Five times an incendiary pro-Trump claim on Russia fell flat

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
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Thankfully, his lies aren't getting much traction outside his base.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/19/politics/five-debunked-russia-claims-donald-trump-allies/index.html


Claim: Trump Tower wiretaps in 2016

Trump posted a now-infamous tweet at 6:35 a.m. on a Saturday just weeks into his presidency: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" Trump went on to suggest that what former President Barack Obama did while still in office was illegal and that he was a "bad (or sick) guy."
The shocking allegation sent Washington scrambling. Were there wiretaps? Was it part of the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling? Did Obama have anything to do with it? Was Trump recorded?
Later, Nunes and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, shared a rare moment of bipartisanship and said they found the Trump Tower wiretap claim baseless. And then-FBI Director James Comey testified to Congress that the FBI "looked carefully" at the matter but concluded there was "no information that supports those tweets."

Claim: Improper unmasking of Trump aides

Once the Trump Tower wiretap flap died down, the White House and Nunes floated a new theory. In what is now referred to as the "midnight run," Nunes hastily exited an Uber one night, made his way to the White House grounds, and was shown classified documents about government surveillance.
The next day, Nunes delivered a bombshell. He said he "recently confirmed" that US intelligence agencies "collected information" on Trump transition officials, and that the Obama administration used these reports to improperly spy on the Trump transition operation. He said they abused a process called "unmasking" that reveals the identities of Americans mentioned in classified intelligence memos.
It didn't take long for the story to shift. And not long after the House Intelligence Committee was given a chance to read the underlying materials, CNN reported that multiple Democratic and Republican sources agreed that there was no evidence that Obama administration officials did anything unusual or illegal.

Claim: Oval Office tapes of Comey

Three days after he fired Comey in May 2017, Trump tweeted what looked like a veiled threat: "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
White House aides dodged questions about whether tapes existed, but never offered a full denial. Meanwhile, Comey skeptically held out hope that there were tapes, because they could exonerate him. "Look, I've seen the tweet about tapes. Lordy, I hope there are tapes," he told the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump ended the speculation a few weeks later, saying "I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings." He claimed victory nonetheless, claiming -- again without evidence or further explanation -- that he scared Comey into changing his story.

Claim: A 'secret society' in the FBI

The saga began when Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, gave an interview about a new batch of text messages between two FBI agents who were having an affair while they worked on the Clinton and Russia investigations. "That secret society -- we have an informant that's talking about a group that were holding secret meetings offsite," Johnson said, before repeating the claim again in the interview.
Anger quickly spread among Hill Republicans and conservatives who have been increasingly critical of the FBI. Was there a group of anti-Trump agents that were secretly using the bureau to hurt him?
Under scrutiny, Johnson started backtracking, and admitted the text could be a joke. CNN later reported that the "secret society" reference was in fact about a gag gift -- a Vladimir Putin-themed calendar -- that was purchased by one of the staffers who worked on the early stages of the Russia investigation to distribute to colleagues.

Claim: Steele dossier triggered Russia probe

A regular rallying cry on conservative media and from Hill Republicans is that trigger-happy FBI agents used the Trump-Russia dossier to start the Russia investigation back in July 2016. The problem, they say, is that the dossier was written by a British ex-spy who was funded, indirectly, by the Clinton campaign.
Democrats pushed back on this claim from the very start. They argued that the FBI started its probe after the Australians shared intelligence with the FBI about Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who had bragged to an Australian diplomat that he knew about the Russians having Clinton's emails.
In their final report released last month, House Intelligence Committee Republicans conceded the point, saying that the FBI "opened an enterprise counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign after receiving information related to Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos."
 
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brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
28,103
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The deep state and mainstream media are lying to you. Putin is fighting for the freedom of America by supporting a great big man like Trump. Putin is a good and godly man interested in what is best for humanity.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
37,155
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Let's be clear, a Trump claim without any evidence to back it up is just fucking lying.

Now we add spygate
 
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trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
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Let's be clear, a Trump claim without any evidence to back it up is just fucking lying.

Now we add spygate

Can't wait for the next whopper-doozie he's going to come up with. It's probably going to be along the lines of why the Democrats sabotaged his chances of getting a Nobel Peace Prize or why it's Obama's fault that he got stuck with having to wet nurse that pesky tricky little cherub from the DPRK.
 
Feb 4, 2009
35,516
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Regarding the Mueller investigation I heard a poll yesterday most people associate the word “witch hunt” with the investigation and I believe the majority are under the impression there have been no charges and no guilty verdicts.
So summary is it’s working.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
38,564
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Regarding the Mueller investigation I heard a poll yesterday most people associate the word “witch hunt” with the investigation and I believe the majority are under the impression there have been no charges and no guilty verdicts.
So summary is it’s working.

Where's the poll from, and who did they poll? Bigly matters

That's a problem wrt to education in our country. Feels has become the new educational bar. Do you feel like something's true? Well then it must be
 
Feb 4, 2009
35,516
16,996
136
Where's the poll from, and who did they poll? Bigly matters

That's a problem wrt to education in our country. Feels has become the new educational bar. Do you feel like something's true? Well then it must be

It was on the radio, I think it was CNN.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
37,155
29,483
136
Regarding the Mueller investigation I heard a poll yesterday most people associate the word “witch hunt” with the investigation and I believe the majority are under the impression there have been no charges and no guilty verdicts.
So summary is it’s working.
Lying can be effective if repeated over and over.

Ironically some of us are criticized when we continue to being up Trump's lying. In my case I'm concerned his lying and gaslighting is becoming mainstreamed and normalized. That poll is evidence.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
21,247
5,779
136
Where's the poll from, and who did they poll? Bigly matters

That's a problem wrt to education in our country. Feels has become the new educational bar. Do you feel like something's true? Well then it must be
I think the point is that Trump hasn't been charged with collusion with the Russians, even though a lot of people "know" he's guilty.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
34,305
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Last edited:

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
38,564
19,122
146
I think the point is that Trump hasn't been charged with collusion with the Russians, even though a lot of people "know" he's guilty.

I think the larger point is that in this witch Hunt, people are getting into some hot water, like dominoes, and America's short term loss is glaringly obvious
 

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,992
9,310
136
Lying can be effective if repeated over and over.

Ironically some of us are criticized when we continue to being up Trump's lying. In my case I'm concerned his lying and gaslighting is becoming mainstreamed and normalized. That poll is evidence.

"Fake News" is winning, so why would Trump and his cronies change their behaviour??? I've been following "the Russia stuff" religiously, yet even I cringed when I read a headline stating a simple fact that there have been 75 (SEVENTY-FIVE) criminal charges to date one year in from Mueller's appointment. Even I thought "no, that can't be right." Yet the average MAGA moron is convinced more criminal activity was uncovered in the Benghazi/Hillary email probes.

Fact: There have been ZERO charges against Hillary or any of her cronies related to her use of a private email server, her handling of sensitive State Dept classified information, her handling of Benghazi, the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One, paid speeches, Sidney Blumenthal, the Podestas, Huma Abedin, Pizzagate or any other scandal that conservatives want to invent. Not just under Obama's DOJ, but Trump's DOJ as well.

So the next time anyone here opens their mouth about a storm coming or the Clinton's criminal conspiracies, just remember the scoreboard. 75-0.
 
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trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,158
7,660
136
"Fake News" is winning, so why would Trump and his cronies change their behaviour??? I've been following "the Russia stuff" religiously, yet even I cringed when I read a headline stating a simple fact that there have been 75 (SEVENTY-FIVE) criminal charges to date one year in from Mueller's appointment. Even I thought "no, that can't be right." Yet the average MAGA moron is convinced more criminal activity was uncovered in the Benghazi/Hillary email probes.

Fact: There have been ZERO charges against Hillary or any of her cronies related to her use of a private email server, her handling of sensitive State Dept classified information, her handling of Benghazi, the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One, paid speeches, Sidney Blumenthal, the Podestas, Huma Abedin, Pizzagate or any other scandal that conservatives want to invent. Not just under Obama's DOJ, but Trump's DOJ as well.

So the next time anyone here opens their mouth about a storm coming or the Clinton's criminal conspiracies, just remember the scoreboard. 75-0.

And on cue from the Trump peanut gallery "but nothn'in but noth'in has to do with Trump". No matter what happens to Trump his loyalists have their thumbs stuck in their ears while their other fingers are covering their eyes. In the meantime they're shouting at the top of their lungs how Trump is being railroaded, spied on, lied about and slandered in the media in order to help drown out the facts of the matter.

We'll look back on this in years to come and wonder in awe how Trump ever managed to fool 60 million Americans into giving him the most powerful position the world has to offer. Well, to those folks who live in the real world anyway.
 

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,574
7,671
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Even our reporters are being pussys. And I'm not saying journalist, reporters like tv anchors. They allow republicans to lie on their own shows and don't challenge them a lot of the time.