Below is my column in the Hill on the Hunter Biden scandal and how the media is attempting to cover a story that was dismissed as Russian disinformation throughout the campaign. The media like the Daily Beast is spinning the sudden disclosure of one and possible two related investigations as based on details that were “largely unnoticed” before the election. They were of course noticed. They were largely ignored.
Here is the column:
“Hunter is stuck on the roof.” That is what the transition team for Joe Biden should have said this week, instead of declaring that Hunter Biden is under federal investigation. The surprise was a lot to handle for many who have been insulated from real news about the case for weeks. The Biden team evidently never heard the old joke about the man who calls home during a trip to speak with his brother who was house sitting.
When asked how things are going, the brother blurts out, “Fluffy is dead.” The man is shocked and yells that is not how you tell someone their cat died. Instead, he claims, you build up to it and say the cat is stuck on the roof, and then call back to say she fell. After the brother apologizes, the man asks how their mother is doing, and the brother pauses before replying, “Mom is stuck on the roof.”
The problem is that Americans were assured that Hunter Biden was nowhere near the figurative roof. Before the election, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said the story involving the laptop was a “smear” from Russia. Some 50 former intelligence officials also insisted the laptop story was likely the work of Russian intelligence. Cable hosts and journalists laughed at the laptop story as fake news, and there was a virtual blackout on further coverage, until that loud thump after the election.
Most striking about the media blackout is that, as with the Trump-Russia collusion story, the media was coaxed to buy into a false narrative. Reporters became so invested in the denial that they couldn’t afford to acknowledge growing evidence of possible wrongdoing. If Hunter Biden and his uncle did conduct a global influence peddling scheme, these reporters were at best dupes and at worst enablers of a coverup, so the story could not be true.
The public shock was palpable because so many have been hermetically and journalistically sealed off from any negative reports on the Bidens. The media was openly in the bag for candidate Biden, and he was left unchallenged in ridiculous claims like his often repeated line “no one has suggested my son did anything wrong.”
Now some media outlets are trying to explain how Hunter wound up on the roof when, before the election, they told us he was resting comfortably. The Daily Beast reported the story by referring to “markings on a series of documents that were made public” but “went largely unnoticed.” It was referencing serial numbers that I and others discussed in detail when the story first broke in October. There was much speculation about what those numbers meant, and how the laptop may have been seized by the FBI to look into underlying business transactions, including possible money-laundering. So that aspect was not “largely unnoticed” — just largely ignored by virtually every media outlet.
There is little pushback on Hunter Biden claiming he just heard about an investigation into his taxes this week. This investigation appears to have been ongoing for two years. The laptop was evidently subpoenaed in 2019, and its emails were said to be packed with incriminating accounts of millions in payments or gifts and references to Joe Biden himself. A key business associate of the Bidens, Anthony Bobulinski, confirmed the authenticity of the emails and accused Joe Biden of lying about his involvement before the election. Yet most media reported none of that.
We now know that Joe Biden’s brother, James, is implicated in a separate federal investigation. But the Hunter Biden investigation remains more notable. The Biden transition team issued a statement saying this is solely Hunter’s “tax affairs” — but tax investigations can be a tad more intrusive and far more damaging than a “tax affair” gone wrong. They require scrutiny of underlying transactions and gifts, like those reportedly detailed on Hunter’s laptop.
The laptop reportedly refers to the Biden family discussing a $5 million interest-free unsecured loan from a Chinese state-owned enterprise that allegedly was part of a discussed wire transfer of $10 million. Since these exchanges strike some of us as raw influence-peddling, there may have been an effort to conceal or disguise them; accordingly, there reportedly were gifts like a 2.8 carat diamond for Hunter Biden from the firm’s founder and former chairman.
The laptop also reportedly contains direct references to tax problems. A former business partner sent Hunter Biden an email in 2017 warning him that he did not disclose on his tax returns some $400,000 in income from a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma. Eric Schwerin, then president of Rosemont Seneca Partners, wrote: “In 2014 you joined the Burisma board and we still need to amend your 2014 returns to reflect the unreported Burisma income.”
Moreover, reports indicate the investigation may not be simply about “tax affairs” but about money laundering and other suspect dealings. The New York Times reported a separate investigation into Hunter Biden’s activities in Ukraine “has escalated this year” in Pittsburgh. There is a possible investigation risk from the Senate, if Republicans win at least one of two seats in Georgia. A Biden administration would have to deal with those Hunter Biden inquiries while dealing with a special counsel looking into actions taken during the Obama administration to investigate Trump campaign figures in 2016.
At some point, Joe Biden should address his repeated denials of knowing about his son’s business dealings, an assertion even his son has contradicted. He also should answer such questions as whether he met with Hunter’s business partner, Anthony Bobulinski, in spring 2017, at the Beverly Hills Hilton to discuss any Chinese business deals. He can still rely on a media that is heavily invested in denying the seriousness of these investigations, but it will be hard for those news outlets to maintain radio-silence with a growing cacophony of investigations afoot.
Hopefully, now that Biden is elected and Trump defeated, some in the media may be willing to report on these investigations, and at least acknowledge that Hunter and his uncle are back on the roof.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can find his updates online @JonathanTurley.
I can remember Jonathan writing that Trump should be given time to prove his electoral cases in court and let the process play out. Well, now he has had that opportunity, and courts throughout the country have laughed him and his lawyers out of court after producing zero evidence of fraud. They only present witnesses in legislative hearings with no real opportunity for the other side to ask questions.
Yet Trump and his lawyers and supporters keep going on in the media and saying there is a lot of evidence out there of fraud and the election is somehow illegitimate. And the electoral college is today. And Turley has not said – Trump and his lawyers have nothing, had nothing, and have simply been lying to the public, and should concede for the sake of the country and admit that Biden won fair and square.
+10
Elvis Bug
Speculations on media behavior moving forward after an election filled with once and for all undeniable and complete criminal fraud in the FBI, the media, the Justice Department and both political parties is like a waiter on the Titanic going around taking breakfast orders after the iceburg has been struck.
As Justice is a human concept that lies in the judgement and hearts of men ( rather than the physical possession and power that corrupt district attorneys, politicians and judges believe it to be) If Biden is seated America will be over.
For the connection of the free and just American people to its now undeniably corrupt multinational corporate cartel government will cease to be.
Imagine if upon unexpectedly returning to your house at lunch for something you saw a man leave your house and your wife without clothes on inside.
Nothing happened your wife could claim. As you were not there, maybe it didn’t.
But only a fool would believe her.
Only a fool would not pack a bag.
What the corrupt media does or doesn’t do moving forward with a corrupt criminal pretending to be the president will not matter to the preponderance of the American public who with all formal just law finally obliterated will be too busy preparing to defend their families from the coming despotism.
Biden was freely elected and will be our next President.
He was elected on the basis of lies and the importation of tens of millions of foreigners. The election is illegitimate.
LMAO that you make a claim like that and provide zero evidence. You have an active imagination.
Based on the response, you must be the one known as Anonymous the Stupid.
Based on your response, you must be Allan the Troll. He never proves anything and attributes his own failings to others.
However, I according to your own words, produce content. You don’t. But I think I opened the door to you again for real discussion rather than just having to listen to non stop stupidity. I took a name Mark for that discussion so it could be civil and result in a bunch of meaningful back and forth responses. Who know someone might learn something from it.
Biden was helped by the MSM and social media preventing speech flowing freely. But even with that Trump would have prevailed in a landslide. Biden needed a lot of fraudulent votes to get him over the top and that is what happened.
A stolen election.
It hasn’t been stolen. Dozens of lawsuits filed and none of them have proved that Biden won with fraudulent votes.
He was very freely elected through the use of illegal ballots. He may be our next President until the Junta throws him out and replaces him with Harris.
Will Hunter Biden become the real
Story of 2021.
Maybe. Or maybe Trump’s tax returns and the defamation suits against him involving rape and sexual harassment will be bigger stories.
That is made up BS by a sick mind. Biden is slowly being tied up to corruption with Chinese leadership. The family has been crooked for years and Biden is at the top.
The Trump family has been crooked for years and Trump is at the top. He’s facing multiple suits right now. The two defamation suits I mentioned are both active. Mary Trump has filed an estate fraud suit against him. He may face a tax fraud suit in NY. Only someone with their head in the sand thinks it’s made up BS.
Corruption of US foreign policy as is the case with the Big Guy Joe Biden, is a far more serious matter that affects all Americans.
For all those cheering the tax investigation into Biden, I am sure you will equally cheer the post-presidency tax investigations into the Trumps. For me, I say go after them all.
Those will be illegal, so, no, we won’t cheer for them.
For a self-proclaimed lawyer, why don’t you tell us why the NY tax investigation into Trump is illegal?
How was I to know…
She was with the Russians too?
Do da da dumb da see da see..
Da de Trumpsters too!
And:
Trump and Bidsitting in a tree.
P I s s I n g.
First came Putin. Then came Rudy.
Pee on their heads came down sooner.
What do you make of the story today that the Russians hacked US government agencies? And that information damaging to Hunter Biden which was subpoenaed by the government ends up somehow in the hands of Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Guiliani, with some story about a blind computer repairman?
Sounds like more than a coincidence to me. Rudy is on the roof. He will fall or be pardoned soon.
The National Security Agency had previously issued a warning that “Russian state-sponsored actors” were exploiting flaws in a system that is broadly used in the federal government. The espionage campaign breached Treasury, Commerce, FireEye, among others. This is less than a month after Trump fired the head of the government’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.
Proves he was right to fire the guy….as Trump has access to the bad news before it goes public.
Now focus….I know it is hard….but focus….what action does Trump as President take upon learning of the situation from his Cabinet and Intelligence Agencies?
What would you have the President do?
The hacking occurred AFTER Trump fired Krebs, doofus. You might know that if you could focus….I know it is hard….but focus.
Hey, doofus, that’s a stupid point. How fast could a replacement clean up his mess?
That stupid anonymous continues on his stupid streak. He has problems but is too stupid to solve them.
Allan is the king of stupid anonymous commenters now.
Anonymous the Stupid, I see you are bringing in your pretend friends. You always needed reassurance.
Trump hasn’t nominated a replacement, doofus, and you haven’t provided any evidence that it was Krebs’ mess.
The hack occurred in an update months ago.
The press needs to learn the extent to which Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Guiliani, was involved in causing an investigation to start.
The problem with Trump in charge of investigative apparatuses is that he bullies investigators into launching investigations – even bogus ones. Then dutifully the press reports that there is an investigation. This is why Trump was impeached – by trying to bully the Ukraine President into announcing a bogus investigation into Hunter Biden. Now that he has convinced some US Attorney he appointed to launch some investigation – well, I will wait to see what the investigation holds. Certainly, if it is a tax investigation, I would bet Hunter’s tax returns are less corrupt than the billionaire who pays $750 per year in taxes.
Happy EC Day to all!
In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worse….(OSCAR WILDE)
If the two Georgia senate races go blue, all of the people (alive and dead) who voted for Biden are going to know the truth of the second tragedy.
I’m sure you felt the same way when Trump was elected with Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
The ChiCom’s are being exposed worldwide.
“Major leak ‘exposes’ members and ‘lifts the lid’ on the Chinese Communist Party”
https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6215946537001
This is just the beginning. Much more will be revealed.
The Chinese don’t understand that when you sleep with filthy dogs like the Biden’s and their ilk, you’re going to end up being infested with Fleas and Ticks and mange.
Kamala also has a bad case of Chinese vermin infestation, as well. Likewise with the boys in the Lincoln Project.
Buy popcorn futures!
Likewise the Trumps.
Forbes Estimates China Paid Trump At Least $5.4 Million Since He Took Office, Via Mysterious Trump Tower Lease
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/23/forbes-estimates-china-paid-trump-at-least-54-million-since-he-took-office-via-mysterious-trump-tower-lease/?sh=63ceb527ed11
Ivanka’s Trademark Requests Were Fast-Tracked In China After Trump Was Elected
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/22/ivankas-trademark-requests-were-fast-tracked-in-china-after-trump-was-elected/?sh=2ea0192a1d60
But you don’t want to admit that, do you, Rhodesy?
Unlike you, I’m not a partisan, and didn’t vote for Trump or Hillary.
As to Ivanka’s trademarks allegedly being fast tracked. That’s like comparing a Mole hill to Mount Everest, when it comes to the massive amount of graft that has occurred between China and the Biden-Obama-Clinton crew.
You obviously know nothing about trademarks or IP law. But that’s no surprise, in light of the fact that you’re a part time Barista.
Rhodesy goes the only place he knows how to — broad, non specific denial of evidence unfavorable to his sweeping generalizations followed by personal attack of presenter of the evidence….
He’s fun to watch as he pedals on his hamster wheel.
Typical empty reply from anonymous. That is the only way an ignorant person can talk as much as anonymous does.
Allan, even though you’re now posting anonymously and know for a fact that there’s more than one anonymous commenter, you still insist that all of the anonymous comments you disagree with come from a single person. What a wanker you are.
There are some other stupid anonymous creatures running around that don’t include your pretend friends but you are the dumbest.
One would imagine, given that there are too many instances of such malfeasance to even count by our media at this point, that people would realize our media is an official arm of the Democratic party. It makes no logical sense to condemn the media yet insist the body they represent somehow have good intentions and everything will be ‘ok’. Take off the blinders folks, this administration is taking us down the road to hell they so carefully paved from 2008-2015.
The press failed us – again.
But we have known for a long time that they are a failed industry – riddled with dishonesty and bias.
If Americans today are surprised by the Hunter Biden story, they have only themselves to blame.
The surprised people either chose lying news sources, or (as I suspect of many of the left who post here), they did not want to hear the truth, comfortable in their little Never Trump bubbles.
monument:
https://jonathanturley.org/2020/12/14/largely-unnoticed-hunter-biden-is-on-the-roof-again-and-the-media-just-noticed/comment-page-1/#comment-2036644
“The Biden transition team issued a statement saying this is solely Hunter’s ‘tax affairs'”
Might I remind the Biden transition team that Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz as a result of his “tax affairs”.
It’s actually amazing to me how effective the MSM covering tactic was. At Thanksgiving I had a discussion about this very topic with my son and his wife…both college indoctrinees with a distinct leftist slant contrary to their upbringing…they claim to have an open mind and be willing to entertain opposing arguments, but when I brought up the Hunter Biden story, they basically just dismissed it because the MSM in which they place so much trust assured them that it was just pre-election propaganda.
Now that the MSM has magically discovered this “unnoticed” story, they’ve remained stubbornly silent about the subject, simply refusing to respond to emails I send forwarding MSM articles acknowledging the substance of the story they previously dismissed as propaganda.
Sailor, perhaps for perspective you should know that the MSM all knew about Steele and his Dossier 2 months before the 2016 election and chose to not run it, and for the same reason as not running the HB “story”. Untrustworthy oppo research just before an election. That is otherwise know as responsible journalism.
“….The founders of Fusion GPS have described how they did not hide the fact that they were researching Trump and Russia: “Fusion and Steele tried to alert U.S. law enforcement and the news media to the material they’d uncovered …” and their office became “something of a public reading room” for journalists seeking information. In September they arranged a private meeting between Steele and reporters from The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Yorker, ABC News, and other outlets. The results were disappointing, as none published any stories before the election.[57]
Jane Mayer has described how, in “late summer, Fusion set up a series of meetings, at the Tabard Inn, in Washington, between Steele and a handful of national-security reporters. … Despite Steele’s generally cool manner, he seemed distraught about the Russians’ role in the election.” Mayer attended one of the meetings. None of these news organizations ran any stories about the allegations at that time.[21]….”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steele_dossier
It’s a crying shame Hunter didn’t bleach his computers before dropping them off at the repair shop. That way when asked why they were wiped clean he could respond, “Wiped clean? You mean with a cloth?”
Turley needs to be better informed so he quits embarrassing himself .
Here Jonathan, read the Report from the GOP led Senate Intel Committee, just re;eased in August – it conforms all the documented instances of Trump campaign collusion with Russia, which you keep erroneously claiming didn’t happen. Yeah, I know, it’s a Fox thing.
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf
conforms should be confirms
It’s okay, it’s just as inaccurate as your false claims about “Trump campaign collusion”.
It is a “fact” among Rs that the Russian collusion allegations were nothing more then an Obama/Hillary smear against Trump and it completely baseless. The actual facts of the matter are irrelevant to them. They have rejected the entire concept of objective truth.
I read your linked Report and found ample declarative statements contained within its content to challenge and refute your comments.
One must have a modicum of reading comprehension and a lack of prejudicial bias to be able to grasp what it does say in reality
It does clearly lay out a case for the notion Russia tried to interfere in the Election.
But as we all know from other documents, investigations, Special Counsel Investigation results and testimony before the Senate, and the embarrassing revelations of de=classified Intelligence Reports, Summaries, and related documents that address what has been hidden information…..the Trump Campaign, Trump, and many of those attacked by media reports and postings by those on the Left who swallowed the media hype and regurgitated lying by Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler…..there was no collusion by the Trump Campaign or Trump.
You might read that report again and highlight every sentence that indicts your posted opinion….and then reconsider what you have said.
Did you actually read that Report or just throw it out having seen it under a CNN, MSNBC, or Politico article somewhere that told you what you just posted?
As you read it….ask some questions that are begged.
One example….why did the Special Counsel refuse to provide the Senate Intelligence Committee the documents they requested?
Why did the Media not fully and accurately report on the Investigation?
Why were the Media fed false information by the FBI which then used resulting media reporting to justify the issuance of FISA Court Warrants?
Why was Carter Page’s long term cooperation with the CIA lied about and denied by the FBI all the while he was in fact providing valuable information to the CIA?
I really doubt you even read the Report…..if you can come up with the opinion you did.
Read this short article gleaned from 15 Seconds of web searching…..not that I care for the source…..but their take on the same Report as you cite is far different than yours.
https://dailycaller.com/2020/08/18/senate-intelligence-steele-dossier-collusion-trump-russia/
I read it. No surprise the Daily Caller will poo poo it.
The clear findings of the Committee confirm Trump campaign Russian collusion and distractions about the media have no bearing on that. You really want quotes?
If you promise to quote completely and without any creative editing like the Media undertakes.
But…as you still stick to your patently failed position….because you cannot read that report and only quote that which pleases you and totally ignore that which does not….it would be a waste of effort and bandwidth.
Others here can read it for themselves and come up with their own interpretation far better than getting a third hand biased input from. you.
I see you elect not to respond to the questions I posed you might answer.
Why don’t you start with those first.
Before you respond….I know you will do as most Lefties do…..and say you do not have to answer my questions.
Prove me wrong and use the Report to do so.
Love how the trumpers believe the world to be their research interns. Raelph, you should seek the report out and read it. It’ll be an educational experience.
Doesn’t seem like anonymous ever does research. When leftist anonymous posts a link half the times it disagrees with him. Not too bright.
Doesn’t seem like conservative Allan the Anonymous ever does research. He seldom posts links and when he does, half the time they disagree with him. None too bright.
That may be true but I just posted you a mini course on the differences between the left (communism, nazism fascism and Democrats ” and the right. I don’t always need to do research.
But ,based on your accusations of the other names I have used, they produced a lot of content including research which if you are correct on just some of the names, then I must be very smart.
What a hoot. Your research is constantly corrected and you are complaining about someone else.
Ralph, I’m not interested in your distractions. The subject is Trump campaign collusion with Russia, now established by both the Mueller and Senate Intel Comm Reports.
Here’s some quotes:
Manafort:
“…(U) Manafort hired and worked increasingly closely with a Russian national, Konstantin
Kilimnik. Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer. Kilimnik became an integral part of
Manafort’s operations in Ukraine and Russia, serving as Manafort’s primary liaison to Deripaska
and eventually managing Manafort’s office in Kyiv. Kilimnik and Manafort formed a close and
lasting relationship that endured to the 2016 U.S. elections. and beyond.
(U) Prior to joining the Trump Campaign in March 2016 and continuing throughout his
time 6n the Campaign, Manafort directly and indirectly communicated with Kilimnik, Deripaska,
and the pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine. On numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly
share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik. The Committee was unable to reliably
determine why Manafort shared sensitive internal polling data or Campaign strategy with
Kilimnik or with whom Kilimnik further shared that information. The Committee had limited
insight into Kilimnik’s communications with Manafort and into Kilimnik’s communications with
other individuals connected to Russian influence operations, all of whom used communications
security practices. The Committee obtained some information suggesting Kilimnik may have
been connected to the GRU’s hack and leak operation targeting the 2016 U.S. election.
After the election, Manafort continued to coordinate with
Russian persons, particularly Kilimnik and other individuals close to Deripaska, in an effort to
undertake activities on their behalf. Manafort worked with Kilimnik starting in 2016 on
narratives that sou ht to undermine evidence that Russia interfered in .the 2016 U.S.
election.
The Committee found that Manafort’s presence on the Campaign at;td proximity to
Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and
acquire confidential information on, the Trump Campaign. Taken as a whole, Manafort’s highlevel access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the
Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and associates of Oleg Deripaska,
represented a grave counterintelligence threat
Hack and Leak
(U) The Committee found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian
effort to hack computer networks and accounts affiliated with the Democratic Party and leak
information damaging to Hillary Clinton and her campaign for president. Moscow’s intent was
to harm the Clinton Campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the
Trump Campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the
U.S. democratic process.
-WikiLeaks actively sought, and played, a key role in the Russian
influen~ery likely knew it was assistin a Russian intelli ence influence
effort.
While the GRU and WikiLeaks were releasing hacked documents, the Trump
Campaign sought to maximize the impact of those leaks to aid Trump’s electoral
prospects. Staff on the Trump Campaign sought advance notice about WikiLeaks releases,
created messaging strategies to promote and share the materials in anticipation of and following
thdr release, and encouraged further leaks. The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the
attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and
WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort. The Committee found no
evidence that Campaign officials received an authoritative government notification that the hack
was perpetrated by the Russian government before October 7, 2016, when the ODNI and DHS
issued a joint statement to that effect. However, the Campaign was aware of the extensive media
reporting and other private sector attribution of the hack to Russian actors prior to that point.
(U) Trump and senior Campaign offici.als sought to obtain advance information about
WikiLeaks’s planned releases through Roger Stone. At their direction, Stone took action to gain
inside knowledge for the Campaign and shared his purported knowledge directly with Trump
and senior Campaign offictals on multiple occasions. Trump and the Campaign believed that
Stone had inside information and expressed satisfaction that Stone’s information suggested more
releases would be forthcoming. The Committee could not reliably determine the extent.of
authentic, non-public knowledge about WikiLeaks that Stone obtained and shared with the
Campaign.
The Agalarovs and the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower Meeting
(U) The Committee found that the connection between Trump and the Agalarovs began
in 2013 with planning for the Miss Universe Moscow pageant. Aras Agalarov is a prominent
oligarch in Russia, and his son, Emin Agalarov, is a musician and businessman in Moscow. The
connection evolved in 2014 and focused on an effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow that
never came to fruition. During that time communications further extended to Agalarov
associates and family members and to Trump associates and family members. The relationship
with the Agalarovs, which continued through the 2016 U.S. election, included business and
personal communications, in person meetings, and gifts.
(U) The Committee found that Aras Agalarov was personally involved in pushing for
both the June 9, 2016 meeting between NataliaVeselnitskaya and senior m~mbers of the
Campaign and for a second meeting following the election, also with Veselnitskaya, that did not
take plac·e. Agalarov likely did this on behalf of individuals affiliated with the Russian
government, judging from his ties with Russian officials who have pursued a repeal of the U.S.
sanctions under the Magnitsky Act. ·
·
(U) The Committe~ found evidence suggesting that it was the ‘i~tent of the Campaign
· participants in the June 9, 2016 meeting, particularly Dortald Trump Jr., to receive derogatory
information that would be of benefit to the Campaign from a soui:ce known, at least by Trump
Jr.,. to have connections to the Russian government. The Committee found no reliable evidence
that information of benefit to the Campaign was transmitted at the meeting, or that thencandidate Trump had foreknowledge of the meeting. Participants on both 0
sides of the meeting
were ultimately disappointed with how it transpired.
(U) The information that Natalia. Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer, offered during the
June 9, 2016 meeting and planned to offer again at the follow up meeting requested by Aras .
Agalarov was part of a broader influence operation targeting the United States that was
coordinated, at least in part, with elements of the Russian government. That Russian effort was
focused on U.S. sanctions against Russia under the Magnitsky Act. The Committee assesses that
some of the same information used by Veselnitskaya at the June 9, 2016 meeting was also used
in an influence operation earlier in 2016 by individuals in Moscow who have ties to Russian
intelligence and to Putin. The Committee found no evidence that the meeting participants from
the Campaign were aware of this Russian influence operation when accepting the meeting or
participating in it.
(U) The Committee assesses that at least two participants in the June 9, 2016 meeting,
Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin, have significant connections to the Russian government,
including the Russian intelligence services. The connections the Committee uncovered,
particularly regarding Veselnitskaya, were far more extensive and concerning than what had
been publicly known, and neither Veselnitskaya nor Akhmetshin were forthcoming with the
Committee regarding those connections. Both Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin may have sought,
in some cases, to obfuscate the true intent of their work in the United States.
Trump Tower Moscow
(U) During the 2016 U.S. presidential election cycle, Donald °Trump and the Trump
Organization pursued a business deal in Russia. ……
Cohen kept Trump updated on the progress of the deal. While these negotiations
were ongoing, Trump made positive public comments about Putin in connection with his
presidential campaign. Cohen and Sater sought to leverage Trump’s comments, and subsequent
comments about Trump by Putin, to advance the deal.
(U) Sater told Cohen about high-level outreach to Russian businessmen and officials that
Sater claimed to have undertaken related to the deal. While Sater almost certainly inflated some
of these claims, the Committee found that Sater did, in fact, have significant senior-level ties to a
number of Russian businessmen and former government officials, and was in a position, through
intermediaries, to reach individuals close to Putin. …..
The Committee found George. Papadopoulos used multiple avenues to pursue a faceto-face meeting between Trump and President Putin. Papadopoulos believed that he was
operating with the approval-or at least not the explicit disapproval-of Campaign leadership,
who he kept apprised of his efforts. Papadopoulos never successfully scheduled a meeting
between Putin and Trump.
(U) The Committee further found that Papadopoulos’ s efforts introduced him to several
individuals that raise counterintelligence concerns, due to their associations with individ4als
from hostile foreign governments as well as actions these individuals undertook. The Committee
assesses that Papadopoulos was not a witting cooptee of the Russian intelligence services, but
nonetheless presented a prime intelligence target and potential vector for malign Russian
influence.
(U) The Committee found evidence that Papadopoulos likely learned about the Russian
active measures campaign as early as April 2016 from Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese academic with
longstanding Russia ties, well before any public awareness of the Russian effort. The Committee ,,,”
Those are quotes. Sure. Quotes from liars.
William, this report was just released in August and was under the control of the GOP majority in the Senate. By your statement you admit you think the GOP Senate majority is distributing “disinformation” about their candidate for President in a coming election.
In other words, you’re a f…king kook who constructs ever bigger conspiracies to justify his crumbling world view.
You think the entire Senate Intelligence Committee is composed of liars?
Aren’t Swalwell and Schiff members of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence? Why should Dems in the Senate be any different than in the House?
The report came from the entire SSCI, and the majority of the members are Republicans.
He quotes old stuff that has been corrected, liars like himself, phony stuff, etc.
He is not credible.
Let’s have a flashback moment here and put this into some perspective.
It doesn’t confirm anything. It’s disinformation contradicted by contemporaneous documents and post-hoc statements and sworn testimony of many of the anti-Trump conspirators..
William, this report was just released in August and was under the control of the GOP majority in the Senate. By your statement you admit you think the GOP Senate majority is distributing “disinformation” about their candidate for President in a coming election.
In other words, you’re a f…king kook who constructs ever bigger conspiracies to justify his crumbling world view.
Where and from whom did Joe Biden get all his money to buy all his mansions and other assets, while living 40+ years on a Senate salary?
Should Hunter Biden have registered as a foreign agent or does that just apply to going after Republican supporters like Carter Page?
Is it time for those who count on just social media platforms, Google and the Democrat propaganda outfits (CNN, MSNBC, Daily Beast, et. al.) to look elsewhere for the truth?
China contributed 67 million to the University of Pennsylvania from 2013 to 2019. Joe Biden as a “professor” received $900,000 from said university and never taught a class.
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/spotlights/vice-president-joe-biden-lead-penn-biden-center-diplomacy-and-global-engagement
Craig, of interest:
“The Chinese government granted a total of 41 trademarks to companies linked to Ivanka Trump by April of 2019—and the trademarks she applied for after her father became president got approved about 40% faster than those she requested before Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, according to a new book by Forbes’ senior editor Dan Alexander…
On March 29, 2017, Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of President Trump, became an official government employee, joining her husband, Jared Kushner, as an adviser to her father.
The day before that appointment, Ivanka applied for 17 new trademarks with the Chinese government.
In early May of 2018, ZTE, a Chinese electronics maker, said that it had halted “major operating activities” after being penalized by the United States Department of Commerce for breaking sanctions and selling electronics to Iran and North Korea.
Yet, in mid-May, President Trump surprisingly reversed course when he indicated a willingness to rethink the punishment and vowed to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping to prevent the collapse of the ZTE, which employs 75,000 people, with Trump tweeting, “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”
That same month, May of 2018, amid tense trade negotiations between China and the United States, China approved seven Ivanka trademarks, according to Alexander’s book, White House, Inc.
Alexander’s book also details how “after Ivanka met with the prime minister of Japan, his country approved three trademarks for her business, in less than one third of the time it had previously taken, according to an analysis of data from the World Intellectual Property Organization,” and that Canada registered three trademarks following Ivanka’s sit-down with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/22/ivankas-trademark-requests-were-fast-tracked-in-china-after-trump-was-elected/?sh=463ae9041d60
One media article…in the form of a click bait thing on the. internet talked of Groping Joe’s history of buying Houses that were well beyond his means and income…..and discussed the ways he financed them.
What stood out to me was his purchase of a “Rockefeller Home” for the cost of $185,000, with ten bedrooms and a covered floor space of 10,000 sq.ft……which he was able to sell for 1.2 Million Dollars a few years later.
Folks….Hillary Clinton’s Cattle Futures trading pales into insignificance when compared to Groping Joe’s real estate capabilities.
How much you want to bet an investigation into those would uncover some very fishy going on regarding the purchase prices and financing with written off loans and the like resulting in some old fashioned payola by corrupt players buying Joe’s vote in the Senate.
“Most striking about the media blackout is that, as with the Trump-Russia collusion story, the media was coaxed to buy into a false narrative”
Coaxed? More like willing partners
It’s time to cancel the licenses of all these disgraced networks. Fox News is on the roof. Looking at you, Chris Wallace.
As usual professor you have one standard for the Trumps…anything they do is ok…..
I can’t wait to see an investigation into Trump’s tax shenanigans for starters. Trump should have already been indicted but wait….oh yea he’s Trump. And how about Ivanka and Jared?!
By the way has Trump turned over that DNA sample?
And you’re surprised? The move to push Joe aside and move Kamala in has begun.