Russian Connection 5: In Which We Plan Sleepovers

[AnywhereButHere]

19 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

Wouldn’t the lowest rung be Eric?

He's so low, he's just flat ground.

[AmazonGrace]

The Skripal perp seems to be this guy 

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/revealed-what-erik-prince-and-moscows-money-man-discussed-in-that-infamous-seychelles-meeting 

A memo from the Seychelles meeting has surfaced

[fraurosena]

Oh. Not sure if this is a sign of things to come, but...

Quote

White House aides this week told a senior Department of Justice official to prepare to replace Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein following reports that Rosenstein was ready to resign, according to a New York Times report.

White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly told Matthew Whitaker, the chief of staff for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that he was next in line to replace Rosenstein if President Trump fired his deputy attorney general or if he resigned.

Aides dropped the plan to bring Whitaker on board by late Monday morning, the Times reported. 

Trump and Rosenstein are set to meet on Thursday in a highly anticipated huddle. The president, during a freewheeling press conference Wednesday, said it is not his "preference" to fire Rosenstein. 

Whitaker, who was formerly the United States attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, once wrote in an op-ed that he believes the Trump family’s finances are beyond the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Trump has expressed respect and admiration for Whitaker, sources told the Times.

The president has reportedly told advisers that he is "conflicted" over whether to fire Rosenstein, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Their meeting will come one week after The New York Times first reported that Rosenstein, in 2017, discussed secretly recording the president in the Oval Office and floated the idea of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

Rosenstein has claimed the report is "factually incorrect" and some officials defending Rosenstein claimed that the remarks were made sarcastically.

Rosenstein oversees Mueller's investigation, which the president has often denounced as a "witch hunt."

Whitaker would not take over the probe if Rosenstein left the department.

 

[fraurosena]

Big brain or not, it's still absolutely clueless.

 

[fraurosena]

Fingers crossed  they vote "Yes".

 

[GreyhoundFan]

On 9/25/2018 at 4:04 PM, onekidanddone said:

Wouldn’t the lowest rung be Eric?

I think Eric is probably tasked with holding the bottom of the ladder so the "real" Dumpy family members don't fall down.

[GreyhoundFan]

This probably belongs in the Kavanaugh thread, but here goes:

 

[fraurosena]

The House Judiciary Committee Republicans are still desperately attempting to discredit the FBI. Comey isn't playing ball. 

Comey offers to testify in public about GOP's FBI bias claims

Quote

Former FBI Director James Comey has rejected a request by House Judiciary Committee Republicans to appear at a closed hearing as part of the GOP probe into allegations of political bias at the Justice Department and FBI.

However, Comey offered himself up for a public hearing instead, a prospect that could put the longtime critics of President Donald Trump in the spotlight at an explosive moment in the midterm campaign season.

“Mr. Comey respectfully declines your request for a private interview,” Comey’s attorney David Kelley wrote in a response to the committee’s request. “He would, however, welcome the opportunity to testify at a public hearing.”

Kelley noted that Comey “no longer has a security clearance” and said that should make his public testimony easier to arrange. He added that any questions about Comey’s tenure at the FBI would presumably be cleared with the bureau.

Comey has been a fierce defender of the FBI since Trump fired him in May 2017, and he accused Trump of pressuring him to end the bureau’s long-running Russia investigation. The episode and ensuing chaos resulted in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointing special counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the Russia probe.

Republicans, though, have hammered Comey as politically motivated to stop Trump. They suggested he oversaw a high-level breakdown that resulted in the FBI soft-pedaling its probe of Hillary Clinton’s email server and supercharging its investigation of the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia.

Goodlatte invited Comey to testify as part of a last-minute flurry of requests for high-profile Obama administration FBI and Justice Department leaders, including former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. He threatened to subpoena them if they didn’t come in voluntarily.

The committee has been investigating GOP-driven allegations of anti-Trump bias in the bureau since last year, an effort that Democrats and FBI defenders have argued is an attempt to shield Trump from the encroaching Mueller probe. The committee investigation has included testimony from top Justice Department and FBI officials, including Comey’s former deputy Andrew McCabe, as well as FBI officials Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.

 

[fraurosena]

Uhm... yeah...

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

Randy Credico pleading the fifth. 

 

 

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Randy Credico pleading the fifth. 

 

 

Soooo..... Randy Credico is not answering questions because he could implicate himself in a crime, eh? 

By not saying anything, he is telling a lot.

[Drala]

Lindsey Graham is so over the top with the Kavenaugh nomination, it made me wonder what's going on with him.  He strikes me as having more hairs up his ass than just a bootlicking bid for the AG position.  There's @GreyhoundFan's Amy Siskind tweet about Graham taking $800,000 in campaign funds from a Russian oligarch, based on a Dallas News piece.

Then, I found this article on the Raw Story website.

Authoritarianism expert hints Lindsey Graham may be covering for Trump due to the 2016 Russian hacking of his own emails

Spoiler

By Tom Baggioni/Raw Story/8-12-2018

Addressing the about-face Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has made — going from Donald Trump critic to stalwart Trump defender — authoritarian expert Sarah Kendzior suggested that the South Carolina Republican may be doing it involuntarily.

Appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy with guest host Jonathan Capehart, Kendzior was asked what she made of Graham who called for the Mueller investigation in the beginning but now wants it to abruptly end.

On Sunday, Graham appeared on Fox News Sunday where he said, “These [FBI] investigations against Trump were corrupt to the core. They gave Clinton a pass, and we need a special counsel to look at all things at the Department of Justice and FBI when it came to the Trump investigation, particularly the counterintelligence investigation.”

“Lindsey Graham, talk about confusing, he confuses me,” Capehart stated. “On some days he is ‘the president must be held accountable,’ and then here he seems to be carrying the president’s water. Can you explain what he is doing?”

“I can offer some theories. Lindsey Graham was one of the people who called for the investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to the Kremlin,” Kendzior began. “He did that all the way back in 2016 before Trump was inaugurated. He has then done a complete 180. He’s been supporting Trump, he’s been covering for Trump.”

“There are a few things we should remember, ” she advised. “The RNC was hacked; no one knows what happened to those emails. Lindsey Graham personally was hacked and nobody knows who has those emails. The RNC is complicit financially and politically and broadly in what the Trump campaign has done in terms of illicit interactions with Russia.”

“We have tracked all of those financial ties and there’s pretty good chance that either voluntarily or involuntarily Senator Graham has gotten mixed up in the situation and cannot be an objective observer,” she explained. “I find that sad because in the past he has asked for a nonpartisan look at what Trump has done. He stood up against corruption and he should go back to that.”

Edited October 2, 2018 by Drala

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, Drala said:

“There are a few things we should remember, ” she advised. “The RNC was hacked; no one knows what happened to those emails. Lindsey Graham personally was hacked and nobody knows who has those emails. The RNC is complicit financially and politically and broadly in what the Trump campaign has done in terms of illicit interactions with Russia.”

As I've said before, in my opinion, this is the definitive reason why many in the GOP are being irrationally sycophantic to the presidunce, defensive of his policies, turning away from common decency and political mores.

They are being blackmailed. 

 

[Botkinetti]

Blackmail and criminal charges. They all appear frantic and desperate and increasingly unable to control themselves. It is pouring off them in waves. Panic makes people do irrational things and someone else is going to crack soon. No pity from me. I hope all their secrets are revealed.

[Howl]

22 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Soooo..... Randy Credico is not answering questions because he could implicate himself in a crime, eh? 

By not saying anything, he is telling a lot.

Ari Melber has had Randy Credico on The Beat several times.  The guy is on the continuum from wacky/nutty to wily like a fox to batshit crazy.  Ari always has to keep him on track as much as possible, or Randy starts unraveling and begins doing various impressions, like, oh, Richard Nixon or dissembling/distracting or whatever.  And yes, this is the guy who showed up to the Grand Jury with his sweet service dog Bianca.  And yes, Roger Stone admits to threatening to dognap Bianca, because

Quote

“Credico plans to tell the grand jury that I threatened to take away his dog. How cruel, how heartless, with a prop dog right there!” Stone, donning a wide-brim Panama hat, says in the video while cradling his own dog, a Yorkie named PeeWee 2.0.

“What he won’t mention,” Stone continued, “is that I did so out of concern because of Credico’s substance abuse and his indigence, the dog was receiving neither food nor medical attention.” Sept. 7, 2018 Trump ally Roger Stone admits he threatened to steal Randy Credico's dog — but claims he had good reason for it

From back in March 2018, with YouTube link: Ari Melber's Gonzo Interview with Randy Credico features Assange-Stonelink plus Nixon impression

One item from this interview: 

Quote

Melber is an excellent interviewer who adroitly uses his lawyer skills. He politely and patiently made the squirming Credico admit Stone was lying when he said Credico was an intermediary between Stone and Assange. (Unless of course, Credico is lying and was the go-between.)

To borrow a term from my ex, I'm starting to think that Stone and Credico are asshole buddies.  This term has various meanings, but I'm using in this context: From urbandictionary.com:  An aquaintance, such as a coworker, fellow church member, etc. with whom another person maintains a mutually beneficial relationship, all the while not actually liking that person at all.

The ex used it to describe people who were superficially very nice in public but couldn't wait to trash talk about the other to mutual friends in private. 

And don't get me started on Sam Nunberg as another crazy in the same orbit. 

Edited October 3, 2018 by Howl

[AmazonGrace]

Russians have been busy in Netherlands 

 

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Russians have been busy in Netherlands 

 

Here's a Dutch language thread about the apprehension and expulsion of the Russians (two hackers and two humit's). It has quite a few pics and very, very detailed information on the GRU. You can use the 'translate' function in each tweet to translate to English. The translation grammar is atrocious, but the story is still intelligible. 

 

[Howl]

And more from BellingCat web site: 

305 Car Registrations May Point to Massive GRU Security Breach

Quote

The address to which the car was registered, Komsomolsky Prospekt 20, coincides with the address of military unit 26165, described by Dutch and U.S. law enforcement as GRU’s cyber warfare department. The database entry contained Morenets’s passport number.

By searching for other vehicles registered to the same address, Bellingcat was able to produce a list of 305 individuals who operated cars registered to the same address. The individuals range in age from 27 to 53 years of age

If I were a GRU official associated with managing the people in military unit 26165, I wouldn't be standing near any windows or drinking tea with strangers. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by Howl

[Howl]

Sigh. 

[Howl]

On 10/4/2018 at 5:38 AM, AmazonGrace said:

Russians have been busy in Netherlands

and now in Latvia, interfering in elections there

 

[fraurosena]

WaPo has an article on the Russian hackers over here.

 

[Howl]

There are tons of articles covering this (google Russian official killed in helicopter crash), but with similar information.  Big tie-in to Veselnitskaya. I'm using Daily  Mail because they have helpful bullet points. However, it's an annoyingly ad-riddled page, so you may want to check out other sites, like The Hill. 

Kremlin official named as source of Hillary 'dirt' during notorious Trump Tower meeting is KILLED in mystery Russian helicopter crash

• Deputy prosecutor-general Saak Karapetyan, 58, died in a helicopter crash
• Helicopter crashed in Kostroma, northeast of Moscow, killing him and two others
• Karapetyan was said to be directing efforts of Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya to overturn anti-corruption laws around the world
• Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner in Trump Tower during 2016 campaign 
• She later claimed they discussed prospect of overturning Magnitsky Act*; Don Jr said they talked about Russian adoption policy 

Anytime you see the word "adoption" you can assume that it is code for Magnitsky Act. 

This is the last, telling paragraph

Quote

The helicopter crash that ended the life of Veselnitskaya's suspected handler, Karapetyan, came just hours before four Russian intelligence officers were outed by the Dutch government as having tried to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW in The Hague in April, shortly after the Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury, UK.

One other article I read on this topic noted the the helicopter flight was "unauthorized," which I found intriguing. 

A reminder about Veselnitskaya -- according to Foreign Policy 

Quote

Veselnitskaya represented Denis Katsyv, the Russian owner of Prevezon Holdings, a real estate company accused of laundering proceeds in Manhattan real estate from a $230 million tax fraud allegedly committed after stealing Browder’s companies. The fraud, according to Browder, was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer and accountant who was arrested and who died in 2009 under suspicious circumstances in pretrial detention.

IIRC (and I might not be), Veselnitskaya was in New York working on this case when she zipped over to Trump Tower for the meeting.  

Awhile back, another article discussing Veselnitskaya noted that she was not in the inner Kremlin circle, but would like to be. 

Edited October 7, 2018 by Howl

[fraurosena]

5 hours ago, Howl said:

IRC (and I might not be), Veselnitskaya was in New York working on this case when she zipped over to Trump Tower for the meeting.  

I remember this too. And it was a three-way thing.

1. She was there for the trial.

2. She met with Fusion GPS (I believe about the trial).

3. She went to the Tower meeting (although I may have mixed up 2 and 3 in chronological sense).

The exact information is somewhere in the first Russian connection thread.

[fraurosena]

Crap. Is the presidunce about to make a desperate move?