Tag Archives: Russia

The Associated Press reports: Disguised Russian agents on Twitter rushed to deflect scandalous news about Donald Trump just before last year’s presidential election while straining to refocus criticism on the mainstream media and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, according to an Associated Press analysis of since-deleted accounts. Tweets by Russia-backed accounts such as “America_1st_” and “BatonRougeVoice” on Oct. 7, 2016, actively pivoted …

USA Today reports: Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone sent out an email Thursday asking supporters to help him raise $500,000 to clear his name of any wrongdoing in the investigation of Russian interference in last year’s presidential election. “Friend, I’m facing a $500K price tag to clear my name of the Deep State’s baseless charges!” the flamboyant Republican consultant …

The Hill reports: President Trump congratulated his supporters on the Wednesday anniversary of his historic victory in the 2016 election, calling them “deplorables” in a nod to former Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The anniversary tweet came attached to a photo of the president with key White House aides aboard Air Force One on Trump’s 13-day trip through Asia, including White …

Politico reports: Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Tuesday night his “memory has been refreshed” regarding his email exchange with Carter Page in which the former foreign policy adviser requested Lewandowski’s permission to travel to Moscow. Page, who testified last week before the House Oversight Committee as a part of their ongoing probe into Russian election meddling in 2016, …

Politico reports: When senior White House officials wanted to know what mood the president was in before a meeting, they used to look for guidance from Keith Schiller, a man with a hangdog face who sat in a small, shared office off the Oval. When friends and advisers outside the West Wing wanted to share a news article, gossip or …

The Guardian reports: Wilbur Ross denied on Monday that he had done anything wrong after revelations from the Paradise Papers that he has significant investments in a shipping company that does business with Vladmir Putin’s son-in-law and his sanctioned inner circle. “There is nothing wrong with it. The fact that it happens to be called a Russian company doesn’t mean …

Bloomberg reports: A Russian lawyer who met with President Donald Trump’s oldest son last year says he indicated that a law targeting Russia could be re-examined if his father won the election and asked her for written evidence that illegal proceeds went to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, said in a two-and-a-half-hour interview in Moscow that she would …

Radio Free Europe reports: German Sterligov, an enigmatic multimillionaire and owner of the high-end chain Bread And Salt, said on his account on the Russian social network VKontakte this week that he is selling the chain’s six stores in Moscow due to pressure from authorities. He posted images of letters he received late last month from local police and prosecutors …

NBC News reports: Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary in the Trump administration, shares business interests with Vladimir Putin’s immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position. Ross — a billionaire industrialist — retains an interest in a shipping company, Navigator Holdings, that was partially owned by his former investment …

NBC News reports: Federal investigators have gathered enough evidence to bring charges in their investigation of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser and his son as part of the probe into Russia’s intervention in the 2016 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. Michael T. Flynn, who was fired after just 24 days on the job, was …

Politico reports: The president’s personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, told POLITICO on Thursday he is primed to lodge formal objections with either Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if the Russia investigation took a wide or unexpected detour into issues like an old Trump real-estate deal. “We’d view that as outside the scope of legitimate inquiry,” Sekulow said. “We’d raise …

The Washington Post reports: One of President Trump’s most trusted confidants, a security chief who served as his sounding board for nearly two decades, will face questions from congressional investigators next week about Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow, according to people familiar with their plans. The excursion is at the center of some of the most salacious allegations in a …

The New York Times reports: Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump presidential campaign, met Russian government officials during a July 2016 trip he took to Moscow, according to testimony he gave on Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee. Shortly after the trip, Mr. Page sent an email to at least one Trump campaign aide describing insights he …

CNN reports: Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page privately testified Thursday that he mentioned to Jeff Sessions he was traveling to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign — as new questions emerge about the attorney general’s comments to Congress about Russia and the Trump campaign. During more than six hours of closed-door testimony, Page said that he informed Sessions …

CNN reports: Jared Kushner has turned over documents in recent weeks to special counsel Robert Mueller as investigators have begun asking in witness interviews about Kushner’s role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, CNN has learned. Mueller’s investigators have expressed interest in Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a White House senior adviser, as part of its probe …

CNN reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions is once again under scrutiny on Capitol Hill regarding his candor about Russia and the Trump campaign amid revelations that he rejected a suggestion to convene a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump last year. According to court filings unsealed this week, Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos suggested at …

The Hill reports: U.S. district court judge Amy Berman Jackson said President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort could be a flight risk on Thursday as she mulled requests to loosen the conditions of his house arrest. The judge set a bond hearing for Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. to discuss a request made by Manafort’s lawyers to remove a …

The Associated Press reported on Twitter just now that Sam Clovis has withdrawn his nomination to the top science post at the Department of Agriculture. The move comes after Clovis was linked to George Papadopoulos in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and hours after a blistering Washington Post story: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist nominee, Sam Clovis, who now …

Talking Points Memo reports: Being under federal investigation hasn’t stopped former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos from trying to advance his career. Four months ago, shortly before he was arrested for lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian nationals during the campaign, he asked his followers on LinkedIn for their “thoughts” on him pursuing a congressional run. In …

The Hill reports: Department of Justice investigators have identified at least 6 Russian government officials who took part in hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC), The Wall Street Journal reported early Thursday. Prosecutors may file charges next year, according to the report, but the individuals likely won’t be indicted in the United States. The newspaper noted that the investigation into …