Putin bromance has US intelligence officials fearing second Trump term

Trump praised the Russian president as a “genius” and “pretty savvy” when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, and has boasted he would end the war in a “day”, sparking critics’ fears that if he’s elected again Trump would help Russia achieve a favorable peace deal by cutting off aid to Kyiv. Trump also recently …

How Putin Co-Opted the Republican Party

Donald Trump, the former President and current Republican frontrunner for renomination, has stubbornly refused to condemn Russia or President Vladimir Putin for their role in Navalny’s death in a remote arctic prison. In turn, he blamed Navalny for returning to Russia after an earlier attempt on his life—he would have been better served “staying away …

Russia-linked Biden accuser charged with lying? Who cares, Republicans say

Republicans were not listening. Charges against Smirnov and news of his links with Russian intelligence did not “change the fundamental facts” of the case, Jordan told reporters, rehashing claims about Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian energy company and the supposed involvement of his father. [...] Comer, the leader of the impeachment effort, also showed little …

Anti-Ukraine rhetoric has saturated right-wing media. Now it is helping to deliver actual war victories to Putin

That atrophy has taken form in Congress where U.S. funding to continue aid for Ukraine has stalled, threatening even more devastating defeats for the Eastern European nation as it struggles to defend its borders from the brutal Russian invasion launched by Putin two years ago this week. [...] It was little more than a decade …

Indicted ex-FBI informant told investigators he got Hunter Biden dirt from Russian intelligence officials

The former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine told investigators after his arrest that Russian intelligence officials were involved in passing information to him about Hunter Biden, prosecutors said Tuesday in a new court filing, noting that the information was false. Prosecutors also said Alexander Smirnov has been “actively peddling new lies …

FBI informant who lied about Bidens’ Ukraine ties had contact with Russians – prosecutors

Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge to keep Alexander Smirnov behind bars while he awaits trial. He’s charged with falsely reporting to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and the president $5m each in 2015 or 2016. The claim has been central to …

Tucker Carlson (R) gets roasted for praising decades-old shopping cart tech in Russia

In a recent clip following his interview with Vladimir Putin that left the Russian president disappointed at his softball questions, Carlson expresses amazement at a security feature on a grocery store shopping cart. To unlock the cart, the mechanism requires a 10-Ruble coin (around 11 US cents), which is spit back out after the cart …

Biden officials confront limits of federal response in exercise preparing for 2024 election threats

After a relatively quiet midterm in 2022, federal officials tasked with election security are preparing for a range of potential threats, and are expecting hackers from Russia, China and Iran to be active, while viral conspiracy theorists are poised to pounce on any voting glitch to falsely cry fraud. Former President Donald Trump’s lies about …

Opinion: Does GOP really want to solve the border crisis?

Right-wing resistance is entirely consistent with a Trump-ified GOP that is more willing to demagogue an issue than actually deal with it. In an interview with Fox News Wednesday night, Johnson confirmed he’s also been getting pressure from Trump to reject the bipartisan Senate deal. Apparently, the art of the deal only applies if Trump gets credit. The MAGA crew would …

The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump

Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said. In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found. The binder …