They're Eating The Dogs Presidential Thread

[Monker]

A former top Obama administration official has acknowledged efforts by her colleagues to gather intelligence on Trump team ties to Russia before Donald Trump took office and to conceal the sources of that intelligence from the incoming administration.

Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of defense under Obama, made the disclosure while on the air with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski.

“I was urging my former colleagues and, frankly speaking, the people on the Hill, it was more actually aimed at telling the Hill people, get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can, before President Obama leaves the administration,” Farkas, who is now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said.

“Because I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the senior [Obama] people who left, so it would be hidden away in the bureaucracy ... that the Trump folks – if they found out how we knew what we knew about their ... the Trump staff dealing with Russians – that they would try to compromise those sources and methods, meaning we no longer have access to that intelligence.”

Aside from questions over whether communications were improperly gathered during the transition and before, there is speculation over how widely such information was disseminated. Farkas described a rush to spread the material before Trump took office.

"So I became very worried because not enough was coming out into the open and I knew that there was more. We have very good intelligence on Russia," she said. "So then I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were trying to also help get information to the Hill."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03 ... -team.html

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gapRNpEjXUo

Hearing about this earlier today I thought, who raises their hand to be the first one to go to jail? Odd.

Interesting....but I doubt any of this is ilegal. Basically, she is just preserving evidence as she saw it...and felt it would be destroyed under Trump. All of this stuff sounds like more "incidental" conversations, since she said, "We have very good intelligence on RUSSIA". She did not say Trump, or Trump tower, or rich people, or whatever...ON RUSSIA. It sounds like there is a LOT Of these conversations that the public has not even heard about, yet.

And, you all need to stop and think, if the defense dept has these conversations, the NSA has them. The FBI already asked for these conversations when the investigation first began. I think we are only seeing the tip of a HUGE iceberg here.

[Monker]

The Trump administration canceled plans to probe Americans for their sexual orientation in the 2020 Census, nixing efforts by congressional Democrats who’d wanted a better picture of the country’s increasingly complex family and sexual dynamics.

Gay-rights advocates had been pressing for the questions, saying it was time the country got an official count.

I think it is stupid to want the count and I think it is equally stupid to remove the questions if they had already been added.

If Trump and his administration and followers are not hate filled assholes, then quit LOOKING for things like this that prove the lie is a fact.

[Monker]

EXACTLY. He sits there with that smug look on his face interrupting Koppel even when Koppel asks to let him speak. Politics or not, the guy is a rude jackass. Maddow, although I'm loving that she's outing this ridiculous administration also comes off with that same smugness and I don't like her for it either.

Maddow basically annoys me. The way she tells her stories takes forever to get to the point and she repeats things over and over. It just annoys me.

[Boomchild]

[JBlake]

Talking about ties to Russia? How about this:

"The New York Times has previously written about the infamous 2010 uranium deal...

That deal involved then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signing off on Russia’s controlling stake in mining company Uranium One. PolitiFact – a left-leaning, self-appointed fact checker – even admits “some investors with an interest in making the Uranium One deal go through have a long-time relationship with Bill Clinton and have donated to the Clinton Foundation.” Prior to the deal, Bill Clinton was also paid $500,000 for a speech by a Russian investment back."

[Monker]

Except it is exagerated bullshit...and most normal people accept and know this. Nine different government agencies had to sign off on the deal....not just Clinton. So, to say "Clinton signed-off on the Uranium One deal." is very misleading. To allow it to reach conspiracy theory level turns it into a flat out lie.

Yes, PolitiFAct, and other fact checkers, have said that Clinton accepted donations from some who had interest in the Uranium One deal. However, all of these fact checkers also repeat what PolitiFact said (and the below conveniently left out), "But there’s no concrete evidence those relationships or donations helped make the deal go through. Most of the donations occurred before Hillary Clinton could have known she would become secretary of state. And again, the secretary of state was one of nine agency heads that had input into the final decision, which ultimately lay with President Barack Obama."

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... hillary-c/

Please check your bullshit fake news before you spread it around...especially when it comes from Donald Judas Trump himself. He has zero credibility nowadays because of repeating this, "tapped my wires", terror in Switzerland, etc...


quote="JBlake"]Talking about ties to Russia? How about this:

"The New York Times has previously written about the infamous 2010 uranium deal...

That deal involved then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signing off on Russia’s controlling stake in mining company Uranium One. PolitiFact – a left-leaning, self-appointed fact checker – even admits “some investors with an interest in making the Uranium One deal go through have a long-time relationship with Bill Clinton and have donated to the Clinton Foundation.” Prior to the deal, Bill Clinton was also paid $500,000 for a speech by a Russian investment back."[/quote]

[JBlake]

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/c ... .html?_r=0

[JBlake]

Except it is exagerated bullshit...and most normal people accept and know this. Nine different government agencies had to sign off on the deal....not just Clinton. So, to say "Clinton signed-off on the Uranium One deal." is very misleading. To allow it to reach conspiracy theory level turns it into a flat out lie.

Yes, PolitiFAct, and other fact checkers, have said that Clinton accepted donations from some who had interest in the Uranium One deal. However, all of these fact checkers also repeat what PolitiFact said (and the below conveniently left out), "But there’s no concrete evidence those relationships or donations helped make the deal go through. Most of the donations occurred before Hillary Clinton could have known she would become secretary of state. And again, the secretary of state was one of nine agency heads that had input into the final decision, which ultimately lay with President Barack Obama."

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... hillary-c/

Please check your bullshit fake news before you spread it around...especially when it comes from Donald Judas Trump himself. He has zero credibility nowadays because of repeating this, "tapped my wires", terror in Switzerland, etc...

Talking about ties to Russia? How about this:

"The New York Times has previously written about the infamous 2010 uranium deal...

That deal involved then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signing off on Russia’s controlling stake in mining company Uranium One. PolitiFact – a left-leaning, self-appointed fact checker – even admits “some investors with an interest in making the Uranium One deal go through have a long-time relationship with Bill Clinton and have donated to the Clinton Foundation.” Prior to the deal, Bill Clinton was also paid $500,000 for a speech by a Russian investment back."

[Boomchild]

Since The Clinton Foundation has been brought up, here is a link to Charles Ortel's site that presents his several years of research on the history and operation of the foundation.

http://charlesortel.com/

[Boomchild]

[Boomchild]

[Monker]

I just wanted to lift this from J.Blakes post because this is what Monker uses as a fair,non bias source.

"a left-leaning, self-appointed fact checker "

I did NOT use PolitiFact as a source. The article quoted PolitiFact and was THEIR source. I simply clarified what PolitiFact said by posting their conclusions...and not just a random, out of context, quote. If you READ what I said, "PolitiFact and OTHER FACT CHECKERS.". In fact, I have not found a legitimate fact checker that disagreed with what PolitiFact concluded.

You now have a Presidency that seems to be off the rails in this Russian scandal. Posting two year old made up bullshit about Clinton is not going to change the fact that Trump is in the shit. The interviews have barely even started and you have people like Flynn wanting immunity. This is a disaster.

Again, Trump has an agenda that is falling. He doesn't know what he's doing. So, now he is screaming at the Freedom caucus to get in line with his screwed up Health Care Plan. They have no reason to. It's an unpopular bill from an unpopular President. He mentions working with Democrats. Democrats have no incentive because the process starts with repealing ObamaCare, which no Democrat will support. Flying around in Air Force One with a 35% approval rating supporting a bill that has 15% support is stupid and won't change any mind in congress.

Without repealing ObamaCare, there is no new money to support the huge tax cuts and new spending that he is asking for. So, it throws off his entire agenda.

Trump is turning out to be an even worse President than W. At least W could pass his worthless tax cut and some of his agenda. Trump can't do shit.

The most terrifying thing is that Trump is the type of psycho who would approve of staging a 9/11 to gain the support of the people. He will become desperate soon...and that desperation will cause something like this to look like a valid option. He links to distract to avoid problems. There is no better distraction than an attack on Trump Tower, or something like that, and blaming "radical Islamic terror". If things have not change by the end of summer, I am expecting something like this to happen.

And, finally, I'll ask again...who is going to bail from this sinking ship first? The rumor was Priebus. But, he says no. Which rat will be the first to leave? Kellyanne? Spicer? Who is going to walk away from this disaster first to save their career (and maybe stay out of jail, too).

[The_Noble_Cause]

The interviews have barely even started and you have people like Flynn wanting immunity. This is a disaster.

DOJ granted immunity to at least five people involved with Hillary’s server investigation, including her tech specialist. Who cares?

Despite that, Obama still tried to get Republican votes by removing the public option, and it got him nowhere. And, the public option would help lower rates.

Obama was never going to support the public option. That was a lie. Just like when he said on the campaign he would support card check and claimed he was anti-NAFTA. He was a milquetoast corporate cocksucker toady from day one.

He only wins when Putin is on his side cheating for him.

And how did Putin cheat for him? Be specific now. When it was pointed out on these forums that Donna Brazile has submitted debate question in advance to Hillary (actual cheating), you ignored it. When China hacked the FDIC (an actual part of the government, unlike Podesta's email) you said NOTHING.

The most terrifying thing is that Trump is the type of psycho who would approve of staging a 9/11 to gain the support of the people. He will become desperate soon...

Weren't you just accusing people on here of believing in conspiracy theories? Hillary supporters like you have gone far off the rails into 9/11 Truther land. Really sick shit.

[Boomchild]

More actions by the CIA released by Wikileaks.

Wikileaks Vault 7 Part 3 Reveals CIA Tool Might Mask Hacks as Russian, Chinese, Arabic

« This morning, Wikileaks released part 3 of its Vault 7 series, called Marble. Marble reveals CIA source code files along with decoy languages that might disguise viruses, trojans, and hacking attacks. These tools could make it more difficult for anti-virus companies and forensic investigators to attribute hacks to the CIA. Could this call the source of previous hacks into question? It appears that yes, this might be used to disguise the CIA’s own hacks to appear as if they were Russian, Chinese, or from specific other countries. These tools were in use in 2016, WikiLeaks reported. »

http://opensources.info/wikileaks-vault ... se-arabic/

[Monker]

The interviews have barely even started and you have people like Flynn wanting immunity. This is a disaster.

DOJ granted immunity to at least five people involved with Hillary’s server investigation, including her tech specialist. Who cares?

Those people were people the DOJ wanted to testify. Also, it came late in the investigation. And, I think some were only partial immunity.

Flynn has something HE wants to say and is seeking immunity before he says it. HE has a story to tell, it's not the committees or the FBI searching for the story and offering him immunity to speak to whatever questions they have.

Despite that, Obama still tried to get Republican votes by removing the public option, and it got him nowhere. And, the public option would help lower rates.

Obama was never going to support the public option. That was a lie. Just like when he said on the campaign he would support card check and claimed he was anti-NAFTA. He was a milquetoast corporate cocksucker toady from day one.[/quote]

That is your opinion.

What I have read and saw were attempts to get Republicans on board, from the beginning. He essentially took a Republican plan based on RomneyCare and offered it up for debate. NO Republicans wanted it...because of obstruction and instead tried to sidetrack things with their own 'ideas'. Then he removed the public option because whiny Republicans said it was socialism. It still gained no Republican votes due to obstruction.

So, now they have a situation where the radical Freedom Caucus/Tea Party will stop anything even remotely coming close to Trump's campaign promises...and you have another promise to repeal ObamaCare which means Trump can't work with Democrats either. So, Trump can't do anything with health care - due to the split in his own party.

He only wins when Putin is on his side cheating for him.

And how did Putin cheat for him? Be specific now.[/quote]

Watch the news.

When it was pointed out on these forums that Donna Brazile has submitted debate question in advance to Hillary (actual cheating), you ignored it. When China hacked the FDIC (an actual part of the government, unlike Podesta's email) you said NOTHING.[

So what? Saying nothing does not make me guilty of anything. I am not going to comment on stuff from WikiLeaks.

The most terrifying thing is that Trump is the type of psycho who would approve of staging a 9/11 to gain the support of the people. He will become desperate soon...

Weren't you just accusing people on here of believing in conspiracy theories? Hillary supporters like you have gone far off the rails into 9/11 Truther land. Really sick shit.

I have never said 9/11 was a conspiracy. W was not smart enough nor paranoid enough to do something like that. I don't think Chenney or Rumsfeld are either.

However, Trump's past is one where if he doesn't like the news he simply baits the press with a new direction in a Tweet or a crazy statement in a speech. But, the Russia thing is so out of his control that those type of misdirections do not work any longer. So, as things pile up...Flynn wanting immunity, the fallout from Trump's stupid "tapped my wires" comment, Spicer being caught in his own contradictions and lies, and Nunes compromising the House's investigation...and now even more testimony on how Trump follows the Kremlin's propaganda and spreads THEIR false news for them. Trump's popularity is crashing...and he knows it but can't control it. Eventually Trump will be panicked enough to do something stupid...and I would not put faking a terror attack as too much.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Flynn has something HE wants to say and is seeking immunity before he says it. HE has a story to tell, it's not the committees or the FBI searching for the story and offering him immunity to speak to whatever questions they have.

In other words, Flynn is on offense. Same as Roger Stone, who appeared on Bill Maher last night. In effect, they are telling neo-McCarthyites, like Rep. Adam Schiff, to shit or get off the pot.

That is your opinion.

No, those are facts. If you thought Obama was a real liberal, then you weren’t paying attention. Real liberals that ran in 2008 (like Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel) were ridiculed, marginalized, and eventually banned from all the debates. If the MSM could have banned Trump, they would have. Fortunately, we now live in an age where the internet has far more clout than the dinosaur media.

What I have read and saw were attempts to get Republicans on board, from the beginning. He essentially took a Republican plan based on RomneyCare and offered it up for debate.

When Obama won, the Democrats had complete control of Congress. They pushed Romneycare because they are indebted to the insurance industry and not the people. If Bernie or Nader was in office, is there any doubt they would use the bully pulpit to rally people for single payer and expanded Medicare for all? That's the difference between a real leader and a sell-out.

Then he removed the public option because whiny Republicans said it was socialism. It still gained no Republican votes due to obstruction.

Bullshit. Obama barely mentioned it once he won. Same with card check and reforming NAFTA. He was never in favor of public option. And if he easily caves over the “whiny” demands of the opposition, what kind of leader is he?

So, Trump can't do anything with health care - due to the split in his own party.

Expecting Republicans to pass a healthcare bill is like expecting Democrats to eliminate the IRS. Nobody truly expects public assistance legislation from a Republican administration. Even Trump only half-heartedly supported this bill and now Ryan is the pasty, the fall guy, left holding the bag…etc.

Watch the news.

I do. And so far, we have....

The FBI admitting they did not even look at the servers that were allegedly hacked. We also have Crowdstrike, the DNC-contracted tech firm, behind the initial Russia hacking allegation, walking back the entire Russia narrative. We also have, as a matter of record, that a pro-Hillary PAC spent millions to combat social media online and provide pro-Hillary comments to reddit and FB etc. Now tell me, was that Hillary PAC entirely funded by the US? And if not, doesn’t this amount to foreign interference in our election?
You just repeat propaganda like a brainless little Nazi.

So what? Saying nothing does not make me guilty of anything.

Silence is consent.

I am not going to comment on stuff from WikiLeaks.

Because it’s 100% accurate and you can’t refute it. I said on here all along that the DNC was rigging the race to favor Hillary over Bernie and you denied it, mocked it..etc. The DNC emails proved that beyond a shadow of doubt. Everything you say is a lie.

However, Trump's past is one where if he doesn't like the news he simply baits the press with a new direction in a Tweet or a crazy statement in a speech. But, the Russia thing is so out of his control that those type of misdirections do not work any longer. So, as things pile up...Flynn wanting immunity, the fallout from Trump's stupid "tapped my wires" comment, Spicer being caught in his own contradictions and lies, and Nunes compromising the House's investigation...and now even more testimony on how Trump follows the Kremlin's propaganda and spreads THEIR false news for them. Trump's popularity is crashing...and he knows it but can't control it. Eventually Trump will be panicked enough to do something stupid...and I would not put faking a terror attack as too much.

Blah blah blah You are so hysterically caught up in this, that you can’t see that the vast majority of Americans do not give a shit. Hillary practically ran on “Putin!” and still lost. The majority of this country is wearing a name badge asking “would you like a hot apple pie with that?” and you think citizens give a shit whether Crimea re-joins Russia. Get a fucking clue.

[Memorex]

Hey Monker, what do you know that the ranking Dem doesn't know, he might need your expertise.

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” House Intelligence Committee ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said it is “way premature” to conclude that members of President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

That dude is the weasleiest POS I've seen in a long time. I'm too lazy, but I bet in 5 seconds I could find him saying that Trump absolutely colluded with Russia.

As a nation, we are failing to address reality. That people are taking sides for sport and the amount of anger and threats and rhetoric is so unprecedented in our time. Trump is just a fucking guy that won a fucking election. If the first 2 months of his presidency didn't teach people that the government is not one person, then I don't know. People need to chill the hell out. Or we are on a direct path to civil war. And for what? Sport? That's all it is.

[Boomchild]

Hey Boomchild, I'm coming around to these guys. Monkey suits or not.

http://louderwithcrowder.com/bill-epa-c ... ch-public/

He is straight forward, balanced and knows his stuff. He has no problem calling people out no matter what party they are in. His comedy bits can be hit or miss. But some of them are on point and very funny.

[Monker]

Hey Monker, what do you know that the ranking Dem doesn't know, he might need your expertise.

[

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” House Intelligence Committee ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said it is “way premature” to conclude that members of President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.[/quote]

Please quote any post from any forum on the internet where I said Trump colluded (or cooperated) with Russia.

I have said "if" a LOT but I have not directly accused anybody.

What I *HAVE* said, from the very early this year, is that this all started with the NSA informing the FBI that they overheard some conversations Trump people had with Russia. So, the FBI told the NSA to gather the info and give it to them. That is what started this whole thing, the NSA. That is NOT good for Trump because of how much communication is captured by the NSA. *IF* there is ANY collusion between Russia and ANYBODY on the Trump team, chances are very good that the NSA knows about it, and they know about it legally.

Trump has been scrambling for MONTHS now to come up with a way to get over this. But, it's not going anywhere. The FBI is not going to end their instigation simply because Trump and the alt-right keep on making up bullshit stories about Obama. The Senate seems to have a similar attitude. What happened in the House may eventually backfire and end up with congress voting for an independent investigation or committee, or whatever. If that happens, Trump will be under investigation for YEARS.

As for what Schiff said, what is he suppose to say? Because of the bullshit Nunes did, the House has had a stalled investigation. The Senate has not really started either. So, NO REAL EVIDENCE has been examined, scrutinized, and questions asked and answered by the committees as a whole. It is idiots like you that say, "nine months of investigation and no evidence...." The congressional committees have not even had nine DAYS of real investigation. The FBI has had MONTHS of investigation, but they are not talking. In fact, the more Trump, and idiots like you, use the congressional committees as a distraction, the more they can get away with it. And, if you REALLY want to know everything that is discovered, you should be demanding an independent and public investigation.......but that will never happen from the likes of Trump and you, because then everything Trump doesn't want to be made public WILL BE PUBLIC.

And, as I have said, to avoid all of the above, I expect a big event to happen this summer to more attention away from Trump and on to terrorism, or maybe Mexico, or N. Korea. The deeper in the shit Trump gets, the more likely I think it will happen.

[Monker]

Hey Monker, what do you know that the ranking Dem doesn't know, he might need your expertise.

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” House Intelligence Committee ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said it is “way premature” to conclude that members of President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

That dude is the weasleiest POS I've seen in a long time. I'm too lazy, but I bet in 5 seconds I could find him saying that Trump absolutely colluded with Russia.

As a nation, we are failing to address reality. That people are taking sides for sport and the amount of anger and threats and rhetoric is so unprecedented in our time. Trump is just a fucking guy that won a fucking election. If the first 2 months of his presidency didn't teach people that the government is not one person, then I don't know. People need to chill the hell out. Or we are on a direct path to civil war. And for what? Sport? That's all it is.

It's not the people who need to learn that lesson, it is Donald Judas Trump. If you take a stop back and really look at what he is doing, it is scary as hell. He does NOT know how to legislate. He promised that he could make deals in congress to get stuff done. BULLSHIT> He has tried to do that by strongarming his own party into voting his way ...doesn't work. He has tried to do things by executive order but the big idems CAN'T be done that way.

He is not this great "deal maker". That was a lie. He is a dictator. He tells everybody how it will be and then tells other people to get it done. Then Paul Ryan fails, and he's the bad guy, or the democrats are the bad guys, or some faction of the Republicans are the issue. It's never him taking responsibility for his own mistakes...it is everybody elses fault.

So, Donald Judas Trump does not know how to execute a domestic agenda via legislation and deal making. That has been proven by the last three months.

But, that's not all. The guy is scary in international politics as well. He has talked abut using nuclear weapons in a "why do we have them if we can't use them?" attitude...seemingly ignorant of the fact that we had them as a deterent to the Sovietand now Russia. He is ignorant of how easily a regional nuclear war in SE Asia could happen if Japan and S. Korea and N. Korea had nuclear weapons...and an insane guy ruling N. Korea. He is ignorant of the advantages of NATO beyond the US protecting member nations from Russia. And, on, and on, and on.

And, beyond all of that. He has political delusions and grandeur. Even if you ignore his ignorant claims of 5million illegal voters, even if you ignore his clam of the number of people at his inauguration, he (and most of his minions) can not accept how unpopular he really is. Like Nixon, he is a classic narcissist and a megalomaniac but beyond that, IMO, he is also starting to show how irrational and delusional he is....and he WILL eventually make a huge mistake that can't be covered up by blaming Obama or rogue Republicans.

[The_Noble_Cause]

The FBI has had MONTHS of investigation, but they are not talking. In fact, the more Trump, and idiots like you, use the congressional committees as a distraction, the more they can get away with it.

Then how come the FBI wasn't allowed to examine the allegedly hacked servers? The DNC-contracted tech company, CrowdStrike, has now revised their initial findings on Russian malware. Factor in the Wiki Vault 7 revelations and the whole thing falls apart. Exactly like Iraq War, this is another example of "the intelligence and facts are being fixed around the policy." But fake liberals, like you, have traded healthy skepticism of government for political opportunism.

And, if you REALLY want to know everything that is discovered, you should be demanding an independent and public investigation.......but that will never happen from the likes of Trump and you, because then everything Trump doesn't want to be made public WILL BE PUBLIC.

None of us are clamoring for an official government-approved explanation on how Trump won. We already know how. We voted for him, dumbass.

And, as I have said, to avoid all of the above, I expect a big event to happen this summer to more attention away from Trump and on to terrorism, or maybe Mexico, or N. Korea.

At this rate, there is a better chance of a nutcase like you strapping on dynamite and blowing himself up on the Capitol steps while screaming "RESIST!"

[Memorex]

I think the most common term that will come out of the mouths of the folks in the Obama Admin later this year will be, "On the advice of counsel I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and respectfully decline to answer your question."

[JBlake]

Last week when the news broke that the person unmasking individuals was a high higher up, I was thinking Biden and I would have bet on that.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-03/top-obama-adviser-sought-names-of-trump-associates-in-intel

Top Obama Adviser Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel

351APRIL 3, 2017 10:13 AM EDT
By
Eli Lake

White House lawyers last month discovered that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The pattern of Rice's requests was discovered in a National Security Council review of the government's policy on "unmasking" the identities of individuals in the U.S. who are not targets of electronic eavesdropping, but whose communications are collected incidentally. Normally those names are redacted from summaries of monitored conversations and appear in reports as something like "U.S. Person One."

The National Security Council's senior director for intelligence, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, was conducting the review, according to two U.S. officials who spoke with Bloomberg View on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. In February Cohen-Watnick discovered Rice's multiple requests to unmask U.S. persons in intelligence reports that related to Trump transition activities. He brought this to the attention of the White House General Counsel's office, who reviewed more of Rice's requests and instructed him to end his own research into the unmasking policy.

The intelligence reports were summaries of monitored conversations -- primarily between foreign officials discussing the Trump transition, but also in some cases direct contact between members of the Trump team and monitored foreign officials. One U.S. official familiar with the reports said they contained valuable political information on the Trump transition such as whom the Trump team was meeting, the views of Trump associates on foreign policy matters and plans for the incoming administration.

Rice did not respond to an email seeking comment on Monday morning. Her role in requesting the identities of Trump transition officials adds an important element to the dueling investigations surrounding the Trump White House since the president's inauguration.

Both the House and Senate intelligence committees are probing any ties between Trump associates and a Russian influence operation against Hillary Clinton during the election. The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Representative Devin Nunes, is also investigating how the Obama White House kept tabs on the Trump transition after the election through unmasking the names of Trump associates incidentally collected in government eavesdropping of foreign officials.

Rice herself has not spoken directly on the issue of unmasking. Last month when she was asked on the "PBS NewsHour" about reports that Trump transition officials, including Trump himself, were swept up in incidental intelligence collection, Rice said: "I know nothing about this," adding, "I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that account today."

Rice's requests to unmask the names of Trump transition officials does not vindicate Trump's own tweets from March 4 in which he accused Obama of illegally tapping Trump Tower. There remains no evidence to support that claim.

But Rice's multiple requests to learn the identities of Trump officials discussed in intelligence reports during the transition period does highlight a longstanding concern for civil liberties advocates about U.S. surveillance programs. The standard for senior officials to learn the names of U.S. persons incidentally collected is that it must have some foreign intelligence value, a standard that can apply to almost anything. This suggests Rice's unmasking requests were likely within the law.

The news about Rice also sheds light on the strange behavior of Nunes in the last two weeks. It emerged last week that he traveled to the White House last month, the night before he made an explosive allegation about Trump transition officials caught up in incidental surveillance. At the time he said he needed to go to the White House because the reports were only on a database for the executive branch. It now appears that he needed to view computer systems within the National Security Council that would include the logs of Rice's requests to unmask U.S. persons.

The ranking Democrat on the committee Nunes chairs, Representative Adam Schiff, viewed these reports on Friday. In comments to the press over the weekend he declined to discuss the contents of these reports, but also said it was highly unusual for the reports to be shown only to Nunes and not himself and other members of the committee.

Indeed, much about this is highly unusual: if not how the surveillance was collected, then certainly how and why it was disseminated.

[JBlake]

Contrary to popular opinion Biden is not that stupid.

LOL perhaps. He's a fucking rock though.

[Boomchild]

[Monker]

This entire "unmasking" thread is bullshit. First of all, you don't know WHY it was unmasked. It's not like that unmasking was not approved and it was just unmasked to find out if it was Trump, or related to Trump. You guys are all just wrapping this up in a conspiracy theory dreamed up by Trump and his deranged mind.

Second, you don't know who leaked this. This could have been leaked by the Whitehouse to simply prop up Trump and distract from the reality of the investigation.

Finally, I have said for months that the NSA overheard Trumpians and told the FBI and the FBI told them to give them what they had. So, it makes perfect sense to me that these converations were unmasked by either the FBI or NSA for legitimate reasons. In fact, I was EXPECTING unmasked conversations to be out there because of this.

Lastly, nobody from the Obama will face charges....that is silly, LOL.

[Monker]

HItler was a dictator and authoritarian...and his desire was power, however he could get it. He rallied his people behind him with socialist ideas, but in the end it was not for the benefit of the people, but his own selfish goals of world domination. He has more in common with Saddam Hussien than any true socialist.

I mean, cripes, ask TNC...he's the socialist on the forum.

[Monker]

No, those are facts. If you thought Obama was a real liberal, then you weren’t paying attention. Real liberals that ran in 2008 (like Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel) were ridiculed, marginalized, and eventually banned from all the debates. If the MSM could have banned Trump, they would have. Fortunately, we now live in an age where the internet has far more clout than the dinosaur media.

Those guys SUCKED. They were kicked out of the debates because they polled HORRIBLY. Regardless of their philosophy, they would have lost the nomination.

What I have read and saw were attempts to get Republicans on board, from the beginning. He essentially took a Republican plan based on RomneyCare and offered it up for debate.

When Obama won, the Democrats had complete control of Congress. They pushed Romneycare because they are indebted to the insurance industry and not the people. If Bernie or Nader was in office, is there any doubt they would use the bully pulpit to rally people for single payer and expanded Medicare for all? That's the difference between a real leader and a sell-out.

He wanted the 60 votes to get the super majority. That is what all of this was about. When it was obvious that they were not going to get it before the end of the year, they took the simple majority....and the consequences of Republicans talking about getting it shoved down their throats, which was BULLSHIT. There was NO CHANCE of Republican votes because of the obstruction deal that the Republicans had made with each other.

Then he removed the public option because whiny Republicans said it was socialism. It still gained no Republican votes due to obstruction.

Bullshit. Obama barely mentioned it once he won. Same with card check and reforming NAFTA. He was never in favor of public option. And if he easily caves over the “whiny” demands of the opposition, what kind of leader is he?

It was voted out in congress at some point during the debates in attempts to compromise with Republicans. That IS what happened.

So, Trump can't do anything with health care - due to the split in his own party.

Expecting Republicans to pass a healthcare bill is like expecting Democrats to eliminate the IRS. Nobody truly expects public assistance legislation from a Republican administration. Even Trump only half-heartedly supported this bill and now Ryan is the pasty, the fall guy, left holding the bag…etc.

You're wrong. Trump PROMISED repeal/replace of ObamaCare as one of his first priorities. Even YOU said a few weeks ago that congress would get in line because of Trump...I argued that the Tea Partyers were voted in for specific reasons and they are the type who will not turn their back on those principals. So, even YOU at one pointed expected Health Care to pass. His voters EXPECT this to happen.

Watch the news.

I do. And so far, we have....

The FBI admitting they did not even look at the servers that were allegedly hacked. We also have Crowdstrike, the DNC-contracted tech firm, behind the initial Russia hacking allegation, walking back the entire Russia narrative. We also have, as a matter of record, that a pro-Hillary PAC spent millions to combat social media online and provide pro-Hillary comments to reddit and FB etc. Now tell me, was that Hillary PAC entirely funded by the US? And if not, doesn’t this amount to foreign interference in our election?

So, you are all into conspiracy theories, just like the rest of the Trump fans on this forum.

You just repeat propaganda like a brainless little Nazi.

Funny, I usually write my posts before I even watch anything on the news. Maybe they are repeating what I say.

So what? Saying nothing does not make me guilty of anything.

Silence is consent.

No, it's not. It's "I don't give a damn".

I am not going to comment on stuff from WikiLeaks.

Because it’s 100% accurate and you can’t refute it. [/quote]

No, because it is one sided propaganda. Let's take Brazille. She had an interview where she basically said, "You have only seen one half of the story. There is this other stack of Emails over here that nobody has seen...and I can't comment on them due to privacy."

So, tell me, how do you know that Brazille did not have the exact same conversations with people working with Bernie Sanders? So, both sides knew what to expect and would have full and complete answers to the questions making it a more informative debate...which was HER JOB?

Now, I don't know if any of that is true. But, I do know that WikiLeaks is one sided propaganda and Assange has had a hatred towards the Clintons since the 90's...though he won't admit it.

So, I ignore it, and don't even comment on it. Assange is a criminal and should be treated like one.

However, Trump's past is one where if he doesn't like the news he simply baits the press with a new direction in a Tweet or a crazy statement in a speech. But, the Russia thing is so out of his control that those type of misdirections do not work any longer. So, as things pile up...Flynn wanting immunity, the fallout from Trump's stupid "tapped my wires" comment, Spicer being caught in his own contradictions and lies, and Nunes compromising the House's investigation...and now even more testimony on how Trump follows the Kremlin's propaganda and spreads THEIR false news for them. Trump's popularity is crashing...and he knows it but can't control it. Eventually Trump will be panicked enough to do something stupid...and I would not put faking a terror attack as too much.

Blah blah blah You are so hysterically caught up in this, that you can’t see that the vast majority of Americans do not give a shit. Hillary practically ran on “Putin!” and still lost. The majority of this country is wearing a name badge asking “would you like a hot apple pie with that?” and you think citizens give a shit whether Crimea re-joins Russia. Get a fucking clue. [/quote]

You need to get that thru to Donald Judas Trump. He's the one who going off on Twitter and digging a deeper hole. He is the one who is paranoid of anything that could damage his reputation. He is the one who can't just STOP no matter what how much damage he does to himself or the country. And, the more damage he does the more likely it is that he will take things to a true conspiracy level. Trump is more paranoid that Nixon was.

[JBlake]

-snip-

We’re told by a source who has seen the unmasked documents that they included political information about the Trump transition team’s meetings and policy intentions. We are also told that none of these documents had anything to do with Russia or the FBI investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. While we don't know if Ms. Rice requested these dozens of reports, we are told that they were only distributed to a select group of recipients—conveniently including Ms. Rice.

wsj.com/articles/susan-rice-unmasked

The possible Russian connection and/or FBI investigation is the excuse the Obama administration is using to justify spying on Trump, plain and simple. If there was any evidence of wrongdoing in any of the communications captured by the NSA, the Democrats would have used it during the campaign and after the election to block Trump from taking office. Keep in mind, they were doing this at least a year before he took office. In fact it was started right about the time the Dems realized Trump was becoming a serious presidential election contender.

[JBlake]

Democrats and libs are about as appealing as urinal cheese. Speaking of which, since loosing the election, how many times has Hillary jumped in a van full of old Dem/Lib broads and headed out for a meal at Chipotle?