Indictment expected from Mueller’s probe into Trump campaign aides
October 30, 2017 by admin
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One of two former top strategists for the Trump campaign is “likely” to face indictment as early as Monday, a senior Democrat said Sunday, previewing what would be the first criminal charges in the intensifying probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into current and former members of President Trump’s inner orbit.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said a federal judge could unseal an indictment against either Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, or Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump’s national security advisor in the White House.
Schiff’s comments came amid intense speculation at the White House and on Capitol Hill over media reports that a federal grand jury in Washington has approved its first indictment in the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether members of Trump’s campaign actively colluded with Moscow.
Schiff, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said he was reacting to press reports and could not confirm the target or whether it involved Russia. “We haven’t been told who it is,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Representatives of Flynn and Manafort could not be reached for comment on Sunday, and some reports suggested other individuals might be the focus of the sealed indictment.
Trump did not specifically react to the expected indictment, but in an angry series of tweets, he denounced what he called “phony Trump/Russia… ‘collusion,’ which doesn’t exist.”
As in the past, he sought to blame partisan politics for the widening scandal, accusing rival Hillary Clinton and Democrats of orchestrating the FBI investigations, the grand jury probe and multiple congressional inquiries in an effort to undermine his administration.
“The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R’s…are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!”
He added, “All of this ‘Russia’ talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT!”
Manafort, a political consultant, has long been active in Republican circles in Washington even as he developed major business deals in Russia and Ukraine. Manafort was paid tens of millions of dollars for his work on behalf of the former Russian-backed government in Ukraine.
He has been a target of an FBI counterintelligence investigation since at least 2014, two years before he joined Trump’s campaign, although he was never charged.
In 2014, federal authorities obtained a special warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to secretly eavesdrop on Manafort’s communications. The warrant was renewed in early 2016 before lapsing last October, according to lawyers familiar with the matter.
This summer, on July 26, a team of FBI agents armed with a “no knock” warrant raided Manafort’s residence in Alexandria, Va., to collect digital records and other evidence. In August, the New York Times reported that federal prosecutors had informed Manafort’s lawyers of their intention to secure his indictment.
Flynn, a retired Army three-star general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, served as a senior national security advisor to Trump during the campaign and spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention.
He was named national security advisor after Trump won the election but resigned after just 24 days following news reports of his telephone and personal contacts with Russia’s ambassador to Washington. Flynn subsequently amended personal-financial disclosure forms to report previously unacknowledged income from foreign clients.
The expected indictment — and whether it focuses on criminal activity during the 2016 presidential race or from business dealings prior to or separate from the campaign — dominated Sunday TV talk shows.
“It’s going to be really important whether or not this indictment involves 15-year-old business transactions or 15-day-old conversations with Russia,” Rep. Trey Gowdy, (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said on Fox News Sunday.
Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, decried the apparent leak of a sealed grand jury indictment, which he said was illegal. But he declined to impugn Mueller’s leadership of the investigation and said he saw no grounds for Mueller to resign.
“I readily concede I’m in an increasingly small group of Republicans,” Gowdy said. “I think Bob Mueller has a really distinguished career of service to our country.… I would encourage my Republican friends: Give the guy a chance to do his job.”
Sen. Susan Collins, (R-Maine), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of four congressional panels conducting investigations separate from Mueller’s criminal probe, was asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation’’ about any sign of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
“I have not yet seen any definitive evidence of collusion,” Collins responded. “I have seen lots of evidence that the Russians were very active in trying to influence the election.”
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian government purposefully sought to meddle in the U.S. election, notably through hacking of Democratic Party emails and targeted postings on social media sites, to discredit American democracy and to help Trump beat Clinton.
Trump has consistently denied any improper ties to Russia, and has said he is not a target of the FBI investigation.
david.willman@latimes.com
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Tropical Storm Philippe bringing heavy rains and high wind to South Florida
October 29, 2017 by admin
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Tropical Storm Philippe has shifted west, putting more of South Florida in the cone.
A tropical storm watch was issued for coastal South Florida from Miami-Dade to the Upper Keys on Saturday.
Heavy rains across parts of South Florida began Saturday afternoon from the fringes of the fast-moving storm, which is racing across Cuba at 29 mph. The rains were expected to be heavy on Saturday night and into Sunday.
A flood watch has been issued for Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties through 4 a.m. Sunday, with two to four inches of rain possible, and six inches in isolated areas. An isolated tornado threat continues through Sunday morning.
The winds have already damaged some structures, including several mobile homes in Boynton Beach, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Crews responded just after 6 p.m. to reports of damaged homes near the 4000 block of 88th Court South inside Parry Trailer Village.
Crews reported moderate damage to the homes and debris throughout the neighborhood. Firefighters are going through the neighborhood looking for any possible victims and assessing the damage, Captain Albert Borroto said.
The worst of the storm will pass closest to South Florida from 9 or 10 p.m. to about 2 a.m., with Miami-Dade expected to experience the highest winds, and Broward and Palm Beach facing the possibility of a few inches of rain.
The storm currently has top wind speeds of 40 mph, and reached tropical storm strength by 5 p.m., which means winds of 39-73 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. advisory. A tropical storm watch means that these wind speeds are possible.
The forecast track for the storm’s center lies about 35 miles southeast of the Upper Keys and southeastern Miami-Dade County, and the strongest winds will be on the east side of the storm, the side farthest from Florida, the hurricane center said. But the hurricane center said even a slight shift to the west could bring tropical-storm force winds to the Keys or the mainland.
The tropical storm watch applies to coastal Miami-Dade County, which means everything east of Interstate 95 from the Broward County line to downtown, and then east of Dixie Highway through Homestead.
Broward County may see heavy rain, thunderstorms and high winds Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Although Palm Beach County could experience similar effects, the risk there is lower, according to the National Weather Service.
To the extent the storm affects mainland South Florida, the worst of it is likely to be in Miami-Dade County, particularly east of I-95, said Robert Molleda, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Miami.
The storm is expected to move quickly through the region Sunday morning. A strong cold front is following behind it, which could produce lows in the 50s Sunday night.
Gov. Rick Scott met with officials from the Florida Department of Emergency Management and urged state residents to be on alert.
“As we do with every storm, Floridians must remain vigilant and be prepared right now for any potential impacts from [Tropical Storm Philippe],” the governor said, in a statement issued late Friday afternoon. “It is critical that families pay attention to weather alerts, especially to local watches and warnings.”
Staff writer Brooke Baitinger contributed to this report.
dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4535