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Info

How prosecutors convinced judge to require Manafort's lawyer to testify before grand jury

Josh Gerstein
Politico
Mon, 30 Oct 2017 15:10 UTC
mueller manafort
Prosecutors convinced a federal judge to require a lawyer for Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates to testify before the grand jury investigating Russian involvement in the 2016 election, a court ruling unsealed on Monday showed.

The unusual move is an indication of the aggressiveness of special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution team as they prepared to indict Manafort and Gates on charges of money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents. The 12-count indictment was made public on Monday.

Lawyers for Manafort and Gates fought the prosecution's drive to intrude on attorney-client communications. But Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that an exception, which involves using a lawyer to commit crime or fraud, applied to contacts with an attorney who helped respond to inquiries about why the pair had not filed foreign-agent lobbying registrations with the Justice Department.

The judge's 37-page opinion did not name the attorney prosecutors sought to put before the grand jury. CNN reported in August that Mueller's team was seeking the testimony of Melissa Laurenza, a partner at Akin Gump.

Comment: All that time and money, yet still: no evidence whatsoever of any collusion with the Russians.

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Safe

Russia is taking out its zombie banks, one by one

Kenneth Rapoza
Forbes
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 15:03 UTC
Elvira Nabiullina
© Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/BloombergElvira Nabiullina is Russia's central bank governor and zombie bank slayer.
Russia's zombie banks will be taken out, one by one.

It's evident along the busy Kutuzovsky Prospect, an avenue outlining the Moscow River and across from the White House, a government building once shelled by tanks on orders from President Boris Yeltsin to scare away the Communists in Russia's early experiment with capitalism. Missing from the neon, corporate logos atop long rows of neo-classical buildings are the blue lights advertising Otkritie Bank. Omega is still there. Aeroflot is still there. Otkritie, once the largest private lender in Russia, is missing. A zombie, slayed this year.

Depending on how you slice it, Russia's bankrupt banks are either a sign that this country is in shambles and - ha ha - those Russians will never get it right. Or it means the Russian Central Bank, led by the highly respected Elvira Nabiullina, is forcing banks to get with the program. Banks must follow international standards outlined in the Basel accords on global banking, or their management and owners will need to find another line of work.

"Indirectly, to really assess a crisis, you just look at the depositors. There's been no run on the banks," Alexander Isakov, an economist with VTB Capital said on the sidelines of the investment bank's annual Russia Calling! investor forum. "Banking in Russia is becoming very capital intensive, but it's also becoming more modern."

Comment: More on the Russian economy:

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Biohazard

One day tomorrow will not arrive

Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 14:52 UTC
sarmsat missile
Sarmat ICBM
Before the idiots in Washington get us blown off of the face of the earth, the morons had better come to terms with the fact that the US military is now second class compared to the Russian military.

For example, the US Navy has been made obsolete by Russia's hypersonic maneuvering Zircon missile.

For example, the speed and trajectory changes of the Russian Sarmat ICBM has nullified Washington's ABM system. One Sarmet is sufficient to take out Great Britain, or France, or Germany, or Texas. It only takes a dozen to wipe out the United States.

Why don't you know this?
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Propaganda

The Papadopoulos indictment: Another fake news 'bombshell' that's just a damp squib

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Tue, 31 Oct 2017 00:01 UTC
NBC Fake news
Possibly because Paul Manafort's indictment has nothing to say about the allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians which are the central focus of the Russiagate scandal, the emphasis in today's media reporting has switched to the completely different indictment of George Papadopoulos, a much more junior Trump foreign policy aide who has also been indicted today.

A copy of the indictment against Papadopoulos can be found here.

The key point about this indictment is that Papadopoulos has NOT been charged with colluding with the Russians to steal the Presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump, which is the central allegation in the Russiagate scandal.

Instead he has been charged with lying to the FBI about certain contacts he had with certain people who appear to have had some connection to Russia, a crime to which he has pleaded guilty.

Comment: Things aren't looking good for the Mueller investigation: The Manafort indictment is a sign that the Russiagate investigation is over, found nothing.

As for Papadopoulos, as Gateway Pundit puts it: he "was a volunteer whose repeated attempts to set up meetings between Trump's camp and Russians were outright rejected." His attempts to set up meetings with Russia were reported on back in August by WaPo:
The adviser, George Papadopoulos, offered to set up "a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under President Trump," telling them his Russian contacts welcomed the opportunity, according to internal campaign emails read to The Washington Post.

The proposal sent a ripple of concern through campaign headquarters in Trump Tower. Campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis wrote that he thought NATO allies should be consulted before any plans were made. Another Trump adviser, retired Navy Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, cited legal concerns, including a possible violation of U.S. sanctions against Russia and of the Logan Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens from unauthorized negotiation with foreign governments.
The NY Daily News even reported that Manafort put the kibosh on the Russia meetings as well.
"We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips," Manafort told his business partner Rick Gates, an account his spokesman Jason Maloni confirmed to the Daily News Monday evening.
The Gateway Pundit also reported that Papadopoulos was looking for a book deal just a few weeks ago.
According to a screen shot of Papadopoulos's Facebook page tweeted by Guardian UK reporter Jon Swaine, the former aide sought book publisher recommendations three weeks ago.

"Interested in meeting with a prominent publisher. Recommendations welcome, " wrote Papadopoulos.


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Nuke

Russia begins building Bushehr 2 nuclear power plant in Iran


RT
Tue, 31 Oct 2017 14:31 UTC
Bushehr 2 nuclear power plant
© Global Look Press
Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced on Tuesday construction of the Bushehr 2 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Iran has started. The project was agreed between Moscow and Tehran three years ago. "I am sure this major Russia-Iran investment project will strengthen cooperation and ties between our countries," said Rosatom's Director General Aleksey Likhachev at the ground breaking ceremony.

The Bushehr 2 NPP will have two VVER-1000 power units built with Generation III+ technology, including the latest safety features. They will have a combined capacity of 2100 MW. The project's cost is estimated at $10 billion and will take up to ten years to complete. The deal, which was signed by Russia and Iran in November 2014, also included the option of building six more reactors in the future.

Comment: Generation III+ reactors have improved fuel technology, superior thermal efficiency, passive safety systems and standardized design for reduced maintenance and capital costs.
See also:

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Info

Catalan leader Puigdemont says he will respect snap election in December


RT
Tue, 31 Oct 2017 14:42 UTC
Puigdemont
© ReutersSacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont attends a news conference at the Press Club Brussels Europe in Brussels, Belgium, October 31, 2017.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says he will respect the results of the snap election called by Madrid in response to the declaration of independence by the province's parliament. He then called on the Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy to say whether he would do the same.

Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Puigdemont reiterated his support for democracy and peaceful resistance to Madrid's pressure on Catalonia. He said he arrived in the Belgian capital to put the issue of Catalan independence "in the heart" of the European Union.

Puigdemont said he and his government, which has been sacked by the central government in Madrid, were denouncing "the polarization of the Spanish justice system" in dealing with the political crisis and wanted to "show the world the serious democratic deficit that exists in the Spanish state."

Comment: This comes as Spain's Constitutional Court overturned Catalonia's declaration of independence. After the decision, the Supreme Court called on the Catalonian parliament speaker and five senior lawmakers to testify on November 2-3. Today, both the Catalan president's website, and that of the Catalonia government, were shut down:
The govern.cat and president.cat, along with the catalangovernment.eu, websites are inaccessible as of Tuesday. The English language Catalan Government site remained online longer than the other two sites, although it is now offline.

The Spanish government blocked independence websites before the region's independence referendum on October 1. It's unclear at this stage whether the Spanish government moved to block the sites on this occasion, or if the Catalonian authorities removed the websites.


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Attention

Manafort and associate Rick Gates plead not guilty to federal indictment

Brooke Singman
Fox News
Tue, 31 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Manafort and Rick Gates
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates pleaded not guilty on Monday after being indicted on 12 counts by a federal grand jury as part of the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign officials in the 2016 presidential election.

Manafort and Gates pleaded not guilty to all charges. A judge set bond at $10 million for Manafort, and $5 million for Gates. Both sides agreed to home detention.

The special counsel's office told Fox News that the counts include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading Foreign Agent Registration (FARA) statements, false statements and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign banks and financial accounts.

Comment:

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Gift 2

October surprise! With Mueller investigation exposed as nothing-burger, Nancy Pelosi calls for new, separate Russia-Trump investigation

Penny Starr
Breitbart
Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:57 UTC
nancy pelosi cartoon
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued a call for an independent investigation into Trump campaign collusion with Russians just moments after Special Counsel Robert Mueller unsealed indictments for campaign operatives Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, who have turned themselves in to federal authorities.

Pelosi's statement mentions the collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia but does not address recent revelations about Hillary Clinton's ties to a discredited dossier about Trump and Russia.

Pelosi said in the statement:
Even with an accelerating Special Counsel investigation inside the Justice Department, and investigations inside the Republican Congress, we still need an outside, fully independent investigation to expose Russia's meddling in our election and the involvement of Trump officials. Defending the integrity of our democracy demands that Congress look forward to counter Russian aggression and prevent future meddling with our elections.
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Magnify

Was Robert Mueller's appointment illegal? Yes, says professor of constitutional law

Beatrice Dupuy
Newsweek
Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:38 UTC
trump mueller
Is another 'you're fired!' coming soon?
President Donald Trump doesn't need to worry about the indictment against his former campaign chairman by special counsel Robert Mueller for one big reason: Mueller's appointment to the Russia probe isn't constitutional, one legal scholar is arguing.

Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University professor of constitutional law, is arguing that the president could quickly put an end to the investigation haunting his administration by doing away with Mueller, who he says skirted the proper channels to be hired in the first place.

"Everyone is focused on can he [Donald Trump] fire Mueller," Kmiec told Newsweek. "You don't have to fire someone who wasn't properly appointed in the first place."

Kmiec claims that Mueller is exercising a broad scope of authority similar to a principal officer or Cabinet member that has to be approved and confirmed by the Senate after being nominated. Instead, Mueller was appointed through an order handed down by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
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Briefcase

Flashback Judicial Watch files FOIA lawsuit for FBI records on 'Trump Dossier'


Judicial Watch
Tue, 16 May 2017 00:01 UTC
Christopher Steele
© Press AssociationChristopher Steele, the former MI6 agent who set-up Orbis Business Intelligence and compiled a dossier on Donald Trump
Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records of communications and payments between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and his private firm, Orbis Business Intelligence (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-00916)).

This is the fifth Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (see here, here, here, here) related to the surveillance, unmasking, and illegal leaking targeting President Trump and his associates.
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