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12. FBI Investigation

12. FBI Investigation

12.1. General

  • 10/31/2016 - Slate reports about suspicious server activity at Trump tower communicating with Russian banks. Source (Reports since have claimed this communication resulted in a FISA on
  • -bank + SVB Bank)
  • 1/10/2017 - Top intelligence officials indicated on Tuesday that the GOP was also a Russian hacking target but that none of the information obtained was leaked. Source
  • 1/19/2017 - Multiple members of the Trump campaign are known to have been under investigation and may still be (Manafort, Page, and Stone). Source
  • 2/18/2017 - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is pursuing at least three separate probes relating to alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential elections, according to five current and former government officials with direct knowledge of the situation. Source
  • 3/3/2017 – Sen. Coons “believes” the FBI has transcripts involving Trump-Russia communication.
  • 3/8/2017 - Two leading members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are asking the FBI and the Justice Department to hand over any warrant applications related to possible wiretaps of Donald Trump and his team after the president accused his predecessor of illegally tracking his conversations. Source
  • 3/9/2017 - Graham ready to subpoena for Trump wiretap information. Source
  • 3/9/2017 - FBI investigation continues into “odd” computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization.** **Source . (Sources currently tell CNN there is no FISA on the server)
  • 3/9/2017 – Comey meets with senators on matters related to Trump Tower. Source
  • 3/10/2017 - FBI counterintel division has 15-20 agents on Russia probe. Info regularly briefed to FBI’s “highest levels.” Source
  • 3/15/2017 – FBI to brief Graham on any surveillance related to Trump. Source
  • 3/15/2017 - Comey will testify publicly on Russia investigation next week. Source
  • 3/15/2017 - Sen. Feinstein on meeting with FBI Dir. Comey: “This briefing was all on sensitive matters and highly classified”. Source
  • 3/15/2017 - Grassley Refuses To Confirm DOJ Nom Until He Gets Full Briefing On Russia. Source
  • 3/17/2017 – Alfa Bank, one of the banks said to be named in the FISA is now saying hackers are attempting to frame it with new server activity. Source
  • 3/20/2017 - Comey has officially announced Investigation into possible cooperation between Trump Campaign and Russia.** Source
  • 3/20/2017 - FBI’s Russian-influence probe includes a look at Breitbart, InfoWars news sites. Source
  • 3/21/2017 – Conway suggests Trump doesn’t know the individuals being investigated. Source
  • 3/22/2017 - Russian bank sends threatening letter to computer scientist who called for Trump investigation. Source
  • 3/29/2017 - FBI Director James Comey Tried To Reveal Russian Tampering Months Before Election. Source
  • 3/30/2017 - U.S. sweeping up Russian hackers in a broad global dragnet. Source
  • 3/30/2017 - “I know that when I make a hard decision, a storm is going to follow,” Comey said at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Leadership dinner. “Honestly, I don’t care.” Source
  • 3/30/2017 - Steele spoke to FBI in Rome in August and was debriefed by FBI over course of a week on Dossier in October 2016. Source
  • 3/31/2017 - U.S. investigators are looking into whether Trump campaign representatives had a role in helping Russian intelligence as it carried out cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political targets in March 2016. Source
  • 4/6/2017 - The C.I.A. told senior lawmakers in classified briefings last summer that it had information indicating that Russia was working to help elect Donald J. Trump president, a finding that did not emerge publicly until after Mr. Trump’s victory months later, former government officials say. Source
  • 4/10/2017 - Spain detains Russian computer expert suspected of participating ‘in hacking the election campaign’ in US. Source
  • 4/12/2017 - President Donald Trump said he has “confidence” in James Comey, but criticized the FBI director for “saving Hillary Clinton’s life” by not recommending charges over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Source
  • 4/12/2017 - ‘It’s not too late’ to get rid of FBI Director James Comey, Trump says. "“No, it’s not too late,” Trump said. “But you know, I have confidence in him. We’ll see what happens. It is going to be interesting.” Source
  • 4/20/2017 - Mary McCord, the Department of Justice’s acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security who is leading the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is stepping down from her post. Source
  • 4/21/2017 - The FBI gathered intelligence last summer that suggests Russian operatives tried to use Trump advisers, including Carter Page, to infiltrate the Trump campaign, according to US officials. Source
  • 5/3/2017 - Comey testifies at Senate Judiciary Source
  • 5/3/2017 - FBI Director James Comey confirmed Wednesday that the FBI is conducting an internal investigation into whether agents leaked information to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others about the probe into Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. Source
  • 5/5/2017 - Congress, law enforcement officials concerned Russia is trying to discredit FBI probe. Source
  • 5/10/2017 - Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year’s election Source
  • 5/10/2017 - Days before he was fired as F.B.I. director, James B. Comey asked the Justice Department for more prosecutors and other personnel to accelerate the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election. Source
  • 5/10/2017 - In the weeks before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a federal investigation into potential collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government was heating up, as Mr. Comey became increasingly occupied with the probe. Mr. Comey started receiving daily instead of weekly updates on the investigation, beginning at least three weeks ago, according to people with knowledge of the matter and the progress of the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe. Mr. Comey was concerned by information showing possible evidence of collusion, according to these people. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - The US justice department is refusing to disclose FBI documents relating to Donald Trump’s highly contentious election year call on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails.Senior DoJ officials have declined to release the documents on grounds that such disclosure could “interfere with enforcement proceedings” Source
  • 5/11/2017 - Within the FBI, the Russia investigation is considered to be “a crisis,” the source said, and “there is a whole lot of interfering.” The succession of events surrounding Comey’s firing is not considered to be a coincidence by the agency. Source
    • *5/11/2017 - ** FBI Twitter account tweets info about asset forfeiture Source
  • 5/11/2017 - The FBI quietly raided a Republican consulting and fundraising firm that works with Republican candidates in Annapolis Thursday. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - FBI refuses to disclose documents on Trump’s call to Russia to hack Clinton. Source
  • 5/16/2017 - President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting. “I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. Source
  • 5/18/2017 - The Justice Department on Wednesday appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including potential collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign associates and Russian officials. Source
  • 5/18/2017 - Senators told of broadening Russia investigation.According to lawmakers, Rosenstein confirmed that the bureau’s investigation is no longer strictly a counterintelligence investigation — a kind of probe that does not normally result in charges — but also a criminal one. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - FBI Probe Scrutinizing Flynn’s Work for Turkish Businessman Prosecutors examining whether money the former national security adviser received to advance Turkish interests influenced his decisions. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest levels of government. People believe this to be Kushner. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - Investigators into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential elections are now authorized to probe whether White House officials have engaged in a cover-up, according to members of Congress who were briefed Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russia. Source
  • 5/23/2017 - Justice Department ethics experts have concluded that newly appointed special counsel Robert S. Mueller III can oversee the investigation. Source
  • 5/24/2017 - A secret document that officials say played a key role in then-FBI Director James B. Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation has long been viewed within the FBI as unreliable and possibly a fake, according to people familiar with its contents. Source
  • 5/26/2017 - The FBI is investigating an attempted overseas cyberattack against the Trump Organization, summoning President Donald Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric, for an emergency session with the bureau’s cybersecurity agents and representatives of the CIA. Trump’s claim they weren’t hacked. Source
  • 5/26/2017 - Then-FBI Director James Comey knew that a critical piece of information relating to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email was fake – created by Russian intelligence – but he feared that if it became public it would undermine the probe and the Justice Department itself. Source
  • 5/26/2017 - In his town hall talk, Rogers reportedly admitted that President Trump asked him to discredit the FBI and James Comey, which the admiral flatly refused to do. As Rogers explained, he informed the commander in chief, “I know you won’t like it, but I have to tell what I have seen”
    • Caveat. I would normally file this under theories, but this seems pretty matter-of-factual. Very very easily fact checked and seems excessively stupid to lie about. Slight caution with source.
  • 5/27/2017 - U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States during and after the 2016 presidential campaign. FBI investigators are examining whether Russians suggested to Kushner or other Trump aides that relaxing economic sanctions would allow Russian banks to offer financing to people with ties to Trump.Source
  • 5/29/2017 - Federal and congressional investigators are now examining what exactly Mr. Kushner and the Russian banker, Sergey N. Gorkov, wanted from each other. One current and one former American official with knowledge of the continuing congressional and F.B.I. investigations said they were examining whether the channel was meant to remain open, and if there were other items on the meeting’s agenda, including lifting sanctions that the Obama administration had imposed on Russia in response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its aggression in Ukraine. Source
  • 6/1/2017 - The FBI and Congress are examining a campaign event last spring during which Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and Jared Kushner were in a small gathering with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and other diplomats at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel. Source
  • 6/1/2017 - Nigel Farage is a “person of interest” in the US counter-intelligence investigation that is looking into possible collusion between the Kremlin and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Specifically in regard to his possible meetings with Julian Assange and relationship to Trump. Source
  • 6/1/2017 - A pair of Democratic senators asked then-FBI Director James Comey to investigate Attorney General Jeff Sessions, amid concerns that he may have had an additional meeting with the Russian ambassador the US, Sergey Kislyak. Source
  • 6/7/2017 - President Donald Trump says he’ll nominate former Justice Department official Christopher Wray as FBI director. Source
  • 6/21/2017 - Sen Whitehouse claims that based on the evidence it seems like Flynn might be cooperating with the FBI. Source
  • 6/21/2017 - The acting head of the FBI said Wednesday that his agency is providing a substantial number of personnel to support the special prosecutor appointed last month to look into alleged Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election, including possible connections to the Trump campaign. Source

12.2.1 Trump firing of Comey

  • 5/9/2017 - James Comey reportedly learned of his firing from TV news coverage, and he thought it was a prank. Source
  • 5/9/2017 - The Department of Justice was told to come up with justification to fire FBI Director James Comey, The New York Times and CNN reported Tuesday. Source
  • 5/9/2017 - Frustration was growing among top associates of the president that Mr. Comey, in a series of appearances before a Senate panel, wouldn’t publicly tamp down questions about possible collusion with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. A person with knowledge of recent conversations said they wanted Mr. Comey to “say those three little words: ‘There’s no ties.’” Source
  • 5/10/2017 - WH spokeswoman says Trump doubted Comey since election, testimony at hearing was last straw. Also says Justice Department leaders recommending firing. Source
  • 5/10/2017 - Trump had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said. Source
  • 5/10/2017 - The 35,000 employees at the Federal Bureau Investigation were not notified — officially — until after 8 p.m. Tuesday that Director James B. Comey had been fired by the president, more than two hours after White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced it to the media. Source
  • 5/10/2017 - Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Jokes about Comey firing during visit the following day. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - The anger behind Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday had been building for months, but a turning point came when Comey refused to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony to a Senate panel, White House officials said. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - FBI agents change their Facebook profile photos to James Comey – a gesture normally reserved for slain colleagues Source
  • 5/11/2017 - Trump : “I just decided to do it, I said to myself you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by Democrats for having lost an election they should have won” Source
  • 5/11/2017 - Trump contradicts spokeswoman on effect of Comey firing, says it may “lengthen out the investigation” Source
  • 5/12/2017 - Former FBI Director James Comey was furious at the lack of respect the White House showed him in the way he was fired, sources have told ABC News. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Friday defended the now-famous memo he wrote to President Donald Trump, which the President initially cited as a recommendation to fire FBI Director James Comey earlier this month. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation. Source
  • 5/22/2017 - House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz on Monday said he will postpone a hearing scheduled for Wednesday after speaking with former FBI Director James Comey, who had been invited to testify. Comey wanted to speak to Special Counsel Mueller first. Source

12.2.1.1 Outsider response

  • 5/9/2017 - More than 100 members of Congress—including a few Republicans—have responded to President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey by calling for an independent investigation or a special prosecutor to look into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and possible collusion with Trump campaign associates. Source
  • 5/9/2017 - Comey Firing ‘Worse Than Watergate,’ Says Former White House Ethics Lawyer. Source
  • 5/9/2017 - Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) hit Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday for recommending that President Trump fire FBI Director James Comey, calling it a “complete betrayal” of his vow to recuse himself from investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election Source
  • 5/9/2017 - “Kellyanne Conway: Comey’s firing 'has nothing to do with Russia” Source
  • 5/10/2017 - FBI agent groups dispute Trump’s rationale for Comey firing ‘His support within the rank and file of the FBI is overwhelming.’Source
  • 5/10/2017 - Former FBI official : Morale was “Outstanding” under Comey before being fired. Contradicting WH claim. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - Numerous FBI officials attest that the firing was shocking and unprofessional, and vouch for the credibility and character of James Comey. Source
  • 5/14/2017 - Jake Tapper interviews Clapper on Comey. Clapper disputes Trump accounts of Comey, and also disputes his knowledge of FBI investigation, or any knowledge of if collusion did or did not exist. Source
  • 5/17/2017 - Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the FBI’s investigation into Russian campaign interference, Officials say multiple grand jury subpoenas and records requests have been issued in connection with the two men during the past six months in the ongoing probe. Source
  • 5/19/2017 - James Comey felt it was his job to protect the FBI from Trump, says friend. Source

12.2.1.2 Trump response to complaints

  • "5/9/2017 - “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer stated recently, “I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.” Then acts so indignant. #draintheswampSource
  • 5/10/2017 - “The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!” Source
  • 5/10/2017 - “James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI.” Source
  • 5/10/2017 - “Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!” Source
  • 5/10/2017 - “Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!” Source
  • 5/10/2017 - "Watching Senator Richard Blumenthal speak of Comey is a joke. “Richie” devised one of the greatest military frauds in U.S. history. For… Source
    • 5/10/2017 - years, as a pol in Connecticut, Blumenthal would talk of his great bravery and conquests in Vietnam - except he was never there. When… Source
    • 5/10/2017 - caught, he cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness…and now he is judge & jury. He should be the one who is investigated for his acts. Source
  • 5/10/2017 - “The Democrats should be ashamed. This is a disgrace! #DrainTheSwampSource
    • *5/11/2017 ** Trump retweets an old tweet of Rosie saying to Fire Comey “We finally agree on something Rosie” Source

12.2.2 Comey Memo

  • 5/11/2017 - Trump: I was going to fire Comey ‘regardless,’ he was a ‘showboat’, also claims Comey told him he wasn’t under investigation. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - Only 7 days into Presidency Trump summoned Comey to a dinner at the White House and asked for his Loyalty, Comey denied. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - There are two reasons why President Donald Trump fired James Comey, according to a source close to the now-former FBI director:Comey never provided the President with any assurance of personal loyalty and The fact that the FBI’s investigation into possible Trump team collusion with Russia in the 2016 election was accelerating. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - Trump claims he did not ask for loyalty. Source
  • 5/11/2017 - It would be out of character for Comey tell Trump he was not subject of investigation claimed a source. Source also stated there was a high level of “interfering” in Russia probe. Source
  • 5/12/2017 - Trump threatens Comey on twitter " James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Source
    • 5/12/2017 - Former FBI Director James Comey is “not worried about any tapes” of conversations between him and President Donald Trump, a source familiar with the matter told CNN Source
    • 5/12/2017 - The WH refuses to say if Trump actually recorded any conversations with Comey. Source
    • 5/12/2017 - Trump has a long history of secretly recording calls, according to former associates. Source
    • 5/13/2017 - As a businessman, Mr. Trump sometimes taped phone conversations with associates and others from his Trump Tower office in New York, according to three people who say they have direct knowledge of the recordings. Source
  • 5/12/2017 - My Dinner With Comey: Clapper, Others Dispute Trump Account of Meeting With FBI Director. Source
  • 5/12/2017 - A source to Comey says he is willing to testify, but only in public. Source
  • 5/18/2017 - President Trump called the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, weeks after he took office and asked him when federal authorities were going to put out word that Mr. Trump was not personally under investigation Mr. Comey told the president that if he wanted to know details about the bureau’s investigations, he should not contact him directly but instead follow the proper procedures and have the White House counsel send any inquiries to the Justice Department. Source
  • 5/22/2017 - Robert Mueller – the former FBI director now overseeing the Department of Justice’s investigation into Russia’s election-year meddling and contact with the Trump campaign – has been briefed on the contents of some of the memos that former FBI Director James Comey kept to document his conversations with President Donald Trump. Source
  • 6/1/2017 - Comey to testify before the SSCI on 6/8, He expected to testify that Trump tried to influence him to stop the election into Flynn. Source
  • 6/7/2017 - SSCI releases Comey’s opening statement detailing the memos he had kept on his interactions with Trump the night before his hearing by request of Comey. Source
  • 6/16/2017 - The FBI will not release memos written by former director James Comey on his interactions with President Trump because they’re part of a “pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding.” Source

12.2.2.1 Outsider response

  • 5/12/2017 - Senior House Democrats demanded on Friday that President Donald Trump turn over to Congress any tapes he might have made of his conversations with ousted FBI Director James Comey. Source

12.3 FISA Warrants

FISA warrants require evidence of probable cause that the target is an “agent of a foreign power”

  • 11/7/2016 - Louise Mensch reported this much earlier but due to the source not being a well-known news source I did not originally provide it. But if you wish you can view it here : Source
  • 1/11/2017 – “FBI applied for a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance (FISA) court over the summer in order to monitor four members of the Trump team suspected of irregular contacts with Russian officials. The FISA court turned down the application asking FBI counterintelligence investigators to narrow its focus.” Source
  • 1/11/2017 – BBC’s Paul Wood** – “**On October the 15th, the US secret intelligence court issued a warrant to investigate two Russian banks. This news was given to me by several sources and corroborated by someone I will identify only as a senior member of the US intelligence community.” Source
  • 1/12/2017 - The FBI attempted to obtain a FISA on 3 separate occasions, and were successful on the third attempt on Oct 15 2016, when a FISA was granted on Source
  • 4/11/2017 - The FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor the communications of an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign, law enforcement and other U.S. officials said. Source
  • 4/18/2017 - The FBI last year used The Steele dossier as part of the justification to win approval to secretly monitor a Trump associate Carter Page. Source

12.4 Misc

  • 11/15/2016 - People question where Saipan Casino is getting all of its money. Suspect possible money laundering. Source
  • 3/30/2017 - FBI Visits Office of Saipan Casino Run by Trump Protege. Source
  • 4/1/2017 - FBI Makes Arrest Related to Saipan Casino Construction Source
  • 4/9/2017 - Human Smuggling, Money Laundering Probes Surround Saipan Casino. Source

Special Counsel Investigation.

TrumpRussia case

  • 6/2/2017 - The Associated Press has learned that the special counsel running the U.S. investigation into possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia’s government has assumed oversight of an ongoing investigation involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.The investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller may also expand to look into the roles of the attorney general and deputy attorney general in the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Source
  • 6/15/2017 - Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is investigating the finances and business dealings of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, as part of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Source
  • 6/16/2017 - Special counsel Robert Mueller has brought 13 lawyers on board to handle the Russia investigation, with plans to hire more, according to his spokesman Peter Carr. Source
  • 6/21/2017 - But the Justice Department inquiry led by Mueller now has added flavors. The Post noted that the investigation also includes “suspicious financial activity” involving “Russian operatives.” The New York Times was more specific in its account, saying that Mueller is looking at whether Trump associates laundered financial payoffs from Russian officials by channeling them through offshore accounts. And specifically could be looking into his dealings with Bayrock group and its ties to Russia. Source
  • 6/21/2017 - The acting head of the FBI said Wednesday that his agency is providing a substantial number of personnel to support the special prosecutor appointed last month to look into alleged Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election, including possible connections to the Trump campaign. Source

Obstruction of Justice case

  • 6/14/2017 - The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice. Source
  • 6/14/2017 - Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel examining Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, has requested interviews with three high-ranking current or former intelligence officials, the latest indication that he will investigate whether President Trump obstructed justice. Source

Response from Trump associates

  • There are currently reports that Cohen, Trump, Pence, Kushner and Sessions have all gotten lawyers to help deal with the TrumpRussia investigation.
  • 6/12/2017 - A friend of President Trump said Monday that Trump is considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the FBI investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Source
  • 6/15/2017 - Vice President Pence has hired outside legal counsel to help with both congressional committee inquiries and the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia. Source
  • 6/16/2017 - President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has hired his own attorney as the special counsel investigation into Russian election interference progresses. Source