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AP: Paul Manafort secretly worked for Russian billionaire to "benefit Putin gov."

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GlamFM

Banned
16e8ES1.png
 
Something that is not widely said on the news...think I read it on one of twitter feeds from Khan or 20committee is Manafort lives in Trump tower. For how long...I dunno. The place is little Moscow. Trump is done. The key is blocking Gorsuch from being seated with this active investigation. Taking over the house and electing a speaker to become President.

Since 2006. The same year he started working for this Russian Billionaire.
 

Slaythe

Member
Here is the thing.

It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

They keep flattering him, telling him what he hears is fake news, and that he's the best !

And this moron believes it.

Trump isn't a traitor, he's literally a puppet.

This is terrifying.
 
Here is the thing.

It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

They keep flattering him, telling him what he hears is fake news, and that he's the best !

And this moron believes it.

Trump isn't a traitor, he's literally a puppet.

This is terrifying.

Yes, such a scenario isn't impossible. But it certainly is becoming more and more unlikely as time goes on.
 

Chumley

Banned
Here is the thing.

It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

They keep flattering him, telling him what he hears is fake news, and that he's the best !

And this moron believes it.

Trump isn't a traitor, he's literally a puppet.

This is terrifying.

No, it's impossible. Too many utterly implausible coincidences.

He knew exactly who he was hiring and what he was doing every step of the way.
 
There is still nothing that directly links Trump with this. Manafort was a chairman on the campaign, but as far as this is written there doesn't seem to be much there in the way of Trump beyond that relationship.
I'm sure we'll get evidence implicating Manafort in actual crimes, but unless they tie directly to Trump, its not hard for team Trump to throw him under the bus. The fact that they fired him midway through the campaign also gives them an additional buffer zone.
 

Xe4

Banned
Here is the thing.

It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

They keep flattering him, telling him what he hears is fake news, and that he's the best !

And this moron believes it.

Trump isn't a traitor, he's literally a puppet.

This is terrifying.

Its super terrifying that this is one of the least scariest options that still makes any sense. It's becoming more and more evident that Trump's inner circle was and is fucked to hell and back with traitors, so hopefully he is just stupid rather than a deliberate fuck.
 
It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

He had a guy living in his building for 10 years that was lobbying for Russian interests--and then made him Campaign Manager. He assembled a rag-tag group of the most Pro-Russia political operatives in modern history to go along with it. His campaign is on record as saying the only thing they wanted to change about the Republican Party Platform is to be softer on Russia. He actively said he wanted to lift sanctions on Russia. Despite every politician in the Government saying going easy on Russia was a bad idea, he has consistently asserted that we should play nice with Russia. He has openly praised Vladimir Putin as a strong and admirable leader. The FBI was investigating a gambling ring in his building--the same one that Paul Manafort was living in. He has lied about having met Putin, and no we see direct ties to almost a dozen people he has given positions or worked closely with.

If he's not compromised by Russia he seems to have accidentally stumbled into looking EXACTLY like someone who was. I find it almost impossible to believe that there isn't some connection there, and if there really isn't and he's just a puppet, he has to be one of the weakest minds to ever occupy the office, and should be forced from office because he clearly lacks the mental strength to execute the responsibilities of the office.
 
Here is the thing.

It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

They keep flattering him, telling him what he hears is fake news, and that he's the best !

And this moron believes it.

Trump isn't a traitor, he's literally a puppet.

This is terrifying.

It's possible, sure, but with the way this all keeps piling up, I find that to be very unlikely.

However I definitely think that's the defense Trump and his people are going to try and offer up as all of this continues to come to the surface- they'll try to cover up any possible direct links Trump has had with Russia to make it look like he was just somehow their unwitting puppet, rather than an active cohort.
 

Chumley

Banned
I'm sure we'll get evidence implicating Manafort in actual crimes, but unless they tie directly to Trump, its not hard for team Trump to throw him under the bus. The fact that they fired him midway through the campaign also gives them an additional buffer zone.

If Manafort is implicated in crimes and faces prison time, the Trump team is going to go into Defcon 5. At that point he'd be likely to rat them out.
 
No, it's impossible. Too many utterly implausible coincidences.

He knew exactly who he was hiring and what he was doing every step of the way.

It feels like someone was guiding him in picking these people to hire like he didn't make the decisions alone.The Rex Tillerson one is obvious because he has very close ties to Russia.
 

pigeon

Banned
If Manafort is implicated in crimes and faces prison time, the Trump team is going to go into Defcon 5. At that point he'd be likely to rat them out.

He's already committed a felony under FARA, and Flynn has committed two felonies, since he lied on his FARA disclosure and also lied to the FBI during their investigation.
 
If Manafort is implicated in crimes and faces prison time, the Trump team is going to go into Defcon 5. At that point he'd be likely to rat them out.
He would probably be murdered by the Russians before he ever got to testify under oath. He could implicate them in war crimes over in the Ukraine.
 

Stop It

Perfectly able to grasp the inherent value of the fishing game.
Paul Manafort was Campaign Manager for the Trump Campaign during the Republican National Convention when the only thing they changed about the party platform was being neutral on Ukraine. If he spent a decade working with the Pro-Russian wing of the Ukrainian Government it's hard to say he didn't influence things. Not to mention, how does he get to be the Campaign Manager for a Presidential Campaign without somebody digging this stuff up?
They basically did.

I remember seeing lots of articles showing this guy having ties to the old Ukrainian govt and by extension the Russian govt too.

As horrible as it looks, being pro-Russia isn't going to get Trump impeached. Manafort may get in hot water for this particular issue though and rightfully so.

If this deal was made or utilised while Manafort was campaign manager? Different story.
 

Xe4

Banned
It's possible, sure, but with the way this all keeps piling up, I find that to be very unlikely.

However I definitely think that's the defense Trump and his people are going to try and offer up as all of this continues to come to the surface- they'll try to cover up any possible direct links Trump has had with Russia to make it look like he was just somehow their unwitting puppet, rather than an active cohort.

It's possible those manipulating him pressured him into running. Found someone that already had an interest in politics and presence on the national stage, and then pushed him into running for president.

Honestly, we're all just guessing here, and as fun as it'd be to see the schadenfreude in the impeachment fallout, I'd rather have him not be found guilty of these accusations. The thought of the leader of the free world and president of my country colluding with Russia against American interests scares the absolute fuck out of me.
 
It's possible those manipulating him pressured him into running. Found someone that already had an interest in politics and presence on the national stage, and then pushed him into running for president.

Honestly, we're all just guessing here, and as fun as it'd be to see the schadenfreude in the impeachment fallout, I'd rather have him not be found guilty of these accusations. The thought of the leader of the free world and president of my country colluding with Russia against American interests scares the absolute fuck out of me.

Honestly, I don't really see any true "good answer" to this situation.

If Trump does get directly associated with this and impeached, not only does that mean we elected a traitor as the leader of our country, but we'd almost certainly be in a new Cold War with Russia too. That would be a total nightmare.

However Trump hasn't even been President for three months yet and he's already caused massive damage to the country domestically and internationally. The idea of him ultimately being determined as not directly connected to this whole affair and allowed to continue being in office until January 2021 could be quite horrific too in its own way.
 

Saya

Member
The report alleged that the Russian government had cultivated Trump for years:

The "Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance." It maintained that Trump "and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals." It claimed that Russian intelligence had "compromised" Trump during his visits to Moscow and could "blackmail him."

From the Donald Trump-Russia private intelligence dossier.
 

Xe4

Banned
Honestly, I don't really see any true "good answer" to this situation.

If Trump does get directly associated with this and impeached, not only does that mean we elected a traitor as the leader of our country, but we'd almost certainly be in a new Cold War with Russia too. That would be a total nightmare.

However Trump hasn't even been President for three months yet and he's already caused massive damage to the country domestically and internationally. The idea of him ultimately being determined as not directly connected to this whole affair and allowed to continue being in office until January 2021 could be quite horrific too in its own way.

Either way, we're going to have a hardcore republican in the White House, and whilst Pence is slightly less bad than Trump in that he's not off his meds, he's quite horrible in his own way. I've already acknowledged this and vowed to fight it as long as necessary, 4 years or 8 (or more D:).

In the meantime, I'd just rather not have a traitor in the White House. One would figure that is not too much to ask, but nowadays? : /
 

BasicMath

Member
They basically did.

I remember seeing lots of articles showing this guy having ties to the old Ukrainian govt and by extension the Russian govt too.

As horrible as it looks, being pro-Russia isn't going to get Trump impeached. Manafort may get in hot water for this particular issue though and rightfully so.

If this deal was made or utilised while Manafort was campaign manager? Different story.
Yeah, I don't think there's too much of a revelation going on here. The man has always had a questionable employment history. This is far from the worst revelation/link so far, I think. The worst has been Flynn and Manafort being hired by some dude in Russia to make propaganda doesn't even come close to that.

I think that's the worst at least? I somewhat stopped following this closely after the whole "US Senator met with foreign ambassador" thing. That one was just ridiculous.
 

Chumley

Banned
Yeah, I don't think there's too much of a revelation going on here. The man has always had a questionable employment history. This is far from the worst revelation/link so far, I think. The worst has been Flynn and Manafort being hired by some dude in Russia to make propaganda doesn't even come close to that.

I think that's the worst at least? I somewhat stopped following this closely after the whole "US Senator met with foreign ambassador" thing. That one was just ridiculous.

This is a direct quote from Manafort talking about how he wants to help Putin, a year before he moved into Trump tower.
 
Here is the thing.

It's very possible that the PRESIDENT OF THE USA had no idea this was going on.

They keep flattering him, telling him what he hears is fake news, and that he's the best !

And this moron believes it.

Trump isn't a traitor, he's literally a puppet.

This is terrifying.

giphy.gif
 

jelly

Member
Puppet is still a traitor whatever way you slice it. Not just Trump either, quite a few others too. I hope they get taken all down and sent to prison.
 

Seventy70

Member
Puppet is still a traitor whatever way you slice it. Not just Trump either, quite a few others too. I hope they get taken all down and sent to prison.

Yeah. "They talked me into it!" is not an argument that would hold up in court at all. With that said, Trump's motives are still unclear. He doesn't strike me as an ideological type of guy. I think it's more likely that he started doing shady business deals with Russians, they roped him in, now they are blackmailing him and he is in very deep. Taking all that into consideration though, it still makes me wonder if he tried to sabotage his own campaign at times. He obviously didn't want to win.

The eventual book written on this is going to be a hell of a read.
 

jelly

Member
Trump is a terrible businessman, he likely had money issues after many failed ventures, got in bed with the only people willing to bank role him to retain his persona and lifestyle, Russians took their opportunity, put him in a situation so he could also be blackmailed as is known to be a common tactic and he has been in their pocket ever since. I really don't doubt it.

Where is this Manafort guy at this present time, in America?
 

Lubricus

Member
Manafort has been working with Trump even after his "resignation".

On August 19, when Paul Manafort officially resigned, the allegedly hacked texts show that Manafort Shand [Manafort's daughter] wrote to one her contacts:

So I got to the bottom of it, as I suspected my dad resigned from being the public face of the campaign. But is still very much involved behind the scenes.

He felt he was becoming a distraction and that would ultimately take a toll on the campaign.
Several hours later, a different contact appears to have texted Andrea Manafort to say, “Thoughts go out to your pops—I can only imagine that he’s relieved, angry, hurting, a combination of a lot of emotions. Wishing you and your fam the best.” To which Andrea responded: “Hahaha you’re so silly. It’s all just pr.”

As early as November of last year, anonymous sources told The Daily Beast that Manafort was “heavily involved with the staffing of the nascent administration” and that, after his resignation, “how far he faded into the margins of Trump’s orbit is unclear.”

Physically, Manafort never really went anywhere: He owns an apartment in Trump Tower. According to the allegedly hacked data, Manafort’s eldest daughter Jessica, 34, texted her sister Andrea on April 7 that “Dad and Trump are literally living in the same building and mom says they go up and down all day long hanging and plotting together.”


http://theslot.jezebel.com/hacked-texts-suggest-manafort-continued-to-play-a-role-1793469844
 

TyrantII

Member
Yep. Trumps entire inner circle up to and including Mike Pence (just to clarify, this is an example, I don't think Pence has any ties to Russia) could end up being dirty, and Trump wouldn't be impeachable. That would take direct evidence of Trump being involved with Russia, or evidence of Trump trying to cover up working with Russia.

That is the "fire" or "smoking gun" everyone keeps talking about. As of right now, there's a lot of smoke, but no one can yet seem to find the fire.

You don't seem to understand how this works. Watergate didn't play out in a day.

Someone will testify to stay out of prison for decades, and all the dominos will fall into place
 

Wilsongt

Member
I guess could be considered a smoking water pistol.

Still, there's so much smoke California is ready to pass an anti-smog bill.
 
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