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Tommy_Carcetti

(43,083 posts)
Tue May 22, 2018, 11:34 AM May 2018

I'm sorry, I'm having trouble getting over the fact that CARTER PAGE WAS A KNOWN RUSSIAN ASSET.

Forget names, the fact that the presidential campaign of a nominee for a major political party--any nominee, any party--would be employing an individual as a SENIOR FORIEGN POLICY ADVISOR who was already known by U.S. intelligence to have had numerous contacts with intelligence operatives from a hostile foreign government.....that absolutely blows my mind.

Should the FBI have been on that like white on rice?

You bet your ass they should.

Why are we even debating this?

Lest I remind you again, these are what prominent Kremlin insiders were bragging about while Page was in Moscow....



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I'm sorry, I'm having trouble getting over the fact that CARTER PAGE WAS A KNOWN RUSSIAN ASSET. (Original Post) Tommy_Carcetti May 2018 OP
You're not crazy. dawg May 2018 #1
beating them back electorally is only a small start. unblock May 2018 #5
If we can win the House, it'll be a good start. dawg May 2018 #6
agreed. that said, i would dearly love to win the house to save the judiciary. unblock May 2018 #8
Dems need a way to explain things thing that the republicans are completely ignorant about Maraya1969 May 2018 #19
this was selling point for him in the donnie misadministration. unblock May 2018 #2
Why are we even debating this? HopeAgain May 2018 #3
Great list, but you forgot one jayschool2013 May 2018 #12
Explain your intercept gripe, please DemocracyMouse May 2018 #13
This Trump-fluffing story mostly jayschool2013 May 2018 #22
Thank you, jayschool! Cha May 2018 #20
It would be nice if there was a push avebury May 2018 #16
Evidently the rules of engagement have been suspended for the shit show dalton99a May 2018 #4
but we are not supposed to notice this insignificant little detal. NO COLLLUSION (and, niyad May 2018 #7
he was never a "foreign policy advisor" mopinko May 2018 #9
You say potato, I say traitor. nt Tommy_Carcetti May 2018 #10
You didn't need to be a spy to know that. It's like they framed themselves GusBob May 2018 #11
I'd like to have some confirmation of this "surveillance tape" but, it is sorta fun to parse: erronis May 2018 #14
I think it's in the Steele dossier GusBob May 2018 #15
This is from Konstantin Rykov's Facebook page. He's one fascinating cat. Tommy_Carcetti May 2018 #18
This is excellent, thanks. n/t MBS May 2018 #21
For anyone who's curious about who Konstantin Rykov is and might be: Tommy_Carcetti May 2018 #23
Thanks- I'll bookmark this. MBS May 2018 #24
You can't swing a dead cat around 45 without hitting someone who is russia dirty Cosmocat May 2018 #17

dawg

(10,610 posts)
1. You're not crazy.
Tue May 22, 2018, 11:40 AM
May 2018

We're through the looking glass here.

Half the country has sold out to authoritarianism, and there's no turning back for them. If we aren't able to beat them back electorally, they will lead us to disaster.

unblock

(51,974 posts)
5. beating them back electorally is only a small start.
Tue May 22, 2018, 11:45 AM
May 2018

we're doomed if they're not absolutely decimated. frankly, the best case for us is we win both houses of congress, and only barely at that. i'll take what i can get, but it's not nearly enough to put an end to this nonsense.

even donnie going one way or another won't be enough. there's still foxnews and hate radio and 30+% of the country utterly brainwashed.

we're not out of the woods until the republican party is completely non-viable as a major political force.

we seriously need a new fdr and overwhelming majorities in both houses to escape this disaster.

dawg

(10,610 posts)
6. If we can win the House, it'll be a good start.
Tue May 22, 2018, 11:49 AM
May 2018

The Senate math is terrible for us this year - perhaps the worst it's ever been for any major political party.

But control of the House would be enough to slam the brakes on the Republican agenda. Instead of watching helplessly as they proceed to "entitlement reform", we could jam them up right proper.

Also, we'd have the power of the subpoena and could make Trump's life miserable in lots of little ways that *would* make a difference.

unblock

(51,974 posts)
8. agreed. that said, i would dearly love to win the house to save the judiciary.
Tue May 22, 2018, 12:10 PM
May 2018

they're on a tear to appoint the worst of the worst with life tenure.

all those vacancies created from 8 years of obstructing obama, they get to fill in 4 years. hopefully only 2 years.

Maraya1969

(22,441 posts)
19. Dems need a way to explain things thing that the republicans are completely ignorant about
Wed May 23, 2018, 04:43 AM
May 2018

Like an advertisement that showed very deliberately and in small words, with a black board how the gop line, "People don't kill people, guns kill people" is patently absurd


I think a lot of them really don't get the math and the comparisons to other countries with gun control laws. They need a big board showing these people in some bright colored graph how countries that have very regulated laws for owning or using guns don't have the massive amount of loss of life that the US does. And they need to be shown how having a couple armed teachers and cops in the hallways is not really going to stop mass shootings. Facts like how the student is not going to start shooting with these people around and even if, say the teacher is armed the student already has his gun out and is shooting and probably with an automatic assault weapon and there will be loss of life.

I fear I am not explain myself properly. The problem with a lot of republicans is they just hear something and accept it as true even if it doesn't make sense. If we could combat this and get them to understand some of the basics they might think about voting differently.

I want them to know that their dear George Bush started a war that killed over a million people and we have lost over 200,000 soldiers to suicide since they have returned home. And then sent the country into the greatest recession because he did what 45 is doing now. Paying for things while cutting taxes.

Maybe basic information about how tax dollars work for the country and how, if you take in less it is just like getting a cut in pay and still trying to run your household on less money.

unblock

(51,974 posts)
2. this was selling point for him in the donnie misadministration.
Tue May 22, 2018, 11:40 AM
May 2018

donnie wanted contact with putin. plenty of deals to make and money to be made.

HopeAgain

(4,407 posts)
3. Why are we even debating this?
Tue May 22, 2018, 11:41 AM
May 2018

Because:

Hannity
Carlson
Fox and Friends
Fox News
Breitbart
the Daily Caller
et al., aka right wing propaganda

avebury

(10,946 posts)
16. It would be nice if there was a push
Tue May 22, 2018, 01:44 PM
May 2018

on requiring them all to register as agents of a foreign government.

niyad

(112,434 posts)
7. but we are not supposed to notice this insignificant little detal. NO COLLLUSION (and,
Tue May 22, 2018, 12:05 PM
May 2018

besides, even if there was, no crime)

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
11. You didn't need to be a spy to know that. It's like they framed themselves
Tue May 22, 2018, 12:18 PM
May 2018

The funniest thing to read is the Russian surveillance tape where the Russians talk about the guy being too stupid to be of any use

erronis

(14,949 posts)
14. I'd like to have some confirmation of this "surveillance tape" but, it is sorta fun to parse:
Tue May 22, 2018, 01:28 PM
May 2018

Yulia Nikolaevskaya: Wow. How nice to hear that. I wonder if Trump will become president. will they keep such rhetoric towards Russia?

-- Konstantin Rykov: He also came to the intelligence service to understand the reaction to Donald

-- Yulia: le. so, just in care, on the head, we stroked? And why does he need our reaction to Donald?

-- Konstantin: Julia (Yulia) let me talk about this a bit later post will write an extended one .. topic is important

-- Yulia: Ok

...

Where is this being recorded?

What is the "head, we stroked" (I'm not sure I want to know.)

If this is true, it appears that there is more info that was taken into non-disclosed channels.

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
15. I think it's in the Steele dossier
Tue May 22, 2018, 01:32 PM
May 2018

It may not be a tape but a transcript of a conversation

They definitely stated the guy was dumb a bag of rocks and would serve no purpose as an asset

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,083 posts)
18. This is from Konstantin Rykov's Facebook page. He's one fascinating cat.
Tue May 22, 2018, 02:36 PM
May 2018

Lest one thinks he's just some random Russian schlub on the internet, he's far from that.

He's a former member of the Russian parliament (Duma) for Putin's United Russia party. He's one of the biggest names in Russia in the internet. He's inserted himself in both domestic and foreign politics from everywhere from France to Scotland. He once bribed Marine La Pen to support the Russian annexation of Crimea. And just days after the US election, he openly bragged about how he had run a social media campaign from Russia using Cambridge Analytica data in order to get Trump elected. He even hosted Election Day and Inauguration Day parties for Trump in Russia and invited the likes of Jack Hannick, one of the co-founders of Fox News.

He's attended Kremlin sponsored forums on pro-Russian internet activity and was actually named a "trusted confidant" of the Kremlin by Putin.

And he has a vast legion of Russian internet trolls at his disposal.

So, in short, he's a Kremlin agent.


What was going on here....if I'd venture to guess, this conversation was directed to screw with the mind of one particular person, that being former US Ambassador Michael McFaul.

McFaul, along with other members of President Obama's state department, was the subject of much hatred and vitriol by the Russian online community, mainly for their positions they took regarding Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. Rykov and his followers constantly disparaged the US state department for what they saw as singling out Russia for humiliation.

They personally harassed McFaul and his family while he was ambassador. However, McFaul's not a shy guy when it comes to social media, so he pushed back. When Rykov was unsuccessful in trying to influence the Scottish independence referendum, McFaul openly mocked Rykov by name over Twitter.

So naturally, Rykov wanted his revenge against McFaul, and coupled with his efforts to influence the US vote for Trump, he did all he could to openly jab at the former ambassador.

So you'll see that he actually tags McFaul into this post, and McFaul actually acknowledges it in the comment section.

Now, specifically as it pertains to Page....remember the Russian intelligence service first attempted recruiting Page back in 2013. The US tried to warn Page that he was being recruited as a Russian asset, and Page promptly turned around and blabbed that fact to the Russians.

So now you have Page in Russia again, specifically while he's an advisor on the Trump campaign no less, and Rykov has knowledge of this and I think he wants to show off in front of McFaul that Russia already has their fingers all over the Trump campaign and US elections. (Whether Trump ultimately wins or not is almost beside the point....I think they were just besides themselves that they'd recruited a US Presidential candidate, win or lose)

Of course, to play devil's advocate, there's the chance that Rykov is just completely bullshitting here, and Page was just in Russia to give a speech in an individual capacity, not on behalf of Trump and never met with Russian intel.

But why would he make it up then? It's an oddly specific thing to make up. Why would he brag to McFaul about Russian intel recruiting a Trump campaign asset just for no reason at all?

I'm far more inclined to say Rykov was telling the truth here.

Interesting though as to the timing. Rykov posts this the day Page gives his speech in Moscow, July 7, 2016. Steele doesn't report Page's activities to the FBI until late July 2016, so this predates Steele.

And either McFaul reports this post to US intelligence, or more likely, US intelligence already familiar with Rykov, is immediately made aware of Rykov's claims about Page.

Either way, it seems to independently verify Steele's claims about Page before that part of the dossier was even written.

MBS

(9,688 posts)
24. Thanks- I'll bookmark this.
Wed May 23, 2018, 12:32 PM
May 2018

What a stranger-than-fiction moment in our history. For the last few years, I've felt like I'm living in an endless episode of the Twilight Zone. With the events of the last week, that feeling has become overwhelming.

Cosmocat

(14,543 posts)
17. You can't swing a dead cat around 45 without hitting someone who is russia dirty
Tue May 22, 2018, 01:45 PM
May 2018

One of his fricken campaign manager's resume was made up mostly of working with eastern european thugs.

It just is emblematic of a country that has been gaslighted to the point of turning 2/3 of the brains in this country into mush that people completely ignore how absurdly russia dirty 45 and company are and focus on this kind of bullshit.

THE SAME BULLSHIT HE WAS SPEWING A YEAR AGO WHEN HE WAS SCREAMING BHO WIRETAPPED HIM.

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