DOJ Initial Russia Hearings

[Guy Chamberlin]

Are you physically objectifying that athlete from Tonga?

 

He has brain you know!

[jsneb83]

7 hours ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

I don't want to be entertained by the president.

 

Unless he's really hot and single.

We elected an entertainer, we had to know what we were getting into.

[Moiraine]

6 minutes ago, jsneb83 said:

We elected an entertainer, we had to know what we were getting into.

 

 

Yes, but I didn't elect him.

[jsneb83]

Just now, Moiraine said:

 

 

Yes, but I didn't elect him.

Neither did I, just meant "we" as a country (Electoral College)

[Moiraine]

57 minutes ago, NM11046 said:

HOLY CRAP this is frightening.

 

 

I don't think it will ever be taken as seriously as it should, because no one thinks they are susceptible to psychological tools. A good example is TV ads, which relates directly to this. TV ads have been shown to sway people. But people don't think they work on them.

 

 

Quote

“The thing I think about all the time is, what if I’d taken a job at Deloitte instead? They offered me one. I just think if I’d taken literally any other job, Cambridge Analytica wouldn’t exist. You have no idea how much I brood on this.”

I'm leaning toward believing him here but the thing is, lots of people could do what he did.

The reason he might be right is the Bannon people had to know how to find their person and he'd already done some related stuff. I'm 100% sure they could have found someone else to do the same thing if they knew where to look.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Moiraine

[ZRod]

2 hours ago, RedDenver said:

I posted this in another thread, but here's the Guardian article (and a video interview with the whistleblower):

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-faceook-nix-bannon-trump

Sorry, I didn't look around before I posted it. According to Reddit when I snagged this the British officials are getting warrants for Cambridge Analytics. This could become a pretty big effin deal if they have been meddling in countries all over the world.

[Danny Bateman]

Oh boy. 

Sounds like he could lose a couple of his current lawyers, replace them with a whacko from Fox News & decide to start calling his own plays for his defense himself. 

 

It's one thing when you hand out jobs in your administration to Fox News personalities because you like them on TV. It's another to do it with your legal defense team.

 

This guy is so screwed.

 

 

[Moiraine]

19 minutes ago, Clifford Franklin said:

Oh boy. 

Sounds like he could lose a couple of his current lawyers, replace them with a whacko from Fox News & decide to start calling his own plays for his defense himself. 

 

It's one thing when you hand out jobs in your administration to Fox News personalities because you like them on TV. It's another to do it with your legal defense team.

 

This guy is so screwed.

 

 

 

 

 

Or he's gonna have everyone taken out back and shot after he wins

[schriznoeder]

 

[schriznoeder]

 

[ZRod]

Facebook is going to be in deep doo doo too it would appear. They were apparently in the Cambridge's offices the night after the airing of the Channel 4 piece, having meetings with CA. Alex Stamos the Cheif Information Security Officer of Facebook is stepping down due to disagreements at Facebook over fake news.  He similarly left Yahoo on principles in 2015, when they were caught searching millions of user's emails for information per a request by the US government.

 

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-alex-stamos.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

Quote

As Facebook grapples with a backlash over its role in spreading disinformation, an internal dispute over how to handle the threat and the public outcry is resulting in the departure of a senior executive.

 

 

 

And this which I got from a Reddit user, ties Zuckerberg to the pockets of Russian Oligarchs through Facebooks IPO and weaves a twisted web back to Jared Kushner...

 

 

Quote

Russia is deeply embedded into Facebook.

In 2009, Russian social-media mogul Yuri Milner invested $200 million into Facebook at a valuation of $10 billion dollars without voting rights or a seat on the board. To understand this investment, at the time the world was going through a global recession and Facebook's general valuation had dropped from the $15 billion from the year prior to $4-$6 billion in 2009.

https://www.cnet.com/news/facebooks-valuation-the-cheat-sheet/

One company did offer a valuation of $8 billion, but with a seat on the board, which Zuckerberg was strongly against. In other words, Yuri Milner invested in Facebook when they were strapped for cash and at an inflated price without voting rights or a seat on the board. That's an amazing deal for Zuckerberg!

Here's Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg hanging out for an interview: https://techcrunch.com/2009/05/26/mark-zuckerberg-and-yuri-milner-talk-about-facebooks-new-investment-video/

The deal was coordinated by Alisher B. Usmanov, a Russian oligarch that earned his fortune managing steel mill subsidiaries for Gazprom.

Usmanov spent six years in prison for fraud and embezzlement in the 80's.

In 2008, Usmanov fired a publisher and editor at one of Russia's most respected news paper after it published detailed accounts of Russian election fraud.

It is said, "His ties to the Kremlin and Facebook have stirred concerns that he might influence the company’s policies in subtle ways to appease governments in markets where Facebook is also an important tool of political dissent, such as Russia." This was in 2009.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/technology/a-russian-facebook-bet-pays-off-big.html

Usmanov is close friends with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

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

Ivanka Trump and Wendi Deng are good friends with Abramovich's then wife, Dasha Zhoukova. Here they are watching a tennis match.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3784716/Ivanka-Trump-Karlie-Kloss-Wendi-Deng-Murdoch-watch-Open.html

The leak of the Paradise Papers revealed the money Yuri Milner used to invest into Facebook came from Gazprom, a US sanctioned Russian oil and gas company, at one point owning 9% of the company.

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-the-paradise-papers-leak-facebook-yuri-milner-facebook-twitter-russia

Soon after, Zuckerberg and Milner became friends, meeting monthly:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/zuckerberg-got-early-business-advice-194957335.html

And even spoke together in November 2015 at the 2016 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony.

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-the-paradise-papers-leak-facebook-yuri-milner-facebook-twitter-russia

In May 2012, Milner attended Zuckerberg's wedding. In 2014, Milner moved to California home he paid 100% above value on.

http://time.com/5011000/paradise-papers-tax-havens-leak/

For those who aren't familiar with Gazprom, Gazprom financed the spy ring that in 2013 tried to recruit Trump Advisor Carter Page before being broken up by the FBI. One of the spies trying to recruit Page said of Page, "He got hooked on Gazprom."

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/04/russian-spy-met-trump-adviser-carter-page-and-thought-he-was-an-idiot/

Around the time Yuri Milner was investing in Facebook, they lost their CFO Gideon Yu. Reason given: Facebook wanted a CFO with public company experience, suggesting they were thinking of an IPO at the time of Milner's investment (the reason given was deemed nonsensical).

https://techcrunch.com/2009/03/31/confirmed-facebook-loses-cfo-gideon-yu/

Yuri Milner's DST was one of the big winners over Facebook's botched IPO.

https://www.ft.com/content/281a8420-a46e-11e1-a701-00144feabdc0

When Facebook was confronted about the fake news epidemic on Facebook and it's influence on the election, he said it was "crazy."

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-zuckerberg-russians-20170929-story.html

When Facebook put out a report in April 2017, it conspicuously left out any mention of Russia:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/10/report-facebook-cut-russia-references-from-report-on-disinformation/

US political ads were at times paid for by rubles:

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/358102-franken-blasts-facebook-for-accepting-rubles-for-us-election-ads

Facebook had "embeds" into the Trump campaign working with Brad Parscale, Trumps digital director.

https://mashable.com/2017/10/10/facebook-responds-embeds-trump-campaign-60-minutes/#BrZIcKnffGqw

Based on Kushner's quotes, these "embeds" may have worked closely with Cambridge Anayltica:

“We found that Facebook and digital targeting were the most effective ways to reach the audiences. After the primary, we started ramping up because we knew that doing a national campaign is different than doing a primary campaign. That was when we formalized the system because we had to ramp up for digital fundraising. We brought in Cambridge Analytica. I called some of my friends from Silicon Valley who were some of the best digital marketers in the world. And I asked them how to scale this stuff."

Here's a video explaining just that: @2:37

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-40852227/the-digital-guru-who-helped-donald-trump-to-the-presidency

Theresa Wong from the Trump campaign says that people from Facebook, Google, and Youtube "...were helping us... They were basically our hands-on partners..."

In the video above, Theresa Wong from the Trump campaign says, "Without Facebook, we wouldn't have won." (@4:21)

For those who aren't familiar, Cambridge Analytica was communicating with Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton's and DNC's stolen emails. So was Don Jr. Michael Flynn, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI, also had an advisory role at Cambridge Analytica.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/04/michael-flynn-cambridge-analytica-disclosure

Zuckerberg admitted there was overlap between Russia ads and the Trump Campaign.

http://www.techheadlines.us/facebook-says-it-found-an-insignificant-overlap-between-russia-ads-and-president-trumps-campaign/

Facebook recommended Russian propaganda to users:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/25/facebook-tells-senate-its-software-recommended-russian-propaganda.html

Facebook helped Agata Burdonova, who was a manager at the IRA (Russian Troll Factory) that meddled in the US 2016 elections, and her husband, Dmitry Fyodorov, immigrate to Seattle Washington. Burdonova's husband has received a job offer from Facebook.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kevincollier/a-former-manager-at-the-russian-troll-factory-is-now-living

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/967559297516425217/photo/1

Yuri Milner made these investments into Facebook with the help of Jared Kushner's friend and old classmate Ryan Williams. Yuri Milner also invested in Cadre, a company co-founded by Ryan Williams, Jared Kushner, and his brother Josh Kushner. However, Jared Kushner conveniently failed to disclose his ownership of the company. Milner's investment is likely through Gazprom as well.

http://www.newsweek.com/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-white-house-forms-omissions-cadre-millions-679231

https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/10/13594558/mark-zuckerberg-election-fake-news-trump

Guess who's friend's with both Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner? Suspected Chinese agent and Vladimir Putin love interest Wendi Deng Murdoch.

Wendi Deng introduced her then husband Rupert Murdoch to Mark Zuckerberg:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jun/13/rupert-murdoch-divorce-wendi-deng

Yuri Milner and Wendi Deng attended a Time 100 Gala together in New York, April 2016.

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Yuri+Milner/2016+Time+100+Gala+Time+Most+Influential+People/quud6cf3as-

Here's Wendy Deng with Yuri Milner's wife and Karlie Kloss, who's dating Josh Kushner, Jared Kushner's brother.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/events/time-100-gala-best-dressed-celebrities/model-karlie-kloss-with-wife-of-russian-entrepreneur-yuri-milner/

Wendi Deng also hosted a dinner that included Jared Kushner, Josh Kushner, and Ryan Williams, amongst others.

https://www.vogue.com/article/businesswoman-wendi-murdoch-career-profile

Wendi Deng is know as a match-maker to her friends and actually helped reunite Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner after a break up, eventually leading to marriage. Wendi Deng may be the link between Yuri Milner with Zuckerberg, as well as with the Kushners, and Ryan Williams.

Wendi Deng was spotted on Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's yacht several times.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3514484/Wendi-Deng-takes-break-St-Barts-billionaire-friend-Roman-Abramovich-s-yacht-three-weeks-ex-husband-Rupert-Murdoch-tied-knot-Jerry-Hall.html

Wendi Deng introduced Ivanka Trump to Dasha Zhoukova, then wife of Roman Abramovich.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner met at a business lucheon led by Abramovich associate Lev Leviev. At the time, Lev Leviev was hosting the bris for the grandson of Tamir Sapir, who's daughter Zina Sapir married Lev Leviev's Africa-Israel US CEO Roten Rosen. Trump, just months priors, hosted Zina Sapir and Roten Rosem's wedding at Mar-a-Lago.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2008/05/highprofile_bris_on_sunday_you.html

The Sapir Organization, in conjunction with Bayrock and the Trump Organization, put together the scandal-ridden Trump SoHo and were working together to replicate that with a Trump Tower Moscow.

https://therealdeal.com/2013/11/12/the-donald-sapir-execs-mull-bringing-trump-soho-to-moscow/

In 2000, Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska, along with others, made a deal that ended the "Aluminum wars" and turned the industry into a near monopoly.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/jul/06/russia.football

Oleg Deripaska and Alisher Usmanov have been business ties together.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/whats-a-nice-russian-oligarch-like-you-doing-in-a-steelworks-like-this-65258.html

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by ZRod

[TGHusker]

18 hours ago, Landlord said:

 

 

I'm still a Christian, but I became aware that my faith tradition was at least equally as much about capitalism and retaining social/cultural/political power as it was about the person and teachings of Jesus. I was unwittingly part of something antithetical to Christianity, imo.

Good for you. The "Americanization" of the Gospel has led to confusing political goals wt Christ's Kingdom goals.  Then we end up wt not only a politically influenced 'gospel' (false)  either left or right but also other false gospels like the Health and Wealth prosperity 'gospel'.   The goals of Christ's kingdom are concerned wt the whole person -spirit, soul (mind, intellect, emotions, will), and body and not a 'political salvation' as promised falsely by our political parties. 

 

I too had put too much emphasis on the political affiliation and my faith.  Coming of voting age during the time of the Moral Majority movement I tied faith to party.  I have since learned that this is a trap to be avoided. 

 

 

[TGHusker]

9 hours ago, schriznoeder said:

 

Can someone give a bullet point summary of what is going on wt Cambridge Analytica?  Not having focused on it - I take it that they used facebook to target voters by creating messaging that would create a narrative that favored Trump in the election - basically creating good old fashion propaganda - fake news to persuade voters.

[RedDenver]

17 hours ago, RedDenver said:

I posted this in another thread, but here's the Guardian article (and a video interview with the whistleblower):

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-faceook-nix-bannon-trump

 

8 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

Can someone give a bullet point summary of what is going on wt Cambridge Analytica?  Not having focused on it - I take it that they used facebook to target voters by creating messaging that would create a narrative that favored Trump in the election - basically creating good old fashion propaganda - fake news to persuade voters.

Read the Guardian link above to get the basic idea of what happened. (And watch the linked interview with one of the whistleblowers for more context.) Then watch the Channel 4 undercover video below to see how truly awful and wide-ranging this is.

 

17 hours ago, ZRod said:

 

 

 

 

[TGHusker]

Thanks RD

Related, Trump is settling in for a long fight wt Mueller.  Also he is becoming more isolated (my words) as he shows distrust for his own team (sounds like Nixon to me).

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-joe-digenova-legal-team-shakeup-f75e9717-6ba1-4335-b539-32975a44ae36.html

Quote

 

A new addition to President Trump's legal team — Joe diGenova, a former U.S. attorney who is well-known in Washington and has argued for the president on Fox News — reflects three White House realities.

The state of play: (1) The White House is digging in for a fight that looks to be longer and messier than officials had expected. (2) This is another example of the president responding to televised cues. Trump has spent most of his adult life in litigation, and obsesses about legal positioning in the same way that he is consumed by his press coverage. (3) It's another pugilistic voice at the table, and suggests that this weekend's attacks on Mueller won't be the last.

 

 

 

Quote

 

The intrigue: In private conversations, the president has recently exhibited less confidence in his team.

• The WashPost says diGenova's "hiring caught many of [the president's] advisers by surprise, prompting fears that Trump is preparing for bigger changes to his legal team — including possible departures — as he goes on the offensive."
• If you read only 1 thing ... The Post adds: "Trump is not consulting with top advisers, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and chief White House lawyer Donald McGahn, on his Russia legal choices or his comments about the probe."
• "He is instead watching television and calling friends."
• A source close to the president who has direct knowledge of his thinking told Axios last night that Ty Cobb, the member of the team who's actually on the White House staff, is “100 percent secure” in his job.

 

•