Section: POLITICO – U.S. Edition (USA)
How much is Rick Gates telling Mueller about Trump?
When Rick Gates struck a plea deal last month with special counsel Robert Mueller, the 45-year-old former Trump campaign official likely avoided decades behind bars and salvaged a chance to watch his children grow up.The question is what Gates offered Mueller in return. Though it is a virtual given that Gates will sell out his business partner...
‘It’s Very Difficult to Overestimate the Potential Danger John Bolton Could Put Us In’
Subscribe to The Global POLITICO on Apple Podcasts here. | Subscribe via Stitcher here.John Bolton has advocated for war with Iran and North Korea. He loathes the United Nations, disdains international law and still thinks the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq was the right idea. He’s a China skeptic and a Russia hawk who, as one former colleague...
Cambridge Analytica boss went from ‘aromatics’ to psyops to Trump’s campaign
Long before the political data firm he oversees, Cambridge Analytica, helped Donald Trump become president, Nigel Oakes tried a very different form of influencing human behavior. It was called “marketing aromatics,” or the use of smells to make consumers spend more money.In the decades since, the Eton-educated British businessman has styled...
Kelly furious over Putin ‘DO NOT CONGRATULATE’ leak
White House chief of staff John Kelly is furious over the leak of briefing materials prepared for President Donald Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a White House official told POLITICO on Wednesday, as the West Wing faced another wave of damaging news coverage following the revelation. Trump was instructed in briefing...
Trump congratulates Putin on ‘sham’ re-election
President Donald Trump congratulated Vladimir Putin on the Russian president’s Sunday election victory, and predicted the two men will soon meet in person—but did not raise the subjects of Russian cyber-aggression or the recent nerve agent attack on British soil widely attributed to Moscow. “We had a very good call and I suspect that...
On Russia, There Are Two Trumps
When it comes to Russia, there is the Trump administration — and there is the president.The Trump administration denounces Russia for using nerve agent on British soil. President Donald Trump says nothing for days, then calls it “a very sad situation.”The Trump administration castigates Russia for indiscriminate killing in Syria. Trump says...
DHS, FBI: Russian hackers targeted U.S. energy grid
The Trump administration on Thursday accused Russian government hackers of carrying out a deliberate, ongoing operation to penetrate vital U.S. industries, including the energy grid — a major ratcheting up of tensions between the two countries over cybersecurity.It says the hackers penetrated the targeted companies to a surprising degree,...
U.S. imposes new sanctions on Russian entities over 2016 election meddling
The Treasury Department on Thursday slapped new sanctions on two dozen Russian entities and individuals for interfering in the 2016 election and conducting a series of damaging cyberattacks.“The administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in U.S. elections, destructive...
Happy Sunday from SXSW: Trump tries to boost Saccone in Pennsylvania, as Elizabeth Warren does a round of Sunday shows
SPOTTED: KELLYANNE CONWAY holding court at the BLT Prime at the Trump Hotel Saturday night. Pic http://bit.ly/2tC2wo8 — TRUMP’S WEEK AHEAD: Monday: The Houston Astros come to the White House. Tuesday: Trump is in California. Wednesday: Trump is in Missouri. Thursday: Trump hosts the Prime Minister of Ireland at the White House, and...
Mueller tight-lipped as media leaks shape Russia narrative
Special counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutors aren’t talking to the media, but still the leaks keep coming. In the past two weeks, anonymously sourced news reports have said the top federal Russia investigator is preparing to indict Russians for hacking Democratic emails in 2016; focusing on why one of President Donald Trump’s...
