U.S. Special Counsel Investigates British Spy’s Trump Dossier
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have met with former British spy Christopher Steele to discuss his dossier on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Russia ties, according to an unidentified person familiar with the investigation.
Steele, a former M16 agent, compiled accounts from Russian businessmen and possible intelligence agents describing connections to Trump associates. The dossier, which contends that Russia amassed compromising personal and financial allegations about Trump, was turned over to the FBI last year.
The report was leaked to the U.S. news website BuzzFeed in January 2017.
GOP Congressman Met With Russian Lawyer of Interest
Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who offered Donald Trump Jr. compromising material on Hillary Clinton during a 2016 trip to Moscow.
Veselnitskaya appeared Wednesday on the pro-Kremlin news channel News Front to say that she had been lobbying for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act.
U.S. Senator Warns of Continued Russian Meddling
At a press conference Thursday, Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, warned that Russian meddling could continue into future elections.
“The Russian intelligence service is determined — clever — and I recommend that every campaign and every election official take this very seriously,” Burr said.
Senate Panel Invites Social Media Companies to Testify
Facebook, Google and Twitter have been invited to testify at the Nov. 1 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said Thursday that his committee would not publish any documents submitted by Facebook but encouraged Facebook itself to do so. “At the end of the day it’s important that the public sees these ads,” Warner said.
Russian-Generated Fake News Throws Idaho Town Into Turmoil
NBC News published a video report Thursday detailing how Russian operatives running fake Facebook accounts threw an Idaho town into a tailspin.
Last year the Facebook page Secured Borders called for an anti-refugee rally in the small town of Twin Falls where right-wing groups were already actively anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim.
How to Buy Political Ads on Facebook — If You’re a Russian Journalist
Russian journalist Alexey Kovalev is testing the Facebook ad system by trying to purchase a political message using rubles.
His ad request was still “under review” a day after placing his order.
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