FACT CHECK ON TRUMP'S SOROS CLAIM:
Some of the groups organizing KAVANAUGH protests HAVE in fact received significant $ from @GEORGESOROS's @OpenSociety foundations, including:
—@PopDemoc & @CPDAction: $2.7M in '16/'17
—@PPact: $10M in '17
—@ACLU: $405k to various arms in '16/'17 And orgs airing pro-KAVANAUGH ads have received $ from top GOP donors, including:
—@judicialnetwork: $23M in '16 from secret-$ Wellspring Cmte
—@americafirstpol: $15M+ in '17 from pro-TRUMP donors
—@45_Committee: $30M raised in '16 for it & its super PAC by Todd Ricketts. 2/3

NEW: People who worked with MANAFORT in Ukraine think his real value to MUELLER may be flipping on the oligarchs, the pols they funded & the Western firms/operatives who assisted them, including ones he recruited, like TONY PODESTA, MERCURY & @SKADDENARPS. nytimes.com/2018/09/14/us/… Allies of PODESTA & MERCURY are seething at MANAFORT right now. They blame him for misleading them into FARA violations back in 2012, & now they're concerned that he's going to help MUELLER frame them for work he orchestrated. nytimes.com/2018/09/14/us/…

NEW MANAFORT DETAILS: Per superseding criminal information, Manafort asked European p.r. guys to push false story “[w]ith no fingerprints" alleging YANUKOVYCH's rival TYMOSHENKO had paid for murder of a Ukrainian official, acknowledging his "goal is to plant some stink on Tymo.” BAD FOR GREG CRAIG: His white shoe law firm @SKADDEN_ARPS accepted $4M from MANAFORT through overseas accounts to write whitewash report on YANOKOVYCH while privately expressing doubts about the report & also secretly working more broadly for Yanukovych's pro-Russian regime.

NEW DOCUMENT: In 2016 & 2017, MANAFORT & GATES fought @TheJusticeDept to avoid disclosure of their lobbying for pro-Russian Ukrainian interests by claiming they didn't have a contract with a pro-YANUKOVYCH nonprofit & had deleted emails related to the work documentcloud.org/documents/4878… NOTABLE: The lawyer who represented MANAFORT & GATES in their fight with @TheJusticeDepartment, Melissa Laurenza of @Akin_Gump, later fought MUELLER's efforts to compel her to testify against Manafort. Mueller continues pushing for access to her emails with Manafort.

CONSPIRACIES ARE BIG BUSINESS: Noted anti-elite crusader ALEX JONES bought 4 Rolexs (in one day), owned a $40k saltwater aquarium, a $70k grand piano, $50k in firearms & kept $752k in silver, gold & precious metals in a safe deposit box, per court docs. nytimes.com/2018/09/07/us/… POST-SOCIAL MEDIA BANISHMENT FIRE SALE AT INFOWARS: Survival Shield X-2 iodine drops were discounted 40%, to $23.95, while Alpha Power, a testosterone for fighting "against the globalist agenda,” was half off, at $34.95. nytimes.com/2018/09/07/us/…

SAM PATTEN CHARGES ARE IMPORTANT: They relate to his work with longtime MANAFORT deputy KONSTANTIN KILIMNIK ("foreigner A" in charging doc) on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian party for which Manafort also worked. Shows that MUELLER's work is bearing fruit beyond core of probe. The document charging SAM PATTEN with violating FARA doesn't name KONSTANTIN KILIMNIK, but indicates that Patten & "Foreigner A," a Russian, formed a US co. to do work starting in 2015.
And DC incorporation papers show that the pair formed Begemot Ventures International in 2015.

NEW: A NY State judge rejects TRUMP's effort to dismiss a lawsuit against his private security team for roughing up protesters, writing that Trump "authorized & condoned the specific type of conduct of defendants @KEITHSCHILLER45, GARY UHER & EDDIE DECK." documentcloud.org/documents/4779… In declining to dismiss TRUMP from the case, the judge specifically cited his justification after his supporters roughed up a #BlackLivesMatter protester at a 2015 campaign rally: "Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing."

DRAMA: MANAFORT's attys accuse GATES of having FOUR extra-marital affairs, & suggest that he lied to MUELLER's team about them, which they contend could jeopardize Gates's plea agreement.
Prosecutors objected to questioning, & after sidebar with Judge, Manafort's attys back down. UPDATE: Just asked MANAFORT's atty KEVIN DOWNING whether he was accusing RICK GATES of lying about the # of affairs he had to: (1) MUELLER's team or (2) on the witness stand.
He paused to ponder, & said he'd get back to me because "I don't want to get cross-wise with the judge."

TRUMP INAUGURATION $: GATES was asked whether he received reimbursement for personal expenses from the presidential inaugural committee. "It's possible," he said.
The committee's public filings did not list a single penny paid to Gates. I've asked for an accounting of $ to Gates. GATES admits stealing $120k from MANAFORT by transferring it to a company he created called BADE LLC.
That's the same company that the @RNC paid $70k during the campaign for "political strategy services." fec.gov/data/party-coo…

NEW: MANAFORT & GATES didn't merely help elect the Russia-aligned Ukrainian president YANUKOVYCH. They were paid $4M/year through a "policy contract" to help him govern, including helping him enact ”campaign promises.” nytimes.com/2018/08/07/us/… NEW: MANAFORT & GATES worked on a "legal project" for Ukrainian oligarch VICTOR PINCHUK, who donated $150k to the @TrumpFoundation for a 2015 speech by TRUMP — a payment which MUELLER is investigating.
*Pinchuk also donated $13M to @ClintonFdn. nytimes.com/2018/08/07/us/…

TRUMP has taken to complaining about JARED KUSHNER, & wishing he & @IVANKATRUMP would go back to NY. “Jared hasn’t been so good for me,” he’s said. He’s even quipped that he “could have had Tom Brady” as a son-in-law. “Instead, I got Jared Kushner.” nytimes.com/2018/07/28/us/… In Jared Kushner’s defense, I bet he can catch as well (or better) than Tom Brady.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN, INC: It appears that TRUMP's campaign is renting out its fundraising list through @parscale's firm, which has resulted in more than $236k in revenue for the campaign. docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/… INTERESTING: The TRUMP campaign also paid nearly $66k for digital & research consulting to a company called American Made Media Consultants, that was incorporated in April & is otherwise untraceable. bizapedia.com/de/american-ma… docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/…

NEW: TRUMP has helped make a political force of families hurt by undocumented immigrant crimes. After he provided them a @WhiteHouse platform last month, their groups saw $$$ surge. Now they're endorsing other immigration hardliners, like @RealSheriffJoe. nytimes.com/2018/07/04/us/… TRUMP, who is often criticized for a lack of empathy, has formed deep personal bonds with these “angel families” from early in his campaign. He remembers their names & stories of loss. One of his 1st exec. orders created an ofc within @ICEgov to help them. nytimes.com/2018/07/04/us/…

NEW: The White House Communications Agency team that made the TRUMP-KIM JONG-UN coins also made coins with Mar-a-Lago on one side & @POTUS seal, WH & AF1 on the other. They scrapped plans for a Trump Tower/Bedminster coin when we started asking questions. nytimes.com/2018/06/24/us/… The WH said TRUMP & his staff were not involved in the coins, which they say were paid for by individual White House Communications Agency staff. But watchdogs warn of rules barring gov't resources (emails, staff time, etc.) for promoting private business. nytimes.com/2018/06/24/us/…

NEW THIS A.M.: As objections mounted to child border separations, GOP donors who gave $100k-$250k to TRUMP super PAC @AmericaFirstPAC mingled excitedly with @POTUS last nite, & professed to be unbothered by uproar. “Does anybody here look stressed out?” nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/… VIDEO from Tues’s PAC fundraiser offers glimpse of TRUMP buttering up supporters like donor HAROLD HAMM & boxer EVANDER HOLYFIELD, comparing their fields to presidency: "It's all the same—whether it's prize-fighting or politics or business or something else. You got champions…"

BIGGEST SECRET ABOUT CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA: It was (& is) an overpriced service that delivered little value to the TRUMP campaign, & the other campaigns & PACs that retained it — most of which hired the firm because it was seen as a prerequisite for receiving $$$ from the MERCERS. BTW: It's not MY conclusion that CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA didn't deliver value for the campaigns & PACs that paid it. That was the conclusion of the people who ran the campaigns & PACs, some of whom stopped using the firm (or reduced its portfolio) mid-election because it was useless.

The atty who was charged by MUELLER today, Alex Van Der Zwaan, was 1 of 8 @SkaddenArps attys involved in writing a report commissioned by MANAFORT that whitewashed YANUKOVYCH's record, according to Ukrainian prosecutors. Full story TK, but here's context: nytimes.com/2017/09/21/us/… NEW: @SkaddenArps distancing itself from indicted lawyer who worked on Ukraine corruption report commissioned by MANAFORT. Skadden statement: "The firm terminated its employment of Alex van der Zwaan in 2017 & has been cooperating with authorities in connection with this matter."