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How do we know they’re not [still] conspiring in these meetings and phone calls?
There are no transcripts; there are no read outs.
There are no summaries; there are no other people allowed. Not even Trump’s advisors.
Trump and Putin Have Met Five Times. What Was Said Is a Mystery.
[...]
Their third encounter was in Vietnam when Mr. Trump seemed to take Mr. Putin’s word that he had not interfered in American elections. A formal summit meeting followed in Helsinki, Finland, where the two leaders kicked out everyone but the interpreters. [...]
Mr. Trump has adamantly insisted there was “no collusion” with Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign. But each of the five times he has met with Mr. Putin since taking office, he has fueled suspicions about their relationship. The unusually secretive way he has handled these meetings has left many in his own administration guessing what happened and piqued the interest of investigators.
[...]
Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Putin that day lasted more than two hours. Afterward, Mr. Trump took his interpreter’s notes and instructed the interpreter not to brief anyone. Mr. Tillerson told reporters that the leaders discussed everything from Syria to Ukraine, but he also described “a very robust and lengthy exchange” on the election hacking.
A few hours later, Mr. Trump sought out Mr. Putin again during a dinner for all the leaders. Videotape later made public showed Mr. Trump pointing at Mr. Putin, who was seated across and down a long table, then pointing at himself and then making a pumping motion with his fist.
[...]
Today the secret Trump-Putin scheming sessions continue … [9 10 Calls, 5 Meetings, and 4 Letters]:
It’s the latest example of Trump’s reluctance to acknowledge Russian interference.
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In a more than hour-long call, which Trump characterized as a “very good and long conversation,” the two leaders discussed what he referred to as the “Russian hoax,” including their reactions to the Mueller report. Trump didn’t, however, confront Putin directly about Russian meddling in upcoming US elections, a threat that was raised as one of the biggest takeaways in the incredibly comprehensive 400-page report.
[...]
Many top national security officials have also emphasized that Russian interference efforts aren’t expected to subside as 2020 approaches. “We recognize that our adversaries are going to keep adapting and upping their game,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said during an event last week, where he noted that Russia’s ongoing meddling is a “significant counterintelligence threat.”
Trump, however, said he did not question Putin about Russian meddling in future US elections during their recent call.
“We didn’t discuss that, really we didn’t discuss that,” Trump said.
How do we know they’re not conspiring and colluding, in these uber-private meetings and phone calls?
We don’t know.
Neither of these liars and lawbreakers can be trusted.
Taking the word of Trump is a mistake; taking the word of Putin is a mistake.
If they were ‘on the up and up’ these meetings would be public; these meetings would be published. These meeting would be followed by a press conference.
But they are not.
SO WHY all the hush-hush secrecy?
How do we know Vlad and Donnie are not conspiring again — to influence yet another American election?
We don’t know.
Because if we did, then their long-con would be over.
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Instead it’s really just beginning …
2018 was really just a Trial Run for what’s to come. State election systems and voter registration databases are NOW on Putin’s new To-Do List.
And the “captured” American president is not doing a damn thing to stop them in 2020 … his past and current actions tell us that.
F.B.I. Warns of Russian Interference in 2020 Race and Boosts Counterintelligence Operations
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“We recognize that our adversaries are going to keep adapting and upping their game,” Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, said Friday in a speech in Washington, citing the presence of Russian intelligence officers in the United States and the Kremlin’s record of malign influence operations.
“So we are very much viewing 2018 as just kind of a dress rehearsal for the big show in 2020,” he said in his remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations.
[...]
Mr. Wray’s warnings came after the report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, laid out in hundreds of pages of detail the interference and influence campaign carried out by Russian operatives in the 2016 election.
Trump and Putin will keep secreting plotting.
Dems with the Oversight authority will keep waiting for 2020 to “solve everything”.
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Well ... you can be sure at least 2 "strategic objectives" were accomplished in this last "check-in" call:
1) Keep Vladimir in the Loop.
2) Keep Donald on the Leash.
Missions accomplished.
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