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Jill Stein campaign asked for documents as part of Senate Intelligence Committee's Russia probe: Report


The Senate Intelligence Committee has requested documents from a 2016 Green Party presidential candidate as part of the committee’s Russia probe, according to a new report.

Last week, candidate Jill Stein contacted Dennis Trainor Jr., who worked as her communications director and acting campaign manager from January to August 2015, because the committee had requested documents from the campaign, BuzzFeed reported Monday.

Trainor said that he was contacted because his personal cellphone had been given as the “primary point of contact” to those trying to reach Stein, such as producers from the Russian state-funded media company, RT News. Stein had been booked for several appearances with the outlet.

Trainor noted that he was told the campaign would reach out with more info, likely instructions from the committee, concerning how to proceed with the document search. He also said he is willing to comply with the committee’s probe, but plans to seek legal counsel first.

He also indicated Stein was willing to comply with the requests and planned to post the documents online “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 was mentioned in a letter from the Senate Judiciary committee to Donald Trump Jr. in July where they requested copies of “all communications to, from, or copied” between Trump Jr. and a group of others including Stein.

Stein also attended a 2015 dinner in Moscow hosted by RT, where she sat alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn.



Flynn was removed from his post at the White House earlier this year after it was revealed he misled the administration about his sanctions-related communications with the Russians.

Flynn pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this month for lying to the FBI in January about his contacts with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was charged on one count of “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI about communications exchanged with Kislyak shortly after Trump took office.

Flynn said he is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The Senate Intelligence Committee, along with several other congressional committees, are also investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.