Donald Trump praises witness who refuses to testify against him
President Donald Trump praised a key witness in the Russia investigation Monday for having the “guts” not to testify against him, and said his former lawyer — who cut a deal with prosecutors — should head straight to prison. In a pair of politically charged tweets, Trump made clear that he is closely watching those who turn on him in the special counsel’s probe, which has ensnared some of the president’s closest advisers. So far, five people in Trump’s orbit have pleaded guilty to federal charges. The tweets add to mounting questions about whether Trump is taking steps to improperly influence witnesses in an investigation that has enraged him and shadowed his administration. Some legal experts, though, say they may not amount to witness tampering if Trump didn’t directly tell others what to say or not say. Trump already has come under scrutiny from critics who fear he may use his executive power to protect himself as well as friends and supporters. Last week, Trump told the New York Post that a pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was not off the table. Prosecutors say Manafort torpedoed his plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller by repeatedly lying to them, although Manafort denies that he lied. In one of Monday’s tweets, Trump took aim at Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney who once grandly declared he would “take a bullet” for the president but ultimately took a plea deal. Cohen pleaded guilty last week to lying to Congress about negotiations he had on Trump’s behalf for a real estate deal in Moscow. Though he told lawmakers the talks were done by January 2016, he admitted they actually lasted as late as June — after Trump had clinched the Republican nomination and after Russians had penetrated Democratic email accounts for communications later released through WikiLeaks. Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to Trump, who insisted throughout the campaign that he had no business dealings in Russia, and to be consistent with his political messaging. On Monday, Trump ripped into Cohen on Twitter. “You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?” Trump added that Cohen “makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself.” Trump added: “He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.” Minutes later, Trump lavished praise on his former campaign adviser Roger Stone. Mueller’s prosecutors are investigating Stone to learn whether he had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans to release hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton‘s presidential effort. Trump lauded Stone for saying he’d never testify against the president. “This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump,’” he tweeted. “Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’” Stone then posted a screenshot of Trump’s tweet with a caption that said he was proud of their 40-year relationship and “prouder still of the amazing job he is doing making America Great Again!” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said Trump’s tweet was inappropriate. “The President of the United States should not be using his platform to influence potential witnesses in a federal investigation involving his campaign,” Warner said in a tweet. Stone said the idea that Trump’s tweet amount to witness tampering is “hysterical.” “I’m not a witness to any proceeding,” he said. David Weinstein, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Florida, said he was surprised by Trump’s comments Monday, but didn’t believe the tweets alone rose to the level of obstruction or witness tampering because Trump did not explicitly tell anyone what to say or not to say. Subjects of an investigation can still communicate to others entangled in a probe, and though they can encourage them to tell the truth, they cannot coach them to lie, he said. “What he seems to be saying is that people who continue to show support for him, in some way, may be rewarded for that support,” Weinstein said. “I don’t think it rises to the level of obstruction yet, but it certainly would cause people who are conducting the investigation to start asking questions about whether or not the target has reached out to them.” Trump’s message had an immediate effect on supporters. His remarks prompted Michael Caputo, the president’s former campaign aide and a longtime Stone friend, to launch a “GoFundMe” account to help pay Stone’s mounting legal fees. Stone said he’s paid about half a million in legal fees already and is projecting that total to reach $2 million. “I require a small platoon of excellent lawyers and they’re not inexpensive,” he said. A conservative author, who is an associate of Stone and in the crosshairs of Mueller’s investigation, filed a complaint Monday with the Justice Department, alleging prosecutors tried to coerce him to give false testimony and threatened to indict him. Investigators are looking into whether Jerome Corsi had contact with WikiLeaks or knew about their plans to release emails damaging to Clinton. Corsi has released documents showing Mueller’s prosecutors offered him a deal to plead guilty to a false statements charge but he’s rejected the offer. Corsi says he didn’t knowingly mislead investigators and wasn’t in contact with WikiLeaks. The Justice Department declined to comment on his complaint. The Russia investigation has dogged Trump for two years. In recent weeks, Trump has sharpened his criticism, accusing Mueller’s prosecutors of dirty tactics and pressuring witnesses to lie. Cohen’s decision to turn on his former boss was a particularly striking blow for the president. Cohen pleaded guilty in August to eight criminal counts, including campaign-finance violations, in a separate case unrelated to Mueller’s investigation. He said Trump directed him to arrange the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels
Brett Kavanaugh, accuser say they’re ready to testify, but how?
Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of a decades-old sexual assault both indicated Monday they would be willing to testify to a Senate panel as the confirmation of President Donald Trump‘s Supreme Court nominee shifted from seemingly painless to problematic. However, top Republicans seemed to be trying to limit any new testimony by Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, to telephone interviews. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said he was trying to arrange to hear Ford in “an appropriate, precedented and respectful manner.” The Iowa Republican said standard procedure for late-breaking information would involve follow-up phone calls with “at least” Kavanaugh and Ford. No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas backed him, lauding Grassley for seeking a process that “respects confidentiality.” Kavanaugh was seen arriving at the White House, with no immediate reason given, while all 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to Grassley asking him to postpone a scheduled Thursday vote on the nominee to give the FBI more time to investigate. Democrats and some Republican senators have expressed concern over Ford’s private-turned-public accusation that a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when both were teenagers at high schools in suburban Maryland. Kavanaugh released a new statement calling the allegation “completely false” and saying he “had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself” on Sunday to The Washington Post. “I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity,” Kavanaugh said. Debra S. Katz, the attorney for the accuser, said Ford was willing to tell her story publicly to the Judiciary panel but no lawmakers had yet contacted her. Katz denied that Ford, a Democrat, was politically motivated. “She believes that if it were not for the severe intoxication of Brett Kavanaugh, she would have been raped,” Katz told NBC’s “Today.” Explaining Ford’s initial reluctance to come forward, Katz said, “No one in their right mind regardless of their motives would want to inject themselves into this process and face the kind of violation that she will be subjected to by those who want this nominee to go though.” The Judiciary Democrats, in their letter to Chairman Grassley of Iowa, said serious questions have been raised about Kavanaugh’s “record, truthfulness and character.” Currently a judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, widely viewed as the nation’s second most powerful court, Kavanaugh seemed to be on a smooth confirmation track until the new allegation emerged. Kavanaugh, 53, “categorically and unequivocally” denied the allegation when it came out anonymously last week. “This has not changed,” said White House spokesman Kerri Kupec on Monday. “Judge Kavanaugh and the White House both stand by that statement.” Still, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said of Ford: “She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. She should testify under oath, and she should do it on Capitol Hill.” Conway, who said she had discussed the situation with Trump, said both Ford and Kavanaugh should testify, but made clear it was up to the Judiciary Committee. She said Sen. Lindsey Graham had told her it could happen as soon as Tuesday and the White House will “respect the process.” Stressing that Kavanaugh had already testified and undergone FBI background checks, Conway said: “I think you have to weigh this testimonial evidence from Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh along with the considerable body of evidence that is already there about the judge’s temperament and qualifications and character.” Initially the sexual misconduct allegation was conveyed in a private letter, without revealing Ford’s name. With a name and disturbing details, the accusation raised the prospect of congressional Republicans defending Trump’s nominee ahead of midterm elections featuring an unprecedented number of female candidates and informed in part by the #MeToo movement. Ford said Kavanaugh and a friend — both “stumbling drunk,” she says — corralled her in a bedroom at a Maryland party in the early 1980s when she was around 15 and Kavanaugh was around 17. She says Kavanaugh groped her over her clothes, grinded his body against hers and tried to take off her one-piece swimsuit and the outfit she wore over it. Kavanaugh covered her mouth with his hand when she tried to scream, she says, and she escaped when the friend, Mark Judge, jumped on them. Kavanaugh attended a private school for boys in Maryland while Ford attended a nearby school. A split over the nomination seemed to be emerging among the GOP. Two committee Republicans — all on the GOP side are men — Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they wanted to hear more from Ford. Flake went as far as to say he was “not comfortable” voting for Kavanaugh for the time being. A potential “no” vote from Flake would complicate the judge’s prospects because Republicans control the committee by just 11-10. A Republican not on the committee, Bob Corker of Tennessee, said the vote should be postponed until the committee heard from Ford. GOP Maine Sen. Susan Collins tweeted that she wanted Kavanaugh and Ford to both testify under oath to the committee, but when she was contacted Sunday by CNN she wouldn’t say if the vote should be postponed. Grassley said that so far, the Judiciary committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, has refused to help schedule telephone interviews. A committee spokesman had said Sunday that Grassley was trying to arrange those phone calls but only for aides to Grassley and Feinstein before Thursday’s scheduled vote. The allegation against Kavanaugh first came to light late last week in the form of a letter that had been for some time in the possession of Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee and one of its four female members. On Sunday, the Post published an interview with Ford. “I thought he
