[AMV] Amerikaanse politiek #466

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A significant recent revelation in the Russia investigation has been largely overlooked in the rush of several breaking news stories over the past few days. A nugget of information is contained in the memo written by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee (the so-called Schiff Memo), which was released on Saturday morning.

Prior to the memo, we knew that a Russian agent told Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos of “Moscow possessing ‘dirt’” on Hillary Clinton “in the form of ‘thousands of emails,’” according to Papadopoulos’s plea statement. The memo went a legally significant step further. As Rep. Adam Schiff recently told Chris Hayes, “our memo discloses for the first time that the Russians previewed to Papadopoulos that they could help with disseminating these stolen emails.” Rep. Schiff added, “When Donald Trump openly called on the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, they’d be richly rewarded if they released these to the press, his campaign had already been put on notice that the Russians were prepared to do just that and disseminate these stolen emails.” (The full transcript and video clip is below.)

This new revelation is legally important and, if true, could have exposed Papadopoulos and potentially other campaign officials to significant criminal liability. I spoke with several leading experts in campaign finance law and former federal prosecutors to gather their views.

Rep. Schiff’s statement adds clarity to two stray statements in the memo itself. The memo states, “Russian agents previewed their hack and dissemination of stolen emails.” The memo also refers to this part of the record in stating, “We would later learn in Papadopoulos’s plea that that[sic] the information the Russians could assist by anonymously releasing were thousands of Hillary Clinton emails.”

A legally important question is what the Trump campaign did after the Russians previewed that they could help disseminate the stolen emails. If Trump campaign officials consulted with the Russians on their plans to disseminate the emails, it could involve direct violations of campaign finance laws (see the statement below from leading election law expert Paul Seamus Ryan). If Trump campaign officials gave tacit assent or approval or support, it could directly implicate them in the “conspiracy to defraud the United States” by evading the Federal Election Commission—the very conspiracy for which Mueller has already indicted thirteen Russian nationals (see the statement below by former White House official and also top election law expert Bob Bauer). If Papadopoulos intentionally encouraged the Russians and if he was instructed to do so by other campaign officials, they could be liable as accomplices (see statements below from law professors and former federal prosecutors Barbara McQuade and Alex Whiting). The Trump campaign as an organization could also be criminally liable (see statement below from McQuade). Finally, if members of the Trump campaign tried to conceal the facts of a crime (potentially including either the original DNC hack or the dissemination of the stolen emails) they could be guilty of “misprision of a felony” (see statements below by former federal prosecutors including Renato Mariotti).

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Schiff on Russians Previewing their Email Dissemination

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A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association, and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain access deeper into American politics, NPR has learned.

Russian politician Alexander Torshin claimed his ties to the National Rifle Association provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election.

Torshin is a prolific Twitter user, logging nearly 150,000 tweets, mostly in Russian, since his account was created in 2011. Previously obscured by language and by sheer volume of tweets, Torshin has written numerous times about his connections with the NRA, of which he's a known paid lifetime member. NPR has translated a selection of those posts that document Torshin's relationship to the group.

These revelations come amid news that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign in 2016, McClatchy reported in January.

In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Senate intelligence committee, the NRA denied any wrongdoing and suggested the FBI is investigating Torshin, not the NRA. Neither the NRA nor Torshin responded to inquiries from NPR.

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twitter:

oneunderscore__ twitterde op vrijdag 02-03-2018 om 03:02:58 Exclusive: The Internet Research Agency, or the Kremlin Troll Farm, suffered a massive leak, The Daily Beast has confirmed. Contents of its server were auctioned on a Russian auction site.We have some of the documents.https://t.co/JKkf59AIoa reageer retweet

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Op donderdag 1 maart 2018 21:30 schreef Nintex het volgende:

twitter:

kaylatausche twitterde op donderdag 01-03-2018 om 19:59:14 I'm told Cohn argued against tariffs in today's meeting. Argument was warned about higher prices, not a trade war. Trump's reaction, per a person in the room: That's "not the real world," and that result would be a "small price to pay" reageer retweet

twitter:

kaylatausche twitterde op donderdag 01-03-2018 om 20:17:32 ALSO: Trump told executives today the decision's been made, but the paperwork isn't done. Person in the room said Trump then turned to McGahn and said, "We're going to get those papers done, Don?" reageer retweet

Bam boem, Donald getting shit done.

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First lady Melania Trump obtained a green card allowing her stay in the U.S. permanently through an elite visa program established for immigrants with “extraordinary abilities,” The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The so-called Einstein visa is aimed at people born abroad who have earned “sustained acclaim,” including renowned researchers or business leaders, award-winning performing artists and Olympic athletes. Applicants are instructed to submit evidence of a history of accomplishment or of a “one-time” achievement, such as a “Pulitzer, Oscar [or] Olympic Medal,” according to the requirements for the visa.

“You must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim,” the requirements state. Applicants can also “demonstrate international recognition for ... outstanding achievements in a particular academic field.” Applicants can submit “authorship of scholarly articles.”

According to Melania Trump’s bio during the presidential campaign, she graduated from the “University of Slovenia” with a degree in design and architecture. But she actually dropped out of college her freshman year, according to her biographers. And there is no University of Slovenia. The first lady’s current White House bio now says she “paused” her studies at the University of Ljubljana.

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

twitter:

joncoopertweets twitterde op donderdag 01-03-2018 om 17:49:32 Topless fashion model exhibits "extraordinary ability" to manipulate the U.S. visa program...how do you say "swamp" in Slovenian? reageer retweet

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 04:46 schreef Kijkertje het volgende:

twitter:

oneunderscore__ twitterde op vrijdag 02-03-2018 om 03:02:58 Exclusive: The Internet Research Agency, or the Kremlin Troll Farm, suffered a massive leak, The Daily Beast has confirmed. Contents of its server were auctioned on a Russian auction site.We have some of the documents.https://t.co/JKkf59AIoa reageer retweet

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[...]

Content from IRA-backed websites like BlackMattersUs.com received hundreds—and sometimes thousands—upvotes on subreddits like r/The_Donald and r/HillaryForPrison in the run-up to the 2016 election. Trolls purporting to represent the troll farm promised an Ask Me Anything session in October, but the Q-and-A never occurred.

When The Daily Beast reached out to Reddit for comment, a public relations representative requested screenshots and details of the leak, which The Daily Beast provided. The spokesperson told The Daily Beast the company would be in touch if it had any further comment.

Reddit then ignored repeated further requests for comment.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 10:39 schreef ExtraWaskracht het volgende:

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Slaap je ooit wel?

Anyway, gerelateerd artikel: Russians Used Reddit and Tumblr to Troll the 2016 Election

Het leek me op zich wel vrij duidelijk dat er (Russische) trolls actief waren op Reddit, maar dat is dan nu ook bevestigd I guess, hoewel in dit artikel slechts gesproken wordt over het linken naar content van Russische trolls, niet dat ze zelf dingen gepost hebben... ?! (In het meer algemene artikel wordt wel meer expliciet gezegd dat ze actief waren op reddit)

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Op donderdag 1 maart 2018 23:24 schreef Monolith het volgende:

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Dat het ondoordacht theater van Trump is lijkt me evident. Het ging meer om de vraag wat de effecten zouden zijn.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 11:15 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Van de heffingen op staal?

[ afbeelding ]

De noeste hardwerkende belastingbetalende Henk van de Hoogovens is het bokkie.

twitter:

tonyschwartz twitterde op donderdag 01-03-2018 om 20:31:20 Hope Hicks is an enabler with spectacularly bad taste in men who ended up in a hell of her own making. She's lived too much too soon. I'm sure there is a moral in this story, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is. reageer retweet

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 11:15 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Van de heffingen op staal?

[ afbeelding ]

De noeste hardwerkende belastingbetalende Henk van de Hoogovens is het bokkie.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 11:15 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Van de heffingen op staal?

[ afbeelding ]

De noeste hardwerkende belastingbetalende Henk van de Hoogovens is het bokkie.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 11:44 schreef Ulx het volgende:
Je snapt dat "Henk van de Hoogovens" een niet bestaand persoon is?

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U.S. President Donald Trump has received two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize that the Norwegian Nobel Committee says are forged.

It’s the second year in a row that someone has nominated Trump for the prestigious prize after assuming the identity of a qualified nominator, said Olav Njolstad, secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The matter has been referred to the Oslo police, The Associated Press reported, quoting the NTB Norwegian wire service. Norwegian authorities have contacted the FBI for assistance and are planning to meet next week, said Rune Skjold, head of the economic crimes unit of the Oslo police force, reported the German wire service DPA. Skjold said forgers can face several years in prison.

SPOILER

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 11:45 schreef ExtraWaskracht het volgende:

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Is dat nog actueel?

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Georgia lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday that stripped out a tax break proposal highly coveted by Delta Air Lines — the most stinging punishment that America’s pro-gun forces have leveled so far on one of the many corporations recalibrating their positions on firearms after the Florida high school massacre.

The $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel that was sought by Delta, one of Georgia’s biggest employers, had been included in a broader tax-relief bill. But this week, a number of Georgia Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, sought to remove the perk as retribution for Delta’s decision to end a promotional discount for members of the National Rifle Association.

The legislation now goes to the desk of the Republican governor, Nathan Deal, who has pledged to sign it into law. But Mr. Deal is a supporter of the jet-fuel tax break, and he said he would sign the bill only because it also included a significant reduction in personal and corporate tax rates.

SPOILER

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Op donderdag 1 maart 2018 22:40 schreef speknek het volgende:
McMaster McExit

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United States: 1. Pass an instant background check that includes criminal convictions, domestic violence and immigration status. 2. Buy a gun.

Japan: 1. Join a hunting or shooting club. 2. Take a firearm class and pass a written exam, which is held up to three times a year. 3. Get a doctor’s note saying you are mentally fit and do not have a history of drug abuse. 4. Apply for a permit to take firing training, which may take up to a month. 5. Describe in a police interview why you need a gun. 6. Pass a review of your criminal history, gun possession record, employment, involvement with organized crime groups, personal debt and relationships with friends, family and neighbors. 7. Apply for a gunpowder permit. 8. Take a one-day training class and pass a firing test. 9. Obtain a certificate from a gun dealer describing the gun you want. 10. Buy a gun safe and an ammunition locker that meet safety regulations. 11. Allow the police to inspect your gun storage. 12. Pass an additional background review. 13. Buy a gun.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2018 12:14 schreef Sloggi het volgende:

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Als iedereen wapens zou mogen dragen in het vliegtuig waren die kapingen op 9/11 nooit zo uit de hand gelopen.