Tag: 2016 Russian election interference

On Flight to Davos, Trump Erupted Over DOJ Role in Russia Probe

The following article by Jennifer Jacobs was posted on the Bloomberg News website January 29, 2018:

  • President is said to be angered by Justice Department warning
  • Kelly reproached officials in meetings, calls last week

President Donald Trump’s frustrations with the Russia investigation boiled over on Air Force One last week when he learned that a top Justice Department official had warned against releasing a memo that could undercut the probe, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Trump erupted in anger while traveling to Davos after learning that Associate Attorney General Stephen Boyd warned that it would be “extraordinarily reckless” to release a classified memo written by House Republican staffers. The memo outlines alleged misdeeds at the FBI and Justice Department related to the Russia investigation.

Continue reading “On Flight to Davos, Trump Erupted Over DOJ Role in Russia Probe”

Even now, Republicans are ignoring the storm clouds

The following commentary by Joe Scarborough was posted on the Washington Post website January 26, 2018:

Joe Scarborough
Credit: NBC/Today

We learned this week that President Trump in June ordered the firing of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, but few Republicans on Capitol Hill bothered to raise an eyebrow. In more settled times, this kind of presidential assault on an independent investigation would have stirred grave concerns throughout the halls of Congress. But Trump’s corrupted coalition has instead trotted out one twisted conspiracy theory after another, all designed to distract the president’s most fevered fans and concoct a case against Mueller’s investigation.

Wild tales of secret societies, Obama wiretaps and “deep-state” conspiracies flow freely from the tongues of Trump apparatchiks. Those preposterous narratives are then spread across cable news networks and inside Capitol Hill cloakrooms. Continue reading “Even now, Republicans are ignoring the storm clouds”

Russian Hacker Claims There’s Proof He Hacked The DNC

The following article by Zachary Fryer-Biggs of Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website December 29, 2017:

A Russian hacker who defied Vladimir Putin by claiming he hacked the Democratic National Committee on orders from a high-level Russian security official now says he planted personal details in DNC servers that can prove he was behind the break-in—a detail that, if true, strengthens his claim about the Russians’ meddling in the 2016 election.

Konstantin Kozlovsky, a cyber attacker who had previously claimed he was ordered by a Russian security official to crack the DNC server, told RAIN television that he hid his passport number and visa number for a visit to St. Martin in a data file on the DNC systems so that he could prove his story later,  according to McClatchy. Continue reading “Russian Hacker Claims There’s Proof He Hacked The DNC”

Trump’s deep insecurity about Russian interference, in stark relief

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website December 14, 2017:

President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg in July. (Evan Vucci/AP)

It’s no secret that President Trump isn’t a fan of the idea that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Even when he’s conceded it, he’s gone only halfway. He’s accepting of Vladimir Putin’s denials. He clearly only begrudgingly signed Congress’s new Russia sanctions. And he has even reportedly dispatched a conspiracy theorist to brief his CIA director on the matter.

But seldom have we seen Trump’s insecurity and stubbornness on this topic in such stark relief as we do today. Continue reading “Trump’s deep insecurity about Russian interference, in stark relief”

2017 Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a ‘made-up story’

The following article by Angie Drobnic Holan was posted on the Politifact website December 12, 2017:

Tampa Bay Times illustration by Ron Borresen

A mountain of evidence points to a single fact: Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential election of 2016.

In both classified and public reports, U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered actions to interfere with the election. Those actions included the cyber-theft of private data, the placement of propaganda against particular candidates, and an overall effort to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process.

Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have held open and closed door hearings to probe Russia’s actions. The congressional investigations are ongoing. Continue reading “2017 Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a ‘made-up story’”

This is why Flynn’s guilty plea should terrify Trump

The following article by Casey Michel was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 1, 2017:

Michael Flynn has plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials. Credit: AP/Ssusan Walsh

From the earliest days of the Donald Trump administration, one question has hung in the background: Who directed Michael Flynn, Trump’s disgraced former national security adviser, to discuss Russia sanctions with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the final days of Barack Obama’s presidency?

We still don’t know the answer. But we might be about to find out.

On Friday, Flynn pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI about the content of his December 29, 2016, phone call with Kislyak. As the Washington Post noted, Flynn’s guilty plea shows that “he is cooperating in the ongoing probe of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

ABC News further reports that Flynn appears willing to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team in its ongoing investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Per ABC, Flynn is “prepared to testify that that [then-candidate Trump] ordered him to make contact with the Russians, which contradicts all that Donald Trump has said at this point.” Continue reading “This is why Flynn’s guilty plea should terrify Trump”

Russian TV Editor Says Kremlin Ordered Clinton Takedown

The following article by Graham Lanktree of Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website November 25, 2017:

U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrives at Burke Lakefront airport in Cleveland, Ohio U.S., October 21, 2016. Credit:  REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A former television news editor for Russian state media outlet Rossiya says that the Kremlin used to call and give instructions about how to cover Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. election.

“Sometimes it was a phone call. Sometimes it was a conversation,” Dimitri Skorobutov told The New Yorker Thursday. “If Donald Trump has a successful press conference, we broadcast it for sure. And if something goes wrong with Clinton, we underline it.”

“Me and my colleagues, we were given a clear instruction: to show Donald Trump in a positive way, and his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in a negative way,” Skorobutov said at a recent speech at a journalism conference in Maastricht in the Netherlands. Continue reading “Russian TV Editor Says Kremlin Ordered Clinton Takedown”

Robert Mueller Has Subpoenaed More Than a Dozen Trump Officials for Documents Related to Russia: Report

The following article by Chris Sosa was posted on the AlterNet website November 16, 2017:

Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The Wall Street Journal reports that a source has confirmed investigators under special counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed the 2016 campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump for documents containing Russia-related keywords.

More than a dozen individuals are included among those compelled to turn over documents.

Members of the 2016 Trump campaign were reportedly caught off guard, because they’d been voluntarily complying with the investigation up to that point. While Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associates were subpoenaed in the past, this marks the first time the campaign itself has been subpoenaed by Mueller’s team. Continue reading “Robert Mueller Has Subpoenaed More Than a Dozen Trump Officials for Documents Related to Russia: Report”

The big problem with Donald Trump Jr.’s excuse for collaborating with WikiLeaks

The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website November 14, 2017:

The timeline is more incriminating than he’d have you believe.

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/SETH WENIG

Donald Trump Jr. seems to think that the direct messages he exchanged with WikiLeaks aren’t particularly incriminating. On Monday night, Trump Jr. tweeted out what he claims were his “entire chain of messages” with WikiLeaks, and he dismissively wrote that his messages consisted of a “whopping 3 responses.”

According to those direct messages, Trump Jr.’s last message to Wikileaks was sent on October 3, 2016 — four days before the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security released a joint statement publicly accusing WikiLeaks of being a Kremlin front. Continue reading “The big problem with Donald Trump Jr.’s excuse for collaborating with WikiLeaks”

The clear timeline suggesting Donald Trump Jr. coordinated with WikiLeaks

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website November 14, 2017:

President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. communicated with WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Here’s what the messages say. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

On Oct. 14, 2016, Mike Pence took to Fox News and flat-out denied that the Trump campaign was “in cahoots” with WikiLeaks. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” the Republican vice-presidential nominee said.

Turns out Pence’s answer was pretty far from the truth. Continue reading “The clear timeline suggesting Donald Trump Jr. coordinated with WikiLeaks”