Crime in Progress
Page 40
“The handling of the Clinton email investigation”: Charles E. Grassley to Dianne Feinstein, June 13, 2017.
Details and photos: Matt Apuzzo, Maggie Haberman, and Matthew Rosenberg, “Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure from Investigation,” New York Times, May 19, 2017.
Trump would repeat his boast: Donald Trump, interview by Lester Holt, NBC Nightly News, NBC, May 11, 2017.
Grassley captured the prevailing sentiment: Charles Grassley, Fox & Friends, Fox News, May 20, 2017.
Grassley sent Fusion: Charles E. Grassley to Glenn R. Simpson, June 7, 2017.
the Watergate scandal “pales” in comparison: Colin Packham, “Watergate ‘Pales’ Compared with Trump-Russia: Former U.S. Intelligence Head,” Reuters, June 7, 2017.
“lies, plain and simple”: Testimony of James B. Comey, Senate Intelligence Committee, June 8, 2017.
he was under investigation: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, June 16, 2017, 9:07 A.M.
“The Crown prosecutor of Russia”: Rob Goldstone to Donald Trump Jr., email message, June 3, 2016; see “Read the Emails on Donald Trump Jr.’s Russia Meeting,” New York Times, July 11, 2017.
“the Russian government attorney”: Ibid.
news of that June 9 gathering: Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo, and Adam Goldman, “Trump Team Met with Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign,” New York Times, July 8, 2017.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: NATALIA
When the Times story: Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo, and Adam Goldman, “Trump Team Met with Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign,” New York Times, July 8, 2017.
“We have learned that the person”: Statement by Mark Corallo, Trump legal team spokesman, July 9, 2017.
was merely about reviving a bilateral program: Becker, Apuzzo, and Goldman, “Trump Team Met with Kremlin.”
The sexier angle: Matt Apuzzo, Jo Becker, Adam Goldman, and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Jr. Was Told in Email of Russian Effort to Aid Campaign,” New York Times, July 10, 2017.
Corallo resigned: Josh Dawsey, “Spokesman for Trump’s Legal Team Resigns Just Two Months After Starting,” Politico, July 20, 2017.
She responded to the news: Seung Min Kim and Austin Wright, “Senate Judiciary to Call Manafort to Discuss Trump Jr. Email Chain,” Politico, July 12, 2017.
Grassley put out a notice: Office of Senator Chuck Grassley, “Judiciary Committee Announces Hearing, Sends Invitations, Requests Documents,” press release, July 19, 2017.
Manafort had been under active federal criminal investigation: Michael S. Schmidt, Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Goldman, and Matt Apuzzo, “Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry into Trump Associates,” New York Times, January 19, 2017.
The trap sprung: Fox News, “Co-founder of Firm Behind Trump-Russia Dossier to Plead the Fifth,” Fox News, September 27, 2017.
Trump had also tasked Flynn: Shane Harris, “Trump Campaign Attempted to Obtain Hillary Clinton’s Private Emails,” Washington Post, April 18, 2019.
Smith checked into a motel in Rochester: Katherine Skiba, David Heinzmann, and Todd Lighty, “Peter W. Smith, GOP Operative Who Sought Clinton’s Emails from Russian Hackers, Committed Suicide, Records Show,” Chicago Tribune, July 13, 2017.
Manafort had finally registered in June with the Justice Department: Theodoric Meyer, “Manafort Registers as Foreign Agent,” Politico, June 27, 2017.
FBI agents raided Manafort’s home: Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger, and Rosalind S. Helderman, “FBI Conducted Raid of Former Trump Campaign Chairman Manafort’s Home,” Washington Post, August 9, 2017.
Papadopoulos was arrested by the FBI: Matt Apuzzo and Michael S. Schmidt, “Trump Campaign Adviser Met with Russian to Discuss ‘Dirt’ on Clinton,” New York Times, October 20, 2017.
Levy worked out a deal for Simpson: Office of Senator Chuck Grassley, “Following Subpoena, Simpson Agrees to Committee Interview,” press release, July 25, 2017.
They even showed up outside his lawyers’: Ali Watkins, “Hunt for Trump Dossier Author Inflames Russia Probe,” Politico, August 4, 2017.
“the Russian active measures campaign”: House Intelligence Committee to Fusion GPS, September 20, 2017.
“What possible leaks of classified information”: Ibid.
improper “surveillance” of the Trump campaign: Brian Barrett, “Devin Nunes: A Running Timeline of His Surveillance Claims and White House Ties,” Wired, April 12, 2017.
Alfa Bank filed a defamation suit: Complaint, December 12, 2017, Fridman v. Bean, No. 1:17-cv-02041, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.
highlighted Alfa’s closeness to Putin: Orbis to Fusion, Company Intelligence Report, September 14, 2016. Also included in the Mueller report.
weighed in quickly on Twitter: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, October 19, 2017, 4:56 A.M.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: CAPTAIN AMERICA
Nunes had secretly served a subpoena: Bean v. Defendant Bank, No. 1:17-cv-02187, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
Fusion filed suit against TD Bank: Bean v. Defendant Bank, No. 1:17-cv-02187, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, October 23, 2017.
Fusion and Steele had been paid: Adam Entous, Devlin Barrett, and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Clinton Campaign, DNC Paid for Research That Led to Russia Dossier,” Washington Post, October 24, 2017.
“lead research into Russian efforts”: Kenneth P. Vogel and Cecilia Kang, “Senators Demand Online Ad Disclosures as Tech Lobby Mobilizes,” New York Times, October 19, 2017.
“Fake News Dossier”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, October 25, 2017, 7:21 A.M.
the Republican-funded Washington Free Beacon: Matthew Continetti and Michael Goldfarb, “Fusion GPS and the Washington Free Beacon,” Washington Free Beacon, October 27, 2017.
Monday, October 30, Mueller unveiled: United States v. Manafort, No: 1:17-cr-00201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.
“Sorry, but this is years ago”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, October 30, 2017, 10:25 A.M.
Also charged was an obscure former: United States v. Papadopoulos, No. 1:17-cr-00182, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.
Still more attacks came: Paul Roderick Gregory, “Is Russiagate Really Hillarygate?” Forbes, June 19, 2017. Forbes has been caught doing pay-to-play journalism before; see John Plunkett, “Forbes Investigates After ‘Contributor’ Asks PR for £300 to Write Online Profile,” Guardian, March 26, 2016.
“ ‘Journalism for Rent’ ”: Jack Gillum and Shawn Boburg, “ ‘Journalism for Rent’: Inside the Secretive Firm Behind the Trump Dossier,” Washington Post, December 11, 2017.
“operates with the secrecy of a spy agency”: Ibid.
“blunt aggressive reporting”: Ibid.
Carollo died in Switzerland: Obituary of Russell Carollo, accessible online at http://obits.nola.com. Carollo attended college in Louisiana and worked there for many years as a journalist.
“The Committee therefore seeks”: Notice of Filing Redacted Versions of Documents, November 21, 2017, Bean v. Defendant Bank, No. 1:17-cv-02187, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.
one of the staffers who’d traveled: Katie Rogers and Matthew Rosenberg, “Kashyap Patel, Main Author of Secret Memo, Is No Stranger to Quarrels,” New York Times, February 2, 2018.
As an anonymous blogger: Robert Faturechi, “A Partisan Combatant, a Remorseful Blogger: The Senate Staffer Behind the Attack on the Trump-Russia Investigation,” ProPublica, March 28, 2018.
“it appears the Russians”: Testimony of Glenn Simpson, House Intelligence Committee, November 14, 2017.
federal judge Richard Leon: Memorandum Opinion, Bean v Defendant Bank, No. 1:17-cv-02187, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, January 4, 2018.
> that ruling would later be cited: Opposition of Intervenor-Defendants to Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, Trump v. Deutsche Bank, No. 1:19-cv-3826, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, May 10, 2019.
The three organizations published: Ned Parker et al., “Ivanka and the Fugitive from Panama,” Reuters, November 17, 2017.
Interviewed by NBC: Aggelos Petropoulos and Richard Engel, “A Panama Tower Carries Trump’s Name and Ties to Organized Crime,” NBC News, November 17, 2017.
He later fled Brazil: Brad Brooks, “Former Broker in Trump Panama Project Under Investigation in Brazil,” Reuters, November 17, 2017.
Trump’s name was scraped from the building: Patrick Clark, “Former Trump Hotel in Panama Will Be Branded as a JW Marriott,” Bloomberg, June 27, 2018.
the private equity fund: Heather Vogell, “Trump Companies Accused of Tax Evasion in Panama,” ProPublica, June 3, 2019.
the Trump Organization agreed to remove: Jonathan O’Connell and David A. Fahrenthold, “Trump’s Name Is Coming Off His SoHo Hotel as Politics Weigh on President’s Brand,” Washington Post, November 22, 2017.
pleaded guilty to lying: Michael D. Shear and Adam Goldman, “Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying to the F.B.I. and Will Cooperate with Russia Inquiry,” New York Times, December 1, 2017.
“Crooked Hillary Clinton”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, December 2, 2017, 9:06 P.M.
The story published shortly thereafter: Jake Gibson, “Wife of Demoted DOJ Official Worked for Firm Behind the Anti-Trump Dossier,” Fox News, December 11, 2017.
follow-up to Gibson’s “scoop”: Ibid.
Nellie’s publicly available May 2016 application: Amateur License No. KM4UDZ, accessible at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission website, https://www.fcc.gov.
“The Republicans’ Fake Investigations”: Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch, “The Republicans’ Fake Investigations,” New York Times, January 2, 2018.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: “WHAT I’M GOING TO DO TO YOU…”
The Times op-ed: Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch, “The Republicans’ Fake Investigations,” New York Times, January 2, 2018.
“Federal Judge Obliterates Fusion GPS’ Attempt”: Mollie Hemingway, “Federal Judge Obliterates Fusion GPS’ Attempt to Hide Info from Investigators,” The Federalist, January 5, 2018.
Grassley and his new wingman: Office of Senator Chuck Grassley, “Senators Grassley, Graham Refer Christopher Steele for Criminal Investigation,” press release, January 5, 2018.
a less-than-flattering profile: Matt Flegenheimer, “Fusion GPS Founder Hauled from the Shadows for the Russia Election Investigation,” New York Times, January 8, 2018.
“The innuendo and misinformation”: Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein, “American People Deserve Opportunity to Read Glenn Simpson, Fusion GPS Transcript,” press release, January 9, 2018.
“basically a Boy Scout”: Testimony of Glenn Simpson, Senate Judiciary Committee, August 22, 2017.
“The fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, January 10, 2018, 10:00 A.M.
filed a defamation lawsuit: Cohen v. Bean, No. 1:18-cv-00183, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, January 9, 2018.
he was caught on tape threatening: Brandy Zadrozny and Tim Mak, “Ex-Wife: Donald Trump Made Me Feel ‘Violated’ During Sex,” Daily Beast, July 27, 2015.
a message on Twitter from Cohen: Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212), “@SergeiMillian have you seen the polls that were announced formally today?,” Twitter, August 18, 2016, 11:09 P.M.
A review of open-source records: Conspiracy to structure monetary transactions to evade currency reporting requirements; United States v. Shusterman, No. 1:93-cr-00186, District Court of New York, February 19, 1993.
Cohen’s brother had also married: Josh Marshall, “Says Who—Piecing Together the Michael Cohen Story,” Talking Points Memo, March 1, 2017.
Steele filed a memo: Orbis to Fusion, Company Intelligence Report 2016/135, October 19, 2016.
secret meeting with “Kremlin officials”: Orbis to Fusion, Company Intelligence Report 2016/36, October 20, 2016.
“Simpson identified Michael Cohen”: Bruce Ohr, interview with FBI agents, December 14, 2016. Documented in FBI 302s, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, available at https://judicialwatch.org.
“I have never been to Prague”: Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212), Twitter, January 10, 2017, 8:21 P.M.
He appeared live the next day: Donald J. Trump, The Sean Hannity Show, Fox News, January 11, 2017.
he had tried to back-channel: Meghan Twohey and Scott Shane, “A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates,” New York Times, February 19, 2017.
Soviet émigré taxi operators: Clifford D. May, “U.S. Officials Tell of Russian Émigré Crime Group in Brooklyn,” New York Times, February 12, 1983.
Cohen and Sater had pursued: Gloria Borger and Marshall Cohen, “Document Details Scrapped Deal for Trump Tower Moscow,” CNN, September 9, 2017.
“significant financial and reputational damages”: Preliminary statement, Cohen v. Bean, No. 1:18-cv-00183, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
he had arranged a $130,000 payoff: Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo, “Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence,” Wall Street Journal, January 12 , 2018.
“raising outlandish allegations”: Ibid.
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDING: Declaration of Jill A. Martin, EC v. Peggy Peterson, an alternative dispute resolution filing, February 22, 2018. The highly confidential court documents were posted by The Wall Street Journal. “Peggy Peterson” is a pseudonym used by Stormy Daniels.
A report in The New York Times: Sharon LaFraniere, Mark Mazzetti, and Matt Apuzzo, “How the Russia Inquiry Began: A Campaign Aide, Drinks and Talk of Political Dirt,” New York Times, December 30, 2017.
a raft of new financial charges: Superseding Criminal Indictment, United States v. Manafort, No. 17-cr-00201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, September 14, 2018.
“that the Russian operation”: Simpson, Senate Judiciary Committee, August 22, 2017.
“There were a lot of real estate deals”: Ibid.
FBI agents swooped into: Matt Apuzzo, “F.B.I. Raids Office of Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Michael Cohen; Trump Calls It ‘Disgraceful,’ ” New York Times, April 9, 2018.
“A total witch hunt”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, April 10, 2018, 7:08 A.M.
“Attorney-client privilege is dead”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, April 10, 2018, 7:07 A.M.
“an attack on our country”: Aaron Blake, “Trump’s Tirade After the Michael Cohen Raid, Annotated,” Washington Post, April 9, 2018.
“rather jump out of a building”: Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) of The New York Times, Twitter, April 11, 2018, 1:13 P.M.
Trump’s new personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, blurted out: “Rudy Giuliani Contradicts Trump, Says the President Knew About Michael Cohen’s $130,000 Payment to Stormy Daniels and Reimbursed Cohen for It,” Associated Press, May 2, 2018.
Investigators also found Cohen texts: Hunter Walker and Brett Arnold, “Michael Cohen’s Efforts to Build a Trump Tower in Moscow Went On Longer Than He Has Previously Acknowledged,” Yahoo News, May 16, 2018.
Cohen’s Essential Consultants: William K. Rashbaum, Ben Protess, and Mike McIntire, “At Trump Tower, Michael Cohen and Oligarch Discussed Russian Relations,” New York Times, May 25, 2018.
he fired his legal team and resigned: Brian Ries, Meg Wagner, and Amanda Wills, “What’s in the Cohen Warrant Documents,” CNN, March 19, 2019.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: WAITING FOR MUELLER
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bsp; That group was led by: Billy Perrigo, “The Billionaire Who Bankrolled Brexit Is Now Under Criminal Investigation. Officials Suspect Foreign Money,” Time, November 1, 2018.
boasted of a “boozy” lunch: Carole Cadwalladr and Peter Jukes, “Arron Banks ‘Met Russian Officials Multiple Times Before Brexit Vote,’ ” Guardian, June 9, 2018.
looked like a possible Kremlin plot: David D. Kirkpatrick and Matthew Rosenberg, “Russians Offered Business Deals to Brexit’s Biggest Backer,” New York Times, June 29, 2018.
sold off his shares of the family farm: Ryan Lizza, “Devin Nunes’s Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret,” Esquire, September 30, 2018.
“one and only hobby”: Kris Kitto, “Meet the Lawmaker: Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), 21st District,” Hill, February 1, 2010.
The Fresno Bee reported: Mackenzie Mays, “A Yacht, Cocaine, Prostitutes: Winery Partly Owned by Nunes Sued After Fundraiser Event,” Fresno Bee, May 23, 2018.
The booze cruise, she alleged: Ibid.
later sued the winery: Anase v. Alpha Omega Winery, No. 16-cv-000134, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Napa, March 21, 2016.
Nunes would win re-election: “California Election Results,” New York Times, January 28, 2019.
Nunes sued Twitter and Republican political consultant Liz Mair: Nunes v. Twitter, No. C49-1715, Henrico County Circuit Court, Virginia, March 18, 2019. As of late 2019, this case is still pending. See https://www.scribd.com/document/402297422/Nunes-Complaint-3-18-19.
He sued the Bee’s parent company: Nunes v. McClatchy Company, No. CL19-629, Albemarle County Circuit Court, Virginia, April 8, 2019. As of late 2019, this case is still pending.
Mueller struck with an indictment: United States v. Netysho, No. 1:18-cr-00215, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, July 13, 2018.
“see any reason why”: “Trump Sides with Russia Against FBI at Helsinki Summit,” BBC News, July 16, 2018.