Concerns from January about Trump Administration - October Update

​January 29, 2017, a little over a week after the Inauguration, I made a list of issues I saw as problematic to the legitimacy of the Trump administration. I updated my list with some of the information that has come to light since January.

Text from January is in black. Update is in red.
 
“Give him a chance. We're all in this together."
 
The first line was a plea heard frequently by worried Republicans in the days before and after the Inauguration. They feared that Democrats would oppose any policies by the Trump administration on purely partisan grounds, presumably out of hurt feelings that Clinton did not win the election.
 
That will be a great sentiment to have once the investigation is complete.
 
President Obama ordered an investigation into election-related hacking on December 9, 2016.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/12/obama-orders-full-review-of-election-related-hacking/510149/
 
Since January 29 Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and FBI Director James Comey. On May 17, 2017, Robert Mueller III was appointed Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election. He has been given broad authority to investigate, including delving into the financial history of the Trump businesses and associates.
 
On May 11, three days after firing Comey, Trump admitted to Lester Holt of NBC News that he did fire Comey because of “this Russia thing.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-reveals-he-asked-comey-whether-he-was-under-investigation-n757821
 
1) Russian money in the Trump campaign;
An August 3 opinion piece in the Dallas Morning News detailed extensive contributions from Leonid “Len” Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-born businessman with business ties to two Russian oligarchs.
 
Russian tycoon Yuri Milner, founder of Digital Sky Technologies, owns large numbers of shares of both Facebook and Twitter, which are now under Congressional investigation for their help to the Trump campaign.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2013/09/13/twitter-who-gets-rich/5.html
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/26/dst-facebook-zuckerberg-microsoft-milner
This pre-Inauguration article explains what we knew before Congressional investigations and Mueller’s team began digging.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article127231799.html
 
2) 6 million Twitter bots created to uptrend Trump (connected to Trump advisor Dan Scavino);
As of this morning (Octber 8), Trump’s Twitter followers are 59 percent real (see screen capture), with 16 million fake (bot, meaning algorithm-generated). At times in previous months, the count has been as low as 47 percent real (see second screen capture).
 
Dan Scavino was found in violation of the Hatch Act and issued a warning that another violation could result in  further actions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/06/09/white-house-social-media-director-dan-scavino-violated-hatch-act-with-tweet-targeting-gop-congressman/?utm_term=.b3aa47bdd66d
 
3) CNN and Fox news complicity in free publicity during the primary season;
This problem has not gotten better or, to my knowledge, been investigated. Since Inauguration the two networks have featured Trump “surrogates” to explain, sometimes laughably, policies put forth by the administration. For a time Kellyanne Conway was not invited to speak on CNN because she had lied so frequently. She has recently been a frequent guest on both networks.
 
Vice President Mike Pence may be sorry that he spoke on Fox, March 9, about the firing of Michael Flynn as National Security Adviser. Pence asserted that he did not know Flynn had been a lobbyist for Turkey during and after the campaign; however, Representative Elijah Cummings sent Pence a letter dated November 18 explaining Flynn’s conflicts of interest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gbapJrFmhk

Additionally, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates had briefed the White House on FBI concerns about Flynn and his ties to foreign governments, specifically regarding potential for blackmail, on January 26 and 27. Trump fired Yates January 30.

4) Michael Cohen's travel to Europe in August;
Michael Cohen, currently Trump’s personal lawyer, was scheduled to speak in closed session with the Senate Intelligence Committee September 19. The Committee canceled his hearing abruptly after he released a statement to the press the morning of his scheduled hearing. His statement can be read in the link below.
https://www.justsecurity.org/45169/federal-prosecutor-dissects-trump-lawyer-michael-cohens-statement-senate/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/19/senate-intel-panel-cancels-interview-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen/680778001/

5) Payments made to hackers in the U.S. through a pension system used to pay retired Russian Americans;
McClatchy DC reported that  two sources asserted that an informal working group of intelligence agencies are scrutinizing the pension system as part of the election plot. The Steele dossier, released to the public in January 2017, suggested that the pension system was used by Russian diplomat Mikhail Kalugin while he served at the Russian Embassy in Washington. He was recalled to Moscow in August 2016.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article133879684.html
 
6) Shell companies in Russia owned by Trump, Tillerson, Giuliani, and DeVos;
I am still waiting for more news on these companies.
 
7) Putin bank financing of the 2013 Miss Universe pageant;
Trump’s business partner in the pageant was Aras Agalarov. A timeline of events can be found here.
http://www.npr.org/2017/07/17/536714404/timeline-of-events-the-2013-miss-universe-pageant

Aras’s son, Emin, has been identified as instrumental in setting up a meeting between Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort with representatives of the Russian government on June 9, 2016. The meeting was described by the White House as a discussion of adoptions by Americans of Russian orphans. However, the real subject of the meeting was the lifting of sanctions on Russian individuals due to the invasion of Crimea.
 
Questions remain about whether there was an offer of help by the Russians to the Trump campaign in exchange for lifting of sanctions, should Trump be elected. The meeting is under investigation by the Mueller team and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
 
8) Carter Page's role as Trump spokesperson in Russia.
The March 2 interview with Chris Hayes raises additional questions about Page.
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/carter-page-i-don-t-deny-meeting-with-russian-ambassador-889043011736

Until then, I support the Intelligence Community investigation, and the joint investigation of 6 U.S. enforcement agencies.
The Mueller team has broad authority to investigate. He has assembled a team of experts in financial fraud, corruption, money laundering, foreign bribery, and organized crime.
http://www.businessinsider.com/lawyers-robert-mueller-hired-for-the-trump-russia-investigation-2017-6
https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-robert-muellers-army
 
Mueller met with the lead judge of the D.C. federal court Friday, according to Michael del Moro, producer for the ABC show “Good Morning America.” Del Moro Tweeted Friday:
 
“ABC News: Robert Mueller's team met behind closed doors today w an unknown group of attorneys & chief judge of US District Court in DC.”
 
Mueller’s team does not leak information, so the public must wait for more information.
 
Note: There are two separate investigations.
There are a lot more investigations now. A list will take a separate post.

In addition, a defamation lawsuit was filed this week, and a $25 million wire transfer was made this week to pay the judgment in the Trump University case.
Len Blavatnik, prominent GOP donor mentioned above, is contributing to the president’s defense fund. In addition, campaign funds from the 2020 campaign – which the president filed papers to begin on January 20, Inauguration Day – have been used to pay Donald Jr.’s legal fees.

Top: October 8, 2017 Twitter Audit Report; Bottom: July 1, 2017

Source: Twitter Audit