Republicans FINALLY admit, that Trump conspired with the Russians
Today from Salon;In response to:
Four years later, Republican senators admit, "yes, Trump conspired with the Russians"
Terry H. Schwadron
Salon August 22, 2020, 7:29 AM EDT
It's a red-letter, if sad, day on the hypocrisy beat when after three years a Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee comes out with a 1,000-page report finding there was a whole lot of direct contact between the Trump 2016 campaign with Russian intelligence operators.
You know, the opposite of what Donald Trump has argued forcefully over and over again is a hoax.
Even Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the new committee chairman, says while it does not represent "collusion" — a conclusion that prompted Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) to say Rubio was not reading the same report he did — he did acknowledge a whole lot of interaction between Team Trump and Team Russia.
Of course, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III also would not put the "collusion" label on myriad interactions with Russians, for different reasons, to avoid a political conclusion. That allowed Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr and supporters of the president, including the convicted Roger Stone and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, to repeat that lack of labeling as a launch point to investigate the investigators.
But the Intelligence Committee did "painted a stark portrait of a Trump campaign eager to accept help from a foreign power in 2016, and a candidate closely involved in the effort," said NBC News.
Here's a link to the report itself, which highlighted some previously unreported evidence, including three allegations of potentially compromising material relating to Trump's private trips to Russia that were unconnected to the dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, at which Rubio took aim once again.
The committee found that Trump's team knew ahead of time that emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee by Russian intelligence agents would appear in Wikileaks, and worked with Wikileaks to produce an "October surprise" toward winning that election.
Trump repeatedly has denied this, and has denied discussing the emails with Stone, who worked with Wikileaks. He lied to Mueller and to us, and has whined about it for four years. Now, Trump says he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again before November and we worry that not enough has been done to forestall new election interference.
The findings
Specifically, the committee said it found evidence that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may have been connected to the Russian operation to steal and leak Democratic emails. If that had been proven in court, it would have constituted "collusion," by any definition, but no such charge ever was brought. Manafort was convicted of fraud and tax charges unrelated to Russia.
Still, the report insisted that the Trump transition exposed itself to Russian influence, naming names and labeling the operatives as intelligence agents. "Russian and other countries took advantage of the Transition Team's inexperience, transparent opposition to Obama administration policies and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia…"
After three years of investigation, the committee "laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian government officials and other Russians, including some with ties to the country's intelligence services," said The New York Times.
According to the report, among other things, Russian spies worked to blame it all on Ukrainian officials and spies, identifying Manafort business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer.....
Four years later, Republican senators admit, "yes, Trump conspired with the Russians"
Terry H. Schwadron
Salon August 22, 2020, 7:29 AM EDT
It's a red-letter, if sad, day on the hypocrisy beat when after three years a Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee comes out with a 1,000-page report finding there was a whole lot of direct contact between the Trump 2016 campaign with Russian intelligence operators.
You know, the opposite of what Donald Trump has argued forcefully over and over again is a hoax.
Even Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the new committee chairman, says while it does not represent "collusion" — a conclusion that prompted Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) to say Rubio was not reading the same report he did — he did acknowledge a whole lot of interaction between Team Trump and Team Russia.
Of course, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III also would not put the "collusion" label on myriad interactions with Russians, for different reasons, to avoid a political conclusion. That allowed Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr and supporters of the president, including the convicted Roger Stone and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, to repeat that lack of labeling as a launch point to investigate the investigators.
But the Intelligence Committee did "painted a stark portrait of a Trump campaign eager to accept help from a foreign power in 2016, and a candidate closely involved in the effort," said NBC News.
Here's a link to the report itself, which highlighted some previously unreported evidence, including three allegations of potentially compromising material relating to Trump's private trips to Russia that were unconnected to the dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, at which Rubio took aim once again.
The committee found that Trump's team knew ahead of time that emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee by Russian intelligence agents would appear in Wikileaks, and worked with Wikileaks to produce an "October surprise" toward winning that election.
Trump repeatedly has denied this, and has denied discussing the emails with Stone, who worked with Wikileaks. He lied to Mueller and to us, and has whined about it for four years. Now, Trump says he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again before November and we worry that not enough has been done to forestall new election interference.
The findings
Specifically, the committee said it found evidence that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may have been connected to the Russian operation to steal and leak Democratic emails. If that had been proven in court, it would have constituted "collusion," by any definition, but no such charge ever was brought. Manafort was convicted of fraud and tax charges unrelated to Russia.
Still, the report insisted that the Trump transition exposed itself to Russian influence, naming names and labeling the operatives as intelligence agents. "Russian and other countries took advantage of the Transition Team's inexperience, transparent opposition to Obama administration policies and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia…"
After three years of investigation, the committee "laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian government officials and other Russians, including some with ties to the country's intelligence services," said The New York Times.
According to the report, among other things, Russian spies worked to blame it all on Ukrainian officials and spies, identifying Manafort business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer.....
(continued in my next comment below)
Comments (19)
They had nothing to start with which made sense that they had nothing to end with.
So we need top go back and prosecute the real problem the U.S. had for eight years when they were conspiring with Iran. Unlike Trump who has supported sanctions and more on Russia, obozo gave Iran a deal.
Dummy Trump then followed that with rescinding that deal. So now, they keep their money
and we no longer get to do nuclear inspections. What an idiot !
Jim Google Washington Post and you will hear Trumps sister who is or was a judge running Trump down..Mary Trump the niece recorded Trumps sister 15 times..I just listened to one tape that's available
Mary Trumps book was an honest read
It certainly wasn't even 15 minutes, let alone 30 hours.
Anyone who denies even a third of the facts published in that book are true, is someone with a closed mind and an inability to see what is truth.
Notice that Trump, a man renowned for litigations, has not even denied all the facts printed, let alone started libel action against the author or publishers.
Forget the sick and demented approach... how much of it is true?
The corrupt AG (Barr) will also be facing prosecution.