Friday, May 25, 2018

What was the "real" reason for an informant (or two) in the Trump camp

So let's review the argument, as it's made by the Obama lovers slash Trump haters.

Apparently the Russians were not sophisticated enough to hack the DNC and Hillary Campaigns without the help of the Trump campaign team (and/or) the Russians were not savvy enough to figure out how to get that hacked information to Wikileaks without the help of the Trump campaign team.

Otherwise, what would the Russians need with the Trump campaign team? If they were otherwise capable of hacking these campaigns, and otherwise capable of making sure that information was released by Wikileaks, there would be no real incentive for the Russians to collude with the Trump campaign.

More to the point, why would the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA director, and the FBI director all believe that the best way to prevent the Russians from interfering with our election, was to send informants to go gather up intelligence on members of the Trump team? Why not go after the Russians directly? Clapper, Brennan, and Comey must have seen Guccifer 2.0 and the rest of the Russian hackers as dim bulbs, who required the help of Carter Page or George Papadopoulos to actually accomplish their obvious goal of election meddling. Perhaps Page is a computer hacking whiz, and Papa George is good buds with Julian himself?

Of course, other logical explanations regarding why they sent an informant to go gather intelligence on the Trump campaign would be either to engage in some sort of nefarious spying, or they made a decision that Russian meddling was only important if it involved some sort of collusion with the opposition Presidential candidate. But either of those explanations would shed a poor light on the Obama Administration and the previous leadership of our intelligence community. Certainly we can't have that.

78 comments:

James said...

So when the Russians heard Trump's campaign saying, "Let us help you," they should have said, "No thanks."

Teresa Dulyea-Parker said...

James Boswell of Normal, Illinois is a pedophile.

Myballs said...

Kimberly Strassel has a good article out about the real constitutional crisis

Anonymous said...

Obama illegally put his thumb on the scales.

Anonymous said...

Made from unholy whole cloth.
"So when the Russians heard Trump's campaign saying, "Let us help you," they should have said, "No thanks."

C.H. Truth said...

So when the Russians heard Trump's campaign saying, "Let us help you," they should have said, "No thanks."

Yeah, in the same manner that I would tell you "no thanks" if you offered to help me write this blog... or in the same manner that Alex Ovechkin might say "no thanks" to an offer from you of helping him win the Stanley Cup.

Not that the Trump team actually reached out to the Russian hackers and offered their help (especially considering at this point nobody even knows who they are).

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

They did not send an informant into the Trump campaign.

You insist on believing that false claim to justify your opposition into the Russian intervention and possible collision between the campaign and the Russians.

Four people have been convicted and 15 others have been indicted.

60% of Americans want the investigation to proceed including the Senate majority leader and the speaker of the house of Representatives.

Obama did not send an informant into the Trump campaign.

The President has the bully pulpit and keeps repeating his lies and his supporters ignore anything that contradicts him and his public comment and tweets.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...


You insist on believing that false claim to justify your opposition of the investigation into the Russian intervention and possible collision between the campaign and the Russians.

Commonsense said...

or in the same manner that Alex Ovechkin might say "no thanks" to an offer from you of helping him win the Stanley Cup.

That man is a sore point to me. ☺

C.H. Truth said...

You insist on believing that false claim to justify your opposition into the Russian intervention and possible collision between the campaign and the Russians.

Why do you continue to use the term "collision"?

Commonsense said...

You insist on believing that false claim to justify your opposition of the investigation

The false claim here is the claim the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians by Democrats who push it to explain Hillary Clinton's awful defeat and to hide the DNC's nefarious if not exactly illegal conspiracy to deny Bernie Sanders the nomination.

In a sane world, the FBI would have put it in the round circular file instead of deploying a counterintelligence operation against a presidential campaign.

C.H. Truth said...

60% of Americans want the investigation to proceed including the Senate majority leader and the speaker of the house of Representatives.

And?

What does that have to do with whether or not an independent Inspector General should be allowed to investigate exactly why there was an FBI informant snooping around the Trump campaign?


Let all the investigations continue, Rog...

and let the chips fall where they may!!!

Loretta said...

Weinstein turning himself in, Morgan Freeman under fire, Cosby convicted...

Better be careful James, they always get caught.

Loretta said...

"Let all the investigations continue, Rog...

and let the chips fall where they may!!!"

Bingo.

C.H. Truth said...

Four people have been convicted and 15 others have been indicted

First, nobody has been "convicted" of anything. Nobody has been tried, which is a prerequisite for a "conviction".

Secondly, Mueller has exactly "zero" indictments suggesting any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

My parents instilled respect for these unique attributes of America throughout my formative years. My dad, who served faithfully for twenty-eight years in the Army during World War II, the Korean conflict, and Vietnam, was a living example to me of the importance of actively defending and protecting this country and what it stands for. And as I’ve described, I followed in his footsteps, serving thirty-four years in the military, sixteen years as a civilian in government, and six years in industry—virtually all in the profession of intelligence. I always considered this a noble calling, a sacred public trust, because, simply stated, I believe in this country. Part of this instilled ethos was profound respect for the president as commander in chief; I served in that spirit every president from John Kennedy through Barack Obama. So, speaking critically of our current president is counterinstinctive and difficult for me to do, but I feel it is my duty.

We have elected someone as president of the United States whose first instincts are to twist and distort truth to his advantage, to generate financial benefit to himself and his family, and, in so doing, to demean the values this country has traditionally stood for. He has set a new low bar for ethics and morality. He has caused damage to our societal and political fabric that will be difficult and will require time to repair. And, close to my heart, he has besmirched the Intelligence Community and the FBI—pillars of our country—and deliberately incited many Americans to lose faith and confidence in them. While he does this, he pointedly refuses to acknowledge the profound threat posed by Russia, inexplicably trusting the denials by Putin about their meddling in our political process over the considered judgments by his own Intelligence Community. The Russians are astutely and persistently exploiting this divisiveness with every controversial issue they can identify, and regrettably, we are a very inviting target for them as they target both sides of every issue.

James Clapper

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

Scott there was no FBI informant snooping around the Trump campaign.

You're accepting the lies or just deny they matter.

Commonsense said...

Disingenuous from the man who turned the FBI and the CIA into the American version of the KGB.

cowardly king obama said...

"C.H. Truth said...

First, nobody has been "convicted" of anything. Nobody has been tried, which is a prerequisite for a "conviction".

Secondly, Mueller has exactly "zero" indictments suggesting any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. "

The only thing that could possibly explain Rogers ramblings and pastings (or "postings") is that in fact he is Russian, or has signed up for the cause and is blind to reality. Hopefully he won't start waiving an ISIS flag next.

Myballs said...

Ih he can find an isis flag. They're pretty much defeated these days.

Another failure by trump the novice amateur

Commonsense said...

Scott there was no FBI informant snooping around the Trump campaign.

Well Halper sounds like an FBI spy.

And what he did sounds an awful lot like snooping around the Trump campaign.

Halper met with at least three of then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign advisers, and records show he was paid nearly $300,000 by the Defense Department in September 2016.

No one in the Trump campaign knew that Halper was a longtime source of information for the FBI, thus he was effectively acting as a spy. National news outlets

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

Four plead guilty.

Fifteen have been indicted

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

He was not part of the campaign organization.

So the President and you are lying about the criminal investigation system.

Trump is trying to turn the FBI/DOJ into the KGB that used to be run by the hero of the President Vladimir Putin .

Loretta said...

James Clapper, lol.

Commonsense said...

He was not part of the campaign organization.

You don't have to be part of a campaign organization to be snooping around it.

That's such a tiresome canard.

Myballs said...

MsMay roger the dumbass likes undercover agent better than spy?

Although when you're doing it for the cia, you're a spy. Right Valerie Plame?

Commonsense said...

Trump is trying to turn the FBI/DOJ into the KGB

Barack Obama beat him to it. Trump is just the victim of KGB tactics.

This is like blaming the rape on the victim.

C.H. Truth said...

Scott there was no FBI informant snooping around the Trump campaign.

I say tow-mate-oh and you say tow-mat-oh...

Either way, there is no harm in investigating what exactly this person was doing, for what reasons, and by who's authorization.

It would be one thing if the intelligence community was accepting of the fact that there are checks and balances, and that there is constitutionally mandated oversight to what they do. It's entirely another when they refuse to turn over subpoenaed documents to people with security clearance to review them. When they don't tell the truth to either the public or those charged to oversee them.

The President has turned over tens of thousands of documents to the FBI and Special Counsel. Time for our intelligence community to be forthcoming as well.

Otherwise, Rog... what are you afraid that we will find?

.James said...

Have you noticed how any truth Commensa doesn't like is a "canard"?
I guess he's vocabular-ily challenged.

James said...

Whose, not who's, Ch. Really, you should try harder.

Teresa Dulyea-Parker said...

James Boswell of Normal, Illinois is a pedophile.

.James said...

N0, the question is, What does Trump fear that we may find?

.James said...

[Trump's tweets this morning] were Trump's latest suggesting that the FBI planted a mole within his campaign to spy on his team under the guise that his associates were under the influence of Moscow.

No evidence has emerged that the FBI spied on Trump's campaign. The informant, identified in media reports as Stefan Halper, an American academic, reportedly met with at least three advisers on Trump's campaign in 2016.

It is not clear whether the FBI paid the informant at all for his work.

Trump's tweets on Friday came a day after select lawmakers met with top Justice Department officials for two highly classified meetings to discuss the FBI's use of the informant in the early months of the counterintelligence investigation into Russia's role in the election.

C.H. Truth said...

Four plead guilty. Fifteen have been indicted

As of yesterday, our U.S. populate was 327,776,859.

That means that out of 327,776,859 people, not a single one has been charged with anything to do with Russian collusion.

That's 0 for 327,776,859, Rog.

Commonsense said...

Canard n

1. a deliberately misleading fabrication

I think Roger's statement "He was not part of the campaign organization." in response to Halper snooping around the campaign fits the bill perfectly.

James maybe it is you who is vocabularily [not an Oxford word yet] challenged.

Commonsense said...

It is not clear whether the FBI paid the informant at all for his work.

He was paid $300,000.

Myballs said...

Plame was riding a desk in DC and dems insisted she was a spy. This guy was actually engaged in secret undercover activity but he's not a spy.

Have got that right?

.James said...

Commensa says: He was paid $300,000.

Precisely when, and for what, and by whom, Commensa?

.James said...

And do be precise.

Anonymous said...

Exact Halper payments for the web challenged...

https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.4&s=FPDS&q=HALPER,+STEFAN&x=0&y=0

Anonymous said...

As soon as you tell us precisely when, where and whom did the colluding.

Anonymous said...

$282,295 and follow-up $129,280

Commonsense said...

Precisely when, and for what, and by whom, Commensa?

Follow the link.

Anonymous said...

Jane was torched, again.
Ran off, again.

Loretta said...

"Jane was torched, again.
Ran off, again."

He's a pig.

Anonymous said...

"Four plead guilty. Fifteen have been indicted

As of yesterday, our U.S. populate was 327,776,859.

That means that out of 327,776,859 people, not a single one has been charged with anything to do with Russian collusion.

That's 0 for 327,776,859, Rog." CHT

Anonymous said...

Jane and septic tank gene pool alky ask questions and hate the answers.

Anonymous said...

H/T RRB

Personal Income rose levels not seen during the Lost Years.

Anonymous said...




Trump is trying to turn the FBI/DOJ into the KGB that used to be run by the hero of the President Vladimir Putin .


well drunken drama queen, if he is then he's going about it all wrong. the key would be for him to get the FBI/DOJ to work FOR him, not AGAINST him.

James said...

Follow the link.

It's not on the link.
Simple question. Where is your answer?

James said...

CBO’s Deficit Forecast Dwarfs White House Estimate

“The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government will take in $1.9 trillion less in revenue and spend $300 billion more over the next decade than the White House estimated under its latest budget proposal if the plan were enacted,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Deficits would total $9.5 trillion over the coming decade, or $2.3 trillion more than the White House estimates.”
______________
Good ole fiscally responsible Trump.
Good ole fiscally responsible GOP.

Commonsense said...

Sorry, I don't indulge assholes who are too lazy to click a mouse button.

James said...

You mean you WON'T answer the question.
Because it does not support what you say.

James said...

Cohen Discussed Russian Relations with Oligarch

“Eleven days before the presidential inauguration last year, a billionaire Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet with Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen,” the New York Times reports.

“In Mr. Cohen’s office on the 26th floor, he and the oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, discussed a mutual desire to strengthen Russia’s relations with the United States under President Trump… The men also arranged to see one another at the inauguration.”

Teresa Dulyea-Parker said...

James Boswell of Normal, Illinois is a pedophile.

Commonsense said...

You mean you WON'T answer the question.
Because it does not support what you say.


How would you know since you never read it?

James said...

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/politics/kfile-illinois-republican-nominee-illuminati/index.html

GOP House candidate in Illinois is a real nutcase.

In a 2014 post, Fawell speculated that New York City was going to be destroyed in a false flag attack by the deep state in either the year 2016 or 2017.

"New York City is going to be destroyed in the biggest, baddest false flag attack ever made by any organization upon the American People in a Pearl Harbor redux," Fawell wrote. (False flag attacks are acts designed by perpetrators to look like they were carried out by other individuals or groups.)

He said that the attack would be made in an attempt to drag America into war, and that financial institutions were already withdrawing money from New York in preparation for the supposed attack.

Teresa Dulyea-Parker said...

James Boswell of Normal, Illinois is a pedophile.

Commonsense said...

GOP House candidate in Illinois is a real nutcase.

Pretty sure Illinois 17 will reelect Cheri Bustos. The district is reliably Democrat. Both Bustos and Trump won the district in 2016.

commie said...

f 327,776,859 people, not a single one has been charged with anything to do with Russian collusion.

What a complete crock of irrelevant shit....just like its author....burn a tree for jesus......typical of weak minded sycophants from kansas....LOLOLOL

commie said...

. The district is reliably Democrat.

and how reliable is that statement considering trump won the district....seems to me you contradict yourself on the same line. Why is that?????

Anonymous said...

Fatty, failure to read and compreheND again.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

You don't understand what it means. If the justices system becomes the political police force to use it against the opposition.

Obama did not send a spy.

Let's assume that Pocahontas becomes the President. Would you mind if she devotes the FBI into her personal police department and she decides to prosecute Donald Trump Jr. because of his campaign connections in the Gold Tower meeting?

Commonsense said...

Let's assume that Pocahontas becomes the President. Would you mind if she devotes the FBI into her personal police department and she decides to prosecute Donald Trump Jr. because of his campaign connections in the Gold Tower meeting?

Don't look but that's exactly what is happening now. Only it was Obama who turned the FBI into his personal police department.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

If the justices system becomes the political police force to use it against the opposition as Trump has been trying to go you don't know that actions can go.

Obama did not send a spy.

Let's assume that Pocahontas becomes the President. Would you mind if she devotes the FBI into her personal police department and she decides to prosecute Donald Trump Jr. because of his campaign connections in the Gold Tower meeting?

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

You're lying.

Only it was Obama who turned the FBI into his personal police department.

There is no evidence to support the accusation.

Commonsense said...

You're lying.

I think not. And when all is said and done some senior Obama administration officials are looking at some serious jail time.

As they should.

C.H. Truth said...

Sorry Rog...

If either our current or former Directors of National Security, the FBI, or the CIA were engaged in unlawful activities...

We don't let them off the hook just because they are no longer in power.

(which seems to be your entire argument)

In fact, I say we squeeze them now that they are private citizens. Make em go hire high priced attorneys. Start indicting them if there is even a sniff of criminal behavior. Do exactly to them, what they so causally support we do to others.

Anonymous said...

Let's assume that Pocahontas becomes the President. Would you mind if she devotes the FBI into her personal police department and she decides to prosecute Donald Trump Jr. because of his campaign connections in the Gold Tower meeting?


well alky, i wouldn't be surprised if she tried. liberals are like that. they're petty, vindictive, and seek to silence their opponents by any means necessary. so yeah, warren would try... just in an effort to ruin don jr. not because he actually broke the law or anything.

alky, you act like this shit is something new. democrats have been using the FBI as their own private police/surveillance force since i was in diapers. MLK and goldwater come immediately to mind. and i'll bet there are dozens of others that were never revealed.

our FBI is one of the most manipulated and corrupt government agencies on the fucking planet. from j. edgar fruitypants to comey, from MLK to whitey bulger to today... the FBI is rotten to it's very core, and one of the things that needs to come out of this shitshow is a total house cleaning from wray to the guy who scrubs the shitters. shut it the fuck down. it's infected with evil.



Jamesj said...

Stop Chasing Trump Down the Rabbit Hole

Paul Waldman:
“You may have noticed that today’s news is not dominated by the blockbuster revelations of what members of Congress learned yesterday when they met with Justice Department officials to review information about the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, SPECIFICALLY THE BUREAU'S USE OF A CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT WHO CONTACTED TRUMP CAMPAIGN OFFICIALS AFTER LEARNING OF SUSPICIOUS LINKS INVOLVING RUSSIA.”

“Why is it that the results of that highly unusual meeting (two meetings, actually) are not splashed across every front page and dominating every minute of cable news today? BECAUSE THE WHOLE THING WAS A FARCE, AND IT DIDN'T GIVE THE REPUBLICANS WHAT THEY WERE HOPING FOR."

-----SORRY, CH ----- *snicker*

“This reveals the absurd pattern we’ve fallen into. It goes like this: President Trump MAKES A RIDICULOUS ACCUSATION THAT ALMOST EVERHYONE IMMEDIATELY UNDERSTANDS TO BE FALSE. Then we in the media, because it’s the president, treat that accusation AS THOUGH it’s something that has to be taken seriously. Then governmental resources are mustered to deal with the accusation. Then Republicans try to twist the mobilization of those resources to give them the answer they’re seeking. But because it’s ALL BASED ON A LIE, THEY FAIL ONCE Democrats FORCE SOME MEASURE OF TRUTH TO BE REVEALED.”

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

A flock of lies. We haf an anti lie spray.

It's called Freedom of the Press.


Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
9h9 hours ago

Democrats are so obviously rooting against us in our negotiations with North Korea. Just like they are coming to the defense of MS 13 thugs, saying that they are individuals & must be nurtured, or asking to end your big Tax Cuts & raise your taxes instead. Dems have lost touch!


Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
9h9 hours ago

“Everyone knows there was a Spy, and in fact the people who were involved in the Spying are admitting that there was a Spy...Widespread Spying involving multiple people.” Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist Senior Editor But the corrupt Mainstream Media hates this monster story!


Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
9h9 hours ago

Can anyone even imagine having Spies placed in a competing campaign, by the people and party in absolute power, for the sole purpose of political advantage and gain? And to think that the party in question, even with the expenditure of far more money, LOST!
23,921 replies 17,869 retweets 68,695 likes
Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
9h9 hours ago

The Democrats are now alluding to the the concept that having an Informant placed in an opposing party’s campaign is different than having a Spy, as illegal as that may be. But what about an “Informant” who is paid a fortune and who “sets up” way earlier than the Russian Hoax?




James said...

Trump needs to read by 4:36.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

None of this has happened since the death of J. Edgar Hoover Jr.

you act like this shit is something new. democrats have been using the FBI as their own private police/surveillance force since i was in diapers. MLK and goldwater come immediately to mind. and i'll bet there are dozens of others that were never revealed.

Trump wants to return the FBI into a politically motivated investigation department to use against his opponents.

His version of the KBJ.

James said...

correction
Trump needs to read my 4:36.

Teresa Dulyea-Parker said...

James Boswell of Normal, Illinois is a pedophile.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

Junior "Should be concerned"

The FBI has obtained secret wiretaps collected by Spanish police of conversations involving Alexander Torshin, a deputy governor of Russia’s Central Bank who has forged close ties with U.S. lawmakers and the National Rifle Association, that led to a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. during the gun lobby’s annual convention in Louisville, Ky., in May 2016, a top Spanish prosecutor said Friday.

José Grinda, who has spearheaded investigations into Spanish organized crime, said that bureau officials in recent months requested and were provided transcripts of wiretapped conversations between Torshin and Alexander Romanov, a convicted Russian money launderer. On the wiretaps, Romanov refers to Torshin as “El Padrino,” the godfather.

“Just a few months ago, the wiretaps of these telephone conversations were given to the FBI,” Grinda said in response to a question from Yahoo News during a talk he gave at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. Asked if he was concerned about Torshin’s meetings with Donald Trump Jr. and other American political figures, Grinda replied: “Mr. Trump’s son should be concerned.”

The comments by Grinda were the first clear sign that the FBI may be investigating Torshin, possibly as a part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Torshin — a close political ally of Vladimir Putin — had multiple contacts with conservative activists in the United States during the election, seeking to set up a summit between the Russian president and then candidate Trump.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-son-concerned-wiretaps-show-trump-jr-met-putin-ally-231215529.html

C.H. Truth said...

“Why is it that the results of that highly unusual meeting (two meetings, actually) are not splashed across every front page and dominating every minute of cable news today? BECAUSE THE WHOLE THING WAS A FARCE, AND IT DIDN'T GIVE THE REPUBLICANS WHAT THEY WERE HOPING FOR."

That's an odd take on events.

Most everyone who attended stated (or implied) that they learned nothing new, meaning that there was no new evidence presented to justify the start of the counter intelligence investigation, nor was there any new evidence to justify the FBI hiring an informant to spy on the Trump campaign.

The reality is that had there been other previously unknown reasons for the FBI to start their counterintelligence probe, that would have been the "leaked" story all across the newspapers. Same had there been a previously unknown "really good reason" for the informant.

The fact that nothing was leaked from these meeting suggested that there was no bombshell reason for the FBI to start their counterintelligence probe or hire informants to spy... other than the nonsense that they have provided so far.

James said...

“You may have noticed that today’s news is not dominated by the blockbuster revelations of what members of Congress learned yesterday when they met with Justice Department officials to review information about the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, SPECIFICALLY THE BUREAU'S USE OF A CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT WHO CONTACTED TRUMP CAMPAIGN OFFICIALS AFTER LEARNING OF SUSPICIOUS LINKS INVOLVING RUSSIA.”


Nothing unusual, in other words. Most intelligence agencies follow up on suspicious links, wherever they occur. Sorry, Ch.