CBS/Associated Press with Jeff Pegues, Pat Milton and Steven Portnoy:
Investigators believe that President Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call with a Russian official, law enforcement sources told CBS News on Friday.
Multiple sources told CBS News’ Jeff Pegues and Pat Milton that the conversation occurred before Mr. Trump took office and, if true, could be a violation of protocol and could be viewed as a violation of the law.
A law enforcement source who has been briefed on the issue told Milton that the discussion dealt with the relationship going forward with Russia including the sanctions. Any discussions about sanctions by a private citizen, the source said, may create conflict and confusion around U.S. national security interests.
The sources told CBS News that investigators learned of the discussions through continuing and ongoing electronic surveillance of Russian officials as well as known and suspected intelligence operatives in the U.S.
The Full Story (February 10, 2017)
Showing posts with label theap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theap. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Associated Press: Trump Threatens Military Incursion Into Mexico In Call With Mex Prez
By Vivian Salama:
The Full Story (February 1, 2017)
President Donald Trump threatened in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart to send U.S. troops to stop "bad hombres down there" unless the Mexican military does more to control them, according to an excerpt of a transcript of the conversation obtained by The Associated Press.
The excerpt of the call did not detail who exactly Trump considered "bad hombres," nor did it make clear the tone and context of the remark, made in a Friday morning phone call between the leaders. It also did not contain Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's response.
Still, the excerpt offers a rare and striking look at how the new president is conducting diplomacy behind closed doors. Trump's remarks suggest he is using the same tough and blunt talk with world leaders that he used to rally crowds on the campaign trail.
The Full Story (February 1, 2017)
Friday, April 7, 2017
Associated Press: Trump's Voter Fraud Expert Registered in 3 States
By Garance Burke:
A man who President Donald Trump has promoted as an authority on voter fraud was registered to vote in multiple states during the 2016 presidential election, the Associated Press has learned.
Gregg Phillips, whose unsubstantiated claim that the election was marred by 3 million illegal votes was tweeted by the president, was listed on the rolls in Alabama, Texas and Mississippi, according to voting records and election officials in those states. He voted only in Alabama in November, records show.
A man who President Donald Trump has promoted as an authority on voter fraud was registered to vote in multiple states during the 2016 presidential election, the Associated Press has learned.
Gregg Phillips, whose unsubstantiated claim that the election was marred by 3 million illegal votes was tweeted by the president, was listed on the rolls in Alabama, Texas and Mississippi, according to voting records and election officials in those states. He voted only in Alabama in November, records show.
In a post earlier this month, Phillips described "an amazing effort" by volunteers tied to True the Vote, an organization whose board he sits on, who he said found "thousands of duplicate records and registrations of dead people."
Trump has made an issue of people who are registered to vote in more than one state, using it as one of the bedrocks of his overall contention that voter fraud is rampant in the U.S. and that voting by 3 to 5 million immigrants illegally in the country cost him the popular vote in November.
Trump has made an issue of people who are registered to vote in more than one state, using it as one of the bedrocks of his overall contention that voter fraud is rampant in the U.S. and that voting by 3 to 5 million immigrants illegally in the country cost him the popular vote in November.
The AP found that Phillips was registered in Alabama and Texas under the name Gregg Allen Phillips, with the identical Social Security number. Mississippi records list him under the name Gregg A. Phillips, and that record includes the final four digits of Phillips' Social Security number, his correct date of birth and a prior address matching one once attached to Gregg Allen Phillips. He has lived in all three states.
At the time of November's presidential election, Phillips' status was "inactive" in Mississippi and suspended in Texas. Officials in both states told the AP that Phillips could have voted, however, by producing identification and updating his address at the polls.
At the time of November's presidential election, Phillips' status was "inactive" in Mississippi and suspended in Texas. Officials in both states told the AP that Phillips could have voted, however, by producing identification and updating his address at the polls.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
[Special] AP: Manafort Had Plan to Benefit Putin Government
By Jeff Horwitz and Chad Day:
"We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success," Manafort wrote in the 2005 memo to Deripaska. The effort, Manafort wrote, "will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government."
Manafort's plans were laid out in documents obtained by the AP that included strategy memoranda and records showing international wire transfers for millions of dollars. How much work Manafort performed under the contract was unclear.
President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics, The Associated Press has learned. The work appears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.
Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work.
"We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success," Manafort wrote in the 2005 memo to Deripaska. The effort, Manafort wrote, "will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government."
Manafort's plans were laid out in documents obtained by the AP that included strategy memoranda and records showing international wire transfers for millions of dollars. How much work Manafort performed under the contract was unclear.
President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics, The Associated Press has learned. The work appears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.
Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Associated Press: Contents of Trump's Folders Spark Speculation
By Jonathan Lemire:
On Wednesday, the six stacks of manila folders were full of the documentation and agreements making official his decision to turn his sprawling business empire over to his sons, Don Jr. and Eric, Trump said. With great flourish, four young staffers carried the piles — in front of snapping cameras — and placed them on the table next to Trump's podium in the minutes before the start of the news conference, his first since July.
"These papers are just some of the many documents that I've signed turning over complete and total control to my sons," Trump said Wednesday in the lobby of Trump Tower.
But neither Trump nor his lawyer ever picked up, displayed or referenced specifically any of the documents inside. After the news conference concluded, transition staffers blocked reporters from looking at them. And some photos of the news conference show folders without labels and, in some cases, seemingly blank pages inside, setting off a torrent of speculation on social media.
Transition officials noted that the Trump business empire was large and complicated, consisting of hundreds of entities, and that a massive amount of paperwork was required. A Trump spokeswoman on Thursday flatly denied there was anything misleading about the display.
"As Mr. Trump stated at the press conference, they were just some of the documents required to transition his assets into the trust and additional restructuring," said Hope Hicks.
But Hicks did not respond to a second request for an inspection of the documents. And materials sent to reporters about the new Trump Organization structure in the hours after the news conference totaled only six pages.
The Full Story (January 13, 2017)
On Wednesday, the six stacks of manila folders were full of the documentation and agreements making official his decision to turn his sprawling business empire over to his sons, Don Jr. and Eric, Trump said. With great flourish, four young staffers carried the piles — in front of snapping cameras — and placed them on the table next to Trump's podium in the minutes before the start of the news conference, his first since July.
"These papers are just some of the many documents that I've signed turning over complete and total control to my sons," Trump said Wednesday in the lobby of Trump Tower.
But neither Trump nor his lawyer ever picked up, displayed or referenced specifically any of the documents inside. After the news conference concluded, transition staffers blocked reporters from looking at them. And some photos of the news conference show folders without labels and, in some cases, seemingly blank pages inside, setting off a torrent of speculation on social media.
Transition officials noted that the Trump business empire was large and complicated, consisting of hundreds of entities, and that a massive amount of paperwork was required. A Trump spokeswoman on Thursday flatly denied there was anything misleading about the display.
"As Mr. Trump stated at the press conference, they were just some of the documents required to transition his assets into the trust and additional restructuring," said Hope Hicks.
But Hicks did not respond to a second request for an inspection of the documents. And materials sent to reporters about the new Trump Organization structure in the hours after the news conference totaled only six pages.
The Full Story (January 13, 2017)
Friday, February 24, 2017
PBS: AP Fact Check - Tillerson Claim at Odds With Exxon Mobil Lobbying
By Marcy Gordon, AP:
Donald Trump’s choice as secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, denied Wednesday that he had pressed the U.S. to avoid sanctioning Russia over foreign-policy disputes. The record, though, is not so clear.
The nominee testified at his confirmation hearing that “I have never lobbied against sanctions personally” and “to my knowledge, Exxon never directly lobbied against sanctions.”
There’s ample evidence, though, that the company was active in seeking to protect its interests in Russia. As a bill to impose sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region moved through Congress in 2014, Exxon sought to influence the outcome, according to congressional records and data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog on money and politics. President Barack Obama signed the measure into law later that year.
Given a second chance on the subject at the Senate hearing, Tillerson sought to clarify his answer by saying his opposition came after sanctions were imposed and that he expressed security-related concerns.
Tillerson has spoken of his almost two-decade relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, his company’s stake in a lucrative offshore drilling project with the Russian state oil company Rosneft was under threat. He made numerous White House visits, to no avail.
Donald Trump’s choice as secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, denied Wednesday that he had pressed the U.S. to avoid sanctioning Russia over foreign-policy disputes. The record, though, is not so clear.
The nominee testified at his confirmation hearing that “I have never lobbied against sanctions personally” and “to my knowledge, Exxon never directly lobbied against sanctions.”
There’s ample evidence, though, that the company was active in seeking to protect its interests in Russia. As a bill to impose sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region moved through Congress in 2014, Exxon sought to influence the outcome, according to congressional records and data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog on money and politics. President Barack Obama signed the measure into law later that year.
Given a second chance on the subject at the Senate hearing, Tillerson sought to clarify his answer by saying his opposition came after sanctions were imposed and that he expressed security-related concerns.
Tillerson has spoken of his almost two-decade relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, his company’s stake in a lucrative offshore drilling project with the Russian state oil company Rosneft was under threat. He made numerous White House visits, to no avail.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Talking Points Memo: Trump Gives $10 Million To Campaign, Still $34 Million Short Of Promise
Donald Trump has repeatedly said he will spend $100 million or more of his own money on his presidential bid. Yet even with a fresh donation, he is $34 million short of that promise.
The Republican nominee gave his campaign another $10 million, a Federal Election Commission report filed late Friday showed. At rallies earlier in the day, he told supporters he'd contributed anew. "Boy, am I spending a lot of my money," he said in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He has now made a personal investment of about $66 million over the course of the primary and general elections.
The latest infusion comes as Democrat Hillary Clinton hold a striking cash advantage over Trump, FEC reports filed Thursday show. As of last week, Clinton and her Democratic partners had $153 million in the bank, more than double the resources as on the Trump side.
Trump, a New York businessman who says he is worth billions of dollars, invested heavily throughout his GOP primary race. Then, during the general election, he slowed his personal contributions to about $2 million per month.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
[Special] Editorial: Trump Thinks People Like Him, Therefore Rigged Election is Only Explanation for Losing
Donald Trump, a man who has managed to say horrible things about women, immigrants, black people, Muslims, veterans...well, let's just say nearly everyone, while demonstrating an immense lack of understanding regarding foreign and domestic policy (or even the English language), while also showing he is thin skinned and wildly temperamental, assumes that the only way he can lose an election to be president of the the U.S.A. is because it was stolen from him.
Trump has been laying the groundwork for a "rigged election" for a while. During the third and final presidential debate, Hillary Clinton went through a history of Trump claiming contests were rigged against him, back through the primaries and even into the Emmys. Trump lashed out against the Emmys when his Apprentice reality show did not win an award, as is his style(1).
When the floodgates opened(2) with claims of sexual assaults against Trump, he lashed out against the media(3):
Trump, who spent the week launching tirades at Clinton, journalists and his own party, continued on Sunday to portray himself as the victim. He tweeted: “Polls close, but can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Media rigging election!”
In another post, he said: “Election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened into news!”
Trump's surrogates have gone out and promoted this claim as well, even as Republican officials try to downplay the storm.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Bloomberg: "Apprentice" Cast And Crew Say Trump Was Lewd And Sexist
By Garance Burke, Associated Press:
The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him.
The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump's behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.
Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka.
During one season, Trump called for female contestants to wear shorter dresses that also showed more cleavage, according to contestant Gene Folkes. Several cast members said Trump had one female contestant twirl before him so he could ogle her figure.
The Full Story (October 3, 2016)
The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him.
The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump's behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.
Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka.
During one season, Trump called for female contestants to wear shorter dresses that also showed more cleavage, according to contestant Gene Folkes. Several cast members said Trump had one female contestant twirl before him so he could ogle her figure.
The Full Story (October 3, 2016)
Friday, October 14, 2016
AP: Study Finds 20M Would Lose Health Coverage Under Trump Plan
* * *
The analysis was carried out by the RAND Corporation, a global research organization that uses computer simulation to test the potential effects of health care proposals. Although the New York-based Commonwealth Fund is nonpartisan, it generally supports the goals of increased coverage and access to health care.
Economist Sara Collins, who heads the Commonwealth Fund's work on coverage and access, said RAND basically found that Trump's replacement plan isn't robust enough to make up for the insurance losses from repealing the Affordable Care Act. "Certainly it doesn't fully offset the effects of repeal," Collins said.
One worrisome finding is that the number of uninsured people in fair or poor health could triple under Trump. It would rise from an estimated 2.1 million people under current laws to between 5.7 million and 7.1 million under Trump's approach, depending on which of his policy proposals was analyzed.
The Full Story (September 23, 2016)
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
AP: Economists say Trump's economic plan is an impossible blend
By Jonathan Lemire and Nicholas Riccardi:
Marc Goldwein, the senior policy director of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Trump is "relying on very rosy economic assumptions that I don't think are going to come to fruition."
The economy is currently expected to grow by roughly 2 percent a year, and economists say Trump's proposed restrictions on immigration would be among the many things hampering his ability to double that rate of expansion.
If growth remains around a more realistic 2 percent, Goldwein said, Trump's plan would add roughly $5 trillion to the nation's debt. Though Clinton's tax hikes could slow the nation's growth, he said, they'd pay for far more of her spending proposals and lead to a deficit a tenth the size of Trump's.
Marc Goldwein, the senior policy director of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Trump is "relying on very rosy economic assumptions that I don't think are going to come to fruition."
The economy is currently expected to grow by roughly 2 percent a year, and economists say Trump's proposed restrictions on immigration would be among the many things hampering his ability to double that rate of expansion.
If growth remains around a more realistic 2 percent, Goldwein said, Trump's plan would add roughly $5 trillion to the nation's debt. Though Clinton's tax hikes could slow the nation's growth, he said, they'd pay for far more of her spending proposals and lead to a deficit a tenth the size of Trump's.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
[Special] Associated Press: Energized White Supremacists Cheer Trump Convention Message
by Steve Peoples:
Seizing on that energy, former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke on Friday announced a bid for the Senate. The Louisiana Republican likened his policies on trade and immigration to Trump's in an announcement video.
"I'm overjoyed to see Donald Trump and most Americans embrace most of the issues that I've championed for years," Duke said. "My slogan remains 'America First.'"
"America First" was first used in 1940 by the America First Committee, a short-lived isolationist faction that formed to pressure the U.S. government not to join the Allies' war against Germany.
Trump referred to "America First" repeatedly in his convention speech Thursday night, highlighting people murdered by immigrants in the country illegally and warning of rising inner-city crime. Earlier in the week, a convention screen displayed a tweet with the hashtag "#TrumpIsWithYou" from a self-described member of the alt-right, one of the thousands of tweets promoted over the course of the week.
"Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens," Trump charged in his speech.
Such a message, combined with the Trump campaign's repeated brushes with white supremacist material on social media, has drawn criticism from Republican leaders. House Speaker Paul Ryan was among those who spoke out against a recent Trump tweet that showed an image shaped like the Star of David over Hillary Clinton's likeness and a pile of money.
Trump has repeatedly re-tweeted messages from Twitter users with questionable profiles, including an individual with the handle "@WhiteGenocideTM."
And late last year, he re-tweeted inaccurate and racially charged crime statistics that vastly overstated the percentage of whites killed by blacks. His team — accidentally, it said — selected as a delegate a white nationalist leader who paid for pro-Trump robo-calls during the GOP primary. He was removed.
Friday, July 22, 2016
AP: Trump University Model - Sell Hard, Demand to See a Warrant
By Jeff Horwitz and Michael Biesecker:
Those who bought into Trump University ended up paying as much as $34,995 for what was purported to be private mentoring with supposed real estate experts — some of whom Trump himself later acknowledged were unqualified.
"It's fraud. ... straight-up fraud," said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman during an MSNBC interview on Thursday morning. Schneiderman is suing Trump over Trump University in separate but similar case. "He was clearly in charge of pitching this scam university to people."
With past Trump-affiliated business failures and controversies, Trump has often distanced himself by noting that his only financial involvement was a branding agreement. In the case of Trump University, however, Trump's ownership is not in dispute — Trump wanted the business for himself.
When future Trump University President Michael Sexton pitched Trump on the deal, he wanted to pay Trump a flat fee in a licensing deal. Trump rejected that, Sexton said in a deposition.
Trump "felt this was a very good business, and he wanted to put his own money into it," said Sexton, who ended up receiving $250,000 a year from Trump to run a business in which Trump held more than a 90 percent stake. The design of the Trump University operating agreement "was entirely in the hands of the Trump legal team," Sexton said.
The Full Story (June 2, 2016)
Those who bought into Trump University ended up paying as much as $34,995 for what was purported to be private mentoring with supposed real estate experts — some of whom Trump himself later acknowledged were unqualified.
"It's fraud. ... straight-up fraud," said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman during an MSNBC interview on Thursday morning. Schneiderman is suing Trump over Trump University in separate but similar case. "He was clearly in charge of pitching this scam university to people."
With past Trump-affiliated business failures and controversies, Trump has often distanced himself by noting that his only financial involvement was a branding agreement. In the case of Trump University, however, Trump's ownership is not in dispute — Trump wanted the business for himself.
When future Trump University President Michael Sexton pitched Trump on the deal, he wanted to pay Trump a flat fee in a licensing deal. Trump rejected that, Sexton said in a deposition.
Trump "felt this was a very good business, and he wanted to put his own money into it," said Sexton, who ended up receiving $250,000 a year from Trump to run a business in which Trump held more than a 90 percent stake. The design of the Trump University operating agreement "was entirely in the hands of the Trump legal team," Sexton said.
The Full Story (June 2, 2016)
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