Replies to post #310290 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[blackhawks]

McCarthy characterizes the FISA application to include “serious, traitorous allegations against an American citizen and, derivatively, an American presidential campaign.” That is wrong.

The FISA application made no such allegations nor did it charge Page with a crime or violation of law. Rather, in order to further investigate credible allegations of wrongdoing, the FISA application simply provided evidence that there was probable cause to believe that Carter Page was an agent of a foreign power and may have, or may be about to, commit violations of criminal law.

[fuagf]

Tearex, A (so far) complete timeline of the investigation into Trump and Russia

.. to yours ..

"You have done nothing to explain how these FBI events happened prior to the bar room tip off.
So, it is your stance that the investigation was started because of the bar room meeting with Downer?
Why was the FBI involved with spying on Papa before the meeting with Downer?"

The Papadopoulos-Downer meet took place in May 2016. The tip-off re that chat came from the Australian government some time later.

What happened when Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos sat down with Australian diplomat Alexander Downer
By political editor Andrew Probyn and political reporter Matthew Doran
Updated 23 Sep 2018, 1:54pm
[...]
The Americans weren't informed immediately about what Papadopoulos had said to Downer, but when it became known that the FBI suspected a Russian hack of Clinton emails, the information was shared with the Five Eyes intelligence partner.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-22/george-papadopoulos-alexander-downer-meeting-what-happened/10286868

No, in the one you replied to it was clearly not my stance that the probe started with that meeting. Clearly the article you referred to mentioned 2013,

EARLY 2013: Carter Page, who years later would become an unpaid adviser to Trump’s campaign, shares information and research with a Russian national whom the FBI later accuses of being a Kremlin spy. According to the FBI, the spy is secretly recorded in April 2013 talking with another accused spy about efforts to “recruit” Page “as an intelligence source.” (Page cooperated with the investigation. He has since said his communications were innocent and has denied relaying any sensitive or private information to the accused spy.)
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148614235

I even emphasized that for you.

To your 2rd sentence why were the FBI interested on Papadopoulos before May 2016, to supplement blackhawks' reply to you ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=148675129 .. here is yet another timeline outlining some of the stuff before, up to and including the P-D meeting of May 2016.

.. back to the article .. in which i've emphacised the Papadopoulos mentions for you.


President Trump walks to the Oval Office after disembarking Marine One on Feb. 1. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Philip Bump
April 24, 2018

This article was updated on April 24, 2018.

Over the course of 2017, as revelations unfolded about the investigation into President’s Trump’s 2016 campaign and any connections to Russian actors, we compiled a lengthy timeline of what we had learned. It was built on an understanding of the state of play and was necessarily refined multiple times as we learned more. Originally created in May, it ended with the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel investigating Russian meddling.

Given those limitations, we’ve decided to overhaul it, extending what we know about the Mueller investigation and including newly relevant dates and information. Ideally, this structure will allow for better expansion as needed moving forward.

Many — or probably most — of the items on this timeline will prove to be unimportant or coincidental. For those hoping to get a broad sense of the investigation that’s underway, though, we hope it’s informative.

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant
in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best
friend?
56K 1:17 PM - Jun 19, 2013
Twitter

With links and all emphasis

Before the election

January 2013

Energy industry consultant Carter Page meets a man named Victor Podobnyy at a conference in New York and begins sharing with him “basic immaterial information and publicly available research documents” (in Page’s words). Podobnyy was an officer with Russia’s foreign intelligence service and is later charged with being an agent of the Russian government.

March 2013

The FBI interviews lobbyist and political consultant Paul Manafort. It’s not clear what the interview pertains to.

June 2013

The FBI interviews Page after Podobnyy is recorded by U.S. intelligence officials identifying Page as a possible target for recruitment. “It’s obvious that he wants to earn lots of money,” Podobnyy says of Page.

Aug. 25, 2013

In a letter sent to a publisher making the case for his expertise on Russia, Page writes, “Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda.”

Sept. 4, 2013

James B. Comey becomes director of the FBI, succeeding Robert S. Mueller III.

Nov. 8, 2013

Trump arrives in Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant, at this point part of the Trump Organization. The event’s location was secured thanks to licensing fees of nearly $20 million paid by a Moscow real estate development firm called the Crocus Group. Its president is a man named Aras Agalarov. Agalarov’s son, Emin, is a vice president of Crocus Group and a pop singer. Trump’s itinerary that day included a trip to Nobu with Emin Agalarov and, that evening, a birthday party for Aras.

According to various reports, Trump spends the night in a suite at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton. Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, based on information apparently from a Belarusan American businessman named Sergei Millian, later reports that Trump’s stay at the hotel included an encounter with Russian sex workers — an encounter documented by Russian intelligence. Trump’s long-time aide Keith Schiller testified that on the morning of Trump’s arrival, someone offered to send several prostitutes to Trump’s room, an offer that Schiller says he declined.

Nov. 9, 2013

The pageant is held. Trump departs Moscow before dawn the next day, according to flight records.

May 2014

Russians working for a group called the Internet Research Agency begin their efforts to meddle in the election and American politics more broadly.

June 4-26, 2014

Two Internet Research Agency employees travel around the United States to collect intelligence. Stops include “Nevada, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, and New York,” according to an indictment released in Feb. 2018.

July 2014

The FBI again interviews Manafort. He later says that this interview is about “offshore consulting activities.” The same month, the FBI interviews Manafort’s long-time partner Rick Gates.

Nov. 26-30, 2014

Another Internet Research Agency employee travels to Atlanta.

April 2015

Former Defense Intelligence Agency head Michael Flynn begins advising ACU Strategic Partners, a company that seeks to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East in partnership with a sanctioned Russian company.

June 16, 2015

Donald Trump announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

July 24, 2015

Rob Goldstone, publicist for Emin Agalarov, emails Trump’s assistant to offer to set up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There’s no indication the Trump team explored the offer.

Summer 2015

Hackers believed to be linked to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) gain access to the network of the Democratic National Committee, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.

September 2015

An associate of Trump’s named Felix Sater reaches out to the Trump Organization about a proposed development project in Moscow. It is to be financed by Russia’s government-owned bank Vnesheconombank, which was being sanctioned by the U.S. government. Trump at some point signs a letter of intent to move forward with the project.

Autumn 2015

The conservative website the Washington Free Beacon hires a firm called Fusion GPS to conduct research on several Republican presidential candidates, including Trump.

Nov. 3, 2015

Sater emails Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen to outline his idea of having a Moscow ribbon cutting that Putin would attend. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Sater writes.

Dec. 8, 2015

A delegation from the National Rifle Association arrives in Moscow to meet with supporters of a gun-rights organization there. One of their hosts is Alexander Torshin, a deputy at the Russian central bank and lifetime member of the NRA.

Dec. 10, 2015

Flynn is part of a panel discussion in Moscow for the 10th anniversary of the government-backed media outlet Russia Today, for which he is paid. At a dinner, he sits at a table with Putin. Officials notice an increase in communication between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, following the Russia Today event.

Late 2015

British intelligence agencies detect suspicious interactions between Russia and Trump aides that they pass on to U.S. intelligence agencies.

Mid-January 2016

Cohen emails Putin’s personal spokesman seeking help in advancing the proposed development in Moscow. “As this project is too important, I am hereby requesting your assistance. I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals. I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon,” he writes.

Jan. 29, 2016

Goldstone emails Donald Trump Jr. to pitch the Trump team on setting up a page on Russian social media site Vkontakte. Trump Jr. passes it on to Dan Scavino, the person in charge of Trump’s social media. “Please feel free to send me whatever you have,” Scavino replies. Konstantin Sidorkov, director of partnership marketing for Vkontakte, follows up a few days later. “Nice to meet you and your team,” he writes in an email to Scavino, Trump Jr. and Trump’s assistant.

Feb. 1, 2016

Republican primary voting begins in Iowa.

March 2016

Russian hackers begin targeting infrastructure systems inside the U.S.

The FBI again interviews Carter Page.

March 6, 2016

George Papadopoulos is named a foreign-policy adviser by the campaign.

March 14, 2016

Papadopoulos meets in Italy with a London-based professor named Joseph Mifsud, director of the London Academy of Diplomacy. Until he learns that Papadopoulos is tied to the Trump campaign, Mifsud is uninterested in talking.

March 19, 2016

Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta is sent an email that encourages him to change his email password, probably precipitating the hack of his account.

March 21, 2016

During an interview with The Washington Post, Trump lists Page as part of his foreign-policy team. Page had been recommended by a son-in-law of President Richard Nixon, New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox. Trump also mentions Papadopoulos.

At some point during the spring, long-time Trump confidante Roger Stone tells an associate that he had spoken with Assange and learned about emails WikiLeaks possessed that would be problematic for Democrats, including Podesta.

March 28, 2016

Political veteran Manafort is hired to help the Trump campaign manage the delegate process for the Republican National Convention. He is recommended by Stone. Before joining the campaign, Manafort lobbied on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a Putin ally. That business relationship followed a memo from Manafort in which he offered a plan that could “greatly benefit the Putin Government.” His business relationship with Deripaska ended in 2009. Manafort also worked on behalf of the Russia-friendly Party of Regions in Ukraine, helping guide the party’s leader, Viktor Yanukovych, to the country’s presidency. Yanukovych was later ousted.

March 31, 2016

Trump’s foreign-policy team meets. Included in the meeting are Papadopoulos, Trump and then-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R). Papadopoulos says he can facilitate a meeting between Trump and Putin based on his interactions with Mifsud, the professor. Sessions says it shouldn’t happen, though Papadopoulos later reportedly tells Mueller that Trump encouraged the meeting.

April 2016

Hackers believed to be linked to Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) also gain access to the DNC network. The Internet Research Agency begins buying ads on social media aimed at promoting Trump’s candidacy and undermining Hillary Clinton.

The same month, Fusion GPS is hired by the law firm Perkins Coie on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

April 11, 2016

Manafort emails longtime aide Konstantin Kilimnik (who himself may have ties to Russian intelligence) to ensure the oligarch Deripaska’s “operation” has seen his media coverage, presumably about the Trump campaign. “How do we use to get whole?” he asks.

April 18, 2016

Papadopoulos is introduced via email to someone who has contacts at Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Papadopoulos and the contact begin communicating regularly to try to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin.

April 26, 2016

Papadopoulos is told by Mifsud that the Russians have “dirt” on Clinton. “They have thousands of emails,” he is told.

April 27, 2016

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, meets Kislyak at a reception at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington before a foreign-policy speech given by Trump. Sessions may have spoken with Kislyak, as well.

The same day, Papadopoulos emails senior campaign adviser Stephen Miller to say he had “some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right.”

May 2016

During a night of drinking in London, Papadopoulos tells Australian High Commissioner to Great Britain Alexander Downer that he is aware that Russia has dirt on Clinton.

During this month, two different people who support Trump email the campaign to set up a meeting between a Trump staffer and the banker Torshin. The emails, sent to adviser Rick Dearborn, are titled “Kremlin Connection” and “Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite.” Kushner rejects the latter overture.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/05/a-so-far-complete-timeline-of-the-investigation-into-trump-and-russia/?utm_term=.35502a5cd552

So to be clear all above the final one there occurred before the P-D meeting. It's clear, and consistent with blackhawks' reply to you, there was plenty of evidence for the F.B.I to be looking at all of them.