Latest news with #ChuckGrassley
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trump says he's delaying new Russia sanctions to keep Ukraine talks alive
US President Donald Trump said he was delaying on new sanctions against Russia to preserve the chance for a deal with President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. 'If I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that,' Trump said on Wednesday at the White House. 'Let me tell you, I'm a lot tougher than the people you're talking about.' Asked by a reporter if Putin is interested in a peace deal, Trump said: 'I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks.' Trump has shown growing frustration with his Russian counterpart for days, threatening new sanctions after Moscow launched its largest drone barrage of the war. The president has been facing pressure from European allies and Republicans in Congress to follow through with financial penalties on Russia. 'I've had enuf of Putin killing innocent ppl. Pres Trump Take action AT LEAST SANCTIONS,' long-time Republican Senator Chuck Grassley posted Monday on social media. 'Pres Trump shld take the decisive action agst Putin that he takes agst Harvard,' Grassley said in another post. 'Sanctions for Putin like no fed grants for Harvard.'
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE FBI declassifies secret document revealing dramatic development in hunt for origins of Trump Russia probe
A newly declassified document from the FBI reveals that Fusion GPS Contractor Nellie Ohr was accused of falsely testifying to Congress about her role in the Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged links between Donald Trump 's campaign and Russia. The 2019 FBI document, exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail, reveals the Washington Field Office's Federal Public Corruption squad was tasked with the review of a Congressional Criminal Referral which accused Ohr of obstructing an investigation and providing Congress with demonstrably false information. The document outlines evidence against Ohr, indicating that it is up to the Department of Justice as to whether it might lead to a viable charge. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley responded to the document's release in a strongly worded statement. 'By lying to Congress, Nellie Ohr showed contempt for congressional oversight and the American people,' he said in an exclusive statement to the Daily Mail. A Congressional criminal referral accused Ohr for falsely testifying that she did not have any knowledge of an ongoing investigation of President Trump's connections to Russia and denied she shared any of her research on Russia with individuals outside of her firm Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS was the company hired by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign to connect Trump to Russian organized crime and government interests, and fed the infamous 'Steele Dossier' that was ultimately shared by the Clinton campaign with Obama administration officials and a select list of Washington, DC journalists. The document provided details of her testimony that could serve as evidence to charge Ohr with a crime, that could include lying to Congress and/or obstructing the congressional investigation. Grassley criticized the FBI and Department of Justice for failing to hold Ohr accountable. '[T]he FBI and DOJ's failure to hold Ohr accountable for appearing to commit multiple felonies and its obstructive conduct against agents that sought additional information reveals the agencies' deeply disturbing political bias,' Grassley added. 'Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax.' Grassley's longstanding efforts to provide transparency in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation of Trump is bearing additional fruit, as he is now working with Trump's appointees at the FBI and the Justice Department to expose allegedly questionable behavior from the Obama and Biden administrations. 'The DOJ's inaction on Nellie Ohr's criminal referral – despite the obviously incriminating evidence provided in the FBI's own analysis – undermines public trust in the rule of law,' he wrote. 'I applaud Director Patel, Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche for cooperating with my request to declassify this information, which is in the public's interest, and chart a new course for transparency and accountability at the FBI and DOJ.' According to the FBI analysis, Ohr testified she 'would not have any knowledge of what [was] going on in an ongoing investigation' at DOJ and would not 'have any knowledge of the Department of Justice's investigations on Russia.' She also denied she shared her research with her husband, DOJ attorney Bruce Ohr, and Christopher Steele. The investigation revealed that Ohr provided a thumb drive of all her Fusion GPS research to her husband Bruce Ohr, who worked as the Associate Deputy Attorney General at the time of the case and that she was aware of the ongoing effort by the Justice Department to investigate. As a couple, according to the FBI document, Bruce and Nellie Ohr routinely traveled together and associated with similar sources, as she conducted her work with FusionGPS while her husband continued his work at the Justice Department. As a former CIA analyst, Nellie Ohr was heavily engaged in investigating Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort's engagements and travel with Russia and communications with Russian officials. The investigation revealed that Nellie Ohr also sent her husband Bruce multiple emails with attached documents of her research, who then forwarded the information to the Justice Department. The FBI document provides that in In one July 6, 2016 email, Nellie Ohr emailed her husband an article about Trump's connections to Russia and bolded the following sentence for emphasis. 'If Putin wanted to concoct the ideal candidate to service his purposes, his laboratory creation would look like Donald Trump,' it read. Nellie Ohr also testified she purchased a Ham radio and took classes to obtain a license to operate it for 'emergency communications' that were 'well before' taking a job at Fusion GPS, but subsequent research revealed it took place during her employment, according to the document. Her husband Bruce Ohr was heavily involved with the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation that focused on Trump's connections to Russia. The document reveals that Ohr also communicated with three DOJ Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Section (OCDETF) prosecutors on the case. Another email revealed that DOJ prosecutors reached out to Nellie Ohr via her husband Bruce to see if his wife would be interested in participating in an interview on the subject and to affirm there would be no conflict of interest between the two parties. Bruce Ohr forwarded the request to his wife that read, 'Hi honey! I trust you are okay with this? Love, B.' 'Sure!' she replied in an email and then added another email that read, 'Cool.' A handful of emails show that Nellie Ohr worked in close contact with the Department of Justice to provide them information about Trump and Russia, according to the FBI document. In an April 11, 2016 email, Nellie Ohr revealed she had communicated with DOJ prosecutors. 'I enjoyed talking with them and am thinking about potential future conversations,' she wrote.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Le Mars to receive $400K for site cleanup
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — The city of Le Mars, Iowa, is getting $400,000 in federal funding for environmental site assessments of contaminated sites. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley's office says the money comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through its Brownfields Assessment Grant Program. Story continues below Top Story: 2025 graduation ceremonies for Sioux City Community School District Lights & Sirens: 'The First Musketeer': Sioux City Musketeers founder Gary Lipshutz passes away Sports: SportsZone Top 5 Plays of the Week (5-26-25) Weather: Get the latest weather forecast here The funds will be used for 18 Phase I & 7 Phase II assessments. The funds will also be used to develop three cleanup plans for the Business 75 Corridor and to support community engagement activities. Those plans include a former Walmart location, a former meat-packing plant, a vacant landscaping company, and an unused hotel. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump says Putin is 'playing with fire' in new warning
President Donald Trump delivered a fresh warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the Russians spent the past few days showering Ukraine with missile and drone strikes. 'What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia , and I mean REALLY BAD,' Trump posted to Truth Social Tuesday. 'He's playing with fire!' Over the weekend Trump grew publicly frustrated with Putin, who he had spoken to on the phone for two hours the previous Monday, coming away from the conversation saying he thought it to be productive. But there was no progress made in concluding the war - with Russia escalating its attacks on Ukraine throughout the weekend, pummeling the country with drone strikes. Ukrainian officials estimated around 900 drones were launched by Russia in attacks from Friday through Sunday nights, the Associated Press reported. Trump said Sunday that he was 'absolutely' considering more sanctions on Russia in response. On Monday, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Senate's president pro tempore, encouraged Trump to make that move. 'I've had enuf of Putin killing innocent ppl. Pres Trump Take action AT LEAST SANCTIONS,' the 91-year-old Iowa Republican posted on X. South Carolina's Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham echoed Trump's frustrations with Putin in a post Tuesday - though didn't explicitly call for sanctions. 'I appreciate all that President Donald Trump has done to try to end this terrible war. But to end any war, you must have willing partners. As of yet, Putin is not willing,' Graham said. 'As to Putin: we must remember this is the man who facilitated the Assad Regime in dropping barrel bombs from helicopters on innocent civilians and intentionally targeted hospitals in Syria,' Graham said. 'The same barbaric behavior is playing out in Ukraine. To the Russian people: Putin is leading you into the abyss.' He noted how Russia's economy was now smaller than Italy's, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are killed and wounded and the country is more 'isolated than ever.' 'This doesn't make Russia great. It makes it a pariah state,' Graham said. 'You, the Russian people and military, can do better.' Trump has yet to make that move. Instead he's engaged in a war of words with the Russian leader. 'I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people,' Trump said at the Morristown, New Jersey airport Sunday evening. 'I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. ' 'We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all... I don't know what's wrong with him,' the president complained. In his Truth Social post later Sunday night , Trump charged that Putin had gone 'gone absolutely CRAZY!' 'I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!' Trump said. In turn, the Kremlin said the American president was suffering from an 'emotional overload.' Putin said Monday that he wanted to 'throttle' American tech companies, including Zoom and Microsoft, that are still being used in Russia. 'They're trying to choke us, we should respond in kind,' Putin said. A Russian military commander also claimed that Putin survived a massive drone attack while riding in his helicopter last week. Last Tuesday Putin was visiting the Kursk region when his helicopter was 'virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy's drones,' said Yury Dashkin, commander of a Russian air defense division, according to the state news agency TASS. 'Therefore, we simultaneously conducted an air defense battle and ensured the safety of the presidential helicopter's flight in the air,' Dashkin said. The Kursk region borders Ukraine, with Moscow claiming that it had driven Ukrainian forces out of the area last month. The Russians have provided no additional evidence that the near-miss occurred. Trump was asked about the claim Sunday when he left his Bedminster golf resort and said he had no knowledge of it. 'I haven't heard that,' he told reporters. 'I don't know, but I have not heard that,' Trump added. He speculated 'maybe that would be a reason' for Russia's bombardment of drone and missile attacks into Ukraine over the weekend.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump warns Putin he is 'playing with fire' in explosive new warning over Ukraine war
President Donald Trump delivered a fresh warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the Russians spent the past few days showering Ukraine with missile and drone strikes. 'What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,' Trump posted to Truth Social Tuesday. 'He's playing with fire!' Over the weekend Trump grew publicly frustrated with Putin, who he had spoken to on the phone for two hours the previous Monday, coming away from the conversation saying he thought it to be productive. But there was no progress made in concluding the war - with Russia escalating its attacks on Ukraine thoughout the weekend, pummelling the country with drone strikes. Ukrainian officials estimated around 900 drones were launched by Russia in attacks from Friday through Sunday nights, the Associated Press reported. Trump said Sunday that he was 'absolutely' considering more sanctions on Russia in response. On Monday, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Senate's president pro tempore, encouraged Trump to make that move. 'I've had enuf of Putin killing innocent ppl. Pres Trump Take action AT LEAST SANCTIONS,' the 91-year-old Iowa Republican posted on X. Trump has yet to make that move. Instead he's engaged in a war of words with the Russian leader. 'I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people,' Trump said at the Morristown, New Jersey airport Sunday evening. 'I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. ' 'We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all... I don't know what's wrong with him,' the president complained. In his Truth Social post later Sunday night, Trump charged that Putin had gone 'gone absolutely CRAZY!' 'I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!' Trump said. In turn, the Kremlin said the American president was suffering from an 'emotional overload.' Putin said Monday that he wanted to 'throttle' American tech companies, including Zoom and Microsoft, that are still being used in Russia. 'They're trying to choke us, we should respond in kind,' Putin said.
