Tag Archives: Russia

YOUR TURN, TRUMP: Russia State Media Promotes Shirtless Manly Man Vladimir Putin On Fishing Trip

The Associated Press reports: President Vladimir Putin has gone spearfishing in southern Siberia’s mountains, the latest stunt for the action man and adventure-loving Russian leader. Footage released Saturday by Russian state television stations showed Putin steering an inflatable boat and fishing bare-chested with a rod in a mountain lake, accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other officials. It also …

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FBI Tracked Russian Fake News On Election Day

CNN reports: The FBI monitored social media on Election Day last year in an effort to track a suspected Russian disinformation campaign utilizing “fake news,” CNN has learned. In the months leading up to Election Day, Twitter and Facebook were the feeding grounds for viral “news” stories floating conspiracies and hoaxes, many aimed at spreading negative false claims about Hillary …

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Conway Whines About “Russia, Russia, Russia” [VIDEO]

Via Mediaite: On Thursday night, CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Kellyanne Conway had a lengthy, heated interview, much of it involving the ongoing Russia investigation. Conway disputed Cuomo’s assurance that his network doesn’t cover things like the most recent improvements in VA reform. Cuomo then challenged Conway on Trump’s assumption that this investigation was a “witch hunt” and that his involvement …

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Mueller’s Grand Jury Is Already Issuing Subpoenas

Reuters reports: Grand jury subpoenas have been issued in connection with a June 2016 meeting that included President Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law and a Russian lawyer, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, in a sign that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is gathering pace. The sources added that Mueller had convened a grand jury in Washington to help investigate …

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REPORT: Robert Mueller Is Following The Money

CNN reports: Federal investigators exploring whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian spies have seized on Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia as one of the most fertile avenues for moving their probe forward, according to people familiar with the investigation. The web of financial ties could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution than the broader …

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Robert Mueller Empanels DC Grand Jury On Russia

Tick tock tick tock: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. That’s a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, the report said. Legal experts quoted by the newspaper say …

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McCain Hits Back At Trump Over Russian Blame

The Hill reports: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday put blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his actions for the U.S.-Russia relationship. His comments come after Trump on Thursday morning put blame on Congress for the current relationship the U.S. has with Russia. Besides imposing new sanctions on Russia in addition to Iran and North Korea, the bill would …

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Senators Move To Protect Mueller From Trump’s Axe

The Associated Press reports: Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are moving to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s job, putting forth new legislation that aims to ensure the integrity of current and future independent investigations. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware plan to introduce the legislation Thursday. The bill would allow …

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Trump Blames Congress For Battle With Russia

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday blamed Congress for the current “very dangerous” relationship with Russia. The comments come on day after Trump signed legislation that imposes new sanctions on Russia. The bill — which was overwhelmingly approved by Congress — limits the president’s ability to lift sanctions on Russia or return diplomatic compounds seized by the Obama administration …

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Russian PM Blasts “Completely Impotent” Trump Over Sanctions, Declares Start Of “Full-Fledged Trade War”

WOW. The Washington Examiner reports: On Wednesday, President Trump signed a new sanctions bill targeting Russia. Russia has reacted with unrestrained fury. Indeed, fury is an understatement. In a Facebook post specifically referencing Trump, the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (No. 2 only to Putin), warned that Congress sees Trump as “an incompetent player” who must be “liquidated”. Yes, you …

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Rex Tillerson Spurns $80M Earmarked To Fight Russian Disinformation Campaigns, Funds To Expire Next Month

Politico reports: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation. It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department. But more than five months into his tenure, Tillerson has not issued a simple request …

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Trump Craters To Record Low 33% Approval Rating

The Hill reports: President Trump’s approval rating hit a new low on Wednesday, according to a new poll. A Quinnipiac University poll finds 61 percent of voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing in office, compared to just 33 percent who approve of Trump’s performance. This marks the president’s lowest approval rating since he was inaugurated, according to the …

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LIVE VIDEO: White House Press Briefing

UPI reports: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to give a press briefing Wednesday afternoon. Sanders’ briefing is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT. All briefings are now live on-camera. Since the last briefing Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed into law stronger sanctions against Russia, North Korea and Iran. In the signing statement, Trump said the …

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Trump Issues Statement Denouncing The “Deeply Flawed” Russian Sanctions Bill He Just Signed Into Law

Here’s the full text of the signing statement, which is apparently the second of two versions issued today: Today, I have signed into law H.R. 3364, the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.” While I favor tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilizing behavior by Iran, North Korea, and Russia, this legislation is significantly flawed. In its haste …

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Trump Signs Veto-Proof Russian Sanctions Bill

ABC News reports: President Trump today signed a bill aimed at punishing Russia for its interference in the 2016 election despite his reservations to tighten sanctions against Moscow. The legislation was passed with rare and overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress last week. The bill limits the president’s ability to lift or waive sanctions against Russia and keeps in place sanctions …

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Foreign Bribery Specialist Joins Mueller Team

Talking Points Memo reports: A former Justice Department official specializing in fraud and illegal foreign bribery cases has become the sixteenth lawyer on the special counsel team investigating into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, Reuters reported Tuesday. Josh Stueve, a spokesperson for special counsel Robert Mueller, confirmed the hiring of attorney Greg Andres to Reuters. During his two-year tenure …

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Colbert: Junior Got Daddy To Write Him A Note

The Week reports: When Donald Trump Jr. was discovered to have met with a bunch of Russians who turned out to have ties to Russian intelligence, he “released a statement saying he didn’t know who he was meeting with and they mostly talked about adoption,” not Hillary Clinton, Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday’s Late Show. “Those were lies, including the …

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Rexxon Tillerson Is Unhappy About Russian Sanctions

The Associated Press reports: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says neither he nor President Donald Trump is “very happy” about new sanctions on Russia that Congress has voted to put in place. But he says the sanctions show that Americans are frustrated by Moscow, even though they want the U.S. to have a functional relationship with the nuclear-armed power. Tillerson …

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White House Denies Colluding With Fox News On False Seth Rich Story Meant To Divert Attention From Russia

The Hill reports: The White House on Tuesday denied that Fox News gave President Trump prior review of a story that raised conspiracy theories about the death of a Democratic National Committee staffer. “The president had no knowledge of the story and its completely untrue that he or the White House [had] involvement in the story,” said White House press …

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LEGAL JEOPARDY: Trump Personally Dictated Junior’s Lying Excuse About Meeting With Russian Lawyer

The Washington Post reports: Flying home from Germany on July 8 aboard Air Force One, Trump personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said that he and the Russian lawyer had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” when they met in June 2016, according to multiple people with knowledge of the deliberations. The statement, issued …

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