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The Russian Connection (Page 22)
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reader50
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Apr 24, 2018, 07:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
I read that since its a civil suit, pleading the 5th is off the table. At least I think I read that.
From what I've read, you can assert the 5th in either type of case. But there's a very big difference.

Criminal case: taking the 5th cannot be used against you.
Civil case: the 5th can be used to draw adverse inferences. To make guesses about what bad things you are hiding. In practice, you don't want to claim the 5th in a civil case.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 24, 2018, 07:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
I don't read that as given up. I read that as getting aggressive.
Some people have cast it as a poke to the admin that even if Mueller's investigation is killed, they'll still have another fight on their hands.

It's probably just a bad PR play from the DNC.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 29, 2018, 10:33 PM
 
https://twitter.com/woodruffbets/sta...70725732462592
The HPSCI report on Russian interference recommends that Congress consider repealing the Logan Act
wat


https://www.lawfareblog.com/did-dona...-and-abuse-act
We knew that Wikileaks had sent Trump Jr. a message that included guessed login credentials of a default account on an about-to-launch anti-Trump website, and that Wikileaks encouraged him to visit the site. But we didn't know if Trump Jr. or anyone else had actually used the username and password.
The Minority report reprints an e-mail from Trump Jr. in which he admitted to just that. As reprinted on the bottom of page 33, here's what he wrote:
Guys I got a weird Twitter DM from [W]ikileaks. See below. I tried the password and it works and the about section they reference contains the next pic in terms of who is behind it. Not sure if this is anything but it seems like it’s really wikileaks asking me as I follow them and it is a DM. Do you know the people mentioned and what the conspiracy they are looking for could be? These are just screen shots but it’s a bully built out page claiming to be a PAC let me know your thoughts and if we want to look into it.
This sounds a lot like an admission that he committed a federal crime, and in particular a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2)(c).
Lock him up?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 29, 2018, 10:59 PM
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...=.087f7e924e9f
According to the Democratic response, right after Trump Jr. set up the specifics of the meeting, he had two calls with a number in Russia belonging to Emin Agalarov. Between those two calls, the Democratic response recounts, Trump Jr. received a third call from a blocked number. Who might it have been?

Democrats wanted to find out, but Republicans blocked it from happening, according to the Democrats’ response.

“We sought to determine whether that number belonged to the president, because we also ascertained that then-candidate Trump used a blocked number,” Schiff said during our interview. “That would tell us whether Don Jr. sought his father’s permission to take the meeting, and [whether] that was the purpose of that call.”

Schiff added that Democrats asked Republicans to subpoena phone records to determine whose number it was, but Republicans “refused,” Schiff said. “They didn’t want to know whether he had informed his father and sought his permission to take that meeting with the Russians.”
Could be nothing but the GOP is afraid to know the truth on that one. I'm sure Mueller knows.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 30, 2018, 06:24 PM
 
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign...-senate-russia
The Stein campaign did provide part of the committee's request, but refused to turn over the campaign's internal communications regarding Russia policy, calling them “not pertinent to the subject of Russian interference” in the elections.
Heh.
     
Chongo
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Apr 30, 2018, 06:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...=.087f7e924e9f

Could be nothing but the GOP is afraid to know the truth on that one. I'm sure Mueller knows.
If he did, it would have been leaked by now. Besides, we all know Stormy will be Trump’s undoing.
45/47
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 30, 2018, 07:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by Chongo View Post
If he did, it would have been leaked by now.
Do you actually believe Mueller's team is leaking, and if so, can you point to any examples?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 30, 2018, 11:05 PM
 
So, uh, the NYT got quite the scoop
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/u...mp-russia.html
     
subego
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Apr 30, 2018, 11:24 PM
 
Holy shit... gonna be another infrastructure week.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Apr 30, 2018, 11:36 PM
 
I don't get why either side would leak this.
     
subego
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May 1, 2018, 06:28 AM
 
Me neither.

The most plausible option I’ve heard is it accidentally escaped from Trump’s legal team. Maybe through Dowd?
     
subego
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May 1, 2018, 08:43 AM
 



The thing is... there seems to be evidence it could only have come from Trump’s team.

Current theory is they leaked it so they could blame Muller for the leak.
     
subego
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May 1, 2018, 08:55 AM
 
One important point to remember is we can presume Muller won’t comment on any of this for possibly months. Trump can spend all that time trying to hang on to the narrative.
     
subego
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May 1, 2018, 09:56 PM
 
This idea came to me, and I rejected it, but I’m hearing others saying it so I want to throw down.

I think there’s a possibility here the strategy is to crowdsource Trump’s legal defense.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 1, 2018, 10:31 PM
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.5f97b39757c7
In a tense meeting in early March with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, President Trump’s lawyers insisted he had no obligation to talk with federal investigators probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

But Mueller responded that he had another option if Trump declined: He could issue a subpoena for the president to appear before a grand jury, according to four people familiar with the encounter.
I will say, I feel like negotiations for an interview have stretched almost six months and Mueller has been plodding on patiently. It will certainly reflect well on him if they do have to resort to a subpoena.


Paul Rosenzweig, who worked as a senior counsel on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s investigation during the Clinton administration, predicted that the president would face a long interview if the special counsel hewed to the list Sekulow compiled.

“This isn’t a list of 49 questions. It’s 49 topics,” Rosenzweig said. “Each of these topics results in dozens of questions. To be honest, that list is a two-day interview. You don’t get through it in an hour or two.”
     
Thorzdad
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May 2, 2018, 05:01 PM
 
Apparently, Jay Sekulow wrote and “leaked” the list of questions. They never came from Mueller.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 2, 2018, 05:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Apparently, Jay Sekulow wrote and “leaked” the list of questions. They never came from Mueller.
     
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May 2, 2018, 06:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post



The thing is... there seems to be evidence it could only have come from Trump’s team.

Current theory is they leaked it so they could blame Muller for the leak.
Precisely!

OAW
     
Thorzdad
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May 2, 2018, 07:39 PM
 
Ty Cobb is out, Emmet Flood is in. Flood, a Republican, is best known for his work with Bill Clinton during his impeachment. Flood drafted Clinton’s response to the Starr report.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 3, 2018, 06:01 PM
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.97c01cc73f3b
“Ivanka Trump? I think I would get on my charger and go ride into their offices with a lance, if they go after Ivanka,” Giuliani said. “Now if they do do Ivanka, which I don’t think they will, the whole country will turn on them. If they go after her, the whole country will turn on them. They’re going after his daughter?”
During Wednesday night’s interview, Giuliani called Kushner a “fine man,” but added that “men are disposable.”
Some punditry: I think this A. Giuliani trying to set a new 'red line' for the Mueller investigation and B. An attempt to create a deal by throwing Kush to the wolves in her place.
     
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May 7, 2018, 01:02 PM
 
The judge in the Manafort case wants the memo expanding Mueller’s authority, and said the case had nothing to with collusion, but an attempt to squeeze Manafort and get Trump.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ort/581806002/


The Russian troll farm surprised the Mueller team by sending lawyers, who demanded the evidence on their client, in addition to instances of the US interfering in foreign elections (like the Obama State department attempt to unseat Netanyahu) via discovery. The Mueller team asked for a continuance.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia...muellers-files
45/47
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 7, 2018, 08:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by Chongo View Post
The Russian troll farm surprised the Mueller team by sending lawyers, who demanded the evidence on their client, in addition to instances of the US interfering in foreign elections (like the Obama State department attempt to unseat Netanyahu) via discovery. The Mueller team asked for a continuance.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia...muellers-files
I hadn't seen this. Not sure if Russia is trying to call what they think a bluff or just feel like flat-out trolling us.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 9, 2018, 12:38 AM
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.8c06a49fafc9
President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen was hired last year by the U.S.-based affiliate of a Russian business magnate who attended Trump’s inauguration and was recently sanctioned by the U.S. government, the company said Tuesday.

The New York investment firm Columbus Nova said it retained Cohen as a consultant “regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures.” Though Columbus Nova has been described in federal regulatory filings as an affiliate of the Renova Group, founded by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, the company said Vekselberg was not involved with hiring or paying Cohen.
Avenatti did not provide supporting documentation for his claims, though Columbus Nova and AT&T, another company named in the document, both released statements in the hours after Avenatti’s disclosure confirming that they had business relationships with Cohen.
A person familiar with the inauguration said the partner was Intrater, and the New York Times has reported that Intrater and Vekselberg have both been interviewed by prosecutors working for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
How about some more smoke?

Why are these companies admitting to this so quickly when Stormy's lawyer hasn't provided proof?
     
Chongo
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May 9, 2018, 07:36 AM
 
Did they admit to the payment, or that had a business relationships with Cohen?
45/47
     
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May 9, 2018, 10:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by Chongo View Post
Did they admit to the payment, or that had a business relationships with Cohen?
At least Novartis, Korea Aerospace Industries and AT&T have admitted payments to Cohen's Essential Consultants LLC for getting “insights into the new administration” — so both. It seems that these companies already had enough insight into the administration to know about the existence of Essential Consultants in the first place.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Chongo
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May 10, 2018, 07:35 AM
 
In other words, add Cohen to the long list of people who used their access to officials to cash in.
45/47
     
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May 10, 2018, 08:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by Chongo View Post
In other words, add Cohen to the long list of people who used their access to officials to cash in.
What happened to “Drain the swamp!”? And being a good executive? And taking responsibility?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 10, 2018, 09:07 AM
 
It looks like the reason the companies so readily admitted to the unverified claims was because Mueller interviewed them about the payments back in November/December. Playing dumb about payments would have been a much worse look once everything came out.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 18, 2018, 08:42 PM
 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/paul-ma...s&page=1&pos=1
A former son-in-law of President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chairman pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in a sealed proceeding in California in January and is cooperating with federal investigators, people familiar with the matter said.

Jeffrey Yohai, who until last year was married to one of Paul Manafort’s daughters, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the Central District of California relating to real-estate loans on properties in New York and California, one of these people said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u..._medium=Social
Yohai has not been specifically told how he will be called on to cooperate as part of his plea agreement, but the two people familiar with the matter say they consider it a possibility that he will be asked to assist with Mueller’s prosecution of Manafort.
Life keeps getting better for Manafort
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 18, 2018, 08:46 PM
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1IJ2MV
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed a key assistant of long-time Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, two people with knowledge of the matter said, the latest sign that Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election is increasingly focusing on Stone.

The subpoena was recently served on John Kakanis, 30, who has worked as a driver, accountant and operative for Stone.

Kakanis has been briefly questioned by the FBI on the topics of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the WikiLeaks website, its founder Julian Assange, and the hacker or hackers who call themselves Guccifer 2.0, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said.
Reuters reported earlier this week that FBI agents working for Mueller delivered two subpoenas to Jason Sullivan, a social media and Twitter expert who worked for Stone during the 2016 campaign, and that agents told him Mueller’s team wanted to question him about Stone and WikiLeaks.
Noose tightening on this treasonous ****, I hope.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 18, 2018, 11:12 PM
 
I had missed this


https://www.wsj.com/articles/mike-fl...nal-1489809842
Without mentioning Ms. Lokhova by name, one of the organizers of the event wrote about the evening in the Times of London last month. Christopher Andrew, who wrote the authorized history of MI-5, Britain’s domestic security service, described a woman of dual British-Russian citizenship who showed Mr. Flynn a number of historic Russian documents, including an “erotic postcard” that Joseph Stalin sent to a young woman in 1912.

At the end of the evening, Mr. Andrew wrote that Mr. Flynn asked the woman to travel with him as a translator to Moscow on his next official visit but that the trip never materialized. He said the two continued an email exchange on Russian history after the meeting.
Did Flynn fall for a honeypot trap?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 20, 2018, 07:48 PM
 
I guess some of us were so focused on Russian collusion, we never considered that the Trump campaign would probably be willing to collude with, well, everyone.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/u...nce-zamel.html
Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son.
This sounds eerily familiar.

One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor.
Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016. The emissary, George Nader, told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president. The social media specialist, Joel Zamel, extolled his company’s ability to give an edge to a political campaign; by that time, the firm had already drawn up a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort to help elect Mr. Trump.

The company, which employed several Israeli former intelligence officers, specialized in collecting information and shaping opinion through social media.
So there are a lot of threads here so I'm going jump right in.

First off, we have Prince meeting with Junior, tying him to the campaign in a more 'intimate' manner.
Second, we have Nader, representing the UAE and Saudis; In the future he would be attending the same meeting as Prince in the Seychelles, a meeting convened by the Crown Prince of the UAE.
Third, we have an employee of a Israeli company that employs former intelligence officers. Could this be the same firm that would later look to dig up dirt on the Iran deal?

Donald Trump Jr. responded approvingly, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, and after those initial offers of help, Mr. Nader was quickly embraced as a close ally by Trump campaign advisers — meeting frequently with Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, and Michael T. Flynn, who became the president’s first national security adviser. At the time, Mr. Nader was also promoting a secret plan to use private contractors to destabilize Iran, the regional nemesis of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.
So, now we have a possible second reason for Trump to be hostile to the Iran deal. It ties Nader, Prince, and UAE.


After Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Nader paid Mr. Zamel a large sum of money, described by one associate as up to $2 million. There are conflicting accounts of the reason for the payment, but among other things, a company linked to Mr. Zamel provided Mr. Nader with an elaborate presentation about the significance of social media campaigning to Mr. Trump’s victory.
Another Cambridge Analytica?

It is illegal for foreign governments or individuals to be involved in American elections, and it is unclear what — if any — direct assistance Saudi Arabia and the Emirates may have provided. But two people familiar with the meetings said that Trump campaign officials did not appear bothered by the idea of cooperation with foreigners.

A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, said in a statement that “prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls a meeting with Erik Prince, George Nader and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it.”

Mr. Nader had worked for years as a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, and Mr. Zamel had worked for the Emirati royal court as a consultant as well. When Mr. Trump locked up the Republican presidential nomination in early 2016, Mr. Nader began making inquiries on behalf of the Emirati prince about possible ways to directly support Mr. Trump, according to three people with whom Mr. Nader discussed his efforts.
Companies connected to Mr. Zamel also have ties to Russia. One of his firms had previously worked for oligarchs linked to Mr. Putin, including Oleg V. Deripaska and Dmitry Rybolovlev, who hired the firm for online campaigns against their business rivals.
You have got to be ****ing kidding me.

Mr. Zamel and Mr. Nader were together at a Midtown Manhattan hotel at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of Aug. 3 when Mr. Nader received a call from Mr. Prince summoning them to Trump Tower. When they arrived, Stephen Miller, a top campaign aide who is now a White House adviser, was in Donald Trump Jr.’s office as well, according to the people familiar with the meeting.
*raised eyebrow*


Mr. Nader explained to Donald Trump Jr. that the two princes saw the elder Mr. Trump as a strong leader who would fill the power vacuum that they believed Mr. Obama had left in the Middle East, and Mr. Nader went on to say that he and his friends would be glad to support Mr. Trump as much as they could, according to the person with knowledge of the conversation.
The source here is Nader, right?

There were concerns inside the company, Psy-Group, about the plan’s legality, according to one person familiar with the effort. The company, whose motto is “shape reality,” consulted an American law firm, and was told that it would be illegal if any non-Americans were involved in the effort.
The name and motto would be considered bad writing from a Bond Film.
     
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May 21, 2018, 12:28 PM
 
All part of "Operation Crossfire Hurricane."
8 signs pointing to a counterintelligence operation deployed against Trump's campaign
It may be true that President Trump illegally conspired with Russia and was so good at covering it up he’s managed to outwit our best intel and media minds who've searched for irrefutable evidence for two years. (We still await special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings.)

But there’s a growing appearance of alleged wrongdoing equally as insidious, if not more so, because it implies widespread misuse of America’s intelligence and law enforcement apparatus.


Here are eight signs pointing to a counterintelligence operation deployed against Trump for political reasons.

Code name

The operation reportedly had at least one code name that was leaked to The New York Times: “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Wiretap fever

Secret surveillance was conducted on no fewer than seven Trump associates: chief strategist Stephen Bannon; lawyer Michael Cohen; national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn; adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner; campaign chairman Paul Manafort; and campaign foreign policy advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.

The FBI reportedly applied for a secret warrant in June 2016 to monitor Manafort, Page, Papadopoulos and Flynn. If true, it means the FBI targeted Flynn six months before his much-debated conversation with Russia’s ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.

The FBI applied four times to wiretap Page after he became a Trump campaign adviser starting in July 2016. Page’s office is connected to Trump Tower and he reports having spent “many hours in Trump Tower.”

CNN reported that Manafort was wiretapped before and after the election “including during a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Trump.” Manafort reportedly has a residence in Trump Tower.
( Last edited by Chongo; May 23, 2018 at 04:17 PM. )
45/47
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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May 24, 2018, 08:28 PM
 
I forgot to mention, it looks like Erik Prince lied to the HPSCI. Oh, and it looks like Roger Stone withheld evidence...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/roger-s...how-1527191428
In a Sept. 18, 2016, message, Mr. Stone urged an acquaintance who knew Mr. Assange to ask the WikiLeaks founder for emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s alleged role in disrupting a purported Libyan peace deal in 2011 when she was secretary of state, referring to her by her initials.

“Please ask Assange for any State or HRC e-mail from August 10 to August 30--particularly on August 20, 2011,” Mr. Stone wrote to Randy Credico, a New York radio personality who had interviewed Mr. Assange several weeks earlier. Mr. Stone, a longtime confidant of Donald Trump, had no formal role in his campaign at the time.

In another email, Mr. Credico then asked Mr. Stone to give him a “little bit of time,” saying he thought Mr. Assange might appear on his radio show the next day. A few hours later, Mr. Credico wrote: “That batch probably coming out in the next drop...I can’t ask them favors every other day .I asked one of his lawyers...they have major legal headaches riggt now..relax.”
Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the emails hadn’t been provided to congressional investigators. “If there is such a document, then it would mean that his testimony was either deliberately incomplete or deliberately false,” said Mr. Schiff, who has continued to request documents and conduct interviews with witnesses despite the committee’s probe concluding earlier this year said.

A lawyer for Mr. Stone, Grant Smith, said the emails hadn’t been turned over to House investigators because they were “not encompassed within the scope of the committee’s request.” Mr. Stone said the emails were preserved at the request of the Senate, which is also conducting a Russian interference probe. Mr. Smith said they hadn’t yet been given to investigators there.
After earlier asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the House probe, Mr. Credico now says he is willing to talk with investigators. He said he met on Wednesday with the committee’s Democratic staff members for what he called a limited conversation about WikiLeaks, the 2016 campaign and Mr. Stone.

As Mr. Credico has become more vocal about what he says are discrepancies in Mr. Stone’s account, Mr. Stone has responded with a series of threats, according to emails and text messages reviewed by the Journal.

In early April, in one of those emails, Mr. Stone accused Mr. Credico of serving as an informant.

“Everyone says u are wearing a wire for Mueller,” the April 7 email said. Two days later, Mr. Stone wrote: “Run your mouth = get sued.” Mr. Credico denies being an informant.

Mr. Stone said he was warning Mr. Credico against defaming him and urging him to “simply tell the truth.”
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jun 24, 2018, 02:08 PM
 
US lobbyist for Russian oligarch visited Julian Assange nine times last year
A longtime US lobbyist for the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska visited Julian Assange nine times at the Ecuadorian embassy in London last year, according to visitor logs seen by the Guardian.

Adam Waldman, who has worked as a Washington lobbyist for the metals tycoon since 2009, had more meetings with Assange in 2017 than almost anyone else, the records show.
What a coincidence.

Waldman also served as a counsel for Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. A 2010 DoJ filing showed that the Endeavor Group was hired by Lavrov to help ease the “persistent state of limbo” that Deripaska faced as a result of his being refused entry into the US. In a letter to Waldman, Lavrov hailed Deripaska as one of Russia’s “prominent business leaders”.
This guy is well connected.
     
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Jun 25, 2018, 06:03 PM
 
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/spec...ry?id=56143477
Prince, America’s most famous private military contractor, acknowledged last week that he “cooperated” with Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election after falling under scrutiny amid questions about an alleged effort to establish a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin, something Prince has vehemently denied.

ABC News has since learned that Mueller is also reviewing Prince’s communications, a sign that Mueller could try to squeeze Prince, as he has others, probing potential inconsistencies in his sworn testimony in an attempt to pressure him to turn into a witness against other targets of the investigation. In response to questions from ABC News, a spokesperson for Prince released a statement noting that Prince has provided Mueller with “total access to his phone and computer.”
Nice.
     
Thorzdad
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Jun 25, 2018, 06:17 PM
 
Gotta love it when Mueller can stare-down a mercenary.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jun 25, 2018, 06:25 PM
 
The guy acted like he was untouchable in the House interview. If Mueller finds anything he did illegal I'm sure he's gonna scream witch hunt damn near the loudest we've heard.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 16, 2018, 02:56 PM
 
Maria Butina, who, along with Torshin are the prominent Russians who supported the NRA, was indicted and arrested yesterday on FARA violations.

If you think the NRA might have dealt in Russians funds this certainly makes it look more likely.

Got this off twitter may be inaccurate
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 16, 2018, 10:40 PM
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.d468d09a9789
Maria Butina, 29, who recently received a graduate degree from American University, was arrested Sunday in the District and made her first appearance in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson, where she was ordered held without bond.

Butina is accused of trying to cultivate relationships with American politicians to establish “back channel” lines of communication and seeking to infiltrate U.S. political groups, including an unnamed “gun rights organization,” to advance Russia’s agenda. Descriptions in court papers match published reports about Butina’s interactions with the NRA.

Butina was allegedly assisted in her efforts by a U.S. political operative who helped introduce her to influential political figures. That person was not charged and is not named in court papers, but the description matches that of Paul Erickson, a GOP consultant who sought to organize a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Alexander Torshin, Butina’s Russian colleague and a former Russian senator, at a May 2016 NRA convention.
edit:
( Last edited by The Final Dakar; Jul 16, 2018 at 11:06 PM. )
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 16, 2018, 10:47 PM
 
https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...sultant-219004
To get its message out, the NRA turned to an unknown consulting firm, Starboard Strategic, paying it $19 million. More than a third of that money was invested in must-win Senate seats in Colorado, North Carolina and Arkansas — three of the most expensive in the country — paying for a host of television, radio and internet ads.

It was not unusual for the NRA to spend large sums of cash in an election cycle. What was odd was where the money was going. Before 2013, Starboard Strategic had never appeared in Federal Election Commission reports. Someone curious about the firm would have found a skeletal website that listed no staff, clients, address, phone number or previous work.…Well-established and well-connected, OnMessage is as transparent as Starboard is opaque. What the Federal Election Commission and the public do not know is that the two entities appear to be functionally one and the same.
Campaign-finance rules prohibit coordination between official campaigns and outside groups, such as the NRA, who support the same candidate. Those restrictions, in turn, give force to a fundamental law governing political spending. Outside groups can independently disburse unlimited sums to influence elections. But they can give no more than $5,000 when giving directly to a candidate.

Official campaigns and the outside groups supporting them may use a common vendor, such as a political ad firm. However, the rules mandate the vendor ensure employees and partners working for each client don’t share information. There is no evidence of any meaningful distinction between Starboard Strategic and OnMessage.
Meanwhile, the NRA’s relationship with Starboard continues. The gun group paid Starboard more than $40 million in 2016, a sum that surpassed by more than $10 million, the total federal election payments made to OnMessage in the same year by all candidates and groups, according to campaign finance data. During that election cycle, Sen. Ron Johnson, the Republican incumbent in Wisconsin, was defending his seat in a tight race. Johnson’s campaign hired OnMessage. Later, the NRA, listing Starboard as its vendor, paid for ads boosting his candidacy. Johnson won his race by fewer than 100,000 votes.
This is where I note Johnson spent July 4th in Russia, came back and said we should reconsider sanctions because they're 'not working'.

In Florida, Governor Rick Scott is challenging Senator Bill Nelson, the Democratic incumbent. In his last gubernatorial campaign, Scott hired OnMessage. The NRA, the former employee says, tapped the firm for pro-Scott work. But in Florida campaign-finance records, which do not require filers to disclose the races in which money is spent, it’s Starboard that appears as a vendor. Scott’s chief political adviser is Curt Anderson, a partner at both OnMessage and Starboard, and Scott’s Senate campaign has signed up OnMessage as a contractor.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 16, 2018, 10:51 PM
 
"Did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?" a reporter asked at the joint press conference Putin and Trump held after their one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

Speaking through a translator, Putin answered, "Yes I did. Yes I did. Because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal."
...

"Does the Russian government have any compromising material on President Trump or his family?"

"Yeah, I did hear these rumors that we allegedly collected compromising material on Mr. Trump when he was visiting Moscow. Well, distinguished colleague, let me tell you this: When President Trump was at Moscow back then, I didn't even know that he was in Moscow. I treat President Trump with utmost respect, but back then when he was a private individual, a businessman, nobody informed me that he was in Moscow."
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 16, 2018, 10:58 PM
 

November 11, 2016: Maria Butina DM's Torshin asking him what "our people" thought about a Secretary of State contender.

Late November 2016: Christopher Steele says Kremlin intervened to block Trump’s initial choice for Secretary of State, Mitt Romney.
If Steele was right about this, you'll be able to build a house out of the amount of bricks I shit.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 16, 2018, 11:36 PM
 
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...obe-witch-hunt
Paul on Sunday said he believes it is a "waste of time" to try to hold Putin accountable for Russian interference in U.S. elections. He said the U.S. has influenced elections all over the world, but insisted he does not think the two countries are "morally equivalent."
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday announced he will be heading to Russia in the coming weeks, arguing that the U.S. must pursue a constructive dialogue with Moscow.

"In just a few weeks, I will take my own trip to Russia in an attempt to discuss common ground with their leaders and help prevent further, unnecessary escalation of tensions," Paul wrote.

"I look forward to consulting with Trump between his visit and mine and to working with diplomats from both countries to have a successful trip and better relationships," Paul continued. "Millions of lives could be at stake."
*thinking emoji*
     
subego
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Jul 17, 2018, 05:22 AM
 


Girl’s got her some trigger discipline.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 17, 2018, 06:41 AM
 
Edit: Pic was crazy coincidence
( Last edited by The Final Dakar; Jul 17, 2018 at 09:37 AM. )
     
Thorzdad
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Jul 17, 2018, 08:45 AM
 
     
besson3c
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Jul 17, 2018, 11:00 AM
 
It's funny that prior to Obama's election we were debating whether or not he had enough experience to do the job.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 17, 2018, 04:05 PM
 
It occurs to me, I doubt Totshin will ever visit the US again to hang out with the NRA
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
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Jul 17, 2018, 10:32 PM
 
It's strange but I think this is the first big catch of the investigation and it wasn't even Mueller's.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.8939b9814bfa
There, Butina met Paul Erickson, a South Dakota-based Republican operative who was well known to Republican insiders, going back to the work he did as national political director for Pat Buchanan’s presidential campaign in 1992. She told the Senate Intelligence Committee in April that she began a romantic relationship with the American operative, people familiar with her testimony said.

Erickson matches a description of an American described in court filings as a political operative who helped introduce Butina to influential American political figures “for the purpose of advancing the agenda of the Russian Federation.”
Seduced by the spy. How cliché.

On the night of Trump’s election victory, the filings say, she messaged Torshin, “I’m going to sleep. It’s 3 a.m. here. I am ready for further orders.”

Erickson lobbied for a role in Trump’s transition team and complained after the election when he ran into a problem with his security clearance, according to people familiar with the situation.

Even without official credentials, he pressed Trump donors and former campaign officials, pushing for top positions for people he thought especially qualified. One person recalled his lobbying to get K.T. McFarland named as an adviser to Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser.

As scrutiny grew of Russian actions during the campaign, Butina’s work in her role as a graduate student at American University attracted notice as well. She sparked alarm at one Washington-area civil rights group in June 2017, when she asked to interview the group’s director about its vulnerability to cyberattacks for a school project.
     
 
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