kpete

kpete's Journal

October 30, 2017

BBC - Ukraine Secret Service Stopped Manafort Investigation After Trump's "Win" (but FBI has files)

Not on line yet but the BBC has shown a report from Ukraine on its 10pm main late evening news on BBC One. The Ukrainian secret intelligence services were investigating Manafort but this was stopped after the November US elections. The Ukrainian government had supported Clinton so the halt was called in order to maintain good diplomatic relations. Their files show much more than is already known about Manafort’s dealings with the previous pro-Russian regime. It appears that as well as the sums mentioned in the ledger already released, there are three other ledgers that show payments to him. These could total well over $100 million.

Despite Ukraine suspending its own investigations, their files have been passed to the FBI so it looks like there may be a lot more “there” there.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/30/1711131/-BBC-Ukraine-Secret-Service-Stopped-Manafort-Investigation-After-Trump-s-Win-but-FBI-has-files

October 30, 2017

Mike Luckovich: Whopper is hell.

October 30, 2017

KEY: On or about 3/31/16 defendant Papadopoulos attended Mtg with then-candidate Trump & stated...

There’s a key passage in the Papadopoulos plea agreement that I don’t think has gotten a lot of attention yet.

With Trump and Sessions there, according to the plea, Papadopoulos told the group “he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin.” That’s not against the law in itself. It is bizarre to think that a presidential candidate would travel abroad to meet with the President of Russia during a campaign. But there’s no law against it. This is a key fact because Papadopoulos seems to have given a little speech about what he was up to and what he could do in a small meeting with Trump and Sessions themselves. This happened one week after Papadopoulos had met in London with as yet unnamed people who he knew had close ties with the Russian government. This is very significant.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/big-stuff-in-the-papadopolous-plea-deal

October 30, 2017

When FBI picked lock on Manafort's house-found Ukrainian lobbying records he told DOJ Didn't exist

When FBI agents picked lock on Manafort's house, they found Ukrainian lobbying records he had told DOJ didn't exist

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/925107312322326528/9lKphZcc?format=jpg&name=600x314

The FBI’s pre-dawn search of Paul Manafort’s northern Virginia home in July yielded important new evidence crucial to the indictment of Donald Trump’s campaign chairman and one of his close associates, according to the indictments unsealed yesterday by special counsel Robert Mueller.

The “no-knock” raid by agents who picked the lock on Manafort’s front door turned up records showing the longtime political operative had been directly involved in a secret lobbying campaign on behalf of a Ukrainian political party closely aligned with Vladimir Putin’s Russian government, according to the court papers. Manafort, who ran Trump’s campaign for several crucial months last year, has been charged, along with his longtime business partner Richard Gates, with running a scheme to conceal and avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars in fees they collected for their work.

Manafort and Gates appeared in federal court in Washington and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Manafort and Gates were both released to home confinement. Manafort was freed on a $10 million bond meant to guarantee his future court appearances. Gates’s bond was $5 million.

Outside the courthouse, Manafort attorney Kevin Downing attacked the charges, saying “there is no evidence that Mr. Manafort or the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.”

The cache of lobbying records appears to be crucial to some of the charges against Manafort and Gates. The two men had previously sought to conceal information about their role in the Ukrainian lobbying campaign — which took place before they joined the Trump campaign — developing a “false and misleading cover story” to distance themselves from it and providing “false talking points” to one of the lobbying firms it hired, the indictment charges.

https://twitter.com/Isikoff/status/925107307750584320
MORE:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/manafort-charges-grew-records-seized-no-knock-raid-205539175.html

October 30, 2017

Newly Unsealed: "U.S. investigating foreign interference/potential collusion-by American citizens"

Next time Trump tries to say "THERE WAS NO COLLUSION"... show him the court doc stating that Mueller is currently investigating collusion.

"The U.S. is investigating foreign interference...& potential collusion..by American citizens." -newly unsealed US District Court opinion.

https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/925104857152880641

October 30, 2017

US District Court for DC has 4 sealed cases in its docket w case #s between Papadopoulos & Manafort

U.S. District Court for D.C. has four sealed cases in its docket with case numbers between Papadopoulos' (182) and Manafort's (201).

https://twitter.com/BySteveReilly/status/925063641870856192