Tag: Russia

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White House Officials Revealed As “Source” Of Devin Nunes’ Intel Reports

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes

The New York Times is reporting that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ source for “evidence” that Trump associates were swept up in intercepted communications with foreign officials came from inside the White House.

A pair of White House officials played a role in providing Representative Devin Nunes of California, a Republican and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, with the intelligence reports that showed that President Trump and his associates were incidentally swept up in foreign surveillance by American spy agencies.

The revelation that White House officials assisted in the disclosure of the intelligence reports — which Mr. Nunes then discussed with President Trump — is likely to fuel criticism that the intelligence chairman has been too eager to do the bidding of the Trump administration while his committee is supposed to be conducting an independent investigation of Russia’s meddling in the last presidential election.

Several current American officials identified the White House officials as Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, a lawyer who works on national security issues at the White House Counsel’s Office and formerly worked on the staff of the House Intelligence Committee.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

Mr. Cohen-Watnick is a former Defense Intelligence Agency official who was originally brought to the White House by Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser. The officials said that this month, shortly after Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter about being wiretapped on the orders of President Barack Obama, Mr. Cohen-Watnick began reviewing highly classified reports detailing the intercepted communications of foreign officials.

Nunes has cancelled all hearings for the House Intelligence Committee without any explanation. He has not shared whatever information he was given by the two White House officials with anyone on his committee.

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Trump Rages At New Reports Tying His Campaign To Russian Leaks During Election “Such Dishonesty!”

In response to reports from major networks that the FBI has found credible information connecting Trump associates with Russian operatives who may have leaked stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee last summer, President Trump took to Twitter to lambast the “totally biased and fake news:”

While Trump singles out NBC and ABC, I’ve seen the same story on several other networks including CNN and MSNBC.

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BREAKING: FBI Info Suggests Trump Associates May Have Coordinated With Russians

FBI Director James Comey

The FBI says the bureau has info that indicates Team Trump associates communicated with Russian operatives to possibly work with Russian operatives to release damaging Clinton info during the 2016 campaign.

From CNN:

This is partly what FBI Director James Comey was referring to when he made a bombshell announcement Monday before Congress that the FBI is investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, according to one source.

The FBI is now reviewing that information, which includes human intelligence, travel, business and phone records and accounts of in-person meetings, according to those U.S. officials. The information is raising the suspicions of FBI counterintelligence investigators that the coordination may have taken place, though officials cautioned that the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is ongoing.

In his statement on Monday Comey said the FBI began looking into possible coordination between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian operatives because the bureau had gathered “a credible allegation of wrongdoing or reasonable basis to believe an American may be acting as an agent of a foreign power.”

The White House did not comment and the FBI declined to comment.

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FBI: Team Trump Under Investigation Since July 2016

Today we learned three things during FBI Director James Comey’s testimony at the House Intelligence Committee hearing:

1. There is NO evidence to support President Trump’s unfounded allegation that President Obama ordered a wiretap on Trump Tower.

2. The Trump campaign team has been under investigation for ties to Russian officials who may have have attempted to disrupt the U.S. election. The investigation concerning President Trump and those associated with his campaign has been ongoing since July 2016.

3. With both Clinton and Trump teams being investigated during the campaign, it’s worth noting that Comey announced to the nation 12 days before Election Day that Clinton was still under investigation but did not mention Trump. Think on that for a while…

Comey also shared that the FBI has found no evidence that Russian agents had changed actual votes in U.S. voting machines in swing states.

However, President Trump took to Twitter to spin that his own way, saying, “The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process.”

That not what the two intelligence directors said.

While they addressed the idea of “changed votes,” that doesn’t mean that Russia’s leaking stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee didn’t influence the election. As a matter of fact we know that the constant drip, drip, drip of emails had an effect on the election.

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AG Jeff Sessions Announces He Will Recuse Himself From Any Investigations Into Russian Involvement In U.S. Elections

After calls from both Republican and Democratic members of Congress, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced he will recuse himself from any Department of Justice investigations looking into Russian interference in the recent 2016 Presidential election.

From Huffington Post:

“I have now decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matter relating in any way to the campaign for president of the United States,” Sessions said at a press conference at the DOJ. “This announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation, because we in the Department of Justice resist confirming or denying the very existence of investigations.”

Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente will step into Sessions’ role for any election-related investigations, Politico’s Eric Geller reported.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak two times last year. Since then, the attorney general has faced growing bipartisan demands from Congress that he recuse himself from the investigations.

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Dan Rather: “The Fuse Is Lit”

Dan Rather

Legendary newsman Dan Rather took to his Facebook today to announce “the fuse is lit” for what could be a big scandal on the hands of the Trump administration and Republicans regarding the current Jeff Sessions alleged perjury debacle.

Every once in a while in Washington, the fuse is lit for what seems to be a big scandal. Much more rarely does that fuse lead to an explosion of the magnitude we are seeing with Russia and the new Administration, and frankly the Republicans in Congress. How can anybody say, with all this billowing smoke and sights of actual flames, that there is no need to at least independently investigate whether a fire is burning down the very pillars of our democracy?

The pressure is obviously starting to mount as leading Republicans are now calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. This comes in the wake of serious and credible evidence reported by a vigilant press that the Attorney General, mind you the top law enforcement man in the United States, perjured himself in testimony to the Senate about meeting the Russian ambassador during the election. Sessions is but the latest person close to President Trump who seems to be ensnared in a story that is more worthy of Hollywood melodrama than the reality of the governance of our country. Democrats are calling for Sessions to resign, and this story could move very quickly.

We are well past the time for any political niceties or benefits of the doubt. We need an independent and thorough investigation of Russia’s meddling in our democracy and its ties to the President and his allies. We don’t know what we don’t know. Perhaps there are perfectly innocuous reasons for why Mr Trump won’t release his tax returns, why he has continued to speak admirably about President Putin and why his aides and advisors seem to be so close to Russia. That’s why we need an investigation. If the air is to be cleared, it needs to be cleared. And if there is deep rot, it needs to be exposed. And quickly.

The press is doing an admirable job. But there is only so much it can do without such things as subpoena powers. Let’s just make this clear. This is about a foreign and hostile power trying to influence our election while being in contact with close aides to the presidential campaign that the Kremlin wanted to win. Furthermore, there are serious questions about Mr Trump’s longstanding ties to Russian money and influence peddlers. We don’t know where this might go, but it isn’t going away.

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White House Asked FBI To Knock Down Media Reports Regarding Trump/Russia Communications

Folks inside the White House apparently reached out to the FBI (a no-no) with a request to help quiet the ongoing stories in the media about “constant communications” between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the presidential campaign.

From CNN:

The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump’s associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign, multiple US officials briefed on the matter tell CNN.

White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said. The reports of the contacts were first published by The New York Times and CNN on February 14.

The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations.

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BREAKING: Michael Flynn Told FBI He Did Not Discuss Sanctions With Russian Officials

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn may be in legal trouble for lying to the FBI when he was interviewed about his contact with Russian officials during the Trump transition period.

From the Washington Post:

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States before President Trump took office, contradicting the contents of intercepted communications collected by intelligence agencies, current and former U.S. officials said.

The Jan. 24 interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. Some officials said bringing a case could prove difficult in part because Flynn may attempt to parse the definition of sanctions.

A spokesman for Flynn said he had no response. The FBI declined to comment.

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National Security Advisor Flynn Has “The Full Confidence Of The President” Despite Rumors He Lied

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared on MSNBC today, and in an interview with Steve Kornacki stated that beleaguered National Security Advisor Michael Flynn “does enjoy the full confidence of the President.”

This comes as more questions are being asked whether Flynn had inappropriate conversations with Russian nationals before Donald Trump became president.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador and, either through direct statement or insinuation, discussed the sanctions President Obama ordered on Russia for interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign.

When asked if Flynn did or did not discuss those sanctions with the Russian ambassador, Conway dodged today:

“You’re asking me ‘What did he talk about with people when I wasn’t on the phone. So the only way for me to answer that is to tell you what he has said, which is that he can’t recall.”

Prior to the publication of the Washington Post piece, Flynn was adamant that he did not discuss the sanctions. The day after, Flynn’s story shifted to not being sure if he did or didn’t discuss the sanction.

Watch the segment from MSNBC below:

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National Security Adviser May Have Discussed Sanctions With Russia Before Trump Took Office

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn (L)

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is in the hot seat as transcripts indicate he discussed easing sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office.

Flynn has maintained that, prior to the inauguration, he had not communicated with Russia other than to begin planning for a phone call between then President-elect Trump and Russian President Putin.

Any discussion of easing sanctions while President Obama was still in office could be considered a potential violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments in disputes involving the American government.

From the New York Times:

Throughout the discussions, the message Mr. Flynn conveyed to the ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak — that the Obama administration was Moscow’s adversary and that relations with Russia would change under Mr. Trump — was unambiguous and highly inappropriate, the officials said.

The accounts of the conversations raise the prospect that Mr. Flynn violated a law against private citizens’ engaging in diplomacy, and directly contradict statements made by Trump advisers. They have said that Mr. Flynn spoke to Mr. Kislyak a few days after Christmas merely to arrange a phone call between President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Mr. Trump after the inauguration.

But current and former American officials said that conversation — which took place the day before the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia over accusations that it used cyberattacks to help sway the election in Mr. Trump’s favor — ranged far beyond the logistics of a post-inauguration phone call. And they said it was only one in a series of contacts between the two men that began before the election and also included talk of cooperating in the fight against the Islamic State, along with other issues.Trump

Some officials regarded the conversation as a potential violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments in disputes involving the American government, according to one current and one former American official familiar with the case.

Federal officials who have read the transcript of the call were surprised by Mr. Flynn’s comments, since he would have known that American eavesdroppers closely monitor such calls. They were even more surprised that Mr. Trump’s team publicly denied that the topics of conversation included sanctions.