The Russia Connection

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The Russia Connection

Flynn's Cooperation is Finished, Government and Defense Say

Quinta Jurecic Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 10:32 AM

In a joint status report, both prosecutors and Michael Flynn's defense team agree that Flynn has completed his cooperation with the government, both with the special counsel's office and in the Bijan Rafiekian case in the Eastern District of Virginia. While the government argues that Flynn's case is ready for sentencing, however, Flynn's lawyers takes the position that more time is needed. The document is available here and below.

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The Russia Connection

The Report, Episode Seven: Charging Decisions

Susan Hennessey, Benjamin Wittes Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 10:09 AM

Today, we released the seventh episode of Lawfare’s narrative audio documentary, The Report. This episode covers the Special Counsel’s charging decisions—which individuals Mueller decides to prosecute, whose prosecutions and declines, and the reasons for his decisions.

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Federal Law Enforcement

What That Comey Email Report Really Says

Benjamin Wittes Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:29 PM

The inspector general of the United States Department of Justice says that a witness to gross misconduct by the president of the United States has a duty to keep his mouth shut.

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The Russia Connection

The Report, Episode Six: Back Channels

Susan Hennessey, Benjamin Wittes Fri, Aug 23, 2019, 8:25 AM

This is the story of outreach by the Russians to the Trump campaign and the Trump transition on policy matters—the effort to reboot U.S.-Russian relations one secret meeting at a time.

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The Russia Connection

Judge Dismisses DNC Suit Against Trump Campaign and Others

Quinta Jurecic Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 5:10 PM

Judge John G. Koeltl of the U.S. District Court for the U.S. District of New York has dismissed a lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) against the Trump campaign, President Trump and other associates and high-level members of his campaign, Wikileaks, the Russian government, and others associated with Russian election interference efforts. The ruling is available here and below.

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Congress

Bipartisan Agreement on Election Security—And a Partisan Fight Anyway

Scott R. Anderson, Eugenia Lostri, Quinta Jurecic, Margaret Taylor Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 9:00 AM

The good news is that national security bipartisanship in Congress lives. The bad news is that the only place it lives is in the pages of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian election interference.

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Congress

House Judiciary Committee Asks Court For Grand Jury Material

Quinta Jurecic Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 2:25 PM

The House Judiciary Committee has filed an application with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia requesting the release of grand jury material redacted from the Mueller report, along with additional related grand jury material concerning President Trump and former White House Counsel Don McGahn.

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Congress

Mueller’s Testimony: The Baton Passes to Congress

Scott R. Anderson, Hadley Baker, Mikhaila Fogel, Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic, Vishnu Kannan, Eugenia Lostri, David Priess, Margaret Taylor, Benjamin Wittes Wed, Jul 24, 2019, 9:34 PM

The former special counsel’s testimony is not ultimately important for any bombshells or revelations but for initiating the long-belated creation of an Article I record of the president’s conduct.