Free Republic

Six men sat down for a business meeting on the morning of October 18 last year, amid the hubbub and marble-columned opulence of Moscow’s iconic Metropol Hotel, to discuss plans for a “great alliance.” A century earlier, the grand institution was the scene of events that helped change the face of Europe and the world: Czarist forces fought from inside the hotel as they tried and failed to hold the Bolsheviks back from the Kremlin in 1917, and it was here, in suite 217, that the first Soviet Constitution was drafted after the revolution succeeded. The six men — three...

The head of the Democratic National Committee on Friday joined calls for President Trump to cancel a scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin following the indictment of 12 Russians for hacking. DNC Chairman Tom Perez said it “defies logic that Putin did not know of this” and said that Mr. Trump’s attempts to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the election — which led to the new charges announced Friday against Russian intelligence officers — has hurt the nation. “President Trump should absolutely cancel this meeting with Putin,” Mr. Perez said. “Putin is not...