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Trump aide Keith Schiller testified on Russia probe

Keith Schiller wrangles the press pool in the Oval Office in May. Photo: Andrew Harnik / AP

The N.Y. Times' Maggie Haberman once called longtime aide Keith Schiller "the ultimate emotional binky for Trump."

Why it matters: Schiller's closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee yesterday was one of the most vivid signs yet of how deeply the Russia investigations are penetrating the president's inner circle.

The details:

  • Schiller was Trump's bodyguard in New York and became White House director of Oval Office operations, but left in September.
  • Per CNN, Schiller yesterday denied "the salacious claims about Trump's 2013 trip to Moscow that appeared in the opposition research Russia dossier about Trump."
  • "Schiller ... [told] lawmakers repeatedly that he could not recall or was not aware a number of potential Russia connections with Trump associates."
  • Why he matters, from Politico's Annie Karni: "When friends and advisers outside the West Wing wanted to share a news article, gossip or advice with ... Trump, they would be advised to 'send it to Keith, he'll get it to me.'"
  • Schiller knows "how to manage the president's moods, his diet, what triggers him and what soothes him."