Tag Archives: Russia

Biden Admin To Sanction Russia For Hacking Campaign

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration is preparing sanctions and other measures to punish Moscow for actions that go beyond the sprawling SolarWinds cyber espionage campaign to include a range of malign cyber activity and the near-fatal poisoning of a Russian opposition leader, said U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The administration is casting the SolarWinds operation, which hacked …

Read More »

BOOTED: Nunes Aide’s Defamation Suit Against CNN

Law & Crime reports: A federal judge the District of Maryland on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit that Rep. Devin Nunes‘s senior aide Derek Harvey filed against CNN, former Rudy Giuliani business associate Lev Parnas, and Parnas’s lawyer Joseph Bondy. Judge Richard Bennett, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the defamation action failed to state a claim against CNN. …

Read More »

Politico: Biden Can Access Trump’s Calls With Putin

Politico reports: Few Trump-era mysteries are as intriguing as what the 45th president said to Vladimir Putin in at least a dozen rambling, off-the-cuff calls and meetings over four years. Understanding what was said between the two could help illuminate whether Trump ever revealed sensitive information or struck any deals with the Kremlin leader that could take the new administration …

Read More »

Russian Doctor Who Treated Navalny Dies “Suddenly”

CNN reports: A top doctor at the Russian hospital where opposition leader Alexey Navalny was treated immediately after his poisoning last summer has died, the hospital said on Thursday. Sergey Maximishin, who was the deputy chief physician of the Omsk emergency hospital, “suddenly” died at the age of 55, according to a statement released by the hospital. A spokeswoman from …

Read More »

Russian Dissident Sentenced To 2.5 Years In Prison

CBS News reports: Russian opposition leader and fierce Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison on Tuesday in a court proceeding that he condemned as politically motivated. The court gave him credit for about year of the sentence he had already served under house arrest, saying he would be required to spend another …

Read More »

Lancet: Russian COVID Vaccine Is Over 90% Effective

Politico Europe reports: The Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6 percent effective in protecting against symptomatic COVID-19 — on par with the currently approved Western jabs, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet Tuesday. The data is from a Phase 3 study, with almost 20,000 participants across a number of hospitals and clinics in Russia taking part in …

Read More »

Ex-KGB Spy Tells Of 80s “Charm Offensive” With Trump

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian. Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to “the Cambridge five”, the British spy …

Read More »

BOOK: KGB Began Grooming “Vain” Trump In 1980s

The Daily Mail reports: Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset more than 40 years ago which exploded into a decades-long ‘relationship’ of mutual benefit to both Russia and Trump, a shocking new book claims. Trump was rescued multiple times from multiple bankruptcies by boatloads of Russian cash laundered through his real estate in the 80s and 90s, the …

Read More »

Russia Extends Nuke Treaty After Call With Biden

The Associated Press reports: Russian lawmakers on Wednesday quickly approved the extension of the last remaining nuclear Russia-U.S. arms control, a fast-track action that comes just days before it’s due to expire. Both houses of parliament voted unanimously to extend the New START treaty for five years, a day after a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian …

Read More »

In First Call With Putin, Biden Presses Him On Hacking, Navalny, Ukraine, 2020 Election, Bounties On US Troops

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, raising concerns about the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny while pressing the Russian president on his nation’s involvement in a massive cyber espionage campaign and bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, two senior administration officials said. Biden has looked to establish a sharp …

Read More »

FBI: Rioter Wanted To Sell Pelosi’s Laptop To Russians

Politico reports: The FBI is investigating evidence that a woman who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 stole a laptop or hard drive from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and intended to sell it to Russians. The bizarre claim, which the FBI emphasized remains under investigation, was included in an affidavit describing the criminal case against Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania …

Read More »

Russia Triples Previously Claimed COVID Death Toll

The Guardian reports: Russia said on Monday that its coronavirus death toll was more than three times higher than it had previously reported, making it the country with the third-largest number of fatalities. For months, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has boasted about Russia’s low fatality rate from the virus, saying earlier this month that it had done a better …

Read More »

Putin Claims He’ll Get Russia’s “Sputnik V” Vaccine

Reuters reports: Russia’s president Vladimir Putin will receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state TV channel on Sunday. “He said he will be vaccinated, he made this decision and was waiting until all formalities are completed,” the spokesman was quoted as saying to Rossiya 1 TV Channel on its website. 68-year-old …

Read More »

Putin Signs Bill: Lifetime Immunity For Ex-Presidents

The Guardian reports: Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that will grant former presidents of Russia lifetime immunity once they leave office. The bill, which was published online on Tuesday, gives former presidents and their families immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during their lifetime. They will also be exempt from questioning by police or investigators, as well as searches or …

Read More »

Russia Hacked Dozens Of Top Treasury Dept Accounts

CBS News reports: Email accounts used by the Treasury Department’s senior leadership were compromised by suspected Russian government hackers who carried out a massive cyber-espionage campaign against several U.S. federal agencies, according to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said the “full depth” of the Treasury hack “isn’t known.” Senate Finance Committee staff …

Read More »

Barr Contradicts Trump, Blames Russia For Hack Attack

The Hill reports: Attorney General William Barr on Monday said that Russia is likely behind the unprecedented hack into multiple federal agencies and thousands of private entities, becoming the second senior administration official to place the blame on Moscow in contradiction to statements by President Trump. The attorney general said that he agrees with the assessment by Secretary of State …

Read More »

Romney Rips Trump’s “Blind Spot” On Russia [VIDEO]

“I was disappointed with the president’s comment. But I think we’ve come to recognize that the president has a blind spot when it comes to Russia. “And the reality here is that the experts, the people who really understand how our systems work and how computers work and software and so forth, the thousands upon thousands at the CIA and …

Read More »

WH Blocks Statement Blaming Russia For Hack Attack

CNN reports: White House officials had drafted a statement assigning blame to Russia for the attack and were preparing to release it Friday afternoon but were told to stand down, according to people familiar with the plans. Officials initially weren’t told why the statement was pulled back. The statement placed blame on Russia for orchestrating the attack but left open …

Read More »

Trump Downplays Cyber Attack, Contradicts Pompeo

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump commented for the first time on Saturday on the hacking campaign that has torn through U.S. government and businesses that many experts believe is the work of Russian intelligence and downplayed the security breach as well as attempted to deflect blame away from Russia. Trump’s comments contradict what members of his own government have …

Read More »

More Wailing About The Election, Still Silent On Russia

The Independent reports: President Donald Trump has today tweeted another election result rant but continues to stay silent on claims Russia was responsible for a massive cyberattack on the US. Meanwhile, Mike Pompeo has claimed that Russia carried out the cyberattack that targeted a number of federal agencies, including the nuclear weapons agency. Mr Pompeo’s sentiments were echoed by Senator …

Read More »