Tearful goodbyes at Kyiv train station as women and children leave for safety
A woman crouches down in the doorway of a blue and yellow train at a station in Kyiv, Ukraine’s embattled capital city. Her husband stands on the platform below and cranes his neck up for a kiss that both hope will not be their last. As the train door closes, the woman holds up their 2-year-old son and he smiles and presses his tiny hand against the smudged window to wave goodbye to his father, who is staying behind to fight the Russian invaders. Nearby, a grandmother reaches out to bid farewell to her daughter and grandson, who are on the train headed toward the border with Poland. She backs toward a wall of the train station and is soon overcome with emotion. She places her hands over her mouth, squeezes her eyes shut tight and lets the tears fall. Natalia, 57, says goodbye to her daughter and grandson on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Natalia, 57, cries as she says goodbye to her daughter and grandson on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) These are the goodbyes that have been repeated across Ukraine in the week since Russia invaded and began pounding the country’s cities with bombs. The UN says the fighting has sent more than 1 million people fleeing the country, a number that is already the swiftest exodus of refugees this century and one that could soon skyrocket even further. Those leaving are overwhelmingly women and children. Ukrainian men have been ordered to stay and fight in the war. At the train station in Kyiv crowds of people carrying luggage stand in the cold as they wait for their chance to board a train. Mothers hold children bundled in winter jackets and stocking caps, some clutching onto stuffed animals. Men help the elderly get to the train, even using a luggage cart to carry one woman with crutches. Up and down the platform there are tearful embraces. Once on the train, many of those leaving press their faces against the windows for a last glimpse at those staying behind. One woman reaches her hand out the door for a fleeting brush of a loved one’s cheek. A woman looks toward relatives and presses her palms against a window of a Lviv bound train, on the platform in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Women and children try to get onto a train bound for Lviv, at the Kyiv station in Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Tanya, 38, cries with her son Bogdan, 10, before getting a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Stanislav, 40, kisses his wife Anna, 35, on a train to Lviv as they say goodbye at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. Stanislav is staying to fight while his family is leaving the country to seek refuge in a neighboring country. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A girl and her brother sit on a train bound for Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Women and children try to get onto a train bound for Lviv, at the Kyiv station in Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A family runs over the tracks trying to board a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Children look out the window of an unheated Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Women and children crowd a train bound for Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Stanislav, 40, says goodbye to his son David, 2, and his wife Anna, 35, on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. Stanislav is staying to fight while his family is leaving the country to seek refuge in a neighbouring country. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A woman with her son look at a train leaving as they try to flee at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Women and children try to get onto a train bound for Lviv, at the Kyiv station in Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Men push a luggage trolley carrying an elderly lady before boarding a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Bogdan, 41, says goodbye to his wife Lena, 35, on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3. 2022. Bogdan is staying to fight while his family is leaving the country to seek refuge in a neighboring country. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) A woman gets help after falling on the tracks trying to reach a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A child plays with a teddy bear while waiting to board a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A woman bids a man goodbye after boarding a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Facebook and Twitter reveal sophistication of Russian trolls
The companies said they have removed dozens of fake accounts and pages from their services.
Election security divides congress after Robert Mueller’s testimony
Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s warning that Russian interference is still happening “as we sit” is putting pressure on Republican leaders in Congress to join Democrats in passing additional election security legislation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, halted a bipartisan effort to beef up state election systems ahead of the 2018 election and on Thursday blocked Democrats from pushing forward a House-passed bill to authorize funding for the states. McConnell said President Donald Trump’s administration has already made great strides to enhance election security and he called the House bill “not a serious effort,” coming from the same side that he said spent the past two years “hyping” Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “Obviously it’s very important that we maintain the integrity and security of our elections,” McConnell said Thursday. The Senate already unanimously approved one bipartisan measure, which makes interference in elections a violation of immigration law. But Democrats say Congress must do more. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, called inaction a “disgrace” and is pledging to keep putting forward requests for votes on bills. Mueller’s testimony “should be a wake-up call,” Schumer said. “Leader McConnell let me read you that sentence,” Schumer said from the Senate floor, citing Mueller’s testimony Wednesday about Russian interference. “‘It wasn’t a single attempt. They’re doing it as we sit here and they expect to do it in the next campaign.’” On Thursday, Schumer tried to push forward consideration of the House-passed bill that would authorize $775 million in grants over the next two years to help states secure their voting systems. It also would prohibit voting systems from being connected to the internet or wireless technologies and tighten standards for private companies that provide election infrastructure. Republicans said Thursday money has already been allocated from an earlier spending bill and no new funding is needed immediately. Giving a nod to longtime concerns from some states, including those in the South, about maintaining control over election systems, McConnell said any efforts must be done with “extreme care and on a thoroughly bipartisan basis.” Mueller’s 448-page report said the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election in “sweeping and systematic fashion.” The Russian influence campaign produced fake Facebook and other social media postings that were viewed by millions of Americans. Hackers gained access to some voter databases in Florida. As action in Congress has stalled, federal agencies have moved to address the problem on their ends. The director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, established a new elections threats executive position last week. Meanwhile, the National Security Association director and Cyber Command chief, Gen. Paul Nakasone, created a new cybersecurity directorate focused on election security. But time may be running out to address concerns in the states before the next election.The most pressing issue is replacing electronic voting machines that do not produce a paper record of each ballot cast that is verified by the voter and can later be audited.In 2018, 10 states had more than half of their jurisdictions using such machines, which cybersecurity experts have warned are vulnerable to hacking and must be replaced. Even if Congress were immediately to send funds to states to replace voting equipment, it would be extremely difficult to make substantial upgrades in time for the 2020 elections. It can take months to decide on replacement machines, develop security protocols, train workers and test the equipment. Some states have opted to move ahead with replacing these machines by the 2020 elections, but others have not. By Lisa Mascaro AP Congressional Correspondent. Associated Press writers Tami Abdollah in Washington and Christina Almeida Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump calls Robert Mueller hearings ‘all nonsense’
The Latest on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony on the Russia probe (all times local): 4:40 p.m. President Donald Trump says the Russia probe created a “phony cloud” over his administration and says House committee hearings featuring testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller were “all nonsense.” He says Mueller’s performance was “obviously not very good” and is accusing him of not knowing about certain details of his investigation. Trump is calling it a “devastating day” for the Democrats. After the congressional hearings ended, Trump spoke to reporters at the White House before leaving for Wheeling, West Virginia, where he’s attending a private fundraiser for his re-election campaign. The Trump campaign sent out a personal plea to donors Wednesday to tell Democrats to end the “WITCH HUNT” by raising $2 million in 24 hours. 3:30 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller has finished testifying before Congress.Mueller testified before two committees on Wednesday for more than six hours on his 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller said the interference was not a hoax, and it was not an isolated episode. He warned that there should be a more robust effort to guard against future interference. House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff said the Democratic investigations will continue. Mueller answered most questions in short sentences, referring Congress members to his report and choosing not to read his report aloud. Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice in the probe. But investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. 2:50 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller says election interference by Russia in 2016 was not an isolated attempt. He told a congressional committee: “They’re doing it as we sit here.” Mueller is testifying Wednesday before the House intelligence committee on his 448-page report on Russian interference. Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice in the probe. The report also said investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. 2:45 p.m. Robert Mueller is refusing to say whether his team subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. The former special counsel is testifying Wednesday afternoon before the House intelligence committee about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties with the Trump campaign. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, asked Mueller if he subpoenaed the president’s eldest son or if he wanted to interview him. Mueller responded: “I’m not going to discuss that.” Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation, which was released in April, said Trump Jr. had “declined to be voluntarily interviewed” by the special counsel’s office. There are two lines in the report, following that statement, that are redacted because they contain grand jury information. Trump Jr. was a key figure in a 2016 campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower in New York that captured Mueller’s attention. 2:15 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller is condemning President Donald Trump’s praise for WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Testifying before the House intelligence committee, Mueller says calling it “problematic is an understatement.” During that campaign, WikiLeaks released troves of hacked emails from the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. U.S. intelligence agencies and Mueller’s investigation determined Russian government entities were responsible for the hack and furnished the embarrassing correspondence to WikiLeaks in order to support Trump’s bid for the presidency. 2:10 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller says he hoped to send a message with his Russia probe report “to those who come after us.” Mueller is testifying before the House intelligence committee Wednesday afternoon. He spent hours earlier Wednesday answering questions from the House Judiciary Committee.Mueller said he wanted the report to be “a signal, a flag … don’t let this problem continue to linger.” He also said that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was not a hoax. He said: “The indictments we returned against the Russians were substantial.” Trump had said the allegations were a hoax perpetrated by Democrats. 1:45 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller has clarified that he did not consider bringing criminal charges against President Donald Trump as part of his Russia investigation. Mueller in his congressional testimony Wednesday morning seemed to agree that he did not charge Trump with obstruction of justice because of Justice Department guidance saying a sitting president can’t be indicted. Democrats seized on that answer, but when testimony resumed in the afternoon, Mueller clarified. He said “that is not the correct way to say it.” Mueller said his team “did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime.” Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. His 448-page report also said investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. 1:25 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller says his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was “not a witch hunt.” Mueller is testifying Wednesday afternoon before the House intelligence committee on his 448-page report. He spent hours testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the Russia investigation as a witch hunt, including Wednesday morning when he tweeted the hearings were part of the “Greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history.” Mueller was responding to a question from intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat. Mueller is not expected to go beyond the report during questioning. In the earlier hearing, he replied to questions with short phrases, often saying he will refer to the report. Mueller stated Wednesday that his investigation did not “exonerate” Trump. 1:20 p.m. The top Republican on the House intelligence committee says a hearing with former special counsel Robert Mueller is “political theater” and a “Hail Mary” attempt by Democrats to convince Americans that President
Vladimir Putin open for talks with Donald Trump, warns against force on Iran
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he’s open for a meeting with United States President Donald Trump but doesn’t expect quick progress on easing tensions with Washington. The Russian leader also strongly warned the United States against using force on Iran, saying it will trigger a “catastrophe.” Trump said he would meet with Putin on the sidelines of next week’s G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, but the Kremlin noted that the White House hasn’t formally requested the meeting yet. Speaking during a live marathon call-in show that lasted more than four hours, Putin said he’s ready to hold more talks with Trump. “Dialogue is always good and necessary,” Putin said. “If the American side shows interest in that, we are naturally ready for a dialogue as much as our partners are.” He added that Russia and the U.S. particularly need to focus on arms control issues, including the future of the New Start arms treaty that is set to expire in 2021. Putin charged that U.S.-Russian relations have become hostage to the U.S. domestic political infighting ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, clouding prospects for their improvement. “Our relations aren’t going to be easy, given the fact that part of the American establishment is speculating on Russia-U.S. relations, trying to muddy the waters to make some gains and inventing all kinds of fake (news),” he said. The Russian leader has denied meddling in the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump win despite the evidence to the contrary uncovered by U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller. Putin added that Trump’s re-election bid will make easing tensions even more unlikely. “Even if the president wants to take some steps forward, to discuss something, there are plenty of restrictions coming from other state structures,” Putin said. Putin was questioned on a report by The New York Times about U.S. cyberattacks on Russian energy infrastructure, which Trump has denounced as an “act of treason” in an angry tweet this week. Putin said Russia takes the matter seriously. “I heard about The New York Times article and saw the reaction of the president, who called them traitors,” Putin said. “I don’t know how we should interpret it, whether they uncovered true information or it was a fake. In any case, we need to react to that (but) we must understand what was it.” “It’s important to protect our vital infrastructure,” Putin added.Russian news anchors claimed the call center repeatedly came under cyberattacks during the show but they were successfully fended off.During the show, Putin warned the U.S. that an attack on Iran would have enormous consequences, adding it would trigger an escalation of hostilities across the region. “It would be a catastrophe for the region as a minimum,” he said,Tensions have been mounting recently over last week’s attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, assaults that Washington has blamed on Iran. Iran has denied the accusations. Putin noted that Iran has abided by the terms of a landmark nuclear deal despite the U.S. withdrawal from the accord, adding that he considers U.S. sanctions against Iran unfounded. Asked if Russia could be willing to negotiate a “grand bargain” with the U.S. on Syria and other issues, Putin responded by saying that “we aren’t trading in our allies, our interests and our principles.” He added, however, that it’s necessary to discuss regional issues with various players, including the United States. Answering a question about Ukraine, Putin criticized the country’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for recent comments in which he refused to negotiate directly with the Moscow-backed separatists who have overrun large swathes of eastern Ukraine. A 2015 peace deal called for direct negotiations between the Ukrainian government in Kiev and the separatists with the mediation of Russia, France and Germany. Putin said the “political will of the Ukrainian leadership” is necessary to stop the hostilities between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed insurgents that have killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Putin pointed out that Zelenskiy’s campaign promises to bring peace to the east and stop the fighting haven’t yet been fulfilled. The tightly-choreographed call-in provided a rare opportunity for Russians across the vast country to take their grievances to the very top, so it was dominated by complaints about low wages, potholed roads, decrepit schools, overwhelmed hospitals and other social issues. More than 1.5 million people sent in questions by phone, video or email.Facing a litany of complaints about low living standards, Putin promised to boost wages and pensions and boost social programs. He noted that Russia has been hurt by a drop in energy prices worldwide and by international sanctions, but added that the economy has improved. Putin acknowledged that U.S. and the European Union sanctions have cost Russia an estimated $50 billion since 2014, but he claimed that EU nations have suffered even greater damage because of the restrictions. It was not immediately possible to verify such a claim. The Russian leader said the sanctions have encouraged Moscow to launch its own production of ship engines and other key industrial products and develop its agricultural sector. He said Russia’s agricultural exports topped $25 billion last year and will keep growing. Putin charged that the Western sanctions represent an attempt to curb Russia’s growing power, adding that U.S. trade restrictions against China serve a similar purpose. He noted U.S. sanctions against the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, describing it as part of U.S. efforts to “contain the development of China as a global power.” “The same thing is happening with regard to Russia and it will keep going. So if we want to win a place under the sun, we simply need to get stronger, primarily in the economic sphere,” he said. Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report. By Vladimir Isachenkov Associated Press. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Majority worry about 2020 meddling
A majority of Americans are concerned that a foreign government might interfere in some way in the 2020 presidential election, whether by tampering with election results, stealing information or by influencing candidates or voter opinion, a new poll shows. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Democrats far more likely to express the highest level of concern, but Democrats and Republicans alike have at least some concerns about interference. Overall, half of Americans say they’re extremely or very concerned about foreign interference in the form of altered election results or voting systems, even though hackers bent on causing widespread havoc at polling places face challenges in doing so. An additional quarter is somewhat concerned. Similarly, about half are very concerned by the prospect of foreign governments influencing political candidates or affecting voters’ perceptions of the candidates, along with hacking candidate computer systems to steal information. In total, the poll, conducted Thursday through Monday, shows 63 percent of Americans have major concerns about at least one of those types of foreign election interference, including 80 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans. The results make clear that despite the efforts of U.S. officials to ward off election interference and to urge public awareness and calm, Americans remain anxious that some of the same tactics Russia used to meddle in the 2016 presidential election could surface again in the next race. Those include the spread of disinformation online to sow divisions among American voters, and the hacking by military intelligence officers of Democratic emails that were then published by WikiLeaks in the run-up to the election. The efforts were aimed at helping Republican Donald Trump over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, according to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. “I think that it’s been pretty well-documented that people have been influenced in the past by social media,” said Luci Dvorak, 32, an Illinois teacher. She said she found it concerning that Trump has been “very casual” about getting foreign help and even seemed to invite it. Trump said in a television interview last week that he would be open to receiving a foreign government’s help in the next election. He slightly walked back those comments in a follow-up interview, saying that though he would want to look at foreign dirt on an opponent to assess if it was correct, he would “of course” also report it to the FBI or the attorney general. U.S. officials are on high alert to protect against interference like what occurred in 2016. FBI Director Chris Wray has said the bureau regards last November’s midterm elections as a “dress rehearsal for the big show in 2020.” He has said efforts to undermine democracy and influence public opinion through social media, propaganda and false personas have continued unabated and are “not just an election-cycle threat.” “We saw that, therefore, continue full speed in 2018, in the midterms,” Wray said in April at a Council on Foreign Relations event. “What we did not see in 2018 was any material impact or interference with election infrastructure or, you know, campaign infrastructure.” The decentralized nature of the country’s elections, which are run on a local level and rely on different and varied voting systems, would make it hard for hackers to cause widespread problems. But concerns remain: Russian hackers gained access to voter databases in two Florida counties ahead of the 2016 election. Federal officials are also conducting a forensic analysis of electronic poll books to see if Russian military hackers who targeted a software provider may have tampered with registration information to disrupt voting in a North Carolina county. The poll was conducted roughly two months after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. That report did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump associates and the Kremlin to sway the outcome of the election. It did not reach a conclusion on whether the president had criminally obstructed justice, citing a Justice Department legal opinion that says sitting presidents cannot be indicted. Trump has repeatedly said the report found “no collusion” and claimed vindication in Attorney General William Barr’s announcement that he found Mueller’s evidence insufficient to establish an obstruction charge. The poll shows about half of Americans think the Mueller report did not completely clear Trump of obstruction, while many also think it didn’t clear him of coordinating with Russia. Overall, 48 percent said they think the report didn’t clear Trump of obstruction, while just 20 percent think it did. Another 30 percent say they don’t know enough to say. Many Americans — 44 percent — also think the report did not clear Trump of coordination with Russia, while 24 percent think it did and 31 percent aren’t sure. “It’s the twisting of the opposition party that’s given him all this static, where he’s not able to move or do what he’d like to do,” said 88-year-old Dennis Halaszynski, who is retired and lives in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. “They said at the beginning that he’s going to go to jail, and they’re doing their best to put him in jail,” he added. “He’s just not having the time, the proper time, to do what he’d like to do.” The AP-NORC poll of 1,116 adults was conducted June 13-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone. By Eric Tucker and Emily Swanson Associated Press. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
FBI chief: No evidence of illegal spying on Donald Trump campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray said Tuesday that he does not consider court-approved FBI surveillance to be “spying” and said he has no evidence the FBI illegally monitored President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election. His comments at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing broke from Attorney General William Barr, who has described as “spying” FBI surveillance during its investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Barr has not said such surveillance was necessarily improper, but Trump nonetheless seized on those comments to suggest his campaign was spied on in an illegal and unprecedented act. Asked by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat-New Hampshire, if he would say that the FBI is “spying” when it investigates suspected terrorists and mobsters while following “investigative policies and procedures,” Wray replied, “Well, that’s not the term I would use.” He added: “I believe that the FBI is engaged in investigative activity, and part of investigative activity includes surveillance activity of different shapes and sizes. And to me, the key question is making sure that it’s done by the book, consistent with our lawful authorities. That’s the key question. Different people use different colloquial phrases.” Wray declined to discuss in detail the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign because of an ongoing Justice Department inspector general probe into the origins of the Russia inquiry. Barr has said he expects the watchdog report to be done in May or June. But asked whether he was aware of evidence that the FBI had illegally spied on the Trump campaign, Wray said, “I don’t think I personally have any evidence of that sort.” Barr is investigating whether there was a proper basis for the FBI to open a counterintelligence investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The recently concluded investigation from Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and the Kremlin to tip the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. “The attorney general is seeking to understand better the circumstances at the department and the FBI relating to how this investigation started, and we’re working to help him get that understanding,” Wray said about the Justice Department’s review. “I think that’s part of his job and part of mine.” Barr didn’t specify what he meant when he said he believed there had been spying on the Trump campaign, though he also said that he did not mean the word in a negative way. At a hearing last week, he described “spying” as a “good English word” encompassing “all forms of covert intelligence operations” and said he wouldn’t back away from using it. The FBI obtained a secret surveillance warrant in 2016 to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, whose interactions with Russia had raised law enforcement suspicions even before he joined the campaign. The New York Times reported last week that the FBI used a woman posing as a research assistant to approach ex-Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who was told by a Maltese professor in the spring of 2016 that Russia had “dirt” on Democrat Hillary Clinton in the form of stolen emails. In his book about his entanglement in the Russia probe, “Deep State Target,” Papadopoulos wrote that the woman, who identified herself as Azra Turk, asked him about his work with the Trump campaign. “She wants to know: Are we working with Russia?” he wrote. He described her question as “creepy” and said he told her he had “nothing to do with Russia.” Papadopoulos later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with the professor, Joseph Mifsud.
Ex-FBI official: ‘Crime may have been committed’ by Donald Trump
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview that aired Sunday that a “crime may have been committed” when President Donald Trump fired the head of the FBI and tried to publicly undermine an investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. McCabe also said in the interview with “60 Minutes” that the FBI had good reason to open a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was in league with Russia, and therefore a possible national security threat, following the May 2017 firing of then-FBI Director James Comey. “And the idea is, if the president committed obstruction of justice, fired the director of the of the FBI to negatively impact or to shut down our investigation of Russia’s malign activity and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counterintelligence investigator you have to ask yourself, “Why would a president of the United States do that?” McCabe said. He added: “So all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an inappropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fearsome enemy, the government of Russia?” Asked whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was onboard with the obstruction and counterintelligence investigations, McCabe replied, “Absolutely.” A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment Sunday night. McCabe also revealed that when Trump told Rosenstein to put in writing his concerns with Comey — a document the White House initially held up as justification for his firing — the president explicitly asked the Justice Department official to reference Russia in the memo. Rosenstein did not want to, McCabe said, and the memo that was made public upon Comey’s dismissal did not mention Russia and focused instead on Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation. “He explained to the president that he did not need Russia in his memo,” McCabe said. “And the president responded, “I understand that, I am asking you to put Russia in the memo anyway.” Trump said in a TV interview days after Comey’s firing that he was thinking of “this Russia thing” when he fired Comey. Those actions, including a separate request by Trump that the FBI end an investigation into his first national adviser, Michael Flynn, made the FBI concerned that the president was illegally trying to obstruct the Russia probe. “Put together, these circumstances were articulable facts that indicated that a crime may have been committed,” McCabe said. “The president may have been engaged in obstruction of justice in the firing of Jim Comey.” McCabe was fired from the Justice Department last year after being accused of misleading investigators during an internal probe into a news media disclosure. The allegation was referred to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington for possible prosecution, but no charges have been brought. McCabe has denied having intentionally lied and said Sunday that he believes his firing was politically motivated. “I believe I was fired because I opened a case against the president of the United States,” he said. In the interview Sunday, McCabe also said Rosenstein in the days after Comey’s firing had proposed wearing a wire to secretly record the president. McCabe said he took the remark seriously, though the Justice Department last September — responding last September to a New York Times report that first revealed the conversation — issued a statement from an unnamed official who was in the room and interpreted the remark as sarcastic. McCabe said the remark was made during a conversation about why Trump had fired Comey. “And in the context of that conversation, the deputy attorney general offered to wear a wire into the White House. He said, “‘I never get searched when I go into the White House. I could easily wear a recording device. They wouldn’t know it was there,’” McCabe said. In excerpts released last week by CBS News, McCabe also described a conversation in which Rosenstein had broached the idea of invoking the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. The Justice Department said in a statement that Rosenstein, based on his dealings with Trump, does not see cause to seek the removal of the president. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who is seeking her party’s nomination for president, told reporters after a campaign event Sunday in Las Vegas that if the people around Trump believe he cannot fulfill the obligations of his office, then they have a duty to invoke the 25th Amendment. A favorite target of Trump’s ire, Warren said she has no special knowledge on whether there are grounds to remove Trump from office but said that “there are a whole lot of people who do see him every day who evidently were talking about invoking the 25th Amendment.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Alabama editorial roundup: Feb. 10, 2019 edition
Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers: ____ Feb. 9 The Dothan Eagle on the recent execution in Alabama: The State of Alabama put a man to death Thursday. He was the 217th person to die under the state’s death penalty – the 64th execution since a moratorium on executions in Alabama was lifted in 1983. Dominique Ray’s execution is troubling. Not because there was any question about his guilt. Debates about the moral failings of the death penalty aside, there was no reason why Ray should not see the sentence imposed on him for the murder of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville almost 25 years ago carried out at long last. What’s troubling about Ray’s execution is the constitutional question it raises. Ray, who embraced Islam while incarcerated, wanted an imam present with him in the death chamber. Prison officials refused, saying they could provide a Christian prison chaplain. Ray’s attorneys sued, and a stay of execution was issued to sort it all out. Prison officials argue that only corrections system employees are allowed in the execution chamber as a matter of security, which is reasonable. In an earlier editorial, we suggested the prison system work to create a pool of spiritual leaders from other faiths, and vet them accordingly. That seems reasonable as well. However, Ray’s position was that he was receiving unequal treatment because he, a Muslim, did not have the same opportunity in the execution chamber as a Christian prisoner would. And he’s right – the constitutional religious protections suggest that a condemned inmate of any stripe should have the same access to a representative of their chosen faith. Read the rest online: dothaneagle.com ______ Feb. 10 The Gadsden Times on the U.S. cancelling nuclear weapons treaty with Russia: Tangible is defined by “Webster’s New World Dictionary” as 1. corporeal and able to be appraised for value; 2. can be understood; definite; objective. Those are simple definitions for a wonderful word, which is just the opposite of innuendo and gossip. I prefer to deal in tangibles, but sometimes let tradition and “it has always been that way” overcome my thought process. A good example is the Russian/United States Strategic Arms Limitation Talks signed in 1972. The agreement was intended to restrain the arms race in strategic ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons. SALT I was followed by SALT II, which basically never took effect. Both sides have indicated nullification of the first accord. At first blush, I thought the consequences of calling a halt to the treaty could be disastrous for the populations of the U.S. and Russia. However, I came to the conclusion that the U.S. cancelling the treaty is essential to maintaining substantial military superiority over not only Russia, but our No. 1 adversary, China. While we have been limited in developing and modernizing the U.S. military by the SALT agreement with Russia, the Chinese government has been modernizing and expanding its military exponentially. The SALT agreement was an excellent deterrent to nuclear war between the then-Soviets and the U.S., but the agreement allowed China to develop a formidable nuclear military, one that has become a threat to U.S. global dominance. Read the rest online: Gadsdentimes.com _____ Feb. 9 Anniston Star on the relationship between journalists and law enforcement: An article in Friday’s Anniston Star drew the ire of the Anniston Police Department and its supporters on social media. The article reported on statistics provided by city officials detailing the frequency of police stops and arrests, breaking those numbers down according to race — black, white and other. Facebook commenters describe the article as a hit piece, fake news and an obvious attempt to attack police and sell newspapers. To the contrary, The Anniston Star works closely with Anniston PD and applauds its efforts to address crime through community policing, including the creation of a community-based committee tasked with following up on complaints from residents. No, we’re not out to get the police. Here’s what actually happened. A week ago, the NAACP held a meeting at the Anniston City Meeting Center where residents accused APD of disproportionately making traffic stops on African-Americans. Their evidence, however, was all anecdotal. Coverage of that story also provided the response from city officials and police denying any notion of racial profiling. As journalists, our aim is always to pursue truth, and collecting and reporting actual numbers is a non biased way to do that. It’s what we did when Councilman Ben Little claimed that his district’s requests for work orders consistently failed to get response from the city. An examination of the work orders, however, showed that Ward 3 actually had almost twice as many completed work orders as any of the other wards. Read the rest online: annistonstar.com ____ Feb. 8 Montgomery Advertiser on poverty It was cruel to force unemployment upon millions of Americans over a political dispute borne of a foolish promise that has nothing to do with them. It is shameful that the president showed little if any empathy for these citizens — many of whom supported him — and acquiesced via his silence to assessments made by his economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, and billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Hassett said that furloughed federal workers are “better off” because “they have the vacation but they don’t have to use their vacation days.” Ross said there is no “good excuse why there … should be a liquidity crisis” and that he didn’t “understand why” federal employees with no income were going to food banks and homeless shelters. Ross incredibly advised those employees — already indebted beyond their ability to pay — to get a bank loan to cover expenses. Notwithstanding these contemporary echoes of “let them eat cake,” the previous, (un)presidential shutdown of the federal government — and the one that may reoccur next week — may force us to rethink some common misunderstandings. This third and final edition of my “start-at-the-beginning series” focuses on poverty. Next to race relations, poverty is the longest rhetorical highway along which people begin their expository
Donald Trump associate Roger Stone arrested in Russia investigation
Roger Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump, was arrested in the special counsel’s Russia investigation in a pre-dawn raid at his Florida home Friday on charges that he lied to Congress and obstructed the probe. The seven-count indictment against Stone, a self-proclaimed “dirty trickster,” is the first criminal case in months from special counsel Robert Mueller. It provides the most detail to date about how Trump campaign associates in the summer of 2016 were actively seeking to politically benefit from the release of hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It alleges that unnamed senior Trump campaign officials contacted Stone to ask when stolen emails relating to Clinton might be disclosed. The indictment does not charge Stone with conspiring with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website that published the emails, or with the Russian officers Mueller says hacked them. Instead, it accuses him of witness tampering, obstruction and false statements about his interactions related to WikiLeaks’ release. Some of those false statements were made to the House intelligence committee, prosecutors allege. CNN aired video of the raid at Stone’s Fort Lauderdale home, showing FBI agents in body armor using large weapons and night-vision equipment, running up to the home and banging repeatedly on the door. “FBI open the door!” one shouts. “FBI, warrant!” Stone could then be seen in the doorway in his sleepwear before he was led away. He is expected to appear in court later Friday. Stone is the sixth Trump aide charged in Mueller’s investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign and the 34th person overall. The investigation has laid bare multiple contacts between Trump associates and Russia during the campaign and transition period and efforts by several to conceal those communications. The case against Stone comes weeks after Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was castigated by a judge in open court and just hours before Paul Manafort, his ex-campaign chairman, was due in court on allegations that he had lied to Mueller’s prosecutors. In referring to Trump campaign officials and their desire to leverage hacked emails, the criminal case brings Mueller’s investigation into the president’s inner circle but it does not accuse the president of any wrongdoing or reveal whether he had advance knowledge of the WikiLeaks trove. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s press secretary, told CNN Friday the charges brought against Stone “don’t have anything to do with the president.” Well-known for his political antics and hard ball tactics, Stone has reveled in being a Washington wheeler-dealer dating back to the Nixon administration. He has also pushed several conspiracy theories and was an early and vocal supporter of Trump’s candidacy. Stone was one of Trump’s earliest political advisers, encouraging both his presidential runs. He briefly served on Trump’s 2016 campaign, but was pushed out amid infighting with then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Stone continued communicating with Trump on occasion and stayed plugged into the circle of advisers — both formal and informal — who worked with and around Trump. According to the indictment, many of Stone’s conversations during the campaign involved WikiLeaks. The indictment lays out in detail Stone’s conversations about stolen Democratic emails posted by the group in the weeks before Trump, a Republican, beat Clinton. Mueller’s office has said those emails, belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were hacked by Russian intelligence officers. The document says that by June and July 2016, Stone had told senior Trump campaign officials that he had information indicating that WikiLeaks had obtained documents that could be damaging to Clinton’s campaign. After the July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks release of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, the indictment says a senior Trump campaign official “was directed” to contact Stone about additional releases and “what other damaging information” WikiLeaks had “regarding the Clinton campaign.” The indictment does not name the official or say who directed the outreach to Stone. Another Trump campaign official cited in the indictment is Steve Bannon, who later became Trump’s chief strategist in the White House. Bannon, referred to as a “high-ranking Trump Campaign official,” exchanged emails with Stone in October 2016 about WikiLeaks’ plans for releasing hacked material. The indictment quotes from those emails, which had previously been made public by news outlets. While the indictment provides some new insight into the Trump campaign, it deals largely with what prosecutors say were Stone’s false statements about his conversations with conservative writer and conspiracy theorist, Jerome Corsi, and New York radio host, Randy Credico. Corsi is referred to as Person 1 in the indictment, and Credico as Person 2. The indictment accuses Stone of carrying out a “prolonged effort” to keep Credico from contradicting his testimony before the House intelligence committee. During that effort, prosecutors note that Stone repeatedly told Credico to “do a ‘Frank Pentangeli,’” a reference to a character in “The Godfather: Part II” who lies before a congressional committee. Stone is also accused of threatening Credico. The indictment cites several messages, some of which have already been public, that Stone sent to Credico last year. On April 9, Stone called Credico a “rat” and a “stoolie” and accused him of backstabbing his friends. Stone also threatened to “take that dog away from you,” a reference to Credico’s dog, Bianca. “I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die (expletive),” Stone also wrote to Credico. The indictment had been expected. Stone has said for months he was prepared to be charged, though he has denied any wrongdoing. A grand jury for months had heard from witnesses connected to Stone. And the intelligence committee last year voted to release a transcript of Stone’s testimony to Mueller as a precursor to an indictment. On Thursday, hours before his arrest, Stone posted on Instagram a photo of himself with Trump and the caption, “Proud of my President.” He also posted a screen shot of a CNN segment and complained that the network had found the “worst photo of me possible.” Attorney Grant Smith, who represents Stone, did not return phone messages
Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 say Donald Trump impeded Russia probe
A majority of Americans say they believe President Donald Trump has tried to obstruct the investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia, though the public is divided on whether he should be removed from office if he’s found to have stymied the probe, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Meanwhile, the survey shows Americans are somewhat less likely to say Congress should remove Trump from office if he directed his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to arrange hush money payments to cover up claims of extramarital relationships during the 2016 campaign. Still, opinions on both matters see a stark partisan divide. The poll was conducted just after federal prosecutors in New York implicated Trump in illegal payments to a former Playboy model and an adult-film actress and after special counsel Robert Mueller revealed that discussions over a possible Trump Tower in Moscow extended longer than had been previously known. It was done amid signs of intensifying legal danger for Trump, whose actions face scrutiny in New York and in Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. Overall, 42 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 56 percent disapprove. Those numbers have held steady for most of the year. About 8 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance, while just 1 in 10 Democrats say the same. The swirling investigations are helping define public opinion, creating clear divisions about whether and for what Trump should be impeached and to what extent he might be culpable of wrongdoing. A majority of Americans — 58 percent —think the president has tried to impede the Russia investigation, while 4 in 10 say he has not. An overwhelming share of Democrats, 90 percent, say the president has sought to obstruct the probe, compared with 22 percent of Republicans. The survey also shows that if Mueller’s investigation finds that Trump did not personally have inappropriate contacts with the Kremlin but nonetheless tried to obstruct the FBI’s work, 51 percent of Americans think Congress should take steps to remove him from office, while 46 percent think it should not. The special counsel’s obstruction investigation has shadowed the president for a year and a half, unfolding alongside his inquiry into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election and the separate campaign finance probe in New York. The last month has produced bombshell developments in the investigation, including Cohen’s sentencing, allegations that Trump’s former campaign chairman lied to prosecutors and a judge’s unexpected upbraiding of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Jonathan Levine, a 64-year-old financial services professional in Connecticut, said he was especially concerned by reports that negotiations over a Trump Tower in Moscow continued deep into the 2016 campaign. “He’s running to be president of the United States. The United States is ideologically opposed to Russia, so he’s accidentally dealing with the enemy, accidentally in bed with the enemy,” Levine said. “Obviously he should have discontinued negotiations in Moscow when he turned the campaign on full time.” Levine said he could support impeachment if there were appropriate hearings and solid evidence. But there are major partisan divides about what constitutes an impeachable offense. About 8 in 10 Democrats and 2 in 10 Republicans think Trump should be removed from office if he committed obstruction. Nearly three-quarters of Democrats and only about 1 in 10 Republicans think Congress should take steps to impeach him if he directed illegal payments. Overall, 45 percent said Congress should take steps to remove him from office if he orchestrated the hush money payments. Slightly more, 53 percent, said Congress should not take steps to remove Trump for that. About 4 in 10 think he broke the law when it comes to directing Cohen’s payments, and about as many say the same of his ties to Russia. About 2 in 10 think Trump has done nothing wrong, with the remainder saying his actions were unethical, but not illegal. About 7 in 10 Democrats believe Trump has done something illegal involving Russia. Among Republicans, 55 percent say Trump has done nothing wrong when it comes to Russia, while 35 percent think he has done something unethical but not illegal. Matthew Behrs, a maintenance coordinator from Plymouth, Wisconsin, is among those unconvinced by the allegations. He said he was skeptical of the impact Russia actually had on the election and wondered why Mueller hadn’t provided direct evidence of collusion if the problem was so prevalent. “If there was this collusion, why wasn’t this (over in) three months,” he said. “Here are the emails, here’s the contact, here’s the collusion. Here it is.” Nearly 7 in 10 Democrats find illegality for Trump in Cohen’s payments, while just 7 percent of Republicans say the same. Among Republicans, 49 percent think Trump did something unethical, but not illegal, while 44 percent think he did nothing wrong. The poll finds rising confidence among Democrats of the fairness and impartiality of Mueller’s investigation. Overall, about a third of Americans say they’re extremely or very confident that the inquiry is fair and impartial; another quarter say they are moderately confident. Roughly 4 in 10 say they’re not confident. Democrats are more likely to express confidence today compared with a year ago, 51 percent to 38 percent. Just 14 percent of Republicans say they are confident, which is unchanged from last year. ___ The AP-NORC poll of 1,067 adults was conducted Dec. 13-16 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone. ___ Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
A look at where the investigations related to Donald Trump stand
A look at where the investigations related to President Donald Trump stand and what may lie ahead for him. WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT? Trump is facing criminal investigations in Washington and New York. Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia and whether the president obstructed the investigation. Trump also plays a central role in a separate case in New York, where prosecutors have implicated him in a crime. They say Trump directed his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to make illegal hush money payments to two women as a way to quash potential sex scandals during the campaign. ___ SO … DID THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN COLLUDE WITH RUSSIA? There is no smoking gun when it comes to the question of Russia collusion. But the evidence so far shows a broad range of Trump associates had Russia-related contacts during the 2016 presidential campaign and transition period, and that several lied about the communication. There is also evidence that some people in Trump’s orbit were discussing a possible email dump from WikiLeaks before it occurred. American intelligence agencies and Mueller have said Russia was the source of hacked material released by WikiLeaks during the campaign that was damaging to Hillary Clinton‘s presidential effort. ___ OTHER QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: WHAT ABOUT OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE? That is another unresolved question that Mueller is pursuing. Investigators have examined key episodes such as Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey and his fury over the recusal from the investigation of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. WHAT DOES TRUMP HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS? Trump has repeatedly slammed the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt” and insisted there was “NO COLLUSION” with Russia. He also says his now-former lawyer, Cohen, lied to get a lighter sentence in New York. WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW TODAY? Cohen, who made his career protecting Trump, is to appear on Wednesday at a courthouse in Manhattan for a sentencing hearing. He’s set to learn whether his decision to cooperate with federal investigators will lessen his punishment for dodging taxes, lying to Congress and violating campaign finance laws. Two former Trump aides pleaded their case to judges Tuesday in hopes of easing the punishment they could face for their crimes. Lawyers for former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn asked a judge Tuesday to spare him prison time, saying he had devoted his career to his country and taken responsibility for an “uncharacteristic error in judgment.” Flynn has admitted lying to the FBI just days after Trump took office about conversations he had during the transition with the then-Russian ambassador to the United States. Also Tuesday, lawyers for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said they were still deciding whether to dispute allegations that he lied to investigators and breached a plea agreement. Manafort has been convicted in Washington and Virginia of crimes related to years of Ukrainian political consulting work. Although the charges don’t directly touch Trump, Manafort was a central figure during the campaign, which means he could pass along potentially damaging information. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
