Updates | The Week of October 2, 2017
Eve Levin // 10/8/17 //
Leaked emails revealed that Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort attempted to use his campaign position to solicit money from Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Russian government, report Julia Ioffe and Franklin Foer in The Atlantic.
Documents turned over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller reveal that Trump campaign staffers and Trump Organization employees had previously undisclosed contacts with individuals tied to the Russian government (WaPo).
Facebook turned over to Congressional investigators approximately 3,000 advertisements related to the 2016 election that were placed by entities tied to the Russian government (NYT).
- At least one of the advertisements included images of an African-American woman firing a gun, in what may have been an effort to simultaneously encourage militancy in African-American communities and induce fears in white communities (WaPo).
- Facebook plans to add over 1,000 staffers to review questionable advertisements (WSJ).
Senator Richard Burr has concluded that Jared Kushner had no intent to mislead the Senate Intelligence Committee when he failed to reveal the existence of his private email account (CNN).
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump sent and received hundreds of emails related to White House business on a previously undisclosed account on their private email server (Politico).
The Senate Judiciary Committee was denied access to CIA materials related to Russian interference (Politico).
Special Counsel Robert Mueller asked his team of lawyers to research the limits of the pardon power (Bloomberg; The Hill).
Evidence is mounting that the White House is increasingly concerned about damaging findings from the Russia investigation, writes Ryan Goodman at Just Security.
Senator Ron Wyden asked six voting machine manufacturers for information about their cybersecurity efforts and whether their machines could have been hacked (The Hill).
Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee cautioned that the government should expect Russian attempts to interfere with upcoming elections (NYT).
Senate Intelligence Committee leaders also announced their conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections (WaPo, The Hill).
Congress will need to press the Trump Administration to support measures against future Russian interference, argues Bob Bauer at Just Security.
Senator John McCain stated that the Senate Armed Services Committee will support efforts to challenge Russia’s disinformation campaign in the United States (The Hill).
Russian state hackers stole data from the NSA on American cyber defense (WSJ).