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Clinton Campaign: FBI Must Release Information About Trump’s Russia Ties

Clinton Campaign: FBI Must Release Information About Trump’s Russia Ties

By Roberta Rampton and Mark Hosenball

WHITE PLAINS, New York/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top aide to Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged the FBI to disclose what it knows about any ties between Republican Donald Trump and Russia, accusing the law enforcement agency of unfairly publicizing its inquiry into Clinton’s email practices while staying quiet about Trump.

A week before Election Day, the Clinton campaign has been trying to contain damage from FBI Director James Comey’s announcement on Friday of new emails that might pertain to Clinton’s use of a private server while secretary of state.

Trump seized on the revelation to intensify his criticism of a rival he has long dubbed “Crooked Hillary” and welcomed a slight improvement for him in a new ABC/Washington Post poll on Tuesday.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook questioned why the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director had not released any information about its investigation into Russia’s role in the U.S. election or ties to Trump and his senior aides.

“If you’re in the business of releasing information about investigations on presidential candidates, release everything you have on Donald Trump. Release the information on his connections to the Russians,” Mook said on CNN.

“They don’t say a thing when it comes to Donald Trump and investigations against him, yet when it comes to Hillary Clinton, for some reason, they are more than happy to talk.”

The FBI opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that Trump or his associates might have had questionable dealings with Russian individuals or businesses, but found no evidence to warrant opening a full investigation, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The inquiry reviewed allegations that Trump or his associates might have engaged in contacts or commerce with individuals subject to U.S. or international financial sanctions or violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

U.S. intelligence agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, which generally are barred from investigating or spying on U.S. citizens, did not investigate Trump or his alleged dealings in Russia, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security recently declared that they had concluded that the Russian government was trying to disrupt or discredit the U.S. presidential election and the broader U.S. political process by hacking into Democratic Party and Clinton campaign emails.

The United States has blamed Russia for cyber attacks on Democratic Party organizations.

An article in Slate said that a group of computer scientists had been alarmed by records showing thousands of apparent connection attempts between a mail server operated on behalf of the Trump Organization and computers inside a Russian company, Alfa Bank in Moscow.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the server in question, which had been used to send out hotel marketing material, had been dormant for years.

SHIFTING FOCUS

The Clinton campaign has been furiously pressing the FBI to provide details on the new trove of emails, which Comey said may or may not be significant in the case. Little is publicly known yet about the emails, other than that they were found during an unrelated probe into Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

In an effort to shift the focus back to Trump’s vulnerabilities, the Clinton campaign released a provocative new ad raising the specter of a possible nuclear war if Trump is elected president. Clinton emphasized the message that Trump has a bad temper and an overly cavalier attitude toward nuclear weapons at rallies in the battleground state of Ohio on Monday.

The FBI spent a year investigating Clinton’s use of a private email server, instead of government systems, while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Comey concluded in July that while Clinton and her staff had been “extremely careless” in handling classified information, there were no grounds for any charges.

Comey has said he released more information about the investigation than is typical because of election year sensitivities.

“If Director Comey was so concerned about how information would be handled and about the reputation of the FBI, why did he release this letter that was full of innuendo and absolutely no facts?” Mook said on CNN, referring to Comey’s letter to members of Congress on Friday.

The New York Times also assailed Comey, accusing him in an editorial in its Tuesday edition of sending “a brief, inscrutable, election-shaking letter” in a “breathtakingly rash and irresponsible decision.” (http://nyti.ms/2dYvJ4J)

The FBI announcement 11 days before the Nov. 8 presidential election blindsided Clinton, who had extended her lead over Trump in opinion polls after the release last month of a 2005 video in which the Republican bragged in vulgar terms about groping women.

Opinion polls show Clinton’s lead has narrowed slightly since early last week. It was not known if the email controversy would hurt her support.

Clinton held a 5-point lead over Trump in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, supported by 44 percent of likely voters, compared with Trump at 39 percent.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, John Walcott, and Joseph Menn; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Jeff Mason; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)

IMAGE: Robby Mook, Campaign Manager for U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and Communications Director Jen Palmieri (L) talk to reporters onboard the campaign plane enroute to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. October 28, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Debate: Pence Pushes Harder Line On Russia Than Putin’s Pal Trump

Debate: Pence Pushes Harder Line On Russia Than Putin’s Pal Trump

By Ginger Gibson and Alana Wise

FARMVILLE, Va. (Reuters) – Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “small and bullying leader” on Tuesday and condemned his actions in Syria, taking a harder line than Donald Trump at a contentious debate with Democratic rival Tim Kaine.

Pence’s denunciation of Putin for his interference in the Syrian civil war and support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a departure from the frequent praise of Putin by Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, who has called him a better leader than U.S. President Barack Obama and said he could work with him.

“The small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the United States,” Pence said. “The greatest nation on earth just withdraws from talks about a ceasefire, while Vladimir Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria.”

The encounter between Pence and Kaine, who is number two to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, was the only such debate between the vice presidential contenders before the Nov. 8 election, and the two spent most of their time attacking each other’s running mates.

For more than 90 minutes at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, neither Pence nor Kaine appeared to deliver a knockout punch. Pence sought to project an image as a reassuring presence to the bombastic Trump, while Kaine tried to frighten voters away from Trump and make Clinton seem more trustworthy.

A CNN/ORC snap poll declared Pence the winner with 48 percent support, compared with Kaine’s 42 percent.

It set the table for a second presidential debate looming on Sunday in St. Louis between Clinton and Trump, who needs to rebound from a rocky performance from his first debate, one that gave Clinton a boost in national opinion polls with Election Day only five weeks away.

Pence’s comments raised eyebrows among establishment Republicans as to whether the governor of Indiana was breaking ranks with Trump on Russia. Trump himself earlier in the day condemned Russian bombing in Syria after the United States withdrew from ceasefire talks with Russia.

Conservatives who do not support Trump liked Pence’s view.

“Pence’s foreign policy is fine. Too bad it isn’t Trump’s,” tweeted Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine.

Pence said “the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength” and that if Russia chooses to continue to be involved in “barbaric” attacks on civilians, “the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime.”

Pence’s blunt comments on Russia, more in line with thinking by traditional Republicans, came in response to Kaine’s charge that Trump was too cozy with the Russian leader.

Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia, said Clinton would be tough in dealing with Putin.

“Donald Trump, again and again, has praised Vladimir Putin. And it’s clear that he has business dealings with Russian oligarchs who are very connected to Putin,” Kaine said.

Democrats were quick to point out the discrepancy between Trump and his running mate on Russia.

“All of a sudden we hear tough talk about Vladimir Putin. It’s the exact opposite of what Donald Trump has been saying,” said Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.

Pence’s toughened position on Russia gave him an opening to declare that Clinton had been outfoxed when she attempted a U.S. reset in relations with Russia when she was Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Bickering between Kaine and Pence was so intense that they frequently talked over each other. Kaine was seen by television commentators as being overprepared and overeager as he circled back to Trump’s refusal to release his tax records at almost every opportunity.

Kaine called the Republican presidential nominee a danger to U.S. national security and someone who denigrates women and minorities and appears to pay little in federal taxes.

Kaine drew Pence’s ire by hearkening back to a remark from former Republican President Ronald Reagan that some fool or maniac with a nuclear weapon could trigger a catastrophic event.

“And I think that’s who Governor Pence’s running mate is,” Kaine said.

Pence shot back: “Senator, senator, that was even beneath you and Hillary Clinton and that’s pretty low.”

Kaine repeatedly sought to persuade Pence to defend Trump’s positions, but Pence steadfastly refused to take the bait.

One of Kaine’s most aggressive lines of attack was over Trump’s refusal to release his tax records, a decision that breaks with the practice of all other presidential nominees in modern history.

The New York Times reported last weekend that Trump had taken a $916 million tax loss in 1995 and may have avoided paying federal taxes for 18 years because of it.

“Governor Pence had to give Donald Trump his tax returns to show he is qualified to be vice president. Donald Trump has to give his tax returns to show he is qualified to be president,” Kaine said.

Pence defended Trump, saying the New York real estate developer had created thousands of jobs and had used U.S. tax laws as they were designed to be used.

“Why won’t he release his taxes?” Kaine fired back.

(Writing by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington and Emily Stephenson in Colorado and Chris Kahn in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)