Russia

The Hill reports: President Trump in an interview attributed his decision to revoke ex-CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance to his role in early stages of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that he considers Brennan and other former intelligence officials whose clearances he’s considering revoking among the leaders …

Bloomberg reports: Russia’s social-media trolling operation began stepping up its Twitter presence to new heights in late July 2017 — more than eight months after sowing discord and disinformation in the 2016 presidential election. The burst of activity — revealed in a new, comprehensive dataset of nearly 3 million tweets — had an overriding focus over the ensuing three months: …

Politico reports: The Russian Embassy in the United States early Friday morning seemingly mocked President Donald Trump’s campaign for a logo for the administration’s newly announced “Space Force.” Using Trump’s favorite mode of communicating, the embassy tweeted “Good Morning, Space Forces!” along with a graphic of a rocket being launched and features the Russian flag. The tweet also links to …

CNN reports: WikiLeaks announced in a tweet Wednesday the Senate Intelligence Committee called on its founder Julian Assange to testify on Russian interference in the 2016 election. The tweet also included a copy of the letter delivered to Assange. It requests Assange make himself “available” for a closed interview with the committee “at a mutually agreeable time and location,” and …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Rand Paul, one of President Trump’s more eager defenders on Russia, jetted into Moscow on Monday in a bid to increase engagement with the country. Paul (R-Ky.) met with several Russian senators including Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s former envoy to Washington and a key player at the heart of the election meddling scandal that continues to …

The Daily Beast reports: The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals. That makes the Missouri Democrat the first identified target of the Kremlin’s 2018 election interference. McCaskill, who has been highly critical of Russia over the years, is widely …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said Wednesday that any meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be put off until 2019 because of special counsel Robert Mueller’s “witch hunt.” “The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that …

The Atlantic reports: It was perhaps the most explosive exchange in an incendiary press conference: Russian President Vladimir Putin appearing to frankly admit to a motive for, and maybe even to the act of, meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, despite repeatedly denying Russian interference in American politics during the rest of his appearance with Donald Trump in Finland …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin was reticent on Tuesday about whether it would accept an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin in Washington later this year, saying only that the two men had other chances to meet as well. The Kremlin’s failure to swiftly accept Trump’s invitation for a Washington summit has been noticeable. …

Just in from Quinnipiac Polling: American voters believe 51 – 35 percent “that the Russian government has compromising information about President Trump,” according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. Republicans don’t believe 70 – 18 percent there is compromising information, the only listed party, gender, education, age or racial group which does not believe it, the poll finds. …

Politico reports: House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy chastised Donald Trump for inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington, saying Sunday that some members of the president’s administration should consider quitting if Trump won’t listen to their advice. “The fact that we have to talk to you about Syria or other matters is very different from issuing an invitation,” Gowdy said …

CBS News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, is urging President Trump to safeguard the U.S. election process ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, telling the president to “lead this nation to make sure the 2018 election is protected.” Graham, a frequent Trump ally, said that the president often gets the issue of Russian interference “confused” with the accusations of …

Politico reports: New documents related to the wiretapping of Carter Page – the former Trump campaign adviser at the center of the Russia investigation and bias allegations at the FBI — were released by the Trump administration on Saturday. Page served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign before he came under scrutiny for a trip to Moscow, …

Via press release from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: “The notion that President Trump would invite a tyrant to Washington is beyond belief. Putin’s ongoing attacks on our elections and on Western democracies and his illegal actions in Crimea and the rest of Ukraine deserve the fierce, unanimous condemnation of the international community, not a VIP ticket to our nation’s capital. …

Bloomberg reports: Vladimir Putin told Russian diplomats that he made a proposal to Donald Trump at their summit this week to hold a referendum to help resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but agreed not to disclose the plan publicly so the U.S. president could consider it, according to two people who attended Putin’s closed-door speech on Thursday. Details of …

Politico reports: The White House backed away on Thursday from President Donald Trump’s prior openness to a Russian government request to interrogate Americans, including former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and financier Bill Browder — a proposal that had sparked widespread outrage. Trump called the idea an “incredible offer” during the news conference on Monday.A nd on Wednesday, White …

The Hill reports: Hillary Clinton on Thursday condemned the Trump administration for considering Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to allow U.S. law enforcement to observe questioning of indicted Russians in exchange for allowing Russian authorities to question American citizens. Clinton joined a growing chorus of Democrats, Republicans and former diplomats who have expressed concerns with the White House’s decision to …

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 New York Times reports: The online game unfolds from the point of view of an attacker, aiming a weapon down a school corridor or throwing a grenade into an auditorium. The character creeps around corners and up staircases. Bullets spray, blood spatters. SWAT team members are shot dead. Civilians are splayed out on the floor. Active Shooter was developed …

Vice News reports: Russian state TV told citizens Tuesday to stockpile food and water as the threat of nuclear war with the U.S. intensified over Syria. Standing in front of a mushroom cloud, a presenter on state-run broadcaster Vesti 24 warned viewers to stock up on “fewer sweets and more water.” The presenter listed off a number of food items …