FBI has information that indicates Trump associates coordinated with the Russians

Posted on March 23, 2017 by SouthernGirl2

Washington (CNN) — The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, US officials told CNN.

This is partly what FBI Director James Comey was referring to when he made a bombshell announcement Monday before Congress that the FBI is investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, according to one source.

The FBI is now reviewing that information, which includes human intelligence, travel, business and phone records and accounts of in-person meetings, according to those U.S. officials. The information is raising the suspicions of FBI counterintelligence investigators that the coordination may have taken place, though officials cautioned that the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is ongoing.

In his statement on Monday Comey said the FBI began looking into possible coordination between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian operatives because the bureau had gathered “a credible allegation of wrongdoing or reasonable basis to believe an American may be acting as an agent of a foreign power.”

The White House did not comment and the FBI declined to comment.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer maintained Monday after Comey’s testimony that there was no evidence to suggest any collusion took place.

“Investigating it and having proof of it are two different things,” Spicer said.

One law enforcement official said the information in hand suggests “people connected to the campaign were in contact and it appeared they were giving the thumbs up to release information when it was ready.” But other U.S. officials who spoke to CNN say it’s premature to draw that inference from the information gathered so far since it’s largely circumstantial.

The FBI cannot yet prove that collusion took place, but the information suggesting collusion is now a large focus of the investigation, the officials said.

The FBI has already been investigating four former Trump campaign associates — Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page — for contacts with Russians known to US intelligence. All four have denied improper contacts and CNN has not confirmed any of them are the subjects of the information the FBI is reviewing.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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56 Responses to FBI has information that indicates Trump associates coordinated with the Russians

    • eliihass says:
      March 24, 2017 at 7:56 pm

      “…Donald Trump’s campaign has a symbiotic relationship with supermarket tabloids, which have been sliming his political foes with stories that are either flatly unbelievable or impossible for any other outlet to confirm. Trump’s allies are feeding many of these stories to the outlets, and Trump himself has used his tremendous media megaphone to amplify the sketchy allegations.

      Roger Stone, the longtime friend and ally of Trump who was a paid consultant to his campaign in 2015 and now heads a pro-Trump super PAC, is playing a key role in pushing pro-Trump stories to the tabloids. They’re frequently quoting him and at times he seems to serve as the source for their anonymously sourced hit pieces. Stone has a decades-long history of political dirty tricks, as well as violent, racist, and sexist rhetoric.

      Trump has a “very cozy relationship” to the National Enquirer. The presumptive Republican nominee is also reportedly “very close” to the tabloid’s chief executive, David Pecker, with whom he has reportedly been “friends for years.”

      That friendship with Pecker has “paid dividends” for Trump, according to New York magazine. Gabriel Sherman reported in October that while Trump’s “scandal-filled personal life would be yuge! for the supermarket tabloid,” he has been “exclusively celebrated in the Enquirer’s pages.” Trump himself has gotten in on the act, writing op-eds for the tabloid extolling his own virtues. The paper endorsed him in March with an editorial that Borchers writes “read[s] like one of the candidate’s stump speeches.”

      https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2016/05/12/why-trump-s-supermarket-tabloid-alliance-poses-problem-press/210393

      Reply
      • eliihass says:
        March 24, 2017 at 8:00 pm

        DICK MORRIS, is the National Enquirer’s CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND CORRESPONDENT, seen above at the publication’s offices in New York in 2016.

        Reply
    • eliihass says:
      March 24, 2017 at 8:06 pm

      Also important to note…

      “…Us Weekly, which has long competed with People magazine for Hollywood lifestyle scoops, has been snapped up by the owner of the Trump-friendly gossip paper National Enquirer. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

      The Us editorial employees — around 45 staffers in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles — are expected to reinterview for their jobs as early as Friday.

      The deal allows AMI, led by Trump backer Pecker, to consolidate the print market for store checkout stand publications. It also owns celebrity-oriented Star, Soap Opera Digest and OK! magazines along with the Enquirer and Radar Online.

      Trump, who recently labeled much of the mainstream press the “enemy of the people,” has singled out AMI exec Pecker (who he once lauded as “brilliant”) for praise.

      In the past year, AMI’s National Enquirer has doubled down on pro-Trump headlines on its covers, to the point that it has been compared to “Pravda on the Checkout Line,” a reference to Russia’s state-backed paper..”

      http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/us-weekly-sold-owner-trump-friendly-national-enquirer-986184

      Reply
  17. SouthernGirl2 says:
    March 24, 2017 at 10:39 am

    Is this our next President emerging? 💯💯💯

    https://twitter.com/KatieBoWill/status/845295530230108161

    Reply
  21. eliihass says:
    March 23, 2017 at 11:21 pm

    Mike Pence on Manafort’s resignation as chair of Trump campaign ….’Paul didn’t want to be a distraction’

    p.s: Pence and Gorsuch must have the same theater coach.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TScWVA0IOJU

    Reply
  22. eliihass says:
    March 23, 2017 at 10:17 pm

    A refresher…This is that minor peripheral campaign ‘bit-player’ Sean Spicer spoke of…🙄🤔

    This is Manafort still arrogant and cocksure *after* the elections (p.s what’s the deal with Charlie Rose and folks like Manafort and Roger Stone…Charlie Rose seems to have them on his shows quite often…he even had Stone on for the entire show on his one on one Charlie Rose show..)

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z6nGSiXS4-Y

    This is Manafort as campaign chair at the RNC ..

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_5aqm4O5_1A

    Reply
  23. vitaminlover says:
    March 23, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    What I can say with an assuredness, ladies, is, we already had this pig pegged!

    Reply
  24. eliihass says:
    March 23, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    Mike Pence is as complicit in this Russia mess too..

    “…Donald Trump offered New Jersey Governor Chris Christie the job of vice president, sources confirm to CBS News. Days before the Republican National Convention, however, Trump reneged on the deal after others in his inner circle convinced him otherwise.

    First reported by the New York Post, an indecisive Trump had initially decided on Christie…
    Christie, the first former presidential candidate to get behind Trump after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary, had assumed a high profile role on the campaign prior to the Convention..

    Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager at the time, allegedly had another idea in mind.

    Manafort had arranged for Trump to meet with his first choice for the job on July 13: Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Afterwards, the plans was for Trump and Pence to then fly back to New York together and a formal announcement would be made, a campaign source said of Manafort’s thinking.

    What had previously been reported as a “lucky break” by the New York Times was actually a swift political maneuver devised by the now fired campaign manager. Set on changing Trump’s mind, he concocted a story that Trump’s plane had mechanical problems, forcing the soon-to-be Republican nominee to stay the night in Indianapolis for breakfast with the Pence family on Wednesday morning.

    Swayed by Pence’s aggressive pitch, Trump agreed to ditch Christie and make Pence his VP the following day, according to a source…”

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-offered-chris-christie-vice-president-role-before-mike-pence/

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    March 23, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    GOP Proves Why We Need Independent Investigations
    by Nancy LeTourneau March 23, 2017 8:08 AM

    As Martin reported yesterday, Rep. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, took unprecedented steps yesterday to brief both the press and subsequently the White House on information he had received about communications that may be by or about Trump and his associates that were intercepted due to “incidental collection” during an unrelated, completely legal FISA-approved investigation. He further stated that these intercepts happened after the election – during the transition period.

    In other words, while Nunes may have obstructed justice by sharing this information with the White House, nothing he said is related to what Trump tweeted on March 4th.

    …………………………………….

    I say all that because it is obvious who is hoping to benefit from the firestorm Nunes created. Beyond that, it is important to remember that Trump’s tweets were part of his pattern to lie, distract and blame when he feels threatened. In other words, pointing the finger at Obama for wiretapping him was meant to overshadow the fact that he and his campaign are under investigation for possible collusion with the Russians to influence the outcome of the election. Nunes announcement today was designed to put that lie back in the headlines.

    That is why later in the afternoon, ranking member on the committee Rep. Adam Schiff had a few things to say about all this. First and foremost he said that Rep. Nunes needs to decide if he is going to chair an independent investigation or act as a surrogate of the White House – because he can’t do both.

    Schiff went on to explain that none of the information Nunes referred to had been shared with committee Democrats or Republicans. All of them learned about it the same way we did – via Nunes’ statement to the press. He also said that sharing the information with Trump and his team was inappropriate given that they are the targets of the investigation.

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    March 23, 2017 at 12:27 pm

    Key Dem points to evidence of collusion between Russia, Team Trump
    03/23/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 03/23/17 08:08 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Russia’s intervention in last year’s presidential campaign is no longer in doubt. What’s unclear is whether Vladimir Putin’s government received cooperation from the Republican campaign officials in Moscow and was eager to help.

    House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who’s helping lead a congressional investigation into the Russia scandal, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” over the weekend, and raised a few eyebrows with vague references to circumstantial evidence.

    “There is circumstantial evidence of collusion,” Schiff said, referring to alleged cooperation between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign. “There is direct evidence, I think, of deception and that’s where we begin the investigation…. There is certainly enough for us to conduct an investigation. The American people have a right to know and in order to defend ourselves, we need to know whether the circumstantial evidence of collusion and direct evidence of deception is indicative of more.”

    Reply

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