Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server among ‘gravest’ offenses to transparency, judge says

Federal Judge Royce Lamberth says Judicial Watch should be allowed to demand documents and additional testimony into whether Hillary Clinton's use of a private email system was a deliberate effort to thwart the Freedom of Information Act; reaction from Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.

A conservative group won a court victory this week when a federal judge ordered more fact-finding in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
In his ruling Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth assailed Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state as “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.”
Conservative group Judicial Watch had filed a Freedom of information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State and Justice departments, alleging that Clinton’s email practices represented a deliberate effort to violate the FOIA, Politico reported.
On Friday, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton praised Lamberth’s ruling, telling Fox News it showed the court was “not terribly convinced” that former FBI Director James Comey adequately investigated Clinton’s use of the private server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
As a result of the judge’s ruling, “Some people like Mrs. Clinton potentially will have to answer further questions,” Fitton said.
On Thursday, Lamberth ordered the State and Justice departments to work with Judicial Watch on a discovery plan to determine whether Clinton used the server to circumvent FOIA requirements, the Hill reported.
President Trump and Republicans have repeatedly slammed Clinton’s use of the private email server, arguing in part that the practice potentially placed classified government information at risk.
Clinton was found to have deleted emails that she said were personal and not related to her State Department work. Comey announced during the 2016 presidential campaign that Clinton’s handling of emails was “extremely careless” but did not warrant criminal charges.

Trump condemns 'disgraceful' 9th Circuit, dubbing it rubber-stamp for his foes

In lengthy and fiery comments to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, President Trump excoriated the liberal-leaning Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a "disgrace" hours after an Obama-appointed federal judge there issued a nationwide injunction against his newly announced emergency restrictions on asylum claims.
The president vowed immediate action and said he was "going to put in a major complaint" about the appellate court, based in San Francisco, without elaborating.
He also broadly criticized the increasingly common practice of individual federal judges bringing unilateral halts to executive branch policy, which has already happened more than two dozen times under the Trump administration. The president specifically cited the Ninth Circuit's injunction against his ban on travel from several Muslim-majority nations, which was ultimately ruled a constitutional exercise of presidential authority this year by the Supreme Court.
"You go to Ninth Circuit and it's a disgrace, and I'm going to put in a major complaint. Because you cannot win, if you're us, a case in the Ninth Circuit," Trump said. "Every case gets filed in the Ninth Circuit. ... We get beaten, and then we end up having to go to the Supreme Court -- like the travel ban -- and we won. We're gonna have to look at that."
He added: "That's not law. That's not what this country stands for."
When pardoning the National Thanksgiving Turkey earlier in the day, Trump joked, "Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee your pardon will not be enjoined by the Ninth Circuit. Always happens."
U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar, who was nominated by President Obama in 2012 to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, issued a temporary restraining order late Monday against Trump's plan to refuse asylum to immigrants who cross the southern border illegally if they do not arrive at a port of entry.
TRUMP SNUBS HARRIS, FEINSTEIN AND APPOINTS SEVERAL REPUBLICAN JUDGES TO NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
"Whatever the scope of the President's authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden," Tigar wrote.
Trump took aim at Tigar in his comments on Tuesday and predicted he would win an appeal in the case at the Supreme Court, where conservatives command a narrow majority. Republicans have argued that presidents have plenary authority over immigration, and can close the southern border with Mexico for national security reasons if they wanted.

"You cannot win, if you're us, a case in the Ninth Circuit."
— President Trump

"This was an Obama judge, and I'll tell you what, it's not going to happen like this anymore," Trump said. "Everybody that wants to sue the U.S. -- almost -- they file their case in the Ninth Circuit, and it means an automatic loss. No matter what you do, no matter how good your case is. And the Ninth Circuit is really something we have to take a look at, because it's not fair."
He added: "People should not be allowed to immediately run to this very friendly circuit and file their case. It's a disgrace, in my opinion, what happens with the Ninth Circuit. We will win that case in the Supreme Court of the United States."

Demonstrators with signs that read in Spanish: "No more Caravans", and "Let's save Tijuana, no more caravans," stand under an statue of indigenous Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc to protest the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sunday. (AP)

During his confirmation hearings earlier this year, Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was asked by Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy about the constitutionality of individual federal judges issuing nationwide injunctions against presidential action -- a phenomenon that has attracted scrutiny after district court judges unilaterally brought temporary halts to Trump's travel ban and other initiatives. Kavanaugh demurred, saying he could not discuss potential pending issues before the Supreme Court. (Justice Clarence Thomas had suggested taking action against the injunctions in a dissent this year.)
Separately, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in October that the 28 nationwide federal injunctions issued by individual judges during the Trump administration so far constitute an unprecedented "judicial encroachment."
WATCH: MIGRANT CARAVAN CLASHES WITH RESIDENTS OF TIJUANA
"It is emphatically not the duty of the courts to manage the government or to pass judgment on every policy action the Executive branch takes," Sessions said. "In the first 175 years of this Republic, not a single judge issued one of these orders."
Trump's new asylum policy was designed to prevent many members of the Central American migrant caravans -- many of whom have arrived at the U.S. border and clashed with locals in Mexican border towns -- from illegally flooding into the U.S., and was intended to instead direct them to legal crossings for expedited and orderly asylum reviews.

Central American migrants, part of the Central American caravan trying to reach the United States, continue their journey as they prepare to leave Mexicali, Mexico, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. Tensions have built as nearly 3,000 migrants from the caravan poured into Tijuana in recent days after more than a month on the road, and with many more months likely ahead of them while they seek asylum in the U.S. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A joint statement by Homeland Security and the Justice Department said the Supreme Court had already shown the president had the legal right to restrict asylum.
"Our asylum system is broken, and it is being abused by tens of thousands of meritless claims every year," the departments said. "We look forward to continuing to defend the Executive Branch's legitimate and well-reasoned exercise of its authority to address the crisis at our southern border."
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, speaking Tuesday at the border, vowed to appeal the Ninth Circuit's ruling immediately.  "Let me be clear: this court from a chamber in San Francisco has replaced the president’s judgment with regard to the fully delegated authority to determine what is a true national security threat to our nation’s sovereignty," Nielsen said, arguing that the ruling will "unequivocally make the United States less secure."
"We will follow all laws and judicial rulings, but we will also be appealing it as quickly as possible," she added. "I have no doubt we will be successful."
Nielsen added that DHS has confirmed that there are at least 500 criminals and known gang members in the caravan, and that "most of the caravan members" plan to make "frivolous" claims of asylum in the hopes of disappearing while their claims are pending.
"Wanting a job is not a basis for asylum under U.S. law," Nielsen said. "Wanting to be united with your family is not a basis for asylum under U.S. law."
WATCH: TUCKER CARLSON DISCUSSES WHY MIGRANT CARAVAN IS RECEIVING A HOSTILE RECEPTION IN TIJUANA
The legal standard for obtaining asylum in the U.S. is strict, and ordinarily requires that people from foreign countries demonstrate they face serious, legitimate risks of persecution by their government if they remain in their homeland.
Not all forms of persecution are relevant for asylum consideration. Under federal law, applicants must demonstrate that their risk for persecution is based on their national origin, race, religion, political views or membership in a particularly vulnerable social class -- a category that was expanded in 2014, when the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that domestic abuse could form the basis for an asylum claim. The Trump administration reversed that expansion this year.
Around 3,000 people from the first of the caravans have arrived in Tijuana, Mexico, across the border from San Diego, California. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday that it closed off northbound traffic for several hours at the San Ysidro crossing to install movable, wire-topped barriers after reports that some migrants were planning to rush through the lanes.

Central American migrants, part of the Central American caravan trying to reach the United States, continue their journey as they leave Mexicali, Mexico, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. Tensions have built as nearly 3,000 migrants from the caravan poured into Tijuana in recent days after more than a month on the road, and with many more months likely ahead of them while they seek asylum in the U.S. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

As of Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said it had referred 107 people to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — people who had sought asylum between official crossings since Trump's order went into effect. Officials didn't say whether those people's cases were still progressing through other, more difficult avenues left to them after the proclamation.
MIGRANT CARAVAN JUST OUTSIDE U.S. IS HARBORING AT LEAST 500 CRIMINALS, DHS SAYS, AS CARAVAN CLASHES WITH MEXICAN LOCALS
More than 500 criminals are traveling with the migrant caravan that’s massed on the other side of a San Diego border crossing, homeland security officials said Monday afternoon.
The asylum clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act says that anyone who arrives to the U.S. may apply for asylum based on a well-founded fear of persecution, regardless of where they arrive. Tigar said Trump's policy flatly contradicted that law passed by Congress.

Central American migrants look through the border structure expecting top make an illegal crossing into the U.S., seen from the Mexican side where the border meets the Pacific Ocean, Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. As thousands of migrants of asylum-seekers converge on the doorstep of the United States, what they won't find are armed American soldiers standing guard, that's because U.S. military troops are prohibited from carrying out law enforcement duties. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

But the Executive Branch has considerable authority in determining the scope of potential asylum claims. Earlier this year, Sessions used his authority as head of asylum courts to rule that domestic violence and gang-related attacks no longer necessarily can form the basis of an asylum claim.
TRUMP DOJ SHARPLY LIMITS ASYLUM CLAIMS, SAYING SYSTEM IS OVERWHELMED WITH FRAUD
Declaring that his decision "restores sound principles of asylum and long-standing principles of immigration law," Sessions indicated that the move would help reduce the backlog of asylum claims that has risen sharply in recent years -- with many of the claims illegitimate.
"The vast majority of the current asylum claims are not valid," Sessions said in remarks this summer. "For the last five years, only 20 percent of claims have been found to be meritorious after a hearing before an immigration judge."
Sessions added that the system is simply overwhelmed with claims, and that bogus applications are crowding out legitimate ones.

Jonathan Turley: Michael Cohen made a big mistake thinking he could avoid prison by turning on Trump

President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen – who prides himself on being a street-wise fixer and hustler – ran into a problem he couldn't fix Friday when he was denied the "get out of jail free" card he desperately sought in return for admitting his crimes.
Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced next week for his guilty pleas to multiple counts of business and tax fraud. He also pleaded guilty to making an excessive contribution to the Trump campaign and to making false statements to Congress regarding Trump’s business dealings in Russia.
Federal prosecutors in New York City and Special Counsel Robert Mueller – who is investigating whether President Trump and/or members of his presidential election campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election – filed sentencing memos Friday recommending prison time for the former Trump lawyer.
According to a sentencing memo from the New York prosecutors, Cohen built his entire professional life through a “pattern of deception” and unrivaled greed.
Cohen’s belated effort to cooperate with prosecutors without a formal agreement was an effort to play Mueller the way he played Trump – making himself useful in the hope of becoming indispensable.
But it looks like this time Cohen will come up one hustle short.
In the 1961 movie classic “The Hustler,” a young pool shark named Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) sought to topple legendary veteran Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) in a high-stakes pool game. A smug Fast Eddie bragged to Minnesota Fats that he “didn’t leave much” on the table, but the seasoned Minnesota Fats dryly responded “you left enough.”
By declaring himself a redemptive sinner, Cohen clearly thought that he had left little on the table to deny him a zero jail time sentence. Earlier, he decided to give up on a chance for a pardon from President Trump and made the play for Mueller.
Cohen publicly implicated Trump in campaign finance violations in the payment of hush money to women Trump allegedly had affairs with (affairs Trump denies).
Cohen apparently thought that delivering on Trump would wipe away a lifetime of deception and fraud. Instead, prosecutors grudgingly accepted a modest reduction in sentencing, but still demanded a “substantial term of imprisonment.”
Cohen is now looking at the loss of this law license, business and freedom. He could spend as much as five years in prison for what the government described as “Cohen’s extensive, deliberate, and serious criminal conduct.”
Cohen ultimately lacked two essential things to make this hustle work.
First and foremost, he lacked credibility. In an earlier column, I called Cohen’s play for no jail time a plea of leniency bordering on lunacy.

Cohen is now looking at the loss of this law license, business and freedom. He could spend as much as five years in prison for what the government described as “Cohen’s extensive, deliberate, and serious criminal conduct.”

As predicted in the column, the prosecutors played back Cohen’s own words when he threatened journalists, students, and others who were deemed as threats to Trump. For example, in 2015 Cohen threatened Daily Beast reporter Tim Mack for running a story critical of Trump.
On a recorded call, Cohen tells Mack: “Mark my words for it, I will make sure that you and I meet one day over in the courthouse and I will take you for every penny you still don’t have, and I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know. Do not even think about going where I know you’re planning on going. And that’s my warning for the day.”
Cohen then goes full mob heavy and warns the reporter to “tread very f------ lightly because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f------ disgusting. … Do you understand me? Don’t think you can hide behind your pen because it’s not going to happen. … I’m more than happy to discuss it with your attorney and with your legal counsel because motherf----- you’re going to need it.”
Prosecutors clearly did not buy the months of public spin by Cohen and his lawyer, Lanny Davis, including raking in almost $180,000 in donations on a GoFundMe page.
The page says: “On July 2, 2018 Michael Cohen declared his independence from Donald Trump and his commitment to tell the truth. .… Michael decided to put his family and his country first. Now Michael needs your financial help.”
On both Fox News and MSNBC, Davis said that Cohen’s moral epiphany came after watching the Helsinki news conference last July in which President Trump appeared to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin in believing Russia’s denial of interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Trump won.
“That shook up Mr. Cohen,” Davis said.
OK, so we are supposed to believe that when President Trump repeated his prior position on Russian interference in 2016 presidential election Cohen suddenly decided that it was time for him to tell the truth about his dealings with a porn star and a Playboy model.
This makes as much sense as mob boss Joe Valachi saying that he decided to flip on the Lucchese crime family after watching “The Sound of Music.”
The prosecutors stated that Cohen’s “description of his actions as arising solely from some ‘personal resolve’ – as opposed to arising from the pendency of criminal charges and the desire for leniency – ignores that Cohen first reached out to meet with (the special counsel) at a time when he knew he was under imminent threat of indictment in this District. As such, any suggestion by Cohen that his meetings with law enforcement reflect a selfless unprompted about-face are overstated.”
Cohen needed a Section 5K1.1 letter. That is what a fully cooperating witness receives when he has a deal with prosecutors. However, prosecutors state that Cohen made the “affirmative decision not to become” a true cooperating witness.
Without that letter, Cohen’s modest reduction in his sentence for cooperation has to be partially or wholly erased by two “enhancements” tied to his status as a lawyer and the sophistication of his fraudulent conduct.
The enhancements could still leave Cohen serving most of the five-year sentence. In other words, even with his cooperation, he still left enough for a “substantial” sentence of prison time.
In what Fast Eddie described as his “Church of the Good Hustler,” the only thing that matters in the end is putting balls in the right pockets. However, hubris is often the ruin of many a good player.
Fast Eddie told Minnesota Fats: “You know, I got a hunch, fat man. I got a hunch it’s me from here on in.”
Like Fast Eddy, Cohen was wrong. It never was his game. It was (and remains) Mueller’s game.

French Yellow Vest protesters tear gassed in violent clashes with riot police in Paris

A demonstrator wearing a yellow vest grimaces through tear gas Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018 in Paris. Crowds of yellow-vested protesters angry at President Emmanuel Macron and France's high taxes tried to march Saturday on the presidential palace, surrounded by exceptional numbers of police bracing for outbreaks of violence after the worst rioting in Paris in decades. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

PARIS - Heavily armed French police deployed tear gas and stun grenades against an army of Yellow Vests gathered in central Paris demanding Emmanuel Macron's head.
Up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered in the center of Paris Saturday morning, where they were met by some 8,000 police officers and at least 12 armored vehicles. More than 250 people have been arrested.
"We are not here to destroy Paris, we are here to tell Macron we are f--king fed up," said one protester before the clashes with the police began, adding that the people are protesting ever-increasing taxes on the working class.
French police, wearing riot gear, tried to stop and search protesters entering the Champs Elysees, but such efforts were eventually abandoned with the flow of thousands of demonstrators.
Police deployed tear gas and stun grenades after getting cornered, with some agitators starting to throw plastic bottles.
FRENCH STUDENTS JOIN MOUNTING FURY AFTER VIDEO EMERGES OF SCHOOL KIDS ON THEIR KNEES IN FRONT OF RIOT POLICE

Protesters threw back the tear gas and the police, only to escalate the clashes and pushback throw the authorities.
(AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

Protesters threw back the tear gas at the police, only to escalate the clashes.
Many protesters slammed the French media for portraying the protests as led by violent agitators and for siding with Macron's government.
"We are not black bloc [black clad anarchists], we are ordinary people voicing our anger," said a protester who did not want to be identified.
Shops and tourist destinations, including the Eiffel Tower, were to be closed and soccer matches were canceled as authorities looked to maintain order.
The U.S. Embassy requested that Americans in the French capital "keep a low profile and avoid crowds," the report said.
As a precaution, nearly 300 people were arrested ahead of Saturday's expected disturbances, the report said. Just a week earlier some 200 cars were torched and the famed Arc de Triomphe was vandalized as protesters expressed opposition to Macron's government, according to the report.
Rising fuel prices triggered the initial protests, but some officials claimed that "ultra-violent" demonstrators took advantage of the situation, according to the BBC.
Meanwhile, Macron seemingly has gone missing as his government tries to curb the chaos caused by his unpopular gas-tax plan.
Macron swept into power in 2017, having emerged out of obscurity less than a year earlier. Espousing his own brand of centrism, he has presented himself on the world stage as a spokesman for multilateralism and internationalism against a nationalist wave moving through Europe.
While he has regularly been seen on world stages, including the United Nations and the U.S. Congress, his absence has been conspicuous this week, choosing to keep away from the limelight as his government attempts to deal with protesters' concerns.

James Comey Cartoons

Major Mueller sentence filings imminent in Manafort, Cohen cases, as Comey girds for testimony before House GOP

Special Counsel Robert Mueller to release Russia probe details as former FBI Director James Comey is scheduled appear before the House Judiciary Committee; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.

A whirlwind week in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russian meddling probe is set for a dramatic triple-threaded conclusion Friday, as fired FBI Director James Comey prepares to testify before House Republicans and prosecutors finalize pivotal sentencing documents on former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
With multiple reports and other indications suggesting the long-running Russia probe that began in May 2017 is nearing its conclusion, Mueller faces court-imposed Friday deadlines to file potentially revealing memos outlining how Manafort allegedly broke his cooperation agreement with the government, as well as how Cohen should be punished for lying to Congress in 2017 about an abandoned Trump real estate project in Moscow.
The planned submissions are set to come just days after Mueller's office submitted a heavily redacted sentencing memorandum indicating that fired national security adviser Michael Flynn had provided "substantial assistance" with several ongoing investigations and recommending no prison time. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani called Mueller's prosecutors "sick puppies" in the wake of that filing.
Meanwhile, Comey is slated to testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee, after dropping his longshot legal challenge to congressional Republicans' subpoena earlier this week when they agreed to make public a transcript of his remarks.
Fox News has confirmed that a key focus of questioning will be Comey's decision to write the July 2016 statement recommending against filing criminal charges in the Hillary Clinton email probe before the former secretary of state was even interviewed, as well as the apparent political bias demonstrated in a slew of text messages and leaks by top FBI officials.
CLINTON FOUNDATION WHISTLEBLOWERS COME FOWARD WITH HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF EVIDENCE, GOP REP SAYS
Republicans are also expected to ask about the comparably favorable treatment afforded by the FBI to Clinton advisers. In October, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said he was "shocked" and "dumbfounded" when he learned that FBI had granted immunity to former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills during its investigation into the use of Clinton's server, according to a court transcript of his remarks.
House Overight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told host Shannon Bream on "Fox News @ Night" Thursday that Republicans will additionally focus on potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court abuse by the FBI.
On four occasions, the FBI told the FISA court as part of its application to surveil former Trump aide Carter Page that the agency "did not believe" former British spy Christopher Steele was the direct source for a Yahoo News article implicating former Page in Russian collusion.
But London court documents later revealed that Steele -- who worked for a firm hired by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee (DNC) -- was, in fact, the source for the Yahoo News article that the FBI suggested provided an independent basis to monitor Page. Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing despite the lengthy surveillance, and he is now suing the DNC for defamation.
"The FISA abuses and whether or not the world's premier law enforcement agencies should be relying -- even in a in a marijuana case -- on information that you have not vetted corroborated or contradicted" were among the "salient" issues, Gowdy said. "So what is the threshold for the reliability and credibility of the information?"
He added that he wants to ask Comey on Friday whether the agency later tried to corroborate facts in its FISA application to surveil Page.
"The FBI had a criminal investigation into a presidential candidate, and then less than a month after that ended, they launched a counter-intelligence investigation into the campaign of the other major presidential candidate," Gowdy told Bream. "So that's a lot of power that we have given an entity -- it's not too much to ask for the former head of that entity to come explain to Congress the decisions made and not made during the relevant time period."
Trump fired Comey in May 2017, prompting Comey to leak memos documenting statements by the president in which he purportedly demanded Comey's loyalty and suggested Comey curtail the investigation into Flynn.
FBI INACCURATELY SUGGESTED TO FISA COURT THAT YAHOO ARTICLE PROVIDED INDEPENDENT BASIS TO SURVEIL TRUMP AIDE
The leaked memos led to Mueller's appointment, and fueled Republicans' claims that Comey was unfit to lead the FBI.
The president made clear early Thursday that the pending developments were on his mind, characterizing Mueller's investigation as "Presidential Harassment" that is undermining his poll numbers.
For Manafort, the sentencing document requested by Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson in Washington, D.C., could be electronically filed at any time on Friday. Mueller's team said in a court filing late last month that Manafort -- who avoided a trial in Jackson's courtroom in September by pleading guilty and vowing to cooperate with prosecutors -- had instead lied to the FBI and Justice Department "on a variety of subject matters."
FLYNN SENTENCING MEMO SAYS HE'S PROVIDED 'SUBSTANTIAL' HELP WITH ONGOING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Manafort's defense team, which has rejected prosecutors' claims that he violated the terms of the plea agreement, will have two weeks to respond to Mueller's filing on Friday. Jackson could schedule a hearing before she rules on whether to throw out Manafort's plea deal -- which could expose Manafort to further charges. Jackson has set a tentative sentencing date of Mar. 5.
Manafort was convicted on several bank and fraud charges in a separate Virginia federal case in August overseen by Judge T.S. Ellis III. A sentencing date of Feb. 8 has been set in that case.

FILE - In this May 23 file photo, Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the Federal District Court after a hearing in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Manafort could have yet more involvement in other ongoing federal probes. A separate investigation referred to DOJ prosecutors by Mueller earlier this year into possible criminal activity by Clinton-linked Washington insider Tony Podesta and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig is reportedly heating up, as prosecutors increasingly reach out to potential witnesses.
Podesta's firm previously did work for Manafort, raising the possibility that the ex-Trump campaign chairman will be involved in yet another potential prosecution. Podesta was offered so-called "use immunity" by Mueller this summer that would have compelled him to testify in Manafort's planned D.C. trial, which did not occur as scheduled because of Manafort's plea deal.
"Use immunity" is a limited form of immunity that only protects Podesta from prosecution based on his own statements on the witness stand. Even if Podesta ultimately provides testimony, he would still be open to potential prosecution based on materials that prosecutors might uncover independently from his testimony.
SHOCK COHEN GUILTY PLEA COULD LEAD TO OTHER UNUSUAL PROSECUTIONS FOR LYING TO CONGRESS
Meanwhile, U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley has imposed a 5 p.m. EST deadline for both Mueller and prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to hand-deliver separate sentencing submissions on Cohen, the former Trump attorney and right-hand man who has pleaded guilty in cases handled by both offices.
In the Mueller probe, Cohen pleaded guilty late last month to lying to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Russia. And in August, Cohen pleaded guilty in a separate case that Mueller referred to prosecutors in the Southern District of New York because it fell outside the scope of his congressional mandate to probe possible Russia collusion.
In the August plea, Cohen admitted to violating federal campaign finance laws by arranging hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal in the weeks leading up to the election “at the direction” of then-candidate Trump.
In all, Cohen pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution.
MUELLER-REFERRED PROBE INTO CLINTON-LINKED PODESTA GROUP HEATS UP: REPORT
But legal experts were split on the significance of the plea, because campaign finance laws are notoriously murky, and Cohen's plea does not necessarily indicate that prosecutors could have successfully prosecuted a campaign finance case against Cohen or Trump. Cohen was also accused of violating numerous other banking and fraud laws, and could have pleaded guilty to the campaign finance charge to lighten his potential sentence, experts said.

Michael Cohen leaves Federal court, in New York. (Associated Press)

TRUMP ASSOCIATE ROGER STONE TO PLEAD FIFTH TO AVOID TESTIFYING BEFORE SENATE JUDICIARY CMTE
And a former chairman for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has said that campaign finance laws are often an unfair lose-lose proposition for candidates, which is why they are often pursued as civil matters, rather than criminal ones.
"Suppose Trump had used campaign funds to pay off these women," former FEC chairman Bradley Smith wrote in The Washington Post. "Does anyone much doubt that many of the same people now after Trump for using corporate funds, and not reporting them as campaign expenditures, would then be claiming that Trump had illegally diverted campaign funds to 'personal use?'"
Trump has played down Cohen's pleas, saying in a series of tweets that campaign finance laws are rarely prosecuted at the criminal level, and are often handled as civil matters -- unless politics gets involved.
"Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime," Trump wrote on Twitter in August. "President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!"
That was an apparent reference to a nearly $400,000 fine issued in 2013 by the Federal Election Commission against Obama's 2008 presidential campaign for a slew of administrative violations.
SEVEN HIGHLIGHTS FROM BOMBSHELL DOJ WATCHDOG REPORT INTO FBI, DOJ MISCONDUCT
And after Cohen's plea last month, the president swiftly fired back, blasting Cohen as a "weak person," and claiming his former attorney was "lying" to get a reduced sentence. Cohen is set for sentencing the morning of Dec. 12.
Other potential former Trump associates and prominent conservatives seemingly remain in the crosshairs. At a speech at the American Priority Conference in Washington, D.C., GOP operative Roger Stone said he was "proud" to have Trump's public support as he vowed to never testify against the president.
"Few Americans, I think, could withstand the kind of legal proctological examination that I have been under for the last two and a half years," Stone said. "Mr. Mueller and his strike force have examined every aspect of my personal life. My family life. My social life. My business life. My political life. My sex life. FBI agents have been seen rummaging through my garbage. My cleaning lady was interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Yet I ask this question," he added. "What does any of that have to do with Russia collusion?"
Stone this week invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to testify and produce documents before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a closed-door setting.
Raising an objection similar in some ways to Comey's concerns about offering testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Stone said he wanted to avoid a "replay" of the situation in September 2017, when he testified privately before the House Intelligence Committee but remains unable to see a transcript of his own remarks.
"I will not testify unless I am allowed to testify in public so the American people can hear every word," Stone said to applause. He said the Russia probe is focused not on collusion, but on "perjury traps and trumped-up process crimes."
Late Thursday, Trump tweeted a comment on Fox Business Network by former Infowars editor Jerome Corsi, who has alleged that Mueller is attempting to bully him into providing false testimony in the Russia probe.
The president also again derided Mueller's team as "17 Angry Dems," referring to prosecutors in the Special Counsel's office who donated to Democratic candidates.
"He is not alone,  Trump wrote. "17 Angry Dems. People forced to lie. Sad!"

Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott blasts NFL after fine for post-TD donation to Salvation Army

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (21) scores a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints in the first half of an NFL football game, in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Nov. 29. (Associated Press)

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott fired back at the NFL after being fined more than $13,000 for dropping a $21 donation into a Salvation Army kettle after scoring a touchdown during the team’s Thanksgiving Day victory over the Washington Redskins.
The league deemed Elliott’s touchdown celebration unsportsmanlike and docked him $13,369, the Dallas Morning News reported.
"I mean, I didn't really expect a fine,'' Elliott told reporters Wednesday. "Really don't care about the fine. It's all for a good cause. "We're trying to bring awareness to the Salvation Army. If the NFL doesn't like that, then, that's on them. I'll pay their little fine.''
Elliott said he plans to appeal the fine, which he called ridiculous.
"A lot of things they do define ridiculous,'' Elliott said of the NFL. "But I mean, that's not really any of my business, not really anything I can change so I'm just going to keep being focused on this season, keep being focused on leading this team and focused on going out there and winning ballgames.''
Later in the game, following a touchdown by Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, Elliott picked up his teammate and dropped him in the Salvation Army bucket. Both later donated $21,000 each to the group.
Money collected from fines goes to programs for former players, the paper reported.

Marc Thiessen: China tried to strike at Trump – and missed the mark entirely

"When you strike at a king you must kill him," Ralph Waldo Emerson once said. Well, this year China tried to strike at President Trump for daring to launch a trade war with Beijing -- and missed the mark entirely.
After Trump imposed massive tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this year, Beijing responded in June with what appeared to be a clever strategy: targeting retaliatory tariffs against Trump voters in rural farming communities across the United States. China is the largest importer of U.S. soybeans, buying $14 billion of them in 2017. Three of the biggest soybean-producing states, Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota, not only voted for Trump, but also in the 2018 midterms had Democratic senators, Joe Donnell, Ind., Claire McCaskill, Mo., and Heidi Heitkamp, N.D., who were up for reelection. If Beijing imposed painful tariffs on soybeans, Chinese leaders likely calculated, they could create a rift between Trump and rural voters who put him in the White House, give Senate Democrats a boost and force Trump to back down.
But Trump did not back down. He countered by announcing $12 billion in aid for farmers, threatened to increase his tariffs on Chinese goods and asked his rural base to stick with him while he faced down the economic predators in Beijing. That is exactly what they did. Far from abandoning the president, rural voters hurt by Chinese tariffs rallied around Trump and the GOP. They threw Donnelly, Heitkamp and McCaskill out of office, allowing Republicans to expand their Senate majority. And while Republicans lost control of the House, few of the GOP losses came from rural districts. Competitive rural districts mostly ended up staying Republican; it was the urban-suburban districts that flipped to the Democrats.
China's tariff ploy didn't just fail to sway the 2018 midterms; it actually backfired. The tariffs made the U.S. soybeans that China depends on more expensive, and Beijing soon found that alternative suppliers in South America could not produce enough to meet Chinese demand, leading to shortfalls.
In other words, China went for a kill shot -- and ended up shooting itself in the foot.
That has emboldened Trump in his negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping -- as shown by news this week that a senior executive of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei had been arrested in Vancouver, at the request of the United States, on charges of violating sanctions on Iran. China demanded her release but nonetheless affirmed that it will still observe the 90-day tariff cease-fire Trump and Xi reached during their meeting last week in Buenos Aires -- putting off a scheduled Jan. 1 escalation of U.S. tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods while the two sides negotiate a deal.
Trump has leverage going into those talks. The U.S. economy is booming, while China has just posted its weakest growth in nearly a decade. Moreover, during the Group of 20 meeting in Argentina, Xi saw how Trump has been able to bend his trade rivals to his will, and deliver trade victories for his working-class political base, when he held an elaborate signing ceremony for the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
China will of course be a much tougher adversary than Mexico or Canada. As my American Enterprise Institute colleague Derek Scissors points out, the Chinese Communist Party controls the economy through state ownership and massive subsidies in dozens of sectors where U.S. goods and services can't compete fairly. Lifting tariffs is easy. Getting China to change its entire industrial policy will be hard -- as will stopping China's theft of U.S. intellectual property.
But Trump knows that he has no chance of doing so by filing complaints with the World Trade Organization. So Trump is playing a game of chicken with Xi, appearing to calculate that the United States is in a better position to survive an all-out trade war. The markets panicked this week over Trump's recent pronouncement that he would be just as happy imposing tariffs as cutting a deal with China, but getting this message through to Xi is the only way to force his hand. As Trump tweeted this week, "We are either going to have a REAL DEAL with China, or no deal at all -- at which point we will be charging major Tariffs against Chinese product being shipped into the United States," adding, "remember … I am a Tariff Man."
He means it. Trump actually believes that tariffs are good for the U.S. economy. The question is whether Xi believes he believes it. The answer may determine whether we get a deal or a trade war.