Russia

Flynn & Yates… very interesting

February 14, 2017 by Michael Boyle

This Michael Flynn business is interesting on its own merits (for values of “interesting” that include “disturbing” among other things), but also because we have learned that it was Sally Yates – once the acting Attorney General – who was fired over her statement that she would not prosecute pursuant to the “Muslim Ban” Executive Order – that spoke to the administration over a month ago about the problems Flynn posed.

Which raises the most interesting question of all – was the form of the Muslim Ban EO (including obvious establishment clause problems) really just a pretext to fire her?

Hmmm.

Trump denounced arms-reduction treaty in Putin call: report

February 9, 2017 by Michael Boyle

Part of the reason I want to document this period is because in no time at all, we’ll know this is true, but won’t remember the moment when the depths of this man’s ignorance was first uncovered.

I grant that until the election he didn’t have to know about this kind of information. But you think that you could take it for granted that before any call was scheduled, the President of the US would ask for and receive a full, detailed briefing to catch him up on little details like… the foundation of one of the most important parts of the US/Russia relationship.

But no…

Asked by Putin about the possibility of extending the treaty capping U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads — known as New START — Trump reportedly paused to ask his aides what the treaty was, two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official briefed on the call told Reuters.

He then told Putin it was one of a number of bad deals negotiated by former President Barack Obama and that it favored Russia, before launching into a conversation about his own popularity, according to the sources.

Source: Trump denounced arms-reduction treaty in Putin call: report | TheHill

Re: Russian Spy Accused of Treason

January 27, 2017 by Michael Boyle

Josh Marshall is following an odd but disturbing bit of news out of Russia. Note that this is going on as Trump officials are being investigated about their ties to Russia. Has someone in the White House “outed” one of the US’s own assets to the Russians?

Last night I noted that a top Russian spy who is the number two person in the FSB department which allegedly oversaw the US election hacking operation had been arrested and charged with treason. Was he a sacrificial lamb and olive branch to Trump? A way for Putin to claim that his spy services had perhaps gone rogue? Or was he suspected of being a source to US intelligence? People who fall from grace in Putin’s Russia are often dealt with with trumped up criminal prosecutions. But treason is a special charge.
Well, now we have reports that Sergei Mikhailov is suspected of being a US asset at the heart of Russian intelligence.

Source: Wow, It Gets Bigger