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RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin says he had only a brief and passing acquaintance with former US national security adviser Michael Flynn, though the two sat next to each other at a dinner in Moscow in 2015.
In an interview aired by NBC, Putin minimised his contact with Flynn, who was fired by US President Donald Trump in February after offering misleading descriptions of conversations he had had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Putin told NBC interviewer Megyn Kelly that the dinner where the two met was routine.
I made my speech. Then we talked about some other stuff. And I got up and left. And then afterwards I was told, ‘You know, there was an American gentleman, he was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services.’
“That’s it,” Putin said, speaking through a translator. “I didn’t even really talk to him. That’s the extent of my acquaintance with Mr. Flynn.”
Pictures show the two men at a table for 10 at an event sponsored by Russian television network RT, which French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced as a source of “lying propaganda” in the recent French election.
Other guests at the table included Jill Stein, the US Green Party presidential candidate, and Cyril Svoboda, a former Czech deputy prime minister.
The contacts Flynn and other Trump aides had with Russian officials and bankers are drawing intense scrutiny, particularly after US intelligence agencies concluded that Russian hackers meddled in the American election.
When the Senate intelligence committee in May demanded that Flynn provide a list of any contacts with Russian officials during the presidential campaign and transition, Flynn invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refused.
Trump has strongly defended Flynn, saying his former aide was the victim of a “witch hunt.”
Senators will be grilling fired FBI chief James Comey on Thursday about an Oval Office meeting in February at which, Comey later told aides, Trump asked him to end the investigation into Flynn and possible Russia links, saying, “I hope you can let this go.”
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The United States not the regular people but the elites are a parody at this stage. Rome Nero springs to mind. The leadership options of most powerful person on the planet is like planet of the apes. Thank God for Bernie Sanders .
It might be an idea to check if the content is playable in the country your posting the article to..
Get HotSpot Shield to get an US IP address
sorry jade nothing can make Enda look good,
This lad makes Enda look good.
I just came on to write exactly the same. We all can’t be wrong!!
Biffo made Enda look good. Enda is no good.
Cowen did not make anyone look good.
Even knowing how dysfunctional they are we will still bow down at this guys feet if he is elected. Our eagerness to support his every whim, to justify his every action will know no bounds if he were to become president of the U.S. Makes us more dysfunctional than them!?
Want to make America great again Donald?
Heres a start: How about nobody talks about you anymore.
Cameron’s pig makes Enda look good!
It’s the first I’ve heard of a big fat meatball declining a big fat meatball…
Europe needs a great and beautiful wall.
it will be great for Irelands tourism industry to have a golf course (doondeg) owned by the next president of the United States. Just think of who may get off airforce one in shannon to play a fourball. President Trump, Putin, Pope Frances and Castro. Now that would get the media talking about the West of Ireland
How in Gods name could any cavalier billionaire understand or relate to the average man on the street.
Does he really want to run a country from the safety of his own private planet? And if so you’d have to question that motive in itself.
have your say