HOLY FN SHIT!! Or NOT

[boston bean]

Link to tweet

Well lookee which newly arrested Russian operative attended that famous Oval Office meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak where Trump outed an Israeli intelligence operation. It's the NRA Russian covergirl Ms. Butina!

Pic is in the tweet.

It is being pointed out to me that we should question this as it may be a photoshop. David Frum retweeted it. So I felt comfortable posting. If it turns out to be false I will delete immediately.

Edit again. It is a real photo it appeared in the NYT :

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/politics/mueller-trump-russia.html?nytmobile=0#click=https://t.co/PKBsHyQW4y



Edit again: there are reports this is NOT BUTINA but an NSC staffer.

Apologies if this is not her. Last thing I would do is like to push false narratives.

[Zoonart]

1. Holy FN shit does not cover it.

WTF is it going to take?

[certainot]

72. since you ask, imo, the republican party will fracture, head for the hills, and desert trump when

americans finally stop giving talk radio a free speech free ride because the gop and putin think tanks will no longer be able to amplify the 15% ignorant racist teabag base into 'popular' and 'acceptable'

[Fred Sanders]

84. Sorry. Fake news. Liberals should know better...and DELETE.

[Hortensis]

2. Ms. Butina in the oval office the day after Comey was fired?

Wow if that's her (investigative sources don't confirm yet). Rachel said her arrest reflected collusion type charges.

Butina's own words in a March 2015 communication are "However, now with the right to negotiate seems best to build konstruktivnyh relations." This after reporting the GOP "would likely obtain control over the U.S. government after the 2016 elections".

Why'd she believe the GOP would control the government? Just what does this "right to negotiate" they now had mean, and with whom, and what compromat might have established that "right"?

[in2herbs]

65. I think that her statement "... now with the right to negotiate ..." means the

Citizens United USSC ruling, which gives foreign money unlimited and non-transparent access to our elections.

[Hortensis]

71. :) Hmmm. Who and what would they be buying?

Keeping in mind that quid need not be in the form of money. Perhaps they also might have had some "stay out of jail free" or "save your career" cards to offer.

Perhaps at some point someone took Trump to the top of a mountain and explained that all he saw could be his. Someone said last night that Putin wasn't interested in Trump before learning he was interested in running for president. Don't know if that's true or not. Certainly we know that anyone of significance, such as being attached to government in any way, who visits Russia is closely examined by the Kremlin for possible usefulness and hunted and compromised if it's found. Trump should have been ridiculously easy to compromise.

[Eyeball_Kid]

78. I still remember Sam Alito's "NO!" in response to Obama's SOTU prediction of foreign

interference after the Citizens United decision.

What on earth is wrong with Alito? ANYONE could predict foreign interference and influence in future elections. Yet there Alito still sits, on the Supreme Court, playing the legal expert, when his opinion on Citizens United shows his utmost stupidity and naivete. Federalist Society? Bullshit.

[leftynyc]

3. Need to make sure that's not photoshopped

These filthy traitors are not above trying to trap us into false allegations.

[boston bean]

6. David Frum retweeted it. That is how I saw it on my feed.

But good to be cautious I presume.

[leftynyc]

8. Understood

But frum has never been a fan of whiny donnie and I'm suspicious of EVERYTHING at this point.

[boston bean]

10. I agree. I added a note to the OP.

[boston bean]

19. It is a real photo.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/politics/mueller-trump-russia.html?nytmobile=0#click=https://t.co/PKBsHyQW4y

[leftynyc]

73. Thanks for checking

Things are bad enough without us getting caught flat footed in false photos. My paranoia has reached peak intensity.

[calimary]

74. Sure looks like her.

[Honeycombe8]

43. Here's a WaPo article back then w/the pic & explaining WHAT classified intel he gave them

Unbelievable. He gave the Russians intel that he had been provided through an ally! Intel about Islamic terrorists plot against the U S and what kind of harm that would do to the U S.

He is a Russian agent. No doubt about it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5f7c07450849

[MGKrebs]

50. That's what we were led to believe.

But apparently not:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/16/politics/trump-russian-officials-meeting-what-we-know/index.html

But those Russians must have been identified at some point. I haven't been able to find any release of their identities though. I'm sure someone will get it soon.

[SidDithers]

21. It's not a photoshop...

You can find the original at:

https://www.gettyimages.ca/album/trump-meets-russian-foreign-minister-lavrov-amid-comey-fracas--lBYWJkYcQ0qQzl9CWxI_Mg#president-donald-trump-of-the-united-states-and-russias-foreign-picture-id681525136

It's the 5th or 6th picture in the album.

Sid

[dalton99a]

26. +1

[Freethinker65]

27. Thanks...Wait. Now it appears the pic is real, but it is not Butina

Last edited Tue Jul 17, 2018, 09:42 AM - Edit history (1)

[mnhtnbb]

4. Unreal. Tweet it to Rachel.

[panader0]

5. Great find!

Who ordered her arrest? The timing is perfect and the house of cards is crumbling.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

55. Good twitter thread here...

Renato Mariotti (Former federal prosecutor.) provides an excellent review of the charges with some background here:
(14-point post)

Link (click on his name to go to the thread):

Link to tweet

(snip)

It's worth noting that this complaint was not brought by Mueller but rather by another component of the DOJ. It is not clear why, but it could be because Mueller's team is already busy with other charges and investigations.

..........

[writes3000]

7. Let's Make SURE The Pic Isn't A Fake. I've Seen Versions Of This Pic Without Her.

There are bad folks who wants to muddy the waters with disinformation.

Btw, there are multiple occasions where Butina has been at Trump speaking engagements and he just happens to call on her for questions.

[Freethinker65]

12. +1. Pic is real, but it is not Butina

Last edited Tue Jul 17, 2018, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

[boston bean]

13. Appears it is real it was in NYT article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/politics/mueller-trump-russia.html?nytmobile=0#click=https://t.co/PKBsHyQW4y

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

17. Yes, most definitely not a photoshop

[writes3000]

18. Cool. Thanks for sharing.

[teach1st]

22. Here's one site that displays the pic without the red circle

http://trumprussia2018.com/donald-trump-oval-office-kremlin/

[NCTraveler]

30. Please link to one of them without her.

That would be the easiest thing to do here.

Seems it has been verified. Please link the the photo's you have seen. That is huge. Republicans are putting out doctored photo's to create uncertainty. Wow.

[spanone]

9. treason

[dalton99a]

28. Yep, in plain sight.

[Achilleaze]

11. republican Femme Fatale (E*)

republicans are really into the skuzzbucket treason thingy. Deplorable.



* E - Enemy of America

[Afromania]

14. How many dots need to be connected before this farce ends.

[Hortensis]

46. Mueller team question, but they're all professional hunters and

no doubt enjoying turning over rocks and finding more and more dots to connect and lead to others.

Butina and her boss Torshin have been meeting with Republican politicians for years now, and some local media are already reporting. Bet a lot of people aren't sleeping well at all.

Butina Maria Butina at the Trump Freedom Fest rally in Las Vegas where she asks Candidate Trump (candidate with a whole new meaning) a question and he answers “I know Putin, and I’ll tell you what, we’ll get along with Putin. … I would get along very nicely with Putin, I mean, where we have the strength. I don’t think you’d need the sanctions. I think we would get along very, very well.”

[Afromania]

75. I meant for the republicans to just toss trump.

Mueller could be at it for years at this point. I have the feeling that this thing is going to embroil a good majority of the GOP and major backing organizations before it's all done.

[Hortensis]

77. Oh, yes. Boy, I wonder also. Days or months?

Hours or ...?

Poll data from before Putin showed off Trump like his new dog at the "summit" showed 90% support for Trump as Repubs gathered around their leader in trouble. It hasn't been that high since for W right after 9/11.

But it could also crash. What comes next? Settling into another period of tense waiting while big events play out in secret or more nation-shaking events?

[Texin]

81. Isn't that Scott Walker? Sure looks to be. I don't recognize anyone else in this photo except MB.

[Hortensis]

83. Probably. Walker's with her alone in another. That's

Torshin to her right, a person NO American politician should ever have been in the same building with.

One of the interesting things we're seeing is how sloppy and incompetent many corrupt people are. Many Repub politicians have abandoned the time-honoredscrupulous cut-outs when needing to deal with criminals and other scum, as well, of course. Refusing to have anything to do with them in the first place is apparently not possible with this degree of corruption. Of course, hypocrisy probably has a lot to do with it for some who know they're the good people...

McConnell's seemingly very careful, W was. But so many of these go-along-to-get-along types who've been packed into the Republican caucuses act like they thought they'd never be caught, maybe that their billionaires would protect their investment, or something.

[Blue_Adept]

15. Here's the article in the NYTimes from 9/20/17 where it can be found

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/politics/mueller-trump-russia.html

[dalton99a]

25. +1. It is real, taken by Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

[Historic NY]

40. Oh yeah it real...

Alexander Shcherbak/TASS, via Getty Images

[Ezior]

16. So my face blindness is really bad, but is that really Mariia Butina?

They don't look the same to me, but then I almost have trouble recognizing myself in the mirror sometimes.

[boston bean]

23. Looks like her to me!!

[dalton99a]

20. Looks like these are two consecutive shots - trumprussia2018.com:

seconds apart

[PatSeg]

31. God, look at all those happy Russian faces!

That is what always bothered me about those photos, how jubilant the Russians looked. I can't believe how reckless and stupid Trump is. He really thought he could get away with this kind of crap.

[honest.abe]

33. In the second photo she is hiding behind the guy with the light blue tie.

In the first photo she is the only person who is looking right at the camera.

[ewagner]

44. I caught that too...

It looks like she wasn't too thrilled about being in the picture and tried to duck out of it in the second.

"cover" blown?

[FailureToCommunicate]

56. Most likely.

[Recursion]

37. You can still see the shoulder of her jacket in the 2nd one (nt)

[dalton99a]

41. +1. There was enough time for people to move around between the shots

judging from their hands and feet

[NewJeffCT]

24. so, a known colluder

in the White House with Trump, where no US media was allowed.

[Johnny2X2X]

39. Media will cover this, they're verifying the photo I am sure

It's almost like the Helsinki summit was the distraction yesterday. Butina's arrest blew the entire thing wide open, this should be front page news soon.

[dalton99a]

42. Butina is an important story.

[Soxfan58]

29. WoW

[Thrill]

32. Has an oh shit look on her face

[KewlKat]

36. Yeah, she appears to be looking at the camera.

[ewagner]

45. I AGREE! n/t

[KewlKat]

34. Kick

[manor321]

35. Does not look like her!

Please look at photos of the woman who was arrested. This woman doesn't look like her.

[ramblin_dave]

38. There are similar photos without her

These similar photos were obviously taken seconds apart.

Go to the website www.tineye.com and put the URL of the NY Times photo in the search box. Then select some other photos from the results and use the switch feature to go back and forth between the Times photo and another "similar" photo. The similar photos are not the same, but the woman is not in the other photos. Seems to me there was enough time between shots for her to move.

[kmla]

47. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't she be on some sort of visitor log?

This is the White House, for crying out loud. Theoretically they keep track of this kind of stuff, right?

[watoos]

49. Nope

one of the first things Trump did was do away with visitor logs.

[kmla]

51. Hmmm.

I did not know that.

[watoos]

48. Ruh Roh

I don't think that Trump can pardon a Russian spy?

Give her immunity and a new identity and let her sing, sing, sing.

[MrModerate]

52. Russia has lots of spies. I'm not sure why . . .

They have to reuse them in so many places. That sounds like bad spycraft.

[Thrill]

59. Why? When they're dealing with a useful idiot

[CrispyQ]

53. I'll bet this was Trump's best day in office.

He was so self-satisfied to be playing with the big dogs. What a putz. It all started going downhill from here, when he chortled how he fired Comey cuz of the pressure. Look back on this day with longing Don, cuz it aint' ever gonna be this good again.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

54. Well, the picture itself is definitely real and it certainly does look like her.

Whether or not it was actually her could easily be determined if the White House released its visitor logs.

Which, of course, it hasn't.

I'm proceeding with caution on this but it certainly warrants investigation.

[smirkymonkey]

57. This is not looking good for them.

According to the WaPo, her particular case had NOT been part of Mueller's investigation so far..

"The case, which is not part of the special counsel investigation into Russian interference, lays out the strongest allegations to date of American involvement in Russia’s influence operations.

Butina was allegedly assisted in her efforts by a U.S. political operative who helped introduce her to influential political figures. That person was not charged and is not named in court papers, but the description matches that of Paul Erickson, a GOP consultant who sought to organize a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Alexander Torshin, Butina’s Russian colleague and a former Russian senator, at a May 2016 NRA convention."

[kpete]

58. I did some research:

@ZekeJMiller
Re TASS photo of Trump/Lavrov meeting - woman in the doorway of the Oval is an NSC staffer, NOT Butina.

Link to tweet

[highplainsdem]

60. AP's Zeke Miller says that's an NSC staffer, NOT Butina.

Link to tweet

[Thrill]

61. Now we know why Putin calls him a useful idiot

A damn Russian Spy in the Oval Office you can’t make this shit up

[dalton99a]

62. It is a real photo, taken by the official Russian photographer Alexander Shcherbak, who sent it to

Agency Photo ITAR-TASS in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which released it to the press

[scarytomcat]

63. he must of got a blow job that day

that first fat guy looks real happy

[highplainsdem]

64. BuzzFeed also says that is NOT Butina:

Link to tweet

[Cracklin Charlie]

80. Should be able to name NSA staffer.

Some anonymous staffer in THAT meeting?

Not sure I’m ready to buy that one quite yet.

[eppur_se_muova]

85. Cari Grace Lutkins

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210884908

[Cracklin Charlie]

87. Thanks.

Don’t see any real resemblance, but do not trust the Trump administration.

[EllisWhy]

66. Not her.... (The Wekk)

Some of the side-by-side images on Twitter also show the nose, eyebrows, and chin don't match up well.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/785294/does-photo-show-alleged-russian-spy-mariia-butina-oval-office-meeting-trump

Link to tweet

[LiberalArkie]

67. Someone might want to try this beta software

https://9to5mac.com/guides/microsoft-edge/

iOS beta of Microsoft Edge browser now lets you use a photo to search [Video]

I haven’t yet seen any particular reason to give Microsoft’s Edge browser a try, but one feature added to the beta today looks neat: you can now use a photo from your camera roll to perform a search in your choice of search engine.

This is not just a reverse Google Images search, where you can search for a photo already online, but is smarter than that …

You can select a photo from your own camera roll, highlight a portion of it and then search for that item.

In the demo video, Microsoft shows someone taking a photo of a person with a baby, and cropping to just the winter jacket and searching for that. The result is a shopping search for similar jackets.

[MelissaB]

68. It's a real photo, but it is NOT her.

It's supposed to be a staffer named Cari.

[boston bean]

69. IVe edited the OP.

[eppur_se_muova]

86. There's a whole thread on this ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210884908

[CanonRay]

70. Rec for visibility

repost a million times!

[karin_sj]

76. "Butina arrest: 6 things to know from court documents" (CNN article)

From the article: (sounds like Moscow succeeded in pretty much all of the stated goals)

"Moscow seeks to create wedges that reduce trust and confidence in democratic processes, degrade democratization efforts, weaken US partnerships with European allies, undermine Western sanctions, encourage anti-US political views, and counter efforts to bring Ukraine and other former Soviet states into European institutions," the FBI wrote.

Torshin also reflected on their spycraft in a private Twitter exchange with Butina in 2016, according to the FBI. "It is not about winning today's fight (although we are striving for it) but to win the entire battle. This is the battle for the future, it cannot be lost!" he wrote, according to private messages published in court documents.

She responded that "harsh and impetuous moves will ruin everything early."

"Patience and cold blood + faith in yourself. And everything will definitely turn out," he wrote."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/16/politics/butina-russia-arrest-7-things/index.html

[duforsure]

79. Those involved in any way

In the republican party should be very scared , and I wouldn't be surprised if they have some of them already talking to Mueller about it all. This week we'll maybe hear both Manifort and Cohen are talking too. trump's hoping to escape it all with putins help creating distractions for him soon. I fear a major cyber attack , then trump will blame others for it. Maybe why he was meeting with putin.

[DesertRat]

82. I don't think it's her

But here are pictures of her with every major Republican in the last five years, so there are lots of pics of her out there for comparison. #LockHerUp

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Bayard]

88. We're talking about the woman in the doorway?

I don't think its her. Nose is different.

[Bonx]

89. We knew it all along! Now here's proof of Treason!

[PoliticAverse]

90. Snopes: False

Was Accused Russian Spy Mariia Butina Photographed in the Oval Office?
An image purportedly showing accused Russian spy Mariia Butina in the Oval Office with President Trump is a case of misidentification.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/accused-russian-spy-mariia-butina-photographed-oval-office/

[DesertRat]

91. Thanks for posting. This should be it's own post.