On yesterday’s America’s Newsroom on Fox, Sandra Smith had a segment in which Rich Lowry and democrat Ben Kissel were discussing the new Papadopoulos canard the NY Times is trying to sell as the spark for the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign.
Near the end of the segment Kissel reverted to parroting the claim that the GOP had paid for part of the Trump dossier.
That is completely false. One more time for you democrats:
Oct. 2015: It was reported late Friday that the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website funded by GOP mega-donor Paul Singer, hired Fusion GPS to investigate Trump. Free Beacon’s editor said Friday that the research was standard opposition research and that it was not tied to the dossier work that would follow several months later. It is not clear what, if anything, Singer knew about Free Beacon’s hiring of Fusion. The hedge fund manager was Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s biggest backer.
Feb. 20, 2016: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush drops from the Republican primary.
March: Fusion GPS approached Perkins Coie, the law firm for the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. Perkins Coie general counsel revealed this week that Fusion offered to continue Trump opposition research it had started while working for a Republican candidate.
March 15: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio drops from the Republican primary after losing to Trump in his home state.
April: Perkins Coie, using money from the Clinton campaign and DNC, hires Fusion GPS. Marc Elias, a Perkins Coie partner and general counsel for both the campaign and DNC, would serve as the bagman.
That month, Federal Election Commission records show that the Clinton campaign paid Perkins Coie a total of $150,000 for legal services. The DNC paid the firm around $107,000. It is unclear how much of that went to Fusion GPS. Both the campaign and DNC would pay Perkins Coie hundreds of thousands more dollars throughout the campaign.
May: Free Beacon ends its contract with Fusion.
June: Fusion GPS hires former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and his London-based firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia. Steele discloses this in court filings earlier this year as part of a lawsuit he faces over the dossier. Steele said he worked for Fusion GPS from June through November.
June 20: Steele writes first memo of the dossier. It alleges that Trump used prostitutes during a visit to Moscow in 2013 and that the Kremlin was blackmailing him with the evidence. The memo also alleges that the Trump campaign was engaged in a well-orchestrated collusion campaign with Russian operatives.
July 5: Steele provides his research to an FBI contact, The New York Times has reported. The documents made their way to FBI counterintelligence chief Peter Strzock two weeks later.
July: Chatter began appearing on social media referring to damning information about Trump’s ties to Russia. Republican strategist Rick Wilson told The New York Times back in January, after the dossier was published, that he was first asked about the document by a reporter in July.
July 26: A Wall Street Journal reporter contacts Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser, about allegations made about him in the dossier. Page disclosed that detail last month in a lawsuit he filed against the parent company of Yahoo! News, which republished claims from the dossier last September.
Late July: The FBI opens a counterintelligence investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.
Aug. 25: Then-CIA Director John Brennan briefs then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid about possible links between Trump associates and Russian operatives. According to The New York Times, officials in the meeting said that Brennan “indicated that unnamed advisers to Mr. Trump might be working with the Russians to interfere in the election.”
September: The FBI obtained a surveillance warrant from a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Carter Page. The application for the warrant reportedly cited the dossier as evidence.
Please note: Carter Page, Carter Page, Carter Page. No George Papadopoulos. Andy McCarthy:
Back then, no fewer than six of the Times’ top reporters, along with a researcher, worked their anonymous “current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials” in order to generate the Page blockbuster. With these leaks, the paper confidently reported: “From the Russia trip of the once-obscure Mr. Page grew a wide-ranging investigation, now accompanied by two congressional inquiries, that has cast a shadow over the early months of the Trump administration” [emphasis added].
Oh sure, the Times acknowledged that there might have been a couple of other factors involved. “Paul Manafort, then [i.e., during Page’s trip] Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, was already under criminal investigation in connection with payments from a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.” And “WikiLeaks and two websites later identified as Russian intelligence fronts had begun releasing emails obtained when Democratic Party servers were hacked.”
But the trigger for the investigation — the “catalyst” — was Page.
Somehow, despite all that journalistic leg-work and all those insider sources, the name George Papadopoulos does not appear in the Times’ story.
Now, however, we’re supposed to forget about Page. According to the new bombshell dropped on New Year’s Eve by six Times reporters, it was “the hacking” coupled with “the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign” — Papadopoulos — “may have had inside information about it” that were “driving factors that led the F.B.I. to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump’s associates conspired.”
It seems like only yesterday — or, to be more precise, only late October, when he pled guilty to a count of lying to the FBI in the Mueller probe — that Mr. Papadopoulos was even more obscure than the “once-obscure Mr. Page.” Now, though, he has been elevated to “the improbable match that set off a blaze that has consumed the first year of the Trump administration.”
We need to see that FISA warrant- it would clear this all up. Today is the deadline for the FBI and DOJ to turn over everything. We’ll see about that.
As you can see, the Free Beacon ended its work with Fusion in May 2016, before Christopher Steele had written his first memo.
The GOP did not pay for the dossier. Not at all. Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid for the dossier. No one else. They colluded with Fusion GPS, Christopher Steele and Kremlin operatives to fabricate a salacious piece of garbage meant to destroy an opposing presidential candidate.
Thus any democrat continuing to make this claim can be immediately dismissed as a liar.
And FWIW, IMO Mueller will be trying to do to Papadopoulos what he is doing to Manafort- either get them to lie about the Trump campaign or bankrupt them. Mueller has assembled a grand jury guaranteed to vote guilty. I said it last year and I’ll say it again- had there been anything to this collusion thing obama would long go have leaked it.
The growing list of NY Times concoctions is beginning to look like the list of excuses as to why hillary clinton lost. A
Now, show me the warrant.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 40 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 45 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter who is in the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
We all know by now show much the main-stream liberal leftists news media always supports the Demac-RATS nothing has changed much for the New York Pravda and CNN its the same old lies we get 24/7
It’s hardly to the GOP’s credit that they failed to vet a highly questionable candidate like Donald Trump to any degree whatsoever. They should have paid for an investigation. Nor is it to the Washington Free Beacon’s credit that they lost all interest in learning anything about Trump’s baggage the moment they decided he would likely become the GOP’s nominee.
Truth wasn’t of actual interest to any of them. Their only concern was winning. Now their only concern is how to thwart any post election investigations and hang onto power.
Trump Tower meeting with Russians ‘treasonous’, Bannon says in explosive book
I wonder if Mueller bought a copy?
How bout Steve Bannon, far right golden boy, claiming in his new book, that Kushner and Junior “committed treasonous acts” in their Russian meeting.
Is he right on or off the rails?
I never much liked Bannon. Now it sounds as though he’s lost it.
@rich wheeler: The meetings set up by the democrats are already known about, unlike the democrats no money illegally exchanged hands for fake documents from foreigners.
We know how impartial the DOJ is…http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/341788-exclusive-doj-let-russian-lawyer-into-us-before-she-met-with-trump
Bannons opinions are just that, if what happened was illegal there would be indictments.
@rich wheeler:
Then again, it could be one more canard, just the like the leak that Trump was going to fire Mueller on Dec. 22. Liberals ate that one up too.
KITT “Indictments?” Bannon says stand by.
BTW–what’s your opinion of Bannon ,Roy Moore’s biggest supporter?
What will DT say when he reads his biggest fan’s opinion of his son and son in law?
The plot thickens as the noose tightens.
DJ Canard?? Bannon wrote it. As far as Mueller–DT says the staunch Repub. Marine war hero is doing fine and should be left to complete his trustworthy investigation–I think we can all concur with DT on this—-don’t you? Kitt? Bill?
@rich wheeler: Keep your hopes up, Bannon is just trying to sell books. He can ill afford to lose the support of Trump fans, the website would go down.
I dont find the investigation trustworthy, as they are slow walking the Congress requests, a few need to be put in jail for contempt.
The investigation can proceed it keeps uncovering more and more corruption of the Obama admin.
Trump unloads on former top aide Bannon: ‘He lost his mind’
Indict them all, and let the courts sort them out? This is turning into a national soap opera.
@DrJohn: you nailed it “Bannon has lost his mind.” DT
Press conference delayed–can’t wait to watch Sarah—have “the lefties” bought out Bannon–has he been “deep cover” all along?
@rich wheeler: from the vault https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BhfpAY9atA
@rich wheeler:
It is pretty amusing to see liberals at other sites embracing Bannon, not realizing how stupid it makes them look.
True? Who knows, but the tale would make one helluva Hollywood movie or television miniseries. Donald Trump Didn’t Want to Be President
@DrJohn: Not nearly as amusing as what’s to come between Bannon and DT
Perhaps a derogatory nickname for Bannon?—“lying” already used on Ted
Any suggestions?–how bout “Crazy Steve”
@Greg: 2
If that’s not the dumbest statement I’ve read from you, at least it is up amongst the top. The Rep and Dims both vet the candidates the same way. They list them on a ballot and the people decide who they want and they usually elect who they decide they want. In this case, more people in the right places decided :Trump was their candidate, so they voted for him. I’ve never heard of any other ‘vetting’ system for candidates.
@DrJohn: Bannon has lost a wheel and run off the tracks. Kinda makes you think of ‘babbling idiot’. Closet Dim..
@Redteam: Bannon not a closet Dim, just a dimwit, he wasn’t much before DT and found out he aint much after. Biting the hand that gave him name recognition, hope book sales were worth it to him.
Bannon of Breitbart—sleazy right wingers all. DT unceremoniously fired him –then blamed him for the Ray Moore defeat.
Bannon, a dirty fighter, coming back at Trump for his disloyalty. He’ll try to bring “the narcissist” as he calls DT–POT KETTLE??–to his knees.
Will Bannon’s alt right supporters stay with him or abandon him.?
@rich wheeler:
I like “Crazy Steve.”
Republicans are going to distance themselves from Bannon, quickly. He’s proved that it was a good thing he was fired.
@DrJohn: Screwball Stevie , Backstabber Bannon, Loose cannon Bannon, Back-biter Bannon, Sloven Steve, Not that Trump will need help.
@Kitt: Loose Cannon Bannon–alliteration I like it.
He definitely is slovenly–Did he not look TOTALLY out of place in Alabama?
His supporters quiet so far.
@rich wheeler: Sloven Steve was my favorite, either grow a beard or shave for goodness sakes. I am sure it was part of why he has become uninvited around Trump.
http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a42630/donald-trump-employee-dress-code/
@Redteam, #15:
Maybe you should keep thinking about it for a while until the meaning eventually sinks in.
For all you or anyone else knows, Trump & Company’s building projects have been heavily financed by Putin’s front men and the Russian mafia. He’ll probably make good on his promise to release his tax returns around the same time he makes good on his promise to undergo a physical at Walter Reed and release the results. That is, it’s never going to happen.
Unlike some people, I don’t think it’s the least bit dumb to want some questions answered. Common sense has apparently been put on hold.
Bannon, who Trump had appointed as Senior Advisor and Chief Strategist, said DT was semi-illiterate and –my favorite—went to bed most every night at 6:30 with a hamburger–early tee time.
@rich wheeler: Wow now Bannon was in charge of tucking President Trump in at night, did he read or sing to him? The claims of all Bannon said are now bordering on bizarre. Has Bannon actually spoken himself or are these all he said stuff? MSM is good at twisting quotes.
@Kitt: You think it’s that damn fake news put out by the lamestream media Kitt.?
Bannon has the same engaging personality as his former boss–knives are out.
@rich wheeler: I think some of this is overblown perhaps outright lies. Not all just some, would it be the first time they twisted words? Put words in others mouths, mis-quoted intentionally? Quoted then interpreted it for you? Have you seen Bannon saying any of this at all? What show has he been on?
I am not defending Bannon I just want the truth of it all.
All liberals are screwed up and need to unwind too tight since Trump was elected
Trump Demands That Publisher Halt Release of Critical Book
Lots of luck with that. With so much advance exposure, the publishing house’s bean counters undoubtedly have dollar signs in their eyes. They’re probably ordering more rolls of paper and putting their printing presses on the highest speed setting.
Draining The Swamp—-Flynn, Manaford, Spicer, Gorka, Scaramucci, Bannon, Priebus–good job DT
I’ve watched DT for over 40 years . Even those who’ve watched him for 2 should not be surprised by Bannon revelations.
Thank God for the Marines Mattis and Kelly–adults in the room.
Has anyone thought of the fact that this nothingburger is all over the press when the real news is the actual re-opening of the clinton crime foundation investigation as well as the evidence the FBI has had to turn over? The Uranium 1 deal is now actually being investigated. My feeling is that, when you are dealing with criminal acts by the POTUS and SOS as well as many other very powerful people, you are going to have an air-tight case before you act. Even a few lsm outlets are starting to report on this stuff as they can sense what’s coming.
Go ahead and ague about this silly book-I will wait for the real story.
@Bookdoc: Hannity is all over your story–who else? Hannity, like his manlove partner DT are believed by about 1/3 of the electorate–that’s a constant Bookdoc and will continue to be the problem.
@Greg: It’s hardly to the GOP’s credit that they failed to vet a highly questionable candidate like Donald Trump to any degree whatsoever.
This is turning into a national soap opera.
For all you or anyone else knows, Trump & Company’s building projects have been heavily financed by Putin’s front men and the Russian mafia.
Unlike some people, I don’t think it’s the least bit dumb to want some questions answered.
It is pretty amusing to see liberals at other sites embracing Bannon, not realizing how stupid it makes them look.
@rich wheeler: I think some of this is overblown perhaps outright lies. Not all just some, would it be the first time they twisted words?
The Uranium 1 deal is now actually being investigated.
@Bill… Deplorable Me:
did you notice no answer from him I guess he whole hearted believes what he sees on the boob-tube. Everyone at the Charlottesville protest was a nazi, there were no good people there not 1, not even out of curiosity. So when Trump said there were some good people there it had to mean he loved the neo-nazis…. brain washed. Its just easier to believe a lie than to believe they have been lied to.
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #33:
I have no problem with investigations of the Bill or Hillary Clinton, or Obama, or anyone else. “Only republicans under the lights?” Should it have somehow escaped your notice, politically motivated investigations on the taxpayers’dime have been a standard part of the GOP’s modus operandi for years. They never stop with their political opponents, but go completely bonkers the moment a spotlight shifts in their own direction.
They can do Benghazi, Part 8 on the right, Uranium One on the left, and The Clinton Foundation Exposé in the center ring, complete with juggling clowns and a guest appearance by Monica Lewinsky, for all I care. Don’t expect another such dog-and-pony extravaganza to successfully distract attention from the Trump investigation, however. Mueller is attempting to provide definitive answers to some of the most important questions in the history of our nation. Our integrity and safety as a nation could depend on getting those answers.
Maybe you should buy a copy of Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” and put it on the shelf alongside “Clinton Cash.” We’ll eventually find out which is more credible.
‘Fire and Fury’ author Wolff calls Trump least credible person who has ever walked on earth
@Greg: Only select persons looking for any reason to believe, give a snot what Wolff says or thinks. He writes a book listening to a man that has his pride badly damaged lashing out at anyone to blame for his own failings. Then there are those who love to think its all true maybe they think it will make a difference, it gives thin excuse for continuing an investigation that began and continues the hope of impeachment. It is just so pathetic.
@kitt: I trust you are not referring to me–you know better.
@kitt, #37:
Steve Bannon, or Donald Trump?
As for the book, you could be referring either to Clinton Cash or to Wolff’s book. Neither qualifies as proof positive of anything.
@Greg:
failings, my goodness could you list the failings you refer to? Seems he did not fail to beat impossible odds. Hillarys evil minions pulling out every dirty trick n the book, a weaponized executive branch, outspent, but not outrun. I will wait for that list. Are you referring to 2 books you never read? Running hard from the subject the fake dossier, the squirrel of a distraction book the liberal progressives cling to, still pathetic.
@DrJohn: I was close Trump chose “Sloppy Steve”
@richard wheeler: #38 only if the shoe fits Cinderella, er sorry Cinderfella.
@kitt, #40:
I’m referring to two books I never will read. Both are just people’s opinions, honest or otherwise. I can form my own opinions.
I have a very strong opinion about what it means when people are attempting to obstruct lawful investigations. It generally means they’ve got something to hide.
Bill Clinton was attempting to hide an extramarital affair with a young White House intern. The truth came out. It was a really stupid thing to lie about, because the lying itself was an actionable offense.
I have a feeling the Trump administration has far more worrisome secrets. That’s just my own opinion, based on my estimation of Trump’s character and on all of the dots that have been discovered thus far. Mueller will eventually connect them, or conclude that they can’t be connected. So long as his investigation continues to completion, I’ll accept the results. I don’t exclude the possibility that Donald Trump may not have been the prime mover. My opinion of Jared Kushner is very, very low. I believe he might have thought he could play Trump to his advantage.
@Greg: Just a little hyperbole there. How did he measure the credibility of so many people, especially the ones that were dead before he started measuring. No, wait: he’s a dimocrat, oh excuse me.
@Greg:
Wait a minute, didn’t you just say? “author Wolff calls Trump least credible person who has ever walked on earth” Wouldn’t that just be ‘his’ opinion? What happened to ‘your’ opinion?
@Greg: So you agree the investigations that were done on Hillary had very much to hide so much so the appointees had to find shes not guilty prior to the investigation in spite of the mountain of evidence otherwise?
@Redteam, #44:
Do you apply the same standard to Clinton Cash? Peter Schweizer has a long history of sloppy journalism. Numerous factual errors were corrected by the author in the electronic version of Clinton Cash during the first weeks following publication; those buying printed copies no doubt received email notification concerning which parts were inaccurate and should be lined out.
You’ll be happy to know that the film adaptation, which Breitbart News uploaded to YouTube for free viewing ahead of the election, was co-financed by your good friend Steve Bannon. Do you both love and hate him?
Michael Wolff has no comparable history of journalistic malpractice, though I’m certain such a history will be invented very shortly.
@Redteam, #45:
I have long since arrived at a similar opinion independently, by paying close attention to what Trump says and observing how often it simply isn’t true. I can see that clearly enough without anyone having to point it out to me. Everybody who has paid attention knows this guy is a grifter. That’s the least of our worries. It’s not just that he’s unqualified for the job; he’s dangerous in it.
@kitt, #46:
If there really were clear and compelling evidence, she would have been prosecuted long before now. The party in power would like nothing better. They wouldn’t even have had to be in power to make that happen. There’s a mountain of b.s. that’s been used to influence public opinion. It feeds the right’s obsession with the Clintons and various conspiracy theories, but it’s not proof, and they know it. An attempted indictment would have limited their ability to use groundless accusations.
@Greg:
Why are you telling us about Wolf? How is an author ‘dangerous’?
@Redteam: Most of the book is about Bannon blasting and belittling Trump—When do you expect Bannon will deny he ever said all these horrible things about his old friend DT?
The book will be #! bestseller this week and probably in coming weeks.
How’s staunch Republican Mueller doing–DT says leave him alone he’s doing fine–He’s a Repub– our guy.
How bout “The catch” in ND win against LSU—shades of Montana to Clark