So Obama’s people scrambled to preserve the Trump/Russia collusion intel, knowing a massive coverup would ensue. Read the article below. It is astounding. The Obama administration knew about this crime of the century but couldn’t reveal this classified information before leaving office so they had to spread the intel around the government to stop the now-unfolding coverup.
Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking
In the Obama administration’s last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.
Now per this Reuters article, the House intel committee will now all of a sudden investigate? Seems that House repubs realize the intel is going to get made public soon and they are feeling they have to pretend they weren’t part of the coverup by now allowing the investigations.
House panel to probe possible Russia-Trump campaign collusion -Democrat
The U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee will investigate allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, the top Democrat on the panel said on Wednesday.
"We have reached a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign," Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said on MSNBC.
U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia tried to help Trump win the White House by discrediting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her party through cyber attacks. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation in December.
[snip]
Earlier on Wednesday, Nunes told Fox News that the committee would receive a briefing from intelligence officials on Thursday.
It isn’t hard to realize why Sessions won’t recuse: he is in the thick of this crime of the century!!!
Sessions spoke twice with Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential campaign, Justice officials say
Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator’s office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.
The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump’s associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.
Thursday, Mar 2, 2017 · 4:38:55 PM +00:00
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gnosticator
Dan Rather
Every once in a while in Washington, the fuse is lit for what seems to be a big scandal. Much more rarely does that fuse lead to an explosion of the magnitude we are seeing with Russia and the new Administration, and frankly the Republicans in Congress. How can anybody say, with all this billowing smoke and sights of actual flames, that there is no need to at least independently investigate whether a fire is burning down the very pillars of our democracy?
The pressure is obviously starting to mount as leading Republicans are now calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. This comes in the wake of serious and credible evidence reported by a vigilant press that the Attorney General, mind you the top law enforcement man in the United States, perjured himself in testimony to the Senate about meeting the Russian ambassador during the election. Sessions is but the latest person close to President Trump who seems to be ensnared in a story that is more worthy of Hollywood melodrama than the reality of the governance of our country. Democrats are calling for Sessions to resign, and this story could move very quickly.
We are well past the time for any political niceties or benefits of the doubt. We need an independent and thorough investigation of Russia's meddling in our democracy and its ties to the President and his allies. We don't know what we don't know. Perhaps there are perfectly innocuous reasons for why Mr Trump won't release his tax returns, why he has continued to speak admirably about President Putin and why his aides and advisors seem to be so close to Russia. That's why we need an investigation. If the air is to be cleared, it needs to be cleared. And if there is deep rot, it needs to be exposed. And quickly.
The press is doing an admirable job. But there is only so much it can do without such things as subpoena powers. Let's just make this clear. This is about a foreign and hostile power trying to influence our election while being in contact with close aides to the presidential campaign that the Kremlin wanted to win. Furthermore, there are serious questions about Mr Trump's longstanding ties to Russian money and influence peddlers. We don't know where this might go, but it isn't going away.
