He should be locked up and vigorously interrogated for a few years, just in case.Originally Posted by RandBlade
He should be locked up and vigorously interrogated for a few years, just in case.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
You've become such a big fan of straw men lately.
They should also be locked up and interrogated just in case, they can't be trusted. What is their agenda? Why are they made of straw? Questions abound.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
You are aware I have never proposed locking up and interrogating people just in case right?
Fucking seriously?
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
Yes.
on that note...
Sessions used his campaign funds for RNC trip, where he talked to Russian ambassador
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Well, I suppose you're right, Franken could have just asked Sessions about whether or not he'd spoken to Russian officials for absolutely no reason.
Maybe they just go a list of all countries and ask an incoming attorney general if they've had contact with them as a matter of routine - ("Have you had contact with officials from Romania?" "No" *tick* "Have you had contact with officials from Russia?" "No" *tick* "Have you had contact with officials from Rwanda?" "No" *tick*)
I guess we'll never know that answer to this mystery!
Oh, wait, no, actually we do know.
Franken was asking about this specifically in relation to the CNN story about the dossier, which alleges that the Russians have compromising material on Trump and that his campaign and the Russians were in contact, colluding, etc.Franken: "CNN just published a story alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week that included information that quote, ‘Russian operatives claimed to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.’ These documents also allegedly say quote, ‘There was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump's surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.’
"Now, again, I'm telling you this as it's coming out, so you know. But if it's true, it's obviously extremely serious and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?"
Sessions: "Senator Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have — did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Now, I already knew that. You already knew that. Everyone reading this thread already knew that.
Who, exactly, are you trying to fool with this performance?
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
Nice. It's getting harder and harder for Sessions to claim his meetings were official senate business....
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
Yes he was asking specifically related to the Russians and the campaign, not to do with general contact with Russians for anything else.
Eh, I don't know. Every GOP Senator attended and I expect that's how most of them paid for it. Including Cruz, who also spoke (but whose expected conciliatory speech was full of barbs). And all the Senators, Representatives, Governors and State Legislators attending took time during the event to conference with groups of each other, talk with donors, etc. The National Conventions may have turned into big parties rather than the actual mechanism for selecting a presidential nominee, but that doesn't mean the politicking at them has stopped.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
Come on. He meets with the Russian ambassador, at the GOP convention, right after he gives a big pro-Trump speech, and you think it's plausible that meeting was about unrelated Senate business?
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
It's prime lobbying time which also makes it an excellent place for securing constituency deals, demonstrating to big donors how you're helping them, etc. Not Senate business precisely, but more humdrum senatorial business yes.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
This is very interesting.
FBI Reportedly Got Court Order To Monitor Trump Adviser's Communications
During the 2016 presidential campaign the FBI obtained a secret warrant to monitor the communications of Carter Page, who was then serving as an adviser to Donald Trump, over concerns that Page was acting as an agent of Russia, according to a report from The Washington Post.
The article, which cites anonymous sources, says a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge granted the warrant to the FBI last summer.
In order to get the warrant, the FBI "definitely had to be able to show probable cause that [Page] was effectively acting as an agent of Russia," Post reporter Adam Entous tells NPR's Morning Edition.
"They knew from previous cases back in 2013 that Mr. Page had engaged with ... what he thought was a Russian diplomat [who] turned out to be an intelligence officer for Russia," Entous says. "That was one piece of the puzzle ... but that's just one piece. We don't have a full understanding of the intelligence that went into the request that ultimately the court approved."
"This is the clearest evidence so far that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents," Entous and his colleagues wrote in their Post article.
Entous told NPR's Rachel Martin that "it's important to keep in mind we're talking about probable cause."
"He hasn't been found guilty," Entous said. "He may never be charged with anything."
He noted that the FBI was granted a FISA warrant to surveil former American diplomat Robin Raphel over probable cause that she might have been acting as a foreign agent, but that the allegation "turned out to be completely wrong."
"The fact that they were able to get a warrant is obviously a piece of the puzzle," Entous says. "It shows what the FBI was interested in. It's not the same thing as a conviction."
The extent of Page's influence within the Trump campaign is unclear. In March 2016, candidate Trump included Page's name on a "very short list" of his advisers, Entous says. More recently, President Trump and his associates have been downplaying Page's role in the campaign.
FBI Director James Comey confirmed last month that the agency has been investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia since last July, as part of a larger investigation into Russian attempts to meddle with the U.S. election, but said he could not provide any details about the investigation.
"The FISA court and its orders are highly secretive," The Associated Press notes. "Judges grant permission for surveillance if they agree there's probable cause that the target is an agent of a foreign power. Though the standard is a high bar to meet, applications are hardly ever denied."
"Despite being overseen by judges, [the applications for FISA warrants] are not examined in the way that a normal application for a search warrant is," NPR's Nina Totenberg reported in 2013.
The Washington Post notes that most counterintelligence probes do not result in criminal charges.
Page, who had previously announced he was willing to testify as part of the House Intelligence Committee's investigation, told the Post he has "nothing to hide."
"This confirms all of my suspicions about unjustified, politically motivated government surveillance," he said.
As a reminder, the House, Senate and FBI are all conducting investigations into Russia's actions during the 2016 presidential election. That includes the possibility that U.S. citizens — and particularly Trump advisers and associates — might have cooperated in Russian attempts to influence the election in Trump's favor.
Some investigators, particularly House Republicans, are also keenly interested in leaks of classified information about ties between Trump's team and Moscow. They're pursuing information about who released such information and why.
And the White House has repeatedly attempted to focus attention on Trump's widely rebutted allegations of illegal surveillance of Trump Tower, or claims of politically motivated "unmasking" of the names of Trump allies in intelligence documents.
The intelligence community has already concluded that Russia did meddle in the U.S. election. Open questions include how much they did, who knew about it and who may have cooperated.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w..._campaign=news
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote