"The word 'Islam' means 'surrender and submission', enslavement to Allah, not 'peace'; and never meant peace. The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the liberal press makes it a word of "peace" and "love" . —Maven Stark
Attackers dressed in Santa Claus suits opened fire inside a packed Istanbul nightclub shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, killing at least 35 people and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said.
Gov. Vasip Sahin of Istanbul Province called it a terrorist attack.
The attack occurred about 1:15 a.m. at the nightclub, Reina, where as many as 600 people were celebrating the New Year, officials said.
Mr. Sahin said the attackers — initial reports said there had been as many as three — had fired on the police before heading inside the club.
“One person first kills the police officer outside, and then a civilian,” the governor said. “Inside, he rained bullets brutally, mercilessly over innocent people who were there just to celebrate the New Year and have fun.”
The club overlooks the Bosporus — which separates Europe and Asia — and some clubgoers jumped into the water in their panic over the attack.
Mehmet Kocarslan, the owner, told the Hurriyet news site that there had been increased security measures for the past 10 days after American intelligence officials had warned about an attack. He said the attackers had used Kalashnikov rifles.
Television footage showed dozens of ambulances rushing to the scene and people fleeing, some walking with difficulty, arm in arm.
Hurriyet said three assailants in Santa costumes had opened fire at the security staff members at the gate and stormed in.
NTV, a Turkish channel, said the police were still searching for the attackers.
On the European side of Istanbul, the neighborhood is an international travel destination known for its food stalls and vibrant night life. The area is a mix of stone, brick and wooden buildings along pedestrian lanes.
"... this is what Allah and his messenger promised us. Kill all non-Muslims. "
A statement threatening attacks in Turkey that was published this week by Nashir Media Foundation, an organization with ties to the Islamic State.
Turkey is still recovering from a failed coup attempt that began on July 15 in which at least 265 people were killed.
Though the effort sputtered in a matter of hours, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded with a sweeping, monthslong crackdown targeting dissidents across Turkish society. In addition to arresting thousands of military personnel suspected of involvement in the coup, hundreds of thousands of civil servants, educational workers and journalists have been purged.
The coup and the assassination of the Russian Ambassador Andrey G. Karlov in Ankara on Dec. 19 raised concerns that the country’s security establishment has grown ineffective. The internal turmoil also raised doubts about how well Turkey will be able to participate in international counterterrorism efforts, especially with regard to the Islamic State.
In the wake of the crackdown, protests against Mr. Erdogan have led to frequent clashes between demonstrators and the police. And reports of targeted attacks against civilians after martial law was declared in July have revived painful memories of the political violence Turkey experienced in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Retaliation is the last refuge of the incompetent which Obama displays at every post-defeat by the righteous men. Maven Stark
United States has expelled 35 Russian spies in response to Kremlin-backed interference in the presidential election, further escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The diplomatic officials from the Russian embassy in Washington and its consulate in San Francisco were deemed "persona non grata" and told to leave the country within 72 hours.
President Barack Obama also
announced it was closing two compounds owned by the Russian government, and used for intelligence operations, in New York and Maryland, from noon on Friday.
He also ordered sanctions against Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies, and six named Russian individuals.
They included Lt Gen Korobov, head of the GRU, and three of his deputies. The other two were Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russians wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.
Also sanctioned were three computer companies alleged to have provided "material support" to the GRU.
The moves marked an unprecedented new low for US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.
He said the 35 expelled diplomats were "intelligence operatives".
The developments marked an unprecedented new low in US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.
The Russian Embassy in London called it "Cold War deja vu", and said the US "wanted to destroy" ties with Moscow.
Mr Obama accused Russia of "aggressive harassment" and said "all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions". He said hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government".
Mr Obama said: "These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behaviour. Such activities have consequences."
He added: "This is not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicised."
A US official added: "By imposing costs on the Russian diplomats in the United States, by denying them access to the two facilities, we hope the Russian government reevaluates its own actions."
It was understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.
It comes after the the CIA and FBI concluded that Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic Party and releasing embarrassing emails with the intention of helping Donald Trump to win the White House.
Russia has repeatedly denied the hacking accusations. A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry said: "If Washington really does take new hostile steps they will be answered. "Any action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately bounce back on US diplomats in Russia."
Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, with Vladimir PutinCREDIT: AFP
Mr Trump said he would meet intelligence officials next week to hear evidence of the Russian hacking.
He said: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things.
"Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."
Kellyanne Conway, one of Mr Trump's top advisers, told CNN that Mr Trump stood by his claims that it was unclear whether Russia carried out the hacks and insisted that alleged Russian hacking was being used to try and delegitimise Mr Trump's victory.
The US State Department said the expelled diplomats had been "acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular status".It also said the US actions were a response to increased harassment of US diplomats in Moscow over the last year. In 2001 the US expelled 50 Russian diplomats from the country over accusations of spying. Russia responded in kind, ordering 50 US diplomats to leave its own country.
The Russian Embassy in London called the US action "Cold War deja vu". It added: "Everybody, including the American people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless administration." Its post on social media was accompanied by a picture of a duck and the word "Lame".
According to one US official there are a total of about 100 Russian spies in the US, so about one third of th
em are being ejected.
Starting on Friday at noon, the White House said, Russia will be denied access to compounds in Maryland and New York that have been used for intelligence-related purposes.
A statement from the state department said the diplomatic expulsions were a response not only to hacking but to “a pattern of harassment of our diplomats overseas, that has increased over the last four years, including a significant increase in the last 12 months”.
The statement said the harassment has included “arbitrary police stops, physical assault, and the broadcast on state TV of personal details about our personnel that put them at risk”.
For some time, US diplomats in Russia have anecdotally reported being followed and harassed by police.
In June, a US diplomat was wrestled to the ground by a policeman as he scrambled to get inside the embassy. Russian authorities said the man was a CIA agent operating under cover.
A longtime Republican congressman says that Russia’s leak of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the U.S. presidential election was a public service.
“If Russia succeeded in giving the American people information that was accurate,” Arizona Rep. Trent Franks said Thursday afternoon on MSNBC, “then they merely did what the media should have done.”
Franks’ comments came shortly before the Obama administration announced sanctions against Moscow for interfering with the U.S. election.
“I’m all for doing what’s necessary to protect the election here,” Franks said. “But there’s no suggestion that Russia hacked into our voting systems or anything like that.”
In October, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russian hacking of American “political organizations” like the Democratic National Committee was an attempt to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system. In a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill earlier this month, the Central Intelligence Agency concluded that it was “quite clear” that electing Donald Trump was Russia’s goal.
Trump dismissed the assessment, calling it a “card” being played by the Democrats to undercut his stunning election victory.
“Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card,” Trump tweeted on Dec. 12. “It would be called conspiracy theory!”
“Are we talking about the same cyberattack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate?” Trump tweeted on Dec. 16.
On CNN, Sean Spicer, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, also suggested to Jake Tapper that the media did not scrutinize the DNC’s lack of adequate cybersecurity.
“At what point is it incumbent upon you guys in the media to ask the DNC what measures do they take to protect this? Because it seems to me there’s a lot of talk about the DNC not doing what they should have done to protect their own network servers,” Spicer said. “I’m not saying in any way shape or form, to be clear, any attempt to hack or to do anything nefarious is wrong and illegal. At some point, the question hasn’t even been asked of the DNC, ‘Did you take basic measures to protect the data that was on there?'”
But Franks’ praise of a foreign actor’s alleged cyberattack against the United States ignited a backlash on social media.
“It’s good to know what side he’s on,” Neera Tanden wrote on Twitter. “When it comes to American citizens v Russia, Franks chose Russia.”
President-elect Donald J. Trump released the following statement in response to a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President-elect Donald Trump on Friday made public a conciliatory holiday letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin and said the two countries can forge a constructive new relationship or “travel an alternate path.” Trump released the message, which was dated December 15, after reportedly shrugging off concerns he might trigger a nuclear arms race.
In the note, Putin did not explicitly mention any disputes between Washington and Moscow, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, military aid to Syria’s Bashar Assad or alleged attempts to sway the presidential election.
“Serious global and regional challenges, which our countries have had to face in recent years, show that the relations between Russia and the U.S. remain an important factor in ensuring the stability and security of the modern world,” Putin wrote.
“I hope that after you assume the position of the President of the United States of America we will be able — by acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner — to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration on the international scene to a qualitatively new level,” the Kremlin strongman said.
In a brief written statement, Trump welcomed the message: “A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct. I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path.”
Trump’s presidential transition team released the letter hours after the real estate entrepreneur dismissed concerns that he might spark an arms race with a tweet on Thursday in which he said the United States “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.”
In an off-air conversation Friday morning with “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, Trump declared “let it be an arms race, because we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” according to her description of the back and forth.
The letter — addressed “Dear Mr. Trump,” signed “V. Putin” and labeled “unofficial translation” — included some personal touches. “Please accept my warmest Christmas and New Year greetings,” it began. And it closed with: “Please accept my sincere wishes to you and your family of sound health, happiness, well-being, success and all the best.”
"There’s never a dull moment when a gilded finger is on the red button".
When asked to clarify his stance on expanding the United States’ nuclear arsenal, President-elect Donald Trump reportedly touted the possibility of an arms race — not unlike the ominous standoff between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.
“Let it be an arms race, because we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” Trump said Friday morning, according to “Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough.
In an off-air phone conversation, Brzezinski had asked Trump to address a tweet from Thursday about building up the nation’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump’s apparent policy contradicts decades of U.S. policy regarding nuclear proliferation and the country’s international commitments.
The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) went into force in 1970 addressing three major concerns in the Atomic Age: disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Virtually every state in the world agreed that countries with nuclear weapons would work toward disarmament, countries without nuclear weapons would not seek them and all countries would be able to use peaceful nuclear technology.
In April 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the principles and the goals of the NPT during a speech at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
“I am pleased to stand here today representing a president and an administration that is committed to the vision of a world without nuclear weapons and to taking the prudent actions that are necessary to one day make that possible,” Kerry said.
Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway discussed the president-elect’s disconcerting tweet during a heated interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Thursday, the day she was appointed counselor to the president.
Maddow suggested that if the U.S. announced a U-turn on nuclear policy, then countries like India and Pakistan might move their nuclear weapons to launch status. That’s what has happened, she said, when presidents even joke about nuclear weapons.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, Rachel,” Conway replied.
Maddow said that Trump announcing on Twitter that he wanted to expand the nation’s nuclear arsenal is a big deal (not that anyone cares about what Maddow has to say), and that Trump doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about on that issue.
Conway said that in a perfect world they wouldn’t need to talk about nukes, but that this is not a perfect world.
“In the world in which we live, which is not perfect, in fact, it’s very dangerous and very uncertain, I hope we can all agree, military might has been one of the ways to deter people from doing bad things,” she said.
According to Conway, Trump may have been echoing actions President Obama has taken to upgrade our weapons systems (although Trump’s comment to Brzezinski the following morning suggests he actually wants to amass more nukes).
She took issue with Maddow scrutinizing what Trump says on social media as if it were the official policy of his administration.
“I think that we’re getting a little too far ahead of ourselves that he’s changing policy and making policy in a way that he did not intend,” Conway said.
Maddow fired back: “The president making policy happens whenever the president speaks on a national security matter.”
Political strategist Sean Spicer, who was recently named Trump’s White House press secretary, was asked to address the recent nuclear fiasco during an appearance on “Today” on Friday morning. He said the president-elect will “take action” to make sure that American interests are protected.
“We’re not going to sit back as a country and allow other countries to expand their nuclear capability,” he said.
Spicer added that Trump only plans to expand the country’s nuclear stockpile if other countries don’t “come to their senses.”
“Other countries need to be put on notice that he is not going to sit back and allow them to undermine our safety, our sovereignty,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Trump several times during his annual end of the year news conference. He said that there was nothing unusual about Trump talking about strengthening the U.S. nuclear arsenal and armed forces. He said Russia would not compete in an arms race because it would not be able to keep up.
“If anyone is unleashing an arms race, it’s not us,” Putin said. “We will never spend resources on an arms race that we can’t afford.”
As with many of Trump’s proposals, the backlash has been swift and fierce.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told CNN’s “New Day” that Trump could create “chaos for international relations” if he keeps tweeting certain things at 5 a.m. that his press people need to roll back at 7 a.m., only to be undermined by another tweet at 9 a.m.
Another recent example of this confusion is how Trump insisted Thursday that he still plans to “drain the swamp,” directly contradicting former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s claim a day earlier that he abandoned the slogan.
"There's two kinds of humans: those who have the special laser to shoot an antimatter at CERN laboratory; and those with hand guns who shoot an Embassodor in an art center".
Maven Stark
Shouting "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!" a Turkish policeman in a suit and tie fatally shot Russia's ambassador to Turkey in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibit. Police killed the assailant after a shootout.
WARNING!
This video contains extremely graphic content and may be upsetting.
Russian Ambassador to Turkey Fatally Shot in Ankara Terrorist Attack, Russia Says.
Andrey Karlov, The Russian Embassodor to Turkey, speaking at the gallery in Ankara on Monday, moments before he was shot.
The Russian Ambassador to Turkey Fatally Shot in Ankara Terrorist Attack, Russia Says
A man, right, reported by The Associated Press to be the gunman, after the shooting of the Russian ambassador, on the floor, on Monday at a gallery in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
— A lone gunman shot Russia’s ambassador to Turkey and at least three others Monday evening at an art center in Ankara, the Turkish capital. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the envoy had died in a terrorist attack.
The envoy, Andrey G. Karlov, was shot from behind while speaking at an exhibition, according to multiple accounts including one from The Associated Press, which cited one of its photographers, who was at the scene, the Contemporary Arts Center in the Cankaya area of Ankara.
Others said the ambassador immediately fell to the floor and that the gunman was killed after a shootout with Turkish Special Forces police.
People huddle during the shooting in the art gallery.
BURHAN OZBILICI / ASSOCIATED PRESS.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told the Rossiya 24 news channel that Mr. Karlov had died of his wounds in what she described as a terrorist attack.
The gunman gestures after shooting the Russian ambassador.
BURHAN OZBILICI / ASSOCIATED PRESS
CNN Turk published images showing several people lying on the floor of the gallery.
The Turkish television news station NTV reported that at least three other people had been wounded.
Russia’s Tass news agency initially quoted witnesses of the attack as saying that there had been an “assassination attempt” against Mr. Karlov, and that he had been shot from behind while finishing his opening remarks at the opening of exhibition called “Russia through Turks’ eyes.”
The attack came amid protests in Turkey over Russia’s role in the Syria war. The Russian and Turkish governments, while backing different sides in the conflict, have been collaborating in efforts to evacuate civilians from the ravaged city of Aleppo.
Mr. Karlov, who started his career as a diplomat in 1976, worked extensively in North Korea over two decades, before moving to the region in 2007, according to a biography on the Russian Embassy’s website. He became ambassador in July 2013.
WARNING! This video contains extremely graphic content and may be upsetting.
Shouting "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!" a Turkish policeman in a suit and tie fatally shot Russia's ambassador to Turkey in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibit. Police killed the assailant after a shootout.
Ambassador Andrei Karlov, 62, was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in the Turkish capital of Ankara when a man fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience.
"Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" the gunman shouted in Turkish, referring to the Syrian city where Russian bombardments have helped drive rebels from areas they had occupied for years during the war.
He also shouted "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is great" and continued in Arabic: "We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammad, for jihad."
More news:
WARNING!
This video contains extremely graphic content and may be upsetting.
Story highlights
NEW: Putin vows to step up fight against terror, saying "criminals will feel the heat"
NEW: Erdogan: Attack won't dampen effort to strengthen ties between Turkey, Russia
Here's what we know right now:
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called the assassination a "provocation," vowing to step up security at diplomatic missions. "This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the normalization of Russia-Turkish relations as well as at undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in promoting settling the crisis in Syria," Putin said in televised remarks. "The only response we should offer to this murder is stepping up our fight against terror, and the criminals will feel the heat."
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the killing won't dampen the two countries' efforts to build a stronger relationship. "We know that this is a provocation on destroying the relationship between Turkey and Russia during this normalization process. ... All the expectation of what they want to achieve with this attack will be in vain and never happen," Erdogan said in televised remarks Monday.
• Police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas was the gunman, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a press conference. The attacker was born in 1994 in the town of Soke in Turkey's Aydin province, he said. CNN initially reported the officer was was off-duty at the time of the shooting, but Turkish government statements left his duty status Monday unclear.
• Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported that the gunman had been neutralized. But it was not immediately clear whether the attacker was killed or captured by police.
•Karlov was giving a speech at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibit when the gunman opened fire.
•Images of the scene showed a body on the ground as a man wearing a suit and holding a pistol stood nearby.
•In a video circulating on social media that shows the shooting, the gunman is heard shouting, "Allahu akbar (God is greatest). Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria! Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria!"
"Get back! Get back!" the man can be heard shouting in Turkish as he waves a gun.
"Only death will remove me from here. Everyone who has taken part in this oppression will one by one pay for it," he said.
• The shooting occurred a day before diplomats from Turkey, Iran and Russia are scheduled to meet in Moscow to discuss the situation in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo.
• "We are currently in contact with Turkish authorities, who are assuring us that a thorough, comprehensive investigation will be conducted," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in remarks broadcast on Russian television. "Murderers will be punished. Terrorism won't sustain. We'll fight it."
• "This attack shows the most disgusting and barbaric face of terrorism," Turkey's foreign ministry said, vowing to fight terrorism alongside Russia and its other allies.
• The attack occurred at the Cagdas Sanat Merkezi modern arts center in Ankara. The arts center is located in a posh, upper-middle-class neighborhood, near luxury hotels and many foreign embassies.
Russia is the most powerful ally of Assad's regime and has carried out airstrikes since September 2015 to prop up the embattled leader. As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia has also used its veto powers to block a political solution to end the war.
"Responsibility for this brutality lies in one place alone: the Assad regime and its allies Russia and Iran," Obama said during a year-end news conference. "The blood for these atrocities are on their hands."
The shooting of the ambassador is the latest in a long string of attacks in Turkey this year, although it's the first in recent memory to be directed at a foreign dignitary.
The attack came exactly a week after a pair of bombings in Istanbul killed 44 people, including 37 police officers, and injured 155 others. The explosions, which occurred after a heavily attended soccer game at Besiktas Vodafone Arena, were claimed by a Kurdish militant group called the Kurdish Freedom Hawks.
Turkish-Russian relations were improving
In its statement after Monday's shooting, Turkey's foreign ministry said it wouldn't let the attack cast a shadow on the friendship between Turkey and Russia.
Erdogan and Putin have spoken several times on the phone in recent weeks as they worked to hammer out a deal to evacuate civilians from eastern Aleppo.
US intelligence officials now believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in hacking during the American election campaign as part of a vendetta against Hillary Clinton, NBC News reported.
Putin personally instructed how material hacked from US Democrats was leaked and otherwise used, the US television network said, quoting two senior officials with access to this information.
The officials said they have a "high level of confidence" in this new assessment, NBC reported.
Last weekend The Washington Post reported a CIA evaluation that Russia had hacked the emails of US persons and institutions as a way to sway the election in favor of Republican Donald Trump, who eventually did beat Clinton on November 8.
Putin is said never to have forgiven Clinton -- then secretary of state -- for publicly questioning the integrity of parliamentary elections in 2011 in Russia, and accused her of encouraging street protests.
The intelligence officials told NBC that Putin's goals in the alleged hacking began as revenge against Clinton.
But they transformed into a broader effort to show that the world of US politics was corrupt and to, in the words of one official, "split off key American allies by creating the image that (other countries) couldn't depend on the US to be a credible global leader anymore."
In preparation for possible retaliation, US intelligence agencies have intensified probing of Putin's personal wealth, NBC said, citing US officials.
Trump, who has spoken warmly of Putin, has dismissed as "ridiculous" the allegation that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and people close to Clinton.
Leading US lawmakers have called for a formal congressional investigation into the hacking.
ExxonMobile chief chosen to head State Department, has close ties to Russia.
Rex Tillerson, left, with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Krasnodar governor Alexander Tkachev at the signing of an agreement between Rosneft and Exxon Mobil. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/EPA
Rex Tillerson’s nomination as the next secretary of state confirms Vladimir Putin as one of the strategic victors of the US presidential election.
Barack Obama has ordered an inquiry into covert Russian intervention in the campaign, which the CIA says was designed to secure a victory for Donald Trump. But whether or not Russian intervention made a significant difference to the outcome, a Tillerson appointment would represent a significant gain for Moscow. He must be confirmed by the Senate.
While the other leading candidates for the job held largely traditional and adversarial views on Russia, the outgoing chief executive of Exxon Mobil has a history of close business ties to Putin, who bestowed the Order of Friendship on Tillerson in 2013.
The 64-year-old Texas oilman spent much of his career working on Russian deals, including a 2011 agreement giving Exxon Mobil access to the huge resources under the Russian Arctic in return for giving the giant state-owned Russian oil company, OAO Rosneft, the opportunity to invest in Exxon Mobil’s operations overseas.
"Trump’s choice suggests he wants to make good on his promise to cut deals with Russia instead of containing it. "
Thomas Wright, Brookings Institution.
If the sanctions were lifted, the Arctic project would probably go ahead and Tillerson’s retirement fund of Exxon Mobil stock would increase in value. He would most likely have to divest himself of stock by the time he entered the office on the seventh floor of the state department. It might be harder to divorce his judgments entirely from the oil company where he spent his career.
“Tillerson has a relationship with Putin and he opposed the sanctions imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea. This will alarm those worried about Russian intentions in Europe.”
Praising Tillerson in an interview with Fox News Sunday, Trump said: “To me a great advantage is that he knows many of the players in the world and he knows them well.”
Lest there be any doubt about which players the president-elect had in mind, Trump added: “He does massive deals in Russia not for himself, but for the company.”
‘A culture of intimidation’
Stacks and burn-off from the Exxon Mobil refinery, at dusk in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
In a very real sense, Tillerson has been a head of a state within a state. Exxon Mobil is bigger economically than many countries. It has its own foreign policy and its own contracted security forces.
As a state, it has much in common with the one run by Putin and Sechin.
“They have a culture of intimidation that they bring to bear in their external relations, and it is plenty understood inside the corporation too. They make people nervous, they make people afraid,” Coll, now a journalism professor at Columbia University, told Texas Monthly.
Running the state department would not be like running Exxon Mobil, however. For a start, Tillerson would have to audition in front of a sceptical Senate. Even before Trump announced his decision on Tuesday, leading Democrats were painting Tillerson as a Moscow stooge.
The New Jersey senator Bob Menendez said on Twitter: “Rex Tillerson as secretary of state would guarantee Russia has a willing accomplice in the president’s cabinet.”
With a slim 52-48 majority, it would only take three Republican senators in revolt to cast Tillerson’s job in doubt. He would face aggressive questioning from Republican foreign policy hawks, led by John McCain.
“Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “It would be called conspiracy theory
President-elect Trump speaks with Chris Wallace about the head of ExxonMobil in a 'Fox News Sunday' exclusive
video
Trump: Tillerson is 'much more than a business executive'
President-elect Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview with “Fox News Sunday,” decried as “ridiculous” the CIA’s reported assessment that Russia intervened in the election to boost his candidacy – describing the claim as another “excuse” pushed by Democrats to explain his upset victory.
victory.
“It's just another excuse. I don't believe it,” Trump said. “… Every week it's another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College.”
Trump spoke with Fox News’ Chris Wallace in the president-elect’s first Sunday show interview since winning the election.
He spoke at length about his Cabinet selection process, defending his decision to tap several military generals while previewing an announcement soon on his secretary of state choice. He vowed as well to “clean” up and “speed” up government agencies, without necessarily dismantling President Obama’s legacy.
But while staying careful not to personally criticize the sitting president over his intelligence agencies’ analysis on foreign cyber-interference in the election, Trump made clear he rejects their assessment so far.
“Nobody really knows, and hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act you're not going to catch them,” he said. “They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place.”
Bolton said this means that a “really sophisticated foreign intelligence service would not leave any cyber fingerprints, and yet people say they did leave fingerprints in the hacks regarding our election.”
“So the question has to be asked: Why did the Russians run their smart intelligence service against Hillary’s server, but their dumb intelligence service against the election?”
Trump was responding to a Washington Post report that the CIA concluded in a secret assessment that Russia interfered in the race to boost Trump, not just undermine confidence in the system.
Intelligence agencies reportedly found individuals connected to the Russian government gave WikiLeaks hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, as well as from Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta – though did not have “specific intelligence” showing Kremlin officials directed the activity.
The assessment was shared with key senators.
TRUMP TEAM SAYS 'MOVE ON' AFTER OBAMA SEEKS HACKING PROBE
Shortly before the interview with Trump aired on Sunday, a bipartisan group of senators described the Russia interference reports as serious.
“For years, foreign adversaries have directed cyberattacks at America’s physical, economic, and military infrastructure, while stealing our intellectual property. Now our democratic institutions have been targeted. Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American,” Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement.
“… Democrats and Republicans must work together, and across the jurisdictional lines of the Congress, to examine these recent incidents thoroughly and devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyberattacks. This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country.”
Amid the CIA findings, the White House also said Friday that President Obama has ordered his intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of hacking during the 2016 election and present their findings before he leaves office.
Trump’s transition team responded by saying the election “ended a long time ago” and “it’s now time to move on.”
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange also has previously said the Russian government was not the source.
Trump and his supporters point to ambiguity inside intelligence and law enforcement agencies in arguing that Russia’s role is not clear. Indeed, the Post later reported that while the CIA pointed to Russia, a senior FBI official suggested to lawmakers that the agency and bureau were not on the same page on the matter.
Speaking with “Fox News Sunday,” Trump said “there’s great confusion.”
He went so far as to assert, “Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country.”
Trump said the efforts could be political, adding Democrats are “very embarrassed.”
Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News he wants to make government more efficient, especially when it comes to the EPA.
“EPA, you can't get things approved. I mean, people are waiting in line for 15 years before they get rejected, okay? That's why people don't want to invest in this country,” he said. “... So we're going to clean it up. We're going to speed it up and, by the way, if somebody is not doing the right thing we're not going to approve.”
But asked if he’ll take a “wrecking ball” to the Obama legacy, Trump said, “No. I don't want to do that at all.”
Trump went on to defend his selection of several retired generals for key positions, including secretary of Defense and Homeland Security.
“I like generals. I think generals are terrific, you know? They go through schools and they sort of end up at the top of the pyramid. And it's like a test. They passed the test of life. … And I like the three that I have very, very much,” he said.
He also said he’s “getting very, very close” to picking a secretary of State nominee, amid indications he’s leaning toward ExxonMobil boss Rex Tillerson.
“He's much more than a business executive. ... He's a world-class player,” Trump said of Tillerson, without confirming the choice.
As for Trump’s recent attempts to pressure American companies not to move operations abroad, the president-elect was unapologetic and denied that moving and selling back to America represents the free market.
“That’s the dumb market, okay? That's the dumb market. I'm a big free trader, but it has to be fair,” Trump said. “We're being stripped of our workers.”
He said he wants to pursue a 35 percent tax on companies that leave, saying, “There are going to be consequences.”
He predicted “nobody’s going to move.”
Trump responded to reports that he’ll keep a stake in business interests like “Celebrity Apprentice” and his real estate operations. He defended the arrangements, saying he’ll have nothing to do with the management.
Trump said his executives and children will run his company, and denied any similarities to the Clinton Foundation taking money from foreign governments while his 2016 rival was at the State Department.
“This is different,” Trump said. “… I am turning down billions of dollars of deals. I will tell you, running for president -- the money I spent is peanuts compared to the money I won't make, and that's okay, because this is so important. … This is a calling.”
