Unwanted Truths: Inside Trump’s Battles With U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Last year, intelligence officials gathered to write a classified report on Russia’s interest in the 2020 election. An investigation from the magazine uncovered what happened next.
It called to mind something the former C.I.A. acting director Michael Morell said several months before, when we were discussing Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. “This is the only time in American history when we’ve been attacked by a foreign country and not come together as a nation,” Morell said. “In fact, it split us further apart. It was an inexpensive, relatively easy to carry out covert mission. It deepened our divisions. I’m absolutely convinced that those Russian intelligence officers who put together and managed the attack on our democracy in 2016 all received medals personally from Vladimir Putin.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/08/magazine/us-russia-intelligence.html
Opinion | The threat to U.S. elections is real, and frightening. The public has a right to know.
“The Russian people, much like us here, have been and continue to be scammed, bamboozled, lied to and abused by Putin, oligarchs, Trump and the GOP. Both are criminal enterprises scamming wealth to exert power over the population.”
DT as Russian asset
Wow. Dems on the House Intelligence Committee knew enough to ask Felix Sater this question on December 20, **2017**: “Are you aware of the role Russian financial support played in securing
the Deutsche Bank loans to the Trump Organization?” https://twitter.com/blakesmustache/status/1258752523827109888?s=21
How Russian trolls operate
Russian meddling is the biggest attack on our democracy since 9-11. Here’s how it works and what we can do about it. https://www.facebook.com/actdottv/videos/770297793160789/
Vladimir Putin May Have Just Sent a Signal About Trump’s Secret Server https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29268263/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-communications-secret-server-ukraine/
Donald Trump’s Pattern of Deference to the Kremlin Is Clear
Now it’s on the president to explain his posture. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/trump-russia-putin-burden/580477/
How Badly Has Russia Compromised American Government? http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/russian-leverage-over-trump-fact-michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-devin-nunes.html?utm_medium=s1&utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=nym
WATCH: George W. Bush takes shots at Trump on Russia probe, travel ban and free presshttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/watch-george-w-bush-takes-shots-at-trump-on-russia-probe-travel-ban-and-free-press/
“There is no getting around it: Donald Trump is cheering on a Russian attempt to influence our election through a crime reminiscent of Watergate but on a more massive scale,” Glen Caplin, a Clinton campaign spokesman, said Saturday. “We’re witnessing another effort to steal private campaign documents in order to influence an election.” The US government has said WikiLeaks is working with Russian operatives.http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/15/politics/wikileaks-hillary-clinton-goldman-sachs-speeches/index.html
Russian documents reveal desire to sow racial discord — and violence — in the U.S.https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-documents-reveal-desire-sow-racial-discord-violence-u-s-n1008051?fbclid=IwAR0UYE3MzEt2FSKxhinqrjlp0iKDJooKzO6PiRq1AVSBuk_ma1kgIjJu4_s
Fox Business guest downplays Russian interference in US elections, calls for “sanctions relief for Russia”https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/fox-business-guest-downplays-russian-interference-us-elections-calls-sanctions-relief
Seth Meyers – Robert Mueller Investigates Trump’s Kremlin Back Channel: A Closer Look https://www.nbc.com/late-night-with-seth-meyers/video/robert-mueller-investigates-trumps-kremlin-back-channel-a-closer-look/3680902
White House restricted access to Trump’s calls with Putin and Saudi crown prince https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/politics/white-house-restricted-trump-calls-putin-saudi/index.html?no-st=9999999999
NRA Was ‘Foreign Asset’ To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Revealshttps://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social
Go deeper: See the Russian-linked Facebook ads released by Congress – Axios https://apple.news/AnUAkJwbCRCe0EJTk-moBDA
‘Pro-Beyoncé’ vs. ‘Anti-Beyoncé’: 3,500 Facebook ads show the scale of Russian manipulation – The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/10/here-are-the-3400-facebook-ads-purchased-by-russias-online-trolls-during-the-2016-election/
We’re Supposed to Believe the Russians Hacked Into Voting Systems But Did Nothing Once They Got There?
In which we learn a hostile foreign intelligence agency got into election systems in all 50 states. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a28517486/russia-hack-election-systems-all-50-states/
Russians successfully hacked into U.S. voter systems, official says
Inside the Russian effort to target Sanders supporters — and help elect Trump
Facebook to be fined record $5bn, reports say
How Russia-linked groups used Facebook to meddle in 2016 election
How Russia-linked groups used Facebook to meddle in 2016 election
‘Chaos Is the Point’: Russian Hackers and Trolls Grow Stealthier in 2020
Neo-Nazi Rinaldo Nazzaro running US militant group The Base from Russia
The FBI’s top lawyer sought the truth in the Michael Flynn-Russia case.
For that, Fox News criticized the widely respected Dana Boente.
On Friday, with Americans’ attention elsewhere, the DOJ asked him to quit. Not the FBI chief, the DOJ.
Vindman, Yovanovich, Sondland, Atkinson, Grimm, Fine, Linick, Behm, Boente. Who else am I missing?
The FBI’s top lawyer is resigning — CNN Politics
Putin Is Well on His Way to Stealing the Next Election – The Atlantic
34 years ago, a KGB defector chillingly predicted modern America | Big Think
“Leave our President alone people. There’s absolutely no evidence out there that Trump colluded with the Russians except the Manafort thing, and the Flynn thing, and the Roger Stone thing, and the Cohen thing, and the Kushner thing, and the Carter Page thing, and the Jeff Sessions things, and the Wilbur Ross thing, and the JD Gordon thing, and the Erik Prince thing, and the James Comey firing thing, and the Russian hacking/Wikileaks thing, and the bro-love between TrumPutin thing, and the Russian propaganda machine favoring Trump thing, and the DJT “I have zero ties to Russia!” thing, and the Eric Trump “we get most of our financing from Russian banks thing”, and the Donald Trump Jr. “Our portfolio is made up of a disproportionate amount of Russian money” thing, and the DJT “I sold a $60 million mansion to a Russian oligarch known for money laundering for $120 million that he never once lived in ” thing, and the Trump business ties with Putin’s favorite sports athlete Fedor Emilianenko thing, and the Trump International Corporation’s mysterious private server connection to Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest commercial bank thing, and the Special prosecutor being named thing, and the British Mi-6 spy dossier on Trump thing, and the I won’t release my tax returns thing, and the Ivanka Trump’s vacationing with Putin’s girlfriend thing, and the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow thing, and the Trump companies business ties to Felix Sater, a criminal felon indicted for stock fraud scheme with the Russian mafia thing, and the FL Group Icelandic hedge fund with massive ties to Putin being heavily invested in Trump Soho thing, and the Rex Tillerson/Exxon ties to Russia thing, and the Russian ambassador at Trump Tower sneaking in and out thing, and the Trump tried to roll back Russian sanctions the minute he got elected thing.
Other than that, you libtards got nothing!”
samantha reed smith conspiracy theory
Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says
UK, U.S. and Canada allege Russian cyberattacks on COVID-19 research centers – Russian cyber actors are targeting organizations involved in coronavirus vaccine development, according to a new warning by US, UK and Canadian security officials on Thursday that details activity by a Russian hacking group called APT29, which also goes by the name “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/16/politics/russia-cyberattack-covid-vaccine-research/index.html
Russian disinformation operation relied on forgeries, fake posts on 300 platforms, new report says https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russian-disinformation-operation-relied-on-forgeries-fake-posts-on-300-platforms-new-report-says/2020/06/16/679f5b5c-ae8d-11ea-8f56-63f38c990077_story.html?utm_campaign=engagecpa&utm_content=russia&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=acquisition
(MAJOR BREAKING NEWS and THREAD) A just-released intel document bolsters the case that Trump should have been charged with aiding and abetting the Kremlin’s preelection computer crimes. I analyze the document and its content in the thread below. I hope you’ll read on and retweet. Seth Abramson on Twitter
Since all eyes are on Roger Stone (+Trump) tonight, let’s take a stroll through all the OMG, WHAT JUST HAPPENED moments in this case. Thread:
That Stone was a target of the Mueller investigation and why became clear in 2018.
Jerome Corsi played chicken with Mueller over the Stone/WikiLeaks situation, somehow avoiding a criminal charge.
They offered him a plea deal, Corsi refused to sign it https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/politics/mueller-stone-corsi-wikileaks/index.html
The indictment: Stone wanted from WikiLeaks Dem emails stolen by Russia in 2016. Coordinated w Trump campaign looking to capitalize on leaks.
Stone lied to Congress about it, avoided giving up records and threatened an associate to keep the story straight https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/25/politics/roger-stone-arrested/index.html Katelyn Polantz on Twitter
President Trump told Axios he did not bring up reported US intelligence that Russians put bounties on US troops when speaking with Vladimir Putin. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/07/29/trump-axios-interview-alleged-russian-bounties-lead-vpx.cnn
U.S. Intelligence Says Republicans Are Working With Russia to Reelect Trump https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/russia-ukraine-trump-biden-intelligence-foreign-interference-election.html
A Bible Burning, a Russian News Agency and a Story Too Good to Check Out For some of President Trump’s loudest cheerleaders, it was a story too good to check out: Black Lives Matters protesters in Portland, Ore., had burned a stack of Bibles, and then topped off the fire with American flags. There was even a video to prove it.
The story was a near-perfect fit for a central Trump campaign talking point — that with liberals and Democrats comes godless disorder — and it went viral among Republicans within hours of appearing earlier this month. The New York Post wrote about it, as did The Federalist, saying that the protesters had shown “their true colors.” Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, said of the protesters, “This is who they are.” Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, tweeted that antifa had moved to “the book burning phase.”
The truth was far more mundane. A few protesters among the many thousands appear to have burned a single Bible — and possibly a second — for kindling to start a bigger fire. None of the other protesters seemed to notice or care.
Yet in the rush to paint all the protesters as Bible-burning zealots, few of the politicians or commentators who weighed in on the incident took the time to look into the story’s veracity, or to figure out that it had originated with a Kremlin-backed video news agency. And now, days later, the Portland Bible burnings appear to be one of the first viral Russian disinformation hits of the 2020 presidential campaign. A Bible Burning, a Russian News Agency and a Story Too Good to Check Out
We’re in battle with Russia. Make no mistake about it: Trump is Putin’s puppet and Putin now controls Trump’s “acting” cabinet, DeJoy and a number of GOP Senators. Once we accept this, proper strategy & tactics can be adopted and employed. Denial is a blindfold.
Revealed: Jared Kushner’s Private Channel With Putin’s Money Man
US election 2020: Intelligence chief ends face-to-face security meetings https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53962656 The top US intelligence office is to stop face-to-face briefings for lawmakers on election security and foreign interference, citing concerns about leaks of sensitive information.
It will issue written reports instead.
Democrats reacted angrily, accusing the office of abdicating its responsibility to keep Congress informed.
They have accused the Trump administration of downplaying threats to US elections from Russia and other countries… the public had the right to know how foreign powers were trying to subvert American democracy.
In practice the move means Congress will have less opportunity to question officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Analysis | The Senate’s big Russia report: What we learned, and what it means
The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released its fifth and final report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, and the notably bipartisan report raises plenty of new questions about that effort’s links to the Trump campaign. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/18/senates-big-russia-report-what-we-learned-what-it-means/
Senate panel told Justice Dept. of suspicions over Trump family members’ Russia testimony The Republican and Democratic chairmen of the Senate Intelligence Committee notified federal prosecutors last year of their suspicion that several individuals, including President Trump’s family members and confidants, might have presented misleading testimony in the panel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, people familiar with the matter said.
The list of individuals included the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whose accounts of their pre-election meeting with a Russian lawyer were contradicted by the president’s former deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates in interviews that were part of the criminal investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss what remains a highly politicized and sensitive matter.
But the intelligence committee, one person said, reserved its harshest allegations for the president’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, former campaign co-chair Sam Clovis and private security contractor Erik Prince, saying it had reason to believe all three had lied to congressional investigators — a potential felony.https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/senate-intelligence-committee-donald-trump-jr-jared-kushner-stephen-bannon-erik-prince/2020/08/15/a7905a84-def5-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html
Russian state hackers suspected in targeting Biden campaign firm – sources https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-cyber-biden-exclusive-idUSKBN2610I4
Computer hack blamed on Russia tests limits of U.S. response — The Wall Street Journal
Putin tried to help Trump’s 2020 reelection chances, says US intelligence
Quaking Interlude 