На чистую воду

[tijd]

(2/7) According to the president, the Mueller investigation is "the single greatest witch hunt in political history" . . . https://t.co/vpFTRsLERF pic.twitter.com/SEOYwSwMcI
- Karen Yourish (@karenyourish) February 19, 2019

(7/7) But whom or what does he defend the most? President Vladimir V. Putin and Russia.https://t.co/vpFTRsLERF pic.twitter.com/pJ4fOqMH7n
- Karen Yourish (@karenyourish) February 19, 2019

New York Times публикует обзор нападок Трампа на расследование Рашагейта и попыток спустить его с рельс. Новая информация - о давлении на и.о. генрокурора Уитакера, чтобы тот поставил взявшего самоотвод федерального прокурора SDNY (Southern District of New York) Бермана во главе расследований, который ведутся в этом округе.

As the prosecutors closed in, Mr. Trump felt a more urgent need to gain control of the investigation.
He made the call to Mr. Whitaker to see if he could put Mr. Berman in charge of the New York investigation. The inquiry is run by Robert Khuzami, a career prosecutor who took over after Mr. Berman, whom Mr. Trump appointed, recused himself because of a routine conflict of interest.
What exactly Mr. Whitaker did after the call is unclear, but there is no evidence that he took any direct steps to intervene in the Manhattan investigation. He did, however, tell some associates at the Justice Department that the prosecutors in New York required “adult supervision.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/us/politics/trump-investigations.html



Джеффри Берман, бывший партнер Руди Джулиани, был лично отобран и проинтервьюирован Трампом на замену Приту Бхарара.

President Donald Trump has personally interviewed at least two potential candidates for U.S. attorney positions in New York, according to two sources familiar with the matter - a move that critics say raises questions about whether they can be sufficiently independent from the president.
Trump has interviewed Geoffrey Berman, who is currently at the law firm Greenberg Traurig for the job of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ed McNally of the firm Kasowitz Benson Torres for the Eastern District post, according to the sources.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/19/trump-us-attorney-interviews-243962



Поскольку в Министерстве юстиции работают 100 федеральных прокуроров, подобные встречи с кандидатами в прокуроры, в ведении которых находится бизнес президента, являются сами по себе коррупционными. Сенатор Кирстен Джиллибранд, один из нынешних кандидатов в президенты, пообещала заблокировать номинацию Бермана.

The senator, Democrat of New York, intends to use her “blue-slip prerogative” to lodge her objection over reports that President Trump had personally interviewed Mr. Berman as part of the selection process.
Ms. Gillibrand, through her spokesman, said those reports were deeply disturbing, because of conflicts of interest inherent in Mr. Berman’s “potential jurisdiction on matters that could affect the president personally.”
“Under these circumstances,” Ms. Gillibrand’s spokesman, Glen Caplin, said, if such a meeting took place and Mr. Berman were nominated as United States attorney, “the senator would have no choice but to stand up for the independence of this office by using her blue-slip prerogative.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/nyregion/gillibrand-trump-schumer-prosecutor-berman.html

Того тем не менее удалось протащить мимо Сената.

Exercising a seldom-used power, the judges of the Federal District Court in Manhattan voted unanimously on Wednesday to appoint Geoffrey S. Berman as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, according to a court statement.
Mr. Berman was appointed interim United States attorney in January, and his 120-day term was due to expire next week. With no one yet nominated by President Trump for the Southern District position, the judges acted to fill it with Mr. Berman.
Under federal law, he will now serve until the Senate confirms a nominee by President Trump, whose administration has been slow to fill many posts in the executive and judicial branches.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/nyregion/geoffrey-berman-us-attorney-manhattan.html



Но Трампу это не помогло - в деле Майкла Коэна Берман взял самоотвод, а прокуроры SDNY (известного за свою независимость, как "Sovereign" District of New York) ведут агрессивные расследования, которые могут оказать еще более разрушительными для Трампа, чем расследование Мюллера.

Manhattan-based federal prosecutors can challenge Trump in ways Mueller can’t. They have jurisdiction over the president’s political operation and businesses - subjects that aren’t protected by executive privilege, a tool Trump is considering invoking to block portions of Mueller’s report. From a PR perspective, Trump has been unable to run the same playbook on SDNY that he’s used to erode conservatives’ faith in Mueller, the former George W. Bush-appointed FBI director. Legal circles are also buzzing over whether SDNY might buck DOJ guidance and seek to indict a sitting president.
The threat was highlighted when SDNY prosecutors ordered officials from Trump’s inaugural committee to hand over donor and financial records. It was the latest aggressive move from an office that has launched investigations into the president’s company, former lawyer and campaign finance practices. New York prosecutors have even implicated Trump in a crime.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/18/trump-new-york-mueller-investigation-1173346



Упомянутое расследование комиссии по инаугурации затрагивает главу этой комиссии, миллиардера Тома Баррака. Баррак привел Манафорта к Трампу. По слухам, на его яхте Манафорт встречался с Килимником после отставки с поста главы избирательной кампании.

Mr. Mueller has long been interested in the relationship between Messrs. Manafort and Kilimnik. He has questioned witnesses about a boat trip that Mr. Manafort took with Tom Barrack, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump, after Mr. Manafort was ousted from the Trump campaign in August 2016, say people familiar with the matter. Witnesses believed investigators were seeking to determine whether Mr. Manafort ever met with Mr. Kilimnik on that trip.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/muellers-team-says-manafort-lied-about-business-dealings-ukraine-contact-1543452110



Как выясняется, у Баррака был бизнес-интерес, связанный с " Планом Маршалла" для Ближнего Востока - передачи Саудовской Аравии и другим странам региона ядерных технологий. Детали этого плана и продолжающейся работы над ним раскрывает расследование Комиссии по надзору Палаты представителей Конгресса.

“The Committee’s investigation is particularly critical because the Administration’s efforts to transfer sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia appear to be ongoing. On February 12, 2019, the President met with nuclear power developers at the White House about sharing nuclear technology with countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. In addition, next week Mr. Kushner will be embarking on a tour of Middle Eastern capitals-including Riyadh-to discuss the economic portion of the Administration’s Middle East peace plan.”
The report describes new documents and communications between White House officials, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, former Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland, and former NSC Senior Director for Middle East and North African Affairs Derek Harvey, as well as with Thomas Barrack, President Trump’s personal friend of several decades and the Chairman of his Inaugural Committee, and Rick Gates, President Trump’s former Deputy Campaign Manager and Deputy Chairman of the Inaugural Committee who has now pleaded guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators.
https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/multiple-whistleblowers-raise-grave-concerns-with-white-house-efforts-to

Разные расследование сплетаются в один коррупционный узел.