Classified Documents

[MigL]

Nobody invests this kind of money without expecting a 'return'.

Jared Kushner got a 2 billion dollar investment from the Saudi Crown Prince.

'He's Cashing In': Kushner Firm Gets $2 Billion From Saudi Fund Run by Crown Prince (commondreams.org)

Maybe the Saudis are buying nuclear information to keep up with the Israelis and Iranians ???

Purely speculative.

[iNow]

  On 8/17/2022 at 3:14 AM, MigL said:

Purely speculative.

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Aligns with my initial thoughts last week, so our own personal radars are definitely detecting the same bogeys on this one 

  On 8/12/2022 at 1:19 PM, iNow said:

More likely to me is it was another grift to secure LARGE sums of money in exchange for info, most likely from the Saudis (who have also already given more than $2 Billion to Jared Kushner for extremely questionable reasons) and potentially even Russia. 

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[Peterkin]

Mebbe so.... also stooopid....

[TheVat]

Am a little skeptical of a Jared-MBS deal on nuke secrets - though I'm sure the Saudis want something for their billions.  I would still look to Putin having control over Trump, perhaps some kompromat.  

The blackmailing the FBI theory, if there's anything to that, would suggest a Trumpian lack of awareness of what happens to people who mess with the FBI.  Would love to be a fly on the wall in the room where Trump attempts to blackmail the FBI.  

[geordief]

  On 8/17/2022 at 2:38 PM, TheVat said:

Am a little skeptical of a Jared-MBS deal on nuke secrets - though I'm sure the Saudis want something for their billions.  I would still look to Putin having control over Trump, perhaps some kompromat.  

The blackmailing the FBI theory, if there's anything to that, would suggest a Trumpian lack of awareness of what happens to people who mess with the FBI.  Would love to be a fly on the wall in the room where Trump attempts to blackmail the FBI.  

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I doubt he would do it directly.He would only need to let them know that someone might have a copy(,they maybe know that already if reports of activity on the surveillance cameras  are true-think I heard that  half mentioned on CNN  the other night)

 

He could plead incompetence(we already now he is incompetent  at some level to be holding those documents at all)

[Peterkin]

He can plead anything and its opposite - in the same sentence. In any case, "Talk to Rudy."

But he will never admit to incompetence; what stable genius and the greatest American who ever lived, would ever say such a thing. His basic and only sincere stance is that of the seagull: "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

[toucana]

As a topical side-bar on Classified Documents:

Last October, a US naval engineer called Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana who worked in Annapolis Maryland were arrested on charges of attempting to sell US naval state secrets to a foreign power. Toebbe who had spent almost a decade working as a submarine propulsion specialist allegedly attempted to sell a large cache of blueprints and technical data for $5 million in cryptocurrency to a foreign agent who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/maryland-man-accused-spying-pleads-not-guilty-will-remain-jail-n1282002

His wife Diana allegedly acted as a lookout while her husband  placed ‘dead drops’ of classified information on data cards hidden in peanut butter sandwiches and bandaid covers.

In a surprise ruling Tuesday, federal judge Groh rejected a plea deal for 12.5 to 17.5 years offered on behalf of Jonathan Toebbe, and 3 years for his wife Diana. The judge rejected the proposed deal because it was too lenient in her view. The couple have now withdrawn their plea deal and will go to trial next year.

The information Toebbe was trying to sell was said to be classified at the Confidential level (not at Secret or Top Secret levels).  Which raises the interesting question of what sentencing guidelines would be considered appropriate by a judge for a person who stole TS-SCI and CNWDI restricted data and offered it for sale ?

[mistermack]

  On 8/17/2022 at 8:03 PM, Peterkin said:

But he will never admit to incompetence;

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Maybe it's an American thing, not admitting you lost? 

The BBC just minutes ago did a piece on the 1972 olympics, and covered the dramatic gold medal basketball match where the USA lost for the very first time, in the last three seconds, to the USSR.

They refused to admit they lost, and the silver medals were never accepted, and are still locked up in a vault in Switzerland, fifty years later. Very Trumpish. 

[swansont]

  On 8/18/2022 at 1:28 PM, mistermack said:

Maybe it's an American thing, not admitting you lost? 

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It's more of an authoritarian/narcissistic thing, perhaps popularized recently in the US. I'm sure if other dictator/dictator wannabes (or their disciples) get voted out of office outside the US, some of them would try the same tactic.

  On 8/18/2022 at 1:28 PM, mistermack said:

The BBC just minutes ago did a piece on the 1972 olympics, and covered the dramatic gold medal basketball match where the USA lost for the very first time, in the last three seconds, to the USSR.

They refused to admit they lost, and the silver medals were never accepted, and are still locked up in a vault in Switzerland, fifty years later. Very Trumpish. 

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You are glossing over the controversy. One needs to look at the details more carefully. The Soviets "won" on the third try at the last three seconds, which never should have happened. Lots of shenanigans involved to get to that point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Olympic_Men's_Basketball_Final#Controversy

[Peterkin]

...and some old Brits still preserve the illusion that they have an empire for when the Lion wakes up....

Yeah, nobody has a monopoly on denial, but the Confederate South and US right wing are particularly adamant, and Trump is an example of self delusion the likes of which anyone's never seen. 

[mistermack]

  On 8/18/2022 at 3:33 PM, Peterkin said:

...and some old Brits still preserve the illusion that they have an empire for when the Lion wakes up....

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Of course, nobody likes losing. I was just dangling a worm, to see if Swansont would bite. 

A great many Germans never accepted that they lost WW1.  That was a major factor in the build up of the Nazis, and cost over fifty million lives. 

Trump really reminds me of the early Hitler. He's not as good a speaker as Hitler, but he does know how to appeal to the less gifted and the baser instincts. And he treats the law like Hitler did. Uses it when he wants, and ignores it when he wants. I really hope that they nail him for it, because he really is too dangerous to have his finger on the button.

[iNow]

  On 8/18/2022 at 1:28 PM, mistermack said:

Maybe it's an American thing, not admitting you lost? 

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As swansont shared, this has nothing to do with being an american and everything to do with being an autocratic power hungry authoritarian with fascist tendencies.

Liz Cheney is an American, she lost her primary the day before yesterday, and she admitted it before voting was even fully completed.

  On 8/18/2022 at 3:48 PM, mistermack said:

Of course, nobody likes losing. I was just dangling a worm, to see if Swansont would bite. 

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Gosh and golly. You're so super clever. I guess I bit, too  🙄

  On 8/18/2022 at 3:48 PM, mistermack said:

Trump really reminds me of the early Hitler.

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It seems he's read and studied Hitler quite a bit, too. He also lamented "why can't my generals be more like Hitler's generals" to his White House Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff while still in office... asking why they weren't "totally loyal" and wouldn't do anything he asked regardless of legality and constitutionality. 

Edited August 18, 2022 by iNow

[mistermack]

  On 8/18/2022 at 3:48 PM, iNow said:

asking why they weren't "totally loyal" and wouldn't do anything he asked regardless

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Stalin's generals were pretty loyal too. Of course, American generals don't risk their own deaths, and those of their families, if they are less than totally loyal. That might make a slight difference !   😄

[Peterkin]

  On 8/18/2022 at 4:20 PM, mistermack said:

Stalin's generals were pretty loyal too. Of course, American generals don't risk their own deaths, and those of their families, if they are less than totally loyal.

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Don't count on it!

  Quote

They seem serious as if a tale of two Americas will come into being in 2024, with two groups of troops with different faiths, claiming loyalty to different US presidents. Political polarization is not only tearing US society apart, but also rocking the American military. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202112/1242948.shtml

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A day after 124 retired generals and admirals released a letter spreading the lie that President Joe Biden stole the election, current and former military officers are speaking out, calling the missive a dangerous new sign of the military being dragged into the trenches of partisan warfare.https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/11/retired-brass-biden-election-487374

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[MigL]

  On 8/18/2022 at 3:48 PM, iNow said:

Liz Cheney is an American, she lost her primary the day before yesterday, and she admitted it before voting was even fully completed.

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Hope she runs as an independent in the 2024 elections.
If nothing else, she will draw away some of the conservative votes from the Republicans, making sure D Trump doesn't win the Presidency again.

[iNow]

  On 8/18/2022 at 6:20 PM, MigL said:

Hope she runs as an independent in the 2024 elections.
If nothing else, she will draw away some of the conservative votes from the Republicans, making sure D Trump doesn't win the Presidency again.

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She's almost sure to run, but I'm skeptical she'd do so as an Independent (instead choosing to take the Fascist Autocratic Ridiculous Trump (aka: the FART) head-on in the GOP primary). Time will tell.

[CharonY]

  On 8/18/2022 at 3:48 PM, iNow said:

Liz Cheney is an American, she lost her primary the day before yesterday, and she admitted it before voting was even fully completed.

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And the crazy bit is that her opponent then claimed that she never conceded, so she had to release an audio recording. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/17/cheney-releases-concession-call-audio-to-refute-primary-opponents-claims-00052593

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The recording contradicts the narrative Hageman offered host Sean Hannity on Wednesday about Cheney’s call on primary night.

“I haven’t had any other contact with Liz Cheney. She made the one effort and all she said was ‘Hello, Harriet.’ And then that was the end of it,” Hageman said. When Hannity sought to clarify that she was alleging Cheney had “just said ‘Hello, Harriet’ and then hung up,” Hageman reiterated: “That was the end of the call, yes.”

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I am not sure if related, but there are a lot of cases (I see it mostly from the pandemic perspective) where folks are utterly divorced from reality and are not even internally consistent. As such, it is not just US-specific but for some reasons folks do not seem to be able to deal with information anymore and at one point or another seem to just make things up and treat it as reality.

And it is no longer limited to political spin or opinions. 

 

[iNow]

They’re trying to convince millions of people that there is no truth unless approved cult leaders are the ones sharing it. 

[iNow]

Apparently part of the reason the Judge signed off on the FBI warrant is because they were alerted to something alarming on the Marlaago surveillance camera footage. 

[Peterkin]

  On 8/18/2022 at 11:46 PM, iNow said:

Apparently part of the reason the Judge signed off on the FBI warrant is because they were alerted to something alarming on the Marlaago surveillance camera footage. 

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What? Like known Russian agents entering with bulky shopping bags and exiting with slim folders?

[iNow]

Time will tell. A federal judge has ordered the DOJ to release a redacted version of the affidavit used to seek the warrant

[J.C.MacSwell]

  On 8/14/2022 at 4:45 PM, TheVat said:

 

If this proves true, I think Trump's supporters will start to melt away like they did in that room at the end of Dave, where Frank Langella, the villain, looks around and his crowd has quietly vanished.

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That...or he might find out who his real friends are...

[TheVat]

Russians like people to share houses (at least, based on my last viewing of Ninotchka), so maybe they can talk the Snowdens into making their hideabed available.  

[Peterkin]

We may as well make fun while the sun shines. There is no way this can play out without extensive damage to the nation.

[exchemist]

  On 8/19/2022 at 5:56 PM, Peterkin said:

We may as well make fun while the sun shines. There is no way this can play out without extensive damage to the nation.

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True. But the boil must be lanced.