Dossier Investigating the Links between Trump and Russia partially financed by the Clinton Campaign

[NorseThing]

The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.824b8fcf4109
Opposition Reserch. That sounds so run of the mill and expected. But what is opposition research? Is this designed just to dig up dirt that can be verified? Is it possible that it is designed to simply present potential dirt that cannot be readily disproved? I think things are nasty in politices, but is there any limit to how nasty or dishonest things can be before all sides close ranks and oppose such drivel in opposition research?
I could ask the same about many things out of every campaign (including the Trump campaign), but this dossier mess continues beyond the campaign and may threaten the very idea of fair and honest elections when such tripe continues to live on past their created purpose. Most of the opposition reasearch seems to die out after the campaign regardless who the winner is and what opposition reasearch was written down.

When is it appropriate to deny funding such documents? When is it appropriate for the FBI and the Justice Department to investigate such documents? When is it appropriate to use such material second hand to lead to further investigations of other people when the accuracy of portion of such documents is questioned by people leading investigations? At some point, does this lead to ethical questions for many people within the government today or that left the government with the change of administrations. Should or will such ethical questions lead to charges?

-Posts moved from the Donald and Hillary threads. ~Abdülmecid I

[Pontifex Maximus]

It's taken almost a year but the number of times Trump has actually been vindicated in the past few weeks is truly amazing. We should be asking ourselves now "Are democrats too absolutely corrupt to be allowed to hold any public office?"

[JP226]

It's taken almost a year but the number of times Trump has actually been vindicated in the past few weeks is truly amazing. We should be asking ourselves now "Are democrats too absolutely corrupt to be allowed to hold any public office?"

I've been in touch with some high level contacts through my firm up in DC. It's a friggin defcon 2 at DNC HQ. Amazing.

[Pontifex Maximus]

I've been in touch with some high level contacts through my firm up in DC. It's a friggin defcon 2 at DNC HQ. Amazing.

I'm finding it hard to suppress my pure glee, but the chickens had to come home to roost eventually. The new rule regarding the leftist propaganda machine is that whatever they are accusing the other side of doing, they themselves are guilty of it. They've really just turned the barrel around on themselves, though honestly I don't expect much will come of it.

[Elfdude]

What exactly has Trump been vindicated on again? For those who don't follow alt-right blog posts.

[NorseThing]

I think they are referring to the dossier.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...ed-around.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/u...-expained.html

http://time.com/4997604/donald-trump...ussia-dossier/

Oh and I did not know this from any alt-right blog posts -- where ever they are found. Mainstream media is sufficient to find this

[Gaidin]

Is it the information or the payers? Just want to know who your getting on your knees for.

[JP226]

I'm finding it hard to suppress my pure glee, but the chickens had to come home to roost eventually. The new rule regarding the leftist propaganda machine is that whatever they are accusing the other side of doing, they themselves are guilty of it. They've really just turned the barrel around on themselves, though honestly I don't expect much will come of it.

We're warming up for state session this coming January here in Florida, but more importantly the midterms and the gubernatorial races. We're already banking strategies in reaction to the fallout. Nothing is explicitly illegal unless something some Easter eggs come out of the Mueller investigation, but the PR hit they will undergo is going to be glorious for our side. We've also been hearing of rumors way beneath the surface that the Dems that are positioning themselves to break rank view this as an opportunity to break the stranglehold the Clintons have on the party. I think the fact that she's left her fund raising apparatus in place plus the more and more aggressive approaches she's taking towards 2020 is putting the Dems themselves in panic mode. Scandal may be driven by the Dems, or some of the Dems, themselves. Great opportunity.

[Love Mountain]

I see nothing wrong with opposition research. The only issue that I see in the future, is someone pulling up your XXX history to show the kind of messed up stuff you are into to discredit your political career. That's a dick move, and that kind of defamation is completely unacceptable in my view. What you do in private, so long as it does not affect anyone negatively, should be kept private. If a President is a swinger or enjoys golden showers, should not matter to the public, unless of course thy are retarded which the public is.

On the other hand, if the President was a criminal in the past, or wrote some pro-nazi essays, should be completely relevant to the public as it will not only reveal his integrity, but his response to such revelations will be telling to his skill as a public figure and administrator. If a politician is a former Russian sleeper agent is also kind of important, and opposition research is one such way that these things might be revealed or repeated to the public.

[Love Mountain]

And? It's irrelevant, unless of course you're a brainless partisan who only roots for one side or the other. What matters is whether the information is true or not. Facts are impervious to bias.

[JP226]

I see nothing wrong with opposition research. The only issue that I see in the future, is someone pulling up your XXX history to show the kind of messed up stuff you are into to discredit your political career. That's a dick move, and that kind of defamation is completely unacceptable in my view. What you do in private, so long as it does not affect anyone negatively, should be kept private. If a President is a swinger or enjoys golden showers, should not matter to the public, unless of course thy are retarded which the public is.

On the other hand, if the President was a criminal in the past, or wrote some pro-nazi essays, should be completely relevant to the public as it will not only reveal his integrity, but his response to such revelations will be telling to his skill as a public figure and administrator. If a politician is a former Russian sleeper agent is also kind of important, and opposition research is one such way that these things might be revealed or repeated to the public.

You should probably not pay attention to politics if that rustles yore jimmies.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Wow that's some pretty big news. I'll enjoy watching the democratic industrial complex implode like the death star. The fact that it's the whole ridiculous Russia collusion story that has led to this massive backfire in strategy is truly hilarious. Florida could definitely stand to lose a few disgraceful democratic Congress(wo)men.

[Love Mountain]

I find it telling that people are far more interested that Democrats funded opposition research, rather than the verity of the material.

Does it matter who paid for it?

That depends on your politics.

Republicans have criticized the dossier since it was first publicly disseminated when Buzzfeed published it in January. Mr. Trump has blasted it as “fake news” and “phony stuff,” and alleged that it is part of a broader witch hunt intended to cast doubt on his victory. His allies now contend that the allegations in the dossier are discredited by the fact that it was funded at least partially by the Clinton campaign and the D.N.C. Mr. Trump asserted on Wednesday in an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that the Democrats’ payments for the research were “the real collusion.”

Democrats argue that who paid for the research is irrelevant to the veracity of its claims, which they say should be thoroughly investigated. Yet some of the Democrats who funded the dossier have been leery about being associated with it. The lead Perkins Coie lawyer representing both the campaign and the D.N.C., Marc Elias, pushed back earlier this year when asked whether his firm was the client for the dossier, whether he possessed it before the election and whether he was involved in efforts to encourage media outlets to write about its contents.

On Tuesday, the veteran Democratic consultant Anita Dunn, who is working with Perkins Coie, explained Mr. Elias’s earlier response. “Obviously, he was not at liberty to confirm Perkins Coie as the client at that point, and should perhaps have ‘no commented’ more artfully,” Ms. Dunn wrote in an email.

Quite frankly, I agree with the Democrats, and I'm not gonna be dancing on their graves if they "implode" and you shouldn't either, unless you have some fancies of a de-facto one party state.

Just a preview of a Republican dominated Gov.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/24/co...on-agreements/

The Senate voted late Tuesday night to strike a federal rule that would have allowed consumers affected by the Equifax hack to sue the company. Without it, the millions affected by the historic security breach may be disallowed from related joining class action lawsuits. This specific rule, and only this rule, would be nullified if the joint resolution is signed by the President.

The vote was 50/50, with the tie-breaking yea cast by Vice President Pence.

s. Millions of SSNs, Addresses, and birth dates leaked due to their own gross incompetence and they're protected from even getting a slap on the wrists, and thanks to who? Your good ol' Republican friends.

[Pontifex Maximus]

My data was breached multiple times in the past seven years. No companies or government agencies were ever held accountable to me as a result of those breaches even when those rules were in effect. So I bought insurance that protects me in the event my identity gets stolen and used for something bad, because sometimes the answer to life's problems comes in the form of the private sector markets and not toothless government regulations.

Also, fabricating evidence and colluding with foreign governments =/= opposition research, as your democratic friends have been so forcefully reminding us for the past 11 months. Now that the shoe is on the other foot suddenly the rules are shifting beneath us.

[JP226]

I find it telling that people are far more interested that Democrats funded opposition research, rather than the verity of the material.



Quite frankly, I agree with the Democrats, and I'm not gonna be dancing on their graves if they "implode" and you shouldn't either, unless you have some fancies of a de-facto one party state.

Just a preview of a Republican dominated Gov.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/24/co...on-agreements/



s. Millions of SSNs, Addresses, and birth dates leaked due to their own gross incompetence and they're protected from even getting a slap on the wrists, and thanks to who? Your good ol' Republican friends.

Out @ "I find it telling..."

I thought we learned through the whole non-story Trump investigation that the one stop they were trying to pull is that Trump colluded with foreign governments, to the tune of a laughable 100k, to take down the DNC and HRC. Now we have hard evidence that collusion did take place, only it was in the DNC camp. So now you pump the brakes? Get out of here with that nonsense.

[Pontifex Maximus]

...and with millions of dollars in play. Gaslighting at its finest, but most transparent.

[Love Mountain]

My data was breached multiple times in the past seven years. No companies or government agencies were ever held accountable to me as a result of those breaches even when those rules were in effect. So I bought insurance that protects me in the event my identity gets stolen and used for something bad, because sometimes the answer to life's problems comes in the form of the private sector markets and not toothless government regulations.

Basing policy on anecdotal experience and libertarian sensibilities. Classic.

Also, fabricating evidence and colluding with foreign governments =/= opposition research, as your democratic friends have been so forcefully reminding us for the past 11 months. Now that the shoe is on the other foot suddenly the rules are shifting beneath us.

That's the point. Is this "fabricating evidence" or the truth? No evidence has been provided yet.

Out @ "I find it telling..."

I thought we learned through the whole non-story Trump investigation that the one stop they were trying to pull is that Trump colluded with foreign governments, to the tune of a laughable 100k, to take down the DNC and HRC. Now we have hard evidence that collusion did take place, only it was in the DNC camp. So now you pump the brakes? Get out of here with that nonsense.

Now I pump the brakes? Brakes on what, exactly? Nobody forced Trump's team to have mysterious meetings with Russians, all that we've asked for them was for clarification and truth. That was too much for them as they've been quitting and avoiding the questions left and right.

I find it telling that the "Conservatives" here are more concerned with sticking it to Democrats than any truth.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Basing policy on anecdotal experience and libertarian sensibilities. Classic.

Basing life choices on personal accountability and problem solving skills. Classic.

That's the point. Is this "fabricating evidence" or the truth? No evidence has been provided yet.

Exactly how far behind on the news cycle are you?

I find it telling that the "Conservatives" here are more concerned with sticking it to Democrats than any truth.

Oh stop, my sides

Don't worry though, Auntie Maxine is going to keep digging until she finds that magic impeachable offense, regardless of its veracity. That glorious pie in the sky isn't going to eat itself.

I've isolated the cause of your problems, and it is a complete lack of circumspection likely brought on by total partisan loyalty and a liberal news bubble.

[Love Mountain]

It shouldn't be hard to give me a link if it's so obvious.

[Admiral Piett]

Before I take a particular stance on this recent major story that's ongoing, I'm going to wait on the testimony of the informant that is now expected before congress.

Here's a sufficient read on the story and what we are to expect. Honestly, I don't think Clinton or Obama would be that stupid to make themselves so easily implicated even if they were involved in this for money. But it does throw a wrench into the credibility of the Clinton campaign's accusations about the Trump campaign's Russian ties. I am curious though, if the Obama administration had nothing to hide why the immediate gag order on this guy?