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W. Fulton Market and N. Elizabeth St.
Little did I know two years ago when I first photographed this building that the bank would play a part in the conviction of fixer Paul Manafort, who received a loan amounting to 25% of the bank's equity capital. The bank's president unsuccessfully lobbied for the Secretary of the Army position in the new administration. NOTE: The bank's former CEO is under indictment; his brother is now running the company. It was announced last month the bank is moving its headquarters to a former Marshall Field & Co. warehouse at 4000 W. Diversey Ave. NOTE: Stephen Calk, the former CEO of The Federal Savings Bank, was found guilty of financial institution bribery and conspiracy to commit financial institution bribery after a three-week trial in Manhattan in July 2021.
ABC NEWS - 7/20/16 - Coverage of the 2016 Republican National Convention from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, which airs on all ABC News programs and platforms. GOOD MORNING AMERCIA broadcasts live from the convention floor. (ABC/ Ida Mae Astute) GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, PAUL MANAFORT (TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN)
Paul Manafort, his wife, and his lawyer Kevin Downing arriving at court for a status update hearing on February 14th.
Demonstrators outside the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, on the first day of the trial of Paul Manafort
via
(BY JONATHAN TURLEY AT THEHILL.COM) Washington began its week again with its collective Rorschach test: another Russian-related meeting that was immediately declared to be the “smoking gun” of criminal collusion or even “treason.” In the 1960s when Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach created his projective test, he found that people could reveal their motivations and perceptions in describing what they saw in amorphous inkblots.
In the continuing Russia Rorschach test, it turns out that every amorphous blob looks like a crime to media and many legal experts.
The latest is the disclosure of a meeting by Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, and then-Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort on June 9, 2016. Trump Jr. was told by a business acquaintance that a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, had information implicating Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee in illegal foreign campaign contributions from Russia.
While the participants have said that the meeting lasted only about 20 minutes and that the lawyer offered nothing in terms of such evidence — and instead pivoted to a discussion of rescinding a ban on Russian adoptions — the media went into a frenzy as experts spotted images of crimes from treason to defrauding the United States to campaign finance violations.
Yesterday, The New York Times added to this frenzy by reporting that “Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy.” While I remain skeptical of the basis for a crime based on “collusion,” that would clearly be a significant development in supporting allegations of a knowing coordination with the Russians.
Today, Trump Jr. released his emails on Twitter. One states, “the crown prosecutor of Russia” had offered “to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.” Rod Goldstone, a publicist, stated, “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
That would clearly constitute at least initial communications and possible coordination between the Russians and the Trump campaign. However, the article raises more questions than answers. If the Russians were making such a play to influence the election in favor of Trump, this is a curious way of going about it. The most obvious question is why the Russians would call such a meeting but not actually produce any evidence or even substantive allegations.
One obvious explanation is that Trump Jr., Kushner, and Manafort fell for a classic bait-and-switch. Veselnitskaya was representing people seeking to lift the adoption ban, and it was certainly amateur hour in Trump Tower. If this is the best the Russians can do as their big play, we have little to worry about.
They question is whether the Trump team is a bunch of click-bait chumps or criminals. In other words, does any of this constitute a clear crime or even a vague inkblot image of a crime?
No, at least not on these facts.
Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, has declared that the meeting “borders on treason.” Article III defines treason as “levying War against [the United States], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” Trump Jr. went to a meeting on the belief that a lawyer had evidence of criminal collusion by Clinton with a foreign power. That is a rather curious basis for a charge of treason and would make traitors of countless campaign operatives.
On CNN, viewers were told that this is the long-sought “smoking gun” on collusion. Norm Eisen, a White House ethics czar under former President Obama, reportedly has invoked the Logan Act — a law from 1799 that makes it a crime for citizens to intervene in disputes or controversies between the United States and foreign governments. It has never been used to convict a single U.S. citizen and is widely viewed as facially unconstitutional. Yet, when Eisen looks at this inkblot he reportedly sees a Logan Act case.
For Vermont Law professor Jennifer Taub, the inkblot looks like a conspiracy to defraud the United States. She believes that prosecutors could charge the participants with seeking to defraud the United States under 18 U.S.C. 371 by going to a meeting to hear evidence that another party may have committed a crime … against the United States. No such evidence was offered, and no further actions are known to have occurred. There has never been a case under 18 U.S.C. 371 that even remotely resembles such a distortive claim.
One image that a lot of experts see in these stories is a possible violation of the federal law banning foreign contributions to federal campaigns — ironically the very claim that the meeting was called to discuss with regard to Hillary Clinton. The relevant law is 36 U.S.C. 510, which bars direct or indirect contributions or other things of value from a foreign national. MSNBC justice and security analyst Matthew Miller said Trump Jr. could now go to jail because “it doesn’t have to be money … it can be, potentially, accepting information. So he’s potentially confessing in his statement to committing a crime.”
Of course, the crux is “other thing of value.” Under this approach, a court would have to include information as a thing of value like money and then declare that Trump Jr. solicited the information by agreeing to go to the meeting. If that were the case, the wide array of meetings by politicians and their aides with foreign nationals would suddenly become possible criminal violations.
It is common for foreign governments to withhold or take actions to influence elections in other countries. Information is often shared through various channels during elections from lobbyists, non-government organizations, and government officials. This includes former Clinton aide Alexandra Chalupa, who allegedly worked with Ukrainian government officials and journalists to come up with dirt on Trump and Manafort.
Consider the implications of such an unprecedented extension of the criminal code. The sharing of information — even possible criminal conduct by a leading political figure — would be treated the same as accepting cash. It would constitute a major threat to free speech, the free press and the right of association. It would also expose a broad spectrum of political speech to possible criminal prosecution.
Executive branch officials could then investigate campaigns on any meetings where information or tips might have originated from a foreign source. Such an expansion would likely hit challengers the hardest, since sitting presidents not only control the Justice Department, but the government has a myriad of back channels in communicating with foreign officials.
While those contacts could be dismissed as “official communications,” a challenger could be viewed as consorting with foreigners. Under this interpretation, the act of a foreign non-government organization or foreign academic feeding an American damaging information on Trump’s foreign investments or business activities could be viewed as a federal crime.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.
fromhttps://stonecoldtruth.com/don-jr-s-russia-meeting-wasnt-collusion-just-amateur-hour/ rogerstone1.blogspot.com/2017/07/don-jrs-russia-meeting-w...
via
By Roger Stone
It is with much relief to hear that Senator John McCain is back in the senate after his brain surgery. The speed of his recuperation is amazing for anyone, especially a man of his 80 years. Although we were saddened and concerned when the announcement told us of his medical issues, we continue to hold the opinion that Senator McCain is not only a thorn in President Trump’s side, but a hypocrite and back stabber as well. Harsh words? Let’s take a look at what the problem with McCain is.
Firstly, it should be no secret that McCain harbors a deep jealous contempt for President Trump for winning the votes of his party. McCain has tried for years to get that honor. McCain feels he’s more qualified to be the leader of the free world, he feels he’s more presidential than Mr. Trump and he made his point perfectly clear when he announced that he would not be attending the Republican National Convention in April of 2016.
McCain is revered by many republicans for his honesty and maverick opinions and ideals. So when John McCain publicly disrespects the President-elect it reveals a weak and divided GOP. Yet McCain has stated several times how Trump is hurting the GOP brand and more recently that Obama was better than Trump “as far as American leadership was concerned.” McCain and Trump have been trading verbal jabs, both private and public since early 2015. For a detailed list of these criticisms you can follow the link.
There are much more serious concerns over John McCain than his disrespect and lack of loyalty to his president.
THE McCAIN CONNECTION TO THE FAKE RUSSIAN DOSSIER
Back in May, it was McCain who called for creating a special congressional committee to investigate whether Trump had colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 election. “Removal of Director Comey only confirms need for select committee to investigate” McCain tweeted. These were serious charges as we know.
What shows McCain’s backstabbing hatred for Trump and the level of his viscous hypocrisy is that unbeknownst at that time, it was John McCain who practically started this whole Trump/ Russian collusion thing in the first place. What’s is now known fact is that McCain deliberately passed a dossier on Trump/Russia collusion to the FBI which he new to be a complete fake.
As far back as January 17, 2017 McCain said on Fox & Friends “The fact that this un-validated document, to say the least was leaked -it’s somebody’s responsibility.” “The very fact that it was leaked, one, is a commentary on this town,” he said. “Second, [It is] totally wrong to have that out.” “It is an un-validated document that is damning out there among the American public without any validation whatsoever. And so it’s harmful to the president of the United States.” Sounds to me like he’s defending the president. Calling for a congressional investigation one minute and denouncing the leaked dossier the next reveals his plan to discredit and possibly impeach President Trump. It shows what a deranged and bitter man McCain really is. Sore loser anybody? It gets worse.
McCAIN LEAKS FAKE FILES
New details from a related lawsuit show how David Kramer—employed by the nonprofit and purportedly non-political McCain Institute—acted as a representative of McCain in the Arizona senator’s dealings on sensitive intelligence measures. It also reveals that McCain was one of a just few people with whom the dossier’s author, ex-British spy Christopher Steele, shared a copy of his final findings. The dossier was prepared by Steele in December 2016 from work he had done for Fusion GPS, a consulting firm paid by anti Trump Republicans and by Hillary Clinton supporters to create evidence of Trump’s alleged financial and political ties to Russia.
It amounted to a collection of uncorroborated reports of collusion gathered as political research for sale to Trump’s opponents. Former British ambassador to Moscow Sir Andrew Wood admitted to discussing the dossier with McCain who then obtained it through other channels. The”other channels” turns out to be David Kramer and according to the lawsuit “arranged to meet with Sir Andrew, as the representative of Senator McCain in order to show him the pre-election memorandum on a confidential basis.”
The court document goes on to show that it was Sir Andrew Wood’s understanding that “the Trump dossier would only be used by Senator McCain in his official capacity for the sole purpose of analyzing, investigating, and verifying their contents.” So what did the good senator do? He gives it to FBI Director Comey who then starts an investigation into Russian collusion. I guess McCain forgot to mention that the dossier was fabricated by an ex British spy funded by Clinton supporters and anti Trump Republicans. It gets even worse. The same foreign lobbyists and Russians tied to the Trump probe were once associated to Senator John McCain when he ran for president.
McCAIN’S RUSSIAN COLLUSION
McCain’s situation involved the same foreign lobbyist Paul Manafort; one of the same Russian oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska; the same Russian diplomat, Sergey Kislyak, and the same wily Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, that are being investigated in the Trump probe. The only real difference in the two cases is that the FBI has said there is no evidence to date that Trump ever met with a Russian figure banned from the United States. McCain actually met with Deripaska, a Russian businessman whose visa was blocked by the US because of concerns by the Intelligence Community over his ties to Moscow. McCain was warned by US Intelligence about these connections.
McCain met with Deripaska on two occasions. The meetings were set up by Paul Manafort and his partner Rick Davis. Davis would later become McCain’s campaign manager. .“My sense is that Davis and Manafort, who were already doing pro-Putin work against American national interests, were using potential meetings with McCain — who didn’t know this and neither did we until after the fact — as bait to secure more rubles from the oligarchs,” John Weaver, one of McCain’s top advisers at the time, told Circa in an interview this month.
While McCain was loudly pressing for a Trump investigation he was keeping quiet about his own ties to those who sought Russian influence in America. McCain has stated in his own defense that in giving the (fake) dossier to Comey, he was doing what he thought was the right thing. “Liar” I say. He knew that if he gave it to Comey then an investigation would eventually happen.
We’re glad that McCain is back at work. It would have been a shame if we lost him. As it is now, there is still time to drag his ass in front of the inquisitors and expose him for what he really is, a bitter, resentful, backstabbing, manipulator whose time is almost up.
www.circa.com/story/2017/06/21/heres-the-russia-influence...
www.circa.com/story/2017/05/17/politics/john-mccain-said-...
www.circa.com/story/2017/06/12/politics/john-mccain-said-...
www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article160...
fromhttps://stonecoldtruth.com/shame-on-mccain/ rogerstone1.blogspot.com/2017/07/shame-on-mccain.html
UNITED STATES - JULY 19: Paul Manafort, advisor to Donald Trump, is seen on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Kevin Downing, lead counsel for Paul Manafort, speaking outside the courtroom right after Manafort's guilty plea.
Paul John Manafort Jr, aka Paul Manafort, is a long time Republican campaign operative and lobbyist. He was Donald Trump's campaign manager for a time.
This caricature of Paul Manafort is an original Photoshop painting. The body was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo from U.S. Department of State's Flickr photostream.
Demonstrators outside the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, on the first day of the trial of Paul Manafort
January 8
OUCH MY BODY. Obviously CG is trying to kill me. It was nice to be able to complain about it all day like everyone around me has been. Other than a little work with Voicebunny, today was pretty chill. I edited a bunch of my Landfill, too. When I got home, a package came. My belt is here! Kacey Close posted about a new belt he got and got me all excited about it. Unlike regular belts, this one has a ratchet mechanism instead of holes, so you get it to fit more precisely. You can also cut it shorter if you lose weight, so obviously I’ll be testing that out. Guys, I am way too excited about this belt.
Trump did an Oval Office speech thing today that was real dumb. It was followed by an also-dumb rebuttal with Chuck and Nancy squeezed behind one lectern. Manafort’s lawyers accidentally left part of a court filing unredacted, revealing that he shared some internal polling data with a Russian spy. OOPS! NY Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to roll out free healthcare to all New Yorkers starting in the summer. NICE!
Kevin Downing and the rest of the defense team at the Paul Manafort trial, exiting court after the verdict.
Paul John Manafort Jr, aka Paul Manafort, is a long time Republican campaign operative and lobbyist. He was Donald Trump's campaign manager for a time.
This caricature of Paul Manafort is an original Photoshop painting. The body was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo from U.S. Department of State's Flickr photostream.
Calendar Project (August 2018) - (Lincoln County deed room, Kentucky) - (8/10) A San Francisco jury awards a former school groundskeeper $289 million who claimed that Roundup Weed Kill caused his non-hodgkins lymphoma cancer - (8/16) Queen of Soul singer Aretha Franklin dies at age 76 - (8/20) Kentucky state court sides with federal court ruling against governor Bevin's attempts to force medicaid recipients to work for benefits...Bevin has now lost this battle on both the state and federal levels...Bevin was one of the first governor's in the nation to try to spearhead this failed attempt - (8/21) A republican Kentucky lawmaker (state lawmaker) pre-files legislation to require all public elementary and secondary schools to display "In God We Trust" in prominent areas of schools...this is yet another in a string of attacks against separation of church and state in Kentucky using "religious liberty" laws - (8/21) Two of president "baby hands" trump's underlings appear in court for various roles connected to his criminal regime...Paul Manafort, trump's campaign manager is convicted in court for numerous counts of tax fraud and evasion among other crimes...Michael Cohen, trump's private attorney turns himself into FBI and appears in court where he tells judge he committed crimes with the knowledge of and at the behest of trump, therefore linking a sitting president to high crimes and misdemeanors and revealing what most democrats already knew the trump White House to be, a swamp of corruption... news outlets and commentators now debating if this shall lead to impeachment or even criminal charges being brought against a sitting president. - (8/23) Kroger grocery company which owns two dozen different grocery chains announces it will phase out plastic bags at all stores by the year 2025. This is part of a broader move by various companies such as Disney, Starbucks and McDonald's to phase out plastic and foam products such as plastic straws and foam cups. - (8/25) Long time Arizona senator, former presidential candidate (Sarah Palin running mate) and Vietnam POW John McCain dies of cancer.
Manafort trial, Eastern District of Virginia Federal Court. These reporters are running out with the news that the jury is deadlocked on certain counts, and Judge Ellis has sent them back to deliberate more.
from ift.tt/2aAFDHu
Wow, @realDonaldTrump thinks we Muslim women aren't allowed to speak, let's let him hear us in Nov., in honor of Mrs.Khan✊#TrumpSacrifices
— Cirrincione (@NoorinDC) July 30, 2016
7 Memorable Controversies Involving Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA Pageants and Winners t.co/0qZamIgQu6 #TrumpSacrifices
— CandaceTX (@CandaceTX) July 30, 2016
His credit rating with American banks. They won't do business with him. #TrumpSacrifices
— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 30, 2016
#TrumpSacrifices Not sleeping with his daughter.
—1) (@Sttbs73) July 30, 2016
He had to give up the abusive Corey Lewandowski for the Putin puppet Paul Manafort. Woe is him. Such a sacrifice! #TrumpSacrifices
— Janet Morris (@janersm) July 30, 2016
I can't think of a more disrespectful gesture. #TrumpSacrifices his entire soul. pic.twitter.com/CSmOnErOy2
— Jesse T. Smith (@jt4congress2016) July 30, 2016
Photo credit: Disney | ABC Television Group via VisualHunt.com / CC BY-ND
(Political Nerd ↩
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August 21
I had Power Breakfast with Jonathan and Michael this morning. It was non-stop entertainment, as usual.
A group of architects came into our studio today to check the space out and measure some stuff. They’re super friendly! They seemed a lot more optimistic about the kinds of things we might be able to obtain over at USB, but if they can talk persuade the right folks we might actually still have a good space when we get shipped over.
In the news, Paul manafort was found guilty on 8 charges out of 18. The other 10 were declared a mistrial. Also, Cohen appears to have flipped! Today was a pretty HUGE news day. It seems like this might be one for the history books when it comes to this whole Trump/Russia saga.
Emily went to Dallas to do some personal training with her brother. Meanwhile, I took my mom to Torchy’s for the first time. She likes it! Then we took a long walk around campus so she could see some of the sweet new buildings.
Mueller using information related to searches of Manafort's belongings for ongoing investigation
www.biphoo.com/bipnews/news/mueller-using-information-rel...
www.biphoo.com/bipnews/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/mueller...
#LatestNewsHeadlines, #LatestUSNews, #MuellerUsingInformationRelatedToSearchesOfManafort'SBelongingsForOngoingInvestigation, #TodayLatestNews, #USABreakingNEWs, #USATodayNews
Mueller using information related to searches of Manafort’s belongings for ongoing investigation
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors revealed Thursday night that they’re using information related to the searches of Paul Manafort’s belongings for their ongoing...
Bloomberg reporter giving the news of a guilty verdict on 8 out of the 18 charges in the Manafort trial, with an accompaning Guilty sign.
Demonstrators outside the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, on the first day of the trial of Paul Manafort
W. Fulton Market and N. Elizabeth St.
Little did I know two years ago when I first photographed this building that the bank would play a part in the conviction of fixer Paul Manafort, who received a loan amounting to 25% of the bank's equity capital. The bank's president unsuccessfully lobbied for the Secretary of the Army position in the new administration. NOTE: The bank's former CEO is under indictment; his brother is now running the company. It was announced last month the bank is moving its headquarters to a former Marshall Field & Co. warehouse at 4000 W. Diversey Ave. NOTE: Stephen Calk, the former CEO of The Federal Savings Bank, was found guilty of financial institution bribery and conspiracy to commit financial institution bribery after a three-week trial in Manhattan in July 2021.
The McCain campaign claims that campaign manager Rick Davis separated from Davis Manafort in 2006.
This record shows that Rick Davis is also the treasurer/clerk of Davis Manafort Partners, Inc. This record is dated April 1, 2008. Other records show that Davis is still listed as the treasurer/clerk of Davis Manafort, Inc.
Davis is listed as the treasurer/clerk.
ORIGINAL REPORTING, PLEASE CREDIT LINDSAY BEYERSTEIN/CAMPAIGN SILO/FIREDOGLAKE.
Kevin Downing, chief defense lawyer, walking out of the court after a hearing on the Manafort case, 12/11/17
8/25/2012 Mike Orazzi | Staff
Construction workers from Manafort Brothers Construction remove sections of steel on an over pass of Route 9 above the Chestnut Street exit while working on the busway in New Britain on Saturday.
Sentencing of Paul Manafort. Lead defense counsel Kevin Downing on right, with rest of defense team coming out of court after the sentencing
October 30
Happy Indictment Day! This morning it came out that Bob Mueller filed charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates and asked them to surrender to his team. Among other things, Manafort was charged with conspiracy against the United States. Hopefully this whole process is starting to ramp up now! Another dude named Papadopolous has been talking to Mueller for months and plead guilty to lying about Russia stuff to the FBI. Pretty exciting stuff!
I had show and tell time at work with the car, which was fun. Chris and Michael are still out of town, but everyone else got the tour. Ahna and Ranjani helped me shoot a cinemagraph on campus this morning, which went fine. I’ll probably try again later this week.
When Emily and I walked Arri this evening, we saw a lot of Halloween decorations out in our neighborhood. Tomorrow we’re going to help the Howells with trick-or-treating. It’ll be George’s first time!