# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/282 "2017-05-18T02:41:51Z")
I’m still confused. This completely blows up the Flynn was fired for lying to Pence (18 days later) story, because as head of the transition, Pence already knew. Right? ---
**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:** [May 18, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/283 "2017-05-18T02:52:42Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Ah, thanks. I fondly remember those halcyon days of March, when things seemed so much simpler. Life seemed slower then. Yeah, it turns out that Trump did have the traditional 100-day honeymoon phase for a new President. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/284 "2017-05-18T03:12:29Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’m still confused. This completely blows up the Flynn was fired for lying to Pence (18 days later) story, because as head of the transition, Pence already knew. Right? You’ve got it exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/285 "2017-05-18T03:17:47Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’m still confused. This completely blows up the Flynn was fired for lying to Pence (18 days later) story, because as head of the transition, Pence already knew. Right? I cannot tell from the article if Pence was completely briefed or not, but I think not. What I think it says is that that the Turkey connection was revealed to the transition team. What Flynn lied to Pence about is supposed to be the nature of the Kislyak conversations that he had prior to the inauguration. Those conversations are what left him open to blackmail. Two separate threads in the Flynn tapestry. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/286 "2017-05-18T03:25:08Z")
IIRC, the issue was the _fact_ of the meetings, that they had occurred and that he had denied it. The subject of the conversation might have been daffodils, for all the difference it makes. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/287 "2017-05-18T03:31:26Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Trump doesn’t have a financial stake in that hotel. It’s just a name-licensing deal. Do you think Trump would have gotten his licensing fee if the hotel had not been built? > [@Okrahoma](#): > > 1. Trump’s one-time-business-partner SELLS something to the Russian bank (as in “a separate asset sale”). > 2. That one-time-business-partner then uses the money to build Trump International tower in Toronto Do you think the hotel would have been built if this partner hadn’t been able to raise the capital he needed from this asset sale? Partner sells asset to Russian bank. Partner uses money from that sale to build hotel and pay licensing fee to Trump. It may be totally on the up and up, but the fact that Trump doesn’t have a financial stake in the hotel doesn’t prove anything. And a recap of the article I found said that a Trump company manages the hotel and residences, so there is an ongoing relationship. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/288 "2017-05-18T03:38:16Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’m still confused. This completely blows up the Flynn was fired for lying to Pence (18 days later) story, because as head of the transition, Pence already knew. Right? I apologize if I misled you about what the NY Times article states. However, this is worth reading about Pence’s knowledge about Russian ties: [Pence’s Relationship with Paul Manafort and Russia](http://prospect.org/article/russiagate-keep-your-eye-pence) ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/289 "2017-05-18T04:55:34Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I apologize if I misled you about what the NY Times article states. However, this is worth reading about Pence’s knowledge about Russian ties: [Pence’s Relationship with Paul Manafort and Russia](http://prospect.org/article/russiagate-keep-your-eye-pence) Thank you for the link. I agree completely. Pence should not be overlooked in any investigation. He lost all credibility with me when he decided to turn his back on his so-called morality and remain Trump’s running mate after the Access Hollywood tape came out. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/290 "2017-05-18T05:25:43Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > That nugget of insanity came out last month: > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/us/politics/michael-flynn-turkey.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/us/politics/michael-flynn-turkey.html) > > Which is an eternity ago in the Wapo/NYT dumpster-fire-reporting badminton match. And when news broke of Flynn’s lobbying for Turkey, everyone in the White House said they never knew anything about it. When asked directly, Pence said it was the first he heard about it, but it turned out that Representative Elijah Cummings sent Pence a letter about it in November. > **[Top Democrat sent letter to Mike Pence in November warning of Michael Flynn's...](https://www.businessinsider.com/elijah-cummings-letter-to-mike-pence-about-flynn-turkey-lobbying-2017-3)** > > Donald Trump was not aware his former national security adviser was being paid to lobby for Turkish interests before the US election, Sean Spicer said Thursday. And now todays article indicates that they had already had a big powwow about it before getting that letter. I’m racking my brain trying to think of anything these assholes have told the truth about, but nothing comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/291 "2017-05-18T06:24:10Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I’m racking my brain trying to think of anything these assholes have told the truth about, but nothing comes to mind. Apparently, Trump isn’t bald. So when he says that he’s not bald, he means it. Granted, the fact that a non-bald man has chosen to use a comb-over as his hairdo could be considered to be a rather obscure, and inexplicable lie. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/292 "2017-05-18T11:33:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Apparently, Trump isn’t bald. So when he says that he’s not bald, he means it. > > Granted, the fact that a non-bald man has chosen to use a comb-over as his hairdo could be considered to be a rather obscure, and inexplicable lie. It may be done to honor his mother [Donald Trump's Hair Looks Exactly Like His Mother's, and Twitter Is Freaking Out | Glamour](http://www.glamour.com/story/donald-trump-moms-hair-photos) ---
**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:** [May 18, 2017, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/293 "2017-05-18T12:57:16Z")
Reuters: " at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians by Trump campaign" [http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN18E106](http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN18E106) > [@](#): > > Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters. > > The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia. > > Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, and Trump advisers, including Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, three current and former officials said. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/294 "2017-05-18T13:12:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Reuters: " at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians by Trump campaign" > > [http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN18E106](http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN18E106) What? Are they supposed to remember every dozen and a half times that they talked to the Russians? ---
**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:** [May 18, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/295 "2017-05-18T13:30:03Z")
So many contacts, so few memories of them. They ought to have a doctor evaluate them for memory issues. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/296 "2017-05-18T19:52:28Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Turns out, the Trump team know Flynn was under investigation for being a secret lobbyist for Turkey back [in November](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/michael-flynn-donald-trump-national-security-adviser.html?_r=0). And thus they knew or at least had good reason to surmise that when Flynn put a stop to a military plan Turkey opposed, he was doing so _for money_: > [@](#): > > One of the Trump administration’s first decisions about the fight against the Islamic State was made by Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired – and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey, whose interests, unbeknownst to anyone in Washington, he’d been paid more than $500,000 to represent. … > > Now members of Congress, musing about the tangle of legal difficulties Flynn faces, cite that exchange with Rice as perhaps the most serious: acting on behalf of a foreign nation – from which he had received considerable cash – when making a military decision. Some members of Congress, in private conversations, have even used the word “treason” to describe Flynn’s intervention… [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article151149647.html](http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article151149647.html) ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/297 "2017-05-19T19:19:43Z")
From yesterday’s CNN interview with [Dianne Feinstein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzrlpKtY2DY): Blitzer: The last time we spoke, Senator, I asked you if you had actually seen evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and you said to me — and I am quoting you now — you said, ‘not at this time.’ Has anything changed since we spoke last? Feinstein: Well, no — no, it hasn’t… Blitzer: But, I just want to be precise, Senator. In all of the — you have had access from the Intelligence Committee, from the Judiciary Committee, all of the access you have had to very sensitive information, so far you have not seen any evidence of collusion, is that right? Feinstein: Well, evidence that would establish that there’s collusion. There are all kinds of rumors around, there are newspaper stories, but that’s not necessarily evidence. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/298 "2017-05-19T19:25:07Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > From yesterday’s CNN interview with [Dianne Feinstein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzrlpKtY2DY): > > Blitzer: The last time we spoke, Senator, I asked you if you had actually seen evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and you said to me — and I am quoting you now — you said, ‘not at this time.’ Has anything changed since we spoke last? > > Feinstein: Well, no — no, it hasn’t… > > Blitzer: But, I just want to be precise, Senator. In all of the — you have had access from the Intelligence Committee, from the Judiciary Committee, all of the access you have had to very sensitive information, so far you have not seen any evidence of collusion, is that right? > > Feinstein: Well, evidence that would establish that there’s collusion. There are all kinds of rumors around, there are newspaper stories, but that’s not necessarily evidence. I thought that’s what investigations were for: So that random politicians are not responsible for adjudicating these things during interviews. Guess I was wrong. Das Vedanya. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/299 "2017-05-19T19:26:08Z")
Exactly. Okrahoma, that’s sad. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/300 "2017-05-19T22:06:10Z")
I like it better when politicians spout off without waiting for the facts to come in. Makes the news ever so much more fun. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/301 "2017-05-19T22:30:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Exactly. Okrahoma, that’s sad. I guess he expects Feinstein to breathlessly accuse Trump of something via tweeting. Because that’s the kind of “leadership” that Okrahoma respects; He does not understand when an adult is talking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=16)