[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Russia Investigation

  Finally, on another matter, I want to address breaking news of the 
day on a related matter. Yesterday, we learned from an exclusive report 
in the Guardian that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort 
repeatedly held secret talks with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 
within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. These revelations reported 
publicly in the Guardian, if true, raise serious, new questions about 
the Trump campaign's possible relationship with WikiLeaks, including 
the timed release of hacked emails orchestrated to inflict maximum 
damage on Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential campaign.
  According to the published report, Manafort visited in 2015 and then 
again in the spring of 2016--just in time for Trump to name him the RNC 
convention manager. Sources in Ecuador say Manafort's meetings with 
Assange may have been purposefully kept off the Embassy's official 
visitor log. It is essential that Ecuador's current government publicly 
and swiftly confirm whether former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa 
and his administration allowed these meetings to take place.
  Given that Secretary Pompeo met with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister 
Valencia yesterday morning--the day before this report came out--the 
State Department and the intelligence community must immediately brief 
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Mr. Manafort's interaction 
with Mr. Assange, as well as the Ecuadorian Government's role in any 
meetings. This is critical for us to know, and I hope it won't take 
other actions to get clarity.
  I am already concerned that tomorrow we are having an all-Members 
briefing on what happened with Saudi Arabia and the murder of Mr. 
Khashoggi, and there won't be anybody from the intelligence community 
there. Where is Gina Haspel, the head of the CIA? She went and listened 
to the tapes. Her Agency is reported to have come up with conclusions 
that said, yes, the Crown Prince knew and was involved, yet we are 
going to have a briefing without anybody from the intelligence 
community. It is an affront to the Senate, which has responsibilities--
oversight and otherwise--to understand what is the appropriate action 
of this body as it relates to U.S. foreign policy and this particular 
ally. But we are not going to have anybody from the intelligence 
community. To me, that is the ultimate coverup.
  So I want to know what happened and whether this Guardian report is 
true. I want to know from the intelligence community what their 
determination is. I don't want to hear it characterized by someone 
else; I want to hear it directly from them. Only then can we actually 
act in a way that is both concerted and with the knowledge necessary to 
make informed decisions on critical U.S. foreign policy.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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