Moose & Squirrel v Boris & Natasha: what's the deal with the rooskies and trumpland?

[Spearfeather]

 

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by Spearfeather

[JCB]

Jim Jordan is the mouth-breather who persuades that bull**** is real? Dude, dude, dude.

[Larry]

42 minutes ago, JCB said:

Jim Jordan is the mouth-breather who persuades that bull**** is real? Dude, dude, dude.

 

He's persuading almost nobody.  

 

All his mission is, is to generate some video clips that can be assembled into dishonest bigger clips, to be reposted by millions of other liars.  A cover story.  

 

Oh, I assume that somewhere, there's people being persuaded.  You can find one of almost anything.  

 

[PeterMP]

Can we admit that several people associated with Trump's campaign broke the law and that was uncovered due to the FBI investigation of his campaign, but there were still issues with how that investigation was done?  And that Trump has broken the law in terms of the documents that he took and has kept but it appears some of the things that are considered to have been part of the issues in the first Trump related investigation appear to be an issue again?

 

Investigating a major political figure when the investigation has pretty major national security implications is always going to be hard.  I'm not sure what the answer is.

Edited June 22, 2023 by PeterMP

[Long n Left]

2 hours ago, PeterMP said:

I'm not sure what the answer is.

 

[China]

Trump’s Ex-Chief of Staff Says He Discussed Using IRS to Retaliate Against FBI Employees Investigating Him

 

During his presidency, Donald Trump discussed having the Internal Revenue Service conduct investigations into two FBI agents probing his 2016 campaign’s alleged ties to Russia, according to a sworn statement by his former chief of staff, John Kelly.

 

The news was first reported by the New York Times on Friday evening.

 

The publication reported that Trump suggested using the tax collecting agency to target Peter Strzok and Lisa Page:

 

Quote

Mr. Kelly said that his recollection of Mr. Trump’s comments to him was based on notes that he had taken at the time in 2018. Mr. Kelly provided copies of his notes to lawyers for one of the F.B.I. officials, who made the sworn statement public in a court filing.

 

“President Trump questioned whether investigations by the Internal Revenue Service or other federal agencies should be undertaken into Mr. Strzok and/or Ms. Page,” Mr. Kelly said in the statement. “I do not know of President Trump ordering such an investigation. It appeared, however, that he wanted to see Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page investigated.”

 

The Times noted the statement, which was submitted under penalty of perjury, was revealed on Thursday as part of a lawsuit being filed by Strzok and Page. Strzok led the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between Trump and the Russian government. Page was a lawyer with the bureau. The two allege Trump violated their privacy when his administration publicly disclosed text messages between the two.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Kremlin Says 'Theoretically Possible' to Not Hold Presidential Elections

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin can choose not to hold presidential elections next year because he will “obviously” win re-election, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said late Sunday.

 

Putin is widely expected to declare his bid for a sixth overall presidential term. Pre-war constitutional changes allow him to remain president until 2036.

 

“Although elections are a requirement of democracy and Putin himself has decided to hold them, theoretically it’s possible not to hold them,” Peskov told Russia’s RBC news website.

“Because it’s already obvious that Putin will be elected,” he said, noting that the statement is “absolutely [my] personal opinion.”

 

Peskov spoke with RBC after the New York Times quoted him forecasting a 90% victory for Putin in next year's presidential election.

 

“Our presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy... Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote,” Peskov told NYT.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Former FBI agent to plead guilty in Russian oligarch-related case

 

One of the highest-ranking FBI officials ever criminally charged is expected to plead guilty next week in Manhattan federal court, according to a new court filing.

 

Charles McGonigal, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI's New York field office, is scheduled for a "plea proceeding" Aug. 5, according to a judge’s order.

 

"The Court has been informed that Defendant Charles McGonigal may wish to enter a change of plea," the order said.

 

McGonigal was charged over his ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States and criminally charged last year with violating those sanctions.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Exclusive: A veteran FBI agent told Congress that investigations into Giuliani and other Trump allies were 'suppressed'

 

A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent says his supervisor told him to stop investigating Rudy Giuliani and to cut off contact with any sources who reported on corruption by associates of former President Donald Trump, according to a whistleblower complaint obtained by Insider.

 

The agent, who served 14 years as a special agent for the bureau, including a long stint in Russia-focussed counter-intelligence, claims in a 22-page statement that his bosses interfered with his work in "a highly suspicious suppression of investigations and intelligence-gathering" aimed at protecting "certain politically active figures and possibly also FBI agents" who were connected to Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.

 

Those figures, the statement claims, explicitly included "anyone in the [Trump] White House and any former or current associates of President Trump."

 

The statement, which was prepared for staffers of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was apparently leaked and posted in mid-July to a Substack newsletter. Insider has independently obtained a copy of the complaint and verified its authenticity, but has not corroborated all of its claims.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

On 8/7/2023 at 11:52 PM, China said:

Former FBI agent to plead guilty in Russian oligarch-related case

 

One of the highest-ranking FBI officials ever criminally charged is expected to plead guilty next week in Manhattan federal court, according to a new court filing.

 

Charles McGonigal, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI's New York field office, is scheduled for a "plea proceeding" Aug. 5, according to a judge’s order.

 

"The Court has been informed that Defendant Charles McGonigal may wish to enter a change of plea," the order said.

 

McGonigal was charged over his ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States and criminally charged last year with violating those sanctions.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Ex-FBI counterintelligence chief pleads guilty in case related to Russian billionaire

 

One of the highest-ranking FBI agents to ever face criminal charges pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and commit money laundering.

 

The plea was a reversal for Charles McGonigal, a former counterintelligence leader in the FBI's New York field office, who had initially pleaded not guilty to charges that stemmed from his ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States and criminally charged last year with violating those sanctions.

 

McGonigal, who retired from the FBI in 2018, had been charged with violating U.S. sanctions by trying to get Deripaska off the sanctions list. He was also accused of investigating a rival Russian oligarch in return for concealed payments from Deripaska.

 

McGonigal told a federal judge he agreed to collect information on Vladimir Potanin, a business competitor of Deripaska, in order to try to put him on the U.S. sanctions list.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

On 7/9/2023 at 10:12 PM, China said:

Trump’s Ex-Chief of Staff Says He Discussed Using IRS to Retaliate Against FBI Employees Investigating Him

 

During his presidency, Donald Trump discussed having the Internal Revenue Service conduct investigations into two FBI agents probing his 2016 campaign’s alleged ties to Russia, according to a sworn statement by his former chief of staff, John Kelly.

 

The news was first reported by the New York Times on Friday evening.

 

The publication reported that Trump suggested using the tax collecting agency to target Peter Strzok and Lisa Page:

 

 

The Times noted the statement, which was submitted under penalty of perjury, was revealed on Thursday as part of a lawsuit being filed by Strzok and Page. Strzok led the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between Trump and the Russian government. Page was a lawyer with the bureau. The two allege Trump violated their privacy when his administration publicly disclosed text messages between the two.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Appeals court denies DOJ request to block Trump deposition in lawsuits by ex-FBI officials

 

A federal appeals court on Friday denied the Justice Department's request to block former President Donald Trump from sitting for a deposition related to lawsuits filed by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

 

In its ruling, a three-judge panel rejected the government's effort to reverse a federal judge's order this year saying Trump could be deposed for two hours in connection with the lawsuits.

 

The panel's two Democratic appointees — Cornelia Pillard and J. Michelle Childs — said they wouldn't block the deposition. Karen Henderson, who was appointed to the circuit court by former President George H.W. Bush, sided with the Justice Department's request.

 

A Trump spokesperson and a lawyer for Strzok did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night. Page’s attorneys said in an email to NBC News that “the order is very clear and speaks for itself.”

 

While in office, Trump was a frequent critic of Strzok and Page, who were taken off assignments in then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation after their text exchanges disparaging Trump became public in December 2017.

 

Strzok has alleged he was wrongfully terminated, while Page, who resigned as an FBI lawyer in May 2018, has argued that the public disclosure of her text messages with Strzok was a violation of privacy. Page has also alleged that “frequent attacks” from Trump and his associates have limited her earning capacity and hurt her reputation.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

One more thing for Trump's calendar, another deposition.

[China]

Russia Warns 'All-Out War' with US Could Erupt Over Worsening Cyber Clashes

 

Escalating tensions between the United States and Russia in cyberspace threaten to spark a real-life clash between the nuclear-armed powers, Moscow's top cybersecurity diplomat has told Newsweek.

 

At a time when Washington has regularly accused Moscow of using cyber tools—referred to in Russia as information and communication technologies (ICTs)—to pursue illicit aims, Artur Lyukmanov, who serves as both director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's International Information Security Department and special representative to President Vladimir Putin on international cooperation on information security, pointed to a "lack of hard evidence" to substantiate such allegations.

 

Rather, he told Newsweek, "the U.S. builds up offensive ICT-capabilities, conducts 'hunt-forward' operations against Russia" and "employs its clients abroad."

 

Among those Lyukmanov accused of being involved in such initiatives were the "IT Army of Ukraine" that claims to be a volunteer outfit created at the start of Russia's war in Ukraine more than a year and a half ago, and other NATO nations hosting "cyber laboratories" in Eastern Europe.

 

Lyukmanov cited the National Cybersecurity Strategy released in March by President Joe Biden's administration, which allowed for U.S. entities to "punish those that engage in disruptive, destructive, or destabilizing malicious cyber activity." The senior Russian official further alleged that U.S. official and corporate entities were "involved in preparations for 'cognitive warfare,'" and warned "such an escalatory path adds higher risks of confrontation."

 

"We want to halt further deterioration," Lyukmanov said. "A mistake in the use of ICTs may lead to a direct conflict, an all-out war, especially as that the White House is aware that Russia has all the necessary capabilities to defend itself. A devastative computer attack against our critical information infrastructure will not be left without response."

 

The history of U.S.-Russia relations in cyberspace has long been fraught, with each side accusing the other of engaging in covert, underhanded online tactics to pursue goals parallel to their real-world geopolitical rivalry.

 

Russia has been particularly active in campaigning for international cooperation on cybersecurity, having sponsored the first-ever U.N. draft resolution on the issue back in 1998 and tabling another resolution that led to the establishment of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs two decades later in 2018. But despite rare moments of unity, such as a 2013 dialogue opened between Moscow and Washington, frictions have often overshadowed attempts at cooperation in this field.

 

Burgeoning mistrust between the two nations on cybersecurity first reached a peak in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when U.S. intelligence agencies accused the Kremlin of conducting a concerted influence campaign to support the candidacy of Republican candidate Donald Trump, a charge vehemently denied by Moscow.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Russian TV teases launch of Tucker Carlson show

 

Russian TV news channel Rossiya 24 has aired a trailer for a weekend show featuring former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson.

 

The state-run broadcaster did not make clear whether it will feature original content or be a translation of his regular English-language videos on X.

 

Rossiya 24 has not yet said when the show will air.

 

The advert, first shared earlier this month, aired again on 22 September with the words "on the weekend" but no further details.

 

In it Carlson is seen repeatedly saying the word "Russia" - in what appeared to be clips spliced together from earlier broadcasts - and concludes with footage of him saying the word "24".

 

This was accompanied by on-screen text reading: "The high-profile American presenter is moving to another level. Here."

 

Russian state TV channels have regularly cited his shows in the past - due in large part to his penchant for repeating dubious Kremlin claims about Ukraine.

 

"It might be worth asking yourself since it is getting pretty serious: What is this really about?" Carlson said on his show.

 

"Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?"

 

After his Fox News departure, he launched a new show on Twitter called "Tucker on Twitter", which later became "Tucker on X" after the social media network re-branded.

 

If Rossiya 24 airs translations of these broadcasts it won't be the first Russian company to do so - a YouTube channel called KarlsonTV has been publishing some of Carlson's shows in Russian for the past five years.

 

KarlsonTV, which now has more than one million subscribers, has been translating and publishing clips from Carlson's new shows, too.

 

Click on the link for the full story

[Cooked Crack]

On 8/15/2023 at 5:45 PM, China said:

Ex-FBI counterintelligence chief pleads guilty in case related to Russian billionaire

 

[LadySkinsFan]

Not enough time in prison. 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by EmirOfShmo

[Larry]

Maybe it was full of women?  

[Jumbo]

Not trying to revive this; with all the current, related "Russia in the news" stuff I was just reflecting on how I started this seven years ago and how the connection has spread.

 

GOP 🥰😘😍= 🇹🇷

[Spearfeather]

Alexandria, Virginia(CNN)Shortly before the 2016 election, the FBI offered retired British spy Christopher Steele "up to $1 million" to prove the explosive allegations in his dossier about Donald Trump, a senior FBI analyst testified Tuesday.

 

The cash offer was made during an overseas October 2016 meeting between Steele and several top FBI officials who were trying to corroborate Steele's claims that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to win the election.

 

FBI supervisory analyst Brian Auten testified that Steele never got the money because he could not "prove the allegations."

[Jumbo]

[Califan007 The Constipated]

2 hours ago, Spearfeather said:

Alexandria, Virginia(CNN)Shortly before the 2016 election, the FBI offered retired British spy Christopher Steele "up to $1 million" to prove the explosive allegations in his dossier about Donald Trump, a senior FBI analyst testified Tuesday.

 

The cash offer was made during an overseas October 2016 meeting between Steele and several top FBI officials who were trying to corroborate Steele's claims that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to win the election.

 

FBI supervisory analyst Brian Auten testified that Steele never got the money because he could not "prove the allegations."

 

 

I had to check the date of your post to make sure you wrote it after Jumbo bumped the thread lol...this is from an article published back in 2022. You should have posted about it a year and a half ago.

 

Also, it's good procedure (and might be part of this site's TOS) to post a link to the article you're quoting:

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/11/politics/steele-dossier-fbi-durham-danchenko/index.html

 

 

 

 

[Spearfeather]

10 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

You should have posted about it a year and a half ago.

Yeah. Maybe so.

 

I hadn't learned about it myself until fairly recently. 

 

 

Edited February 23 by Spearfeather

[Bang]

I thought the Steele Dossier being debunked was old news by now.


It's the rest of it. The list of shady **** with the Russians that would extend to the bottom of this page and beyond.
The Fat ****ing orange guy is a Russian asset. He hasn't even really tried to hide it.

Has anyone ever seen a US president immediately after taking office, take a Russian official and a crew of their propaganda network into the oval office, kicking out ALL other Americans, shutting the door....

 

and the answer is not only NO, but **** NO.

And that was just one of the first incredibly obvious things.
 

You guys are like a man who comes home and finds his wife in bed with SIX other guys, and saying 'nothing happened' because all the blankets and bodies made it so you couldn't actually see any of them ****ing her. So you've told yourself they are just in there playing Twister or some other insane excuse to justify and exonerate her. 

Like him, you are the last to find out that you've been used, suckered and manipulated, and you just cannot come to grips with it. So you invent a thousand delusions and pretends to help justify the heinous behavior you see right out in front of you.

 

It is weak, and it is disgusting.

This insane and immature inability of everyone who has stayed with Trump to objectively reflect on anything is the rot that is killing the country.
the only other possibility is that you do want the Russians to destabilize and collapse this nation.
But truly, i think it's the first, because i don't think the majority of you are smart enough to put the 2 together with the other 2.

 

~Bang

[Spearfeather]

8 minutes ago, Bang said:

I thought the Steele Dossier being debunked was old news by now.

 

It being basically debunked, is old news.

But I wasn't aware of the offer made by the FBI, that's all.

[Bang]

12 minutes ago, Spearfeather said:

 

It being basically debunked, is old news.

But I wasn't aware of the offer made by the FBI, that's all.

I'll give them credit for trying. 
They made him put up or shut up.

There is always going to be the appearance of some dirt in most things political, and I think a lot of folks on the right when they do find something that is borne out to be true about their guy in a positive way, or one of these messy little interactions of politics and investigation shows it's face, they decide that gives them carte blanche to ignore the rest of the picture.
the ol' party over country takes on a much more serious tone when the party is involved with an adversary as deeply as it appears he is. (And others.)
One of the underlying bad things about this is we do need a conservative voice in our government. We do need dissenting opinion. AND with it we need the ability to work toward common ground for the good of the country. It's always been one of our greatest strengths.

But right now, frankly, we can't trust where that voice is coming from, and in my mind at least, it is coming from Putin.

 

~Bang