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Interacted with has found trouble as a result. he lumbered into washington's porsche saint region us hotel for a party given in his honor. only stayed an hour and a half then left. sergey kislyak, the burly back slapping russian is returning to moscow, leaving a string of controversies in his wake. >> it is clear he has played a substantial role in this investigation that is now consuming the trump administration. >> reporter: for years kislyak who was already a seasoned diplomat before arriving in the u.s. has been known as an operator in washington, affable and social. >> you can hardly im...

Jim? >> brian, he's like a character out of a novel. spy novel, absolutely. sur getting a sense that sergey kislyak was directed by the kremlin to stir things up to provoke the trump team into getting into some trouble? is there any evidence of that? >> reporter: jim, we are getting different takes on that from veteran diplomats and analysts in washington. some believe kislyak was doing what russian ambassadors have to do. when trump became a front runner he simply had to get more information on them. he had to meet with trump's people. others believe everything putin has done was to distract ...

Nutjob and was relieved from the investigation. he stepped into a fire storm where russia is radioactive and he may not bring much more comfort to u.s. officials. he is seen as a hard liner, less chummy than kislyak. he held a top position in putin's defense ministry and was reportedly a key figure in russia's 2014 invasion of ukraine. he was sanctioned by the e.u. for that but not by the u.s. >> if relations are going to be bad, it turns out he probably is well suited to a kind of period of chilly interactions. >> reporter: now, the state department did not respond when we asked why antonov h...

Central character in the story. the topics michael flynn spoke about in phones with kislyak during the transition got flynn fired after he misled the white house whether sanctions were discussed. jared kushner remains under scrutiny for allegedly discussing with kislyak in december a secret back channel to the kremlin. the white house wouldn't comment on that. and attorney general jeff sessions's meetings with kislyak during the campaign eventually led to his recusal from his department's investigation into russian interference. >> he met with attorney general sessions while sessions was a u.s...