The cat's out of the bag. It turns out that the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch, doesn't think too highly of the Trump administration.
Leaked diplomatic cables sent from Darroch back to London describe President Trump as "inept," "insecure," and "incompetent," a U.K. government official confirmed to CNN on Saturday. The memos reportedly span from 2017 to the present day.
Darroch reportedly also said that he thinks the Trump administration could end "end in disgrace" and that the reported infighting and chaos within the White House is mostly true.
But the British Foreign Office is not exactly trying to cover up the ambassador's words or dispute the memos' existence. "The British public would expect our ambassadors to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said. "Their views are not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the government. We pay them to be candid." The spokeswoman did call the leak "mischievous" behavior, but said that it will not damage relations between London and Washington, The Guardian reports. Tim O'Donnell
Paul Manafort's lawyers Tuesday inadvertently revealed that he may have discussed a "Ukrainian peace plan" with a political operative with suspected ties to Russian intelligence.
If this sounds vaguely familiar, it should: A Ukrainian peace plan has been of interest ever since The New York Times reported in 2017 that Michael Flynn, when he was national security adviser, received a Ukrainian peace plan proposal from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. That proposal was put together by Andrii Artemenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker who reportedly "received encouragement" from aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The proposal would involve Russia pulling forces from eastern Ukraine and allow Ukrainian voters to decide whether Crimea should be leased to Russia 50 or 100 years, along with lifting sanctions on Russia. It heavily favors Russia's interests, The Atlantic notes, and came under scrutiny as the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia began to be investigated. Artemenko in May 2018 revealed that he had been questioned by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators, Politico reports.
Tuesday's filing appears to reveal for the first time that Manafort was also involved in discussions of a Ukrainian peace plan, talking about it with Konstantin Kilimnik. It's wasn't completely clear if they discussed the same one that ended up in Flynn's hands, though, and Felix Sater, who was involved in getting the Artemenko plan to the White House, claims the two plans are different, McClatchy's Ben Wieder reports. But while it's unclear what the one Manafort and Kilimnik discussed might have entailed, the Times notes that Manafort and Kilimnik have a history of pushing Russia's interests in Ukraine.
According to the filing, Manafort "conceded" that he discussed or may have discussed a Ukraine peace plan with Kilimnik "on more than one occasion." His lawyers insist he did not recall this when initially speaking to investigators because "issues and communications related to Ukrainian political events simply were not at the forefront of Mr. Manafort's mind." Brendan Morrow
A controversial Instagram update that radically altered the app's user experience is already being rolled back, with the company's head admitting it was an accident.
Instagram users were surprised on Thursday to find they had to swipe horizontally to view photos on the app rather than scroll vertically, a change few felt was for the better. But only hours after the change was first unveiled, users began to report that the app had already gone back to normal.
That's because, as Instagram head Adam Mosseri soon explained on Twitter, it was just meant to be a "very small test," but it "went broad by accident." "Sorry about that," he added in another tweet. When Mosseri was asked if the feature is still coming or if it's just being tested, he replied, "Just a test."
It remains to be seen whether Instagram will ever actually roll out the horizontal feed for good, but seeing as the negative reactions were so widespread Thursday that phrases like "Wtf Instagram" began to trend on Twitter, they'd probably be wise to reconsider. Brendan Morrow
After 25 years, patriotic grandmother realizes her Fourth of July shirt actually shows Panama's flag
Update 5:24 p.m. ET: NBC News reporter Julia Ainsley clarified that Michael Cohen's phone calls were being monitored but not listened to. NBC News had originally reported that Cohen's phone lines had been wiretapped — which would allow federal investigators to hear the content of his calls — but Ainsley said that Cohen's phones were merely being subject to a pen register, which would allow agents to determine with whom Cohen was communicating but not what was being said. Our original story appears below.
President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was reportedly wiretapped by federal investigators in the weeks leading up to the raids on his home and office in early April, two people familiar with the legal proceedings told NBC News. After the raids, Trump's legal team reportedly advised the president against contacting Cohen on the suspicion that the lawyer's phone conversations were being recorded by prosecutors.
Trump, who doesn't exactly have a reputation for following his lawyers' advice, apparently placed a call to Cohen in the days after the raid anyway. Rudy Giuliani, who has since joined Trump's legal team, reportedly had to specifically instruct Trump not to call Cohen again after he learned about the president's call, people familiar with the exchange told NBC.
Cohen is expected to be under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations. On Thursday, Trump confirmed that Cohen had paid $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her allegations of an affair with Trump, although the president stressed that the payment was from his personal funds, rather than from the campaign's coffers.
In order to have obtained a wiretap on Cohen, investigators would have had to have convincingly demonstrated that there is a possibility of an ongoing crime. "The affidavits are typically highly detailed and carefully vetted by experienced lawyers," said former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg. "In all cases the wiretap must be approved by a federal judge."
At least one phone call between a line linked to Cohen and the White House was reportedly intercepted. Read more about the phone tap at NBC News. Jeva Lange