Day 499 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama. #fakenews #TrumpLies
Day 286 since the deadliest mass shooting on U.S soil in Las Vegas that killed 58, injured 546 and Congress has taken NO action to prevent future mass shootings. #NeverForget
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan defends allowing the 'Trump Baby' balloon to fly: "It's not my job to censor the views of Londoners." (via BBC)
Trump, at the NATO summit, reportedly fist-bumped the authoritarian Turksh leader Recep Erdogan and said, 'He does things the right way.'
cbsnews.com/news/trump-fis…
Trump to Finnish Pres Sauli Niinistö, per pool: "I enjoyed being with you a couple of days ago. NATO has, I think, never been stronger. It was a little bit tough at the beginning, but it turned out to be love. I appreciated your support."
Finland is NOT a member of NATO.
Russian Foreign Ministry agrees with Trump that the U.S.-Russia relationship never been worse due to U.S. foolishness.
Trump does not mention election hacking or the 12 indicted Russians when laying out the topics for his meeting with Putin.
Trump then says, "I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship." (via ABC)
After calling Russia, China, and the European Union "foes," Trump refers to President Xi and China as a "mutual friend" of the U.S. and Russia.
HELSINKI (AP) — After more than two-hour one-on-one meeting, Trump declares a 'very good start' to summit with Putin.
2 hours. One-on-one. What was discussed in private???
Trump meets with President Vladimir Putin during a luncheon at the The Presidential Palace in Helsinki Finland.
Look at Putin's expression. Like the cat who ate the canary. #TrumpPutinSummit
Ex-CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden on CNN: "This is a great day for Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation ... Just by agreeing to show up, I think Putin has pocketed almost everything he needs for the domestic audience at home."
@BuzzFeedBen: "Do you think Vladimir Putin has anything on him?"
@SenJeffMerkley: "I think it's likely."
Smith: "Your view is that the pee tape is real?"
Merkley: "Something close to that. Something close to that."
From @AM2DM:
NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell says a man, apparently a reporter with The Nation, was removed from the Trump-Putin press conference after heckling.
The man returned to collect his belongings, held up a sign and was then forcibly removed from the room.
Trump, when asked whether he believes in his own U.S. Intelligence Community or Putin on Russian hacking, Trump responds: "I don't see any reason why it would be [Russia.]" (via ABC)
Ex-FBI Asst. Dir. Frank Figliuzzi: "In 25 yrs of working counterintel for this government, I never thought that I would sit here and watch a U.S. president castigate and denigrate the U.S. Intelligence Community ... standing alongside the leader of an adversarial country."
John Brennan: "I'm at a loss ... One can only conclude that he fears Vladimir Putin and that one-on-one discussion — who knows what was discussed there — and how Mr. Putin now is the master puppeteer of Donald Trump, the person who is in our oval office. Outrageous."
Chuck Schumer: "Millions of Americans will continue to wonder if the only possible explanation for this dangerous behavior is the possibility that President Putin holds damaging information over Trump."
Heading into the summit, the White House had planned for Trump to "push Putin" at the news conference, one White House official tells WSJ.
"Obviously, it didn't happen," the official said.
wsj.com/articles/trump…
"I honestly had little to no good expectations for this," said a Sr. Trump appointee.
"Trump looked incredibly weak up there. Putin looks like a champion," the official said. “I'd like to say I'm shocked but this is the world in which we live now." thedailybeast.com/trumps-own-tea…
Dictionary .com throwing some shade...
Germany's foreign minister: "We can no longer completely rely on the White House." reuters.com/article/us-usa…
A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General.
bit.ly/2JtLbQS
From affidavit: "US Person 1 worked with BUTINA to jointly arrange introductions to US persons having influence in American politics, including an organization promoting gun rights...for the purpose of advancing the agenda of the Russia Federation."
bit.ly/2JtLbQS
Maria Butina acted "an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with U.S. persons & infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation."
bit.ly/2JtLbQS
Mariia Butina, a Russian who reached out to the NRA, wanted to arrange a Trump-Putin meeting during the 2016 election. This is a passage from the Butina affidavit. bit.ly/2JtLbQS
Maria Butina, Russian who reached out to the NRA, just got indicted for acting as a Russian agent without registering. @timkmak has done great reporting on her:
thedailybeast.com/the-kremlin-an…
The Washington Times' story on Butina doesn't mention that one of the Americans she cultivated was...their former opinions editor washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/…
DNI Coats said last week that the U.S.'s digital infrastructure is "literally under attack" and warned that among state actors, Russia is the "worst offender."
Trump told CBS News: "I don't know if I agree with that."
cbsnews.com/news/trump-don…
Rand Paul to travel to Russia after saying it’s “waste of time” to hold Putin accountable for election interference hill.cm/mj5uQmv
Facebook, which is "fighting fake news," gave $1000 to Devin Nunes' reelection campaign on June 29
goo.gl/BM8Pp9
One of Trump's campaign committees received $169,500 from a real estate developer who partnered with the Kushner family to sell the retail space at 666 Fifth Avenue.
nytimes.com/2018/07/15/us/…
A lawsuit filed by a group of renters claims the real estate company formerly headed by Jared Kushner exposed children to cancer-causing substances as part of a campaign to push rent-stabilized tenants out of their apartments.
nydn.us/2uoMmwm
In case you missed yesterday's thread:
Sources close to the W.H. tell NBC News that DNI Dan Coats' statement today—the one that contradicted Trump's assessment of American intelligence shortly after Trump's press conference ended—was not approved by the West Wing prior to its release. nbcnews.com/politics/white…
Protesters outside the White House getting pretty loud tonight
Trump is back at White House after his flight from Helsinki — and didn’t speak at all to the press corps traveling with him, per @margarettalev.
Reporters on the south lawn shouted questions including "any response to being called a traitor?" — but no answer.