Thursday, March 09, 2017

Another news outlet has essentially reached the same conclusion that I have about the Wikileaks dump of hacked CIA materials.

As most of you know I posted about this Wikileaks dump on Tuesday.

During that post I stated that it was unlikely that this leak was a coincidence, that the Russians likely did the hacking, and that Trump's supporters would use it to suggest that the CIA had hacked the DNC computers and then blamed it on the Russians.

I know, crazy right?

However this news outlet, which specializes in foreign policy, does not think it so crazy.

Courtesy of the FP Group: 

In the first place, WikiLeaks has often timed its leaks for maximum political impact. It released 20,000 stolen DNC emails just three days before the Democratic National Convention on July 25, 2016. As expected, WikiLeaks generated headlines about DNC staffers disparaging Sen. Bernie Sanders, buttressing a Trump campaign effort to prevent Clinton from consolidating Sanders supporters. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as a result, and the Clinton campaign suffered significant public relations damage. 

In the second place, WikiLeaks, which has often leaked American but never Russian secrets, has been identified by the U.S. intelligence community as a front for Russian intelligence. In January, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified estimate that found “with high confidence that Russian military intelligence … relayed material to WikiLeaks.” This was done with a definite purpose: “Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.”

 .........

It is significant, therefore, that one of the major storylines to emerge from the latest WikiLeaks release is that the CIA supposedly has a program to reuse computer codes from foreign hackers, thus disguising CIA fingerprints on a hacking operation. Never mind that there is no evidence that the codes used to break into the DNC were part of this CIA database. Right-wing outlets are nevertheless trumpeting these revelations with headlines such as this one on Breitbart: “WikiLeaks: CIA Uses ‘Stolen’ Malware to ‘Attribute’ Cyberattacks to Nations Like Russia.” Russian-controlled Internet “bots” are also said to be playing up these claims online. 

The implication is clear. Trump was a victim of a “false flag” operation wherein CIA hackers broke into the DNC and blamed the Russians. This may be nutty, but it’s eminently believable to an audience conditioned to believe that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged — favorite tropes of the radio talk-show host Alex Jones, whose work Trump has praised. Other WikiLeaks revelations — for instance, that the CIA can use Samsung smart TVs as listening devices — lend further credence to Trump’s charge that he was secretly wiretapped. 

Quite apart from its specifics, the WikiLeaks release changes the subject after a bad few days for Trump highlighted by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from any Kremlingate probe after he was revealed to have lied under oath when he denied meeting any Russian representatives. Last week it was Trump on the defensive. Now it’s his nemeses in the U.S. intelligence community who are answering embarrassing questions about how this leak could have occurred and the contents of the leaked information.

Yep, those are the same conclusions that I reached as well.

Trump's supporters and his fellow Republicans are looking for some reason to reject the fact that the Russians hacked various computers to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign and help Trump win the election, and this is all they need to make that to happen.  

Now Julian Assange is going to deny that the Russians provided him with the CIA data, just like he denied that they were behind the DNC hack and the John Podesta phishing expedition. But of course we now know that he was lying then, and so it is safe to assume that he will be lying this time.

And what is undeniably true is that he is now handing out the CIA's hacking tools to various technology companies, knowing full well they will find their way into the hands of America's enemies.

The idea presented by Assange is that this will help these technology companies patch their software therefore making it harder to hack, but it of course will also mean that the foreign agencies will now know how to block intelligence agencies from spying on them and that will likely make any further investigation into Trump's ties with Russia just that much harder to prove.

All of this will also undermine the credibility of the American intelligence agencies which will make what they DO reveal that much easier to dismiss by the public at large. 

What is that called? "Collateral damage?"

Or perhaps that was really the target all along.

P.S. It appears that Josh Marshall over at TPM has some more interesting crumbs that involve possible Trump representative Nigel Farage meeting with Assange before his big press conference today: 

During Sean Spicer's daily press briefing, an AP reporter asks Spicer about the Farage/Assange meeting and whether he carrying a message from President Trump. Spicer basically ducked the question. But when asked specifically whether Farage was "delivering a message" from Trump, Spicer replied: "I have no idea."

Hmm, curiouser and curiouser.

45 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:44 PM

    If you never dreamed the Far Right would have sold America out to the Russians then you haven't been paying attention. They would have sold America to the highest bidder on any day you'd care to name. They can all go live in Switzerland with the oligarchs, they'll be fine and so will generations of their mutants- and you'll be left with nothing but a society you have to rebuild from the ground up.

    Oh, wait...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:09 PM

    We are so fucked.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:30 PM

    Vote every fucking Republican out of Congress when the chance comes - IF they have the balls to run for reelection. They truly are an evil breed!

    I sincerely hope each one of them dies a horrible, painful death (when their time comes) after what they are doing to the USA and its population!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:36 PM

    Rapists PIGS^.". To date, more than 26,000 psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental-health professionals have signed his petition, which has no legal power but drives home the point that these professionals are gravely concerned about the mental health of our president."
    "Both Gartner and Dodes agreed that as far as the depth of mental illness, this is the "worst case" scenario. Gartner added, "He’s just sane enough to ‘pass’ but is detached from reality." Gartner argued that what is real for the president is fluid, meaning that it’s malleable. Combine this non-reality with paranoia, and being at a hand’s reach of the nuclear codes is troubling. "He actually imagines he is under attack by people who are not actually attacking him,” Gartner said, creating "a very dangerous combination of someone who can act on his paranoid fantasies in a way that can have catastrophic consequences.”Through our observations, we can see Trump as embodying an unconstrained present hedonist—living only in the present moment and saying whatever it takes to pump up his ego and assuage his inherent low self-esteem, without thought of past reality or potentially devastating future consequences."Our Future!

    What can we do? Be observant. Be vigilant. Share this article to spread awareness. "

    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-time-cure/201702/the-elephant-in-the-room

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous4:48 AM

      Where were all these head shrinks back in the day when Ronnie Raygun was out to lunch permanently and letting Ollie & pals sell arms to the Iranians? This isn't the first time we've had a head case in the Oval Office.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous2:37 PM

    Not only do we have a president et al that are traitors, but dumping this info also helps terrorists and other enemies hack into our computer systems like the power grid that was never secured after 9/11, air traffic control, banking systems etc.

    Forget the spying; think of all the chaos they can now cause in everyday lives.

    Only a moron like little donnie that thinks he knows everything, but knows nothing, would love WikiLeaks.

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    1. Anonymous2:48 PM

      Forget the spying; think of all the chaos they can now cause in everyday lives.
      ____

      And no one will believe the intel com because of this leak. Programs to make it look like the Russians did it.. so no matter what evidence is brought against trump et al it will look suspicious. What a deadly scheme.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:23 AM

      Anonymous 2:48, I think the other word you're looking for is DIABOLICAL.

      RAinNC

      Delete
  6. Anonymous2:38 PM

    Not only do we have a president et al that are traitors, but dumping this info also helps terrorists and other enemies hack into our computer systems like the power grid that was never secured after 9/11, air traffic control, banking systems etc.

    Forget the spying; think of all the chaos they can now cause in everyday lives.

    Only a moron like little donnie that thinks he knows everything, but knows nothing, would love WikiLeaks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2:39 PM

    What is that called? "Collateral damage?"
    -------

    I'd call it damned convenient, Gryphen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:58 PM

      Alaskans will be all "Collateral damage"
      http://midnightsunak.com/2017/03/09/analysis-trumpcare-says-alaska-suffer-twice-much-state/

      Delete
  8. Anonymous2:49 PM

    Yea, well bud, I have a problem paying for your Viagra !!!
    ===================================

    Feud breaks out during health care hearing as Republican whines that men have to pay for prenatal care

    Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) got into a battle with Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) Thursday during a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing for the healthcare bill.
    While discussing the GOP’s new bill, Doyal asked what Shimkus could possibly have a problem with that is mandated in Obamacare. He rattled off some of the things Americans have said they like, kids being able to stay on their parents’ insurance until 26, not being kicked off for pre-existing conditions or stopping caps on benefits.

    Shimkus replied that men shouldn’t have to pay for prenatal care.

    “I’m just — I — is that not correct?” Shimkus stuttered. “Should they?”

    Doyal seemed so dumbfounded he couldn’t find his words either. He reclaimed his time. “There’s no such thing as ala cart insurance, John,” he explained.

    Shimkus said that was the thing he had a problem with. “That’s the point! That’s the point!” he exclaimed. “We want the consumer to be able to go to the insurance market and be able to negotiate on a plan that –”

    “You tell me what insurance company will do that,” Doyle interrupted. “There isn’t a single insurance company in the world that does that, John.”

    WOW. The #GOP’s reason to object to insurance covering prenatal care? “Why should men pay for it?” Watch: #Trumpcare #ProtectOurCare pic.twitter.com/Q55nG1Un8j
    — NARAL (@NARAL) March 9, 2017

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/feud-breaks-out-during-health-care-hearing-as-republican-whines-that-men-have-to-pay-for-prenatal-care/

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous8:16 PM

      Because men have absolutely nothing to do with women getting pregnant, right? Everyone knows that women do that all by themselves.

      I just had a hysterectomy but prenatal services are part of the insurance plan I pay for. I don't have a prostate but prostate exams are covered by my plan, too. I've never had children but I've paid thousands of dollars in school taxes. I pay for roads and parks I'll never use and for troops and equipment to help protect countries I'll never visit.

      It's called being part of a civilized society. Or at least one that USED to be civilized.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous2:50 PM

    Yet they can find $40 billion to build a fence.
    =======================================
    Trumpcare yanks mental health care and substance addiction treatment from 1.3 million people

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/trumpcare-yanks-mental-health-care-and-substance-addiction-treatment-from-1-3-million-people/

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous8:20 PM

      And all those conservatives blame the lack of adequate mental health services whenever some crazy person takes a gun and shoots a bunch of people. But lets take away those services AND make guns more available to people with mental health issues. What could go wrong?

      Delete
  10. Anonymous2:53 PM

    The media has been beaten into submission. They are too afraid to lose access again, so they aren't pressing when they know it would hurt.

    Should have been a death blow. This should be the ONLY thing on every channel, every website, right now. But media didn't even blink.

    PAY. ATTENTION. The NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR worked for foreign gov. Correct answer to Spicer's Q should have been "NO CHANCE IN HELL!"

    What was panic now has become celebration. No follow up Q. No coverage so far. Media becoming docile toward WH, ignoring obv attack point.

    https://twitter.com/RoguePOTUSStaff

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:26 AM

      Rogue potus is a fake.

      He/she/they made a big mistake in the last few weeks that someone who works in the White House would never make.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous2:54 PM

    Many viewing Assange like Joker right now. POTUS let dog off the leash, now look at the carnage. Nobody willing to say it to him, though.

    https://twitter.com/RoguePOTUSStaff/status/839864255818129409

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous2:58 PM

    The Collusion Crumbles As Senator Says Russia And Wikileaks Work Together To Protect Trump

    During an interview on MSNBC, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) suggested that Wikileaks and Russia are working to together to protect President Trump.

    ...When asked about the timing of Wikileaks latest document dump by MSNBC’s Katy Tur, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “I think you have to assume that this is perfectly timed coming at a moment which we seem to be getting closer and closer to understanding the true nature of the connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. A moment when investigations are stepping up inside Congress and pressure building for investigations outside Congress. You know, if you at everything the Russians did during the campaign, they were all timed according to moments of weakness in the Trump operation. The John Podesta email dump came out the day after the Access Hollywood tape was released, so all of this seems suspiciously timed to believe that’s it’s independent, I think feeds that argument that your previous guest was making that Wikileaks and the Russians are certainly connected.”

    Sen. Murphy also said he expects any investigation into President Obama wiretapping Donald Trump to be quick and conclude that Obama didn’t wiretap Trump.

    Murphy brought up a great point. The Wikileaks dumps always come when Donald Trump is in the most trouble. When things are bad for Trump, the Russians and Wikileaks try to come to the rescue and change the subject. The reason they are trying to switch the focus of the press and others is that they are trying to keep what happened during the election.

    Hour by hour, day by day, week by week, the relationship between Trump, Russia, and Wikileaks is being exposed.

    No matter what the President and his friends do, the American people are beginning to see that there was something very wrong with the 2016 election.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/09/collusion-crumbles-senator-russia-wikileaks-work-protect-trump.html

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous5:45 PM

      the American people are beginning to see that there was something very wrong with the 2016 election.
      What do they mean by “beginning to see”?

      I am sure the majority of the American public knows perfectly well something was wrong with the election on Nov 9th. The rest voted for trump and will never believe the truth.

      It is the media that is having a problem catching up. They waste most of our time making up excuses for donnie’s infantile behavior.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:37 PM

      5:45pm

      The election was on November 8.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous3:08 PM

    Rep. Maxine Waters on MSNBC: Donald Trump Russia ‘pee pee tape’ blackmail claims are true

    First member of Congress to assert that Russia is holding sex blackmail over Trump

    https://www.palmerreport.com/news/maxine-waters-russia-donald-trump-blackmail/1851/

    FBI still investigating Russian email server inside Trump Tower; Betsy DeVos connection confirmed

    Four months after it was first reported elsewhere that the FBI had gained a FISA warrant to investigate an alleged Russian email server inside Trump Tower, it’s now being confirmed by CNN that the FBI is still investigating the server in question. And one month after Palmer Report first reported that the server was connected to Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, this is also being confirmed. It appears these new confirmations have surfaced as a direct result of Trump’s recent false accusations about President Obama.

    Here’s the timeline as we now know it.

    https://www.palmerreport.com/news/fbi-still-investigating-russian-email-server-inside-trump-tower-betsy-devos-connection-confirmed/1854/

    After James Comey meeting, Senator confirms “no evidence” Trump Tower was wiretapped

    FBI continues to debunk Trump’s wiretap nonsense

    https://www.palmerreport.com/news/james-comey-meeting-senator-confirms-no-evidence-trump-tower-wiretapped/1856/

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous3:29 PM

      https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/839950544772956161/photo/1

      UPDATE^ Lots ^

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:06 PM

      @3"29 pm Is that all you got???

      Delete
    3. Anonymous4:41 AM

      I think their hold over Trump is mainly financial. Anything else may be there but we've seen that Trump as well as his supporters are willing to be proud of his sexual behavior; it proves he's a man. I think Trump thought, back in the day when he borrowed so much from the Russian banks and the Russian oligarchs were so willing to buy his condos and properties, that there would never be any payback to them. Now we know that the American people will end up having to pay dearly for Trump's failed business deals we'll have to pay dearly with our security credibility totally gone and with our former allies never trusting us again. Such traitorous behavior by the man who is now the 45th president.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  14. Anonymous3:50 PM

    I always knew that Snowden et al were partisan. They just are really good at pretending otherwise.

    Glenn Greenwald, that slimeball, says that he's against Trump, but then totally made it seem like the "shadow government" was framing him in re: to Russia contact.

    B to the S.

    and he knows it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous3:50 PM

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/09/collusion-crumbles-senator-russia-wikileaks-work-protect-trump.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous3:52 PM

    Great information here. He just disgusts me, and always has. It seems redundant to say the same thing over and over again, but he is disgusting.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous4:41 PM

    What about Pamela Anderson, she visited assage several times this last year. Maybe Linsdey lohan she may have visit also?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous4:42 PM

    Russia and china owns a floor in the ape tower. Howz about them mr trump? hmmmm?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous4:44 PM

    Do we know who lives in the trump towers in ny? Who are the residence? and what floor do they live on?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous7:43 AM

      I don't know shorty why doncha tell us...

      Delete
  20. Anonymous4:45 PM

    Trump uses unsecured phones and servers.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous7:33 AM

      And a hilarious hack of pence's email(AOL) when he was Gov., don't forget that!

      Delete
  21. Anonymous5:37 PM

    I said it first! M! Me! Me!

    Does it leave bruises? The constant patting yourself on the back?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I try to be gentle during my self adulation.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:09 PM

      Gryphen, you maybe need to step up the game and make the first news with what you surmise and tweet it or Facebook it. You are on social media, be the first to make the connections and put it out there then you won't have idiots like 5:37pm having a leg to stand on.

      Delete
    3. Well I'd like to but I have a real job, and this simply does not pay the bills.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous5:50 PM

    Distraction at its best!

    This kind of shit is like a global game of three-card monty, taking the public eye off what is really the story.

    Carry on.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous6:57 PM

    A bit ago I visited the Facebook page of a distant relative and felt like I'd wandered into a parallel universe. She was so extremely upset about "Obama's wiretapping" of poor Mr Trump that she had post after post of "evidence" that it had actually happened, and that Hillary (via her campaign) was involved to. Obama, she said, has a history of wiretapping both friends and foes, and headed a conspiracy to throw the election for Hillary, using the intelligence agencies and their technology as a political weapon.

    She also claimed that Evan McMullin -- an Independent presidential contender from Utah and no fan of Trump -- had established a domain / email server for the Democrats to use in setting up and sabotaging Trump. Te way this was to be done was create emails to various Trump folks that looked like they'd come from Russia.

    Has anyone else here heard this nonsense? Her FB postings were pretty short on any evidence for all this.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous7:35 PM

      Personally I quit Facebook in 2009 for this very reason; I grew tired of crazy people :-)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:57 AM

      Facebook has regular 'oopsies' with personal information of its users. Zuckerberg sleeps soundly at night, in his billion dollar world. He's not worried about us.

      Delete
  24. Lemme get this straight. The CIA infiltrated the DNC disguised as Russians to make Trump win the election so that they could claim the Russians made him win so that they could depose the man that *they* gave the presidency to. I need an Advil.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous4:42 AM

      seth rich leaked the dnc data was was excecuted, the cia had their habds in the cookie jar and of course disguised their identity, russia is a red herring

      Delete
  25. Anonymous3:51 AM

    Mjoe, mika talks about her friend texting about children go to principals office spewing crap, like dumb orange guy playing prez. Lol. Cute.

    ReplyDelete

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