SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 12, 2019 21:08:27 GMT -5
Although I find the president’s behavior shocking, I am not shocked, or at least not surprised, at the FBI’s investigative response. The idea that the original and overarching FBI investigation concerned Russia, “period, full stop,” as Jim Baker apparently testified to Congress, and that the investigation then evolved to include the Trump campaign and eventually the president himself, is the expected sequence of events. The Russians have been engaged in election interference of one sort or another for years—even before Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin offered money to Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 election. So one would expect the FBI to be investigating the Russians in connection with the 2016 election and then to follow the evidence where it led. www.lawfareblog.com/why-fbis-investigation-president-was-unavoidableBenjamin Wittes talks to Carrie Cordero, Chuck Rosenberg, David Kris, Jack Goldsmith and Susan Hennessey about the New York Times's report that the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation of Donald Trump after the president fired Director James Comey in May 2017. www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-special-edition-fbis-counterintelligence-investigation-donald-trump
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2019 11:05:27 GMT -5
Smh... Trump just made a public threat towards the family of a witness that will be testifying against him and I guess that's fine?
At this point it's not about Trump, it's about the Republicans in Congress enabling this behavior.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2019 11:24:02 GMT -5
|
|
hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,219
|
Post by hoya9797 on Jan 13, 2019 12:15:21 GMT -5
I wonder what is going to drop next? The recent news seems to be building to something.
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 13, 2019 12:22:07 GMT -5
Smh... Trump just made a public threat towards the family of a witness that will be testifying against him and I guess that's fine? At this point it's not about Trump, it's about the Republicans in Congress enabling this behavior. Obstruction of justice in plain sight. Threatening Cohen's family for Cohen's agreement to testify. 18 USC Section 1803 (a) Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, endeavors to influence, intimidate, or impede any grand or petit juror, or officer in or of any court of the United States, or officer who may be serving at any examination or other proceeding before any United States magistrate judge or other committing magistrate, in the discharge of his duty, or injures any such grand or petit juror in his person or property on account of any verdict or indictment assented to by him, or on account of his being or having been such juror, or injures any such officer, magistrate judge, or other committing magistrate in his person or property on account of the performance of his official duties, or corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b). If the offense under this section occurs in connection with a trial of a criminal case, and the act in violation of this section involves the threat of physical force or physical force, the maximum term of imprisonment which may be imposed for the offense shall be the higher of that otherwise provided by law or the maximum term that could have been imposed for any offense charged in such case.
|
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,834
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Jan 13, 2019 15:19:53 GMT -5
I wonder what is going to drop next? The recent news seems to be building to something. It's the greatest drama of our lifetimes. Ever story seems to be even bigger, but remember, much of this happened two years ago and we're just learning it now. But others have known for a while. The special counsel's office has done what they say could not be done in Washington. They know what we do not know and no one has leaked. Like any good novel, the clues are hidden in plain sight. A casino owner/real estate speculator with liquidity problems owes $300 million to a German bank who launders money for Russia, many of whom invested heavily in these properties. Despite zero political experience, the speculator runs for president as a publicity stunt and hires a campaign chair with ties to oligarchs in Ukraine. Russia sees the stunt as a way to throw a wrench into an election of a longtime adversary on the Democratic side. And like a scene out of Mel Brooks' The Producers, the show becomes an unlikely hit, and Russia now has a man at 16th and Pennsylvania in constant fear of blackmail and willing to say and do whatever he has to in order to keep his house of cards (no pun intended) aloft. A TV network sees this as a ratings bonanza, selling the story at every turn, and places their own executive as a White House confidant. This story makes Biff Tannen's almanac in Back To The Future II look realistic by comparison. Collusion may be the least of DJT's problems. Al Capone was done in not for gangland violence but for unreported taxable income. DJT's won't release his tax statements, but doubtless someone has them. Maybe in Albany. Maybe in Washington. Or maybe at the special counsel's office, the one which has the files of his personal attorney. And next on The Untouchables, 2019: the attorney speaks to Congress. And it won't be Judge Jeannine asking the questions.
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 13, 2019 21:39:49 GMT -5
On Friday, the New York Times reported that “in the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests.” That investigation may well be continuing under the auspices of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. We don’t know what Mueller has learned. But we can look at the key, publicly available evidence that both supports and undercuts this explosive allegation. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/here-are-18-reasons-why-trump-could-be-a-russian-asset/2019/01/13/45b1b250-174f-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?utm_term=.e6ef5785ab99But the truth is that Trump’s connection to Putin has been out in the open for years, long before he decided to run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He has lavished praise on the Russian leader, in many forms of media, since at least 2013, when he speculated on Twitter that Putin might become his “new best friend.” His business relationships with Russia and Russians go back even further, to a 1987 trip to Moscow, which Trump said he made at the invitation of the then-Soviet ambassador. Kremlin state media has been openly promoting him and his political views since at least 2014, when Trump gave an interview to Fox News extravagantly praising the Sochi Winter Olympics. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-putin-revelations-are-nothing-new-why-are-people-so-excited/2019/01/13/a3ab6434-1775-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?utm_term=.030c8cded316
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 14, 2019 7:08:00 GMT -5
"I have nothing to do with Russia, folks." DJT, October 16, 2016 www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-i-have-nothing-to-do-with-russia-folks-792709187907"I had nothing to do with Russia." DJT, February 16, 2017 Manafort is among at least 14 Trump associates who interacted with Russians during the campaign and transition, according to public records and interviews. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/revelations-about-manaforts-2016-interactions-with-russian-associate-show-special-counsels-intense-focus-on-russia-contacts/2019/01/13/0f3733dc-144b-11e9-803c-4ef28312c8b9_story.html?utm_term=.5c20a73cddd5The New York Times’ recent report on an FBI counterintelligence investigation into the president has placed a new focus on the counterintelligence aspect of the Mueller investigation. That story is sourced in part to congressional testimony given by former FBI General Counsel Jim Baker, my colleague at Lawfare. Counterintelligence is a tricky subject to understand. But in an August 2018 Lawfare essay on a different subject—artificial intelligence—Baker provided a useful overview of counterintelligence as a field, which may be helpful to readers seeking to understand both the topic as a whole and the current headlines. “At its core,” he writes, counterintelligence “is about spies and the people who try to catch them.” www.lawfareblog.com/jim-baker-counterintelligence
|
|
hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,219
|
Post by hoya9797 on Jan 14, 2019 10:38:07 GMT -5
I don’t think the world at large is nearly as amazed that the president is a Russian agent as they should be. This is bananas.
|
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,477
|
Post by TC on Jan 14, 2019 10:48:03 GMT -5
I don’t think the world at large is nearly as amazed that the president is a Russian agent as they should be. This is bananas. I think we've basically known it since 2016 but too many people didn't want to admit it.
|
|
hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,219
|
Post by hoya9797 on Jan 14, 2019 10:56:39 GMT -5
It’s not news in the sense that none of the information was out there til now. But, with the pieces coming together and the story taking real shape, I don’t know why this isn’t the only thing anyone can talk about. That’s rhetorical since I know why the republicans are avoiding it but still. This is incredible.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2019 12:10:23 GMT -5
Most disappointing is how the Republicans on the Hill are reacting. Look at Lindsey Graham for instance. We already knew Trump was an unrepentant liar and conman who is only loyal to himself..
Party over Country.
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 14, 2019 12:16:27 GMT -5
Most disappointing is how the Republicans on the Hill are reacting. Look at Lindsey Graham for instance. We already knew Trump was an unrepentant liar and conman who is only loyal to himself.. Party over Country. GOP as compromised as Trump. We are witnessing Russia's most successful covert intelligence op in history. And traitorous Republicans are complicit and similarly compromised.
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 14, 2019 14:57:22 GMT -5
|
|
njhoya78
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,801
|
Post by njhoya78 on Jan 14, 2019 16:21:31 GMT -5
It does beg the question...just how many sitting GOP members of Congress (in the House and in the Senate) were recipients of Russian funding through the NRA??? Why else would they be so dismissive of inquiry as to Russian influence on the 2016 election?
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 14, 2019 16:31:38 GMT -5
It does beg the question...just how many sitting GOP members of Congress (in the House and in the Senate) were recipients of Russian funding through the NRA??? Why else would they be so dismissive of inquiry as to Russian influence on the 2016 election? In the 2016 election, the NRA spent $11,438,118 to support Donald Trump’s campaign and donated $19,756,346 to groups opposing Hillary Clinton’s. However, the bulk of the contributions have gone to House and Senate members. Here is a look at the top 10 recipients of NRA contributions. www.ajc.com/news/national/senators-house-members-who-offered-condolences-after-shooting-called-out-for-donations-from-nra/tpitHXUY9jDH3pr4f7f7cM/Here is the list of ALL (Dems and GOP but as one would suspect overwhelming GOP) of the recipients: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-7PdCI2NawSgP1QE-cGYVYedetYqepR-4jBweaJyqFo/edit#gid=1782600961The National Rifle Association’s overall spending surged by more than $100 million in 2016, surpassing any previous annual NRA spending totals on record, according to an audit obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics. The explosion in spending came as the NRA poured unprecedented amounts of money into efforts to deliver Donald Trump the White House and help Republicans hold both houses of Congress. The audit filed with the state of North Carolina shows that the NRA’s total expenditures exploded to more than $419 million, up from $312 million the prior year. www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/11/audit-shows-nra-spending-surged-100-million-amidst-pro-trump-push-in-2016/$5,900,000 given to Republicans in 2016 election cycle $106,000 given to Democrats in 2016 election cycle www.politico.com/interactives/2017/gun-lobbying-spending-in-america-congress/This week, however, a new possibility came into focus. Perhaps, rather than covering for Trump, some Republicans are covering for themselves. If the N.R.A. as an organization turns out to be compromised, it would shake conservative politics to its foundation. And this is no longer a far-fetched possibility. “I serve on both the Intelligence Committee and the Finance Committee,” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, told me. “So I have a chance to really look at this through the periscope of both committees. And what I have wondered about for some time is this whole issue of whether the N.R.A. is getting subverted as a Russian asset.” www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/opinion/republican-party-national-rifle-association-trump-russia.html
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 14, 2019 19:50:26 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2019 9:48:31 GMT -5
So in addition to advocating before DOJ and sharing his views with WH counsel, Barr shared his memo with Trump's personal attorneys (including Kasowitz's firm), Kushner's attorney, and Pence's attorney. He was essentially a member of the president's legal defense team.
SMH....
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,071
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 15, 2019 10:01:59 GMT -5
|
|
hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,423
|
Post by hoyarooter on Jan 15, 2019 20:20:59 GMT -5
|
|