Trump and Putin, behind the scenes

[Admin]

Hmm..

The progressive think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) is reportedly preparing to publish a report alleging that President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia. According to a Tuesday report by BuzzFeed News, CAP will release the report on Wednesday, which presents the argument for Congressional Democrats that Trump’s campaign staff colluded with the Kremlin.  “We're ... trying to convey that it’s time to stop beating around the bush on Trump’s collusion with Russia. There is a mountain of evidence that Trump and his associates colluded with Russia and it’s time to start saying so,” Adam Jentleson, a senior strategic adviser for CAP, told BuzzFeed. “We think it’s time to be a lot more forward-leading because the evidence is overwhelming.”

Progressive think tank to release 50-page report saying Trump colluded with Russia | TheHill

But, of course the CAP has no legal power, Robert Mueller the Special Council does, which is why you read stuff like this:

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is calling on Robert Mueller, special counsel for the Justice Department's Russia investigation, to resign. Franks, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, claims Mueller is violating a law governing the special counsel that prohibits him from serving if he has a “conflict of interest,” which includes “a personal relationship with any person substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution.” Franks cited a Fox News report from May that cast Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey as “longtime allies.” Mueller served as the FBI director when Comey was the deputy attorney general in 2003. The investigation into Russia's meddling int he 2016 presidential election has expanded to include possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as the president’s decision to fire Comey earlier this year.

GOP House member calls on Mueller to resign | TheHill

[stpioc]

Huh?!

A defamation lawsuit filed by longtime Fox News contributor Rod Wheeler against the network alleges that President Trump was directly involved in concocting a fake story intended to undercut the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russian hackers waged cyberattacks against Democratic targets to help him get elected.

The Fox News story — headlined “DC MURDER MYSTERY: Slain DNC staffer was WikiLeaks’ source, say investigators” — was heavily promoted on Sean Hannity’s show and Fox & Friends, but was retracted by Fox News about a week after it was published. It falsely claimed there was evidence linking slain former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich with WikiLeaks, which published emails hacked from the DNC...

The lawsuit claims that Butowsky and Zimmerman hoped the story “would debunk reports the Russian were responsible for the DNC hacks” and “undermine reports of collusion between Russia and the Trump Administration.” It claims that in the weeks ahead of the article’s publication, Butowsky was in touch with then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer, White House strategist Steve Bannon, and Department of Justice spokesperson Sarah Flores “regarding his efforts related to Seth Rich.” Wheeler says he and Butowsky met with Spicer “and provided him with a copy of [Wheeler’s] investigative notes.”

But the day the story was published, Spicer denied having foreknowledge of the Fox News report, saying during the White House press briefing that “I’m not aware of that… it would be highly inappropriate to do that.” Spicer has now changed his story. He confirmed to NPR that he met with Butowsky after all.

Wheeler claims that he became upset when he read the Fox News piece and saw the fabricated quotes attributed to him.

UPDATE (12:15 p.m., 8/1): In a statement, Fox News President Jay Wallace doesn’t deny that Trump was involved in the network’s since-retracted Seth Rich story, but says “[t]he accusation that FoxNews.com published Malia Zimmerman’s story to help detract from coverage of the Russia collusion issue is completely erroneous.”

Explosive lawsuit alleges Trump reviewed and approved bogus Fox News story on Seth Rich

If this is true it's incredible. Hannety is still peddling this nonsense, by the way.

And yet another one having to change his story after being caught with the facts..

Admin, it has to be pointed out that these are accusations by one party, they are not necessarily true. Interesting to follow, but way too early for conclusions, IMHO.

[Admin]

The FBI conducted a predawn July raid on the home of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, as part of its ongoing investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. FBI agents working with special counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed to lead the probe after former FBI Director James Comey was fired in May, left Manafort's home "with various records," according to the Post.

FBI raids Paul Manafort's home in Russia probe - Business Insider

[Admin]

Hmm..

On Wednesday, the Washington Post broke news that “FBI agents raided the Alexandria home of President Trump’s former campaign chairman late last month, using a search warrant to seize documents and other materials, according to people familiar with the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.”

The New York Times confirmed the report, adding that the agents were looking for “tax documents and foreign banking records.” The news was also confirmed by a spokesman for Manafort.

Follow
Josh Dawsey 

✔@jdawsey1
Manafort spokesman confirms raid. Different person familiar w/probe says Manafort was in town at the time of the pre-dawn raid.
11:23 AM - Aug 9, 2017

In light of the news about the raid of Manafort’s home, Trump’s tweets on the day of July 26 are of renewed interest. That was the day Trump abruptly posted a string of tweets announcing “that the United States government will not accept or allow [t]ransgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” Last Friday, Politico reported that Trump’s declaration stunned White House and Department of Defense lawyers who had warned him against such a ban.

But more directly of interest are factually inaccurate tweets Trump posted later that day asking why Attorney General Jeff Sessions hadn’t moved to replace then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Trump called for acting FBI director’s firing hours after FBI agents raided Paul Manafort’s home – ThinkProgress

[Admin]

President Trump lashed out at Congress while signing legislation on Wednesday that imposes new sanctions on Russia, arguing the bill limited his executive power and ability to negotiate with Moscow. “By limiting the executive’s flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and North Korea much closer together,” Trump said in a sharply-worded statement.  The bill approved by Congress with overwhelming, veto-proof majorities limits the president’s ability to lift sanctions on Russia or return diplomatic compounds seized by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russian election meddling.

Trump lashes out while signing Russia sanctions bill | TheHill

[Admin]

Even using the same methods as Putin to defend him..

"Whataboutism" appears to serve Putin by enabling him to take the position that it's not America's role to "lecture Russia on democracy when it has had such a poor track record of establishing them on its own watch," said Vadim Nikitin, a Russia analyst and freelance journalist. Most of all, Putin's finger-pointing at the US' own foibles is done in an effort to force others to "accept all sides as morally flawed," he added.  

But as the 2016 campaign kicked off, Putin gained a critical boost from an unlikely source: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. During a 2015 interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," co-host Joe Scarborough pressed Trump about Putin's crackdowns. "He kills journalists that don't agree with him," Scarborough said. "Well, I think that our country does plenty of killing too, Joe," Trump replied, without addressing the specific criticism aimed at Putin.  

Trump doubled down on his defense of the Russian strongman after taking office in January.  During an interview with then-Fox News host Bill O'Reilly shortly after being sworn in, Trump said he respected Putin.  O'Reilly pushed back: "Putin's a killer."  "There are a lot of killers," Trump replied. "We have a lot of killers. What, you think our country is so innocent?" It was a shocking pronouncement from the leader of a country that had, up until that point, taken a firm stance against Putin's documented attacks on human rights and basic freedoms.  More importantly, in making those statements, Trump appeared to be doing the Russian leader's job for him by echoing his own talking points.

Trump uses 'whataboutism,' one of Putin's favorite propaganda tools - Business Insider

[Admin]

Papadopolous sent the first email to seven campaign advisers in March 2016 with the subject line "Meeting with Russian Leadership - Including Putin." His requests were reportedly met with hesitancy from multiple campaign officials, including retired Navy Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, who voiced concerns about violating both US sanctions on Russia and the Logan Act, a law forbidding US citizens from negotiating with foreign governments without authorization.

Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman and a current subject in the Russia investigation, also expressed concerns about the proposal and rejected Papadopoulos' request for a meeting between Trump and Russian officials in May 2016, according to The Post. Manafort's rejection stands in contrast to his willingness to accept a meeting with a Russian lawyer weeks later in June, a point that Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, raised after the story broke.

Mariotti wrote in a series of tweets that perhaps the most important implication of the news was that "everyone on those emails was aware of the concerns expressed in the emails about meeting with Russians, including Admiral Kubic's concern about the legality of meeting with Russia." "If anyone on those emails later met with Russians or accepted aid from them," Mariotti continued, "the prior emails about concerns could be used to indicate that they knew that the meeting was problematic and potentially illegal but nonetheless persisted."

New Trump-Russia emails may be 'devastating' legally for Paul Manafort - Business Insider

[Admin]

Everything you always wanted to know about Russia, in six brief videos (here)

[Admin]

Hmm..

GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher met with Julian Assange The Russophilic Republican Congressman confirmed to journalists that he met with the Wikileaks founder, whose organization has been deemed by the U.S. as a 'hostile intelligence actor,' and now he wants to brief Donald Trump on the meeting.

GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher met with Julian Assange | MSNBC

You mean this WikiLeaks?

WikiLeaks reportedly refused a massive cache of documents concerning the Russian government during the 2016 election season. “We had several leaks sent to WikiLeaks, including the Russian hack. It would have exposed Russian activities and shown WikiLeaks was not controlled by Russian security services,” an unidentified source told Foreign Policy in a report published Thursday.

WikLeaks published vast archives of emails related to the Hillary Clinton campaign in the months leading up to the election. U.S. intelligence agencies believe those emails were stolen by hackers from their Russian counterparts in an effort to help elect President Trump. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denies that the documents came from Russia. But the claim has fueled suspicion that he knowingly participated in a Russian intelligence operation.

“Many WikiLeaks staff and volunteers or their families suffered at the hands of Russian corruption and cruelty, we were sure Wikileaks would release it," the source told Foreign Policy. "Assange gave excuse after excuse.”

WikiLeaks rejected documents on Russia during 2016 election: report | TheHill

[Admin]

It’s been clear for weeks now that President Donald Trump is unhappy with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. And in public, Trump has framed his unhappiness in terms of the legislative agenda, complaining in tweets about the Senate’s failure to pass a health bill, tax reform, or an infrastructure program. But a juicy new report from the New York Times’s Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin suggests there’s another, familiar reason for Trump’s irritation: the Russia scandal, and specifically, McConnell’s failure to protect him from investigations into it.

It’s already been reported that in a tense phone call between Trump and McConnell on August 9, Trump was angry about the health care bill’s failure.
However, Burns and Martin add a new key detail — that Trump “was even more animated about what he intimated was the Senate leader’s refusal to protect him from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to Republicans briefed on the conversation.” Yet again, it seems, the president of the United States is intimating in private conversations with other government officials that investigations that could incriminate him or his associates should be bottled up — at a time when he’s already reportedly under investigation for obstruction of justice.

The New York Times adds an intriguing new layer to Trump’s feud with Mitch McConnell - Vox