Discussion: Relations with Russia

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Guardian - Konstantin Kilimnik: elusive Russian with ties to Manafort faces fresh Mueller scrutiny

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Washington Post - Putin is about to gain control of the world’s main law enforcement organization [Interpol] (Opinion)

Update:

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

NBC News - Head of Russian spy agency accused of U.S. election hack, U.K. spy poisoning dies

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Of course.

 

[MurkeNyou]

NBC News - Head of Russian spy agency accused of U.S. election hack, U.K. spy poisoning dies

Death by Putin is Russian "Natural Causes"

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

BBC News - Russia 'fires on and seizes Ukraine ships'

 

[Sithborg]

At which Trump says he believes Putin that he didn't do it.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Doing Russia's work for them.

 

[Aximili86]

A little skeptical on the condemnation of this, does sound like they'd drifted into the Russian zone.

Which like, yeah, a bit rich for the ****ing Russians to be complaining about sovereignty after Crimea, but if you're a Ukrainian it's a pretty goddamn reckless thing to do. You're getting shot at, it's Russia.

 

[Sithborg]

They have essentially set up a blockade. This is Russia's next step to retaking Ukraine.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Daily Beast - Feds Target Butina’s GOP Boyfriend as Foreign Agent

 

[Herofan]

Doing Russia's work for them.

Do you think European countries have lived up to their military commitment, have paid their fair share?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Do you think European countries have lived up to their military commitment, have paid their fair share?

Distorted NATO Funding Figure - FactCheck.org

Trump wrong that NATO members owe United States money

Care to look up the numbers of European casualties from NATO member countries that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

ABC News - Maria Butina, accused Russian agent, reaches plea deal with prosecutors

Most notably, Butina’s Russian gun rights group “Right to Bear Arms” hosted a delegation of former NRA presidents, board members and major donors in Moscow in 2015, where she appears to have succeeded in arranging a meeting between NRA insiders and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, raising the prospect of a discussion between conservative political operatives and a powerful member of Russian President Putin’s inner circle in the midst of a presidential campaign.

After that now infamous meeting, the agreement said, Butina sent the Russian Official a message, which was translated as saying “We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later.”

It would appear that, even as Erickson was helping Butina forge those connections, he may have been aware of the political implications.

“Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns,” Erickson wrote in an October 2016 email to an acquaintance that was later obtained by the FBI, “I’ve been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key [unnamed political party] leaders through, of all conduits, the [unnamed gun-rights organization].”

And during an FBI raid of Erickson’s South Dakota home, investigators discovered a handwritten note suggesting Erickson may have been aware of a possible job offer from Russian intelligence services: “How to respond to FSB offer of employment?” Erickson scratched, an apparent reference to the Russian equivalent of the CIA.

 

[Sithborg]

Once again, taking notes on a criminal conspiracy.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Bloomberg - NRA-Linked Russia Central Banker Retires

 

[Sithborg]

I mean, that is probably better than the other options...

 

[DJ Kornphlake]

Like being "retired" by Putin?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

NBC News - Russian operative Maria Butina pleads guilty to conspiracy
Butina was arrested in July for allegedly conspiring to infiltrate politically powerful U.S. organizations, including the NRA, in an effort to push Moscow's agenda.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

This should be the tip of the iceberg. Given the NRA's visibility this past decade given how often they are in the spotlight due to America's mass shooting epidemic, it would be so ironic if having impugned the character and patriotism of so many for wanting action on gun control, if we learn they in fact were involved with Russian efforts to influence the public so as to install Putin's favored candidate into the White House. There seems to be quite a bit of open source reporting to suggest that's indeed what happened. If so, Butina's case would be an opening salvo in finding the NRA guilty of quite a few crimes, which would include colluding in a criminal conspiracy with a hostile foreign nation.


I wonder what the usual band of Hype Centrists think about this?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[Sithborg]

Yes, lets take down the NRA.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Washington Post - New report on Russian disinformation, prepared for the Senate, shows the operation’s scale and sweep

Russia and 2016: Troll group sought to recruit 'assets' through social media, Senate told - CNN

New York Times - Russian 2016 Influence Operation Targeted African-Americans on Social Media

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Buzzfeed - Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign
Whistleblowers said the Americans were exchanging messages with unsecure Gmail accounts set up by their Russian counterparts as the US election heated up.