Due to Daily Kos restrictions on article length I have had to divide this timeline into separate articles. You can read Chapter 1 of the timeline, going from 2007 — 2016 HERE. Together the articles are a bit of a read, but a careful reading of the timeline is very disturbing.
January 6, 2017: President-elect Trump receives a classified briefing from by John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director; James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence; and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and the commander of United States Cyber Command and acting FBI Director James Comey. These intelligence officers outline in detail the overwhelming evidence of Russia meddling in the election. Notwithstanding this Trump for months continues to cast doubt on the possibility of Russia meddling. After the formal briefing Comey stays behind and privately briefs Trump on the Steele Dossier.
January 10, 2017: Attorney General nominee (previously Trump campaign surrogate) Jeff Sessions testifies at his confirmation hearings that “I did not have communications with the Russians.” Senator Leahy asked the following question: “Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?” Sessions directly answered “No.”
Also, Buzzfeed publishes the “Steele Dossier” compiled by the former British Intelligence Officer. It alleges the Trump Campaign colluded with Russians to impact the election and that Trump was otherwise compromised to the Russians for reasons that included potential sexual blackmail.
January 11, 2017: Trump is directly asked in a press conference the following question. “Can you stand here today, once and for all, and say that no one connected to you or your campaign had any contact with Russia leading up to or during the presidential campaign?” Trump directly answers “no.”
Around January 11, 2017: Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater and associate of Donald Trump, secretly meets in the Seychelles islands with Russian officials close to Putin to set up a back channel for communications between the Kremlin and the Trump Transition Team. The UAE apparently arranged the meeting with Lebanese businessman George Nader. Prince later testifies to the House Intelligence Committee that this planned meeting was by chance, over a few beers, and discussed matters unrelated to the Trump Administration. This story begins to break a year later when Nader is questioned by, and cooperates with, Mueller’s team.
January 12, 2017: The Washington Post breaks the story of the late December phone calls between Flynn and Kislyak.
January 13, 2017: Trump tells the Wall Street Journal he is open to lifting the sanctions against Russia. Sean Spicer is asked about the WaPo article and says there was but one call between Flynn and Kislyak, on the 28th of December, that was merely an exchange of Christmas greetings and logistical coordination for an upcoming call with President-elect Trump.
January 15, 2017: Vice President-elect Mike Pence appears on Face the Nation to strongly deny that sanctions had ever been discussed, in what Pence claimed was the one and only one call between Flynn and Kislyak:
MIKE PENCE: I talked to General Flynn about that conversation and actually was initiated on Christmas Day he had sent a text to the Russian ambassador to express not only Christmas wishes but sympathy for the loss of life in the airplane crash that took place. It was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.
JOHN DICKERSON: So did they ever have a conversation about sanctions ever on those days or any other day?
MIKE PENCE: They did not have a discussion contemporaneous with U.S. actions on . . .
JOHN DICKERSON: But what about after . . .
MIKE PENCE: — my conversation with General Flynn. Well, look. General Flynn has been in touch with diplomatic leaders, security leaders in some 30 countries. That’s exactly what the incoming national security advisor . . .
JOHN DICKERSON: Absolutely.
MIKE PENCE: — should do. But what I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions.
JOHN DICKERSON: But that still leaves open the possibility that there might have been other conversations about the sanctions.
MIKE PENCE: I don’t believe there were more conversations.
JOHN DICKERSON: Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s move on. Okay. Got it . . .
MIKE PENCE: I can confirm those elements were not a part of that discussion.
Later in the conversation John Dickerson directly asked Pence, “Just to button up one question, did any advisor or anybody in the Trump campaign have any contact with the Russians who were trying to meddle in the election?” Pence replied, “Of course not. And I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy.”
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Chris Wallace asked Mike Pence, “So, I’m asking a direct question: was there any contact in any way between Trump or his associates and the Kremlin or cutouts they had?” Pence replied, “Of course not. Why would there be any contacts between the campaign?”
January 20, 2017: Trump is sworn in as President.
January 22, 2017: Wall Street Journal reports Flynn is under investigation by counterintelligence officials for his communication with Russian officials.
January 24, 2017: Flynn is interviewed by the FBI and lies about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador.
January 26, 2017: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates gives a “forceful warning” to the White House Counsel Don McGahn that Flynn lied about his conversations with Russians, that he did discuss the embargo with them, and that Flynn was a significant security risk because the Russians could use those lies to blackmail him. Yates told the administration this information was being provided so appropriate action could be taken. McGahn almost immediately informs President Trump that the Flynn has been caught lying to the FBI.
January 27, 2017: White House Counsel McGahn meets with Yates again claiming to be perplexed why DOJ would care about members of the executive branch lying to each other. Yates again emphasizes that Flynn is a security risk. McGahn asks to review evidence against Flynn at DOJ. Yates says she will check to see if that can be done.
January 27, 2017: Former Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor George Papadopoulos is interviewed by the FBI. He lies during this interview and later pleads guilty to doing so (see October 30, 2017 entry). Papadopoulos falsely tells the FBI that he met Mifsud before joining the Trump team. The first meeting was after and was because Papadopoulos told the Mifsud he joined the Trump team. Papadopoulos falsely told the FBI the Mifsud was a nothing even though he knew Mifsud had high connections to the Russian Government. He falsely states he never met other Russian officials Mifsud introduced him to. He falsely stated he met Olga Polonskaya before starting with the Trump Campaign and falsely characterized their emails as amounting to “Just, “Hi, how are you?” “That’s it.”
January 27, 2017: The day after Sally Yates first warned White House Counsel about Flynn Trump requests and has dinner with FBI Director Comey. During the dinner Trump demands a pledge of loyalty from Comey. Comey refuses but does promise to be honest with him. Trump will later fire and publicly demonize Comey.
January 30, 2017: Sally Yates has her third conversation with White House Counsel regarding Flynn, advising McGahn that he can look at the evidence the DOJ has and inviting him to come over to look at it. He apparently never does. That night Trump fires Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, supposedly for refusing to defend his travel ban.
February 8, 2017: When questioned by the media, Flynn twice directly denies having any conversations regarding sanctions with Russian officials. Per James Comey’s contemporary notes, White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus directly asks the FBI Director whether there is a FISA warrant on Mike Flynn. While redacted, it appears Comey did tell the Chief of Staff that Flynn was under a FISA warrant.
February 9, 2017: WaPo reports intelligence sources confirm Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russians. A Flynn spokesman now says that while Flynn “had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
February 10, 2017: Trump says he is unaware of any reports that Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador. The statement is a lie. As reflected above, Trump was advised that Flynn lied about these conversations to the FBI by White House General Counsel McGahn on January 26th. White House officials declare that Flynn has Trump’s full confidence.
February 13, 2017: In an MSNBC interview, Kellyanne Conway twice emphatically declares that “General Flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president.” A few hours later Trump requests Flynn’s resignation and gets it. The NY Times reports there are separate investigations into the payments to Flynn associated with the Russian Times gala speech.
February 14, 2017: Trump meets with Comey and asks Comey to drop the investigation related to Flynn saying “I hope you can let this go.” Comey writes a memo memorializing the conversation shortly after the meeting as “part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation.”
February 15, 2017: Trump describes Flynn as “a wonderful man” who was “treated very, very unfairly” by the “fake media.”
Feb. 16, 2017: George Papadopoulos is interviewed by the FBI again. His attorney attends the meeting with him and pledges his client’s cooperation.
Feb. 17, 2017: Papadopoulos deactivates his Facebook account. It had included information about his conversations with the Russians. The FBI undoubtedly viewed this as a betrayal of his promised cooperation the day before.
February 20, 2017: White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign, stating, “This is a non-story because to the best of our knowledge, no contacts took place, so it’s hard to make a comment on something that never happened.”
March 1, 2017: Sessions makes a statement responding to reports he met with the Russian ambassador in his office, relevant because he indicated in his confirmation hearings (see January 10th above) that he had not spoken to Russians at all. Sessions acknowledges meeting with Russian ambassador Kislyak but says it had nothing to do with the campaign, that it was solely in his capacity as a Senator. He directly states “I have never met with any Russian to discuss issues of the campaign.” At around this time the NY Times subsequently reports that President Trump ordered his top lawyer (Donald McGahn) to direct Attorney General Sessions to not recuse himself from the Russia investigation. When McGahn was unsuccessful Trump erupted in anger because he wanted Sessions to protect him from the investigation.
March 2, 2017: Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from any decisions related to investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia to interfere in our election.
March 4, 2017: Roger Stone tweets “Never denied perfectly legal back channel to Assange who indeed had the goods on #CrookedHillary.” Less than an hour later Stone deletes the tweet.
March 7, 2017: Flynn files a request to retroactively be identified as a foreign agent. Flynn will later stipulate this application included numerous lies (see December 1, 2017 entry).
March 9, 2017: Sean Spicer denies Trump knew Flynn acted as a foreign agent before hiring him (note: Obama’s warning to Trump prior to Trump’s hiring him discussed above). VP Mike Pence says the revelations are “an affirmation of the president’s decision to ask General Flynn to resign.”
March 20, 2017: FBI Director Comey testifies before Congress that the FBI is investigating possible collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia in regards to Russian interference in the United States elections.
March 2017: Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., tells the NY Times that he never met with Russians as a representative of the Trump campaign. Trump Jr. told the Times:
“Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did. But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”
This statement was a lie. As discussed above Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer in June. The meeting was set up in advance, and Trump Jr. was told in advance the meeting was to pass on information from the Russian government damaging to Hillary Clinton because the Russian government wanted to help his father’s campaign. When further asked if he had any discussions related to American policy Trump Jr. said “A hundred percent no.” That statement was also false. Even accepting his account of the meeting as completely true, Trump Jr. now says they discussed American policy issues that complicated Russian adoptions.
March 30, 2017: WSJ reports that Flynn has offered to testify in exchange for immunity.
March 31, 2017: Trump again defends Flynn in a tweet describing the investigations as a “witch hunt” against Flynn. The tweet also supports Flynn’s request for immunity even though with regards to the Hillary Clinton investigation Trump suggested immunity was only sought by guilty people.
April 27, 2017: The Pentagon announces an investigation into whether Flynn improperly accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval.
April 28, 2017: Attorney General Sessions specifically extends his recusal to the investigation of Flynn.
May 3, 2017: FBI Director Comey again testifies before Congress that the FBI is investigating possible collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia in regards to Russian interference in the United States elections and that nothing has changed. When Senator Franken asks if Trump’s tax returns would be material to the investigation, Comey responds “that’s not something Senator that I’m going to answer.”
May 8, 2017: Yates testifies to Congress disclosing for first time that Flynn was interviewed by the FBI on January 24th. She also states she cannot comment how that interview went but at the time Flynn was lying to the Vice-President, Sean Spicer and to the American public about the matter. Just after Yates’ testimony Trump goes on a four tweet rampage. Trump’s tweets, among other things declares “the Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax.” That would be the story the FBI Director had twice told Congress was under an active FBI investigation, the second time less than a week before.
May 9, 2017: Trump fires the FBI Director, Comey, who is investigating Trump. Trump’s termination letter claims Comey told him three times that he was not under investigation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is involved in firing the man heading the Russia investigation despite recusing himself from decisions related to that investigation. CNN Reports federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of Flynn.
May 10, 2017: Whitehouse spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders states Comey was fired because the FBI had lost confidence in him claiming “countless” members had so advised the Whitehouse.
May 10, 2017: In a meeting with a group of Russians Trump states that he fired Comey because “he was crazy, a real nut job.” He also tells the Russians “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.” This representation of the conversation reportedly comes from the White House’s own document summarizing the conversation.
May 11, 2017: New Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe in sworn testimony before the Senate contradicts the Whitehouse claim of widespread disenchantment with Comey within the FBI. McCabe stating, “I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity” and asserting that Comey enjoyed “broad support within the FBI and still does to this day” so “the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep, positive connection to Director Comey.”
May 11, 2017: Trump contradicts repeated statements from his staff and Vice President Pence on the reasons and process behind firing Comey that Trump fired Comey based on recommendations from his Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General rooted in Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation. In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt Trump stated he decided to fire Comey before receiving those recommendations and cited the “Russia thing” as a reason for firing Comey.
I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself — I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.
This is the second statement from Trump suggesting he fired Comey to stop the Russia investigation, a reason that suggests obstruction of justice.
May 12, 2017: Trump tweets “James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” The tweets sets off a firestorm of questions of whether such tapes exist, which Trump refuses to answer for six weeks. The tweet prompts Comey to leak contents of his meetings with Trump where Trump sought a loyalty oath and urged Comey to drop the Flynn investigation.
May 2017: Shortly after designating him Acting Director of the FBI Trump asks Andrew McCabe who he voted for. McCabe answers that he didn’t vote but later describes the conversation as “disturbing.” Trump would later heavily criticize McCabe because his Democrat wife in 2015 accepted money for her Virginia state office legislature campaign from a PAC run by a close friend of Hillary Clinton.
May 16, 2017: The NY Times reports that on the day after Flynn was fired Trump met with Comey and asks Comey to drop the investigation related to Flynn saying “I hope you can let this go.” The Times says Comey wrote a memo memorializing the conversation shortly after the meeting as “part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation” and that he shared the memo with close associates in the FBI. The Times reports it has not seen the memo but that a Comey associate read parts of it to their reporter.
May 17, 2017: The Department of Justice announces that former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been appointed as a Special Prosecutor to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” Trump is told of the appointment in a meeting that includes his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump blows up at Sessions calling him an “idiot” for recusing himself from the Russian investigation and suggests he should resign. Sessions drafted a resignation but Trump rejected it, convinced by aides it would cause more problems fresh after firing Comey. Even so, stinging criticism by Trump of his Attorney General would continue for many more months until Trump finally fires Sessions shortly after the midterm elections.
May 18, 2017: Trump describes Mueller’s appointment as Special Prosecutor, made by his own Deputy Attorney General, as the “greatest witch hunt in history.” It is a term he will repeat many times in the coming months.
June 8, 2017: Comey again testifies to Congress. He testifies that in a January 27 meeting the President excused others from the room (to include the Vice President and Head of the DOJ) and demanded a pledge of loyalty to him. Comey testifies he dodged making that pledge. Comey also testifies that in a February 14 meeting Trump asked him to drop the Flynn investigation. Comey describes being so uncomfortable with the President’s conversations, and so uncertain as to the President’s honesty, that he began keeping contemporaneous notes of their conversations. Comey acknowledges providing the contents of one of those memos to a friend to leak to the press. Comey confirms that he did tell Trump that he personally was not a target of the investigation, though members of his campaign clearly were.
June 2017: Only about a month after his appointment President Trump tries to fire Special Prosecutor Mueller. Trump ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. McGahn refused, arguing it would be disastrous to Trump’s Presidency and threatened to resign if pushed. The President backed down. As discussed below, Trump and his people would later repeatedly deny that the President even ever considered fired Mueller.
June 27, 2017: Paul Manafort finally files to retroactively be recognized as a foreign agent.
July 8, 2017: NY Times reports that Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer known for opposing the Magnitsky Act which blacklists Russian human rights abusers. Putin countered by banning adoptions of Russian children by Americans. The meeting was not previously disclosed. Trump Jr., initially responds by claiming the meeting was all about the adoption issue. This dishonest response would later become the focus of investigation itself as questions arose as to who wrote it. It would later be reported that President Trump himself dictated it (see July 31 entry below) overruling recommendations of White House counsel for a more forthcoming response. It would later be reported (see February 1, 2018 entry below) that White House Counsel urged Mark Corallo urged are more forthcoming response arguing the emails between Trump Jr, Kushner and the Russians would eventually come out. In a conference call Hope Hicks allegedly said the emails“will never get out.” This left Corallo with the belief that Hicks may be obstructing justice, so he made contemporary notes about it and resigned less than two weeks later (see July 20 entry).
July 9, 2017: Trump Jr. admits that before the meeting he was told it was to discuss negative information the Russians wanted to pass on about Hillary Clinton. He claims they did not actually have such information, but wanted to talk about adoptions instead. Trump Jr. admits to being interested in getting negative information about Clinton from the Russians, but says he didn’t actually get any.
July 10, 2017: The NY Times Reports Trump Jr. received an email from the person setting up the meeting stating the purpose of the meeting was to get material as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy, by damaging Hillary Clinton.
July 11, 2017: Trump Jr. tweets what he claims is a complete record of the emails setting up the meeting. Even though the move was clearly aimed at preempting an identical release by the NY Times, the contents are shocking. They show that before the DNC hack of Clinton emails were widely known (though it had happened) that Russians were seeking to help the Trump campaign. One email said: “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
July 14, 2017: In yet another leak related to the Trump Jr., meeting with Russians it is revealed the meeting also included a “former” Russian counter-intelligence agent. For all practical purposes the meeting included a Russian spy.
July 16, 2017: President Trump’s personal attorney, Jay Sekulow appears on ABC’s “This Week” and attempts to the blame Kushner’s and Trump Jr’s meeting on the Secret Service saying, “if this was nefarious, why did the Secret Service allow these people in.” The Secret Service responds basically by calling Sekulow a liar stating, “Donald Trump, Jr. was not a protectee of the USSS in June, 2016. Thus we would not have screened anyone he was meeting with at that time."
July 19, 2017: In an interview with the NY Times Trump attacks even his own appointments who are associated with the investigation, continuing his intimidation tactics and smears at whoever crosses him regarding the Russian investigation. He first throws Attorney General Jeff Sessions under the bus saying that he should not have recused himself from the Russian investigation and that “if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else.” Trump goes on to suggest that Sessions recused himself because he gave “bad answers” at his confirmation hearing (as discussed above Sessions lied about not meeting with Russians). Trump expresses anger the decision to appoint a Special Prosecutor then went to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Trump belittles Rosenstein because he’s “from Baltimore” and “there are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any.” In May Trump gushed at his wisdom in appointing Rosenstein saying “he’s highly respected. Very good guy, very smart guy. And the Democrats like him. The Republicans like him.” Perhaps Trump’s most chilling statements came in regards to Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. Trump stated Mueller investigating his personal and business finances was a “red line” Mueller had better not cross. When asked directly if he would fire Mueller if he crossed that line, Trump stated “I can’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
July 20, 2017: Media sources report that Special Prosecutor Mueller is running across that “red line” and is investigating Trump’s finances. Other media reports indicate Trump’s attorneys are researching Trump’s ability to pardon members of his family and even himself. In a move widely seen as appeasing Russia, it is reported that Trump has ordered an end to U.S. support for anti-Asaad rebels. In other news, White House Counsel Mark Corallo, who was overruled in attempting to get a more forthcoming response to the Kushner/Trump Jr meetings with Russians, resigns citing concerns over whether the Trump team was telling him the truth. Robert Mueller would later seek to interview Corallo (see February 1, 2018 entry below).
July 21, 2017: Trump attorneys are reported to be investigating means to attempt to discredit attorneys hired by Special Prosecutor Mueller by alleging conflict of interests. The conflict of interests suggested, such as having privately donated to the Clinton campaign, are not legally conflicts of interest. Sean Spicer resigns as White House Press Secretary because Trump decided to hire Anthony Scaramucci to the job.
July 22, 2017: The Washington Post reports U.S. intelligence intercepted communications between Russian Ambassador Kislyak and his superiors in Moscow describing conversations with Jeff Sessions where they discussed campaign related matters. This contradicts Sessions’ claims first that he never met with any Russians, and afterwards that no meetings discussed any campaign related matters (see January 10 and March 1 above). Trump responds on Twitter condemning the leak of this information while contradicting himself by claiming it is “fake news.” The tweet also confirms (the previously deemed fake news) report that Trump has been researching the Presidential pardon power declaring “all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon.” For the record, not all agree with that.
July 24, 2017: Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner releases a statement before participating in a closed door meeting with Congress about the Russia issue. His statement claims he didn’t read the part of the email stating the purpose of the June 9, 2016 meeting was to get highly sensitive information from the Russian government damaging to Clinton’s campaign as part of a Russian government effort to help the Trump campaign. He claims to have arrived late, and was so bored with the actual discussion of Russian adoptions, that he emailed his Secretary asking her to call him to give him an excuse to leave. Kushner’s statement also says “I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector. I have tried to be fully transparent.” His claim to have not relied on Russian funds for to finance his business is later proven false by the release of additional documents related to the “Paradise Papers” (See November 5, 2017 entry). These connections were also not disclosed on Kushner’s Security Clearance applications.
July 25, 2017: Former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort voluntarily testifies behind closed doors to the Senate Intelligence Committee. He provides contemporaneous notes he made regarding the June 2016 meeting with Trump’s son, Trump’s son-in-law and Russians who said they set the meeting up to help the Trump campaign get dirt on Clinton.
July 26, 2017: The FBI conducts a predawn raid on Paul Manafort’s home executing a search warrant. In a pair of tweets a few hours after the raid, Trump criticizes his Attorney General Jeff Sessions for not firing the Acting Director of the FBI.
July 27, 2017: By an overwhelming 98–2 vote the Senate passes a bill to prevent President Trump from unilaterally reversing sanctions against Russia. The same bill had previously passed the House by an incredible 419–3 vote. A more clear statement that Congress does not trust the President in regards to foreign policy, particularly in regards to Russia, is not possible.
Also July 27, 2018: Former Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor George Papadopoulos is arrested at Dulles Airport. He later pleads guilty to lying to the FBI regarding the Russia investigation.
July 28, 2017: Trump fires Reince Priebus as his Chief of Staff replacing him with the former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Priebus was probably Trump’s primary connection, in terms of personal relationships, with Congress. The firing comes shortly after newly hired White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci called a reporter launching tirade of unbelievably obscene criticism of Priebus and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Scaramucci described Priebus as “a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.” Bannon probably got the worst of it though, as in regards to him Scaramucci said, “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own cock.”
July 31, 2017: The Washington Post reports President Trump dictated the initial false statement from his son, Trump Junior, that his June 9, 2016 meeting with Russians was about the adoption of Russian children. The report states President Trump overruled advisors who recommended a more forthcoming (and honest) statement to get ahead of the story. Trump’s attorney, Jay Sekulow, had previously flatly denied that the President had any role in drafting the statement saying, “I wasn’t involved in the statement drafting at all, nor was the President.” In other news, Trump fires newly appointed Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after only ten days on the job. To get the job Scaramucci had divested himself from his business and taking it destroyed his marriage with his wife filing for divorce. That night a giddy Trump tweeted “A great day at the White House!”
August 1, 2017: Asked whether President Trump was involved in drafting the initial and deceptive response to reports related to the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting, Presidential Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders states President Trump “certainly didn’t dictate, but he — like I said, he weighed in, offered suggestions like any father would do.” It would later be revealed that Trump’s attorneys admitted to Mueller that Trump did dictate the letter (see June 2, 2018 entry below).
August 3, 2017: Media reports that Special Prosecutor Mueller has empaneled a grand jury for his investigation of Russia meddling in the election. Reuters reports the grand jury has subpoenaed information related to Trump Jr’s June 2016 meeting with Russians set up to collude with Russians regarding dirt on Hillary Clinton. CNN reports the investigation is focusing on financial ties between Trump, and his associates, with Russians connected to Russian “spy agencies.” This would cross the “red line” against Mueller’s investigation Trump declared on July 19th (see above). A bipartisan group of Senators submits a bill to limit Trump’s ability, either directly or through surrogates, to fire Special Prosecutor Mueller. At a rally in West Virginia Trump declares the investigation is, “totally made up” and a “complete fabrication,” designed to be an excuse for Hillary losing the election.
August 6, 2017: Kellyanne Conway states the President has not even discussed firing Mueller.
August 8, 2017: The President’s attorney, John Dowd denies that the President ever considered firing Mueller. Dowd declares “that’s never been on the table, ever.”
August 9, 2017: The Washington Post reports the FBI conducted a predawn raid at former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort’s home on July 26th. The agents came with a search a warrant to seize documents and other materials.
August 10, 2017: Trump denies he ever considered firing Mueller stating “I haven’t given it any thought.”
August 22, 2017: Glenn Simpson, the CEO of Fusion GPS (the company which sponsored the Steele Dossier research) testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee behind closed doors. The transcript of the testimony is finally released to the public on January 9, 2018 (see entry below for that date below).
August 25, 2017: Trump pardons Sheriff Joe Arpaio who had been criminally convicted for contempt of court because he defiantly refused to end racist profiling practices the court had ordered he stop. Many argued the purpose of the pardon included sending a message to witnesses who might be flipped against the President in the Russian investigation to stay with him because he will protect them with the pardon power.
August 27, 2017: The Washington Post reports that the for much of the Presidential Campaign Trump was in active negotiations, and other efforts, with the government of Russia to build a Trump Tower Moscow. This is the first the American people hear of Trump’s works during the campaign to build the Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump would later falsely claim the project was well publicized.
September 7, 2017: Trump Jr., is interviewed by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He reportedly told the committee he met with Russians to get information regarding Hillary Clinton’s fitness to be President. He is repeatedly asked whether his father had advance knowledge of the June 9, 2016 meeting, and denies that his father did (see e.g. p. 29 of the transcript). When explicitly asked, he denies taking any participants in the meeting to see his father. When asked why his father the very next day said dirt was coming out soon on Clinton he claimed that’s just the way his father talks. CNN Reports Special Prosecutor Mueller seeks to interview White House staffers regarding inconsistent statements made about the President’s contribution to initial explanations for his son’s meeting with the Russians (see July 31, 2017 entry above).
September 18, 2017: CNN Reports that at various times from 2014 to early 2017, former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort was under electronic surveillance pursuant to a FISA warrant due to his suspicious ties to Russians. The surveillance was suspended for part of 2016 due to lack of evidence, but started again later. Manfort’s communications, and those of Russians also being surveilled, raised concerns among investigators that “Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign.” This is clearly related to the investigation of collusion by the Trump campaign with Russians that former FBI Chief Comey said started in late July 2016, not much more than a month after the June 9, 2016 secret Trump Tower meeting (see above entries). The period included when Manafort was known to be still talking to President Trump even after no longer being formally involved in the campaign, but CNN did not know if the surveillance included conversations between Manafort and Trump. Manafort’s home was also the subject of a Mueller investigation search warrant (see July 26 entry above). Approval of FISA warrants means a Federal judge determined there was probable cause that Manafort was knowingly assisting a foreign power in a way hostile to the United States.
September 19, 2017: The NY Times reports Federal Prosecutors have advised Paul Manafort to expect an indictment.
September 24, 2017: The media reveals Jared Kushner used private email for White House business, the same thing Trump Campaigners were shouting “lock her up” for about Hillary Clinton. Sarah Huckabee Sanders later dismisses the violation as “very limited” only about 100 times. The “lego porn” story of how the media discovered the private email account may be the most hilariously entertaining part of RussiaGate.
September 28, 2017: The House Select Committee on Intelligence sends Jared Kushner an angry letter expressing concern that it found out about Kushner’s private email account from the news media rather than from Kushner in his closed interview with the Committee. The letter asks Kushner to confirm he has provided all responsive documents to the Committee.
October 5, 2017: George Papadopoulos accepts a plea agreement wherein he pleads guilty to a Statement of Offense prepared by the government. He agrees the Statement of Offense “fairly and accurately” describes his conduct related to the alleged offenses. The plea agreement is not revealed until October 30th.
October 10, 2017: Asked directly if he is considering firing Robert Mueller Trump says “no, not at all.”
October 27, 2017: CNN Reports that the grand jury Mueller convened is about to indict on criminal charges. The report suggests someone could be in custody as early as Monday, October 30th.
October 30, 2017: A 12-count indictment against Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates is released charging them with conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and multiple counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. The indictment alleges Manafort and Gates acted as agents for pro-Russian parties and elements of the Ukrainian government (tied to former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych). They received millions in payments from the pro-Russia elements and then “in order to hide the Ukraine payments from United States authorities . . . laundered the money through scores of United States and foreign corporations, partnerships and bank accounts.” They then lied about it to investigators as recently as February of this year and did not report the income on their taxes. While Manafort left the Trump campaign last Fall, his alleged co-conspirator Rick Gates continued working with the Trump Administration until at least this Spring.
Trump responds quickly to the news with a pair of tweets arguing the indictments have nothing to do with the election and (as is typical) attempting to deflect attention to Hillary Clinton.
Manafort and Gates are arraigned before a Federal judge and enter not guilty pleas.
Also October 30, 2017: News breaks that former Trump foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos secretly pled guilty to charges of lying to the FBI during Mueller’s investigation (see January 27, 2017 entry). Papadopoulos is known to have encouraged Trump to meet with high ranking Russian officials during the campaign. The DOJ releases the Statement of Offense to which Papadopoulos pled guilty. The Statement of Offense details Papadopoulos repeatedly meeting with and communicating with a Joseph Mifsud and Olga Polonskaya to get thousands of emails containing dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Statement of Charges also detail Papadopoulos’ months long communications with high ranking officials of the Trump Campaign to arrange a meeting with Trump Campaign officials (including Donald Trump himself). They also show the Trump Campaign approved the idea of Papadopoulos secretly meeting with Russian Government officials on behalf of The Campaign, even if such meetings never happened. For a timeline specific to Papadopoulos click HERE.
November 5, 2017: NBC Reports Mueller’s investigation of Michael Flynn includes potential money laundering and conspiracy for kidnapping against him and his son. The report cites sources claiming Flynn met with Turkish officials regarding plans to forcibly remove Turkish dissident Fethullah Gulen from the United States in September 2016. Turkey’s President Erdogan blames Gulen for a failed coup attempt against him and has unsuccessfully sought his extradition from the United States. A variety of media sources report on the “The Paradise Papers,” a review of documents showing that Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, has connections with Russians business that he misleadingly did not disclose during his confirmation process. The papers also detail business connections with Russians not disclosed by, and previously denied by, Jared Kushner.
November 6, 2017: An interview with Natalia Veselnitskaya, one of the Russians at the June 9 2016 meeting with Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, reveals Trump Jr., specifically requested from the Russians financial documents showing money went into Clinton Campaign coffers that dodged tax laws. Trump Jr., suggested the possibility of more favorable treatment for Russia under a Trump administration in exchange.
Early November 2017: Jared Kushner is interviewed by Mueller’s team. The questions are thought to focus on communications related to Michael Flynn’s late December 2016 contacts with the Russian Ambassador. Flynn will later be convicted for lying about those communications (see December 1, 2017 entry below).
November 13, 2017: A report from The Atlantic details contacts between Donald Trump Jr., and WikiLeaks even as the campaign was denying any such connections (see September/October 2016 entries above).
November 14, 2017: Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies to Congress. He had previously said under oath that he did not believe any surrogates for the Trump campaign had contacts with Russians. His statement then was “I did not, and I’m not aware of anyone else that did, and I don’t believe it happened.” He was confronted with the March 2016 meeting he attended where George Papadopoulos discussed his contacts with Russians. He now suddenly remembers the meeting, but doesn’t remember any details, except the detail that he “wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter.” He said he would happily have reported the meeting had he remembered it previously.
November 23, 2017: Media reports indicate Michael Flynn’s attorneys have notified President Trump’s attorneys that they can no longer share information regarding the investigation. This strongly suggests Flynn is cooperating with the investigation and potentially coming to a plea agreement. It also suggests Trump is a target of the investigation.
December 1, 2017: Former Trump Campaign Advisor and Director of National Intelligence Michael Flynn is indicted and pleads to guilty to making false statements to the FBI in the course of its investigation of potential Trump Campaign collusion with the Russians to interfere in the election. Flynn is convicted of two counts of knowingly making false statements to the FBI as he simultaneously enters into a plea agreement. The plea agreement includes a stipulation that government drafted representations of fact in a Statement of Offense are true. The stipulations include that Flynn UNDER THE DIRECTION of an unnamed “senior official of the Presidential Transition Team” had contacts with Russian Ambassador and spy Kislyak (see late December 2016 entries). The nature of these contacts were to secretly negotiate deals between the United States and Russia on immediate foreign policy without the consent or knowledge of the administration still in power. They were direct negotiations with the Russians to not respond to Obama’s sanctions and to delay a vote or vote against a UN Security Council resolution regarding Israel, decisions Russia secretly agreed with the Trump Transition Team to do. Flynn called this unnamed “senior official” of the transition team more than once, and received instructions for further requests to make of the Russians. Per the stipulations, Flynn called this “senior official” at Mar-a-Lago and that this “senior official” was “with other senior members of the Presidential Transition Team.” Media reports indicate the “senior official,” with other senior officials at Mar-a-Lago, is Jared Kushner who was interviewed by Mueller’s team just a few weeks prior. He also previously answered questions to Congressional committees under oath. Flynn’s plea agreement requires his full cooperation with Mueller’s investigation as it includes this statement:
[Flynn] shall cooperate fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly with this Office and other Federal, state and local law enforcement authorities identified by this Office in any and all matters to which this Office deems cooperation relevant.
December 2, 2017: The NY Times reports on emails sent on December 29, 2016 by Senior Trump Transition Advisor K.T. McFarland coordinating transition team efforts to undermine the sanctions with the Russians. She sought to ease tensions with the Russians on who (in an email) she said “has just thrown the U.S.A. election to him [Trump].” The email, forwarded to other key transition team members, urged contacting the Russians to deescalate Russian response to the sanctions to prevent a tit-for-tat exchange that would prevent President Trump from improving Russian relations. Flynn would make those contacts and then lie to the FBI about them. In sworn testimony to Congress for her confirmation as Ambassador to Singapore, McFarland claimed she could not recall ever being involved with communications with Flynn about talking to Russians.
Also December 2, 2017: Trump tweets that he had to fire Flynn because he lied to the FBI.
The tweet suggests possible obstruction of justice if Trump knew Flynn lied when he pressured Comey to “let it go” regarding the investigation of Flynn the day after Trump fired Flynn. Put simply, Trump was pressuring the FBI to end an investigation of a man Trump knew had committed a felony.
December 3, 2017: In one of many such denials, Trump tweets a flat denial that he ever asked Comey to back off the Flynn investigation. He smears Comey and the media for lying about this.