Tag Archives: Ukraine

From a Washington Post op-ed jointly authored by George Conway and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal: So it appears that the president might have used his official powers — in particular, perhaps the threat of withholding a quarter-billion dollars in military aid — to leverage a foreign government into helping him defeat a potential political opponent in the United …

The Washington Post reports: Days after the two presidents spoke, Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, met with an aide to the Ukrainian president in Madrid and spelled out two specific cases he believed Ukraine should pursue. One was a probe of a Ukrainian gas tycoon who had Biden’s son Hunter on his board. Another was an allegation that Democrats …

The Hill reports: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden dismissed President Trump’s call for an investigation into the former vice president’s ties to Ukraine amid conservatives’ accusations of misconduct. “Not one single, credible outlet has given any credibility to his assertion. Not one single one,” Biden told reporters Friday. “So I have no comment except the president should start to be …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump in a July phone call repeatedly pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, urging Volodymyr Zelensky about eight times to work with Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer, on a probe, according to people familiar with the matter. “He told him he should work with him [Giuliani] on …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Friday dismissed growing scrutiny over a whistleblower complaint that reportedly raised concerns about a conversation he had with a Ukrainian leader, saying the focus should instead be on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s ties to Ukraine. “It doesn’t matter what I discussed, but I’ll tell you this, somebody ought to look into Joe Biden’s …

The New York Times reports: A potentially explosive complaint by a whistle-blower in the intelligence community said to involve President Trump emerged on Thursday as the latest front in a continuing oversight dispute between administration officials and House Democrats. While the allegation remains shrouded in mystery, it involves at least one instance of Mr. Trump making an unspecified commitment to …

The Washington Post reports: Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, contradicted himself when asked whether he personally asked Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, ranted about media bias and defended Trump amid new reports about an intelligence official’s whistleblower complaint, during a chaotic and fiery CNN interview Thursday night. Immediately after anchor Chris Cuomo introduced him and …

Reuters reports: Three U.S. House of Representatives committees said on Monday they had begun “a wide-ranging investigation” into reports that President Donald Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and possibly others pressured Ukraine’s government to assist Trump’s re-election campaign. The Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees wrote to the White House and State Department seeking records …

Reuters reports: Ukrainian politicians and foreign diplomats joined thousands marching in a gay pride parade in Kiev on Sunday, the biggest and most peaceful ever in the former Soviet country. Crowds of people, many dressed in bright colours, paraded along streets in the centre of the Ukrainian capital, holding up banners saying “Diversity is beautiful”, “Human rights = happy country”, …

The Associated Press reports: German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared unsteady and was visibly shaking Tuesday as she greeted the new Ukrainian leader in the hot sun in Berlin, saying later that she clearly hadn’t drunk enough water. Merkel’s whole body visibly shook and she pursed her lips as she tried to contain the situation as she stood with Ukrainian President …

The Guardian reports: Rudy Giuliani has said his controversial planned visit to Ukraine will not go ahead, because of concerns about who he would be meeting. Earlier this week, the former New York mayor who is now an attorney for Donald Trump said he planned to push Ukraine to pursue investigations he hoped could benefit the president politically. But on …

The New York Times reports: Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, is encouraging Ukraine to wade further into sensitive political issues in the United States, seeking to push the incoming government in Kiev to press ahead with investigations that he hopes will benefit Mr. Trump. Mr. Giuliani said he plans to travel to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in the …

Deutsche Welle reports: Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared set to win the Ukrainian election by a substantial margin, exit polls showed on Sunday. Polls showed Zelenskiy winning 73% of the vote, beating incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in the run-off elections. “We have accomplished this together,” Zelenskiy said in a speech. “All citizens of the post-Soviet countries, look at us! Everything is …

CNBC reports: Gregory Craig, who was White House counsel under President Barack Obama, was indicted Thursday on charges of lying and hiding information related to his work for Ukraine. Craig, a 74-year-old lawyer based in Washington, D.C., was charged by the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, unit. Craig faces up to five years in prison for each …

The Christian Post reports: Leading American evangelical Franklin Graham recently met with a Russian official sanctioned by the U.S. government during a trip to Moscow that he says Vice President Mike Pence “wholeheartedly supported.” In addition to a meeting he had with Russian Orthodox Bishop Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and evangelical leaders, Graham also met with the leader of the …

Moments ago federal judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to 73 months in prison. This was Manafort’s second sentencing in as many weeks and part of today’s sentence will run concurrently with the 47 month sentence handed down last week by federal judge T.S. Ellis. The New York Times reports: Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former …

CNN reports: The US has begun making the necessary preparations to sail a warship into the Black Sea, a move that comes amid heightened tensions in the region following Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian ships and detention of Ukrainian sailors. The US military has requested that the State Department notify Turkey of its possible plans to sail a warship into the …

Bloomberg reports: A former Paul Manafort associate who pleaded guilty to a lobbying crime admitted that he helped foreign donors give money to President Donald Trump’s Inaugural Committee. In a plea agreement made public Friday, prosecutors outlined other crimes that the lobbyist, Sam Patten, admitted to but wouldn’t be charged with. Among them was “causing foreign money” to be paid …

Courthouse News reports: A jury has been seated in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on tax evasion and bank fraud charges. A jury of six men and six women has been sworn in for the trial, and four alternate jurors, three women and one man, have also been selected. Opening arguments will begin later Tuesday afternoon. …

Bloomberg reports: Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s onetime campaign chairman, earned more than $60 million as a political consultant in Ukraine, U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller said on the eve of his criminal trial, providing the first tally of Manafort’s income there. Prosecutors intend to prove that Manafort made that much and “failed to report a significant percentage of it …