A video spreading across social media of Volodymyr Zelensky with a bag of cocaine on his desk is – of course – fake, and the latest in an ongoing smear campaign against the Ukrainian president. In the manipulated video, a not-inconspicuous amount of white powder is seen next to Zelensky …
Read More »Mike Pence Slams Trump Over Putin Praise in Speech to GOP Donors
Mike Pence told group of Republican donors Friday night that there’s “no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” according to text of the former Vice President’s speech shared on his official Twitter account. The comments at a Republican National Committee retreat in New Orleans come the week after …
Read More »Russia Attacks Ukraine as Explosions Rock Major Cities
KHARKIV, UKRAINE— Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched an attack on Ukraine. Moments after Putin announced Russia would launch “special military operations” in a speech broadcast on Russian television Thursday morning local time, explosions were heard in multiple major Ukrainian cities, which Ukrainian government officials later claimed were missile strikes …
Read More »Treasury, Commerce, Other Agencies Hacked by Russian Government Spies, Report Says
Hackers have successfully infiltrated the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments as well as other government agencies and a cybersecurity firm, Reuters reported on Saturday. And, according to the Washington Post, the Russian government is behind it. “The United States government is aware of these reports and we are taking all …
Read More »Dan Coats Stepping Down as Intelligence Director, Will Be Replaced by Trump Loyalist Rep. John Ratcliffe
President Donald Trump announced via Twitter on Sunday that National Intelligence Director Dan Coats would be stepping down on Sunday and that conservative Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) would be nominated to take his place. “I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated …
Read More »How Lawmakers Are Reacting to the Final Mueller Report
After a day of speculation and writer’s block jokes by journalists, resistance-grifters and news junkies, the world learned about 5 p.m. ET Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had indeed delivered his final report to Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General William Barr. Barr, in turn, sent a letter …
Read More »Paul Manafort, One of D.C.'s Most Venerable Swamp Creatures, Is Headed to Jail
WASHINGTON – “I thought about this long and hard, Mr. Manafort. I have no appetite for this.” In an overflow room at the D.C. federal courthouse in the shadow of the Capitol, the voice of Judge Amy Berman Jackson came through reedy and distant from the ceiling speakers. But her …
Read More »Let's Talk About This Cuban-Russian-Chinese Conspiracy
The lede in the New York Times piece was striking in its certainty: A crisis over a mysterious ailment sickening American diplomats and their families — which began in Cuba and recently appeared in China — has widened as the State Department evacuated at least two more Americans from China …
Read More »Is Trump Really Getting Tough With Putin?
What to make of the sanctions announced yesterday by the U.S. Treasury Department against a passel of Russians, the St. Petersburg “troll farm” and several Russian intelligence officials? At first glance, the sanctions – the first real-world action against Russia taken by Donald Trump‘s administration since it took office 14 …
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