JANUARY 20, 2019

NEWS AND VIEWS

DESPITE THIS WRITER BRUCE BIALOSKY’S REPULSIVELY REFERRING TO THE “DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY” AS THE “DEMOCRAT” PRIMARY – I WONDER IF THE REPUBLICANS DO THAT JUST TO BE INSULTING, OR BECAUSE THEY ARE IGNORANT – I DO APPRECIATE HIS INCLUDING A LINK TO THE ORIGINAL YOUNG WOMAN’S ACCOUNT OF THE UNWANTED SEXUAL CONTACT -- https://forward.com/opinion/417179/i-was-sexually-harassed-on-bernie-sanders-campaign-and-no-one-cared/.

IT DOES SOUND DISGUSTING, AND THREATENING AS WELL. THE RESPONSE TO HER COMPLAINT WAS DEFINITELY NOT HELPFUL, AND I’M SURE BERNIE WILL IMPROVE HIS SETUP ON SUCH MATTERS IN THE FUTURE. NO SUCH COMPLAINT, EVEN IF IT DOES INVOLVE “A VOTER” SHOULD BE IGNORED, A REPORTING FORM SHOULD BE FILLED OUT, A PHONE CALL SHOULD BE PUT THROUGH UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND, AND A POLICE OFFICER SHOULD BE CALLED. HOWEVER, WHY DID SHE JUST NOW WRITE THAT STORY; WAS SHE PAID TO DO IT; AND WHY DID SHE SMEAR SANDERS HIMSELF IF SHE, AS THE ARTICLE SAYS, IS STILL A BERNIE VOTER?

HOW ABOUT, TOWNHALL.COM? ARE THEY TRYING TO STIR THE POT OF WITCHES BREW AGAIN NOW BECAUSE THE STORY HAS DIED DOWN A BIT? THERE ARE CLUES HERE. CALLING BERNIE “THE DISHEVELED OLD MAN” MAKES HIS PURPOSE CLEAR IN WRITING THIS STORY. HIS GOAL IS TO CRIPPLE BERNIE, SINCE HE SEEMS NOT TO HAVE BEEN DEALT A LETHAL BLOW YET. ONLY TIME WILL TELL, BUT I AM STILL WITH BERNIE UNLESS SOME PROOF OF HIS PERSONAL VILLAINY EMERGES. I WANT TO KNOW, ALSO, WHO “RAY” THE ATTACKER IS.

https://townhall.com/columnists/brucebialosky/2019/01/20/the-press-manipulated-the-bernie-sanders-sexual-harassment-story-n2539143
OPINION
The Press Manipulated the Bernie Sanders Sexual Harassment Story
Bruce Bialosky Bruce Bialosky |Posted: Jan 20, 2019 12:01 AM

PHOTOGRAPH -- Source: (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

Often these days people tell me how they don’t trust what they are told by the press. I tell them they don’t know half the story. I read many news stories that I find interesting and then I decide I should dig deeper. It is very often surprising how the story turns out quite a bit different than what the MSM has led us peasants to believe.

When the story broke that there was mistreatment of women during the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, I initially had a moment of schadenfreude and then moved on to other matters. Then the complexion of the story changed for me and should for you.

Virginia Jeffries wrote her compelling story entitled I Was Sexually Harassed on Bernie Sanders’ Campaign. And No One Cared in the Forward, a Jewish national publication. Her story brought up many questions that led to finding out how the press seems to be using this story for their own interests.

On April 19, 2016, the day of the New York Democrat primary, Ms. Jeffries was volunteering for the Sanders campaign at the South Bronx office. A voter came into the office and after requesting some t-shirts “he stepped toward me, grabbed me by the back of the neck and began stroking me up then down from the back of my head to just under my shirt collar.” Jeffries decided this was a clear case of sexual harassment and decided to report it to the staff who she thought would want to prevent anyone else from experiencing the same thing.

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Jeffries goes on to describe how she first reported it to a young staffer and identified the person who accosted her by name. The staffer replied “If it was a voter who harassed you, then there’s really nothing we can do.”

Jeffries tells the tale of how she worked her way up the campaign chain, with equal disregard. Level after level of personnel ignored her as she rightfully persisted in a quest to get someone to focus on the fact that the man had sexually attacked her. She finally approached the campaign manager, Jeff Weaver. He had John Robinson, the campaign chief operating officer, contact her.

When asked how often he deals with sexual harassment cases with the campaign, Mr. Robinson responded with a brief answer – “All the time.” Robinson assured Jeffries that proper protocols were in place though Jeffries disputed that. Robinson assured her he would take up the matter with Weaver and Sanders himself. When Jeffries tried to contact Robinson to follow up on whether he had done anything or informed his superiors, she hit a brick wall with stone silence.

I wrote the opinion editor of The Forward, who I have previously dealt with, and asked some basic questions that were left open by the story. Receiving no response, I tracked down Ms. Jeffries who has been a journalism student.

Ms. Jeffries was very open and cooperative. I started by telling her that what the voter did was absolutely unacceptable and constituted assault and battery (actually sexual battery). I asked why she had not gone to the police. She told me “I didn’t know it was a crime. Didn’t know I could go to the police.”

Not one person told her she should file a police report. It was quite obvious that it was not an internal campaign matter as was originally asserted, but they knew the name of the person who attacked her. Was the campaign trying to protect their own interests versus protecting their own volunteers? Maybe the initial contact -- a 23-year-old staffer might not know it was a crime -- but certainly the higher ups should have known. A criminal defense attorney told me this is the exact crime that Kevin Spacey has been charged with and he faces being convicted of a felony plus a five-year prison sentence.

Jeffries left the campaign shortly after the incident, but she states she still is a Sanders supporter.

I then asked why she had not written about it then; why she waited almost three years. She replied “I did write about it - pitched it to dozens of pubs. None were interested. Not even letters to the editor.” Ms. Jeffries thinks it is because of hearing from others that she has now been published.

I think she could not be more wrong. If she were a volunteer for the Kasich or Trump campaigns, her article would have been published and then republished all over the country. The press would have dug in and found out as Robinson said there were sexual harassment charges within the campaign “all the time.” It would have been an explosive story.

The press did not want the story because they favored Bernie. They had adopted Bernie as the anti-Hillary candidate. Bernie was adored by the press. They knew if they dug into this it would seriously harm his campaign. Just as they let him brush the charges off when they came forward by him stating “I was a little busy running around the country.”

Why is the press covering this now? My analysis is two reasons. First, because of the Me Too movement. Second and more importantly, they don’t need Bernie now. They will have a couple of dozen Bernie clones saying the same socialist ideas without the disheveled, old man who will never get elected. They have new young and more attractive candidates to carry the torch for their ideals.

Ms. Jeffries was mistreated by the Sanders campaign. Though they were not responsible for the initial act their behavior did not protect a young lady who deserved better. The national press deserted her also ignoring someone who was sexually assaulted and had a story to tell. They are all guilty of malfeasance.

There often is a deeper story than the MSM would lead you to believe. And the story is not always in their pages, but often the ones they refuse to print. They are too busy dreaming about dancing Russians* to actually cover the news.


WHAT’S WRONG WITH “DANCING RUSSIANS*?” FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD GET TOGETHER BY AN ENTERTAINING GANG OF DRINKING RUSSIANS, GO TO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX7gFl7xnOE.


I WAS INTERESTED TO NOTICE THAT TRUMP HAS EASED BACK ALREADY ON HIS DEMANDS. I THINK THE DEMOCRATIC STUBBORNNESS (LIKE OUR ANIMAL MASCOT THE MULE) IS BRINGING HIM AROUND, AND I’M SURE HE HAS HAD CRITICISM FROM AT LEAST SOME REPUBLICANS ALSO. NOBODY WANTS TO GO WITHOUT A PAYCHECK.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/us/politics/trump-immigration-conservatives-democrats.html
NEWS ANALYSIS
In Trump’s Immigration Announcement, a Compromise Snubbed All Around

Image -- President Trump offered on Saturday to trade temporary protections for about one million immigrants at risk of deportation in exchange for border wall funding.CreditCreditTom Brenner for The New York Times
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
Jan. 19, 2019

WASHINGTON — Immigrant advocates denounced it as cruel. The conservative right howled that it was amnesty.

What President Trump billed on Saturday as a compromise to end the country’s longest government shutdown pleased neither the Democratic congressional leaders whose buy-in he needs to strike a deal nor the core supporters whose backing has always been at the heart of his insistence on a border wall.

Instead, in offering temporary protections for about one million immigrants at risk of deportation in exchange for funding for a wall, Mr. Trump did something rarely seen during his presidency. He tried to reach beyond his base of supporters — which polls have begun to show is losing patience with him as the partial shutdown drags into its fifth week — and speak to a broader swath of Americans.

The Saturday afternoon speech from the West Wing was an attempt by Mr. Trump to, at the very least, shift the narrative of the past several weeks and show that rather than spoiling for a longer shutdown fight or making unreasonable demands, he was looking for a broadly acceptable way out of a morass he once boasted he was proud to wade into.

“I think you could tell by the president’s remarks today,” Vice President Mike Pence said, “that we’re reaching out.”

Yet in seeking to inch toward the center, Mr. Trump alienated portions of his hard-right base, the core supporters he most depends on and the group he and his closest aides have most feared losing. That raised the possibility that, in his zeal to get out of an intractable situation, he may have landed himself in the worst of all worlds, without a clear solution or the support of his most ardent followers.

The tensions and anger over the policy have been quietly playing out in the West Wing as well, as Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, fended off Stephen Miller, the architect of much of Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda. Mr. Kushner has long been a proponent of protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, while Mr. Miller has pressed for aggressive measures to crack down on both legal and illegal immigration.

In recent days, as White House officials had been working out the details of the compromise, Mr. Miller intervened to narrow the universe of immigrants who would receive protection, according to people familiar with the internal discussions who described them on the condition of anonymity.

While the original idea had been to include protections for as many as 1.8 million undocumented immigrants eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program known as DACA that protected those illegally brought to the United States as children, Mr. Trump ultimately proposed shielding only the 700,000 who are enrolled.

Mr. Kushner conceded in a briefing after the president’s speech that he did not see the proposal as a solution for the DACA program, which Mr. Trump moved to rescind in 2017.

“At this moment in time,” Mr. Kushner said, “this is a good path forward.”

Many conservatives did not share that view.

“Trump proposes amnesty,” the conservative commentator Ann Coulter said on Twitter. “We voted for Trump and got Jeb!” she added, referring to Jeb Bush, who challenged Mr. Trump for the Republican nomination in 2016 and supported a broad immigration overhaul that would have given undocumented immigrants a path to legal status.

Still, in the eyes of many White House officials, the prospect that Mr. Trump could use the proposal to shift blame for the shutdown and pressure Democrats to end the impasse was worth trying. Mr. Pence argued on Saturday that the speech was a “sincere effort” by Mr. Trump to break the logjam, and he and other White House officials suggested that the measure could attract enough support to succeed from centrist Democrats fed up with the shutdown and willing to side with Republicans.

But such a coalition did not appear to be forming, and courting one bears considerable risk for a president who is most comfortable when he is defying convention, eschewing compromise and being hailed as a hero by supporters who often equate bipartisan deal making with weak-kneed capitulation.

The vast majority of Democrats knocked the approach. While many of them have pressed for measures to protect DACA recipients and immigrants living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status enacted when their countries were destabilized by war or catastrophe, most regard the proposal he put forth on Saturday as woefully inadequate. It offers only three years of protections for the DACA recipients and those who hold T.P.S., which the Trump administration has also moved to end for several countries.

“This is not an amnesty bill,” Mr. Pence said. “There is no pathway to citizenship in this proposal.”

“This is not an amnesty bill,” Mr. Pence said. “There is no pathway to citizenship in this proposal.”

That was high on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s list of reasons to call the plan “unacceptable.”

That is unlikely to matter to the president. Despite saying publicly last month that he would be proud to own a shutdown over the wall, and privately displaying confidence that his base would stick with him through the fight, Mr. Trump has been dismayed to find otherwise in recent days.

An NPR poll released last week showed Mr. Trump’s approval ratings down and the first cracks in backing among critical supporters, including whites without a college education and white evangelicals.

Such pressure from what he has called the forgotten men and women who elected him and chant “Build! The! Wall!” at his arena rallies has swayed Mr. Trump before, including last year, when the conservative news site Breitbart branded him “Amnesty Don” for considering a similar deal that would have provided $25 billion in wall funding for a path to legal status for those the DACA program was created to help. The president ultimately abandoned that agreement, concerned about angering his base and after Mr. Miller and others advised him he should insist on additional immigration restrictions.

On Saturday night, Breitbart panned Mr. Trump’s latest idea with the headline “Three-Year Amnesty, Most of Border Remains Open.”

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.


I HOPE THE AUTHORITIES FIND THE SOURCE OF THESE FLYERS, BECAUSE LEESBURG IS A PRETTY AND PEACEFUL SOUTHERN TOWN WITH A COURTHOUSE AND LOTS OF RURAL LAND AROUND IT. OF COURSE, IT ONLY TAKES A FEW RADICAL RIGHTISTS TO CAUSE THE ATMOSPHERE TO BE POLLUTED WITH UGLINESS.

https://wtop.com/loudoun-county/2019/01/kkk-propaganda-flyers-appear-in-leesburg-ahead-of-mlk-day/
KKK propaganda flyers appear in Leesburg ahead of MLK Day
By Zeke Hartner
January 20, 2019 2:15 pm

WASHINGTON — Police in Loudoun County are investigating reports of suspicious flyers that appear to be propaganda for the Ku Klux Klan.

According to police, residents of Leesburg, Virginia, began reporting propaganda flyers being distributed by people claiming to be members of the KKK around 8 a.m. on Sunday in downtown Leesburg.

Leesburg police said that the appearance of KKK propaganda is most likely due to the proximity to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which honors the life and legacy of the civil rights champion on his birthday.

WTOP reported similar incidents taking place in Leesburg around MLK Day last year, and again during some major holidays.

Leesburg police said that they will be working with local, state and federal investigators to identify potential threats to the community.

Like WTOP on Facebook and follow @WTOP on Twitter to engage in conversation about this article and others.

© 2019 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.


THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WEIGHS IN AGAINST THE BEHAVIOR OF THEIR YOUTH. I DON’T THINK IT IS AN ACCIDENT THAT TRUMP’S RECENT MOCKERY OF SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN AS HAVING NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY (NOT HIS FIRST TIME, OF COURSE) PRECEDED THIS, ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE. THIS IS HOW TRUMP USES “THE BULLY PULPIT” TO AROUSE EVIL. HOW DID THIS MAN MAKE IT INTO THE WHITE HOUSE? ARE OUR AMERICAN CITIZENS EQUALLY LACKING IN EMPATHY AND FAIRNESS, OR ARE THEY MAINLY FOLLOWING HIS LEAD? I NOTICED ONE HIGH SCHOOLER IN THE VIDEO CLAPPING HIS HANDS TO THE DRUM MUSIC, APPARENTLY APPRECIATING IT, SO ALL IS NOT LOST. YOUNG SOULS WILL GROW.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/catholic-school-investigate-taunting-native-americans-n960626
Catholic school to investigate taunting of Native Americans
"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students," an archdiocese near Cincinnati said.
Jan. 19, 2019, 6:18 PM EST / Updated 12:10 PM EST
By Dennis Romero and Natalie Valdés

A Catholic archdiocese outside Cincinnati is investigating the actions of some of its high school students during the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington Friday.

Some students wearing Make America Great Again hats and clothing appeared to surround and may have taunted a Native American troupe as it performed the "American Indian Movement" song about strength and courage. It's not clear which of those young people surrounding the Native Americans are students of Covington Catholic High School in Covington, Kentucky. There appears to have been jeering by another group of people preceding the incident caught on video.

But the Diocese of Covington criticized any students who participated in the action, which broke out as a group from the school was in Washington for the anti-abortion event March for Life.

Its statement, forwarded by archdiocese spokeswoman Laura Keener, singled out Native American leader Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam War veteran and Omaha elder. In social media videos of the incident Phillips can be seen singing as a male taunts him smilingly and gets close to his face.

The male was not identified.

"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general, Jan. 18, after the March for Life, in Washington, D.C.," the archdiocese's statement reads. "We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person."

The archdiocese said the matter was under investigation and students could be expelled.

When asked for comment by NBC News, the interim head of the Vatican press office Alessandro Gisotti said the diocese of Covington had already "strongly condemned" the students' actions.

During the incident some young people appeared to surround Native Americans and others started to jump and chant. One young person is heard saying during the Native Americans' song, "This is deep."

In an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid on Sunday, Phillips said he approached the group of students after witnessing them going back and forth with a group known as the Black Hebrew Israelites.

Phillips said the students surrounded the significantly smaller group, as participants of the Indigenous People's March watched on the sideline.

Drumming and praying to God to help end the march on a positive note, Phillips said he approached the rivaling groups in hopes of defusing the situation.

"Look at my America. Look at my black and white brothers here. They’re tearing at each other. We are at a point where you can't stand by and watch this," Phillips said.

Phillips told NBC News that some of the young people surrounding him chanted support for President Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Chants of 'Build the wall' and other things that were even worse," he said as he stood in the rain in Washington. "They were brought up to believe I’m less than human."

The elder said he's getting hateful phone calls and is afraid to answer his phone in the wake of the incident, which came nearly a week after Trump mocked U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's claim to Native American ancestry.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would have been a smash!

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"I’m still trying to process it," Phillips said. "Who they were, who those young folks were, where they came from and who’s bringing them up. Where were the chaperones? How did this come to this point ... ?"

"It’s gonna take us all to come together," he added. "I’m about prayer, but then you have to have some action to go with it."

On Sunday, Phillips said he doesn't know if the boy in the video should be expelled from school, but said the trip's chaperones should be fired.

"Where were they? How did they allow these students to come to this point after an hour of this happening? Were they with them? Were they encouraging them?" he said of the chaperones.

Debra Haaland, who with Sharice Davids became the first Native American women to ever be elected to Congress, said the video and growing intolerance made her "really sad."

"These young kids should be taught to respect their elders, that they're important," the New Mexico Democrat said. "People ... they're getting so bold with what they're saying."

Dennis Romero
Dennis Romero writes for NBC News and is based in Los Angeles.

Natalie Valdés
Natalie Valdés is a producer for NBC News in Miami, Florida.


THIS STORY STARTLED ME. I HAVE NEVER LIKED LIBERTY UNIVERSITY AND THE FALWELLS, BUT I DIDN’T EXPECT THEM TO BE SO ACTIVE FOR THE FAR RIGHT. I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW SO MANY OF OUR MODERN “CHRISTIANS” HAVE ENDED UP ON WHAT, TO ME, IS “THE DARK SIDE.”

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/01/17/cohen-trump-falwell-jr-liberty-university-foreman-dnt-ebof-vpx.cnn
MAN TRUMP HIRED TO RIG POLLS WORK AT TRUMP ALLY’S SCHOOL


WATCH THIS LOVELY VIDEO ON BRONZE AGE GOLD FOUND IN IRELAND – LOTS OF IT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFJ4vn_ddSE
Irelands Treasures Uncovered


AH, ‘TWOULD BE NICE TO TRAVEL THE WORLD JUST TO SEE WHAT OTHER PEOPLES HAVE DONE. IT’S TOO BAD THAT A LARGISH MINORITY OF WHITE AMERICANS DON’T FEEL THE SAME WAY. LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL COSTUMES.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46937383
In pictures: Ethiopians celebrate the festival of Timket
20 January 2019

BBC/AMENSISA NEGERA
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians have been celebrating the festival of Timket, or Epiphany, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.

In Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, thousands of worshippers marched through the streets on Friday, the eve of the festival, to the Jan Meda sports grounds.

Each church took its tabot, a model of the Ark of the Covenant that according to tradition contains the 10 Commandments, on the procession.

Musicians playing traditional trumpets, or imbilta, led the way.

This symbolises the description in the Bible that trumpets were played when the Ark of the Covenant was being moved.

Church leaders, dressed in their religious robes and carrying crucifixes and umbrellas, then followed.

Spiritual singers, or azmari, chanted and clapped along to traditional praise songs known as mezmur.

The worshippers then spent Friday night at Jan Meda and then on Saturday were sprinkled with holy water, re-enacting the baptism of Jesus.

Photos by the BBC's Amensisa Negera and AFP.


http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
Isikoff: 'Red flags' marred Buzzfeed report on Cohen lies
01/19/19 12:08AM
Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News, talks with Rachel Maddow about what he sees as weak spots in the Buzzfeed reporting about Michael Cohen taking orders from Donald Trump to lie to Congress, and the more important story he feels is being overlooked in the fuss over the Buzzfeed story. watch


Farrow highlights contention in Buzzfeed Cohen report
01/19/19 12:06AM
Rachel Maddow shares tweeted remarks from Ronan Farrow, who explains that he did not pursue the story Buzzfeed reported about Donald Trump ordering Michael Cohen to lie to Congress because of a source disputing that point. watch


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/19/19
Mueller filing offers insight into core of Buzzfeed Cohen report
Chuck Rosenberg, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about Buzzfeed's reporting that Michael Cohen lied to Congress on orders from Donald Trump, and how he understands the subsequent pushback from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office on some aspects of the story. Duration: 7:11


HERE IS THE ORIGINAL BUZZFIED STORY ON AN ACCUSATION OF TRUMP AS DIRECTING COHEN TO HANDLE THE MOSCOW TRUMP TOWER DEAL.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/trump-russia-cohen-moscow-tower-mueller-investigation
THE MONEY TRAIL
President Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project
Trump received 10 personal updates from Michael Cohen and encouraged a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin. Update: The office of the special counsel is disputing BuzzFeed News’ report.
By Jason Leopold And Anthony Cormier, Buzzfeed News Reporters
Last updated on January 18, 2019, at 7:23 p.m. ET
Posted on January 17, 2019, at 10:11 p.m. ET

PHOTOGRAPH -- Donald Trump and his longtime attorney Michael Cohen. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.

Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen.

And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.

A spokesperson for special counsel Robert Mueller's office, Peter Carr, disputed aspects of BuzzFeed News’ report.

“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate,” Carr said.

Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying about the deal in testimony and in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Mueller noted that Cohen’s false claim that the project ended in January 2016 was an attempt to “minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1” — widely understood to be Trump — “in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.”

Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.

The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.

This revelation is not the first evidence to suggest the president may have attempted to obstruct the FBI and special counsel investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

But Cohen's testimony marks a significant new frontier: It is the first known example of Trump explicitly telling a subordinate to lie directly about his own dealings with Russia.

On the campaign trail, Trump vehemently denied having any business interests in Russia. But behind the scenes, he was pushing the Moscow project, which he hoped could bring his company profits in excess of $300 million. The two law enforcement sources said he had at least 10 face-to-face meetings with Cohen about the deal during the campaign.

PHOTOGRAPH – TRUMP AND COHEN Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

BuzzFeed News first reported last year that Cohen and an associate, Felix Sater, had continued working on Trump Tower Moscow through June 2016. Sater communicated with Russian bankers, developers, and officials connected to the Kremlin. That revelation was confirmed in Mueller’s filings against Cohen in court last November.

Attorneys close to the administration helped Cohen prepare his testimony and draft his statement to the Senate panel, the sources said. The sources did not say who the attorneys were or whether they were part of the White House counsel’s staff, and did not present evidence that the lawyers knew the statements would be false.

An attorney for Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel who reportedly gave about 30 hours of testimony to the special counsel, told BuzzFeed News: “Don McGahn had no involvement with or knowledge of Michael Cohen’s testimony. Nor was he aware of anyone in the White House Counsel’s Office who did.”

PHOTOGRAPH -- Former White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II in the lobby of Trump Tower in 2016. His attorney told BuzzFeed News that McGahn “had no involvement with or knowledge of Michael Cohen’s testimony. Nor was he aware of anyone in the White House Counsel’s Office who did.” Drew Angerer / Getty Images

After Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the matter, Mueller’s team filed a memo in court saying he had offered them “credible” and “useful” information over the course of seven interviews. The special counsel wrote that Cohen had provided details about his contacts with “persons connected to the White House” in 2017 and 2018 and about how he had prepared his statements to Congress.

The White House did not return detailed messages seeking comment, nor did an attorney for Donald Trump Jr. or the Trump Organization.

A spokesperson for the Office of Special Counsel declined to comment.

Cohen also declined comment — but the law enforcement sources familiar with his testimony to the special counsel said he had confirmed that Trump directed him to lie to Congress, and also that he had provided details of his conversations about the project with the president and Ivanka and Donald Jr.

Those three members of the Trump family have distanced themselves from the Moscow project, saying that they had little knowledge of the negotiations. But a picture of their deep involvement is now emerging, as FBI agents and prosecutors pore over witness interviews and internal documents from Cohen and other Trump Organization officials and executives.

Trump was even made aware that Cohen was speaking to Russian government officials about the deal. The lawyer at one point spoke to a Kremlin aide as he sought support for the tower.

Trump also encouraged Cohen to plan a trip to Russia during the campaign, where the candidate could meet face-to-face with Putin.

BuzzFeed News has previously reported that text messages and emails show Sater — a real estate developer, convicted stock swindler, and longtime asset for US government intelligence agencies — worked furiously to arrange a trip for Cohen to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he was supposed to meet with top Russian bankers and government officials. Cohen told Sater that to advance the deal, Trump himself would also go to Russia, after the Republican National Convention in July 2016.

PHOTOGRAPH -- Felix Sater, who worked with Michael Cohen to get Trump Tower Moscow built, at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2018. Melissa Lyttle / Melissa Lyttle for BuzzFeed News

The trip to St. Petersburg never took place and the plans to build Trump Tower Moscow never came to fruition. But the negotiations occupy an important place in Mueller’s investigation, as agents try to learn whether it is connected to the Kremlin’s interference campaign and whom Trump associates were in contact with to close the deal.

After Cohen pleaded guilty last November, Trump defended his continued involvement in the Moscow project during the election, telling reporters: “There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?”

Federal agents looking into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election also tried to clarify the roles that Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. played in the Moscow tower negotiations, the sources said.

In his plea deal with Mueller’s team, Cohen acknowledged that the conversations he had about the project with Trump exceeded the three short briefings he testified that he gave the president and that he also held more extensive discussions about it with other members of the Trump family. The sources said Cohen gave Trump’s children “very detailed updates.”

PHOTOGRAPH -- An architectural rendering of the proposed Trump Tower in Moscow. Provided to BuzzFeed News

Ivanka Trump was slated to manage a spa at the tower and personally recommended an architect. She also instructed Cohen to speak with a Russian athlete who offered “synergy on a government level” to get the Moscow project off the ground, in another aspect of the deal first revealed by BuzzFeed News that later was affirmed by the special counsel’s sentencing memo. Cohen rebuffed the athlete’s proposal, which angered Ivanka Trump, according to emails reviewed by BuzzFeed News.

A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump's attorney wrote that she was only “minimally involved” in the project. “Ms. Trump did not know about this proposal until after a non-binding letter of intent had been signed, never talked to anyone outside the Organization about the proposal, never visited the prospective project site and, even internally, was only minimally involved,” wrote Peter Mirijanian.

Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 7, 2017, that he was only “peripherally aware” of the plan to build a tower in Moscow. “Most of my knowledge has been gained since as it relates to hearing about it over the last few weeks.”

The two law enforcement sources disputed this characterization and said that he and Cohen had multiple, detailed conversations on this subject during the campaign.

Cohen will testify publicly before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Feb. 7. ●


CNN has not corroborated the BuzzFeed report.

A day after the report published, Mueller's office disputed it as "not accurate."


https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/18/politics/mueller-statement-buzzfeed/index.html
Mueller's office disputes BuzzFeed report that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress
By Katelyn Polantz and Caroline Kelly, CNN
Updated 9:51 PM ET, Fri January 18, 2019

(CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's office disputed an explosive story from BuzzFeed News as "not accurate" Friday night, after the news outlet reported the President had directed his personal attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, for which Cohen was later prosecuted.

"BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate," said Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller's office, in a statement.

It's highly unusual for the special counsel's office to provide a statement to the media -- outside of court filings and judicial hearings -- about any of its ongoing investigative activities.

In response, BuzzFeed said in its own statement, "We are continuing to report and determine what the special counsel is disputing. We remain confident in the accuracy of our report."

Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief at Buzzfeed, echoed similar sentiments.

"We stand by our reporting and the sources who informed it, and we urge the Special Counsel to make clear what he's disputing," he tweeted.

But following the story's publication late Thursday night, Democratic members of Congress began pointing to the report as grounds for the President's impeachment. The clamor grew throughout the day and into Friday night.

The BuzzFeed story, by reporters Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier, asserted that Cohen had told special counsel investigators that "after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations [for a Trump development project in Moscow] ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump's involvement," BuzzFeed wrote, attributing its assertion to two law enforcement sources.

The sources also said the special counsel's office had corroborating Trump company emails, text messages and other documents, though the BuzzFeed reporters were unclear Friday in television interviews about whether they had seen the documents described in their story.

The special counsel's office did not go into detail about which parts of the BuzzFeed story they were calling untrue. The BuzzFeed story made several other claims that remain uncorroborated by other media outlets regarding Cohen's lies to Congress and communications with Mueller.

The White House and the President's personal lawyers pushed back on the story throughout the day Friday.

Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani praised Mueller for issuing the disputing statement, and accused the press of showing bias against Trump in its coverage of the BuzzFeed report.

"I commend Bob Mueller's office for correcting the BuzzFeed false story that Pres. Trump encouraged Cohen to lie," he tweeted. "I ask the press to take heed that their hysterical desire to destroy this President has gone too far. They pursued this without critical analysis all day. #FAKENEWS"

Donald Trump Jr., the President's son, tweeted his reaction to Mueller's office's statement with a slew of cartoon smiling faces that were crying with laughter, as well as a thumbs up sign.

Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said Mueller's statement shows why the special counsel should release his final report quickly to end speculation about its contents.

"Today's development only underscores the need for the special counsel to wrap this investigation up immediately," the North Carolina Republican tweeted. "The constant secrecy and breathless speculation helps no one. It's been 20 months — enough is enough. Wrap it up. Show us what you have."

The President did not immediately respond to the statement, but he began retweeting supporters who were reveling in the statement.

A Trump Organization source insisted Friday to CNN that the company knew of no documents regarding the proposed Trump Tower in Moscow that reflected conversations about the matter after January 2016.

This story has been updated.


New reporting from BuzzFeed News alleges Trump directed his then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law and lie to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower project. The report alleges Trump was heavily involved, having at least 10 face-to-face meetings with Cohen about the deal. Democrat Member of Congress, Rep. Val Demings, tells “The Beat” that if Trump broke the law, his “biggest concern” is not impeachment, because “we really have not closed the door on whether the President of the United States can be indicted”.
Jan. 18, 2019


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https://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/special-counsel-disputing-details-in-buzzfeed-news-report-1428652611624
Special Counsel disputing details in BuzzFeed News report
Jan. 18, 2019
In a rare response, the Special's Counsel Office said, “BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.”


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