Smearing Mueller shows the depths of Republican fear | Editorial

The campaign to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller has reached a shrill and desperate phase, as some believe it is more important to protect Donald Trump's interests than to establish how and why an adversarial government influenced a presidential election. The goal is to dismiss any findings damaging to the president as political bias; to invent corruption in the highest echelons of law enforcement, notably in the FBI; and to preempt any discovery of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia with distractions.

Russia, health care, hurricanes and harassment: A look back at 2017 in politics

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017. Political news emerged from Washington, D.C. and beyond in 2017 at a seemingly breakneck pace.

Bush/McCain associate subpoenaed to reveal dirty dossier sources

On Wednesday, Rep. Devin Nunes , who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, issued a subpoena to an associate of Sen. John McCain , who allegedly traveled to the United Kingdom to receive a copy and a briefing on a salacious, uncorroborated dossier from a former British spy, Christopher Steele. David J. Kramer, a former State Department official who is now a senior fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, traveled to London in November 2016 and met with Steele.

Rep. Devin Nunes Plots Extensive ‘FBI Corruption Report’…

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is seriously considering compiling a 'warts and all,' report detailing alleged corruption at the FBI. Such a report would focus on the conduct of FBI officials during the probe into Russia's meddling in last year's American presidential election, according to people familiar with the plans.

Hill pushes spy bill renewal to January, but a bitter debate still looms

Congress voted Thursday to give itself an extra three weeks to settle bitter differences over how to reauthorize one of the government's most prized foreign intelligence-gathering tools, but the last-minute move has done little to reconcile competing concerns about the need to maintain powerful spy capabilities and Americans' right to privacy. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are united over how to limit the authority to conduct foreign surveillance on U.S. soil, particularly when it comes to the question of when law enforcement officials can scour the collected surveillance for information about Americans.

This week in the Trump-Russia investigation – Republicans…

It was a relatively slow week in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, but some key revelations helped move the investigation forward. Anti-Mueller Republicans have been communicating with the White House : One of the Republicans who has been critical of Robert Mueller's investigation indicated that he has spoken to the White House about the issue, but maintains that the questions he asked about the two FBI agents who exchanged anti-President Donald Trump texts were motivated purely by the evidence.

Joy Reid: Nunes and House Republicans’ only goal is to shield Donald Trump from the rule of law

Joy Reid appeared on Friday's edition of "Deadline: White House" and said Republicans and Fox News conspiracy theorists who are attacking special counsel Robert Mueller have only one goal, exonerating President Donald Trump, which they will pursue "by any means necessary." Reid zeroed in on Rep. Devin Nunes and other House Republicans who have been running a parallel "investigation" of the Steele Dossier using documents provided to them by the federal investigation into possible collusion with Russia by Trump's 2016 electoral campaign.

Congress week ahead: Key tax vote before holiday break

With the tax bill complete and two key Senate Republicans promising a "yes" vote Friday, Republicans are rolling at full speed to pass the bill through Congress and land it on President Donald Trump's desk before the end of the week. Both chambers had planned to go into holiday recess at the end of last week, but delayed it a week to push through the tax reform vote and get home before Christmas.

Ethics Panel Clears Nunes

The House Ethics Committee has ended an investigation into California Republican Devin Nunes, saying Thursday it found no evidence he released classified information to the public earlier this year. In a short statement, the committee said it had sought guidance from intelligence agencies and determined that Mr. Nunes didn't release any classified information to the public.

2 of the 3 major panels investigating Trump and Russia have…

The Senate Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees, two of the three major congressional panels investigating Russia's election interference, appear to have resigned themselves to the reality that their probes will be conducted according to the partisan interests of their members. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has recently begun sending out a flurry of letters to witnesses requesting new documents and interviews related to potential collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia.

PAPER: Inside the Network of Fusion GPS-Linked Journalists Pushing…

The House Intelligence Committee has long suspected journalists may have been paid by Fusion GPS to report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In early November, Rep. Devin Nunes reached a breaking point and began demanding that the shady research firm behind the infamous 'Trump dossier,' submit its banking records to Congressional investigators to see if payments had been made to reporters.

Pompeo: Trump tweets actually ‘help’ CIA

Emails Dispute White House Claims That Flynn Acted Independently on Russia - WASHINGTON - When President Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in February, White House officials portrayed him as a renegade who had acted independently in his discussions Trump Tweets He Knew Flynn Lied to FBI When He Asked Comey to 'Let Flynn Go' A day after Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Trump team's alleged ties to the Kremlin, Trump tweeted about Flynn: Oops: Trump's latest tweet about Michael Flynn could strengthen Mueller's case against president, experts say - On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he'd fired Flynn because he lied to the FBI.

How Trolls Locked My Twitter Account For 10 Days, And Welp

Emails Dispute White House Claims That Flynn Acted Independently on Russia - WASHINGTON - When President Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in February, White House officials portrayed him as a renegade who had acted independently in his discussions Was Michael Flynn asked to wear a wire in Mueller hunt for evidence on Russia? - Plea agreement includes clause showing Flynn consented to participate in 'covert law enforcement activities" if required - The least-noticed sentence in Michael Flynn's plea agreement with special counsel Robert Mueller Trump Tweets He Knew Flynn Lied to FBI When He Asked Comey to 'Let Flynn Go' A day after Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Trump team's alleged ties to the Kremlin, Trump tweeted about Flynn: ... (more)

Here’s what’s in the Senate tax bill – and how it differs…

Emails Dispute White House Claims That Flynn Acted Independently on Russia - WASHINGTON - When President Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in February, White House officials portrayed him as a renegade who had acted independently in his discussions ABC News statement on Michael Flynn report - We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process.

Ex-Mueller team member’s role in Clinton probe under review

Two senior Justice Department officials have confirmed to Fox News that the department's Office of Inspector General is reviewing the role played in the Hillary Clinton email investigation by Peter Strzok, a former deputy director for counterintelligence at the FBI who was removed from the staff of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III earlier this year, after Mueller learned that Strzok had exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague. A source close to the matter said the OIG probe, which will examine Strzok's roles in a number of other politically sensitive cases, should be completed by "very early next year."

Time is running out for lawmakers mulling intelligence collection bills

The congressional clock is running out as a handful of bills are batted around Capitol Hill to reauthorize a critical foreign intelligence collection program that expires in four weeks. The House intelligence committee on Friday passed the latest one 13-8.

Time running out for lawmakers mulling surveillance bills

The congressional clock is running out as a handful of bills are batted around Capitol Hill to reauthorize a critical foreign intelligence collection program that expires in four weeks. The House intelligence committee on Friday passed the latest one 13-8.