Tag Archives: Russia

NPR reports: A Russian woman charged this week with serving as a foreign agent was in regular contact with Russian intelligence, the Justice Department says, and she attempted to offer sex in exchange for a position with an organization she targeted. Prosecutors included that information in court documents as part of their request that Maria Butina be detained ahead of …

Axios reports: Yes, almost every elected Republican we talk to privately thinks President Trump’s warm embrace of Vladimir Putin was unexplainable, unacceptable and un-American. Yes, they wish they could say this publicly. No, they won’t — not now, and probably never. The cold, hard reason: They see no upside in speaking out — and fear political suicide if they do, …

NBC News reports: In the 12 short years since Montenegro regained its independence, the European country has joined NATO, boosted its defense spending, and according to official figures contributes more troops per capita to the war in Afghanistan than the United States. Yet this U.S. ally — smaller than Connecticut and about as populous as Baltimore — found itself in …

The Metro reports: Donald Trump has accused critics who condemned his disastrous meeting with Vladimir Putin of having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ The president went on the defensive less than 24 hours after he was forced into the most humiliating climbdown since he took office over the Putin summit. Trump claimed he had accidentally misspoken when saying he believed Putin’s denial …

Julia Davis writes for the Washington Post: Russian state media are hard at work, praising Putin’s strategy that is finally paying off. That is not surprising, as the state media in Russia are fully controlled by the government. Positions conveyed by the Kremlin’s bullhorns reflect only what is considered permissible by the state. On Russian state television, criticism of Putin …

Raw Story reports: “Katy, you asked if [Trump] had consumed the media coverage,” NBC News Pentagon correspondent Hans Nichols said. “He did not make his way to the West Wing until well after noon today, that gave him plenty of time to digest the media and perhaps watch a little cable TV. “And what’s interesting is that he had an …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says he meant the opposite when he said in Helsinki that he doesn’t see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. Back at the White House on Tuesday, the president told reporters that he said he meant he doesn’t see why Russia “wouldn’t” be responsible. He also said he accepts …

According to the White House, Glorious Leader will deliver comments about the Helsinki summit at 2PM. If his earlier “fake news” screech is any indication, there will be no backtracking or apology. Instead, expect to hear about Hillary Clinton, witch hunts, 13 angry Democrats, missing servers, and how everybody in the world who doesn’t love him is a total loser. …

From the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal: Details from the private Trump-Putin talks in Helsinki will spill out in coming days, but Monday’s joint press conference was a personal and national embarrassment. On stage with the dictator whose election meddling has done so much harm to his Presidency, Mr. Trump couldn’t even bring himself to say he believed …

CNN reports: House Speaker Paul Ryan, answering questions at the House GOP’s weekly press conference, said that while he did not believe President Trump’s actions alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin arose to treason as alleged by former CIA chief John Brennan (“I do not,” he said), said he clearly believes “Russia did meddle with our elections.” “Russia is trying to …

Over the last 24 hours we’ve seen nearly universal condemnation of Trump’s public surrender to Vladimir Putin, even from major conservative outlets, even from state television hosts, even from reliable Trump ballwashers such as Newt Gingrich. But somehow all those verbatim quotes and horrified cable news appearances are fake news, according to our demented Glorious Leader. And, no doubt, to …

The Associated Press reports: Former U.S. President Barack Obama in his first high-profile speech since leaving office is calling today’s times “strange and uncertain.” Obama opened his speech in South Africa by saying that “each day’s news cycle is bringing more head-spinning and disturbing headlines.” He is speaking in South Africa to mark the 100th anniversary of  Nelson Mandela’s birth. …

“What Mr. Trump did yesterday was to betray the women and men of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA and others and to betray the American public. And that’s why I use the term that this was nothing short of treasonous. Because it is a betrayal of the nation. He’s giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It needs to …

From the editors of the Weekly Standard: Already some Republicans, and not just his usual critics, have either distanced themselves from Trump’s remarks or straightforwardly rebuked the president—House Speaker Paul Ryan, Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Peter Roskam, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Lindsey Graham, among others. Only one president in history, Andrew Jackson, has ever been censured by Congress, …

From the right wing Townhall: While President Trump has faced widespread backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike over his performance at the Helsinki Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — not everyone was displeased. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), in fact, liked much of what Trump had to say. He brushed aside criticism Trump received from within the GOP as nothing …

“There is no reason for any of those [Trump campaign connections to Russia]. Unless you were willing to believe the worst. And who wants to believe the worst? You don’t want to think too hard about the worst-case scenario. If the worst case is true. For everything that we’ve been through as a country, for every kind of trial and …

“The president’s under the impression — and I don’t know why still — that if he says the Russians hacked, it makes his election look illegitimate. I’ve got news for you. Sen. Schumer and Hillary Clinton will never get over the fact that you won the election. Neither will 16 Republicans get over the fact that you won the primary. …

The New York Post reports: President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen tweeted his support for US intelligence agencies and berated Russia on Monday in a clear rebuke of his old boss’s Helsinki press performance. Cohen, who has given an interview to George Stephanopoulos, did not mention Trump in his tweet. But Cohen’s commentary came just hours after Trump sided …

The Hill reports: Protesters greeted President Trump as he returned from his summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, with dozens gathering outside the White House and yelling “traitor” late into the night. The impromptu protest, dubbed #OccupyLafayettePark, came after Trump’s controversial press conference with Putin. During the joint presser, Trump refused to denounce Russia’s 2016 election meddling …

From the New York Daily News editorial board: Before the entire world Monday, the self-styled tough-guy, America-First President revealed himself to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s poodle. Putin flatly denied what every U.S. intelligence agency has concluded, what new indictments by Special Counsel Robert Mueller now underline: That agents of the GRU, the intelligence agency Putin used to work for …