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Mother Jones: Are Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Really BFFs?
Kevin Drum Jul. 25, 2016 1:46 AM
Today brings one of the weirdest stories of any recent presidential campaign: Hillary Clinton's campaign has essentially accused Donald Trump of being a pawn of the Russians. Not in hints; not from an unaffiliated Super PAC; not in a deniable statement from an arms-length surrogate; and not in vague "doesn't put America first" terms. Friday's release of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, says Clinton's campaign manager, "was done by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump." And Trump intervened to change the Republican platform last week in a way that "some experts would regard as pro-Russian."
Believe it or not, though, that's not the weirdest part of this story. The weirdest part is (a) Clinton's campaign might be right, and (b) this is not really getting an awful lot of attention from the media.
Let that sink in: the Clinton campaign has explicitly accused the Russians of being on Team Trump and suggested that Trump might be on Team Russia. And although the media is covering it, it's not the top story anywhere. Seriously. WTF does it take these days to lead the news?
In a nutshell, here's the evidence.
Today brings one of the weirdest stories of any recent presidential campaign: Hillary Clinton's campaign has essentially accused Donald Trump of being a pawn of the Russians. Not in hints; not from an unaffiliated Super PAC; not in a deniable statement from an arms-length surrogate; and not in vague "doesn't put America first" terms. Friday's release of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, says Clinton's campaign manager, "was done by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump." And Trump intervened to change the Republican platform last week in a way that "some experts would regard as pro-Russian."
Believe it or not, though, that's not the weirdest part of this story. The weirdest part is (a) Clinton's campaign might be right, and (b) this is not really getting an awful lot of attention from the media.
Let that sink in: the Clinton campaign has explicitly accused the Russians of being on Team Trump and suggested that Trump might be on Team Russia. And although the media is covering it, it's not the top story anywhere. Seriously. WTF does it take these days to lead the news?
In a nutshell, here's the evidence.
...continued at the link
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/07/are-donald-trump-and-vladimir-putin-really-bffs
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Putin praises 'bright and talented' Trump
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politics/russia-putin-trump/
Trump campaign gutted GOP’s anti-Russia stance on Ukraine
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2288472
"Seriously. WTF does it take these days to lead the news?" Hopefully this!:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politics/russia-putin-trump/
Trump campaign gutted GOP’s anti-Russia stance on Ukraine
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2288472
"Seriously. WTF does it take these days to lead the news?" Hopefully this!:
Yes, Donald proves a useful idiot.
[center]
Some History of Trump Operatives
Deja DU excerpts, many more at link: Bush vs. Gore, the 'Arkansas Project,' the USA firings, and the Swiftboat Admiral
L. Coyote Jun-09-07
44. Donald Trump, Roger Stone, Jack Abramoff, Gaming Gaming and Scalping the Tribes.
How is it that two consumate Republican insiders, both purported specialists in illegal
funding of campaigns, one a political dirty trickster who stays behind the scenes and
the other a felonious convict linked to the White House political office, each manage
to garner tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes in the gaming rackets? By
working both sides at once, of course. And, how is it that one gets convicted and goes
to jail while the other keeps getting paid? Who is scalping whom for how much, who has
lost their scalp, who still has theirs, and will Donald Trump's hair survive the scandals?
With all the attention to Abramoff defrauding the Tribes, why isn't there more attention on
who else is involved in all of gaming's political machinations and influence peddling?
Who has lucrative contracts to receive a percentage of the gross from Indian casinos, and
how did they obtain it? Where is all that money going? How much ends up in the coffers of
politicos like Sen. John McCain, and why? Who else is scalping the Tribes?
And how much of the scalping goes to legal and illegal campaign contributions?
Questions to be answered.
44. Donald Trump, Roger Stone, Jack Abramoff, Gaming Gaming and Scalping the Tribes.
How is it that two consumate Republican insiders, both purported specialists in illegal
funding of campaigns, one a political dirty trickster who stays behind the scenes and
the other a felonious convict linked to the White House political office, each manage
to garner tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes in the gaming rackets? By
working both sides at once, of course. And, how is it that one gets convicted and goes
to jail while the other keeps getting paid? Who is scalping whom for how much, who has
lost their scalp, who still has theirs, and will Donald Trump's hair survive the scandals?
With all the attention to Abramoff defrauding the Tribes, why isn't there more attention on
who else is involved in all of gaming's political machinations and influence peddling?
Who has lucrative contracts to receive a percentage of the gross from Indian casinos, and
how did they obtain it? Where is all that money going? How much ends up in the coffers of
politicos like Sen. John McCain, and why? Who else is scalping the Tribes?
And how much of the scalping goes to legal and illegal campaign contributions?
Questions to be answered.
36. Who is Roger Stone, Jr.? Buckley, Nixon, Reagan, Bush operative.
"Roger J. Stone, Jr. is a long-time Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000. He was also a campaign strategist during the presidential campaigns of Presidents Nixon, Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush. .............
........ Roger Stone and the Jack Abramoff mould. Making $$millions$$ gaming gaming.
A Dirty Trickster's Bush Bonanza
The man who stopped Miami recount makes gaming millions
by Wayne Barrett
April 19th, 2004 9:30 AM
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/...........
Roger Stone, the dirty-tricks hobgoblin of Republican politics, has exploited his Bush connections to become an influence-peddling force in the $13 billion Indian gaming industry. Stone's booming business in such a federally regulated enterprise makes his recent pro bono orchestration of Al Sharpton's double-edged presidential campaign an even stranger covert caper.
The longtime GOP consultant's reward for fomenting the "Brooks Brothers mob" that shut down the Miami-Dade recount in 2000 was an invitation within days of Bush's election to serve on the Department of Interior transition working group—helping, in his own words, to staff its Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Stone has since used this unannounced perch to market himself to tribes and developers from Louisiana to California, earning fat fees and contingent percentages of future casino revenue. Just two of the five deals examined by the Voice are projected to pay him at least $8 million, and perhaps as much as $13 million.
Time, The Washington Post and The New York Times have published exposés about Bush's BIA, with a February story highlighting $45 million in payments to two GOP lobbyists from four tribes since 2001. But no one has focused on Stone's profiteering, which, unlike the payments to registered lobbyists, is not reported on any public filings. ..............
"Roger J. Stone, Jr. is a long-time Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000. He was also a campaign strategist during the presidential campaigns of Presidents Nixon, Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush. .............
........ Roger Stone and the Jack Abramoff mould. Making $$millions$$ gaming gaming.
A Dirty Trickster's Bush Bonanza
The man who stopped Miami recount makes gaming millions
by Wayne Barrett
April 19th, 2004 9:30 AM
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/...........
Roger Stone, the dirty-tricks hobgoblin of Republican politics, has exploited his Bush connections to become an influence-peddling force in the $13 billion Indian gaming industry. Stone's booming business in such a federally regulated enterprise makes his recent pro bono orchestration of Al Sharpton's double-edged presidential campaign an even stranger covert caper.
The longtime GOP consultant's reward for fomenting the "Brooks Brothers mob" that shut down the Miami-Dade recount in 2000 was an invitation within days of Bush's election to serve on the Department of Interior transition working group—helping, in his own words, to staff its Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Stone has since used this unannounced perch to market himself to tribes and developers from Louisiana to California, earning fat fees and contingent percentages of future casino revenue. Just two of the five deals examined by the Voice are projected to pay him at least $8 million, and perhaps as much as $13 million.
Time, The Washington Post and The New York Times have published exposés about Bush's BIA, with a February story highlighting $45 million in payments to two GOP lobbyists from four tribes since 2001. But no one has focused on Stone's profiteering, which, unlike the payments to registered lobbyists, is not reported on any public filings. ..............
40. Roger Stone, Iran-Contra, NCPAC, Blackwell, Buchanan, Rove, Sex & Trump's Money ...
What role did Stone play in financing the Contras? .............
41. Roger Stone - "slash-and-burn Republican black-bag election tamperer"
A Prayer for Reverend Al
Let Him Buy His Soul Back from the Republicans
by Doug Ireland
www.dissidentvoice.org
February 21, 2004 - First Published in LA Weekly
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb04/Ireland0221.htm
Who is Roger Stone? A slash-and-burn Republican black-bag election tamperer and consultant whose mentor was the repulsive Roy Cohn — the redbaiting hatchet man for Senator Joe McCarthy. Stone first made news in the Nixon Watergate scandal, when it was revealed that the 19-year-old apprentice McCarthyite had infiltrated George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign as part of CREEP’s sabotage plan. ... Stone helped Ollie North raise money for the Nicaraguan contras, and was a close associate of the notorious Lee Atwater ...
What role did Stone play in financing the Contras? .............
41. Roger Stone - "slash-and-burn Republican black-bag election tamperer"
A Prayer for Reverend Al
Let Him Buy His Soul Back from the Republicans
by Doug Ireland
www.dissidentvoice.org
February 21, 2004 - First Published in LA Weekly
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb04/Ireland0221.htm
Who is Roger Stone? A slash-and-burn Republican black-bag election tamperer and consultant whose mentor was the repulsive Roy Cohn — the redbaiting hatchet man for Senator Joe McCarthy. Stone first made news in the Nixon Watergate scandal, when it was revealed that the 19-year-old apprentice McCarthyite had infiltrated George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign as part of CREEP’s sabotage plan. ... Stone helped Ollie North raise money for the Nicaraguan contras, and was a close associate of the notorious Lee Atwater ...
This one, my favorite, exemplifes the lengths to which these unscrupulous operatives will go just to malign a Dem candidate. This is not democracy, it is criminal conduct.
48. Swiftboating Al Gore from Argentina, SIDE, Israeli wire transfers, spy files, forgery, Bush & Menem
un-10-07 04:44 PM by L. Coyote
There just is no way to make this stuff up!! This is a court pleading. Unbelievable.
First get some spy files from Israel, alter them to look like Argentine spy files, make them implicate Bush and Menem in corruption, blame Gore for the forged documents. Sound familiar. Did I mention blackmailing bribed journalists and, of course, the perennial covert Republican dirty tricksters. This genre of dirty trick came to be known as "swiftboating" when done to Kerry four years later by the same players!!
==========================
http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/041901.P.pdf
Olavar (Triumph Communications International Group, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v.
Santibañes, Defendant-Appellee, and Ikon Holdings, Inc., t/a Ikon Public Affairs, Dick Morris, Roger Stone, Eileen McGann, John Does, Defendants.
Appeal from the United States District Court Decided: December 1, 2005
Triumph Communications International Group, Incorporated is a corporation that provides political consulting and public relations services and is owned and operated solely by Mattie Lolavar.
In early 2000, Miss Lolavar began discussions with defendant Dick Morris about the possibility of her working with Craig Snyder and defendant Roger Stone, who are partners in defendant IKON Holdings, Inc., another political consulting firm ... about the possibility of Triumph Communications’ assistance with work that IKON was doing for the government of Argentina.
These discussions lead to two contracts ... and provided that Triumph would act as a public relations consultant to "the Secretary of Intelligence of Argentina" as well as arrange various media events...
Miss Lolavar went to Argentina in August 2000 to assist de Santibañes with preparations for his testimony in Argentine congressional hearings inquiring into allegations that he and the Argentine intelligence agency, known as SIDE, were responsible for bribing various Argentine senators in exchange for political support. Morris and Stone assigned other tasks to Miss Lolavar while she was in Argentina. Among other acts, they instructed her to contact SIDE and obtain a list of journalists who accepted bribes from that organization in order to harm the credibility of those same journalists in reporting on a bribery scandal surrounding de Santibañes and President de la Rua, as well as requiring her to spread false information to the press concerning de la Rua’s political opponent, Dr. Carlos Menem. The charges and counter-charges related here are from the papers in the court file, as are the other facts.
A request that occasioned controversy between Miss Lolavar and the defendants was Morris and Stone’s request that she serve as an intermediary in an anonymous wire transfer of funds to an official in Israel. These funds were to be paid to secure intelligence files from the Israeli government to assist de la Rua’s political domestic disputes with Menem, and to imply a corrupt relationship between Menem and George W. Bush, who was then running against Albert Gore for the United States presidency. These files were to be altered by Miss Lolavar to appear to be SIDE documents.
When the defendants became concerned that this plot would be discovered and traced back to them, they ordered Miss Lolavar to orchestrate a press response to blame Vice President Gore for the dissemination of the documents, since it was known to them that the Gore campaign had been attempting to connect Menem with the Bush campaign.
un-10-07 04:44 PM by L. Coyote
There just is no way to make this stuff up!! This is a court pleading. Unbelievable.
First get some spy files from Israel, alter them to look like Argentine spy files, make them implicate Bush and Menem in corruption, blame Gore for the forged documents. Sound familiar. Did I mention blackmailing bribed journalists and, of course, the perennial covert Republican dirty tricksters. This genre of dirty trick came to be known as "swiftboating" when done to Kerry four years later by the same players!!
==========================
http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/041901.P.pdf
Olavar (Triumph Communications International Group, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v.
Santibañes, Defendant-Appellee, and Ikon Holdings, Inc., t/a Ikon Public Affairs, Dick Morris, Roger Stone, Eileen McGann, John Does, Defendants.
Appeal from the United States District Court Decided: December 1, 2005
Triumph Communications International Group, Incorporated is a corporation that provides political consulting and public relations services and is owned and operated solely by Mattie Lolavar.
In early 2000, Miss Lolavar began discussions with defendant Dick Morris about the possibility of her working with Craig Snyder and defendant Roger Stone, who are partners in defendant IKON Holdings, Inc., another political consulting firm ... about the possibility of Triumph Communications’ assistance with work that IKON was doing for the government of Argentina.
These discussions lead to two contracts ... and provided that Triumph would act as a public relations consultant to "the Secretary of Intelligence of Argentina" as well as arrange various media events...
Miss Lolavar went to Argentina in August 2000 to assist de Santibañes with preparations for his testimony in Argentine congressional hearings inquiring into allegations that he and the Argentine intelligence agency, known as SIDE, were responsible for bribing various Argentine senators in exchange for political support. Morris and Stone assigned other tasks to Miss Lolavar while she was in Argentina. Among other acts, they instructed her to contact SIDE and obtain a list of journalists who accepted bribes from that organization in order to harm the credibility of those same journalists in reporting on a bribery scandal surrounding de Santibañes and President de la Rua, as well as requiring her to spread false information to the press concerning de la Rua’s political opponent, Dr. Carlos Menem. The charges and counter-charges related here are from the papers in the court file, as are the other facts.
A request that occasioned controversy between Miss Lolavar and the defendants was Morris and Stone’s request that she serve as an intermediary in an anonymous wire transfer of funds to an official in Israel. These funds were to be paid to secure intelligence files from the Israeli government to assist de la Rua’s political domestic disputes with Menem, and to imply a corrupt relationship between Menem and George W. Bush, who was then running against Albert Gore for the United States presidency. These files were to be altered by Miss Lolavar to appear to be SIDE documents.
When the defendants became concerned that this plot would be discovered and traced back to them, they ordered Miss Lolavar to orchestrate a press response to blame Vice President Gore for the dissemination of the documents, since it was known to them that the Gore campaign had been attempting to connect Menem with the Bush campaign.
