Checklist for the Trump-Russian Investigation (verified News Sources)

If you're trying to keep track of the  the Trump-Russia investigation, here's a handy checklist  of happenings from CREDIBLE news sources like CNN, NBC news, U.K. Independent (not Fox news) in date order. 

Source 1:  OCT 26 2017, 8:41 AM ET

by CHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY and CARRIE DANN, First Read is your briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit 
TIMELINE

·         Jan. 6: Intel community details that Russia interfered in the 2016 election— to hurt Hillary Clinton and benefit Trump.

·         Feb. 13: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigns just after the Washington Post first reported that the Justice Department had informed the White House that Flynn could be subject to blackmail after misleading statements about his interaction with Russia's ambassador.

·         Feb. 14: The New York Times reports that Trump's 2016 campaign "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials."

·         Feb. 14: Then FBI Director James Comey met at White House with Trump, where Trump tells him: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," the president says, per a memo Comey wrote about the meeting. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."

·         March 1: The Washington Post reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Russia's envoy twice in 2016 -- which Sessions didn't disclose in his confirmation hearing.

·         March 2: Sessions recuses himself from any federal inquiries involving Trump's 2016 campaign.

·         March 20: Comey confirms his agency is investigation allegations that Trump's 2016 campaign might have contacts with Russian entities.

·         May 9: Trump fires Comey. The original explanation is that it was due to how Comey handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation — and was based on the recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

·         May 10: In Oval Office meeting, Trump tells Russian officials, "I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job," he said, according to the New York Times. "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."

·         May 11: In interview with NBC's Lester Holt, Trump said he firing Comey regardless of what Rosenstein recommended. And he suggested the Russia investigation was a reason behind the dismissal. "When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."

·         May 17: Rosenstein appoints former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel in Russia probe.

·         July 9: NYT reports that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer on June 9, 2016 after being promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton — "the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help."

·         July 11: NYT publishes emails between Rob Goldstone ("This is obviously very high level and sensitive information, but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump") and Donald Trump Jr. ("If it's what you say, I love it." The entire email exchange is entitled: "Russia — Clinton — private and confidential."

·         July 31: WaPo reports that Trump dictated his son’s misleading statement about that meeting with the Russian lawyer.

·         Aug 3: WSJ reports that special counsel Mueller impaneled a grand jury in his Russia investigation.

·         Aug 9: WaPo reports that the FBI searched Paul Manafort's home on July 26.

·         Oct. 4: Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says his committee continues to look at whether there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. “There are concerns that we continue to pursue: collusion. The committee continues to look into all evidence to see if there was any hint of collusion.”
Oct. 4- Facebook Reveals Many Russian-bought, Pro-Trump Campaign Ads - A number of Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Donald Trump's victory last November, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Some of the Russian ads appeared highly sophisticated in their targeting of key demographic groups in areas of the states that turned out to be pivotal, two of the sources said. The ads employed a series of divisive messages aimed at breaking through the clutter of campaign ads online, including promoting anti-Muslim messages, sources said.

Oct. 20 - Senate intelligence committee investigators have spoken with several Russians who attended a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr., a sign that the matter remains a significant focus for lawmakers looking into potential coordination between Trump associates and Kremlin-linked operatives during the presidential campaign. (CNN)

·         Oct. 25: The Daily Beast reports that the head of Trump’s data-analytics firm Cambridge Analytica wrote in an email last year that he reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton’s missing 33,000 emails.
Oct. 30- Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were both ordered to home confinement Monday and ordered to surrender their passports after pleading not guilty to charges stemming from Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
Oct. 31- George Papadopoulos ,  former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI after he lied about his interactions with foreign officials close to the Russian government -- the campaign's clearest connection so far to Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. In court records unsealed on Monday, the FBI said George Papadopoulos "falsely described his interactions with a certain foreign contact who discussed 'dirt' related to emails" concerning Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Records also describe an email between Trump campaign officials suggesting they were considering acting on Russian invitations to go to Russia.

Nov. 3- Jared Kushner has turned over documents in recent weeks to special counsel Robert Mueller as investigators have begun asking in witness interviews about Kushner's role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey
Nov. 1- Candidate Donald Trump did not dismiss the idea of arranging a meeting with Russia's president when it was suggested in a meeting with his campaign foreign policy advisers last year, according to a person in the room.
Nov. 8-  Carter Page reveals new contacts with Trump campaign, Russians: Carter Page's six-plus hours of testimony before the House intelligence committee makes clear senior members of the Trump campaign were aware of the former Trump foreign policy adviser's July 2016 trip to Russia -- and Page may have had interactions with more Russian government officials beyond what he's previously acknowledged

Nov. 9- White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has been interviewed as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, according to sources familiar with the investigation.The interview brings the special counsel investigation into President Donald Trump's inner circle in the White House. Miller is the highest-level aide still working at the White House known to have talked to investigators.Miller's role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey was among the topics discussed during the interview as part of the probe into possible obstruction of justice, according to one of the sources.
Nov. 9- Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn has expressed concern about the potential legal exposure of his son, Michael Flynn Jr., who, like his father, is under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
Nov. 10-  Ex-Trump security chief testifies he rejected 2013 Russian offer of women for Trump in Moscow

AND- if you want to see which of the Trump Campaign's people were linked to Russia, here's an informative interactive from CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/politics/trump-russia-connections/

Parts of the Steele (U.K.) dossier have been confirmed

Also, NBC’s Ken Dilanian reminds us that PARTS of the Steele dossier seem to line up with known facts. For example, Dilanian notes:

·         The dossier discusses Trump’s attempts to secure business deals in Russia, saying, “Regarding TRUMP’s claimed minimal investment profile in Russia, a separate source with direct knowledge said this had not been for want of trying. TRUMP’s previous efforts had included exploring the real estate sector in St Petersburg as well as Moscow…” We now know that despite Trump saying he had no deals in Russia, his organization was trying to build Trump Tower Moscow during the Republican primaries.

·         The dossier says a “senior Russian diplomat withdrawn from Washington embassy on account of potential exposure in US presidential election operation/s.” According to McClatchy, Mikhail Kalugin was recalled from his post as head of the embassy’s economics section in August of 2016. BBC reported that U.S. government sources identified Kalugin as a spy, though NBC News has not confirmed this.

·         The dossier asserts that in early August 2016, “a Kremlin official involved in US relations commented on aspects of the Russian operation to date,” discussing attempts to compromise Jill STEIN of the Green Party; TRUMP foreign policy adviser Carter PAGE; and former DIA Director Michael Flynn, by inviting them to Moscow. Flynn and Stein spoke at the RT gala in 2015, Flynn having been paid. Page gave a Kremlin-friendly speech in Moscow in July 2016 while he was advising the Trump campaign. (Page responded Thursday in an email to NBC News, “No one ever tried to compromise me.”)