Concerning the credibility of the Dossier: Rachel Maddow

[ehrnst]

Rachel Maddow pointed something out last night regarding the Russian-blackmailing-of-Trump story that I know I hadn't heard before: Namely that the former MI6 agent who collected the info freely and discreetly passed it on, not to a tabloid for a huge sum of money but to the FBI, for free, because he felt it was so serious.

This happened in the middle of the summer, so the FBI has had 5 months to figure out whether it is credible or not, and of course if they'd decided it was not credible they would have announced that this past week and ended the whole scandal. But they didn't.

Now this is me, not Rachel: Correct me if I'm mistaken, but when you examine a body of evidence using the best tools in existence with all the resources of the FBI for 5 months and you still cannot discredit it, do you not then conclude that the evidence is CREDIBLE--??-- I see only 2 alternatives:

(A) Our FBI is deeply corrupted at the top by a conspiracy with the Trump team or

(B) Our FBI is managed at the top by a mole working for Putin. In either case, I cannot see how Trump can come off as anything but deeply implicated in all of this. This then becomes a SECOND grounds for his impeachment, since he's already impeachable for violating the emoluments clause in refusing to blind-trust his businesses with their multimillion-dollar debts to Chinese and Russian government-linked investors.

[blue cat]

1. He should be impeached...

But unlikely to happen. I'm so negative about it all so I hope I'm wrong.

[hadEnuf]

15. Americans can't force the Republicans to impeach Trump

despite overwhelming evidence that they should.

But we do have the ability to make them wish that they did.

No more free rides for Republican criminals for "the good of the country".

They need to be held accountable by the law.

[onetexan]

22. it's not impossible

both GOP and DEM leaders with some semblance of a conscience just need to grow a back bone and work to get this orange crook the hell out. We need people like John Jewis who will stand up to him.

[tblue37]

28. He should not be sworn in in the first place. nt

[GliderGuider]

2. A combination of A+B seems most likely to me.

There is a faction within the FBI that hates Hillary and are thus willing followers and accomplices of a leader (most likely Comey) who is either a mole or deeply compromised. They saw their opportunity with the ascension of Trump, who may be too psychologically damaged to even realize he's being played, and they struck.

This situation is far more serious than it appeared at first, and both the press and the IC are finally waking up to that fact.

[Augiedog]

12. The PRESS will not wake up to anything, they are part and parcel to the problem

[GliderGuider]

16. Disagree. Yesterday a NYT op-ed asked whether Trump is a Manchurian Candidate

Donald Trump: A Modern Manchurian Candidate?

Overseas, the Guardian and the Independent are doing a very good job. They are starting to wake up. Yes, a day late and a dollar short, but the dossier has proven far too big to ignore.

[DK504]

20. Collusion comes to mind.

Rachel nailed it. Wonder if MSNBC will fire her for telling the truth?

[longship]

3. Rachel's show last night was incredible.

Her geeky demeanor was perfect for this reportage. It was a near perfect show. After listening I was still shocked enough to listen again. I may do so yet again this morning.

Get the audio podcast of her program -- a mere 10MB download -- by pointing your podcast aggregator towards "Rachel Maddow" and selecting the audio version. There's also the video version for those who do not have limits.

But Rachel nails this!!!!

I encourage at least a listen, if not a viewing.

R&

Resistance! Peace!

BTW, Maddow has two d's.

[Cha]

5. I just finished watching..

I did it in increments.. It was interesting the way she opened with what Russia does to its dissidents.. leading up to Christopher Steele.

God I hope he's safe.

[longship]

7. Well, he's apparently gone to ground.

As a former top MI6 person, he'll be trained on such things. Hopefully he will be at a safe house someplace. I imagine, and trust, and hope that MI6 still takes care of their own.

As always, Cha!

[Cha]

9. He did our country such a great service..

if it weren't for his dogged research and making sure the dossier got into the right hands we would know nothing about it.

We still didn't know in time.. because FBI. Come to think of it we still wouldn't know the full report but for the bravery of buzzfeed.

Also interesting how the rw guy in congress said this morning they weren't going to investigate the Russian connection and by the end of the day he said they were.

We're living in the middle of a high level espionage story only it's real life.

longship

[longship]

13. Very strange times we live in, my good friend.

Very strange.

Hope that you and yours are well.

I leave you with this sage advice from a previous age, dear to me.

(Not so sure about the focus of what could be called bikini babes.)

Nevertheless, there's something in the air.

As always.

[JustAnotherGen]

37. Amen!

Adding - at any time he could have "sold" the information. He didn't do that. Integrity.

[Gothmog]

39. I have a feeling that this agent has some accurate facts in his dossier

[Blue_Roses]

10. I feel sorry for him

and hope he is safe somewhere. He did a brave thing and probably didn't expect the FBI to act like this. I'm sure he's got to be disappointed in them, as we all are. What a mess...

[Fla Dem]

8. Link to on-line full show streaming

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show#!#full-episodes

You've got to sign in with your service provider,ex: xfinity.

[triron]

23. Need something without a sign in

[cilla4progress]

17. I would like to

She, Joy, and Lawrence are all that's left for me on that channel.

Will it terrify me? I watched them in full for the 1st time since 11/8 the other evening and went straight to bed afterwards!

[politicat]

25. Just as an FYI...

The video version is just the first segment now; for full show, one has to go to the website and deal with the ads and its inconsistencies. A couple of years ago, in the Comcast/net-neutrality snit, they cut the video down to only the first 15 minutes. The audio version is sometimes late, sometimes missing, usually in the summer. It's been more reliable recently, so I suspect the issue is one of interns and production assistants rather than a top-down decision (because it's too inconsistent to be just a decision to force people back to cable.) I know that Rachel herself has a commitment to the podcast, and it was a contractual issue in her early days.

[longship]

31. Or, you could get the audio podcast which is sans ads.

Just point your podcast aggregator to "Rachel Maddow", select the audio version, and subscribe. You're done. It's only 10MB and you get the entire program. And no damned adverts.

Notably, she's missing when she has a substitute, or when she is co-hosting some big issue, like a political convention or election night. And I agree that her team ought to put up the audio reliably, on-time, every night. However, one can complain about that. Hers is the only MS/NBC program with audio podcast coverage.

I only wish that Chris Hayes and Lawrence O'Donnell would have likewise. I agree that we should politely plea for these things.

That should answer your objections.

[politicat]

32. Right, which I do.

The point I made was that, sometimes, the audio can be flaky as to when it posts. It is not always flaky, and it is more or less random. I think you're taking umbrage for something I didn't say. I am a big fan of the audio version.

I agree 100% that I wish Hayes and O'Donnell would do the same. Also, Joy Reid. (Or if MSNBC would get wise and offer a sole subscription, web-based model. I'm willing to grudgingly subsidize Tweety and the morning meatheads if it keeps the rest going. But I'm not willing to pay Comcast, and through them QVC, 40 stations of bible beating, 2 million hours of reality tv and Faux.)

[longship]

33. Yes, that pisses me off sometimes.

Plus, MS/NBC never archives Rachel's podcasts. When the next one goes up, the previous is deleted. That isn't too bad if they would put it up at approximately the same time every night. At 10MB, both my iPhone and my iPad can hold many, many archived programs.

I rarely keep them, but last night's I did.

My best.


Oh, and BTW, there is neither cable TV nor broadband INet here in the Manistee National Forest. So all
I have is intermittent two bars Cellular net, with rather severe download limits. My choices are limited. E.G., my NetFlix is still DVDs by USPS.

[malaise]

4. The answer is

A

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. We are definitely in the Twilight Zone

[Augiedog]

11. He should never be inaugurated.

[True_Blue]

19. He should be arrested for treason.

[lancelyons]

14. The problem is as soon as Trump goes in office he is over the FBI and the CIA.

The problem is as soon as Trump goes in office he is over the FBI and the CIA.

The only leverage against the executive department will be the heavily conservative legislative department and guess what, while they have their hands in the cookie jar, nothing substantive will be done.

Trump will quash the FBI and CIA, period.

[Generator]

18. CIA has been known to fight back

Firing people is just another way to make people have nothing to lose. Also he's not the only one that gets to decide these things no matter what you say. Every time someone pisses on any hope here I am getting sick of. It's almost like people are hoping for a dictatorship-fucking fight back-go to jail-do you think people got their civil rights-much less the goddamn weekend (yeah people fought and died so we could only work 8 hour days 5 days a week) by GIVING UP. This is a time in history to decide what you are made of.

[smilodon populator]

38. We're gonna need a lot of Snowdens n/t

[SCVDem]

21. Let the truth come out

Then petition the Supreme Court to nullify a tainted election and force a do over.

Sorry Mr Prez, you are on overtime.

The future of our democracy is facing a clear and present danger. It's time for some major repairs!

Think Trump with the football.

[wishstar]

24. Intelligence added it to report they gave to Obama & Trump because it hasn't been discredited

As CNN reported, the 2 page addendum added to the Russian hacking report addressed the unverified info in the dossier about Trump's blackmail vulnerability. Of such concern, that Clapper and intelligence head did not dismiss or discredit the dossier allegations.

[Hoyt]

26. It's a shame FBI didn't come out and say they were investigating serious allegations about Trump.

[Phoenix61]

27. We don't know when Comey

received that copy of the dossier. The FBI agent it was originally passed to may have been one of the ones against Hillary and just sat on it. I seriously doubt that person thought it would blow up like this. So now Comey has rogue agents in the FBI, the press breathing down his neck, Dems and Repubs wanting to investigate, and one very, very pissed off PEOTUS. Karma for those letters he just had to send? I don't know but it sure puts a smile on my face to think so.

[mcar]

29. Excellent point

And now the guy has gone into hiding. He's obviously not shooting for cash or notoriety

[LenaBaby61]

30. In the words of the immortal John Lennon: "Nobody Told Me."

"Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed, strange days indeed."

"Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed
most peculiar Mama, roll."

People like Ali, MLK, Lennon and others with big voices and big minds are gone.

tRump and his blackmailing, USA-hating puppet master putin tang is still here.

[mahina]

34. C: the culture at the FBI is politicized, deeply. I know this to be the truth.

I worked with a couple of people who joined the FBI. They went from normal to
Including anti-Obama and then anti-Clinton nonsense in almost every conversation.

It's part of the culture of the FBI, at least here, or so I understand.

It sucks, it should not be that way, but that's how it is. How did it get so politicized and what do we do about it?

Hate radio is part of the common culture that brought them together ideologically, and woe is the poor sob who has to fit in when you disagree. You are culled out, it seems; it's that way with pilots too. How to develop the skills to stay in a conversation honestly without losing the career you worked for your whole life is the challenge.

Not respectful of differences, not fair, not just. Not American.

[DonCoquixote]

35. The problem with the dossier

is the fact that by its very nature, it is hard to prove, especially because frankly a lot of people whose job it is to prove it, like Mr. Comay have a vested interest not to. That does not mean we should ignore it, but the fact is we already have a lot of provable, indisputable reasons that if Trump does not change from would automatically make him impeachable. The very fact that he has done nothing to remove conflicts of interest, that he is set his own sons up to be beneficiaries of his government's policies, to say nothing of the fact that whatever cannot be proven about the Russians he did in a campaign debate ask them for help should alone get him off, to say nothing of the fact that he would stand to make a lot of money if the embargo against the Russians were lifted, this is all provable documented fact, and yes the GOP will still try to slip, slide, Gallup, mealy mouth, how dare is to bow critique me at set the out of. But as long as we do not go in there with something that is already solid, we will be knocked out, because the referees have already been bribed.

[JI7]

36. There is something seriously wrong with the FBI for sure

i personally think right now that Comey was pressured by other agents into doing what he did . He isn't totally in control there . at least he didn't asserting his leadership but allowing others to pressure him.

the fbi has always been full of right wing assholes.

it could be anything from some agents working directly for putin to agents who just didn't want clinton president or were willing to use anything to defeat her . it could be things from looking the other way and not seriously following up on info on trump .

either way these people need to go along with Comey whether he was directly involved or pressured by others.