Вопросы и ответы

[tijd]

Вчера в New York Times опубликовали слитый в прессу список вопросов, который Мюллер подготовил для Трампа.

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, recently provided President Trump’s lawyers a list of questions he wants answered in an interview. The New York Times obtained the list; here are the questions, along with the context and significance of each. The questions fall into categories based on four broad subjects. They are not quoted verbatim, and some were condensed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/us/politics/questions-mueller-wants-to-ask-trump-russia.html

Четыре категории вопросов: Флинн, Коми, Сешнс (последние два - из расследования попыток помешать правосудию) и российские контакты. В последней категории вопросы вполне ожидаемое, кроме пожалуй "What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?" Хотя контакты Манафорта известны, до сих пор о его попытках запросить российскую помощь не сообщалось.

Вопросы слил некто близкий к адвокатам Трампа, предположительно Руди Джулиани, с тем, чтобы отговорить Трампа давать показания. Действительно, трудно представить, чтобы даже с помощью адвокатов Трамп сумел дать на эти вопросы честные ответы.



Свои ответы на вопросы Рашагейта предложили республиканцы в комиссии Палаты представителей по разведке, во главе с Девином Нунесом, выпустив обещанный финальный отчет.

Репортаж New York Times подробно рассказывает про то, как Трамп культивировал связи с Нунесом во время избирательной кампании 2016 и переходного периода, и как Нунес превратился для Трампа в своего человечка в Конгрессе.

In the beginning, it was Nunes who influenced Trump. During the campaign, he tutored the candidate on water policy - a crucial issue to California agribusiness interests - and Trump heeded his warnings about the perfidy of environmentalists and government bureaucrats who were creating a “man-made drought.” At the Tulare fund-raiser, Trump promised the crowd that he would get their water back for them. Once Trump was elected, he appointed Nunes to the executive committee of his transition team, where Nunes helped shape the nascent Trump administration’s foreign policy. “He just took a very proactive role,” one Trump transition official recalls. “He was very aggressive and assertive about things and people we had to have.” According to the Trump transition official, Nunes was among the strongest advocates for Mike Pompeo, a colleague of his on the Intelligence Committee, to become the C.I.A. director and for James Mattis to become the secretary of defense. He also recommended a number of staff members, including his Intelligence Committee aide Derek Harvey, for positions on the National Security Council. “If we didn’t have Nunes,” the transition official says, “we wouldn’t have had anything stood up. He took the lead and was very important.”
The Trump team was so impressed with Nunes that, according to the transition official, it considered bringing him into the administration. A few weeks after the election, the congressman traveled to Trump Tower, where, according to transition officials, he and Trump discussed the possibility of his becoming the director of national intelligence and overseeing an ambitious reorganization of the intelligence community. But Trump ultimately decided to shelve those plans and appoint as director a less disruptive figure, Dan Coats, a former Indiana senator. Besides, with Pompeo leaving Capitol Hill for Langley, Trump’s circle believed that Nunes would be even more valuable to the administration if he remained in Congress, running the Intelligence Committee.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/magazine/how-devin-nunes-turned-the-house-intelligence-committee-inside-out.html



Нунес начинает терять очки в своем традиционно республиканском округе (CA-22), где ему на пятки наступает бывший прокурор Andrew Janz.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R, CA-22), who has become nationally famous thanks to his roles as a defender of President Trump and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sits in another historically Republican district where Trump fared poorly compared to Romney, although he still carried it by 9.5 points. Nunes newfound notoriety cuts both ways - he’s raising a ton of money but so is his prospective November opponent, Andrew Janz (D), a Fresno County deputy district attorney.
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/

В ноябре будет интересный тест - удастся ли Нунесу защитой Трампа мобилизовать республиканских избирателей в калифорнийской глубинке или же он навлечет на свою задницу мобилизованных демократов?
https://www.andrewjanzforcongress.com/

Mr. President, to conclude there is “no evidence” of collusion, you must ignore Russia’s extensive efforts to help your campaign, the litany of communications between Russia & your campaign, & the massive effort to conceal these contacts. Here’s the truth: https://t.co/ufM7sszcxW https://t.co/k2TX7LYfU5
- Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 27, 2018

Что касается демократов в комиссии, они не удовлетворены докладом Нунеса, выпустили свой доклад на 100 страниц о промежуточных итогах расследования и обещают продолжить расследование своими силами.

"To determine whether this evidence of collusion reaches the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt of criminal conspiracy, we must await the report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, since the Majority refused to interview the witnesses and obtain the documents necessary to find out. Regardless, there is no denying the abundant evidence that the Trump campaign sought, and was eager to accept, the assistance of a hostile foreign power bent on interfering in our election. It is also uncontroverted that the Russians assisted the Trump campaign through a surreptitious social media campaign, an overt paid media effort, an elaborate hacking and dumping operation targeting the DNC and Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta, and potentially through additional means still under investigation.
Our Minority Views are not a substitute for a final report. We highlight just some of the unclassified information obtained by the Committee, but substantial additional classified and unclassified evidence further illustrates a concerted campaign by Russia to help the candidacy of Donald Trump, and the willingness of the Trump campaign to accept that help. The Minority Views also correct the record on a raft of misleading conclusions, insinuations, attempts to explain away inconvenient facts, and arguments meant to protect the President and his campaign found in the Republican report."
https://democrats-intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=376



Отчет демократов проливает свет на некоторые детали из более ранних сообщений.
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180322/108023/HRPT-115-2.pdf

Так, например, появляются дополнительные косвенные свидетельства того, что Трамп был осведомлен о печально известной встрече в Trump Tower с Натальей Весельницкой и ее антуражем. На следующий день после этой встречи он получил от Араса Алагарова «в подарок» дорогую картину.

The next day, Aras had “an expensive painting” delivered to Trump. The Democrats’ report cites an email - subject line, “Birthday gift for Mr. Trump” - from Goldstone to Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime assistant.
A week later, the Democrats’ report states, Trump sent Aras a thank-you note.
“There are few things better than receiving a sensational gift from someone you admire - and that’s what I’ve received from you,” Trump wrote to Aras. “You made my birthday a truly special event by your thoughtfulness - not to mention your remarkable talent. I’m rarely at a loss for words, but right now I can only say how much I appreciate your friendship and to thank you for this fantastic gift. This is one birthday that I will always remember.”
Contacts between the Trumps and the Agalarovs continued after the election as well. While it has been known that the Agalarovs posted supportive messages on social media surrounding Trump’s election and inauguration, it had not before Friday been known that they were directly communicating during that time as well.
In the Democrats’ report, it notes one message sent by Emin to Trump Jr. on Dec. 13, 2016, posing a “quick question” for Trump Jr. According to the footnotes in the report, the text message was found among documents turned over to the committee by Trump Jr. labeled, “Text Messages from Emin Agalarov to Donald Trump Jr., November 10, 2016.”
A source familiar with the messages told BuzzFeed News that the Nov. 10, 2016, date represents “the date of the first of a series” of messages between Trump Jr. and Emin. Based on the description in the Democrats’ report, the text messages - at least those between Nov. 10 and Dec. 13, 2016 - fit on one page.
Emin’s texts were not the only Agalarov communications to Trump associates that took place during the transition.
Goldstone, who had sent the email about Aras Agalarov’s present for Trump to Graff in June, sent another email to Graff on Nov. 28, 2016.
“Aras Agalarov has asked me to pass on this document in the hope it can be passed on to the appropriate team.” The attachment related to the Magnitsky Act.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/trump-jr-and-emin-agalarov-stayed-in-touch-during-the

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Выступая на трампинге в Мичигане, Трамп попытался придумать дикое объяснение, зачем Весельницкая наговаривает на себя, что она работала на генпрокурора Чайку.

"I guarantee you, I'm tougher on Russia. Nobody ever thought. In fact, have you heard about the lawyer? For a year, a woman lawyer, she was like, 'Oh, I know nothing.' ... Now all of a sudden she supposedly is involved with government. You know why? If she did that, because Putin and the groups said, 'you know this Trump is killing us. Why don't you say that you're involved with government so that we could go and make their life in the United States even more chaotic.' Look at what's happened. Look at how these politicians have fallen for this junk. Russian collusion. Give me a break."