Friday, March 16, 2018

Mueller Subpoenas Trump Organization, Demanding Documents About Russia - New York Times

Mueller Subpoenas Trump Organization, Demanding Documents About Russia
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MAGGIE HABERMANMARCH 15, 2018

It was not clear why the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, issued the subpoena instead of simply asking for the documents from the company. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has subpoenaed the Trump Organization in recent weeks to turn over documents, including some related to Russia, according to two people briefed on the matter. The order is the first known instance of the special counsel demanding records directly related to President Trump’s businesses, bringing the investigation closer to the president.

The breadth of the subpoena was not clear, nor was it clear why Mr. Mueller issued it instead of simply asking for the documents from the company, an umbrella organization that encompasses Mr. Trump’s business ventures. Mr. Mueller ordered the Trump Organization to hand over records related to Russia and other topics he is investigating, the people said.

The subpoena is the latest indication that the investigation, which Mr. Trump’s lawyers once regularly assured him would be completed by now, will continue for at least several more months. Word of the subpoena came as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his inquiry to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. Trump’s political activities. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned witnesses, including an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, about the flow of Emirati money into the United States.

Mr. Mueller has already indicted 13 Russians and three companies accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, and on Thursday, the Trump administration included them in sanctions it leveled at Moscow as punishment for interference in the campaign and “malicious cyberattacks.”

The Trump Organization has typically complied with requests from congressional investigators for documents for their own inquiries into Russian election interference, and there was no indication the company planned to fight Mr. Mueller’s order.


Trump Asked Key Witnesses About Matters They Discussed With Special Counsel MARCH 7, 2018

Despite Mueller’s Push, House Republicans Declare No Evidence of Collusion MARCH 12, 2018

Adviser to Emirates With Ties to Trump Aides Is Cooperating With Special Counsel MARCH 6, 2018

Clinton Impeachment Lawyer May Aid Trump in Mueller Response MARCH 10, 2018

“Since July 2017, we have advised the public that the Trump Organization is fully cooperative with all investigations, including the special counsel, and is responding to their requests,” said Alan S. Futerfas, a lawyer representing the Trump Organization. “This is old news and our assistance and cooperation with the various investigations remains the same today.”

The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, reiterated during her daily briefing that the president was cooperating with the special counsel inquiry and referred further questions to the Trump Organization.

There are few other publicly known examples of Mr. Mueller using subpoenas. In January, he ordered the president’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, to appear before a grand jury. Mr. Mueller dropped the subpoena after Mr. Bannon agreed to be interviewed by investigators.

Mr. Mueller could run afoul of a line the president has warned him not to cross. Though it is not clear how much of the subpoena is related to Mr. Trump’s business outside ties to Russia, Mr. Trump said in an interview with The New York Times in July that the special counsel would be crossing a red line if he looked into his family’s finances beyond any relationship with Russia. The president declined to say how he would respond if he concluded that the special counsel had crossed that line.

You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services.

Mr. Trump campaigned as a businessman whose deal-making prowess would translate directly into reforming Washington. The argument helped propel him to the White House, but the Trump Organization has been a magnet for criticism from Democrats, ethics watchdogs and some Republicans, who expressed concern that he remained vulnerable to conflicts of interest because he did not separate from the company.

Before Mr. Trump was sworn in, he pledged that he would stay uninvolved in his businesses while in office but insisted it would be too punitive for his business partners for him to divest from the company altogether.

Among the Trump Organization’s holdings are golf clubs, hotels and licensing agreements for the use of the Trump name on properties and other products. While its holdings are complex, the company has always been run like a small, family-owned business; Mr. Trump brought in his three eldest children to help run the enterprise.

The Trump Organization is not publicly held, making it difficult to determine where it receives its money and invests it. The company has said that it never had real estate holdings in Russia, but witnesses recently interviewed by Mr. Mueller have been asked about a possible real estate deal in Moscow.

In 2015, a longtime business associate of Mr. Trump’s, Felix Sater, emailed Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, at his Trump Organization account claiming he had ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would help Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. Mr. Trump signed a nonbinding letter of intent for the project in 2015 and discussed it at least three times with Mr. Cohen.

A revealing comment about Russia by Eric Trump, the president’s middle son, also drew scrutiny when it emerged last year. James Dodson, a longtime golf writer from North Carolina, said offhand in a radio interview that Eric Trump, who oversees the golf courses for the Trump Organization, told him in 2013 that the Trumps relied on Russian investors to back their golf clubs. Eric Trump has denied those remarks.

Mr. Mueller was appointed in May to investigate whether Mr. Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 election and any other matters that may arise from the inquiry.

A month later, the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, threatened to quit after Mr. Trump asked him to have Mr. Mueller fired because the president believed he had conflict-of-interest issues that precluded him from running the special counsel investigation.

Mr. Mueller is also examining whether the president has tried to obstruct the investigation.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers are in negotiations with Mr. Mueller’s office about whether and how to allow his investigators to interview the president. Mr. Mueller’s office has shared topics it wants to discuss with the president, according to two people familiar with the talks. The lawyers have advised Mr. Trump to refuse an interview, but the president has said he wants to do it, as he believes he has done nothing wrong and can easily answer investigators’ questions.

At the same time, Mr. Trump is considering whether to bring on a new lawyer to help represent him in the special counsel’s investigation. Last week, Mr. Trump spoke with Emmet T. Flood, a longtime Washington lawyer who represented former President Bill Clinton during the impeachment process, about coming into the White House to deal with the inquiry.

Michael S. Schmidt reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. Mike McIntire contributed reporting from New York.

Metal Tycoon to Leapfrog Elon Musk With World's Biggest Battery - Bloomberg

Metal Tycoon to Leapfrog Elon Musk With World's Biggest Battery
By
March 16, 2018, 3:52 PM GMT+11
Sanjeev Gupta plans 120 megawatt battery in South Australia
Battery to operate with solar farm to power Whyalla steelworks
The ETF Getting 'LIT' on Lithium

Sanjeev Gupta plans to snatch the world’s biggest battery crown from Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk.


Simec Zen Energy, controlled by the U.K. executive’s GFG Alliance, agreed to build a 120-megawatt lithium-ion battery at Port Augusta in South Australia, State Premier Jay Weatherill said in an emailed statement Friday. While no timeline was given for completion, the battery size would exceed Musk’s 100-megawatt unit in the same state’s outback, which holds the current record. Other rivals may also overtake Musk including a South Korean project.

GFG, which last year added steel operations to iron ore mines in Australia, said the battery will help power a 200 megawatt solar farm at its Whyalla steelworks. Simec Zen hopes its Big Battery Project will provide grid stability and act as a buffer to power outages, which have included a state-wide blackout in September 2016.

“As well as being the most powerful battery in the world, Simec Zen’s storage facility will help underpin the long-term viability of the Whyalla steelworks as well as provide additional benefits to the South Australian grid,” Weatherill said.

The battery-storage industry is becoming increasingly important in places like South Australia, which has less access to traditional fossil-fuel sources like coal and gas than the rest of the nation. Instead, the region gets 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy, one of the highest penetrations of wind and solar in the world.

Syria war: Thousands flee twin offensives in Afrin and Ghouta - BBC News

16/3/2018
Syria war: Thousands flee twin offensives in Afrin and Ghouta

Seven-year-old Rouaa has lived most of her life in a refugee camp
As many as 50,000 people have fled separate offensives against rebel forces in northern and southern Syria in recent days, activists say.

Russian air strikes reportedly killed 31 people in the Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus on Friday, after 20,000 people left the region.

Turkish shelling killed 18 people on Friday in the northern town of Afrin, where 30,000 people have fled.

Seven years of war have driven nearly 12 million Syrians from their homes.

At least 6.1 million are internally displaced while another 5.6 million have fled abroad.

More than 400,000 are believed to have been killed or are missing, presumed dead, since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran - three countries closely involved in the conflict - have met in the Kazakh capital Astana to prepare for a summit on Syria in Istanbul next month.

Why is there a war in Syria?
How serious is the situation near Damascus?
Friday's deaths in the Eastern Ghouta were reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group.

They came as humanitarian corridors controlled by the Syrian government were meant to allow more civilians to leave the region.

The Russian defence ministry has been streaming what it says is live video of the checkpoints.

According to the Observatory, nearly 20,000 civilians fled rebel-held areas in the region on Thursday.

Civilians used a government-controlled corridor to leave the Eastern Ghouta
Pro-government forces are believed to have recaptured 70% of the region after three weeks of intense fighting against rebels there.

At the same time, 25 lorries carrying food aid entered the Ghouta town of Douma but the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the aid was just a fraction of what was needed.

ICRC president Peter Maurer said after visiting the region that people there were exhausted by the fighting and the lack of food and medicine.

"I'll probably remember the boy who approached me near the streets of Eastern Ghouta asking whether I had a small bottle of water which illustrates how dire the situation is," he said.

The crushing of the rebel enclave outside Damascus would be a major victory for President Assad.

Eastern Ghouta devastation seen from space
Falling hair and eating inedible plants to survive
What is happening on the Turkish border?
Afrin, a town populated mainly by ethnic Kurds near the frontier, has been under bombardment from the air and the ground by Turkish forces and their local Syrian allies.

Civilians took to the hilly roads around Afrin on Thursday
Some 30,000 people have fled the city and nearby villages, according to the Observatory. They headed towards villages held by Syrian government forces.

Turkey is targeting the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed militia that it regards as an extension of the Kurdish rebels on its own territory.

Afrin: What is going on in Syria's other battle?
Hundreds more families left overnight as shelling continued, the Observatory says. Five children were among those killed on Friday, it reports.

Brusk Hasakeh, a YPG spokesman, told Reuters news agency that Turkish forces and their Syrian militia allies were trying to storm Afrin from the north but the YPG and its women's affiliate, the YPJ, were fighting back.

Smoke could be seen near Afrin on Thursday
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a gathering in Ankara that his country would not stop until its mission to capture Afrin had been completed.

"The European Parliament is apparently going to ask for the Afrin operation to be stopped," he said.

"There is a lady [EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini] there who is responsible for [EU] enlargement. She is said to make such a request. Don't get your hopes up, we will not leave there until the job is done. You should know this."

What are the latest diplomatic efforts?
While Turkey is opposed to President Assad, Russia and Iran are the Syrian leader's closest allies.

From left: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Astana
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sought to portray the talks in Kazakhstan as an opportunity to bring lasting peace to Syria, saying "millions of Syrians are looking in the direction of Astana".

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the bombing of civilians was unacceptable.

"There has been a significant progress on minimising violence in the field but breaches of ceasefire today are concerning," he said. "Particularly, the situation in the Eastern Ghouta is at a level of disaster."

Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Just Lost Her Company After Being Accused of ‘Massive Fraud’ - TIME

Posted: 14 Mar 2018 10:18 AM PDT

(NEW YORK) — Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford University dropout once billed as the “next Steve Jobs” has forfeited control Theranos, the blood testing startup she founded, and will pay $500,000 to settle charges that she oversaw a “massive fraud.”
Under an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Holmes is barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years. The SEC said it will pursue its case against the president of the company, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, in federal district court in the Northern District of California.
The settlement comes two years after the SEC, prompted by a Wall Street Journal investigation, began looking into claims at Theranos that it had developed potentially revolutionary blood-testing technology.
The Journal piece quoted former employees that suspected the technology was a fraud, and it found that the company was using routine blood testing equipment for the vast majority of its tests. The story raised concerns about the accuracy of Theranos’ blood testing technology, which put patients at risk of having conditions either misdiagnosed or ignored.
Holmes, 34, founded Theranos in Palo Alto, California, in 2003, pitching the company’s technology as a cheaper way to run dozens of blood tests. Once considered the nation’s youngest female billionaire, Holmes said she was inspired to start the company in response to her fear of needles.
Theranos raised millions in startup funding by promoting its tests as costing a “fraction” of what other labs charge.
At the center of Theranos’ mystique was its “Edison” machine, which the company claimed could test for a variety of diseases through only a few drops of blood from a person’s finger. Despite the hype and company claims, Theranos shared few details on how its Edison machine — named after the inventor — worked.
Theranos attracted extraordinary interest and loaded its board with huge names, mainly elder Washington statesmen, including two former U.S. secretaries of state: Henry Kissinger and George Schultz. The group was criticized for lacking expertise in science or medicine.
Holmes kept strict control over her image, wearing only black turtleneck sweaters in public, much like Steve Jobs.
Theranos and Holmes pushed back hard, and for months refused to acknowledge that its machines were effectively a sham. State and federal authorities started investigations into the accuracy of the company’s blood testing work. In 2016 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees blood testing labs in the U.S., banned Holmes from operating a lab and revoked Theranos’ blood testing license.
In late 2016, Theranos began shutting down its clinical labs and wellness centers and laid off more than 40 percent of its full-time employees.
Along with the fine announced Wednesday, Holmes has agreed to return 18.9 million shares of Theranos that she obtained during the fraud. If the company is sold or liquidated, Holmes will not profit from any remaining ownership in the company until at least $750 million in proceeds are returned to investors, the SEC said.
Theranos said Wednesday that neither the company nor Holmes admitted or denied wrongdoing.
“The Company is pleased to be bringing this matter to a close and looks forward to advancing its technology,” Theranos said in a prepared statement.

Questions raised over construction of pedestrian bridge that collapsed at FIU - CBS News

March 15, 2018, 6:24 PM
Questions raised over construction of pedestrian bridge that collapsed at FIU
Share  Tweet  Reddit  Flipboard  Email
Last Updated Mar 15, 2018 8:53 PM EDT

A newly installed pedestrian bridge that stretched over multiple lanes of traffic collapsed Thursday at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, causing at least four deaths, according to Miami-Dade fire chief Dave Downey. At least eight vehicles were crushed under the rubble, authorities said, as rescue efforts continued.

In the wake of the deadly accident, questions are being raised about the type of bridge that was being built, which was considered "first of its kind."

A press release from FIU lays out details of the bridge's construction: "The 174-foot, 950-ton section of the bridge was built adjacent to Southwest Eight Street using Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods, which are being advanced at FIU's Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center. ... This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions. The main span of the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge was installed in a few hours with limited disruption to traffic over this weekend."

It continued: "Construction of the bridge began in the spring of 2017 and is expected to be completed in early 2019. When it is finished, the bridge will be 289 feet long and 109 feet tall. The 32-foot-wide bridge will also serve as study and gathering space."

The $14.2 million bridge connecting the university with the city of Sweetwater was installed Saturday in six hours over the eight-lane highway, according to a press release by FIU.

The bridge was erected to provide a safe route for students and visitors coming to and from the campus. The Reuters news agency reports that a 18-year-old female FIU student from San Diego was killed while trying to cross the busy street there last August.

A post about the bridge on the FIU Twitter account touts that it was the first in the world to be made entirely with "self-cleaning concrete."

@FIUnews
#DidYouKnow the new pedestrian bridge that will connect our FIU and the @CitySweetwater is the first in the world to be constructed entirely of self-cleaning concrete? #WorldsAhead

2:15 AM - Mar 11, 2018

The construction company which built the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), wrote on Twitter that the bridge "experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life." The company promised to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Munilla Construction
@WeAreMCM
6:13 AM - Mar 16, 2018 · Hialeah, FL

The illustration included in the tweet shows the bridge design included a central beam with suspension cables extending upwards from the walkway, but those elements of the bridge did not appear to be in place yet and were not seen in video footage from the scene Thursday. It was unclear what the builders were using as temporary supports.

Robert Bea, a professor of engineering and construction management at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Associated Press it was too early to know exactly what happened, but the decision to use what the bridge builders called an "innovative installation" was risky, especially because the bridge spanned a heavily traveled thoroughfare.

"Innovations take a design firm into an area where they don't have applicable experience, and then we have another unexpected failure on our hands," Bea said after reviewing the bridge's design and photos of the collapse.

FIU provided a timelapse video in a press release showing the bridge's construction and the process of moving it into place over the weekend:

timelapse bridge square by FloridaInternational on YouTube
As the news broke about the accident, CBS News learned that FIU and the structural testing service for the bridge both deleted tweets celebrating the construction of the doomed structure.

A screengrab obtained by CBS News shows the university posted on March 13: "FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplished our mission beautifully" -- FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. The tweet has since been deleted.

The link redirects to a March 10 press release hosted on the FIU website titled, "First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge 'swings' into place," which calls the bridge a "construction marvel" in a photo caption.

Another tweet that has since been deleted comes from BDI, which provides structural testing services and equipment. The company wrote March 12 that it was "thrilled to have performed structural monitoring" on the FIU project, and added "congratulations" to Barnhart Crane and Rigging (BCR) "on a job well done."

180315-bdi-deleted-tweet-fiu-bridge-collapse.jpg
A deleted tweet from BDI, which performed structural monitoring on the FIU bridge that collapsed on March 15, 2018. CBS NEWS
BDI hasn't responded to a request for comment yet.

Barnhart Crane and Rigging said in a statement that it was contracted to move the bridge into place and was not involved its design or construction. "Our scope of work was completed without incident and according to all technical requirements. Barnhart crews and equipment were not on site at the time of the incident," the company said, pledging to fully cooperate with the investigation.

It was also reported earlier Thursday that MCM, the construction firm, took its website down. It said on Twitter that it was "a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way."

"Our deepest sympathies are with those affected by this accident," FIGG Bridge Engineers, the company hired to design the bridge, wrote in a statement. "We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved."

Two workers were replacing something on the side of the bridge when it collapsed, according to CBS Miami.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators to the scene and Gov. Rick Scott addressed the media late Thursday.

"We have a national tragedy on our hands," Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has called for the Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to start an immediate investigation
@SenBillNelson
Just spoke with the President of @FIU, Mark Rosenberg, regarding the collapsed pedestrian bridge and offered to help in any way I can and I'm calling Sec. of Transportation Chao to ask the NTSB to investigate what went wrong. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/west-miami-dade/article205316174.html …


@SenBillNelson
I asked Sec. of Transportation Chao to start an immediate investigation and assist the university as it is going through this tough time.

6:11 AM - Mar 16, 2018
12
See Bill Nelson's other Tweets

Soviet-born Donald Trump adviser Felix Sater: 'Send 'em to jail' if Robert Mueller finds collusion - ABC News

Soviet-born Donald Trump adviser Felix Sater: 'Send 'em to jail' if Robert Mueller finds collusion
By PETE MADDEN MEGHAN KENEALLY Mar 16, 2018, 6:06 AM ET

Felix Sater is a lot of things. One of them, he says, is misunderstood.

Interested in Donald Trump?
Add Donald Trump as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Donald Trump news, video, and analysis from ABC News.
Donald Trump Add Interest
The Soviet-born American businessman, who once billed himself as a “senior advisor to Donald Trump,” has become known for his supporting role in the unfolding drama that is Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. Sater is often referred to as the convicted felon and onetime stock scammer who promised to “get all of Putins team to buy in” on a proposed plan to build “Trump Tower Moscow” in the heat of the presidential campaign.

“I know how to play it, and we will get this done,” Sater wrote to Trump attorney and confidant Michael Cohen, his childhood friend, in emails published by The Washington Post and The New York Times. “Buddy, our boy can become president of the USA, and we can engineer it.”

The project was abandoned, but as federal investigators launched a wide-ranging probe of alleged Russsian interference in the 2016 election including possible connections to Trump’s campaign and personal businesses, Sater quickly found himself caught in the dragnet. Now, in an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos airing Friday morning on Good Morning America, Sater tells ABC News that there is much, much more to his life story.

And he’s right.

“I don’t think if a screenwriter was trying to write this movie that they could make this up,” Sater said.

PHOTO: Donald Trump, Tevfik Arif and Felix Sater attend the Trump Soho Launch Party, on Sept. 19, 2007 in New York City.Mark Von Holden/Getty Images
Donald Trump, Tevfik Arif and Felix Sater attend the Trump Soho Launch Party, on Sept. 19, 2007 in New York City.
Sater, 52, says that for the past two decades he has served as a high-level intelligence asset for the DIA, CIA and the FBI. As first reported this week by Buzzfeed News, Sater has helped bust mafia families, capture cybercriminals and pursue top terrorists — including Osama bin Laden — earning praise from some of the country’s top law enforcement officials.

He won’t say whether or not he’s been interviewed by the special counsel, but it’s almost certain that Mueller knows his body of work well. He served as FBI Director for much of Sater’s clandestine career.

As questions have swirled about his supposed loyalty to Russia, Sater is speaking out, recasting himself as an unheralded protector of the United States.

“I am a patriot,” Sater said. “Having the opportunity to serve my country and do anything in its defense was a no brainer. It was, ‘Where do I sign up?’”

A SURPRISING COVERT PAST

Sater says he was recruited as an intelligence asset in perhaps the unlikeliest of places — the bathroom.

He was a young man living in Russia, where he was born, trying to rebuild a business career derailed by what he calls “a bad, stupid, drunken night in a bar.” He had been convicted of felony assault charges and spent a year in prison following a bloody bar fight in which he stabbed a man in the face with a margarita glass.

He needed money so desperately upon his release, he says, that he started working on what he calls “the dark side of Wall Street,” a reference to a so-called “pump-and-dump” stock scheme that reportedly defrauded investors of nearly $40 million.

He was at a dinner party in Moscow when he says one of the guests followed him into the bathroom and identified himself as an agent of the U.S. government. He told Sater that he had unwittingly gained access to a group of high-level Russian intelligence operatives who had valuable information about Russian defense technology.

“They seem to like you,” Sater recalls being told. “You speak Russian. You blend in there. And your country needs you.”

Tamir Sapir and Felix Sater attend Trump Soho Hotel Condominium Launch Party at Tribeca Rooftop on Sept. 19, 2007 in New York.
So began, Sater says, career in espionage. He says he developed assets in several different countries by cultivating cover as a corrupt businessman offering access to illicit schemes and passed information to U.S. agents tasked with handling a variety of threats to national security.

“They used to come to me with cases that had nothing to do with me and ask for my assistance, in which I would enthusiastically and wholeheartedly dive in and try to help,” he said.

He says he tipped off law enforcement to potential assassination attempts on Secretary of State Colin Powell and President George W. Bush; obtained information and photographs about North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear program; lured Russian cybercriminals hacking the U.S. financial system out of hidings so that they could be unmasked and captured.

And, he says, he was even tasked with hunting for Osama bin Laden and managed to turn Mullah Omar’s personal secretary into a key source that provided intelligence about al-Qaeda hideouts.

The information he had obtained was so valuable that when his past caught up with him and he finally faced his sentencing in connection with that multimillion-dollar fraud, the judge let him off with a mere $25,000 fine.

That work, he says, continues in some unspecified capacity to this day. He said as recently as last year he was asked for “assistance in making evaluations of various foreign governments [and] foreign individuals.”

He reportedly told this story under oath when he testified recently before the House Intelligence Committee, at which point he said even “the Democratic aides who were there to question [me] regarding the Russia-Trump investigation stopped, paused and thanks me for my service to my country.”

“One of the few times in my life that I almost cried,” Sater said.

WHAT HE SAYS HE DID - AND DIDN'T - KNOW

Sater says he made himself valuable to the U.S. government by knowing everything. When it comes to Trump, however, he says he knows next to nothing.

His company, Bayrock Group, began renting office space in Trump Tower. Sater says he introduced himself to Trump in 2000 and began funneling development proposals to Trump’s desk shortly thereafter.

“I would bring him deals,” Sater said.

Sater claims he has helped the Trump Organization secure financing on several major projects, but none has garnered more scrutiny than a failed proposal to build “Trump Tower Moscow” amid the launch of Trump’s controversial campaign for the presidency.

In 2015, Trump signed a non-binding letter of intent, which promised a $4 million initial payment to the Trump Organization, to build the tallest building in the world in Moscow. In emails sent to Cohen published by the Post and the Times, Sater appears to celebrate an apparent merger of Trump’s business and political fortunes.

Faced with questions about his boast that he and Cohen could “engineer” a Trump presidency using the deal to court Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support, Sater pleaded ignorance.

“I am not a political person,” Sater said. “I don't understand the implications of the politics or the various strings that get attached to it and how good or bad it may look.”

Any perceived alignment of Trump’s business and political interests, he said, was purely coincidental.

“I was trying to do a real estate transaction,” Sater told ABC News. “I clearly was not involved in the campaign, nor was I involved in any of the political end, and the hope that a large transaction like that would be built, if that was helpful to his run, that would be great.”

Asked if he knew certain key member of the Trump campaign, he claimed to have had “zero contact” with many of the Trump allies who have fallen under the spotlight. He denied knowing Michael Flynn. And Paul Manafort. And Rick Gates. And George Papadopoulos. And Carter Page.

Asked if then-candidate Trump could have softened his stance on Russia because he was simultaneously pursuing a business deal there, Sater demurred.

“I can’t speak for the president,” he said.

And asked if — given his extensive sources in the both the Russian foreign intelligence services and the Russian criminal underworld — he knew of the effort underway to influence the U.S. election, he paused before issuing a forceful denial.

“I was not aware of what they were doing,” Sater said. “I read about it, just like everyone else, in the newspapers.”

Sater called Trump’s claim that he couldn’t pick him out of a lineup “disappointing,” but says Trump has nothing to fear from his testimony to investigators. He is unaware, he said, of any Russian money in any of the Trump projects he worked on and unaware of anyone in Trump’s orbit who may have colluded with foreign powers during the campaign.

If Mueller finds any, Sater recommended stiff penalties.

“Send ‘em to jail,” he said. “Anybody who colluded with anybody-- with any other country against America -- is guilty of crimes against our country.”

But as for himself, Sater isn’t worried.

“Eventually, it will become known that I’m guilty of trying to build the world’s tallest building,” Sater said, “and that’s about it.”

ABC News’ Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.

Trump Blocks Broadcom Takeover of Qualcomm on Security Risks - Bloomberg

Trump Blocks Broadcom Takeover of Qualcomm on Security Risks
By
March 13, 2018, 9:32 AM GMT+11 Updated on March 13, 2018, 7:24 PM GMT+11
U.S. national security officials had opposed Qualcomm sale
Broadcom CEO made last-ditch bid to save $117 billion takeover
Bloomberg’s Ian King reports on President Trump’s executive order to block Broadcom from acquiring Qualcomm.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday blocking Broadcom Ltd. from pursuing its hostile takeover of Qualcomm Inc., scuttling a $117 billion deal that had been scrutinized by a secretive panel over the tie-up’s threat to U.S. national security.

Trump acted on a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which reviews acquisitions of American firms by foreign investors. The decision was unveiled just hours after Hock Tan, the chief executive officer of Singapore-based Broadcom, met with officials at the Pentagon in a last-ditch effort to salvage what would have been the biggest technology deal in history.

"There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Ltd.," by acquiring Qualcomm, "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," Trump said in the order released Monday evening in Washington.

The order underscores the tough stance the Trump administration is taking on foreign takeovers of U.S. technology firms. In September, he blocked the sale of Lattice Semiconductor Corp. to a Chinese-backed investor. That was just the fourth time in a quarter century that a U.S. president stopped a foreign takeover of an American firm on national security grounds. At least a half-dozen technology deals have collapsed during the Trump administration in the face of concerns raised by CFIUS.

Broadcom said in a statement it was reviewing the order and that it "strongly disagrees that its proposed acquisition of Qualcomm raises any national security concerns." Qualcomm didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Shares in Qualcomm fell 4.83 percent at 9:20 a.m. in Frankfurt.

Killed or Abandoned Under Trump
Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. steps up opposition to takeovers from abroad


Source: Data compiled by Bloomberg

The order marked an unprecedented move by the White House to stop a hostile bid for a company. Broadcom didn’t have an agreement to buy San Diego-based Qualcomm. It was fighting to win support from Qualcomm shareholders to gain control of its rival’s board and move forward with its offer. Before waiting for an actual deal, CFIUS opened an investigation to review the risks to national security.

Initially, CFIUS was split on whether to weigh in. Pentagon officials insisted on a review of Broadcom’s proxy battle, while Treasury had pushed back, according to people familiar with the matter.


But then on March 4, Treasury ordered Qualcomm to postpone its shareholder vote by 30 days, saying that a takeover by Broadcom threatened Qualcomm’s leadership in developing the next generation of wireless technology. The government said it feared Broadcom would cut investment in research and development in order to increase short-term profits. That could allow Chinese companies, namely Huawei Technologies Co., to become the dominant supplier, the U.S. said.

Trump’s order came as Broadcom was in the midst of moving its headquarters from Singapore to the U.S. Broadcom had announced the move in November after Tan met with Trump at the White House. After the meeting, CFIUS approved Broadcom’s takeover of Brocade Communications Systems, conditioned on the headquarters move, according to Broadcom.

How China’s Huawei Killed $117 Billion Broadcom Deal: QuickTake

On Monday, Tan went to the Pentagon to meet with CFIUS officials in a bid to address their concerns. Tan argued that combining Broadcom and Qualcomm would actually further U.S. interests by advancing the development of the next generation of wireless technology known as 5G, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Tan’s meeting followed a letter from Treasury to the companies Sunday that said national security risks from the takeover may prompt a recommendation to Trump to block the deal.

"In the absence of information that changes CFIUS’s assessment of the national security risks posed by this transaction, CFIUS would consider taking further action, including but not limited to referring the transaction to the president for decision," Treasury said in the letter, which Qualcomm made public earlier Monday.

— With assistance by Ian King

Tillerson firing complicates State Department's Trump-Kim summit planning - ABC News

Tillerson firing complicates State Department's Trump-Kim summit planning
By CONOR FINNEGAN Mar 15, 2018, 10:23 PM ET

When the South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers come to Washington Friday for all-important talks on the planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the top State Department official meeting with them won't be Mike Pompeo, the president's nominee to be secretary of state, or even the outgoing secretary, Rex Tillerson.

Interested in Trump Administration?
Add Trump Administration as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Trump Administration news, video, and analysis from ABC News.
Trump Administration Add Interest
That duty falls to Tillerson's number two, Deputy Secretary John Sullivan. He's been given Tillerson's authorities and responsibilities and will become acting secretary on April 1.

And until there's a confirmation hearing for Pompeo, which won't happen until April, and a Senate confirmation vote, Pompeo won't be able to take the lead on North Korea and other pressing diplomatic issues.

North Korea has not yet responded to Trump's acceptance of Kim's offer to meet, or confirmed the promises South Korea says Kim made, but State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Thursday the administration isn't concerned.

"That is the agreement that Kim Jong Un provided to the Republic of Korea. That information was presented to us, and so we are going forward in full faith and understanding that a meeting will go forward," she said.

The department's East Asia bureau is preparing for that Trump-Kim summit, Nauert said. "We are operating in good faith and planning to go ahead with that."

The White House is spearheading the meeting, but State is supporting by providing staffers, guidance, translation, and more.

Nauert insisted those efforts have not been hampered by the loss of Amb. Joseph Yun, the special representative for North Korea policy, who retired last month and had years of experience and contact with North Korean officials.

"You all -- many of you -- ask me a million questions about Joe Yun like he's the second coming of Christ. For goodness sake, there are many capable people here," Nauert said, after touting the remaining colleagues who "are even more senior than Amb. Yun" and who "are not showboats, they are not people who run out in front of cameras and want to make it known to the world that this is what they do."
.
She later denied that that was a jab at Yun.

Tillerson is still technically secretary of state until midnight on March 31. Beyond the meetings with Japanese and South Korean leaders, Sullivan now takes on Tillerson’s role at White House meetings, signs off on papers and more.

In the meantime, Tillerson will proceed with the proper paperwork to prepare his departure and be on hand to help prepare his predecessor for the transition.

PHOTO: Staff members including Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, second from right, watches as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, March 13, 2018.Andrew Harnik/AP
Staff members including Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, second from right, watches as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, March 13, 2018.more +
But given that Tillerson was fired, why is he hanging around?

"This is the arrangement that was worked out between the Secretary and the White House," Nauert said Thursday.

Nauert said Tillerson and Pompeo have plans to talk, although one source told ABC News that they did speak already on Tuesday. Pompeo's staff is also having meetings and conversations with Tillerson's about the transition, including briefing him and them.

There are still competing narratives of how Tillerson was fired, with the White House saying Tillerson was told Friday while the State Department said Tuesday that Tillerson did not know he was terminated until Trump's tweet.

Nauert hedged toward the White House version, saying only that chief of staff John Kelly called Tillerson on Friday, but that she wouldn't go beyond that.

Nauert also downplayed the loss as a disruption to State Department's functions or a break in policies.

"This building and what we do at the State Department is bigger than any one individual," Nauert said. "The work of the State Department goes on all across the world today. So just because our secretary, Secretary Tillerson, will no longer be the Secretary of State as of March 31st does not mean that we hit the pause button. It is the policy of this administration that we are advancing, and our people are hard at work."

To others in the building, that has not been true. One official told ABC News that their bureau is not even planning travel at the moment because they're not sure what happens next.

But Nauert pointed to a big meeting in Berlin, where senior State Department official Brian Hook is meeting with German, British, and French officials to negotiate a side agreement to the Iran nuclear deal to deal with Iran's ballistic missiles and "malign" activities -- despite Pompeo's opposition to the Obama-era agreement.

Blackberry modified to 'help drug cartels' - BBC News

16/3/2018
Blackberry modified to 'help drug cartels'
Dave Lee
North America technology reporter

The chief executive of a company that created highly-secure smartphones allegedly used by some of the world's most notorious criminals has been indicted.

Canadian-based Phantom Secure made "tens of millions of dollars" selling the modified Blackberry devices for use by the likes of the Sinaloa Cartel, investigators said.

The charges marked the first time US authorities have targeted a company for knowingly making encrypted technology for criminals.

The Department of Justice arrested Vincent Ramos in Seattle last week. He was indicted on Thursday along with four associates.

The BBC has been unable to reach Phantom Secure.

They are charged with racketeering and conspiracy to aid the distribution of drugs. Both crimes have a maximum penalty of life in prison. Mr Ramos is the only one of the group currently in custody.

"This organisation Phantom Secure was designed to facilitate international drug trafficking all throughout the entire world," US attorney Adam Braverman told the BBC.

"These traffickers, including members of the Sinaloa Cartel, would use these fully-encrypted devices to facilitate their drug trafficking activities in order to avoid law enforcement scrutiny."

'Handful of other organisations'
Blackberry did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday - and investigators would not say whether the firm had worked with them on this case. Mr Braverman said Blackberry was not alone in having its handsets altered for illegal purposes.

You may also like:
Facebook bans Britain First pages
Stephen Hawking: A life in pictures
United Airlines responsible for dog death
"Our understanding is there are a handful of other organisations that exist like this. The FBI, and our office, will continue investigating not only Phantom Secure but any other company that provides this kind of communication device to criminal organisations."

He added that while almost every smartphone on the market offers hard-to-crack encryption - as well as apps from Facebook, Google and Apple - Phantom Secure should be held culpable for what the users of its services were doing.

"The difference is this company was specifically-designed to aid international drug trafficking organisations," he said.

"The only way that you're able to actually utilize one of these devices and obtain one of these devices is if somebody else vouched for you."

Phantom Secure sold devices on a subscription basis at a cost of $2,000-$3,000 for around six months of use.

In order to become a customer, an existing user must vouch for the new person. That system, authorities said, was a way of preventing law enforcement from getting hold of the devices.

Agents estimated as many as 20,000 Phantom Secure-modified handsets are in use around the world.

Communications through the phones are automatically routed to servers in Panama and Hong Kong, according to court documents, making data more difficult to trace.

Phantom Secure could also remove key functionality from the devices to lock them down, such as voice communication, microphone, GPS, camera, internet and messaging apps, leaving just the text functionality.

Law enforcement authorities have repeatedly been frustrated by encryption technology making it harder to access communications between suspects.

In 2016, Apple refused to provide a tool that would allow the FBI to unlock an iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, a man involved in a mass shooting that resulted in the death of 14 people.

On Thursday, a spokesman for the FBI reiterated the agency's concern about criminals being able to "go dark" and hide behind these sophisticated technologies.

Privacy and open rights activists argue that removing or just weakening encryption would put everyone at risk of data theft and surveillance - not just criminals.

Vanessa Trump files for divorce from Donald Trump Jr - US - BBC News

16/3/2018
Vanessa Trump files for divorce from Donald Trump Jr - US

Donald Trump Jr and Vanessa Trump have been married since 2005
The wife of Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of US President Donald Trump, has filed for divorce, US media report.

They say Vanessa Trump, an ex-model, is seeking an uncontested divorce in a New York court.

The couple, both 40, have been married since 2005. They have five children.

Mr Trump Jr played a prominent role in his father's election campaign. He stayed in New York after the election and now co-runs the family business with his brother Eric Trump.

He has become the subject of an investigation over possible collusion between the presidential campaign and Russia in 2016. President Trump denies any collusion.

Donald Trump Jr arranged a meeting between a group of Russians and campaign officials after being told of possible damaging information about Mr Trump's Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

An uncontested divorce means that custody over the couple's children and assets is not disputed during legal proceedings.

Page Six, the New York Post’s gossip column, carried a statement from the couple saying: "After 12 years of marriage, we have decided to go our separate ways. We ask for your privacy during this time."

Earlier this year, US media reported that the couple had marital problems, pointing out to Mr Trump Jr's frequent travel and his love of social media.

Last month, Vanessa Trump and her mother were taken to hospital as a precaution when she opened a letter addressed to her husband containing white powder.