Tag Archives: Russia

CNN reports: Former FBI Director James Comey will not testify before the Senate intelligence committee next week, according to the panel’s vice chairman, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. “We just heard from the director that he’s not able to make Tuesday,” Warner told CNN’s Manu Raju. “It’s my hope that that we will be able to find a time. …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s lawyers say a review of his last 10 years of tax returns do not reflect “any income of any type from Russian sources,” with some exceptions. The lawyers did not release copies of Trump’s tax returns so The Associated Press cannot independently verify their conclusions. The letter says there is no equity investment …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview Thursday with NBC News’ Lester Holt, called ousted FBI chief James Comey a “showboat” and revealed he asked Comey whether he was under investigation for alleged ties to Russia. “I actually asked him” if I was under investigation, Trump said, noting that he spoke with Comey once over dinner and …

The BBC reports: Five gay rights activists have been detained in Moscow as they tried to deliver a petition to the office of Russia’s prosecutor general. Police said they were held because their action was unauthorised. The activists said more than two million people had signed the petition to investigate alleged torture and detentions of gay people in the Russian …

Ruh-roh! CNN reports: The Senate intelligence committee Wednesday issued a subpoena to former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for documents regarding his interactions with Russian officials. The subpoena comes after Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner, alerted the panel that he would not provide documents in response to their April 28 request. More from Talking Points Memo: In a statement, Sens. Richard …

Brian Tashman reports at Right Wing Watch: Today far-right host Alex Jones interviewed Roger Stone, an informal adviser to President Trump, about the president’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, where they promptly contradicted the White House’s official story behind Comey’s termination. While celebrating Comey’s ouster, the two agreed that the administration must now go after Democratic critics of …

CBS News reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said the firing of former FBI Director James Comey will have “no effect” on U.S.-Russia relations, reacting for the first time to President Trump’s dramatic ouster of the man leading the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. Putin spoke with CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer shortly before taking to the ice …

The Washington Post reports: Last week, then-FBI Director James B. Comey requested more money and resources from the Justice Department for his bureau’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussion. Comey, who was fired by President Trump on Tuesday, made the request in a meeting last week …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump weighed firing his FBI director for more than a week. When he finally pulled the trigger Tuesday afternoon, he didn’t call James Comey. He sent his longtime private security guard to deliver the termination letter in a manila folder to FBI headquarters. He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by …

Mediaite reports: CNN’s Chris Cuomo spoke with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday, and things went incredibly off the rails as they held a grueling 19 minute interview about James Comey‘s firing. Seriously, you need to see the whole thing. It’s memorable. Conway hit back at Cuomo by saying “you always want to talk about Russia, Russia, Russia,” and …

Of course the Russians are thrilled: Russia’s top diplomat on Wednesday appeared to joke about President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey during a visit to the State Department. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson introduced Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the Washington visit. “I want to welcome foreign minister Lavrov to the state department and express my appreciation …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: The American people — not to mention the credibility of the world’s oldest democracy — require a thorough, impartial investigation into the extent of Russia’s meddling with the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump and, crucially, whether high-ranking members of Mr. Trump’s campaign colluded in that effort. By firing …

Via Mediaite: Hours after the stunning news hit that President Donald Trump had fired FBI Director James Comey, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway popped up on CNN for an interview with Anderson Cooper. And, yep, it was a doozy. Immediately, the CNN anchor wanted to know why the White House decided to act on firing Comey now, leading to Conway …

From the right wing Washington Times: In the wake of President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, the White House is rejecting lawmakers’ calls for a special prosecutor to take over the agency’s probe of possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. “There is clearly at this point no evidence of a reason to do that,” White …

CNN reports: Senate Russia investigators have sent a request to the Treasury Department’s criminal investigation division for any information related to President Donald Trump, his top officials and his campaign aides, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee told CNN Tuesday. “We’ve made a request, to FinCEN in the Treasury Department, to make sure, not just for example vis-a-vis …

Oh, well then. A letter. That settles it, huh? Talking Points Memo reports: White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that President Donald Trump “welcomes” an investigation of possible ties between his businesses and Russia. “The President, obviously, was aware of Sen. Graham’s suggestion after he made it today and he’s fine with that,” Spicer said Tuesday. “He has …

PBS reports: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is likely to face another round of questioning over a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on Russia’s role in the 2016 elections during his Tuesday news briefing. On Monday, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said she bluntly warned the Trump White House that new National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “essentially could be …

Via Mediaite: Matt Drudge says Donald Trump needs a parade to celebrate America’s military might, and the Drudge Report founder knows just where the president can find some inspiration. Drudge emerged on Twitter today, where he sent out a tweet linking to a new piece from Daily Mail. The Daily Mail article refers to the Victory Day parades that took …

Talking Points Memo reports: In the wake of long-awaited testimony from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that neither had anything new to say. Yates made headlines by testifying that she warned the White House that Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn could be “compromised …

The HuffPost reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) attempted to school career federal prosecutor Sally Yates on the law, and it did not go well. While the hearing was focused on Trump and his associates’ alleged ties to Russia, some senators, including Cruz, instead focused on Yates’ refusal to defend the president’s executive order. While questioning that decision, Cruz, also a …