Tag Archives: Russia

USA Today reports: Just six months after his inauguration, Americans already are split down the middle, 42%-42%, over whether President Trump should be removed from office, a new USA TODAY/iMediaEthics Poll finds. The online poll of 1,330 adults, taken July 17-19 by SurveyUSA, has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points. More than a third, 36%, say Trump isn’t …

Bloomberg reports: The U.S. House voted to strengthen sanctions against Russia and rebuked President Donald Trump, whose campaign is being investigated for possible ties to Moscow, by preventing him from unilaterally lifting penalties. The measure, which also would impose new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, passed the House Tuesday on a vote of 419-3. The bill now goes to …

Via Mediaite: “When they say he endorsed me, I went to Alabama,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “I had 40,000 people. He was a senator from Alabama. I won the state by a lot, massive numbers. A lot of the states I won by massive numbers. But he was a senator, he looks at 40,000 people and he probably says, …

Politico reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday offered a staunch defense of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and suggested President Donald Trump’s latest comments on Twitter threatened to undermine the rule of law. The South Carolina Republican said it was “highly inappropriate” for Trump to tweet Tuesday that Sessions should prosecute Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server …

ABC News reports: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been issued a subpoena compelling him to participate in a hearing about Russian interference in the election. “While we were willing to accommodate Mr. Manafort’s request to cooperate with the committee’s investigation without appearing at Wednesday’s hearing, we were unable to reach an agreement for a voluntary transcribed interview with …

Reuters reports: A senior Russian banker who met President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, did not do so on the Kremlin’s orders, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Kushner, who was quizzed on Monday by Senate investigators on his contacts with Russians as part of an investigation into possible Kremlin meddling in last year’s presidential election, …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter early Tuesday as having a “very weak position” when it comes to investigating Hillary Clinton and intelligence leakers. His tweetstorm began with claims that Ukraine had tried to “sabotage” his campaign in favor of his Democratic rival. He appeared to allude to a Politico report in January …

This could be big. The Guardian reports: Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, who acts as his senior White House adviser, secured a multimillion-dollar Manhattan real estate deal with a Soviet-born oligarch whose company was cited in a major New York money laundering case now being investigated by members of Congress. A Guardian investigation has established a series of …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wants Jared Kushner to testify openly before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and said Congress shouldn’t assume he has told all of the truth about his meetings with Russian officials in his early morning statement Monday. “It is imperative that the public hear Jared Kushner testify in an open session […], under oath, …

CBS News reports: Senior White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, standing before cameras at the White House called his service there the “honor and privilege of a lifetime” and said he comes to work every day with “enthusiasm” for what can be. He reiterated part of a statement released earlier Monday, telling reporters that he “did not collude …

The Daily Beast reports: President Trump kicked off Monday morning with a tweet that seemed to reflect his open hostility towards Jeff Sessions, his own appointee as attorney general. “So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” the president wrote, describing his long-time supporter Sessions as troubled. …

Via Mediaite: “Republicans need to get a backbone,” Chaffetz started, defiantly. “Every time the Democrats say they need to call up Jared Kushner or Don Jr. — call up Chelsea Clinton, call up the Clintons.” “There we have an inspector general who issues a report stating an actual crime. You have Bill Clinton, the former president, taking millions and millions …

Talking Points Memo reports: The President began the week claiming that Washington, D.C. is “much worse than anyone ever thought,” taking to Twitter to make yet another jab at the news media. Using one of his campaign tag-lines “Drain the Swamp,” President Donald Trump said the phrase should be changed to “Drain the Sewer” instead, saying it “begins with the …

The Washington Post reports: Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, plans to detail four meetings he had with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and transition period — including one set up by Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer — but will deny any improper contacts or collusion in testimony to a congressional panel on Monday. Kushner …

CBS News reports: President Trump tweeted Sunday a complaint that Republicans aren’t doing enough to protect him. “It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President,” he tweeted. It’s not clear what he’s referring to, although a tweet just before decried the “phony Russian Witch Hunt.” …

The Hill reports: White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Sunday said that President Trump does not have to pardon anyone in connection with the Russia investigation. During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Scaramucci was asked about Trump’s tweet in which he said: “While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why …

The Associated Press reports: The Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, a prominent figure in the controversy over Russia’s possible involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, has ended his assignment in Washington. The Russian Embassy in Washington announced on Twitter that Kislyak’s tenure ended on Saturday. Kislyak’s successor has not been announced, although it is widely expected …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s eldest son and his former campaign chairman won’t testify publicly next week and are instead discussing being privately interviewed by a Senate committee investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, the panel said. The committee initially called for Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort to appear publicly Wednesday. But the top Republican and …

The Washington Post reports: Russia’s ambassador to Washington told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential race, contrary to public assertions by the embattled attorney general, according to current and former U.S. officials. Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s accounts of two conversations with Sessions — then a …

The Associated Press reports: Embattled former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has opened a new consulting firm called Resilient Patriot, LLC that is advising private equity firms, according to one of his brothers, who says Flynn is “moving on with his life.” Joe Flynn said his family also is in the early stages of starting a fund to pay for …