Friday, March 09, 2018 5:44:39 AM
Part 159, some of Russian meddling, and related, material from F6 big ones. These from Tuesday, 03/06/18,
headed, Mueller Probe Heats Up: 13 Russians Indicted, Ex-Trump Aide to Plead Guilty, Focus on Kushner Grows
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139051519
That one
Published on Feb 20, 2018 by Democracy Now! [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzuqE7-t13O4NIDYJfakrhw / https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow , https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow/videos ]
There have been a number of significant developments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump administration. CNN is reporting Mueller is now investigating Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his attempts to secure financing for his family’s business while working on the president’s transition team. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times is reporting former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates has agreed to plead guilty and testify against Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager. Under the deal, Gates will plead guilty to money laundering and illegal foreign lobbying. These developments come just days after the Justice Department indicted 13 Russians and three companies in connection with efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election by orchestrating an online propaganda effort to undermine the U.S. election system. We speak to Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties. She runs the website EmptyWheel.net [ https://www.emptywheel.net/ ].
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/20/mueller_probe_heats_up_13_russians [with embedded video, and transcript]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9-wfQzZ2HA [with comments]
About a quarter down, this one
Fmr. Trump aide: Donald Trump "screws everyone"
The Beat with Ari Melber
2/20/18
On the day Bob Mueller obtained a guilty plea from a lawyer in the Russia probe, former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg, who was
cited 19 times in ‘Fire and Fury’, tells Ari Melber he’s “worried” about Trump’s own lawyer Michael Cohen. Nunberg says for the first time
Mueller’s team asked him for an interview, and adds that Donald Trump “screws” everyone, but has done it to Michael Cohen the most.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/fmr-trump-aide-donald-trump-screws-everyone-1166089283533 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMU9jG3aV7g [with comments]
Leave two to this pair
"Trump has done literally zero" to stop Russia
All In with Chris Hayes
2/20/18
Jake Sullivan, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, says Trump has left the door wide open for Russia to disrupt the midterm elections.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-trump-has-done-literally-zero-to-stop-russia-1166120003868
*
WH won’t say if Kushner still has access to classified info
All In with Chris Hayes
2/20/18
Jared Kushner, one of the most senior White House aides operating without a permanent security clearance,
reportedly “issues more requests for information to the intelligence community than any White House employee.”
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/wh-won-t-say-if-kushner-still-has-access-to-classified-info-1166126147571
Leave four to these three
Nepotism likely to save Kushner in White House security crackdown
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow reports on new confusion in the White House as a new policy of enforcing security clearances
appears to be in conflict with the continued employment of the still-not-cleared Jared Kushner.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/nepotism-likely-to-save-kushner-in-white-house-security-crackdown-1166257731698
*
Americans google Alex van der Zwaan as Mueller issues new charges
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow reviews recent Ukrainian political history by way of explaining new charges in Robert Mueller's Trump
Russia investigation against a lawyer who is also the son-in-law of a Ukrainian-Russian oligarch, Alex van der Zwaan.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/americans-google-alex-van-der-zwaan-as-mueller-issues-new-charges-1166215747657 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkqc9IXVu6w [with comments]
*
Mueller catches lawyer lying, brings new charges
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow continues to review recent Ukrainian political history by way of explaining new charges in Robert Mueller's
Trump Russia investigation against a lawyer who is also the son-in-law of a Ukrainian-Russian oligarch, Alex van der Zwaan.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/mueller-catches-lawyer-lying-brings-new-charges-1166217283794
Skip one to these five
Disparate dots find connections in Robert Mueller indictments
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow looks at the relationships that bring today's charges by Robert
Mueller against lawyer Alex van der Zwaan right into Vladimir Putin's inner circle.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/disparate-dots-find-connections-in-robert-mueller-indictments-1166248003765
*
Mueller follows the money overseas back to Washington
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Ken Vogel, political reporter for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about the
themes becoming visible in what is known so far about Robert Mueller's investigation.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/mueller-follows-the-money-overseas-back-to-washington-1166222915655
*
US State Dept suggests asking Russia about US State Dept business
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow updates viewers on the search for answers about a visit to the U.S. but Russia's top spy officials. In the case of whether
the State Department gave the sanctioned GRU chief, Igor Korobov, a travel waiver, State directed TRMS to get the answer from Russia.
DNI response to Sen Chuck Schumer about Russian Intel Chiefs' visit to US
http://www.msnbc.com/sites/msnbc/files/dni_schumer_reply_180220.pdf
Senator Schumer's original letter
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter.Schumer%20to%20Coats%20re%20RUS.pdf
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/us-state-dept-suggests-asking-russia-about-us-state-dept-business-1166187587653 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2wnDIl6XTk [with comments]
--
Lawrence: White House dodges questions on major scandals
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
2/20/18
The White House held its first press briefing in a week and it lasted only 17 minutes. Lawrence O'Donnell
argues this is a strategy to avoid answering questions on the scandals plaguing the administration.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-white-house-dodges-questions-on-major-scandals-1166210627933
*
Thomas Friedman's 'code red' warning about Trump
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
2/20/18
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that President Donald Trump is undermining the nation's
democracy. He explains to Lawrence O'Donnell why he can't find any optimism for the Trump presidency.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/thomas-friedman-s-code-red-warning-about-trump-1166210627991 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQN5GK3zbxA [with comments]
Leave one to these four, which get us to halfway
NYT: Kushner & Kelly warring over access to top secret docs
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
According to The New York Times, Trump's chief of staff John Kelly and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are in a standoff over
Kushner's access to classified information given that Kushner still is working on an interim security clearance. Our panel reacts.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/nyt-kushner-kelly-warring-over-access-to-top-secret-docs-1166245443942
*
Where were Ivanka & Kushner as Trump raged over Russia?
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
While Trump raged in a tweetstorm over Russia attacking everyone from Obama to Oprah, Jared Kushner & Ivanka
Trump - both on the White House staff - were vacationing in the Caribbean according to a Vanity Fair report.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/where-were-ivanka-kushner-as-trump-raged-over-russia-1166249539934 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRhJin3sqzM [with comments]
*
Mueller's fourth guilty plea: Who is Alex van der Zwaan?
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
What do we know about the son-in-law of a Russian oligarch, Alex van der Zwaan, the latest person to plead guilty to Russia
Special Counsel Robert Mueller? And what does it mean for Mueller's investigation? Julia Ainsley & Joyce Vance react.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/mueller-s-fourth-guilty-plea-who-is-alex-van-der-zwaan-1166256195792 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cakB6cNhBVc [with comments]
*
Why Mueller's latest guilty plea could be bad for Manafort
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller now has his fourth guilty plea, this time from a Dutch lawyer named Alex van der Zwaan.
Fmr. federal prosecutor Joyce Vance explains why that could be bad news for Trump's fmr. campaign boss Paul Manafort.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/why-mueller-s-latest-guilty-plea-could-be-bad-for-manafort-1166257219829
To "stashed February 20, 2018:"
Trump is ignoring the worst attack on America since 9/11
By Max Boot
Imagine if, after 9/11, the president had said that the World Trade Center and Pentagon could have been attacked by “China” or “lots of other people.” Imagine if he had dismissed claims of al-Qaeda’s responsibility as a “hoax” and said that he “really” believed Osama bin Laden’s denials. Imagine if he saw the attack primarily as a political embarrassment to be minimized rather than as a national security threat to be combated. Imagine if he threatened to fire the investigators trying to find out what happened.
Imagine, moreover, if the president refused to appoint a commission to study how to safeguard America. Imagine if, as a result, we did not harden cockpit doors. If we did not create a Transportation Security Administration and a Department of Homeland Security. If we did not lower barriers between law enforcement and intelligence. If we did not pass a USA Patriot Act to enhance surveillance. And if we did not take myriad other steps to prevent another 9/11.
That’s roughly where we stand after the second-worst foreign attack on America in the past two decades. The Russian subversion of the 2016 election did not, to be sure, kill nearly 3,000 people. But its longer-term impact may be even more corrosive by undermining faith in our democracy.
The evidence of Russian meddling became “incontrovertible,” in the word of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, after special counsel Robert S. Mueller III indicted 13 Russians and three Russian organizations on Friday for taking part in this operation. “Defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump (‘Trump Campaign’) and disparaging Hillary Clinton,” the indictment charges.
Yet in a disturbing weekend tweetstorm, President Trump attacked the FBI, Democrats, even McMaster — anyone but the Russians. He sought to minimize the impact of the Kremlin’s intrusion, tweeting: “The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!” Actually, there’s plenty of evidence of collusion, including the infamous June 2016 meeting that Trump’s son, son-in-law and campaign manager held with Russian representatives who promised to “incriminate” Hillary Clinton.
There is also considerable evidence that the Kremlin impacted the election, which was decided by fewer than 80,000 votes in three states. Trump must have thought the Russian operation was significant because he mentioned its handiwork — the release of Democratic Party documents via WikiLeaks — 137 times in the final month of the campaign. On top of that, Russian propaganda reached at least 126 million Americans via Facebook alone.
The onslaught did not end in 2016. Russian trolls have continued promoting hashtags such as #ReleaseTheMemo to sow dissension and division. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats just testified that Russia “views the 2018 U.S. midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations.” Yet Trump has never convened a Cabinet meeting to address this threat and has resisted implementing sanctions passed by Congress.
The president’s obstructionism makes it impossible to appoint an 11/8 Commission to study this cyber-assault and to recommend responses. Various agencies, such as the FBI, are trying to combat the Russians on their own, but there is no coordinated response.
Much of the work has been left to social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter that had to be dragged kicking and screaming into revealing the extent of Russian penetration, because they don’t want to lose ad revenue and users. Their apathy was underscored by a Friday tweet from Facebook vice president Rob Goldman that was eagerly quoted by Trump himself: “Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal.” That may be technically accurate as it applies to Facebook ads, but it is also highly deceptive. These ads were only a small part of a vast Russian operation utilizing hackers and trolls that, as Mueller noted, was designed to sway the election.
Just as Sept. 11 made clear that private security could not safeguard the aviation system, so the 2016 Russian attack made clear that social media companies cannot safeguard the electoral system. A greater federal role is needed, yet Trump refuses to even admit that the problem exists.
The most benign explanation is that he is putting his vanity — he can’t have anything taint his glorious victory — above his obligation to “protect and defend the Constitution.” The more sinister hypothesis is that he has something to hide and, having benefited from Russia’s assistance once, hopes for more aid in 2018 and 2020. Either way, we are at war without a commander in chief.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-ignoring-the-worst-attack-on-america-since-911/2018/02/18/5ad888f2-14f3-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html
more: https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+is+ignoring+the+worst+attack+on+america
Mr. Trump: They’re laughing at you, not with you
By Eugene Robinson
President Trump is right about one thing: They must be “laughing their asses off” in Moscow.
At him.
Faced with compelling evidence that Russian cyber-saboteurs worked to sway the 2016 election, influencing swing-state voters with lies on social media and even staging real-life campaign rallies, Trump’s only response has been a frantic and pathetic attempt to protect his own delicate ego. “But wasn’t I a great candidate?” he pleaded Sunday on Twitter.
Protecting our democracy obviously concerns Trump not at all. But you’re probably not surprised.
In a stunning indictment announced on Friday, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III laid out in painstaking detail how a group of paid Internet trolls based in St. Petersburg worked diligently to “sow discord in the U.S. political system.” They began with the aim of creating general mischief, but “by early to mid-2016, Defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump (‘Trump Campaign’) and disparaging Hillary Clinton.”
There it is, in black and white: Trump was elected with the active help of Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Putin is not named as a co-conspirator, the man behind the scheme — an oligarch named Yevgeniy Prigozhin — is a longtime crony known in Russia as “Putin’s chef.” The idea that he would meddle in a U.S. election without orders from Putin is ludicrous.
The 13 named defendants are presumably in Russia, beyond the reach of U.S. justice. Mueller’s account of what they allegedly did is simply infuriating. Voters who saw the Russians’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts were led to believe they were being lobbied by their fellow citizens — not by an adversarial foreign power.
They tried to convince Muslim voters that Clinton was anti-Islam, and tried to convince anti-Muslim voters that she favored imposing sharia law. They tried to suppress the African American vote with an Instagram account named “Woke Blacks” that called Clinton “the lesser of two devils,” and argued “we’d surely be better off without voting AT ALL.” They purchased online ads calling Clinton “a Satan” and falsely accused her of voter fraud while claiming that “Donald Trump is the one and only [candidate] who can defend the police from terrorists.”
They organized and promoted actual pro-Trump and anti-Clinton rallies in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to the indictment, and they targeted their social media campaigns at other swing states. To pay for all of this, they established fraudulent U.S. identities and bank accounts so that no one would know they were heeding political advice from Russians employed by “Putin’s chef.”
Mueller’s big splash sent Trump into a full-fledged Twitter conniption that, by Monday, showed no sign of easing. It would be a waste of space to quote all of Trump’s bleating, but basically he tried to claim that the indictment proves two things: Whatever the Russians did or didn’t do, they had no impact on the outcome of the election; and there was no collusion — or as Trump would put it, NO COLLUSION — between the Russians and the Trump campaign.
Deep down, he must know the indictment says nothing of the sort.
Of course the Russians had some impact. If communicating via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were a useless way to influence voters, campaigns wouldn’t bother with social media strategies. If rallies didn’t produce votes, campaigns would find better uses for the money and effort it takes to stage them.
It’s true that it is impossible to say how much impact this element of the Russian meddling offensive had. Would it have made a difference if more African Americans had voted in the Rust Belt states that Trump unexpectedly won? Or if fewer progressives had voted for the Green Party’s Jill Stein, whose candidacy the Russians worked hard to boost? Perhaps some clever political science professor will figure it all out someday.
As for collusion, it is true that Mueller does not allege that anyone from the Trump campaign knowingly participated in the Prigozhin conspiracy. But it goes deeper: Intelligence officials say the Russians hacked into the email accounts of both the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and then leaked that material to do maximum damage to Clinton’s prospects. We don’t know if there was collusion in that scheme — or in other schemes we might not yet know about.
Late Saturday night, well past his usual bedtime, Trump was wide-awake and still tweeting: “The only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!”
Stop laughing, Vladimir Putin. You’ll hurt yourself.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-trump-theyre-laughing-at-you-not-with-you/2018/02/19/18605e7e-15b0-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html
The Flawed Nationalism of Donald Trump
The president can’t grasp that what matters most about the Russia attack is not what it reveals about his political legitimacy but what it reveals about America’s national vulnerability.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/the-flawed-nationalism-of-donald-trump/553721/
Facebook Battles New Criticism After U.S. Indictment Against Russians
Comments by Facebook’s head of advertising after indictment spark further backlash
Facebook Inc. FB -0.76%? is contending with a new wave of criticism prompted by the U.S. indictment alleging that Russia manipulated social-media platforms—and by a Facebook executive’s attempts to address the issue.
The indictment against Russian companies and individuals described how an organization called the Internet Research Agency allegedly used Facebook, Twitter Inc., TWTR -0.67%? and the YouTube arm of Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL 0.74%? Google to sow discord in the U.S. starting in 2014. The document’s description of events showed that Facebook and its Instagram photo-sharing unit were particularly central to the alleged Russian attempts to influence U.S. public opinion.
Researchers who study social media said the indictment, secured by special counsel Robert Mueller, showed that Facebook was ill-prepared for such efforts. Facebook has more than 25,000 employees, but fewer than 100 Russian provocateurs armed with social-media savvy and widely available technological tools were able to manipulate its platform for years, the indictment says.
Comments by Facebook’s head of advertising, Rob Goldman, after the indictment was handed up Friday fueled further criticism. Mr. Goldman, writing on Twitter, said there are “easy ways to fight” the Russian campaign, starting with having a “well educated citizenry.” He also tweeted that the Russians’ main goal wasn’t to sway the 2016 election, but more broadly to sow division in the U.S.
Mr. Goldman’s series of eight tweets provoked more than 9,000 responses on Twitter, many of them angry.
“You really are not in a position to preach and your astonishing tweets have created confusion and anger,” Mainardo de Nardis, a senior executive at advertising giant Omnicom Group Inc., said in a tweet Sunday. “Enough damage done over the past 2+ years. In the absence of real actions silence would be appreciated.” Mr. de Nardis didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A Facebook spokesman said Mr. Goldman, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, had sent his tweets in a personal capacity. The company pointed to a statement from Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president of global public policy, saying, “Nothing we found contradicts the Special Counsel’s indictments.”
Russia’s government has repeatedly denied any government effort to influence the U.S. election.
Facebook has struggled for much of the past year to respond to mounting ire from users, politicians, customers and others over its role in facilitating the spread of misinformation and divisive content.
The indictment shows that “there are lots of levers that get pulled in social media for the sake of manipulation and a lot of those levers aren’t even known by the companies themselves,” said Sam Woolley, an Oxford University research associate who has studied propaganda efforts on social-media platforms.
The indictment documented an unprecedented manipulation campaign targeting Facebook, its Instagram platform, Twitter and YouTube. Starting in 2014, the Russians built an influence operation that drew followers to bogus accounts that spread disinformation, organized U.S. demonstrations and even paid a person to dress up like Hillary Clinton in a prison uniform at a West Palm Beach, Fla., rally, the indictment says.
While much of the attention around the Russian manipulation focused on its efforts to stoke divisions ahead the 2016 U.S. presidential election, it is clear the campaign continued since then. The Wall Street Journal reported in October that some of the Russian-backed social-media accounts posted divisive messages at least as recently as last August.
The Twitter comments of Mr. Goldman, Facebook’s head of advertising, also fueled disagreement about the intent of the Russian efforts. One of Mr. Goldman’s tweets said “swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal” of the Russian ads, and that “the majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election.”
On Saturday, President Donald Trump cited Mr. Goldman’s comment in support of the idea that Russia’s actions didn’t affect the election.
Following criticism that he was obscuring the intent of the Russians, Mr. Goldman later tweeted that “the Russian campaign was certainly in favor of Mr. Trump.” He also dialed back some of his claims. “I am only speaking here about the Russian behavior on Facebook. That is the only aspect that I observed directly,” he tweeted.
Clint Watts, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute who studied the Russian influence campaign, said the ads bought on Facebook were only “a much smaller part of a very large effort.”
“Mr. Goldman should have stayed silent,” Mr. Watts said, adding that playing down the effect of the influence campaign risked further angering Americans. “The public is upset that they got duped on Facebook’s platform. Facebook got duped,” he said. “It makes it seem like they don’t get it.”
While Facebook’s role in the Russian campaign is in the spotlight, some researchers who have studied the efforts note that it was far from the only institution to fall short.
“Let’s not mince words. The Obama administration did not react quickly enough to this problem. The intelligence community did not react quickly enough to this problem,” said Thomas Rid, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Facebook has said it is taking a number of steps to prevent efforts like the Russian campaign from happening again, including hiring 10,000 employees tasked with policing hate speech, as well as coming up with ways to uproot fake accounts. Facebook officials also have emphasized that the company provided information to Mr. Mueller.
Mr. Goldman, too, said Facebook is taking “aggressive steps to prevent this sort of meddling in the future,” including verification for all political advertisers. Still, his comments struck some observers as tone deaf.
“It was an almost perfect example of Silicon Valley overconfidence and lack of sophistication when it comes to politics,” said Josh Hendler, former director of technology for the Democratic National Committee, which suffered a cyberattack ahead of the 2016 election that U.S. officials blamed on Russia.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-battles-new-criticism-after-u-s-indictment-against-russians-1519066080
In His Own Words: Trump on Russian Meddling
"I never said Russia did not meddle in the election."
FALSE
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/02/words-trump-russian-meddling/
Donald Trump falsely says he never denied Russian meddling
"I never said Russia did not meddle in the election."
Pants on Fire!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/feb/19/donald-trump/donald-trump-falsely-denies-he-denied-russian-medd/
Trump is helping to undermine US democracy. That's just what Russia wants
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/politics/donald-trump-russia-robert-mueller/index.html
There's a specific reason Trump leveled an unprecedented amount of frustration toward the Russia probe this weekend
This past weekend, President Donald Trump fired off more than a dozen tweets about Russia following the latest charges in the investigation into Russian election meddling.
Trump alternated between declaring his innocence, blaming former President Barack Obama for Russia's election interference, accusing Hillary Clinton of collusion, and suggesting the FBI could have prevented last week's Florida school shooting if it hadn't been so focused on the Russia investigation.
The charges the special counsel announced Friday did not implicate any members of the Trump campaign or the White House.
Trump's unprecedented level of public frustration with the investigation most likely stems from his belief that Friday's indictment threatens the legitimacy of his election victory.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-russia-indictment-challenges-trump-belief-about-2016-election-legitimacy-2018-2
What Could Be Coming Next In Robert Mueller's Russia Investigation
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/20/587305198/what-could-be-coming-next-in-robert-muellers-russia-investigation
Trump’s unhinged Russia tweetstorm boomerangs back on Republicans
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/02/20/trumps-unhinged-russia-tweetstorm-boomerangs-back-on-republicans/
Why Thomas Friedman issued a 'code red' warning to America
Thomas Friedman doesn't scare easily.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/20/media/thomas-friedman-new-york-times-column/index.html
Trump Tries to Shift Blame to Obama for Not Countering Russian Meddling
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/us/politics/trump-obama-russian-meddling.html
Trump Defiant Despite Mueller’s Warning Shot on Russia Meddling
President fumed about Russia probe but didn’t attack Moscow
Officials are warning about repeat attacks in 2018 elections
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/trump-defiant-despite-mueller-s-warning-shot-on-russia-meddling
Robert Mueller Has Trump Cornered
By Robert Kuttner
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-kuttner-mueller-russia_us_5a8a3dfde4b004fc31939016
more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dPAoEetJFEbH7hMc82GrFzniV0g2M?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en
Trump’s staggering dereliction of duty
By Ruth Marcus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-staggering-dereliction-of-duty/2018/02/18/87133a42-14cc-11e8-92c9-376b4fe57ff7_story.html
more: https://www.google.com/search?q=trump%27s+staggering+dereliction+of+duty
Former Skadden Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Lying in Russia Investigation
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/us/politics/alex-van-der-zwaan-gates-russia-mueller.html
U.S. v. Alex van der Zwaan
Information
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4382158/2-16-18-Van-Der-Zwaan-Information.pdf
In Mueller probe, son-in-law of Russian businessman pleads guilty to false statements
The Dutch son-in-law of one of Russia’s wealthiest men pleaded guilty Tuesday in Washington to making false statements in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to a new court filing.
Alex van der Zwaan was charged with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates, a former staffer on President Trump’s campaign and a longtime business partner of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Based in London, van der Zwaan worked for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which did work with Manafort and Gates while they served as political consultants in Ukraine, before joining Trump’s campaign in 2016. Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of German Khan, a billionaire and an owner of Alfa Group, Russia’s largest financial and industrial investment group.
Mueller charged Manafort and Gates in October with conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges related to lobbying work they did for a Russian-friendly political party in Ukraine and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
[...]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/mueller-probe-london-based-son-of-russian-businessman-to-plead-guilty-to-false-statements/2018/02/20/142f4d2e-164b-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html
Mueller’s Move on Ex-Skadden Lawyer Puts Heat on Manafort, Gates
Van der Zwaan worked on Ukraine report coordinated by Manafort
False statements case unveiled days after Russians charged
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/skadden-arps-lawyer-is-charged-with-role-in-u-s-russia-probe
Attorney pleads guilty in Mueller probe to lying to FBI over contacts with former Trump campaign official
Alex van der Zwaan admitted making false or misleading statements regarding email communications with Richard Gates.
His former employer, the renowned law firm Skadden, Arps, says they are cooperating with authorities.
Van der Zwaan is married to the daughter of German Khan, a Russian oligarch who is suing research firm Fusion GPS over a dossier alleging salacious and unverified ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/mueller-charges-attorney-with-lying-to-the-fbi.html
more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dW3pvaWS9u-HrTM6VI6a_piILgJ4M?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en
Devin Nunes's Fake Oversight
The House Intelligence Committee chairman’s actions are toxic to the democratic process and dangerous to American national security.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/devin-nunes-and-the-invention-of-fake-oversight/553694/
more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dbKTA5UR04LMIhMskbKGYbWBar7IM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en
Donald Trump Jr. dismisses ethics concerns in India
Donald Trump Jr. dismissed suggestions that his family is profiting from his father's presidency on the first day of a tour of India to promote luxury apartments.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/20/news/economy/donald-trump-jr-india-visit-delhi-kolkata-modi/index.html
White House says new security clearance policy will not affect Kushner's work
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearances-white-house/index.html
“This Is the New War”: Jared Kushner, Amid a Showdown with Kelly, Prepares for Battle with a Weekend in the Caribbean
As Trump melted down at Mar-a-Lago, and the administration reeled from one of its most dismal weeks in 13 months, Kushner and his wife left the country.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-caribbean-vacation
headed, Mueller Probe Heats Up: 13 Russians Indicted, Ex-Trump Aide to Plead Guilty, Focus on Kushner Grows
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139051519
That one
Published on Feb 20, 2018 by Democracy Now! [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzuqE7-t13O4NIDYJfakrhw / https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow , https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow/videos ]
There have been a number of significant developments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump administration. CNN is reporting Mueller is now investigating Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his attempts to secure financing for his family’s business while working on the president’s transition team. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times is reporting former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates has agreed to plead guilty and testify against Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager. Under the deal, Gates will plead guilty to money laundering and illegal foreign lobbying. These developments come just days after the Justice Department indicted 13 Russians and three companies in connection with efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election by orchestrating an online propaganda effort to undermine the U.S. election system. We speak to Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties. She runs the website EmptyWheel.net [ https://www.emptywheel.net/ ].
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/20/mueller_probe_heats_up_13_russians [with embedded video, and transcript]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9-wfQzZ2HA [with comments]
About a quarter down, this one
Fmr. Trump aide: Donald Trump "screws everyone"
The Beat with Ari Melber
2/20/18
On the day Bob Mueller obtained a guilty plea from a lawyer in the Russia probe, former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg, who was
cited 19 times in ‘Fire and Fury’, tells Ari Melber he’s “worried” about Trump’s own lawyer Michael Cohen. Nunberg says for the first time
Mueller’s team asked him for an interview, and adds that Donald Trump “screws” everyone, but has done it to Michael Cohen the most.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/fmr-trump-aide-donald-trump-screws-everyone-1166089283533 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMU9jG3aV7g [with comments]
Leave two to this pair
"Trump has done literally zero" to stop Russia
All In with Chris Hayes
2/20/18
Jake Sullivan, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, says Trump has left the door wide open for Russia to disrupt the midterm elections.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-trump-has-done-literally-zero-to-stop-russia-1166120003868
*
WH won’t say if Kushner still has access to classified info
All In with Chris Hayes
2/20/18
Jared Kushner, one of the most senior White House aides operating without a permanent security clearance,
reportedly “issues more requests for information to the intelligence community than any White House employee.”
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/wh-won-t-say-if-kushner-still-has-access-to-classified-info-1166126147571
Leave four to these three
Nepotism likely to save Kushner in White House security crackdown
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow reports on new confusion in the White House as a new policy of enforcing security clearances
appears to be in conflict with the continued employment of the still-not-cleared Jared Kushner.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/nepotism-likely-to-save-kushner-in-white-house-security-crackdown-1166257731698
*
Americans google Alex van der Zwaan as Mueller issues new charges
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow reviews recent Ukrainian political history by way of explaining new charges in Robert Mueller's Trump
Russia investigation against a lawyer who is also the son-in-law of a Ukrainian-Russian oligarch, Alex van der Zwaan.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/americans-google-alex-van-der-zwaan-as-mueller-issues-new-charges-1166215747657 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkqc9IXVu6w [with comments]
*
Mueller catches lawyer lying, brings new charges
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow continues to review recent Ukrainian political history by way of explaining new charges in Robert Mueller's
Trump Russia investigation against a lawyer who is also the son-in-law of a Ukrainian-Russian oligarch, Alex van der Zwaan.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/mueller-catches-lawyer-lying-brings-new-charges-1166217283794
Skip one to these five
Disparate dots find connections in Robert Mueller indictments
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow looks at the relationships that bring today's charges by Robert
Mueller against lawyer Alex van der Zwaan right into Vladimir Putin's inner circle.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/disparate-dots-find-connections-in-robert-mueller-indictments-1166248003765
*
Mueller follows the money overseas back to Washington
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Ken Vogel, political reporter for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about the
themes becoming visible in what is known so far about Robert Mueller's investigation.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/mueller-follows-the-money-overseas-back-to-washington-1166222915655
*
US State Dept suggests asking Russia about US State Dept business
The Rachel Maddow Show
2/20/18
Rachel Maddow updates viewers on the search for answers about a visit to the U.S. but Russia's top spy officials. In the case of whether
the State Department gave the sanctioned GRU chief, Igor Korobov, a travel waiver, State directed TRMS to get the answer from Russia.
DNI response to Sen Chuck Schumer about Russian Intel Chiefs' visit to US
http://www.msnbc.com/sites/msnbc/files/dni_schumer_reply_180220.pdf
Senator Schumer's original letter
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter.Schumer%20to%20Coats%20re%20RUS.pdf
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/us-state-dept-suggests-asking-russia-about-us-state-dept-business-1166187587653 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2wnDIl6XTk [with comments]
--
Lawrence: White House dodges questions on major scandals
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
2/20/18
The White House held its first press briefing in a week and it lasted only 17 minutes. Lawrence O'Donnell
argues this is a strategy to avoid answering questions on the scandals plaguing the administration.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-white-house-dodges-questions-on-major-scandals-1166210627933
*
Thomas Friedman's 'code red' warning about Trump
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
2/20/18
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that President Donald Trump is undermining the nation's
democracy. He explains to Lawrence O'Donnell why he can't find any optimism for the Trump presidency.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/thomas-friedman-s-code-red-warning-about-trump-1166210627991 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQN5GK3zbxA [with comments]
Leave one to these four, which get us to halfway
NYT: Kushner & Kelly warring over access to top secret docs
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
According to The New York Times, Trump's chief of staff John Kelly and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are in a standoff over
Kushner's access to classified information given that Kushner still is working on an interim security clearance. Our panel reacts.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/nyt-kushner-kelly-warring-over-access-to-top-secret-docs-1166245443942
*
Where were Ivanka & Kushner as Trump raged over Russia?
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
While Trump raged in a tweetstorm over Russia attacking everyone from Obama to Oprah, Jared Kushner & Ivanka
Trump - both on the White House staff - were vacationing in the Caribbean according to a Vanity Fair report.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/where-were-ivanka-kushner-as-trump-raged-over-russia-1166249539934 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRhJin3sqzM [with comments]
*
Mueller's fourth guilty plea: Who is Alex van der Zwaan?
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
What do we know about the son-in-law of a Russian oligarch, Alex van der Zwaan, the latest person to plead guilty to Russia
Special Counsel Robert Mueller? And what does it mean for Mueller's investigation? Julia Ainsley & Joyce Vance react.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/mueller-s-fourth-guilty-plea-who-is-alex-van-der-zwaan-1166256195792 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cakB6cNhBVc [with comments]
*
Why Mueller's latest guilty plea could be bad for Manafort
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
2/21/18
Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller now has his fourth guilty plea, this time from a Dutch lawyer named Alex van der Zwaan.
Fmr. federal prosecutor Joyce Vance explains why that could be bad news for Trump's fmr. campaign boss Paul Manafort.
©2018 NBCNews.com
[originally aired February 20, 2018]
http://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/why-mueller-s-latest-guilty-plea-could-be-bad-for-manafort-1166257219829
To "stashed February 20, 2018:"
Trump is ignoring the worst attack on America since 9/11
By Max Boot
Imagine if, after 9/11, the president had said that the World Trade Center and Pentagon could have been attacked by “China” or “lots of other people.” Imagine if he had dismissed claims of al-Qaeda’s responsibility as a “hoax” and said that he “really” believed Osama bin Laden’s denials. Imagine if he saw the attack primarily as a political embarrassment to be minimized rather than as a national security threat to be combated. Imagine if he threatened to fire the investigators trying to find out what happened.
Imagine, moreover, if the president refused to appoint a commission to study how to safeguard America. Imagine if, as a result, we did not harden cockpit doors. If we did not create a Transportation Security Administration and a Department of Homeland Security. If we did not lower barriers between law enforcement and intelligence. If we did not pass a USA Patriot Act to enhance surveillance. And if we did not take myriad other steps to prevent another 9/11.
That’s roughly where we stand after the second-worst foreign attack on America in the past two decades. The Russian subversion of the 2016 election did not, to be sure, kill nearly 3,000 people. But its longer-term impact may be even more corrosive by undermining faith in our democracy.
The evidence of Russian meddling became “incontrovertible,” in the word of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, after special counsel Robert S. Mueller III indicted 13 Russians and three Russian organizations on Friday for taking part in this operation. “Defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump (‘Trump Campaign’) and disparaging Hillary Clinton,” the indictment charges.
Yet in a disturbing weekend tweetstorm, President Trump attacked the FBI, Democrats, even McMaster — anyone but the Russians. He sought to minimize the impact of the Kremlin’s intrusion, tweeting: “The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!” Actually, there’s plenty of evidence of collusion, including the infamous June 2016 meeting that Trump’s son, son-in-law and campaign manager held with Russian representatives who promised to “incriminate” Hillary Clinton.
There is also considerable evidence that the Kremlin impacted the election, which was decided by fewer than 80,000 votes in three states. Trump must have thought the Russian operation was significant because he mentioned its handiwork — the release of Democratic Party documents via WikiLeaks — 137 times in the final month of the campaign. On top of that, Russian propaganda reached at least 126 million Americans via Facebook alone.
The onslaught did not end in 2016. Russian trolls have continued promoting hashtags such as #ReleaseTheMemo to sow dissension and division. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats just testified that Russia “views the 2018 U.S. midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations.” Yet Trump has never convened a Cabinet meeting to address this threat and has resisted implementing sanctions passed by Congress.
The president’s obstructionism makes it impossible to appoint an 11/8 Commission to study this cyber-assault and to recommend responses. Various agencies, such as the FBI, are trying to combat the Russians on their own, but there is no coordinated response.
Much of the work has been left to social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter that had to be dragged kicking and screaming into revealing the extent of Russian penetration, because they don’t want to lose ad revenue and users. Their apathy was underscored by a Friday tweet from Facebook vice president Rob Goldman that was eagerly quoted by Trump himself: “Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal.” That may be technically accurate as it applies to Facebook ads, but it is also highly deceptive. These ads were only a small part of a vast Russian operation utilizing hackers and trolls that, as Mueller noted, was designed to sway the election.
Just as Sept. 11 made clear that private security could not safeguard the aviation system, so the 2016 Russian attack made clear that social media companies cannot safeguard the electoral system. A greater federal role is needed, yet Trump refuses to even admit that the problem exists.
The most benign explanation is that he is putting his vanity — he can’t have anything taint his glorious victory — above his obligation to “protect and defend the Constitution.” The more sinister hypothesis is that he has something to hide and, having benefited from Russia’s assistance once, hopes for more aid in 2018 and 2020. Either way, we are at war without a commander in chief.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-ignoring-the-worst-attack-on-america-since-911/2018/02/18/5ad888f2-14f3-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html
more: https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+is+ignoring+the+worst+attack+on+america
Mr. Trump: They’re laughing at you, not with you
By Eugene Robinson
President Trump is right about one thing: They must be “laughing their asses off” in Moscow.
At him.
Faced with compelling evidence that Russian cyber-saboteurs worked to sway the 2016 election, influencing swing-state voters with lies on social media and even staging real-life campaign rallies, Trump’s only response has been a frantic and pathetic attempt to protect his own delicate ego. “But wasn’t I a great candidate?” he pleaded Sunday on Twitter.
Protecting our democracy obviously concerns Trump not at all. But you’re probably not surprised.
In a stunning indictment announced on Friday, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III laid out in painstaking detail how a group of paid Internet trolls based in St. Petersburg worked diligently to “sow discord in the U.S. political system.” They began with the aim of creating general mischief, but “by early to mid-2016, Defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump (‘Trump Campaign’) and disparaging Hillary Clinton.”
There it is, in black and white: Trump was elected with the active help of Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Putin is not named as a co-conspirator, the man behind the scheme — an oligarch named Yevgeniy Prigozhin — is a longtime crony known in Russia as “Putin’s chef.” The idea that he would meddle in a U.S. election without orders from Putin is ludicrous.
The 13 named defendants are presumably in Russia, beyond the reach of U.S. justice. Mueller’s account of what they allegedly did is simply infuriating. Voters who saw the Russians’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts were led to believe they were being lobbied by their fellow citizens — not by an adversarial foreign power.
They tried to convince Muslim voters that Clinton was anti-Islam, and tried to convince anti-Muslim voters that she favored imposing sharia law. They tried to suppress the African American vote with an Instagram account named “Woke Blacks” that called Clinton “the lesser of two devils,” and argued “we’d surely be better off without voting AT ALL.” They purchased online ads calling Clinton “a Satan” and falsely accused her of voter fraud while claiming that “Donald Trump is the one and only [candidate] who can defend the police from terrorists.”
They organized and promoted actual pro-Trump and anti-Clinton rallies in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to the indictment, and they targeted their social media campaigns at other swing states. To pay for all of this, they established fraudulent U.S. identities and bank accounts so that no one would know they were heeding political advice from Russians employed by “Putin’s chef.”
Mueller’s big splash sent Trump into a full-fledged Twitter conniption that, by Monday, showed no sign of easing. It would be a waste of space to quote all of Trump’s bleating, but basically he tried to claim that the indictment proves two things: Whatever the Russians did or didn’t do, they had no impact on the outcome of the election; and there was no collusion — or as Trump would put it, NO COLLUSION — between the Russians and the Trump campaign.
Deep down, he must know the indictment says nothing of the sort.
Of course the Russians had some impact. If communicating via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were a useless way to influence voters, campaigns wouldn’t bother with social media strategies. If rallies didn’t produce votes, campaigns would find better uses for the money and effort it takes to stage them.
It’s true that it is impossible to say how much impact this element of the Russian meddling offensive had. Would it have made a difference if more African Americans had voted in the Rust Belt states that Trump unexpectedly won? Or if fewer progressives had voted for the Green Party’s Jill Stein, whose candidacy the Russians worked hard to boost? Perhaps some clever political science professor will figure it all out someday.
As for collusion, it is true that Mueller does not allege that anyone from the Trump campaign knowingly participated in the Prigozhin conspiracy. But it goes deeper: Intelligence officials say the Russians hacked into the email accounts of both the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and then leaked that material to do maximum damage to Clinton’s prospects. We don’t know if there was collusion in that scheme — or in other schemes we might not yet know about.
Late Saturday night, well past his usual bedtime, Trump was wide-awake and still tweeting: “The only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!”
Stop laughing, Vladimir Putin. You’ll hurt yourself.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-trump-theyre-laughing-at-you-not-with-you/2018/02/19/18605e7e-15b0-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html
The Flawed Nationalism of Donald Trump
The president can’t grasp that what matters most about the Russia attack is not what it reveals about his political legitimacy but what it reveals about America’s national vulnerability.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/the-flawed-nationalism-of-donald-trump/553721/
Facebook Battles New Criticism After U.S. Indictment Against Russians
Comments by Facebook’s head of advertising after indictment spark further backlash
Facebook Inc. FB -0.76%? is contending with a new wave of criticism prompted by the U.S. indictment alleging that Russia manipulated social-media platforms—and by a Facebook executive’s attempts to address the issue.
The indictment against Russian companies and individuals described how an organization called the Internet Research Agency allegedly used Facebook, Twitter Inc., TWTR -0.67%? and the YouTube arm of Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL 0.74%? Google to sow discord in the U.S. starting in 2014. The document’s description of events showed that Facebook and its Instagram photo-sharing unit were particularly central to the alleged Russian attempts to influence U.S. public opinion.
Researchers who study social media said the indictment, secured by special counsel Robert Mueller, showed that Facebook was ill-prepared for such efforts. Facebook has more than 25,000 employees, but fewer than 100 Russian provocateurs armed with social-media savvy and widely available technological tools were able to manipulate its platform for years, the indictment says.
Comments by Facebook’s head of advertising, Rob Goldman, after the indictment was handed up Friday fueled further criticism. Mr. Goldman, writing on Twitter, said there are “easy ways to fight” the Russian campaign, starting with having a “well educated citizenry.” He also tweeted that the Russians’ main goal wasn’t to sway the 2016 election, but more broadly to sow division in the U.S.
Mr. Goldman’s series of eight tweets provoked more than 9,000 responses on Twitter, many of them angry.
“You really are not in a position to preach and your astonishing tweets have created confusion and anger,” Mainardo de Nardis, a senior executive at advertising giant Omnicom Group Inc., said in a tweet Sunday. “Enough damage done over the past 2+ years. In the absence of real actions silence would be appreciated.” Mr. de Nardis didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A Facebook spokesman said Mr. Goldman, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, had sent his tweets in a personal capacity. The company pointed to a statement from Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president of global public policy, saying, “Nothing we found contradicts the Special Counsel’s indictments.”
Russia’s government has repeatedly denied any government effort to influence the U.S. election.
Facebook has struggled for much of the past year to respond to mounting ire from users, politicians, customers and others over its role in facilitating the spread of misinformation and divisive content.
The indictment shows that “there are lots of levers that get pulled in social media for the sake of manipulation and a lot of those levers aren’t even known by the companies themselves,” said Sam Woolley, an Oxford University research associate who has studied propaganda efforts on social-media platforms.
The indictment documented an unprecedented manipulation campaign targeting Facebook, its Instagram platform, Twitter and YouTube. Starting in 2014, the Russians built an influence operation that drew followers to bogus accounts that spread disinformation, organized U.S. demonstrations and even paid a person to dress up like Hillary Clinton in a prison uniform at a West Palm Beach, Fla., rally, the indictment says.
While much of the attention around the Russian manipulation focused on its efforts to stoke divisions ahead the 2016 U.S. presidential election, it is clear the campaign continued since then. The Wall Street Journal reported in October that some of the Russian-backed social-media accounts posted divisive messages at least as recently as last August.
The Twitter comments of Mr. Goldman, Facebook’s head of advertising, also fueled disagreement about the intent of the Russian efforts. One of Mr. Goldman’s tweets said “swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal” of the Russian ads, and that “the majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election.”
On Saturday, President Donald Trump cited Mr. Goldman’s comment in support of the idea that Russia’s actions didn’t affect the election.
Following criticism that he was obscuring the intent of the Russians, Mr. Goldman later tweeted that “the Russian campaign was certainly in favor of Mr. Trump.” He also dialed back some of his claims. “I am only speaking here about the Russian behavior on Facebook. That is the only aspect that I observed directly,” he tweeted.
Clint Watts, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute who studied the Russian influence campaign, said the ads bought on Facebook were only “a much smaller part of a very large effort.”
“Mr. Goldman should have stayed silent,” Mr. Watts said, adding that playing down the effect of the influence campaign risked further angering Americans. “The public is upset that they got duped on Facebook’s platform. Facebook got duped,” he said. “It makes it seem like they don’t get it.”
While Facebook’s role in the Russian campaign is in the spotlight, some researchers who have studied the efforts note that it was far from the only institution to fall short.
“Let’s not mince words. The Obama administration did not react quickly enough to this problem. The intelligence community did not react quickly enough to this problem,” said Thomas Rid, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Facebook has said it is taking a number of steps to prevent efforts like the Russian campaign from happening again, including hiring 10,000 employees tasked with policing hate speech, as well as coming up with ways to uproot fake accounts. Facebook officials also have emphasized that the company provided information to Mr. Mueller.
Mr. Goldman, too, said Facebook is taking “aggressive steps to prevent this sort of meddling in the future,” including verification for all political advertisers. Still, his comments struck some observers as tone deaf.
“It was an almost perfect example of Silicon Valley overconfidence and lack of sophistication when it comes to politics,” said Josh Hendler, former director of technology for the Democratic National Committee, which suffered a cyberattack ahead of the 2016 election that U.S. officials blamed on Russia.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-battles-new-criticism-after-u-s-indictment-against-russians-1519066080
In His Own Words: Trump on Russian Meddling
"I never said Russia did not meddle in the election."
FALSE
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/02/words-trump-russian-meddling/
Donald Trump falsely says he never denied Russian meddling
"I never said Russia did not meddle in the election."
Pants on Fire!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/feb/19/donald-trump/donald-trump-falsely-denies-he-denied-russian-medd/
Trump is helping to undermine US democracy. That's just what Russia wants
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/politics/donald-trump-russia-robert-mueller/index.html
There's a specific reason Trump leveled an unprecedented amount of frustration toward the Russia probe this weekend
This past weekend, President Donald Trump fired off more than a dozen tweets about Russia following the latest charges in the investigation into Russian election meddling.
Trump alternated between declaring his innocence, blaming former President Barack Obama for Russia's election interference, accusing Hillary Clinton of collusion, and suggesting the FBI could have prevented last week's Florida school shooting if it hadn't been so focused on the Russia investigation.
The charges the special counsel announced Friday did not implicate any members of the Trump campaign or the White House.
Trump's unprecedented level of public frustration with the investigation most likely stems from his belief that Friday's indictment threatens the legitimacy of his election victory.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-russia-indictment-challenges-trump-belief-about-2016-election-legitimacy-2018-2
What Could Be Coming Next In Robert Mueller's Russia Investigation
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/20/587305198/what-could-be-coming-next-in-robert-muellers-russia-investigation
Trump’s unhinged Russia tweetstorm boomerangs back on Republicans
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/02/20/trumps-unhinged-russia-tweetstorm-boomerangs-back-on-republicans/
Why Thomas Friedman issued a 'code red' warning to America
Thomas Friedman doesn't scare easily.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/20/media/thomas-friedman-new-york-times-column/index.html
Trump Tries to Shift Blame to Obama for Not Countering Russian Meddling
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/us/politics/trump-obama-russian-meddling.html
Trump Defiant Despite Mueller’s Warning Shot on Russia Meddling
President fumed about Russia probe but didn’t attack Moscow
Officials are warning about repeat attacks in 2018 elections
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/trump-defiant-despite-mueller-s-warning-shot-on-russia-meddling
Robert Mueller Has Trump Cornered
By Robert Kuttner
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-kuttner-mueller-russia_us_5a8a3dfde4b004fc31939016
more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dPAoEetJFEbH7hMc82GrFzniV0g2M?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en
Trump’s staggering dereliction of duty
By Ruth Marcus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-staggering-dereliction-of-duty/2018/02/18/87133a42-14cc-11e8-92c9-376b4fe57ff7_story.html
more: https://www.google.com/search?q=trump%27s+staggering+dereliction+of+duty
Former Skadden Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Lying in Russia Investigation
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/us/politics/alex-van-der-zwaan-gates-russia-mueller.html
U.S. v. Alex van der Zwaan
Information
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4382158/2-16-18-Van-Der-Zwaan-Information.pdf
In Mueller probe, son-in-law of Russian businessman pleads guilty to false statements
The Dutch son-in-law of one of Russia’s wealthiest men pleaded guilty Tuesday in Washington to making false statements in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to a new court filing.
Alex van der Zwaan was charged with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates, a former staffer on President Trump’s campaign and a longtime business partner of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Based in London, van der Zwaan worked for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which did work with Manafort and Gates while they served as political consultants in Ukraine, before joining Trump’s campaign in 2016. Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of German Khan, a billionaire and an owner of Alfa Group, Russia’s largest financial and industrial investment group.
Mueller charged Manafort and Gates in October with conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges related to lobbying work they did for a Russian-friendly political party in Ukraine and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
[...]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/mueller-probe-london-based-son-of-russian-businessman-to-plead-guilty-to-false-statements/2018/02/20/142f4d2e-164b-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html
Mueller’s Move on Ex-Skadden Lawyer Puts Heat on Manafort, Gates
Van der Zwaan worked on Ukraine report coordinated by Manafort
False statements case unveiled days after Russians charged
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/skadden-arps-lawyer-is-charged-with-role-in-u-s-russia-probe
Attorney pleads guilty in Mueller probe to lying to FBI over contacts with former Trump campaign official
Alex van der Zwaan admitted making false or misleading statements regarding email communications with Richard Gates.
His former employer, the renowned law firm Skadden, Arps, says they are cooperating with authorities.
Van der Zwaan is married to the daughter of German Khan, a Russian oligarch who is suing research firm Fusion GPS over a dossier alleging salacious and unverified ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/mueller-charges-attorney-with-lying-to-the-fbi.html
more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dW3pvaWS9u-HrTM6VI6a_piILgJ4M?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en
Devin Nunes's Fake Oversight
The House Intelligence Committee chairman’s actions are toxic to the democratic process and dangerous to American national security.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/devin-nunes-and-the-invention-of-fake-oversight/553694/
more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dbKTA5UR04LMIhMskbKGYbWBar7IM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en
Donald Trump Jr. dismisses ethics concerns in India
Donald Trump Jr. dismissed suggestions that his family is profiting from his father's presidency on the first day of a tour of India to promote luxury apartments.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/20/news/economy/donald-trump-jr-india-visit-delhi-kolkata-modi/index.html
White House says new security clearance policy will not affect Kushner's work
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearances-white-house/index.html
“This Is the New War”: Jared Kushner, Amid a Showdown with Kelly, Prepares for Battle with a Weekend in the Caribbean
As Trump melted down at Mar-a-Lago, and the administration reeled from one of its most dismal weeks in 13 months, Kushner and his wife left the country.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-caribbean-vacation
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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