Michael S. Schmidt
@nytmike
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reporter @nytimes book: “Donald Trump v the United States” https://t.co/3fF07VHSZ0
Joined November 2008
NEW: Trump officials acknowledge that the letter the administration sent to Harvard -- that set off a tectonic battle between one of the most prestigious universities in the country and a U.S. president -- was sent by mistake. The letter has had massive consequences. The White.
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Text from my mom: "WTF who wrote that Op-Ed? You can tell me.".
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EXCLUSIVE: The White House chief of staff at the time, John Kelly, wrote a contemporaneous internal memo about how he had been “ordered” by the president to give Jared Kushner the top-secret clearance. w/@maggieNYT @adamgoldmanNYT @anniekarni
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"The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access."
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Trump wanted to fulfill campaign promise to "Lock Her Up." Tried 3xs to pressure Sessions into prosecuting Clinton. Episodes are unique because they show Trump going on offensive to target a rival. No president since Nixon is known to have attempted this.
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EXCLUSIVE: White House lawyers warned the president in a memo that he could be impeached if he tried to get the Justice Department to investigate his rivals. w/@maggieNYT
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EXCLUSIVE: Bolton book contains new, earlier, allegation of Trump's involvement in pressure campaign. Trump asked Bolton to call Zelensky to ensure he would meet w/Giuliani. Cipollone and Mulvaney were in room. w/@maggieNYT
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Buried in our story: Trump said to Comey that he should consider putting reporters in prison
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EXCLUSIVE: For the past 105 years, the team was called the Indians. That will be no more as Cleveland has decided to change its name. Announcement from team could come as early as this week. w/@DavidWaldstein
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EXCLUSIVE: Bolton's book draft says Trump told him in August that he wanted to continue freezing aid to Ukraine until they helped with investigations into rivals. w/@maggieNYT
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Book says nothing about mini-strokes.
It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes. Never happened to THIS candidate - FAKE NEWS. Perhaps they are referring to another candidate from another Party!.
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Post reports lawyer Cleta Mitchell was on call and is part of Trump's efforts to overturn the election. Nearly all lawyers who come from high end firms have refused to be involved. Unlike Giuliani, Powell, others, Mitchell is a partner at upper tier law firm @FoleyandLardner.
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NEW: Giuliani wants to be paid $20,000 a day for his representation of Trump to overturn the election results, raising concerns among Trump allies that Giuliani is encouraging Trump on spurious legal fights so he can make money off of them. w/@maggieNYT
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NEWS: Trump told Comey to stand down on Flynn investigation, 1st evidence Trump tried to influence Russia inquiry
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EXCLUSIVE: From my new book . DOJ in '17 secretly curtailed FBI counterintel investigation of Trump financial/personal ties to Russia. DOJ concealed this from FBI at time, leaving FBI w/ impression Mueller would do it. But Mueller ultimately didn't.
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s actions so alarmed FBI after Comey firing that it began investigating if he was working for Russia @adamgoldmanNYT @npfandos
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Working on this made me realize how little impact Mueller, his team and the report had on Trump. Day after Mueller testified, Trump picked up the phone and asked foreign leader to investigate his rival, essentially continuing same type of behavior that’s laid out in the report.
On today's Daily: Trump's stunning phone call to the president of Ukraine, in which he seemed to seek an investigation into his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. @nytmike on whether Ukraine will be the Russia of 2020:
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NEW: As recently as last year, Biden told aides Trump was threat to democracy and should be prosecuted. Biden never expressed frustrations directly to Garland but Biden has privately said AG needs to act more like prosecutor and less like ponderous judge .
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump has suggested to aides he wants to pardon himself in the final days of his presidency, a move that would mark one of the most extraordinary and untested uses of presidential power in American history. w/@maggieNYT
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NEW: The video showed the president as a mass shooter executing members of the media and his political opponents in a church. It was played at a pro Trump conference at the Trump resort in Miami last week. w/@maggieNYT
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1st thought: Barr cleared Trump on obstruction despite the fact that the president -- whose intent was central question of the investigation -- never had to answer one question under oath about why he took the actions he had related to the investigation.
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NEW: In a major escalation in the fight between Trump and Perkins Coie, the firm has retained Williams & Connolly -- which has some of the most aggressive and fiercest litigators in the country -- to represent it. There were deep concerns in the legal community that no one was.
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In one of his 1st moves in office, Va.'s new Republican AG reached down into the state's university system and fired the top lawyer at UVA -- a lawyer who went on leave from the school last year to be the top investigator on the Jan. 6 committee
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Barr and his DOJ are rebuked by federal judge for misleading courts, Congress and public on Mueller report and how Barr made decision not to charge Trump with obstruction.
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NEW: Two weeks before Trump released the Ukraine aid, White House lawyers briefed him on whistle-blower’s complaint — a key detail about what Trump knew when he made a critical decision at the heart of impeachment investigation. @maggieNYT @julianbarnes
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One of the main reasons for a special counsel is to remove political influence from an investigation. In this case, the special counsel refused to come to a determination on obstruction and then the two top DOJ political appointees made the call.
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SCOOP: Mueller investigating $150,000 donation Ukrainian steel titan made to Trump's foundation in 2015 for 20 min video talk Trump gave to conference in Kiev. Michael Cohen arranged the payment. Trump was running for R nom at the time. w/@maggieNYT
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Fact check: The White House pressured Sessions to make Whitaker his chief of staff.
Matthew G. Whitaker is a highly respected former U.S. Attorney from Iowa. He was chosen by Jeff Sessions to be his Chief of Staff. I did not know Mr. Whitaker. Likewise, as Chief, I did not know Mr. Whitaker except primarily as he traveled with A.G. Sessions. No social contact. .
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump allies -- like a former campaign staffer and even his former personal lawyer, John Dowd -- have sold their access to Trump, taking $$$ from wealthy felons to lobby Trump and White House aides, like Jared Kushner, for pardons. w/@kenvogel
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NEW: The horrific and terrifying story of how police tried to "HOLD THE LINE" on the Capitol steps as they did hand to hand combat w/Trump supporters. It's based on new police radio traffic synchronized w/footage from the scene. w/@robinnyc7 @heytherehaIey
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EXCLUSIVE: Mueller's Investigation reveals details of how Trump had WH counsel lobby Sessions not to recuse; how a WH lawyer tried to mislead the president about whether he could fire Comey; Preibus notes corroborate some of Comey's claims.
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EXCLUSIVE: This is the clearest indication to date that Flynn is cooperating with Mueller. w/@mattapuzzo @maggieNYT
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SCOOP: Sessions is key witness in obstruction investigation of Trump. Trump asked Sessions last year to reverse decision to recuse himself from Russia investigation. w/@juliehdavis
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SCOOP: FBI has secret recording Michael Cohen made of conversation he had with Trump two months before the election in which they discussed payments to Playboy model Karen McDougal. w/@maggieNYT @mattapuzzo
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump told McGahn to fire Mueller in June. McGahn threatened to resign and Trump backed down. w/@maggieNYT
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NEW: Trump has discussed firing the inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson. The president believes Atkinson was disloyal when he deemed the whistleblower's complaint credible and reported it to Congress. #déjàvu? w/@maggieNYT
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EXCLUSIVE: Bolton privately told Barr last year that he had concerns Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocrats of Turkey and China. Barr said he was concerned Trump created appearance he had undue influence on inquiries w/@maggieNYT
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SCOOP: Mueller has subpoenaed Steve Bannon to testify before a grand jury as part of the ongoing Russia investigation. First person in Trump's inner circle known to have received a grand jury subpoena.
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NEW: The National Archives and Records Administration discovered what it believed was classified information in documents Donald J. Trump had taken with him from the White House as he left office. w/@reidepstein
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NEW: In 2019 Japan gifted Sec State Mike Pompeo a $5,800 bottle of whiskey. Now, State says it has no idea where it went and is investigating its whereabouts. It's against law to take gift from foreigner over $390. Pompeo says he knows nothing about bottle
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NEW: .IRS says for ‘17 it randomly picked 5,000 taxpayers out of 153 million who filed for a highly invasive audit.IRS says for ‘19 it randomly picked 8,000 out of 154 mil for same audit.Among those picked: former FBI dir Jim Comey and his dep. Andy McCabe.
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NEW: A second intelligence official with more direct information about President Trump and Ukraine is said be considering whether to file a whistle-blower complaint. w/.@adamgoldmanNYT
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NEW: Emails we've obtained show how Bannon considered Stone a conduit to Wikileaks . how closely Breitbart was tied to the campaign . and how Stone asked Bannon to have Rebecca Mercer send money for his efforts to undermine Clinton.
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NEW: FBI executed search warrants at locations tied to people who worked w/Project Veritas as part of SDNY investigation into how a diary stolen from Biden's daughter Ashley was publicly disclosed days before ’20 election. She was burglarized in ‘20.
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NEW: Some of Mueller’s investigators see their report as more damaging for President Trump than attorney general Barr initially made it out to be. @npfandos @MarkMazzettiNYT
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Updated version of story w/@maggieNYT confirms CNN reporting on how Trump repeatedly pressed DOJ officials — including acting AG Whitaker when he was Sessions chief of staff —on status of Clinton investigations.
EXCLUSIVE: White House lawyers warned the president in a memo that he could be impeached if he tried to get the Justice Department to investigate his rivals. w/@maggieNYT
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The minuscule chances of the two highest-ranking F.B.I. officials — who made some of the most politically consequential law enforcement decisions in a generation — being randomly subjected to a detailed scrub of their taxes presents extraordinary questions
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Mueller's team has a great cooperator in the White House: Trump's top lawyer, Don McGahn. Trump and McGahn have a complicated, mutually beneficial but ultimately terrible relationship -- so bad McGahn calls Trump "King Kong" behind his back. w/@maggieNYT
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Comey learned of firing as he addressed FBI employees in LA. TV screens in background flashed news of firing. Letter was then given to FBI.
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Nunes, who spent much of Monday's Comey hearing criticizing leaks, just came out and discussed wiretaps, which are . you know, classified.
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Number of times these words were mentioned at the debate last night: . Mueller 0.Special Counsel 0.Impeach/Impeachment 0.Obstruction of Justice 0.
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For context on the issue of investigating rivals: we have reported that in April 2018 White House counsel Don McGahn wrote a memo to Trump warning him that if he asked law enforcement to investigate his rivals, he could face a range of consequences, including impeachment.
The president asked Ukraine to “do us a favor” and look into claims it was really Ukraine that did the 2016 email hacks, as Giuliani has claimed, and then asked them to get with Barr to probe the Bidens.
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NEW: A dark joke has begun circulating among lawyers following the many legal travails of former President Donald J. Trump: MAGA actually stands for “making attorneys get attorneys.” w/@lukebroadwater .
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Trump asked Comey 2xs in Jan. dinner at White House to pledge loyalty. Comey refused. Here's how meal went down.
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NEW: Pompeo knew about Sondland and Volker's efforts to get the Ukrainians to put out a statement that they hoped would appease Trump. Pompeo also OKed a plan to have Zelensky make commitment to Trump in person to unlock logjam between the two countries.
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WH and DOJ had been working on firing Comey since at least last week. Sessions had been working to come up with reasons.
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Cleta Mitchell has resigned from @FoleyandLardner. The firm said in a statement: "Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately.".
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EXCLUSIVE: Mueller has learned about Trump's attempts to speak with two key witnesses. This shows how the president is disregarding his lawyers' advice to not do anything that could appear to be obstructing the Russia investigation. … w/@maggieNYT.
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Today I interviewed @realDonaldTrump for a half hour at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla. Here’s what he said: Trump Says Russia Inquiry Makes U.S. ‘Look Very Bad’
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On impeachment eve one of Washington's leading conservative constitutional lawyers -- who reps McCarthy/House Rs and who has advised Ted Cruz -- breaks with his allies/clients, saying Republican argument former impeached presidents can't be tried is bunk.
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NEW: Trump raised with acting AG Whitaker the idea of getting the U.S. attorney in New York to "unrecuse" himself from Cohen investigations. w/@MarkMazzettiNYT @maggieNYT @npfandos.
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EXCLUSIVE: We have obtained a list of four dozen questions Mueller wants to ask Trump. Among them: What does Trump know about pardon offers to Flynn? What discussions did Trump have in June 2017 about firing Mueller?
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NEW: Ashley Biden's diary was passed around at a Trump fundraiser in early Sept. '20 at the home of a Trump donor who ultimately helped steer it to Project Veritas. The donor was nominated by Trump to an executive branch post in Dec. '20. w/@adamgoldmanNYT
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NEW: DOJ secretly subpoenaed Apple for personal info of Trump's then WH counsel Don McGahn and his wife in Feb '18. DOJ barred Apple from telling them at time but 3 years later in May '21 Apple told them. It's unclear what investigation it was related to.
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Got this message this morning from @coachVMarino the offensive coordinator for the Brown University football team. Gives us a sense of where things stand in our politics and how folks view the media.
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EXCLUSIVE: After Trump asked Comey to end investigation, Comey told Sessions: Don’t Leave Me Alone With Trump.
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EXCLUSIVE: Manuscript of Bolton book says that he told AG Barr last year he was concerned that Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China. Barr expressed similar concerns. w/@maggieNYT
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SCOOP: FBI agents sought all records related to “Access Hollywood” tape when they raided office of Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen. Agents wanted evidence of whether Cohen suppressed damaging info on Trump during campaign. w/@maggieNYT and @mattapuzzo
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At least twice in the past month, White House officials have sought to get former White House counsel, Don McGahn, to say he didn't believe Trump obstructed justice. So far, McGahn has refused to do so.
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No joke: Comey (6'8) tried to blend in with CURTAINS in Blue Room at WH ceremony so Trump wouldn't notice him.
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NEW: Trump expressed so much interest in using active duty troops in response to the protests after the killing of George Floyd that White House aides drafted a proclamation for him to sign to invoke the Insurrection Act. w/@maggieNYT
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SCOOP: Attorney general Jeff Sessions was interviewed by Mueller's investigators last week as part of investigation into obstruction and Russian meddling. 1st member of cabinet known to have been interviewed by Mueller.
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump aides and associates communicated with Russian Intel operatives in year before the election
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EXCLUSIVE: Rosenstein discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to oust Trump in the days after Comey was fired in May 2017. Rosenstein also discussed wearing a wire to secretly record his conversations with Trump. w/@adamgoldmanNYT.
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NEW: FBI interview of Mark Judge will include questions about BOTH Swetnick and Blasey allegations.
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From our story: “The event . was set up by Doug Schoen, a veteran political consultant and pollster who works with Mr. Pinchuk . Mr. Schoen, a frequent Fox News guest, has known Mr. Trump for years and contacted him personally to set it up at the end of August 2015”
The Failing New York Times wrote another phony story. It was political pundit Doug Schoen, not a Ukrainian businessman, who asked me to do a short speech by phone (Skype), hosted by Doug, in Ukraine. I was very positive about Ukraine-another negative to the Fake Russia C story!.
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Yet another schmear campaign.
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BREAKING: Matt Gaetz's confidant, Joel Greenberg, admits to many crimes in plea(+80 pgs). He doesn't name Gaetz. Greenberg says he and "other adult men" engaged in "commercial sex acts" w/minor. Greenberg says he witnessed the other men having sex w/minor.
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NEW . The squeeze is on: DOJ believes low level aide initially misled them about moving boxes and now is using specter of criminal charges to force aide to cooperate . Kash Patel took 5 before grand jury - DOJ now trying to have judge compel his testimony
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British and Dutch provided US w/ intel showing Trump associates met w/ Russian govt officials in European cities
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BREAKING . The two individuals who stole Ashley Biden's diary and sold it to Project Veritas have plead guilty. One of them has agreed to cooperate with SDNY's ongoing investigation into Project Veritas. 1st cut w/@adamgoldmanNYT :
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NEW: Jan 6 committee leaders have passed important threshold, concluding they have enough evidence to send criminal referral to Garland/DOJ on Trump for at least 2 federal crimes. BUT … panel is now divided about whether sending referral is smart move.
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NEW and BREAKING: Federal prosecutors have obtained the confidential cooperation of a Mar-a-Lago employee and subpoenaed records pertaining to Trump’s dealings with Saudi backed LIV Golf.
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NEW: When Jan 6 committee started its goal was to compile authoritative account of what occurred. But as investigators went through evidence they began considering whether the inquiry could yield something potentially more consequential: criminal referrals
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SCOOP: McCabe feared that Rosenstein helped provide Trump with cover story for Comey firing. Wrote his own memo about it and later gave it to Mueller. w/@adamgoldmanNYT @mattapuzzo
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NEW: Republican senators tried to stop Friday firing of EU ambassador Gordon Sondland. w/@peterbakernyt
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NEW: In the final weeks of the Trump administration, Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation for sex trafficking a minor, sought blanket pardons from the Trump White House for himself and congressional allies. w/@maggieNYT @npfandos
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BREAKING: Adam Schiff and House Intel Committee aides -- and the aides' family members, including a minor -- had their data from Apple subpoenaed by DOJ in 2017 and 2018.
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EXCLUSIVE: Mueller has letter Trump wanted to send Comey that WH counsel blocked Trump from sending. w/@maggieNYT
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UPDATE: Rudy's firm undercuts his claim it was routine for hush $ payments to be made without Trump knowing. “Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client,”the firm said.
w/@maggieNYT.
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DEVELOPING: Govt officials legally have to report gifts they receive from foreign govts over $415. Despite that Trump admin left office w/out providing a list of any gifts Trump, Pence, their families or any other WH official received in '20
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Our reporting shows how an aide to AG Jeff Sessions asked a Hill staffer four days before Comey was fired whether staffer had derogatory information on Comey, as part of apparent effort to undercut FBI director's credibility
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