The Russian Connection: Full Speed Ahead

Special Counsel Robert Mueller III is going full speed ahead with his probe of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections and the Trump campaign’s connections. As of today this is where it stands:

According to NBC News, former White house Security Advisor General (ret) Michael Flynn’s son, Michael G. Flynn, is now under federal investigation

The inquiry into Flynn is focused at least in part on his work with his father’s lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group, three of the officials said. It’s unclear when the focus on Flynn began. [..]

The younger Flynn worked closely with his father, whose connections to foreign governments, including Russia and Turkey, have been a subject of federal and congressional investigations.

Michael G. Flynn accompanied his father, for instance, on a trip to Moscow in December 2015 for the elder Flynn to deliver a paid speech at a gala for the state-sponsored Russian television network RT. He can be seen in video from an associated event. [..]

A former business associate of Michael Flynn’s said the younger Flynn had a heavy hand in the day-to-day operations of Flynn Intel Group and served as his father’s chief of staff. Those responsibilities included attending meetings with his father and communicating with prospective clients, the former business associate said.

Several legal experts with knowledge of the investigation have told NBC News they believe Mueller, following a classic prosecutorial playbook, is seeking to compel key players, including Flynn and Manafort, to tell what they know about any possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia. Mueller has brought onto his team a federal prosecutor known for convincing subjects to turn on associates. Any potential criminal liability for Michael G. Flynn could put added pressure on his father, these legal experts said.

In a closed door interview before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 7, Trump’s eldest son Donald, Jr. put the icing on the cake with for the conspiracy case with his third version of the meeting with a room full of Russian operatives at Trump Tower last year. Junior stated he took the meeting to obtain information on Hillary Clinton’s “fitness” for office and evaluate its worth. Someone needs to read Junior his Miranda rights.

It was reported in a Wall Street Journal article (behind a pay-wall), that trump’s lawyer’s are concerned about Trump’s son-in-law and chief advisor, Jared Kushner’s “legal liability” and suggested that he should resign.

In June, some aides working with Trump’s outside legal team made the recommendation to the president and prepared a statement for Kushner’s resignation, according to the Journal’s reporting.

Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, has drawn increasing scrutiny in multiple investigations into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in last year’s election, particularly given his high-level role in the White House.

Kushner failed to report several meetings he had with Russian officials during Trump’s presidential transition period, among numerous foreign contacts he omitted from his SF-86 form, used to gain a government security clearance. As a senior adviser, Kushner has the “top-secret” designation, the highest clearance level.

Former White house Nat Sec advisor Michael Flynn has again refused to appear before the Senate intelligence Committee, siting is Fifth Amendment rights in response to their subpoena. The House Democrats are forwarding information to Mueller’s team regarding Flynn’s concealment of his foreign contracts on his security clearance application.

Democratic lawmakers are probing whether retired U.S. General Michael Flynn secretly promoted a U.S.-Russian project to build dozens of nuclear reactors in the Middle East after becoming President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser.

Representatives Elijah Cummings and Eliot Engel made the disclosure in a letter they sent on Tuesday to Flynn’s lawyer and executives of firms that developed the reactor scheme and for which Flynn’s now-defunct consulting company worked.

“The American people deserve to know whether General Flynn was secretly promoting the private interests of these businesses while he was a (Trump) campaign adviser, transition official, or President Trump’s national security adviser,” the two said in the letter made public on Wednesday.

They asked Flynn’s lawyer and executives of companies involved in the project to provide “all communications” they had with Flynn or other administration officials during the 2016 campaign, the post-election transition or Flynn’s tenure as national security adviser.

Last but not least, Mueller has enlisted the assistance of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to investigate former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s shady real estate dealings and money laundering which would not be pardonable by Trump.

Needless to say the White House is still insisting that this is all a waste of time and, once again, falls back on blaming someone else for whatever. After former chief advisor, and once again Breitbart editor, Steve Bannon’s appearance on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the White House is attempting to justify the firing of FBI Director James Comey by smearing him. As she did for the last two day, WH spokesperson Sarah “Huckleberry” Sanders, agin today, accused Comey of breaking federal law during the daily press briefing. She’s not a lawyers but she’s certain Comey is guilty.

The investigation is getting very close to home for Trump and his co-conspirators.