Trump and the Russian Hacking Connection

Great info, Michele. Thanks for posting. All of this has been posted and known on twitter for weeks.

That said, be careful of using The Palmer Report to prove/disprove. He often is not able to back up his claims. I do like him and follow him though.

Thanks LB......Maybe, my nervousness on this is why I only used the quotes from Howard Dean within the Palmer Report and not Palmer, himself ;-)

For people who may not be familiar with some of the latest developments (which have been overshadowed by the presidents recent tweets) the WSJ came out with a story the other day indicating that there was indeed at the very least an attempt by the Trump campaign to collude with the Russians. One of the people named in the story, a UK Internet security analyst, made a post today that filled in some of the details. The puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place. 

https://lawfareblog.com/time-i-got-recruited-collude-russians

Paul if this guy you just referenced is for real, it fills in many blanks that were omitted in the WSJ story. The man provided so much detail.  Thanks for posting.  

For me there are two aspects to the whole Trump-Russia relationship: what I feel in my gut is true, and what they will be able to prove. 

Wow Paul W.

What an amazing, amazing story! As Jeanne says, if this is true ..and what is known can be proved and used..the repercussions are huge.

But of course, it the story ends the way the predictors are currently seeing, scanning, and feeling ..we may just get more covert cover ups. But wow. Just wow. Keep us informed if more comes to light. Fascination..bigger and more complex than any of us could have imagined.

Yes, the collusion between Trump and Russians is starting to surface.  Also it's noteworthy that the man who broke the story  died nine days after he met with the Wall Street Journal.  They never had the chance to question him further. He was 81, but that doesn't mean he died of old age. 

Not sure if this has been said on this Forum, maybe it was and maybe even by me, lol. But there is evidence that the Russians used hacked voter registration information to foul up the elections in democratic precincts. When people showed up to vote, their names were not on the lists or there were other foul ups.  This created hours-long waits for people to vote, which in turn discouraged democrats from voting in those precincts.  Just another way to influence the election.   Now you are also finding evidence that they could have used the drivers license information to cast votes?  Not sure how that would work. 

I was reading your post Jeanne, and the old Mad Magazine image of two dark cutouts of spies with pointed hat's flashed into consciousness...the old "Spy vs Spy" series.

I believe the hacking is more involved than just digital hacking but that there is a growing network of actual Russian spy operatives that are in our country under the guise of business or other jobs or levels of educational teaching that are using their skills and influences and placement in American societal influences to directly effect and alter , perhaps even recruit, similar to covert terrorism.

There's so much our government doesn't know, has not been focusing on..its like North Korea's last missile launch..power and ability and technology that we foolishly believed they weren't yet capable of creating. Add in the awareness of potential "booster ride along" nuclear capabilities...and transfer that idea to tbe Spy network combined with elitist spy "boots on the ground" infiltrating operating all varieties of hacking systems from voting to nuclear and electrical power plants, digital grids, to subway systems right down to air control systems and subways .

Well, it makes hiding under my school desk during the cold war seem truly like being in kindergarten in comparison.

Hi,

I have been getting visions for some time now of a huge tree with its roots continuing to grow and grow and grow. Then I am shown an image of Mueller. It just feels like behind the scenes the investigation keeps getting broader and broader and way beyond the scope that people realize. And, the root network is going "deeper" and quickly. I don't know if "deeper" means he is getting to the root of the matter or if the people that are being investigated are getting "deeper" (as in up to their eyeballs) in trouble. (Maybe both). I keep being shown a winter landscape meaning this may (Presidency) come to a head (or parts of it) in a cold month (maybe early next year).  And, I keep getting an image of a wheel turning. The "wheels are in motion". Probably  means this is absolutely the beginning of the end. Might take a while but there is no stopping it.

Avalon, Thanks for weighing in and welcome to our community.  It's well established that when the FBI investigates something like this, they are very thorough.  Everyone who knows anyone is investigated, down to the people who drive their cars, to dinner friends. There was a moment the press described in the White House one day where some young interns were about to duck into a meeting. They were stopped by higher ups who warned them that, although they were welcome to attend, it they did, they'd likely have to end up hiring lawyers. 

I too have felt that the roots of this investigation go way beyond what we read in the press.  I would imagine that most of the people on the Trump team have their own staff and those people have staff.  

I've wondered if the Russians have supplied some of those staff people, including some computer techs and some even trained as spies. If Flynn sat on the NSA, did he have technical staff there with him?  If so, where did he find those guys? 

I also wonder if there are some congresspeople, and their staff, also in on the Russian deal. 

I keep hearing Manafort's name in my head.  I feel his connections go far and deep. He may have suggested people for Trump to consider as cabinet persons. He may also have suggested some of their staff.  

In all levels of government,  there are not only cabinet members, but undersecretaries and deputies and assistant deputies, and each of these have staff.  

I wouldn't be surprised if  Putin and his oligarchs have people in this network. 

Jeanne and Avalon, I too have been feeling the Russian network is vast and has been in place for quite some time and Snowden keeps popping up in my mind. Like when you've lost a tooth and your tongue keeps going to the hole. My brain keeps looking for a connection. I feel it is there.

Jeanne,

Your post reminds me of a meeting I sat in on while I was still working for a large multi-national corporation on computer network security. The bottom line of the meeting was that Chinese intelligence has people conducting industrial espionage in every business sector that interests them. They do this through a large network of IT people who are recruited after they already have positions in various companies. This is possible because of our nation's reliance on foreign IT help because it is cheaper. China is not the only country with a lot of HB1 visas in the IT world - so does Russia.

Melissa,

Thanks for your post. Ex-Military and Intelligence in the twitter community has been buzzing about Snowden being connected to all of this through Putin for months. I believe you are right on target!

Yes, It was confirmed to me that Snowden is working for Putin/Russian Gov -- I think I posted about this earlier.

Regarding the 81 year old GOP operative who died nine days after exposing Trump team members about seeking email hacks from the Russians. I had been concerned that his death was suspiciously close to the WSJ interview, even if he was 81 years old. Well it turns out his death was not from natural causes. He died by inhaling helium with a plastic bag over his head.  It was ruled a suicide.  The WSJ reporters believe it was a suicide, not a murder. He left a note saying he had been ill and his life insurance was about to run out. But it is odd. 

Wow, Kathy, I some how missed that. Now it makes sense to me that it will take 8 years to fix. This problem is very deep.....

The police say they believe it was a suicide in the case of the Republican operative who had interviewed with the WP. However, I am suspicious. First, he had a letter saying there was no foul play, second he said he was concerned his insurance was ending. He was 81. He has Medicare (for health insurance) and irt life insurance-- it does not pay if someone commits suicide (or only a very small amount after a very long time).  And what 81 year old does not have some health problems? If you remember, soon after the Steele Dossier became public knowledge, there was a large number of Russian intelligence agents who died as well and Steele went in to hiding. I also think the mask with the helium is a very odd way for a man to commit suicide in this country. He would have had help. Most men in this country, when faced with such a desperate act use a gun or a rope. 

Kathy,

I have been thinking the same thing about a life insurance policy not paying out for suicide. It just doesn't make sense. Other excellent points as well.

Extremely odd, Jeanne. Two tanks of helium in the room was reported by one witness, and while  helium acts as another way to displace oxygen supply in bag it doesn't hasten or cause death ..the bag did that job. A quick search on helium showed party balloon tank weighs 25 lbs. fills 27 Mylar large sized balloons . Why 2 if 1 doesnt hasten death and picturing this 81 year old carrying them to his 4th floor family medical care respite hotel is weird, too.

Even weirder,  wrist and leg bands used in exercising draped over the tanks. So, is that supposed to mean he lifted them as weights before he connected the tubing to some kind of mask inside the plastic bag? They found his helium receipt from Walmart but it was never checked on to see if security video in either store or hotel showed him with tanks.

Just weird and while self strangulation is not unusual in suicide, using helium is. If he staged it....why these strange details,  maybe there's a message to this madness or maybe weird is our new normal.

All the Russian connection deaths are weird but to call suicide ..dying of natural causes.. is strange in itself!

Life insurance can cover suicide if the death occurs after two years from the onset of the policy. It's a standard suicide clause. 

Given that people who have provided information about the Russia-Trump arrangement have already died (people connected to the UK spy Christopher Steele's report that he shared with the FBI and Mother Jones Magazine) -- we know that this scandal has brought death to people who talk.

In all, there is not enough factual evidence to be sure it was truly a suicide.  There are no health records available.  The insurance policy is not available. A photo of him buying the helium is not available.  If he did have a serious health condition, my read is that it might have been congestive heart failure which is fatal, but takes months to unfold.  

I did pick up that he had loved ones, particularly a daughter or wife he he wanted to provide for.  So that's a point for wanting the life insurance.