Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Part 127, some of Russian meddling, and related, material from F6 big ones. These from Friday, 01/26/18, headed,
David Cay Johnston: Trump is Determined to Provoke War to Draw Focus from Racist & Erratic Behavior
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=138006059

The starter pair with David Cay Johnston are well worth a watch. Here he is again.

Fifth down

Trump Biographer on the President’s Cognitive Decline & Whether He Will Be Impeached

Published on Jan 18, 2018 by Democracy Now!
White House doctor Ronny Jackson said Tuesday President Trump is in good health and displayed a normal score on a cognitive exam, amid mounting questions about President Trump’s mental health. But on Wednesday, medical experts said that the results from Trump’s recent physical exam show the president has high levels of cholesterol and is at serious risk of a heart attack. We speak to journalist David Cay Johnston about the possibility of impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/18/trump_biographer_on_the_presidents_cognitive [with embedded video, and transcript]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEzs1ZobHOo [with comments]

These three start almost one third down

Trump told Bannon not to talk in Russia probe, new report
The Beat with Ari Melber
1/18/18
Trump’s lawyer says he is “very eager” to talk to Mueller as a new report by Foreign Policy
says Trump directly ordered Steve Bannon to limit his testimony in the Russia investigation.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/trump-told-bannon-not-to-talk-in-russia-probe-new-report-1140289091723

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Russians may have used the NRA to funnel money to Trump
The Beat with Ari Melber
1/18/18
The FBI is investigating whether Russian money went to the NRA to help Trump,
according to McClatchy. The reporter who broke the story joins Ari Melber.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/russians-may-have-used-the-nra-to-funnel-money-to-trump-1140293187615

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Watch former Paul Manafort employee explain the reason he could go to jail

The Beat with Ari Melber
1/18/18
Paul Manafort’s former employee, Riva Levinson, tells Ari Melber Manafort “always
lacked a moral compass” and left her “traumatized, depressed, almost in mourning.”
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/exclusive-watch-manafort-s-former-aide-say-why-he-s-legal-trouble-1140291139975 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDyI1OMrGb8 [with comments]

Trump made a fundamental mistake when he ran for president. Manafort (and others) made theirs when they decided to join him.

Into the second third

Did Russia funnel money through NRA to help elect Trump?
All In with Chris Hayes
1/18/18
It sounds like something out of a liberal conspiracy theory: Vladimir Putin takes advantage of dark money
loopholes under the infamous Citizens United ruling to move huge amounts of money through the National
Rifle Association...which uses that money to help elect Donald Trump President of the United States.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/did-russia-funnel-money-through-nra-to-help-elect-trump-1140344899867

Skip two to this pair

Fusion GPS testimony shows potential crimes

The Rachel Maddow Show
1/18/18
Rachel Maddow reads some of the highlights of the newly released transcript of
the House Intelligence Committee testimony of Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/fusion-gps-transcript-outlines-potential-trump-money-laundering-1140404803703 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDrNi4ghF2Y [with comments]

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Russian money ties to NRA under FBI scrutiny
The Rachel Maddow Show
1/18/18
Greg Gordon, investigative reporter for McClatchy DC, talks with Rachel Maddow about news that the
FBI is looking into whether Russian money was funneled to the Trump campaign through the NRA.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/russian-money-ties-to-nra-under-fbi-scrutiny-1140425283667

Pass one to these two

Delaware takes role in Trump scandal
The Rachel Maddow Show
1/18/18
Rachel Maddow shows how the laws in Delaware make it a popular place
to headquarter a business in name only for purposes of secrecy.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/delaware-takes-role-in-trump-scandal-1140455491736

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Trump lawyer used shell to pay porn star: WSJ
The Rachel Maddow Show
1/18/18
Michael Rothfeld, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, talks with Rachel Maddow about new reporting that
Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen used a private company to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-lawyer-used-shell-company-to-pay-porn-star-wsj-1140420675612

The first of these four is just before halfway

Russia dossier testimony details possible money laundering

The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
1/19/18
In testimony just released by the House Intelligence Committee, Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the research firm behind the
Trump-Russia dossier, details possible money laundering & collusion between Russia & Trump world. Our panel discusses.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired January 18, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/russia-dossier-testimony-details-possible-money-laundering-1140465731524 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3BUa6ZeKCQ [with comments]

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Russia testimony: It appears Russia infiltrated the NRA

The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
1/19/18
Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of the research firm behind the Trump-Russia dossier, said in testimony
just released by the House Intelligence Committee it seems the NRA was infiltrated by Moscow.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired January 18, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/russia-testimony-it-appears-russia-infiltrated-the-nra-1140464195742 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVcSK7ehSt4 [with comments]

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Trump is 'eager' to talk to Special Counsel Mueller
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
1/19/18
Trump attorney Ty Cobb says that his client is 'eager' to talk to Russia
Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Our expert panel gives their take.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired January 18, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/trump-is-eager-to-talk-to-special-counsel-mueller-1140466755734

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House Intelligence Cmte. delays Hope Hicks testimony
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
1/19/18
The House panel has delayed its testimony with longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks, reportedly
to try to resolve issues involving executive privilege & testimony. Our panel reacts.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired January 18, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/house-intelligence-cmte-delays-hope-hicks-testimony-1140469827624

Pass one more to

WSJ: Trump lawyer used fake company to pay off porn star
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
1/19/18
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that, before the 2016 campaign, Trump attorney Michael Cohen set
up a private company to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels not to discuss an alleged affair with Trump.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired January 18, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/wsj-trump-lawyer-used-fake-company-to-pay-off-porn-star-1140471363685

To "stashed January 18, 2018:"

The World Has Officially Lost Confidence In U.S. Leadership Under Trump
Even George W. Bush was more popular.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/global-leadership-us-trump_us_5a607778e4b062a7df0b25da

FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump
WASHINGTON - The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump win the presidency, two sources familiar with the matter have told McClatchy.
FBI counterintelligence investigators have focused on the activities of Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who is known for his close relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the NRA, the sources said.
It is illegal to use foreign money to influence federal elections.
It’s unclear how long the Torshin inquiry has been ongoing, but the news comes as Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sweeping investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including whether the Kremlin colluded with Trump’s campaign, has been heating up.
All of the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because Mueller’s investigation is confidential and mostly involves classified information.
A spokesman for Mueller’s office declined comment.
Disclosure of the Torshin investigation signals a new dimension in the 18-month-old FBI probe of Russia’s interference. McClatchy reported a year ago that a multi-agency U.S. law enforcement and counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s intervention, begun even before the start of the 2016 general election campaign, initially included a focus on whether the Kremlin secretly helped fund efforts to boost Trump, but little has been said about that possibility in recent months.
The extent to which the FBI has evidence of money flowing from Torshin to the NRA, or of the NRA’s participation in the transfer of funds, could not be learned.
However, the NRA reported spending a record $55 million on the 2016 elections, including $30 million to support Trump – triple what the group devoted to backing Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. Most of that was money was spent by an arm of the NRA that is not required to disclose its donors.
Two people with close connections to the powerful gun lobby said its total election spending actually approached or exceeded $70 million. The reporting gap could be explained by the fact that independent groups are not required to reveal how much they spend on Internet ads or field operations, including get-out-the-vote efforts.
During the campaign, Trump was an outspoken advocate of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, at one point drawing a hail of criticism by suggesting that, if Clinton were elected, gun rights advocates could stop her from winning confirmation of liberal Supreme Court justices who support gun control laws.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” Trump said at a rally in August 2016. “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”
Spanish authorities tag Torshin for money laundering
Torshin, a leading figure in Putin’s party, has been implicated in money laundering by judicial authorities in Spain, as Bloomberg News first revealed in 2016. Spanish investigators alleged in an almost 500-page internal report that Torshin, who was then a senator, capitalized on his government role to assist mobsters laundering funds through Spanish properties and banks, Bloomberg reported
A summary obtained by McClatchy of the still-secret report links Torshin to Russian money laundering and describes him as a godfather in a major Russian criminal organization called Taganskaya.
Investigators for three congressional committees probing Russia’s 2016 operations also have shown interest in Torshin, a lifetime NRA member who has attended several of its annual conventions. At the group’s meeting in Kentucky in May 2016, Torshin spoke to Donald Trump Jr. during a gala event at the group’s national gathering in Kentucky in May 2016, when his father won an earlier-than-usual NRA presidential endorsement.
An FBI spokesman declined to comment on the investigation.
The NRA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Torshin could not be reached for comment, and emails to the Russian central bank seeking comment from Torshin and the bank elicited no response.
Mueller’s investigation has been edging closer to Trump’s inner circle. This week, The New York Times reported that Mueller had negotiated an agreement under which Steve Bannon, who was recently ousted from his post as a senior White House adviser, would fully respond to questions about the Trump campaign. Bannon headed the campaign over its final weeks.
Since taking over the investigation last May, Mueller has secured guilty pleas from two former Trump aides, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, both of whom agreed to cooperate with prosecutors; and criminal charges against two other top campaign figures, former campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates.
Paul Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016. By October 2017, he had been indicted on 12 counts including conspiracy against the U.S. by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Here's what happened in between.
$30 million
The amount of money the National Rifle Association spent backing Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign – triple what the group spent on Republican Mitt Romney four years earlier.
A year ago, three U.S. intelligence agencies signed off on a joint assessment that was the basis for the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and other sanctions against the Kremlin. The intelligence agencies concluded that what began as a sophisticated Russian operation to undermine Americans’ faith in democracy morphed into a drive to help Trump win.
Torshin is among a phalanx of Putin proxies to draw the close attention of U.S. investigators, who also have tracked the activities of several Russian billionaires and pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs that have come in contact with Trump or his surrogates.
Torshin was a senior member of the Russian Senate and in recent years helped set up a Moscow gun rights group called Right to Bear Arms. He not only spoke with Trump Jr. at the NRA convention, but he also tried unsuccessfully to broker a meeting between Putin and the presidential candidate in 2016, according to the Times. He further sought to meet privately with the candidate himself near the 2016 NRA convention.
Torshin’s ties with the NRA have flourished in recent years. In late 2015, he hosted two dinners for a high-level NRA delegation during its week-long visit to Moscow that included meetings with influential Russian government and business figures.
In their internal report, Spanish prosecutors revealed a web of covert financial and money-laundering dealings between Torshin and Alexander Romanov, a Russian who pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in 2016 and was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
The prosecutors’ evidence included 33 audio recordings of phone conversations from mid-2012 to mid-2013 between Torshin and Romanov, who allegedly laundered funds to buy a hotel on the ritzy island of Mallorca. Torshin had an 80 percent stake in the venture, the Spanish report said.
In the phone conversations, Romanov referred to Torshin as the “godfather” or “boss.” Torshin has denied any links to organized crime and said his dealings with Romanov were purely “social.”
The Madrid-based newspaper El Pais last year reported that Spanish police were on the verge of arresting Torshin in the summer of 2013, when he had planned to attend a birthday party for Romanov, but a Russian prosecutor tipped the banker to plans to nab him if he set foot in Spain, and Torshin canceled his trip.
Congress looking at Torshin, too
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also have taken an interest in Torshin as part of their parallel inquiries into Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.
In questioning Donald Trump Jr. at a closed-door hearing in mid-December, investigators for the Senate Intelligence Committee asked about his encounter with Torshin at the NRA convention, according to a source familiar with the hearing.
Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr., said his client and Torshin talked only briefly when they were introduced during a meal.
“It was all gun-related small talk,” Futerfas told McClatchy.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters in November to two senior Trump foreign policy aides, J.D. Gordon and Sam Clovis, seeking copies of any communications they had with or related to Torshin; the NRA; veteran conservative operative Paul Erickson; Maria Butina, a Torshin protege who ran the Russian pro-gun group he helped launch, and others linked to Torshin.
Erickson has raised funds for the NRA and is a friend of Butina’s. Shortly before the NRA’s May 2016 convention, he emailed Trump campaign aide Rick Dearborn about the possibility of setting up a meeting between Putin and Trump during the campaign, according to the Times.
Erickson’s email to Dearborn bore the subject line “Kremlin Connection.” In it, Erickson solicited advice from Dearborn and his boss, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a top foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, about the best way to connect Putin and Trump.
Both Dearborn and Butina, who has been enrolled as a graduate student at American University since mid 2016, have been asked to appear before the Judiciary Committee, but so far Erickson has not, sources familiar with the matter said.
Bridges LLC, a company that Erickson and Butina established in February 2016 in Erickson’s home state of South Dakota, also is expected to draw scrutiny. Public records don’t reveal any financial transactions involving Bridges. In a phone interview last year, Erickson said the firm was established in case Butina needed any monetary assistance for her graduate studies — an unusual way to use an LLC.
Erickson said he met Butina and Torshin when he and David Keene, a former NRA president, attended a meeting of Right to Bear Arms a few years ago in Moscow. Erickson described the links between Right to Bear Arms and the NRA as a “moral support operation both ways.”
Torshin’s contacts with the NRA and the Trump campaign last year also came to the attention of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser. When Torshin tried to arrange a personal meeting with Trump near the NRA convention site last May, Kushner scotched the idea, according to emails forwarded to Kushner.
On top of Torshin’s efforts to cozy up to the Trump campaign, the Moscow banker has forged ties with powerful conservatives, including Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the Californian whom some have deemed Putin’s best friend in Washington. In a phone interview in 2016, Rohrabacher recalled meeting Torshin in Moscow a few years earlier and described him as “a mover and shaker.”
Last February when Torshin visited Washington, Rockefeller heir and conservative patron George O’Neill Jr. hosted a fancy four-hour dinner for the banker on Capitol Hill, an event that drew Rohrabacher, Erickson and other big names on the right. Rohrabacher has labeled Torshin as “conservatives’ favorite Russian,” Torshin was in Washington at the time to lead his country’s delegation to the National Prayer Breakfast, where Trump spoke. The banker also was slated to see the presidentat a meet-and-greet event prior to a White House breakfast, but Torshin’s invitation was canceled after the White House learned of his alleged mob connections, Yahoo News reported.
Torshin’s involvement with the NRA may have begun in 2013 when he attended the group’s convention in Houston. Keene, the ex-NRA leader and an avid hunter, was instrumental in building a relationship with the Russian, according to multiple conservative sources.
Keene also helped lead a high-level NRA delegation to Moscow in December 2015 for a week of lavish meals and meetings with Russian business and political leaders. The week’s festivities included a visit to a Russian gun company and a meeting with a senior Kremlin official and wealthy Russians, according to a member of the delegation, Arnold Goldschlager, a California doctor who has been active in NRA programs to raise large donations.
Others on the trip included Joe Gregory, who runs the NRA’s Ring of Freedom program for elite donors who chip in checks of $1 million and upwards, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke and Pete Brownell, a chief executive of a gun company and longtime NRA board member.
In a phone interview, Goldschlager described the trip as a “people-to-people mission,” and said he was impressed with Torshin — who, he noted, hosted both a “welcoming” dinner for the NRA contingent and another one.
“They were killing us with vodka and the best Russian food,” Goldschlager said. “The trip exceeded my expectations by logarithmic levels.”
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html
.. more: https://www.google.com/search?q=fbi+investigating+whether+russian

Fusion GPS leader suspected 'crime' when probing Trump team and Russia
Glenn Simpson's November interview was released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday
Republicans questioned whether the allegations Simpson was making actually had evidence to back them up
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/18/politics/fusion-gps-testimony-transcript-house-intelligence/index.html

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
U.S. SENATE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
INTERVIEW OF: GLENN SIMPSON
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/9/3974a291-ddbe-4525-9ed1-22bab43c05ae/934A3562824CACA7BB4D915E97709D2F.simpson-transcript-redacted.pdf
.. more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dHQAaE3g80oKtrMQGUZVfBXR4Xu4M?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Trump Ordered Bannon to Limit Testimony
The president relied on a key legal advisor, but his advice could have a downside
http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/18/trump-ordered-bannon-to-limit-testimony/

Trump personally made decision to limit Bannon testimony: report
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/369566-trump-personally-made-decision-to-limit-bannon-testimony-report

Trump personally ordered restrictions on Bannon's testimony, report says
President Donald Trump personally ordered Steve Bannon not to answer certain questions during his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee this week, Foreign Policy reported.
The article said a deputy White House counsel presented legal rationale that the Trump administration might be able to limit the testimony of Bannon and others under executive privilege claims.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/trump-ordered-restrictions-for-bannons-testimony-report.html
.. more: https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+bannon+testimony

Fusion GPS: Kremlin ‘Purged’ Suspected Spies After Trump Dossier Release
In an interview with House intel committee, Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson claimed the Kremlin tried to eliminate U.S. intel sources after the Trump dossier went public.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/fusion-gps-kremlin-purge-followed-dossier-release