{"id":30832,"date":"2017-12-22T12:58:18","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T20:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=30832"},"modified":"2017-12-22T12:58:18","modified_gmt":"2017-12-22T20:58:18","slug":"more-proof-of-obstruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/22\/more-proof-of-obstruction\/","title":{"rendered":"More Proof of Obstruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

I apologize in advance if this bores you, but it’s hard to keep track of the the criminal activities of Donald "Putin’s Piddle Pervert" Trump without frequent updates on new evidence of those crimes.  The Trump Reich has claimed that they did not know Flynn had  negotiated with Russia, before they fired him.  This evidence exposes that lie.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"1222TrumpFlynn\"<\/p>\n

[T]he White House turned over records this fall to special counsel Robert Mueller revealing that in the very first days of the Trump presidency, Don McGahn researched federal law dealing both with lying to federal investigators and with violations of the Logan Act, a centuries-old federal law that prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments, according to three people with direct knowledge of the confidential government documents.<\/p>\n

The records reflected concerns that McGahn, the White House counsel, had that Michael Flynn, then the president\u2019s national security advisor, had possibly violated either one or both laws at the time, according to two of the sources. The disclosure that these records exist and that they are in the possession of the special counsel could bolster any potential obstruction of justice case against President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

The records that McGahn turned over to the special counsel, portions of which were read to this reporter, indicate he researched both statutes and warned Trump about Flynn\u2019s possible violations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

McGahn conducted the analysis shortly after learning that Flynn, on Dec. 29, 2016 \u2014 while Barack Obama was still president \u2014 had counseled the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time, Sergey Kislyak, not to retaliate against U.S. economic sanctions imposed against Russia by the outgoing administration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

McGahn believed that Flynn, and possibly anyone who authorized or approved of such contacts, would be in potential violation of the Logan Act, according to two of the sources, both of whom work in the administration… [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Foreign Policy<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

Russia would not have agreed not to retaliate against Obama’s sanctions, had they not been assured that quid pro quo<\/em> for Russia’s election help were not coming.<\/font><\/p>\n

Rachel Maddow<\/a> covered this with her normal thoroughness (25 min).<\/font><\/p>\n