http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-russia-trump-idUSKBN14U2QZ
Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him
By Jonathan Landay and John Walcott | WASHINGTON. |. Tue Jan 10, 2017 | 10:27pm EST
...
... The official said investigators so far have been unable to confirm the material about Trump financial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in the reports produced by the former British intelligence officer has proved to be erroneous, the official said.
The FBI declined comment.
SURFACED LAST YEAR
The charges that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump were presented to the FBI and other U.S. government officials last summer and have been circulating for months.
The FBI initially took the material seriously, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, which was first reported by CNN.
However, the FBI failed to act on the material, and the former British intelligence officer broke off contact about three weeks before the November election, they said ...
The warning of information about Russia's compromising claims follows growing U.S. intelligence and law enforcement concerns about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called "multifaceted" Russian influence and espionage operations in Europe and the United States.
In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial and other information on persons of interest, U.S. intelligence officials said. ...
...
Also
Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-intelligence.htmlTrump Trapped In His Lies Keeps Lying, Sad.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/opinion/trump-trapped-in-his-lies-keeps-lying-sad.html
It will be interesting watching this develop.
{corrected my title}
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-russia-trump-idUSKBN14U2QZ
Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him
By Jonathan Landay and John Walcott | WASHINGTON. |. Tue Jan 10, 2017 | 10:27pm EST
...
... The official said investigators so far have been unable to confirm the material about Trump financial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in the reports produced by the former British intelligence officer has proved to be erroneous, the official said.
The FBI declined comment.
SURFACED LAST YEAR
The charges that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump were presented to the FBI and other U.S. government officials last summer and have been circulating for months.
The FBI initially took the material seriously, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, which was first reported by CNN.
However, the FBI failed to act on the material, and the former British intelligence officer broke off contact about three weeks before the November election, they said ...
The warning of information about Russia's compromising claims follows growing U.S. intelligence and law enforcement concerns about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called "multifaceted" Russian influence and espionage operations in Europe and the United States.
In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial and other information on persons of interest, U.S. intelligence officials said. ...
...
Also
Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-intelligence.htmlTrump Trapped In His Lies Keeps Lying, Sad.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/opinion/trump-trapped-in-his-lies-keeps-lying-sad.html
It will be interesting watching this develop.
If Trump and his henchmen have their way--and it looks as if they will--nothing will develop. Everything will be swept under the rug.
If Trump and his henchmen have their way--and it looks as if they will--nothing will develop. Everything will be swept under the rug.
Lois no time for fatalism, we are down to the last ditch brass knuckles fights now.
You are probably right and we are at the start of the slow disintegration of our American government and way - nut just Trump's insanity though that will certainly throttle the process.
I say this because we got this climate monster wild card, in the end that's going to be calling all the shots and we won't be able to hold together as a nation.
It'll become fracture and regionalized, possible along Wesley Powell's watershed dictated borders.
The democracy wild card is enough people get informed, outraged and proactive. Have you call your Senator lately, no matter Democrat or Republican, if they hear from overwhelming numbers of people, it does make a difference.
Besides that's all the life-line you have, you grab it. :-) stiff upper lip and all.
115 Congress
Demand that Washington DC Hears YOU! - Representatives phone list
Demand that Washington DC Hears YOU!
Representatives’ phone and address list http://www.house.gov/representatives/
For the phone list of US Senators
link to https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
One pundit had it right - if this was just run of the mill unsubstantiated info it wouldn’t be brought to the attention of the President. I’m sure though that the “peaceful transition of power” argument that seems so in the news lately will squelch this story in no time flat. Can you imagine the unrest if Trump was removed or resigned before even being sworn in, even if it was his own Rethugs who threw him out?
One pundit had it right - if this was just run of the mill unsubstantiated info it wouldn't be brought to the attention of the President. I'm sure though that the "peaceful transition of power" argument that seems so in the news lately will squelch this story in no time flat. Can you imagine the unrest if Trump was removed or resigned before even being sworn in, even if it was his own Rethugs who threw him out?
Did you catch the press conference. I came in late, caught the lawyer explaining how Trump’s business empire would be handle. On the face of it, seems smart.
It gave a hint of rationality. Then Trump stepped up. Oh shit, :grrr:
This man sounds like he wants to divide our country as much as possible.
It’s him and his, and the rest of us are mortal enemies. Does not bode well for our collective future. :down:
Then there was Tillerson telling us we knew global warming was happening, but no one knows if it’s going to hurt us very much. :ahhh:
What is Godwin’s Law and how has Trump used it by referencing Nazi Germany on Twitter?
Imogen Groome for Metro.co.uk - Wednesday, Jan 11, 2017
http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/11/what-is-godwins-law-and-how-has-trump-used-it-by-referencing-nazi-germany-on-twitter-6375699/
If Trump and his henchmen have their way--and it looks as if they will--nothing will develop. Everything will be swept under the rug.
Lois no time for fatalism, we are down to the last ditch brass knuckles fights now.
You are probably right and we are at the start of the slow disintegration of our American government and way - nut just Trump's insanity though that will certainly throttle the process.
I say this because we got this climate monster wild card, in the end that's going to be calling all the shots and we won't be able to hold together as a nation.
It'll become fracture and regionalized, possible along Wesley Powell's watershed dictated borders.
The democracy wild card is enough people get informed, outraged and proactive. Have you call your Senator lately, no matter Democrat or Republican, if they hear from overwhelming numbers of people, it does make a difference.
Besides that's all the life-line you have, you grab it. :-) stiff upper lip and all.
115 Congress
Demand that Washington DC Hears YOU! - Representatives phone list
Demand that Washington DC Hears YOU!
Representatives’ phone and address list http://www.house.gov/representatives/
For the phone list of but I do call.US Senators
link to https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
I do make calls regularly. Not sure it's making any difference, especially when the Senator or representative is another Trump ass kisser but I do call.
One pundit had it right - if this was just run of the mill unsubstantiated info it wouldn't be brought to the attention of the President. I'm sure though that the "peaceful transition of power" argument that seems so in the news lately will squelch this story in no time flat. Can you imagine the unrest if Trump was removed or resigned before even being sworn in, even if it was his own Rethugs who threw him out?
It's worth doing, though. I say go for it. We'll have countrywide unrest whether he's thrown out or not. I think leaving him in is the worse of two evils.
Did you catch the press conference. I came in late, caught the lawyer explaining how Trump's business empire would be handle. On the face of it, seems smart.
It gave a hint of rationality. Then Trump stepped up. Oh shit, :grrr:
This man sounds like he wants to divide our country as much as possible.
It's him and his, and the rest of us are mortal enemies. Does not bode well for our collective future. :down:
Then there was Tillerson telling us we knew global warming was happening, but no one knows if it's going to hurt us very much. :ahhh:
What is Godwin’s Law and how has Trump used it by referencing Nazi Germany on Twitter?
Imogen Groome for Metro.co.uk - Wednesday, Jan 11, 2017
http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/11/what-is-godwins-law-and-how-has-trump-used-it-by-referencing-nazi-germany-on-twitter-6375699/
Tillerson takes the same position a lot of Republicans take--there may well be global warming--it just isn't caused by the burning of fossil fuels or human-caused pollution. Rampant capitalism and the rape of the earth has nothing to do with it. It's "natural" and humans can't stop it, so all "green talk", which interferes with capitalistic exploitation of the earth, is wasted and interferes with profits. Ask any climate denier. If they agree that climate change exists at all, this is how they will frame it. Tillerson is no different. Don't be misled by his blather about how "we knew global warming was happening". He will never admit it has anything to do with human activity or that modifying it will make any difference.
And his lawyers’ financial plan, doesn’t look so good on second blush, (What can I say, I do try to give folks the benefit of the doubt.)
But then folks that understanding these matters step up and spell out some of the details, and niggling doubts become substantiated and defined.
(Maybe it was just that soothing authoritative female voice that suckered me into wanting to hope.)
Published on
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
byCommon Dreams
Nation's First "For-Profit President" as Trump Refuses To DivestTrump holds first post-election presser, confirming plans to hand over control of corporate empire to sons
by Nadia Prupis
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/11/nations-first-profit-president-trump-refuses-divest
One of those organizations was Common Cause, whose vice president for policy and litigation Paul S. Ryan said Wednesday, "President-elect Trump's planned arrangement with the Trump Organization falls far short of what's necessary to avoid conflicts of interest and Emoluments Clause violations that will dog his administration and severely undermine the public's faith in government."
Lisa Gilbert, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division, continued, "Trump's announcement today fails on all levels. Hiring a trustee doesn't insulate him from knowing what he owns—this arrangement involves neither the needed divestment of his assets nor the creation of a truly blind trust to manage the proceeds. Further, his sons will remain involved with the trust and there is no such thing as a firewall at family dinners."
Weissman added, "These pervasive conflicts will affect matters from consumer protection to bankruptcy law, labor rights to tax policy, as well as foreign policy. Americans deserve a president who works for them, without regard to how policy will affect the president's own bottom line. Instead, we are on the verge of witnessing the first for-profit president."
In other moments, Trump offered journalists a tense glimpse into an antagonistic future as he shouted down CNN's Jake Acosta and called Buzzfeed a "failing pile of garbage" for publishing an unverified dossier about his relationship with Russia. ...
I do make calls regularly. Not sure it's making any difference, especially when the Senator or representative is another Trump ass kisser but I do call.
I wonder if that isn't better than my situation with the wishy-washy Democrat Senator Bennet - if these Trump ass-kissers start getting their ears full of rationalists in opposition to Trump's madness, at least it will put them on notice and perhaps loosen some of their resolve. Guess it depends on how much of an ass-kisser he is, does he do it out of love for Trump's hatefulness and agenda, or because of political expediency?
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-russia-trump-idUSKBN14U2QZ
Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him
By Jonathan Landay and John Walcott | WASHINGTON. |. Tue Jan 10, 2017 | 10:27pm EST
...
... The official said investigators so far have been unable to confirm the material about Trump financial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in the reports produced by the former British intelligence officer has proved to be erroneous, the official said.
The FBI declined comment.
SURFACED LAST YEAR
The charges that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump were presented to the FBI and other U.S. government officials last summer and have been circulating for months.
The FBI initially took the material seriously, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, which was first reported by CNN.
However, the FBI failed to act on the material, and the former British intelligence officer broke off contact about three weeks before the November election, they said ...
The warning of information about Russia's compromising claims follows growing U.S. intelligence and law enforcement concerns about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called "multifaceted" Russian influence and espionage operations in Europe and the United States.
In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial and other information on persons of interest, U.S. intelligence officials said. ...
...
Also
Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-intelligence.htmlTrump Trapped In His Lies Keeps Lying, Sad.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/opinion/trump-trapped-in-his-lies-keeps-lying-sad.html
It will be interesting watching this develop.
{corrected my title}
If we survive it. If America survives it. If the world survives it. I'd prefer to watch something a little less "interesting".?
I do make calls regularly. Not sure it's making any difference, especially when the Senator or representative is another Trump ass kisser but I do call.
I wonder if that isn't better than my situation with the wishy-washy Democrat Senator Bennet - if these Trump ass-kissers start getting their ears full of rationalists in opposition to Trump's madness, at least it will put them on notice and perhaps loosen some of their resolve. Guess it depends on how much of an ass-kisser he is, does he do it out of love for Trump's hatefulness and agenda, or because of political expediency?
Either way it's damaging to the people and the government.
Lois
Mike Flynn at risk of Russian blackmail, Sally Yates warned White House
Former acting attorney general testifies to warning counsel that the then national security adviser was susceptible to blackmail by Russia on 26 January
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/08/sally-yates-trump-russia-michael-flynn-blackmail-compromised
... McGahn also asked whether Flynn’s actions could lead to criminal prosecution and whether White House action against him would interfere with FBI investigations.
Yates said she could not speak about statutes under which Flynn might be prosecuted without revealing classified information about the investigation, but she told McGahn that any White House action on Flynn would not interfere with the FBI investigation as he had already been interviewed.
Lastly, McGahn asked Yates whether he or his staff could come to the justice department to review classified evidence of Flynn’s conduct. Yates consulted the FBI over the weekend and called McGahn back on Monday, 30 January, and said White House officials could come to the department to review the material.
She said she did not know if McGahn or his staff took up her offer, as that was her last day at the department: Trump fired her on the night of 30 January, ostensibly because she had refused to defend his executive order suspending entry for refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. ..,.
I doubt we’re ever going to know what actually went on. Maybe if Putin dies or if Trump is as dumb as he appears. Otherwise, it will be a couple generations before this gets sorted out and made public. I’m hoping Trump cuts a deal and resigns, along with most of his staff. It would be great if a few Senators went with him, but that’s probably too much to hope for.
After he called for Russia to hack the DNC, openly, during the debates, I’m amazed that he got elected. It seemed like a stunt, but it’s becoming more and more clear that he knew exactly what he was doing, and actually meant what he said. I used to think I was wasting my time constantly looking things up on Snopes, correcting my friends bad posts, researching the latest conspiracy theory, but it started getting serious with “Obamacare is going to kill grandma”, and now it is becoming the thing Kruschev said, taking over America without firing a shot.
It gets interestinger and interestinger, worst part is how many people allowed, hell encouraged this Trump Travesty to gestate and take over our government,
it’ll be most interesting seeing what’s left in two and four years.
Here’s another one to make your head reel. No wonder I decidedly stay away from the news most the time.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/08/golf-writer-eric-trump-said-fathers-golf-courses-were-funded-by-russians.html
Golf writer James Dodson said he hit the links with Eric and Donald at the Trump National Golf Club in Charlotte, N.C., in 2014
when he raised the question of how they found the money to keep developing golf courses when financing was tight during the Recession.
{implication is Donald}Trump “sort of tossed off that he had access to $100 million," Dodson told WBUR-FM, a Boston public radio station, in an interview that aired Friday.
Dodson said Eric Trump replied: “ ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.’"
Eric continued: “’Oh, yeah. We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.’"
Reached Sunday, Eric told The Post that Dodson’s account is “complete garbage."
“It’s a recollection from some guy three years ago through a third person,"
{actually it was Dobson doing the hearing and retelling, pretty sure that's first person silly. That alt-reality seems to have no limits}Eric Trump said, adding it’s “categorically untrue."“We own our courses free and clear. We have zero ties to Russian investors," (Eric Trump) insisted.
In the end sure looks like Trump and Co will get their come-up-pens.
Problem is the damages inflicted and yet to be inflicted are irreparable,
just like with Cheney/Bush's idiotic War of convenience, profit and Shock'n Awe for nasty little rich kids,
and most everyone cheered and waved flags - now they blame others for ISIS when it's their own baby.
Never taking the time to think about the monsters our actions would create. Here we go again.
All I understand for sure is that the situation is guaranteed to do nothing but keep getting uglier, as the cascading consequences pile up.
All the while our real existential threats continue being ignored and deliberately lied about.
We can't even say "forgive them for they know not what they - The fuk they don't. They just happen to be sociopaths who couldn't care less about our government or society,
all they (the masters of the universe who have been encouraging, hell boostering, this Trump/TeaParty chaos.) know is immediate self-interest - and god bless the Balloon while the ride lasts.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/national-security-adviser-mcmaster-trump-s-revelations-russians-wholly-appropriate-n760136
National Security Adviser McMaster: Trump’s Revelations to Russians ‘Wholly Appropriate’
by ALI VITALI and KEN DILANIAN
McMaster said the president shared the information in "context of the conversation" with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, saying it was "wholly appropriate to that conversation" and "consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leader with whom he's engaged."
McMaster would not confirm if that information was classified.
"I was in the room, the Secretary of State was in the room, as you know, the deputy adviser for national security, Dina Powell, and none of us felt in any way that conversation was inappropriate," McMaster said.
During those conversations, Trump also disclosed the city in ISIS-held Syria from which that intelligence emanated, McMaster confirmed. ...
...
Two U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that many people inside the U.S. intelligence community dispute McMaster's characterization that Trump's sharing of sensitive terrorism intelligence with the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador was "appropriate."
Normally, when the U.S. government wants to share intelligence with Russia, there is an elaborate vetting process, current and former officials told NBC News. Sometimes the reports are marked "REL Russia," for "releasable Russia."
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/national-security-adviser-mcmaster-trump-s-revelations-russians-wholly-appropriate-n760136
National Security Adviser McMaster: Trump’s Revelations to Russians ‘Wholly Appropriate’
by ALI VITALI and KEN DILANIAN
McMaster said the president shared the information in "context of the conversation" with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, saying it was "wholly appropriate to that conversation" and "consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leader with whom he's engaged."
McMaster would not confirm if that information was classified.
"I was in the room, the Secretary of State was in the room, as you know, the deputy adviser for national security, Dina Powell, and none of us felt in any way that conversation was inappropriate," McMaster said.
During those conversations, Trump also disclosed the city in ISIS-held Syria from which that intelligence emanated, McMaster confirmed. ...
...
Two U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that many people inside the U.S. intelligence community dispute McMaster's characterization that Trump's sharing of sensitive terrorism intelligence with the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador was "appropriate."
Normally, when the U.S. government wants to share intelligence with Russia, there is an elaborate vetting process, current and former officials told NBC News. Sometimes the reports are marked "REL Russia," for "releasable Russia."
In the interview FreshAir interview last night, "Churchill, Orwell And The Fight Against Totalitarianism" with Tom Ricks, this was discussed.
... GROSS: Specifically, what are you referring to?
RICKS: I'm referring to after The Washington Post ran a story about a week ago saying that President Trump had blown an intelligence source in front of the Russians by talking about very secret intelligence on ISIS and about a very new thin bomb they had developed that could be put inside a laptop. And he had talked about the actual city where this information came from.McMaster got up and called the story false. And then the following day...
GROSS: He called the story that Trump had said this is false?
RICKS: Yeah. And then the next day, he got up, and he kind of quibbled on that a little bit. He said, well, he actually confirmed the facts of the story, but then said the premise of the story was false. I'd gone through the same situation with McMaster where I'd written a story about McMaster in Iraq in 2006 that put his unit in a very good light and him in a very good light about the work they had done in taking a new approach in fighting the war.
But there was one paragraph in it he disliked. He didn't dispute the truth of it. He just disliked it, ...
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/22/529516184/churchill-orwell-and-the-fight-against-totalitarianism
May 22, 2017
Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said
By JO BECKER, ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO
JULY 11, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/trump-russia-email-clinton.html?_r=0
The June 3, 2016, email sent to Donald Trump Jr. could hardly have been more explicit: One of his father’s former Russian business partners had been contacted by a senior Russian government official and was offering to provide the Trump campaign with dirt on Hillary Clinton.
...
He replied within minutes: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer."
... After being told that The Times was about to publish the content of the emails, instead of responding to a request for comment,
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out images of them himself on Tuesday.
...
... The initial email outreach came from Rob Goldstone, a British-born former tabloid reporter and entertainment publicist who first met the future president when the Trump Organization was trying to do business in Russia.
In the June 3 email, Mr. Goldstone told Donald J. Trump Jr. that he was writing on behalf of a mutual friend, one of Russia’s biggest pop music stars, Emin Agalarov. Emin, who professionally uses his first name only, is the son of Aras Agalarov, a real estate tycoon sometimes called the “Donald Trump of Russia."
An absolutely damning paragraph about Donald Trump Jr.'s Russia meeting
CNN
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 12:26 PM ET, Tue July 11, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/11/politics/donald-trump-jr-russia-new-york-times/index.html
(CNN)This paragraph, from The New York Times' latest scoop on a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, is completely and totally damning:
"Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father's candidacy, according to three people with knowledge of the email."
Remember that Don Jr. has changed his story since the Times reported a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya on Saturday.
Version 1: The meeting was primarily about adoptions. Don Jr. didn't mention anything about the election to the Times.
Version 2: The impetus for the meeting was the promise of negative information about Hillary Clinton. But Don Jr. said in a statement he didn't know who it was he was meeting with.
So, even if he didn't know the exact name or identity of the Russian lawyer he was to meet with, he knew -- if he read his email -- that whatever he was told in the meeting was part of a foreign government's efforts to help choose its preferred candidate in the 2016 election.
Sit with that for a minute: The eldest son of the de facto Republican presidential nominee reportedly met with someone he knew was peddling information as part of a Russian government effort to elect his dad.
That's stunning. There's just no other word for it. (perhaps TREASON)