“Out-of-town money pouring into South Florida real estate is as old as Henry Flagler. But the tale of Igor Zorin offers a 21st-century twist with all the weirdness modern Miami has to offer: Russian cash, a motorcycle club named after Russia’s powerful special forces and a condo tower branded by Donald Trump.” More …
Russia
GOP Super PAC Linked to Paul Ryan Used Illegally Russian Hacked Material Against Democratic House Candidates: Report
“The New York Times reports The Congressional Leadership Fund used info leaked by Russian hackers in campaign ads.” More …
Russia Sanctions Bill Stalled by GOP Over Energy Provisions
“House Republicans are throwing up new roadblocks to a Russia and Iran sanctions bill over concerns from the energy industry that a provision could block U.S. companies from lucrative foreign oil deals.” More …
Russian Officials Discussed Election as Early as Mid-2015, Says Former U.S. official
“Electronic intercepts picked up Russian officials discussing the 2016 U.S. presidential election — and how they could influence it — as early as mid-2015, a former U.S. official familiar with the intelligence told CBS News.” More …
Trump’s Long History with Russia Just Got a Lot More Complicated
“It begins in 1987, before the Soviet Union crumbled, when Trump mused in “The Art of the Deal” about building a hotel ‘across the street from the Kremlin,’ in partnership with the Soviet government. The hotel never got built, but Trump didn’t give up on Moscow.” More …
Week 8: Russians Bearing Dirt Come Calling and a Scandal Finds a Home
“The scandal with no name took an accelerating turn this week as the New York Times uncoiled three stunning stories about a June 9, 2016, meeting in Trump Tower where Donald Trump’s president’s kin and campaign brain trust conferred with a Russian emissary and her entourage. The naming convention for political scandals insists that we incorporate a place name into it—Watergate, Teapot Dome, Whitewater, Chappaquiddick, My Lai, Abu Ghraib, Iran Contra, et al. In observance of this rule, the disquieting meeting in which a Russian offered dirt on Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and then-campaign director Paul Manafort in the Manhattan skyscraper suggests “Trump Kowtower” as the carnival’s best appellation.” More …
How Donald Trump Jr.’s Emails Have Cranked Up the Heat on His Family
“Like a farmer forecasting the weather by the ache in his knee, Washington has a feeling that this storm could be a monster. And the twinge that forecast the deluge was Donald Trump Jr. facing a camera and issuing what sounded a little like an apology. Which is an ominous sign in an Administration that means never having to say you’re sorry.” More …
Who is Felix Sater? Trump’s Russian ex-Real Estate Partner Set to Help in Laundering Probe
“Whether at home or abroad, President Donald Trump’s alleged links to Russia dog the U.S. executive at every turn. Especially when it comes to his financial real estate empire. The latest revelation came Thursday morning as the Financial Times reported Russia-born real estate dealmaker Felix Sater, who allegedly has organized crime links, had agreed to assist in an international probe into a Kazakh family’s real estate dealings in the U.S.— including one of Trump’s most famed properties, the Trump SoHo in downtown New York City.” More …
Russia Steps Up Spying Efforts After Election
“Russian spies are ramping up their intelligence-gathering efforts in the US, according to current and former US intelligence officials who say they have noticed an increase since the election.” More …
Russians Are Said to Be Suspects in U.S. Nuclear Site Hackings
“Hackers working for a foreign government recently breached at least a dozen U.S. power plants, including the Wolf Creek nuclear facility in Kansas, according to current and former U.S. officials, sparking concerns the attackers were searching for vulnerabilities in the electrical grid.” More …