JRL NEWSWATCH: “Zelensky Will Address U.S. Senators Before Vote on Ukraine Aid” – New York Times

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

“President Volodymyr Zelensky’s briefing, via a video call, will come a day after the White House warned that aid to his country would soon run out.” “… [A]n emergency funding package is stalled in Congress. The … Senate will vote … Wednesday … [on] more than $61 billion in Ukraine-focused assistance as part of a $106 billion national security package. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Amid competing U.S. security priorities, Ukraine could get left behind” – Washington Post

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

“Kyiv is low on money and time, its advocates say, but in Congress the desire to continue funding its fight against Russia has reached new lows.” “Ukraine is running out of money and time, its proponents say. But congressional interest in financing its fight against invading Russian forces has dipped lower than ever, and rising competition from other national security […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. Lawmakers Offer Bill to Boost Aid for Ukraine Military” – Reuters

American Flag and Partial View of U.S. Capitol Dome, adapted from image at aoc.gov

“… [S]enators [from both parties] introduced legislation to back Ukraine with $300 million of annual military financing …. The bill also authorizes up to $4 million to train Ukrainian military officers, requires a [DOD] … and State Department report on the requirements of Ukraine’s armed forces and a plan to supply security assistance and requires the appointment of a special […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Senate has uncovered no direct evidence of conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russia” – NBC News/ Ken Dilanian

American Flag and Partial View of U.S. Capitol Dome, adapted from image at aoc.gov

“After two years and 200 interviews, the Senate Intelligence Committee is approaching the end of its investigation into the 2016 election, having uncovered no direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to both Democrats and Republicans on the committee. … investigators disagree along party lines when it comes to the implications of a pattern of […]

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Why Trump’s Bid to Improve U.S.-Russian Relations Backfired in Congress

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – PONARS Policy Memo – Mikhail Alexseev – February 2018) Mikhail Alexseev is Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University. One of Donald Trump’s 2016 keynote foreign policy pledges was to improve relations with Russia. Few would have predicted that after a year in office, his plan would not only stall or fizzle out, […]

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NEWSWATCH: “GOP Focuses on Russia Allegations That Reached Steele; Notes by freelance journalist Cody Shearer got to writer of dossier via Clinton associate” – Wall Street Journal/Byron Tau

American Flag and Partial View of U.S. Capitol Dome, adapted from image at aoc.gov

“Republicans on Capitol Hill are probing a collection of unverified and salacious allegations against … Trump … compiled in late 2016 by … freelance journalist and researcher … Cody Shearer, who … passed his work along to an associate of Hillary Clinton. … eight pages of raw and unverified notes … purportedly drawn from interviews with two prominent journalists and […]

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NEWSWATCH: “The Nunes memo and Putin’s long game; As the president and other Republicans directly question the integrity of the FBI and DOJ, analysts and some in the GOP say it only furthers Russian objectives. [Excerpt]” – Politico/Matthew Nussbaum

Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

“… Putin might get tired of winning. Ever since the U.S. intelligence community discovered the Russian operation to interfere in the 2016 presidential election … some Republicans have been laboring to undermine investigations into the attack and discredit the intelligence agencies that discovered it. … [O]n Friday … House Republicans released a partisan memo alleging anti-Trump bias at the FBI […]

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