Lately, there has been mounting suspicion amongst Americans as to what exactly is going on between the U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin. President Trump has concealed many of his conversations with the Russian President from the past couple of years. With Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testifying on February 7th, the tension as to whether Trump does have something to hide or not continues to mount.
An Investigation
On January 14th President Trump finally said that he had never worked for Russia. This would be his first direct denial for working for Russia after a report that the FBI in 2017 investigated whether he had acted against U.S. interests. [1]
“Not only did I never work for Russia, I think it’s a disgrace that you even asked that question because it’s a whole big fat hoax,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House
Last Friday the FBI opened an investigation after President Trump fired FBI Director, James Comey. [2]
President Trump: “I never worked for Russia. And you know that answer better than anybody. I never worked for Russia. Not only did I never work for Russia, I think it’s a disgrace that you even asked that question because it’s a whole big fat hoax. It’s just a hoax.” pic.twitter.com/gBmgi8mWyL
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 14, 2019
It’s Nothing
Current and former U.S. officials reported that on one occasion at least, President Trump has taken the notes of his interpreter along with instructing his linguist not to discuss what had happened with other administration officials. [3]
This was after his 2017 meeting with Putin in Hamburg. The matter was brought to light after U.S. officials wanted more information from the interpreter. Congressional Democrats have raised the possibility of subpoenaing the translator.
Hamburg is not the only meeting Trump has had with Russia in private though. Earlier last summer Trump had a meeting in Helsinki which no U.S. Cabinet officials or aides attended. In 2017 Trump met Putin at a global conference in Hamburg. They had a meeting where only Putin’s interpreter was present. [4]
On Monday lawyers from the House Intelligence and House Foreign Affairs committees are expected to meet to decide on whether to issue a subpoena to President Trump’s interpreter from his visit with the Russian President last year.
Notes:
- ^“Trump’s call-in to Fox News backfires, and he may have committed a felony in the process.” Daily Kos, 14 Jan. 2019, www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/14/1826089/-Trump-s-call-in-to-Fox-News-backfires-and-he-may-have-committed-a-felony-in-the-process. (go back ↩)
- ^Miller, Greg. “Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration.” Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-has-concealed-details-of-his-face-to-face-encounters-with-putin-from-senior-officials-in-administration/2019/01/12/65f6686c-1434-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html. (go back ↩)
- ^Mason, Jeff. “Trump: ‘I never worked for Russia’.” U.S, 14 Jan. 2019, www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/trump-i-never-worked-for-russia-idUSKCN1P81NM?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews. (go back ↩)
- ^DeYoung, Karen and Philip Rucker. “Trump had undisclosed hour-long meeting with Putin at G-20 summit.” Washington Post, 19 July 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-had-undisclosed-hour-long-meeting-with-putin-at-g20-summit/2017/07/18/39c18dd4-6bd0-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html. (go back ↩)
