October 25, 2017
Matt Axel
News Writer
The White House
Jan 6 – The Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats reports “conclusive evidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally orchestrated the U.S. election hack and that his government provided stolen files to WikiLeaks. Declassified intelligence reports reveal Putin’s strong disdain for presidential runner-up Hillary Clinton.
Jan 10 – Buzzfeed publishes a British-produced dossier alleging that the Russian government may have blackmailed Trump using “compromising information” about his finances as well as embarrassing video material on Trump.
Jan 22 – The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump’s campaign manager Michael Flynn is under investigation for Russian ties for discussing sanctions with Sergey Kislyak.
Jan. 26 — Acting Attorney General Sally Yates informs White House counsel Donald McGahn that high-ranking administration officials including Pence are lying about Flynn’s conduct and conversations with the Russians.
Jan 27 – During a private dinner between the two of them, Trump asks then-FBI Director James Comey to pledge his loyalty to the president; Comey politely declines.
February
Feb 6 – Trump has what he claims is first conversation with Putin, in which he denounces the nuclear deal between the two countries.
Feb 9 – The Washington Post reports that Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Kislyak.
Feb 13 – Flynn resigns.
Feb. 14 — On Trump’s request, Comey arrives at the oval office and is asked by Trump to drop the Russia investigation; Comey refuses.
March
March 1 – The New York Times reports that although former president Barack Obama could not be blamed for any leaks, he was in fact responsible for preserving U.S. intelligence on the election hack shortly before the end of his term as president.
March 2 – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from all investigations relating to Trump-Russia ties, and claims he has been honest as possible. Trump reportedly berates White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus over the recusal, and again blames Obama via Twitter, claiming the former president wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower in New York.
March 20 – For the first time, Comey publicly confirms the existence of the investigation. He dispels Trump’s wiretapping claims.
March 27 – Bloomberg publishes an article urging Americans to treat politically-driven Russian hacks as a continued threat.
In March, Trump’s campaign advisor Michael Stone is warned by the Senate Intelligence Committee to preserve all information regarding Trump-Russia ties.
April
April 3 – The Washington Post claims Blackwater founder Erik Prince tried to set up secret communication channels between Trump and Russian officials, and former Trump advisor Carter Page is accused of having sparked the whole investigation in 2013 by attending a meeting with a Russian spy.
Strikingly, Trumps son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner is outed for failing to disclose meetings with Russian officials on his security clearance forms, and Paul Manafort receiving millions of dollars in loans from Trump-tied businesses. Yates is invited to testify on the election interference, and agrees.
May
May 11 – Comey testifies that in a private conversation, Trump indeed did ask him to pledge loyalty and end the Russia probe. (Later on, the Senate would respond by increasing Russian sanctions and limiting Trump’s ability to alter them.)
May 17 – FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is assigned as special counsel to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government’s efforts to influence the election.
May 26 — The Washington Post reports that Kushner and Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, discussed setting up a secure communications channel between Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin at a meeting in early December 2016. (See entry for December 2016.)
May 31 — The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issues subpoenas for testimony, documents and business records from Flynn as well as Michael Cohen, personal attorney to the president.
June
June 9 – It’s revealed that Donald Trump Jr., Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, and Manafort all met with a Kremlin lawyer during a secret meeting in July 2016. The purpose of the meeting is to exchange damning information on Clinton.
June 15 – Pence hires outside counsel to protect himself.
July
July 26 – FBI raids the home of Paul Manafort.
July 31- The New York Times reports that Manafort had “business dealings with prominent Ukrainian and Russian tycoons.”
August
Aug 3 – Mueller impanels a grand jury in Washington, D.C., as part of his investigation. It has the right to subpoena documents, require witnesses to testify under oath, and indict suspects on criminal charges given criminal wrongdoing is found.
Aug 14 – The New York Times reports Manafort received millions of dollars from pro-Russian party in Ukraine, which his lawyer denies.
Aug 19 – Trump fires Manafort.
Aug 28 – The Washington Post reports that Trump signed a “letter of intent” in 2016, during the campaign, to pursue “a proposal for Trump Tower Moscow.”
September
Sept 6 – Facebook announces that it has uncovered over $100,000 worth of politically related ad buys from 2016 connected to fake accounts linked to Russia. Facebook’s role in the investigation deepens after Mueller obtains a warrant to analyze its data for links to the Russian state news agency Sputnik.
Sept 8 – The New York Times obtains a draft letter reportedly detailing Trump’s genuine reasons for firing Comey, which members of his administration changed before releasing.
Sept 19 – CNN reports that federal investigators “wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election,” via the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA). It is suggested that whatever was recorded resulted in the raid on his home.
October
Oct 2 – Facebook hands over Russia-linked Facebook ads to the Senate and House Intelligence Committee.
Oct 4 – U.S. House Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes signs subpoenas relating to the ‘Steele Dossier’.
Oct. 6 – Steele, author of the Dossier, is reportedly talking with the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Oct 10 – Foreign policy advisor to Trump, Carter Page, takes the fifth.
Oct. 11 – Trump postpones implementing Russian sanction.
Oct. 13 – Mueller interviews former White House chief of staff Priebus, about what is unknown.
Oct. 13 – More ties between Manafort and a Russian oligarch are uncovered by NBC.
