May 25, 2018

Trump Tells Naval Academy Graduates: 'We're Respected Again'

Source: Talking Points Memo




By Nicole Lafond | May 25, 2018 10:54 am

President Donald Trump on Friday told the graduating class of Naval Academy students that the U.S. military is “respected again” under his leadership.

“You are now leaders of the most power and righteous forces on the face of the planet, the United States Military,” he said. “We are respected again, I can tell you that. We are respected again. A lot of things have happened, we’re respected again.”

https://twitter.com/TPMLiveWire/status/1000025948782292993

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Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-naval-academy-were-respected-again

May 25, 2018

GOP fundraiser claims foreign government helped hack his emails

Source: The Hill




BY MAX GREENWOOD - 05/25/18 10:14 AM EDT

A top fundraiser for President Trump alleged in court filings on Thursday that Qatar worked with a former CIA agent to hack his email and expose efforts to get Trump to back adversarial policies toward Doha.

In an amended complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles, lawyers for Elliott Broidy accused Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the brother of the emir of Qatar, of directing the U.K. consulting firm Global Risk Advisers to obtain Broidy's emails.

The court filing alleges that the former CIA operative, Kevin Chalker, and his partner at GRA David Mark Powell opened an office in Doha "just weeks prior to the commencement of the" hacks.

"On information and belief, the Qatari Defendants retained and used the GRA Defendants to coordinate and implement the hack, and the GRA Defendants also personally supervised aspects of the information operation against Plaintiffs," the complaint reads.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/news/389352-gop-fundraiser-claims-foreign-government-helped-hack-his-emails

May 25, 2018

Graham: Trump 'probably' shouldn't call use of FBI informant 'spygate'

Source: The Hill




BY MAX GREENWOOD - 05/25/18 10:38 AM EDT

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Friday that President Trump "probably" shouldn't use the term "spygate" to refer to the FBI's use of a top-secret informant in the early months of the counterintelligence probe into Russia's role in the 2016 election.

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Graham said that he doesn't think that the informant, identified in media reports as American academic Stefan Halper, is a spy.

Asked by Hewitt if Trump should be referring to the matter as "spygate," Graham demurred.

"I don’t know. Probably not, but I don’t know," he said. "I didn’t go to the meeting. I don’t think it’s — I don’t think he’s a spy. And I don’t know who this person was."

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/389358-graham-trump-probably-shouldnt-call-use-of-fbi-informant-spygate

May 25, 2018

At Trump Tower, Michael Cohen and Oligarch Discussed Russian Relations

Source: The New York Times



By William K. Rashbaum, Ben Protess and Mike McIntire
May 25, 2018

Eleven days before the presidential inauguration last year, a billionaire Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet with Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, according to video footage and another person who attended the meeting.

In Mr. Cohen’s office on the 26th floor, he and the oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, discussed a mutual desire to strengthen Russia’s relations with the United States under President Trump, according to Andrew Intrater, an American businessman who attended the meeting and invests money for Mr. Vekselberg. The men also arranged to see one another at the inauguration, the second of their three meetings, Mr. Intrater said.

Days after the inauguration, Mr. Intrater’s private equity firm, Columbus Nova, awarded Mr. Cohen a $1 million consulting contract, a deal that has drawn the attention of federal authorities investigating Mr. Cohen, according to people briefed on the inquiry.

Mr. Intrater said in an interview that Mr. Vekselberg, his cousin and biggest client, had no role in Columbus Nova’s decision to hire Mr. Cohen as a consultant. When asked about the meeting at Trump Tower during the presidential transition, Mr. Intrater described it as a brief and impromptu discussion, and said that Mr. Vekselberg had not originally planned to attend.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/us/politics/michael-cohen-viktor-vekselberg-trump-tower.html

May 25, 2018

Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan: 'We got you, Harvey Weinstein, we got you'

BY JUSTIN WISE - 05/25/18 10:55 AM EDT

Actress Rose McGowan, who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape, applauded the arrest of the Hollywood media mogul in New York on Friday.

“We got you, Harvey Weinstein, we got you,” she tweeted.

Weinstein turned himself in to the police early Friday morning following dozens of sexual assault allegations. He was arraigned on rape, criminal sex act and other sex charges from his encounters with two women.

Weinstein pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on $1 million bail and agreed to electric monitoring.

https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/1000007534365872128

McGowan accused Weinstein of rape in a separate incident than those in Weinstein's charges. She has been a vocal critic of Weinstein and those in the entertainment industry she says knew of misconduct but did nothing to stop it.

more
http://thehill.com/homenews/389357-weinstein-accuser-rose-mcgowan-we-got-you-harvey-weinstein-we-got-you

May 25, 2018

OPEC, Russia prepared to raise oil output under U.S. pressure

Source: Reuters




MAY 25, 2018 / 3:18 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Katya Golubkova, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Rania El Gamal

ST PETERSBURG/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Russia are discussing raising OPEC and non-OPEC oil production by some 1 million barrels a day, sources said, while OPEC’s chief said a complaint from U.S. President Donald Trump over high prices had triggered the idea of upping output.

Riyadh and Moscow are prepared to ease output cuts to calm consumer worries about supply adequacy, their energy ministers said on Friday, with Saudi Arabia’s Khalid al-Falih adding that any such move would be gradual so as not to shock the market.

Raising production would ease 17 months of strict supply curbs amid concerns that a price rally has gone too far, with oil LCOc1 having hit its highest since late 2014 at $80.50 a barrel this month.

OPEC began a discussion about easing production cuts following a critical tweet from Trump, OPEC’s Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said. Trump tweeted last month that OPEC had “artificially” boosted oil prices.



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-exclusive/opec-russia-prepared-to-raise-oil-output-under-u-s-pressure-idUSKCN1IQ0Q6

May 25, 2018

FBI issues formal warning on massive malware network linked to Russia

Source: The Hill




BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 05/25/18 11:27 AM EDT

The FBI on Friday issued a formal warning that a sophisticated Russia-linked hacking campaign is compromising hundreds of thousands of home network devices worldwide and it is advising owners to reboot these devices in an attempt to disrupt the malicious software.

The law enforcement agency said foreign cyber actors are targeting routers in small or home offices with a botnet known as “VPNFilter,” which cybersecurity experts and officials say has infected an estimated 500,000 devices worldwide.

"The FBI recommends any owner of small office and home office routers reboot the devices to temporarily disrupt the malware and aid the potential identification of infected devices," the bureau's cyber division wrote in a public alert.

"Owners are advised to consider disabling remote management settings on devices and secure with strong passwords and encryption when enabled. Network devices should be upgraded to the latest available versions of firmware."

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/389366-fbi-issues-formal-warning-of-massive-malware-network-linked-to-russia

May 25, 2018

COURTSHIP RITUALS. Trump and Kim? It Ain't Over Till the Fat Leader Sings

North Korea’s reaction to Trump cancelling the Singapore summit was not what one might expect. The door’s still open, but deep misunderstandings remain.

SPENCER ACKERMAN
DONALD KIRK

05.25.18 10:48 AM ET

SEOUL – Let’s try and get this straight. Wasn’t it just last week that North Korea’s first vice minister of foreign affairs Kim Kye Gwan was lambasting President Trump and his national security adviser, John Bolton, for their “unilateral demands we give up nuclear weapons.” If they persisted in talking that way, he warned, “We will no longer have an interest in talks.”

Could it really be, the morning after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of a planned summit with Kim Jong Un, that this same official was talking like the shrewd two-or-more-faced negotiator that he was known to be more than 10 years ago in talks with the U.S., when a nuclear deal failed? And that Trump was welcoming the "warm and productive" reaction? "Everybody plays games," Trump said.

A senior White House official speaking to reporters on Thursday expressed pique that the North Koreans had “simply stood us up” by not preparing for the summit. But the official, when asked, also doubted that the summit could be salvaged owing to a more substantive gulf between Washington and Pyongyang. It was imperative, the official said, that the “agenda” of the meeting “is clear in the minds of those two leaders,” citing North Korea’s statements over the past two months that full denuclearization is not an option for Pyongyang. Closing that gap in the time necessary to prepare for the Singapore summit was unlikely, the official continued, since “June 12 is in ten minutes.” Less than 18 hours later, Trump said: “It could even be the 12th.”

Hmmm. It’s far from clear that the gulf has been closed, the core issues resolved. Almost certainly that is not the case. But the North Koreans did some amazing Trump-stroking. Reading the North Korean’s statement, it was as though Kim Kye Gwan thought secretly, at heart, almost as highly of Trump as he did of his own Respected Leader Kim. “We have inwardly highly appreciated President Trump for having made the bold decision, which any other U.S. presidents dared not, and made efforts for such a crucial event as the summit.”

Who knew? Who would have imagined Kim Kye Gwan was such a fan of Donald Trump even as South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, so eager for reconciliation and dialogue with the North, seemed almost in tears. Far from expressing his admiration for Trump, Moon on Friday was saying he found his decision “very perplexing, very regrettable.”

MORE
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-kim-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-leader-sings?ref=home

May 25, 2018

#NeverTrumpers had Trump pegged all along

By Jennifer Rubin
May 25 at 9:15 AM

President Trump’s apologists can’t say they weren’t warned. Virtually every character flaw and policy debacle was in plain view during the campaign. Republicans then, as Republicans do now, convinced themselves and their fellow Americans that Trump was a business genius (in fact he serially failed and hid his finances to prevent any objective assessment of his success). These Republicans told us he’d find and use top-notch experts (not!), had great negotiating skills (aside from bluff and bluster, he has no finesse in presidential-level consensus-building on either the domestic or foreign policy side).

Trump really did mean all the horrible things he said about immigrants and really does not have a clue how international trade works. His self-absorption and insecurity do pose a danger to the United States when he engages with foreign leaders who know they can play him through flattery.

Yes he does have a problem with women — a dozen or more claimed improper sexual conduct and one consensual sexual partner was hushed up with a $130,000 payment. His denials about having nothing to do with Russia have proven misleading at best, if not outright false. (CNBC has compiled a helpful video examining Trump’s web of Russia connections.)

He was never prepared to give up ownership of his businesses, and therefore perpetuates blatant conflicts of interest, including receipts of foreign emoluments, quite possibly in violation of the Constitution.

His attacks on the press during the campaign did in fact reflect his contempt for the First Amendment. Fortunately a federal court In New York this week slapped down his attempt to block followers on Twitter as impermissible content discrimination. It should have surprised no one that his Environmental Protection Agency barred reporters from a national meeting on water contamination, including one by force. A president who dubs the press the enemy, wants to “pull the license” of a critical news network and hides from solo press conferences and legitimate news interviewers plainly is not prepared to defend constitutional rights of free speech and press.

MORE
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/05/25/nevertrumpers-had-trump-pegged-all-along/

May 25, 2018

"This is RICO 101": Why Robert Mueller Isn't Taking Rudy's Bait

The Trump camp’s witch-hunt talking points are now dominating the news—but the media battle may be the wrong way to beat Mueller. “It’s exactly what Mueller has been doing his whole goddamn life,” a former F.B.I. senior official says. “It’s just that this time the boss of the family happens to be the leader of the free world.”

BY CHRIS SMITH

MAY 23, 2018 5:47 PM

Rudy Giuliani has played a multitude of parts in public life: Tenacious federal prosecutor of the mob. Two-term mayor leading the revival of New York City—and consoler-in-chief when the city was attacked by terrorists. Giuliani has also been an enthusiastic drag queen and a failed Republican presidential candidate. Now he has taken on his least-likely role: spokesman for special counsel Robert Mueller. Unofficially, that is, but energetically and craftily. One week ago, Giuliani declared to CNN that Mueller had told him the special counsel “acknowledged” that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Three days ago Giuliani announced to The New York Times that Mueller’s timeline has the special counsel wrapping up the investigation into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice by September 1. All of which may be true—or not. Hours after Giuliani’s most recent declaration, Reuters ran a story saying the September 1 deadline was “entirely made-up” by Trump’s new lawyer, attributing the pushback cryptically to a “U.S. official.” Mueller’s actual spokesman, Peter Carr, did what he has done for more than a year, however: quickly and politely decline to comment.

It may soon become much harder for Mueller’s office to maintain its silence as Trump’s team works to shape the political context for the results of the Russia investigations, and to destroy the special counsel’s credibility. Giuliani, for all his different guises, is at heart a politician, and one trained in the hand-to-hand combat of New York’s tabloid-media culture. So he has been quick to exploit a weakness in his current adversary. “There are serious Department of Justice rules and guidelines about what Mueller can talk about publicly, in regards to an open investigation,” says Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor. “If there were a trial in progress and Giuliani tried to make these statements to poison the well or to influence jurors, a judge could issue sanctions. Giuliani’s getting away with it because there’s no pending court case right now. But it’s equally as problematic, if not more, because the jury pool here is the American public. And whatever else you can say, this whole strategy of calling it a witch hunt and attacking the prosecution is extremely effective with some part of the public.”

Mueller is not completely prohibited from responding to Giuliani—he could issue press releases to correct the factual record. And other special prosecutors have been much more talkative. When pursuing Bill Clinton, Ken Starr was a chatterbox to the media, for reasons both tactical and personal. Not yet 50, Starr was a man on the rise. “He cared about his image, his ambition, his media strategy,” said Lanny Davis, one of Clinton’s lawyers.

There are good strategic reasons for Mueller not to engage, however. “If Mueller responds to one thing, and then doesn’t respond to the next thing, does that mean the second thing Giuliani said was true?” Rocah says. Matthew Miller, a top Justice Department spokesman during the Obama administration, maintains an optimistic view of Mueller’s lack of visibility. “He has to worry about getting the facts right. And if he gets the facts right, when he releases them publicly, it will have enough of an impact that it won’t matter what Giuliani said in advance,” Miller says. “Mueller’s job is not to worry about the politics. The minute you start doing that, you start making mistakes. The best example of that is Jim Comey. Or maybe Ken Starr.”

Perhaps. Giuliani clearly recognizes that the Russia investigation is unfolding in a new media and political landscape where a lot of the norms don’t apply. Mueller’s keep-your-head-down, just-the-facts strategy is rooted in his own ascetic, disciplined personal style, and what is quickly becoming an antiquated tradition. His approach isn’t likely to change. But it isn’t oblivious to modern reality, either. “Oh, Mueller is critically aware of everything that’s being written or said. He reads his papers. He listens to the radio. He’s not missing anything,” a former top F.B.I. colleague says. “But he completely tunes it out. It’s a discipline. This is his way of flying above the fray, because once you get into it, you’re all in. There’s an old expression: ‘It’s like mud-wrestling with a pig. You’re both going to get dirty. The difference is that the pig likes it.’ But the very fact that Mueller refuses to respond to the most outrageous criticisms and claims is the reason the pig is wrestling with itself in its own mud.”

more
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/why-mueller-isnt-taking-rudys-bait