<p>FBI Director James Comey confirmed for the first time Monday that the agency is investigating Russian interference in last year&#39;s presidential election and notably Moscow&#39;s possible collusion with President Donald Trump&#39;s campaign.</p>

<p>The FBI &quot;is investigating the Russian government&#39;s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,&quot; Comey told a hearing by the House Intelligence Committee.</p>

<p>&quot;And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia&#39;s efforts,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Watch&nbsp;FBI Director Comey describe&nbsp;his agency&#39;s assessment of the Russian motive behind hacking the Democrats.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Comey: Russia&#39;s goals in 2016 were to hurt U.S. democracy, hurt Hillary Clinton and help Trump <a href="https://t.co/IF9lRnsNN1">pic.twitter.com/IF9lRnsNN1</a></p>
&mdash; Axios (@axios) <a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/843855998179840001">March 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p><strong>Background</strong></p>

<p>Several members of Trump&#39;s team during the election, and official members of his administration once taking office, have lied about their contact with Russian officials.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Notably, National Securtity Adviser<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-national-security-adviser-michael-flynn-resigns-12377" target="_blank"> Michael Flynn</a>, who had to resign after misleading US Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Russian ambassador to the United States,&nbsp;Sergey Kislyak.&nbsp;Flynn had promised Pence he had not discussed US&nbsp;sanctions with the Russians, but transcripts of intercepted communications, described by US&nbsp;officials, showed that the subject had come up in conversations between him and Kislyak.</p>

<p>Also, Attorney General <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-russia-sessions-may-be-blackmailed-by-kremlin-says-former-white-house-chief-ethics-officer-12984" target="_blank">Jeff Sessions</a>, who had to recuse himself from any investigation into Trump&#39;s alleged Russian connections after it came to light that he lied under oath about not having contact with any Russian officials, when actually he had also met at least twice with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.</p>

<p>When asked in February of 2016&nbsp;if anyone from his staff had communicated with Russia during his election campaign, Mr&nbsp;Trump said: &ldquo;Nobody that I know of&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>During the campaign, Roger Stone was a top Trump adviser for a time. He has since <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-ally-says-he-worked-with-assange-pre-election-to-spread-clinton-emails-in-abusive-twitter-tirade-13089" target="_blank">admitted </a>to having a &quot;perfectly legal back channel&quot; to Julian Assange, whose website WikiLeaks published hacked emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, which Trump repeatedly&nbsp;used during the campaign to cudgel Clinton.</p>

<p>It has also since come to light that Stone also had private contact with Guccifer 2.0, the identity of the person&nbsp;who hacked the Democrats. US intelligence says Guccifer 2.0 is&nbsp;really GRU, or Russian military intelligence. Thus, an official member of Trump&#39;s election campaign admitted to having communication with both WikiLeaks and the Russian hacker who hacked the Democrats.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Roger Stone has denied&nbsp;any wrongdoing.</p>

<p>Other members of Trump&#39;s team who lied about contact with Russian&nbsp;officials before the November 8, 2016 US election&nbsp;include: Paul Manafort, Carter Page, JD Gordon, and even Donald Trump himself.</p>

<p>Trump&#39;s son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner also met&nbsp;with Russian ambassador Segey Kislyak, but after the election.</p>

<p>Trump took to Twitter early in the morning before the&nbsp;House Intelligence Committee hearing to denounce the ongoing story between his election campaign and Russia, calling it &quot;FAKE NEWS&quot;. &nbsp;</p>

<p>(WION with inputs from AFP)</p>


The agency is investigating Russia's interference in the US election, but also whether or not Trump's team actively worked with them

FBI Director James Comey confirmed for the first time Monday that the agency is investigating Russian interference in last year's presidential election and notably Moscow's possible collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign. The FBI "is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election," Comey told a hearing by the House Intelligence Committee. "And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts," he said. Watch FBI Director Comey describe his agency's assessment of the Russian motive behind hacking the Democrats. Comey: Russia's goals in 2016 were to hurt U.S. democracy, hurt Hillary Clinton and help Trump pic.twitter.com/IF9lRnsNN1 — Axios (@axios) March 20, 2017 × Background Several members of Trump's team during the election, and official members of his administration once taking office, have lied about their contact with Russian officials. Notably, National Securtity Adviser Michael Flynn, who had to resign after misleading US Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. Flynn had promised Pence he had not discussed US sanctions with the Russians, but transcripts of intercepted communications, described by US officials, showed that the subject had come up in conversations between him and Kislyak. Also, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had to recuse himself from any investigation into Trump's alleged Russian connections after it came to light that he lied under oath about not having contact with any Russian officials, when actually he had also met at least twice with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. When asked in February of 2016 if anyone from his staff had communicated with Russia during his election campaign, Mr Trump said: “Nobody that I know of”. During the campaign, Roger Stone was a top Trump adviser for a time. He has since admitted to having a "perfectly legal back channel" to Julian Assange, whose website WikiLeaks published hacked emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, which Trump repeatedly used during the campaign to cudgel Clinton. It has also since come to light that Stone also had private contact with Guccifer 2.0, the identity of the person who hacked the Democrats. US intelligence says Guccifer 2.0 is really GRU, or Russian military intelligence. Thus, an official member of Trump's election campaign admitted to having communication with both WikiLeaks and the Russian hacker who hacked the Democrats. Roger Stone has denied any wrongdoing. Other members of Trump's team who lied about contact with Russian officials before the November 8, 2016 US election include: Paul Manafort, Carter Page, JD Gordon, and even Donald Trump himself. Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner also met with Russian ambassador Segey Kislyak, but after the election. Trump took to Twitter early in the morning before the House Intelligence Committee hearing to denounce the ongoing story between his election campaign and Russia, calling it "FAKE NEWS". (WION with inputs from AFP)

FBI director confirms agency is probing Russian links to Trump campaign

<p>Former Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone said&nbsp;he had &quot;completely innocuous&quot; private contact during the election with Guccifer 2.0, the online handle involved in hacking the Democratic National Committee,&nbsp;Stone&nbsp;told <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/10/roger-stone-trump-confidant-acknowledges-innocuous/" target="_blank">The Washington Times</a> Friday.</p>

<p>&quot;It was so perfunctory, brief and banal I had forgotten it,&quot; he told The Times. &quot;The content of the exchange is, as you can see completely innocuous and perfunctory,&quot; Mr Stone said. The interaction he provided to The Times&nbsp;consisted of only three messages from his own Twitter account.</p>

<p>US intelligence says&nbsp;that Guccifer 2.0 is not the self-procaimed&nbsp;Romanian&nbsp;hacktivist&nbsp;it claims to be,&nbsp;but really the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency. They claim with high confidence that it hacked the Democrats to interfere in the US election to get Trump elected. It claims that&nbsp;Russian hackers penetrated the DNC and released the documents to WikiLeaks, among other websites, in part of a multi-pronged operation to interfere with the US election.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Last week,&nbsp;Roger Stone also&nbsp;admitted to having a&nbsp;&quot;perfectly legal back channel&quot; to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-ally-says-he-worked-with-assange-pre-election-to-spread-clinton-emails-in-abusive-twitter-tirade-13089" target="_blank">WikiLeaks</a>. Actually, more than a &quot;back channel&quot;, previously he has said: &quot;I have communicated with Assange&quot;.&nbsp;Watch the video&nbsp;of Stone claiming he&nbsp;commuicated&nbsp;with Assange below:</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Listen to &quot;long time Trump advisor&quot; Roger Stone here... sure seems to know what Assange (Russia) had in store: <a href="https://t.co/EclA0jpXIU">pic.twitter.com/EclA0jpXIU</a></p>
&mdash; justin kanew (@justin_kanew) <a href="https://twitter.com/justin_kanew/status/838485426050641920">March 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>This latest admission about Guccifer 2.0 confirms that an official Trump campaign advisor&nbsp;had been&nbsp;in direct contact during the&nbsp;election with both WikiLeaks and the Russian hackers who US intelligence says&nbsp;interfered&nbsp;with the election specifically to benefit Trump.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Mr Stone wrote in an email Thursday night to The Washington Times:&nbsp;&quot;I myself had no contacts or communications with the Russian State, Russian Intelligence, or anyone fronting for them or acting as intermediaries for them.&quot;</p>

<p>The next evening&nbsp;he wrote to The Times again: &quot;Even if [Guccifer 2.0] is/was a Russian asset, my brief Aug. 14 correspondence with him on twitter comes AFTER I wrote about his role in the DNC hacks (Aug 5) and AFTER Wikileaks released the DNC material...How does one collaborate on a matter after the fact?&quot;</p>

<p>Roger Stone wrote an article on August 5 for Breitbart claming that the DNC hack was perpetrated by Guccifer 2.0, not by Russia. The Washington Times was provided &quot;a handful&quot; of copies of direct messages between Stone and Guccifer 2.0.</p>

<p>When asked last month if anyone from his staff had communicated with Russia during his campaign, Mr&nbsp;Trump said: &ldquo;Nobody that I know of&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Read:&nbsp;<a href="http://Trump campaign communicated with Russian hackers during election, claims report" target="_blank">Trump campaign communicated with Russian hackers during election, claims report</a>.</h3>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Recently it emerged that at least six members of Trump&#39;s&nbsp;staff met with Russian officials during the election, and lied about it. These include: Paul Manafort, JD Gordon, Carter Page, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and even <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-himself-met-russian-ambassador-before-election-report-13160" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> himself. Donald Trump&#39;s Son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner also met with Russian ambassador Serkey Kislyak, but it was after the election.</p>

<p>Both the DNC hack and President Trump&#39;s alleged connections to Russia are being investigated right now by US intelligence.</p>

<p>President Trump and Russian president&nbsp;Vladimir Putin have both denied being involved in the hacks.</p>

<p>(WION)&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Roger Stone said that he communicated directly with Guccifer 2.0, who US intelligence says hacked the Democrats to help get Trump elected

Former Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone said he had "completely innocuous" private contact during the election with Guccifer 2.0, the online handle involved in hacking the Democratic National Committee, Stone told The Washington Times Friday. "It was so perfunctory, brief and banal I had forgotten it," he told The Times. "The content of the exchange is, as you can see completely innocuous and perfunctory," Mr Stone said. The interaction he provided to The Times consisted of only three messages from his own Twitter account. US intelligence says that Guccifer 2.0 is not the self-procaimed Romanian hacktivist it claims to be, but really the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency. They claim with high confidence that it hacked the Democrats to interfere in the US election to get Trump elected. It claims that Russian hackers penetrated the DNC and released the documents to WikiLeaks, among other websites, in part of a multi-pronged operation to interfere with the US election. Last week, Roger Stone also admitted to having a "perfectly legal back channel" to WikiLeaks. Actually, more than a "back channel", previously he has said: "I have communicated with Assange". Watch the video of Stone claiming he commuicated with Assange below: Listen to "long time Trump advisor" Roger Stone here... sure seems to know what Assange (Russia) had in store: pic.twitter.com/EclA0jpXIU — justin kanew (@justin_kanew) March 5, 2017 × This latest admission about Guccifer 2.0 confirms that an official Trump campaign advisor had been in direct contact during the election with both WikiLeaks and the Russian hackers who US intelligence says interfered with the election specifically to benefit Trump. Mr Stone wrote in an email Thursday night to The Washington Times: "I myself had no contacts or communications with the Russian State, Russian Intelligence, or anyone fronting for them or acting as intermediaries for them." The next evening he wrote to The Times again: "Even if [Guccifer 2.0] is/was a Russian asset, my brief Aug. 14 correspondence with him on twitter comes AFTER I wrote about his role in the DNC hacks (Aug 5) and AFTER Wikileaks released the DNC material...How does one collaborate on a matter after the fact?" Roger Stone wrote an article on August 5 for Breitbart claming that the DNC hack was perpetrated by Guccifer 2.0, not by Russia. The Washington Times was provided "a handful" of copies of direct messages between Stone and Guccifer 2.0. When asked last month if anyone from his staff had communicated with Russia during his campaign, Mr Trump said: “Nobody that I know of”. Read: Trump campaign communicated with Russian hackers during election, claims report. Recently it emerged that at least six members of Trump's staff met with Russian officials during the election, and lied about it. These include: Paul Manafort, JD Gordon, Carter Page, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and even Donald Trump himself. Donald Trump's Son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner also met with Russian ambassador Serkey Kislyak, but it was after the election. Both the DNC hack and President Trump's alleged connections to Russia are being investigated right now by US intelligence. President Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin have both denied being involved in the hacks. (WION)

Former Trump advisor admits to 'innocuous' private contact with Russian DNC hacker during election

<p>Trump&#39;s former campaign member, long-time friend&nbsp;and mega supporter Roger Stone was apparently in email communication with the Russian hackers being probed by the FBI, known as &quot;Guccifer 2.0&quot;, according to &quot;a source&quot; in a report filed by <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/investigation/roger-stone-and-guccifer-913684" target="_blank">The Smoking Gun</a>&nbsp;(TSG).</p>

<p>Guccifer 2.0 claims to be an independent hacker, but US intelligence says &quot;with high confidence&quot;&nbsp;that it was in fact GRU, Russian Military Intel Service simply&nbsp;operating&nbsp;under the alias &quot;Guccifer 2.0&quot;,&nbsp;with the specific aim&nbsp;to help Donald Trump get elected president.</p>

<p>The email from Guccifer 2.0&nbsp;is dated from&nbsp;June 15, 2016, when Roger Stone was still officially a member of the Trump campaign.</p>

<p>Attached in TSG&#39;s long&nbsp;article about Roger Stone was an&nbsp;email&nbsp;from &quot;Guccifer 2.0&quot; purportedly&nbsp;to Stone himself. Nowhere in the email does it say &quot;Roger Stone&quot;, but TSG&#39;s article also contained&nbsp;an IRS tax document with Roger Stone&#39;s name on it. This does not mean that the email from Guccifer 2.0 is authentically addressed to Roger Stone, but TSG&nbsp;does have a leak that provided&nbsp;official correspondence between Stone and the American Government, ie the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

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<p>If this email is truly from Russian hackers to an official member of Donald Trump&#39;s election campaign, it would be very, very damning. Photo source: The Smoking Gun. (Others)</p>
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<p>WION contacted&nbsp;TSG to ask about the source of the leak, and for proof that the email from Guccifer 2.0 was indeed mailed to Roger Stone. So far they have not&nbsp;responded, and we will update the article if they do.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Why would this email prove?</strong></p>

<p>If this email is truly from Guccifer 2.0 to Roger Stone, it means that an official&nbsp;Trump campaign member was in communication with the Russian government, and worked with them as they&nbsp;interfered with the US election on Trump&#39;s behalf.</p>

<p>Before, it was clear that Russia hacked the Democrats,&nbsp;who then&nbsp;sent emails&nbsp;to WikiLeaks. In fact, the first time WikiLeaks published the Democrat&#39;s emails was on October 7, just <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/dec/18/john-podesta/its-true-wikileaks-dumped-podesta-emails-hour-afte/" target="_blank">hours </a>after the recording leaked of Trump saying, &quot;Grab them by the p*ssy&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But there was no proof that Trump worked directly with Russia, or with WikiLeaks.</p>

<p>That changed days&nbsp;ago when the same <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-ally-says-he-worked-with-assange-pre-election-to-spread-clinton-emails-in-abusive-twitter-tirade-13089" target="_blank">Roger Stone </a>took to Twitter to say he had a &quot;perfectly legal back channel with WikiLeaks&quot; and also&nbsp;said, &quot;Assange does NOT work for Russians and nobody has proved otherwise&quot;. Actually, Stone has admitted to being in &quot;direct contact&quot; with Julian Assange himself. Essentially,&nbsp;the Trump campaign&nbsp;<em>did</em>&nbsp;have open communication with WikiLeaks.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Listen to &quot;long time Trump advisor&quot; Roger Stone here... sure seems to know what Assange (Russia) had in store: <a href="https://t.co/EclA0jpXIU">pic.twitter.com/EclA0jpXIU</a></p>
&mdash; justin kanew (@justin_kanew) <a href="https://twitter.com/justin_kanew/status/838485426050641920">March 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>It may be&nbsp;noteworthy that WikiLeaks was responsible for the&nbsp;biggest ever leak of secret&nbsp;CIA <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/07/wikileaks-publishes-biggest-ever-leak-of-secret-cia-documents-hacking-surveillance" target="_blank">documents</a>, and it came amid Trump&#39;s ongoing war with US intelligence, and&nbsp;just days after Stone admitted to having a channel of communication with WikiLeaks.</p>

<p>Here is Trump encouraging Russia to hack Clinton&#39;s emails:</p>

<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gNa2B5zHfbQ" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>While Russia&#39;s interference in the US election may constitute an act of war between the countries, this doesn&#39;t necessarily reflect on President Trump.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But if the Guccifer 2.0-Stone email is confirmed, it&nbsp;proves that the exact same aide in Trump&#39;s campaign was in contact with not just WikiLeaks but with the Russian Military Intelligence Service,&nbsp;the very people who hacked the Democrats.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Does anything else suggest Russia and Trump are connected?</b></p>

<p>Jeff Sessions&nbsp;recused himself from the US intelligence&#39;s&nbsp;investigation into the Trump-Russia connection after it emerged that he at least twice met the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and lied about it under oath.</p>

<p>Shortly after Sessions met Kislyak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last summer, the Republican Party changed the language in their policy to become more aligned with Russia. Former Trump aide <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jd-gordon-trump-adviser-ukraine-rnc-2017-3" target="_blank">JD Gordon</a> just claimed this alignment was on the insistence of&nbsp;Donald Trump himself. Historically, Jeff Sessions has been decidedly<a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/2/14790818/jeff-sessions-russia-attorney-general-lie-congress-perjury-recusal" target="_blank"> anti-Russia</a>.</p>

<p>It was also just reported that <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-himself-met-russian-ambassador-before-election-report-13160" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;himself&nbsp;met the Russian ambassador and lied about it. Other members of his administration or his campaign who have done the same include: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, JD Gordon, and as mentioned Jeff Sessions. Trump&#39;s son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner also met Kislyak, but after the election.</p>

<p>Flynn had to resign from his position as the head of national security after <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/national-security-adviser-flynn-discussed-sanctions-with-russian-ambassador-despite-denials-officials-say/2017/02/09/f85b29d6-ee11-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_usrussia-%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&amp;utm_term=.4def7586fab0" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported that not only did Flynn lie about meeting with the Russian ambassador, but that he called Kislyak repeatedly the day Obama levelled sanctions against Russia to discuss those&nbsp;sanctions. The phone calls were recordedm as per ordinary US intelligence protocol.</p>

<p>From the report, which cited&nbsp;nine senior officials in US intelligence: &quot;All of those officials said Flynn&#39;s reference to the election-related sanctions were explicit.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The notorious Christopher Steele dossier alleges that Putin, the former head of Russia&#39;s spy agency, has enough information over Trump to blackmail him. That dossier contains allegations that are false, mostly slight error about inessential items.&nbsp;But&nbsp;more and more of it&nbsp;is being <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RbpBxJ3QNyvts_w16UcSSGeH7cSrXK9U3wIq0OOq-Xs/preview" target="_blank">corroborated</a>.</p>

<p>Trump has <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/analysis-trump-russia-and-deutsche-banklinks-that-raise-many-many-questions-11975" target="_blank">many </a>links with Russia, and has had them for decades.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trump dismisses&nbsp;his&nbsp;alleged connection to Russia as Fake News. It&#39;s a real possibility that this email is not what it claims to be. &nbsp;</p>

<p>But Trump is definitely lying about aspects of his connection to Russia. It would be funny if the stakes weren&#39;t so high, but here is Trump denying he&nbsp;knows Vladimir Putin, while also&nbsp;bragging about his personal relationship with Putin.</p>

<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WadK_pXsEGE" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>(WION)</p>


A published email claiming to be from 'Guccifer 2.0' to Roger Stone would prove that Trump's campaign communicated with Kremlin hackers

Trump's former campaign member, long-time friend and mega supporter Roger Stone was apparently in email communication with the Russian hackers being probed by the FBI, known as "Guccifer 2.0", according to "a source" in a report filed by The Smoking Gun (TSG). Guccifer 2.0 claims to be an independent hacker, but US intelligence says "with high confidence" that it was in fact GRU, Russian Military Intel Service simply operating under the alias "Guccifer 2.0", with the specific aim to help Donald Trump get elected president. The email from Guccifer 2.0 is dated from June 15, 2016, when Roger Stone was still officially a member of the Trump campaign. Attached in TSG's long article about Roger Stone was an email from "Guccifer 2.0" purportedly to Stone himself. Nowhere in the email does it say "Roger Stone", but TSG's article also contained an IRS tax document with Roger Stone's name on it. This does not mean that the email from Guccifer 2.0 is authentically addressed to Roger Stone, but TSG does have a leak that provided official correspondence between Stone and the American Government, ie the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). If this email is truly from Russian hackers to an official member of Donald Trump's election campaign, it would be very, very damning. Photo source: The Smoking Gun. (Others) × WION contacted TSG to ask about the source of the leak, and for proof that the email from Guccifer 2.0 was indeed mailed to Roger Stone. So far they have not responded, and we will update the article if they do. Why would this email prove? If this email is truly from Guccifer 2.0 to Roger Stone, it means that an official Trump campaign member was in communication with the Russian government, and worked with them as they interfered with the US election on Trump's behalf. Before, it was clear that Russia hacked the Democrats, who then sent emails to WikiLeaks. In fact, the first time WikiLeaks published the Democrat's emails was on October 7, just hours after the recording leaked of Trump saying, "Grab them by the p*ssy". But there was no proof that Trump worked directly with Russia, or with WikiLeaks. That changed days ago when the same Roger Stone took to Twitter to say he had a "perfectly legal back channel with WikiLeaks" and also said, "Assange does NOT work for Russians and nobody has proved otherwise". Actually, Stone has admitted to being in "direct contact" with Julian Assange himself. Essentially, the Trump campaign did have open communication with WikiLeaks. Listen to "long time Trump advisor" Roger Stone here... sure seems to know what Assange (Russia) had in store: pic.twitter.com/EclA0jpXIU — justin kanew (@justin_kanew) March 5, 2017 × It may be noteworthy that WikiLeaks was responsible for the biggest ever leak of secret CIA documents, and it came amid Trump's ongoing war with US intelligence, and just days after Stone admitted to having a channel of communication with WikiLeaks. Here is Trump encouraging Russia to hack Clinton's emails: While Russia's interference in the US election may constitute an act of war between the countries, this doesn't necessarily reflect on President Trump. But if the Guccifer 2.0-Stone email is confirmed, it proves that the exact same aide in Trump's campaign was in contact with not just WikiLeaks but with the Russian Military Intelligence Service, the very people who hacked the Democrats. Does anything else suggest Russia and Trump are connected? Jeff Sessions recused himself from the US intelligence's investigation into the Trump-Russia connection after it emerged that he at least twice met the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and lied about it under oath. Shortly after Sessions met Kislyak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last summer, the Republican Party changed the language in their policy to become more aligned with Russia. Former Trump aide JD Gordon just claimed this alignment was on the insistence of Donald Trump himself. Historically, Jeff Sessions has been decidedly anti-Russia. It was also just reported that Donald Trump himself met the Russian ambassador and lied about it. Other members of his administration or his campaign who have done the same include: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, JD Gordon, and as mentioned Jeff Sessions. Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner also met Kislyak, but after the election. Flynn had to resign from his position as the head of national security after The Washington Post reported that not only did Flynn lie about meeting with the Russian ambassador, but that he called Kislyak repeatedly the day Obama levelled sanctions against Russia to discuss those sanctions. The phone calls were recordedm as per ordinary US intelligence protocol. From the report, which cited nine senior officials in US intelligence: "All of those officials said Flynn's reference to the election-related sanctions were explicit." The notorious Christopher Steele dossier alleges that Putin, the former head of Russia's spy agency, has enough information over Trump to blackmail him. That dossier contains allegations that are false, mostly slight error about inessential items. But more and more of it is being corroborated. Trump has many links with Russia, and has had them for decades. Trump dismisses his alleged connection to Russia as Fake News. It's a real possibility that this email is not what it claims to be. But Trump is definitely lying about aspects of his connection to Russia. It would be funny if the stakes weren't so high, but here is Trump denying he knows Vladimir Putin, while also bragging about his personal relationship with Putin. (WION)

Trump campaign communicated with Russian hackers during election, claims report

<p>Trump was not the only one&nbsp;to have a Twitter meltdown this weekend.</p>

<p>Trump loyalist and former top adviser Roger Stone claimed on Twitter that he had a&nbsp;back channel to&nbsp;work with Julian Assange at Wikileaks&nbsp;to spread damaging leaked Clinton emails.</p>

<p>US intelligence has unanimously said that Russia interfered in the US election in what it called a &quot;multifaceted campaign&quot; of&nbsp;&quot;cyber espionage&quot;, and that&nbsp;Clinton&#39;s emails were obtained&nbsp;by Russian hackers.</p>

<p>Stone&#39;s claim that he worked with Assange&nbsp;to&nbsp;spread Clinton&#39;s emails comes&nbsp;amid growing reports of Trump staffers meeting&nbsp;with Russian officials, then&nbsp;lying about it.</p>

<p>Here is the screengrabbed Tweet that Stone deleted.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here&#39;s the screengrab of Roger Stone admitting the Trump campaign colluded with Asange and Wikileaks (I know, real stunner) <a href="https://t.co/TcBrMrSTig">pic.twitter.com/TcBrMrSTig</a></p>
&mdash; Kriston Capps (@kristoncapps) <a href="https://twitter.com/kristoncapps/status/838259900627156992">March 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>But he responded to the claim that he did any wrongdoing.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Attention MSM Losers!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeftistSpasm?src=hash">#LeftistSpasm</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FakeNews?src=hash">#FakeNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/iKTT5buhlq">pic.twitter.com/iKTT5buhlq</a></p>
&mdash; Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/838487222454272002">March 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>While the tone of Stone&#39;s&nbsp;Tweet is defiant, claiming he didn&#39;t hide anything, actually there is video footage of Stone from 2016&nbsp;saying, contrary to the claim in his deleted Tweet, that he did have direct communication&nbsp;with Assange.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Listen to &quot;long time Trump advisor&quot; Roger Stone here... sure seems to know what Assange (Russia) had in store: <a href="https://t.co/EclA0jpXIU">pic.twitter.com/EclA0jpXIU</a></p>
&mdash; justin kanew (@justin_kanew) <a href="https://twitter.com/justin_kanew/status/838485426050641920">March 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>At issue in the investigation into Trump-Russia, conducted by six different US intelligence agencies,&nbsp;is whether anyone in Trump&#39;s campaign actively worked with the Russians against their Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Colluding with a foreign and hostile government to sabotage a national election is illegal.</p>

<p><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/donald-trump-aides-russians-campaign/index.html" target="_blank">CNN </a>reported that Trump staffers were in &quot;constant touch&quot; with Russian officials during the election campaign. The subject of these talks has not been disclosed publicly.</p>

<p>Officials emphasised that it is not unusual for campaign staff and representatives of foreign governments to communicate, but that these communications stood out for their frequency, and for the level of Trump advisers involved.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Vulgar abuse</strong></p>

<p>Yesterday, Roger Stone also abused&nbsp;the same&nbsp;female&nbsp;citizen journalist, calling her a &quot;stupid, ignorant, ugly bitch&quot; in a now-deleted Tweet.</p>

<p>Harry Potter author JK Rowling denounced the attack in a screen grab:</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This man is an advisor to the leader of the free world. This guy, right here. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rogerstone?src=hash">#rogerstone</a> <a href="https://t.co/brxqZAfw09">pic.twitter.com/brxqZAfw09</a></p>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/838294536170389504">March 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Stone also abused Republican strategist Ana Navarro, calling her&nbsp;&quot;fat and stupid&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Deflection&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>Stone&#39;s Twitter meltdown&nbsp;comes as Trump&#39;s campaign is trying hard to deflect attention from their various connections to Russia.</p>

<p>US Attorney General and Trump loyalist Jeff Sessions just recused himself from the investigation into Trump-Russia after it became known that he met with the Russian ambassador twice, and lied about it under oath.</p>

<p>Before that, Trump&#39;s pick to head national security Michael Flynn resigned after it became known that he too met the Russian ambassador and lied about it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trump&#39;s son-in-law <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jared-kushner-donald-trump-russia-ambassador-sergey-kislyak-meeting-michael-flynn-white-house-jeff-a7609166.html" target="_blank">Jared Kushner</a>, who is a White House adviser,&nbsp;met&nbsp;the Russian ambassador in Trump Tower. No cameras&nbsp;captured Kislyak entering the building, suggesting he was ushered in a <a href="http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/03/trump-white-house-downplay-failure-reveal-russian-ambassadors-smuggled-visit-trump-tower.html" target="_blank">back door.</a>&nbsp;A White House spokesman denied this was a secret meeting.</p>

<p>Paul Manafort and Trump&#39;s long-time&nbsp;lawyer Michael Cohen also met with Russian officials and failed to disclose it.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>This weekend former Republican adviser <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-russia-republican-pro-putin-ukraine-stance-rnc-ambassador-kislyak-meeting-a7610621.html" target="_blank">JD Gordon</a>&nbsp;claimed that&nbsp;a pro-Russia change in language to the GOP platform came after&nbsp;the Republican convention in Cleveland of July 2016, and was especially ordered to align with Trump&#39;s own personal views. Gordon claimed he and Carter Page, then a Trump adviser who resigned amid his connections to Russia, also <a href="http://www.vox.com/world/2017/3/3/14789354/russian-ambassador-trump-sergey-kislyak" target="_blank">met </a>Kislyak.</p>

<p>The July convention in Cleveland&nbsp;took place shortly after Sessions met the Russian ambassador. In 2015, Sessions was staunchly anti-Russia. Sessions&nbsp;pro-Russia views seem to have set in&nbsp;after meeting Kislyak.</p>

<p>US intelligence also says that the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak&nbsp;is also Russia&#39;s top spy and spy-recruiter in Washington. The Kremlin has officially <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/02/politics/russia-kislyak-spy-claim-sessions/" target="_blank">denied </a>this claim.</p>

<p>(WION)</p>


Roger Stone's meltdown came as US intelligence investigates Russia's interference in the US election and Trump's connections to Russia

Trump was not the only one to have a Twitter meltdown this weekend. Trump loyalist and former top adviser Roger Stone claimed on Twitter that he had a back channel to work with Julian Assange at Wikileaks to spread damaging leaked Clinton emails. US intelligence has unanimously said that Russia interfered in the US election in what it called a "multifaceted campaign" of "cyber espionage", and that Clinton's emails were obtained by Russian hackers. Stone's claim that he worked with Assange to spread Clinton's emails comes amid growing reports of Trump staffers meeting with Russian officials, then lying about it. Here is the screengrabbed Tweet that Stone deleted. Here's the screengrab of Roger Stone admitting the Trump campaign colluded with Asange and Wikileaks (I know, real stunner) pic.twitter.com/TcBrMrSTig — Kriston Capps (@kristoncapps) March 5, 2017 × But he responded to the claim that he did any wrongdoing. Attention MSM Losers!#LeftistSpasm#FakeNews pic.twitter.com/iKTT5buhlq — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) March 5, 2017 × While the tone of Stone's Tweet is defiant, claiming he didn't hide anything, actually there is video footage of Stone from 2016 saying, contrary to the claim in his deleted Tweet, that he did have direct communication with Assange. Listen to "long time Trump advisor" Roger Stone here... sure seems to know what Assange (Russia) had in store: pic.twitter.com/EclA0jpXIU — justin kanew (@justin_kanew) March 5, 2017 × At issue in the investigation into Trump-Russia, conducted by six different US intelligence agencies, is whether anyone in Trump's campaign actively worked with the Russians against their Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Colluding with a foreign and hostile government to sabotage a national election is illegal. CNN reported that Trump staffers were in "constant touch" with Russian officials during the election campaign. The subject of these talks has not been disclosed publicly. Officials emphasised that it is not unusual for campaign staff and representatives of foreign governments to communicate, but that these communications stood out for their frequency, and for the level of Trump advisers involved. Vulgar abuse Yesterday, Roger Stone also abused the same female citizen journalist, calling her a "stupid, ignorant, ugly bitch" in a now-deleted Tweet. Harry Potter author JK Rowling denounced the attack in a screen grab: This man is an advisor to the leader of the free world. This guy, right here. #rogerstone pic.twitter.com/brxqZAfw09 — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 5, 2017 × Stone also abused Republican strategist Ana Navarro, calling her "fat and stupid". Deflection Stone's Twitter meltdown comes as Trump's campaign is trying hard to deflect attention from their various connections to Russia. US Attorney General and Trump loyalist Jeff Sessions just recused himself from the investigation into Trump-Russia after it became known that he met with the Russian ambassador twice, and lied about it under oath. Before that, Trump's pick to head national security Michael Flynn resigned after it became known that he too met the Russian ambassador and lied about it. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is a White House adviser, met the Russian ambassador in Trump Tower. No cameras captured Kislyak entering the building, suggesting he was ushered in a back door. A White House spokesman denied this was a secret meeting. Paul Manafort and Trump's long-time lawyer Michael Cohen also met with Russian officials and failed to disclose it. This weekend former Republican adviser JD Gordon claimed that a pro-Russia change in language to the GOP platform came after the Republican convention in Cleveland of July 2016, and was especially ordered to align with Trump's own personal views. Gordon claimed he and Carter Page, then a Trump adviser who resigned amid his connections to Russia, also met Kislyak. The July convention in Cleveland took place shortly after Sessions met the Russian ambassador. In 2015, Sessions was staunchly anti-Russia. Sessions pro-Russia views seem to have set in after meeting Kislyak. US intelligence also says that the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak is also Russia's top spy and spy-recruiter in Washington. The Kremlin has officially denied this claim. (WION)

Trump ally says he worked with Assange pre-election to spread Clinton emails in abusive Twitter tirade

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