Russiagate was a Clinton-concocted hoax [no matter how loudly PP squawks]

By HSG on Tue, 05/24/2022 - 2:39pm |

So was it the Even Bigger Lie?

URL:

https://news.yahoo.com/clinton-okd-leak-to-reporter-about-alleged-trump-russian-tie-her-campaign-manager-says-200540563.html

5878 reads

Comments

Uggh, comment system ate a long post.
Anyway, Trump was chasing a Trump Tower Moscow deal for years, signed letter of intent Oct 2015 at time of 3rd GOP debate but lied about it to the public (Cohen lied to Congress about this & went to jail)
Flynn was dining with Putin in Dec 2015, 2 months before he joined Trump's campaign as its National Security advisor.
Trump campaign's George Papadopoulos was bragging to an Aussie diplomat in London in May 2016 about all the hacked Hillary emails that were waiting to be dropped, which the diplomat reported after the GRU did drop hacked DNC emails - the day after Trump in Jul 2016 made his famous outrageous "Russia if you're listening" request for our enemy to hack his opponent, which they did the next day. (Cohen's travel to Russia in June 2016 got cancelled when Russian connections got too hot).
Javanka, Don Jr & Manafort met with a Russian lawyer Veselnitskaya in Trump Tower in June 2016, with Trump himself probably listening in on speaker phone, Ivana sticking around after to receive an envelope. (same lawyer was later indicted in absentia for lies around 2015 money laundering). See more relevant quotes below.
Manafort met with Kremlin-friendly oligarch Deripaska in August & Manafort fed him swing state polling info (PA,MI,WI,MN) every week for the remainder of the campaign - why did the GRU/Russia need this?
Roger Stone was also making noises about dropped Hillary emails in Aug 2016, and met with Wikileaks' Julian Assange in his embassy hideout to make sure it happened.
Sussmann's contact with the FBI *Sept 18, 2016* (too early for an October surprise) was done without Clinton Campaign approval (since the FBI's Comey had released scandalous accusations against Hillary after dropping her case in July), and Sussmann's meeting effectively killed a NY Times story that was ready to drop, while the FBI then bolloxed the investigation, even asking Alfa Bank to verify its own records, at which point they deleted all historical data.
So Hillary's team being happy to have Slate reveal the weird DNS interchange between Trump & Alfa Bank servers is understandable as Comey prepared his 2nd near-criminal public slam against hear (plus there's Spectrum Health's in Michigan, near those swing states and tied to Betsy de Voos & thus her scumbag intel intrigue brother Erik Prince - which doesn't make the Spectrum data de facto implicated in anything wrong, but after various Russian hacking and their proxy Macedonian spam farms, did arouse the community, even if the FBI couldn't be assed to do a serious job on this, unlike the time spent on Weiner's laptop)
(to be continued)

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 2:18am

The co-founder of Fusion GPS, the firm behind the unverified Trump dossier, met with a Russian lawyer before and after a key meeting she had last year with Trump’s son, Fox News has learned. The contacts shed new light on how closely tied the firm was to Russian interests, at a time when it was financing research to discredit then-candidate Donald Trump.

The opposition research firm has faced renewed scrutiny after litigation revealed that the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid for that research. Congressional Republicans have since questioned whether that politically financed research contributed to the FBI’s investigation of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign – making Fusion’s 2016 contacts with Russian interests all the more relevant.

The June 2016 Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya occurred during a critical period. At that time, Fox News has learned that bank records show Fusion GPS was paid by a law firm for work on behalf of a Kremlin-linked oligarch while paying former British spy Christopher Steele to dig up dirt on Trump through his Russian contacts.

Simpson’s presence with Veselnitskaya during this critical week in June -- together with revelations about Fusion’s simultaneous financial ties to the DNC, Clinton campaign and Russian interests -- raise new questions about the company’s role in the 2016 election.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the Trump Tower meeting as part of his probe of Russian interference in last year’s election.

Simpson and Fusion GPS were hired by BakerHostetler, which represented Russian firm Prevezon through Veselnitskaya.

Veselnitskaya has said she sought the Trump Tower meeting in order to lobby the candidate’s team against Russian sanctions, but the initial approach included an offer of compromising information on candidate Clinton.

More Veselnitskaya - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-dossier-firm-also-supplied-in...
Trump Tower https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46923008
Trump giving $50mill penthouse to Putin - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-tower-explainer-idUS...
More unflattering Glenn Simpson - https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heffernan-simpson-russia-tes...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-tower-explainer-idUS...
Deripaska - Manafort - Trump connection - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/oleg-deripaska-paul-manafo...
Michael Wolraich's prescient "How far will Trump go" from 2019 - http://dagblog.com/how-far-will-trump-go-28069

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 2:25am

Keep lying to everybody else and yourself PP if it makes you feel better. Remember when you claimed I was wrong about the polls showing Trump in a dead heat. [You were wrong and couldn't bring yourself to admit it.] Remember your stupid argument about how the Asian tigers success was predicated on free markets. [You were wrong and refused to admit it.] You're always wrong and you're wrong here. I used to think you were a psychopathic serial liar. Now I think you're just stupid. Either way, you have no business commenting on anything.

by HSG on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 7:52am

You are so full of shit, with a faulty memory. 1) i mentioned Malaysia helpfully blocking Soros currency attacks in my thesis, China has successfully used closed markets to increase it's advantage, but yes, *in general* more open markets have helped SE Asian countries prosper along with many others weighed down by totalitarian systems pre-1989/92 (see book "Factfulness")

2) go to Nate Silver's site and look up 2016. The polls certainly didn't show a "dead heat" (4% lead Hillary, 1-2% in several swing states), but as Silver noted before the election, that didn't mean Trump had to lose - there was enough uncertainty in the polls, that uncertainty could combine across states without the pollsters realizing the aggregated effect (especially with neighboring swing states), and a 20% chance means "1 out of 5 times", not "never" as some interpret it, nor does a Trump win disprove a poll showing Hillary leasing - that's not how Statistics works).

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/national-polls/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-real-story-of-2016/

And 3) suck my dick, you loser.

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 8:38am

ROFLMFAO!

by HSG on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 3:10pm

Even funnier - FBI tipped off Russian bank thru its client so it could erase all its data, and then treated the lack of data as proof there was no prob! And you blame Hillary for wondering why the Keystone Kops can't find out who hacked her (or the DNC, DCCC & Podesta to be exact) - blame the victim!

Imagine someone steals your car, and the police ask the brother of a chop shop owner - by the time you get a warrant for the chop shop, they don't have any cars in the warehouse - which the police thinks shows they didn't do it, it's not there!

Algor treated the fact that Alfa had zero logs to review as a forbidden question about authenticity, it appears, rather than a question about how incompetent the investigation was and/or materiality.

Touchy bastards, these Durham folks. pic.twitter.com/MJlDRApx7m
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 25, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 5:45pm

Mandiant correctly reported that the subject of the investigation, which Durham agrees has ties to Russian intelligence, upon being alerted to the investigation via a variety of means, no longer had data logs when Mandiant arrived.

It is not an ad hom attack to observe that.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 26, 2022

(Mandiant was the consultant company Alfa hired)

by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 05/26/2022 - 1:26am

Aside from RU-idiot Hal, people who actually follow this trial see what a shitshow it is and was.
Here's Durham's star IT witness Scott Hellman who handled & shut down the Alfa Bank case within hours:

Q. How familiar or unfamiliar are you with what is known as DNS or Domain Name System data?

A. I know the basics about DNS.

Q. And in your understanding, on a very basic level, what is DNS?

A. DNS is basically how one computer would try and communicate with another computer.

This is a bit like saying "Bank ATMs are a way of saving money". In some weird extended way of reading it, it might be somehow true, but totally misleading.

DNS takes the numerical "IP" address of a device on the internet and matches it to its name, so we can type "www.dagblog.com" instead of "172.31.96.17".

With such a clueless understanding of DNS, Hellman shouldn't have been anywhere near the Alfa Bank investigation, much less determining whether the author was "insane" and killing it (but not until both Trump & Alfa were informed so they shut down their machines and wiped their data).

The trial is a pretty horrid indictment of the FBI - Robbie Mook was right not to want anything to do with them - they didn't solve the hacks, they created PR disasters, they interfered with the press reporting, they just did a horrible job investigating a potential US security threat, which likely means they're crap at much much more that we need them to be good at.

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 5:19am

CALLING THE AGENT OF A FOREIGN AGENT TO ASK FOR COMMENT (emptywheel)

There’s one other thing going on. On the stand, Gaynor spent a great deal of time explaining about how important it was to hide an investigation — particularly from anyone who might have a partisan interest — during an election.

Except for all the talk of a close hold, the FBI wasn’t holding this very close. They were stomping around to a bunch of sources asking for data logs, even before they had checked what was on (one of) the thumb drives that Sussmann had dropped off. They fairly demonstrably were stomping around before they understood what they should be looking for.

They also were calling Mandiant, which was working for Alfa Bank, which by October 19 when they were formally interviewed discovered Alfa Bank had no logs, but which knew of the investigation by October 5.

Q. Uh-huh. You testified about the reasons why you’d want to keep it covert you wouldn’t want to do anything that could affect the election so close to the election. Right?

A. Yes.

Q. The FBI, as part of the Alfa-Bank investigation, talked to a number of different individuals outside of the FBI to acquire information, to get you information so that you could investigate the allegations. Right?

A. Yes.

Q. Okay. You spoke to people at Central Dynamics?

A. Yes, and I believe the investigative team documented in the email that I saw that they had done it in a manner to attempt to avoid it outing the allegation.

[snip]

A. I’m sorry?

Q. And how is that that they could conduct an interview with a third party in a way that the third party wouldn’t tell other people about it?

A. They described it in a manner that they had obfuscated what their direct interest was.

Q. So from the Central Dynamics’ perspective, they didn’t know what you were looking at?

A. That is what I had in the email chain, yes. n

Q. But you testified that the FBI interviewed Mandiant as part of the investigation. Correct?

A. Yes. My understanding there is that was a private liaison relationship that occurred.

Q. Mandiant — just to be clear — Alfa-Bank itself hired Mandiant to analyze whether there was a secret communications channel. Correct?

A. Yes.

Q. So Alfa-Bank paid Mandiant to look into whether there was a secret communications channel. Right?

A. Yes.

Q. And Alfa-Bank obviously had a relationship with Mandiant that was put at issue by hiring Mandiant. Right?

A. Yes.

Q. Okay. So the FBI went to Alfa-Bank’s paid consultant and asked them for their view on the allegation. Correct?

A. I believe the FBI had a prior relationship with one of the employees, and they utilized that in the field. Plus, I don’t think the Bureau would violate policy on a sensitive investigative matter when the Chief Division Counsel of the office is involved. So I would assume that they did that in a manner that they did not feel would be alerting or go to the media.

Q. Mr. Gaynor, the FBI in this investigation went to Alfa-Bank’s

paid consultant and asked them for their views of the allegations. correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And Alfa-Bank’s paid consultant could have told Alfa-Bank. Correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And could have told the press for all you know. Correct?

A. Yes. And I don’t know how Chicago mitigated that.

Q. And is it your testimony that going to Alfa-Bank, the Russian bank that is the focus of this investigation, and asking their paid consultant for their views on the matter wasn’t going to overt?

A. Again, I don’t know how Chicago mitigated that issue.

[snip]

Q. Did you ever have a conversation with anybody at headquarters about whether to provide the names of the source to the Chicago agents?

A. Yes. There was a conversation about the close hold, as I mentioned, although it wasn’t correctly, I guess, documented between Pete Strzok, myself and Mr. Moffa at some point during that time period.

[snip]

Q. And the reason that you say no one talked to him is because, as of that point, October 6th, you had already concluded that there was nothing to these allegations. Right?

A. As of October 5th, evening of October 5th, we had come to a pretty solid conclusion that these allegations did not have merit and there wasn’t a national security threat.

Q. Are you aware that the agents first interviewed Alfa-Bank’s paid consultant, Mandiant, merely two weeks later on October 19th?

A. So I’m aware that we had information from Mandiant as of October 5th that they had looked at this allegation and found that it didn’t have merit. And then I’m also aware that there was an interview that was conducted later, October 19th or so, when I was made aware of it, yes.

A text between Allison Sands and Scott Hellman reflects the FBI had contact with Alfa Bank by October 4.

It appears that contact occurred in London — a place where Mark Hosenball has strong source ties since the time in 1976 when he got expelled for reporting on Northern Ireland.

In other words, Gaynor’s currently operative stance is that case agents couldn’t contact David Dagon — much less Rodney Joffe, who had business ties with the FBI — to find out what was going on, because that would present a conflict.

But it was okay for the FBI to contact the agent of the subject of the investigation overtly.

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 1:34pm

Sussmann prosecuter lies to sum it all up(a lawyer made the FBI eat it's homework, honest - the wouldn't have been lazy as fuck and completely uninquisitive if only they knew Hillary or Joffe were involved)

Of course the defense has already rested, so Durham's shits can say what they want with impunity. Hopefully the jury took good notes. Of course Sussmann can easily appeal this shoddy mess, including DeFelippes/Durham ignoring judge's orders again and again, but Durham is playing for the Fox News National Enquirer crowd that's cheering James O'Keefe, not concerned about legal logic and upholding judicial standards.

Here DeF claims there can be no doubt that Fusion told Hosenball about the FBI investigation. He makes this claim even tho Franklin Foer didn't mention the FBI investigation in a story Fusion was more closely involved in. pic.twitter.com/EuWM8ifOX1
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 29, 2022

Andrew DeFilippis, 3 years into a wild witch hunt begun with no predication, who didn't even investigate Sussmann's sworn explanation before charging, says you can't weaponize LE, this is not a conspiracy, this is abt truth. pic.twitter.com/imcsygmrxj
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 29, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 05/29/2022 - 3:06am

Here's how Sussmann lawyer Sean Berkowitz described FBI's failure to talk to David Dagon, even though they understood him to be the author of the Alfa Bank white paper. pic.twitter.com/XjxLbefwTd
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 28, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 05/29/2022 - 6:00am

3 year lie investigation turns out to not matter because the "lie" (which the only witness who didn't write it down now can't quite remember if happned or not) wasn't relevant to why the FBI agent took the meeting to start. Your tax money at work - fanning the tabloids, not so much the jury. As long as they can get Hillary's emails in the headlines a few more days, Durham & crew are happy - they did what Trump sent them to do. Great (& lucrative) work if you can get it.

Here's what Baker said about that statement on cross, with context. https://t.co/Qd2BUbtw80 pic.twitter.com/sa0IeW0W61
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 30, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 05/30/2022 - 7:08pm

Sussmann innocent, as predicted

harpiesays:

May 31, 2022 at 1:59 pm

NPR has a quote from the Jury Foreperson [also a photo of Durham leaving the courtroom]: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/31/1102150260/special-counsel-durham-fails-first-courtroom-test-in-his-three-year-probe

The jury forewoman, who did not give her name, told reporters outside the courthouse that “I think we could have spent our time more wisely.”

“It didn’t pan out in the government’s favor and that’s on them,” she also said.

harpiesays:
May 31, 2022 at 2:10 pm

More from jurors at WaPo:
https://twitter.com/DevlinBarrett/status/1531692900903530499

Jury Forewoman: “Politics were not a factor” [] “Personally, I don’t think it should have been prosecuted” [] [the government] “could have spent our time more wisely.”

A second juror: [in the jury room] “everyone pretty much saw it the same way.”

Like, here's the list of government officials Fox News hoped would be investigated/arrested/jailed under the "investigate the investigators" rubric. They got... a failed charge against a lawyer no one had ever heard of. https://t.co/lqeZMBEGmW pic.twitter.com/QiL4hywrgp
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 31, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 05/31/2022 - 3:12pm

Alfa Bank besides odd pings

Burt's ties to Trump include reviewing Trump's speech (and, as Mueller would later find, participation in some panels at which he took an anti-Nato stance). pic.twitter.com/UiHkQzb6nB
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 31, 2022

And finally, there's a reference to Burt's tie to Deutsche Bank pic.twitter.com/IfSHewHClB
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 31, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 05/31/2022 - 5:06pm

After Sussmann trial defeat, what's next for the John Durham probe?https://t.co/65uqZLhNDf
— AlbieReal (@albie_real) May 31, 2022

Analysis by Marshall Cohen Published 4:13 PM EDT, Tue May 31, 2022

by artappraiser on Tue, 05/31/2022 - 5:13pm

Clinton ok'd press leak long after FBI botched investigation as feared - about the time that Comey issued another outrageous comment about her before the election "just in case it proves to be something" or whatever dumb excuse he gave.

Hillary is the perpetrator by being hacked - victim as villain, quite the switcheroo. Even better, Trump as the good guy. Fantasy football's got nothing on these Keystone Kops.

Tweeting out once more, since lots of people are talking abt this stuff.

There Was No Crime Predicating the Durham Investigationhttps://t.co/CoIqXNSocC
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) June 2, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 06/02/2022 - 5:05pm

I should also point out the correlation between the Spectrum (green) system, and the Alfa Bank (red and blue) systems. While the Alfa Bank systems are clearly strongly linked and acting as one, Spectrum lookups are not in synch with them at a minute-by-minute level.
— Thomas A. Fine (@thomasafine) February 14, 2019

by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 06/03/2022 - 7:13am

UK's Russiagate keeps giving

Williamson was appointed Sec for Defence on Nov 2 2017. Days after FBI revealed it was investigating suspected Russian assets/agents operating in London. Some of these had met Foreign Office officials. These including Johnson, then Foreign Secretary
2/https://t.co/x9Vf995MS0
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 3, 2022

by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 06/10/2022 - 3:42am

Russiagate was a Clinton-concocted hoax [no matter how loudly PP squawks]

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