NSA Leak: Sessions Reportedly Discussed Trump Campaign With Former Russian Ambassador

The Washington Post just made Attorney General Jeff Sessions"s rotten week even worse.

In what appears to be yet another leaked NSA intercept, WaPo reports citing "current and former American officials", that Sergey Kislyak, the now infamous former Russian ambassador to the US, told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters - including policy issues important to Moscow - with Sessions during the 2016 presidential race. If accurate, the report would amount to yet another straw on the camel"s back of Sessions" relationship with the former ambassador - who has been at the center of many of the US media"s stories alleging collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.

When he announced his intentions to recuse himself from the DOJ’s probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign back in March, Sessions adamantly denied allegations that he had discussed the campaign with Russian officials, including former ambassador Kislyak. Sessions opted to recuse himself after he failed to disclose his contacts with Kislyak during his confirmation hearing with the Senate back in February.

“I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign,” Sessions said in March when he announced that he would recuse himself from matters relating to the FBI probe of Russian interference in the election and any connections to the Trump campaign.

Sessions initially failed to disclose his contacts with Kislyak and then said that the meetings were not about the Trump campaign.

However, Kislyak’s accounts of two conversations with Sessions, then a top foreign policy adviser to Republican candidate Donald Trump, were intercepted by US spy agencies, which monitor the communications of senior Russian officials both in the United States and in Russia.

As WaPo details, one former official said that the intelligence indicates that Sessions and Kislyak had “substantive” discussions on matters including Trump’s positions on Russia-related issues and prospects for U.S.-Russia relations in a Trump administration.

Officials emphasized that the information contradicting Sessions comes from U.S. intelligence on Kislyak’s communications with the Kremlin, and acknowledged that the Russian ambassador could have mischaracterized or exaggerated the nature of his interactions.

However, WaPo waited until the end of the story to disclose one key detail about Kislyak’s reports to his superiors concerning his meetings with Sessions. According to Kislyak, Sessions didn’t discuss anything that could’ve influenced the election  - i.e. nothing here fits in with the Don Jr. collusion narrative. And, more importantly, there’s no way to corroborate Kislyak’s characterization of the meeting. Apparently, Kislyak isn’t a meticulous notetaker, unlike former FBI Director James Comey.

As the ambassador to the US, Kislyak is expected to meet with US lawmakers.

“Obviously I cannot comment on the reliability of what anonymous sources describe in a wholly uncorroborated intelligence intercept that the Washington Post has not seen and that has not been provided to me,” said Sarah Isgur Flores, a Justice Department spokeswoman in a statement.

She reiterated that Sessions did not discuss interference in the election.

However, after the tempestuous week that Sessions has had, this casts more doubt on the Attorney General"s "answers" in the past.

As a reminder, Trump, in an interview this week, expressed frustration with Sessions’ recusing himself from the Russia probe and indicated that he regretted his decision to make the lawmaker from Alabama the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Trump also faulted Sessions as giving “bad answers” during his confirmation hearing about his Russian contacts during the campaign.

When asked earlier this week about a falling out between himself and Trump, Sessions denied that he has any problems with the president, adding that he has no intentions of stepping aside.

*  *  *

Finally we note that, although the WaPo report is unconfirmed - as the Flores quote above clearly indicates - it could give Trump just the cover he needs to fire Sessions.

In that case he can appoint another attorney general who won"t have conflicts and does not need to recuse from the Russia probe – thus giving Trump justification to fire Mueller and have the new DOJ head continue the probe, likely quashing the Russia narrative once and for all.

Not that this would even matter. As recent polls show, the American people stopped caring about Russia months ago.
 

Trump Jr's 'Russian Lawyer' Ready To Testify To Congress "To Clarify Reality Behind This Mass Hysteria"

Following the last-minute refusal to testify by two Left-linked Russia-related persons-of-interest (alleged unmasker Susan Rice and Fusion-GPS founder & Trump Dossier writer Glenn Simpson), Reuters is reporting that the Russian lawyer who met Don Jr has said she is ready to testify to Congress to dispel what she called "mass hysteria" about the encounter.

Veselnitskaya has previously said she is a private lawyer, that she never obtained damaging information about Clinton, and that she has no ties with the Kremlin.

"I"m ready to clarify the situation behind this mass hysteria – but only through lawyers or testifying in the Senate," Veselnitskaya said in an interview with Russia"s Kremlin-backed RT TV channel released late on Tuesday.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied U.S. allegations that Moscow interfered in the presidential campaign to help Trump win the White House.

The scandal concerning the meeting between US President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was orchestrated by Magnitsky Act lobbyist William Browder, the lawyer told RT in an exclusive interview.

"I´m ready to clarify the situation behind this mass hysteria – but only through lawyers or testifying in the Senate," Veselnitskaya told RT.

“I can only assume that the current situation that has been heated up for ten days or so by now is a a very well-orchestrated story concocted by one particular manipulator – Mr. Browder. He is one of the greatest experts in the field of manipulating mass media,” Veselnitskaya said.

She went on to say that Browder, who is the founder and CEO of the Hermitage Capital investment company, orchestrated this whole disinformation campaign as revenge for the defeat he suffered in a US court in 2013 from a team of lawyers that included Veselnitskaya.

“I am already tired of talking about it, but apparently nobody wants to hear. This was the story that I brought to Donald Trump Jr. I wanted him to know that Browder, a person who gave up his US citizenship, is trying to manipulate people in Congress,” she said.

“If the Senate wishes to hear the real story, I will be happy to speak up and share everything I wanted to tell Mr. Trump,” she added, referring to the alleged economic crimes that Browder is suspected of in Russia. “I will share everything I know about this situation when millions came into my country and billions left it – and nobody paid taxes.”

We are sure it won"t be long before the left decide that her testimony is crucial... the question is - will she turn up? Unlike Rice and Simpson?

Caught On Video: Hockey-Playing Putin Reacts To Comey Termination

In a rare appearance of the Russian president in his natural sporting habitat, CBS" caught up with Russian President Putin rink side and asked him about the firing of former Director Comey.  Here is a transcript of the conversation:

Palmer: How will the firing of James Comey affect US-Russia relations?

Putin: There will no effect. Your question, please don"t get mad, is silly. We have nothing to do with that. President Trump is acting in according with his competence, and in acordance with his law and constitution. And what about us? Why us? You see I am going to play hockey with the hockey fans. And I invite you to do the same."

Our @elizapalmer caught Russian Pres. Putin rink side and asked him about the firing of former. Dir. Comey. pic.twitter.com/3nytJYi0si

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 10, 2017

Russian Billionaire Blasts AP's "Malicious Lies" Over Manafort Accusations

Oleg Deripaska has slammed an AP report claiming he had dealings with former Donald Trump aide Paul Manafort in order to “benefit the Putin government.” The Russian tycoon says he’s ready to take part in “any hearing” in the US Congress on the subject.

The AP report claims that Paul Manafort, the former national chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign, “secretly worked for Russian billionaire” Deripaska.

In a statement published in the Wall Street Journal...

Deripaska, the president one of the largest aluminum companies in the world, RUSAL, said:

"In recent days I have been the subject of a massive and misleading campaign generated by an ‘AP exclusive’, which alleged my involvement in a plan "to greatly benefit the Putin government.""

AP assumed that Manafort had initiated the strategy back in 2005 to “influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and former Soviet republics to benefit President Vladimir Putin’s government.” The AP exclusive also claimed that Deripaska had signed a $10 million annual contract with Manafort.

“I want to resolutely deny this malicious assertion and lie. I have never made any commitments or contacts with the obligation or purpose to covertly promote or advance ‘Putin’s government’ interests anywhere in the world,” Deripaska said.

According to Deripaska, the AP report “falls into negative context of current US-Russian relations and causes fresh unfair and unjustified concerns and alarm in the US Congress about Russian involvement in US domestic affairs.”

He slammed the information presented in the reports as “based on complete lies.”

“I demand that any and all further dissemination of these allegations by the AP or any other media outlet must cease immediately.

I am ready to take part in any hearings conducted by the US Congress on this subject in order to defend my reputation and name,” Deripaska added.

Additionally, Manafort called those allegations a “Democrat Party dirty trick and completely false.”

Russian Parliament Launches Investigation Of "CNN And Other American Media"

A few days ago Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic Senator from New Hampshire, introduced a piece of legislation that would give the Department of Justice "new authority" to investigate potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act by the "Russian Times".  Among other things, Shaheen said the legislation was necessary to determine whether "RT News is coordinating with the Russian government to spread misinformation and undermine our democratic process."  We won"t even bother to touch on the inherent hypocrisy of such a statement, but here is the press release from Shaheen"s website:

Following intelligence reports that RT News operates as a propaganda outlet for the Russian government, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has introduced legislation that gives the Department of Justice new authority to investigate potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act by RT America.

“We have good reason to believe that RT News is coordinating with the Russian government to spread misinformation and undermine our democratic process,” said Shaheen. “The American public has a right to know if this is the case. RT News has made public statements boasting that it can dodge our laws with shell corporations, and it’s time for the Department of Justice to investigate. My bill provides the authority needed to request documentation of RT News and find out who they’re accountable to.”

The Director of National Intelligence’s recent report titled Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections concluded that RT News officials have structured their affiliate organizations to deliberately circumvent U.S. reporting and disclosure requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.  Senator Shaheen’s Foreign Agents Registration Modernization and Enforcement Act gives the Department of Justice new authority to compel organizations like RT America to produce documentation on funding sources and foreign connections.

Well, as it turns out, Russian officials have the power to launch meaningless witch hunts in their country as well and have decided to demonstrate that power with the announcement today that they"ll launch a similar investigation into all U.S. media currently operating in Russia.  Per Reuters:

The Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has approved a proposal to launch an investigation into U.S. media organizations that operate in Russia, it said in a statement posted on its web site late on Friday.

The investigation, which will be conducted by the Duma"s information policy, technologies and communications committee, will check whether CNN, the Voice of America, Radio Liberty and "other American media" are complying with Russian law.

Deputy Konstantin Zatulin, who initiated the move, calls it "a response to the actions of American politicians who have systematically accused Russian news media of interference in U.S. internal affairs," according to the Friday statement.

Shaheen"s legislation, of course, drew wide criticism from Russian agencies including the Russian Foreign Ministry whose spokesperson mocked the bill saying it should have included a clause defining a list of books that should be collected for burning.

The statement said the Duma backed the move on Friday evening after Konstantin Zatulin, an MP from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, proposed an investigation to retaliate for what he called a "repressive" U.S. move against Russian state-funded broadcaster RT.

He said he was referring to an initiative by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who has introduced a bill to empower the Justice Department to investigate possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act by RT.

Foreign media in Russia are overseen by the Russian Foreign Ministry, whose spokeswoman Maria Zakharova this week singled out Shaheen"s demarche for criticism, quipping ironically that the senator should have included a clause drawing up a list of books for burning.

The U.S. move also solicited the ire of Margarita Simonyan, RT"s editor-in-chief, who on Wednesday told the daily Izvestia it had echoes of the activities of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, who oversaw a campaign to expose people he regarded as communists in the 1950s.

Meanwhile, all of this comes even as top Democrats admitted on Friday that their investigation into Trump"s campaign was unlikely to yield any evidence of collusion with Russia (see "The Democrats" Trump-Russia Conspiracy Campaign Collapses").  Of course, not many politicians are willing to let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

Russia's Lavrov To Tillerson: "We Do Not Interfere In The Domestic Matters Of Other Countries"

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Russian counterparty, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a G20 summit in Germany in the pair’s first meeting since Tillerson became secretary of state, and comes as a possible Russia-US rapprochement is in the spotlight. Moscow and Washington have much to discuss, Lavrov told Tillerson at their first meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday.

"Mostly, it includes issues addressed by the two presidents during their phone conversation. I think that we could identify parameters of our future cooperation on each of those topics," he stated.

More importantly, Lavrov once again focused on current developments in Washington in which Trump administration links to Russia are under the spotlight, and said that these are US domestic affairs, in which Moscow has no interest in meddling.

"You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries," Lavrov told reporters when asked if "turbulence" in the American capital has ramifications for US-Russia relations.

Lavrov meets with US Secretary of State Tillerson in Germany https://t.co/HGtXiPsfkP pic.twitter.com/4LtaUVy2S0

— RT (@RT_com) February 16, 2017

He spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump asked for the resignation of his key national security adviser Michael Flynn amid questions about his conversations with Russian officials. He added the two countries had "plenty of issues" to discuss."

Earlier comments from the Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that Syria and sensitive bilateral issues would be discussed at the meeting, RT reported.

The US State Department told reporters the upcoming conversation with Lavrov “obviously will be a very important one,” adding that Tillerson is likely to use the occasion to seek “ways for pragmatic and constructive cooperation in areas where our interests overlap.” Areas of mutual interest might include “counter-ISIS [Islamic State] and counterterrorism” efforts, State Department officials said at a special briefing.

The officials also said that Tillerson would not soften Washington"s stance on Ukraine, a crisis which remains largely unresolved. The secretary of state would “push for full implementation of the parties’, including Russia’s, commitments under the Minsk agreement for the Donbass.”

Ukraine and the issue of economic sanctions look like becoming a stumbling block for future dialogue between Moscow and Washington. President Donald Trump has claimed that Crimea – a region that was reunited with mainland Russia following a 2014 referendum – was “taken” by Moscow, prompting a measured but swift response from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“Crimea is part of the Russian Federation,” Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday.

It will be the first time Lavrov has met the newly-appointed Tillerson. It comes as US-Russia relations are under particular scrutiny following the election of President Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to mend ties with Moscow.

Trump Calls For Expansion Of US Nuclear Capability, Hours After Putin Urges Russia To Do The Same

In a curious convergence of superpower opinions, earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential. In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016, Putin said the army"s preparedness has "considerably increased" and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can "neutralise any military threat".

"We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems," the Russian president said.

He added that Russia "must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country."

Fast forward a few hours, when just before noon Eastern, Trump again took to Twitter and the president elect echoed virtually every word Putin said earlier, stating "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."

The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016

Aside from this being one of the very first actual policy recommendations proposed by Trump, the fact that suddenly both Putin and Trump are calling for a re-escalation of the nuclear arms race at a time when Russia and the US under an allegedly Russian-friendly Trump administration, are expected to restore relations and find a common dialogue, makes us rather nervous especially since with both countries" arsenals already vastly greater than any other, potential third power in the nuclear arms race, the implied message is that both superpowers are squarely looking at each other when calling for more nuclear weapons.