JRL NEWSWATCH: “Maria Butina: Private Messages Reveal Accused Russian Spy’s True Ties to D.C. Wise Man” – Daily Beast/Betsy Woodruff

File Photo of Washington, D.C., Monuments and Environs at Twilight with Moon, Looking Across Potomac, adapted from image at nasa.gov by Steven C. Welsh :: www.stevencwelsh.com :: www.stevencwelsh.info

“…. The executive director of the organization, the Center for the National Interest, insisted that its interaction with Butina was ‘very limited.’ But previously unreported emails and direct messages between Butina and officials at the Center show her relationship with the think tank’s president – former Richard Nixon adviser Dimitri Simes – was closer than previously understood ….” Click here […]

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JRL NEWSBLOG: “Kushner Foreign Policy Role Grew After Kissinger Lunch” – Bloomberg/Caleb Melby, David Kocieniewski, Gerry Smith

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“… Henry Kissinger, the center’s honorary chairman … gave a talk that included analyzing U.S.-Russia relations for a small group of attendees. [Trump son-in-law Jared] Kushner … introduced himself to Kissinger …. [and] met Dimitri Simes … long-time president of the center and publisher of its magazine, The National Interest. Questions have … been raised about the center for its […]

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