Could be, or they were just wrapping up loose ends in their case against Flynn. Or, it could be related to the possible plea-bargaining that may be going on with Flynn. Perhaps Flynn proffered some information about Jared as an example of the help he might be able to provide if he flips. And perhaps Mueller’s team decided to check it out as part of their negotiations with Flynn.
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No competent prosecutor asks a question without knowing the answer in advance.
Everyone on Mueller’s team is competent and then some.
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Oh, I think it’s highly likely Kush will go to trial. Daddy-in-law may offer him a blanket pardon while he’s being removed from the WH in a straight jacket but that will do nothing for him re: NY state crimes.
Mueller seems to be very carefully charging portions of criminal findings while leaving other crimes for the states to charge thus avoiding any question of double jeopardy. At least that’s my read on how events are unfolding.
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I don’t know, but have you ever heard him speak? He has a very soft and quiet voice, sort of similar to that fake soft breathy voice that Lust Object uses.
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I: “I don’t know where I end…”
J: “And I begin…”
More than fragrance. It’s a life sentence. It’s “Criminal” by Calvin Kleen.
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In the midst of all the craziness of yesterday (and it was Peak 2017) there were a number of developments on the #trumprussia front.
Kushner questioned by Mueller’s Attorneys - We’re only hearing what Kushner’s attorneys are spinning. Seth Abramson has a very good write-up on this on Twitter. Essentially, he thinks Kushner’s attorneys made a mistake by letting him be questioned even if Lowell was able to limit the scope of questioning to matters relating to Flynn. The problem for Kushner is that he has multiple areas of potential liability independent of his meeting with Flynn and Kislyak. The lines among incidents are not as clear as day, so even answering a question about what Flynn did might implicate something relating to Kushner (e.g., provide more evidence of his intent to deceive on meetings relating to the SF-86, more evidence of quid pro quos, evidence that he knew about attempts to negotiate sanctions with the Russians prior to entering office and lied about it).
Additionally, if Flynn is cooperating with Mueller (and at the time this interview happened, Lowell probably didn’t know if Flynn was cooperating because Flynn’s attorneys were still technically talking to Lowell and the Trump legal team) then any statement Kushner made could be used against him if it differs from what Flynn has proffered or stated under oath. In other words, the interview might’ve been a way to set a trap for Kushner if they already knew and believed what Flynn was saying to them, or a way to verify what Flynn said, or both. The idea that Kushner would have any exculpatory evidence for Flynn is unlikely to borderline laughable. Flynn was DIA. Kushner was the representative of Trump and for his own business interests. Flynn would’ve directed that meeting with Kislyak.
There’s also the possibility that Kushner is probing some cooperation with Mueller to limit his own liability exposure. Anyway, if Mueller is calling you, you’re under scrutiny.
Reza Zarrab Testifies. I thought this was a big deal, if not game changer in many ways. This didn’t get much coverage but I followed a few twitter feeds that provided a bullet summary. Zarrab appeared in Federal court to testify for the gov’t against his co-conspirators in a gold for oil/gas + money laundering scheme involving Turkey and the UAE.
At a high level, the conclusion I drew as it relates to #trumprussia is the following: IMHO Donald Trump and his cronies actively attempted to cover up a massive corruption scheme involving the government of Turkey, the UAE, Iran (and likely with a nod, wink and nudge from Russia).
I still haven’t seen a press write-up on it. Zarrab testified as to an elaborate scheme of fake and real transactions to conceal the movement of dirty money from Iran’s revolutionary guard out of Iran to evade US sanctions. He testified that he bribed Turkish officials to look the other way. He also named Rudy Giuliani and Mike Mukasey for attempting to whisk him out of trial and treat his matter as a diplomatic dispute between Turkey and the US with the expectation of a prisoner swap. This prisoner swap would be nothing more than a cover story to mask that Trump was doing Erdogan a favor. The judge in that trial rejected Giuliani’s request and criticized that team as disingenuous for neglecting to mention the role of Iran in the Zarrab matter. That tells me that Giuliani was hiding the reason why he wanted Zarrab out of that trial. He was there because Trump sent him there. Trump sent him there because Erdogan demanded from 2 Presidents that Bharara be fired because he wanted that trial stopped. This trial will expose the corruption in the Erdogan regime and might weaken him enough to allow an opposition to force him from power. Gonna be tough after that coup, but the ingredients are there.
The other key thing was the involvement of the UAE, which suggests that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed may have been involved given the amount of gold/$ that went into bank accounts in the UAE. This is the same Crown Prince who arranged the back channel meeting between Erik Prince and the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth investment fund (under sanctions), and traveled to NY unannounced in Dec 2016 to meet with Kushner, Bannon and Flynn (this is the meeting that Susan Rice spied on and unmasked the three trumpers). Whether there is a direct connection or not isn’t clear, but it stands to reason that the UAE could’ve policed this and clearly didn’t.
How is Russia involved? I think Russia encouraged Trump to cooperate with Erdogan because they had shared interests in Syria (pro Assad, pro ISIS, anti Kurd). Turkey is also a convenient spot to launder money for sanctioned countries like Russia and Iran. Trump was only too happy to oblige and Flynn ran point on that meeting with Turks and Russians on back to back days in September and in close proximity in December. In short, Trump helped Erdogan because it was important to Putin (and because Obama wouldn’t help Erdogan).
If Zarrab spilled the beans like this on trial, think what he told Mueller’s investigators about the Flynn angle?
Also, as Josh mentions, anything that Rudy Giuliani did with respect to the Zarrab matter is now open for Mueller to investigate. Rudy’s firm also had conflicts as they had other clients which may have benefited from the Zarrab scheme and may have been under scrutiny, but if Rudy lies about why he took on that case and who sent him and why he made that specific diplomatic pitch, he’ll be in trouble. If he tells the truth, I suspect it will confirm that Trump was fully in on the ‘Flynn Turkey Leg’ aspect of this scandal.
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50-1 I might take. 5-1–not going to happen! 
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Another revelation from yesterday’s news is the identify of Roger Stone’s connect with Julian Assange, the oddball faux left media personality Randy Credico. Never heard of the guy. But this conclusively proves that Trump had more than 1 line into Wikileaks and likely coordinated strategies with them throughout the campaign. That right there is evidence of conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act plus additional violations if they were knowingly using stolen material. Though this scandal is far more complex than Watergate, there is a Watergatish component to this in that a lot of liability stems from a break-in and theft of property and the use of that property for one’s benefit and another’s detriment. Such crimes have a long history in Anglo-American common law, so in that sense establishing liability is easier than say crimes which would more accurately capture the intent and actions of the Trump team like treason, bribery and espionage.
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Sometimes all a good lawyer needs is 90 minutes, especially if they’re well-prepared. Those all day affairs sometime reflect fishing expeditions or lack of preparation (generally speaking, not saying that’s the case here). Some of the most damning depositions I’ve participated in were over in 90 minutes or less.
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Spoiler alert!!
Kushner failed.
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Yup.
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Thank you for this neat summary.
Rudy is part of the Repub establishment. I hope investigating him brings more crooked Repub dealings to light. I am especially curious to hear why McConnell blocked Obama from announcing the Russian interference.
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Eric Garland wrote up a thread on this a couple weeks ago. A bit above my pay grade, but he was suggesting Trump, Putin & Erdogen were planning to set up some kind of Axis of Oligarchs as the new Masters of the Universe. Kinda freaked me out after reading it.
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I was wondering when TPM would cover this. It’s important. And it reveals how smart Mueller & Co. are.
At the meeting, Kushner almost certainly lied to Mueller. “I have no knowledge of what Flynn was up to with Russians.” “I didn’t know Flynn was secretly working for Turkey.” Etc.
Now Flynn is about to flip and disclose that Kushner did indeed have the knowledge that he claimed not to have. Kushner will therefore by in deep shit for lying to Mueller.
Alternatively, Kushner told the truth and ratted out Flynn. Flynn will have his revenge and rat out the Klepto Kid.
Note how Mueller gave Kushner the rope to hang himself before he flipped Flynn.
Methinks this may be why Trump has been melting down of late. Because the deeper the shit Kushner finds himself in, the more likely he is to flip on Trump.
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As someone with much more expertise, I suspect you are very right.
For sure we have discussions regarding Mr. Manafort. Then there are discussions with Russians. Also, they might discuss the firing of Mr. Comey. Those would be just the immediate and obvious, so perhaps there is more they might discuss too. And I am sure Mr. Mueller was prepared, so the 90 minutes is a good reference point.
I was just wondering if the interview would last such a short time if Mr. Kushner was fully cooperating. And yes, your excellent point that the 90 minutes reference looks damning either way.
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OT, but
“Credico now says he supported Jill Stein. But in May 2016 Stone told another radio audience that Credico was starting a group called Sanders Supporters for Trump. He’s a colorful character.”
So let’s call him what he really is: a right wing plant and activist whose gamesmanship schtick is to try to instigate circular firing squad spoiler behavior on the left based on the “horseshoe” theory.
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The premise might have been to give Kushner an opportunity to help Flynn, but the reality is that this interview was all about getting either Kushner, Flynn or both to perjure themselves. Remember, Flynn is supposedly no longer talking to the White House, so Kushner (in theory) sou;d not know exactly what Flynn has already told Mueller’s team. That makes it very risky for Kushner to lie, as that will only make his jeopardy deeper.
So we have a situation where Kushner might reveal some things because he is afraid of adding to his criminal charges. And what Kushner reveals may undermine something Flynn has told the prosecutors, which in turn gives them even more leverage over Flynn. The prosecutors are in the power position here.
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The other thing about that kind of timeframe is it gives you enough time to try to get at an issue from a multitude of angles and by that point you’ve either got a compliant witness and what you need out of them… or you don’t have a compliant witness and you know that.
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Kushner could give a shit. He has a guaranteed pardon waiting on him. The only thing that ha needs to concern himself with is state charges if there are any.
And just like that…Reza Zarrab testifies that Erdogan gave the approval and order to enable Turkish banks to do business with Iran in violation of US (and UN) sanctions. This is the thing that Erdogan was looking to cover up when he demanded Preet Bharara’s firing and attempted to get Zarrab out of that trial.
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