Tag: Trumpgate

F.B.I. Warned Hope Hicks About Emails From Russian Operatives

The following article by Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo was posted on the New York Times website December 8, 2017:

WASHINGTON — F.B.I. officials warned one of President Trump’s top advisers, Hope Hicks, earlier this year about repeated attempts by Russian operatives to make contact with her during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the events.

The Russian outreach efforts show that, even after American intelligence agencies publicly accused Moscow of trying to influence the outcome of last year’s presidential election, Russian operatives were undaunted in their efforts to establish contacts with Mr. Trump’s advisers. Continue reading “F.B.I. Warned Hope Hicks About Emails From Russian Operatives”

Russian social media executive sought to help Trump campaign in 2016, emails show

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman, Anton Troianovski and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website December 7, 2017:

Russian social media site VK is seen on a smartphone screen. (Natalia Seliverstova/Sputnik/Associated Press)

An executive at a leading Russian social media company made several overtures to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 — including days before the November election — urging the candidate to create a page on the website to appeal to Russian Americans and Russians.

The executive at Vkontakte, or VK, Russia’s equivalent to Facebook, emailed Donald Trump Jr. and social media director Dan Scavino in January and again in November of last year, offering to help promote Trump’s campaign to its nearly 100 million users, according to people familiar with the messages.

“It will be the top news in Russia,” Konstantin Sidorkov, who serves as VK’s director of partnership marketing, wrote on Nov. 5, 2016. Continue reading “Russian social media executive sought to help Trump campaign in 2016, emails show”

Trump adopts Nixonian strategy, claims president is above the law

The following article by Judd Legum was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 4, 2017:

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up after speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser and one of his closest confidants, has flipped and is cooperating with special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Trump himself sent out a tweet over the weekend that, according to legal experts, makes the case against him for obstruction of justice.

This morning, in a seemingly coordinated effort, Trump embraced the idea that he did not obstruct justice because the “President cannot obstruct justice.” Continue reading “Trump adopts Nixonian strategy, claims president is above the law”

Trump lawyer says president knew Flynn had given FBI the same account he gave to vice president

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig, John Wagner and Ellen Nakashima was posted on the Washington Post website December 3, 2017:

President Trump’s denials about former national security adviser Michael Flynn are raising new questions about obstruction of justice. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump’s personal lawyer said Sunday that the president knew in late January that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had probably given FBI agents the same inaccurate account he provided to Vice President Pence about a call with the Russian ambassador.

Trump lawyer John Dowd said the information was passed to Trump by White House counsel Donald McGahn, who had been warned about Flynn’s statement to the vice president by a senior Justice Department official. The vice president said publicly at the time that Flynn had told him he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian diplomat — a statement disproved by a U.S. intelligence intercept of a phone call between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Continue reading “Trump lawyer says president knew Flynn had given FBI the same account he gave to vice president”

Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties

The following article by Nicholas Fandos was posted on the New York Times website December 3, 2017:

Donald J. Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, speaking at the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Ky., in May 2016. Credit Ty Wright for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A conservative operative trumpeting his close ties to the National Rifle Association and Russia told a Trump campaign adviser last year that he could arrange a back-channel meeting between Donald J. Trump and Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, according to an email sent to the Trump campaign.

A May 2016 email to the campaign adviser, Rick Dearborn, bore the subject line “Kremlin Connection.” In it, the N.R.A. member said he wanted the advice of Mr. Dearborn and Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, then a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump and Mr. Dearborn’s longtime boss, about how to proceed in connecting the two leaders.

Russia, he wrote, was “quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S.” and would attempt to use the N.R.A.’s annual convention in Louisville, Ky., to make “ ‘first contact.’ ” The email, which was among a trove of campaign-related documents turned over to investigators on Capitol Hill, was described in detail to The New York Times. Continue reading “Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties”

Emails Dispute White House Claims That Flynn Acted Independently on Russia

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt, Sharon LaFraniere and Scott Shane was posted on the New York Times website December 2, 2017:

Michael T. Flynn, right, on Feb. 10, three days before he was fired as national security adviser. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — When President Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in February, White House officials portrayed him as a renegade who had acted independently in his discussions with a Russian official during the presidential transition and then lied to his colleagues about the interactions.

But emails among top transition officials, provided or described to The New York Times, suggest that Mr. Flynn was far from a rogue actor. In fact, the emails, coupled with interviews and court documents filed on Friday, showed that Mr. Flynn was in close touch with other senior members of the Trump transition team both before and after he spoke with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, about American sanctions against Russia.

While Mr. Trump has disparaged as a Democratic “hoax” any claims that he or his aides had unusual interactions with Russian officials, the records suggest that the Trump transition team was intensely focused on improving relations with Moscow and was willing to intervene to pursue that goal despite a request from the Obama administration that it not sow confusion about official American policy before Mr. Trump took office. Continue reading “Emails Dispute White House Claims That Flynn Acted Independently on Russia”

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”

From ‘Access Hollywood’ to Russia, Trump seeks to paint the rosiest picture

The following article by Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website November 28, 2017:

President Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the White House with his family for the Thanksgiving holiday last week. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump has expressed certainty that the special-counsel probe into his campaign’s possible collusion with Russia will be finished by the end of the year, complete with an exoneration from Robert S. Mueller III, according to several friends who have spoken with him in recent days.

Trump has dismissed his historically low approval ratings as “fake” and boasted about what he calls the unprecedented achievements of his presidency, even while chatting behind the scenes, saying no president since Harry Truman has accomplished as much at this point. Continue reading “From ‘Access Hollywood’ to Russia, Trump seeks to paint the rosiest picture”

Michael Flynn’s role in Mideast nuclear project could compound legal issues

The following article by Michael Kranish, Tom Hamburger and Carol D. Leonnig was posted on the Washington Post website November 27, 2017:

The Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and Michael Kranish explain why House Democrats have questions about a trip Michael Flynn took the Middle East in 2015. (Video: Jenny Starrs, Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

In June 2015, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn took a little-noticed trip to Egypt and Israel, paid for by a U.S. company he was advising. The company hoped to build more than two dozen nuclear plants in the region, in partnership with Russian interests. Continue reading “Michael Flynn’s role in Mideast nuclear project could compound legal issues”

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”