Times reported several trump aides had repeated contacts with russian intelligence in the year runup before the election. They cite electronic intercepts. Just today a question along those same lines was asked of sean spicer at the briefing. Back in january, the president said that nobody in his campaign had been in touch with the russians. Now, today, can you still say definitively that nobody on the Trump Campaign, not even General Flynn, had any contact with the russians before the election . My understanding is that what General Flynn has now expressed is that during the transition period well, we were very clear that during the transition period he did speak with the ambassador m talking about during the campaign. There is nothing that would conclude to me that anything has changed with respect to that time period. A quick timeline with how we got here. December 29, the Obama Administration reveals new sanctions on russia. December 30. Putin says russia will not retaliate. That sa
Office. Mike flynn, the National Security adviser, resigned almost exactly 24 hours ago. The central issue behind all of this, however crazy this once sounded, is this. How much influence have russia and Vladimir Putin had on our country, on our president ial election and in the Trump White House . And how far up does it reach . The fbi has a large and sweeping investigation underway. There will be investigations and hearings in congress, and today with a straight face, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said donald trump has been tough on russia. It was laughable because donald trump has grabbed every opportunity to speak so warmly, so glowingly about Vladimir Putin and russia. Virtually no one else in American Public life speaks warmly and glowingly about Vladimir Putin. Between investigators and journalists aided by an unprecedented flurry of weaponized leaks, there is a lot more to come to light. Just tonight the New York Times reported several trump aides had repeated contact
about it, they cannot understand why it went on for so long. hey, jeremy, your former boss, leon panetta, who is not given to hyperbole, said something today that really got the attention of a lot of people. quote, i ve never been so nervous in my lifetime about what may or may not happen in washington. i don t know whether this white house is capable of responding in a thoughtful or careful way should a crisis erupt. you can do hit and miss stuff over a period of time, but at some point i don t give a damn what your particular sense of change is about, you can t afford to have change become chaos. i talked to him and that is a mild way of how he is feeling. leon and carla panetta made their way from ellis island, raised their children.
mild way of how he is feeling. leon and carla panetta made their way from ellis island, raised their children. he worked for nixon and came to congress as a democrat or for bill clinton as a white house chief of staff and budget director and then served as secretary of defense. this is a person who has dedicated his life to national security and bipartisanship, i should say. he believes that vet fabric of our government is tearing apart. the ability to protect our country is tearing apart, the ability for washington to function properly is tearing apart, and i think he s very, very worried about the tone being set by this administration and particularly about the deceit that is coming forward from the white house about this and other issues. a little bit of housekeeping there. we just showed a photo of former