Russian hacking what we know and don't know ? - BBC News

The latest - and perhaps most headline-grabbing - source of tension between Donald Trump and the US intelligence community is an unverified report, apparently compiled by a private intelligence firm, claiming Russia has gathered compromising data about the president-elect.

Those claims raise far more questions than they answer. Here is a summary of what we know so far.

Who wrote the report and why?

It has been widely attributed to Christopher Steele, a retired British intelligence officer. 

Mr Steele, who runs a London-based intelligence firm, was reportedly hired by anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Mr Trump's ties to Russia during the battle for the party's presidential nomination. In the general election campaign the research was funded by an anonymous Democratic donor.

But since Mr Steele has been in hiding since the report surfaced on Tuesday, there is no confirmation that he is the author.

What does the report say?

It consists of a series of memos dated from June to December, and said to be based on information from members of the Russian intelligence community.

It claims that Russian officials have cultivated Mr Trump for at least five years to encourage splits within the Western alliance, and shared intelligence information with him.

Most startlingly, it alleges that Russia has managed to compromise Mr Trump and is in a position to blackmail him. It says Russia's FSB agency has footage of the president-elect using prostitutes at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow.

How did the public learn of the existence of the report?

CNN reported its existence on 10 January, and the Buzzfeed website published it in full.

How credible is the information it contains?

Since the report was published, Mr Trump has denounced it as "false and fictitious" and "made up, phony facts". Russian officials have also dismissed it as "pulp fiction".

All major media outlets have stressed that the report's allegations are unsubstantiated. Several, including the BBC, had knowledge of the claims before the election but were unable to verify them and therefore did not publish stories.

Newsweek says it "contains lots of Kremlin-related gossip" and points to factual errors and the misspelling of Russian names.

However, the reports were considered credible enough by the US intelligence community for a two-page summary to be given to both President Barack Obama and President-elect Trump in early January. 

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has merely said the claims were still being assessed. He also strongly denied suggestions by Mr Trump that US intelligence agencies had been involved in leaking the report.

Trump continues to make private deals despite promise to stop - Hunffington Post

Donald Trump Expanding Scottish Golf Resort After Vowing Not To Make New Foreign Deals

"No new foreign deals ... whatsoever" apparently doesn't include this one.

A multimillion-dollar expansion of Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resort is proceeding despite a promise just days ago by his attorneys that “no new foreign deals will be made whatsoever” by the president-elect’s businesses, in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest during his presidency.

The Aberdeenshire Council has approved a second 18-hole golf course and more housing in the Trump International Golf Links Scotland operation. The expansion will substantially grow the complex and include a 450-room five-star hotel, timeshare complex and private housing estate, The Guardian reported Saturday. Changes are expected to significantly boost the value of the operation to the Trump Organization. 

Trump’s attorney Sheri Dillon announced at his press conference last week that in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, her client has “ordered that all pending deals be terminated.” Trump is also arranging to turn over management of his companies to his adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, but will maintain ownership and investments in his American and global companies and real estate deals. It’s an arrangement that the head of the Office of Government Ethics said fails to meet an ethics standard met by every other president in the last four decades.

Trump owns 100 percent of the Trump International Golf Links Scotland, according to the Guardian.

A written statement later issued by Dillon’s law firm Morgan Lewis emphasized that Trump’s promise “prohibits — without exception — new foreign deals during the duration of President-elect Trump’s presidency.”

It added: “Specifically, the Trust and The Trump Organization will be prohibited at all times ... from engaging in any new deals with respect to the use of the ‘Trump’ brand or any trademark, trade name, or marketing intangibles associated with The Trump Organization or Donald J. Trump in any foreign jurisdictions.”

But now Trump’s transition team insists that the golf resort expansion doesn’t constitute a new deal.

“Implementing future phasing of existing properties does not constitute a new transaction so we intend to proceed,” a spokeswoman told the Scottish Sunday Herald.

Richard Painter, a former White House chief ethics adviser to George W. Bush, called the situation a “perfect example” of obvious conflicts of interest that Trump will apparently continue to attempt to obfuscate.

“He’s using language which is ambiguous. It clearly illustrates that around the world, he will simply expand around the various holdings and as they continue to expand, the conflicts of interest expand,” Painter told the Guardian. “It’s like [the board game] Monopoly: if you have one house on Boardwalk, it’s not a new deal to go for three hotels on Boardwalk.”

Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf resort is particularly notable because it dramatically raised early fears about his conflicts of interest — and concerns that he would push his own business interests as president ahead of what might be best for the public. In a meeting with British politician Nigel Farage shortly after Trump’s election, Trump complained that planned offshore wind farms providing environment-protecting alternative energy would mar the views at his course. He encouraged Farage and his entourage to lobby against the farms.

Scottish residents protested against Trump when he visited last June because of how he handled the golf resort development. Neighbors are suing him because he built a fence blocking a sea view at the house of homeowners who refused to sell to him, and then sent them a bill for it.

“You watch, Mexico won’t pay either,” homeowner David Milne told the New York Times.

The Guardian has reported that Trump hasn’t paid UK taxes on his courses in Aberdeenshire and Turnberry in Ayrshire because he has lost nearly $31 million on his Scottish golf empire on an investment of some $123 million.

Huffington Post

Trump's inauguration ceremony arrangements - NBC News

For a president-elect known for his showmanship and extravagant style, Donald Trump's inauguration is shaping up to be shorter, smaller and less star-studded than in years past. 

"We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars," Trump previously promised to the New York Times. "All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It's hard to find a great dress for this inauguration." 

But despite the president-elect's boast, the director of homeland security for the District of Columbia has predicted 800,000 to 900,000 people will attend — about half of the record-breaking 1.8 million crowd at President Barack Obama's first inauguration. 

Related: All the Performers Confirmed for Donald Trump's Inauguration

As of a little over a week before the event, more entertainers have reportedly declined to perform than those who have accepted. Multiple reports found Washington's dress shops still well-stocked with ballgowns, and Trump is planning to reduce the length of the inaugural parade and the number of balls. 

Tom Barrack, chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), told reporters that a more subdued tone is by design. 

"What we've done instead of trying to surround it with what people consider A-listers is say what we're gonna surround it with is the soft sensuality of the place. So we have all of that, but it's in a much more poetic cadence than having a circus-like celebration that's a coronation, and that's the way this president-elect won," he said. 

But what does an inauguration surrounded by "soft sensuality" look like? Here's what we know about the event so far. 

Check back for complete coverage and information on how to watch on NBCNews.com.

Inauguration Logistics — When and Where It Takes Place

The only specifics laid out in the Constitution for the inauguration are the date and time for the transfer of power to the new president: Noon on the 20th day of January, which in 2017 falls on a Friday. 

The rest is left up to tradition, but Barrack, told reporters that "mostly [Trump's] abiding by tradition, especially in the swearing-in ceremony." 

As is tradition, Trump will stay at Blair House on Thursday night, attend the traditional worship service at St. John's Church near the White House, and have coffee with President Obama Friday morning before riding with the president to the Capitol for his swearing-in. 

Obama is expected to leave for Chicago after Trump is sworn in, but the rest of the day is jam-packed for the newly-minted president. After giving his inaugural address, Trump is expected to attend the traditional luncheon hosted by Congressional leadership at the Capitol, before parading to the White House down Pennsylvania Ave. 

There, he'll take his seat in a viewing stand on the North Lawn of the White House to watch the inaugural parade go by.

Parade and Parties

Here's where Trump begins to break with tradition. His inaugural parade is expected to be considerably shorter than past parades, just an hour to 90 minutes long, according to organizers. Typically the parade includes representatives from every state and branch of the military, a lineup that can last hours — in 2009, President Obama's lasted about three. 

Trump is also cutting down on the number of balls he'll hold to celebrate the occasion. Where President Obama attended 10 around his first inauguration, President Trump will have only three, with one focused on the military. 

Boris Epshteyn, communications director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, told Breitbart they're hosting fewer balls because "this president—Donald J. Trump—is all about getting to work and making sure Americans are safe in their homes, safe in their jobs." 

However, the inauguration doesn't start — or end — with the pomp and circumstance surrounding Trump's swearing-in on Friday. On Thursday, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and a "Make America Great Again Welcome Celebration" at the Lincoln Memorial. 

And on Saturday, there will be a national prayer service held at Washington National Cathedral.

Inaugural Performers 

While buzz around recent inaugurations has been all about who would be attending — Beyoncé attended both of President Obama's while Ricky Martin performed at a pre-inaugural event for George W. Bush's first — for Trump, the news has been about who won't. 

A number of prominent entertainers have come out and said they were asked to perform but declined the offer, including Moby and Elton John. 

At least one Republican elected official — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner — has said he won't attend the inauguration, while one Democratic congresswoman, Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, will break from tradition with her intention to "boycott" the event. 

But almost every living former president and first lady — including Trump's former opponent, Hillary Clinton — will attend. George H.W. Bush is skipping the event because of his health. 

And Trump has lined up some recognizable acts: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform as will members of the Rockettes, and former "America's Got Talent" contestant Jackie Evancho will sing the National Anthem. 

Still, Trump insisted in a tweet last month that he'd rather have "the people" attend over celebrities. 

The Protesters

It's not just well-wishers, elected officials and performers in attendance at Trump's inauguration — thousands of protesters are expected to descend on the nation's capital over the course of the weekend, as well. 

The National Park Service has received requests for protest permits from around 30 organizations, and has already approved a few. Overall, officials have said they expect up to 750,000 demonstrators to protest the inauguration. 

That, coupled with the generally vitriolic — and at times violent — nature of the campaign that brought Trump to the White House, has made security a major focus for inauguration officials. 

"Security is my greatest concern," Republican Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, has said. "No question that on inaugural day, this would be the most appealing target in the world." 

According to the New York Times, more than three dozen agencies are working together on security plans, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has said more than 3,000 police officers from other regions and 5,000 National Guardsmen will be on-hand to help secure the parade route. 

US attorney general accused Chicago Police of unconstitutional behaviour - CNN

Why is Chicago so broken? Hundreds of newly released files detail violence
"The resulting deficit in trust and accountability is not just bad for residents -- it's also bad for dedicated police officers trying to do their jobs safely and effectively," Lynch said.
Read the full Justice Department report
Chicago's problems stem in part from severely insufficient training and accountability procedures, Lynch said.
"CPD has not provided officers with adequate guidance to understand how and when they may use force, or how to safely and effectively control and resolve encounters to reduce the need to use force," the report says.
'Misconduct will not be tolerated'
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the police department has upgraded use-of-force policies, provided every officer with a body camera and made other changes.
"While the Chicago Police Department has made real progress and achieved meaningful reforms, the incidents described in this report are sobering to all of us," he said in prepared remarks. "Police misconduct will not be tolerated anywhere in this city and those who break the rules will be held accountable for their actions."
Dean C. Angelo Sr., president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, expressed concerns about what he termed the "lightning speed" of the DOJ investigation.
"Completing an investigation into the 12,000 member Chicago Police Department, and in a city with more than 2 million citizens in less than one year, clearly brings to light that the outgoing DOJ wanted to issue a report before the new administration takes over on January 20, 2017," he said in a statement. "What also remains to be seen is whether or not the report might be considered compromised, or incomplete as a result of rushing to get it out before the Presidential Inauguration."
Friday's announcement came a day after the Justice Department announced a deal on a plan to reform police policies in Baltimore, after a similar investigation found that police there searched and arrested a disproportionate number of African-Americans and used excessive force against juveniles.
Shooting at fleeing suspects
The Justice Department's report detailed examples of what it said was excessive force by Chicago police officers, including:



Chicago police department accused of institutional racism
• The shooting of a fleeing, unarmed suspect in the back.
"The officer told investigators the suspect had turned around to point a black object. This account did not square with the location of the shooting victim's gunshot wounds and appeared contrary to video footage that showed the suspect running away from the officer," the report says, without revealing the names or date involved.
The city's review panel, the Independent Police Review Authority, accepted the officer's account "despite the conflicting evidence," and issued a report that did not mention the video, the Justice Department says.
• The fatal shooting of a pedestrian who ran after being ordered to freeze "because he had been fidgeting with his waistband."
"Three officers gave chase and began shooting as they ran. In total, the officers fired 45 rounds, including 28 rifle rounds, toward the man," the report says. "Several rounds struck the man, killing him. The officers claimed the man fired at them during the pursuit. Officers found no gun on the man.
"However, officers reported recovering a handgun nearly one block away. The gun ... was later determined to be fully loaded and inoperable, and forensic testing determined there was no gunshot residue on the man's hand."
IPRA "found the officers' actions were justified without addressing the efficacy of the pursuit or the number of shots fired," the report says.
• Threats and force against boys who were accused of playing basketball on an officer's property, after a neighbor had called to report them.
"The officer pointed his gun at them, used profanity, and threatened to put their heads through a wall and to blow up their homes," the report says. "The boys claim that the officer forced them to kneel and lie face-down, handcuffed together, leaving visible injuries on their knees and wrists.
"Once released, one boy called his mother crying to tell her an officer had pointed a gun at his face; another boy went home and showed his mother his scraped leg and, visibly upset, said 'the police did this to me.' "
After the incident was reported to IPRA, the officer received a five-day suspension, but "was never interviewed and his reasons for not contesting the allegations are not documented in the file," the report says.
Chicago police under scrutiny for shootings
The Justice Department began investigating Chicago police in December 2015 in the wake of several high-profile cases of alleged police misconduct, including the death of McDonald, whose case spurred protests and helped fuel a national conversation about police officers' use of deadly force. The report said the department had violated safeguards in the Fourth Amendment.

McDonald, a black teen, was shot 16 times as he walked away from officers in October 2014. His death went largely unacknowledged until November 2015, when a judge ordered the release of dashboard camera footage that contradicted officers' accounts of the shooting.
Justice Department fact sheet on Chicago police probe
Just before the video was released, Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder; he pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
The video outraged many Chicagoans, who took to the streets to protest what they felt was an excessive use of force and dishonesty by police who initially accused McDonald of threatening them.
In the fallout of the case, the police superintendent resigned and many called for Emanuel to do the same. But Emanuel held firm and vowed to repair the department's trust with the African-American community.
The mayor had said of the DOJ investigation back in 2015: "We accept it, and we need it."
'No regard for the sanctity of life'
The mayor created an independent task force to examine the police force, which released a report in April that accused the department of institutional racism and described its accountability system as broken.
That report said police "have no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color" and have alienated blacks and Hispanics with the use of force and a longstanding code of silence.



762 murders in 12 months: Chicago's deadly 2016
As the department has grappled with allegations of excessive force, it also has battled a soaring homicide rate. Chicago had a staggering 762 murders in 2016, marking the city's deadliest year in nearly two decades.
The Justice Department's report touched on the homicide surge, saying that for Chicago to find solutions, "it is imperative that the city rebuild trust between (the police department) and the people it serves."
Under increasing criticism, the Chicago Police Department has pledged changes, including how it trains officers on the use of force.
Last year, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced that all police officers soon would be required to wear body cameras and that 970 additional sworn positions would be added over the next two years to provide "new blood" to the department.
In addition to the human toll, the alleged police misconduct has weighed heavily on the city coffers in terms of settlements. Chicago spent nearly $642 million on alleged police misconduct from 2004 through 2015, according to a Better Government Association analysis.
The Justice Department's 161-page report on the probe took issue with the city panel that reviews use of force. In a few cases where the Justice Department determined that force was unnecessary, the city panel found that officers' actions were justified.
Why is Chicago so broken? Hundreds of newly released files detail violence
"The resulting deficit in trust and accountability is not just bad for residents -- it's also bad for dedicated police officers trying to do their jobs safely and effectively," Lynch said.
Read the full Justice Department report
Chicago's problems stem in part from severely insufficient training and accountability procedures, Lynch said.
"CPD has not provided officers with adequate guidance to understand how and when they may use force, or how to safely and effectively control and resolve encounters to reduce the need to use force," the report says.
'Misconduct will not be tolerated'
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the police department has upgraded use-of-force policies, provided every officer with a body camera and made other changes.
"While the Chicago Police Department has made real progress and achieved meaningful reforms, the incidents described in this report are sobering to all of us," he said in prepared remarks. "Police misconduct will not be tolerated anywhere in this city and those who break the rules will be held accountable for their actions."
Dean C. Angelo Sr., president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, expressed concerns about what he termed the "lightning speed" of the DOJ investigation.
"Completing an investigation into the 12,000 member Chicago Police Department, and in a city with more than 2 million citizens in less than one year, clearly brings to light that the outgoing DOJ wanted to issue a report before the new administration takes over on January 20, 2017," he said in a statement. "What also remains to be seen is whether or not the report might be considered compromised, or incomplete as a result of rushing to get it out before the Presidential Inauguration."
Friday's announcement came a day after the Justice Department announced a deal on a plan to reform police policies in Baltimore, after a similar investigation found that police there searched and arrested a disproportionate number of African-Americans and used excessive force against juveniles.
Shooting at fleeing suspects
The Justice Department's report detailed examples of what it said was excessive force by the Chicago Police Department.
• The shooting of a fleeing, unarmed suspect in the back.
"The officer told investigators the suspect had turned around to point a black object. This account did not square with the location of the shooting victim's gunshot wounds and appeared contrary to video footage that showed the suspect running away from the officer," the report says, without revealing the names or date involved.
The city's review panel, the Independent Police Review Authority, accepted the officer's account "despite the conflicting evidence," and issued a report that did not mention the video, the Justice Department says.
• The fatal shooting of a pedestrian who ran after being ordered to freeze "because he had been fidgeting with his waistband."
"Three officers gave chase and began shooting as they ran. In total, the officers fired 45 rounds, including 28 rifle rounds, toward the man," the report says. "Several rounds struck the man, killing him. The officers claimed the man fired at them during the pursuit. Officers found no gun on the man.
"However, officers reported recovering a handgun nearly one block away. The gun ... was later determined to be fully loaded and inoperable, and forensic testing determined there was no gunshot residue on the man's hand."
IPRA "found the officers' actions were justified without addressing the efficacy of the pursuit or the number of shots fired," the report says.
• Threats and force against boys who were accused of playing basketball on an officer's property, after a neighbor had called to report them.
"The officer pointed his gun at them, used profanity, and threatened to put their heads through a wall and to blow up their homes," the report says. "The boys claim that the officer forced them to kneel and lie face-down, handcuffed together, leaving visible injuries on their knees and wrists.
"Once released, one boy called his mother crying to tell her an officer had pointed a gun at his face; another boy went home and showed his mother his scraped leg and, visibly upset, said 'the police did this to me.' "
After the incident was reported to IPRA, the officer received a five-day suspension, but "was never interviewed and his reasons for not contesting the allegations are not documented in the file," the report says.
Chicago police under scrutiny for shootings
The Justice Department began investigating Chicago police in December 2015 in the wake of several high-profile cases of alleged police misconduct, including the death of McDonald, whose case spurred protests and helped fuel a national conversation about police officers' use of deadly force. The report said the department had violated safeguards in the Fourth Amendment.

McDonald, a black teen, was shot 16 times as he walked away from officers in October 2014. His death went largely unacknowledged until November 2015, when a judge ordered the release of dashboard camera footage that contradicted officers' accounts of the shooting.
Justice Department fact sheet on Chicago police probe
Just before the video was released, Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder; he pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
The video outraged many Chicagoans, who took to the streets to protest what they felt was an excessive use of force and dishonesty by police who initially accused McDonald of threatening them.
In the fallout of the case, the police superintendent resigned and many called for Emanuel to do the same. But Emanuel held firm and vowed to repair the department's trust with the African-American community.
The mayor had said of the DOJ investigation back in 2015: "We accept it, and we need it."
'No regard for the sanctity of life'
The mayor created an independent task force to examine the police force, which released a report in April that accused the department of institutional racism and described its accountability system as broken.
That report said police "have no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color" and have alienated blacks and Hispanics with the use of force and a longstanding code of silence.

As the department has grappled with allegations of excessive force, it also has battled a soaring homicide rate. Chicago had a staggering 762 murders in 2016, marking the city's deadliest year in nearly two decades.
The Justice Department's report touched on the homicide surge, saying that for Chicago to find solutions, "it is imperative that the city rebuild trust between (the police department) and the people it serves."
Under increasing criticism, the Chicago Police Department has pledged changes, including how it trains officers on the use of force.
Last year, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced that all police officers soon would be required to wear body cameras and that 970 additional sworn positions would be added over the next two years to provide "new blood" to the department.
In addition to the human toll, the alleged police misconduct has weighed heavily on the city coffers in terms of settlements. Chicago spent nearly $642 million on alleged police misconduct from 2004 through 2015, according to a Better Government Association analysis.

CNN

VW Emissions-Cheating Deal Could Put Employees In the Hot Seat - TIME

VW Emissions-Cheating Deal Could Put Employees In the Hot Seat

Posted: 10 Jan 2017 10:24 PM PST

DETROIT (AP) — The imminent criminal plea deal between Volkswagen and U.S. prosecutors in an emissions-cheating scandal could be bad news for one group of people: VW employees who had a role in the deceit or subsequent cover-up.
VW on Tuesday disclosed that it is in advanced talks to settle the criminal case by pleading guilty to unspecified charges and paying $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines, a sum far larger than any recent case involving the auto industry.
It’s likely that VW will agree to cooperate in the probe, turning over documents and other information, said David M. Uhlmann, a former chief of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section who is now a University of Michigan law professor.

“Companies often face the dilemma of whether to protect their employees or cooperate with government investigations, but almost always end up deciding in the company’s best interest to share what information they have,” Uhlmann said.
Although VW’s communications with lawyers may be exempt, emails between employees and company executives should help prosecutors reach as far up VW’s organizational chart as the scandal went, he said. Prosecutors now have three witnesses giving them information and have arrested Oliver Schmidt, VW’s former head of U.S. environmental compliance who dealt with the EPA and California Air Resources Board after the scandal was uncovered.
The cooperation of witnesses and the company should help investigators determine if the scandal went beyond VW’s engineers, Uhlmann said. But extraditing any executives from Germany would be a problem.
Volkswagen has admitted equipping diesel cars with sophisticated software that turned on emissions controls when engines were being tested by the Environmental Protection Agency, then turned them off during normal driving. The software, called a “defeat device” because it defeated the emissions controls, improved engine performance but spewed out harmful nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times above the legal limit.
Volkswagen has reached a $15 billion civil settlement with environmental authorities and car owners in the U.S. under which it agreed to buy back up to 500,000 vehicles. The company also faces an investor lawsuit and criminal probe in Germany. In all, some 11 million vehicles worldwide were equipped with the software.
The criminal investigation likely will continue into the administration of President-elect Donald Trump and attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions. Uhlmann, who served under Republican and Democratic attorneys general, doesn’t think the new administration will back off from the VW prosecution.
“All administrations want to be tough on crime, including corporate crime,” he said. “I doubt the Trump administration will be any different.”
A draft of the VW settlement with the government calls for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee compliance and control measures for three years. The draft still must be approved by Volkswagen’s boards and U.S. courts.
The scandal was revealed in September 2015, when West Virginia University tested on-road diesel emissions. The EPA issued a notice of violation, and VW apologized and brought in U.S. law firm Jones Day to investigate.
If finalized, a $4.3 billion settlement would eclipse Toyota’s $1.2 billion penalty over unintended acceleration problems as well as General Motors’ $900 million payment to resolve a deadly ignition-switch scandal.
____
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany.

US Senate probe into election hacking - CNN

Senate probe into election hacking to review possible links between Russia, campaigns

Washington (CNN)The Senate Intelligence Committee's review of Russian meddling in the 2016 election will include a look at any intelligence "regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns."
Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, the committee's chairman, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, the committee's vice chairman, said in a joint statement that the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the election also will focus on Russian cyberactivity and "active measures" against the US.
It was known that intelligence panels in both chambers of Congress were tapped by Republican leaders to probe the hacking, but Friday's announcement makes clear the scope and details about the review. It is also notable that the announcement was joined by Warner, as Democrats have clamored for a bipartisan look into what role, if any, Russia may have played in the election.
The statement said the committee will produce both a classified and unclassified report on its findings.
Burr and Warner said the committee will hold hearings examining Russian intelligence activity and interview senior officials within both President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump's administrations about the matter, and will issue subpoenas if necessary.
"We believe that it is critical to have a full understanding of the scope of Russian intelligence activities impacting the United States," they said.
The statement cited an announcement in early October by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that publicly raised the specter of Russia interfering in the election. On January 6, the intelligence community issued an unclassified report detailing information that generally concluded Russia attempted to interfere with the outcome of the election.
Both Obama and Trump have publicly stated that they believe Russia was involved in the hacking, though Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism at the intelligence community's findings, particularly its conclusion that Russia interfered to boost his chances of victory.
Comey explains actions to Senate
Also on Friday, US officials told CNN that FBI Director James Comey explained in a Senate classified briefing Thursday why his bureau looked again into emails connected to the Hillary Clinton email server investigation in October.
Comey told them for the first time that investigators found new classified emails -- which were on a computer owned by Anthony Weiner -- though none were marked classified, the officials said. Many were ones they had seen before, but some were new, and the FBI didn't know what they were dealing with.
It appears Comey didn't provide as much information in a House briefing on Friday.
In the end, none of the emails changed the overall conclusion that Clinton had not acted illegally.

Volkswagen Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges in Emissions Scandal - TIME Business

Volkswagen Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges in Emissions Scandal Posted: 11 Jan 2017 11:02 AM PST (WASHINGTON) — Six high-level Volkswagen employees from Germany were indicted in the U.S. on Wednesday in the VW emissions-cheating scandal, while the company itself agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $4.3 billion — by far the biggest fine ever levied by the government against an automaker. In announcing the charges and the plea bargain, Justice Department prosecutors detailed a large and elaborate scheme inside the German automaker to commit fraud and then cover it up, with at least 40 employees allegedly involved in destroying evidence. “Volkswagen obfuscated, they denied and they ultimately lied,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. Prosecutors may have trouble bringing the executives to trial in the U.S. German law generally bars extradition of the country’s citizens except within the European Union. Privately, Justice Department officials expressed little optimism that the five VW executives still at large will be arrested, unless they surrender or travel outside Germany. Still, the criminal charges are a major breakthrough for a Justice Department that been under pressure to hold individuals accountable for corporate misdeeds ever since the 2008 financial crisis. Lynch held out the possibility of charges against more high-ranking VW executives. “We will continue to pursue the individuals responsible for orchestrating this damaging conspiracy,” she said. VW admitted installing software in diesel engines on nearly 600,000 VW, Porsche and Audi vehicles in the U.S. that activated pollution controls during government tests and switched them off in real-world driving. The software allowed the cars to spew harmful nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times above the legal limit. U.S. regulators confronted VW about the software after university researchers discovered differences in testing and real-world emissions. Volkswagen at first denied the use of the so-called defeat device but finally admitted it in September 2015. Even after that admission, prosecutors said, company employees were busy deleting computer files and other evidence. The fines easily eclipse the $1.2 billion penalty levied against Toyota in 2014 over unintended acceleration in its cars. VW also agreed to pay an additional $154 million to California for violating its clean air laws. The penalties bring the cost of the scandal to VW in the United States to nearly $20 billion, not counting lost sales and damage to the automaker’s reputation. Volkswagen previously reached a $15 billion civil settlement with environmental authorities and car owners in the U.S. under which it agreed to repair or buy back as many as a half-million of the affected vehicles. The company pleaded guilty to conspiracy, obstruction of justice and importing vehicles by using false statements. Under the agreement, VW must cooperate in the continuing investigation let an independent monitor oversee its compliance for three years. The six supervisors indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit were accused of lying to environmental regulators or destroying computer files containing evidence. All six are German citizens, and five remained in Germany. The only one under arrest was Oliver Schmidt, who was seized over the weekend in Miami during a visit to the U.S. Schmidt was in charge of VW’s compliance with U.S. environmental regulations. Those indicted also included two former chiefs of Volkswagen engine development and the former head of quality management and product safety. Prosecutors said one supervised 10,000 employees. All six were charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by making false statements to regulators and the public. Three were also charged with fraud and clean-air violations. Government documents say one engine development supervisor asked an assistant to search another supervisor’s office for a hard drive that contained emails between them. Then another assistant was asked to throw it away, prosecutors said. According to the plea agreement, Volkswagen officials began deceiving the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators starting in 2006, when they realized new diesel engines wouldn’t meet 2007 emissions standards. Under the direction of supervisors, VW employees borrowed the defeat device idea from VW’s Audi luxury division, which was developing different engines with similar software. In November 2006, some employees raised objections to the defeat device to the head of VW-brand engine development, prosecutors said. That official allegedly directed the employees to continue and warned them “not to get caught.” In 2014, VW employees learned about a West Virginia University study that found emissions discrepancies in VWs. Three of the supervisors and other employees decided not to disclose the defeat device to U.S. regulators, prosecutors said. In August 2015, a VW employee ignored instructions from supervisors and told U.S. regulators about the device. VW also faces an investor lawsuit and criminal probe in Germany. In all, some 11 million vehicles worldwide were equipped with the software.

What the last 48 hours told us about Trump's next 4 years - CNN

What the last 48 hours told us about Trump's next 4 years

By Gregory Krieg, CNN

Updated 0650 GMT (1450 HKT) January 13, 2017

Trump: People don't care about my tax returns

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 11: President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news cenference at Trump Tower on January 11, 2017 in New York City. This is Trump's first official news conference since the November elections. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump's first presser as President-elect

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 11: President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news cenference at Trump Tower on January 11, 2017 in New York City. This is Trump's first official news conference since the November elections. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump pans intel claim, shouts down reporter

CNN: Why Trump's 'fake news' claim is wrong

Trump: Intel report is all 'fake news'

Trump Acosta split

Trump shuts down CNN reporter

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, January 11, 2017.

Trump on hacking DNC: I think it was Russia

Trump: Pence getting approvals for wall

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, January 11, 2017.

Trump describes Obamacare plan

Spicer: Russia-Trump report is disgraceful

Trump: I will turn business over to my sons

trump acosta split

CNN reporter: Spicer threatened to kick me out

Trump: People don't care about my tax returns

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 11: President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news cenference at Trump Tower on January 11, 2017 in New York City. This is Trump's first official news conference since the November elections. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump's first presser as President-elect

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 11: President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news cenference at Trump Tower on January 11, 2017 in New York City. This is Trump's first official news conference since the November elections. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump pans intel claim, shouts down reporter

CNN: Why Trump's 'fake news' claim is wrong

Trump: Intel report is all 'fake news'

(CNN)President-elect Donald Trump went nose-to-nose Wednesday with a press corps itching to cross-examine him after more than five months at arm's length, while his top nominees faced off with senators during a strategic crush of confirmation hearings.

The raucous 48 hours, beginning on Capitol Hill early Tuesday, represented an unofficial inauguration of the 45th president -- a whirlwind welcome to Trump's Washington, a chaotic and contentious place where graying norms seem destined to clash relentlessly with an idiosyncratic administration.

By Thursday morning, after a Senate vote-a-rama effectively paved the way for GOP efforts to dismember Obamacare, new information had emerged and old suspicions were affirmed, as the final countdown to the historic transition neared its end.

Here are seven lessons -- and the moments that defined them -- from the past two days:

1. The lesson: Trump escalates his conflicts with the media and other perceived enemies

The moment: At his news conference Wednesday, the President-elect refused to hear a question from CNN's Jim Acosta. Incoming press secretary Sean Spicer then threatened to throw Acosta out of the room if he persisted in asking.

"I have great respect for the news, great respect for freedom of the press and all that," Trump said during his long-delayed press conference Wednesday.

But the lovefest had its limits, as the President-elect ripped CNN and BuzzFeed over a pair of stories published the day before -- CNN's a carefully sourced report; BuzzFeed's a less scrupulous document dump -- and purposefully conflated the two in order to avoid answering serious questions about his and his staff and advisers' alleged ties to Russia.

Trump passed over Acosta during the news conference and Spicer threatened to eject him if he spoke up again. When ABC's Cecilia Vega pressed Trump on the matter, the President-elect spent nearly 90 seconds filibustering before heading for the elevators, where he eventually denied to reporters that he or anyone on his team had been in contact with the Russians during the campaign.

2. The lesson: Republican Russia hawks could emerge as Trump's most galvanizing opponents

The moment: Marco Rubio on Wednesday blitzed secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson over his connections to Russia and whether, in his opinion, Vladimir Putin was a "war criminal."

Unlike Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions a day earlier, Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil chief with extensive business ties to Moscow, was confronted with a blistering round of inquiries from the senators who will decide if his nomination vote goes to the full chamber. Rubio in particular pressed Tillerson with a categorical question.

"Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?" the Florida senator asked.

Tillerson hedged, saying he "would not use that term" and required "much more information" before giving a clear answer.

Rex Tillerson grilled on foreign policy

Rex Tillerson grilled on foreign policy 03:33

Rubio pressed on, running off a laundry list of Russian aggression, from its actions in Aleppo to the murder of dissidents and journalists, but Tillerson didn't budge.

Further questions about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines were met with similar demurrals.

By late Wednesday, Amnesty International USA had weighed in with their growing concerns.

"After a day of questioning, Tillerson's commitment to human rights in the US and abroad is in serious question," the group's executive director, Margaret Huang, said in an email. "He must use tomorrow's hearing to clarify today's troubling statements."

3. The lesson: A Justice Department led by Jeff Sessions will not vigorously police the police

The moment: Asked on Tuesday for his opinion on the Justice Department's use of consent decrees to oversee and reform police departments with records of abuse, Sessions expressed serious doubts.

During the tenures of Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, the Justice Department has been proactive in applying oversight measures to local law enforcement outfits found to have committed civil rights violations.

The department has used a tool called a consent decree -- a period of enforced reform, with terms agreed by municipal authorities and Justice Department officials as a means of avoiding federal court action. Ferguson, Missouri and Cleveland are among the wide range, in size and prominence, of cities to sign on after high-profile offenses.

"I think there is concern that good police officers and good departments can be sued by the Department of Justice when you just have individuals within a department that have done wrong," Sessions said when asked during the first day of his hearing. "These lawsuits undermine the respect for police officers and create an impression that the entire department is not doing their work consistent with fidelity to law and fairness, and we need to be careful before we do that."

With an attorney general -- and Sessions is all but guaranteed to be confirmed -- so openly critical of the process, it's hard to imagine the Trump Justice Department will be initiating the reviews that became a hallmark of its predecessor.

4. The lesson: Protesters -- not a beleaguered Democratic minority -- are set to emerge as leaders in the anti-Trump resistance

The moment: The Sessions confirmation hearings, Day 1. While senators mostly treated Sessions with deference during what many had expected to be a fraught and tense confirmation hearing, Democrats were not nearly as vocal as the demonstrators that frequently interrupted the proceedings.

Protesters disrupt Sessions' AG hearing

Protesters disrupt Sessions' AG hearing 01:30

Protesters from a variety of grassroots progressive groups and larger liberal organizations were often the harshest voices in the room during Sessions' hearings. They rose at seemingly regular intervals to rail against the Alabama senator, who was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 amid allegations he made racist comments to a colleague. More recently, Sessions has emerged as a vocal backer of voter ID laws.

Activist Kai Newkirk, who was arrested during a sit-in at Sessions' office, told CNN Wednesday he was willing to be jailed because "Sessions' history and present positions make it undeniably clear that he cannot be entrusted to uphold equal justice, civil rights, or the right to vote."

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee panel were mostly restrained in their questioning, with Minnesota's Al Franken the rare Sessions colleague to confront him over his past record -- deliberately overstated, Franken suggested -- as a civil rights proponent.

With their party set to turn over the White House, and already nearly powerless in Congress, Democrats sitting on Capitol Hill could soon take a backseat to progressives and allied groups planning to stand up to Trump with mass protests and direct actions.

5. The lesson: Difficult conversations about race in policy clashes and political conflicts aren't going anywhere during the Trump era.

The moment: Both Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights hero, and Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, testified against Sessions on the second day of his confirmation hearings.

Booker to Sessions: 'Love all our citizens'

Booker to Sessions: 'Love all our citizens' 02:04

As their colleagues came under fire for offering what liberals saw as an overabundance of senatorial courtesy, Lewis, Booker and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Cedric Richmond zeroed in on Sessions' history with a sharper edge.

"Those who are committed to equal justice in our society wonder whether Sen. Sessions' call for 'law and order' will mean today what it meant in Alabama when I was coming up back then," Lewis said during his testimony. "The rule of law was used to violate the human and civil rights of the poor, the dispossessed, people of color."

Booker, meanwhile, sought to channel the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., when he said, "The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice, we must bend it."

"America needs an attorney general who is resolute and determined to bend the arc," Booker testified. "Sen. Sessions' record does not speak to that desire, intention or will."

Booker's decision to so publicly oppose a Senate colleague -- he is the first to do so in a confirmation hearing -- shed light on the depth of the racial fault lines that figure to roil the new administration and its critics.

Difficult conversations are obviously not new in this country and they escalated during the course of the Obama administration, when Americans were focused at various times on Ferguson, Baltimore, Black Lives Matter and the very visceral fight over voting rights and the Confederate flag. Trump and his cabinet will bring a very different perspective than Obama and his. Partisan fights over race seem destined to escalate over the coming four years.

6. The lesson: The role of the FBI, in particular Director James Comey, in the 2016 campaign will remain a flashpoint in 2017

The moment: Democrats were alternately outraged and baffled when, in the course of a hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey refused to comment on whether the bureau was investigating links between President-elect Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.

The question came from Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. He wanted to know whether the FBI had investigated potential contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The director, however, was not in a forthcoming mood and refused to comment.

Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, couldn't help himself.

"You didn't say one way or another whether even there was an investigation underway?" King asked again.

"Correct," Comey said. "I don't, especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation."

"The irony of your making that statement here, I cannot avoid," King said, a clear reference to Comey's looser lips during the campaign, when he jolted the contest with a very late public revelation that his agents would renew their review of emails potentially tied to Hillary Clinton's private server.

Clinton was cleared, again, days later, but many Democrats believe the brouhaha cost her precious votes in a race that was ultimately decided by the narrowest of margins in a handful of states. Like Trump, their grudge is likely to endure.

7. The lesson: The leader of the Democratic Party is Barack Obama -- and no one else comes close

The moment: In his farewell address from Chicago on Tuesday night, the outgoing president delivered a stark warning about the challenges facing American democracy while, both in the speech and recent remarks, offering a more coherent path forward than anyone else in his party.

Obama said goodbye in much the same way he entered national politics -- with an appeal to a shared decency and common interests across the partisan divide. But a decade on from the beginning of his brief Senate stay, the twice-elected president addressed a country more openly at odds over race.

Watch President Obama's full farewell address

Watch President Obama's full farewell address 50:07

"After my election," Obama told supporters in McCormick Place, "there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society."

Framing that divide as a "threat to our democracy," Obama pleaded with Americans to emerge from their digital bubbles and more openly engage with political opposites.

"If you're tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet," he said to laughs, "try talking with one of them in real life."

But his appeal to economic solidarity -- which sounded a lot more like Bernie Sanders than his would-be successor Hillary Clinton -- struck hardest.

"If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and an undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves," he said, while pointedly encouraging Democrats to engage "the middle-aged white guy."

Whether that adds up to a winning strategy remains to be seen, but for a night at least, the departing Obama towered over the Democrats he leaves behind to take on Trump.