Woodward Book Reveals Trump’s Calls With Putin And Biden’s Private Remarks On Obama And Netanyahu

In this April 29, 20197, file photo journalist Bob Woodard sits at the head-table during the White House correspondent's diner in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE AND MEG KINNARD

WASHINGTON (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic, Bob Woodward reported in his new book, “War.”

The revelations were made in the famed Watergate reporter’s latest book, which also details President Joe Biden’s frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ‘s assortment of burner phones. The Associated Press obtained an early copy of the book, which is due out next week.

Trump denied the reporting in an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. “He’s a storyteller. A bad one. And he’s lost his marbles,” Trump said of Woodward.

Trump had previously spoken to Woodward for the journalist’s 2021 book, “Rage.” Trump later sued over it, claiming Woodward never had permission to publicly release recordings of their interviews for the book. The publisher and Woodward denied his allegations.

Here is more from the new book:

Trump has had multiple calls with Putin since his White House term ended

Woodward reports that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, so that the former president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024. The aide, whom Woodward doesn’t name, said there have been multiple calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left office, perhaps as many as seven, according to the book, though it does not detail what they discussed.

Trump senior adviser and longtime aide Jason Miller told Woodward that he had not heard Trump was having calls with Putin and said, “I’d push back on that.” But Miller also said, according to the book, “I’m sure they’d know how to get in touch with each other.”

Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, said none of the stories in Woodward’s books are true. In a statement on Tuesday, he called them “the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Trump’s relationship with Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he memorably called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he said.

U.S. intelligence agencies later determined that Russia had meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump, though an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found no conspiracy between the Trump team and Russia. In 2018, Trump publicly questioned that finding following an in-person meeting with Putin in Helsinki.

In recent years, Trump has criticized U.S. support for Ukraine as it fights off Russia’s invasion. He has said Ukraine should have made concessions to Putin before Russia invaded in 2022. He also previously touted his good relationship with Putin and called the Russian leader “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine.

Trump sent COVID-19 test machines to Putin for his personal use

Woodward reports that Trump sent Putin COVID-19 test machines for his personal use as the virus began spreading in 2020.

Putin told Trump not to tell anyone because people would be mad at Trump over it, but Trump said he didn’t care if anyone knew, according to the book. Trump ended up agreeing not to tell anyone. The book doesn’t specify when the machines were sent but describes it as being when the virus spread rapidly through Russia. It was previously reported by The Associated Press and other agencies that Trump’s administration in May 2020 sent ventilators and other equipment to several countries, including Russia.

Vice President Kamala Harris, in an interview Tuesday with radio host Howard Stern, accused Trump of giving the machines to a “murderous dictator” at a time when “everyone was scrambling” to get tests.

“This person who wants to be president again, who secretly is helping out an an adversary while the American people are dying by the hundreds every day,” said Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.

Biden’s anger at Netanyahu has boiled over in private

The book also details Biden’s complicated relationship with Netanyahu as well as private moments when the president has been fed up with him over the Israel-Hamas War.

Biden’s “frustrations and distrust” of Netanyahu “erupted” this past spring, Woodward writes. The president privately unleashed a profanity-laden tirade, calling him a “son of a bitch” and a “bad f——— guy,” according to the book. Biden said he felt, in Woodward’s accounting, that Netanyahu “had been lying to him regularly.” With Netanyahu “continuing to say he was going to kill every last member of Hamas.” Woodward wrote, “Biden had told him that was impossible, threatening both privately and publicly to withhold offensive U.S. weapons shipment.”

Biden and Netanyahu have long been acquainted, although their relationship has not been known to be close or overly friendly. Last week, Biden said he didn’t know whether the Israeli leader was holding up a Mideast peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Asked about the book’s reporting, White House spokesperson Emilie Simons told reporters Tuesday that “The commitment that we have to the state of Israel is ironclad.”

Simons, when pressed on the details, said she wouldn’t comment on every anecdote that may come out in reporting. She added of Biden and Netanyahu: “They have a long-term relationship. They have a very honest and direct relationship, and I don’t have a comment on those specific anecdotes.”

Biden criticized Obama’s handling of the Russian invasion of Crimea

The book details Biden’s criticism late last year of President Barack Obama’s handling of Putin’s earlier invasion of Ukraine, when Russia seized Crimea and a section of the Donbas in 2014, at a time when Biden was serving as the Democrat’s vice president.

“They f----- up in 2014,” Woodward wrote that Biden said to a close friend in December, blaming the lack of action for Putin’s actions in Ukraine. “Barack never took Putin seriously.”

Biden was angry while speaking to the friend and said they “never should have let Putin just walk in there” in 2014 and that the U.S. “did nothing.”

Biden regrets choosing Garland as attorney general

Woodward reports Biden was privately furious with Attorney General Merrick Garland for appointing a special counsel to investigate Biden’s son Hunter in a tax-and-gun prosecution.

“Should never have picked Garland,” Biden told an associate, according to Woodward. The journalist did not name the associate.

Hunter Biden was convicted in June on federal gun charges and faces sentencing in federal court in Delaware in December. He pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in California and is also set to be sentenced in that case in December.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Graham says going to Mar-a-Lago is ‘a little bit like going to North Korea’

One of Trump’s longest-term allies, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, blamed Trump’s ongoing false claims that the 2020 election was rigged to a cult of personality in which the former president’s ensconcement at Mar-a-Lago and circle of aides and advisers “constantly feed this narrative,” according to the book.

The weekend after Russia invaded Ukraine, Graham was with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, which the senator characterized as “a little bit like going to North Korea.” Graham added that “everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.”

On politics, Woodward wrote that Graham’s counsel was part of what persuaded Trump to run again for the presidency.

In March, during one of his many visits to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Graham told Woodward that he had been meeting with the Saudi crown prince when Graham suggested they call Trump. From “a bag containing about 50 burner phones,” Prince Mohammed “pulled out one labeled ‘TRUMP 45.’” On another trip, Woodward wrote, the Saudi leader retrieved another burner phone, “this time labeled JAKE SULLIVAN ” when the men called Biden’s national security adviser.

Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Hillel Italie in New York, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Aamer Madhani aboard Air Force One contributed to this report.

‘Used and dehumanized’: Hundreds of boys found chained in Nigeria

House at where the boys were rescued. Image: Reuters

BY GARBA MUHAMMAD, BOSUN YAKUSAK

KADUNA, NIGERIA (REUTERS) — More than 300 boys and men, some as young as five and many in chains and bearing scars from beatings, have been rescued in a raid on a building that purported to be an Islamic school in northern Nigeria, police said on Friday.

Most of the freed captives seen by a Reuters reporter in the city of Kaduna were children, aged up to their late teens. Some shuffled with their ankles manacled and others were chained by their legs to large metal wheels to prevent escape.

People with chained legs are pictured after being rescued from a building in the northern city of Kaduna, Nigeria September 26, 2019, in this grab obtained from a video. TELEVISION CONTINENTAL/Reuters TV via Reuters

One boy, held by the hand by a police officer as he walked unsteadily, had sores visible on his back that appeared consistent with injuries inflicted by a whip.

Some children had been brought from neighboring countries including Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana, police said, while others had been left by their parents in what they believed to be an Islamic school or rehabilitation center.

“This place is neither a rehab or an Islamic school because you can see it for yourselves,” Kaduna state’s police commissioner, Ali Janga, told reporters. “The children gathered here are from all over the country… some of them were even chained. They were used, dehumanized, you can see it yourself.”

Kaduna police spokesman Yakubu Sabo said seven people who said they were teachers at the school had been arrested in Thursday’s raid.

A boy who has injuries in his back is led away after police raided a house freeing men and boys in Kaduna, Nigeria, September 27, 2019. Image: Stringer/Reuters


“The state government is currently providing food to the children who are between the ages of five and above,” he said. It was not clear how long the captives had been held there.

Reports carried by local media said the captives had been tortured, starved and sexually abused. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm those details.

One young man, Hassan Yusuf, said he had been sent to the school because of concerns about his way of life following a few years studying abroad.

“They said my lifestyle has changed – I’ve become a Christian, I’ve left the Islamic way of life,” said Yusuf, who did not specify the nature of his relationship with the people who sent him to the center.

As news of the raid spread, some relatives gathered near the compound, where a sign over the gate, topped with rolls of barbed wire, read: “Imam Ahmad Bun Hambal Centre for Islamic studies.”

Hassan Mohammed told Reuters he was the uncle of three of the freed children who had been sent to the school by their mother after their father died. He said he grew suspicious about what was going on after the family was denied access to them.

“I begged, they said no, we can’t see these children until three months. When we went back home… we said the only thing now is we should report this issue to the police station, that is exactly what we did,” said Mohammed.

The rescued children have been moved to a temporary camp at a stadium in Kaduna and would later be moved to another camp in a suburb of the city while attempts were made to find their parents, police said.

Islamic schools, known as Almajiris, are common across the mostly Muslim north of Nigeria – a country that is roughly evenly split between followers of Christianity and Islam.

Parents in northern Nigeria, the poorest part of a country in which most people live on less than $2 a day, often opt to leave their children to board at the schools.

Such schools have for years been dogged by allegations of abuse and accusations that some children have been forced to beg on the streets of cities in the north.

Earlier this year, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a Muslim, said it planned to eventually ban the schools, but would not do so immediately.

“Any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow due process and consultation with relevant authorities,” said Buhari’s spokesman Garba Shehu in a statement issued in June.

“The federal government wants a situation where every child of primary school age is in school rather than begging on the streets during school hours,” the statement said.

A presidency spokesman did not immediately respond to calls and text messages seeking comment on the raid in Kaduna and whether it would alter the government’s approach to such schools.

Professor Ishaq Akintola, director of the Nigerian human rights organization the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), said around 10 million children across the north of the country are educated at Islamic schools.

“Those responsible for abuse, if found guilty, should be held accountable but these schools should continue because shutting them down would deprive so many students of an education,” he said.

Akintola said Islamic schools needed funding to train teachers and improve the buildings.

Reporting by Garba Muhammad and Bosun Yakusak; Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos and Felix Onuah in Abuja; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson

DONALD TRUMP SAYS MELANIA'S AFRICA TRIP WAS ‘EYE-OPENING’ BECAUSE OF THE ‘TREMENDOUS POVERTY’

First lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. President Donald Trump said her trip was "eye-opening." SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

BY JESSICA KWONG

WASHINGTON (NEWSWEEK)--First lady Melania Trump had an "eye-opening" experience on her recent trip to Africa, according to President Donald Trump.

The president, who in January reportedly called African nations “shithole countries,” said in an exclusive sit-down interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham in the White House Monday night that they are “trying to help” with the extreme poverty in the continent following his wife’s first solo trip abroad earlier this month.

The Ingraham Angle host, after having the president address issues including the migrant caravan, his potential 2020 presidential opponents and the midterm elections, asked, “How’s Melania doing?”

“She's doing fantastically, really good. She's doing a great job. Just got back from Africa,” Trump responded. “And she saw some things that were very eye-opening and tremendous poverty. Tremendous poverty. So we're trying to help.”

The president did not elaborate and the interview ended there.

Melania Trump raised eyebrows when she chose to visit Ghana, Kenya and Egypt, following reports that her husband’s reported “shithole” remark about African nations, Haiti and El Salvador in an immigration meeting with lawmakers in the Oval Office.

During her trip, Melania Trump visited a hall in Ghana named after ex-President Barack Obama and a former slave holding facility.

"I will never forget [the] incredible experience and the stories I heard,” she said at the former slave trading fort. “The dungeons that I saw, it's really something that people should see and experience.” She added that “it's very emotional,” and in other legs of the trip spent time reading to children.

The president, while his wife was away, tweeted that she was “doing really well in Africa," and, "The people love her, and she loves them! It is a beautiful thing to see.”

Despite his wife appearing distant at times—particularly when his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, came to light—the president has often described her as doing really well and fantastic.

In June, when she appeared with him in public for the first time after nearly a month’s absence that the administration said was due to a kidney procedure, Donald Trump said: “Melania, she’s doing great. She went through a little rough patch, but she’s doing great, and we’re very proud of her. She’s done a fantastic job as first lady.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Newsweek on how the president plans to help Africa.

Trump's 'Astonishing' Concession To Kim Jong Un And North Korea

President Trump holds up the document that he and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un just signed in Singapore on Tuesday. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

BY JAMES KITFIELD

SINGAPORE (YAHOO NEWS)--At Tuesday’s press conference in Singapore following his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, President Trump surprised America’s Asian allies, and reportedly his own Pentagon, by surrendering a major bargaining chip in the form of U.S.-South Korea military exercises.

“We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see that the future negotiation is not going as it should,” Trump told reporters, referring to the annual exercises as “provocative.” “At some point, I have to be honest — I used to say this during my campaign … I want to get our soldiers [in South Korea] out. I want to bring our soldiers back home.”

As was the case when Trump fulfilled other controversial campaign pledges in the foreign policy arena — including scuttling the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear agreement, his comments sent shudders through the already shaky architecture of military alliances that undergird U.S. global power. Abandoning joint military exercises will immediately begin to degrade the readiness and deterrent posture of the 32,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, military experts say.

Retired Adm. Harry Harris, the former head of U.S. Pacific Command and the Trump administration’s chosen ambassador to South Korea, explained the logic behind the military exercises in congressional testimony last year. “We are obliged to defend South Korea by treaty. They have a strong and capable military, as we do. But if we’re going to defend or if we’re going to fight with them on the peninsula then we have to be able to integrate with their military,” Harris told the House Armed Services Committee. “We have to maintain our degree of readiness, not only unilateral readiness, but also our combined and joint readiness with our brothers and sisters in the ROK [Republic of Korea] military.”


Equally surprising as Trump’s military announcement was the fact that he reportedly took this unilateral step without notifying South Korean and Japanese allies, or the Pentagon. The cancellation of the exercises has been a North Korean priority for decades, and in calling them “war games” and “provocative,” Trump adopted the rhetoric of Pyongyang.

“What’s really disconcerting is that Trump announced unilaterally to the leader of North Korea that the United States is going to stop military exercises with our allies, without first telling our allies or even the Pentagon. That’s astonishing,” said Michael Green, a senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a former senior director for Asia on the National Security Council. “Then Trump says he’d like to pull U.S. troops out of Asia, which is a real heart-warming development for Beijing and Moscow, who want nothing more than to weaken and eventually unravel our alliances. So this is a pretty stunning development.”

Before the summit Trump suggested that Kim’s two meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the run-up to talks had hardened Pyongyang’s positions. Some China experts believe that Xi specifically asked Kim to bring up the military exercises as a major issue for discussion. Trump’s subsequent remarks about wanting to withdraw forward-deployed U.S. troops from Asia was a further boon to China’s strategic aspirations. As former BBC bureau chief Paul Danahar noted in a tweet, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Trump would suspend military exercises with South Korea even before Trump announced it at his own press briefing. “That suggests Kim’s people were on the phone to Beijing straight after the meeting cos they recognized how big a concession it was,” Danahar tweeted.

“Beijing was unhappy when Kim announced that he was unilaterally freezing his missile and nuclear weapons tests, and I believe the Chinese encouraged him to put the issue of also freezing the U.S.-ROK military exercises on the table in their discussions,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at CSIS. “Certainly it was astonishing to hear President Trump talk about these exercises as ‘war games’ and ‘provocative,’ which is language taken right out of Pyongyang’s playbook. Trump’s message that he wants to pull U.S. troops out was just further music to China’s ears.”

Even in the unlikely event that North Korea actually surrenders its nuclear weapons, it will still possess large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, a 1.2 million man army, and enough conventional firepower to raze the South Korean capital of Seoul in the opening days of any conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S.-ROK deterrent posture against those formidable forces will continue to degrade as long as the freeze of joint exercises lasts, and will deteriorate even faster with continued talk of a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Retired four-star Gen. Barry McCaffrey is the former chief of U.S. Southern Command. “I believe it was entirely inappropriate for President Trump — who has no understanding of nuclear weapons and strategic alliances and was completely unprepared — to meet alone with the North Korean dictator without so much as a note-taker present,” he told Yahoo News in an interview. “I’m very concerned that Trump signaled that if Kim gives up his nuclear weapons, then the United States will withdraw our troops from South Korea. Once you start that process it’s a one-way street of retreat from the Pacific Rim, which would leave our allies to confront a belligerent North Korea and an aggressive and massively armed China alone.”

Trump's Vow To End Military Drills With Seoul Stuns A Region

U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions about the summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un during a press conference at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore.

SINGAPORE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday rocked a region and suggested the upending of decades of U.S. defense posture on the Korean Peninsula when he announced that he was stopping annual U.S.-South Korean military drills and wants to remove the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in the South as a deterrent against North Korean attack.

The stunning, almost offhand comments, made during a news conference hours after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, contradicted countless previous declarations by U.S. political and military officials over the years that the drills are routine, defensive and absolutely crucial.

Trump has now essentially adopted the standard North Korean line, calling the military exercises a "provocative" drain of money and announcing they would stop while he continues talks with Kim, whom he repeatedly praised as a solid negotiating partner.

His statement was quickly portrayed by critics as a major, unreciprocated concession to a country that only last year was threatening Seoul and Washington with nuclear war. It also seemed to leave officials completely off guard in South Korea, where the presence of U.S. troops has long been described as necessary to maintaining peace on the peninsula.

Seoul's presidential office told The Associated Press that it was trying to parse Trump's comments. The South Korean military seemed similarly surprised. "At this current point, there is a need to discern the exact meaning and intent of President Trump's comments," Seoul's Defense Ministry said, adding that there have been no discussions yet with Washington on modifying drills set for August.

U.S. forces in South Korea said it has "received no updated guidance on the execution or cessation of training exercises" and will continue to coordinate with South Korean partners and maintain the current posture until it receives an updated guidance from the Department of Defense or the Indo-Pacific Command.

Trump's comments will be questioned by many in South Korea and beyond, with some seeing in them an effort by North Korea to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington. North Korea regularly calls the military exercises provocative preparations for a northward invasion, and many of the scariest standoffs in recent years on the Korean Peninsula have happened when the drills were being staged. Outside analysts believe the North objects to the drills because it must spend precious resources on its own war games and troop movements. North Korea also insists that the U.S. troop presence in the South, as well as its nuclear "umbrella" over allies Seoul and Tokyo, are part of America's "hostile" policy toward the North.

"I want to bring our soldiers back home," Trump said, although he added that it's "not part of the equation right now." Then he said: "We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should. But we'll be saving a tremendous amount of money. Plus, I think it's very provocative."

The comments could fundamentally change the way the United States, whose alliance with Seoul was forged after a 1950 surprise attack by the North started the Korean War, operates in South Korea. Trump's announcement that the U.S. would stop military exercises, his description of those drills as "provocative" and his suggestion that he wants to pull U.S. troops out at some point are "all things that Trump is putting on the table as concessions, all in exchange for some vague promises by the North Koreans," said Paul Haenle, a former China director at the White House National Security Council in the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations.

Annual military drills between Washington and Seoul have been a major source of contention between the Koreas for years, and analysts have wondered whether their continuation would hurt the inter-Korean detente that, since an outreach by Kim in January, has replaced last year's insults and threats of war. North Korea last month broke off a high-level meeting with Seoul over South Korea's participation in a two-week military exercise with the United States.

North Korea's state media, referring to the drills, recently demanded that Washington "stop the acts of threatening its dialogue partner by force." Since the 1970s, the United States and South Korea have held a major summertime exercise called Ulchi Freedom Guardian that involves tens of thousands of troops. There are also annual springtime drills. Drills called Team Spirit, one of the largest annual military maneuvers in the world at the time, were held from 1976 until 1993, when, after North Korea agreed to dismantle its existing nuclear facilities, the exercises were canceled and have not been held since.

Moon Seong Mook, a former South Korean military official, said Trump's comments on the drills confirmed what many in South Korea had feared all along — that North Korea would attempt to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul and gain substantial concessions from an unconventional U.S. president who thinks much less of the traditional alliance than his predecessors.

"The core of the U.S.-South Korea alliance is the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and the joint U.S.-South Korea military drills, but the American military presence in South Korea wouldn't mean much if the militaries don't practice through joint drills," said Moon, now a senior analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. "I am concerned that the summit between Trump and Kim will prove to be a setback in the global efforts to denuclearize North Korea and also introduce instability in the alliance between Seoul and Washington."

Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Gillian Wong in Beijing contributed to this report.

Foster Klug is AP's bureau chief in South Korea and has covered the Koreas since 2005. Follow him at www.twitter.com/apklug

Follow AP's summit coverage here: http://apne.ws/MPbJ5Tv

Bringing West Africa To The World: Ghanaian Chef Zoe Adjonyoh's Recipes

Chef Zoe Adjonyoh's image by Pat Hansen

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS)--Chef Zoe Adjonyoh was born in England to an Irish mother and a Ghanaian father. She loved the foods of her father's homeland and taught herself how to prepare them. After a batch of peanut soup offered up at an arts festival was such a hit, she opened London restaurant Zoe's Ghana Kitchen. That's also the title of her new debut cookbook.

Adjonyoh is being honored at the annual Iconoclast Dinner Experience at the James Beard House in New York Saturday along with other trailblazing chefs and beverage professionals of color from around the world.

Here are some of Adjonyoh's signature recipes: 

Suya Slawter burger 

Suya spice mix ingredients

2 teaspoons ground hot pepper (or substitute cayenne pepper)
1⁄2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon crushed sea salt 

Burger ingredients

3.5 ounce ground rump beef (preferably organic/ free range)
0.35 ounce caramelised red onion
1 tsp suya spice mix
1 brioche bun toasted lightly on both sides
1 tbsp spicy shito mayo (recipe below)
1 suya burger
1 baby gem lettuce
2 slices beef tomato
3 slices Hass avocado
1 ounce spicy slaw (recipe below)
1/2 ounce peanut sauce (recipe below)

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dry spice mix together in a bowl. Store in airtight container in a cool, dark place, or in the fridge if made with peanut butter, and use within a few months.

2. Combine suya spice mix and caramelized red onion together and shape into a burger patty.

3. Build burger.

Shito mayo

Ingredients


500ml (18 oz) rapeseed oil (or substitute sunflower or vegetable oil)
5 red onions, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1.4 ounce ground grains of paradise
7.5cm (3-inch) piece fresh root ginger, finely grated (unpeeled if organic)
1 tablespoon chopped roasted rosemary (optional)
75g (2 3⁄4oz) green kpakpo shito chillies, finely diced (with seeds!) (or substitute green Scotch bonnets, if available, or 2 tablespoons dried chilli flakes)
5-6 tablespoons tomato purée
100ml (3 1⁄2oz) good-quality chicken stock
125g (4 1⁄2oz) chilli powder
100g (3 1⁄2oz) dried ground prawn/shrimp or crayfish powder
50g (13 ⁄4oz) dried smoked fish powder
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed sea salt 

Directions
1. Heat a heavy-based saucepan, then add the oil and fry the onions over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until translucent.

2. Add the garlic, guinea peppers, ginger, thyme or rosemary (if using) and chilies and fry together for a few minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and chicken stock until the mixture has formed a thick paste. Then pour in the chili powder and continue cooking and stirring for a further 10 minutes.

3. Finally, add the prawn/shrimp or crayfish and smoked fish powder, then cook over a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring almost continuously to prevent the mixture sticking to base of the pan. The oil will rise to the surface when the sauce is ready. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. You can choose to blend the sauce with a stick blender or leave it unblended for a coarser texture. Leave to cool, then spoon into sterilized jars. There should be plenty of oil on top of the sauce once it's cooked, so make sure there is a layer about 1cm (1/2 inch) thick in each jar. But if there is not enough, pour in extra oil to cover. Seal the jars and store in the fridge for up to a month.

3. Mix 1 tsp of shito to 3.5 oz mayo

Spicy slaw

Ingredients

1/2 white cabbage shredded
1/2 red cabbage shredded
2 grated carrots
1 tsp Caribbean curry powder
1 scotch bonnet de-seeded and diced
Sea salt to taste
Course ground black pepper to taste
50 ml lemon juice 

Directions

1. Mix together.
Peanut sauce
Ingredients

1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon extra-hot chilli powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
5cm (2-inch) piece fresh root ginger, grated (unpeeled if organic)
1 red Scotch bonnet chilli, pierced
3 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
2 teaspoons crushed sea salt
500ml (18 fl oz) Chalé Sauce (recipe below)
250ml (9 fl oz) good-quality vegetable stock
100-200g (3.5 oz - 7 oz) organic peanut butter, depending on how thick you want the sauce 8 green kpakpo shito (cherry) chilies (or substitute green habañero chilies)
Chale sauce ingredients

1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon extra-hot chilli powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
5cm (2-inch) piece fresh root ginger, grated (unpeeled if organic)
1 red Scotch bonnet chilli, pierced
3 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
2 teaspoons crushed sea salt
500ml (18 fl oz) Chalé Sauce
250ml (9 fl oz) good-quality vegetable stock
100-200g (3.5 oz - 7 oz) organic peanut butter, depending on how thick you want the sauce 8 green kpakpo shito (cherry) chilies (or substitute green habañero chilies)
Directions

1. Place all the chale sauce ingredients in a blender and blend together until you have a smooth paste.

2. Use straight away or leave to cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for future use.Heat the groundnut oil in a heavy-based saucepan, add the onion and sauté over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and curry powder, then add the garlic, ginger, Scotch bonnet, crushed peanuts, sea salt and black pepper and stir well - lots of punchy aroma should be rising from the pot at this point.

3. Stir in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until stock reduces by half. Add the chale sauce and cook for a further 50 mins.

4. Add the peanut butter 1 tablespoon at a time while stirring until it has all dissolved, then use a stick blender to blend all the ingredients to a smooth consistency.

5. Add the whole pierced kpakpo shito chillies to the sauce and leave to simmer over a low heat for at least a further 60 minutes before serving, or leave to cool and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Red red
Ingredients

7 oz roughly chopped fresh plum tomatoes
14 oz tinned chopped or plum tomatoes
7 oz black eye beans (can use 400g organic tinned beans drained and rinsed)
2.5 fluid oz sustainable palm oil or carratino Oil
1 medium red onions finely diced
1 tbs tomato puree
1 inch finely grated fresh ginger (skin on if organic)
½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp chilli flakes
½ red scotch bonnet de-seeded and diced
1 tsp salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Directions

1. Boil the beans in salted water until tender - you should be able to squeeze them easily between thumb and forefinger - if using tinned beans drain and rinse and set aside. In the heavy-based pan heat the oil until melts.

2. Add the diced onion + ginger + chili flakes + scotch bonnet and sauté until onion is translucent 2-3 minutes should do it then add the curry and chilli powder and stir well.

3. When all is golden add chopped plum tomatoes + tomato puree + salt + pepper and stir through - leave to cook on medium heat for 30 mins or until tomatoes start to break down - if you want a smooth sauce blend at this point.

4. Add the cooked or drained beans and turn down to a low-medium heat, stir through occasionally so the beans don't stick to bottom of pan - cook for a further 30-40 mins on a low heat until beans are tender and tartness of tomatoes has dissipated.

5. Check seasoning before serving in bowl with some gari sprinkled on top and a side of fried plantain.


Ghanaian guacamole
Ingredients

4 ripe avocados diced
1/2 juice of fresh lime (or 1 tbs lemon or lime juice)
2 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ small red onion finely diced
1 tbs extra virgin rapeseed oil
pinch of course ground black pepper (to taste)
1 tsp chopped fresh Coriander or Chives to garnish
Directions

1. Peel the avocados, remove the pit and cube the flesh.

2. Finely dice all the remaining ingredients and mix together in a bowl with a fork - try to keep the avocado in cubes rather than mashed.

3. Garnish with fresh herbs and chili and / or chopped pistachio or roasted nuts with a pinch of ground hot pepper and sea salt.
Roasted boabab corn
Ingredients

4.5 oz salted butter room temperature
1⁄2 lime zest and juice
1tsp ground hot pepper or cayenne
1tbsp baobab powder
1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch of course ground black pepper
Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together with a fork or whisk and roll into a baton on grease roof paper, chill to set into easy to slice block

2. Wrap one whole maize per person in aluminium foil with 1 tbs baobab butter and a sprig of rosemary and a pinch of seas salt - cook on medium hot grill turning every 3-4 minutes to evenly cook sides

3. Take off heat and remove from foil when ready to serve and corn is lightly charred on all sides.
Puff puff with strawberry chili jam
Ingredients

10.5 oz plain flour
1tbsp dried yeast
3.5 oz brown or muscavado sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
2 oz water
Directions

1. Activate yeast with warm water. Add all ingredients together. Mix well. Keep somewhere warm to allow to leaven for a few hours. Store in fridge. The consistency should be like a drop scone or thick pancake.

2. Heat oil to fry in a heavy based pan - moisten clean hands with water and scoop out 1 tbsp of mix at a time and pinch into a ball - gently drop into hot oil, repeat for quantity desired. Balls should quickly rise to surface golden brown all over - remove from oil and drain before rolling in cinnamon sugar to serve.
Strawberry chili jam ingredients

10.5 oz plain flour
1tbsp dried yeast
3.5 oz brown or muscavado sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
2 oz water
Directions

1. Put the sugar and water in a pan, on a gentle low heat.

2. Lean and quarter the strawberries, then add the sugar and mash it all together on a low heat and keep stirring gently. After 5 minutes, add the chili flakes and scotch bonnets and salt and keep cooking until the jam thickens to desired consistency, approx 5-6 minutes.


© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Shale Country Dangles 100% Pay Raises As Labor Market Runs Dry

Image via Bloomberg

BY DAVID WETHE

MIDLAND, TEXAS (BLOOMBERG)--Jerry Morales, the mayor of Midland, Texas, and a local restaurateur, is being whipsawed by the latest Permian Basin shale-oil boom.

It’s fueling the region and starving it at the same time. Sales-tax revenue is hitting a record high, allowing the city to get around to fixing busted roads. But the crazy-low 2.1 percent unemployment rate is a bear. As the proprietor of Mulberry Cafe and Gerardo’s Casita, Morales is working hard to retain cooks. As a Republican first elected in 2014, he oversees a government payroll 200 employees short of what it needs to fully function.

“This economy is on fire,” he said from a back table at the cafe the other day, watching as the lunchtime crowd lined up for the Asian Zing Salad and Big Mo’s Toaster hamburger.

Fire, of course, can be dangerous. In the country’s busiest oil patch, where the rig count has climbed by nearly one third in the past year, drillers, service providers and trucking companies have been poaching in all corners, recruiting everyone from police officers to grocery clerks. So many bus drivers with the Ector County Independent School District in nearby Odessa quit for the shale fields that kids were sometimes late to class. The George W. Bush Childhood Home, a museum in Midland dedicated to the 43rd U.S. president, is smarting from a volunteer shortage.

The oil industry has such a ferocious appetite for workers that it’ll hire just about anyone with the most basic skills. “It is crazy,” said Jazmin Jimenez, 24, who zipped through a two-week training program at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, about 100 miles north of Midland, and was hired by Chevron Corp. as a well-pump checker. “Honestly I never thought I’d see myself at an oilfield company. But now that I’m here -- I think this is it.”

That’s understandable, considering the $28-a-hour she makes is double what she was earning until December as a guard at the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs. When the boom goes bust, as history suggests they all do, shale-extraction businesses won’t be able to out-pay most employers anymore. Jimenez said she’ll take the money as long as it lasts.

And this one could go on for a while. Companies are more cost-conscious than ever, and the evolution of oilfield technology continues to make finding and producing oil quicker and cheaper in the pancaked layers of rock in the Permian. It now accounts for about 30 percent of all U.S. output.

There’s no question the economic upside is big in the basin, which covers more than 75,000 square miles in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Midland saw year-over-year increases of at least 34 percent in sales-tax collections in each of the last four months. Morales said coffers are full enough that he may ask for raises for city workers -- so they don’t bolt for the oil fields.

The labor shortage is inflamed by the real-estate market: The supply of homes for sale is the lowest on record, according to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. The $325,440 average price in Midland is the highest since June 2014, the last time the world saw oil above $100 a barrel. Apartment rents in Midland and Odessa are up by more than a third from a year ago, with the average 863-square-foot unit commanding $1,272 a month.

That’s one reason the Ector County Independent School District has more than 100 teaching positions open, said spokesman Mike Adkins. People who move for jobs are stunned by the cost of living. Armin Rashvand’s apartment is smaller and costs more than the one he rented in Cleveland before moving last August to run the energy-technology program at Odessa College.

“That really surprised me,” he said, because Texas’s reputation is that it’s affordable. “In Texas, yes -- except here.”

Another surprise: Some of his students, with two-year associate degrees, can make more than he does, with his master’s in science, electrical and electronic engineering. At Midland College’s oil and gas program, which trains for positions like petroleum-energy technician, enrollment is down about 20 percent from last year. But schools that teach how to pass the test for a CDL -- commercial drivers license -- are packed.

“A CDL is a golden ticket around here,” said Steve Sauceda, who runs the workforce training program at New Mexico Junior College. “You are employable just about anywhere.”

And you can make a whole lot more money than waiting tables at Gerardo’s Casita. Jeremiah Fleming, 30, is on track to pull down $140,000 driving flatbed trucks for Aveda Transportation & Energy Services Inc., hauling rigs.

“This will be my best year yet,” said Fleming, who used to work in the once-bustling shale play in North Dakota. “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”

Morales, a native Midlander and second-generation restaurateur, has seen it happen so many times before. Oil prices go up, and energy companies dangle such incredible salaries that restaurants, grocery stores, hotels and other businesses can’t compete. People complain about poor service and long lines at McDonald’s and the Walmart and their favorite Tex-Mex joints. Rents soar.

“This is my home town. I don’t want that reputation,” he said. He’s not yet quite sure what to do about it as mayor of a city that has been on the oil-industry rollercoaster for nearly 100 years.

He has, though, come up with strategies for his restaurants. For example, he now issues paychecks weekly, instead of twice monthly, and offers more opportunities for over-time hours. He also makes common-sense bids to employees tempted by the Permian’s siren call.

His pitch: “If you’ll stay with me, I can give you three quarters of what the oil will give you but you don’t have to get dirty or worry about getting hurt.” And just maybe, when crude crashes, they’ll still be employed.

Russian Military Celebrates Syria 'Victory' Over West

BY TOM O' CONNOR

Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu after a state awards ceremony for military personnel who served in Syria, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia December 28, 201. Image: Kirill Kudryavtsev/Reuters/Pool

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (NEWSWEEK) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top generals held an awards ceremony Thursday to honor military personnel returning from Syria, where Moscow claimed to have scored a decisive victory not only against militant groups, but against U.S. and Western interests.

Putin reportedly welcomed more than 600 soldiers and officers in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, thanking them for their service in Syria, where Russia recently declared victory over the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). Russia's 2015 entrance into the war came a year after the U.S. had already begun to scale down efforts to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Moscow facing a rebel and jihadi uprising, and had formed its own coalition to bomb ISIS. Russian officials and military leaders, however, have credited their aerial campaign with outpacing U.S.-led efforts to defeat the militants and thwarting Western plots to oust Assad.

"On seeing our Western coalition partners in the air, we always tailed them, as pilots say, which means a victory in real combat," Major Maxim Makolkin said at the event, indicating that the Russian air force had outperformed and outmaneuvered the aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition.

While Russia and the U.S.-led coalition both launched airstrikes against ISIS and affiliates of Al-Qaeda, they backed separate factions on the ground. Shortly after the rebellion against Assad first began in 2011, insurgents received support from the U.S., Turkey and Gulf Arab states. As ISIS spread from Iraq into Syria and jihadi influence fractured rebel ranks, the U.S. increasingly focused on the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish coalition of Arabs and ethnic minorities formed in 2015 by the Pentagon and tasked with beating ISIS. That same year, Russia intervened at the request of an embattled Assad, allowing his forces to retake most of the country in the years since.

Under former President Barack Obama, the U.S. was staunchly opposed to Assad, but the current administration has offered conflicting stances toward the Syrian leader, who the U.S. and its allies have long accused of human rights abuses. Before taking office, President Donald Trump was mostly opposed to Obama's assistance to rebel groups, some of which ended up in ISIS hands, and even considered entering into a military partnership with Russia. He later switched his views and went as far as to attack the Syrian military after accusing Assad of a chemical weapons attack in April.

The State Department said earlier this month that, although the U.S. wanted Assad out, this was "up to the Syrian people and the Syrian voters to decide," similar to the Russian stance. Russia joined pro-Assad Iran and pro-opposition Turkey for new peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana and committed to Western talks in Geneva; however, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote in an opinion piece published Wednesday by The New York Times that "we are confident that the fulfillment of these talks will produce a Syria that is free of Bashar al-Assad and his family."

In addition to calling the U.S.-led coalition inefficient, Russia also has frequently joined its Syrian and Iranian allies in accusing the West and its allies of actively helping ISIS and other groups Moscow considered to be terrorist organizations. The U.S. has routinely denied and criticized such allegations, but has admitted its local Syrian partners entered into deals with the jihadis and said Thursday it would not target ISIS fighters fleeing the last of their crumbling self-styled caliphate toward Syrian military frontlines. Even after ISIS's defeat, the Pentagon said it would stay in Syria as long as it needs to.

Putin announced earlier this month that he would begin withdrawing his country's forces from Syria, but said Russia would maintain a long-term presence in two military bases near the Syrian coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus. Putin said Thursday that more than 58,000 Russians had participated in the campaign and thanked them, especially female personnel, for being "true defenders of Russia" who had stopped a "terrorist army" from establishing a pseudo-state in which the jihadis could launch attacks against other countries, including Russia.

Despite the group's territorial losses, recent ISIS-inspired attacks in New York City and yet unclaimed explosion that injured several people in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg have highlighted the residual threat of militant groups and the lone wolves they aspire around the globe.

Did Trump’s White House Use The Associated Press To Invent A “Fake News” Story?

BY ANDY CUSH

ASSOCIATED PRESS, FEBRUARY 17, 2017

Credit: Alex Wong/Getty

On Friday morning, the Associated Press published a story with frightening implications: Based on a draft of a Department of Homeland Security memo, it alleged that the Donald Trump administration was considering mobilizing 100,000 National Guard troops in 11 states to round up illegal immigrants for deportation. But almost as soon as the story went to press, White House press secretary Sean Spicer denied its accuracy, claiming there is no such plan to activate the Guard. If it sounds to you like the AP made a rare flub despite its reputation for sober and solid news reporting–well, that’s all the better for Spicer and the White House.

Trump and his cronies, of course, have been going to war with the press since day one, when the president accused reporters of lying about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. Looked at a certain way, the flareup over the National Guard memo this morning takes on a sinister glow. The White House scored a perfect “fake news” moment with which to further undermine the media–and it’s not ludicrous to wonder whether they knew exactly what they were doing.

Spicer admonished the AP for the story while aboard Air Force One this morning. “It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this,” Spicer told reporters. “There is no effort to utilize the National Guard to round up immigrants. I wish you’d asked before you tweeted.” An AP reporter responded by saying that the newswire had asked the White House for comment several times before the story ran, and that the White House never responded.

In an ordinary administration, if the AP were to bring bad information to the press secretary and ask for comment, the press secretary would simply inform them that their story was wrong before it went to press. Depending on the circumstances, the AP would either kill the story or include the White House’s denial in their reporting. There are only two reasons why the White House would have avoided commenting in this case. Either they thought that a no-comment would be sufficient enough for the AP to not to run with the item, or they saw a strategic opportunity in letting them publish something untrue.

The former option seems unlikely, considering the provenance of the documents: a DHS spokesman admitted that the draft memo was genuine, but said that it was a “very early pre-decisional draft” that “was never seriously considered” for implementation. But without a denial or comment of any kind from the relevant parties, there was no way for the AP to know how seriously the National Guard policy was being considered. The document was authentic, and it was all they had to go on–publishing a story was a reasonable course of action, and the White House would have known this.

The latter option–letting the AP publish a bad story, then slapping them around a bit for being irresponsible after the fact–sounds like just the kind of thing Steve Bannon or Stephen Miller could have cooked up in their little demon brains. Whatever draconian policies they do end up writing to supplement Trump’s immigration executive order will now look reasonable next to the prospect of 100,000 soldiers banging on doors from Texas to Oregon. And any opportunity to make a respected news organization look dumb is a win for Trump. As if on cue, a few hours after the fracas, the president tweeted this:

Michael Flynn Left The Trump White House This Week. Here's How That Happened

BY DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN

NPR FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has resigned as national security adviser after a convoluted series of events.


February 14, 2017 --- The events leading to Michael Flynn's resignation as national security adviser accelerated this week, with constant new updates about what he said, to whom and when. But the path to that step has been unfolding since at least last summer. Here's a timeline of key events that eventually led to the resignation of a top presidential adviser less than one month into the Trump administration.

June through November 2016

Early in the summer, the Washington Post reports that hackers in the Russian government have breached the Democratic National Committee. Sources from the DNC and security experts tell the Post that the hackers had access to opposition research on Trump, as well as internal emails and chats.

In late July, WikiLeaks posts a searchable database of more than 19,000 emails stolen from the DNC computer servers. Compromising information in the emails leads to the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC chair.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, eggs the Russians on.

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," he says.

Trump repeatedly downplays the hacks in the coming months, saying in a debate that China or "somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds" could have been behind the breaches. Days after the U.S. intelligence community says it's "confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails," Trump dismisses concerns about the breach.

"You ever notice anything that goes wrong, they blame Russia? 'Russia did it.' They have no idea," he says in a speech.

Nov. 8, 2016

Donald Trump wins the presidential election.

Nov. 18, 2016

President-elect Trump announces that Flynn will be his national security adviser. Flynn, it is later reported, had been in contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the election.

Dec. 9, 2016

Then-President Obama orders a "full review" of digital attacks aimed at influencing U.S. elections, going back to 2008.

The Washington Post reports that the CIA has determined that the Russian government was seeking to help Trump win the election.

The Trump transition office issues a statement:

"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," the statement says. "The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. [Note: This is incorrect.] It's now time to move on and 'Make America Great Again.' "

Dec. 12, 2016

Trump tweets: "Unless you catch 'hackers' in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?"

Dec. 15, 2016

Trump tweets, "If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?"

Secretary of State John Kerry says on CNN that then-President Obama did issue a warning about Russian hacking, but he also "had to be obviously sensitive to not being viewed as interfering on behalf of a candidate or against a candidate or in a way that promoted unrealistic assessments about what was happening."

Obama tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that the U.S. will strike back against Russia, one way or another, in response to that country's attempts to influence the U.S. election.

"I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections, that we need to take action," he says. "And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be."

He added, "But Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it."

Dec. 25, 2016

Flynn and Kislyak exchange text messages wishing each other happy holidays (per remarks later made by Sean Spicer on Jan. 13, 2017).

Dec. 29, 2016

Obama ejects 35 Russian diplomats from the United States and introduces new sanctions against Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB; the country's main foreign intelligence agency, known as the GRU; along with four GRU officers and three companies that did business with GRU.

In addition, the Obama administration announces it will be closing down two compounds in the U.S. it says were "used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes."

Dec. 29 is also when the conversations between Flynn and Kislyak regarding sanctions took place (this story would break on Jan. 12, 2017). According to a Washington Post story from Feb. 9, two officials "said that Flynn urged Russia not to overreact to the penalties being imposed by President Barack Obama, making clear that the two sides would be in position to review the matter after Trump was sworn in as president."

Jan. 6, 2017

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases a declassified report finding that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election and that a major part of that was the hacking of emails at the Democratic National Committee.

"Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him," the report says. The authors added that "Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process."

Trump meets with intelligence officials for a briefing on the report's contents. Afterward, he releases a statement lumping Russia in with China and "other countries" and insisting that the hacking had "absolutely no effect" on the election's outcome:






"While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines."





However, as then-Intelligence Director James Clapper had told John McCain just one day earlier, it's impossible to know the impact: "Certainly the intelligence community can't gauge the impact that it had on choices that the electorate made. There is no way for us to gauge that."

Jan. 10, 2017

Then-Attorney General nominee (and Alabama Sen.) Jeff Sessions says in his confirmation hearing that he "has no reason to doubt" the report's conclusions tying Putin to the DNC hack.

Jan. 11, 2017

In his confirmation hearing, then-Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson acknowledges that he thinks it's "a fair assumption" that Putin had knowledge of the plot to influence the U.S. election. He also adds that the intelligence report on Russian hacking "clearly is troubling."

Jan. 12, 2017

The Washington Post's David Ignatius reports that "a senior U.S. government official, Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29," the same day that the Obama administration announced the new sanctions and removal of Russian diplomats.

Jan. 13, 2017

White House press secretary Sean Spicer says that a conversation took place between Flynn and Kislyak, but that the conversation was on Dec. 28, and that it wasn't about sanctions.

He says that Kislyak texted Flynn on the 28th, asking if he could give Flynn a call. Kislyak then called that day, and according to Spicer, "the call centered around the logistics of setting up a call with the president of Russia and the president-elect after he was sworn in, and they exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call. That was it, plain and simple."

This later proves to be untrue, as two Trump transition officials confirm to NPR that a call took place on Dec. 29.

Jan. 15, 2017

Officials from the Justice Department and intelligence agencies discuss "whether the incoming Trump White House should be notified about the contents of the Flynn-Kislyak communications," as the Washington Post has reported.

Later that day, on CBS's Face the Nation, Vice President Pence says the conversations between Flynn and Kislyak had nothing to do with sanctions.

"What I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions," Pence said.

Upon further questioning from John Dickerson, Pence added, "I don't believe there were more conversations" as well as "I can confirm those elements were not a part of that discussion."

After the Pence interview, the Post reports, the Justice and intelligence officials thought the issue was "more urgent ... because U.S. intelligence agencies had reason to believe that Russia was aware that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions in their December call, contrary to public statements."

Jan. 19, 2017

According to the Washington Post, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, DNI James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan discuss whom in the administration should be briefed on the Flynn-Kislyak communications.

Jan. 26, 2017

The Justice Department notifies the White House counsel of discrepancies between what Flynn and Pence had claimed about the phone call between Flynn and Kislyak, as Spicer later reports at a Feb. 14 White House press briefing.

Feb. 8, 2017

In an interview, Flynn twice denies having discussed sanctions with Kislyak, according to the Washington Post.

Feb. 9, 2017

A Flynn spokesman says that the retired lieutenant general "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up," according to the Post.

This is also the day Pence "became aware of the incomplete information he'd received ... based on media accounts," according to Pence press secretary Marc Lotter, who spoke to reporters on Feb. 14.

Feb. 13, 2017

Kellyanne Conway tells MSNBC that Flynn "does enjoy the full confidence of the president."

Later in the day, Spicer says that Trump is "evaluating the situation" regarding Flynn.

That night, Flynn resigns as national security adviser. In a statement, he admits accidental wrongdoing:






"Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology."





The White House announces that retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. will be acting national security adviser.

Feb. 14, 2017

Spicer says that 17 days prior, White House Counsel Donald McGahn had told the president that Flynn had been wrong when he told Pence he hadn't discussed sanctions with Kislyak, as reported by the New York Times.

At a press briefing, Spicer says of the resignation, "We got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue," adding that Trump was "concerned that Gen. Flynn had misled the vice president and others."

Politico reports that there's still more to come on the Flynn story, according to the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee:






"Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told House Democrats Tuesday that the recent revelations about former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn's conversations with the Russians are only the beginning, and more information will surface in the coming days, according to multiple sources in a closed party meeting."





Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicates that the Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate Flynn's contacts with Russian officials, and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of the intelligence committee, says Flynn should meet with the committee "very soon."

With reporting from Barbara Van Woerkom

Trump Attacks On Judiciary Raise Safety Concerns For Judges

BY MARTHA BELLISLE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FEBRUARY 11, 2017

Judge James Robart listening to a case at Seattle Courthouse in Seattle. Online abuse of Robart, who temporarily derailed President Donald Trump's travel ban, has raised safety concerns, according to experts who are worried that the president's attacks on the judiciary could make judges a more inviting target. (United States Courts via AP,File)

SEATTLE (AP) — When a judge who helped derail President Donald Trump's travel ban was hit with online threats, the abuse raised safety concerns among jurists across the country, and experts are worried that the president's own attacks on the judiciary could make judges a more inviting target.

U.S. District Judge James Robart imposed the temporary restraining order that halted enforcement of Trump's ban last week. The president soon sent a tweet saying the opinion of "this so-called judge" was "ridiculous and would be overturned." He also tweeted that the judge was "a known liberal sympathizer" and had "just opened the door to terrorists!"

Robart quickly became a target on social media. Someone on Twitter called him a "DEAD MAN WALKING" and another on Facebook suggested that he be imprisoned at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, "where other enemies of the US are held."

"I know there's a fear among the judiciary with what's being said," said John Muffler, a former U.S. marshal who teaches security at the Reno, Nevada-based National Judicial College. He cited professional contacts and email exchanges with judges.

The president's critical comments have consequences, he added, because "people on the edge can easily be pushed over the edge once the rhetoric gets going." Trump blasted the federal court system again Wednesday after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on whether Robart's temporary restraining order should stand. During a speech to law enforcement officials, the president said the "courts seem to be so political" and called the hearing "disgraceful."

The next day, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump had "no regrets" about his criticism of judges. Threats against judges are nothing new. They often come in the form of emails, phone calls, letters and social media posts, according to court records and the U.S. Marshal Service, which is responsible for protecting the federal judiciary.

Judges are well guarded at their courthouse offices, but most do not receive protection when at home or out in the community. The Marshal Service offers extra protection if judges are threatened or handling especially sensitive or high-profile cases. All judges are also entitled to a home security system, Muffler said.

Over the past few years, marshals have responded to thousands of threats against court officials. Many are not serious, but some are more dangerous. A Minnesota man used Twitter to threaten a federal judge overseeing a case against ISIS supporters. In Seattle, a defendant left phone messages and sent letters to two judges saying he would kill, stab, poison and bomb them because of their rulings. A white supremacist in Virginia sent electronic messages threatening to kidnap, torture, rape and kill a judge, his spouse, children and grandchildren.

Chad Schmucker, president of the Judicial College, said "assaults on judges don't occur every day, but threats do." He said they are usually made by "disturbed people or people who are very angry." "Inflammatory language," he said, "doesn't help the situation and can make judges very nervous."

The marshals conducted hundreds of investigations and some prosecutions last year, according to the agency's 2016 annual report. They declined to release data on 2017 threats. Threatening to kill a federal judge is a Class C felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former assistant U.S. attorney, said Trump's comments about Robart were "irresponsible." "It's demeaning and it's dangerous," she said, and "an attack on the rule of law."

The remarks could also inspire violence, she said. "The last thing you want to do is give a green light to someone who is misguided and thinks they're doing a public service in attacking judges, physically or otherwise," Levenson said.

Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, has described the president's criticism of the judiciary as "demoralizing and disheartening." Personal attacks and threats against Robart abound on social media.

On a Facebook page about the judge, some people wrote thank-you notes to him, but others called him a disgrace, a traitor and a "bow tie wearing freak." One man directed his note at Robart, saying he couldn't wait "to read about the bad karma that is going to land on your weak slumping shoulders."

One woman wrote: "Open ur home to them if anything happens to anyone in this country like 911 there (sic) blood is on your head, and I will remember to rip u one." Another said, "who in your family is expendable Robart?"

Drew Wade, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, declined to discuss the judge's situation. The FBI also declined to comment.

Follow Martha Bellisle at https://twitter.com/marthabellisle .

Federal Appeals Court Refuses To Reinstate Trump Travel Ban

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

David Pearce, left, and his daughter Crissy Pearce hold signs outside of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. President Donald Trump's travel ban faced its biggest legal test yet Tuesday as a panel of federal judges prepared to hear arguments from the administration and its opponents about two fundamentally divergent views of the executive branch and the court system.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court refused Thursday to reinstate President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, dealing another legal setback to the new administration's immigration policy.

In a unanimous decision , the panel of three judges from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block a lower-court ruling that suspended the ban and allowed previously barred travelers to enter the U.S.

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely and would put the decision in the hands of a divided court that has a vacancy. Trump's nominee, Neil Gorsuch, could not be confirmed in time to take part in any consideration of the ban.

Moments after the ruling was released, Trump tweeted, "SEE YOU IN COURT," adding that "THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!" The appeals panel said the government presented no evidence to explain the urgent need for the executive order to take effect immediately. The judges noted compelling public interests on both sides.

"On the one hand, the public has a powerful interest in national security and in the ability of an elected president to enact policies. And on the other, the public also has an interest in free flow of travel, in avoiding separation of families, and in freedom from discrimination."

The court rejected the administration's claim that it did not have the authority to review the president's executive order. "There is no precedent to support this claimed unreviewability, which runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy," the court said.

While they did not rule on the actual merits of the states' argument that the travel ban was intended to target Muslims, the judges rejected the government's claim that the court should not consider statements by Trump or his advisers about wishing to enact such a ban. Considering those remarks, the judges said, falls within well-established legal precedent.

Last week, U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order halting the ban after Washington state and Minnesota sued. The ban temporarily suspended the nation's refugee program and immigration from countries that have raised terrorism concerns.

Justice Department lawyers appealed to the 9th Circuit, arguing that the president has the constitutional power to restrict entry to the United States and that the courts cannot second-guess his determination that such a step was needed to prevent terrorism.

The states said Trump's travel ban harmed individuals, businesses and universities. Citing Trump's campaign promise to stop Muslims from entering the U.S., they said the ban unconstitutionally blocked entry to people based on religion.

The appeals court sided with the states on every issue save one: the argument that the lower court's temporary restraining order could not be appealed. While under 9th Circuit precedent such orders are not typically reviewable, the panel ruled that due to the intense public interest at stake and the uncertainty of how long it would take to obtain a further ruling from the lower court, it was appropriate to consider the federal government's appeal.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said the "million-dollar question" is whether the Trump administration would appeal to the Supreme Court. That could run the risk of having only eight justices to hear the case, which could produce a tie and leave the lower-court ruling in place.

"There's a distinct risk in moving this too quickly," Blackman said. "But we're not in a normal time, and Donald Trump is very rash. He may trump, pardon the figure of speech, the normal rule." Both sides faced tough questioning during an hour of arguments Tuesday. The judges hammered away at the administration's claim that the ban was motivated by terrorism fears, but they also challenged the states' argument that it targeted Muslims.

"I have trouble understanding why we're supposed to infer religious animus when, in fact, the vast majority of Muslims would not be affected," Judge Richard Clifton, a George W. Bush nominee, asked an attorney representing Washington state and Minnesota.

Only 15 percent of the world's Muslims are affected by the executive order, the judge said, citing his own calculations. "Has the government pointed to any evidence connecting these countries to terrorism?" Judge Michelle T. Friedland, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, asked the Justice Department attorney.

After the ban was put on hold, the State Department quickly said people from the seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — with valid visas could travel to the U.S. The decision led to tearful reunions at airports round the country.

The ban was set to expire in 90 days, meaning it could run its course before the Supreme Court would take up the issue. The administration also could change the order, including changing its scope or duration.