Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

ABC News reports: The top Republicans on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have asked the Department of Justice inspector general to investigate potential leaks involving classified information at the department following the resignation of White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. In a Wednesday letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, …

The Guardian reports: The Kremlin has rejected as “fake news” reports that Donald Trump’s campaign team spoke frequently with high-ranking Russian intelligence agents over the course of last year. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said a New York Times report quoting former and current US officials contained only “anonymous information” and that it was “very …

The Hill reports: President Trump early Wednesday blasted the “fake news media” and leaks from the intelligence community after reports emerged that senior aides with his presidential campaign were in contact with Russian officials. Trump in his first tweet of the morning said the “fake news media” is “going crazy with conspiracy theories and blind hatred.” Tump slammed MSNBC and …

The New York Times reports: Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials. American law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they …

The New York Times reports: Russia has secretly deployed a new cruise missile despite complaints from American officials that it violates a landmark arms control treaty that helped seal the end of the Cold War, administration officials say. The move presents a major challenge for President Trump, who has vowed to improve relations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia …

Bloomberg reports: Emmanuel Macron is calling for the European Union to stand firm against Russia as his French election campaign is targeted by computer hackers. The front-runner to be France’s next president wants to maintain dialogue with Russia but insists the EU must take a hard line on any potential interference in European elections, a campaign official said last week, …

Politico reports: House Speaker Paul Ryan praised President Donald Trump for swiftly demanding his top national security aide Michael Flynn’s resignation – despite reports that indicate Flynn decided to step down on his own and that the White House sat on damaging information about Flynn’s ties to Russia for weeks. “National security is perhaps the most important function or responsibility …

USA Today reports: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has apologized amid reports that Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador in the days before President Trump’s inauguration, a White House official said. The apology was directed most notably to Vice President Pence, who had emphatically denied to CBS News last month that Flynn had discussed “anything having …

The Associated Press reports: Congressional Democrats on Friday called for an investigation into whether White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions in phone calls with Russia’s ambassador while President Barack Obama was still in office, conversations that may have broken U.S. law aimed at barring private citizens from conducting diplomacy. The White House said President Donald Trump …

NBC News reports: U.S. intelligence has collected information that Russia is considering turning over Edward Snowden as a “gift” to President Donald Trump — who has called the NSA leaker a “spy” and a “traitor” who deserves to be executed. That’s according to a senior U.S. official who has analyzed a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports detailing Russian deliberations …

CNN reports: For the first time, US investigators say they have corroborated some of the communications detailed in a 35-page dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent, multiple current and former US law enforcement and intelligence officials tell CNN. As CNN first reported, then-President-elect Donald Trump and President Barack Obama were briefed on the existence of the dossier prior …

Via Mediaite: Earlier this morning, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to lob some personal attacks at Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) over McCain’s criticism of the Yemen raid as a “failure.” Following Trump’s mean tweets, CNN’s Manu Raju caught up with McCain on Capitol Hill to get his reaction. Asked about the Russia Review Act that he signed on to …

ABC News reports: The wife of a poisoned Russian opposition activist says President Donald Trump must not consider Vladimir Putin a friend. In an exclusive interview with ABC News after visiting her comatose husband in a Moscow hospital, Evgenia Kara-Murza said, “[Trump] must know that such people as Vladimir Putin are not friends. And they cannot be dealt with on …

Via Mediaite: Republican Iowa Congressman Steve King argued Sunday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was not nearly as bad as critics charged, noting that Putin never murdered one of his prominent critics. “I think there’s been some overreaction on both sides of that argument,” King said on CNN. He argued that there wasn’t any moral equivalency between the United States …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: There’s no doubt that the United States has made terrible mistakes, like invading Iraq in 2003 and torturing terrorism suspects after Sept. 11. President Barack Obama often drew fire from Republicans for acknowledging the obvious — there are limits to American power and sometimes decisions to employ military force have resulted …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin said on Monday it wanted an apology from Fox News over what it said were “unacceptable” comments one of the channel’s presenters made about Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. Fox News host Bill O’Reilly described Putin as “a killer” in the interview with Trump as he tried to press …

Mediaite reports: During an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation, Vice President Mike Pence dodged several times when asked if he thought the United States was morally superior to Russia. Pence denied Sunday that President Donald Trump‘s comments in an upcoming interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly defending Putin and saying America wasn’t that innocent represented “morally equivalency.” “What you …

Slate reports: Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly sat down for the network’s second interview with President Trump that will air on Sunday afternoon ahead of the Super Bowl. Fox News promoted a pretty astounding excerpt of the interview where O’Reilly asks Trump about Vladimir Putin. Trump says that he respects the Russian president and when pressed about the dark, violent side …

Quid pro quo. Roll Call reports: President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone Saturday amid reports he is considering lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia over its military action in Ukraine. Trump is also scheduled to speak Saturday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he has criticized, Reuters reported. Merkel met Friday with French President Francois …

International Business Times reports: Kaspersky, Russia’s biggest cybersecurity firm, confirmed Wednesday its manager in charge of investigating hacking attacks, Ruslan Stoyanov, was arrested in December. Reports published earlier in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper also said Stoyanov was arrested along with a senior Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) intelligence officer, and that both faced charges of treason. Kaspersky spokeswoman Maria Shirokova reportedly …