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| Government |
| NSA O'Brien makes good on Trump promise, releases previously redacted Russia document |
| 2020-10-10 |
| [JustTheNews] National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien made good Friday on President Trump's transparency pledge in the Russia collusion case, releasing in its entirety a previously heavily redacted document from the Robert Mueller probe showing why Russian diplomats met with Trump in May 2017. The memo was first flagged in a footnote of Mueller's final investigative report on the Russia collusion probe in spring 2019, in part because the Lavrov meeting became the subject of a news media leak that claimed Trump called James Comey a "nut job" during the gathering and told the Russian foreign minister the FBI director had just been fired. The leak to the New York Times, which occurred nine days after the Lavrov meeting, was a stunning breach of the privacy that a U.S. president normally enjoys for non-public meetings with foreign leaders. The contents of such conversations are automatically classified to protect diplomatic sensitivities. The leaked conversation was used by the news media to further the narrative that Trump was somehow too close with the Russians and colluding with them to the detriment of American national security. It was also tied in media reports to the ongoing Russia collusion probe. Ciaramella's exchange with Kelly ‐ captured in the now unredacted email ‐ shows the May 2017 meeting between Russian diplomats and Trump was simply a routine diplomatic courtesy afforded Lavrov after Putin had agreed to meet Trump's then-new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier that spring. Officials even wrote the meeting had nothing to do with the Russia probe. |
| Posted by:Hupolurong Speasing3559 |