Document LK3BdR2QY5QmbxJgr5vYndQ7b

payroll. Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking.'" http://wapo.st/2qUOEDu ... FLASHBACK to FEB. 17, 2017... EVAN MCMULLIN WROTE AN NYT OP-ED REFERENCING THE SAME MEETING!: "Suspect public comments like these led one senior Republican leader to dolefully inform his peers that he thought Mr. Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll, suggesting that Mr. Trump had been compromised by Russian intelligence. Other leaders were surprised by their colleague's frank assessment, but did not dispute it." http://nyti.ms/2ruiqF2 OK, WHERE WERE WE ... -- BREAKING THIS MORNING -- REUTERS: "Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians - sources," by Ned Parker, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel: "Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters. "The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia." http://reut.rs/2pZMQnK -- BREAKING LAST NIGHT ONLINE, A1 OF TODAY'S NYT -- "Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House, " by Matt Rosenberg and Mark Mazzetti: "Michael T. Flynn told President Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case. "Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies. "Mr. Flynn's disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition team's chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Mr. Flynn's lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Mr. Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported." http://nyti.ms/2pO8e3V THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: ROBERT S. MUELLER III ... THIS ISN'T GOING AWAY ANYTIME SOON -- JOSH GERSTEIN: "7 questions that explain the special counsel: A closer look at how Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump and Russia will play out": "Mueller will have all the authority of a typical U.S. attorney to convene grand juries, issue subpoenas, file criminal charges and pursue those charges to trial, if he deems it appropriate. In practice, he'll probably have more control over the FBI agents involved in his probe than most prosecutors do. ... "There's no fixed duration for the investigation. ... Mueller is likely to be given effective control over what information the Justice Department shares with Congress about the probe and what requests it makes to Congressional committees to defer questioning sensitive witnesses or avoid publicizing potential leads in the investigation. ... Ultimately, Congress can do what it wants to demand witnesses and evidence, but lawmakers are typically leery of taking steps that could jeopardize the criminal probe." http://politi.co/2pZjiGD ... NYT's Charlie Savage: "How a Special Counsel Alters the Russia Investigation" http://nyti.ms/2quzSBZ ... Rod Rosenstein's order appointing Mueller http://bit.ly/2pZDYhG -- PHILIP SHENON in Politico Magazine, "Trump's Worst Nightmare Comes True: President Trump fired James Comey. He got his mentor, Robert Mueller instead -- and years of trouble" http://politi.co/2qwi3MV KNOWING MUELLER -- JOSH MEYER, "Meet the legendary G-man investigating Russia's meddling": "Mueller was born in New York City in 1944 and grew up outside of Philadelphia. After getting degrees at Princeton and New York University, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1968, led a rifle platoon in Vietnam and earned a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and other medals for valor. After receiving a law degree from the University of Virginia, Mueller worked as a federal prosecutor in San Francisco, rising to become head of the criminal division before moving to Boston to serve as the Justice Department's top prosecutor there before ultimately returning to headquarters in Washington. There he rose to become head of the criminal division, and oversaw the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, and the investigation and the prosecutions of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega and New York mobster John Gotti." http://politi.co/2ri6390