Trump Dump: Internal Policy (Thread I)

[Crossroads Inc.]

Dear Lord...
The Right Wing echo chamber is on fire with "Joy" and calls of "Just you wait and see!"
Why?

Because naturally these charges will ACTUALLY be announced... against HILLARY!
Thats right all you liberal babies! Apparently the shoe is going to drop and this investigation, which at every step, has been looking for collision between Trump and Russia, has been "Secretly" digging stuff up on Hillar and Obama! And apparently the whole DNC is going to get indicted! And go down in flames! And they will all end up in Jail! And Trump will bee a Hero! And-and-and-and......

Yeah....
Shit you not, these peeps genially saying these things,

[The Romulan Republic]

If I were a betting man, I'd say the the charges are against Manafort. There were a few rumblings not too long ago that Mueller's team informed Manafort that he was going to be indicted, which is apparently done within a month or two of the official indictment so the impending defendant knows to keep their schedule clear or something.

This seems likely.

Dear Lord...
The Right Wing echo chamber is on fire with "Joy" and calls of "Just you wait and see!"
Why?

Because naturally these charges will ACTUALLY be announced... against HILLARY!
Thats right all you liberal babies! Apparently the shoe is going to drop and this investigation, which at every step, has been looking for collision between Trump and Russia, has been "Secretly" digging stuff up on Hillar and Obama! And apparently the whole DNC is going to get indicted! And go down in flames! And they will all end up in Jail! And Trump will bee a Hero! And-and-and-and......

Yeah....
Shit you not, these peeps genially saying these things,

I'd take quite a bit of satisfaction in their misery if it turns out to be Manafort, if not for the fact that:

a) These peoples' brains are pretty much immune to ever admitting they are wrong. They have mastered a truly Orwellian level of self-delusion.

b) The "Clinton conspiracy" claim will likely be used as a casus belli by some of them for armed insurrection if Trump is impeached.

[Simon_Jester]

If it gets to the point where Trump can be impeached before the 2018 election, or even afterwards, it will have gotten to the point where pro-Trump support has shriveled up so far that such insurrections are likely to be highly localized and relatively easy to get back under control.

I won't say I would welcome such a development, but I have few qualms about the prospect of looking back upon such a thing happening in 2040 and saying "yep, that's a thing that happened."

[Broomstick]

And..... it's MANAFORT! And GATES!

Charges include conspiracy against the United States, which is more serious than I expected.

[Vympel]

And..... it's MANAFORT! And GATES!

Charges include conspiracy against the United States, which is more serious than I expected.

It sounds super dramatic, but it's conspiracy to defraud the United States of tax.

https://twitter.com/Justin_Vogt/status/ ... 9608954881

Manafort's a grifter, that's not exactly news. He was called out as such when Trump hired him back in April 2016.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles ... l-manafort

Manafort has offered his services to not one but two presidents driven from power through popular revolution -- Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. He has lobbied for Saudi Arabia, a Bahamanian president suspected of narco-trafficking and a former Angolan rebel leader accused of torture.

For this work, Manafort has been well-compensated. He told a congressional oversight panel in 1989 that his firm normally accepted only clients who would pay at least $250,000 a year as a retainer.

Spy Magazine reported that his firm received $600,000 one year as compensation for his work for Angolan rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi. The Daily Beast reported that Manafort's work for the Saudis netted him $250,000 for six months of work in 1984. A Justice Department form filed in 2008 from a subcontractor to Manafort's firm said the PR work alone on behalf of Ukraine's government was paid at $35,000 a month.

[Broomstick]

Well, they used tax law to put Al Capone away, I'm OK with using the same tactic on Manafort.

[Flagg]

Dear Lord...
The Right Wing echo chamber is on fire with "Joy" and calls of "Just you wait and see!"
Why?

Because naturally these charges will ACTUALLY be announced... against HILLARY!
Thats right all you liberal babies! Apparently the shoe is going to drop and this investigation, which at every step, has been looking for collision between Trump and Russia, has been "Secretly" digging stuff up on Hillar and Obama! And apparently the whole DNC is going to get indicted! And go down in flames! And they will all end up in Jail! And Trump will bee a Hero! And-and-and-and......

Yeah....
Shit you not, these peeps genially saying these things,

Those email indictments are coming any day now!

[The Romulan Republic]

So, Manafort charged. I wonder who's next.

[Civil War Man]

Amazingly, Manafort and Gates may be the smallest bombshell today. The name that's really making the rounds now is George Papadopoulos, who was apparently arrested back in July and has been singing like a canary ever since.

Who is George Papadopoulos?

Former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos' guilty plea for making a false statement to the FBI brings the conversation surrounding Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into actions taken during the campaign.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making a false statement "about the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials."

Thomas Breen, Papadopoulos' attorney, issued a statement declining to comment.

"We will have the opportunity to comment on George's involvement when called upon by the court at a later date," Breen said.

Here's the background on Papadopoulos:
Foreign policy adviser
Papadopoulos graduated from college in 2009, before moving to London to get a master's degree in security studies. He worked for the Hudson Institute from 2011 through 2015 in Washington, and was also briefly a foreign policy adviser to then-GOP presidential primary candidate Ben Carson -- now Trump's secretary of Housing and Urban Development -- before he joined the Trump campaign.

He is currently an oil, gas and policy consultant, according to his LinkedIn page.

Papadopoulos was living in London when he joined the Trump campaign as an adviser in March, according to a 14-page statement of offense signed by Mueller released Monday.

Papadopoulos' name first was raised in connection with the Trump campaign when Trump listed as one of his foreign policy advisers during a Washington Post editorial board interview.

A former Trump campaign official said Papadopoulos interacted with the campaign "a significant amount" during the 2016 election cycle.

"He was a foreign policy adviser," the official said. But the official described Papadopoulos as an adviser who was in contact with the campaign staff via email and not a familiar face around Trump Tower.

This official said Papadopoulos exchanged emails "constantly" on foreign policy matters with the Trump team during the campaign. Still, this official placed Papadopoulos in the same category as Carter Page who felt more like a "hanger-on" to the campaign staff.

In September 2016, the Russian Interfax News Agency interviewed Papadopoulos, where he said that the election of Trump would "restore the trust" between the US and Russia.

He also argued that US sanctions against Russia over the annexation of Crimea "have done little more than to turn Russia towards China as a primary market for Russian goods, services and energy."

White House downplays
The White House sought to downplay Papadopoulos' role on the campaign. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said his role was "extremely limited" on a voluntary advisory board.

"No activity was ever done in an official capacity," she said Monday.

Meeting with professor, Russian woman
The statement from Mueller says that Papadopoulos falsely claimed he met with an overseas professor before joining the Trump campaign in March 2016 about "the Russians possessing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails."

At that point, however, he was already working for the Trump campaign -- the professor only took interest in Papadopoulos because of his status on the campaign, according to the statement. The professor told Papadopoulos about the Russians possessing dirt on Clinton in late April, and the statement says that "he repeatedly sought to use the professor's Russian connections to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials."

Papadopoulos also met with a Russian woman in March 2016 along with the professor, according to the statement, and he relayed that information to the campaign.

During a March 31, 2016, foreign policy meeting with Trump and other campaign foreign policy advisers, Papadopoulos introduced himself to the group and stated "he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin," according a factual statement signed by Papadopoulos in connection with his guilty plea.

Trying to set up a meeting
Papadopoulos continued to push a meeting with the Russians, and he sent multiple emails to other members of the campaign foreign policy team about his contact with "the Russians" and "outreach to Russia," according to the statement.

In April, the professor introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian national connected to the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, and they had conversations over Skype and email about setting up a meeting between Trump campaign and Russian government officials.

In late April, Papadopoulos learned about the "dirt" on Clinton, and the following day he emailed a senior campaign policy adviser: "Have some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right," according to the statement.

Papadopoulos continued to email high-ranking campaign officials about a request from Russia to meet Trump.

In May, Papadopoulos sent an email to a "high ranking Campaign official" with subject line "Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump." The email said Russia was eager to meet with the candidate and have been reaching out.

In a footnote, the statement notes that the email was forwarded between campaign officials and who wrote they should discuss: "We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal."

The statement does not explain who the campaign officials were concerned about sending signals to.

The Washington Post reported in August that Manafort forwarded that email to his associate Rick Gates when he rejected the idea of Trump making a trip to Russia.

A separate foreign policy official for the campaign said Papadopoulos "obviously went to great lengths" to go around Trump's national security team, which was led by Sen. Jeff Sessions, now Trump's attorney general.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Those email indictments are coming any day now!

ANY DAY NOW! Yup! just you wait and see!
I mean just look at that responses from the far right, the Kool Aid flows Deep today!!!!

How about saving Uranium 1 and fake dossier for Hillary's bday.

Here we go. Reading all the Libtards comments. The indictments are on Manafort are from what he did from 2005-2015. None of which had anything to do with Trump. You guys are such tools. Hillary will get hers in time......... Watch!

HA HA HA! these charges will only clear Trump and it's all going to come back on the DNC and killary and obuma

Soon crooked HRC, Obama, Podesta, Rice and Lynch will faced indictments Ken.......then a major part of the swamp will end up in Prison too. there are many corrupt people in both parties that need jail time...

[Dragon Angel]

Soon crooked HRC, Obama, Podesta, Rice and Lynch will faced indictments Ken.......then a major part of the swamp will end up in Prison too. there are many corrupt people in both parties that need jail time...

Yeah, really. Like the current executive of your country.

Do any of these people have any sense of irony...

[Flagg]

Soon crooked HRC, Obama, Podesta, Rice and Lynch will faced indictments Ken.......then a major part of the swamp will end up in Prison too. there are many corrupt people in both parties that need jail time...

Yeah, really. Like the current executive of your country.

Do any of these people have any sense of irony...

They have no sense of anything. They are entombed in a bubble of anti-reality where GCC is the greatest hoax of all time, Hillary Clinton is a master criminal worse than Hitler, and literal Nazis are just frustrated by oppression but BLM and NFL players hate soldiers and want to exterminate the “white race”.

[The Romulan Republic]

One response I've seen is to claim that these indictments PROVE that there was no collusion with Russia, because they only included financial crimes. Because, obviously, their could not possibly be any more indictments to come.

Incidentally, I don't know the source, but I heard somewhere that the average amount of time between a special council being appointed and the first indictments coming in is seventeen months. Mueller did it in five (fifteen if you count the start of Comey's investigation, which he took over).

So kudos to Robert Mueller for being a God damn prosecutorial bad ass.

[aerius]

Well, they used tax law to put Al Capone away, I'm OK with using the same tactic on Manafort.

Link to the indictment, so everyone can read it in its raw form with no media spin.
https://www.scribd.com/document/3630022 ... from_embed

In short, taking payments and money laundering for Ukrainian government officials, plus a ton of tax evasion starting in 2006 to at least 2016. Also, lobbying for a foreign party without proper disclosure and registration, as in they lied, biggly.

[Vendetta]

Some other sources with minimal editorial if you don't want to read the whole things yourself.

Manafort indicment.


Papadopolous


It's going to be entertaining to see who gets splashed with all the shit these have left flying around.

[Vympel]

Amazingly, Manafort and Gates may be the smallest bombshell today. The name that's really making the rounds now is George Papadopoulos, who was apparently arrested back in July and has been singing like a canary ever since.

Who is George Papadopoulos?

Former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos' guilty plea for making a false statement to the FBI brings the conversation surrounding Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into actions taken during the campaign.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making a false statement "about the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials."

Thomas Breen, Papadopoulos' attorney, issued a statement declining to comment.

"We will have the opportunity to comment on George's involvement when called upon by the court at a later date," Breen said.

Here's the background on Papadopoulos:
Foreign policy adviser
Papadopoulos graduated from college in 2009, before moving to London to get a master's degree in security studies. He worked for the Hudson Institute from 2011 through 2015 in Washington, and was also briefly a foreign policy adviser to then-GOP presidential primary candidate Ben Carson -- now Trump's secretary of Housing and Urban Development -- before he joined the Trump campaign.

He is currently an oil, gas and policy consultant, according to his LinkedIn page.

Papadopoulos was living in London when he joined the Trump campaign as an adviser in March, according to a 14-page statement of offense signed by Mueller released Monday.

Papadopoulos' name first was raised in connection with the Trump campaign when Trump listed as one of his foreign policy advisers during a Washington Post editorial board interview.

A former Trump campaign official said Papadopoulos interacted with the campaign "a significant amount" during the 2016 election cycle.

"He was a foreign policy adviser," the official said. But the official described Papadopoulos as an adviser who was in contact with the campaign staff via email and not a familiar face around Trump Tower.

This official said Papadopoulos exchanged emails "constantly" on foreign policy matters with the Trump team during the campaign. Still, this official placed Papadopoulos in the same category as Carter Page who felt more like a "hanger-on" to the campaign staff.

In September 2016, the Russian Interfax News Agency interviewed Papadopoulos, where he said that the election of Trump would "restore the trust" between the US and Russia.

He also argued that US sanctions against Russia over the annexation of Crimea "have done little more than to turn Russia towards China as a primary market for Russian goods, services and energy."

White House downplays
The White House sought to downplay Papadopoulos' role on the campaign. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said his role was "extremely limited" on a voluntary advisory board.

"No activity was ever done in an official capacity," she said Monday.

Meeting with professor, Russian woman
The statement from Mueller says that Papadopoulos falsely claimed he met with an overseas professor before joining the Trump campaign in March 2016 about "the Russians possessing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails."

At that point, however, he was already working for the Trump campaign -- the professor only took interest in Papadopoulos because of his status on the campaign, according to the statement. The professor told Papadopoulos about the Russians possessing dirt on Clinton in late April, and the statement says that "he repeatedly sought to use the professor's Russian connections to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials."

Papadopoulos also met with a Russian woman in March 2016 along with the professor, according to the statement, and he relayed that information to the campaign.

During a March 31, 2016, foreign policy meeting with Trump and other campaign foreign policy advisers, Papadopoulos introduced himself to the group and stated "he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin," according a factual statement signed by Papadopoulos in connection with his guilty plea.

Trying to set up a meeting
Papadopoulos continued to push a meeting with the Russians, and he sent multiple emails to other members of the campaign foreign policy team about his contact with "the Russians" and "outreach to Russia," according to the statement.

In April, the professor introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian national connected to the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, and they had conversations over Skype and email about setting up a meeting between Trump campaign and Russian government officials.

In late April, Papadopoulos learned about the "dirt" on Clinton, and the following day he emailed a senior campaign policy adviser: "Have some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right," according to the statement.

Papadopoulos continued to email high-ranking campaign officials about a request from Russia to meet Trump.

In May, Papadopoulos sent an email to a "high ranking Campaign official" with subject line "Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump." The email said Russia was eager to meet with the candidate and have been reaching out.

In a footnote, the statement notes that the email was forwarded between campaign officials and who wrote they should discuss: "We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal."

The statement does not explain who the campaign officials were concerned about sending signals to.

The Washington Post reported in August that Manafort forwarded that email to his associate Rick Gates when he rejected the idea of Trump making a trip to Russia.

A separate foreign policy official for the campaign said Papadopoulos "obviously went to great lengths" to go around Trump's national security team, which was led by Sen. Jeff Sessions, now Trump's attorney general.

Papadopoulos' indictment reads like something out of Burn After Reading.

[Galvatron]

Holy shit, this is funny.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Far from funny
Stuff like that is terrifying because people BELIEVE IT...

[Galvatron]

Well, funny in a tragic way.

[Flagg]

What’s the over/under in Vegas on that guy having a framed picture of Goebbels in his office?

[Nephtys]

An interesting view:
https://tttthreads.com/thread/924988111880417280

[The Romulan Republic]

The more I follow this story, the more I realize that, despite getting less fanfare initially (because it was kept under wraps by the investigation), the Papdopolous story is indeed the bigger news here.

First, because while Manafort and Gates have only been indicted, Papdopolous has actually pled guilty.

Secondly, because while Manafort's and Gates' charges do not directly relate to Trump campaign collusion with Russia, Papdopolous's do- he was charged with lying to the FBI about Kremlin-affiliated Russian contacts. The nature of his contacts with Russia? Trying to acquire dirt on Hillary Clinton, and trying to arrange a meeting between Trump and Russia.

The White House, of course, is trying to claim that Papdopolous was a nobody without influence in the campaign, though this is somewhat belied by the emails showing him in communication with other members of the campaign, including indicted ex-chair Paul Manafort.

This pretty much proves collusion, or at least attempted collusion, between prominent/influential persons in the Trump campaign, and persons affiliated with the Russian government, for the purposes of influencing the election.

Thirdly, its now become apparent that Mueller has "flipped" Papdopolous, and that he is cooperating with the investigation. I wonder what other secrets he might have revealed, that have yet to become public?

[Civil War Man]

The White House, of course, is trying to claim that Papdopolous was a nobody without influence in the campaign, though this is somewhat belied by the emails showing him in communication with other members of the campaign, including indicted ex-chair Paul Manafort.

One thing that really gets pointed out is that Trump specifically name-dropped him as one of his 5 top foreign policy advisors during the campaign. along with Keith Kellogg, Carter Page, Walid Phares, and Joseph Schmitz.

Thirdly, its now become apparent that Mueller has "flipped" Papdopolous, and that he is cooperating with the investigation. I wonder what other secrets he might have revealed, that have yet to become public?

One of the $1 million questions in this case involves how court documents refer to Papadopoulos as a "proactive cooperator," which is apparently sometimes used by law enforcement as a euphemism for "he agreed to wear a wire for us."

So, things could get very interesting depending on the answer to the question, "Did Papadopoulos agree to wear a wire for the investigation, and if so, when did he start?" Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people are racking their brains trying to remember what was said during every conversation they've had with him for at least the past 3 months.

[Vympel]

The more I follow this story, the more I realize that, despite getting less fanfare initially (because it was kept under wraps by the investigation), the Papdopolous story is indeed the bigger news here.

First, because while Manafort and Gates have only been indicted, Papdopolous has actually pled guilty.

Secondly, because while Manafort's and Gates' charges do not directly relate to Trump campaign collusion with Russia, Papdopolous's do- he was charged with lying to the FBI about Kremlin-affiliated Russian contacts.

Yes he was charged with lying to the FBI - as in, if he had told the truth he wouldn't have been charged with anything.

This pretty much proves collusion, or at least attempted collusion, between prominent/influential persons in the Trump campaign, and persons affiliated with the Russian government, for the purposes of influencing the election.

Except that there's no evidence that the people he spoke to were in fact affiliated with the Russian government (a "professor" from some unidentified place claiming to have unspecified connections to Russian government officials and some random woman absurdly claimed to be a relative of Putin when lol no she wasn't) and that even if they were, that said 'collusion' actually resulted in any criminal acts that could be prosecuted.

Thirdly, its now become apparent that Mueller has "flipped" Papdopolous, and that he is cooperating with the investigation. I wonder what other secrets he might have revealed, that have yet to become public?

That sounds like Seth Abramson's bullshit. Reading Seth Abramson's unhinged tweet storms unironically is not recommended. He's a fantasist and a hack, and he doesn't do any original reporting.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/ ... mps-r.html

[Terralthra]

The more I follow this story, the more I realize that, despite getting less fanfare initially (because it was kept under wraps by the investigation), the Papdopolous story is indeed the bigger news here.

First, because while Manafort and Gates have only been indicted, Papdopolous has actually pled guilty.

Secondly, because while Manafort's and Gates' charges do not directly relate to Trump campaign collusion with Russia, Papdopolous's do- he was charged with lying to the FBI about Kremlin-affiliated Russian contacts.

Yes he was charged with lying to the FBI - as in, if he had told the truth he wouldn't have been charged with anything.

No, he pled to lying to the FBI, in exchange for becoming a proactive cooperator. It's possible that had he not pled, he would've been charged with more. That's generally how the FBI works: they flip the little fish in exchange for testimony or cooperation to land the big fish.