The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia, a politically charged issue that has been under investigation by the FBI as well as lawmakers now defending the White House.
Acting at the behest of the White House, the officials made calls to news organizations last week in attempts to challenge stories about alleged contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, U.S. officials said.
The calls were orchestrated by the White House after unsuccessful attempts by the administration to get senior FBI officials to speak with news organizations and dispute the accuracy of stories on the alleged contacts with Russia.
The White House on Friday acknowledged those interactions with the FBI but did not disclose that it then turned to other officials who agreed to do what the FBI would not — participate in White House-arranged calls with news organizations, including The Washington Post.
The White House insisted the officials speak on the condition of anonymity — a practice President Trump has condemned.
Well, this is troubling.
You might also remember that Reince "twice and" Priebus recently stated that he was "authorized by the top levels of the intelligence community to denounce reports on Trump campaign contacts with Russia as false."
However there is no confirmation of this which has now placed quite a lot of pressure on a certain FBI Director to come clean:
As the FBI declined to discuss the matter, pressure mounted on Comey to either counter or affirm the White House's account. Even the Trump administration urged him to come forward, which as of Friday was not happening.
"Politicized assertions by White House chief of staff Priebus about what may or may not be the findings of an FBI investigation are exactly the wrong way for the public to hear about an issue that is of grave consequence to our democracy," Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "The American people deserve real transparency, which means Director Comey needs to come forward, in an open hearing, and answer questions."
The push on Comey to publicly discuss the bureau's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is especially acute given his statements in the run-up to Nov. 8 that many Democrats believe cost Clinton the election. He detailed the results of the FBI's investigation at an unusual July news conference, testified on it for hours on Capitol Hill and alerted Congress less than two weeks before Election Day that the FBI would be reviewing new emails potentially connected to the case.
One would think after the Hillary Clinton debacle that Comey would feel compelled to gain a little credibility back by setting the record straight here.
But so far, nothing.
I swear the further this thing goes the more I wonder why this entire administration is not facing federal charges.
Oh that's right, all this only counts when Democrats do it.
I was told his immigrant wife must know something. They said that's why she hasn't moved her gold digging ass into the People's House.
ReplyDeleteA short stay perhaps.
DeleteWrong democrats don't even have to do anything wrong and there are multiple hearings Benghazi , emails,
ReplyDeleteWhat is up Comey, you had no goddamn issue with releasing possible wrong doing in the hillary emails tanking her election
ReplyDeleteNo, the FBI didn't release emails. They relesaed the rumor that there were emails which turned out to be duplicates of already released which had been found aon a third party's computer.
DeletePresident Gryph if you and your administration had nothing to do with hacking or was not in cahoots with Russian officials or civilians to overthrow the election while campaigning and during the election, would you not welcome an investigation and order Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself? Would you then go on tv and tell the American people that all records will be made available to the investigators and you have ordered all personnel in your administration to fully cooperate and make themselves available for interrogation and assure the American people you have nothing to hide?
ReplyDeleteTRUMP WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?
IMPEACHMENT?
Everyone seeong his tax returns, which will either show his assets are nowhere near what he claims ( just like his hands are even tinier than he claims,) or he's avoided paying his fair share of taxes, or he's heavily in debtor entwined with foreign interests. Or all of the above.
DeleteWhere there's smoke, there's fuehrer.
ReplyDeleteMan, that's a good one!
DeleteYup, IOKIYAR. They are the most amoral group of sociopat5hic shysters around. Their base is made up of morons. Just look at those images of their peawit constituents enthusiastically waving the Russian flag at CPAC. Half the country is made up of these barely sentient dimbulbs.
ReplyDeletethat was amazingly daft. they clearly do not understand "flags".
Deletethese guys cherish liars and adulterers for some reason.
OT, but I just looked at Lardass' latest tweets and they are, well, SAD! He complains that the media isn't reporting how the deficit has gone down in his first month and that it went up bigly during BO's--um, guess Trump still doesn't know there was a recession--and then he says that he won't be going to the Correspondents' Dinner this year--there's been so much talk by journos about not going and some major parties were already canceled weeks ago--and he congratulates Perez on his win and it's implied that he likes the putcome because the Perez choice will help his party (but that's what all the Trumptards had been saying all week about hoping for an Ellison win). Every time I think Trump can't sound less like a baby, he sounds more like a baby.
ReplyDelete
DeleteNo doubt Trump will read this NYT article. It's soooo good and will really piss him off:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/25/us/politics/trump-press-conflict.html?_r=0
Another Russian reference: https://www.dcreport.org/2017/02/25/another-cabinet-pick-with-secret-ties-to-putin-and-oligarchs/?ct=t(Wilbur_Ross_Putin2_25_2017)&mc_cid=a1536910e5&mc_eid=6fa6ee52be
ReplyDeleteGood article. Thanks. And I can't believe this guy is hanging onto his Diamond S Shipping oil freighters while he's willing to disengage/divest from many of his other companies. I loved it when Maxine Waters came out early in the week and let it be known that she and others in the House know exactly what is up with the Russian sanctions and and Russia-connected Cabinet picks.
DeleteThe GOP appears to be blind or unknowing that people are just not that dumb......... Go Maxine!
DeleteJames Comey — the FBI director whom many blame for Clinton's loss — is now in the middle of the Trump and Russia controversy
ReplyDeleteThe latest flare up occurred Friday, when White House officials told reporters that chief of staff Reince Priebus had asked top FBI officials to dispute media reports that Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election. The officials said the FBI first raised concerns about New York Times reporting but told Priebus the bureau could not weigh in publicly on the matter. The officials said Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Comey instead gave Priebus the go-ahead to discredit the story publicly, something the FBI has not confirmed.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-comey-in-middle-of-political-fray-over-trump-and-russians-2017-2
Democratic senator accuses FBI Director Comey of withholding information on Russia for political reasons
ReplyDeleteSen. Ron Wyden has suggested that FBI Director James Comey is using classification to hide information about possible Russian interference in the US election for political reasons, according to The New Yorker.
The Democratic senator from Oregon told the magazine that he's concerned intelligence is becoming politicized.
"My increasing concern is that classification now is being used much more for political security than for national security," Wyden said.
Wyden sent a letter, along with six of his colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee, to President Barack Obama three weeks after the election saying the senators "believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the US election that should be declassified and released to the public."
"We wanted to get that out before a new administration took place," Wyden told The New Yorker. "I can't remember seven senators joining a declassification request."
Wyden also pressed Comey on this point during a Congressional hearing in January. Comey said he couldn't discuss the supposed ties between some of President Donald Trump's associates and Russians.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ron-wyden-james-comey-russia-2017-2
Trump is also putting spies, er, overseers in every department to find protections, er, regulations to eliminate. For our own good of course. It has nothing to do with increasing the profits of his corporate overlords.
ReplyDelete