Octopus Overlords

malchior wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 8:54 am This is a warning that things may be worse than many imagined...

malchior wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 8:54 amI think it might be worth allowing someone to make that leap to have a last minute chance to save us. I feel for that person. They made a gut-wrenching decision but a seemingly ethical one.

Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI “SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT.” Andrew McCarthy says, “There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.” If so, this is bigger than Watergate!

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 10:20 am One interpretation I've read about the missing reports is that they could have been pulled on Mueller's orders, that they're sensitive enough to his investigation that he didn't want them exposed.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 10:20 am One interpretation I've read about the missing reports is that they could have been pulled on Mueller's orders, that they're sensitive enough to his investigation that he didn't want them exposed.

Nevertheless, a former prosecutor who spent years working with the FinCEN database said that she knew of no mechanism for restricting access to SARs. She speculated that FinCEN may have taken the extraordinary step of restricting access “because of the highly sensitive nature of a potential investigation. It may be that someone reached out to FinCEN to ask to limit disclosure of certain SARs related to an investigation, whether it was the special counsel or the Southern District of New York.” (The special counsel, Robert Mueller, is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. The Southern District is investigating Cohen, and the F.B.I. raided his office and hotel room last month.)

malchior wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 9:36 am To anyone who thought the Stormy stuff was a nothingburger. Wow. This thing seemingly has no bottom at the moment.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 11:06 am I'd love for those two documents to be in Mueller's hands. If the one that got leaked was the benign one of the three? There's some fun a'comin'!

Rip wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 7:08 pm Yea, I'm sure it is all over not giving money to the Kush.



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/opin ... eform.html

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, solicited a payment of at least $1 million from the government of Qatar in late 2016, in exchange for access to and advice about the then-incoming administration, according to the recipient of the offer and several others with knowledge of the episode.

The offer, which Qatar declined, came on the margins of a Dec. 12 meeting that year at Trump Tower between the Persian Gulf state’s foreign minister and Michael Flynn, who became Trump’s first national security adviser. Stephen K. Bannon, who became White House chief strategist, also attended.

Cohen did not participate in the official meetings but spoke separately to a member of the Qatari delegation, Ahmed al-­Rumaihi, who at the time was head of the investments division of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.

Details emerged last week on how Cohen leveraged his relationship with Trump to receive millions of dollars from companies eager for insight and entree into the new president’s inner circle. They included AT&T, the global pharmaceutical giant Novartis, a Korean defense contractor and Columbus Nova, a New York-based investment firm with ties to a Russian oligarch. All have confirmed payments to Cohen.

But news of the Qatar solicitation marks the first time Cohen is believed to have pitched his influence directly to a foreign government.

Despite the disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt, we have had the most successful first 17 month Administration in U.S. history - by far! Sorry to the Fake News Media and “Haters,” but that’s the way it is!

Haters Gonna Hate is a catchphrase used to indicate a disregard for hostile remarks addressed towards the speaker. This expression has its roots in American hip hop, and spawned an image macro series featuring pictures of celebrities, animals and cartoon characters strutting or posing in a conceited manner.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:29 pm Can someone explain that picture to me.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:42 pm Know Your Meme

Haters Gonna Hate is a catchphrase used to indicate a disregard for hostile remarks addressed towards the speaker. This expression has its roots in American hip hop, and spawned an image macro series featuring pictures of celebrities, animals and cartoon characters strutting or posing in a conceited manner.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:42 pm Know Your Meme

Haters Gonna Hate is a catchphrase used to indicate a disregard for hostile remarks addressed towards the speaker. This expression has its roots in American hip hop, and spawned an image macro series featuring pictures of celebrities, animals and cartoon characters strutting or posing in a conceited manner.

tgb wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:47 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:29 pm Can someone explain that picture to me.

He's practicing his goosestepping for the upcoming military parade.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 1:33 pm This is only a witch hunt in that it's finding actual witches who admit to practicing witchcraft.

Here are the seven distinct stages of collusion denial I've identified:

1. November 2016: No communications, period

Hope Hicks: “It never happened. There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.”

2. February 2017: There were no communications, “to the best of our knowledge”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “This is a non-story because, to the best of our knowledge, no contacts took place.”

3. March 2017: There were communications, but no planned meetings with Russians

Donald Trump Jr.: “Did I meet with people that were Russian? I'm sure, I'm sure I did. ... But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”

4. July 8, 2017: There was a planned meeting at Trump Tower, but it was “primarily” about adoption and not the campaign

Trump Jr.: “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at that time and there was no follow-up.”

5. July 9, 2017: The meeting was planned to discuss the campaign, but the information exchanged wasn't “meaningful”

Trump Jr.: “No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.”

6. December 2017: Collusion isn't even a crime

President Trump: “There is no collusion, and even if there was, it’s not a crime.”

Jay Sekulow: “For something to be a crime, there has to be a statute that you claim is being violated. There is not a statute that refers to criminal collusion. There is no crime of collusion.”

(Technically speaking, the criminal code doesn't use the word “collusion,” but it's generally understood as a broad term that could encompass more specific, codified crimes. And even special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's team has used it in court filings.)

7. May 2018: Even if meaningful information were obtained, it wasn't used

Giuliani: “And even if it comes from a Russian, or a German, or an American, it doesn’t matter. And they never used it, is the main thing. They never used it. They rejected it. If there was collusion with the Russians, they would have used it.”

Holman wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:51 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:42 pm Know Your Meme

Haters Gonna Hate is a catchphrase used to indicate a disregard for hostile remarks addressed towards the speaker. This expression has its roots in American hip hop, and spawned an image macro series featuring pictures of celebrities, animals and cartoon characters strutting or posing in a conceited manner.

Because if there's anyone who brushes off criticism and opposition with a light heart and an easy step, it's Donald Trump.

malchior wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 8:54 am we are well on the way to an illiberal form of government.

Holman wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 1:18 pm I wonder if he actually believes he's the most successful president in history?

I still hope it's just cheap salesmanship aimed at the rubes, but I've come more and more to worry that Trump is genuinely disconnected from reality.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 2:29 pm Can someone explain that picture to me.

tjg_marantz wrote: ↑Wed May 16, 2018 8:06 pm

“Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn’t commit.” David Asman @LouDobbs @GreggJarrett Really bad stuff!

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 9:35 am

“Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn’t commit.” David Asman @LouDobbs @GreggJarrett Really bad stuff!

Trying to figure out who he is quoting (David Asman?) to understand context but failing under the weight of everyone reporting the tweet.

isgirumnur
isgirumnur
isgirumnur

Holman wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 9:52 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 9:35 am

“Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn’t commit.” David Asman @LouDobbs @GreggJarrett Really bad stuff!

Trying to figure out who he is quoting (David Asman?) to understand context but failing under the weight of everyone reporting the tweet.

isgirumnur
isgirumnur
isgirumnur

The context is a NYT story a couple of days back revealing that both Carter Page and George Papadopoulos unwittingly spoke with an FBI informant during the campaign. The FBI was snooping out both of them, which is completely appropriate because both were under investigation for their secret contacts with Russians and other foreign agents.

Trump is trying to spin this as "Obama had the FBI spying on us to help Hillary win!!" and of course Fox will follow suit.

Holman wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 9:52 am The context is a NYT story a couple of days back revealing that both Carter Page and George Papadopoulos unwittingly spoke with an FBI informant during the campaign. The FBI was snooping out both of them, which is completely appropriate because both were under investigation for their secret contacts with Russians and other foreign agents.

Trump is trying to spin this as "Obama had the FBI spying on us to help Hillary win!!" and of course Fox will follow suit.

Rip wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 4:04 am The IG investigation isn't so much about the Clinton e-mail scandal itself but the investigation of it.

I would think the people being accused of crimes here are Obama's minions more than Clinton's.

Still have the IG investigation on the FISA warrant on Page to look forward to as well.