White House preparing to turn against Flynn?


Developments on Day 342 of the Trump Administration:

See also “Back to Work” Trump Hides While Playing Golf

Did Trump’s Campaign Work with Russian “Trolls” and “Bots”?

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team are questioning staff of the Republican National Committee about the party’s 2016 campaign data operation, targeting voters in swing states, to see if the effort “was related to the activities of Russian trolls and bots aimed at influencing the American electorate”.

Two sources said the inquiry is looking at the joint RNC-Trump campaign data operation, directed from Trump’s side by Brad Parscale and managed by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Investigators are examining whether Russia provided the campaign with voter information stolen by Russian hackers from election databases in several states, and whether the Trump campaign helped Russia target its political ads to specific demographics and voting precincts.

Facebook said in September that about 25% of the ads purchased by Russians during the election “were geographically targeted”.

The Mueller team is also looking at the data-mining and analysis firm Cambridge Analytica as a possible link between the Trump campaign’s data operations and Russia.

In June, Cambridge CEO Alexander Nix reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asking for access to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s stolen e-mails. But Trump campaign aides and current and former Cambridge employees have tried to downplay the organization’s role.

Report: Trump Lawyers Prepare to Denounce Flynn as Liar

Donald Trump’s legal team is planning to label former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as a liar, seeking to protect himself, if the former Trump friend and senior campaign official accuses Trump or anyone in his inner circle of involvement in collusion with Russia.

Trump’s camp has been unsettled by Flynn’s guilty plea at the start of December. The advisor acknowledged he had lied to investigators about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016. Court records indicated that Flynn acted — including appeals to Moscow not to retaliate against sanctions imposed by Barack Obama over Russia’s interference in the 2016 election — on guidance from Trump transition officials including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Attorneys for Trump and his top advisors are still privately expressing confidence that Flynn does not have any evidence that could implicate their clients. But the sources said the Administration has been developing a strategy to “neutralize” him if he does make allegations.

“He’s said it himself: He’s a liar,” said one person helping craft the strategy.

Trump did not rule out a pardon for Flynn when he was questioned by reporters on December 15. On Tuesday, Flynn’s brothers Joseph tweeted to Trump: “Mr. President, I personally believe that a pardon is due to General Flynn, given the apparent and obvious illegitimacy of the manner in which the so called ‘crimes’ he plead guilty to were extracted from him. I ask for quick action on this.”