Flynn in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions

[DMX7]

We need more Stephen Miller.

"The end result of this is that our opponents, the media, and the whole world will soon see as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned" said Stephen Miller. "MHAHAHAHAH MHAHAHA", Miller then added.

[djohn2oo8]

Called it last night. The Kushner back channel was a non-story. On to the next attempt.

OR its just another person under investigation dumbass :lol

[TSA]

OR its just another person under investigation dumbass :lol

It'll be the next non-story....just like every single fucking tweet you've wasted bandwidth with was.


UTUD003UyCQ

[boutons_deux]

Malcolm Nance's Stunning Analysis of the Kushner Scandal (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/27/1666540/-Malcolm-Nance-Stunning-Analysis-of-the-Kushner-Scandal)

"Some of these contacts are so suspicious that they would have warranted their own counter intelligence investigation. This nation is in a counterintelligence investigation;

they are in a spy hunt over at the FBI,

and now we have this story, should it prove true, of an American citizen, who is

the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States,

attempting to establish, what we call in the intelligence community, covert communications with a hostile nation’s potential intelligence agency or senior leadership?

That crosses the line to the espionage act of 1917.

This cannot be explained—put aside the other 18 contacts with Russia (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-contacts-idUSKCN18E106)—

this one incident requires Jared Kushner and all of his immediate staff to have their clearance pulled right now,

and to have the FBI descend on there to determine if this is hostile intelligence in the White House, one step from the President."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/5/27/1666540/-Malcolm-Nance-Stunning-Analysis-of-the-Kushner-Scandal

[djohn2oo8]

It'll be the next non-story....just like every single fucking tweet you've wasted bandwidth with was.


UTUD003UyCQ

Hmm the cohen investigation is separate from the FBI investigation. TSA is too retarded to grasp that.

[TSA]

Hmm the cohen investigation is separate from the FBI investigation. TSA is too retarded to grasp that.

I don't care what investigation it is a part of, nothing will come of it. Just like nothing came from the 25+ people you claimed would be indicted.

[Thread]

^^^The F.B.I. one is 11 months old.

& that idiot Comey still has to answer over the fake news he executed on.

[lefty]

:lmao Spicer

[TSA]

Dems are postponing Carter Page's testimony indefinitely. Yeah they aren't trying to drag this farce on as long as possible :lol

[Reck]

Afraid to post link because its coming from breitbart. :lol

[pgardn]

Dems are postponing Carter Page's testimony indefinitely. Yeah they aren't trying to drag this farce on as long as possible :lol

There is now a special prosecutor. He can keep this stuff out of the news, but it's not going away. And a special prosecutor can expand the scope of the investigations. People will go down for nefarious business with countries on sanctions lists. But I highly doubt it's Trump, unless it's past his term and he is dead.

[TSA]

There is now a special prosecutor. He can keep this stuff out of the news, but it's not going away. And a special prosecutor can expand the scope of the investigations. People will go down for nefarious business with countries on sanctions lists. But I highly doubt it's Trump, unless it's past his term and he is dead.

There is no special prosecutor for fucks sake :lol

[TSA]

UTUD003UyCQ

This may be the first time I've watched a YouTube with so and so "DESTROYS" and actually agreed with it.

[djohn2oo8]

There is now a special prosecutor. He can keep this stuff out of the news, but it's not going away. And a special prosecutor can expand the scope of the investigations. People will go down for nefarious business with countries on sanctions lists. But I highly doubt it's Trump, unless it's past his term and he is dead.

He's going down. Hard.

[DarrinS]

It'll be the next non-story....just like every single fucking tweet you've wasted bandwidth with was.


UTUD003UyCQ


:lmao He took a steaming dump on CNN.

He won't be invited back -- book it.

[TSA]

He's going down. Hard.

Yeah maybe the special prosecutor can present his case to the FISC grand jury :lmao

[TSA]

:lmao He took a steaming dump on CNN.

He won't be invited back -- book it.

I was shocked they didn't just cut his feed. The look on her face when she had to answer "no" to collusion was priceless.

[Reck]

Slurp slurp.

[boutons_deux]

" this bunch is not acting like people who have nothing to hide."

http://www.mediaite.com/trump/al-franken-to-the-view-white-house-not-acting-like-people-who-have-nothing-to-hide-on-russia/

[TSA]

" this bunch is not acting like people who have nothing to hide."

http://www.mediaite.com/trump/al-franken-to-the-view-white-house-not-acting-like-people-who-have-nothing-to-hide-on-russia/

How many times a week do you watch The View? :rollin

[pgardn]

There is no special prosecutor for fucks sake :lol

Special counsel wtf does it matter.
Mueller can do exactly what I stated fat head.

[monosylab1k]

The nefarious "back channel"

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-oe-mcmanus15-2009mar15-column.html

:lmao of course you're the idiot who thinks the term "back channel" is the problem.

[djohn2oo8]

869661131647877120

[djohn2oo8]

869673771162116096
Flynn has flipped

[djohn2oo8]

869683279049437185

[djohn2oo8]

869662533493415937
:lmao

[spurraider21]

869683279049437185

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgaD236VAV4

[djohn2oo8]

869639408428994560
:rollin

[Reck]

869673771162116096
Flynn has flipped

Nah, not yet anyway.

A sign would be him testifying and providing ALL documents. "Some documents" sounds like he's handing over what he knows is not as bad as the rest would be.

[djohn2oo8]

Nah, not yet anyway.

A sign would be him testifying and providing ALL documents. "Some documents" sounds like he's handing over what he knows is not as bad as the rest would be.
Yes he has.

[baseline bum]

869639408428994560
:rollin

I knew it was Priebus trying to take down orange hitler

[DarrinS]

I knew it was Priebus trying to take down orange hitler

Kathy Griffin beat him to it

Wow. Just. Wow


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR2MFOEDQcI

[baseline bum]

Kathy Griffin beat him to it

Wow. Just. Wow


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR2MFOEDQcI

It was a bigger wow when Trump was calling for Clinton's assassination tbh

[clambake]

i'm still waiting for chaos and mayhem. total anarchy.

whats the holdup?

[DarrinS]

It was a bigger wow when Trump was calling for Clinton's assassination tbh

Lol. Video removed.

I can only imagine the level of outrage, if that was Obama's severed head.

[DarrinS]

i'm still waiting for chaos and mayhem. total anarchy.

whats the holdup?


Rumors of the next Hitler may have been exaggerated.

[djohn2oo8]

869723187428327424
"But but her emails" :lmao

[baseline bum]

Lol. Video removed.

I can only imagine the level of outrage, if that was Obama's severed head.

Do you think the Dem nominee in 2020 will be calling for the assassination of Trump or Pence, whoever he is running against?

[djohn2oo8]

TSA, you are absolutely going to love what Mensch just reported. I'll let you do the courtesy of posting because I know you will shit your pants

[DarrinS]

Just get it straight from the source

https://mobile.twitter.com/kylegriffin1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eser p%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor


No need to wait for John's copy/pasta. :lol

[pgardn]

i'm still waiting for chaos and mayhem. total anarchy.

whats the holdup?

We got a 185 pages DJohn, Reck, and TSA buster clam.

Dont get so fussy with the expectations.

[djohn2oo8]

Just get it straight from the source

https://mobile.twitter.com/kylegriffin1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eser p%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor


No need to wait for John's copy/pasta. :lol

Thats not it. Plus you didn't even post right :lol

[Spurminator]

Lol. Video removed.

I can only imagine the level of outrage, if that was Obama's severed head.

Is the visual really that much worse than this?

"Obama, he's a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary [Clinton], you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch."

[DarrinS]

Do you think the Dem nominee in 2020 will be calling for the assassination of Trump or Pence, whoever he is running against?

I doubt it.

[Spurminator]

I wonder if the next Dem President will invite Kathy Griffin to the White House.

[DarrinS]

Oops

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/kathy-griffins-beheaded-donald-trump-photo-grabs-secret/story?id=47733696

[TSA]

TSA, you are absolutely going to love what Mensch just reported. I'll let you do the courtesy of posting because I know you will shit your pants

:lol too embarrassed to post any of her shit these days?

[djohn2oo8]

:lol too embarrassed to post any of her shit these days?
I have no problem posting it. Since you follow her too, and you'very been posting her tweets to get my attention. Post the one at the top of her page.

[baseline bum]

I doubt it.

Why do you want to hold Democratic comedians to a higher standard than Republican presidents?

[Adam Lambert]

nobody even likes kathy griffin and its darrins number 1 concern of the day

ruining the world rankings:
1 sjws
2 mouthy celebs

[DarrinS]

869722400333737988

Maybe the Marshal of the Supreme Court order this. :lol

[DarrinS]

Why do you want to hold Democratic comedians to a higher standard than Republican presidents?


So Trump called for Shill to be assassinated?

[boutons_deux]

Darrin despises any protesters, dissenters against the rightwing/police state status quo.

[djohn2oo8]

869722400333737988

Maybe the Marshal of the Supreme Court order this. :lol
No a judge at EDVA.

[baseline bum]

So Trump called for Shill to be assassinated?

Hillary wants to abolish -- essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know,

[TSA]

I have no problem posting it. Since you follow her too, and you'very been posting her tweets to get my attention. Post the one at the top of her page.

Why'd you stop posting her tweets?

[DarrinS]

Darrin despises any protesters, dissenters against the rightwing/police state status quo.

Anti war crowd pretty quiet during Obama years. Why is that?

[DarrinS]

Hillary wants to abolish -- essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know,

Yeah, they voted.

[TSA]

869722400333737988

Maybe the Marshal of the Supreme Court order this. :lol

The best part about Mensch is the fact that'll she'll be wrong and edit the story and retweet as if nothing was incorrect in the first place. She had a run a few days ago where she edited about 10 "exclusives" and reposted them all

[baseline bum]

Yeah, they voted.

What would voting have to do with her picking judges, which she'd only be able to do after she was in office? What can the second amendment people do if she gets to pick her judges?


By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know,

[Spurminator]

Obviously they jumped into a time machine and travelled from Trump's hypothetical scenario where she was President, to the real world when the election had not yet occurred.

[baseline bum]

Trump fans lost all moral high ground to get offended at assassination jokes after he talked about assassinating Clinton. What a world where comedians should be more accountable for what they say than the president.

[DarrinS]

What would voting have to do with her picking judges, which she'd only be able to do after she was in office? What can the second amendment people do if she gets to pick her judges?

Obviously, it was a wink/nod for her to be assassinated. :rolleyes

[baseline bum]

Obviously, it was a wink/nod for her to be assassinated. :rolleyes

What else could you do with guns to stop her after she is able to pick her judges?

[DarrinS]

It's weird how the IC can locate members of a terror cell and their family members within day or two after an attack, but months and months into this Russia investigation ... nada.

[DarrinS]

Allegations are now facts on CNN. Sad

[turkish spurs fan]

flynn was supporting gulenist coup attempt (usa backed) in turkey in july 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSkjqYB4U4

[baseline bum]

flynn was supporting gulenist coup attempt (usa backed) in turkey in july 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSkjqYB4U4

The Wall Street Journal reported he was negotiating with Erdogan's people to illegally extradite Gulen.

[spurraider21]

flynn was supporting gulenist coup attempt (usa backed) in turkey in july 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSkjqYB4U4such a shame that the coup failed tbh

[Spurminator]

Obviously, it was a wink/nod for her to be assassinated. :rolleyes

You sure are doing some wild acrobatics on this considering you're the one who brought up Kathy Griffin.

Excusing Trump, completely ignoring Ted Nugent, but OMG Kathy Griffin!!

[pgardn]

It's weird how the IC can locate members of a terror cell and their family members within day or two after an attack, but months and months into this Russia investigation ... nada.

This is a truly awful comparison.

[turkish spurs fan]

The Wall Street Journal reported he was negotiating with Erdogan's people to illegally extradite Gulen.

yep turkey paid him serious money rumours say. foolish.

[DarrinS]

This is a truly awful comparison.

How so? They've been listening to everything.


Not only that, but Trump's circle is a much smaller group than thousands of jihadis.

[turkish spurs fan]

such a shame that the coup failed tbh

lol turkish people fucked not only usa backed gulenist soldiers but also fucked people like you :rollin

http://i.cdn.ensonhaber.com/resimler/diger/metin-dogan-tank_1852.jpg

[baseline bum]

lol turkish people fucked not only usa backed gulenist soldiers but also fucked people like you :rollin

http://i.cdn.ensonhaber.com/resimler/diger/metin-dogan-tank_1852.jpg

genocide is hilarious

[spurraider21]

genocide is hilariousthose women and children were just casualties of war

[djohn2oo8]

869741643452350464

[DarrinS]

CNN, Conspiracy News Network

[Adam Lambert]

darrin shoulda learned better when he spent 2 years denying watergate was a thing

[Reck]

CNN, Conspiracy News Network

Are you stupid by design or what's the deal with you?

:lol thinking news coming from CNN is not real news so therefore, it's fake and not real.

What happens when the story pans out? Drown your sorrows on youtube trending videos? (Positively liberal ones)

[spurraider21]

Allegations are now facts on CNN. Sadlink?

[monosylab1k]

CNN, Conspiracy News Network

HOLY SHIT THAT'S A GOOD ONE :tu

[DarrinS]

darrin shoulda learned better when he spent 2 years denying watergate was a thing

What?

[DarrinS]

Lol


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljQLLZ-uQ6A

[Reck]

LOL Darrins is such a kid. He gets amuse by lame shit like this.

[spurraider21]

thats fake news. liberal elites never criticize cnn

[TSA]

https://scontent.fphx1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18740405_1319077494880199_4141016319504753913_n.jp g?oh=5efbcee62682e9863ee8efabd3d4a535&oe=59AB2D8F

[Reck]

This cuckSA just fall for fake tweet. LMAO

[spurraider21]

spirit cooking imo

[TSA]

https://cdn2-business2community-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w680/cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ComeyTweet-e1494435032371.jpg

[boutons_deux]

http://www.snopes.com/comey-pee-tape/

[DarrinS]

http://www.snopes.com/comey-pee-tape/

Durrr

[djohn2oo8]

https://cdn2-business2community-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w680/cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ComeyTweet-e1494435032371.jpg

Why are you posting fake accounts ? lol

[djohn2oo8]

869692476709367809

[djohn2oo8]

869692969288388609

[djohn2oo8]

869693310222430209

[pgardn]

This is a truly awful comparison.

Locating people vs. locating what Darrin ? And you and I have no idea what "they have" in the later.

[djohn2oo8]

869884015926546433

[boutons_deux]

A guide to every Russia investigation happening right now

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-russia-investigation-explainer/

So unfair! Sad!

but no indictments, so nothing to worry about

[DarrinS]

869884015926546433


Retweeting another conspiratard, I see :lol

[DarrinS]

Locating people vs. locating what Darrin ? And you and I have no idea what "they have" in the later.

A know they have a lot of transcripts on a fairly small number of people.

[DarrinS]

https://sheriffali.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/aa-1-91.jpg?w=450

[djohn2oo8]

Darrin is worried. Rightfully so.

[djohn2oo8]

865667147850108929

[DarrinS]

Darrin is worried about my mental health. Rightfully so.

Fify

[boutons_deux]

Sorry.

On Kushner, There’s No Innocent Explanation

Here I’m talking about Jared Kushner’s attempt to set up a secure line of communication to Moscow, as well as meeting with the head of that government-backed Russian bank.

we’re hearing a variety of possible explanations.

The first was that this was an attempt to hold confidential discussions over Syria

heard it suggested that the issue was Kushner’s naïveté or inexperience in government. Perhaps he simply didn’t realize that this would be a problem. Let’s call this the ‘naive Jared’ theory

it’s now treated as a given that the Trump Team was wary of being monitored by the Obama administration. But is there really any evidence of that? Not really.

The idea that Kushner and Flynn would use Russian secure communications facilities to

set up a secure channel to Moscow is so inexplicable and beyond the pale that it almost beggars the imagination.

Critically, this key part of the story has not been disputed by the White House.

The only possible explanation of this effort is that Flynn and Kushner (perhaps others, but at least them)

wanted to discuss topics that

would not only be hidden from Obama administration political appointees but from everyone in the US government –

people who would continue to make up the government long after the Obama team was gone.

There’s simply no innocent explanation for that.

Not naivete, no fear of Obama snooping, not plausible deniability.

The only explanation for that level of secrecy and security,

that level of collaboration with an adversary foreign power is that

they were doing something wrong,

something that had to stay secret.

What it was I don’t know.

It wasn’t innocent.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/sorry-on-kushner-theres-no-innocent-explanation?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[TSA]

http://www.snopes.com/comey-pee-tape/

:lol took the dunce cap from Reck

[TSA]

Retweeting another conspiratard, I see :lol

Now just need djohn to post a tweet from 20committee and we've got the tweet tard trifecta

[Reck]

https://sheriffali.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/aa-1-91.jpg?w=450

Would still fuck her.

[Reck]

Now just need djohn to post a tweet from 20committee and we've got the tweet tard trifecta

Says the pizza lord/pedo/not seth rich's family guy. :lmao

[boutons_deux]

Russians claim to have 'derogatory' financial information that can be used as leverage over Trump (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/30/1667209/-Russians-claim-to-have-derogatory-financial-information-that-can-be-used-as-leverage-over-Trump)

One source described the information as financial in nature and said the discussion centered on whether the Russians had leverage over Trump's inner circle. The source said the intercepted communications suggested to US intelligence that Russians believed

"they had the ability to influence the administration through the derogatory information."

… a series of very deep studies published in the [Financial Times] that examined

the structure and history of several major Trump real estate projects from the last decade—the period after his seventh bankruptcy and the cancellation of all his bank lines of credit. ...

The money to build these projects flowed almost entirely from Russian sources.

In other words, after his business crashed, Trump was floated and made to appear to operate a successful business enterprise through the

infusion of hundreds in millions of cash from dark Russian sources.

He was their man.

What seems to be clear is that the Russians thought—think—they have details that put the Trump regime under the Kremlin’s thumb.

CNN has not been able to verify the allegations about the derogatory information in the dossier, but current and former US officials say

some of the Russia-to-Russia conversations in the dossier have been corroborated.

These were the Russians bragging among themselves about their hold on the Trump regime. That makes it seem unlikely this was part of the broad distribution of propaganda used to assist Trump.

Considering that Manafort obtained a mysterious loan immediately after leaving Trump’s campaign and used that to leverage the purchase of multi-million dollar oceanfront property, looking into his finances seems like a fair bet.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/5/30/1667209/-Russians-claim-to-have-derogatory-financial-information-that-can-be-used-as-leverage-over-Trump?detail=emaildkre

[DarrinS]

Only need to watch first ten seconds. :lmao


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdnT4fmWq18

[ducks]

Poll: 53% Call Media Leaks Treason

[spurraider21]

Poll: 53% Call Media Leaks Treason
53% of who?

[boutons_deux]

Sergei who? Why investigators are concerned Jared Kushner met with Sergei Gorkov

New questions are being raised over a meeting between Jared Kushner — Donald Trump's son-in-law and special adviser — and a Russian banker named Sergei Gorkov.

“Gorkov is a longtime associate of [Russian president] Vladimir Putin,”

“He’s a veteran of the Russian intelligence establishment.

And he is the head of a bank that essentially functions as a slush fund for Vladimir Putin’s pet projects.”

Moreover, Gorkov’s bank, Vnesheconombank or VEB, has been used in the recent past as a front for Russian espionage activities.

Kushner met Gorkov in December 2016, apparently at the suggestion of Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, not long after Kushner met with Kislyak.

But Kushner failed to disclose the meetings with Kislyak and Gorkov when he applied for security clearance in January.

VEB has been used as a front for espionage activities in the recent past.

"A few years ago," explains Groll, “a Russian spy ring was rolled up in New York City, and one of those operatives, Evgeny Buryakov, was working in New York, using the cover of being a Vnesheconombank executive.”

That case was overseen by the former US Attorney Preet Bharara. (... fired by Trash for investigating Trash)

the bank’s creditworthiness, and the bank’s credibility as a financial institution is closely linked to its ties to the Russian government.”

Both VEB and Sberbank are funded by the Russian state. The head of the board of VEB is none other than Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.

“Anytime that the bank has run into financial trouble,” explains Groll, “the government has bailed it out.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/sergei-who-why-investigators-are-concerned-jared-kushner-met-with-sergei-gorkov/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Kushner "forgot" that he met with Pootin's BANKER! :lol

[TSA]

Sergei who? Why investigators are concerned Jared Kushner met with Sergei Gorkov

New questions are being raised over a meeting between Jared Kushner — Donald Trump's son-in-law and special adviser — and a Russian banker named Sergei Gorkov.

“Gorkov is a longtime associate of [Russian president] Vladimir Putin,”

“He’s a veteran of the Russian intelligence establishment.

And he is the head of a bank that essentially functions as a slush fund for Vladimir Putin’s pet projects.”

Moreover, Gorkov’s bank, Vnesheconombank or VEB, has been used in the recent past as a front for Russian espionage activities.

Kushner met Gorkov in December 2016, apparently at the suggestion of Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, not long after Kushner met with Kislyak.

But Kushner failed to disclose the meetings with Kislyak and Gorkov when he applied for security clearance in January.

VEB has been used as a front for espionage activities in the recent past.

"A few years ago," explains Groll, “a Russian spy ring was rolled up in New York City, and one of those operatives, Evgeny Buryakov, was working in New York, using the cover of being a Vnesheconombank executive.”

That case was overseen by the former US Attorney Preet Bharara. (... fired by Trash for investigating Trash)

the bank’s creditworthiness, and the bank’s credibility as a financial institution is closely linked to its ties to the Russian government.”

Both VEB and Sberbank are funded by the Russian state. The head of the board of VEB is none other than Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.

“Anytime that the bank has run into financial trouble,” explains Groll, “the government has bailed it out.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/sergei-who-why-investigators-are-concerned-jared-kushner-met-with-sergei-gorkov/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Kushner "forgot" that he met with Pootin's BANKER! :lol




He filed the meetings the next day and the FBI cleared him. Non-story.

[djohn2oo8]

869969519732826113

[djohn2oo8]

He filed the meetings the next day and the FBI cleared him. Non-story.

Cleared who? Kushner is not cleared.

[djohn2oo8]

869966087995183104

[TSA]

Cleared who? Kushner is not cleared.

cleared as in given security clearance after disclosing the meetings the next day.

[TSA]

link?

(CNN)Fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly in the Senate as early as next week to confirm bombshell accusations that President Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into a top Trump aide's ties to Russia, a source close to the issue said Wednesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/31/politics/fbi-comey-testimony/index.html?sr=twCNN053117fbi-comey-testimony0516PMStoryLink&linkId=38211112

[spurraider21]

(CNN)Fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly in the Senate as early as next week to confirm bombshell accusations that President Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into a top Trump aide's ties to Russia, a source close to the issue said Wednesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/31/politics/fbi-comey-testimony/index.html?sr=twCNN053117fbi-comey-testimony0516PMStoryLink&linkId=38211112ok so how is that them reporting allegation as fact?

the allegation is that trump pressured comey to end the investigation

cnn is citing a source who claims that comey will confirm the allegations

that is different than CNN saying "we know with certainty that trump pressured comey to end the investigation and this is a fact on the record"

[DarrinS]

Is this the longest the MSM has ever promoted a conspiracy theory?

I think Don Lemon only spent a day or two on whether a black hole may have swallowed the Malaysian airliner.

[clambake]

Is this the longest the MSM has ever promoted a conspiracy theory?

I think Don Lemon only spent a day or two on whether a black hole may have swallowed the Malaysian airliner.

it coulda crashed in africa.

[TSA]

ok so how is that them reporting allegation as fact?

the allegation is that trump pressured comey to end the investigation

cnn is citing a source who claims that comey will confirm the allegations

that is different than CNN saying "we know with certainty that trump pressured comey to end the investigation and this is a fact on the record"

A large portion of CNN readers will take it as fact and CNN knows this. NBC reported the facts properly.


869969519732826113

[spurraider21]

A large portion of CNN readers will take it as fact and CNN knows this. NBC reported the facts properly.
then the blame goes to CNN readers

if CNN has received a tip (that they deem reliable) that comey is going to confirm the allegations, then reporting that is their duty

NBC might not have the same information that CNN does, and therefore their reporting can vary

[TSA]

then the blame goes to CNN readers

if CNN has received a tip (that they deem reliable) that comey is going to confirm the allegations, then reporting that is their duty

NBC might not have the same information that CNN does, and therefore their reporting can vary

:lol

[spurraider21]

:lol
:lol

https://i.gyazo.com/cb2b786a3ff2628cec466d9e5c0c00e1.png

[boutons_deux]

Did FBI clear Kushner for creating extra-governmental/Russian crypto-channel to Pootin? :lol

[TSA]

:lol

https://i.gyazo.com/cb2b786a3ff2628cec466d9e5c0c00e1.png

Not sure what you find funny. Flynn wasn't busted for trying to undermine Russian sanctions and the FBI said nothing illicit found in calls with Kislyak.

[TSA]

Did FBI clear Kushner for creating extra-governmental/Russian crypto-channel to Pootin? :lol

:cry super top secret back channel :cry

[boutons_deux]

:cry super top secret back channel :cry

from what we hear, that's EXACTLY what it was meant to be.

What were/are Trash, Kushner, Flynn, Sessions, etc trying hide in an extra-governmental secret link to Pootin and his oligarch mafiya?

Why don't they just clear it all up as pure, good-faith innocence and get on with fucking up the country?

I'm almost positive TSA is gonna get pizzagated again by Mueller, etc. His or her blind allegiance to the VRWC/Repugs/etc is hilarious, fascinating.

[TSA]

from what we hear, that's EXACTLY what it was meant to be.

What were/are Trash, Kushner, Flynn, Sessions, etc trying hide in an extra-governmental secret link to Pootin and his oligarch mafiya?

Why don't they just clear it all up as pure, good-faith innocence and get on with fucking up the country?

I'm almost positive TSA is gonna get pizzagated again by Mueller, etc. His or her blind allegiance to the VRWC/Repugs/etc is hilarious, fascinating.

Blind allegiance is continuing to buy the Russian collusion narrative without a single piece of evidence.

[boutons_deux]

Blind allegiance is continuing to buy the Russian collusion narrative without a single piece of evidence.

the evidence is coming.

As Josh Marshall/TPM said above, there is no innocent explanation for Kushner's secret request for a crypto-channel run by the Russians, straight to Trash's BFF Pootin.

[boutons_deux]

http://www.truthdig.com/images/made/images/cartoonuploads/[email protected]

[djohn2oo8]

870030690661937152

[djohn2oo8]

ok so how is that them reporting allegation as fact?

the allegation is that trump pressured comey to end the investigation

cnn is citing a source who claims that comey will confirm the allegations

that is different than CNN saying "we know with certainty that trump pressured comey to end the investigation and this is a fact on the record"

WSJ confirms Comey will say this.
869986692320702464

[djohn2oo8]

870044018117423104

[djohn2oo8]

870045011932532736

[djohn2oo8]

870029476029247488

[TSA]

the evidence is coming.



:rollin

[TSA]

WSJ confirms Comey will say this.
869986692320702464

says a person familiar with the matter :lol

[Adam Lambert]

What?

im just guessing during the watergate investigation you were doing the same cutesy "everybodys making such a big deal of this" dance for 2 years while the evidence slowly unfolded. because you seem to want to convince everyone that youre the most reasonable guy in the room (even though youre way more hysterical about college protestors and video algorithms than anyone else).

make no mistake, if and when this all comes crashing down you dont get to distance yourself from the side you picked. just like your incessant global warming denial youve looked at an insane amount of smoke and determined that there couldnt possibly be a fire here and anyone who says there is is part of a liberal media conspiracy to push that narrative.

at this point, youre the crazy conspiracy theorist, faggot.

[spurraider21]

867903612361490432
djohn2oo8 (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=14870) :cry :cry :cry:lmao "source"
:lmao "sources"
:lmao "source close to kushner"

see how easy that is? does that mean this story is fake news and therefore kushner IS being accused of a crime?

[DarrinS]

im just guessing during the watergate investigation you were doing the same cutesy "everybodys making such a big deal of this" dance for 2 years while the evidence slowly unfolded. because you seem to want to convince everyone that youre the most reasonable guy in the room (even though youre way more hysterical about college protestors and video algorithms than anyone else).

make no mistake, if and when this all comes crashing down you dont get to distance yourself from the side you picked. just like your incessant global warming denial youve looked at an insane amount of smoke and determined that there couldnt possibly be a fire here and anyone who says there is is part of a liberal media conspiracy to push that narrative.

at this point, youre the crazy conspiracy theorist, faggot.


I wasn't much into politics as a 3 year old, tbh.

[Adam Lambert]

I wasn't much into politics as a 3 year old, tbh.

okay so youre only mentally 89 years old. my points still stand.

[djohn2oo8]

870069306180210688
CROFL

[DarrinS]

okay so youre only mentally 89 years old. my points still stand.

Piss off, tbh. You don't have any points.

[TSA]

:lmao "source"
:lmao "sources"
:lmao "source close to kushner"

see how easy that is? does that mean this story is fake news and therefore kushner IS being accused of a crime?

You look foolish trying to equate those tweets to a person "familiar with the matter" knowing exactly what Comey is going to say when he testifies

[Reck]

870069306180210688
CROFL

:lol Today's Government.

[TSA]

870069306180210688
CROFL

What is Sessions doing walking around like a free man I thought he was charged with obstruction of justice two months ago :rollin

[spurraider21]

You look foolish trying to equate those tweets to a person "familiar with the matter" knowing exactly what Comey is going to say when he testifiesNo, you just constantly shit on anonymous sourcing when the article doesn't fit your narrative, but have no issue with anonymous sources when the article fits your narrative.

[djohn2oo8]

870075057132814336

[TSA]

No, you just constantly shit on anonymous sourcing when the article doesn't fit your narrative, but have no issue with anonymous sources when the article fits your narrative.

If that was your point you look foolish for using that post as an example as I was mocking djohn for never reading past the first tweet like he always does.

[tlongII]

Any indictments yet?

[clambake]

Any indictments yet?

yep, this is not giving me the anarchy.

all we know for sure is that melania is doing someone else.

[djohn2oo8]

Any indictments yet?

Yes. Are they public yet? No.

[DarrinS]

Any indictments yet?

Marshall of the Supreme Court has issued arrest warrants.

Covfefe

[djohn2oo8]

Marshall of the Supreme Court has issued arrest warrants.

Covfefe

Didn't you say Flynn wasn't in trouble :lol

[DarrinS]

CNN and MSNBC become Infowars. Sad

:lmao

[DarrinS]

Didn't you say Flynn wasn't in trouble :lol

I don't think so, but I'll own up if proven otherwise.

[TSA]

Didn't you say Flynn wasn't in trouble :lol

Didn't you say Flynn was in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions :lol

[TSA]

Yes. Are they public yet? No.

Is that because the indictments came from the FISC grand jury? :rollin

[djohn2oo8]

Didn't you say Flynn was in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions :lol

Didn't you say Pizza gate mattered? :lol

[djohn2oo8]

Didn't you say Flynn was in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions :lol

I did and he is. And he has flipped.

[djohn2oo8]

870108723775234048

[djohn2oo8]

870243820155305984

[djohn2oo8]

870244925320949760

[AaronY]

Boom!

[djohn2oo8]

870259253151444992

[djohn2oo8]

870280516574081024

[DarrinS]

"[Trump] pissed off the building," says a former U.S. official familiar with the investigation. 'Now they're doubling down twice as hard' on the probe."


That's good stuff. :lol

[lefty]

Moar

[TSA]

870244925320949760

Wild Cobra please confirm

[TSA]

I did and he is. And he has flipped.

He isn't in trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions and was cleared by the FBI for those bogus claims months ago.

Besides Louise Mensch and her band of idiots, who has said Flynn has flipped? Provide sources.

[clambake]

Wild Cobra please confirm

lol

[djohn2oo8]

He isn't in trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions and was cleared by the FBI for those bogus claims months ago.

Besides Louise Mensch and her band of idiots, who has said Flynn has flipped? Provide sources.

Why has he been subpoenaed by Congress and a grand jury if he has been cleared? :lmao

[djohn2oo8]

870302848487227393

[djohn2oo8]

870310607081398272
Flynn is singing :lol

[boutons_deux]

Mueller could obtain Trump's tax returns -- without telling Trump (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/31/1667725/-Mueller-could-obtain-Trump-s-tax-returns-without-telling-Trump)

The president and his beleaguered White House staff have given no outward sign that they have thought about the prospect yet.

But in interviews, veteran federal prosecutors and legal scholars said that Mueller, who began his investigation only last week,

has clear-cut authority to obtain the president’s tax returns—perhaps the most sensitive and sought-after government documents since the Pentagon Papers—from the IRS

if Mueller suspects they might contain evidence of a crime.

And short of firing Mueller and shutting down his investigation,

Trump—who is the first president in 40 years to refuse to make his tax returns public, despite once promising to do so—

would have almost no way of stopping him.

In fact, the prosecutors said, the president and his lawyers would not necessarily even know that Mueller had obtained them.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/5/31/1667725/-Mueller-could-obtain-Trump-s-tax-returns-without-telling-Trump?detail=emaildkre

[djohn2oo8]

870312945359757312
"But but her emails" :lmao :rollin

[boutons_deux]

Devin Nunes violates House rules and his recusal, issues subpoenas without Democratic support (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/1/1667846/-Devin-Nunes-violates-House-rules-and-his-recusal-issues-subpoenas-without-Democratic-support)

he’s once-again using that position in an attempt to cripple the House investigation into connections between Trump and Russia.

he violated House rules to issue a series of subpoenas (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-subpoenas-idUSKBN18R33X) designed to, once again, give cover to lies pumped out by Trump.


failed to consult Democrats on the subpoenas.

The subpoenas asked the agencies to provide details of any requests made by two top Obama administration aides and the former CIA director to "unmask" names of Trump campaign advisers inadvertently picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts, congressional sources said.


Nunes move is against the rules, beside the point, and entirely designed to obstruct the actual investigation.

On a day when the committee issued subpoenas seeking documents related to the Trump–Russia investigation,

Nunes has created his own investigation (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article153717844.html), single-handedly, using his position as committee chair

to subvert and derail the actual investigation as he attempts to provide talking points for Trump.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/1/1667846/-Devin-Nunes-violates-House-rules-and-his-recusal-issues-subpoenas-without-Democratic-support?detail=emaildkre

[djohn2oo8]

870313486055854088

[boutons_deux]

rightwing assholes expecting collusion to be proven, so saying Repug collusion with Pootin is ok, is not a crime for Pootin to queer a Pres election

Collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia probably would have been illegal, contrary to conservative claims

PolitiFact rated Fox anchor Gregg Jarrett’s claim that collusion with a foreign government in an election isn’t a crime “false,” citing three election law experts who named four statutes that could have been violated.

Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera was among the first to say (https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/05/10/foxs-geraldo-rivera-questions-whether-collusion-russian-government-political-gain-even-crime/216396) that collusion with the Russian government in an election wouldn’t be a crime.

Sean Hannity said (https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2017/06/01/53978/prn-hannity-20170522-trump-collusion) on his radio show on May 22, “Let’s say they did [collude], they said to Vladimir Putin, ‘Hey Vladimir, release everything you got.’ And Vladimir released it to Julian Assange. You know, is that a crime?”

Fox’s Jarrett asserted (https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/05/30/foxs-gregg-jarrett-you-can-collude-all-you-want-foreign-government-election/216707) on air that “collusion is not a crime. … You can collude all you want with a foreign government in an election. There is no such statute.”

Jarrett made a similar argument in a FoxNews.com op-ed (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/05/23/gregg-jarrett-what-is-robert-mueller-investigating-since-collusion-is-not-crime.html).

conservative author Michael Reagan claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2017/06/01/53974/cnn-cnnt-20170531-reagan-collusion) on CNN, “Collusion is not breaking the law,” and repeatedly asked “what law” collusion breaks.

three election law professors, and they all said that while the word ‘collusion’ might not appear in key statutes (they couldn’t say for sure that it was totally absent), working with the Russians could violate criminal laws”:

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/06/01/collusion-between-trump-campaign-and-russia-probably-would-have-been-illegal-contrary-conservative/216735?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MediaMattersForAmerica-CountyFair+%28Media+Matters+for+America+-+Blog%29

[TSA]

870312945359757312
"But but her emails" :lmao :rollin

Another non-story that will be forgotten in a few days :lol

"The FBI and Congress are examining a campaign event last spring during which Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and Jared Kushner were in a small gathering with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and other diplomats at Washington's Mayflower Hotel, multiple U.S. officials told NBC News."

"A U.S. official with knowledge of the matter told NBC News that the FBI also is scrutinizing the Mayflower event, which was sponsored by a pro-Russian think tank. The official said the FBI is interested in who was at the event and what was said, in the context of the counter-intelligence investigation into Russian election meddling. That official said there was no indication the bureau is zeroing in on Sessions."

"It has long been known that Trump briefly met Ambassador Kislyak that day at a VIP reception shortly before he gave a foreign policy address at the hotel. But witnesses said it wasn't a private meeting, and White House officials dismissed it as inconsequential."

"Mr. Trump warmly greeted Mr. Kislyak and three other foreign ambassadors who came to the reception," the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2016.

Kushner and Sessions were also in the room, contemporaneous news reports say. Sessions' aides have insisted he did not speak to Kislyak."


================================================== ================================================== ================

"The Department of Justice appointed special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter," Department of Justice spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. "We will allow him to do his job. It is unfortunate that anonymous sources whose credibility will never face public scrutiny are continuously trying to hinder that process by peddling false stories to the mainstream media. The facts haven't changed; the then-Senator did not have any private or side conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel."

[TSA]

Devin Nunes violates House rules and his recusal, issues subpoenas without Democratic support (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/1/1667846/-Devin-Nunes-violates-House-rules-and-his-recusal-issues-subpoenas-without-Democratic-support)

he’s once-again using that position in an attempt to cripple the House investigation into connections between Trump and Russia.

he violated House rules to issue a series of subpoenas (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-subpoenas-idUSKBN18R33X) designed to, once again, give cover to lies pumped out by Trump.


failed to consult Democrats on the subpoenas.

The subpoenas asked the agencies to provide details of any requests made by two top Obama administration aides and the former CIA director to "unmask" names of Trump campaign advisers inadvertently picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts, congressional sources said.


Nunes move is against the rules, beside the point, and entirely designed to obstruct the actual investigation.

On a day when the committee issued subpoenas seeking documents related to the Trump–Russia investigation,

Nunes has created his own investigation (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article153717844.html), single-handedly, using his position as committee chair

to subvert and derail the actual investigation as he attempts to provide talking points for Trump.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/1/1667846/-Devin-Nunes-violates-House-rules-and-his-recusal-issues-subpoenas-without-Democratic-support?detail=emaildkre





"Nunes has subpoenaed three Obama administration officials — CIA Director James Brennan, UN Ambassador Samantha Powers, and, of course, National Security Advisor Susan Rice"

"The subpoenas asked the agencies to provide details of any requests made by two top Obama administration aides and the former CIA director to "unmask" names of Trump campaign advisers inadvertently picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts, congressional sources said."


Get your lube ready djohn2oo8

[spurraider21]

for what? the unmasking stuff is going to lead to anything. there are a number of ways to justify unmasking... such as to provide context for what the foreign agent is talking about i.e. if the foreign agent says "ok get the job done" it matters a lot if he's talking to a diplomat or a mechanic

if an ambassador/diplomat/foreign minister has having conversations it's reasonable that the context of who they were talking to is pertinent if it involves somebody on a transition team, or a national security figure, etc

of course amidst all the investigation going on in washington, the only issue fox news cares to discuss relating to any of it is the "massive unmasking scandal" which is going to be a non-story. dont get me wrong, i'm sure no matter what happens at the hearings, no matter who says what, there will be people claiming that susan rice's testimony was a bombshell proving political sabotage, politically motivated surveillance, etc. none of it will be legally significant though, in all likelihood.

the leaking of the information is a different story (if they're actually able to crack down and find out who's doing what), but the unmasking itself? i'm not expecting much. if im wrong, i'll bump this myself and acknowledge it

[TSA]

for what? the unmasking stuff is going to lead to anything. there are a number of ways to justify unmasking... such as to provide context for what the foreign agent is talking about i.e. if the foreign agent says "ok get the job done" it matters a lot if he's talking to a diplomat or a mechanic

if an ambassador/diplomat/foreign minister has having conversations it's reasonable that the context of who they were talking to is pertinent if it involves somebody on a transition team, or a national security figure, etc

of course amidst all the investigation going on in washington, the only issue fox news cares to discuss relating to any of it is the "massive unmasking scandal" which is going to be a non-story. dont get me wrong, i'm sure no matter what happens at the hearings, no matter who says what, there will be people claiming that susan rice's testimony was a bombshell proving political sabotage, politically motivated surveillance, etc. none of it will be legally significant though, in all likelihood

The unmasking stuff has already lead to changes in the NSA so your claim it isn't going to lead to anything fails from the get go.

It's not just about the huge increase of Americans unmasked but also the illegal dissemination of the intel throughout the Obama administration that was done by design so it could be leaked to the press. And it isn't just Fox news that cares about it as the ACLU has been very vocal about the abuses as well. Did you ever stop to think why Obama made it possible for political appointees to unmask and obtain NSA intercepts of Americans? The NSA was abused and used a political tool, and none of this was supposed to come out as Hillary was supposed to be the next President and all of these illegal acts could be swept under the rug.

=======

"During his final year in office, President Obama's team significantly expanded efforts to search National Security Agency intercepts for information about Americans, distributing thousands of intelligence reports across government with the unredacted names of U.S. residents during the midst of a divisive 2016 presidential election.

The data, made available this week by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, provides the clearest evidence to date of how information accidentally collected by the NSA overseas about Americans was subsequently searched and disseminated after President Obama loosened privacy protections to make such sharing easier in 2011 in the name of national security. A court affirmed his order.

The revelations are particularly sensitive since the NSA is legally forbidden from directly spying on Americans and its authority to conduct warrantless searches on foreigners is up for renewal in Congress later this year. And it comes as lawmakers investigate President Trump's own claims that his privacy was violated by his predecessor during the 2016 election.

In all, government officials conducted 30,355 searches in 2016 seeking information about Americans in NSA intercept metadata, which include telephone numbers and email addresses. The activity amounted to a 27.5 percent increase over the prior year and more than triple the 9,500 such searches that occurred in 2013, the first year such data was kept.

The government in 2016 also scoured the actual contents of NSA intercepted calls and emails for 5,288 Americans, an increase of 13 percent over the prior year and a massive spike from the 198 names searched in 2013.

The searches ultimately resulted in 3,134 NSA intelligence reports with unredacted U.S. names being distributed across government in 2016, and another 3,354 reports in 2015. About half the time, U.S. identities were unredacted in the original reports while the other half were unmasked after the fact by special request of Obama administration officials.

Among those whose names were unmasked in 2016 or early 2017 were campaign or transition associates of President Trump as well as members of Congress and their staffers, according to sources with direct knowledge.

The data kept by ODNI is missing some information from one of the largest consumers of NSA intelligence, the FBI, and officials acknowledge the numbers are likely much higher when the FBI’s activity is added.
11 of 26

“This data confirms that there is a lack of acknowledgment that information is being specifically and increasingly mined about Americans for investigations that have little or nothing to do with international terrorism,” she added.

The ACLU’s concerns were heightened by the release last month of apreviously classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court document that revealed that then NSA has a “potentially very large and broad" collection of data on U.S persons that was never intended under the law.

“702 is a critical tool to protect this country and the way it works is we are allowed to conduct surveillance again, under the supervision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on non-U.S. persons who are outside the United States if they're using American infrastructure; an email system in the United States, a phone system in the United States. So it doesn't involve U.S. persons and doesn't involve activity in the United States,” Comey testified.
22 of 26

But numerous civil liberty experts, including the ACLU’s Guliani, say such representations aren’t accurate because the NSA accidentally collects so much information on Americans and then shares it after the fact. The FBI, for instance, regularly queries the NSA database and the declassified court document in March said “there is no requirement that the matter be a serious one nor that it have any relation to national security.”


“I think it shows that the facade that government gives that these programs are just targeted at foreigners is just that, a façade,” Guliani told Circa. “The reality is we have an invasive surveillance program and the data we have shows the impact on Americans is quite substantial.”

http://circa.com/politics/president-obamas-team-sought-nsa-intel-on-thousands-of-americans-during-the-2016-election

:lol non-story

[boutons_deux]

"Nunes has subpoenaed three Obama administration officials — CIA Director James Brennan, UN Ambassador Samantha Powers, and, of course, National Security Advisor Susan Rice"

"The subpoenas asked the agencies to provide details of any requests made by two top Obama administration aides and the former CIA director to "unmask" names of Trump campaign advisers inadvertently picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts, congressional sources said."


Get your lube ready djohn2oo8 (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=14870)

Schiff said the Dems approved subpoenas, but NOT the ones NoNutz issued. :lol

[spurraider21]

if they're going to tighten the standards for unmasking and dissemination of surveillance in general, that's one thing. again, as discussed in the other thread you made, the circa article tries to tie it up to the russia investigation as one big conspiracy

1) was the NSA generally loose with unmasking? sure, probably. that's what the aclu guy is discussing in the circa article you have as your home page

2) are they going to be able to show that their decision to unmask flynn and others was so politically motivated that it was even more egregious than their generally loose standards? unlikely.

[spurraider21]

also why is nunes requesting subpoenas relating to this shit? i thought he had to recuse himself. if so, he could be able to bring people in to investigate NSA practices in general, but not specific to the russia stuff, flynn, etc

could be wrong on that, just going off memory

[TSA]

if they're going to tighten the standards for unmasking and dissemination of surveillance in general, that's one thing. again, as discussed in the other thread you made, the circa article tries to tie it up to the russia investigation as one big conspiracy

1) was the NSA generally loose with unmasking? sure, probably. that's what the aclu guy is discussing in the circa article you have as your home page

2) are they going to be able to show that their decision to unmask flynn and others was so politically motivated that it was even more egregious than their generally loose standards? unlikely.

The Circa article does not try and tie it up to the Russia investigation as one big conspiracy. You are thinking of the New York post article I posted.

1) Obama substantially loosened the rules for unmasking and opened up it for political appointees to request the reports, not the NSA

2) The numbers during the election year speak for themselves as the increase was substantial and it would not be a hard case to make that they were politically motivated.

"In all, government officials conducted 30,355 searches in 2016 seeking information about Americans in NSA intercept metadata, which include telephone numbers and email addresses. The activity amounted to a 27.5 percent increase over the prior year and more than triple the 9,500 such searches that occurred in 2013, the first year such data was kept.

The government in 2016 also scoured the actual contents of NSA intercepted calls and emails for 5,288 Americans, an increase of 13 percent over the prior year and a massive spike from the 198 names searched in 2013."



And the above numbers are not even including the FBI

"The data kept by ODNI is missing some information from one of the largest consumers of NSA intelligence, the FBI, and officials acknowledge the numbers are likely much higher when the FBI’s activity is added."

[spurraider21]

The Circa article does not try and tie it up to the Russia investigation as one big conspiracy. You are thinking of the New York post article I posted.

1) Obama substantially loosened the rules for unmasking and opened up it for political appointees to request the reports, not the NSA

2) The numbers during the election year speak for themselves as the increase was substantial and it would not be a hard case to make that they were politically motivated.

"In all, government officials conducted 30,355 searches in 2016 seeking information about Americans in NSA intercept metadata, which include telephone numbers and email addresses. The activity amounted to a 27.5 percent increase over the prior year and more than triple the 9,500 such searches that occurred in 2013, the first year such data was kept.

The government in 2016 also scoured the actual contents of NSA intercepted calls and emails for 5,288 Americans, an increase of 13 percent over the prior year and a massive spike from the 198 names searched in 2013."



And the above numbers are not even including the FBI

"The data kept by ODNI is missing some information from one of the largest consumers of NSA intelligence, the FBI, and officials acknowledge the numbers are likely much higher when the FBI’s activity is added."
of course the circa article tries to tie it up to the russia investigation. the title of the article you linked specifically mentions surveillance during the election (the surveillance during the election, as we know, was in regards to russia)

but onto the numbers...

so in searches, we saw a 27.5% increase over the prior year, and TRIPLE to the searches in 2013. so there were probably jumps in between 2013 and 2015, too. do we have a year by year figure from 2013-2014-2015-2016? also, if a lot of these interceptions came as a direct result of russia comms, then it stands to reason you'd have bigger numbers in a year where there was increased activity (election year)

for the phone calls there were 198 names searched in 2013, and 5,288 in 2016. thats a big leap. was the sudden spike in 2016? probably not, as your own article even says that 2016 only had a 13 percent increase over the prior year. to go from 198 to 5,288 in 3 years, you're going to have much bigger leaps than 13% in the other years... just mathematically speaking

none of this is compelling to show that 2016 was a special year due specifically to political motivation

[TSA]

of course the circa article tries to tie it up to the russia investigation. the title of the article you linked specifically mentions surveillance during the election (the surveillance during the election, as we know, was in regards to russia)

but onto the numbers...

so in searches, we saw a 27.5% increase over the prior year, and TRIPLE to the searches in 2013. so there were probably jumps in between 2013 and 2015, too. do we have a year by year figure from 2013-2014-2015-2016? also, if a lot of these interceptions came as a direct result of russia comms, then it stands to reason you'd have bigger numbers in a year where there was increased activity (election year)

for the phone calls there were 198 names searched in 2013, and 5,288 in 2016. thats a big leap. was the sudden spike in 2016? probably not, as your own article even says that 2016 only had a 13 percent increase over the prior year. to go from 198 to 5,288 in 3 years, you're going to have much bigger leaps than 13% in the other years... just mathematically speaking

none of this is compelling to show that 2016 was a special year due specifically to political motivation

You originally said the Circa article was trying to tie it to the Russia investigation as one big conspiracy, that's quite different than the article mentioning the Russia investigation.

I don't see how you can say the numbers aren't compelling considering the largest consumer of NSA intelligence isn't even included, especially now knowing that after the large increases the same reports were illegally disseminated throughout the administration by Obama political appointees.

[spurraider21]

You originally said the Circa article was trying to tie it to the Russia investigation as one big conspiracy, that's quite different than the article mentioning the Russia investigation.

I don't see how you can say the numbers aren't compelling considering the largest consumer of NSA intelligence isn't even included, especially now knowing that after the large increases the same reports were illegally disseminated throughout the administration by Obama political appointees.its not compelling that 2016 saw a dramatic spike due to political motives. while the circa article doesn't provide them (for some odd reason), its pretty clear that there were massive jumps in 2013, 2014, 2015... and that 2016 wasn't some outlier

[djohn2oo8]

870410707606675460
:lmao

[boutons_deux]

TSA deflecting, as always, from the egregious corruption, compromise by Pootin of Trash and his entourage.

[djohn2oo8]

870412478798286849

:rollin

[AaronY]

Keep fighting bro! Viva la résistance!

[djohn2oo8]

870425976328646656

[AaronY]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harborl?!?

[DarrinS]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harborl?!?

Never mind

[boutons_deux]

Treasury Department Is Stonewalling Inquiries About Legally Sketchy Trump Business Associates Abroad


http://www.truth-out.org/images/Images_2017_06/2017_0601treasury.jpg

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has for months been asking Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin if Trump Organization ties have been vetted by officials for compliance with a bevy of federal laws and regulations.

In a letter released to the public on Tuesday (https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-renews-request-for-treasury-to-assess-trumps-global-business-contacts), the lawmaker said the Department isn't answering these questions. Brown accused Mnuchin's staff of having "altogether missed the point of my inquiry" with its latest "one-paragraph response," pertaining simply to conflict of interest policy.

Brown has been asking Mnuchin since March for details about Trump's partners and associates that "have been or would be vetted by Treasury for potential conflicts" with US laws on sanctions, terrorist financing, foreign corruption, money laundering, and the Bank Secrecy Act.

Brown has also been seeking information about Trump-related business partners that could be flagged for concerns by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The body is an obscure inter-agency organ, chaired by the Treasury Secretary. It was founded during the height of the Cold War to determine if foreign control of an American business impacted "the national security of the United States," in the words of CFIUS. (https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/international/Pages/Committee-on-Foreign-Investment-in-US.aspx)

Brown told Mnuchin to ask Trump to divulge associates that could bring up compliance concerns "[i]f you have not received such a list."

The lawmaker said this should be done so that "appropriate officials within the US Intelligence Community may assess [associates] and alert [Trump] and members of his family" to past or future risks posed to the administration.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/40789-treasury-department-stonewalling-inquiries-about-legally-sketchy-trump-business-associates-abroad

[ducks]

870412478798286849

:rollin
Washington post wrong again just like election

[lefty]

870425976328646656

USA, sanctions on Russia?




:lmao

[TSA]

Washington post wrong again just like election

What ya got ducks

[spurraider21]

What ya got ducks
odds are, nothing, just the generic "fake news!" stuff

[djohn2oo8]

870611002571796480

[djohn2oo8]

870616051893104640
:lmao

[boutons_deux]

Explanations for Kushner’s meeting with head of Kremlin-linked bank don’t match up

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — The White House and a Russian state-owned bank have very different explanations for why the bank’s chief executive and Jared Kushner held a secret meeting during the presidential transition in December.

The bank maintained this week that the session was held as part of a new business strategy :lol and was conducted with Kushner in his role as the head of his family’s real estate business.

The White House says the meeting was unrelated to business :lol and was one of many diplomatic encounters the soon-to-be presidential adviser was holding ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The contradiction is deepening confusion over Kushner’s interactions with the Russians as the president’s son-in-law emerges as a key figure in the FBI’s investigation into potential coordination between Moscow and the Trump team.

The discrepancy has thrust Vnesheconombank, known for advancing the strategic interests of Russian President Vladi*mir Putin and for its role in a past U.S. espionage case, into the center of the controversy enveloping the White House.

And it has highlighted the role played by the bank’s 48-year-old chief executive,

Sergey Gorkov, a graduate of the academy of the Federal Security Service, or FSB,

the domestic intelligence arm of the former Soviet KGB, who was appointed by Putin to the post less than a year before his encounter with Kushner.

Either account of the meeting could bring complications for a White House undergoing intensifying scrutiny from a special counsel and multiple congressional committees.

A diplomatic meeting would have provided

the bank, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014,

a chance to press for rolling back the penalties even as the Obama administration was weighing additional retaliations against Moscow for Russia’s interference in the U.S. election.

A business meeting between an international development bank and a real estate executive, coming as

Kushner’s company had been seeking financing for its troubled $1.8 billion purchase of an office building on Fifth Avenue in New York,

could raise questions about whether

Kushner’s personal financial interests were colliding with his impending role as a public official.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/explanations-for-kushners-meeting-with-head-of-kremlin-linked-bank-dont-match-up/2017/06/01/dd1bdbb0-460a-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_print.html

So JK meeting with a fuckin SPY for Pootin who appointed the SPY to run Pootin's flush fund bank? :lol

[boutons_deux]

Special counsel expands investigation to include Michael Flynn’s dealings with Turkey

Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia, is expanding his probe to include a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn,

inquiry will now look into Flynn’s paid work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman in 2016, in addition to contacts between Russian officials and Flynn and other Trump associates during and after the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a deal between Flynn and Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin as part of a grand jury criminal probe,

Alptekin’s company, Netherlands-based Inovo BV, paid Flynn’s consultancy $530,000 between September and November to produce a documentary and research on Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric living in the United States.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan blames Gulen for a failed coup last July.

Alptekin, an ally of Erdogan, told Reuters he hired Flynn to provide research on how Gulen is “poisoning the atmosphere” between Turkey and the United States.

The grand jury in Virginia has issued subpoenas to some of Flynn’s business associates involved in the work for Inovo, two people familiar with the probe say.

The subpoena seen by Reuters seeks bank records, documents and communications related to Flynn, his company, Flynn Intel Group, Alptekin and Inovo.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/special-counsel-expands-investigation-to-include-michael-flynns-dealings-with-turkey/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[RandomGuy]

Read up some very interesting things about how Russia (old Soviet era material) recruits humint sources.

The pattern of infiltration that has been reported so far is exactly in line with their methods, and the fact that many of the current heads of Russian state-owned enterprises have intelligence connections is not really a coincidence.

[RandomGuy]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-kgb-playbook-to-recruit-americans

One bit.

[boutons_deux]

What Happened to the Michael Cohen Ukraine Dossier?

back in early February, Cohen and mafia-linked Trump Organization associate Felix Sater met at the Loews Regency in Manhattan with Andrii Artemenko, a Trumpish, pro-Russian Ukrainian parliamentarian to discuss a ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine.

This story emerged in early March and received a decent amount of attention.

But key facts look quite different after what we learned during the consequential month of May.

Artemenko allegedly gave Cohen a package of paper documents to hand deliver to Michael Flynn.

Almost certainly he hand delivered it just as Artemenko asked and as he said he did in the initial interviews.

Now, here’s the key.

Artemenko brought these physical documents from Ukraine to New York, arranged a meeting with Cohen and asked him to hand deliver them to Mike Flynn, the President’s top foreign policy advisor.

In the early 21st century there are lots of easier ways to send information.

There’s email.

There are phones.

There’s old fashioned mail.

There’s FedEx.

There are of course also conventional diplomatic channels.

Hand delivery of physical documents is certainly the most cumbersome option.

But it is also extremely secure.

we now have very strong indications that members of Trump’s team, including Flynn himself, were trying in the weeks just before this meeting to set up extremely secure modes of communication with people in Moscow.

The main aim appears to have been to hide the contents of those communications from the US government.

Perhaps Artemenko was just a crank.

But he managed to get a meeting with one of Trump’s top business associates and his purported personal lawyer.

Cohen, the personal lawyer, agreed to hand deliver his package to the White House.

We now know with what seems to be a fairly high degree of confidence that the Trump Team was trying to find ways to communicate with people in Russia by secure channels around this time.

We also learned last night from Yahoo’s Mike Isikoff that the

Trump Team rolled in in late January eager to deliver basically the full package to Russia (https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administrations-secret-efforts-ease-russia-sanctions-fell-short-231301145.html). (iow, dropping all sanctions)

But a mixture of bureaucratic resistance and not having their own act together blocked the effort during the critical weeks before Mike Flynn was fired.

What was in that dossier?

Remember this was a set of physical documents which Cohen said he delivered to the White House, specifically to Mike Flynn.

What was in them?

Where’s the dossier now?

Was it thrown away?

Does Flynn still have it?

Is it still at the White House?

With all we’ve learned over the last four weeks about the Trump team’s efforts to conduct covert communications about a rapprochement with Russia,

I think we need to know.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-happened-to-the-michael-cohen-ukraine-dossier?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[djohn2oo8]

870656611211202561

[djohn2oo8]

870660949325340672

[djohn2oo8]

870658491173789696

[djohn2oo8]

870696830559846400

[boutons_deux]

870696830559846400

As noted in one of the articles above, Kushners have a huge debt/financial problem with a $1.8B project in Manhattan. Russian mafiya $Bs to the rescue.

[djohn2oo8]

870691685918842882

[djohn2oo8]

As noted in one of the articles above, Kushners have a huge debt/financial problem with a $1.8B project in Manhattan. Russian mafiya $Bs to the rescue.

Yup

[djohn2oo8]

870659994479456256

[djohn2oo8]

838021279294816257

[RandomGuy]

870659994479456256

Whoopsies.

The disclosure of risks is kind of important to publicly traded companies. Downplaying risk when you have the data about it is sort of a no-no.

[RandomGuy]

870691685918842882

Follow the money.


Real estate analysts told ABC News that Jared Kushner’s first major acquisition, a Fifth Avenue office tower signifying his family’s move from New Jersey into Manhattan real estate, is shouldering a $1.3 billion in loans coming due in two years, and it is not bringing in sufficient rental income. An attempt by Kushner to broker a deal with a Chinese company to refinance and redevelop the building fell through shortly after the election.

[RandomGuy]

This bank [whose CEO Kushner was talking to] is of particular concern, because of course it's the subject of sanctions, but also because Gorkov, the head of this bank, comes out of a school essentially for Russian spies,” Schiff told ABC News on Thursday. “He's someone that allegedly is very close to Putin, and I don't think if this was made at the suggestion as alleged by Ambassador Kislyak, I don't think the choice of Gorkov or this bank was any kind of coincidence.”

[Reck]

So is TSA still saying Flynn is in the clear? :lol the cuck. :lol

[RandomGuy]

So is TSA still saying Flynn is in the clear? :lol the cuck. :lol

The dude knows when the shit is down. That's why he stays out of the thread about conflict of interest. He *is* smart enough to know a losing hand when he sees it.

You will notice he sticks to the "where's the evidence" talking point. It's the best line of attack at the moment. Not going to be overly convincing after the investigations turn up actual evidence, but for now it is a working point for the right to deflect attention, and give the cool-aid drinkers something to sip on.

[TSA]

The dude knows when the shit is down. That's why he stays out of the thread about conflict of interest. He *is* smart enough to know a losing hand when he sees it.

You will notice he sticks to the "where's the evidence" talking point. It's the best line of attack at the moment. Not going to be overly convincing after the investigations turn up actual evidence, but for now it is a working point for the right to deflect attention, and give the cool-aid drinkers something to sip on.

Flynn is not in major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions as the thread title implies, the FBI has already cleared him of his phone calls to Kislyak. I've never denied he took money from Turkey.

Of course I'm going to stick to "where's the evidence" because as of today there is ZERO evidence of collusion with Russia. How many more Democratic members of the intel committee need to say the same before you start realizing there is nothing there?

[boutons_deux]

"major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions"

where is the transcript of Flynn's multiple calls to Russia about sanctions? aka "evidence" LOL

[TSA]

"major trouble for speaking to Russia about sanctions"

where is the transcript of Flynn's multiple calls to Russia about sanctions?

FBI reviewed Flynn’s calls with Russian ambassador but found nothing illicit
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-reviewed-flynns-calls-with-russian-ambassador-but-found-nothing-illicit/2017/01/23/aa83879a-e1ae-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.4b36065cb2f5


but isn't WaPo is fake news?

[RandomGuy]

DUN DUN DUN!!!


Is President Steve Bannon The REAL White House Leaker?


Remember, a few months back, there was much ado about how there are two teams in the White House, one led by President Steve Bannon, and the other led by Son-In-Law Jared Kushner, and that they were fighting over who would wield the MOST influence over the hardened orange hunk of expired Cheez Whiz in the Oval Office? Things were looking WAY BAD for Bannon there for a minute, especially after he called Jared a cuck. Everybody knows that the first rule of the hit reality competition show “Donald Trump Is President Of America” is that you do NOT under any circumstances call Jared a “cuck.”

But things seem to have turned around! The FBI is all up in Jared’s grille for all the dirty Russian meetings he’s had with dirty Russians, and Trump is destroying the entire planet by doing Bannon’s bidding and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, a move that Jared and Ivanka were on record as being VAGUELY AGAINST.

...
HMMMMMM! The New York Times scoop he’s talking about came from the last week of March, when it reported that during the transition, Jared had met with Sergey Gorkov, head of the Russian state-owned VneshEconomBank (VEB), which is under U.S. sanctions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Crimea. Jared failed to disclose that meeting! By the way, that news came out just a week or two before we learned Bannon called Jared a “cuck.” Interesting timing!



Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, (which was founded by Trump adviser Stephen Bannon and funded in part by a Trump mega-donor, Rebekah Mercer), said the meeting “had conflict of interest written all over it.”

“You worry about a quid pro quo, you worry about Kushner getting some financial arrangement from a Russian financial institution, and you worry about White House policy being shaped in a way that benefits either those banks or Russia at large,” Schweizer told ABC News. “That’s the concern.”


WHOA HEY GEE-FUCKIN’-WILLIKERS! Steve Bannon’s pals — the same guys who wrote “Clinton Cash” and got the New York Fuckin’ Times to run it from their tax-exempt “charity,” the “Government Accountability Institute,” which paid Bannon $400,000 while also funneling a million dollars to some Breitbart “journalists” — are just VERY WORRIED that maybe Jared and the Russians were 69-ing each other with pay-to-play quid pro quos, which would be UNETHICAL, according to Steve Bannon’s pals, who are all extremely ethical. They are probably JUST SAYING, of course, and aren’t trying to drive a wedge between Team Bannon and Team Kushner, and they certainly weren’t told what to say about Jared’s possible ethical entanglements/Russian crimes by any little birdies named PRESIDENT STEVE BANNON.

Unless they were, of course.
Read more at https://wonkette.com/618052/is-president-steve-bannon-the-real-white-house-leaker-maaaaaybe#UZhBBpAbRc1qSq7X.99

:lol

Wow, the plot thickens.

[RandomGuy]

FBI reviewed Flynn’s calls with Russian ambassador but found nothing illicit
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-reviewed-flynns-calls-with-russian-ambassador-but-found-nothing-illicit/2017/01/23/aa83879a-e1ae-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.4b36065cb2f5


Both Flynn, a former head of the Pentagon’s intelligence agency, and Kislyak, a seasoned diplomat, are probably aware that Kislyak’s phone calls and texts are being monitored, current and former officials said. That would make it highly unlikely, the individuals said, that the men would allow their calls to be conduits of illegal coordination.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence in this case.

[RandomGuy]

[TSA never talks about Trumps conflicts of interest]


Flynn is not in major trouble ...

:lol

[boutons_deux]

"pock-marked slab of gelatinous swamp shit"

:lol

Is Bannon cucking Jared by fucking Ivanka?

[RandomGuy]

Kind of hard to keep track of all this.

Here is a good summary:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/06/russia-trump-putin-scandal-key-players-dossiers

Remember, there is absolutely no evidence of collusion with Russia.

[RandomGuy]

All the President's Men


Michael Flynn

The former Defense Intelligence Agency chief memorably led Republican National Convention attendees in chants of "lock her up." Now Flynn—ousted less than a month into his job as Trump's national security adviser—is facing legal jeopardy of his own. According to members of the House Oversight Committee, the retired lieutenant general may have broken the law by failing to disclose payments from Russian and Turkish interests, including for a Moscow speech he gave at an event celebrating RT, the Kremlin-*backed broadcaster, where he was seated next to Putin. Barack Obama personally warned Trump about hiring Flynn, whom Obama had fired from his DIA post. In January, acting Attorney General Sally Yates urgently told the Trump administration that Flynn had lied about his contacts with Ambassador Kislyak and could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. When that news emerged in the Post three weeks later, Trump fired Flynn and blamed the media, calling Flynn a "wonderful man" who had been treated "very unfairly." Flynn has offered to testify if offered immunity. In May, the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed records from him and his business associates.

[RandomGuy]

Paul Manafort

A lobbyist out of central casting, Manafort has repped some of the world's shadiest autocrats and dictators, once flying to Angola in the '80s amid the country's bloody civil war to pitch warlord Jonas Savimbi. (In hacked text messages made public in February, Manafort's daughter Andrea allegedly said her father had "no moral or legal compass" and described her family's wealth as "blood money.") Brought on to the Trump campaign at the urging of his former business partner Roger Stone, Manafort helped to guide it through the Republican convention. Manafort was ousted in August, as details emerged about his work for deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Putin ally, which allegedly involved $12.7 million in secret cash payments earmarked for Manafort. Scrutiny of Manafort, who is reportedly under investigation by the FBI and the Treasury Department, has expanded to include his business dealings with Oleg Deripaska, the Russian aluminum magnate and Putin ally who was denied a visa to the United States because of alleged ties to organized crime.

[RandomGuy]

Roger Stone

The 64-year-old, who proudly sports a tattoo of Richard Nixon across his back, has made a career of political subterfuge. He cut his teeth at 19 as a Nixon dirty trickster, once hiring a GOP operative to infiltrate George McGovern's campaign. He later co-founded the lobbying firm of Black, Manafort, Stone & Atwater in the early 1980s. He has advised Trump for decades, lobbying on behalf of Trump's casino interests and serving as campaign manager of the real estate mogul's short-lived presidential campaign in 2000.
During the 2016 campaign, Stone seemed to possess uncanny knowledge of what WikiLeaks had in store for Hillary Clinton. On October 1, he tweeted, "Wednesday @HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks." Less than a week later, WikiLeaks began publishing the emails of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. Stone claimed he was in touch with WikiLeaks' founder, Julian Assange, and that he exchanged direct messages with Guccifer 2.0—the handle for the alleged Russian hacker(s) who posted the stolen DNC emails. Reportedly under investigation by the FBI, Stone has strenuously denied any collusion with Russians and has volunteered to testify before Congress. But anything he says should be taken with a grain of salt—his mantra, after all, is: "Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack."

[RandomGuy]

Michael Cohen

In the dossier produced by the ex-British spy Steele, Trump's pugnacious personal lawyer surfaced as an alleged liaison to Russian officials—a charge he strongly denies. He has long-standing business and family ties to Ukraine. In January, he hand-delivered a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia to then-national security adviser Flynn, according to the New York Times. The effort also involved Trump's business associate Sater and Andrii V. Artemenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker.

[RandomGuy]

What's funny is that the ONLY change that Trump asked for in the Republican party platform benefitted Russia.

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488876597/how-the-trump-campaign-weakened-the-republican-platform-on-aid-to-ukraine


Denman is a long time GOP activist from Texas. When she presented her proposal during a platform subcommittee meeting last month, "two gentleman," whom Denman said were part of the Trump campaign, came over, looked at the language, and asked that it be set aside for further review.

She says after further discussion the pair "had to make some calls and clear it." She says they found the language was still too strong.

The Trump campaign convinced the platform committee to change Denman's proposal. It went from calling on the U.S. to provide Ukraine "lethal defensive weapons" to the more benign phrase "appropriate assistance."

It's more than semantics. Many Republicans have been demanding the Obama administration provide a more robust response to Russia's incursions in Ukraine.

Denman "was steam rolled," said Melinda Haring of the Atlantic Council, a Washington, DC, think tank, who believes the language the Trump campaign approved is weaker. And she says "it's anyone's guess" what Trump would do regarding Ukraine and Russia, and that perhaps he might not even back "appropriate assistance."

Haring was referring to Trumps appearance on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos last month, when Trump said Vladimir Putin is "not going to go into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand, he's not going to go into Ukraine."

Of course, Russia did go into Ukraine when it invaded Crimea two years ago and backed separatist fighters in other parts of the country. Trump later said that he meant Putin would not go into Ukraine on his watch, if he were President.

Still, that comment raised eyebrows, especially combined with his campaign chairman Paul Manafort's past work for deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Putin ally.

[boutons_deux]

Kind of hard to keep track of all this.

Here is a good summary:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/06/russia-trump-putin-scandal-key-players-dossiers

Remember, there is absolutely no evidence of collusion with Russia.

... but Trash still has 40% approval rating.

Paraphrasing the 1960s "my country, right or wrong", they must think "My Pres, right or wrong", absolving themselves of all accountability for being conned, duped and electing a lying, criminal, pussy-grabbing fraudster.

[RandomGuy]

Keeping Ukrainian military capabilities to a minimum keeps Russian soldiers from coming home in (too many) body bags:
http://www.newsweek.com/nolan-peterson-russian-troops-man-ukraine-rebels-front-line-555141


Oleksandr Turchynov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, speaks with journalists after meeting with the head of the local civilian administration on February 1, 2017 in Avdiivka, Ukraine. Nolan Peterson quotes a Ukrainian military official saying, "We can tell if it’s separatists, or Russian soldiers. They fight in different ways. The separatists are unorganized, they move like bugs in different directions. But Russian units move in a coordinated, disciplined way. And Russian artillery is much more accurate.”

[boutons_deux]

Jared and Ivanka say they will re-evaluate their govt participation every 6 months, to see if they continue to donate their talents to the country.

Jared thinks he can walk away, go back to being a slum landlord, and forget all his illegalities. Mueller, etc, won't.

[TSA]

Wonkette, Motherjones....do you also have a Daily Kos article for us today RandomGuy?

[RandomGuy]

https://i.redd.it/8prc1i3wdwwy.jpg

[RandomGuy]

Wonkette, Motherjones....do you also have a Daily Kos article for us today RandomGuy?


That Tower in Toronto

President Donald Trump’s properties around the world bring with them business partners from around the world. Several of these ties have already come under scrutiny: A Trump-branded tower in Baku, Azerbaijan, put him in business with allegedly corrupt officials who are themselves connected with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, for example, while two properties in Indonesia link him to officials implicated in a bribery scandal and a racially-motivated attempt to oust a sitting governor.

Now, The Wall Street Journal has reported an additional source of a conflict of interest along these lines: Trump International Tower and Hotel in Toronto. According to the Journal, one of Trump’s partners in the project, Alexander Shnaider, received millions of dollars from the Russian bank Vnesheconombank, or VEB, shortly before investing in the project. Shnaider, who is Russian American and was the main developer on the Trump-branded property, sold his own company’s share in a Ukrainian steelmaker to VEB for $850 million in 2010. Shnaider’s lawyer said in April that $15 million from the sale went into the Toronto tower, although he walked back his statement the next day, writing that he is “not able to confirm that any funds” from the sale went into the project.

VEB is owned by the Russian government; according to its website, its mandate is “to enhance [the] competitiveness of the Russian economy, diversify it, and stimulate investment activity,” and the bank’s supervisory board is chaired by the country’s prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev. At the time of the deal with Shnaider’s company, though, its chairman was the current Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, according to a Russian government official and multiple experts, would have had to sign off on such an exchange.


As with many of Trump’s business holdings, the property represents a conflict of interest because it brings him revenue that’s made possible by money from a bank owned and operated by a foreign government. Though Trump doesn’t own the tower—he merely licenses his name to Shnaider, who owns the building through his company Talon International Development Inc.—the Trump Organization nevertheless profits off of the building and, by extension, from VEB’s deal with Shnaider. This potentially gives the Russian government leverage that it could use should it want to influence Trump’s policies. That means that the Trump Organization’s continued involvement with the tower may represent a violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which precludes elected officials from “accept[ing] of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

The Journal’s report highlights the inadequacy of the financial disclosures the president has so far offered. Last week, Trump insisted that his company does not have business ties to Russian “persons or entities.” As my colleague David Graham wrote, the letter from Trump’s lawyers that Trump proffered on the subject last week “doesn’t define several key terms,” leaving open the possibility that one of Trump’s projects benefited from Russian funding through a pass-through corporation or another intermediary. VEB’s role in the financing of the Trump-branded property in Toronto is a perfect example: Because money from VEB went toward enriching Trump (through Shnaider), one can reasonably argue that Trump didn’t do enough to eliminate the conflict of interest that the hotel creates for him in office.

[tlongII]

Did I miss hearing about the indictments issued today?

[baseline bum]

DUN DUN DUN!!!


Is President Steve Bannon The REAL White House Leaker?


Read more at https://wonkette.com/618052/is-president-steve-bannon-the-real-white-house-leaker-maaaaaybe#UZhBBpAbRc1qSq7X.99

:lol

Wow, the plot thickens.

That would still surprise the hell out of me, considering the leaks have gone out of their way to try to make Pence look above the fray, and Bannon would want no part of hurting Trump to help Pence. It's Trump or bust for getting his nationalist crap implemented. I think Priebus being the main leaker makes way more sense, as the GOP has to be massively frustrated at not getting their agenda fastracked when they're controlling the house, senate, white house, and supreme court. Plus it would make sense that someone making Pence look squeaky clean would be doing it for the benefit of the party. Maybe the Cuckner stuff is coming from Bannon, but I'd doubt any of the other shit.

[RandomGuy]

Wonkette, Motherjones....do you also have a Daily Kos article for us today RandomGuy?


ad ho·mi·nem
/ˌad ˈhämənəm/
adverb & adjective
adverb: ad hominem; adjective: ad hominem
1. (of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining.
Exposition:

A debater commits the Ad Hominem Fallacy when he introduces irrelevant personal premisses about his opponent. Such red herrings may successfully distract the opponent or the audience from the topic of the debate.
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/adhomine.html