Pat McCrory Hits Back at Ted Budd

 

Putin, he said.

Someone Is Out To Get Us

Growing up in West Texas in the 1950s, I witnessed paranoia about Russia first-hand, about how Russian moles never stopped plotting world-wide domination. Beware of the United Nations! It's so Red it's pink! Beware the prophets preaching peace and "one world government." Oh, the wheat and cotton fields, they stayed awake all night worrying about the 2nd grade teacher planning to Trick 'r Treat For UNICEF, and what it might portend for the survival of freedom.

Now Russia is in the White House. They've perched so long they've roosted. Virtually. Also literally: Trump has enjoyed 11 phone calls with Vladimir Putin (that we know about) over the past three years. "The content of those conversations has mostly been kept confidential." Yeah, we know. Locked up in a secret safe computer-Fort Knox because Trump knows that if we know what Putin's telling him, and what he's promising Putin, we'd revolt.

At least I hope we'd revolt. Because, there are clear and disturbing signs that the whole Republican Party is just okay with Trump's divided loyalty. Certainly, his grassroots support could care less. It's all fake news to them. But it's the Republican members of Congress that should worry us, educated men and women who can presumably read, yet they are plain blah about Russia's evil Rasputin dominating our president. Is it because they're so cowed by Trump or more especially afraid of his mob of low-information supporters? Trump believes what Putin tells him, thinks what Putin thinks, and does what Putin says. Meanwhile, the Republican members of Congress -- bless their hearts! -- mouth the Ukrainian mythology too. "A fictional narrative," Fiona Hill labeled it yesterday, which came straight from Russian "security services."

Republicans in the Senate, however, know better. They know the origins of the Ukraine Lie, and how it's been propagated, because they've been briefed by American intelligence officials (CIA, et al.). That news just broke last night -- that senators were informed in recent weeks about "a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election." But even after that intelligence briefing ("wise up, gentlemen!") and even after Fiona Hill riveted the TV audience by asking legislators directly and bluntly not to be stupid dicks and spread the Russian lie, there goes Senator Lindsey Graham off to dig up the black yucky truth about Ukraine's conspiring for Hillary in 2016 while simultaneously paying a bribe to Joe Biden's son. The headline in Slate: "Lindsey Graham Is Now Investigating the Bidens Anyway, Cementing Ukraine’s Role as Hapless Fall Guy."

The paranoia in 1950s West Texas about the Russkies was maybe too hysterical. And certainly ahead of its time.

Read This Spy Novel Now!

Forget your "beach reading"! Put down that latest issue of US Weekly. The published indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers offers 18 pages of thrills and chills straight out of the truly frightening world of computer hacking.

Seeing in black and white that the Russians could impersonate official email from Google, ordering a user to log on and fix this or that "on your account" -- I recognize that I've received those "spearphishing" messages myself. I bet most people reading this have too. That's only one way into your secrets. If they can gain access to one of your best friends, they can gain access to you too. It's chilling.

On or about April 6, 2016, the Conspirators created an email account in the name of a known member of the Clinton Campaign (with a one-letter deviation from the actual spelling).  The Conspirators then used that account to send spearphishing emails to the work accounts of more than thirty different Clinton Campaign employees. In the spearphishing emails, LUKASHEV and his co-conspirators embedded a link purporting to direct the recipient to a document titled “hillary- clinton-favorable-rating.xlsx.” In fact, this link directed the recipients’ computers to a GRU [Russian Military Intelligence]-created website.

Once they're inside, look what they can do:

The keylog function allowed the Conspirators to capture keystrokes entered by DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] employees. The screenshot function allowed the Conspirators to take pictures of the DCCC employees’ computer screens.

One Obvious Reason Twitterman Is So Cowed by Putin

The indictments released yesterday drop this tidbit: They stole "opposition research" off Democratic Party and Clinton campaign computers. Opposition research. Get it? The Russians know everything bad about DJT that the Democrats were able to dig up -- not to mention, obviously what the Russians themselves already have on him.


Russians Subvert Actblue

"On or about June 14, 2016, the Conspirators registered the domain actblues.com, which mimicked the domain of a political fundraising platform that included a DCCC donations page. Shortly thereafter, the Conspirators used stolen DCCC credentials to modify the DCCC website and redirect visitors to the actblues.com domain."

What the Russians Did with the Stolen Documents

Oh, you know about Wikileaks ("Organization 1" in the indictment) and their publication of stolen material. But did you know about this "candidate for the U.S. Congress"?

On or about August 15, 2016, the Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, received a request for stolen documents from a candidate for the U.S. Congress. The Conspirators responded using the Guccifer 2.0 persona and sent the candidate stolen documents related to the candidate’s opponent.

Asked for and received stolen documents. That's a new detail, and doesn't that suggest that other indictments are sure to come? Receiving stolen property. Asking for stolen property.

Aaron Nevins.
Butter won't melt in his mouth

Not only a sitting member of Congress but also an enterprising lobbyist:

On or about August 22, 2016, the Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, transferred approximately 2.5 gigabytes of data stolen from the DCCC to a then-registered state lobbyist and online source of political news. The stolen data included donor records and personal identifying information for more than 2,000 Democratic donors.

"State lobbyist." Puzzling over what that means, Google sends me to a Florida newspaper. That "state lobbyist" appears to be one Aaron Nevins (according to the Sun-Sentinel), "a state and local lobbyist and operator of the political news website 'Mark Miewurd's HelloFLA!' (The name is a play on 'mark my words.') "

We also learn that the Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, contacted a U.S. reporter with an offer to provide stolen emails from Hillary Clinton’s staff. "The Conspirators then sent the reporter the password to access a nonpublic, password-protected portion of dcleaks.com containing emails stolen from Victim 1."

We've known since at least February of this year that the Russians attempted to penetrate the computers of 21 state boards of election, but "an exceptionally small number of them were actually successfully penetrated" (NBC News). The indictment specifies just one, "SBOE 1." Was that Illinois, which admitted in 2016 that its system had been breached? Or some other state, like North Carolina?


"With Others Known and Unknown"

Other shoes are yet to drop. Obviously.

In the section of the indictment that specifies which American laws have been broken, there are a couple of references to "others known and unknown" as having participated in theft and conspiracy with the Russians. Some -- most? -- of those persons -- especially the known ones -- are likely American citizens, aren't they? And aren't we likely to see yet a cascade of additional indictments of persons who don't enjoy the protection of Vladimir Putin?

Republicans Find a Vestigial Spine About Trump-Russia

Senate and House Republicans have apparently reached a deal on a Russian sanctions bill to punish Putin and his boys for their interference in our election. The Republican Congressional leaders have done so over the objections of Trump, who does not like that the new bill would tie his hands, make it impossible for him to unilaterally lift sanctions on Russia.

Six months into the Trump presidency and Republicans seem to be less than impressed with the leader of their party. They're certainly not afraid of him any more.

The two houses intend to pass the new language soon, and then Trump will be faced with a decision: veto it or sign it? Taking bets right now on which path he'll opt for. (He's Putin's boy.)

UPDATE
Sarah Huckabee Sanders now says that Trump will sign the bill. Almost simultaneously, on yesterday's morning shows, The Mooch quoted the president (first as "an anonymous source" and then by name) as continuing to disbelieve that there was ever Russian hacking of our election.

So ... just trying to keep up with the bizarre logic of Donald J. Trump ... he is prepared to sign a law extending sanctions on the Russians for the hacking of our election that he believes never happened.

Trump & Putin in Hamburg: "A Lot of Very Positive Happenings for Russia"

DJT: Some people say you meddled in our election.

Putin: We didn't meddle in your election.

DJT: Oh, okay. That's what I thought too. Now, what can I do for you?

"Mr. Putin, in the end, appears to have settled on a long game, convinced that his mix of information warfare, 'active measures' and low-level aggression will ultimately get him what he wants, a restoration of Russia’s status" (Davis, Sanger, and Thrush).

Trump, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, “mentioned that certain circles in the U.S. are still exaggerating, although they cannot prove this, the topic of Russia’s interference with the U.S. election.”

“We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia, and for the United States, and for everybody concerned. And it’s an honor to be with you,” Trump told Putin while cameras were still in the room.

Russian Collusion To Elect Trump -- Ain't Going Away

Eric Lichtblau is reporting this morning:

WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. told senior lawmakers in classified briefings last summer that it had information indicating that Russia was working to help elect Donald J. Trump president, a finding that did not emerge publicly until after Mr. Trump’s victory months later...

 Other findings:

1. A split developed last summer between counter intelligence agents at CIA and the FBI, with the FBI resisting analysis that Russia was actually trying to help elect Trump rather than just disrupting our election process.

2. The CIA director at the time became so concerned about the Russian interference that he briefed the top Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, along with leaders of both chambers' intelligence committees 10 weeks before the election. Mitch McConnell knew. Paul Ryan knew.

3. Based on CIA briefings, Sen. Harry Reid wrote the FBI in August, asking Director Comey to open an investigation into collusion between Trump associates and the Russians. Unknown to Reid, the FBI had done just that a month earlier, but the FBI inquiry into connections between the Trump campaign and the Russians "was kept secret even from members of Congress."

4. "It was not until early December, a month after the election, that it became publicly known in news reports that the C.I.A. had concluded that Moscow’s motivation was to get Mr. Trump elected."

5. "Last month, Mr. Comey publicly acknowledged the continuing investigation for the first time at a House hearing on Russia’s influence on the election and said the F.B.I. was examining possible links between Trump associates and Russia for evidence of collusion."

Great Moments in Understatement

"The president’s decision on Saturday to lend the power of his office to accusations against his predecessor of politically motivated wiretapping — without offering any proof — was remarkable, even for a leader who has repeatedly shown himself willing to make assertions that are false or based on dubious sources."

--Michael D. Shear and Michael S. Schmidt, "Trump, Offering No Evidence, Says Obama Tapped His Phones"

Is not this man mentally ill? Or, if not sick in the head, is he merely just over-impressed with his own creativity in da sudden turn of events. You know -- reality tv, now coming to you from the White House.

Either way, the man is not worthy of the presidency, and it's becoming more likely by the day that foreign interference either put him there, or conspired to do so.

Putin Caged Trump at Every Level

Under oath in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing in January, Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that he had not met with any Russian officials during the campaign. He had. Twice. With the Russian ambassador, that same Putin dude whose contacts with Michael Flynn led to Flynn's lying and to Flynn's subsequent firing.

Apparently, talking to the Russian ambassador leads to lying.

What has followed the revelation is just as interesting and in some ways more revealing. First, there was a qualified denial: Sessions said he hadn't met with “any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”

Meaning, I may have met with "Russian officials" but not "to discuss issues of the campaign." Hmmm.

Then this also emanated from the Justice Department, also last night: "a department official who came to the defense of the attorney general" said, “There’s just not strong recollection of what was said.”

Apparently, talking to the Russian ambassador leads to lapses of memory. Michael Flynn said he couldn't remember either what he had discussed with the Russian ambassador.

So this question arises: If Sessions had conversations with the Russian and now can't remember what they talked about, how does he know they didn't discuss the campaign?

The Trump boys are getting wrapped around their own axle.

Russia Taketh What Russia Giveth

quid pro quo, noun -- a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something

 Watch this: We're about to see the full measure of Trump's cowed dependence on Vladimir Putin.

WASHINGTON — Russia has secretly deployed a new cruise missile that American officials say violates a landmark arms control treaty, posing a major test for President Trump as his administration is facing a crisis over its ties to Moscow....

The ground-launched cruise missile at the center of American concerns is one that the Obama administration said in 2014 had been tested in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans American and Russian intermediate-range missiles based on land.

The Obama administration had sought to persuade the Russians to correct the violation while the missile was still in the test phase. Instead, the Russians have moved ahead with the system, deploying a fully operational unit.

These are nuclear-tipped missiles and are a major threat to NATO, which Putin has long itched to dismantle.

Salon

Can't you see Vlad's mind working? "I helped you win presidency, Comrade. Now you sit there in gold-plated White House while I make Russia great again. Maybe play with your phone."

We'll be watching how Trump responds to the blatant Russian threat. Maybe he'll tweet something.

The Unclassified Summary

You too can read the "unclassified summary" of "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections." I've spent some time with that this morning. It's only 25 pages.

Three things are very clear:

1. The Russians -- well, Vladimir Putin specifically -- wanted Donald Trump in the White House.

2. The Russians acted to help make that happen. American intelligence agencies intercepted communications in the aftermath of the election in which Russian officials celebrated and congratulated themselves on the outcome.

3. Donald Trump has continued -- as recently as this morning -- to deny, to excuse, to minimize, to obfuscate, to deflect, and to defend not our intelligence agencies but Vladimir Putin.

I can think of only one reason for # 3. Donald Trump knew all along what was going on and is now part of the attempted cover-up.

As far as I'm concerned, he's no longer just an ignorant buffoon. He's a traitor. He's an illegitimate president. He's a threat to our American democracy.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey Jr., who up until Thursday was a top advisor to Trump on intelligence matters, evidently got a stomachful of the lying Russian puppet. Woolsey resigned from the Trump transition team because he was being excluded from discussions on intelligence policy. His advice was being ignored, and he had become increasingly restive with a PEOTUS who totally confuses twittering with sober and complex thought.

The Memes of December

Moscow on the Potomac, Times Two

The Look of Love: Rex Tillerson with
Vladimir Putin. PHOTO: RIA NOVOSTI/REUTERS

So word has leaked that after weeks of considering his options, Vladimir Putin has chosen Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as the next Secretary of State.

After economic sanctions were imposed on Russia following its invasion of the Crimea and its "shadow war" in eastern Ukraine, Tillerson spoke up against the sanctions: “We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions,” he said. Apparently, sanctions against the aggressor state were harming Exxon in particular.

Well, yes, they were. The sanctions on Russia ended up blocking the implementation of a deal that Tillerson and Putin struck in 2011 which would have given Exxon access to Russia's Arctic oil resources while allowing Russia’s state oil company, OAO Rosneft, to invest in Exxon concessions all over the world. The following year, the Kremlin bestowed the country’s Order of Friendship decoration on Tillerson.

Oh, they're close, Putin and Tillerson.

Tillerson's Exxon stock (he owns $151 million of it) would increase in value when Russia gets its way -- that is, gets those sanctions lifted. Hacking an election and installing your guy as Secretary of State has its profits!

Senator John McCain said yesterday that Tillerson’s ties to Putin were “a matter of concern to me.” “I’d have to examine it,” he said on Fox News, adding that “Vladimir Putin is a thug, bully and a murderer, and anybody else who describes him as anything else is lying.”

A thug, a bully, and a murderer -- that about sums him up. Putin's also a pussy-grabber. He grabbed Donald Trump a long time ago, but when you're famous and powerful, you get away with shit like that. And he's running the U.S. government now.

Moscow on the Potomac

Come on, Bubba, didn't we know it all along? American intelligence sources have "high confidence" that Russia was interfering in our election to cripple Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump get to the White House.

Worse, American officials -- including, very likely, Mitch McConnell -- knew it, knew it in spades, and chose to stay quiet about it. James Comey at the FBI decided that inconsequential emails on Anthony Weiner's computer were far more earth-shaking than the subversion of our government by the Russians.

Trump knew it. When he invited the Russians to hack his Democratic opponent's email at that press conference on July 27th, he was projecting what he already knew was going on, because he can't resist bragging and wagging his dick. Ever.



Tell me that ain't treason.

BTW, Trump hasn't had another press conference since.

It's also come to light that the tiger they've bedded down with -- Vladimir Putin -- -- also hacked the National Republican Party and has their shit in his back pocket. High stakes blackmail, should prominent Republicans with embarrassing emails in their past choose at any time in the future to oppose Mr. Putin and his newest butt-buddy, Donald J. Trump, in their world conquest. (FBI Director James Comey, who had a Trump sign in his front yard [see below], was very recently saying that the Russian attempt to hack the Republican Party had been unsuccessful.)

When the CIA's secret conclusion came out yesterday about overt Russian shenanigans undertaken for Trump, the "Trump transition team" (Jared Kushner?) could not resist another big lie while also attacking the intelligence agencies:

“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’ ”

One of the Biggest Electoral College victories "in history"??? No, not even close. That's total bullshit. Trump took 306 electoral votes, to Hillary's 232. How does his number compare?

Dwight Eisenhower, both elections, 442 electoral votes, 457 electoral votes

Lyndon Johnson (1964), 486 electoral votes

Nixon's reelection (1972), 520 electoral votes

Reagan's first and second elections (1980 and 1984), 489 electoral votes, 525 electoral votes

It is way more than merely a good thing that Mr. Obama has ordered intelligence agencies to assemble a detailed report of “lessons learned” about the Russian hacking before he leaves office on Jan. 20 -- a comprehensive history of the Russian effort to undermine democracy ... so that the truth isn't somehow lost shortly following "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office...."