New York DA office may have just 'found their insider' in the Trump Organization: former Mueller prosecutor

A pair of struggling artists known for their outspoken "anti-war" views have been exposed as influence agents of the Kremlin who are trying to destabilize the Eastern European country of Moldova to help Vladimir Putin expand his Ukraine assault, reported The Daily Beast on Thursday.

"The couple, 37-year-old Aleksey Losev and 33-year-old Anna Travnikova, were sanctioned by the U.S. government on Tuesday for their role in 'the government of the Russian Federation’s destabilization campaign and continued malign influence campaigns in Moldova,' along with five other Russian nationals, a press release from the U.S. Treasury’s office said," reported Noor Ibrahim.

During an appearance on CNN on Thursday morning to discuss the possible Department of Justice indictment of former President Donald Trump, former attorney General Alberto Gonzales poured cold water on any hopes that current AG Merrick Garland would intercede on Trump's behalf.

Speaking with hosts Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly, Gonzales, who served under former president George W. Bush, stated it would be "politically dangerous" if Garland refused to go along with special counsel Jack Smith's recommendations, whatever they might be.

Noting that Smith has likely been reporting to the assistant attorney general on his multiple investigations of Trump, Gonzales claimed the only way Garland might intercede is if Smith broke the rules in some manner or if a new witness or evidence popped up.

"There are specific rules and regulations that the special counsel has to follow throughout the entire process," host Mattingly prompted. "Is there any situation where you as a former attorney general could see the attorney general going the opposite direction of whatever his special counsel recommends or says he wants to do?"

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'Well, the only situation that I think that the attorney general would perhaps disagree with moving forward is if he is convinced that in fact the normal processes and rules and procedures of the department were not followed because they are intended to ensure everyone is treated the same," Gonzales replied.

"We want to make sure in this particular case no one could make the claim that Donald Trump has been treated any differently than any other American, or any other person, in our criminal jury system," he continued. "But that's the reason you have intermittent conversations between the special counsel and the D.A.G., the deputy attorney general, about what is the process, what have you found, what are your conclusions?"

"So it would be extremely unusual, and quite frankly, it's politically dangerous for the attorney general to disagree with the recommendation or decision of the special counsel and it would take extraordinary circumstances for that to occur in my judgment," he added.

Former President Donald Trump appears to be headed toward indictments in Washington, D.C., and possibly Florida, but a prosecutor who lives in the Sunshine State worries that a judge picked by the former president could complicate matters.

A pair of federal grand juries have been hearing evidence in the classified documents investigation, of which the Department of Justice has notified Trump that he is the target, and Palm Beach state attorney Dave Aronberg told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the ex-president could soon face "a reckoning."