Exclusive: Trump son-in-law had undisclosed contacts with Russian envoy - sources

[selftaopath]

16 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I can see now why Donald has been so desperate to get the investigation closed down. It doesn't come much closer to home than your own family does it?

Won't it be sweet if/when it is revealed Ivanka is involved in criminal acts or espionage. That will make my day.  

 

Can you imaging Ivanka and Jared in prison? 

[selftaopath]

9 hours ago, does said:

 Drip of what? You mean drip of innuendo and pseudo news? Did you actually read the article?

 

"Officials familiar with intelligence on contacts between the Russians and Trump advisers said that so far they have not seen evidence of any wrongdoing or collusion between the Trump camp and the Kremlin.  Moreover, they said, nothing found so far indicates that Trump authorized, or was even aware of, the contacts. There may not have been anything improper about the contacts, the current law enforcement official stressed."

 

I'm not a Trump fan but this is an investigation looking for a crime. So far, the biggest fake news story of the century by a mile.

Espionage anyone?

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/335398-ex-cia-director-if-kushner-set-up-secure-line-with-russia-cia

[selftaopath]

1 hour ago, Credo said:

Nice try, but most of the votes had been cast when he assaulted the journalist.   Montanans tend to use absentee and early voting.   

 

It might be interesting to see if this very strongly Republican state would have voted the same had the incident occurred well in advance of voting.

 

It should also be noted that his 'mealy mouthed' question was about the Health Care Bill.   It's pretty scary when a politician can't answer a simple question without violence.   But there you have it, a true blue republican.   

I wonder if this "bad ass" would have done this to a guy a/b 7 feet tall? Oh but I doubt it... like his cowardly leader.... pick on "the little guy."  Disgusting cowards.

[FritsSikkink]

12 hours ago, does said:

 Drip of what? You mean drip of innuendo and pseudo news? Did you actually read the article?

 

"Officials familiar with intelligence on contacts between the Russians and Trump advisers said that so far they have not seen evidence of any wrongdoing or collusion between the Trump camp and the Kremlin.  Moreover, they said, nothing found so far indicates that Trump authorized, or was even aware of, the contacts. There may not have been anything improper about the contacts, the current law enforcement official stressed."

 

I'm not a Trump fan but this is an investigation looking for a crime. So far, the biggest fake news story of the century by a mile.

Here some real news then:

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/editorpicks/why-would-jared-kushner-trust-russian-officials-so-much/ar-BBBAg1B?li=BBArDa6&ocid=spartandhp

[iReason]

Russia scandal casts uncertainty over Kushner’s future role

Trump’s son-in-law, who’s long been above White House infighting, now has to defend his position in the West Wing. (sub-title)

 

"Once the untouchable son-in-law in a White House where top aides jockey for the president’s ear, Jared Kushner has now been cast in a new role: reassuring people that he’s not going to resign, while colleagues question whether he can survive politically."

 

"Any victory lap Kushner hoped to enjoy after pulling off a successful presidential foreign trip to the Middle East was cut short after the Washington Post reported that during the transition he discussed setting up a secret backchannel with the Russian Ambassador."

 

"And it means that the main architect of Trump’s visit to the Middle East is now the lead distraction that will greet the president, who was flying home from nine days abroad on Saturday, returning from what was seen as overall a successful foreign trip."

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/27/jared-kushner-russia-scandal-white-house-role-238890

 

The chickens are coming home to roost...

[iReason]

Kushner’s alleged Russia backchannel attempt would be serious break from protocol

Former national security officials say such communications are common for presidents, but highly suspect for transition

(sub-title)

 

"Jared Kushner’s alleged discussions with Russia’s ambassador about potentially establishing backchannel communications during the transition would have been viewed as not only highly improper but possibly even illegal, according to former national security officials."

 

"President Donald Trump’s team on Saturday tried to downplay reports from the Washington Post and others that ambassador Sergey Kislyak told his superiors that Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, made the proposal during an early December meeting and suggested using Russian diplomatic facilities for the clandestine communications."

 

“If candidate Trump, a private citizen, had a backchannel that would be very serious,” said Bill Smullen, who served as chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell in the administration of George W. Bush. “He had no business.”

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/27/jared-kushner-russia-backchannel-protocol-238888

[iReason]

Trump team ducks questions on report Kushner wanted secret line with Russia

 

"During a press briefing at the G7 conference in Taormina, Sicily, White House officials refused to comment directly on a Washington Post report that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, discussed setting up a secret back channel for conversations between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin."

 

“We’re not going to comment on Jared – we’re just not,” Gary Cohn, the White House economic adviser, told reporters after repeated questions, in an attempt to steer the focus back to Trump’s overseas trip."

 

"HR McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, also refused to comment on the story specifically but said that he was “not concerned”.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/27/trump-jared-kushner-secret-channel-russia

[Skywalker69]

‘This Is Now Espionage’: Malcom Nance Calls For Jared Kushner’s Security Clearance to be Pulled

 

 

 

[RobFord]

Won't it be sweet if/when it is revealed Ivanka is involved in criminal acts or espionage. That will make my day.  
 
Can you imaging Ivanka and Jared in prison? 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Skywalker69]

12 minutes ago, RobFord said:

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

Oh he will be fine, once being someones girlfriend, he will be protected.

 

[Skywalker69]

DNC calls for Kushner to be fired from WH position

 

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday called for President Trump to fire his son-in-law Jared Kushner from his position as a White House senior adviser in light of reports that he attempted to establish a private communications channel between the president's transition team and Moscow.

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/335388-dnc-calls-for-kushner-to-be-fired-from-wh-position

[selftaopath]

 

[iReason]

Clapper on Kushner-Russia reports: My ‘warning light was clearly on’

 

"Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Sunday that he and the intelligence community were “very concerned” about reports that White House adviser Jared Kushner discussed establishing secretive back channels with the Kremlin."

 

“I will tell you that my dashboard warning light was clearly on, and I think that was the case with all of us in the intelligence community, very concerned about the nature of these approaches to the Russians,” the former intelligence chief told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

 

“If you put that in context with everything else we knew the Russians were doing to interfere with the elections and the historical practice of the Russians … we were concerned,” he said."

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/28/clapper-kushner-russia-backchannels-238901

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/27/2017 at 2:13 PM, boomerangutang said:

                             Trump lost his soul sometime during the VN war, when he took time out from playing squash with pretty college girls, to send a letter to the Army recruitment center and tell 'em he had a bone spur on his heel.  Interesting, when asked about it years later, Trump couldn't recall which heel it was.  

 

                          Or maybe he lost his soul when some dishwashers, at a posh Trump event, asked for some overtime pay, because the party he hosted had gone on hours longer than they all thought it would.  Guess what Trump told the dishwashers:  "Forgetaboutit.  If you want more money, sue me.  See how far that gets you."  ha ha ha.

Well he's got plenty of company then, with all the guys that scarpered to Canada.

I'm surprised that you think the Vietnam war to have been worth fighting. It was an evil crime visited on a small country as a proxy for the superpowers and many people on both sides still suffer today. Had more young men refused to go, it would have stopped sooner. 

Anyway, if he is going to hell for that, Bush the younger will be right there with him for the same reason.

Did Clinton have an excuse, or was he hiding in university at the time?

[thaibeachlovers]

I wasn't aware that it was a crime to have contacts with Russia and no one has proven that he colluded with them to fix the election.

He might have to stop being a Trump adviser for not notifying the contacts ( as per Flynn ), but he's unlikely to be arrested for it.

 

A complete non issue IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, iReason said:

Clapper on Kushner-Russia reports: My ‘warning light was clearly on’

 

"Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Sunday that he and the intelligence community were “very concerned” about reports that White House adviser Jared Kushner discussed establishing secretive back channels with the Kremlin."

 

“I will tell you that my dashboard warning light was clearly on, and I think that was the case with all of us in the intelligence community, very concerned about the nature of these approaches to the Russians,” the former intelligence chief told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

 

“If you put that in context with everything else we knew the Russians were doing to interfere with the elections and the historical practice of the Russians … we were concerned,” he said."

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/28/clapper-kushner-russia-backchannels-238901

Clapper is in the box for Obama. What else would he say?

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, selftaopath said:

 

I'm not going to suffer for an hour and six minutes of MSNBC, but if the NSA chief did say that on the record, wouldn't he be in contempt of the investigation by Mueller? Wouldn't he be under arrest for disclosing sub judice information?

[heybruce]

30 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I wasn't aware that it was a crime to have contacts with Russia and no one has proven that he colluded with them to fix the election.

He might have to stop being a Trump adviser for not notifying the contacts ( as per Flynn ), but he's unlikely to be arrested for it.

 

A complete non issue IMO.

I assume you mean it will be a non-issue after Kushner resigns, assuming nothing more incriminating comes out.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, heybruce said:

I assume you mean it will be a non-issue after Kushner resigns, assuming nothing more incriminating comes out.

No, I'm saying that if he acted without orders from Trump he might have to resign ( or get sacked but that's unlikely ), but if he acted under Trump's authority, he has a pass. Trump is the president, and has the authority to order someone not to notify the FBI or whatever. There's no point in having a "secret" back channel to the Russians if the FBI is going to leak it.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I wasn't aware that it was a crime to have contacts with Russia and no one has proven that he colluded with them to fix the election.

He might have to stop being a Trump adviser for not notifying the contacts ( as per Flynn ), but he's unlikely to be arrested for it.

 

A complete non issue IMO.

The discussion of back channel communications was after the election but before the inauguration.  That put it at a time when it was illegal for Trump and team to conduct diplomacy.  Business communications would have, at best, given the impression of using his father-in-law's upcoming office for personal enrichment.  If business communications were too explicit they would have been illegal.

 

The question is why he wanted back channel communications at this time.  If it was for diplomatic discussions the back channels, by law, should not have been discussed until after the inauguration, and even then using Russian equipment for back channel communications would have been ill-advised.  If it was for business discussions and he anticipated some kind of role, formal or informal, in the administration (as he certainly did) it would appear to be a case of using his position to enrich himself and needing communications that would evade intelligence services to further this goal.

 

In other words, for the President-elect's son-in-law to attempt to establish back channel communications with Russia at this time is extremely suspicious.  Thinking of an innocent reason for this person at this time is difficult.  All I can come up with is that he's having an affair with an important Russian (Putin's daughter?) and seeking help in discretely talking to her.  Can you come up with a better reason?  So far no one in the administration has.

Edited May 28, 2017 by heybruce

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, heybruce said:

The discussion of back channel communications was after the election but before the inauguration.  That put it at a time when it was illegal for Trump and team to conduct diplomacy.  Business communications would have, at best, given the impression of using his father-in-law's upcoming office for personal enrichment.  If business communications were too explicit they would have been illegal.

 

The question is why he wanted back channel communications at this time.  If it was for diplomatic discussions the back channels, by law, should not have been discussed until after the inauguration, and even then using Russian equipment for back channel communications would have been ill-advised.  If it was for business discussions and he anticipated some kind of role, formal or informal, in the administration (as he certainly did) it would appear to be a case of using his position to enrich himself and needing communications that would evade intelligence services to further this goal.

 

In other words, for the President-elect's son-in-law to attempt to establish back channel communications with Russia at this time is extremely suspicious.  Thinking of an innocent reason for this person at this time is difficult.  All I can come up with is that he's having an affair with an important Russian (Putin's daughter?) and seeking help in discretely talking to her.  Can you come up with a better reason?

The simplest explanation would be that Trump asked him to set up the back channel so he didn't have to waste time doing so after the inauguration.

Unless Trump actually conducted "diplomacy" on it, I doubt that just setting it up would be a crime. 

As we don't know what was or was not said, perhaps we can wait till Mueller has carried out his investigation on the matter.

 

[heybruce]

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The simplest explanation would be that Trump asked him to set up the back channel so he didn't have to waste time doing so after the inauguration.

Unless Trump actually conducted "diplomacy" on it, I doubt that just setting it up would be a crime. 

As we don't know what was or was not said, perhaps we can wait till Mueller has carried out his investigation on the matter.

 

If there were a simple, legal explanation I'm sure the administration would have offered it.  So far their silence is deafening.

[FritsSikkink]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I wasn't aware that it was a crime to have contacts with Russia and no one has proven that he colluded with them to fix the election.

He might have to stop being a Trump adviser for not notifying the contacts ( as per Flynn ), but he's unlikely to be arrested for it.

 

A complete non issue IMO.

It is when you are a citizen like he was then, he wasn't in office.

[FritsSikkink]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No, I'm saying that if he acted without orders from Trump he might have to resign ( or get sacked but that's unlikely ), but if he acted under Trump's authority, he has a pass. Trump is the president, and has the authority to order someone not to notify the FBI or whatever. There's no point in having a "secret" back channel to the Russians if the FBI is going to leak it.

Trump wasn't the president when it happened, it is treason.

[SABloke]

Trump wasn't the president when it happened, it is treason.

Talkig to a person from another country is treason?

The article does make it clear though: "sources" say something that be unusual yet not necessarily illegal, might or might not have happened

I think that with all the money they spend finding dirt on the "dirtiest POTUS of all time" they would've found something conclusive by now.

[simple1]

38 minutes ago, SABloke said:

 

Talkig to a person from another country is treason?

The article does make it clear though: "sources" say something that be unusual yet not necessarily illegal, might or might not have happened

I think that with all the money they spend finding dirt on the "dirtiest POTUS of all time" they would've found something conclusive by now.

 

May be treason is too stong a word, but as repeatedly highlighted it is strickly against established protocol to enter negotiations with foreign governments whilst the incumbent is in power. Personally I find is very damaging that the Trump transition team was busily undermining long standing standards of incoming Administration behaviour. Trump continues with his jouney to do erode standards of decency with domestic policies for the disenfranchised and treatment of Western allies.

Edited May 29, 2017 by simple1

[boomerangutang]

Trump is damned if he fires Kushner and damned if he doesn't ("I pick the best people").

 

                            Follow the money.  Trump couldn't get loans from US banks because he's such an awful businessman and can't be trusted to pay back.  He went to Russia, where oligarchs are eager to launder money - particularly the multibillionaire who was going through a messy divorce, and who chose to pour a bunch of money (4X value) to overpay for a Trump property in FL which the Russian has never even visited.    

 

                   Kushner is also up to his kush in loans, probably most of which come from Russians (and former Soviet state mafia people) seeking to launder.   Ivanka knows much of what her daddy and husband are doing, so she's an enbler (at the least) and possibly also a co-conspirator and active player  - in money laundering.   The Treasury Dept is looking closely at these things.  It's doubtful the Trumps and Kushners are sleeping soundly at night.

[boomerangutang]

                                  To paraphrase Trump:   "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you release all the financial info you have on Trump, Kushner and the mob they surround themselves with."

 

                                     BTW, I wonder if, when the various investigations come forth with their findings (if they ever do), they will include a mention of how Trump, during the campaign, read from the podium, articles published by Sputnik.  Sputnik is the official newspaper of the Russian government.  Trump would read into the microphone at his rallies, verbatum passages from articles which Trump knew were packed with false news about his political opponent.  

 

                               Why didn't Trump fans have a problem with that?  For starters, they lap up everything their dear leader farts out of his mouth.  Secondly, they don't have the intelligence to put one and one together and get two.  They hear Trump reading from the Kremlin's newspaper, and they think it's great.   Those are the people who voted in the treasonous bunch we're dealing with now.  Those folks (both the voters and the candidate they voted for) are anti-American, whether they realize it or not.  

 

                      Even a 14 year old punk from Podunk Arkansas can tell you, "ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law."   It's too bad Trump and Kushner don't know that.

[ilostmypassword]

6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No, I'm saying that if he acted without orders from Trump he might have to resign ( or get sacked but that's unlikely ), but if he acted under Trump's authority, he has a pass. Trump is the president, and has the authority to order someone not to notify the FBI or whatever. There's no point in having a "secret" back channel to the Russians if the FBI is going to leak it.

No, the president doesn't have the authority to order someone to lie to the FBI. That would come under the heading of obstruction of justice. And Kushner was not obliged to obey. What's more, I believe that in this case this all happened before Trump was sworn in.  So there's not even the faulty excuse of a Presidential order. 

[selftaopath]

53 minutes ago, simple1 said:

May be treason is too stong a word, but as repeatedly highlighted it is strickly against established protocol to enter negotiations with foreign governments whilst the incumbent is in power. Personally I find is very damaging that the Trump transition team was busily undermining long standing standards of incoming Administration behaviour. Trump continues with his jouney to do erode standards of decency with domestic policies for the disenfranchised and treatment of Western allies.

I think not.