Trump Acknowledges He Is Under Investigation in Russia Inquiry

That Russia investigation is definitely the burr under his saddle. --s6

If I remember correctly, I seem to recall at the start of the investigations into Trump's possible collusion that it was mentioned that the IRS had been trying to build a case against him for money laundering for foreign agencies for close to 20 years...

Now that the Russia sanctions bill has been passed, almost without opposition, Russia is suddenly retaliating. Why didn't they retaliate right after Obama put the sanctions on them, for election tampering? Why did they wait a year? Why did they take action the week that the sanctions bill was passed? It is almost like the Russians expected to have the sanctions lifted, not reinforced. Almost like there was some kind of agreement. Coincidence? I think not. --s6

Maybe Putin is learning what most Americans now know: Donald Trump is entirely untrustworthy. Loyalty to him is unidirectional; he receiveth, but doth not giveth. He got what he wanted from them, so now . . . Welcome to Trumpworld, Vlad.

caw

shakeysix said:

Now that the Russia sanctions bill has been passed, almost without opposition, Russia is suddenly retaliating. Why didn't they retaliate right after Obama put the sanctions on them, for election tampering? Why did they wait a year? Why did they take action the week that the sanctions bill was passed? It is almost like the Russians expected to have the sanctions lifted, not reinforced. Almost like there was some kind of agreement. Coincidence? I think not. --s6

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Of course, the Russians were told "hey, don't worry about it. Now that Obama's gone things are going to be different." That's why they did nothing when Obama threw them out of their cushy estate near Washington DC.

But in this case at least, there was nothing Trump could do. With the near 100% bipartisan support for sanctions, he couldn't veto the bill. Had he done so, that veto would've been overridden by the legislative branch, and would have been horribly embarrassing to him – his first veto overwhelmingly thrown back in his face.

He certainly would have vetoed it imo, if it had had been a close enough vote so that his veto would stand. But 98-2 in the Senate 419-3 in the House? What else was he going to do?

blacbird said:

Maybe Putin is learning what most Americans now know: Donald Trump is entirely untrustworthy. Loyalty to him is unidirectional; he receiveth, but doth not giveth. He got what he wanted from them, so now . . . Welcome to Trumpworld, Vlad.

caw

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I don't know, BB. These are all observations and interpretations from the recent Roger Stone interviews, ofcourse. But I saw a Putin who is incredibly relaxed and in control. He came across as an extremely intelligent man, who knows exactly what is going on. He knew exactly what to say, no matter the topic, be it the Ukraine, the US elections, MH17, etc. I don't think he underestimates 45 at all. I think it very likely Putin will emerge victorious, whatever shape or form that victory will take.

Now imagine 45 having the same capabilities.

Impossible, can't happen.

Yes, but thank God for that Teinz. For years we have had the theory floated that Trump is some kind of evil master mind. Most of us here, at least those of us who are left after the Exodus, last November, have always seen Trump as a shifty, whiney, backstabber. We saw the red flags early and were tearing our hair out because so many wanted to believe that, even though Trump was amoral, unlearned and histrionic, he was a paternal sort of guy, a foxy dealmaker, a successful businessman, who was distressed at what our country had become and was willing to use 8 years of his valuable time lead us out of the mess. Maybe it was my years in Public Welfare but the guys with the great hair never have the best interests of the poor at heart.

A lot of intelligent people bought into that Trump Deal Maker lie--and what a lie it has turned out to be. We are stuck in his web now but there is the comforting fact that he is really stupid--WAAAY stupid. Something that would have been revealed if his taxes had seen the light of public scrutiny. (Seriously, Ryan and Priebus did not spot that red flag?) The comfort, at least to me, is that Trump is not only ignorant of the basic High School Civics level of government, he is also not about to learn it. He is not even going to learn enough to throw down some credible power grabs .

This is probably going to sound elitist but I am intelligent. I have spent a lot of time in schools, learning, reading, listening. I am proud of my brain. It is starting to harden up in the corners (hell, I am almost as old as freaking blacbird!) but still serviceable. I like thinking. I like being around intelligent people, which is why I am here. Ever notice how really stupid people hate intelligence? They mock it. They avoid it. They assume that thinking is weak.

Intelligent doesn't mean schooled. Some of the stupidest people I know are well educated. To me intelligence means not just the ability but the self discipline to learn, to read all the way to the bottom of the article, to hear the speaker out before interrupting, to pick up a book and figure the system out for myself or--and this is particularly repugnant to a stupid person-- find a couple people who know more than I do and actually listen to them.

Stupid, on the other hand, always assumes that knowledge is out to get them. Stupid assumes that he is at the top of the chain and everyone else is below him. Stupid never learns anything and arrogantly assumes that the underlings are even stupider than he is. When the people around him are no longer easily fooled, Stupid turns to Bully. That's where we are now.

Something about the Russia Investigation has Trump rattled. I am betting it is something that he blindly, arrogantly, stupidly thought he had covered up but now, that he has stupidly and unnecessarily turned the high beams on himself, things are going to come out. I am betting that Robert Mueller is a whole hell of a lot smarter than Trump. At least smart enough to keep his mouth shut. At least until the laundry is ready to be hung out. --s6

With all the White House firings and North Korea ramping up their missile program, the Russian investigation has taken a backseat. But here's another little gem, courtesy of those dreadful leakers.

On the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Germany last month, President Trump’s advisers discussed how to respond to a new revelation that Trump’s oldest son had met with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign — a disclosure the advisers knew carried political and potentially legal peril.

The strategy, the advisers agreed, should be for Donald Trump Jr. to release a statement to get ahead of the story. They wanted to be truthful, so their account couldn’t be repudiated later if the full details emerged.

But within hours, at the president’s direction, the plan changed.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...eb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.ecd8d479a003

From the WaPo article

Trump, they say, is increasingly acting as his own lawyer, strategist and publicist, often disregarding the recommendations of the professionals he has hired.

“He refuses to sit still,” the presidential adviser said. “He doesn’t think he’s in any legal jeopardy, so he really views this as a political problem he is going to solve by himself.”

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This is actually a little comforting. In fiction, when a villain starts acting like this, he's usually done for. Let's hope it'll translate into reality.

The Russia investigation has not taken a backseat-- it is the termite whisper behind the wallpaper, the innocuous crack in the stonework. Remember how yesterday was a very good day for the WH? Kelley was in charge and the leaks would be eradicated, right? And then, last night, two new leaks sprung--Kelley considered resigning when Comey was fired; Trump himself wrote the awkward lie about the meeting between Trump Jr and the Russians. Now, this morning, the news is that Ivanka Trump has never made it to a morning WH meeting.

How did this happen? Who is leaking now? With Kelly at the helm? Is the media out to taunt him into a confrontation with Trump? Or is Kelly's faction behind the new leaks?

Walter Shaub, the recently resigned director of the Office of Government Ethics was on MSNBC just now, talking about how easily the OGE was cut out of the ethics watchdog job. I don't want to color anyone's personal read on this. I know what I think, but I get a little crazy on the anti-Trump side. The director's words are worth reading. IMHO this is coffin nail #33--s6

Sage said:

From the above article

If there's nothing to conceal, why make an effort to conceal anything?

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Because it looks bad on the Commander-In-Tweet.

-cb

Mueller Team Adds Lawyer With Experience In Foreign Bribery, White-Collar Crime - Greg Andres is the 16th lawyer on the team.

Most recently a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, Andres, 50, served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery.

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Trump Tweet storm by morning, anyone? New guy is married to a US district judge appointed by Obama.

Others on the special counsel team include Andrew Weissmann, chief of the Justice Department’s fraud section; Andrew Goldstein, former head of the public corruption unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan; and James Quarles, who was an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate investigation that helped bring down President Richard Nixon.

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*45 finally signed the sanctions bill, but included a signing statement. I can't find it yet, but I read this:

The so-called signing statement, obtained by Bloomberg, lays out Trump’s concerns about the legislation, including that it encroaches on presidential authority and may hurt U.S. ability to work with allies.

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(Bloomberg was the only source at the time that had the info about the signing statement. Will link to the statement when it is up).

And there's this:

Tillerson spurns $80 million to counter ISIS, Russian propaganda

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation.

It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department. But more than five months into his tenure, Tillerson has not issued a simple request for the money earmarked for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, $60 million of which is now parked at the Pentagon. Another $19.8 million sits untouched at the State Department as Tillerson’s aides reject calls from career diplomats and members of Congress to put the money to work against America’s adversaries.

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Notably, the press was not allowed to be present at the signing. And here is the statement (I assume since it's a White House press release I can post the whole thing. *45 hasn't found a way to use clinks on the White House site to link his pockets yet, has he?):

Today, I signed into law the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,” which enacts new sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. I favor tough measures to punish and deter bad behavior by the rogue regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang. I also support making clear that America will not tolerate interference in our democratic process, and that we will side with our allies and friends against Russian subversion and destabilization.That is why, since taking office, I have enacted tough new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, and shored up existing sanctions on Russia.

Since this bill was first introduced, I have expressed my concerns to Congress about the many ways it improperly encroaches on Executive power, disadvantages American companies, and hurts the interests of our European allies.

My Administration has attempted to work with Congress to make this bill better. We have made progress and improved the language to give the Treasury Department greater flexibility in granting routine licenses to American businesses, people, and companies. The improved language also reflects feedback from our European allies – who have been steadfast partners on Russia sanctions – regarding the energy sanctions provided for in the legislation. The new language also ensures our agencies can delay sanctions on the intelligence and defense sectors, because those sanctions could negatively affect American companies and those of our allies.

Still, the bill remains seriously flawed – particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate. Congress could not even negotiate a healthcare bill after seven years of talking. By limiting the Executive’s flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and North Korea much closer together. The Framers of our Constitution put foreign affairs in the hands of the President. This bill will prove the wisdom of that choice.
Yet despite its problems, I am signing this bill for the sake of national unity. It represents the will of the American people to see Russia take steps to improve relations with the United States. We hope there will be cooperation between our two countries on major global issues so that these sanctions will no longer be necessary.

Further, the bill sends a clear message to Iran and North Korea that the American people will not tolerate their dangerous and destabilizing behavior. America will continue to work closely with our friends and allies to check those countries’ malignant activities.

I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars. That is a big part of the reason I was elected. As President, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress.

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I suspect whatever literate individual wrote this for him had to feel his ego there in the last section to get him to finally get *45 to sign it. I am sure he is livid, though I haven't seen a Twitter tantrum yet.

There are times I almost feel sorry for Trump. Who slips "I build a truly great company worth many billions of dollars" into something that's not about him? He's constantly desperate for praise, and clearly becoming president, the "leader of the free world," hasn't filled that void.

Twick said:

There are times I almost feel sorry for Trump. Who slips "I build a truly great company worth many billions of dollars" into something that's not about him? He's constantly desperate for praise, and clearly becoming president, the "leader of the free world," hasn't filled that void.

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I think that bit is more about him telling Congress that they are idiots and don't know what they are doing. He seems miffed that anyone else in the government has power to do anything.

Nancy Pelosi's statement:

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement after President Trump signed Russia Sanctions legislation restricting his ability to roll back sanctions on Russia:

“The Trump team’s alarming connections and conduct with Russia necessitated stronger sanctions and tougher limits on President Trump’s ability to roll them back. President Trump’s signing statement raises serious questions about whether his Administration intends to follow the law, or whether he will continue to enable and reward Vladimir Putin’s aggression.


“The Republican Congress must not permit the Trump White House to wriggle out of its duty to impose these sanctions for Russia’s brazen assault on our democracy. Democrats will demand tough oversight to ensure strong and immediate implementation of the sanctions law.


“These strong Russia sanctions must be followed by swift Congressional action to launch the long-overdue outside, independent commission to expose the full extent of the Kremlin’s meddling in our elections and prevent it from ever happening again. The integrity of our democracy itself is at stake, and Congress has a responsibility to defend it.”

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So, Trump's reaction to Mueller's new additional lawyer (my post upthread) has not made the news. But we have this:

And yet another Russian operative that was one of Trump's insiders was revealed as Kelly got rid of him when Trump/Kushner/Ivanka wouldn't. He was hired by Flynn. McMaster tried to get rid of him but couldn't until Kelly changed jobs per MSNBC tonight.

The Deeper Story on Cohen-Watnick

With the big news this evening that Gen. H.R. McMaster was finally allowed to fire Flynn protege Ezra Cohen-Watnick, let me refer you back to what I explained back in April: Cohen-Watnick likely had dirty hands in the Russia cover-up. Specifically, his ‘review’ of intelligence which led to the ‘un-masking’ charade was likely an effort to monitor and perhaps interfere with the on-going Russia probe. ...

...Moreover, the kind of snooping around that Cohen-Watnick was apparently doing could very plausibly be interpreted as an attempt to monitor or interfere with the on-going counter-intelligence probe of Trump associates’ ties to Russia.

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The Hill: Senior director Ezra Cohen-Watnick out at National Security Council

Cohen-Watnick's departure is the latest in a string of exits from the National Security Council under H.R. McMaster, who has reportedly sought to purge Flynn appointees.
Another Flynn hire, retired Army intelligence officer Derek Harvey, was ousted from the NSC last week. He had been working as a senior Middle East adviser.

Cohen-Watnick's removal is the second significant personnel change at the White House since Retired Gen. John Kelly took over as chief of staff.

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Hard to keep up.

Kelly supposedly also told Sessions his job was safe.

I wonder what Kelly's plan for/view of Mueller's investigation is?

I never know where to post information anymore. Should I post it in this thread? Maybe it would go better in that thread? Should I start a new thread? I'm posting this here because it is about Russia. Even though the article's title is about the Mooch. So.

Bill Browder's Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Could Explain Anthony Scaramucci’s Bizarre Behaviour

Browder's testimony was delayed by a day when Trump announced the transgender ban in the military. The following day Scaramucci had his tirade. The press had other things to concentrate on rather than Browder's testimony.

Browder’s testimony, which received relatively little coverage, is extraordinary with a senator calling it one of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s “most important” hearings.

In it he describes a Russian system of government that operates in the shadows using corruption, blackmail, torture and murder - all led by Vladimir Putin.

Browder said: “Effectively the moment that you enter into their world, you become theirs.”

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I found it fascinating that the Russians retaliated against the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which targets humans rights abusers, by banning adoption of Russian orphans by U.S. citizens. And Donald Trump Jr's contention his meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya was about the disbanded program. Perhaps he was saying more than anyone knew.

Interestingly, Donald Trump Jr described his controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer last summer as a “short introductory meeting” focused on the disbanded program that had allowed American adoptions of Russian children.

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This article of Browder's testimony is long, but well worth the read, imo. So much information on how Putin's Russia works and why Putin is so upset with the Magnitsky Act and needs to overturn it for his own benefit along with the lengths he will take to make sure it happens.

Ah. I see I forgot the link in my post above.

Bill Browder's Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing