Russia influences election

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 12:53 pm

Scoop20906 wrote:Maybe Bannon is behind all the leaks?

All of them? No. Some of them? Absolutely. The leaks in the WH are largely coming from factions that are trying to undercut other factions. So, for example, if you see a WH leak that damages Kushner then there's a good chance it originates with the Bannon camp.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 2:21 pm

Holman wrote:What Putin has on Trump is likely criminal finances that will send him to jail and cost him and his kids everything.

Hey look, more news about Trump and Russia:

Five current and former U.S. officials tell NBC News that “they are aware of classified intelligence suggesting there was some sort of private encounter between Trump and his aides and the Russian envoy” last April at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

In addition to Trump, officials believe that the intelligence shows that then-Senator Jeff Sessions and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner were also at the meeting.

The officials emphasized to NBC news that this new evidence does not yet “amount to proof” and have “declined to provide details about it.”

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:06 pm

Five?!

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Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:12 pm

Scoop20906 wrote:Five?!

I know, right? That's nothing. Obviously they are making it up. It took over 30 Cosby accusers to come forward before they gained credibility.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 10:56 am

Holman wrote:What Putin has on Trump is likely criminal finances that will send him to jail and cost him and his kids everything.

That's been my conspiratorial assumption since wikileaks to center stage during the primaries.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 11:34 am

Trump administration pressured State Dept to remove Russia sanctions from Day One.

In the early weeks of the Trump administration, former Obama administration officials and State Department staffers fought an intense, behind-the-scenes battle to head off efforts by incoming officials to normalize relations with Russia, according to multiple sources familiar with the events.

Unknown to the public at the time, top Trump administration officials, almost as soon as they took office, tasked State Department staffers with developing proposals for the lifting of economic sanctions, the return of diplomatic compounds and other steps to relieve tensions with Moscow.

These efforts to relax or remove punitive measures imposed by President Obama in retaliation for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 election alarmed some State Department officials, who immediately began lobbying congressional leaders to quickly pass legislation to block the move, the sources said.

“There was serious consideration by the White House to unilaterally rescind the sanctions,” said Dan Fried, a veteran State Department official who served as chief U.S. coordinator for sanctions policy until he retired in late February. He said in the first few weeks of the administration, he received several “panicky” calls from U.S. government officials who told him they had been directed to develop a sanctions-lifting package and imploring him, “Please, my God, can’t you stop this?”

It's hard to overstate what a gift this would have been for Putin: it would effectively have ceded Crimea (and also Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine), and it would basically have forgiven and forgotten the election hacking that had just occurred and which was only beginning to be looked into.

Trump and Co. didn't expect the Russia investigation to blow up like it has. They wanted to just move in and line up with Moscow.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 11:39 am

Holman wrote:Trump administration pressured State Dept to remove Russia sanctions from Day One.

In the early weeks of the Trump administration, former Obama administration officials and State Department staffers fought an intense, behind-the-scenes battle to head off efforts by incoming officials to normalize relations with Russia, according to multiple sources familiar with the events.

Unknown to the public at the time, top Trump administration officials, almost as soon as they took office, tasked State Department staffers with developing proposals for the lifting of economic sanctions, the return of diplomatic compounds and other steps to relieve tensions with Moscow.

These efforts to relax or remove punitive measures imposed by President Obama in retaliation for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 election alarmed some State Department officials, who immediately began lobbying congressional leaders to quickly pass legislation to block the move, the sources said.

“There was serious consideration by the White House to unilaterally rescind the sanctions,” said Dan Fried, a veteran State Department official who served as chief U.S. coordinator for sanctions policy until he retired in late February. He said in the first few weeks of the administration, he received several “panicky” calls from U.S. government officials who told him they had been directed to develop a sanctions-lifting package and imploring him, “Please, my God, can’t you stop this?”
It's hard to overstate what a gift this would have been for Putin: it would effectively have ceded Crimea (and also Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine), and it would basically have forgiven and forgotten the election hacking that had just occurred and which was only beginning to be looked into.

Trump and Co. didn't expect the Russia investigation to blow up like it has. They wanted to just move in and line up with Moscow.

I thought it was very much known to the public at the time. I thought he publicly stated in December that he was going to apply pressure to remove sanctions on Russia. When did he announce Tillerson as his preference for SoS? It was shortly before that...

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/p ... .html?_r=0

So it was at least sometime before shortly before the 12th of December.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 12:25 pm

I think the news here is that they were just going to unilaterally drop the sanctions with no expectation of reciprocal behavior (such as rapprochement in Ukraine). It was a total giveaway.

And some of the sanctions being dropped included those applied by Obama in the final days of his administration (in retaliation for the hacking). Trump couldn't have talked about those during the campaign because they weren't even in place.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 5:49 pm

Why would there be an expectation of reciprocal behavior? The Russians put in a big enough down payment.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:23 am

Putin calls U.S. election-meddling charge a ‘load of nonsense’ in Megyn Kelly interview

Russian President Vladimir Putin testily rejected the idea that his government had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election — or that he is holding compromising evidence against President Trump — in an interview broadcast Sunday night with NBC’s Megyn Kelly.

“They have been misled,” Putin responded when Kelly said that American intelligence agencies had concluded that Russia interfered in the campaign with the goal of electing Trump. “They aren’t analyzing the information in its entirety. I haven’t seen, even once, any direct proof of Russian interference in the presidential election.”

The interview with Putin — conducted last week during an economic forum in St. Petersburg — was the opening segment in the debut episode of “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly.” Kelly, who was a prime-time star on Fox News Channel, moved to NBC at the start of this year.

The interview was tense at times, with Putin calling Kelly’s questions a “load of nonsense.” “Your lives must be so boring,” if Americans are reduced to making up stories about Russia, he said.

Kelly continued to push Putin. But the interview produced little that was new.

The Russian leader, a former KGB intelligence officer, is not given to unguarded moments or admissions of guilt. When Kelly asked him about allegations of Russian involvement in the campaign, he replied with a conspiracy theory about the death of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

“There’s a theory that Kennedy’s assassination was arranged by the United States intelligence services. So, if this theory is correct — and that can’t be ruled out — ” then the same agencies could fabricate evidence of Russian hacking, Putin said.

Well, I guess that settles it.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:50 am

I saw a bit of that interview. Kelly later asked Putin about the belief among many Americans about corruption in the Russian government and that many of Putin's critics wind up dead. Amazingly, Putin went on a rant about America trying to be morally superior but, as far as I could tell, he never denied any of those allegations.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:05 am

The President of the United States, defending America against comparisons to Putin wrote:"There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country is so innocent?"

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:11 am

What a piece of shit. Our nation is ruled by a sociopath child.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:19 am

Can you imagine a foreign leader flinging poo like this after something like the Boston bombing? What does he think he's doing?

And I'm sure the fact that London's mayor is a Muslim has nothing to do with it.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:02 am

Holman wrote:Can you imagine a foreign leader flinging poo like this after something like the Boston bombing? What does he think he's doing?

And I'm sure the fact that London's mayor is a Muslim has nothing to do with it.

As with all things Trump, it's about the election. Sadiq Khan was publicly critical of Trump's proposed Muslim ban back in 2016 and stated that he hoped Trump would lose, so he's on Trump's shit list now.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:53 am

malchior wrote:What a piece of shit.

Is that you Reza?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:08 pm

Oh, great. Russian hackers targeted election infrastructure itself.

Just a few days before the 2016 presidential election, Russian military intelligence hackers targeted a Florida voting software company and more than 100 local election officials, according to a highly classified National Security Agency report obtained by The Intercept and verified by CBS News.

Here are the key revelations from the Intercept report:

[*]On August 24 of last year, Russian hackers sent emails designed to look like they were from Google to employees of an unnamed U.S. election software company. The NSA document does not directly identify the company in question, but contains references to the VR Systems, whose electronic voter database products are used in eight states. Our of seven “potential victims,” at least one of the employee accounts was “likely compromised,” the NSA concluded.
[*]In late October, the hackers impersonated that voting software company employee in an email blast to 122 addresses “associated with named local government organizations,” likely to officials “involved in the management of voter registration systems.” According to the Intercept: “The emails contained Microsoft Word attachments purporting to be benign documentation for VR Systems’ EViD voter database product line, but which were in reality maliciously embedded with automated software commands that are triggered instantly and invisibly when the user opens the document.”
[*]The NSA report confirms that “Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU,” conducted the cyber attacks. GRU “may have breached at least some elements of the voting system,” particularly “elements of multiple U.S. state or local electoral boards.”
[*]The NSA document details two other Russian hacking attempts: one targeting another U.S. election company and another aimed at the American Samoa Election Office. On the latter effort, the NSA said the goal was “mimicking a legitimate absentee ballot-related service provider” but did not say what information was obtained.

I'm sure that's all there is, though. Nothing else. Nothing serious.

EDIT: Apparently this was incredibly sensitive stuff. According to several reports I've just seen pop up on Twitter, the FBI has just arrested the leaker.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:50 pm

FBI arrests federal contractor named Reality Winner for leaking the May 5th report about election machine phishing campaign.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:52 pm

Holman wrote:Oh, great. Russian hackers targeted election infrastructure itself.

Just a few days before the 2016 presidential election, Russian military intelligence hackers targeted a Florida voting software company and more than 100 local election officials, according to a highly classified National Security Agency report obtained by The Intercept and verified by CBS News.

Here are the key revelations from the Intercept report:

[*]On August 24 of last year, Russian hackers sent emails designed to look like they were from Google to employees of an unnamed U.S. election software company. The NSA document does not directly identify the company in question, but contains references to the VR Systems, whose electronic voter database products are used in eight states. Our of seven “potential victims,” at least one of the employee accounts was “likely compromised,” the NSA concluded.
[*]In late October, the hackers impersonated that voting software company employee in an email blast to 122 addresses “associated with named local government organizations,” likely to officials “involved in the management of voter registration systems.” According to the Intercept: “The emails contained Microsoft Word attachments purporting to be benign documentation for VR Systems’ EViD voter database product line, but which were in reality maliciously embedded with automated software commands that are triggered instantly and invisibly when the user opens the document.”
[*]The NSA report confirms that “Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU,” conducted the cyber attacks. GRU “may have breached at least some elements of the voting system,” particularly “elements of multiple U.S. state or local electoral boards.”
[*]The NSA document details two other Russian hacking attempts: one targeting another U.S. election company and another aimed at the American Samoa Election Office. On the latter effort, the NSA said the goal was “mimicking a legitimate absentee ballot-related service provider” but did not say what information was obtained.
I'm sure that's all there is, though. Nothing else. Nothing serious.

EDIT: Apparently this was incredibly sensitive stuff. According to several reports I've just seen pop up on Twitter, the FBI has just arrested the leaker.

So much for witch hunts and fake news and "patriotic" Russian hackers and Devin Nunes running interference.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:53 pm

malchior wrote:FBI arrests federal contractor named Reality Winner for leaking the May 5th report about election machine phishing campaign.

I hope she has a gofundme setup for her defense soon (probably advertise it during the Comey/Brennan hearings this week.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:56 pm

malchior wrote:FBI arrests federal contractor named Reality Winner for leaking the May 5th report about election machine phishing campaign.

I dunno what to think. We arrest the leaker but we let the president and Putin categorically deny there was interference and they demand we find it. I'm not entirely sure there's anything to be done but it smell like someone hid dead fish in the mattress.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:57 pm

Pyperkub wrote:
malchior wrote:FBI arrests federal contractor named Reality Winner for leaking the May 5th report about election machine phishing campaign.
I hope she has a gofundme setup for her defense soon (probably advertise it during the Comey/Brennan hearings this week.

No matter what the attorney, she probably doesn't have much hope other than jury nullification, would be my guess.

Here's a Twitter thread on the leak/arrest.

Sounds like both the leaker and The Intercept were sloppy.

However, by arresting the source, the FBI has essentially confirmed that the NSA document is authentic. Which, uh, seems like a big deal.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:44 pm

How awesome a name is "Reality Winner"?

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:08 pm

Kraken wrote:How awesome a name is "Reality Winner"?

The name alone makes me somewhat convinced that the entire thing is a setup to troll Trump.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:36 pm

Sometimes the universe likes to remind us it has a sense of humor.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:54 am

I just cannot fathom that someone with access to TS information would email their target from work. That's astonishingly stupid.

[edit] - I guess the upside is that when Trump inevitably calls this fake news, he's pissing off the NSA and helping out the suspect.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 6:30 am

They are just as stupid as everyone else.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 7:33 am

Fretmute wrote:I just cannot fathom that someone with access to TS information would email their target from work. That's astonishingly stupid.

[edit] - I guess the upside is that when Trump inevitably calls this fake news, he's pissing off the NSA and helping out the suspect.

Lack of common sense is pretty ordinary in Federal contracting. A lot of these kids are the best and brightest hired directly out of university. It doesn't mean they have any people skills. I might have some experience dealing with this...but to be clear not at this particular consulting company. I was let's say concerned when I saw it involved a Federal contractor...and then relieved to hear which company will have to deal with this mess.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:27 am

malchior wrote:
Fretmute wrote:I just cannot fathom that someone with access to TS information would email their target from work. That's astonishingly stupid.

[edit] - I guess the upside is that when Trump inevitably calls this fake news, he's pissing off the NSA and helping out the suspect.
Lack of common sense is pretty ordinary in Federal contracting. A lot of these kids are the best and brightest hired directly out of university. It doesn't mean they have any people skills. I might have some experience dealing with this...but to be clear not at this particular consulting company. I was let's say concerned when I saw it involved a Federal contractor...and then relieved to hear which company will have to deal with this mess.

Yeah, it also doesn't seem to speak well for the contractor's judgment here either.

Anyway, I thank her for her sacrifice. At the same time, I think that people are still overestimating the chances that all of this stuff ultimately brings Trump down. Republicans are still by and large firm behind Trump, and I don't think it would take too many leaker prosecutions to dry up the leaks, which would lessen the pressure on Trump.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:28 am

Rip wrote:They are just as stupid as everyone else.

But Trump loves Winners.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:34 am

malchior wrote:It doesn't mean they have any people skills. I might have some experience dealing with this...but to be clear not at this particular consulting company. I was let's say concerned when I saw it involved a Federal contractor...and then relieved to hear which company will have to deal with this mess.

I just assume that every contractor works for Booz Allen until proven otherwise. It's generally the safest bet.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:55 pm

I guess they are just handing out TS clearances like candy these days.

Speaking of Snowden, Ms. Winner is a huge fan of his. He was one of only 50 accounts she followed on Twitter, along with WikiLeaks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, and the Anonymous hacker collective.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:58 pm

Rip wrote:I guess they are just handing out TS clearances like candy these days.

Speaking of Snowden, Ms. Winner is a huge fan of his. He was one of only 50 accounts she followed on Twitter, along with WikiLeaks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, and the Anonymous hacker collective.

Next thing you know, we'll elect a president with a history of retweeting white supremacists.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 2:08 pm

Rip wrote:I guess they are just handing out TS clearances like candy these days.
Speaking of Snowden, Ms. Winner is a huge fan of his. He was one of only 50 accounts she followed on Twitter, along with WikiLeaks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, and the Anonymous hacker collective.

She posted to Twitter using a different name (Sara Winner). Does the NSA use facial recognition software when they do Twitter checks? Social media accounts are part of the background check, but unless she handed it to them, I'm not sure how they'd know.

From what I'm reading, she was caught by a couple of things - first, she was sloppy in her document handling to the press - and second, she was one of just 6 people who accessed that information. She might as well have had a beacon over her head. It's a wonder it took this long to catch her.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 2:15 pm

Rip wrote:I guess they are just handing out TS clearances like candy these days.
Speaking of Snowden, Ms. Winner is a huge fan of his. He was one of only 50 accounts she followed on Twitter, along with WikiLeaks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, and the Anonymous hacker collective.

No shit. You just need to look at a White House photo-op to see that.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:41 pm

El Guapo wrote:
Pyperkub wrote:
malchior wrote:FBI arrests federal contractor named Reality Winner for leaking the May 5th report about election machine phishing campaign.
I hope she has a gofundme setup for her defense soon (probably advertise it during the Comey/Brennan hearings this week.
No matter what the attorney, she probably doesn't have much hope other than jury nullification, would be my guess.

Here's a Twitter thread on the leak/arrest.

Sounds like both the leaker and The Intercept were sloppy.

However, by arresting the source, the FBI has essentially confirmed that the NSA document is authentic. Which, uh, seems like a big deal.

Today I learned that a color laser printer can rat you out to the feds.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 1:48 pm

Max Peck wrote: Today I learned that a color laser printer can rat you out to the feds.

Tell it to Woodstock typewriter no. 230099.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:20 am

Russian hacking was far more widespread than we thought.

This is waaaay beyond just DNC emails.

Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported.

In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackers accessed software designed to be used by poll workers on Election Day, and in at least one state accessed a campaign finance database. Details of the wave of attacks, in the summer and fall of 2016, were provided by three people with direct knowledge of the U.S. investigation into the matter. In all, the Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states, one of them said.

[...]

The new details, buttressed by a classified National Security Agency document recently disclosed by the Intercept, show the scope of alleged hacking that federal investigators are scrutinizing as they look into whether Trump campaign officials may have colluded in the efforts. But they also paint a worrisome picture for future elections: The newest portrayal of potentially deep vulnerabilities in the U.S.’s patchwork of voting technologies comes less than a week after former FBI Director James Comey warned Congress that Moscow isn’t done meddling.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:11 am

And remember that there are states (including, for example, Pennsylvania) that do not keep a paper trail to back up their electronic voting machines.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:19 am

Holman wrote:This is waaaay beyond just DNC emails.

Yeah, but there's healthcare to repeal. We can't be focused on voting - at least not until the spring of 2018.

But in all seriousness, if the fact (and I'm using Comey's testimony as a point of reference here) that there was Russian intrusion into our electoral process doesn't shake people out of their Us vs.Them political party mentality, then we're beyond screwed. As numerous individuals have stated, this isn't a party problem. The intrusions and actions were "wide net" in nature, designed to disrupt the system - whatever angle worked.