Must Read Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians - sources

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians - sources

By Ned Parker, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel

 

FILE PHOTO: - U.S. President Donald Trump (L-R), joined by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, senior advisor Steve Bannon, Communications Director Sean Spicer and then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. on January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters.

 

The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

 

Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak and Trump advisers, including Flynn, the president's first national security adviser, three current and former officials said.

 

Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak accelerated after the Nov. 8 vote as the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the U.S. national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current U.S. officials said.

 

In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time.

 

The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far. But the disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election.

 

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Flynn's lawyer declined to comment. In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry official declined to comment on the contacts and referred Reuters to the Trump administration.

Separately, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said: “We do not comment on our daily contacts with the local interlocutors.”

 

The 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016 as hackers engaged in what U.S. intelligence concluded in January was part of a Kremlin campaign to discredit the vote and influence the outcome of the election in favor of Trump over his Democratic challenger, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

 

Those discussions focused on mending U.S.-Russian economic relations strained by sanctions imposed on Moscow, cooperating in fighting Islamic State in Syria and containing a more assertive China, the sources said.

 

Members of the Senate and House intelligence committees have gone to the CIA and the National Security Agency to review transcripts and other documents related to contacts between Trump campaign advisers and associates and Russian officials and others with links to Putin, people with knowledge of those investigations told Reuters.

 

The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential campaign and possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Mueller will now take charge of the FBI investigation that began last July. Trump and his aides have repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia.

 

'IT'S RARE'

 

In addition to the six phone calls involving Kislyak, the communications described to Reuters involved another 12 calls, emails or text messages between Russian officials or people considered to be close to Putin and Trump campaign advisers.

 

One of those contacts was by Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and politician, according to one person with detailed knowledge of the exchange and two others familiar with the issue.

 

It was not clear with whom Medvedchuk was in contact within the Trump campaign but the themes included U.S.-Russia cooperation, the sources said. Putin is godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter.

 

Medvedchuk denied having any contact with anyone in the Trump campaign.

 

"I am not acquainted with any of Donald Trump's close associates, therefore no such conversation could have taken place," he said in an email to Reuters.

 

In the conversations during the campaign, Russian officials emphasized a pragmatic, business-style approach and stressed to Trump associates that they could make deals by focusing on common economic and other interests and leaving contentious issues aside, the sources said.

 

Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional.

 

“It’s rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power,” Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters.

 

FLYNN FIRED

 

Beyond Medvedchuk and Kislyak, the identities of the other Putin-linked participants in the contacts remain classified and the names of Trump advisers other than Flynn have been “masked” in intelligence reports on the contacts because of legal protections on their privacy as American citizens. However, officials can request that they be revealed for intelligence purposes.

 

U.S. and allied intelligence and law enforcement agencies routinely monitor communications and movements of Russian officials.

 

After Vice President Mike Pence and others had denied in January that Trump campaign representatives had any contact with Russian officials, the White House later confirmed that Kislyak had met twice with then-Senator Jeff Sessions, who later became attorney general.

 

Kislyak also attended an event in April where Trump said he would seek better relations with Russia. Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, also attended that event in Washington. In addition, Kislyak met with two other Trump campaign advisers in July on the sidelines of the Republican convention.

 

Trump fired Flynn in February after it became clear that he had falsely characterized the nature of phone conversations with Kislyak in late December - after the Nov. 8 election and just after the Obama administration announced new sanctions on Russia. Flynn offered to testify to Congress in return for immunity from prosecution but his offer was turned down by the House intelligence committee.

 

(Additional reporting by John Walcott in Washington, Natalia Zinets and Alessandra Prentice in Kiev and Christian Lowe in Moscow; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Ross Colvin)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-18

[darksidedog]

So it is confirmed that there WAS contact between Russia and Trumps team, despite the countless denials we have heard.

While the article says nothing illegal has been confirmed so far, I have to question why the Trump associates would deny everything, IF, they had nothing to hide.

Now that the basis for the investigation is proven, I hope they will dig deeper and find out what was indeed being discussed and planned.

[sujoop]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.

 

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Flynn's lawyer declined to comment. In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry official declined to comment on the contacts and referred Reuters to the Trump administration. Separately, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said: “We do not comment on our daily contacts with the local interlocutors.”

 

'IT'S RARE'

 

Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional.

 

“It’s rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power,” Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters.

 

'Bwahhh!!! The press are picking on me again! Where's Spicer when I need him? Where's my team? Anyone? Anyone???''

 

[7000gods]

Now turn down the white noise on the Comedy News Network...

Can you hear the rest of the world laughing?

 

 

 

[In the jungle]

Surely seeking to establish a back channel of communications with the Russians that bypasses US national security apparatus is in itself suspicious.

 

There are good reasons why such systems are in place.

[iReason]

"Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional."

 

“It’s rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power,” Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters."

 

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed.   If you wish to make accusations that something is fake news, then back it up.   Otherwise, it is simply trolling.  

[Crowes]

"Sources"

[iReason]

6 minutes ago, Crowes said:

"Sources"

 

Shouldn't be too hard to check phone records and e-mails.  

Now that it's being reviewed by the FBI and congressional investigators.

(If they weren't already) 

 

Just a matter of time now...

 

Whenever the Trumpeteers cry for the identities of sources, lest they forget F.B.I Associate Director Mark Felt and his role in Watergate.

[Crowes]

And when the FBI says Trump did nothing wrong, then what? Will liberals let it go or have they already decided what the truth is? It sure sounds like the latter. The democrats are no better than Obama birthers at this point. Let the witch hunt continue.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Crowes

[Jingthing]

And when the FBI says Trump did nothing wrong, then what? Will liberals let it go or have they already decided what the truth is? It sure sounds like the latter. The democrats are no better than Obama birthers at this point. Let the witch hunt continue.

Obama birther was pure racism with no smoke. trump's issues are a nonstop smoke fest. Stop with the false equivalency. Fooling nobody.

[iReason]

The Orange One says it.

The Lemmings immediately parrot it.

(There's a long list)

 

Witch hunt being the most recent.

 

Fake News is still their idiom of choice:

 

[riclag]

19 minutes ago, Crowes said:

And when the FBI says Trump did nothing wrong, then what? Will liberals let it go or have they already decided what the truth is? It sure sounds like the latter. The democrats are no better than Obama birthers at this point. Let the witch hunt continue.

It's going to be a long hard 8 years Crowes. Hopefully when our President put's a official in  for the FBI director some  Dem's will  accept it and get on  with MAGA

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Don't get your hopes up JingThing.

 

There will be no impeachment.

 

Soros and his minions will have to move on to plan C.

[iReason]

2 minutes ago, Bulldozer Dawn said:

There will be no impeachment.

Soros and his minions will have to move on to plan C.

 

Do you mean this Soros?

 

Report: Jared Kushner Didn’t Disclose Business Dealings With George Soros

"Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner didn’t include his ownership in a real-estate finance company that makes him business partners with George Soros when filing financial disclosure forms, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday."

http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/02/report-jared-kushner-didnt-disclose-business-dealings-with-george-soros/

 

Plan C? A mole in the White House?

[Jingthing]

It's going to be a long hard 8 years Crowes. Hopefully when our President put's a official in  for the FBI director some  Dem's will  accept it and get on  with MAGA

You haven't followed the news huh? Any FBI Director won't have any power over the new commission. Even if trump gets a trump loyalist as FBI chief which is not likely in the new mood in the Senate it wouldn't make any difference.

[riclag]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

You haven't followed the news huh? Any FBI Director won't have any power over the new commission. Even if trump gets a trump loyalist as FBI chief which is not likely in the new mood in the Senate it wouldn't make any difference.

I follow Fox News everyday along with Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin  So 2 commissions and a special investigator will get to the truth. What's nice about the special investigator is all questions from the media about Russia will go through Mueller. That will free up the administration and congress to get back to work on lowering taxes

[Jingthing]

47 minutes ago, riclag said:

I follow Fox News everyday along with Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin  So 2 commissions and a special investigator will get to the truth. What's nice about the special investigator is all questions from the media about Russia will go through Mueller. That will free up the administration and congress to get back to work on lowering taxes

You must be joking. Everything is on hold as this scandal is processed. 

[jcsmith]

2 hours ago, Crowes said:

And when the FBI says Trump did nothing wrong, then what? Will liberals let it go or have they already decided what the truth is? It sure sounds like the latter. The democrats are no better than Obama birthers at this point. Let the witch hunt continue.

 

Huge difference. There was never any evidence on the birther thing at any point, it was a ridiculous rumor to discredit the first black president. 

 

Evidence in the Trump/Russia case:

 

- Carter Page was (either knowingly or unknowingly) a Russian asset. Trump mentions him by name in an interview though he was not a household name to anyone else prior to that.

- Paul Manafort (former campaign manager) had his name in a shady ledger, and worked as an agent of Russia. There is evidence of money laundering here. In addition to this his daughter's phone was hacked and the information leaked which included claims that Manafort was being blackmailed in the Ukraine by someone claiming to have damaging information about Manafort and Trump. Manafort would resign as campaign manager.

- Donald Trump and his son both eluded to previously having business interests in Russia, which they now say they have no assets. Trump also claimed to have a good relationship with Putin years ago, then after the Russian stuff flared up he denied ever having met him. This is all documented on tape.  Trump refuses to release his tax returns which might help leave a trail.

- It is now known that Mike Flynn had multiple contacts with Russia, and discussed the sanctions just put into place that day by the Obama administration in response to the Russian hacking.He was also acting as an unregistered foreign agent at the time, and pushed Turkey's agenda on election day (which he was paid for). Flynn disclosed that he was under investigation to the white house. Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn. Sally Yates warned him that he had been compromised (she was fired days). Trump pushed Flynn through though still, and only eventually let him go after media pressure became too high once things began to leak out. Flynn is currently asking for immunity to testify in congress, which has not been granted. This leads one to believe they feel they can make their case without offering him immunity.

- Vice President Pence defended Flynn, supposedly because he was lied to. He later denied knowing that Flynn was working as a foreign agent, as well. This does not add up though. Flynn's people say they brought this up during vetting, and that they were aware of it. Okay maybe he's lying to defend himself... Except that congress also reported Flynn being a Turkish agent to the white house in an official letter to the head of the transition team... which happened to be Mike Pence.

- Erik Prince (Blackwater Founder and brother of Betsy Devos) tried to set up a back channel meeting between the Trump team and the Russians. 

- Several other Trump members also had undisclosed contacts with Russians including Roger Stone (who spoke with the Russian Hacker Guccifer who leaked the DNC emails) and Jared Kushner (who failed to disclose meetings with Kislyak and a Russian bank exec),

- There is the mystery computer in one of Trump's buildings who had 80% of its traffic linked to the Russian alfa-bank.

- Jeff Sessions when asked directly about Russian contacts in his hearings denied having any then later had to go back and admit to contacts with them during the transition that he did not disclose. Rather than face up to questions about this to congress he released a written statement and recused himself from anything involved with Russia. He would later play a role in Comey's firing when he should have been recused from the case entirely. On top of that the white house has repeatedly refused to confirm that he is recused from the Paul Manafort investigation. - The intelligence community, and foreign intelligence communities conclude that Russia attempted to influence the election in Trump's favor.  Trump for whatever reason always denied it, even insulted the intelligence community over it before finally caving in and saying it was probably the Russians in December. He recently stirred this up again acting as though it could have been someone else. 

- In an effort to distract people Trump went on some unfounded rant about how Obama wire tapped him. This was debunked by pretty much everyone. However Devin Nunes colluded with the White House to get information at the white house, then return the next day and act as though he was informing the white house of this very information. This while he was running the intelligence commitee got him forced off that case and has put him under investigation. Nunes was also part of the Trump transition team.

- Dmitry Rybovlev's private plane had a way of following Trump around during the campaign.

- There was also of course the Steele Dossier where much of the information is said to have checked out. 

- Trump reportedly attempted to get James Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, and before doing so cleared the room so he could speak directly to Comey. 

- Comey asked Trump for more resources to increase the investigation which was reportedly making good headway. Comey went from 1 week reports to daily reports. Then just after speaking to congress about the investigation he was fired unceremoniously while he was out of town. The Trump team scrambled to justify this as not being involved with Russia, only to have Trump betray their lies the next day and admit that it was in a nationally televised interview. It is now admitted (by Trump in the MSNBC interview) that Trump asked Comey for his loyalty and three times asked if he was under investigation.

- The day after firing Comey Trump met with Russians at the white house including Kislyak who was not on the list and who has been a centerpiece of a lot of this controversy. American press was not allowed in but Russian press was. At this meeting Trump leaked highly sensitive information that Israel had specifically asked not be shared with the Russians, during the midst of this entire controversy. When this leaked out McMaster and others rushed to deny it happened... only to once again have Trump admit that it happened the very next morning.

 

So while there is no smoking gun evidence yet, there is pretty clear cut obstruction of justice, as well as the possibility of much worse. This is a very important investigation. It needs to be completed without obstruction. It is quite possible that Trump himself was involved in collusion with the Russians in this case. He is certainly going out of his way to cause problems for himself to try to make this go away.

 

The question is why? It may be money laundering. It may be collusion during the election. It may just be that he was trying to validate his presidency. But he has certainly obstructed justice. And unless this is followed through with (which it should be now due to the special prosecution) it would always hang over Trump's presidency. If he has nothing to hide then he should welcome this.

Edited May 18, 2017 by jcsmith

[riclag]

JCsmith I agree with what you said in quotes

"So while there is no smoking gun evidence yet".

 

I think we should just let the"facts" be investigated and not speculate .

[jcsmith]

2 minutes ago, riclag said:

JCsmith I agree with what you said in quotes

"So while there is no smoking gun evidence yet".

 

I think we should just let the"facts" be investigated and not speculate .

The problem is the president has obstructed justice to try to prevent more evidence from coming out. This is a forum, we're here to speculate. And while there may be no smoking gun evidence of collusion, there is certainly a ton of evidence of obstruction of justice.

Edited May 18, 2017 by jcsmith

[riclag]

1 minute ago, jcsmith said:

The problem is the president has obstructed justice to try to prevent more evidence from coming out. This is a forum, we're here to speculate.

Google "has trump Obstructed Justice". Then choose the appropriate link according to your beliefs. I think bottom line is it all comes down to ,further investigations would be necessary to know for sure.

[jcsmith]

37 minutes ago, riclag said:

Google "has trump Obstructed Justice". Then choose the appropriate link according to your beliefs. I think bottom line is it all comes down to ,further investigations would be necessary to know for sure.

There certainly does not need to be any more evidence of him obstructing justice. He has all but admitted that Comey was fired due to the Russian investigation on public television. He has also admitted that he asked Comey for details on if he was under investigation multiple times. Even if you conclude that Comey is lying, it is right there from Trump's own words. He did it. How do we know he did it? Because he told us so.

[Crowes]

23 minutes ago, jcsmith said:

There certainly does not need to be any more evidence of him obstructing justice. He has all but admitted that Comey was fired due to the Russian investigation on public television. He has also admitted that he asked Comey for details on if he was under investigation multiple times. Even if you conclude that Comey is lying, it is right there from Trump's own words. He did it. How do we know he did it? Because he told us so.

 

Asking Comey if Trump is under investigation is not a crime. But if crimes were being committed and Comey knew about it, why would he not say anything or act on it while he was still the FBI Director? How did an FBI memo of Comey's get leaked to the press in the first place? I think these are more concerning issues than if Trump asked Comey if he was being investigated.

[jcsmith]

17 minutes ago, Crowes said:

 

Asking Comey if Trump is under investigation is not a crime. But if crimes were being committed and Comey knew about it, why would he not say anything or act on it while he was still the FBI Director? How did an FBI memo of Comey's get leaked to the press in the first place? I think these are more concerning issues than if Trump asked Comey if he was being investigated.

Asking about it three times is certainly suspicious and he admitted to this in public. Comey was acting in his investigation. He was putting together a case. 

 

As for who leaked the notes, Comey reportedly told others about these notes when they happened. It was standard routine for him to take these notes. I don't think the actual memo has been leaked, but someone has spoken about it. That is not a larger concern than the Trump case though as that memo indicating that Trump had tried to get Comey to stop investigating Flynn, along with the corrobating evidence that he specifically asked others to leave before he asked it (which indicates he knew it was out of line) and the subsequent firing of Comey who was investigating him are both cases of obstruction of justice. And if this comes down to a who do you believe scenario you are talking about a pathological liar in Trump vs. a boy scout.

 

The most important question is why is Trump trying to obstruct justice here? There has to be a reason for that. You would think that if he had nothing to hide he would want to get to the bottom of this. Instead he is doing anything he can to kill the investigation. Moreover in my post on the last page you have 15 bullet points (some with multiple cases in them) of information on the Trump/Russia situation. And that's just what is in the public.

Edited May 18, 2017 by jcsmith

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, Crowes said:

 

Asking Comey if Trump is under investigation is not a crime. But if crimes were being committed and Comey knew about it, why would he not say anything or act on it while he was still the FBI Director? How did an FBI memo of Comey's get leaked to the press in the first place? I think these are more concerning issues than if Trump asked Comey if he was being investigated.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html

[mtls2005]

"This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"

 

Amazed he didn't put witch hunt in quotes.

[anon4546543]

The thing no one has spoken of in this affair is the response of Russia.

In any other accusations and involvement of foreign persons, the government of any nation would always say "no comment" or "we do not speculate on the ongoing investigations".

They would stonewall.

Yet in every case where Trump and his retinue and Putin and his agents have been outed, Putin jumps to Trumps defence.

This is mostly unheard of, specially when these two countries are nominally hostile to each other.

Why does Putin constantly defend Trump? To me the answer seems to be obvious.

 

[jcsmith]

And adding to that evidence this morning, we have a sourced article at the New York Times. As for who leaked it, it was a fellow FBI member who put his name on it. When Comey wrote these memos (which was standard procedure) he would intentionally tell other people so he had references, and one of those people who he spoke about these events for came out and leaked information as he felt it was important to get this out into the public. The new details include:

- Trump asked Comey directly when he would tell the public that he was not personally involved. Comey informed Trump that if he wanted to inquire about the case he should contact through legal channels and he did not answer or react. 

- The next day Priebus called Comey and applied pressure for him to put out news to the press saying that Trump's team was not under investigation. This of course wasn't true since Comey headed that investigation. Comey of course refused, and was unhappy with the request. 

 

This is not mentioned in the article, but remembering the basic timeline I believe this is likely referring to information that was leaked some time ago (maybe by the same source) which noted that the white house also contacted congress investigation committee members asking them to do the same thing. 

 

Also new and noteworthy yesterday were 18 new undisclosed contacts between the Trump transition team and Russian officials during the transition. These were all new contacts and in addition to the other undisclosed contacts which had been public previously. Why is this so important? They claimed there were no contacts with Russians, Mike Flynn even saying "of course not why would there be any contacts between our campaign and the Russians?" on January 15th. And this is in addition to the contacts which were already known previously. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by jcsmith

[mtls2005]

I'm sure there is a completely innocent and reasonable explanation for all the contact between the Trump campaign and the Russians.