My Conversations with Stephen Colbert
Revisiting two appearances on The Late Show during pivotal moments in U.S.-Russia relations.
It was the honor of a lifetime to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Following his sign-off last night, I thought I’d revisit those appearances— the first in July 2018, shortly after the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, and again in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The 2018 Helsinki summit will forever be remembered for Trump siding with Putin over his own intelligence community when he said he saw no reason to believe Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.
That wasn’t all. At a joint press conference, Putin proposed that U.S. investigators be allowed to question 12 Russians suspected of involvement in election interference if Russian investigators were permitted to interrogate 11 Americans—me included—for unspecified “illegal actions” in Russia.
That the proposal was even considered by President Trump was deeply disturbing; it took nearly a full day for the White House to distance itself from the idea. In the meantime, the U.S. Senate unanimously rejected making American officials available for questioning by Putin’s government (a rare 98-0 vote!)
Watch that clip below:
In March 2022, I was back on the sofa to discuss Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was launched just two weeks earlier. Watch all three parts below!
You are such a gem. You even answered my text a few times. Your information is invaluable in helping us understand the craziness of it all. Trumps best buddies being far right dictators. He’s so not into democracy. Thank you so much!
You are such a gem. You even answered my text a few times. Your information is invaluable in helping us understand the craziness of it all. Trumps best buddies being far right dictators. He’s so not into democracy. Thank you so much!