[News] Trump, Russia, and the 2016 Election

All news related to Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia and to the Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. New details should be cited to reputable sources.

Don't worry everyone, the committee is in good hands and will certainly get to the bottom of this.

#StupidWatergate

Timepoint 2:10

Rep Ted Yoho: "You gotta keep in mind who he (Nunes) works for. He works for the president. He answers to the president."

Reporter: "Does he or does he work for the constituents of his district?"

Rep Ted Yoho: "Well... you, you do both."

Then John Oliver's head explodes.

People in the Executive Branch work for the president. Apparently some Republican lawmakers have forgotten which branch they're in.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8xk-eRWsAER4kS.jpg:large)

Breaking news in the NY Times this evening:

Kushner Omitted Meeting With Russians on Security Clearance Forms

When Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, sought the top-secret security clearance that would give him access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets, he was required to disclose all encounters with foreign government officials over the last seven years.
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But Mr. Kushner did not mention dozens of contacts with foreign leaders or officials in recent months. They include a December meeting with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, and one with the head of a Russian state-owned bank, Vnesheconombank, arranged at Mr. Kislyak’s behest.

C.I.A. Had Evidence of Russian Effort to Help Trump Earlier Than Believed

The briefings indicate that intelligence officials had evidence of Russia’s intentions to help Mr. Trump much earlier in the presidential campaign than previously thought. The briefings also reveal a critical split last summer between the C.I.A. and counterparts at the F.B.I., where a number of senior officials continued to believe through last fall that Russia’s cyberattacks were aimed primarily at disrupting America’s political system, and not at getting Mr. Trump elected, according to interviews.
In an Aug. 25 briefing for Harry Reid, then the top Democrat in the Senate, Mr. Brennan indicated that Russia’s hackings appeared aimed at helping Mr. Trump win the November election, according to two former officials with knowledge of the briefing.
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The officials said Mr. Brennan also indicated that unnamed advisers to Mr. Trump might be working with the Russians to interfere in the election. The F.B.I. and two congressional committees are now investigating that claim, focusing on possible communications and financial dealings between Russian affiliates and a handful of former advisers to Mr. Trump. So far, no proof of collusion has emerged publicly.

Jared Kushner hid dozens of meetings with Russians from his application for top-secret security clearance

Kushner failed to report dozens of contacts with foreign leaders. His lawyer argues Kushner simply forgot.

Most forgetful administration since Reagan, maybe ever.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Kushner failed to report dozens of contacts with foreign leaders. His lawyer argues Kushner simply forgot.

It's the Steve Martin defense!

Shadow Brokers are back, and threatening Trump.

Daily Beast wrote:

At the same time, the Shadow Brokers warn Trump, at length, that he’ll face public ridicule if he continues to displease them.

“Do you be remembering when you were sitting there at the Obama Press Party and they were all laughing at you?,” they write. “Do you be remembering when you touring the country and all those peoples believed in you and supported you? You were those peoples hope. How do you be thinking it will be feeling when those people turn on you? Will they be laughing at you, hating you, and mocking you too?”

Another piece of advice addresses the controversy still swirling around Trump over the circumstances of his election. The Shadow Brokers suggest Trump stop denying that the Kremlin helped him win the presidency.

“Celebrate it,” they write.

UK tourists to US may get asked to hand in passwords or be denied entry

Tourists from the UK and other US allies including Germany and France, could be forced to reveal personal data, as well as disclose financial information and face detailed ideological questioning, according to Trump administration officials quoted by the Wall Street Journal. While US citizens have established rights against unlawful searches at the border, the extent to which foreign travellers can resist requests to hand over personal information is unclear.

Not that I planned a trip over there any time soon, but...still...

If that actually starts happening, I'm going to be completely disgusted without what we've become.

Chaz wrote:

If that actually starts happening, I'm going to be completely disgusted without what we've become.

Just now?

United States of Trumpistan.

oops I jut realised I posted that in the wrong thread.. #toomanytabsopenwoops. Oh well.

DSGamer wrote:
Chaz wrote:

If that actually starts happening, I'm going to be completely disgusted without what we've become.

Just now?

Even more disgusted?

pyxistyx wrote:

UK tourists to US may get asked to hand in passwords or be denied entry

Tourists from the UK and other US allies including Germany and France, could be forced to reveal personal data, as well as disclose financial information and face detailed ideological questioning, according to Trump administration officials quoted by the Wall Street Journal. While US citizens have established rights against unlawful searches at the border, the extent to which foreign travellers can resist requests to hand over personal information is unclear.

Not that I planned a trip over there any time soon, but...still...

Well guess I won't be visiting my parents again if this happens.

FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor Trump adviser Carter Page

The FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor the communications of an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign, law enforcement and other U.S. officials said.

The FBI and the Justice Department obtained the warrant targeting Carter Page’s communications after convincing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that there was probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case Russia, according to the officials.

Great, now all of the Fox 'News' watchers can shout about how they were right and Obama and Hillary were wiretapping Trump.

They've already been doing that. It still isn't true.

I love how the FBI, the most conservative LEO organization in the country (never had a non-Republican leader), whose head actively decided to affect the outcome of the election, is now just a tool of Webspinner Obama.

IMAGE(https://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_14/1955941/170405-putin-flynn-dinner-jhc-1700_2740adaac2e67a2ac1ec0bcdae1f8a56.nbcnews-fp-1200-800.jpg)The head table of a gala celebrating the tenth anniversary of Russia Today in December of 2015 included Russian President Vladimir Putin and American retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, file

Guess Who Came to Dinner With Flynn and Putin

It was a (red) star-studded affair, the December 2015 dinner celebrating the 10th birthday of Russian TV network RT. At a luxe Moscow hotel, President Vladimir Putin and a host of Russian luminaries toasted a state-backed news channel that U.S. intelligence calls a Kremlin mouthpiece.

And next to Putin at the head table, in the seat of honor, was an American. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who would later become Donald Trump's national security adviser, was already advising Trump's presidential campaign when he was paid $45,000 to speak at the gala.

Also at the head table were three western politicians. Willy Wimmer, a former member of the German Bundestag who is often critical of U.S. foreign policy; Cyril Svoboda, former deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, and interior minister of the Czech Republic, and two-time U.S. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, the only American besides Flynn at the head table.

Stein's 2016 campaign was heavily promoted by RT. She hasn't spoken much about the RT dinner, but in an interview with NBC News last fall, she deflected questions about her appearance, instead chastising the U.S. media for not paying attention to her campaign while RT gave it a lot more attention.

"And my own connection to RT, you know ironically, it takes a Russian television station to actually be open to independent candidates in this country and that is a shame. A shameful commentary on our own media," she told NBC's Alex Seitz-Wald.

(Stein did well enough to help Russia achieve its aims. Her vote totals in the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan were all greater than Clinton's margin of defeat, and arguably denied Clinton an Electoral College victory.)

Jill Stein becomes more disgusting the more we learn about her. Her only saving grace is that she appears to be too stupid to fully understand what transpired, and her role in it.

A useful idiot if there ever was one.

Exxon requests permission to drill in Russia despite sanctions.

The article lists very frank Tillerson/Putin ties as, if permission is granted for this, would reinstate a deal Tillerson himself brought to fruition.

Russian influence in Hungary and Europe

Pretty interesting insight into espionage and attempts to manipulate countries. As is no doubt news to anyone, far-right groups are most likely to be connected to the Russians.

However, the main reason I post it is:

To what extent is the case of Béla Kovács, an elected EU politician allegedly spying for Russia, considered extraordinary? How regular is that Russians recruite European politicians or infiltrate state organisations of European countries?

Decision-makers and their inner circle, the experts, the advisors are primary targets for all secret services of the world. It is not even absolutely necessary to approach decision-makers, it is enough to create professional views around them through which they can be manipulated, which also means that the chance for the activity being unveiled is lower. This is why I would consider it important to put external experts, advisors under national security protection when politics starts to employ them in such high numbers. We should also learn from the scandals of Donald Trump's advisors and experts with Russian ties.

In today's Trumpalogues, the President discusses why he fired Comey.

Meanwhile, in the Senate investigation:

Russia Probe: Senate Requests Documents from Money-Laundering Agency

The Senate Intelligence Committee has requested information about President Donald Trump and his top aides from a financial intelligence unit in the Treasury Department that imposed a $10 million civil penalty on Trump Taj Mahal in 2015 for multiple violations of anti-money laundering laws.

The committee wants to see any information relevant to its Russia investigation the Treasury agency has gathered, including evidence that might include possible money laundering, according to a committee aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also at issue: to what extent, if at all, people close to Vladimir Putin have invested in Trump's real estate empire.

President Putin can ask Trump directly to do something that benefits him, and Trump just does it?

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bPTIyuEwOR5qFZ3jmGQJ1VGvJGqfizs2A33i0/JYbjV34ym8PYsBDgdDuCqviypmrSn/453P/AIYchUU7UsJISgvQREmJqKM9SaiivWOYtESghCCwoueg5RhJRrjmwqUxfXbKNN9WoYYxpc49gJPmU8sT7Wb0stGUgf8Aq1Bm/wCxgLj/APbIoBHOMfxqreVjWqHsxvJjOTR36nmVXJJcOqIVB1UFhcpQKSD3RghAByggjCAEuRo4SSI8v5sgA0AUAUaAF2lxlcGnaYE7Q4QT0EafwKxbZeK6kxv+Y5rATsXFwadY0GrT/wAqmrNkabqzwu5IAqAS6m5rxDc0ua7OAZOmgdt+j5qjVbN4StOJsOPMLc2zpF49+3fl8qdTRzfIVA0/61zsrv3HFNt1YVXMj3qQe09YAP2C8/hy2nTdoXQaJ50QJSSVmSWmEM1036rVVq4ptB0MbnqSs1glM6OgnTlqrujaPrt8NoOckZRoSSToNToNtVhkVs2g6R1H2U8NB9Nt5WGaSTRa7UNEn3o6n9l1CVnrBosMOaHEfgUfePKWt1PquMVPaRff1Dx/VnLmJpxSBa4bt0GoBH7qyv4KNXtnbeNMHF3Z1qOUFxYSyRMPA90rzXhDGUy8VWHxGktyuMEHbbqvSvCeKuubZlV4h/vNeI0zMcWkjqDEg9CvPvtQY1mJ1i3QSCY0h3P+/wA1PZHTKLEcPAl/wknZU7Gk6eauqd1naZVK1/vOKFZLosbK68MRKlV7jxIPZUGckqba1I0TPFmseRNlMntGiwCMIkYXo0JBVFGepNRRnrHKWiNo0hBLWaHoUISghC5JqGFzH2xVPxLZs6ZKp9XMH2XTQuX+2Bv4tuf/AG6g9HN/uoJRz7L2ShTRSlgqCRt1Md0P6ccinc4QkdUAMEOb3CUKycfPIpgjXUZT15FAEpjpCNR6DoMKQgBBEaj5hKBlGkPbGo+Y6oAUnsOgOO0bwZIOu0DsTv0KjtdOqct6kPBO2x1I3EcvX5KH0Wg6kmdL4Kxovta1lUkPotJZmEF1LZ7Y6sJ9IXLq9LI5zP0uc3/4kj7K1p3ZoVWVmbjeA73g5sPYZ7OcPl5FRcbg3FUs1Dn5m9w8Bw/3ITtE5I1IgQrzh7hyrXe05JZPvTppOo81P4V4TdcHM+QARoRv/Zdr4ewRlFkQBG6ynlS0gjBszVzwI002+C40zGukg6JnBuCLum8VA5hLXA7kZoI7dlt7y6GzNB16nsrCxrjLKV+pYy8bSVkbiXEG+A+m5kuc0gsOxnSPJefDwwW1wHNflzahszl5iSOkhd8xW4pkwXajoJKz168OaXNeDG0wrRzh9FtG0wCvNJuUQMogE7LhXtXaP6x2gzEbj8wnn1P7LYNuK4EMeQNdjzlZW74dLqlSs+oXOgnU5vr81eGRFMmJmGpS3+ygT8XmVbYlbPaZJ0VO7QwmFsXeh+g2U7T+KEdlZvfsCB9ucKVTohpjeOa3wYXkmVlKkSQjCAQXo0tCgmoo9RP1Co9VYZS0RlBAIJUuehkaS0pS5ZqBc49sbdLZ3eqPUMP2XR1gvbAz/D0D0rEetNx+ygEcrCOeyIFKUFgs46FCWlKAQLQgBPhnkUrKdjBQFPpolAdUARnMynspNMpFdmmiRQegCQjCASXPhADNQQex/dCU5UEhX3CnBVxfDOIp0pgvdrMb5W8/PQKs5xgrk9Exi5OkUr6uZok7CDJOp11jly9EvDrV1eoGN30E9I23+S6Y32Y29Npz16zj1GVsHnpHYKHbcFi1f4jKniN3hwAcPmEquZifTGnx5urNzwbhVSlTb4ha4xqRt9Vf3Nw06T7o+pVLht/ma1g0zb6zoN/VWbaPPmlZz+BnDjr2ZR31GtWqNDQ5rJ1J0MDoOuytK945rYnb1KmBkaKNXtwZJBKrtjXrJ+xTuuM+0uPQan0CjPwWo73i8UzygS4fYfVaGk3Lo1oHUpwUSRqC1sSXaTqdBHLfmhaJlL4ZzjGMMr0wXNrPOXygegWXfiNd25nv9CF1y9tbcktcA4RJDiSJ7gmCsZiGEMNQ+GBkEmek/lC2hkrTF82JPaMTelzhDgqu2twKrS6CMwJnnqtzfYX0Bjynb9ln8RwwgSB/f0TWPImc7JCjRXNNjKXuNAEcvX7rG8z5q5tLh/gua47bKlYdV1+Au2K5SVSpE7CURWz9mmHNrOeHCdkfEHBdb+pIpN91xmeQWj/l8EOVLjTdNK7ZT6MnBSRh3hMVtlqOIeHTatGZ0krL3BTKz482Pzxu0V8XF0xtjNN0abBQWBc9DBGkShK5hoLWQ9qdmaljmH+VUY8+Rlh/3z8lrZULGbTx7erR/XTe0eZBg+sIA8+BKCITzEHmOh6JQVSwYSkQRhABhAhCUEAJzdUxsVIco7wd0APhyQw6yk5le8AYZRu7+jRuCfCcXEtBgvytLgyeQMa9gobpAbj2ZezIXrG3d2XNoT+HTGhqgbuc7cMnaNTG8LtVvglvTaGMphrQIAE6AdFLtGta1rGgBoaA0DQAAQAByEBKdU1jmlcjU+zSNroy+L4OQc1Mkjm07jy7LB3WLUmPcHva0AfmIGnXVdA4x4gp2dPxKh5HYSSJA28yF5mv7t1ao6o4kkk7nlKwjxIzd9DC5MoHXeC62d7qkzTEgHrqNB6T81uqTx8uq854Fjda0fnpO0/Mw/C8dCOR77hdrwTF2V6TatNxLXcubTzaR1Cpmwyxu/gaw5o5VXTL+rcBvz27purXgSYHQKG+5OkQCdB/OSDXgaucJ6DX6qikb0Psc4gnLE9f7KDfUarntaHOmdS2coA2BA31gx2Tv/mUmAJ+alU213fAwwenyhSiXpb0Vt3hDiQ1ozfqLiB9FHu8MLW5TUaIHTTy3U+5p1mfEWt6SdZPVV9473tXT7vPuVWTpmVx/NmbuGEiSYHWIlZ3ErJpk5z88wlaW/p66OBjlqB9FR4g4lsn7LXExTKjN03ZZHXRTOHcE/qKmUuyhV1wZMo7e5exwcxxb5FdjjObThCVN9MRyJdtHeOD+Gqdo33DJOpPNaOu0QTGsLnXsxxirVDvEfIHVW+Lce0aFbwnfPsvC8/+N52XnTx/fNbbX4GYZIKCfSOaceXlSpcuD5Ab8I+6yNwug8e31tcAVKZGbt+y57cFfReBO+HBePi0qaEJr3e7GQggCiW2gPQqNBBcw0CKAQQUAcc9o2Di3ui9vwVpqAdHAjxBHSSD/q7LLhBBQWFAog9BBACpRhBBACKlUAxuUw4zJiEEEAKa0H0UvD6r6FVlamYexwc3zHI9jt80SCgD0jwfxzQvGDLmzN+IEHTQSJ2O6kcR8XW9qGveTLjlAAJnc9OyCCUcV5+JtF6s4Z7ROJ6l9cmXEUmDLTaJgg6lxHU6eiyzUaCaiqRk3bFLWezvGTRuBROtOsYjpU/K75xHp0QQVcsU4NMtik1NNHSb66czaIUahmedTAQQXLXR2XJpGiwi0aCHEAx+6urvFvDZo0beSJBS21F0KS9pbMTiWP5jtJO4Mwq2vi5qQ5u3PrHL5IILFK1bNaS6K+4qmdfp/dVF7q10FEgmsSF8hm6gA031RsZKNBOxbTtCzReYDjptmuDeaqLmsXuL3GSTJRIL0+HBjjJ5EvaVWznyk+iPUUSsggozkxGUEEEnZof/2Q==)

The charitable explanation is that Trump is really bad at negotiation, is a bit spineless with people he can't order around, and agreed to the meeting because he was too clueless to realize how bad it would look. On a phone call where the state department didn't release the transcripts, but the Russians said it went very well.

So I'm not sure that giving him the benefit of the doubt is much better...

"They tricked us"

Bahahahahaha! What f*cking amateurs!

Reaper81 wrote:

"They tricked us"

Bahahahahaha! What f*cking amateurs!

The incompetence is cringeworthy.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote:

Was FBI Director James Comey fired? You’re kidding!

Damn, that's some epic trolling.