Donald Trump himself met Russian ambassador before election: Report
Ambassador Kislyak
US intelligence agrees Russia interfered with the US election. Donald Trump met their ambassador in April 2016, and lied about it
Donald Trump has been grilled for months about his ties to Russia, all the while steadfastly denyinghe had any contact with Russian officials during the US election. It turns out members of Trump's administration certainly have, and now we know Trump himself alsomet with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, as per a report by Think Progress.
The report states that on April 27, 2016, Donald Trump met Kislyak right before a major foreign policy speech. The meeting was written about by TheWall Street JournalonMay 23, 2016. Trump's connections with Russia wasn't making headline news at the time, but these reports are being widely revisited now.
In the Newsmax piece, Trump states, "...and I've had a sort of a semi-nice relationship with Putin."
The WSJ report (which is only available to subscribers) states: "A few minutes before he made those remarks, Mr Trump met at a VIP reception with Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. Mr Trump warmly greeted Mr Kislyak and three other foreign ambassadors who came to the reception."
Think Progress reports that Kislyak was seated in the front row of the invite-only event, and shows a picture of the ambassador at the event.
Trump's denials have beenunequivocal.
"Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven't made a phone call to Russia in years. Don't speak to people from Russia," Trump said in a press conference onFebruary 16, 2017. Trumpstatedthat his only contacts with Russia were two phone calls with Vladimir Putin after election day, which were widely reported on at the time.
Since thenit's come to light that at least five members of his teamtalked with Russian officials during the 2016 US presidential campaign. JoiningDonald Trump himself, the list alsoincludes Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Carter Page and JD Gordon. Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner also met with Kislyak, but after the election.
Here is a picture of Donald Trump's son Don Jr, Jeff Sessins,Jared Kushner and Sergey Kislyak at a Donald Trumpspeech from April, 2016:
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself from any investigation on the Trump campaign's contactwith Russia after he told the Judiciary Committee, falsely, that he had not met with any Russian officials.
The Trump campaign has not explained whyso many people on their team keep meeting with Russian officials, only to deny it.
While the story about Trump meeting theRussian ambassador was months old, it happened to recirculateon the same day that headlines were dominated byWikiLeaks releasingthousands of pages ofdocuments purporting to show that the CIA can hack any iPhone and Android user in the world.
US intelligence is united in saying that Russianhacked the Democrats during the election. WikiLeakspublished Clinton's emails during the election, which was a theme taken up by Trump repeatedly during the campaign. Some in the US intelligence committee believe that WikiLeaks is a front for the Kremlin.
Trump has been in an open war with US intelligence.
He claimed, without evidence, that Trump Tower had been wiretapped by President Obama himself before the election.Before that characterised the treatment he was receiving at the hands of American intelligence as being like "Nazi Germany".
If the presidenthas anexplanation for why he and his administration met with Russian officials duringan election campaign thatUS intelligence claims Russiainterefered with, he is obliged to share it.
(WION)