Majorityrights News > Category: World Affairs

Venezuela, a back door against sanctions and a foothold in the Caribbean in the face of America once again: Venezuela’s Maduro selling oil to Putin.

Venezuela tried to build their economy the wrong way, by selling oil and other natural resources rather than developing the infrastructure by which they might process the oil and other resources in order to sustain and advance their economy.

Venezuela is one of the pariah states along with Belarus and North Korea that the Russian Federation likes to play games with; the RF is now swooping-in for a foothold, for what could be increasing geopolitical control over the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Breitbart, “Report: Moscow Takes Control of Venezuelan Oil Assets amid Socialist Meltdown”, 14 Aug 2017:

Venezuela needs cash, and Russia has it. Venezuela has oil, and Russia wants it. According to a special report at Reuters, the socialist meltdown in Venezuela is likely to end with Moscow controlling a good deal of that tormented country’s most valuable asset: its oil fields.

According to Reuters, Russia’s giant state-owned oil company Rosneft has been holding secret negotiations with its opposite number in Venezuela, PDVSA, to purchase “ownership interests in up to nine of Venezuela’s most productive petroleum projects.”

The number of Venezuela projects Russia would have substantial or ownership stakes in would jump from five to 14 if these deals go through. The new acquisitions would include projects in some of Venezuela’s richest oil and natural gas fields.

The article goes on to note that Rosneft has already floated a billion dollars to PDVSA for promised future oil shipments, and the regime of socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro used Russian money to avoid defaulting on bonds at least twice. Russia announced one of these seemingly risky advance payments immediately after the United States announced a new round of sanctions against Maduro at the beginning of August.

Barron’s explains that Russia’s advance payments for Venezuelan crude are essentially a stealth strategy for buying the oil fields themselves. Russia writes huge checks for barrels of oil, Venezuela is unable to deliver the product or pay the debt, and Russia swaps the debt for equity in the oil projects.

New York Times, “Is Putin Getting What He Wanted With Trump?” 10 June 2017:

In the Senate last week, Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, asked the fired F.B.I. director James Comey if he had “any doubt that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 elections.” Mr. Comey responded with a single word: “None.”

Indeed, he went on to tell the American public that the Russians “did it with purpose, they did it with sophistication, they did it with overwhelming technical efforts.” And he warned: “They will be back,” adding, “they are coming after America.”

Vodka shots in the Kremlin, right? Not exactly.

Doubtless Vladimir Putin continues to derive satisfaction from having assaulted American democracy and embarrassed Hillary Clinton. But the Russian president had one paramount priority: to lift Western sanctions.

As MR has noted, the parasite “federation” that is the Russian Federation, works with rogue nations such as North Korea and Belarus. The Times article adds -

[ibid]

According to one estimate, a quarter of Russia’s global weapons exports in 2015 were to rogue Venezuela, in transactions predominantly effected via loans. Last week, Moscow cut $1 billion from projected state budget revenues.

The Express -

Express, “TRUMP’S NEW THREAT? US President urged to act as Venezuela forges closer links to RUSSIA”, 8 April 2017:

DONALD Trump could be forced to step in to save Venezuela amid fears the failing South American country could be about to turn to Russia or Iran for support.

The Trump administration in Washington is already dealing with a string of crises across the globe - including deadly conflict in Iraq and Syria and the fight against Islamic extremism.

But improving relations with Russia, who today claimed its relationship with the US was in “tatters”, could prove to be the government’s biggest challenge to date.

Russia has not been a threat to America since the Cold War era - yet Moscow could now have found a sneaky way to stir up new tensions with the US without even lifting a finger.

Venezuela has always enjoyed warm relations with Russia, purchasing more than £3.2billion worth of arms from the former Soviet state since 2005.

And in 2009, Russia approved a whopping £1.6bn loan for the Latin American nation as it struggled with an inflation crisis that has left thousands of people struggling to afford food.

However, experts in the US have now warned there could be more to the ‘friendship’ than meets the eye.

Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, a US top military official warned Venezuela could be a “destabilising” factor in Latin America - claiming a “regional response” could be needed following the country’s growing humanitarian crisis.

But he also warned the relationships fostered by Venezuela could pose a real threat to the US in the future.

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Tara McCarthy ♥️@TaraMcCarthy_14 Jul 22
Replying to @MajorityRights

Anyone who talks about the JQ gets shut down. I don’t have a choice.

daniel sienkiewicz‏ @MajorityRights Jul 22
Replying to @TaraMcCarthy_14

It’s not Not talking about the JQ that’s the big problem, it’s going along with their wish to make “The Left” the enemy that is the problem.

In ordinary language, “left” corresponds with unionization of people against elitist bullying and betrayal.

With J’s on top, they cooperate with right wing sellouts to argue that “The left” is the enemy as they don’t want us organizing against them.

What has been called “the Left” by the (((controlled media and academia))) is liberalism as it applies to Whites. It is not a White Left.

(((They)))‘ve associated it with all manner of absurdity as they do not want Whites deploying the concept of unionization.

They do not want us to have the means of accountability and compassion for OUR marginals that would popularize our cause.

They want to say its all about “equality” but White Left ethno-nationalism doesn’t have to mean anything so absurd for us.

It doesn’t mean people can’t be wealthy; or that people who are not contributing as much to the social capital aren’t accountable as well.

It doesn’t deny the reality of race, genetics, science, differing human abilities and limitations..

But we do have some agency and choice, we can unionize as left ethnonationalists to protect ourselves in coordination with other (coalitions of) ethno-nationalists.

Alt Right/Lite is a (((paleocon))) scam to co-opt White reaction into the alienating, manipulable that’s just-the-way-it-isness of the right.

..“that’s just the way it is” - just so happens (((these people))) are on top, its “just nature”.  The problems are being caused by “THE Left” (now that its convenient for the YKW and right wing sellouts in cooperation to say-so).

Illustration: Is “The left” imposing Islam on Indonesia and Turkey? No. Left nationalism’s bitterly opposed to Islam &vis versa

daniel sienkiewicz‏ @MajorityRights Jul 22
Replying to @TaraMcCarthy_14

Trump administration cornered by Mueller in a grand jury investigation.

Trump was not able to veto new sanctions against Russian as it would have been hapless against Capitol Hill’s unanimity on the measure, but betrayed his lack of innocence anyway by attaching a note of complaint (on behalf of his Russian friends?) to go along with his signing.

It would be a similar dead-ringer of guilt, revealing divided loyalties, if Trump tried to remove Mueller from the position of special investigation into Russian influence over his campaign, even if by the proxy of appointing someone who will do the dirty work where Sessions has recused himself - but now even that weasel-out of hiring someone to replace Sessions for the position to fire Meuller is being closed off; the Trump administration is being cornered, such that all administration personnel will be subject to appear before a grand jury and forced to present any documents, financial records, even emails that might have bearing - material evidence that they probably would not disclose voluntarily. 

Politico, “Could Trump Fire Mueller? It’s Complicated”, 3 August 2017:

But the real question is what Congress would do to stop him.

It turns out that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been calling ducks chickens all year long. In February, April and July, the Senate broke for 10 days or more. Each time, the Senate convened pro forma sessions. Subsequent reporting indicated that this was part of a plan hatched by the Senate GOP to prevent Trump from making any recess appointments at all. So it’s highly unlikely that Trump will be able to make a recess appointment during the upcoming break.

Does this mean Trump can’t ease out Sessions without sparking a messy confirmation process for his successor?

A Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing would inevitably rehash the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and even Republicans would be unlikely to confirm a nominee who didn’t pledge to protect Mueller’s investigation.

But Trump has other cards to play. He can appoint an acting attorney general and never get around to nominating a real one. By default, Rosenstein would take the helm. But Rosenstein is the one who hired Mueller, so if Trump’s goal is to get rid of the special counsel, he needs to pick someone else as acting attorney general.

But while a Grand Jury investigation is anything but good news for Trump and his administration, it is not news failing his incapacity to get rid of the Mueller and the investigation altogether - it is standard operating procedure for a special investigation of this kind:

Washington Post, “Why Mueller’s use of a grand jury confirms what we already knew”, 3 August 2017:

reathless tweets and breaking-news banners notwithstanding, reports that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has empaneled a grand jury in the ongoing investigation of the Trump campaign and potential Russian collusion are entirely unsurprising. This development isn’t a nothing-burger, but it doesn’t suggest anything we didn’t already know.

Grand juries are how federal prosecutors conduct their investigations. The grand jury has the subpoena power that prosecutors need to compel reluctant witnesses to testify under oath. Grand jury subpoenas are also how prosecutors gather documents such as bank records, emails and corporate papers from entities or people who might not produce them voluntarily.

If a preliminary inquiry suggests there is nothing to a case, prosecutors might never empanel a grand jury. They and the FBI might conduct voluntary interviews, examine readily available documents and determine that no more formal inquiry is warranted.

That quick-look, let’s-move-on scenario was never likely here. It’s been clear for months that the allegations are sufficiently serious to merit a full investigation. And in the world of federal prosecutors, that means using a grand jury.

In fact, prosecutors in this probe have been using a grand jury for some time. Grand jury proceedings take place in secret, so there is often not a lot of news about what is happening in the room.

But someone who receives a subpoena to testify or produce documents is not bound by those secrecy rules. They are free to disclose — to the media or to anyone else — that they received a grand jury subpoena or testified in the grand jury. It may be that someone who just received a subpoena contacted a reporter and that has resulted in the “breaking news” stories.

The reality is that any investigation serious enough to warrant the appointment of a special counsel was always likely to involve a grand jury. It was always going to drag on for months. In a case this complex, it takes a long time to investigate the various allegations, subpoena and review relevant documents, and put relevant witnesses before the grand jury. If there are grants of immunity or plea deals to be negotiated, that takes time as well.

Mueller has already hired more than a dozen prosecutors to staff his investigation. Anyone who thought this was going to be over quickly was kidding themselves. The “news” confirms what we already knew.

Finally, it’s important to remember that the existence of a grand jury investigation does not mean criminal charges will necessarily result. Especially in white-collar cases, it’s not unusual for grand jury investigations to close with no charges being filed. The grand jury is the investigative tool that prosecutors use to determine whether charges are warranted – and sometimes the answer is no.

In the past weeks, there have been a number of startling and significant developments in the Russia probe. News that the special counsel is using a grand jury is not one of them.

....tasked with out-Koshering other goyim alum and to put the hit on them gangster style for being in/convenient goyim to the kosher mob. From our point of view, we can be glad that Bannon’s (((Paleocon))) misdirection into his (((Neo-Reaction))) is being throttled by a more distinctly (thereby didactic) Kosher and neo-liberal effort.

Scaramucci blanks like a hootchi.

First, some commentary on the situation by Kumiko:

Death match, Maxine Waters versus Steven Mnuchin.

A number of Cernovich’s people are getting subpoena’d now too.

He’s on Twitter this morning saying he’s worried he’ll be next.

All the FVEY accounts are indicating “LOL we’re coming for all of you.”

The collapse is going to be good fun.

Why would Cernovich be subpoena’d?

Because Putin, quite seriously.

It’s encouraging that this has started to bleed into the Alt-Lite.

Since they thought that everyone had forgotten about them.

It forms part of the logic of why we have actively tried to keep our audience from falling into that garbage when it started up.

All of these people will go down with the ship, because that’s how it works.

The only way to not get taken down is to just not be there.

“I’m just a blogger, surely I can be a grey vector of Active Measures and be left alone, right?”

Yeah no.

The only they were going to escape would have been if Trump had swiftly crushed the entire US intelligence community within a few months of entering office.

But these fluffy guys didn’t think about that, and Trump was incompetent, so now it’s all catching up to them.

There’s still chances for them to squirm out, if Trump starts a firing spree before Graham’s bill passes.

But it’s looking like they won’t make it.

Trump is behind schedule, since he fired Priebus today, but then he realized that Scaramucci doesn’t care about anything and wants to actually fight Bannon.

So they are wasting precious time because Trump didn’t realize that Scaramucci only wanted to enter the White House so he could destroy Priebus and Bannon.

....because they screwed him in a business deal back n 2016.

Now he’s coming back pure ITALIAN BOSS.

...and now they are all falling over each other to try to ‘calm that down’... wasting precious time.

That’s why you see Raheem Kassam and Cernovich now trying to rally the base against Scaramucci “or it’s all over” according Kassam.

If you want to be rid of Bannon’s Neo-Reactionary misdirection into counter-Jihad Paleoconservatism, you have to love the hit Salabucci is putting on him.

Salabucci is just there to kill two guys.

He’s just some guy Trump knew from some business thing, who used to also go on Fox News and give financial commentary.

He spent the whole electoral cycle accusing Trump of being a protectionist bastard, until he realized Trump could be induced to make it worth his while; so he quietly went pro-Trump, sold off his business, and then asked to join the Trump admin.

That’s when Priebus and Bannon blocked him, saying he was on an agenda, and so it meant Scaramucci had divested himself for no reason. At this stage I assume he decided to go for the revenge plot, and this may be it.

So he becomes a factor in the chaos. ...since Trump is an idiot and brought him in despite the fact that he was a time bomb.

That’s why Sean Spicer resigned, since he refused to work under Scaramucci, since he knew Scaramucci is there to wreck things.

Then Scaramucci immediately came in and destroyed Priebus as Spicer likely predicted, lol.

And is now attacking Bannon, claiming that “I’m here to serve America, unlike Bannon who is here to suck his own dick.”

Anyway, yeah, this is why day to day politics can be fun.

On the other side, Trump just ruined his senate majority.

In the process of trying to pass the Obamacare repeal, Trump threatened to economically attack Alaska if Murkowski wouldn’t vote ‘Yes.’

In reaction, Murkowski doubled down on opposing Trump, and voted ‘no.’

So Pence entered the chamber again to try to break the tie.

But then Collins and MCCAIN defected too.

....and the whole chamber erupted as McCain tilted his chin up.

...and the whole fucking thing imploded.

So now Trump is in a position where he is just getting nothing done.

That’s what Kumiko had to say. Here’s what The New Nationalist has to say. They consider themselves “Third Position,” which means that they have some things right - like an eye on the J.Q. and some right wing perfidy. However, they remain insufficiently emancipated from the right wing and are unstable as a result, resorting to some wild speculation where socialization would be corrective.

The New Nationalist, “Move Over Trump, There’s a New Sheriff in Town: Mad Tony ‘The Mooch’ Scaramucci”, 28 July 2017:

Trumpian apologists are doing cartwheels and backflips trying to explain away the bizarre behavior of the administration’s latest “communication director,” one Anthony Scaramucci, also known as “The Mooch.” Sean Spicer was a piker compared to this character. Predictably, The Mooch, 53, is a Goldman Sachs alum and hedge fund manager who boasts “29 years on Wall Street.” He is a member of the nefarious Council on Foreign Relations and, on June 19, became senior VP and chief strategy officer for the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

During his first week on the job as Trump’s chief mouthpiece, Scaramucci engaged the president’s drama squad in a WWWF-style brahaha, culminating in an interview during which he declared, “I’m not Steve Bannon. I’m not trying to suck my own cock. I’m not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the president. I’m here to serve the country.” Classy.

In another rambling interview, The Mooch vowed to hunt down the White House leakers. He suggested that embattled White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus would be fired if he leaks and said he was incensed that Priebus “cock-blocked” him for six months from getting a position in Trump’s administration. He also called Priebus “a fucking paranoid schizophrenic” and seemed to imply that some White House staffers may have committed a felony by leaking sensitive financial information about Scaramucci, even though his financial disclosure form was publicly available. It is also interesting that The Mooch had nothing bad to say about globalists Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn and Dina Powell during his rant.

Sampling of the Mooch’s claims:

         
          The 6 most unusual quotes from Anthony Scaramucci’s CNN interview

No sensible leader would turn such a man loose. No sensible leader would be undercutting his own attorney general six months into his presidency. His Secretary of State Tillerson is rumored to have had enough. There is every indication that the Trumpian executive branch is ungovernable; and worse, governed by tweet. Just about anybody within the sistema will distance themselves soon enough. Former media supporter Breibart is playing a role by doing exactly that.

It is just a matter of time before steps are taken to remove him. The New Nationalist (TNN) theorizes the trigger will be a market swoon, possibly triggered by a faux pas from “Red Queen” Donald himself. This happens after the cognescenti are convinced the rigged “markets” are bulletproof against Trumpian buffoonery and skullduggery. But alas, that will prove not to be the case.

This further reinforces our post-election theory regarding Trump mafioso and oligarch-like appointments. This is a devious and traitorous Trojan Horse operation designed to deliberately take what’s left of the American system down. This is the end game of a multi-generation national demolition project.

Trump’s role is as closer of that project. Unfortunately, few understand that, even his among his opponents. In fact, his Democratic opponents like Hillary and Obama are in on it. Readers need to jettison the erroneous Hanlon’s Razor, which says, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” There is true evil and malice at loose in the world and they operate at the highest level.

Although at this juncture this feels like watching red paint dry, it’s anything but. This crisis phase, when it erupts, should last about six weeks, ending in total breakdown and chaos. The moving parts, such as a summer of urban turmoil (Baltimore and Ferguson multiplied) are in place. The neo-feudal plans of the Crime Syndicate and their international bankster bosses are in place. The police state and Gulag system have been tested and are in place. Human harvesting implementation was test run in Haiti and is in place. Human terrain intelligence for every person in America, if not the world, is in place, locked, loaded.

Technology Decisions, 12 July 2017:

“Donald Trump threatens net neutrality, says academic”

Internet neutrality and freedom of speech are under threat by Donald Trump’s administration, according to a QUT academic.

Matthew Rimmer from the Faculty of Law said that the Trump administration has been seeking to dismantle network neutrality rules as part of its deregulation agenda.

“There will be a massive online protest by a wide array of companies, including Amazon, Netflix, Shapeways, Kickstarter, Twitter and Reddit, along with organisations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Greenpeace and the American Library Association,” said Rimmer.

  Ajit Pai: the man who could destroy the open internet

“July 12 2017 is a Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality in the US, an event responding to plans by the Federal Communications Commission under the leadership of President Donald Trump’s chair, Ajit Pai, to repeal government rules which established net neutrality.”

Network neutrality started out as a philosophical concept, developed by Professor Timothy Wu from Columbia University, to address discrimination by broadband service providers. It was designed to preserve a free and open internet by preventing broadband providers from blocking, throttling or slowing internet services.

It ensures consumer rights are not undermined by internet service providers and that they do not suffer a dystopia of slow lanes and fast-paid lanes on the internet.

It also helps ensure the internet is a free and open platform which supports innovation. In particular, it ensures that start-up companies and new market entrants have an equal playing field. Without such protections, internet service providers could use their role as gatekeepers to reinforce their monopolies.

“We have not seen such a massive online action since the protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act, in which Wikipedia and other online sites staged a blackout against draconian copyright laws,” Rimmer said.

However, while the United States debates network neutrality, Australia still has not had a proper conversation about network neutrality.

“The issue has been periodically raised in the context of debates over the nbn, media convergence and competition reform. There are, though, concerns about the speed of broadband services in Australia and the problem of the data drought,” said Rimmer.

“At a time at which it is modernising its media laws, Australia would benefit from the introduction of the principle of network neutrality. The public interest doctrine would boost consumer choice, competition and innovation in Australia.”

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Independent, “Climate change denier Scott Pruitt’s appointment to run EPA would be ‘unprecedented assault’ on its work,” 7 Feb 2017.

One issue that state discretion would Not handle better is the overseeing and coordination of environmental matters, which are, by definition, of interrelated systems that do not heed political bounds, especially not smaller ones.

Trump’s crass assault on our earthly home was launched with his appointment of business plant and climate change denier, Scott Pruitt, as head of the EPA: fox in charge of the hen house. The assault is now going into overdrive.

Daily Caller, “House Republicans Lay Out Their Plan To Rein In The EPA”, 18, 2017:

House Republicans released their proposal to balance the federal budget in 10 years, which included their plans to rein in the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Republicans plan three broad reforms for the EPA: reduce its funding, cut global warming and programs and eliminate the agency’s policy office.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has long overreached in its duties,” the House budget resolution reads, released Tuesday.

“While everyone supports protecting the environment and promoting clean air and clean water, the states are better positioned to address their individual environmental concerns and balance those responsibilities with the concerns of workers, small-businesses, and manufacturers,” the resolution adds.

However, the House’s plan for the EPA would cut the agency’s budget 80 percent less than what the White house recommended in its May budget proposal.

A House appropriations bill introduced days ago gives the EPA a $7.5 billion budget in 2017, or $528 million less than the agency’s 2017 budget. The bill also ignored many Trump administration requests to cut dozens of EPA programs. That bill is still making its way through committee.

The House appropriations bill would give $31.4 billion to federal environmental programs at the EPA, Department of the Interior and other agencies. That’s $824 million below 2017 levels, but $4.3 billion less than the White House’s request.

The White House recommended cutting the EPA’s budget $2.6 billion, or more than 30 percent, along with eliminating dozens of programs, particularly those enforcing Obama-era regulations and climate programs.

The budget proposal also included plans to eliminate duplicative energy programs and wasteful spending to help get “federal government out of the way and allow the private sector to do its job and flourish.”

That effort largely focuses on reducing Energy Department spending energy subsidies and stopping the agency from issuing any more loan guarantees — the same program that funded Solyndra.

“Eliminating these Obama-era pet programs will help us reduce federal spending in the energy sector and promote private-sector energy production and innovation,” the House budget document reads.

Republicans claim that their plan would balance the federal budget within 10 years.

Democrats and environmentalists are already pushing back on the Republican resolution.

House lawmakers will mark up the budget resolution Wednesday, and it’s expected to pass the chamber. Senate Democrats could pose problems for the budget resolution’s path to President Donald Trump’s desk.

The web connecting the Trump administration to Russia

From Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to former campaign director Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s allies have business and personal connections to Russia. As Congress and the FBI look into Russia’s involvement with the 2016 election, those connect (Natalie Fertig and Patrick Gleason McClatchy).

McClatchy DC, “Trump-Russia investigators probe Jared Kushner-run digital operation”, 12 July 2017:

WASHINGTON

Investigators at the House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are examining whether the Trump campaign’s digital operation – overseen by Jared Kushner – helped guide Russia’s sophisticated voter targeting and fake news attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Congressional and Justice Department investigators are focusing on whether Trump’s campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in key states – areas where Trump’s digital team and Republican operatives were spotting unexpected weakness in voter support for Hillary Clinton, according to several people familiar with the parallel inquiries.

Also under scrutiny is the question of whether Trump associates or campaign aides had any role in assisting the Russians in publicly releasing thousands of emails, hacked from the accounts of top Democrats, at turning points in the presidential race, mainly through the London-based transparency web site WikiLeaks.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told McClatchy he wants to know whether Russia’s “fake or damaging news stories” were “coordinated in any way in terms of targeting or in terms of timing or in terms of any other measure … with the (Trump) campaign.”

By Election Day, an automated Kremlin cyberattack of unprecedented scale and sophistication had delivered critical and phony news about the Democratic presidential nominee to the Twitter and Facebook accounts of millions of voters. Some investigators suspect the Russians targeted voters in swing states, even in key precincts.

Russia’s operation used computer commands knowns as “bots” to collect and dramatically heighten the reach of negative or fabricated news about Clinton, including a story in the final days of the campaign accusing her of running a pedophile ring at a Washington pizzeria.

One source familiar with Justice’s criminal probe said investigators doubt Russian operatives controlling the so-called robotic cyber commands that fetched and distributed fake news stories could have independently “known where to specifically target … to which high-impact states and districts in those states.”

All of the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is confidential.

Top Democrats on the committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election have signaled the same.

Schiff said he wants the House panel to determine whether Trump aides helped Russia time its cyberattacks or target certain voters and whether there was “any exchange of information, any financial support funneled to organizations that were doing this kind of work.”

Trump son-in-law Kushner, now a senior adviser to the president and the only current White House aide known to be deemed a “person of interest” in the Justice Department investigation, appears to be under the microscope in several respects. His real estate finances and December meetings with Russia’s ambassador and the head of a sanctioned, state-controlled bank are also being examined.

Kushner’s “role as a possible cut-out or conduit for Moscow’s influence operations in the elections,” including his niche overseeing the digital operations, will be closely looked at, said the source knowledgeable about the Justice Department inquiry.

Kushner joined Donald Trump Jr. and Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort at a newly disclosed June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in New York.. The meeting, revealed by The New York Times, followed emails in which Trump Jr. was told the lawyer for the Russian government would provide him with incriminating information on Clinton and he replied “If it’s what you say I love it.”

That disclosure could only serve to heighten interest in whether there was digital collaboration.

Mike Carpenter, who in January left a senior Pentagon post where he worked on Russia matters, also has suspicions about collaboration between the campaign and Russia’s cyber operatives.

“There appears to have been significant cooperation between Russia’s online propaganda machine and individuals in the United States who were knowledgeable about where to target the disinformation,” he said, without naming any American suspects.

Trump has repeatedly repudiated or equivocated about the finding of four key intelligence agencies – the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and the Directorate of National Intelligence – that Russian cyber operatives meddled with the U.S. election.

Last Friday, during their first face-to-face meeting, Trump questioned Putin about Russia’s role in the election meddling and Putin denied culpability, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was present. Trump then said the two countries should find ways to move forward in their relationship, Tillerson said.

A Russian official who was at the meeting said the two sides agreed to form a working group to address cybersecurity, including interference in other countries’ internal affairs. However, Trump backtracked Sunday night, saying in a tweet that he doesn’t believe such an effort can happen.

As more has been learned about the breadth of the Russian cyber onslaught, congressional Democrats have shown growing resolve to demand that the Republican-controlled intelligence committees fully investigate ways in which Trump associates may have conspired with the Russians.

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