Russian envoy met with Kushner, Flynn before inauguration

Rep. Adam B. Schiff emerged from a roughly-three hour House Intelligence hearing with FBI Director James Comey, saying he had “absolutely” learned new information that the so-called “Gang of Eight” had not been looped in on.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian Federation did aid in the hack of the Democratic National Committee last summer that revealed preferential treatment toward Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders on the part of the DNC.

Details surfaced Thursday that two more members of President Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russia’s ambassador to the United States during the Republican National Convention in 2016.

Many congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, have called for an investigation to determine if the Trump campaign contacted Russian officials during the election.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that the White House simply referred reporters to those lawmakers for comment on the allegations, to help reporters “engage with subject matter experts” who could provide insight.

Sessions is maintaining that he has “never met with any Russian officials to discuss the issues of the campaign”, and his supporters have suggested that he was well within his duties as a Senator and member of the armed services committee to meet with Russian diplomats. And he has also gone back and forth about whether he accepts the conclusion of the USA intelligence community that Russian Federation meddled in last year’s presidential election.

“Trump’s statements stoked fears among some that intelligence could be covered up or destroyed-or its sources exposed-once power changed hands”, the New York Times writes.

British and Dutch intelligence have also uncovered meetings between Russian officials and Trump associates in Europe.

The Obama White House also lowered classification ratings on some information about the ongoing Russian Federation investigation so that it could be more widely shared across the government, The New York Times reported on March 1. The newswire Reuters corroborated these reports.

Trump raised eyebrows in the national security world by ordering changes to the National Security Council, inside the White House staff.

Ambassador Kislyak is the same representative who communicated with Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, who was later forced to resign for misleading top White House officials. The revelations led to Flynn’s resignation.

“I think that President Obama is behind it because his people are certainly behind it”. Former officials say that the undertaking had a twofold objective: “to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators”.

What are the key investigations behind the emerging information?

In that context, an independent prosecutor could turn the probe into something analogous to Benghazi – much more hard for the subject of the investigation to limit in time or subject. If the FBI Director is withholding information, he is not only helping to cover up a crime.

Trump repeatedly denied any improper influence, and often accused opponents in politics and the intelligence agencies of fabricating evidence and using false narratives in order to smear him.

If indeed there is “no there, there”, then the president should welcome such a probe, confident it will show no malfeasance on the part of his campaign, allowing his administration to fully focus on policy. The discussion would benefit from a full and open investigation by Congress and USA intelligence agencies.