'Buckle up': As Mueller probe enters second year, Trump and allies go on war footing
By Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker, Tom Hamburger, Robert Costa and Matt Zapotosky May 13 at 3:20 PM
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The investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, which hits its one-year mark Thursday, has formed the cloudy backdrop of Donald Trump’s presidency — a rolling fog of controversy, much of it self-inflicted, that is a near-constant distraction for the commander in chief.
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The probe is a steaming locomotive, already delivering indictments or guilty pleas involving 19 people and three companies, while soliciting interviews with most of the president’s closest aides and outside associates. Players have departed, including most of Trump’s original legal team, while others have joined — including, most recently, Cohen, adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and her attorney, Michael Avenatti.
“This has moved at a lightning speed,” said Christopher Ruddy, a Trump friend and chief executive of Newsmax. “They’re not messing around. They’re going very quickly. The number of indictments, pleas and other moves is just amazing. I think it will come to a head quicker than other investigations.”
This portrait of the president and the special counsel investigation nearing its first anniversary is based on interviews with 22 White House and Justice Department officials, witnesses, Trump confidants and attorneys connected to the probe, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid assessments.
“Everyone seems resigned to just buckle up and get through whatever we’ve got to get through for it to reach its conclusion,” one White House official said.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/buckle-up-as-mueller-probe-enters-second-year-trump-and-allies-go-on-war-footing/2018/05/13/e3d15fbe-546b-11e8-9c91-7dab596e8252_story.html
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