919 Care to make a ban bet on the Trump - Russia conspiracy?

[919]

​

[h=1]Manafort's Real-Estate Deals Said to Be Probed by N.Y.'s Top Cop[/h]by Erik Larson
and Greg Farrell
May 14, 2017, 7:27 AM EDT

• Schneiderman, Vance said to open inquiries of Trump ex-adviser
  
• Manafort spokesman says investigation leaks could be crime

New York State has opened an investigation into the real-estate dealings of President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, deepening the already intense legal scrutiny of the young administration.


The probe by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, one of the most outspoken critics of the president, is in a preliminary stage, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the investigation isn’t public. Manafort, who ran Trump’s campaign from April to August last year, has owned property in the Hamptons and Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Paul Manafort

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg


Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is also in the early stages of an investigation into Manafort’s transactions, a person familiar with that probe said. Representatives for Schneiderman and Vance declined to comment.

​

The inquiries by the two Democrats could pose added legal peril for Manafort if investigators find evidence of a crime. Unlike a probe by the U.S. Justice Department and FBI, the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have no authority over New York state investigators scrutinizing whether Manafort broke state laws. Schneiderman is responsible for enforcing New York’s securities laws under the Martin Act, which gives him broad powers to pursue white-collar crime.


"If someone’s leaking information about an investigation, that’s a crime," Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said in a phone call on Saturday.


The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported on the state investigations. The newspaper also said the Justice Department had requested Manafort’s banking records from Citizens Financial Group as part of its inquiry into whether Trump’s former campaign associates colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.


Manafort stepped down amid sinking poll numbers and controversy over his past work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. He has offered to speak with the House Intelligence Committee about his ties to Russia and denied any improprieties in his contacts with Russian officials or intermediaries.

​

Manafort’s business dealings have featured prominently in discussions of links between the Trump campaign and Russia. He used Cypriot bank accounts to receive money from Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska and Ukrainian clients, according to court records and former executives at the bank where the accounts were kept. Manafort and Deripaska have said the accounts were opened for legitimate business transactions.

Two congressional committees, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Mike Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, was forced to resign after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russian officials, and Sessions recused himself from any decisions related to the Russia probes after he failed to reveal his talks with Russian officials during his confirmation hearing.

 

[Dave007inVegas]

^^^

Oleg Deripaska? Now if that was Tony Rezko I would understand.

 

[919]

[h=1]Morning Joe says FBI close to exposing the president: ‘It’s a criminal issue — and Trump knows that’[/h]

Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough (MSNBC) ​

​

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough believes President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey because he sensed the investigation was getting close to revealing whatever criminal actions he’s trying to hide.

The “Morning Joe” host compared the situation to the Showtime series “Billions,” which depicts a U.S. attorney pursuing a hedge fund billionaire named Bobby Axelrod, and he said the FBI had found strong evidence against Trump and his associates.

“The FBI has started pulling that string, and they are still pulling that string where it leads is not just an election issue, it is a criminal issue — and Trump knows that,” Scarborough said.


John Heilemann, the co-managing editor of Bloomberg Politics and an MSNBC political analyst, agreed that Comey’s firing was not an irrational action or a political miscalculation, but rather an effort to stop or slow the FBI investigation into his ties to Russia.


“The reason he did this is not because he’s out of his mind,” Heilmann said. “He did this is because, as you said Joe, I think he recognizes — he looked over at the FBI and said, this guy James Comey came to the White House, I asked him, if we believe this story, asked him for his loyalty, he wouldn’t give me his loyalty. He’s been investigating since last July, he’s now taking daily briefings on this matter, rather than weekly, he’s now asking for more prosecutors. Donald Trump knows what’s at the heart of this. I don’t know what that is, but he does, and he’s saying this guy knows, too.”


Scarborough said he’s heard from FBI sources that the investigation had gathered steam in recent weeks, and he said Comey was fired in response to that development.


“They have already found the string and they are pulling on it, based on my contacts inside the FBI and they are starting to tug on that string, and they are going to keep tugging, keeping going, and it’s accelerated because of the way he fired Comey, and he knows it,” Scarborough said.

Co-host Mika Brzezinski said she was worried about the harm Trump had already done since his inauguration.


“Big picture, there’s a lot of damage done to our country,” she said. “It’s not going to be okay anymore.”


Scarborough agreed.


“Nobody is saying it’s going to be okay, Mika,” he said. “In fact, this is a constitutional crisis.”

 

[919]

Trump revealed highly classified information in meeting with Russian FM and ambassador.


Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassadorwashingtonpost.com

 

[919]

[h=1]Trump “revealed more information to Russian ambassador [Sergey Kislyak] than we have shared with our own allies.”
[/h]

 

[919]

Not sure if the above should go in the Trump is an idiot thread or here...both perhaps

 

[919]

[h=1]Trump's disclosure of classified intel to "could hinder the United States' & its allies’ ability to detect future threats." [/h]

 

[ScottL]

WHY WOULD HE DO THIS???


Mon May 15, 2017 | 6:36pm EDT

Trump revealed intelligence secrets to Russians in Oval Office meeting: Washington Post

U.S. President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister during their meeting last week, potentially jeopardizing a source of intelligence about Islamic State, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing current and former U.S. officials.


Reacting to the newspaper's report, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, called Trump's conduct "dangerous" and reckless," while the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, called the allegations "very, very troubling" if true.


The newspaper said the information Trump relayed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak had been provided by a U.S. partner through a highly sensitive intelligence-sharing arrangement.
The partner had not given Washington permission to share the material with Moscow, and Trump's decision to do so risks cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State militant group, the Post said, citing the unnamed officials.


During his Oval Office meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak, Trump went off-script and began describing details about an Islamic State threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft, the officials told the Post.


In his conversations with the Russian officials, Trump appeared to be boasting about his knowledge of the looming threats, telling them he was briefed on "great intel every day," an official with knowledge of the exchange said, according to the Post.


While discussing classified matters with an adversary would be illegal for most people, the president has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that Trump's disclosures broke the law, the Post said.


Trump's meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak at the White House came a day after he fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the agency's investigation into possible links between Trump's presidential campaign and Moscow.


Asked about the disclosures, Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, who participated in the meeting, said no intelligence sources or methods were discussed that were not already known publicly, the Post reported. Asked by Reuters about the Post story, McMaster declined comment.


U.S. officials have told Reuters that U.S. agencies are in the process of drawing up plans to expand a ban on passengers carrying laptop computers onto U.S.-bound flights from several countries on conflict zones due to new intelligence about how militant groups are refining techniques for installing bombs in laptops.


So serious are assessments of the increased threat that Washington is considering banning passengers from several European countries, including Britain, from carrying laptops in a cabin on U.S.-bound flights. The United States has consulted about the intelligence with allied governments and airlines.


One source familiar with the matter told Reuters at least some of the intelligence that went into the planned laptop ban expansion came from a U.S. commando raid on an al Qaeda camp in Yemen in which a U.S. special operator was killed.


The source said one of the most troubling aspects of the new intelligence was that it showed that Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had figured out how to produce sheets of explosives so thin they could be concealed in the insides of a laptop and would be very hard to detect.

 

[Willie99]

so the author is saying his source is saying

1) Trump disclosed top secret information about Isis
2) Our ally is not going to be happy
3) Trump is not breaking the law because as POTUS he can choose to release such
4) gives details about the release

which means
1) the author and his source are releasing top secret information
2) our ally would actually know about THIS disclosure
3) since neither the author nor his source are the POTUS, they're breaking the law (using their very own logic)
4) lock them up



you just can't make shit this stupid up, wires are crossed, compasses are broken, irrational hate is running rampant

 

[ScottL]

It's not an author Willie. It came from sources close to Trump who leaked it to the Wash Post and it spread from there. I posted the Reuters version.

 

[ScottL]

[h=1]Clapper: Government 'under assault' by Trump after Comey firing[/h](Fox News)

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described Sunday a U.S. government “under assault” after President Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.

"I think, in many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally -- and that's the big news here, is the Russian interference in our election system," Clapper said in a televised interview with CNN. "I think as well our institutions are under assault internally."

When he was asked, "Internally, from the president?" Clapper said, "Exactly."

Clapper’s comments came after Trump’s sudden firing of Comey last week, which drew sharp criticism because it came amid the FBI’s probe into Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign.

Clapper said America's founding fathers had created three co-equal branches of government with checks and balances, but with Trump as president, that was now "under assault and is eroding."

Trump abruptly fired Comey on Tuesday and later said Comey was a “showboat” and a “grandstander” who was not doing a good job. Trump said in an interview with NBC that the investigation factored into his decision to fire Comey. The changing rationales the White House offered added an element of chaos to the president's action.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a televised interview on NBC that Trump should hire an FBI agent who would allow the nation to “reset.” He dismissed as less desirable at least two of the 14 candidates under consideration by Trump, former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, explaining that "these are not normal circumstances."

"It's now time to pick somebody who comes from within the ranks, or is of such a reputation who has no political background at all who can go into the job from Day 1," Graham said. Asked whether Rogers or Cornyn would be good choices, Graham flatly said, "no."

"The president has a chance to clean up the mess he mostly created," Graham said, adding, "I have no evidence the president colluded with the Russians at all, but we don't know all the evidence yet."

The administration has interviewed at least eight candidates to be FBI director, and Trump has said a decision could come before he leaves Friday on his first overseas trip as president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[SgtLanquel]

WHY WOULD HE DO THIS???

Because the Russians cleverly used psychology tactics one normally would employ with a 10 year old.

"We have questions about (insert high level classified topic), but we doubt you know the answers either, Mr Trump" (stifle giggles).

 

[Willie99]

It's not an author Willie. It came from sources close to Trump who leaked it to the Wash Post and it spread from there. I posted the Reuters version.

Just like I said. The sources were complaining about Trump releasing confidential information as they are releasing confidential information. Then they say Trump won't get arrested because he's Potus which would mean they're telling us they're breaking the law and they should be arrested because they're not potus.

I don't care who prints it, that's a crock of stupidity. They're not even trying to sound smart anymore, they're to fucking lazy.

Our media is simply not credible, and their reporting is self intoxicating

Obviously, if they thought about this for say 8 seconds, they might see they have some logical if not legal issues.

 

[Dave007inVegas]

Top secret intelligence is an oxymoron.

 

[919]

Just like I said. The sources were complaining about Trump releasing confidential information as they are releasing confidential information. Then they say Trump won't get arrested because he's Potus which would mean they're telling us they're breaking the law and they should be arrested because they're not potus.

I don't care who prints it, that's a crock of stupidity. They're not even trying to sound smart anymore, they're to fucking lazy.

Our media is simply not credible, and their reporting is self intoxicating

Obviously, if they thought about this for say 8 seconds, they might see they have some logical if not legal issues.

Another libtard






Justin Amash
@justinamash





The administration should promptly share with Congress, in a classified setting, the precise details of the president's meeting. Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrumpAs President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....

 

[919]

President Trump reportedly disclosed highly classified information when he met with top Russian diplomats last week. Here's what we know now.

A file handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows US President Donald J. Trump (R) speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) during their meeting in the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 10 May 2017 .
Russian Foreign Ministry handout, epa

​

[h=2]Who Are The Russian Diplomats?[/h]
Last week, Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. It attracted special attention since it was the only public event listed on Trump's schedule just one day after he fired his FBI director James Comey, who was running the agency's ongoing investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russians seeking to influence the American presidential election. While U.S. media was barred from taking photos of the meeting, the Russian-owned TASS news agency circulated photos of their meeting.


[h=2]What Did Trump Tell Them?[/h]
According to the Washington Post, Trump described highly classified details of an Islamic State threat related to using laptop computers on aircraft. He also reportedly revealed the city in the Islamic State's territory where the U.S. partner detected the threat, which could damage a critical source of intelligence on the terror group.


[h=2]Has Trump Answered?[/h]
In early morning tweets, the president said on Twitter that he has a right to share facts about terrorism.

​

"As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety," he wrote Tuesday. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism."


[h=2]What Does The Rest Of The Trump Administration Say?[/h]
Trump's explanation appeared to differ in tone from the statements by National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, who on Monday denied the Post report.


"The story that came out tonight, as reported, is false," McMaster said on Monday. "There is nothing that the president takes more seriously than the security of the American people. The president and the foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries including threats to civil aviation. At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. And the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known."


He continued: "Two other senior officials who were present, including the secretary of State, remember the meeting the same way and have said so. Their on- the-record accounts should outweigh those of anonymous sources. I was in the room – it didn't happen." McMaster will be present at Tuesday's press briefing with Trump spokesman Sean Spicer.

​

[h=2]But Has Anyone Denied That Trump Shared Classified Information?[/h]
Notably, no. Trump's statements from this morning – and those of his administration officials – did not explicitly deny that the president shared classified information with the Russians.


So even though McMaster and other officials said Trump did not disclose sources and methods, it's worth noting that the Post story never said he did. Instead, the story said Trump discussed information in a way in which sources and method could be deduced.


[h=2]Can The President Disclose Classified Info?[/h]
Yes. As commander-in-chief, he has the authority to unilaterally disclose classified information.


Every other government employee with a clearance could face criminal charges for disclosing classified information without prior permission. But the commander in chief has the power to unilaterally disclose any material – even the most secret intelligence – without going through any kind of formal process.

​

That doesn't mean these disclosures are in good policy, though. According to experts, it's the consequences of such a disclosure — such as allies losing trust in the United States — that we should be worried about.


[h=2]How Do Members Of Congress Feel About This?[/h]
Several lawmakers, including those running intelligence and foreign affairs committees, called the alleged disclosures "inexcusable" and "deeply disturbing."


"To compromise a source is something that you just don't do," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said. "That's why we keep the information that we get from intelligence sources so close...to prevent that from happening."


Democrats lined up to call foul, including Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee: "If true, this is a slap in the face to the intel community. Risking sources & methods is inexcusable, particularly with the Russians."

​

[h=2]What's The Significance Of Trump Disclosing To The Russians?[/h]
Trump's relationship with Russia has been under close scrutiny since the presidential campaign. The U.S. intelligence community has accused Russia of orchestrating a massive hacking campaign targeting Democratic political organizations to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign and public confidence in the election. Trump has called the Russia story a "hoax" and denied his associates have any links to Moscow.


Still, Trump has consistently said he wants a better relationship with Russia. But the news of his disclosures comes as lawmakers criticize Russia for its role in the Syria civil war, saying it is helping Syrian Bashar al-Assad's government kill his opponents in the name of fighting the Islamic State terrorism.


"It's not helpful that this was the Russians," said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaking about the disclosures on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Tuesday. "It's just weird."

 

[Dave007inVegas]

I have to tell all of you that with Trump revealing super duper
top secret probation intel to the Russians I was worried the sun
wouldn't rise this morning. You can imagine my relief when it did.

Speaking of relief...

 

[919]

1hJonathan Lemire
@JonLemire
[h=1]"The news reverberated as countries started second-guessing their own intelligence-sharing agreements with the US" [/h]


Trump claims 'absolute right' to share info with Russiaapnews.com

 

[SheriffJoe]

I have to tell all of you that with Trump revealing super duper
top secret probation intel to the Russians I was worried the sun
wouldn't rise this morning. You can imagine my relief when it did.

Speaking of relief...

Washington Compost "anonymous sources":

 

[superbeets]

National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster briefs press --

McMaster reiterates who was in the room when Trump met with Russians

McMaster said that he was in the room, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in the room, as was the deputy adviser for national security, Dina Powell.
He said none of them felt that the conversation Trump had with the Russians was inappropriate.