There is an autoplay video so make sure to immediately stop that.
The replies to Trump's Tweets are gold. You don't need to have an account to read them.
This was one of my favorites:
Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-clai ... -indicted/
There is an autoplay video so make sure to immediately stop that.
The replies to Trump's Tweets are gold. You don't need to have an account to read them.
This was one of my favorites:
There is an autoplay video so make sure to immediately stop that.
The replies to Trump's Tweets are gold. You don't need to have an account to read them.
This was one of my favorites:
-
FlyingPenguin
- Flightless Bird
- Posts: 32781
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
- Location: Central Florida
- Contact:
Re: Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
I like how they're trying to use the Clinton Uranium thing as a smokescreen. By all means investigate Clinton.
However, even if Clinton is implicated in something having to do with Russians 7 years ago, how does that magically get Trump's people off the hook for last year?
However, even if Clinton is implicated in something having to do with Russians 7 years ago, how does that magically get Trump's people off the hook for last year?
Christians warn us about the anti-christ for 2,000 years, and when he shows up, they buy a bible from him.
Re: Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
Trump is notable for his absolute failure to vet people before bring them on the gravy train. I was surprised that the former Nat Sec Advisor was no in this first round. Maybe he's helping. What I saw briefly was that Manafort got 15-20 million from Ukraine, laundered it offshore, and **surprise** didn't pay taxes on it.
This snowball is just starting down the hill....
This snowball is just starting down the hill....
Re: Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
Mueller has had a little birdie singing for a while...gonna be a lot of interesting stuff.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... arge-putin
George Papadopoulos. Former Advisor at Donald J Trump for President Photograph: LinkedIn
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Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Shaun Walker in Moscow
Tuesday 31 October 2017 02.00 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 31 October 2017 08.30 EDT
For months the White House has denied collusion with Russia. But in court documents released on Monday, new evidence emerged of an ambitious plot by a former Trump foreign policy aide to arrange a meeting with Vladimir Putin on behalf of the future president. The plan featured a mysterious London professor, a female Russian national inaccurately referred to as “Putin’s niece” – and bold promises that the Kremlin was ready to dispense “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
The most explicit evidence yet of a campaign official’s attempts to work with the Kremlin emerged in an indictment brought by Robert Mueller, the special counsel who since May has headed the investigation into Trump-Russia contacts.
Quick Guide
Who are the key Russian players in the Trump collusion accusations?
Show
It came the same day that Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and adviser Rick Gates were indicted for conspiracy, money-laundering and other charges, and gave themselves up to the FBI.
Up until now George Papadopoulos, a Greek-American who served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign and once lived in London, has played a minor role in the scandal. But on Monday he emerged as the first person to agree to cooperate with the Mueller probe under the terms of a plea agreement. He also admitted to lying to investigators at the FBI.
Analysis Russia inquiry charges: how close does this get to Trump?
As the news of the indictments rolled in, Trump tried to play down their significance – but the details revealed in the charge sheet are damning
Read more
The 14-page “statement of offence” unsealed on Monday sets out how in the spring and summer of 2016, Papadopolos sought tirelessly to forge ties to Kremlin officials – then misled the FBI, and tried to cover up what he had done.
According to the indictment, the FBI questioned Papadopoulos on 27 January 2017, a week after Trump was inaugurated. In that interview, Papadopoulos lied. Or, as the FBI put it, “made material false statements and material omissions”.
In particular, he tried to dupe federal agents about the extensive nature of his contacts with Kremlin officials, and when he first learned that the Russians hacked Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Papadopoulos joined Trump’s campaign early in March 2016. Days later he spoke to an unnamed Trump “supervisor” who spelled out the campaign’s principal foreign policy objective: “an improved US relationship with Russia”.
A week later Papadopoulos flew to Rome where he bumped into a London-based “professor of diplomacy” from a “Mediterranean country”. The professor – identified by the Washington Post as Joseph Mifsud – claimed to have “substantial connections with Russian government officials”.
Mifsud is reportedly based at an institute called the London Academy of Diplomacy. He is a Maltese former foreign office diplomat, reports say. Interviewed by the Washington Post in August, he said he was not connected to the Russian government.
Papadopoulos, it appeared, saw an opportunity to impress his campaign bosses. According to the FBI, the professor was initially “uninterested” in developing ties, until Papadopoulos revealed his Trump connection. After that he became very keen indeed.
On 24 March there was a follow-up meeting in London. The professor brought a “Russian female national” along with him, who Papadopoulos described in an email afterwards as “Putin’s niece”. (Putin does not have any surviving siblings.)
Play Video 1:24
Paul Manafort’s attorney calls charges 'ridiculous' – video
Papadopoulos told the FBI that his exchanges with this woman were pleasantly innocuous, and amounted to little more than “Hi, how are you?” But this was another fib: in the meantime, he had emailed the Trump campaign supervisor to say he was working on setting up a high-level meeting between “us” and the “Russian leadership”.
The “campaign supervisor” replied: “Great work.”
Then on 31 March, Papadopoulos took part in a meeting in Washington with Trump, the Republican frontrunner, and his national security team. He was pictured seated three chairs away from the candidate. Papadopoulos made an interesting pitch, according to the FBI: he told those seated around the table he could broker a ground-breaking meeting between Putin and Trump.
Back in London, Papadopoulos worked with his new friends to make this happen. He sent emails to the Russian woman, who replied in enthusiastic terms, and to the professor, who told him that he was travelling imminently to Moscow. On 18 April the professor emailed from Moscow introducing Papadopoulos to an influential “individual” with links to Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs.
This individual appears to be Ivan Timofeev, a Russian official first identified by the Washington Post in August. Timofeev works for the Moscow-based Russian International Affairs Council. He also leads a programme at the Valdai discussion club, a government organisation that invites western academics for an annual audience with Putin. (Timofeev declined to comment. He has said of Papadopoulos that “George didn’t understand the Russian internal political landscape well”.)
On his return to the UK the professor brought intriguing news. In late April, over breakfast in a “London hotel”, he told Papadopoulos that Russia had got “dirt” on Clinton: “They [the Russians] have dirt on her ... they have thousands of emails.” After this bombshell Papadopoulos “continued to communicate” with the Trump campaign and his Russian government interlocutors.
The indictment against George Papadopoulos reveals evidence of an ambitious plot to arrange a meeting with Putin on behalf of Trump.
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The indictment against George Papadopoulos reveals evidence of an ambitious plot to arrange a meeting with Putin on behalf of Trump. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AP
At this point, the Democrats had no idea they had been hacked. They discovered their servers had been breached a few weeks later. Meanwhile, according to non-FBI sources, the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ was passing information to the CIA setting out secret meetings between Trump officials and Russian intelligence operatives. The hacking scandal wasn’t made public until June, two months after Trump’s aide had learned of it in London.
According to the FBI, Papadopoulos was upbeat during this period. He told Trump’s “senior policy adviser” he had received “some interesting messages coming in from Moscow” and passed on that Russia was interested “in hosting Mr Trump”. He thanked the professor for his “critical help” in setting up a possible meeting. And added: “It’s history-making if it happens.”
The Russia scandal has gone from phony war to heavy shelling
Richard Wolffe
Richard Wolffe Read more
Papadopoulos was making history, but for all the wrong reasons.
Across May, June and August there were further emails and updates, plus messages relayed to the Trump campaign with the unambiguous subject line: “Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump.” Papadopoulos even offered to fly to Moscow himself, if the candidate couldn’t make it. Despite his efforts the trip never happened.
Q&A
Can presidents pardon themselves?
Show
Few of these details were known until Mueller’s indictment was unsealed on Monday.
In January 2017 agents interviewed Papadopoulos in Chicago, Illinois, after warning him that lying would be a “federal offence”. He did so anyway – downplaying his contacts, scuffing the timeline and hiding the extensive nature of the email trail.
On 16 February the FBI interviewed him again. The following day Papadopoulos changed his cell phone number and deleted his Facebook account – which he’d had since 2005 – in an apparent attempt to bury his exchanges with the professor and the foreign affairs-connected “individual”.
Papadopoulos was arrested without publicity or fuss at Dulles international airport in July. Later he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is described as a “proactive co-operator”.
On Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed the revelations of the plea agreement, describing Papadopoulos as a “volunteer” on the campaign. But there can be little doubt that the story is deeply problematic for the president.
The Mueller investigation is ongoing and more revelations are likely. Trump’s agony may only just be beginning.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... arge-putin
George Papadopoulos. Former Advisor at Donald J Trump for President Photograph: LinkedIn
View more sharing options
Shares
270
Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Shaun Walker in Moscow
Tuesday 31 October 2017 02.00 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 31 October 2017 08.30 EDT
For months the White House has denied collusion with Russia. But in court documents released on Monday, new evidence emerged of an ambitious plot by a former Trump foreign policy aide to arrange a meeting with Vladimir Putin on behalf of the future president. The plan featured a mysterious London professor, a female Russian national inaccurately referred to as “Putin’s niece” – and bold promises that the Kremlin was ready to dispense “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
The most explicit evidence yet of a campaign official’s attempts to work with the Kremlin emerged in an indictment brought by Robert Mueller, the special counsel who since May has headed the investigation into Trump-Russia contacts.
Quick Guide
Who are the key Russian players in the Trump collusion accusations?
Show
It came the same day that Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and adviser Rick Gates were indicted for conspiracy, money-laundering and other charges, and gave themselves up to the FBI.
Up until now George Papadopoulos, a Greek-American who served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign and once lived in London, has played a minor role in the scandal. But on Monday he emerged as the first person to agree to cooperate with the Mueller probe under the terms of a plea agreement. He also admitted to lying to investigators at the FBI.
Analysis Russia inquiry charges: how close does this get to Trump?
As the news of the indictments rolled in, Trump tried to play down their significance – but the details revealed in the charge sheet are damning
Read more
The 14-page “statement of offence” unsealed on Monday sets out how in the spring and summer of 2016, Papadopolos sought tirelessly to forge ties to Kremlin officials – then misled the FBI, and tried to cover up what he had done.
According to the indictment, the FBI questioned Papadopoulos on 27 January 2017, a week after Trump was inaugurated. In that interview, Papadopoulos lied. Or, as the FBI put it, “made material false statements and material omissions”.
In particular, he tried to dupe federal agents about the extensive nature of his contacts with Kremlin officials, and when he first learned that the Russians hacked Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Papadopoulos joined Trump’s campaign early in March 2016. Days later he spoke to an unnamed Trump “supervisor” who spelled out the campaign’s principal foreign policy objective: “an improved US relationship with Russia”.
A week later Papadopoulos flew to Rome where he bumped into a London-based “professor of diplomacy” from a “Mediterranean country”. The professor – identified by the Washington Post as Joseph Mifsud – claimed to have “substantial connections with Russian government officials”.
Mifsud is reportedly based at an institute called the London Academy of Diplomacy. He is a Maltese former foreign office diplomat, reports say. Interviewed by the Washington Post in August, he said he was not connected to the Russian government.
Papadopoulos, it appeared, saw an opportunity to impress his campaign bosses. According to the FBI, the professor was initially “uninterested” in developing ties, until Papadopoulos revealed his Trump connection. After that he became very keen indeed.
On 24 March there was a follow-up meeting in London. The professor brought a “Russian female national” along with him, who Papadopoulos described in an email afterwards as “Putin’s niece”. (Putin does not have any surviving siblings.)
Play Video 1:24
Paul Manafort’s attorney calls charges 'ridiculous' – video
Papadopoulos told the FBI that his exchanges with this woman were pleasantly innocuous, and amounted to little more than “Hi, how are you?” But this was another fib: in the meantime, he had emailed the Trump campaign supervisor to say he was working on setting up a high-level meeting between “us” and the “Russian leadership”.
The “campaign supervisor” replied: “Great work.”
Then on 31 March, Papadopoulos took part in a meeting in Washington with Trump, the Republican frontrunner, and his national security team. He was pictured seated three chairs away from the candidate. Papadopoulos made an interesting pitch, according to the FBI: he told those seated around the table he could broker a ground-breaking meeting between Putin and Trump.
Back in London, Papadopoulos worked with his new friends to make this happen. He sent emails to the Russian woman, who replied in enthusiastic terms, and to the professor, who told him that he was travelling imminently to Moscow. On 18 April the professor emailed from Moscow introducing Papadopoulos to an influential “individual” with links to Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs.
This individual appears to be Ivan Timofeev, a Russian official first identified by the Washington Post in August. Timofeev works for the Moscow-based Russian International Affairs Council. He also leads a programme at the Valdai discussion club, a government organisation that invites western academics for an annual audience with Putin. (Timofeev declined to comment. He has said of Papadopoulos that “George didn’t understand the Russian internal political landscape well”.)
On his return to the UK the professor brought intriguing news. In late April, over breakfast in a “London hotel”, he told Papadopoulos that Russia had got “dirt” on Clinton: “They [the Russians] have dirt on her ... they have thousands of emails.” After this bombshell Papadopoulos “continued to communicate” with the Trump campaign and his Russian government interlocutors.
The indictment against George Papadopoulos reveals evidence of an ambitious plot to arrange a meeting with Putin on behalf of Trump.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
The indictment against George Papadopoulos reveals evidence of an ambitious plot to arrange a meeting with Putin on behalf of Trump. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AP
At this point, the Democrats had no idea they had been hacked. They discovered their servers had been breached a few weeks later. Meanwhile, according to non-FBI sources, the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ was passing information to the CIA setting out secret meetings between Trump officials and Russian intelligence operatives. The hacking scandal wasn’t made public until June, two months after Trump’s aide had learned of it in London.
According to the FBI, Papadopoulos was upbeat during this period. He told Trump’s “senior policy adviser” he had received “some interesting messages coming in from Moscow” and passed on that Russia was interested “in hosting Mr Trump”. He thanked the professor for his “critical help” in setting up a possible meeting. And added: “It’s history-making if it happens.”
The Russia scandal has gone from phony war to heavy shelling
Richard Wolffe
Richard Wolffe Read more
Papadopoulos was making history, but for all the wrong reasons.
Across May, June and August there were further emails and updates, plus messages relayed to the Trump campaign with the unambiguous subject line: “Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump.” Papadopoulos even offered to fly to Moscow himself, if the candidate couldn’t make it. Despite his efforts the trip never happened.
Q&A
Can presidents pardon themselves?
Show
Few of these details were known until Mueller’s indictment was unsealed on Monday.
In January 2017 agents interviewed Papadopoulos in Chicago, Illinois, after warning him that lying would be a “federal offence”. He did so anyway – downplaying his contacts, scuffing the timeline and hiding the extensive nature of the email trail.
On 16 February the FBI interviewed him again. The following day Papadopoulos changed his cell phone number and deleted his Facebook account – which he’d had since 2005 – in an apparent attempt to bury his exchanges with the professor and the foreign affairs-connected “individual”.
Papadopoulos was arrested without publicity or fuss at Dulles international airport in July. Later he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is described as a “proactive co-operator”.
On Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed the revelations of the plea agreement, describing Papadopoulos as a “volunteer” on the campaign. But there can be little doubt that the story is deeply problematic for the president.
The Mueller investigation is ongoing and more revelations are likely. Trump’s agony may only just be beginning.
-
FlyingPenguin
- Flightless Bird
- Posts: 32781
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
- Location: Central Florida
- Contact:
Re: Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
Christians warn us about the anti-christ for 2,000 years, and when he shows up, they buy a bible from him.
Re: Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
sweet. and kellyanne never stopped talking. Bannon will look sharp in stripes...
-
FlyingPenguin
- Flightless Bird
- Posts: 32781
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
- Location: Central Florida
- Contact:
Re: Trump claims "there is no collusion" after three former campaign aides indicted
Now despite my fun little video, I seriously doubt we'll ever see impeachment happen. The man is a racist, narcissistic, compulsive liar who has no clue how to govern, but that's not an impeachable offense (not under a Republican congress for sure). If there IS an impeachable offense in there somewhere, it's possibly related to his attempts to interfere with the investigation. If he's stupid enough to fire Mueller or pardon anyone Mueller charges, then all bets are off and we're on our way to a Nixon exit.
I also don't REALLY believe there was well organized collusion with Russia on a high level.
What I think is that we have a bunch of newbies who are fumbling around in the dark and making a bunch of rookie mistakes, as well as falling into the trap of political celebrity: "I'm important now, I can do anything."
I've accepted that Trump will likely be president for the rest of his term (and I remind my liberal friends that Pence could, in many ways, be far worse than Trump: someone with the same agenda BUT WHO KNOWS HOW TO GOVERN and has the laser focus to get it done).
I am far more interested in finding out how extensive Russian meddling, and misinformation dissemination affected our election process, and REAL solutions to preventing them and other governments like China from doing the same thing in the future.
I also don't REALLY believe there was well organized collusion with Russia on a high level.
What I think is that we have a bunch of newbies who are fumbling around in the dark and making a bunch of rookie mistakes, as well as falling into the trap of political celebrity: "I'm important now, I can do anything."
I've accepted that Trump will likely be president for the rest of his term (and I remind my liberal friends that Pence could, in many ways, be far worse than Trump: someone with the same agenda BUT WHO KNOWS HOW TO GOVERN and has the laser focus to get it done).
I am far more interested in finding out how extensive Russian meddling, and misinformation dissemination affected our election process, and REAL solutions to preventing them and other governments like China from doing the same thing in the future.
Christians warn us about the anti-christ for 2,000 years, and when he shows up, they buy a bible from him.