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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Tuesday, December 4, 2018 5A
Trump praises witness who refuses to testify
JULIE JACOBSON I Associated Press
Michael Cohen walks out of federal court, Thursday, Nov. 29, in New York,
after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted
project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Cohen, President Donald Trumps
former lawyer, told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations
and other details to be consistent with Trump’s “political message.”
BY MICHAEL BALSAMO
AND ERIC TUCKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President
Donald Trump praised a key wit
ness in the Russia investigation
Monday for having the “guts” not
to testify against him, and said his
former lawyer — who cut a deal
with prosecutors — should head
straight to prison.
In a pair of politically charged
tweets, Trump made clear that he
is closely watching those who turn
on him in the special counsel’s
probe, which has ensnared some
of the president’s closest advis
ers. So far, five people in Trump’s
orbit have pleaded guilty to fed
eral charges.
The tweets add to mounting
questions about whether Trump
is taking steps to improperly influ
ence witnesses in an investigation
that has enraged him and shad
owed his administration. Some
legal experts, though, say they
may not amount to witness tam
pering if Trump didn’t directly tell
others what to say or not say.
Trump already has come under
scrutiny from critics who fear he
may use his executive power to
protect himself as well as friends
and supporters. Last week, Trump
told the New York Post that a
pardon for his former campaign
chairman Paul Manafort was not
off the table.
Prosecutors say Manafort tor
pedoed his plea deal with spe
cial counsel Robert Mueller by
repeatedly lying to them, although
Manafort denies that he lied.
In one of Monday’s tweets,
Trump took aim at Michael Cohen,
his former personal attorney who
once grandly declared he would
“take a bullet” for the president
but ultimately took a plea deal.
Cohen pleaded guilty last week
to lying to Congress about negotia
tions he had on Trump’s behalf for
a real estate deal in Moscow.
Though he told lawmakers the
talks were done by January 2016,
he admitted they actually lasted
as late as June — after Trump had
clinched the Republican nomina
tion and after Russians had pene
trated Democratic email accounts
for communications later released
through WikiLeaks.
Cohen said he lied out of loyalty
to Trump, who insisted through
out the campaign that he had no
business dealings in Russia, and
to be consistent with his political
messaging.
On Monday, Trump ripped into
Cohen on Twitter.
“You mean he can do all of the
TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump,
things having to do with fraud, big
loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a
long prison term?” Trump added
that Cohen “makes up stories
to get a GREAT & ALREADY
reduced deal for himself.”
Trump added: “He lied for this
outcome and should, in my opin
ion, serve a full and complete
sentence.”
Minutes later, Trump lavished
praise on his former campaign
adviser Roger Stone. Mueller’s
prosecutors are investigating
Stone to learn whether he had
advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’
plans to release hacked material
damaging to Hillary Clinton’s pres
idential effort.
Trump lauded Stone for say
ing he’d never testify against the
president.
“This statement was recently
made by Roger Stone, essentially
stating that he will not be forced
by a rogue and out of control pros
ecutor to make up lies and stories
about ‘President Trump,”’ he
tweeted. “Nice to know that some
people still have ‘guts!’”
Stone then posted a screenshot
of Trump’s tweet with a caption
that said he was proud of their
40-year relationship and “prouder
still of the amazing job he is doing
making America Great Again!”
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Dem
ocrat on the Senate intelligence
committee, said Trump’s tweet
was inappropriate.
“The President of the United
States should not be using his plat
form to influence potential wit
nesses in a federal investigation
involving his campaign,” Warner
said in a tweet.
Stone said the idea that Trump’s
tweet amount to witness tamper
ing is “hysterical.”
“I’m not a witness to any pro
ceeding,” he said.
David Weinstein, a former Jus
tice Department prosecutor in
Florida, said he was surprised by
Trump’s comments Monday, but
didn’t believe the tweets alone
rose to the level of obstruction
or witness tampering because
Trump did not explicitly tell any
one what to say or not to say. Sub
jects of an investigation can still
communicate to others entangled
in a probe, and though they can
encourage them to tell the truth,
they cannot coach them to lie, he
said.
“What he seems to be saying is
that people who continue to show
support for him, in some way, may
be rewarded for that support,”
Weinstein said. “I don’t think it
rises to the level of obstruction
yet, but it certainly would cause
people who are conducting the
investigation to start asking ques
tions about whether or not the tar
get has reached out to them.”
Trump’s message had an
immediate effect on supporters.
His remarks prompted Michael
Caputo, the president’s for
mer campaign aide and a long
time Stone friend, to launch a
“GoFundMe” account to help pay
Stone’s mounting legal fees.
Congress seeks 2-week extension to avert shutdown
BY MATTHEW DALY
AND CATHERINE LUCEY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Con
gressional leaders intro
duced a two-week funding
bill Monday to avert a par
tial government shutdown
over President Donald
Trump’s border wall, as
business in the Capitol came
to a standstill for ceremo
nies honoring former Presi
dent George H.W. Bush.
The stopgap measure
would keep the government
funded through Dec. 21,
two weeks after a Friday
deadline when funding for a
portion of the government,
including the Department
of Homeland Security, is set
to expire.
The measure comes as
Trump kept up pressure
Monday on congressio
nal Democrats to fund his
promised border wall and
threatened other actions to
deter illegal immigration as
negotiations continue.
“We would save Billions
of Dollars if the Democrats
would give us the votes to
build the Wall,” Trump
tweeted without evidence
Monday. “Either way,
people will NOT
be allowed into our
Country illegally!
We will close the
entire Southern Bor
der if necessary.”
House leaders
canceled roll call
votes this week for
ceremonies honor
ing Bush, who died
Friday, meaning an exten
sion will be needed to avert
a funding lapse.
While Democrats prefer
a one-week extension, they
signaled they would not
object to a two-week delay.
Trump made clear over the
weekend he would agree to
a short-term funding exten
sion to allow for ceremonies
honoring Bush.
Democrats have little
interest in providing the $5
billion Trump wants for the
southern border, and with
the party set to take con
trol of the House in the new
year, opposition to the wall
has hardened.
Even some Republicans
balk at spending more than
the $1.6 billion for fencing
and other security improve
ments already provided.
But Trump has signaled
he’s ready to fight for the
money as one of the
last big-ticket items
of the GOP-led Con
gress before Demo
crats take over the
House following
a decisive victory
in the midterm
elections.
The president
invited the top
Democratic leaders, Sen.
Chuck Schumer of New
York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi
of California, to the White
House for a meeting Tues
day, but Democrats asked
to postpone it because of
Bush’s funeral. The meet
ing has been tentatively
rescheduled for Dec. 11,
said a White House official
who was not authorized to
speak publicly and spoke on
condition of anonymity.
Trump told reporters on
Air Force One on Saturday
he would be willing to sign
a two-week funding exten
sion. “I would absolutely
consider it and probably
give it,” he told reporters.
Schumer has suggested
one option would be for
Trump to accept the Sen
ate’s $1.6 billion bipartisan
border security package,
along with the remaining
Trump
CAROLYN RASTER I Associated Press
Brian Hook, U.S. special representative for Iran, walks past fragments of Iranian short
range ballistic missiles at the Iranian Materiel Display at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, in
Washington, Thursday Nov. 29.
US urges Europe to impose
sanctions on Iran over missiles
BY MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press
BRUSSELS — The Trump administra
tion is urging Europe to impose tough new
sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile
program.
The call comes as Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo is to meet European officials
in Brussels this week and after the U.S.
and others condemned an Iranian missile
launch over the weekend.
Iran was also a topic of conversation
when Pompeo met Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Mon
day night.
Pompeo plans to talk about Iran when he
meets his counterparts from Britain, France
and Germany on Tuesday while he is in Bel
gium for a meeting of NATO counterparts.
U.S. special envoy for Iran Brian Hook
rejected Iran’s insistence that its missile
program is defensive.
He told reporters traveling with Pompeo
that Iran’s continued missile development
and testing is a threat to the region and
beyond and in defiance of U.N. Security
Council demands.
Hook said U.S. discussions with the Euro
peans about missile sanctions are gaining
traction. Those talks center on slapping pen
alties on companies and people involved in
Iran’s program.
“It is a grave and escalating threat, and
nations around the world, not just Europe,
need to do everything they can to be target
ing Iran’s missile program,” Hook said.
Hook’s comments on Monday were the
latest salvo in an escalating U.S. campaign
against Iran since President Donald Trump
pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May.
“Iran is on the wrong track, and our cam
paign of maximum economic pressure is
designed to starve the regime of revenue it
needs,” he said.
On Thursday, Hook accused Iran of vio
lating a U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports by
sending weapons to its proxies in Afghani
stan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
On Saturday, Pompeo denounced Iran for
test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile
capable of carrying multiple warheads that
could reach parts of Europe.
“We are accumulating risk of escalation
in the region if we fail to restore deter
rence,” Pompeo said.
$1.3 billion from the
current fiscal year
that has not yet been
spent.
The country
shouldn’t have to
endure a shutdown
over “Trump’s
temper tantrum,”
Schumer said last
week.
While Trump has pushed
Democrats to build the wall,
Schumer and Pelosi face
growing pressure from the
party’s liberal wing to block
it.
A group of border-state
House Democrats sent
Schumer a letter last week
expressing opposi
tion to any funding
for the wall, which
they said would
separate local com
munities and antag
onize Mexico.
Rep. Henry Cuel
lar, D-Texas, called
the wall “a 14th-
century solution to
a 21st-century problem” and
suggested that money would
be better spent on more Bor
der Patrol officers, technol
ogy and equipment.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez,
D-Texas, said, “We need
all hands on deck to oppose
frivolous border wall spend
ing proposals. That includes
Leader Schumer.”
Besides the funding bill,
Congress is considering a
sweeping criminal justice
package with sentencing
reforms, a farm bill that’s a
top priority of Senate Major
ity Leader Mitch McConnell
and other items before they
adjourn for the year.
The Kentucky Repub
lican told reporters over
the weekend that it’s up to
Trump “to do a deal with
the Democrats.” He said,
“I think that’s the path to
getting a signature and
avoiding a government
shutdown.”
Schumer
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