I/II. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/27/donald-trump-russia-darrell-issa/98479376/
Trump: 'I haven't called Russia in 10 years' David Jackson , USA TODAY Published 12:42 p.m. ET Feb. 27, 2017 | Updated 19 hours ago WASHINGTON — President Trump rejected the idea of a special prosecutor Monday to look into Russian activity during last year's election, and said he had nothing to do with it it any case. “I haven’t called Russia in 10 years," Trump said during a meeting of insurance executives as reporters asked him about whether there is a need for special prosecutor on Russia. Trump initially did not respond to the question, but, as a pool of reporters left the room, the president mouthed the word "no" to his guests. ***It's hard to know what Trump meant by his comment about not calling Russia in a decade; the New York businessman visited Moscow in 2013 for a Miss Universe pageant.*** [Emphasis added.] He also spoke on the telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Jan. 28. During that call, Trump criticized the 2011 treaty with Russian signed by former President Barack Obama, which is called New START. According to a report by Reuters, Trump asked his aides what the treaty was and then denounced it as favoring Russia. Read more: Republican lawmakers peppered on Russia during town halls FBI refused White House request to refute story on Trump-Russia link GOP congressman Issa calls for special counsel on Trump and Russia Questions arose this weekend when a Republican lawmaker — U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California — said an outside investigation may be required to look into reports that Trump associates contacted Russians during the 2016 campaign. Issa said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who worked on the Trump campaign, may have an inherent conflict of interest. Sessions, in a brief meeting with reporters Monday, declined to directly address whether he should disqualify himself from overseeing the investigation. "I would recuse myself on anything that I should recuse myself on,'' Sessions said, declining to elaborate. Sessions also suggested that he was not aware of recent contacts between the White House and the FBI in which White House officials pressed the FBI to discredit a New York Times article asserting that federal investigators had found repeated communications between Trump associates and Russian intelligence officials during the past year. "The FBI and the Department of Justice have to remain independent,'' Sessions said. "(But) every contact is not improper.'' The FBI and congressional committees are already conducting investigations, and White House officials and Trump critics are clashing over the outlook for those probes. In rejecting the idea of an outside investigation, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said there is simply no evidence against Trump or his aides. "A special prosecutor for what?" Spicer said. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said congressional intelligence committees are already looking into Russia's role in the 2016 election, and those are the proper forums. "This is sensitive information that involves how we collect intelligence," Ryan said. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, stressed that the various investigations are still ongoing. "I don't think we should be drawing any conclusion thus far," Schiff said. Contributing: Kevin Johnson [Video] II. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/watch-trump-brag-of-speaking-to-vladimir-putin ***Trump Claims He's Never Spoken to Putin. In This 2014 Video, Trump Says He Did. According to Trump, Putin "could not have been nicer."*** [Emphasis added.] RUSS CHOMAJUL. 28, 2016 4:54 PM [Video: NPC Luncheon with Donald Trump] On Wednesday, Donald Trump angrily told reporters that he had no connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I have nothing to do with Putin," he said. "I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him other than he will respect me." But those comments contradict what he said in 2014, when he spoke at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. During this appearance, he discussed US-Russian relations and claimed that he had talked to Putin during a recent visit to Moscow, where Trump held his Miss Universe pageant. Here's what Trump told the Press Club audience: Russia does not respect our country any longer. They see we've been greatly weakened, both militarily and otherwise, and he certainly does not respect President Obama. So what I would do—as an example, I own Miss Universe, I was in Russia, I was in Moscow recently and I spoke, indirectly and directly, with President Putin, who could not have been nicer, and we had a tremendous success. The show was live from Moscow and we had tremendous success there and it was amazing, but to do well, you have to get the other side to respect you, and he does not respect our president, which is very sad. Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump's claim that he has spoken to Putin. It's not the first time that Trump has made contradictory claims about his relationship with Putin. During a Republican primary debate in November, Trump said, "I got to know him very well because we were both on 60 Minutes." But it turned out that Trump and Putin were interviewed in separate locations. During his press conference on Wednesday, he claimed not to know anything about the Russian leader. "I never met Putin," he said. "I don't know who Putin is." Does Trump know Putin or doesn't he? Have they spoken or haven't they? Trump may want to get his story straight. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
