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Every time Trump’s team had contact with Russia – Metro US

Every time Trump’s team had contact with Russia

Every time Trump’s team had contact with Russia
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Since before President Trump’s inauguration, the public has seen a steady stream of reports alleging contact between members of his inner circle and the Kremlin. To the intelligence community, it appears as if these campaign and cabinet members may have even colluded with the Russian government to throw the 2016 election to the billionaire businessman.

It should be noted that while there’s no evidence at this time any of those discussions were about the election, the federal government is probing a number of these scandals for blackmail, improper contact and rigging the presidential election.

Trump could pay the price for these covert meetings, as some lawmakers think a probe into the president’s ties to Russia could “lead to” his impeachment.

Some of his cohorts have already been removed from their positions, are under federal investigation, or both. Others, however, are not.

Here’s what we know about each of these contacts:

Paul Manafort

Trump’s former campaign manager was paid millions to boost the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin at least from 2006 to 2009, an explosive report from the Associated Press revealed this week.

Manafort stepped down last summer after a New York Times report that unearthed a secret ledger listing $12.7 million paid out to Manafort by a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine, as well.

In the face of the most recent revelations, the White House has said there are “no suggestions” Manafort did anything wrong, adding that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also had ties to Russia.

Michael Flynn

The retired lieutenant general appointed to Trump’s national security adviser was forced to resign less than a month after the January 2017 inauguration for his contact with the Kremlin, which the Justice Department warned would make Flynn vulnerable to blackmail.

It was revealed in February that Flynn, who had also advised Carly Fiorina’s presidential campaign, had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to defend his conduct at a January Senate confirmation hearing, ub which hedenied contact with Russia during the 2016 campaign, during which he was an adviser to Trump.

The former Alabama lawmaker said he had no contact with the Kremlin when Sen. Al Franken asked what Sessions would do if reports of contact between Trump’s inner circle and Russia were true, but has still recused himself from probes into alleged Russian interference.

However he admitted in March that he’d met withSergey Kislyak, the same ambassador in contact with Flynn,twice during the campaign.

Carter Page

The same Times report that found Manafort’s payments from Ukraine also detailed investigations into Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser on Trump’s campaign, who reportedly also met with Kislyak.

Roger Stone

Roger Stone, an unofficial campaign adviser, was also identified by the Times for possessing knowledge of Clinton’s emails prior to WikiLeaks’ release last summer. Stone also became a topic of FBI Director James Comey’s hearing Monday, in which House Democrats pressed for answers as to how Stone could have obtained such information.

Earlier in March, Stone admitted that he had contact with the Twitter user responsible for the Democratic National Committee email hack, but he claimed those conversations were “innocuous.”

Jared Kushner

Trump’s son-in-law was reported to have met with Kislyak–the same man who met with Flynn, Sessions and Page – at Trump Tower between the election and Trump’s inauguration, The New Yorker reported.

According to the White House, that meeting was to establish “a more open line of communication in the future.”

JD Gordon

Former national security adviser to Trump’s campaign, JD Gordon, admitted to CNN that he met with Kislyak twice during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. One of those times, Page also attended.