Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly denied having any compromising information on his US counterpart, Donald Trump. American intelligence agencies are investigating alleged links between Trump aides and Moscow.
In an interview broadcast on US television network NBC's "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly," Putin said he and Trump "didn't have any relationship at all," and never met during the real estate mogul's business trips to Russia. Interviewer Kelly is a former Fox News anchor and attorney.
"We have a lot of Americans who visit us," Putin said. "Do you think we're gathering compromising information on all of them right now or something? Are you all - have you all lost your senses over there?"
Reports of a Russian dossier of damaging personal information, as well as allegations of collusion between Trump's inner circle and Moscow, have dogged the first few months of Trump's presidency. The administration's potential links with Russia are being investigated by a US special counsel and congressional committees. Trump has called the probe a "witch hunt" designed to undermine his victory in last year's presidential election.
Trump: 'no collusion' with Russia
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Russian meddling
US intelligence agencies concluded earlier this year that Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election, mainly via hacking, to try and secure a Trump win over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Putin has repeatedly denied claims of Russian involvement, as well as any knowledge of Russian contacts with the Trump campaign. He dismissed the charges again in his interview with NBC on Sunday.
"They have been misled," Putin said of US intelligence agencies. "And they aren't analyzing the information in its entirety. I haven't seen, even once, any direct proof of Russian interference in the (US) presidential election."
Comey testifies
The Russia issue will also be the focus of a hearing in Washington on Thursday, when former FBI Director James Comey is due to testify before the Senate's intelligence committee. Comey, who was leading the FBI's probe into Russia's alleged election meddling, was fired by Trump last month.
During Thursday's hearing he's expected to be quizzed on whether Trump pressured him to abandon a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his Russian contacts. Flynn was fired in February after misrepresenting conversations he'd had before the inauguration with Russian ambassador to Washington Sergei Kislyak.
In the NBC interview, Putin sought to distance himself from Flynn, saying he had only had a brief and passing acquaintance with him. Putin also said he knew nothing about a reported attempt by Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to set up a secret communications channel with Russia.
nm/jm (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)
Who is James Comey?
From endorsing enhanced interrogation to investigating Russia's alleged election-tampering, the ex-FBI director has contributed to the divisive political landscape in the US. DW examines the man behind the headlines.
Image: Getty Images
A divisive figure
The seventh in a lineage of FBI directors with law degrees, James Comey has shaped politics in the US as the head of the law enforcement agency. But who is the man behind the headlines? From prosecuting an American celebrity to refusing to sanction the NSA's mass surveillance program, DW explores the contentious life of James Comey.
Image: Getty Images
Taking down a celebrity
Serving as Manhattan's chief federal prosecutor, Comey rose to notoriety in 2002, when he led the prosecution of US celebrity Martha Stewart for securities fraud and obstruction of justice. Stewart, widely known in the US for her cooking and lifestyle shows, served a 5-month jail sentence following the highly-publicized case.
Image: picture-alliance/epa/J. Lane
Enhanced interrogation
In late 2003, Comey was confirmed as the US deputy attorney general, making him the second-highest-ranking official in the Justice Department. Serving under former President George W. Bush, Comey endorsed a memorandum approving the use of 13 enhanced interrogation techniques during the War on Terror, including waterboarding. He later said he lobbied to have the policy toned down.
Image: Getty Images/J. Moore
Mass surveillance
Comey has warned of the consequences of domestic mass surveillance, saying in March: "There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America." While serving as acting attorney general during the hospitalization of John Ashcroft in 2004, he refused to endorse the legality of the NSA's domestic surveillance program, even when pressured by the Bush administration.
Image: picture alliance/zb/A. Engelhardt
Obama's choice
In 2013, then-President Barack Obama nominated Comey to serve as the seventh director of the FBI. He received the nomination despite being a registered member of the Republican party. Later that year, he received congressional approval to takeover the office. In his installation speech, he said the bureau's work is founded on integrity. "Without integrity, all is lost," he said.
Image: Reuters
More Holocaust education
In 2015, Comey penned an op-ed on why he required new FBI special agents and intelligence analysts to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington. He said the reason was to have them understand the consequences of abusing power and to be confronted by the atrocities humans are capable of. "I believe that the Holocaust is the most significant event in human history," he said.
In July 2016, Comey announced that the FBI had found no evidence of criminal intention in Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as state secretary. But days before the presidential election, he issued a letter to lawmakers informing them of new emails deemed "pertinent to the investigation." He later said no evidence was uncovered. Clinton has since blamed Comey for losing the election.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/M. Altaffer
'You're fired'
On May 9, Trump sent Comey an unusual letter firing the FBI director, cutting short his 10-year mandate to lead the bureau. Given the ongoing FBI-led investigation into election-meddling by Russia, critics have warned that the move may amount to obstruction of justice for undermining the probe. Trump later appeared to threaten Comey over the existence of "tapes" of their conversations.
Image: Getty Images/A. Harrer
Trump-Russia nexus
Comey reportedly kept memos of interactions between him and President Donald Trump, which appear to implicate the head of state in attempts to obstruct a federal probe into Russia's alleged involvement in influencing the 2016 election. The day after US media reported on the existence of the memos, the Justice Department named a special counsel to lead the probe amid fears of White House influence.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/A. Shcherbak
Damning testimony?
In June 2017, shortly after being fired, Comey testified in Congress that he believed Trump fired him over the Russia probe. "I was fired in some way to change, or the endeavor was to change, the way the Russia investigation was being conducted," he told lawmakers. He has since released a book, in which he described Trump as a "mafia boss" who is "untethered to the truth."
