WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign by aiming to cast doubt on the integrity of the vote and boost President Donald Trump’s re-election, a person familiar with the briefing said on Thursday.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity, said Trump’s Republican allies on the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee questioned the assessment presented by officials of the Office of National Intelligence last Thursday.
"The Republicans responded as you would expect. They went nuts," said the person. "They questioned the intelligence."
The briefers warned the committee in the classified briefing that Russia was working to cast doubt on the integrity of the Nov. 3 vote while at the same time boosting Trump’s election to a second four-year term.
"They (the Russians) are favoring one candidate while they do it," said the person, adding that the briefers identified that candidate as Trump. The source declined to elaborate.
- Sold our most potent missile defense system to both Poland and Sweden.
- Reversed Obama's policy of refusing lethal military aid to Ukraine.
- Reversed Obama's Syria policy and directly confronted Russia on the ground, killing scores of Russian mercenaries and soldiers in Syria.
- Tripled defense initiatives to deter Russian aggression in Europe, staged maneuvers on Russia's borders, increased the anti-Russian defense budget by ~50%.
- Sanctioned ~40 oligarchs and Russian officials, expanded the Magnitsky sanctions list, closed consulates & diplomatic annexes, expelled 60 diplomats.
Ah, but never mind the above: Trump MUST be Putin's puppet. The Mad Hatter said so.
#9
Which "Russia" is interfering? Isn't the Russian ruling class a mob of oligarchs presided over by Putin? In that case it would be no surprise if some oligarchs favor Trump and some don't... This considering Russia, or China for that matter, as a monolithic entity is sophomoric.
#12
the screwball press takes information and distorts it. in this case the reported statement was that the Kremlin did not oppose Trump's reelection. This became, as reported through an unnamed person, that it supported Trump's reelection.
Typical?
The other odd fact is that if classified information is leaked by a member of the intelligence community that is a felony. However leaking something false is perfectly legal.
Posted by: daniel ||
02/21/2020 20:49 Comments ||
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[Babylon Bee] RENO, NV‐Bernie Sanders supporters were shocked today when they saw him hobble into a campaign event looking quite battered and covered in one hundred dollar bills. Sanders claims this was the result of an attack by a group of billionaires.
Sanders said he was out in the streets of Reno at 2 a.m. to purchase a can of beans to eat when suddenly he was approached by two billionaires in ski masks and expensive tailored suits who shouted, "This is billionaire country!" The billionaires began pelting Sanders with stacks of one hundred dollar bills while yelling derogatory things at him, like, "You’re just a millionaire; that’s only one step above being poor!"
"Billionaires are a menace!" yelled a shaking Sanders to a crowd of supporters. "They’re after me, and they must be stopped!"
Some have questioned the details of the attack, as it was extremely unusual for Sanders to still be up at 2 a.m., since he usually goes to bed at 6 p.m. after his 4 p.m. dinner. Still, police are questioning all nearby billionaires, and unfortunately, most of them don’t have alibis, as billionaires do tend to disappear at night, either to fight crime as costumed vigilantes or to manage hedge funds.
[American Thinker] President Trump brings razor-sharp instincts to the political picture, and nowhere was it more obvious than in his appearance in Bakersfield, California, signing a bill to clean up the junk-science federal "research" on water for the parched Central Valley and, better still, ordering the feds to give California's Central Valley farmers the water for their farms that they already paid for.
"What they're doing to your state is a disgrace," Trump said. "After decades of failure and delays in ensuring critical water rights for the people of the state, we are determined to finally get your problems solved."
The official water "record of decision" was signed Wednesday, outlining endangered species rules for California's main water hub. Central Valley politicians have railed for years against water restrictions intended to help salmon and smelt that inhabit the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Delta further north.
It came at a time when a tape came out of Democratic standard-bearer Michael Bloomberg belittling American farmers as not having much "gray matter" along with a smarmy claim that "I could teach everyone in this room how to farm." Really, Mike?
The video of Trump's retort, honoring the farmers, and getting the farmers' roaring support in return, was a thing of beauty:
[Breitbart] Thursday on MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell reacted to reports that President Donald Trump was angered after intelligence officials told a bipartisan group of House members that Russia was attempting to get Trump re-elected.
O’Donnell said, "The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. It is Vladimir Putin’s greatest achievement, decades after America’s victory in the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union, the president of the United States is now helping the president of Russia help the president of the United States to get re-elected. So that the president of Russia will have four more years of the president of the United States who he wants in the Oval Office, this is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime."
Discussing outgoing Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire being replaced by Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell after the briefing, O’Donnell said, "Donald Trump is operating in the White House in conjunction with Vladimir Putin to hide what Vladimir Putin is doing to help Donald Trump get re-elected. Donald Trump is a Russian operative ‐ if tonight’s reporting by The Washington Post and The New York Times is true. And everything else we know about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin indicates that it is true."
#7
Great cover for a Russian agent would be to get a job in the broadcast media and then use that job to accuse the most effective American President since Reagan of being a Russian agent. It all fits when you think about it. And don't get me started on "Natasha" Maddow.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/21/2020 8:11 Comments ||
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#8
CET4 (Chinese English Test 4) is for first and second year Chinese college kids. It has a written section of 120 words, where you fail if they see the same word 3+ times. Just saying, she could not pass an English test seated next to a Chinese kid in China. Just saying.
#11
Recycling this cr*p because they think people have short attention spans?
Pretty much - next week we'll see (again) stories about Trump's alleged temper tantrums and probably one or two more about Donnie Two Scoops (nice mob nickname!).
[The Zman] What made the show, of course, was Mike Bloomberg. He spent most of the night looking mildly irritated by the whole thing. It was as if he had used a crazy act in court to avoid being sent to prison, but was instead sent to the asylum. He knew he had to keep up the act, but desperately wanted to start shouting that he was not insane like the people around him. The only thing missing was a big Indian to throw a sink through one of the windows to close the show.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/21/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
..seems the big Indian dwarf-tossed him across the stage.
#2
All Bloomberg's money and all Jonah Goldberg's and Bill Kristol's clout comes to this. It's so anti-semitic...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/21/2020 7:28 Comments ||
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#3
And meanwhile Trump likes Jews more than they like themselves...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/21/2020 7:30 Comments ||
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#4
loved the reference to One Flew Over the Cookoo Nest
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/21/2020 8:20 Comments ||
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#5
The whole shit show was a redux of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. If only Kesey was here today charged up with a little LSD. The Dem candidates as his kind of characterture write themselves.
[Spokesman Review] A new report by faculty members at Eastern Washington University criticizes the athletic department as a drain on university resources and suggests NCAA sports aren’t worth the cost.
But EWU trustees and administrators have no plans to eliminate the athletic department or change its standing in the NCAA to free up money for academic programs, as the faculty report suggests. Some university leaders stepped up to defend the department over the weekend.
In an interview, EWU Athletic Director Lynn Hickey acknowledged her department spends more money than it raises and said she respects the concerns of faculty members. But, she said, "I don’t agree with how they’ve assessed our value."
"Eastern’s not doing anything outrageous. We’re not doing anything extravagant," Hickey said. "At the same time, we know that we need to be responsible, fiscally. But we’ve been proactive on that. We’re getting better."
The report, prepared by four professors for EWU’s faculty senate, says spending on athletics has had "no positive impact on our student enrollment, retention or recruitment" and proposes eliminating the athletic department entirely, among other options.
#1
It's just crazy talk, a slippery slope. There is more to education than learning and knowledge. Such a suggestion clearly violates academic core values such as group think, proper self-esteem, diversity and inclusion.
#10
As long as the athletic department is a profit center, let it be. But I don't understand why it should be subsidized.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2020 9:58 Comments ||
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#11
Only a few NCAA sports teams generate a profit. Football teams with a national following and/or that regularly go to postseason big TV audience bowls
#14
Let the NFL and NBA provide their own farm teams.
Good idea. Then, like Major League Baseball, prospective players would no longer have to pretend that they are students.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2020 12:52 Comments ||
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#15
I remember back in the caveman days the football players were constantly looking for "gut" courses they could take stay eligible. So a bunch of them signed up for Music Appreciation....big mistake. They had to be able to listen to about 5 notes and then identify, the piece, who wrote it, and when. Oh the lamentations of der women.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign by aiming to cast doubt on the integrity of the vote and boost President Donald Trump’s re-election, a person familiar with the briefing said on Thursday.
[Babylon Bee] RENO, NV‐Bernie Sanders supporters were shocked today when they saw him hobble into a campaign event looking quite battered and covered in one hundred dollar bills. Sanders claims this was the result of an attack by a group of billionaires.
[American Thinker] President Trump brings razor-sharp instincts to the political picture, and nowhere was it more obvious than in his appearance in Bakersfield, California, signing a bill to clean up the junk-science federal "research" on water for the parched Central Valley and, better still, ordering the feds to give California's Central Valley farmers the water for their farms that they already paid for. 
[Breitbart] Thursday on MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell reacted to reports that President Donald Trump was angered after intelligence officials told a bipartisan group of House members that Russia was attempting to get Trump re-elected.
