CCTV News:Since the explosion of the "Russian Gate" in the United States, it seems like a "nuclear bomb" with great lethality, which has caused an uneasy political storm in American politics, and public opinion in the international community has been in an uproar.
The origin of TongRumen
TongRumen means that since Trump was elected president of the United States, his campaign team has been accused of "TongRumen". The Russian side firmly denies interfering in the US election, but since Trump took office, the "TongRumen" storm of his campaign team has been constantly fermenting.
Review of the TongRumen Incident
Flynn, the former assistant to the president for national security affairs, took office only three weeks ago, and was forced to resign because he talked with the Russian ambassador to the United States about sanctions against Russia but concealed them from the vice president during the transition period. On May 8, 2017, the day before Komi was dismissed, US National Intelligence Director james clapper accused Russia of "reaching a warning line" in the Senate hearing, but said that there was no evidence that Trump "communicated with Russia".
On May 11, 2017, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Komi, was suddenly expelled by President Trump. According to sources familiar with this incident in the US Congress, Komi asked the Ministry of Justice a few days ago to allocate more funds for Russia’s involvement in the investigation of the US election last year.
A person close to Trump’s former national security assistant Flynn revealed on the 30 th that Flynn will provide a number of relevant documents at the request of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the first batch of documents will be submitted on June 6.
Flynn’s team of lawyers reminded the Senate Intelligence Committee on the 30th that Flynn would respond to the two summonses he had received before, and all documents related to the two summonses sent to Flynn Company would be handed over, in addition to a private document related to a single subpoena.
On June 5, 2017, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump’s abandonment of administrative privileges would not prevent Komi from testifying in Congress.
Flynn submitted 600 pages of documents to the Senate.
On the 6th, American media reported that Flynn, former national security assistant to the Trump administration, had submitted about 600 pages of documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee, most of which were commercial documents and some personal documents.
Earlier, Flynn said in the face of the Senate’s investigation and arraignment that he would use the Fifth Amendment right of the US Constitution, that is, he could not testify against himself and refused to accept the arraignment. The Senate then issued another subpoena for Flynn. The documents submitted this time are the materials that Flynn submitted in response to this arraignment. At present, Flynn is not only the object of investigation by the Senate, but also the object of investigation by the US House of Representatives and the Ministry of Justice concerning Russia.
Fermentation of "TongRumen" Event in America
At present, the US Congress is still investigating the Trump campaign team’s so-called "access to Russia", and the "key figure" in the investigation is Michael Flynn, former national security assistant to the President. Why did Flynn become the "storm core" of this incident? Let’s learn about it through the short film.
Flynn was investigated for private contact with Russia.
Flynn has been an important supporter of Trump in the 2016 US presidential election, and was selected as the President’s National Security Assistant in November of that year. On January 22, 2017, Flynn was sworn in. But soon, the American media revealed that Flynn was being investigated by the US intelligence department because of his relationship with the Russian government. It is reported that Flynn had privately contacted Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak in December 2016, and hinted in vague language that the Trump administration would lift sanctions against Russia.
Flynn resigned amid controversy less than a month after taking office.
After this incident was exposed, it caused an uproar in the United States. On February 13th, Flynn, who just took office for more than 20 days, announced his resignation amid controversy. In his resignation letter, he admitted that he inadvertently provided incomplete information to Vice President Burns and others on the phone conversation with the Russian ambassador to the United States. However, although Flynn resigned, he is still the focus of the "TongRumen" investigation. The documents subsequently released by the White House also show that Flynn admitted that he had received income from Russian companies such as "Russia Today" TV station and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, but did not specify the specific amount of income.
The US Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Flynn.
On May 10, 2017, the US Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to Flynn, asking him to provide documents related to Russia’s interference in the US election investigation. This is also the first time that the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena in the process of investigating whether Russia intervened in the US election.
According to the US media report on May 22nd, Flynn decided to refuse the summons of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Putin denied that Russia interfered in the US election.
Megyn kelly, a senior female anchor of NBC, made an exclusive interview with Putin in St. Petersburg on the 1st of this month. In the interview, Putin denied any contact with Flynn, the resigned national security assistant of the former US president, who is a key figure in the current investigation of Trump team’s "communication with Russia" by various US agencies. Previously, one of the evidences that Flynn was considered to be "too close" to Russia was a photo of him sitting next to Putin when he attended an event of "Russia Today" TV station in Moscow on December 10, 2015. At that time, the retired army general was an adviser to Trump.
Putin told Kelly that meeting Flynn was a routine dinner. "I was there to make a speech. Then we chatted a few words and I got up and left. Later, someone told me, ‘ You know, an American man was involved in something. He used to work in the security department. ’” Putin said, "That’s it. I haven’t even really talked to him. That’s all I know about Mr. Flynn."
Putin once again denied that the Kremlin interfered in the US presidential election by hacking the Democratic Party’s email system. He said that hackers may be able to cleverly frame Russia anywhere, including the United States. Putin also said that it is meaningless for Russia to interfere in the US election, because no matter who is the US president, Russians know what they will get from an American leader.
The FBI launched an investigation into the relationship between Trump’s son-in-law kushner and Russia
According to American media reports on the 25th, kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser, became the target of investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Analysts believe that this move means that the investigation of "TongRumen" has entered a new stage, extending from the White House to the Trump family circle. Unlike other members of the team, if kushner is involved in "TongRumen", Trump may face the dilemma of being trapped.
The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind will not stop. The "Russian Gate" continues to cause a bigger storm in Washington. According to Washington post, FBI investigators are investigating the meeting between kushner and Russian Ambassador to the United States kislyak and a Russian banking executive during the handover of Trump team and the Obama administration last year. Kislyak was once called a spy by American officials, and even accused of graduating from a spy school, which he vehemently denied.
Although the FBI is investigating kushner, it is only a preliminary stage. NBC quoted an American official as saying that investigators believe that kushner has key information, but the investigation does not mean that kushner is involved in a crime or intends to sue him.
Komi will go to Congress to testify that Trump once considered using privilege to stop.
Komi is scheduled to testify publicly before the US Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8. This is his first public appearance since he was dismissed. The American media expect that he will be asked about his conversations with Trump and White House officials, especially whether Trump ever asked him to terminate the FBI investigation on Michael Flynn, former national security assistant of the President.
Some legal professionals in the United States believe that if Trump tries to obstruct Komi’s testimony, he may not only fail, but also bring more trouble and public pressure to himself.
On May 9, Trump suddenly dismissed Komi, who had been presiding over the FBI’s investigation on Russia’s intervention in American elections. One of the investigations was whether the Trump campaign team colluded with Russia. Komi’s departure immediately set off a political storm in the United States.
Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign team has anything to do with Russia, claiming that the "TongRumen" is pure fiction and the Democratic Party is making excuses for losing the election. But what is the truth of the incident? With the in-depth investigation of the key figures in the incident, the truth about TongRumen may surface.