Mueller Investigation & Cohen Investigation

[Buddy]

The “pro Trump” juror in the Manafort trial that interviewed on FOX, spells bad news for Trump.  She WANTED Manafort to be innocent, but the facts were overwhelming.  She also thinks that the Mueller investigation is a “Witch hunt” and the charges against Manafort are only an attempt to get to Trump.  What happens when Trump voters like her are presented with REAL evidence of conspiracy and collusion by the Trump team with the Russians?  THAT is coming.  It is only a matter of time. 

FOX can avoid the news as much as they want .... the truth isn’t leaving. 

[AbruptSLR]

Assuming that Mueller report eventually recommends impeachment of Trump, you can expect the GOP leadership to turn on Trump just before the stock market peaks, so they can blame the subsequent downturn on the impeachment:

Title: "After a Trump Impeachment, Expect the Market to Bounce"

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-08-23/after-trump-impeachment-expect-an-economic-recovery

Extract: "His party probably won’t turn against him until an economic downturn is near its trough. That’s what happened to Nixon."

[crandles]

What happens when Trump voters like her are presented with REAL evidence of conspiracy and collusion by the Trump team with the Russians?  THAT is coming.  It is only a matter of time. 

If that happens, why do you think it will be any different?

Of course there is bad news here for Trump, in that while 1 in 12 are die hard Trump supporters but that means about 5 in 12 short of what he needs when it comes to reelection. (Also 1 in 12 may not be enough to stop retrials. OTOH he is unlikely to lose all Senate seats at mid-terms before such evidence is presented.)

[Buddy]

It’s always bad news when the CFO of your company is granted immunity.  The news for Donnie goes from horrible to tragic in two days.

When is Donnie visiting Russia?  Donnie has two choices:  Flee to Russia or sit his broad, fat ass in jail the rest of his life.  Will be interesting to see which one he chooses.

[AbruptSLR]

Dangling the prospect of a pardon in front of Manfort due to 'unfair' government treatment, is obstruction of justice:

Title: "Paul Manafort and Trump’s Pardon Pattern"

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/paul-manafort-and-trumps-pardon-pattern/568438/

Extract: "As he has with Manafort, President Trump has decried the government’s “unfair” treatment of all three men he has pardoned to date. But will the pattern hold with his former campaign manager?"

Edit, see also:

Title: "Giuliani’s comments add confusion about possible Manafort pardon"

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/23/trump-manafort-pardon-giuliani-795131

[AbruptSLR]

You can bet that this action is just the tip of the iceberg and that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) investigators will continue prying deeper into the president’s business affairs and associates.  Plus, Trump cannot stop this investigation by just firing Rosenberg and then Mueller:

Title: "Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg gets immunity"

https://www.axios.com/trump-organization-cfo-allen-weisselberg-immunity-2113f394-30da-4ac8-ac22-08db8d7c624c.html

Extract: "Allen Weisselberg, longtime chief financial officer for the Trump organization, has been granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Michael Cohen and the 2016 payments he made to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign who alleged they had sexual encounters with the president, the Wall Street Journal reports.
…
A top Washington white collar attorney told Axios that this “could be really big deal but unclear if it’s limited to past Cohen stuff which culminated in his plea or if it’s ongoing. But clearly prosecutors thought he had something of value in return for giving immunity. There had to be some 'showing' by his counsel to get the immunity.”"

[AbruptSLR]

Trump continues his efforts to politicize the DOJ, for his own personal benefit:

Title: "Trump Tells Jeff Sessions: Go After My Enemies"

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-responds-jeff-sessions_us_5b7fdcf2e4b072951511fffd

Extract: "The attorney general disagreed with Trump's initial claim that he "never took control" of the DOJ"

[SteveMDFP]

A top Washington white collar attorney told Axios that this “could be really big deal but unclear if it’s limited to past Cohen stuff which culminated in his plea or if it’s ongoing. But clearly prosecutors thought he had something of value in return for giving immunity. There had to be some 'showing' by his counsel to get the immunity.”"

It's widely judged that the Trump Organization has been involved in a lot of shady dealings, plausibly including tax fraud, bank fraud, campaign finance violations, money laundering, and I'm confident much more.  Weisselberg would share culpability in *all* of it.  So his counsel, in negotiating for immunity, most surely would have indicated all of what Weisselberg has to show, so that immunity can be granted for all of it.

It's a hell of a hornet's nest buzzing now.  The stress on the Trump clan must be unimaginable. 

Moral of the story:  unless your past is squeaky-clean, don't even think about seeking high-profile public office. 

When the congressional republicans run for the exits, expect a sudden flash flood of almost all of them at once.

[AbruptSLR]

Mueller's 'speaking indictments' may be preparing Congress for what is yet to come:

Title: "Mueller's 'speaking indictments' offer clues to strategy"

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/402902-muellers-speaking-indictments-offer-clues-to-strategy

Extract: "Special counsel Robert Mueller has made use of an unusual legal tool that has allowed him to build a narrative about Russian interference in the presidential election while quietly pressing forward with his investigation behind the scenes.

Mueller has made frequent use of “speaking indictments” — a colloquial term used by attorneys and legal experts to describe indictments that go into more detail, and provide more facts, than what is required under law.
..
… Mueller’s investigation is unique, given the intense public appetite for answers on an issue that has captivated the country for well over a year. Mueller’s findings are likely to carry enormous political and national security implications."

[wili]

Steve wrote: "...unless your past is squeaky-clean, don't even think about seeking high-profile public office. ..."

No, the lesson is: "Don't run for office if you are the head of a major crime syndicate"

You can be a long, long way from 'squeaky clean' and be just fine. But if you are essentially a mafia boss, lots of people are going to eventually take a closer look at your criminal activity if you choose to run for a major office and then become the office holder.

[AbruptSLR]

Team Trump may collectively be too blind to understand that their arguments would never stand-up in a court of law:

Title: "It Depends on What the Meaning of the Word Obstruction Is"

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/trump-obstruction-of-justice-the-president-doesnt-realize-don-mcgahn-may-have-already-given-mueller-everything-he-needs.html

Extract: "Why Trump doesn’t realize White House Counsel Don McGahn may have already given Robert Mueller everything he needs."

[AbruptSLR]

As Team Trump's argument make no valid legal sense, it appears that their entire strategy is that: a) Mueller cannot indict a sitting president and b) after a Democrat control House impeaches Trump in early 2019, that Team Trump's nonsense argument provides sufficient political cover for at least 34 Senators to vote against removal:

Title: "Trump is latching on to a popular right-wing talking point about Michael Cohen that experts say is 'nonsense'"

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-michael-cohen-crimes-not-crimes-talking-point-2018-8

Extract: "President Donald Trump has echoed a popular right-wing talking point in recent days as his latest defense from the plea deal to which his former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen agreed earlier this week.

The campaign-finance crimes Cohen pleaded guilty to? Well, they aren't actually crimes, Trump and others say. It's an argument that campaign-finance experts say is "nonsense."

[AbruptSLR]

The linked article indicates that the road to potential impeachment of Trump would be smoother if the Democrats win control of the House, but I still believe that under our current 'extraordinary circumstances' that Mueller could obtain permission from Rosenstein to indict Trump while he is in office:

Title: "‘Sleeper’ case could torpedo Mueller report"

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/27/robert-mueller-special-counsel-report-sleeper-case-797373

Extract: "A little-noticed court case stemming from the apparent murder of a Columbia University professor six decades ago could keep special counsel Robert Mueller from publishing any information about the Trump campaign and Russia that he obtains through a Washington grand jury.
..
If Democrats win control of the House in November, the whole debate is likely academic. In that scenario, the House Judiciary Committee could subpoena any report as part of an impeachment inquiry. A judge would likely approve that request because of a D.C. Circuit ruling in 1974 that approved transmission of a report to the House on President Richard Nixon’s actions in Watergate."

[Buddy]

I wonder how beneficial the second Manafort trial will be for the Republicans in November?  That should be a big help for them.  It will be a chance for Manafort and his legal team to show the American people just what a “witch hunt” the whole Russian thing has been.

Yea .... I’m sure Traitor Don is looking forward to the next trial .... about as much as looking forward to a root canal. 😱

[mostly_lurking]

I wonder how beneficial the second Manafort trial will be for the Republicans in November?  That should be a big help for them.  It will be a chance for Manafort and his legal team to show the American people just what a “witch hunt” the whole Russian thing has been.

Yea .... I’m sure Traitor Don is looking forward to the next trial .... about as much as looking forward to a root canal. 😱

Hope you aren't counting on Cohen and his ridicules lawyer.Seems all these lawyers (like..Avenatti) are out to get media exposure and nothing else.

[sidd]

In the other witch hunt, Bruce Ohr on the griddle, looks like Simpson on deck followed by Nellie Ohr.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/404084-house-republicans-say-ohr-interview-escalates-surveillance-concerns

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/28/bruce-ohr-congressional-interview-799031

sidd

[AbruptSLR]

The rats are leaving the sinking ship:

Sources: Second Trump Org employee discussed immunity deal

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/trump-organization-employee-immunity-deal/index.html

Extract: "A second Trump Organization employee discussed a potential immunity deal with the federal prosecutors who charged Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, according to people familiar with the matter."

[AbruptSLR]

Trump has pushed McGahn out, so he can cherry pick the successor.  Similarly, after Kavanaugh has been confirmed you can expect Trump to push Sessions out, so he can also cherry pick a replacement AG:

Title: "Trump confirms White House counsel Don McGahn will depart in the fall"

https://www.axios.com/trump-tweet-don-mcgahn-leaving-a1942385-5de0-48ff-9fe4-80835efdb232.html

Extract: "President Trump tweeted Wednesday that White House counsel Don McGahn will leave his position in the fall, confirming Axios' reporting.

White House Counsel Don McGahn will be leaving his position in the fall, shortly after the confirmation (hopefully) of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!

Why it matters: Per Axios' Jonathan Swan, McGhan's departure "potentially puts a successor in charge of fielding a blizzard of requests or subpoenas for documents and testimony if Democrats win control of the House in the midterms.""

Edit: However, it is not clear to me that 50 Senators (plus Pence's tiebreaker) would be willing to approve any replacement for Sessions who would be willing to fire Rosenstein/Mueller.

[AbruptSLR]

Apparently, Manafort is now warming to the idea of cutting a plea deal with Mueller.  However, the longer he waits to proffer serious information, the less leverage he will have to cut a sweet deal because as more and more other people flip on Trump, this progressively makes Manafort's information less and less valuable to Mueller.

Title: "Manafort Was Reportedly Trying to Negotiate a Deal Ahead of Second Trial"

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/manafort-was-reportedly-trying-to-negotiate-a-deal-ahead-of-second-trial.html

Extract: "Before former Trump campaign head Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts relating to bank and tax fraud last week, the Wall Street Journal reports Manfort’s legal team was actively negotiating a deal with prosecutors on a second set of charges set to go to trial in September, including charges of obstruction of justice, Manafort’s failure to register as a foreign agent, and conspiracy to launder money. The two sides were unable to come to agreement to avoid another trial because of issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller himself about the potential agreement, according to the Journal. The exact details of Mueller’s objection remain unknown.

The negotiations, however, are an indication that Manafort is warming to the idea of cooperating with prosecutors after, for months, refusing to play ball with Mueller’s team."

[AbruptSLR]

Yet another example of direct 'witness tampering', one day after Ohr testified behind closed doors with congressional investigators:

Title: "Trump asks 'how the hell' Bruce Ohr still works at the Justice Department"

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/29/trump-criticize-bruce-ohr-801684

Extract: " President Donald Trump on Wednesday launched another pointed attack against Bruce Ohr, the Justice Department official who has drawn intense scrutiny from Capitol Hill Republicans, asking on Twitter “how the hell” he still has a job at the DOJ.

“How the hell is Bruce Ohr still employed at the Justice Department? Disgraceful! Witch Hunt!” Trump tweeted.

The message came one day after Ohr appeared behind closed doors with congressional investigators, who grilled him about the timing of his contacts with Fusion GPS, the firm that worked with former British spy Christopher Steele to create and distribute a salacious dossier about Trump’s relationship with Russia."

[AbruptSLR]

The head of the conservative think tank 'Center for the National Interest', had direct interaction with Maria Butina:

Title: "Maria Butina: Private Messages Reveal Accused Russian Spy’s True Ties to D.C. Wise Man"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maria-butina-private-messages-reveal-accused-russian-spys-true-ties-to-dc-wise-man

Extract: "The head of the Center for the National Interest said his interaction with Butina was limited, but emails and direct messages show it was closer than previously understood."

[AbruptSLR]

We will see what comes of Manafort's request:

Title: "Manafort asks for D.C. trial to be moved to Roanoke, Va."

http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/404150-manafort-asks-for-dc-trial-to-be-moved-to-roanoke-va

Extract: "Attorneys for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are urging a federal district court judge to move his second criminal trial from Washington, D.C., to Roanoke, Va., citing a biased jury pool."

[sidd]

Wait, what ? Mifsud talked to the FBI ? In Feb 2017 ?

http://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/404275-what-professor-really-told-fbi-about-trump-russia-and-papadopoulos

sidd

[TerryM]

Wait, what ? Mifsud talked to the FBI ? In Feb 2017 ?

http://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/404275-what-professor-really-told-fbi-about-trump-russia-and-papadopoulos

sidd

From your above link.

"It makes you wonder if what has gone on so far is not the pursuit of criminal conduct but, instead, is the criminalizing of perfectly normal political conduct."

Something more than a few of us have been discussing for some time.
Terry

[Buddy]

Mueller’s team has asked for an extension of time to consider re-trying the ten counts that were “hung” in the first Manafort trial.  This gives Mueller’s team more options in dealing with Manafort, especially if the two sides are still trying to work out a plea deal (as I now suspect).

It gives Mueller s “bigger hammer” in dealing with Manafort.  The walls are really starting to close in on Traitor Donnie. 

[AbruptSLR]

The tangled web of deceit and corruption is slowly coming into focus:

Title: "Manafort associate Sam Patten charged in Mueller probe"

https://www.axios.com/sam-patten-mueller-investigation-paul-manafort-73735c9c-ba0f-4476-9e88-f208ec7efb96.html

Extract: "Sam Patten, a former associate of ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was charged on Friday for failing to register as a foreign agent for his involvement with a Ukrainian political party, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: This is yet another person taken down by the far-reaching Mueller investigation. And, as Axios' Mike Allen reported, there is still a lot of evidence the special counsel has — or could have — that we have yet to seen."

Edit, Sam Patten has now flipped:

Title: "Robert Mueller got another cooperator"

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/31/17805310/sam-patten-mueller-plea-manafort

Extract: "Sam Patten, an associate of Paul Manafort and Cambridge Analytica, struck a plea deal."

[AbruptSLR]

Here is clear evidence that Trump's efforts to try to discredit Bruce Ohr amounts to witness tampering:

Title: "DOJ lawyer Bruce Ohr was told Russia had Trump "over a barrel" in 2016"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-lawyer-bruce-ohr-was-told-russia-had-trump-over-a-barrel-in-2016/

Extract: "A senior Justice Department lawyer says a former British spy told him at a breakfast meeting two years ago that Russian intelligence believed it had then-candidate Donald Trump "over a barrel," according to multiple people familiar with the encounter.

The lawyer, Bruce Ohr, also says he learned that a Trump campaign aide had met with higher-level Russian officials than the aide had acknowledged, the people said.

The previously unreported details of the July 30, 2016, breakfast with Christopher Steele, which Ohr described to lawmakers this week in a private interview, reveal an exchange of potentially explosive information about Mr. Trump between two men the president has relentlessly sought to discredit."

[AbruptSLR]

For those who are interested:

Title: "Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America by Seth Abramson"

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/proof-of-collusion-seth-abramson/1129438460?ean=9781982116088

Extract: "For the first time, the full, explosive record of the unthinkable: how a U.S. president compromised American foreign policy in exchange for the promise of future business and covert election assistance.

Looking back at this moment in history, historians will ask if Americans knew they were living through the first case of criminal conspiracy between an American presidential candidate turned commander in chief and a geopolitical enemy. The answer might be: it was hard to see the whole picture. The stories coming in from around the globe have often seemed fantastical: clandestine meetings in foreign capitals, secret recordings in a Moscow hotel, Kremlin agents infiltrating the Trump inner circle …

Seth Abramson has tracked every one of these far-flung reports and now in, Proof of Collusion, he finally gives us a record of the unthinkable—a president compromising American foreign policy in exchange for the promise of future business and covert election assistance. The attorney, professor, and former criminal investigator has used his exacting legal mind and forensic acumen to compile, organize, and analyze every piece of the Trump-Russia story. His conclusion is clear: the case for collusion is staring us in the face. Drawing from American and European news outlets, he takes readers through the Trump-Russia scandal chronologically, putting the developments in context and showing how they connect. His extraordinary march through all the public evidence includes:

•   How Trump worked for thirty years to expand his real estate empire into Russia even as he was rescued from bankruptcy by Putin’s oligarchs and Kremlin agents
•   How Russian intelligence gathered compromising material on him over multiple trips
•   How Trump recruited Russian allies and business partners while running for president
•   How he surrounded himself with advisers who engaged in clandestine negotiations with Russia
•   How Trump aides and family members held secret meetings with foreign agents and lied about them

By pulling every last thread of this complicated story together, Abramson argues that—even in the absence of a Congressional investigation or a report from Special Counsel Mueller—the public record already indicates a quid pro quo between Trump and the Kremlin. The most extraordinary part of the case for collusion is that so much of it unfolded in plain sight."

[AbruptSLR]

Based on Trump's latest tweets, essentially everyone from the FBI, to the U.S. intelligence community, to the MSM, were all conspiring against Trump even before the 2016 election.  Such insinuations beggar belief.

[wili]

But as his tweets get ever more deranged, he is convincing fewer and fewer people, even among the basest of his base:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/31/trump-approval-rating-poll-washington-post-abc-805563

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-disapproval-at-60-percent-in-new-poll-1310509123679?v=railb

Only 18% think he should pardon Manifort. That means half of the most basic core of his base doesn't buy it when tRump says that Manifort is a great guy and that his loss in court is a sad thing.

This is how it starts. If they finally find one thing that they don't agree with their fearless leader on, inevitably others will follow...

[Rob Dekker]

Drawing from American and European news outlets.... say no more. I'm totally convinced it's all true. It's the media by god man, and they never get anything wrong.

As opposed to the Russian "news" outlets you prefer, which don't seem to be able to get ANYTHING right :
http://www.russialies.com/

[Rob Dekker]

I don't prefer Russian "news" outlets you liar. 

Yet your next post has an RT link (regarding the death of Zakharchenko).
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1974.msg170725.html#msg170725
Oh. And the next post after that has an RT link too (regarding Syria).
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1974.msg170728.html#msg170728

QED

[Rob Dekker]

I added some links to my post, so we can all see who the lying fool is.

[Rob Dekker]

I added some links to my post, so we can all see who the lying fool is.

Yes, sure can.

They can also peruse this next link and work it out for themselves without your opinionated disinformation, lies, and ad hominem trolling getting in the way of the truth.
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=1944

Well, look at that. There are two more posts that you made which reference RT.
That's 4 posts that reference RT within 40 minutes.

QED

OK. One post was sarcastically referencing RT. That leaves 3 posts in 40 minutes that reference RT as the source.

Why don't you simply admit that you like referencing Russian "news" media ?
That would be so much better that trying to hide you love of Russian media by calling me names.
It's really simple. Just say : "I like RT".
Go ahead ! You can do it !

[wili]

lurk wrote: "Drawing from American and European news outlets..."

Soooo, to gain your much coveted approval now I should restrict myself to links by news outlets from Asia and Africa?? 

You really have jumped the shark here, lurk.

[Buddy]

With the indictment of Sam Patten, the Mueller team is now squeezing the Cambridge Analytics angle of the investigation.  Sam Patten used to work for Cambridge Analytics.  If I were Brad Parscale .... Donnie’s computer dude ..... I would be getting very worried about now.  If I were Robert Mercer I would be getting more worried as well.

The investigation continues to “eat the elephant” one bite at a time. 🐘

[wili]

Wow. That wasn't even slightly coherent.

As they say..."Not even wrong"

Get back on your meds and maybe we can have a coherent discussion...but probably not.

[AbruptSLR]

It's not nice to lie to the FBI even if you are just trying to avoid embarrassing the Trump campaign:

Title: "Papadopoulos lawyers ask for no prison time for lying to FBI amid Russia probe"

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/01/papadopoulos-mueller-russia-probe-prison-lawyers-plea-806110

Extract: "Papadopoulos’ attorneys say he didn’t lie out of concern he was involved in a dastardly plot, but due to more pedestrian worries about his job prospects and avoiding embarrassment to the Trump campaign."

[AbruptSLR]

For those who are interested:

Title: "Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America by Seth Abramson"

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/proof-of-collusion-seth-abramson/1129438460?ean=9781982116088

I am confident that Mueller has much more evidence of collusion than Abramson has collected.  It is just that Mueller is prevented by regulation from presenting such evidence to the public until the Democratically controlled House subpoenas his preliminary report on obstruction of justice in late January 2019.

Title: "Robert Mueller's secret files"

https://www.axios.com/robert-mueller-secret-files-russia-investigation-ec344cf7-b875-4b78-a0d9-2b7058e08fcf.html

Extract: "The evidence we've yet to see:
•President Trump's tax returns.
•Trump bank records, which are more valuable than tax returns.
•Internal Trump Organization records.
•More recordings from Michael Cohen.
•Cellphone records (metadata showing calls placed/received and duration) related to the Trump Tower meeting.
•White House and campaign emails and text messages. (Trump's legal team said in January that the White House had produced more than 20,000 pages of materials, and the campaign had provided more than 1.4 million pages.)
•Contemporaneous notes of White House staffers from meetings with Trump.
•A full reconstruction by former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who made a plea deal, of his conversations about Russia and subsequent lies.
•Scores of hours of testimony of Trump insiders (including at least 20 White House personnel) about his private dealings, much of which is unknown to POTUS and the public.
•National Enquirer files revealed by today's N.Y. Times: Trump and Cohen "devised a plan to buy up all the dirt on Mr. Trump that the National Enquirer and its parent company had collected on him, dating back to the 1980s."
•As MSNBC analyst Matt Miller summarized: "Basically, everything!""

[AbruptSLR]

Linked is a document (from the Vox documentcloud) of Papadopoulous' sentencing memorandum:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4807546-Papadopoulos-defense-sentencing-memo.html

Among other newly revealed information this document notes that Papadopoulos says Trump "nodded with approval" when he was told Papadopoulos was a Kremlin intermediary. And Sessions "liked the idea." That means Sessions lied to Congress.

Edit, see also:

Title: "Papadopoulos claims candidate Trump gave nod of ‘approval’ to planning meeting with Putin"

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/404665-papadopoulos-claims-candidate-trump-gave-nod-of-approval-to-planning

Extract: "A former campaign aide accused of lying to the FBI said that then-candidate Donald Trump “nodded with approval” at his suggestion of setting up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin."

[AbruptSLR]

The linked analysis should make many Team Trump members (including Don Jr) nervous, as there is plenty of evidence that they lied to Congress:

Title: "Lobbyist Admits Lying To Congress in Guilty Plea Foreshadowing Others"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2018/08/31/lobbyist-admits-lying-to-congress-in-guilty-plea/#143c203321ff

Extract: "A Washington lobbyist pled guilty Friday to charges including lying to, and obstructing, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation. It may be the first charges citing the Senate’s Russia probe, and thereby foreshadows a potential host of charges to come.

Samuel Patten, a Washington lobbyist, made a plea and cooperation agreement. The core charge was that he helped steer foreign money to the Trump inaugural. However, the charging document spanned several areas. Patten lied about inauguration tickets to the Senate committee in January. While testifying, he tried to hide his connections to a Ukrainian oligarch, and a Russian national, with whom he worked.
…
Of course, the Senate is currently majority Republican. Although it has notable accomplishments, it cannot go further than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will let it. Moreover, other Senate committees have not been given the room to go that Senate Intelligence has. I was a witness before one Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing chaired by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).  He was gracious to invite me and listened to what I had to say about how Congress could investigate at the same time as the Justice Department. He was sophisticated about these matters and, if allowed, would do a good job. But, I was told privately that the Senate leadership kept Graham on a “short leash.

If the House becomes Democratic after the November midterm election, there would no doubt be a number of House investigations. These might well look into the Russia matter and its diverse aspects, the policies of the Trump administration, or both.

Then Sam Patten would be a harbinger. Other Trump figures would face the same dilemma he did: tell the truth or face the consequences.”

[AbruptSLR]

Linked is a document (from the Vox documentcloud) of Papadopoulous' sentencing memorandum:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4807546-Papadopoulos-defense-sentencing-memo.html

Among other newly revealed information this document notes that Papadopoulos says Trump "nodded with approval" when he was told Papadopoulos was a Kremlin intermediary. And Sessions "liked the idea." That means Sessions lied to Congress.

Edit, see also:

Title: "Papadopoulos claims candidate Trump gave nod of ‘approval’ to planning meeting with Putin"

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/404665-papadopoulos-claims-candidate-trump-gave-nod-of-approval-to-planning

Extract: "A former campaign aide accused of lying to the FBI said that then-candidate Donald Trump “nodded with approval” at his suggestion of setting up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin."

To be clear this sentencing memo implies that Mueller believes (& has witnesses to support his belief) that in a meeting on March 31, 2016, Trump approved of Papadopoulos setting-up a back channel from the Trump campaign to Putin.  As Sessions was in the meeting (and was thus presumably a party to this conspiracy), this may very well mean that Sessions is already a cooperating witness to Mueller.

[sidd]

China responds to allegations that they hacked Clinton's email server:

--
 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying ...

“Such allegations are nothing new,”

 Hua noted that cybersecurity is a global issue concerning the interests of all countries and must be protected by the international community, adding that those who care about cybersecurity will remember the PRISM program, the “Equation Group,” and the WannaCry ransomware, which ravaged computers systems worldwide and which was set off by some country busy designing offensive cyber weapons.

“China is a staunch champion of cyber security and firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks and espionage activities,” she said. “China believes that the international community should jointly address threats to cyber security through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.”

--

I read that carefully and i don't actually see a denial in there ...


http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0830/c90000-9495572.html


sidd

[jacksmith4tx]

China responds to allegations that they hacked Clinton's email server:

--
 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying ...

“Such allegations are nothing new,”

 Hua noted that cybersecurity is a global issue concerning the interests of all countries and must be protected by the international community, adding that those who care about cybersecurity will remember the PRISM program, the “Equation Group,” and the WannaCry ransomware, which ravaged computers systems worldwide and which was set off by some country busy designing offensive cyber weapons.

“China is a staunch champion of cyber security and firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks and espionage activities,” she said. “China believes that the international community should jointly address threats to cyber security through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.”

--

I read that carefully and i don't actually see a denial in there ...


http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0830/c90000-9495572.html


sidd

No denial, but there's this:
"The Chinese are favoring an AI assisting with the foreign policy because they feel that it will be free of passion, jealousy and other human emotions."
https://www.analyticsindiamag.com/how-ai-is-running-chinas-foreign-policy/
https://www.analyticsindiamag.com/artificial-intelligence-is-a-key-to-future-international-relations-dynamics/

Dr Feng Shuai, senior fellow with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said, “It would not even consider the moral factors that conflict with strategic goals… If one side of the strategic game has artificial intelligence technology, and the other side does not, then this kind of strategic game is almost a one-way, transparent confrontation. The actors lacking the assistance of AI will be at an absolute disadvantage in many aspects such as risk judgment, strategy selection, execution efficiency, and decision-making reliability,” he said.

[AbruptSLR]

The sly fox is herding his prey :

Title: "How Robert Mueller Outfoxed Donald Trump"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-robert-mueller-outfoxed-donald-trump


Extract: "The special prosecutor quietly and subtly played the president, who even now has no real clue what Mueller and his zipped-lipped crew are up to.

[AbruptSLR]

I have complete confidence in Mueller's likely game plan:

Title: "Mueller to accept some written answers from Trump: NYT"

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/405054-mueller-to-accept-some-written-answers-from-trump-nyt

Extract: "Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly agreed to accept some written answers from President Trump regarding whether Trump's 2016 campaign worked with Russia amid Russia's election interference."

[sidd]

Setting up the McCabe-Comey matchup:

"[McCabe’s legal team] have disputed Comey’s account of his interactions with McCabe, asserting Comey knew McCabe was authorizing engagement with reporters. "

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/prosecutors-use-grand-jury-as-investigation-of-andrew-mccabe-intensifies/2018/09/06/aa922b2e-b137-11e8-9a6a-565d92a3585d_story.html

sidd

[AbruptSLR]

It will be interesting if the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee can produce evidence that Kavanaugh actually did talk about Mueller with the law firm of Mark Kasowitz, who represents Donald Trump:

Title: "The Latest: Trump calls Dems at Kavanaugh hearing 'sick'"

https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/The-Latest-Kavanaugh-in-email-disputes-Roe-is-13209169.php

Extract: "Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he hasn't talked about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation with White House officials. Nor has he discussed it, he says, with anyone at the law firm of Mark Kasowitz, who has represented President Donald Trump.
…
Democrats say they fear Kavanaugh would protect Trump if a dispute over the Russia probe reached the high court."

[sidd]

Papa gets 2 weeks in pokey, 10K fine

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/papadopoulos-sentenced-14-days-jail-lying-fbi-mueller-probe-n907266

sidd

[Buddy]

Kavanaugh looked like that guy in third grade who was trying to avoid a question about what happened to little Johnny’s homework, and Johnny didn’t want to answer the teacher.

Kavanaugh looked REALLY bad ..... and obviously he is hiding something.  It’s just a matter of whether we will find out what it is.  It looked like Kavanaugh strategy was to find any way possible to NOT answer the question.  When that didn’t work, he ultimately lied.