[TheZookie007]

The New York Times: "Former Trump Aides Charged as Prosecutors Reveal New Campaign Ties With Russia"

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, announced charges on Monday against three advisers to President Trump’s campaign and laid out the most explicit evidence to date that his campaign was eager to coordinate with the Russian government to damage his rival, Hillary Clinton.

The former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, surrendered to the F.B.I. and pleaded not guilty to charges that he laundered millions of dollars through overseas shell companies — using the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, antique rugs and expensive clothes. Rick Gates, Mr. Manafort’s longtime associate as well as a campaign adviser, was also charged and turned himself in.

But information that could prove most politically damaging to Mr. Trump came an hour later, when Mr. Mueller announced that George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, had pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. and was cooperating with investigators. In court documents released on Monday, federal investigators said they suspected that Russian intelligence services had used intermediaries to contact Mr. Papadopoulos to gain influence with the campaign, offering “dirt” on Mrs. Clinton in April 2016 in the form of “thousands of emails.”

Mr. Papadopoulos secretly pleaded guilty weeks ago to lying to the F.B.I. about those contacts and has been cooperating with Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors for months.

...“There’s a large-scale, ongoing investigation of which this case is a small part,” Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, a prosecutor on Mr. Mueller’s team, said at Mr. Papadopoulos’s plea hearing this month. The transcript of the hearing was released on Monday.

It is now clear, from Mr. Papadopoulos’s admission and emails related to a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016, that the Russian government offered help to Mr. Trump’s candidacy and campaign officials were willing to take it.

The United States has concluded that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tried to tip the outcome of the 2016 election in favor of Mr. Trump. As part of that effort, Russian operatives hacked Democratic accounts and released a trove of embarrassing emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. Mr. Mueller and his team are investigating whether anyone close to Mr. Trump participated in that effort.

...While the indictment paints an unflattering picture of the man Mr. Trump tapped to run his campaign, the allegations long predate his involvement in the presidential race. Mr. Trump seized on that fact, declaring on Twitter that “there is NO COLLUSION!”

But as Mr. Trump typed out that message, Mr. Mueller’s team was unsealing documents related to Mr. Papadopoulos that directly undermined the president’s claim.

Mr. Trump called Mr. Papadopoulos an “excellent guy” when he announced his foreign policy team in March 2016.

On Monday, however, White House officials described him as someone who played an insignificant role in the campaign.

“Look, this individual was a member of a volunteer advisory council that met one time over the course of a year,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary...



The full text of the indictment: United States of America vs. Paul J. Manafort Jr. and Richard W. Gates III

[StrikezOne]

Pizzagate?

The quality of your previous 3 posts have the quality of Pizzagate. Your meme is again one of the right wing Nazi extremist fake news websites. Now what?

What does this even mean?
You know what, why dont you update us on Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey and how people have covered Weinsteins actions for decades? Then look into Brett Ratner, Jeremy Piven, Lockhart Steele and Roman Polanski.

Is Pizzagate that unlikely??

High treason. If you insist on this you can certainly have it, but for everyone! Your yellow God included! But I'm pretty sure his goons can't wait to pull the trigger to protect their God.

1. I wasnt insisting on treason. I was highlighting how liberals insisted on it when it came to that fake news about Trump and russia but then they shut up when its proven that it was democrats and russia. Liberals did not go on a rampage screaming "treason!" when it was proven that DNC payed millions to a foreign political rival as they claim (Russia) to come up with fake dirt.

2. Aint my yellow God.

Btw. does it ring a bell for you:
bribing for GOP presidential election party of Trumpelstizken, US oil company, Venezuelan oil company, Russian state / Russian oil company.

No it doesnt ring a bell for me actually. Im not being facetious at all either. You can inform me if youd like and if there is anything shady thats backed by proof, then I will denounce the shit out of it. Which is something no liberal here has done when it came to the rigging of the DNC primaries or anything involving Democrats for that matter.

If someone earned the electrical chair by court rulings it's certainly Trumpelstizken for his numerous criminal acts ...

Oh? But by your own logic which was "If you insist on this you can certainly have it, but for everyone!" ... youre okay with electric chair for all your liberal democratic Gods?

[andrat2000]

If someone earned the electrical chair by court rulings it's certainly Trumpelstizken for his numerous criminal acts ...

Oh? But by your own logic which was "If you insist on this you can certainly have it, but for everyone!" ... youre okay with electric chair for all your liberal democratic Gods?

Here you see the difference between a democratic in the middle of the society oriented person (me) and someone somewhere else (you). I said by court ruling and one specific person. You say several persons should go to the electrical chair in self justice.

[StrikezOne]

If someone earned the electrical chair by court rulings it's certainly Trumpelstizken for his numerous criminal acts ...

Oh? But by your own logic which was "If you insist on this you can certainly have it, but for everyone!" ... youre okay with electric chair for all your liberal democratic Gods?

Here you see the difference between a democratic in the middle of the society oriented person (me) and someone somewhere else (you). I said by court ruling and one specific person. You say several persons should go to the electrical chair in self justice.

Oh geez.
Did you miss the part where I said "BY YOUR OWN LOGIC"? By court ruling for criminal acts, theres plenty people from the democratic side that have done far worse than Trump. So apply your own logic to your own statements. Again, IT IS NOT MY LOGIC, ITS YOURS. Im against the electric chair. Now what?

I guess this was your response to everything else I responded to though. Nitpick some little misunderstanding and turn it into something to convince yourself that your some high horse riding all loving democratic minded person and Im someone.... floating around somewhere....

Good job.

Now, Harvey Weinstein? Update? Or any comment on the fact that no liberal here ever denounces the shit out of anything from the democratic side?

[andrat2000]

Btw. The Trumpel goons wanted the chair for unproven things for democrats, I just requested the same for Trumpelstilzken after court rulings.

Is Weinstein or Spacey or one of the other a politician? From GOP, Democrats, green party or any other. Do they have a public political job?

Calling you out for WHATABOUTISM.

But now back to Trumpelstilzkens sexual harrassments. I think he has a public job. Some people call it the president of the United States of America. Strangely he doesn't  see any consequences of his criminal actions towards women. Why? Is he a god?

Please do us a favour and stick with your own rules. You can only loose with your way of argumentation. And therefore come out of your dark brown stink muddy hole and I come down from my high horse.

[gonZo]

Locking this thread for a day. The reason should be obvious.
_
gonZo

[gonZo]

Thread is again unlocked. Please proceed with caution.

[rtpoe]

I don't envy Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

His predecessor in that office, Donna Brazile, just published an excerpt of an upcoming book of hers where she claims that the nomination process was "rigged" to favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Like the DNC wouldn't favor the clearly superior candidate (for their needs) to someone who just joined the party at the last possible minute before the first primary....even if there *were* any "rigging".

So of course the GOP is jumping on this as further evidence of Clinton's "corruption" and general EEEvilness. Guys, the Big Bad HillaryMonster is gone, and not coming back. She can't hurt you anymore.....

Anyway, it's certainly true that the DNC has problems. They can raise all sorts of money with ease, but there's more to winning elections than money. You need to stand FOR something - and in this case, being Anti-Trump isn't going to cut it in the long term. They need a coherent and consistent message. Unfortunately, they are being pulled in many directions at once.

The left wing (the Bernie Bros, radicals, and the like) wants them to go even farther to the left. Universal Basic Income, Single Payer health care, free college tuition and ice cream for all.... The main part of the party, the core, is looking towards the center at all the Middle American people who aren't crazy about the GOP or Trump, but don't want to go full-blown Socialist. You know, those people in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania who are more worried about what will happen if the only major employer in their town closes up shop than helping "DREAMers" in other states or who pays for birth control. Meanwhile, the party still has to reach out to minorities and get them to vote in numbers big enough to overcome GOP attempts at gerrymandering and voter suppression.

It's not going to be easy, and if I had any ideas, I'd let Tom Perez know....

[andrat2000]

I don't envy Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

His predecessor in that office, Donna Brazile, just published an excerpt of an upcoming book of hers where she claims that the nomination process was "rigged" to favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Like the DNC wouldn't favor the clearly superior candidate (for their needs) to someone who just joined the party at the last possible minute before the first primary....even if there *were* any "rigging".

So of course the GOP is jumping on this as further evidence of Clinton's "corruption" and general EEEvilness. Guys, the Big Bad HillaryMonster is gone, and not coming back. She can't hurt you anymore.....

Anyway, it's certainly true that the DNC has problems. They can raise all sorts of money with ease, but there's more to winning elections than money. You need to stand FOR something - and in this case, being Anti-Trump isn't going to cut it in the long term. They need a coherent and consistent message. Unfortunately, they are being pulled in many directions at once.

The left wing (the Bernie Bros, radicals, and the like) wants them to go even farther to the left. Universal Basic Income, Single Payer health care, free college tuition and ice cream for all.... The main part of the party, the core, is looking towards the center at all the Middle American people who aren't crazy about the GOP or Trump, but don't want to go full-blown Socialist. You know, those people in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania who are more worried about what will happen if the only major employer in their town closes up shop than helping "DREAMers" in other states or who pays for birth control. Meanwhile, the party still has to reach out to minorities and get them to vote in numbers big enough to overcome GOP attempts at gerrymandering and voter suppression.

It's not going to be easy, and if I had any ideas, I'd let Tom Perez know....

I can't agree on this part of your analysis. The point is nobody gave yet a good alternative or options to the Globalization. At the end it is the Globalization that asks for efficency in companies. If a company can't do it locally thy go elsewhere. This isn't bad as such. It means people need other jobs, jobs that can still compete locally. The point is people need better education for this or new job training. They also need to be willing doing this. You are not willing to risk anything if the Sword of Damocles is always above your head. The idea of a universial basic income is the right answer to propagate these changes. This has nothing todo with socialism or communism or something else. It is a solution options for the hardship of globalization. This way you can still have open markets and boarders and still having the advantages that also exist with globalization.

[TheZookie007]

Such a surprise.

[rtpoe]

As this point, about the only way Trump ISN'T involved with the Russian Funny Money is if he had absolutely no clue any of it was going on. Which means he's either colossally stupid, or colossally incompetent. How do you NOT vet your key staff? How can you NOT know what your son and son-in-law are up to?

[TheZookie007]

As this point, about the only way Trump ISN'T involved with the Russian Funny Money is if he had absolutely no clue any of it was going on. Which means he's either colossally stupid, or colossally incompetent.

As the El Paso commercial goes, "Why not both?"

How do you NOT vet your key staff? How can you NOT know what your son and son-in-law are up to?

To be fair to him, I've gotten up to a lot of mischief in my life of which my parents still have no clue

[TheZookie007]

Here are four financial stories which broke in the past 48 hours which have serious political implications for the current regime.

1. CNBC: "21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney: Sources"

21st Century Fox is a wholly-owned subsidiary of News Corp (which, amongst other things,  owns Faux News Channel). Disney owns so many things, including ABC, Marvel, Lucasfilm (i.e. Star Wars), and Jim Henson Associates (i.e. the Muppets). The chances of this going through, with all the potential antitrust issues, aren't that great...but then that's what I said before Comcast was allowed to acquire NBCUniversal.


2. Speaking of Faux News/NewsCorp/21st Century Fox, the second-largest shareholder of the company is from Saudi Arabia: Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud. His net worth of $18 billion puts him at #45 on the Forbes' World's Richest People list. He was arrested today in a supposed "crackdown on corruption". What it really is, though, is a consolidation of power of the new prince on the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. As Thomas Friedman explains here, this is the culmination of four simultaneous revolutions that are ongoing under the new Crown Prince. The Prime Minister of Lebanon yesterday resigned, while in Saudi Arabia. That was no coincidence. Neither, I think, was the "accidental" death of another Saudi prince in a helicopter crash in Yemen a couple of days ago.


3. Guess who has financial ties to both Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal?...

Trump has ties to both the Crown Prince Bin Salman and the billionaire investor Bin Talal.

In addition to having likely orchestrated Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, Bin Salman has reportedly developed a relationship with White House advisor Jared Kushner — the husband of the president's daughter and another 30-something man who has ridden family connections to the center of the world stage.

In fact, Kushner made a secretive trip to Saudi Arabia last week — just days before Bin Salman's sweeping set of arrests.

As for Bin Talal, he and the president go back at least to the 1990s.

Between 1991 and 1995, Bin Talal came to the rescue of Trump, whose real estate empire was in financial trouble. Bin Talal purchased a yacht from the New York real estate mogul and was part of a group that helped take the city's floundering Plaza Hotel off Trump's hands.

But things have not been amicable between the two billionaires of late.

In 2015, Bin Talal bashed Trump for his rhetoric during the presidential campaign, and even called for him to drop out.

"You are a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America," he said in a Twitter post. "Withdraw from the U.S presidential race as you will never win."

Trump responded: "Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our U.S. politicians with daddy's money. Can't do it when I get elected. #Trump2016"

 


4. Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, in addition to his holdings in 21st Century Fox, is the largest individual shareholder of Citigroup, and owns 3% of Twitter. That stake is worth around $ 8 billion now. According to the Paradise Papers, another early investor in Twitter and in Faceb__k was Russian billionaire Yuri Milner. And guess where the source of the millions he put into Twitter & FB came from, and guess who he also steered money towards?

Two Russian state institutions with close ties to Vladimir Putin funded substantial investments in Twitter and Faceb__k through a business associate of Jared Kushner, leaked documents reveal.

The investments were made through a Russian technology magnate, Yuri Milner, who also holds a stake in a company co-owned by Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser.

The discovery is likely to stir concerns over Russian influence in US politics and the role played by social media in last year’s presidential election. It may also raise new questions for the social media companies and for Kushner.

...Faceb__k and Twitter were not made aware that funding for the investments came from the state-controlled VTB Bank and a financial arm of the state oil and gas firm Gazprom, according to Milner. A spokesman for Kushner declined to comment.

The files show that in 2011, VTB funded a $191m investment in Twitter. About the same time, Gazprom Investholding financed an opaque offshore company, which in turn funded a vehicle that held $1bn-worth of Faceb__k shares.

The money flowed through investment vehicles controlled by Milner, who in 2015 invested in a startup in New York that Kushner co-owns with his brother. Kushner initially failed to disclose his own holding in the startup, Cadre, when he joined Trump’s White House.

Milner once advised the Russian government on technology through a presidential commission chaired by Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and current prime minister. Now based in California’s Silicon Valley, Milner has invested $7bn in more than 30 online companies including Airbnb, Spotify and the Chinese retailers Alibaba and JD.com.

...The disclosure that stakes in two of the US’s biggest technology companies were financed by Russian entities with links to the Kremlin comes as the covert use of their platforms by Russians aiming to boost Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign is under intense scrutiny. Both VTB and Gazprom are now under US sanctions.

But yeah, please continue claiming that this is all a nothingburger and that Hillary Clinton had uranium in her purse along with that hot sauce. I believe you.

[TheZookie007]

To your earlier point, rtpoe:


"There are three people from the Trump campaign facing serious charges about their entanglements overseas, and in all three cases, Trump’s pushback has basically been: 'I don’t know anything about the people I should have known those things about.'

He’s playing the Trump card, and what I mean by that is, he’s using his own incompetence as a defense...It’s the same way that you might excuse the behavior of a dog or a small chi!d. If you found your dog pissing on a rug and then your chi!d urinating on the dog, you would think, ‘Yeah, I’m annoyed, but they’re idiots who don’t know what they’re doing so they get to walk away from this one.’ That is the Trump card.

We cannot accept the Trump card as his defense here because if we do, just think about what we would actually be saying there. We’d be saying: 'Look, this guy is too dumb to really understand what he’s doing, so I guess we have no choice but to let him keep being president.' Please, let’s not do that.”

-- Jon Oliver

[rtpoe]

It's one year since the election. Let's bring up the ol' Criminal Indictment Tote Board, and see where we stand!

President -- Party -- Years in Office -- # Criminal Indictments

Richard Nixon (R) - 5.6 - 76
Gerald Ford (R) - 2.4 - 1
Jimmy Carter (D) - 4 - 1
Ronald Reagan (R) - 8 - 26
George H.W. Bush - 4 - 1
Bill Clinton (D) - 8 - 2
George W. Bush (R) - 8 - 16
Barack Obama (D) - 8 - 0
Donald Trump (R) - 0.8 - 3

In less than a year in office, El Presidente has the same number of indictments as the past three Democratic presidents combined! Woo hoo!