Amaryllis
Amaryllis's JournalWarner of Senate Intel: Russia Probe Most Important Thing I've Ever Done - it's extraordinary
Good news that Warner thinks Senate Intel is now working together well and that he trusts Burr to get this done. They are having public hearings on this this week - anyone know when? I checked their website and it said open hearings Thursday but doesn't list the topic.
Russia Probe Is ‘Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Done,’ Senate Intel Committee Vice Chair Warner Says
by Kailani Koenig
NBC News
WASHINGTON — The vice chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Sunday re-affirmed how critical he feels his work is in looking into issues related to Russia's attempts to interfere with the 2016 election.
"I've said before: this is the most important thing that I've ever done in my public life," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told NBC's "Meet The Press." "And what I know now as I get more and more into this: I am going to double down on that statement cause it's extraordinary."
snip
This week, the Senate's Intelligence Committee will hold its first public hearing looking into Russia's activities and possible connections to the Trump campaign.
"There's a lot more smoke," Warner said.
snip
On the House side, a rift clearly appeared between the two top members of the House Intelligence Committee this week when Republican Chairman Devin Nunes announced — without informing his Democratic counterpart — that he had seen reports that members of the Trump transition team's names were "incidentally unmasked" as part of some kind of undefined surveillance.
Warner said he still doesn't know what Nunes was referring to.
"I am totally mystified by what Mr. Nunes has said," Warner told "Meet The Press." "And I've talked to my chairman, Richard Burr. He doesn't know. I've talked to Democrats, Republicans on the committee. I think it's fairly mystifying, if not outrageous, that he'd make these claims, then goes down and briefs the White House."
While that visible gulf opens up between the two members on the House side, Warner defended his relationship with the Chairman of the Senate's Intelligence Committee, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina.
Last month, Warner said he had "grave concerns" about the independence of their investigation after reports surfaced that the White House sought help from Burr and others to help knock down certain negative news.
"We've had some bumps," Warner said. "But I am working very closely with him right now," adding, "I trust him that we will get this done. And we have a list of witnesses that I think you will see that is comprehensive. And we're going to talk to everybody involved."
More
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/russia-probe-most-important-thing-i-ve-ever-done-senate-n738666
This is important: Nunes talked to Ryan before Trump, then changed his story- to protect Ryan?
Those of you who saw Nunes's earlier presser after he went to Trump will remember him saying he first went to Ryan, but then he changed his story in a later presser. Lawrence O'Donnell did a whole segment on this Thursday talking about how people seem to be completely overlooking this, and that Ryan is desperately hoping people will forget this.
Many are demanding that Ryan remove Nunes, but forgetting (or don't know) that he conferred with Ryan before going to the WH in the first place. In Nune's later presser, which O'Donnell shows, he says Nunes fell on his sword for Ryan when he took Ryan out of the story and took full responsibility for going to the WH.
There are many demands for Ryan to replace Nunes, but this implicates Ryan as much as Nunes, and digs the corruption hole much deeper, and the rest of the media seems to be completely missing this very important piece:
Transcript of Lawrence O'Donnell Thursday:
http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/the-last-word/2017-03-23
snip
Everything Devin Nunes did yesterday was crazy, unprecedented just isn`t
the word for this. It was out of control crazy.
The sequence of what he did shows that the justification that he offered
yesterday for what he did is just not true. The first thing he did with
that information was tell the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you not discuss this with the Ranking Member
before you came to the White House?
NUNES: So yes – no, and I`m going to be meeting with Mr. Schiff at some
point to go talk about where we go with this investigation. But I have
been – I had to brief the speaker first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: I had to brief the speaker first. That`s the line that`s been
lost in all the coverage of this. That was Devin Nunes` second press
conference of the day.
That was at the White House after he spoke to the president. His first
press conference of the day was at the House of Representatives announcing
that he was on his way to speak to the president, and what he was going to
tell the president about.
So he didn't have time to speak to Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the
committee, which is the first thing an intelligence committee chairman is
supposed to do with new information.
That`s what we`re supposed to believe. He didn`t have time because he had
to tell the Speaker first before Adam Schiff?
Everything Devin Nunes did after telling the Speaker was something the
Speaker approved of. You don`t go running into the speaker`s office with
something like this and not get the word directly from the speaker of
exactly what he wants you to do next.
snip
You have every right to believe that Paul Ryan was very angry with Devin
Nunes exposing him as being involved in the delivery of this intelligence
information to the White House yesterday.
Because today, when Devin Nunes talked about it, he fell on his sword for
Paul Ryan. He completely took Paul Ryan out of that story. Devin Nunes
took full responsibilities for the decision to go to the White House.
This segment starts at the 14 minute point. Swalwell interviewed here as well:
Has everyone forgotten Ryan told Nunes to tell Trump? Why is Nunes taking all the Heat? (ODonnell)
Those of you who saw Nunes's presser after he went to Trump will remember him saying he first went to Ryan. Lawrence O'Donnell did a whole segment on this last night talking about how people seem to be completely overlooking this, and that Ryan is desperately hoping people will forget this. Many are demanding that Ryan remove Nunes but forgetting that it was Ryan who told him to go to the WH in the first place. In his later presser, which O'Donnell shows, he says Nunes fell on his sword for Ryan when he took Ryan out of the story and took full responsibility for going to the WH.
So why is Ryan not taking heat for this and Nunes is taking all of it? This is a really big deal and digs the corruption hole much deeper:
Transcript of Lawrence O'Donnell Thursday:
http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/the-last-word/2017-03-23
snip
Everything Devin Nunes did yesterday was crazy, unprecedented just isn`t
the word for this. It was out of control crazy.
The sequence of what he did shows that the justification that he offered
yesterday for what he did is just not true. The first thing he did with
that information was tell the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you not discuss this with the Ranking Member
before you came to the White House?
NUNES: So yes – no, and I`m going to be meeting with Mr. Schiff at some
point to go talk about where we go with this investigation. But I have
been – I had to brief the speaker first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: I had to brief the speaker first. That`s the line that`s been
lost in all the coverage of this. That was Devin Nunes` second press
conference of the day.
That was at the White House after he spoke to the president. His first
press conference of the day was at the House of Representatives announcing
that he was on his way to speak to the president, and what he was going to
tell the president about.
So he didn't have time to speak to Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the
committee, which is the first thing an intelligence committee chairman is
supposed to do with new information.
That`s what we`re supposed to believe. He didn`t have time because he had
to tell the Speaker first before Adam Schiff?
Everything Devin Nunes did after telling the Speaker was something the
Speaker approved of. You don`t go running into the speaker`s office with
something like this and not get the word directly from the speaker of
exactly what he wants you to do next.
snip
You have every right to believe that Paul Ryan was very angry with Devin
Nunes exposing him as being involved in the delivery of this intelligence
information to the White House yesterday.
Because today, when Devin Nunes talked about it, he fell on his sword for
Paul Ryan. He completely took Paul Ryan out of that story. Devin Nunes
took full responsibilities for the decision to go to the White House.
This segment starts at the 14 minute point. Swalwell interviewed here as well:
Rachel: "We are dealing with something very, very dark with murder at the other end. "
"This is global." Too much too fast and too complex to post something as coherent as I'd like. Lots on Manafort. Several investigations of him. More anti-Putin murders of people scheduled to testify; one of someone interviewed by WaPo this week. One due to testify in money laundering case that Preet Bahara was working on.
"It's very dangerous being an opponent of Putin."
She really tied together what is happening here with what is happening in Ukraine and the Russian murders; that's when she said this is global.
Will try to post link when it's up.
Edited to add see Danascot's post below with the link. Thank you, Danascot! Russia stuff starts around 35 minute point.
Nunes scandal makes this even more suspicious than when I posted it 2 weeks ago. Russia connection?
I first posted this two weeks ago and it didn't get much interest. It's from July 2015 National Review, but in light of yesterday's events, I think it has new relevance:
House Intel Chair Devin Nunes’s One-Man War on the Pentagon
The powerful Republican is battling the DoD to move a massive intelligence complex to an isolated island in the Azores, at a reported extra cost of $1.2 billion. Why?
Air-traffic controllers waved off the plane carrying Representative Devin Nunes (R., Calif.) and several congressmen from the House Intelligence Committee as it descended toward the single runway at Lajes Field, a sleepy U.S. Air Force base perched along a windswept Azores island 1,000 miles from the European mainland. High winds sweeping in from the sea prevented the plane from landing, and the delegation was hastily diverted to an airstrip on a neighboring island 80 miles away.
After months of wrangling with the Defense Department, Nunes and his fellow lawmakers had come to Lajes last May to urge American officials to reverse a planned downsizing of the base. The lawmakers wanted Pentagon officials to instead move a massive, strategically vital intelligence center planned for the United Kingdom to the isolated mid-Atlantic base. The officials objected, citing a cost increase of $1.2 billion and serious operational and logistical concerns, including the base’s single runway and the area’s inclement weather, which the congressmen had experienced just the day before.
An after-action report from a Defense Department engineer shows that the group from Washington wouldn’t take no for an answer. “A few of the members and staffers were very confrontational,” the report reads. “One quote that was repeated several times was, ‘This is going to happen . You better jump on board the train or you are going to get run over by it.’”
The incident was another skirmish in the increasingly nasty war between Nunes and his allies in Congress and a group of top Pentagon officials over the fate of the obscure airbase. As chairman of the powerful Intelligence Committee, Nunes has brought the full weight of his influence to bear on the issue, inserting provisions in four separate defense bills that would stop work on the planned U.K. base and accusing the DoD of “lying” about the intelligence complex’s Lajes price tag. Recently, the House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into how the military calculated the estimated cost of basing the project in the Azores.
snip
Pentagon officials’ qualms with Nunes’s plan go beyond its price tag. Some worry that an additional delay in the facility’s construction would make it harder to monitor Russian activity in Europe, and most are loathe to relinquish a close intelligence-sharing relationship with the British. “There are routine meetings that occur on an almost daily basis” between American and British intelligence agents, one official explains.
snip
Lots more suspicious stuff:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421842/devin-nunes-pentagon-fight-lajes-air-force-base
Kittywampus post today on same subject; another older article but different source and info:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8837272
Stop Gorsuch: DFA Live conf call w Sen. Merkley & NARAL Pres Ilyse Hogue today 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
DFA Live conference call with Sen. Jeff Merkley and NARAL President Ilyse Hogue taking place TONIGHT (Wednesday, March 22) at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT.
During this call, we'll discuss the work to stop Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch and we'll take questions from DFA members like you.
There are three ways in which you can listen to tonight's DFA Live call:
1) Streaming audio via DFA's website:
If you want to join tonight's call by listening to streaming audio of it live on your computer, you can listen to it here:
https://www2.democracyforamerica.com/attend/supremecourtdfalive?akid=8999.1646066.cpYm2Z&rd=1&refcode=g-DFAliveSC0322.d-20170322.m-8999.s-30031&t=2
At 10 minutes before the call you'll be able to login. Be sure to fill out the information on the webstream page in order to join the call. You can also find a call-in number here if you are unable to use your computer to listen to the call.
2) Call in at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT:
Call into the conference call using the following information:
Phone number: (855)-756-7520
Conference number: Ext. 34866#
Thanks for joining Sen. Jeff Merkley, Ilyse Hogue, DFA Executive Director Charles Chamberlain and DFA Chair Jim
Republicans Don't Want to Find Out What Happened With Russia (arguments/tactics breakdown by Slate)
Republicans Don’t Want to Find Out What Happened With Russia
March 21
That’s why they spent the Comey hearing defending Trump and Michael Flynn—and attacking the FBI.
On Monday, the House Intelligence Committee interrogated FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers about Russia’s covert operation to manipulate the 2016 presidential election. Comey confirmed that the FBI was investigating, among other things, whether anyone associated with Donald Trump had coordinated with the Russians. The committee is supposed to be conducting its own Russia probe. But Monday’s hearing showed that the Republicans who run the committee can’t be trusted.
In the five-hour hearing, not one Republican asked a question to elicit information about what Trump or his associates might have done. Instead, they hurled every imaginable defense—and attack—at the FBI’s investigation. While the Democrats acted like prosecutors, the committee’s Republicans became defense attorneys for Trump, Michael Flynn, the GOP, and Russia. Here’s a breakdown of their case:
1. There’s nothing to investigate. A real investigation would examine particular claims and evidence. Instead, Republicans on the committee tried to foreclose the whole inquiry by quoting broad statements (made by former intelligence officials on talk shows and the salon circuit) that no evidence exists. They also cynically stripped the statements of important caveats. When Comey and Rogers said they couldn’t rebut these statements about a lack of evidence (since to do so would reveal classified or investigation-related information), Republicans portrayed that as confirmation of Trump’s innocence. This is an attempt to end the investigation before it begins.
2. Russia wouldn’t have favored a Republican. Rep. Devin Nunes, the committee’s chairman, dismissed as absurd the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia had sought to favor the Republican presidential nominee. “Don’t you think it’s ridiculous for anyone to say that the Russians prefer Republicans over Democrats?” he asked Comey and Rogers. When they tried to explain that their assessment was specific to Trump, and not about party, Nunes repeated his partisan view that the whole idea was “preposterous.”
3. Russia didn’t fabricate votes. To shift attention away from Russia’s indirect manipulation of votes—for example, leaking private emails that embarrassed Hillary Clinton and persuaded people to vote against her—Nunes emphasized that Russia hadn’t tampered directly with voting machines. Rogers noted that the NSA and FBI hadn’t assessed the political effects of Russia’s operation. Nunes ignored him and shaped his questions to portray the Russian campaign as impotent.
snip
More - 15 points total, all worth reading:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/03/republicans_don_t_want_to_find_out_what_happened_with_russia.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=589dfd6ebcb59c58118b45d5
Dueling Messages at Hearing: Dems focus on Trump-Russia links, GOP on Trump-Russia leaks (CNN)
(CNN)Republicans and Democrats of the House Intelligence Committee both questioned FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers on Russian activities Monday, but the parties spotlighted very different issues during the hearing.
snip
While Democrats highlighted Trump's allegation that his predecessor wiretapped him and Trump campaign aides' alleged collusion with Russian operatives, GOP members grilled the two officials on who leaked information of the US investigation into Russia's communications with the campaign of President Donald Trump.
snip
House Democrats on the panel hammered away on reports of the Trump campaign's communications with Russian officials as well as the President's tweets alleging his predecessor wiretapped his phone.
House Democrats routinely pressed the focus back to which Trump advisers were in communication with Russian officials.
"I cannot comment on that," Comey said frequently, as Schiff asked him about former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former Trump adviser Roger Stone and others.
In a rapid-fire series of exchanges, Schiff, Rep. Jim Himes and Rep. Teri Sewell, all pressed Comey on the details of the FBI's investigation into Trump aides. Comey batted them back, saying he could not provide specifics.
snip
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/politics/wiretap-russia-hearing-unmask/index.html
Spicey Presser on CNN live now denying any Russia collusion
http://www.cnn.com/specials/live-video-3"No evidence of any collusion between Russia and Trump campaign."
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