Tag Archives: Russia

CNN reports: Hillary Clinton came prepared with more than one zinger about the mystery word of the day: Covfefe. At an interview hosted by Recode on Wednesday, one of the moderators brought up covfefe — a word that took on a life of its own after Trump tweeted a few minutes after midnight: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.” (The …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s administration will cease answering questions from reporters about the investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday. In an off-camera press briefing, Spicer told reporters that any future questions about the investigation would be addressed by Trump’s personal lawyer. “We are focused on the president’s agenda …

CNN reports: Fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly in the Senate as early as next week to confirm bombshell accusations that President Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into a top Trump aide’s ties to Russia, a source close to the issue said Wednesday. Final details are still being worked out and no official date …

The Associated Press reports: Ex-National Security Adviser Flynn is expected to provide some documents under subpoena to the Senate intelligence panel, sources say. The president’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has received subpoenas from the Senate intelligence committee regarding his Russian contacts and his business records. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, said last week that a subpoena from the House …

ABC News reports: One of President Donald Trump’s closest confidants, his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, has now become a focus of the expanding Congressional investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 campaign. Cohen confirmed to ABC News that House and Senate investigators have asked him “to provide information and testimony” about any contacts he had with people connected to …

Via Mediaite: Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox & Friends on Tuesday, where she pushed back against the reports that Jared Kushner wanted to set up a secret backchannel between the White House and the Russian government. Conway said that communication backchannels are not unusual in the White House, and that Kushner has volunteered to give testimony over his connections with …

The New York Times reports: France’s newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron, came out of his first meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday with a message of stark challenge, promising French military reprisals for any use of chemical weapons by Russia’s allies in Syria and saying he would closely monitor the curtailing of civil rights for gay …

This is probably what spawned Trump’s latest tweet. CNN reports: Russian government officials discussed having potentially “derogatory” information about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and some of his top aides in conversations intercepted by US intelligence during the 2016 election, according to two former intelligence officials and a congressional source. One source described the information as financial in nature and said …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning that “Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S.” over the ongoing investigations into Russia’s efforts to interfere in last year’s election and the significant amount of media coverage those probes have generated. Russia’s campaign of cyberattacks targeting the 2016 election, as well as the possibility of collusion between the …

Reuters reports: A chain of Russian food stores run by a devoutly religious nationalist businessman has placed signs in its windows saying gay customers will be refused entry.  “No entry for faggots,” read a wooden plate at the entrance to one of German Sterligov’s shops in central Moscow. Sterligov, 50, became a millionaire by opening a mercantile exchange shortly before …

The New York Times reports: In a statement Sunday night, Mr. Trump praised his son-in-law and the work he has done in the White House. “Jared is doing a great job for the country,” he said. “I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., doubts the factuality of a Washington Post report published Friday that stated White House senior adviser Jared Kushner had tried to set up a secure, secret line of communication between President Trump’s campaign and the Russian government. “You’ve got the ambassador to Russia reporting back to Moscow on an open channel, ‘Hey, …

The Associated Press reports: If the FBI wants to talk to Jared Kushner about his Russian contacts, they won’t have to track down the president’s son-in-law. Amid reports the FBI is scrutinizing Kushner’s encounters, his lawyer says he stands ready to talk to federal investigators as well as Congress about his contacts and his role in Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. …

Politico reports: National Security Advisor Gen. H.R. McMaster said he’s “not concerned” following reports that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner may have discussed setting up diplomatic backchannels to Moscow during the presidential transition. McMaster told American reporters traveling with Trump at the G7 summit in Sicily that the U.S. frequently sets up backchannels to countries for discreet …

The Washington Post reports: Jared Kushner and Russia’s ambassador to Washington discussed the possibility of setting up a secret and secure communications channel between Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin, using Russian diplomatic facilities in an apparent move to shield their pre-inauguration discussions from monitoring, according to U.S. officials briefed on intelligence reports. Ambassador Sergei Kislyak reported to his superiors …

Reuters reports: Once U.S. President Donald Trump returns from his overseas trip, the White House plans to launch its most aggressive effort yet to push back against allegations involving Russia and his presidential campaign, tackling head-on a scandal that has threatened to consume his young presidency. Trump’s aides are preparing to establish a “war room” to combat mounting questions about …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Donald Trump, in the mid-1980s, aggressively pursued an official government post to the USSR, according to a Nobel Peace Prize winner with whom Trump interacted at the time. “He already had Russia mania in 1986, 31 years ago,” asserts Bernard Lown, a Boston-area cardiologist known for inventing the defibrillator and sharing the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize …

NBC News reports: Former House Speaker John Boehner says that aside from international affairs and foreign policy, President Donald Trump’s time in office has so far been a “complete disaster.” Speaking at an energy conference Thursday in Houston, Boehner praised Trump for his approach abroad and his aggressiveness in fighting Islamic State militants, according to the energy publication Rigzone. “Everything …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is willing to cooperate with federal investigators looking into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, his attorney said. The statement from attorney Jamie Gorelick was issued Thursday amid reports that the FBI was investigating meetings Kushner had in December with Russian officials. “Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with …

Human Rights Watch today released a 26-page report detailing the gruesome torture of gay men at the hands of Chechen police. Radio Free Europe reports: “All of the victims suffered repeated beatings,” the report said. “Security officials kicked them with booted feet, beat them with polypropylene pipes and sticks, and made other inmates beat them” — mostly on the men’s …