Senate Intelligence Chairman Confirms Committee Investigating Jill Stein for Possible ‘Collusion With the Russians’

Committee Asking for Documents

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) has confirmed his committee is investigating former Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein for possible “collusion with the Russians.” On Monday Buzzfeed reported the Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Stein “to turn over documents.”

The Buzzfeed article focuses on Dennis Trainor Jr., “who served as the campaign’s communications director and acting manager,” and “told BuzzFeed News that he was informed of the committee’s request because during his time on the campaign, his personal cell phone was ‘a primary point of contact’ for those looking to reach Stein or the campaign. That included producers from RT News, the Russian state-funded media company that booked Stein for several appearances, Trainor said.”

Trainor, who has worked on and off for Stein since formally leaving the campaign in 2015, said he is inclined to cooperate with the committee’s request but wants to first seek legal counsel. He said he believes Stein plans to comply as well and post the documents on her own website “in an effort to show complete transparency and kind of wage her own war against … what I imagine she thinks is an overblown investigation into collusion.”

Stein infamously appeared in a photo sitting at the same table as disgraced former Trump National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and Russian President Vladimir Putin at an event for Russian propaganda tool RT News.

Flynn was paid $45,000 for his appearance at the dinner. Stein says Russia did not pay for her attendance or travel to the event in Moscow.

She issued a statement to The Washington Post Monday afternoon.

“Our communications with Russian indiviuals regarding an invitation to speak on international relatins [sic] at the RT 10th anniversary media conference will confirm what we stated publicly at that time and since: that we did not accept any payment or even reimbursement for the trip,” Stein says.

“The expansion of the investigation to include Stein suggests that the Senate intelligence probe will continue well into next year,” The Post adds.

Some responses via Twitter:

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

Image by Matt Johnson via Flickr and a CC license

If you find NCRM valuable, would you please consider making a donation to support our independent journalism?