All posts tagged "russia"

China will likely 'pop the champagne' after Trump's latest 'absolute lies': House Dem

CNN's Jim Acosta wondered aloud whether Donald Trump's threats to take the Panama Canal, by force if necessary, sent a dangerous message to U.S. adversaries like China.

China has long threatened to invade the disputed territory of Taiwan, just as Russia did with Crimea and is trying to do with Ukraine.

During his inaugural speech Monday, Trump claimed, "We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made, and Panama’s promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape, or form. And that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back."

Acosta pondered on Tuesday's morning show, "If the president can say, 'We're going to go take the Panama Canal,' I mean, couldn't China say, 'Okay, well, then, I guess that means we can take Taiwan?'"

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Rep. Jim Hines (D-CT) responded, "Look, I think China is sophisticated enough to see exactly what President Trump is doing, which is a game of distraction, away from the issues that really matter to the American people."

Hines continued, "I look at polling every once in a while and I can tell you that Panama or the name of Mount Denali, is not on the top 50 list of American concerns. So, the Chinese understand that this is a distraction mechanism. And, I think they're probably happy that now Panama, which is a critical ally — we've got military in Panama, the Canal is really pretty important to us — now they've been subjected to, as you pointed out, a series of lies — that we've been treated badly, that the Chinese run — absolute lies. and the Chinese are saying, 'You know what? The president Trump is gratuitously, for no apparent reason, damaging American relationships with critical allies. Pop the champagne, folks in Beijing!' That's what they're thinking."

CNN.com estimated that it would take around 90,000 U.S. troops to take the Panama Canal by force, and such an operation would require a congressional resolution in order to proceed. It would also disrupt global trade, since "around 6% of global trade passes through the canal."

'Pile of dog crap': Fox News commentator slams Biden's foreign policy legacy

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren slammed President Joe Biden's foreign policy legacy Monday on X, likening it to a "pile of dog crap."

Biden gave his final foreign policy speech at the State Department on Monday afternoon. He also posted to social media, "Since Kamala and I took office, our nation has become stronger at home and in the world. America today is more capable and prepared than we have been for a long time. While competitors are facing stiff headwinds, we have the wind at our back. This is what we're handing over."

Lahren, a Fox News commentator and host of "Tomi Lahren is Fearless" on Outkick.com, replied to Biden's post, "You are handing over a pile of dog crap, but luckily Donald Trump is taking on the challenge to clean up your mess."

Not surprisingly, President-elect Donald Trump has been wildly critical of the Biden administration's foreign policy efforts, starting with the disastrous 2020 Afghanistan withdrawal and terrorist attack that killed 13 soldiers and more than 170 Afghan civilians. In September, Trump said, "It’s very sad, actually, because these people shouldn’t have died. They shouldn’t have died. They died because of Biden and because of Kamala. They died just like if they pulled the trigger...Afghanistan was the most incompetently run operation I think I’ve ever seen, military or otherwise.”

ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife

Regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump claimed it never would have happened if he had been president, and famously declared that he could end the war "in 24 hours."

Trump also claimed that the 2023 Hamas surprise attack that killed 1,200 people would never have happened on his watch.

"All those people would be alive" if he had been president, Trump said.

Biden's foreign policy efforts continued Monday with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan claiming negotiators were "very close" to reaching a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. Sullivan said the deal could still be finalized in the next few days before President Biden leaves office.

When he takes office next week, Trump could be very busy. He has vowed that he will "set up a 'tiny little desk' on the Capitol steps during the inauguration to sign 'four or five' executive orders on the spot." Trump also claimed, “On Day 1 of the Trump presidency, I will restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country.”

Trump's ex-FBI official: We have 'many reasons' to think ex-president is a Russian 'asset'

Donald Trump could rightly be seen as a Russian asset, according to a former FBI director the ex-president fired in his first term.

Andrew McCabe appeared on the One Decision podcast co-hosted by former British intelligence agency chief Sir Richard Dearlove, who asked whether he thought it possible that Trump was a Russian asset, and he said, "I do, I do," reported The Guardian.

“I don’t know that I would characterize it as [an] active, recruited, knowing asset in the way that people in the intelligence community think of that term," McCabe said. "But I do think that Donald Trump has given us many reasons to question his approach to the Russia problem in the United States, and I think his approach to interacting with Vladimir Putin, be it phone calls, face-to-face meetings, the things that he has said in public about Putin, all raise significant questions.”

ALSO READ: How Trump ally Michael Flynn is priming supporters for violence ahead of the election

McCabe raised suspicions about Trump's attitude toward Ukraine and NATO in the face of Russian aggression and said he's had concerns about his admiration for Vladimir Putin since the ex-president fired him in March 2018, two days before he was due to retire, during the FBI's investigation of Kremlin interference in the 2016 election.

“You have to have some very serious questions about, why is it that Donald Trump … has this fawning sort of admiration for Vladimir Putin in a way that no other American president, Republican or Democrat, ever has," McCabe said.

“It may just be from a fundamental misunderstanding of this problem set that’s always a problem," he added. "That’s always a possibility, and I guess the other end of that spectrum would be that there is some kind of relationship or a desire for a relationship of some sort, be it economic or business oriented, what have you. I think those are possibilities. None of them have been proven. But as an intelligence officer, those are the things that you think about.”

McCabe expressed “very serious concerns” about a second Trump presidency and said that Russia had long desired to interfere with U.S. democracy.

“Their desire to kind of wreak havoc or mischief in our political system is something that’s been going on for years, decades and decades and decades," McCabe said. “Their interest in just simply sowing chaos and division and polarization. If they can do that, it’s a win. If they can actually hurt a candidate they don’t like, or help one that they do like, that’s an even bigger win.”

The Justice Department investigated McCabe for allegedly lying about a media leak, but that case was dropped in 2020, and he settled a lawsuit the following year that restored his full pension.

Fox News attacks Biden for warning of Russian interference in U.S. election

Fox News personalities cried foul after reports said President Joe Biden would warn of Russian interference in U.S. elections.

On Wednesday, Fox News host Harris Faulkner confirmed that Biden intended to address Russia's "sustained effort" to influence the 2024 presidential election by using state-run media.

"Why is that suddenly a concern now?" Faulkner complained to Fox News contributor Steve Hilton.

"That's the truth about all of this in this world that we live in today, which is you have Iran doing this, you have China doing this, and frankly, we do it to other countries as well," Hilton replied, dismissing the concerns.

Hilton insisted that the Biden-Harris administration was making the announcement "because they know that plays to their base."

"I don't know the specific details," he admitted.

Hilton said that similar warnings about Russia's influence in the 2016 election amounted to "total lies and disinformation."

"So, I'm not saying there's nothing to this, but we know that everybody does it," he scoffed.

Faulkner complained that former intelligence officials had discounted "the Hunter Biden laptop" as possible Russian disinformation.

Instead of focusing on Russia, Hilton cast doubt on American law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

ALSO READ:Something broke Trump’s brain

"Because of the way that they've behaved, the FBI, the CIA, the Department of Justice, all these people over the years, we now know, totally biased and in the tank and trying to both stop Trump from being elected and once he was elected to undermine his administration," he said. "That means that we no longer trust them."

"We do not trust any of these people or any of these institutions because we know that they've been completely corrupted, and that's the real tragedy of all of this," he added. "We cannot trust them."

Watch the video below from Fox News or click the link.

Joe Biden to reveal Russia's 'sustained effort' of 2024 U.S. election interference: report

President Joe Biden is expected to warn Americans that Russia is conducting a "sustained effort" to undermine U.S. elections.

CNN reported that Biden would reveal the Kremlin-led effort in remarks Wednesday. The president was expected to announce Department of Justice actions to combat Russia's covert election subversion program.

Russian state media outlet RT and American Voices were being used to launder the disinformation, the report said.

CNN said the actions were Biden's "most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters."

Sources told the network that Social Design Agency, a Russian company, has already been sanctioned for running fake news websites in Europe.

ALSO READ:Why Trump’s Arlington controversy is actually a crime

In July, the DOJ accused an RT employee of spreading disinformation by posing as U.S. residents with 1,000 social media accounts.

Russia was also found to have conducted a misinformation campaign assisting Donald Trump's election in 2016.

Olivia Troye, a former national security adviser to Mike Pence, said that "Russia’s interference in our elections is an alarming threat to the heart of our democracy."

"Foreign powers manipulating our electoral process weakens our sovereignty, undermines public trust, and exposes us to disinformation that can tear apart the fabric of our nation, which is their goal," she added on Wednesday.

Watch: Tearful embraces as families greet freed prisoners after historic Russia swap

An emotional scene unfolded late Thursday as the families of three Russian prisoners greeted the trio, who arrived in a small plane following a historic prisoner swap with Russia.

President Joe Biden saluted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, as he walked up to the plane on the tarmac. He and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted Whelan first, who was serving a years-long sentence in Russia. Whelan embraced the vice president before hugging his sister as cheers erupted on the platform.

Gershkovich embraced Harris, then shook Biden's hand and hugged the president. Gershkovich then hugged his mother and lifted her off the ground before embracing others who came to greet him.

The third American freed in the swap, Kurmasheva, embraced her teen daughters — one of whom was to celebrate her birthday Friday — in a tearful reunion on the tarmac as Whelan resumed conversations with the president.

As the families embraced, Biden told reporters Slovenia came in at the last minute to help.

ALSO READ: We asked 10 Republican senators: ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ Things got weird fast.

"Slovenia made the right move at the right time," he said.

Harris called the reunion an "extraordinary day," and thanked Biden for bringing allies together.

"This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy," she said.

The event marked the largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, according to The Associated Press. The multinational deal set two dozen people free.

Watch the emotional clip below or at this link.

'Cleaning house:' Vance claims Russian prisoners are free because Trump will win election

Sen. J.D. Vance is trying to credit President Joe Biden's "big win" Thursday — Russia's return of imprisoned journalist Evan Gershkovich, ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and others — to a surprising source: his running mate Donald Trump.

"We certainly want these Americans to come back home... But we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home?" Vance reportedly told CNN.

"It's because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump's about to be back in office, so they’re cleaning house."

Vance made this claim as the nation celebrated an historic event years in the making.

ALSO READ: Mike Johnson's now-deleted Trump social media post sparks controversy

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, spent more than a year in prison and Whalen more than five on espionage charges both men denied and the U.S. State Department condemned.

This election year, Trump has repeatedly raised eyebrows with claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin would release the journalist upon his reelection.

Instead, Biden secured the freedom of Gershkovich, Whalen and 14 others just an hour before he announced he would drop out of the 2024 presidential election, according to reports.

Biden fielded questions about the agreement during a press conference Thursday in which he was asked about Trump's claims he could have won the prisoners' release without any exchange.

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The president shot back, "Why didn't he do it when he was president?"

Biden secured Russian captives' freedom 'an hour before' he announced he was dropping out

President Joe Biden finalized the deal to get Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan released from Russian captivity about an hour before he announced he was ending his re-election campaign.

The eventual prisoner swap that saw Gershkovich and Whelan returned to the U.S. took place five months after the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison camp, despite talks to get him released involving the U.S. and Germany, and the two allies continued working on a deal for other prisoners up until Biden's surprise announcement, reported the Wall Street Journal.

"President Biden — about an hour before he notified the world he was dropping out of the presidential race on July 21 — called the prime minister of Slovenia, whose country was contributing two convicted Russian spies to the swap, to secure the pardon necessary for the deal to proceed," the newspaper reported. "CIA Director William Burns traveled to Turkey last week to meet his counterpart there and finalize the logistics for the swap."

ALSO READ: Mike Johnson's now-deleted Trump social media post sparks controversy

Details of the deal remain closely held, but American officials familiar with the talks said Russia insisted on the return of convicted murderer Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to life in prison by a German court in 2021 for killing a Georgian asylum seeks who had fought against Russia in Chechnya.

The deal also returned two Russians held in Slovenia, one in Poland, and another in Norway, all of whom U.S. officials say have ties to Kremlin intelligence.

Gershkovich and Whelan had both been convicted of espionage, a charge both of them denied, and the U.S. State Department had classified them as wrongfully detained.

A breakthrough in negotiations came in February, when German chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the president in the Oval Office and they discussed a potential offer to Russia that would have included Krasikov, Whelan, Gershkovich, and Navalny.

"For you, I will do this," Scholz told Biden, according to a senior administration official.

However, Navalny died seven days later under mysterious circumstances, and the offer collapsed before it was presented to Moscow, but vice president Kamala Harris met privately with Scholz at a conference in Munich to stress the importance of releasing Krasikov, and she met with Robert Golob, the prime minister of Slovenia, to continue the negotiations.

The negotiations reportedly continued into summer before Biden finalized the deal, and he then released a statement announcing that he would not seek re-election and then endorsed his vice president for the Democratic nomination.

Ex-Ukraine official who helped Trump and Giuliani now running for office in Russia

Former Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach is running for office again, this time from Russia.

Financial Times reporter Christopher Miller reported on Thursday that Derkach is best known for his alleged efforts in helping Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani pressure other Ukraine officials to attack Joe Biden as he launched his 2020 presidential campaign.

The U.S. ultimately sanctioned Derkach for being an "active Russian agent" attempting to interfere with the election, which he has denied.

Miller cited a Russian publication, the Pravda newspaper, which was the official paper for the Communist Party in the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1991, Britannica describes.

In 2022, the U.S. Justice Department filed a seven-count indictment that charged Derkach "with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Acts (IEEPA), bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of money laundering in connection with the purchase and maintenance of two condominiums in Beverly Hills, California."

Derkach fled Ukraine in 2023 after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office recommended him for trial for treason and self-enrichment. The investigation determined that Dekach attempted to discredit Ukraine on the global stage, harm Ukraine's relationship with the U.S., and stop any candidacy of Ukraine for NATO and the European Union, the Pravda report continued.

“The conduct of this Kremlin asset, who was sanctioned for trying to poison our democracy, has shown he is ready, willing and capable of exploiting our banking system in order to advance his illicit goals,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York said at the time in a statement. “The U.S. will not be a safe haven where criminals, oligarchs or sanctioned entities can hide their ill-gotten gains or influence our elections. This office, together with our law enforcement partners, will use every tool available to prosecute those who evade sanctions and abuse the U.S. financial system, and we will identify, freeze and seize criminal proceeds whenever and wherever possible.”

In 2019, he met with Trump's then-attorney, Rudy Giuliani 2019, as they worked to build a corruption case against Biden's son, Hunter, the Washington Post reported last year.

Trump was impeached in late 2019 for "using the power of his high office" to "[solicit] the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage," the Articles of Impeachment read.

"President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit," it was also alleged.

Those same articles passed a full House vote. A Republican-led Senate refused to hold a trial.

In his 2024 campaign for president, Trump continues to claim that any accusations related to Russia are false.

"They and their mouthpieces in the right-wing media (and sometimes the far-left media) have derided references to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s assault on the 2016 campaign as nothing but the fever dreams of deranged Trump critics, derisively dismissing the matter as 'Russia, Russia, Russia,'" wrote Mother Jones' David Corn in February.

"For the umpteenth time, the Russians did mount a clandestine scheme to boost Trump in 2016. And the Trump campaign—in a meeting between top Trump aides (Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner) and a Moscow emissary—signaled to the Kremlin that it welcomed this secret intervention," Corn also wrote.

He cited his book written with Michael Isikoff, Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump as a "good primer."

Intelligence officials reveal primary threat to U.S. 2024 elections: report

The United States will once again have to combat Russian election interference in the form of propaganda supporting Donald Trump’s presidential run, according to a report from NBC.

An unnamed source described as an intelligence official told NBC that the Kremlin will likely proliferate a pro-Trump propaganda campaign in an attempt to sway the election away from the Democratic nominee..

Previous Russian interference in 2016 and 2020 was found by U.S. intelligence to have been authorized by Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month before Joe Biden dropped out of the race U.S. intelligence stated that “Russia remained the primary foreign threat to U.S. elections and that its candidate preferences were the same as in 2020,” according to NBC.

While Biden has been swapped out for Harris, the intelligence official told NBC Russia's motivations remain largely unchanged.

“We view changes to influence themes are more likely than changes to larger strategies or preferences,” the official told NBC, later adding that, “Russia’s core interest in this election is opposing candidates who want to offer further aid to Kyiv, and we expect Russia’s focus will remain on that.”

As opposed to Harris, Trump has not committed to providing aid to Ukraine if elected and his running mate J.D. Vance said during a 2022 podcast, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”