The Robert Mueller Investigation

[burntorangebongos 10710]

Is it even possible to charge Nunes with interfering with justice or an active investigation?

[Pods 7552]

2 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

Is it even possible to charge Nunes with interfering with justice or an active investigation?

Yes, his privilege isn't absolute, but it's tricky. 

[burntorangebongos 10710]

This is the gray area of the seperation of powers, isn't it? If they keep fighting and come to an impasse, does this go to the supreme court to resolve?

Why won't Ryan fucking do his job and restrain Nunes? What is he getting out of letting him continue? Does he just want to watch the world burn since he couldn't run for re-election? Do those Cohen files have shit of the Rupublicann leadership that they are now going to help Trump, politics be damned? 

[SubliminalHorn 6794]

Ryan has no spine and is worried about the shit that is going to be rained upon him and his party once Mueller is done. It’s a futile effort, but he’s going to do and allow anything to delay the inevitable 

[triplehorn 2664]

11 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

Why won't Ryan fucking do his job and restrain Nunes? What is he getting out of letting him continue? Does he just want to watch the world burn since he couldn't run for re-election? Do those Cohen files have shit of the Rupublicann leadership that they are now going to help Trump, politics be damned? 

 

[Pods 7552]

16 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

This is the gray area of the seperation of powers, isn't it? If they keep fighting and come to an impasse, does this go to the supreme court to resolve?

Why won't Ryan fucking do his job and restrain Nunes? What is he getting out of letting him continue? Does he just want to watch the world burn since he couldn't run for re-election? Do those Cohen files have shit of the Rupublicann leadership that they are now going to help Trump, politics be damned? 

I thought the rumors that Ryan was implicated were lunacy when I first heard them, but his actions have been consistent with it since. At a minimum, he's trying to cover for a much larger GOP involvement. It defies all other expectations of self-preservation. He's going to be a villain in the history books. McConnell is too.

Thank God Richard Burr has so far done his job as one of the adults in the room. 

[Gil Bang 25960]

I thought the rumors that Ryan was implicated were lunacy when I first heard them, but his actions have been consistent with it since. At a minimum, he's trying to cover for a much larger GOP involvement. It defies all other expectations of self-preservation. He's going to be a villain in the history books. McConnell is too.
Thank God Richard Burr has so far done his job as one of the adults in the room. 

I agree wholeheartedly about Burr.

[Dolemite 143]

Russian Collusion Trial Is on - Mueller May Be the First Casualty

 

Quote

McCarthy called Mueller’s entire indictment an “unforced error.” “One thing you never want to do is to indict in a case that you’re not prepared to try,” McCarthy said.

Mueller requested a delay for Wednesday’s hearing and claimed Concord had not been properly served notice.“Until the Court has an opportunity to determine if Concord was properly served, it would be inadvisable to conduct an initial appearance and arraignment at which important rights will be communicated and a plea entertained,” Mueller’s lawyers filed in federal court.

But Concord opposed the motion. “The Special Counsel is not entitled to special rules and is required like the Attorney General to follow the rules of the Court,” Dubelier stated in his response to Mueller.

U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich agreed with Concord and rejected Mueller’s request for a delay in the trial without comment, which led to Wednesday’s arraignment.

Concord wants a “speedy trial” as provided by federal law, the company’s lawyers also repeated Wednesday. The case will resume July 9.

 

 

 

 

http://thegoldwater.com/news/25836-Russian-Collusion-Trial-Is-on-Mueller-May-Be-the-First-Casualty

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by Dolemite

[David Dennison 18860]

Yeah, that really doesn't matter all that much.

[TwiceHorn 31480]

It is still a bit confounding for a guy with an apparent reputation for dotting i's and crossing t's. 

 

I am going to assume that someone on team Mueller is getting excoriated. He definitely has that reputation. 

Edited May 13, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[Tuco 5076]

Bloomberg lists them as a company and includes a link to there website. Nice looking food on their website, but it’s all in Russian. My guess this is a question of having an entity set up under multiple layers to avoid transparency on ownership. There was a pornshop in Lincoln that fucked around with City Council for a few years by playing that game. It’s great at slowing things down - complicating the paperwork- but doesn’t materially change the case.

[Equinox 95]

7 hours ago, Dolemite said:

Russian Collusion Trial Is on - Mueller May Be the First Casualty

 

 

 

 

http://thegoldwater.com/news/25836-Russian-Collusion-Trial-Is-on-Mueller-May-Be-the-First-Casualty

 

Mueller done fucked up.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

3 minutes ago, Equinox said:

Mueller done fucked up.

[TwiceHorn 31480]

I re-read the Russian indictment.  I suppose indicting corporations is unusual, but it is kind of odd that they didn't name the corporate defendants with the usual specificity, ie X Corp is a corporation existing under the laws of the state of _______________, etc.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

The indictment on the Russians was more of a public service to increase awareness of what the Russians were actually doing.  It’s was a public outing that went beyond the IC report that came out a year ago that also specifically called out the Internet Research Agency.

All the Russians named in the indictment probably got fucking medals and sports cars back in Moscow.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Hugo Stiglitz

[HornPhD 1368]

6 hours ago, Tuco said:

Bloomberg lists them as a company and includes a link to there website. Nice looking food on their website, but it’s all in Russian. My guess this is a question of having an entity set up under multiple layers to avoid transparency on ownership. There was a pornshop in Lincoln that fucked around with City Council for a few years by playing that game. It’s great at slowing things down - complicating the paperwork- but doesn’t materially change the case.

One of the translated pages indicates the company has been around for 19 years

 

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by HornPhD

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

That slimy bastard was supposed to recuse himself, given that he was part of trumptards team. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

This is a really good article on the basics of money laundering.  It’s long so I’m not going to paste but it’s worth it.

https://www.wired.com/story/if-trump-is-laundering-russian-money-heres-how-it-works

[Dolemite 143]

1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The indictment on the Russians was more of a public service to increase awareness of what the Russians were actually doing.  It’s was a public outing that went beyond the IC report that came out a year ago that also specifically called out the Internet Research Agency.

All the Russians named in the indictment probably got fucking medals and sports cars back in Moscow.

Maybe some of that uranium money.

[Dolemite 143]

Robert Mueller Has Been Botching Investigations Since The Anthrax Attacks

 

Quote

Mystery surrounds Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russia and President Trump. Some think he is the ultimate professional, others that he is a Democrat lackey, still others maintain he is working on Trump’s side.

We can see how he works if we look at how Mueller ran his second-most important investigation as FBI Director. In September of 2001, an entity began mailing anthrax through the US Postal system, hitting such prominent targets as NBC and Senator Daschle’s office. The terrorist attacks killed five and left others hospitalized. The world panicked.

 

Under Mueller’s management, the FBI launched an investigation lasting ten years. They now brag about spending “hundreds of thousands of investigator hours on this case.” Let’s take a closer look at Mueller’s response to understand the context of the investigation — who his people investigated, targeted, and found guilty.

The anthrax letters began just a week after the 9/11 attack. While planning the airplane hijackings, Al-Qaeda had been weaponizing anthrax, setting up a lab in Afghanistan manned by Yazid Sufaat, the same man who housed two of the 9/11 hijackers. Two hijackers later sought medical help due to conditions consistent with infection via anthrax: Al Haznawi went to the emergency room for a skin lesion which he claimed was from “bumping into a suitcase,” and ringleader Mohamed Atta needed medicine for “skin irritation.” A team of bioterrorism experts from Johns Hopkins confirmed that anthrax was the most likely cause of the lesion. Meanwhile, the 9/11 hijackers were also trying to obtain crop-dusting airplanes.

So how did Mueller’s investigative team handle the case?

Trump-Russia: Not Mueller's First Botched Investigation

Quote

Controversy surrounds Robert Mueller and his investigation into the Trump-Russia collusion mirage.  Some maintain that he is the ultimate professional dedicated to following the truth, but others say he is a political hack.

There is no need to wonder about how Mueller operates.  His history has made it quite clear.  One needs only to study his actions as FBI director when he managed the FBI's most important investigation ever.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/01/trumprussia_not_muellers_first_botched_investigation.html

[Francisco 2.0 32395]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-aides-plan-to-stop-leaks-spy-on-his-co-workers

Quote

A former National Security Council official now working for Attorney General Jeff Sessions explored ways to surreptitiously monitor the communications of White House staff for leaks or perceived political disloyalty to Donald Trump, according to three former Trump NSC officials familiar with the effort. 

Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whom former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn brought onto the NSC as senior director for intelligence, sought technical solutions in early 2017 for collecting and analyzing phone and other data on White House colleagues for interactions with reporters. He portrayed his desired leak hunt as an “insider threat” detection effort, according to the ex-officials. Those who heard of it presumed it would focus on NSC staffers held over from the Obama administration. 

It is unknown whether Cohen-Watnick’s efforts actually resulted in any monitoring program. The former officials noted the overwhelming technical and legal hurdles to doing so. One called it “wholly inappropriate” for Cohen-Watnick, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, to do anything of the sort, considering it a blatant attempt at intimidating his colleagues. Another, who agreed the proposed effort was inappropriate, likened it to a “Keystone Cop thing.” 

“This seemed designed to intimidate rather than protect national security,” said a different ex-NSC official familiar with the proposal.

Quote

Some staffers considered Cohen-Watnick’s insider-threat focus ironic, considering that Cohen-Watnick himself reportedly played a role in a Trump White House effort to leak intelligence reports to Devin Nunes, the House intelligence committee chairman. Nunes then subsequently used the reports in a failed attempt to reinforce Trump’s baseless accusation that Barack Obama had placed his camp under surveillance. Cohen-Watnick’s attorney, Mark Zaid, has denied Cohen-Watnick’s involvement in the March 2017 “unmasking” Nunes episode.

In a statement to The Daily Beast, Zaid said that Cohen-Watnick was involved in discussions about implementing a Barack Obama-era insider threat program, but denied that it either came to fruition or that discussions of it sprawled beyond protecting classified information.

“Ezra worked along with numerous others within the NSC and IC [intelligence community] to facilitate implementation of the Obama Executive Order on insider threats that was issued in the wake of Edward Snowden's illegal theft and disclosures,” said Zaid, who also represents The Daily Beast, and this reporter specifically, in Freedom-of-Information-Act litigation.

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

1 hour ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Ezra Cohen-Watnick,

The Keyser Soze of the Trump administration.

The dude is a black box of nothing good.

[AUinHsv 579]

It sounded like they brought back the Plumbers - shades of Nixon again.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

FBI agents working for special counsel Robert Mueller allegedly detained a lawyer with ties to Russia who is closely associated with Joseph Mifsud, the shadowy professor who claimed during the election that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.

The revelation was made in a book co-written by that lawyer, Stephan Roh, and set to be published next month. “The Faking of RUSSIA-GATE: The Papadopoulos Case” is the latest in a stream of books aiming to capitalize on the chaos of this political moment. But it sheds new light on the expansive nature of Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference and possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign team and Moscow. It also highlights Mueller’s interest in answering one of the probe’s biggest outstanding questions: whether the campaign knew in advance that Russia planned to interfere in the election.

Mifsud is one of several key figures among a complicated cast of characters shaping the Russia probe. In the spring of 2016, Mifsud told a young Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, that Russia had “dirt” on Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to the special counsel’s statement of the offense against Papadopoulos, who was indicted for misleading federal agents about his conversations with Mifsud. Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee months earlier, and would soon break into Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s inbox. It is still not clear how Mifsud seemed to know in advance that Russia sought to compromise Clinton’s candidacy.

The lawyer allegedly questioned by Mueller’s team, Stephan Roh, is a German multimillionaire with ties to Russia. He hired Mifsud as a “business-development consultant” in 2015, and is Mifsud’s “partner and best friend” and “the money behind him,” Papadopoulos’s wife, Simona Mangiante, who worked for Mifsud briefly, told me. Roh’s wife is Olga Roh, a Russian fashion designer who appeared on the British reality TV show Meet the Russians. He’s also in the nuclear-energy business: He acquired a small British nuclear consulting firm from scientist Dr. John Harbottle in 2005, according to the BBC, and invited Harbottle on an all-expenses paid trip to Moscow shortly thereafter, Harbottle told the outlet. Harbottle declined the offer because he “smelt a rat,” he said, and was then fired. Within three years, Severnvale Nuclear Services’ turnover went from under $100,000 to $44 million, per the BBC.

Roh intersected with Mifsud at two institutions: the now-defunct London Academy of Diplomacy and Link Campus University, a private institution in Rome that Roh co-owns, and where Mifsud taught briefly. In April 2016, Mifsud and Roh spoke on a panel together at the Kremlin-backed Valdai Club—a think tank that is close to President Vladimir Putin and hosts him every year for a keynote address. The club is described in the book as “one of the most influential Russian think tanks in Moscow, maybe even the most prestigious.”

Roh and his co-author Thierry Pastor, who also knows Mifsud, write in the book that, upon arriving in New York City with his family in October 2017, “one of the co-authors” was “fished from the passport control” line at John F. Kennedy airport while his family “was retained with armed police force.” (Photos posted by Roh’s wife on social media in October 2017 suggest she was visiting New York in late October.) He was then interrogated for “hours,” they write, by “a team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigating Russia-Gate.” The book alleges that he and his family were then “observed, followed, and taped, at every moment and every place in New York” by the FBI and that his family was assigned to “special rooms at the hotel” while security personnel “patrolled the corridors.”

It is unclear whether Roh was actually surveilled after being interviewed—a spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment. The book further alleges that Mifsud is not a Russian spy but is actually “deeply embedded in the network of Western Intelligence Services.” Papadopoulos, too, is a “western intelligence operative,” the authors assert, who was “placed” in the Trump campaign by the FBI. In that sense, the book is similar to one written recently by another obscure player detained and questioned by Mueller’s team earlier this year: Ted Malloch, a controversial London-based academic with ties to Trump associates Roger Stone and Nigel Farage. In his book The Plot to Destroy Trump: How the Deep State Fabricated the Russia Dossier to Subvert the President, Malloch argues that the apparent covert intelligence activity connected to the Trump campaign was not Russian, but Western.

Roh and Pastor’s prevailing thesis is that Papadopoulos’s “mission” was to bring Trump into contact with Russian officials. “That’s nuts,” Papadopoulos’s wife Mangiante told me in response to the book’s theory. “From ‘coffee boy’ to spy … George has been upgraded!” she joked, referring to the Trump campaign’s claim that Papadopoulos, a young energy consultant who joined the Trump campaign in March 2016, was so low-level that he was basically a “coffee boy.”

Papadopoulos was indicted in October for lying to federal agents about his contact with Mifsud and is now cooperating with Mueller’s investigation. He landed on the FBI’s radar after he drunkenly told an Australian diplomat in May 2016, one month after meeting with Mifsud, that Russia had dirt on Clinton, according to The New York Times. The diplomat purportedly relayed the details of his conversation with Papadopoulos to Australian government officials, who in turn flagged it to the U.S. government shortly after news surfaced that the DNC had been hacked. Papadopoulos’s inadvertent disclosure, combined with the massive data breach, is apparently what triggered the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.

According to the book, Mueller interviewed another Mifsud associate in the summer of 2017: Ivan Timofeev, a program director at a Russian government-funded think tank who Mueller described in court filings as “connected to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Mifsud connected Timofeev to Papadopoulos by email in the spring of 2016, according to the filings. Over lunch earlier this year, the book says, Timofeev described being stopped by the FBI at JFK in “mid-2017” and questioned about his relationship with Papadopoulos, the DNC hacks, and about the “thousands of emails with dirt on Hillary Clinton.” His cellphone and laptop were seized, too. Timofeev told the FBI that Papadopoulos “put forth the idea of a possible visit to Russia by Mr. Trump or his team members,” but that such a meeting never materialized. He told Papadopoulos that he was awaiting “an official request from the Donald Trump Campaign,” according to the authors.

Mifsud has virtually disappeared since his name was made public late last year. In their book, Roh and Pastor say that “the head of the Italian secret services contacted the President of LINK Campus, Vincenzo Scotti,” and recommended that Mifsud “disappear.” Since then, Mifsud “has been requested to hide, not to communicate, and not to speak to the press,” Roh and Pastor write. “He has been ‘put away’ and threatened to stay quiet.”

Edited May 14, 2018 by Hugo Stiglitz

[jimmyjazz 45958]

"americanthinker.com"

Can't get any more objective than that.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

IMO mysterious sudden “suicides” that involve people wrapped up in events that involve a whole lot of money and power are either staged where the killer is someone who knows how to make it look like a suicide, or the victim is given a choice of committing suicide, or else in the alternative if they won’t agree to the other options their family or loved ones (whoever that may be) gets it much much worse (and then they are killed anyway).  Nobody would choose option 3 so instead they commit “suicide.”

Been going on forever. Nothing new under the sun. 

[NWBuck 8568]

16 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

IMO mysterious sudden “suicides” that involve people wrapped up in events that involve a whole lot of money and power are either staged where the killer is someone who knows how to make it look like a suicide, or the victim is given a choice of committing suicide, or else in the alternative if they won’t agree to the other options their family or loved ones (whoever that may be) gets it much much worse (and then they are killed anyway).  Nobody would choose option 3 so instead they commit “suicide.”

Been going on forever. Nothing new under the sun. 

 

[Tuco 5076]

IMO mysterious sudden “suicides” that involve people wrapped up in events that involve a whole lot of money and power are either staged where the killer is someone who knows how to make it look like a suicide, or the victim is given a choice of committing suicide, or else in the alternative if they won’t agree to the other options their family or loved ones (whoever that may be) gets it much much worse (and then they are killed anyway).  Nobody would choose option 3 so instead they commit “suicide.”
Been going on forever. Nothing new under the sun. 

In Peter Smith’s case the leading theory was that he was dying of cancer, and there was a life insurance motivation for killing himself. He went with asphyxiation by helium in a hotel near the hospital, with his insurance papers laid out. (I hope he tipped the maid well.) If it was staged to look like suicide, it was done exceptionally well. That being said, there was little interest in it at the time, so there was practically no investigation.

[JimmyJames 12271]

6 minutes ago, Tuco said:

 

In Peter Smith’s case the leading theory was that he was dying of cancer, and there was a life insurance motivation for killing himself. He went with asphyxiation by helium in a hotel near the hospital, with his insurance papers laid out. (I hope he tipped the maid well.) If it was staged to look like suicide, it was done exceptionally well. That being said, there was little interest in it at the time, so there was practically no investigation.

 

Sounds like an orgy of “evidence.” The note and the insurance papers laid out is just fucking weird.

More importantly, If he was dying of cancer anyway why kill yourself for the life insurance money? Ain’t no cancer exclusion. Needed to pay for that upcoming vacation soon?

Looks to me like someone might have hired the “B” team. 

[FUBAR 4]

14 minutes ago, Tuco said:

 

In Peter Smith’s case the leading theory was that he was dying of cancer, and there was a life insurance motivation for killing himself. He went with asphyxiation by helium in a hotel near the hospital, with his insurance papers laid out. (I hope he tipped the maid well.) If it was staged to look like suicide, it was done exceptionally well. That being said, there was little interest in it at the time, so there was practically no investigation.

 

So, he died sounding like Donald Duck?

[sheeeit 129]

30 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

Sounds like an orgy of “evidence.” The note and the insurance papers laid out is just fucking weird.

More importantly, If he was dying of cancer anyway why kill yourself for the life insurance money? Ain’t no cancer exclusion. Needed to pay for that upcoming vacation soon?

Looks to me like someone might have hired the “B” team. 

Jesus.  Most people not like you and Hugo and crew do not live this stuff 24/7.  This guy had 1000 other things going in his life and I doubt he even remembered the email stuff at the end.  And yea, i cant imagine why anyone would not want to die a slow and excruciatingly painful death by inoperable cancer.  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

9 minutes ago, sheeeit said:

Jesus.  Most people not like you and Hugo and crew do not live this stuff 24/7.  This guy had 1000 other things going in his life and I doubt he even remembered the email stuff at the end.  And yea, i cant imagine why anyone would not want to die a slow and excruciatingly painful death by inoperable cancer.  

You come around here about once or twice a week and sheeit all over.  You got anything other than deflection and denial?  It’s pretty clear to 70% or so of us this morherfucker is a crook.  Are you daft?  Ulterior motives?  Just asking questions.

[JimmyJames 12271]

13 minutes ago, sheeeit said:

Jesus.  Most people not like you and Hugo and crew do not live this stuff 24/7.  This guy had 1000 other things going in his life and I doubt he even remembered the email stuff at the end.  And yea, i cant imagine why anyone would not want to die a slow and excruciatingly painful death by inoperable cancer.  

So he chooses to die by asphyxiation due to helium? Sounds like real hoot.

maybe it’s just me, but a guy with connections to Flynn and the Russians commits suicide a few days after talking to the Washington post with a note that basically says “This Is a Suicide!” You believe whatever you want to believe but I’m skeptical.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

1 hour ago, Tuco said:

 

In Peter Smith’s case the leading theory was that he was dying of cancer, and there was a life insurance motivation for killing himself. He went with asphyxiation by helium in a hotel near the hospital, with his insurance papers laid out. (I hope he tipped the maid well.) If it was staged to look like suicide, it was done exceptionally well. That being said, there was little interest in it at the time, so there was practically no investigation.

 

Yeah, a lynchpin in the greatest international criminal conspiracy of all time committing suicide just after he haphazardly tells the WSJ he was in contact with both Russian hackers and the Trump campaign?

There’s no reason anyone should suspect anything.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

2 minutes ago, Purgatory County said:

Hi judge.

 

2 minutes ago, Purgatory County said:

Hi judge.

That can’t be you, you’re talking in complete coherent sentences. If it is, you still out in LA?  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

it’s been a damned long ride from there to here.  

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

For the record, I’m still highly skeptical on this “suicide”... This guy had everything going for him with kids.

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article166516317.html

 He specialized in passport crimes and lived/worked in Russian mafia oligarch central.

His death occurred just after Comey was fired.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

And there’s a boatload of shit to fill in.  Whew.  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

FYI Hugo I was speaking at Purgatory. But yeah your’re.right.  

[JimmyJames 12271]

From a Chicago Tribune article on smiths death:

Police said that because they did not suspect foul play, they had not viewed any security video from the Walmart store to confirm that Smith bought the tanks himself.

Nice detective work there Lou

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-peter-smith-death-met-0713-20170713-story.html

[Tuco 5076]

Sounds like an orgy of “evidence.” The note and the insurance papers laid out is just fucking weird.
More importantly, If he was dying of cancer anyway why kill yourself for the life insurance money? Ain’t no cancer exclusion. Needed to pay for that upcoming vacation soon?
Looks to me like someone might have hired the “B” team. 

My recollection is that there was some benefit that was about to expire. This was a multimillion dollar thing that execs of large corporations get in part to protect the organizations they own and run. It’s still bizarre to me that someone would choose money over time. It’s not like his family was going to be destitute. At that wealth level, it’s basically a question of how many horses you have in the stable. I wouldn’t trade a moment with my wife and daughter for the meaningless trinkets the insurance would buy. But people are stupid, so who knows.

Death by helium apparently is a common recommendation for right to die folks. (Who wants to bet this guy made political hay off of Terry Schiavo?)

Cops don’t investigate every death. I’ve been there when the coroner came to investigate my father in laws death. It was about a five minute look at the body.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

I can almost guarantee you the FBI looked into Peter Smith’s death very closely.

It would be negligent not to.

[triplehorn 2664]

is there an easier way fake a suicide for murder than helium asphyxiation ?  Easier than forcible overdose, gunshot, and cleaner than hanging/choking out.

receipts/video for the purchase of various supplies would be sufficient to prove suicidal intent.

Like the Lesin bludgeon murder in the DC hotel likely at the hands of Putin goons, it was initially reported as something unrelated to malice or involvement of others.

[Tuco 5076]

is there an easier way fake a suicide for murder than helium asphyxiation ?  Easier than forcible overdose, gunshot, and cleaner than hanging/choking out.
receipts/video for the purchase of various supplies would be sufficient to prove suicidal intent.

Without any kind of bruising or restraint marks? With the risk of him yelling out in a hotel room? Yeah, I think there are easier ways to kill someone and make it look like a suicide.

Most likely, he killed himself for the reasons given. The insurance status and medical conditions are likely things the FBI/Mueller could have verified by now.

Considerably less likely is he killed himself under duress. Maybe someone said he would die in prison having shamed his family. Maybe someone threatened violence on his family.

The least likely possibility is that someone killed him and made it look like suicide. In that scenario, I imagined they poisoned him and then brought in the helium stuff to make it look like an “obvious “ suicide which would not merit a toxicology.

[triplehorn 2664]

There may be easier ways to kill someone, but the point being, murder death by helium asphyxiation can be done with virtually no outward signs of the presence of others.  How you arrange for the timing, execution, silencing of a victim under various circumstances I'll leave to the contract killers to explain.  The thing about helium suicide is that it's unconventional.  There should be a conspicuous paper trail to obtain the tanks and supplies in advance.  I'd expect there to be an examination of web search history, books, or other signs of research for methods to commit suicide.

Even if he had 2-6 months to live due to cancer, based on his direct knowledge and involvement, living 2 more weeks may have represented an unacceptable risk for someone at that time.

I was fine when it was initially reported as a suicide without any details as to means.  When it was weeks or months later that the method was Helium asphyxiation,  I cursed aloud.  Probably not a murder, but way too much room to not take a closer look, and should be fairly easy to confirm as a suicide.  And now we learn no one actually took a close look, under all the active circumstances ?

Edited May 15, 2018 by triplehorn

[TwiceHorn 31480]

1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

I can almost guarantee you the FBI looked into Peter Smith’s death very closely.

It would be negligent not to.

You attribute a lot of competence to the FBI that it doesn't necessarily deserve.  Also, murder is one of the few crimes where there isn't almost complete overlap with state authorities.

[Brian Fantana 6689]

43 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

The thing about helium suicide is that it's unconventional.  There should be a conspicuous paper trail to obtain the tanks and supplies in advance. 

Uhhhh what makes you think there would be a paper trail of any kind? You can just go buy a balloon kit at Walmart or Target. There's nothing conspicuous about any of the supplies needed to pull this off.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Well I’ve reached the end of my reality then.  Hope shit is better for you than back then.  Myself, well,  I’ve managed to outrun the policce and the Hays brothers.  Spacely Sprockets.