rolling trump-russian collusion

maybe we should place upper age limits on voting too

A Florida woman who ran a Trump supporters page that unwittingly promoted a Russian-coordinated event on Facebook says she doesn’t believe that she was influenced by Kremlin-linked trolls https://t.co/DmgDRFRwyn pic.twitter.com/OAz5julCyA

— CNN (@CNN) February 21, 2018

What if outrage over Russian interference could lead to a broader discussion about the dangers of online psyops, soft power, and meddling in other countries affairs instead of a one-note outrage orgy by partisan hacks who defend these same practices when done by the US

— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) February 21, 2018

Russian bot activity goes back decades. #knowyourmasters pic.twitter.com/dQrYhaGd16

— Dennis Perrin (@DennisThePerrin) February 23, 2018

point
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/taibbi-russiagate-skeptics-take-a-beating-mueller-probe-w517006

counterpoint
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/02/26/the-mounds-of-evidence-russiagate-skeptics-have-to-ignore/

That Taibbi piece's entire opening premise was completely undercut by this piece from someone who worked at Facebook

https://www.wired.com/story/how-trump-conquered-facebookwithout-russian-ads/

"During the run-up to the election, the Trump and Clinton campaigns bid ruthlessly for the same online real estate in front of the same swing-state voters. But because Trump used provocative content to stoke social media buzz, and he was better able to drive likes, comments, and shares than Clinton, his bids received a boost from Facebook’s click model, effectively winning him more media for less money. In essence, Clinton was paying Manhattan prices for the square footage on your smartphone’s screen, while Trump was paying Detroit prices. Facebook users in swing states who felt Trump had taken over their news feeds may not have been hallucinating."

(also distrustful of any pal of greenwald's saying 'it's not that big of a deal,' tbh)

not to mention so much is classified that we are getting incomplete pieces of a puzzle. in the other thread, we agree that it's hard to tell where Mueller's going, but note that things are definitely happening. Taibbi seems to think this means it might be a nothingburger, even though as I previously said, we've only seen pieces of a much larger puzzle.

I mean it's like saying "NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE THAT OJ KILLED WIFE, CALL ME A SKEPTIC" 48 hours after he was arrested

tbf, it's been many years and they still haven't found the killer, so ...

yeah but OJ's looking for the killer, remember

How is he supposed to do that if people keep taking away his money and resources?

So re: Mueller: the guy was FBI director for 12 (!) years. Why are there seemingly so few pictures, let alone gifs/memes, in circulation? These are the important questions!

at last, someone has linked two Stories of the Century I have never found personally compelling. xp

So re: Mueller: the guy was FBI director for 12 (!) years. Why are there seemingly so few pictures, let alone gifs/memes, in circulation? These are the important questions!

I'm fascinated by this because there is such a cinematic quality to all of it - not just the fact that we never see or really hear from him, but also his legendary sense of thoroughness and his reputation as the ultimate bureaucrat...apparently absolutely nothing gets past him. Compared to Trump, who wants nothing more than to be on TV all the time, doesn't really care about anything in depth, whose sense of right and wrong only depends on how things pertain to him. There's actually a good WaPo article about this very thing, though I feel I've mentioned it in the USPol thread several times

two Stories of the Century I have never found personally compelling

If you view the story as "the Russians stole the election for Trump by tweeting thousands of nasty remarks about HRC", then I could see being unimpressed by it. But for many months the Watergate story appeared to be "a third rate burglary by some misguided Cuban exiles and some other guy with somewhat puzzling connections to the administration", until it expanded. The Russian influence story has not yet expanded to its full size.

Eventually, I think it is likely to reveal Trump was actively involved in international racketeering in partnership with the Russian mafia, shady Russian banks, shadier Russian billionaires, and ultimately with Putin's security and intelligence agencies. Pee tape or no pee tape, I find that outcome would be kind of compelling when you're talking about the President of the United States.

at last, someone has linked two Stories of the Century I have never found personally compelling. xp

― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, February 27, 2018 5:48 PM (one hour ago)

oh is that why you post one snarky "russiagate isn't real" tweet after another, because you don't find the story "personally compelling"

you and your fellow Russkie hunters could nail Yam's ass to the wall on a dozen other things we DO have sufficient evidence on, if you had the power.

one snarky "russiagate isn't real" tweet after another

As Bob Dole said, "Stop lying about my ILX record."

i mean once again i would like to point out that all of this is very very probably about the money, and that’s why trump is so caged animal about it

trump is broke and in hock to the shady russians who launder cash through all his tacky ass buildings

but the path to that is long and winding thanks to trump being a liar with a cult of personality

absolutely, anything that is mysterious about him is the nonmystery of money.

So much weirdness in here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/27/in-thai-jail-after-sex-training-a-model-who-rattled-russian-elite-asks-u-s-for-help

MOSCOW — A self-described sex expert whose videos highlighted the ties between one of Russia’s richest men and the Kremlin has been jailed in Thailand and is calling for U.S. help, claiming she has information about links between Russia and President Trump.

Anastasia Vashukevich, an escort-service worker from Belarus who catapulted to a certain measure of fame after filming a yacht trip with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko, was detained in Thailand over the weekend in a police raid on her “sex training” seminar. While still in custody on Tuesday, she published Instagram videos asking U.S. journalists and intelligence agencies to help her.

She should probably make herself comfortable in Thai jail.

whoa when did Bob Dole post to ILX

oh shit

that's the woman in the video upthread right?

xpost

Yeah, she's that hooker/escort/gal pal of that Russian oligarch/star of that weird epic Russian take-down video.

Want to hear some wanton Nastya gossip that I’m going to irresponsibly pass on? (With one solid source, however.) Nastya is said to know the sexworkers who were at the Ritz that...night. https://t.co/WaQ8gh7Z57

— Virginia Heffernan (@page88) February 27, 2018

there’s also stuff about a government plane that had a lot of cocaine on it when it flew from argentina and now it’s in thailand because some mucky muck wants to talk to their govt about prisoner conditions?

remember that tweet about the last season of america from 2016? i keep thinking of it lately

The U.S. intelligence community developed substantial evidence that state websites or voter registration systems in seven states [Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin] were compromised by Russian-backed covert operatives prior to the 2016 election — but never told the states involved, according to multiple U.S. officials.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/u-s-intel-russia-compromised-seven-states-prior-2016-election-n850296

so apparently a WAtchdog is looking at the alleged "improper FISA applications".

is this really a good move for the Trump admin? I mean, watchdogs tend to be bipartisan and impartial, and if he comes back with a "no wrongdoing", what does it help? I see the "people will have forgotten by then" angle but then why have the Watchdog look into it at all?

Even the "we can say the Inspector General is crooked and corrupt" isn't really going to have legs enough to make it worthwhile.

I think they are fully in throw-everything-at-the-wall mode (as w Nunes memo) doesn't really matter so long they can create some noise

Even the "we can say the Inspector General is crooked and corrupt" isn't really going to have legs enough to make it worthwhile.

I get that he can and will do it, but it won't move the needle much. not that this has stopped him before.

I really don't care about public trust in the motherfucking FBI

yeah if there was some way Trump and the FBI could resolve this in some sort of conjoined death pact that would rule

why don't we just redraw the state lines, make 50 new states

except for the 5 mile radius around my house, that's another country

I doubt the fbi is going away, and once he gets the lackies in it he wants, overseen by Prince or whoever, he will ride like a motherfucker for the fbi.

So im willing to go with a counter-trump fbi til he’s gone. Time is not our friend.

man I hope Prince leads the FBI from Heaven, it'll be mad sexy

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/02/27/russia-hacking

uh I have a question are you guys "down w/ the FBI" meaning this FBI/J Edgar heritage/post-Patriot act FBI or do you actually wish there was no law enforcement at the federal level

I mean nobody likes cops but

everybody's got a big but, as Special Agent Pee-wee Herman often said

i know you are but what am i

Deep in the heart of Texas!

deep in the heart of moscow

http://theweek.com/speedreads/758012/mueller-reportedly-interested-trumps-hotel-room-moscow

Hmm, I wonder why he's so interested in that hotel room?

Seriously, though, at this point even the pee tape would hardly qualify as kompromat. Trump is a walking embarrassment. But maybe the hookers are a savvy smokescreen, and in fact he was meeting with *Putin* in that hotel room!

And then Putin peed on the bed.

If everyone’s expectations are low enough and loyalty is purely tribal, they let you do it.

That would seem to answer the question I posed about Abramson vs. Marshall's reading of the case theory - Mueller's people are at least running down the road Abramson has lain out.

Yeah i think the point made earlier that mueller is the anti trump in terms of systematic thoroughness was correct. which given mueller’s resources and background is kinda “well, duh, hunt3r,” but plodding, thorough care seems so out of style.

also in his 70s, mueller has way better hair

On the other hand, "'You ask everything even if you don't think it's credible,' one of the sources said, adding, 'the allegations are out there, and it was checking the box.'" Abramson of course is perhaps preemptively patting himself on the back.

That would seem to answer the question I posed about Abramson vs. Marshall's reading of the case theory - Mueller's people are at least running down the road Abramson has lain out.

― Moo Vaughn, Wednesday, February 28, 2018 8:08 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sb for abramson

What does that mean?