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Thread: How the Russian collusion investigation started

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    Default How the Russian collusion investigation started

    This article explains the background.

    British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia
    GCHQ is said to have alerted US agencies after becoming aware of contacts in 2015


    13 Apr 2017
    Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told.

    GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added.

    Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said.

    The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said. Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors.

    It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US.

    The issue of GCHQ’s role in the FBI’s ongoing investigation into possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Moscow is highly sensitive. In March Trump tweeted that Barack Obama had illegally “wiretapped” him in Trump Tower. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, claimed the “British spying agency” GCHQ had carried out the bugging. Spicer cited an unsubstantiated report on Fox News. Fox later distanced itself from the report.

    The claims prompted an extremely unusual rebuke from GCHQ, which generally refrains from commenting on all intelligence matters. The agency described the allegations first made by a former judge turned media commentator, Andrew Napolitano, as “nonsense”. “They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored,” a spokesperson for GCHQ said.

    Instead both US and UK intelligence sources acknowledge that GCHQ played an early, prominent role in kickstarting the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, which began in late July 2016. One source called the British eavesdropping agency the “principal whistleblower”.

    The Guardian has been told the FBI and the CIA were slow to appreciate the extensive nature of contacts between Trump’s team and Moscow ahead of the US election. This was in part due to US law that prohibits US agencies from examining the private communications of American citizens without warrants. “They are trained not to do this,” the source stressed.

    “It looks like the [US] agencies were asleep,” the source added. “They [the European agencies] were saying: ‘There are contacts going on between people close to Mr Trump and people we believe are Russian intelligence agents. You should be wary of this.’ The message was: ‘Watch out. There’s something not right here.’”

    According to one account, GCHQ’s then head, Robert Hannigan, passed material in summer 2016 to the CIA chief, John Brennan. The matter was deemed so sensitive it was handled at “director level”. After an initially slow start, Brennan used GCHQ information and intelligence from other partners to launch a major inter-agency investigation.

    The source described US intelligence as being “very late to the game”. The FBI’s director, James Comey, altered his position after the election and Trump’s victory, becoming “more affirmative” and with a “higher level of concern”.

    Comey’s apparent shift may have followed a mid-October decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court to approve a secret surveillance order. The order gave permission for the Department of Justice to investigate two banks suspected of being part of the Kremlin’s undercover influence operation. According to the BBC, the justice department’s request came after a tipoff from an intelligence agency in one of the Baltic states. This is believed to be Estonia.

    The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the same order covered Carter Page, one of Trump’s associates. It allowed the FBI and the justice department to monitor Page’s communications. Page, a former foreign policy aide, was suspected of being an agent of influence working for Russia, the paper said, citing US officials.

    Late last year Comey threw more FBI resources into what became a far-reaching counter-intelligence investigation. In March he confirmed before the House intelligence committee that the agency was examining possible cooperation between Moscow and members of the Trump campaign to sway the US election.

    Comey and the NSA director, Admiral Michael Rogers, said there was no basis for the president’s claim that he was a victim of Obama “wiretapping”. Trump had likened the unproved allegation to “McCarthyism”.

    Britain’s MI6 spy agency played a part in intelligence sharing with the US, one source said. MI6 declined to comment. Its former chief Sir Richard Dearlove described Trump’s wiretapping claim on Thursday as “simply deeply embarrassing for Trump and the administration. The only possible explanation is that Trump started tweeting without understanding how the NSA-GCHQ relationship actually works.”

    A GCHQ spokesperson said: “It is longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters”.

    In a report last month the New York Times, citing three US intelligence officials, said warning signs had been building throughout last summer but were far from clear. As WikiLeaks published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, US agencies began picking up conversations in which Russians were discussing contacts with Trump associates, the paper said. European allies were supplying information about people close to Trump meeting with Russians in Britain, the Netherlands and in other countries, the Times said.

    There are now multiple investigations going on in Washington into Trump campaign officials and Russia. They include the FBI-led counter-espionage investigation and probes by both the House and Senate intelligence committees.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...m-links-russia
    Last edited by Tranquillus in Exile; 04-18-2018 at 05:53 AM. Reason: corrected link

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    Some people believe there was a "deep state" conspiracy to stop Trump. This raises two questions:

    - Why did Brennan and Comey take so long to start an investigation? By July 2016 they had been receiving warnings from some of America's closest allies for more than six months.
    - Why was none of this made public until several months after the election? That seems a strange way to stop Trump.

    There was also mounting evidence of Russian election meddling; and, of course, the Steele dossier. This too was kept secret by the intel agencies and the MSM until after the election. So a third question arises:

    - Was there a conspiracy to shield Trump?

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    But if there was such a strong justification to spy on Trump or his associates why were they forced to be less than forthright with the FISA court regarding the Russian Dossier?

    Such questions will be answered soon.

    Be patient lol.
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

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    The hesitation was to protect Hillary, they knew she was funding the dossier, and that it involved Russians feeding information to a British intelligence offer. It was a forgone conclusion, in their minds that Hillary was going to win anyway, so no need to take that chance just to hurt Trump further, with the risk being exposing Hillary.

    No brainer, but problem was they forgot America was awake and watching
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    Quote Originally Posted by Getin the ring View Post
    The hesitation was to protect Hillary, they knew she was funding the dossier, and that it involved Russians feeding information to a British intelligence offer. It was a forgone conclusion, in their minds that Hillary was going to win anyway, so no need to take that chance just to hurt Trump further, with the risk being exposing Hillary.

    No brainer, but problem was they forgot America was awake and watching

    I repeat: why did Brennan and Comey take so long to start an investigation, when warnings had been coming in for over 6 months? That might even be considered a dereliction of duty.

    You say this was to protect Hillary?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Getin the ring View Post
    The hesitation was to protect Hillary, they knew she was funding the dossier, and that it involved Russians feeding information to a British intelligence offer. It was a forgone conclusion, in their minds that Hillary was going to win anyway, so no need to take that chance just to hurt Trump further, with the risk being exposing Hillary.

    No brainer, but problem was they forgot America was awake and watching
    No one, has a good answer about why the FISA court wasn’t told about the political motive behind the Dossier.

    Even Comey punted on the question when asked why he didn’t alert Trump to that.
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

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    I'm more convinced now than ever that Russia has something on Don Tweety, because he doesn't have the Balls to say or do anything against his Back-Door Man Putin.
    ONE-N-DONE, YOU GOT PLAYED; Time To Play-On
    Remember ... ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES ... So STFU Bitch

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bourbon View Post
    I'm more convinced now than ever that Russia has something on Don Tweety, because he doesn't have the Balls to say or do anything against his Back-Door Man Putin.
    This is probably pointless lol, but what would you have him do?

    That he hasn’t already done.
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Omar View Post
    This is probably pointless lol, but what would you have him do?

    That he hasn’t already done.

    Spit after swallowing ...

    ONE-N-DONE, YOU GOT PLAYED; Time To Play-On
    Remember ... ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES ... So STFU Bitch

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Omar View Post
    But if there was such a strong justification to spy on Trump or his associates why were they forced to be less than forthright with the FISA court regarding the Russian Dossier?

    Such questions will be answered soon.

    Be patient lol.
    You have no proof of that. It is bullshit speculation.lol
    It is the responsibility of every American citizen to own a modern military rifle.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bourbon View Post
    Spit after swallowing ...
    I knew it was pointless lol.
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Omar View Post
    I knew it was pointless lol.

    That's up to you
    ONE-N-DONE, YOU GOT PLAYED; Time To Play-On
    Remember ... ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES ... So STFU Bitch

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Omar View Post
    But if there was such a strong justification to spy on Trump or his associates why were they forced to be less than forthright with the FISA court regarding the Russian Dossier?
    The FISA application and the Steele dossier had nothing to do with the start of the collusion investigation in July 2016. Let's try to avoid Foxbart distractions, eh?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bourbon View Post
    That's up to you
    So, you have no idea what Trump should do to or with, the Russians that he hasn’t already done?
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tranquillus in Exile View Post
    The FISA application and the Steele dossier had nothing to do with the start of the collusion investigation in July 2016. Let's try to avoid Foxbart distractions, eh?
    I’m trying to understand why they appealed to the Dossier at all, if the foreign intelligence was so strong.

    And again, why withhold information about its political origin? Not just once with FISA, but again with Comey, when he personally alerted Trump to what was in the Dossier.
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

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