Clinton Russian Foundation Cartoons

WH: Mueller Indictments Not Related to Any Trump Campaign Activities

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during the daily press briefing, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The White House pushes back on speculation surrounding the indictments of former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort.
During a Monday press briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters the charges against Manafort and his partner Rick Gates are not campaign related.
She also said the indictments will not distract from the president’s legislative agenda.
When asked about the guilty plea of former campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, Sanders claimed he was a volunteer who was repeatedly pushed back on his ideas by top Trump officials.
Sanders then said the only Russian collusion during the election happened among the Democrats.
“Today’s announcement has nothing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the president’s campaign or campaign activity,” announched Huckabee. “The real collusion scandal as we’ve said several times before has everything to do with the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS, and Russia…there’s clear evidence of the Clinton campaign colluding with Russian intelligence to spread disinformation and smear the president and influence the election.”
Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A judge set bond at $10 million for Manafort, and a bond at five million dollars for Gates.
Both sides also agreed to home detention.
This comes nearly a week after ties between Manafort and the Podesta Group surfaced, showing he was the intermediary between Hillary Clinton and Russia in the controversial Uranium One deal.
Meanwhle, Democrat lobbyist Tony Podesta resigned from his position at his firm after being named in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Podesta stepped down during a meeting Monday, and will soon be alerting clients of his departure.
Sources say the move has been in the works for months.
However, his departure comes amid allegations that Manafort helped the Podesta Group and the Clinton Foundation establish pay-to-play ties with Russia.

Lindsey Graham: There 'will be holy hell to pay' if Trump fires Mueller

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and two other aides mark a new phase in his sprawling investigation into Russia and President Donald Trump. But the president’s supporters on Capitol Hill have said they want all the facts to come in first.

There “will be holy hell to pay” if Mueller is dismissed, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News on Monday, unconcerned about rumblings of the ongoing threat Mueller poses to the president. He said there is zero evidence from the White House that Mueller’s investigation will be stopped or curtailed.

Asked to elaborate, Graham continued: “I've heard nothing from the White House to suggest that the president's going to try to replace Mr. Mueller. Zero evidence from anybody I've talked to. It would be wrong to do so unless there were cause.”
People familiar with Trump’s thinking told The Associated Press the president has become increasingly concerned that the Mueller probe could be moving to an investigation into his personal dealings.
“No politician should ever be afraid of the American legal system working its will,” Graham told Fox News about many of his colleagues’ refusal to comment on the case.
White House officials were publicly optimistic about Mueller’s investigation wrapping up swiftly.
Many lawmakers noted the U.S. government would continue as normal regardless of the indictments.
The agenda of the Trump administration such as health care and tax reform shouldn’t be affected, said Senator John N. Kennedy, R-La., noting that Americans can multitask. “Most Americans do, and I don’t see why we can’t,” he told Fox News.
Trump immediately sought to distance himself after Manafort and Rick Gates pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment alleging money laundering, conspiracy and other offenses. Another former aide, George Papadopoulos, was revealed to be cooperating with authorities after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

Ingraham: 'The People Took Their Power Back on Election Day & the Establishment Is Mad as Hell'

Laura Ingraham kicked off the inaugural edition of "The Ingraham Angle" with a powerful monologue about what America means to her and to regular Americans.
"Most of us, I think, want three things: prosperity, safety, liberty," Ingraham said. "And that includes preserving our history."
She said that Americans' love of God, family and country aren't trite relics of the past, and they are at the very core of who we are as a people.
She said the American people saw that many of their leaders were not prioritizing those same values, and that's why they elected President Donald Trump to the White House.
"The people took their power back on Election Day, and the establishment is mad as hell," Ingraham said. "Let's face it, they don't really like the American people, not very much at least."
"This show is going to be about all of this and certainly the political, the legal and the cultural battles of the day," Ingraham said. "But something more: how all of that affects your life and that of your families."
She said she cares deeply about the future of the country, and that's why she's always going to call it as she sees it.
"I'm going to get answers for you, and I'm going to hold the powerful accountable. And that includes you, Mr. President," Ingraham said. "And every night, with you, we'll continue to answer this question: What is America to me, to all of us?"

Disrespecting China's national anthem could result in three years in prison

China’s parliament is considering criminal penalties for those who disrespect the national anthem, Reuters reported Monday, citing from state news agency Xinhua.

A draft amendment to the country’s Criminal Law was submitted for deliberation at a session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Monday. Violators could face up to three years in prison, according to the draft.

China passed a new law in September mandating up to 15 days in police detention for those who mock the “March of the Volunteers,” which is China’s national anthem. The law also covers the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau, Reuters reported.
It is not clear when the amendment would be voted on or take effect.
The report comes at a time when there is debate about NFL players in the U.S. who take a knee during the national anthem before football games. Some see the protest as disrespecting the flag, while others say the players are using their first amendment right to protest.
President Trump called on the football players to be fired or banned.
In Hong Kong, it’s the soccer fans protesting China’s national anthem. The territory’s football fans booed the anthem during a World Cup qualifier in 2015, which prompted FIFA to fine Hong Kong's football association. Hong Kong residents have growing concern over China’s perceived encroachment on its autonomy, according to Reuters.

Robert Mueller's Russia investigation Cartoons

President Trump fired back on Monday in an attempt to distance his White House from the grand jury indictments of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an aide, noting their crimes were committed “years” before they worked on the campaign.

The president led a chorus of critics of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, noting that the crimes for which Manafort and his aide, Rick Gates, are charged appear to predate the presidential campaign by years.

“Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????” Trump tweeted Monday. “….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!”
Manafort and Gates were indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading Foreign Agent Registration (FARA) statements, false statements and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign banks and financial accounts. The indictments were announced Monday.
Mueller’s team also unsealed a guilty plea by former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who admitted to making false statements to FBI agents as part of the investigation. According to court documents, Papadopoulos’ false statements were in regards to his relationship with a Russian ‘professor,’ who had ties to Russian government officials.
The special counsel probe and Russia “hoax,” as the president has described it, has cast a cloud over the Trump administration. But last week, the White House enjoyed a shift in focus, amid new revelations in the controversial Obama-era Uranium One deal and the payments behind the salacious anti-Trump dossier.
Reports last week revealed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid more than $9 million to law firm Perkins Coie, which commissioned Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research that ultimately led to the now-infamous dossier.
Over the weekend, it was revealed that the conservative Washington Free Beacon website initially funded the opposition research into then-candidate Donald Trump and other GOP contenders for the White House. Lawyers for the Free Beacon told the House Intelligence Committee that the website funded the research between fall 2015 and spring 2016.
TRUMP TWEETS ON REPORTS THAT OBAMA CAMPAIGN PAID LAW FIRM THAT HIRED FUSION GPS
But some Republicans say that the Manafort-Gates indictments provide “no evidence” in the Russian collusion narrative.
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly called for Mueller’s resignation, over the special counsel’s relationship with former FBI Director James Comey, said the indictment “doesn’t have anything to do with Donald Trump.”
“I believe that Mr. Mueller’s conflict of interest is absolutely incontrovertible, and I think this is further indication he’s headed in this direction no matter what,” Franks said on his local radio station, KTAR-FM Morning News, Monday. “It’s ironic because ostensibly his investigation is supposed to be into Donald Trump’s potential involvement with Russia, yet this doesn’t have anything to do with Donald Trump.”
MUELLER FACING NEW REPUBLICAN PRESSURE TO RESIGN IN RUSSIA PROBE
Franks added: “They may try to parlay it into something to hook President Trump in, but right now, this is par for the course. I should suggest this was kind of predictable.”
Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading its own Russia probe, echoed a similar sentiment.
“This pre-dates the campaign entirely, and could pre-date Paul Manafort even meeting Donald Trump. This has nothing to do with the campaign,” King told Fox News on “America’s Newsroom” Monday. “The investigation still has to go forward but what I’ve seen so far, is there is no evidence at all linking the Trump campaign to Russian influence or collusion.”
The Senate Intelligence Committee is also leading a bipartisan Russia probe, and said that the indictment "doesn't change" their investigation.
"The special counsel has found a reason on criminal violations to indict two individuals and I will leave that up to the special counsel to make that determination. It doesn't change anything with our investigation," Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C. said in a statement to Fox News. "We received documents from and had interest in two of the individuals named, but clearly the criminal charges put them in the Special Counsel's purview."
But Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said that the indictments are “significant” and a “sobering step” in the special counsel’s investigation.
“That’s why it is imperative that Congress take action now to protect the independence of the Special Counsel, wherever, or however high his investigation may lead,” Warner said in a statement Monday. “Members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, must also make clear to the President that issuing pardons to any of his associates or to himself would be unacceptable and result in immediate, bipartisan action by Congress.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also said that the president “must not, under any circumstances, interfere” with Mueller’s work.
“If he does so, Congress must respond swiftly, unequivocally, and in a bipartisan way to ensure that the investigation continues,” Schumer said in a statement Monday.
While Trump has not suggested any plans to interfere with the special counsel investigation, there are currently two pieces of legislation in the Senate, with bipartisan sponsorship, that would ensure a judicial check on the executive branch’s ability to remove a special counsel. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are behind the bills, along with Democratic senators.
"The president is not firing the special counsel," Trump's attorney, Jay Sekulow, said on CNN Monday.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also said Monday the president has "no intention or plan to make any changes in regard to Special Counsel."
Though some argue the indictments are irrelevant to the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, former top-ranking Justice Department official under both Bush and Obama administrations, James Trusty, told Fox News that this is what happens during a broad investigation.
Last week, Mueller expanded his probe to investigate Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta’s dealings with Manafort and a Ukrainian nonprofit. The Podesta Group told Fox News last week they were “cooperating” with the special counsel’s office.
Trusty said last week that Mueller has “a lot of room to legitimately poke around and find information on one party or another.”
“It’s a cliché, but a good cliché –prosecutors go where the evidence leads them,” Trusty told Fox News last week. “When you define the mission broadly, there is a lot of room for [an independent prosecutor’s] exploration.”
Trusty said that if a special counsel’s mission is defined broadly, “it is all fair game if the independent prosecutor is doing his job the right way.”