Tag Archives: Russia

NBC News reports: Despite denials from some top intelligence officials that there was any evidence of collusion between associates of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian operatives while Moscow tried to interfere with the 2016 election, Rep. Adam Schiff on Sunday defended the House Intelligence Committee continuing to look into the matter. Two weeks ago on “Meet The Press,” James …

USA Today reports: Russia’s parliament has called for an investigation into U.S. media operating in its country in response to what it says are attacks on Russian media in the U.S, particularly state-funded broadcaster RT News. The State Duma, or lower house of parliament, called on its committee on information policy, information technology and communications to conduct an “audit” of …

Reuters reports: During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump downplayed his business ties with Russia. And since taking office as president, he has been even more emphatic. “I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia,” President Trump said at a news conference last month. “I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals …

The Hill reports: Hillary Clinton posted a jab at President Trump on Twitter Friday. Philippe Reines, a Democratic political consultant who worked for Clinton tweeted, “Russians spy. Health Care is complicated. Diplomacy is exhausting. Who knew?” Clinton retweeted him, “Things I learned today.” A thread of Clinton supporters quickly replied to Reines, “she did.” Russian hacking, revamping healthcare and traditional …

CNN reports: Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, was paid more than $33,750 by Russia’s state-run broadcaster RT TV-Russia for a speech in Moscow in December 2015, a top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has learned. The US intelligence community has long assessed RT to be a propaganda tool of the Kremlin, writing in …

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department announced Wednesday the indictments of two Russian spies and two criminal hackers in connection with the heist of 500 million Yahoo user accounts in 2014, marking the first U.S. criminal cyber charges ever against Russian government officials. The indictments target two members of the Russian intelligence agency FSB, and two hackers hired by …

The Daily Beast reports: A would-be Trump White House appointee who withdrew in the face of plagiarism allegations is now lobbying on behalf of a Ukrainian oligarch who has recently advocated greater concessions to the Russian government, according to newly filed documents. Monica Crowley told the Justice Department’s National Security Division that she will represent billionaire Victor Pinchuk in discussions …

Via press release from the Democratic National Committee: “The White House’s willingness to release some tax information when it suits them proves Donald Trump’s audit excuse is a sham. If they can release some of the information, they can release all of the information. The only reason not to release tax returns is to hide what’s in them such as …

Drink your polonium, comrade. The New York Daily News reports: An iron curtain has fallen on the autopsy results of Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, who died in New York last month, officials said Friday. The city Medical Examiner announced it will not be releasing the cause of death for Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s combative ambassador to the United Nations, …

Politico reports: Sen. Ben Sasse seems none too pleased that the Trump White House won’t answer what the Nebraska Republican feels is a straightforward question: Should WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be behind bars? Sasse wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday, demanding to know whether the Justice Department believes Assange — whose WikiLeaks recently dumped a trove of documents …

Mediaite reports: Press Secretary Sean Spicer had a flummoxed moment on Thursday when he was asked about today’s news that Trump ally Nigel Farage went to the embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lives. “I have my own concerns here keeping track of what everyone is doing. I generally don’t worry about what’s going on across the pond,” Spicer said. …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) on Thursday claimed that unverified allegations of compromising tapes of President Trump with Russian prostitutes are “absolutely true,” but declined to provide evidence. “We already know about the part about the coverage they have on him with sex actions is supposed to be true,” she said, referring to a dossier leaked late …

Nope. Not suspicious at ALL. Buzzfeed reports: Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living since he claimed asylum in 2012. The former UKIP leader spent around 40 minutes in the building and left at noon, accompanied by Christian Mitchell, the head of operations at radio station LBC, where …

All week Rachel Maddow has been piecing together the labyrinthian connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. Last night’s update was especially revealing. Via Raw Story: Maddow described a Politico report, released Wednesday, that revealed authorities investigated Konstantin Kilimnik, an associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, over Kilimnik’s suspected ties Russian intelligence. Maddow explained that authorities are “looking …

Politico reports: Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has been offered the job of U.S. ambassador to Russia and is in the process of submitting paperwork to accept the position, two administration sources have confirmed. Huntsman, who served as ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush and then to China under President Barack Obama, was an outspoken critic of President …

Bloomberg reports: FBI Director James Comey signaled he has no plans to resign despite once again being at the center of a political storm — this time over probes into Russian hacking of the 2016 election and his request that Justice Department officials reject President Donald Trump’s claims that his predecessor “tapped” his phones. “You’re stuck with me for about …

Just in from Quinnipiac Polling: American voters say 52 – 40 percent that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearings and say 51 – 42 percent that he should resign, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Voters disapprove 54 – 32 percent of the way President Donald Trump is handling U.S. policy …

The Hill reports: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) says he can envision a scenario where Attorney General Jeff Sessions passed messages between President Trump and Russia during the campaign. “You can imagine a set of circumstances in which the Trump campaign gave him talking points [and] he was a message boy for them,” Whitehouse told host Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s “New …

Politico reports: The House Intelligence Committee is asking former Obama administration officials to testify in its first open hearing this month as part of the panel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Those being asked to testify March 20 include former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former acting Attorney General …

Mediaite recaps: Late night veteran John Oliver opened up Last Week Tonight on Sunday going after Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The comedian skewered the former Alabama Senator for his Russia ties and the self-inflicted wound of failing to disclose his meeting with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Oliver took issue with Sessions seemingly bringing up his non-involvement with Russia unasked. “There …