Сделаем Америку снова великой! Trump - Russia megathread

[GannonFan]

Russia-ghazi!

Palmer Raids in the '20's, McCarthy witchhunts in the early '50's, and now this Red Scare. I'm sure there'll be some casualties (and Flynn is certainly one), but these Red Scares have never been terribly long lived or successful. But, it's amazing how history really does keep repeating itself.

[Skjellyfetti]

I'm sure there'll be some casualties (and Flynn is certainly one)

Don't forget about Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Carter Page who have all resigned as advisors to Trump due to Russian entanglements.

[YoUDeeMan]

The thing is, the Dems run a real danger here of overreach. Calling for Sessions to resign (and frankly, I don't like Sessions very much anyway so if that did happen I'd be fine with that, assuming that Ted Cruz doesn't somehow slip into the job), based on what we know so far, seems to be pretty drastic. In one case Sessions gave a speech in Cleveland and a bunch of people came up to him after the speech. In the other case, he met the same guy in his office. And this isn't some unknown, sneaky Russian operative, this is the actual Russian ambassador, who, in the course of his job over the past 9 years in DC, probably has met with most everyone in the upper reaches of the US government. That's what ambassadors do of course. Sessions two answers, one verbally to Franken and the other in writing the Leahy, don't seem to be terribly perjorous either. I get the angst and I get the desire to resist Trump at all costs, but the problem is when there's so much angst and so much vitriol over everything that it is almost overload and the lack of focus on any one thing makes that angst less effective.

Yup...jellybean is in spanos territory.

[GannonFan]

I'm sure there'll be some casualties (and Flynn is certainly one)

Don't forget about Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Carter Page who have all resigned as advisors to Trump due to Russian entanglements.

The Dems must be kicking themselves that they didn't stay mum and let Manafort stay in his position. Hard to see with him leading the campaign that Trump would've won in November. He didn't come across as a particularly good campaign manager.

[Skjellyfetti]

Eh. I don't really care that much about the election. Clinton would have been shitty as well.

Just glad these slimeballs drop off when they do.

[Skjellyfetti]

And this isn't some unknown, sneaky Russian operative, this is the actual Russian ambassador, who, in the course of his job over the past 9 years in DC, probably has met with most everyone in the upper reaches of the US government.

No other Senator on the committee had met with him this year. Sessions met with him twice and then lied about it in front of the Judicial Committee.

I agree that it's not necessarily purgerous because that's difficult to prove.

The bigger issue is it will end up being the impetus to appoint a special prosecutor.

That's exactly why this leak was made when it was made, imo. It's not to get Sessions charged with perjury. It probably won't end up with him resigning.

But, the debate for the past few days on CH has been whether a special prosecutor was needed.

Then... this drops.

[GannonFan]

And this isn't some unknown, sneaky Russian operative, this is the actual Russian ambassador, who, in the course of his job over the past 9 years in DC, probably has met with most everyone in the upper reaches of the US government.

No other Senator on the committee had met with him this year. Sessions met with him twice and then lied about it in front of the Judicial Committee.

I agree that it's not necessarily purgerous because that's difficult to prove.

The bigger issue is it will end up being the impetus to appoint a special prosecutor.

That's exactly why this leak was made when it was made, imo. It's not to get Sessions charged with perjury. It probably won't end up with him resigning.

But, the debate for the past few days on CH has been whether a special prosecutor was needed.

Then... this drops.

The thing is, this is already getting messy. McCaskill is one of the Senators calling for him to resign and says it's highly unusual to meet with an ambassador, and that she's never dealt with this Russian one. Said in 10 years of being on the same committee Sessions was on that she never called or met the ambassador. Then it turns out, unless she was lying in her tweets, that she's dealt with him at least twice in the past few years, in a meeting and a phone call.

Again, I think Sessions is a pretty poor choice for the AG job, and I think it's never going to satisfy many if he's involved with the Russian investigation, but I also think Dems are going way out of their way to hopefully drive this point home and to keep it going. Heck, the meeting Sessions had with this ambassador in Cleveland was after a speech and there were numerous people and reporters in the room - exactly what clandestine thing could've happened then? Was there a bag drop and everyone missed it?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/02/politics/ ... r-meeting/

And remember, this is CNN reporting this on McCaskill, not Fox News or some other right wing mouthpiece. They're also reporting that the Russian Ambassador isn't really a normal ambassador, but a "master spy" who's recruiting other spies. I mean, they heard someone say as such, so same thing. Things are loopy right now.

[Skjellyfetti]

And, Sessions recuses himself.

[GannonFan]

And, Sessions recuses himself.

Apparently keeping the job, calls for resignation notwithstanding.

[Skjellyfetti]

And, Sessions recuses himself.

Apparently keeping the job, calls for resignation notwithstanding.

Eh. Democrats were just making this a shitty newscycle for Republicans and force Sessions into this position.

If the leakers' motivation was for Sessions to not be AG - they could have leaked this before the confirmation vote.

They did it this week while the debate was whether Sessions should recuse himself and whether a special prosecutor was needed.

Mission accomplished. Next step is to get an independent special prosecutor overseeing this mess.

[Skjellyfetti]

And, I wouldn't be surpsised if it's not the end of the Sessions story.

As I posted regarding Flynn:

You release bit by bit. Get the administration to comment on it. Release more. Catch them in lies. Get more comments. Release enough to force an investigation. Use all their previous lies and cover-up against them.

If another leak comes out that Sessions had OTHER contacts and AGAIN wasn't completely truthful... it will put him in quite a pickle.

I don't know that it will happen.... but, we'll see... updates will be posted here.

[GannonFan]

And, I wouldn't be surpsised if it's not the end of the Sessions story.

As I posted regarding Flynn:

You release bit by bit. Get the administration to comment on it. Release more. Catch them in lies. Get more comments. Release enough to force an investigation. Use all their previous lies and cover-up against them.

If another leak comes out that Sessions had OTHER contacts and AGAIN wasn't completely truthful... it will put him in quite a pickle.

I don't know that it will happen.... but, we'll see... updates will be posted here.

Getting Sessions recused from the investigation into the campaign, of which he was a part of, was always the easy thing to do. Resigning will take a whole lot else, especially considering the two encounters spelled out today weren't all that significant to that end. And now the GOP looks like they were leading the charge to get him to recuse (while Dems looked to be leading the charge for resigning, if not actual charges to be filed) so the GOP is in a better spot to pick who gets to investigate. There was always going to be an investigation, just a question of what form it takes and who's steering it.

[Skjellyfetti]

You're stretching really hard to make this into a loss for the Democrats and a win for the Republicans.

[BDKJMU]

This is much ado about nothing. Sessions was asked Sen Leahy if he had “been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day?” Sessions was not asked if he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government for any reason during the entire course of the year.

On one of these 2 occasions earlier in 2016 at a Heritage Foundation reception, after given a talk, Sessions was reportedly approcahed by a # of diplomats, including the Russian ambassador, and he shook hands with them.

There was a conk senator on FNC this morning (forgot who) who was a member of the Senate Armed Services committee who said there wasn't a week that went by where he wasn't meeting with a foreign defense minister, ambassador, or attache.

[BDKJMU]

As far as the 2nd meeting:
"....A second meeting occurred in September in Sessions’s Senate office. The Post dramatically claims that this meeting occurred “at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.” That is a curious description. The report by intelligence officials claimed that the Russian cyber effort targeted both major parties, not just Democrats. Moreover, the successful hacking of Democratic e-mail accounts had already occurred by September. There is not a shred of evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign was in any way complicit in the hacking, much less that the hacking affected the outcome of the election. To the unknowable but probably inconsequential extent that the Trump campaign may have benefited from disclosure of John Podesta’s e-mails, there is nothing criminal about that — no more than there is anything criminal in the fact that the much of the American media skew their coverage in favor of Democrats.

In any event, Sessions has stated that this meeting with the Russian ambassador — one of several he held with ambassadors from various nations — occurred in the context of his Senate responsibilities and had nothing to do with his role as a Trump-campaign surrogate. Nevertheless, the meeting did occur and therefore ostensibly contradicts his confirmation-hearing testimony that he did not have communications with Russians.

Now, let’s look at the relevant portion of the transcript, the nub of which the Post has excerpted as follows:

Franken: Okay. CNN has just published a story, and I’m telling you this about a news story that’s just been published. I’m not expecting you to know whether or not it’s true or not. But CNN just published a story alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week that included information that, quote, “Russian operatives claimed to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.” These documents also allegedly say, quote, “There was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump’s surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.”

Now, again, I’m telling you this as it’s coming out, so you know. But if it’s true, it’s obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?

Sessions: Senator Franken, I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn’t have — did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.

Senator Franken patently framed this line of inquiry in the context of Russian espionage against the Trump campaign, drawn from CNN’s report of a salacious, discredited, uncorroborated dossier. It claimed that the Russians had acquired compromising personal and financial information about Donald Trump. With that premise, Franken added the dossier’s claim that “there was a continuing exchange of information between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.” The point that Franken was clearly driving at was that Sessions, having supported Trump and been a Trump-campaign surrogate, should recuse himself as attorney general from any investigation probing communications between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

In that context, Sessions volunteered that he was not aware of “those activities” — clearly meaning the activities outlined in the dossier. He then appeared to discount the claim that he was a Trump-campaign “surrogate.” To be sure, “surrogate” is not so much a formal position as a blurry description, often offered by persons other than the so-called surrogate, of someone who supports a candidate and speaks on the candidate’s behalf. In an incomplete thought (which one often gets in witness testimony), Sessions appeared to quibble with the notion that he was a formal “surrogate” as opposed to someone who was occasionally referred to as one. It seems apparent that he was distancing himself from Franken’s insinuation about Trump surrogates colluding with Russians. At that point, Sessions abruptly cut himself off and summarily said he “did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.”

In context, Sessions obviously meant that he did not have communications with the Russians in the capacity of a surrogate for the Trump campaign and that he was unable to comment on the explosive allegations in the dossier. Manifestly, he was trying to say that he did not believe that Franken’s outline of the dossier provided any basis for him, Sessions, to recuse himself from any potential investigation. He was not saying that in his capacity as a United States senator, unrelated to the Trump campaign, he had never had any contacts with Russian officials....
http://www.nationalreview.com

[kalm]

I think I saw somewhere today on a news scroll where Trump gave Sessions a vote of confidence...

He's toast...

[JohnStOnge]

Forgive me if this question has already been answered but:

What does "Сделаем Америку снова великой" mean?

[JohnStOnge]

The thing that gets me about all this is that Sessions could've avoided all this by actually answering Franken's question instead of going off on a tangent. Franken didn't even ask him if he had contact with any Russians. It was just a "what would you do?" question.

phpBB [video]

[GannonFan]

You're stretching really hard to make this into a loss for the Democrats and a win for the Republicans.

Well, the idea that politics is about winning and losing is why we've reached this depth in our politics. With that said, until the GOP loses control of who does the investigating then nothing really has changed. Sessions was deeply involved with the campaign, there were already loud calls from both sides of the aisle that someone other than Sessions do the investigating. Once Trump is able to get his other high level folks through the confirmation process then that will likely be where the investigation is managed. The investigations that are done by Congressional committees are obviously going to be dictated by the GOP as well.

[YoUDeeMan]

"Talk about “over the top”! The overblown rhetoric accompanying calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation reveals that Thursday’s brouhaha is driven by mere political grandstanding, not a real concern over unlawful behavior.

There’s a reason for that: the total lack of evidence that any illegal behavior occurred.

What sparked Thurday’s folderol was a Washington Post report that General Sessions, while still a U.S. senator, met with the Russian ambassador last year. Twice.

To characterize the first of these encounters as a “meeting” strains the meaning of the word—to the breaking point. But to claim that he “lied” when he did not reveal these “meetings” during his Senate nomination hearing is even more far-fetched."

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/03/ ... esign.html


YAWN.


"Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “from the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.”

There is nothing sublime about Nancy Pelosi. Ridiculous, however, is an apt description.

At a news conference Thursday, the former Speaker of the House denounced Attorney General Jeff Sessions as a liar, pronounced him guilty of perjury, and demanded his resignation. This comes just days after she erroneously accused the Trump White House of obstructing justice. Clearly, she’s on a tear. Who knew the democratic leader, who is not a lawyer, was such an expert on the law?"

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/03/ ... crime.html

YAWN AGAIN.

[UNI88]

Why does all of this bloviating feel like a mirror image of Benghazi, e-mail probes, etc.?

[CID1990]

Forgive me if this question has already been answered but:

What does "Сделаем Америку снова великой" mean?

Just do what skelly did

Throw it into google translate

(Pro tip: google translate is crap)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ivytalk]

Forgive me if this question has already been answered but:

What does "Сделаем Америку снова великой" mean?

Just do what skelly did

Throw it into google translate

(Pro tip: google translate is crap)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Analjelly's pidgin Cyrillic is one step below his graphs.

[CAA Flagship]

Apparently keeping the job, calls for resignation notwithstanding.

Eh. Democrats were just making this a shitty newscycle for Republicans and force Sessions into this position.

If the leakers' motivation was for Sessions to not be AG - they could have leaked this before the confirmation vote.

They did it this week while the debate was whether Sessions should recuse himself and whether a special prosecutor was needed.

Mission accomplished. Next step is to get an independent special prosecutor overseeing this mess.

I hope it gets to this point for judgement on the facts.

[CAA Flagship]

And, I wouldn't be surpsised if it's not the end of the Sessions story.

As I posted regarding Flynn:

You release bit by bit. Get the administration to comment on it. Release more. Catch them in lies. Get more comments. Release enough to force an investigation. Use all their previous lies and cover-up against them.

If another leak comes out that Sessions had OTHER contacts and AGAIN wasn't completely truthful... it will put him in quite a pickle.

I don't know that it will happen.... but, we'll see... updates will be posted here.

There is a long line of people behind Sessions that would serve America better than Holder and Lynch. I won't cry if he is forced to resign.