The Russian Connection 2

[AmazonGrace]

The Friday news dump:

 

It looks like "Donald Trump never uses email" also may be a lie...

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

The chances are it will turn out that Trump is essentially a Russian mobster and some people will be "concerned" for two days until the "well, ACTUALLY,  Russian mobsters aren't bad" takes surface.

Being a mobster is perfectly legal if you are President 

[AmazonGrace]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-papadopoulos-fiancee-patriot-trump-campaign-coffee-boy/story?id=51654250 

So apparently she's Italian but her accent is a bit Russian Bond girl. 

[onekidanddone]

6 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-papadopoulos-fiancee-patriot-trump-campaign-coffee-boy/story?id=51654250 

So apparently she's Italian but her accent is a bit Russian Bond girl. 

Are all these women in the Trump circle Fembots? Seems like every single one has straight long blond hair and pronounced eye makeup.

[Howl]

2 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

Are all these women in the Trump circle Fembots? Seems like every single one has straight long blond hair and pronounced eye makeup.

Hope Hicks has straight black/brown hair, but yes. 

[AmazonGrace]

'

[formergothardite]

Manafort is fucked. 

[onekidanddone]

2 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Manafort is fucked. 

Anybody have Morrison's Domino running through their head?

[GreyhoundFan]

4 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Manafort is fucked. 

Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.

<insert snoopy dance here>

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

Manafort is fucked. 

Get him fitted for black and white striped overalls and a cot in Arpaio's tent farm.

[GreyhoundFan]

"How Republicans are immunizing their voters against whatever Mueller uncovers"

Spoiler

The Republican Party is getting very nervous about Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential collusion with Russia and possible crimes associated with it, as well it should. So many Republicans — and their allies in the conservative media — seem to have arrived at a strategy: Launch an all-out PR assault on the entire investigation, utilizing every available megaphone at their disposal.

You might ask, how is that going to help? Mueller has all the authority and resources he needs, and he isn’t going to be intimidated by a bunch of bloviating congressmen or a hundred shouting segments on Fox News. President Trump could fire him, but that won’t be easy, and could precipitate a real constitutional crisis.

Yet even if Trump doesn’t fire Mueller, the strategy could still achieve another critical goal, which is to shape public opinion. Republicans would love to stop Mueller, but short of that they’re trying to immunize the public — or half of it, anyway — against him.

It’s coming from Republican members of Congress, who are taking every available opportunity to rail against Mueller and the FBI. Most especially, it’s coming from the conservative media, nowhere more than on Fox News. As Brian Stelter observes, Fox has practically become all-Mueller, all the time:

The repetition is really something to behold — not just by hosts but by guests who back up the anti-Mueller arguments. “There needs to be an investigation of the investigation,” Mike Huckabee, father of White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, said on “Fox & Friends” on Monday.

The next night, on Fox Business, fervently pro-Trump host Lou Dobbs tried to outdo his colleagues. He said [FBI official Peter] Strzok, Mueller and former FBI director James Comey “should be the subjects of criminal investigations and held fully accountable for crimes against a sitting president and the voters who supported him.”

Dobbs added, “Just one man’s opinion.”

Later that evening, Hannity’s opinion was that Mueller is the “head of the snake.” He called the special counsel a “disgrace to the American justice system” and asserted that the country is “now on the brink of becoming a banana republic.”

The president watches many of these programs obsessively, and according to news reports regularly calls Sean Hannity after his show to consult on the day’s events. So there’s no question that his own sense of grievance and oppression will be fed by what he watches every day, which could make it far more likely that he moves to fire Mueller. And as this blog has pointed out, it appears these media figures are actively trying to goad Trump into doing that.

But even if he doesn’t, the strategy can still have a critical impact on the ultimate outcome of the Russia scandal.

The Republican approach has its roots in an insight that Mitch McConnell brought to the GOP’s strategy in opposing Barack Obama. On major legislation like the Affordable Care Act, McConnell worked hard to make sure not a single Republican joined with Democrats, as much to create a public impression about the enterprise as to actually defeat it. As McConnell explained to the New York Times in 2010:

“It was absolutely critical that everybody be together because if the proponents of the bill were able to say it was bipartisan, it tended to convey to the public that this is O.K., they must have figured it out,’ Mr. McConnell said about the health legislation in an interview, suggesting that even minimal Republican support could sway the public.”

As long as both parties were opposed to one another, it just looked like partisan bickering to voters who had only the barest understanding of the legislation.

There’s a similar logic at work today. The public isn’t going to follow all the twists and turns of the Russia scandal and know the entire cast of characters; I’d be surprised if 20 percent of Americans could tell you who Michael Flynn is, let alone George Papadopoulos or Sergey Kislyak. But if they can be convinced that the whole thing is just partisan, then they don’t have to know. Republicans will follow their natural inclination to line up behind their party, insulating Trump and his administration from any kind of accountability.

How do you create that impression? You argue not just that it’s a witch hunt but that it’s a partisan witch hunt, done for no purpose other than partisan advantage. So what if the FBI is full of Republicans, or if Mueller himself is a Republican of unimpeachable law-enforcement credentials, or if his team of investigators and prosecutors includes both Republicans and Democrats? If you can find, say, an agent working on the case who criticized Trump in a private text message, and was removed lest the investigation be tainted in any way, that’s all the hook you need to shout that the whole thing is a Democratic operation:

... < telling tweet >

Want more? Here’s a bit of the intro to Sean Hannity’s show Wednesday night:

Also tonight, we have new big breaking information about the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller’s partisan, extremely biased, hyper-partisan attack team. We will going to name names tonight and explain exactly who these Trump hating investigators really are and why this entire witch-hunt needs to be shut down and shut down immediately. What is beyond clear tonight is that Robert Mueller has assembled the most partisan Special Counsel in history.

A “partisan, extremely biased, hyper-partisan attack team”! Jeez, I don’t know, that sounds pretty partisan.

Unless and until Trump fires Mueller, none of this will have any immediate practical effect on the probe. Mueller is doing his work, gathering information and handing down indictments. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh can’t stop him. They can’t keep him from sending some Trump associates to prison. But what they can do is affect what happens when he’s done.

Once Mueller issues his final report, the country and its representatives in Congress will have to decide what to do about it. If all Republicans have been convinced that nothing Mueller uncovers need be considered seriously or even believed, then it could well get Trump off the hook. Republicans in Congress won’t feel pressure to follow up with further investigations, let alone impeach the president. And while it will still be a huge scandal, it won’t be the kind of bipartisan scandal that can bring down a president.

Until 2020, that is.

 

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"How Republicans are immunizing their voters against whatever Mueller uncovers"

  Reveal hidden contents

The Republican Party is getting very nervous about Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential collusion with Russia and possible crimes associated with it, as well it should. So many Republicans — and their allies in the conservative media — seem to have arrived at a strategy: Launch an all-out PR assault on the entire investigation, utilizing every available megaphone at their disposal.

You might ask, how is that going to help? Mueller has all the authority and resources he needs, and he isn’t going to be intimidated by a bunch of bloviating congressmen or a hundred shouting segments on Fox News. President Trump could fire him, but that won’t be easy, and could precipitate a real constitutional crisis.

Yet even if Trump doesn’t fire Mueller, the strategy could still achieve another critical goal, which is to shape public opinion. Republicans would love to stop Mueller, but short of that they’re trying to immunize the public — or half of it, anyway — against him.

It’s coming from Republican members of Congress, who are taking every available opportunity to rail against Mueller and the FBI. Most especially, it’s coming from the conservative media, nowhere more than on Fox News. As Brian Stelter observes, Fox has practically become all-Mueller, all the time:

The repetition is really something to behold — not just by hosts but by guests who back up the anti-Mueller arguments. “There needs to be an investigation of the investigation,” Mike Huckabee, father of White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, said on “Fox & Friends” on Monday.

The next night, on Fox Business, fervently pro-Trump host Lou Dobbs tried to outdo his colleagues. He said [FBI official Peter] Strzok, Mueller and former FBI director James Comey “should be the subjects of criminal investigations and held fully accountable for crimes against a sitting president and the voters who supported him.”

Dobbs added, “Just one man’s opinion.”

Later that evening, Hannity’s opinion was that Mueller is the “head of the snake.” He called the special counsel a “disgrace to the American justice system” and asserted that the country is “now on the brink of becoming a banana republic.”

The president watches many of these programs obsessively, and according to news reports regularly calls Sean Hannity after his show to consult on the day’s events. So there’s no question that his own sense of grievance and oppression will be fed by what he watches every day, which could make it far more likely that he moves to fire Mueller. And as this blog has pointed out, it appears these media figures are actively trying to goad Trump into doing that.

But even if he doesn’t, the strategy can still have a critical impact on the ultimate outcome of the Russia scandal.

The Republican approach has its roots in an insight that Mitch McConnell brought to the GOP’s strategy in opposing Barack Obama. On major legislation like the Affordable Care Act, McConnell worked hard to make sure not a single Republican joined with Democrats, as much to create a public impression about the enterprise as to actually defeat it. As McConnell explained to the New York Times in 2010:

“It was absolutely critical that everybody be together because if the proponents of the bill were able to say it was bipartisan, it tended to convey to the public that this is O.K., they must have figured it out,’ Mr. McConnell said about the health legislation in an interview, suggesting that even minimal Republican support could sway the public.”

As long as both parties were opposed to one another, it just looked like partisan bickering to voters who had only the barest understanding of the legislation.

There’s a similar logic at work today. The public isn’t going to follow all the twists and turns of the Russia scandal and know the entire cast of characters; I’d be surprised if 20 percent of Americans could tell you who Michael Flynn is, let alone George Papadopoulos or Sergey Kislyak. But if they can be convinced that the whole thing is just partisan, then they don’t have to know. Republicans will follow their natural inclination to line up behind their party, insulating Trump and his administration from any kind of accountability.

How do you create that impression? You argue not just that it’s a witch hunt but that it’s a partisan witch hunt, done for no purpose other than partisan advantage. So what if the FBI is full of Republicans, or if Mueller himself is a Republican of unimpeachable law-enforcement credentials, or if his team of investigators and prosecutors includes both Republicans and Democrats? If you can find, say, an agent working on the case who criticized Trump in a private text message, and was removed lest the investigation be tainted in any way, that’s all the hook you need to shout that the whole thing is a Democratic operation:

... < telling tweet >

Want more? Here’s a bit of the intro to Sean Hannity’s show Wednesday night:

Also tonight, we have new big breaking information about the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller’s partisan, extremely biased, hyper-partisan attack team. We will going to name names tonight and explain exactly who these Trump hating investigators really are and why this entire witch-hunt needs to be shut down and shut down immediately. What is beyond clear tonight is that Robert Mueller has assembled the most partisan Special Counsel in history.

A “partisan, extremely biased, hyper-partisan attack team”! Jeez, I don’t know, that sounds pretty partisan.

Unless and until Trump fires Mueller, none of this will have any immediate practical effect on the probe. Mueller is doing his work, gathering information and handing down indictments. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh can’t stop him. They can’t keep him from sending some Trump associates to prison. But what they can do is affect what happens when he’s done.

Once Mueller issues his final report, the country and its representatives in Congress will have to decide what to do about it. If all Republicans have been convinced that nothing Mueller uncovers need be considered seriously or even believed, then it could well get Trump off the hook. Republicans in Congress won’t feel pressure to follow up with further investigations, let alone impeach the president. And while it will still be a huge scandal, it won’t be the kind of bipartisan scandal that can bring down a president.

Until 2020, that is.

 

So, Dumpy calls Hannity, who feeds him lies. I would like to know if that has been verified. If so, good. I want to go back to public hanging for treason.

Sorry, not in a good mood.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Russian operatives reportedly sent introductory emails to Hope Hicks"

Spoiler

The FBI reportedly warned White House communications director Hope Hicks earlier this year that Russian operatives attempted to contact her amid Donald Trump's transition into the presidency, The New York Times reported Friday.

There was no evidence that Hicks, who was thrust further into the public spotlight after former communications director Anthony Scaramucci's tenure was abruptly cut short, had done anything improper, The Times noted.

But former officials said in the report that the US intelligence and law-enforcement community — out of concern that Hicks may have been part of a Russian operation — became unnerved about introductory emails that were sent from Russian government addresses shortly after Trump took office. The contents of the emails and the exact identities of the Russians were not immediately clear, according to The Times.

Hicks was reportedly warned by FBI counterintelligence agents at least twice during a "defensive debriefing," telling her that Russians who had contacted her were not who they said they were. Agents also advised Hicks to be cautious, The Times said.

At least one other person close to the president had also been briefed by security officials, and Hicks reportedly told White House counsel Don McGahn about the meetings.

Hicks underwent questioning this week from investigators working with special counsel Robert Mueller, whose team is conducting a broader probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including possible collusion with the country from members of Trump's campaign. 

Is there anyone who was involved with the campaign or transition who did not receive emails from Russian operatives?

[GrumpyGran]

36 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Russian operatives reportedly sent introductory emails to Hope Hicks"

  Reveal hidden contents

The FBI reportedly warned White House communications director Hope Hicks earlier this year that Russian operatives attempted to contact her amid Donald Trump's transition into the presidency, The New York Times reported Friday.

There was no evidence that Hicks, who was thrust further into the public spotlight after former communications director Anthony Scaramucci's tenure was abruptly cut short, had done anything improper, The Times noted.

But former officials said in the report that the US intelligence and law-enforcement community — out of concern that Hicks may have been part of a Russian operation — became unnerved about introductory emails that were sent from Russian government addresses shortly after Trump took office. The contents of the emails and the exact identities of the Russians were not immediately clear, according to The Times.

Hicks was reportedly warned by FBI counterintelligence agents at least twice during a "defensive debriefing," telling her that Russians who had contacted her were not who they said they were. Agents also advised Hicks to be cautious, The Times said.

At least one other person close to the president had also been briefed by security officials, and Hicks reportedly told White House counsel Don McGahn about the meetings.

Hicks underwent questioning this week from investigators working with special counsel Robert Mueller, whose team is conducting a broader probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including possible collusion with the country from members of Trump's campaign. 

Is there anyone who was involved with the campaign or transition who did not receive emails from Russian operatives?

Uh, no. And that tells you how aggressive Dumpy's people were in trying to make contacts. No one, let me repeat, no one ever said to them, hey, this isn't appropriate, please quit contacting us. And no one in the campaign bothered to notify the appropriate authorities of these attempts. Because they wanted them.

I doubt little Hopey wanted to be a player here. But when you lie down with dogs...

[Botkinetti]

That all these people who lived in their bubbles of wealth and power never learned the basic rule of “ cover your ass “ is mind blowing to me. 

I couldn’t hack into someone’s computer or recover deleted documents if you paid me a million dollars but I know there are untold millions of people who could. For sport or fun or money or legally required reasons. 

I realize some of these people will be able to slither away from being held to account but I hope many of them go to jail . 

[Rachel333]

Is Fox admitting it now? 

[GreyhoundFan]

The NYT has published a helpful guide to the "Russia Story".  As it is a flowchart with lots of links, I can't quote it here, but it breaks down the situation into three categories:

1. Russian cyberattacks
2. Links to Russian officials and intermediaries
3. Alleged obstruction

[Howl]

Thanks for that link.  The only unfamiliar name was Rick Dearborn, but I'm caught up on that now.  

[Flossie]

15 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

Is Fox admitting it now? 

How could no one at Fox realize that the picture says "Treason for the Season"?  

Did they have their Christmas party early this year?

[AmazonGrace]

Please please let Bannon get caught lying to Mueller:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/364232-ex-trump-aides-expect-bannon-to-be-questioned-by-mueller-report

[GreyhoundFan]

[AmazonGrace]

That's a special kind of special for sure... We know he's a crook they know he's a crook, we know they know he's a crook... but what the hell, let's hire him anyway. What could go wrong.

[AmazonGrace]

This thread about our friend Carter Page.

[GrumpyGran]

On 12/11/2017 at 12:11 PM, Flossie said:

How could no one at Fox realize that the picture says "Treason for the Season"?  

Did they have their Christmas party early this year?

Well we know what happens at their Christmas parties. LOTS of drinking and groping, with prayer breaks. That graphic was probably the result of a massive hang-over combined with a sense of unease. Everybody surreptitiously questioning each other about what happened at the party. So everyone was distracted.

OR this was divine intervention. 

[fraurosena]

22 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

OR this was divine intervention.

Bless our deer Rufus! He truly knows what's in their hearts.

It also gladdens me to see that  Rufus has inspired Rod Rosenstein to give this testimony on Bob Mueller's eminent qualities.