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You are here: Home / Archives for Politics / Trumpery / Russiagate

Russiagate

At least Nero allegedly fiddled…

by Betty Cracker|  September 11, 202011:34 am| 178 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Russiagate, Trumpery

As noted in this space before, Biden has an excellent rapid response ad team. I am pleased they so quickly made hay of Trump’s admission Wednesday that he lolls around watching Fox News all day like the common, lazy, loud-mouthed, wingnut retiree that he is:

More than 1,000 people died from COVID yesterday.@realDonaldTrump watched eight hours of TV.

If I’m president, you might not always agree with me. But I promise you I will always show up and fight for you. pic.twitter.com/HvVJLS83TZ

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 11, 2020

It’s been obvious for a few years now that Trump eschews official briefings in favor of the blathering of pro-Trump Fox News “personalities.” In this instance, he was citing “the shows” to explain how a fantastical notion — that Obama and Biden committed “the biggest political scandal in the history of our country” by spying on his 2016 campaign — became lodged in his bloated orange gourd, noting that “the crime is very obvious to everybody.”

It’s not, of course. Barr and his man Durham have been squeezing that turnip for months by re-investigating the origins of the Russia probe. So far, all they’ve got to show for it is a plea deal from one unlucky FBI lawyer nobody ever heard of connected with paperwork on a surveillance renewal for a Trump campaign flunky no one outside the cult gives a shit about.

But I digress — it was helpful for Trump to admit he watches so much TV that it amounts to a full-time job. At least Nero allegedly played the fiddle. We’ve got a lazy couch potato (of the yam variety) who sits around on his ass all day. Dude’s gotta go! Open thread.

At least Nero allegedly fiddled…Post + Comments (178)

GOP Venality Open Thread: Yep, RUSSIAGATE IS REAL

by Anne Laurie|  August 19, 20208:32 am| 101 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Republican Venality, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel

BREAKING: In a thousand-page bipartisan report, US Senate Intel Cmte. says the Trump admin. obstructed its investigation with "novel claims" of executive privilege, and paints portrait of a Trump campaign eager to accept help from a foreign power in 2016. https://t.co/BfpgoOGJvX

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 18, 2020

I’m sure better-informed front pagers will be covering this, but… Looks to me like the Repub-dominated Intel Committee used the cover of the Democratic National Convention to dump their ‘fifth & final’ report on 2016’s GRU/Trump crime cartel fvckery when they hoped it wouldn’t get much notice.

Here’s a whole bunch of news sources agreeing, yep, looks like all those high crimes averred by the Democrats actually happened!

A nearly 1,000-page report by a Senate intelligence panel concludes that Russia used former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Wikileaks and others to try to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Donald Trump https://t.co/0AEETMq35S pic.twitter.com/KixuO9ffwN

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 19, 2020

show full post on front page

Senate report on Russia blows a hole in Trump’s ‘hoax’ claims https://t.co/5u6bacGcew

— Quin Hillyer (@QuinHillyer) August 18, 2020


The Washington Examiner is quite a conservative / right-wing outlet, but even they aren’t trying to whitewash this:

A new, bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee confirms, unambiguously, that the Justice Department had good reason to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election. It also indicates that investigators were right to examine potential conspiracy with the Kremlin by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Again, this is a bipartisan report, not a partisan Democratic attack document. It is endorsed by Republican committee chairman (on leave), Richard Burr of North Carolina, by acting Chairman Marco Rubio of Florida, and by all other Republicans on the committee in addition to the committee Democrats.

The very first substantive words of the report say this: “The Committee found that the Russian government engaged in an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.”

The report “focuses on the counterintelligence threat, outlining a wide range of Russian efforts to influence the Trump Campaign and the 2016 election. In this volume the Committee lays out its findings in detail by looking at many aspects of the counterintelligence threat posed by the Russian influence operation,” with special attention on the multitudinous Russian connections of Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, who for more than a decade had conducted “influence operations” on behalf of a major Russian oligarch named Oleg Deripaska.

Also, “Manafort hired and worked increasingly closely with a Russian national, Konstantin Kilimnik. Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer.” And: “[C]ontinuing throughout his time in the Campaign, Manafort directly and indirectly communicated with Kilimnik, Deripaska, and the pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine. On numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik.”

That’s just from the report’s initial summary. The report contains 952 pages of evidence and analysis showing that these Russian efforts were a serious intelligence threat. Moreover, several Trump officials were at least somewhat aware of, and quite open to, the Russian help, even if not criminally “conspiring” with the Russians…

"The Republican and Democratic chairmen of the Senate Intelligence Committee made criminal referrals of Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Erik Prince and Sam Clovis to federal prosecutors in 2019” https://t.co/MRsgRiBaaP

— Eric Rauchway (@rauchway) August 18, 2020

Statute of limitations for a violation of 18 USC 1001 is five years. https://t.co/6N6U9Fd1L6

— Mieke Eoyang (@MiekeEoyang) August 18, 2020

3 things happened that day in October:
1. The Obama admin made its first public intelligence assessment about Russian election interference
2. The Washington Post published the Access Hollywood tape/story
3. Roger Stone arranged for Wikileaks to start dropping Podesta's emails https://t.co/SDKphWwsBc

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) August 18, 2020

Bipartisan Senate report shows extensive evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia https://t.co/3h9xXAXIlE

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) August 18, 2020

It is so disturbing and hard to comprehend that Bill Barr is trying to undo the Russia investigations and pretend there was nothing that merited investigation. https://t.co/i0IRd2pqDg

— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) August 18, 2020

Trump campaign Russia contacts were 'grave threat', says Senate report https://t.co/mCHfKX3HD6

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 19, 2020

Schiff statement on the SSCI report: https://t.co/CmAnlPqIC3 pic.twitter.com/Os0eYWRw8z

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) August 18, 2020

Bipartisan Senate report: Russia undertook an extensive campaign to sabotage the 2016 election to help Trump become president and some members of his circle of advisers were open to the help from a US adversary. ?@MarkMazzettiNYT? ?@npfandos? https://t.co/icW1xGKlmo

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) August 18, 2020

Christ. As I've noted previously, this was also the EXACT SAME DAY that the Obama administration put out its first major warning that Russia was trying to influence the election https://t.co/mcXn3XdYMO https://t.co/NNrYZTXuSM

— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) August 18, 2020

The Senate Intelligence Committee found that Trump spoke to Stone about WikiLeaks, despite telling the special counsel in written answers he had "no recollections" that they had spoken about it via @CNN. https://t.co/8B42DTQz30

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) August 18, 2020

NEW Trump’s 2016 campaign chair Paul Manafort was a ‘grave counterintelligence threat,’ had contact with Russian intelligence, Senate intelligence committee finds@karoun https://t.co/wMPnD9Deb5

— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) August 18, 2020

Footnote for the ages in the new Senate report (p. 256): pic.twitter.com/j5gKBr6YPu

— Charles Homans (@chashomans) August 18, 2020

GOP Venality Open Thread: Yep, RUSSIAGATE IS REALPost + Comments (101)

Repub Venality Open Thread: Lt. Colonel Vindman Is Retiring from the Army

by Anne Laurie|  July 8, 202011:40 pm| 68 Comments

This post is in: Military, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel

Today I officially requested retirement from the US Army, an organization I love. My family and I look forward to the next chapter of our lives. pic.twitter.com/h2D9MRUHY2

— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) July 8, 2020

Congratulations to @AVindman my twin brother on a glorious military career. Love you bro!

— Yevgeny (Eugene) Vindman (@YVindman) July 8, 2020

A sentiment I can only second, from one of Vindman’s fellow Soviet refugees:

If ever in my lifetime the Dems go extinct and the GOP platform has free healthcare, spiritual fulfillment for all and peace on Earth, I'll still rather have my eyes eaten out by rats rather than consider voting Republican.
No forgiveness for this. Ever.https://t.co/ZBGJLewHIp

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) July 8, 2020

JUST IN: Full statement from VINDMAN attorney on Vindman’s retirement. pic.twitter.com/nn99aXA5Wj

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 8, 2020

Speaker Pelosi on Lt. Col. Vindman: "It is sad that America is losing this patriotic soldier because of the President's cruel vindictiveness and disrespect for the Constitution and our national security."

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 9, 2020

Rep. Schiff: "What makes the punishment of Col. Vindman possible, is not just this amoral president, but it's a GOP and Congress that is not only unwilling to lift a finger or speak a word in his defense, but quite to the contrary piled on the attacks on Col. Vindman." pic.twitter.com/9bZh7JaFI8

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 8, 2020

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The entire civilian and military leadership in the DoD can go fuck themselves. https://t.co/KroXkl9K61 pic.twitter.com/CuMVekqcTV

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 8, 2020

It's unprecedented that someone selected for the US Army War College and on the promotion list for Colonel would be bullied out of the Army by a Commander-in-Chief who is allowing Russia to place bounties on American troops in Afghanistan. https://t.co/G14WVbX2Kc

— VoteVets (@votevets) July 8, 2020

No the most insufferable part is that cult of personality cost America another honorable public servant.

— Steve Metz (@steven_metz) July 8, 2020

Trump can't help himself so he'll totally take a victory lap over sabotaging the career of a lieutenant colonel with a flawless service record.

And then probably pardon some Leavenworth s***bag who curbstomped an Iraqi 8-year old.

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) July 8, 2020

To put it in terms the Oval Office Occupant might understand: Every day Lt. Colonel Vindman shits better presidents than Donald Trump will ever be.

Thank you for your service and your patriotism, @AVindman.

pic.twitter.com/m4QUwGJTg6

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 9, 2020

Repub Venality Open Thread: Lt. Colonel Vindman Is Retiring from the ArmyPost + Comments (68)

Russiagate Open Thread: ‘Paralysis’ Over Those Bounty Payments

by Anne Laurie|  July 7, 202010:45 pm| 80 Comments

This post is in: Proud to Be A Democrat, Republican Venality, Russiagate, Trumpery

New: The IC broadly agrees that Russia has been funding Taliban ops. But a central dispute, outlined in recent ODNI memo, remains over motives and ability to tie specific killings to $$. Lawmakers now paralyzed over a response. W/⁦@AndrewDesiderio⁩: https://t.co/Crvm7kpS4n

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) July 7, 2020

Alternate headline: How much will the GOP do *not* to publicly discuss this, during an election year? Anything they can get away with, according to Politico:

… Citing disputed intelligence assessments and interagency squabbles, lawmakers emerged from top secret briefings cautious and mostly tight-lipped about the veracity of news reports suggesting that the Russians had American blood on their hands.

Those lawmakers — mostly Republicans — repeatedly stressed that there was no consensus on whether the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence unit, orchestrated the bounties, despite news reports from The New York Times and others that have detailed the alleged scheme with increasing specificity.

“I think there are contradictory pieces of intelligence on this,” Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 4 GOP leader and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said after a classified briefing.

The Trump administration also appeared to sow doubt over the issue, with President Donald Trump and his aides either questioning the accuracy of the intelligence or labeling reporting on the bounties an outright hoax. And congressional Republicans recently rejected an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, written by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), that would impose new sanctions on Moscow.

Democrats and Republicans alike have supported stricter sanctions on Russia as punishment for its malign activities, including its interference in the 2016 election and its annexation of Crimea in 2014. But the Trump administration has repeatedly hesitated to fully deploy the sanctions regime Congress authorized in 2017, and Republicans have rarely used their leverage to press the White House on the issue.

“There’s still a whole series of questions about what our policy is vis-à-vis Russia, and why there seems to be this unwillingness to call out Russian bad actions,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee…

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In the meantime, Democrats appear to be giving Ratcliffe, the nation’s top intelligence official, a chance to prove himself as a nonpolitical figure, given his history as a strident defender of the president. Some congressional officials raised eyebrows about the timing of his memo — which concluded that the interagency assessments of the bounty intelligence were still mixed and incomplete — given White House attempts to frame the issue as too uncertain to warrant an immediate response. But people familiar with the document said it was straightforward and factual.

“I don’t think Ratcliffe has been in this job long enough to characterize whether he’s going to play it straight and do his job or whether he’s going to be in more of a political role,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Intelligence Committee. “I think he has a lot to do to build confidence given his previous role on cable news networks.”

“I didn’t support Mr. Ratcliffe,” added Warner. “Now he’s in, I want him to be successful. And as long as he is transparent and forthcoming with this committee — and we have tried to treat everybody with respect — I want to work with him.”

Democrats emphasized that they still had confidence in the career civil servants who make up the vast majority of the U.S. intelligence community, but said they are concerned Ratcliffe would not tell the president what they believe he needs to hear.

“I’ve made it clear that I think the executive branch has an obligation to be straight with the American people, and the list could go on, but he’s the guy that’s going to be held accountable,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), an Intelligence Committee member, said in a brief interview. “In the last 48 hours, the administration isn’t even close to a passing grade.”…

As I remember it, the GOP was trying to set up Blount as the fall guy for every intelligence failure going back to the start of the impeachment hearings, for the heinous crime of being insufficiently loyal to Dear Leader. So it wouldn’t really surprise me if it turns out Blount gets to be the Repub figurehead ceremonially sacrificed to cover the whole party’s complicity in Trump’s Russia-related treason. Our job as Democrats, of course, will be fighting to ensure that the Treason Enabler Party doesn’t escape a scouring of every single one of their accomplices.

Russiagate Open Thread: ‘Paralysis’ Over Those Bounty PaymentsPost + Comments (80)

Late Night Point & Mock Open Thread: Russiagate ‘Butina Boyfriend’ Paul Erickson Going to Jail

by Anne Laurie|  July 6, 202010:56 pm| 76 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Russiagate

BREAKING: Paul Erickson, a consultant for national Republican campaigns and the American boyfriend of Maria Butina, a Russian national and spy, was just sentenced to seven years in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering. https://t.co/A83Wtsre3a

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 6, 2020

Court docs say Erickson, an @NRA ally, and Butina, who infiltrated the highest ranks of the NRA before she was sent back to Russia, swindled $2.3 million from victims, including a FOX news commentator and a congressman.

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 6, 2020

And he didn’t even offer Dear Leader a finder’s fee! Per the local Argus Leader:

A Sioux Falls man who used his connections in the conservative movement to help his Russian girlfriend gain political access was sentenced Monday to serve seven years in federal prison.

Paul Erickson was not charged with any wrongdoing involving his efforts to help Maria Butina make inroads with political contacts. Instead, he was accused of defrauding investors in various schemes over the last 20 years.

Butina, a young woman who portrayed herself as a gun rights activist, was deported last fall after serving time for failing to register as a foreign agent. Her role in his downfall did not come up Monday.

Erickson came under the scrutiny of federal investigators who were monitoring Butina. That scrutiny lead to an investigation of his various business enterprises, which existed to defraud investors. For example, Erickson had defrauded conservative investors starting in the late 1990s out of a company called Compass Care, which promised to build Christian-based nursing homes. He also had a venture in the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota that he used to defraud investors, according to his indictment. It was the Bakken incident that lead Erickson to plead guilty…

Erickson, a Yale University graduate who went on to earn a law degree from the University of Virginia, became involved in Republican politics during the Reagan adminitration. He worked briefly for Sen. Jim Abdnor, the Republican who beat George McGovern in the 1980 election. The Vermillion native traveled the world to historic events, including to the Berlin Wall when it was torn down and to Nicaragua, where he met anti-communist fighters there…

The Reagan administration was truly a gold-star opportunity for grifting, treason, and general malfeseance.

Clint Sargent, Erickson’s lawyer, argued Monday for Erickson to be confined at home. While unusual, Sargent said that Erickson had recently undergone a heart valve replacement, putting him at greater risk if he contracts coronavirus.

Jeff Clapper, an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, resisted the motion, saying the Bureau of Prisons could take appropriate action to screen and protect inmates.

Schreier sided with the government. She said she arrived at the courthouse Monday morning at the same time Erickson did.

“He walked in without a mask,” Schreier said, noting that if Erickson were so concerned with coronavirus, he would have taken the precaution of wearing one…

Butina’s gone back to Russia, but here’s hoping her boyfriend will be bitter enough to give up some dirt on his NRA contacts.

pic.twitter.com/haVXJKxrx5

— R.K. Hayes (@RK_Hayes) July 6, 2020

Late Night Point & Mock Open Thread: Russiagate ‘Butina Boyfriend’ Paul Erickson Going to JailPost + Comments (76)

Proud to Be A Democrat Open Thread: Good for Senator Duckworth

by Anne Laurie|  July 2, 20206:15 pm| 55 Comments

This post is in: Military, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Russiagate

I’m speaking on the floor today because I am appalled by what appears to be a total betrayal of our troops by the man who’s supposed to be their Commander in Chief. Tune in: https://t.co/gBOsNpqO6i

— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) June 29, 2020

Wow — Duckworth says she will block Senate approvals of **1,123** senior U.S. Armed Forces promotions until Esper "confirms in writing that he did not, or will not, block the expected and deserved promotion of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to Colonel."

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) July 2, 2020

Sen. Duckworth to block more than 1,000 military promotions unless Pentagon vows not to retaliate against Vindman https://t.co/73pUilHSgU

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 2, 2020

Make the Squatter-in-Chief own his crimes:

… Duckworth is a Purple Heart recipient and a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in the Iraq War.

Vindman, who received a Purple Heart for his actions in Iraq and later served as a White House aide on European affairs, is among hundreds of officers selected to be promoted to full colonel this year.

In February, the White House ousted Vindman from his post on the National Security Council. He had testified to Congress in November that he was disturbed by Trump’s call for Ukraine to investigate the president’s political rivals.

“Our military is supposed to be the ultimate meritocracy,” Duckworth said in a statement. “It is simply unprecedented and wrong for any Commander in Chief to meddle in routine military matters at all, whether or not he has a personal vendetta against a Soldier who did his patriotic duty and told the truth — a Soldier who has been recommended for promotion by his superiors because of his performance. . . . This goes far beyond any single military officer, it is about protecting a merit-based system from political corruption and unlawful retaliation.”…

Whether or not she’s Joe Biden’s VP choice, it’s clear she’ll be an important part of his team.

Proud to Be A Democrat Open Thread: Good for Senator DuckworthPost + Comments (55)

The Susan Rice Email: There Is No There There, There Never Was, and There Never Will Be

by Adam L Silverman|  May 19, 202010:21 pm| 34 Comments

This post is in: America, An Unexamined Scandal, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Election 2020, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Russia, Russiagate, Saudi Arabia, Silverman on Security, Trump-Russia

The President, Republican members of the House and the Senate, Fox News personalities and talking heads, the President’s surrogates on other broadcast and cable news shows, the conservative social, digital, and news media, and the President’s campaign officials and surrogates have been calling for the release of the email that former Assistant to the President-National Security Advisor (AP-NSA) Susan Rice sent to herself in January 2017 as a memorialization of the meeting about what the FBI’s counterintelligence officials had been discovering about LTG (ret) Flynn and his activities before he joined the President’s 2016 campaign, during the campaign, and during the transition.

This was purposefully conflated with unmasking by Congressman Nunes as part of his agitprop that President  Obama and his senior officials spied on the President’s campaign, including seeking to unmask LTG (ret) Flynn in signals intelligence collected on foreign targets. When the Trump administration declassified and released Rice’s email to herself, they only declassified and released part of it. Which, of course, led to screaming and yelling about coverups and conspiracies. Dr. Rice has long requested they declassify the whole email, as well as the transcripts of LTG (ret) Flynn’s calls with Ambassador Kislyak, as well as other Russian officials, and officials from other countries. Earlier today the Trump administration declassified and released the remainder of Dr. Rice’s email and no surprises at all, there’s nothing untoward at all in it.

The Susan Rice Email: There Is No There There, There Never Was, and There Never Will Be

As can be clearly seen from reading the email, no one involved did anything untoward, unethical, and/or illegal. As was the case with the unmasking conspiracy theory, there is no there there.

Here is Dr. Rice’s statement from this afternoon:

The Susan Rice Email: There Is No There There, There Never Was, and There Never Will Be 1 The Susan Rice Email: There Is No There There, There Never Was, and There Never Will Be 2

And while Republican elected officials* and their surrogates are trying to spin this as evidence of illegality, it isn’t. And the most amusing part of today is that Senator Graham hung his tuchas way, way, way, way out over the edge this morning expecting to turn this into a scandal that he could weaponize on behalf of the President’s, as well as his own, reelection chances.

This could backfire on Graham-Trump.

Graham letter to Grenell, Barr asks for new list of unmasking requests that revealed Trump campaign/transition associates "and the reason given for any such request."

Likely to show national security threats involving those US persons. pic.twitter.com/h2nzo0GQco

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 19, 2020

Ooopsie!!!!!

To quickly summarize:

  1. Dr. Rice’s email to herself memorializing the 5 JAN 2017 meeting with President Obama, VP Biden, FBI Director Comey, herself, and several others clearly indicates that nothing untoward, unethical, and/or illegal took place. Rather, President Obama made it very clear that everything was to be done by the book.
  2. The release of the entire email further undercuts the Congressman Devin Nunes created agitprop and conspiracy theory that President Obama ordered the FBI to spy on the President’s 2016 campaign and he knows this because the evidence is being covered up in Dr. Rice’s email to herself, which is classified.
  3. That email is now declassified and released and once again Congressman Nunes is unmasked as a none too bright, conspiracy mongering fabulist.
  4. The declassification and release of Dr. Rice’s entire email memorializing the 5 JAN 2017 meeting undercuts Senator Graham’s plans for a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation to get to the bottom of these allegations, because the declassified email shows those allegations to be complete bullshit.

Open thread

* Obligatory:

The Susan Rice Email: There Is No There There, There Never Was, and There Never Will BePost + Comments (34)

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