Donald Trump's grievances about Hillary Clinton to be investigated by House Republicans

Republican congressmen have launched investigations into several of President Donald Trump's longstanding political grievances about Hillary Clinton, including an FBI probe of her emails and her alleged role in a sale of US uranium to a Russian firm.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Oversight Committee chairman Trey Gowdy announced a probe to address "outstanding questions" about why former FBI director James Comey publicly disclosed the bureau's investigation of Mrs Clinton, but never disclosed one into Mr Trump's associates in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Analysis: Comey's testimony

James Comey's conclusions and observations are based on instinct and an ingrained sense of protocol gained during a long career as a public servant, Washington correspondent Zoe Daniel writes.

Adam Schiffs, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the investigations were politically motivated.

Republicans in Congress also are investigating whether officials in former president Barack Obama's administration spied on Mr Trump's campaign and whether Russians helped pay for a dossier on Mr Trump commissioned by Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm.

So far, there is no evidence to support either allegation.

How Russia-linked hackers stole the Democrats' emails and destabilised Hillary Clinton's campaign

It was just before noon in Moscow on March 10, 2016, when the first volley of malicious messages hit the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The first 29 phishing emails were almost all misfires. Addressed to people who worked for Mrs Clinton during her first presidential run in 2008, the messages bounced back untouched.

Except one.

Within nine days, some of the campaign's most consequential secrets would be in the hackers' hands, part of a massive operation aimed at vacuuming up millions of messages from thousands of inboxes across the world.

It was not just a few aides that the hackers went after; it was an all-out blitz across the Democratic Party.

They tried to compromise Mrs Clinton's inner circle and more than 130 party employees, supporters and contractors.

While US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia was behind the email thefts, the AP drew on forensic data to report that the hackers known as Fancy Bear were closely aligned with the interests of the Russian Government.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-04/how-russians-hacked-democrats-and-clinton-campaign-emails/9118834

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So what does this all even mean?  Is this even relevant or are we hashing back over the inexplicable catastrophe that is Donald J Trump and looking for someone to blame other than the American people?

Cheers,

Jenifer

Paul Manafort: Who is he and how closely is he linked to Donald Trump?

Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Donald Trump's election campaign, has been charged with money laundering and conspiracy against the United States.

The charges against him and his associate Rick Gates were produced by the special counsel investigation into alleged Russian meddling in last year's presidential election.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also include making false and misleading statements and acting as unregistered agents of Ukraine's former pro-Russian Government.

The indictment against Mr Manafort and Mr Gates says they both generated tens of millions of dollars of income from Ukraine work and laundered money through scores of US and foreign entities to hide payments from US authorities between 2006 and at least 2016.

More than $75 million allegedly flowed through Mr Manafort's and Mr Gates' offshore accounts.

Mr Manafort allegedly laundered more than $18 million.

The indictment also alleges Mr Manafort and Mr Gates, along with others, conspired to defraud the United States by "impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful governmental functions" of the Department of Justice and the Treasury Department between 2006 and 2017.

Following the indictment, Mr Trump tried to turn the tables on the Democrats

This is what he tweeted:

Washington attorney John Dowd, who represents Mr Trump in the Russia probe, similarly downplayed the charges:

"It has nothing to do with the campaign or the allegations of collusion with Russia," he said.

A Trump confidante said:

And we have a winner!!!

Donald Trump's former security adviser Michael Flynn accused of plotting to kidnap Muslim cleric

Kidnapping allegations levelled at former US security adviser Michael Flynn have been described by his lawyers as "outrageous" and "false".

The Wall Street Journal reported Mr Flynn was under investigation in connection with an alleged plan to seize a prominent Muslim cleric and deliver him to Turkey.

Under the alleged proposal, Mr Flynn was to be paid close to $20 million for delivering Fetullah Gulen to the Turkish Government.

Laywers representing Mr Flynn, a former national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, rubbished report, that included allegations "ranging from kidnapping to bribery".

Robert Kelner, Stephen Anthony and Brian Smith said out of respect for the various investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, they had avoided responding to, "every rumour or allegation raised in the media".

"But today's news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that are so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule: they are false," they said in a statement.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-11/michael-flynn-allegedly-plotted-kidnapping/9141028

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WTF is going on over there???!!!!

Donald Trump backtracks on Putin comments, says he agrees Russia meddled in election

Okay, Whaaaaaaaat?

US President Donald Trump says he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin believes it when he says Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, but Mr Trump says he also believes US intelligence agencies which concluded Russia did.

"I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election," Mr Trump said of Mr Putin at a news conference with Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang in Hanoi.

"As to whether I believe it, I'm with our agencies."

Mr Trump had also dismissed former US intelligence officials as "political hacks" and accused Democrats of using the issue to try to sabotage relations between the two countries, putting lives at risk.

However speaking at the news conference in Hanoi, Mr Trump backed away from those comments.

"As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies," he added.

Mr Trump also reiterated his view that it's crucial for the US to get along with Russia, and seemed to suggest it was time to remove the sanctions Congress has slapped on Russia in retaliation for its election meddling efforts.

"It's now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken," Mr Trump said.

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Ya think?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-12/donald-trump-says-he-agrees-russia-meddled-in-election/9142392

Sessions got his memory back!!!

Jeff Sessions now recalls campaign meeting with Donald Trump, aides where Russia discussed

US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions says he now recalls a meeting with then-candidate Donald Trump and aides where campaign connections to Russia were discussed, despite earlier testifying that he was unaware of any such contacts.

The comment by Mr Sessions to a House of Representatives panel did not reveal any new link between the Trump team and Russia, but it was another example of the top US law enforcement official offering a different version of events as MPs try to work out if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.

Mr Sessions, addressing the House Judiciary Committee, said he recalled the March 2016 meeting where foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos was present.

"But I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said during that meeting," Mr Sessions said.

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Awww... never mind.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-15/sessions-says-he-now-recalls-meeting-where-russia-discussed/9151468

Too bad the Democrats who have been colluding with the Russians and Iran for decades can't be called to task

They're being investigated too.

Either way, it's a clusterfuck.

This video perfectly explains how Russian trolls influenced Americans during the 2016 election.

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http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4763916.htm

Russian hacking: FBI didn't tell US officials they were targeted in Russian email scam

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The FBI failed to notify scores of US officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that the targets were in the Kremlin's crosshairs.

Nearly 80 interviews with Americans targeted by Fancy Bear, a Russian government-aligned cyberespionage group, turned up only two cases in which the FBI had provided a heads-up.

Even senior policymakers discovered they were targets only when the AP told them, a situation some described as bizarre and dispiriting.

The FBI declined to discuss its investigation into Fancy Bear's spying campaign, but did provide a statement that said in part: "The FBI routinely notifies individuals and organisations of potential threat information."

Three people familiar with the matter — including a current and a former government official — said the FBI knew for more than a year the details of Fancy Bear's attempts to break into Gmail inboxes.

A senior FBI official, who was not authorised to publicly discuss the hacking operation because of its sensitivity, declined to comment on when it received the target list, but said the bureau was overwhelmed by the sheer number of attempted hacks.

The AP did its own triage, dedicating two months and a small team of reporters to go through a hit list of Fancy Bear targets provided by cybersecurity firm Secureworks.

Using the same list, the AP earlier this month reported on how Fancy Bear worked in close alignment with Kremlin interests to steal tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic Party.

"No-one's ever said to me, 'Hey Joe, you've been targeted by this Russian group'," said former Navy intelligence officer Joe Mazzafro, whose inbox the hackers tried to compromise in 2015.

"That our own security services have not gone out and alerted me, that's what I find the most disconcerting as a national security professional."

The 80 people on the hit list interviewed included current or former military personnel, Democratic Party operatives, diplomats or ex-intelligence workers such as Mr Mazzafro.