Report: Trump considering ousting Priebus, Bannon
By Max Greenwood - 04/07/17 09:02 AM EDT

President Trump is considering ousting both White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen Bannon, Axios reported on Friday.

Aides and advisers to the president told Axios that, while Trump is considering a major shakeup in the West Wing, it's not clear when it would happen or if Trump will "pull that trigger."

"Things are happening, but it's very unclear the president's willing to pull that trigger," one top aide said.

Bannon emerged as one of Trump's closest — and most controversial — aides before the president took office. In the early days of his presidency, Trump elevated Bannon to a position on the National Security Council's (NSC) principals committee, and the former Breitbart executive was said to hold considerable influence with the president.

More: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/327757-report-trump-considering-ousting-priebus-bannon

Kushner Omitted Meeting With Russians on Security Clearance Forms

By JO BECKER and MATTHEW ROSENBERG
April 6, 2017

When Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, sought the top-secret security clearance that would give him access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets, he was required to disclose all of his encounters with foreign government officials over the last seven years.

But Mr. Kushner omitted any mention of dozens of contacts he has had with foreign leaders or officials in recent months. They include a December meeting with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, and another with the head of a Russian state-owned bank, Vnesheconombank, which was arranged at the behest of Mr. Kislyak.

The omissions, which Mr. Kushner’s lawyer described as an error, are particularly sensitive given the continuing congressional and F.B.I. investigations into contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. The Senate Intelligence Committee informed the White House weeks ago that as part of its inquiry, it planned to question Mr. Kushner about the meetings he arranged with Mr. Kislyak, including the one with Sergey N. Gorkov, a graduate of Russia’s spy school who now heads Vnesheconombank.

Mr. Kushner’s omissions were described by people with direct knowledge of them who asked for anonymity because the questionnaire is not a public document.

Link: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/us/politics/jared-kushner-russians-security-clearance.html?referer=

The US warned the Russians ahead of Syria missile strikes: Official

The U.S. warned the Russians before launching at least 59 tomahawk missiles aimed at Syria, NBC News reported, citing a U.S. official.

The strikes, which hit an airfield near Homs, struck aircraft and infrastructure including the runway, NBC reported. There is no word on casualties yet, but no people were targeted, the official told NBC.

No Russian assets were targeted, according to the report.

Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, warned earlier Thursday of "negative consequences" if the U.S. carried out military strikes on Syria over the attack.

Link: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/06/the-us-warned-the-russians-ahead-of-syria-missile-strikes-official.html

C.I.A. Had Evidence of Russian Effort to Help Trump Earlier Than Believed

...snip

The classified briefings that the C.I.A. held in August and September for the so-called Gang of Eight — the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and the Senate and of the intelligence committees in each chamber — show deep concerns about the impact of the election meddling.

...snip

But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, resisted, questioning the underpinnings of the intelligence, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions. Mr. McConnell ultimately agreed to a softer version of the letter, which did not mention the Russians but warned of unnamed “malefactors” who might seek to disrupt the elections through online intrusion. The letter, dated Sept. 28, was signed by Mr. McConnell, Mr. Reid, Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the ranking Democrat.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/us/trump-russia-cia-john-brennan.html

The Spanish connection with Trump’s Russia scandal

Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia and investigated in Spain for money laundering, has infiltrated the US president’s circle

On February 1, Alexander Torshin, 63, a Russian politician and banker who is close to Vladimir Putin and whom the Spanish anti-corruption prosecutor and the Civil Guard define in their reports as a godfather from a notorious Russian mafia organization, had in his diary for the next day an appointment to meet in Washington with the world’s most powerful man: Donald Trump. The encounter was due to take place before an official and well-attended breakfast meeting, which Torshin attended as the head of a Russian delegation. The meeting was canceled that very night, according to sources from the White House, given the wave of criticism in the US press related to the influence of determined Russian circles in President Trump’s power teams. But the information reveals the heights to which this person, who has been investigated by the Spanish authorities, had reached in his rise to the upper echelons of the American leader’s circle.

Torshin, who is currently the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, has met with one of the children of the US president, has close links with the organization that provided the most money for Trump’s election campaign, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and attended the aforementioned breakfast that Donald Trump presided over in the White House in February.

...snip

The point of entry for Torshin to the upper echelons of US politics was the National Rifle Association (NRA), which is perhaps the most powerful lobby in the United States. The NRA invested more than $21 million in Trump’s election campaign, more than any other organization. According to the group’s official magazine, the NRA proclaimed itself to be “the key” to the Trump victory.

...snip

During that visit to Washington, Torshin did have dinner with two Republican congressmen. The date was February 1 in a French restaurant, according to an article published in Time magazine two weeks ago, and at which Maria Butina and a close friend of Trump White House strategist Stephen Bannon were also present.

More: http://elpais.com/elpais/2017/03/31/inenglish/1490984556_409827.html

Trump just said he has a secret plan to win. In reality, he has no strategy.
By Greg Sargent August 3, 2016

...snip

But now the full transcript of the interview is up, and I wanted to highlight another revealing tidbit, in which Trump essentially said he has a plan to win the presidency by putting unidentified states in play, and he isn’t going to reveal which states they are because he doesn’t want to tip his hand:

...snip

TRUMP: I think I’m going to to do great in Ohio, we’re going to do great in Pennsylvania, I think I’m going to do great in Florida and I think I’m going to do great in states that some people aren’t even thinking about. Because I’m different than Republican candidates, than other Republican candidates. I’ve got states that we can win that other Republican candidates wouldn’t even stop over for dinner.

RUCKER: Like what? Like Maine?

TRUMP: Well, I’d rather not say. Because why should I highlight it? But we have some states that I think are very competitive in that no Republican has ever been competitive in. But I’d rather not say what they are. Don’t you agree with that? I’d rather not say what they are.

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/03/trump-just-said-he-has-a-secret-plan-to-win-in-reality-he-has-no-strategy/?utm_term=.90da3b91092b

Here’s why Comey may have stayed silent on the Russia probe before we voted — and it should terrify Trump

...snip

According to a WhoWhatWhy exposé, published Thursday on AlterNet, the FBI declined to inform the U.S. public about ties between Trump and the Russian government for fear of exposing informants and “[jeopardizing] a long-running, ultra-sensitive operation targeting mobsters tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin — and to Trump.”

A two month-long investigation by the publication revealed that FBI agents likely feared exposing an ongoing operation against “an organized crime network headquartered in the former Soviet Union.” This Russian mob “is one of the Bureau’s top priorities,” spans several decades, and is intricately linked with associates of Trump and businesses the president owns.

As the report notes, federal officials were intent on protecting an FBI source—a convicted criminal with deep links to the organized crime network—upon whom the bureau came to rely for information. Some federal officials “were so involved in protecting this source” they later became a part of his personal defense counsel; upon his conviction government attorneys urged for “extreme leniency” toward this man.

The article further reveals that among the many details Comey was unable to discuss during his Mar. 20 testimony to Congress was the fact that “for more than three decades the FBI has had Trump Tower in its sights,” monitoring its occupants’ deep ties to organized crime networks. According to the report, one former Trump Organization adviser, Felix Sater, fits the bill for the FBI’s source into the Russia-based crime ring.

More: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/heres-why-comey-may-have-stayed-silent-on-the-russia-probe-before-we-voted-and-it-should-terrify-trump/

Alfa Bank, Trump Tower and a Social Media Impeachment
April 1, 2017 ~ patribotics

Here is my theory of how Donald Trump will be impeached, and scores of people around him jailed.

It wasn’t just money laundering – it was “data laundering”.

My theory is based on public reporting, to which I will link in the text. Here it is:

Alfa Bank is a front for Russian intelligence. Along with Dimitry Firtash, a Russian agent of influence, it owns Cambridge Analytica, the data targeting company used by Trump’s campaign. It also owns SCL, the propaganda company responsible for what has been termed “fake news” but was actually real propaganda co-ordinated by Russian intelligence.

Cambridge Analytica and SCL use Facebook data they had no right to acquire, illegally stolen by a Russian spy working at Cambridge, to build an unbeatable target database of propaganda.

Lots more to the story here: https://patribotics.blog/2017/04/01/alfa-bank-trump-tower-and-a-social-media-impeachment/