U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
President Donald Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt the special counsel probe into Russia's alleged election meddling on Wednesday.
Sessions evoked Trump's ire last year when he announced he would recuse himself from the Russia probe because he had not disclosed his contacts with Russia's Washington ambassador during his Senate confirmation. Trump has publicly and privately fumed over the decision.
After months of deriding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which is also examining possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia, the president directly appealed to his top law enforcement official to squash the investigation.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end a federal criminal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether there was any cooperation by his campaign with Moscow.After a pair of tweets attacking the probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Trump wrote: "This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further."Bob Mueller is totally conflicted," Trump continued. He provided no evidence that the team led by Mueller, a Republican appointed by Republicans, is biased against him.A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department had no immediate comment on the tweet.The first trial arising from the probe into Russia's efforts to put Trump in the White House, and any coordination with his campaign team, began this week. Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, faces 18 counts of bank and tax fraud charges.Prosecutors portray Trump's ex-campaign chief as a liar and tax cheatThe Republican president has steadily attacked his attorney general for recusing himself from the Russia probe in March 2017. Sessions cited his role as a senior adviser to Trump's presidential campaign and appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to oversee the investigation. Rosenstein in turn appointed Mueller.The man heading Trump's re-election campaign, Brad Parscale, has in recent months called on Trump to fire Sessions and end the Mueller probe.Moscow has denied it interfered in the 2016 election campaign, and Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign.
Trump says attorney general should stop Mueller probe 'right now'
"This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!" Trump wrote in a series of tweets.
After Sessions stepped aside, the second in command at the Justice Department, Rod Rosenstein, has overseen the Mueller probe, making any action by Sessions unlikely.
Prosecutors portrayed U.S. President Donald Trump's onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort as a tax cheat who used offshore accounts to hide tens of millions of dollars from political work in Ukraine, as the first trial from a probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election got off to a quick start on Tuesday.Manafort lived an extravagant lifestyle, snapping up expensive homes and cars, and spending more than half a million dollars on "fancy clothes" and $21,000 for a watch, a prosecutor said in the government's opening statement at the trial in a Virginia federal court."A man in this courtroom believed the law did not apply to him. Not tax, not banking law," said Uzo Asonye, a member of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team looking at possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016.In describing the 18 counts facing Manafort, Asonye said that Manafort did not pay taxes on a large portion of the $60 million he earned working for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, hid the income in a web of 30 overseas bank accounts, and lied to U.S. banks to borrow millions of dollars against his real estate holdings once the money from Ukraine dried up."All of these charges boil down to one simple issue: that Paul Manafort lied," Asonye said.Manafort's attorney Thomas Zehnle painted a drastically different portrait of Manafort, calling him a successful political consultant of 40 years who left the day-to-day operations of his company to his former associate Rick Gates, who betrayed him.Zehnle made it clear that attacking the credibility of Gates, who pleaded guilty in February and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation, would be a central plank of the defense.Gates is expected to be a star witness at the trial."Rick Gates had his hand in the cookie jar," Zehnle said, claiming that Gates was not truthful with the accountants who prepared Manafort's tax returns and kept his name on offshore accounts to conceal an embezzlement scheme.Thomas Green, who represents Gates, did not respond to a request for comment on the new accusations.The government also presented its first witness, Tad Devine, a political consultant who recalled his work with Manafort in Ukraine to help pro-Russian political figure Viktor Yanukovych, who was swept from power and fled to Russia in 2014.Devine, a strategist on Democrat Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, described how Manafort used Western-style polling and advertising to lift Yanukovych to victory in a 2010 election. Prosecutors appeared to be using his testimony to establish the nature of Manafort's work in Ukraine.Devine was also asked about Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukranian political consultant who he described as a translator for Manafort. Kilimnik, who prosecutors have said has ties to Russian intelligence, was indicted last month along with Manafort on charges of witness tampering.BLOWING A KISSOutside the courthouse, a handful of protesters displayed a life-sized puppet of Trump and held signs saying, "Trump won't do time for you," "It's Mueller time," and "I like your new suit" alongside a photo of Manafort's mug shot.A Manafort conviction would give momentum to Mueller, who has indicted or secured guilty pleas from 32 people and three companies since his probe started 14 months ago. An acquittal would support efforts by Trump and his allies to portray the investigation as a "witch hunt."Trump has denied that his campaign colluded with Russia, and on Tuesday tried to make the case publicly that collusion would not be a crime anyway.Prosecutors have said they would not present evidence of collusion at this trial. The charges against Manafort largely pre-date his five months of work for the Trump campaign, some of them as campaign chairman.Trump has vacillated between showing sympathy for Manafort and trying to distance himself.Manafort attended a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians that is a focal point of Mueller's probe.Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis presided over selection of a 12-member jury, six men and six women.Manafort, 69, was wearing a black suit, white shirt and a tie. He was actively involved in the jury selection, conferring with his attorneys and passing notes. As he was leaving the courtroom at the end of day, he blew a kiss and mouthed "I love you" to his wife, Kathleen, who was seated in the first row.On Wednesday, prosecutors are planning to call Daniel Rabin, another political consultant who worked with Manafort in Ukraine, along with an unidentified FBI agent.The trial is expected to last about three weeks.Manafort faces a second trial in September in Washington, where he is charged with money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent and witness tampering.He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.'Collusion is not a crime': TrumpEx-Trump aide Paul Manafort is first to go on trial in Russia probe
Prosecutors portray Trump's ex-campaign chief as a liar and tax cheat
The trial of Trump's former campaign manager began Tuesday. Paul Manafort is facing federal bank fraud and tax charges brought by Mueller.
The trial is expected to last at least two weeks.
In another tweet Wednesday, Trump said Manafort "worked for me for a very short time," despite the fact that Manafort worked for his campaign for half a year.
"Why didn’t government tell me that he was under investigation. These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion - a Hoax!" Trump said.
In addition to seeking to determine the details of Russia's alleged interference in the election and the Trump campaign's possible cooperation with the effort, Mueller is also examining the president's potential obstruction of justice.
His tweet Wednesday morning saying Sessions "should stop" Mueller raises new questions over obstruction.
The White House said the president was voicing his opinion, not issuing an order to Sessions.