Looks like we spoke too soon. The holiday-weekend Trump bombshell has arrived courtesy of The Washington Post. This time, the paper is reporting that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and one of his closest advisors, discussed the possibility of setting up a secure communications channel between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
The scene was set earlier in the week when NBC reported on Thursday that Kushner is now “under FBI scrutiny” before explaining that he’s not an official target in the investigation.
And now, WaPo reports, according to the anonymous US officials, sensitive information 'incriminating Kushner' was intercepted by US intelligence agencies when Kislyak relayed the details of the discussion to his superiors in Moscow.
At first brush, the report appears damning: If accurate, WaPo has unearthed actual evidence of collusion between a senior Trump associated and the Russians, one might think.
But it’s important to keep in mind two crucial facts that WaPo decided to bury further in their "reporting."
First, this alleged discussion occurred during a meeting at Trump Tower in early December, nearly a month after Trump’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton. The investigations being led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the House and the Senate are focused on uncovering evidence of collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government during the campaign.
And second, if it weren’t for the implications (that this is evidence of collusion between a close Trump associated and Moscow), this would be a non-story, as WaPo readily admits, 16 paragraphs deep: “It is common for senior advisers of a newly elected president to be in contact with foreign leaders and officials. But new administrations are generally cautious in their handling of interactions with Moscow, which U.S. intelligence agencies have accused of waging an unprecedented campaign to interfere in last year’s presidential race and help elect Trump.”
So, to summarize - after Trump won the election (thus not before the election and not showing any election-tampering collusion), Kushner began discussions with the US representative of another world super-power to set up the back-channel-communications that are standard when any new president is elected.
If that's the best the media has for a long weekend, then perhaps, just perhaps, we have jumped the shark in terms of 'damning' leaked intercepts? Or perhaps the assumption is that the average WaPo reader will not reach the 16th paragraph, merely content with the headline confirmation of their own bias?
In a separate story published Friday evening, Wapo reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee has asked President Trump’s political organization to gather and produce all documents, emails and phone records going back to his campaign’s launch in June 2015. The development is notable because it's the first time that any Congressional investigators have requested documents from the Trump campaign.
When I want credible news and information I can trust, I turn to Libtard News! Thankfully, I don't have to turn far, since ZH has decided to give them additional airtime.
@ Tyler Durden:
If I want to know what WaPo, or CNN is pushing, they have their own sites; why cover their bullshit here?
Hey WaPo how about you focus on the real "russian" hacking the election?
His name was #SethRich
CNN Attacks Congressman Calling for Federal Probe of Seth Rich Murder
Perhaps you would prefer infowars and gatewaypundit to give you the facts. ZH offers both ends of the spectrum and trusts it's readers to draw their own conclusions. Not everyone wants to jerk off to their own echo chamber.
Yum.
What a delicious Nothingburger.
LMFAO! Somali pirates have more credibility than the Bezos Post reporters.
And who the fuck cares?
Jared watched the sum of all fears movie recently and thought it'd be a good idea! Who can blame him, it saved the world!
Old news.
Hysterical wailing and gnashing of teeth.
I heard Kushner banged some of the Russian figure skaters during the last olympics so that means he's a Russian stooge.
I'm actually curious to see just how much more the media is going to reach with this bullshit.
Way to go Trump. Kushner was a bad idea from the get go.
I say we throw Jared "Lubavitch" Kushner under the bus and get these fucking zionists out of the White House.
http://www.chabad-mafia.com/
Given that the Podesta Group is on the Russian payroll for lobbying, and given that Podesta is just a whore who will do anything for money, it would be funny if Putin would hire the Podesta Group to start lobbying Democrats to move on from the ridiculous Russia/Trump story.
I would send them 2 emails and say the rest were about yoga and weddings so they were deleted and then Bleach-Bit'ed.
Well I am shocked.
i'm waiting for the "Melania Trump is actually a Russian spy the Russians planted 20 years ago....."news
"Still better than Hillary."
Ahem. If Trump delivers on cutting entitlements, people that work for a living will love him.
I'm so tired of the endless crap funded by mega-millionaires telling me that I should hppily subsidize sloth, lethargy, and despair. I wager that most of the hate in the world would vaporize overnight if people had to focus on working to get bread rather than getting paid to not work and resent the hand that feeds them.
Men aren't made to be cattle, but that is what welfare makes them. And what those who praise welfare want men to be.
Instead of going through channels in Justice , some asshole leaks this to the media. Nothing will come of it and it will be forgotten next week.
My take - so fucking what?
reposting link - h/t to OP
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/6d9xcm/breaking_ive_found_e...
trololo
Kushner is a Zionist punk
Well you got this one wrong, ZH, whether inadvertent or otherwise.
Kushner wanted to create a channel where Team Trump would be able to communicate with Russia by using the secure commo channels of the Russian Embassy, not any commo owned and operated by the United States.
That is absolutely NOT 'normal practice'. Also, as only a POTUS-designate team, not a sitting POTUS, there is absolutely no legal protection for Kushner (who failed to mention any Russian contacts in his application for a security clearance, which is in itself illegal and subject to criminal prosecution). His explanation should be amusing.
Anyone trying to obtain a security clearance is required to disclose all foreign contacts. Yes, it is a cumbersome process. Note that not a single person on Team Trump disclosed a single contact with any Russian official until it was noted to them that the USG was aware of contacts they had had.
Kushner is likely to have his security clearance suspended pending investigation.
On the plus side, any of you who think Strumpetka is a looker might consider that she could be available soon, at least for ten-to-twenty five, according to the statute.
Easy Chindit. It may look damaging, but you are putting the cart way before the horse.
More news about NOTHING!
DEEP STATE IS TRYING TO KILL THIS PRESIDENCY WITHOUT BULLETS!!!