# Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians, according to US officials **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 23, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799 "2017-03-23T00:28:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 146
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2904 "2017-11-14T17:37:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Sessions, who as an Alabama senator led a foreign policy advisory council for the Trump campaign, has been dogged since January by his evolving explanations about his own foreign contacts during the campaign and about how much he knew of communication between Trump associates and Russian government intermediaries. > > Those questions have only deepened since the guilty plea last month of George Papadopoulos, a former Trump adviser who served on the council Sessions chaired and who proposed arranging a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. As well, another aide, Carter Page, told Congress in private statements that he had alerted Sessions about a meeting he planned in Russia during the campaign. > Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly disputed allegations that he was not truthful in earlier testimony about Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. “I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied,” he said. (Nov. 14) > > Sessions said he had no recollection of the conversation with Page. And he said that though he did not initially recall a March 2016 conversation with Papadopoulos, he now believes that he told Papadopoulos that he was not authorized to represent the Trump campaign with the Russian government or any other foreign government. I gotta be honest here: I look great in my own reconstructed memories, too. [He protested a lot, too.](https://apnews.com/508de5052e964ee1992a11ea55b74bf2/Sessions-defends-himself-to-Congress,-says-he-never-lied) > [@](#): > > “In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer all of your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory,” Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee. “But I will not accept, and reject, accusations that I have ever lied under oath. That is a lie.” :dubious: Too much protesting, maybe? Totally not unrelated Cracked video: [Weird How Everyone President Trump Knows Does Crimes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=CFMRJSPDr2k) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2905 "2017-11-14T18:51:10Z")
This is fine. :drinks coffee: > **[Secret Finding: 60 Russian Payments "To Finance Election Campaign Of 2016”](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/secret-finding-60-russian-payments-to-finance-election)** > > The FBI is scrutinizing more than 60 money transfers sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry to its embassies across the globe, most of them bearing a note that said the money was to be used “to finance election campaign of 2016.” A spokesperson for the... > [@](#): > > On Aug. 3 of last year, just as the US presidential election was entering its final, heated phase, the Russian foreign ministry sent nearly $30,000 to its embassy in Washington. The wire transfer, which came from a Kremlin-backed Russian bank, landed in one of the embassy’s Citibank accounts and contained a remarkable memo line: “to finance election campaign of 2016.” > > That wire transfer is one of more than 60 now being scrutinized by the FBI and other federal agencies investigating Russian involvement in the US election. The transactions, which moved through Citibank accounts and totaled more than $380,000, each came from the Russian foreign ministry and most contained a memo line referencing the financing of the 2016 election. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2906 "2017-11-14T19:01:57Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This is fine. :drinks coffee: > > [Secret Finding: 60 Russian Payments "To Finance Election Campaign Of 2016"](https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/jasonleopold/secret-finding-60-russian-payments-to-finance-election) I was ready to declare this the smoking gun to end all smoking guns. But the article also says: > [@](#): > > The transactions, which moved through Citibank accounts and totaled more than $380,000, each came from the Russian foreign ministry and most contained a memo line referencing the financing of the 2016 election. > > The money wound up at Russian embassies in almost 60 countries from Afghanistan to Nigeria between Aug. 3 and Sept. 20, 2016. > > \ > > Much as checks include a memo line, wire transfers often include a note that states what the money is for. The note on this set of transfers does not indicate what election the money was to be used for, or even the country. Seven nations had federal elections during the span when the funds were sent — including the Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, on Sept. 18, 2016. Russian embassies and diplomatic compounds opened polling stations for voters living abroad. FTR, I think Trump and his whole administration are up to their eyeballs in Russian money, influence, and possibly hooker urine. But, in the interest of being as fair-minded as possible, I could see this being an actual legitimate expense for handling polling for Russians living abroad, especially since the money went to almost 60 other countries. For now, I’m leaning toward this not being that significant a finding. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2907 "2017-11-14T19:29:23Z")
Smoking gun of what? That Russia interfered? That’s a given. That there was coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign? I’m not sure how that money proves anything. We don’t know what it was used for after it was received by the embassy, right? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2908 "2017-11-15T03:40:02Z")
\*"The wire transfer, which came from a Kremlin-backed Russian bank, landed in one of the embassy’s Citibank accounts and contained a remarkable memo line: “to finance election campaign of 2016.” \* If you were funneling illicit money into a campaign, would you really write this in the memo line? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2909 "2017-11-15T03:56:58Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > \*"The wire transfer, which came from a Kremlin-backed Russian bank, landed in one of the embassy’s Citibank accounts and contained a remarkable memo line: “to finance election campaign of 2016.” > \* > > If you were funneling illicit money into a campaign, would you really write this in the memo line? Does Russia gaf? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2910 "2017-11-15T13:18:20Z")
They may have done that on purpose since their goal is to cause instability: the CFSG’s pro-Russian stance is secondary. So enraging people with such a blatantly obvious line might be exactly what they are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2911 "2017-11-15T13:35:33Z")
[Looks like the Russian investment in the election is paying off.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/world/europe/embassy-moscow-kgb.html) > [@](#): > > Under a $2.8 million no-bid contract awarded by the Office of Acquisitions in Washington, security guards at the American Embassy in Moscow and at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will be provided by Elite Security Holdings, a company closely linked to the former top K.G.B. figure, Viktor G. Budanov, a retired general who rose through the ranks to become head of Soviet counterintelligence. What could go wrong? Having a hostile nation’s former spy chief in charge of security at your embassy, no risk there move right along. > [@](#): > > “This is very good for us,” said Mikhail Lyubimov, a former K.G.B. spy who knew Mr. Budanov from their time together in the Soviet intelligence service. “If I were the chief there, I would never do this for a very clear reason,” he said, adding that the Russian Embassy in Washington would not put security in the hands of an American company known to have ties to the C.I.A. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2912 "2017-11-15T14:29:18Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > \*"The wire transfer, which came from a Kremlin-backed Russian bank, landed in one of the embassy’s Citibank accounts and contained a remarkable memo line: “to finance election campaign of 2016.” > \* > > If you were funneling illicit money into a campaign, would you really write this in the memo line? I’d rather look at the transfers with “adoption” in the memo line. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2913 "2017-11-15T16:08:29Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Does Russia gaf? True, but this is so brazen that one has to wonder if the point of it is to get caught. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2914 "2017-11-15T20:31:59Z")
Long, interesting Guardian article about Christopher Steele and the famous dossier: > **[How Trump walked into Putin’s web](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke)** > > The long read: The inside story of how a former British spy was hired to investigate Russia’s influence on Trump – and uncovered explosive evidence that Moscow had been cultivating Trump for years ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2915 "2017-11-15T22:28:55Z")
> [@Crybaby\_Boobie](#): > > Long, interesting Guardian article about Christopher Steele and the famous dossier: > > [How Trump walked into Putin’s web | Trump-Russia investigation | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke) Astounding. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2916 "2017-11-16T03:22:58Z")
Where’s our resident Legal Beagle and the other Trump apologists? They sure are quiet lately. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2917 "2017-11-16T03:24:16Z")
> [@Crybaby\_Boobie](#): > > Long, interesting Guardian article about Christopher Steele and the famous dossier: > > [How Trump walked into Putin’s web | Trump-Russia investigation | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke) I found that to be a fascinating read. Thanks for posting it! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2918 "2017-11-16T03:52:32Z")
Russia’s fond of smoking guns that leave the barest fig leaf of deniability but which don’t leave any actual doubt. The whole point is to send a message. See also, for instance, the polonium assassinations: Why use polonium instead of something more mundane like cyanide? Because polonium makes it clear that it was done by a nuclear power, i.e., Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2919 "2017-11-16T03:58:37Z")
> [@Crybaby\_Boobie](#): > > Long, interesting Guardian article about Christopher Steele and the famous dossier: > > [How Trump walked into Putin’s web | Trump-Russia investigation | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke) > [@jasg](#): > > Astounding. Thanks for the link. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > I found that to be a fascinating read. Thanks for posting it! In case it was missed, immediately after the abrupt ending of the article is an italicized blurb stating that the article was lifted from [a book that Guardian Press is publishing this week](https://www.guardianbookshop.com/collusion-551289.html). I ordered a copy and with shipping it came to about £19 (about $25). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2920 "2017-11-16T04:15:33Z")
He seems to suggest that the Russians tried to lure Il Douche with financial enticements but were consistently rebuffed. Gotta wonder why. Or maybe just “if”? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2921 "2017-11-17T00:45:49Z")
> **[Exclusive: Trump son-in-law had undisclosed contacts with Russian envoy -...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fbi-kushner-exclusive/exclusive-trump-son-in-law-had-undisclosed-contacts-with-russian-envoy-sources-idUSKBN18N018)** > > U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, seven current and former... So, this is what, the 15th time Kushner has lied about Russian contacts? The fact that he has a security clearance is a disgrace. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2922 "2017-11-17T07:18:58Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fbi-kushner-exclusive/exclusive-trump-son-in-law-had-undisclosed-contacts-with-russian-envoy-sources-idUSKBN18N018](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fbi-kushner-exclusive/exclusive-trump-son-in-law-had-undisclosed-contacts-with-russian-envoy-sources-idUSKBN18N018) > > So, this is what, the 15th time Kushner has lied about Russian contacts? The fact that he has a security clearance is a disgrace. That’s dated May 26th, so it may just have been the 8th time. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/2923 "2017-11-18T02:13:48Z")
In today’s news, we have Jared [communicating](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kushner-failed-disclose-outreach-putin-ally-trump-campaign-n822021) with another Russian, Alexander Torshin. > [@](#): > > An email chain described Aleksander Torshin, a former senator and deputy head of Russia’s central bank who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as wanting Trump to attend an event on the sidelines of a National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky, in May 2016, the sources said. The email also suggests Torshin was seeking to meet with a high-level Trump campaign official during the convention, and that he may have had a message for Trump from Putin, the sources said. At an NRA Convention??? Why do Russians attend? Are foreigners common at NRA events? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=145) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=147)