# 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:** 236
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4705 "2018-07-14T00:00:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Really, the scandal here is that the FBI _didn’t_ do anything against Trump. Yes, they were biased against him. That’s because it’s their job to be biased against criminals. No, only Republican FBI agents should be allowed to investigate Trump. And no fake Republicans like Mueller, either. Also, any DAs who have previous contacts or associations with the police should not be allowed to prosecute criminals. It’s a clear conflict of interest. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4706 "2018-07-14T00:04:20Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Just a rumor so far, but: > > [https://medium.com/@SteveAshford/twenty-four-house-republicans-got-elected-in-2016-with-help-from-guccifer-2-0-be974de1cc2e](https://medium.com/@SteveAshford/twenty-four-house-republicans-got-elected-in-2016-with-help-from-guccifer-2-0-be974de1cc2e) > > Word is that House Republicans may have used stolen Democratic party intel that was given to them by Russia. This comes at the same moment that Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz announce a sudden decision to remove Rod Rosenstein. Could you provide a direct link? My browser won’t play the embedded video, and I’m not sure I want to accept the word of someone who’s waiting for the Lord Jesus to tell him more. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4707 "2018-07-14T00:18:02Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Could you provide a direct link? My browser won’t play the embedded video, and I’m not sure I want to accept the word of someone who’s waiting for the Lord Jesus to tell him more. I didn’t watch the video. I presumed that the Jesus bit was a joke (along with the “a little bird told me”). I wouldn’t take the source with much weight. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4708 "2018-07-14T00:19:40Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > No, only Republican FBI agents should be allowed to investigate Trump. And no fake Republicans like Mueller, either. > > Also, any DAs who have previous contacts or associations with the police should not be allowed to prosecute criminals. It’s a clear conflict of interest. Further: all convictions for cases in which _even one_ investigator is of a political party that differs from that of the defendant, must be overturned. Empty the prisons! There’s a new standard! ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4709 "2018-07-14T00:53:05Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > I take it we all have seen how the FBI was out to get trump well before he was elected. > \>\>\>Okay, how did he plan to stop it? Its time to get a warrant on this guy, and see who he’s connected to. The FBI can not pick sides or stop a political candidate. Everyone was out to get Trump before he was elected. Rick Perry said he was a cancer that needed to be excised. Should we get a warrant and find out who he was working with? Ted Cruz said that he was totally amoral and worse than Hillary? Investigate? Did Ted try to bring him down? Marco Rubio said he was a con man and unfit for office. Maybe he was up to something. We should find out. Mitt Romney held an entire press conference dedicated to trying to bring him down. We should look into that, too. Everyone knew he was nothing but a con artist and a self-promotion machine before he got elected. And seriously, you believe there’s an innocent explanation for the “Hi, I’m with the Russian government, wanna collude” - “Love it!” email exchange but you think THIS is incriminating? ---
**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:** [July 15, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4710 "2018-07-15T11:43:46Z")
Unrelated to Russia, but further evidence that the NRA has been acting corruptly for the last few years: > **[The mystery firm that became the NRA’s top election consultant](https://www.politico.eu/article/the-mystery-firm-that-became-the-nras-top-election-consultant-guns-advertising/)** > > Since 2014, the gun rights group has paid millions of dollars to a little known contractor for ads in key Senate races. Did it break campaign finance laws in the process? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4711 "2018-07-15T12:26:21Z")
Here’s a _very_ interesting story in the New York Magazine. It’s a long read, but certainly worthwhile. It looks at Trump’s Russian connections going back to 1987, gives a detailed summary of what we know so far, and makes a careful, reasoned argument. [Will Trump Be Meeting With His Counterpart — Or His Handler?](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/trump-putin-russia-collusion.html) _A plausible theory of mind-boggling collusion._ By Jonathan Chait ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4712 "2018-07-15T13:42:09Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Unrelated to Russia, but further evidence that the NRA has been acting corruptly for the last few years: > > [The mystery firm that became the NRA’s top election consultant – POLITICO](https://www.politico.eu/article/the-mystery-firm-that-became-the-nras-top-election-consultant-guns-advertising/) In a similar vein: > **[Opinion | Why is the NRA so secretive about its Russian donors?](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/nra-can-be-so-secretive-about-its-russian-donors-because-ncna871216)** > > The organization fights transparency at every turn, and now many wonder where its money comes from. > [@](#): > > In the 2016 election cycle, the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action — its dark money affiliate — reported spending over $35 million on election-related activities (more than any other dark money group) without the reporting the source of its funds. They had only spent $13 million and $9 million in the previous election cycles. Meanwhile, they’ve been investigated by the FBI, which is interested in finding out more about contributions from Russian benefactors. Right-leaning commissioners on the FEC have also determined that advertising on “issues” during an election cycle allows organizations to avoid registration and reporting requirements, provided that they are advocating for “issues” and not for “candidates” themselves. Thus, even though foreign contributions are illegal, they have effectively created a backdoor. It’s easy to see how dark money can stay dark, and open up the political system to foreign influence. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4713 "2018-07-16T00:28:06Z")
Here’s an [interesting article](https://www.inquisitr.com/4986410/donald-trump-2016-russians-hacked-clinton-campaign-analytics/) that lays out some interesting connections in light of the recent indictments. Basically, in October before the election, the Trump campaign suddenly, and inexplicably, shifted a huge chunk of ad buys into what they called “new battleground states”, advertising in Wisconsin for the first time and focusing on Ohio and Pennsylvania, based on “data”. Contemporaneous tweets from reporters at the time, cited in the article, question what the hell data they were using as there was nothing public that would have suggested this approach. We now know that weeks earlier, the Russians hacked into the DNC analytics, effectively knowing the entire strategy of the Clinton campaign and all of the data on what they were doing. In fact, this [“electoral strategy”](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-had-a-superior-electoral-college-strategy/) is what Nate Silver discusses as the reason for Trump’s victory. So, the Russians stole the data, and the Trump campaign made decisions that could make no sense without that data. Could be an amazing coincidence, I guess. Or maybe the Trump campaign had the stolen data. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4714 "2018-07-16T17:25:35Z")
> [@Donald Trump](#): > > You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server, why haven’t they taken the server. why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee. I‘ve been wondering that. I‘ve been asking that for months and months and I’ve been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media. Where is the server? I want to know where is the server and what is the server saying? With that being said, all I can do is ask the question. Can someone translate this right-wing speak to English? (That’s from the press conference today, copied from [this article](https://www.newsandguts.com/video/donald-trumps-international-embarrassment/)) ---
**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:** [July 16, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4715 "2018-07-16T17:29:32Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Can someone translate this right-wing speak to English? > > (That’s from the press conference today, copied from [this article](https://www.newsandguts.com/video/donald-trumps-international-embarrassment/)) It boils down to but…but…but…her emails! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4716 "2018-07-16T17:44:01Z")
“_You’re_ a puppet.” ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4717 "2018-07-16T18:10:16Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It boils down to but…but…but…her emails! Are you sure? It sounds like a more specific allegation about how the FBI investigated the DNC hacks. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4718 "2018-07-16T18:20:09Z")
> [@](#): > > …Where is the server? I want to know where is the server and what is the server saying?.. The server has to be called to testify! ---
**Author:** ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4719 "2018-07-16T18:39:26Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Are you sure? It sounds like a more specific allegation about how the FBI investigated the DNC hacks. I’m an eDiscovery specialist. It’s my job to control electronic data in litigation, so this kind of question falls directly into my purview. It either demonstrates a complete lack of understanding on how things operate or he’s just throwing red meat to his base with baseless accusations. The FBI wouldn’t remove their server. There is absolutely no point in their taking the server. They’d come, image everything, and leave. It would severely hamper the DCC’s ability to operate if the FBI came in and just took everything. Of course they wouldn’t do that unless it’s absolutely needed. And of course the DCC would object if the FBI suggested they wanted to take everything. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4720 "2018-07-16T18:40:22Z")
There has to be a line there somewhere about Trump not tipping servers … ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4721 "2018-07-16T18:41:17Z")
OK. so they image the server, and somebody works on that image with DataShop! ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4722 "2018-07-16T18:56:46Z")
> [@Sinaptics](#): > > I’m an eDiscovery specialist. It’s my job to control electronic data in litigation, so this kind of question falls directly into my purview. > > It either demonstrates a complete lack of understanding on how things operate or he’s just throwing red meat to his base with baseless accusations. > > The FBI wouldn’t remove their server. There is absolutely no point in their taking the server. They’d come, image everything, and leave. It would severely hamper the DCC’s ability to operate if the FBI came in and just took everything. Of course they wouldn’t do that unless it’s absolutely needed. And of course the DCC would object if the FBI suggested they wanted to take everything. I’m not questioning anything you’re saying on technical grounds (& FTR I think the whole Clinton email thing is overblown). But ISTM that it’s SOP for the FBI to take away the physical computers when they raid someplace. They don’t seem to worry too much about how it impacts anyone. (I once started a thread about it [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=797221).) How does that jibe with what you say? ---
**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:** [July 16, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4723 "2018-07-16T19:08:49Z")
Gosh, who to believe? The self-described\* security specialist or the self-described\* non security specialist armed with the Googles who uses “it seems to me” arguments? \*Not to impugn, but our descriptions are pretty much all we have. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/4724 "2018-07-16T19:11:29Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I’m not questioning anything you’re saying on technical grounds (& FTR I think the whole Clinton email thing is overblown). > > But ISTM that it’s SOP for the FBI to take away the physical computers when they raid someplace. They don’t seem to worry too much about how it impacts anyone. (I once started a thread about it [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=797221).) How does that jibe with what you say? That seems to imply they raided the DNC. They didn’t, they came in at the DNC’s request. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=235) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=237)