It makes sense if you consider Brexit was largely framed as a nationalist and anti-immigrant movement that levied a harsh critique against the integration of economies between nations. Leaving the trading zone was a major objective. And leaving that zone also meant leaving a zone with a freer movement of people between nations. The EU represented the classical liberal idea that free trade and integrated economies promote peace and democracy. It is not just an economic but also a political bloc. Putin's/Russia's interest has been in fracturing that alliance. Brexit was an opportunity to take a step in that direction. Just has been Trump's election.
This is the second time I can remember where your reply to me didn't even attempt to back up your statement I challenged. "The whole Putin operation has been a long con played by the book. Putin leveraged Brexit to achieve the goal of cutting Britain off from Europe." This doesn't make sense. How did he leverage Brexit. Your above statements are simply talking about Brexit and the internal debates, not how Putin leveraged it. If you actually watched the bipartisan debates it was about removing the UK from a protectionist customs union that benefits continental vested interests and regaining sovereignty lost due to the "ever closer union" Not according to any of the Brexiters I can think of. They wanted to continue trading and expand into emerging markets that are actually showing growth unlike the EU. It was sold as a free trade zone in the 1970's when international tariffs were very high. Now they are much lower and the EU is simply trying to become a geopolitical force attempting to challenge the USA in power.
At this point, its hard to think that no one met with trump that didn't have Russian ties... British political operatives were in contact with Russian ambassador while meeting with Trump: report http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...an-ambassador-while?__twitter_impression=true
"raise red flags for law enforcement officials as it could be a way to commit fraud or launder money." Buyers tied to Russia, former Soviet republics paid $109 million cash for Trump properties http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article210477439.html
Money laundering for dummies question ... when you buy a condo in NY, like anywhere else in the US, don’t you have to get the property appraised? Wouid by these appraisals be available with the city or something?
“Set aside Putin and follow the money”: a Russia expert’s theory of the Trump scandal “To understand the roots of the collusion, set aside Putin and follow the money.” so said Seva Gunitsky, a politics professor at the University of Toronto and the author of Aftershocks; he posted a short but incisive thread on Twitter about the financial roots of the Trump-Russia collusion case. Gunitsky, who was raised in Russia, has followed the evolving relationship between Donald Trump and Russia for more than a decade. The financial connections between Trump and various Russian banks and oligarchs (business elites with ties to the Kremlin) stretch back decades, which is likely a big reason why Trump won’t release his tax returns. Trump’s election, Gunitsky contends, presented Russian oligarchs with an opportunity to recoup losses and leverage Trump’s debts for political gain. Gunitsky has detailed / explained the financial dealings between Trump and his Russian business partners in this article https://www.vox.com/2017/7/18/15983910/donald-trump-russia-putin-fbi-collusion-fusion-gps
The Russian spy / Russina billionaire / Trump connection. In April, accused Russian spy, Mariia Butina, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Konstantin Nikolaev, a Russian billionaire, provided funding for a guns right group she represented, according to The Washington Post. Nikolaev’s wealth was built mostly through port and railroad businesses in Russia, The Post reported. Nikolaev also sits on the board of a Houston-based ethane company called American Ethane. That company was applauded by President Donald Trump at an event in China last year for striking a trade deal to supply liquid ethane to Beijing. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...an-billionaire-konstantin-nikolaev/815856002/ Nikolaev does not have any ties to President Donald Trump, however his son — who is studying in the U.S. — volunteered for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to sources. Additionally, Konstantin Nikolaev was seen at the Trump International Hotel during Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, witnesses say.
The Trump / Russian mafia connection goes back to ~ 1984/5, when Trump was ~$4 Billion in debt, when no banks would lend him any $ Main characters include Vladimir Putin, Felix Sater and Semion Mogilevich. Sater is the developer whose Bayrock Group was part of several attempts by Trump to develop property in Moscow. Trump has said repeatedly that he barely knows Sater despite appearing in multiple photographs with him at events around the world. Mogilevich is the money launderer known as the "Brainy Don" of the Russian Mafia, for whom Sater ran errands. All three Russians seem to float comfortably in a pool covered with the toxic algae of corruption, violence and murder; they have funneled money into Trump's properties, especially New York's Trump Tower, through veiled transactions with laundered money.
Two California lawmakers represent the state's rich agricultural San Joaquin valley; one a trained lawyer, the other a trust fund baby just like the one occupying the white house this Op-Ed was written by the trained lawyer, Eric Swalwell Devin Nunes buried evidence on Russian meddling to protect Trump. I know because I’m on the committee No one really expected President Donald Trump, who benefited from Russia’s 2016 election interference, to counter that hostile regime’s active measures: Russia wanted him to win, and when they hacked, he invited them to hack more. But America should have been able to rely on a united Congress to ensure that our next elections aren’t just as vulnerable if not more so. Instead, due to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ persistent and pernicious obstruction, America has been spectacularly let down. Just last week, hours before the Republican-led House recessed for six weeks, Nunes broke out his shovel yet again to bury even deeper the evidence of Russian interference, once again demonstrating there’s no distance he won’t go to protect this president. Nunes and committee Republicans had promised that the American people would see our interview transcripts after the investigation was completed. When they abruptly ended the investigation without calling dozens of relevant witnesses, they voted to conceal the transcripts. Suddenly, last month, Nunes agreed to release them. Perhaps he was worried about the burgeoning campaign of his Democratic opponent — a local prosecutor named Andrew Janz, whose argument to the voters includes powerful evidence of Nunes’ efforts to poison the Russia investigation. But predictably, at a hearing last week on releasing the transcripts, Nunes still wouldn’t allow real transparency. But Nunes opposed it, and it was voted down. This is his modus operandi. Though incomplete due to Republican obstruction, our investigation did reveal worrisome contacts between the Russians and candidate Trump, his family, his businesses, and his campaign. Yet every time we sought to learn more, we were blocked. We sought to test witnesses’ accounts by subpoenaing third-party records such as cell phone, bank and travel records. Nunes refused to allow it. To arrange the infamous June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting, Donald Trump Jr. called his Russian contact, then called a blocked number, and then called his Russian contact back. We had evidence from other witnesses that Donald Trump used a blocked number. Republicans refused to pursue whether it was the same number. The Republicans ran a “take them at their word” investigation when most of the Trump team clearly didn’t deserve that benefit of the doubt. So at last week’s hearing, I moved to subpoena many of the records that could fill a lot of the gaps. Nunes nixed it. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not giving up on Republicans. Many have told me privately that they knew Nunes and Trump were dead wrong, but they wouldn’t speak out for fear of incurring the president’s Twitter wrath. “When he tweets, he wins,” one told me. After the midterm, when Democrats hold the majority, it will be our responsibility to unite with any Republicans---including Trump's political stooge, Nunes---willing to defend this great nation. https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/op-ed/article219558065.html
This is such a good test to see how the Russia investigation politics are actually playing at the local voter level and Swalwell is obviously helping create that test case. Nobody is a more nakedly partisan decisive player in this than Devin Nunes. But a pretty obvious statement made in this piece. We all that pay attention to this have seen it in broad daylight. It’s just interesting to see if those who don’t necessarily watch Maddow and vote in these districts, whether it makes any difference to those voters at the end of the day. It probably does at some level but we will see if Nunes retains his normally secure seat.
