President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI director James Comey, who was in charge of investigating allegations of Russian interference in the presidential elections, raised questions on whether the leaks tarnishing the Clinton campaign actually tipped the scales in favour of the Republican candidate.
It also brought into focus the interaction between Trump's associates and Russian operatives, who had waged a sustained campaign which leaked a tranche of emails purportedly sent by Clinton during her stint in the Obama administration.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been appointed special prosecutor to look into the allegations of Russian meddling and possible collusion between Trump's campaign and the Kremlin.
Trump's business interests in Russia is a good starting point to understanding the veracity of claims regarding his proximity to the powers that be in Moscow.
Here is a timeline of events that led to Comey testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and how it could shape the future of the nascent Trump administration.
October 17, 2013 : Trump claimed in an interview with David Letterman that he has conducted “a lot of business with the Russians.”
“Well I’ve done a lot of business with the Russians,” Trump says. “They’re smart and they’re tough.” Trump goes on to say that Putin is a “tough guy” and that he’s met him “once.”
October 14, 2015 : Trump appears to cast aspersions on the intelligence community’s assessment that Russian-backed separatists were behind the downing of civilian airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. This was contrary to the US government's version, which blamed Russia for the incident.
December 10, 2015 : Michael Flynn attends Russia Today’s (RT) 10th anniversary dinner. He participates in a paid speaking engagement and sits just two seats away from Putin. RT is Russia's state-run news agency, and has often been accused of carrying propaganda.
Flynn had set up a defence consultancy firm post-retirement from the U.S. army, and had even registered himself as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for $530,000 worth of lobbying work before election day. Subsequently, he was Trump's pick for the post of National Security Advisor.
December 17, 2015 : Russian President Vladimir Putin praises Trump, then the front-runner in the Republican primary, at his year-end news conference.
“He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that. But it’s not our business to judge his merits, it’s up to the voters of the United States," Putin says. "He is an absolute leader of the presidential race, as we see it today. He says that he wants to move to another level relations, a deeper level of relations with Russia … How can we not welcome that? Of course, we welcome it.”
Trump responds in turn with praise of his own.
March 19, 2016 : John Podesta’s staff is told, incorrectly, by another Clinton campaign staffer that an email instructing him to change his password is legitimate. The action allows Russian hackers into Podesta’s account.
Podesta is the former chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and had access to sensitive information pertaining to poll strategy. He had also served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.
March 22, 2016 : Billy Rinehart, a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) employee working for the Clinton campaign, receives what he thinks is a legitimate email telling him to change his password. He enters his information, unwittingly giving Russian hackers access to his account.
March 28, 2016 : Trump hires Paul Manafort to help lead his campaign to gather delegates. Manafort had worked as a senior adviser for pro-Russia Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted following the uprising that led to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
April 27, 2016 : Trump delivers his first major foreign policy address in Washington, in which he calls for better ties with Russia. Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak is seated in the front row.
June 14-15, 2016 : The DNC announces it has been the victim of an attack by Russian hackers. A hacker going by the name Guccifer 2.0 posts documents stolen from the DNC, including the Democrats’ plan of tackling a Trump offensive.
July 20, 2016 : Sen. Jeff Sessions, an early Trump endorser who led his national security advisory committee, meets with Russian Ambassador Kislyak at a Republican National Convention event. Sessions was recently appointed the 84th Attorney General of the United States.
July 22, 2016 : WikiLeaks publishes about 20,000 emails stolen from the accounts of the DNC. The emails appeared to show a skewed preference for Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders among DNC leadership, and super delegates.
July 26, 2016 : Intelligence officials inform the White House that they have actionable proof that Russia was behind the DNC hacks. Trump calls on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails from the private server she used as secretary of state.
July 31, 2016 : Trump publicly backs Russia's annexation of Crimea saying it was the will of the people who identify themselves as Russians.
August 8, 2016 : Trump ally and friend Roger Stone tells a group of Florida Republicans that he has “communicated with Assange.”
“I believe the next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation but there's no telling what the October surprise may be,” Stone says.
August 14, 2016 : The New York Times publishes an exposé on documents sourced from Ukraine that appeared to show that $12.7 million in cash was earmarked for Manafort by the Russia-aligned Party of Regions.
August 19, 2016 : Manafort resigns.
October 4, 2016 : Julian Assange makes a 3 a.m. EST announcement via video saying WikiLeaks will publish new information on the presidential election “every week for the next 10 weeks.”
October 7, 2016 : WikiLeaks dumped a trove of emails hacked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s personal email account. The emails were given wide coverage by the American media, and the Republican National Committee touted them as evidence of “who Hillary Clinton really is.”
October 10, 2016 : “I love WikiLeaks,” Trump says at a Pennsylvania rally. He specifically cites some of the hacked emails to attack Clinton. He also used incriminating content sourced from hacked emails during televised debates with Clinton.
November 8, 2016 : Trump is elected President of the United States.
November 10, 2016: The then President Barack Obama warned Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as his national security advisor, according to two former Obama administration officials, reports the N e w York Times .
November 18, 2016: Michael Flynn is pronounced as the national security advisor to President Trump https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/Activists-Democrats-outraged-by-Trump-team/article16658662.ece
29 December 2016: Obama announces a raft of retaliatory measures against Russia for its alleged interference in the recent U.S elections. The measures include new sanctions, expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S and closure of two Russian establishments in the country.
January 4, 2017: Trump continues to refute that Russia had anything to do with the Podesta hacking and tweets to that effect
Trump's tweet on Russian hacking
January 6, 2017: In a classified briefing for the President-elect, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey informs Trump that Russia was behind the breach of computer networks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the campaign of his opponent in the November presidential election Hillary Clinton, but Trump strongly rejects the possibility that he benefited from it. In a tweet, he blames DNC for “gross negligence” that allowed the hacking to occur.
January 7, 2017: Trump tweets : “Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only 'stupid' people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We..... have enough problems around the world without yet another one. When I am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now and.... both countries will, perhaps, work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!”
January 15, 2017: On CBS News, Vice President-elect Mike Pence is asked if “ Flynn was in touch with the Russian ambassador on the day the United States government announced sanctions for Russian interference with the election. Did that contact help with that Russian kind of moderate response to it?”
Pence responds that he spoke to Flynn about the allegation and confirms that “they did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.”
January 20, 2017: Donald Trump takes oath as the 45th President of the United States
January 26/27, 2017: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates warns White House officials in meetings that Flynn may have been compromised by Russia.
January 27, 2017: According to James Comey, Trump told him at a dinner that he needs and expects loyalty from Comey.
February 9, 2017: The Washington Post reports that “Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump officials”
February 13, 2017: Flynn resigns and writes in his resignation letter that he inadvertently briefed the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete information regarding his phone calls with the Russian Ambassador.
March 1, 2017: The Washington Post reports that contradictory to his past statements, Attorney-General Jeff Sessions spoke with the Russian Ambassador during Trump’s campaign.
March 2, 2017: Shortly after Trump says that he has “total confidence” in the Attorney General, Sessions announces that he will recuse himself from any investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
March 4, 2017: In a series of tweets, Trump accuses Obama of ordering a tapping of his phones in the Trump Tower.
Trump accuses Obama of "wiretapping"
Obama rejects the allegations via spokesperson. Comey reportedly asks the Justice Dept to publicly reject the allegation, but no rejection is issued.
March 20, 2017: Comey confirms publicly for the first time that the agency is investigating Russian interference in last year’s presidential election and notably Moscow’s possible collusion with President Donald Trump’s campaign. Comey also shoots down President Trump’s claims that Obama had wiretapped the phones at Trump Tower ahead of the election.
May 2, 2017: Trump tweets that Comey gave Clinton a “free pass for many bad deeds.”
May 3, 2017: Comey testifies before a congressional panel about why he decided to re-open the Clinton investigation just days before the election.
May 9, 2017: Trump fires Comey, citing his handling of Hillary Clinton’s email investigation as the reason. “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau,” Trump writes in the dismissal letter.
June 8, 2017: In an excerpt of the testimony posted on the Senate Intelligence Committee's website, Comey accuses the U.S. President Donald Trump of trying to get him to water down the Bureau's investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He alleges that Trump asked him to drop an investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as part of the FBI probe into whether Moscow meddled in the election.
