“This timeline sets out events, denials, investigations, and other information about contacts between Russian and pro-Russian individuals and Donald Trump and his associates from 1984 through present. You can explore the timeline by scrolling through all events, or limit the events you review by topic. The timeline is a work in progress, and will be continually updated as news emerges.” More …
Russia
Russian Elite Invested Nearly $100 million in Trump Buildings
“A Reuters review found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida.” More …
Special Counsel Ups the Stakes for Trump Empire
Legal threats to Trump’s business empire and presidency were largely diffuse before former FBI Director Robert Mueller was named by the Justice Department as special counsel. Almost everything now falls into the broad authority given to special counsel Robert Mueller. He was authorized to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated” with the Trump campaign and “any matter that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.” More …
House GOP Majority Leader to Colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays Trump’
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.” More …
U.S. Intelligence Officials Reportedly Warn Israeli Counterparts Against Sharing Info With Trump Administration
“Shared information could be leaked to Russia and onward to Iran, American officials implied to Israelis in closed meeting, saying Kremlin has ‘leverages of pressure’ over Trump.” More…
Trump Campaign Had At Least 18 Undisclosed Contacts with Russians
“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.” More…
The Terrible Cost of Trump’s Disclosures: Top-Secret Codeword Information to the Russians Is Only Beginning
“To a remarkable degree, the United States relies on liaison relationships with other powers with whom it shares information. If Trump has indeed compromised a source of information, it is not merely a betrayal of an ally’s trust: It is an act that will jeopardize a whole range of relationships. After all, the Director of Central Intelligence cannot very well say, “Don’t worry, we won’t share that with the president.” So now everybody—even our closest allies like the United Kingdom—would be well-advised to be careful with what they share with us.” More…
Blackwater Founder Held Seychelles Meeting to Establish Trump-Russia Back Channel: Report
“Blackwater founder Erik Prince, brother of Betsy DeVos, met with a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin in early January in what The Washington Post reports was an apparent effort to create a back channel line of communications between Moscow and the incoming Trump administration. The meeting, on the Seychelles islands, reportedly occurred less than two weeks before President Trump’s inauguration.” More.
Manafort Firm Received Ukraine Ledger Payout
“Last August, a handwritten ledger surfaced in Ukraine with dollar amounts and dates next to the name of Paul Manafort, who was then Donald Trump’s campaign chairman. Ukrainian investigators called it evidence of off-the-books payments from a pro-Russian political party — and part of a larger pattern of corruption under the country’s former president. Manafort, who worked for the party as an international political consultant, has publicly questioned the ledger’s authenticity.” More.
Playing the Long Game: Before Trump Job, Manafort Worked to Aid Putin
“Before signing up with Donald Trump, former campaign manager Paul Manafort secretly worked for a Russian billionaire with a plan to “greatly benefit the Putin Government,” The Associated Press has learned. The White House attempted to brush the report aside Wednesday, but it quickly raised fresh alarms in Congress about Russian links to Trump associates. Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and former Soviet republics to benefit President Vladimir Putin’s government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse.” More.