Trump and Putin, behind the scenes

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Downing Street has effectively blocked the publication of a potentially explosive parliamentary report on the security threat that Russia poses to the UK until after the general election. The 50-page document from the intelligence and security committee examines allegations that Kremlin-sponsored activity distorted the result of the 2016 EU referendum, but has to be cleared by No 10 before it can be released. Downing Street indicated on Monday that it would not approve publication before parliament is dissolved on Tuesday evening, meaning that it cannot now appear before the election on 12 December.

No 10 blocks Russia EU referendum report until after election | Politics | The Guardian

• Postponed until after the elections, one wonders why..
  
• Trump has even be very critical of the deal that his buddy Johnson has negotiated with the EU
  
• Brexit is weakening the EU and weakening the West, playing into Putin's hands.
  

[Admin]

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates testified in court Tuesday that Donald Trump did in fact discuss WikiLeaks with his longtime political adviser, Roger Stone, during the 2016 campaign. That’s a big deal because in sworn written answers to special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump claimed he couldn’t recall doing any such thing. “I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with him,” Trump wrote. “Nor do I recall being aware of Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with individuals associated with my campaign.” Yet Gates, a longtime associate of Paul Manafort who struck a plea deal with Mueller’s team last year, told a very different story in court Tuesday...

After that, Gates testified, the top levels of the Trump campaign were very interested in what Stone knew about WikiLeaks. For instance, Gates said Manafort asked him to follow up with Stone to try to learn more about WikiLeaks’s plans. And Gates said that Manafort indicated he would update others on the campaign, “including the candidate” — that is, Donald Trump. Gates also testified that he witnessed a phone call between Trump and Stone in late July, shortly after the DNC email releases began, while Gates was in a car with Trump driving to LaGuardia Airport. Gates said that he could not hear exactly what was said on the call but that after the call ended, Trump told him that “more information would be coming.”

Roger Stone trial testimony casts doubt on Trump’s answers to Mueller - Vox

[Admin]

Justice Department inspector general Horowitz report:

• There is no "deep-state" out to sabotage the President
  
• The inquiry into the links between the Trump campaign and Russia were justified
  
• There were numerous errors made by low level FBI operatives
  
• There is no systematic FBI bias against Trump, there were also anti-Hillary messages revealed
  
• The Obama Administration did not wiretap the Trump campaign
  

Yet:

• The President argues the report showed there was an attempted coup against him
  
• The AG Bill Barr criticized his own IG's report
  
• The FBI investigation into the Trump campaign wasn't revealed to the public before the election, unlike the inquiry into Clinton's emails
  

[Admin]

Wray’s comments are about as succinct and fair a summary of the IG report as you’ll find. In the same interview, he swatted down Trump’s conspiracy theories about Ukraine — not Russia — being behind election interference, saying “we have no information that Ukraine interference with the 2016 presidential election.” These comments are grounded in reality, but they don’t support the absurd notion Trump pushed in the aftermath of the IG report’s release. Trump claimed it shows that “this was an overthrow of government, this was an attempted overthrow — and a lot of people were in on it.”

And so on Tuesday morning, Trump lashed out on Wray on Twitter in a manner reminiscent of his public attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions before his firing, and that fueled speculation about whether Wray — who he notably described as the “current” director of the FBI — might end up being the second FBI director kicked to the curb by Trump during his first term.

Trump lashes out at FBI Director Wray for telling truth about IG report - Vox

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During that meeting — which was closed to the American press but not Russian photographers — Trump created a scandal by reportedly sharing highly sensitive classified intelligence with Russian officials, told them he was “unconcerned” about Russian election meddling, and described the Comey firing as relieving “great pressure” he was feeling from the Russia investigation. (Trump apparently didn’t foresee that Comey’s firing would lead to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.)

Trump lashes out at FBI Director Wray for telling truth about IG report - Vox

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Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Wednesday that he found no evidence the FBI wiretapped anyone other than former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in connection with its Russia investigation. Horowitz’s comments at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing refuted a series of tweets sent by President Trump in March 2017 in which he claimed that Obama had his “wires tapped” at Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign.

DOJ inspector general refutes Trump claim that Obama tapped his wires | TheHill

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Donald Trump doesn't believe there is enough evidence to blame pro-Russian separatists for last year's downing of a commercial airliner over Ukraine -- despite the fact that the U.S. intelligence community believes "with confidence" that pro-Russian separatists shot it down. "That's a horrible thing that happened," he said. "It's disgusting and disgraceful but Putin and Russia say they didn't do it, the other side said they did, no one really knows who did it, probably Putin knows who did it. Possibly it was Russia but they are totally denying it."

Trump was responding to a question from CNN noting that the U.S. government assesses that the several points of available evidence all point to Russia. The question from CNN came after Trump was asked on MSNBC Wednesday about a new report from Dutch investigators that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian-made rocket and warhead -- and asked what he would do as president to hold Russia accountable.

Donald Trump says Russia isn't to blame for MH17 downing - CNNPolitics

• Once again, believing Putin over his own (and others) intelligence services..
  

[Admin]

Intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 campaign to get President Trump reelected, The New York Times reported Thursday. The Feb. 13 briefing by top election security officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to the House Intelligence Committee reportedly prompted Trump to berate now-former Acting DNI Joseph Maguire, accusing him of disloyalty for allowing the briefing.

Intel officials warned House lawmakers Russia is interfering to get Trump reelected: NYT | TheHill

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President Trump's new acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, has already made major changes at the agency, including ousting the No. 2 official. Former acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire and his deputy, Andrew Hallman, resigned on Friday. According to The New York Times, Grenell told Hallman, who has worked for national intelligence and the CIA for three decades, that his service was no longer needed...

The Times also reported that Grenell — who was only officially tapped into the role on Thursday and who says he will not be the nominee for the full-time role — also made a slew of his own new hires on Friday, including an expert on Trump conspiracy theories. One hire is Kashyap Patel, a senior member of the National Security Council and former top aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the former House Intelligence Committee chairman. Patel was a lead author of a 2018 memo that accused FBI and Justice Department officials under former President Obama of overstepping their surveillance authority ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  Patel has reportedly been given permission to "clean house" at the agency.

Grenell's tenure may only last a few months as Trump announced a list of possible nominations Friday for the permanent director of national intelligence. The shakeup comes as reports say Trump was frustrated with Maguire and alleged his disloyalty after House lawmakers were briefed last week on Russian interference in the 2020 election to help reelect Trump. 

Grenell has reportedly asked for the intelligence information behind the briefing given to lawmakers. Trump has since denied the reports Russia is interfering on his behalf in the 2020 election, accusing Democrats of "trying to start a rumor" as well as a "disinformation campaign." Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) revealed Friday that he was briefed by U.S. intelligence officials about Russian interference aiming to help him win the Democratic primary. 

Trump's new intel chief makes immediate changes, ousts top official | TheHill

• Congress is briefed on Russian meddling in the election in favor of Trump (and Sanders, seen has the weakest Democrat against Trump)
  
• Trump denies this, calling it a Democrat rumor, despite coming from his own intelligence services (and hardly a surprise given what happened in 2016)
  
• When Trump hears about this, he lashes out, not because of the Russian meddling, but because Congress was briefed info he doesn't like.
  
• He fires Joesph Maguire, acting Director of National Intelligence
  
• He puts in place someone, Richard Grenell, who has absolutely no intel experience
  
• Grenell also fires the no.2, Andrew Hallman
  
• Grenell hires Kashyap Patel, steeped in Trumpian conspiracy theories, who he gives permission to "clean the agency"
  
• So here is another institution that gets Trumpified, even before his second term.
   
  

[Admin]

National security adviser Robert O'Brien is rejecting reports that the U.S. intelligence community believes Russia is interfering in the 2020 presidential election with the goal of reelecting President Trump. "I haven't seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump reelected," O'Brien said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" to be broadcast on Sunday. "I think this is the same old story that we've heard before. ... We've been very tough on Russia, and we've been great on election security. So I think it's a nonstory." A senior intelligence official earlier this month briefed a bipartisan group of House lawmakers and said that Russia had a "developed preference" to reelect Trump, according to reports published last week. Trump reportedly lashed out at Joseph Maguire, then his acting director of national intelligence, after the briefing, claiming that his staff had shown disloyalty by speaking to Congress about the issue. 

The president has repeatedly dismissed the intelligence in the ensuing days, tweeting on Friday that the news was "another misinformation campaign" being launched by the Democrats in Congress. ABC's George Stephanopoulos consistently pressed O'Brien about the recent reports, at one point asking whether Shelby Pierson, the official who offered the intelligence, was lying. O'Brien demurred before later stating that Republican lawmakers who were briefed told him "that there was zero intelligence that was proffered to them to support that sort of comment." 


He then doubled down, stating that he has not seen any intelligence suggesting Russia is interfering in 2020 to help Trump. "What I'm saying is I have not seen that analysis. No one's briefed me on it, including the leadership of the [intelligence community]," O'Brien said, describing the news reports about Russian interference as "leaks" and stating that no leaders in the intelligence community have similar analysis. Pushed on whether he's asked for the intelligence on Russia, O'Brien said, "I'd be happy to take a look at it. I just haven't seen it."

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Moscow worked to interfere in the 2016 election to benefit Trump and harm Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress earlier this year that Russia's efforts "never stopped" in the wake of that election. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) acknowledged to reporters on Friday that U.S. intel officials briefed him that Moscow is working to interfere in the Democratic primary to aid his candidacy. Sanders said that he was briefed on Russian interference efforts "about a month ago" and speculated that the news was timed to come out on the eve of the Nevada caucuses.

National security adviser: 'I haven't seen any intelligence' that Russia is trying to help Trump | TheHill

• So, Trump now gets his flunkies, as well as other Republicans, to deny reality
  
• Note that the basis for this denial is that O'Brien hasn't seen the intelligence (as well as the predictable denial of Republicans), he simply has to ask for the intelligence..
  
• FBI Director Christopher Wray (a Trump appointee) acknowledged it earlier (if he does this again, he will endanger his position), as did Sanders
  
• Institutional independence of the securities services is already severely compromised.