The Russian Connection 3: Mueller is Coming

[AmazonGrace]

@GreyhoundFan posted:

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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) released more text messages yesterday that were exchanged between FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. In them, Strzok notes his suspicion that Mueller’s probe would not lead to major revelations. He was later removed from Mueller’s team when texts reflecting anti-Trump bias were discovered. “He considered never joining the probe at all, because of a ‘gut sense and concern there’s no there [there],’” Karoun Demirjian reports. “In one message, Strzok appears to wonder whether the Trump probe could be an ‘investigation leading to impeachment’ before guessing that ‘the odds are nothing’ truly bombastic will result from the case. He also texted Page that he feels ‘a sense of unfinished business’ over having ‘unleashed’ the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. ‘Now I need to fix it and finish it,’ he added.”

Um, wut? Why are they releasing this? If Strzok thought there was no there there and the Russia probe would probably reveal no bombshells, it sort of speaks against the GOP narrative that he was biased and hellbent on proving Trump guilty before they even started.

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5. NBC reports this morning that Mueller’s team has also spoken with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. “One person familiar with the matter described Pompeo, Coats and Rogers as ‘peripheral witnesses’ to the Comey firing,” Carol Lee reports, adding that Pompeo “was allegedly asked by Trump to lean on Comey to drop his investigation.” 

If this isn't obstruction of justice, why not?

[AnywhereButHere]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

...

Um, wut? Why are they releasing this? If Strzok thought there was no there there and the Russia probe would probably reveal no bombshells, it sort of speaks against the GOP narrative that he was biased and hellbent on proving Trump guilty before they even started.

If this isn't obstruction of justice, why not?

Probably because it also mentioned Hillary. They see her name and up go the blinders to anything else. Rabid dogs with tunnel vision is all they are.

[GrumpyGran]

3 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Um, wut? Why are they releasing this? If Strzok thought there was no there there and the Russia probe would probably reveal no bombshells, it sort of speaks against the GOP narrative that he was biased and hellbent on proving Trump guilty before they even started.

I'm am continually confused about this. I just can't see what they are screaming about. This alone indicates to me that while Strzok might have had misgivings about Trump as a president, he certainly wasn't going on a witch hunt meant to take Trump down.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump says he would speak to Mueller under oath in Russia investigation"

Spoiler

President Trump said Wednesday he is “looking forward” to testifying before special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and that he would speak under oath.

“I would love to do it, and I would like to do it as soon as possible,” Trump said at the White House. “I would do it under oath, absolutely.”

The president suggested he was being investigated for obstruction of justice as part of the Russia investigation because he was “fighting back” and reiterated there was “no collusion” between his campaign and Moscow.

“Oh well, did he fight back?” Trump said, “You fight back, oh, it’s obstruction.”

Mueller’s team has told Trump’s lawyers they want to question the president about the firing of national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James B. Comey — they have also asked witnesses in recent weeks about Trump’s attempts to oust Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The president suggested the interview could take place in the next two or three weeks and said he continued to consult with his lawyers. The president has previously criticized the wide-ranging investigation into his administration, calling it a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.”

Trump also said he didn’t recall asking acting FBI director Andrew McCabe whom he voted for in an Oval Office discussion earlier this year, as The Washington Post reported Wednesday night. The conversation left former and current FBI officials concerned because they believed it was inappropriate for the president to ask a civil servant about his political leanings. McCabe replaced Comey as head of the FBI until Christopher A. Wray was confirmed for the job in August.

“I don’t think I did,” he said. “I don’t know what’s the big deal with that. I would ask you who you voted for. . . . I don’t remember asking him that question.”

“I think it’s also a very unimportant question,” he added.

During the quick session with reporters, Trump also attacked Hillary Clinton, his Democratic foe in the 2016 election, saying she did not testify under oath while being investigated for her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.

Good grief. So, the thinks he'll be able to outsmart Mueller's interrogators, he has Jeff Sessionsitis (I don't recall disease) about asking McCabe who he voted for, and he bitched about Hillary. Just another day in paradise.

[GreyhoundFan]

How true:

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Good grief. So, the thinks he'll be able to outsmart Mueller's interrogators, he has Jeff Sessionsitis (I don't recall disease) about asking McCabe who he voted for, and he bitched about Hillary. Just another day in paradise.

Oh sweet Rufus! He never knows when to shut the fuck up. He hinted at admitting there was obstruction. Then he thinks he is play coy and smart, when he looks like a doddering fool. All the money he spends on legal counsel and they can't keep him quiet. Then again, maybe it is a good thing he keeps on talking.  Remember the interview he had with Lester Holt where he out right admitted the canned Comey because of the "Russia thing".

[AmazonGrace]

I think his lawyers told him Mueller's got him on obstruction because he's a dumbass and now he hopes to skate on it because LOL nothing matters. You're a REAL man If you fight back and do porn stars

[fraurosena]

It's becoming really blatantly obvious. Whenever the Repugliklans or the WH accuse others of something, you can be sure it's something that they've done themselves. Whenever they accuse, the exact opposite is true.

(By Seth's standards, this isn't a very long thread btw)

[AmazonGrace]

Just saw this and knowing nothing else it sounds like much ado over a purposely misinterpreted inside joke

 

Nothing about that message tells me, "we're going to overthrow Trump"

[AmazonGrace]

"Hello? Is this the Russian hackers? Can you find the security holes in this software that guards access to important data?"

"Da, we can try."

 

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Just saw this and knowing nothing else it sounds like much ado over a purposely misinterpreted inside joke

 

Nothing about that message tells me, "we're going to overthrow Trump"

OMG, you guys! When I go to see my son in PA, I sometimes stop in Fayetteville, WV to eat lunch at a place called the Secret Sandwich Society. Do you think I'm in trouble? Do they know? OMG!!!!!

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Howl]

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A document that Paul Manafort's attorneys appear to have accidentally filed in court suggests that federal investigators had an informant inside Manafort's consulting firm who provided information about his financial dealings, Politico reports.

Thanks, @AmazonGrace! I feel like it's my birthday and it's not even July!

[AmazonGrace]

Happy birthday, @Howl !

Here is a story that suggests Fredo may have lied to the Senate. But he wouldn't do that, would he?

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/donald-trump-jr-congress-testimony-mueller-366653

Judiciary Democrats want to share Trump Jr. testimony with Mueller

Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Richard Blumenthal suggested the president's son may have made false statements to their committee.
 

Spoiler

 

Two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday pressed the committee's Republican chairman to provide special counsel Robert Mueller with transcripts of the panel's interviews with key witnesses in its Russia probe, including Donald Trump Jr.

The request, from Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), reflected the partisan tension in a judiciary committee whose investigation has for months been splintered along party lines.

The Democrats recalled the early-January decision of Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to refer Christopher Steele, the author of the controversial intelligence dossier on Trump's alleged Russia ties, to the FBI for criminal investigation into possible false statements.

"You have stated publicly that you believe it is important for the Special Counsel to carry his investigation through to completion and determine the facts," the Democratic duo wrote to Grassley. "It is hard to see how withholding the transcripts achieves that goal."

"The transcripts of congressional testimony may reveal other, and better-founded, concerns about witness false statements," they wrote.

The Democrats also said they believe panel members in both parties already have "agreed in principle" on sharing testimony with Mueller's team to aid its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — including potential collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign.

Grassley spokesman George Hartmann said the Judiciary chairman "has long been committed to transparency, and well before this letter from Sens. Whitehouse and Blumenthal, he's said he wants to release as much as possible, including transcripts."

Grassley "intends to confer with" fellow committee members about potential release of transcripts, Hartmann said.

The Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, angered Grassley earlier this month when she unilaterally released the transcript of the panel's interview with Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the firm that commissioned the Trump-Russia dossier Steele compiled.

Feinstein said Wednesday that she would have to look at her fellow Democrats' request before fully endorsing it, but said lawmakers should aim for transparency.

"By and large, with a congressional investigation, I feel that what can be released should be released," Feinstein told reporters, adding that she spent last weekend reading the transcript of the House Intelligence Committee's interview with Simpson and "a lot of information was forthcoming."

"So I think it's a positive thing. People can look, they can criticize ... not everything is going to be right, you know?" Feinstein said.

Asked if she would consider releasing the Trump Jr. transcript in the same fashion that she released the Fusion transcript, Feinstein replied: "No, that hasn't even come up. ... That may be a little different. We'll see."

Beyond their request that Mueller receive Judiciary Committee transcripts, both Whitehouse and Blumenthal have said in recent interviews that they would like to see the transcript of the panel's interview with the president's eldest son get publicly released.

Trump Jr. took a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer linked to the Kremlin, also attended by Jared Kushner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The Russian lawyer had offered the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, though Trump Jr. and others have said she provided no useful information.

"I think all these transcripts should be released — it's just a question of how and when," Blumenthal said in a recent interview. "And the Donald Trump Jr. interview transcript will be explosive when it sees the light of day."

Whitehouse agreed in a recent interview, saying that senators "also need to rethink, if there isn’t going to be a public hearing, why would we not release that transcript? And under any circumstances, why would we not let Bob Mueller have access to it?"

Asked Wednesday about the idea of releasing Trump Jr.'s Senate Judiciary Committee interview transcript to the public, Whitehouse said his request to provide Mueller with the document was "the first step."

Its potential utility to Mueller, he noted, would likely determine whether and when it might be made public as Simpson's testimony was, first by the Senate and later by the House Intelligence Committee.

 

 

[fraurosena]

The Dems are getting their wish @AmazonGrace. And so are we! Happy dance time...

Senate committee to release transcripts of Donald Trump Jr interview

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The Senate judiciary committee plans to release transcripts from closed-door interviews with Donald Trump Jr and others, as it wraps up its investigation into the meeting between Russians and senior campaign figures, including the president’s son, at Trump Tower in New York during the 2016 election.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said on Thursday that he wants to work out a bipartisan agreement with the ranking Democratic on the committee, Dianne Feinstein of California, to release transcripts from interviews conducted last September.

Grassley said he had hoped to interview Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who also attended the meeting. But he says the chances of that were “shot” and Kushner was now “spooked” after Feinstein unilaterally released a transcript from a different interview conducted as part of the congressional Russia investigation.

Trump Jr was forced last year to release damning emails that revealed he eagerly embraced what he was told was a Russian government attempt to damage Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.

The emails showed British-born music promoter Rob Goldstone telling the future US president’s son that “the crown prosecutor of Russia” had offered information that would “incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father”.

Trump Jr replied: “If it’s what you say, I love it.”

Grassley said on Thursday that the committee would start releasing “all witness interviews that we have done related to that meeting” right away.

Feinstein said she was delighted.

The panel never spoke with Kushner or former campaign manager Paul Manafort, both of whom also attended the Trump Tower meeting.

“I had hoped to speak with all the witnesses surrounding the Trump Tower meeting … but with the unilateral release of the transcript for Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson, it seems to have spooked other potential witnesses,” Grassley said.

The judiciary committee has the power to subpoena witnesses.

Earlier this month, Feinstein unilaterally released the transcript of a congressional interview with Glenn Simpson, whose research firm, Fusion GPS, was behind the dossier on alleged contacts between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.

The dossier – compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele – makes an allegation that there was a “conspiracy of cooperation” between Russian agents and the Trump campaign, and the president has frequently scorned it since its publication last January.

Meanwhile, more than 20 White House employees have given voluntary interviews to special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian election interference and any possible obstruction of justice, according to a document released by Trump’s attorney John Dowd on Thursday.

The special inquiry is proceeding in parallel with the congressional investigations and Trump said on Wednesday that he was “looking forward” to speaking under oath to Mueller’s team.

 

[fraurosena]

I'm not usually patriotic. But in this case, I'll admit to being a little proud. Yay, Dutch intelligence. 

Dutch intelligence first to alert U.S. about Russian hack of Democratic Party

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In the Summer of 2015, Dutch intelligence services were the first to alert their American counterparts about the cyberintrusion of the Democratic National Committee by Cozy Bear, a hacking group believed to be tied to the Russian government. Intelligence hackers from Dutch AIVD (General Intelligence and Security Service) had penetrated the Cozy Bear computer servers as well as a security camera at the entrance of their working space, located in a university building adjacent to the Red Square in Moscow.

Over the course of a few months, they saw how the Russians penetrated several U.S. institutions, including the State Department, the White House, and the DNC. On all these occasions, the Dutch alerted the U.S. intelligence services, Dutch tv programme Nieuwsuur and de Volkskrant, a prominent newspaper in The Netherlands, jointly report on Thursday. This account is based on interviews with a dozen political, diplomatic and intelligence sources in The Netherlands and the U.S. with direct knowledge of the matter. None of them wanted to speak on the record, given the classified details of the matter.

Not only had Dutch intelligence penetrated the computer network of the hackers, they also managed to hack a security camera in the corridor. This allowed them to see exactly who entered the hacking room. Information about these individuals was shared with the US intelligence services. Dutch intelligence services consider Cozy Bear an extension of the SVR, the Russian foreign intelligence service, which is firmly controlled by President Putin.

The information shared by The Netherlands about the hacks at the DNC ended up on the desk of Robert Mueller, the Special Prosecutor leading the FBI investigation into possible Russian interference in the American elections. As early as December, the New York Times reported that information from, among others, Australia, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands had propelled the FBI investigation.

Gaining access to the network

In the summer of 2014, the Joint Sigint Cyber Unit (JSCU) was launched, a joint unit of AIVD and MIVD, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service. Based in the Dutch city of Zoetermeer, it focuses on, among other things, obtaining intelligence through cyber operations. That same summer, the unit received a tip about a group of Russian hackers based at a university complex in Moscow. An AIVD hacking team, operating under the JSCU flag, subsequently succeeded in penetrating the internal Russian computer network. Not only did the AIVD gain access the computer network, it also hacked the security camera in the corridor.

After a few months, in November 2014, the Dutch watched as the Russian hackers penetrated the computer network of the State Department. After being alerted to this by the Dutch intelligence chiefs, it took the Americans over 24 hours to avert the Russian attack, after a digital clash which, years later, at a discussion forum in Aspen, the Deputy Director of the NSA would refer to as hand-to-hand combat . Basing itself on intelligence sources, the Washington Post wrote that a Western ally had been of assistance.

In the autumn of 2014, the Russians also gained access to the non-classified computer network of the White House. This allowed them to see confidential memos and non-public information about the itinerary of President Obama, and to at least part of President Obama's email correspondence. These hacks, too, were exposed by the Dutch intelligence services, which subsequently notified the Americans.

Cozy bear

The Russian hackers belong to a group that, over the years, the intelligence services and cyber security companies had referred to alternatively as The Dukes and APT29, but that for several years now has mostly been known as Cozy Bear. Most Western intelligence services assume that the group is controlled by foreign intelligence service SVR. For years, Western intelligence services and cyber security companies have been hunting the group, which has attacked government agencies and businesses around the globe, including in The Netherlands.

Together with another group of Russian hackers (Fancy Bear, also known as APT28), Cozy Bear is also held responsible for the cyberintrusion of the DNC. In April 2016, Fancy Bear accessed the Washington servers of the Democrats; Cozy Bear had done so as early as the summer of 2015. Once more, the group was caught red-handed by the Dutch, who again alerted their U.S. counterparts.

It is not clear why the hacks at the DNC could continue for so long despite the Dutch warnings. Last year, The New York Times reported that for months, the DNC had not taken the FBI warnings seriously. Eventually, cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, which was investigating the matter on behalf of the Democratic Party, also concluded that Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear were jointly responsible for the hacks. According to the US intelligence services, Russian officials eventually passed on the emails hacked by Fancy Bear to Wikileaks, which published them. The published emails caused a huge scandal in the American election campaign.

College Tour

Last Sunday on Dutch television programme College Tour, Rob Bertholee, head of AIVD, said that he had no doubt that the Kremlin was directly responsible for the Russian cyber campaign against U.S. government agencies. Bertholee as well as Pieter Bindt, who was heading MIVD at the time, personally discussed the DNC matter with James Clapper, at the time overall head of the US intelligence services, and Michael Rogers, who is soon to retire as the head of the NSA.

As of now, the AIVD hackers do not seem to have access to Cozy Bear any longer. Sources suggest that the openness of US intelligence sources, who in 2017 praised the help of a Western ally in news stories, may have ruined their operation. The openness caused great anger in The Hague and Zoetermeer. In the television programme College Tour, this month, AIVD director Bertholee stated that he is extra careful when it comes to sharing intelligence with the U.S., now that Donald Trump is President.

It's chilling to know that the hacks started way back in the summer of 2014, and that at one point , they even had access to Obama's emails.

Sweet Rufus, America seems to have been sleeping at the wheel.

[Rachel333]

So Trump tried to fire Mueller last June and Mueller has been aware of the incident for a while. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/us/politics/trump-mueller-special-counsel-russia.html

[fraurosena]

This article has a more in-depth overview of how the Dutch hacked the Russians hackers and how they warned the Americans and worked with them to avert the most dangerous hack attack ever on US government.

https://www.volkskrant.nl/media/dutch-agencies-provide-crucial-intel-about-russia-s-interference-in-us-elections~a4561913/

I’m on my phone, so quoting is too much of a hassle, but this long article is a must-read in my opinion. (Don’t worry that it’s a Dutch newspaper, the article is in English.)

[fraurosena]

It seems McGahn, Bannon and Priebus have more in common than just their lawyer for the Mueller investigation.

 

[fraurosena]

Does he really believe this, or is he trying to spin it? Either way, it’s evidence of his stupidity.

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[hoipolloi]

Looks like the Dutch are piling on all of the Republican nay-sayers:

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It's the summer of 2014. A hacker from the Dutch intelligence agency AIVD has penetrated the computer network of a university building next to the Red Square in Moscow, oblivious to the implications. One year later, from the AIVD headquarters in Zoetermeer, he and his colleagues witness Russian hackers launching an attack on the Democratic Party in the United States. The AIVD hackers had not infiltrated just any building; they were in the computer network of the infamous Russian hacker group Cozy Bear. And unbeknownst to the Russians, they could see everything.

That's how the AIVD becomes witness to the Russian hackers harassing and penetrating the leaders of the Democratic Party, transferring thousands of emails and documents. It won't be the last time they alert their American counterparts. And yet, it will be months before the United States realize what this warning means: that with these hacks the Russians have interfered with the American elections. And the AIVD hackers have seen it happening before their very eyes. 

 

You know, tRump et al could try to fire Mueller, disband the OSC, shred investigative documents, etc., etc. but they can't control foreign countries who possess this kind of intel. They better watch out because there's undoubtedly a LOT more where this comes from.

[fraurosena]

I'm keeping a close watch on Dutch media for any info on this and will post anything interesting as it comes along. If necessary, I'll translate.

 

(the above is the first in a thread btw)

[fraurosena]

For those of you who don't like to read all those long articles, here's a short video about the Dutch hackers hacking the Russian hackers hacking the Americans.

I can hardly wait for the way the WH and the Repugliklans are going to try to deny this ever happening.