Collusion: WSJ: GOP Operative Sought Clinton Emails From Hackers, Implied a Connection to Flynn

[MelissaB]

GOP Operative Sought Clinton Emails From Hackers, Implied a Connection to Flynn

Peter W. Smith portrayed the former general as an ally in an effort, independent of the Trump campaign, to find personal emails deleted by Hillary Clinton


By Shane Harris
June 29, 2017 5:14 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Before the 2016 presidential election, a longtime Republican opposition researcher mounted an independent campaign to obtain emails he believed were stolen from Hillary Clinton’s private server, likely by Russian hackers.

In conversations with members of his circle and with others he tried to recruit to help him, the GOP operative, Peter W. Smith, implied he was working with retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, at the time a senior adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump.

“He said, ‘I’m talking to Michael Flynn about this—if you find anything, can you let me know?’” said Eric York, a computer-security expert from Atlanta who searched hacker forums on Mr. Smith’s behalf for people who might have access to the emails.

Emails written by Mr. Smith and one of his associates show that his small group considered Mr. Flynn and his consulting company, Flynn Intel Group, to be allies in their quest.

More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-operative-sought-clinton-emails-from-hackers-implied-a-connection-to-flynn-1498770851

This may be the most explosive story to date.



Collusion: “We told all the groups to give them to WikiLeaks,”

[MelissaB]

1. another snip...

Those investigators have examined reports from intelligence agencies that describe Russian hackers discussing how to obtain emails from Mrs. Clinton’s server and then transmit them to Mr. Flynn via an intermediary, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the intelligence.

[emulatorloo]

2. Kick for the Greatest Page

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Hope Murdoch's rag ain't putting out fake news

but none of this would surprise me.

[GallopingGhost]

4. Have you ever bought one of those

adult dot-to-dot books? The kind with the extremely intricate designs that take a long time and lots of concentration to complete?

That's the analogy that comes to my mind.

When all the dots are finally connected, it's going to one hell of a puzzle.

[Skittles]

16. I was looking at one of those the other day

are they fun to do?

[GallopingGhost]

17. They really are!

I've liked dot-to-dot ever since I was a kid, but what's fun about the adult version is seeing if you can complete them without lifting the pen or pencil from the page. And they look really cool when they're done.

[Skittles]

18. OK then I will get one

they have some at Half-Priced books

I think it may be something I could do while I am stuck on conference calls waiting for "my part" - I know I could draw lines and listen at the same time.

[GallopingGhost]

19. I think you'll like it.

The next one I'm doing is an intricate Taj Mahal.

Let me know how it goes!

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Trump

There has to be a smoking gun out there. If only Trump when he was campaigning would have explicitly asked on camera that Hillary be hacked.

Trump is literally in camera colluding.

[gratuitous]

6. General Flynn? Buy yourself a bucket of yellow paint

Time to start singing like a canary, buddy.

[MelissaB]

7. Favorite gif

Link to tweet

[pnwmom]

8. ***The "operative" has died since speaking to the Journal. ***

according to the account of this in The Hill.

I hope it was a natural death.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/340166-gop-investigation-sought-connection-between-clintons-emails-and-russia

[MelissaB]

9. What!?! Can you link to that?

[pnwmom]

10. Just did. n/t

[MelissaB]

11. Holy shit! Thanks for that.

[pnwmom]

12. Here's more.

He died 10 days after the interview . . . at the age of 81.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-operative-peter-smith-claimed-flynn-ties-in-effort-to-obtain-clinton-emails

Peter W. Smith reached out to computer security experts in the hopes of gaining access to the email trove and explicitly outlined his connection with Flynn in his recruiting emails, according to the report.

Smith, who died at the age of 81 just 10 days after the Journal interviewed him, told the newspaper that he never explicitly said that Flynn was involved with the project. Flynn and the White House did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment, and a Trump campaign representative said Smith had no involvement in the campaign.

In one recruiting email reviewed by the newspaper, Smith said Flynn’s son, Michael G. Flynn, was helping with the effort. In another, Jonathan Safron, a law student who worked for Smith, included Flynn’s consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, at the top of a list of websites of people working with the team.

“He said, ‘I’m talking to Michael Flynn about this—if you find anything, can you let me know?’” Eric York, one computer security expert who said he searched hacker forums on Smith’s behalf to try to dig up the emails, told the Journal.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

13. so this is about the son and not the father?

[pnwmom]

15. The consulting firm was owned by Michael, Sr., but they both might have been involved. n/t

[NastyRiffraff]

14. Smith has quite a history as an operative

(begin quote)Smith, a Chicago investment banker, has had his hand in previous messy political dealings involving the Clintons. During the 1990s, he helped subsidize a large-scale effort led by conservative donors to procure and publish damaging information about then-President Bill Clinton.

The Texas Observer reported at the time that Smith spent “$80,000 on private detectives and to subsidize American Spectator reporters in a hunt for the black baby that Clinton was rumored to have sired.”

He was a collaborator on what came to be known as the “Arkansas Project,” in addition to multimillionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, its main funder, and David Brock, then a reporter for the Spectator. Brock has since become one of the Clintons’ most ardent public defenders.(end quote)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-operative-peter-smith-claimed-flynn-ties-in-effort-to-obtain-clinton-emails