Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s financial disclosures by the numbers: 53 amendments, 3 late fines, and many weeks of extensions.
https://twitter.com/CREWcrew/status/966862736343871488

Police in #Argentina say they've seized ~400 kg of cocaine from the #Russia embassy. Several alleged members of a drug trafficking gang arrested, including a Russian diplomatic official.
https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/966805951260037120

Wait why would Russians have so much cocaine? Three words: Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich Poking the bear. Come at me bro, your mafia doesn’t scare me. Nuns pretty much raised me when I was sent to a Catholic boarding school.
https://twitter.com/Alt_Spicerlies/status/966823080101339137

https://twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/966810799976140802
UPDATE: Asked to confirm that he is representing Rick Gates — and about the Daily Beast reporting that he was fired, Tom Green tells me, "It is ludicrous and I am representing him."

https://twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/966805496014491648
JUST IN (and contra Daily Beast): Tom Green just entered an appearance in the DC case as Rick Gates' lawyer. Green then filed a notice Gates does not oppose his other lawyers withdrawing from the case.

NEW: RICK GATES rejected several offers of a plea deal from special counsel, as talks continued over the past month. The talks broke down over the last few days -- yet they were still negotiating as of Thursday
https://twitter.com/kpolantz/status/966809947911704576

1/ Here's why Paul Manafort doesn't flip and squeal: there's a tiny % chance Trump pardons him for the Federal crimes. (Doesn't fix state charges that can hit in NY, VA, FL)
https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/966803169962528769

2/ But if Manafort rolls and starts talking about the Trump campaign, Russia, Russian oligarchs and Vladimir Putin, there's close to a 100% he dies a painful death by polonium poisoning.

3/ The calculus is pretty stark. The immovable object of Manafort's fear has met the irresistible force of Mueller's investigation.
https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/966804282346483712
4/ As a periodic reminder: there is no difference between what RU/RIS, ROC, and oligarchs can deploy against Manafort. It's all of a piece. A radioactive, deadly piece.

Ex-Trump Staffer Rick Gates Fires His Lawyer in Russia Probe

Paul Manafort’s long-time deputy has terminated Tom Green, the Washington attorney who reportedly tried to get him a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates has fired his lawyer, The Daily Beast has learned. And, contrary to recent media reports, Gates is not about to make a deal with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources familiar with the matter.

CNN and The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that Gates was on the cusp of signing a plea deal with Mueller’s team, and noted that Gates’ lawyer—Tom Green of Sidley Austin—is known for his work negotiating such pleas. If Gates had started cooperating with Mueller, it would certainly have been a boon to the prosecution.

Instead, Gates—for the time being, at least—isn’t flipping. And Green is out, replaced with Barry Pollack, of Miller Chevalier, according to sources familiar with the matter. Neither Green nor Pollack immediately returned a request for comment.

Over the years, Gates has operated closely with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Together, they worked for Viktor Yanukovich, the Putin-friendly former president of Ukraine. That work—for which the duo allegedly received millions in secret payments—generated controversy during President Donald Trump’s campaign, and ultimately contributed to Manafort’s firing from Team Trump. It also drew the special counsel’s attention.

More: https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-trump-staffer-rick-gates-fires-his-lawyer-in-russia-probe

BREAKING: A grand jury in Virginia has returned a new indictment against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, per new filing from the special counsel's office. Status report: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4385691/2-22-18-US-Status-Report.pdf … Indictment:

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/966786099401166848

FBI investigating potential money transfers from Russian banker to NRA: report

The FBI is reportedly investigating whether Russian money was funneled through the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump become President.

Federal investigators are targeting Alexander Torshin, a deputy head at Russia’s central bank, who hosted a pair of dinners for a high profile NRA delegation in Moscow in 2015, McClatchy reported on Thursday.

Torshin then reportedly met with Donald Trump Jr. at the NRA’s 2016 convention.

The gun lobbying group reported spending a record $55 million on the 2016 elections, $30 million of which went to supporting Trump’s bid.

More: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fbi-potential-transfers-russian-banker-nra-article-1.3763792