INTERVIEW — SENATOR BEN CARDIN – (D-Maryland) and top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

• TOPICS: Senate priorities, his Ben Carson vote, Sessions/Russia, report on Cardin getting secret docs

• Senate Post-Trump Speech: Are There Any Issues The Democrats Will Work Together With The Republicans On?
• Sen. Cardin to oppose Ben Carson for HUD. (Baltimore Sun) — Sen. Ben Cardin said Wednesday he will oppose retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson’ nomination to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “I just don’t believe he has the background in housing that I would like to see,” the Maryland Democrat said. “I don’t think it’s the right position for him.” Cardin described Carson, a former Baltimore County resident, as a “fine person” and a renowned surgeon, but questioned his knowledge of housing issues. Cardin said he did not feel Carson’s confirmation needed further delay.
• Sessions, Russian ambassador reportedly spoke twice during presidential campaign. (Fox News) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly had two conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. during last year’s presidential campaign, while Sessions was still a senator. News of the conversations were first reported by The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. investigators had examined contacts between Sessions and Russian officials and that the Justice Department was “wringing its hands” about how to proceed in the matter.
• Report: Cardin received secret documents on election interference by Russia. (Baltimore Sun) — Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin received classified information about Russia’s involvement in elections when the Obama administration was attempting to disseminate that material widely across the government in order to aid in future investigations, according to a report Wednesday.  The Obama administration worked in its final days to spread intelligence it had gathered about Russian efforts to undermine the election as well as contacts that associates of then-President-elect Donald Trump had with Russian officials, according to a report in The New York Times that relies on three unnamed former U.S. officials. Obama officials were concerned, according to the report, that the Trump administration would cover up intelligence once power changed hands. Trump has denied that his campaign had any contact with Russian officials, and he has blamed the Obama administration for pushing the story in an effort to undermine him. During the course of the Obama administration’s effort, the State Department sent documents marked “secret” to Cardin, the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Times reported. A Cardin spokesman said in a statement that the senator requested the documents. The spokesman declined to answer questions about whether he had shared those documents and what, specifically, they contain.
• Daily Caller: The State Department, then led by John Kerry, also took part in the intelligence-sharing campaign. The agency sent a batch of documents classified as “Secret” to Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, just before the election.