US investigators corroborate some aspects of the Russia dossier

[Cardinal]

I've been aware of Paul Mannafort and Tillerson for months now*, and I'm familiar with the names but not the particulars of the others.

Carter Page was a foreign adviser to Trump who had business connections in Russia. He was questioned by the FBI for his communications with Russian security officials about the US elections, and publicity over it caused Trump to let him go.

I'm not aware if Wilbur Ross did anything wrong, exactly, but he was a business partner of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg and was Trump's pick for commerce secretary.

Rick Gates was in Manafort’s consulting firm, and arranged meetings between Ukrainian officials and American members of Congress.

Not everything is insidious, but what should be considered insidious is the sheer volume of Russian connections. At this point it's obviously a highly elaborate and interwoven quilt, and I have zero doubt that as it continues to unravel many more personalities will be revealed.

As stated, I think the evidence is there, but it remains unclear to me what the full extent of it is. However, perhaps to ease your annoyance,

I'm not annoyed. I mean, am annoyed, but not by you.

I'll add that I've stated publicly and signed petitions stating that this relationship needs to be investigated by the Federal government. I'm definitely not saying "It doesn't matter" or "We shouldn't do anything."

Yep, well, that's the trick, isn't it? Ryan and Chaffetz have come out and specifically said that no investigations are necessary, and Ryan says we need to be focusing on ACA repeal instead. So if there's going to be a serious investigation it's going to have to happen under a Democrat-controlled Congress.

* Total side rant: People keep on saying that The Young Turks and Secular Talk are hopelessly biased, yet I continue to be more informed than the people I talk to who watch mainstream corporate cable news (not by a small amount) or people who read mainstream press (by a smaller amount). I'm get more and more tired of hearing this from people, considering most of them don't know any of the things you've mentioned, or didn't know about DAPL until November (or even if then), and so forth. Even now, the anti-Trump rhetoric in the media continues to miss some of the most important issues and threats regarding Trumps presidency. Very few mainstream reporters seem interested in the fact that Trump's cabinet is full of former high-level Goldman-Sachs employees, the push back on the EPA only registered very mildly in the mainstream press, and so did his executive order on DAPL. It's infuriating. Even on this whole Putin thing, up until very recently, they were primarily concerned with Putin's role in interfering with US elections, not on Trump's obvious conflicts of interest with Russia and the relationships that his cabinet members have with Russia.

Although Mannafort preceded the largest of the Russian involvement stories, it was precisely those stories which required people to be interested. The whole thing is frustrating in that the election interference should have been the scandal of the century back in September.

 

[FieldTheorist]

Carter Page was a foreign adviser to Trump who had business connections in Russia. He was questioned by the FBI for his communications with Russian security officials about the US elections, and publicity over it caused Trump to let him go. [...] Not everything is insidious, but what should be considered insidious is the sheer volume of Russian connections. At this point it's obviously a highly elaborate and interwoven quilt, and I have zero doubt that as it continues to unravel many more personalities will be revealed.

Thanks for the information. Yeah, I think it's impossible to argue that Putin and Trump don't have any connections, but it'd be great if we knew the full extent of it. Particularly if the US is going to move towards an invasion of Iran, which seems to be the wet-dream that conservatives are whispering of now.

Yep, well, that's the trick, isn't it? Ryan and Chaffetz have come out and specifically said that no investigations are necessary, and Ryan says we need to be focusing on ACA repeal instead. So if there's going to be a serious investigation it's going to have to happen under a Democrat-controlled Congress.

This is why I'm falling back on the general idea that: Yeah, let's keep on educating the public about what's going on, but we aren't going to reign Trump, save court rulings, until the next Congress gets sworn in in 2019 --and that's a big 'if.' So put everything into . That's why I'm a big fan of initiatives like Our Revolution and Justice Democrats that will hopefully bring more electable, locally-sourced candidates who are progressives.

Although Mannafort preceded the largest of the Russian involvement stories, it was precisely those stories which required people to be interested. The whole thing is frustrating in that the election interference should have been the scandal of the century back in September.

I take a somewhat nuanced stance here. I think the DNC and the Clinton apparatus should have been exposed for what they are, but the media never reported on what mattered, anyways, and certainly it's ridiculous that people couldn't hack the RNC's emails and that no one leaked Trump's tax returns.

That being said, I think that people tried to turn on the foghorn about Russia, they just did it an extremely political way and they, again, lacked the evidence to make a slam-dunk case to the American public. God, Hillary was such a terrible candidate. I still can't believe she was the one who got nominated.