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demmiblue's JournalTrump Jr.'s 2017 Testimony Conflicts With Cohen's Account Of Russian Talks
Source: NPR
Donald Trump Jr.'s testimony to Congress about his family's real estate negotiations with powerful Russians does not comport with the new version laid out by Donald Trump's ex-attorney Michael Cohen, official transcripts show.
Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2017 that although there had been negotiations surrounding a prospective Trump Tower in Moscow, they concluded without result "at the end" of 2014.
"But not in 2015 or 2016?" Trump Jr. was asked.
"Certainly not '16," he said. "There was never a definitive end to it. It just died of deal fatigue."
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/30/672188201/trump-jr-s-2017-testimony-conflicts-with-cohen-s-account-of-russian-talks?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=politics&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2059
https://twitter.com/nprpolitics/status/1068541414131126272
https://twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/1068543476441247744
Mueller could hit Manafort with retrial, new charges
Source: Politico
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office is considering retrying former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on a slew of federal charges that resulted in a hung jury over the summer.
At a hearing in federal court Friday morning, prosecutors said they are also weighing leveling new criminal charges for Manafort, contending that he obstructed justice and committed additional federal crimes since entering a plea agreement with the special counsel in September.
“That determination has not been made,” said special counsel attorney Andrew Weissmann.
Weissmann's contention led judge Amy Berman Jackson, a member of the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C., to set a tentative March 5 sentencing date for Manafort
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/30/mueller-could-hit-manafort-with-retrial-new-charges-1034623
GOP bill would allow Michigan legislature to intervene in court cases
If passed, House Bill 6553 would authorize both houses of the Legislature "to intervene in any action commenced in any court of this state whenever the Legislature or a house of the Legislature deems such intervention necessary in order to protect any right or interest of this state, or of that body."
The bill is seen by Democrats as a way to weaken the attorney general's office, which has fallen out of GOP control for the first time since 2002.
"The Attorney General-elect strongly believes in a smooth transition of power and authority," said Kelly Rossman, a communications director for Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel's transition team, in a statement. "However, she is deeply concerned and troubled by the hasty legislative efforts to push through a proposal that has not been properly vetted and appears to be an intentional effort on the part of some legislators to undermine the role of the state's Attorney General."
https://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/11/gop_bill_would_allow_michigan.html?utm_campaign=mlive_sf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Kremlin Spox: Trump, Putin Will Have A 'Brief' Meeting At G-20 After All
Source: TPM
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a “brief, impromptu” meeting at the G-20 summit in Argentina despite Trump’s abrupt cancellation on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a Russian news agency.
First flagged by Reuters, the meeting has not yet been confirmed by U.S. sources.
Trump said Thursday he cancelled the meeting due to Russia’s aggression with Ukrainian ships and crews last weekend. Some are dubious about that explanation due to the President’s previously lukewarm denunciations and Thursday’s revelation of Trump-Russia connections after Michael Cohen’s guilty plea.
Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kremlin-spox-says-trump-putin-will-have-meeting-after-all
The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower Mosco
Source: Buzz Feed News
President Donald Trump’s company planned to give a $50 million penthouse at Trump Tower Moscow to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the company negotiated the luxury real estate development during the 2016 campaign, according to four people, one of them the originator of the plan.
Two US law enforcement officials told BuzzFeed News that Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, discussed the idea with a representative of Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary.
The Trump Tower Moscow plan is at the heart of a new plea agreement by Cohen, who led the negotiations to bring a gleaming, 100-story building to the Russian capital. Cohen acknowledged in court that he lied to Congress about the plan in order to protect Trump and his presidential campaign.
The revelation that representatives of the Trump Organization planned to forge direct financial links with the leader of a hostile nation at the height of the campaign raises fresh questions about President Trump's relationship with the Kremlin. The plan never went anywhere because the tower deal ultimately fizzled, and it is not clear whether Trump knew of the intention to give away the penthouse. But Cohen said in court documents that he regularly briefed Trump and his family on the Moscow negotiations.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/the-trump-organization-planned-to-give-vladimir-putin-the?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
Viola Davis Attached To Star In 'The Fighting Shirley Chisholm' For Amazon Studios
EXCLUSIVE: Days after Oscar winner Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions announced a first look feature production deal with Amazon Studios, the first project is moving forward: The Fighting Shirley Chisholm in which Davis will produce and star as the U.S. Representative who was both the first woman and the first person of color to seek a major American political party’s nomination for President.
Amazon studios acquired the title in what we understand was a fierce bidding war, with Homegrown Pictures’ Stephanie Allain (Hustle & Flow, Dear White People) and Mel Jones producing with JuVee. Maggie Betts (Novitiate) will direct the screenplay written by Emmy-nominated writer Adam Countee (Silicon Valley, Community, Mindy Project).
Countee had long been interested in telling Chisholm’s story and his research led him to write the feature script on spec about the trailblazing congresswoman who never backed down as her bid drew ridicule and bigoted backlash. Chisholm ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968 from New York’s 12th congressional district and became the first black woman elected to Congress. In January 1972 she announced her presidential bid in a Baptist church in her Brooklyn district. That election ended with George McGovern getting the Democratic nomination and losing to incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon.
https://deadline.com/2018/11/viola-davis-the-fighting-shirley-chisholm-amazon-studios-movie-1202510762/
Trump cancels Putin meeting at G20 over Ukraine conflict
Source: Axios
President Trump tweeted Thursday that he decided to cancel his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 in Buenos Aires this weekend as a result of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
"Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin. I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!"
Read more: https://www.axios.com/trump-cancels-putin-meeting-g20-summit-666bd7c1-591c-4f15-91c7-3b87317197e9.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1068181371883909121
Canada announces sanctions targeting Saudis linked to 'abhorrent' Khashoggi murder
Source: CTV News
The Canadian government has announced sanctions targeting 17 people linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi was killed last month at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. U.S. intelligence officials have said that the murder was carried out by agents of the Saudi government and ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday that the sanctions were aimed at people “responsible for or complicit in” Khashoggi’s death.
“The murder of Jamal Khashoggi is abhorrent and represents an unconscionable attack on the freedom of expression of all individuals,” Freeland said in a press release.
Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-announces-sanctions-targeting-saudis-linked-to-abhorrent-khashoggi-murder-1.4197501#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=twitter&_gsc=WLMi68G
Trump blasts Cohen as 'weak person' for guilty plea
Source: The Hill
President Trump on Thursday blasted his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as a “weak person” for pleading guilty to lying to Congress in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Trump accused Cohen of “lying” in order to get a reduced sentence.
“He’s trying to get a much lesser sentence by making up the story,” he said, adding “everybody knows about this deal.”
Cohen, who served for years as Trump’s personal lawyer, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to one count of making false statements to Congress related to his testimony about communications with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/418881-trump-blasts-cohen-as-weak-person-for-guilty-plea
Military's push for solar backup power loses speed under Trump
Camp Lejeune’s 55,000 shiny solar panels, like other renewable energy projects on military bases across the country, are on the front lines of a plan to provide backup power in case terrorists, cyber saboteurs or violent weather cripple the nation’s electric grid.
But President Donald Trump has all but eradicated the words “renewable energy” from the agenda and, according to two former Pentagon officials, slowed progress toward upgrading emergency electricity supplies at bases like Camp Lejeune.
Now it’s no longer clear that the Pentagon will make use of all of the solar farms installed both to combat global warming and to enhance national security at U.S. installations here and abroad.
McClatchy gathered data on more than 70 bases that have partnered with electric utilities in solar energy projects that were part of an effort toward replacing decades-old backup systems relying on costly and sometimes unreliable diesel generators.
Only a couple of dozen bases, mainly small ones, have so far incorporated their solar projects into new, computer-commanded configurations known as “microgrids,” as experts recommend. Microgrids blend and distribute energy from multiple resources to provide reliable emergency power at less cost.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article220933530.html
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