Bipartisan Senate report details Trump campaign contacts with Russia in 2016, adding to Mueller find

[TU Curmudgeon]

From CNN

Bipartisan Senate report details Trump campaign contacts with Russia in 2016, adding to Mueller findings​

The Senate Intelligence Committee released Tuesday the most comprehensive and meticulous examination to date explaining how Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and the Trump campaign welcomed the foreign adversary's help, revealing new information about contacts between Russian officials and associates of President Donald Trump during and after the campaign.

In several key ways, the committee's counterintelligence investigation goes beyond the findings of former special counsel Robert Mueller released last year, as the Republican-led Senate panel was not limited by questions of criminality that drove the special counsel probe.

Among the key findings:

• That then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort was working with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer, and sought to share internal campaign information with Kilimnik. The committee says it obtained "some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected" to Russia's 2016 hacking operation and concludes Manafort's role on the campaign "represented a grave counterintelligence threat."
  *
• That Trump and senior campaign officials sought to obtain advance information on WikiLeaks' email dumps through Roger Stone, and that Trump spoke to Stone about WikiLeaks, despite telling the special counsel in written answers he had "no recollections" that they had spoken about it.
  *
• That information offered at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting "was part of a broader influence operation" from the Russian government, though there's no evidence Trump campaign members knew of it. Two of the Russians who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Manafort had "significant connections" to the Russian government, including Russian intelligence, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya's ties were "far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known."
  *
• That Russian-government actors continued until at least January 2020 to spread disinformation about Russia's election interference, and that Manafort and Kilimnik both sought to promote the narrative that Ukraine, and not Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
  *
• That Russia took advantage of the Trump transition team's inexperience and opposition to Obama administration policies "to pursue unofficial channels," and it's likely that Russian intelligence services and others acting on the Kremlin's behalf exploited the Transition's shortcomings for Russia's advantage.
  *
• That the FBI may have been victim to Russian disinformation coming through intelligence sources such as the Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.
  *
• And that campaigns, political leaders and other influential Americans must be even more diligent in the future not to fall victim to Russian interference, given the extent of Russia's efforts and successes to reach campaign operatives in 2016.

The report is all the more remarkable because it was led by then-Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. The report provides an exhaustive, bipartisan confirmation of the contacts between Russians and Trump associates in 2016 -- and it was the only congressional committee that managed to avoid the partisan infighting that plagued the other congressional investigations into Russian election meddling.

COMMENT:-

All consistent with what anyone who did NOT think that the Russians were stupid enough to "conspire" DIRECTLY with either Mr. Trump or any member of "Team Trump" had already concluded. It's also consistent with the conclusions of anyone who believed that the Russians actually know what they are doing with respect to "destabilizing unfriendly governments" and/or "suborning influential people".

Of course <SARC>[**T*H*E** **T*R*U*T*H** is that none of that happened and it's all fake news because Mr. Trump says so</SARC>[.
​

 

[bluesmoke]

From CNN

Bipartisan Senate report details Trump campaign contacts with Russia in 2016, adding to Mueller findings​

The Senate Intelligence Committee released Tuesday the most comprehensive and meticulous examination to date explaining how Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and the Trump campaign welcomed the foreign adversary's help, revealing new information about contacts between Russian officials and associates of President Donald Trump during and after the campaign.

In several key ways, the committee's counterintelligence investigation goes beyond the findings of former special counsel Robert Mueller released last year, as the Republican-led Senate panel was not limited by questions of criminality that drove the special counsel probe.

Among the key findings:

• That then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort was working with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer, and sought to share internal campaign information with Kilimnik. The committee says it obtained "some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected" to Russia's 2016 hacking operation and concludes Manafort's role on the campaign "represented a grave counterintelligence threat."
  *
• That Trump and senior campaign officials sought to obtain advance information on WikiLeaks' email dumps through Roger Stone, and that Trump spoke to Stone about WikiLeaks, despite telling the special counsel in written answers he had "no recollections" that they had spoken about it.
  *
• That information offered at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting "was part of a broader influence operation" from the Russian government, though there's no evidence Trump campaign members knew of it. Two of the Russians who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Manafort had "significant connections" to the Russian government, including Russian intelligence, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya's ties were "far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known."
  *
• That Russian-government actors continued until at least January 2020 to spread disinformation about Russia's election interference, and that Manafort and Kilimnik both sought to promote the narrative that Ukraine, and not Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
  *
• That Russia took advantage of the Trump transition team's inexperience and opposition to Obama administration policies "to pursue unofficial channels," and it's likely that Russian intelligence services and others acting on the Kremlin's behalf exploited the Transition's shortcomings for Russia's advantage.
  *
• That the FBI may have been victim to Russian disinformation coming through intelligence sources such as the Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.
  *
• And that campaigns, political leaders and other influential Americans must be even more diligent in the future not to fall victim to Russian interference, given the extent of Russia's efforts and successes to reach campaign operatives in 2016.

The report is all the more remarkable because it was led by then-Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. The report provides an exhaustive, bipartisan confirmation of the contacts between Russians and Trump associates in 2016 -- and it was the only congressional committee that managed to avoid the partisan infighting that plagued the other congressional investigations into Russian election meddling.

COMMENT:-

All consistent with what anyone who did NOT think that the Russians were stupid enough to "conspire" DIRECTLY with either Mr. Trump or any member of "Team Trump" had already concluded. It's also consistent with the conclusions of anyone who believed that the Russians actually know what they are doing with respect to "destabilizing unfriendly governments" and/or "suborning influential people".

Of course <SARC>[**T*H*E** **T*R*U*T*H** is that none of that happened and it's all fake news because Mr. Trump says so</SARC>[.
​

And that none of this uncovering of the facts of which the truth was already known will stop Trump from working with Putin to support Trump's reelection while the Reps and Dems do **** about it.

 

[Mycroft]

Rubio has a different take.

Final volume of Senate Intelligence bipartisan & thorough investigation into Russian 2016 efforts is now publichttps://t.co/nuPuYifaa4

We found no evidence of “collusion”

But we did find troubling actions by the FBI, particularly their willingness to rely on “Steele Dossier” pic.twitter.com/S5hiKDgURB

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 18, 2020

I guess it all depends upon the spin...and the Senate Intel Committee certainly added a lot of spin fodder in their report. Pretty much the same as Mueller's handlers did in his report.

Rubio bypassed all the spin and went to the bottom line.

btw, the FBI/DOJ wasn't "victim to Russian disinformation". They knew BEFORE Trump was inaugurated that Steele's source wasn't a Russian spy and that the source debunked the nonsense Steele put in that bogus report. The FBI/DOJ/Mueller DELIBERATELY used the Steele nonsense anyway.

 

[HacTao]

Rubio has a different take.



I guess it all depends upon the spin...and the Senate Intel Committee certainly added a lot of spin fodder in their report. Pretty much the same as Mueller's handlers did in his report.

Rubio bypassed all the spin and went to the bottom line.

btw, the FBI/DOJ wasn't "victim to Russian disinformation". They knew BEFORE Trump was inaugurated that Steele's source wasn't a Russian spy and that the source debunked the nonsense Steele put in that bogus report. The FBI/DOJ/Mueller DELIBERATELY used the Steele nonsense anyway.

Not sure what any of this has to do with the findings of the report, which was written by a Republican majority senate. Nor do I care what cuck Rubio has to say about much of anything with regard to these findings.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Rubio has a different take.

Indeed he did. He was, however, in the MINORITY.

Mind you there is a great deal of discussion in some quarters over whether or not Mr. Rubio should ever have been granted a day pass from "The Home" in the first place or whether simply cancelling the expired one that he currently has will be sufficient.



I guess it all depends upon the spin...and the Senate Intel Committee certainly added a lot of spin fodder in their report. Pretty much the same as Mueller's handlers did in his report.

Rubio bypassed all the spin and went to the bottom line.

btw, the FBI/DOJ wasn't "victim to Russian disinformation". They knew BEFORE Trump was inaugurated that Steele's source wasn't a Russian spy and that the source debunked the nonsense Steele put in that bogus report. The FBI/DOJ/Mueller DELIBERATELY used the Steele nonsense anyway.[/QUOTE]

 

[Mycroft]

Not sure what any of this has to do with the findings of the report, which was written by a Republican majority senate. Nor do I care what cuck Rubio has to say about much of anything with regard to these findings.

You DO know that Rubio is talking about the same report that you are talking about, right?

Do you think Rubio is lying? If so, please point out his lie and provide evidence of the lie.

 

[Mycroft]

Indeed he did. He was, however, in the MINORITY.

Mind you there is a great deal of discussion in some quarters over whether or not Mr. Rubio should ever have been granted a day pass from "The Home" in the first place or whether simply cancelling the expired one that he currently has will be sufficient.

???

What on earth are you babbling about? What minority?

 

[HacTao]

You DO know that Rubio is talking about the same report that you are talking about, right?

Do you think Rubio is lying? If so, please point out his lie and provide evidence of the lie.

I think my statement about Rubio is very clear. That he was so traumatized by being made into Trump's cuck, and is now incapable of challenging him on anything, is why any sentiment he has to share on the topic, is moot.

 

[Atomic Kid]

Rubio has a different take.



I guess it all depends upon the spin...and the Senate Intel Committee certainly added a lot of spin fodder in their report. Pretty much the same as Mueller's handlers did in his report.

Rubio bypassed all the spin and went to the bottom line.

btw, the FBI/DOJ wasn't "victim to Russian disinformation". They knew BEFORE Trump was inaugurated that Steele's source wasn't a Russian spy and that the source debunked the nonsense Steele put in that bogus report. The FBI/DOJ/Mueller DELIBERATELY used the Steele nonsense anyway.

Rubio is basically lying about the results of a report he and his Republican colleagues produced and signed off on. Can only guess that he doesn't want to upset the child emperor.

 

[Mycroft]

Rubio is basically lying about the results of a report he and his Republican colleagues produced and signed off on. Can only guess that he doesn't want to upset the child emperor.

Okay.

What is his lie and what evidence do you have that he is lying?

 

[Ringo Stalin]

Of course, there is no proof.
I hope the participants of this Commission received a decent payment, while they were working on this useless scrap of paper.

 

[Athanasius68]

[*]That then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort was working with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer, and sought to share internal campaign information with Kilimnik. The committee says it obtained "some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected" to Russia's 2016 hacking operation and concludes Manafort's role on the campaign "represented a grave counterintelligence threat."

They believe he was a Russian intelligence officer. Manafort and Gates had already said he worked with Kilimnik for the money.

That Trump and senior campaign officials sought to obtain advance information on WikiLeaks' email dumps through Roger Stone, and that Trump spoke to Stone about WikiLeaks, despite telling the special counsel in written answers he had "no recollections" that they had spoken about it.

Which proves there was no conspiracy.

[*]That information offered at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting "was part of a broader influence operation" from the Russian government, though there's no evidence Trump campaign members knew of it. Two of the Russians who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Manafort had "significant connections" to the Russian government, including Russian intelligence, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya's ties were "far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known."

Yes-- there was a Russian effort to screw with the election.

[*]That Russian-government actors continued until at least January 2020 to spread disinformation about Russia's election interference, and that Manafort and Kilimnik both sought to promote the narrative that Ukraine, and not Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Ok.

[*]That Russia took advantage of the Trump transition team's inexperience and opposition to Obama administration policies "to pursue unofficial channels," and it's likely that Russian intelligence services and others acting on the Kremlin's behalf exploited the Transition's shortcomings for Russia's advantage.

Ok.

[*]That the FBI may have been victim to Russian disinformation coming through intelligence sources such as the Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.

As a gentle reminded, the steele dossier was an anti-Trump document, compiled by Mr. Steele in service to the Clinton campaign.

[*]And that campaigns, political leaders and other influential Americans must be even more diligent in the future not to fall victim to Russian interference, given the extent of Russia's efforts and successes to reach campaign operatives in 2016.

True-- the inexperienced Trump was never warned that the FBI was actually investigating an allegation that Russia was trying to infiltrate and conspire with the campaign. Instead they received a boilerplate, theoretical one. So perhaps the inexperience of the campaign can explain their reactions to Russian outreach efforts.

But what explains the more experienced Clinton campaign? They actually sought out anti-Trump stuff from Russia.

And what about the Obama Admin? Those guys had all the professionals and non-partisan types at their disposal, and yet they ran to court with the stuff the Clinton folks found.

 

[The AntiDonald]

Okay.

What is his lie and what evidence do you have that he is lying?

He's a republican. That seems to be how they mostly roll.

 

[Mycroft]

He's a republican. That seems to be how they mostly roll.

So you can't point out any lie or provide any evidence of a lie, either.

Okay.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

They believe he was a Russian intelligence officer. Manafort and Gates had already said he worked with Kilimnik for the money.

Which proves there was no conspiracy.

Yes-- there was a Russian effort to screw with the election.

Ok.

Ok.

As a gentle reminded, the steele dossier was an anti-Trump document, compiled by Mr. Steele in service to the Clinton campaign.

True-- the inexperienced Trump was never warned that the FBI was actually investigating an allegation that Russia was trying to infiltrate and conspire with the campaign. Instead they received a boilerplate, theoretical one. So perhaps the inexperience of the campaign can explain their reactions to Russian outreach efforts.

But what explains the more experienced Clinton campaign? They actually sought out anti-Trump stuff from Russia.

And what about the Obama Admin? Those guys had all the professionals and non-partisan types at their disposal, and yet they ran to court with the stuff the Clinton folks found.

Since the odds on even starting to convince you that whatever the latest version of the currently operative, officially sanctioned, "Team Trump" approved, White House issued, truth-of-the-day issued by The Federal Legal And Civil Knowledge Bureau is NOT **T*H*E** **T*R*U*T*H** are roughly equivalent to me being elected to the office of President of the United States of America on November 3, I won't even bother.

 

[bongsaway]

Rubio has a different take.



I guess it all depends upon the spin...and the Senate Intel Committee certainly added a lot of spin fodder in their report. Pretty much the same as Mueller's handlers did in his report.

Rubio bypassed all the spin and went to the bottom line.

btw, the FBI/DOJ wasn't "victim to Russian disinformation". They knew BEFORE Trump was inaugurated that Steele's source wasn't a Russian spy and that the source debunked the nonsense Steele put in that bogus report. The FBI/DOJ/Mueller DELIBERATELY used the Steele nonsense anyway.

And Rubio signed the report with his agreement then went and told the trump base nothing to see here move on, you're dismissed.

 

[CaughtInThe]

And that none of this uncovering of the facts of which the truth was already known will stop Trump from working with Putin to support Trump's reelection while the Reps and Dems do **** about it.

that's the amazing thing. Trump can crap right in the faces of his supporters and they just take it.

 

[Mycroft]

And Rubio signed the report with his agreement then went and told the trump base nothing to see here move on, you're dismissed.

shrug...

I keep asking if Rubio lied and if anyone has evidence.

I guess you don't know, either.

 

[bongsaway]

shrug...

I keep asking if Rubio lied and if anyone has evidence.

I guess you don't know, either.

Rubio is telling the truth and the rest of the senators are lying. Is that what I'm supposed to believe?

 

[Athanasius68]

Rubio is telling the truth and the rest of the senators are lying. Is that what I'm supposed to believe?

Where in the report does it say Trump conspired with Russia?
It doesn't.

It does say Manafort sent polling data to a person who "may" be a Russian agent. But the report also says it doesn't know why he did this (Manafort, though, has said he did this for money).

It does say the Trump campaign was inexperienced and thus Russia targeted that inexperience.
Fair enough-- the slipshod nature of the campaign was known and commented upon at the time.

It implies Trump lied to Mueller about his conversations with Stone-- but the nature of those conversations prove there was no conspiracy.

It also points out that the anti-Trump Steele dossier was Russian disinformation.

 

[Athanasius68]

Since the odds on even starting to convince you that whatever the latest version of the currently operative, officially sanctioned, "Team Trump" approved, White House issued, truth-of-the-day issued by The Federal Legal And Civil Knowledge Bureau is NOT **T*H*E** **T*R*U*T*H** are roughly equivalent to me being elected to the office of President of the United States of America on November 3, I won't even bother.

Its YOUR post, not mine.
I did't dispute what you wrote.
I simply pointed out that these are not conclusions for a conspiracy by the Trump campaign and Russia.
And I pointed out the evidence that you presented more strongly supports that Russia targeted both campaigns.

 

[Mycroft]

Rubio is telling the truth and the rest of the senators are lying. Is that what I'm supposed to believe?

shrug...

You can believe whatever you want. I don't care.

Can you provide what I asked for? If not...move on.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Rubio is telling the truth and the rest of the senators are lying. Is that what I'm supposed to believe?

As I understand it what you are supposed to believe is

I never signed the report.

Well, OK, I signed the report - but I never knew what was in it when I signed it.

Well, OK, so I knew what was in the report when I signed it - but I didn't agree with it when I signed it.

Well, OK so I agreed with it when I signed the report that I knew the contents of - but I was only making a joke when I signed it.

What report?
​

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Its YOUR post, not mine.
I did't dispute what you wrote.
I simply pointed out that these are not conclusions for a conspiracy by the Trump campaign and Russia.

You might not have noticed it, but I have been consistent in maintaining that there was no conspiracy between the Russians and either Mr. Trump or "Team Trump".

The reason for that is that only a fool would believe that the Russians (and Mr. Putin in particular) would be STUPID ENOUGH to conspire directly with either Mr. Trump or "Team Trump" given the nature and character of both Mr. Trump and "Team Trump".

And I pointed out the evidence that you presented more strongly supports that Russia targeted both campaigns.

Indeed they did. They wanted Ms. Clinton to lose so they hacked into the DNC computers, stole data, handed the data off to Mr. Assange, and arranged for "Team Trump" to know about the fact that the DNC data was now available. The Russians most certainly did NOT do that to assist Ms. Clinton.

In short,

1. the Russians targeted Ms. Clinton's campaign - directly - in order to increase the chances of Mr. Trump winning;
   *
   and
   *
2. the Russians targeted Mr. Trump's campaign - indirectly - in order to increase the chances of Mr. Trump winning.

It's pretty difficult to see how what the Russians were doing was "cheating evenly on both sides".

 

[Athanasius68]

You might not have noticed it, but I have been consistent in maintaining that there was no conspiracy between the Russians and either Mr. Trump or "Team Trump".

I know. But that wasn't the opinion of the government in the spring and summer 2016.
We know that because there was an investigation into the allegation of Mr. Trump conspiring with Russia.
Thats what we have to work with.

The reason for that is that only a fool would believe that the Russians (and Mr. Putin in particular) would be STUPID ENOUGH to conspire directly with either Mr. Trump or "Team Trump" given the nature and character of both Mr. Trump and "Team Trump".

Or there would be no reason to. There is no reason to think Russia would be unable to hack and disseminate the DNC files without Trump campaign involvement.

Indeed they did. They wanted Ms. Clinton to lose so they hacked into the DNC computers, stole data, handed the data off to Mr. Assange, and arranged for "Team Trump" to know about the fact that the DNC data was now available. The Russians most certainly did NOT do that to assist Ms. Clinton.

As the report indicates, they did that in order to compromise the expected Clinton Admin.

Moreover, sending anti-Trump dirt to the Clinton campaign would not be consistent in assisting Mr. Trump.
It would be consistent in supporting both sides in order to generate chaos in the country.