Russiagate

[theplummeter 14]

I can only type utter bullshit over the internet, in person I project an undeniable sarcastic tone that overshadows any words I speak.

Maybe a speechwriter, I could limit myself to 140 characters.

[billvon 2,400]

>Maybe a speechwriter, I could limit myself to 140 characters.

That's a little . . . wordy, don't you think? If you can't say it in a one liner, it's not a valid opinion.

[RonD1120 58]

theplummeter

I read the attachment. Totally clears the president. Thank you!

Donald Trump built hotels in 2015!!!

WOW!

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[DJL 232]

dorkitup

For those interested in actual truth, link to letter of intent signed by Trump. Not Cohen, not another Trump company associate. Trump. Obviously Giuliani is now a confirmed enormous liar, just like the old trump lawyer he says can't be trusted because.....he's a liar. How many times have we heard "I have nothing to do with Russia."

Its also been reported the penthouse was to be given, free of charge, to Putin. This looks very bad.
Let the spin begin!!

http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2018/images/12/18/attachment.1.pdf

He's going to claim that he didn't sign that and say an unknown party recreated his signature.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[SkyDekker 1,123]

RonD1120

***I read the attachment. Totally clears the president. Thank you!

Donald Trump built hotels in 2015!!!

WOW!

I guess Q hasn't told you what to think yet.

[billvon 2,400]

Quote

BRILLIANT understatement. Thankfully Mattis is still in the WH so the nuclear football isn't sold to pay for trump's personal legal bills.

Not . . . so much anymore.

Quote

The only person in trumps entire administrative history who is not a pathological liar is Mattis.

Look on the positive side. Now Trump will not be encumbered by considerations of ethics or integrity.

[SkyDekker 1,123]

Good time to go on a 16 day vacation where the tax payer gives money directly to his company.

[billvon 2,400]

>I guess Q hasn't told you what to think yet.

He will; Qanon is a very rational, methodical guy who really gets the truth out. Not like the lamestream media.
https://thenib.com/echo-chamber?id=tom-tomorrow&t=author

[gowlerk 1,913]

Quote

Look on the positive side. Now Trump will not be encumbered by considerations of ethics or integrity.

Don't worry. John Bolton and Steven Miller are still looking over things. America is in good hands. Sleep well everyone.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[rushmc 18]

gowlerk

Quote

Look on the positive side. Now Trump will not be encumbered by considerations of ethics or integrity.

Don't worry. John Bolton and Steven Miller are still looking over things. America is in good hands. Sleep well everyone.

I will. Thank you!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Phil1111 911]

rushmc

***

Quote

Look on the positive side. Now Trump will not be encumbered by considerations of ethics or integrity.

Don't worry. John Bolton and Steven Miller are still looking over things. America is in good hands. Sleep well everyone.

I will. Thank you!

"Companies in the S&P 500 have lost a total of $2.39 trillion in market cap this month."
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/us-futures-following-wednesdays-sell-off.html

"The Nasdaq has lost more than $1.3 trillion in market value since the start of December, and it is trading at its lowest level since September 2017."
http://fortune.com/2018/12/21/faangs-sink-to-lowest-in-months-nasdaq-aims-for-bear-market/?xid=gn_editorspicks

Combined market losses are in excess of eight trillion dollars since the first week of December.

Give thanks to

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

....I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN
7:03 AM - 4 Dec 2018

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Makes you wonder what kind (and how much) of short positions the Trump crew took recently.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[gowlerk 1,913]

It looks like Santa is bringing me a buying opportunity for Xmas. Pretty rare at this time of year. Thanks Donald.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[normiss 622]

Heather Cox Richardson:

Over the holiday, someone asked me to explain what is happening with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russian government's attempt to interfere in the 2016 election. Perfect timing, because I stumbled across something a few weeks ago that frames the whole investigation nicely.

In 2011, when Mueller was FBI Director, he gave a speech in New York. He explained that globalization and modern technology had changed the nature of organized crime. Rather than being regional networks with a clear structure, he said, organized crime had become international, fluid, sophisticated, and had stakes in the multi-billion dollar range. Its operators were cross-pollinating across countries, religions, and political affiliations, sharing only their greed. They did not care about ideology; they cared about money. They would do anything for a price.

These criminal enterprises, he noted, were working to corner the market on oil, gas, and precious metals. And to do so, Mueller explained, they "may infiltrate our businesses. They may provide logistical support to hostile foreign powers. They may try to manipulate those at the highest levels of government. Indeed, these so-called 'iron triangles' of organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders pose a significant national security threat."

To combat that threat, Mueller said, the FBI had shifted focus "from a law-enforcement agency to a national security service that is threat-driven and intelligence-led."

It appears that various members of the 2016 GOP campaign were part of such an iron triangle.

Donald Trump had sought Russian business since 1996, but his financial connections with Russians really took off in 2008, when wealthy Russians poured money into Trump's US properties at a time when few others were interested in working with Trump. In September 2008, Don Jr. told a reporter: "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.... We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Trump pursued the idea of a Trump Tower in Moscow, and in 2013, took the Miss Universe pageant there.

Then, in 2014, in response to Russian efforts to destabilize and absorb Ukraine, the US put sanctions on a number of Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, freezing their assets and denying them visas. (Interestingly, at the time, GOP congresspeople complained that President Obama did not hit Putin more harshly.)

Now, it appears that Russia offered to help Trump get elected in 2016 in exchange for-- among other things-- an end to sanctions. And a Russian spy, Maria Butina, has recently admitted to infiltrating the NRA, which poured more than $400 million-- an unprecedented sum-- behind GOP candidates in the 2016 election.

It is this iron triangle of business, government, and criminals that Mueller is chasing down. It is taking a huge amount of time as he and his staff look at money laundering, cyber-hacking, blackmail, and what is popularly (but not legally) known as treason. It seems to me that he is aiming not at any one person, but rather at a criminal organization that is attempting to destroy NATO and turn the world over to an international cabal of oligarchs.

Mueller is spreading his evidence out in the court records he is filing, making it almost impossible for the president to stifle his discoveries, and he is spreading out cases amongst different agencies for similar reasons. And he is getting results. As of November, Mueller had indicted 33 people or entities, and 7 of them have pled guilty (5 were aides to Trump). There are also more than 3 dozen sealed indictments at the DC federal court, and it is likely that many, or most, or all, of them are related the Mueller investigation.

Mueller is the man who took down the Gambini crime family when no one else could make anything stick. He is thorough and he is tough. Sadly, I expect his final conclusions are going to be shocking: it seems to me that we will discover that not simply administration officials, but also a number of congresspeople and prominent business leaders are part of that iron triangle of international criminality Mueller warned about back in 2011, when the rest of us were still naive.

[ryoder 1,384]

normiss

Now, it appears that Russia offered to help Trump get elected in 2016 in exchange for-- among other things-- an end to sanctions. And a Russian spy, Maria Butina, has recently admitted to infiltrating the NRA, which poured more than $400 million-- an unprecedented sum-- behind GOP candidates in the 2016 election.

I need to see some data to back that up. According to Politifact, the NRA has spent a cumulative $203.2 million on political activities over nineteen years from 1998-2017.

Source: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/oct/11/counting-up-how-much-nra-spends/

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[kallend 1,623]

SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional organization featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[normiss 622]

I see HuffPo says $419 mil.
Maybe it depends on which column of funding is counted, but I don't think the amount is the point of the opinion.

She's earned quite a reputation for her knowledge of America.
She's quite the expert regarding the Republican party as well.

[ryoder 1,384]

normiss

I see HuffPo says $419 mil.
Maybe it depends on which column of funding is counted, but I don't think the amount is the point of the opinion.

She's earned quite a reputation for her knowledge of America.
She's quite the expert regarding the Republican party as well.

OK, page 5 (you will need to rotate it clockwise): https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4210859/8-16-2017-AuditFYEnding2016.pdf

The $419M is the organizations total expenditures for the year.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[DJL 232]

ryoder

***I see HuffPo says $419 mil.
Maybe it depends on which column of funding is counted, but I don't think the amount is the point of the opinion.

She's earned quite a reputation for her knowledge of America.
She's quite the expert regarding the Republican party as well.

OK, page 5 (you will need to rotate it clockwise): https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4210859/8-16-2017-AuditFYEnding2016.pdf

The $419M is the organizations total expenditures for the year.

I had also never seen data showing that the NRA was much of a cash cow as far as campaign finance goes. In fact what makes them so relevant is the bang for the buck that legislators get out of them. They're more of church than a company because of the almost religious adherence to the modern interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.

This is probably also what made the group attractive to the Russians since once its members get an idea in their head they're almost fanatical about it. Take the Yeti cooler debacle, for example. So, I'm assuming the author is simply uninformed. In fact the reports from even the most leftist sources put the number at about $2500 including Torshin's $1000 lifetime membership.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

DJL

******I see HuffPo says $419 mil.
Maybe it depends on which column of funding is counted, but I don't think the amount is the point of the opinion.

She's earned quite a reputation for her knowledge of America.
She's quite the expert regarding the Republican party as well.

OK, page 5 (you will need to rotate it clockwise): https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4210859/8-16-2017-AuditFYEnding2016.pdf

The $419M is the organizations total expenditures for the year.

I had also never seen data showing that the NRA was much of a cash cow as far as campaign finance goes. In fact what makes them so relevant is the bang for the buck that legislators get out of them. They're more of church than a company because of the almost religious adherence to the modern interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.

This is probably also what made the group attractive to the Russians since once its members get an idea in their head they're almost fanatical about it. Take the Yeti cooler debacle, for example. So, I'm assuming the author is simply uninformed. In fact the reports from even the most leftist sources put the number at about $2500 including Torshin's $1000 lifetime membership.

The biggest political clout that the NRA brings is votes.

Not unlike the AARP, NRA members vote. And the HQ sends out postcards every election. Not just national ones. State & local too. They do a lot of 'grass roots' campaigning.

While 3 to 5 million (nobody seems to know for sure) members aren't a whole lot, the idea that that many people (or a large percentage of it) can be instructed to vote either for or against someone is a very powerful tool. Especially in close elections.

And they do have a lot of expenses outside political campaigns.

In fact, the political wing of the NRA (NRA-ILA) is just a part of what they do. It does, however, get the most attention from its critics.
Education and training are their biggest focus. Just about every firearms or Hunter's Safety instructor is "NRA Certified". Most course material comes from them. Ranges and facilities are held to their standards, competitions are too. The biggest ones (shooting equivalent of our Nationals) is held at their facilities.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[billvon 2,400]

Victor Boyarkin, former Russian spy, had this to say about his contact with Paul Manafort while Manafort was running Trump's campaign:

“He owed us a lot of money. And he was offering ways to pay it back.”

Are there ANY Russians that Trump's team didn't collude with?

[ryoder 1,384]

billvon

Are there ANY Russians that Trump's team didn't collude with?

I haven't heard accusations of Garry Kasparov or Yakov Smirnoff being involved.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[billvon 2,400]

The Wall Street Journal is a fairly reliable conservative newspaper, preferring tax cuts to spending, and wanting less regulation for the people they represent on Wall Street. Thus it is surprising to see such a blistering editorial coming from them condemning Trump's fluffing of Russia.

We are living in an age where an American president is truly a puppet of Russia.
=====================
WSJ editorial shreds Trump's Afghanistan claims
By CAITLIN OPRYSKO
01/04/2019
Politico

A Wall Street Journal editorial published Friday ripped into President Donald Trump for comments he made about the Soviet Union's decadelong war in Afghanistan, blasting his “reprehensible” recollection of the conflict and his “slander” of U.S. allies.

The editorial referred to comments made by Trump during a meandering 90-minute meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, where Trump belittled the role of U.S. allies in the Middle East, accusing them of sending minimal resources to back up U.S. troops in comparison with the American presence there.

“What other countries have done for the last long period of time is give us some soldiers and then talk about it like it’s the end of the world, and we’re subsidizing their militaries by billions and billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said, claiming the efforts were meant to appease previous U.S. presidents so they could say American allies were fighting alongside the U.S. in an increasingly unpopular war.

“This mockery is a slander against every ally that has supported the U.S. effort in Afghanistan with troops who fought and often died,” the Journal's editorial said, citing the more than 450 British soldiers who have been killed there.

Just as "reprehensible," the Journal's editorial board noted, "was Mr. Trump’s utterly false narrative of the Soviet Union’s involvement" in Afghanistan.

In Wednesday’s meeting, Trump made the bizarre claim that in 1979, “the reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia,” positing that the Soviet Union’s involvement in Afghanistan was a major reason for its collapse.

Trump’s retelling of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has been strongly disputed by historians, who say the invasion was an attempt to prop up the communist regime and compete with the U.S. in the region. But the Journal’s editorial board was especially peeved by Trump’s assertion that Russia was "right to be there" in Afghanistan, a statement that breaks with the long-standing U.S. government view of the Soviet invasion.

“We cannot recall a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President,” they wrote.

The Journal, which is owned by Trump ally Rupert Murdoch, has been occasionally critical of the president for his remarks in the past. But the right-leaning editorial board has rarely taken such eviscerating shots at the president, whose “cracked history” they wrote “can’t alter that reality” of the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
========================

Meanwhile I overheard some reliable backchannel communications:

[SME verifies SD]
[17 investigations - TTOTS]
[33 perps/indicts:AGS]
[8 convicts||JCAL]
[WWG1WGA]
[JBD - SSWA]

[ryoder 1,384]

Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya charged with obstruction of justice in US court

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/russian-attorney-natalia-veselnitskaya-charged-with-obstruction-of-justice-in-us-court

Document: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/08/politics/indictment-natalia-veselnitskaya/index.html

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[rushmc 18]

ryoder

Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya charged with obstruction of justice in US court

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/russian-attorney-natalia-veselnitskaya-charged-with-obstruction-of-justice-in-us-court

Document: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/08/politics/indictment-natalia-veselnitskaya/index.html

Isn't interesting that she gets charged but Comey and others don't.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln