Haven't been able to read them yet but a bunch of Felix Sater stories just hit.

A bit too Clinton-conspiracyish for me but we'll see if it goes anywhere.

2/20/2017 8:16:27 AM

Quote :

"I think they're talking about that time Obama was caught on a hot mic telling Medvedev he would have more flexibility after his 2012 reelection."

That's what the one dude in this thread said, not realizing that Obama was the sitting president when he said that, but I'm talking about people who keep mentioning Obama's ambassador during the transition in 2008

2/20/2017 9:37:12 AM

^^

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cohen-shifts-into-damage-control

Story is still changing as of sometime late last night.

The problem is, as with most of these little "off-shoot" stories about Trump/Russia, is this guy could just be another scum-bag, hanger-on trying to get noticed by Trump, or he potentially could be THE linchpin that spills the beans and unravels the entire story. Very frustrating.

2/20/2017 12:20:19 PM

another russian diplomat dies in the US

2/20/2017 12:46:52 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/20/politics/corey-lewandowski-paul-manafort-russians/index.html

Ah, now that the lies about no one contacting them were found out we have moved on to stage two. Plausible deniability. This one is likely to be a tough one to crack.

2/20/2017 1:16:21 PM

http://abc11.com/news/senate-committee-asks-agencies-to-preserve-documents-related-to-russia-investigation/1762744/

Quote :

" STEPHANIE EBBS Monday, February 20, 2017 09:06AM The Senate Intelligence Committee sent letters to at least a dozen agencies, individuals and organizations on Friday directing them to preserve records and information related to the committee's investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, according to a Senate aide. Both the House and Senate intelligence committees previously announced investigations focused on Russian interference in the election. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, said last week the committee would "aggressively" continue its oversight of possible contact between the Trump campaign and transition teams with Russian government officials. "We will cast a wide net to look at individuals who can provide us additional insight into what went on," Burr told reporters on Tuesday. Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee also called on the White House, Department of Justice and FBI to preserve documents related to the investigations last week. Democrats asked White House Counsel Don McGahn to confirm that White House and Trump staff are being told to preserve all materials related to contacts with Russia. It's possible that the committee will call on Gen. Mike Flynn to testify in the investigation. Flynn recently resigned as National Security Adviser after reports surfaced that he discussed sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition and possibly misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of that conversation. Related Topics:"

2/20/2017 1:56:29 PM

At this point it's no different from any other mob style investigation. Get something prosecutable on someone in the know, offer them immunity in exchange for turning heel.

2/20/2017 2:10:03 PM

Trump administration 'had a secret plan to lift Russian sanctions' and cede Ukraine territory to Moscow
Senior Trump aides met with an opposition politician from Ukraine in New York
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-russia-sanctions-secret-plan-ukraine-michael-cohen-a7590441.html

Quote :

"President Trump’s personal lawyer and a former business associate met privately in New York City last month with a member of the Ukrainian parliament to discuss a peace plan for that country that could give Russia long-term control over territory it seized in 2014 and lead to the lifting of sanctions against Moscow. The meeting with Andrii V. Artemenko, the Ukrainian politician, involved Michael Cohen, a Trump Organisation lawyer since 2007, and Felix Sater, a former business partner who worked on real estate projects with Trump’s company. The occurrence of the meeting, first reported Sunday by the New York Times, suggests that some in the region aligned with Russia have been seeking to use Trump business associates as an informal conduit to a new president who has signaled a desire to forge warmer relations with Russia. The discussion took place amid increasingly intense scrutiny of the ties between Trump’s team and Russia, as well as escalating investigations on Capitol Hill of the determination by U.S. intelligence agencies that the Kremlin intervened in last year’s election to help Trump. The Times reported that Cohen said he left the proposal in a sealed envelope in the office of then-national security adviser Michael T. Flynn while visiting Trump in the White House. The meeting took place days before Flynn’s resignation last week following a report in The Washington Post that he had misled Vice President Pence about his discussions in December of election-related sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Cohen, speaking with The Post on Sunday, acknowledged that the meeting took place and that he had left with the peace proposal in hand. But Cohen said he did not take the envelope to the White House and did not discuss it with anyone. He called suggestions to the contrary “fake news.” “I acknowledge that the brief meeting took place, but emphatically deny discussing this topic or delivering any documents to the White House and/or General Flynn,” Cohen said. He said he told the Ukrainian official that he could send the proposal to Flynn by writing him at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The Times stood by its story Sunday. “Mr. Cohen told the Times in no uncertain terms that he delivered the Ukraine proposal to Michael Flynn’s office at the White House. Mr. Sater told the Times that Mr. Cohen had told him the same thing,” Matt Purdy, a deputy managing editor, said in a statement to the Post. [...] con't "

2/20/2017 7:02:05 PM

2/21/2017 8:18:14 AM

Quote :

"Ah, now that the lies about no one contacting them were found out we have moved on to stage two. Plausible deniability. This one is likely to be a tough one to crack."

Stage three will be their great go-to line: who cares, we should be more focused on the leakers.

2/21/2017 12:13:50 PM

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-russia-ukraine-peace-plan-2017-2

2/22/2017 9:46:32 AM

So this thread is the leftist hack equivalent of the Clinton email scandal?

(minus the scandal, and deletion of evidence under subpoena without consequence... but what you lack in actual evidence you make up for with media narratives)

2/22/2017 11:08:03 AM

We should look into this!

2/22/2017 11:09:50 AM

Quote :

"(minus the scandal, and deletion of evidence under subpoena without consequence... but what you lack in actual evidence you make up for with media narratives willingness of Congressional "Law and Order" Republicans to investigate it.)"

[Edited on February 22, 2017 at 11:12 AM. Reason : FIFY, D-BAG]

2/22/2017 11:12:18 AM

Manafort faced blackmail attempt, hacks suggest
Stolen texts appear to show threats to expose relations between Russia-friendly forces, Trump and his former campaign chairman.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/paul-manafort-blackmail-russia-trump-235275



[facts]
Leshchenko said the text and note is fake, not sent from him
Manafort confirmed the text and note is real, he said he also received similar messages and gave them to his lawyer. He said they were sent shortly before the expose that showed $12.7 million in payments to Manafort. Manafort denied receiving off-book payments

2/23/2017 10:38:06 AM

^that is a pretty confusing article to read. I think with respect to this one, I'll wait until it's hashed out more (if it is) and comes out in a more official manner.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/trump-lawyer-ukraine-peace-deal/index.html

2/23/2017 4:08:34 PM

One thing people forget about this whole praising of Putin thing is that it didn't start with Donald Trump. Tea Party types have been heaping praise on Putin for years, comparing him favorably to Obama. Trump just took that praise and upped to to 11.

2/23/2017 4:18:43 PM

Yea, we need to investigate all the Republicans and their connections with Russia... apparently George Bush was in contact with Russia during his presidency... Scandal EXPOSED????

2/23/2017 4:22:56 PM

^^ with as astroturfed as the tea party was, I'm wondering if there were parties inside encouraging that belief

2/23/2017 4:49:13 PM

Of all the weird shit going on, the right poopooing this is blowing my mind the most.

2/23/2017 5:36:38 PM

A right wing government or ideology aligning itself with Russia doesn't make much sense from a historical perspective, but it kinda fits the American conservative movement today. Modern Russia isn't communist, it's the closest thing to the white nationalist and Christian social conservative society the right dreams of.

2/23/2017 5:56:51 PM

^

Also: http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/fbi-refused-white-house-request-to-knock-down-recent-trump-russia-stories/index.html

[Edited on February 23, 2017 at 6:27 PM. Reason : asdf]

2/23/2017 6:19:41 PM

Quote :

"apparently George Bush was in contact with Russia during his presidency... Scandal EXPOSED????"

Are you short-circuiting?

2/23/2017 6:59:49 PM

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/feb/22/all-possible-ties-between-trump-and-russia/

Decent link for keeping track.

2/25/2017 10:01:11 PM

If you believe in oversight, it's time to give Richard "I'm wiretapping you" Burr a call.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article134969844.html

He's been talking/coordinating/something with the whitehouse during his cmtes "independent" investigation.

2/27/2017 8:54:32 AM

Quote :

"Hse Intel Cmte Chair Nunes says "major crimes" were committed in leak scandal"

Jesus Christ can someone teach Trump and Nunes the definition of mutually exclusive? The Russian links are not true and there is no evidence can be stated but it cannot be followed by major crimes were committed by the those who leaked Trump-Russia connections.

[Edited on February 27, 2017 at 11:47 AM. Reason : X]

2/27/2017 11:47:41 AM

Good summary of spicer trying to bury the russia story

Quote :

"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer personally picked up the phone and connected outside officials with reporters to try to discredit a New York Times article about Trump campaign aides' contact with Russia, then remained on the line for the brief conversations, Axios has learned. Ten key points: 1. Why it matters: The new details show how determined the West Wing was to rebut a front-page Times report on Feb. 15 that Trump campaign aides "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election." 2. Who was involved: The officials reached by Spicer were CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr (R-N.C), according to a senior administration official. The reporters were from The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, the official said. Spicer provided reporters' phone numbers to House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who offered to make the calls himself, according to the official: "He was in and out of an event." 3. When did this happen? On Feb. 15, when the two-column lead of the Times print edition, which Trump reads carefully, declared: "Trump Aides Had Contact With Russian Intelligence: U.S. Officials Tell of a Flurry of Phone Calls Intercepted Before the Election." An FBI official had volunteered privately to the White House that the story was "B.S." (but used the full word). When the FBI didn't immediately agree to tell that to the press, the White House tried to find other officials who would convey that idea to inquiring reporters. 4. What the White House was thinking: Spicer declined to comment. The official said Spicer didn't know at the time whether an investigation of Trumpworld contacts with Russia was underway, and was trying to make sure the connections were made before evening deadlines. "We'd been getting incoming all day," the official said. "Ironically, the White House was actually encouraging people with direct knowledge of the accuracy of the Times story to discuss it with other reporters." 5. The backdrop: Top White House officials tell us they're authentically confident that the Russia smoke won't lead to fire, and are even happy to have their opponents distracted by the issue. "For over six months, we have heard about these alleged contacts with Russia," the official said. "And yet, … with all the leaks have have come out, there's no 'there' there." 6. What was said on the calls: Pompeo and Burr told the journalists that the Times story wasn't true but provided no details, frustrating the competing reporters, according to the official: "Both of them said: All I can tell you is the story is not accurate." 7. What we don't know: Our sources weren't sure exactly how many calls were made, or which official talked to which reporter. 8. Why this is unusual: Intelligence officials from the Obama administration said it's rare for the CIA director to talk directly to a single journalist – that in the past, the director usually was held in reserve to talk to a publisher or executive editor in a case where a news organization was contemplating publishing something that could harm national security. 9. What we knew before: The Washington Post reported the pushback operation on Friday night under the headline: "Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories." 10. The reaction: Some Democrats were already arguing that Russian involvement in the election should be investigated by a special prosecutor or outside, 9/11-style commission, rather than the congressional intelligence committees. George Little, a top CIA and Pentagon spokesman under President Obama, told us: "It's doubtful that Congress can conduct an objective and independent investigation into ties between this White House and the Russian government if it is collaborating so closely on media pushback with the White House press secretary.""

https://www.axios.com/exclusive-spicer-arranged-sat-in-on-cia-gop-intelligence-push-back-2288082248.html

2/27/2017 12:39:30 PM

Trump’s pick for commerce leaves Russia questions unanswered
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article135001434.html

Quote :

"Ross, a wealthy business turnaround artist, has not responded to a Feb. 16 letter from six Democratic senators asking him to explain his relationship with several Russian oligarchs who hold stakes in the once-troubled foreign bank. "

Quote :

"Ross, who turns 80 in November and was a Democrat for much of his life, is a billionaire who has turned around high-profile companies in the steel, coal, textiles and auto-parts sectors. His manufacturing acumen is more relevant to his appointment as commerce secretary. More recently, he led a rescue of Bank of Cyprus in September 2014 after the Cypriot government — in consultation with Russian President Vladimir Putin — first propped up the institution. “Cyprus banks have a long and painful history of laundering dirty money from Russians involved with corruption and criminality,” said Elise Bean, a former Senate investigator who specialized in combating money laundering and tax evasion. “Buying a Cyprus bank necessarily raises red flags about suspect deposits, high-risk clients and hidden activities.” The Russian business and government elite have often sought financial security in the Mediterranean island’s banking system. Oligarch Dmitry Ryvoloviev took a nearly 10 percent stake in Bank of Cyprus in 2010. Two years earlier, amid the U.S. financial crisis when real-estate prices were softening, Ryvoloviev purchased Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion for $95 million. The transaction generated questions because of its inflated market price, about $60 million more than Trump had paid for the Florida property four years earlier. When Europe’s debt crisis spread and affected Cyprus in 2012 and 2013, that nation’s second biggest bank, Laiki Bank, was closed. The government imposed losses on uninsured deposits, many belonging to Russians. "

Quote :

"Six Democratic senators, led by Florida’s Bill Nelson, asked for details about his relationship with big Russian shareholders in Bank of Cyprus, including Viktor Vekselberg, a longtime Putin ally, and Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, a former vice chairman of Bank of Cyprus and a former KGB agent believed to be a Putin associate. "

Quote :

"Ross was involved with Russia during the 1990s when President Bill Clinton appointed him to serve on the U.S-Russia Investment Fund. The U.S. government set up an investment fund in 1995 to help push the new Russian nation toward a free-market economy after the Soviet Union collapsed. The fund was converted to a nonprofit corporation in 2008 and many of its assets sold off. The banking investments were purchased by a subsidiary of German financial giant Deutsche Bank, led at the time by Josef Ackermann. Ross asked Ackermann to serve as chairman of the reconstituted Bank of Cyprus after his 2014 investment. Ackermann left Deutsche Bank in 2012. The bank paid $7.2 billion in fines last year to the U.S. government over toxic mortgages it packaged and sold between 2005 and 2007. And last month, the bank agreed to pay almost $630 million to regulators in London and New York to end investigations into complex stock trades in Russia between 2011 and 2015. "

Quote :

"Many in Putin’s inner circle were tied to foreign shell companies that received payments through Russian Commercial Bank in Cyprus and other bank operations there. In fact, Cyprus appears more than half a million times in the roughly 11.5 million files that make up the Panama Papers. "

How many more questions do there need to be before republicans want to investigate this?

[Edited on February 27, 2017 at 3:23 PM. Reason : ,]

2/27/2017 3:20:57 PM

The only question they're asking themselves is "how do we pin this on Obama?"

2/27/2017 3:34:31 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-intelligence-chairman-denies-evidence-of-trump-teams-ties-to-russia/2017/02/27/66495ce8-fcfd-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?utm_term=.0d2819ed3b34

Just a few relevant excerpts:

Quote :

"House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes denied on Monday morning that there was any evidence from the intelligence community of contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives. “As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist. .?.?. What I’ve been told by many folks is that there’s nothing there,” Nunes (R-Calif.) said. Nunes contended there was no need at this time for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of contact between Russian officials and Trump campaign aides. Instead, the Republican said that the “major crimes” that have been committed are leaking to the news media on the subject of Russia, as well as other accounts of what should be confidential dealings with the Trump White House, including calls with foreign leaders like the Australian prime minister. Democrats pushed back forcefully on the idea that conclusions could be drawn even before the investigation has really gotten up and running. In a Monday afternoon news conference, top Intelligence Committee Democrat Adam Schiff (Calif.) argued Nunes’s conclusions are “premature.” Schiff pointed to the fact that the committee has not yet received any documents, called any witnesses, or even released the final agreement about the scope of its investigation. Schiff said he expects that framework to be announced later on Monday. “When you begin an investigation, you don’t begin by stating what you believe to be the conclusion,” Schiff told reporters. Over Nunes’s objections, Schiff is angling for the committee to receive transcripts of Flynn’s conversations with Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was asked to leave the White House after it was revealed he misled Vice President Pence about discussing sanctions with Kislyak before Trump’s inauguration. In a morning news conference, Nunes rejected the idea that former senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) — a close Trump adviser during the campaign who is now attorney general — should recuse himself from any Justice Department probe on the topic. The GOP chairman confirmed that he was one of the lawmakers to whom the White House turned to combat a New York Times story saying there were frequent contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. That report mentioned Flynn, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former campaign aide Carter Page, as well as Trump associate Roger Stone. The chairman also took issue with the definition of sanctions — which were imposed on Russia in 2014 for the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s involvement in Ukraine — saying that in his view, Flynn was not discussing official sanctions in his conversations with Kislyak but rather the “petty” retaliation against such officials by Obama."

2/27/2017 6:49:20 PM

Obama sat on everything because he thought Clinton was a shoe-in.

So fucking naive about certain things to the final seconds.

3/1/2017 9:11:40 PM

^not really true

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html

3/1/2017 9:19:17 PM

So sessions lied to congress in a confirmation hearing about his talks with Russia... and this is the guy lecturing everyone else about law and order?

I'd be livid if I was a congressmen, this basically completely undermines the body.

3/1/2017 9:32:24 PM

^the lying is simply amazing.

Quote :

"In January, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) asked Sessions for answers to written questions. “Several of the President-elect’s nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?” Leahy wrote. Sessions responded with one word: “No.”"

Quote :

"Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general. One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator’s office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-ambassador-during-trumps-presidential-campaign-justice-officials-say/2017/03/01/77205eda-feac-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.5054c2db6b5c

3/1/2017 10:20:29 PM

Powerful member of Congress meets with Foreign Leader...STOP THE PRESSES!!!

https://www.shaheen.senate.gov/news/press/senators-shaheen-murphy-host-meeting-of-senators-and-regional-ambassadors-to-discuss-the-crisis-in-syria

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/top-us-lawmakers-meet-ambassador-navtej-sarna-push-for-greater-indo-us-ties-1633141

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/feb/21/blog-posting/did-john-mccain-violate-logan-act-call-australian-/

and then there's this:

3/1/2017 10:47:31 PM

^Did that powerful representative lie about meeting with said individual in a congressional hearing?

[Edited on March 1, 2017 at 10:50 PM. Reason : a]

3/1/2017 10:49:49 PM

lol at brushing off perjury

Trump had thousands of people chanting "lock her up" for less

3/2/2017 12:26:38 AM

Unfortunately its not clear if he perjured himself because the question was too specific. If someone had asked if he had any discussions with the Russians on any topic and he still said no it would have been perjury


Its still clear though that he intentionally misled with his answer and he should resign.

And lol, does kdogg think those examples are similar?

3/2/2017 6:39:30 AM

They are scared. They are pushing out statement after statement. Trump reading from a script and not fucking that up too much made him JFK for a day. Now we are back to reality.

3/2/2017 6:45:04 AM

The question was specifically regarding discussions with Russia in connection with the 2016 campaign.

He was in the Armed Services Committee. He's going to be talking to various foreign diplomats. As a matter of fact, he spoke with 26 last year. Plus, his meetings with the Russian ambassador were listed on his public calendar.

This isn't like some insider leak of information. The info was right there for everyone to see.

3/2/2017 8:51:18 AM

There's also this exchange:

https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/837128474540322816

Al Franken:

Quote :

"... if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?"

Jeff Sessions:

Quote :

"... I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I didn't have - not have communications with the Russians... and I'm unable to comment on it."

It's interesting that Al Franken wasn't asking Jeff Sessions whether he personally had communications with Russians but rather what he would do if anyone affiliated with the campaign did, yet Jeff Sessions answered the question as if he had been asked about his own communications.

3/2/2017 8:55:25 AM

^and more importantly, he was actually a campaign advisor. So, yes, he was in scope when that question was asked.

3/2/2017 8:57:47 AM

Sessions is red meat but the NYT article was more important last night.

3/2/2017 9:11:25 AM

Quote :

"Sessions last year had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian and German ambassadors, in addition to Kislyak."

But muh narrative!

3/2/2017 9:33:55 AM

if he lied about talking to any of those under oath its also perjury


and per sessions himself, perjury is serious and no one is above the law
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/837155176116973568/video/1

3/2/2017 9:41:33 AM

While this is probably a nothing story for Trump-Russia collusion, he should have been much more clear in that deposition. Admitting that you have had contact with Russians in the scope of his job, unrelated to the Trump campaign, looks a lot better than flatly denying it and then having it come back to bite him later like it is now.

3/2/2017 9:44:33 AM

Is it possible that he just had a bunch of conversations with dozens of ambassadors and just forgot about having had those two? Sure it is. But maybe he was trying to squash suspicion of being connected to a treasonous conspiracy involving Russia designed to elect Donald Trump? Who knows? We're just asking questions.

3/2/2017 9:51:49 AM

^^^ isn't it quite hard to determine intent?

I'm sure the hack four posts up would agree which is why he was OK with Comey not recommending charges against Clinton due to lack of intent.

[Edited on March 2, 2017 at 9:54 AM. Reason : Foval foval immunity candy something something]

3/2/2017 9:53:16 AM

^^^and Sessions HAD to know that. Be honest and more of us would look on a lot of the Russian contacts as just coincidence, instead the entire administration is just in flat out denial mode, as if they think that will work at this point.

I say waterboard every Trump surrogate associated with the campaign until we get the truth, I'm sick of the slow drip and unsubstantiated reports.

[Edited on March 2, 2017 at 9:59 AM. Reason : Surely this destroys any arguments against a special prosecuter]

3/2/2017 9:53:37 AM

Reminds me of the time Hillary sold 20% of our Uranium to Russia

3/2/2017 9:58:38 AM