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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. Allies Conduct Intelligence Operation Against Trump White House, Intercepted Communications
As part of intelligence operations being conducted against the United States for the last seven months, at least one Western European ally intercepted a series of communications before the inauguration between advisers associated with President Donald Trump and Russian government officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
The sources said the intercepted communications are not just limited to telephone calls: The foreign agency is also gathering electronic and human source information on Trumps overseas business partners, at least some of whom the intelligence services now consider to be agents of their respective governments. These operations are being conducted out of concerns that Russia is seeking to manipulate its relationships with Trump administration officials as part of a long-term plan to destabilize the NATO alliance.
Moreover, a Baltic nation is gathering intelligence on officials in the Trump White House and executives with the presidents company, the Trump Organization, out of concern that an American policy shift toward Russia could endanger its sovereignty, according to a third person with direct ties to that nations government.
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Of equal concern to our allies is Trumps business partner in the Philippines, who is also the special representative to Washington of that countrys president, Rodrigo Duterte. This government official, Jose E.B. Antonio, is the head of Century Properties, which in turn is a partner with the presidents business in the construction of Trump Tower at Century City in Makati, Philippines. According to people with direct knowledge of the situation, a European intelligence service has obtained the contracts and other legal documents in the deal between the Trump Organization and Antonio. That deal has already resulted in large payments to Trumps business, with millions of dollars more on the wayall coming from an agent of the Philippine president.
The financial relationship between an American president and the Philippine government comes at a time when the historic alliance between the West and the Southeast Asian country is under great stress. Since the election last year of Duterte, a campaign of slaughter has gripped the Philippines, with death squads murdering thousands of suspected drug users in the streets. The carnage, which intelligence officials have concluded is being conducted with Dutertes involvement, has been condemned throughout the Western world; the Parliament of the European Union and two United Nations human rights experts have urged Duterte to end the massacre.
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These operations reflect a serious breakdown in the long-standing faith in the direction of American policy by some of the countrys most important allies. Worse, the United States is now in a situation that may be unprecedentedwhere European governments know more about what is going on in the executive branch than any elected American official. To date, the Republican-controlled Congress has declined to conduct hearings to investigate the links between Trumps overseas business partners and foreign governments, or the activities between Russia and officials in the Trump campaign and administrationthe very areas being examined by the intelligence services of at least two American allies.
The sources said the intercepted communications are not just limited to telephone calls: The foreign agency is also gathering electronic and human source information on Trumps overseas business partners, at least some of whom the intelligence services now consider to be agents of their respective governments. These operations are being conducted out of concerns that Russia is seeking to manipulate its relationships with Trump administration officials as part of a long-term plan to destabilize the NATO alliance.
Moreover, a Baltic nation is gathering intelligence on officials in the Trump White House and executives with the presidents company, the Trump Organization, out of concern that an American policy shift toward Russia could endanger its sovereignty, according to a third person with direct ties to that nations government.
...................................................................................................................
Of equal concern to our allies is Trumps business partner in the Philippines, who is also the special representative to Washington of that countrys president, Rodrigo Duterte. This government official, Jose E.B. Antonio, is the head of Century Properties, which in turn is a partner with the presidents business in the construction of Trump Tower at Century City in Makati, Philippines. According to people with direct knowledge of the situation, a European intelligence service has obtained the contracts and other legal documents in the deal between the Trump Organization and Antonio. That deal has already resulted in large payments to Trumps business, with millions of dollars more on the wayall coming from an agent of the Philippine president.
The financial relationship between an American president and the Philippine government comes at a time when the historic alliance between the West and the Southeast Asian country is under great stress. Since the election last year of Duterte, a campaign of slaughter has gripped the Philippines, with death squads murdering thousands of suspected drug users in the streets. The carnage, which intelligence officials have concluded is being conducted with Dutertes involvement, has been condemned throughout the Western world; the Parliament of the European Union and two United Nations human rights experts have urged Duterte to end the massacre.
...........................................................................................
These operations reflect a serious breakdown in the long-standing faith in the direction of American policy by some of the countrys most important allies. Worse, the United States is now in a situation that may be unprecedentedwhere European governments know more about what is going on in the executive branch than any elected American official. To date, the Republican-controlled Congress has declined to conduct hearings to investigate the links between Trumps overseas business partners and foreign governments, or the activities between Russia and officials in the Trump campaign and administrationthe very areas being examined by the intelligence services of at least two American allies.
http://www.newsweek.com/allies-intercept-russia-trump-adviser-communications-557283
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U.S. Allies Conduct Intelligence Operation Against Trump White House, Intercepted Communications (Original Post)
ehrnst
Feb 2017
OP
MineralMan
(146,338 posts)1. Oopsie...they can release whatever they want, too.
This could be very interesting. With more than one agency having the information, the possibility of disclosure grows.
I'll be on the edge of my seat.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)2. The big reveal: His overseas business connections with foreign leaders
We may not need him to release his taxes for us to find out the damning emoluments clause violations.