Russia

The latest Trump foreign policy keeps getting stranger by the minute. Overnight, as the three liberal-leaning US newspaper launched another attack on Trump, alleging that officials linked to the president, most notably Tim Manafort, engaged Russian intel officials in the not too distant past, the Russian government dismissed allegations that the country’s intelligence officials were in repeated contact with Donald Trump’s team ahead of the US election.

With the news cycle once again squarely focused on Mike Flynn in particular, and the Trump Administration's ties to Russia in general following a volley of news last night from NYT, WaPo and CNN that Trump advisors allegedly communicated with members of Russian intellgience in the year preceding the election, it was expected that Trump's first comment of the day would be focused on the story du jour, and sure enough in his first tweet on Wednesday, President Trump blasted the “fake news media,” saying it is “going crazy with conspiracy theories and blind hatred.”

Five hundred US troops and tanks have arrived in Romania in preparation for a showdown with Russia.  The troops arrived in a Romanian Black Sea port on Tuesday as part of a move to help support NATO deal with so-called “Russian aggression.” Presstv.com reports: US Ambassador Hans G. Klemm said the troops would be stationed in an airbase in the country’s east on a rotating basis.

US intelligence officials say they have found ties between Calexit leader Louis Marinelli and a far-right nationalist group in Russia.  According to authorities, Louis Marinelli, who is leading the initiative to make California into its own country, may be secretly working for the Russians who love the idea of a California seceding. Abc7news.com reports: Marinelli is an American who lives in Russia, but his movement is getting a lot of attention stateside. A recent Reuters poll found one in three Californians support the idea of withdrawing from the United States.

As The White House tries to put the Flynn disappointment behind them, The New York Times appears to be resurrecting an old story with a new angle to keep the 'blame the Russians' narrative alive. Following FISA court approval (to spy on Trump's campaign), intercepted calls reportedly show "repeated contact" between Trump advisor Paul Manafort and senior Russian intelligence officials... but reveal no collusion.