NY Times says Trump campaign had repeated contact with Russian intelligence

[heybruce]

2 hours ago, kevkev1888 said:

It is just a witch hunt for Trump. The establishment is playing dirty, they do not want a change from the status quo.

Leaking of classified  info to the media from the intelligence agencies. They are trying to take him down from the inside. They want to install another puppet. Who knows how low they will go, this is going to be a HUGE battle.

 

Trump won the election, and now he is in the fight of his life to overthrow the establishment. 

 

A true Good against evil battle. I am not religious but Pray for Trump, Pray for America.

 

Trump was elected to be President, not king.  He is restrained by laws and constitutional checks and balances.  He is also restrained by a free press, which he clearly loathes.

 

I'm curious, what do you mean by "overthrow the establishment"?  A President who is above the law and allowed to throttle the free press (much like the PM in Thailand)? 

[FritsSikkink]

13 hours ago, Trouble said:

I could care less whether Trump, Flynn or anyone else had conversations with the Russians. As yet there has been no indication that any of the conversations were about anything trying to affect the outcome of the election.   What's the big deal.  Surely Flynn as former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency was aware that the conversations with the Russians must be tapped. What is evident is that Trump seems to have known about it for a few weeks but decided to end the commotion and he chalks it up to loss of confidence in Flynn for not being as forthcoming as maybe he should have been.  So what if they talked about sanctions,  it seems logical that the topic might come up since they were just recently put in place. This is a lot of media hype with little substance.  What really bothers me is that the intelligence agencies are obviously listening to conversations of American citizens and not treating the information carefully.  It's nice to know that what is said in a private conversation or email is under surveillance by the intelligence agencies and then subject to leaks to the press.  Seems like sending a letter might be a better way to go these days.  I think I am more worried about the intelligence agencies leaking stories these days. Trump better have the Oval Office checked for bugs.  The Democrats and press just won't let anything go. If I was Trump the first thing I would do is have the press secretary do all the twitter releases and stop holding the daily press conferences so the press has very little to feed on. Even the two top idiots in Congress Pelosi and Cummings got duped into quoting a fake twitter account concerning Flynn.  No-one in Washington seems to be able to keep their mouths shut for even 12 hours.  

the big deal is that private persons can't talk to the intelligent service of a country which they are on bad standing with. It is a felony.

[pegman]

4 hours ago, kevkev1888 said:

Ultimately, I think if they cannot find another way, they will kill him and blame it on some nut bag, no shortage of those around.

Trump is a brave man. 

No doubt a few Oswalds are being groomed as we write.

[pegman]

5 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

He wasn't the president and Flynn wasn't the National Security Advisor at the time.  Just ordinary citizens potentially committing espionage.  For a long time!  It's been going on for a good party of the campaign.  I'm sure more details will come out, but for now, Flynn can potentially be a traitor.  A serious crime.  Good thing the intelligence community is tracking communications with Russian spies and diplomats.  Look what they found.  Gold.

Very serious and for which a sentence of death may be warranted. 

[lannarebirth]

5 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

You're completely missing the point.  As was mentioned by another member earlier, Flynn broke a very serious law.  And potentially committed espionage.  You spin this to say the leaks are the problem.  Well, don't commit espionage or break the law and you'll not have to worry about leaks!  Chicken and egg thing.

 

Freedom of the press is a key cornerstone of a functioning democracy.  They are doing a great job.  Except in the eyes of hard core Trump supporters.  Which is kinda scary...

 

If someone broke the law they should be prosecuted. My question is, why are intelligence agencies taking this to the press and not to congressional intelligence committees? It looks more like the Intelligence Community is the fourth arm of government and the press are just their lackeys.

[ilostmypassword]

18 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

If someone broke the law they should be prosecuted. My question is, why are intelligence agencies taking this to the press and not to congressional intelligence committees? It looks more like the Intelligence Community is the fourth arm of government and the press are just their lackeys.

You are assuming that it is US intelligence agencies that are responsible.

http://www.newsweek.com/allies-intercept-russia-trump-adviser-communications-557283?rx=us

[craigt3365]

19 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

If someone broke the law they should be prosecuted. My question is, why are intelligence agencies taking this to the press and not to congressional intelligence committees? It looks more like the Intelligence Community is the fourth arm of government and the press are just their lackeys.

They've know about this for a long time.  I guess just putting all the facts together before moving forward.  Even the UK has known about these things for a long time, and shared with NATO allies and the US.  It got leaked to the press and now we know about this stuff also.  Intentional leak?  Possibly!

[Rob13]

36 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

why are intelligence agencies taking this to the press and not to congressional intelligence committees?

 

 

IMHO; too many people trying to big themselves and get their 15 minutes  so they go outside the system where  they are more likely to make headlines. Basically the system is broken and it's turned in to a free for all and everyone for themselves. 

[lannarebirth]

31 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

You are assuming that it is US intelligence agencies that are responsible.

http://www.newsweek.com/allies-intercept-russia-trump-adviser-communications-557283?rx=us

 

Yes, I was assuming that, because the first sentence of the article in the OP is:

 

Quote

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications 

 

[DriveByTrucker]

41 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

If someone broke the law they should be prosecuted. My question is, why are intelligence agencies taking this to the press and not to congressional intelligence committees? It looks more like the Intelligence Community is the fourth arm of government and the press are just their lackeys.

If the public servants responsible to take action can only come up with: "why would we want to investigate our own party member" or even better: "this problem will take care of it self", we should be extremely happy that some whistle blower is sticking out his/her neck to ensure the democracy is not being undermined by a bunch of trolls......

 

But lannarebirth, where were you when James Comey came out with the lie that helped destroy the tiny chance Clinton had to win the election? I don't remember you talking about the intelligence community being the fourth branch then and Trump and his team being their lackeys.

[pegman]

50 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

If someone broke the law they should be prosecuted. My question is, why are intelligence agencies taking this to the press and not to congressional intelligence committees? It looks more like the Intelligence Community is the fourth arm of government and the press are just their lackeys.

They are just laying the groundwork. Sow some seeds that the Dems can water with a firehose then the Republican controlled congressional committees can make fast work of Trump.  The Trumpsters will blame their media and Democratic enemies while the Republican Establishment  sits back and get the president they want in Pence.

[lannarebirth]

8 minutes ago, DriveByTrucker said:

If the public servants responsible to take action can only come up with: "why would we want to investigate our own party member" or even better: "this problem will take care of it self", we should be extremely happy that some whistle blower is sticking out his/her neck to ensure the democracy is not being undermined by a bunch of trolls......

 

But lannarebirth, where were you when James Comey came out with the lie that helped destroy the tiny chance Clinton had to win the election? I don't remember you talking about the intelligence community being the fourth branch then and Trump and his team being their lackeys.

 

Congressional committees are bipartisan and neither party are enamored of Trump.

 

Supporting neither candidate, I had already given up on this years election cycle when Comey first exonerated Clinton, then reopened the investigation.

 

I don't follow the "tiny chance" comment. Clinton was heavily favored to win the election.

Edited February 16, 2017 by lannarebirth

[ilostmypassword]

9 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Yes, I was assuming that, because the first sentence of the article in the OP is:

 

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications

 

 

You got me there

[ilostmypassword]

4 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

 

 

Supporting neither candidate, I had already given up on this years election cycle when Comey first exonerated Clinton, then reopened the investigation.

 

 

Here's a quote for a post of yours dated Nov 11, the subject being "Mr Trump Comes To Washington: Triumphant Tour for the Winner"
 

" I've voted in 11 presidential elections. Only twice did the candidate I cast a vote for win, including this election. I wasn't all that pleased with the performance of the candidates I voted for that actually did win."

[lannarebirth]

3 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Here's a quote for a post of yours dated Nov 11, the subject being "Mr Trump Comes To Washington: Triumphant Tour for the Winner"
 

" I've voted in 11 presidential elections. Only twice did the candidate I cast a vote for win, including this election. I wasn't all that pleased with the performance of the candidates I voted for that actually did win."

 

Yes, I wrote that. And?