"The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book," Rice wrote. "From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming [Trump] team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia."So... now we have our Republicans with their undies in a bunch because President Obama apparently took an interest in the FBI Russian probe. Now I understand that the former President suggested that he did not interfere in law enforcement investigations. I also understand that some people see this as proof positive that he lied.
But I think the issue isn't so much that President Obama was lying, as it is that people (still today) are confused by what the investigation into Russian hacking was.
Playing off a recent article by Andrew McCarthy, the reality was that the investigation that James Comey was leading was never a criminal investigation. Rather the Russian probe was a counter intelligence investigation. For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the concept of collusion, the term collusion is not criminal. While it certainly has national security implications and it could conceivably turn into a criminal situation depending on what you find, the truth is that Comey was never really running a criminal investigation.
Moreover, the appointment of Robert Mueller by Rod Rosenstein left out the entire concept of actually having him investigate a particular crime. None was listed, making it unique among historical appointment. In many ways, the appointment document suggests that the Special Counsel was being created to take up the counterintelligence investigation that Comey had left behind.
So, while it would be a very bad thing if there was evidence that President Obama had his hand in the whole Clinton Email investigation, there really shouldn't be much of an issue with him being involved in the Russian probe. After all, the President of the United States should be privy to information coming from any counter intelligence investigation that is of very high profile or high importance.
If there is an issue in all of this, it would be that the former President suggested that there may be reason to hide information from the incoming President. I don't believe that would have been his call to make, and I doubt that he ever actually made that call.
Ironically, this same logic and argument holds true for the current President. It may seem counterintuitive to some, but short of absolute proof that Trump or his administration was involved in any wrongdoing (which Comey offered none of under oath), then the FBI has an obligation to keep the Commander in Chief informed of important national security matters and important national security investigations. That should have included the investigation about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
51 comments:
“Make no mistake: This threat did not begin in 2016, and it certainly didn’t end with the election,” said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.). “What we are seeing is a continuous assault by Russia to target and undermine our democratic institutions, and they are going to keep coming at us.”
“Despite all of this, the president inconceivably continues to deny the threat posed by Russia,” Warner continued. “He didn’t increase sanctions on Russia when he had a chance to do so. He hasn’t even tweeted a single concern. This threat demands a whole-of-government response, and that needs to start with leadership at the top.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-director-to-face-questions-on-security-clearances-and-agents-independence/2018/02/13/f3e4c706-105f-11e8-9570-29c9830535e5_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_threats-845am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.841a61e3166a
The President doesn't have a strategy to fight back, and he responded with we don't have a strategy or even a desire to fight this attack by the Russians. They need to be directed to go in that direction. The intelligence agencies do not set policy, that is supposed to come from the President. Nor at they increasing the sanctions.
is warner still texting with russian lobbyists, alky?
yeah... you might want to select a different democrat flunkie to copy/paste.
idiot.
You are a political coward. The hearings this morning demonstrated beyond a doubt that heh's not done a damn thing to fight the Russian intervention into the 2018 election.
As the midterm elections approach, Russia is likely to throw more propaganda at Americans in an effort to deepen political divisions, U.S. intelligence chiefs said.
The warnings were striking in their contrast to President Trump’s views on Russia.
The warnings were striking in their contrast to President Trump’s views on Russia. He has mocked the very notion of Russian interference in the last election, and lashed out at those who have suggested otherwise. He also said that he believes denials of Russian interference issued by President Vladimir V. Putin.
The Coldheartedcoward.com should be your next move.
Kelly lied, and the President does not have a policy nor does he want to address that. It puts his own ass into risk.
0linsky told us point blank that the russians did not infiltrate our election. so i have no idea what the fuck you're ranting about.
and it's the 2016 election not 2018, genius.
.
Blogger Roger Amick said...
As the midterm elections approach, Russia is likely to throw more propaganda at Americans in an effort to deepen political divisions, U.S. intelligence chiefs said.
just because they can count on retards like you to fall for it doesn't mean we all will.
is morning demonstrated beyond a doubt that heh's not done a damn thing to fight the Russian intervention into the 2018 election.z
The only thing proved this morning is trump is fellating Putin while he smirks and screws with the elections....Leading from behind!!! And the time line for Porter is now in shambles as they try unsuccessfully to cover it up.....sad how much time is wasted on this great worker who is a wife beater....Toss in trillions of new debt with trumps budget and the world is screwing with russia.....dayum pathetic, just like KD..
Interesting...
The U.S. Military just took out a Russian tank, killing multiple Russian soldiers over in Syria, leaving the Russians red faced and tight lipped about it.
... and the left is still talking about how Trump is some sort of stooge for Russia.
Here's a hit for you all. In 2018, every country in the world with any capability to do so... will be trying to influence our election to some degree or the other.
The President isn't capable of being the President.
Trump has no policy to address the cyber attacks on the election in November.
He doesn't grasp the fact that he sets the policy and the intelligence agencies and the to pursue. He hasn't said anything about the Russian intervention in the 2018 elections. We have known that for 14 months.
Opie, someone here is fellating Trump.
Coats told the committee there “should be no doubt” that Russia believes it was successful in influencing the 2016 election and will target the 2018 election in a similar fashion.
He has no strategies to stop the Russians .
Dereliction of duty.
Trump lawyer paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket to keep her silent.
Roger who was the President during the so called "hacking" of the 2016 Election?
President Trump shipped coal and LPG to former Warsaw Pacific Countries starving Putin of much needed cash.
Alky detoxing off of drugs is screwing up his timeline.
"He hasn't said anything about the Russian intervention in the 2018 elections".
You mean the election not yet held.
Oh and how and where where actual votes changed in 2016?
If you can by name point to a dozen or so named people who changed thier vote base upon actual Russian whatev' that would be great.
Beaners be dreamers.
"A thrice-deported Mexican and his partner in moving methamphetamine each face 10 years to life in federal prison after they transported $400,000 worth of crystal meth for sale to an undercover agent.
Actually, Saul Bustos Bustos, 38, and Irepan Salgado, 24, rolled into town from Atlanta with seven kilograms of meth, worth $560,000 on the street, based on CrystalMethAddiction.org’s generalized $80 per gram street price. But only five kilos were set to be sold to the undercover agent."
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/hialeah/article199861269.html#storylink=cpy"
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's personal lawyer said Tuesday that he paid $130,000 of his own money to a porn star who allegedly had a sexual encounter with the President before his time in office.
"In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford," Michael Cohen said in a statement. "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly."
K'putz is never worth a response .
"and the left is still talking about how Trump is some sort of stooge for Russia"
TDS. Period.
"just because they can count on retards like you to fall for it doesn't mean we all will."
They'll obsess, distort, troll about it for days, lol.
In far more important news than Roger's obsession, the #USA Men's Curling team got off to a good start with an 11 to 1 win over the Republic of North Korea.
The #USA Women's team not so much.
Losing 10 - 5 to Japan, the Woman's team let the match get away early as Japan stole the 1st and 3rd ends.
Top people these Democrats have, top people!!!
Poll: GOP gains on generic ballot, Trump approval ticks upward
Republicans have erased the Democratic advantage on the generic congressional ballot in a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll that, for the first time since April, also shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating equaling the percentage of voters who disapprove of his job performance.
Fully 39 percent of registered voters say they would support the GOP candidate for Congress in their district, while 38 percent would back the Democratic candidate. Nearly a quarter of voters, 23 percent, are undecided.
The GOP’s 1-point advantage comes after three months of tracking in which Democrats maintained a lead ranging between 2 and 10 points on the generic ballot. That has been generally smaller than the party’s lead in other public surveys: The most recent RealClearPolitics average shows Democrats ahead by 7 points on the generic ballot, though that’s down from a high of 13 points late last year.
The new year has also produced a Trump polling bump. In the new poll, 47 percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while the same percentage disapprove.
If you can by name point to a dozen or so named people who changed thier vote base upon actual Russian whatev' that would be great.
Just give us a few names of real voters. Can't be that hard to do can it?
The new year has also produced a Trump polling bump. In the new poll, 47 percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while the same percentage disapprove."
Keeping more of what we earn. And that is just getting started.
100 % of Democrats voted against tax cuts.
The overall index rose by two points to 106.9, higher than the 105.3 forecast by economists. That brings it close to the all-time record high of 107.5 set in November. Thirty-two percent of respondents say now is a good time to expand, exceeding the highest levels ever measured in the survey that began in 1973.
“Main street is roaring,” said NFIB President Juanita Duggan. “Small business owners are not only reporting better profits, but they’re also ready to grow and expand.”
So much winning
Trump Lawyer Says He Personally Paid Stormy Daniels
Campaign-finance experts said Michael Cohen’s payment, even if he footed the bill, likely violated election rules.
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, said he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to an adult-movie actress who alleged a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.
The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Mr. Cohen made the payment in October 2016 through a limited-liability company in exchange for the adult-movie star, Stephanie Clifford, signing a nondisclosure agreement about her allegations of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006.
Ms. Clifford, commonly known by her screen name Stormy Daniels, previously had said in a statement issued through Mr. Cohen that she didn’t have a “sexual and/or romantic affair” or receive “hush money from Donald Trump.” Ms. Clifford has privately said she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump after a celebrity golf tournament, the Journal previously reported.
Common Cause, a government-watchdog group, filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department after the Journal’s story in January. The complaint asked the agencies to investigate the payment as potentially violating campaign-finance laws.
“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Mr. Cohen said in a statement late Tuesday via text message, which was first reported by the New York Times. Mr. Cohen, who worked as a senior executive at the Trump Organization until early last year, didn’t rule out Mr. Trump reimbursing him for the payment.
If Mr. Trump reimbursed Cohen, he may have violated campaign law.
This is from the Fake News Wall Street Journal.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-says-he-personally-paid-stormy-daniels-1518585093
Listen carefully Roger, no one cares.
No one.
Both Sides didn't (get) it on the Russian intervention into the 2016 election.
Former top diplomat Victoria Nuland tells the story of how she pushed the Obama administration to do more to stop Russian hacking.
By SUSAN B. GLASSER February 05, 2018
The hairs went up, and the former President may not have responded sufficiently.
By the summer of 2016, Victoria Nuland’s “Spidey sense” told her something was very wrong.
That spring, Nuland, the top State Department official charged with overseeing U.S. policy toward Russia, was one of those who had “first rung the alarm bell” inside the Obama administration, warning that Russia appeared to be trying to “discredit the democratic process” in the United States as part of a concerted 2016 strategy.
Now, the Russian campaign was turning out to be even more serious than she had imagined. She had known since late 2015 that the Democratic National Committee’s email servers had been hacked; all these months later, the stolen DNC emails were being publicly released by websites known to be Russian conduits right on the eve of the Democratic convention, and U.S. intelligence agencies would soon confirm the hack to be a Russian operation.
“That’s when the hairs really went up on the back of our necks,” she recounted in an interview with The Global Politico, her first extensive public comments about what it was like to spend months in the middle of the U.S. government’s halting, frustrating attempts to understand the Russian attack on the U.S. electoral system—and then try to figure out how to respond to it.
Nuland would spend the next few months—the last, as it turned out, of her 32-year career at the State Department—lobbying unsuccessfully to do more to retaliate for the Russia hacking before the November election that saw Trump emerge as a surprise victor.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/05/global-politico-victoria-nuland-obama-216937
I don't think that the United States understands the threat from both Russia and China pose on our dominant position in the world. The Chinese are developing technology that is far more advanced than we are. The Russians have long been obsessed with the American dominant position of world affairs.
This President has to understand the threats and step forward in a truly bipartisan position address this issue, or he will go down as the worst President in history.
I don't think that he's got the capacity to take this opportunity for the country.
Sad!
Listen carefully, the truth matters. Menstra Senseless will never get it.
They won't get it from you Roger.
so alky....
what you appear to be saying is that stormy daniels is and was RUSSIAN.
huh.
who knew?
There is something Orwellian about calling the exposure of DNC rigging of their primary as “discredit the democratic process”.
If Mr. Trump reimbursed Cohen, he may have violated campaign law.
Of course Mr Trump will deny knowing anything about this.....wonder where malodorous will be sleeping tonight? Great theatre ain't it????
I recall in a time not long ago, menstral cramps vehement displeasure for funding NPR for a few million dollars....Now with deficits growing in multiple trillions, he remains silent....Imagine that its okay to break the country for the benefit of few.....Dayum ironic!!!!
"The GOP’s 1-point advantage comes after three months of tracking in which Democrats maintained a lead ranging between 2 and 10 points on the generic ballot. That has been generally smaller than the party’s lead in other public surveys: The most recent RealClearPolitics average shows Democrats ahead by 7 points on the generic ballot, though that’s down from a high of 13 points late last year.
The new year has also produced a Trump polling bump. In the new poll, 47 percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while the same percentage disapprove"
Trump is playing the pompous, elitist, left and it's great theater.
More popcorn PLEAZ.
I recall in a time not long ago, CS vehement displeasure for funding NPR for a few million dollars.
I don't see the point of taxpayers supporting the the propaganda arm of the DNC.
alky, i post the following as a tribute to you, for your viewing pleasure -
in this video a prominent liberal performance artist perfectly encapsulates the entire russia probe, and subsequent liberal attitude toward the election of donald trump. it is a sight to behold in the world of liberal intelligentsia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdZ9weP5i68&feature=youtu.be&t=17s
WASHINGTON—U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in January, a further sign inflation is firming after a long run of softness.
Leave the bodies of the men and women who can frighten anyone else
rrb
Blogger Roger Amick said...
WASHINGTON—U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in January, a further sign inflation is firming after a long run of softness.
ah yes, that familiar hobgoblin of GOP presidencies - inflation. inflation existed throughout the 0linsky administration as we noted at the time, but since different inflation measures were used (headline vs. core, with core including food and energy prices, and the one not used), the topic was dismissed.
once again, you're late to the party, alky.
Roger Amick said...
Leave the bodies of the men and women who can frighten anyone else
this lacks coherence, alky. i can only assume that your morning allotment of opiates has just taken effect.
The ties between several congressional Democrats and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan have already become a 2018 campaign issue.
Four different Democrats have either attended a private event with Farrakhan — a notorious anti-Semite who describes Jews as “Satanic” — or publicly expressed support for the hate group leader.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/13/keith-ellison-andre-carson-louis-farrakhan-iran-dinner/
Dick Durban. " Mexicans and Africans".
Coming out of meat processing plants.
He went on to degrade every American working in those meat packing job and fruit and Vegetable producer.
A bigger piece of human filth can not be found.
Mensal the cramp makes up another alternate factoid......
I don't see the point of taxpayers supporting the the propaganda arm of the DNC.
I don't recall you making that point before..You said it was a colossal waste of money and ..like trump you just make shit up as needed!!!! You really need help, son....LOLOLOL
http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/13/keith-ellison-andre-carson-louis-farrakhan-iran-dinner/
Another desperate attempt to make a rat hole feel better....more fake news planted by the russki's.....Maybe BeBe won't be indicted....lOLOLOL
KD the sycophant liar posted...
A bigger piece of human filth can not be found.
I can think of 3....donnie and mike pence qualify, while you show up in third.........
Defends Socialist Racist Dick Durban.
oPie, does it everytime
oPie caught in a "rat trap".
Luke RosiakVerified account @lukerosiak · 54 minutes ago
The DNC:
1) Said that it being hacked was was of the worst crimes imaginable
2) When the FBI wanted to prosecute, they said "nah, it's chill"
3) Buzzfeed then got sued for libel for connecting a Russian to it, and all DNC had to do is give any evidence it was true
4) They refused
____________________________________
HMMMMM (nothing to see here... move along)
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