Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking
Source: NYT
WASHINGTON In the Obama administrations last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isnt duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials and others close to Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Mr. Trumps associates.
Then and now, Mr. Trump has denied that his campaign had any contact with Russian officials, and at one point he openly suggested that American spy agencies had cooked up intelligence suggesting that the Russian government had tried to meddle in the presidential election. Mr. Trump has accused the Obama administration of hyping the Russia story line as a way to discredit his new administration.
At the Obama White House, Mr. Trumps statements stoked fears among some that intelligence could be covered up or destroyed or its sources exposed once power changed hands. What followed was a push to preserve the intelligence that underscored the deep anxiety with which the White House and American intelligence agencies had come to view the threat from Moscow.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html
OMG.
rzemanfl
(29,566 posts)Maven
(10,533 posts)that Trump can't touch. It's a race against the clock really. I'm baffled that the Obama admin thought this was their only (or best) option.
still_one
(92,305 posts)about the "damning" evidence regarding the trump campaign and Russians, yet the media remained pretty quiet on the whole thing
Even now I don't see the rest of the media jumping on this as the huge story it is
This is the smoking gun, but what bothers me is the tone of the story at the same time kind of implies that it was just politics as usual
No it wasn't just politics as usual
uponit7771
(90,348 posts)... tried to backpage the story but they're part of the problem when it comes to Russia
still_one
(92,305 posts)NewRedDawn
(790 posts)Fucking Comey & The NY office with Ghouliani are involved deeply in the coup!
fountainofyouth
(409 posts)It's beyond question the Russians waged a covert campaign to disrupt the election, and it's highly probable that they tried to weaken Hillary as part of that disruption.
There's still not clear evidence that Trump's people were aware of the scope of Russian activities beyond what was publicly known, or that they coordinated their activities in any way. It's reasonable to suspect that that may have been the case, but we don't know and we might never really know.
still_one
(92,305 posts)fountainofyouth
(409 posts)Still not evidence of collusion beforehand
still_one
(92,305 posts)TV RT. Nothing to see here I am sure
fountainofyouth
(409 posts)It still doesn't give us anything except circumstantial evidence of campaign collusion during the election.
Maraya1969
(22,489 posts)I think her entire recount was a distraction. She knew where not to look and the others involved damaged
evidense
still_one
(92,305 posts)In Michigan Hillary lost by .3%. Stein received 1.1%. Similar results in Wisconsin, and the critical swing states. It definitely impacted the election
uponit7771
(90,348 posts)... to impeach they punk ass's and it doesn't even have to be illegal... just appear untoward
fountainofyouth
(409 posts)Which is not the same as honestly assessing what information we have to support the idea of collusion before the election. The evidence is circumstantial.
uponit7771
(90,348 posts)fountainofyouth
(409 posts)Guccifer 2.0, the GRU-created entity that hacked the DNC, was discovered by mid-June. The decision to hack would probably have been made sometime in May.
Trump clearly benefited from and simultaneously publicly downplayed the Russian hacks. It doesn't mean he was involved, though.
uponit7771
(90,348 posts)... and they hacked the steps pre invite don't exonerate Benedict Donald's collusion
NewRedDawn
(790 posts)Was just outed as one of the traitors talking to the Russkies during the campaign, then lying under oath at his confirmation that he or no one else of the Fascist regime had any contacts. If so innocent Why did Flynn & him lie? Throw in the refusal by Putins puppet to reveal his taxes, the appointment to the cabinet of Tillerson, Ross, Flynn. Mannafort Working for the Ukranian Putin Puppet. The removal of the Ukrainian offensive weapon aid out of the Putin Publican platform. I am sorry, Lot of smoking guns!
csziggy
(34,136 posts)Every one of those people have connections to Russia. Some were dumped by Trump when they became inconvenient, some have been disavowed by hime. Some have made it to cabinet status - and then dumped.
Most of the the list were involved with Trump and/or his campaign months ago - and they are not all that have been named as having links to Russia.
AS for whether they might have been involved with dirty tricks during the campaign, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone had a business assisting campaigns here and abroad. Some of those campaigns had the same pattern of mud slinging and targeted lies as was seen in the 2016 US Presidential campaign.
Jeff Nesbit
Updated: Aug 15, 2016 2:39 PM Eastern | Originally published: Aug 02, 2016
Whats more, three of Trumps top advisors all have extensive financial and business ties to Russian financiers, wrote Boot, the former editor of the Op Ed page of the Wall Street Journal and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Trumps de facto campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was a longtime consultant to Viktor Yanukovich, the Russian-backed president of Ukraine who was overthrown in 2014. Manafort also has done multimillion-dollar business deals with Russian oligarchs. Trumps foreign policy advisor Carter Page has his own business ties to the state-controlled Russian oil giant Gazprom. ... Another Trump foreign policy advisor, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, flew to Moscow last year to attend a gala banquet celebrating Russia Today, the Kremlins propaganda channel, and was seated at the head table near Putin.
http://time.com/4433880/donald-trump-ties-to-russia/
Theres Still Time for Senators to Examine Wilbur Ross and His Mysterious Russian-Controlled Bank in Cyprus
A study prepared exclusively for DCReport.org by James S. Henry reveals deep financial ties between Donald Trumps nominee for Commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, and three Russian oligarchs, whose lives and fortunes depend on staying in the good graces of Vladimir Putin.
https://www.dcreport.org/2017/02/25/another-cabinet-pick-with-secret-ties-to-putin-and-oligarchs/
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, MATTHEW ROSENBERG, ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO
JAN. 19, 2017
The F.B.I. investigation into Mr. Manafort began last spring, and was an outgrowth of a criminal investigation into his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine and for the countrys former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych. In August, The Times reported that Mr. Manaforts name had surfaced in a secret ledger that showed he had been paid millions in undisclosed cash payments. The Associated Press has reported that his work for Ukraine included a secret lobbying effort in Washington aimed at influencing American news organizations and government officials.
Mr. Stone, a longtime friend of Mr. Trumps, said in a speech in Florida last summer that he had communicated with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that published the hacked Democratic emails. During the speech, Mr. Stone predicted further leaks of documents, a prediction that came true within weeks.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0
There are reams of information proving links between Russia, Trump and his associates going back decades. There is definitely a smoking gun - denying it denies reality.
femmedem
(8,204 posts)ButSeeYa
(273 posts)Are filling in for Rachel tonight. They're talking Russia, Russia, Russia, and The NY Times piece that broke today. Not a word about the Trump "speech" last night.
triron
(22,009 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,018 posts)riversedge
(70,267 posts)Zo Zig
(600 posts)Is did the heavy lifting on yes story.
Release the Gorka!
(Been waiting to use that)
NCjack
(10,279 posts)NewRedDawn
(790 posts)Tie the noose around the bloated traitors neck.
Marthe48
(16,994 posts)Your effort to defend our country may save us from Russian rule because of traitor trump.
Amaryllis
(9,525 posts)thought they should have. I think there is more than just O didnt want to appear partisan. THis is just too important.