Category: RUSSIAGATE

Robert Mueller Squirms and Stammers Under Intense Questioning from Matt Gaetz

Gaetz made Mueller squirm while questioning him about Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele.

By Shane Trejo

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) blasted former FBI special investigator Robert Mueller during a Congressional hearing today before the House Judiciary Committee regarding Mueller’s unwillingness to address Fusion FPS and their dubious Christopher Steele dossier.

“Director Mueller, can you state with confidence that the Steele dossier was not part of Russia’s disinformation campaign?” Gaetz asked Mueller.

“Uhh ahh, I said, eeh uhh, in my opening statement, ehh uhh, that, uhh, part of the, ehh uhh, building of the case was predated me by at least ten months,” Mueller responded, struggling to spit out a coherent sentence.

“Yeah, and Paul Manafort’s alleged crimes regarding tax evasion predated you, and you had no problem charging him,” Gaetz retorted.

The pro-Trump legislator was just getting warmed up in taking Mueller to task for how he conducted his biased witch hunt.

“As a matter of fact, this Steele dossier predated the Attorney General, and he didn’t have any problem answering the question. When Sen. Cornyn asked the Attorney General the exact question I asked you, Director, the Attorney General said, and I’m quoting, ‘No, I can’t state that with confidence, and that’s one of the areas I’m reviewing. I’m concerned about it, and I don’t think it’s entirely speculative,’” Gaetz told Mueller.

“Now if something is not entirely speculative, then it must have some factual basis, but you identify no factual basis regarding the dossier or the possibility that it was apart of the Russia disinformation campaign,” he added.

Gaetz then began to delve into the details regarding the Steele dossier, which was produced by Fusion GPS via the law firm Perkins Coie funded with cash from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee.

“Steele reported to the FBI that senior Russian foreign ministry figures, along with other Russians, told him that there was, and I’m quoting from the Steele dossier, ‘extensive evidence of conspiracy between the Trump campaign team and the Kremlin,’” Gaetz said.

“So here’s my question, did Russians really tell that to Christopher Steele or did he just make it all up and was he just lying to the FBI?” Gaetz asked Mueller.

Mueller resorted to his usual defense throughout the day’s questioning, in order to slither out of having to provide a direct answer.

“That’s beyond my purview,” Mueller responded.

Gaetz was not impressed by Mueller’s weasel tactics, and continued to drill him with the facts.

“No, it is exactly your purview, Director Mueller, and here’s why,” Gaetz said. “Only one of two things is possible, right, either, Steele made this whole thing up, and there were never any Russians telling him of this vast criminal conspiracy that you didn’t find, or Russians lied to Steele.”

“Now, if Russians were lying to Steele to undermine our confidence in our duly elected President, that would seem to be precisely your purview because you stated in your opening that the organizing principle was to fully and thoroughly investigate Russia’s interference, but you weren’t interested in whether or not Russians were interfering through Christopher Steele,” he added.

Gaetz’s smack down of Mueller can be viewed in full here:

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Mueller’s persistent confusion and inability to answer basic questions has many speculating that he was merely a figurehead, and was never responsible for the contents of his own report.

Jack Posobiec of One America News Network contends that the Mueller report was written by Department of Justice attorney Andrew Weissman, a member of Mueller’s team who has extensive ties to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

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Today has to be seen as a major victory for Republicans, led by Gaetz, who can now point to Mueller’s muddled testimony as more evidence that his investigation against President Trump regarding Russian collusion was a biased witch hunt.

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2015 RASHIDA TLAIB ON DONALD TRUMP AFTER TRAVEL BAN ROLLOUT: ‘DEPORT THIS ASSHOLE!’

2015 Rashida Tlaib on Donald Trump After Travel Ban Rollout: ‘Deport This Asshole!’

Trump, like Tlaib, is an American citizen, so deporting either would not be possible

Breitbart – JULY 24, 2019

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), in 2015, called for the deportation of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In response to Trump rolling out his travel ban idea in December 2015, a version of which he would later successfully implement as president despite legal challenges, Tlaib said on Twitter: “Deport this asshole!”

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Trump, like Tlaib, is an American citizen, so deporting either would not be possible. But this tweet carries particular irony now, given Trump’s comments about Tlaib and her fellow members of the so-called “Squad”–Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)–in recent weeks, where President Trump has said in tweets of his own that they should go back to where they came from if they do not like America.

The tweets from Trump–and his doubling, tripling, and quadrupling down on them–set off a firestorm in official Washington, with the Democrat-led House of Representatives last week pushing through a resolution condemning Trump as a “racist” in response to them.

Read more

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…’NOT FAMILIAR’ WITH FUSION GPS?… ‘CAN’T GET INTO’ PROF WHO SPIED ON PAPADOPOULOS, LIED TO FBI…Robert Mueller Testifies on Trump-Russia Report Findings

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 29: Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By Joshua Caplan

Former special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday is testifying before Congressional lawmakers regarding his investigation into now-debunked criminal conspiracy between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Mueller will testify publicly at 8:30 a.m. EST before the House Judiciary Committee and at noon EST before the House Intelligence Committee.

Mueller has said that he will not stray beyond what’s already been revealed in his 448-page  report. The Justice Department has instructed Mueller to stay strictly within those parameters, giving him a formal directive to point to if he faces questions he does not want to answer.

On Tuesday, Democrats on the House judiciary and intelligence panels granted his request to have his top aide in the investigation, Aaron Zebley, sit at the table with him. Zebley is not expected to be sworn in for questioning by the judiciary panel.

President Trump slammed the hearings ahead of Mueller’s testimony, writing on social media that “Democrats and others” are attempting to fabricate a crime and blame it on “a very innocent President.”

“Why didn’t Robert Mueller investigate the investigators?” the president tweeted.

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Wednesday’s first hearing before the House Judiciary Committee will focus on whether the president illegally obstructed justice by attempting to seize control of Mueller’s investigation. Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney and General Rod Rosenstein, citing the special counsel’s findings, ruled the president did not commit obstruction of justice during the two-year-long investigation that cost taxpayers over $25 million.

The afternoon hearing before the House intelligence committee will dive into purported ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Many House Democrats hope Mueller’s testimony will re-energize efforts to impeach the president, though some political observers believe that is unlikely to occur. Today’s hearings come one week after the House voted 332-95 to table a resolution calling for impeachment brought by Rep. Al Green. (D-TX).

**Follow all of the events on the Breitbart News Live Wire below. All times in eastern.**

11:24 AM — Drudge Report founder Matt Drudge tweets:

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11:23 AM — Exchange between Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Robert Mueller regarding former NSA advisor Michael Flynn:

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11:20 AM — Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) to Robert Mueller: “Did other witnesses lie to you?”

Robert Mueller replies: “I think there are probably a spectrum of witnesses in terms of those who are not telling the full truth or those who are outright liars.”

11:19 AM — Rep. Guy Reschenthaler R-PA rips Robert Mueller:

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11:13 AM —

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11:11 AM — 2020 White House hopeful and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg comments on Mueller’s testimony:

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11:08 AM —  Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) asks Robert Mueller: “Were you ever fired as special counsel?” 

Robert Mueller replies “No” and later says he was allowed to complete his probe unencumbered.

11:00 AM — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) asks Robert Mueller: “You found evidence that the president engaged in efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation.” 

Robert Mueller replies: “That’s correct.”

10:59 AM —

10:54 AM — Rep. Tom McClintock (D-CA) says Robert Mueller dropped a  “paper sack” on “fire” at Congress’s doorstep with his report.

Robert Mueller replies: “I don’t think you’ll review a report that is as thorough, as fair, as consistent.”

10:52 AM — Fail by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA):

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10:19 AM —

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9:18 AM — More between Robert Mueller and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). 

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Boris Johnson chosen as next British prime minister

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In a long-anticipated move, Boris Johnson has been selected as the new leader of the British Conservative Party and thus, the new prime minister of the UK. He will officially succeed outgoing PM Theresa May on Wednesday.

Johnson won with 66.4 percent of the vote (92,153) to Hunt’s 33.6 percent (46,656). 139,318 votes were cast by Tory members with a turnout of 87.4 percent.

Conservative grassroots members had been voting by post for the past two and a half weeks. Johnson saw off his challenger Jeremy Hunt and was revealed as the new PM at midday local time in London.

Delivering his impassioned victory speech, the new prime minister claimed that there will be people who “question the wisdom” of him becoming leader.

He revealed that he had read in the Financial Times on Tuesday morning that no incoming leader had ever faced such a daunting set of circumstances, with Brexit casting a shadow over British politics.

Addressing the packed auditorium in London, he declared: “Well I look at you this morning and ask do you look daunted? Do you feel daunted? I don’t think you do.”

Johnson also added a new letter to his campaign slogan – Deliver, Unite, Defeat with an E for Energise – rebranding it from the DUD to the DUDE strategy.

A former mayor of London and former British foreign secretary, Johnson was the clear favorite from the moment Theresa May announced she would be stepping down, following her failure to secure a Brexit deal with the EU.

A staunch Brexiteer, Johnson won the backing of over 50 percent of MPs in the first stage of the leadership race, marking him as the likely successor to lead Brexit-era Britain into the final chapter of the EU divorce saga which began with the 2016 referendum.

Theresa May chaired her final cabinet meeting Tuesday morning and will tender her official resignation to the Queen on Wednesday afternoon, immediately after her final Prime Minister’s Questions. Johnson will attend an audience at Buckingham Palace shortly afterwards before being sworn in.

Johnson is expected to issue a slew of changes in his cabinet in the coming days as he prepares to take up the mantle of Brexit negotiations.

 

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Hell freezes over? New York Times wants closer relationship with Russia, congratulates Trump

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The New York Times’ editorial board, fresh from peddling anti-Russia conspiracies for two years, has made a remarkable about-turn. Now the paper wants closer relations with the Kremlin, all to thwart China’s ambitions.

‘Russiagate’ has maintained an iron grip on American political discourse for two years now, even after Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report cleared President Donald Trump of conspiring with the Kremlin to steal the 2016 US election. In the media, the public has been treated to nightly conspiracy theories and bizarre connect-the-dots articles claiming to prove collusion; and lawmakers have crafted ever more draconian sanctions bills against Russia and have slotted opposition to Russia into their campaign messages.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing have looked to each other, holding joint military exercises and upping their trade volume to more than $100 billion in 2018. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently announced plans to build a new, 2,000km-long highway linking Europe and China, while President Vladimir Putin has been mulling connecting Russia’s Northern Sea Route with China’s Maritime Silk Road, an ambitious global trade route linking China with ports in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

The idea of closer Moscow/Beijing cooperation clearly worries the New York Times’ editorial board. In an op-edpublished on Sunday, the board wrote that “President Trump is correct to try to establish a sounder relationship with Russia and peel it away from China” – itself a remarkable compliment from a paper that ran op-eds titled “Donald Trump Hates America,” and “Trump is Racist to the Bone” in the last five days.

The board then suggested that the US could strengthen its cooperation with Russia in space exploration and Arctic cleanup – areas untainted by ‘Russiagate’. In addition, new arms control treaties could be a step towards geopolitical cooperation between the two rival superpowers.

All valid and worthy points, but from the New York Times? Yes, we’re talking about the same newspaper that last year called Trump a “treasonous traitor” ahead of his meeting with Putin in Helsinki. Instead of seeking rapprochement then, the paper argued that Trump should “be directing all resources at his disposal to punish Russia.” 

We’re talking about the same New York Times that dubbed Trump “Putin’s Lackey” and released a mocking videodetailing a ‘love story’ between Trump and Putin, laden with homoerotic overtones and culminating in a tongue-locking kiss between the two leaders. It’s funny because they’re gay, see?

The piece surprised many, like pundit George Szamuely, who wrote that Washington has “demonized Russia and blamed it for every problem besetting [the] US,” while the Times “has for years berated Trump for advocating this perfectly sensible policy, at times suggesting that he was doing so only because he was Putin’s agent and a traitor to the United States.”

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Bear in mind that the Times’ editorial board does not hold the same opinions as its revolving cast of op-ed writers. Still, for a newspaper whose writers almost unanimously despise the US president, Sunday’s op-ed represents a shocking repudiation of two years of anti-Russia, anti-Trump static.

Perhaps the outlet that often voiced the ideas of the American establishment has finally realized that the ‘Russiagate’ horse is too long dead for another flogging? Or maybe the Times saw it’s time for a new kind of politics: the politics of Detente. Either way, the change is a surprising one.

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Dunce’s cap for Russiagate coverage should go to CNN (by George Galloway)

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If there was a dunce’s cap awarded to the most gullible – or worse, complicit – news outfit in the whole ‘Russiagate’ affair, it would surely go to CNN.

The small consolation is that its ratings have plummeted in direct proportion to its fake news agenda. Unless trapped in a hotel room in Ulan Bator and having already read the Gideon’s Bible, nobody in their right mind goes looking for CNN.

However, other media do, of course, amplify their prevailing narrative. This is that the Democratic Party didn’t lose because they chose the only person in America who could possibly lose to Donald Trump, but because a bearded man with snow on his boots smelling of vodka and speaking with a thick Russian accent fooled everyone into voting for the GOP. And where no such man can be identified, then a Western cipher can be demonized as his proxy.

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So unhinged has CNN – the last hold-out of the Russiagaters – become that they have now piled new levels of ordure on the political prisoner Julian Assange in a much touted “Special,” heaping speculation upon speculation on what they hope is the coffin of a man they once lionized.

Because, dear readers, in a now-forgotten coincidence, it was CNN that in a way brought Julian Assange into the public limelight. They interviewed him a number of times, including once in 2010, when they sent their team to showcase the then-pale-blonde ascetic wonderkid of the whistleblowing business. That was way before RT had aired Assange’s show ‘The World Tomorrow’ – because that suited CNN’s agenda then, in the way that burying him does now.

Full disclosure: Julian Assange is a friend of mine and so opportunists seeking his crucifixion to serve an anti-Trump agenda cut no ice with me. Furthermore, I work for RT, and know personally the fine broadcasting professionals traduced in a disgraceful way by the CNN “Special.”

Julian Assange was hiding in plain sight by having his own show on RT. That’s how espionage works nowadays in the fevered minds of CNN. And he appeared on news shows throughout the world – any one of which could have “passed him a USB drive” when they went into the Ecuador Embassy to film him. He even appeared on my show on TalkRadio, whose proprietor could of course be a (deep) undercover Russian agent.

The fatal flaw in all of this, of course, is that the DNC computers were never hacked in the first place, not by a “master-hacker” or even a schoolboy in his bedroom. That’s why their servers were never examined by the FBI, Mueller or anybody else wearing any kind of official badge.

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The scandalous behavior – including CNN’s own (now Fox) contributor Donna Brazile – through which the Democratic Party rigged their own Primary process to defeat Bernie Sanders and procure the coronation of the aforementioned Mrs Clinton was not hacked but leaked. Not by Russians but by Americans. Not by RT but by Democratic Party insiders, disgusted as they should have been at the shameless Tammany Hall shenanigans going on in their party.

The real target of fading, failing, flailing CNN was not Julian Assange but Donald Trump. His administration is currently trying to incarcerate Assange in the gulags of the US injustice system for the crime of publishing the truth. That’s the real scandal.

 

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Russian trolls are coming! Obama staffer issues warning amid dispute within Democrtic party

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With sniping and infighting rocking the Democratic Party, former White House staffer Ben Rhodes has warned the left to be on the lookout for those ever-present “Russian trolls,” drawing ridicule.

“Have no doubt that Russian trolls will work to exploit the divisions opening up in the Democratic coalition,” Rhodes tweeted. “Let’s debate and respect our differences without losing sight of our common objectives” – with voting President Donald Trump out of office presumably among those objectives.

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Rhodes’ warning to Democrats comes at a tumultuous time for the party. With a group of newly-elected lawmakers breaking ranks with the party establishment on immigration law, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been biting in her criticism of the progressive upstarts on the party’s left-most wing.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez –among those who clashes most often with Pelosi– has responded to the 79-year old speaker’s criticism by accusing her of targeting “newly elected women of color,” while a top aide to Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to accuse a moderate Native American congresswoman of voting to “enable a racist system,”triggering counter accusations of racism from the party.

Add another racism spat between the Justice Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus and it becomes clear that the Democratic Party is perfectly capable of tearing itself apart without any Russian help.

Rhodes was mocked by commenters. “Have no doubt that Obama/Clinton trolls will work to exploit Russiagate to dismiss or minimize divisions in the Democratic coalition, as they have since 2016. Let’s debate our differences without falling victim to this habit of blaming a Russian bogeyman for our own issues,”tweeted journalist Aaron Mate, whose reporting on the American media’s ‘Russiagate’ fixation earned him an Izzy Award earlier this year.

“You have to question the basic intellectual ability of anyone who still thinks that mythical Russian trolls are behind all political schisms in America,” replied radio host Patrick Henningsen.

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“Russia paranoia has been used from the beginning to stigmatize deviations from establishment consensus and neutralize dissent,”wrote commenter Michael Tracey. ‘That will no doubt continue.”

Indeed, Russian trolls have been accused of fanning the flames of division and dissent in the US since election season 2016. Using internet memes and gifs, trolls connected with the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) supposedly tipped the election in favor of Trump, and continue to exploit social and racial divisions in America for the Kremlin’s benefit.

Except that argument is all but dead. Despite Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s assertion that these trolls engaged in “sweeping and systemic” meddling in the election, a federal judge revealed last week that Mueller’s charges against the IRA failed to link the “troll farm” to the Russian government.

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UK tabloids theorize Russia hacked ambassador’s Trump memos… as London eggs them on

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London has said there is no evidence that a foreign state was behind the recent leaks from its embassy in Washington, but this hasn’t stopped British officials from quietly feeding tabloid narratives blaming Russia for the affair.

The UK government is in full damage-control mode after a series of memos penned by the UK ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, were leaked to the press. The diplomatic cables described US President Donald Trump as “incompetent.”

While British officials appear to believe that the embarrassing leaks were carried out by an “unpatriotic” insider, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt didn’t seem to mind playing along with tabloid speculation that Russia is somehow at fault.

Pressed by the Sun about whether he believed “hostile states such as Russia” may be behind the leaks, Hunt was all too happy to quietly fan the flames – even while acknowledging that there was no reason to suspect that Russia or any other country played a part in the incident.

“Of course it would be massively concerning if it was the act of a foreign, hostile state,” he said, adding that investigators would “follow all avenues of inquiry to try to understand how this happened. That’s something that will be considered.”

Despite his apparent hand-wringing, Hunt conceded that he’s “seen no evidence” to suggest that any foreign country was involved in the affair.

The Daily Mail was a bit more creative with its Russia-baiting. In a write-up of Hunt’s comments to the Sun, the British tabloid claimed that it had spoken with a “government source” who “thought [the leak] looked like something ‘out of Russia’s playbook.’”

Russia has become the West’s go-to scapegoat, with media outlets accusing Moscow of a litany of devious misdeeds, from hacking elections to training Beluga whales to spy on Scandinavia.

The threat posed by Russia may be a tad overstated, however. An alert system created by the EU to detect “Russian meddling,” for example, has yet to sound an alarm in the six months of its existence.

 

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