The Robert Mueller Investigation

[HOOK'EMHOOAH 1610]

On 8/5/2018 at 12:48 PM, sheeeit said:

Really?  You still think something will come out of this meeting?  Based on what?  Did you actually read the transcripts?

As usual you guys are so focused on gotcha that you just make yourselves look like fools.  

No one has ever said that the genesis of the meeting was not to get possible dirt on Hillary.  What everyone has said is that at the actual meeting, there was no dirt shared or offerred about Hillary and that the meeting went straight to Magnisky Act stuff and adoptions.  This is supported by the testimony of every participant in the meeting.  What do you expect Mueller to do with this?

Trump Jr. made an on the record statement back in July of 2017 saying the initial request for the meeting was to get possible dirt on Hillary.  This has been out there for a long time.  If you guys can find one single quote from Trump that indicates that he said the intent or genesis of the meeting was about adoptions then you might catch him in a lie.  Trump has only commented previously about the actual meeting and what went on.  

I would love for any one of you to come up with a theory of how this meeting will hurt Trump with Mueller.

It is alo still so funny to me that none of you can make any kind of answer out of the following:

If Trump and co have been compromised by Putin for so long through shady financial dealings and a dossier of blackmail material and direct ownership of Manafort and possibly Flynn and all of that that you guys apparently believe, then why would Putin reach out to Trump via an email that every intelligence guy in both Russia and the US knows will likely be captured from some unknown agent like Goldstone?  Why have them waltz into Trump Tower on various cameras?  It is the most illogical thing ever.  Why reach out to some underlings like Papa and Page?  

I don't think any of you can actually articulate what you actually think happened anymore.  It is just Trump and everyone around him is a traitor.  And it is based on exactly no credible public evidence.  None.  It is just Trump is going down and Mueller will get him.

I have posted 100s of times that I fully support Mueller and will be one of the first in line to call for impeachments if there is evidence that Trump committed crimes.  I have said that TRump should be impeached if he fired Mueller.  I like Rod Rosenstein.  I suspect that the vast majority of you will not accept the Mueller findings.  

 

 

 

You don't understand how conspiracy to commit fraud works do you?

It doesn't matter if money or goods ever exchanged hands. The mere fact that the parties attempted to make an exchange is illegal and constitutes the the conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States.

There is a lot more to this than just this one point however. Trump, his entire family, and his "the best people" have all engaged to cover up something much larger, which would likely be how much they were involved with the Russians and their now being open about this meeting g this would be indicative of that when the rest of trump's actions are examined, like calling on Russia to "find Hillary's emails," denouncing the entire IC of the US and our findings that conclude that Russia interfered with out election, trumps long history of financial ties with Russian oligarchs and financiers... the list goes on and on.

[atomheartbevo 90649]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Kind of off-topic, but I think the Russian people just tend to be this way.  They aren't far removed (100 years?) from basically serfdom and third or fourth world-ism.  It's why they're susceptible to totalitarian regimes.  It's a bit of chicken or egg.

The 40 and over crowd are old enough to remember when it could be dangerous to have an opinion on politics that differed from the official party line.

[yaqdum 182]

3 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

dangerous to have an opinion on politics that differed from the official party line

i think it is important to have as rounded a vision of an era as we can.  there have been numerous places in that part of the world that it was dangerous to be identified as having a variant opinion at some time or other.  this article talks about a portrait -- likely mary queen of scots -- that was painted-over with the portrait of a different notable scot after her execution.  apparently it would have been dangerous for the party in possession.  that was a squirrelly time to be alive.  in 1660 the sensible and even-tempered brits exhumed the body of ollie cromwell, tried it, found it guilty, and hanged it until dead.  presumably it didn't take long.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

Seems like there would be some political consequences if this were a democrat.

[J.R. 150]

1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Seems like there would be some political consequences if this were a democrat.

Lets not play the victims too much here.  Trump & Co are getting ground into dust on a daily basis, and rightfully so, by most sane media outlets.  It remains to be seen if there will be political consequences, but I am guessing this is at least not helping things.

[Celery Man 21098]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/secret-recording-shows-gop-s-nunes-saying-rosenstein-impeachment-would-n899031

video at the jump, Maddow with the tape of Nunes at a fundraiser describing why house republicans are waiting until after the Senate confirms Kavanaugh to impeach Rosenstein

[Gil Bang 26240]

Maddow is the best thing on  TV.  

It's noteworthy that Donnie Two-Scoops never, ever goes after her.  She'll cut a bitch, and he's a bitch. 

[WhatTheBuck 28929]

Someone should take care of Devin Nunes. 

[EuroHorn 3295]

15 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Maddow is the best thing on  TV.  

 

Haha!

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[triplehorn 2664]

It's not perjury if you tell the truth.

WaPo:

"Breaking: Judge holds Roger Stone associate in contempt for refusing to testify before grand jury in Russia investigation. Andrew Miller, a former aide to longtime Trump confidant Stone, had fought and lost a court battle to quash a subpoena from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to testify to the grand jury. Earlier this month, a judge issued a 93-page opinion saying Miller must testify. But prosecutors told the court Friday that Miller still refused to comply. This is a developing story and will be updated.] 

A witness in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation has refused to appear for scheduled grand jury testimony Friday, prompting a sealed hearing before a federal judge. 

Andrew Miller, a former aide to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, had fought and lost a court battle earlier this month to quash a subpoena, after a judge issued a 93-page opinion saying Miller must testify before the grand jury. 

Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit that is funding Miller’s legal fight, said Miller had refused to appear before the grand jury in response to a subpoena."

 

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

So he should be in jail now right?

[kevwun 16438]

So it's pretty obvious Miller can't answer any questions without incriminating himself and others or committing perjury.

[Pig Bellmont 8886]

If he already isn’t in jail, he will be soon. That or Roger Stone had him murdered/fled the country?

[WhatTheBuck 28929]

It's what innocent people do. Nope, no criminal conspiracy to see here. Move along, folks. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

GOP Operative Made "Suspicious" Cash Withdrawals During Pursuit Of Clinton Emails

Peter W. Smith withdrew $4,900 in cash the day after he finalized a plan to work with “dark web” hackers.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/peter-w-smith-hillary-clinton-emails-trump-flynn-money

In one of the most intriguing episodes of the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican activist Peter W. Smith launched an independent effort to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails to help defeat her and elect Donald Trump. His quest, which reportedly brought him into contact with at least two sets of hackers that he himself believed were Russian, remains a key focus of investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.

Now, BuzzFeed News has reviewed documents showing that FBI agents and congressional investigators have zeroed in on transactions Smith made right as his effort to procure Clinton’s emails heated up. Just a day after he finished a report suggesting he was working with Trump campaign officials, for example, he transferred $9,500 from an account he had set up to fund the email project to his personal account, later taking out more than $4,900 in cash. According to a person with direct knowledge of Smith’s project, the Republican operative stated that he was prepared to pay hackers “many thousands of dollars” for Clinton’s emails — and ultimately did so.

Smith is dead, and his lawyer, former business partner, and wife did not respond to numerous requests for an interview. The White House did not immediately return a message seeking comment, but the president has frequently denied colluding with Russia and denounced special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe as a partisan witch hunt. Smith said in a press interview that he was not part of the Trump campaign and was working independently.

The money trail, made public here for the first time, sheds new light on Smith’s effort, in which he told people he was in touch with both Russians on the dark web and Trump campaign officials — particularly Michael Flynn, who was then a top adviser to the Trump campaign and later served as national security adviser before having to resign after misleading White House officials about his meetings with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Intelligence agencies have given the FBI information that Russian hackers talked about passing Clinton’s emails to Flynn through a cutout, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the matter. It is not known if that cutout was in any way connected to Smith.

The Wall Street Journal, which spoke with Smith about 10 days before he killed himself last year, broke the story about his operation to obtain Clinton’s emails and his alleged connections to Flynn. Smith’s obsession with the Clintons dates back at least to the 1990s, when he spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to expose Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs. His attempt to procure Hillary Clinton’s emails apparently began in the summer of 2016, around the time Trump secured the Republican nomination.

Smith reached out to various people he thought could help track down or authenticate the emails Clinton had routed through a private server in her home. One of those people was Matt Tait, a former information security specialist in Britain’s spy agency GCHQ, who was writing publicly about a different email hack, that of the Democratic National Committee.

In a phone call in August, Smith told Tait that he believed Clinton’s private server had been hacked by the Russian government and others, and that a person from the dark web had contacted him, claiming to have some of Clinton’s emails. Smith wanted Tait to help verify the emails, something Tait said he refused to do.

As Labor Day approached, Smith assembled a group of people including experts in technology, lawyers, and even a Russian-speaking investigator to figure out how to obtain Clinton’s emails, according to the Journal. On the Friday before the Labor Day weekend, Smith incorporated a company called KLS Research. In a proposal Smith put together describing the effort to obtain the emails, he named the company as the “preferred vehicle” for the research into Clinton’s email, and Smith would tell Tait that KLS Research would also help “avoid campaign reporting.”

Smith and his longtime business partner, John Szobocsan, were the two signers for a bank account linked to KLS Research. The men were partners in other private equity ventures, and had known one another for decades. Tait wrote that Szobocsan joined at least one of the calls with Smith. Neither Szobocsan nor his lawyer returned detailed messages seeking comment.

Soon after Labor Day, Smith appears to have finished an operational plan, which included the names of top Trump campaign officials, some of whom have denied speaking with Smith anytime during the campaign. Smith’s report is dated Sept. 7.

The next day, Smith withdrew $9,500 from the KLS Research account and deposited it into his personal bank account, both held at Northern Trust. From there, Smith took out a little more than $4,900 in cash and sent checks to an accountant and an LLC controlled by a private real estate company. Later in September, Smith made withdrawals of $500 and $700 from KLS Research.

These transactions came to light after Northern Trust received a subpoena from the FBI for Smith’s records last December. The subpoena specifically sought information about the $9,500 withdrawal from KLS Research’s account.

After scouring nine accounts that Smith controlled, Northern Trust turned over documents showing 88 suspicious cash withdrawals totaling about $140,000 between January 2016 and April 2017, including a $3,000 withdrawal six days after the election. Northern Trust found these transactions suspicious because officials could not determine the purpose of the withdrawals and because some of them took place over the time Smith was engaged in his project to obtain Clinton’s emails. Many of the cash transactions, the bank noted, were less than $10,000, small enough not to trigger an automatic alert to the government. After receiving the subpoena, the bank sent a report to Treasury’s financial crimes unit, which shared its findings with the FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller, and Senate Intelligence Committee investigators.

By law, bankers must alert Treasury to transactions that bear hallmarks of money laundering or other financial misconduct. Such suspicious activity reports can support investigations and intelligence gathering — but by themselves they are not evidence of a crime, and many suspicious activity reports are filed on transactions that are perfectly legal.

A spokesperson for Northern Trust declined to comment.

Now, according to the three US law enforcement officials, Smith remains an important figure in the government's investigation. FBI and Senate Intelligence Committee investigators are trying to follow the money to learn whether Smith paid anyone connected with the Russian government. The FBI suspects Smith used some of the cash to fund his operation and paid hackers who provided him emails, according to two bureau sources who told BuzzFeed News that view is based on a close review of his banking activity and interviews with other people.

Separately, investigators working for special counsel Mueller have also interviewed people who Smith tried to recruit and others who worked on his operation to obtain Clinton’s emails, according to the three law enforcement sources and a fourth person with direct knowledge of the interviews. Mueller’s team has also tried to determine if Flynn assisted Smith in his operation, according to two FBI agents. They added that Smith’s suspicious financial transactions are key to that effort.

Flynn and his attorney did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment. Kelsey Pietranton, an FBI spokesperson, declined to comment, noting that it’s the bureau’s policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation. A spokesperson for Mueller’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

In a first-person account published on the website Lawfare last year, Tait, the former GCHQ information security officer, said he warned Smith about the Clinton email operation.

“If this dark web contact is a front for the Russian government, you really don’t want to play this game. But [Smith and Szobocsan] were not discouraged. They appeared to be convinced of the need to obtain Clinton’s private emails and make them public, and they had a reckless lack of interest in whether the emails came from a Russian cut-out,” he wrote. “I never found out who Smith’s contact on the ‘Dark Web’ was. It was never clear to me whether this person was merely someone trying to dupe Smith out of his money, or a Russian front, and it was never clear to me how they represented their own credentials to Smith.”

Smith, in his only press interview before he died, told the Journal that he and his team found five groups of hackers who claimed to have Clinton’s emails, including two groups he said were Russians.

Smith also told the newspaper that he never intended to pay for emails obtained by hackers — a contention the person with direct knowledge of Smith’s plan disputed, saying Smith did pay for what he was told were Clinton’s emails. This source also said that Smith purposely omitted any mention of paying hackers from his written plan for the operation.

Smith’s quest to find Clinton’s emails appears to have fizzled. He never released any of the email samples he reportedly received, because he could not verify them. About 10 days after being interviewed by the Journal, Smith went to a Minnesota hotel room and killed himself.

Investigators do not believe there was any foul play. They discovered that Smith had been in failing health and was concerned about an expiring life insurance policy. Inside his room, the Chicago Tribune reported, authorities discovered that Smith left behind carefully curated files and a receipt for an item used in the suicide.

[Anastasis 23718]

LOL @ 4900

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

16 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

LOL @ 4900

Yeah, but in cash? 

And this...

1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

After scouring nine accounts that Smith controlled, Northern Trust turned over documents showing 88 suspicious cash withdrawals totaling about $140,000 between January 2016 and April 2017, including a $3,000 withdrawal six days after the election. Northern Trust found these transactions suspicious because officials could not determine the purpose of the withdrawals and because some of them took place over the time Smith was engaged in his project to obtain Clinton’s emails. Many of the cash transactions, the bank noted, were less than $10,000, small enough not to trigger an automatic alert to the government. After receiving the subpoena, the bank sent a report to Treasury’s financial crimes unit, which shared its findings with the FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller, and Senate Intelligence Committee investigators.

Seems like this wasn’t his first rodeo.

NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER 

[Anastasis 23718]

16 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Yeah, but in cash? 

I am just laughing at the notion that our democracy is so fragile that 5k in cash can bring everything down. Clearly we need to pursue the external factors that have brought this upon us. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

It wasn’t just 5K.  There was also a Jesus vs Satan ad.

[Anastasis 23718]

15 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

It wasn’t just 5K.  There was also a Jesus vs Satan ad.

Insurmountable odds we face. Cheap political whores in combination with unthinking simpletons. 

[Gil Bang 26240]

Manafort has a quarter mil wired to the Yankees from Cyprus to pay for his season tickets. 

 

Wow. 

[Mojo Hand 4580]

59 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I am just laughing at the notion that our democracy is so fragile that 5k in cash can bring everything down. Clearly we need to pursue the external factors that have brought this upon us. 

It can't. This guy was unsuccessful and got scammed, apparently. 

[triplehorn 2664]

Mueller request signals Gates may still be cooperating

"Alexandria, Virginia (CNN)A court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller signals that Rick Gates may be assisting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election beyond the case against Paul Manafort.

In a filing Thursday, Mueller's team said it wanted to keep a discussion between trial attorneys and Judge T.S. Ellis regarding a question to Gates secret because the transcript of the conversation would "reveal details of the ongoing investigation."

When Gates pleaded guilty and flipped on Manafort in February, he also agreed to help the special counsel with its investigation into Russian election interference as he was needed."

 

Now, six months later, MSM reporting Gates' cooperation with Mueller includes Russian election interference.

scooby gang 6 mo ago:

 

[Gil Bang 26240]

https://medium.com/@ScottMStedman/energy-investment-group-claims-350m-capital-commitment-from-carter-page-after-2016-election-414fe7ce33e0?ICID=ref_fark

 

An investment company based in Las Vegas, with oil and gas interests in the Middle East claimed that they received a commitment of more than three hundred million dollars from Carter Page’s Global Energy Capital after Page’s involvement in the Trump campaign.

The investment company, RD Heritage Group, claimed on their website that they they secured a capital commitment of hundreds of millions of dollars from Page and his company:

“$350MM capital commitment by Global Energy Capital … an investment management and advisory firm focused on the energy sector primarily in emerging markets. Global Energy Capital was founded by Carter Page, CFA. Carter has spent 7 years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch in London, Moscow and New York…Carter was also a foreign policy advisor to Presidential candidate Donald Trump.”

It is unclear if Page ever actually followed through with his commitment. The exact timing of the alleged partnership between RD Heritage and Global Energy Capital is unknown, though it happened after Carter Page’s involvement with the Trump campaign.

In his November 2017 testimony to Congress, Page testified under oath that he had “no other income beyond [passive] investments” in 2016 and 2017. When asked to clarify his statements by Representative Swalwell, Page reiterated that he no clients in 2016 and 2017 and he had no income.

 

There's more to follow but the cut and paste got funky

[retread 2951]

 

[Js1 87182]

So now they'll be running out of people to bitch about

O/U 3 hours until Trump tweets he ordered the firing.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Js1

[retread 2951]

So many terrible precedents being set.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3872]

22 minutes ago, retread said:

So many terrible precedents being set.

Yeah.  This is a big deal for me.  Assuming my understanding of the events is correct (in other words, the right’s conspiracy theories about him are incorrect) this is a big politicizing of the FBI.  Your oath is to the president, not the constitution.  

[retread 2951]

Quote

Aitan Goelman, Strzok’s lawyer, said FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich ordered the firing on Friday — even though the director of the FBI office that normally handles employee discipline had decided Strzok should face only a demotion and 60-day suspension. Goelman said the move undercuts the FBI’s repeated assurances that Strzok would be afforded the normal disciplinary process.

“This isn’t the normal process in any way more than name,” Goelman said.

The FBI declined to comment.

 

[HenryJames 67364]

On 8/10/2018 at 6:20 PM, Anastasis said:

LOL @ 4900

Getting around the SAR.

[David Dennison 19542]

This is actually good news for Peter Strzok. He's going to make a butt ton of money in the private sector. Private security firms are all over the beltway area and they throw money at FBI special agents. I imagine former counter intelligence people do very well.

Edited August 13, 2018 by David Dennison

[wildcat09 29579]

On 8/10/2018 at 6:27 PM, Anastasis said:

I am just laughing at the notion that our democracy is so fragile that 5k in cash can bring everything down. Clearly we need to pursue the external factors that have brought this upon us. 

Republicans are extremely cheap whores.

[Chooky 13340]

20 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Republicans are extremely cheap whores.

[Anastasis 23718]

29 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Republicans are extremely cheap whores.

[Jiggy-Z 3509]

2 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

Republicans are extremely cheap whores.

I am beginning to think they are not.

We are seeing the systematic dismantling of decades worth of citizen protections in the name of profit along with heightened risk of nuclear war also in the name of profit.

Is it so difficult to believe that Russia interference could be a smoke screen and that this was an inside job? or have I OD'ed on Hugo.?

[atomheartbevo 90649]

8 hours ago, Js1 said:

So now they'll be running out of people to bitch about

He’s got somebody new to bitch about. He’ll probably blame Obama. 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/13/mueller-legitimate-court-ruling-774888?cid=apn

Quote

A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump ruled Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller's probe is constitutional and legitimate, rejecting an effort by a Russian company -- accused of financing a massive political influence operation in the United States -- to stamp out the ongoing investigation.

Judge Dabney Friedrich, who Trump appointed to the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C. last year, is the fourth judge to quash efforts to upend Mueller's legitimacy and cancel his investigation. Judges overseeing the two trials of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort -- D.C. judge Amy Berman Jackson and Eastern District of Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis -- rejected Manafort's bid to invalidate Mueller.

 

[retread 2951]

 

[Anastasis 23718]

^ Did any of his recommendations end up getting appointed?

[Gil Bang 26240]

 

[BrickHorn 18447]

31 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

 

To be fair, Stone considers “cocksucker” a compliment.  

[jimmyjazz 47199]

When my Dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, I said "I am so ready.  Let's get it on.  Prepare to die, fuckhead."

[Chad Fuck 18135]

54 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

 

Roger Stone is clearly a terrible person.  But damn if he doesn't bring the lulz.

[David Dennison 19542]

On 8/8/2018 at 3:06 PM, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Seems like there would be some political consequences if this were a democrat.

It speaks volumes about the character of Republican voters.

[retread 2951]

Defense just rested in Manafort trial without calling witnesses.

[wildcat09 29579]

21 minutes ago, retread said:

Defense just rested in Manafort trial without calling witnesses.

Get your pardon white man.

[Chad Fuck 18135]

Well that didn't take very long.

[Biff Tannen 46166]

53 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Roger Stone is clearly a terrible person.  But damn if he doesn't bring the lulz.

He's a full on comic book villain.

[Lurch 5950]

[Brisketexan 106899]

21 minutes ago, Lurch said:

 

Very good summary of the strategic picture behind the defense taking such a path.  Not all may apply here, but odds are that several of these reasons do apply.