Tag: Russia

Donald Trump Jr. was told campaign meeting would be with ‘Russian government attorney,’ according to emails

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman and John Wagner was posted on the Washington Post website July 11, 2017:

Donald Trump Jr. agreed to take a meeting during the 2016 presidential campaign with a woman he was told was a “Russian government attorney” who could provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of “Russia and its government’s support” for his father’s presidential campaign, according to emails tweeted by the president’s son on Tuesday.

President Trump’s eldest son early Tuesday posted on Twitter what he said was the entire exchange that led to the meeting amid a swirl of controversy about the June 2016 encounter. Continue reading “Donald Trump Jr. was told campaign meeting would be with ‘Russian government attorney,’ according to emails”

3 Reasons Trump is Wrong on Russia

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website July 10, 2017:

Credit:  Don Emmert/Agence France-Presse; Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images

After President Trump met last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his apparent strategy for Russian engagement is coming into focus. While it’s baffling that Trump continues to hedge on Russia’s meddling in our election (despite unanimity among U.S. intelligence agencies), it’s equally confusing to understand why Trump sees a friend where everyone else sees a foe. Is Trump, like a brilliant entrepreneur, seeing opportunity where others see a dead end? Not likely. Here are three reasons Trump is wrong on Russia: Continue reading “3 Reasons Trump is Wrong on Russia”

Trump suggested a cybersecurity pact with Russia. Lawmakers say they were ‘dumbfounded.’

The following article by Cleve R. Wootson, Jr., was posted on the Washington Post website July 9, 2017:

On Sunday morning, President Trump spoke of his new alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin to erect an “impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.”

This, the president tweeted at 7:31 a.m., came after Putin “vehemently denied” interfering with the 2016 U.S. election.

The tweet’s timing could not have been more perfect — for congressional critics of Trump’s new plan. Continue reading “Trump suggested a cybersecurity pact with Russia. Lawmakers say they were ‘dumbfounded.’”

Is Trump’s Attraction to Russia About Shaping the U.S. Version of Putin’s 21st-Century, Postmodern, Authoritarian, Kleptocratic Regime?

The following article by Timothy Snyder was posted on the AlterNet website July 3, 2017:

Yale historian Timothy Snyder asserts that Trump’s ties to Russia are far deeper and more dangerous than campaign collusion.

The links between President Trump and Russia will prove to be deeper and darker than many Americans now believe. This is according to Timothy Snyder, a noted historian of the 20th century’s tyrannical regimes in Eastern Europe, who said the U.S. is now moving down a cultural and political path that has much in common with Russia under Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian and oligarchic rule. Continue reading “Is Trump’s Attraction to Russia About Shaping the U.S. Version of Putin’s 21st-Century, Postmodern, Authoritarian, Kleptocratic Regime?”

How Russian Media Photographed a Closed Meeting With Trump

The following article by Mark Landler was posted on the New York Times website May 11, 2017:

Russia’s official news agency photographed President Trump’s meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov in the Oval Office on Wednesday. The American press was denied access. Credit Alexander Shcherbak/TASS, via Getty Images

WASHINGTON — What is it about Sergey V. Lavrov that always makes high-ranking American officials look hapless?

In 2006, Mr. Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, put Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an awkward position when technicians did not turn off the microphones at a lunch in Moscow. Reporters overheard the two of them bickering over American policy in Iraq. “What does that mean?” she said at one point. “I think you understand,” he replied.

Three years later, Hillary Clinton commemorated her first meeting with Mr. Lavrov after she became secretary of state by presenting him with a gag gift, a bright red button, stamped with what she said was the Russian word for “reset.” “You got it wrong,” he scolded, pointing to the faulty translation as cameras flashed. “It means overcharged.” Continue reading “How Russian Media Photographed a Closed Meeting With Trump”

Sean Spicer’s admission: Trump dismissed Obama’s warning about Michael Flynn as sour grapes

We’ve known for a while that the White House ignored Sally Yates’s warning about Michael Flynn. Now we come to find out that it also ignored an earlier warning from President Barack Obama himself.

And the White House’s explanation for it is oh-so-Trump: It viewed the warning as sour grapes from a loser. Continue reading “Sean Spicer’s admission: Trump dismissed Obama’s warning about Michael Flynn as sour grapes”

Trump to sit down with Russian foreign minister, one day after firing Comey

The following article by Philip Rucker and Karen DeYoung was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2017:

A day after firing the FBI director who had been overseeing the sweeping probe into his campaign’s ties to Russia, President Trump has just one event on his public schedule: an Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The sit-down between Trump and Lavrov, the first face-to-face contact the president has had with a senior official of the Russian government, will take place Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in the White House. It will be closed to the press, according to the White House schedule. Continue reading “Trump to sit down with Russian foreign minister, one day after firing Comey”

Guns and religion: How American conservatives grew closer to Putin’s Russia

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website April 30, 2017:

President Trump’s warm rhetoric toward Russia on the campaign trail is just one instance of a softening stance toward Russia among some U.S. conservatives. The Post examined the relationship between gun rights advocates and religious conservatives in the U.S., and their counterparts in Russia. (Bastien Inzaurralde, Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Growing up in the 1980s, Brian Brown was taught to think of the communist Soviet Union as a dark and evil place.

But Brown, a leading opponent of same-sex marriage, said that in the past few years he has started meeting Russians at conferences on family issues and finding many kindred spirits. Continue reading “Guns and religion: How American conservatives grew closer to Putin’s Russia”

Why won’t Congress really investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia?

The following article by Douglas L. Kriner and Eric Schickler was posted on the Washington Post website April 27, 2017:

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Politicians, pundits, and scholars alike routinely call Congress the “broken branch.” Most often, they note its abysmally low level of legislative productivity recently, a trend that even the return of unified Republican control of government has failed to reverse.

But Congress’s feeble efforts to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election may be an even more startling and serious institutional failure.

The House inquiry has been plagued by infighting and missteps. The most notable so far was the clandestine meeting to share intelligence between chief investigator, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and the White House he was charged with investigating. Continue reading “Why won’t Congress really investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia?”

Top Pentagon watchdog launches investigation into money that Michael Flynn received from foreign groups

The following article by Dan Lamonthe, Ed O’Keefe and Sean Sullivan was posted on the Washington Post website April 27, 2017:

The Pentagon’s top watchdog has launched an investigation into money that former national security adviser and retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn received from foreign groups and whether he failed to obtain proper approval to do so, lawmakers and defense officials said Thursday.

The Pentagon has in the past advised retiring officers that because they can be recalled to military service, they are subject to the Constitution’s rarely enforced emoluments clause, which prohibits top officials from receiving payments or favors from foreign governments. Continue reading “Top Pentagon watchdog launches investigation into money that Michael Flynn received from foreign groups”