Thread Rating:
  • 2 Vote(s) - 4.5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN 2016 US ELECTION & SPIN-OFF INVESTIGATIONS
I'm not sure who is better at messing with the U.S. Russia or China. I think China is winning.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
Reply
Putin is messing with everyone, not just the US.
Reply
Is he a Democrat?
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
Reply
(02-28-2018, 11:22 AM)pyropappy Wrote: if you were a responsible citizen of our Republic, you would have educated yourself about Aleksandr Dugin as I suggested. Then you would know exactly what Russia is doing, and it ain't good.


Oh for fucks sake. It doesn't take a degree in engineering to know it's not good.

[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
Reply
Well, Communications Director Hope Hicks was questioned by the House Intelligence Committe yesterday. She admitted that she tells white lies on behalf of the President as part of her job.

Today, President Trump announced that Hicks is the latest of his inner circle to resign. She's out soon.

Hicks, 29, was a Ralph Lauren fashion model and assistant to Ivanka Trump before working on Trump's campaign and then being appointed to her powerful role on the White House staff.

Also this week......Jared Kushner lost his privileges to view top secret information because he couldn't be cleared after all this time and Chief of Staff Kelly finally cut him off.

It's not clear if some of the issues blocking Kushner from being cleared relate to the Russia investigation. But, losing national security access is gonna make it very difficult for him to create peace in the Middle East, solve the Opioid epidemic, negotiate reciprocity with China when it comes to trade, and all of the other massive responsibilities he was assigned by his father-in-law (despite having no experience and being assigned a portfolio that even the most-qualified person could not reasonably manage).

Hicks is aligned with the nepotistic Jared/Ivanka wing of the White House. I detest the family member appointments in this administration, too third world dictatorial and neither Ivanka (she too is unable to be cleared) nor Jared seems like much more than window dressing to me. I hope they both follow Hicks out the door and some more qualified people who've earned their stripes are willing to step in.
Reply
(02-28-2018, 05:56 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Today, President Trump announced that Hicks is the latest of his inner circle to resign. She's out soon.


Ahahahahahaha!

[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
Reply
Russia / NRA Connection Under Investigation

[Image: 2011-russia-day-awardsalexander-torshin-...03740_.jpg]

The FBI is investigating whether Alexander Torshin (^center), the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the NRA to assist the Trump campaign in 2016, McClatchy reported in January.

Yesterday, NPR released an update which includes more details and a timeline. Interesting read. https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/590076949...s-revealed
Reply
It's also being reported that Mueller's investigators are preparing to indict those involved in the hacking of DNC and Podesta emails during the 2016 campaign.

Story: http://thehill.com/policy/national-secur...ked-leaked
Reply
Mueller is a hack. Where was he during fast and furious or the Russian uranium deal or the IRS scandal? crickets
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
Reply


Robert Mueller is not a hack. Jesus, Maggot, stop reading on those crazy websites. Yeah, they are crazy if you're still trying to push that uranium bs. Crazy websites are the only place talk of the uranium goes on.

I don't know anything about fast & furious or the IRS that you referred to but when I have time later I will read about it so I can argue with you.
[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
Reply
(03-02-2018, 09:38 PM)Maggot Wrote: Mueller is a hack. Where was he during fast and furious or the Russian uranium deal or the IRS scandal? crickets


Alrighty, Maggottyboo, I've started reading and I began with the IRS scandal. I had a very vague memory of it but it occurred during a period of time where I wasn't interested in politics. According to what I've read so far - Special Counsel Mueller's name wasn't mentioned but Director Comey's was. He said he found no evidence to warrant filing of federal criminal charges. He found no evidence of "enemy hunting". Last September the trump Justice Department declined to re-open the investigation.

In regards to Fast & Furious, it appears a shit ton of agencies as well as the Dept. of Justice, Congress, the Attorney General, the House Judiciary Committee. the House Committee on Oversight, as well as numerous other people were involved in investigating it but I saw no mention of Special Counsel Mueller nor former Director Comey. I'm left with the impression the the Republican Congress wanted to handle it their way without involving more people than they had to.
[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
Reply
Did you see that Sessions fired Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe 26 hours before McCabe's retirement Duchess?

[Image: im-4136?width=620&aspect_ratio=1.5]
I think McCabe ^ is going to be a key witness in Mueller's investigation, as least the probe into potential obstruction of justice. McCabe's the FBI official to whom James Comey communicated his concerns about President Trump trying to get him to pledge personal loyalty over objective investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.

I wasn't really surprised by McCabe getting the boot just before he resigned with full benefits after 21 years of service. And, I wasn't surprised at all about Trump's many tweets disparaging McCabe over the last few months.

I was kinda surprised, however, by McCabe's post-ouster tweet. He's not going quietly and finally speaking out in defense of himself, the Justice Department, and his family.

McCabe and his supporters claim that the firing was simply a politically-motivated move to discredit him as a witness and undermine the Russia investigation. Some also believe that Sessions only fired McCabe to appease the President and keep his own job. Sessions could simply have let McCabe retire on Monday.

Supporters of President Trump feel the firing is long-overdue and continue to insist that McCabe was biased in favor of Hillary Clinton during the investigation into her emails and biased against Trump during the Russia investigation.

I want to see the evidence behind the Inspector General's finding that there was cause for McCabe's dismissal due to lack of candor and unauthorized public disclosures.

Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/us/po...fired.html
Reply
The FBI's own Department of Professional Responsibility determined McCabe lied to internal investigators, and recommended his firing.
Reply
(03-17-2018, 01:14 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Did you see that Sessions fired Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe 26 hours before McCabe's retirement Duchess?


Oh hell yeah, I saw it. It was basically the very first headline I saw early this morning. I saw trump gloating about it too and it made me remember him calling Andy McCabe's wife a loser. I couldn't possibly know this but I feel strongly that McCabe was prepared for this. He was fired for "lack of candor". I look forward to seeing this play out and Lordy, there's contemporaneous memos that AM kept detailing every conversation with trump. Some of which are already in special Counsel Muellers possession.

This is former FBI Director John Brennan's response to trump -

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you.

Former FBI Director Jim Comey -

Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

Pat Leahy sent a letter to Chuck Grassley asking him to hold a hearing on the White House politicization of the DOJ's Russia probe. It was a very proper letter as you may imagine but scrawled across the bottom in Pat's handwriting it says, "Chuck -- it is serious.
[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
Reply
(03-17-2018, 03:02 PM)Jimbone Wrote: The FBI's own Department of Professional Responsibility determined McCabe lied to internal investigators, and recommended his firing.

Yeah, I read that they recommended McCabe's dismissal for making misleading statements to investigators. That's compelling.

It's not clear to me if the FBI's DPR recommendation ties into the Inspector General's findings or if they're two distinctly separate recommendations from different departments within the Justice Department.

I'm very curious to see the evidence within both reports. Until then, I'm open-minded about justification for the firing, although the timing does appear politically-motivated to me at this point.
Reply
The IG is independent and not controlled by political appointees.
Reply
(03-17-2018, 05:21 PM)Duchess Wrote: This is former FBI Director John Brennan's response to trump -

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you.

Former FBI Director Jim Comey -

Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

Pat Leahy sent a letter to Chuck Grassley asking him to hold a hearing on the White House politicization of the DOJ's Russia probe. It was a very proper letter as you may imagine but scrawled across the bottom in Pat's handwriting it says, "Chuck -- it is serious.

I think we're going to be hearing a lot more details from key players in the next couple of weeks.

I keep wondering what Trump loyalists who keep insisting that Mueller's a hack or biased against Trump -- despite evidence to the contrary -- are gonna say if Mueller's investigation ultimately determines that there was no collusion and no conspiracy by the Trump campaign (and instead a case of politically inexperienced Trump staff and family members being played unwittingly by Russian intelligence).

I think Trump, his devoted media talking heads, and his staff are showing extreme ignorance by constantly publicly denouncing Mueller, the Justice Department, and the independent investigation.

If they're also proven to have intentionally taken action to undermine the independent investigation, they're only helping to build an obstruction of justice case. The obstruction is a crime in itself, even if there was no collusion or conspiracy in the first place.
Reply
(03-17-2018, 06:28 PM)pyropappy Wrote: The IG is independent and not controlled by political appointees.

Thank you Pappy.

I'm unclear as to whether the FBI's DPR used the Inspector General's findings as the basis for McCabe's dismissal?

If not and both recommendations for dismissal were made completely independently of the other, it's a more compelling case against McCabe (in my opinion).
Reply
(03-17-2018, 06:28 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: I keep wondering what Trump loyalists who keep insisting that Mueller's a hack or biased against Trump -- despite evidence to the contrary -- are gonna say if Mueller's investigation ultimately determines that there was no collusion and no conspiracy by the Trump campaign (and instead a case of politically inexperienced Trump staff and family members being played unwittingly by Russian intelligence).


I think they would gloat & pound their chests in that way so many of them have.

I don't believe there is anything that would turn off the trump loyalists. I'm pretty sure they are with him for life regardless of what goes down. I read a lot of them and they are firmly entrenched in their belief/faith in trump. I've engaged a few and it's always a surreal experience, it's downright bizarre. What they see is the polar opposite of what I see. trump is their hero and they think he's draining the DC swamp, he can do no wrong. There was a conversation about how much money he has pissed away by being flown up & down the East Coast so his fat ass could play golf and the time his wife ran away to Mar-a-Lago for a day to get away after Stormy news broke. The loyalists did not believe the taxpayer was paying for it. They said he's rich, it's his money paying for jet fuel and for housing his SS and other staff, etc. It was an insane conversation, like otherworldly insane.
[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
Reply
Yeah, I see that too. Trumpism is like a religion. Facts don't matter.

Trump understands that; he's smart in that regard. He's bragged about it. He said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and his devotees would still vote for him.

He was right.
Reply