kpete

kpete's Journal

March 3, 2017

Kislyak just somehow keeps turning up everywhere Trump and his gang turn up.

https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/837409097439903745

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Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak (C) arrives before US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of the US Congress on 28 February 2017 in Washington DCBrendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

March 3, 2017

US Senate calls on British spy Christopher Steele to give evidence on explosive Trump-Russia dossier

US Senate calls on British spy Christopher Steele to give evidence on explosive Trump-Russia dossier
Exclusive: Republicans and Democrats in Congress keen to facilitate discreet meetings in the UK or on neutral territory, as pressure grows on President

Christopher Steele, the former MI6 spy who prepared the explosive Trump report, has been approached about testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the new President’s alleged links with Russia, The Independent can reveal.

Mr Steele’s friends say it is currently unlikely he would be willing to travel to the US. But it is understood Democrats – as well as some Republicans – in Congress are prepared to facilitate discreet initial meetings in the UK or on other neutral territory.

John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent an intermediary to London in November last year to collect Mr Steele’s dossier, which was subsequently passed personally by the Senator to FBI director James Comey.

MORE:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-russia-christopher-steele-dossier-us-senate-intelligence-hotel-british-spy-mi6-evidence-a7608456.html

March 3, 2017

Sessions last yr on Clinton: "She can't go under oath & just make statements that aren't true.."

https://twitter.com/chrismassie/status/837507214877278208

March 3, 2017

Keith Ellison isn't just calling for Sessions' resignation, he's bringing up jail time

https://twitter.com/gdebenedetti/status/837328812715175936

https://congressionalblackcaucus.com/keith-ellison-suggests-jail-time-for-jeff-sessions/

March 3, 2017

Heartbroken Russian Ambassador Thought Special Meetings With Jeff Sessions Were Very Memorable

FROM THE ONION:

WASHINGTON—Expressing surprise and sadness at Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ repeated denials of contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign, heartbroken Ambassador Sergey Kislyak told reporters Thursday that he thought his special meetings with the then–Alabama senator were actually very memorable. “To be honest, our two conversations hold great significance for me, and I can’t help but be upset to learn that Jeff felt otherwise,” said the tearful Russian diplomat, adding that he simply could not believe that Sessions could so nonchalantly dismiss the many hours they spent discussing the intimate details of their lives, including their innermost hopes and fears for their respective countries. “It really hurts to think that Jeff doesn’t cherish the afternoons we spent sitting in his office exchanging information about everything under the sun. These were some of the most meaningful discussions of my life, and Jeff’s writing them off like they didn’t even happen. How could he be so cruel?” Kislyak went on to say that even his subsequent communications with former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn never for a moment made him forget the precious time he and Sessions spent together.

http://www.theonion.com/article/heartbroken-russian-ambassador-thought-special-mee-55432

March 2, 2017

Top Dem on House Intel opens Pandora's Box today. The FBI withheld info from Gang of 8

The top Democrat on House Intel opened a Pandora's Box today. The FBI withheld information from the Gang of Eight?

http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/gang-eight-properly-briefed-russia

March 2, 2017

TPM: The CIA & FBI Knew There Were Problems w Trump Well Before 2016

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/837420163716820992

ByJOSH MARSHALLPublishedMARCH 2, 2017, 4:41 PM EDT

As you've likely inferred from my recent posts I've spent a lot of time in recent days and weeks piecing together different elements of the Trump/Russia story. I've brought other colleagues into the work and plan to expand that once we have people hired for the three new investigative positions I discussed last month. Today everyone is talking about the inexplicable news about Jeff Sessions. But there's another dimension of the Trump/Russia story which has only become clear to me recently but which provides a critical backstory for understanding the background of this scandal and news story

.................

snippet:

It seems quite probable that as Trump moved closer to the presidency in the early months of 2016, alarm bells started to go off in the FBI and the CIA, as the relevance of business partnerships with Sater and reliance on capital out of the former Soviet Union suddenly became dramatically more relevant. Again, as I said, as long as Donald Trump was just Donald Trump this didn't matter that much. There's plenty of dirty money sloshing around the New York real estate world. But when it started to seem plausible that he might become the next President, this would start to be a matter of great concern.

This certainly also added to the concern when popped up in a meeting with Michael Cohen and a pro-Russian Ukrainian parliamentarian with a dossier he asked Cohen to hand deliver to Michael Flynn.

All of what I've said here would be an issue even if the Russian government had never inserted itself into the US election. It almost certainly predates any awareness within the US national security and law enforcement worlds that that was happening. But I suspect it is a critical backdrop for how this evidence was interpreted once it began to come to light. It quite possibly also informed and drove some of the scrutiny that was applied to Trump and his associates once it did.

HERE (LOTS):
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-the-cia-and-fbi-knew-about-trump-before-2016

March 2, 2017