Results for: Trump russia

Trump and Russia – The Multiagency Investigation

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

There were plenty of clues before the election that Donald Trump and his associates had more ties to Russia than any other presidential candidate for the past fifty years. But the media chose to ignore them in favor of a Hillary Clinton email server that might have been vulnerable to hacking. Not actually hacked, just vulnerable. Oh, and her staff’s recipes for risotto after emails were hacked from the Democratic National Committee server, probably by Russia. Read More

Recapitulating Trump’s Russia Connections

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

Donald Trump has a number of connections to Russia, both directly and through his staff. None of the connections indicate more than an interest in doing business there and admiration for an autocratic ruler. Some of his staff’s connections, particularly those of Paul Manafort and Carter Page, are more concerning, but still do not indicate political direction from Russia. Both Manafort and Page were dropped from the campaign when their Russia connections became an issue, but Manafort was seen at Trump Tower recently. Read More

What Trump Has Said About Russia

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

I’ll wrap up what I’ve found of Donald Trump’s Russia connections in this post. The Trump campaign put serious effort into only one plank of the Republican platform – not building the wall, not surveilling Muslims, but something Trump didn’t say much about until this week: Ukraine.

I’ve also got a selection of Trump quotes on Russia for you, along with more links on the hack of the DNC and why it’s probably Russia that did it.

Earlier posts in this series here and here. Read More

Trump and Russia

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

With Donald Trump’s near-repudiation of NATO’s Article 5 for the Baltic States and of other international organizations including, in the last couple of days, the European Union and World Trade Organization, the question of his ties to Russia have become louder. Articles have been published earlier this year on the subject. Josh Marshall summarizes the concerns. Read More

Republicans and Russians

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

Russia’s attempts at interference in American politics aren’t going away. We see only bits and pieces of them, though. most recently, Marjorie Taylor Green was explicitly quoting from Russian and Hungarian propaganda, but she’s not alone.

The effort seems to be distributed across Russian agencies as well, with the FSB (civilian intelligence agency), GRU (military intelligence agency), and probably individual oligarchs and other government agencies reaching for some of their own advantage.

The interference varies over time, as well. The NRA was a focus, now not so much as the organization self-immolates.

Donald Trump and Paul Manafort, however, have been connected to Russia for a long time. Trump has been fascinated by Russia since the 1980s, and the Mueller Report makes clear his more recent ties. There is also Kevin McCarthy’s famous quote about Dana Rohrabacher and Trump being two who are likely paid by Russia.

Read More

We Need A Narrative On The Russian Connection

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

The Republican attempt at impeaching President Joe Biden on the basis of his son’s actions has collapsed with the revelation that their star witness, Alexander Smirnov, was working with Russian intelligence. They’re trying to put up another, even weaker, attempt at impeachment to distract from this embarrassment.

The Russians have interfered in the last several US elections. They have used bots to distribute misinformation on social media along with much more complex operations. The release of Hillary Clinton’s emails had Russian involvement. And now we learn that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a Russian operation.

All Russian involvement is dangerous. Spreading divisive conspiracy theories undermines voter choices. Co-opting legislators, and those legislators’ willingness to be co-opted is of another order. Republican House members who have pushed for impeachment have been duped by Russia, in the kindest interpretation. An intermediate interpretation is that their eagerness to undermine a Democratic administration made them vulnerable to Russian influence. And it is fully possible that they find Russia a more amenable partner than their own Democratic fellow citizens and are therefore happy to push its narratives.

Read More

Trump Had Classified Nuclear Documents

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

We know next to nothing from the Washington Post report.

Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.

We do not know what kind of classified, what level of classified, or what those documents say about nuclear weapons – whether it is design information, where they are located, or even if they are about US nuclear weapons.

Read More

Russian Sanctions And Civilian Nuclear Power

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

We’re just beginning to see the effects of shutting Russia out of the world economy.

Russia has been a big supplier of nuclear power plants. About 1 in 3 being built around the world is Russian. South Korea is another potential supplier, and China might like to expand its market share.

But if Russia is out of the market, building of nuclear power plants will slow down. Those currently under construction may falter because their financing comes through Sberbank, also sanctioned.

In the United States, Westinghouse is once again up for sale, having been through a bankruptcy and sale to somewhat hidden owners. They are being less than transparent about the sale.

Saudi Arabia has issued an inquiry for construction of two 1400 Mwe nuclear plants. The responses to that may show how things will go with Russia sanctioned.

A number of new companies want to offer small modular reactors, but it’s not clear when they’ll be ready for installation.

There is a small move toward recognizing nuclear power as a way to supply electricity with much less carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. Not at all clear how this will turn out.

[This post is based on John Quiggin’s at Crooked Timber and is close in content, although I’ve added a bit.]

Graphic: A NuScale Power module on a truck. NuScale is one of the small modular reactor companies whose designs are going through pre-licensing approval with Canada’s nuclear regulator. Many are designed to be small enough to transport by truck or by shipping container. (NuScale Power)

Cross-posted at Lawyers, Guns & Money