A day after a diplomatic performance nearly everyone agreed was an unmitigated disaster, President Trump approvingly cited one of the few people who disagreed with that assessment. In a speech on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the chamber's Republican leaders to schedule hearings on what occurred in Helsinki. Pingree says the President's comments undercut the intelligence agencies, which he says he supports. The aftermath was a reminder of Trump's singular, political positioning. For proof, he shared a tweet by former CIA Director John Brennan (a Republican), who declared Trump's behaviour to be "nothing short of treasonous", adding, "Not only were Trump's comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin". "Our Republican colleagues can not just go, 'tsk-tsk-tsk, '" Schumer said. Many top Republicans remained on the sidelines after the Justice Department on Friday indicted 12 Russian intelligence officials for election-related … [Read more...] about Intelligence chief Dan Coats: Russia meddled in 2016 election
Russia
U.S. Spy Chief Pushes Back on Trump Over Russia’s Election Hack
Unbowed by the broad condemnation of his extraordinary embrace of a longtime US enemy, President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that his summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin went "even better" than his meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies last week in Brussels. The fresh indictments had prompted a number of USA senators, all but one of them Democrats, to request Trump cancel his summit with Putin. Trump on a Democratic National Committee server: "You have groups that are wondering why the Federal Bureau of Investigation never took the server". US Journalist forcibly removed from Trump-Putin news conference - he had a hand written sign secret service objected to. The president's press conference today was an embarrassment. "The probe in a disaster for our country". Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina issued a statement criticizing Russian Federation, but not mentioning Trump. "I do feel that we have both made some mistakes". I think that the United … [Read more...] about U.S. Spy Chief Pushes Back on Trump Over Russia’s Election Hack
US President lists Russia, EU, China as ‘foes’ ahead of Putin summit
After their joint news conference in Helsinki, Russia media also took some swipes at US journalists for focusing on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 USA presidential election that brought Trump to power. Chants of "We Love Trump, We Love Trump" broke out as the president's motorcade passed and Trump waved. Democrats have expressed concerns about Trump's ability to sit down and challenge Putin during a one-on-one meeting. Trump quickly added, "If they had it, it would've been out by now". John McCain and Jeff Flake, Arizona's Republican U.S. senators, ripped into President Donald Trump for his comments while sharing the stage Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling the performance "disgraceful" and "shameful". Trump again denied any collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, while Putin insisted: "The Russian state has never interfered and is not planning to interfere in the USA's internal affairs". "Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most … [Read more...] about US President lists Russia, EU, China as ‘foes’ ahead of Putin summit
Rudy Giuliani just obliterated the goalposts on Trump-Russia collusion
President Donald Trump’s defense in the Russia investigation has been a study in goal-post moving — constantly watering down previous denials and raising the standard for what would constitute actual wrongdoing. But rarely has it been so concentrated in one morning. Trump’s lawyer/spokesman Rudolph Giuliani appeared on Fox News’s and CNN’s morning shows on Monday to downplay the idea that colluding with the Russians would have even been illegal and to argue against strawmen. The most notable portion of the interviews was when Giuliani rekindled the idea that collusion isn’t even a crime. Trump’s defenders have occasionally noted that the word doesn’t appear in the criminal code — which is a misnomer — but Giuliani took it a step further: He basically suggested Trump would have had to pay for Russia to interfere on his behalf. “I don’t even know if that’s a crime — colluding with Russians,” … [Read more...] about Rudy Giuliani just obliterated the goalposts on Trump-Russia collusion
Murkowski, Sullivan must stand up to Trump and Russia
I want to address what I feel is the most significant concern facing us and that is the kowtowing to Vladimir Putin and the subsequent national security risk President Donald Trump poses. However, as an Alaskan writer I like to bring in an Alaskan angle and like many issues that I’ve addressed there is often a unique role for Alaska’s Congressional delegation to play. As a military brat, I experienced the makeshift trauma of pretending the Strategic Air Command base was under an all-out attack by Communist Russia. Having ostensibly died twice during these exercises, the sight of B-52 bombers taking off in mass has always stayed prominent in my mind as the image of America being the leader of the free world. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think an American president would keep national security officials in the dark over what was promised to Russia, or accept the word of an authoritarian leader of a hostile country over the collective conclusion of America’s … [Read more...] about Murkowski, Sullivan must stand up to Trump and Russia