'Game Over': Trump again taps 'GoT,' this time in Russia saga
WASHINGON, United States — President Donald Trump has used "Game of Thrones" imagery to push for his wall on the US-Mexico border and to hint at fresh sanctions on Iran.
Now, he has once again gone to the iconography of the widely acclaimed HBO fantasy series to declare himself the victor in his pitched battle with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
On Thursday, even before the release of Mueller's long-awaited report detailing his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election, Trump was ready.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2019
"GAME OVER," he declared in an unmistakably "Game of Thrones"-esque tweet. Trump was pictured from behind, wearing his trademark black overcoat, against a backdrop of mist or fog.
"NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. For the haters and the radical left Democrats," it said.
Trump posted the image after Attorney General Bill Barr again declared there was no collusion between the president's campaign and Moscow -- but before the report was made public.
That report, the result of nearly two years of investigation, reveals that Mueller was "unable" to clear Trump of obstruction of justice.
Trump, nevertheless, pinned the tweet on his account.
But HBO was not thrilled.
"Though we can understand the enthusiasm for 'Game of Thrones' now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes," it said.
The Justice Department says it has given House Republicans new classified information related to the Russia investigation after lawmakers had threatened to hold officials in contempt of Congress or even impeach them.
A spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan says Saturday that the department has partially complied with subpoenas from the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees after officials turned over more than a thousand new documents this week.
House Republicans had given the Justice Department and FBI a Friday deadline for all documents, most of which are related to the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation and the handling of its probe into Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails. — AP
Documents released by the US Department of Justice indicate that a top advisor to then-candidate Donald Trump said as early as the summer of 2016 that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind a hack of Democratic party emails.
Trump and his surrogates have suggested that Kiev hacked Democratic National Committee servers and planted evidence to frame Russia, as a way of undermining the legitimacy of the US leader's election.
Trump has pressured Ukraine's president to investigate that debunked conspiracy theory as well as his election rival Joe Biden -- a move at the crux of an impeachment investigation against him in the House of Representatives. — AFP
Democrats accuses President Donald Trump on Friday of using the US Justice Department as a political tool after it opened a criminal probe into its own handling of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
News of the inquiry, which implied wrongdoing by justice officials in the previous administration of Barack Obama, leaked late Thursday as the White House struggled to push back against a Democratic-led impeachment investigation targeting the Republican president.
The inquiry could further muddy the political waters in Washington, raising questions about the now-ended Russia investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that saw 34 individuals indicted and eight convictions, including top members of Trump's 2016 election team. — AFP
The Justice Department has opened a criminal inquiry into the Russia investigation that examined whether Donald Trump colluded with Moscow during the 2016 presidential election, US media report.
Justice Department officials have switched an administrative review of the investigation, overseen by Attorney General William Barr, to a criminal inquiry, The New York Times said, citing two sources close to the matter.
The move gives lead prosecutor John Durham, the US attorney for Connecticut, the power convene a grand jury, file criminal charges and issue subpoenas for witness testimony and documents. — AFP
Australia's prime minister plays down the significance of a call from Donald Trump as "brief and uneventful", despite mounting controversy over a politically fraught offer to help the US president.
Scott Morrison says Trump had simply asked him to establish "a point of contact" within Australia's government for an investigation that the US president hopes will discredit findings that Russia helped his 2016 election campaign.
Morrison says he was "happy" to fulfil Trump's request on the basis that the country's ambassador to the United States, Joe Hockey, had already offered Australia's assistance in the investigation back in May. — AFP
The Washington Post reports that US President Donald Trump told Russia's foreign minister and ambassador that he was unconcerned about their country's interference in the 2016 elections.
Trump made the previously unreported comments during the same May 2017 Oval Office meeting in which he famously revealed highly classified information on the Islamic State group.
During the conversation he reportedly told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that he was not bothered by their country's meddling because the United States did the same in other countries, according to three former officials who requested anonymity. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
