing.  WilmerHale recommended Kushner get outside counsel to determine if WilmerHale's continuing representation of Kushner would be a conflict of interest.  Not only has Kushner continued with WilmerHale, he added the outside counsel to his defense team.

 

3) About 10 years ago, Mueller signed up for a membership at the Trump golf course in Sterling, Virginia.  In 2011, Mueller sent a fairly standard letter requesting refund of annual dues.  The annual dues range from $15,000-450,000 and almost all of it goes into Trump's pocket.  When Mueller didn't get a response, he resigned.  That's it, but Trump paints this as some ugly personal business dispute.  Go figure.          

 

   

[attrayant]

America knows the Russians sowed discord in this election and past elections.

 

So what? This investigation isn’t to inform Americans. It’s to inform congress.

 

Goin on 3 years Comey - Mueller!

 

The Mueller probe began about 14 months ago. Not even a year and a quarter. What is the “Comey-Mueller” thing you keep referring to that is “going on three years”?

 

The best a special Council has proven is...

 

Anything you say after that is immaterial because a special prosecutor is not working for you. He’s working for Trump’s own deputy AG. Where is your trust in Trump’s own “best people”?

 

No matter how important you think you are, whether you personally have seen results or not does not mean there are no results to be seen by people who actually matter.

 

All of these investigations can be done with US DOJ  prosecutors.

 

What makes you think a lower level investigation by the DOJ wouldn’t also be a “political witch hunt”? The whole point of a special counsel is to ensure impartiality. How would taking control away from Mueller (the republican) and giving it to the “13 angry democrats” make things any better?

 

It's a  political witch hunt

 

No, it’s not. You need to stop spewing Sean Hannity’s talking points and back up your accusations with some findings you think have been politically motivated.

[Becker]

1 hour ago, zaphod reborn said:

Let's go beyond the spin and examined what really happened.  When Manafort went to trial, Mueller had to turn over to Manafort's attorneys all of the statements and reports of interviews that the FBI and DOJ obtained from Rick Gates.  Few of these related to Manafort, almost all incriminated Trump, Trump Jr and Kushner.  That's because Manafort and Gates were charged together, and Gates subsequently flipped.  It's pretty obvious now that Manafort has been promised a pardon from Trump, but that won't come until the end game of Trump's failed presidency.  As Manafort is cooperating with Trump, the Gates' statements were given to Trump's real defense attorney, Emmet Flood.  Giuliani gave up a very warped reaction to those statements in his interview with Alysin Camerota on CNN.  Giuliani and Fox News have been reduced to claiming that receiving foreign aid in an election campaign is not a crime and everyone does it.  They know there is a solid conspiracy case (election fraud, bribery, money-laundering, and election financing) against Trump and his inner circle.

 

Trump also has vaguely reasserted his "conflicts" claim against Manafort.  He previously claimed 3 conflicts that aren't conflicts at all. 1) the day prior to being selected as the Special Counsel, Mueller and Trump discussed Mueller being nominated as head of the FBI.  Trump of course is spinning this as Mueller asking for the appointment.  The opposite is true.  Mueller had already served for 12 years as head of the FBI and he is in his 70's.  More likely, Trump asked Mueller to serve, but Mueller informed Trump he wouldn't be able to serve the full 10-year term.  Regardless, this is not a basis for a conflict of interest under the DC Bar Rules of Conduct.

 

2) From 2014-2016, prior to becoming Special Counsel, Mueller worked at WilmerHale, a law firm with thousands of attorneys.  In 2016, Jared Kushner hired WilmerHale to reprsent him with respect to the DOJ probe.  In 2016, Mueller was assigned to the defense of VW in the emissions scandal case.  Mueller never worked on Kushner's defense and received no conifential information about Kushner.  The DOJ has cleared Mueller of any possible conflict.  Trump has no standing to assert a conflict, only Kushner has standing.  WilmerHale recommended Kushner get outside counsel to determine if WilmerHale's continuing representation of Kushner would be a conflict of interest.  Not only has Kushner continued with WilmerHale, he added the outside counsel to his defense team.

 

3) About 10 years ago, Mueller signed up for a membership at the Trump golf course in Sterling, Virginia.  In 2011, Mueller sent a fairly standard letter requesting refund of annual dues.  The annual dues range from $15,000-450,000 and almost all of it goes into Trump's pocket.  When Mueller didn't get a response, he resigned.  That's it, but Trump paints this as some ugly personal business dispute.  Go figure.          

 

   

Excellent post (although facts are wasted on the MAWA crowd) and I don't think we need much figuring. 

The traitor-in-chief is desperately flapping his lying lips and as usual only lies come out. He's feeling the heat and is getting more and more desperate. Pathetic. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Becker