Bernie Sanders blames Hillary for allowing Russian interference - fucking idiot The senator and his top political adviser also denied Mueller's assertion that Russian actors backed his campaign. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blamed Hillary Clinton for not doing more to stop the Russian attack on the last presidential election. Then his 2016 campaign manager, in an interview with POLITICO, said he’s seen no evidence to support special counsel Robert Mueller's assertion in an indictment last week that the Russian operation had backed Sanders' campaign. The remarks showed Sanders, running for a third term and currently considered a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, deeply defensive in response to questions posed to him about what was laid out in the indictment. He attempted to thread a response that blasts Donald Trump for refusing to acknowledge that Russians helped his campaign — but then holds himself harmless for a nearly identical denial. In doing so, Sanders and his former campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, presented a series of self-serving statements that were not accurate, and that track with efforts by Trump and his supporters to undermine the credibility of the Mueller probe. “The real question to be asked is what was the Clinton campaign [doing about Russian interference]? They had more information about this than we did,” Sanders said in the interview with Vermont Public Radio. After being contacted by POLITICO about the interview, Sanders issued a lengthy statement calling the Russian involvement a “direct assault on the free democratic systems that stand in contrast to the autocratic, nationalistic kleptocracy of Vladimir Putin and his backers in the Russian oligarchy” which “deserves unconditional condemnation.” He said that goes for “any candidate or active opposition to any candidate,” and listed most other candidates and campaigns whose support by Russians was detailed in the indictment — including "my own." Sanders said that his campaign had shared information with the Clinton campaign about suspected Russian anti-Clinton trolls on a campaign Facebook page. But Weaver later acknowledged that the Vermont senator had no firsthand knowledge that this had happened. Weaver said Sanders based his remark on an article published by NBC’s San Diego affiliate over the weekend about a campaign volunteer who claimed to have conducted his own investigation and brought the findings to the Clinton campaign in September — an assertion flatly denied by a former Clinton campaign aide. "A guy who was on my staff … checked it out and he went to the Clinton campaign, and he said, ‘You know what? I think these guys are Russians,’” Sanders said. Weaver said Sanders had not verified the information in the article himself before stating it as fact. The Sanders statement issued late Wednesday attributed to “an aide to Sen. Sanders” added “he was using the word ‘campaign’ expansively to include not only the formal, institutional campaign, but also the broader network of volunteers and supporters of Bernie 2016 across the country.” Sanders went on to indicate that he was at least vaguely aware of the operation that Mueller detailed in his indictment of 13 Russian nationals last week: “What Mueller reported, he had more specificity than we’d seen before. Not exactly new.” A former Clinton campaign staffer said it was nonsense that Sanders' campaign had reached out to Clinton's about potential Russian interference. "No one from the Sanders campaign ever contacted us about this”—not in September, and not in “April and May.” Sanders said in the radio interview that he noticed "lots of strange things" during those months in 2016. “They were supporting my campaign? No. They were attacking Hillary Clinton’s campaign and using my supporters against Hillary Clinton,” Sanders said in the radio interview. Asked why Sanders would blame Clinton for not intervening, Weaver said, “Uh, I don’t know. They [Clinton's campaign] did have more information.” As for Sanders’ claims of having gone to Clinton’s campaign about possible Russian meddling, Weaver said Sanders was “speaking broadly." “What he knows is all from published news reports,” Weaver said. The Vermont senator was adamant that he did not benefit from Russian bots urging voters to support him. “I did not know that Russian bots were promoting my campaign. Russian bots were not promoting my campaign,” he said. Sanders has repeatedly condemned President Donald Trump for not acknowledging the Russian attack on the 2016 election alleged in the Mueller indictment and being investigated by congressional committees. But he has refused to say that his campaign benefited from the activities. Mueller’s indictment states that the 13 Russians indicted “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.” Among the evidence the indictment cites is a message from the day after Sanders and Trump won their New Hampshire primaries. "Specialists were instructed to post content that focused on ‘politics in the USA’ and to ‘use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump—we support them.),” the document read. Weaver, who is one of the senator’s closest aides, said repeatedly he wasn’t sure if he should believe the charges himself. “The factual underpinning of that in the indictment is what? Zero,” Weaver said. “I have not seen any evidence of support for Bernie Sanders.” Kenneth Pennington, the campaign’s digital director, said in an MSNBC appearance after the Mueller indictments were issued that he knew nothing of Russian support for the campaign, and Weaver said in the interview he didn’t either. “Two dudes sitting in a hole somewhere support Bernie Sanders—tell me what they did to support Bernie Sanders,” Weaver added later. Sanders’ and Weaver's argument mirrors the defense that Trump, who has argued in a days-long series of tweets that the Russians were not supporting him. The president has blamed his nemesis, Barack Obama, for not doing enough to stop Russian disruption in the campaign. “If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation?” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. He earlier said that "some 400-pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer" could have been responsible for the activities attributed to Russians. Sanders repeatedly refused to say why he didn’t call out Russian involvement during the campaign. Clinton's campaign regularly raised suspicions of Kremlin-backed activity during the home stretch of the race. Sanders said the key point was that he was campaigning hard for Clinton after losing the nomination to her, and “at this point we were working with them.” Sanders has faced questions since Friday about why he has not more strongly condemned the Russian actions that benefited his campaign. On Wednesday, liberal writer Joan Walsh of The Nation tweeted in response to Sanders’ comments about Clinton: “Seriously, this could be the end of Sanders 2020. Someone who cares about him ought to tell him how badly he stepped in it today.” In the interview, Sanders repeatedly said that the attention should be on Trump’s denials of Russian activity — an assertion he's made repeatedly since Friday's indictment. But in doing so, he floated his own conspiracy theory. “You have a president of the United States not saying that [Russians meddled in the election]. What exactly is going on? And you have speculation: ‘Do the Russians really own him?’” Sanders said. When pressed by the host if he believed that the Russians do have something compromising on the president, Sanders said, “I don’t know. But something [is] very weird.” https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/bernie-sanders-trump-russia-interference-420528
Trump Again Presses Jeff Sessions Over Russia Probe The president suggests the special counsel is looking at the wrong administration President Donald Trump on Wednesday renewed his public pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, suggesting the Justice Department should be looking at the Obama administration as it probes possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. In a tweet Wednesday, Mr. Trump wrote: “If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!” Mr. Sessions, who advised Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign, has repeatedly come under fire from the president after having recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation last year. That decision led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, after Mr. Trump fired James Comey as Federal Bureau of Investigation director last May. That special counsel’s probe, which is examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links to the Trump campaign, has ensnared several top Trump campaign associates. In his tweet Wednesday, it wasn’t clear what “Dem crimes” Mr. Trump was alleging, but he has previously criticized the Justice Department for not pursuing a prosecution of his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over her alleged mishandling of classified emails. It also wasn’t clear what Mr. Trump was suggesting the Obama administration didn’t do about Russian election meddling. Less than a month before he left office, then-President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia related to its work in 2016. The State Department expelled what it described as 35 intelligence operatives from the U.S., and the administration imposed asset freezes and travel bans on Russian officials. As that was happening, members of the incoming Trump administration were working to undermine the impact of those sanctions, according to court documents. Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, pleaded guilty in December to lying to the FBI about a series of calls he made with Russia’s then-ambassador to the U.S., including discussion of sanctions. Mr. Flynn is now cooperating with Mr. Mueller’s probe. Then, last year, Congress voted to further punish Russia for its meddling, by memorializing in law the Obama administration’s sanctions and requiring the Trump administration to list oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government. At the end of January, the Treasury Department published a list, but in a break from what Congress required, it didn’t impose sanctions on individuals doing business with Russian military or intelligence bodies. Asked Tuesday about this approach, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “there’s a process that has to take place, and we’re going through that process.” A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment. Senate and House Democratic leaders on Wednesday sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell requesting their support in increasing the FBI’s budget by $300 million to combat foreign influence in elections. That came days after Mr. Mueller indicted 13 Russians and three companies for alleged crimes tied to the use of a “troll” factory to sow political discord on social media, an effort that also sought to help Mr. Trump and hinder Mrs. Clinton. “We have Russian operatives flooding our social media platforms with misinformation,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) in a conference call about the request. It is “not clear” what the Trump administration is doing about it, he said. A spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan, AshLee Strong, made no commitments on whether he would support the expenditure. “The bipartisan House Intel Committee has conducted a year-long review into Russia meddling in the 2016 elections,” she said. “This review, along with the Senate Intel and FBI investigations, will inform lawmakers on ways to protect the 2018 election.” Some former federal prosecutors said Mr. Trump is wrong to pressure Mr. Sessions on investigations. Jimmy Gurulé, a University of Notre Dame law professor and former assistant attorney general in Republican President George H.W. Bush’s administration, said in an interview that the president shouldn’t look to determine who gets prosecuted. “When the president sends out tweets like this—why aren’t the Democrats being prosecuted?—that sounds to me like a president from an authoritarian country, where the prosecutor is an arm and extension of the president and people are being politically persecuted.” Robert Ray, who served as independent counsel in the investigation into the Bill Clinton-era Whitewater land deal, said he didn’t believe Mr. Trump’s actions in this instance are improper. As president, Mr. Trump establishes policy for the entire executive branch, with no exception carved out for the Justice Department, Mr. Ray said. In an email, Mr. Ray wrote that if Mr. Trump “wants to steer DOJ towards investigation of Russian meddling’ involving a prior administration, why not? That may have adverse political consequences, but in my judgment is not improper.” Mr. Trump has said his campaign didn’t work with Russia in 2016, although several people in Mr. Trump’s orbit have admitted to having had contact with Russians during the campaign. The Mueller team has indicted two other Trump campaign officials, including former campaign manager Paul Manafort, for alleged financial misdeeds in work that predated the campaign. They have pleaded not guilty. https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-again-presses-jeff-sessions-over-russia-probe-1519246156
PM Modi Visits China For Second Time In 6 Weeks, Meets Xi Jinping Today: 10 Facts
"Part 159, some of Russian meddling, and related, material from F6 big ones."
SCO Summit: PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the 2-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit being held in the coastal city of Qingdao.
Written by Abhishek Chakraborty | Updated: June 09, 2018 18:37 IST
VIDEO - SCO Summit: PM Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks in Qingdao today
New Delhi / Qingdao: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday after he reached Qingdao in China to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO summit. It will be the first SCO summit since its expansion, when India and Pakistan were included .. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/entry-of-india-pakistan-strengthens-security-cooperation-of-shanghai-cooperation-organization-chines-1864712 .. as full members at the Astana summit in Kazakhstan last year. India is likely to pitch for concerted regional and global action against terror networks and favour effective connectivity links to boost trade. During his visit to Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province. PM Modi will meet Mr Xi multiple times on the sidelines of the summit.
Here are 10 important things to know about this year's Asian Summit SCO:
1. PM Modi arrived in Qingdao at 1:20 pm today. He held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping shortly after, during which the two leaders explored ways to deepen ties .. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-modi-to-meet-xi-jinping-on-sco-summit-sidelines-in-china-1864188 .. in areas of trade and investment, besides reviewing the overall bilateral cooperation between India and China.
3. Leaders of the eight Shanghai Cooperation Organisation [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation ] member states and four observer states, as well as heads of international organisations will attend the summit which will explore ways to bolster cooperation in the fight against terrorism, extremism and radicalisation, besides deliberating on issues of global relevance.
4. Full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO include China, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. Countries with observer status in the bloc include Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia, and Belarus.
5. At this year's summit .. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/narendra-modi-in-china-live-updates-pm-modi-reaches-qingdao-to-attend-sco-summit-1864853 , India is likely to focus on the importance of regional connectivity projects to boost trade among members of the SCO countries. India has been strongly pushing for connectivity projects like the Chabahar port project in Iran and the over-7,200 km long International North-South Transport Corridor to gain access to resource-rich Central Asian countries.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also expected to discuss the economic ties between the two countries over the next two days. India has been asking China to open its IT and pharmaceutical sectors to address the trade deficit which climbed to over $51 billion last year.
7. Prime Minister Modi is expected to hold nearly half a dozen bilateral meetings with top leaders of SCO countries. However, there is no official confirmation on whether there will be any interaction between PM Modi and Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain, who is also attending the meeting in China.
8. India has been raising the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in various multilateral forums with an aim to build pressure on Islamabad to dismantle the terror infrastructure operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
9. Ahead of the SCO summit, PM Modi had said he was "excited" to lead the Indian delegation .. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/excited-to-lead-sco-delegation-with-india-as-full-member-says-prime-minister-narendra-modi-1864724 .. for the grouping's first-ever meeting with India as a full member. "In the last one year since India became a full member of the SCO, our interaction with the organisation and its member states has grown considerably. I believe that the Qingdao Summit will further enrich the SCO agenda, while heralding a new beginning for India's engagement with the SCO," he said.
10. "With 8 members, SCO represents approximately 42 per cent of the world's population, 22 per cent of the land area and 20 per cent of the GDP. SCO focuses on political, economic, security and cultural cooperation and enables India to engage with Central Asian countries," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted this morning.
It's important a, Trump as president and family business, watch is kept. Off that particular Trump-America problem to one of India's which could have repercussions elsewhere .. this from a link inside your HuffPo .. The Effects of India's Currency Reform? 'Chaos' Say Analysts By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSNOV. 18, 2016, 2:36 A.M. E.S.T. .. bits .. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=126692497