Russians, Trump & the U.S. Election ~ Explained
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Report: Top FBI official gave Mueller secret memo on Comey firing
Last spring, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe wrote a confidential memo regarding a conversation he had at the Justice Department with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about President Trump's abrupt firing of McCabe's predecessor, James Comey. Rosenstein told McCabe that Trump had originally asked him to reference Russia in a memo he used to justify firing Comey, The New York Times reports. Instead, Rosenstein criticized Comey over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. McCabe, who has given his memo and other documents to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was reportedly concerned that Rosenstein's memo was being used to mask the true reason Trump fired Comey, likely Comey's investigation of Trump and Russia.
Source: The New York Times
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Last spring, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe wrote a confidential memo regarding a conversation he had at the Justice Department with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about President Trump's abrupt firing of McCabe's predecessor, James Comey. Rosenstein told McCabe that Trump had originally asked him to reference Russia in a memo he used to justify firing Comey, The New York Times reports. Instead, Rosenstein criticized Comey over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. McCabe, who has given his memo and other documents to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was reportedly concerned that Rosenstein's memo was being used to mask the true reason Trump fired Comey, likely Comey's investigation of Trump and Russia.
Source: The New York Times
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Anchor unravels 'hydra' of lies in Trump letter
June 4, 2018
CNN's John Berman breaks down President Trump's legal team's previous claim that the President didn't dictate a statement put out about Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower, which was proven to be untrue in a confidential letter sent to special counsel Robert Mueller by Trump's former lawyer John Dowd and Jay Sekulow.
June 4, 2018
CNN's John Berman breaks down President Trump's legal team's previous claim that the President didn't dictate a statement put out about Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower, which was proven to be untrue in a confidential letter sent to special counsel Robert Mueller by Trump's former lawyer John Dowd and Jay Sekulow.
Republican-run Senate Intelligence Committee says Russia tried to help Trump win
That supports the intelligence community’s finding last year that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the influence campaign to help Trump.
By Alex Ward@AlexWardVoxalex.ward@vox.com
May 16, 2018, 3:00pm
The top two leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ranking Member Mark Warner (D-VA) conclude that Russia did try to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Russia tried to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election — and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to do so.
That’s according to an official statement from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee released on Wednesday. The committee conducted months of interviews with current and former intelligence officials to verify if American spies correctly assessed last year that Russia favored Trump and tried to sway the 2016 presidential election. It turns out the Senate panel agrees with the US intelligence community.
“Our staff concluded that the [intelligence community’s] conclusions were accurate and on point,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said in a joint statement with the panel’s chair, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). “The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton.”
They added that the committee had spent 14 months reviewing the evidence and saw no reason to dispute the intelligence committee’s conclusions. “There is no doubt that Russia undertook an unprecedented effort to interfere with our 2016 elections,” Burr said.
We still don’t know if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia
Back in January 2017, three US intelligence agencies concluded that Putin ordered an “influence campaign” against Clinton to help Trump. And in February, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians for working to help Trump win by sowing divisions via the internet, like running ads meant to stir up racial tensions.
That meant nothing to the president and his loyalists who claim that the Trump-Russia connection is a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.” But now that a key Senate panel has backed the US intelligence community against Trump’s attacks, that defense is much, much weaker.
But more than that, the Senate just directly contradicted the assessment of House Republicans.
Both chambers held separate investigations into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. The Senate’s probe continues, but last March, the House Intelligence Committee abruptly ended their investigation.
Committee Republicans concluded that there was “no evidence of collusion,” according to Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX), the leader of the panel’s investigation.
There was “perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings, inappropriate judgment at taking meetings,” Conaway added, but nothing that amounted to a coordinated and deliberate effort to work with Russians to win the White House. House Republicans released their official and partially redacted report with their conclusions in April.
Committee Democrats, however, criticized their counterparts for ending the probe too early — and for not taking the investigation seriously — to defend Trump. “In the coming weeks and months, new information will continue to be exposed,” California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said. “And each time this new information becomes public, Republicans will be held accountable for abandoning a critical investigation of such vital national importance.”
Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee chair, seems to agree that House Republicans didn’t do their job. “I’m not sure that the House was required to substantiate every conclusion with facts,” he said to reporters last week.
There’s still more work for Burr and Warner to do: They have yet to finish their report to determine whether there actually was Trump-Russia collusion — something Mueller is also investigating.(Only Mueller has the power to charge anyone with a crime, though.)
That doesn’t make the Burr-Warner statement any less important. Now, definitively, the most authoritative congressional panel on the issue of Russia’s favoritism in the 2016 election has weighed in — and it weighed in against Trump.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...a-election-trump-putin-intelligence-committee
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That supports the intelligence community’s finding last year that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the influence campaign to help Trump.
By Alex Ward@AlexWardVoxalex.ward@vox.com
May 16, 2018, 3:00pm
The top two leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ranking Member Mark Warner (D-VA) conclude that Russia did try to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Russia tried to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election — and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to do so.
That’s according to an official statement from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee released on Wednesday. The committee conducted months of interviews with current and former intelligence officials to verify if American spies correctly assessed last year that Russia favored Trump and tried to sway the 2016 presidential election. It turns out the Senate panel agrees with the US intelligence community.
“Our staff concluded that the [intelligence community’s] conclusions were accurate and on point,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said in a joint statement with the panel’s chair, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). “The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton.”
They added that the committee had spent 14 months reviewing the evidence and saw no reason to dispute the intelligence committee’s conclusions. “There is no doubt that Russia undertook an unprecedented effort to interfere with our 2016 elections,” Burr said.
We still don’t know if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia
Back in January 2017, three US intelligence agencies concluded that Putin ordered an “influence campaign” against Clinton to help Trump. And in February, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians for working to help Trump win by sowing divisions via the internet, like running ads meant to stir up racial tensions.
That meant nothing to the president and his loyalists who claim that the Trump-Russia connection is a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.” But now that a key Senate panel has backed the US intelligence community against Trump’s attacks, that defense is much, much weaker.
But more than that, the Senate just directly contradicted the assessment of House Republicans.
Both chambers held separate investigations into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. The Senate’s probe continues, but last March, the House Intelligence Committee abruptly ended their investigation.
Committee Republicans concluded that there was “no evidence of collusion,” according to Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX), the leader of the panel’s investigation.
There was “perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings, inappropriate judgment at taking meetings,” Conaway added, but nothing that amounted to a coordinated and deliberate effort to work with Russians to win the White House. House Republicans released their official and partially redacted report with their conclusions in April.
Committee Democrats, however, criticized their counterparts for ending the probe too early — and for not taking the investigation seriously — to defend Trump. “In the coming weeks and months, new information will continue to be exposed,” California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said. “And each time this new information becomes public, Republicans will be held accountable for abandoning a critical investigation of such vital national importance.”
Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee chair, seems to agree that House Republicans didn’t do their job. “I’m not sure that the House was required to substantiate every conclusion with facts,” he said to reporters last week.
There’s still more work for Burr and Warner to do: They have yet to finish their report to determine whether there actually was Trump-Russia collusion — something Mueller is also investigating.(Only Mueller has the power to charge anyone with a crime, though.)
That doesn’t make the Burr-Warner statement any less important. Now, definitively, the most authoritative congressional panel on the issue of Russia’s favoritism in the 2016 election has weighed in — and it weighed in against Trump.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...a-election-trump-putin-intelligence-committee
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All of Robert Mueller’s indictments and plea deals in the Russia investigation so far
That we know of.
By Andrew Prokopandrew@vox.com
Jun 8, 2018
Alex Wong/Getty
According to a recent poll, most Americans don’t think special counsel Robert Mueller’sinvestigation has uncovered any crimes.
But the truth is that Mueller’s team has either indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 20 people and three companies — that we know of.
That group is composed of four former Trump advisers, 14 Russian nationals, three Russian companies, one California man, and one London-based lawyer. Five of these people (including three former Trump aides) have already pleaded guilty.
None of the charges against Americans or Trump advisers so far have directly alleged that they worked with Russia to interfere with the campaign.
Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to making false statements about their contacts with Russians to investigators. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were hit with tax, money laundering and other charges that relate to their work for the government of Ukraine and a Russia-affiliated Ukrainian political party.
Other reported focuses of Mueller’s investigation — such as the hacking and leaking of prominent Democrats’ emails and potential obstruction of justice by the Trump administration — have not resulted in any indictments yet.
Also, it’s possible that there are more charges we don’t know about — Papadopoulos’s arrest last July was kept secret for three months after it happened. Here, though, are the indictments and plea deals that are public.
The full list of known indictments and plea deals in Mueller’s probe:
1) George Papadopoulos, former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, pleaded guiltyin October to making false statements to the FBI.
2) Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, pleaded guilty in December to making false statements to the FBI.
3) Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair, was indicted in October in Washington, DC on charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and false statements — all related to his work for Ukrainian politicians before he joined the Trump campaign. He’s pleaded not guilty on all counts. Then, in February, Mueller filed a new case against him in Virginia, with tax, financial, and bank fraud charges.
4) Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign aide and Manafort’s longtime junior business partner, was indicted on similar charges to Manafort. But in February he agreed to a plea deal with Mueller’s team, pleading guilty to just one false statements charge and one conspiracy charge.
5-20) 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies were indicted on conspiracy charges, with some also being accused of identity theft. The charges related to a Russian propaganda effort designed to interfere with the 2016 campaign. The companies involved are the Internet Research Agency, often described as a “Russian troll farm,” and two other companies that helped finance it. The Russian nationals indicted include 12 of the agency’s employees and its alleged financier, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
21) Richard Pinedo: This California man pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge in connection with the Russian indictments, and has agreed to cooperate with Mueller.
22) Alex van der Zwaan: This London lawyer pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates and another unnamed person based in Ukraine.
23) Konstantin Kilimnik: This longtime business associate of Manafort and Gates, who’s currently based in Russia, was chargedalongside Manafort with attempting to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses in Manafort’s pending case this year.
Two ex-Trump advisers lied to the FBI about their contacts with Russians
Michael Flynn Mario Tama/Getty
So far, no Trump associates have been specifically charged with any crimes relating to helping Russia interfere with the 2016 election.
The closest we’ve come to that is that both Papadopoulos and Flynn both now admit that they lied to the FBI about their contacts with people connected to the Russian government. (Papadopoulos’s contacts took place before the election, and Flynn’s after it.)
Papadopoulos: Back in April 2016, Papadopoulos got a tip from a foreign professor he understood to have Russian government connections that the Russians had “dirt” on Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.” He then proceeded to have extensive contacts with the professor and a Russian woman, during which he tried to plan a Trump campaign trip to Russia.
But when the FBI interviewed Papadopoulos about all this in January 2017, he repeatedly lied about what happened, he now admits. So he was arrested in July, and later agreed to plead guilty to a false statements charge and start cooperating with Mueller’s probe.
Flynn: In December 2016, during the transition, Flynn spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that President Barack Obama had just placed on Russia, and about a planned United Nations Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements.
But when FBI agents interviewed him about all this in January 2017, Flynn lied to them about what his talks with Kislyak entailed, he now admits. In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to a false statements charge and began cooperating with Mueller’s investigation.
That we know of.
By Andrew Prokopandrew@vox.com
Jun 8, 2018
According to a recent poll, most Americans don’t think special counsel Robert Mueller’sinvestigation has uncovered any crimes.
But the truth is that Mueller’s team has either indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 20 people and three companies — that we know of.
That group is composed of four former Trump advisers, 14 Russian nationals, three Russian companies, one California man, and one London-based lawyer. Five of these people (including three former Trump aides) have already pleaded guilty.
None of the charges against Americans or Trump advisers so far have directly alleged that they worked with Russia to interfere with the campaign.
Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to making false statements about their contacts with Russians to investigators. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were hit with tax, money laundering and other charges that relate to their work for the government of Ukraine and a Russia-affiliated Ukrainian political party.
Other reported focuses of Mueller’s investigation — such as the hacking and leaking of prominent Democrats’ emails and potential obstruction of justice by the Trump administration — have not resulted in any indictments yet.
Also, it’s possible that there are more charges we don’t know about — Papadopoulos’s arrest last July was kept secret for three months after it happened. Here, though, are the indictments and plea deals that are public.
The full list of known indictments and plea deals in Mueller’s probe:
1) George Papadopoulos, former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, pleaded guiltyin October to making false statements to the FBI.
2) Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, pleaded guilty in December to making false statements to the FBI.
3) Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair, was indicted in October in Washington, DC on charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and false statements — all related to his work for Ukrainian politicians before he joined the Trump campaign. He’s pleaded not guilty on all counts. Then, in February, Mueller filed a new case against him in Virginia, with tax, financial, and bank fraud charges.
4) Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign aide and Manafort’s longtime junior business partner, was indicted on similar charges to Manafort. But in February he agreed to a plea deal with Mueller’s team, pleading guilty to just one false statements charge and one conspiracy charge.
5-20) 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies were indicted on conspiracy charges, with some also being accused of identity theft. The charges related to a Russian propaganda effort designed to interfere with the 2016 campaign. The companies involved are the Internet Research Agency, often described as a “Russian troll farm,” and two other companies that helped finance it. The Russian nationals indicted include 12 of the agency’s employees and its alleged financier, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
21) Richard Pinedo: This California man pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge in connection with the Russian indictments, and has agreed to cooperate with Mueller.
22) Alex van der Zwaan: This London lawyer pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates and another unnamed person based in Ukraine.
23) Konstantin Kilimnik: This longtime business associate of Manafort and Gates, who’s currently based in Russia, was chargedalongside Manafort with attempting to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses in Manafort’s pending case this year.
Two ex-Trump advisers lied to the FBI about their contacts with Russians
Michael Flynn Mario Tama/Getty
So far, no Trump associates have been specifically charged with any crimes relating to helping Russia interfere with the 2016 election.
The closest we’ve come to that is that both Papadopoulos and Flynn both now admit that they lied to the FBI about their contacts with people connected to the Russian government. (Papadopoulos’s contacts took place before the election, and Flynn’s after it.)
Papadopoulos: Back in April 2016, Papadopoulos got a tip from a foreign professor he understood to have Russian government connections that the Russians had “dirt” on Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.” He then proceeded to have extensive contacts with the professor and a Russian woman, during which he tried to plan a Trump campaign trip to Russia.
But when the FBI interviewed Papadopoulos about all this in January 2017, he repeatedly lied about what happened, he now admits. So he was arrested in July, and later agreed to plead guilty to a false statements charge and start cooperating with Mueller’s probe.
Flynn: In December 2016, during the transition, Flynn spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that President Barack Obama had just placed on Russia, and about a planned United Nations Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements.
But when FBI agents interviewed him about all this in January 2017, Flynn lied to them about what his talks with Kislyak entailed, he now admits. In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to a false statements charge and began cooperating with Mueller’s investigation.
The white supremacist/fundamentalist/apocalyptic voters strategically chose the last two Presidents after they dog whistle to them to not uphold the Constitution fully. Even though they gave an oath. This is why you see these meek investigations of mass shootings and bombings to protect them.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
The white supremacist/fundamentalist/apocalyptic voters strategically chose the last two Presidents after they dog whistle to them to not uphold the Constitution fully. Even though they gave an oath. This is why you see these meek investigations of mass shootings and bombings to protect them.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
The white supremacist/fundamentalist/apocalyptic voters strategically chose the last two Presidents after they dog whistle to them to not uphold the Constitution fully. Even though they gave an oath. This is why you see these meek investigations of mass shootings and bombings to protect them.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
The white supremacist/fundamentalist/apocalyptic voters strategically chose the last two Presidents after they dog whistle to them to not uphold the Constitution fully. Even though they gave an oath. This is why you see these meek investigations of mass shootings and bombings to protect them.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
The white supremacist/fundamentalist/apocalyptic voters strategically chose the last two Presidents after they dog whistle to them to not uphold the Constitution fully. Even though they gave an oath. This is why you see these meek investigations of mass shootings and bombings to protect them.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
The white supremacist/fundamentalist/apocalyptic voters strategically chose the last two Presidents after they dog whistle to them to not uphold the Constitution fully. Even though they gave an oath. This is why you see these meek investigations of mass shootings and bombings to protect them.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
I am even having high level white supremacists corporate leaders exposing themselves by giving these vague death threats. How would you like that if you release a product that I do not like because of my beliefs something might happen to you. It sounds stupid and that is what you are.
It is scary that somebody would direct their multi billion company to issue these vague death threats. It shows a link between the mental health of these people and how they treat their workers and decisions about their company which is poor.
I hope they seek help before it is too late. If that does not help, you should step down. The board might need to get more involved to protect their interests.
I am going to start dictating what products can be released to market to other companies, just as they are interfering with my business. If I do want it, I will issue vague death threats. I am the self appointed decider now of what gets made because of what reason?
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Long before Mullen and the House and Senate Committee
Investigations, the Cartoonist had it right, all along:
SEE: https://www.bgol.us/forum/threads/2016-election-dem-autopsy.926523/#post-17288605
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Senate Intelligence Committee agrees Russia tried to help Trump win election
On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee released a report backing up the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia attempted to help President Trump win the 2016 election.
"The Russian effort was extensive and sophisticated, and its goals were to undermine public faith in the democratic process, to hurt Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, and to help Donald Trump," Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the committee's vice chairman, said. The committee is continuing to investigate any collusion that may have happened between Russia and the Trump campaign. Earlier this year, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, led by Trump ally Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), said they determined that some intelligence agencies made errors in their assessment of Russia and its intentions during the election.
Source: Reuters
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On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee released a report backing up the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia attempted to help President Trump win the 2016 election.
"The Russian effort was extensive and sophisticated, and its goals were to undermine public faith in the democratic process, to hurt Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, and to help Donald Trump," Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the committee's vice chairman, said. The committee is continuing to investigate any collusion that may have happened between Russia and the Trump campaign. Earlier this year, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, led by Trump ally Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), said they determined that some intelligence agencies made errors in their assessment of Russia and its intentions during the election.
Source: Reuters
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MAGAnificent!
Needs tiny handcuffs.
Needs tiny handcuffs.
Robert Mueller’s latest indictment is a tad more musical than usual..
The Late Late Show with James Corden
August 17 ·
Robert Mueller’s latest indictment is a tad more musical than usua
The Late Late Show with James Corden
August 17 ·
Robert Mueller’s latest indictment is a tad more musical than usua