Section: POLITICO – U.S. Edition (USA)
Trump: Was the CIA chief ‘the leaker of fake news?’
Donald Trump on Sunday night questioned whether outgoing CIA Director John Brennan was behind the leak of an unverified report that accused the president-elect of salacious conduct. “.@FoxNews ‘Outgoing CIA Chief, John Brennan, blasts Pres-Elect Trump on Russia threat. Does not fully understand.’ Oh really, couldn’t do much...
Trump eager to work with Putin
President-elect Donald Trump signaled an openness to working with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a nuclear reduction deal to ease American sanctions. Trump’s interview with the Times of London, published Sunday afternoon, comes amid ongoing questions in the U.S. in the days before his inauguration this Friday about Putin’s...
Why Russia Loves the Idea of California Seceding
On a sunny late September day, a trio of tourists gathered on Moscow’s Red Square. Well-dressed, carrying a Russian flag, the visitors bunched in front of the Kremlin’s walls to snap a selfie. Like so many others before, the man taking the photo, Louis Marinelli, took to his Twitter account, and shared the shot for the world. But...
Cities of the Old
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A tiny Russian-language library in an upstate New York apartment complex is not a typical setting for a yoga class. But this was not your typical yoga. The participants sat on folding chairs, for one thing, and everyone was older than 65 years old. Personal trainer Sarah Lane-Ayers led five women, all immigrants from Russia and...
Putin opponent to Trump: Don’t abandon Ukraine
A leading Russian opposition politician and critic of Vladimir Putin has a message for the incoming Trump administration: don’t trade Ukraine for a deal in Syria. Ilya Yashin warns that any detente with Russia that includes permitting its 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine to stand — even in return for...
Trump: I want my Cabinet picks to ‘express their own thoughts, not mine’
Donald Trump tweeted his support of his Cabinet nominees early Friday morning after multiple news organizations highlighted the different stances between the president-elect and some of his picks, writing that they should feel free to express views different from his own.“All of my Cabinet nominee are looking good and doing a great job. I want...
Key Senate committee won’t probe possible Trump-Russia collusion
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Thursday his panel’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election would not look into possible contacts between Moscow and the Trump campaign.Burr’s comments raise questions about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s piecemeal...
Biden accuses Trump of playing “into the Russian narrative”
Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday played down explosive allegations that Russia has compromising information on President-elect Donald Trump, saying such claims are “unsubstantiated,” but he also warned that Trump’s constant statements casting doubt on U.S. intelligence “play into the Russian narrative” of a weakened America that allies...
Pompeo expected to be grilled on CIA independence
As Rep. Mike Pompeo appears at his confirmation hearing for CIA director Thursday, senators will be taking measure of his skills as a peacemaker.At issue is not Pompeo’s ability to help resolve global conflicts, but whether he can end the ongoing war of words between his boss and the vaunted U.S. spy agency.The conservative Kansas lawmaker...
The top takeaways from Tillerson’s rocky Hill performance
Rex Tillerson will only need Republican votes to become secretary of state — and the GOP was largely kind to him during Wednesday’s audition to be Donald Trump’s top diplomat.Everyone, that is, except for Marco Rubio. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is narrowly divided, with the GOP holding just a one-seat advantage. And most...
