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WASHINGTON (AP) — Each time Donald Trump refers to a Georgia prosecutor 's colleague as her “lover,” he's invoking a strikingly familiar turn of phrase. He's jumped on allegations of affairs and leveled claims of bias against agents, prosecutors and judges. “This case is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia (and all of the rest! The Comey memo revealed that Trump had asked him to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. But to Trump and his supporters, the disclosure became an opening to attack Comey as a “leaker."

Persons: Donald Trump, ”, Trump, He's, Reid Schar, Rod Blagojevich, ” Trump, Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, Willis, Georgia's, “, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Strzok, ” “ Trump, Greg Brower, Christopher Steele, James Comey, he'd, Comey, Michael Flynn, Robert Mueller's, Trump's, Mueller, — Mueller, Virginia —, Christopher Mattei, John Rowland, Sandy, Alex Jones, Trump “, he’s Organizations: WASHINGTON, Trump, “ Prosecutors, of Justice, Illinois, DOJ, American, The Justice, Associated Press, FBI, Justice, Former, Connecticut Gov, Elementary Locations: Georgia, Russia, Fulton County, America, Virginia, Connecticut

☆ Fani Willis Affair Claims Are Nothing More Than Bad Optics: Experts
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Associated Press | Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Allegations have surfaced of an affair between Fulton County DA Fani Willis and an attorney she hired. AdvertisementFulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hired attorney Nathan Wade to lead the Georgia prosecution of Donald Trump and 18 others over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The lawyer is seeking to get the indictment tossed and to remove Willis and Wade from the case. Outside of any effect on this case, Willis, an elected Democrat, is up for reelection this year, and this could become a campaign issue depending on how she ultimately responds. Records show Wade billed for what he described as "travel to Athens; conf with White House Counsel" in May 2022.

Persons: Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, Willis, Donald Trump, —, Wade, Wade —, Trump, vies, it's, Rahmani, Anthony Michael Kreis, Ashleigh Merchant, Michael Roman, Merchant, unseal, Joycelyn Wade, Joycelyn, Jeff DiSantis, John Floyd, Anna Cross, Wade's, Thurbert Baker, Baker, It's, Neil Warren, foreperson, Georgia —, There's, Peter Strzok, Robert James, that's, I've, James Organizations: Service, Trump, West, Trial, Georgia State University, Associated Press, White, Caribbean, AP, Defense, White House, Records, DC Locations: Fulton County, Georgia, Napa Valley , Florida, Caribbean, Wade's, San Francisco, Belize, Panama, Australia, Miami, Cobb County, Athens, Russia, DeKalb County , Georgia

☆ Developments in Trump’s galaxy of legal problems, explained
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Zachary Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

CNN —Try to keep track of the galaxy of former President Donald Trump’s legal problems. The trial marks the first of Trump’s criminal cases expected to proceed. Federal criminal court in Florida: Mishandling classified materialTrump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges brought by Smith over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit in November 2022. A New York judge dismissed The New York Times from Trump’s lawsuit regarding disclosure of his tax returns and ordered Trump to pay the newspaper’s legal fees.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Teddy Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Barnes, Doris A, Lawrence H, Budner Theodore Roosevelt, Congress Trump, Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka, Sarah B, Wallace, Jack Dempsey, Jean Carroll, Jack Smith’s, Joe Biden, Tanya Chutkan, Obama, Chutkan, Stormy Daniels, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Daniels, Michael Cohen, Juan Merchan, Fani Willis, Brad Raffensperger, Jenna Ellis, John Bazemore, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Ellis, Powell, Chesebro, Smith, Allen Weisselberg, Weisselberg, Peter Strzok, Michael Cohen’s, Cohen, William Barr, Judge Lewis Liman, Mary Trump Organizations: CNN, Trump, White House, New York Republican, White, Progressive, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist, Congress, New, . New York, Colorado voters, Capitol Police, Minnesota’s, Federal, Iowa Republicans, Supreme, Prosecutors, Manhattan, Attorney, Fulton, Georgia, Republican, Department of Justice, . Justice Department, Reuters, National Archives, Trump Organization, Former Trump Organization, US Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police, FBI, Justice Department, New York Times Locations: New York, Colorado, Washington , DC, Florida, Michigan, Washington ,, Washington, Colorado’s, Denver, Manhattan, Iowa, DC, York, Georgia, Coffee County , Georgia, Atlanta, nemeses, Trump's, Lago, Mar, Bedminster , New Jersey, Rikers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is scheduled to be questioned under oath Tuesday as part of lawsuits from two former FBI employees who provoked the former president's outrage after sending each other pejorative text messages about him. The Justice Department had sought to block the deposition of Trump as unnecessary, citing testimony from other witnesses who'd already been interviewed in the lawsuits that Trump had no impact on the decision to fire Strzok. But both U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson and a federal appeals court rebuffed the Justice Department, permitting a two-hour deposition to move forward. In his 2020 book, “Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump,” Strzok expressed measured regret for the text messages and the impact they had on the FBI. But in an interview that year with The Associated Press, he also described the personal toll of the attacks from Trump.

Persons: — Donald Trump, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Strzok, Trump, who'd, David Bowdich, Chris Wray, Amy Berman Jackson, Page, Hillary Clinton's, “, Donald J, ” Strzok, ” Organizations: WASHINGTON, FBI, Trump, Justice Department, Justice, Mar, Counterintelligence, Associated Press, “ Locations: Russia, Trump, Trump's Florida, New York, Strzok

☆ Exclusive: A veteran FBI agent told Congress that investigations into Giuliani and other Trump allies were 'suppressed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

An FBI veteran said his superiors suppressed investigations of Trump, Insider can exclusively reveal. Those figures, the statement claims, explicitly included "anyone in the [Trump] White House and any former or current associates of President Trump." The directions he received included a strict prohibition on filing intelligence reports relating to Giuliani or any other Trump associate. Even before the emergence of this new whistleblower, there has been ample evidence of individual FBI agents with pro-Trump partisan sympathies. Some FBI agents were reportedly satisfied by an assertion made by Trump's legal team that he'd turned over all his classified documents, and wanted to close the Mar-a-Lago government records investigation down.

Persons: Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, President Trump, Scott Horton, Robert Mueller, Trump, Pavel Fuks, Joe Biden, Giuliani wasn't, doesn't, Charles McGonigal, Spokespeople, Fuks, Christopher Wray, Donald Trump's Mar, Hunter Biden, insurrectionists, Jim Jordan, Biden, Jordan, Russell Dye, Dye, Jared Wise, —, Trump's, James Comey, Peter Strzok —, he'd, Genius, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: FBI, Trump, Trump White House, Service, White, Committee, Rolling Stone, New, GOP, Federal Government, Rep, Capitol, Capitol Police, Washington Post, Post, Justice Department Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russia, Ukrainian, York, New York, Fuks, Lago, Burisma, Anchorage, San Juan

☆ Trump Asked About I.R.S. Inquiry of F.B.I. Officials, Ex-Aide Says Under Oath
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Michael S. Schmidt | More About Michael S. Schmidt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Kelly said that his recollection of Mr. Trump’s comments to him was based on notes that he had taken at the time in 2018. Mr. Kelly provided copies of his notes to lawyers for one of the F.B.I. officials, who made the sworn statement public in a court filing. “President Trump questioned whether investigations by the Internal Revenue Service or other federal agencies should be undertaken into Mr. Strzok and/or Ms. Page,” Mr. Kelly said in the statement. It appeared, however, that he wanted to see Mr. Strzok and Ms.

Persons: John F, Kelly, Donald J, Trump’s, Trump, Strzok, ” Mr, “, Page, Mr, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page Organizations: White House, Internal Revenue Service, Mr, Justice Department Locations: Russia, ’

☆ Reports of bombshell Trump recording suggests prosecutors may have grounds to charge him under the Espionage Act
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CNN reported Trump was captured on audio in 2021 admitting he took a classified document. Federal prosecutors investigating Trump's handling of documents have the recording, CNN said. The recording included Trump saying he was not sure he was able to declassify records after leaving the presidency, two sources said. The sources said Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the Justice Department's investigations into Trump, has focused on the summer 2021 meeting in which the audio recording was taken. Legal experts respond to reports of the audio recording"This is absolutely blockbuster evidence," Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, wrote on Twitter of the reported audio.

Persons: Trump, —, Donald Trump, Jack Smith, President Trump, Renato Mariotti, …, Peter Strzok, Ryan Goodman, Goodman, Richard W, Painter, George W, Bush Organizations: CNN, Service, The New York Times, CBS, Trump, FBI, Justice, Justice Department, Twitter, New York University, White, DOJ Locations: Iran, Lago

☆ Special counsel issues report criticizing FBI for launching Trump-Russia investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The special counsel who spent four years investigating the Trump-Russia probe accused the FBI of acting negligently by opening the investigation based on vague and insufficient information in a sweeping 300-page report made public Monday. The FBI responded to the report, indicating that the missteps identified by Durham have already been addressed. Durham's report examines in painstaking detail various aspects of the now infamous FBI investigation code-named "Crossfire Hurricane," which led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Durham's investigation found that at the time, neither the FBI nor CIA had any intelligence suggesting an improper relationship between Trump and Russia. Durham appears to suggest that the intelligence information should have given the FBI pause in its pursuit of allegations involving the Trump campaign.

☆ Takeaways from special counsel John Durham’s report on FBI’s Russia-Trump probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Special counsel John Durham released his final report on Monday in which he casts doubt about the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation into connections between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The report does not ultimately fulfill the expectations set by former President Trump and his allies who have long claimed that it would prove the FBI’s investigation was nothing more than a political witch hunt. That finding was at the core of Durham’s most scathing criticism of the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation. “Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016.

☆ Special counsel John Durham concludes FBI never should have launched full Trump-Russia probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen Devan Cole Tierney Sneed Evan Perez Hannah Rabinowitz Jeremy Herb Marshall Cohen | Zachary Cohen | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

“Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. Mixed results over 3+ yearsBarr tapped Durham in 2019 to review the origins of the Russia probe, and the scope of Durham’s work grew over the years. Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which inherited the initial Russia probe, released a detailed accounting of Russia’s effort to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but investigators documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians.

☆ Justice Department secures court order blocking Trump deposition in Strzok and Page lawsuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Zoë Richards | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In a win for the Justice Department, a federal judge on Friday blocked a May 24 deposition of former President Donald Trump in connection with a pair lawsuits filed by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. "The Court is somewhat surprised to learn that since then, the parties have done nothing more than wrangle over the order of the two depositions," Berman Jackson wrote. "The Court's ruling was appropriate in light of all of the facts, including the former President's own public statements concerning his role in the firing of the plaintiff," Berman Jackson wrote. Attorneys for Strzok, Page and Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday night. Strzok's lawyers are seeking Trump's deposition to determine whether he met with and directly pressured FBI and Justice Department officials to terminate Strzok or told any White House staff members to do so.

☆ Notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dan Berman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and says the probe by Bragg, a Democrat, is politically motivated. According to the lawsuit, the Trump Organization deceived lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of his properties using misleading appraisals. A federal judge ruled that Trump and FBI Director Christopher Wray can be deposed for two hours each as part of the lawsuit. “What (Trump’s lawsuit) lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,” US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote. Woodward later released “The Trump Tapes,” an audiobook featuring eight hours of raw interviews with Trump interspersed with the author’s commentary.

☆ Trump, FBI Director Wray can be deposed in lawsuits by ex-officials Strzok and Page, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., April 14, 2021. Trump regularly attacked Strzok and Page starting in 2017, following the revelation that the pair sent anti-Trump texts while they were employed by the FBI and having an affair. Strzok and Page filed separate civil lawsuits in 2019 against the Justice Department and FBI. Strzok alleged he was fired "because of his protected political speech" in violation of his constitutional rights. The decision "was the result of unrelenting pressure from President Trump and his political allies in Congress and the media," Strzok's legal complaint alleged.

Strzok and Page factored prominently in Trump's contention that the FBI was politically biased against him. Page, who resigned her position as a senior FBI lawyer, sued over alleged privacy violations stemming from the leak of the messages. The Justice Department has argued that Strzok was fired for violating FBI policies and undermining trust in the bureau. Both Trump and Wray had resisted subpoenas to appear for depositions, arguing that Strzok had not cleared the high bar to depose senior government officials by showing that Trump and Wray had information relevant to the case. Representatives for Trump and the U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Trump and lawyer sanctioned almost $1 million for 'frivolous' lawsuit against Hillary Clinton
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A federal judge on Thursday imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions on former President Donald Trump and his lawyer for filing a since-dismissed "frivolous" lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and many others, which had claimed they tried to rig the 2016 presidential election in her favor by smearing Trump. Middlebrooks in his order Thursday noted that "Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries." "He knew full well the impact of his actions ... As such, I find that sanctions should be imposed upon Mr. Trump and his lead counsel, Ms. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, filed his suit in March against Clinton, who was the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. Middlebrooks earlier dismissed the lawsuit against Clinton and all other defendants "with prejudice," which bars Trump from refiling the complaint.

☆ The notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Dan Berman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

CNN —All eyes are on former President Donald Trump, whose third White House bid has already become mired in controversy. The Justice Department investigation continues into whether documents from the Trump White House were illegally mishandled when they were brought to Mar-a-Lago in Florida after he left office. Any unauthorized retention or destruction of White House documents could violate a criminal law that prohibits the removal or destruction of official government records, legal experts told CNN. During the panel’s hearings this summer, fingers were pointed at GOP lawmakers and Trump allies who tried to help overturn the election and Trump White House officials who failed to stop the former president’s actions. Recently, DOJ moved to compel additional testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin.

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