Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

The Washington Examiner reports: The Green Party’s Jill Stein says a recent spike in interest about a photo of her having dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin can be traced to Democrats “looking for someone to blame” for their election struggles. The photo, from late 2015, shows Stein seated at a table at a Moscow gala with Putin and Mike …

The Washington Post reports: Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried “eyes only” instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides. The White House debated various options to punish Russia, but facing obstacles and potential risks, …

Unshockingly, Trump is twisting what Johnson said. Jeh Johnson, the former Homeland Security chief, says he wasn’t aware that the FBI had opened a counterintelligence investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, asked Johnson if former FBI Director Jim Comey would have opened such an …

The Guardian reports: A Russian law that bans gay “propaganda” encourages homophobia and discrimination, the European court of human rights has ruled, in a sharply worded rebuke to the Kremlin. Three Russian gay rights activists brought the case against the 2013 federal statute, widely known as the “gay propaganda” law, after they were arrested between 2009-12 for protesting against local …

The Independent reports: Vladimir Putin has joked that the fired FBI director James Comey is welcome to seek asylum in Russia. Speaking in his annual question and answer session in Moscow, the Russian President said it was “very strange” that the FBI official had leaked details of conversations with Donald Trump, and likened his actions to those of NSA whistleblower …

Bloomberg reports: Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported. In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackers accessed software designed to …

CNN reports: US investigators believe Russian hackers breached Qatar’s state news agency and planted a fake news report that contributed to a crisis among the US’ closest Gulf allies, according to US officials briefed on the investigation. The FBI recently sent a team of investigators to Doha to help the Qatari government investigate the alleged hacking incident, Qatari and US …

The Intercept reports: Russian military intelligence executed a cyber attack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November’s presidential election, according to a highly classified intelligence report obtained by The Intercept. The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept …

NBC News reports: Michael who? Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that he had limited personal interaction with former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, when asked by NBC’s Megyn Kelly in an exclusive interview about the nature of their relationship — and a widely circulated December, 2015 photo that shows the two sitting next to each other at dinner during …

CNBC reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday angrily denied allegations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, even comparing rhetoric about Russia to “anti-Semitism.” It’s like anti-Semitism,” he said, comparing Russia’s critics to people who would say things like “the Jews are to blame.” Through a live translation in the televised interview with NBC News’ Megyn Kelly, Putin …

The Moscow Times reports: Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Orthodox Church compared the adoption of homosexual marriage laws to the adoption of laws in fascist Germany. The Patriarch made the comments in Kyrgyzstan while promoting new translation of his book, according to RIA Novosti. The Patriarch said “so-called homosexual marriages” were a threat to families and added that “when …

The New York Times reports: Shifting from his previous blanket denials, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Thursday that “patriotically minded” private Russian hackers could have been involved in cyberattacks last year to help the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump. While Mr. Putin continued to deny any state role, his comments to reporters in St. Petersburg were …

From the Hollywood Reporter: It’s official: Megyn Kelly will interview Vladimir Putin one-on-one for the first episode of her Sunday night NBC series. Kelly herself made the announcement on NBC’s Today Thursday morning, reporting live from Russia. Kelly is moderating the plenary session of an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday (June 2), where Putin will be one of …

The New York Times reports: France’s newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron, came out of his first meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday with a message of stark challenge, promising French military reprisals for any use of chemical weapons by Russia’s allies in Syria and saying he would closely monitor the curtailing of civil rights for gay …

NBC News reports: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn appears to have lied to security clearance investigators by telling them he was paid by “U.S. companies” when he traveled to Russia in December 2015, according to a letter released Monday by the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “The Oversight Committee has in our possession documents that appear to …

The Hill reports: President Trump dropped by a meeting Thursday with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), one day after a report that that lawmaker privately accused Trump of being on Russia’s payroll. Trump and Vice President Pence made an unscheduled appearance at a meeting of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s innovation initiative. McCarthy was participating in the Roosevelt …

The Hill reports: Russian leader Vladimir Putin said early Wednesday that President Trump did not share secrets with Russian officials last week and is willing to give Congress transcripts to prove it. The Associated Press and Reuters reported that Putin is willing to hand over the records of the president’s conversation with Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador. Two days ago, …

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 …

Deutsche Welle reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he supports an investigation into the reported torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya, days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed him on the issue. Putin said he would personally ask the chief prosecutor and the interior minister to cooperate with human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova in an investigation …

The Independent reports: Angela Merkel has publicly raised concern over the reported prosecution of gay men in Chechnya with Vladimir Putin, following wide-ranging talks. The German Chancellor raised the alleged capture and torture of more than 100 people at a joint press conference with the Russian President in Sochi. The Kremlin has backed the Chechen government’s denials over the brutal …