A little help please. Last night Rachel had a story about a secret server @ that was part of the ..

[Botany]

... Trump organization or the Trump campaign that was dedicated to exchanging data and or information with
Russia's Alfa Bank (aka Putin) and this server was reportedly active before the election of 2016 and during the
Trump's Presidency too.

Does anybody have a link to this story or a video R. Maddow's coverage of this story?

thanx

********
BTW I used to think that the some MAGA voters would dump their support of Trump if it is
shown that Trump & Company worked with Putin/Russia to rig our elections and undermine
our nation but now I'm convinced that they would be totally good with such crimes because
"it just hurt Hillary and the libs."

[Irish_Dem]

1. They love Russia. Some have been wearing shirts: I'd rather be Russian than Democrat.

[COL Mustard]

3. I Didn't Believe That Until I Looked It Up

Just more proof that Republicans are anti-American. That needs to not be forgotten.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Yep. If you google it, you will see the t-shirts, some sold on Amazon.

You can also find pictures of magats holding up "Russia" signs at rallies here in the US.

So they fully understand and support Trump's collusion with Russia to undermine elections and to threaten national security.

[SheltieLover]

8. Absolutely!

I was at a DMV in the not so great state of TN in 2018.

I sat next to a young couple who almost immediately began talking to me about how great Russia is "'cuz they don't hafta pay no taxes."

So I told the mouthy young man they might not have to pay taxes. Not sure. But food is certainly scarce there.

His eyes bugged out.

I then offered to buy him.a 1-way ticket to Russia if he really wanted to go stand in line with the hope of maybe buying a loaf of bread.

"Aaaah. No."

[Irish_Dem]

11. These people have no idea what living under a totalitarian govt is like.

And no idea why we pay taxes. They are sitting in a DMV. How do they think the DMV is funded?

People like this would not last a week living in China or Russia.

[SheltieLover]

16. I agree!

I'm sure those young folks have, by now, evolved into anti-vax maskholes.

Idiots!

The look on his face was priceless when I offered to buy him a ticket, 1-way.

[Irish_Dem]

23. Of course they are anti mask. And taxpayers will have to fund their treatment when they get sick.

That is a great line, I'll pay for your ticket to Russia.

I think that every magat should be required to spend one month each in the following countries:
Russia, China, Afghanistan.

Hi Sheltie!!

[SheltieLover]

28. I like your idea!

If we could get them all out of the country at once...

[Irish_Dem]

29. I like that idea, send whole groups of them all at once.

Would give us a much needed break from them.

[SheltieLover]

33. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

[Captain Zero]

58. We could call them freedumb flights.

Sorta like we arrange for WW2 vet to their memorial in DC.

One way tickets only.

Tell Putin it's the orphans he dumped on us in the 1990s. Got them all fixed up.

[Irish_Dem]

61. Perfect.

Especially like the one way ticket and message to Putin.

[LiberalArkie]

37. Russia rates

Corporate Tax Rate. 20%
Personal Income Tax Rate 13%
Sales Tax 20%
Social Security Rate for Companies 30%
Social Security Rate for Employees 0%

https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/personal-income-tax-rate

[SheltieLover]

38. Well then.

Ty!

[AllaN01Bear]

43. from the russian irs.

https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/russian-federation/individual/taxes-on-personal-income

/revision/latest?cb=20090729102006

[SheltieLover]

45. Lol

[aggiesal]

46. Here in California, AAA does most DMV functions ...

there are still some things that we can only do at the DMV.

Living near the Mexican border, there are people who live in Mexico but work in the U.S.

While in line at AAA, the person in front of me was turning in their California license plates
complaining that it costs too much to register his vehicle in California and that it's cheaper
in TJ to register their vehicle.

I asked if he's compared the roads in Mexico vs US, with far fewer roads, crappy conditions and
lack of any kind of Intestate freeways in Mexico.
He responded that he drives mostly in the US.
So I said, "I see, you want the benefits of the U.S., but not pay for them."

Really pi$$ed me off.

The mouthy young man is Irony Deficient.

[SheltieLover]

54. Amazing, isn't it?

The way some folks think things just magically appear..

Good for you telling him!!!

[BobTheSubgenius]

53. This is an old anecdote, but still illustrative, I think.

During the Solidarity demonstrations that began on the docks of Gdansk, then spread throughout Poland, I watched an interview with a purported expert on Eastern Europe. Maybe he was an expert; I don't know, so don't take that as an aspersion.

The interviewer asked him why Poland had become so fractious. He answered with:

"Do you remember the OPEC oil embargo?"

"Of course."

"There were reports of people trying to jump the queue to the pumps, and drivers exchanging gunfire over the issue."

"I remember that."

"That was over a shortage of gasoline. Imagine if there was no food."

[Botany]

7. Just 13.2 miles north of where I am sitting right now is Olentangy Orange High School

Last edited Thu Sep 16, 2021, 11:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Right wing radio has sucked the brains out much of Ohio

[Irish_Dem]

26. They want absolute freedom but yet love the idea of living under a totalitarian government.

They make no sense.

I suppose they think that everyone else will be under their thumbs while they do what they want.

[Botany]

32. That picture was taken 3 years ago given those guys' age, hypertension, and the spread of C-19 ...

Last edited Thu Sep 16, 2021, 11:04 AM - Edit history (1)

.... I'm willing to bet that @ least one of the 2 are dead.

[Irish_Dem]

35. Good point. Probably many in these magat pictures are now deceased.

[SheltieLover]

39. The cognative dissonance must sound like a freight train!

[Irish_Dem]

51. They are the white elite. Rules are for everyone else.

That is how they justify it.

But yes the cognitive dissonance is astounding.

[SheltieLover]

55. Sick

Their thought process & behavior surely is astounding.

[Irish_Dem]

56. 30% of the American population are now mentally ill, ignorant, not able to function as adults.

It really is astounding.

[wnylib]

60. They would be the first ones

to scream about their rights when they realize that rights in Russia are not like rights in the US.

But nobody would hear their screams from the cell they would end up in for being troublemakers.

[Irish_Dem]

62. I would love them to try the freedumbs hissy fit routine in Russia or China.

If they are lucky they would end up in cells.

[PatSeg]

49. Yes, anti-American and pro-Trump

As well as pro-Qanon, while they profess to be patriots.

[Irish_Dem]

63. Right, "patriots" trying to overthrow their own government.

The government which provides them the highest level of freedom in the world.

I think the bottom line is racism.

[PatSeg]

64. Yes, that and an exaggerated sense of self importance

They've cast themselves as 1776 style patriots, fighting the tyranny and oppression of King George. Basically, I think they like being angry. They've become addicted to the adrenaline rush, while painting themselves as martyrs and heroes. A bunch of ridiculously dressed Mel Gibsons yelling "Freedom". Like Gibson, they are rewriting history to suit their drama.

[Irish_Dem]

65. Yep. Bored, entitled, immature, violent. They like feeling important and acting out.

They have no understanding of history or government.

And most likely have a great deal of funding and support from dark sources with an agenda.

I was thinking about my parents and grandparents. They were too busy putting food on the table to have time to overthrow the US government.

These magats seem to have plenty of time and money to stir up trouble.

[PatSeg]

67. Yes, I've often wondered

how many of them can afford to take these trips in their expensive pickup trucks, not to mention buy all those guns and ammo. "Bored, entitled, immature, and violent" describes them perfectly. They got tired of starting fights in the neighborhood tavern or at home and decided to take their attitude out into the real world.

Just like many barroom brawls, they've manufactured reasons to be outraged, so they have an excuse to brandish weapons and be violent. We've all seen the "Are you lookin' at me" type, just looking for any excuse to start a fight. Too lazy and indifferent to learn about what they claim they are fighting for. Well, that is because they are just fighting for the excuse to fight. There is no real end goal.

[Irish_Dem]

69. Exactly. 30% of this country are spoiled brats. Bored, immature, violent, wealthy and privileged.

They don't really care about their stated issues. They just want to fight and feel important.

They are showing off their white entitlement.

Right, they have a lot of money to buy expensive trucks, guns and ammo.
And can take off work for their stunts. If they work at all.

They have no consequences for their violence.
Yet they complain about how bad it is in this country.

They have no understanding of how to function like adults.
Or what hardship really means.

[PatSeg]

71. Rebels without a cause, who never grew up

There was a great YouTube video awhile back blasting these entitled brats. I wish I could remember the guy's name. He was spot on.

"What do we want?"

"We don't know, but we want it right now!"

[Irish_Dem]

72. Yep. Exactly correct.

[PatSeg]

73. Enjoyed our discussion!

[Irish_Dem]

74. Yes same here!

[Botany]

4. All the time the Trump Campaign and Fox News were yelling about Hillary's secret server they had ...

Last edited Thu Sep 16, 2021, 10:59 AM - Edit history (1)

.... their own secret servers in contact with Russia/Putin/Alfa Bank/Russian Intel services.

America needs to see the unredacted Mueller Report.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Yes, we do need to see that report. I don't know why the FBI was not concerned

about Trump's involvement with Russia from the beginning.

[Botany]

10. Many in the FBI's New York City office were actively working to hurt Hillary and James Comey ...

Last edited Thu Sep 16, 2021, 11:01 AM - Edit history (1)

... deliberately sand bagged Hillary with a phony Russian produced story about Hillary and her
emails in a press conference and then giving that made up b.s. to republicans in Congress but
kept proven information about Trump and Russia hidden in Oct. of 2016.

Comey issued a retraction of the story a few days before the vote in 2016 but the damage had
been done.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Exactly, the FBI ignored GOP crimes, while smearing Hillary with lies.

So we know that the FBI is corrupt at the highest levels.

Putin is one of the wealthiest men in the world.

He was able to buy the three branches of US government, the press, and governmental agencies.

Putin has been at war with the US and nobody seems to care.

[FeelingBlue]

30. Did Mueller know? NT

[Irish_Dem]

34. I assume he knew, and it is in the report. That is why it has been kept hidden.

[Irish_Dem]

12. Sociopaths usually project their own crimes onto others. It confuses an distracts the public and

courts.

[gab13by13]

14. Yes we need to see the Mueller report,

but Mueller did not investigate the Alfa bank/Trump server.

[Justice matters.]

42. It's Projection, ALWAYS projection.

It's blatant in-our-faces Projection. What they falsely accuse others of is exactly what they're doing.

Un-conscious GUILT.

[lpbk2713]

2. I agree with your observation.

It's party over country every time with them.

[mopinko]

9. have you searched here? there were a lot of posts about it.

had something to do w betsy devos, iirc.

[Delmette2.0]

50. ....

And Putin's daughter.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. Here's a good refresher article from four years ago that may help....

from Tea Pain's 2017 archives: https://teapainusa.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/spectrum-healths-role-in-the-trump-russia-server-scandal/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

snip....

Now that some of the smoke has cleared, we know two basic facts.
1. Russian hackers were able to acquire voter rolls from a number of key battleground states.
2. Russian bot-farms were able to inundate social media with fake news, propaganda and Trump-friendly talkin’ points in the run-up to the election.

The question we must ask is a simple, but important one, because the plausibility of this whole data-sharin’ shindig rests on it…
How did the Russians convert generic voter roll information into a specific list of targeted social media contacts?
-----------
All Russian intelligence needed was to associate an email address with a name and address of a voter and bingo! Every social media account you own is tied to your email address, right? Once they had an email, they could data-mine everything about you from your social media feeds. They immediately knew if you were a Trumper, a Hill-bot, a Bernie Bro or a Stein fanatic, and could tailor a bot-campaign custom-made for you!

So where did they get the email addresses? This is where Spectrum Health comes in...... So what did the DeVos family get in return for Spectrum’s role in this little ping-ping wing-ding? You’ll have to ask the new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos!

KY

[Botany]

22. "How did the Russians convert generic voter roll information into a specific list of targeted

social media contacts?"

One of the ways was Paul Manafort's "gift" of not the Trump's campaign internal polling data
but data analytics (or what could be turned into data analytics) aka weaponized data so
Russia knew where and by how much they had to rat fuck the vote to install Trump to the
Russian agent Constantine Kilimnick.

Every time Trump said "fake news" as per Trump/Russian connections he was lying.

[FakeNoose]

31. Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and Paul Manafort were all in on this

Probably others too, but they specifically dealt with Cambridge Analytica one of the companies that Robert Mercer funded and controlled. (I believe the company is closed or changed its name now.) During Chump's first campaign in 2016, voter data was illegally obtained from Facebook, analyzed and massaged by CA, then it was somehow "leaked" to the Russians.

Whoops! Somehow the Russians knew exactly whom to target with their controversial fake-news fake-outrage nasty political emails. Somehow it was all hatred for Hillary, and all love for Chump.

Yes maybe Spectrum was given the same type of info for their own use. I wouldn't doubt it.

LOCK THEM ALL UP!

[FBaggins]

15. See this DU thread

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142800771

Special prosecutor (Durham) thinks that the Server story was a planted lie and is rumored to be charging a former Democratic operative/attorney with the crime.

The attorney firmly denies any illegal act and Maddow points out that the statute of limitations on the crime runs out this weekend.

[tanyev]

17. This is the most recent article I found: Sept. 2, 2020.

The recent release of the final volume of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian 2016 election interference and two new lawsuits by Russia’s Alfa Bank have brought back into the spotlight the puzzling lack of an explanation for the mysterious communications between the bank and the Trump Organization during the last presidential campaign.

It has been almost four years since a group of computer scientists disclosed, on the basis of DNS (Domain Name System) logs, that two internet servers belonging to Alfa Bank had looked up the address of the Trump Organization server 2,820 times between May and September 2016. Yet the long-awaited Senate report provides only this paltry, ambiguous conclusion:

“Based on the FBI’s assessment, the Committee did not find the DNS activity reflected the existence of covert communication between Alfa Bank and Trump Organization personnel. However, the Committee also could not positively determine an intent or purpose that would explain the unusual activity.”

Amazingly, the committee may have interviewed only one source–Jae Cho, the IT director for the Trump Organization, who “did not recall conducting a system-wide review of the Trump Organization network to determine if there were any connections from the Trump Organization side with any of the Alfa Bank servers.” According to the report, Cho “inferred” that Alfa Bank’s servers were configured in a way that they could not have been used to transmit emails to the Trump server. But it was not just a question of emails. Writing in the New Yorker in 2018, Dexter Filkins noted that computer scientists who examined the data theorized that the look-ups could have represented other forms of communication, such as data transfers or a technique called foldering (a digital form of “dead dropping”).

https://www.justsecurity.org/72262/the-trump-alfa-bank-server-mystery-resurfaces/

[Botany]

27. 2,820 times and there was no communications?

Ok I will buy that.

thanx

[neohippie]

48. I remember reading about the secret server and speculation about its purpose

One of the things I recall reading was that there was a tactic that spies used where they compose email messages as drafts but never send them, then another party could connect to the same email account and see the drafts, compose replies and never send them.

This was done to prevent the messages from being sent across the internet and therefore made them less traceable.

I recall that there were quite a few people looking for traffic and logs from the secret servers and there was very little traffic so this was a theory of how that secret server may have been used

[tanyev]

57. I predict Erik Prince is in this up to his eyeballs.

[Effete Snob]

24. Russia: White, Orthodox Christians

What’s not to like for these people?

[Roland99]

25. Multiple DU threads here......

Putin's daughter, Trump Tower internet traffic, Spectrum Health, Betsy DeVos

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210915778

New Article about communications between Alfa Bank, Spectrum Health, The Trump Organization
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211254310

[stillcool]

36. thanks! fascinating ...

so much information has been out there, it's easy to forget

[Kid Berwyn]

40. Link to show...

https://www.nbc.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/video/rachel-maddow-91521/9000191553

[Kid Berwyn]

41. Alfa Bank servers connected 2,820 times to Trump servers.

The Trump-Alfa Bank Server Mystery Resurfaces

by Amy Knight
Sept. 2, 2020

The recent release of the final volume of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian 2016 election interference and two new lawsuits by Russia’s Alfa Bank have brought back into the spotlight the puzzling lack of an explanation for the mysterious communications between the bank and the Trump Organization during the last presidential campaign.

It has been almost four years since a group of computer scientists disclosed, on the basis of DNS (Domain Name System) logs, that two internet servers belonging to Alfa Bank had looked up the address of the Trump Organization server 2,820 times between May and September 2016. Yet the long-awaited Senate report provides only this paltry, ambiguous conclusion:

“Based on the FBI’s assessment, the Committee did not find the DNS activity reflected the existence of covert communication between Alfa Bank and Trump Organization personnel. However, the Committee also could not positively determine an intent or purpose that would explain the unusual activity.”

As stated on page 24 of the Senate report, the committee was not able to see the underlying records that the FBI used in its briefings to members. So, although committee members have high-level security clearances, they appear to remain in the dark about the reasons for the server communications. Was the committee told what kind of technical diligence the FBI carried out, or whether the FBI used the talent of cyber experts such as those at Carnegie Mellon University, the CIA and NSA?

Amazingly, the committee may have interviewed only one source–Jae Cho, the IT director for the Trump Organization, who “did not recall conducting a system-wide review of the Trump Organization network to determine if there were any connections from the Trump Organization side with any of the Alfa Bank servers.” According to the report, Cho “inferred” that Alfa Bank’s servers were configured in a way that they could not have been used to transmit emails to the Trump server. But it was not just a question of emails. Writing in the New Yorker in 2018, Dexter Filkins noted that computer scientists who examined the data theorized that the look-ups could have represented other forms of communication, such as data transfers or a technique called foldering (a digital form of “dead dropping”).

Continues…

https://www.justsecurity.org/72262/the-trump-alfa-bank-server-mystery-resurfaces/

[AllaN01Bear]

44. i remember hearing that too also ,, but that information disapeared .

untill now .




/revision/latest?cb=20090729102006

[Ilsa]

47. Dunham needs to charge someone before the statute

of limitations runs out. Dunham wants to claim that the attorney who told the FBI about the server lied to them about who he was working for. (He had some billable hours with Clinton campaign, but said a computer scientist had told him about the server. I think he told Dunham that he wasn't working for anyone, that he was just letting the FBI know about it so they could investigate if they thought it was worthwhile information.)

The lawyer on TRMS said this is flimsy, even if he lied, it's irrelevant to the case, which doesn't exist, because the investigation by the FBI was warranted.

That's my take on it.

[Deminpenn]

66. This is correct

The lawyer being charged by Durham actually brought the Alfa Bank server/Trump Org server connections to the attention of the FBI. On the order of "see something, say something". Reportedly this lawyer worked for the same firm that did work for HRC, but was in a different section and that had no relationship with the 2016 campaign for HRC or Dems.

[Ilsa]

70. Thank you for the additional information.

I see this as nothing but a move to discredit the FBI's investigation by claiming it was a campaign attack.

[JohnnyRingo]

52. I recall that story well. It was in Rolling Stone at the time.

At the time no one could figure out why it was happening because it just appeared to be two computer pinging each other endlessly. No one could extract any data, but I was suspicious that it was coded and sent by a Russian bank to Trump org. Computer experts determined that they didn't know why, but the two terminals were just pinging back & forth.

There is a very detailed report here:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html

[themaguffin]

68. Hell, I remember this being reported either in 16 or 17.

I don't know why anything didn't come from it.