RussiaGate

[Angry Floof]

I think Assange is a nut bag cyber punk who sometimes serves to hold power accountable, but also gained and abused power of his own in the process. And he's not a fucking journalist, even if at some point in the past you could rightfully calling him a whistleblower.

But none of that means that he is being treated fairly or as a patsy. Too much is unknown and fishy about all this.

 

[Deepak]

Are the people interrogating Assange Trump loyalists or other? There are a lot of Trump loyalists in the military and FBI, CIA, etc. I hope luck is on the people's side and if he tries to spill the beans to make a deal, someone reports it through proper channels but as it stands now, the head of the FBI seems like he has crushed opposition to Trump.

At the end of the day Trump could pardon Assange anyway

I think Assange is a nut bag cyber punk who sometimes serves to hold power accountable, but also gained and abused power of his own in the process. And he's not a fucking journalist, even if at some point in the past you could rightfully calling him a whistleblower.

But none of that means that he is being treated fairly or as a patsy. Too much is unknown and fishy about all this.

I don't think it's fishy as much as Lenin Moreno not appreciating Assange's previous leaks

 

[Copernicus]

Trump isn't going to pardon Assange, since there would be nothing in it for him. Assange has no credibility, and Ecuador is now doing all it can to distance itself from him. They are claiming that his behavior was uncontrollable, that he used them to conduct spy activities, and that he smeared feces on the wall of the embassy, among other things. The Russians don't need him for anything anymore, since his credibility is shot. There may be some folks on the left who still think of him as a hero, but that scarcely matters to the general public. If Assange decided to talk about his contacts with Roger Stone, right wingers would just call him a liar who would say anything to get out of some jail time. That's what they did with Michael Cohen, and it worked with Trump's base.

The only thing that Barr said about Trump's "exoneration" was that evidence was not found (or insufficient?) to prove a criminal case in a court of law against Trump, not that Barr would permit Trump to be indicted in any case. He didn't say that there was no evidence whatsoever of collusion, and he did say that there was some evidence of obstruction of justice. Which, of course, Barr would not permit Trump to be indicted for. Barr has already said that presidents have an automatic get-out-of-jail-free card, no matter what. Theoretically, Congress could impeach Trump on the basis of what is in the Mueller report, if they are ever allowed to get the unredacted version. What they are going to get on Thursday, is likely to be pretty heavily censored. It will take a long time for them to get the full report and supporting testimony, if the Republican-packed court system deigns to permit it.

 

[ZiprHead]

Maria Butina Sentenced to Eighteen Months

AG Barr just wants to send her home without serving her sentence.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Here's an interesting bit I found while researching the Russian information warfare in my Russian Influence Measured thread. "RC" refers to the propaganda/influencing tactic of "reflexive control" that is the focus of the study:

The Skripal poisoning case provides an excellent example of Russian social media exploitation for distraction and diversion. This technique requires anchoring on the news item to begin the operation. Alex Christoforou uses The Duran, a pro-Russia website he’s founded with political commentator for RT (formerly Russia Today), Peter Lavelle, to develop news items which are then propagated through his personal Facebook and Twitter accounts. In addition, his personal and professional legitimacy are increased by frequent interviews on RT– which he and RT spread further through social media. The Duran has 25,000 subscribers on YouTube, and although most of its some 230 videos only gather a few hundred views, some manage to reach 54,000 viewers (e.g., a negative video on President Obama). His video that has garnered the most (536,000) views on the Duran YouTube channel) features his commentary on and clips from an RT interview with Vladimir Putin who discredits philanthropist George Soros.107

The quality and integrity of the news items displayed on The Duran is at the very least dubious, and stories integrate disparate content into a single narrative, while each item is then hyperlinked and spread individually in later tweets and other social media posts. An example of this mixing of multiple stories to one narrative is this headline, which appeared 10 March 2018: “The Poisoning of Skripal leads right to Hillary Clinton and the DNC. What did Skripal know about the Steele Dossier?”108 The article hyperlinks to every argument leading the reader away from the original story (the questions of former FSB agent Sergei Skripal’s poisoning) towards other contentious and controversial topics: Hillary Clinton’s hacked e-mails, the DNC sponsoring an anti-Trump smear campaign, Christopher Steele, all the way to the FISA investigation. This news story garnered some 29,000 views. Meanwhile it was rebroadcasted on Christoforou’s personal Facebook account, where he has over 4,000 followers and 3,500 friends, his Twitter account, and The Duran’s Facebook account, which has 59,000 followers.109 In support of a wider RC campaign, actors attempt to legitimize further various narratives by creating connections among stories that compound into a bigger picture, thus adding legitimacy to each narrative.

 

[Angry Floof]

Maria Butina Sentenced to Eighteen Months

AG Barr just wants to send her home without serving her sentence.

Of course he does. I bet she has plenty to say. He doesn't want her here where she might be questioned by congress for all the world to hear. He wants to keep as much as possible only visible through the confusion of the media, not through methodical laying out of evidence and hearing witnesses in public.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

From the same study above on Butin (again "RC" refers to "reflexive control"):

Another recent example is Russian distraction operations in the case of the recently uncovered Russian agent Maria Butina who operated in the US. The Duran re-published an RT analysis which focused on alleged procedural errors in the arrest and indictment. While Butina is accused of not registering as a foreign agent and infiltrating the National Rifle Association (NRA), The Duran and RT aim at distracting attention from her activities by fabricating news content around the actual story, thereby focusing the target audience’s attention to other issues. The information thereby leads the target audience from one undesired position that doesn’t fit into the larger RC campaign narrative to a new destination far removed from that original story.
...
Another trend is the use of RC methods through social media for damage control, as apparent in the Maria Butina, Skripal and MH-17 cases. The confusion created by the conflicting accounts is aimed at deflecting blame and re-orienting attention while the media storm passes. These instances, however, can also be seen as purely reactive, and may not all actually be part of an overall RC campaign (but they do feed well into existing RC campaigns). As mentioned above, it is not always easy or even possible to detect if an individual Russian operation is part of a long-term RC campaign or not.

Finally, an important trend that merits attention is the power of social media-propelled RC to create movements and groups, such as the separatist groups present online to support an independent Donbass, or the Free Maria Butina hashtag, more recently. This process is especially relevant as it attracts target audience members from various sides of an argument, while also developing a life of its own – a development that is always possible with RC campaigns as the campaigns can backfire if detected in time and made public by the adversary. Also, actual innocent while unknowing members of such groups set up or created by Russia can start acting on their own initiative, which may not be in the interest of the Kremlin, thereby negatively affecting the overall campaign.

 

[Harry Bosch]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

I'd say technically, Russian wanted to weaken the Clinton Administration. Trump winning was Putin's collapse of the WTC Towers.

If Russia can convince people that vaccinations are a danger, when they are the exact opposite, they can put doubt into people's minds about anything.

 

[Keith&Co.]

But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense?

why would anti-democratic forces want to empower people who fear that decisions made by our government, that work for everyone's benefit, pose a direct threat, to their kids, their freedoms, their faith? that's what you're asking? Maybe to rile up anyone who won't help make things better?

A dating rule i have been hearing for many years is 'don't stick your dick in crazy.'
The trolls seem to feel that it's okay to stick the crazy in the ballot box.

 

[lpetrich]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

It makes sense if one wants to sow discord. Consider: Russian Trolls Organized Both Sides of an Islam Protest in Texas | The Daily - encouraging both Muslims and opponents of Muslims to protest at the same time and place.

 

[AdamWho]

The bots go after the weakest links.

Which are conspiracy theory nuts, the uneducated, and gullible... Unfortunately that is the core of conservative politics.

This surprised me too in the beginning because they promoted anti-gmo conspiracy theories. I originally suspected they were interested in getting Europe to shift agriculture purchases away from US to Russia... Now they have completely shifted away from that line, so it might have been a l tactic to support Jill Stein.

 

[barbos]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

It makes sense if one wants to sow discord. Consider: Russian Trolls Organized Both Sides of an Islam Protest in Texas | The Daily - encouraging both Muslims and opponents of Muslims to protest at the same time and place.

Well, it's Internet Research Agency after all. So they designed an experiment and conducted it, purely for research purposes.

 

[ZiprHead]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

It makes sense if one wants to sow discord. Consider: Russian Trolls Organized Both Sides of an Islam Protest in Texas | The Daily - encouraging both Muslims and opponents of Muslims to protest at the same time and place.

Well, it's Internet Research Agency after all. So they designed an experiment and conducted it, purely for research purposes.

Ah, Barbos. As they say in the southern US, bless your heart.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

It makes sense if one wants to sow discord. Consider: Russian Trolls Organized Both Sides of an Islam Protest in Texas | The Daily - encouraging both Muslims and opponents of Muslims to protest at the same time and place.

No surprise at all. Their objective is discord.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

It makes sense if one wants to sow discord. Consider: Russian Trolls Organized Both Sides of an Islam Protest in Texas | The Daily - encouraging both Muslims and opponents of Muslims to protest at the same time and place.

No surprise at all. Their objective is discord.

No, their object is to retain control of the WH. By enticing Muslims to riot, that reaffirms the alt-right stereotype (that they also promoted); that "Muslim" is merely synonymous with "Terrorist."

So it's a Roman-esque point a finger at the filthy JewsMuslims who fuck each other over and killed their own messiah strategy.

 

[barbos]

Great Koyaanisqatsi has spoken, White House CAN be controlled. Someone inform John Kelly.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Great Koyaanisqatsi has spoken

Always nice when the peasants bow down, but you really shouldn't spend so much time on your knees. Though, maybe if you ask nicely, Putin will let you wear kneepads.

 

[scombrid]

I have a slight derail question. I understand why the Russians wanted Trump to win. Brexit to win. Venezuelan Madura to retain his power. And etc. They want chaos. They are anti democratic process. I get it. But why are the Russian bots against vaccination? How does that make any sense? Do the Russian hackers believe that they are immune to world outbreaks?

They seems to key in on the hot topics among the right wing nationalists. Russia Today was very interested in the Charlottesville right wing murder of counter protesters. It actively spread disinformation about that story including fake news that the murderer was a patsy for Soros!

Mandatory vaccination is a hot topic in right wing anti-government circles. They are becoming increasingly convinced that vaccines are some sort of UN plot against sovereignty and freedom.

Chemtrails, glyphosate, GMO, vaccines, any conspiracy theory that gets the anti-government folks fired up is game to get promoted by the agents of disinfo and discord.

There is a synergy between the deep state conspiracy theories promoted by FOX/Hannity et al. and the Russian disinfo campaign. Bannon/Hannity have had great success painting "The Democrat Party" as "The Powers That Be". It has given a lot of cover to monster mega corporations to get de-regulation to their benefit under the guise of "more freedom". Just look as what Trump has done to the EPA, Department of Interior, and the Commerce Department. Our hard core conservatives in Florida are screaming for control of development and better water quality while at the same time hailing Trump/Desantis blaming all of Florida's environmental problems on Democrats. Meanwhile Trump has been rolling back environmental regulations at a steady clip and our state has been in total GOP control for decades and elevated Governor Scott to the Senate...

I think the anti-government "deep state" propaganda played well in the rust belt. You may remember Trump was a vocal "Birther", pardoned Sheriff Joe, and has had nothing but good things to say about Alex Jones. That benefited him in primaries against folks like Jeb Bush and certainly helped him against Clinton. You see people in Florida that are vehemently anti-development (which runs counter to everything that the Republican Party in Florida has done over the years) but hyper conservative when it comes to religion, guns, and immigration/race and they are rabid Trump supporters. I honestly think that political operatives like Bannon and Heritage Foundation lit the fire and the Russians just weaponized the existing "theories" for their own purposes.

 

[scombrid]

This morning the people that want to ban herbicides in Florida are proposing to drive to Tallahassee and pour herbicide down the steps of the Florida Capitol building. They are linking to RT and Ruptly coverage of protesters pouring blood down the steps of the Trocadero in Paris as inspiration. Funny that. Not some other news source but Russia Today and its Ruptly property. I'm sure the Gazprom fucks that control RT/Ruptly genuinely care about the environment.