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Lawyers for former top White House aide Michael Flynn have told Donald Trump's legal team they can no longer discuss the investigation into alleged Russia interference in the 2016 US election, media reports say.

The move suggests Mr Flynn may be cooperating with prosecutors, The New York Times and CNBC reported.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into any links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Both deny there was any collusion.

Lawyers for Mr Flynn, who is a key figure in Mr Mueller's investigation, had been sharing information about the probe with President Trump's legal team.

The New York Times, citing four unnamed people involved in the case, say this cooperation agreement has now ended. CNBC say they have confirmed the move.

It indicates Mr Flynn may be cooperating with prosecutors or may be negotiating a deal, reports say. This is because lawyers must stop sharing information when one client is cooperating with prosecutors and another is still under investigation.

It's so very sad that differences of opinion in online fora create so much ill-will and angst.

Three weeks ago, numerous women stepped forward to accuse him of extraordinary acts of assault: One said he masturbated in front of them at work; another said he slammed her against a restaurant window before attempting to kiss her (“I bear responsibility for my outrageous conduct,” Halperin said in an apology posted soon after). He lost his job, a book deal, and a movie contract. Case closed, it would seem: another predator, thankfully, out of a workplace.

But I’m not here to talk about that. I want to talk about the deeper, subtler, more insidious effect Mark Halperin had on our politics — one which we’ll be paying for for years to come.

The book was already being promoted as an explosive exposé of Chinese influence infiltrating the highest levels of Australian politics and media. But then, months before it was set to hit bookstore shelves, its publisher postponed the release, saying it was worried about lawsuits.

The decision this month to delay the book, “Silent Invasion: How China Is Turning Australia into a Puppet State,” has set off a national uproar, highlighting the tensions between Australia’s growing economic dependence on China and its fears of falling under the political control of the rising Asian superpower.

Critics have drawn parallels to decisions this year by high-profile academic publishers in Europe to withhold articles from readers in China that might anger the Communist Party.

It doesn't make it go away, just because you look the other way.

Lawyers for former top White House aide Michael Flynn have told Donald Trump's legal team they can no longer discuss the investigation into alleged Russia interference in the 2016 US election, media reports say.

The move suggests Mr Flynn may be cooperating with prosecutors, The New York Times and CNBC reported.

We are seeing an example of how social change often (and increasingly) takes place. Advocates of a cause can push for a long time with little apparent effect. Then, in a historical blink, what seemed incredible becomes inevitable. Over a period of years, this is what happened with the same-sex marriage movement. A type of inclusion that initially appeared radical and frightening became an obvious form of fairness to a majority of Americans. Politicians, including President Barack Obama, were left catching up to the new social consensus.

Over a period of weeks, this is the story of the revolt against sexual harassment. What seemed for generations the prerogative of powerful men has been fully revealed as a pernicious form of dehumanization. Men such as Bill O’Reilly, Harvey Weinstein and Charlie Rose have been exposed at their moments of maximum cruelty and creepiness — just as their alleged victims (on credible testimony) experienced them. An ethical light switch was flipped. Moral outrage — the appropriate response — now seems obvious.

Conservatives need to be clear and honest in this circumstance. The strong, moral commitment to the dignity of women and children recently asserting itself in our common life has mainly come from feminism, not the “family values” movement. In this case, religious conservatives have largely been bystanders or obstacles. This indicates a group of people for whom the dignity of girls and women has become secondary to other political goals.

It is sometimes assumed (including by me) that the presidency sets a moral tone for the nation, influencing what society considers normal and acceptable in a kind of trickle-down ethics. But the sexual harassment revolution emerged from society in spite of — or even in defiance of — a president who has boasted of exploiting women and who stands accused of harassing more than a dozen.

Lawyers for former top White House aide Michael Flynn have told Donald Trump's legal team they can no longer discuss the investigation into alleged Russia interference in the 2016 US election, media reports say.

Is it possible that Trump's well-known personal history of treating women abusively and as if they were the property of males has been a significant factor in the rise of the #MeToo phenomenon? That notion hadn't occurred to me before. Would this critical juncture even have come about in 2017 if someone like Obama was in the White House?

@Limericking
2h2 hours ago


Bob Mueller is making a deal,
Anonymous sources reveal.
Reporters were tipped
That Flynn likely flipped,
Suggesting **** soon may get real.

Just out of interest and curiosity: why did you use the German word for fear ("Angst") here?

Tillerson's senior team planning to skip Ivanka Trump's India trip

(CNN)Days ahead of what should be a major moment for Ivanka Trump on the world stage, CNN has learned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson isn't sending a high-level delegation to support her amid reports of tensions between Tillerson and the White House.

Multiple State Department officials, as well as a source close to the White House, have told CNN Tillerson's decision not to send senior State Department officials to this year's Global Entrepreneurship Summit, being held in India next week, is not related to his key project of slashing the Department's budget, and is more to do with the fact Ivanka Trump is leading the US delegation this year. Trump was invited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, and this year's theme is supporting women entrepreneurs.

What a terrible administration. So disorganized and embarrassing!

Ivanka Trump is leading the US delegation this year.