Alfa Bank, Cambridge Analytica, Trump Tower

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am agnostic re Louise Mensch.

I found the Senate testimony last week of Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian journalist and dissident who has survived two poisoning attempts by the Putin regime, to be quite compelling. His point---which does not receive nearly enough airtime in the US--is that the Magnitzky sanctions put in place by the US in 2012 are effective and highly threatening to the Putin regime because they target the individual fortunes of the oligarchs.

Kara-Murza opined that unlike the Politboro under Soviet communism, the 21st century Russian oligarchs devote a lot of effort to squirreling funds away in Western countries. The Magnitzsky sanctions, if I am understanding correctly, permit the US to ban named individuals from doing business with US businesses and financial institutions.

That's a pretty powerful motivator for Russia to try to manipulate our presidential election.

21:11 here and I also think that Trump and Kushner businesses have seen a lot of Russian money. In Kushner's case, I have a feeling it's become threat-lined debt.

But then there are the Mercers. The story in the New Yorker out this week adds a new twist.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency

[Anonymous]

I read the Mercer story as well. They are scary too---but in a ultra-right wing Koch brothers way.

Jeff---do you also think that Ann Marlowe is a conspiracy theorist? The article in the link below from August 2016 contains a number of similarities to theories being posited by Mensch now---namely that Cambridge Analytica, the data firm used by the Trump campaign, is a subsidiary of a parent company called SCL---which ultimately tracks back to Russian-affiliated Ukrainian oligarch (and Manafort associate) Dmitry Firtash. (Mercer being an investor at the Cambridge Analytica subsidiary level).

The Marlowe article was making the point that foreign governments not always friendly to the US were in the position to obtain an enormous amount of data re US citizens.

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/211152/trump-data-analytics-russian-access

[Anonymous]

I have been following Mensch since before the election. She's compiled a ton of good information. I have no doubt some of her theories miss the mark but I think she's hovering around a lot of information that is in fact relevant even if the facts don't all quite fit together the way she believes may be the case. She's trying to do the detective work and put the pieces together which is very much needed now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been following Mensch since before the election. She's compiled a ton of good information. I have no doubt some of her theories miss the mark but I think she's hovering around a lot of information that is in fact relevant even if the facts don't all quite fit together the way she believes may be the case. She's trying to do the detective work and put the pieces together which is very much needed now.

Also the blog post begins immediately with "Here is my theory..."

[Anonymous]

I think the links in the bottom of the blog post are independent enough to give credence to the overarching themes that Mensche and others have pieced together.

-Trump got in bed with dirty Russian money going back to the 80's.
-Trump has been close to others who have been in bed with the Russian for over 20 years, in some cases in very shady terms. This includes Page, Manafort, Stone, Flynn and others.
-Kushner is similary beholden to dirty money, including the Chinese;
-The Russians, through Wikileaks and Cambridge Analytica were able to extract, weaponize and target information to gullible American voters.
-Trump and others are compromised by the Russian - the change in Ukraine policy at the GOP convention is evidence 1 of this, and the lack of criticism of Russia by the Administration and Trump specifically demonstrate this.

Ultimately, this is Watergate on steroids and it is just a matter of time before it all comes out. What happens from there is in the hands of a potentially compromised GOP leadership.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Right off the bat there is a big problem with this article. The server in question was not in Trump Tower. The server had been used by the Trump Organization, but it was located elsewhere. This article draws on the theories of Louise Mensch. I implore everyone to approach Mensch the same way you would a Russian troll. She is not a credible source and relying on her will only serve to discredit you.

Can you expand on that? I had considered her a fairly credible source, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Mensch has essentially become a conspiracy theorist and, like most conspiracy theorists, fits facts into her narrative rather than fitting her narrative around facts. The Trump/Russia stuff is very complicated with a lot of misinformation being circulated. Mensch often latches onto things that are simply wrong and also gets things that she misunderstands wrong. One of her more outlandish theories is that the Russians killed Andrew Breitbart:

http://www.alternet.org/media/new-media-darling-louise-mensch-believes-putin-killed-andrew-breitbart-and-much-more

This link also lists other crazy ideas she has.

I haven't been acquainted with her for very long, and I'm not a fan of conspiracy theorists in general, but she's made some accurate predictions lately. Regardless of your feelings about her, this article does potentially connect some dots that seem very problematic for the Trump administration.

It is easy to connect dots if you just make them up. For instance, saying a server that was not in Trump Tower was in Trump Tower.

Fair enough, can you provide a link? Also, do you have any thoughts regarding the Alfa Bank/SCL/Cambridge Analytica stuff, unrelated to Mensch? Or do you think the whole thing is fictional? I'm truly interested in hearing other peoples' opinions on this.

"Publicly available internet records show that address, which was registered to the Trump Organization, points to an IP address that lives on an otherwise dull machine operated by a company in the tiny rural town of Lititz, Pennsylvania."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/politics/fbi-investigation-continues-into-odd-computer-link-between-russian-bank-and-trump-organization/

I don't know enough about Alpha Bank to comment.

I see that as a reporting error that doesn't change the big picture. What difference does it make where a server owned by the Trump Organiztion is physically located? It's the ownership that's important, not the location.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Right off the bat there is a big problem with this article. The server in question was not in Trump Tower. The server had been used by the Trump Organization, but it was located elsewhere. This article draws on the theories of Louise Mensch. I implore everyone to approach Mensch the same way you would a Russian troll. She is not a credible source and relying on her will only serve to discredit you.

Can you expand on that? I had considered her a fairly credible source, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Mensch has essentially become a conspiracy theorist and, like most conspiracy theorists, fits facts into her narrative rather than fitting her narrative around facts. The Trump/Russia stuff is very complicated with a lot of misinformation being circulated. Mensch often latches onto things that are simply wrong and also gets things that she misunderstands wrong. One of her more outlandish theories is that the Russians killed Andrew Breitbart:

http://www.alternet.org/media/new-media-darling-louise-mensch-believes-putin-killed-andrew-breitbart-and-much-more

This link also lists other crazy ideas she has.

I haven't been acquainted with her for very long, and I'm not a fan of conspiracy theorists in general, but she's made some accurate predictions lately. Regardless of your feelings about her, this article does potentially connect some dots that seem very problematic for the Trump administration.

It is easy to connect dots if you just make them up. For instance, saying a server that was not in Trump Tower was in Trump Tower.

Fair enough, can you provide a link? Also, do you have any thoughts regarding the Alfa Bank/SCL/Cambridge Analytica stuff, unrelated to Mensch? Or do you think the whole thing is fictional? I'm truly interested in hearing other peoples' opinions on this.

"Publicly available internet records show that address, which was registered to the Trump Organization, points to an IP address that lives on an otherwise dull machine operated by a company in the tiny rural town of Lititz, Pennsylvania."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/politics/fbi-investigation-continues-into-odd-computer-link-between-russian-bank-and-trump-organization/

I don't know enough about Alpha Bank to comment.

I see that as a reporting error that doesn't change the big picture. What difference does it make where a server owned by the Trump Organiztion is physically located? It's the ownership that's important, not the location.

Because Mensch thinks this server led to surveillance of communications at Trump Tower. She thinks it was this server being surveiled.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I think the links in the bottom of the blog post are independent enough to give credence to the overarching themes that Mensche and others have pieced together.

-Trump got in bed with dirty Russian money going back to the 80's.
-Trump has been close to others who have been in bed with the Russian for over 20 years, in some cases in very shady terms. This includes Page, Manafort, Stone, Flynn and others.
-Kushner is similary beholden to dirty money, including the Chinese;
-The Russians, through Wikileaks and Cambridge Analytica were able to extract, weaponize and target information to gullible American voters.
-Trump and others are compromised by the Russian - the change in Ukraine policy at the GOP convention is evidence 1 of this, and the lack of criticism of Russia by the Administration and Trump specifically demonstrate this.

Ultimately, this is Watergate on steroids and it is just a matter of time before it all comes out. What happens from there is in the hands of a potentially compromised GOP leadership.

The first link goes to Mensch's own publication. Hardly independent.

[Anonymous]

I am the PP you quoted. I think there is enough lining up with her theory on this to give it credence. It may not be 100% accurate, but when you mesh it with Adam Khan, Eric Garland and Seth Abrahmson, it paints a picture of something likely to have occurred.

[Anonymous]

Regardless of what one thinks of Mensch, there's an ever accumulating mountain of evidence and info piling up, and it seems to me that only a tiny percentage of it has been explained or debunked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the links in the bottom of the blog post are independent enough to give credence to the overarching themes that Mensche and others have pieced together.

-Trump got in bed with dirty Russian money going back to the 80's.
-Trump has been close to others who have been in bed with the Russian for over 20 years, in some cases in very shady terms. This includes Page, Manafort, Stone, Flynn and others.
-Kushner is similary beholden to dirty money, including the Chinese;
-The Russians, through Wikileaks and Cambridge Analytica were able to extract, weaponize and target information to gullible American voters.
-Trump and others are compromised by the Russian - the change in Ukraine policy at the GOP convention is evidence 1 of this, and the lack of criticism of Russia by the Administration and Trump specifically demonstrate this.

Ultimately, this is Watergate on steroids and it is just a matter of time before it all comes out. What happens from there is in the hands of a potentially compromised GOP leadership.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been following Mensch since before the election. She's compiled a ton of good information. I have no doubt some of her theories miss the mark but I think she's hovering around a lot of information that is in fact relevant even if the facts don't all quite fit together the way she believes may be the case. She's trying to do the detective work and put the pieces together which is very much needed now.

I'm inclined to agree. With what info we do know, she is skilled at putting it together in a way that makes sense and noticing patterns. Is she always right? No. Do I expect her to be? No. But she's working at undoing the knots and is not terrible at it. I think when it's all said and done she will have been right about quite a bit of it. I do absolutely take her admitted theories with a giant grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

I think her research with the planes being in the same odd places at the same time was compelling.

How many coincidences can there really be?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Right off the bat there is a big problem with this article. The server in question was not in Trump Tower. The server had been used by the Trump Organization, but it was located elsewhere. This article draws on the theories of Louise Mensch. I implore everyone to approach Mensch the same way you would a Russian troll. She is not a credible source and relying on her will only serve to discredit you.

Can you expand on that? I had considered her a fairly credible source, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Mensch has essentially become a conspiracy theorist and, like most conspiracy theorists, fits facts into her narrative rather than fitting her narrative around facts. The Trump/Russia stuff is very complicated with a lot of misinformation being circulated. Mensch often latches onto things that are simply wrong and also gets things that she misunderstands wrong. One of her more outlandish theories is that the Russians killed Andrew Breitbart:

http://www.alternet.org/media/new-media-darling-louise-mensch-believes-putin-killed-andrew-breitbart-and-much-more

This link also lists other crazy ideas she has.

I haven't been acquainted with her for very long, and I'm not a fan of conspiracy theorists in general, but she's made some accurate predictions lately. Regardless of your feelings about her, this article does potentially connect some dots that seem very problematic for the Trump administration.

It is easy to connect dots if you just make them up. For instance, saying a server that was not in Trump Tower was in Trump Tower.

Fair enough, can you provide a link? Also, do you have any thoughts regarding the Alfa Bank/SCL/Cambridge Analytica stuff, unrelated to Mensch? Or do you think the whole thing is fictional? I'm truly interested in hearing other peoples' opinions on this.

"Publicly available internet records show that address, which was registered to the Trump Organization, points to an IP address that lives on an otherwise dull machine operated by a company in the tiny rural town of Lititz, Pennsylvania."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/politics/fbi-investigation-continues-into-odd-computer-link-between-russian-bank-and-trump-organization/

I don't know enough about Alpha Bank to comment.

I see that as a reporting error that doesn't change the big picture. What difference does it make where a server owned by the Trump Organiztion is physically located? It's the ownership that's important, not the location.

Because Mensch thinks this server led to surveillance of communications at Trump Tower. She thinks it was this server being surveiled.

I think this is a major oversimplification and misses the forest for the trees. If there's something apparently fishy going on with some party that prompts the IC to get a warrant to surveil them, they aren't going to look at just one single server. What does one single server mean? Nothing. What's important is who is using it and for what purposes and that's where it becomes irrelevant where it was or wasn't located.

[Anonymous]

I am going to throw out my own conspiracy theory: does Trump go to Mar-a-Lago so often because he (a) hates Washington; (b) likes to juice the Club's revenues by his presence;or (c) the whole place is one big Russian safehouse bugged to the hilt and staffed by foreign agents?