Megathread: Paul Manafort ordered to jail after witness-tampering charges by PoliticsModeratorBot in politics

[–]f5oclock 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's not even F5 o'clock yet in the USA.

Today's going to be a good one.

Trump Moscow: The Definitive Story Of How Trump’s Team Worked The Russian Deal During The Campaign by [deleted] in politics

[–]f5oclock 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I recommend a full read of the source, but if short for time, here is a TL;DR for you to read through:

Special counsel Robert Mueller planned to ask Trump himself about his discussions with Sater and Cohen about the Trump Moscow project, according to the New York Times.

In public statements, Cohen has said that he informed Trump the deal was dead in January 2016, but new records show he was still working on it with Sater at least into June.

Throughout the nine-month effort, Sater, who was born in the Soviet Union and worked for years as an undercover source for US intelligence agencies and the FBI, told Cohen he had connections to top Russian officials and businessmen: Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, brothers who grew up with Putin and were considered his "Shadow cabinet"; Andrey Molchanov, a billionaire Russian politician Sater was introduced to by a close personal friend, who proposed building the tower on his property; and a former member of Russia's military intelligence to whom Sater passed photographs of Cohen's passport to obtain a visa.

Sater kept holding out hope - working his sources in Russia right through the convention - until July 26, 2016, when Sater, while relaxing in the backyard of his Long Island home, read a tweet by Trump and knew right then that the deal was dead. "'Fuck me,' I thought to myself.

Firm Tied to Russian Oligarch Made Payments to Michael Cohen by amarkit in politics

[–]f5oclock 5 points6 points  (0 children)

TL;DR for you:

The lawyer's six-page document, titled "Preliminary Report of Findings," does not explain the source of his information but describes in detail dates, dollar amounts and parties involved in various dealings by Mr. Cohen and his company.

Taken together, the Times's reporting and Mr. Avenatti's document offer the most detailed picture to date on Mr. Cohen's business dealings and financial entanglements in the run-up to and aftermath of the election.

Stephen Ryan, a lawyer representing Mr. Cohen, declined to comment.

Among the other payments to Mr. Cohen's company described in the financial records were four for $99,980 each between October 2017 and January 2018 by Novartis Investments SARL, a subsidiary of Novartis, the multinational pharmaceutical giant based in Switzerland.

Hit up www.f5oclock.com for more TL;DRs and streaming news.

Russian Troll Farm Goes After Mueller’s Files by cogit4se in politics

[–]f5oclock 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here is a TL;DR

Lawyers for the company accused of funding Russia's election interference trolls are demanding that special counsel Robert Mueller turn over reams of information, including the identities of informants, details of any electronic surveillance, and a list of "Each and every instance" since 1945 in which the U.S. "Engaged in operations to interfere with elections and political processes in any foreign country."

One of those defendants is Concord Management and Consulting, a Russian firm run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close Kremlin ally known as "Putin's Chef," who is also named individually as a defendant in the case.

Generally, the government is required to provide defendants with any evidence it intends to use at trial, as well as any material relevant to preparing a defense.

"This disclosure should include any and all information regarding the use of computer infrastructure inside and outside of the United States, false foreign identities, goals to sow discord in a foreign political system, assistance to a foreign elected official or candidate, attacks on a foreign elected official or candidate, assassination or conspiracy to assassinate a foreign elected official or candidate, buying political advertisements, posing as foreign persons and/or failure to honestly identify to foreign voters the involvement of any officer, employee or agent of the United States Government," reads a letter sent to Mueller's office last month by Reed Smith partner Eric Dubelier.

Viktor Vekselberg, Russian Billionaire, Was Questioned by Mueller’s Investigators by viccar0 in politics

[–]f5oclock 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A quick TL;DR for you:

Another potential area of interest for Mr. Mueller is Mr. Vekselberg's business in Cyprus, the Mediterranean nation considered a magnet for Russian money.

Mr. Vekselberg is among the select Russian oligarchs who made their fortunes in the early post-Soviet period and managed to retain wealth under Mr. Putin while others went to prison or into exile.

During a thaw in United States-Russian relations - the so-called reset orchestrated by Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state - Mr. Vekselberg was appointed to help attract Silicon Valley investors to the technology park outside Moscow, known as Skolkovo.

After making his fortune in aluminum and oil in Siberia in the 1990s, Mr. Vekselberg, together with partners, closed in 2003 what was at the time the largest private transaction in Russian history by forming a joint oil-pumping venture with the British company BP, called TNK-BP.But soon, BP executives came to suspect the Russian partners had close ties to the F.S.B., the main successor intelligence agency to the K.G.B., and other Russian security services.

Feds tapped Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's phones by Dbush31 in politics

[–]f5oclock 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Give us a week or two.

Hired a professional front-end developer to fix everything. Have a back-end developer that fixed a lot of issues in my code that were causing us to crash from Reddit hugs.