TV News LIES

An investigation that President Donald Trump tried to contain by firing James Comey from atop the FBI now appears to include the president himself.

What started as a probe of Russian interference of the 2016 election turned into a special counsel-led investigation of whether Trump associates colluded with Russia. Now the inquiry is reportedly examining whether Trump himself tried to obstruct justice — a development that became public on the night of Trump's 71st birthday.

The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice, officials said.

The move by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Trump’s conduct marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates, officials said.

Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported.

In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackers accessed software designed to be used by poll workers on Election Day, and in at least one state accessed a campaign finance database. Details of the wave of attacks, in the summer and fall of 2016, were provided by three people with direct knowledge of the U.S. investigation into the matter. In all, the Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states, one of them said.

The Justice Department official overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe says he would ignore calls to fire Mueller unless he considered them “lawful and appropriate.”

“I’m not going to follow any orders unless I believe they are lawful,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said during a Senate hearing amid media reports that President Donald Trump has been weighing whether to oust Mueller, possibly in an attempt to halt the politically sensitive investigation.

Prominent conservatives including former Speaker Newt Gingrich fired off salvos at special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday, insisting that the man leading the probe into allegations of links between the Trump campaign and Russia is out to damage the president.

But the wave of criticism sparked other Republicans to warn that any concerted push against the special counsel could be politically disastrous for the White House.

Along with testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions can expect a subpoena from lawyers for a former Arizona lawman who has been called Donald Trump’s political soul mate.

The soul mate is 84-year-old former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was Trump’s sidekick in championing the birther nonsense about President Obama and in raising the specter of criminals and rapists pouring across our southern border.