Tag: Russia

Assange Says WikiLeaks Rejected Request by Data Firm Tied to Trump

The following article by Nicholas Confessore was posted on the New York Times website October 25, 2017:

Julian Assange in May at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Mr. Assange confirmed on Twitter that he had been approached before the 2016 election by the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica. Credit Peter Nicholls/Reuters

The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Wednesday that he had rebuffed a request for help last year from the head of a data firm that worked for Donald J. Trump and is now facing congressional scrutiny.

On Twitter, Mr. Assange said he had been approached before the 2016 election by Alexander Nix, the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, which worked for Mr. Trump during the final months of the campaign. Mr. Assange did not disclose what kind of help Mr. Nix sought, only that he had declined the request.

“I can confirm an approach by Cambridge Analytica,” Mr. Assange wrote, “and can confirm that it was rejected by WikiLeaks.” Continue reading “Assange Says WikiLeaks Rejected Request by Data Firm Tied to Trump”

Russia is pushing to control cyberspace. We should all be worried.

The following column by David Ignatius was posted on the Washington Post website October 24, 2017:

Credit: Alexei Druzhinin/Associated Press

Russia’s cyber-meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has been accompanied by what U.S. and European experts describe as a worrisome Kremlin campaign to rewrite the rules for global cyberspace.

A draft of a Russian proposal for a new “United Nations Convention on Cooperation in Combating Information Crimes” was recently shown to me by a security expert who obtained a copy. The 54-page document includes 72 proposed articles, covering collection of Internet traffic by authorities, “codes of conduct” for cyberspace and “joint investigation” of malicious activity. The language sounds bureaucratic and harmless, but experts say that if adopted, it would allow Russia to squeeze cyberspace even more. Continue reading “Russia is pushing to control cyberspace. We should all be worried.”

Juan Williams: Trump’s smokescreen on Russia won’t work

The following column from Juan WIlliams was posted on the Hill website October 2, 2017:

© Getty Images

“Are there any Russians in the audience? I don’t see too many Russians,” a defiant President Trump recently told an Alabama crowd.

He finds joy, even now, in ridiculing reports of Russian interference in last year’s presidential campaign.

Speaking to his true believers, he reassured them that “Russia did not help me win” and dismissed reports to the contrary as “the Russia hoax — one of the great hoaxes.”

So, in the self-aggrandizing manner of the president, let me ask — Are there any Russians reading this column right now? Continue reading “Juan Williams: Trump’s smokescreen on Russia won’t work”

‘How do we use [this] to get whole?’: The most intriguing new Paul Manafort-Russia email

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

Donald Trump’s then-campaign chair Paul Manafort in July 2016. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri/File Photo)

This post has been updated.

The trouble Paul Manafort is in is still coming into focus. The latest development: emails he sent to a Ukraine-based employee of his consulting business talking about setting up a briefing with a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.

The Washington Post’s Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, Carol D. Leonnig and Adam Entous just broke that big story, and it comes on the heels of a New York Times report this week that investigators have told Manafort they plan to indict him — apparently in hopes of getting him to flip on President Trump.

For me, though, the most intriguing email in The Post’s report is this one: Continue reading “‘How do we use [this] to get whole?’: The most intriguing new Paul Manafort-Russia email”

Stephen Bannon’s nervous defense of Trump on Russia is telling

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website September 11, 2017:

Stephen K. Bannon labeled the Russia investigation a “farce” and a “waste of time” during his interview with “60 Minutes” this weekend. But those strong words papered over what was otherwise a pretty nervous and nonsensical defense of President Trump on Russia.

If you watch the video above, you’ll see Bannon repeatedly stumble over his answers to Charlie Rose’s questions. Bannon echoed the Trump White House’s long-running strategy of deflecting on Russia, responding to questions about whether there was interference by saying there was no collusion and that it didn’t have an impact. Both times Bannon tried this, though, Rose called him out for not answering the question. Continue reading “Stephen Bannon’s nervous defense of Trump on Russia is telling”

The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election

The following article by Scott Shane was posted on the New York Times website September 7, 2017:

Sometimes an international offensive begins with a few shots that draw little notice. So it was last year when Melvin Redick of Harrisburg, Pa., a friendly-looking American with a backward baseball cap and a young daughter, posted on Facebook a link to a brand-new website.

“These guys show hidden truth about Hillary Clinton, George Soros and other leaders of the US,” he wrote on June 8, 2016. “Visit #DCLeaks website. It’s really interesting!”

Mr. Redick turned out to be a remarkably elusive character. No Melvin Redick appears in Pennsylvania records, and his photos seem to be borrowed from an unsuspecting Brazilian. But this fictional concoction has earned a small spot in history: The Redick posts that morning were among the first public signs of an unprecedented foreign intervention in American democracy. Continue reading “The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election”

Facebook says it sold political ads to Russian company during 2016 election

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Rosaline S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website September 6, 2017:

Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters, according to several people familiar with the company’s findings.

Facebook officials reported that they traced the ad sales, totaling $100,000, to a Russian “troll farm” with a history of pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda, these people said. Continue reading “Facebook says it sold political ads to Russian company during 2016 election”

Top Trump Organization executive asked Putin aide for help on business deal

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman, Carol D. Leonnig and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website August 28, 2017:

The Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig and Tom Hamburger explain the Trump Organization’s efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. (Jenny Starrs, Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

A top executive from Donald Trump’s real estate company emailed Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s personal spokesman during the U.S. presidential campaign last year to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower development project in Moscow, according to documents submitted to Congress on Monday. Continue reading “Top Trump Organization executive asked Putin aide for help on business deal”

Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected’

The following article by Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Hagerman was posted on the New York Times website August 28, 2017:

Donald J. Trump with Felix H. Sater, right, and Tevfik Arif at the official unveiling of Trump SoHo in September 2007. Credit Mark Von Holden/WireImage

WASHINGTON — A business associate of President Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, that he said would help Mr. Trump win the presidency.

The associate, Felix Sater, wrote a series of emails to Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Mr. Putin. He predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would highlight Mr. Trump’s savvy negotiating skills and be a political boon to his candidacy.

“Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Mr. Sater wrote in an email. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.”

A portion of an email Felix Sater sent to Michael Cohen on Nov. 3, 2015. Continue reading “Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected’”

Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About Meeting With Russians

The following article by Eileen Sullivan and Adam Goldman was posted on the New York Times website July 25, 2017:

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, met with Senate Intelligence Committee investigators on Tuesday to discuss the June 2016 meeting between a Russian lawyer and Mr. Trump’s inner circle that was set up for the campaign to receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton, according to a spokesman for Mr. Manafort.

“Paul Manafort met this morning, by previous agreement, with the bipartisan staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee and answered their questions fully,” said the spokesman, Jason Maloni.

Mr. Manafort gave the investigators notes he had taken during the meeting, according to one person familiar with Tuesday’s discussion with congressional investigators at a Washington law firm. Continue reading “Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About Meeting With Russians”