Сделаем Америку снова великой! Trump - Russia megathread

[Ibanez]

Just watch Trump. The crazier he gets, the tighter the noose is getting.

See: Trump's tweet storm this morning.


It's like Trump got 3/4 of the way through Nixon's memoirs and then decided this guy knew what he was doing.

Nixon was a sad, lonely, paranoid, vengeful man. Took meals alone...wouldn't spend time with his children,

[Ivytalk]

See: Trump's tweet storm this morning.


It's like Trump got 3/4 of the way through Nixon's memoirs and then decided this guy knew what he was doing.

Nixon was a sad, lonely, paranoid, vengeful man. Took meals alone...wouldn't spend time with his children,

The first sentence describes Drumpf. And his relationship with Melania -- has she spent one night in the WH yet? -- and his youngest son is just bizarre. His two oldest sons are first-class creeps.

[CAA Flagship]

See: Trump's tweet storm this morning.


It's like Trump got 3/4 of the way through Nixon's memoirs and then decided this guy knew what he was doing.

Nixon was a sad, lonely, paranoid, vengeful man. Took meals alone...wouldn't spend time with his children,

And a loyal Yankees fan.

[Ivytalk]

Nixon was a sad, lonely, paranoid, vengeful man. Took meals alone...wouldn't spend time with his children,

And a loyal Yankees fan.

Which, given his California background, is sacreligious in itself.

[GannonFan]

And a loyal Yankees fan.

Which, given his California background, is sacreligious in itself.

Well, not to defend Nixon here, but when he became a baseball fan as a kid there weren't any teams west of St. Louis. Heck, he was in Washington becoming the creep he was to become long before the Dodgers and Giants moved out west.

[Skjellyfetti]

WASHINGTON—A Treasury Department unit that specializes in combating money-laundering will share financial records with an expanding Senate probe into possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump and his associates, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Senate Intelligence Committee requested the records from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, late last month, these people said. The people familiar with the matter didn’t specify the nature of those records. One person said that without them, though, the committee wouldn’t be able to reach a conclusion on whether there was collusion between Trump associates and Russia during last year’s campaign.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financial- ... 1494625140

[CAA Flagship]

WASHINGTON—A Treasury Department unit that specializes in combating money-laundering will share financial records with an expanding Senate probe into possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump and his associates, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Senate Intelligence Committee requested the records from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, late last month, these people said. The people familiar with the matter didn’t specify the nature of those records. One person said that without them, though, the committee wouldn’t be able to reach a conclusion on whether there was collusion between Trump associates and Russia during last year’s campaign.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financial- ... 1494625140

Our government at work. How is it possible that this much time has passed before this request is made?

[Skjellyfetti]

The Senate has only been investigating a couple of months and only has a few staff working on it part time. If you want them to add more staff to it I'm on board. It has a fraction of the staff as Benghazi, for instance.

I've been trying to tell y'all this won't be a quick process. And, we don't have all the information - much less the guys doing the investigation with security clearances on the intelligence committee staff. And, they have far less info than the FBI.

Certainly makes Cid's claim that 'all the pieces of the puzzle are out there already' laughable. Yeah right.

Do you think Richard Burr, not at all a NeverTrumper, would be so focused on investigating this if he thought it was a partisan witch-hunt?

[CAA Flagship]

The Senate has only been investigating a couple of months and only has a few staff working on it part time. If you want them to add more staff to it I'm on board. It has a fraction of the staff as Benghazi, for instance.

I've been trying to tell y'all this won't be a quick process. And, we don't have all the information - much less the guys doing the investigation with security clearances on the intelligence committee staff. And, they have far less info than the FBI.

Certainly makes Cid's claim that 'all the pieces of the puzzle are out there already' laughable. Yeah right.

Do you think Richard Burr, not at all a NeverTrumper, would be so focused on investigating this if he thought it was a partisan witch-hunt?

You are missing the point. If I was trying to determine what a player's batting average was, the first thing I would do is research how many hits he had. Because WITHOUT IT, I COULDN'T REACH A CONCLUSION!!!!!!

[Skjellyfetti]

It's in the article.

The Senate intelligence panel's request was made because investigators, who have been reviewing U.S. Intelligence reports about Russian interference in the 2016 election, came across information that led them to inquire about Mr. Trump's business ties.

A former senior U.S. official indicated that federal investigators are examining whether Russian investments in any of Mr. Trump's properties or business ventures could be traced back to Russian government sources, including Russian officials who might own banks that were lending money to Mr. Trump.

[opinion]
It sounds like the Senate intelligence committee was focused mainly on the Russian meddling - the hacking, botnets, etc. that all intelligence agencies agree happened.

It's an important investigation as well. But, it seems like the Senate has begun shifting from that to investigating TeamTrump.

They don't have access to enough of the intelligence reports to draw conclusions about collusion. They don't have access to intercepts with US persons that have been unmasked. That's why Devin Nunes had to go to secret meeting at the White House to view them - and, why he didn't share them with the rest of his committee. They're also not admissible in court, though (at least, I don't think).

Also, it's worth noting in the second paragraph - it's all about Russian loans TO Trump. Trump's lawyer letter doesn't mention anything about loans. It could be because there aren't any. But, why not deny that as well?
[/opinion]

[Skjellyfetti]

The separate state and federal investigations are interesting.

State charges can't be pardoned.

Schneiderman hired Preet Bharara's excellent public corruption prosecutor in March
https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-a ... 1489964489

Former Trump Adviser Paul Manafort’s Bank Records Sought in Probe

Federal investigators looking into Russian election interference requested information; New York investigators also examining his real-estate transactions

The Justice Department last month requested banking records of Paul Manafort as part of a widening of probes related to President Donald Trump’s former campaign associates and whether they colluded with Russia in interfering with the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter.

In mid-April, federal investigators requested Mr. Manafort’s banking records from Citizens Financial Group Inc., the people said.

It isn’t clear whether Citizens is the only bank that received such a request or whether it came in the form of a subpoena. Federal law generally requires that a bank receive a subpoena to turn over customer records, lawyers not connected to the investigation said.

Citizens gave Mr. Manafort a $2.7 million loan last year to refinance debt on a Manhattan condominium and borrow additional cash, New York City real-estate records show. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t ascertain if the Justice Department request is related to that transaction or whether the bank has turned over Mr. Manafort’s records.

Separately, investigators for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as well as Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. also have been examining real-estate transactions by Mr. Manafort, who has spent and borrowed tens of millions of dollars in connection with property across the U.S. over the past decade, people familiar with the matter say. The request for Mr. Manafort’s banking records and the New York inquiries haven’t previously been reported.

Mr. Manafort hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing and has said any suggestion that he coordinated with Russia is unfounded.

Mr. Manafort’s spokesman, Jason Maloni, said: “I don’t know anything about a subpoena. But if someone is leaking details of a confidential investigation, that is a serious crime.”

The inquiries indicate how the examination of Mr. Trump’s campaign officials may be heating up.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it is scrutinizing whether Trump associates coordinated with Russian hackers in interfering with last year’s presidential campaign. Those associates include Mr. Manafort, who was Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman for a short time, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and former advisers Roger Stone and Carter Page, according to the Journal and other outlets. A federal grand jury in Northern Virginia has issued subpoenas for records tied to Mr. Flynn, a person familiar with the matter has said.

Some background by the article for those new to this story:

In late March, the Journal reported that Mr. Manafort had borrowed $16 million from a bank run by a former Trump campaign adviser after the election to salvage troubled investments, according to real-estate and court records. Steve Calk, who runs the Federal Savings Bank, a small bank in Chicago, declined to comment on whether his bank had been contacted by federal investigators.

The Journal also reported that since the mid-2000s, around the time Mr. Manafort started working as a political adviser to wealthy pro-Russia politicians in the Ukrainian Party of Regions, he and immediate family members bought at least six properties in New York, Florida and Virginia for more than $16 million, property records show.

Also in late March, WNYC public radio station reported on Mr. Manafort’s use of corporate entities to purchase multimillion-dollar properties without mortgages, some of which he later took loans against. NBC News reported around the same time that a Cyprus bank had investigated accounts associated with Mr. Manafort for possible money laundering, and that he had closed them after questions were raised.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-tru ... 1494637248



[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7M71wmwWRo[/youtube]

[CID1990]

The Senate has only been investigating a couple of months and only has a few staff working on it part time. If you want them to add more staff to it I'm on board. It has a fraction of the staff as Benghazi, for instance.

I've been trying to tell y'all this won't be a quick process. And, we don't have all the information - much less the guys doing the investigation with security clearances on the intelligence committee staff. And, they have far less info than the FBI.

Certainly makes Cid's claim that 'all the pieces of the puzzle are out there already' laughable. Yeah right.

Do you think Richard Burr, not at all a NeverTrumper, would be so focused on investigating this if he thought it was a partisan witch-hunt?

I've obviously rained on your parade

All the pieces most certainly ARE already out there in terms of whether Trump did anything that would get him impeached, much less charged as a civilian if he had not won the election.

You aren't thinking clearly, and you're paying attention to all the squirrels the media is releasing in front of you

[Skjellyfetti]

So, I asked you last page or so why you think the FinCEN investigations are bunk or have no new information? Why are you so confident?

[CID1990]

So, I asked you last page or so why you think the FinCEN investigations are bunk or have no new information? Why are you so confident?

Stop asking me to spoon feed you. I've already hashed most of this out. All the signs point to Trump being innocent of coordinating with the Russians to throw the election away from Clinton. If you were viewing it through a neutral lens you'd be reaching the same conclusions.

This FBI investigation is the kind which is never closed, so we're going to be hearing new "evidence" from our media handlers on a daily basis for the next 4 years. I'll leave it to you to keep us fully appraised of the situation on a semi daily basis. Wake me up when any of it points to a conspiracy.


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[JohnStOnge]

So, I asked you last page or so why you think the FinCEN investigations are bunk or have no new information? Why are you so confident?

Stop asking me to spoon feed you. I've already hashed most of this out. All the signs point to Trump being innocent of coordinating with the Russians to throw the election away from Clinton.

Can you elaborate? What would you expect to be seeing from Trump if he DID coordinate with the Russians?

What do you see from him now in terms of behavior that you consider to be a sign or a set of signs that he did not?

That sort of thing.

Me, I wouldn't be surprised if he personally did and wouldn't be surprised if he personally didn't. I sure as heck don't see anything in his behavior to bolster the case that he did not. I mean, he's denied it. But to me the guy has pretty much established the fact that he lies a lot so that a denial from him is worthless. But you apparently do see something to make you affirmatively believe he didn't do anything like coordinate with the Russians. So what is it?

I do think there must be SOME suggestion that SOMEBODY in his campaign coordinated with the Russians in some way for the FBI to even be investigating it.

[Skjellyfetti]

And, the bar of this whole story being proof of Trump himself coordinating with Russians is pretty high and I really doubt we ever get there as well, Cid.

We never even got a "smoking gun" on Nixon and the Watergate break-in. We have no idea if Nixon ordered it or what his role was at all.

[Skjellyfetti]

Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador

President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said that Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.

The information Trump relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.

The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said that Trump’s decision to do so risks cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. After Trump’s meeting, senior White House officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the CIA and National Security Agency.

“This is code-word information,” said a U.S. official familiar with the matter, using terminology that refers to one of the highest classification levels used by American spy agencies. Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... &tid=sm_tw

[Skjellyfetti]

Flashback (2/16/17):

Spies Keep Intelligence From Donald Trump on Leak Concerns

U.S. intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from President Donald Trump because they are concerned it could be leaked or compromised, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter.

The officials’ decision to keep information from Mr. Trump underscores the deep mistrust that has developed between the intelligence community and the president over his team’s contacts with the Russian government, as well as the enmity he has shown toward U.S. spy agencies. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump accused the agencies of leaking information to undermine him.

In some of these cases of withheld information, officials have decided not to show Mr. Trump the sources and methods that the intelligence agencies use to collect information, the current and former officials said. Those sources and methods could include, for instance, the means that an agency uses to spy on a foreign government.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/spies-keep ... 1487209351

[Grizalltheway]

B-BUT HILLARY'S PRIVATE SERVER!!!!!1

[CID1990]

B-BUT HILLARY'S PRIVATE SERVER!!!!!1

If there was that much evidence of an illegal act on Trump's part you'd likely already be saying "President Pence"


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[Skjellyfetti]

What was it that Trump said about shooting someone on Madison Ave.?

Becomes more and more true every day.

[∞∞∞]

B-BUT HILLARY'S PRIVATE SERVER!!!!!1

If there was that much evidence of an illegal act on Trump's part you'd likely already be saying "President Pence"


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There's no law saying the President can't disseminate classified info; he has ultimate authority on said info. So I agree that there's nothing technically illegal about what Trump did.

But let's be serious, this should trouble us all. He knowingly compromised an ally and gave out a state secret. In addition, he allowed a Russian photographer (and only a Russian photographer) into the Oval Office. What kind of President has ever done this stuff? Obama was called a traitor by the right for way less than this, so I have no idea how people can keep a straight face and say this is ok.

edit: I'm also glad that someone felt compelled enough by the President's actions to actually give the full transcript to the Washington Post (which also implies that things are in fact being taped at the WH). Additionally, it's a little funny that the WaPo has more restrain on the details than the President.

[Skjellyfetti]

Reuters confirms

[dbackjon]

See: Trump's tweet storm this morning.


It's like Trump got 3/4 of the way through Nixon's memoirs and then decided this guy knew what he was doing.

Nixon was a sad, lonely, paranoid, vengeful man. Took meals alone...wouldn't spend time with his children,

You mean like Trump, who spent Mother's Day golfing instead of being with one of his wives?

[Ibanez]

Nixon was a sad, lonely, paranoid, vengeful man. Took meals alone...wouldn't spend time with his children,

You mean like Trump, who spent Mother's Day golfing instead of being with one of his wives?

Trump only has 1 wife. And if he spent Mother's Day that way...then maybe.

But like Obama, he golfs. He's has so many responsibility, that if he uses golf to relax then so be it.


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