Trump-Mueller investigation: New Manafort hearing as President lashes out over chief of staff, border wall and Democrats
Potential successors to John Kelly rule themselves out of job as Russia probe moves closer to White House
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Your support makes all the difference.President Donald Trump is scrambling to find a new chief of staff after his first choice to replace John Kelly rejected the role at the last minute and several other potential successors signalled they did not want the job.
Leading contender Nick Ayers, said to have been in talks over taking the position for several months, ruled himself out of the running amid mounting chaos at the White House.
Mr Trump is reported to have been “super pissed” by the development, which leaves him racing to fill a job described as “one of the toughest in DC” at a time when Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is getting ever nearer to the Oval Office.
Five people linked to the president have pleaded guilty to federal charges as investigators probe whether Mr Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Kremlin in the 2016 election campaign.
Prosecutors in New York have also for the first time linked the president to a federal crime, accusing him of orchestrating hush-money payments by his long-time lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to a porn star and a former Playboy model.
Mr Cohen is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, and is likely to face years in prison after admitting campaign finance offences.
Donald Trump may be considering Fox News contributor David Bossie for his next White House chief of staff after John Kelly leaves at the end of the year, CNN reported, supposedly due to his experience in handling former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
Mr Bossie has authored books like Let Trump Be Trump and was the president’s former deputy campaign manager.
Donald Trump has tweeted a quote from ex-FBI assistant director Chris Swecker purportedly arriving from Fox News, in which the former official said “I don’t care what you think of the President...it cannot bleed over to the FBI...Comey is confirming there is bias in the FBI.”
As Paul Manafort’s attorneys arrive in court for a scheduling conference on what’s next surrounding Robert Mueller’s accusation he lied during his plea deal, it appears another person linked to the president is also fighting in court today.
Former Trump campaign staffer Jessica Denson is challenging an order to pay almost $25,000 for violating a nondisclosure agreement.
Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have released a two-sentence joint statement following their bizarre televised meeting with Donald Trump: “We gave the president two options that would keep the government open. It’s his choice to accept one of those options or shut the government down.”
The judge presiding over Paul Manafort’s case has said she lacks the necessary information to determine whether Donald Trump’s former campaign chair breached his plea deal by lying to prosecutors.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson told attorneys Tuesday the memo she received on Friday was not enough to inform her decision. It has been reported the judge has a version of the memo which lacks the many redactions that came with the public-facing documents.
The government must now submit a supplemental plea by 14 January which backs up their allegations that Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors after signing a plea deal.
Manafort’s defence team has suggested they may not actually require a hearing to counter the allegations.
The judge has scheduled an additional hearing for 25 January in case they choose to use it to present their claims.
A new report suggests there is ‘extraordinary frustration’ among the US intelligence community over how to handle Donald Trump’s daily intelligence briefings.
The Washington Post has reported CIA officials and others spend enormous “time, energy and resources” so the president receives accurate intelligence — however, much of that is deemed “a waste” due to his reported “imperviousness to such material.”
The judge presiding over suspected Russian spy Maria Butina's court hearings has delayed a plea agreement by one day until Thursday, Reuters reported.
Ms Butina is accused of infiltrating the National Rifle Association to shape American policy towards Russia during the 2016 presidential election. She initially pled not guilty to all charges, but has since requested to change at least a portion of her plea this week.
A new report reveals the response CIA officials had when Donald Trump seemed to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his denials of Russian interference in the 2016 election during a summit in Helsinki.
“There was this gasp” at the CIA headquarters the moment the president supported Mr Putin’s claims, the Washington Post report reveals. “You literally had people in panic mode watching it at Langley. On all floors. Just shock.”
California Senator Kamala Harris has tweeted a statement condemning Republican leadership for failing to legally protect the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
“There is broad bipartisan support for legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but Republican leaders are refusing to bring it to the floor,” she wrote. “We cannot afford to wait.”
She added, “It is critical we learn the truth about Russia’s involvement in our elections.”
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