RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Switch on the news in Russia, and the message is clear: Washington is in chaos. Dmitry Kiselev, the host of a weekly television show, summed up U.S. President Donald Trump’s return from last month’s Group of 20 meeting in Germany by saying Mr. Trump had ‘plunged back into his native American hell, […]
Category: Russia
8/2/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump signed legislation on Wednesday [8-2-17] imposing sanctions on Russia and limiting his own authority to lift them, but asserted that the measure included ‘a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions’ and left open the possibility that he might choose not to enforce them as lawmakers intended. The legislation, which also […]
8/2/2017
BUDGET/REX TILLERSON/RUSSIA/STATE: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation. It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department. But more than five months into his tenure, Tillerson has […]
8/2/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [8-2-17] called the Russia sanctions legislation he signed into law ‘significantly flawed’ and urged Congress to not use the measure to hinder U.S. efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict with its European allies. ‘While I favor tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilizing behavior by Iran, […]
8/2/2017
MIKE PENCE/NATIONAL SECURITY/NATO/RUSSIA: “Vice President Mike Pence accused Russia on Wednesday [8-2-17] of working to ‘destabilize’ the Western Balkans and divide the region from the West where he said its future lies. Pence spoke in Montenegro, which joined NATO this year in defiance of Russia, on the final leg of a tour designed to reassure […]
8/1/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE PENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump will ‘very soon’ sign a law limiting his ability to lift sanctions against Russia, even though he has ‘concerns’ about the measure, Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday [8-1-17]. The announcement during a visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, comes as no surprise, because the Trump administration had signaled […]
8/1/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/NATO/RUSSIA: “NATO jets intercepted three Russian military aircraft near Estonian airspace Tuesday [8-1-17], an alliance spokesman told CNN… He added that Finnish jets also scrambled to intercept the Russian aircraft which he identified as two MiG-31 fighter jets and an AN-26 transport plane. NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission involves allied aircraft securing the airspace […]
8/1/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “White House senior adviser Jared Kushner offered an explanation to congressional interns earlier this week as to why it was not possible for the Trump campaign to collude with Russia during the election: It was too disorganized for such a conspiracy. Speaking at an off-the-record hourlong meeting at the Capitol Visitor […]
8/1/2017
RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday [8-1-17] that a report that President Donald Trump personally dictated his son’s misleading statement regarding a meeting last summer with a Russian attorney ‘bothers me a lot,’ as do the president’s regular requests that the Senate do away with the legislative filibuster, a non-starter, according […]
7/31/2017
MILITARY/RUSSIA/STATE/UKRAINE: “The U.S. Pentagon and State Department have devised plans to supply Ukraine with antitank missiles and other weaponry and are seeking White House approval, U.S. officials said, as Kiev battles Russia-backed separatists and ties between Moscow and Washington fray. American military officials and diplomats say the arms, which they characterized as defensive, are meant […]
7/31/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE PENCE/RUSSIA: “Vice President Pence, on his first full day in Eastern Europe, twice offered a clear and direct message to Russia, warning the Kremlin that the United States will not tolerate Russian force or intimidation toward its neighbors and reassuring the Baltic States that the United States supports them in the face of […]
7/30/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that the U.S. would have to cut 755 diplomats and staff in the country by September in retaliation for impending U.S. sanctions on Moscow. In an interview with Russian state television, Mr. Putin said the U.S. presence in Russia would be reduced by more than […]
7/28/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “Russia on Friday [7-28-17] ordered the United States to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff in retaliation for a new round of U.S. sanctions, and said it was seizing two U.S. diplomatic properties. Moscow’s decision, which had echoes of the Cold War, was announced by the Foreign Ministry a day after the U.S. Senate […]
7/27/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “The Senate approved new sanctions to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote Thursday [7-27-17], gaining tentative support from the White House before its passage. The measure, which also imposes sanctions on North Korea and Iran, passed the Senate on a 98-2 vote. The […]
7/27/2017
GOP/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A senior Republican senator said Thursday [7-27-17] he is crafting legislation to protect the independence of the special counsel investigation into Russian activity during the 2016 election, a response to President Donald Trump’s criticism of the probe, which he has called a ‘witch hunt.’ Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) told reporters Thursday […]
7/27/2017
FAKE NEWS/MEDIA/POLITICS/RUSSIA: ” ‘One of the things that has been lost in the politics of this situation is that the Russians collected and spread negative information… about then candidate Trump.’ Catherine Herridge @FoxNews. So why doesn’t Fake News report this? Witch Hunt! Purposely phony reporting.” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 27, 2017 08:35am to 08:45am […]
7/27/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump could veto pending legislation that would slap new sanctions on Russia in order to push for a tougher deal, a top White House aide said on Thursday [7-27-17], as Moscow warned of retaliation if Washington pressed ahead with the measure. The idea of Trump seeking to strengthen […]
7/26/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The European Union stands ready to act ‘within days’ if its concerns about the U.S. bill to impose new sanctions on Russia aren’t addressed, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday [7-26-17]. The bill, which was passed Tuesday, includes provisions allowing President Donald Trump to sanction European companies who work on […]
7/26/2017
INTELLIGENCE/LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/RUSSIA: “The Senate judiciary committee will drop its subpoena of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, a source familiar with the matter told CNN on Tuesday, hours after the committee announced its subpoenas. The two sides have agreed to continue talking, and he will no longer be compelled to appear at a hearing the […]
7/25/2017
INTELLIGENCE/LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/RUSSIA: “President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, met with Senate Intelligence Committee investigators on Tuesday [7-25-17] to discuss the June 2016 meeting between a Russian lawyer and Mr. Trump’s inner circle that was set up to receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton, according to a spokesman for Mr. Manafort. ‘Paul Manafort met this […]
7/25/2017
ENERGY/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/RICK PERRY/UKRAINE: “U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry optimistically discussed expanding American coal exports to Ukraine and other energy matters during a lengthy phone call this month with a Russian prankster who Perry thought was Ukraine’s prime minister. Perry actually was talking with comedians known in Russia for targeting celebrities and politicians with audacious stunts, […]
7/25/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s nominee for a top Justice Department post defended his work for a Russian bank Tuesday [7-25-17] and he said Mr. Trump’s tweets attacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions were ‘difficult’ for him to hear. Brian Benczkowski, a lawyer who served in the George W. Bush Justice Department, appeared before […]
7/25/2017
GOP/INTELLIGENCE/LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/RUSSIA: “The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena for Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, ordering him to appear before the panel on Wednesday [7-26-17]. In a joint statement, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa) and top Democrat Dianne Feinstein (D, Calif.) announced that negotiations over Paul Manafort’s voluntary cooperation with the […]
7/25/2017
RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY: “Jared Kushner did very well yesterday in proving he did not collude with the Russians. Witch Hunt. Next up, 11 year old Barron Trump!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 25, 2017 05:52am […]
7/25/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/UKRAINE: “Any U.S. decision to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons would set back peace efforts and escalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Tuesday [7-25-17]. The Kremlin was referring to an interview given by U.S. special envoy on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, to Britain’s broadcaster BBC, in which he said that Washington was actively reviewing whether […]
7/24/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House on Sunday [7-23-17] indicated President Donald Trump was likely to support legislation that would punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 election, after months of questioning assertions about Moscow’s involvement. The Trump administration’s response to the sanctions bill is being closely watched, because a failure to sign it […]
7/24/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA: “Sleazy Adam Schiff, the totally biased Congressman looking into ‘Russia,’ spends all of his time on television pushing the Dem loss excuse!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 24, 2017 08:12am […]
7/24/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/HILLARY CLINTON/RUSSIA: “So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 24, 2017 07:49am […]
7/24/2017
RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, on Monday [7-24-17] released details of his contacts with Russian officials and businesspeople in the two years since Mr. Trump launched his presidential campaign, including a previously undisclosed, brief meeting with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. in April 2016. […]
7/23/2017
LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, said on Monday [7-24-17] he ‘did not collude’ with Russia, as he prepared to appear before a Senate panel probing alleged Russian meddling in last year’s U.S. presidential election. Kushner said in a statement before the closed-door hearing that he […]
7/23/2017
LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “The president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has added a lawyer with congressional experience to his legal team, the lawyer told Reuters on Sunday [7-23-17]. Trump Jr. has hired Karina Lynch of the law firm Williams and Jensen, Lynch confirmed in an email to Reuters. She did not respond to queries about […]
7/23/2017
FAKE NEWS/POLITICS/RUSSIA: “As the phony Russian Witch Hunt continues, two groups are laughing at this excuse for a lost election taking hold, Democrats and Russians!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 23, 2017 03:09pm […]
7/22/2017
CYBERWAR/FOREIGN POLICY/NSA/RUSSIA: “Adm. Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, said Saturday [7-23-17] that ‘now is probably not the best time’ to pursue a joint cybersecurity initiative with Russia — an idea that President Donald Trump floated following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month… Senior Trump administration officials, including […]
7/22/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/HILLARY CLINTON/INTELLIGENCE/JEFF SESSIONS/RUSSIA: “So many people are asking why isn’t the A.G. or Special Council looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted?…What about all of the Clinton ties to Russia, including Podesta Company, Uranium deal, Russian Reset, big dollar speeches etc.” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 22, 2017 06:47am […]
7/21/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “The Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. after his father won the Republican nomination for the 2016 U.S. presidential election counted Russia’s FSB security service among her clients for years, Russian court documents seen by Reuters show. The documents show that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, successfully represented the FSB’s interests in […]
7/20/2017
CRIME/RUSSIA/TREASURY: “The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday [7-20-17] imposed a $2 million fine on Exxon Mobil Corp. for what it called a ‘reckless disregard’ of U.S. sanctions on Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil giant’s chief executive, a finding the company immediately said it would challenge. Exxon, under Mr. Tillerson, in […]
7/20/2017
GOP/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA: “The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he would issue subpoenas if witnesses refuse to appear at a Senate hearing next week that will largely focus on a June 2016 meeting between the president’s son, top Trump campaign advisers and a group of Russian advocates. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) said that […]
7/20/2017
RUSSIA/TREASURY/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “The Treasury Department said Thursday [7-20-17] it is fining Exxon Mobil Corp. $2 million for violating sanctions related to Russia in 2014, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was CEO of the company. In May of that year, the presidents of Exxon Mobil’s U.S. subsidiaries ‘dealt in services of an individual whose […]
7/20/2017
CYBERWAR/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Moscow and Washington are in talks to create a joint cyber security working group, Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Thursday [7-20-17], citing Andrey Krutskikh, a special presidential envoy on cyber security. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month he had discussed the idea of creating such a group with President […]
7/19/2017
ATTORNEY GENERAL/JEFF SESSIONS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump said on Wednesday [7-19-17] that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged his presidency, calling the decision ‘very unfair to the president.’ In a remarkable public break with one of […]
7/19/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/PAUL MANAFORT/UKRAINE: “Financial records filed last year in the secretive tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul J. Manafort kept bank accounts during his years working in Ukraine and investing with a Russian oligarch, indicate that he had been in debt to pro-Russia interests by as much as $17 million before he joined Donald J. […]
7/19/2017
2016 ELECTION/CAMPAIGN/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR/JARED KUSHNER/TRUMP PEOPLE/PAUL MANAFORT: “President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort have been asked to appear before U.S. Senate committees next week to answer questions about the campaign’s alleged connections to Russia, officials said on Wednesday [7-19-17]. The three men are the closest […]
7/19/2017
AMBASSADOR/NOMINATIONS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump announced his intention Tuesday [7-18-17] to nominate former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to be U.S. ambassador to Russia. If confirmed, the former 2012 GOP presidential candidate would take over a high-profile post amid ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential contacts between Russian officials and the […]
7/18/2017
RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed talk on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg earlier this month, a White House official said Tuesday [7-18-17]. The conversation took place on the same day that the two leaders met earlier for more […]
7/18/2017
FAKE NEWS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 07:59pm […]
7/18/2017
FAKE NEWS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is ‘sick.’ All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2017 07:53pm […]
7/18/2017
ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Special counsel Robert Mueller has contacted an eighth attendee at a meeting arranged by Donald Trump Jr. between top campaign aides and a Russian lawyer, in the first public sign that Mr. Mueller’s probe will include the gathering last June at Trump Tower in New York. Mr. Mueller, who is investigating […]
7/18/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Special counsel investigators are seeking information from the still-publicly unidentified eighth person who attended the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower, this person’s attorney Scott Balber said Tuesday [7-18-17]. ‘The eighth person has been identified by prosecutors and we are cooperating fully with prosecutors as a result of […]
7/17/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/PAUL MANAFORT: “New York prosecutors have demanded records relating to up to $16 million in loans that a bank run by a former campaign adviser for President Donald Trump made to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to a person familiar with the matter. The subpoena by the Manhattan district attorney’s office to the […]
7/17/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “Russia has described any possible conditions set by Washington to return two of the country’s diplomatic compounds in the US that were closed down late last year as ‘unacceptable.’ ‘We have repeatedly said that we think any conditions are unacceptable. We think that the diplomatic property must be returned without any conditions and […]
7/16/2017
ETHICS/RUSSIA: “A lawyer for President Donald Trump said Sunday that no laws were broken when the president’s eldest son agreed to a meeting in June 2016 to hear what was described as a Russian government offer of allegedly damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton. Jay Sekulow appeared on all five major Sunday morning news programs […]
7/16/2017
RUSSIA/SECRET SERVICE/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “The U.S. Secret Service on Sunday denied a suggestion from President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer that it had vetted a meeting between the president’s son and Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign. Donald Trump Jr. has acknowledged that he met in New York with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after he was […]
7/16/2017
2016 ELECTION/CAMPAIGN/RUSSIA: “Thank you to former campaign adviser Michael Caputo for saying so powerfully that there was no Russian collusion in our winning campaign.” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 16, 2017 06:04am […]
7/15/2017
CAMPAIGN/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Donald Trump’s campaign paid $50,000 to the law office now representing Donald Trump Jr. a little more than a week before news surfaced of an unreported meeting with a Russian attorney that has prompted new accusations of collusion. The payment to the Law Offices of Alan S. Futerfas, dated June 27, was […]
7/15/2017
ECONOMY/JOBS/RUSSIA: “Stock Market hit another all-time high yesterday – despite the Russian hoax story! Also, jobs numbers are starting to look very good!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 15, 2017 11:30am […]
7/14/2017
CAMPAIGN/NANCY PELOSI/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday [7-14-17] that she thinks President Trump and his family members may have violated campaign finance law, and potentially laws prohibiting cybercrime and espionage as well, through their meetings with Russian operatives during the 2016 presidential campaign. ‘On the strength of what they have now […]
7/14/2017
LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “One of the high-powered lawyers representing senior White House adviser Jared Kushner in the ongoing Russia investigation, Jamie Gorelick, is stepping back from the case, and Abbe Lowell, another attorney representing Kushner, will now be in charge of the inquiry. Gorelick ‘will continue to work on the matters for which we were […]
7/14/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA: “Russia said on Friday [7-14-17] that too many American spies operated in Moscow under diplomatic cover and said it might expel some of them to retaliate against the United States over Washington’s expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats last year. The warning, delivered by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, reflects rising frustration in […]
7/14/2017
RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Some Democratic members of the U.S. Congress have renewed efforts to find possible links between banks such as Germany’s Deutsche Bank, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia. Investigations are being conducted in the United States into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign team and Russia during the presidential election campaign in 2016. The […]
7/14/2017
LOBBYING/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “A lobbyist who was once a Soviet counter-intelligence officer participated last year in a meeting with senior aides to U.S. President Donald Trump, including his son, and a Russian lawyer, NBC News reported on Friday [7-14-17], adding to allegations of possible connections between Moscow and the November election. NBC News, which did […]
7/13/2017
ETHICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR/JARED KUSHNER: “Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida introduced a pair of amendments aimed at stripping White House senior adviser Jared Kushner of his security clearance into a 2018 appropriations bill that were voted down Thursday [7-13-17]. The amendments came as Kushner found himself under renewed scrutiny after his participation in a […]
7/13/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “President Donald Trump’s eldest son has been invited to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee — and the panel’s chairman says he’s willing to subpoena him if necessary. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters Thursday [7-13-17] he was sending Donald Trump Jr. a letter asking him to testify and hoped […]
7/12/2017
INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP BUSINESS: “Investigators are re-examining conversations detected by U.S. intelligence agencies in spring 2015 that captured Russian government officials discussing associates of Donald Trump, according to current and former U.S. officials, a move prompted by revelations that the president’s eldest son met with a Russian lawyer last year. In some cases, the Russians in the […]
7/12/2017
LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “After initially holding back, President Trump jumped to the defense of his son on Wednesday morning, denouncing reports about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer to gain incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as part of ‘the greatest witch hunt in political history.’ The president fired off posts on […]
7/12/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “It won a near-unanimous vote in the Senate, involves a hostile foreign power that interfered in the election last fall and now shadows the president. And it is now before a House Republican majority that has long placed a hawkish approach to Russia at the center of its foreign policy. So why is […]
7/12/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday [7-12-17] he did not fault his son Donald Trump Jr. for meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential election campaign and that he was unaware of the meeting until a few days ago. Asked if he knew that his son […]
7/12/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/FRANCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “If Washington is currently a dark place for President Donald Trump, a stop in the City of Light may prove well-timed. ‘The White House is paralyzed,’ a top Republican close to the West Wing told CNN ahead of Trump’s departure to Paris, a withering assessment of an administration whose goals of […]
7/12/2017
LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR/JARED KUSHNER: “While President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., finds himself at the center of a political firestorm stemming from his controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer last summer, questions are also beginning to swirl around the involvement of another Trump family member who was present for the rendezvous: Jared Kushner. […]
7/12/2017
2016 ELECTION/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “An attorney representing President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday [7-12-17] that the President was unaware of his oldest son’s attempts to obtain information purportedly from Russia during the 2016 election. ‘Let’s focus on what the President was aware of: nothing,’ Jay Sekulow said on CNN’s ‘New Day.’ Sekulow said he wanted to […]
7/12/2017
2016 ELECTION/HILLARY CLINTON/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “The Kremlin said Wednesday [7-12-17] the release of an email chain by Donald Trump Jr. was part of a ‘long-running TV drama,’ dismissing an alleged Russian government offer to pass on information to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. ‘There is nothing to investigate,’ said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according […]
7/12/2017
NATO/RUSSIA: “NATO and Russian pilots are reviving a Cold War contest of nerves, increasing the risk that airborne close encounters could accidentally spark a conflict. Over the past three years, the number of adversarial flights near the other side’s planes and ships have increased significantly. The tactic, usually meant as a show of force or […]
7/12/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/HOUSE OF REPS/IRAN/RUSSIA: “U.S. House of Representatives Democrats said they would introduce a new version of a Russia and Iran sanctions bill on Wednesday [7-12-17], in a new bid to move legislation that has been mired in partisan squabbling for almost a month. Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee plan to introduce in […]
7/12/2017
2016 ELECTION/HILLARY CLINTON/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “The White House has been thrust into chaos after days of ever-worsening revelations about a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a lawyer characterized as representing the Russian government, as the president fumes against his enemies and senior aides circle one another with suspicion, according to top White House officials […]
7/11/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “If President Trump emerged from his meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week hoping he had begun to ‘move forward’ from the controversy over the Kremlin’s election meddling, as advisers put it, his flight home the next day made clear just how overly optimistic that was. […]
7/11/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “For months, the hope in President Donald Trump’s world—sometimes realistic, sometimes strained—was that the story of Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election would quickly shrivel up and blow away. That dream died on Tuesday [7-11-17]. Whatever else the stunning email chain released by Donald Trump Jr. did or didn’t show, […]
7/11/2017
LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who had incriminating information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton that could help his father’s presidential campaign could lead investigators to probe whether he violated U.S. election law, experts said. Trump Jr. met the woman, lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, […]
7/11/2017
2016 ELECTION/CAMPAIGN/HILLARY CLINTON/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR/JARED KUSHNER: “The president’s eldest son and senior campaign aides attended a meeting last year to discuss allegedly incriminating information about Hillary Clinton they were told was being offered by the Russian government in support of Donald Trump’s candidacy, according to emails Donald Trump Jr. released Tuesday [7-11-17]. The release of […]
7/10/2017
2016 ELECTION/ETHICS/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest son on Monday [7-10-17] offered to talk to a Senate committee investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, after he acknowledged meeting a Russian lawyer during the campaign. ‘Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know,’ Donald Trump Jr. wrote […]
7/10/2017
2016 ELECTION/ETHICS/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Donald Trump Jr. is in a legal danger zone following his acknowledgment that he met during the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign with a Russian lawyer with Kremlin ties who offered to deliver damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Democratic and Republican lawyers and political operatives alike say explanations about the […]
7/10/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA: “The two congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election have committed to a goal that has eluded almost every major probe on Capitol Hill in recent years: bipartisanship. The Senate and House intelligence committees are broadly examining Russian meddling in the election, including whether members of President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded […]
7/10/2017
ETHICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “President Donald Trump’s eldest son arranged a June 2016 meeting between top campaign aides and a Russian lawyer who has been linked to the Kremlin after being told she ‘might have information helpful to the campaign.’ In a statement Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. said he didn’t know the lawyer’s name before the […]
7/10/2017
ETHICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “The Kremlin on Monday [7-10-17] said it was unaware of a 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer purported to have information that could potentially damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. President Trump’s eldest son said Sunday that Natalia Veselnitskaya, who represents business executives close to the Russian government had […]
7/10/2017
CYBERWAR/FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “A joint Russian-U.S. working group on cyber security, proposed by President Vladimir Putin in a discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hamburg, is unlikely to be launched any time soon, a Russian official said on Monday [7-10-17]. ‘President Putin proposed forming a working group. This does not mean that it should start […]
7/9/2017
2016 ELECTION/CYBERWAR/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump tried without success on Sunday [7-9-17] to put the matter of Russia’s election meddling behind him, insisting that he had ‘strongly pressed’ President Vladimir V. Putin on the matter twice in a private meeting last week and declaring that it was ‘time to move forward.’ But if Mr. Trump […]
7/9/2017
CYBERWAR/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t-but a ceasefire can,& did!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 9, 2017 07:45pm […]
7/9/2017
RUSSIA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin. Nothing will be done until the Ukrainian & Syrian problems are solved!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 9, 2017 07:31am […]
7/9/2017
CYBERWAR/FAKE NEWS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded…and safe. Questions were asked about why the CIA & FBI had to ask the DNC 13 times for their SERVER, and were rejected, still don’t…have it. Fake News said […]
7/9/2017
2016 ELECTION/CYBERWAR/FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I’ve already given my opinion…We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 9, 2017 […]
7/7/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for over two hours Friday [7-7-17] afternoon, discussing interference in US elections and ending with an agreement on curbing violence in Syria. But a diplomatic dust-up immediately broke out after the session when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin’s […]
7/7/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I look forward to all meetings today with world leaders, including my meeting with Vladimir Putin. Much to discuss. #G20Summit #USA??” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 7, 2017 02:42am […]
7/7/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump opened his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday [7-7-17] by expressing concerns about Russian interference in the U.S. election, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, adding that Mr. Putin denied any involvement. The leaders spoke for more than two hours on the sidelines of the […]
7/6/2017
2016 ELECTION/CYBERWAR/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump took his criticism of the U.S. intelligence community abroad on Thursday [7-6-17], calling its acumen into question before an international audience in Poland. While the president conceded that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, he said other countries could have interfered as well, an assessment that contradicts […]
7/6/2017
DEMS/INTELLIGENCE/NATIONAL SECURITY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Five senior Democratic senators involved in national security, foreign policy and intelligence wrote President Donald Trump in a letter published Thursday [7-6-17], urging him to use his upcoming bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to ‘make absolutely clear’ that Russian interference in US elections ‘will in no way be tolerated.’ […]
7/6/2017
2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said Thursday that he thinks Russia was behind 2016 election meddling, but added that he feels ‘it could have been other people in other countries’ and that ‘nobody really knows for sure.’ ‘I think it very well could be Russia but I think it could very well have […]
7/5/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump has been briefed repeatedly. His advisers have alerted him to the web of potential risks, complex issues and diplomatic snags. But even his top aides do not know precisely what Mr. Trump will decide to say or do when he meets President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia face-to-face this […]
7/5/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/RUSSIA/UN: “The U.S. and Russia clashed at the United Nations Security Council over how to respond to North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program, a confrontation throwing into doubt U.S. hopes for an international diplomatic solution to the burgeoning crisis. The standoff between diplomats on Wednesday [7-5-17] came just two days before President Donald Trump and […]
7/4/2017
CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “Much of the world’s attention at the Group of 20 economic summit on Friday [7-7-17] and Saturday will be on President Trump’s first meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, with strenuous efforts to decipher the nature of the long-distance bromance between them. But the leader of the world’s other superpower, Xi […]
6/29/2017
HOUSE OF REPS/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA: “The House intelligence committee plans to interview Susan Rice next month as part of its investigation into Russia meddling in the US election last year, a high-profile target for Republicans who accuse President Barack Obama’s former national security adviser of improperly handling classified intelligence reports, according to sources familiar with the private […]
6/29/2017
2016 ELECTION/HILLARY CLINTON/MICHAEL FLYNN/RUSSIA: “Before the 2016 presidential election, a longtime Republican opposition researcher mounted an independent campaign to obtain emails he believed were stolen from Hillary Clinton’s private server, likely by Russian hackers. In conversations with members of his circle and with others he tried to recruit to help him, the GOP operative, Peter […]
6/29/2017
FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at next week’s G-20 summit, senior administration officials confirmed Thursday. Mr. Trump also plans to meet with a number of NATO allies and is set to hold one-on-one discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Chinese President […]