CNN:
CBS:
UPDATE:
UPDATE 2:
MOD EDIT:
People keep posting this picture "from the document" as evidence that the story was an elaborate prank from 4chan:
This picture is NOT IN THE DOCUMENT. It's a hoax to make the rest of the document look fake to people who wouldn't bother reading the whole thing.
Whether or not the story turns out to be legit or not, this is a pretty obvious manipulation and shows there is an active attempt by a lot of people online to spread misinformation about this story.
MOD EDIT 2:
Here are some posts giving summaries of the events, allegations, and their implications:
Classified documents presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump, multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the briefings tell CNN.
The allegations were presented in a two-page synopsis that was appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. The allegations came, in part, from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible. The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Mr. Trump.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.htmlThe two-page synopsis also included allegations that there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government, according to two national security officials.
CBS:
UPDATE:
BUZZFEED GOT THE WHOLE REPORT
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia#.ei0W9aqLE
UPDATE 2:
MOD EDIT:
People keep posting this picture "from the document" as evidence that the story was an elaborate prank from 4chan:
This picture is NOT IN THE DOCUMENT. It's a hoax to make the rest of the document look fake to people who wouldn't bother reading the whole thing.
Whether or not the story turns out to be legit or not, this is a pretty obvious manipulation and shows there is an active attempt by a lot of people online to spread misinformation about this story.
MOD EDIT 2:
Here are some posts giving summaries of the events, allegations, and their implications:
TL;DR - There was a report made as opposition research by a former MI6 agent that's been floating around for a while now but no news agency had actually reported on it because it's kind of hard to verify. That report made its way to the FBI via John McCain sometime in December. Last week the intelligence agencies apparently found it credible enough that they added it into their briefing to Obama and Trump. CNN reported on that fact. After CNN reported on that, Buzzfeed decided to post the entire thing. Within that document was allegations of Russian collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia for about 5 years. Also, it says the Russians set up and have tape of a Trump sex act and they're using that as blackmail. The specific sex act is that he was set up in a suite used by the Obamas and had some Russian prostitutes piss on the bed.
Reddit said:Summary I came up with:
>8+ years of communication between him and Kremlin, and 5+ year relationship of cultivating/supporting/assisting Trump by Russia.
>They offered him real estate deals IN RUSSIA to further ensnare him, but he declined.
>Russia has dirt on Trump watching Russian prostitutes give golden showers.
>Detailed claims of bilateral intelligence sharing back and forth between Trump and Putin. Trump had DNC moles and used US as well as foreign hackers. Trump got info on his opponents, Putin got info on Russian oligarchs + families living in US.
>They used the pension system that Russian diplomats used to transfer information back and forth to/from each other as well. It mentions tens of thousands of dollars were sent in addition to the money.
>Russia's main goal appears to be driving wedges to cause divisions in the West. They aided Jill Stein, Carter Page and Michael Flynn (the latter two being members of Trump's team) in doing so.
>Main goal of DNC emails appeared to be swinging Sanders voters to Trump.
>Russia and Trump had a mutual agreement on the DNC hack. Russia released the emails to Wikileaks in return for Trump removing mention of Russian invasion of Crimea in favor of talking about NATO financial commitments in Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Putin wanted people to stop talking Ukraine while also undermining NATO.
>Trump's most damning financial commitments are actually in China and other emerging markets. He's paid large bribes and kickbacks there that would've destroyed his campaign if made public.
>Hilariously, when Trump said he had few Russian financial investments, that was true, but he has actively sought them out only to be denied. He apparently settled for extensive sexual favors there instead
>Trump lawyer Cohen had clandestine meeting with Kremlin operatives in August, held in Prague to try to make it seem less suspicious.
>Ukrainian President that Putin installed confided to Putin he DID provide ex-campaign manager Manafort w/ kickbacks that were previously reported. Left no paper trail.
>Russia pissed this has gotten so much media coverage. They hoped to push for improved Russian-US relationships regardless of who was elected. Ancillary goal with Clinton was to drive her positions further from Obama's in event she won - they're happy both candidates were anti-TPP because they viewed that as bad for them.
>Trump has bribed Russian business interests but worked diligently to obfuscate and eliminate paper trail. Also engaged in Russian sex parties but has likewise bribed or coerced witnesses to be silent. They do believe a particular Russian businessman was intricately linked to Trump would know details.
>Manafort/Page/Cohen all highly compromised. They/Trump were apparently offered up to 19% stake in a Russian oil company Rosneft by its president if they could successfully get Western Russian sanctions lifted. Page expressed interest in this deal, saying sanctions would be lifted.
>Once the sh*t started to hit the fan, Cohen was heavily involved in trying to cover up the relationship between Carter/Manafort/himself and Russia.
>Mentions that the Trump team AND Russia both paid Romanian hackers to help sabotage Democrats.
>Overall goal of electing Trump was to destabilize Western and world order in Russia's favor since he was anti-establishment and so divisive.
Let me know if something needs added or if I screwed something up.
u/JustDandy07 is the man. Added a bunch of stuff.
u/whiskystoned and u/sylviecerise made sure I had my TPP bit correct - Russia was AGAINST TPP.
u/Adrian_Bock raised a great point. Trump specifically used Presidential Suite in Russian Ritz-Carlton where Obama/Michelle stayed for his golden shower episode(s) to defile the bed. That's some depraved shit.
u/niknight_ml mentioned that Trump may have helped actually fund the DNC hack itself.
Twitter User Chris Baugh said:1. in light of the fact that we're supposed to be skeptical about the latest #Trump allegations, I want to tell you a story.
2. A long time ago, there was a man named Paul Manafort. Paul Manafort was a GOP operative who exported his political expertise.
3. He and Roger Stone ran what was known in DC as The Torturer's Lobby. They worked with warlords and despots.
4. Paul Manafort even worked closely with Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats with ties to V. Putin.
5. Manafort was one of the operatives who worked in Ukraine to elect a pro-Putin government. This is a verifiable fact.
6. At one point, Manafort went missing for 3 weeks. Roger Stone joked that he had been kidnapped by the Russians. This is about 2010
7. According to some members of the intelligence community, around the same time, Russia began cultivating Donald Trump as an intel asset
8. Timing, I'm sure, is totally coincidental. Just giving you a sense of where we're at in the history.
9. In 2011, Donald Trump starts the birther movement. Remember that whole thing?
10. In 2012, Donald Trump flirts with a run for President, but he doesn't run.
11. At some point, Hillary Rodham Clinton runs afoul of Vladimir Putin. She and Obama both take aggressive stance toward him.
12. Then in 2016, Donald J Trump declares his Presidency. He starts as a long-shot managed by Corey Lewandowski.
13. As Trump grows in prominence, he fires Lewandowski and hires...Paul Manafort. Whose last job was in Ukraine. On behalf of Putin.
14. Paul Manafort, who owned a lobbying firm with Trump confidant Roger Stone.
15. Paul Manafort, who had been kidnapped (presumably) by Russians at one point but survived unharmed.
16. Trump's positions on Russia softened under Manafort (re Ukraine specifically). Manafort's in charge over summer.
17. It comes out that Manafort received 12 millions dollars in an off-books ledger from the pro-Putin party in Ukraine.
18. Wait back up. Before this comes out, the DNC emails are hacked. Wilkileaks releases the hacked emails.
19. Why did Assange do this if it was an intel op by Russia? Possibly for the promise of asylum, but that's speculation on my part.
20. Maybe because he hates Clinton and Obama, but, again, speculating.
21. Regardless, these leaks hurt one party and helped the other.
22. So now Manafort resigns after the Ukraine thing comes out. Trump hires Steve Bannon, ANOTHER one of Stone's friends.
23. Manafort probably keeps advising Trump. Regardless he lives in Trump Tower, so they see each other periodically.
24. Incidentally Roger Stone officially resigned in December 2015. So now Stone and Manafort are unofficial advisors, strictly speaking.
25. Two of Trump's new policy guys are Michael Flynn and Carter Page. Both of whom have ties to Putin and Russia.
26. Galas with Putin, RT dinners, speaking engagements, etc. So Manafort, Flynn, and Page. Remember the names for a bit.
27. Now Wikileaks starts leaking John Podesta's emails. Mostly harmless stuff, but Hillary Clinton and emails is just a bad look.
28. We know they were hacked, we suspect by a state agent, and if you've been paying attention, the answer's pretty clear.
29. So the election happens and Trump wins. Then the intelligence community confirms what most of us knew or suspected.
30. That Putin had launched an intel op specifically to hurt Clinton. Then it came out that he wanted Trump to win.
31. That he was behind the DNC attacks, that he was behind the Podesta hacks, all Putin from the get-go.
32. Curiously PEOTUS refuses to accept the findings of the intel community. Claims it coulda been anybody! Defends Assange. Curious.
33. In response, POTUS Obama kicks out 35 alleged Russian spies posing as diplomats. Pretty big move.
34. The intel community seems pretty certain as to the facts at this point, and Obama is doing stuff he wouldn't do otherwise.
35. So today this new trove of background comes out. BUT IT'S UNVERIFIED. Yeah, so what?
36. What do the documents say? That about 6 years ago (around when Trump started birtherism), they began cultivating him.
37. That they conspired to get leverage over him. That they preferred him to HRC.
38. That they had Russian spies in the US posing as go-betweens.
39. That there was high-level cooperation with Trump's campaign. Via Paul Manafort and Carter Page. Remember them?
40. So we're supposed to SUPER SKEPTICAL about all of this. I mean, I guess so?
41. If you didn't know who Paul Manafort was, or what he did, or who Carter Page was, etc.
42. If you didn't find it odd that Trump's SecState-Elect won the Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin.
43. If you ignored all of these things, I guess it's healthy to be skeptical about this.
44. I'm not an intelligence professional; I have the benefit of being able to make unqualified claims.
45. I dunno when it started or what the end game was, but Russia wanted Trump and cultivated him for years.
46. Paul Manafort offered Trump the Presidency if he played ball with Putin. That's what Flynn and Carter Page were for.
47. Manafort and Page were the go-betweens. The 35 expelled diplomats were in on it. The IC is clear on exactly how it happened.
48. You can say this is all circumstantial, that Manafort and Putin and Trump and Stone and Page and Flynn all met in a locker room one day.
49. But to me this has been clear as day since Manafort signed up. He was working for Putin on Trump's behalf. Or vice versa.
50. He quit when he became toxic. He didn't GO anywhere.
51. So here we are, a week out from inaugurating a compromised asset of Russian intelligence President of the United States.
52. I don't have some cool conclusion to the story because it's a scary story without a good ending. This is the new reality.
53. Donald Trump appears to be beholden to a foreign power, and now we know the specifics. There's nothing to be skeptical about.
54. This is just filling in the outlines of stuff that people have been saying since last summer. You don't need CIA clearance for this.
55. I dunno who leaked the new info, but very little of it was surprising. And it probably won't matter. Welcome Comrade Trump.
