RUSSIAGATE TIMELINE

1987-present

Compiler: Thomas Wood

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1987 to June, 2016
 DATE, INCLUDING YEAR, NOT KNOWN

Date, including Steele dossier, memo #080, pp. 1-3, dated 2016/6/20: Beginning of
year, not file order by Putin to collect intelligence and kompromat on Hillary
known Clinton goes back many years [this dates, presumably, from at least
the time of Bill Clintons presidency, 1993-2001]
On Steele: T he Sun; photo of Steele; HuffPost, Mother Jones,
Independent, Wikipedia.

1987

1987 (no exact Bloomberg View: In 1987, Trump traveled to Moscow and Leningrad
date given) (now St Petersburg) to discuss building hotels there. He even met with
the Soviet ambassador to the U.S. "It's a totally interesting place,
Trump said at the time. I think the Soviet Union is really making an
effort to cooperate in the sense of dealing openly with other nations
and in opening up the country." [Note: at this time the Soviet Union
had not yet fallen; the demise of the Soviet Union did not happen until
the summer of 1989 revolutions led to Gorbachev and then ultimately
to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.]

1987 (no exact NYT: Mr. Trump had been eyeing the potential for real estate
date given) opportunities in Moscow for nearly a decade, expressing interest to
government officials ranging from the Soviet leader Mikhail S.
Gorbachev (they first met in Washington in 1987) to the military figure
Alexander Lebed.

July 24, 1987 Executive Intelligence Review (Lyndon Larouche): Soviets 'intensely
Interested' in 1988 U.S. campaign. That's the news from several
Americans who recently returned from Moscow, including one
Midwest businessman with longtime personal links to top Kremlin
officials. The latter reported that his meetings with Mikhail Gorbachov,
former ambassador to Washington Anatoli Dobrynin, and propaganda
czar Aleksandr Yakovlev were dominated by talk of the upcoming
presidential elections. Do the Russians have a Trump card? The
Soviets are reportedly looking a lot more kindly on a possible
presidential bid by Donald Trump, the New York builder who has
amassed a fortune through real-estate speculation and owns a
controlling interest in the notorious, organized-crime linked Resorts
International. Trump took an all-expenses-paid jaunt to the Soviet
Union in July to discuss building the Russians some luxury hotels.

1988

1988 Oprah Winfrey/YouTube: Oprah Winfrey: Trump declares intention to

run someday for President, and would do it only with full intention to
win.
 Wikipedia: Since the 1988 presidential election, Trump was
discussed as a potential candidate for President in nearly every
election. Also Wikipedia: In October 1999, Trump declared himself a
potential candidate for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, but
withdrew on February 14, 2000. In 2004, Trump said that he identified
as a Democrat. Trump rejoined the Republican Party in September
2009, chose no party affiliation in December 2011, and again rejoined
the GOP in April 2012.

1996

1996 (no exact NYT: Earliest known date Trump applied for trademark in Russia. His
date given) children and associates have appeared in Moscow over and over in
search of joint ventures since then, meeting with developers and
government officials.

1997

1998

May 26, 1998 Village Voice (Robert I. Friedman): The Most Dangerous Mobster in
the World. The torture chambers are run by what international police
officials call the Red Mafia, a notorious Russian mob family that in only
six years has become a nefarious global crime cartel. Based in
Budapest, it has key centers in New York, Pennsylvania, Southern
California, and as far away as New Zealand. The enigmatic leader of
the Red Mafia is a 52-year-old Ukrainian-born Jew named Semion
Mogilevich. He is a shadowy figure known as the 'Brainy Don'--he
holds an economics degree from the University of Lvov--and until now,
he has never been exposed by the media. But the Voice has obtained
hundreds of pages of classified FBI and Israeli intelligence documents
from August 1996, and these documents--as well as recent interviews
with a key criminal associate and with dozens of law enforcement
sources here and abroad--describe him as someone who has become
a grave threat to the stability of Israel and Eastern Europe.

2005

2005 (no exact NYT: It was 2005, and Felix Sater, a Russian immigrant, was back in
dates given) Moscow pursuing an ambitious plan to build a Trump tower on the site
of an old pencil factory along the Moscow River that would offer hotel
rooms, condominiums and commercial office space. Letters of intent
had been signed and square footage was being analyzed. There was
an opportunity to explore building Trump towers internationally, said
Mr. Sater, who worked for a New York-based development company
that was a partner with Donald J. Trump on a variety of deals during
that decade. And Russia was one of those countries.
 2006

2006-2008 (no NYT: From 2006 to 2008, Trumps company applied for several
exact dates trademarks in Russia, including Trump, Trump Tower, Trump
given) International Hotel and Tower, and Trump Home, according to a
record search by Sojuzpatent, a Russian intellectual property firm.

2006 (no exact NYT: During a trip in 2006, Mr. Sater and two of Mr. Trumps children,
dates given) Donald Jr. and Ivanka, stayed at the historic Hotel National Moscow
opposite the Kremlin Mr. Trump continued to work with Mr. Sater even
after his role in a huge stock manipulation scheme involving Mafia
figures and Russian criminals was revealed; Mr. Sater pleaded guilty
and served as a government informant.in, connecting with potential
partners over the course of several days.

2007

2007 (no exact NYT: In 2007, Mr. Trump discussed a deal for a Trump International
dates given) Hotel and Tower in Moscow that Bayrock had lined up with Russian
investors. It would be a nonexclusive deal, so it would not have
precluded me from doing other deals in Moscow, which was very
important to me, Mr. Trump said in a deposition in an unsuccessful
libel suit he brought against Tim OBrien, a journalist.

2008

2008-2011 (no NYT: Donald Trump Jr. became a regular presence in Russia.
exact dates Speaking at a 2008 Manhattan real estate conference, he confessed
given) to fears of doing business in Russia, saying there is an issue of Will I
ever see my money back out of that deal or can I actually trust the
person I am doing the deal with? according to coverage of his
remarks in eTurboNews.But he told the Manhattan audience that I
really prefer Moscow over all cities in the world and that he had
visited Russia a half-dozen times in 18 months.In 2011, he was still at
it. Heading to the airport to go to Moscow for business, he tweeted
that year. In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. praised the opportunities in
Russia, but also called it a scary place to do business because of
corruption and legal complications. He tried and failed to start a
reality show in St. Petersburg in 2008 starring a Russian mixed martial
arts fighter.

2013

Oct 17, 2013 David Letterman Show (video): Well Ive done a lot of business with
the Russians, Trump says. Theyre smart and theyre tough. Trump
goes on to say that Putin is a tough guy and that hes met him
once. [Start at 14:42]
Nov 9, 2013 NYT: Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow (9 November 2013). As
recently as 2013, Mr. Trump himself was in Moscow. He had sold
Russian real estate developers the right to host his Miss Universe
pageant that year, and he used the visit as a chance to discuss
development deals, writing on Twitter at the time: TRUMP
TOWER-MOSCOW is next. Politico (dateline 5/15/16): When Donald
Trump brought Miss Universe to Moscow. How a 2013 beauty
pageant explains Trump's love for Russia and obsession with Vladimir
Putin.

Nov 9, 2013 Bloomberg View: Trumps Long Romance With Russia

Trump Sr.s interest in Russian real estate development escalated in
2013. He met with Russian partners including developer Aras
Agalarov to discuss building a replica of his SoHo residential
development project in Moscow. Trumps other partner in the SoHo
deal was Alex Sapir, son of Georgian billionaire Tamir Sapir, a
well-connected real estate developer in Russia. The Russian market
is attracted to me, Trump told Real Estate Weekly. I have a great
relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were
in the room. That was also the year that Trump brought his Miss
Universe pageant to Moscow. Trump invited Putin to the event,
although the Russian President ultimately didnt attend. The event
was held at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, which Agalarov owns.Do
you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in
November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?
Trump tweeted at the time.

Nov 9, 2013 NYT: I called it my weekend in Moscow, Mr. Trump said of his 2013
trip to Moscow during a September 2015 interview on The Hugh
Hewitt Show. He added: I was with the top-level people, both
oligarchs and generals, and top of the government people. I cant go
further than that, but I will tell you that I met the top people, and the
relationship was extraordinary.

Nov 10, 2013 Twitter (@realDonaldTrump): I just got back from Russia-learned lots
& lots. Moscow is a very interesting and amazing place! U.S. MUST
BE VERY SMART AND VERY STRATEGIC.

Nov 24, 2013 South China Morning Post: Snowden sought Booz Allen job to gather
evidence on NSA surveillance. Fugitive whistle-blower reveals for first
time he took job at US government contractor with the sole aim of
collecting proof of spying activities

Dec 20, 2013 The Atlantic: Vladimir Putin, Conservative Icon. The Russian president
is positioning himself as the world's leading defender of traditional
values.

2014
2014 (no exact NYT: As the Russian market opened up in the post-Soviet era, Mr.
dates given) Trump and his partners pursued Russians who were newly flush with
cash to buy apartments in Trump Towers in New York and Florida,
sales that he boasted about in a 2014 interview. I know the Russians
better than anybody, Mr. Trump told Michael DAntonio, a Trump
biographer who shared unpublished interview transcripts with The
New York Times.

May 26, 2014 NBC News: Edward Snowden: A Timeline

2015

2015 (no exact Snopes: Craig Murray cited an internal memo by a DNC staffer dating
dates given) from 2015 informing associates that the FBI was looking into
cyberattacks by "the Dukes."

2015 (summer, The Guardian: Kremlin-supported hacker Cozy Bear infiltrates DNC
no exact dates server.
given)

March 6, 2015 FinCEN (U.S. Dept. of the Treasury): FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal
Casino Resort $10 Million for Significant and Long Standing
Anti-Money Laundering Violations

March 15, 2015 NYT (dateline 12/13/13): The Perfect Weapon: How Russian
Cyberpower Invaded the U.S. Hundreds of similar phishing emails
were being sent to American political targets, including an identical
email sent on March 19 to Mr. Podesta, chairman of the Clinton
campaign. Given how many emails Mr. Podesta received through this
personal email account, several aides also had access to it, and one
of them noticed the warning email, sending it to a computer technician
to make sure it was legitimate before anyone clicked on the 'change
password' button. 'This is a legitimate email,' Charles Delavan, a
Clinton campaign aide, replied to another of Mr. Podestas aides, who
had noticed the alert. 'John needs to change his password
immediately.' With another click, a decade of emails that Mr. Podesta
maintained in his Gmail account a total of about 60,000 were
unlocked for the Russian hackers.

April 2, 2015 Global Voices: Social Network Analysis Reveals Full Scale of
he Guardian: Salutin' Putin: inside
Kremlin's Twitter Bot Campaign. T
a Russian troll house

Sept 2015 NYT (dateline 12/13/16): The Perfect Weapon: How Russian
(no exact dates Cyberpower Invaded the U.S. When Special Agent Adrian Hawkins of
given) the Federal Bureau of Investigation called the Democratic National
Committee in September 2015 to pass along some troubling news
about its computer network, he was transferred, naturally, to the help
 desk. His message was brief, if alarming. At least one computer
system belonging to the D.N.C. had been compromised by hackers
federal investigators had named 'the Dukes,' a cyberespionage team
linked to the Russian government. The F.B.I. knew it well: The bureau
had spent the last few years trying to kick the Dukes out of the
unclassified email systems of the White House, the State Department
and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one of the governments
best-protected networks. Yared Tamene, the tech-support contractor
at the D.N.C. who fielded the call, was no expert in cyberattacks. His
first moves were to check Google for 'the Dukes' and conduct a
cursory search of the D.N.C. computer system logs to look for hints of
such a cyberintrusion. By his own account, he did not look too hard
even after Special Agent Hawkins called back repeatedly over the
next several weeks in part because he wasnt certain the caller was
a real F.B.I. agent and not an impostor.

Oct 11, 2015 CNN: Donald Trump: I'd 'get along very well with' Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump says he and Russian President Vladimir Putin are "very
different" -- but the two share at least a couple of bonds. Namely:
They both dislike President Barack Obama. And they both drew a
huge audience to a single episode of "60 Minutes." The two drew 20
million viewers to a September episode of CBS' staple Sunday night
show. And Trump had that in mind when asked about Putin on CBS'
"Face the Nation" Sunday. "I think the biggest thing we have is that we
were on '60 Minutes' together and we had fantastic ratings. One of
your best-rated shows in a long time," he joked. "So that was good,
right? So we were stable mates." Otherwise, he said of Putin, "I think
we are very different" -- even though they'd get along. "I think that I
would at the same time get along very well with him. He does not like
Obama at all. He doesn't respect Obama at all. And I'm sure that
Obama doesn't like him very much," Trump said. "But I think that I
would probably get along with him very well. And I don't think you'd be
having the kind of problems that you're having right now." He told host
John Dickerson of Russia's recent air assaults in Syria: "And as far as
him attacking ISIS, I'm all for it. If he wants to be bombing the hell out
of ISIS, which he's starting to do, if he wants to be bombing ISIS, let
him bomb them, John. Let him bomb them. I think we probably work
together much more so than right now.

Nov 11, 2015 CNN (transcript): At a GOP debate, Trump said: If Putin wants to go
and knock the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it 100 percent. And I can't
understand how anybody would be against it. They blew up -- hold it.
They blew up -- wait a minute. They blew up a Russian airplane.

Dec 10, 2015 Politico (Michael Crowley, dateline May/June 2016): Michael Flynn
attends a dinner in Moscow celebrating Russia Todays 10th
anniversary dinner. Flynn is paid for a speaking engagement and sits
 close to Putin at the dinner table. At a moment of semi-hostility
between the U.S. and Russia, the presence of such an important
figure at Putins table startled current and former members of the
Obama administration. 'It was extremely odd that he showed up in a
tuxedo to the Russian government propaganda arms party,' one
former Pentagon official told me.

MAY, 2015

JUNE, 2015

June 2, 2015 NYT Magazine: The Agency, by Adrian Chen, on how well-paid
Russian trolls have tried to wreak havoc all around the Internet and
in real-life American communities

June 16, 2015 Time: Trump announces he is entering the 2016 presidential race
(transcript of speech at Trump Tower, NYC)

July, 2015

July, 2015 (no Far Right Watch (dateline 5/31/16): The UKIP-Russia connection. The
exact dates UK Independence Party (UKIP) receives large loan from hedge fund
given) owner Christopher MIlls, though the financing appears to have
originated with a loan from FRCB (First Czech Russian Bank), Mills
simply serving as the pass-through. FRCB is the same bank that will
lend millions of Euros to Marine Le Pens National Front Party in
France in February, 2016.

December, 2015

Dec 17, 2015 Reuters/Yahoo: From Russia with love: Putin, Trump sing each other's
praises. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. presidential
candidate Donald Trump praised each other on Thursday, saying they
would welcome an improvement in the now-icy relations between their
two nations. Trump, who called Putin 'highly respected,' has frequently
argued that his business background and ability to negotiate deals
would allow him to improve relations with Russia, as well as other
nations. Putin, speaking on Thursday at his year-end news
conference, told reporters he welcomed Trump's desire for better
relations with Russia. 'He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no
doubt about that. But its not our business to judge his merits, its up to
the voters of the United States,' Putin told reporters. 'He is an absolute
leader of the presidential race, as we see it today. He says that he
wants to move to another level relations, a deeper level of relations
with Russia,' Putin said. 'How can we not welcome that? Of course,
we welcome it.' Trump responded that he was honored.'It is always a
great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly
respected within his own country and beyond,' the real estate mogul
 and former TV reality star said in a statement.'I have always felt that
Russia and the United States should be able to work well with each
other towards defeating terrorism and restoring world peace, not to
mention trade and all of the other benefits derived from mutual
respect.'

FEBRUARY, 2016

Feb, 2016 (no Express (dateline 12/22/16): French presidential candidate Marine Le
exact dates Pen is set to face intense scrutiny from US intelligence services after
given) she requested a 24.3million ($30million) loan from a Russian bank,
according to reports. The National Front figurehead is now believed
to have turned to the First Czech Russian Bank (FCRB) in Moscow to
help fund her bid to become Frances next leader. French media outlet
Le Canard Enchan is reporting Le Pens Russian ties have
prompted Mike Turner, a Republican on the House of
Representatives' permanent select committee on intelligence, to urge
US authorities to investigate the matter.In a letter to the US Director of
National Intelligence James Clapper, Turner noted the National Front
party 'publicly acknowledged that it had received a $9.8 million
(7.9m) loan from a Russian bank with links to the Kremlin, allegedly
brokered by a sanctioned Russian Duma deputy [undoubtedly Leonid
Slutsky], according to French press reporting.' "In February 2016, the
National Front asked Russia for a $30 million (24m) load to fund the
National Front leader Marine Le Pen's 2017 campaign. Le Pen has
openly claimed to be a fan of Russia and said during an interview in
May that if she wins the French presidency she will officially recognise
Crimea as Russian territory.

MARCH, 2016

March 2016 (no Wikipedia: In March 2016, the personal Gmail account of John
exact dates Podesta, a former White House chief of staff and the chairman of
given) Hillary Clinton's 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, was compromised
in a data breach, and a collection of his emails, many of which were
work-related, were stolen.

March 2016 (no Wikipedia: Paul Manafort is hired for a leading position in the Trump
exact dates campaign. [Steele memo #105 dated Aug 22, 2016, reports that
given) Manafort remained commercially active in the Ukraine right up to the
time he joined the Trump campaign team.]

March 3, 2016+ Politico: Trump names Sessions chairman of national security

committee. Wikipedia: In March, J. D. Gordon joined the Trump
Campaign as the Director of National Security, managing the National
Security Advisory Committee under its Chairman, Senator Jeff
Sessions (R. - Ala.).
Mar 21, 2016 WaPo: A transcript of Donald Trumps meeting with The Washington
Post editorial board. Includes comments on Ukraine, sanctions, and
NATO. Mentions Carter Page as one of five foreign policy advisers.
Says he would probably keep sanctions on Russia over Crimea.

Mar 30, 2016 Bloomberg: Trumps New Russia Adviser Has Deep Ties to Kremlins
Gazprom. Carter Page brings a real-world resumeand says his
close relations with Russian business are a strength. Interview of
Page by Bloomberg. Besides drying up some of his potential deals,
the sanctions have hurt Page in other ways. He says hes an investor
in Gazpromhe still attends the annual investor meetingsand
blames the trade restrictions for helping drive down the stock.

APRIL, 2016

April 2016 to BBC (dateline 1/12/17); Paul Wood, journalist): Trump 'compromising'
Oct 2016 (no claims: How and why did we get here? CIA director [at that time, John
exact dates Brennan] is shown intelligence that worried him. It was - allegedly - a
given) tape recording of a conversation about money from the Kremlin going
into the US presidential campaign. It was passed to the US by an
intelligence agency of one of the Baltic States. The CIA cannot act
domestically against American citizens so a joint counter-intelligence
taskforce was created. The taskforce included six agencies or
departments of government. Dealing with the domestic, US, side of
the inquiry, were the FBI, the Department of the Treasury, and the
Department of Justice. For the foreign and intelligence aspects of the
investigation, there were another three agencies: the CIA, the Office
of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security
Agency, responsible for electronic spying. Two of the agencies FISA
applications were rejected by the FISA court (FISC)--in June and
July--but a third rewrite was accepted in October, three weeks before
election day. Neither Mr Trump nor his associates are named in the
FISA order, which would only cover foreign citizens or foreign entities -
in this case the Russian banks. But ultimately, the investigation is
looking for transfers of money from Russia to the United States, each
one, if proved, a felony offence. A lawyer- outside the Department of
Justice but familiar with the case - told me that three of Mr Trump's
associates were the subject of the inquiry. 'But it's clear this is about
Trump,' he said. I spoke to all three of those identified by this source.
All of them emphatically denied any wrongdoing. 'Hogwash,' said one.
'Bullshit,' said another. Of the two Russian banks, one denied any
wrongdoing, while the other did not respond to a request for comment.
DC Bar: Federal election law specifically forbids foreign governments
and foreign political parties, corporations, associations, and
individuals from contributing, donating, or spending funds in
connection with any local, state, or federal election in the United
States. The prohibition includes either direct or indirect contributions.
 In addition, it is unlawful to assist foreign nationals in violating the ban
or to solicit, receive, or accept contribution or donations from them. As
an exception, an immigrant who has a 'green card' indicating lawful
permanent residence in the United States can make contributions.

April, 2016 (no The Guardian: Fancy Bear, a Kremlin supported hacker, hacks into
exact dates the DNC. [Cozy Bear had done so even earlier, in the summer of
given) 2015]

April 2, 2016 Slate: The Quiet American. Paul Manafort made a career out of
stealthily reinventing the worlds nastiest tyrants as noble defenders of
freedom. Getting Donald Trump elected will be a cinch. [By Franklin
Foer. The best article on Paul Manafort.]

April 27, 2016 Politico: Donald Trumps Russia connections. [TW: The Center for the
National Interest; Center Director Dmitri Simes; Richard Burt (senior
advisory board of the Russian Alfa Bank); and Alexey Pushkov--are
close to and/or sympathetic with the Kremlin.]

April 27, 2016 NYT: Transcript: Donald Trumps Foreign Policy Speech. We desire
to live peacefully and in friendship with Russia and China. We have
serious differences with these two nations, and must regard them with
open eyes, but we are not bound to be adversaries. We should seek
common ground based on shared interests. Russia, for instance, has
also seen the horror of Islamic terrorism. I believe an easing of
tensions, and improved relations with Russia from a position of
strength only is possible, absolutely possible. Some say the
Russians wont be reasonable. I intend to find out. If we cant make a
deal under my administration, a deal thats great not good, great
for America, but also good for Russia, then we will quickly walk from
the table. Its as simple as that. Were going to find out. Bipartisan
Report: There is evidence that [Trump] met with a Russian official on
April 27, 2016. Trump met with Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak at a VIP
reception that day. The invitation-only event also included three other
foreign ambassadors.

MAY, 2016

May 2, 2016 Politifact: Paul Manafort, Donald Trumps top adviser, and his ties to
pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.

May-June 2016 Politico: The Kremlins Candidate. In the 2016 election, Putins
propaganda network is picking sides.

May 18, 2016 Politico: U.S. intelligence officials have "some indications" of
attempted cyberattacks against this year's presidential campaigns,
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned Wednesday
morning adding that "as the campaigns intensify we'll probably
have more of it." Clapper, speaking at an event hosted by the
Bipartisan Policy Center, offered no details about who is waging the
attacks. But he said the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI
"are doing what they can to educate both campaigns against potential
cyber threats."
 June, 2016 to September, 2016

JUNE, 2016

June 2016 (no BBC: Six US intelligence agencies file a FISA application to
exact dates investigate reports that Kremlin money was being infused into the US
given) presidential election; the application was rejected outright by the FISC
judge.

Early June WaPo (dateline 8/5/16):

2016, no exact Trump advisers public comments, ties to Moscow stir unease in both
dates given parties. Carter Page stunned a gathering of high-powered
Washington foreign policy experts meeting with the visiting prime
minister of India, going off topic with effusive praise for Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Trump. The adviser, Carter Page, hailed
Putin as stronger and more reliable than President Obama, according
to three people who were present at the closed-door meeting at Blair
House and then touted the positive effect a Trump presidency
would have on U.S.-Russia relations.

June, 2016+ Huffington Post (dateline 3/11/2017): The Bernie Sanders Campaign
(no exact dates Faced A Fake News Tsunami. The trolls set out to distract and divide
given) the invigorated left. These stories alleged that Clinton had murdered
her political opponents and used body doubles. By late October,
Mattes said hed traced 40 percent of the domain registrations for the
fake news sites he saw popping up on pro-Sanders pages back to
Eastern Europe. Others appeared to be based in Panama and the
U.S., or were untraceable. 'It came in like a wave, like a tsunami. It
was like a flood of misinformation.

June 14, 2016 Heat Street: Donald Trump Advisors Paul Manafort and Carter Page
olitico: Russian hackers stole
Have Ties To Ukrainian Oligarchs. P
 Dems' Trump files, firm says. Hackers connected to the Russian
government broke into the servers of the Democratic National
Committee and stole opposition research on Donald Trump, the
cybersecurity experts responding to the intrusion said Tuesday. Two
separate Russian intelligence-linked cyberattack groups were both in
the DNC's networks, Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chief
technology officer of CrowdStrike, which responded to the breach, told
CNN. They likely didn't even know the other was in the systems, he
added. The U.S. government, however, has not yet determined that
the hackers who breached the server are connected to the Russian
government, a U.S. official told CNN.

June 15, 2016 Gawker: This Looks Like the DNC's Hacked Trump Oppo File. A
200+ page document that appears to be a Democratic anti-Trump
playbook compiled by the Democratic National Committee has leaked
online following this weeks report that the DNC was breached by
Russian hackers. In it, Trump is pilloried as a 'bad businessman' and
'misogynist in chief.' The documentwhich according to embedded
metadata was created by a Democratic strategist named Warren
Floodwas created on December 19th, 2015, and forwarded to us by
an individual calling himself 'Guccifer 2.0,' a reference to the
notorious, now-imprisoned Romanian hacker who hacked various
olitico: Trump accuses DNC of
American political figures in 2013. P
'hacking' its own oppo research on him. We believe it was the DNC
that did the hacking as a way to distract from the many issues facing
their deeply flawed candidate and failed party leader, Trump said in a
statement released Wednesday. Too bad the DNC doesnt hack
Crooked Hillarys, 33,000 missing emails.

June 20, 2016 Steele dossier,first memo #080, pp. 1-3, 6/20 [includes some
redaction]
Sources:
Source A: a senior Russian Foreign MInistry figure
Source B: former top level Russian intelligence officer still active
inside the Kremlin.
Source C: described as a senior Russian financial official
Source D, a close associate of Trump who had organized and
managed his recent trips to Moscow, and who reported that this
Russian intelligence had been very helpful.
Source E: described as an ethnic Russian close associate of US
presidential candidate Donald Trump. [This is a very important
source. E is mentioned in memo #095 (n.d., pp. 7-8), detailing an
extensive conspiracy between Trumps campaign team and the
Kremlin. E is also a source in memo #080, p. 2, where the source is
described as a member of the staff--much of the relevant sentence
having been redacted. E reports that s/he and several of the staff
 were aware of [the incident(s) in the Moscow Ritz-Carlton 'at the time
and subsequently.']
Source F: a female staffer at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton when Trump
stayed there (during Moscow trip for the Miss Universe Pageant on
Nov 9, 2013). [Memo #080 states that Source E introduced a
company ethnic Russian operative to Source F.]
Other important sources are variously described as a Kremlin official,
Source G: a senior Kremlin official
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Putin, Hillary Clinton, President and
Mrs. Obama, Dmitriy Peskov.
Topics and discussion: Russian regime has been cultivating,
supporting and assisting Donald Trump for at least five years. The
aim, endorsed by Putin, has been to encourage divisions in the
Western alliance. Trump and his inner circle have accepted a regular
flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and
other political rivals. Trump has been sufficiently compromised by FSB
to be blackmailed. Blackmailable activities include perverted sexual
acts. Kompromat includes golden showers in Moscow Ritz Carlton.
[Kremlin Press Secretary] Peskov given responsibility and discretion
for compiling and distributing the dossier on Clinton.

June 21, 2016 Fox News: A hacker who goes by the name Guccifer 2.0 claims to
have published a dossier of Hillary Clinton-related documents
accessed during the recent attack on the Democratic National
Committees computers. In a blog post Tuesday, Guccifer 2.0
described the haul as a big folder of docs devoted to Hillary Clinton
that I found on the DNC server. The files include a HRC Defense
Master Doc outlining criticism and defense points on issues such as
U.S. military intervention in Libya, the deadly 2012 Benghazi attack
and the Clinton email server controversy. The DNC collected all info
about the attacks on Hillary Clinton and prepared the ways of her
defense, memos, etc., including the most sensitive issues like email
hacks, explained Guccifer 2.0.

June 23, 2016 Wikipedia: United Kingdom European Union membership referendum,
2016 (Brexit). UK votes (52% in favor) to leave the European Union.

JULY, 2016

July 2016 (no BBC: Six US intelligence agencies draft a second, revised FISA
exact dates application for a more narrowly drawn order sometime in July and
given) were rejected again.

July 2016 (no Steele dossier: second memo: #095, pp. 7-8, no date [Note: probably
exact dates arly Steele
the most important, comprehensive, and explosive of the e
given) memos]
Sources: E
 Individuals mentioned: Trump, Clinton, Putin, Manafort
Topics and discussion: Extensive conspiracy between Trumps
campaign team and Kremlin, sanctioned at highest levels and
involving Russian diplomatic staff based in the US. Trump associate
admits Kremlin behind DNC e-mails on WikiLeaks. Agreed exchange
established in both directions. Trumps team using moles within DNC
and hackers in the US as well as outside in Russia. Putin motivated
by fear and hatred of Hillary Clinton. Russians receiving intel from
Trumps team on Russian oligarchs and their families activities in the
U.S. Manafort using Carter Page and others as intermediaries. In
exchange for WikiLeaks emails, Trump team agreed to sideline
Russian intervention in the Ukraine and other matters. Attempt to
assist Trump campaign involved Russian migrs and
cyberoperators based in the US, as well as state-sponsored cyber
operatives working in Russia. Russian diplomatic staff used to reward
relevant assets in the U.S. and effect a two-way flow of intelligence
and other information.

July, 2016 (no Mother Jones (David Corn): Steele regularly consults with US
exact dates government agencies on Russian matters, and near the start of July
given) on his own initiativewithout the permission of the US company that
hired himhe sent a report he had written for that firm to a contact at
the FBI, according to the former intelligence officer and his American
associates, who asked not to be identified. (He declines to identify the
FBI contact.) The former spy says he concluded that the information
he had collected on Trump was "sufficiently serious" to share with the
FBI. McClatchy: Steele met in Italy with an FBI official to share more
information alleging that a top Trump campaign official had known
about the hacking as early as last June.

July 2016 to Independent (dateline Jan 13, 2017): In July, Mr Steele produced a
September memo [presumably dossier memo #94, dated July 19, 2016, p. 9)],
2016 (no exact which went to the FBI, stating that Mr Trumps campaign team had
dates given) agreed to a Russian request to dilute attention on Moscows
intervention in Ukraine. Four days later Mr Trump stated that he would
recognise Moscows annexation of Crimea, officials involved in his
campaign having already asked the Republican partys election
platform to remove a pledge for military assistance to the Ukrainian
government against separatist rebels in the east of the country. Mr
Steele claimed that the Trump campaign was taking this path because
it was aware that the Russians were hacking Democratic Party emails.
No evidence of this has been made public, but the same day that Mr
Trump spoke about Crimea he called on the Kremlin to hack Hillary
Clintons emails.
By late July and early August MI6 was also receiving information
about Mr Trump. By September, information to the FBI began to grow
 in volume: Mr Steele compiled a set of his memos into one document
and passed it to his contacts at the FBI.

July 1, 2016 Intellinews: Russian central bank axes First Czech-Russian Bank, the
bank that made loans directly to Marine Le Pens National Front Party,
and indirectly to Neil Farages UKIP party, which led the campaign for
Brexit.

July 2, 2016 20 Committee (John R. Schindler): The Kremlin Admits Snowden is a

Russian Agent

July 7, 2016 Reuters: Trump adviser Carter Page, on Moscow visit, dodges
questions about U.S. policy on Russia. Page declined to say whether
he was planning to meet anyone from the Kremlin, the Russian
government or Foreign Ministry during his visit. In his lecture on
Thursday, Trump's adviser Page said Western governments had often
had a hypocritical focus on democratization, corruption and inequality
in the post-Soviet world. He also accused the United States and its
partners of "proactive steps to encourage regime change overseas".

July 7 or 8, Steele dossier: memo #134, p. 30-31. Meeting of Carter Page with
2016 Rosneft President Igor Sechin. [Rosneft is the largest Russian oil
company; it is also government controlled.] According to Steeles
source, an offer of [brokerage] of a 19 percent share in Rosneft is
made in exchange for lifting of sanctions against Russia by Trump if
elected President. [See the Timeline entry for Steele memo #134,
below.]

July 18, 2016 Republican Platform 2016. WaPo: Trump campaign guts GOPs
anti-Russia stance on Ukraine. The Trump campaign worked behind
the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform wont
call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces,
contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders
in Washington.Throughout the campaign, Trump has been dismissive
of calls for supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing
Russian-led intervention. Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort,
worked as a lobbyist for the Russian-backed former Ukrainian
president Viktor Yanukovych for more than a decade.Still, Republican
delegates at last weeks national security committee platform meeting
in Cleveland were surprised when the Trump campaign orchestrated a
set of events to make sure that the GOP would not pledge to give
Ukraine the weapons it has been asking for from the United States.
Trump staffers in the room, who are not delegates but are there to
oversee the process, intervened. By working with pro-Trump
delegates, they were able to get the issue tabled while they devised a
method to roll back the language. On the sideline, Denman tried to
persuade the Trump staffers not to change the language, but failed. I
 was troubled when they put aside my amendment and then watered it
down, Denman told me. I said, What is your problem with a country
he Daily
that wants to remain free? It seems like a simple thing. T
Beast (dateline 8/3/16): Trump Campaign Changed Ukraine Platform,
Lied About It. Top Trump aide Paul Manafort swore that the campaign
had nothing to do with a radical change in the official Republican Party
position on Ukraine. He was lying. N BCNews (Meet the Press): Trump
Chairman Denies Any Role in Platform Change on Ukraine [includes
video]. Politico (dateline March 4, 2017): More Trump advisers
disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador. [At GOP convention in
Cleveland, week of July 18, naming Carter Page, J.D. Gordon and
Walid Phares, who met with Kislyak in Cleveland about improving
relations between the U.S. and the Russian Federation.] B usiness
Insider (dateline 3/3/17): Was Trump behind GOPs policy change at
the convention on Ukraine? After some debate, the platform passed
with a provision to "provide appropriate assistance" to the Ukrainian
army rather than provide it with "lethal defense weapons."

July, 2016 (no Steele dossier: second memo: #095, pp. 7-8, no date [N]ote: probably
date) the most important and explosive of the early Steele memos. Although
the memo has no date, according to the Independent (dateline
1/13/17), it would have been dated on July 23, since allegations
specific to #095 are mentioned as having been sent to the FBI four
days before Trump stated that he would consider lifting sanctions and
recognizing Russias annexation of the Crimea; Trump made those
remarks on July 27 (see the Timeline, below).]
Sources: E
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Clinton, Putin, Manafort
Topics and discussion: Extensive conspiracy between Trumps
campaign team and Kremlin, sanctioned at highest levels and
involving Russian diplomatic staff based in the US. Trump associate
admits Kremlin behind DNC e-mails on WikiLeaks. Agreed exchange
established in both directions. Trumps team using moles within DNC
and hackers in the US as well as outside in Russia. Putin motivated
by fear and hatred of Hillary Clinton. Russians receiving intel from
Trumps team on Russian oligarchs and their families activities in the
U.S. Manafort using Carter Page and others as intermediaries. In
exchange for WikiLeaks emails, Trump team agreed to sideline
Russian intervention in the Ukraine and other matters. Attempt to
assist Trump campaign involved Russian migrs and
cyberoperators based in the US, as well as state-sponsored cyber
operatives working in Russia. Russian diplomatic staff used to reward
relevant assets in the U.S. and effect a two-way flow of intelligence
and other information.

July 19, 2016 Steele memo: #094, 7/19, pp. 9-10.

 Sources: A Russian source close to Rosneft President Sechin (called
Sechins associate); speaking separately, an official close to Sergey
Ivanov who confided in a compatriot.
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Carter Page, Igor Sechin, Diveykin,
Sergey Ivanov, Clinton
Topics and discussion: A meeting between Sechin and Carter Page.
Discussed a bilateral energy cooperation and prospects for lifting
Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia. According to a different
source from the above, Diveykin of the IPD of the Kremlins PA, met
also with Page. Diveykin mentioned possible release to the GOP
campaign team of a kompromat on Clinton. Diveykin also mentioned
the Russian leadership had kompromat on Trump, and said that
Trump should bear this in mind in his dealings with them.

July 19, 2016 NBC News: Trump wins GOP nomination

July 22, 2016 Wikipedia: The 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak is a
collection of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails leaked to
and subsequently published by WikiLeaks on July 22, 2016. This
collection included 19,252 emails and 8,034 attachments from the
DNC, the governing body of the United States' Democratic Party. The
leak includes emails from seven key DNC staff members, and date
from January 2015 to May 2016. The leak prompted the resignation of
DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz before the Democratic
National Convention. After the convention, DNC CEO Amy Dacey,
CFO Brad Marshall, and Communications Director Luis Miranda also
resigned in the wake of the controversy.WikiLeaks did not reveal its
source; a self-styled hacker going by the moniker Guccifer 2.0 claimed
responsibility for the attack. On July 25, 2016, the FBI announced that
it would investigate the hack. W ikiLeaks: Starting on Friday 22 July
2016 at 10:30am EDT, WikiLeaks released over 2 publications 44,053
emails and 17,761 attachments from the top of the US Democratic
National Committee...The emails cover the period from January last
year until 25 May this year. [Think Progress (dateline Jan 7, 2017):
Trump mentioned Wikileaks 164 times in last month of election, now
claims it didnt impact one voter. Boy, that Wikileaks has done a job
on her, hasnt it? Trump encouraged his supporters to read
WikiLeaks. He delighted in each new release. He marveled at the
damage WikiLeaks was doing to her campaign. WikiLeaks, in short,
was a core part of Trumps closing argument against Hillary Clinton.
Trump spoke about the WikiLeaks emails at least 164 times from
October 10 to election day, saying the word WikiLeaks 124 times.
That means, on average, Trump discussed WikiLeaks more than five
times per day.]

July 24, 2016 Fox News: Wasserman Schultz steps down as DNC chairwoman,
amid email fallout
July 25, 2016 NBC News: WikiLeaks' Julian Assange: 'No Proof' Hacked DNC
Emails Came From Russia, NBC News (July 25, 2016). The Daily
Beast: FBI Suspects Russia Hacked DNC; U.S. Officials Say It Was to
Elect Donald Trump. Did the Russian government hack the DNC to
bring down Hillary Clinton? Thats the view thats quickly emerging
inside American intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Lawfare
(Susan Hennessey): What Does the US Government Know About
Russia and the DNC Hack? Paired with the technical indicators, the
sum total of evidence is about as close to a smoking gun as can be
expected where a sophisticated nation state is involved. This
means, put simply, that actors outside the US are using criminal
means to influence the outcome of a US election. Time: FBI
Launches Investigation Into DNC Email Hack.

July 26, 2016 Twitter (Trump): In order to try and deflect the horror and stupidity of
the Wikileakes [sic] disaster, the Dems said maybe it is Russia dealing
with Trump. Crazy! NYT: Spy Agency Consensus Grows That
Russia Hacked D.N.C.

July 26, 2016 Steele dossier: memo #086, pp. 4-6, 7/26.
Sources: A number of Russian figures with a detailed knowledge of
state and non-state sponsored cybercrime, including an FSB cyber
operative, a former senior intelligence officer, a senior government
figure, a Russian IT specialist with direct knowledge, an IT officer
inside a leading Russian SOE (state-owned enterprise), who had
previously been employed on conventional (defensive) IT work there,
who had been instructed to conduct an offensive cyber operation
against a foreign director of the company. The latter was an infrequent
visitor to Russia now, but he had been penetrated
Individuals mentioned: None
Topics and discussion: Extensive Russian cyber hacking crime and
operations, and methods. Hundreds of cyber agents had been
recruited. Many were people who had ethnic and family ties to Russia
and/or had been incentivized financially to cooperate. Such people
would often receive monetary inducements or contractual favors from
the Russian state or its agents in return. In terms of foreign agents,
the FSB was approaching US citizens of Russian (Jewish) origin on
business trips to Russia. Non-state cyber crime was a large and
growing problem inside Russia for the Russian government.

July 27, 2016 Politico: Trump to look at recognizing Crimea as Russian territory,
lifting sanctions. Donald Trump said Wednesday that, if he is elected
president, he would consider recognizing Crimea as Russian territory
and lifting the sanctions against Russia. At a wide-ranging news
conference, Trump said he 'would be looking into that' when asked
about his stance on Crimea and Russia. The Crimean Peninsula has
been part of Ukraine for decades, but Russian President Vladimir
 Putin annexed the territory in March 2014 after a popular revolt
toppled Kiev's pro-Russian government.

July 27, 2016 WaPo (annotated transcript): Press conference at Mar-a-Lago FL,
focused largely on questions about his possible relationships with
Russian business interests.
I never met Putin, I don't know who Putin is. He said one nice thing
about me. He said I'm a genius. I said thank you very much to the
newspaper and that was the end of it. I never met Putin. Why do I
have to (ph) get involved with Putin? I have nothing to do with Putin.
I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him other than
he will respect me. He doesn't respect our president. And if it is
Russia -- which it's probably not, nobody knows who it is -- but if it is
Russia, it's really bad for a different reason, because it shows how
little respect they have for our country, when they would hack into a
major party and get everything. But it would be interesting to see -- I
will tell you this -- Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find
the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. I think you will probably be
rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens. That'll be
next. I don't think he respects Clinton. I don't think Putin has any
respect whatsoever for Clinton. I think he does respect me. And I
hope I get along great with him. It's possible that we won't, Jeremy. I
hope that we get along great with Putin because it would be great to
have Russia with a good relationship. Right now, we don't have a
good relationship. Putin has said things over the last year that are
really bad things. OK? He mentioned the 'N' word one time. I was
shocked to hear him mention the 'N' word. You know what the 'N' word
is, right? He mentioned it. I was shocked. He has a total lack of
respect for President Obama. Number one, he doesn't like him. And
number two, he doesn't respect him. I think he's going to respect your
president if I'm elected. And I hope he likes me. I have nothing to do
with Russia. I said that Putin has much better leadership qualities than
Obama, but who doesn't know that? P ress Statement by Mike Pence:
The FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind the hacking. If it is
Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both
parties and the United States government will ensure there are
serious consequences. That said, the Democrats singularly focusing
on who might be behind it and not addressing the basic fact that
they've been exposed as a party who not only rigs the government,
but rigs elections while literally accepting cash for federal
appointments is outrageous. W aPo: The many problems with Donald
Trumps call for Russia to spy on Hillary Clinton. D aily Beast: Donald
Trumps Call for Russia to Hack the U.S. Might Be a Felony. D aily
Beast: Donald Trumps Siberian Meltdown: Calls on Russia to Hack
Hillarys Emails
July 27, 2017 Politico: Trump on Russia hack: 'I wish I had that power'. Speaking to
supporters in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Trump commented on remarks
from Hillary Clinton's campaign earlier this week tying the hack to
Trump, specifically campaign manager Robby Mook's assertion that
Russians hacked the DNC to boost his chances...'Im sitting there
watching, saying what did I do? What did I do? What did I do? Right?
Trump,' he said, mimicking Mook. 'I wish I had that power. Man, that
would be power. So he talks about Russias hacking.'Instead, Trump
continued, 'Probably it was China or somebody else. Might be a
400-pound person sitting in bed. OK? Might be. Some of the greatest
hackers of all time.' Trump's latest comments on the DNC hack came
hours after he called on Russia to divulge the contents of Clinton's
'30,000 emails that are missing' from her private server, drawing
condemnation and alarm from national security experts and
lawmakers of all political stripes.

July 27, 2017 NYT: Following the Links From Russian Hackers to the U.S. Election

July 29, 2016 CNN: Timeline: Donald Trump's praise for Vladimir Putin

July 30, 2016 Steele dossier: memo, #097, pp. 11-12, 7/30
Sources: A Russian migr figure close to Trumps campaign, who is
also described as an migr associate of Trump, team spoke to a
trusted associate, who then, apparently, conveyed the intelligence to
Steele.
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Putin, Clinton.
Topics and discussion: Kremlin concerned that political fallout from
DNC e-mail hacking was spiraling out of control. Trumps associates
are extremely nervous about the negative attention/accusations.
Source close to the Trump campaign confirms that regular exchanges
with Kremlin has existed for at least 8 years. In this context, Putins
priority requirement had been for intelligence on the activities,
business or otherwise, of leading Russian oligarchs and their families.
Trump and his associates had obliged. The migr said the Kremlin
had intelligence on Clinton, too. Kremlin had given its word that the
kompromat it had on Trump would not be deployed, given how helpful
and cooperative his team had been over several years, and
particularly of late.

July 31, 2016 ABC News (Trump-Stephanopoulos interview): "But you know, the
people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia
than where they were. And you have to look at that, also." Trump was
asked to clarify a comment he made in a recent news conference
indicating he was looking at whether Crimea should officially be
considered Russian territory. At the news conference, Trump said he
"would be looking at" the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia
tied to its annexation of Crimea, which the U.S. government refuses to
 accept. Trump said that if he's elected president he will make sure
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes no further incursions into
Ukraine. Trump also says in the interview that he was not involved in
efforts to defeat an amendment to the Republican platform that would
have added more aggressively pro-Ukraine language. N BC News:
Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort expressly denied his
campaign had any role in changing the language of the Republican
Party's platform on Ukraine.

AUGUST, 2016

August, 2016 BBC (Paul Wood, journalist): [on the sex tapes] Back in August, a
(no exact dates retired spy told me he had been informed of its existence by "the head
given, and of an East European intelligence agency". Later, I used an
then somewhat intermediary to pass some questions to active duty CIA officers
later) dealing with the case file - they would not speak to me directly. I got a
message back that there was "more than one tape", "audio and
video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place" - in the
Ritz-Carlton in Moscow and also in St Petersburg - and that the
material was "of a sexual nature".

August, 2016 Mother Jones: Steele first presented some of his HUMINT (human
(no exact dates intelligence) reports to the FBI in July. The former intelligence officer
given) says the response from the FBI was "shock and horror." The FBI, after
receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional
material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American
associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all
information in his possession and for him to explain how the material
had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy
forwarded to the bureau several memossome of which referred to
members of Trump's inner circle. After that point, he continued to
share information with the FBI. "It's quite clear there was or is a pretty
substantial inquiry going on," he says.

Aug 2, 2016 Time: Donald Trumps Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia
(article updated Aug 15, 2016)

Aug 5, 2016 Steele dossier: #100, pp. 13-14, 8/5.

Sources: two well-placed and established Kremlin sources, including a
source close to Ivanov, and a second source close to premier
Dmitriy Medvedev.
Individuals mentioned: Ivanov, Clinton, Peskov, Trump, Medvedev
Topics and discussion: Presidential spokesman Peskov had been
handled primary responsibility for the Kremlins cyber campaign to
damage Clinton and help Trump. But Ivanov is furious at what he
regards as mishandling of the issue by Peskov, who is afraid of being
made a scapegoat for the backlash against Russian political
 interference in the US election. Medvedev wanted to have good
relations with the US whoever won the election there, and was openly
refusing to cover up for Peskov, or to support Peskovs counterattacks
against the US government for its alleged hacking of the Russian
government and state agencies. According to the source close to
Ivanov, there had been talk in the Kremlin of Trump being forced to
withdraw on the grounds of his psychological state and unsuitability
for high office, but those opposed to Peskov thought this was wishful
thinking.

Aug 5, 2016 Observer (John R. Schindler): Yes, American Spies Really Think
Trump Is Putins Guy. The nominees Kremlin ties have become a
scandaland the GOP has nobody to blame but itself for this mess.
WaPo: Trump adviser Carter Pages public comments, ties to Moscow
YT: I Ran the C.I.A. Now Im Endorsing
stir unease in both parties. N
Hillary Clinton. Op-ed, MIke Morell, former CIA director: In the
intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr.
Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation. B reitbart:
Roger Stone: Dear Hillary: DNC Hack Solved, So Now Stop Blaming
Russia.

Aug 8, 2016 NYT: 50 Fifty of the nations most senior Republican national security
officials warn Donald Trump would put nations security at risk. The
letter says Mr. Trump would weaken the United States moral authority
and questions his knowledge of and belief in the Constitution. It says
he has 'demonstrated repeatedly that he has little understanding' of
the nations 'vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges,
its indispensable alliances and the democratic values' on which
American policy should be based. And it laments that 'Mr. Trump has
shown no interest in educating himself.

Aug 9, 2016 Fox News: Assange implies murdered DNC staffer was WikiLeaks'
source. CNN (dateline 3/10/17): As Russia probe looms, Roger Stone
touts relationship to WikiLeaks. Scrutiny around Stone's potential ties
to WikiLeaks began in August 2016, when at an event in Florida [Aug
9], Stone said: 'I actually have communicated with Assange. I believe
the next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation,
but there's no telling what the October surprise may be.' WikiLeaks
took to Twitter, saying it was unaware of communications between
Stone and the organization or Assange. T witter (@wikileaks):
@rogerjstonejr Neither @WikiLeaks nor Mr. Assange is aware of any
private communications from us to you. Please clarify.

Aug 10, 2016 Steele dossier #7: #101, pp. 15-16, 8/10
Sources: a close colleague to Ivanov, who spoke confidentially; in
addition, a separate source, a Kremlin official involved in US
relations
 Individuals mentioned: Ivanov, Jill Stein (Green Party candidate),
Carter Page, Michael Flynn, Lyndon Larouche
Topics and discussion: Ivanov said that Russian intervention in the US
election remained technically deniable, but no new WikiLeaks
material would be leaked; instead, the tactic would be to spread
rumours and misinformation about the contents of already leaked
material. The aim was to hurt Clinton politically as an establishment
figure, with a main target audience being educated youth in the US.
Ivanov had recently had a drink with Putin, and found that Putin
himself was quite satisfied with the Russian attempts to date to
intervene in the US elections. [This must have come as a relief and
surprise to Ivanov, since the previous Steele memo had shown Ivanov
to be alarmed and furious with Peskovs handling of the matter.] The
Kremlin had indirectly funded various visits to Russia by US political
figures, including Lyndon Larouche, Jill Stein, Carter Page, and
Michael Flynn, and the Kremlin was satisfied with the outcome.

Aug 10, 2016 Steele dossier: #102, p. 17, 8/10

Sources: speaking in confidence, an ethnic Russian associate of
Trump; same person also described as a Trump campaign insider
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Putin, Carter Page
Topics and discussion: The aim of the Wiki-leaks was to swing
Sanders voters to Trump. This objective had been conceived and
promoted, inter alia, by Carter Page who had discussed it directly with
the source. Trump campaign concerned about the negative publicity
around recent negative publicity concerning Moscows clandestine
involvement in the campaign. Trump campaign underestimated the
strength of the negative reaction from liberals and especially the
conservative elite to Russian interference. The source also said that
there was a fair amount of anger and resentment within the
Republican/Trump campaign team over what it perceived as going
beyond the objective of weakening Clinton and bolstering Trump, by
attempting to exploit the situation to undermine the US government
and democratic system more generally.

Aug 12, 2016 The Economist: In surprise move, Sergei Ivanov fired from second
most important position in the Russian government. [TW: Cf. Steele
memo #111, pp. 22-23, dated Sept 14, 2016: Sergei Ivanov, backed
by Russian Foreign Intelligence (SVR), who had advised Putin that
the anti-Clinton operation/s would be both effective and plausibly
deniable with little blowback. This was the catalyst in Putins decision
to sack Ivanov (unexpectedly) as PA Head. His successor, Anton
Vaino, had been selected for the job partly because he had not been
involved in the US presidential election operation/s.]

Aug 12, 2016 Politico: Russia-linked hacker leaks House Democrats' cell phones,
emails. A hacker going by the name 'Guccifer 2.0' who claims to
 be behind the DCCC digital assault, as well as an intrusion at the
Democratic National Committee released the information. 'All of
you may have heard about the DCCC hack,' Guccifer 2.0 proclaimed
in a blog post accompanying the document dump. 'As you see I wasnt
wasting my time! It was even easier than in the case of the DNC
breach.

Aug 13, 2016 Politico: Suspected Russian DNC hackers also hit GOP, researchers
say. Hackers linked to Russian intelligence services may have
targeted some prominent Republican lawmakers, in addition to their
well-publicized spying on Democrats, based on research into leaked
emails published on a little-noticed website. The sites content is
heavily weighted toward Democratic targets, including data dumps
from a former top NATO general, major Democratic fundraiser George
Soros and a prominent Clinton campaign volunteer. But the site also
includes a small 'portfolio' of roughly 300 emails from Republican
targets, including purported emails from the campaign staffs for Sen.
John McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, and Lindsey Graham, who
briefly ran for president during this cycle. Both lawmakers are stalwart
critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also included in the dump
are emails from 2012 GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
and party officials in several states.

Aug 14, 2016 NYT story: Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trumps
Campaign Chief (Paul Manafort)

Aug 17, 2016 Wikipedia: Steve Bannon, formerly executive chairman of Breitbart
News, is appointed Trump campaign chief executive and Kellyanne
Conway is promoted to campaign manager. For Bannons pro-Putin,
pro-Russian views, see D ailyKos; on Bannon/Breitbart pushing
Kremlin fake news, see T he Verge. Also [very important]: DailyKos
(dateline Nov 18, 2016): Everything You Need to Know About Steve
Bannon, Breitbart, & Russia. N BC News: What Really Happened at
Donald Trumps Intelligence Briefing. [TW: This was Trumps first
official intelligence briefing.] The Aug. 17 briefing is attracting fresh
scrutiny after Trump said at NBC's Commander-in-Chief Forum that
he divined that intelligence officials were 'not happy' with President
Obama. 'What I did learn,' Trump said, 'is that our leadership, Barack
Obama, did not follow ... what our experts said to do ... And I was
very, very surprised.
I could tell I'm pretty good with body language I could tell they
were not happy. Meanwhile, four people with knowledge of the
matter told NBC News that one of the advisers Trump brought to the
briefing, retired general Mike Flynn, repeatedly interrupted the briefing
with pointed questions. Two sources said Christie, the New Jersey
governor and Trump adviser, verbally restrained Flynn -- one saying
Christie told Flynn to shut up, the other reporting he said, 'Calm down.'
 Two other sources said Christie touched Flynn's arm in an effort get
him to calm down and let the officials continue. Michael Morell, a
former acting CIA director who was President George W. Bush's
briefer and is now a Hillary Clinton supporter, said Trump's comments
about his briefing were extraordinary. 'This is the first time that I can
remember a candidate for president doing a readout from an
intelligence briefing, and it's the first time a candidate has politicized
their intelligence briefing. Both of those are highly inappropriate and
crossed a long standing red line respected by both parties,' he said.
'To me this is just the most recent example that underscores that this
guy is unfit to be commander in chief,' Morell continued.

Aug 18, 2017 Politico: Manaforts man in Kiev. The protg, Konstantin Kilimnik,
has had conversations with fellow operatives in Kiev about collecting
unpaid fees owed to Manaforts company by a Russia-friendly political
party called Opposition Bloc, according to operatives who work in
Ukraine. A Russian Army-trained linguist who has told a previous
employer of a background with Russian intelligence, Kilimnik started
working for Manafort in 2005 when Manafort was representing
Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, a gig that morphed into a
long-term contract with Viktor Yanukovych, the Kremlin-aligned
hard-liner who became president of Ukraine. All the while, Kilimnik
has told people that he remains in touch with his old mentor. He told
several people that he traveled to the United States and met with
Manafort this spring. The trip and alleged meeting came at a time
when Manafort was immersed in helping guide Trumps campaign
through the bitter Republican presidential primaries, and was trying to
distance himself from his work in Ukraine.

Aug 19, 2016 CNN: Paul Manafort r esigns, August 19 as head of Trump campaign;
Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments
designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovychs pro-Russian
political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraines newly formed
National Anti-Corruption Bureau (recently discovered archives)

Aug 19, 2016+ Newsweek (by Kurt Eichenwald): About that time, according to
(no exact dates reports obtained by Western intelligence, a Trump associate met with
given) a pro-Putin member of Russian parliament at a building in Eastern
Europe maintained by Rossotrudnichestvo, an agency under the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is charged with administering language,
education and support programs for civilians. While Newsweek could
not determine the purpose of the meeting, a Western intelligence
official said that surveillance of the meeting was conducted by or on
behalf of the Estonian Information Board (EIB), the foreign intelligence
service of Estonia. (Last year, EIB advised government leaders that
the Russian government posed the greatest near-term danger to the
security of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. As a result, Trumps
 apparent support for Putin during the campaign raised concerns within
the Baltic governments that, with a Trump presidency, they would face
increased national security threats from Russia.) However, no
evidence has emerged that Trump knew of the meeting or was briefed
about it afterward. [The article does not mention a date or dates for
this event, but implies that it was after the firing of Paul Manafort as
campaign manager of the Trump campaign; no end date is given. The
meeting is surely the same as the one described in the Steele memos,
but unlike the dossier, does not mention Prague specifically or give
the names of any contacts, including that of Trumps personal lawyer,
Michael D. Cohen.]

Aug 19, 2016 Steele dossier: memos #134, #135, and #166. These memos report
to first week of that the Trump associate responsible for the Trump campaign liaison
September with the Kremlin over the attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016
(no exact dates presidential election was Trumps personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen,
given) and that Cohen had travelled to Europe to meet with Russian
government officials. Steeles sources clearly had difficulty nailing
down the details for this meeting, and various accounts are given in
the memos of the timing of the meeting and the names of the officials
involved. The memos also make no mention of the Estonian or Czech
Republic intelligence services that are mentioned by Eichenwald in
the Newsweek article dated Jan 10 2017.

Aug 21, 2016 The XX Committee (John R. Schindler): How Putins Spies Infiltrated
the Trump Campaign. Donald Trumps campaign for the presidency
entered a new crisis at the end of this week with the resignation of
Paul Manafort, his campaign manager, amid allegations of dirty
money and Kremlin connections. Whispers continued that
Manaforts role in Kyiv, between oligarchs and Kremlin connections,
was worse than publicly acknowledged. Now we have learned that,
during his years in Kyiv, Manaforts translator and sidekick was
Konstantin Kilimnik, who had spent several years with Russian military
intelligence or GRU. Although Kilimnik made no effort to hide his
Kremlin affiliation, he and Manafort became fast friends. To anybody
familiar with Russian intelligence, Kilimnik was very likely Manaforts
spy-handler. At best, he was an access agent for GRU, assessing the
American for possible espionage. There are no former intelligence
officers, as Vladimir Putin has stated, and one can only imagine the
glee in Moscow when Manafort was appointed Trumps campaign
manager. That role has ended with Manaforts resignation. A
shake-up this week reduced the seasoned fixers role as Trump tried
to re-brand his damaged campaign to take on Hillary Clinton in early
November. The exposure of Manaforts long relationship with GRU
was the final straw. Even Trump, for all his overt 'bromance' with
Putin, could not be seen to have such an obvious Kremlin proxy
heading his campaign for the White House.
Aug 21, 2016 Twitter (@RogerJStoneJr): Trust me, it will soon the Podesta's time in
the barrel. #CrookedHillary [TW: Cf. Timeline entry for Oct 7, 2016 re
WikiLeaks dump of hacked emails from John Podestas personal
email account.]

Aug 22, 2016 Steele dossier: #105, pp. 20-21, 8/22.

Sources: A well-placed Russian figure, an American political figure
associated with Trump and his campaign
Individuals mentioned: ex-Ukrainian President Yanukovych, Paul
Manafort, Corey Lewandowski, Putin, Trump
Topics & discussion: Putin and Yanukovych hold secret meeting near
Volgograd. They discussed western media revelations about
Manafort. Yanukovych told Putin he had authorised and ordered
substantial kick-back payments to Manafort but tried to assure Putin
that he had left no documentary trail behind him.

Aug 23-29, Washingtonian (dateline 1/10/17): Cohen says that he was only in
2016 New York for the month of August, save for a trip to Los Angeles with
his son from August 23-29. Two USC baseball sources confirm that
Cohen and his son were in fact on campus visiting the baseball
program on the 29th. [Note: it is nearly certain that Cohen did not
travel to Prague--or for that matter anywhere in the EU--during this
period of time.]

Aug 27, 2016 Harry Reid l etter to FBI Director Comey (Document Cloud PDF)

Aug 29, 2016 NYT: Harry Reid Cites Evidence of Russian Tampering in U.S. Vote,
ahoo News: FBI says foreign hackers
and Seeks F.B.I. Inquiry. Y
penetrated state election systems. The bulletin does not identify the
states in question, but sources familiar with the document say it refers
to the targeting by suspected foreign hackers of voter registration
databases in Arizona and Illinois.

Aug 30, 2016 Text of letter to James Comey by several Democrats on the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, requesting him him
to investigate overt and covert acts of Trump campaign officials on
behalf of Russian interests.

Aug 31, 2016 NYT: How Russia Often Benefits When Julian Assange Reveals the
Wests Secrets. American officials say Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks
probably have no direct ties to Russian intelligence services. But the
agendas of WikiLeaks and the Kremlin have often dovetailed.
September 16, 2016 to January, 2017
 SEPTEMBER, 2016

Sept 2016 (no Independent (dateline 1/13/17): Former MI6 agent Christopher
exact dates Steele's frustration as FBI sat on Donald Trump Russia file for
given) months. Exclusive: Steele was so concerned by revelations he
worked without payment after Trump's election victory in November.
By late July and early August British MI6 was also receiving
information about Mr Trump. By September, information to the FBI
began to grow in volume: Mr Steele compiled a set of his memos into
one document and passed it to his contacts at the FBI.

Sept 2016 (no The Daily Beast (dateline 12/10/16): Obama and Congress Knew
exact dates About Russian HackingAnd They Did Nothing. Senior Members of
given) Congress were briefed in September on the pervasive Russian threat
to the core functioning of our democracy. Obama dispatched FBI
director James Comey, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnston, and White
House counterterrorism and homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco
to brief the so-called 'Gang of 12' lawmakers: House & Senate
leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members on the
Homeland Security and Intelligence Committee.

Sept 4-5, 2016 Wikipedia: 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit. The 2016 G20 Hangzhou
summit was the eleventh meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20). It
was held on 45 September 2016 in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
Not until September, when Mr. Obama pulled Mr. Putin aside at a
Group of 20 meeting in Hanghzhou, China, was the Russian leader
given a warning directly from the United States. Mr. Obama said he
told him 'to cut it out, there were going to be serious consequences if
he did not.' The president made it sound like that worked, saying we
did not see further tampering of the election process. But the leaks
of D.N.C. emails, and those of John D. Podesta, the Clinton
campaign manager, continued, because they were already in the
hands of WikiLeaks, which doled them out to an eager news media
until the last days of the campaign.

Sept 5, 2016 WaPo: U.S. investigating potential covert Russian plan to disrupt
November elections. U.S. intelligence and law enforcement
agencies are investigating what they see as a broad covert Russian
operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming
presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and
congressional officials said. The aim is to understand the scope and
intent of the Russian campaign, which incorporates cyber-tools to
hack systems used in the political process, enhancing Russias
ability to spread disinformation.
Sept 7, 2016 WaPo: U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper Suggests Russia
Behind Hacks of Democratic Party Groups. WaPo: Clinton, Trump on
defensive in national security forum. Trump was perhaps most
emphatic in defending his past comments about Putin, despite the
fodder those remarks have provided for attacks from Clinton and her
allies. 'I think when he calls me brilliant Ill take the compliment, but
its not going to get him anywhere,' Trump told Lauer, who had just
listed a roster of controversial Russian moves, including Moscows
reported culpability for the hack of the Democratic National
Committee earlier this year. Trump responded that Putin has an 82
percent approval rating in Russia: 'Hes been a leader far more than
our president has been a leader.

Sept 8, 2016 Politifact: Did Vladimir Putin call Trump 'brilliant'? "He called me a
genius," Trump said of Putin at two campaign events in February,
three times in April, in a May interview on CNN, at a June rally in
California, twice in July, and at an August town hall in Ohio. What
accounts for these different interpretations? The word Putin used
was '' or 'yarkii,' which means 'bright' or 'brilliant.' But whereas
'bright' and 'brilliant' in English are synonyms for both 'vivid' and
'intelligent,' the Russian word 'yarkii' does not carry the second
meaning.Putin was basically using 'yarkii' to mean 'colorful' or 'strong
personality,' said Harley Balzer, a Russia expert at Georgetown
University, adding that he sees 'nothing to support brilliant in the
intelligence sense from the comments Putin made in December.
Russian language experts told our friends at FactCheck.Org the
same thing. Putin, himself, denied the 'brilliant' translation in a June
interview with CNNs Fareed Zakaria. 'You made some comments
about the American Republican presumptive nominee Donald
Trump. You called him brilliant, outstanding, talented, Zakaria
said. 'These comments were reported around the world. I was
wondering what in him led you to that judgment and do you still hold
that judgment?' 'Why do you always change the meaning of what I
said?' Putin responded through an interpreter. 'I only said that he
was a bright person. Isnt he bright? He is. I did not say anything
else about him.' A P: Putin's spokesman does not respond to Trump's
accolade. Trump on Wednesday renewed his praise of Putin for
having 'great control over his country.' Asked how he would
de-escalate tensions between the U.S. and Russia if he's elected to
the White House, Trump said he'd 'have a very good relationship
with many foreign leaders,' including Putin. Putin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov told reporters on Thursday that the Kremlin is watching the
U.S. campaign closely, but takes its rhetoric with a pinch of salt.
Peskov says Moscow is willing to improve ties with the United States
whether Trump or Hillary Clinton wins the race, but will rely on what
the new president says 'after they are elected." W ashington Monthly
(dateline March 2, 2017): Jeff Sessions and the September 8th
 Meeting. Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador in his
private Senate office on Thursday, September 8th, 2016. Politico:
In an interview on a state-funded Russian television network Russia
Today, Donald Trump said Thursday that he doesnt want to see
third-party candidates in the upcoming presidential debates, and that
he believes Russian interference in American elections was
'probably unlikely,' Speaking with Larry King on RT (Russia Today),
the Republican nominee suggested that claims of Russian
interference are likely coming from across the aisle. 'I think maybe
the Democrats are putting that out. Who knows, but I think its pretty
unlikely,' he said. Trump went on to condemn any foreign influence in
the U.S. election, deeming any such action 'inappropriate.' "I hope
that if they are doing something, I hope that somebodys going to be
able to find out that they can end it because that would not be
appropriate at all," the Republican nominee said. C NN: Pence
agrees with Trump: Calls Putin stronger than Obama

Sept 14, 2016 Steele dossier: #111, pp. 22-24, 9/14

Sources: A senior member of the PA (Russian Presidential
Administration), speaking in confidence to a trusted compatriot; a
senior Russian MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) official, speaking
separately to the same compatriot
Individuals mentioned: Sergey Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the PA (fired
Aug 12, 2016); Anton Vaino,Chief of Staff of the PA (replacing
Ivanov); Clinton; PA Press Secretary Dmitriy Peskov; Trump; Putin;
Russian Federation Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak; Yuri
Ushakov (Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United
States in 1999-2008), Obama, M ikhail Kulagin [for six years head of
the economic group at the Russian Embassy in Washington DC],
Andrey Bondarev, Counselor, head of the Economic Section,
Russian Federation Embassy to the U.S., Washington, DC.,
replacing Mikhail Kulagin)
Topics & Discussion: Ivanov, the second most powerful man in
Russia as Chief of Staff of the PA, was fired on Aug 12, 2016 for
giving Putin poor advice on the issue. Anton Vaino was chosen as
his replacement partly because he was not involved in the operation
to influence the U.S. election. Different expert groups had been
giving Putin conflicting advice about interference in the U.S. election:
Kislyak and Ushakov had advised caution; Ivanov and Russian
Foreign Intelligence (SVR) had advised that the operation would be
effective and plausibly deniable with little blowback. Russians have
kompromat on Clinton; it is in the hands of Peskov; consideration is
being given to disseminating it in late September. Both Clinton and
Obama are seen as opposed to TPP and TTIP (proposed US
 multilateral trade agreements); both proposed trade agreements
were seen as detrimental to Russian interests. Russia is also looking
to shift the US policy consensus toward Ukraine and Syria.
Speaking separately, the senior Russian MFA official reported that
Kulagin and been replaced by Bondarev as head of the economic
group at the Russian Embassy in Washington DC because Kulagin
been heavily involved in the US presidential election operation,
including the so-called veterans pensions ruse. Russia feared that
his involvement would be exposed in the media there; Bondarev,
however, was clean in this regard.

Sept 14, 2016 Steele dossier: #112, pp. 25-26, 9/14

Sources: A top level Russian government official, speaking to a
trusted compatriot
Individuals mentioned: Putin, Oleg Govorun (Minister of Regional
Development, Commonwealth of Independent States); MIkhail
Fridman (Alfa Group); Pyotr Aven (Alfa Group); German Khan (Alfa
Group); Islam Karimov (former president of Uzbekistan) [Note: in this
and other memos, Steele spells Alfa as Alpha]
Topics & discussion: Despite past ups and downs, relations between
Putin and the Alfa Group are good, with significant favors done in
both directions, primarily political ones for Putin and business/legal
ones for Alfa. Fridman and Aven give informal advice to Putin on
foreign policy, and especially about the US, where he distrusted
advice being given to him by officials. During the 1990s Govorun had
been Head of Government Relations at the Alfa Group and had been
the driver and bag carrier used by Fridman and Aven to deliver
large amounts of illicit cash to Putin when he was deputy mayor of St
Petersburg. Much of the contact between the Alfa Group and Putin is
currently entrusted to the relatively low profile Govorun. Alfa holds
kompromat on Putin and his corrupt business activities from the
1990s, while Putin uses Alfas failure to reinvest the proceeds of its
TNK oil company sale into the Russian economy to make them do
his political bidding.

Sept 14, 2016 Steele dossier: #113, pp. 27, 9/14

Sources: two well-placed sources based in St Petersburg, one in the
political/business elite and one involved in the local services and
tourist industry
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Azerbaijani tycoon Araz Agalarov
Topics & discussion: Trump has visited St Petersburg several times
in the past, and has paid bribes there to further his interests, but very
discreetly. The local services industry source reported that Trump
 had participated in sex parties there, too, but that all direct witnesses
to this recently had been silenced, i.e., bribed or coerced to
disappear.

September, WaPo: The Obama administration has been debating for months
2016 (no exact how to respond to the alleged Russian intrusions, with White House
dates given) officials concerned about escalating tensions with Moscow and being
accused of trying to boost Clintons campaign. In September, during
a secret briefing for congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voiced doubts about the veracity of the
intelligence, according to officials present.

Sept 22, 2016 Joint Statement by Sen. Feinstein, Rep. Schiff on Russian Hacking

Sept 23, 2016 Yahoo (Michael Isikoff) : U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump
adviser and Kremlin. Carter Page is mentioned as one individual
who is mentioned as being under investigation by US intelligence
officials in the Congressional briefing [sometime in September, exact
date not given]. Senate minority leader Harry Reid wrote FBI
Director James Comey, citing reports of meetings between a Trump
adviser (a reference to Page) and 'high ranking sanctioned
individuals' in Moscow over the summer as evidence of 'significant
and disturbing ties' between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin
that needed to be investigated by the bureau. Some of those briefed
were 'taken aback' when they learned about Pages contacts in
Moscow, viewing them as a possible back channel to the Russians
that could undercut U.S. foreign policy, said a congressional source
familiar with the briefings but who asked for anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the subject. The source added that U.S. officials in the
briefings indicated that intelligence reports about the advisers talks
with senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin were
being 'actively monitored and investigated. A senior U.S. law
enforcement official did not dispute that characterization when asked
for comment by Yahoo News. 'Its on our radar screen,' said the
official about Pages contacts with Russian officials. 'Its being looked
at.' U.S. officials have since received intelligence reports that during
that same three-day trip, Page met with Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin
associate and former Russian deputy prime minister who is now the
executive chairman of Rosneft, Russians leading oil company, a
well-placed Western intelligence source tells Yahoo News. That
meeting, if confirmed, is viewed as especially problematic by U.S.
officials because the Treasury Department in August 2014 named
Sechin to a list of Russian officials and businessmen sanctioned over
Russias 'illegitimate and unlawful actions in the Ukraine.' (The
Treasury announcement described Sechin as 'utterly loyal to
Vladimir Putin a key component to his current standing.' At their
alleged meeting, Sechin raised the issue of the lifting of sanctions
 with Page, the Western intelligence source said. U.S. intelligence
agencies have also received reports that Page met with another top
Putin aide while in Moscow Igor Diveykin. A former Russian
security official, Diveykin now serves as deputy chief for internal
policy and is believed by U.S. officials to have responsibility for
intelligence collected by Russian agencies about the U.S. election,
the Western intelligence source said. P olitico (Julia Ioffe): The
Mystery of Trumps Man in Moscow. Reports of deep Russian ties
swirl around Trump adviser Carter Page. Oddly, nobody in Russia
seems to have heard of him.

Sept 26, 2016 Talking Points Memo: Trump Campaign Adviser Steps Down While
Disputing Claims Of Russia Ties. Page told the Washington Post
that he didn't meet with any of the Russian figures -- including
officials in the Kremlin and allies of Putin -- mentioned in reports
about the U.S. probe into his Russian activities. Page also said
that he made clear while he was in Russia that he was not there on
behalf of the Trump campaign, and that when he sought approval for
the trip from the campaign's senior staff, it was made clear that no
campaign issues would be discussed. Additionally, Page sent a letter
Monday to FBI Director James Comey, requesting the agency to
terminate any investigation into his Russian travels.

Sept 26, 2016 WaPo (first Presidential debate, transcript): Trump: I don't think
anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She's saying
Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don't -- maybe it was. I mean, it could
be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other
people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs
400 pounds, OK?

OCTOBER, 2016

October 2016 Mother Jones (David Corn): The Spy Who Wrote the Trump-Russia
(no exact dates) Memos: It Was "Hair-Raising" Stuff. When I broke the story in
October, I spoke with [Christopher Steele]. Here's what he said.

Oct 2, 2016 The Smoking Gun (dateline 3/8/17): Roger Stone's Russian Hacking
"Hero". Trump loyalist communicated with Guccifer 2.0: "On
October 1, Stone declared that 'Wednesday @HillaryClinton is done.'
Two days later, Stone tweeted that he was confident that 'my hero
Julian Assange' would soon 'educate the American people.' In an
October 5 tweet, Stone reported that, 'Payload coming' and included
the hashtag 'Lockthemup.' Stone also went on Joness show on
October 2 to declare that, 'Im assured the motherlode is coming
Wednesday.' He added, 'I have reason to believe that it is
devastating.' Stone also claimed that Assange was fearful that 'the
globalists and the Clintonites are trying to figure out how to kill him.
Oct 5, 2016 Wikipedia: Sergei Kiriyenko appointed First Deputy Chief of Staff of
the Presidential Administration of Russia, as part of major Kremlin
reshuffle. [Steele memo#135, p. 33, dated Oct 19, 2016: Kiriyenkos
appointment a consequence of Putins concern and displeasure over
the handling of the Kremlin-Trump campaign secret liaison. The
demotion of Ivanov and his replacement by Vaino was part of the
same reshuffle.]

Oct 5, 2016 gdd53 (Tea Leaves), (first Tea Leaves posting): Trumps Russian
Bank Account. Trump and Russias largest private bank
communicated via a hidden server since at least 2016 May.
[Cf.Steele dossier: #112, pp. 25-26, written three weeks earlier on
9/14, which mentions the Alfa Group. Tea Leaves is the anonymizer
moniker used by a cyber expert who was part of a group calling itself
the Computer Nerds, who undertook an investigation to determine if
the Trump campaign itself had been hacked.]

Oct 7, 2016 Wikipedia: In March 2016, the personal Gmail account of John
Podesta, a former White House chief of staff and the chairman of
Hillary Clinton's 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, was compromised
in a data breach, and a collection of his emails, many of which were
work-related, were stolen. Cybersecurity researchers as well as the
United States government attributed responsibility for the breach,
which was accomplished via a spear-phishing attack, to the hacking
group Fancy Bear, affiliated with Russian intelligence services. On 7
October 2016, WikiLeaks began publishing thousands of emails that
it said were from Podesta's Gmail account. The first batch of emails
were released less than one hour after The Washington Post
published a controversial video of Donald Trump making lewd
comments about women. Throughout October, WikiLeaks released
installments of the Podesta emails on a daily basis. On 18 December
2016, John Podesta stated in Meet the Press that the FBI had
contacted him about the leaked emails on 9 October 2016, but had
not contacted him since.

Oct 7, 2016 DNI: Joint Statement from the Department of Homeland Security
(Friday) and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election
Security. The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that
the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails
from US persons and institutions, including from US political
organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on
sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0
online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of
Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended
to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to
Moscowthe Russians have used similar tactics and techniques
across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion
 there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these
efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized
these activities.

Oct 7, 2016 WaPo: U.S. government officially accuses Russia of hacking

campaign to interfere with elections

Oct 7, 2016 AP: Russias Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Cherkin lodged a formal
complaint last month with the United Nations over a top U.N. official's
condemnations of Donald Trump and some European politicians, an
intervention that underscores the unusual links between the
Republican presidential nominee and the Kremlin. Eight days
before Churkin's demarche, Zeid went after Trump again in a Sept. 5
speech in The Hague, Netherlands, lumping the billionaire
businessman with several populist leaders in Europe. Zeid
concentrated on Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders, who opposes
asylum for refugees and, similar to Trump, immigration from Muslim
countries. Zeid also criticized by name the pro-Brexit head of the
U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, who appeared with Trump
at an August rally; Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico; Austrian
presidential candidate Norbert Hofer; French nationalist leader
Marine Le Pen; Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Czech
President Milos Zeman.

Oct 9, 2016 Wikipedia: During the 18 December 2016 edition of Meet the Press,
John Podesta stated that the FBI had contacted him about the
leaked emails on 9 October 2016, but had not contacted him since

Oct 10, 2016 Politico: During the second presidential debate, while responding to a
comment from Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump said that he doesn't
know Vladimir Putin and knows nothing about Russia. Source: CNN
I know nothing about Russia - I know about Russia, but I know
nothing about the inner workings of Russia. I dont deal there, I have
no businesses there, I have no loans from Russia. N YT (second
Presidential debate, full transcript/video): "But I notice, anytime
anything wrong happens, they like to say the Russians are she
doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is
no hacking. But they always blame Russia. And the reason they
blame Russia because they think they're trying to tarnish me with
Russia." The Hill: Trump: 'I love WikiLeaks. I love WikiLeaks,' he
told listeners during a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., prompting
prolonged Lock her up! chants from his audience. 'Its amazing how
nothing is secret today when you talk about the Internet.' Trump then
began reading from sheets of paper some of the details revealed by
WikiLeakss Friday dump of Clintons emails. S kyhorse Publishing:
The Plot to Hack America. How Putins Cyberspies and WikiLeaks
Tried to Steal the 2016 Election, by Malcolm Nance
Oct 12, 2016 Steele dossier: #130, pp. 28-29, 9/12.
Sources: A senior Russian leadership figure; a Foreign MInistry
official; both speaking separately in confidence to a trusted
compatriot
Individuals mentioned: Trump, Clinton, Russian Foreign MInister
Sergey Lavrov
Topics & discussion: WikiLeaks mentioned as one of the compliant
media outlets used by Russia in its Trump support operation in the
US election. Most of the best material had already been injected into
the campaign, but plausible deniability had been maintained, and
the Kremlin felt that the stream of these leaks could be used through
the election. In fact, buyers remorse had set in, as the Kremlin had
hoped that the leaks would have greater impact than it did.
Responsibility for the anti-Clinton, pro-Trump campaign had been
moved from the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the PA
(Presidential Administration) and therefore closer to Putin. Putin was
angry with subordinates over-promising on Trump. The MFA
official said that the Kremlin had launched such an aggressive Trump
support operation because it needed to upset the international status
quo, including Ukraine-related sanctions, which was seriously hurting
the country. Trump was seen as a disruptive force in the entire US
political system, with whom they could do business. Trump, it was
thought, could also be useful in the future as a divisive political force
even if he lost the election.

Oct 12, 2016 Paste: Donald Trump is the Kremlin's Man: A Comprehensive Case
for Russian Influence in the GOP Campaign

Oct 12, 2016 CBS: Trump Ally Roger Stone Admits Back-Channel Tie To
WikiLeaks. Roger Stone, a self-described master of the political dark
arts and the longtime ally of Donald Trump, admits he has had
back-channel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange over the release of thousands of emails stolen from the
Hillary Clinton campaign. Stone, however, said he was not provided
the hacked material in advance nor was he involved in the timing of
their release. 'I do have a back-channel communication with
Assange, because we have a good mutual friend,' Stone told CBS4
News Wednesday evening. 'That friend travels back and forth from
the United States to London and we talk. I had dinner with him last
Monday. [TW: This mutual friend is probably Craig Murray. D aily
Info: WikiLeaks Bombshell: UK Ambassador Met With DNC Mole,
Not A Russian, Enter Craig Murray, former UK Ambassador to
Uzbekistan and friends of Julian Assange. Dec 14, 2016 story. Also:
Daily Beast: Clinton Camp--Roger Stone Knew About WikiLeaks
Email Hack]
Oct 13, 2016 Twitter (@wikileaks): Wikileaks Editorial: WikiLeaks has never
communicated with Roger Stone as we have previously, repeatedly
stated.

Oct 14, 2016 CNN: US finds growing evidence Russia feeding emails to
WikiLeaks.
There is mounting evidence that the Russian government is
supplying WikiLeaks with hacked emails pertaining to the US
presidential election, US officials familiar with the investigation have
told CNN.
As WikiLeaks continues to publish emails belonging to Clinton
campaign chair John Podesta, US officials told CNN that there is
growing evidence that Russia is using the organization as a delivery
vehicle for the messages and other stolen information.

Oct 15, 2016 BBC (dateline 1/12/16), journalist Paul Wood): Trump 'compromising'
claims: How and why did we get here? On 15 October, the US
secret intelligence court (FISA) issued a warrant to investigate two
Russian banks. This news was given to me by several sources and
corroborated by someone I will identify only as a senior member of
the US intelligence community.

Oct 15, 2016 McClatchy (dateline 1/18/16): FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible
covert Kremlin aid to Trump. The BBC reported that the FBI had
obtained a warrant on Oct. 15 from the highly secretive Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing investigators access to bank
records and other documents about potential payments and money
transfers related to Russia. One of McClatchys sources confirmed
the report. Susan Hennessey, a former attorney for the National
Security Agency who is now a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said
she had no knowledge as to whether a Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act warrant had been issued in the investigation of
Russian influence. However, she said such warrants were issued
only if investigators could establish probable cause that the target
was a foreign power or its agent and that the surveillance was likely
to produce foreign intelligence. She said the information in Steeles
dossier couldnt have met that test. If, in fact, law enforcement has
obtained a FISA warrant, that is an indication that additional
evidence exists outside of the dossier, she said.

Oct 18, 2016 The Hill: Ex-NSA head Michael Hayden suggests US also hacks
political parties. But up until they weaponized information, Hayden
said their actions were par for the course. 'I have to admit my
definition of what the Russians did [in hacking the Democratic
National Committee] is, unfortunately, honorable state espionage,'
Hayden said during an on-stage interview at the Heritage
Foundation.
Oct 18?, 2016 Steele dossier: #134, pp. 30-31, no date given, 10/18? [includes
(no date given) some redaction]; no date given.
Sources: A close associate of Rosneft President Igor Sechin and
Putin, speaking to a close compatriot in mid-October; a Kremlin
insider with direct access to the leadership, speaking separately to
the same compatriot
Individuals mentioned: Igor Sechin, Putin, Trumps personal lawyer
Michael Cohen (and his wife and father-in-law, who are not named),
Carter Page
Topics & discussion: The close associate of Sechin confirms his
secret meeting in Moscow with Carter Page on July or 8, either the
same day or the one after Page made a public speech to the Higher
Economic School in Moscow. At that meeting, Sechins associate
said that Rosneft president Sechin was to keep to lift personal and
corporate Western sanctions [Sechin being one of seven individuals
sanctioned by the U.S. for Russian actions in the Ukraine and
Crimea] that he offered Page the brokerage [fee] of up to a 19 per
cent (privatised) stake in Rosneft in return. Page had expressed
interest and confirmed that if Trump were elected US president,
sanctions on Russia would be lifted. Sechin continued to think Trump
would win the presidency up to Oct 17, but is now looking to
reorientate his engagement with the US. Quite separately, the
Kremlin insider highlights the importance of Trumps lawyers covert
relationship with Russia. [This is the first memo that mentions
Michael Cohen in the Steele memo.] Cohens wife, he reports, is of
Russian descent and her father a leading property developer in
Moscow. Cohen, he says, is playing a key role in the secret Trump
campaign/Kremlin relationship. [Two sentences, apparently on
Cohen, and four sentences of the Company Comment at the end of
the memo have been redacted..]

Oct 19, 2016 Steele dossier: #135, pp. 32-33, 10/19 Oct 19, 2017
Sources: a Kremlin insider speaking to a longstanding compatriot
friend -- presumably the same source as the Kremlin insider with
direct access to the leadership, speaking separately to the same
compatriot cited in the immediately preceding memo #134
Individuals mentioned: Michael Cohen, Trump, Manafort, Sergei
Kiriyenko (First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential
Administration of Russia)
Topics & discussion: This source continues to outline the important
role played by by Trumps lawyer Cohen in secret liaison with the
Kremlin. (Prior to his departure, Manafort had led for the Trump side.)
 Cohen engaged with the Russians in trying to cover up the Manafort
scandals and the exposure of Page. Cohen met with Kremlin officials
(described more specifically as Presidential Administration Legal
Department officials) secretly in the EU in August in pursuit of this
goal. The aim was to prevent the full details of Trumps relationship
with Russia being exposed. Secret contacts continue but on the
Russian side have been farmed out to Kremlin-linked institutes in
order to maintain plausible deniability. The source confirmed that
the sacking of Ivanov, his replacement by Anton Vaino, and the
appointment of Sergei Kiriyenko had been directly connected to the
Trump support operation and the need to cover up now that it was
being exposed by the US government and in the Western media.
There is also this important Company Comment, which deserves
being quoted in full: The Kremlin insider was unsure of the identities
of the PA officials with whom Cohen met secretly in August, or the
exact date/s and locations of the meeting/s. There were significant
internal security barriers being erected in the PA as the Trump issue
became more controversial and damaging. However s/he continued
to try to obtain these.

Oct 19, 2016 Observer (by John R. Schindler, dateline 10/19) : East-West SpyWar
Heats Up With Arrest of Russian Hacker in Prague. With FBI help,
Czech authorities in Prague nab a Russian wanted for hacking
against Americans. [Watch video of the arrest here.] The hacker is
now in custody, awaiting an extradition request from Washington.
The United States has 40 days from his arrest to ask for the Russian
to be sent here to face charges, but Czech justice authorities today
stated that they have yet to receive any American extradition
request. We dont know specifically what hacking the Russian
stands accused of, although Czech police have stated that he had
perpetrated cyber-crimes against Americans, and he was wanted on
an INTERPOL Red Noticean indication that the FBI wanted to get
their hands on this man rather badly. Suspicion that this Russian is
involved in cyber-espionage against Hillary Clinton and the
Democrats is strong, although Western intelligence is being
unusually tight-lipped about this casewhich is typically an
indication that its a big deal indeed. ...Exactly what this Russian
hacker was doing in Prague is an important question. Theres a
vibrant hacker scene in the Czech capital, with more than one
wanted cyber-criminal hiding out there. However, Prague is even
better known as a playground for Russian intelligence. Since the
Cold Wars end, the Czech Republic has been a favored destination
for Mafiosi and spies from Moscowthose two groups often
indistinguishable from each other. Aggressive operations by the
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and Russian military
 intelligence (GRU) in the Czech Republic have grown so serious that
Prague recently took the rare step of calling out Moscow on its
misbehavior. Theres good news for the West here. As the Czech
police explained, the hacker was arrested only 12 hours after they
got a tip-offpresumably from the Americansthat the Russian was
entering their country. With the FBIs help, the Czechs got their man,
quickly. Western intelligence cooperation in the SpyWar is working
better than ever. Schindler notes that, according to a Newsweek
article, Estonian intelligence actually did have information that
confirmed a meeting between the Trump team and a Russian spy
working under-cover as a diplomat with R ossotrudnichestvo.
According to Schindler, his contacts in Eastern European intelligence
think very much doubt the Prague story. According to Schindler,
surveillance by Estonian intelligence in the capital of a fellow NATO
and European Union country without conducting a joint operation
would be so exceptional that it would mean that Czechs and
presumably the Americans would know about it too.

Oct 19, 2017 Vox: (full transcript, third and final presidential debate): Clinton: Its
pretty clear that you wont admit that the Russians have engaged in
cyber attacks against the United States of America, that you
encouraged espionage against our people, that you are willing to
spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, rake up NATO, do
whatever he wants to do, and that you continue to get help from him
because he has a very clear favorite in this race so I think this is
such an unprecedented situation, we've never had a foreign
government trying to interfere in our election. We have 17, 17
intelligence agencies, civilian and military, who have all concluded
that these espionage attacks, these cyber attacks come from the
highest levels of the Kremlin and they are designed to influence our
election. I find that deeply disturbing.

Oct 20, 2017 Radio Free Europe: Digital Trail Betrays Identity Of Russian 'Hacker'
Detained In Prague. An investigation by Current Time TV has
determined that the Russian national accused by American officials
of hacking U.S. targets and arrested earlier this month in the Czech
capital is 29-year-old Moscow resident Yevgeny Nikulin. U .S. Dept.
of Justice (dateline 10/21/17): Yevgeniy Nikulin Indicted for Hacking
LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring. T he Sunday Times (dateline
10/23/17): Multimillionaire Russian hacker hits the skids as FBI
pounces.

Oct 20, 2016 Steele dossier: #136, pp. 18-19, 10/20

Sources: a Kremlin insider, speaking to a compatriot and friend --
presumably the same Kremlin insider cited in the previous two
memos, #134 and #135; in the Company Comment section at the
 end of this memo, it is the same source who is described as a
Kremlin advisor
Individuals mentioned: Trumps lawyer MIchael Cohen, Konstantin
Kosachev (chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation
Council (upper house) of the Russian State Duma.
Topics & discussion: Further details about a clandestine, secret
meeting/s between Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen and
Kremlin representatives in August 2016. Although the
communication between them had to be cryptic for security reasons,
the Kremlin insider clearly indicated to his/her friend that the reported
contact/s took place in Prague, Czech Republic. The Kremlin
insider/advisor highlighted the importance of the Russian parastatal
organisation, R ossotrudnichestvo, in the contacts between the Trump
campaign representative/s and the Kremlin officials, helping to
maintain plausible deniability while remaining entirely under
Kremlin control. Its premises in Prague may have been used for the
meeting/s. Konstanin Kosachev is also an important figure in the
Trump campaign-Kremlin liaison operation, being part of the Russian
legislature (Duma) rather than the executive. Kosachev had
facilitated the contact in Prague and by implication, may have
attended the meeting/s with Cohen there in August. [TW: This is the
first mention of Prague in the dossier.]

Oct 24, 2016 Reuters: Russian-owned Czech lender European-Russian Bank

(ERB) loses banking license. The [Czech] central bank said that
failings by ERB had threatened the bank's stability, adding that it did
not have systems in place to prevent money laundering and the
financing of terrorism or to ensure observance of international
sanctions.

Oct 25, 2016 Heat Street: Ex-Trump Campaign Manager Manafort Has Financial
Ties to Firm That Bid on Russian Spying Contract

Oct 27, 2016 Bloomberg: Inside the Trump Bunker, With Days to Go
Powered by Project Alamo and data supplied by the RNC and
Cambridge Analytica, his team is spending $70 million a month,
much of it to cultivate a universe of millions of fervent Trump
supporters, many of them reached through Facebook. By Election
Day, the campaign expects to have captured 12 million to 14 million
e-mail addresses and contact information (including credit card
numbers) for 2.5 million small-dollar donors, who together will have
ponied up almost $275 million. 'I wouldnt have come aboard, even
for Trump, if I hadnt known they were building this massive
Facebook and data engine,' says Bannon. 'Facebook is what
propelled Breitbart to a massive audience. We know its power.
Oct 29, 2016 Tea Leaves [cf. entry for Oct 5, 2016]: Connections between there
and here. [TW: Apparently, this is the original Reddit posting by the
anonymous Tea Leaves, a computer security expert in a group that
called itself the Computer Nerds. Their findings led to the article in
Mother Jones (David Corn) on 31 Oct 2016 and the Franklin Foer
articles in Slate on 31 October 2016 and 2 Nov 2016 ((see Timeline
entries for those dates) Franklin Foer articles in Slate (Franklin Foer)
on 31 Oct 2016, concerning what appeared to be a highly suspect
connection between a server in Trumps offices in Trump Tower and
the Alfa Bank in Moscow, which has close ties with Putin through
oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven.]
Summary:
* Trump and Russia's largest private bank communicate via hidden
server since at least 2016 May
* Confronted with questions by NYT reporter, Alfa Bank denies any
relationship
* Hidden server belonging to Trump then disappears (no one but Alfa
Bank was asked)
* Deleted host name mail1.Trump-Email.com is replaced with
trump1.contact-client.com
* Russian Alfa Bank is the first host seen to contact the new trump1.
server
Comments:
Trump's FEC filings fail to disclose any foreign bank account in
Russia or relationship with the Russian Alfa Bank. Network logs
show a distinctively human pattern of communications between a
hidden server dedicated for use by the Trump Organization and the
Russian financial company Alfa Bank, which has close ties to the
Kremlin. Trump campaign advisors also have relationships with Alfa
Bank and related Alfa-Group / LetterOne. Trump's hidden server
appears to be a specially configured outbound email server.
Different in every way from traffic seen on adjacent servers managed
by the same server company, this specially configured server has
been exclusively corresponding with Alfa-Bank and Spectrum since
at least May 2016 with a cadence and rate of a human conversation.
[Graphic of Trump account in the Alfa Bank.]
[The Reddit thread Was a Trump Server Communicating With
Russia? that was sparked by the Tea Leaves posting on the
Trump-Alfa server connection is available h ere.] [TW: Besides the
Alfa Group, SVB is also of great interest. SVB must be Silicon Valley
Bank, with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. It has a number
of Russian ethnics in its management, and has a special c ontractual
arrangement with Sherbank, the Russian Federations largest bank.
Sherbank holds about 27% of the Russian banking assets and
employs nearly 240,000 people. The Central Bank of the Russian
Federation is the founder and major shareholder of Sherbank,
owning 57.6% of its issued outstanding shares. In addition, SVB has
 (or did have) important business connections with Lynch Securities in
Moscow. This is of interest because Carter Page, who is currently
under investigation by USIC, worked for many years in Moscow for
Merrill Lynch. My Google searching came up with links to three PDF
files on the research pages at Merrill Lynch that mention Merrill
Lynch, Moscow, but these files are no longer obtainable. As of the
date of this writing--Feb 5, 2017--one gets the following message
when trying to read or download these files: This publication is not
available. It may have been recalled or deleted, or contains one or
more securities that are restricted, under review or no longer
covered. For additional details on the matters discussed in the
above by Tea Leaves and Reddit posters, see the Heat Street article
below dated Nov 7, 2016.]

Oct 30, 2016 CBSNews: Sen.Harry Reid accuses Comey of sitting on proof of
Trump-Russia ties. CNN (article update dated Jan 12, 2017) : Intel
chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise
him. The two-page synopsis also included allegations that there
was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign
between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian
government, according to two national security officials. Sources tell
CNN that these same allegations about communications between the
Trump campaign and the Russians, mentioned in classified briefings
for congressional leaders last year, prompted then-Senate
Democratic Leader Harry Reid to send a letter to FBI Director Comey
in October, in which he wrote, 'It has become clear that you possess
explosive information about close ties and coordination between
Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government -- a
foreign interest openly hostile to the United States."

Oct 31, 2016 Mother Jones (David Corn): A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI
Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump.
Steele, who regularly consults with US government agencies on
Russian matters, near the start of July on his own initiativewithout
the permission of the US company that hired himhe sent a report
he had written for that firm to a contact at the FBI...The former
intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was 'shock and
horror.' The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately
request additional material, according to the former intelligence
officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI
asked [Steele] for all information in his possession and for him to
explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his
sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several
memossome of which referred to members of Trump's inner circle.
After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI. 'It's
quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on,' he
says.
Oct 31, 2016 Slate (Franklin Foer): Was a Trump Server Communicating With
Russia? This spring, a group of computer scientists [Computer
Nerds] set out to determine whether hackers were interfering with the
Trump campaign. They found something they werent expecting.

Oct 31, 2016 NYT: Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to
Russia.

Oct 31, 2016 DailyKos: Putin==> Aven ==> Manafort ==> Trump.

NOVEMBER, 2016

Nov 1, 2016 The Forward: Is Jewish Oligarch [Mikhail Fridman] the Cyber Link
Between Donald Trump and Russia?

Nov 1, 2016 The Intercept: Heres the problem with the story connecting Russia to
Donald Trumps email server. [TW: But read the comments, too]

Nov 1, 2016 Errata Security: Debunking Trump's "secret server" [TW: But read
the comments, most of which argue, very convincingly, that Errata
Security has not debunked the story.]

Nov 2, 2016 Slate (Franklin Foer): Trumps Server, Revisited, Sorting through the
new evidence, and competing theories, about the Trump server that
appeared to be communicating with a Russian bank.

Nov 2, 2016 The Guardian: Trump adviser reveals how Assange ally warned him
about leaked Clinton emails. Roger Stone, a longtime unofficial
adviser to the Republican presidential nominee, was briefed in
general terms in advance about the sensitive and embarrassing
leaked Democratic emails by an American libertarian who works in
the media on the 'opinion side', he told the Guardian in an interview.
Stone claims his American source, whom he declined to identify, has
met with Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, in London and is a 'mutual
friend' of Stone and Assange. The WikiLeaks source, Stone said, is
not tied in any way to the Trump campaign but has served as a back
channel for Stone, who is an outside adviser to the Republican
presidential candidate, allowing the adviser to tweet and comment
very broadly prior to some key WikiLeaks disclosures. A source close
to Trump Tower also told the Guardian that Stone once boasted to
him of meeting with Assange himself and told the source, who is
active in GOP political circles, that WikiLeaks would be 'coming down
like a ton of bricks' on Clinton. Stone adamantly denied meeting with
Assange ('Your source is bullshitting u' he wrote in an email) or
having any direct contact with Assange or anyone with WikiLeaks.

Nov 2, 2016 Fortune: Meet the Russian Bank [Alfa] with Ties to Donald Trump.
[Summary: Alfa has close ties with Putin in the Kremlin and a
 booming business in the Western Ukraine, even though the two
countries are at war.]

Nov 2, 2016 Mediaite: Stop It With That Kind Of Stuff!: Trump Adviser [Michael
Flynn] Demands MSNBC Anchor Stephanie Ruhle Stop Demeaning
Putin (video and text)

Nov 3, 2016 WaPo: Michael Hayden, former head of both the CIA and the NSA,
calls Mr Trump a "polezni durak" - a useful fool for Russia.

Nov 3, 2016 NY Daily News (Kenneth F. McCallion). A real estate empire built on
corruption: The trouble with Trump's foreign-cash connection. Lost
in all of the media hype over Donald Trumps mistreatment of women
and Hillary Clintons missing emails is the fact that Donald Trumps
real estate empire is largely dependent on Russian and other foreign
money, untold quantities of it laundered through his various real
estate projects. This Russian money is a lifeblood of the Trump
Organization, and if Russian billionaire oligarchs aligned with
President Vladimir Putin were to suddenly pull their money out of the
Trump Organization, it would exact a heavy financial toll on the
enterprise. How did it come about that Trump Organization
projects came to be financed with dirty money originating with
international financial criminals from Russian, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and other Eastern European
and Central Asian sources? The answer is simple: It had no choice, if
it wanted to survive. After four business bankruptcies, nearly all the
legitimate U.S. banks realized that any further loans to Trump would
be reckless. The Trump business empire was on the verge of
collapse. Salvation was found in Russian money of questionable
origin. [Note: McCallion is a former federal prosecutor and New York
attorney, specializing in human rights, money laundering and civil
racketeering cases. His most recent book is The Essential Guide to
Donald Trump (And Why I Am Sailing to Nova Scotia If He Wins).]

Nov 4, 2016 Newsweek: Why Vladimir Putins Russia Is Backing Donald Trump
First article by Kurt Eichenwald on Western intelligence on the Trump
campaign and its Russia connection. Eichenwald updated this article
on Jan 10, 2017 (see Timeline entry for this date on that updated
article). [Note: Since the Steele dossier had been in circulation in
knowledgeable and interested circles since the early autumn,
Eichenwald probably had seen the Steele memo himself when he
wrote this article. However, he also had other sources. From what I
have been able to piece together, all the sources are for the most
part congruent and even mutually corroborative, though there are
significant divergences on some particular points.]
Nov 4, 2016 LinkedIn (Bryan Frydenborg): Top Trump Aides Deeper & Linked
Roles in Putin Agenda Revealed; Russian Mafia Nexus With Trump
& Aides Goes Back Years. New threads in the Team Trump/Team
Putin tangled web show Manafort and Page linked to each other as
part of a Russian plot to control Ukraine and also show a mutual
Russian mafia godfather linking them with each other and Trump,
providing even deeper and more fertile ground on which to question
Trumps pro-Russia, Pro-Putin positions and their origins.

Nov 7, 2016 Heat Street (Louise Mensch): EXCLUSIVE: FBI Granted FISA
Warrant Covering Trump Camps Ties To Russia. Two separate
sources with links to the counter-intelligence community have
confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a
FISA court warrant in October, giving counter-intelligence permission
to examine the activities of U.S. persons in Donald Trumps
campaign with ties to Russia.Contrary to earlier reporting in the New
York Times, which cited FBI sources as saying that the agency did
not believe that the private server in Donald Trumps Trump Tower
which was connected to a Russian bank had any nefarious purpose,
the FBIs counter-intelligence arm, sources say, re-drew an earlier
FISA court request around possible financial and banking offenses
related to the server. The first request, which, sources say, named
Trump, was denied back in June, but the second was drawn more
narrowly and was granted in October after evidence was presented
of a server, possibly related to the Trump campaign, and its alleged
links to two banks; SVB Bank and Russias Alfa Bank. While the
Times story speaks of metadata, sources suggest that a FISA
warrant was granted to look at the full content of emails and other
related documents that may concern US persons. The FBI agents
who talked to the New York Times, and rubbished the
ground-breaking stories of Slate (Franklin Foer) and Mother Jones
(David Corn) may not have known about the FISA warrant, sources
say, because the counter-intelligence and criminal sides of the FBI
often work independently of each other employing the principle of
compartmentalization. The FISA warrant was granted in connection
with the investigation of suspected activity between the server and
two banks, SVB Bank and Alfa Bank. However, it is thought in the
intelligence community that the warrant covers any US person
connected to this investigation, and thus covers Donald Trump and
at least three further men who have either formed part of his
campaign or acted as his media surrogates. The warrant was sought,
they say, because actionable intelligence on the matter provided by
friendly foreign agencies could not properly be examined without a
warrant by US intelligence as it involves US Persons who come
under the remit of the FBI and not the CIA. Should a
counter-intelligence investigation lead to criminal prosecutions,
sources say, the Justice Department is concerned that the chain of
 evidence have a basis in a clear warrant. In June, when the first
FISA warrant was denied, the FBI was reportedly alarmed at Carter
Pages trip to Moscow and meetings with Russian officials, one week
before the DNC was hacked. Counter intelligence agencies later
reported to both Presidential candidates that Russia had carried out
this hack; Donald Trump said publicly in the third debate that our
country has no idea if Russia did the hacking. The discovery of the
Trump Tower private Russian server, however, communicating with
Alfa Bank, changed matters, sources report.

Nov 8, 2016 Donald J. Trump is elected POTUS.

Nov 9, 2016 Politico: Russia cheers Trump victory. The state duma, Russias
lower house of parliament, erupted in applause Wednesday as
Republican Donald Trump was declared the winner of the U.S.
election. 'Hillary Clinton has admitted defeat in the U.S. presidential
election, and a second ago Trump began his speech as
president-elect of the United States of America, and I congratulate
you all,' said Vyacheslav Nikonov, a state duma member, as the
house applauded.

Nov 10, 2016 Reuters: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says it
was in touch with Trump's campaign during election. A P: Russia
eyes better ties with Trump; says contacts underway. Dmitry
Peskov, a top Russian diplomat and Vladimir Putin's spokesman,
said Thursday that Russian experts were in contact with some
members of President-elect Donald Trump's staff during the
presidential campaign, a period in which the United States accused
Russia of hacking into Democratic Party emails systems. A
spokeswoman for Trump denied the assertion, but it raised the
ongoing suspicions about the president-elect's relationship with
Putin's government that had dogged his campaign with former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump spokeswoman Hope
Hicks denied such contacts. 'It never happened,' she said. 'There
was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity
during the campaign.' Hicks also said there are no meetings planned
between Peskov and Trump or anyone with the campaign.

Nov 18-20, 2016 Independent: Ex-UK Moscow ambassador A ndrew Wood admits he
was middle man who tipped off John McCain to Trump 'dirty dossier'
The article suggests that, outside M16 and USIC, the dossier was
obtained by Sen. John McCain, who sent an emissary to London to
pick up the dossier from an intermediary acting on behalf of Mr.
ecurity Forum was held Nov
Steele. The Halifax International S
18-20. John McCain then personally took the dossier to FBI Director
James Comey. Apparently, Steele continued to work for MI6, or at
the very least had extremely close liaison with it.
Nov 17, 2016 Politico: Trump names Mike Flynn national security adviser

Nov 20, 2016 Daily Kos: Directly From Steve Bannon's Breitbart: The Connection
Between the Alt-Right, Trump & Russia. [Very important and
informative article.]

Nov 28, 2016 Time (interview with Trump): I dont believe [Russia] interfered. That
became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any
time I do something, they say, Oh, Russia interfered. Why not get
along with Russia? T elegraph: Marine Le Pen's links to Russia
under US scrutiny. According to Le Canard Enchan, the French
investigative and satirical weekly, Mike Turner, a Republican on the
House of Representatives' permanent select committee on
intelligence, urged the US director of national intelligence to look into
Ms Le Pen's Russia links. In an extract of a letter dated November
28 to James Clapper, who heads up 17 American intelligence
organisations and agencies, he notes that the Front National 'publicly
acknowledged that it had received a $9.8 million loan from a Russian
bank with links to the Kremlin, allegedly brokered by a sanctioned
Russian Duma deputy, according to French press reporting.' The
bank in question was First Czech Russian Bank (FCRB) in Moscow.
Mr Turner goes on: 'In February 2016, the FN asked Russia for a
$30 million loan to fund the FN leader Marine Le Pen's 2017
campaign. In May, Le Pen said in an interview that she will recognise
Crimea as Russian territory if she wins the French presidency.'
According to Le Canard, Mr Turner urged Mr Clapper to obtain 'more
details' on 'this vast campaign' destined to 'wage an information war
against the United States and other countries whose interests go
against those of Russia."

DECEMBER, 2016

Dec 4, 2016 Huffington Post: Putin Praises Trump, Says President-Elect Will
Understand New Responsibilities, Because he achieved success in
business, it suggests that he is a clever man.

December, 2016 CNN (dateline 3/4/16): More Trump advisers disclose meetings with
(no exact dates Russia's ambassador. President Donald Trump's senior aide Jared
given) Kushner and ousted adviser Michael Flynn met with the Russian
ambassador to the United States at a time when the Trump
administration's relationship with the Russians was under close
scrutiny. Kushner and Flynn sat down in December at Trump Tower
with Sergey Kislyak, according to a senior administration official, who
described it as an 'introductory meeting' and 'kind of an
inconsequential hello.' The meeting lasted for about 10 minutes, the
official added.
Dec 7, 2016 Bloomberg: Russia Sells $11 Billion Stake in Rosneft to Glencore,
Qatar. Commodity trader Glencore Plc and Qatars sovereign wealth
fund agreed to buy a 10.2-billion euro ($11 billion) stake in Russias
largest oil producer from the state in a triumph for President Vladimir
Putin over sanctions imposed by the West.The surprise deal gives
the buyers a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft PJSC, which the U.S. and
European Union have targeted with punitive measures, and is the
biggest foreign investment in Russia since the crisis in Ukraine.
Russia is selling assets to raise money after the collapse in oil prices
sapped government revenue. T he American Interest: The Rosneft
Sale and Putins Retirement Plan. Furthermore, consortium
agreements often contain opt-out clauses, giving members the right
to sell their stakes if the ownership structure changessomething
that the Qataris might also avail themselves of. Thus Vladimir Putin
might in the end get a full 19.5 percent ownership stake of
Rosnefta very good end-of-assignment bonus for Russias
President. [Cf. Steele memo #134, dated sometime in Oct 2016, in
which it is reported that in a secret meeting between Carter Page
and Sechin on July 7 or 8, Sechin had offered Page the brokerage of
up to a 19 per cent (privatised) stake in Rosneft in return. Page had
expressed interest and confirmed that if Trump were elected US
president, sanctions on Russia would be lifted.]

Dec 8, 2016 NYT: Carter Page, Ex-Trump Adviser With Russian Ties, Visits
Moscow. Mr. Page was close-lipped about the purpose of his visit,
telling RIA Novosti, a Russian state-run news agency, that he would
stay in Moscow until Tuesday and would meet with 'business leaders
and thought leaders.' [Article contains remarks by Russian officials
Peskov, Ryabkov, and Slutsky, aimed at distancing themselves and
the Kremlin from Page.]

Dec 9, 2016 WaPo: A secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help
Trump win White House. Intelligence agencies have identified
individuals with connections to the Russian government who
provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the
Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary
Clintons campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those
officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence
community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump
and hurt Clintons chances.

Dec 9, 2016 BBC (dateline 1/12/16): Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why
did we get here? The USIC investigation was active going into the
election. During that period, the leader of the Democrats in the
Senate, Harry Reid, wrote to the director of the FBI, accusing him of
holding back 'explosive information' about Mr Trump. Mr Reid sent
his letter after getting an intelligence briefing, along with other senior
 figures in Congress. Only eight people were present: the chairs and
ranking minority members of the House and Senate intelligence
committees, and the leaders of the Democratic and Republican
parties in Congress, the 'gang of eight' as they are sometimes called.
Normally, senior staff attend gang of eight intelligence briefings, but
not this time. The Congressional leaders were not even allowed to
take notes. C NN: Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of
Russian efforts to compromise him. The two-page synopsis also
included allegations that there was a continuing exchange of
information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and
intermediaries for the Russian government, according to two national
security officials.
Sources tell CNN that these same allegations about communications
between the Trump campaign and the Russians, mentioned in
classified briefings for congressional leaders last year, prompted
then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to send a letter to FBI
Director Comey in October, in which he wrote, 'It has become clear
that you possess explosive information about close ties and
coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the
Russian government -- a foreign interest openly hostile to the United
States." [Note: there is no declassified, available copy of this
two-page appendix; and in fact no available, declassified copy of the
entire document, that I have been able to find. The document is not
to be confused with the ODNI d ocument of October 7, the report
ordered by President Obama on cyber hacking. That later document
is limited to cyber hacking, not investigation of claims or allegations
about Trump contacts and possible collusion with Kremlin during the
campaign. This document based only on (US) IC sources after the
presentation, letter by Reid etc and possibly of others.]

Dec 9, 2016 CNN (dateline 1/12/17): Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of
(note: a Friday) Russian efforts to compromise him. CNN has also learned that on
December 9, Senator John McCain gave a full copy of the memos --
dated from June through December, 2016 -- to FBI Director James
Comey. McCain became aware of the memos from a former British
diplomat who had been posted in Moscow. But the FBI had already
been given a set of the memos compiled up to August 2016, when
the former MI6 agent presented them to an FBI official in Rome,
aPo: Intelligence agencies
according to national security officials. W
have identified individuals with connections to the Russian
government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked
emails from the Democratic National Committee and others,
including Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, according to U.S.
officials. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to
the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to
boost Trump and hurt Clintons chances.'It is the assessment of the
intelligence community that Russias goal here was to favor one
 candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,' said a senior
U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S.
senators. 'Thats the consensus view. [TW: the presentation to the
Senators was apparently on Friday, December 9; apparently, a
similar presentation was made to select members of the House on
Thursday, December 8.]
[Note: The Gang of Eight is a colloquial term for a set of eight leaders
within the United States Congress who are briefed on classified
intelligence matters by the executive branch. Specifically, the Gang
of Eight includes the leaders of each of the two parties from both the
Senate and House of Representatives, and the chairs and ranking
minority members of both the Senate Committee and House
Committee for intelligence as set forth by 50 U.S.C. 413(b). The
Gang of 8 in the 114th U.S. Congress would have been:
114th Congress Jan : Same for House (Nunes and Schiff); Senate:
Richard Burr North Carolina Chairman, Dianne Feinstein California
Vice Chairman; House Select Committee on Intelligence Schiff and
Nunes the same; 114th congress: House Speaker Paul Ryan (R)
(from October 29, 2015); Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
114th Congress: January 3, 2015 January 3, 2017

Dec 10, 2016 WaPo: FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russias
motives in 2016 hacks. In a secure meeting room under the Capitol
last week, lawmakers held in their hands a classified letter written by
colleagues in the Senate summing up a secret, new CIA assessment
of Russias role in the 2016 presidential election. Sitting before the
House Intelligence Committee was a senior FBI counterintelligence
official. The question the Republicans and Democrats in attendance
wanted answered was whether the bureau concurred with the
conclusions the CIA had just shared with senators that Russia 'quite'
clearly intended to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat
Hillary Clinton and clinch the White House. For the Democrats in the
room, the FBIs response was frustrating even shocking. During a
similar Senate Intelligence Committee briefing held the previous
week, the CIAs statements, as reflected in the letter the lawmakers
now held in their hands, were 'direct and bald and unqualified' about
Russias intentions to help Trump, according to one of the officials
who attended the House briefing. 'The FBI briefers think in terms
of criminal standards can we prove this in court,' one of the
officials said. 'The CIA briefers weigh the preponderance of
intelligence and then make judgment calls to help policymakers
make informed decisions. High confidence for them means were
pretty damn sure. It doesnt mean they can prove it in court.' The
FBI is not sold on the idea that Russia had a particular aim in its
meddling. Theres no question that [the Russians] efforts went one
way, but its not clear that they have a specific goal or mix of related
goals, said one U.S. official.
Dec 11, 2016 WaPo/FoxNews video: CIA officials told senators it is now 'quite
clear' that electing Donald Trump was Russias goal. In an interview
on Fox News Sunday on Dec. 11, President-elect Trump denied the
CIA's assessment. FoxNews with Chris Wallace (full video and
transcript. WaPo: Kellyanne Conway calls CIA report on Russian
election meddling laughable and ridiculous. [Trump] absolutely
respects the intelligence community,' she said. 'He's made it very
clear. He's going to put his own people in there, as well.

Dec 11, 2016 Bloomberg: Russia Applauds Trump Dream Team as Exxon CEO
Eyed for State. The three appointments [Tillerson, Flynn, and Mattis]
taken together would constitute a 'dream team' for U.S.-Russia
relations, according to Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to
Trump whos come under criticism himself for his ties to
Russia.'These future senior officials represent a veritable American
siloviki,' Page said, referring to the group of men around Putin with
influence over the spy agencies and the military. 'The chances of
them meshing well is very high.' [T]the Kremlin couldnt ask for
much more, according to Sergei Markov, a consultant to Putins staff.
'This is a fantastic team,' Markov said by phone from the Russian
capital on Sunday. 'These are people that Russia can do business
with.

Dec 12, 2016 The Duran: UK Ambassador Craig Murray: Ive met the person who
leaked them [Podesta emails], not Russian its an insider
[TW: The Duran is located in Panama, and seems to be a Russian
popular front site for the Russian regime; almost all of its postings
come from its Russia Report, covering mostly international and
especially U.S. news.]

Dec 12, 2016 Russia Today: Fix toxic relations: Ex-Trump adviser Carter Page in
Moscow. Donald Trumps election helped US and Russia step
back from the brink of nuclear war and offers a chance to overcome
hostility between the two countries created through fake news,
according to energy consultant and former Trump adviser Carter
Page. Page delivered a lecture in Moscow on Monday, focusing on
overcoming the '99 problems in US-Russia relations' and specifically
on the 'fake news' phenomenon. Reports that CIA was accusing
Russia of hacking the US election 'almost border on fake news,'
Page said. 'Until there is serious evidence, its very similar to what I
personally have been through a lot of speculation, but nothing
there,' he added. Page pointed out the story by Politico contributor
Julia Ioffe, which quoted another report saying that 'US intelligence
believes Page had an audience with top Russian officialsincluding
Rosneft head Igor Sechin' during a summer trip to Moscow. Meeting
Igor Ivanovich [Sechin] 'would have been a great honor, but certainly
did not happen. T witter: U.S. government might have deliberately
 orchestrated cyberattacks to make it look as though they were
coming from Russia, Carter Page says.

Dec 12, 2016 Heat Street (Louise Mensch): Assange Doc Suggests Russia Knew
In Advance Ed Snowden Would Spy on NSA

Dec 12, 2016 NPR: Contrary To Trump's Tweet, Russian Hacking Came Up Before
Election (A Lot)

Dec 13, 2016 Steele dossier: #166, pp. 34-35, 12/3 December 13, 2016
[Note: there is a rather long and unexplained interval between the
previous memo on Oct 20 and this one, which is the last.]
Sources: None given. [This is odd, and unique for the 18? Memos in
the Steele dossier. The Detail section of this memo begins by
recapping the reports in memos #135 and #136 on the
secret meetings held in Prague. Then the first two lines of the
next paragraph are deleted (presumably by BuzzFeed; the
unredacted text then continues ...provided further details of these
meeting/s. Later in that paragraph, the memo says According to
REDACTED MATERIAL, the agenda comprised My copy of the
BuzzFeed text has the third paragraph beginning: REDACTED
MATERIAL reported that Interestingly, however, the fourth and
last paragraph says: On payments, Ivanovs associate said that the
operatives involved , so this associate of Ivanov has certainly
had his name or identifying description redacted somewhere else
(maybe in more than one place) in my copy of this memo.
[Since the online publication by BuzzFeed, an individual mentioned in
this paragraph, Aleksei Gubarov, has sued BuzzFeed for libel and
defamation of character for failing to redact his name. The current
copy of the dossier on the BuzzFeed site has redacted Goburovs
[Goburevs] name and that of his company XBT/Webzilla.]
Individuals mentioned: Trumps representative Cohen, Oleg
Solodukhin (deputy head of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Prague,
the Czech Republic), Aleksei Gubarov (and a company connected
with him called XBT/Webzilla, as well as XBT affiliates), Seva
Kapsugovich [a name that does not seem to be recognized by
anybody, at least so far], Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Sergei Ivanov,
Putin
Topics & discussion: Cohen was accompanied to Prague by three
colleagues and occurred in the last week of August or the first week
of September. One of their main Russian interlocutors was Oleg
Soldukhin. According to REDACTED MATERIAL, the agenda
comprised questions on how deniable cash payments were to be
 made to hackers who had worked in Europe under Kremlin direction
against the Clinton campaign and various contingencies for covering
up these operations and Moscows secret liaison with the Trump
team more generally. Gubarov/Gubarev and a company
XBT/Webzilla are reported to have operated March-September 2016
in using botnets and porn traffic to transmit viruses, plant bugs, steal
data and conduct altering operations against the Democratic Party
leadership. The meeting also discussed contingency plans in the
event that Hillary won the election, including having the hackers go to
ground, and ensuring that all cash payments owed were made
quickly and discreetly. Both sides agreed in Prague to stand down
various Romanian hackers and that other operatives should head
for a bolt-hold in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. On payments, Ivanovs associate
said that the operatives involved had been paid by both Trumps
team and the Kremlin, though their orders and ultimate loyalty lay
with Ivanov and his designated successor/s [i.e., Anton Vaino]. The
interlocutors also discussed damage control over the Manafort and
Page exposs.

Dec 13, 2016 Heat Street: [at Moscow conference] Carter Page Tells Moscow Rex
Tillerson is Secretary of State Before Trump Tells America

Dec 14, 2016 Daily Info:WikiLeaks BOMBSHELL: UK Ambassador Met With DNC
Mole, NOT A RUSSIAN, Enter Craig Murray, former UK
ot Air:
Ambassador to Uzbekistan and friends of Julian Assange. H
Wikileaks source: The emails came from inside the DNC, not Russia.

Dec 16, 2016 NYT: Obama Says He Told Putin: Cut It Out on Hacking
President Obama said for the first time on Friday that he had held
back from retaliating against Russias meddling in the presidential
race for fear of inciting further hacking 'that could hamper vote
counting.' But he said he was weighing a mix of public and covert
actions against the Russians in his last 34 days in office, actions that
would increase 'the costs for them.' Mr. Obama said he was
committed to sending the Kremlin a message that 'we can do stuff to
you,' but without setting off an escalating cyber conflict. 'There have
been folks out there who suggest somehow if we went out there and
made big announcements and thumped our chests about a bunch of
stuff, that somehow it would potentially spook the Russians,' he said.
'I think it doesnt read the thought process in Russia very well.' For
his part, Mr. Obama also made a startling admission as he described
how his administration had reacted to the Russian hack: He said it
was not until the 'beginning of the summer' that the White House was
'alerted to the possibility that the D.N.C. has been hacked.' That was
nine months after an F.B.I. agent had first contacted the Democratic
 National Committee with evidence that a major, government-linked
hacking group was inside the committees networks, raising the
question of why it took so long for that news to reach the president.
Mr. Obama made it clear that he went out of his way to play down
the news, because 'in this hyperpartisan atmosphere' he did not think
he or anyone else at the White House could talk about it without
risking to appear to be acting on behalf of Mrs. Clinton. Not until
September, when Mr. Obama pulled Mr. Putin aside at a Group of 20
meeting in Hanghzhou, China, was the Russian leader given a
warning directly from the United States. Mr. Obama said he told him
'to cut it out, there were going to be serious consequences if he did
not.' The president made it sound like that worked, saying 'we did not
see further tampering of the election process.' But the leaks of
D.N.C. emails, and those of John D. Podesta, the Clinton campaign
manager, continued, because they were already in the hands of
WikiLeaks, which doled them out to an eager news media until the
last days of the campaign.

Dec 15, 2016 Politico (dateline 12/23/16): Trump releases letter from Putin asking
to 'restore' U.S.-Russia relationship. Trump, in releasing the letter
from nearly two weeks ago, said the Russian presidents sentiments
are 'so correct.'

Dec 18, 2016 Politifact: From Russia with love. Was Trump campaign in touch with
a foreign government?

Dec 19, 2016 American Interest: James Henry, The Curious World of Donald
Trumps Private Russian Connections, detailing some of Trumps
migrs, including Mafia figures
dealings with Russian ethnics and
and oligarchs

Dec 26, 2016 The Telegraph: Mystery death of ex-KGB chief Oleg Erovinkin linked
to MI6 spy's dossier on Donald Trump (dateline 1/27/17). An
ex-KGB chief suspected of helping the former MI6 spy Christopher
Steele to compile his dossier on Donald Trump may have been
murdered by the Kremlin and his death covered up. Oleg Erovinkin, a
former general in the KGB and its successor the FSB, was found
dead in the back of his car in Moscow on Boxing Day in mysterious
circumstances. C hristos Blog: Tower of Cards, Part 1. (dateline
1/14/17) [TW: Very interesting analysis of the dossier, particularly on
this particular matter.] Erovinkin was a key aide to Igor Sechin, a
former deputy prime minister and now head of Rosneft, the
state-owned oil company, who is repeatedly named in the dossier.
[TW: Note 1: The intelligence on Sechin in the dossier is found in
#094, p. 9, dated 19 July 2016, and #134, p. 30-31, dated sometime
in Oct 2016 Steeles intelligence is said to be from a Russian source
(compatriot) close to Rosneft President Igor Sechin. The dossier
 (same memo) reports that a senior colleague in the Internal Political
Department of the Presidential Administration of the Kremlin,
Diveykin, had also met with Page; this is a separate source and
report from the one immediately preceding.] [Note 2:Iin the same
memo #134, Steele reports that the same source (a compatriot)
provides intelligence that a key role in the secret Trump
campaign/Kremlin relationship was being played by Trumps
personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.]

Dec 27, 2016 Independent: Henry Kissinger has 'advised Donald Trump to accept'
Crimea as part of Russia. The 93-year-old veteran envoy has made
several visits to Trump Tower. A report in the German tabloid Der
Bild headlined Kissinger to prevent new Cold War, claimed the
former envoy was working towards a new relationship with Russia.
Like Trump, Kissinger has also cast doubt on intelligence agencies
conclusion that Russia sought to sway the election in Trump's favor,
telling a recent interviewer They were hacking, but the use they
allegedly made of this hacking eludes me.

Dec 27, 2016 The Hill: Intelligence agencies sued for records on Russian election
interference. A lawsuit has been filed against the CIA, the FBI, the
Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence seeking records pertaining to Russias
interference in the presidential election. Journalist Jason Leopold
and Ryan Shapiro, a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT), filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia on Monday asserting that the agencies have
failed to comply with their request for documents under the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA).

Dec 29, 2016 WaPo: Obama administration announces measures to punish Russia
for 2016 election interference. N YT (dateline 3/2/17): Kushner and
Flynn Met With Russian Envoy in December, White House Says.
American officials have also said that there were multiple telephone
calls between Mr. Flynn and Mr. Kislyak on Dec. 29, beginning
shortly after Mr. Kislyak was summoned to the State Department and
informed that, in retaliation for Russian election meddling, the United
States was expelling 35 people suspected of being Russian
intelligence operatives and imposing other sanctions. Mr. Kislyak
was irate and threatened a forceful Russian response, according to
people familiar with the exchange. He then left the State Department
and called Mr. Flynn, the first in a series of calls between the two in
the 36 hours that followed. American intelligence agencies routinely
wiretap the phones of Russian diplomats, and transcripts of the calls
showed that Mr. Flynn urged the Russians not to respond, saying
relations would improve once Mr. Trump was in office, according to
the current and former officials.
Dec 30, 2016 NYT: Vladimir Putin Wont Expel U.S. Diplomats as Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov Urged. Twitter (@realDonaldTrump): Great
move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!
The Hill: Second FOIA lawsuit targets details on election
interference. Journalists and transparency advocates are now
turning to the courts to force the Obama administration to provide
more information about Russian interference in the U.S. election. A
second Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit targeting U.S.
intelligence and law enforcement agencies investigations into foreign
election interference was filed in the U.S. District Court in
Washington, D.C., on Friday. The transparency organization the
James Madison Project and Heat Street journalist Louise Mensch
sued five intelligence and law enforcement agencies for a broad
swath of related records including details on any investigations
into hacks on state election systems. The litigation joins a
separate FOIA lawsuit from Vice journalist Jason Leopold and Ryan
Shapiro, a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, seeking CIA, FBI, ODNI and DHS records pertaining to
investigations into Russias interference in the election.

Dec 31, 2016 Politico: Trump: No computer safe from hacking. Trump said he
wants to be sure the intelligence community's analysis of Russian
influence in hacking is correct, because 'if you look at the weapons of
mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong.' He
continued by saying 'hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could
be somebody else. And I also know things that other people dont
know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation,' Trump said.
January, 2017
 JANUARY, 2017

Jan 3, 2017 Opening of the 115th U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C.

Jan 3, 2017 The Hill: New Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump is being really
dumb by taking on the intelligence community and its assessments
on Russias cyber activities. Let me tell you, you take on the
intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting
back at you. Schumer said that as he understands, intelligence
officials are 'very upset with how [Trump] has treated them and
talked about them."

Jan 3, 2017 Raw SIGINT Availability Procedures (jointly signed by DNI James
Clapper on Dec 15, 2016 and USAG Loretta Lynch on Jan 3, 2017):
Raw Signals Intelligence Information by the National Security
Agency under Section 2.3 of Executive Order 12333.

Jan 4, 2017 Wired: A Timeline of Trumps Strange, Contradictory Statements on

Russian Hacking. T witter (@realDonaldTrump): Julian Assange
said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so
careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!

Jan 5, 2017 Twitter: Trump calls Chuck Schumer (D-NY) the Democrats head
clown.

Jan 5, 2017 CBS News: Trump keeps tweeting criticism of intel community.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper suggested on
Thursday at a hearing about the Russian hacking that Mr. Trumps
public criticism was leading to low morale. Intelligence officials say
the tension is palpable as Trump prepares to receive the Russia
hacking report from Clapper and the heads of the CIA, NSA and
FBI.

Jan 6, 2017 CNN: Intel report says US identifies go-betweens who gave emails
(Friday) to WikiLeaks. NYT: Putin Led a Complex Cyberattack Scheme to
Aid Trump, Report Finds. N YT (dateline Jan 10, 2017): Trump
Received Unsubstantiated Report That Russia Had Damaging
Information About Him. C NN (dateline 1/12/17) Intel chiefs
presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him.
Classified documents presented last week to President Obama and
President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives
claim to have compromising personal and financial information about
Mr. Trump, multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the
briefings tell CNN. The allegations were presented in a two-page
synopsis that was appended to a report on Russian interference in
the 2016 election. One high level administration official told CNN,
 'I have a sense the outgoing administration and intelligence
community is setting down the pieces so this must be investigated
seriously and run down. I think [the] concern was to be sure that
whatever information was out there is put into the system so it is
evaluated as it should be and acted upon as necessary.

Jan 6, 2017 Trump receives intelligence briefing on Russian interference in the

U.S.election.The Hill: President-elect Donald Trump on Friday
[1/6/17] dismissed the firestorm surrounding allegations that Russia
intervened in the presidential election as a 'witch hunt' carried out by
bitter political opponents. Trumps comments came just hours before
he was scheduled to receive a classified briefing from top
intelligence and national security officials on the extent of Russian
hacking tied to U.S. elections. N YT: Just hours before he was
briefed, Trump dismissed the assessment and told The New York
Times the focus on Russia's involvement is a 'political witch hunt' by
adversaries. 'They got beaten very badly in the election,' Trump
said. 'They are very embarrassed about it. To some extent, it's a
witch hunt. They just focus on this.' After finally seeing the
intelligence behind the claims of the outgoing Obama administration,
Trump released a one-page statement that did not address whether
Russia sought to meddle. Instead, he said, 'there was absolutely no
effect on the outcome of the election." C hicago Tribune: 'This is a
political witch hunt,' Trump said Friday in an interview with the New
York Times ahead of a private briefing from U.S. officials on a
classified 50-page report, ordered by President Barack Obama, on
Russia's role in the election. Trump softened his tone in a written
statement after the two-hour meeting at Trump Tower, calling it
'constructive,' but his demeanor this week has suggested that he is
unlikely to rein in his attacks or accept the report's findings. In his
statement, Trump emphasized that regardless of what happened,
'there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election.' The
report said officials had not attempted to make an assessment of the
impact of Russia's actions. N YT: Putin Led a Complex Cyberattack
Scheme to Aid Trump, Report Finds. Politico: Trump says hacking
had 'no effect on the outcome of the election'. President-elect
Donald Trump labeled his Friday briefing from top U.S. intelligence
officials 'constructive,' but, in a statement released after the meeting,
he stopped short of conceding Russias culpability in a wave of
cyberattacks on Democratic political targets. He insisted that 'there
was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election.' T witter
(@realDonaldTrump): Gross negligence by the Democratic National
Committee allowed hacking to take place.The Republican National
Committee had strong defense!
Jan 6, 2017 U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: ICA (Intelligence
Community Assessment), Assessing Russian Activities and
Intentions in Recent US Elections

Jan 6, 2017 CNN: Trump's meeting with the intel officials took around 90 minutes
at Trump Tower. A Trump spokeswoman said the officials who gave
the briefing were Director of National Intelligence James Clapper,
CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey.

Jan 6, 2017 CNN: Trump downplays Russian meddling in election despite intel
report. Trump also tried to defuse controversy over his criticism of
the intelligence community and continued refusal to accept
Moscow's actions, calling the Friday meeting 'constructive' and
offering praise for the senior intel officials. He said he will appoint a
team within 90 days to figure out ways to stop foreign hacking.

Jan 6, 2017 NYT: Donald Trumps Statement After Intelligence Briefing on

Hacking. I had a constructive meeting and conversation with the
leaders of the Intelligence Community this afternoon. I have
tremendous respect for the work and service done by the men and
women of this community to our great nation. While Russia, China,
other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to
break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental
institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat
National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome
of the election including the fact that there was no tampering
whatsoever with voting machines. There were attempts to hack the
Republican National Committee, but the RNC had strong hacking
defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful. Whether it is our
government, organizations, associations or businesses we need to
aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks. I will appoint a team to
give me a plan within 90 days of taking office. The methods, tools
and tactics we use to keep America safe should not be a public
discussion that will benefit those who seek to do us harm. Two
weeks from today I will take the oath of office and Americas safety
and security will be my number one priority.

Jan 6, 2017 WaPo (Aaron Blake): The 11 most important lines from the new
intelligence report on Russias hacking.

Jan 7, 2017 Twitter (@realDonaldTrump): Having a good relationship with

Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only 'stupid' people, or fools,
would think that it is bad! We.....

Jan 10, 2017 Newsweek: The Hidden History of How Russia Interfered in the U.S.
(Tuesday) Presidential Election. [This is an update of the earlier Newsweek
article by Eichenwald dated Nov 4, 2016. The article refers to a
report written by a European intelligence agency on relations
between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Significantly, it is a
different report from the Steele dossier. The report that Eichenwald
mentions parallels many of the allegations in the dossier, but differs
from it in many particulars. Information obtained by a Western
intelligence service refers to multiple cut-outs that were used by the
Kremlin to Wikileaks, which was a Kremlin front and fence for the
hacked materials. It also refers to a meeting between a Trump
associate and Kremlin figures in Prague, but differs in significant
ways from the Steele dossier. [A]ccording to reports obtained by
Western intelligence, a Trump associate met with a pro-Putin
member of Russian parliament at a building in Eastern Europe
maintained by R ossotrudnichestvo, an agency under the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs that is charged with administering language,
education and support programs for civilians. While Newsweek
could not determine the purpose of the meeting, a Western
intelligence official said that surveillance of the meeting was
conducted by or on behalf of the Estonian Information Board (EIB),
the foreign intelligence service of Estonia...However, no evidence
has emerged that Trump knew of the meeting or was briefed about it
afterward. Unlike the dossier, Sergey Ivanov, the head of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is said to have been a staunch opponent
of the cyberattacks and disinformation campaign. Like the dossier, it
associates Ivanovs sudden firing with Putins concern over how
things had developed, though it gives a different explanation of the
firing than the one found in the Steele dossier. Like the dossier (but
based on Western intelligence apparently different from Steeles),
former Ukrainian president Yanukovych is said to have met secretly
in Volgograd (the Stalingrad of the old Soviet Union) with Putin to
discuss Yanukovichs handling of the Paul Manafort expos, who
had recently been fired as Trumps campaign manager over his
involvement with Yanukovichs regime in the Ukraine. Ehrenwald: It
appears the controversy regarding Trumps ties to Russia could
continue for a long time to come. The New York Times and other
outlets reported on Tuesday [January 10] that Trump and Obama
had been presented with unsubstantiated reports that Russia had
gathered salacious information about Trump. However, a
Western European official who currently works for an intelligence
agency said that the Kremlin had assembled a dossier of information
about Trump during his visits to Moscow years ago, which included
video and audio recordings. Newsweek could not determine if there
was anything compromising in those records. Also: documents in
the United States intended to disrupt the American election are
distributed through WikiLeaks. However, there are so many layers of
individuals between the hackers and that organization that there is a
strong possibility WikiLeaks does not know with certainty the
ultimate source of these records.
Jan 10, 2017 BuzzFeed publishes the Steele dossier online. Lead article; full
(3:20 P.M.) 35-page d ossier (PDF and text files). T
witter (@realDonaldTrump):
[5:19 p.m.] FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!

Jan 10, 2017 The Atlantic (Rosie Gray): 'It Is Fake News Meant to Malign Mr.
Trump'. Michael Cohen, an attorney for the president-elect, has
denied allegations contained in a dossier published by BuzzFeed
News.

Jan 10, 2017 Vox (dateline March 2, 2017): Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing
before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for appointment to the
position of Attorney General of the U.S. Under oath, Sessions was
asked by Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, what he would do
if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump
campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course
of the 2016 campaign. 'Im not aware of any of those activities,' he
responded. He added: 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or
two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the
Russians.

Jan 11, 2017 Jake Tapper (CNN) t weet: Government source confirms different
(Wednesday) Michael Cohen was in Prague
(6:22 AM)

Jan 11, 2017 CNN video: Tapper on CNN reports that a government source
(9 AM) confirms that a different Michael Cohen was in Prague

Jan 11, 2017 ABC News: Kremlin Calls New Trump-Russia Claims 'Pulp Fiction'.
Michael Cohen, a Trump lawyer and campaign adviser, denied a
specific claim in the documents that during the election campaign he
had flown to Prague in the Czech Republic to meet secretly with
Russian officials to discuss the hacks on the Clinton campaign. 'Ive
never actually walked the land in Prague, and last August I was not
in Prague,' Cohen told ABC News. B ustle: Donald Trump Tweets
About Nazi Germany In His Impassioned Defense Of Those Russia
Allegations. Trump (@realDonaldTrump): Russia just said the
unverified report paid for by political opponents is 'A COMPLETE
AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.' Very unfair!
4:13 AM - 11 Jan 2017; Russia has never tried to use leverage over
me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO
LOANS, NO NOTHING! 4:31 AM - 11 Jan 2017. I win an election
easily, a great 'movement' is verified, and crooked opponents try to
belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state! 4:44 AM - 11
Jan 2017. Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this
fake news to 'leak' into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living
in Nazi Germany? 4:48 AM - 11 Jan 2017
Jan 11, 2017 NYT: Full transcript and video: Trump news conference in Trump
(11 AM) Tower, New York. WaPo: President-elect Donald Trump
acknowledged for the first time here Wednesday that Russia was
responsible for hacking the Democratic Party during last years
election, but he denied that the leaks were intended to boost him
and argued that Moscow would cease cyberattacks on the United
States once he is sworn in. In a rollicking hour-long news
conference, Trump furiously denounced as fake news the reports
that Russia had obtained salacious intelligence that could
compromise him. He suggested that any damaging information
collected by Russian President Vladimir Putins administration would
already have been released and he celebrated what had leaked
out about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. 'As far as hacking, I
think it was Russia,' Trump said. 'Hackings bad, and it shouldnt be
done. But look at the things that were hacked, look at what was
learned from that hacking.' Allowing his hostility and contempt
toward the U.S. intelligence community to again burst into public
view, Trump also reaffirmed his belief first expressed in a tweet
earlier Wednesday morning that intelligence were behaving as
though they were in 'Nazi Germany' with what he termed
'disgraceful' leaks to the media.

Jan 11, 2017 Radio Free Europe: A Czech intelligence source told the Respekt
magazine that there is no record of Cohen arriving in Prague by
plane, although the news weekly pointed out he could have traveled
by car or train from a nearby EU country, avoiding passport control
under Schengen zone travel rules. 'If there was such a meeting, he
[Cohen] didnt arrive in the Czech Republic by plane,' the source
said. The Czech Counterintelligence Agency (BIS) has declined to
comment publicly on the matter, according to Respekt. 'We dont
plan [TW: Schindler reports (Observer, 11 Jan 2017) the eerie
coincidence that in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a Mohammad
Atta was identified in Prague at the time, but it turned out to be a
different Mohammad Atta!]

Jan 11, 2017 Observer: Donald Trump Addresses Dossiers Pedestrian Claims
Putin and his spies have no need for clandestine meetings in Central
European capitals. [TW: John S chindler, author, is a security expert
and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence
officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, hes also been a
Navy officer and a War College professor.] About the dossier
Schindler says: In truth, the provenance of the 35-page dossier is
well known in proper channels. Some of its assertions have been
made by other NATO intelligence agencies, privately. Some of its
claims are false, some are true, and some may linger between truth
and fiction indefinitely. Whats important here is that the [US]IC
leadership decided to brief a small circle of the most senior
 American officials on that dossiers findings. They dont do that,
evertreating raw private intelligence reports by foreigners as
worthy of briefing to the topunless they can corroborate
significant portions of it.
According to Schindler, Oleg Solodukhin, who is mentioned in the
dossier as well as by Eichenwalds intelligence source(s), and who
serves in Prague, poses as a diplomat, but is actually well known to
Czech counter-intelligence as a Kremlin spy.

Jan 11, 2017 Dallas News: The tech firm named in Russian hacking report has
operations in Dallas. Aleksej Gubarev. In a phone interview from
Cyprus, where he said he'd lived since 2002, Gubarev said he was
surprised to see his name in the report. 'I don't know why I was
there,' Gubarev said, adding that perhaps a competitor sought to
discredit him. 'I still don't understand the true reason for this report.'
[Gubarev/Gubarov is mentioned in the last memo of the Steele
dossier, 13 December 2017. #166. He has denied any of the
allegations against him and XBT/Webzilla, and has filed a lawsuit for
libel and defamation of character against BuzzFeed and Christopher
Steel]

Jan 11, 2017 Politico: Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire. Kiev officials
are scrambling to make amends with the president-elect after quietly
working to boost Clinton.

Jan 11, 2017 National Review (Andrew C. McCarthy): FISA and the Trump Team.

Jan 12, 2017 WaPo: Justice Department inspector general to investigate

pre-election actions by department and FBI. The Justice
Department inspector general will review broad allegations of
misconduct involving FBI Director James B. Comey and how he
handled the probe of Hillary Clintons email practices, the inspector
general announced Thursday. The investigation will be
wide-ranging, encompassing Comeys various letters and public
statements on the matter and whether FBI or other Justice
Department employees leaked nonpublic information, according to
Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz. [Horowitz] wrote that he
will explore 'allegations that Department and FBI employees
improperly disclosed non-public information' potentially a
reference to Giuliani, who seemed to claim at one point he had
insider FBI knowledge.

Jan 12, 2017 Ynetnews: US intel sources warn Israel against sharing secrets with
Trump administration. Israeli intelligence officials fear that top-secret
information that has been exposed to the United States will be
leaked to Russiaand from Russia to its close ally, Iran.
Jan 12, 2017 FoxNews w/ Sean Hannity (video): Michael D. Cohen, at about 6:58
of the tape: I and others will protect him.

Jan 12, 2017 Christian Science Monitor: Why Russia's Kremlin watchers are
taking Trump dossier with a grain of salt. In Russia, there is no
shortage of rumor around the Kremlin and the goings on of its
residents. And for many in the business of verifying that rumor, the
Trump dossier provides a lot of reason to doubt its assertions.

Jan 12, 2017 NYT: N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted
Communications.

Jan 12, 2017 Twitter: Guccifer 2.0 Twitter feed, June 20, 2016-Jan 12, 2017

Jan 13, 2017 Office of U.S. Sen. Burr, Press Release: Joint Statement on
Committee Inquiry into Russian Intelligence Activities. Senator
Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today issued a joint
statement regarding the Committees inquiry into Russian
he scope of the Committees inquiry will
intelligence activities. T
include, but is not limited to:
A review of the intelligence that informed the Intelligence
Community Assessment Russian Activities and Intentions in
Recent US Elections;
Counterintelligence concerns related to Russia and the 2016
U.S. election, including any intelligence regarding links
between Russia and individuals associated with political
campaigns;
Russian cyber activity and other active measures directed
against the U.S., both as it regards the 2016 election and
more broadly.
The Committee plans to:
Hold hearings examining Russian intelligence activity;
Interview senior officials of both the outgoing and incoming
administrations including the issuance of subpoenas if
necessary to compel testimony; and
Produce both classified and unclassified reports on its
findings.
The Committee will follow the intelligence wherever it leads. We will
conduct this inquiry expeditiously, and we will get it right.

Jan 13, 2017 Politico (dateline 2017-01-19): How the Senate's Russian meddling
probe almost blew up. Democrats threatened to boycott Senate
Intelligence Committee investigation after Chairman Richard Burr
(R-NC) said Trump's campaign would be off-limits.
Jan 13, 2107 Independent: Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele's frustration as
FBI sat on Donald Trump Russia file for months. Until 2009, Mr
Steele worked as one of MI6s foremost Kremlinologists heading
the spy agencys Russia desk. In an alarming Twitter post, the
Russian embassy in London suggested the dossiers alleged author,
former British spy Christopher Steele, was still working for MI6 and
briefing both ways against Mr Trump and Moscow.

Jan 13, 2017 Buzzfeed: Spy Agencies Around The World Are Digging Into
Trumps Moscow Ties. Israel and at least one Western European
country are investigating the claims made in a 35-page dossier
about President-elect Donald Trumps ties to Russia.

Jan 13, 2017 WSJ (interview with Trump): Trump Open to Shift on Russia
Sanctions, One China Policy. President-elect signals he would use
any available leverage to realign U.S. relationship with its two
biggest rivals. If you get along and if Russia is really helping us,
why would anybody have sanctions if somebodys doing some really
great things?

Jan 13, 2017 The Guardian: Watch out, Europe. Germany is top of Russian
hackers list. [Interesting article that makes important points about
Putins foreign policy PR strategy]

Jan 15, 2017 CBS News (interview with Mike Pence, video/transcript): MIKE
PENCE: But what I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is
that those conversations that happened to occur around the time
that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing
whatsoever to do with those sanctions. JOHN DICKERSON: But that
still leaves open the possibility that there might have been other
conversations about the sanctions. MIKE PENCE: I dont believe
there were more conversations.

Jan 16, 2017 Hardball/Youtube: Maxine Waters (R-CA) says that if established,
Trump collusion with Russia in election would be impeachable

Jan 16, 2017 CBS News: Russia cool on Donald Trump remark suggesting deal
on sanctions over Ukraine and Crimea and nuclear arms. Peskov
also rejected reports that Russian officials were already planning
with Mr. Trumps incoming administration a meeting between the
new U.S. president and President Putin .'All these statements about
preliminary agreements about a meeting do not correspond to
reality,' Peskov said, according to Reuters. 'Right now there are no
agreements, drafts or any preparations underway for a meeting
because the president and Mr. Trump have not discussed this in any
way.
Jan 17, 2017 NYT: Putin Says Accusations in Trump Dossier Are Clearly Fake.

Jan 17, 2017 Politico: CIA chief John Brennan: CIA chief categorically denies he
leaked dossier, calls Trumps comments [comparing USIC agencies
to Nazis] repugnant. 'There was an interest on the part of the
bureau to make sure that the president-elect was aware of and
informed of' the dossier, Brennan told the Journal. 'The feeling was
wanting to make sure that given the very salacious nature of it, the
president-elect was at least aware of it so he could take it into
account and do what needs to be done.' 'I would have no interest in
trying to give that dossier any additional airtime,' he said.

Jan 17, 2017 Reuters: Russia expects dialogue with Trump on nuclear weapons:
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov

Jan 17, 2017 WaPo: Putin calls reports that Donald Trump has been
compromised by Russian intelligence total nonsense and said
allegations were fabricated to undermine the legitimacy of Trumps
presidency.

Jan 17, 2017 CNN: Is the Christopher Steele dossier fake news?

Jan 17, 2017 CNN (video): Veteran reporter Bob Woodward calls Steele dossier
unverified garbage

Jan 17, 2017 Patribotics (Louise Mensch): Dear Mr. Putin, Lets Play Chess. [TW:
In Part One of her blog posting, Mensch contends that Edward
Snowden was recruited by Russian moles inside the NSA in
2012/2013. In Part Two, Mensch makes a compelling case that
Comey is not covering up the FBIs investigation of Russiagate; on
the contrary, she argues, Comey can be seen in each and every
instance to be playing his cards very, very well, and that he is well
on his way to checkmating both Trump and the Kremlin.]

Jan 18, 2017 McClatchy: FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid
to Trump. The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence
agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into
Russian attempts to influence the November election, including
whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect
Donald Trump, two people familiar with the matter said. The
agencies involved in the inquiry are the FBI, the CIA, the National
Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury
Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and
representatives of the director of national intelligence, the sources
said. Investigators are examining how money may have moved from
the Kremlin to covertly help Trump win, the two sources said. One of
the allegations involves whether a system for routinely paying
thousands of Russian-American pensioners may have been used to
 pay some email hackers in the United States or to supply money to
intermediaries who would then pay the hackers, the two sources
said. A key mission of the six-agency group has been to examine
who financed the email hacks of the Democratic National Committee
and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The London-based
transparency group WikiLeaks released the emails last summer and
in October. The working group is scrutinizing the activities of a few
Americans who were affiliated with Trumps campaign or his
business empire and of multiple individuals from Russia and other
former Soviet nations who had similar connections, the sources said.
Steeles reports also alleged that Russian consulates in New York,
Washington and Miami were used to deliver 'tens of thousands of
dollars' to Kremlin-hired operatives using fictitious names as if they
were legitimate Russian-American pensioners. That 'ruse' was
designed to give Russia 'plausible deniability,' Steeles reports
suggested. However, Russia does not operate a consulate in Miami.
Steele, who had worked previously with the FBI and was well
regarded, fed the bureau information in July and September
suggesting collusion between Trump associates and Moscow in the
hacking of Democratic computers, they said. Eventually, he met in
Italy with an FBI official to share more information alleging that a top
Trump campaign official had known about the hacking as early as
last June, the sources said. About a month after the election,
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona gave FBI Director Comey
a copy of a 35-page compilation of Steeles reports. BuzzFeed
posted the 35 pages of allegations online, acknowledging the report
had obvious errors and had not been corroborated. Several news
organizations, including McClatchy, had the document earlier but
had resisted publishing any of the allegations because of the lack of
verification.

Jan 19, 2017 Daily Beast: Trump stayed at the Ritz, but I dont think he could
stage the pee-pee show, and I definitely did not sleep with Trump at
the Ritz, journalist and socialite Ksenia Sokolova, long a regular at
the Ritz-Carlton gym, told The Daily Beast. There is no evidence
that he did. Stanislav Belkovsky, a host at the independent Russian
network Rain TV, disagreed. Prostitutes around the city say the
golden shower orgy story is true, he said.

Jan 19, 2017 NYT: Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into
Trump Associates. American law enforcement and intelligence
agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial
transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links
between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald
J. Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort,
current and former senior American officials said. ...Mr. Manafort is
among at least three Trump campaign advisers whose possible links
 to Russia are under scrutiny. Two others are Carter Page, a
businessman and former foreign policy adviser to the campaign, and
Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative.

Jan 19, 2017 Observer: Spy Clouds Hang Over Trumps Inauguration. [John
Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency
analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and
terrorism, hes also been a Navy officer and a War College
professor.]

Jan 21, 2017 Lawfareblog:Trump appears at CIA headquarters in Langley, VA and

BS News: Sources say
gives talk there (transcript included). C
Trump's CIA visit made relations with intel community worse

Jan 22, 2017 Trump Disrupts the Western Spy Alliance (John R. Schindler).
Our new presidents rumored Kremlin ties are panicking our
espionage partners

Jan 22, 2017 The Hill: Flynns communications with Russia investigated: report.
WSJ: U.S. Eyes Michael Flynns Links to Russia.
Counterintelligence agents have investigated communications by
President Trumps national security adviser, including phone calls to
Russian ambassador in late December

Jan 22, 2017 Politico: McCain and Schumer: Don't end Russian sanctions without
Congress

Jan 23, 2017 Reuters: White House disputes multiple calls between Trump
adviser, Russian envoy. Reuters reported earlier this month, citing
three sources familiar with the matter, that Flynn had held five phone
calls with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak on Dec. 29, the day
then-President Barack Obama retaliated for Moscow's interference
in the U.S. presidential election. White House press secretary Sean
Spicer said Flynn spoke once by telephone to the envoy - he did not
give the date - and discussed four topics. Those included a
conference on Syria, a plane crash that killed members of a famous
Russian military choir, seasonal wishes and setting up a
post-inauguration call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and
President Donald Trump, he said. Two of the sources told
Reuters earlier this month that the timing of the December calls
raised a question about whether Flynn had given Kislyak any
assurances to soothe Russian anger over the U.S. sanctions and
other moves.

Jan 24, 2017 WSJ: Key Claims in Trump Dossier Said to Come From Sergei
Millian,Head of Russian-American Business Group. For more on
other Jones. The WSJ suggests that Millian might be
Millian, see M
both Source D and Source E of the dossier.
Jan 24, 2017 Newsweek: Has Putin just arrested two American spies? News
broke on January 24 that two RussiansSergei Mikhailov, the
second-highest-ranking officer in the cyber-intelligence unit of the
Federal Security Service (FSB), and Ruslan Stoyanov, a private
cybersecurity analyst specializing in antivirus programswere
arrested on charges of treason. Both individuals, it was reported,
worked in tracking down cyber criminals. The New York Times notes
that, given the two individuals 'day jobs' and the working assumption
that Russian intelligence services had hired Russian criminal
hackers to do the dirty work of hacking into the email accounts of the
Democratic National Committee, there was 'the possibility that Mr.
Mikhailov and Mr. Stoyanov had interfered in this cooperation.'
...However, a third possibility existsone ignored by the
Timesthat Russian officials discovered that Mikhailov and
Stoyanov were U.S. intelligence sources and were the reason (or at
least one reason) why the intelligence community was as certain as
it was that the Kremlin had been complicit in the Russian hacking
effort. The arrests of the men, who had cooperated in Russia to
prosecute cybercriminals, shed light on the intersection of
cybercrime, private antivirus companies and the Russian security
services.

Jan 25, 2017 Politico: House Intelligence panel to probe possible ties between
Russia, Trump campaign. Joint statement Nunes-Schiff. Calls on
USIC to turn over documents related to their investigation. This
issue is not about party, but about country. The Committee will
continue to follow the facts wherever they may lead. W aPo:
Congressional investigations into alleged Russian hacking begin
without end in sight

Jan 25, 2017 WaPo: Pence leaves door open to easing Russia sanctions. The
vice president says the decision will depend on cooperation against
ISIS.

Jan 26, 2017 WaPo (dateline 2/14/17): The timeline of Michael Flynns resignation
just looks bad for the Trump White House. The Justice Department,
then headed by acting attorney general Sally Yates (whom Trump
would later dismiss for not defending his travel ban), informs White
House counsel Don McGahn of Flynn's misleading statements. It
also warns that they were so egregious that he could open himself
up to Russian blackmail, given Russia knew he had
mischaracterized the call to his superiors, according to Washington
Post reporting.

Jan 27, 2017 NYT: Russians Charged With Treason Worked in Office Linked to
Election Hacking. Ever since American intelligence agencies
accused Russia of trying to influence the American election, there
 have been questions about the proof they had to support the
accusation.But the news from Moscow may explain how the
agencies could be so certain that it was the Russians who hacked
the email of Hillary Clintons campaign and the Democratic National
Committee. Two Russian intelligence officers who worked on
cyberoperations and a Russian computer security expert have been
arrested and charged with treason for providing information to the
United States, according to multiple Russian news reports. ...As in
most espionage cases, the details made public so far are
incomplete, and some rumors in Moscow suggest that those
arrested may be scapegoats in an internal power struggle over the
hacking. Russian media reports link the charges to the disclosure of
the Russian role in attacking state election boards, including the
scanning of voter rolls in Arizona and Illinois, and do not mention the
parallel attacks on the D.N.C. and the email of John Podesta, Mrs.
Clintons campaign chairman. But one current and one former
United States official, speaking about the classified recruitments on
condition of anonymity, confirmed that human sources in Russia did
play a crucial role in proving who was responsible for the hacking.
The former official said the agencies were initially reluctant to
disclose their certainty about the Russian role for fear of setting off a
mole hunt in Moscow. ...It was always pretty obvious that they had
more than just the computer evidence,' Mr. Galeotti said. 'The
arrests are a big deal.' The arrests, according to reports by the
Russian newspaper Kommersant and Novaya Gazeta, among
others, were made in early December and amounted to a purge of
the cyberwing of the F.S.B., the main Russian intelligence and
security agency. Those arrested by the agencys internal affairs
bureau included Sergei Mikhailov, a deputy director of the Center for
Information Security, the agencys computer security arm, and
Ruslan Stoyanov, a senior researcher at a prominent Russian
computer security company, Kaspersky Lab. A nationalist
publication, Tsargrad, and RBC, a respected business newspaper,
identified on Friday a third suspect, Dmitry Dokuchayev. Described
as a former hacker who used the online pseudonym Forb, Mr.
Dokuchayev had agreed to work for the F.S.B. to avoid prosecution
for credit card fraud, a rampant crime in Russia.#086 [Cf. Steele
dossier, dated 26 July, on Russian State Sponsored and Other
Cyber Offensive (Criminal) Operations.][

Jan 28, 2017 NYT: President Trump began a new era of diplomacy with Russia on
Saturday as he and President Vladimir V. Putin conducted an
hourlong telephone call, and vowed to repair relations between the
countries after nearly three years of conflict that threatened a new
Cold War between East and West, but do not discuss the issue of
sanctions.
Jan 30, 2017 Inquisitr: Donald Trump, Russia and Rosneft: Vladimir Putin Oil
Mystery. Did Vladimir Putin try to bribe Donald Trump to lift
sanctions on Russia with an $11 billion stake in Rosneft, the largely
state-controlled Russian oil company giant? While no evidence
directly links Trump to last months sale of a 19.5 percent stake in
Rosneft to mysterious buyers whose identities have yet to be
revealed, an allegation contained in the so-called 'Steele Dossier'
published earlier has thrust the question of the new U.S. presidents
role into public scrutiny.

Jan 30, 2017 Bloomberg: How Russian Hackers Became a Kremlin Headache.
The recent arrests of Russian cybersecurity officials in Moscow
likely had little to do with last year's U.S. election. The story behind
them, however, sheds some light on the relationship between the
Russian government and the hackers who work for it. Those in the
West who fear government-sponsored Russian hackers must keep
in mind that these are not people who willingly subject themselves to
any kind of military discipline. They aren't necessarily patriots, either.
An FSB officer, recruited from the hacking community, can use his
rank and position to obtain compromising material and sell it to
wealthy clients. A team profiting from these opportunities can include
both officers and civilians. The Russian government can hire such a
team through intermediaries if it needs something sensitive done --
but so can foreign intelligence services. It's a murky world in which
actors are both predator and prey. The Kremlin enjoys access to
brilliant and unscrupulous people; the downside, of course, is that
they may be hard to control.

Jan 31, 2017 Politico: Trump raised $11 million in campaign money in December.
Large disbursements to Giles-Parscale in San Antonio and
London-based data firm Cambridge Analytica.

Jan 31, 2017 The Guardian: Russia accuses cybersecurity experts of treasonous
links to CIA. Rumours swirl of connection to revelations about US
election hacking, as state media says Sergei Mikhailov and Dmitry
Dokuchayev betrayed their oath. The majority of leaks suggest the
arrests are linked to Shaltai-Boltai, a group of hackers who had
become notorious for leaking the emails of Kremlin officials online. A
former journalist, Vladimir Anikeev, believed to be the ringleader of
the group, is also among those arrested, according to reports. In
summer 2014 a representative of Shaltai-Boltai [Russian for
Humpty-Dumpty] met the Guardian in a city outside Russia, on the
understanding that neither the location nor the appearance of the
man would be described in print.The interview was set at a
little-used boat club on the outskirts of a European capital. The man,
who wore a floral shirt, sailed a boat into the middle of the river and
spoke only when he had turned on loud music in the cabin to
prevent anyone from listening in. The man, who introduced himself
only as Shaltai, said the group was made up of hackers, and
possibly disgruntled officials, and had a large archive of unused
material it may choose to release in future. He claimed the group
possessed everything ranging from records of every meal Vladimir
Putin had eaten for the past several years to thousands of emails
sent by the presidents inner circle. As evidence, he produced a
laptop and opened what looked at first glance like the full email
archive for a leading Kremlin official. He suggested the group would
be willing to provide information to clients who could pay.
Some believe Shaltai-Boltai could have been involved in passing
information to western intelligence, while others suggest the
appearance of the group in the case is a red herring to distract
attention from the real election-hacking story. 'To me, these leaks
about Shaltai-Boltai suggest a hastily made cover-up,' said Andrei
Soldatov, co-author of a recent book on the Russian internet and
cybersecurity. 'Mikhailov and Stoyanov were real experts in one
thing, the Russian digital underground, not the kind of stuff that
Shaltai-Boltai leaked. So if there is anything real about the treason
charges, the kind of information they could pass on would be about
this, perhaps about informal actors in the DNC hacking scheme.
February, 2017
 February, 2017

Feb 1, 2017 CBS News: Shocking details as Russian spies charged with
treason

Feb 1, 2017 Daily Mail: Russian businessman Sergei Millian, named as source
for spy's dossier of filthy claims about Trump, has asked for U.S.
government protection - and was refused. Millian has denied he or
his organization are connected to Russian intelligence - 'I'm not
involved' - while also admitting in US interviews that 'when I meet
top people in the Russian government, they invite me, let's say to
the Kremlin, to the reception, so of course I have the chance to talk
to some presidential advisers, some top people.'I'm one of those
very few people who have insider knowledge of Kremlin politics
who has the ability to understand the Russian mentality and who
has been able to successfully integrate in American society.'

Feb 1, 2017 PoliticusUSA: Trump Ally Roger Stone Goes on Russian TV to

Defend Russia From Hacking Allegations. "I think it's pretty
established that the Russians did not hack the DNC. That's a
falsehood."

Feb 1, 2017 WaPo: Democrats ask Pentagon to explain 2015 payment Flynn
received from Russia. The lawmakers suggest that the fee he
received may have violated the Constitutions emoluments clause,
which prohibits top officials from receiving payments from foreign
governments.

Feb 2, 2017 Politico: Senators set to huddle on Russia hacking probe. Key
senators are planning to meet in the coming days to discuss the
progress of their investigations into Russias meddling in
Novembers presidential election inquiries that will delve into the
explosive question of whether there were contacts between
Moscow and the Trump campaign.The Senate Intelligence
Committee is conducting the highest-profile investigation, but at
least two other Senate panels, Armed Services and Foreign
Relations, are also looking into the issue.

Feb 2, 2017 Politico: U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said
Thursday the Trump administration will continue U.S. sanctions on
Russia over its occupation of Crimea. Crimea is a part of
Ukraine, Haley said. 'Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in
place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine.

Feb 2, 2017 McClatchy: 3rd congressional panel opens probe into Russia
election meddling. Then came reports that a possible source of
information in the dossier, Oleg Erovinkin, a former top officer of
 the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the FSB, was
mysteriously found dead in his car in Moscow on Dec. 26, 2016.
Erovinkin has been described as the chief of staff to Igor Sechin,
the head of the state-controlled Russian energy company Rosneft.
Sechin is called the second most powerful man in Russia after
Putin. Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian journalist who owns newspapers
and radio stations across Europe and the Ukraine, described
Erovinkin as a liaison between Putin and Sechin. The ex-spys
dossier makes repeated references to a 'Sechin associate,' and 'a
Kremlin insider' and 'a close associate of Rosneft President and
Putin ally Igor Sechin.' Erovinkin matches all three descriptions.

Feb 3, 2017 Mother Jones: This Senator Is Hell-Bent on Getting Out the Truth
About Trump and Russia. Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden says the
Obama administration should have released more information
before the election.

Feb 3, 2017 Politico: Trump tells Ukrainian politician he won't lift Russia
sanctions
The president appears to take a harsher stance on Russia in an
unusual private meeting. Donald Trump promised a Ukrainian
opposition leader that the United States wont lift sanctions on
Russia until it pulls out of Ukraine, according to three people
briefed on the meeting. Within hours of meeting with both Trump
and Vice President Mike Pence at the prayer breakfast, former
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko relayed the contents of
the meeting to separate audiences at the Heritage Foundation and
the Hudson Institute, according to people who attended the
off-the-record events at the conservative think tanks.

Feb 3, 2017 McClatchy: BuzzFeed sued over its publication of uncorroborated

Trump dossier

Feb 4,2017 NYT: Russian Executive [Aleksej Gubarev] Sues BuzzFeed Over
Unverified Trump Dossier. [Mr. Gubarevs lawyers have also filed
a lawsuit in Britain against the former intelligence agent who
compiled the report and his consulting company.] P olitico: Trump
defends Putin, says U.S. has 'a lot of killers'.

Feb 5, 2017 CNN : Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration is
"watching" Russia and "very troubled" by its violation of a ceasefire
in Ukraine last week.

Feb 5, 2017 Washington Times: In interview on Vladimir Putin, President Trump

says U.S. has a lot of killers too. President Trump said Sunday
that he respects Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite
accusations that Mr. Putin and his supporters have murdered
opponents in Russia. In an interview with Fox News Bill OReilly,
 which will air ahead of the Super Bowl, Mr. Trump said believes the
U.S. is better off cooperating with Russia. 'I do respect him. Well, I
respect a lot of people, but that doesnt mean Ill get along with
them,' Mr. Trump said. Referring to reports that the Russian leader
has ordered the murders of journalists and dissidents, Mr. OReilly
asserted that 'Putin is a killer.' Mr. Trump replied, 'There are a lot of
killers. We have a lot of killers. You think our country is so
innocent?' The president said Russia can be helpful to U.S.
interests, such as defeating the Islamic State.

Feb 5, 2017 WaPo: Trumps continued defense of Putin confounds

Republicans. P olitico: Pelosi calls for probe of possible Russian
blackmail of Trump

Feb 7, 2017 Patribotics (Louise Mensch): Jeff Sessions: Attorney General,

Suspect. Part One: Sessions Suspect or Material Witness in Any
Russian Hacking Inquiry. Jeff Sessions Recruited Carter Page,
Under FBI Investigation. Jeff Sessions Is Connected to Alfa Bank,
Named in Comeys FISA Warrant. Part Two: Jeff Sessions Must
Not Prevent Criminal FBI, DOJ Inquiries Into His Friends and
Colleagues. Sessions Must Extradite Nikulin, Russian Hacker Who
Attacked Anthony Wieners Computer.

Feb 9, 2017 Mother Jones (David Corn): The Mysterious Disappearance of the
Biggest Scandal in Washington. Whatever happened to the
Trump-Russia story?

Feb 9, 2017 Politico: How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian
Right

Feb 9, 2017 WaPo: National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with
YT: Flynn Is
Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say. N
Said to Have Talked to Russians About Sanctions Before Trump
Took Office. WaPo: Just how much trouble is Michael Flynn in?

Feb 9, 2017 The Hill: Senate takes a hard line on Russia | Dems want hearings
on Trump's cyber issues

Feb 10, 2017 CNN (includes video): US investigators corroborate some aspects
of the Russia dossier. For the first time, US investigators say they
have corroborated some of the communications detailed in a
35-page dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent,
multiple current and former US law enforcement and intelligence
officials tell CNN. Rather it relates to conversations between
foreign nationals. The dossier details about a dozen conversations
between senior Russian officials and other Russian
individuals.But the intercepts do confirm that some of the
conversations described in the dossier took place between the
 same individuals on the same days and from the same locations as
detailed in the dossier, according to the officials. CNN has not
confirmed whether any content relates to then-candidate Trump.
The corroboration, based on intercepted communications, has
given US intelligence and law enforcement 'greater confidence' in
the credibility of some aspects of the dossier as they continue to
actively investigate its contents, these sources say. US
intelligence officials emphasize the conversations were solely
between foreign nationals, including those in or tied to the Russian
government, intercepted during routine intelligence gathering.
Some of the individuals involved in the intercepted communications
were known to the US intelligence community as heavily involved
in collecting information damaging to Hillary Clinton and helpful to
Donald Trump, two of the officials tell CNN.

Feb 10, 2017 Vox: CNN reports that parts of the Russian dossier have been
corroborated. Calm down. There was no confirmation of the
alleged sex tape of Trump and prostitutes, or any major headway
on rumors that Trumps aides were working with foreign nationals
during the election or anything that relates to the salacious
allegations, or even Trump, for that matter, CNN reported. Instead,
it was about the conversations between Russian officials and
individuals detailed in the dossier, which previously could not be
corroborated. C enter for American Progress: Trump and Russia: A
Timeline

Feb 10, 2017 Defense One: Will Trump Repeal Sanctions on Russia? A
Conversation with an NSC Planner

Feb 10, 2017 NYT: Trump Will Look Into Reports That Flynn Discussed
Sanctions With Russia

Feb 11, 2017 Politico: CIA freezes out top Flynn aide. The agency denied a
security clearance for a key aide to the National Security Adviser
ratcheting up tensions between Flynn and the intel community. A
top deputy to national security adviser Michael Flynn was rejected
for a critical security clearance, effectively ending his tenure on the
National Security Council and escalating tensions between Flynn
and the intelligence community. The move came as Flynns already
tense relationships with others in the Trump administration and the
intelligence community were growing more fraught after reports
that Flynn had breached diplomatic protocols in his conversations
with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Feb 11, 2017 Business Insider: The timeline of Trump's ties with Russia lines up
with allegations of conspiracy and misconduct. The document
includes one particularly explosive allegation that the Trump
 campaign agreed to minimize US opposition to Russia's incursions
into Ukraine in exchange for the Kremlin releasing negative
information about Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. The timing of
events supporting this allegation also lines up. The
'well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between [the Trump
campaign] and the Russian leadership was managed on the Trump
side by the Republican candidate's campaign manager, Paul
Manafort,' the dossier says. [TW: cf p. 7 Steele dossier, memo
#095, ethnic Russian close associate, Source B].

Feb 12, 2017 The Observer (John R. Schindler): The Spy Revolt Against Trump
Begins. Intelligence Community pushes back against a White
House it considers leaky, untruthful and penetrated by the Kremlin.
Whats going on was explained lucidly by a senior Pentagon
intelligence official, who stated that since January 20, weve
assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM, meaning
the White House Situation Room, the 5,500 square-foot conference
room in the West Wing where the president and his top staffers get
intelligence briefings. Theres not much the Russians dont know at
this point, the official added in wry frustration. As Ive previously
explained, that salacious dossier is raw intelligence, an explosive
amalgam of fact and fantasy, including some disinformation planted
by the Kremlin to obscure this already murky case. Now SIGINT
confirms that some of the non-salacious parts of what Steele
reported, in particular how senior Russian officials conspired to
assist Trump in last years election, are substantially based in fact.
This is bad news for the White House, which has already lashed
out in angry panic, with Press Secretary Sean Spicer stating, We
continue to be disgusted by CNNs fake news reporting. That is
hardly a denial, of course, and I can confirm from my friends still
serving in the IC that the SIGINT, which corroborates some of the
Steele dossier, is damning for the administration. Our spies have
had enough of these shady Russian connectionsand they are
starting to push back.

Feb 12, 2017 Christian Science Monitor: Is the FBI taking the Russian dossier
about Trump more seriously? The dossier remains mostly
unverified, but sources say that certain details in the document,
compiled by a former British spy, have been corroborated.

Feb 13, 2017 WaPo: Justice Department warned White House that Flynn could
YT: Michael
be vulnerable to Russian blackmail, officials say. N
Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser

Feb 13, 2017 Foreign Policy: The Kremlin Is Starting to Worry About Trump
Vladimir Putin's entourage cheered the outcome of the U.S.
election until they saw exactly what they were dealing with.
Feb 14, 2017 CNN: GOP Senate Intel Member Roy Blunt (R-MO): Exhaustive
investigation into Trump-Russia connections needed following
Flynn resignation. N Y Mag: Trumps Lawyer Knew Flynn Was
Lying. Why Did Nothing Happen?

Feb 14, 2017 NYT: Flynns Downfall Sprang From Eroding Level of Trust.
Around the same time, Obama advisers heard separately from the
F.B.I. about Mr. Flynns conversation with Mr. Kislyak, whose calls
were routinely monitored by American intelligence agencies that
track Russian diplomats. The Obama advisers grew suspicious that
perhaps there had been a secret deal between the incoming team
and Moscow, which could violate the rarely enforced,
two-century-old Logan Act barring private citizens from negotiating
with foreign powers in disputes with the United States. The Obama
officials asked the F.B.I. if a quid pro quo had been discussed on
the call, and the answer came back no, according to one of the
officials, who like others asked not to be named discussing delicate
communications. The topic of sanctions came up, they were told,
but there was no deal.

Feb 14, 2017 Huffington Post (Howard Fineman): The White House Is Already In
Flames. What did the president know and when did he know it?

Feb 14, 2017 NYT: Russia Deploys Missile, Violating Treaty and Challenging
Trump

Feb 14, 2017 New Yorker (Ryan Lizza): The Questionable Account of What
Michael Flynn Told the White House. But now Flynn is gone, and
there are some bigger unresolved questions. Did Trump instruct
Flynn to discuss a potential easing of sanctions with Russia? Did
Flynn update Trump on his calls with the Russian Ambassador?
Did Trump know that Flynn lied to Pence about those contacts?
What did the White House counsel do with the information that he
received from Yates about Flynn being vulnerable to blackmail? It
wasnt one report, the senior White House official told me about
the series of news articles that made Trump finally focus on Flynn
yesterday. It was a drip, drip, drip. Both Congress and the F.B.I.
are looking into Flynns links to Russia. There are several former
Obama officials who saw transcripts of his calls with the Russian
Ambassador. The dripping has only just begun.

Feb 14, 2017 WaPo: Pence did not learn that Flynn misled him on Russia until
last week

Feb 14, 2017 NYT: Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With
Russian Intelligence. The officials said the intercepted
communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and
included other associates of Mr. Trump. On the Russian side, the
contacts also included members of the government outside of the
intelligence services, they said. All of the current and former
officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the
continuing investigation is classified. The officials said that one of
the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was
Mr. Trumps campaign chairman for several months last year and
had worked as a political consultant in Ukraine. The officials
declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls. The
F.B.I. has closely examined at least three other people close to Mr.
Trump, although it is unclear if their calls were intercepted. They
are Carter Page, a businessman and former foreign policy adviser
to the campaign; Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative;
and Mr. Flynn. All of the men have strongly denied that they had
any improper contacts with Russian officials. As part of the inquiry,
the F.B.I. is also trying to assess the credibility of the information
contained in a dossier that was given to the bureau last year by a
former British intelligence operative. The dossier contained a raft of
allegations of a broad conspiracy between Mr. Trump, his
associates and the Russian government. It also included
unsubstantiated claims that the Russians had embarrassing videos
that could be used to blackmail Mr. Trump. The F.B.I. has spent
several months investigating the leads in the dossier, but has yet to
confirm any of its most explosive claims. Senior F.B.I. officials
believe that the former British intelligence officer who compiled the
dossier, Christopher Steele, has a credible track record, and he
briefed investigators last year about how he obtained the
information. One American law enforcement official said that F.B.I.
agents had made contact with some of Mr. Steeles sources. The
agencys investigation of Mr. Manafort began last spring as an
outgrowth of a criminal investigation into his work for a pro-Russian
political party in Ukraine and for the countrys former president,
Viktor F. Yanukovych. It has focused on why he was in such close
contact with Russian and Ukrainian intelligence officials.The
bureau did not have enough evidence to obtain a warrant for a
wiretap of Mr. Manaforts communications, but it had the N.S.A.
scrutinize the communications of Ukrainian officials he had met.
CNN: Trump aides were in constant touch with senior Russian
officials during campaign. High-level advisers close to
then-presidential nominee Donald Trump were in constant
communication during the campaign with Russians known to US
intelligence, multiple current and former intelligence, law
enforcement and administration officials tell CNN. President-elect
Trump and then-President Barack Obama were both briefed on
details of the extensive communications between suspected
Russian operatives and people associated with the Trump
campaign and the Trump business, according to US officials
familiar with the matter. Among several senior Trump advisers
 regularly communicating with Russian nationals were
then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and then-adviser Michael
Flynn. Adding to US investigators' concerns were intercepted
communications between Russian officials before and after the
election discussing their belief that they had special access to
Trump, two law enforcement officials tell CNN. These officials
cautioned the Russians could have been exaggerating their
access. One concern was whether Trump associates were
coordinating with Russian intelligence operatives over the release
of damaging information about the Hillary Clinton campaign.
'If that were the case, then that would escalate things,' one official
briefed on the investigation said.

Feb 14, 2017 WaPo: Russian lawmakers rush to the defense of Trumps
ex-national security adviser

Feb 14, 2017 ABC News: FBI interviewed Michael Flynn about his talks with
Russian ambassador. In the days following the inauguration of
President Donald Trump, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
interviewed then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to
discuss his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the
U.S., according to multiple government officials. ABC News has
previously reported that Flynns communications with Russia,
including with its ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, have been
examined as part of a broad counterintelligence investigation into
contacts between the Trump team and Russians. This is the first
confirmation that the FBI spoke with Flynn directly. It was not
immediately clear what the FBI and Flynn discussed. Law
enforcement sources told ABC News that the inquiry has not found
evidence of any criminal wrongdoing in the communications
examined thus far, but that the probe remains under FBI and
Department of Justice review. Flynn's interview with FBI came
before then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates reached out to the
White House on Jan. 26 to alert the administration that the National
Security Adviser may have misled officials about the nature of his
conversations with Kislyak. ABC News has also learned that FBI
Director James Comey had expressed concern about telling the
White House, fearing it could impact the FBI probe, but he
acquiesced after investigators were able to interview Flynn.
Questions remain though about how forthcoming Flynn was in his
interview with FBI.

Feb 14, 2017 Patribotics (Louise Mensch): The Carolina Conspiracy. [TW:
Mensch believes that a North Carolina hacking group CWA
(Crackas With Attitude) either planted the sexting material on
Anthony Weiners computer or revealed it to the NYPD and the
FBIs NYC field office; that CWA is or was a front group engaged in
 Russian hacking and foreign intelligence; and that CWA was led by
Moscow hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin, who was recently arrested in
Prague by the Czech Republic at the behest of the USIC. Mensch
alleges as well that Rudy Giuliani, who had advance information
about the sexting material and its release, is also complicit; and
that Weiners 13-year old sexting partner was a fictitious creation
by the Russians.]

Feb 15, 2017 NYT (Tim Weiner): On the Road to Another Watergate? PJMedia:
At the End, Obama Administration Gave NSA Broad New Powers.

Feb 15, 2017 Newsweek (Kurt Eichenwald): U.S. allies conduct intelligence
operation against Trump staff and associates, intercepted
communications.

Feb 15, 2017 The Atlantic (Julia Ioffe): Trump's Russia Reset Will Survive Flynn's
Ouster. But the uncertainty that Trump has brought to the United
States is spilling into even the places that he hoped to do business
with. They have other entrees,' one senior State Department
official told me. Flynn was just a messenger, in other words, and
there are other people in the West Wing who are equally motivated
to strike some kind of grand bargain with Putin, including White
House adviser Steve Bannon and the president himself. And if
Trump and Putin both want the deal done, it wont be too hard to
find another go-between. The one real problem, Pavlovsky points
out, is timing. If the Kremlin and the White House dont move
quickly, 'America and Russia could lose the opportunity to lower the
pressure on the relationship,' he said. If theres no agreement in
six months, then it will never be reached because then our
presidential campaign beginsPutin is up for reelection again in
2018and Putin wont be able to be soft Otherwise, Pavlovsky
added, I dont see a big loss in this.

Feb 15, 2017 WaPo (Chris Cillizza): Trumps White House is on the verge of a
raging fire over Russia allegations. The events of the last 12 hours
didn't happen in a vacuum. They come on the heels of Flynn's
'resignation' and less than two weeks removed from Trump
defending Putin's murder of political enemies by noting 'weve got a
lot of killers. What, do you think our countrys so innocent?' They
come after a campaign in which Trump repeatedly refused to
criticize Russia, breaking with his own party as he expressed hope
that he could forge a new relationship with the Cold War-era
superpower. They come after proof emerged that Russian
intelligence organizations were actively involved in trying to sway
the election to Trump. That's a whole hell of a lot of smoke. So
much smoke that any reasonable person paying even the slightest
attention would suspect there's a fire burning. Trump needs to
 dump water on the fire in the form of the full release of what he
knew and when he knew it and fast. That is, if he has the water
that could put this fire out. If he doesn't, we might be looking at a
full-on blaze very, very soon. N BC News: Trump Blames Russian
Connection Conspiracy Theories on Clinton Campaign Cover Up.
Trump tweets: The fake news media is going crazy with their
conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are
unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!3:40 AM - 15 Feb 2017.
This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to
cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing
campaign. 4:08 AM - 15 Feb 2017. The real scandal here is that
classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like
candy. Very un-American! 5:13 AM - 15 Feb 2017

Feb 15, 2017 NYT: Russia Dismisses Reports That Trump Aides Had Contact
he Intercept: Carter Page writes bizarre
With Intelligence Agents. T
letter to the DOJ.

Feb 15, 2017 Slate (David Corn): Why Trump Can't Come Clean on Russia
The saying "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up" may not apply here.
How can Trump and his crew concede that they were hobnobbing
with a foreign government that was waging political warfare against
the United States? The full and complete debrief that Cillizza
advocates would require Trump to acknowledge that he and his
team have covered up these contacts and explain why. This 'full
and complete debrief' could well show that Trump's camp cozied
up to a repressive government that was seeking to destabilize US
politics to help Trump. It could reveal that Trump associates directly
or indirectly encouraged Putin's attack on the 2016 election. Trump
would lose all legitimacy as president were he to admit that
anything of this sort transpired. There are some deeds that cannot
be acknowledged. Expecting Trump and his lieutenants to confess
that his campaign or business associates were networking with the
Kremlin or Russian intelligence is not realisticespecially after
their months of denial. (Trump also for months refused to accept
the US intelligence assessment that Russia was behind the
hacking and leaking aimed at Democratic targets, and when he
finally bent on this point, he downplayed Moscow's meddling in the
election.) Trump cannot continue to present himself as the
triumphant winner of a fair election if it turns out his own people
were palling around with Moscow.

Feb 15, 2017 The Hill: Intel Dem: House GOP now open to investigating Flynn.
House GOP leaders had initially balked at the idea of expanding
their Russia investigation to include Flynn, with Intel Chairman
Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) telling CNN that Flynn was protected by
executive privilege. Nunes said the probe should focus not on
 Flynn's conversation with a Russian diplomat prior to the
inauguration, but on the leak that exposed the discussion. But Rep.
Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the Intel panel, said
he spoke with Nunes Wednesday afternoon, and that's no longer
the chairman's position. He assured me that we would investigate
everything that the Senate is looking at, including the Flynn
allegations, Schiff said, and that he will not preclude any area that
Democratic members thought was a subject of legitimate
investigation. So I was pleased with the discussion.

Feb 15, 2017 The Guardian: Former Trump adviser Roger Stone calls for
investigation of alleged Russia links. Stone, whos named as one of
four individuals under FBI observation over alleged contacts with
Russian intelligence, urges Department of Justice inquiry

Feb 15, 2017 USA Today: Donald Trump's ties to Russia go back 30 years

Feb 15, 2017 The Observer (John R. Schindler): KremlinGate Enters Uncharted
Waters as Russian Links Overwhelm DC. New revelations of
clandestine ties between the president and Moscow bring turmoil to
the Oval Office. One of the Trump associates named in both
reports is Paul Manafort, the shady veteran political operative who
left the campaign last August when his unsavory ties to the Kremlin
hit the newspapers. In response to the latest allegations, Manafort
replied, 'I dont remember talking to any Russian officials,' last year,
memorably adding that he had no recollection of ever being in
contact with Kremlin spies: 'Its not like these people wear badges
that say, Im a Russian intelligence officer. That appears to be yet
another untruth, since as I reported back in August, Manaforts
longtime friend in Kyiv, Konstantin Kilimnik, who served as his
translator and sidekick during Manaforts years as a political fixer
for Ukraines then-ruling party, was remarkably open about his
longstanding affiliation with GRU, that is Russian military
intelligence. Kilimnik boasted of his GRU ties, which he didnt
discuss in the past tense only. For Manafort to say hes never been
in contact with Russian spies is therefore unconvincing. Since the
Intelligence Community has already concluded that Russian spies,
acting on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, clandestinely
interfered in our election last year, to benefit Trump at the expense
of Hillary Clinton, the Republican candidates regular contacts with
the Kremlin and its spy agencies appear highly suspicious [sic] and
raise many troubling questions. Republicans should be advised
to put country over party right now and pursue rigorous inquiries
into the full extent of Trumps Moscow links and their impact on the
electionand the new administration. Washington is at the
precipice of a scandal unlike anything seen since Watergate.
Indeed, KremlinGate promises to be much seedier and more
 troubling than anything proffered by President Nixon. Here the
inevitable comparisons to Watergate fall short. Tricky Dick
committed domestic crimes, and paid the price for them, but Nixon
was in no way beholden to a foreign powermuch less one which
has several thousand nuclear weapons pointed at the United
States. Neither did Nixon collude with that foreign powers spies to
arrange his own election to the presidency. We are now discussing
things worse than mere impeachment. If members of Trumps team
colluded with Russian intelligence, the Espionage Act comes into
play, and weve entered uncharted waters, presidentially speaking.

Feb 15, 2017 CNN: Trump aides were in constant touch with senior Russian
officials during campaign. Both the frequency of the
communications during early summer and the proximity to Trump
of those involved raised a red flag with US intelligence and law
enforcement, according to these officials. The communications
were intercepted during routine intelligence collection targeting
Russian officials and other Russian nationals known to US
intelligence. Among several senior Trump advisers regularly
communicating with Russian nationals were then-campaign
chairman Paul Manafort and then-adviser Michael Flynn. Officials
emphasized that communications between campaign staff and
representatives of foreign governments are not unusual. However,
these communications stood out to investigators due to the
frequency and the level of the Trump advisers involved.
Investigators have not reached a judgment on the intent of those
conversations. The communications were gathered as part of
routine US intelligence collection and not because people close to
Trump were being targeted. The FBI and US intelligence agencies
continue to try to determine what the motive for the
communications were. One concern was whether Trump
associates were coordinating with Russian intelligence operatives
over the release of damaging information about the Hillary Clinton
campaign. If that were the case, then that would escalate things,
one official briefed on the investigation said.

Feb 15, 2017 McClatchy: Russian diplomat Mikhail Kalugin denies role in
scheme to help Trump win presidency. A Russian diplomat who
worked in the Washington embassy left the country last August
while federal investigators examined whether he played a key
covert role in the alleged Kremlin-directed plot to influence last falls
U.S. elections. Two people with knowledge of a multi-agency
investigation into the Kremlins meddling have told McClatchy that
Mikhail Kalugin was under scrutiny when he departed. He has been
an important figure in the inquiry into how Russia bankrolled the
email hacking of top Democrats and took other measures to defeat
Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump capture the White House,
 said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the investigation. Kalugins name
albeit misspelled first surfaced publicly in January in a former
British spys jarring but largely uncorroborated dossier of
intelligence collected for Trumps U.S. political opponents.

Feb 16, 2017 Russia Today: US intel agencies keep Trump in dark citing alleged
Russian contacts media.

Feb 16, 2017 WaPo (David Ignatius): Flynn is gone, but a mystery remains.
Given the magnitude of Russias cyberattack on the United States,
it remains puzzling that Flynn and Trump were so cavalier about
the U.S. governments attempt to hold Moscow accountable. Thats
one reason investigators keep asking what contacts the Trump
team had with Russia before the election. Trump said Thursday
there hadnt been any. Yet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Ryabkov said Nov.10: Obviously, we know most of the people
from [Trumps] entourage. The FBI and the Senate Intelligence
Committee are investigating the scope of Russias pro-Trump
activities. Inevitably, there will be leaks, but that issue is a red
herring. For all Trumps talk about fake news, the country needs
answers.

Feb 16, 2017 Politico: Pentagon: No records of Flynn's 2015 Russia trip. Chaffetz
and Cummings question payments to Trump's ex-national security
adviser.

Feb 16, 2017 Daily Beast: Russian Spies Targeted U.S. Sanctions. Talking with
Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of many
ways Moscow tried to get inside information about Americas
financial war against the Kremlin. The last major Russian spy
arrested on U.S. soil was busted for seeking the kind of information
retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has been accused of dishing out.
CNN (Marshall Cohen): T imeline (Marshall Cohen, updated
3/3/17): What we know about the Trump campaign, his
administration and Russia.

Feb 17, 2017 CNN: Comey talks Russia with senators in closed-door briefing.
"What we are trying to do -- and I give Richard (Burr) a lot of credit
-- is to not have this devolve into a partisan food fight that doesn't
serve the public purpose. This is so important that we get it right,"
Warner said. "But the amount of manipulation, why there's not
more outrage about the fact there were close to 1,000 Russian
internet trolls, actual people, working trying to manipulate our
news."
Warner also said the committee has put in place a process to
 ensure the White House does not destroy documents lawmakers
need for their investigation.

Feb 17, 2017 Yahoo News (Michael Isikoff): House committee probes Russia
payment to Flynn. In an unusual bipartisan letter, House Oversight
and Government Reform committee chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz and
ranking minority member Rep. Elijah Cummings have asked a
Washington-based speakers bureau, Leading Authorities, to turn
over information on how much Flynn was paid for his appearance
at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of RT the
Russian-government funded news organization where he sat at
the same table for dinner as President Vladimir Putin.

Feb 17, 2017 Politico: Nunes asks FBI to investigate Trump leaks. The House
intelligence chairman has said the president is being targeted by
the intelligence community. Rep. Devin Nunes has suggested in
recent days that the leaks came from career government
intelligence employees who are either loyal to former President
Barack Obama or opposed to Trump.

Feb 17, 2017 Foreign Policy: Russians Are Turning on Donald Trump
One month in, the new White House is looking chaotic and weak --
the opposite of what Russia respects in a politician.

Feb 17, 2017 The Hill: First House Republican signs bill creating committee to
investigate Russia, election. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) has
become the first House Republican to co-sponsor a bill calling for
an independent investigation of foreign interference in the 2016
presidential election.

Feb 17, 2017 Fox News: Amid Russia concerns, Comey's closed-door Hill visit
results in uncanny silence among lawmakers. There was a reason
behind Burrs cloak-and-dagger approach. He and other members
of the Senate Intelligence Committee had a sub rosa meeting in the
subterranean SCIF with FBI Director James Comey. The topic:
Russian influence in last falls election, leaks and undoubtedly, how
someone exposed a phone call between former National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn and Moscows Ambassador to Washington
Sergey Kislyak. Better yet, how did they intercept the call? Was it a
mistake? Was Flynn under surveillance? Was there a super-secret
warrant authorized by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
(FISA) court? Even so, why was the U.S. wiretapping one of its
own citizens? FISA law expressly prohibits such eavesdropping.
Were the participants on the call 'unmasked' because spooks were
listening for something else and stumbled upon Flynn on the line?

Feb 17, 2017 Associated Press: Senators want materials saved for Russia probe.
The Senate intelligence committee has sent formal requests to
 more than a dozen organizations, agencies and individuals, asking
them to preserve all materials related to a probe the panel is
conducting on Russian interference in the 2016 election and
related issues, a congressional aide said Saturday. The committee
chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and its vice chairman, Sen.
Mark Warner, D-Va., sent letters out on Friday the same day
committee members received a classified briefing from FBI Director
James Comey. Committee members declined to comment on what
was discussed after the more than hourlong briefing. The aide was
not authorized to discuss the issue and spoke only on condition of
anonymity. On Thursday, Senate Democrats wrote the White
House and law enforcement agencies seeking assurances that
they were preserving all materials related to contacts individuals
associated with President Donald Trump had with Russians. Those
letters asked for confirmation that the White House, FBI and
Justice Department had instructed their employees to preserve all
materials related to any contacts Trump's administration,
campaign, transition team or anyone acting on their behalf
have had with Russian government officials or its associates.

Feb 17, 2017 The Guardian: Louise Mensch: the former British MP who scooped
US media on Trump's Russian ties. Mensch works at News Corp
by day, probes Trump-Moscow by night. Heres how she learned
the secret that eluded even the best journalists. On the eve of the
November election, Mensch published a sensational s tory reporting
that a special intelligence court in Washington had granted a
warrant to allow the FBI to conduct surveillance of 'US persons' in
an investigation of possible contacts between Russian banks and
the Trump organisation. At the time, the story did not cause much
of a ripple. It was published on Heat Street, a libertarian-leaning
website run by News Corp, and an unknown quantity in journalism.
So was Mensch, whose recent public profile consisted mainly of a
string of angry Twitter spats. However, it seems increasingly
clear that Mensch landed an extraordinary scoop that had eluded
the best investigative journalists in the US. Her explanation is that
her vocal advocacy on behalf of UK and US intelligence agencies
since former NSA contractor Edward Snowdens revelations about
mass surveillance led her sources to trust her. They gave me
one of the most closely guarded secrets in intelligence,' she said in
a telephone interview. 'People are speculating why someone
trusted me with that. Nobody met me in a darkened alley in a
fedora, but they saw me as someone who has political experience
and is their friend. I am a pro-national security partisan. I dont have
divided loyalties.
Feb 18, 2017 National Review (Andrew McCarthy): Why Was the FBI
Investigating General Flynn? There appears to have been no basis
for a criminal or intelligence probe.

Feb 18, 2017 Guccifer2.0: Game Over: Detailed Guccifer 2.0 timeline. R ussia
Today: CIA leaks like a sieve, Obamas holdovers should be
probed' - Roger Stone, former Trump adviser. I have never been
notified by anyone in law enforcement in the United States that
there even is an investigation. I read that a FISA court has
approved the wiretapping and the monitoring of my phone calls and
my e-mail accounts. I dont know if thats true. Im told that theres a
grand jury convened. But I can sleep at night because no
investigation will harm Donald Trump, or Roger Stone, or Paul
Manafort because we had no contacts with the Russian state and
therefore I would like to clear the air on this, and I think a public
investigation, a publicly made investigation report would be the
best way to do this.

Feb 19, 2017 Bloomberg: Priebus Says No Known Trump-Related Contacts With
Russian Agents. F oxNews: Transcript: Reince Priebus on Flynn,
Russia and President Trump's agenda. N BC News (Meet the
Press): Transcript: Interview of Reince Preibus with Chris Wallace:
no contacts between Trump campaign and Russia that we know of;
top intelligence officials say that the NYT story is garbage.

Feb 19, 2017 NYT: A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of
Trump Associates

Feb 20, 2017 Politico: Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to U.N., dies in New
York City

Feb 21, 2017 Bloomberg: Ukraine Oligarch Dmitry Firtash Loses U.S. Extradition
Fight, Is Arrested. An Austrian appeals court approved a U.S.
request to extradite Dmitry Firtash on corruption charges in a
surprise decision that opens the way for the Ukrainian tycoon to be
sent to the U.S. for trial. But that could be delayed after the case
took another unexpected turn minutes after the verdict on Tuesday,
when plainclothes Austrian police arrested Firtash as he left the
courthouse on a separate Spanish warrant. Magistrates in
Barcelona charged him with money laundering and engaging in
organized crime, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.
Firtash, who made much of his fortune in the gas trade and
expanded into chemicals and television, is one of Ukraines most
powerful men. He has deep ties to Russia, having profited from
deals with gas giant Gazprom and businessmen from the inner
circle of President Vladimir Putin, adding to his potential interest for
U.S. law enforcement. Firtashs defense team had argued that the
 U.S. prosecution was politically motivated, an effort to sideline him
for his pro-Russian views. B loomberg: Will Trump Rescue the
Oligarch in the Gilded Cage? Outside of a John le Carr novel,
there may be no more perfectly embroiled middleman than Firtash.
Russia and the former Soviet republics have more than a few
embattled oligarchs, but only one stands accused of being the
missing link between Vladimir Putin and the Trump administration.
Last summer, in the thick of the U.S. presidential campaign, a host
of news reports noted that Firtash, a Ukrainian natural gas
magnate, was the onetime business partner of Donald Trump
adviser Paul Manafort, the Washington political operative whod
worked in Ukraine for Viktor Yanukovych, the countrys
Russia-friendly kleptocratic president. (Yanukovych, for his part,
appeared in the explosive, unverified opposition research dossier
on Trump that went public just before the inauguration: He was the
Ukrainian politician who was said to have assured Putin that no
one would ever trace alleged cash payments to Manafort back to
the Russian president.) But the connection to Manafort, and
Manaforts connection to Trump, represent just the latest alleged
entanglement for Firtash. There are the reports that, as a 50-50
partner in Ukraines natural gas business with Russias state-run
Gazprom, he made his billions as Putins handpicked surrogate.
There are the accusations, leveled by the U.S. Department of
Justice, that Firtash benefited from an association with one of the
worlds most powerful organized crime figures, S emion Mogilevich,
who has appeared on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Feb 21, 2017 Bloomberg: Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen has told 4 different
stories about the Russia-Ukraine 'peace plan' debacle

Feb 22, 2017 Observer (John R. Schindler): Rebellion Brews in WashingtonBut

American Deep State Is Only a Myth. No secret entrenched
bureaucracy is plotting to overthrow Donald Trump.

Feb 22, 2017 @20committee (John R. Schindler): Over 15 years ago -- I was
there -- IC knew Trump was deep in bed with Russian organized
crime. Not legally. Imagine what they know now.

Feb 22, 2017 @20committee: Russian mafia has run scams from Trump Tower
since 1992, when Vyacheslav Ivankov AKA Yaponchik set up shop
there.

Feb 22, 2017 Politico: Liberal group launches 'Moscow Project' to pressure
Trump. Seeking to apply new pressure on President Donald
Trump over his ties to Russia, the liberal Center for American
Progress Action Fund is bringing on a former State Department
official to run its new 'Moscow Project,' while advocating the
 creation of an independent investigation even while the Senate
Intelligence Committees probes proceed.

Feb 22, 2017 Politico: Trump's Russia problem dogs Republicans at town halls
Constituents are demanding GOP lawmakers investigate the
president's ties to Moscow.

Feb 22, 2017 Politico: GOP senator wants Flynn to testify on Russia ties. Sen.
Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday she wants former
national security adviser Michael Flynn to testify before the Senate
Intelligence Committee, which is investigating ties between the
Trump campaign and Russia. Collins, a member of the intelligence
panel, also said campaign officials have been asked to preserve all
records that might be relevant to the investigation.

Feb 22, 2017 Vox: A Russian newspaper editor explains how Putin made Trump
his puppet. They consider him a stupid, unstrategic politician.

Feb 23, 2017 CNN: Trump lawyer pushed pro-Russia deal for Ukraine, politician
claims

Feb 23, 2017 CNN: FBI refused White House request to knock down recent
Trump-Russia stories.

Feb 23, 2017 Radio Free Europe: Who Is Paul Manafort's Man In Kyiv? An
Interview With Konstantin Kilimnik

Feb 23, 2017 Politico: Manafort faced blackmail attempt, hacks suggest
Stolen texts appear to show threats to expose relations among
Russia-friendly forces, Trump and his former campaign chairman.
A purported cyberhack of the daughter of political consultant Paul
Manafort suggests that he was the victim of a blackmail attempt
while he was serving as Donald Trumps presidential campaign
chairman last summer. The undated communications, which are
allegedly from the iPhone of Manaforts daughter, include a text
that appears to come from a Ukrainian parliamentarian named
Serhiy Leshchenko, seeking to reach her father, in which he claims
to have politically damaging information about both Manafort and
Trump. Attached to the text is a note to Paul Manafort referring
to 'bulletproof' evidence related to Manaforts financial arrangement
with Ukraines former president, the pro-Russian strongman Viktor
Yanukovych, as well as an alleged 2012 meeting between Trump
and a close Yanukovych associate named Serhiy Tulub. The
documents eventually were provided to the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau, a government agency that had signed an
evidence-sharing agreement with the FBI in late June less than
a month and a half before it released the ledgers. The Times
reported that the payments earmarked for Manafort were a focus
 of an investigation by Ukrainian anti-corruption officials, while CNN
reported days later that the FBI was pursuing an overlapping
inquiry. The post that appears to be the first to disseminate the
texts from Manaforts daughter included some anti-Trump
language, justifying the hack as retribution on behalf of those
damaged by Trumps politics.The site hosting the post is
associated with a hacktivist collective that is relatively unknown in
the cybersecurity world. One former U.S. military intelligence
cybersecurity analyst said, I dont think weve got a history with
them. They are not a known entity. The cybersecurity analyst,
whose company patrols cyberspace in search of hacker groups for
private clients and government agencies, said the collective seems
like randos, not the nation-states we usually track.

Feb 23, 2017 Politico (Rep. Mike Quigley, D-IL): What I Saw in Kyiv. Ukraines
democrats are desperate for American leadership, but they fear
Trump will abandon them to Moscows clutches.

Feb 24, 2017 Politico: Trump tweets anger at FBI while White House scrambles
to contain fallout. The White House is pushing back against the
media after a report revealed Priebus asked FBI to knock down a
damaging story. T he Hill: Trump turns his fire on the FBI.

Feb 24, 2017 Politico: Issa (R-CA): Trump-Russia probe requires a special
prosecutor. Rep. Darrell Issa emphasized that 'there may or may
not be fault' with President Donald Trump's associates but said
Russian President Vladimir Putin's brutality toward political
enemies highlighted the need for such a probe. Rep. Darrell Issa
said on HBO's Real Time that Attorney General Jeff Sessions
who Trump appointed as the nation's top law enforcement officer
should not handle the problem. You cannot have somebody, a
friend of mine Jeff Sessions, who was on the campaign and who is
an appointee, the California Republican said in response to a
question from host Bill Maher.

Feb 24, 2017 Bloomberg: GOP Senators Embrace Awkward Russia Probe That
Could Hurt Trump. A Senate Intelligence Committee investigation
of Russias effort to influence last years U.S. election is shaping up
as an unexpectedly bipartisan effort that could take months to
complete as it explores the most significant controversy shadowing
the new Trump administration. The investigation, which will involve
scouring highly classified material, is still in its early stages, but
Republicans are so far joining Democrats on the panel in pledging
to conduct it in a serious manner.

Feb 24, 2017 NBC News: Majority of Americans Say Congress Should Probe
Contact Between Trump, Russia: Poll. About half of Americans
 believe that Congress should investigate whether Donald Trump's
presidential campaign had contact with the Russian government in
2016, while only a quarter say that lawmakers should not probe the
issue, according to a new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll. The
new poll, conducted February 18-22, shows that 53 percent of the
American public wants Congress to look into the alleged
communications, while 25 percent disagree and 21 percent say
they don't have an opinion. The partisan breakdown is nearly
identical among those who want Congress to probe Russian
interference in the election more broadly. That includes eighty-four
percent of Democrats, 51 percent of independents and 25 percent
of Republicans.

Feb 24, 2017 WaPo: Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials,
key lawmakers to counter Russia stories. U.S. intelligence reports
cite multiple contacts between members of Trumps team and
Russians with links to the Kremlin, during the campaign and
afterward, according to officials who have seen them. Such reports
were based on intercepted Russian communications and other
sources, the officials said. Nunes, who served as a member of
Trumps transition team, has resisted calls for his House committee
to investigate alleged contacts between Trump associates and
Russia. He said in an interview that after months of investigations,
U.S. authorities have turned up no evidence of such contacts.

Feb 24, 2017 Daily Beast: The Crook Behind the Trump-Russia Peace Plan.
Sater is one of the most notorious and shady characters in the
American presidents past, including his very recent past. In
separate court documents, Mikhail Sater is named as an
accomplice of Semion Mogilevich, one of Russias most notorious
mobsters who, up until 2015, was on the FBIs Most Wanted List
for his own stock fraud scheme run out of Pennsylvania. Mogilevich
now lives openly in Russia, which refuses to extradite him.
AMWFANS: Semion Mogilevich- Pennsylvania- 2003

Feb 24, 2017 The American Interest (Walter Russell Mead): Trump Isnt
Sounding Like a Russian Mole. Trumps core global strategy is
intended to destroy any illusions in Moscow that Russia is a peer
competitor of Washingtons.

Feb 25, 2017 Politico: Top Democrat has 'grave concerns' about Trump-Russia
investigation. Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking member of the
Senate Intelligence Committee, says he won't tolerate 'White
House interference.' The top Democrat on the Senate committee
investigating President Donald Trumps ties to Russia says he has
'grave concerns' about the independence of the probe following a
report that the panels Republican chairman helped the White
 House knock down negative news stories. Sen. Mark Warner of
Virginia, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said Saturday he called Chairman Richard Burr
(R-N.C.) and CIA Director Mike Pompeo to express his concerns.
Warner also issued a warning to his GOP counterparts, saying
that if he determines the Intelligence panel cannot properly
conduct an independent investigation, I will support empowering
whoever can do it right. His warning is a nod to the many
Democratic lawmakers and a few Republicans who have called for
an independent commission or select committee to investigate the
issue.

Feb 25, 2017 Politico: GOP pitbull urges Republicans to demand 'transparency,
accountability' from Trump. Later, in an interview, he told
POLITICO that whether Russia conferred with members of the
Trump Administration as well as who leaked the information to
media, perhaps illegally, and how to keep Russia from interfering in
future elections are all important questions and must all be
investigated.

Feb 26, 2017 Patribotics (Louise Mensch): Planespotting: Michael Cohens

Amazing Journey. [TW: Indefatigable investigative journalist Louise
Mensch in an important blog shows that Trumps personal lawyer
Michael Cohen clearly lied when he said that he was in Los
Angeles during the period Aug 23-29; she forces Cohen to concede
that at least on Aug 24 he was in fact at the airport in Elizabeth, NJ,
as is proven by the geotagging from his cell phone. Mensch also
emphasizes, quite rightly, that the Steele dossier is hesitant and
uncertain about the dates and locations of a trip that Cohen is
alleged to have made to Europe to collude with the Kremlin after he
replaced Paul Manafort as the Kremlins main contact and go-to
person in the Trump campaign. Much of the rest of Menschs blog
is speculative--as she herself acknowledges--but she does
succeed in showing that there were very brief intervals of time in
the August-September time period when Cohen c ould have made a
secret trip to Europe to meet with Russian officials, as the Steele
dossier alleges.]

Feb 26, 2017 WaPo: White House: Too early to say whether a special prosecutor
should look into apparent election meddling by Russia. A White
House spokeswoman said Sunday that its premature to say that
Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself and appoint
a special prosecutor to look into apparent Russian meddling in the
2016 U.S. election aimed at helping elect Donald Trump. The
assessment by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the principal White
House deputy press secretary, comes as a growing number of
Democrats are calling for Sessions, who was a key figure in
 Trumps campaign, to step aside as the FBI and the Justice
Department probe what happened.

Feb 26, 2017 Politico: Trump lashes out over Russia allegations. Russia talk is
FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in
order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks!' the
president tweeted. The tweet marked a departure in tone from the
Democratic trolling he had done just a day earlier, mocking the
opposing partys newly elected chairman and attempting to sow
discord by speculating that the Democratic National Committee had
rigged the election against Bernie Sanders preferred candidate.
The White House, however, would have been hard-pressed not to
weigh in on the subject of Trump associates' contacts with Russia.
Republicans on Sunday faced endless questions about the ongoing
investigation into Russia's role in the presidential election
especially what role, if any, Attorney General Jeff Sessions should
play in overseeing it.

Feb 27, 2017 Axios AM (Mike Allen): Top White House officials tell us they're
authentically confident that the Russia smoke won't lead to fire, and
are even happy to have their opponents distracted by the issue.
For over six months, we have heard about these alleged contacts
with Russia, the official said. And yet, with all the leaks have
have come out, there's no 'there' there. P olitico: Spicer on Trump
and Russia: 'There's nothing there.'

Feb 27, 2017 Politico: George W. Bush: We all need answers on Trump's
alleged connections to Russia

Feb 27, 2017 Politico: House intel chiefs spar over Trump-Russia evidence. We
still have not seen any evidence of anyone from the Trump
campaign or any other campaign, for that matter, that's
communicated with the Russian government,' Nunes said at a
news briefing. He explained that while his committees investigation
was still in its early stages, intelligence agencies have briefed him
on the 'high points' of their own probes. 'As of right now, I don't
have any evidence of any phone calls,' Nunes said. 'That doesn't
mean they don't exist, but I don't have that. And what I've been told
by many folks is that there's nothing there.' Rep. Adam Schiff, the
top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, disputed
Nunes remarks and said it was too early to draw any conclusions
about whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign
and Russia. 'The fact is, we havent even begun to sit down with
the FBI to talk about what have they looked at, who have they
talked to, what leads have been pursued, what havent,' Schiff said
in an interview on MSNBC following Nunes news briefing. 'The
reality is we don't know whether there were contacts with Trump
 campaign officials. Thats one of the core issues that were going to
investigate. Having conversations with intelligence community
he Hill: Heads of Intel panel diverge on
leaders is not evidence.' T
TrumpRussia contacts.

Feb 27, 2017 NYT: Russia Looks to Exploit White House Turbulence, Analysts
Say. The Kremlin, increasingly convinced that President Trump
will not fundamentally change relations with Russia, is instead
seeking to bolster its global influence by exploiting what it
considers weakness in Washington, according to political advisers,
diplomats, journalists and other analysts.

Feb 27, 2017 Politico: GOP Intel chair Burr under fire over ties to Trump
The senator running the Russia probe was a vocal Trump
campaign backer, once boasting he sicced the FBI on Hillary
Clinton. P olitico: Intel Dems huddle amid Russia investigation
dispute. Democrats on the Senate panel investigating President
Donald Trumps ties to Russia are signaling they continue to
support the committees probe despite concerns about Chairman
Richard Burrs recent reported behavior -- for now. The Senate
Intelligence Committees Democratic members met behind closed
doors Monday evening amid an outcry over Fridays revelation that
Burr (R-N.C.) helped the White House knock down negative news
stories about the issue.

Feb 27, 2017 Politico: Sessions vows to preserve DOJ's independence amid
Russia furor. Sessions also continued to be cagey about whether
he will accede to calls from some lawmakers that he bow out of any
decisions related to that probe because of the prominent role he
played in President Donald Trumps campaign. 'I will recuse myself
on anything that I should recuse myself from. Thats all I can tell
you,' the attorney general said.

Feb 27, 2017 MSNBC (Rachel Maddow, video): New Commerce Secretary at
nexus of lucrative Trump Russian deal. With a line that runs
through newly confirmed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross,
Rachel Maddow connects the dots between a billionaire Russian
oligarch and a Donald Trump deal worth tens of millions of dollars.

Feb 28, 2017 WaPo: FBI once planned to pay former British spy who authored
controversial Trump dossier. The former British spy who authored
a controversial dossier on behalf of Donald Trumps political
opponents alleging ties between Trump and Russia reached an
agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the
bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to several
people familiar with the arrangement. The agreement to
compensate former MI6 agent Christopher Steele came as U.S.
 intelligence agencies reached a consensus that the Russians had
interfered in the presidential election by orchestrating hacks of
Democratic Party email accounts. While Trump has derided the
dossier as 'fake news' compiled by his political opponents, the
FBIs arrangement with Steele shows that the bureau considered
him credible and found his information, while unproved, to be
worthy of further investigation. At the time of the October
agreement, FBI officials probing Russian activities, including
possible contacts between Trump associates and Russian entities,
were aware of the information that Steele had been gathering while
working for a Washington research firm hired by supporters of
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to the people
familiar with the agreement. U.S. intelligence had been
independently tracking Russian efforts to influence electoral
outcomes in Europe. Steeles information was provided by an
intermediary to the FBI and U.S. intelligence officials after the
Democratic National Convention in July, when hacked Democratic
emails were first released by WikiLeaks, according to a source
familiar with the events. After the convention, Steele contacted a
friend in the FBI to personally explain what he had found.
Democrats in the House have informally reached out to Steele in
recent weeks to ask about his willingness to testify or cooperate,
according to people familiar with the requests. Steele has so far not
responded, they said.

Feb 28, 2017 Politico: Paul Ryan: 'We need answers' on alleged ties between
Trump associates and Russia. "When asked about appointing a
special prosecutor to look into the alleged ties, Ryan deferred,
saying that its up to the executive branch. But he added that
congressional intelligence committees can adequately handle such
a probe. 'Both the House and the Senate intelligence committees
are beginning their investigations right now. We've had one for a
while. We're increasing the scope of the investigation,' Ryan said.
'We think the intelligence community is the right place to do it.

Feb 28, 2017 Politico: Intelligence chief nominee Dan Coats vows to support
Russia hacking probe. President Donald Trumps pick to be the
nations next spy chief vowed Tuesday to fully cooperate with the
Senate Intelligence Committees investigation into Russias alleged
interference in the 2016 presidential election including by
handing over the raw intelligence key Democrats have requested.
The pledge by former Sen. Dan Coats comes as intelligence
leaders in both chambers are sparring over how to conduct the
probes, and as Democrats seem constantly on the brink of walking
away over concerns the examinations are not impartial.
Feb 28, 2017 Politico: Manaforts Ukrainian blood money caused qualms, hack
suggests Trump, Yanukovych work concerned the family of
Trumps former campaign chairman, texts appear to show.

Feb 28, 2017 NBC News: Newt Gingrich: Independent Investigator Needed for
Trump-Russia Probe.
March, 2017
 March, 2017

March 1, 107 NYT: Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of

Russian Election Hacking. In the Obama administrations last
days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information
about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election and
about possible contacts between associates of President-elect
Donald J. Trump and Russians across the government. Former
American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such
meddling isnt duplicated in future American or European elections,
and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government
investigators. American allies, including the British and the Dutch,
had provided information describing meetings in European cities
between Russian officials and others close to Russias
president, Vladimir V. Putin and associates of President-elect
Trump, according to three former American officials who requested
anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately,
American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of
Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing
contacts with Mr. Trumps associates.

March 1, 2017 WaPo: Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year,
encounters he later did not disclose. Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions
(R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russias ambassador to the
United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did
not disclose when asked about possible contacts between
members of President Trumps campaign and representatives of
Moscow during Sessionss confirmation hearing to become
attorney general. One of the meetings was a private conversation
between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that
took place in September in the senators office, at the height of
what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign
to upend the U.S. presidential race. Justice officials said
Sessions met with Kislyak on Sept. 8 in his capacity as a member
of the armed services panel rather than in his role as a Trump
campaign surrogate. He was asked during the hearing about
communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not
about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed
Services Committee,' Flores said. The Washington Post
contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services
Committee to see whether any lawmakers besides Sessions met
with Kislyak in 2016. Of the 20 lawmakers who responded, every
senator, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did
not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other
lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.
'Members of the committee have not been beating a path to
 Kislyaks door,' a senior Senate Armed Services Committee staffer
said, citing tensions in relations with Moscow. Besides Sessions,
the staffer added, 'There havent been a ton of members who are
looking to meet with Kislyak for their committee duties.' Twitter: AG
Jeff Sessions statement on the night of March 1, 2016: I never
met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I
have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.

March 1, 2017 Reuters: House panel to probe possible Russia-Trump campaign

collusion: Democrat. The U.S. House of Representatives
intelligence committee will investigate allegations of collusion
between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, the
top Democrat on the panel said on Wednesday. 'We have reached
a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House
intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of
Russian collusion with the Trump campaign,' Democratic
Representative Adam Schiff said on MSNBC.

March 2, 2017 Politico: Rep. Schiff accuses Comey of withholding information on

Russia probe. The ranking member on the House intelligence
panel warns that lawmakers may have to subpoena the FBI. N YT:
Kushner and Flynn Met With Russian Envoy in December, White
House Says. AP: Treasury asked to look into Trump foreign
associates. P olitico: Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak is
Washington's most dangerous diplomat. P olitico: Trump says he
has 'total' confidence in Sessions. Trump said he didn't think
Sessions should recuse himself from an investigation into contacts
between Trump campaign advisers and Russian officials in the
run-up to the election. 'I don't think so at all,' Trump said. 'I don't
think he should do that at all.' W aPo: Attorney General Jeff
Sessions said late afternoon that he will recuse himself from
investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign, which
would include any Russian interference in the electoral process.
Speaking at a hastily called news conference at the Justice
Department, Sessions said he was following the recommendation
of department ethics officials after an evaluation of the rules and
cases in which he might have a conflict.
'They said that since I had involvement with the campaign, I should
not be involved in any campaign investigation,' Sessions said. He
added that he concurred with their assessment and would thus
recuse himself from any existing or future investigation involving
President Trumps 2016 campaign. On Thursday, Sessions
defended those remarks as 'honest and correct as I understood it
at the time,' though he also said he would 'write the Judiciary
Committee soon today or tomorrow to explain this testimony
for the record.' His explanation, he said, was that he was 'taken
aback' by Frankens question, which referred to a breaking news
 story at the time about contacts between Trump surrogates and
Russians.
'It struck me very hard, and thats what I focused my answer on,' he
said. 'In retrospect, I should have slowed down and said I did meet
one Russian official a couple times, and that would be the
ambassador.' On Thursday, though, Sessions outlined fairly
extensive details of the encounter, which included two senior
Sessions staffers. He said he talked with the ambassador about a
trip he made to Russia in 1991, terrorism and Ukraine a major
policy issue, given Russias annexation of Crimea and the
imposition of U.S. and European Union sanctions on Russia for its
actions. At one point, Sessions said, 'it got to be a little bit of a testy
conversation.' He said the ambassador invited him to lunch, but he
did not accept. 'Most of these ambassadors are pretty gossipy, and
they like to this was in the campaign season, but I dont recall
aPo [Philip
any specific political discussions,' Sessions said. W
Bump, a timeline]: What Jeff Sessions said about Russia, and
when. C NN: Who is Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to
the United States? W ashington Monthly: Jeff Sessions and the
September 8th Meeting.

March 3, 2017 Twitter (Andrea Mitchell): @ChrisCoons (Sen. R-DE) says FBI has
transcripts that could show Russian leaders colluding w/ Trump
campaign. [TW: This is probably a reference to the same (or
similar) SIGINT (signal) intercepts mentioned in the NYT a rticle of
March 1, 2017.] MSNBC (Andrea Mitchell, video): [The really
interesting opinions/disclosures begin at about 2:45 of the video].

March 3, 2017 NYT: Trump Teams Links to Russia Crisscross in Washington.

Politico (Matthew Nussbaum): The definitive Trump-Russia timeline
of events. Politico: Russia investigations a 'witch hunt'? Not
according to polls. There's much confusion about the
Trump-Russia issue, but general consensus that it merits more
investigation. WaPo: With Sessions recusal, Rod J. Rosenstein
poised to oversee probe into Russian interference in 2016 race.
Breitbart: Mark Levin to Congress: Investigate Obamas Silent
Coup vs. Trump. Huffington Post: Now Ex-Trump Campaign Aide
Carter Page Cant Deny He Met With Russian Official. 'I may
have met Kislyak, possibly; it might have been in Cleveland.'
USA Today reported earlier that Page met with Kislyak at a
diplomacy conference linked to the GOP convention along with J.D.
Gordon, the campaigns national security adviser. Page told the
newspaper he could not explain what was discussed because of
'confidentiality' issues. Gordon confirmed he had met with Kislyak,
but said there was nothing unusual about such a meeting.
Pages apparent 'non-denial' of a meeting with Kislyak in Cleveland
followed by just weeks another televised interview in which he
 denied ever meeting the Russian ambassador, who has been
described in the press as a top spy and spy recruiter. Politico:
Photo contradicts Pelosi's statement about not meeting Kislyak
The Democratic House leader sat with the Russian ambassador
and other officials in 2010. P olitico: Trump trolls Pelosi on Russia
photo mishap. The California Democrat told POLITICO Playbook
on Friday morning that she had never met with the current Russian
ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. A file photo from Pelosis
2010 meeting with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev,
however, shows Kislyak at the table across from her. 'I hereby
demand a second investigation, after Schumer, of Pelosi for her
close ties to Russia, and lying about it.' Pelosi herself suggested
in a tweet that theres a big difference between her situation and
that of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who came under fire this
week for not disclosing two meetings he had last year with Kislyak
during his confirmation hearing. '@realDonaldTrump doesn't know
difference between official mtg photographed by press & closed
secret mtg his AG lied about under oath,' she wrote. 'We should
start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to
Russia and Putin,' Trump tweeted, also via iPhone. 'A total
hypocrite!' That tweet included a 2003 Associated Press image of
Schumer having coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in New York. According to the caption,
Putin was visiting the first New York gas station of Lukoil, a
Russian company. Schumer shot back on the presidents preferred
platform that he would 'happily talk' about his contact with Putin
and the Russian leaders associates. It 'took place in 03 in full view
of press & public under oath,' he said. 'Would you &your team?'

March 4, 2017 WaPo: Trump, citing no evidence, accuses Obama of

Nixon/Watergate plot to wiretap Trump Tower. Twitter (Trump):
How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones
during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate.
Bad (or sick) guy!

March 4, 2017 WaPo: Despite early denials, growing list of Trump camp contacts
with Russians haunts White House. T he Hill: Report: Trump furious
that Sessions recused himself. Wired: If the Feds Did Wiretap
Trump Tower, Its Not Obama Who Should Worry. Twitter
(Laurence Tribe): Trump adviser Carter Page changes story, now
says Trump, despite denial, ordered Ukraine change at RNC after
Sessions met with Kislyak there. Politico: More Trump advisers
disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador. P oliticususa
(interview on MSNBC's AM Joy with Malcolm Nance, video): On
MSNBC's AM Joy, intelligence and counterterrorism expert
Malcolm Nance dropped an insightful shocker. Nance interpreted
 President Trump's behavior of that of a target who is getting buggy
because they know that they are caught.

March 5, 2017 NPR: FBI Director Asks Justice Department To Publicly Deny
Trump's Wiretap Allegation. WaPo: Trumps evidence for Obama
wiretap claims relies on sketchy, anonymously sourced reports.
CNN: Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper : 'No
such wiretap activity mounted' on Trump. C NN (Jake Tapper): WH
officials with whom I spoke said POTUS got the info about wiretap
from media - Breitbart, Levin - not from govt sources. P olitico:
Schumer: 'The president is in trouble'. The Senate minority leader
said Sunday morning that Trump's Saturday-morning allegations
about former President Obama will be damaging to Trump's
presidency whether they are true or not and that 'the president
makes it worse with these tweets.' P olitico: How the feds could
have listened to Trumps phone calls. Government has multiple
methods for surveillance, but Obama would not have been allowed
to order it. Politico: Lawmakers stunned, baffled by Trumps wiretap
allegations
The White House, meanwhile, is pushing for a probe of the Obama
administration. The Hill: Former Bush Attorney General Michael
Mukasey on Sunday said that President Trump is likely correct that
there was surveillance on Trump Tower for intelligence purposes,
but incorrect in accusing former President Barack Obama of
ordering the wiretapping. N YT: Comey Asks Justice Dept. to Reject
Trumps Wiretapping Claim. T witter (John R. Schindler): AHEM:
US IC has considerable SIGINT featuring high-level Russians
talking about their collusion with Team Trump. You heard it here
1st. The Hill: House Judiciary Dems to ask WH counsel for details
of communications with FBI, Justice. N YT (Charlie Savage): What
Can Be Gleaned From Trumps Allegations of Wiretapping.

March 6, 2017 CNN: FBI Director James Comey was 'incredulous' over Trump's
tweets. WaPo: White House Rejects FBIs Denial Of Trumps
Wiretapping Claims. The administration continues to insist
without any evidence that Obama ordered Trump Tower to be
wiretapped.
whitehouse.gov: Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
[TW: Spicer provides no evidence that Obama had Trump Tower
wiretapped, as Trump had tweeted, and said only that Trump
uffington
wanted a Congressional investigation into the matter.] H
Post: Public Concern Over Russia Hits Highest Level Since The
Cold War. Most Americans are also disturbed by the allegations
linking Russia to the Trump campaign. [CNN/ORC poll]. W eekly
Standard (Stephen F. Hayes): Trump's Wiretap Claims: What We
Know and What We Don't.
March 7, 2017 The Hill: House Dems press DOJ on contacts between White
House, FBI. W aPo: Louise Mensch, former British lawmaker is at
the heart of the Trump wiretap allegations. W aPo: Trump Nominee
For Key DOJ Post, Rod Rosenstein, Open To Appointing Special
Counsel In Russia Probe. T oms Guide: What WikiLeaks CIA Hack
Means for You and Your Gadgets. The WikiLeaks revelation is
likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to
undermine the U.S. intelligence agencies in general, and to more
immediately lend credence to President Donald Trump's allegations
that former President Barack Obama spied on him. WikiLeaks
says the cache of information, reportedly 8,761 documents and
files, came from a former U.S. government hacker [or] contractor.
That's possible. It's also possible that it came straight from the
Russian intelligence services, which is how WikiLeaks apparently
obtained emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee.
PoliZette: Morning Joe Questions Highly Legalistic Wiretap
Denials. Former Obama officials fuel speculation by declining to
rule out Trump campaign surveillance. 'Have you heard the
suggestions that perhaps there were some conversations
intercepted when the FBI, the FISA court agreed to let them
conduct surveillance on, lets say, Russian agents that they
believed were acting against the United States best interests?'
Scarborough asked. In response, Halperin noted that 'there was
speculation about that even before the weekend.' And then, as
you pointed to, Josh Earnests legalistic responses on a Sunday
show raised the suspicion people have that thats whats going on
here,' Halperin said. 'And you could imagine if somehow the
president, President Trump, knew about that, that he was
responsive to not what he said on Twitter, but just the notion that
conversations were intercepted. And that is a complicated
elfast Telegraph: Former UK agent Christopher Steele
situation. B
breaks silence over Trump dossier. P olitico: Kremlin-backed media
turns on Trump. News outlets funded by Putins government rooted
for Trumps election but now relish the chaotic first weeks of his
administration. Politico:Trump campaign approved adviser's trip to
Moscow. Campaign leaders knew in advance of Carter Page's
Russia visit in July 2016, former aide says. R eddit: The Trump
White House is totally changing its tune on wiretapping and hoping
you dont notice. Basically, the President has the authority to
declassify the existence of a wiretap but cannot comment on an
ongoing investigation, because that would constitute obstruction of
justice, an impeachable offense. There is also the possibility that
the DOJ (Sessions) may have leaked the existence of the FISA
warrant to Trump, who then tweeted about it. There is still nothing
to suggest that there was any warrant specifically targeting Trump
or the campaign, but some reporting suggests that the FISA
warrant may involve money laundering charges (member, Paul
 Manafort lives at Trump tower and engaged in illegal lobbying on
behalf of Ukraine, and also has some questionable banking
relationships and dodgy home loans). Fox News seemed to confirm
that the FISA warrant involves financial crimes in a report last night.
Since Mensch brought this up, the Whitehouse has backed off
these allegations. P olitico: CIA providing raw intelligence as
Trump-Russia probes heat up
Congress has entered a new phase in its investigation.
Lawmakers are trekking to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., to
review classified evidence on Russias involvement in the
presidential election. The House has scheduled its first public
hearing on the issue. And the Senate is preparing to interview
witnesses. The CIA is now providing raw intelligence documents
to committee members, according to multiple senators. Senate
Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Majority Whip
John Cornyn (R-Texas) visited CIA headquarters on Monday to
view the documents underlying the intelligence communitys
unclassified assessment that Russia sought to sway the election in
favor of Trump. At Langley, Cornyn said Tuesday, he viewed four
large binders full of classified information thats been made
available to the committee to conduct its wide-ranging
investigation. B loomberg: Trump's Wiretap Tweets Raise Risk of
Impeachment. W aPo (David Kris): How wiretaps actually work
and whats really going on here. F ox News (video, interview with
Louise Mensch): [Mensch reports again that, according to her
sources, there is FISA warrant on two Russian banks and any US
persons incidentally involved. According to her sources, only a third
request to FISC was approved; it did not specifically mention
Trump; two broader requests that did specifically mention Trump
had been denied by the court.] C NBC: House Intelligence
Committee to hold open public hearing on Russia probe on March
20. The Hill: President Trump 'knows he messed up' by accusing
former President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower,
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski said Tuesday morning. 'I have some
reporting talking to a few people who are either close to the White
House or inside it that the president actually knows he messed up
and wont admit it, just refuses to admit it,' the 'Morning Joe'
co-host said on air.

March 8, 2017 The Daily Beast: The Kremlins Gas Company Has a Man in
Trumpland. Richard Burt, the longtime political operative and
veteran diplomat is the man some of Russias biggest interests turn
to for help, and Trump goes to for advice. W ikipedia: Richard Burt.
Russia Today (interview with Roger Stone, video and transcript):
Wiretapping at Trump Tower: A scandal bigger than Watergate.
[Trump] believes, and I believe, that he was under surveillance by
the federal government and the intelligence agencies while he was
 the Republican nominee for president. This is a scandal bigger
than Watergate. As I said, this is a scandal far greater than
Watergate, and it may take some time in which the former
President and his Secretary of Defense and his CIA Director and
his FBI Director are dragged before a grand jury and questioned
under oath about what they knew. T he Smoking Gun: Trump
loyalist Roger Stone communicated with 'Guccifer 2.0. After
'Guccifer 2.0' took credit for the DNC attack--as well as the
provision of stolen goods to Wikileaks--the FBI opened a criminal
investigation into the hack. As part of the probe being run out of the
bureaus office in San Francisco, agents have obtained detailed
records for the 'Guccifer 2.0' Twitter and WordPress accounts,
according to two sources. It is unknown whether the account
records were obtained via search warrant or grand jury subpoena,
or whether federal agents have gathered enough evidence to seek
an indictment against 'Guccifer 2.0' or, perhaps, individuals
connected to the online persona. The FBI also has an ongoing
counterintelligence investigation that is examining possible links
between several Trump loyalists, including Stone, and Russian
officials. That investigation, aided by a multiagency working group
including CIA and National Security Agency officials, has involved
the review of intercepted communications and financial records,
according to press reports.

March 8, 2017 Twitter (Jake Tapper, CNN): Gen. Michael Hayden: I believe
WikiLeaks is acting as an arm, as an agent, of the Russian
uzzFeed: Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian
federation. B
Embassy In London. Asked by BuzzFeed News if hed been
visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldnt
remember what hed been doing in the building. P olitico: Schiff to
seek testimony from Trump 'dossier' author Christopher Steele.
Reuters: U.S intel, law enforcement officials aware of CIA breach
since late last year. U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials
told Reuters on Wednesday they have been aware of a CIA
security breach, which led to the latest Wikileaks dump relating to
US intelligence hacking abilities and methods since late last year.
The two officials said they were focusing on contractors as the
likeliest source of the leak. O bserver/Facebook: Interview with
John R.Schindler. P olitico: Poll: Majority say Sessions lied under
oath and should resign. T he Smoking Gun: Roger Stone's Russian
Hacking 'Hero. Trump loyalist communicated with 'Guccifer 2.0,'
target of FBI probe. The Daily Beast: Is Conspiracy Queen Louise
Mensch Right About Donald Trump? Russia expert Tom Nichols, a
professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College,
publicly scolded Mensch last month for her claim that Putin had
Andrew Breitbart whacked. 'This is crazy talk,' Nichols tweeted.
'And undermines the important point that Russia has done real
 things for which it must be held accountable.' Former Navy
counterterrorism and intelligence officer Malcolm Nance, an on-air
analyst for MSNBC and author of T he Plot to Hack America: How
Putins Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election,
is even blunter. 'Shes batshit crazy, OK?' Nance told The Daily
Beast. 'She is a fruit loop of the highest order.' But the problem,
say intelligence community experts and journalists covering the
ongoing Russian hacking and Russian/Trump saga, is that
Menschs scoop may not be demonstrably accurate. 'Really, Im
just puzzled that even weeks after the fact, The Washington Post,
The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, who have
people on the beat, have not been able' to corroborate the
existence of a FISA warrant as described by Mensch, said a
Washington-based journalist who has been writing about Trumps
Russia connections and spoke on condition of not being named.
'Why havent the major U.S. media outlets'which collectively
have dozens of presumably well-sourced reporters on the
case'been able to confirm this?' C irca (John Solomon and Sara
Carter): The FBI investigated a Trump server in its Russia probe,
but no charges are expected. F ox News (interview by Sean Hannity
with Sara Carter, Circa News, video): [TW: According to Carters
sources, there are/were two different IC investigations: one
involving a FISA warrant in October, to investigate a server
connected with the Trump organization--but not physically located
in Trump Tower--and two Russian or Russian-affiliated banks; and
one which did not/does not involve a FISA warrant, and which is
very wide-ranging, which no one wants to talk about, but which is
reported to be focussed on Russian hacking generally.]

March 8, 2017 NYT: White House Officials Say Trump Isnt Target of Any
Investigation. White House officials declared on Wednesday that
President Trump was not the target of an investigation, five days
after Mr. Trump himself raised the prospect with an
unsubstantiated claim that his predecessor ordered the wiretapping
of Trump Tower.
After first refusing to disavow Mr. Trumps allegations, made in a
series of Twitter posts, and instead calling for Congress to
investigate them, the press secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters,
'There is no reason that we have to think the president is the target
of any investigation whatsoever.' Mr. Spicers statement, which he
read from a sheet of paper that was handed to him at the end of his
briefing, reinforced the conundrum Mr. Trumps tweets have
created for the White House: Either the presidents assertions are
baseless, or he may have implicated himself in a government
investigation of contacts between his presidential campaign and
Russia.
March 9, 2017 NYT: Is Trump Being Investigated? No Comment, Justice Dept.
Says. President Trumps weekend Twitter message asserting that
former President Barack Obama had tapped his phones forced the
White House into ever more verbal contortions on Thursday as
aides struggled to defend the presidents charge. In the latest
iteration, the Justice Department declined to comment on whether
Mr. Trump is or is not the subject of an investigation. 'No
comment,' a department official said. While the F.B.I. is
conducting a wide-ranging counterintelligence investigation into
Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election, there is no
public evidence that Mr. Trump is a target. The Justice Department
defines 'target' as someone whom investigators have substantial
evidence against and who is likely to be indicted.

March 9, 2017 WaPo: Comey visits the Hill amid tension over Trumps wiretapping
allegations. House Intelligence members may get their chance to
grill Comey in a public hearing scheduled for March 20. The
invitation list includes Comey, National Security Agency Director
Michael S. Rogers, former acting attorney general Sally Yates,
former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., former
CIA director John Brennan, and two senior officers of CrowdStrike
the company that found proof Russia hacked the Democratic
National Committees servers. No subpoenas have been issued.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter dated Wednesday to
Boente, who took over ultimate responsibility for much of the
departments probe after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused
himself from all matters pertaining to the Trump campaign. In the
letter, they asked for copies of any wiretapping applications, orders
or warrants from 2016 relating to Trump, his surrogates,
associates, family members and friends. The heads of the Senate
Judiciary Committees crime and terrorism panel, Sens. Lindsey O.
Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), also sent a
letter to Boente and Comey Wednesday asking for a similar list of
documents. R euters: FBI's Comey meets with top U.S.
congressional leaders. Law enforcement sources have said that
the FBI is pursuing a wide-ranging counter-intelligence
investigation of alleged contacts between Trump associates and
Russians, as well as two separate investigations into pre-election
email hacking linked to Russia which mainly targeted Democratic
political operatives. M ediaite: Sean Hannity: Its Time for Trump to
Purge the Deep State Saboteurs Before Its Too Late. B usiness
Insider: Conservative media figures are embracing a wild
WikiLeaks conspiracy theory that the CIA hacked the DNC, and
then framed Russia.

March 9, 2017 Inquisitr: Donald Trump Ally Roger Stone Slams Intelligence
Community To Russian News. Most recently, Roger Stone
 defended Donald Trump against the Trump Russia allegations by
appearing in an interview with a Russian news network. RT,
formerly known as Russia Today, reports that in an interview set to
air today, Roger Stone spoke with Oksana Boyko about Donald
Trump and Russia allegations, the wiretapping allegations that
have recently surfaced against President Obama, and Roger Stone
also repeatedly slammed the American intelligence community and
called them liars. RT is a news network that was created 12 years
ago by Vladimir Putin and is touted as Russias response to other
international outlets such as France 24 and BBC News, reports the
New York Times. C NN: Russian ambassador denied meeting with
Trump or campaign officials in October speech. Kislyak is
considered by US intelligence officials as a top Russian spy
recruiter in Washington, a claim Russian officials deny. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions met with Kislyak last September in Sessions'
DC office when he was still a US Senator and top Trump adviser.
Sessions also interacted with Kislyak in Cleveland at a Heritage
Foundation event held during the RNC in July.

March 9, 2017 Mother Jones: GOP Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Just Spent
6 Minutes Defending Vladimir Putin

March 10, 2017 CNN: FBI investigation continues into 'odd' computer link between
Russian bank and Trump Organization. Even the skeptics have
unanswered questions. Robert Graham is a cybersecurity expert
who wrote a widely circulated blog post in November that criticized
computer scientists for premature conclusions connecting the
Trump Organization and Alfa Bank. But he's still wondering why
Alfa Bank and Spectrum Health alone dominated links to this
Trump server. 'It's indicative of communication between Trump, the
health organization and the bank outside these servers,' he told
CNN. 'There is some sort of connection I can't explain, and only
they are doing it. It could be completely innocent.

March 11, 2017 Politico: All of Trumps Russia ties, in 7 charts. A visual guide to the
many links between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putins Russia.
The Hill: Bush ethics lawyer on Trump-Russia ties: 'KGB agents
running around the West Wing'. A P: The House intelligence
committee has asked the executive branch for any evidence that
would support President Donald Trump's claim that his phones
were tapped at Trump Tower during last year's election. A senior
congressional aide says that the committee has asked that the
information be provided by Monday. The aide says the request
comes in a letter sent by the committee chairman, Devin Nunes of
California, and the panel's ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff of
California. Other lawmakers have made similar requests. T he Hill:
Trump camp could have fallen into 'backdoor' surveillance.
 Intelligence agencies could have inadvertently collected and then
searched Donald Trumps phone calls under a controversial
loophole in surveillance law, experts say, even if it did not involve a
wiretapping order from a federal court. The intelligence community
may legally conduct so-called 'backdoor searches' of Americans
communications, without a warrant, if the target of the surveillance
is not a U.S. citizen. If Trump or his advisors were speaking directly
to foreign individuals who were the target of U.S. spying during the
election campaign, and the intelligence agencies recorded Trump
by accident, it's plausible that those communications would have
been collected and shared amongst intelligence agencies,
surveillance law experts say. T he Hill: GOP senator Ben Sasse
(R-Neb.) reports hacking attempts after WikiLeaks criticism. T he
Hill: Former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell believes the leak of
CIA documents published this week by WikiLeaks 'has to be an
inside job.' "This data is not shared outside CIA. It's only inside
CIA.' He argued that the data is on CIA's 'secret network' that is not
connected to other networks. T he Hill: Diplomats warn of Russia
hysteria.

March 12, 2017 NYT: U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Says He Was Fired After
Refusing to Quit. Twitter(@PreetBharara): By the way, now I know
what the Moreland Commission must have felt like. D aily Beast
(dateline 9/22/2016): U.S. Prosecutors Are Out to Crack Russias
Crooked Money Machine. The feds bring an alleged lawyer for the
Russian mob before a grand jury in the Magnitsky investigations.
The specific case in question here is against Prevezon Holdings
Ltd., a Cyprus-registered company. According to U.S. District
Attorney Preet Bharara, $14 million of its allegedly ill-gotten gains
wound up in Bank of America accounts and Gotham real estate,
including condos in the Financial District and Midtown whose
market prices were in the low seven figures. Bhararas
jurisdiction derives from where the U.S. government says some of
this ill-gotten money wound up on American soil, via the Prevezon
holding company. N YT: Russian Espionage Piggybacks on a
Cybercriminals Hacking. W ashington Examiner: Putin aide Dmitry
Peskov: Clinton advisers met with Russian ambassador 'lots' of
times. Time: John McCain on President Trump's Russian
Connections. Theres a lot of aspects with this whole relationship
with Russia and Vladimir Putin that requires further scrutiny, and so
far I dont think the American people have gotten all the answers,'
McCain told host Jake Tapper. 'In fact, I think theres a lot of shoes
to drop from this centipede.'

March 13, 2017 National Review (Andrew C. McCarthy): Where Does FISAgate
End Up? Probably Nowhere.
March 14, 2017 Huffington Post (Nick Wing): Everything We Know About
Trumplands Ties To Russia, From Start To Finish .Its a
alon: Intelligence
convoluted history that raises a lot of questions. S
expert Malcolm Nance on Trump scandal: As close to Benedict
Arnold as were ever going to get. Career counterterrorism officer
says Putin pulled off a "brilliant" coup but Trump is headed for
impeachment. WaPo (includes 29 second video of the ad): Never
Trump Republicans join call for select committee to investigate
Russia and Trump. Stand Up Republic, a nonprofit organization
led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin
and his running mate, Mindy Finn, is launching a public campaign
aimed at building support among Republicans for consolidating the
various congressional Russia-related investigations into one
empowered and fully funded select committee. The organizations
ad, which goes live Tuesday with a six-figure television ad buy,
makes the case that the Russia issue is too important not to
ew Yorker (Ryan Lizza): The Unlikely Liberal
investigate fully. N
Hero Adam Schiff is ready to investigate Trump.