Glenn Greenwald on Twitter
Click on “Jill Stein” that’s trending & you’ll see countless leading Dems – with large platforms – strongly implying if not outright stating she’s a Kremlin agent: all because of a Congressional inquiry. They couldn’t better replicate McCarthyism if they tried. https://t.co/HOWU16bS6O
Here’s the AP’s take on things, followed by RT’s take.
The Senate intelligence committee has asked for documents from former presidential candidate Jill Stein as part of its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, adding another new thread to the panel’s investigation as it heads into 2018.
Stein said in a statement overnight Tuesday that she was cooperating with the probe and is providing documents to the committee. She has captured the interest of investigators partly because she attended a 2015 dinner sponsored by Russian television network RT with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Senate intelligence committee chairman, Richard Burr, R-N.C., appeared to confirm the investigation’s new focus on Stein Monday evening. Asked what the committee wanted to know about from Stein’s campaign, Burr responded: “collusion with the Russians.”
The request to Stein is more evidence that the Senate panel will still have much work to do in 2018. While the investigation has largely focused on both the Russian interference and whether it was in any way connected to President Donald Trump’s campaign, investigators are following multiple leads.
The top Democrat on the panel, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, would not confirm the investigation into Stein but noted on Tuesday that she was at what he called the “infamous dinner” with Putin. Michael Flynn, who later became Trump’s national security adviser, also attended the 2015 dinner in Moscow. He is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the Russian meddling and has pleaded guilty to a count of making false statements to FBI agents.
Warner also said Stein had said complimentary things about Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who Warner said “clearly was being used by the Russians to take some of the hacked information and release into our political system.”
WikiLeaks released stolen emails from several Democratic officials during the campaign. Assange denies receiving the material from Russia.
Now from RT:
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein announced she is complying with a Senate Intelligence Committee request for campaign documents in the “Russiagate” probe, but warned against politicized targeting.“We are cooperating by sharing all communications relevant to the committee’s mission,”Stein wrote in aFacebook poston Tuesday.“We support safeguarding our elections from interference, while at the same time we caution strongly against the targeting of political opposition.”
The committee is investigating whether there was Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election, and whether the Trump campaign was involved. Russia has consistently denied any interference in the election.
The committee is looking into Stein’s potential“collusion with Russia,”Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) said Monday, according to BuzzFeed. Burr had previously said the committee was also looking into reports the Democratic National Committee paid for research that went into a dossier containing allegations of Donald Trump’s alleged exploits in Moscow.
Stein’s former campaign manager told BuzzFeed he expects the committee will want to know more about the 2015 Gala dinner hosted by RT, celebrating its 10th anniversary in Moscow. Stein sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser. Stein said she was not paid to attend the dinner and paid for her own travel costs.