Continued from previous entry.

After a stop in Rome, Mifsud returned to England on April 25, 2016.462 The next day, Papadopoulos met Mifsud for breakfast at the Andaz Hotel (the same location as their last. meeting).463 During that meeting, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that he had met with high-level Russian government officials during his recent trip to Moscow. Mifsud also said that, on the trip, he learned that the Russians had obtained "dirt" on candidate Hillary Clinton. As Papadopoulos later stated to the FBI, Mifsud said that the "dirt" was in the form of "emails of Clinton," and that they "have thousands of emails."464 On May 6, 2016, 10 days after that meeting with Mifsud, Papadopoulos suggested to a representative of a foreign government that the Trump Campaign had received indications from the Russian government that it could assist the Campaign through the anonymous release of information that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton. 465

That is interesting. The Russians were feeding Papadopoulos all the things Trump would want to hear. Dirt on Hillary Clinton, emails and thousands of them. Mifsud met with him on April 25, 2016. The attacks by "Fancy Bear" (Russia - The Russian Bear) began in April 2016. It looks as though Russia wasn't lying when they passed that information to Mifsud.

NO ONE IN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WAS RUNNING AS QUICK AS THEY COULD TO THE FBI.

e. Russia-Related Communications

With The Campaign While he was discussing with his foreign contacts a potential meeting of campaign officials with Russian government officials, Papadopoulos kept campaign officials apprised of his efforts. On April 25, 2016, the day before Mifsud told Papadopoulos about the emails, Papadopoulos wrote to senior policy advisor Stephen Miller that "[t]he Russian government has an open invitation by Putin for Mr. Trump to meet him when he is ready," and that "[t]he advantage of being in London is that these governments tend to speak a bit more openly in 'neutral' cities."466 On April 27, 2016, after his meeting with Mifsud, Papadopoulos wrote a second message to Miller stating that "some interesting messages [were] coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right." 467 The same day, Papadopoulos sent a similar email to campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, telling Lewandowski that Papadopoulos had "been receiving a lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host [Trump] and the team when the time is right. " 468

Why does that sound like a conspiracy to me? I am recognizing that Papadopoulos was bragging even ahead of the actual facts, but, it was all true in the long run. I am convinced Russia was in control. This sure sounds like a conspiracy to me. Publishing the emails on Wikileaks distanced Trump from the crime, but, it was a conspiracy the entire time.

Papadopoulos' s Russia-related communications with Campaign officials continued throughout the spring and summer of 2016. On May 4, 2016, he forwarded to Lewandowski an email from Timofeev raising the possibility of a meeting in Moscow, asking Lewandowski whether that was " something we want to move forward with."469 The next day, Papadopoulos forwarded the same Timofeev email to Sam Clovis, adding to the top of the email "Russia update."470 He included the same email in a May 21, 2016 (the day four Russian jets were turned away from the Alaskan border by USA jets - probably NORAD) message to senior Campaign official Paul Manafort, under the subject line "Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump," stating that "Russia has been eager to meet Mr. Trump for quite sometime and have been reaching out to me to discuss."471 Manafort forwarded the message to another Campaign official, without including Papadopoulos, and stated: "Let[']s discuss. We need someone to communicate that [Trump] is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the Campaign so as not to send any signal."472

The Trump Campaign needed a chump to dispell any idea they were involved in negotiations with Russia.

Footnote 462 4/22/16 Email, Mifsud to Papadopoulos (12:41:01 a.m.).
Footnote 463 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense 14; 4/25/16 Text Messages, Mifsud & Papadopoulos.
Footnote 464 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense 14. 

Footnote 465 This information is contained in the FBI case-opening document and related materials. The information is law enforcement sensitive (LES) and must be treated accordingly in any external dissemination. The foreign government conveyed this information to the U.S. government on July 26, 2016, a few days after WikiLeaks's release of Clinton-related emails. The FBI opened its investigation of potential coordination between Russia and the Trump Campaign a few days later based on the information.

Footnote 466 4/25/16 Email, Papadopoulos to S. Miller (8: 12:44 p.m.).
Footnote 467 4/27/16 Email, Papadopoulos to S. Miller (6:55:58 p.m.).
Footnote 468 4/27/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Lewandowski (7:15:14 p.m.).
Footnote 469 5/4/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Lewandowski (8:14:49 a.m.).
Footnote 470 5/5/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Clovis (7:15:21 p.m.).
Footnote 471 5/21/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Manafort (2:30: 14 p.m.).
Footnote 472 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense, r 19 n.2.

On June 1, 2016, Papadopoulos replied to an earlier email chain with Lewandowski about a Russia visit, asking if Lewandowski "want[ ed] to have a call about this topic" and whether "we were following up with it."473 After Lewandowski told Papadopoulos to "connect with" Clovis because he was "running point," Papadopoulos emailed Clovis that "the Russian MFA" was asking him "if Mr. Trump is interested in visiting Russia at some point."474 Papadopoulos wrote in an email that he "[w]anted to pass this info along to you for you to decide what's best to do with it and what message I should send (or to ignore)."475

The subject was too hot to handle. I am certain Trump knew pf these errands by Papadopoulos to secure a meeting with Putin. Some interested parties were writing to Cohen about this time as well, so it was not a secret within the campaign. Cory Lewandowski resigned from the position of campaign manager. Oh.

After several email and Skype exchanges with Timofeev,476 Papadopoulos sent one more email to Lewandowski on June 19, 2016, Lewandowski's last day as campaign manager. 477 The email stated that "[t]he Russian ministry of foreign affairs" had contacted him and asked whether, if Mr. Trump could not travel to Russia, a campaign representative such as Papadopoulos could attend meetings.478 Papadopoulos told Lewandowski that he was "willing to make the trip off the record if it's in the interest of Mr. Trump and the campaign to meet specific people." 479

Following Lewandowski's departure from the Campaign, Papadopoulos communicated with Clovis and Walid Phares,...

Dr. Phares is an engaging (click here) and highly sought after Middle East expert and pacesetter, often predicting trends and situations on the ground years before they occur. He is a Fox News Expert, advisor to the US Congress and the European Parliament and served as a senior advisor on national security foreign policy to presidential candidate Mitt Romney 2012. Dr Phares is the only expert/author who predicted the Arab Spring a year before it occurred in his pacesetting book, The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East (Threshold, a division of Simon and Shuster 2010). Dr Phares holds an extensive CV and noteworthy achievements in the fields of academia, government strategies, media and publishing critical advice on combatting terrorism and countering jihadi radicalization both stateside and abroad.

...another member of the foreign policy advisory team, about an off the-record meeting between the Campaign and Russian government officials or with Papadopoulos's other Russia connections, Mifsud and Timofeev. 480 Papadopoulos also interacted directly with Clovis and Phares in connection with the summit of the Transatlantic Parliamentary Group on Counterterrorism (TAG) (click here), a group for which Phares was co-secretary general.481 On July 16, 2019 Papadopoulos attended the TAG summit in Washington, D.C., where he sat next to Clovis (as reflected in the photograph below).482

Footnote 473 6/1/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Lewandowski (3:08:18 p.m.).
Footnote 474 6/1/16 Email, Lewandowski to Papadopoulos (3:20:03 p.m.); 6/1/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Clovis (3:29:14 p.m.).

Footnote 475 6/1/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Clovis (3:29:14 p.m.). Papadopoulos's email coincided in time with another message to Clovis  suggesting a Trump-Putin meeting. First, on May 15, 2016,
David Klein a distant relative of then-Trump Organization lawyer Jason Greenblatt  emailed Clovis about a potential Campaign meeting with Berel Lazar, the Chief Rabbi of Russia. The email stated that Klein had contacted Lazar in February about a possible Trump-Putin meeting and that Lazar was "a very close confidante of Putin." DJTFP00011547 (5/15/16 Email, Klein to Clovis (5:45:24 p.m.)). The investigation did not find evidence that Clovis responded to Klein's email or that any further contacts of significance came out of Klein's subsequent meeting with Greenblatt and Rabbi Lazar at Trump Tower. Klein 8/30/18 302, at 2.

Footnote 476 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 21 (a).
Footnote 477 
Footnote 478 6/19/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Lewandowski (1 :11 :11 p.m.)
Footnote 479 6/19/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Lewandowski (1: 11: 11 p.m.).
Footnote 480 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 21; 7/14/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Timofeev (11 :57:24 p.m.); 7/15/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Mifsud; 7/27/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Mifsud (2:14:18 p.m.).
Footnote 481 Papadopoulos 9/19/17 302, at 16-1 7; 9th TAG Summit in Washington DC, Transatlantic Parliament Group on Counter Terrorism.
Footnote 482 9th TAG Summit in Washington DC, Transatlantic Parliament Group on Counter Terrorism. 

continued in later entry

Continued from a previous entry

Page 85 of the Special Counsel investigation and page 93 of the PDF

Papadopoulos's message came at a time when Clovis perceived a shift in the Campaign's approach toward Russia-from one of engaging with Russia through the NATO framework and taking a strong stance on Russian aggression in Ukraine, Grand Jury     430

Clovis's response to Papadopoulos, however, did not reflect that shift. Replying to Papadopoulos and the other members of the foreign policy advisory team copied on the initial email, Clovis wrote:

This is most informative. Let me work it through the campaign. No commitments until we see how this plays out. My thought is that we probably should not go forward with any meetings with the Russians until we have had occasion to sit with our NATO allies, especially France, Germany and Great Britain. We need to reassure our allies that we are not going to advance anything with Russia until we have everyone on the same page.

The Trump team had an eye on changing a relationship with Russia, however, at the time of the campaign, it was to first pursue allied channels to find agreement with that change in relationship with Russia. I don't recall Trump meeting with any allies during his campaign. President Obama did during his campaign and wanted to speak at the Brandenburg Gate of which he was told it was reserved for presidents.

More thoughts later today. Great work.431

The Russians had begun their operations to undermine the 2016 elections in the USA in 2014, however, the Brits picked it up. The Steele Dossier was not the overriding information driving American intelligence and their fact finding. There were several governments in Europe hard at work to examine the activity between Trump, his team (including his family) and the Russians. In realizing European intelligence was gathering facts, the Steele Dossier really has little influence in the situation. The Brits were on to Russia as early as 2015.

11 April 2017
By Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Nick Hopkins

Britain’s spy agencies (click here) played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told.

GCHQ ((Government Commuications Headquarters) click here)first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added.

Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said.

The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said.

Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors.

It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information....

c. March 31 Foreign Policy Team Meeting

The Campaign held a meeting of the foreign policy advisory team with Senator Sessions and candidate Trump approximately one week later, on March 31, 2016, in Washington, D.C. 432 The meeting-which was intended to generate press coverage for the Campaign 433 took place at the Trump International Hotel.434 Papadopoulos flew to Washington for the event. At the meeting, Senator Sessions sat at one end of an oval table, while Trump sat at the other. As reflected in the photograph below (which was posted to Trump's Instagram account), Papadopoulos sat between the two, two seats to Sessions's left: 

Footnote 430  Grand Jury  
Footnote 431 3/24/16 Email, Clovis to Papadopoulos et al. (8:55:04 a.m.).
Footnote 432 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 4; Papadopoulos 8/11/17 302, at 3
Footnote 433 Sessions 1/17/18 302, at 16-17.
Footnote 434 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 4.

March 31, 2016 Meeting of Foreign Policy Team, with Papadopoulos (Fourth from Right of Candidate Trump)

During the meeting, each of the newly announced foreign policy advisors introduced themselves and briefly described their areas of experience or expertise.435 Papadopoulos spoke about his previous work in the energy sector and then brought up a potential meeting with Russian officials.436 Specifically, Papadopoulos told the group that he had learned through his contacts in London that Putin wanted to meet with candidate Trump and that these connections could help arrange that meeting. 437

Trump and Sessions both reacted to Papadopoulos's statement. Papadopoulos and Campaign advisor J.D. Gordon- who told investigators in an interview that he had a "crystal clear" recollection of the meeting have stated that Trump was interested in and receptive to the idea of a meeting with Putin. 438 Papadopoulos understood Sessions to be similarly supportive of his efforts to arrange a meeting.439 Gordon and two other attendees, however, recall that Sessions generally opposed the proposal, though they differ in their accounts of the concerns he voiced or the strength of the opposition he expressed.440

d. George Papadopoulos Learns That Russia Has "Dirt" in the Form of Clinton Emails 

Whatever Sessions's precise words at the March 31 meeting, Papadopoulos did not understand Sessions or anyone else in the Trump Campaign to have directed that he refrain from making further efforts to arrange a meeting between the Campaign and the Russian government. To the contrary, Papadopoulos told the Office that he understood the Campaign to be supportive of his efforts to arrange such a meeting.441 Accordingly, when he returned to London, Papadopoulos resumed those efforts.442

Footnote 435 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 4. 
Footnote 436 Papadopoulos 8/ 10/17 302, at 4.
Footnote 437 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense, 9; see Gordon 8/29/17 302, at 14; Carafano 9/12/17 302, at 2; Hoskins 9/14/17 302, at 1.
Footnote 438 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 4-5; Gordon 9/7 /17 302, at 4-5
Footnote 439 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 5; Papadopoulos 8/11/17 302, at 3.
Footnote 440 Sessions 1/17/18 302, at 17; Gordon 9/7/17 302, at 5; Hoskins 9/14/17 302, at l ; Carafano 9/12/17 302, at 2.
441 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 4-5; Papadopoulos 8/11/17 302, at 3; Papadopoulos 9/20/17 302, at 2.
442 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense 10.

Throughout April 2016, Papadopoulos continued to correspond with, meet with, and seek Russia contacts through Mifsud and, at times, Polonskaya. 443 For example, within a week of her initial March 24 meeting with him, Polonskaya attempted to send Papadopoulos a text message which email exchanges show to have been drafted or edited by Mifsud-addressing Papadopoulos' s "wish to engage with the Russian Federation."444 When Papadopoulos learned from Mifsud that Polonskaya had tried to message him, he sent her an email seeking another meeting. 445 Polonskaya responded the next day that she was "back in St. Petersburg" but "would be very pleased to support [Papadopoulos's] initiatives between our two countries" and "to meet [him] again."446 Papadopoulos stated in reply that he thought "a good step" would be to introduce him to "the Russian Ambassador in London," and that he would like to talk to the ambassador, "or anyone else you recommend, about a potential foreign policy trip to Russia."447

Mifsud, who had been copied on the email exchanges, replied on the morning of April 11, 2016. He wrote, "This is already been agreed. I am flying to Moscow on the 18th for a Valdai meeting, plus other meetings at the Duma. We will talk tomorrow."448 The two bodies referenced by Mifsud are part of or associated with the Russian government: the Duma is a Russian legislative assembly,449 while "Valdai" refers to the Valdai Discussion Club, a Moscow-based group that "is close to Russia's foreign-policy establishment."450 Papadopoulos thanked Mifsud and said that he would see him "tomorrow."451 For her part, Polonskaya responded that she had "already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request," that "we are all very excited the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump," and that "[t]he Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced."452

Papadopoulos was working for the Trump Campaign, he had connections in Europe he hoped would lead to a meeting between Trump and Putin. This was not a fantasy, this was happening. Considering the connections Professor Mifsud had and his ready eagerness to have Trump go to meet Putin, this seems all to convenient a source for Papadopolous and then to meet a woman capable and eager to have Trump meet Putin. I think Russia knew about Papadopolous and at some point wanted to have him connect.

Footnote 441 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 4-5; Papadopoulos 8/11/17 302, at 3; Papadopoulos 9/20/17 302, at 2.
Footnote 442 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,i 10.
Footnote 443 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,i,i 10-15.
Footnote 444 3/29/16 Emails, Mifsud to Polonskaya (3 :39 a.m. and 5 :36 a.m.).
Footnote 445 4/10/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Polonskaya (2:45:59 p.m.).
Footnote 446 4/11/16 Email, Polonskaya to Papadopoulos (3: 11 :24 a.m.).
Footnote 447 4/11 /l 6 Email, Papadopoulos to Polonskaya (9:21 :56 a.m.).
Footnote 448 4/11/16 Email, Mifsud to Papadopoulos (11 :43 :53).
Footnote 449 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,i 10( c ).
Footnote 450 Anton Troianovski (click here), Putin Ally Warns of Arms Race as Russia Considers Response to US. Nuclear Stance, Washington Post (Feb. 10, 2018).

February 10, 2018

MOSCOW – One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates warned in an interview Wednesday that the U.S. and Russia are approaching a new arms race – the latest sign that geopolitical tensions are undermining nuclear arms control.

Sergey Chemezov, a top figure in Russia’s arms industry, said he didn’t believe the New START accord limiting the number of nuclear weapons deployed by the two countries could be renewed in the current political environment.

“How can we talk about further negotiations about arms reductions when we don’t trust each other?” Chemezov said in the interview with The Washington Post....

Anton Troianovski is a journalist that writes about Russia. It seems as though the doom and gloom Putin stated before the elections of 2018 to scare Americans to vote for Trump actually came 15 months later and it has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton.

Footnote 451 4/11/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Mifsud (11 :51 :53 a.m.).
Footnote 452 4/12/16 Email, Polonskaya to Papadopoulos (4:47:06 a.m.).

Papadopoulos's and Mifsud's mentions of seeing each other "tomorrow" referenced a meeting that the two had scheduled for the next morning, April 12, 2016, at the Andaz Hotel in London. Papadopoulos acknowledged the meeting during interviews with the Office, 453 and records from Papadopoulos's UK cellphone and his internet-search history all indicate that the meeting took place.454

Following the meeting, Mifsud traveled as planned to Moscow.455 On April 18, 2016, while in Russia, Mifsud introduced Papadopoulos over email to Ivan Timofeev, a member of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).456 Mifsud had described Timofeev as having connections with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),457 the executive entity in Russia responsible for Russian foreign relations.458 Over the next several weeks, Papadopoulos and Timofeev had multiple conversations over Skype and email about setting "the groundwork" for a "potential" meeting between the Campaign and Russian government officials.459 Papadopoulos told the Office that, on one Skype call, he believed that his conversation with Timofeev was being monitored or supervised by an unknown third party, because Timofeev spoke in an official manner and Papadopoulos heard odd noises on the line.460 Timofeev also told Papadopoulos in an April 25, 2016 email that he had just spoken "to Igor Ivanov[,]...

Igor S. Ivanov (click here) is a professor at Moscow State Institute for International Relations. Previously, he served as minister of foreign affairs, from 1998 to 2004, and secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation from 2004 to 2007. Ivanov holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He took part in the work of several U.N. General Assembly sessions, many international conferences, and in particular, co-chaired the Bosnia settlement talks in Dayton, Ohio. From 1991 to 1993, he represented the USSR and then Russia as ambassador to Spain.

In my opinion, Papadopolous was a significant figure to the Trump organization and to Russia.

The people Papadopoulos was making connections with were real and they were significant and if they so desired and Putin agreed Trump and Putin would have met.

Concluding Statement by the Participants in the Bosnia Proximity Peace Talks (click here)

the President of RIAC and former Foreign Minister of Russia," and conveyed Ivanov's advice about how best to arrange a "Moscow visit."461

It was all too easy for Papadopolous. The Russians had to have been encouraging all this. These are not minor figures in history.

Footnote 454 4/12/16 Email, Mifsud to Papadopoulos (5:44:39 a.m.) (forwarding Libya-related document); 4/12/16 Email, Mifsud to Papadopoulos & Obaid (10:28:20 a.m.); Papadopoulos Internet Search History (Apr. 11, 2016 10:56:49 p.m.) (search for "andaz hotel liverpool street"); 4/12/16 Text Messages, Mifsud & Papadopoulos.

Footnote 455 See, e.g., 4/18/16 Email, Mifsud t~ Papadopoulos (8:04:54 a.m.). 
Footnote 456 Papadopoulos 8/ l 0/17 3 02, at 5. 
Footnote 457 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 11. 

Footnote 458 During the campaign period, Papadopoulos connected over Linkedln with several MF Affiliated individuals in addition to Timofeev. On April 25, 2016, he connected with Dmitry Andreyko, publicly identified as a First Secretary at the Russian Embassy in Ireland....

Just a side note:

It is ridiculous to realize that poisonings have occurred in Europe and Trump is trying to bring Russia into his own idea of friendship. HOw does this happen

April 4, 2018
By Simon Carswell

Robert Meade, (click here) Ireland’s deputy head of mission at the Embassy in Moscow, is the Irish diplomat who was given until Monday to leave Russia in the international row over the Salisbury poisoning.

Mr Meade, who has been in Moscow for a number of years, was one of 59 diplomats from 23 countries expelled last week in the Kremlin’s retaliation for the expulsion of Russians across the West.

The expulsions come in the wake of the nerve-agent attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, southern England, at the start of last month. The UK government and EU member states, including Ireland, have blamed the attack on Russia.

The Department of Foreign Affairs declined to release Mr Meade’s name last week. He is one of three Irish diplomats stationed in Moscow. A further six officials in Moscow are on diplomatic visas.

Left is Yurily Melnik and center is Victor Yushchenko, the third president of Ukraine. His face is looks good, it must be before the poisoning.

November 7, 2015
..."The Embassy (click here) does not have any further comment on the demise of Mr. Lesin out of respect to his privacy," Russian Embassy spokesperson Yury Melnik told BuzzFeed News. "Please refer to the family members or the law enforcement officials."...

...In July 2016, he connected with Yuriy Melnik, the spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Washington and with 

The picture to the right is: First Secretary @ Russian Embassy in Ireland (click here) Alexy Krasilnikov.

...Alexey Krasilnikov, publicly identified as a counselor with the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). And on September 16, 2016, he connected with Sergei Nalobin,...


The picture below is Sergei Nalobin and Boris Johnson.

I first met Sergey Nalobin (click here) in 2012 at Soho House. He introduced himself, in accented English, as from the Russian embassy. ‘On the Ministry of Foreign Affairs orientation course before coming to London, I was told to read Guido Fawkes blog and Private Eye. I enjoy yours more,’ he said flatteringly (I publish Guido Fawkes). A PR company had offered me an irresistibly large fee to give ‘a masterclass’ to corporate marketing types in how to use social media. So it was that I found myself presenting Power-Point slides in front of a boardroom of suits — with one short, heavy-set, cropped-haired Russian from central casting sitting right next to me.

...also identified as an MFA official. See Papadopoulos Linkedln Connections IT       

Footnote 459 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 11
Footnote 460 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 5; Papadopoulos 9/19/17 302, at 10.
Footnote 461 4/25/16 Email, Timofeev to Papadopoulos (8:16:35 a.m.). 

continued in next entry

Racism is not a distraction, descent is legal in the USA and encouraged to change injustice.

In the year 2019, racism should be a thing of the past, but, it isn't. The GOP validates it's importance in every election with dog whistles and racist statements that bring bigots to the election box. The "N" is mostly banned from the USA language with it being illegal in some cities, so why is racism still so potent in the USA?

July 19, 2019
By Andre M. Perry

Validating racism is SOP for McConnell.

...One Washington Post columnist stated (click here) the President motives were clear, to “create chaos, distract the masses, look mad, take care of business.” The Post columnist is not alone. The four women who Trump targeted, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), held a press conference the next day and declared the clearly racist comments a distraction.

Policy encompasses written legislation, mandates, acts, and regulations in governments, institutions and businesses to influence behaviors. Those who charge that Trump’s bigoted vitriol is a distraction wrongly limits policy to those written, concrete forms. Policy also comes in the form of practice—regularly exercised procedures that are also used to influence behaviors. Many policies are unwritten or are implied through communicated rhetoric. Many voters make decisions and vote on racist rhetoric just as they would act on issues of foreign policy or social security.

Racism should never be diminished as a distraction—history shows well that the strategic deployment of bigotry is a default practice used to undercut democracy. Inserting nativist, xenophobic language has been the reliable prelude to codifying bigotry into law.

The Know-Nothing Party of the 1800s worked to prevent immigrants and Catholics from holding elected office. The party, which at its peak included more than 100 elected congressman and eight governors, rose to power with nativist propaganda. 

One poster read, “All Catholics and all persons who favor the Catholic Church are…vile imposters, liars, villains, and cowardly cutthroats.”...

What witch hunt?