I’m sure those tough new sanctions will show up any day now.
The Trump campaign is paying some of Michael Cohen’s legal fees. Sounds illegal to me, somehow.
He’s finally getting his $130k back, huh?
So they were suspected that they might have used their campaign money in an illegal way and now they use their campaign money in an illegal way to defend themselves against those accusations ? :smack:
So she has no ties to the Kremlin, and meeting with her was totally fine. And yet, somehow, Putin is able to give her orders that are obeyed.
No wonder Trump didn’t go to the correspondents dinner. He didn’t want to use up all his best material.
In Russia, you don’t need any special motivation to obey.
A list of Mueller’s questions for Trump was leaked:
I’m gonna guess he already knows the answers to these questions. I’m also gonna guess Trump can’t answer them without lying.
I think those would both be good guesses. I’ll add one more: I’d guess this list of questions was released with Mueller’s full knowledge and consent.
Isn’t that the lawyer cliche: Never ask a question unless you already know the answer? Maybe that only applies to cross examinations.
• “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?”
Not asking about Russian outreach to the campaign. Asking about campaign outreach to the Russians.
It applies in investigations, too. That’s why they start from the outer edges and nibble their way to the squishy center.
Isn’t that intriguing? And the way it is asked… pretty much assumes that such outreach by the campaign in fact occurred.
“What did you think and do in reaction to the news that the special counsel was speaking to Mr. Rogers, Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Coats?”
Hmmmm…
We’ve known since at least October that Manafort was reaching out to Deripaska.
“How do we use to get whole,” Manafort asks. “Has OVD operation seen?”
Is this the fun part? Are we gonna have fun now?
Trick question. I’ve been having fun for a year.
In discussions by talking head lawyers on the tee vee who have been following this stuff as closely as some of we have, it was generally agreed that this question of Mueller’s was not referring to that, because that question was structured by Manafort regarding his personal dealings and not in relationship to the campaign. Surely Manafort would have known that Trump didn’t give a shit if he, Manafort, personally benefited from passing campaign information to Deripaska.
The question was, “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?” (Emphasis mine) Manafort’s question doesn’t appear to engender potential assistance to the campaign – only potential assistance to himself.
Don’t you think?
<titter!> Hmmmm… indeed, JohnT. 
I would agree with a summary of the above: To wit, Mueller leaked the questions, already knows the answer, believes he can prove this is a court of law, has a plan B and plan C in place to ensure witnesses will flip, and is simply adjusting the noose.
Hearing now from the reporter who broke the story, who is speaking on MSNBC. He’s indicating in subtle ways that the list of questions was leaked from someone in John Dowd’s office. That doesn’t surprise me. But Mueller wouldn’t have given over the questions at all if he had any expectation for them to remain confidential. (It’s kind of surprising they stayed secret since the beginning of March, when Mueller’s team handed them over to the Trump lawyers!) Nothing leaves Mueller’s team until they’re ready for it to get out – even if they don’t leak it themselves – which it appears they didn’t.
In all other aspects, we are in complete agreement.
I don’t think Mueller is going to push to interview Trump beyond what he’s already done. I don’t think he will subpoena Trump to the grand jury. I think Mueller is just playing him like a fish on a line at this point. It buys his team more time, and Trump can be relied upon to keep making the obstruction case even stronger.
Edited: Aspenglow ninjaed me and sorta answered my questions below…
One thing we know about Mueller: he does not leak.
According to CNN reports, this was apparently leaked by WH insiders, allegedly trying to publicize just how damaging these questions are in an effort to convince Trump not to agree to a sit-down.
Also, note that the list as seen in the Times isn’t the literal copy of the questions; they’re reproduced courtesy of the WH counsel team. So the wording is (again, according to CNN) not precisely what Mueller is asking.
What I wanna know is: if Trump refuses to answer in person, and Mueller does not accept the bullshit “I’ll send you my written responses, totally my own words, the best words, believe me” proposal… is a subpoena likely?
post-Aspenglow: Why wouldn’t he subpoena Trump’s ass? Starr subpoenaed Clinton (even though it was withdrawn once Clinton agreed to appear).