THEY WERE BRIEFED AND LET IT HAPPEN.

[kpete]

Last edited Thu Jul 13, 2017, 11:40 AM - Edit history (2)

THEY WERE BRIEFED AND LET IT HAPPEN.

..............


Remember, the congressional leadership knew in 2015 that it was happening. Reuters has reported that the so-called Gang of Eight (Republican leaders in Congress) was told that Russian hackers were attacking the Democratic Party but that the information was so top secret they could not share it. As we know, hackers attacked the Democratic National Committee and the personal email of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. But they also hacked the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and information gleaned from that hack was put to use in some 2016 campaigns for Congress.

Also recall that one month before Donald Trump Jr. took that meeting with the Russian lawyer, House Majority Leader Kevin “loose lips” McCarthy was talking about Trump’s connections to Vladimir Putin in a room full of Republicans:



A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016 exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. […]


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This was the day after news had broken that the Russians had hacked the DNC and Ryan and McCarthy had just come from a meeting with the Ukrainian prime minister, who “had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions.”

***Republican leaders kept this from the public for a year, then lied repeatedly about it when confronted until someone produced an audiotape, at which point McCarthy, Ryan, et al., said it was just a joke. Maybe it was. But we know for sure that this idea about Trump being under Putin’s thumb was in the ether in GOP circles even as the party was getting ready to nominate him as its presidential candidate.***

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MORE!:
http://www.salon.com/2017/07/13/russia-scandal-goes-well-beyond-trump-gop-leaders-definitely-knew-about-it-and-went-along-did-they-benefit-too/#.WWdkUNubOL4.twitter

Link to tweet

...........

Updated to add:



GOP Leaders ran interference for Trump to stop Obama from warning the country of things Trump was lying about. https://newrepublic.com/article/143853/republicans-know-russia-scandal-america-deserves-answer

Link to tweet

[Achilleaze]

1. republican traitors to America

deserve a full measure of kickass karma.

[DK504]

11. McCarty is as culpable as Yertle and his slaves. This is the kind of shit you scream from

the mountain. Coward.

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016 exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. "

[Achilleaze]

18. True. McCarthy owes it to America to stand up for America

instead, like the rest of the republicans, he is Assuming the Position for the republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief and his Corruptly Colluding Comrades in the Kremlin and the White House.

[NastyRiffraff]

25. OMG I don't remember that

but it's SICKENING unless McCarthy promptly informed the FBI (yeah, right).

[GusBob]

2. I think alot of people in Washington know more than we do, both sides

All the classified stuff they cant discuss. If I recall correct many members of congress were upset after meeting with intel officials after the (s)election

[Zoonart]

3. I have read rumblings that the investigators...

Last edited Thu Jul 13, 2017, 10:00 AM - Edit history (1)

are tracing the laundered Russian money directly to the GOP- through their coffers and then distributed to campaigns around the country.
If this can be proven, then the GOP as a party is finished. They can be named in an indictment for racketeering.
They all benefited from that Russian money.
ALL OF THEM, WITCHES.

[thesquanderer]

12. People expected Trump's loss to spell the end of the Republican party as we knew it.

It turns out that Trump's *victory* might spell the end of the Republican party as we know it.

[Locrian]

21. depends

Depends on if they actually DO anything. It SHOULD be the end of the GOP.

If not - and this is swept under the rug or becomes accepted/tolerated behavior - then it's pretty much the end of any functioning democracy / rule of law.

My guess is that deals are being made behind the scenes with the real power players - and they're use this as an opportunity to gain advantage. Who gets thrown under the bus will likely NOT be the real villains. Never is.

[awesomerwb1]

33. The GOP will never be finished.

They're like cockroaches. There's too much money propping them up.

They have their scapegoats when they need a distraction = the undocumented.

I hope you're right though!

[Alice11111]

50. I believe the main leaders knew, but they are CYA to the

Max now, and have lawyers on it. With their majorities, I don't see them turning themselves in. I hope I'm wrong and Mueller sets them all up to rot in prison.

[gademocrat7]

4. Treasonous Rethugs

Always party over country.

[markmyword]

31. They knew!

The intelligence agencies told Obama about the Russian hacking to both parties. Obama had a meeting with Ryan and McConnell and democratic leaders and TOLD them that the Russians were interfering with the elections. Obama wanted to make a JOINT, bipartisan statement with republicans and democrats to the American people. Mcconnell threatened Obama that if Obama went public with this, he'd tell the American people this was partisan politics.
Obama didn't do anything! In other wards the Republican Party COLLUDED with the Russians and are TRAITORS to our country and constitution!
Ryan and McConnell are TRAITORS and any other republican who went along with this.

Ryan and McConnell ALLOWED their Super pacs to USE this hacked information in their different races across the country, knowing that the Russians were behind it. So Ryan and McConnell colluded or allowed collusion to occur , knowing that the Russians were interfering in our elections!
All TRAITORS, should be tried as traitors, put in prison, with NO PARDONS!!!!!

[FiveGoodMen]

54. "he'd tell the American people this was partisan politics"

That never stops THEM.

Not having the courage and conviction to stand up and speak the truth has cost the party -- and the country ... and the WORLD -- dearly.

[WinkyDink]

56. In a nutshell.

[Chasstev365]

5. They'll get away with all of it!

Face it; Republicans never get punished for their crimes. Why will this be any different?

[Squinch]

6. Great post. This needs to be constantly hammered.

[ananda]

7. You know, this "top secret," "classified" stuff is going to kill us.

I don't understand why the FBI and the CIA would not aggressively
pursue proper accountability and consequences for clear criminal
activity and treason.

I know the FBI is compromised now and has been for some time;
but I'm also starting to think the CIA is too.

All of this Reep/Russia stuff should this have been shouted from the rooftops and
aggressively investigated and prosecuted...

... from the beginning.

[forgotmylogin]

15. There is a possibility...

That they are holding their cards close to the vest. If a card player is working on a Royal Flush, the worst thing they can do is telegraph it to the other players. They want to keep everyone in the hand betting more and increasing the pot for a bigger payoff. They don't want to scare everyone out of the game before a win, and *definitely* not before all the cards are dealt.

Trump was likely involved in money-laundering before he even considered running for President.

[Plucketeer]

23. I should live so long

as to see who rakes in the "pot". I just hope I live on enough to see Sanders elected president. Good God! Can you imagine what our government would be like now if he had prevailed???

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

59. Every time I get impatient about this, I do try to remind myself of that fact.

If we can't have both, I would much rather they get 'em good, rather than get 'em fast!

[trc]

16. I believe the process is investigate and gather evidence then prosecute

If you shout your evidence from the rooftops while still investigating, your chances of successful prosecution decreases tremendously. These rabbits have to be chased down their holes to the central burrow before the holes can be destroyed and the central burrow lost, and this must be done with very quiet and efficient ferrets.

[forgotmylogin]

19. Exactly!

Rabbits or Poker, choose your metaphor!

[WinkyDink]

57. Excuse me, but evidence of attack from a foreign entity need not wait for a trial to let

Americans know!

"Sshhhh....Don't tell the Mainland about Pearl Harbor....."

[riverbendviewgal]

8. Traitors

That is what the Republicans are

I hid under my NJ elementary school desk during air raids in the 1950's. It was preparation for a Russian attack. My younger brother is a big Trump fan. I no longer call him brother and no longer live in the USA.

My USA high school history teacher predicted the USA country would end up like this right around this time. Amazing. He said greed and corruption woukd implode America. I am So sorry for all of you, I thought President Obama elected was a sign of enlightenment for the USA.

[BSdetect]

9. And they run the investigations. No worries about that then?

[barbtries]

10. we are a seriously fucked country.

resist.

[Alice11111]

51. I'm afraid so. The deck is stacked against us for elections

and leadership. It will take something huge, which seems like we have alteady had 50 things, to topple this Master Manipulator. Every time something else comes down, the stock market goes up. Record highs today. It's like the whole country is shell shocked, & can no longer react.
Plus, if they lise DT, they get Pence, so a win, win for them.

[OnDoutside]

13. And how many of them knew they were getting Russian campaign donations ?

[usaf-vet]

14. All of them and they don't care where the money comes from

as long as they keep their seat and get richer and richer.

I've said it before.... the military oath of enlistment.

I will support and defend the CONSTITUTION against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC!

A political party colluding with the Russians (you don't get any more foreign than that) to win a US presidential election.

The GOP as a party clearly meets the standard as a DOMESTIC enemy.

[Plucketeer]

22. As a USAF vet myself

I agree with what you say. But hey.... try and attack these domestic enemies with so much as a hickory switch and you'll never be heard from again.

[RT Atlanta]

17. This must be repeated early and often

I had this conversation with my spouse last night about 'remember how ashen Reid and Pelosi were when they came out of those briefings?' Basically said, if the public had any inkling of what was going on, there would be riots in the streets. Turtle and Ryan were in those same briefings.

[Whiskeytide]

20. I think there's more going on...

... The behavior of the republican political machine is too odd to just be ideologically driven. We like to say here that they are such assholes that they will tolerate Trump just to get their agenda through. I think it's much more.

I suspect the Russian intelligence operation compromised them as much or more than any democrat. Why wouldn't it have? Did Putin promise them he'd only try to get dirt on Democrats? Yeah, right.

Think about the treasure trove of emails and communications that must exist between repubs and their donors and between each other over the last 8 years: Statements about undermining Obama, about campaign lies, about the intelligence/gullibility of their supporters, about their true agendas, about who is financing them ... not to mention the unrestrained spigot of Russian money being laundered through their campaigns. I suspect Putin set out to ensnare as many republican lawmakers and policy heads as possible in a long term plan to disrupt the US Govt... and I bet even he was astonished at how many willingly took the bait, and how quickly it shredded our democracy. It was the political equivalent of the Nigerian Prince scam, and their servers were probably overwhelmed with the response volume.

Dumb asses. Where are Moose and Squirrel when we really need them!

[PatSeg]

32. I agree

I was thinking along the same lines. The Russians want to undermine our democracy and they will compromise anyone they can. There is no way that they just hacked Democrats, they are smarter than that. The Russians are pros when it comes to this sort of thing and Americans tend to be very gullible and naive.

I can picture the blackmail and behind-the-scenes extortion going on. Putin is probably having a field day with republicans, they can be so easy to compromise and/or buy. They all have tons to hide. That is undoubtedly why we see so little outrage from the republican side of the aisle. If we're lucky, we will see a domino effect, as one republican after another falls. If not, we are living in the final days of our democracy.

[Whiskeytide]

34. Yep. Even if they only snared...

... a few dozen (and that's being generous to them considering the cesspool of dirt that's likely there), the rest are in fear of a complete loss of power and influence - for years - when the chips fall, so they're scrambling to suppress it and cover it up as much as they can and for as long as they can.

It's a pretty sad shitstorm they've brought down on themselves.

[PatSeg]

36. So true

I can picture many of them waiting nervously for another shoe to drop, one that might expose them this time. I can also picture Putin watching with glee as his plan bears fruit. I don't condone what Putin does, but a lot of these politicians are so dirty, they deserve to be exposed.

[INdemo]

24. Remember McConnell's Senate race in 2014

well Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Grimes was giving McConnell one hell of a fight. the polls were tight and then all of a sudden Negative ads in the most negative possible format of lies and more lies were launched by McConnell's PAC
The polls seemed to open up over night giving McConnell a comfortable lead and all seemed a little strange;

Which one can wonder about the Russian connection even back then.
The talk began about the Russian hacking in 2015 but what about 2014?



Mitch McConnell linked super PAC took $2.5 million from a pro-Putin Ukrainian businessman

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029098699

This was posted back in May ..so why didnt the Corporate news report it

[dalton99a]

39. +1

[Alice11111]

53. ...because the media was obsessed with him, & he played

them. At least, they are trying to make up for it now...some great investigative reporting. Without the media, news like NYT, we would have nothing now.

He's an accidental Fake Prez, who the media created, and now they know it.

[broadcaster90210]

26. The coup runs deep

Somehow, our entire system of government must be repealed and replaced. It simply does not work any more and never will again.

[LakeArenal]

27. I guess we will look back to the good old days...

when Republicans (no nicknames here, they own this), when Republicans were only crooks, liars, and thieves.

[Fatemah2774]

35. How true

Now we can include traitors to the list...and if the monstrosity of their healthcare goes in effect serial murderers can be included

[Skittles]

28. did they benefit? THEY GOT A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

THEY *KNEW* HILLARY WOULD NEVER BE PRESIDENT

[dalton99a]

40. Yep.

[yurbud]

29. Why did Obama let GOP veto going public with this info sooner?

It's one thing to run it by them first as a courtesy, so they have a chance to do the right thing, but once they refuse to do so, why let them veto saying anything?

[Skittles]

37. Obama completely dropped the ball

certainly after Comey came with that Hillary email bullshit, Obama should have been fighting fire with fire....Obama helped pave the way for Trump

[onetexan]

43. i hate to admit it but i have to agreee

O should have come out with it early on once he knew of this, and not succumb to Mcconnell's threats to raise hell. Everyone knew agent orange would be very bad for the country - a clear and present danger at that - if he won. And that's exactly what has happened - all has gone to hell since nov. 8, '16.

[Skittles]

46. Obama always wanted to be liked by repukes

he still does

he wasted so much time playing footsie with those lying bastards - Hillary would never have done that

[ehrnst]

68. And Hillary was vilified for not backing down when men called her "unlikeable."

She could do what Obama did, and be called a bitch on a bone.

[Skittles]

69. Hillary knew they'd never change

Obama never gave up hope they would accept him

[orleans]

44. +1 n/t

[lib-ruhl]

30. Let's hope they're

storing up firecrackers, grenades to combine and drop a nuclear bombshell and blow this whole thing wide open....

[Solly Mack]

38. K&R

[Generic Brad]

41. There was a reason all Republicans in the room laughed at McCarthy

He was most likely the only person in the room who was not bought and paid for by the Russians! He was not "in" on their "inside" joke.

[Lyricalinklines]

42. At this point I believe they 'SAID' they were 'briefed' eom

[BigmanPigman]

45. Another prime example for the need for a separate indep investigation ASAP!

[siriuslll]

47. Charlie Manson had a cozy little "family" too...

McCarthy was the one who candidly admitted to a camera in 2015 that the Benghazi hearings had the sole purpose of lowering HClinton's public polling numbers. Do these guys ever pay for their misdeeds and transgressions?

[C Moon]

48. That's what I've been thinking for a long time.

The way the most of the GOP was dead set against Trump, but for some reason Ryan and McConnell were behind him...I knew there was something going on—especially when Ryan went from criticizing him to backing him. What a hollow bunch of traitors.

[burrowowl]

49. Let the Investigation go on!

Get them all!

[Hekate]

52. KnR

[WinkyDink]

55. When did "keep attacks from foreign countries a secret" become a thing? I'm very serious here.

[Not Ruth]

58. The Cold War

Seriously. It was war, but did you ever hear about people getting caught or dying? Some perhaps, but probably thousands did that you never heard of.

[WinkyDink]

65. "Probably" isn't exactly a word used in an argument of proof. Sorry. And how are

you defining "attacks"?

Cuba 1962 was not kept secret, e. g.

[Decoy of Fenris]

63. Read up on the U.S. Office of Censorship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Censorship

You'll find incidents of secrecy like this in every war and across every country, probably through almost all of history. Every country in WWII had their own version of the Office of Censorship, preventing the populace at large from receiving bad news from the front and damaging morale. As a side effect, this was also used to limit what information enemy forces received that would give away the details of efficiency or damage of any perpetrated attack.

This is nothing new or special, nor will it be likely to change within your lifetime or my own.

[WinkyDink]

66. I refer SOLELY to the United States, which I thought the context of this thread made clear. I am

neither so young nor uneducated nor naive to think either diplomacy or conspiracy has in world history never perpetrated such frauds on various populations!

Basically I'm astounded that, on the basis of "Well, we're sworn to secrecy," our Democratic leaders exit meetings with ashen faces and let our country be literally taken over by our long-term adversary, while keeping citizens in the dark such that we must depend on the kindness of snitches to learn of our true peril.

[Decoy of Fenris]

67. The point I was making regarding history was that many countries came to this conclusion.

In the U.S. specifically, pretty much every conflict America has ever been in has been censored in some part or in large degree.

In Colonial peacetime, the American Colonies heavily restricted any print relating to the organization of anti-pirate raids and privateer activities.

During the Revolution, wartime activities -were- censored, but the nature of communication and reporting in that time period meant that enforcement of that censorship was lax, as reports were often months out of date.

During the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson famously imprisoned and courtmarshalled a legislator who critiqued leaked military information.

During the Mexican War, censorship rules were relaxed because the press reporting was almost exclusively positive about the American military actions.

During the Civil War, both sides -heavily- censored any action related to military presence, maneuvering, battles or logistics unless it was an outcome favorable to their own side. Any and all riots or smaller rebellions that may hint at Union soldiery's disunity was forbidden, even though such things did happen (Fairly) frequently.) The battle of Bull Run was one of the more famous incidents of press censorship, as there was a mad dash to stop any reporters from getting away from the battle with information of the Union rout. As the war ground on, the censorship tightened further and further, with only positive news being reported. This applied fairly evenly in proportion across the battlelines, with the South also struggling against the flow of negative press. The Confederacy, though, was more effective in their censorship largely due to a highly effective policy of voluntary censorship on behalf of the press.

During the Spanish American war, the press was censored almost entirely by voluntary choice of the press, but nonetheless it was rigorously enforced, going so far as to censor even positive reviews of the war, that news outlets resorted to making up their own stories and running them. The efficacy of the censoring was felt keenly enough that one newspaper even printed a poem about it. Look up "The Censor", published in the American Constituion paper.

During the military action in the Phillipines, any and all critical stories of American atrocities or of brutality of American soldiers was censored heavily. The commanding general Otis in the Phillipines censored the press so heartily that even the War Department was unaware of just how poorly the American military was doing. Not only did Otis censor the American press, but he also imposed censorship against the Hong Kong telegraph for the same reasons, citing "negative morale" as a reason for the censorship.


I could go on from World War I, but censure of information of these conflicts is fairly well known.


The point is, you say that you're astounded that "We're sworn to secrecy" is valid in our government, when such a statement has not only existed but thrived through literally the entire course of American history. Vietnam, the Phillipines, both World Wars (The Japanese firebomb attacks in particular were completely blacked out so the Japanese never learned if they were effective), literally every conflict in American history has held their secrets, even when attacks strike directly on American soil and American armed forces and civilians lose their lives. As I mentioned a few posts ago, this is nothing new. Censorship and secrecy is as American as baseball and apple pie.

[Achilleaze]

60. Wholesale republican betrayal of America

will be how history records their faithlessness, their anti-patriotism, and their moral cowardice.

[Honeycombe8]

61. Kick. THIS is a big story, IMO. nt

[BSdetect]

62. Its all too obvious really and nothing will be done about it as long as they are in charge

[kairos12]

64. Disgusting swine and traitors.