# Leaked report of Russian blackmail of Trump **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 10, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846 "2017-01-10T23:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/621 "2017-02-15T19:20:21Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Oh, I think he knows. It’s just that his strategy for dealing with untoward events is the same as he’s always used; Bully people, call them names, threaten to sue, put them on the defensive. > > Trouble is, he is now trying this with all of the media, as well as all of the US intelligence agencies. > > Whoops. There’s that old saying about avoiding fights with people who buy ink by the barrel. In the campaign, he was able to vilify the media and the intel agencies to his voters and it worked. I think he fails to recognize that his most important constituency for the remainder of his term is congress, and they can’t ignore the mainstream media or the intelligence agencies. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/622 "2017-02-15T19:23:08Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Senators Graham and Corker are calling for an investigation into Trump’s contacts with Russia prior to the election. Graham also mentions investigating the leaks. I think I heard Sen. Blunt on the radio this morning also calling for an investigation. Two or three prominent Republican Senators wanting to investigate Trump… this could be a good sign. I hope that if this does come to pass, they subpoena his financial records. The thing is that even if Trump ignores a congressional subpoena to get his tax records they can just bypass him by subpoenaing the IRS instead. I suspect they may be able to get similar more detailed financial records by subpoenaing other groups to which he made required disclosures. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/623 "2017-02-15T19:39:20Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > There’s that old saying about avoiding fights with people who buy ink by the barrel. In the campaign, he was able to vilify the media and the intel agencies to his voters and it worked. I think he fails to recognize that his most important constituency for the remainder of his term is congress, and they can’t ignore the mainstream media or the intelligence agencies. Trump is still fighting the election; blathering on about Hillary, and how many votes he got, and how he really won the election even more bigly. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/624 "2017-02-15T19:39:27Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > What projects in Russia does Trump have? I guess we’ll never know. Those tax returns sure woulda helped. Oh well. Our bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/625 "2017-02-15T19:41:04Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I hope that if this does come to pass, they subpoena his financial records. The thing is that even if Trump ignores a congressional subpoena to get his tax records they can just bypass him by subpoenaing the IRS instead. I suspect they may be able to get similar more detailed financial records by subpoenaing other groups to which he made required disclosures. I do wonder if the NSA already knows the full information about the ownership of the recently sold Rosneft. That would be interesting to know. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/626 "2017-02-15T19:41:53Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Is Trump unable to grasp that there may be transcriptions of every phone call he has made over the past few years? It’s possible that this is all slowing dawning on him now, a la Truman Show, but I don’t know. A sane person would be sweating, staying quiet, and looking for the closest escape hatch, but this is Trump we’re talking about. He is likely is in denial, so he will continue to do things that mire him in deeper. Dude is probably on his phone right now blabbering to an asset, saying shit that is blatantly shady. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/627 "2017-02-18T03:27:20Z")
Is something [brewing?](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/17/politics/comey-russia-senate/). Also, David Frum tweeted earlier this evening: “Decoded: one or more of NYT, CNN or NBCNews has a very very damaging story in the pipeline …” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/628 "2017-02-18T04:31:07Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is something [brewing?](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/17/politics/comey-russia-senate/). > > Also, David Frum tweeted earlier this evening: “Decoded: one or more of NYT, CNN or NBCNews has a very very damaging story in the pipeline …” “Warner also said the committee has put in place a process to ensure the White House does not destroy documents lawmakers need for their investigation.” Hmmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/629 "2017-02-18T04:43:17Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is something [brewing?](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/17/politics/comey-russia-senate/). > > Also, David Frum tweeted earlier this evening: “Decoded: one or more of NYT, CNN or NBCNews has a very very damaging story in the pipeline …” LOL. This was David Frum’s attempt at humor. He saw some tweets from Trump and he “decoded” them by (in his mind, humorously) suggesting that it was a distraction from a big story coming. But he definitely got a lot of the anti-Trumpers palpitating. You’re not the only one that was fooled. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/630 "2017-02-18T04:48:36Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > LOL. This was David Frum’s attempt at humor. He saw some tweets from Trump and he “decoded” them by (in his mind, humorously) suggesting that it was a distraction from a big story coming. > > But he definitely got a lot of the anti-Trumpers palpitating. You’re not the only one that was fooled. At the risk of being repetitive > [@](#): > > Warner also said the committee has put in place a process to ensure the White House does not destroy documents lawmakers need for their investigation. Lots of laughs ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/631 "2017-02-18T04:51:36Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > At the risk of being repetitive > > Lots of laughs ahead. You’re so easy to play. I bet you waited with bated breath for the “24 business hours” to be over. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/632 "2017-02-18T05:17:46Z")
This story will be ongoing for weeks or months. There will be some information that comes out that will be true and some that will turn out to be false. Watching people working constantly to cast doubt on one tiny part of it and using that to conclude that the whole thing is untrue reminds me of watching the tactics of sponsored climate change deniers. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/633 "2017-02-19T23:25:41Z")
> **[A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-russia.html?_r=0)** > > Amid scrutiny of President Trump’s possible ties to Russia, his personal lawyer advances an opposition Ukrainian lawmaker’s sealed plan to the White House. A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates _A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was hand-delivered to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia._ This plan was written by Andrii V. Artemenko, given to Felix H. Sater then Michael Cohen. You all probably know Michael Cohen is Trump’s attorney. Andrii V. Artemenko is a convicted felon and Putin supported pro-Russian Ukrainian politician who is trying to get the current president ousted. He styles himself as the Ukranian Trump and claims to have kompromat on the current president. Felix Sater is a longtime Trump partner who was responsible for getting Russians to invest millions on dollars in Trump properties. He is also a convicted felon who once stabbed a commodities broker in the face while having dinner in a restaurant. Sater is the son of Mikhail Sater, a top underboss in the Mogilevich mafia. During interviews, when Sater’s name is mentioned to Trump, he has a habit of standing up and walking out of the room. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/634 "2017-02-20T02:41:17Z")
Trump will tell everyone they’re great guys, TERRIFIC guys, and Americans will just nod their heads and go back to watching “Ow, My Balls!” I know the buzz is that this is the other shoe we’ve been waiting to drop. But I won’t be holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/635 "2017-02-20T04:47:56Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-russia.html?\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-russia.html?_r=0) > > A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates I’m sure [that this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-campaign-guts-gops-anti-russia-stance-on-ukraine/2016/07/18/98adb3b0-4cf3-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html?utm_term=.79762e799807) was just an incredible coincidence. “The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform won’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces, contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington.” - July, 2016 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/636 "2017-02-20T07:47:08Z")
The very notion makes my skin crawl. Who could blame people for reaching out for any kind of peace proposal, even one inspired by greed and treachery? Its worse than just plain ol’ extortion, it oozes corruption, more blasphemous than marketing Baby Jesus butt plugs. Putin makes Roy Cohn and Lee Atwater look like Mr Rogers. Maybe GeeDubya really did look into his soul, maybe that’s why all he does is daub paint onto canvass, ripped to the tits on tranks. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/637 "2017-02-20T09:22:00Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > [QUOTE=elucidator] > Google “Trump borrowing money Russia”. “Indications” you want, you will get. You are, of course, free to dismiss them out of hand, or contradict them with brilliant citation. Please proceed. Google “abducted by aliens”. If that’s your level of proof. [/QUOTE] The Google search’s first hit is to [time.com](http://time.com). From there, click a little and find [this article](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/vladimir_putin_has_a_plan_for_destroying_the_west_and_it_looks_a_lot_like.html): > [@](#): > > One of the important facts about Trump is his lack of creditworthiness. After his 2004 bankruptcy and his long streak of lawsuits, the big banks decided he wasn’t worth the effort. They’d rather not touch the self-proclaimed “king of debt.” This sent him chasing less conventional sources of cash. BuzzFeed has shown, for instance, his efforts to woo Muammar Qaddafi as an investor. Libyan money never did materialize. It was Russian capital that fueled many of his signature projects—that helped him preserve his image as a great builder as he recovered from bankruptcy. > > The money didn’t come directly. Hunting for partners with cash, he turned to a small upstart called the Bayrock Group, which would pull together massive real estate deals using the Trump name. Its chairman was a former Soviet official named Tevfik Arif, who made a small fortune running luxe hotels in Turkey. To run Bayrock’s operation, Arif hired Felix Satter, a Soviet-born, Brighton Beach–bred college dropout. Satter changed his name to Sater, likely to distance himself from the criminal activity that a name-check would easily turn up. As a young man, Sater served time for slashing a man’s face with a broken margarita glass in a barroom brawl. The Feds also busted him for a working in a stock brokerage tied to four different Mafia families, which made $40 million off fraudulent trades. One lawsuit would later describe “Satter’s proven history of using mob-like tactics to achieve his goals.” Another would note that he threatened a Trump investor with the prospect of the electrocution of his testicles, the amputation of his leg, and his corpse residing in the trunk of Sater’s car. > > “Russia is one of the hottest places in the world for investment,” Trump said. “We will be in Moscow at some point.” I’ll leave you to continue your search for alien abductions alone. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/638 "2017-02-23T14:10:59Z")
There were blackmail attempts on [Manafort](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/paul-manafort-blackmail-russia-trump-235275) that have come out from hacked text messages, apparently sent to his daughter from a Ukrainian government official, Serhiy Leshchenko: (from the article) _“Considering all the facts and evidence that are in my possession, and before possible decision whether to pass this to [the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine] or FBI I would like to get your opinion on this and maybe your way to work things out that will persuade me to do otherwise,” reads the note. It is signed “Sergii” — an alternative transliteration of Leshchenko’s given name — and it urges Manafort to respond to an email address that reporters have used to reach Leshchenko."_ Manafort has confirmed the authenticity of the texts. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/639 "2017-02-23T15:32:03Z")
When the pro-Russian Ukrainian president Yanukovych fled to Russia, he left a bunch of documents behind. One showed $12 million in payments to Manafort. It sounds like someone tried to cash in before the anti corruption bureau got ahold of it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/640 "2017-02-23T16:02:36Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > “Warner also said the committee has put in place a process to ensure the White House does not destroy documents lawmakers need for their investigation.” > > Hmmmmmm. Maybe they are afraid he will wipe his servers clean. You know, like with a cloth. And heaven knows the IRS won’t delete anything under subpoena. [Probably](http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/lois-lerner-irs-missing-emails-watchdog/). Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846.md?page=33)