Journalist Louise Mensch Claims Feds Raided Trump Tower...Is It True?

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Journalist Louise Mensch came out with another blockbuster claim today. This time, Mensch is claiming that federal marshals have executed search and seizure warrants at Trump Tower.

Mensch has made claims regarding sealed indictments for Trump and other shocking allegations in the past. Some have proven to be correct; however, others seem much more tenuous.

Mensch's latest story says the following:

One of the warrants covered an electronic storage space in Trump Tower. Several electronic items were seized as a result of this search...Another of the warrants, sources report, was served on Paul Manafort's apartment in Trump Tower.

...

The Trump Data team worked out of Trump Tower. Separate sources, with links to the intelligence and law enforcement communities, report that the FBI is looking at photographs posted publicly on Twitter by members of that team that appear to show a Python server connection loading on the screens of one of the Trump data team workers.

Mensch also makes this shock claim in her report:

The Trump sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., were interviewed by the FBI, sources say, the day before James Comey was fired. This is because, sources linked to the intelligence and law enforcement communities say, they are suspected of being complicit in the Kelhios botnet's repurposing to service and pay both pro-Russia and pro-Trump Twitter and facebook bots, but also to deliver 'fake news', loaded with malware, and to pay those spreading it through bitcoin transactions.

So is this story true?

There are a lot of things in the story that seem questionable.

First of all, it's unlikely that such a search or seizure could have occurred without any leaks to mainstream sources like The Washington Post or The New York Times.

It's also hard to believe that such a sequence of events could occur without any outsiders noticing.

Another thing that is suspect about this article is the return to the discussion of the Alfa bank server.

Although there may have been strange activity with the Alfa bank server, there have been many credible, reasonable explanations for that activity.

The introduction by Mensch of a "Python server connection" is also strange, as Python is purely a programming language -- there is no such thing as a "Python server connection" that would display on a screen.

As we reported in the past, Mensch has a somewhat spotty track record. She has gotten some major stories correct -- in fact, she was one of the first to report on warrants issued regarding Trump and Russia.

However, Mensch has also made a lot of questionable claims, including that Putin murdered Andrew Breitbart; that Russia planted the emails on Anthony Weiner's computer; and that Steve Bannon was responsible for bomb threats at Jewish community centers.

Meanwhile, regarding Mensch's claims in general, The Intercept has written that "One of the most popular online conspiracists among Democrats is now the former Tory member of the UK Parliament and current Murdoch-rag-writer Louise Mensch, whose history of public humiliations and pure bigotry is far too long to chronicle...but because she has now turned her deranged behavior to peddling any and all conspiracies about Trump and Russia, she has built a huge Twitter following among Democrats."

Our opinion: this particular story seems highly unlikely as reported. There may be some element of truth in the article, but a lot of it doesn't seem to add up.

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