Tag: Robert Mueller

US Justice Dept’s No. 3 official resigns: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The third-ranking official at the US Justice Department is resigning just nine months after taking the powerful position, the New York Times reported Friday. The resignation of Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, a national security law expert, comes as President Donald Trump and Republican legislators have stepped up attacks on the department over special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible Trump campaign links to Russian interference in the 2016 election. […]

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Trump, Republicans release memo targeting FBI’s Russia probe

by Paul HANDLEY / Andrew BEATTY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Donald Trump and his Republican allies unleashed a controversial memo accusing the FBI of bias and abuse of power Friday, intensifying a high-stakes fight between the White House and prosecutors investigating the president’s campaign team. Trump defied his own FBI director and the Justice Department to declassify the four-page Republican document, which implies malfeasance and partisanship at the very top of American law enforcement. […]

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Christopher Wray, ‘low key’ FBI director in eye of the storm

by Chris Lefkow Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Christopher Wray, President Donald Trump’s hand-picked FBI director, told senators during his confirmation hearing not to be put off by his soft-spoken manner. “No one should mistake my low-key demeanor as a lack of resolve,” Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Anybody who thinks that I would be pulling punches as the FBI director sure doesn’t know me very well.” Just six months into the job, the […]

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Disputed memo alleging FBI abuse released on Trump’s okay

by Paul HANDLEY / Jerome CARTILLIER Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – The US Congress released a Republican memo Friday alleging abuse of power in investigations of Donald Trump’s election campaign, after the president accused his own Justice Department and FBI of bias against him. In authorizing the explosive move — denounced by his opponents as a bid to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of his team’s ties with Russia — Trump set up an extraordinary […]

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Trump willing to be questioned ‘under oath’ in Russia probe

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would “love” to be questioned under oath by Russia collusion prosecutor Robert Mueller, saying it could happen in the coming weeks. Trump confirmed that his lawyers are in discussion with Mueller, who is leading the investigation into collusion between the US president’s election campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, and also into allegations that Trump tried to obstruct his probe. “I would love […]

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Ex-Trump aide Manafort sues Mueller, Justice Department

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort sued special prosecutor Robert Mueller and the Justice Department Wednesday for allegedly overstepping their mandates, in a challenge to the Russia probe that threatens the US president. Two months after his arrest for tax evasion and money laundering, Manafort charged in a civil suit that the department and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave Mueller excessively broad authority in his investigation of possible collusion between the […]

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Trump says no plans to fire Mueller

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump insisted Sunday he has no intention of sacking Robert Mueller, after his transition team claimed the special counsel unlawfully obtained tens of thousands of emails for his probe into Russian meddling in the US election. When asked if he intended to fire Mueller, Trump told reporters: “No, I’m not.” Republicans have cast doubt on the impartiality of Mueller and pressed for a new independent prosecutor to investigate […]

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Ex-Trump aides charged as Russia probe accelerates

  by Paul Handley and Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse An investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election moved into a new and more perilous stage for the White House Tuesday after three aides to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, including a former chairman, were charged. Ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and another former Trump aide appeared in court, pleading not guilty to conspiracy against the United States, money laundering and several other charges after the […]

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Ex-FBI chief Mueller to head Trump-Russia probe

by Michael Mathes / Paul Handley Agence France-Presse A former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief was tasked Wednesday with leading a beefed-up investigation into whether United States President Donald Trump’s team colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in the president’s favor. Trump responded by once again denying any links to Moscow, but the appointment of a special counsel with sweeping powers dramatically raises the stakes in a crisis threatening to paralyze his presidency. The […]

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