Putin wants Trump to hand over former U.S. diplomat for interrogation

[RavenSky]

WTF??

President Donald Trump entertained a proposal from Vladimir Putin to let Russian authorities pose questions for the former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

Trump made no commitments to the Russian leader when Putin raised the idea at a private meeting in Helsinki on Monday and is “going to meet with his team,” Sanders said.

Allowing the interrogation of a former American ambassador, who held diplomatic immunity while in Moscow, would be an unprecedented breach in protections traditionally provided to the nation’s foreign service.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters Wednesday that such a grilling of a former diplomat “would be a grave concern to our former colleagues.” She said the Russians are making “absolutely absurd” assertions about 11 American citizens they want to question, although she declined to rule out the Russian proposal when asked about it repeatedly.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...p-to-question-obama-s-ambassador-sanders-says

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

That they are even discussing it should be grounds for impeachment. We aren't talking about a prisoner swap here.

And it gets worse:

In exchange for the opportunity to have McFaul and a number of other Americans questioned, the Russian president offered to let Special Counsel Robert Mueller observe interrogations of 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted by a U.S. grand jury last week for hacking Democratic Party email accounts.

So we give them our diplomats and then the KGB investigates the KGB infiltration into the DNC computers.

What is the parallel here?

The Fox is asking the farmer for 12 of his hens and in exchanged, he'll have his fox buddies investigate the disappearance of the hens in the hen house.

 

[RavenSky]

That they are even discussing it should be grounds for impeachment. We aren't talking about a prisoner swap here.

And it gets worse:

In exchange for the opportunity to have McFaul and a number of other Americans questioned, the Russian president offered to let Special Counsel Robert Mueller observe interrogations of 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted by a U.S. grand jury last week for hacking Democratic Party email accounts.

So we give them our diplomats and then the KGB investigates the KGB infiltration into the DNC computers.

What is the parallel here?

The Fox is asking the farmer for 12 of his hens and in exchanged, he'll have his fox buddies investigate the disappearance of the hens in the hen house.

Exactly! This is the deal Trump - the so-called "successful businessman" - thinks is great.

 

[braces_for_impact]

That they are even discussing it should be grounds for impeachment. We aren't talking about a prisoner swap here.

And it gets worse:

In exchange for the opportunity to have McFaul and a number of other Americans questioned, the Russian president offered to let Special Counsel Robert Mueller observe interrogations of 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted by a U.S. grand jury last week for hacking Democratic Party email accounts.

So we give them our diplomats and then the KGB investigates the KGB infiltration into the DNC computers.

What is the parallel here?

The Fox is asking the farmer for 12 of his hens and in exchanged, he'll have his fox buddies investigate the disappearance of the hens in the hen house.

The idea seems pretty simple to me. It's an attempt to make a moral equivalence between this and the Russian indictments regarding the cyber attack. It also is high octane fuel for Trump's base, as it involves ludicrous accusations of money laundering that ended up in Clinton coffers, supposedly to the amount of $400,000. (Originally they said 400 million?) FOX will run to the hills with this. If Trump doesn't hand over McFaul, it gives Putin cover to refuse to send the named Russians from the indictments. The fact that the White House is even considering this is ludicrous. Sarah Sanders as said the White House is having a meeting about it. If you can't even provide cover for your own diplomats, you're weaker than weak, more corrupt than corrupt.

 

[barbos]

Michael McFaul is widely viewed by russians as a meddler in russian presidential elections. So I see what Putin is trying to say.
American Media should have thought before making a big deal out of Trump Campaign people meeting with russian ambassador.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/19/michael-mcfaul-book-excerpt-218408

Wild and crazy doings in Russia.

 

[barbos]

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/19/michael-mcfaul-book-excerpt-218408

Wild and crazy doings in Russia.

In that piece McFaul conveniently failed to mention that the first thing he did when he came to Moscow as ambassador was to go and meet opposition leaders and only then going to meed Putin and the rest of his people.

 

[Opoponax]

It feels like more and more desperate moves are trying to be made. The response from the White House should've been a short, dignified, "Fuck you."

But instead, the Great Dealmaker is at work, wishing so badly he could jail his political opponents or de fact deport them to Siberia; wishing he could silence the free press; wishing he could find out who voted for whom.

And the GOP does nothing, while its constituents wholly support them.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

That they are even discussing it should be grounds for impeachment. We aren't talking about a prisoner swap here.

And it gets worse:

In exchange for the opportunity to have McFaul and a number of other Americans questioned, the Russian president offered to let Special Counsel Robert Mueller observe interrogations of 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted by a U.S. grand jury last week for hacking Democratic Party email accounts.

So we give them our diplomats and then the KGB investigates the KGB infiltration into the DNC computers.

What is the parallel here?

The Fox is asking the farmer for 12 of his hens and in exchanged, he'll have his fox buddies investigate the disappearance of the hens in the hen house.

Whatever Putin has on Trump must be really, really good. Much more than a pee-pee tape or banging a hooker. More like fucking a boy in his ass then slitting his throat.

 

[lpetrich]

Or some quid pro quo for bailing him out. Like lobbying on behalf of Russia and taking Russia's side in international affairs.

 

[braces_for_impact]

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/19/michael-mcfaul-book-excerpt-218408

Wild and crazy doings in Russia.

In that piece McFaul conveniently failed to mention that the first thing he did when he came to Moscow as ambassador was to go and meet opposition leaders and only then going to meed Putin and the rest of his people.

That bastard!

ETA: Article

U.S. Ambassador's Rough Welcome in Moscow: Is the Reset Failing?

Which notes:

[FONT=&quot]First, McFaul was a participant in the meetings but not the host; the sessions were arranged for Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, himself a former U.S. ambassador to Russia. In that context, McFaul's presence was routine and ancillary. Second, the meetings were not McFaul's first in Moscow, as some Russian reports have implied (including state-controlled media that[/FONT]should know better[FONT=&quot]). [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]He presented his diplomatic credentials at the Russian Foreign Ministry the previous day and then accompanied Burns to appointments with an impressive array of top officials in the Kremlin and in Russia's White House (where the prime minister and his aides work) as well as with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Finally, Russian officials know well that visiting senior U.S. officials virtually always meet with opposition figures and, as is common in the diplomatic world, were informed of the meetings in advance.[/FONT]

As usual, you, barbos, are a font of balanced and thoughtful info concerning Russia.

 

[ZiprHead]

As usual, you, barbos, are a font of balanced and thoughtful info concerning Russia.

Give the poor guy a break. Maybe he's just a victim of false new, er, Russian propaganda.

 

[RavenSky]

That they are even discussing it should be grounds for impeachment. We aren't talking about a prisoner swap here.

And it gets worse:

In exchange for the opportunity to have McFaul and a number of other Americans questioned, the Russian president offered to let Special Counsel Robert Mueller observe interrogations of 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted by a U.S. grand jury last week for hacking Democratic Party email accounts.

So we give them our diplomats and then the KGB investigates the KGB infiltration into the DNC computers.

What is the parallel here?

The Fox is asking the farmer for 12 of his hens and in exchanged, he'll have his fox buddies investigate the disappearance of the hens in the hen house.

The idea seems pretty simple to me. It's an attempt to make a moral equivalence between this and the Russian indictments regarding the cyber attack. It also is high octane fuel for Trump's base, as it involves ludicrous accusations of money laundering that ended up in Clinton coffers, supposedly to the amount of $400,000. (Originally they said 400 million?) FOX will run to the hills with this. If Trump doesn't hand over McFaul, it gives Putin cover to refuse to send the named Russians from the indictments. The fact that the White House is even considering this is ludicrous. Sarah Sanders as said the White House is having a meeting about it. If you can't even provide cover for your own diplomats, you're weaker than weak, more corrupt than corrupt.

As to the bolded... no one ever expected Putin to extradite any of the named Russians, and Putin knows that - so I don't know who he or Trump think they are fooling.

 

[scombrid]

Whatever Putin has on Trump must be really, really good. Much more than a pee-pee tape or banging a hooker. More like fucking a boy in his ass then slitting his throat.

Money. They literally own him.

Trump could also have some kind of vision of him and Putin being allies against the New World Order. If they can break the EU and NATO then they can rule the world together.

But mostly I think its the debt and money laundering hanging over Trump's head.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Whatever Putin has on Trump must be really, really good. Much more than a pee-pee tape or banging a hooker. More like fucking a boy in his ass then slitting his throat.

Money. They literally own him.

Trump could also have some kind of vision of him and Putin being allies against the New World Order. If they can break the EU and NATO then they can rule the world together.

A bit like Vader and the Emperor. Vader thinks he is the shit, but he isn't.

But mostly I think its the debt and money laundering hanging over Trump's head.

At the very least.

 

[ideologyhunter]

"I think that's an incredible offer, okay?" -- said Scrotus on Monday 7/16. Unimaginable except with this hideous man as "President." So what does he walk back, the next day? Wouldn't for would. And that "clarifies" things with his cartel on the Hill. It is way overdue for Donald to cause his party real, discernible, measurable harm. What's happened to this country?

 

[Opoponax]

"I think that's an incredible offer, okay?" -- said Scrotus on Monday 7/16. Unimaginable except with this hideous man as "President." So what does he walk back, the next day? Wouldn't for would. And that "clarifies" things with his cartel on the Hill. It is way overdue for Donald to cause his party real, discernible, measurable harm. What's happened to this country?

24/7 propaganda will have that effect. From the time one wakes up in the morning until falling asleep in front of the TV during the last minutes of Hannity at night, they can be bombarded with right wing propaganda thinly disguised as news. And they all say the same shit over and over and over, and the message is always the same: liberals are evil, stupid, and want to take everything from you. Only conservatives/Trump can save you.

The American conservative is a like vaguely aware punching bag. He knows he's getting hit, but at the same time all he hears is that Democrats are the ones doing the punching, when in fact the punches are coming from those same voices.

 

[phands]

[

24/7 propaganda will have that effect. From the time one wakes up in the morning until falling asleep in front of the TV during the last minutes of Hannity at night, they can be bombarded with right wing propaganda thinly disguised as news. And they all say the same shit over and over and over, and the message is always the same: liberals are evil, stupid, and want to take everything from you. Only conservatives/Trump can save you.

Think North Korea, and too many other places.

 

[scombrid]

24/7 propaganda will have that effect. From the time one wakes up in the morning until falling asleep in front of the TV during the last minutes of Hannity at night, they can be bombarded with right wing propaganda thinly disguised as news. And they all say the same shit over and over and over, and the message is always the same: liberals are evil, stupid, and want to take everything from you. Only conservatives/Trump can save you.

I was on the road Tuesday. I listened to Hannity interview Trump on a talk radio station. It was ridiculous. I think an RT interview of Putin would be more honest.

And it even goes beyond your usual political hacking. Check out FOX News science reporting from a couple of days ago. There is a crack in a rock face popular with climbers that has caused the park service to close some spots in Grand Tetons National Park due to the rock fall hazard. Here is how FOX reports it:

Part of Grand Teton National Park near Yellowstone supervolcano closed after massive fissure opens.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018...ional-park-near-yellowstone-supervolcano.html

If there was an eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, which government officials and scientists have said is unlikely, the result would be a devastating amount of ash and sulfur spewed into the air. That in turn could destroy crops and even alter the climate.

The powerful eruption of Mount Tambura in 1815 lowered global temperatures, triggered extreme weather and led to crop failures.

That is complete with video of geysers and boiling hot springs to give the impression that the fissure in the rocks that they are reporting is boiling and a bellowing. So it scares the crap out of its viewers/readers for no reason and gets in a "volcanoes are the real cause of climate change" plug all at once. There isn't even one picture of the rock face or fissure about which they are actually reporting, just stock images of spewing guysers and such.

Here is a real article about the real closure:

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/...ed-as-scientists-monitor-100-foot-long-crack/

Rockfall is a common occurrence in the Teton Range, and is a part of the naturally dynamic environment of mountains. As a relatively young mountain range, the Tetons are still rising and actively eroding. Over long periods of time, water flowing through minute fractures decomposes rock in a process called weathering.

Once a rock has been weathered, triggers such as freeze-thaw cycles, flowing water, temperature variations, vegetation growth, and other factors can cause cracks in rock to grow rapidly and possibly break free and fall.

Park staff are using multiple methods to monitor the situation. Time-lapse cameras have been installed which allow the scientists to view growth in the crack as well as any changes to the buttress at 15-minute intervals.

The crack in the rock has fuck all of nothing to do with any super volcano activity. However, in FOX land the volcano is going to blow any day now and cause global cooling.

 

[scombrid]

liberals are evil, stupid, and want to take everything from you.

And give it to minorities and illegals.

I kids you not, I have walked into my brother's in-laws house and Gerry has had FOX News on TV simultaneous with Rush Limbaugh at full volume on the radio. He is retired and consumes talk radio and FOX from dawn until he falls asleep. He had a Trump shrine in the den facing the front door to greet Christmas visitors.

My sister-in-law had a "No Hate in This State" solidarity sticker on her car (referencing the gender politics of North Carolina where she and my brother live). Once Gerry noticed it, things got so acrimonious that she and my brother left on Christmas morning to drive back to NC. Christmas is a big deal to her Catholic parents but he just couldn't shut the fuck up and enjoy their visit. Nobody said a word about his shrine or the Hillary Clinton toilet paper in the water closet but the "No Hate in This State" sticker on her car was more than he could handle.