WASHINGTON — A Maine native and longtime Washington political consultant who advised a Ukrainian political party and worked with a co-defendant of Paul Manafort pleaded guilty Friday to failing to register as a foreign lobbyist while working on behalf of a Ukrainian political party. W. Samuel Patten, 47, was charged with one count of violating […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine’s politicians divided on what to do in wake of Cohen plea deal
Maine politicians are divided on how to respond to the guilty plea Tuesday by President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who implicated the president in illegal payoffs to two women with whom Trump allegedly had affairs. Cohen said the payoffs, or hush money, were to keep the women quiet before the 2016 election. While […]
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Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleads guilty in hush-money scheme
President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Manhattan courthouse to eight violations of banking, tax and campaign finance laws in a federal investigation that scrutinized his business dealings and efforts to silence women with negative stories about Trump. Cohen pleaded to five counts of tax evasion, one count of making […]
Posted inNation / World
Ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort found guilty of tax and bank fraud
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A jury has found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty after a three-week trial on tax and bank fraud charges – a major if not complete victory for SpecialCounsel Robert Mueller as he continues to investigate the president’s associates. The jury convicted Manafort on eight of the 18 counts against him. […]
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FBI fires agent Peter Strzok over anti-Trump texts
WASHINGTON — The FBI has fired Agent Peter Strzok, who helped lead the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election until officials discovered he had been sending anti-Trump texts. Aitan Goelman, Strzok’s lawyer, said FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich ordered the firing on Friday – even though the director of the FBI office […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
King worried 'deep fake' videos could undermine elections
LEWISTON — When the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which U.S. Sen. Angus King serves, began investigating how the Russians interfered in the last U.S. presidential election, it focused mostly on computer hacking. But Maine’s junior senator no longer thinks that is the big issue. Instead, King said, he has come to believe “the most important […]
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Russian-backed Twitter bots targeted Maine politicians
Russian-controlled bots swarming Twitter with divisive political messages have targeted several Maine politicians, particularly U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. A recently released database of more than 3 million Tweets from accounts orchestrated by Russia included messages aimed at Collins (261 tweets), Gov. Paul LePage (44 tweets) and U.S. Sen. Angus King (23,) according to an analysis […]
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Susan Collins says ‘This is unbelievable’ when she hears Trump wants to stop Russia probe
Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, ramping up his attacks on the probe as the president’s former campaign chairman goes on trial for unrelated criminal charges. “This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this […]
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Donald Trump calls on Sessions to end Mueller's Russia probe
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump called Wednesday for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put an end to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, a day after Trump’s former campaign chairman went on trial. Taking to Twitter to complain about the ongoing Russia investigation, Trump said Sessions “should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, […]
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Facebook uncovers attempt to influence upcoming elections
Facebook said Tuesday that it had discovered a sophisticated coordinated disinformation operation on its platform involving 32 false pages and profiles engaging in divisive messaging ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. The social media company said that it couldn’t tie the activity to Russia, which interfered on its platform around the 2016 presidential election. But […]