Tag Archives: Ukraine

CNN reports: Never-before-heard audio, obtained exclusively by CNN, shows how former President Donald Trump’s longtime adviser Rudy Giuliani relentlessly pressured and coaxed the Ukrainian government in 2019 to investigate baseless conspiracies about then-candidate Joe Biden. The audio is of a July 2019 phone call between Giuliani, US diplomat Kurt Volker, and Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr …

Politico reports: It’s not just Ukraine. Justice Department investigators have asked questions about Rudy Giuliani’s work connected to Romania, according to two people familiar with the probe into former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Last month, FBI agents raided Giuliani’s New York City apartment and office to seize phones and computers as part of an investigation of whether Giuliani violated …

The Washington Post reports: The FBI warned Rudolph W. Giuliani in late 2019 that he was the target of a Russian influence operation aimed at circulating falsehoods intended to damage President Biden politically ahead of last year’s election, according to people familiar with the matter. The warning was part of an extensive effort by the bureau to alert members of …

Politico reports: Andrii Artemenko made a star turn in Rudy Giuliani’s controversial Ukraine documentary and once tried to pitch the Trump administration on a plan for peace between Moscow and Kyiv. Now, he says, he’s told the FBI what he knows about the former mayor. Artemenko, a former Ukrainian parliamentarian, told POLITICO that he has shared what he knows about …

Fox News reports: Federal investigators have executed a search warrant on former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, seizing electronic devices, sources confirmed to Fox News. The raid on Giuliani, which was first reported by the New York Times, comes as federal authorities were investigating whether he violated the law by lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian officials …

The New York Times reports: Federal investigators in Manhattan executed a search warrant on Wednesday at the Upper East Side apartment of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became President Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer, stepping up a criminal investigation into Mr. Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine. One of the people said the investigators had seized Mr. …

Bloomberg News reports: Russia said it will begin pulling thousands of troops back from areas near the Ukrainian border starting Friday, in a step that could calm strains with the West that have surged in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the move, saying in a tweet it “reduces tension.” The ruble gained as much as 1.4% against the …

Reuters reports: Russia has concentrated more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s border and in annexed Crimea, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday after EU foreign ministers were briefed by Ukraine’s foreign minister. Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have been rising amid the military build-up and clashes in eastern Ukraine between the army and pro-Russian separatists. The Associated …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to reduce tensions stirred by a Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s border and proposed a summit of the estranged leaders to tackle a raft of disputes. The White House and the Kremlin reported only the second conversation between the two since Biden took office in January. …

Cox Media Group reports: President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine announced Monday that he’s tested positive for COVID-19, making him the latest world leader to contract the viral infection. Monday’s announcement puts the Ukrainian president alongside President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who have also contracted COVID-19 in recent months. Other world leaders who …

The New York Daily News reports: A fitness influencer died from COVID-19 complications days after admitting he was wrong to think the virus didn’t exist, his ex-wife announced in a heartbreaking tribute over the weekend. Dmitriy “Dima” Stuzhuk, who had more than 1.1 million followers on Instagram, began feeling sick during a recent trip to Turkey and was immediately hospitalized …

NBC News reports: Federal prosecutors have brought new charges against Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of duping investors in a company called Fraud Guarantee. A superseding indictment unsealed Thursday says that Parnas and a second man, David Correia, convinced investors to hand over more than $2 million between 2012 and 2019 for a new venture …

ABC News reports: Leading Ukrainian religious figure Patriarch Filaret has contracted coronavirus, after blaming gay people for the disease. The 91-year-old, who is the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate, is currently hospitalized with pneumonia. Filaret caused controversy earlier this year after he made comments about the coronavirus being a result of gay marriage. He told Ukrainian national …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) refused to answer when directly asked whether he has been given foreign information meant to damage Joe Biden, according to a transcript of a closed-door committee meeting. Nunes is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and he faced questioning from Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney when the committee met this …

The BBC reports: A stand-off in Ukraine has ended with security forces freeing 10 hostages from a bus in the city of Lutsk and detaining the gunman, after a bizarre intervention by the president. Pictures showed the gunman lying on the ground after his arrest. Just before the man’s arrest, President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to comply with his demand to …

NBC News reports: Joe Biden’s presidential campaign on Tuesday launched a highly personal broadside at Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, for pushing forward a committee inquiry into the presumptive Democratic nominee’s past dealings with Ukraine while he was vice president. Among other things, the Biden campaign is accusing Johnson of being …

CNN reports: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, is retiring from the US Army after more than 21 years of military service because he determined that his future in the armed forces “will forever be limited” due to political retaliation by the President and his allies, his lawyer told CNN Wednesday. Vindman has …

The New York Times reports: Attorney General William P. Barr said on Thursday that President Trump was right to fire the inspector general who disclosed the whistle-blower complaint about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and that the president’s political enemies could face criminal prosecution. Mr. Barr said that dismissing Mr. Atkinson was the “right thing” to do, in part because …

Politico reports: The intelligence community watchdog removed abruptly late Friday by President Donald Trump says he believes Trump ousted him because of his evenhanded handling of a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to the president’s impeachment. “It is hard not to think that the President’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump notified Congress on Friday that he is firing the inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community who was involved in triggering an impeachment probe of the president last year. In a letter to key lawmakers, Trump said he planned to remove the official, Michael Atkinson, in 30 days, saying, “it is vital that I have …