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Maria Butina arrested as a Russian Agent

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(@codyroo)
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(@kateinpdx)
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I will be curious to see how this story unfolds.  Hopefully, this will help show how in bed the NRA, as well as the current administration, are with Putin and his crew. 


   
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(@rosieheart)
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Here's a link to the complaint against here on the Department of Justice's website:   https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1080766/download

 

Worth reading.


   
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(@jeanne-mayell)
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I read about her last year.  Her whole schtick seemed to be sexualized and violent. She also seemed to be well funded.  So now Scott Walker is associated.  Also she has been involved with the California Republican Congressman Rohrabacher. 

Rohrabacher is the one House Majority Leader and California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy joked in closed door meeting with Paul Ryan and other Republicans  during July 2016, obtained and published by the Washington Post

"There are two people I think Putin pays: Trump and Rohrabacher."  When people laughed, McCarthy said, "No really!"  Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) cut off the conversation and swore those present to secrecy, saying that we keep it all "in the family."  

It all makes me think of someone's vision of Trump coming down the White House steps as blackness spreads from him.  And of course, that she is a Russian spy, as charged.


   
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(@rosieheart)
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Here's an article that appeared in Mother Jones in March 2018 about Butina.  It linked John Bolton, Dana Rohrabachauer, Paul Ericson and others related to Trump/GOP/NRA to Butina.

While I wouldn't call Mother Jones an unbiased source of information, if you read the indictment against her (link above) and then the March article, it is clear that they ticked off a number of important pieces in that article.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/trump-russia-nra-connection-maria-butina-alexander-torshin-guns/

Jeanne, I hope it is OK that I keep sharing all these articles.   Please let me know if it isn't.

 


   
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(@paul-w)
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Apparently there was a real gem buried in a supporting document -

'Within the email, U.S. Person 1 stated, “Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I’ve been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key POLITICAL PARTY 1 leaders through, of all conduits, the [GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION].” '

Translation; GOP leadership has a direct line to the Kremlin using the National Rifle Association.

 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/16/1781013/-Indictment-key-Republican-leaders-had-secure-back-channel-to-the-Kremlin-in-October-2016?detail=emaildkre

 


   
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(@zoron)
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And, U.S. Person 1 is apparently Paul Erickson.   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/us/politics/trump-russia-indictment.html.   Wonder who U.S. Person 2 is.


   
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(@laura-f)
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Rohrabacher is a horror.We're working hard to swing his district left this Fall.


   
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(@rosieheart)
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Posted by: Gracesinger

And, U.S. Person 1 is apparently Paul Erickson.   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/us/politics/trump-russia-indictment.html.   Wonder who U.S. Person 2 is.

Considering it is someone who could be swayed by being told  that a high ranking Kremlin official is "very much impressed by you" I have my suspicions.    ? 


   
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(@maria-d-white)
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So the interesting question now is how many of the Republican congressmen have been bought by the Russians...

 


   
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(@kateinpdx)
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I've been wondering that too Maria D White. I wonder if there's a large house cleaning about to happen. 


   
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 SDJ
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I sincerely hope (wish) there will be a house cleaning in Congress, as it is obvious that there are legislators who are clearly working for an adversarial government. They don't really try to hide it, or they assume that people can't see through them, which is probable. If someone came to me and said that a high ranking Kremlin official is "very much impressed by you," I would change every single thing about myself and behavior. I would dye my hair. I would give myself hard scrubs in the shower. No amount of money could turn me against my country. No attempt at flattery would work. I can't get my head around those who are in our government betraying this nation. What of anything would be enough to appease a traitor's mind? I find myself with dark thoughts alien to my character, lately. I try to send out something positive when I find myself slipping into the darkness, though. It's not always easy. 

Still, I don't have a whole lot of hope about any deep cleaning of Russian agents in our government. We are going to have to come to a true crisis. 2020 is going to have to be something absolutely unprecedented and terrible for us to move into an new era. I was fine with the US Constitution as it was. Well, except the part where women are not considered citizens or people (thank Scalia for that interpretation), but it seems that this document is going to come up for some fundamental changes. The fundamentals of us are going to change. The fundamentals of the world order. :( It will be different, so maybe more egalitarian for all the people in the US. The justice won't come for all. It just never does, and we all know that. 

Remember that there is a large segment of the population who doesn't see what is in front of them. Clapper and Hayden both wrote in their books that FOX News gets its talking points from Russian media. That is a powerful and mesmerizing influence. Hannity, in my honest opinion, is a Russian agent. Look at his world movements if you have any doubt. 

This latest show of the GOP's devotion to Putin and money isn't the crisis we're expecting. I am relieved that some things that had been obvious since the campaign cycle have finally come to light enough for people to say out loud what we always knew was happening right in front of us. I feel more relaxed about it even though it seems we are further away from peace than we were even then, but it has to get worse before it gets better. Just take a deep breath and do the work to make the new country we will have after 2020 a better place for everyone. Trust that a nuclear crisis will only stay within the world of words. Do the work to make it so. The future still belongs to us - not some fascist regime. We must spread the light. We must do it with love. I don't even know where to begin except to start it within ourselves and radiate outward. Hard work in hard times - and these aren't even the dark days. Remember this: this will come to an end, and we've got this. 


   
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(@mr-tj)
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I wondered about what, specifically, one can or should do beyond just seeking light and love.  It occurred to me, however, that in so doing, one is likely to gain insight, inspiration, etc. to tell us just that.  I agree that we have to start within.  Too many people seem to be in panic mode, severe depression, or some general state of helplessness.  Being ready by doing the inner work is the only sensible thing to do.  If people wait until the next major change - and that will happen - they could put themselves right back into this same mess (or a worse one). 


   
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(@rosieheart)
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The Maria Butina hearing in court this morning gave enough information that "Person 1" in the indictment has now been identified by many as Paul Erickson, a well-known Republican lobbyist from SD who has extensive ties within the NRA.    Maria Butina accompanied him as a guest at Trump's inauguration and back in December, the Senate Intelligence Committee asked him to provide documents (including an email to the Trump campaign) as part of the Committee's investigation into Russian interference in the elections.   

Here's an excellent article about him and his ties to both Republicans and the NRA from the Rapid City Journal (SD):

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/trump-putin-and-erickson-russia-probe-just-another-chapter-in/article_e9ed9038-3411-5112-86fa-f64bb0fa6549.html

Mr TJ, thank you for your post above.  Thanks to your suggestion,  I spent part of the afternoon in quiet meditation and prayer, and then I just enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.  Thanks!


   
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(@mr-tj)
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Thanks, but I would point out that SDJ got that ball rolling. 

 

 


   
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(@rosieheart)
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Posted by: Mr.TJ

Thanks, but I would point out that SDJ got that ball rolling. 

 

 

Yes, but your post came at just the right time for me.     We all build together.   : )


   
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 SDJ
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I have to admit that I had a small panicking episode when reading this article. We are infested. I was so baffled by the Republicans embracing Putin they way they did in 2016. I couldn’t get how they really loved him. It seemed sudden to me. I lived in a fox-free bubble of facts and decency. I had no idea that the fascist philosophy of Ivan Ilyin had blended with the Christian Right to become Christian Nationalism, or that they were so well connected inside our government. For more info on this read, “The Road to Unfreedom” by Timothy Snyder. It is better to know what we face than to just take guesses at it. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/opinion/maria-butina-putin-infiltration.html


   
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(@jeanne-mayell)
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This thread is powerful. Thank you for such thought-provoking posts.

So the interesting question now is how many of the Republican congressmen have been bought by the Russians... -- Maria White

The number 26 pops into my mind.

Last year, when various Republican congressmen started going out of their way to run interference for Trump, like Devin Nunes, and Jim Jordan, and the GOP leadership kept looking the other way, I started seeing (psychically) Russian money in their pockets.  I couldn't figure out how it was getting to them since political contributions have to be publicly disclosed, until we learned about the NRA payments. So there is one way it could be happening. In the mind of  lobbyists who are Russian agents, it doesn't seem different than the regular kind of lobbying. And for politicians who take the money, it doesn't seem different the usual political game of taking money from donors and promoting their issues in return. 

SDJ: I don't have a whole lot of hope about any deep cleaning of Russian agents in our government. We are going to have to come to a true crisis. 2020 is going to have to be something absolutely unprecedented and terrible for us to move into an new era.

SDJ, that was a a powerful post.  I agree that it's going to take more than Robert Mueller to drain the congressional swamp.  The GOP has always been about the money, and Russian takeover of the U.S. government via the GOP is the logical outcome. 

I don't think it's going to be a nuclear holocaust in 2020 that will cause the reset we need, but a major financial downturn in the U.S. could do it.  

I will soon set up another Read the Future night for late September.  I am looking forward to getting more insight then.

As we go darker, and frankly, Trump's press conference with Putin was the darkest hour this country has ever seen, I believe it is leading to a new beginning.   For many Americans, it was like cold water splashed in the face. For us in this community, I know for me, it was vindicating to see Trump show his true colors as someone promoting Putin. Although I still feel shock that it actually happened. 

 


   
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(@rosieheart)
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I am going to add something that may not be popular, but I would not be totally surprised if there are some Democrats who will be caught up in this before all is said and done.   After all, Manafort's consulting company had an arm that provided services to Democrats to help them get elected, and money drives both sides of the aisle.   Russia and evil forces both play the long game;  they don't limit themselves to just one side - they look for weak points that can be exploited where ever they might exist.   

For now, this seems to be just about Republicans (and certainly Trump), but there may be others who are connected to Russia collusion who are not Republicans.   Also, there may be people who are not in Congress but pull the strings from the sidelines who are involved.   

I keep going back to Rosenstein's saying last Friday that we shouldn't think of all of this as a Republican or Democrat issue, but as an American issue.        Cleaning things up will require that, I think.   

 


   
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(@laura-f)
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I agree Rosieheart.


   
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