The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© 2019 AFPTrump under fresh scrutiny over relationship with Putin
By Jim MANNION WASHINGTON©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© 2019 AFP
68 Comments
Blacklabel
I would prefer he not selectively leak things to CNN that I am unable to see proof of with my own eyes by reading the source documents.
Blacklabel
So it’s ok for your side to leak your unprovable “bombshells” any time you want but my side has to wait to even say there is nothing cause the investigation isn’t done?
Cant you admit that’s not right? Until the investigation is done, the default position is there is “nothing”. What you have are simply unproven accusations.
Chip Star
I don't know. That said, Bernstein is one of the guys that was trusted by Deep Throat so it's not entirely out if the question that Bernstein has inside information. It's more likely than Hillary being arrested for all the "crimes" you guys imagine she's committed.
Jimizo
I’d have thought so.
Would you prefer Mueller give a running commentary on Twitter with stupid nicknames, grandstanding, idiocy, trash and lies?
Blacklabel
But Carl Bernstein knows it all. So it’s been released to him at least, so why can’t we all see it?
Chip Star
Investigators of these types of matters don't release any information until they have concluded their investigation. This isn't a situation where some of the information needs to be made public in order to generate leads.
We know this isn't the situation for two reasons: (1) All the guilty pleas and verdicts along with the indictments; and, (2) the investigation hadn't been concluded.
Chip Star
We don't know because Mueller hasn't concluded his investigation.
Because there may well be more andvif it isn't discovered, justice cannot be fully served.
We can't until Mueller concludes his investigation and a court finds him guilty.
lincolnman
He's been more accurate than Alex Jones or Limbaugh...
Blacklabel
So Carl Bernstein somehow knows for certain what’s in the Mueller report. Trump is either “a witting, unwitting, or half-witting pawn, certainly in some regards, to Vladimir Putin” . Yeah that’s not vague AT ALL. Sure he’s not 1/4 witting in a few regards? Give me a break.
Thats like a kid trying to write a book report when it’s obvious they didn’t read the book. Just throw all possible combinations out there so you can’t be wrong.
Blacklabel
So when Trump wins again in 2020 it won’t be that no one believes this Russia nonsense. it will be that “the racists” wanted him re-elected. Got it. So it doesn’t really even matter if Mueller announces he found nothing, you will just return to “racism” and your other -isms.
lincolnman
In a criminal investigation, and this is a criminal investigation, you don't release information that may tip off other as yet identified suspects. Just look at Mueller's take down of John Gotti - what's good for one crime family works for the other...
Your hope and prayer...but it ain't looking good...
https://www.newsweek.com/mueller-report-trump-helped-putin-destabilize-us-watergate-journalist-1289541
Blacklabel
do we really need the get the full story before Trump is impeached and jailed?
Theres already enough to do that with what they have already, right? Why take 6 more months looking for even more. Just jail him now and find out the rest later.
Oh so how we are back to “racist” again. You guy sure change the story a lot.
ulysses
Glad that's settled.
You mean if we catch a spy it's better to fire him/her rather than bring that person to justice. Dont you think it will encourage other spies? All they stand to lose are their jobs.
Again glad you agree.
The right wing haters will support just about anybody as long as that person keeps their racist agenda alive. For them an enemy of the same color is not an enemy. A compatriot of a different color is the enemy.
Blacklabel
Yep, so why hasn’t Mueller coughed up all this evidence he so obviously has to make this happen? Why is he holding on to it?
Maybe cause there is none?
Jimizo
As doctors will often say, the earlier the treatment, the better.
Blacklabel
If Trump is such an idiot just give up trying to impeach him with all the Russia nonsense and beat him in the election.
Should be easy, right? Everyone knows he is a traitor and an idiot and a puppet and this and that, don’t they? He surely colluded and collided and obstructed and destructed and no one likes him or will vote for him.
Or are you afraid that people actually don’t agree with those things and recognize them as what they are- your politically biased opinions?
Toasted Heretic
Best return to prohibition in that case.
Toasted Heretic
You need to review the Soviet Afghanistan conflict and then read what Trump said about it the other week. It had no basis in reality.
And there it is. I rest my case. Hyperpartisanship has destroyed any chance of meaningful dialogue.
bass4funk
Ok, I’m sorry, but these idiots won’t get elected and even if they did, they would be one termers because their radical policies not only don’t make any sense whatsoever, but as typical socialists they never can explain how they would pay for their outrageous programs, never.
What? Funny, the Democrats think it’s ok to have friendly relations with Iran, but not with Russia...another nuclear geopolitical adversary, just astounding you guys. Lol! No proof, but more rhetoric, not surprised at all.
Not caring, just wondering. Now Once again, do you have any irrefutable and verifiable concrete facts? Do you have them? Can you back up that outrageous accusation?
They are all from the leftist liberal one-sided opinionated sites, so besides that....nothing?
Blacklabel
Uh no. We aren’t having druggies teach our children and operate our public transportation or drawing welfare checks because they “can’t”work.
Anything to not have to built a wall huh? Why don’t we just give citizenship to anyone who sneaks in and doesn’t get caught within 30 days.
bass4funk
You did??? When?
Liberals see things in a shade of socialism.
14 Years one of “the biggest” shows on TV third rate? Not according to NBC and their ratings, but yes, like with Russia, where is the proof? What do you know that Mueller of the The witch hunters doesn’t? Please elaborate and put the personal feelings aside. If the Washington idiots can’t defeat a Real estate mogul and Hillary can’t do it and the people reject these polycarbonate douche bags, then it’s their fault pure and simple.
Toasted Heretic
Hmmm. I've criticised the Dems on plenty of occasions. I believe they're not much better than the Repubs (although there are honorable examples like Sanders and the new young turks coming up the ranks). I've said numerous times that the 2 party politics of the US will never solve its underlying problems.
You asked about decades of conflict between Russia and the US, I gave it to you. As for what it has to with Trump, you can see how he's taken the Russian side and rewritten the history of the Soviet invasion to look more favorable to Russia. I presume you saw his comments the other week.
I reject your outrageous accusation that I am a liberal.
I thought you didn't care? Anyway, you've had all the links/citations/evidence/articles from myself and others over the last 2 years. Those who don't bother to read and discuss the research, don't deserve the time and patience that goes into supplying the doubters with said links.
lincolnman
Wrong - plenty of us have criticized fellow Dems and you know it. On the other hand, disloyalty in the cult of Trump is verboten...
They posted here every day - some just refuse to see the truth...
Translation: I voted for the non-politician failed Hollywood celebrity of a third rate reality TV show that became a politician with enormous help from Russia and illegitimately wiped out both GOP and Democrat Washington establishment politicians an unapologetic disrupter and idiot.
Blacklabel
Yet when Trump negotiates or compromises with Putin you lose your mind. No interest at all though about what “flexibility” meant.
Is Trump not a President too? Google search tells me in fact he is the duly elected President of the USA. So it’s just “what he does”.
Blacklabel
Obama doesn’t. Haven’t you heard his me,me,me speeches? References himself more than once a minute on average. And that’s for speeches where he isn’t even the topic.
Yeah nice cherry picking of everything Trunp hasn’t done (yet) while pretending he hasn’t completed 289 other promises.
bass4funk
Just saying, I never heard you EVER criticize Democrats in the US for anything and there’s a litany list where you can start.
Cold war? Reagan squashed that, but what does that have to do with Trump? And No, I don’t care about the liberal opinionated conspiracy theories from liberals. Now once again, what irrefutable and verifiable concrete facts do you have that can back up that outrageous accusation?
I voted for the non-politician Hollywood celebrity that became a politician and wiped out both GOP and Democrat Washington establishment politicians an unapologetic disrupter.
Toasted Heretic
Agreed, it's amazing you can come to that conclusion, despite me saying nothing of the sort.
You need proof of the cold war? The Soviet aggression in Afghanistan? Or do you need hundreds of links as to Trump's dodgy Russian connections and falsehoods? Many posters here, myself included, have posted such citations/links and news sources only for them to be unread and dismissed. Seems a bit of a waste of time.
So you didn't vote for Trump the lame, crooked establishment man, then? How curious. ROTFL, etc.
Ah_so
You're obsessed with this flexibility point aren't you, Blacklabel? It is the typical tactic of the Trumpskis - when in weak ground deflect, defect and deflect.
Negotiatiating and compromising with foreign leaders is what Presidents do, but I would not expect an ex-President to still be talking about their minor victories. People move on.
You are confusing normal Presidents with the egotistical man-child that currently inhabits the White House.
bass4funk
Interesting, you want that from Trump, but you don’t want it from the Democrats...absolutely amazing.
And your hard backed up veritable proof is.....
I don’t know what that means, but I’m proud not to have voted for another lame Washington establishment loser.
lincolnman
Yea, just look at these accomplishments;
A border wall paid for by Mexico
Deporting all illegal immigrants
Ditching NATO
Reign in China as currency manipulator
Rebuilding infrastructure
Repeal and Replace Obamacare
Establish a commission on radical Islam
End birthright citizenship
Defund Planned Parenthood
Enact term limits
Promises made, promises kept - "mark my words, mark my words......"
Serrano
"Reputations have consequences"
Yes, Stranger, they do. Oh my...
Many of Trump's populist promises have been delivered
Serrano
lincoln - Don't give up your day job. Lol.
lincolnman
The Ballad of Don and Vlad (sung to the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies)
Let me tell you a little story about a man named Don.
A failed TV star who was just a simple con.
But then one day he was looking at the tube.
Saw the President and said “I can be him too!”
Imbecile…
Moron…
Well the first thing you know old Don’s his party’s pick.
His kinfolk said call Russia real darn quick.
They said Moscow is the place we need to cheat.
So he called his buddy Vlad and bowed real deep.
Russia that is, Disinformation, Internet Research Agency…
Well now it's time to say Goodbye to Don and all his ilk.
No one’s left for them to swindle, lie, and bilk.
You're all invited back next month, it’s going to be bad.
Impeached and jailed, just see him now no hairspray to be had.
Prison that is; bars, concrete walls.
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Andrew Crisp
Maybe the real reason is they haven't found anything yet so they are trying to justify the waste of taxpayers money by extending the scope and time hoping something shows up.
stormcrow
Trump took away his translator's notes and told her to never talk about it.
Did Trump & Putin divide the world in half, like the Line of Demarcation? Or the division of Poland in WWII between Germany and Russia?
Can the FBI or Congress demand testimony from Trump's interpreter? It's frightening to think that only the Russians know what Trump said and agreed to, but not one American soul knows a thing. Trump is too stupid, greedy and unbalanced to be left in a room alone with the likes of Putin.
All roads look as though they lead to Moscow now concerning this U.S. president, and if Trump has done even one iota of what he's being accused of . . . well, then he's been a very bad boy and he's lucky that he's not in the military because they deal with this kind of crime most seriously.
starpunk
Putin PUT Trump IN the WH with cyberwar help. Trump is a Russian agent - a traitor!
Toasted Heretic
Whatever happened to transparency?
Trump, the security risk, lies each and every day to the electorate. Why would he change the habit of a lifetime?
After all the decades of sparring with Russia, after all the threats, the power games and flexing of muscles... Who'd of thought Russia would end up owning a President?
Of course, Putin couldn't have done it without your help, natch. Congratulations, Trump apologists.
Strangerland
Reputations have consequences.
Strangerland
They have been flexible by passing a bill to get the government opened, and going to meet with Trump to hear him storm off with his unreasonable demands.
You seem to forget, it's his shutdown:
“If you say who gets fired, it always has to be the top. Problems start from the top, and they have to get solved from the top, and the president’s the leader, and he’s got to get everybody in a room, and he’s got to lead. And he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t like doing that, that’s not his strength."
"when they talk about the government shutdown, they’re going to be talking about the president of the United States, who the president was at that time. They’re not going to be talking about who was the head of the House, the head the Senate, who’s running things in Washington. So I really think the pressure is on the president."
“FACT – the reason why Americans have to worry about a government shutdown is because Obama refuses to pass a budget.”
Serrano
"he has kept top aides in the dark about his private conversations with the Russian leader"
What part of "private" do anti-Trumpers not get?
Blacklabel
Also I’m glad you now agree that Chuck and Nancy’s lack of flexibility confirms their weakness. Can’t have it both ways.
Strangerland
Reputations have consequences. Obama conducted himself so that there is not doubt as to whether his statement was anti-American.
Trump has opened up enough question as to whether he is loyal to America, that the FBI went so far as to open an investigation into the matter - one that is still open as part of the investigation it was rolled in to.
I know you want to try to pretend that this innocuous statement by Obama has some deep meaning, but the reality is, Obama's words and actions show it doesn't.
And where are Trump's finanical records?
Blacklabel
yet If it were that Obama would tell us what the “Flexibility” was and how it benefitted our country. Did we try to subpoena his meeting notes and make the translator testify to Congress about his “private” conversations. Nope.
Blacklabel
Here’s your picture:
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/06/obama-tried-to-stop-putin-election-tampering-but-not-enough.html
wheres the finger in the chest? Article also says that Hillary was going to win so Obama had no urgency to really do anything. Weak.
Blacklabel
No logic failure. If Obama’s “flexibility” had been in the best interest of USA and gotten a “win” against Putin he would still be talking about it. Yet there is silence and by definition “flexibility” isn’t a position of strength, it’s me bending to what you want.
Blacklabel
Oh did he? How immature and unpresidential.
lincolnman
Obama went in and put a finger in Putin's chest and said stop causing trouble for the US around the world.
Donnie went in groveling and asked his Master what his orders were to further erode the US's standing and reputation in the world. Oh, and what color he wanted the wallpaper in his free $10 million Trump Penthouse...
Strangerland
Logic failure!
Oh, sorry, were you wanting me to say what you wanted to hear, or the truth?
Strangerland
And, having proven he was not financially beholden to foreign powers, along with a track record of one who worked in the best interests of America for eight years, his reputation gives him the benefit of the doubt.
Trump for all we know owes Putin billions.
Blacklabel
Yet he couldn’t tell anyone what it was and refuses to answer to this day.
sounds like not in the best interests of the USA. Otherwise he would be boasting about it.
Strangerland
Fortunately, we had no doubt that he may be financially beholden to Russia, and therefore potentially working in their best interests rather than America's.
Blacklabel
It was obviously not something in the best interests of the USA if he had to get re-elected first before he couid get away with doing it. What was it? Not even a little curious?
Blacklabel
Yet we never learned what this “flexibility” was referring to.
Strangerland
Obama disclosed his financial records, making it very clear he wasn't financially beholden to Putin.
Blacklabel
Does no one understand the meaning of “private” conversations? That every President has had with every world leader.
wheres the transcript of obama’s meeting with Putin where he explained what he meant by having “flexibility” after his re-election? Oh right....it’s private.
Strangerland
Republicans freak out because Hillary supposedly deleted some emails.
Trump hides transcripts of his conversation with a foreign leader whom he has not shown he has no financial obligation to, from literally everyone including his own people, and the Republicans are silent.
I can't be the only one who sees that hypocrisy.
Simon Foston
Great. Then I expect Trump will be making all the notes and transcripts available soon and the Republicans won't vote down any more attempts to obtain them.
ulysses
Maybe they were just having some locker room boy talk, like the conversation Trump had with Billy Bush!
Or maybe he is a traitor !!
lincolnman
We've gone from lots of smoke to a five-alarm fire...
"Yea, call me "Lyin Ted", insult my wife, and link my father to the assassination of JFK..."
This is just an astounding development - and just shows how much of a threat security professionals really think he is...
If you've read Stormy's book you know that's not true. Or said another way, "it's true I worked with Russians, but also insulting.."
SuperLib
I don't think he's being controlled by the Russians. I think Trump is an opportunist and will put his bank account ahead of the country. Trump Tower Moscow is just too big of a deal to pass up on so he wants to keep Putin happy.
Haaa Nemui
No, you're getting the issues mixed up. They don't have money for a concrete wall.
Strangerland
You mean like he's been trying to do for the past year?
If he could have blocked the report, he would have. Fortunately the checks and balances of the system have prevented him from doing so.
PTownsend
Or instead he's bogged down with his silly wall idea because it's attracting attention and taking attention away from Mueller.
Or he thinks his employees will solve the problems he's created for himself like he's done all his life. Think about his hiring 'fixers' like Cohen to take care of the messes he's made, for example paying off prostitutes and porn stars.
Or he hasn't clue one what he's doing.
CrazyJoe
Now that it seems plausible that our own president is a national security threat, we should have a record of all conversations the president had with adversary nations. He is supposed to speak for the US, but it's a fair assumption he was speaking and will continue to speak only for himself and his interests. For the love of God - and country - Congress, where are you?
Ah_so
I think that if Trump were genuinely scared that the report was going to contain damning evidence against him, he would be working full-time on stopping Muller's report coming out.
Instead he is bogged down with his silly wall idea, which suggests to me that he is not that nervous that Muller has a smoking gun.
PTownsend
What's Trump hiding this time? Did he really offer to give Putin a $50,000,000. penthouse? If so, why?
Again, the US isn't Russia where decisions are quickly made by whichever tsar, marshall or 'president' in some sham, Potemkin-ish investigation.
I think employees of the Internet Research Agency and other GRU/oligarch gang funded groups must be happy knowing they've contributed to Trump's election and the further fracturing of the US that's resulted from it.