# 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:** 263
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5245 "2018-12-09T19:09:42Z")
I don’t hold Comey in high regard. He pulls these kinds of shenanigans in other ways, too. Asks for a public hearing, then when the public hearing takes place, says, “I can’t answer that in a public hearing.” ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5246 "2018-12-09T19:13:27Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > I don’t hold Comey in high regard. He pulls these kinds of shenanigans in other ways, too. Asks for a public hearing, then when the public hearing takes place, says, “I can’t answer that in a public hearing.” :dubious: Really? When did he do that? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5247 "2018-12-09T19:21:12Z")
_Comey_ pulls shenanigans?!?!? It is to laugh. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5248 "2018-12-09T20:43:14Z")
Well, Comey has pulled shenanigans. They just pale in comparison to the sort of shenanigans we’ve gotten used to since then. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5249 "2018-12-09T21:04:55Z")
I read part of the transcript and it was embarrassing… for Trey Gowdy. What a fucking awful lawyer - the bulk of his questions were in the line of, “What was this other person thinking when they wrote this text?” Of course Comey is going to answer “I don’t know.” Why did the Trumpists compel Comey to testify before the Judiciary Committee, instead of the proper venue with jurisdiction over such matters, the Put Yourself In the Mind of Some Rando So We Can Ask Dumb Questions Committee? ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5250 "2018-12-09T21:18:36Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > I don’t hold Comey in high regard. He pulls these kinds of shenanigans in other ways, too. Asks for a public hearing, then when the public hearing takes place, says, “I can’t answer that in a public hearing.” I think we can assume that either: 1. They informed him of what topics they would be discussing. 2. They refrained from informing him. In the first case, then he knows that he’s already been asked all relevant questions on the topics at hand, in private, by the committee and/or the OIG - whose report the committee has - and that they’re just hoping to take a swipe at him. In the latter case, then the fact that they’re being circumspect tells him that they’re just hoping to take a swipe at him. In either case, it’s a waste of his time and taxpayer money for him to go up to DC, and so he declined their request. As-is, he only went because they subpoenaed him. And while, yes, he dicked them around on that, it’s fair to say that they had earned it. And, it’s fair to say, that he got the better of them strategically and they should have known that he would do so, so that’s really just them being stupid, not him being nefarious. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5251 "2018-12-09T22:07:36Z")
Nick Ayers, Pence’s chief of staff and the frontrunner to replace Kelly as Trump’s CoS, has tweeted that he will not be taking the role and is leaving the White House at the end of the year. Run away! Run away! ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5252 "2018-12-09T22:24:06Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Nick Ayers, Pence’s chief of staff and the frontrunner to replace Kelly as Trump’s CoS, has tweeted that he will not be taking the role and is leaving the White House at the end of the year. > > Run away! Run away! IIRC, Trump never saw the need for a CoS so no biggee. He’ll run the Whitehouse like Trump Org. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5253 "2018-12-09T23:10:20Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > He’ll run the Whitehouse like Trump Org. As a front to launder money for Russian oligarchs? ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5254 "2018-12-09T23:10:49Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > IIRC, Trump never saw the need for a CoS so no biggee. He’ll run the Whitehouse like Trump Org. David Frum has advanced the theory that Trump will be reduced to asking Omarosa to come back. We’ve been used to hearing staffers say, off the record, that it’s chaos over there. But now it’s going to be chaos on a much larger scale. Staffers will be carting out White House silverware, portraits, and even furniture at will, and packs of wild dogs will run through the halls. And there will be no one to bring Donnie a Diet Coke. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5255 "2018-12-09T23:13:27Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > And there will be no one to bring Donnie a Diet Coke. There is always Hope in Donnie’s mind… ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5256 "2018-12-09T23:14:36Z")
Axios recently posted a couple of good summaries of public knowledge on the Russia investigation. [What we now know about Trump and Russia](https://www.axios.com/trump-russia-mueller-investigation-37608752-bef7-4b25-a7dd-89e3032bec7e.html) [Timeline: Every big move in the Mueller investigation](https://www.axios.com/mueller-russia-investigation-timeline-indictments-70433acd-9ef7-424d-aa01-b962ae5c9647.html) ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5257 "2018-12-09T23:18:29Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > Somebody on Twitter enumerated all the times Comey said, “I don’t know,” “I don’t recall”, or “I don’t remember”, and it totaled something close to 300 times. > [@Ravenman](#): > > I read part of the transcript and it was **embarrassing… for Trey Gowdy. What a fucking awful lawyer - the bulk of his questions were in the line of, “What was this other person thinking when they wrote this text?”** Of course Comey is going to answer “I don’t know.” … On the contrary: Gowdy’s questions were carefully crafted to create a transcript in which Comey would say “I don’t know” often enough so that a right-wing talking point could be born. Of course this is all intended to provide Hannity et al a pretext for saying “Comey is a liar and none of his testimony against Trump has any value.” They can say that anyway, but it looks slightly better to have an actual event on which to hang their claims. In other words, “during his December 7 hearing, Comey lied” sounds more respectable, somehow, than “during his December 7 trip to the grocery store, Comey lied.” [emphasis mine in the quote] ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5258 "2018-12-09T23:20:05Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > There is always Hope in Donnie’s mind… No doubt she resides there, alongside the tangles of plaque. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5259 "2018-12-09T23:21:29Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > David Frum has advanced the theory that Trump will be reduced to asking Omarosa to come back. [Axios](https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-nick-ayers-1dcbc46d-e14c-461b-b8b3-3edc8d61a8a9.html) is now reporting that Rep. Mark Meadows is being considered for the job. > [@](#): > > Trump has asked confidants what they think about the idea of installing Rep. Mark Meadows, the chairman of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, as John Kelly’s permanent replacement, according to these three sources. > > … > > \*\*Trump doesn’t know what he’s going to do. \*\* The bolded statement may be the understatement of the decade. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5260 "2018-12-09T23:23:38Z")
If Individual-1 wants to weaken the Freedom Caucus, by all means go ahead! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5261 "2018-12-09T23:33:01Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Staffers will be carting out White House silverware, portraits, and even furniture at will, and packs of wild dogs will run through the halls… Hmmm, I could use some silverware, and I like dogs… and I’m more qualified than anyone who’d actually take the job. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5262 "2018-12-09T23:33:54Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Hmmm, I could use some silverware, and I like dogs… and I’m more qualified than anyone who’d actually take the job. Send in your resume! I expect they’d be grateful. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5263 "2018-12-09T23:54:49Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > I don’t hold Comey in high regard. He pulls these kinds of shenanigans in other ways, too. So was it a shenanigan when Comey reopened the Hillary email server investigation just days before the election? Judging by your posting history, I’m going to guess that you voted for Trump. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.) If that’s true, I’m also going to guess that you might not consider that action by Comey to rise to the shenanigan level. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799/5264 "2018-12-10T02:37:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, Comey has pulled shenanigans. They just pale in comparison to the sort of shenanigans we’ve gotten used to since then. As has been pointed out, Comey has acted unprofessionally in many areas, not just in testimony. His behavior preceding the election was just terrible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=262) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians-according-to-us-officials/782799.md?page=264)