RussiaGate

[Copernicus]

Well, the trial is over, and Danchenko was acquitted on all counts by the jury.

Primary source for Trump-Russia dossier acquitted, handing special counsel Durham another trial loss​

Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, was acquitted Tuesday of four counts of lying to the FBI in an embarrassing defeat for special counsel John Durham.

Durham has taken two cases to trial, and both have ended in acquittals. After more than three years looking for misconduct in the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe, Durham has only secured one conviction: the guilty plea of a low-level FBI lawyer, who got probation.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on all charges against Danchenko, a Russian expat and think tank analyst who provided the bulk of the material for the anti-Trump dossier. Durham initially charged Danchenko with five counts of lying to the FBI, but a judge threw out one of the charges on Friday.

The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

...


The week-long trial against Danchenko resurrected many of the 2016 election dramas.

FBI agents described their efforts to corroborate the Steele dossier, which ultimately came up empty. Jurors were shown portions of Steele’s memos, which he has previously said weren’t ever meant to become public. The dossier’s primary allegation – that there was a “well-developed conspiracy of cooperation” between Donald Trump and the Russians – repeatedly came up throughout the proceedings.

...

 

[marc]

The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

Even in reporting on the failure to discredit the source, the article repeats a few lies. As far as I know nothing in the dossier was discredited. Some of it can't be verified, but that is different from discrediting. And the initial funding was from one of the Republican primary opponents, but after they dropped out the research was offered to Hillary's campaign.

 

[Copernicus]

The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

Even in reporting on the failure to discredit the source, the article repeats a few lies. As far as I know nothing in the dossier was discredited. Some of it can't be verified, but that is different from discrediting. And the initial funding was from one of the Republican primary opponents, but after they dropped out the research was offered to Hillary's campaign.

Hillary's campaign commissioned the group that hired Steele to dig up oppo on Trump, so the "indirectly funded" charge is true. Steele himself never claimed that everything he wrote could be corroborated by independent sources, and the FBI simply wasn't able to corroborate much of the material. Republicans, of course, see the FBI investigation as proving the allegations false. That's absurd. But I agree with you that the CNN article is being inaccurate in claiming that the dossier has been discredited. That is such a constant Republican refrain that their perception has come to be reality for many reporters and editors who ought to know better.

NBC news more accurately calls the Steele Dossier "largely unsubstantiated" rather than "largely discredited".

See:

Analyst who provided Trump-Russia dossier information is acquitted of lying to FBI​

 

[blastula]

Durham fucked himself in this trial too, going after his own witness, trying to score his crazy political points.

Durham rebukes his own witness and slams FBI's Russia probe after trial setbacks | CNN Politics

The final expected trial of special counsel John Durham's probe took an unexpected turn Wednesday, with Durham grilling and rebuking his own witness after the witness seemed to bolster the defense of Igor Danchenko, a key Steele dossier source.

www.cnn.com

He's been too busy acting like Trump's press secretary to actually do his job right, even whining about "no collusion" in his closing. Feds hardly every lose, what an asshole.

Jury Begins Deliberating in Trial of Analyst Who Gathered Steele Dossier Claims - The New York Times.

At one point on Monday, Mr. Durham defended his work and rebuked the F.B.I. for its handling of the Russia investigation — prompting the judge to ask him to speed up his remarks.

“It’s not an illogical question to ask, ‘Well, how did this start?’” Mr. Durham said, after claiming that Mr. Mueller concluded that there was “no collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“You should finish up,” Judge Trenga interjected.

 

[jab]

The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

Even in reporting on the failure to discredit the source, the article repeats a few lies. As far as I know nothing in the dossier was discredited. Some of it can't be verified, but that is different from discrediting. And the initial funding was from one of the Republican primary opponents, but after they dropped out the research was offered to Hillary's campaign.

yep.

 

[Copernicus]

He's been too busy acting like Trump's press secretary to actually do his job right, even whining about "no collusion" in his closing. Feds hardly every lose, what an asshole.

I'm not sure he cares about losing, which was pretty much a forgone conclusion. By toeing the party line in court, he probably gets some street cred with Trump's loyal base and therefore the center of gravity of the Republican Party in 2022.

 

[ZiprHead]

Russia's Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections

LONDON (Reuters) -Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Monday he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, the first such admission from a figure implicated by Washington in efforts to influence American politics. The remark by the close ally of Russian...

www.yahoo.com

LONDON (Reuters) -Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Monday he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, the first such admission from a figure implicated by Washington in efforts to influence American politics.

In comments posted by the press service of his Concord catering firm on Russia's Facebook equivalent VKontakte, Prigozhin said: "We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do."

The remark by the close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin was posted on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections in response to a request for comment from a Russian news site.

"During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once," Prigozhin said. He did not elaborate on the cryptic comment.

Prigozhin, who is often referred to as "Putin's chef" because his catering company operates Kremlin contracts, has been formally accused of sponsoring Russia-based "troll farms" that seek to influence U.S. politics.

 

[blastula]

Judge slaps sanctions on Trump lawyers for ‘frivolous’ Clinton lawsuit

The judge said Trump’s lawyers pressed on with claims that were farcical or false, even after being put on notice that they were erroneous.

www.politico.com

A federal judge on Thursday excoriated and sanctioned several members of Donald Trump’s legal team, saying the former president’s massive lawsuit against his former rival, Hillary Clinton, and dozens of other adversaries amounted to an intentional abuse of the legal system.

“These were political grievances masquerading as legal claims,” said U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks, a Florida-based jurist who dismissed Trump’s lawsuit in September. “This cannot be attributed to incompetent lawyering. It was a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda.

Middlebrooks ordered the attorneys to pay $50,000 to the court and more than $16,000 in legal fees to Charles Dolan, one of the defendants, who initiated the sanctions proceedings against Trump’s attorneys. The attorneys ordered to pay the sanctions costs include one of the most prominent members of Trump’s current coterie of lawyers, Alina Habba, as well as his lead local counsel in the Clinton suit, Peter Ticktin, and two others: Michael Madaio and Jamie Sasson.

 

[lpetrich]

The Untold Story of ‘Russiagate’ and the Road to War in Ukraine - The New York Times

In the night of July 28, 2016, as Hillary Clinton was accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in Philadelphia, Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, received an urgent email from Moscow. The sender was a friend and business associate named Konstantin Kilimnik. A Russian citizen born in Soviet Ukraine, Kilimnik ran the Kyiv office of Manafort’s international consulting firm, known for bringing cutting-edge American campaign techniques to clients seeking to have their way with fragile democracies around the world.

Then about a secret plan that he shared with some Trump associates.

Known loosely as the Mariupol plan, after the strategically vital port city, it called for the creation of an autonomous republic in Ukraine’s east, giving Putin effective control of the country’s industrial heartland, where Kremlin-armed, -funded and -directed “separatists” were waging a two-year-old shadow war that had left nearly 10,000 dead. The new republic’s leader would be none other than Yanukovych. The trade-off: “peace” for a broken and subservient Ukraine.

The scheme cut against decades of American policy promoting a free and united Ukraine, and a President Clinton would no doubt maintain, or perhaps even harden, that stance. But Trump was already suggesting that he would upend the diplomatic status quo; if elected, Kilimnik believed, Trump could help make the Mariupol plan a reality. First, though, he would have to win, an unlikely proposition at best. Which brought the men to the second prong of their agenda that evening — internal campaign polling data tracing a path through battleground states to victory. Manafort’s sharing of that information — the “eyes only” code guiding Trump’s strategy — would have been unremarkable if not for one important piece of Kilimnik’s biography: He was not simply a colleague; he was, U.S. officials would later assert, a Russian agent.

Then on Russia's support for Trump.

 

[Elixir]

Judge slaps sanctions on Trump lawyers for ‘frivolous’ Clinton lawsuit

The judge said Trump’s lawyers pressed on with claims that were farcical or false, even after being put on notice that they were erroneous.

www.politico.com

A federal judge on Thursday excoriated and sanctioned several members of Donald Trump’s legal team, saying the former president’s massive lawsuit against his former rival, Hillary Clinton, and dozens of other adversaries amounted to an intentional abuse of the legal system.

“These were political grievances masquerading as legal claims,” said U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks, a Florida-based jurist who dismissed Trump’s lawsuit in September. “This cannot be attributed to incompetent lawyering. It was a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda.

Middlebrooks ordered the attorneys to pay $50,000 to the court and more than $16,000 in legal fees to Charles Dolan, one of the defendants, who initiated the sanctions proceedings against Trump’s attorneys. The attorneys ordered to pay the sanctions costs include one of the most prominent members of Trump’s current coterie of lawyers, Alina Habba, as well as his lead local counsel in the Clinton suit, Peter Ticktin, and two others: Michael Madaio and Jamie Sasson.

Sounds nice but that's chump change, and isn't going to alter any of their disgusting behavior.

 

[ZiprHead]

Just came across this.

 

[ZiprHead]

GOP operative convicted of funneling Russian donation to Trump's 2016 campaign

A GOP political operative was convicted of funneling $25,000 from a Russian businessman to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Copernicus]

GOP operative convicted of funneling Russian donation to Trump's 2016 campaign

A GOP political operative was convicted of funneling $25,000 from a Russian businessman to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

www.cnbc.com

Pay to play. Trump loves those donations, especially since they are fungible.

 

[barbos]

"you"=West.

I spent the entire portion of the Vietnam War era during which I was alive as a resident and citizen of a non-combatant nation.

Well, Australia was combatant nation and it was and still is somewhat related to GB monarchy.

The west had independent press in the 60s. Now you have some independent internet personalities here and there. All major news organizations are pretty much controlled by Deep State.

Sounds just like the QOP. Funny.

What is QOP?
Seriosly. What do you want me to think about western video after stories such as BBC's staged chemical attack video from Syria? Or AlfaBank story? Or any other story from Russia? Do you really think I can't smell this BS?

 

[scombrid]

"you"=West.

I spent the entire portion of the Vietnam War era during which I was alive as a resident and citizen of a non-combatant nation.

Well, Australia was combatant nation and it was and still is somewhat related to GB monarchy.

The west had independent press in the 60s. Now you have some independent internet personalities here and there. All major news organizations are pretty much controlled by Deep State.

Sounds just like the QOP. Funny.

What is QOP?
Seriosly. What do you want me to think about western video after stories such as BBC's staged chemical attack video from Syria? Or AlfaBank story? Or any other story from Russia? Do you really think I can't smell this BS?

I should probably check in with Will Wiley or Deepak Chopra to figure that out.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

"you"=West.

I spent the entire portion of the Vietnam War era during which I was alive as a resident and citizen of a non-combatant nation.

Well, Australia was combatant nation and it was and still is somewhat related to GB monarchy.

The west had independent press in the 60s. Now you have some independent internet personalities here and there. All major news organizations are pretty much controlled by Deep State.

Sounds just like the QOP. Funny.

What is QOP?
Seriosly. What do you want me to think about western video after stories such as BBC's staged chemical attack video from Syria? Or AlfaBank story? Or any other story from Russia? Do you really think I can't smell this BS?

QOP or also the GQP, is that nutty fringe (or not so fringe) wing of the GOP that were devout followers of whatever the heck QAnon was about.

Also, AlfaBank was less US news media and much more online driven.

The good news is that Russia won the Ukraine military operation and Ukraine was successfully annexed back into the Russian Empire. Congrats. Everyone else in here are sore losers for Ukraine losing around 10 months ago when the military folded and the people marched to the capital and demanded Zelensky be deported to Russia for war crimes. Death by firing squad was the only reasonable option Putin had for Zelensky.

 

[barbos]

You don't have a choice, you will be run by the same bunch of an unelected, corrupt, evil and fairly incompetent assholes.

... I'll take that as your answer to my earlier question. You trust no one in government and the party in charge makes no difference at all, since it is "run by the same bunch of... assholes". So you perceive the "difference" between Trump and Biden as Trump being an intentional criminal and Biden being the "innocent fool" run by criminals.... How do you choose who to vote for, given that is what it seems you are saying your point of view is?

I think it's well known that I am russian in Russia. Don't have to choose but if I had to, I would probably stay home.
American voters are mostly concerned with internal shit and there are some differences between two parts of uniparty there. But my issue is US's utter shittiness toward other countries, specifically toward Russia.

I am sorry to hear that.. My condolences. Perhaps I knew that at some time, but was not important enough to me to remember. So, hypothetically, who WOULD you vote for? An elderly organized crime boss with purely criminal intent, or a senile public servant that might be overly influenced by unnamed, mysterious forces?
Now that I am aware (Again?) that you are in Russia, it is impossible for me to believe a single thing you say, not because you might be dishonest, but because you wish to preserve your life by holding the only view you are allowed to speak of without being jailed and subject to violence from primitive and barbaric animals (your government).
I'm not going to ignore you, but I am not going to consider anything anyone says while inside Russia as possibly being honest in any way. Such honesty would be deadly. I recommend you stop posting - you never know how an animal might react if they feel cornered.

Over the past year Russia has seen increasingly restrictive and ambiguous laws being implemented aimed at silencing criticism and promoting self-governance, i.e., live in fear of what you say could get you in trouble. So I would consider any comments from barbos with that in mind.

EU is doing the same, not to mention Ukraine which is way worse than Russia in that regard.

Anyway, what's your excuse? why are not you demanding explanations from your government over their lies?
Why do I not see demonstrations of IT professionals with banners "AlfaBank BS?, are you fucking kidding?"

 

[TV and credit cards]

You don't have a choice, you will be run by the same bunch of an unelected, corrupt, evil and fairly incompetent assholes.

... I'll take that as your answer to my earlier question. You trust no one in government and the party in charge makes no difference at all, since it is "run by the same bunch of... assholes". So you perceive the "difference" between Trump and Biden as Trump being an intentional criminal and Biden being the "innocent fool" run by criminals.... How do you choose who to vote for, given that is what it seems you are saying your point of view is?

I think it's well known that I am russian in Russia. Don't have to choose but if I had to, I would probably stay home.
American voters are mostly concerned with internal shit and there are some differences between two parts of uniparty there. But my issue is US's utter shittiness toward other countries, specifically toward Russia.

I am sorry to hear that.. My condolences. Perhaps I knew that at some time, but was not important enough to me to remember. So, hypothetically, who WOULD you vote for? An elderly organized crime boss with purely criminal intent, or a senile public servant that might be overly influenced by unnamed, mysterious forces?
Now that I am aware (Again?) that you are in Russia, it is impossible for me to believe a single thing you say, not because you might be dishonest, but because you wish to preserve your life by holding the only view you are allowed to speak of without being jailed and subject to violence from primitive and barbaric animals (your government).
I'm not going to ignore you, but I am not going to consider anything anyone says while inside Russia as possibly being honest in any way. Such honesty would be deadly. I recommend you stop posting - you never know how an animal might react if they feel cornered.

Over the past year Russia has seen increasingly restrictive and ambiguous laws being implemented aimed at silencing criticism and promoting self-governance, i.e., live in fear of what you say could get you in trouble. So I would consider any comments from barbos with that in mind.

EU is doing the same, not to mention Ukraine which is way worse than Russia in that regard.

Anyway, what's your excuse? why are not you demanding explanations from your government over their lies?
Why do I not see demonstrations of IT professionals with banners "AlfaBank BS?, are you fucking kidding?"

First, my "self-governance" was supposed to be self-censorship.

I do demand explanation from my government on occasion. Just ask Sherrod Brown.

AlfaBank? I'm hard-pressed to give a damn about any American bank. Why on earth should I care about AlfaBank? Are you referring to them being booted from SWIFT? Tough shit. When your psychologically unstable dictator invades another country, don't be surprised when the backlash reverberates throughout your society.
Vladimir Putin is solely and wholly responsible for everything good and bad that happens to you. You got issues, take it up with him. I'm sure he'll be most responsive to your needs.

 

[barbos]

AlfaBank? I'm hard-pressed to give a damn about any American bank. Why on earth should I care about AlfaBank? Are you referring to them being booted from SWIFT?

You are being intentionally obtuse.
The story is about your media manufacturing and propagating 100% fake story about AlfaBank Trump secret channel.

 

[zorq]

AlfaBank? I'm hard-pressed to give a damn about any American bank. Why on earth should I care about AlfaBank? Are you referring to them being booted from SWIFT?

You are being intentionally obtuse.
The story is about your media manufacturing and propagating 100% fake story about AlfaBank Trump secret channel.

His confusion is completely understandable because you never post links to what you are rambling about anymore. You make crazy claims and expect everyone else to understand what is going on in your weird propaganda filled head. If you don't want to be misunderstood, then it is on YOU to make yourself clear. If you want us to take you seriously, it is on YOU to post links and references to back up your wild accusations.

You can be better but you don't want to. I think if you challenged yourself to be better you might discover just how insubstantial (imaginary) the foundations of your outrage are.

AlfaBank was not a big story in the west. It is not something we would obsess over. I looked into it and The fact that Trump, Russia, and Russia's propaganda arm are obsessing over it is even more suspicious than the weird computer communications that started the story in the first place. As another poster pointed out, why would anyone care about a misconfigured computer making some (lots of ) unintended network connections? Unless they weren't unintended??? "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"