CNN reporter. I cover major DOJ probes, Congressional inquiries and legal cases, often with a focus on democracy, voting and disinformation. From Philly.
Before Trump was sworn in, he and six of his aides said there were no contacts between the campaign and Russians. ZERO. Turned out 15+ Trump people had 100+ contacts with Russian officials, known spies, cutouts and oligarchs. This massive lie has defined Trump's presidency.
Massive line of voters in Fairfax, Virginia, on the FIRST DAY of in-person early voting. Some voters say they showed up because they lost faith in USPS to deliver ballots. Officials tell CNN they've never seen anything like this on Day One.
Tucker Carlson last night: “There is no evidence that white supremacists were responsible for what happened on January 6. That’s a lie"
Moments ago: ex-Capitol Police chief, DC police chief, ex-House and Senate sergeant-at-arms all testified that white supremacists were involved
NEW: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to answer questions and turn over evidence about USPS policy changes within 10 days as part of a lawsuit brought by Democratic state AGs over recent mail slowdowns and the impact on the 2020 election. (h/t
@kpolantz
)
Election officials from 29 counties across Georgia told CNN they finished their audits and found no discrepancies with the results — further discrediting President Trump’s lies about widespread fraud in the state. Officials say the recount will end tomorrow and affirm Biden's win
Apparently, the Trump campaign thinks it's smart politics to pick a fight with Dr. Fauci three weeks before Election Day. Their ad is misleading and Fauci says his words "were taken out of context." Remember: 68% of Americans say they trust Fauci, and 62% distrust Trump on Covid.
THREAD: Roger Stone was supposed to be in prison now, having been convicted of 7 federal crimes. But thanks to Trump, he's a free man — and can call into Alex Jones' conspiracy show. He did Thursday, and urged Trump to do a bunch of illegal things regarding the election. (1/6)
For the first time EVER, the US government said Russian agent Konstantin Kilimnik provided Russian intelligence agencies with the internal Trump campaign polling/strategy data he received from Manafort and Gates in 2016. Even Mueller didn't go that far.
The widely respected
@MayoClinic
has a policy requiring all visitors to wear a mask. (Smart!) They told Pence about this before his visit. He ignored it. They let him in anyway. Then they tweeted about telling Pence ahead of time. Then they deleted the tweet. This is not normal.
Fascinating numbers from new Monmouth poll.
"Should members of Congress who assisted the planners of January 6th be removed from office?"
Among all Americans: 66% yes, 26% no
Among independents: 65% yes, 27% no
Among Republicans: 48% no, 36% yes
Among Democrats: 94% yes, 5% no
Whoa. New texts obtained by CNN show that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told Meadows that he should talk to Trump about the possibility of invoking martial law. She testified Friday under oath that she couldn't remember if she ever advocated for martial law.
Just read through the Trump administration's new filing in the CNN lawsuit. Notably, in their 28-page memo to the court, they never accuse Jim
@Acosta
of "placing his hands on a young woman," like
@PressSec
claimed last week. Why not? For one, you can't lie to a federal judge.
Cynthia Hughes, who runs a support group for J6ers, spoke at tonight's Trump rally. She told the story of her nephew Tim Cusanelli, a convicted Capitol rioter — and Nazi sympathizer, who said "Hitler should've finished the job." This is their poster child for J6 "injustice." /1
"It's an attack on our country. It's an attack on what we all stand for,” President Trump said tonight about the Mueller investigation.
For the record, President Trump has never once described Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election as “an attack” on American democracy.
These transcripts CONFIRM pretty much everything Mueller accused Flynn of doing, and they DEBUNK much of what Trump has said about Flynn. The transcripts corroborate Flynn's guilty plea and further prove that he lied to the FBI about his Russian calls.
BREAKING: The FBI and federal prosecutors in NYC are scrutinizing Rudy Giuliani’s financial dealings with the two men charged today. The men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are charged with pumping Russian money into US political campaigns. (reporting from
@evanperez
@ShimonPro
)
Congratulations to the pundits who lauded Trump's "new and somber tone" 30 minutes ago when he was talking about the 100,000 dead Americans. Now, he's attacking Comey and McCabe (like old times) and criticizing Cuomo for asking for the medical supplies he needs to save lives.
Rush Limbaugh and right-wing fringe sites are attacking Dr. Nancy Messonnier, a top CDC official handling the coronavirus response, because she is Rod Rosenstein's sister. They're spreading the lie that she's part of the deep state and trying to tank the markets to weaken Trump.
NEW: Justice Dept. just released horrifying new footage from 1/6. Feds say this is ex-NYPD officer Thomas Webster (red jacket) wielding a flagpole, rushing at police & tackling a cop to the ground. DOJ released this after legal action by CNN and other outlets. (warning: explicit)
A member of the far-fight "Boogaloo" movement allegedly killed two cops during Oakland's post-Floyd riots. Three Boogaloo members allegedly infiltrated BLM protests in Las Vegas and tried to blow up a power station, according to the DOJ. Trump hasn't said a word about this. (1/3)
NEW: Financial disclosures reveal USPS chief Louis DeJoy's business entanglements, which experts say are likely a major conflict of interest. He has a $30m stake in a USPS contractor, and he bought Amazon stock options after joining Trump's administration.
🚨NEW CNN POLL ON MUELLER REPORT
Regardless of what the Mueller investigation ultimately finds, should investigators produce a full, public report on their findings?
87% yes
9% no
NEW: In an interview on Fox News, Manafort juror says there was a SINGLE holdout for the 10 counts that ended in a mistrial. The final votes were 11-1 for guilty. (They convicted Manafort on the other 8 counts of tax and bank fraud.)
1. Not a break-in... federal judge approved the FBI search warrant
2. Probably not illegal because NY is one-party consent state for taping
3. Trump’s own lawyers waived privilege on this recording, allowing the government to access the tape
Inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer’s office (early in the morning) - almost unheard of. Even more inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client - totally unheard of & perhaps illegal. The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!
REMEMBER: Trump, his lawyer John Dowd and his top adviser Kellyanne Conway ALL DENIED last August that Trump ever considered firing Mueller. (NYT just reported that Trump ordered Mueller's firing in June.)
HUGE ruling: Federal judge says Dominion's defamation lawsuits CAN PROCEED against Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani & Mike Lindell. These Trump diehards falsely said Dominion rigged the 2020 election. Dominion wants billions in damages. The Judge is a Trump appointee. (h/t
@kpolantz
)
The Trump Era in a nutshell: Steve Bannon was arrested only 3 weeks ago. Remember that??? If you turned on the news today, you'd have no idea Trump's top White House strategist was recently charged with defrauding Trump supporters.
NEW TODAY: Sadly, a third police officer who responded to the US Capitol on January 6 has died by suicide. DC's Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the death of Officer Gunther Hashida. (h/t
@WhitneyWReports
)
President Trump has had monthly phone calls with Vladimir Putin since March. (They've had 7 publicly disclosed calls during this period.) This is the most sustained contact between the two leaders since the Trump Era began in 2017.
Hope Hicks, Nov. 2016: "There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign"
Trump, Feb. 2017: "I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge no person that I deal with does."
Giuliani, July 2018: "Collusion is not a crime"
NEW NUMBERS: Special counsel Robert Mueller has brought 191 criminal charges against 35 defendants, according to CNN’s count. This includes 112 new charges brought today against a dozen Russian operatives for hacking.
President Trump says the Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents from the Mueller investigation, many of whom still work for the US government, are "crooked ... dangerous ... very bad ... human scum." During his rant, he also praised convicted criminals Manafort, Flynn, Stone.
JUST IN: Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann was acquitted of lying to the FBI, in the 1st trial of special counsel John Durham’s investigation. The verdict is a major defeat for Durham, who has spent 3+ years looking for misconduct related to the Trump-Russia probes.
Asked about what he’ll do to win back waning support from military families, Trump attacks John McCain (former POW), Jim Mattis (retired general), John Kelly (retired general), John Bolton (veteran), and Joe Biden (military dad).
This is false. No independent arbiter “determined” this about Mueller. The DOJ IG said the Russia probe was opened properly. Senate Intel confirms there were grave counterintel concerns about the Trump campaign. Is Trump trying to pressure Durham?? (“A big price must be paid”)
....It has now been determined that the Mueller Scam should never have been set up in the first place, there were no grounds. It was all an illegitimate Witch Hunt, & a big price must be paid. How different my life would have been if this fraud on America was never committed!!!
RUSSIA STATS: Per CNN's latest count, at least 12 Trump associates had contacts with Russians during the campaign or transition. There were at least 19 face-to-face meetings/interactions. And there were at least 51 communications (meetings, calls, emails, private messages, etc.)
Where's the line? Roberts' rebuke means he believes Schumer crossed a line. Roberts didn't say anything when Trump attacked Judge Jackson after the Roger Stone trial, or after Trump praised Stone, who literally threatened ABJ's life by posting a photo of her face with crosshairs.
🚨🚨🚨 The US government announced today that Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Derkach is an "active Russian agent." That means Rudy Giuliani and OANN collaborated with an "active Russian agent" to hurt Biden's campaign.
Big deal. Barr ally Tim Shea extensively cited testimony from former DOJ official Mary McCord in the filing asking to drop the Flynn case. Well, McCord just disavowed essentially everything that Barr and Shea claimed about her testimony, point by point.
In a letter to Mueller, Trump's lawyers said he "dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times" about the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russians. But here are FIVE TIMES
@JaySekulow
and
@PressSec
previously denied Trump's role in the misleading statement.
In recent weeks, FBI agents in New York contacted witnesses & asked new questions about Giuliani's efforts in Ukraine & possible connections to Russian intelligence, the sources said.
This is why Trump could never testify in-person to Mueller. He is denying that he ordered McGahn to fire Mueller, even though he did it. Trump can lie on Twitter without consequences, but it would’ve been a crime to lie to investigators.
As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so. If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn’t need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself. Nevertheless,....
This is completely abnormal behavior in presidential politics: Trump has said the election will be "rigged," spread conspiracies about mail-in ballots, encouraged supporters to vote twice, refused to say he'll accept the results, and contradicted US intel on foreign meddling.
JUST IN: The Justice Department has charged at least 450 people in connection with the Capitol insurrection, according to CNN's latest tally. This is a major milestone reached on the same day that Senate Republicans appear likely to kill the bipartisan Jan. 6 commission.
FULL CIRCLE: Trump today issued the same set of demands to Attorney General Bill Barr that he issued last year to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: (1) Launch an investigation into Joe Biden and (2) make a public announcement. (There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden.)
NEW TODAY: A Justice Department lawyer said in federal court that the House actually CAN impeach a president over ignored subpoenas, a noted contrast to what Trump's lawyers are arguing this week at his Senate impeachment trial.
NEWS: Mueller indicted the Russian troll farm. They got US lawyers and are fighting the case. During discovery, Mueller shared sensitive docs. Then, the Russians made a Twitter account and released some of the files (some doctored) to undermine Mueller. (The meddling continues.)
Volker just said it's a "conspiracy theory" that Biden was corrupt in his dealings with Ukraine while VP. He continued, "I have known Vice President Biden for 24 years. He is an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard."
President Trump just arrived at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia. This is his 290th day at visiting one of his properties, according to CNN’s count. That means Trump has officially spent 30% of his presidential term so far at his own properties.
Kavanaugh ruled AGAINST the six-day extension for Wisconsin to accept ballots postmarked by Election Day. He cited an article from legal scholar (and CNN contributor) Rick Pildes. But in that article, Pildes says states SHOULD extend postmark deadlines.
You can add Graham (R) to this list now too. He says: “I have seen no indication that a confidential informant was placed inside the Trump campaign that acted as a spy.”
Ryan (R), Burr (R), Gowdy (R) and Schiff (D) have publicly knocked down the "spygate" conspiracy that Trump and others have pushed for weeks. (The unproven claim is that the FBI put a spy in Trump's campaign.) So far, no one who has seen the docs say they support Trump's claims.
We’re 8 minutes into this town hall and Trump has already lied to the audience repeatedly about Covid, about masks, about his praise for China, about the travel ban, about Fauci, about Biden, and more. It’s an avalanche of lies. Period. So much of this is recycled lies.
FACT-CHECK: The White House statement about Trump commuting Roger Stone's prison sentence was littered with a dozen lies and false claims about the Russia investigation, Mueller's team, and key details of Stone's criminal case. Here's my full breakdown.
Prosecutors said Manafort used a method called "foldering" to covertly talk to people. It's not that complicated: He made an email account and shared the password. He wrote messages but saved them as drafts, never sending actual emails. Other guys open the draft, read it, delete.
Asked if he accepts the US intelligence assessment that Russia is meddling to hurt Biden, Barr says: "There's some preliminary activity that suggests they might try again."
THAT IS NOT WHAT US INTEL SAID.
NOT "PRELIMINARY."
NOT "MIGHT TRY."
THEY SAID IT'S HAPPENING. RIGHT NOW.
EXCLUSIVE: Ken Chesebro, who helped devise the 2020 electors plot, concealed a secret Twitter from Michigan prosecutors, hiding dozens of damning posts that undercut what he told investigators about his role in the scheme. w/
@KFILE
@emsteck
@alligordon_
BIG MUELLER NEWS: The federal grand jury in DC that Mueller has been using was just extended for another six months, per my colleague
@kpolantz
. The original 18-month term was set to expire but the chief judge of the DC District Court has extended the grand jury's mandate.
THREAD: This is the true human cost of
#COVID
that you don't see on TV very often. CNN obtained photos from ER staff at a Detroit hospital, showing bodies pilled up in vacant spaces because the morgue was full. Nearly 1,500 people have died in Michigan, and 23,000 nationwide.
Trump is trying to make something NORMAL sound SUSPICIOUS to serve his political narrative. Election night results are NEVER final. The numbers ALWAYS shift as final ballots get counted. With more mail-in ballots than ever before, the shifts this year will he larger than usual.
Trump: "I could be leading and then they'll just keep getting ballots and ballots and ballots and ballots." Yes, correct, that is called counting the votes.
Here's the context that Collins is ignoring: DOJ seized Parnas' phones and other materials when he was arrested in October, before he got the House subpoena. Parnas only recently got his devices back from the DOJ and secured permission from a judge to give this stuff to Congress.
Susan Collins throws cold water on new Lev Parnas evidence. “I wonder why the House did not put that into the record and it’s only now being revealed.” Told it was just turned over, she says: “well doesn’t that suggest that the House did an incomplete job then?”
@Phil_Mattingly
BREAKING: Peter Strzok, the FBI agent accused by GOP of having "treasonous" anti-Trump bias, supported re-opening the Clinton email investigation in fall 2016 and helped write the letter (signed by Comey) that was released days before the election.
Sarah Sanders did not walk into the briefing today with a prepared statement condemning Roseanne's racist comments. Instead, she brought a list of anti-Trump insults and slights from ABC/ESPN personalities.
"What we just saw and heard from the President of the United States was propaganda. There's really no other way to say it. It was propaganda, plain and simple. He wants things to be a certain way for his own political agenda, and he is saying, science be damned." --
@DanaBashCNN
.
RUSSIA IN RECENT YEARS 🇷🇺
2014: Invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea
2015: Intervened in Syria to boost Assad
2016: Meddled in US election
2017: Meddled in French election
2018: Poisoned ex-spy on British soil
2019: Meddled in UK election
2020: Hacked Covid-19 research centers
Trump keeps saying the HHS deputy IG "came out of the Obama administration" and is politically biased against him.
FACTS: Her name is Christi Grimm. She is a career official who has worked at HHS since 1999. She served during the Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump administrations.
During the attack, McCarthy told Trump the rioters were his supporters. Trump replied, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are." McCarthy replied, "who the f*** do you think you are talking to?" (h/t
@jamiegangel
)
Trump desperately wanted the FBI to announce investigations into his political opponents this fall, to give his campaign a jolt. Instead, 48 hours before Election Day, the FBI announced that it's investigating Trump supporters for an alleged incident of political violence in TX.
It's the morning after the election. and special counsel Robert Mueller arrived at his downtown DC office around 7:20 a.m., like he always does, bright and early. Remember him? (h/t
@FossumSamuel
)
THREAD: The President of the United States said today that "domestic terrorists have taken over Seattle," the 18th largest city in the nation. This is totally untethered from reality. But nobody cared, because it's "Trump being Trump." Well, I care. Let's take a close look. (1/8)
About Navalny:
TRUMP: "We haven't seen it yet. We're looking at it. And Mike [Pompeo] is going to be reporting to me soon."
BIDEN: "...Putin persecutes civil society and journalists. Now, opposition leader Alexei Navalny is in a coma after being poisoned. It's unacceptable."
According to CNN's latest count... at least 14 Trump associates had contact with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign and transition. Manafort, Gates, Kushner, Trump Jr., Papadopoulos, Page, Sessions, Stone, Gordon, Flynn, Prince, Cohen, Caputo, Berkowitz.
This might be the most important news of the day. Russia could leak Burisma emails, and slip in some doctored emails, to harm Biden later on, if he is the Democratic nominee. The 2016 playbook all over again.
The report confirms what was largely assumed, and barely hidden, last year: Trump and his allies publicly embraced Russia's disinformation campaign against Biden, met with Kremlin-tied figures who were part of the effort, and promoted their conspiracies
🚨 STUNNING REBUKE: Federal judge blasts Trump administration's "politically motivated attack" on USPS, calls it an "intentional effort... to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy" of the 2020 election that was designed to cause "voter disenfranchisement."
The former top FBI lawyer, James Baker, says he "became sick of all the BS" and stepped up today to debunk some of the conspiracies Trump is peddling. Many of the top FBI officials with key roles in the Russia investigation have now publicly rebuked Trump.
All 12 jurors from the Roger Stone trial told the court today that they feel harassed and afraid for their lives, especially after President Trump and right-wing media figures criticized them for convicting Stone of 7 federal crimes
Seriously, you can’t make this up: Liteally just a few moments after Obama slammed Trump for spreading “conspiracy theories,” Trump responded by tweeting conspiracy theories about Obama.
Unbelievable split-screen moment: TRUMP just told reporters he wants the Justice Department to investigate who wrote the anti-Trump op-ed in the NY Times. Meanwhile, OBAMA just condemned those who "pressure the attorney general or the FBI" to punish their political opponents.
FULL STORY on the new video that, why it came out today, the months-long court fight by CNN and other news outlets to unearth these important videos for the American people to see. This effort has been led by my friend and colleague
@kpolantz
This says a lot about turnout.
2016 VA exit poll: 67% white, 21% black, 6% Latino
2017 VA exit poll: 67% white, 21% black, 6% Latino
Same proportions. (Given normal MOE.) Usually midterm years and off-years feature a whiter electorate. Benefits GOP in a big way. Not tonight.
Manafort was not sentenced. The judge revoked Manafort's bail, sending him to jail before trial, because he allegedly committed more crimes while on house arrest. BUT while we're talking about sentencing, if Manafort is convicted on all counts in DC/VA, he faces 300+ years.
Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns. Didn’t know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!
President Trump's anger toward the WHO, and his insistence that they dropped the ball and are responsible for this pandemic, would have some credibility if he hadn't spent all of January and February downplaying the virus, spreading unscientific information, and praising China.
OANN is trying to cover up its past relationship with Andrii Derkach, an active Russian agent involved in Moscow's anti-Biden meddling. OANN gave him tons of free airtime and promoted his wacko conspiracy theories.
Heh. Just noticed
@OANN
deleted all Derkach tagged stories from its site, including a Reuters story on the Ukrainian MP and US-labeled "active Russian agent" being sanctioned for election interference. But — oops! — it didn't delete one misspelled with "Derkash," which remains.
The first paragraph of the NYT story on Bolton contains several key details:
"Trump told" = Trump said it himself
"In August" = weeks after Zelensky call
"$391 million" = all the aid (DoD + State)
"helped with investigations = quid pro quo
"the Bidens" = explicit, not 'Burisma'
These 12 women have accused President Trump of sexual misconduct. The White House position, repeated again today, is that they are all lying. Trump said in the campaign that he would sue them — he hasn't.
NEW TODAY: Donald Trump brazenly called on Vladimir Putin to release any damaging info he's got about the Bidens. This isn't the first time Trump enlisted a foreign power to smear a political rival (Russia/2016, Ukraine/2019). Wasn't OK then, isn't OK now.
Trump just repeated the widely debunked lie that lots of terrorists have entered through the US-Mexico border. It's totally wrong, and the administration hasn't ever proven it. (BTW: The most famous border incident with a terrorist happened at the Canadian border in 1999.)
DC's top federal judge said DOJ has tied judges' hands with soft plea deals for 1/6 rioters, essentially blocking stiff punishments that would deter future attacks. She said DOJ approach is "puzzling," "muddled," "schizophrenic," "baffling," and "peculiar"