Brennan's comments are interesting (because of the strong wording he uses), but at the same time -- he offers no "smoking gun" proof.
So far, Trump is evading frantically almost every day it seems his impeachment -- but he is doing it successfully.
3
A friend (Trump and Putin) doesn't pressure a friend about what they have on the other; they simply threaten to!
2
I think Brennan completely summed it up and I sincerely hope justice finally catches up with Trump and his criminal pals.
34
Dershowitz cares about three things, and none of them is justice. He cares about himself, a trait he shares with trump. He cares about money, a trait he shares with trump. He cares about Israel - though not actually about Jewry or Jewish culture, the latter part of which trait he shares with trump. He has no moral scruples whatever about whom or what he defends, and he spectacularly misinterprets the Constitution, especially in pursuit of self-aggrandisement and money. What could go wrong? Well...trump might not pay his bill.
39
Putin is an old KGB hand; well versed in the art of blackmail;entrapment and manipulating human weakness. Trump is a greedy con man with a far lower iq and skill set. Putin ate Trump for lunch. America is swirling in the toilet. VOTE OUT GOP SO WE CAN IMPEACH TRUMP Nothing meaningful will happen till then. Ray Sipe
55
Certainly keeps your attention.
2
Given Trump's reputation with women I think Putin probably has a video of Trump in a hotel in Moscow with prostitutes & drugs.
13
Gotta' love 45's use of the word "Council" instead of "Counsel" when even a middle school student knows the latter is the correct usage. But then again the Republicans' Dear Leader has no clothes.
26
" . . . suggests Russia ‘May Have Something’ on President Trump." Ya think?
23
Why do we have to have a continuously running upchuck of the orange moron's tweets? Isn't once enough . . . it's getting rather smelly, if fact, it stinks.
9
He's a vile and despicable traitor. He sold us out to the ex-KGB commies in the Kremlin for a billion dollar payoff in the form of Russian bank loans. Right now US Cyber command should be cyber fisting these KGB thugs back into the information stone age. We should be freezing every Russian billionaires bank account in every western bank. Instead he calls to congratulate the murderous despot pulling us asunder for winning a rigged election. Pathetic.
24
Trump is (mis)quoting Dershowitz? You mean OJ Simpson's old defender? Seems to fit.
8
John Brennan has lied on front of Congress- his own credibility is gone- why doe the NYT even offer up his views on matters.
10
brennan was the most slimey, subserviant, devoid of any integrity and honest CIA Chief ever. Any thing he says must be taken with a ton of salt.
9
Apparently Trump has a future as a porn star in some of Stormy's films. I'm sure that Michael Cohen can negotiate a great contract for our pornographic president, and Trump can make back ten times over all the payouts he's had to make for his personal indiscretions. The first film should be called, "Putin's Puppet," and casting would start soon for a Putin look-alike.
5
John Brennan fumbled through testimony in front of Congress, appeared always evasive, and seemed incompetent as Obama's CIA Director. He was a political hack, and stood up for Clinton and Obama in their Benghazi charade. And now? He is still a political hack, one with an ax to grind. Stand down, sir, you are off stage.
10
Did Russia have something on John Brennan to cause Mr. Brennan to lie about the CIA interference and spying on the US Senate Intelligence Committee? Hacking into Senator Feinstein and the other members computers?? Violating the CIA's agreement with its overseers in the US Senate? And trying to then have Senate staffers prosecuted for doing their job (to get them off the backs of the CIA)? And spying on e-mails of whistle-blowers? When the CIA is forbidden from operating on US soil?
Let's remember it is our own legislators who authorized and created the CIA during President Truman's tenure. And they are supposed to provide oversight but the CIA, especially under John Brennan, has believed they are above the law. There is good reason President Truman expressed serious concern about massive CIA overreach beyond what the authorizing legislation allowed, and did so in a Washington Post Opinion piece on December 22, 1963, exactly 1 month after President Kennedy was assassinated on US soil. We later learned that the CIA (and FBI) lied to the Warren Commission; the CIA lied to Congress and its House Select Committee on Assassinations, and repeatedly violated its agreements to cooperate with same, conveniently as soon as George H.W. Bush replaced Bill Colby as CIA chief.
We are supposed to believe defender of torture, architect of America's drone program & professional liar John Brennan about anything?
12
Why would someone of Putin's stature stoop to ensnaring such an oaf? I'd say ship him back to nursery school, excpet that most pre-Ks won't accept that kind of behavior disorder.
1
First, I will thank John O. Brennan for his courage to call-out the Liar-in-Chief. I am certain the Donald did not understand Mr. Brennan's tweet!
There is ample evidence to anyone who has been paying attention that Donald and his campaign colluded with Russia. Russians had plenty to do with Donald, his business, and his campaign! It's only a matter of time encore indictments come. Mueller must be very careful because collusion IS .....treason.
Special Counsel Mueller, has a very critical job, it is saving our republic and ensuring that our democracy is protected from another Russian attack! Republicans are doing nothing, to sensor nor reprimand Donald.
After Putin, "won" the sham he calls an election, Donald's advisors, advised him in large caps "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" but....Donald went ahead did anyway!
Putin stands for everything that's corrupt, vile and evil. To have the so-called "leader" of the free world congratulate this despicable man is a slap in the face of our democracy, all those who fought and gave their lives for our freedoms!
11
So Trumpie congratulates Poutine on his good taste in election fixing: and in so doing tries to sweet talk his way past Putin spilling the beans on him? Maybe.
4
Brennan has no idea. He could be an Iowa farmer speculating on Trump . This is pure speculation and has nothing to do with his experience. Just another Trump hater. I have never seen so much ridiculous criticism of a sitting President. I am not a Trump fan but the TIMES REPORTING and opinions on the President by the Times could be better.
10
*** FOR SALE ***
Republicans’ spines.
Hardly used.
24
Cmon, New York Times. This is not worth an article. This was an off-the-cuff comment Brennan made during an interview; it's not based on any evidence, it's one man's opinion. It belongs in the op-ed section, if anywhere.
Elevating something like this only gives fuel to the #fakenews crowd and demoralizes he rest of us.
10
So, former CIA head Brennan thinks the Russians have something based on the what....Steele Dossier? Trump congratulated Putin just like Obama did who also whispered to Medvedev something about 'tell Valdimar I will have more flexibility after the election".......and Brennan thinks they have some thing on TRUMP?
I think the FBI internal review and the soon-to-come special counsel might find out that Brennan was in actually cahoots with the FBI top guys (Comey, McDade, etc. ) in this whole dossier/FISA Court abuse mess and could very well be one of the guys ending his career with a nice pair of chrome bracelets.
8
The United States is rudderless, in a state of political chaos, and we can be certain China and Russia are using this state of affairs to position themselves as global leaders for decades to come. We are diminished, a faded empire, on the road to insignificance and our enemies haven't fired a shot.
Our allies are abandoning us because they recognize, in horror, the United States can't be trusted. Our president and the republican congress have handed us to our foes on a silver platter. This is beyond Putin's wildest dreams. Pax Americana is dead and buried.
The cretins who voted for this monster can't escape the blame they must bear for our current state of affairs. There is no justifiable explanation, rationalization or excuse for their vote. No compartmentalization. They bought the whole package. They knew who he was and voted out of anger, greed, mindless fear, hatred, stupidity or an overt desire to burn the nation down. They got what they wanted and then some. They deserve no sympathy. They deserve no redemption. What they deserve is scorn for their conscious role in creating this hell we must all endure. They're not deplorables. They are despicables. It's shameful that this nation has such large numbers of these worthless wastes of breathable air.
7
While Harvard Professor Dershowitz is busy like an ambulance chaser hoping to represent Mr. Trump perhaps he can also let our celebrity President know Mr. Obama did in fact attend class at Harvard Law and earned his J.D. Along with Trump's birther scam he claimed the President didn't earn his law degree and insisted on seeing all of Obama's transcripts .
2
Does anyone, other than the kool-aid drinkers, believe they don't?
3
Mr. Brennan is a distinguished public servant of many years, and deserves the respect and appreciation of his fellow citizens for his service.
I can also understand the disgust with which he views Trump's besmearing of the nation and of the office of the president, and the immense revulsion and frustration of a person of integrity forced to confront the slimy, deceitful, lying attacks that Trump has made, stooping even to gleeful vengeance on Mr. McCabe's job, pension and honor.
All of this, however, does not excuse the baseless accusations that Mr. Brennan has made toward Mr. Trump's supposed vulnerability to Russian blackmail and political pressure.
The extraordinary degradation of public life that has occurred under Trump and his corrupt administration has led to this: Careless accusations of monumental treachery against the sitting president.
Mr. Brennan , in stooping to Mr. Trump's own level, has disgraced himself.
1
Agreed, but ...
"Yes, it seems plausible that the Russians have something on Trump..."
John Brennan reportedly thinks so, but it's unclear whether he's just speculating (like so many others) or has actual evidence. If the latter, he should get on the horn right away with Bob Mueller. I understand he may be subject to some non-disclosure obligation since he left, but I'm confident he's free to cooperate with Mueller.
It will be interesting to learn whether Brennan is aware of actual evidence, or is just shooting from the hip like so many others.
Dershowitz should be let go @ Harvard. His actions seem to not fit in with the mission of Harvard. He craves attention as much as trump and is very suspect. Brennan, in my estimation, is likely correct. It's obvious that trump, who praises our enemy and lauds evil and sends out monstrous Tweets against Muller, is under severe pressure and frighten to be exposed. The very fact that trump publicly congratulates a dictator ,who kills people and runs a dictatorship, trump is as transparent as it can be. Being a licensed therapist, I posit that trump really wants to be caught. Like a kleptomaniac, the individual is out of control and really wants to be taken care of by others. trump demonstrates everyday that he is scared of what Muller finds with dealings business dealings with Russia. He's in panic mode. He's not listening to his staff and showing the world that he's living in chaos and is very much over his head. Again, I posit that he would really love to be taken out of his situation. He wasn't expected to win is an important part of this situation. putin didn't want Hillary, who was adamantly against this Russian. putin worked hard to get trump elected, so 'we' know there's nefarious dealings are going on between the two men. I'm glad Brennan spoke up.
2
I think another big piece of the puzzle is simply that Trump admires thug dictators, likes to pal around with them, and wants to be seen as a member of the club.
3
Anyone that has ever had a high level clearance knows that Donald Trump violates pretty much every criteria for granting a clearance. But Americans chose to elect him to the presidency where he gets the high level clearance and most sensitive information possible because he is president, not because he has passed any rigorous checking that is the normal process for clearances. I suggest they start doing that rigorous checking now. And start with the polygraphs.
3
Mr Brennan's comments might well have been made in 1863 about most of the members of the government and military of the Confederacy. Nevertheless, after the War and after numerous GOP Presidents had all but given the South a pass over slavery, the men we swore we would have hanged for treason, were soon recalled into some of America's greatest and bravest military heros and geniuses,(we even had a nuclear submarine named after Robert E. Lee) regardless of the fact that many participated enthusiatically, in numerous murders and killings of captured US black soldiers on the ground they were the escaped property of Southerners, to be dealt with as they pleased. As a result, when a former cop makes a prediction, I tend to prefer to wait . In a country where we bribe criminals to invent and swear to lies in order to place innocent men in prison or the gas chamber, the relaibility of police aspersions ought to be questioned.
Besides-even in the USA we don't usually both denigrate and insult people for being insane.
Putin is like a loan shark to Trump
Trump's periodic praises and congratulatory calls to Putin are just the weekly vigorish payments.
Trumps pay down of the principal includes the dismantlement of the United State's diplomatic and security apparatus. The payoff includes weakening the Atlantic Alliance. It includes putting the US behind the eight ball in terms of new and clean energy and a modern infrastructure. It includes sowing discord among the citizens of this country.
Trump's debt is deep. Here's to hoping we don't all end up at the bottom with him.
7
Here's the problem. Brennan, like Trump, has not a shred of credibility remaining. One example? He lied to Congress about spying on U.S. Senators, but then was forced to admit it and apologized. One branch of government spying on the other -- and then lying about -- is as bad, and dangerous, as it gets. Whatever is going on here, Brennan should be greeted with deep skepticism.
2
I think it's clear that Putin has some dirt on Trump and for that reason is using the US President as he would a personal toy puppet. Trump quotes Fox News contributor, the man that kept a double murderer from going to jail, Alan Dershowitz, as saying that the most respectable, bipartisan former Director of the FBI, who was supported by both parties and continues to be, Robert Mueller should not be on his case. The dossier on Trump, compiled by a totally reliable British spy and expert in such matters contains extremely damaging information about Trump's connection to his Master, Vladimer Putin - check The New Yorker Issue of a couple of weeks ago. Putin runs America through Trump. That is unquestionable. It's easy to see what Trump is scared of. What is it that McConnell and so many other Republicans fear?
4
Russia poisons a double agent in the UK (our closest ally) with a nerve agent possessed only by Russia (since they invented it).
Putin "wins" a rigged election after arresting, murdering, or threatening, all legal political opposition to continue his totalitarian monarchy of corruption and looting.
Against the clear advice of his staff, Trump calls Putin not to condemn the state-sponsored murder in the UK but rather to congratulate Putin on winning a rigged election.
The only logical explanation is that Putin has something on Trump.
Some have suggested this is a conspiracy theory.
Really?
Trump is the first modern president to refuse to release his tax returns.
Trump's campaign manager and deputy campaign along with his chosen head of the NSC will either go to jail or have plead guilty to charges made by the special counsel.
Heck, a whole host of women in this country have damaging material on Trump.
This isn't a conspiracy. These are publicly available facts.
As Brennan said, it will all come out.
When it does, even the spineless likes of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, will be calling for impeachment. The question is not whether Trump will be impeached. The question is when Republicans are willing to acknowledge reality.
That said, Mueller has to finish the investigation. Dot every "i" and cross every "t". Then every fair-minded and reality-based American will reach the same undeniable conclusion: Trump is a traitor to his country.
6
I'm all hung up on the McCabe firing. Once we get rid of Trump (and as many Republicans as he can take down with him), could an administration run by rational adults reinstate Mr McCabe's pension, if needed?
So that’s Trump’s excuse (and I agree w Brennan’s assessment). But what’s the Republican party’s excuse...?? Clearly all that hardline “patriot“ talk the last few decades was lies and posturing. If Trump has opened the door for the Russians, the GOP is running to serve tea.
4
Pardon me,Mr. Brennan,but one doesn't need CIA expertise to know that the Russians HAVE something on Trump and/or others very close to him.This isn't rocket science.
As a keen observer the past year, there's been a crystal clear trend: Trump has never uttered a word of criticism on Russia and when (very rarely so)when he's been forced to, through one of his mouthpieces its been mild scolding out of pressure then on to the next thing.
If that's not clear enough,only the Russians have been inside the Oval Office alone with their media outlets while the local press was banned...as far as we know. Need I say more?
1
Brennan is falling into the Trumpian trap and descending to the President's level. He should be more measured in his public comments and not engage in a puerile Twitter duel, and not let his Irish get the best of him. And not only for Brennan and his credibility, but also for the good of the nation, the world, the state of democracy and the rule of law. Criminals and disturbed people get more irrational and dangerous when they feel cornered, and that is the case with the President. We as a people, in and out of government, must take care to act calmly and carefully and yet firmly and consistently. Like mature adults. This is serious business, not a media scrum or politics as usual. Not by any means.
1
Sooner or later Trump will be found guilty of something. Get in line behind everyone who has something 'on' Trump beginning with Putin. It is a very long line.
The stories of honey trap and golden showers are not anything that scare Trump or would make him do anyone's bidding. Look at the grab 'em tape, Stormy Daniels, and the other women. No, whatever Russia has on Trump is not related to sex. Even white collar crime is tolerated in the US ... look at the fraud of Trump University. Money laundering is punished with fines. Even some of the election related crimes like illegal campaign donations (such as The Enquirer quietly taking care of your problem with money or getting donations from a foreign power) seem to be just fines. They must have something that would land Trump in jail.
5
It is interesting that Mr. Dershowitz and other close friends of Benjamin Netanyahu all of the sudden starting to appear on the media, with the sole purpose of defending Mr. Trump and attacking Mr. Mueller. Until recently, these gentlemen did not have much problem with Mr. Mueller's investigation. But apparently something has happened, making them worried that Mr. Mueller investigation may unearth, what could be only called, a political bombshell.
I can think of a few explanations. But the most plausible one points to the news that Mr. Mueller has expanded his investigation (or is thinking to expand it) into the roles that countries other than Russia may have had in the last US election. May be the list of countries that Mr. Putin gave in his recent interview, as countries with the means and incentives to get Mr. Trump elected, has come to Mueller's attention. If I am not mistaken, the list included Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Israel.
3
God knows I am no fan of Trump; I imagine his finances will bring him down. The headline indicated that the "former CiA director" actually knew something. He didn't. It was speculation -- as good and meaningful as my own. Our news has devolved into a rumor mill where rumors get full play.
That Russia has more than "something" on Trump has been painfully obvious since long before the election. I doubt this has escaped the notice of the intelligence community and Robert Mueller. Collusion? What about treason?
2
Lyin' President Trump is only interested in -- nay, worhips -- money. His is a one track mind that runs in a circle. Ever hear him talk about art, music, science, education?
When the truth about his pussyfooting around Putin/Russia is revealed, it will be an enormous surprise if his motivation involves anything but money. He who lives by it dies by it.
When will the IRS audit be completed so that Trump has to release his tax returns?
2
The biggest problem I have with the whole Russian conspiracy to get trump elected is is how far back people think it started. I don't believe anyone in either Russia or the US really dreamed there was any chance trump could be elected even as late as the summer of 2016. Would the Russians really have invested all that money etc in such an unlikely possibility? It's not that I don't believe they wouldn't have done it or that there wasn't a myriad of material they could use, but somehow I just can't believe they were that prescient about his chances. Unless perhaps they had been developing dossiers on all the candidates along with readying conspiracy theories and fake news. Wouldn't surprise me if it turned out they had some "influence" over at fox news as well.
2
Follow the money. Subpoena Mr. Trump's federal tax returns.
2
Maybe Putin "has something" on Trump, or maybe Trump is thankful Putin helped him get elected. It has to be one or another.
Trump changed the Republican platform to soften the party's position on Russia in relation to its invasion of Crimea. Trump has praised Putin endlessly, while denigrating his own intelligence services. Trump's people discussed lifting sanctions against Russia both before and after taking office, in return for nothing. Trump refused to sanction Russia even after being required to by Congress, until eventually it entered sanctions that merely mirror Mueller's indictments. Trump is not lifting a finger to stop Russia's attack on America's 2018 elections. Trump congratulated Putin for his "victory," notwithstanding all advice to the contrary.
Trump is surely acting like someone who owes Putin.
1
Thanks to Trump's indebtedness to the Russian oligarchs, the US is becoming a Russian satellite.
Two years ago I would've been incredulous had I been told I'd be writing the above fact, God help us all.
Only the Robert Mueller investigation and a Democratic takeover on November 6, 2018 can turn this around. I do believe in miracles.
3
Absolutely this is news-worthy - a former CIA director speculates that the Russians may have compromising information? Former leaders, especially those who know about how the world works, are credible sources of news, and this certainly fits with the facts we know.
Of course Putin has something on Trump. If Trump isn’t nice to him Putin will call in his loans. Trump will have to raid the US Treasury to pay the Russian banks.
What is old about this news is that it was clear from Trump's demeanor during the campaign (no to tax return requests, refusal to criticize Russia, etc) that he was hiding something.
1
Mr. Brennan is probably correct in his assessment. He also has much more credibility than Trump or any of his people. Trump has a history of being annoyingly obsequious when it comes to Putin.
1
It doesn't need the intelligence of a former CIA director to figure out that Putin "may have something" on Trump. That "something" may be of pecuniary nature. Not so much a potential video tape on Trump in Moscow with Russian prostitutes in 2013.
Given the influx of Russian money - according to Donald Trump Jr. in 2008: "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets" - it wouldn't surprise me that the number of Russian lenders together quasi own much of Trump's business. And these people are all loyal to the Kremlin. They have to, if they want to keep their fortune. Should Putin order them to demand Trump for the repayment of their loans, Trump would be in serious financial trouble.
41
Brennan who has served our country faithfully through five administrations of both Democrats and Republicans, is a professional.
He is retired, and consequently has a right to make a supporting statement to defend his like successors, in and out of service, who have or may not be able to make such a statement at this time.
Trump is undoubtedly, the Russian's "Manchurian Candidate".
Trump has something to say about everyone and everything, except for his taxes, businesses, family, Russia and Putin! Why? Your obvious guess is as good as mine!
Dershowitz, is merely one of Fox's paid minions. Fox pays him to primarily disagree with the opposite viewpoint.
The real issue here is none of this wouldn't have occurred if Trump was open and ethical. I am not saying that other Presidents were nor ethical. I am merely saying, that without a doubt Trump is the most unethical President that we have ever had in modern times. And that is what probably induced Brennan to make his comments.
64
Of course they have something on him. either that, or they persuaded him to act the way he is for money.
Forget the dossier. That's a smokescreen. The secrets that Trump doesn't want out likely involve money laundering. Maybe that was the interest payment on huge loans the Russians had lent him to bail out his failing empire.
Donald Trump has made a pact with the devil. His fawning attitude towards Putin is the price he pays to keep his fear at bay.
I have no doubt it will come out, and it will likely not be surprising. There have been so many examples of Trump dancing to Putin's tune that the only odd thing is how how long it's been kept under wraps.
91
The problem is the GOP doesn't care. It will be up to the American people to take the lead like the high school kids in Florida on gun reform. For the GOP, dead kids are the collateral damage to stay in power. Same with Trump with our country's decline as collateral damage. What a sad commentary on the state of Congress. Let's face it, until legislators with a moral compass are elected, this country will sink lower than it is now in the eyes of allies.
1
Mr Brennan: Just a quick bit of tweeting advice:
A man so stupid as to not know the difference between "Council" and "counsel" will have no clue to terms like "venality" and "moral turpitude".
64
I just looked them up in the dictionary. Council is a group meeting regularly. Counsel is to advise. Simply defined.
I do think that was tweeted towards history more than towards the man himself.
Um. . . point taken. Your comment Recommended. But, I can't spell either. So I'll give Trump a mulligan.
Financial entanglements leading to Russian leverage...
Sex tapes (certainly plausible) with young girls who could turn out to be criminally young...
Evidence of a stupid quid pro quo (none of his attorneys from Trump World demonstrate competence, class or integrity) with Russians...
Money laundering...
Jared money shenanigans...
Yes, it seems plausible that the Russians have something on Trump, and that Brennan, alarmed by the firing and denigration of McCabe, thought it a good time to remind Trump that he's an incautious oaf.
42
So what Brennan means is, in addition to the illegal election ploys by the Trump campaign, the complicity of the RNC, the money laundering by the Trump family business, the relationships between family / advisors and various criminals, Russian also has dirt, probably sexual, on the individual Donald Trump.
29
You have to wonder how Trump would explain his continuing support for Putin. You don't have to be the CIA to see he is pulling his punches when it comes to the Russians. He is clearly acting in what appears to be a treasonous manner, from the moment he publicly asked the Russians to hack Hilary Clinton's emails to his current insistence on overlooking Russian crimes against American institutions.
46
If the person who was the CIA director at the time the Trump-Russia/Steele Dossier story broke says that Russia "May Have Something", that means Russia DEFINITELY has something. He saw all the evidence available at that time. This is him being cautious.
Our president is being actively blackmailed. The IC is handling it the best they can until he can be removed, and Trump is aware of this. It is the reason he is acting so erratically right now.
33
The Russian "may have something" on President Trump.
Like, maybe that he voted for the Communist Party candidate in 1976 election?
Oh, wait. That was actually John Brennan.
9
No. Maybe fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, or likewise. The guy is shady and has been since his NJ casino days. To say otherwise is to ignore reality
Wow! You got him! End of story! Trump must be innocent!
Mr. Brennan like Yates, Comey, McCabe, Bharara, Mueller, and others who dedicated their lives to national security, law and order, and justice have reputations for honor and integrity. As public servants, they embody honor and patriotism. They never placed money over service or power over democracy. They never placed a foreign enemy over the interests of the United States of America.
Look at their careers:
• Brennan - former director of the C.I.A., chief counterterrorism advisor to Pres. Obama, 25 years with the C.I.A., B.A., Fordham, M.A. in government
• McCabe - acting director of the F.B.I., Deputy Director of the F.B.I., 21 years with the F.B.I. including on a SWAT team, F.B.I. Counterterrorism Division, arrest of Khattala for Benghazi attack, J.D. Washington U. in St. Louis.
• Yates - U.S. Attorney, U.S. Deputy AG Acting AG, J.D., Univ. of Georgia
• Bharara - U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, cases against Gambino crime family, cases against political corruption, cases against insider trading and Russian money laundering, B.A., Harvard, J.D., Columbia
• Mueller - Marine in Vietnam, F.B.I. director appointed by George W. Bush, A.B. Princeton, M.A., NYU, J.D. Univ. of Virginia
• Comey - F.B.I. dir. U.S. Dep. AG, U.S. Atty for the Southern District of NY, J.D. Univ. of Chicago
Compare - Trump U, Trump Steaks, Trump beauty pageants, Trump casino, Trump real estate heir (DOJ settlement housing racism), B.S. Univ. of Penn (graduated with no honors)
50
Bone spurs, you left out the bone spur draft exemptions.
Good points, that I second. They haven't put party above country as McCONnell, and Co. do.
One thing, we ought not forget is Comey's suspiciously timed "Hillary election letter." That I don't forgive. Oh and no mention of the concurrent investigation into Trump and the Russians. Release a letter about Hillary and not one 'bout Don Con. 'I can't go for that'.
Go Mueller Team! Keep at it.
More of Dershowtiz' ridiculous sophistry, further dumbed down through Trump's Twitter blender. You appoint a special counsel when there is reason to suspect nefarious activity and to find and examine evidence. The whole point is to determine whether a crime was committed, and in the course of examining the evidence, other offenses may come to light. If you are innocent, nothing to worry (tweet) about. On the other hand.......
31
"Russia ‘May Have Something’ on President Trump."
Ya' think? Trump is a traitor.
Stay focused on November 6, everyone.
Mobilize. Vote.
Cast out Trump's Republican enablers.
Our democracy is at stake.
60
"John Brennan, a Former C.I.A. Director, Suggests Russia ‘May Have Something’ on President Trump" Ya think?
19
I think the president knows something you don't, that in an increasingly chaotic world there is no reason to unnecessarily antagonize world leaders of any stripe. Diplomatic favors rendered today can be called in tomorrow.
1
Trump and Bannon's "Deep State," turns into Trump's personal, "Deep Throat," or his pornographic presidency. Does Putin "have something" on Donald Trump? Could it be worse than what we already know about this pornographic presidency, even if he is Putin's Puppet?
12
Before election day, former Louisiana Gov Edwards joked with reporters: "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy" - Edwards served a total of 16 years in office, the sixth-longest serving gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,784 days. Trump still has a huge opportunity for reelection no matter what is uncovered unless the American people demand Congress act. We cannot sit back and wait for the press to do our job as citizens.
19
PS - this is John Brennan's way of saying Russia DOES have something on Trump without actually saying it. This man was CIA Director through the election and transition, the whole shebang. If anyone knows, he most certainly is one of them.
25
The far more unlikely scenario is that Putin DOESN'T have something on Trump. No one would go to such extremes to defend someone unless they were being forced to. This goes far beyond trying to make a new friend.
11
Donald Trump's identity as "President" will carry a permanent asterisk.
"Learn The Presidents" placemats, commemorative plates, posters and other tchotchkes illustrating US Presidents will mark the 45th President's election and removal as "contested".
11
Putin has the entire 21st century KGB apparatus at his disposal. It unconstrained by law or regulation, consequently it is the most dynamic and powerful intelligence operation in the world. Putin operates it like a mafia boss that has ultimate power of life and death over millions of people including his political opposition, as well as the many Russian billionaires that have emerged in the past twenty years. Trump is someone who got himself and his family indebted to Putin’s Mafia and now they own him. They have dirt on Trump that is probably the most shocking and disturbing material imaginable. Trump is terrified of Putin. Perhaps he was psychologically traumatized by Putin’s agents and is programmed to never challenge Putin.
13
Probably. I am more inclined to think it is the Toad's perverse behavior, not something political, but then, if lovely photos do come out, his evangelical supporters will no longer be.
Trump loves to "mix it up" with his critics- it just adds to the chaos that he thrives in; The thing to do, in my view, is for all of us (including Brennan, Dershowitz, Comey, McCabe, etc.) to just keep quiet and let Mr. Mueller quietly pursue his investigation; In that way we don't give Trump fodder to vent his rage. If he then tries to fire Mueller we can all get him impeached and if he doesn't fire him we will see the results of Mr. Mueller's investigation-whether there was collusion or not.
4
Wow. No wonder the CIA is so good at keeping our country free and protecting our way of life.
This man is so astute, and it only took about two years to figure out what anyone on wall street knew about Trump years ago.
2
I am not surprised that Brennan vented, but let's let Bob Muller do his job and remain focused on the issues we can do something about together, right now. Like keeping guns out of the hands of those who use them to kill. Trump's troubles will be mulitplied, not by the talk about him or his doings, but by his family and their perception of him as father, husband, ex-husband and citizen....wait quietly and see.
1
Unless of course those issues are an illusion created by the left to keep the administration off balance. His family is doing just fine and talk about the president and his troubles remain just that. Wait quietly indeed and watch Trump triumph over the swamp. And build that wall!
1
MAY have?!
You're kidding Mr. Brennan, right?
Of course the Russians have lots of stuff on Trump, right down to his dealings with Russian banks who have been financing his projects, information Putin has but which has not been revealed to us because Trump has never released his tax returns.
The golden shower episode, if it happened, is a mere footnote in their records.
Why do I say this?
You think in the face of him trying for years to build or license Trump Hotel(s) in Moscow, probably St. Petersburg, not to mention every former Soviet -stahn which has enough of a megalomaniac authoritarian leader to come up with the matching funds from his Panama bank accounts - and this even before Trump ran (successfully) for POTUS - that the FSB and FAPSI don't have file cabinets (plural) of background information on Trump?
C'mon, Trump briefly held a lead in the 2012 Republican Primary contest. If only for that reason somebody at FAPSI would have been sent to Siberia if FAPSI didn't have an active file on Trump, and on everyone who even hints about running for POTUS.
Are we to assume that FAPSI is that far behind the CIA and the FBI in tradecraft?
Let me take a SWAG. If you have a lot of information, whether for political or commercial reasons - which intersect tightly in the Kremlin kleptocracy - on someone with a personality like Donald Trump, what is the probability that at least some of that information is going to be acutely embarrassing to such a, well, personality?
Duh!
2
"John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director, speculated that the Russians “may have something on him personally,” referring to Mr. Trump."
Irresponsible speculation. Brennan seems to be copying Megyn Kelly.
4
“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
-Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz
Actually, the quote belongs to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
This topic is getting moldy.
4
When the cheese is ripe, Mueller will come.... with evidence based indictments. Then we'll see what the cheese smells like.
6
An online troll announcing something is "over" is moldy.
A former head of our state security apparatus questioning the blackmailability of the President of the United States is fresh, fresh, fresh.
It’s sad what passes for news in the New York Times these days
7
Yes it is sad . Too much on Trumps bad deeds in life and no good ones and this is everyday.
Then go rob a bank The paper will report your arrest and include a great photo spread.
Especially if it doesn't mimic Fox "Faux" News and the rightwing radio nut bags!
Follow the money.
22
Yes: follow the money. But also consider nepotism, playing fast and loose with the Constitution, gutting the State Department, ignoring environmental and energy concerns . and on and on..
The Trump administratii0n is providing a target rich venue for every honest cop, lawyer, politician in the country
.
t
Dershowitz would not misspell "counsel" in any communication. And if the Russians have anything on trump it's unlikely to be a sex scandal, since trump would probably own it as proof of his own manly misogyny. It seems much more likely that trump has been doing business with Russian oligarchs, like laundering their looted money.
27
Or, JACKPOT! . . . all of the above . . .
9
The dam will break, swamping everyone in the Trump sewer, when a sufficient number of sycophantic Republican congresspersons grow spines and sprout personal integrity. This will make the demise of Lyin' Donald Trump's administration pretty certain, as happened with Tricky Dicky Nixon.
Who knows when that might happen? At least we can applaud Republican Senators Graham and Flake and Rep. Gowdy for showing enlightenment and courage with respect to Mr. Mueller and his investigation. Perhaps they are playing the first few notes of the finale of the forthcoming tragicomic grand opera that Kurt Vonnegut might have called "Exeunt Trump: And So It Goes."
Let's hope the casting call is soon.
20
As did O J Simpson , Trump will need Dershowitz .
I am so sorry to see that John Brennan, a Former C.I.A. Director, has ventured into the swamp and tarnished his reputation. Mr. Mueller is quietly gathering evidence on the POTUSA and will find evidence of collusion and treason. Let's be patient.
7
We have waited long enough. have we not? Let everything out of the box. Open the door for the Furies to enter. Do it. We little, little persons implore you, big persons, to exercise your honor and your courage.
8
And if Putin does not have "something on Trump", which I am convinced they do...then certainly Cambridge Analytica does!
13
And the deep-state is still just a myth, right?
6
No, although it is conspiracy theory.
Correct. “Deep state” is a Hannity the Hater concocted term.
fantasy, truly.
What does Putin have on Paul Ryan and the GOP? Or are they just as spineless and corrupt as the crowd praising the emperor's new clothes?
24
Exactly! I've been saying this all along as I hVe watched the GOP in Congress do nothing. Putin has dirt on them all. Look at how many are not running for re-election.
You answered your own question.
This rumor-mongering is beneath the dignity of the NYT. Why must you continue to demonstrate such blatant bias that besmirches your reputation for journalistic integrity and causes half the country to doubt everything you publish? Please be a bit more subtle and stop giving ink to "stories" that belong in the National Inquirer.
9
Brennan is the former director of the CIA not some random voice on the street
"May have"? LOL....in ANY OTHER CONTEXT, that Putin has Kompromat on Trump would be so utterly obvious that padding the language from "has" to "may have" would be laughable. God help all of us...
16
I also believe the Russians have something on Trump and it's not just the pee thing, and Trump is very afraid of Putin especially after the poison incident in London. Just think what Trump could give to the Russians to protect his family and give Putin the power to control the US for years. Scarier is the fact that Republicans are enabling him.
27
Seriously? Trump would use Barron and Ivanka as human shields to save his own orange skin.
Glad someone who was in the government finally publicly expressed that maybe Putin or Russian has something on the liar-in-chief. I personally think it is beyond the Dossier but may have to be on his and/or his family's finance.
13
I’m quite sure that Trump is beholden to Putin for his generous lending policies when American banks wouldn’t loan him a dime. They have cameras everywhere in Russia, especially in hotel rooms where infamous guests are scheduled to stay. I'd be surprised if they didn’t also have several tapes of Trump taking advantage of Putin's feminine hospitality. If Putin is smart, he'll wait until the Christmas holiday season and sell them as a boxed gift set. He'd make a fortune plus a powerful point and really embarrass America.
At least these scenarios offer understandable reasons why Trump never says anything derogatory about Putin. Any other justification for Trump’s child-like admiration and loyalty to Putin would just make Trump look stupid.
9
This guy (the so-called "president") cannot even spell. That's how you can differentiate the tweets he wrote from the ones his attorneys write for him. His are rife with typos and spelling errors. Make America Smart Again. (Or at least literate.....)
11
Too Sad
My guess is that a huge stack of IOU's, enough to wipe Trump out completely if repaid, is the "something" Mr. Brennan is referring to.
14
President Trump says he "thinks President Trump was right". WHAT?!
4
We could “speculate” that someone may have something on Mr. Brennan personally.
7
The video, the bank loans, and the money laundering.....anything else?
10
RE: "Special Council is told to find crimes, whether a crime exists or not." Dershowitz knows better. Trump does not. (sigh)
4
trump launders Russion money. Splains everything.
6
What's next? "Special Cowsill?" Obviously, Mueller would be Bobby Cowsill!
1
And in other news water is wet.
7
Why is it a stretch to assume that a married man that slept with a porn actress (allegedly without a condom) was not sexually involved with prostitutes or his Miss Universe contestants while in Russia, and that the Russian Intelligence has proof?
Every respectable spy and their mother knew about the Russian "honey-pot" and "kompromat" ways!
6
It’s not just Trump, there’s a whole latta folks with hands in each other’s pockets as well as ours who all have somethings to hide beginning with we’uns. This is all illustrating an emerging and emergent need to again consider the meaning of citizenship and, perhaps, a standard for electoral franchise. If you serve, have served, and/or have a demonstrated sense of ethics, empathy, and civic duty regardless of any youthful history to the contrary, you vote if not you don’t. And, if a third of the adults don’t meet that standard, so be it. And to paraphrase Cicero, “Moscow must be destroyed”.
could it be that the russians have "something" on many other republicans as well and this would explain their enabling and silent complicity...
21
I realize that, in the views of the New York Times, it is impossible to criticize Trump too little, but I nevertheless find Brennan's remarks intemperate and inappropriate for a former government official, who was supposedly above politics.
9
What is it with all these former government officials, making their rounds on the news circuit blabbing their opinion. There should be gag order law to keep their mouths shut for at least two years, because I feel it's people like this that further divide America.
Brennan is a private citizen now and has the same rights you have - freedom of speech being one.
1
"intemperate and inappropriate," in the age of the Dotard Don? Shirley, you jest.
5
Trump does not care about the attacks by the various women - nor does the base. He doesnt want people to find out that he was broke and losing his properties in the 2008 bust. The Russian govt and oligarchs stepped and purchased the distressed properties with the added bonus of laundering their money. Trump is still broke and has been a tenant for the last 10 years and this explains his refusal to release his tax returns.
24
It's kind of hard to imagine what could be much more damaging to Trump than all the stuff that's already come out about him that he's survived that the Russians could have come up with against him. Unless of course, he was the one to have taken the Lindberg's baby.
7
I agree. Would his base stop following him for any reason at all? Maybe Putin has a secret video of Trump being unable to perform or something. Or footage of where he is trolling his base or laughing at his own idea of building a wall. That would be embarrassing or damaging to him possibly.
Thought this was kind of a silly non-article. Just a list of Trump tweets followed by nitpicky analysis then the former CIA director's speculation thrown in at the end with no real evidence to back it up. Kind of showing your bias a bit too strongly NYT. I am not a Trump fan but feel this type of article does not really do much to pass on information or add credibility to a news organization.
All indications are that Russia does have "something" on Trump. It will come down to money, and the trail will run straight through Deutsche Bank.
By the way, how can any objective observer not admit that Trump is behaving precisely like a guilty man cornered? Enjoy the show.
24
First, there is literally--literally--no actual evidence to suggest that Trump "colluded" with Russians. I still don't even know that means. Colluded to do what? Bus Russians into the US to vote for Trump? What? So, no evidence to support it and is an otherwise childish narrative. Second, if Russia had "something" on Trump, don't you think it would have been leaked or actually released recently, in light of sanctions and new sanctions against Russia and our arming of Ukraine? Where's the discussion about why the Obama administration did not detect Russia's activity and did nothing about it? Further, when Romney said that Russia was our greatest geopolitical threat in 2012, Obama resounded with "the 1980s wants its foreign policy back . . . ." That is, he was entirely clueless about the Russian threat. Can someone, at least, acknowledge this woeful failure by the previous administration; and perhaps address it in a meaningful way? Or are we going to stick with blaming the guy who held no political office and had no governmental authority between 2012-16?
8
You hold onto “what you have” until the blackmailee has done your bidding.
2
President Obama imposed sanctions against Russia before he left office. Trump opposed them, and then reluctantly signed Russian Sanctions bill (off camera) where the senate included language restricting Trump's ability to lift the sanctions. Trump's clearly under Putin's thumb!
Dotard Donald was the one who said the election was hacked. He was actually telling the truth for a change.
Republicans, the Party of Family Values.
That is just too rich.
14
Trump refuses to perform his duties for the U.S. as it's President whenever it comes to Putin and Russia's behaviors which are against the interests of the U.S. Why is a mystery, but that he is behaving in this manner is beyond any doubt. Whenever a public office holder cannot fulfill his/her duties because it would cause some misfortune to themselves, they have a conflict of interest which demands that they separate themselves from acting in an official capacity with regard to that situation. In the case of the President being incapable of representing the U.S. vis a vis any other country, that President should be compelled to resign from office.
17
Whatever hold Vladimir Putin may have on Donald Trump, we need look no further than his egregious behavior in response to Russian acts of aggression against the U.S. Trump is unable to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States when it comes to Putin. That alone should be enough to warrant his impeachment.
19
The Russians are coming, The Russians are coming, The Russians are coming!
But they're not Alan Arkin, Theo Bickell, and a gang of comic bumblers in a grounded submarine, rather a group of dark plotters, hackers, and even assassins in the service of the likes of Putin and his gang.
And they're not "coming", but rather here, everywhere, peeking into voting machines and systems, the US national power grid, and all sorts of "secure" national security systems, and manipulating many, while the Manchurian Candidate, Trump, continues the assault on our systems, our government, and values from WITHIN!
12
I should think that mr Brennan knows more than most about what the Russians may have
50
The so called "dossier" has been publicly released and it details decades of business dealings with Trump and the Russian oligarchs. The dossier was not 100% accurate, but the FBI has determined that much of it is verifiable and true.
When he hosted the Miss Universe contest in Moscow, he bragged that he knew the richest, most powerful men in Russia.
I'm sure his moat fervent supporters don't care, and just think that is what businessmen do. But the idea that "maybe" Putin has something on him is false. Putin definitely has plenty on him.
I
49
Trumps weakness is women, especially blondes, really, how hard was it to set him up and film the whole thing, the video must be really bad if Trump is worried about it ever seeing the light of day. If any of this is true, then he should be immediately removed from office.
40
Even if nothing is true he should be immediately removed from office. Mr. Mueller needs to rule over us!
I think what people are missing is the nature of suspicion: people accuse their enemies of trying the tricks they themselves would be trying. Is it a surprise to anyone that Trump, McConnell, Ryan, etc are sure that 20 year professionals can do their job outside of the political ramifications? Of course they doubt that could be they case; it's because they have never been, or even worked with, people who practice objectivity in their public actions.
10
Trump is guilty...how bad it is is suggested by his actions.
29
Ozymandias: A beautiful poem to read and a glimpse at Trump's future, including his towers.
3
Dandy
Thanks for note. Wonderful poem by Shelley and how appropriate.
2
The truth is now identified? Trump is just a dictator loving wannabe. He admires what he does not have the capacity for. Even the GOP would block his seeking more powers in our Democracy.
14
Don't bet on the latter statement.
5
Reality Theater: Like. We Know Episode 15.
1
This was so obvious to anyone who has visited Russia on business since the wall fell. Russia laughs at the naïveté of Americans. They are experts in chess and entrapment.
22
There seems to be little room to doubt Mr. Brennans cautious statement. The media is being very careful to not go much beyond reporting verified statements which is fair. But the circumstances do support speculation that the Kremlin/Putin has real and highly damaging information on Trump. This info could relate to laundering dirty Russian money for Putins buddies, or to Trumps sexual tastes, to name the obvious ones.
Manafort, who worked for Russian interests since 2006, may have provided the direct access needed to get to Trump. In the fall of 2015 Manafort and Gates were so desperate to raise $18 million to repay a debt to Putin buddy Oleg Derapasku they were committing bank fraud. Yet in March 2016 Manafort offered to be Trumps campaign manager for free. Might Manafort have told Trump in a 1 on 1 meeting that the Russians had a huge amount of damaging info on Trump which only he, Manafort, could keep under wraps? Is it coincidence that the legal pressure on Manafort from Derapasku eased up completely after Manafort become Trumps manager?
Is Trumps behavior the behavior of an innocent man? Or is it the behavior of a cornered, narcissistic sociopath? While there are dozens of other theories in the media, the Manafort blackmail theory seems to be the simplest & most direct link between Trumps famous escalator ride and today. We may never actually know, if Manafort feels that it will be safer to stay in prison than to tell his story about Trump in exchange for his freedom.
23
Now that there's Deepfake he can deny pix--even motion pix.
And if he were really cunning he'd recognize that by now there's nothing in it for Putin to reveal anything, ever, no matter what.
Assuming that Putin is cunning enough for it to be just business.
With the election of Trump, the political acumen of the average Republican voter has reached an all time low but not as low as their political morality. Shame on those people who defend Donald Trump. Impeach him forthwith.
19
With all due respect to Mr. Brennan, one need only be an avid reader of current events over the past 20 yrs or so to understand; Trump Tower, we have a problem. Trump's arrogance has catapulted what most of us knew about his career and enterprises into the forefront. He continues to conduct business as usual using the office of the president as a satellite office for his personal dealings.
The legitimate media's refusal to let go of that bone has angered Trump and escalated it to where we are, currently. Whatever Russia's oligarchy, China's elite and his Arab buddies have on him must be big enough to send the Trump clan into a free fall.
8
That's an outrageous allegation by someone who has criticized Trump since day one, and you run with it as a story with no facts or anything to back it up. It's getting to the point where the Times and other mainstream media are abdicating their responsibilities for objective reporting in its bid to end the Trump presidency.
9
And then there’s Repub Congressman Trey Gowdy...”if you’re innocent, act like it”.
3
The old "kill the messenger" won't cut it anymore, Mattbk. But it's good to know Trump supporters are falling back on such tired tactics. Trump is unravelling, grasping at clumps of mud while his mountain of lies continues to give way. And you blame who?
2
From the story:
"Three of Mr. Trump’s former associates have pleaded guilty as part of the ongoing inquiry. Last week, the special counsel issued subpoenas for the Trump organization, seeking documents including some related to Russia."
These are factual statements, no?
3
What I would find surprising is that Russia did not have damaging, provocative and incriminating proof of Mr. Trump in the brutal, wanton and salacious self-gratification that is so much his entitled and signatory trademark.
11
Proof of money laundering would certainly be a bombshell, but my guess is that releasing a photo Trump's "junk" would be most devastating of all for him.
7
If you just look at Trump's track record with regards to women, it isn't too hard to connect the dots and guess that they have video of him in Russia with women in compromising situations. This has to be more than just a minor embarrassment type of set up. Thats my guess.
4
I think what the Russians have on Trump is money laundering to fund his real estate business before he was president.
13
Another headline with the "may have" premise. Is it at least mildly inappropriate for a former CIA Director to weigh in with nothing other ultimately than speculation?
6
How does a lawyer who claims to have voted for Hillary Clinton, be a Democrat, and be an independent legal advocate who “calls them as he sees them” so horribly misconstrue the charge to the special counsel just to bolster Trump? Contrary to what Dershowitz says, the DOJ authorization to Mueller was to “investigate” and “IF he found any crimes” he was authorized to prosecute them. He is a special counsel, not a special prosecutor. He was not charged to find any crimes. Moreover, he has not leaked any information indicating whether he intends to accuse Trump of a crime.
Dershowitz’s claim that there was no probable cause that a crime had been committed is irrelevant to the DOJ charge (although crimes have been discovered and charged.)
Moreover, his argument for a non-partisan investigation has fallen on deaf ears for over a year now, and the Republicans have resolutely opposed it. The only people who argued for it were Democrats, whom Dershowitz has done everything possible to disparage.
Dershowitz’s singular goal in life is vindication of any claim, reasonable or not, made by Israel. This is the price he is willing to pay for an administration that takes positions regarding Israel that, according to polls from J Street and Jeremy Ben-Ami, a majority of American Jews oppose.
Dershowitz may have had a good reputation and some credibility years ago, but he is a total joke now. I would think he is an embarrassment to Harvard. It should sever its relationship with him.
11
This is precisely the Conflict of Interest is there to avoid, and we let Trump slide. If this is true, then Trump is open to blackmail, overt or not, by a foreign adversary. GOP are enablers.
10
It seems more likely not what the Russians have on Trump, but what promises they have made him in return for his allegiance. Playing to the President's vanity kind of works like "The Emperor's New Clothes".
7
Now that we know that Cambridge Analytica used encryption for emails, e mails that were automatically destroyed after viewing, AND we know that they also engaged in set ups and bribes of politicians, AND Steve Bannon oversaw company, working closely with Trump, whom Wylie says he spoke with "often", the GOP must allow the Mueller investigation to continue. Those who speak against it only bring suspicion upon themselves. This is crystal clear to everyone in the entire world.
11
I went to see Malcolm Nance and Admiral James Stavridis speak this past Sunday. It was incredible what they are willing to say about Trump during a speaking engagement such as this. I believe they were more willing to state the obvious, concerning Trump's acquiesce to Putin, than I've ever seen them do on TV. Also, they each said that Trump's dismissiveness of the norms of government (and all else) and turning his back on our allies (such as Great Britain), as well as his outright disdain for democracy, here and elsewhere, is a real threat. And whether it has to do with trade, NATO or a host of issues, it's clear each thinks Trump is clueless and dangerous. I wish I had taped it.
9
So this is what I can’t figure out: if Putin had damaging information on Trump, Trump presumably would have been aware of this. Why then did Trump run for office, knowing he could be subject to blackmail? Did Trump assume he would lose the election and only ran as a branding exercise for Trump Inc.?
5
Yes. That's what I've always assumed.
maybe it's part of the "blackmail." Russians force Trump to run and collude to give him a higher chance of winning or even rig it so he does so. If he ends up Pres., they get to dictate policy. Long shot initially? Maybe. But it's just like investments and basketball: you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Brennan is only saying what the rest of us are thinking. Of course there is not any proof, but logic certainly points that way.
1
Anyone who has followed this situation closely must realize that Putin almost certainly holds Trump's political and financial future in his hands. That's why Trump is becoming more desperate by the day. No one works so hard to discredit the bearer of good news.
4
Trump has the right to a defense attorney. No problem there. However the truth will out. The cover up is always the problem. Can't wait for the tapes.
1
Wow, how things have changed! As a child of the 70s, I can only imagine the reaction of my blue collar / rural family if a candidate, let alone a sitting president, appeared to be even 1% as beholden to the 'Russkies' as this guy.
5
Mr. Brennen's verbal tirade against President Trump is not only an insult to their leader but to the 50+ plus million white men, white women, white evangelical "christians", white law enforcement members, white tradesmen, and all other white members of the republican party.
Trump has been diligently attempting to make these people feel great again by collaboratively working together with white congressional leaders while Mr. Brennen attempts to deride the president's efforts by bringing Putin into the conversation. Apparently he thinks he can distract Trump's supporters with potential truths about the president which could ruin the image they have of their own judgement.
Trump may be every negative thing ever written about him, but to half of white America, even if he is a demagogue, he is Their demagogue.
3
This administration under Trump, along with his Oligarchs- DeVos, Pruitt, Mnuchin, etc. have taken and ripped apart our rights, protections, regulations , till this looks like the Wild West. People who have educated themselves, worked toward the good of this country, have lost their jobs, been abused by this self indulgent, disreputable group. And all under the watchful eye of Putin , who has been grooming just this situation for years. Why would a person like Putin put up with Trump otherwise ? He has had him and his family for years.
2
I have to wonder what Brennan's motive is. I'm sure I know what Mueller's motive is: Goad Trump into committing an impeachable act. Distasteful, perhaps, but if it gets Trump legitimately out of office, I guess it will do.
I hope that the fact that Mr. Dershowitz taught at Harvard does not have any negative implications on the proper and ethical and moral conduct which should be included in Harvard Law's curriculum. There are far too many ambulance-chasing lawyers giving a bad name to those lawyers who fight for fairness and truth. Unfortunately Mr. Dershowitz has used his talents in such a way that creates only dislike for the ethical and moral lawyers.
1
We all know what makes this President tick. His son, Eric, said it best, his favorite color is 'green'. Mueller is on the right track of following the money, and answer the questions of any business deal what did he get and what did you paid. We think that we know what he got, the Presidency, but what did he pay in return?! That is the only mystery left and it isn't just a 'golden shower'!
1
When Brennan openly lied during a congressional hearing concerning spying on American citizens, he lost much of his credibility. He is a deep state actor, who needs to tone done his nonsense and lies.
5
Perhaps we should look at the situation a little differently by starting from the question "If the Russians have something negative on Donald Trump what might they pressure him to do?"
Refuse to take measures to protect the American electoral system
Spread doubt and distrust among America allies
Undermine American faith in the country's legal and political institutions
Erode the capacity of the State Department and other federal agencies to
functión effectively
Damage American standing as a reliable trading partner
Compromise the national ability to compete in cutting-edge science and
technology
Now if we believe such behavior is what we would expect the Russians to promote the question is not can we find evidence such as incriminating financial transactions or compromising phone calls but simply do we see evidence that Donald Trump's behavior and policies are consistent with Russian interests. Frankly as a Republican I do not care whether the president acts to support Russia out of greed or embarrassment or ideological commitment or a man-crush on Vladimir Putin, the question is whether he acts on Russia's behalf rather than our own. If he has then he should be removed from office as he pledged to protect the Constitution. I believe that in part President Trump is physically afraid of Vladimir Putin; the attacks on Russians in Britain are a very dramatic way of reminding Trump the Russians can attack his family, or him, at will.
148
Surely there has to be more to it than that? It is not enough to say that something that Trump did benefited Russia. Also, should we not also look at whether he did things that did not benefit Russia. For example, seeking to increase domestic energy production, particularly oil, is very painful to Russia. Russia relies upon oil exports for its revenues. and increasing the world supply of oil causes Russia to lose blood.
Isn't this a fine mess. Now we are all shouting at each other. What have we become? We need a holiday, from the news, from our President, from each other.
5
I believe what we need is to vote, speak out, and demonstrate. Democracy is a muscle that needs exercise.
3
Speaking of venality, moral turpitude, and the CIA, how about Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then-Chief of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, destroying video tapes of the CIA's torturing people during W's Excellent Adventure in Iraq? Even while defense attorneys, federal judges, and the 9/11 Commission demanded they be preserved. Whatever did the good Mr. Brennan say about that?
Mind you, I am not absolving our Fake President of anything. I will not, however, listen to the former head of an agency that considers itself above the law whine about another governmental official doing the same.
16
And therein lies the rub doesn't it. Comey, Brennan, Clapper etal. Comey and McCabe might, and I emphasize might simply because I don't personally have enough information to assert positively that they lie maybe just have really bad judgement, but Brennan and Clapper are expert liars under oath. Most often as with Sessions to Congress. Having said that though, once your society has chosen to go route of the dark arts of counterintelligence (appropriately named, yes), and espionage (spying) that society must make a choice. I choose to believe, maybe irrationally but I choose to hope not, that our spooks and authoritarian, power police are the best of a bad lot. They may be over the line in how conscious humans want to relate to each other, but hey, they are our enforcers if you will in a very messy world. Ultimately, we the people have some oversight and say. Perhaps if the Senate had smacked Clapper/Brennan a little harder on spying on the Senate, or heck O had prosecuted Rumsfeldt, Cheney for war crimes we'd be better off. This is a tough one and there in is the rub. Without question, the abject failure of Congress to provide oversight and a check on the executive has more to do with this key problem. Until there are no republicans in any responsible positions of government and we can establish truth and reconciliation commissions similar to post apartheid SA this one can wait till after the midterms or beyond. No reconciliation without truth.
Let’s avoid whataboutism
"Fake President", I love it!
From now on that should be way we refer to the disgraceful Trump.
Not only Putin, but many women, New York City real estate developers, attorneys, accountants, building contractors, mafioso, foreign investors and banks, and innumerable others have Trump secrets that would help get him impeached and sent to prison. Only if some of them would tell the truth in public.
Some rich liberal billionaires should openly encourage women such as Stormy Daniels by promising to help them pay any cost of violating the non disclosure agreements. If 20 million Hillary voters paid one dollar each that would be a gigantic step to get rid of Trump.
49
She apparently does have a crowd funding page.
20 million Hillary voters want to pretend she never existed.
1
It is not that this elected clown is at odds with his own advisers and administration actions. It seems very clear that he is in cahoots with the leader of the longest running nemesis nation of the US. Would this be considered a continual act, not of denial but of outright treason to our nation? It may well end up being.
24
This conversation is more evidence that Putin has something on Trump. Most likely money laundering as Bannon said.
So why DID Trump call Putin anyway?
And why was their conversation so cordial considering the supposed "punishing new sanctions" we just imposed on Russia two weeks ago?
Equally bizarre, Trump was almost giddy as he repeatedly boasted to the press, three times, that he planned to meet with Putin "in the not so distant future".
When something doesn't make sense, follow the money (laundering).
Yes. We already know that to be true.
The Russians have DJT's every word ever spoken and every movement ever made captured on tape. They most likely transferred the older tape content to digital format to preserve the original's clarity.
12
I agree there should be a "sic" following Trump's use of the incorrect "Special Council." Why do you let him off the hook? Surely the Ivy League-educated President of the United States of America should know the difference between "council" and "counsel." Annoying.
27
To have such open, pervasive and seemingly unwavering admiration for Russia of all places...I’d think Trump is little more than a Russian...hand puppet. My guess is unfettered and unpatriotic money laundering for Russian oligarchs. When one is rich they often harbor an insatiable desire to be richer. Russian currency doesn’t travel well - enter Trump.
22
“I think he’s afraid of the president of Russia,” said Mr. Brennan, now retired from government service and a critic of Mr. Trump.
My money is on the tape showing Trump in the presence of prostitutes, who urinated on the bed the Obamas has slept in, the Moscow hotel. Steele's dossier has so far been proved to be true; Jeffrey Toobin is his New Yorker piece writes that Trump indeed stayed at the hotel. And, according to a new book by Isikoff and Corn, five months before the alleged Moscow hotel incident, Trump visited the Act, a Las Vegas nightclub owned by Adelsson, where a regularly performed skit involved semi-nude women who simulated urination onstage. The authors could not confirm that the skit was performed when Trump was there, but one does not know how frequently Trump visited the club.
20
Regardless of Russian knowledge of Trump's illegal dealings, sexual escapades, and his past and prospective business dealings with foreign oligarchs it looks increasingly likely that what they have on him is that his campaign colluded with the Russians to get him elected.
And it wasn't only his campaign but many people and organizations on the political Right.
This is bigger than financial and moral turpitude. It is about treachery to the United States.
35
We're sailing on uncharted waters. Who would have believed this stuff was possible here, in the USA?
19
Precisely why it is possible!
The fact that Trump often refers to himself in the third person is enough to make me believe he is mentally unstable and definitely unfit for office.
19
In the movie, The Manchurian Candidate was destroyed at the convention. In real life, the Russian candidate was elected. So we have the dreadful presidency of Donald Trump. Pray that our democracy survives his tenure.
25
John Brennon is trying to cover the abuse of power that occurred under the Obama administration. The Mueller investigation is essentially a cover-up for that abuse of power. The truth will come to light and John Brennan and his ilk will pay a price.
3
Deflection is just a letter from defection.
jaco, I notice that no matter what the article's subject you always blame the issue on the Obama administration. How about something original for once that is not deflection and lies? The was no scandal of this magnitude under Obama even with the Republicans controlling the house (and please don't scream "Benghazi" - inconclusive). There is not going to be any investigation of Obama because there is nothing to investigate. Obama and his staff, though not perfect were orders of magnitude more ethical than the current administration. Plus the more time that passes the less likelihood the previous administration will get investigated - only so many resources and time. Plus the current administration will keep everybody busy for the foreseeable future.
Jaco, you shouldn't use the expression "Abuse of power" in the presence of Trump. Another advice: "Don't mix wild conspiracy theories with facts.
"May" have something on Don?
I think the real question is "how much" Russia and Putin have on him?
Brennan was using nice colloquial language to make the point.
The rest of us need not be so coy or careful.
21
With all of the many legal proceedings Trump has been involved with, does he truly not know how to spell Counsel?
Seriously, how incompetent is the President? Doesn't he know how to use a dictionary?
Mueller, please please hurry up. I'm going to need facial reconstruction surgery if I keep picking my jaw up off the floor every day I read the news.
23
"There was no evidence of any crime committed by the Trump administration" - Alan Dershowitz -
Alan Dershowitz does not have access to classified information and hence would have no way of knowing that but then again what Alan Dershowitz doesn't know doesn't count
"the appointment of a special counsel has done more harm than good. It has politicized our justice system beyond repair" - Donald Trump bears full responsibility for keeping the special counsel in the headlines and hence politicizing it
"The FBI deputy director has been fired for leaking and lying." - which has nothing whatsoever to do with the special counsel
"Messages by high-ranking FBI agents suggest strong bias against Trump." - and those agents were promptly removed from the investigation. The idea that only those who pledge loyalty to Donald Trump are qualified to investigate Donald Trump is ludicrous on its face
"Perhaps these revelations prove nothing more than that law enforcement and national security officials are human and hold political views like everyone else. But these views are not supposed to influence their decisions" - We don't know that they have and there may be as much pro-Trump as anti-Trump bias but of course pro-Trump bias is not an issue
"The public has lost faith in the leadership of the Justice Department and the FBI." - translation Alan Dershowitz has lost faith and that is all that matters
14
Dershowitz is an embarrassment to Harvard.
Dershowitz... OJ and Trump defender. See a pattern here?
And it has taken this long to connect the dots? Have you ever visited Russia and talked with anyone’s? I’ll bet they even have a copy of his tax returns!
5
If there is any person on the face of the Earth more self-serving, narcissistic, bullying, or egotistical than President Trump, then that person has to be Alan Dershowitz. "No probable cause" for appointing a special investigator? Surely the good Harvard professor has his fingers crossed behind his back. Either that, or he has a far more lucrative future career in comedy.
22
Dershowitz, probably loves Trump for the fact that he is robbing the US Treasury with his tax cuts for the likes of Alan Dershowitz. Birds of a feather...
Pres. Trump has been his own worst enemy in regards to the Russian investigation. While reserving final judgment, does an innocent person:
1. Fire the lead investigator (Comey)
2. Then brag that he fired him on TV
3. Fire anyone who points out questionable behavior(Yates)
4. or anyone who might be called upon to testify (McCabe, FBI leadership
5. Have members of his family (Kushner) try to set up secret backchannels with Russia not detectable by U.S. intelligence
5. Corrupt one of the Congressional Investigations by urging its ending, and its chairman's
a. "Midnight Run" to the White House resulting in ethics violation
b. Release of a memo alleging inaccurate problems with FISA program
c. Non-recusal recusal-- Nunes staff continues to call witnesses
d. Premature end of investigation with conveniently completed report same day as investigation's end
6. Not imposing sanctions required by law and created by Congress.
7. Allegedly allowing Russia veto power over his Sec. of State selection
8. No response to Russian meddling--including spending of $120M allotted funds
10. Urging attorney McGhan to fire Mueller
11. Holding several secret mtg's with Russia against expressed U.S. sanctions
12. Providing top secret info to Russian diplomats
13. Making no response to Putin's nuclear threats or reports Russia tried to infiltrate our power grid.
Does this seem like an innocent guy?
35
Mr. Brennan undoubtedly still has friends in high places and hears things. I wonder if Mr. Brennan is talking out of hand, our has knowledge of more scandals coming down the pipe?
If I lived in Canada or some other country, this would be good theater. As it is, I am sickened by trump, those defending him and those people who did not have the brains to see what a con-man he is and voted for him.
21
Trump quoting a member of the dream team. Another frivolous attempt to gain support.
Team Trump is utilizing the old Johnie Cochran strategy.
When the facts aren't on your side.....attack the fact finders.
"Special council is told to find crimes...."
Well, looks like Mr. Mueller is finding crimes.
So far, 19 Indictments/plea deals (many more to come). Manafort/Flynn/Papadopoulos/Gates directly linked to Trump.
The facts are irrefutable.
20
Is he hiding something incriminating? Donald Duck walks and talks like he is! I can only assume that if he were innocent he would be ignoring this altogether. The only explanation derived from his behavior regarding Russia and Putin is it's true. I for one am glad this investigation is proceeding. Let it run it's course and exonerate or impeach "The Duck". We have checks and balances for a reason. This investigation is proof that our democracy works.
12
Clearly, Trump's incessant, derogatory tweets themselves, point to obstruction of justice. If this criminal isn't removed soon, the U.S. will be defined as a nation of no laws. Makes me glad to be old.
10
The present political crisis is unprecedented in our lifetimes. Nobody is old enough for this to be otherwise. Yesterday, for instance, a former C.I.A. director publicly said that Russia might have compromising material on Mr. Trump.
As we all know, two things make this obvious: (1) Trump's bizarre and deeply troubling affection for (or fear of) Mr. Putin, and (b) his obsession with Mr. Mueller's investigation.
Mueller is an exemplary public servant. Putin is the autocrat who stages sham elections and assassinates political adversaries. Trump is the worst president we have ever had. He is behaving like a man who is guilty of treason.
19
i am sure trump would have want Hannity instead of Muller. Republicans must feel very proud of their President.. for whom the intelligence community is Fox news and fox and friends
4
The CIA held that there are four reasons that someone would betray their country: money, ideology, coercion, and ego, known by the acronym MICE. Donald Trump is without much of any ideological world view, and it is highly improbable that Russia stroking his ego alone would account for Mr. Trump’s pro-Russian bent. That suggests that Mr. Trump is either deeply compromised financially to Russian interests and/or is being coerced over some past behavioral indiscretions.
There has long been suspicion that despite his claims to the contrary, Mr. Trump has not been a very successful businessman, and after repeated bankruptcies, he was forced to look to Russian entities for money. Meanwhile, the Steel Dossier suggests that Mr. Trump engage with sex workers while in Russia.
One hopes that the Muller investigation will uncover the truth before the United States is compromised to Russia because of its president’s indiscretions.
3
If we were talking about a normal person we wouldn’t have to guess whether the subject was simply reacting as a characteristically narcissistic personality would. We could just wait for the conclusion of the investigation. He’s so far from normal, you can’t really draw any conclusions. But with an individual who, for whatever reasons, threatens constitutional norms, it’s become necessary to speculate about what he may be hiding. Otherwise, Trump and his Republican cronies get a pass. Imagine if HRC acted this way. I’ve never been a huge fan, but she has taken just about everything the Republicans have thrown at her without whining. Shes either Hermione Granger or she’s been innocent all along.
3
Trump: A regular Prefontaine: Running (for office), running scarred, running scared, now simply running from the law and the truth. He can run but he can't hide.
1
Like all things Trump, the opposite is the truth when analyzing his behavior.
Trump is playing with Putin. Putin was rude to Trump when he was so eager years ago to meet the Russian dictator. Putin said he was showing up at the pageant and then didn't, said he would meet him and then sent a publicity guy, gave green light red light to Trump Towers in Moscow, lured him with lots of dollars.
All the other explanations probably have some truth. Trump is susceptible to money schemes and it is his great vulnerability. But when it comes to the Trump character, his selfish egotistical personality powers his genius at demeaning his rivals.
Trump likes to make people regret snubbing him. He is enjoying dangling under Putin's nose exactly what Putin wants above all else - American policy. Only Trump has the power to make Putin great again.
All evidence points to Trump believing the presidency is a tool for his personal use. He has no ideology or interest in public service. He doesn't seem too concerned by the storm of sexual allegations. Putin may have thought he had Trump trapped but over confidence has brought down many Trump opponents. Putin may have overreached and, like all people that come into contact with Trump, is caught in the sick world that swirls around the devilish manipulator hoping to win his greatest desire.
1
History
Like a two week old tuna salad sandwich
repeats itself:
Richard Nixon:
THe American people need to know that their President is not a crook.
I am not a crook!!!
HE WAS
Donald J Trump:
I'm not a puppet.
Your a puppet
No you are........
HE IS
1
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If Mr. Putin does have dirt on Mr. Trump, he will be temped to push his and his countries behavior even further. I'd like to see how far he goes without criticism from Mr. Trump before it becomes obvious to even the GOP that Mr. Trump is in his pocket.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave..
2
I do NOT doubt that what Russia has on Trump is his willingness and desperation to launder money for oligarchs. He may or may not have colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election, but I do believe what Russia has on him is something that would most assuredly put him in a US Prison for the remainder of his life.
4
We all know that Trump must "win" at everything, right?
Then why does he not have to win against Putin?
Is it because Trump knows he's already lost against Putin?
4
If anyone would know about what Russia and Putin "have on Donald Trump", it would be one of the boys from Langley. While Donald Trump should be concerned about Robert Mueller, he should be just as concerned about the various intelligence agencies in our government who have probably been tracking the president's activity since his campaign began or perhaps even earlier.
From my somewhat limited perspective, my guess is that Russia possesses either incriminating evidence against the president ,or Donald Trump has borrowed extraordinary amounts of money from the Russian oligarchy.
Whatever the case, where this president is concerned, the time for celebrating himself may soon be coming to an end .
2
"John Brennan, a Former C.I.A. Director, Suggests Russia ‘May Have Something’ on President Trump"
Duh!
Putin blackmail opportunities:
1. Callable loans to Trump. -- Near Certain
2. Proof of Trump's actual wealth and financial dealings. -- Certain
3. Inventory of salacious details with documentation. -- Near Certain
4. Proof of election meddling in Trump's favor. -- Certain
5. Proof of collusion/collaboration with Russia on election -- near certain
6. Trump's own guilty behavior and groveling before Putin -- certain, but
can only use by threatening much more public groveling and humiliation.
Nice of Brennan to "suggest", but this is getting near "Will the sun rise tomorrow?" as a subtle, hard to determine issue.
3
Dershowitz, in his op-ed, argues for a non partisan commission rather than a special council.
Apart from 'non partisan' being an absolute non starter in today's political climate - the recently concluded congressional investigation into Russian collusion had the three wise monkeys on its Republican side;
"see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".
2
Referencing Professor Alan M. Dershowitz, to some of us, is tatamount to referencing the late great Professor Irwin Corey! Except Corey was funnier, and easier to take.
2
You can bet conservatives have a Plan B and have discussed it with Mike Pence. Moderate Americans and liberals better get a Plan B, because their fellow citizens will not except that an honest, virtuous man like our president could have done something wrong.
1
It's fairly evident if the KGB did extend a helping hand to Trump for entrapment purposes he would've bitten their hands off to grab it never contemplating the consequences. Since the election he's pandered to Putin so draw your own conclusions.
“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” Mr. Brennan wrote.
I think Trump has already established the "disgraced demagogue" role, with or without the Steele Dossier (which contained research, not findings). Now if we can only move Trump to the dustbin. That may take a little longer, unfortunately. But the pressure exerted by Mueller in subpoenaing the Trump organization financial records could hurry the process. My only question remains: how long, o Lord?
1
It is pretty obvious that Trump is acting scared and guilty. If he had not done something seriously wrong, then he would have no problem with this investigation. An innocent man would not try to shut down the investigation. He would let it play out - and then use the eventual clearing of his name as a political tool. Trump is willing to hurt himself politically to try and bully an end to this investigation - something that would be a huge political gift to his opponents. His erratic and constant denial of COLLUSION is a pretty good indication of where the problem lies.
3
I'm sure it was a rare pleasure and a respite for Mr. Trump to commune with a kindred spirit. That he failed to thank Putin for the meddling, though - that seems unappreciative.
2
Dershowitz was, and always will be, a defense attorney. He has always zealously attacked the government on behalf of his clients. He is always predictable. Thus, it should not surprise that Dershowitz will attack not only a prosecution before and during a trial, but also an indictment and even an opening of a government investigation. Dershowitz would have everyone believe that the government cannot even begin an investigation unless it already has proof of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt . But even the great "Dersh" knows better, and even Trump probably knows better. Dershowitz has often used the media to advance his client's interests, especially when his adversaries use the media. It must frustrate him no end that Bob Mueller does not "play by those rules." There is an investigation, some indictments, some plea agreements, but Mueller does not "work" the media. When Mueller has completed his work, there will be plenty of opportunities for Dershowitz to defend those who are indicted. (Maybe Dershowitz would like a piece of the action for those already under indictment, but their lawyers have not consulted him which only further frustrates Dershowitz.) If the Democrats take the house and vote articles of impeachment, Dershowitz may have the grand opportunity to defend Trump in a trial in the Senate.
The fact that Steve Bannon was involved with Cambridge Analytica opens up a new line of questioning regarding whether Trump may have colluded with the Russians on the 2016 election.
It is no longer so inconceivable that Trump colluded with the Russians, although full information is not in at this point.
Trumps actions are troubling. Why would he congratulate Putin on what was obviously a rigged election> Does he not understand that this is inappropriate and will raise questions about a relationship with Putin that seems too cozy?
Moreover, Trump has tried too hard to discredit those charged with carrying out the investigation. His actions appear like those of a guilty man.
Make no mistake. Trump is a terrible president. And any action to impeach him will run up against the need for a 2/3 vote in the Senate to actually remove him from office.
But it is becoming plausible that a case sufficiently credible to convince 2/3 of the Senate may in fact be made.
Trump had one good idea. Yes, the US has had too much illegal immigration since the 1986 law which was supposed to end illegal immigration.
But putting together a program that stop illegal immigration going forward, but does so without demonizing immigrants, is not an easy task.
And Trump has made no real progress on this. Not only that but he has used crude offensive language on a wide range of issues.
At first, I wanted to give Trump a chance. I am beginning to support impeachment now.
1
This qualifies as journalism? Old speculations by out of power attention seekers, rehashed and regurgitated - on the front page of the Times! The NYT could not more clearly be defining their political bias and the agenda of their left driven editorial board of a once proud journalistic tradition.
2
That Putin has something big on Trump is doubtless as Trump has never quit kow-towing to the dictator. This was apparent even during the Orange man's campaign. Voters who ignored this peculiar feature of Donald Trump and voted for him either committed as an act of treason or acted out of extreme ignorance. A democracy can survive neither type of voter.
2
One could only hope that America has seen the last of this craggy faced dim witted fool.
2
Odd that Alan Dershowitz, who's been a lawyer for a long, long time, would misspell "counsel" as "council."
1
See: hostage video, referring to one's sibling by the wrong name.
This is his way of telling readers he doesn't believe a word of what he says.
He knows DJT would never spot the misspelling.
What could they have on him that we don't know already. Maybe that he slept with штормовой (Stormy) Ivanov and others. We knew that already. That he has been laundering money for Russian Oligarchs because he needed the money? We knew that already. That he has foreign bank accounts and has been lying to the IRS and has been avoiding paying taxes? We knew that already. That he is child molester? Let's give him some credit, probably not. That even the Russians think he is an idiot and they can't stand him? Probably.
2
Don the Con thinks the US should bring back "enhanced interrogation techniques" ...... wanna see if waterboarding gets him to spill the фасоль?
2
Alan Dershowitz appears to have gone over to the "dark side" as fans of Star Wars might express his change from being a liberal. He wrote in the cited article:
"The public has lost faith in the leadership of the Justice Department and the FBI. They don’t trust congressional investigative committees. They don’t know whom to believe when they hear conflicting accounts."
No, Alan, only the TrumpBots do not have faith in the leadership of the Justice Department and the FBI and don’t trust congressional investigative committees. That is because people like Alan appear on Fox and make all manner of outrageus statements that have little or no basis in fact.
One has to wonder just how many millions FOX is paying Alan Dershowitz, now that he is retired.
Shame on you, Alan, for siding with the Russians and the anti-Semites, the very people that you denonuced loudly and at great length in the past.
1
Who is the President Trump, President Trump is tweeting with? It must be the “other Trump in the room” during his executive time.
1
Trump certainly behaves like Russia has compromising material on him. But, for a guy who frequently cheats on women and brags about molesting them, I don't think the alleged golden showers incident is something he truly fears. Instead, I would bet that the Trump organization, through the money laundering service it provided for Russian oligarchs and mobsters, was instrumental in helping Putin rise to power.
3
There seems little room to doubt Mr. Brennans cautious statement. The media is being very careful to not go much beyond reporting verified statements which is fair. But the circumstances do support speculation that the Kremlin/Putin has real and highly damaging information on Trump. This info could relate to laundering dirty Russian money for Putins buddies, or to Trumps sexual tastes, to name the obvious ones.
Manafort, who worked for Russian interests since 2006, may have provided the direct access needed to get to Trump. In the fall of 2015 Manafort and Gates were so desperate to raise $18 million to repay a debt to Putin buddy Oleg Deripasku they were committing bank fraud. Yet in March 2016 Manafort offered to be Trumps campaign manager for free. Might Manafort have told Trump in a 1 on 1 meeting that the Russians had a huge amount of damaging info on Trump which only he, Manafort, could keep under wraps? Is it coincidence that the legal pressure on Manafort from Deripasku eased up completely after Manafort become Trumps manager?
Is Trumps behavior the behavior of an innocent man? Or is it the behavior of a cornered, narcissistic sociopath?
While there are dozens of other theories in the media, the Manafort blackmail theory seems to be the simplest and most direct link between Trumps famous escalator ride and today.
We may never actually know if Manafort feels that it will be safer to stay in prison than to tell his story about Trump in exchange for his freedom.
3
"It was not immediately clear on Wednesday which remarks of Mr. Dershowitz’s the president was quoting. An interview with Mr. Dershowitz on Fox News on Tuesday and an opinion piece by Mr. Dershowitz published on Wednesday did not include the exact phrasing that Mr. Trump used in his tweets. And the language was not found in a search of Mr. Dershowitz’s cable news appearances over the past week."
Oh, my goodness. How did this bit of evasion and disingenuousness get past an editor? While I am deeply disturbed by Trump's attacks on Mueller, attacks that it is hard not to read as guilt, and while everything I hear and read about Mueller leads me to respect and trust him, something like the above just cuts the rug out from under that. The language of side-stepping was so obvious that I immediately clicked on what Dershowitz wrote just to check. This Times piece isn't even subtle. If you have to say that Trump wasn't quoting Dershowitz's "exact phrasing," rather than saying that Dershowitz didn't say that, you are obviously trying way too hard not to lie while also slanting your reporting a tad to one side. This is not only dishonest. It isn't very effective dishonesty.
NYTimes, get it together here. There is a great deal at stake.
1
Trump trashes Americans as well as their customs and institutions but can't issue a negative word about a thug like Putin whose country has been basically an enemy of America for generations. This jerk should be impeached.
1
Say it ain't SO. Who would have guessed??? About 90 Percent of NYT readers, for starters. SAD.
Alan Dershowitz is said to possess one of the finest legal minds in recent history. It is a shame that he uses his profound ability largely in the defense of evil men.
1
People with influence must follow Brennan's lead and speak out against Mr. Toad and for our democracy.
It is clear to any rational thinking person that Mr. Toad is in the pocket of Vladdie Boy. We are unprotected and vulnerable because this oaf is in criminal cahoots with his BFF - most likely money laundering many projects for Russian oligarchs and the infamous salacious video that Putin surely has on Mr. Toad.
Each day this UNFIT toad is our 'leader' we remain in peril. Dire peril. Where are our leaders? These Republicans are choosing the wrong side of history. They think they will, somehow, remain untouched by their Toad. But his poison will reach them all.
May all innocents in the US and the world be saved from this poison. And soon.
2
One has to presume they have blonde, large-breasted prostitutes in Russia, and that various of Mr. Putin's intelligence agencies employ them.
2
Outside of FOX News, and maybe anyone else who will listen, who takes Alan Dershowitz seriously, really?
2
"there has been no proof that such materials exist"
Yet, Mr. Brennan, formerly head of one of the 17 - count them, 17 - crackerjack intelligence agencies equipped with the most sophisticated spying paraphernalia lots of money can buy, can only speculate that the Russkies have something personal on Trump.
All Brennan had to offer as chief CIA spook was the "dossier", which should have been a mouth shutting embarrassment to the idiots that paid $6 Mill to the guy that allowed that as much as 70-90% of it might be correct.
But, hey, Trump has been such a financial bonanza to everybody from late nite jokers to porn pushers to newspapers to washed up pols that the only objective criterion is the bottom line.
Trump haters are hating him all the way to the bank.
Swamp? What swamp?
2
Yes, the investigation news is fascinating.
Trump is not the problem and may (hope, hope) turn out to be good for us. We are beginning to see how it could all so easily go very bad for America, if we continue to let the Churches of the Republican Way do their Satanic dirty work.
All the decades of my life, as I have voted for peace, and justice, and the environment, I have been aware that white Christians, in their majority, are regularly voting against. Apparently these Christians have GOP stamped on their bottoms at baptism. They will still be doing Satan's work promoting war, destruction, jailing, gun-running, and impoverishment . It's just what these Christians (Mormons, Catholics, Evangelicals) do. They claim to be "Pro-Life" but are unaware of their own hand in the Global Mass Extinction Event now playing out on a plant near and dear to us.
3
Trump misquoted Dershowitz, but even if you look at what Dersowitz actually said, he's dead wrong.
Dershowitz told FOX & Friends this morning that there was no basis for appointing a special counsel because there was no probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed. This is wrong in two respects.
First, probable cause is not the standard for starting investigations. Probable cause is the standard for things like an arrest or a search warrant, but not for starting an investigation. Law enforcement investigates all kinds of allegations, complaints and anonymous tips that fall short of probable cause.
Second, there was evidence well beyond probable cause to believe that crimes had been committed. Russians had hacked the DNC, the RNC, and various state voter databases; and Russians had conducted a disinformation campaign that involved the use of stolen Americans' identities, wire fraud and bank fraud (as charged in Mueller's recent indictment).
The purpose of Mueller's appointment, as stated in Rosenstein's order appointing him, was to get to the bottom of Russian election interference in all its aspects. That includes not just investigating the crimes that were committed by Russians, but determining whether Americans - including the Trump campaign - were involved.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/dershowitz-is-wrong-about-th...
17
If Brennan knows something he should provide concrete evidence, even if it means breaking the law to tell all Americans the truth about Trump.
If this can’t happen, stop spouting off to the media, just growing gas on the fire to see it blow up...
5
As much as I loath all things Trump, Prof. Dershowitz is correct in his assertions.
The special prosecutor role is open ended - the incentive is to keep on digging until some malfeasance is uncovered.
Think back to Whitewater - an investigation into a land deal morphed into a POTUS having an affair with an underling.
Our special prosecutor investigations need to be focused before the project begins - i.e. Mueller should be tasked with determining if the Trump colluded with Russia and should explore any financial ties between Russia and The Trump campaign/Trump organization.
We already know that Trump and the Kushners are lying, cheating carnivores who game the tax laws and scam their marks to make a buck.
Mueller's probe is not going to further enlighten us in that regard.
His task should be to uncover whether The Donald is a useful idiot to Putin or a conspirator with Putin.
3
(( quoting a former Harvard professor stating that Mr. Mueller should never have been appointed))....... Ummm, let me quote a former President. NIXON: "...because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook."
2
Of course the Russians have something on President Dennison. He facilitated their money laundering operations in the United State,s and certainly some of the prostitutes he slept with in Moscow were underage. All Dictator Putin has to do is decide which oligarch to throw under the bus and release those documents proving a Trump a connection...and then release on YouTube the videos showing Trump having sex with the girls. Wake up, Republicans - quit letting your ideology destroy this great country by leaving this corrupt narcissist in power.
6
Comrade Trump would never betray his President, look what happens to Putin's enemies? Putin considers betrayal a mortal sin, punishable by death. Little Comrade Donald waves loyalty oaths and NDA's around like confetti, aping his big bother Comrade Putin.
3
This article was a waste of time and space. There is nothing new to Brennan's speculations. We all think the Russians have something on Trump. This article's headline teased new information that Brennan had to support that view. There was none (and I was eagerly hoping to see something specific and new). C'mon NYT, you can do better than this.
4
If there is some other logical explanation for Trump's fawning attitude toward Putin, I would like to know it. Putin seems to hold the keys to the kingdom. He can fight American troops in Syria; kill dissident in London, and cheat his way to to a ridiculous election victory, and Trump praises him? This makes no sense historically, logically, or strategically. Trump is in Putin's pocket. Why? This is a national security threat!
4
Whatever the Russians have is probably something like taking a bribe, making a bribe, or something in a hotel room. Nothing that congress or his base will care much about.
2
We've ALL got something on Trump. His horrible behavior doesn't seem to make any difference - his base doesn't seem to care how awful he is to women, minorities, and practically anyone who isn't him.
3
"When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” Mr. Brennan (former CIA chief) wrote.
Extraordinary times!
4
This farce should be labeled, "McCabe and Mr. Miller."
Duh?
4
Money laundering, perhaps?
4
Of course Trump is afraid of Putin. Putin a a genuine tough guy with working plans in progress for weakening the USA and driving his corrupt nation to global domination status, while Trump is a bloated, weak narcissist who can be taken down by a headline or won over by bit of flattery, and whose plans seem mainly to be to promote himself and squash Obama's legacy while spouting simple, useless solutions to complicated problems. Putin is taking over the cyberworld, building advanced weapons and cranking up the espionage while Trump is tearing his own government security agencies apart, while unprepared for even a pillow fight with a foreign nation.
3
And in the meantime Christopher Wray is a puppet for DT. Isn't it obvious!
Another day, another tidbit thrown to the anti-Trump, pro-Hillary crowd by the NYT to keep them on board. When some real evidence surfaces, rather than speculation, I may change my mind.
1
Trump should be afraid of Putin. Putin is a genuine bad guy as opposed to DJT's "bad boy." And heck yes, Putin has something on him. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbably, must be the truth." That's the best explanation for this presidency.
3
Brennan is certainly correct that the president is owned lock, stock and barrel by the Russians. The former CIA Director is playing a neat trick, though, a sleight of hand with his flamboyant moral outrage, justified as it is.
He is deflecting attention from his own grave misdeeds in leading an organization that has collaborated with the Russian mafia to steal from Americans. Like Comey’s phony choir boy routine, Brennan has adopted this j’accuse to avoid being revealed for the useful idiot and corrupt leader he has been.
There is moral degradation in both parties. Trump is the new nadir, but to reclaim our democracy we must address the deception and corruption of both the right and the left.
All those who care only about power must pay by losing it.
The truth will come out and will be spoken over Brennan with the same ferocity he now inflicts on Trump. That, too, will be well deserved.
1
Be quiet Brennan, until Mueller finishes his work. We don't need another mouthpiece speculating on TV.
2
So Dershowitz says there was no probable cause to appoint a special prosecutor. He might have had a paper-thin argument on the day after Trump fired James Comey. But the guilty pleas, cooperating witnesses, and indictments that Robert Mueller has gotten blow that argument to smithereens.
4
John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director, speculated that the Russians “may have something on him personally,” referring to Mr. Trump.
Brennan's a stand up guy. It's more than speculation, but I'll leave it there for now.
CIA directors are not beloved by most people, but he was no political hack like those before and after him. And he's certainly not guilty of sedition like Alan "dirt bags" Dershowitz's buddy.
3
President Trump has slept with porn star(s), and it has not affected his political standing. What could the Russians possible have? If Mr. Brennan has evidence to the contrary, he a a duty to disclose it to the public. Mr. Brennan is stooping to the president's level by making such baseless accusations. Mr. Brennan is using his former position for political gain and harming the credibility of the (deservedly) beleaguered intelligence community in the process.
2
As head of the CIA, John Brennan should know whether or not Russia has something on Trump. Since we are talking about National Security, Brennan has an obligation and a duty to shed any light on this. If he did know of something and not let people know he is guilty of an offense against the American people.
So Mr Brennan are you merely being a partisan and sowing doubt about Trump or are you a criminal hiding information to protect Trump.
1
"...even as a former C.I.A. director said during a morning news show that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may have compromising information on Mr. Trump..."
I'm SO, grossed, out by Trump / Republicans on SO, MANY critical social, scientific, and other issues facing humanity, that it, (nearly...), kills me to admit I agree with Trey Gowdy's observation, (paraphrased): If Trump is innocent...he should be cheering Robert Mueller on, like a 14 y/o cheerleader watching / fantasizing, 'bout her 15 y/o quarterback_boyfriend-/-1St. Crush!
2
I 've known this from day one. He has plenty of collusion going on with them and he can' be a proper defender of democracy and freedom when he has that dark cloud over him. Time to IMPEACH. Congratulations being sent to Putin and Chinese dictator is a disgrace. The GOP are not good role models for our Democratic way of life.
I am so tired of hearing from the peanut gallery with those teaser "may have something" or "may know something", blah, blah, blah comments. It seems everyone has a theory or erroneous assumptions about what Trump did or what Russia knows.
Frankly, the only source I am interested in hearing from is Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III. He's in charge, he's leading the investigation, he is trying to do his job, to the best of his abilities. Everyone else who is chiming about, trying to get their 15 seconds of prime time spot light are wind bags with nothing concrete to offer.
Who doesn't have an opinion they wish to share with the NYT?
2
Insinuation, innuendo, smear -- the odious age-old tactics used in the absence of proof -- to take a routine congratulatory phone call from one head of state to another and to blow it up to allegations of near-treason boggles the mind.
1
Donald Trump is an arsonist, trying to burn down everything great about America. Trump supports tariffs, excessive deficits, Putin, trade wars, racism, meanness, the news media, and isolationism. Stop Trump before he burns the whole country down.
"may have something" on Trump. You think?!
1
"John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director, speculated that the Russians “may have something on him personally,”"
File that one in the folder: Understatement of the Year.
Most likely is money and sex tapes with little girls. Remember his repugnant comments about his own daughter.
1
The ex CIA chief shouldn't be talking at all. Apparently he's just another politician - and a Democrat.
Does Russia have something on Trump? You know the old saying, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck." Well, this one is quacking away like a giant, orange-colored Muscovy duck.
1
Pretty obvious Putin DOES have compromising information on his Puppet. Anyone with ANY common sense would recognize this, given the constant insults at everyone else in the world EXCEPT Putin. Biggest "duh!" of the century.
"Russia ‘May Have Something’ on President Trump"
Many of us had this figured out almost two years ago.
Alan Dershowitz long has impressed me as someone with tremendous intellectual capacity who has capitalized on his smarts and the "Harvard" brand to create his own stardom as a reliable voice when impenetrable pretzel logic is wanted.
1
We don't need a former CIA chief to tell us what common sense makes abundantly apparent. This is a man who consorts with porno stars and has ethics that would make Genghis Khan blush. How tough would it be to sic a foxy Russian strumpet on him when he was over there and then get video of it to hold over him? My only wonder is that he hasn't used the blackmail evidence for Christmas presents.
Mr. Mueller, follow the money.
Stop acting like Trump has any level of shame or humiliation.
Stop hoping Trump will act like you.
Trump your behavior is treasonous. I wager you will be impeached, tried, and convicted of treason by the time this long national nightmare is over.
What do Trump and OJ Simpson have in common? .......
...Alan Dershowitz claims they are innocent.
You just can't make this stuff up!
2
Trump's history is to attack until someone stands up to him, then he eventually pays them off. If you do not stand up to him and give him as good as he gives you, he will not stop because he thinks you are a coward who will not fight. Trump must think the Republicans in Congress are cowards since they jump over themselves to say what he wants to hear. Trump has no reason to believe the House would impeach him regardless of what he has done, so on he goes.
I have a sinking feeling we'll be seeing Trump and the Golden Showers tape in circulation.
1
One Golden Shower party too many?
1
Of course the Putie Cat has "something" on fake president Tweetie Pie. Why else would the birdbrain be so full of borscht? GRUSTNYY!
learn how
to speak
russian
chekists
checklist:
honey trap
kompromat
provokatsiya
konspiratsiya
kombinatsiya
dezinformatsiya
novichok
brennan comey
mccabe mueller
sanity (or hannity)
1
Law-and-order conservatives like to say you have nothing to fear from law enforcement if you are innocent.
Why does Trump act fearful?
1
I would like the NYT to remind its readers what the actual mandate of the Special Counsel is. the Special Counsel has been remarkably low-key, the office only surfacing when they have charges to announce. Other appearances by Special Counsel have to do with their seeking documents, such as Trump company business accounts. The nature of those charges have been related to financial crimes and lying under oath. The charges have been laid on persons close to the president's campaign.
If the president fires Special Counsel, it has to be related to violations of that mandate, so please NYT, remind us of who appointed Special Counsel, why, and the mandate.
Dershowitz and Brennan are just noise. I am content to let Mueller do his work, evaluate the evidence, interview witnesses and get to the bottom of the alleged obstruction of justice, Russian meddling on behalf of Trump or his operatives during 2016 campaign, and any money laundering Trump and or his associates took part in. Brennan and Dershowitz are expressing opinions. I am content to wait for the actual evidence.
1
Of course they do and the smell of Trump's fear is more potent with each passing day.
1
What will Putin do to Trump after he looses in 2020 or is impeached sooner? There will be no reason to hold back. Putin will make Trump suffer, on order to make the US look bad.
As always, "thank you" to our press for keeping up the score cards on this preposterous mess. There is no way we could keep it sorted out by ourselves (I STILL learned about Goldstein's firing from Stephen Colbert on Youtube, but it had been a very busy day).
It will be fun to watch whether Dershowitz bothers to address the apparent fact that his client is misquoting him. Probably not going to be a big event - Dershowitz will not be the first lawyer depending on the idea that Trump's comments are to be ignored.
I miss the good old days, you know, when the CIA and FBI were reliable, unequivocal fetishes of every self-respecting Republican. What's a liberal to do when the intelligence services we once viewed as overreaching and suspect are now well left of the POTUS and GOP?
Of course Putin has something on trump. trump's a serial philanderer, and the Steele dossiers reported that Putin set him up in Moscow in 2013. Then look at how Putin has called the shots (Moscow-unfriendly Romney ditched for Moscow friend Tillerson as Secretary of State, for example), is not criticized by trump or subject to sanctions enforcement, and is only held up to esteem by trump.
trump is clearly running scared and his visceral reaction (as with his supporters at Fox Entertainment) is to attack the messengers.
1
At some point, earlier in this nightmare, there was talk that what the Russians have on Trump is a video of him participating in a golden showers episode. Frankly, if that's it then he might as well let them publish it because he's already trumped that ten times over, without fallout. Which is to say, this country has been battered to complete numbness by this malignant intruder in our lives.
14
The very fact that Brennan says "may have something" on President Trump is so irresponsible and odd. No doubt such care and calculation was the hallmark of Mr. Brennan's tenure at the CIA. One can only guess that he is knee deep in the thuggery that is just now unfolding.
4
I think it's more than a "honey trap" that Putin has on Trump. Trump's supporters don't care about that and Trump hasn't suffered any loss for his many sexcapades. It has to be something financial and I'm guessing that it involves his kids and Kushner. That would really scare Trump. We can just imagine if this was another president showing such adoration to Putin and Trump was the peanut gallery commenting on the situation. His tweets would burn up Twitter and FOX TV calling for the death penalty!
8
I feel certain that when the evidence against 45 is made public, as it most assuredly will be, no attorney on Earth will be able to prevent the unprecedented avalanche of criminal charges coming his way, or the eventuality of his conviction and removal to the trash heap of history.
His imagined magnificence and narcissism will not prevent the blinding light of truth from overwhelming his alleged criminality, treason, depravity and utter disregard for our people, country and precious Constitution.
357
I am sure you are right about Trump's misdeeds. However, a President in office cannot be charged with a crime, he can only be impeached. We all know that Ryan will never start impeachment procedures, and even if started it will not pass.
At best, Trump will resign, and just like Ford pardoned Nixon, he will be psrdonned and never face criminal charges, though his friends and family might.
Our only real hope is to get a Democratic Congress in 2018, and a new President in 2020.
...unless 45, refusing to leave, foments an armed revolt... I'm seriously afraid that he and his fervent and armed to the teeth supporters won't go quietly. I hope I'm wrong.
2
That is, I hope, from your mouth to honest lawyers ears. We must find people who will not kiss the ring.
1
Trump has done nothing to stop the cyberattacks. This is collusion, in plain sight. Includes much of the GOP in Congress. For all the talk on wingnut radio and cable news, it's the GOP that is becoming a real and credible threat to the nation.
9
Former Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz wrote, “Trump is right in saying that a special counsel should never have been appointed to investigate the so-called Russian connection. There was no evidence of any crime committed by the Trump administration.” He agrees with Trump that no special council should have been appointed. So it follows that Dershowitz thinks Robert Mueller should not have been appointed. However, Trump was wrong to imply Dershowitz think Mueller was a bad choice as special counsel.
First, Dershowitz is considered an idiot - nothwithstanding his Harvard degree. Secondly, Dershowitz is irresponsible for implying that he has access to or knowledge of what the FBI had in its possession that triggered the original investigation. The Special Counsel was appointed after Comey was fired, but the investigation started in 2016 based on evidence unknown to Dershowitz (unless he has a crystal ball). As Dershowitz knows nothing concrete, he is entitled to his "opinion" as is everyone else. In my opinion, there was ample evidence for appointment of the Special Prosecutor. (My opinion is just as valid as Dershowitz's as we both are privy to the same information.)
That Putin has something devastating on Trump is, to my mind, the only explanation for Trump's behavior that would make it anywhere close to rational.
Good to see Brennan take on Trump so unflinchingly.
Trump's unmistakable trepidation around anything concerning Russia leads to exactly Brennan's conclusion.
Trump would rather take down our intelligence apparatuses than be caught red handed (no pun intended!).
Brennan, Comey, McCabe and other professionals have fought individuals more fearsome and clever than Trump; they will have the last word.
5
May have something? Are there any patriots out there able to stop this madness?
2
The prominent placement of this story is questionable at best. Much as I appreciate all the excellent reporting by the NYT, this article was not factual other than quoting speculative commentary from Mr. Brennan. And the speculative commentary amounted to simply asking the same question we all have -- whether Putin has some "goods" on Trump that have affected the president words and conduct in relation to Putin. But nothing in Mr. Brennan's comments suggest that he knows of the existence of "goods" or other underlying facts and I doubt he would imply so on the basis of classified information whose disclosure by him would violate law.
92
Trump's tweets are matters of record as are the comments made by the other parties cited.
This is an interesting article as it shows Trump's ongoing dishonesty, this time in respect of misquoting Professor Dershowitz.
Trump's interest in the concept of 'probable cause' as a possible shield is noteworthy and underscores his fundamental unfitness for the role he holds and his mindset given that he his seeking justifications to dismiss Mueller.
The office of the president rightly and properly attracts the highest levels of scrutiny.
If the office of president was gained in a legal manner and is being discharged properly then a special counsel should be of no concern to the office holder.
2
The American people seem hellbent on multiplying their already obscenely high levels of gaseous emissions by futilely hyperventilating about their elected leader.
You people got an expert in casino bankruptcies - you deserved nothing more, nothing less.
Nothing you do will dislodge him - get over it and focus on how you plan to cut your emissions and wastefulness - as though your lives depended on it.
You have no idea how much anger and resentment is silently brewing around the world about the USA's role in the multiple crises that others are now being forced to struggle with - and will apparently continue to struggle with for the next several decades and possibly centuries.
Things are going to get worse in the coming decades - get used to living in a state of emergency with severely reduced freedoms, options and opportunities.
It is going to take a drastic reconstruction effort to get back on track - and a high likelihood exists that,
somewhere along the way, interference with critical tasks and decisions will be viewed as treasonous and dealt with accordingly.
Also get used to the concept of burnout and the likelihood that firefighters can and will decide to let some fires burn.
1
Trump lies about everything. Why shouldn't we believe that Putin or the Russians have something on him? However, it has to be backed up with facts because if it isn't Trump will use it to continue asserting that the FBI, the Democrats, and anyone else he can think of, is out to frame him. He'll say it anyway but if any allegations are true it'll be hard to see him as truthful.
What is truly disconcerting about this is that the GOP seems to be supporting Trump no matter what. For a party that used to profess its belief in law and order, family values, and integrity they've strayed a long way from it in just the last year. A wonderful example of how having power corrupts some institutions and people to the point where they can no longer recognize right from wrong.
3
Does it really matter whether Putin has something on Trump, and whether Mueller is able to find a smoking gun? We already have plenty of evidence that Trump is incompetent, that he is not fulfilling his duty to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that his actions are putting the US at risk. The "why" is not needed to impeach him; it would be nice to know but it is only icing on the cake. Congress needs to step up the plate and do its duty. Get rid of the conman in the White House.
4
It is simply not possible at this point that Trump is innocent.
His sons met with Russians for the stated purpose of receiving a thing of value (oppo research) from the Russian government (the email says that's the source) to help Trump's campaign (read 52 U.S.C. Section 30121); the dumbest Education Secretary in history is the sister of Erik Prince, who flew to the Seychelles to set up a back channel for Trump; Trump and his people have told countless lies denying their Russian contacts -- many under oath; Flynn, Papadopolous, Rick Gates, Alex van der Zwaan, and Richard Pinedo have all pled guilty in the Mueller investigation; Junior has said they have tons of money from Russia, and the Deutsche Bank and SoHo deals among others smack of money laundering; where are the tax returns?; Comey was fired to stop the Russia investigation; Trump is now desperately trying to discredit Mueller; and why is it that a murderous enemy of the United States -- Putin -- is the only human being Trump cannot say anything bad about?
It is simply not possible that there is no there there. The only question is what.
5
The nation really needs to get serious and stop entertaining intellectual curiosity items about this trump guy and move concertedly to holding him to account for doing everything from obstructing investigations to enriching himself by refusing to divest interests. His henchmen keep trying to normalize the abnormality of his behavior. Nothing about his time in office has been normal and nothing about him has changed. He is grossly incompetent and proves it daily. He is using the office to enrich himself and his spawn, and proves it daily.
4
Don Jr. told a golfing buddy that the family business didn't need loans from US banks (which were avoiding Trump's business based on prior experience) because of all the Russian cash invested in their projects.
So how careful would the Trump (or Kushner) companies be in vetting the dollars after sanctions were put in place against Putin's wealthy buddies? Money laundering would be a pretty serious stick to threaten our developer-in-chief with.
Beyond Trump and his son-in-law, it would be interesting to dig out where the money comes from for all the expensive, empty apartments in the new super-tall luxury buildings in NYC.
1
I suspect Trump's true career has been as a money launderer for Russians. If true, and Mueller will surely find out, that makes Trump a pawn and Russian actor. We need to think how far out Putin's game extends..he is playing chess and Trump is a little boy eating cookies.
20
Dershowitz lost any ethical credibility when he worked for the defense in O.J. Simpson's trial. He may be a clever lawyer, but he is willing to lie for pay. His take on Trump simply shows that he is figuring he can make some serious money off him.
What the Russians may have on the President is probably tied to his real estate developments (money laundering), which may have been the beginning of their relationship, and the Kremlin's help as co-conspirators in giving him an electoral advantage using his favorite term, "fake news," via facebook, the internet and Wikileaks in return for eased sanctions and future real estate deals with the oligarchs.
14
Republicans are going to need to decide whether or not they want to be remembered as the party that stood up to a President who is compromised by the Russians or as the party that let the Russians use their leverage over him to disrupt and demoralize our country. They need to decide whether they are patriots or a quislings.
9
Based on Trump's behavior toward Putin, it would not be terribly surprising if the Russians do "have something" on Trump. However, Brennan's comments, without providing any hard evidence to support his suggestion, only fuels the "Deep State Conspiracy". Those who already believe Trump is compromised, will only use Brennan's comments to validate their own beliefs; whereas, paradoxically, these comments will been seen as a validation of what Trump's supporters believe--that his presidency is being undermined by the CIA and FBI. For now, let's hope and pray that Mueller's investigation continues unimpeded. What's more: let's hope that the majority of Americans will accept Mueller's findings and push our elected officials to do what is best for the future of our country, regardless of party affiliation.
5
Dershowitz has an opinion.
My opinion is that Dershowitz is wrong.
My opinion is that there is probable cause for believing that there was a crime, collusion or otherwise, or obstruction of justice commited by Donald J. Trump!
Donald J. Trump may believe Richard M. Nixon's trope, "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal"; the founders of the country and living citizens don't agree the president is above the law whether it occured before or during their presidency.
5
I'm guessing the Steele dossier isn't prurient fiction after all...
6
BRENNAN'S DARK SIDE
Brennan has his own dark side with some of his drone strikes on innocents while at the CIA. Trump's firing of a corrupt FBI official should concern no one other than another corrupt official. It is too bad that Brennan is not incensed by the sordid election tactics used against Bernie to deny him the nomination. That was real democracy damage, not the limited and inept efforts by a few Russians.
2
There are only two reasonable choices for Trump...attempt to shutdown Meuller, or let the investigation continue with the likelihood that Mueller will get to see the inner workings of his business.
4
Alan Dershowitz is one of those people who don't know when it's time to ride off into the sunset instead of hanging around to satisfy one's own ego rather than really contribute to the current situations. He reminds me of the ballplayer that was over the hill but had to come back for a couple of more seasons because he felt that he was, wrongly, still on top of his game.
5
The only problem with this theory is that we all "have something" on Trump. Multiple things. From suspect financial dealings to sexual misconduct. Neither Trump nor his supporters seem to give a hoot when these things are exposed. So why would they care if Russia exposed whatever it may have on him?
123
Therein lies one of the reasons Trump's supporters are deplorable. Hillary hit the nail on the head and should not have apologized.
5
The Russians may have something that would turn "suspect" financial dealings into Criminal financial dealings. A lot of financial crime is not prosecuted because of a high standard of proving "criminal intend". Yes a tape of sexual escapades would not be that damaging - but a tape of certain types of business negotiations could put him in prison.
2
Could it be that after years of investments by Russian kleptocrat mobsters in Trump real estate (money laundering may be another accurate description), Putin is in a position to call in the Russian loans and permanently destroy the entire Trump clan at will.
2
mpound - You're on the mark about Brennan although I'd offer that he isn't dispensing moral lessons here and - more to the point - that one would expect, based on his on-the-record views on CIA torture, that his philosophy has some similarity to Trump's. So I gather that his recent comments reflect a willingness to put aside his personal attitudes for the greater good of defending the country against an acutely dangerous and compromised incompetent at the helm of the Executive Branch.
3
Despite all of Professor Dershowitz's training, intellect, and experience, I have yet to hear him state that he has seen Mr. Trump's tax returns. He has not said anything about having access to the forensic accounting that the FBI has conducted. He has said nothing about the various intelligence intercepts before the appointment of Mueller.
Thus, despite his abilities, one can well conclude he lacks all the information available to investigators. At best, his opinion should have been qualified by his limited knowledge.
I would like for Trump to show Mr. Dershowitz his tax returns and have Mr. Dershowitz explain why the tax returns reveal nothing.
6
Anyone who has observed people who are frightened of a controlling person but can do nothing to escape can see that is how Trump acts towards Putin. He thinks that he is safe as long s he exhibits loyalty. Thus I think that Trump is compromised by something that Putin and his gang have on him. It may be business loans which could be used as leverage or it could be some kind of behavior which Trump is afraid of becoming public. Whatever it is, he cannot fulfill his duties faithfully if it means crossing Putin.
I think that we need a new amendment that compels anyone in the office of President from conducting personal business while kn office and making them disclose all personal information and relationships and voiding all non-disclosure agreements prior to and during their time in office.
3
Though I'm quite able to believe that Trump is in some debt to Putin, were that true, wouldn't it be prudent for Trump to appear at least occasionally less supine? That's my best and only counterargument to Trump's bizarre behavior when it comes to Russia.
Remarkable that this clear statement comes from Brennan, one of the most cautious and evidence driven people we have. May others have been avoiding speaking so directly despite the growing evidence of financial entanglements and Cambridge Analytica. The talking points of Trump and the right wing (no collusion) have not been credible for a long time, but we still have the problem of how to disengage from this venal president. In some ways the worst outcome will be clear evidence of major felonies from Mueller, followed by inaction by the House and Senate. Even if both houses switch to Democratic control, the slow pace of an impeachment will be terrible for the country. There seems no easy path forward, even Trump resigning will unleash chaos.
2
Trump's behavior is like that of someone who owes a favor to the local capo. In the case of Putin, it's likely to be overdue "loans", money laundering, or something similar. And Trump has just been reminded of how long the FSB/KGB's arm is.
4
I think it's likely that the Trump organization would be bankrupt but for its long term associations with Russian oligarchs who are essentially part of the vast criminal enterprise that is the Russian government. It also appears likely that their was a conspiracy against the United States involving the Trump campaign and Russian government operatives. I believe Trump's claims during the campaign that the election would be rigged were made to discourage the Obama administration from going public with evidence of Russian interference for fear of validating These claims. He was probably told to do this by Russians because he's not clever enough to have done it on his own. We were royally duped.
8
"May have something" on the president isn't good enough. If Putin is in a position to compromise the 45th, he's certainly not going to reveal anything that would create an uproar in the US and possibly lead to his ouster. As long as division and controversy surround the president and American government, Putin is having his nefarious done for him. Putin certainly won't harm the president while he and Americans stumble along in their dissatisfaction and disunity, which couldn't please the Russian leader more.
4
Putin's got Trump where he wants Trump to be. That's the art of blackmail. Being able to leverage something over Trump - be it financial, a personal indiscretion, or something else - is a lot more valuable than coming out with it.
You know the saying "the truth will set you free?" Of course that is anathema to Trump. And we are all being brought down by the weight of his dirty laundry.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful writing.
1
@NM -- great points, as always. Yes, Putin has the whip hand and has the president constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's like death by a thousand cuts.
1
Investigations like Mr. Mueller is conducting certainly uncover "facts beyond change". No one can dispute the existence of those facts. Those facts, more than likely documents or electronic communications, will expose what was going on. Trump won't be around long once the facts beyond change are revealed. He won't be able to lie or distract his way out of this. The end of this nightmare will come soon.
1
Many people have long thought Putin had scandalous material about trump. That there was collusion between the trump campaign has also long been evident, the meeting Donald Jr and Manafort and Jared Kushner attended because they thought the Russians had incriminating info about Hillary, not the least. If indeed Putin not only helped engineer trump's Electoral College squeaker with a great campaign of disinformation to inflame division and bring about Hillary's defeat, but he also has and has had scandalous stuff on trump he, in effect controls trump and his presidency. This would be Putin's greatest victory in the effective war between Russia and America...and also the biggest and most calamitous situation for the US since the world wars. It is absolutely mind-boggling even to speculate, with reason, about this.
4
I concur with Mr. Brennan. The more Trump speaks the more he says the wrong thing...those who believe him now are simply wearing blinders.
2
Let's say Russians do indeed have something on Trump.
If they were to make it public, two outcomes are completely, fully predictable.
First, his acolytes (I suspect half of American voters) will not believe it. They will happily attribute it to Obama and Hillary, and demand an immediate investigation of a corrupt FBI (which Fox is demanding at this time anyway). Trump wins in a world when there is faith in evidence, just superstition.
Second, his acolytes will admire him more for it, not less. Rather, greater, the the more unsavory, the more unwholesome his conduct captured on tape and film, the more likely he will be regarded as the second coming, fit for anointing and worship.
I am not sure what Russians or anyone, in possession of any information, evidence, proof, smoking gun etc., can do him any harm. There is not one thing he could not overturn by a tweet.
Kalidan
Regardless of what Alan Dershowitz believes, he is an expert in the law and not in politics. Regardless of the evidence produced by Robert Mueller, the fate of Donald Trump as president is determined by politicians residing in the United States Congress. Impeachment is a political action not a legal one.
So, rather than ejecting one lawyer and hiring another or quoting one lawyer and denigrating another, Trump should focus on strengthening his relationships with members of Congress. Carrying on a love affair with Putin while lying to Trudeau probably won't get him very far. But, I quickly forget he is smarter than all of us.
1
I'm going with more than one honey trap tape AND a bunch of loans which could get called due any minute. And probably more than that.
1
Trumps MaCabe firing was particularly mean spirited. To fire someone days before they were scheduled to retire and jeopardize their pension is simply cruel.
But what has been lost in many of these stories is that technically Trump didn't fire MaCabe. The FBI's own internal investigation unit charged MaCabe and brought charges against him. He was found guilty of violating internal FBI rules concerning unauthorized disclosures to the press. While it's clear Trump set all this in motion, the FBI's personnel are the ones who carried it out.
While Russia may indeed have something on Trump, if they do so does the NSA. As for Brennan, he might be on the offensive because he, like MaCabe has been known to have been fast and loose with the press. Is he next in line for an AG audit? Time will tell. But as they say, the best defense is a good offense.
A multi billion dollar loan, bailing DJT out of yet another bankruptcy, and never repaid.
The interest is due.
2
No kidding - there is SOMETHING between Russia and Trump. Most likely, this is a financial dependence that allowed Trump to either not pay taxes, hide money, or clear a serious debt issue. The Russians hit the lottery once Trump ran for President -
1
The scary thought is that do we still have an effective nuclear deterrence if Russians launch a preemptive strike and our President does not authorize a counter strike?
It is obvious to anyone with an iota of reasoning power that Stormy D's assertions have merit. Another woman, a former Playmate, also has come forward. Context is all and one must also consider Trump's own words about how he views women and also the many public accusations during the election.
Is it, at this point, reasonable to consider that Donald's behavior would change when he was abroad, being feted in Russia? Or that the Russians would consider recording his "activities?"
At some point, the strange, but real, reinforcement effect that valid criticisms have upon the judgement of loyal Trumpians must evaporate. It is then, yet again, that these Americans will turn to the Democratic party to repair this immense and formerly unequalled damage to the reputation and the fabric of the nation. Let us hope our nation needn't wait much longer.
1
John Brennan is doing the US a public service by speaking about these issues. It is very unusual, in fact unheard of, for the former CIA director to address the moral, intellectual and ethical fitness of the President of the United State to server in that capacity. Brennan has been joined in his criticism of Trump in the past by James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence.
Trump is attacking the FBI, DOJ and Mueller because they are investigating his potential crimes of colluding with Russia against the United States. This is treason. Trump has tried to derail the Russia investigations by firing Comey and McCabe in deliberate acts of obstruction. He has repeatedly threatened to fire Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, because he recused himself. Within the past week James Comey, former Director of the FBI, and Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI, joined in the criticism of Trump to defend themselves against his relentlessness attacks on them, the FBI and Justice.
These comments by former officials are clarion calls to the politicians and the people of this country to beware of danger ahead. Let us heed these calls before it is too late.
2
A week ago, I would have been very skeptical of a claim that the Russians have something on Trump, preferring to wait for objective evidence. But Trump's behavior is beginning to point just in that direction, and I am having a very difficult time putting Trump's behavior into a context that doesn't include Russian blackmail or at least Russian involvement that Trump knows will send him to prison. And there is now all the more reason to let Mueller finish his work. The GOP foolishly puts party over country, and when the full truth comes out they will pay a heavy price.
2
It'd be logical that Brennan has already been in touch with Mueller; the fact that the Steele Dossier emerged on his watch hints at as much.
And I understand why Mr. Brennan, while speaking heartily about Trump's innate corruption, might want to be as coy as he is when it comes to calling out Russian interference in the election.
But that doesn't mean that his shyness isn't more than a little frustrating now.
1
Director Brennan, obviously a highly experienced and discreet communicator when the substance of classified information is involved, by his non-confirmation/confirmation of Russian kompromat on Trump
("may have") is signaling that such information does in fact exist. This remarkable revelatory statement on cable television, when considered in the context of his previous, Saturday tweet ("When the full extent of your venality...becomes known...") leaves little reasonable doubt that we have indeed been witnessing Russian state leverage over Trump based on its collection of corrupt, personal, non-public information.
The C.I.A., and our other national security agencies have know what it is, and now the Mueller Investigation is fastidiously assembling, refining, and adding to that material in preparation of of its final reporting and recommendations to Deputy A.G. Rosenstein.
What's worse? That the Russians might have something on Trump or that everyone can so easily imagine that is possible?
Alan Dershowitz is a joke, he will defend any criminals, he wanted to defend O.J Simpson, that speaks a lot about him. " Special Council is told to find crimes, whether a crime exists or not", that is nonsense.
8
John Adams defended British soldiers after Bunker Hill. He was reviled for it. But he believed the law applied to everyone--those we like and don't like, those we agree with and don't agree with.
Dershowitz is a Democrat who, he says, voted for Hillary Clinton. And it is worth reading what he has said about Trump and the investigation.
He has been, he says, looking at this from a purely legal perspective. Not an "I hate Trump" perspective.
He has apparently suffered general social banishment for his troubles.
I don't like Trump either. But it is worth reading what Dershowitz has said.
3
Boston Massacre, not Bunker Hill.
2
It continues to amaze: how conversation about Trump's behavior is conducted on a "rational-world basis." He is not very rational. Nor articulate or well-read. Yet we continue to treat him with that kind of respect, as though his thought process is something to be seriously considered.
18
The argument of hired gun Dershowitz that the Special Prosecutor should never have been appointed completely skips over the original precipitating event, the firing of the FBI Director by Trump for looking too closely into the Russian Connection.
56
Trump fired Comey because Comey refused to say publically what he was saying privately to the Trump and congressional committees—that Trump was not under investigation in connection with Russian meddling in the 2016 election. After he was fired, Comey addressed this in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Comey testified that “Prior to the January 6 meeting, I discussed with the FBI’s leadership team whether I should be prepared to assure President-Elect Trump that we were not investigating him personally. That was true; we did not have an open counter-intelligence case on him. We agreed I should do so if circumstances warranted. During our one-on-one meeting at Trump Tower, based on President Elect Trump’s reaction to the briefing and without him directly asking the question, I offered that assurance.” Later in his testimony, Comey goes into more detail on the matter, explaining he refused to comply when Trump asked him to make a public statement because he would have to issue a corrective statement if the president ever came under investigation He said, “On the morning of April 11, the President called me and asked what I had done about his request that I ‘get out’ that he is not personally under investigation. I replied that I had passed his request to the Acting Deputy Attorney General, but I had not heard back. He replied that ‘the cloud’ was getting in the way of his ability to do his job.”
1
Brennan could be right – about all of it. But how Trump is seen by history is for no man to responsibly predict, because it will depend on how he performs in office on things Americans regard as material – mostly the economy and getting Congress to act for the first time since January of 2011 on important matters. All that has yet to be determined, and the future is promised to nobody.
In the meantime, Trump congratulates Putin on his election win (as did Obama in 2012), but sanctions against Russia persist, we support Britain in its umbrage against the most recent outrage perpetrated there by Putin’s goons, our intelligence agencies have warned us about Russian hacking that could have shut down our energy grid, and their attempts to affect our elections … and our treatment of Russia remains balanced.
Brennan’s comments are pretty safe: either he’ll be proved right because Trump will have failed to take us forward, will fail to protect us from Russia’s quite predictable attempts to further its own interests at our expense, to the extent Putin sees no further use for him he will divulge whatever “something” he may have on him, and Trump generally will lose relevance; or Trump will succeed at stoking a sustainably expanding economy, help create millions of new jobs that appear to be attacking income inequality, bring about a marginally more stable world and help make Congress productive again … in which case nobody will remember Brennan’s comments.
Que será … será.
2
You never know, but as far as creating jobs and stimulating the economy. This President will never accomplish that. He is a total failure in business dealings.
@Luettgen: How Trump will be seen by history is entirely predictable. He's a despicable man of low character, the worst human being to ever hold high office in the United States. He's a liar, a bully, a vulgarian, a racist and a misogynist. It has become clear in the first year of his presidency exactly what an ignorant, unlikeable, talentless, unethical, immoral lowlife he is. It is also clear that he will not change.
Trump's incompetence, absence of a work ethic or work habits, inability to choose and manage staff and lack of understanding of how government works will also ensure that he will accomplish almost nothing. He's already had a year, and it has been a disaster. It's true he hasn't yet managed to destroy the healthy economy Obama handed him, but that's the only positive thing that can be said about his track record as president so far.
3
He is a year into his first term... with nothing but disaster, lies and shameful, disgusting scandals in his wake. I'll go w Breana. Thanks
I don't think Trump's real fear of Putin is about pee-pee tapes, although they likely exist. I think it's about money. Likely his entire real estate "empire" is in hock, mostly to Russian banks and oligarchs that are 1) sanctioned and, 2) answer to and work with Putin. Unless Trump dances on the puppet strings, they call in their loans and ruin his entire operation.
Why is Trump anxious to meet with Putin "soon," now that all this stuff about Cambridge Analyitica, Stormy Daniels and so on is coming out. He wants advice and assurances from the spymaster.
251
I agree. Anyone who doesn't think that Trump is compromised believes in the Easter bunny.
What do the Russians have? The Russians have perfected the honey trap. But it must be more than even video of sex, however unusual, which can always be challenged. The underbelly of the Trump machine is not sexual tales--the minority who approve his job performance will still approve his job performance, and Fox will spin the evidence as best it can to protect Trump. No, the underbelly is Trump's financial dealings with the Russians.
Can there be any other explanation for Trump's fawning over Putin?
2
I think you're on target. Follow the money and everything will make sense, the rest is a smoke screen.
2
Although Alan Dershowitz is professor emeritus at Harvard Law, even he cannot change the truth. The more Mr. Dershowitz attacks Mr. Mueller's investigation, the more I believe that there is truth to potential blackmail that Mr. Putin has over Mr. Trump. After all, Mr. Dershowitz helped O.J. Simpson receive a "Not Guilty" verdict. Yet, how many people still believe that O.J. Simpson is innocent of murder?
Once all the facts come out from the Mueller investigation, let the American voter decide for themselves how vulnerable Mr. Trump is to blackmail from Mr. Putin.
541
Hopefully we will be able to rid ourselves of Mr. Trump before the next election. He is failing to protect us from Russian attacks on our elections and that is treason in the face of cyberwar. We need a President who will protect us from the Russians and any other country that attacks us.
30
While I also believe that Mr. Mueller's investigation has merit, the fact that Alan Dershowitz was an advisor to the Simpson legal team indicates nothing about his judgement or integrity. A defense lawyer is not required to believe in the innocence of his/her client.
Dershowitz has no moral compass and it is so obvious that he is looking for a place on Trump’s legal team to fatten his own wallet.
4
Separate and apart from anybody’s political beliefs, when Mr Brennan speaks, it only means one thing: news and views directly from the CIA.
50
Real patriots, as in Mr. Brennan, speak truth to power. John McCain is a true patriot. So called patriots, as in most Republicans, speak nonsense to cameras. There's a Russian mole in the White House and it's obvious to everyone except to most Republicans.
156
The headlines should read, "Russia Wins Cold War, Trump Elected President."
TRUMP: “For the record, I have zero investments in Russia.”
Jul 26, 2016: Trump’s tweet.
DONALD TRUMP JR.: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.
We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
2008: Donald Trump Jr. quoted by eTurboNews a real-estate trade publication.
170
What a bloody mess.
Well people are being interrogated,
And though i was too young for Watetgate, how long did the
evidence take then? It's possible dragging the defense of
Manafort and his associates is the reason why questions of
Evidence are arrising but for how long must we hear
There is nothing or 'something'? ... let me guess..
Manafort's & associates plea deal.. by then we'll know lol
7
Waiting for an orderly overthrow of the President is long and irritating, but that is the way with lawful government. BTW, I was alive for the Watergate hearings and I can tell you they went on forever, at least it seemed that way. The wheels of justice drive slowly .....
22
I was in high school for Watergate. It dragged on for what seemed like forever. The hearings were always on the TV. I was not a political junkie but I knew it was important. I can only guess but Mueller has at least ten times (a hundred?) the material to wade through that Watergate encompassed. I fully believe the occupant of 1600 Penn was put there by subversive and illegal means and will be ousted eventually. I hope his empire crumbles.
Almost as obsessed then as I am now, I watched the Watergate hearings every day, start to finish. Republicans at that time were willing, albeit reluctantly, to keep open minds about what their president may have done, and when multiple witnesses and evidence proved the tampering and cover-up, those Republicans had the decency and courage to speak truth to power and tell their president his behavior was unacceptable.
Today, despite harsh words--but no action--from a tiny handful of congressional Republicans, we see the House hearings made a sleazy joke by its Republican chairman Nunes. Compared to the Tip O'Neill/Howard Baker hearings? No, there is no comparison.
The current Republican Congress reminds me far more of the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, except that instead of finding a communist under every bed, today's Republicans are closing their eyes and ears to the communists cavorting in a bed of rumpled wet sheets with Trump and Javanka.
Keep talking, Donnie. You dig yourself in deeper with every guilt-laden tweet.
66
Reading Dershowitz's absurd linked piece in The Hill, one wonders if Trump has anything on him?
35
Alan Dershowitz has also defended Netanyahu.
63
OJ and Netanyahu - why not add Trump to that sterling list?
2
While it's always nice to read something incriminating about "David Dennis", could anything be more apparent than the theme of this article? What is surprising is that the president, who is actually an experienced con man, is so blatant. He is like a first grader with chocolate on his lips expecting no one to notice he's gotten into the candy before dinner. The other surprise is how effective the alt right and other republicans have been at creating "news" that can keep 40% of our population continuing to support DD. How is this liar-in-chief still in office. Part of the answer is this: Trump is a symptom, he's a problem but not THE problem. How about an article on that?
165
Bingo!
2
Those articles on the problem that Trump is a symptom of will come out *after* Trump is deposed. More interesting ahead, I expect.
Something is most definitely rotten in Denmark.
For whatever reason (and God knows I don’t really want to ponder why!), Trump fears Putin. Somebody knows something. . .
51
This is coming from a place of fear - either of the Truth or...well, I guess I'm not sure what else
17
D'uh! I wish they'd left the pee tape out. Trump bugs his own hotel rooms and surely as stupid as he is he wouldn't have gone there. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/christopher-steele-the-man...
"Steele’s sources claimed that the F.S.B. could easily blackmail Trump, in part because it had videos of him engaging in “perverted sexual acts” in Russia. The sources said that when Trump had stayed in the Presidential suite of Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, in 2013, he had paid “a number of prostitutes to perform a ‘golden showers’ (urination) show in front of him,” thereby defiling a bed that Barack and Michelle Obama had slept in during a state visit. The allegation was attributed to four sources, but their reports were secondhand"
"More significant, in hindsight, than the sexual details were claims that the Kremlin and Trump were politically colluding ... Russians were described as having cultivated Trump and traded favors with him “for at least 5 years.”"
[more detail about why it was all included and what "raw" intelligence is at the link]
But Trump's finances, his bankruptcies, his collaboration with the Mafia and the Russian mob, his only bank Deutschebank which has been caught money laundering, his illegal actions with authorities in New York City? That's all a matter of record; once it's all put together surely even Trumpians could acknowledge that here goes a liar, a cheat, a bully, and a conman.
65
Clearer and more explicit on the lurid distraction, this:
"(In “Russian Roulette,” Corn and Isikoff report that Steele would tell colleagues his confidence in the Ritz-Carlton story was “fifty-fifty.” He treated everything in the dossier as raw intelligence material—not proven fact.)"
Other material was not as dubious ... particularly the financial, some of which Mueller has in his files from a case they didn't prosecute in New York City.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-trump-trip-to-las-vegas-adds-...
9
That was during the Miss U pageant. There is quite a list of tRump cheating on his wives and paying hush money through friends to shut his paramours up with non-disclosure "agreements" (more like unconscionable contracts of adhesion).
By 2013, His Portliness was 65 and probably had fallen to having to pay in advance.
Leopards don't change their spots.
But I don't think that's really what it's about, because clearly his base supporters don't care.
Looks like it's the money - and its laundering, allowing criminals to invest in $500,000 tRump condos and procure green cards.
2
Yes, but Trumpians won't acknowledge the truth about Trump, because that means they will have to admit THEY were wrong, and they are like him, in that they never will admit that.
1
If there's Internet access in the dustbin of history then Trump's stupid, harmful tweets will continue to pour out from there, unfortunately. Twitter, like Facebook, is a useful and compliant tool in the hands of demagogues and damage-doers. There doesn't seem to be any effective counteractant.
14
Not defending Trump and his odious actions at all, but John Brennan was a mafioso-like public servant who did lasting damage to the US when he was in the CIA. He was heavily involved in torture of terror suspects (or in Brennan's slimy double-talk "enhanced interrogation tactics"), and since he was fired by Trump he has been leaking damaging classified info like a sieve. Brennan is the worst of the CIA, and folks should beware of him when he dispenses moral lessons about Donald Trump or anybody else.
48
Do you have documentation that backs up your allegations?.......or, are you just another alligator in the swamp?
4
What are you talking about? Trump did not fire Brennan.
3
Beg to differ. You are defending Mr. Trump. You are aiding his demonization of our own intelligence agencies. You are furthering his lie that leakers are the problem.
mpound wrote:
"Not defending Trump and his odious actions at all, but John Brennan was a mafioso-like public servant who did lasting damage to the US when he was in the CIA. He was heavily involved in torture of terror suspects (or in Brennan's slimy double-talk "enhanced interrogation tactics"), and since he was fired by Trump he has been leaking damaging classified info like a sieve. Brennan is the worst of the CIA, and folks should beware of him when he dispenses moral lessons about Donald Trump or anybody else."
1
Trump knows that even if he makes it to November without an indictment that he is likely to be neutered by a bigly re-shaped Congress. Expect him to behave more and more irrationally between now and then. Of course Russia "has something on him." The real problem is that his base doesn't care, and elected Republicans are more interested in self-preservation and monitary enrichment than they are in serving their country.
130
Mr. Brennan should just be quiet. Given his fairly strong left winged political views, he did admit to voting for Gus Hall in the 1970s, his constant beating of the partisan political drums only further politicizes the reputation of our intelligence community. ENOUGH, Mr. Brennan. Isn't it time you went and joined some lefty activist group and show your true colors? I say this being no fan of Trump's but think that much of Washington DC is going off the rails with such over the top blindly polarizing and politicizing behavior. Go home John, go home!!
30
Which means, I suppose, that, as usual for such assertions, the opposite is true--
SDF wrote:
"... I say this being no fan of Trump's ..."
2
Well, Brennan can't be both mound's "mafioso-like public servant" who tortured terrorists AND sdf's "strong left winged" partisan.
I don't think the NYT would make both comments "picks" if these were trolls, but who knows? Is this an attempt to be even-handed, or has Cambridge Analytica infiltrated the NYT Comments sections, too?
7
That's absurd.
A democracy can only thrive when you have serious, respectful debates among people who disagree.
Nobody should "just be quiet" simply because of his or her political affiliation. Political (or religious) affiliation can never justify the rejection of that person's arguments and opinions.
The only way to refute an opinion you dislike, is to come up with arguments that prove that opinion to be wrong. Attacking the messenger never convinced anyone, remember?
And by the way, "politicizing behavior" is EXACTLY that: refusing to take an opinion seriously simply because you disagree or because you dislike the political affiliation of the person proposing it.
It's only when you forget this basic fact that you can start to believe that "Washington DC is going off the rails" with "blindly polarizing", rather than to understand that only ONE political party (and its propaganda machines) has been committing this kind of democracy undermining behavior for years and years already now ...
6
Mr Dershowitz is an expert on how to get away with criminal behavior, not proving someone’s innocence.
85
He also, apparently, doesn't know how to spell (it's "counsel," not "council").
1
Harvard only hires the best, don’t they?
“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” Mr. Brennan wrote.
Wow, if that doesn't sum up the situation (one can only hope), I don't know what does.
80
I think we can un-safely say that Putin has both the financial and the sexual Kompromat on Trump. #45's latest phone call is just his way of "checking in," a "sitrep" letting Putin know that Trump is definitely still in Putin's camp, and will do nothing to upset him. Which would be fatal for Trump, of course. All this is so obvious, it's pathetic, though no true pathos deserved here by any of these scoundrels and traitors.
44
How could Putin *not* have something on Trump? What else explains the slavish devotion, the refusal to say a bad word, the constant, monotonous deflection and kowtowing before this most dangerous authoritarian thug who poisons enemies everyone else has long since forgotten about?
Things happen for a reason. Anomalies do get figured out. The observable universe of politics has real causes. I have faith that Mueller's careful team of top-notch experts will figure it out, no matter how many times POTUS shouts squirrel! squirrel!
36
From The Guardian, July 31, 2014:
"As reports emerged Thursday that an internal investigation by the Central Intelligence Agency’s inspector general found that the CIA “improperly” spied on US Senate staffers when researching the CIA’s dark history of torture, it was hard to conclude anything but the obvious: John Brennan blatantly lied to the American public. Again.
“The facts will come out,” Brennan told NBC News in March after Senator Dianne Feinstein issued a blistering condemnation of the CIA on the Senate floor, accusing his agency of hacking into the computers used by her intelligence committee’s staffers. “Let me assure you the CIA was in no way spying on [the committee] or the Senate,” he said."
So Brennan known to be a liar. His present remark is admittedly only speculation. But The Times chooses to treat it as big news, worthy of a major headline. The Times is shameless.
3
You call Brennan a liar? As opposed to Trump? Politico has to keep track of Trump's lies in a spreadsheet!
I'll match Brennan's integrity against Trump any day. Brennan cares about the country, Trump cares about himself.
1
Would anyone think that a draft dodging, debt dodging, philanderer, who brags about sexual assault might have been compromised by the KGB?
Nah, never.
He is far too morally upstanding a citizen to have been caught in a compromising position, like paying $130,000 to a porn star for her silence.
64
With all the stuff we already know about this "man," I am sure that Russia has something on him. That why we have to let Mueller do his job, and expose this criminal for what he really is: a cheat, a liar, and a traitor. Lock him up!
21
Alan Dershowitz another media hound like trump.
33
Nora--He represented, and freed, the murderer O.J. Simpson. That is his main claim to fame. What would you expect from a person like this?
1
Did Dershowitz include the misspelling of "Counsel"?
22
Trump official policy on Russia can be explained in a single word, "Kompromat".
Forget the sanctions mandated by Congress. Trump acted on those with the "least harm" principle, adding only those Russians already under indictment or sanction.
Forget the expanding facts surrounding the 2016 election cyber interference by the Russians. Trump's response is to propose cyber security cooperation with the Russians.
Forget the attacks on US positions in Syria by Russian mercenaries. Trump, Kushner and Eric Prince have pursued a secret communication channel with the Russians to evade US intelligence survellience, claiming a desire to coordinate military policy in Syria with the Russians.
And forget any other recent aggressions by Russia, poisonings, threats of nuclear destabilizing and Heaven (and Mueller) only knows what international financial corruption. Trump responds by congratulating Putin on his fraudulent re-election, with over 2,000 irregularities reported by observers.
And GOP Congressional policy is a different single word, "appeasement", hoping Trump won't turn his supporters against them in 2018 midterms.
Welcome to America in 2018, an utter Constitutional breakdown in process.
48
Dershowitz is a right-wing hack. Even if Trump was capable of quoting his correctly, his take on matters aren't worth listening to.
Meetings with Russians, four guilt please = probable cause.
37
It may seem to all that the Special Counsel's investigation is taking a long time only because we live in a world of instant gratification, where we live for the next tweet. I appreciate that Mr. Mueller is being deliberative and by the book. It gives me confidence that whatever he concludes, it will be right and properly, legally. I will wait.
327
Eve--Besides, there is SO MUCH evidence, and it all has to be verified, organized, and put in presentable order. Takes a looong time to get that done. I'll wait.
5
I agree that Mueller has to take the time to put together a proper case but it is very hard to wait as we see the destruction this "president" and his cohorts are wreaking on this country every day.
2
Fair point - but Mueller’s working at lightening speed.
3
Thank you for this, Mr. Brennen, "“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” Mr. Brennan wrote."
It can't happen soon enough for me.
594
'Mr. Trump has consistently called the investigation into Russia’s meddling a “hoax.”'
----
The vast majority of Americans understand what the real hoax is:
Donald Trump swearing to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Hail to the Matryoshka-Doll-In-Chief, Vladimir Putin's little American pawn.
Vote in record numbers on November 6 2018, America.
And donate to any of these worthy voter registration organizations to help overthrow the right-wing coup d'etat and Trumpian assault on America:
https://www.rockthevote.org/donate/
https://www.usvotefoundation.org/donate
https://www.voterparticipation.org/support-our-work/donate-to-vpc/
https://voteriders.salsalabs.org/donate/index.html
384
Thank you for suggesting voter registration organizations!
22
Socrates--Thanks, I did just that, a moment ago. I hope everyone will help with a small donation. It's tax deductible, I believe,
5
Mr. Dershowitz has made a fortune successfully defending some of the most prominent criminals in modern US history. If he is defending you odds are good that you are 1) extremely rich, and 2) almost certainly guilty. So no doubt he sees Trump as an ideal customer and is using Twitter to make overtures offering his services for what he may predict to be America's next great criminal trial. Of course if Alan Dershowitz could keep OJ Simpson and Claus von Bülow on the streets, maybe he's just the man for Trump. But as much as Trump may love retweeting Dershowitz's Twitter defense of him, if he had any sense he'd realize having Dershowitz come to his aid is actually a very, very bad sign.
1145
There's no question Dershowitz is begging Trump for a job just as he did in the OJ case. Sadly, Dershowitz is as enslaved by his ego as Trump is. I suspect he will be hired before the snow stops falling in New York.
9
Re: "...Of course if Alan Dershowitz could keep OJ Simpson and Claus von Bülow on the streets, maybe he's just the man for Trump..."
...Precisely!
6
If you are mentioning unsavory Dershowitz clients, how can you not mention Jeffrey Epstein, who had a history of trafficking in underage girls and a social friend of our president? Trump may hire the best people, but his social contacts leave something to be desired.
6
Yep, Russia has something on Trump. That has to be the conclusion of anybody closely following the saga. The big question is WHAT DO THEY HAVE ? That’s what keeps me reading the sad news. When will we learn what Russia has? Reality TV as reality! It would be great fun if trump (I won’t capitalize his name) were not trashing so many good things in the U.S. of A.
60
USA today A year agohad an article
naming Russian oligarchs in Putin’s circle, Including his bank, who are investors in a number of trumps construction syndicants. So it’s possible he has received payment, or owes Putin money. Usually our presidents wait to be paid off during their presidency or shortly there after our Reagan’s trip to Japan. One question I have is why didn’t the New York Times and other media Note Biden and Carrie’s sons doing business with China won their dad’s or an office in negotiating various things with China?
2
Sooner or later, we'll find out that Putin was blackmailing and was willing to compromise not only his office, but the entire country to protect himself.
85
I am not at all certain that Putin is overtly blackmailing Trump. Mostly because he has no need to do so. Trump is terrified of what Putin knows and can do, and what he has done to others in Putin's web who "crossed" him.
It is obvious. The way Trump is acting the Russians clearly have something on him. He has been compromised. Trump is also acting precisely like he is guilty of something. He is certainly not acting like an innocent person.
294
Would not be surprised if your contentions are correct.
Haven't seen evidence to date, however, buttressing them.
2
Also notice his lack of rant on the Stormy affair?
4
Wasn't Dershowitz one of OJ Simpson's lawyer? He has no credibility and neither Trump. Putin has goods on him and each time he talks to his boss (Putin) I am sure Trump is reminded. Trump is scared to death.
93
Voter for HRC here.
The credibility of an attorney has nothing to do with the crimes of his clients.
When facing charges, all defendants are guaranteed the right to counsel.
Constitutional rights can be so inconvenient for those who would waive due process.
Ms. Sullivan's report along with Mr. Friedman's article this morning put the pieces together for us. Trump fears Putin who has a endless bag of KGB tricks he is never reluctant to apply whenever he feels like it. Revenge. Power. Is all Putin knows and Trump is doing his best to emulate him while fearing his model.
Thanks for the great reports and thanks to Mr. Brennan. You have articulated what many of us suspect.
It is no wonder why the "failing" NYT readership is up.
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It is certainly likely that the Russians have dirt on DJT. However unless they have evidence of DJT committing a murder or absolute proof of his treason, they have nothing that any reasonable American doesn't already know to a near certainty. His disgraceful behaviors have been on public display for over 50 years, and I'm sure the Russians know even more! I do wonder what that knowledge really is.
My best guess is that Trump has been walking a tightrope with a safety tether in the hands of Mr. Putin who can yank him any time he fails to comply. I guess Kudos go to Mr. Putin for winning his "election" as well as ours.
46
They "may have something".
That's what tends to happen when you're a failed businessman, six times bankrupt, not able to get any loans from any American banks because of your poor business record and long string of litigious actions as a way to win business.
You're forced to turn to some of the worst human beings on the planet, drug dealers, human traffickers, arms dealers all cloaking themselves as oligarchs, to get loans to keep your companies afloat.
They "may have something" is what happens when you deal with people like that when you have no where else to turn.
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I wonder if Trump could pass the same background test that Kushner failed?
1
How would it look any different if Trump was a proven Russian stooge?
He'd still be kissing up to Putin, dismantling American security agencies and undermining America's role on the world stage. He'd be busy upending years of careful diplomacy and de-stabilising democracy around the world.
40
The problem is that for years and years, Fox News has told its audience that that was EXACTLY what Obama and Democrats did and wanted to do.
It's this kind of fake news that has now made many GOP voters totally immune to reality, as they imagine that once US presidents are capable of selling out the US to our enemies, then at least it might be better to have a "conservative" president doing so...
The main culprit here is Fox News and the GOP, who've completely brainwashed at least one third of the American people. All that Putin had to do was to find a corrupt and failed businessman who had had enough acting classes to continue the lies all while seeming to "say what he feels", and then the dismantling of this great democracy could be taken to the highest possible level.
It's Putin who's is the real "closer" here, certainly not Trump, who's merely taking advantage of the extremely dangerous situation the US already found itself in after he started to run for president.
5
Brennan really should have used smaller words if he wants Trump to understand what he's saying. Venality and turpitude sound bad to us, but perhaps not to Trump.
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Thank you for standing up, Mr. Brennan.
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Of course that is that little issue of lying to congress. Then again 2014 is so long ago and he has rehabilitated himself by coming clean. James Clapper another liar is someone else who requires rehab.
1
I may have a pink unicorn in my bedroom. The media's facination with speculation is out of control.
5
Did the unicorn sign an NDA?
15
Well, if the people you hire are constantly carrying boxes labeled "P_nk U_icor_ Fo-d" in and out of your bedroom, while other associates have a long history of corrupt dealings with the Pinkski Unicorni Farmski, and others show up with strange little pink hairs all over their sportcoats, I'd suspect you just may.
22
Hilarious! Thank you.
This affair of Trump and Putin has reached a point of absolute absurdity. Why must we retain an unfit, dangerous, pathological liar who is clearly compromised by Putin and the Russians with whom he has sought business with for years? Congress, stop enabling this sick man occupying our White House. He must be removed so that we can get back control of our government.
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Congress is in on it. Ryan's famous "we're a family" here remarks to other congressmen gossiping about Russian connections; Nones running around like a mashugina trying to cover things up; the NRA laundering Russian money in the GOP's coffers. It's not just moral turpitude on the part of the GOP's leadership — they're trying to cover their a**es for their complicity.
8
"Special Council"? Not "COUNSEL"? And not even a "[sic]" in the article.
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It has been suggested that Mr. Trump is but marginally literate. "I don't read. I watch the shows," he boasts.
4
If the Russian intelligence service didn't spring a honey trap for Trump during the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, they were not doing their jobs. And Trump would have fallen into it, surely.
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Indeed!
19
honey traps? who cares about honey traps. There is much more, I am sure.
3
Possibly Mr. Nunes too, given his strange behavior; lengths he's been willing to go to carry water for Mr. Trump. Years ago I observed when some people are guilty---they are quick to get angry to deflect what's coming next.
3
Dershowitz is a hired gun, so will say or write anything that gets him money and attention. He is just like Trump in this regard. The crucial item in Trump's behavior is that Trump never attacks Putin. Never. This tells me that Putin has something that worries Trump. It could be loans from Russians who are Putin's friends. Or it could be a tape. I do not know. But whatever it is, Trump is aftraid.
600
Dershowitz is certainly a megalomaniac and needs attention, but I don’t know that he’s a hired gun here. He suspect he sees weighing in on the various Trump/Russia controversies in a manner supportive of Trump as his last best chance to get a Supreme Court appointment when a vacancy arises. He may well be a good Sup. Ct. candidate, but he can do a lot of damage between here and there.
4
It could be loans from Russians who are Putin's friends. Or it could be a tape.
Or both. But after the Access Hollywood tapes failed to sink his presidential bid, I think he's much more worried about the $$. His entire real estate "empire" could be ruined, and he could end up owing some very nasty people money he can't pay back. Gas attack, anyone?
13
He may also be compromised himself about his "affiliation" with teenaged girls.
9
Teflon Don is showing some scratches. May Mueller and the media continue scouring away at his filthy character. Over time and constant exposure things begin to stick.
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Trump has personally attacked every person who has tried to shed light on Russia's interference with our election and the relationship the Trump organization and his hangers on have cultivated with Russia. Trump has done nothing to defend us, prepare us, or protect us from future cyberattacks. He is so venal as to wittingly make every American vulnerable to attack.
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It's the job of Congress to write laws to protect Americans from having their votes stolen. They have been uncharacteristically quiet, too. Maybe something on them, too?
7
Well, that sure took a CIA director to figure out.
38
Oh God, Dershowitz? Wasn't he the guy who defended Simpson? He is always trying to get into the news no matter what the topic. Now trump is apparently misquoting him. What a circus.
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Oh my god, can we PLEASE get this over with? Save us, Mr. Putin! Please let your cats out of the bag! (Never thought I'd utter those words.)
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" John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director, speculated that the Russians “may have something on him personally,” referring to Mr. Trump."
Gee. Ya think?
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