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The comprehensive guide to and history of the 'Russiagate' hoax

Ian Shilling
Investment Blog
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 11:36 UTC
Colin Powell Russian hackers
The first thing to say is that Russiagate has nothing whatsoever to do with any Russia meddling in the US or any other election, or "subverting American democracy".

It's about money and power - isn't it always?

Background

Russia and China refuse to become vassal states of the US Empire. They conduct their own independent Foreign and Financial policy as Sovereign countries.

This is not acceptable in the eyes of the Neocon Globalists.

Attacking China directly would cause a massive financial collapse and a worldwide depression.
The US does hundreds of billions a year of trade with China, but hardly any with Russia. So the Neocons targeted Russia for Regime Change. It is also much easier to stir up public hate against boogeyman Russia, than it is against China. Its an historical legacy from the 40 year Cold War against the USSR. As we have seen amply demonstrated in America & Europe over the last 18 plus months.

Obama and the Neocons openly declared war on Russia in 2013.
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Russian Flag

Thirteen Russian trolls and a ham sandwich

James Howard Kunstler
Clusterfuck Nation
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 11:26 UTC
Time Mag Yeltsin
© Time Magazine
Remember that one from 1996? Funny, that was the American mainstream media bragging, after the fact, about our own meddling in another nation's election.
WASHINGTON - A team of American political strategists who helped [California] Gov. Pete Wilson with his abortive presidential bid earlier this year said this week that they served as Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin's secret campaign weapon in his comeback win over a Communist challenge.

-The Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1996
The beauty in Robert Mueller's indictment of thirteen Russian Facebook trolls is that they'll never face trial, so Mr. Mueller will never have to prove his case. In the new misrule of law made popular by the #Me Too movement, accusations suffice to convict the target of an investigation. Kind of sounds like going medieval to me, but that's how we roll now in the Land of the Free.

Comment: More on the 'Russian trolls' nonsense:

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Bullseye

Kim Dotcom to Trump: "The DNC hack wasn't even a hack - I know who did it and why"

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 11:08 UTC
Kim Dotcom
© AFP Photo / Marty Melville
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom
Kim Dotcom has once again chimed in on the DNC hack, following a Sunday morning tweet from President Trump clarifying his previous comments on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.


Comment: Of course the DNC was not 'hacked'. Robert Mueller knows it. Notice how the 'Russiagate' narrative has shifted from the DNC 'hacks', to 'collusion' between the Trump team and Russia, and now it is about Russian 'trolls'.

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Telephone

In talks with Erdogan, Rouhani warns of plots to disintegrate regional states, and attempts to establish puppet governments


PressTV
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:37 UTC
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Photo by president.ir
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a press conference in Tehran on October 4, 2017
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned against plots to disintegrate regional states in talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling for enhanced cooperation to eliminate such security concerns.

The region is today witnessing "plots to partition [regional states] and attempts to establish puppet governments, and we must make efforts to resolve these security concerns through all-out cooperation," Rouhani told Erdogan in a phone conversation on Monday.

During the talks, the two presidents exchanged views on the latest developments in the region, including the Syria situation.

Comment: See also: Kurdish official claims deal reached for Syrian army to enter Afrin - Putin, Erdogan discussing situation - UPDATE

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Gear

Lebanese army ready to confront any 'Israeli aggression at all costs'


RT
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:17 UTC
Lebanese army soldiers
© Mohamed Azakir / Reuters
Lebanese army soldiers
The Lebanese army has reaffirmed its readiness to confront the "Israeli aggression" by any means at its disposal if the ongoing disputes and already tense relations between the neighbors escalate into an armed confrontation.

"I reaffirm again our categorical rejection of the Israeli enemy infringing on Lebanon's sovereignty and its sacred right to exploit all its economic resources," General Joseph Aoun said, as quoted by the Lebanese army. "The army will not spare any method available to confront any Israeli aggression, whatever that costs."

Earlier this month, Lebanon signed its first contracts to explore two offshore zones for oil and gas. One of the parcels included exploration rights to the so-called Block 9, a triangle off the coast that is around 860 square kilometers - which Israel claims the rights to. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the move as "very provocative," noting that Block 9 falls under Tel Aviv's sovereignty. As Israel continues to assert its rights over the continental shelf, a consortium of international energy companies, including Italy's Eni, France's Total and Russia's Novatek, have already received approval from Beirut to explore the two blocks off the coast.

Comment: See also:

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Light Saber

Russian document on Syria, basis for Valdai Forum talks, warns against Kurdish state, permanent US presence

Ibrahim Hamidi
Asharq Al-Awsat
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 02:20 UTC
Syria destruction
© Reuters
Destruction in Syria
A document that will form the basis of a Russian conference on Syria warned against any permanent American presence in the war-torn country and against the formation of a Kurdish state.

The document, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, presented the "rules of the game" in the Middle East, saying that 2017 was a changing point in the developments in the region.

It noted that none of the bloody conflicts there have ended, some of which have escalated, amid fears of the collapse of local governments. It did however speak of positive change in the region as local players seek political solutions.

The document will be presented at the Valdai forum that will be hosted by Moscow on Monday. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is set to attend. It will also be attended by Syrian regime figures, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and former Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi.

The document underlined the importance of the state as a crucial institution for the Middle East, meaning that strengthening the state and resolving conflicts are core priorities for regional players.
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Bulb

Mueller's latest indictment further discredits the dodgy Trump dossier

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 21:52 UTC
christopher steele
© Press Association
Christopher Steele
As the days since Mueller's latest indictment have passed, the failure of his investigation to make any claim of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has begun to sink in, even amongst some of Donald Trump's most bitter enemies.

Even the Guardian - arguably the most fervid of Donald Trump's British media critics, and the most vocal supporter of the Russiagate conspiracy theory - has grudgingly admitted that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has "once again failed to nail Donald Trump"
There will be understandable disappointment in many quarters that the latest indictments delivered by Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, once again failed to nail Donald Trump. Although the charges levelled against 13 Russians and three Russian entities are extraordinarily serious, they do not directly support the central claim that Trump and senior campaign aides colluded with Moscow to rig the vote.
The Times of London meanwhile has admitted that the latest indictment contains "no smoking gun"
The Department of Justice, however, offered no confirmation to those still smarting from the election in Nov­em­ber 2016, who believe that, in the absence of Russian interference, Hillary Clinton would be in the White House today. Friday's allegations offered no evidence that the outcome had been affected. Sir John Sawers, former head of MI6, said yesterday that Donald Trump's victories in the key swing states were his own.
There was further comfort for Mr Trump, which he was quick to celebrate with a tweet. The investigation uncovered no evidence "that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity". That includes, so far, anybody involved in the Trump campaign. If there is a smoking gun it has yet to emerge, though Robert Mueller's investigation will grind on. Presi­dent Vladimir Putin is a malign and dangerous mischief maker. It has not been proved that he is an evil genius with the ability to swing a US election.
In fact the latest indictment when considered properly is a further huge nail in the coffin of the Russiagate conspiracy theory and in the already disintegrating credibility of the Trump Dossier, which is the foundation document for that theory.

Comment: It's past time that Russiagaters are seen as the political equivalent of flat-earthers.

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Family

Duma Deputy Natalia Poklonskaya: Russia defends traditional values - children should have a mother and father

Inessa Sinchougova
Fort Russ
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 21:40 UTC
natalia poklonskaya
The Duma Deputy and former prosecutor general of the Crimea, Natalia Poklonskaya, has given journalists an interview in relation to her new book, and in her view, the way that Russia defends traditional values.

- Natalia Vladimirovna, they say that there is a bill in the works, prohibiting surrogate motherhood. Is this true?

- The bill was submitted for consideration by a member of the Federation Council. Yes, it is proposed to prohibit surrogate motherhood. To consult with constituents, I launched a poll in my social networks. I asked people to express their opinion. But all of a sudden - everything became skewed in the press. They said: "Poklonskaya wants to prohibit surrogate motherhood." No, Poklonskaya wants to know people's opinion, and by the way, people in general support the ban on surrogate motherhood.

Russia is a country that defends traditional values ​​and morality. In Europe, children have a "parent one" and "parent two" as opposed to a mother and father. Gender equality. Where is the spirituality of the family? In Russia, we don't have this - in Ukraine, we don't have this.

We have a Mom and Dad. And this must be protected. These are our traditions, our values. Therefore, people voted against surrogacy. There are medical conditions when parents cannot have children, so they turn to surrogacy - but that's a different matter. Overall, the public wants to defend their moral and traditional values.

Comment: Unfortunately, divorce rates are still high in Russia, so they are not entirely free from the corrosive effect of the feminist assault on the family. But at least this is a step in the right direction. Ironically, the ex-communist state of Russia is strengthening the private sphere of the family, while the "free" West is doing everything it can do destroy private life and extend the reach of the state. For more information on these dynamics, see Stephen Baskerville's The New Politics of Sex: The Sexual Revolution, Civil Liberties, and the Growth of Governmental Power.

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Map

Orban: 'Christianity is Europe's last hope' - Calls for global anti-migration alliance in run-up to 2018 election

Marton Dunai
Yahoo News
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 21:14 UTC
orban
© AP Photo/Ronald Zak
Hungarian leader Viktor Orban called on Sunday for a global alliance against migration as his right-wing populist Fidesz party began campaigning for an April 8 election in which it is expected to win a third consecutive landslide victory.

Popular at home but increasingly at odds politically and economically with mainstream European Union peers, Orban has thrived on external controversy, including repeated clashes with Brussels and lately the United Nations.

Those conflicts, mostly centered on migration since people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa flooded into Europe in 2015, have intensified as the elections approach and Orban poses as a savior of Europe's Christian nations.

"Christianity is Europe's last hope," Orban told an audience of party faithful at the foot of the Royal Castle in Budapest. With mass immigration, especially from Africa, "our worst nightmares can come true. The West falls as it fails to see Europe being overrun."

Comment: Orban is more correct that his enemies are in the "West". Christianity unifies European cultures, whether they want to admit it or not. Without that shared identity, Europeans' only options are to adopt some doctrinaire ideology (a la Fascism or Communism) or to fracture into increasingly polarized groups at war with each other and with nothing to unify them. The article states that Orban wants "ethnic homogeneity". That may be desirable to many people, but it isn't necessary. A shared cultural identity can flatten out the negative effects of mixed ethnicities. But it requires an actual shared cultural identity - i.e., integration/assimilation. That's probably the biggest problem with the migrant crisis: governments and the migrants themselves have no wish for integration into a shared cultural identity.

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Attention

Nunes: FBI and DOJ perps may be put on trial

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Nunes
© Crooks and Liars
House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes
House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes has stated that "DOJ and FBI are not above the law," and could face legal consequences for alleged abuses of the FISA court.

Throwing down the gauntlet on alleged abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the Department of Justice and the FBI, House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) stated that there could be legal consequences for officials who may have misled the FISA court. "If they need to be put on trial, we will put them on trial," he said. "The reason Congress exists is to oversee these agencies that we created."

Nunes Attkinson
© The Conservative Treehouse
Devin Nunes and Sharyl Attkinson
Nunes took this highly unusual, no-holds-barred stance during an interview with Emmy-award winning investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson, which aired on Sunday.

Attkisson said she had invited both Nunes and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) but that only Nunes agreed. She asked him about Schiff's charge that Nunes' goal was "to put the FBI and DOJ on trial." What followed was very atypical bluntness - candor normally considered quite unacceptable in polite circles of the Washington Establishment.

Rather than play the diplomat and disavow what Schiff contended was Nunes' goal, Nunes said, in effect, let the chips fall where they may. He unapologetically averred that, yes, a criminal trial might well be the outcome. "DOJ and FBI are not above the law," he stated emphatically. "If they are committing abuse before a secret court getting warrants on American citizens, you're darn right that we're going to put them on trial."

Comment: Finally, signs of momentum to address the criminal actions and abuses by intelligence and legal agencies. These are strong statements from Mr. Nunes, signaling a rough road ahead.

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