Top Trump aide in frequent contact with Russia’s ambassador

President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser and Russia's ambassador to the U.S. have been in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for election-related hacking, a senior official said Friday. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged contacts between Michael Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but said a phone conversation occurred on Dec. 28, one day before the sanctions were levied.

Ex-MI6 officer linked to Trump dossier ‘still working for British intelligence’

Russia has claimed the former MI6 officer reportedly responsible for an explosive dossier on Donald Trump may still be working for British intelligence. Christopher Steele has apparently gone into hiding after being identified as the author of the report claiming Moscow held incriminating material on the US president-elect which it could use to blackmail him.

CIA nominee talks tough against Russia

Donald Trump's pick to run the CIA took a tough stand against Russia on Thursday, distancing himself from the president-elect, who wants to warm relations with Moscow. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a four-term conservative Kansas Republican, spoke at his confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee amid a testy standoff between Trump and the spy community over Russian activities during the president election.

Human rights groups slam Rex Tillerson, Trump’s pick for secretary of State

Donald Trump's pick for secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, fields human rights questions at his Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on Wednesday. Donald Trump's pick for secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, fields human rights questions at his Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on Wednesday.

Russia likely to be the elephant in the room during Pompeoa s CIA hearing

Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo will have his turn in the confirmation spotlight on Thursday as the Senate Intelligence Committee takes up his nomination to be CIA director. The questions will almost certainly turn on what he thinks about Russia's hacking activities and how he'd lead an agency President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized.

‘These things happen’: Rex Tillerson refuses to blame…

Sen. Marco Rubio asked Rex Tillerson point-blank whether Vladimir Putin was a war criminal - and Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state blinked. "I would not use that term," said Tillerson, the longtime chief executive of Exxon Mobil who was awarded the Kremlin's Order of Friendship in 2013 .

America’s Russian Dybbuk

From ancient Hebrew folklore, the dybbuk is a demonic spirit that inhabits a person's body and soul in order to get what it wants. American foreign policy is endlessly driven to search and destroy imaginary demons: Noriega, Milosevic, Saddam, Ho, Tojo, Nasser, Gaddafi, Lumumba, Castro, Osama, Yanukovych, and a host of others in its hit parade.

Here are all the Trump Cabinet confirmations hearings scheduled for Wednesday

After the first full day of grilling for President-elect Donald Trump's choices for Cabinet positions, Congress has more hearings scheduled Wednesday. Trump's secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations committee at 9 am.

Russia denies having compromising material on Donald Trump

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said reports that Trump was the subject of "Kompromat" - a Russian term for compromising information intended to be used against someone - were an "attempt to harm our bilateral relationship." CNN reported Tuesday that intelligence officials last week presented Barack Obama and Trump with a two-page synopsis of memos about the President-elect compiled by a former British intelligence official.

Kremlin denies that Russian agents compromised Donald Trump

A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday dismissed as an ''absolute fantasy'' allegations that the Kremlin has collected compromising information about President-elect Donald Trump. ''The Kremlin has no compromising dossier on Trump, such information isn't consistent with reality and is nothing but an absolute fantasy,'' Dmitry Peskov, who handles Putin's day-to-day communications, told journalists.

Evan Vucci/AP Rex Tillerson likely to face pointed questions from both sides

Friend of Russia and foe of sanctions in his corporate life, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is an unorthodox choice for a Republican White House. He may feel perfectly at home in Trump's iconoclastic administration.

Intelligence Briefings on Russia Cited Unproven Trump Claims

The chiefs of US intelligence agencies last week presented President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump with a summary of unsubstantiated reports that Russia had collected compromising and salacious personal information about Trump, two officials with knowledge of the briefing said. The summary is based on memos generated by political operatives seeking to derail Trump's candidacy.

Politics | Horowitz: Trump & Team’s Grudging Concessions Are Not Enough on Russian Hacking

The one-two punch of being briefed by the nation's three top intelligence officials on Russian efforts to meddle in the Presidential election and the public release of a detailed declassified version has apparently moved Donald Trump from outright denial that there was sufficient evidence to say the Russians were involved to grudging acceptance. This still falls far short of even a minimally acceptable presidential response.

The Latest: McConnell meeting Trump on eve of hearings

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is meeting with President-elect Donald Trump a day before the Senate begins confirmation hearings on Trump's Cabinet picks. The government ethics office says it hasn't received even draft financial disclosure reports for some of the nominees set to appear before Congress this week.