Trump and Putin, behind the scenes

[Admin]

Giuliani had searched for damaging information about Biden and his son during a visit to Ukraine last year, where he met a man that the U.S. has now identified as a Russian intelligence officer. He specifically sought information about Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. 

The New York Times reported in January that Burisma was hacked by Russia, and the newspaper reported earlier this month that U.S. intelligence predicted the emails would be leaked in October. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Giuliani was the target of an influence campaign by Russian intelligence..

Giuliani goes off on Fox Business host after she compares him to Christopher Steele | TheHill

[Admin]

Max Boot, a Russian-American author and historian and a fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations, says the U.S. Intel Community's just-released report on Russia's attack on the 2020 presidential election is "evidence of cooperation" – at least – between the Trump campaign and Moscow. The report details that Russian President Vladimir Putin once again interfered in the election, again to help President Donald Trump, and to hurt now-President Joe Biden. "I would say this is certainly evidence," Boot says, "it may be evidence of collusion, but it's definitely evidence of cooperation and congruence between the Russians and the Trump campaign."

Boot praised the Biden administration for authorizing the release of the report, which he says Americans would not have seen under the Trump administration, while singling out Acting Trump DNI and DNI Rick Grinnell and John Ratcliffe, who "consistently tried to minimize and downplay Russian election interference." Importantly, Boot notes the report shows "just how closely the Russian messaging during the election echoed the messaging of the Trump campaign of Fox News and this kind of whole right wing media industrial complex."

New intel report reveals 'evidence of cooperation' between Russia and Trump Campaign: historian - Alternet.org

• They did it again in 2020, hardly a surprise
  
• Trump government minimized Russia and blamed China, they were lying. Russia did interfere and China didn't, as the Chinese didn't think Biden would be better than Trump and they did not want to antagonize the US for no gains. 
  

[Admin]

The U.S. government has sanctioned Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian political consultant indicted in the Mueller investigation in 2018, for carrying out election influence operations on behalf of Russian intelligence services. The big picture: The Senate Intelligence Committee's report on 2016 Russian election interference assessed that Kilimnik, who worked with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as a lobbyist for the pro-Russia president of Ukraine, is a Russian intelligence officer. The investigation found that on numerous occasions, Manafort sought to pass sensitive internal polling data and campaign strategy to Kilimnik. The committee was unable to determine why or what Kilimnik did with that information, in part due to the pair's use of encrypted messaging apps.

The committee did obtain "some information" suggesting Kilimnik "may have been connected" to Russia's hacking and leaking of Democratic emails. The section detailing these findings is largely redacted, however. The intrigue: The U.S. government stated for the first time Thursday that Kilimnik provided Russian intelligence "with sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy" during the 2016 election — filling a key link that had been left unanswered by both special counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

U.S. says Manafort associate passed sensitive polling data to Russian intelligence - Axios

[Admin]

"Well, the one thing that it's clear, as you've reported, Nicolle, we did not have the piece that is what Kilimnik did with the polling data that we now know from the release today actually went, as Clint said, directly to Russian intelligence," Weissmann explained. "The interesting question that I don't know the answer to is was that information known to the intelligence community at the time of the Mueller investigation. You know, my sort of educated speculation on that would be it seems like it would have to have been known because the Biden administration has only been operational for -- I'm in New York, so I'll say a New York minute. So, it seems unlikely that they really went ahead with that deep investigation and got the information that quickly." Without saying so, Weissmann seems to imply that these facts were known while the Trump administration was in control and not acted upon and hidden from the American people. "So, the question is, why didn't it get to the special counsel investigation?" Weissman asked. "And you know, I spearheaded the Manafort, part of that investigation. I can tell you it certainly would have been of great interest, and we tried to turn over every rock that we could to turn up this link."

A ‘direct link' from the Trump campaign to the Russians — and it may have been covered up: Mueller prosecutor - Alternet.org

• Not only does this prove a direct link between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence, this was likely know before but kept hidden. 
  
• Manafort kept feeding the investigators BS as he knew he was likely to get pardoned (which he was), the same holds for Roger Stone
  

[Admin]

Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents. The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present..

Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House | Vladimir Putin | The Guardian

[Admin]

Former President Trump on Tuesday called Russia's recognition of two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine a "genius" move ahead of its military invasion. In an interview on "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show," Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics in eastern Ukraine on Monday was "smart" and "pretty savvy." "I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius,'" he said. "Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful." "I said, 'How smart is that?' He's going to go in and be a peacekeeper," added Trump, who regularly praised and sought close ties with Putin during his time in office. 

Trump on Putin plan to recognize breakaway Ukraine regions: 'This is genius' | TheHill

• If there was still any doubt (which of course there shouldn't have been..)
  
• And he's hardly alone:
  

Another Putin admirer, according to the Kansas City Star, is former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The Star notes that Pompeo has been praising Putin while slamming President Joe Biden. “Of all the former secretaries of state under Democratic and Republican presidents,” the Star reports, “only one is taking to cable news and social media during a moment of peril in Europe to praise Russian President Vladimir Putin and chastise the Biden Administration. Mike Pompeo has lauded the Russian strongman over the past month as a ‘talented,’ ‘savvy,’ ‘capable statesman,’ offering his praise during a slew of interviews after his political action committee spent $30,000 on improving his performance in media appearances.”

'He has lots of gifts': Mike Pompeo is openly 'praising' Vladimir Putin as Ukraine crisis intensifies - Alternet.org

[Admin]

President Donald Trump has an Achilles' heel when it comes to Russia. Over the years, he's made no secret that he has a soft spot for the country and its authoritarian leader, President Vladimir Putin. Trump has proved that he is willing to reject widely held US foreign policy views and align himself with the Kremlin on everything from Russian interference in US elections to the war in Syria.

Most recently, Trump has denied the veracity of US intelligence reports accusing Russia of paying bounties to Taliban fighters to kill US troops in Afghanistan. Pressed on the topic during an interview with Axios that was released on Wednesday, Trump said he did not raise the issue during a recent phone call with Putin, and continued to suggest that the reports are "fake news."

During the 2016 campaign, Trump's ties to Russians were so concerning that the FBI believed there was good reason to investigate potential collusion between his 2016 campaign and the Kremlin. Counterintelligence investigators also examined whether Trump himself was somehow a Russian asset. (Special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy of collusion.)

In Trump's eyes, these allegations are proof of a conspiracy against him by Democratic lawmakers and other "deep state" enemies within the US government. He has bombastically declared, "There's never been a president as tough on Russia as I have been" -- a dubious claim that he repeated during the Russian bounties scandal. But Trump's narrative is simply false, based on his own actions over the last few years. Here's a breakdown of 37 occasions when Trump was soft on Russia or gave Putin a boost.

37 times Trump was soft on Russia - CNNPolitics

• A useful reminder..
  
• And an addition:
  

Trump groused about NATO throughout his presidency, and frequently misrepresented NATO's requirement that member nations spend 2% of their GDP on defense. He moved to pull US troops from Germany, which drew warnings from people like Romney, although NATO officials tried to put a positive spin on the move. At news of the drawdown of US troops in Europe, CNN's Nic Robertson wrote in August 2020 that it could be Trump's "last gift to Putin before the election." Trump did place sanctions on Russia while he was President, but only after Congress essentially made him do it..

Trump spoke. Will Republicans follow him on Russia? - CNNPolitics

[Admin]

“This is genius,” former President Trump declared as Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declared it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.” “Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine,” he repeated. “How smart is that? And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper.”  At a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, the former president could barely contain himself: “I mean, he’s taking over a country for two dollars’ worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.” In his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference last Saturday, Trump belatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but he doubled down on his claims that Putin was “smart” and that the leaders of Western Europe were “dumb.” Trump’s praise of Putin isn’t surprising. Dictators — not small-d democrats — have long been his role models.

Forget the critics, listen to Trump — and consider his role models | TheHill

[Admin]

CREW President Noah Bookbinder called the memo “a breathtakingly generous view of the law and facts for Donald Trump.” “It twists the facts and the law to benefit Trump and does not comport with a serious reading of the law of obstruction of justice or the facts as found by Special Counsel Mueller,” Bookbinder wrote on Twitter. “The memo is premised in large part on the argument that there was no underlying criminal conduct and that it’s hard to charge obstruction without an underlying crime. Of course that’s not what Mueller actually found. … Mueller found there was not sufficient evidence to charge Trump and others with conspiring with Russia. He didn’t find no crime, just not enough evidence for charges,” he added. The 448-page Mueller report, which was released in April 2019 almost a month after Barr’s letter to Congress, examined multiple episodes of possible obstruction of justice, including Trump’s firing of then-FBI director James Comey and his efforts to pressure then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to pull back on his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.   Ultimately, Mueller’s team wrote that they were unable to say definitively that Trump did not obstruct justice.   “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” the report stated.

Unredacted Barr memo details DOJ rationale for not charging Trump | The Hill

[Admin]

Weissmann, who served as a lead prosecutor on Mueller's team and successfully convicted former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, disputed the memo's arguments and pushed back on the claim that Mueller's investigation found no evidence of an underlying crime. "That's not what our report said," Weissmann told MSNBC. "It said that there's evidence. It's just that we didn't think there was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. So, the sort of upshot is I can understand why the department fought long and hard not to have this see the light of day and it's quite a shocking document." Weissmann added that the DOJ reasoning is also "dead wrong." "That is legally wrong," he said. "Our report actually addresses that… and this memo simply does not successfully, at least in my view, address the legal precedents, and it is not the case that you cannot be guilty of obstruction if you didn't commit the underlying crime." Weissmann called the memo a "doozy" and zeroed in on a specific passage of the memo urging Barr to make a decision.

"Although the Special Counsel recognized the unfairness of levying an accusation against the President without bringing criminal charges, the Report's failure to take a position on the matters described therein might be read to imply such an accusation if the confidential report were released to the public," the memo said. "Therefore, we recommend that you examine the Report to determine whether prosecution would be appropriate given the evidence recounted in the Special Counsel's Report, the underlying law, and traditional principles of federal prosecution."

Weissmann called out the passage during his appearance on MSNBC. "There is a sentence in here that is astounding to me," he said. "The two senior staff, say to Bill Barr that the reason he should make the decision is because if the memo comes out it might be read to imply that the president committed obstruction." Weissmann added that the memo appeared to show why Barr did not consult Mueller on whether the president committed a crime. "We now know clearly from his memo that he did not send it back to Mueller — who reported to him — was because he knew exactly what the answer would be," Weissmann said. "Because it says in black and white that this memo could be read to conclude that the president committed obstruction."

Barr's DOJ Trump memo is "legally wrong"

• The memo on which then DoJ head Bill Barr based his argument that Trump couldn't have obstructed justice because there was no underlying crime (collusion with Russia) is finally available in unredacted form.
  
• There WAS evidence of collusion with Russia, just not enough evidence beyond a reasonable doubt (they used the high standard of criminal conviction)
  
• There was certainly plenty of evidence for obstruction of justice
  
• Barr's argument that there cannot be guilt without underlying crime is fake.