Thread: Mueller's Russian Interference investigation

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by Cujo

If people would only look past courts judgements and guilty or not verdicts or whatever to what he ACTUALLY DID.....
He's a traitor....

What did he actually do?

Cujo was referring to Trump.

You are not clever enough to be playing disingenuous little games.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Cujo was referring to Trump.

You are not clever enough to be playing disingenuous little games.

I guess Cujo also lost the plot. My intent all along was to get at why some believe the Flynn case should not have been dropped.

Originally Posted by RPETER65

I guess Cujo also lost the plot. My intent all along was to get at why some believe the Flynn case should not have been dropped.

How is it Cujo’s fault that you misconstrued his post that was very clearly about Trump.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

How is it Cujo’s fault that you misconstrued his post that was very clearly about Trump.

Where did I blame Cujo for anything? Nice try but no cigar.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Cujo was referring to Trump.

You are not clever enough to be playing disingenuous little games.

actually I was referring to Flynn.

Originally Posted by Cujo

actually I was referring to Flynn.

Goodo, I definitely wasn't.

The former special counsel Robert Mueller made a rare move on Saturday to publicly defend his two-year investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election – and to castigate US president Donald Trump’s decision to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence.

Mueller wrote an opinion article for the Washington Post published under the headline “Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence is an unforgivable betrayal of his office”.


“The work of the special counsel’s office – its report, indictments, guilty pleas and convictions – should speak for itself,” he wrote.


“But I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office ...


“Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”


Trump commuted the sentence of Stone on Friday night, sparking outrage from Democrats and some senior Republicans.


Stone was a former campaign adviser to the president, convicted in November 2019 of seven crimes including obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering.


The 2017-19 Mueller investigation uncovered evidence of communications between Stone and WikiLeaks related to the release of hacked Democratic party emails during the 2016 election, discovered in a separate inquiry into Russian intelligence officers charged with hacking the emails and staging their release.


The partially released Mueller report in April 2019 described Russian efforts to tamper with the election and the Trump campaign’s receptivity to certain “Russian offers of assistance to the campaign”.


It outlined actions by Trump that may have amounted to obstruction of justice and concluded: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”


Mueller also concluded he did not have the power to charge Trump even if he thought it was warranted.




Mueller wrote: “The special counsel’s office identified two principal operations directed at our election: hacking and dumping Clinton campaign emails, and an online social media campaign to disparage the Democratic candidate.




“We also identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel – Stone among them. We did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government …


“The investigation did, however, establish that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome. [And] that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”


Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy
Robert Mueller
Trump has repeatedly attempted to discredit Mueller and his investigations.


Mueller has kept his counsel since he testified in Congress in July last year. It was a muted affair, and many perceived Trump was emboldened in his efforts to seek assistance in his current election campaign from the Ukraine.


This led to the historic impeachment of the president, and Trump’s ultimate acquittal by the Senate earlier this year.


Mueller wrote: “Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy. It was critical that they be investigated and understood.”

Robert Mueller breaks his silence and condemns Trump for commuting Roger Stone's sentence | US news | The Guardian

Just so it's clear to the witless repeater:

Mueller offered a detailed accounting of investigators' focus on Stone by federal prosecutors and Congress.
"He lied by denying he had communicated with the Trump campaign about the timing of WikiLeaks’ releases," Mueller wrote. "He in fact updated senior campaign officials repeatedly about WikiLeaks. And he tampered with a witness, imploring him to stonewall Congress.
"The jury ultimately convicted Stone of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of making false statements to Congress and tampering with a witness," Mueller wrote. "Because his sentence has been commuted, he will not go to prison. But his conviction stands."

Robert Mueller challenges President Trump: Stone 'committed crimes'

I'm wondering if the GOP is taking measures to start distancing the party from trump. All Biden needs to do is run soundbites from the last 4 years in adverts to win the election.

Originally Posted by Topper

I'm wondering if the GOP is taking measures to start distancing the party from trump. All Biden needs to do is run soundbites from the last 4 years in adverts to win the election.

The last 4 months would probably do it.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The last 4 months would probably do it.

I've been waiting for the Grand O'l Turtle McConnell make a statement. Is it me or has he gone a bit quiet?

Originally Posted by Topper

I've been waiting for the Grand O'l Turtle McConnell make a statement. Is it me or has he gone a bit quiet?

I think he sees the writing on the wall . . . what's the old saying about fooling once etc...

This one is regarding an FBI briefing to the Senate Intel Comity back in 2018.

FBI declassified documents in Trump-Russia probe reveal pattern of duplicity - Washington Times

Originally Posted by deeks

This one is regarding an FBI briefing to the Senate Intel Comity back in 2018.

FBI declassified documents in Trump-Russia probe reveal pattern of duplicity - Washington Times

Silly right wing nonsense from a right wing fake news website.

Come on Booners, you can do better than that.

Manafort shared campaign info with Russian intelligence officer, Senate panel finds

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort had deep ties to a Russian intelligence officer and secretly shared campaign information, according to a sweeping Senate Intelligence Committee report released Tuesday.


The nearly 1,000-page report offers a detailed portrait of Manafort's connection to Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the Senate panel identifies as a Russian intelligence officer with potential ties to the hack of Democratic emails during the 2016 election.


"On numerous occasions over the course of his time on the Trump Campaign, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik," the committee wrote.

MORE Manafort shared campaign info with Russian intelligence officer, Senate panel finds | TheHill

Jeepers, there's a smoking gun!

I think we're supposed to pretend we're surprised.

Originally Posted by TheRealKW

Jeepers, there's a smoking gun!

Fingerprints and all.

Originally Posted by TheRealKW

Jeepers, there's a smoking gun!

What an unfortunate timing of the release

^^ The first line from that news report. (Emphasis mine.)

The Senate Intelligence Committee found that the FBI gave the unverified anti-Trump dossier “unjustified credence,” and that Russia “took advantage” of members of the Trump transition team’s “relative inexperience in government” in its final report as part of its years-long bipartisan Russia investigation.

Originally Posted by misskit

^^ The first line from that news report. (Emphasis mine.)

The Senate Intelligence Committee found that the FBI gave the unverified anti-Trump dossier “unjustified credence,” and that Russia “took advantage” of members of the Trump transition team’s “relative inexperience in government” in its final report as part of its years-long bipartisan Russia investigation.

You could have reported on it miskitt and lead with an (emphasis) on your own political view, however you didn't, so that is my prerogative to show my view, as I actually read the the reports before i post them and as I am not a moderator, I can post news that only scews in my political view, Unless off-coarse posting pro Trump news is not permitted on this forum?

^ Sure you can. I get to rebut you, too. That’s the way it works.

( I see you changed your link. )

Given that the dossier essentially said that the bald orange cunto was being helped by the Russians, I think the FBI got it spot on.

It's only McConnell and his simian friends that are pretending that the paperwork not being correct is an issue - anyone with a brain knows they are in on it too. Fucking traitors to the country they are.

A report by the Senate intelligence committee provides a treasure trove of new details about Donald Trump’s relationship with Moscow, and says that a Russian national who worked closely with Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 was a career intelligence officer.

The bipartisan report runs to nearly 1,000 pages and goes further than last year’s investigation into Russian election interference by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. It lays out a stunning web of contacts between Trump, his top election aides and Russian government officials, in the months leading up to the 2016 election.


The Senate panel identifies Konstantin Kilimnik as a Russian intelligence officer employed by the GRU, the military intelligence agency behind the 2018 poisoning of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal. It cites evidence – some of it redacted – linking Kilimnik to the GRU’s hacking and dumping of Democratic party emails.


Kilimnik worked for over a decade in Ukraine with Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager. In 2016 Manafort met with Kilimnik, discussed how Trump might beat Hillary Clinton, and gave the Russian spy internal polling data. The committee said it couldn’t “reliably determine” why Manafort handed over this information, or what exactly Kilimnik did with it.

It describes Manafort’s willingness to pass on confidential material to alleged Moscow agents as a “grave counterintelligence threat”. The report dubs Kilimnik part of “a cadre of individuals ostensibly operating outside of the Russian government but who nonetheless implement Kremlin-directed influence operations”. It adds that key oligarchs including Oleg Deripaska fund these operations, together with the Kremlin.


The investigation found that Kilimnik tweets under the pseudonym Petro Baranenko (@PBaranenko). The account regularly propagates Moscow’s line on international issues, such as the conflict in Ukraine and the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.


The fact that a Republican-controlled Senate panel established a direct connection between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence makes it harder for Trump and his supporters to allege that the investigation into possible collusion was a “witch-hunt” or “hoax” as the president has repeatedly claimed, in the remaining three months before the election.


The Republican-controlled Senate panel said it was hampered in its search for the truth by the fact that Kilimnik and Manafort kept their communications secret. They used burner phones, encrypted chat services, and frequently changed email accounts. They also messaged via a shared email draft.


The committee is dismissive of the dossier by the ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele, which alleged that the Kremlin had been cultivating Donald Trump for at least five years, but stops short of offering an opinion on whether the allegations within it are true. That dossier contained an allegation that Russia spied on Trump during a visit to Moscow in November 2013 and filmed him in his private suite at the Ritz-Carlton hotel with two prostitutes. Trump strenuously denies the claim.


However, the Senate report offers the most compelling account yet of what went on inside the hotel. It alleges that a suspected Russian intelligence officer is stationed permanently in the building and presides over a “network” of security cameras, some of them hidden inside guest rooms. The officer’s agency is redacted, but is likely to be the FSB, the spy agency Vladimir Putin headed, in charge of counter-intelligence.


The report says: “The committee found that the Ritz Carlton in Moscow is a high counterintelligence risk environment. The committee assesses that the hotel likely has at least one permanent Russian intelligence officer on staff, government surveillance of guests’ rooms, and the regular presence of a large number of prostitutes, likely with at least the tacit approval of Russian authorities.


It adds: “According to two former employees of the Ritz Carlton in Moscow, in 2013 there was at least one [redacted] officer permanently stationed at the hotel. This non-uniformed officer was believed to be a [redacted] and had access to the hotel’s property management system, guest portfolios and notations, as well as the network of “hundreds” of security cameras at the hotel.


“The [redacted] was believed to be able to monitor the camera feeds from his office.”


Roger Stone
Roger Stone is alleged to have taken direction from the Trump campaign to obtain inside knowledge about WikiLeaks. Photograph: Sam Corum/EPA
The committee, which spent three years taking evidence for its report, also examined previous trips by Trump to Russia. It says that during a 1996 visit, Trump attended a party for a group of American investors at the Baltschug Kempinski hotel. The party was arranged by David Geovanis, a Moscow-based businessman who the report says has links to the Russian security services.

The report notes: “In some circles of the US expatriate business community in Moscow, it has been common for visiting businessmen to be taken to nightclubs or parties where prostitutes are present. It is likely that Russian security or intelligence services capitalize on those opportunities to collect information.

“During the 1990s and into the 2000s, David Geovanis developed a reputation in Moscow, in part as a host for visiting businessmen.”

It goes on to say that Trump “may have begun a brief relationship with a Russian woman” he met at the Geovanis party. Her name is blacked out. One source of the information is Theodore Liebman, an architect who lived in Moscow and New York in the 1990s, and who travelled to Russia with Trump to the event. Geovanis has spoken to journalists and is reluctant to visit the US, the committee notes.


It describes the Russian government’s overall operation in support of Trump in 2016 as “aggressive and multi-faceted”. The language echoes that of Mueller, who called Moscow’s meddling “sweeping and systematic”. But in many places the committee is more damning, suggesting a high level of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian intermediaries.


The report says that Trump’s close friend Roger Stone was working closely with WikiLeaks in summer 2016. It suggests Stone was briefing Trump in real time, and that the Trump campaign was shaping its messages ahead of releases by WikiLeaks of Democratic emails stolen in Moscow by GRU state hackers.


It says: “Trump and senior campaign officials sought to obtain advance information about WikiLeaks’s planned releases through Roger Stone. At their direction, Stone took action to gain inside knowledge for the campaign and shared his purported knowledge directly with Trump and senior campaign officials on multiple occasions.”


Trump believed Stone was getting “inside information” from WikiLeaks, the committee said, adding that it wasn’t able to establish if this was indeed the case. It also said it was “implausible” that Trump’s foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos – who learned of the hack in April 2016 – did not pass this information on to the Trump campaign.


Scott Horton, a lecturer at Columbia law school, said on Tuesday the Senate committee’s report “confirms nearly everything” about Trump’s ties to Moscow. He said it vindicated claims by the Democrats and others that the campaign had indeed colluded with the Russians – something Trump has vehemently denied.


“The committee offers a much deeper view into the intelligence collected by US authorities than does the much sketchier Mueller report. It will support the view that Mueller, far from exonerating Trump, simply expected to pass the baton to Congress to conduct deeper inquiries.”


Manafort was convicted in 2018 and 2019 of multiple counts of money laundering and bank and tax fraud, as well as obstruction of justice. The charges related to his lobbying work in Ukraine. In May he was allowed out of jail, where he was serving a 90-month sentence, because of the risk of contracting Covid-19.


In February a court sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison for lying to investigators and witness tampering – only for Trump to commute his sentence in July, days before he was due to report to prison.


A new poll published by the Pew Research Center on Tuesday found that 75% of Americans now expect Russian or other foreign interference in the November election, and a diminishing percentage (47% compared with 55% two years ago) are confident the administration will make “serious efforts” to protect the election from hacking and other external threats.

US Senate report goes beyond Mueller to lay bare Trump campaign's Russia links | US news | The Guardian