General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsClint Watts tweet: Imagine you are a FBI Agent working Russian CI in 2016 and you witness the...
- you witnessed Russian hackers targeting a wide swath of Americans including the DNC, DCCC, former Secretary of State & a Presidential candidates staff
- someone previously targeted by Russian Intelligence joins the Trump campaign and then appears on a stage in Moscow supporting Russia policy and speaking negatively of US policy
- A Presidential candidate hires a new campaign manager whose not been in the business in the states for years, but has been seen pushing a Russian agenda in Ukraine and has Russian intel contacts
- an Australian official contacts you and says the Russians have stolen emails of a Presidential candidate & may want to give them to the candidates competitor
- a Russian lawyer & others tied to Russian government visit a Presidential candidates son in the candidates building in NYC
- Candidate Trump stands on a stage and calls out Russia and asks about emails from his competitor, says they will be rewarded if they have them and release them
- website thats released sensitive & classified documents from US for years, helped deliver a US insider to The Kremlin, begins publishing document & emails during Dem convention, content you know was stolen by Russia. Site administrator once hosted a TV show on Russia State TV
- A strange, unexpected policy change occurs at RNC convention, the change is a less supportive position toward Ukraine and is advantageous to Russia
- candidates campaign manager goes on CNN and asserts a false terrorist attack in Turkey, one tied to and advanced by Russian propaganda (factcheck.org/2016/08/manafo )
- during this time, you watch a campaign associate tweet with a Russian account thats pointing people to stolen documents from the opposing campaign. The campaign associate predicts something will happen to the opposing campaign manager- his emails are later released
- as Election Day approaches, Presidential candidate makes allegation, without evidence, voter Fraud & Election Rigging, Russia propaganda echoes this, social media accounts associated Kremlin do the same, at same time, you watch Russian Hackers hit state election infrastructure
After election, current President issues sanctions against Russia, but the incoming National Security advisor makes calls to Russian officials from 3rd country, when approached for clarification post inauguration, the advisor lies about contents of phone call w/Russian officials
During summer fall leading into the election, you receive raw intelligence from highly reliable source whose proven invaluable on other investigations. source provides intelligence on Russias efforts to support a presidential candidate, the info is consistent with other info
Before inauguration your bosses, your leaders from all intelligence agencies brief president elect on classified info showing Russia influenced the election on behalf of President elect. President elect rejects intelligence from all your superiors and suggests Russia innocent
From the summer of 2015 all the way through the election and after inauguration, you watch as the candidate, president elect and now president offers overt effusive support for Vladimir Putin who you know has been helping the President get elected. Shortly after inauguration, your new commander-in-chief spouts false information about Polish aggression toward Belarus. This is not supported by the Intelligence community you are in, and the only source for this viewpoint is Russian propaganda
After firing of National Security Advisor that lies to you agencies investigators, the President corners your boss 1-1 asks him to go easy on National Security Advisor who lies about his conversation with Russians
During this period, the President inexplicably and repeatedly asks your boss if hes under investigation with regards to Russia, despite your boss and other intel heads going out of their way to brief the President about Kremlin efforts to potentially compromise & manipulate him
While Congressional committees investigate Russian interference, the President fires your boss for his handling of an email investigation into the Presidents opponent, an investigation that helped elevate the President rather than hurt him
You later find out a draft memo from President to your boss regarding his firing cited the Russia investigation
The President then goes on national television and in an interview says he fired your boss because of the Russia investigation
A week after firing your boss, the President invites Russian leaders into the Oval Office, Russian photographers capture the moment, but US media is not allowed to observe. President then brags to Russian leaders about firing your boss
Sometime during the spring, if youre not already aware, you read a news story alleging the Presidents son-in-law may have sought a way to communicate with Russia via a back channel not monitored by you and your colleagues
During summer, you watch the President attend NATO summit and shove Montenegro PM, in an Interview claim Montenegro is aggressive, might start a war. This mirrors Russian propaganda & you know Russia backed covert operation destabilize Montenegrin election
For next year, either you, your colleagues and your organization, FBI, are discredited by President. He mixes true and false information in public disclosures which you are not allowed to respond to. If you do respond, your accused of leaking and could be fired or even jailed
Documents & information from confidential sources youve pledged to protect, are selectively leaked into public through those who are supposed to provide government oversight. These inappropriate disclosures make your job as an investigator nearly impossible & hurts your sources
At some point during the summer or before, you learn that the Presidents son was receiving & responding to direct messages from website that was releasing emails stolen from the Presidents opponent by Russia
1st two years Presidents term, you watch him take a negative, adversarial stance toward NATO and particularly Germany. This strains your relationship with your most valuable intel partners, your Counterterrorism agent colleagues depend on them & they help fight war on terror
Over next 2 years, President aggressively seeks meetings with Putin who helped elect him. Need for meetings is not clear. one President meets in private with Putin for 2 hours without witnesses but translator. To this day, you, your bosses dont really know what was discussed
President emerges from private meeting with Putin and on world stage in Helsinki accepts and validates Russian denials about election interference & rejects years of your teams intel work. This badly damages your reputation and partner trust with your organization
Separately, your President publicly discusses a Russian proposed partnership on cyber security, this insane concept is mind boggling to you as an investigator as youve just spent years tracking these same Russians who just attacked your country
Even further, your President publicly mentions a possible exchange where Russian investigators might interview and interrogate you and other Americans about their attack on you and America. A crazy, frightening and bizarre threat to you as a civil servant. Throughout your investigation into Russian interference, you watch as your Presidents attacks on the Special Counsel, Justice Department & FBI are amplified and spread in America by the very Russian troll social media accounts and state sponsored propaganda you are investigating
Throughout the Special Counsel indictments, hearings and trials, you watch the President and his legal team publicly interject, discredit witnesses and discuss pardons, all subverting the rule of law and justice which youve dedicated your life to protect and defend
You either know or learn a parallel investigation shows Russians representing a bogus Russian gun rights movement penetrated the political party hosting members whove tried to discredit you - you recognize this as a TEXTBOOK espionage/influence op you learned at FBI academy
Link to tweet
aeromanKC
(3,328 posts)OR put you in drug rehab treatment.
Doitnow
(1,103 posts)aeromanKC
(3,328 posts)I miss my Copy editor brother. He died 2 years ago and would always rag on all my mistakes in my texts. (I've got ADHD, and of I don't see the read line underneath the word, I don't recheck me texts) Been awhile since I've been ragged on. Thanks.
Doitnow
(1,103 posts)LiberalFighter
(51,096 posts)WheelWalker
(8,956 posts)Leghorn21
(13,526 posts)damn, man
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)Mr. Watts would be an excellent expert witness for the House Intelligence, Justice, and Oversight committees.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)package,being cautious in what he has said. Are Ex Agency people about to blow Trump out of the water with names dates and times?
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)that is exactly what is going to happen in the next few weeks. Democratic control of the House was vital; it will provide continuity of government and legitimacy when the hammer falls...
My guess is some very real conversations are going on in secure sites across the country at this very moment.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)and it sounds like he and others have seen and heard in real time what the truth is. This Story has been going since 1984 till now.
Someone will drop a e-mail or tweet and the place will blow.
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)Yeah ... be interesting if the donor class who run the GOP actually try and get ahead of things...
Worth keeping an eye on Romney, for example; he's the obvious "good" Republican, now that McCain is gone and Graham and McConnell are presumably in it up to their necks.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Salt lake Trib is gushing all over him once again. While others call him the failed White knight. Still betting on Romney and Ryan in a do over.
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)I mean, who else is the SLC paper going to gush over?
I think Ryan's done; with what appears to be his knowledge of Rohrabacher's connections to the Russians, Ryan will be fortunate to go quietly into lobbying or some other variant of wingnut welfare.
Taraman
(373 posts)RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)Two sides of the same coin, true?
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)Are you a Utahn?
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)tweleve years was more than enough for us.
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)Beautiful place, and some truly decent people ...
But some other very real. and very deep issues in terms of the Church.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)let those truly decent fool you,those scares are still fresh and it has been more than five years.
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)Yep. The South isn't the only place where Faulkner rings true:
The past is never dead. It's not even past.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)my friend. They don't call it Dixie for any other reason. And they still think it is 1857.
democrank
(11,109 posts)Sickening, horrifying, almost beyond belief. The president of the United States....Lock his ass up along with every single last Trump enabler.
rzemanfl
(29,570 posts)orangecrush
(19,620 posts)erronis
(15,341 posts)It's more like the Richard Scarry stories with things under beds, in closets, and even in the government.
shanti
(21,675 posts)SunSeeker
(51,724 posts)mtngirl47
(991 posts)Trump is a Russian agent and he is going down.
ffr
(22,672 posts)In Aug 2018, you learn of your president's signing statement to the new national defense bill, says that he objected to four of the eight provisions related to Russia. Included in the four is provision 1241, which states that none of the defense bills funds may be obligated or expended to implement any activity that recognizes the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea.
You watch as the foremost Russian Organized Crime Expert in the world working at the DOJ has his career destroyed, not only by the president, but backed by republicans, right-wing media, and parroted on Russian news outlets.
Then you watch it happen again, as the foremost expert in the world, the FBI's Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence is similarly systematically assassinated by the president and backed by republicans, right-wing media, and parroted on Russian news outlets.
Your confounded by the lack of State Department position nominations and the vacuum of knowledge created by train of career government experts who otherwise resign in disgust before their retirement.
You watch in disbelief of reports that the president knew of a meeting at his building in NYC to work together with operatives with close ties to Putin and his campaign to destabilize Western Democracies and discover that the President's very son, instead of calling your office at the FBI to report a crime, said "if it's what you say I love it."
You watch in horror as one after the other department heads at key positions in the U.S. government go vacant, replaced by unqualified 'Acting' heads of those departments, while republicans & Russian propaganda outlets rejoice.
Then you watch as the Secretary of Defense resigns abruptly over a disagreement with the president, one where the president's actions will have a destabilizing affect on the middle-east, while empowering Russian influence there.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg!
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016224070
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)marlakay
(11,498 posts)thucythucy
(8,086 posts)by the head of the FBI all related to Hillary's fucking e-mails!
ffr
(22,672 posts)when it would have the most impact, days before the election.
iluvtennis
(19,875 posts)debsy
(530 posts)Nobody from the FBI mentioned any of that and the MSM totally could not stop drilling on about Hillary's email and at the same time fawning over the fucking disgusting, hideous orange traitor.
inwiththenew
(972 posts)Country is great and all but fame and fortune are greater, to some at least.
uponit7771
(90,364 posts)yardwork
(61,712 posts)dawg day
(7,947 posts)I can't imagine having to know this all and watch Trump go smirking through TWO YEARS.
Jail isn't enough for him.
yonder
(9,677 posts)KewlKat
(5,624 posts)Toorich
(391 posts)and Her emails, and the Kenyan, and Her emails !!!!!!!!
and His blow job and Chelsea is homely.
NO COLLUSION...The Democrats colluded with the Russians...
This whole Trump/Russher made-up thing.....
NO COLLUSION