RUSSIA/РОССИЯ THREAD—ASSANGE CHRGD W/ SPYING—DJT IMPEACHED TWICE-US TREASURY SANCTS KILIMNIK AS RUSSIAN AGNT
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THE FEDS RAN DOWN ON STEVE BANNON'S AT THE CRIB TO STOP THE WHIT HOUSE FROM TELLING BANNON NOT TO COOPERATE!!!!!
FBI agents visited Steve Bannon’s home last week to discuss subpoena in Russia probe
FBI agents visited Steve Bannon’s home last week to discuss subpoena in Russia probe
by Hallie Jackson, Kristen Welker and Julia AinsleyJan 17 2018, 6:44 am ET
FBI agents showed up at Steve Bannon’s Washington home last week intent on serving him with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury investigating possible ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.
The agents were unaware at the time that Bannon had retained Washington lawyer William Burck just hours earlier, according to two people familiar with the events that took place on Jan. 9. Once redirected, the agents sent the order to Burck, who is also representing two other witnesses in the probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI.
Bannon, who served as President Donald Trump’s chief strategist until he departed the White House in August, could end up being interviewed by Mueller’s team before the end of the month, according to one source who agreed to discuss the matter on the condition of anonymity.
The subpoena compels Bannon to testify before a grand jury, skipping the voluntary interview with Mueller's team that many in Trump's orbit have elected to take. But Mueller may still leave open the option for an interview in lieu of grand jury testimony. Bannon is likely to accept such an option if it is made available, according to a source close to Bannon.
Three people familiar with the special counsel’s investigation suggested Mueller moved to subpoena Bannon, rather than ask him to voluntarily appear for questioning, in order to thwart any potential attempt by the White House to pressure Bannon into refusing to cooperate.
Bannon revealed he’d been subpoenaed by the grand jury when he met with lawmakers Tuesday behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, where he was questioned for more than 10 hours.
During the course of questioning, Bannon told members of the House Intelligence committee that the White House had instructed him not to answer questions related to his tenure in the administration and the transition period between the election and inauguration, citing a desire to exert executive privilege. The committee responded by issuing a separate subpoena to compel his responses to lawmakers.
Bannon is expected to be more forthcoming with Mueller’s team. “He’ll answer any questions” Mueller wants, one source close to Bannon told NBC News.
Related: Bannon calls Trump Tower Russian meeting ‘treasonous’ in new book
Bannon, who headed the right-wing conservative website Breitbart, was instrumental in Trump’s election and a key figure in the White House. But his abrupt departure from Breitbart last week came amid tensions between the two men that exploded in public after the publication of “Fire and Fury,” a book by Michael Wolff which extensively quoted Bannon criticizing Trump and his family.
In the book, Bannon suggests that Trump knew of, and possibly even met with Russian agents who had shopped potential dirt on his political rival to his son, Donald Trump Jr., and to his campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The White House has denied that Trump met with any of the Russian participants at that meeting inside Trump Tower in June 2016.
According to the book Bannon called the meeting, which also included Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."
After the book’s publication, the White House issued a scathing statement about Bannon, who later expressed regrets for his remarks. But the president’s anger with Bannon led to the loss of his job at Breitbart after the site’s funders sided with the White House.
Rep. Mike Conway, R-Texas, who leads the House Intelligence Committee, said the committee’s subpoena remains in effect and described the interview as in “recess.” It was not clear whether Bannon would appear again before the committee, though Rep. Eric Swalwall, D-Calif., indicated late Tuesday that he was hopeful Bannon would return Thursday.
The White House defended consulting with Bannon's legal representatives prior to Tuesday's closed door hearing.
“As with all congressional inquiries touching upon the White House, Congress must consult with the White House prior to obtaining confidential material,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. "We have been fully cooperative with these ongoing investigations, and encourage the committees to work with us to find an appropriate accommodation in order to ensure Congress obtains information necessary to its legitimate interests.”
Burck, who is representing Bannon before the special counsel and the congressional investigations, is also representing White House Counsel Don McGahn and Trump’s former chief of staff, Reince Priebus, both of who have met with Mueller late last year.
@DonKnock @SJUGrad13 @88m3 @wire28 @smitty22 @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @OneManGang @dtownreppin214 @JKFrazier @tmonster @BigMoneyGrip @Soymuscle Mike @.r. @GnauzBookOfRhymes @@Dorian Breh @Dameon Farrow @TheNig @VR Tripper @re'up @Blackfyre_Berserker
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thernbroom
Superstar
Wargames
One Of The Last Real Ones To Do It
Mueller told Bannon
You know you done fukked up right?
You think Cheato cares about you?
No right?
Let's make a deal.
Or get ready to go to jail.
You know you done fukked up right? You think Cheato cares about you? No right? Let's make a deal. Or get ready to go to jail.
Dameon Farrow
Superstar
This is all this is. Everything isn't a deep conspiracy, folks. The man has bills + 45's ego = lie to keep the job. He'll put a tell all article out after the smoke clears.Personally I don't think that means much. I mean Ajit Pai was from the Obama era too and we see what he's about.
In fact, his willingness to go to the press and sing Trump's praises may well be the reason that he (as an Obama holdover) still has his job. I mean I guess it's possible that he has some sort of ulterior motive, but I think it's more likely that he's just looking out for his own job security.
Also telling bannon to invoke privelege is a move of guilt. These dudes just won't stop.
Reality Check
Keepin' it 100
In addition to all this evidence, Trump's always been 6'2". Google his height it says 6'2"
Now suddenly he's 6'3". Why?
Calculate Your BMI - Standard BMI Calculator
6'2" and 239 is "obese" according to BMI
6'3 and 240 is also "obese"
They claim he is the exact cutoff of height and weight (clearly both false) to have a BMI of 29.9, which is "overweight" and not 30+, because then reporters could call him obese.
Oh yeah also "excellent health" despite being 71 years old, no exercise and terrible diet. Insisted on mental capability test and then scored 30 out of 30, 4-5 hours of sleep a night, which doctor says is a good thing and all of this because "he has great genes"
This is crazy
My wife is a psychologist and went on a 20 minute rant last night after hearing about that mental capability test. Supposedly it's the most basic of testing that can be given to a patient.
We all know what happened last time Mueller set the fbi the run up on someone in the dead of night and caught the mofo in his draws
It’s clear Mueller got the unlimited hall pass on these clowns and Cheeto can’t do shyt about it.. Rosenstein pretty much gave Mueller cover even if Rosentein himself gets fired..
Dp
FYI, David Ignatius is pretty much the mouth-piece for the DC intelligence community:
Opinion | The truth about the FBI’s Russia probe
Are Republicans right about the Russia probe?
“Does this concern you at all?” asks a tart email message from a Trump supporter who wonders why the mainstream media doesn’t take a closer look at allegations that the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election has been tainted by bias.
It’s a fair question. President Trump has made very serious charges, tweeting in December that the FBI’s “reputation is in Tatters — worst in History!” And Republicans in Congress have claimed that the bureau was manipulated by a former British intelligence officer named Christopher Steele, who supposedly pumped up allegations about Trump-Russia collusion with a “dossier” that was financed by Hillary Clinton.
What’s true here, and what’s false? A careful look at the evidence rebuts the claim that the FBI was misused by Steele and that the bureau’s operations are in disarray. The FBI isn’t perfect, and text messages show that some officials favored Clinton (just as others supported Trump). But Republicans delude themselves in claiming that the Russia probe is a partisan concoction. Trump operatives have admitted in plea agreements that they lied to the FBI about their contacts with Russia.
In a rational world, Trump would apologize for smearing America’s top investigative agency, but that’s not where we live right now. So let’s instead listen to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who was appointed by Trump after James B. Comey was fired. Wray told a House committee last month:
“What I can tell you is [I see] tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep Americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence, child predators, spies from Russia, China and North Korea, and Iran.”
A senior official of one of the nation’s largest police departments agrees: “I work with the FBI every day, and I don’t see tatters.” Several bureau veterans offered similar assessments; Trump’s comments offended even Comey’s detractors in the FBI.
What about Republican claims that Steele spawned what Trump calls a “witch hunt”? It’s true that Steele was hired by Fusion GPS, an investigative firm paid to dig up dirt on Trump, first by Republican opponents, then by Clinton supporters. But Steele went through well-established contacts, and the FBI got serious only after it obtained its own independent information.
Steele’s main FBI connection was a senior agent he had met in 2010, when he shared information about corruption in the international soccer federation known as FIFA. Steele, who had retired from MI6 the year before, had been retained as a private investigator by the Football Association in England. His FBI contact was involved in international organized-crime investigations. The FIFA investigation helped bring Justice Department indictments in 2015 that toppled the organization’s leadership.
So when Steele contacted the FBI in mid-2016 with information about Trump and the Russians, he was already a valued source. On about July 4, 2016, he met with his FBI friend in London to share what he had gathered for a June 20 Fusion GPS report, the first chapter of his eventual dossier. In that first report, Steele’s sources claimed that Russia had been “cultivating” Trump for at least five years.
Steele’s information didn’t get much high-level attention at first. But bells began ringing in July, after Australian intelligence told the FBI about an unusual conversation two months earlier between Australia’s London high commissioner and George Papadopoulos, a Trump foreign policy adviser. As the New York Times reported last month, Papadopoulos had told the Australian official that Russia had damaging political information about Clinton. The Australians decided to share this intelligence with the FBI after hacked Democratic emails were published in July.
The FBI was now very interested. Based on the Australian account, knowledgeable sources say, the bureau requested another meeting with Steele to dig deeper. That encounter took place around Oct. 1 in Rome with Steele’s old FBI contact. At this meeting, the FBI official asked Steele if he had ever heard of Papadopoulos, according to an official familiar with the meeting. Steele hadn’t.
What does this narrative tell us? Far from a yarn concocted by Steele, the FBI probe was driven by its own independent reporting about Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty last October to lying about his Russia contacts. The bottom line: There may be something in tatters at the center of this investigation, but it isn’t the FBI.
A question for Republicans in Congress who have been so quick to trash FBI officials and defend Trump: Does this concern you at all?
Twitter: @IgnatiusPost
@DonKnock @SJUGrad13 @88m3 @wire28 @smitty22 @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @dtownreppin214 @JKFrazier @tmonster @BigMoneyGrip @Soymuscle Mike @.r. @GnauzBookOfRhymes @Dorian Breh @Dameon Farrow @TheNig @VR Tripper @re'up @Blackfyre_Berserker
Opinion | The truth about the FBI’s Russia probe
Are Republicans right about the Russia probe?
“Does this concern you at all?” asks a tart email message from a Trump supporter who wonders why the mainstream media doesn’t take a closer look at allegations that the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election has been tainted by bias.
It’s a fair question. President Trump has made very serious charges, tweeting in December that the FBI’s “reputation is in Tatters — worst in History!” And Republicans in Congress have claimed that the bureau was manipulated by a former British intelligence officer named Christopher Steele, who supposedly pumped up allegations about Trump-Russia collusion with a “dossier” that was financed by Hillary Clinton.
What’s true here, and what’s false? A careful look at the evidence rebuts the claim that the FBI was misused by Steele and that the bureau’s operations are in disarray. The FBI isn’t perfect, and text messages show that some officials favored Clinton (just as others supported Trump). But Republicans delude themselves in claiming that the Russia probe is a partisan concoction. Trump operatives have admitted in plea agreements that they lied to the FBI about their contacts with Russia.
In a rational world, Trump would apologize for smearing America’s top investigative agency, but that’s not where we live right now. So let’s instead listen to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who was appointed by Trump after James B. Comey was fired. Wray told a House committee last month:
“What I can tell you is [I see] tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep Americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence, child predators, spies from Russia, China and North Korea, and Iran.”
A senior official of one of the nation’s largest police departments agrees: “I work with the FBI every day, and I don’t see tatters.” Several bureau veterans offered similar assessments; Trump’s comments offended even Comey’s detractors in the FBI.
What about Republican claims that Steele spawned what Trump calls a “witch hunt”? It’s true that Steele was hired by Fusion GPS, an investigative firm paid to dig up dirt on Trump, first by Republican opponents, then by Clinton supporters. But Steele went through well-established contacts, and the FBI got serious only after it obtained its own independent information.
Steele’s main FBI connection was a senior agent he had met in 2010, when he shared information about corruption in the international soccer federation known as FIFA. Steele, who had retired from MI6 the year before, had been retained as a private investigator by the Football Association in England. His FBI contact was involved in international organized-crime investigations. The FIFA investigation helped bring Justice Department indictments in 2015 that toppled the organization’s leadership.
So when Steele contacted the FBI in mid-2016 with information about Trump and the Russians, he was already a valued source. On about July 4, 2016, he met with his FBI friend in London to share what he had gathered for a June 20 Fusion GPS report, the first chapter of his eventual dossier. In that first report, Steele’s sources claimed that Russia had been “cultivating” Trump for at least five years.
Steele’s information didn’t get much high-level attention at first. But bells began ringing in July, after Australian intelligence told the FBI about an unusual conversation two months earlier between Australia’s London high commissioner and George Papadopoulos, a Trump foreign policy adviser. As the New York Times reported last month, Papadopoulos had told the Australian official that Russia had damaging political information about Clinton. The Australians decided to share this intelligence with the FBI after hacked Democratic emails were published in July.
The FBI was now very interested. Based on the Australian account, knowledgeable sources say, the bureau requested another meeting with Steele to dig deeper. That encounter took place around Oct. 1 in Rome with Steele’s old FBI contact. At this meeting, the FBI official asked Steele if he had ever heard of Papadopoulos, according to an official familiar with the meeting. Steele hadn’t.
What does this narrative tell us? Far from a yarn concocted by Steele, the FBI probe was driven by its own independent reporting about Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty last October to lying about his Russia contacts. The bottom line: There may be something in tatters at the center of this investigation, but it isn’t the FBI.
A question for Republicans in Congress who have been so quick to trash FBI officials and defend Trump: Does this concern you at all?
Twitter: @IgnatiusPost
@DonKnock @SJUGrad13 @88m3 @wire28 @smitty22 @fact @Hood Critic @ExodusNirvana @Blessed Is the Man @dtownreppin214 @JKFrazier @tmonster @BigMoneyGrip @Soymuscle Mike @.r. @GnauzBookOfRhymes @Dorian Breh @Dameon Farrow @TheNig @VR Tripper @re'up @Blackfyre_Berserker