Russia denies intelligence contacts with Trump campaign team
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russian President Vladimir Putin listened during a meeting in Moscow, Russia today.
MOSCOW >> The Kremlin spokesman today denied reports of intercepted phone calls between Russian intelligence officials and members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The New York Times said that the Russians made contact with Paul Manafort, who briefly served as Trump’s campaign chairman. Current and former U.S. officials interviewed by the Times declined to identify other Trump associates contacted by the Russians.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, pointed to the anonymity of the sources, saying that the reports “are not based on any facts, do not point to actual facts.”
The report comes a day after U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned following reports he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia.
Asked about the allegations, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today they “prove once again there is a major internal, political game, you can call it bargaining, in the United States.”
Russian lawmakers were more direct in trying to defend Trump.
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“This is not about information but about a high-precision information bomb,” Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Federation Council’s information committee, tweeted. “The goal is to blow up the Trump administration.”
Separately, Russian officials today dismissed a statement by White House spokesman Sean Spicer who said Trump expects Russia to return Crimea, which it annexed following a hastily called referendum in March 2014.
“We never give back our territory,” Zakharova told reporters.
Peskov echoed Zakharova’s remarks and added that Putin has been patient about explaining to his counterparts that the people of Crimea asked to join Russia because of their fears about the new government in Ukraine, and would keep delivering this message to the White House, too.
18 responses to “Russia denies intelligence contacts with Trump campaign team”
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This should be a concern to ALL Americans! Why is President Trump so closely tied to the Russians? Why is he not submitting his tax returns? What might the tax returns reveal? After denial of contacts with Russia, we now find out the truth.
Time to set up a select committee to fully investigate this serious issue, it is an attack on our democracy.
We’ve found out nothing! The New York Times is trying to stay alive by posting rumors.
It’s time for you wake up don’t give up America to the Russians. The man in office is unfit for the position. Show America your taxes Mr President what are you hiding.
Of course the Russians are denying contact with the Trump campaign. They need to protect their asset in the White House.
The sweet fragrance of Democrat Party chestnuts roasting in the inferno of their electoral disaster – – coupled with post election knee slapping hilarity of foam flecked “news” media lap dogs frantically chasing their own tails in one slap stick cycle of Trump Derangement Syndrome after another – – is more amusing than words can convey.
Case in point: Associated Press (Feb. 15) claims the New York Times reported Russians made contact with Candidate Trump’s campaign chairman and added “other Trump associates contacted by the Russians”.
Pesky questions arise:
* Who authorized US foreign intelligence collectors – – rigidly prohibited from spying on Americans – – to intercept these calls?
* Was there a FISA warrant for each intercept and, if so, based on what evidence?
* What government official(s) leaked intercept contents – – possibly revealing ultra sensitive sources and methods – – to New York Times?
I’d give worlds to know.
Ok, so Flynn didn’t resign over his misdeeds? He, as a member of the Trump team didn’t speak with the Russians about sanctions? And he didn’t lie to the VP about those conversations did he?
Telephone calls have at least two parties. The NSA intercepts the calls of Russian intelligence agents. When the other party on those calls is an American, they are caught in the intercept. Do you think that the NSA monitors only one side of telephone calls by Russian intelligence agents? There’s a difference between intercepting all calls made by or to Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Carter Page, Michael Flynn or any else in Trump’s inner circle who have extensive Russian connections and intercepting calls involving Russian agents who happen to be talking to members of Trump’s inner circle. Unless Republicans are successful in blocking investigations into what Trump owes to Russia and how Russia owns Trump, we will probably find out that the were FISA warrants for many of Trump’s staff, starting with the head of his campaign.
I think they were spying on the Russians and the campaign staff made contact. I’m not sure if FISA laws cover FBI/CIA counter intelligence efforts to monitor foreign government agents in our country. It might just cover domestic spying/intelligence efforts. I.E. suspected drug dealers/organizations, organized crime, criminal investigations.
I originally did not pay attention to statements by Trump’s son about Russian investors coming into Trump business, and I ignored the Russian ties and clients of Trump’s campaign manager Pau Manafort. But after seeing pictures of Flynn in Russia with Putin and other leaders I stated to wonder. But I became concerned when so many of Trump’s campaign advisors with American names were Russian residents and businessmen on the boards of Russian businesses like Alta Bank and Gazprom. His campaign chief in NYC was another example with most of his clients in Russia. Let’s investigate this and see why so many Russian connections and clear it out or find out what if anything wrong is going on.
Were you worried about Obama’s Muslim connections? Trump is a international businessman. Obama was a political pawn.
You are just so sad.
Don’t change the subject!
Is this all you have? Not concerned about these turn of events? BTW…it has proven to be true.
What B S.
Yes it is a Bold Statement…
Well, this is good enough for Donald and his mindless minions. Russia has “strong leaders” and the best hookers, so we should listen to them and Crooked Donald, not our excellent intelligence community. And Flynn resigned because he wanted to spend more time with his family…
Good thing there still are people in this country who can think.
millionmonkeys> Are you referring to yourself as one of those people in this country who can think? Who are you anyway? The US Intel community isn’t as excellent as people have said. There is so much overlap between all of these agencies (and most of the time they don’t share information between themselves) who is doing what to who???? Did you know that when Clinton was the POTUS, he had the opportunity to “waste” Osama Bin Laden? Clinton at that time considered OBL as only being a very minor threat. OBL was in either Libya or the Sudan at the time and it could have ended then and there. After 9/11 it took the US over 10 years to finally catch up and finally kill him. We need to streamline our intel agencies and they themselves must be able to interact with each other and react quickly to any threats.
Well, the intel community, as you put it, was good enough to find Flynn breaking the law, was it not? And by the way, what does your rambling have to do with the issue at hand?