Сделаем Америку снова великой! Trump - Russia megathread

[kalm]

Well aside from the Comcast thing I know how to troll you up pretty easily now

How do you know you're talking to a Republican:

But Hilary
Everybody was doing it already
What is collusion anyway ..?

Utilization of public infrastructure is free market capitalism.

[Ibanez]

Obama probably regrets that and realizes how wrong he was. A lot changed after it. Maidan, Crimea, MH17, etc. But, he should have seen it coming.

He also could have responded more aggressively during the election. I'm sure he regrets that as well.

But, what about our current president that STILL denies what every single intelligence agency tells him?

I know y'all want to make everything about Hillary or Obama. But, you have to admit this is a more ridiculous position on Russia.

Our current President is a no talent ass clown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CID1990]

Well aside from the Comcast thing I know how to troll you up pretty easily now

How do you know you're talking to a Republican:

But Hilary
Everybody was doing it already
What is collusion anyway ..?

Ok Mr Smartypants

You're doing it wrong

If you want to troll me you need to start with "we've been right on Russia since 1992"

[Skjellyfetti]

DOJ: Ex-Manafort Associate Firtash Is Top-Tier Comrade of Russian Mobsters

The Department of Justice has identified a former business associate of ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as an "upper-echelon [associate] of Russian organized crime."

The declaration came in a 115-page filing as part of the government's case against Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch who was once involved in a failed multi-million-dollar deal to buy New York's Drake Hotel with Manafort, and an important player in the Ukrainian political party for which Manafort worked.

Firtash is being prosecuted for what federal prosecutors in Illinois say was his role in bribing Indian officials in order to get a lucrative mining deal to sell titanium to Boeing.

The government says that prosecuting Firtash and his co-defendant in the alleged scheme, Andras Knopp, "will disrupt this organized crime group and prevent it from further criminal acts within the United States."

In 2008, according to court records, Manafort's firm was involved with Firtash in a plan to redevelop the Drake Hotel for $850 million. Firtash's company planned to invest over $100 million, the records say.

One of the other partners working with Manafort on the deal was the former exclusive broker for Fred Trump's properties, Brad Zackson. Fred Trump is the now-deceased father of Donald Trump.

Eventually, documents show, Firtash's investment company transferred $25 million into escrow to further the project.

Also in 2008, according to a State Department cable posted by WikiLeaks, Firtash told U.S. Ambassador William Taylor that he got his start in business with the permission of one of Russia's most well-known organized crime bosses, Semion Mogilevich. But Firtash claimed to Taylor that he was forced to deal with such people.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doj ... rs-n786806

[GannonFan]

DOJ: Ex-Manafort Associate Firtash Is Top-Tier Comrade of Russian Mobsters

The Department of Justice has identified a former business associate of ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as an "upper-echelon [associate] of Russian organized crime."

The declaration came in a 115-page filing as part of the government's case against Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch who was once involved in a failed multi-million-dollar deal to buy New York's Drake Hotel with Manafort, and an important player in the Ukrainian political party for which Manafort worked.

Firtash is being prosecuted for what federal prosecutors in Illinois say was his role in bribing Indian officials in order to get a lucrative mining deal to sell titanium to Boeing.

The government says that prosecuting Firtash and his co-defendant in the alleged scheme, Andras Knopp, "will disrupt this organized crime group and prevent it from further criminal acts within the United States."

In 2008, according to court records, Manafort's firm was involved with Firtash in a plan to redevelop the Drake Hotel for $850 million. Firtash's company planned to invest over $100 million, the records say.

One of the other partners working with Manafort on the deal was the former exclusive broker for Fred Trump's properties, Brad Zackson. Fred Trump is the now-deceased father of Donald Trump.

Eventually, documents show, Firtash's investment company transferred $25 million into escrow to further the project.

Also in 2008, according to a State Department cable posted by WikiLeaks, Firtash told U.S. Ambassador William Taylor that he got his start in business with the permission of one of Russia's most well-known organized crime bosses, Semion Mogilevich. But Firtash claimed to Taylor that he was forced to deal with such people.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doj ... rs-n786806

Wait, is he a good Ukranian oligarch or a bad Ukranian oligarch? I thought half of the Ukraine doesn't like Russia while the other half does? And does this mean that Manafort did anything wrong other than do legal business with a person that potentially did illegal business elsewhere?

[Skjellyfetti]

Wait, is he a good Ukranian oligarch or a bad Ukranian oligarch? I thought half of the Ukraine doesn't like Russia while the other half does?

Well, I think all of the oligarchs are pretty shitty.

But, Firtash is definitely not anti-Putin or Russia. He's a Kremlin-backed oligarch like Yanukovich was. And, is up to his neck in mob connections - including Mogilevich.

And does this mean that Manafort did anything wrong other than do legal business with a person that potentially did illegal business elsewhere?

Remains to be seen. But, I bet Manaforts butthole is clenching. Same as Trump losing his mind at the thought of Mueller going over his financials.

[CID1990]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doj ... rs-n786806

Wait, is he a good Ukranian oligarch or a bad Ukranian oligarch? I thought half of the Ukraine doesn't like Russia while the other half does? And does this mean that Manafort did anything wrong other than do legal business with a person that potentially did illegal business elsewhere?

Ganny

just let the Russia butthurt go

do not impede its flow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kalm]

Here's a guy who knows more than a little about Russia, oligarchs, Putin, and manipulation of the US through US enablers.

The financier Bill Browder has emerged as an unlikely central player in the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Sergei Magnitsky, an attorney Browder hired to investigate official corruption, died in Russian custody in 2009. Congress subsequently imposed sanctions on the officials it held responsible for his death, passing the Magnitsky Act in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government retaliated, among other ways, by suspending American adoptions of Russian children.

Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who secured a meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort, was engaged in a campaign for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act, and raised the subject of adoptions in that meeting. That’s put the spotlight back on Browder’s long campaign for Kremlin accountability, and against corruption—a campaign whose success has irritated Putin and those around him.

Browder will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in a hearing about Foreign Agents Registration Act enforcement; what follows are the prepared remarks he submitted to the committee...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ee/534864/

[CAA Flagship]

This is hysterical:

[CID1990]

This is hysterical:

I love that account

I follow it for the pure gold that are the replies to it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Skjellyfetti]

Mueller's Justice League continues to grow

Exclusive: Former Justice Department official joins Mueller team

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former U.S. Justice Department official has become the latest lawyer to join special counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, a spokesman for the team confirmed.

Greg Andres started on Tuesday, becoming the 16th lawyer on the team, said Josh Stueve, a spokesman for the special counsel.

Most recently a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, Andres, 50, served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery.

Mueller, who was appointed special counsel in May, is looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election, among other matters. Congressional committees are also investigating the matter.

That Mueller continues to expand his team means the probe is not going to end anytime soon, said Robert Ray, who succeeded Kenneth Starr as independent counsel for the Whitewater investigation during the Clinton administration.

"It's an indication that the investigation is going to extend well into 2018," said Ray. "Whether it extends beyond 2018 is an open question."

The special counsel last month asked the White House to preserve all of its communications about a June 2016 meeting that included the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Russian officials have denied meddling in the U.S. election, and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign.

Among the cases Andres oversaw at the Justice Department was the prosecution of Texas financier Robert Allen Stanford, who was convicted in 2012 for operating an $8 billion Ponzi scheme.

Before that, Andres was a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn for over a decade, eventually serving as chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney's office there. He prosecuted several members of the Bonanno organized crime family, one of whom was accused of plotting to have Andres killed.

A graduate of Notre Dame and University of Chicago Law School, Andrews was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin from 1989 to 1992.

He is married to Ronnie Abrams, a U.S. district judge in Manhattan nominated to the bench in 2011 by Democratic President Barack Obama.

Others on the special counsel team include Andrew Weissmann, chief of the Justice Department's fraud section; Andrew Goldstein, former head of the public corruption unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan; and James Quarles, who was an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate investigation that helped bring down President Richard Nixon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-t ... ium=Social

[Col Hogan]

Mueller impanels a Grand Jury today...


http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2630563

[Skjellyfetti]

Better article

Special Counsel Robert Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe

Expansion beyond Flynn grand jury is a sign the investigation in election meddling is ramping up

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, according to people familiar with the matter.

The grand jury, which began its work in recent weeks, is a sign that Mr. Mueller’s inquiry is ramping up and that it will likely continue for months. Mr. Mueller is investigating Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump’s campaign or associates colluded with the Kremlin as part of that effort.

A spokesman for Mr. Mueller, Joshua Stueve, declined to comment. Moscow has denied seeking to influence the election, and Mr. Trump has vigorously disputed allegations of collusion. The president has called Mr. Mueller’s inquiry a “witch hunt.”

Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, said he wasn’t aware that Mr. Mueller had started using a new grand jury. “Grand jury matters are typically secret,” Mr. Cobb said. “The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly.…The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller.”

Before Mr. Mueller was tapped in May to be special counsel, federal prosecutors had been using at least one other grand jury, located in Alexandria, Va., to assist in their criminal investigation of Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. That probe, which has been taken over by Mr. Mueller’s team, focuses on Mr. Flynn’s work in the private sector on behalf of foreign interests.

Grand juries are powerful investigative tools that allow prosecutors to subpoena documents, put witnesses under oath and seek indictments, if there is evidence of a crime. Legal experts said that the decision by Mr. Mueller to impanel a grand jury suggests he believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses.

A grand jury in Washington is also more convenient for Mr. Mueller and his 16 attorneys—they work just a few blocks from the U.S. federal courthouse where grand juries meet—than one that is 10 traffic-clogged miles away in Virginia.

“This is yet a further sign that there is a long-term, large-scale series of prosecutions being contemplated and being pursued by the special counsel,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas. “If there was already a grand jury in Alexandria looking at Flynn, there would be no need to reinvent the wheel for the same guy. This suggests that the investigation is bigger and wider than Flynn, perhaps substantially so.”

Thomas Zeno, a federal prosecutor for 29 years before becoming a lawyer at the Squire Patton Boggs law firm, said the grand jury is “confirmation that this is a very vigorous investigation going on.”

Mr. Andres, a former top Justice Department official who also oversaw the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, wouldn’t leave his private-sector job for a low-level investigation, Mr. Zeno said.

“People like Greg Andres don’t leave private practice willy-nilly,” Mr. Zeno said. “The fact he is being added after couple of months shows how serious this is and that it could last a long time.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/special-co ... 1501788287



Probably explains why Hannity was accusing Mueller of committing crimes last night.

Last time a Grand Jury was impaneled and started issuing subpoenas for the Flynn investigation... Comey promptly fired.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/09/politics/ ... index.html

[Skjellyfetti]

Reuters and CNN add some toppings onto today's nothingburger

Subpoenas issued regarding "adoption" meeting
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-t ... SKBN1AJ1SW


Carter Page was under FISA surveillance since 2014.
Russian intelligence officials intercepted discussing Manafort encouraging Russian help
Focus of Mueller is on finances (not surprising)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/ ... index.html

[Ivytalk]

Reuters and CNN add some toppings onto today's nothingburger

Subpoenas issued regarding "adoption" meeting
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-t ... SKBN1AJ1SW


Carter Page was under FISA surveillance since 2014.
Russian intelligence officials intercepted discussing Manafort encouraging Russian help
Focus of Mueller is on finances (not surprising)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/ ... index.html

Well, duh.

Follow the money.

Manafort is toast.

[houndawg]

Reuters and CNN add some toppings onto today's nothingburger

Subpoenas issued regarding "adoption" meeting
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-t ... SKBN1AJ1SW


Carter Page was under FISA surveillance since 2014.
Russian intelligence officials intercepted discussing Manafort encouraging Russian help
Focus of Mueller is on finances (not surprising)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/ ... index.html

Well, duh.

Follow the money.

Manafort is toast.

Nothing burger on toast please...

[CID1990]

Without a grand jury, a special prosecutor can't subpoena people

Once again, we're making hay out of something that HAS to happen


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Skjellyfetti]

The point is the investigation is expanding.

I know you think it's just a "show" and he's just going through the motions... but, if Mueller ruled out the primary mission of his investigation a couple months ago... I don't believe he'd be impaneling a Grand Jury. It would be highly unethical and there is nothing in Mueller's history indicate he recklessly pursues investigations.

[Chizzang]

Can Trump pardon himself right now, you know..
So we can just move on?

[CID1990]

The point is the investigation is expanding.

I know you think it's just a "show" and he's just going through the motions... but, if Mueller ruled out the primary mission of his investigation a couple months ago... I don't believe he'd be impaneling a Grand Jury. It would be highly unethical and there is nothing in Mueller's history indicate he recklessly pursues investigations.

How many times have I said that this investigation will likely expand into areas not previously considered? Because that's what special prosecutors do?

Case in point: an investigation into dirty real estate would up in the impeachment of a President for lying about a blowjob and a crusty dress

Jesus jumped up Christ dude

You are now repeating things I have already said- OF COURSE the investigating is expanding you fvcking midget


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jjoey52]

Hopefully they will check previous admins Russian dealings, they would be much more interesting,


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kalm]

The point is the investigation is expanding.

I know you think it's just a "show" and he's just going through the motions... but, if Mueller ruled out the primary mission of his investigation a couple months ago... I don't believe he'd be impaneling a Grand Jury. It would be highly unethical and there is nothing in Mueller's history indicate he recklessly pursues investigations.

How many times have I said that this investigation will likely expand into areas not previously considered? Because that's what special prosecutors do?

Case in point: an investigation into dirty real estate would up in the impeachment of a President for lying about a blowjob and a crusty dress

Jesus jumped up Christ dude

You are now repeating things I have already said- OF COURSE the investigating is expanding you fvcking midget


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They sure are working hard at only indicting Flynn.

[Chizzang]

Hopefully they will check previous admins Russian dealings, they would be much more interesting,

Yes fascinating

[BDKJMU]

The point is the investigation is expanding.

I know you think it's just a "show" and he's just going through the motions... but, if Mueller ruled out the primary mission of his investigation a couple months ago... I don't believe he'd be impaneling a Grand Jury. It would be highly unethical and there is nothing in Mueller's history indicate he recklessly pursues investigations.

How many times have I said that this investigation will likely expand into areas not previously considered? Because that's what special prosecutors do?

Case in point: an investigation into dirty real estate would up in the impeachment of a President for lying about a blowjob and a crusty dress

Jesus jumped up Christ dude

You are now repeating things I have already said- OF COURSE the investigating is expanding you fvcking midget


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. An investigation in search of a crime...

[CID1990]

How many times have I said that this investigation will likely expand into areas not previously considered? Because that's what special prosecutors do?

Case in point: an investigation into dirty real estate would up in the impeachment of a President for lying about a blowjob and a crusty dress

Jesus jumped up Christ dude

You are now repeating things I have already said- OF COURSE the investigating is expanding you fvcking midget


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. An investigation in search of a crime...

Not really- special prosecutors often uncover evidence of other crimes while investigating allegations of unrelated offenses. They have a responsibility to track down all of those issues.

Of course there was a significant Greek chorus of Donks who didn't approve of this back when the process produced perjury over a spunk stained dress, but that was sooo 1990s