“Frustration with the investigation stews inside him until it bubbles up in the form of rants to aides about unfair cable television commentary or as slights aimed at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein. And, of course, it emerges in fiery tweets about the ‘WITCH HUNT’ — or, as he wrote Thursday morning, shortly before an event promoting leadership in technology, ‘a big Dem HOAX!'” More …
Russia
Intel Chiefs Tell Investigators Trump Suggested They Refute Collusion with Russians
“Two of the nation’s top intelligence officials told Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team and Senate investigators, in separate meetings last week, that President Donald Trump suggested they say publicly there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians, according to multiple sources. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers described their interactions with the President about the Russia investigation as odd and uncomfortable, but said they did not believe the President gave them orders to interfere, according to multiple sources familiar with their accounts.” More …
New Details of Russia Election Hacking Raise Questions About Obama’s Response
“Obama and advisers were concerned any pre-election response could trigger escalation from Putin or be interpreted as motivated on behalf of Clinton.” More …
Stunning Intelligence: Putin’s Hackers Instructed to Damage Clinton, Help Elect Trump
“U.S. intelligence agencies had sourcing deep inside the Russian government capturing Vladimir Putin’s direct instructions to damage Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning and help elect Donald Trump.” More …
Russian Hackers Targeted Dallas County Servers Before Presidential Election
“Russian hackers took aim at Dallas County’s Web servers, possibly trying to access voter registration rolls, before the November presidential election, officials said … ” More …
Election Hackers Altered Voter Rolls, Stole Private Data, Officials Say
“The hacking of state and local election databases in 2016 was more extensive than previously reported, including at least one successful attempt to alter voter information, and the theft of thousands of voter records that contain private information like partial Social Security numbers, current and former officials tell TIME.” More …
Ex-Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson: DNC and State Officials Dismissed Russia Warnings Last Year
“Former President Barack Obama’s secretary of homeland security says that his efforts to protect the country from Russian cyberattacks last year were twice rebuffed — first by the Democratic National Committee and then later by state election officials who feared he was plotting an unwarranted ‘federal takeover’ of the U.S. election system.” More …
Putin’s Fake Video Used in Oliver’s Stone Showtime Interviews
“The Kremlin has denied widespread allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin showed U.S. director Oliver Stone a fake video of Russian airstrikes in Syria… a Russian video published Tuesday pointed out strong similarities between the clip Putin played and footage from 2013 of a U.S. Apache helicopter firing at militants in Afghanistan.” More …
Trump’s Tweets ‘a Gold Mine’ for Mueller Probe
“The president’s running public commentary gives investigators real-time insight into the intent behind his actions – and could create problems for him or his aides.” More …
Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effort Days Before 2016 Election
“Russian Military Intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November’s presidential election, according to a highly classified intelligence report obtained by The Intercept.” More …