RUSSIA/РОССИЯ THREAD—ASSANGE CHRGD W/ SPYING—DJT IMPEACHED TWICE-US TREASURY SANCTS KILIMNIK AS RUSSIAN AGNT

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Its all coming out now. Obama knew and justice will prevail:


​

Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault
EXCLUSIVE: Hacking Democracy
The White House debated various options to punish Russia, but facing obstacles and potential risks, it ultimately failed to exact a heavy toll on the Kremlin for its election meddling.

Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried “eyes only” instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides.

Hacking Democracy

The White House debated various options to punish Russia, but facing obstacles and potential risks, it ultimately failed to exact a heavy toll on the Kremlin for its election interference.

• Graphic: The main findings, highlighted

Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race.

But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

At that point, the outlines of the Russian assault on the U.S. election were increasingly apparent. Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence services had been rummaging through Democratic Party computer networks, as well as some Republican systems, for more than a year. In July, the FBI had opened an investigation of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. And on July 22, nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were dumped online by WikiLeaks.

SECRET CIA REPORT ARRIVES AT THE WHITE HOUSE

CIA Director John Brennan first alerts the White House in early August that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an operation to defeat or at least damage Hillary Clinton and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

The president instructs aides to assess vulnerabilities in the election system and get agencies to agree on the intelligence that Putin was seeking to influence the election.

President Barack Obama

Brennan calls Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s main security agency, and warns him about interfering in the U.S. presidential election.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s efforts to secure the U.S. voting systems run aground when some state officials reject his plan, calling it a federal takeover.

Alexander Bortnikov

See full graphic
But at the highest levels of government, among those responsible for managing the crisis, the first moment of true foreboding about Russia’s intentions arrived with that CIA intelligence.

The material was so sensitive that CIA Director John Brennan kept it out of the President’s Daily Brief, concerned that even that restricted report’s distribution was too broad. The CIA package came with instructions that it be returned immediately after it was read. To guard against leaks, subsequent meetings in the Situation Room followed the same protocols as planning sessions for the Osama bin Laden raid.

It took time for other parts of the intelligence community to endorse the CIA’s view. Only in the administration’s final weeks in office did it tell the public, in a declassified report, what officials had learned from Brennan in August — that Putin was working to elect Trump.

[Putin ‘ordered’ effort to undermine faith in U.S. election and help Trump, report says]

Over that five-month interval, the Obama administration secretly debated dozens of options for deterring or punishing Russia, including cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, the release of CIA-gathered material that might embarrass Putin and sanctions that officials said could “crater” the Russian economy.

Inside Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s attack on American democracy
Embed Share
Play Video10:43

The Washington Post's national security reporters unveil the deep divisions inside the Obama White House over how to respond to Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. (Whitney Leaming, Osman Malik/The Washington Post)

But in the end, in late December, Obama approved a modest package combining measures that had been drawn up to punish Russia for other issues — expulsions of 35 diplomats and the closure of two Russian compounds — with economic sanctions so narrowly targeted that even those who helped design them describe their impact as largely symbolic.

Obama also approved a previously undisclosed covert measure that authorized planting cyber weapons in Russia’s infrastructure, the digital equivalent of bombs that could be detonated if the United States found itself in an escalating exchange with Moscow. The project, which Obama approved in a covert-action finding, was still in its planning stages when Obama left office. It would be up to President Trump to decide whether to use the capability.

In political terms, Russia’s interference was the crime of the century, an unprecedented and largely successful destabilizing attack on American democracy. It was a case that took almost no time to solve, traced to the Kremlin through cyber-forensics and intelligence on Putin’s involvement. And yet, because of the divergent ways Obama and Trump have handled the matter, Moscow appears unlikely to face proportionate consequences.

Those closest to Obama defend the administration’s response to Russia’s meddling. They note that by August it was too late to prevent the transfer to WikiLeaks and other groups of the troves of emails that would spill out in the ensuing months. They believe that a series of warnings — including one that Obama delivered to Putin in September — prompted Moscow to abandon any plans of further aggression, such as sabotage of U.S. voting systems.

Denis McDonough Denis McDonough White House chief of staff. McDonough was one of the first few officials to discuss details of the intelligence. , who served as Obama’s chief of staff, said that the administration regarded Russia’s interference as an attack on the “heart of our system.”

“We set out from a first-order principal that required us to defend the integrity of the vote,” McDonough said in an interview. “Importantly, we did that. It’s also important to establish what happened and what they attempted to do so as to ensure that we take the steps necessary to stop it from happening again.”

But other administration officials look back on the Russia period with remorse.

“It is the hardest thing about my entire time in government to defend,” said a former senior Obama administration official involved in White House deliberations on Russia. “I feel like we sort of choked.”

The post-election period has been dominated by the overlapping investigations into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia before the election and whether the president sought to obstruct the FBI probe afterward. That spectacle has obscured the magnitude of Moscow’s attempt to hijack a precious and now vulnerable-seeming American democratic process.

Beset by allegations of hidden ties between his campaign and Russia, Trump has shown no inclination to revisit the matter and has denied any collusion or obstruction on his part. As a result, the expulsions and modest sanctions announced by Obama on Dec. 29 continue to stand as the United States’ most forceful response.

“The punishment did not fit the crime,” said Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia for the Obama administration from 2012 to 2014. “Russia violated our sovereignty, meddling in one of our most sacred acts as a democracy — electing our president. The Kremlin should have paid a much higher price for that attack. And U.S. policymakers now — both in the White House and Congress — should consider new actions to deter future Russian interventions.”

The Senate this month passed a bill that would impose additional election- and Ukraine-related sanctions on Moscow and limit Trump’s ability to lift them. The measure requires House approval, however, and Trump’s signature.

This account of the Obama administration’s response to Russia’s interference is based on interviews with more than three dozen current and former U.S. officials in senior positions in government, including at the White House, the State, Defense and Homeland Security departments, and U.S. intelligence services. Most agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

The White House, the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.


‘Deeply concerned’
The CIA breakthrough came at a stage of the presidential campaign when Trump had secured the GOP nomination but was still regarded as a distant long shot. Clinton held comfortable leads in major polls, and Obama expected that he would be transferring power to someone who had served in his Cabinet.

The intelligence on Putin was extraordinary on multiple levels, including as a feat of espionage.

For spy agencies, gaining insights into the intentions of foreign leaders is among the highest priorities. But Putin is a remarkably elusive target. A former KGB officer, he takes extreme precautions to guard against surveillance, rarely communicating by phone or computer, always running sensitive state business from deep within the confines of the Kremlin.

[Vladimir Putin: From the KGB to president of Russia]

The Washington Post is withholding some details of the intelligence at the request of the U.S. government.

In early August, Brennan John Brennan CIA director. Brennan first alerts the White House to the Putin intelligence and later briefs Obama in the Oval Office. alerted senior White House officials to the Putin intelligence, making a call to deputy national security adviser Avril Haines Avril Haines Deputy national security adviser and former deputy director of the CIA under Brennan. and pulling national security adviser Susan E. Rice Susan Rice National security adviser. Rice orders the National Security Council to finalize a list of options to use against Moscow. aside after a meeting before briefing Obama along with Rice, Haines and McDonough Denis McDonough White House chief of staff. McDonough was one of the first few officials to discuss details of the intelligence. in the Oval Office.

Officials described the president’s reaction as grave. Obama “was deeply concerned and wanted as much information as fast as possible,” a former official said. “He wanted the entire intelligence community all over this.”

Russian government hackers penetrated DNC]
@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Even after the late-July WikiLeaks dump, which came on the eve of the Democratic convention and led to the resignation of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) as the DNC’s chairwoman, U.S. intelligence officials continued to express uncertainty about who was behind the hacks or why they were carried out.

At a public security conference in Aspen, Colo., in late July, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. noted that Russia had a long history of meddling in American elections but that U.S. spy agencies were not ready to “make the call on attribution” for what was happening in 2016.

“We don’t know enough . . . to ascribe motivation,” Clapper said. “Was this just to stir up trouble or was this ultimately to try to influence an election?”

RUSSIA AND THE CONVENTIONS

GOP convention, July 18 to 21

Democratic convention, July 25 to 28

DNC information

exposed

Trump staffers alter GOP

platform on Ukraine

WikiLeaks publishes about 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, days before the party’s national convention. Julian Assange tells NBC there is "no proof" that the information his anti-secrecy group received came from Russia. U.S. officials say WikiLeaks received the data from Russia.

During the Republican National Convention, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak speaks with Trump advisers J.D. Gordon and Carter Page. Gordon would later say he was part of the push to soften the GOP’s national security platform regarding U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists. Kislyak meets with Jeff Sessions at a panel at the convention hosted by the Heritage Foundation.



See full graphic
Brennan John Brennan CIA director. Brennan first alerts the White House to the Putin intelligence and later briefs Obama in the Oval Office. convened a secret task force at CIA headquarters composed of several dozen analysts and officers from the CIA, the NSA and the FBI.

The unit functioned as a sealed compartment, its work hidden from the rest of the intelligence community. Those brought in signed new non-disclosure agreements to be granted access to intelligence from all three participating agencies.

They worked exclusively for two groups of “customers,” officials said. The first was Obama and fewer than 14 senior officials in government. The second was a team of operations specialists at the CIA, NSA and FBI who took direction from the task force on where to aim their subsequent efforts to collect more intelligence on Russia.


Don’t make things worse
The secrecy extended into the White House.

Rice Susan Rice National security adviser. Rice orders the National Security Council to finalize a list of options to use against Moscow. , Haines Avril Haines Deputy national security adviser and former deputy director of the CIA under Brennan. and White House homeland-security adviser Lisa Monaco convened meetings in the Situation Room to weigh the mounting evidence of Russian interference and generate options for how to respond. At first, only four senior security officials were allowed to attend: Brennan John Brennan CIA director. Brennan first alerts the White House to the Putin intelligence and later briefs Obama in the Oval Office. , Clapper James R. Clapper Director of national intelligence and one of four senior administration officials to participate in meetings in of the Situation Room on how to retaliate against Russia. Clapper would eventually release the Obama administration's first statement concluding Russia interfered in the election. , Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and FBI Director James B. Comey. Aides ordinarily allowed entry as “plus-ones” were barred.

Gradually, the circle widened to include Vice President Biden and others. Agendas sent to Cabinet secretaries — including John F. Kerry at the State Department and Ashton B. Carter at the Pentagon — arrived in envelopes that subordinates were not supposed to open. Sometimes the agendas were withheld until participants had taken their seats in the Situation Room.

Throughout his presidency, Obama’s approach to national security challenges was deliberate and cautious. He came into office seeking to end wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was loath to act without support from allies overseas and firm political footing at home. He was drawn only reluctantly into foreign crises, such as the civil war in Syria, that presented no clear exit for the United States.

Obama’s approach often seemed reducible to a single imperative: Don’t make things worse. As brazen as the Russian attacks on the election seemed, Obama and his top advisers feared that things could get far worse.

They were concerned that any pre-election response could provoke an escalation from Putin. Moscow’s meddling to that point was seen as deeply concerning but unlikely to materially affect the outcome of the election. Far more worrisome to the Obama team was the prospect of a cyber-assault on voting systems before and on Election Day.

They also worried that any action they took would be perceived as political interference in an already volatile campaign. By August, Trump was predicting that the election would be rigged. Obama officials feared providing fuel to such claims, playing into Russia’s efforts to discredit the outcome and potentially contaminating the expected Clinton triumph.

Before departing for an August vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, Obama instructed aides to pursue ways to deter Moscow and proceed along three main paths: Get a high-confidence assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies on Russia’s role and intent; shore up any vulnerabilities in state-run election systems; and seek bipartisan support from congressional leaders for a statement condemning Moscow and urging states to accept federal help.

crude comments Trump had made about women that were captured on an “Access Hollywood” tape. Half an hour later, WikiLeaks published its first batch of emails stolen from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

To some, Obama’s determination to avoid politicizing the Russia issue had the opposite effect: It meant that he allowed politics to shape his administration’s response to what some believed should have been treated purely as a national security threat.

Schiff said that the administration’s justifications for inaction often left him with a sense of “cognitive dissonance.”

“The administration doesn’t need congressional support to issue a statement of attribution or impose sanctions,” Schiff said in a recent interview. He said many groups inadvertently abetted Russia’s campaign, including Republicans who refused to confront Moscow and media organizations that eagerly mined the troves of hacked emails.

“Where Democrats need to take responsibility,” Schiff said, “is that we failed to persuade the country why they should care that a foreign power is meddling in our affairs.”


‘Ample time’ after election
The Situation Room is actually a complex of secure spaces in the basement level of the West Wing. A video feed from the main room courses through some National Security Council offices, allowing senior aides sitting at their desks to see — but not hear — when meetings are underway.

As the Russia-related sessions with Cabinet members began in August, the video feed was shut off. The last time that had happened on a sustained basis, officials said, was in the spring of 2011 during the run-up to the U.S. Special Operations raid on bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

The blacked-out screens were seen as an ominous sign among lower-level White House officials who were largely kept in the dark about the Russia deliberations even as they were tasked with generating options for retaliation against Moscow.

Much of that work was led by the Cyber Response Group, an NSC unit with representatives from the CIA, NSA, State Department and Pentagon.

The early options they discussed were ambitious. They looked at sectorwide economic sanctions and cyberattacks that would take Russian networks temporarily offline. One official informally suggested — though never formally proposed — moving a U.S. naval carrier group into the Baltic Sea as a symbol of resolve.


@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

What those lower-level officials did not know was that the principals and their deputies had by late September all but ruled out any pre-election retaliation against Moscow. They feared that any action would be seen as political and that Putin, motivated by a seething resentment of Clinton, was prepared to go beyond fake news and email dumps.

[The roots of the hostility between Putin and Clinton]

The FBI had detected suspected Russian attempts to penetrate election systems in 21 states, and at least one senior White House official assumed that Moscow would try all 50, officials said. Some officials believed the attempts were meant to be detected to unnerve the Americans. The patchwork nature of the United States’ 3,000 or so voting jurisdictions would make it hard for Russia to swing the outcome, but Moscow could still sow chaos.

“We turned to other scenarios” the Russians might attempt, said Michael Daniel, who was cybersecurity coordinator at the White House, “such as disrupting the voter rolls, deleting every 10th voter [from registries] or flipping two digits in everybody’s address.”

On the Eastern Shore, a 45-acre Russian compound kept its secrets close]

The FBI was also responsible for generating the list of Russian operatives working under diplomatic cover to expel, drawn from a roster the bureau maintains of suspected Russian intelligence agents in the United States.

Cabinet officials were prompted to vote on whether to close one Russian compound or two, whether to kick out around 10 suspected Russian agents, 20 or 35.

Kerry laid out his department’s concerns. The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Tefft, had sent a cable warning that Moscow would inevitably expel the same number of Americans from Moscow and that departures of that magnitude would impair the embassy’s ability to function.

The objections were dismissed, and Rice Susan Rice National security adviser. Rice orders the National Security Council to finalize a list of options to use against Moscow. submitted a plan to Obama calling for the seizure of both Russian facilities and the expulsion of 35 suspected spies. Obama signed off on the package and announced the punitive measures on Dec. 29, while on vacation in Hawaii.

By then, the still-forming Trump administration was becoming entangled by questions about contacts with Moscow. On or around that same day that Obama imposed sanctions, Trump’s designated national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, told the Russian ambassador by phone that the sanctions would soon be revisited. Flynn’s false statements about that conversation later cost him his job.

The report that Obama had commissioned was released a week later, on Jan. 6. It was based largely on the work done by the task force Brennan John Brennan CIA director. Brennan first alerts the White House to the Putin intelligence and later briefs Obama in the Oval Office. had established and made public what the CIA had concluded in August, that “Putin and the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton.”

It also carried a note of warning: “We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the U.S. election to future influence efforts worldwide.”


Sanctions’ ‘minimal’ impact
The punitive measures got several days of media attention before the spotlight returned to Trump, his still-forming administration and, later, the initial rumblings of the Russia crisis that has become a consuming issue for the Trump White House.

But the package of measures approved by Obama, and the process by which they were selected and implemented, were more complex than initially understood.

The expulsions and compound seizures were originally devised as ways to retaliate against Moscow not for election interference but for an escalating campaign of harassment of American diplomats and intelligence operatives. U.S. officials often endured hostile treatment, but the episodes had become increasingly menacing and violent.

In one previously undisclosed incident on July 6, a Russian military helicopter dropped from the sky to make multiple passes just feet over the hood of a vehicle being driven by the U.S. defense attache, who was accompanied by colleagues, on a stretch of road between Murmansk and Pechenga in northern Russia. The attempt at intimidation was captured on photos the Americans took through the windshield.

An even more harrowing encounter took place the prior month, when a CIA operative returning by taxi to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was tackled and thrown to the ground by a uniformed FSB guard. In a video aired on Russian television, the U.S. operative can be seen struggling to drag himself across the embassy threshold and onto U.S. sovereign territory. He sustained a broken shoulder in the attack.

Though conceived as retaliation for those incidents, the expulsions were adapted and included in the election-related package. The roster of expelled spies included several operatives who were suspected of playing a role in Russia’s election interference from within the United States, officials said. They declined to elaborate.

More broadly, the list of 35 names focused heavily on Russians known to have technical skills. Their names and bios were laid out on a dossier delivered to senior White House officials and Cabinet secretaries, although the list was modified at the last minute to reduce the number of expulsions from Russia’s U.N. mission in New York and add more names from its facilities in Washington and San Francisco.

Trump administration moves to return Russian compounds in Maryland and New York

Every Russia story Trump said was a hoax by Democrats: A timeline


More stories


@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

 

[LHilla]

^^ Jeh Johnson on Morning Joe is giving his nice point of view on this story. Someone should post it later.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

JESUS. fukkING. CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

TRUMP IS SO SCARED HE GETS BRIEFINGS. EVERY.fukkING.DAY. ABOUT THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION!! ​

Trump is struggling to stay calm on Russia, one morning call at a time

President Trump has a new morning ritual. Around 6:30 a.m. on many days — before all the network news shows have come on the air — he gets on the phone with a member of his outside legal team to chew over all things Russia.

The calls — detailed by three senior White House officials — are part strategy consultation and part presidential venting session, during which Trump’s lawyers and public-relations gurus take turns reviewing the latest headlines with him. They also devise their plan for battling his avowed enemies: the special counsel leading the Russia investigation; the “fake news” media chronicling it; and, in some instances, the president’s own Justice Department overseeing the probe.

His advisers have encouraged the calls — which the early-to-rise Trump takes from his private quarters in the White House residence — in hopes that he can compartmentalize the widening Russia investigation. By the time the president arrives for work in the Oval Office, the thinking goes, he will no longer be consumed by the Russia probe that he complains hangs over his presidency like a darkening cloud.

It rarely works, however. Asked whether the tactic was effective, one top White House adviser paused for several seconds and then just laughed.

Trump’s grievances and moods often bleed into one another. Frustration with the investigation stews inside him until it bubbles up in the form of rants to aides about unfair cable television commentary or as slights aimed at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein.

Play Video 2:26

'Witch hunt, fake news, phony': Trump's defenses against the Russia probe

President Trump has repeatedly lashed out with insults to defend himself as the Russia investigation unfolds. His latest attacks on Twitter appear to confirm he's being investigated for obstruction of justice. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

And, of course, it emerges in fiery tweets about the “WITCH HUNT” — or, as he wrote Thursday morning, shortly before an event promoting leadership in technology, “a big Dem HOAX!”

The morning calls reflect another way that Trump’s tumultuous administration is adapting to an unremitting season of investigations and to the president’s seemingly uncontrollable reactions to them. Interviews with 22 senior administration officials, outside advisers, and Trump confidants and allies reveal a White House still trying, after five months of halting progress, to establish a steady rhythm of governance while also indulging and managing Trump’s combative and sometimes self-destructive impulses.

The White House is laboring to prevent the Russia matter from overtaking its broader agenda, diligently rolling out a series of theme weeks, focusing on topics including infrastructure and workforce development. West Wing aides are working to keep the president on schedule, trotting him around the country in front of the supportive crowds that energize him. Trump is also planning several big announcements on trade in the coming weeks, before jetting off to Poland and Germany in early July.

“This is not astrophysics,” chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon said. “You solidify your base and you grow your base by getting things done. That’s what people want to see.”

[Inside Trump’s climate decision: After fiery debate, he ‘stayed where he’s always been’]

Senior officials have also been devising an overhaul of the White House communications operation to better meet the offensive and defensive demands of the president they serve, as well as the 24-hour cycle of tweet-size news.

“As his detractors suffer from this never-ending ‘Russian concussion,’ the president has been tending to business as usual — bilateral meetings, progress on health care, tax and infrastructure reform, and job creation,” said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president. “Conjecture about the mood and momentum of the West Wing is inaccurate and overwrought. The pace is breakneck, the trajectory upward.”

Inside Trump’s anger and impatience — and his sudden decision to fire Comey]

After Trump fired James B. Comey as FBI director in May and scrutiny over Russia intensified from investigators and journalists, the president and his inner circle settled on a combative strategy to discredit critics, undermine the probe itself and galvanize his most loyal supporters.

The approach also put Bannon on firmer ground after a rocky patch just weeks earlier, in part because of feuds with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser. Trump views Bannon as his wartime consigliere — the sort of political street fighter he wants as his presidency is threatened.

“This is a train that’s coming,” said Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser and longtime confidant, referring to the investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. “These guys are going to move on him despite the fact that they don’t have a case. The question on the table is what is he going to do about it, and that is a legal and political question.”

Trump and his top aides have tried to partition the Russia matter away from official White House business. Although the president’s personal lawyers and communications strategists have counseled him and manage inquiries from the outside the White House, they nonetheless visit the West Wing for meetings and coordinate some matters with administration officials.

There is disagreement within the Trump circle about how large the outside legal team should be. It currently is led by Marc E. Kasowitz, a New York-based lawyer who has worked with Trump off and on for several decades. Jay Sekulow, a Washington lawyer with deep ties to the Christian conservative movement, is the public face of the team. Some White House officials said they felt Sekulow got roughed up in a series of television interviews last Sunday, but noted that Trump admires Sekulow’s aggression and polished appearance.

“Having worked for both of them, the president and Jay have a lot of similarities — media savants, quick on their feet, fighters, and I think the president would, of course, appreciate Jay’s many connections and past experiences in D.C.,” said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump adviser.

Two other lawyers — Michael J. Bowe of Kasowitz’s firm and John Dowd, a veteran of D.C. legal circles — as well as communications strategist Mark Corallo are part of the outside team.

White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn — who has been trying to separate himself and his office from the Russia probe so that they can concentrate on the official business — has advocated for the outside team to retain additional lawyers, according to officials inside and outside the White House. But Kasowitz maintains that at this point he has the appropriate legal strategy and sees no need to enlist additional help, the officials said.

Trump is most bothered by what he views as the one-sided portrayal and overall unfairness of the Russia investigation, senior White House officials said. He thinks media reports automatically treat Comey’s version of events as superior to his own and have not focused enough on Mueller’s hiring of some investigators who have donated to Democratic candidates. He is angry that Comey’s reputation has not been tarnished by his admission that he asked a friend to leak a private memo of his interactions with Trump to the news media. And he is irritated that — as he tweeted — Rosenstein penned a memo outlining possible justifications to fire Comey and then appointed Mueller to investigate Trump, in part, for doing just that.

The president has also seemed at times to regret his decision to fire his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, after Flynn misled Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russians. Shortly after dismissing Flynn, the president mused privately that maybe he could bring him back — despite understanding, said a senior White House official, that Flynn faced other challenges within the administration and realistically could not rejoin the team.

Still, the president continues to privately praise Flynn, calling him a “nice guy” who “served the country well” and accusing the news media of bringing him down.

“The president just has to get it out of his mind, stop tweeting and focus on running the government, and let the investigation go on, because without that, he’ll always have this problem,” former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg told CNN this week.

[Pence’s balancing act as Trump’s No. 2 shows signs of strain amid White House turmoil]

The president’s senior aides, including Priebus, who have tried for months to wean Trump from his Twitter habit, have resigned themselves to managing — rather than curtailing — his almost-daily missives.

But inside and outside the White House, patience is running thin with Priebus, who many perceive as looking out only for himself and as having failed to bring order and discipline to a White House that often appears to lack both.

Priebus allies say they think the chief of staff’s tenure will last at least a year. Indeed, news reports about Priebus’s imminent demise often only heighten the president’s sense of loyalty toward his chief of staff, whom he views as hardworking.

Those frustrated with Priebus stir rumors of an earlier departure, possibly as soon as the congressional recess in August. If a health-care bill passes the Senate, they say, and tax reform is up next on the docket, Priebus can plausibly save face by leaving as the White House appears on the way to notching a few legislative achievements.

“For somebody who was rumored to be on his way out week one, if he lasts six or seven months, it is a success,” one senior White House official said.

Several White House aides and Trump confidants say that, for his next chief of staff, they expect the president to choose someone whom he views as more of a peer or someone with more governing experience.

Two names being floated are Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.).

Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said Priebus is committed solely to helping Trump succeed. “Reince’s only priority is moving the president’s agenda forward, and he works day and night toward that goal,” Walters said. “He is keeping the entire administration, from the White House to the agencies, focused on the president’s top policy objectives: repealing and replacing Obamacare, significant tax reform and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.”

Last month, White House communications director Mike Dubke resigned from his post, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer — who has taken on many of Dubke’s responsibilities as officials try to recruit a replacement — is expected to transition into a more behind-the-scenes strategic messaging role.

The White House is also considering a communications “brain trust” — basically, a media team equipped to handle incoming and outgoing issues, as well as everything from surrogate response to regional and national media. Conway has been asked to play a larger role on the communications team, where she could possibly oversee surrogacy and other areas.

Trump is hungry to see his spokesmen and spokeswomen more aggressively defend him and take the fight directly to his critics, people familiar with his thinking said.

“I don’t care if it’s Mickey Mouse, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon or Donald J. Trump, you have to have a communications strategy to defend the president,” said one friend of the president’s, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment candidly.

Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser, said he understands why the president seems “horribly frustrated.”

“He’s being called a traitor and he knows none of it is true,” Bennett said, “and no one seems able to stop the stories.”


@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

WASHINGTON POST WITH TWO BOMBSHELLS IN A fukkIN DAY!!!!!

 

[Jx2]

JESUS. fukkING. CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

 

[ExodusNirvana]

Obeezy definitely told him that they knew

It's obvious now

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Obeezy definitely told him that they knew

It's obvious now

everyone said the meeting lasted way longer than expected

 

[bzb]

In a lot of ways I'm past thinking impeachment.

I know. I know. It sounds crazy. How can you be thinking beyond something that: a) hasn't take place yet and b) is in the hands of the partisan republican house and senate.

Pretty simple in my opinion. If done right, this investigation will completely dismantle the Trump enterprise. Every account of his frozen. Every asset taken by the government. If done right, this investigation should result in the imprisonment of damn near the entire Russian population of the US. I mean, I want to see everything from mob bosses arrested in broad daylight, to gunfights, to a complete travel ban on immigration from eastern europe ( taste of your own medicine)

If done right, this should result in the neutering of the Trump family name.

This investigation should be a complete clean house of the US.

I just wanna be able to walk down the street and hit republicans with a, "Shut the fukk up traitor. Matter of fact, see something say something. Bout to call DHS and the FBI on you".

I just want the mere utterance of the words, "I voted for Trump" to result in pin dropping silence and public ridicule.

Bro I'm going to be the most childish and disgusting version of myself once these charges drop...omg ...I'm calling the cops on so many white people

oh hell yeah. Ima petty af when it all falls down. keeping a mental note of all the properties that had a trump sign. might print out a bunch of posters and litter their yards.

 

[Samori Toure]

TRUMP IS SO SCARED HE GETS BRIEFINGS. EVERY.fukkING.DAY. ABOUT THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION!! ​

Trump is struggling to stay calm on Russia, one morning call at a time

President Trump has a new morning ritual. Around 6:30 a.m. on many days — before all the network news shows have come on the air — he gets on the phone with a member of his outside legal team to chew over all things Russia.

The calls — detailed by three senior White House officials — are part strategy consultation and part presidential venting session, during which Trump’s lawyers and public-relations gurus take turns reviewing the latest headlines with him. They also devise their plan for battling his avowed enemies: the special counsel leading the Russia investigation; the “fake news” media chronicling it; and, in some instances, the president’s own Justice Department overseeing the probe.

His advisers have encouraged the calls — which the early-to-rise Trump takes from his private quarters in the White House residence — in hopes that he can compartmentalize the widening Russia investigation. By the time the president arrives for work in the Oval Office, the thinking goes, he will no longer be consumed by the Russia probe that he complains hangs over his presidency like a darkening cloud.

It rarely works, however. Asked whether the tactic was effective, one top White House adviser paused for several seconds and then just laughed.

Trump’s grievances and moods often bleed into one another. Frustration with the investigation stews inside him until it bubbles up in the form of rants to aides about unfair cable television commentary or as slights aimed at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein.

Play Video 2:26

'Witch hunt, fake news, phony': Trump's defenses against the Russia probe

President Trump has repeatedly lashed out with insults to defend himself as the Russia investigation unfolds. His latest attacks on Twitter appear to confirm he's being investigated for obstruction of justice. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

And, of course, it emerges in fiery tweets about the “WITCH HUNT” — or, as he wrote Thursday morning, shortly before an event promoting leadership in technology, “a big Dem HOAX!”

The morning calls reflect another way that Trump’s tumultuous administration is adapting to an unremitting season of investigations and to the president’s seemingly uncontrollable reactions to them. Interviews with 22 senior administration officials, outside advisers, and Trump confidants and allies reveal a White House still trying, after five months of halting progress, to establish a steady rhythm of governance while also indulging and managing Trump’s combative and sometimes self-destructive impulses.

The White House is laboring to prevent the Russia matter from overtaking its broader agenda, diligently rolling out a series of theme weeks, focusing on topics including infrastructure and workforce development. West Wing aides are working to keep the president on schedule, trotting him around the country in front of the supportive crowds that energize him. Trump is also planning several big announcements on trade in the coming weeks, before jetting off to Poland and Germany in early July.

“This is not astrophysics,” chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon said. “You solidify your base and you grow your base by getting things done. That’s what people want to see.”

[Inside Trump’s climate decision: After fiery debate, he ‘stayed where he’s always been’]

Senior officials have also been devising an overhaul of the White House communications operation to better meet the offensive and defensive demands of the president they serve, as well as the 24-hour cycle of tweet-size news.

“As his detractors suffer from this never-ending ‘Russian concussion,’ the president has been tending to business as usual — bilateral meetings, progress on health care, tax and infrastructure reform, and job creation,” said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president. “Conjecture about the mood and momentum of the West Wing is inaccurate and overwrought. The pace is breakneck, the trajectory upward.”

Inside Trump’s anger and impatience — and his sudden decision to fire Comey]

After Trump fired James B. Comey as FBI director in May and scrutiny over Russia intensified from investigators and journalists, the president and his inner circle settled on a combative strategy to discredit critics, undermine the probe itself and galvanize his most loyal supporters.

The approach also put Bannon on firmer ground after a rocky patch just weeks earlier, in part because of feuds with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser. Trump views Bannon as his wartime consigliere — the sort of political street fighter he wants as his presidency is threatened.

“This is a train that’s coming,” said Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser and longtime confidant, referring to the investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. “These guys are going to move on him despite the fact that they don’t have a case. The question on the table is what is he going to do about it, and that is a legal and political question.”

Trump and his top aides have tried to partition the Russia matter away from official White House business. Although the president’s personal lawyers and communications strategists have counseled him and manage inquiries from the outside the White House, they nonetheless visit the West Wing for meetings and coordinate some matters with administration officials.

There is disagreement within the Trump circle about how large the outside legal team should be. It currently is led by Marc E. Kasowitz, a New York-based lawyer who has worked with Trump off and on for several decades. Jay Sekulow, a Washington lawyer with deep ties to the Christian conservative movement, is the public face of the team. Some White House officials said they felt Sekulow got roughed up in a series of television interviews last Sunday, but noted that Trump admires Sekulow’s aggression and polished appearance.

“Having worked for both of them, the president and Jay have a lot of similarities — media savants, quick on their feet, fighters, and I think the president would, of course, appreciate Jay’s many connections and past experiences in D.C.,” said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump adviser.

Two other lawyers — Michael J. Bowe of Kasowitz’s firm and John Dowd, a veteran of D.C. legal circles — as well as communications strategist Mark Corallo are part of the outside team.

White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn — who has been trying to separate himself and his office from the Russia probe so that they can concentrate on the official business — has advocated for the outside team to retain additional lawyers, according to officials inside and outside the White House. But Kasowitz maintains that at this point he has the appropriate legal strategy and sees no need to enlist additional help, the officials said.

Trump is most bothered by what he views as the one-sided portrayal and overall unfairness of the Russia investigation, senior White House officials said. He thinks media reports automatically treat Comey’s version of events as superior to his own and have not focused enough on Mueller’s hiring of some investigators who have donated to Democratic candidates. He is angry that Comey’s reputation has not been tarnished by his admission that he asked a friend to leak a private memo of his interactions with Trump to the news media. And he is irritated that — as he tweeted — Rosenstein penned a memo outlining possible justifications to fire Comey and then appointed Mueller to investigate Trump, in part, for doing just that.

The president has also seemed at times to regret his decision to fire his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, after Flynn misled Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russians. Shortly after dismissing Flynn, the president mused privately that maybe he could bring him back — despite understanding, said a senior White House official, that Flynn faced other challenges within the administration and realistically could not rejoin the team.

Still, the president continues to privately praise Flynn, calling him a “nice guy” who “served the country well” and accusing the news media of bringing him down.

“The president just has to get it out of his mind, stop tweeting and focus on running the government, and let the investigation go on, because without that, he’ll always have this problem,” former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg told CNN this week.

[Pence’s balancing act as Trump’s No. 2 shows signs of strain amid White House turmoil]

The president’s senior aides, including Priebus, who have tried for months to wean Trump from his Twitter habit, have resigned themselves to managing — rather than curtailing — his almost-daily missives.

But inside and outside the White House, patience is running thin with Priebus, who many perceive as looking out only for himself and as having failed to bring order and discipline to a White House that often appears to lack both.

Priebus allies say they think the chief of staff’s tenure will last at least a year. Indeed, news reports about Priebus’s imminent demise often only heighten the president’s sense of loyalty toward his chief of staff, whom he views as hardworking.

Those frustrated with Priebus stir rumors of an earlier departure, possibly as soon as the congressional recess in August. If a health-care bill passes the Senate, they say, and tax reform is up next on the docket, Priebus can plausibly save face by leaving as the White House appears on the way to notching a few legislative achievements.

“For somebody who was rumored to be on his way out week one, if he lasts six or seven months, it is a success,” one senior White House official said.

Several White House aides and Trump confidants say that, for his next chief of staff, they expect the president to choose someone whom he views as more of a peer or someone with more governing experience.

Two names being floated are Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.).

Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said Priebus is committed solely to helping Trump succeed. “Reince’s only priority is moving the president’s agenda forward, and he works day and night toward that goal,” Walters said. “He is keeping the entire administration, from the White House to the agencies, focused on the president’s top policy objectives: repealing and replacing Obamacare, significant tax reform and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.”

Last month, White House communications director Mike Dubke resigned from his post, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer — who has taken on many of Dubke’s responsibilities as officials try to recruit a replacement — is expected to transition into a more behind-the-scenes strategic messaging role.

The White House is also considering a communications “brain trust” — basically, a media team equipped to handle incoming and outgoing issues, as well as everything from surrogate response to regional and national media. Conway has been asked to play a larger role on the communications team, where she could possibly oversee surrogacy and other areas.

Trump is hungry to see his spokesmen and spokeswomen more aggressively defend him and take the fight directly to his critics, people familiar with his thinking said.

“I don’t care if it’s Mickey Mouse, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon or Donald J. Trump, you have to have a communications strategy to defend the president,” said one friend of the president’s, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment candidly.

Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser, said he understands why the president seems “horribly frustrated.”

“He’s being called a traitor and he knows none of it is true,” Bennett said, “and no one seems able to stop the stories.”


@DonKnock @The Black Panther @SJUGrad13 @88m3@Cali_livin @Menelik II @Hogan in the Wolfpac @wire28 @smitty22 @Reality @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @THE MACHINE @OneManGang @duckbutta @TheDarceKnight @Ed MOTHERfukkING G @dtownreppin214 @The Taxman

Mueller has Trump doing this all day everyday.

 

[Tony D'Amato]

Obama believed in America too much. He thought there was no way that piece of shyt would be elected.

 

[fact]

Y'all should listen to the podcast "Can he do that?", new episode dropped this morning with Greg Miller, on of the writers of the piece that dropped this morning, and he eli5. Its only like 27 minutes long, it's a very interesting listen

 

[blotter]

Obama believed in America too much. He thought there was no way that piece of shyt would be elected.

his biggest miscalculation was not realizing the GOP is American's version of the Taliban. It's obvious the conservative message is unpopular with changing, younger, more diverse demographics, so when faced with changing or subverting democracy they chose the latter. example# 34598745: