Originally posted by GGG
I do believe Trump's organization is involved in a collusion or partnership with Russia.
Depends on what you class as 'collusion' I guess - VVP's never explicitly said it, but it's an open secret that the Russian leadership preferred Trump over Hillary due to her insanely aggressive policy toward them. I've not seen any credible evidence that the Russian government manipulated the 2016 US elections in any way - the only properly documented accusation is that divisive campaign ads were purchased on facebeak from Russian IP addresses, but that doesn't prove the buyers were Russian (could've potentially been VPN or proxy users), let alone Russian government. All of the arrests I'm aware of under the Mueller investigation have been for corruption and bribery or not fully complying with the investigation; none indicate a pattern of pro-Russian subterfuge. Flynn, for example simply talked to a Russian diplomat before he was officially signed in (it would've been his job) and failed to tell Pence about it.
The US establishment had been ramping up aggression against Russia even before Trump, and for his part he's been trying to roll it back - ramping up cold-war rhetoric and simultaneously closing down embassies and lines of communication (specifically over Ukraine/Crimea from memory) is an extremely dangerous course of action, allowing for minimal deconfliction and setting the stage for minor misunderstandings to escalate into serious political (or even kinetic) conflicts. This is one of the few things I think he deserves the highest praise for... The way the media and political establishment go to town implying, if not outright saying, that he's a traitor just for discussing current events directly with VVP is quite literally insane.
I don't believe this is evidence of it. This is evidence of witness tampering, which Trump has done by instructing Cohen to pay off people who were going to spill the beans on his misappropriation of campaign funds.
I'm not aware of this. Got a source?
I don't think we're going to see the Russia collusion be anything like 'Trump knew they were tampering with the election.' It's more like shifty financial investments and partnerships that will be tied to his organization but possibly not to Trump himself. Don't forget that Manafort was wired millions on the day he began working for Trump. I believe he has most to hide. Russia tampered with US elections (and others) all on their own.
Wasn't Manafort on the payroll for the coup-imposed government in Ukraine? I thought that's what got him done. As for Russia 'tampering with US elections', feel free to cite how. I've been through a
lot of claims and not found a single reliable one.
Russia benefits simply by causing chaos and diverting attention away from the middle east/Ukraine/Crimea.
Russia is trying to draw attention TO the Middle East, Ukraine and Crimea.
They're regularly pointing out how the US/SDF has no legal reason to be in Syria as well as posing questions as to how ISIS is able to survive inside SDF-occupied zones while ostensibly being targeted by the world's most powerful air force. They're (through media such as RT and SPUTNIK) telling people that US policies against Iran are ineffective and self-destructive and need to be rethought. OH, and let's not forget the recent chlorine gas attacks on Aleppo, launched via mortar from within Idlib. The western media has been almost completely silent on this matter because there is absolutely no way they could twist it to blame Assad this time, Russia and Syria's calls for a full investigation falling on dead ears.
They're regularly pointing out that huge sections of the army and 'volunteer-battalions' in the Ukraine fly NSDAP battle flags and carry out attempts at ethnic cleansing, that they're continuously provoking the Russian navy (and fishermen) in the Black Sea and that they're regularly committing serious crimes against the breakaway Eastern regions with the US and NATO turning a blind eye.
They haven't bothered putting Crimea in the spotlight much in the last few months, but up until (and just after) the bridge connecting it to the Russian Mainland was completed they were constantly comparing Crimea's industry and standard of living to how abysmal it was under Ukrainian stewardship.
They're trying to create a precedent of being allowed to act freely in spite of any agreements.
LOL, I hope you're not serious here. What agreements have Russia broken recently?
In contrast, the US has unilitarally withdrawn from the JCPOA (which was illegal under international law considering it was agreed upon by several member-states and officially ratified by the UN), and not only that but is attempting to force the other signatories (who are still attempting to abide by the agreement) to abide by the unilateral sanctions on Iran the US has since re-applied.
They're also set to withdraw from the INF and the newSTART missile treaties, spuriously accusing Russia of breaking them when in actual fact they've been deploying static 'anti-ICBM interceptors' that can also fire cruise missiles all over Western Europe. It's also been pointed out that several months prior to the US accusations, the Pentagon released tenders for the development of midrange (500-1000km) cruise missiles - indicating that they're already developing new missiles in violation of the INF, and that the accusation that Russia is doing so is just a smokescreen so that they can withdraw from the INF without appearing to be at fault.
At this point, no sovereign country can sign an agreement of any kind with the US and expect them to honour it.
