The Constitutional Crisis Cloud

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

It’s been an insane few days for me personally (with work) and insane in the world of Trump.  I wanted to write at some length about the bizarre Trump interview in the New York Times — and how he dissed his attorney general for recusing himself from the Russian collusion investigation and his veiled threats to Bob Mueller, the independent counsel … Read More

Person No 8 In The Trump Tower Meeting Is Identified

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

WaPo: An American-based employee of a Russian real estate company took part in a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr., bringing to eight the number of known participants at the session that has emerged a key focus of the investigation of the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian. Ike Kaveladze’s presence was confirmed by … Read More

So Much For Don Junior’s “Transparency”

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Whatever position you take on the Trump-Russia Collusion Scandal, one thing is hard to argue with: the crisis management team at the White House is ineffective and probably non-existent. The first rule of crisis management is to avoid the drip-drip-drip of damaging evidence. Get out in front of the stories, explain everything — EVERYTHING — there is to explain and … Read More

Trump-Russia Collusion: An Incomplete [For Now} Timeline

Ken AshfordElection 2016, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

June 16th, 2015: Donald Trump announces his candidacy for President of the United States. Circa Summer 2015: The US government alleges that Russian hackers first gain access to DNC computer networks. Circa August 2015: Trump staff arranges first meeting between Trump and General Flynn, according to Flynn’s account in an August 2016 interview with The Washington Post. “I got a phone call … Read More

Collusion, Baby!

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

.@RealDonaldTrump since November: Russian collusion is a big fat hoax @DonaldJTrumpJr now: Yes, there was collusion – here are my emails — West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) July 11, 2017 With a few days off for breathless recovery, the Trump-Russia collusion scandal has been a steady stream of bombshells. A bug one dropped yesterday: Donald Trump Jr (a minor player up … Read More

Get Your Head In The Game!

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

At this week’s G-20 summit in Germany, one subject the world’s most powerful leaders are discussing is why Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman did not cooperate with U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials as they investigated cyberattacks against the Democratic National Committee, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter this morning. He did not explain why Podesta, who did not work … Read More

Trump Doesn’t Consider Intelligence Agencies To Be On His Team

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This is a very interesting exchange between a reporter and President Trump in Poland earlier today: .@HallieJackson: “You THINK it was Russia, your intelligence agencies say it WAS Russia, why won’t you say it was?” https://t.co/uUyeTu9chV — NBC News (@NBCNews) July 6, 2017 Note Trump’s response to Hallie Jackson.  He notes the reports that 17 intelligence agencies said it was … Read More

The First Hard Evidence of Collusion

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

And it comes from the staunch conservative outlet, The Wall Street Journal. New: GOP operative sought Clinton emails from Russian hackers, implied he was working with Mike Flynn. https://t.co/25qjKRRYRA — Shane Harris (@shaneharris) June 29, 2017 WSJ writes: Before the 2016 presidential election, a longtime Republican opposition researcher mounted an independent campaign to obtain emails he believed were stolen from … Read More