Paul Manafort considered flight risk because of wealth, foreign connections: special counsel

Just one day after pleading not guilty to a 12-count indictment, Paul Manafort was described as a major flight risk by prosecutors because of his wealth and international connections.

According to court documents unsealed Tuesday, prosecutors say they believe Manafort -- a former chairman of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign -- and his business associate Richard Gates were at risk of fleeing.

“The defendants pose a risk of flight based on the serious nature of the charges, their history of deceptive and misleading conduct, the potentially significant sentences the defendants face, the strong evidence of guilt, their significant financial resources, and their foreign connections,” the court documents read.
Manafort is known to have a significant amount of wealth. Between 2012 and 2016, he listed his assets to be between $19 million and $136 million, the New York Daily News reported.
“His financial holdings are substantial, if difficult to quantify precisely,” Tuesday’s documents revealed.
The 68-year-old was also being considered a flight risk because of his foreign connections. The Washington Post reported that Manafort keeps three U.S. passports and has submitted 10 passport applications in recent years.
Prosecutors note in the documents that Manafort also has wealthy ties to Moscow and to Kiev, Ukraine, through his previous business dealings. His travel schedule in the last year reveals the many connections Manafort has overseas, increasing the possibility of flight, prosecutors said.
The court documents even brought up Manafort’s age, stating he might be more inclined to flee with a guilty verdict carrying a sentence of around 12 to 15 years.
Manafort pleaded not guilty Monday after being indicted on 12 counts by a federal grand jury as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign officials in the 2016 presidential election.
The special counsel’s office told Fox News that the counts include 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.
Manafort’s bail was set at $10 million. He will return to court Thursday to hear the terms of his bail.

Mark Levin: Trump Is Trying to Protect America With 'Extreme Vetting' Policy

Mark Levin joined Sean Hannity tonight to react to the terror attack in New York City and new revelations about the suspect, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov.
Levin pointed out that Saipov, who is from Uzbekistan, reportedly came to the U.S. in 2010 when he was 22 years old under the "Diversity Immigrant Visa Program."
Levin explained that the program makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually and aims to diversify the immigrant population in the U.S.
"It's a lottery system. That's no way to run an immigration system," Levin said. "The purpose of immigration is to improve the United States, is to benefit the United States, not to ensure diversity."
He said President Donald Trump is right to call for extreme vetting of immigrants from countries that are known hotbeds of radical Islamic ideology.
"Donald Trump is following the Constitution, following the statute, trying to protect America," Levin said. "What the president is saying is, 'You can't bring people in from these countries until we figure out what's going on.'"
He warned that the federal judges who have tried to block Trump's executive orders on immigration are endangering American citizens. He noted that one judge even spoke about due process rights for immigrants before they enter the U.S.
"This is progressivism gone nuts. And it's going to kill a lot more people. And you would have thought after 9/11 that people would take this issue of immigration seriously."

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.”

Robert Mueller's Russia investigation Cartoons

Pres. Trump Cites GOP Anger, Unity Over Clinton-Russia Dossier

In this Oct. 26, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during an event to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

OAN Newsroom
President Trump takes to Twitter to unleash a barrage of tweets about possible ties between Hillary Clinton and the Russia dossier.
The president tweeted Sunday, that there is unity and anger among republican leaders about the lack of an investigation into Clinton’s wrongdoings. He also condemned the Uranium One Deal and the destruction of her 33,000 emails.
He also suggested all the talk about Russia comes as the GOP is making big moves to pass tax reform, claiming it’s not a coincidence it’s all happening at the same time.

Americans' 401(k)s will be safe, GOP leaders set record straight

GOP leaders are trying to ease panicked Americans who are socking away thousands of dollars annually for retirement, after lawmakers floated the idea of drastically reducing the pre-tax limit on contributions to $2,400 as part of the forthcoming tax plan.
“I think 401(k)s are very important,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., during an interview on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures”. “The way we’ll look at the 401(k), we will protect it, we’ll expand the amount that you can invest, but we’ll also give you an option to actually not be taxed later in life, not to have that tax burden hovering over you in the future, but actually have greater income in the future.”
Currently, people under age 50 are able to save up to $18,000 per year in pre-tax savings in their 401(k), while those over 50 can save up to $24,000. After reports surfaced that 401(k) those contributions could be curbed as part of the tax plan, President Donald Trump set the record straight.

More on this...

• Americans' 401(k)s will be safe, GOP leaders set record straight
• Trump's plan to eliminate SALT will shave 10% off the value of your home: Pelosi
• GOP continues debate on 401(k)s ahead of tax cut deadline

“There will be NO change to your 401(k). This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!” he tweeted on Monday. He reiterated this view while talking to the press on Wednesday.

McCarthy’s comments on Sunday follow fellow lawmaker Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, who last week dialed back on reports that contributions could be cut as part of the tax plan.

On Friday, Brady said he and fellow lawmakers are now looking into possibly raising contribution limits to $20,000 or higher.

John Boehner unleashed: Ex-House speaker curses at lawmakers, says congressman once held a knife to his throat

Ohio Republican John Boehner retired from Capitol Hill as speaker in 2015 — and now has harsh words for his House coworkers. (REUTERS/Yuri Gripas)

Former House Speaker John Boehner, who retired in October 2015, is no longer holding back his anger against several of his former colleagues in Congress.

The Ohio Republican talked to Politico Magazine in a lengthy profile Sunday about the widening political divide in America. But he saved his harshest words for conservatives who worked alongside him. Among them: Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who became the chairman of the House Oversight Committee after Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, announced his resignation from Congress, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who helped found the House’s Freedom Caucus, which frequently clashed with Boehner.

“Gowdy — that’s my guy, even though he doesn’t know how to dress,” Boehner said. “F--- Jordan. F--- [Jason] Chaffetz. They’re both a--holes.”
Boehner called Chaffetz a “total phony” who was more obsessed with self-promotion than the American people. Chaffetz resigned from Congress in June and joined Fox News as a contributor. He didn't immediately respond.
“Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio House and Senate,” Boehner added to Politico. “A terrorist. A legislative terrorist.”

John Boehner called Rep. Jason Chaffetz, seen here in 2015, a “phony” only out for himself in a new interview. Chaffetz stepped down in 2017, and is now a contributer to Fox News. (REUTERS/Jim Bourg)

Jordan was taken aback.
“Oh, my goodness. I feel sorry for the guy if he’s that bitter about a guy coming here and doing what he told the voters he was gonna do. Wow. I feel bad for him,” Jordan told Politico. “But in the end, we were not doing what the voters elected us to do and what we told them we were going to do. We just weren’t. And I would argue the same thing is happening now.”

John Boehner said Rep. Don Young once pinned him against a wall with a knife to his throat. (Office of Rep. Don Young)

Boehner also recounted that before he was best man at Rep. Don Young's wedding, the Alaska Republican restrained him against a wall and held a 10-inch knife to knife to his throat during a fight over measures that fund projects in lawmakers’ home districts.
Boehner responded by staring Young in the eyes and saying, “F--- you.”
Young told Politico that Boehner’s recollection was “mostly true.”

Speculation swirls as Mueller indictment looms in Russia investigation

Speculation has escalated in Washington and across the country as lawmakers await the announcement of at least one indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election — an announcement that could come as early as Monday.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., predicted Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week” that two prominent Trump campaign associates believed to be at the center of the investigation — former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — could be indicted.

MUELLER HAS FILED CHARGES IN RUSSIA-TRUMP ASSOCIATES PROBE: MULTIPLE REPORTS
“Well, you know, there are two people I think just from press reporting that it is likely to be, either Mike Flynn or Paul Manafort,” Schiff said. “We haven’t been informed of who it is, and I don’t think it would been appropriate for Bob Mueller to tell us.”
Manafort has been the subject of an investigation into his dealings in Ukraine several years ago — for which he did not file as a foreign agent until June 2017.
Flynn was a Trump surrogate during the campaign and briefly served as national security adviser before being fired for failing to fully disclose his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s former ambassador to the United States.
The Wall Street Journal reported at least one person could be taken into custody as early as Monday.
Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told “Fox News Sunday,” ”We don’t know who’s being charged. … We don’t know what they are being charged for. We don’t know the time period.”
He added it was “kind of ironic that the people charged with investigating the law and executing the law would violate the law.”
GOWDY SLAMS MUELLER TEAM OVER LEAKS ABOUT CHARGES IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE
Speaking on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. — who has publicly feuded in recent days with President Trump — said he had “no knowledge” regarding the indictments, and that he’s focused on doing his job for the American people.
“I don’t know the substance. I have no knowledge. Like you, we’ll wait and see what happens,” Corker said Sunday. “But most of us are focused on the policies we have to deal with on behalf of the American people, and right now you know that’s been a sideshow.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also told “Face the Nation” that Mueller’s investigation “from the very beginning … has gone along two tracks. One is the independent counsel’s investigation to see if there’s criminal wrongdoing, and it looks like we’re going to find out as early as tomorrow about some indictments in that area.”
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump was “confident” Mueller would soon “close” his investigation.
The Justice Department’s special counsel’s office declined to comment on the reports of filed charges.

Michael Moore Cartoons

Trump slams Michael Moore for Broadway 'bomb'

Michael Moore's one-man show 'The Terms of My Surrender' ended its 13-week run on Broadway this past Sunday.  (AP)

President Donald Trump has mocked left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore, tweeting Saturday that the director's one-man Broadway show was "a TOTAL BOMB".

Moore, the director of several documentaries including "Roger and Me," "Bowling for Columbine," and "Farenheit 9/11," responded later Saturday with a tweet of his own.

Moore's show, "The Terms of My Surrender," ended its 13-week run Oct. 22. The website BroadwayWorld.com reported that it took in $4.2 million at the box office, less than half of its potential take.
The show, which combined Moore's autobiography with calls for political action against Trump and other Republicans, was a critical disappointment as well. The New York Times described "Terms of My Surrender" as "shaggy and self-aggrandizing."
"You don’t have to disagree with Mr. Moore’s politics to find that his shtick has become disagreeable with age," wrote reviewer Jesse Green, who compared the show to "being stuck at Thanksgiving dinner with a garrulous, self-regarding, time-sucking uncle."
Moore has been an outspoken critic of Trump. In August, Moore led the show's audience to Trump Tower to protest the president's reaction to deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va. That same night, he compared the president's supporters to accomplices in a rape during an interview with CNN.
"If you hold down the woman while the rapist is raping her, and you didn't rape her, are you a rapist?" Moore said at the time. "Let's cut the BS and start speaking honestly."
This week, Moore told the Wall Street Journal in an email that the show was "the most artistically gratifying experience of my life" and said there were "talks happening about taking this show on the road."

Trump critic Matt Taibbi facing backlash over Russia memoir

Little Weasel

Matt Taibbi, a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, is facing backlash over a 2000 memoir he co-authored.  (Penguin Random House)

Rolling Stone magazine journalist Matt Taibbi won a lot of praise from the anti-Trump crowd earlier this year, when he released a book titled “Insane Clown President.”

But now many of those admirers may be wondering who the real clown is.

After receiving backlash over a 2000 memoir that details his past behavior toward women, Taibbi now says the book was a fictional “satire.”
Taibbi abruptly canceled his scheduled appearance at a humanities festival in Chicago on Saturday after negative reaction to an interview he recently gave to an NPR reporter.
According to Reuters, NPR asked Taibbi about the memoir he co-authored, called “The Exile: Sex, Drugs and Libel in the New Russia.”
The book details the exploits of Taibbi, 47, and another staffer while they worked for an English-language newspaper in Russia.
The memoir includes anecdotes in which Taibbi and co-author Mark Ames seem to have mistreated – possibly even assaulted – some women they encountered in Russia, Reuters reported.
According to an excerpt published by the Chicago Reader, Taibbi and Ames refer to attractive Russian women as being “usually available to the highest bidder,” and often willing to engage in “condomless sex.”
But in a Facebook post last week, Taibbi wrote that the memoir was really fictional and that his intent was to poke fun at the idea of Americans living in Russia.
“I regret many editorial decisions that I made back then, and putting my name as a co-author on a book that used cruel and misogynistic language to describe many people and women in particular,” Taibbi wrote. “I hope readers can forgive my poor judgment at that time.”
Co-author Ames also posted that the book was fictional.
“I never raped, harassed, assaulted anyone, and it sickens me that I’m dragged into having to make this sort of denial,” Ames wrote, according to Reuters.
The Chicago Reader’s Aimee Levitt, however, notes that Twitter users have pointed out that the book contains a note at the beginning, saying it was nonfictional.
“To fail to acknowledge Taibbi's earlier work is to say that what he and Ames wrote about doing didn't matter, how those women felt didn't matter, and, by extension, to say we don't matter, and you, our female readers, don't matter,” Levitt writes. “But we do. And you do.”

NFL players seek meeting with Goodell, McNair, Kaepernick

The NFL  Should Move Permanently To London.

The NFL Players Coalition is seeking a meeting with, from left, Commissioner Roger Goodell, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair and free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

An NFL team owner’s recent “inmates running the prison” remark has prompted a group of the league’s players to call for a meeting Monday to clear the air.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that a panel called the Players Coalition has requested a meeting Monday in Philadelphia with league Commissioner Roger Goodell, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, and free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

With the Frost App, you can freeze a lost debit card and unfreeze a found one just as quickly—putting account security in the palm of your hand.

It wasn’t immediately clear if all parties had agreed to attend.
Meanwhile, ESPN reported Saturday that the Houston Texans players were planning to stage an unspecified protest against McNair's remarks prior to Sunday's game against the Seahawks in Seattle.
“Many players have been deeply troubled by the disturbing comments made by Texans' owner Bob McNair,” the Players Coalition said in a statement. “It is ironic that such a quote would emerge in the midst of an ongoing struggle to highlight injustices suffered by people of color, including our nation's deeply flawed approach to criminal justice and inhumane treatment of imprisoned people.”
McNair has apologized twice since making what he described as a “very regretful comment” during a recent league meeting about players’ national anthem protests. The comment was published in ESPN The Magazine.
But McNair insisted afterward that he wasn’t referring to the players as “inmates” when he said, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.” Instead, he said, he was describing the relationship between team owners and the league office in New York.
Nevertheless, in a league on edge over race-related matters -- sparked in large part by Kaepernick’s 2016 protests against American society’s treatment of people of color – the “inmates” remark wasn’t accepted well.
Last season Kaepernick, who was with the San Francisco 49ers, began kneeling during the national anthem before games, saying he was protesting police killings of African-Americans. But many critics argued that protesting during the anthem was disrespectful to the nation and especially the members of the U.S. military.
After President Donald Trump made a veiled reference to Kaepernick as a “son of a bitch” during a September speech in Alabama, more players joined the protest – even though Kaepernick was out of the league by then.
In their statement, the players asserted that McNair’s remark suggested that some league officials were not taking their concerns seriously.
“As long as the prevailing reality of our league includes a culture where owners feel such behavior and language is permissible, our cause will continue to be stifled and progress will remain elusive,” the statement said. “This isn't about being a player or a club owner - but basic human decency.”
According to ESPN, the Players Coalition is led by Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, retired wide receiver Anquan Boldin and other players who are engaged in community activism.

Speculation swirls amid reports Mueller has filed charges in Russia-Trump associates probe

Speculation swirled Sunday awaiting the announcement of possible charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between Russia and members of the Trump presidential campaign, as his tactics have been called into question.

The charges being filed by a grand jury was reported first by CNN and the Wall Street Journal, which said anyone charged will be taken into custody Monday. However, the charges have been sealed by a federal judge. So whoever is charged and whether the charges are criminal remains unclear.

The possible charges come as Mueller's tactics have been called into question.
During a raid by the FBI in July of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's Virginia home,  a source close to the investigation told Fox News at the time the scope of the search was "heavy-handed, designed to intimidate."
Andrew Weissmann, the prosecutor tapped by Mueller to help lead the investigation, has also received criticism. Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor recently wrote about Weissman in a piece titled, “Judging by Mueller's staffing choices, he may not be very interested in justice.”
Powell accused Weissmann, once the director of the Enron Task Force, of “prosecutorial overreach” in past cases and said it could signal what’s to come for President Trump and his associates in the Russia probe.
“What was supposed to have been a search for Russia’s cyberspace intrusions into our electoral politics has morphed into a malevolent mission targeting friends, family and colleagues of the president,” Powell wrote in The Hill. “The Mueller investigation has become an all-out assault to find crimes to pin on them — and it won’t matter if there are no crimes to be found. This team can make some.”
Powell cited several cases where Weissmann won convictions that were later overturned.
During a Saturday appearance on Fox News, former Department of Justice official Robert Driscoll told anchor Leland Vittert it’s possible the indictment might not even be directly tied to Russian collusion.
“Think back to the Clinton years,” Driscoll said. “The Whitewater investigation was about an Arkansas land deal. And it ended up being about something else completely.”
Driscoll added, “Robert Mueller is free to look at taxes, is free to look at lobbying filings, foreign agent filings. Things like that could all be involved that wouldn’t necessarily touch on the issue of Russia collusion that everyone seems focused on politically.”
Speculation has focused on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as likely targets.
Manafort has been the subject of a longstanding investigation into his dealings in the Ukraine several years ago -- for which he did not file as a foreign agent until June 2017.
Federal agents, reportedly in search of evidence related to the Russia investigation, this summer raided his northern Virginia home. He also was reportedly wiretapped by investigators before and after the 2016 presidential election.
Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was a Trump surrogate during the campaign and briefly served as national security adviser before being fired for failing to fully disclose his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then-Russian ambassador to the United States.
The FBI also secured approval from a federal court to monitor the communications of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
On Saturday, Page released a statement to Fox News in response to questions about whether he or his lawyers have been notified about any charges.
Page said in the statement that he has worked with the executive branch and Congress since being contacted in March. But he also suggested that revelations about the Democratic Party having helped finance a dossier to smear Trump has tainted any Russia probe. 
“In terms of ‘charges', I can’t even imagine what might even be considered now that the false evidence from the politically-motivated, big-money-financed Dodgy Dossier that started this extrajudicial disaster has instead been so thoroughly exposed as a complete sham,” Carter wrote in the statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported at least one person could be taken into custody as early as Monday.
Richard Hibey, an attorney for Manafort, told Fox News on Friday that neither he nor any of his colleagues representing Manafort had been informed of any indictment of their client.
Manafort has been the subject of a longstanding investigation into his dealings in the Ukraine several years ago – for which he did not file as a foreign agent until June 2017. In addition to his home being raided, Manafort was reportedly wiretapped by investigators before and after the 2016 presidential election.
A retired Army lieutenant general, Flynn served as a Trump surrogate during the campaign and briefly served as national security adviser before being fired over his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, who was Russia's ambassador to the United States.
Mueller has reportedly probed whether Flynn was involved in a private effort to get former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's emails from Russian hackers.
NBC reported Saturday that Mueller will make public an indictment on Monday.
The Justice Department’s special counsel’s office declined to comment on the reports of filed charges. There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Trump has denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and condemned investigations into the matter as “a witch hunt”.

Clinging Democrat Cartoons

Mostly Democrats run the Colleges.

President Trump Blasts Tom Steyer After Impeachment Ad Campaign

Tom Steyer

October 27, 2017

OAN Newsroom

President Trump is blasting hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, after he launched a national campaign calling for the President’s Impeachment.
In a tweet early Friday morning, the President called Steyer unhinged, adding the billionaire has been fighting his administration’s agenda from the beginning.
Steyer’s advertisement began running on multiple media outlets last week, urging viewers to call their members of congress to bring articles of impeachment.

Conservative website The Free Beacon funded initial Fusion GPS Trump opposition effort

Paul Singer 

The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website funded by a major Republican donor, was the first to hire the firm that conducted opposition research on Donald J. Trump — including a salacious dossier describing ties between Mr. Trump and the Russian government — website representatives told the House Intelligence Committee on Friday.

According to people briefed on the conversation, the website hired the firm, Fusion GPS, in October 2015 to unearth damaging information about several Republican presidential candidates, including Mr. Trump. But The Free Beacon told the firm to stop doing research on Mr. Trump in May 2016, as Mr. Trump was clinching the Republican nomination.

In April 2016, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee also retained Fusion GPS to research any possible connections between Mr. Trump, his businesses, his campaign team and Russia. Working for them, Fusion GPS retained a respected former British spy named Christopher Steele.He went on to produce a series of memos that alleged a broad conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to influence the 2016 election on behalf of Mr. Trump. The memos, which became known as the “Steele dossier,” also contained unsubstantiated accounts of encounters between Mr. Trump and Russian prostitutes, as well as real estate deals that were intended as bribes.

The Free Beacon is funded in large part by the New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, according to an associate of Mr. Singer. The associate said Mr. Singer, a leading Republican donor, was not aware of the dossier or Mr. Steele’s involvement until January, when BuzzFeed published the dossier.

The Free Beacon has a history of employing so-called opposition research firms to assist in news articles critical of targets ranging from Mr. Trump to Mrs. Clinton.

The opposition research project that ultimately produced the controversial Trump-Russia dossier was initially backed by the conservative Washington Free Beacon website, it was revealed late Friday.

Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti and chairman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement that the publication had retained Fusion GPS to "provide research on multiple candidates in the [2016] Republican presidential primary," as well as Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Continetti and Goldfarb denied that the Free Beacon "had contact with, knowledge of, or provided payment for any work performed by Christopher Steele," the former British spy who compiled the now-infamous file. The dossier, which was published by BuzzFeed in January, contained unverified and lurid allegations about dirt the Russians had on then-candidate Donald Trump and his campaign’s possible connections to Moscow.
Free Beacon's connection with Fusion GPS was first reported by the Washington Examiner. According to the Examiner's report, lawyers for the Free Beacon told the House Intelligence Committee that the website funded the research between the fall of 2015 and the spring of 2016.
At some point after that, Fusion GPS was retained by Mark Elias, an attorney representing the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. Fusion GPS hired Steele after the Free Beacon left the project.
Committee spokesman Jack Langer told Fox News that the Free Beacon "has issued a statement asserting that it had no involvement with Christopher Steele or the dossier he compiled from Russian sources. The Beacon has agreed to cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee to help the Committee verify this assertion."
Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid more than $9 million to Elias’ firm, Perkins Coie, which, in turn, retained the political consultants who commissioned the research.
But it’s unclear how much of that $9 million went toward the dossier. And it’s unclear who exactly at the Clinton campaign and DNC might have known how it was being spent.
In their statement, Continetti and Goldfarb denied having any knowledge "of the relationship between Fusion GPS and the Democratic National Committee, Perkins Coie, and the Clinton campaign."
"We stand by our reporting, and we do not apologize for our methods," they added. "We consider it our duty to report verifiable information, not falsehoods or slander, and we believe that commitment has been well demonstrated by the quality of the journalism that we produce."
The Washington Free Beacon was initially founded as a project of the conservative nonprofit group Center for American Freedom, as an alternative to liberal news sites run by progressive nonprofits.
The Center for American Freedom was organized as a 501(c)4 and did not reveal its donors, but a person close to Goldfarb said Singer was an early backer of the project. Later, the Free Beacon was spun-off into a for-profit website.

Goldfarb was deputy communications director on John McCain's presidential campaign.

Singer has been a major player in Republican politics in recent years and maintains ties to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and several powerful Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.
A representative to Singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Singer was backing Rubio's presidential bid at the time of the Free Beacon's involvement. Rubio's team insisted this week that they had no knowledge of the dossier. Singer's close associate Dan Senor also served as Speaker Ryan's chief adviser during the 2012 president campaign.