A CIA Spy Offers His Take On Trump And Russia

[Swordsmyth]

Russia and the campaign
Hoffman's long experience observing Russian spies at work leads to a surprising conclusion about one of the most sensational revelations from last year's election: that Trump Tower meeting in June 2016. The one attended by Donald Trump Jr., Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, campaign manager Paul Manafort — and Kremlin-connected Russians.
"To me," Hoffman says, "it pointed to a discoverable influence operation rather than some effort to establish a clandestine channel for collusion."
Both in NPR's interview and in an op-ed (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/opinion/the-russians-were-involved-but-it-wasnt-about-collusion.html) for The New York Times, Hoffman argues the meeting was meant to be discovered, that Putin deliberately left a trail of breadcrumbs from Trump Tower to the Kremlin.
And that the objective was simple: to soil the U.S. political process and undermine the credibility of the 2016 election.
Some other intelligence veterans disagree (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/opinion/donald-trump-russia-collusion-cia.html). But that is what former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman sees.
Here's what he doesn't see: "Overall I haven't seen any evidence of anyone actually colluding with the Russians," Hoffman says, "of Russian intelligence colluding with a campaign to cause harm to another."
Instead, Hoffman believes the Trump Tower meeting is significant mostly for what it reveals about Russia's motives and tactics.
The Steele dossier
And what of the unverified set of allegations about Trump-Russia contacts, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele? Hoffman suggests the intelligence apparatus may have been at work there, too.
"One possible explanation for the content was that Russian intelligence was aware that the dossier was being written," says Hoffman. "And that they fed not only true information — but untrue information as well. Which is their regular modus operandi for covert influence operations."
In other words, Hoffman believes Russia may have seeded the Steele dossier.
But when asked the bottom-line question — Does he believe Russia has dirt on President Trump? — Hoffman pauses before answering. An uncharacteristically lengthy pause.
"The way I would answer that question is that Russian intelligence collects information on their own people," he says. "They focus to a great extent on us at the American Embassy, to collect information on us. They seek to understand [as they say in Russian] what makes us breathe.
"That's really what they want to know."
So would Russian spies seek to understand what makes Trump breathe, what makes him tick?
Sure, says Hoffman. Though he insists he doesn't know whether Russia has compromising material on Trump. The president himself has dismissed the dossier as "fake news."

More at: http://www.npr.org/2017/08/08/542106975/cover-lifted-a-cia-spy-offers-his-take-on-trump-and-russia

[goldenequity]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKzbwk2j7lM


I find his premise weak... why did the Kremlin do it? 'to soil our electoral process'
(ha.. like it needs any help.)

I find it (once again) another attempt to reclaim the desperate failing narrative held by
Hillary/McCain/Graham and the MSMs and all the 'Generals'
and avoid (at all costs) that the problem REALLY WAS an inside job/DNC.
Russia. Russia. Russia. to avoid/misdirect ANY serious investigation of the stolen money & votes
and corruption INSIDE our electoral process.
They're desperate so they bring in a 'professional' spook / Russian 'expert' armed with an 'opinion'.

[Swordsmyth]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKzbwk2j7lM


I find his premise weak... why did the Kremlin do it? 'to soil our electoral process'

I find it (once again) another attempt to reclaim the desperate failing narrative held by
Hillary/McCain/Graham and the MSMs and all the 'Generals'
and avoid (at all costs) that the problem REALLY WAS an inside job/DNC.
Russia. Russia. Russia. to avoid/misdirect ANY serious investigation of the stolen money & votes
and corruption INSIDE our electoral process.
They're desperate so they bring in a 'professional' spook / Russian 'expert' armed with an 'opinion'.
I am not ready to commit to one theory over the other, Russia's motive in this theory would be to cause a civil war that takes the US off the board as a threat to them.
If that is the case the Demoncrats are falling right into their trap.

[goldenequity]

I am not ready to commit to one theory over the other, Russia's motive in this theory would be to cause a civil war that takes the US off the board as a threat to them.
If that is the case the Demoncrats are falling right into their trap.

Why bother? (w/ this 'breadcrumbs' nonsense)
I would argue they accomplish the same thing with RT every day
simply by hosting people like Ron Paul et al
and unspinning our own propaganda.
It accomplishes the very same thing right out in the open.

[goldenequity]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGuX5EhUAAA-Fzv.jpg:small

there's a LOT more than just DEM dominoes...
and it has nothing to do with MAGA so forget the clock.
I like the grin though.

[nikcers]

Somewhere in another reality the politicians are leveraging peoples hate towards Clinton to start more wars. There are politicians on the MSM crying that the election was rigged. The Ron Paul in that world is on RT saying that the government should stop taking peoples stuff, and somehow they even converted half of their population into demanding Obamacare because they think capitalism doesn't work.

Meanwhile in this reality in 2011 when Ron Paul said Russia wasn't a threat to our national security, the majority of our country agreed, while Trump was telling everyone to vote for Mitt Romney, the guy who said Russia was the biggest threat to our national security.

Now the country that Trump is leading is being lead towards nuclear war with Russia, because muh wall. The more and more you guys shit on my country and leave it out to dry the more you guys are dead to me. You guys don't even know what the fuck hack means. At very most you were scammed by fake people on the internet, and fake politicians who sell our tax dollars for pennies on the dollar.

[goldenequity]

FusionGPS was and still is at the center (they know it and is why the dude fled the country to avoid testifying.)
Both Dems & #NeverTrump Pubs financed FushionGPS to CREATE 'opposition research' and yeah..
Fusion went to the Russian (Oligarchs/Friends of Hill/Bill) NOT the Russian Government.
It's not THAT hard to unscramble... follow the money.
Ironically, The Dems akshully DID what they want to accuse Trump of.

The below is an attempt at an explanation. I'm personally unconvinced Natalia was complicit yet...
but the rest is pretty much the way I see it.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGugUjcVwAAcb-N.jpg:small

[Swordsmyth]

Why bother?
I would argue they accomplish the same thing with RT every day
simply by hosting people like Ron Paul et al
and unspinning our own propaganda.
It accomplishes the very same thing right out in the open.
Because the Dems and NeoCons almost have people ready to go to war with them now, I don't know if it is true but if they have any aggressive plans or are just afraid that NATO will find an excuse for war sooner or later they might try to manipulate us into collapsing, just look at how much trouble we cause them without war.

[goldenequity]

Some old Putin history, dialog & footage
Inessa S. just turned these out last few days. Some personality insights.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp3QNhvJkeg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t51iAw9OcU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-BS9eFDtr0

[Raginfridus]

I find his premise weak... why did the Kremlin do it? 'to soil our electoral process'
(ha.. like it needs any help.)

I find it (once again) another attempt to reclaim the desperate failing narrative held by
Hillary/McCain/Graham and the MSMs and all the 'Generals'
and avoid (at all costs) that the problem REALLY WAS an inside job/DNC.
Russia. Russia. Russia. to avoid/misdirect ANY serious investigation of the stolen money & votes
and corruption INSIDE our electoral process.
They're desperate so they bring in a 'professional' spook / Russian 'expert' armed with an 'opinion'.
Our elections have been corrupt from the very start, no need to bribe, coerce, or collude. We stack, pack, and crack our districts, then maybe half of us actually vote, many of whom are bused in from other districts, illegal, or worm food. Despite the laws against gerrymandering, it still happens all across the nation, and I think only about a dozen states require a "form" of ID at the ballot. There's absolutely no practical way about fixing our elections, one way or another - not at this hour. Its been sheer clusterf*ckery for 200 years, and that's the dirty secret compounding the price of electoral propaganda. It would be great if, instead of sanctions, our congress, and state legislatures, channeled their fake outrage toward solving that riddle. Who am I kidding?

[goldenequity]

Why bother? (w/ this 'breadcrumbs' nonsense)
I would argue they accomplish the same thing with RT every day
simply by hosting people like Ron Paul et al
and unspinning our own propaganda.
It accomplishes the very same thing right out in the open.

It's not that hard to do. For example...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGZXF4_XkAAkuHu.jpg:small



893432611183501312

[goldenequity]

https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Banner21.jpg
How Congress ‘Learns’ About Russia (https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/09/how-congress-learns-about-russia/)
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/09/how-congress-learns-about-russia/

A congressman once admitted to me that he and his colleagues know a lot of things, generally speaking,
but their knowledge only “extends about one inch deep.”
In other words, the briefings provided by staffers and in committees
is intended to touch only on what is important to know to look well informed in front of the C-SPAN cameras
without any unnecessary depth that would only create confusion.

And the information provided must generally conform
to what the congressmen already believe to be true and want to hear so no one will be embarrassed.

That such ignorance would be particularly notable in the realm of foreign policy should surprise no one
because congressmen as a group are no longer very well educated.
Few speak foreign languages and no one any longer studies the history or culture of any country but the United States, and sometimes not even that.

Some Congressmen nevertheless boast about all the countries they have visited to “fact find.”
They fail to recognize how they travel in a bubble, whisked to foreign lands via military aircraft
on the virtually worthless congressional delegations known as CODELS.
On these trips, spouses go shopping while American legislators are briefed by the ambassador’s staff and the CIA station,
both of which, for budget reasons, are more interested in demonstrating what a wonderful job they are doing
rather than explaining the complexity of the local situation.

And that is followed by the obligatory visit to listen to the local head of state
lie about how everything is going just fine in his country.
Given the reality of garbage in, garbage out, it is no wonder that buffoons like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham
are lauded as foreign-policy experts in the Republican Party.
It’s called setting the bar really low.

One-sided Hearings

To cite only one of many examples of Congress’s unwillingness to listen
to any opinion that might challenge the establishment view,
a February 16 hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee
entitled “Iran on Notice” featured four “experts,”
all of whom were hostile to Iran
and advocates of “solutions” ranging from actively encouraging regime change
to using military force.
No one knowledgeable enough to explain Iran’s behavior and/or offer non-confrontational approaches
was invited or asked to participate.

more (https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/09/how-congress-learns-about-russia/)

[goldenequity]

Some Russian Dirty Laundry ;)

https://en.russiangate.com/articles.php

basically a Nalvany backing site...