Russia and trump

[b.c.]

Trump at G-7: His comments on Obama, Crimea show he has no loyalty.

"This week, at the G-7 meeting in France, [Individual 1] stood before the world and, for three horrifying minutes, displayed utter incomprehension of [i.e. LACK OF] allegiance to the United States.

During the meeting, Trump lobbied his fellow heads of state to invite Russia back into the G-7. This vexed the other leaders, because Russia had been suspended from the group in 2014 for a good reason: It had invaded and annexed Crimea, which was then part of Ukraine.

Since its suspension, Russia has done a lot for Trump. According to former special counsel Robert Mueller, the Russian government committed crimes to help Trump win the ... election in 2016.

But Russia has done nothing to rectify its seizure of Crimea. On Monday, at a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump was asked why, in view of Russia’s offenses, it should be invited to the next G-7 meeting.

Trump replied, matter-of-factly, that the seizure of Crimea was no offense to him. Crimea, he explained, had been “taken away from President Obama, not taken away from [Individual 1].”

Trump defines the invasion as a defeat of Obama—whom he regards as his nemesis—and therefore as evidence of his superiority.

Trump’s answer clarifies why he continues to work for Russia and against the United States, even after Mueller failed to prove that Trump and Putin colluded during the 2016 election.

Trump has no sense of national loyalty, and he views the United States government, prior to his presidency, as an enemy. This makes him a ready instrument of Putin and other dictators who have tangled with the United States."


AND, maybe THIS explains much of the above:

Lawrence O’Donnell - “source close to Deutsche Bank says...his loans have Russian co-signers.”

"A source close to Deutsche Bank says Trump'™s tax returns show he pays very little income tax and, more importantly, that his loans have Russian co-signers.

If true, that explains every kind word Trump has ever said about Russia and Putin. @TheLastWord 10pm - Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) August 28, 2019

Deutsche Bank has the receipts: Individual-1's tax records

Follow the Money: From Moscow to Mar-a-Lago

 

[b.c.]

"Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo":

Trump finally agrees to release military aid to Ukraine after apparent blackmail effort fails

"The White House on Thursday dropped its resistance to releasing a package of military assistance to Ukraine, amid a bipartisan outcry from lawmakers and an open investigation into whether President Trump and his allies were distorting the United States foreign aid program for their own political benefit."​

Kremlin-Controlled Russian Bank Hires Trump Insider as a Lobbyist – Mother Jones

"With Congress mulling legislation to slap new sanctions on Russia for its attack on the 2016 American election, an important Russian bank connected to Vladimir Putin’s government has turned for help to a well-positioned lobbyist in Washington: a Trump insider and former Republican House member named John Sweeney. In August Sweeney signed a whopping contract to lobby on behalf of this bank to stave off sanctions from the US government."
​

Trump's Acting National Security Adviser Said Nuclear War With USSR Was Winnable | HuffPost

"Donald Trump’s "acting" national security adviser, former Reagan administration official Charles Kupperman, [once argued] ...in the early 1980s [that] nuclear conflict with the USSR was winnable...

Kupperman, appointed to his new post on Tuesday ...argued it was possible to win a nuclear war “in the classical sense,” and that the notion of total destruction stemming from such a superpower conflict was inaccurate.

He said that in a scenario in which 20 million people died in the U.S. as opposed to 150 million, the nation could then emerge as the stronger side and prevail in its objectives."
​

Oh?? only 20 MILLION, you say, Dr. S-Love?? Well... that's different.

(what the FUCK????)

 

[deleted15807]

Of course he is wasn’t.

Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election
​

Cal me old fashioned but I like presidents who aren’t traitors.

 

[chicagosam]

Of course he is wasn’t.

Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election
​

Cal me old fashioned but I like presidents who aren’t traitors.

Perhaps it’s time for Vlad to cut his losses and rId himself of his incompetent kompromat.

 

[Novaboy]

Of course he is wasn’t.

Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election
​

Cal me old fashioned but I like presidents who aren’t traitors.

Of course he doesn't care. His one and only rule is to win. Doesn't matter how.

 

[deleted15807]

Of course he doesn't care. His one and only rule is to win. Doesn't matter how.

He took his queue from his reptile party that only cares about winning. See The Republican Attack on the Right to Vote.
.

 

[deleted15807]

Maybe we need a Russia and Giuliani thread now. The President's personal attorney is attending a Conference with Putin? Is Moscow Mitch going along for the ride also?

Trump and crowd are no longer even trying to hide the fact that they are working for the Russians, not for the United States.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose actions as President Trump’s personal lawyer have helped set in motion an impeachment inquiry, abruptly canceled his scheduled paid appearance at a Kremlin-backed conference in Armenia next week.

Giuliani, who confirmed to The Washington Post on Friday morning that he would attend the event, reversed himself that evening after The Post reported on his participation in the meeting, which Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials are expected to attend.

Giuliani cancels paid appearance next week at Kremlin-backed conference​

 

[b.c.]

SOMEONE'S getting a little antsy:

Nervous Kremlin Warns U.S. Against Releasing Transcripts Of Trump's Calls With Putin

 

[Industrialsize]

National Security
Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election
President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...0a8bc8-e159-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html

 

[gr8gatsby]

Seems the Russia Scandal might be important again.

 

[keenobserver]

SOMEONE'S getting a little antsy:

Nervous Kremlin Warns U.S. Against Releasing Transcripts Of Trump's Calls With Putin

All the more reason . . .

 

[Industrialsize]

 

[b.c.]

"On Chickens, Roosting, and Such"

Did White House hide memo on Trump meeting with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov from Robert Mueller?

On Friday night the Washington Post dropped another blockbuster report in the midst of a fast-unspooling scandal involving Donald Trump’s improper communications with foreign officials. It raises a worrying question: Was there a memorandum that should have been produced to the Mueller probe that was never turned over?

We learned Thursday, by way of a 9-page whistleblower report ... that in the wake of the July phone call with Zelensky, “senior White House officials had intervened to “lock down” all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced – as is customary.”

We further learned from the whistleblower complaint that White House officials were ordered by “White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored for coordination, finalization, and distribution to Cabinet-level officials.”

Further we know now that although it contained no classified information from a national security perspective, “the transcript was loaded into a separate electronic system that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature.”

That latter bit is almost a bigger scandal than the fact that [Trump] tried to extort a foreign ally to produce fake opposition research in order to win the election. It directly implicates White House lawyers in hiding embarrassing documents under the pretext of protecting national security information.

Beyond which, it’s explicitly illegal to classify things for the purpose of covering up embarrassing behavior or misconduct. Presumably the House Intelligence Committee will now have to figure out who these lawyers were...

But here’s where Friday night’s Washington Post story perhaps magnifies the Ukraine scandal: The report... alleges that there is a memorandum summarizing the White House meeting on May 10, 2017, between Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak,

a meeting at which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a foreign agent, and at which he also told Lavrov and Kislyak that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

Here’s the problem: That May 10 White House meeting was the subject of intense scrutiny by the Mueller probe because it went directly to the question of why Comey was fired.

Page 71 of the second volume of the Mueller report notes, “In the morning on May 10, 2017, ... Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office.” The footnote cites to a White House Document entitled “Working Visit with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia” which is dated 5/9/17, the day before the meeting, and to an email (5/9/17 White House Document, “Working Visit with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia”); SCR08_001274 (5/10/17 Email, Ciaramella to Kelly, et al.).

That’s the only document that seems to have been produced in reference to the May 10 meeting. There is confirmation of Trump’s remarks about Comey’s firing being a relief from Sean Spicer and Hope Hicks.

That’s it. The May 10 meeting is supported by an email. Now the question becomes, if there was a memorandum of that meeting, how is it possible that it was not produced to Mueller?

It’s awfully hard to believe that Mueller didn’t ask for any readout or memorandum from that meeting; a meeting at which [Trump] explained that he fired Comey in part because he was being pressured by the Russia investigation.

That admission to his Russian visitors is part of one of the obstructive acts Mueller found.

So, assuming the Post is correct that a memorandum of that meeting exists, what happened to it?"​

 

[b.c.]

NRA acted as 'foreign asset' for Russia, Senate Democratic investigation finds

"The National Rifle Association was a “foreign asset” for Russia during the 2016 election, an 18-month investigation by Senate Finance Committee Democrats finds.

The NRA enthusiastically sought to help Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin insinuate themselves into right-wing circles on behalf of Russia, and NRA officials absolutely knew that Butina and Torshin were linked to the Russian government, not just independent Russian gun-lovers—literally Butina emailed NRA officials that the 2015 Moscow visit by some NRA leaders was important because “many powerful figures in the Kremlin are counting on Torshin to prove his American connections.”​

and in related news...

Moscow Mitch and the Kremlin-owned NRA
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/27/1888308/-Moscow-Mitch-and-the-Kremlin-owned-NRA
Beto O'Rourke: The NRA's tax-exempt status has always been illegitimate and should be revoked

 

[Industrialsize]

Trump Pressed Australian Leader to Help Barr Investigate Mueller Inquiry’s Origins

The discussion was another instance of the president using American diplomacy for potential personal gain.

• • 
    
  • 
    

WASHINGTON — President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P. Barr gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Mr. Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation, according to two American officials with knowledge of the call.

The White House restricted access to the call’s transcript to a small group of the president’s aides, one of the officials said, an unusual decision that is similar to the handling of a July call with the Ukrainian president that is at the heart of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. Like that call, the discussion with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia shows the extent to which Mr. Trump sees the attorney general as a critical partner in his goal to show that the Mueller investigation had corrupt and partisan origins, and the extent that Mr. Trump sees the Justice Department inquiry as a potential way to gain leverage over America’s closest allies.

And like the call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the discussion with Mr. Morrison shows the president using high-level diplomacy to advance his personal political interests.
Trump Pressed Australian Leader to Help Barr Investigate Mueller Inquiry’s Origins

 

[Industrialsize]

 

[Industrialsize]

And the Mueller Report is back to the front burner:

 

[Industrialsize]

Judge Howell:

The House Judiciary Committee has shown that it needs the grand jury material referenced and cited in the Mueller Report to avoid a possible injustice in the impeachment inquiry, that this need for disclosure is greater than the need for continued secrecy.
Complete information about the evidence the Special Counsel gathered, from whom, and in what setting is indispensable to [the committee],” Howell writes, citing the recent revelation that neither McGahn nor Don Jr. were asked to testify before the grand jury

 

[Industrialsize]

Judge Howell destroys the Republican argument that the impeachment inquiry is illegal because the full house has not voted on it:

 

[Industrialsize]

The White house policy of no cooperation comes back to bite them: