Johnson and May ignored claims Russia had 'likely hold' over Trump, ex-spy alleges

[JonLP24]

Boris Johnson and Theresa May ignored claims the Kremlin had a “likely hold” over Donald Trump and may have covertly funded Brexit, the former spy Christopher Steele alleges in secret evidence given to MPs who drew up the Russia report.

In testimony to MPs, the MI6 veteran accused the government led by May and in which Johnson was foreign secretary for two years of turning a blind eye to allegations about Trump because they were afraid of offending the US president.

Steele first presented a dossier about Trump to senior UK intelligence figures in late 2016, who he says took it seriously at first. But, he writes, “on reaching top political decision-makers, a blanket appeared to be thrown over it”.

“No inquiries were made or actions taken thereafter on the substance of the intelligence in the dossier by HMG [Her Majesty’s government],” Steele says in the critical document.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/22/boris-johnson-theres-may-ignored-claims-russia-had-likely-hold-over-donald-trump-ex-spy-christopher-steele-claims?__twitter_impression=true

I don't know what people here think of Christopher Steele. They seemed to try to discredit him here in the US though he is one person I would like to hear from. If you look up his career he has relevant experience. Anyways, I think the info in the article is worth reading.

[Mike 03]

1. Agree about Chris Steele

He was the former head of the Russia desk at MI6.

Tangentially related, one of the clearest explanations I've ever encountered of the perplexing relationship between the United Kingdom and Putin's Russia is to be found in From Russia With Blood by Heidi Blake. It's an extraordinary, almost thrilling, look at why Britain tended to conceal or treat lightly assassinations by Putin on British soil (until it could no longer be reasonably ignored), but it gets heavily into the politics. I think in a sense it's related to why May and Johnson might "turn a blind eye to allegations about Trump."

[lagomorph777]

8. May and Johnson are also on Putin's payroll. They "ignore" info on Putin's attacks...

...for the same reasons Turd ignores that info. They already know it because they are part of the scandal.

[soothsayer]

2. Huh. Very interesting.

[Martin Eden]

3. Bookmarked for more extensive reading

There are some good links in the linked article.

[Liberal In Red State]

4. Not the least surprised by the information in this article. All western political unrest & election

tampering since 2016 and maybe even earlier, I believe can be laid at the feet of Putin. He found a way to beat the west though it’s own institutions. Ibelieve drump and family have deep financial ties with Russian oligarchs who have bailed out drump and his failing businesses. Putin is the Trojan horse in western democracies. He found a way to defeat democracy from within, and the GOP knew it and let him do it. Remember the Paul Ryan taped meeting with McCarthy where they speculated about Russian control over drump, but that the information should stay with the group? I will never understand why western news organizations and/or reporters have never investigated the dossier and the Putin angle like the Guardian. Bravo to them for continuing to press on this front.

[DFW]

5. Considering how little sense Brexit made unless you wanted to weaken the EU

And considering that traces of funding for the Brexit campaign and Nigel Farage led straight to Putin, this will, in my opinion, end up not as speculation, but at some point as history.

[JonLP24]

6. I decided to check out some of the links because of Martin's post

This one is very interesting.

PM accused of cover-up over report on Russian meddling in UK politics

(snip)

Fresh evidence has also emerged of attempts by the Kremlin to infiltrate the Conservatives by a senior Russian diplomat suspected of espionage, who spent five years in London cultivating leading Tories including Johnson himself.

It can now be revealed that Sergey Nalobin – who once described the future prime minister as “our good friend” – lives in a Moscow apartment block known as the “FSB house” because it houses so many employees from the Kremlin’s main spy agency.

(snip)

In 2014, Lubov Chernukhin – the wife of the former Russian deputy finance minister – paid £160,000 to play tennis with Johnson and David Cameron. The match was the star lot at a Conservative summer party auction. Another guest at the 2013 fundraiser was Vasily Shestakov, Vladimir Putin’s judo partner.

(snip)

Conservative Friends of Russia held its 2012 launch party in the Russian ambassador’s Kensington garden, with about 250 Russian and British guests present, including Tories who went on to play a prominent role in the referendum campaign. One was Matthew Elliott, now chief executive of pro-Brexit group Vote Leave, alongside Dominic Cummings, now the prime minister’s chief strategist.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/04/no-10-blocks-russia-eu-referendum-report-until-after-election

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. That also indicates Johnson is continuing to try and cover it up

This section may need a little explaining, about the Intelligence and Security Committee needing to form before the report, completed in the last parliament, can be published:

But No 10 needs the Conservative nominees to the nine-strong committee to agree to support Grayling because the opposition minority want to vote for somebody else. In law the appointment of the chair is a matter for the committee. As a result the long-awaited document is still yet to be released, prompting complaints in Westminster and accusations from Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats of an attempted cover-up.

Grayling was transport secretary, and a running joke for his incompetence. There has been no cabinet minister in recent years who was so bad at his job. As Wikipedia says:

Boris Johnson has reportedly planned to appoint Grayling to the Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee. Although the Prime Minister appoints the Committee's members in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, he has no power to appoint its chair as, by law, the chair is elected by the members from their own ranks. Shadow Defence Secretary, Nia Griffith (Labour Party), said appointing Grayling would "make a mockery" of the committee. Acting Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, claimed the appointment of Grayling would be a "power grab" by Johnson and Dominic Cummings designed to avoid accountibility. Some Conservative MPs have also criticised the possible appointment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Grayling#Chair_of_the_Intelligence_and_Security_Committee

It looks like an attempt to stop the committee from forming - try to get such an unsuitable person to lead the committee that any reasonable MP can't agree to it, so it ends in deadlock. And the report never comes out.