Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Donald Trump asked top intelligence officials to push back against Russia investigation.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

President Trump asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, according to current and former officials. 

Trump made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election. 

Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private communications with the president. 

Trump sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

The conversation with Rogers was documented by an internal memo, not sure about the Daniel Coats conversation, but if there was both of them will be made available to investigators.

So adding this information to the fact that we now know that Trump also tried to get James Comey to put an end to the investigation, I think that is plenty of evidence of interference by the White House.

And yes, that is an impeachable offense.

Currently going on as I am writing this post is a Congressional hearing at which former CIA Director, John Brennan, made these remarks:

Former CIA Director John Brennan told lawmakers Tuesday he was worried that Russia may have tried to recruit U.S. persons during the presidential campaign and that he believes the FBI's investigation into possible coordination between Moscow and the Trump campaign is “well founded.” 

By the time he stepped down as CIA director on Jan. 20, he told the House Intelligence Committee, “I had unresolved questions in my mind about whether or not the Russians had been successful in getting U.S. persons, involved in the campaign or not, to work on their behalf, again, either in a witting or unwitting fashion.” 

“Therefore,” Brennan added, “I felt as though the FBI investigation was certainly well founded and needed to look into these issues.”

Brennan also said that there was documented communication between the Trump campaign and the Russians during the election. 

If this gun is not yet smoking, it is about to.

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:37 AM

    "“Lichtman has written what may be the most important book of the year.” —The Hill"
    ""It is still striking to see the full argument unfold and realize that you don’t have to be a zealot to imagine some version of it happening…Lies. Abuse of power. Treason. Crimes against humanity. Martial law. Lichtman throws everything Trump’s way.." —Washington Post"
    " in clear, nonpartisan terms, Lichtman lays out the reasons Congress could remove Trump from the Oval Office: his ties to Russia before and after the election, the complicated financial conflicts of interest at home and abroad, and his abuse of executive authority."

    https://www.amazon.com/Case-Impeachment-Allan-J-Lichtman/dp/0062696823

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:57 AM

      Just got this book, audio for fun. Long drive to listen to it.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:16 AM

    I would love nothing better than seeing the fat ass put on trial and then impeached - for us never to hear from him again. Detest the fat slob!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:53 AM

    Has the satanic rift raft and global embarrassment finished their tour of lies on the USA taxpayer dime yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:51 AM

      I think you mean: riffraff = disreputable persons

      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riffraff

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9:56 AM

    I don't trust Trump.

    What is this about.

    Is he doing this shit because he's desperate to find money for his wall at the cost of the American people so he can save face?

    He's 70 years old, he doesn't care about 5 years from now. He just wants to save face and be able to say he built his damn wall.


    Money CNN
    Trump wants to sell half of emergency US oil reserve

    By Matt Egan May 23, 2017: 12:32 PM ET

    The federal government has stashed away nearly 700 million barrels of oil to shield Americans from a shock that would send gasoline prices spiking.

    The country dipped into the US strategic oil reserve, during several recent disruptions such as the 2011 turmoil in Libya and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

    Now, President Trump wants to sell off half of the oil sitting in the strategic reserve, which is made up of a complex of tanks and deep underground storage caverns.

    Except for the fact that the sale would be done over time, little is known about the exact timing of the move. But Trump's fiscal 2018 budget estimates the it would generate roughly $16.6 billion over the next decade.....

    money.cnn.com/2017/05/23/investing/strategic-petroleum-reserve-trump-budget-us-emergency-oil/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. $16 billion is chump change.

      Plus he's selling while oil is CHEAP.

      Typical of his failed business plans.

      Thankfully he may WANT to sell it but he can't. He doesn't have the authority.

      He probably wants to get rid of the reserves for his good buddies, the Saudis, probably on their advice. "We'll give you this pretty, shiny gold medal but you have to promise to sell off all of your oil reserves, slowly over time so as not to flood the market. Yeah, we promise you can have as much oil as you want at a very reasonable price. Such a deal!"

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:56 PM

      Sounds like congress isn't going to approve his arms deal, they don't want more arms going to Saudi Arabia.

      Congress won't approve selling the oil, just like they aren't going to approve his budget.

      Little donnie still hasn't finished the report on what the president can and can't do because it was more than one page.

      Delete
  5. Trump can't be impeached until all of the ducks are lined up.

    There also needs to be enough evidence to take down Pence, then Ryan and on down the line.

    Or at least to draw it out until Pelosi can become speaker in 2018.

    Which means the Democrats need to get their shit together like they never have before and score a major win in 2018. And they'll need something more than "ASSUMPTIONS" to do it. Like a 50 state plan, getting out the vote and supporting ALL Democratic candidates (yeah, with money), not just the ones that will have easy victories or they "ASSUME" will win.

    ReplyDelete
  6. At this point, how would you like to be the lawyer who must impress on Trump that his smartest move now is to keep his fuckin' mouth shut?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:08 PM

      No one has been able to accomplish that in 70 years.

      And that was BEFORE he became President and got access to the button that can blow up the world.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous1:17 PM

    So that is three people little donnie asked to stop the investigation, when are they going to move on to impeachment hearings?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous2:12 PM

    " Trump asked his director of national intelligence and the head of the National Security Agency to “publicly deny” that his campaign had colluded with the Russian government."while Trump’s attempts to get credible people to publicly vouch for him certainly adds to the case for obstruction, it’s a secondary data point"the behavior described in the 13th paragraph—the White House’s attempt to shut down an investigation, not just convince important people to throw cold water on it—makes for a more direct, and more damning, comparison."

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/05/23/white_house_officials_besides_trump_looked_into_pressuring_fbi_to_drop_flynn.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:54 PM

    Interesting request from someone that claims he is innocent. Also as president, you would think he would be concerned about our enemy messing our elections.

    My conclusion; he is guilty and so is the rest of his administration.

    ReplyDelete

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