# data[].attributes.body
Russia Used Pokémon Go In Efforts To Meddle In 2016 Election

# data[].attributes.body
Two former intelligence chiefs blast Trump over Russia comments

# data[].attributes.body
Special counsel's office: Papadopoulos 'small part' of 'large scale investigation'

# data[].attributes.body
Manafort Indictment Reveals Trump Russia Collusion.

# data[].attributes.body
EVIDENCE OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION ALREADY EXISTS, WATERGATE PROSECUTORS SAY

# data[].attributes.body
Who did Manafort and Gates work for in Ukraine and Russia

# data[].attributes.body
Counting Trumps shady Russain dealings https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/11/13/trump-russia-manafort-papadopoulos-collusion-investigation-carter-campaign-sessions/856716001/

# data[].attributes.body
White House press feud erupts over ‘fake news’

# data[].attributes.body
s

Britain’s May slams Russia for election meddling and fake news (unlike President Trump)

# data[].attributes.body
Judge Muzzles Manafort Lawyers, Leaving Door Open For White House To Speak.

# data[].attributes.body
Trump and Sessions Denied knowing about Russian Contacts...

Investigators Probe Trump Knowledge of campaign's Russia...

# data[].attributes.body
Russia investigation: What we know and where it may head next

# data[].attributes.body
George Papadopoulos, First to Plead Guilty in Russia Inquiry

# data[].attributes.body
Russia investigation: What we know and where it may head next.

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/1113/Russia-investigation-What-we-know-and-where-it-may-head-next

# data[].attributes.body
Russia-Financed Ad Linked Clinton and Satan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"I'm disappointed that you're here, and not your C.E.O.s," said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine.

Lawmakers also complained that the companies had taken months to acknowledge Russia's interference on their sites.

"I have more than a little bit of frustration that many of us on this committee have been raising this issue since the beginning of this year, and our claims were, frankly, blown off by the leadership of your companies," said Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, and chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, spent Wednesday at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., talking to investors and analysts as they reported blockbuster quarterly earnings. The stocks of both Google and Facebook, which faced the most criticism in the hearings, are at record highs.

During the earnings call, Mr. Zuckerberg was unequivocal in his stance on the issue of Russian meddling in the election.

"I've expressed how upset I am that the Russians used our tools to sow mistrust," Mr. Zuckerberg said, noting that Facebook's profits will probably be affected by the amount of money the company will spend fighting abuse of its platform. Facebook said it plans to double the number of content reviewers it employs, to 20,000, and will try to add a greater degree of transparency into its advertising system.

"What they did is wrong, and we're not going to stand for it," Mr. Zuckerberg said.

The tech companies also provided new numbers on the reach of Russia's influence campaign. Facebook said an estimated 150 million users of its main site and its subsidiary, Instagram, were exposed to the posts, a larger figure than it provided even as recently as Monday.

During the last of the three hearings, members of the House Intelligence Committee spoke in front of posters displaying the content, complaining that it was divisive.

Representative André Carson, Democrat of Indiana, said an account called Being Patriotic, which amassed 200,000 followers, pushed out content that "cynically exploits grieving officers and their loved ones in order to pit Americans concerned about our law enforcement personnel against Americans concerned about African-American lives lost during police encounters."

The account was created by the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency.

"My concern is that a dictator like Vladimir Putin abused flaws in our social media platforms to inject the worst kind of identity politics into the voting decisions of at least 100 million Americans," Mr. Carson said, referring to the Russian president.

Facebook has found a particularly vocal set of critics on the Congressional Black Caucus, of which Mr. Carson is a member along with Representative Terri A. Sewell, Democrat of Alabama. Together, they pressed Facebook to grapple with its role in promoting racial animus.

Ms. Sewell cited figures showing few blacks in Facebook's work force and its leadership - a lack of diversity that she said made it hard to believe that those reviewing socially divisive ads could spot problematic posts.

The hearings exposed a growing rift between Silicon Valley and Washington, where sentiment toward big tech companies has drastically shifted.

While the lawyers showed humility and promised to beef up security and improve technology to prevent foreign interference in elections, they admitted they could not guarantee they would prevent future intrusions. Google's general counsel, Kent Walker, said the company would work on creating new technologies to detect foreign actors and misinformation on its site. All three said they would build artificial intelligence tools to combat fake and problematic content.

Some lawmakers used the hearings to stake a position on the influence of the Kremlin's social media use in the election. The conclusions, particularly among senators, split along political lines. Republicans offered an implicit defense of the legitimacy of President Trump's victory and dismissed the effect of Russian meddling.

"A lot of folks, including many in the media, have tried to reduce this entire conversation down to one premise: Foreign actors conducted a surgically executed covert operation to help elect a United States president," said Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee. "I'm here to tell you this story does not simplify that easily."

Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, emphasized that the real intent of Russian propaganda was to broadly spread misinformation and create chaos.

"These operations - while we're talking about the 2016 presidential race - they're not limited to 2016, and they were not limited to the presidential race, and they continue to this day," he said. "They are much more widespread than one election."

Such comments offered a rare view into the Senate committee's investigation, which has largely played out over the past nine months in secured briefing rooms. Publicly and in private, Mr. Burr and Mr. Warner have taken pains to preserve bipartisan comity, and their success has set the committee apart from the other panels investigating Russia's efforts.

But the difference in their emphasis on Wednesday also underscored the political realities buffeting their work. In advancing an investigation tied to Mr. Trump, Mr. Burr has been careful to make clear that the committee's work is larger than an individual candidate, and he has repeatedly tried to tamp down expectations about what it might find.

Democrats did not have such reticence.

"Whether the Russians and the campaign coordinated these efforts, we do not yet know, but it is true that the Russians mounted what could be described as an independent expenditure campaign on Mr. Trump's behalf," said Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico, also took aim at Mr. Trump's dismissal of the role of Russia-linked social media in his win. Mr. Heinrich challenged Colin Stretch, Facebook's general counsel, to acknowledge such content and the role that fake accounts linked to Russia and other misinformation had in the election.

"Last month, President Trump called Russian-purchased Facebook ads a 'hoax,'" Mr. Heinrich said. "I've looked at those Russian-sponsored Facebook ads. I certainly hope you've had a chance to review them. Are they, in fact, a hoax?"

Mr. Stretch said no. "The existence of those ads were on Facebook," he said, "and it was not a hoax."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
russian interference in 2016 us elections and ties to trump associates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Cecilia Kang, Nicholas Fandos and Mike Isaac

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Russia-Financed Ad Linked Clinton and Satan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"I'm disappointed that you're here, and not your C.E.O.s," said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine. Lawmakers also complained that the companies had taken months to acknowledge Russia's interference on their sites.

# data[].attributes.body
How to Find a Smoking Gun in the Russia Investigation

# data[].attributes.body
Sessions faces grilling about Russia's outreach to Trump campaign

# data[].attributes.body
- I to find a smoking gun in the Russian Investigation.

- 7 signs Robert Mueller's Russia investigation is getting serious.

- Democrats, Russians and the FBI.

- Trump and the Russia investigation: What to know | Fox News

- Trump-Russia Investigation - CNNPolitics - CNN.com

- The Russia investigation timeline - CBS News

# data[].attributes.body
Britain's May slams Russia for election meddling and fake news (unlike President Trump)

# data[].attributes.body
Trump team seeks to control, block Mueller's Russia investigation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence Election. Katie O'Neill

# data[].attributes.subject
Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence Election. Katie O'Neill

# data[].attributes.body
1) Donald Trump Jr communicated with WikiLeaks during final stages of election
------------------------------------------------------
2) Pence denies knowing about Trump Jr. WikiLeaks contacts

# data[].attributes.body
Week after bombshell, George Papadopoulos largely remains a mystery man

# data[].attributes.body
Lies 'Dirt' and Expert Opinions: Trump's George Papadopoulos and His Ties to Israel's Gas Monopoly

# data[].attributes.body
Lewandowski: Sure, Russians meddled -- to help Clinton

# data[].attributes.body
Russia investigation: What we know and where it may head next https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/1113/Russia-investigation-What-we-know-and-where-it-may-head-next

# data[].attributes.body
Is Trump Next Suspect in Russia Investigation

# data[].attributes.headline
The Secret Correspondence Between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks 

# data[].attributes.subject
The Secret Correspondence Between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-secret-correspondence-between-donald-trump-jr-and-wikileaks/545738/
Max W

# data[].attributes.body
Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian to Discuss ‘Dirt’ on Clinton

# data[].attributes.body
Russia, the blizzard of lies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
And the president of the United States - whose campaign is a subject of that investigation - keeps lying about it.

He has denounced his intelligence agencies' findings as a "hoax" and the multiple investigations as a "witch hunt." His White House has lied about his campaign's contacts with Russians. He reportedly helped his elder son write an untruthful statement about a meeting with a Russian lawyer. And then the president's lawyer lied about the drafting of the statement.

Trump added to the blizzard yesterday, with a reckless tweet suggesting that the F.B.I., the Democrats and Russia colluded to compile a dossier with damaging (and speculative) information about his Russia ties.

Take a moment to reflect on this: As Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist, put it, "the president of United States just accused the FBI of engaging in treason with Russia."

The accusation reminded me of a Lawfare piece written by Bob Bauer, a former White House counsel to Barack Obama. The piece is called, "A President's Words Matter." It explains the dire implications of a president who "deliberately and continuously misrepresents to the public the grounds for an ongoing criminal investigation."

Trump's repeated lies may - intentionally or not - encourage witnesses to lie to investigators, Bauer notes. They may also make Trump vulnerable to an impeachment charge. One of the articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon alleged "false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States."

Gold Star. The Trump lie that received the most attention yesterday wasn't about Russia, of course. It was about his phone call with Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, a Special Forces soldier killed in action this month. On the call, Trump told her that her late husband "knew what he signed up for."

How is the Trump-friendly media covering the story? Here is a selection:

Sean Hannity, on his television show: "The president reportedly also said, 'he knew what he signed up for, but when it happens, it really hurts. It still hurts.' The media is leaving that part out in most instances.... Let's assume that maybe the president was slightly inarticulate in his offer of condolences to the sergeant's widow. Let's assume for just a second. Isn't what the president's saying here that anybody who signs up for the military, they know the danger, they're courageous, they're heroes?"

Michelle Malkin, a conservative commentator, tweeted: "This is hearsay, uncorroborated, and out of context pot-stirring by Dem partisans riding the impeachment bandwagon - and recycled by lemmings masquerading as journalists. #fakenews"

The Federalist has focused on the White House's criticism of "a congresswomen who politicized the death of a Gold Star soldier" and, more broadly, decried politicians - especially Democrats - for politicizing military service.

In The Times, the actress Lupita Nyong'o describes her own experiences of being targeted by Harvey Weinstein. "I speak up to make certain that this is not the kind of misconduct that deserves a second chance. I speak up to contribute to the end of the conspiracy of silence."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
russian interference in 2016 us elections and ties to trump associates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
And the president of the United States - whose campaign is a subject of that investigation - keeps lying about it. He has denounced his intelligence agencies' findings as a "hoax" and the multiple investigations as a "witch hunt." His White House has lied about his campaign's contacts with Russians.

# data[].attributes.body
Papadopoulos said he had a message from Russia one day after learning of Clinton 'dirt'