Tag: indictment

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff rejected reports that no more Mueller indictments are coming, and suggested he would call the special counsel before a House panel if necessary to learn what is in the report. “If necessary, we will call Bob Mueller or others before our committee, I would imagine the judiciary committee may call the attorney general if necessary,” the California Democrat said during an interview on CNN. “At the end of the day, the department is under a statutory obligation to provide our committee with any information regarding significant intelligence activities, including counterintelligence. And it's hard to imagine anything more significant than what Bob Mueller has been investigating. “We have a right to be informed, and we will demand to be informed about it.” I think it’s entirely possible if not likely that there will be other indictments — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff Schiff was then asked if he would be satisfied if “the most sensitive information” obtained by Mueller was only shared with the so-called “gang of eight.” “No, it would not suffice. Schiff did not answer host Wolf Blitzer’s question as to whether or not any potential testimony would be public or behind closed doors. “Well, what it means is that the office of the special counsel, which is essentially a contract attorney to the Justice Department, that that office won’t be bringing any further indictments,” he said. “We are confident that there is no finding of collusion by the president and this underscores what the president has been saying from the beginning -- that he did nothing wrong.” Giuliani’s statement comes after Mueller transmitted his report to Attorney General William Barr. “This is a grand slam for President Trump. If Barr says he can brief Congress by this weekend, that means he has nothing,” said Joe diGenova, a former U.S. attorney who has advised Trump on the probe.

(July 17) AP WASHINGTON – A Russian national accused of secretly conspiring against the U.S. by infiltrating political organizations, including the National Rifle Association, was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury. The charges are separate from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The indictment released Tuesday by a federal grand jury details Butina entering the U.S. in 2016 on a student visa, on which she declared she'd formerly worked for a Russian official, who isn't named in the document. More: Wisconsin Gov. She has been active with the NRA in recent years and is credited for creating a Russian version of the gun-rights organization, which officials have pointed to as a way for her to gain contacts and supporters. A March report issued by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee referred to the public reporting about Butina and Torshin, claiming that Butina "sought to facilitate meetings with Trump campaign officials and between President Putin and candidate Trump during the election." Prosecutors allege Butina would send reports, seek direction and receive orders from the Russian official during the plot, including sending a report where she guided the official on ways to start a dialogue with U.S. politicians. Butina's attorney, Robert Driscoll, denied the government's claim of her work as an agent of the Russian government. Since her home was searched by the FBI in April, Driscoll said Butina has "repeatedly" offered to cooperate with federal investigators. Contributing: Kevin Johnson

The revelations provide more detail on the sophisticated assault on the US election in 2016, including the release of emails designed to damage Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who has denied election meddling -- in Helsinki on Monday for a summit that includes a one-on-one meeting with only interpreters present. The Justice Department says the hacking targeted Clinton's campaign, Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with the intention to "release that information on the internet under the names DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 and through another entity." "There is no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime," Rosenstein said at a news conference. "Today's charges include no allegations of knowing involvement by anyone on the campaign and no allegations that the alleged hacking affected the election result," Walters said in a statement. No Americans are involved. Time for Mueller to end this pursuit of the President and say President Trump is completely innocent," he tweeted. "These Russian individuals did their work during the Obama years," Trump continued in a tweet later Saturday. Intelligence gathered by US officials captured some of the Russians accused in Friday's indictments congratulating each other and celebrating the success of their operation during the campaign, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The computer crimes the Russians face also accuse them of installing malware on Democratic campaign computers.

The political operative Roger Stone has admitted he is “probably” the Donald Trump associate cited in a grand jury indictment as communicating with Russians who attacked the US presidential election in 2016. Trump responds to Mueller indictments – by blaming Obama Read more Trump is defying calls to cancel a high stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday after a dozen Russian military intelligence officers were charged with hacking and leaking the emails of senior Democrats. On 15 August 2016, according to the indictment, Guccifer 2.0 wrote: “thank u for writing back … do u find anyt(h)ing interesting in the docs i posted?” Two days later, Guccifer 2.0 added: “please tell me if i can help u anyhow ... it would be a great pleasure to me.” In September, the Russians wrote to the person again and referred to a stolen Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) document posted online: “What do u think of the info on the turnout model for the democrats entire presidential campaign.” The person responded: “(p)retty standard”. I am probably the person mentioned on the indictment … until there is a trial all claims remain unproven Roger Stone The indictment does not identify the person but Stone, a political consultant and friend of Trump for nearly four decades, told the Guardian via text message: “I am probably the person mentioned on the indictment. Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the House, said: “President Trump’s continued refusal to condemn the Russians’ attacks on our democracy, even after special counsel Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officials for interfering in the 2016 election, makes it clear that meeting with Putin would be both pointless and dangerous.” Chuck Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate, said: “President Trump should cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin until Russia takes demonstrable and transparent steps to prove that they won’t interfere in future elections.” The Republican senator John McCain, a frequent Trump critic, said the summit should be called off if Trump was not ready to warn Putin there is a “serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world”. He added: “If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward.” The White House said the summit would go ahead as planned. “The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration,” he tweeted from his golf resort in Scotland. “Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?” Russian officials largely dismissed the indictment, saying the new evidence did not prove that Russian military intelligence was behind the attack on Democratic servers or that any hack even took place. Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Moscow, said in an interview a similar deal could let Trump declare victory in Helsinki and allow Russia to seek further concessions about the US role in Syria. In a tweet, he gave no hint that he was wavering over whether the Putin meeting should take place.

In an emergency installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew breaks down what is new and notable in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Friday indictment of 12 Russian intelligence agents. The charges lay out detailed accounts of how investigators believe Russian government agents conspired to hack Democratic campaign infrastructure and attempted to break into state elections systems. The news also comes days before President Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. You can listen to the episode by clicking the “play” button above or by downloading it in iTunes, the ESPN App or your favorite podcast platform. If you are new to podcasts, learn how to listen. The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast publishes Monday evenings, with occasional special episodes throughout the week. Help new listeners discover the show by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question or suggestion for “good polling vs. bad polling”? Get in touch by email, on Twitter or in the comments.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s charges against 12 members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency accused of hacking related to the 2016 US presidential election are a stark reminder of the ways in which technology can be used to disrupt democratic processes. Speaking at a press conference announcing the charges today, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy US attorney general (pictured at center above), said the indictment (PDF) didn’t contain allegations that the hacking had actually influenced the outcome of the 2016 election. But it provides plenty of details about just how extensive and well-planned the attack was on targets that included the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, and the Clinton campaign. Here are a few of the things that immediately stand out. Once in, they knew how to get data out: Using malware dubbed X-Agent, the indictment says, the hackers were able to infect computers at the DCCC and gain access to the DNC’s network. They got far more than just e-mails, too—the malware allowed the attackers to snoop on what staffers were typing and take screenshots of their work. They tried their best to cover their tracks … The Russians allegedly used an extensive network of servers to hide their tracks and funded the purchase of computer infrastructure using Bitcoin. Among other things, this enabled the hackers to pay a firm based in Romania to register a domain they used to distribute stolen content. (The indictment says one, unnamed US congressional candidate subsequently reached out to Guccifer to get access to stolen information.) Given the sophistication of the attacks revealed in the indictment, election officials will need all the help they can get.

[3] At the time of the raid the White House and its allies were gearing up to fire Deputy AG Rosenstein as the White House fears investigators seized tape recordings of conversations between Cohen and President Trump. [4] President Trump has attempted to fire Special Counsel Mueller multiple times. [5] President Trump's former lead Russia lawyer, who recently quit,[6] called for an end of Mueller's investigation. He and Mr. Vekselberg attended the event together and met with Mr. Cohen there, according to a person briefed on the matter. Columbus Nova, the company controlled by a Russian oligarch that paid Michael Cohen, registered a number of websites aimed at white nationalists and the alt-right. [10] A company at the center of widening questions involving President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen is listed as the organization behind a string of websites targeted toward white nationalists and other members of the alt-right. Columbus Nova, a company whose U.S. chief executive, Andrew Intrater, and Russian investment partner Viktor Vekselberg have both reportedly been interviewed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team, is listed as the registrant behind a handful of domains for websites named after the alt-right that were created during the 2016 election. Could the court just issue charges repeatedly after the President issued a pardon (assuming it covers civil contempt)? WASHINGTON, July 6 - Judith Miller, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, was sent to jail on Wednesday after a federal judge declared that she was "defying the law" by refusing to divulge the name of a confidential source. Judge Hogan held the two reporters in civil contempt in October for refusing to cooperate with a federal prosecutor's investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a covert operative of the Central Intelligence Agency.

"This action by the district attorney today is perhaps the most flagrantly political, despicable, desperate thing any of us has ever seen in Hamilton County," Boyd said in a statement Tuesday. I welcome all the facts around Mr. [Brent] Lambert's charges, and I will take my case for re-election to the voters in District 8." A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said Boyd's indictment cannot be released until he's been arrested, so it's unclear what the exact evidence is against him. Lambert, who had filed a complaint last month with the district attorney's office after saying Boyd threatened him to leave the race, did not respond to multiple calls for comment Tuesday. A campaign fundraiser held for Lambert Monday night included developers Matt Wood and Ethan Wood, who were involved in the East Ridge Exit 1 project on Interstate 75, but it's unknown how much money he raised at the event. Boyd and Lambert were set to appear in a debate Tuesday night at Wally's Restaurant in East Ridge hosted by the Nightside Pachyderm Club. The politicians were taking questions when someone asked Boyd why he threatened Lambert, telling him to leave the race. Boyd said he asked Lambert to pull out after learning Lambert had received $5,000 in political contributions, including $3,000 from Exit 1 developers, just days after the East Ridge town council approved more than $4 million in bonds for the project and at a time when Lambert didn't have a campaign going on. After the March 19 Pachyderm meeting, Lambert said Boyd was set to "release damaging information on me if I did not withdraw. Lambert filed a complaint against Boyd with the district attorney's office.

If it turns out that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indeed seriously considering, or has already seriously considered, advancing elections, there could be three reasons for it. The first has already emerged from his remarks: Netanyahu, given the escalating investigations against him, is seeking to ward off the blow and extort the coalition parties into not dissolving the government, even if he is indicted. The second reason that could be moving Netanyahu toward early elections is the hope that a renewal of his mandate by masses of voters – resulting perhaps in an even higher number of Knesset seats than he has now – will deter the law enforcement agencies and attorney general from serving indictments against him. If the move also succeeds in diverting the public’s attention from the corruption allegations to election issues, that would be a nice bonus. Netanyahu certainly enjoys seeing his coalition members twisting in their seats. The idea that the current farce is aimed merely at scaring the attorney general and delaying the evil decree is somewhat of a stretch. But even if he wins two or three more seats, which will naturally come at the expense of his coalition partners, it’s hard to believe his legal situation and the investigations against him would change substantially enough to justify such a risk. So long as senior police officials and the attorney general have not, God forbid, become servants of a criminal regime, we can and must hope that they will do their jobs faithfully. Most of all, it is hoped that in contrast to Netanyahu’s dangerous tones before he came back to Israel last week, he will leave the battle for his innocence to the legal, democratic arena, and won’t be dragged into trying to sic his hundreds of thousands of supporters on the police. Netanyahu’s third possible motive for early elections, despite his current strong position, seems rather far-fetched, although perhaps this is what’s driving developments: demands being made by U.S. President Donald Trump.