The Putin - Trump Controversy: Here to Stay - Links between Trump and Russia are being officially investigated by the FBI

[ggsimmonds]

The government(s) run the election(s). How the flying frak is this not the responsibility of the government.

On this issue he has a valid point.

If Russia's election tampering consisted of spreading fake news on facebook, is it the government's job to regulate information available online? I'd say no, if the American public is too ignorant and uneducated to see through fake news that is the real problem. In principle I'm opposed to the idea of government protecting us from ourselves.
That is if anyone indirectly tampered with the election. Indirectly would be spreading misinformation on social media and the like.

Directly tampering in the election would be things like hacking electronic voting machines, paying off ballot counters, etc. That is what your comment alludes to, and the government is required to act in those cases.

[Gaidin]

On this issue he has a valid point.

If Russia's election tampering consisted of spreading fake news on facebook, is it the government's job to regulate information available online? I'd say no, if the American public is too ignorant and uneducated to see through fake news that is the real problem. In principle I'm opposed to the idea of government protecting us from ourselves.
That is if anyone indirectly tampered with the election. Indirectly would be spreading misinformation on social media and the like.

Directly tampering in the election would be things like hacking electronic voting machines, paying off ballot counters, etc. That is what your comment alludes to, and the government is required to act in those cases.

This is generally why the only people talking to the company's is Congress. Largely its them pretending they want to bother writing a law. You know...government doing its job. Hey that's funny. The FCC has already gone, "What you want us to do about it?" in spite of the fact that it's pretty much responsible for the internet such as it is in the united states. But yes, law already regulates ads during campaigns, this would be nothing special. It'd be utterly shocking if Facebook would have a job to do once a year with the occasional by year.

I'm sorry you don't realize these basics already.

[ggsimmonds]

This is generally why the only people talking to the company's is Congress. Largely its them pretending they want to bother writing a law. You know...government doing its job. Hey that's funny. The FCC has already gone, "What you want us to do about it?" in spite of the fact that it's pretty much responsible for the internet such as it is in the united states. But yes, law already regulates ads during campaigns, this would be nothing special. It'd be utterly shocking if Facebook would have a job to do once a year with the occasional by year.

I'm sorry you don't realize these basics already.

Before getting snarky you should learn the basics yourself.

We are not talking about political ads.

Congress doesn't want to write any law that they know will run afoul of the first amendment (about as basic as it gets).

If facebook wants to censor information it deems untrue that is their call, but its not the government's job.

[Elfdude]

In other news, taking bets on who is to be indicted

[JP226]

In other news, taking bets on who is to be indicted

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA that's the funniest thing I've seen all day!!!!!!!!!!!! Pure comedic genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How'd you come up with it?

[Gaidin]

It's been floating around since there was a special counsel.

There's also a version for who resigns next or gets fired in the administration.

[Admiral Piett]

Looks like Trump's team isn't the only one with issues about press leakage. Whoever on Mueller's team leaked this just gave a bunch of people the signal to prepare. They got a whole weekend of notice. I'm starting to wonder how much press staff offer people for confidential info.

[Katsumoto]

Could be it was intentionally leaked to see if anyone would run or do something stupid that would implicate themselves.

[Condottiere 40K]

Will Manafort take a bullet for Trump?

[Acco]

In other news, taking bets on who is to be indicted

Honestly, Manafort should have been the free spot in the middle. This indictment was a no-brainer. Just the fact that he was well-connected in Yanukovych's Ukraine tells it all.

And yet, the indictment of Manafort and Gates may not even be the most significant event today. It was revealed that George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the nature of his communications with Kremlin-connected individuals, and he is now cooperating with the Special Counsel.

[B. W.]

Honestly, Manafort should have been the free spot in the middle. This indictment was a no-brainer. Just the fact that he was well-connected in Yanukovych's Ukraine tells it all.

And yet, the indictment of Manafort and Gates may not even be the most significant event today. It was revealed that George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the nature of his communications with Kremlin-connected individuals, and he is now cooperating with the Special Counsel.

Papadopoulos was arrested almost a month ago. His association with Trump was short lived. The charges against Manaforte are the same for which the FBI previously spent two years investigating his business dealings and came to the conclusion there was not enough there to warrant charges.

The important thing to note about the timing of the announcement of charges (and the leaking of the announcement) is the fact that it coincides with a judge's decision that FusionGPS has to release its banking records to reveal who was paying them (FusionGPS previously pleaded the fifth when asked this before a congressional committee).

[Elfdude]

So the emails sent from Papdopoulos indicating that DT needs to be separate from their dealings in russia are just fake news then?

[B. W.]

So the emails sent from Papdopoulos indicating that DT needs to be separate from their dealings in russia are just fake news then?

Papadopoulos sent e-mails to the campaign. Nothing unusual there. What is unusual is that after reading the indictment, it appears that Mueller's investigation started in January 2017, months before he became special investigator. Also, it's important to note that Papadopoulos's indictment is based on an interview he freely gave the FBI without a lawyer present. Apparently, when he gave the interview he presumed he had done nothing wrong.

It's pretty clear his indictment is a process crime along the lines of what happened to Scooter Libby. This game's been played before. Meanwhile Manaforte and Gates have pleaded innocence.

My opinion is that this article comes closer to the truth of what is actually happening:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinio...K8z?li=BBnb7Kz

[Love Mountain]

The investigation was started during Obama's administration, Mueller took over in May. There's nothing "unusual" about it. It's pretty clear that members of Trump's campaign are guilty. The only question is just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

[chilon]

http://www.businessinsider.com/georg...linton-2017-10

Papadopoulos is definitely interesting as he appears to have flipped and is now cooperating with the investigation. These are definitely some troubling revelations.

[Love Mountain]

Here's Papa's files for anyone interested.

Some disturbing things in there.

[Gaidin]

So the emails sent from Papdopoulos indicating that DT needs to be separate from their dealings in russia are just fake news then?

Speculative news. Lying to the FBI is probably the nice charge. And he won't be sentenced until this is over. If he falters on their deal they throw the book at him.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001

[B. W.]

The investigation was started during Obama's administration, Mueller took over in May. There's nothing "unusual" about it. It's pretty clear that members of Trump's campaign are guilty. The only question is just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Thanks for proving how ill-informed you are. Mueller was appointed to head the investigation in May 2017. That's when the investigation started.

Anything going on in the Obama administration would have been a setup for things to come, which we know did happen with all the illegal unmasking that took place.

[Love Mountain]

Thanks for proving how ill-informed you are. Mueller was appointed to head the investigation in May 2017. That's when the investigation started.

That's just a lie, again. Investigations into Russia's interference started long before 2017.

July 25 – The FBI confirms it has opened an investigation into the hacking of the DNC computer network. “The FBI is investigating a cyber intrusion involving the DNC and are working to determine the nature and scope of the matter. A compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace,” it says in a release.
(James Comey, the FBI director at the time, would later testify that the FBI in late July 2016 began investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump campaign associates were involved in those efforts. The New York Times would later report that Page’s speech in Moscow “was a catalyst for the F.B.I. investigation into connections between Russia and President Trump’s campaign.”)

Then again, why should I expect any useful information out of you on this matter? You either know nothing, or deliberately omit/mis-report basic facts to support your side.

Anything going on in the Obama administration would have been a setup for things to come, which we know did happen with all the illegal unmasking that took place.

Illegal unmasking. Stop making up.

[Acco]

Papadopoulos was arrested almost a month ago. His association with Trump was short lived.

He was arrested in July. He accepted a plea deal earlier this month. This was unsealed today, which is why it is news now.

He was an advisor from March 2016 til the end of the campaign, which doesn't seem short-lived to me, but I don't know how you define that term.

It's pretty clear that members of Trump's campaign are guilty. The only question is just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Yep. If you read Papadopoulos' documents, he is constantly in contact with unnamed high-ranking officials. The media are already proposing the names of those officials through context, but Mueller has their names and correspondence either way. Given that Papadopoulos is cooperating, it is clear that the Special Counsel is going for bigger fish.

As you said, the question is just how far up the chain this thing goes. The worry for Team Trump is that it is already pretty high up in the chain as is...