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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Breaking News: Unclassified/Declassified US Intelligence Community Report on Russian Cyber, Influence, Desinformaziya, and Kompromat Operations to Now Be Released as Soon as this Afternoon

Breaking News: Unclassified/Declassified US Intelligence Community Report on Russian Cyber, Influence, Desinformaziya, and Kompromat Operations to Now Be Released as Soon as this Afternoon

by Adam L Silverman|  January 6, 20171:17 pm| 182 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Open Threads, Politics

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Breaking: declassified review of #Russian election-related hacking to be released as soon as this afternoon – source tells #CNN

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 6, 2017

This situation is now increasingly fluid. For whatever reasons, either the Administration, the DNI, or both in consultation with each other have decided to not wait until Monday afternoon at 2 PM to release the unclassified/declassified report on Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.

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Reader Interactions

182Comments

  1. 1.

    Hildebrand

    January 6, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    All of the above are likely tired of the anthropomorphic cheeto shitting on them – and so, voila, something to talk about all weekend.

  2. 2.

    Feebog

    January 6, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    My guess is the Shitgibbon got his briefing, completely rejected the findings of the IC, and went off on them. Rather than give him an entire weekend to tweet lies about the briefing (classified, smashifed) they decided to release it now. And I will bet 10 bucks right now, this was the plan beforehand if he did not accept the findings.

  3. 3.

    ET

    January 6, 2017 at 1:21 pm

    They have to get this out and public now unless they want President Trump (God I can’t believe I typed that) buries it and continues do to what he can to make them look bad and marginalize them because he doesn’t like their conclusions. He can deny it all he wants and his spokespeople can spin, and spin, and spin but it will be out and they and there isn’t a damn thing they can do.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    Now I wonder how much coverage it will even get in light of another breaking story — shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport (reports say that 9 people were shot, 1 has died, shooter is in custody). CNN and MSNBC are talking of nothing else.

  5. 5.

    clay

    January 6, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    I guess someone decided that giving TrumpCo. all weekend to dissemble and outright lie wasn’t a good idea. (Not that they’ll do any differently regardless.) And this’ll give the Sunday shows plenty to talk about…

  6. 6.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    @Feebog: This sounds pretty reasonable to me. Essentially damage control by our intelligence agencies to keep Russian influence to a minimum.

  7. 7.

    Doug R

    January 6, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    See, somebody reads this top 10,000 blog.

  8. 8.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    @Feebog:

    And I will bet 10 bucks right now, this was the plan beforehand if he did not accept the findings.

    IANA member of the intel community but this seems likely to me.

  9. 9.

    LAC

    January 6, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    So the current administration is sooooooo not disappointing people? Who would have thunk it?

  10. 10.

    kindness

    January 6, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    Republicans have wanted to try out that impeachment thingy since the 90’s. Now they will get to…Oh…..Wait…..Oh shit.

  11. 11.

    RSR

    January 6, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    Charles Pierce on twitter earlier today:

    His Twitter feed is remarkably bananas this morning. Something bad must be coming.

  12. 12.

    RSR

    January 6, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: False Flag!

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    @Feebog:

    And I will bet 10 bucks right now, this was the plan beforehand if he did not accept the findings.

    I would not take that bet, because I’m quite sure you’re correct!

  14. 14.

    Yarrow

    January 6, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    Has Trump’s briefing concluded yet? Does he even know they’ve moved up the release of info?

  15. 15.

    Mike in DC

    January 6, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    Well, now I know what I’ll be reading this weekend. Thanks, spooks!

  16. 16.

    geg6

    January 6, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    Ooooowie, this is exciting. Fridays really have become the most interesting day of the week.

  17. 17.

    Shell

    January 6, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    But didn’t ya hear…the Russians weren’t celebrating Trumps win, they were just congratulating him. See, its all semantics!

  18. 18.

    JordanRules

    January 6, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    I think they knew, even when they announced that formal Monday release date, that they’d release it earlier. Maybe keeping things normal and formal so the orange mob would think they had this advantage that they’d used in other scenarios.

    Still don’t think the report will jolt anything beneficial from the media and GOP traitors.

  19. 19.

    JPL

    January 6, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    @Feebog: Why would you be so disrespectful of the President-elect. tsk

  20. 20.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 6, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    This has to be a first – pick a fight with a major goverment agency before taking office. Then again a real pol would know better than to have their midnight rants published without review.

  21. 21.

    PaulW

    January 6, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    @Feebog:

    My guess is the Shitgibbon got his briefing, completely rejected the findings of the IC, and went off on them. Rather than give him an entire weekend to tweet lies about the briefing (classified, smashifed) they decided to release it now. And I will bet 10 bucks right now, this was the plan beforehand if he did not accept the findings.

    Did he even show? I thought I saw early tweets that said he didn’t.

  22. 22.

    PaulW

    January 6, 2017 at 1:44 pm

    In the meantime I think Arnold’s tweet replies over Shitgibbon’s meltdown over Apprentice ratings were congenially apt and shaming towards the Ferret-haired tiny-fingered Cheeto.

  23. 23.

    LAO

    January 6, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    Trump’s twitter feed is going to be hilarious today. If you find the end of the world as we know it, funny.

  24. 24.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    Which “progressive” will be the first to defend Putin’s honor? Taibbi or Greenwald?

  25. 25.

    JordanRules

    January 6, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    @Mike in DC:

    Ha! Hearing, Thanks spooks is oddly funny. If we survive, the movies are going to be delicious. If we survive.

  26. 26.

    JMG

    January 6, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    As a real self-made man, I’m pretty sure Arnold holds fake self-made man Trump in some contempt as a fraud.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    January 6, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    For whatever reasons

    Most likely to deny Trump a chance to spread his lies about the report before the rest of us can see it.

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 6, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    @Cacti: Greenie, I’d put 5,000 internet bucks on it

  29. 29.

    SatanicPanic

    January 6, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    @Cacti: Tulsi Gabbard?

    EDIT- I know one IRL Sanders supporter who hasn’t, so far, defended him on his own merits, but because he’s a counterpoint to American power. Sometimes I don’t get leftists.

  30. 30.

    Felonius Monk

    January 6, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    So the Gelatinous Orange Pig Bladder and his retinue of Bladderettes are once more demonstrating their lack of intelligence and decorum, what else is new? I sure hope that the IC briefers spelled out “pussy-boi” for him.

    Maybe a new hashtag? #RealDonaldPussy-Boi

  31. 31.

    bemused

    January 6, 2017 at 1:49 pm

    If Trump can actually feel fear, I’m wondering why he looks more afraid of Putin than the big dogs running all our intelligence agencies.

  32. 32.

    hovercraft

    January 6, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    Nancy Pelosi: Intel Report On Russian Hacking Is ‘Stunning’

    WASHINGTON ― House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that a forthcoming intelligence report on Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election provided a “stunning disclosure.”

    Pelosi wouldn’t tell reporters outright whether she thought the hacking had affected election results. Instead, she said excerpts of the report would be released later in the day and pushed the press to connect the dots.

    “I would say this: Regardless of the outcome of the election, the American people have the right to know what a foreign power did to disrupt our election,” she said after the intelligence community briefed House and Senate leaders on its findings.

    Pressed further, Pelosi said she had no doubt ― even before the intelligence officials made their determination ― that Russia was involved in hacking the Democratic National Committee.

    “There is no question that … the Russians disrupted and then they released the information to a source,” Pelosi said, referring to WikiLeaks. “And this is the path which would then on a partisan basis only release Democratic emails.”

    Pelosi scolded the press for being “accomplices” in Russia’s meddling.

    “Because every single day you reported that there was an email that was embarrassing to the Clinton administration without saying we know this because of disruption by a foreign power into our electoral system, you knew that, you knew it was the Russians,” she said.

    “Did it affect the Clinton campaign? Of course it did, of course it did,” she added. “Would it have come out differently? I don’t know, because there are many factors in an election.”

    The top intel officials who briefed congressional leadership are scheduled to brief President-elect Donald Trump on Friday.

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    @Feebog: The briefing is happening now. It started at 12:30 PM today.

  34. 34.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    @Shell: Bullshit. I saw thousands of Russians celebrating as the election results came in across the strait from Alaska.

  35. 35.

    amk

    January 6, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    @Cacti: Why only those two? There is plenty of loony left to go around.

  36. 36.

    coin operated

    January 6, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    Won’t matter one bit. My breitbarf following friends were posting this morning, long before the announcement, that this is a false flag operation to discredit the Orange Shitgibbon.

    I hope someone in the Trump administration is paying attention. The IC community is not going to go quietly.

  37. 37.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    @PaulW: The briefing started at 12:30 PM. He was tweeting around 3 hours before it started.

  38. 38.

    hovercraft

    January 6, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    @Feebog:
    He apparently made it to the briefing.

    n 6, 1:20 PM EST

    Trump briefing under way on classified Russia hacking report

    By JULIE PACE and DEB RIECHMANN
    Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A briefing from the nation’s top intelligence officials to President-elect Donald Trump was underway Friday, a meeting in which the officials planned to make their most detailed and persuasive case yet that Russia’s government interfered in the November election.

  39. 39.

    Pogonip

    January 6, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    @Doug R: I still read half of it; does that put me in the top 20,000?

  40. 40.

    Timurid

    January 6, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    @Yarrow:

    He’s probably stormed out already…

  41. 41.

    amk

    January 6, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    @coin operated: the lil fingered vulgarian is already whining that it’s a ‘witch hunt’. even before the briefing, apparently. what a ‘tough guy’.

  42. 42.

    hovercraft

    January 6, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    @Cacti:
    Hasn’t GG already done so?

  43. 43.

    low-tech cyclist

    January 6, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    @Feebog:

    My guess is the Shitgibbon got his briefing, completely rejected the findings of the IC, and went off on them. Rather than give him an entire weekend to tweet lies about the briefing (classified, smashifed) they decided to release it now. And I will bet 10 bucks right now, this was the plan beforehand if he did not accept the findings.

    Yeppers to all of the above.

  44. 44.

    Pogonip

    January 6, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: You can see Russia from your house??

  45. 45.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    never mind

  46. 46.

    tpherald

    January 6, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    Check WikiLeaks and WL Task Force on Twitter today … They are FREAKING out. Assange, GG & Trump’s con on Russian interference is coming undone.

  47. 47.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    @bemused: Because he hasn’t seen any pictures of the Big Boys riding a bear, like the pic of Vlad he’s got pinned up above his bedstand.

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @Doug R: 22,799th website in the country!

  49. 49.

    coin operated

    January 6, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @amk: Yup…that was one of the links shared by the breitbarf crowd too.

  50. 50.

    Feebog

    January 6, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I assume that is EST (I’m on the left coast). If that is the case, the IC either got a heads up (paging Mr. Woolsey on the white courtesy telephone) or they simply head faked team Shitgibbon. Either way it is a good move, get it out now, don’t let Cheeto Benito have 72 hours to spin it the way he wants to.

  51. 51.

    tpherald

    January 6, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    Has anyone else noticed that WL’s Twitter feed reads like a Trump alt-right fanboy web site ??

  52. 52.

    Pogonip

    January 6, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: And climbing.

  53. 53.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 2:01 pm

    News you can’t make up:

    Wikileaks whines that Obama Administration illegally leaked evidence of their Russian collusion to NBC.

    Also whine that Trump didn’t get to see it first.

    Link

    Anyone still care to argue that Assange isn’t in cahoots with right wing reactionaries?

  54. 54.

    ? Martin

    January 6, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    I think this is an example of what Schumer said with “Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you”

    If Trump is going to publicly call them incompetent and threaten the agencies with downsizing, then fuck yeah they’re going to get very aggressive at releasing information that embarrasses him, even if that means diminishing a bit of their capability, since doing nothing will result in that anyway per Trumps threat. They have nothing to lose here.

  55. 55.

    LAC

    January 6, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    @Mike in DC: printing it out and use it to slap some people with. ??

  56. 56.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    @tpherald: In the way one orange is “like” another orange.

  57. 57.

    ? Martin

    January 6, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Well played.

    [slow claps]

  58. 58.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    Correlation, causation, yadda yadda, but the Dow sure picked a weird time to bang up against 20,000.

  59. 59.

    Yarrow

    January 6, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    @tpherald: Yep. Sample:

    We are thinking of making an online database with all "verified" twitter accounts & their family/job/financial/housing relationships.— WikiLeaks Task Force (@WLTaskForce) January 6, 2017

  60. 60.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    @tpherald:

    Check WikiLeaks and WL Task Force on Twitter today … They are FREAKING out. Assange, GG & Trump’s con on Russian interference is coming undone.

    They’re making impotent threats to sue Twitter users for libel and slander.

    LoLwut?

    Who’s going to show up in court as the aggrieved Plaintiff? Julian?

  61. 61.

    MazeDancer

    January 6, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    @geg6:

    Fridays really have become the most interesting day of the week.

    Election certainly changed the meaning of “Friday Night News Dump”.

    Think social media and online speed has affected that. People actually have more time to read Twitter, FB, etc, on Friday night, and continuing over the weekend. And more time to Tweet. Reporters get forced to use their “weekends” to comment on developing stories. And the events lead up to the Sunday Shows, which, in turn, set the stories for the start of the week.

    All why, it was, indeed, likely to be a plan to release the report today depending on Trump’s response. And if he keeps going with “no proof” so that IC forced to burn assets for Putin’s benefit, may the IC feel free to pursue the full truth about Trump at all costs. And if keeps saying “political witch hunt”, well, then, there is, clearly some truth to be found.

  62. 62.

    Kay

    January 6, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    @Cacti:

    Assange isn’t in cahoots with right wing reactionaries?

    Libertarian leaners always end up the Right. Always. Left + libertarian is a unicorn that’s hugely attractive but is never actually observed in the wild :)

  63. 63.

    Roger Moore

    January 6, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    Sometimes I don’t get leftists.

    I think there actually are a few “blame America first” leftists who give everybody else left of center a bad name.

  64. 64.

    Davis X. Machina

    January 6, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    @SatanicPanic: It’s not just leftists.
    The enemy of my enemy is bi- or non-partisan.

    Besides, it’s a tradition. Cf. Social fascists.

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Nothing like doxxing threats to make your organization look professional and impartial.
    /eye roll

  66. 66.

    amk

    January 6, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    so, when are the msm mofos gonna start the ‘is this the obama’s trump’s katrina moment’ meme?

  67. 67.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    @Kay:

    Libertarian leaners always end up the Right. Always. Left + libertarian is a unicorn that’s hugely attractive but is never actually observed in the wild :)

    It’s been hiding in plain sight for a while now.

    When Assange tried to create his Wikileaks Party in Australia’s 2013 election, his partners were the explicitly racist Australia First Party.

  68. 68.

    tpherald

    January 6, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    @Yarrow: Make sure to report them to Twitter for Dox’ing violation

  69. 69.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Yep.

    The mask has dropped from Wikileaks. They’ve been found out and now their true, fascist colors are shining through.

  70. 70.

    Kay

    January 6, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Cacti:

    Creepy, too:

    WikiLeaks Task ForceVerified account
    ‏@WLTaskForce
    We are thinking of making an online database with all “verified” twitter accounts & their family/job/financial/housing relationships.

    I don’t know- is this some kind of vague threat?

  71. 71.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: Interesting, thanks for the link.

    @Roger Moore: More than a few.

  72. 72.

    coin operated

    January 6, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Kay:

    Libertarian leaners always end up the Right. Always. Left + libertarian is a unicorn that’s hugely attractive but is never actually observed in the wild :)

    I think I’m in love…with the quote. I was talking about the quote!!!

  73. 73.

    Yarrow

    January 6, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Yep. They claim it’s just “proximity graphs.” Uh huh.

  74. 74.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    @Kay:

    I don’t know- is this some kind of vague threat?

    Not at all. It’s a threat, but there’s nothing vague about it.

  75. 75.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    @Feebog: Yep EST.

  76. 76.

    hovercraft

    January 6, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    OT

    President Barack Obama on Friday told Republicans they should be willing to present a replacement plan for Obamacare before they vote to repeal it.
    And Obama said he’d be willing to support killing his own landmark health-care law if the GOP offers one that is demonstrably better.

    “I am saying to every Republican right now, if you can in fact put a plan together that is demonstrably better than what is Obamacare, I will publicly support repealing Obamacare” and replacing it with the GOP’s plan, Obama told Vox during a livestreamed interview from Washington, DC.

    “But I want to see it first.”

  77. 77.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    @Yarrow: They are preparing a doxxing campaign. If twitter allows this they will have lost all control of their platform.

  78. 78.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    @Spanky: I don’t get it, what are they threatening to do exactly? Isn’t the point of a verified account that it is known who you are?

  79. 79.

    cmorenc

    January 6, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Now I wonder how much coverage it will even get in light of another breaking story — shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport (reports say that 9 people were shot, 1 has died, shooter is in custody). CNN and MSNBC are talking of nothing else.

    Had the plane gone missing, CNN might talk of little else until June.

  80. 80.

    SatanicPanic

    January 6, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: well there you go. leftism has sometimes been weird for a long time.

  81. 81.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    @SatanicPanic: There’s leftism per se and then there’s “I have better ideas than you-ism,” which is what most self-described Internet leftists _actually_ believe in.

  82. 82.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    January 6, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    Adam, looks like Obama read your comments from the other evening and decided to not let Trump have a weekend to spin the report before original Monday release.

  83. 83.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @Kay:

    I don’t know- is this some kind of vague threat?

    Not vague at all.

    They’re threatening to Dox their Twitter critics.

    Vlad taught them well.

  84. 84.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    WikiLeaks Task ForceVerified account
    ‏@WLTaskForce
    We are thinking of making an online database with all “verified” twitter accounts & their family/job/financial/housing relationships.

    And nobody is saying that what they dox would be accurate. Suppose they doxxed Kay and “discovered” an affair?

  85. 85.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @cmorenc: It’s pretty nuts, they thought it was over, they got a shooter, but now something else is going down.

  86. 86.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 6, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    @Cacti:

    Anyone still care to argue that Assange isn’t in cahoots with right wing reactionaries?

    I am curious why everyone even allows this Swedish pedophile the right to comment on internal American politics. Even without the damn Russian nonsense Sweds are green with envy that Boeing and Lockheed and can out sell SAAB in the death merchants business and would love to trip that up.

    Since when have real American given two hoots what a foreigner thought of us?

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    January 6, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    @JMG:
    God yes. Enduring Ahnold’s gropenatorship it was notable he quickly separated himself from the Republican wingnut component and would not champion any of their hobby horses. I’m certain his contempt for The Donald is deep and all-encompassing.

  88. 88.

    Citizen_X

    January 6, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    I have an ugly feeling that this is going to end in bloodshed.

    So: how many divisions do the spies have? And how many divisions does Trump have; i.e. how much military support would he have if push came to shove (say, if he ordered the arrest of CIA people)? Is there a cadre of (senior?) officers who would be loyal to him, as opposed to being loyal to the republic? Talk me down, Adam!

  89. 89.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: CIA needs to, you know. . .

  90. 90.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 2:34 pm

    @Spanky: So it really has nothing to do with Twitter at all then. Gotcha.

  91. 91.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    Motherfuckers running all over the tarmac!

  92. 92.

    MuckJagger

    January 6, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    @Kay: I’ve known a few Libertarian folks, but I’ve never known one that didn’t vote Republican. They may claim to be against Republicanism when it comes to civil rights, but they *always* vote with them.

  93. 93.

    cmorenc

    January 6, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    @? Martin:

    If Trump is going to publicly call them incompetent and threaten the agencies with downsizing, then fuck yeah they’re going to get very aggressive at releasing information that embarrasses him, even if that means diminishing a bit of their capability, since doing nothing will result in that anyway per Trumps threat. They have nothing to lose here.

    Trump is even farther in over his head when he deals with Putin and the Chinese government as POTUS than he is trying to repeatedly trash his own intel agencies. He’s assuming that the deal-making landscape will be similar to bulldozing his way through leveraged real-estate transactions and hardball-chiseling his construction contractors. He would be in for a very rude awakening if he was indeed capable of even being aware how badly he was being bitch-slapped around by these major powers – until eventually his own congressional party is forced to throw him under the bus to save their own skins.

  94. 94.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 2:37 pm

    @MuckJagger: I know a couple Johnson voters, including one non-gender-binary individual who loathes ‘political correctness’ but insists on certain pronouns for themselves, which is basically libertarianism in a nutshell.

  95. 95.

    geg6

    January 6, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    @Kay:

    I’d say it’s a straight out direct threat. Fucking assholes. No wonder Greenwald has been unhinged all week.

  96. 96.

    p.a.

    January 6, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    Dems are as bad at branding as Rethugs are good at it, but there should be an all-hands-on-deck effort to wrap tRump as tightly around the Rethug party as possible, because if the report(s) are as bad as we hope (and as evidence seems to indicate) you know the Rethugs will try to insulate themselves from Lord tRumpleroy asap. CAN NOT rely on media to connect the dots.

  97. 97.

    randy khan

    January 6, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    @Cacti:

    Greenwald, obviously, if you count him as a progressive.

  98. 98.

    geg6

    January 6, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @MuckJagger:

    Same here. All the people I know who claim to be libertarians always vote GOP straight down the ticket. Never for the actual libertarian candidate.

  99. 99.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @cmorenc:

    until eventually his own congressional party is forced to throw him under the bus to save their own skins.

    I’m hoping that “eventually” is very very soon. It’s a faint hope, but it’s our best hope. Other options would be letting him run wild for 4-8 years, or hope for a 2nd Amendment solution. I’m not there yet.

  100. 100.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: I highly doubt that. I would hope he has better things to do.

  101. 101.

    Napoleon

    January 6, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    Greenwald is a flat out traitor to this country at this point.

  102. 102.

    hovercraft

    January 6, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    @raven:
    Police: 5 dead, 8 injured in shooting at Florida airport
    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A lone shooter opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, international airport Friday, killing five people and injuring eight before he was taken into custody, officials said. The airport suspended operations as law enforcement authorities rushed to the scene and emergency medical workers treated at least one bleeding victim on the tarmac. Authorities have not yet released a motive for the shooting inside Terminal 2, which serves Delta Air Lines and Air Canada. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office cited multiple deaths on its Twitter account, and Gov. Rick Scott was headed to the airport for a briefing by law enforcementment-

  103. 103.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    @geg6:

    No wonder Greenwald has been unhinged all week.

    Well, it is a week that contains seven days, so…

  104. 104.

    AnotherBruce

    January 6, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Believe me, they don’t need that excuse. I don’t think that’s going to influence the coverage of this, because they are more interested in normalizing Trump.

  105. 105.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @hovercraft: I’m watching it

  106. 106.

    divF

    January 6, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    but insists on certain pronouns for themselves

    which you honor, even in their absence.

  107. 107.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @geg6: @Major Major Major Major: I didn’t realize Greenwald had ever been hinged.

  108. 108.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 6, 2017 at 2:46 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I don’t get it, what are they threatening to do exactly? Isn’t the point of a verified account that it is known who you are?

    Doxxing also includes things like SS numbers.

  109. 109.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    @raven: Yep. Looks like they’re not sure if they’ve got a second shooter or if they’ve got people jumping at a car backfire or a door slamming. I think it is most likely that Broward County Sheriffs Department is being very, very cautious. They’re going to do a foot by foot clear of all spaces.

  110. 110.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I like the dudes in airport vests lying on their back talking on the phone on the sidewalk!

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    January 6, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @hovercraft: reported shooter has a military ID. LA Times ids shooter as Esteban Santiago. Also, Ari Fleischer was at the airport during incident. Did not witness shootings, but has been tweeting.

    That said, the Russian hacking is the more important story.

  112. 112.

    trollhattan

    January 6, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @geg6:
    Scratch a Libertarian and underneath you’ll find a Republican who supports legalized pot and is uncomfortable openly defending Republican populism. But, fvck “those people” anyway, because freedom!

  113. 113.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    He’s Hispanic, let’s bomb Hispanola!!!

  114. 114.

    El Caganer

    January 6, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    @hovercraft: Donald is probably hoping the police find a terrorist link – if so, this intelligence report will vanish faster than snow in July.

  115. 115.

    EriktheRed

    January 6, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Assange is Australian.

  116. 116.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    @El Caganer: There were any number of terrorist attacks and mass shootings during the presidential campaign, and still somehow soon enough the #1 story reverted to being that Hillary Clinton got work emails about work from people she worked with.

  117. 117.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    @raven: Bomb Vieques, Puerto Rico!!

  118. 118.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    @EriktheRed: Bomb them too!

  119. 119.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    @divF: ‘themselves’ is an acceptable ungendered singular pronoun in my dialect.

    ETA: for that matter they say ‘they’ is fine.

  120. 120.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    January 6, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    So a couple of interesting items to add:

    1. I think I see how the “more votes than” narrative plays out in conservative media outlets. We’ve got a local fox affiliate that was historically not real ideological, with a pretty nice anchor/news team, and the BEST weather and sports coverage. This week, their station manager was editorializing adding Johnson’s vote totals to Trump to conclude “the American voters rejected the liberalism of Hillary Clinton in favor of more conservative policies, so liberal have to get over it”, and we’re seeing more church features.

    2. Kentucky’s legislature is moving at a breakneck pace to crush the positive things about living in the People’s Democratic Soc!alist Kenyan Shariah Republic of Louisville. So far, it appears that they are going to crush local nondiscrimination ordinances (in addition to enacting a Kentucky version of North Carolina’s bathroom bill, timposing a 20 week abortion ban, a mandatory ultrasound bill, barring political activity from general union contributions and considering some provisions related to stripping localitiies of the ability to create certain special taxing districts for development). They’re determined to out North Carolina North Carolina (the legislative motto – “if cities like Charlotte and Raleigh can’t have NCAA tournament events, neither can Louisville or Lexington”). Anyway, there is this doozy:

    The Kentucky Senate on Thursday passed a bill to abolish the University of Louisville board of trustees and create a new system of appointing its members over objections of Democrats who said Republicans were rushing through a measure that could hurt U of L’s accreditation.

    It is unclear if the legislation will satisfy U of L’s accreditation agency, which placed the university on probation last month, in part because of Bevin’s political interference with U of L’s board when he attempted last year to reorganize it.

    Several Louisville Democrats voiced concerns about the impact of SB12 on U of L’s accreditation.

    “The accreditation is the lifeblood of any university,” said Sen. Gerald Neal, a Louisville Democrat, who argued loss of accreditation could affect student financial aid, research dollars and NCAA sports.

    But Stivers argued it’s essential to move fast to resolve the controversies that have surrounded U of L and its board in recent years. He said he does not believe it will affect U of L’s accreditation.

    “It is an extraordinary measure, but I do believe it to be an extraordinary time,” he said.

    Stivers, who’s from Clay County in Eastern Kentucky, said he developed the bill to present to the Senate because he believed it to be his duty.

    “I am the Senate president who has a statewide responsibility,” he said.

    The bill would allow Bevin to appoint all 10 members of a new U of L board of trustees from 30 names provided by a nominating commission, but it would make those nominations subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    Stivers was a friend of mine from law school, and is from Manchester, a corruption-based, impoverished rural hellhole with the highest murder rate in Kentucky, per capita. When he intially assumed the Senate Presidency, he had to work with a Demcratic house and came off as pretty reasonably bipartisan. Once the House flipped, he turned into a standard issue Respublican asshole (especially based on his contraception remarks reported nationally this week). The House, for its part, is now led by Jeff Hoover, who is actually a really nice guy and good lawyer from a place by Lake Cumberland (I’ve had cases with him, and found him to be unfailingly reasonable and polite). Jeff isn’t an asshole, but he’s putty in the hands of his idiot caucus, and temperamentally incapable of stomping on the stupid shit that is bubbling up.

    The U of L accreditation thing is a looming catastrophe. Idiot Bevin booted the whole board in 2015, which is a big nono to accreditation agencies, which object to overt politicization. His appointees were a bunch of evangelical climate change deniers, creationists and free marketeers, primarily from one or two megachurches scattered around the outskirts of Louisville. This puts ongoing degrees AND NCAA participation in danger (which may be something with UK fans celebrate), and if nonaccreditation is to follow, going to crimp the fuck out of Louisville’s finances in terms of maintaining Yum Center. Bobby is NOT an accreditation expert, hasn’t bothered to check jack shit with either the accreditation body or the Legislative Research staff, yet feels competent to make this judgment.

    This city is fucked under this leadership.

  121. 121.

    El Caganer

    January 6, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: True enough, but that was about Crooked Hillary – can’t take your eyes of the ball, or Podesta’s risotto recipe might never be revealed to a waiting public. Priorities, yo.

  122. 122.

    gene108

    January 6, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    @Spanky:

    but the Dow sure picked a weird time to bang up against 20,000.

    Just remember, until January 20, 2017, the Dow’s record highs goes on President Obama’s score sheet.

  123. 123.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    this Swedish pedophile

    I don’t think he’s Swedish. For that matter, I’ve not heard that he’s a pedophile (rapist, yes).

  124. 124.

    Cacti

    January 6, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @Napoleon:

    Greenwald is a flat out traitor to this country at this point.

    Yep.

    A quisling, a Vichy progressive, a bootlicker, a shill, a flack, a ho, etc.

  125. 125.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @gene108:

    I’m so old, I can remember ooohing and aahhing when the Dow hit 1,000 in late 1972!

  126. 126.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wasn’t that in British Pounds back in the Colonial era?

  127. 127.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    @Spanky: (Full disclosure: That was the year I graduated HS.)

  128. 128.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    @Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:SAC’s may hammer them. Petrino should be able to help.

  129. 129.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Doxxing includes collecting even publicly disclosed information, as well. For example, assume the following events:

    1) I’d posted everything here under “Mister Forkbeard” and then once mentioned my real name.
    2) Some asshole looked up my real name and then got my number from a phonebook.
    3) Said asshole then posted in here “Mister Forkbeard’s phone number is (XXX) XXX-XXXX”

    I’ve just been doxxed, even though all pieces of that were technically disclosed information. That’s what WikiLeaks is threatening to do to people, in addition to disclosing their private financial, housing and friendship relationships. It’s a pretty big threat, making harassment and many other types of invasive and semi-legal behaviors much easier to accomplish. Sort of the same way “peaceful” anti-abortion groups post the personal details of clinic workers in the hopes that someone will hurt them.

  130. 130.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 6, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I think he is an Australian citizen.

  131. 131.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    They are preparing a doxxing campaign.

    What is doxxing?

  132. 132.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    January 6, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    @raven:

    All I want Petrino to do is concentrate on replacing proven failure Todd Grantham.

  133. 133.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    @Spanky: babysan

  134. 134.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: yeah, most of the information people are worried about leaking out from a pseudonym are freely given or inferrable through basic detective work. Actual targeted actual hacking is quite rare. This is a general security note not a commentary on the current situation.

    @rikyrah: Revealing personal info.

  135. 135.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    @randy khan:

    Greenwald, obviously, if you count him as a progressive.

    I do not.

    He’s a phucking Libertarian.

  136. 136.

    divF

    January 6, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I agree – I use they / them myself, even with singular antecedents. However, fuddy-duddies about numbers matching in English get cranky about it.

  137. 137.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    @rikyrah: I think Doxxing is basically “Documenting”. It’s about publicly exposing details of a person’s life that are supposed to be private.

    Like, if I posted your real name, address, place of work and home phone number on this site. I’d have doxxed you if I’d even disclosed one of those things. Now imagine that you’ve gotten into an argument with someone on the internet who wants to Swat you or cause you other problems, and I’ve just given them all the information they need to do it.

    That’s why doxxing is very frowned upon in most internet circles.

    EDIT: Just to clarify, on most sites and communities doxxing someone gets you banned. It can get you banned from Twitter (for example), but Twitter’s policies are so rarely enforced that they don’t really matter. It’s also legally actionable in some jurisdictions as harassment.

  138. 138.

    raven

    January 6, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    “For those of you not familiar with the airport, terminal 2 is literally right next to terminal 3”!!!! Fuck yes!

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Sort of the same way “peaceful” anti-abortion groups post the personal details of clinic workers in the hopes that someone will hurt them.

    This. And Wikileaks is threatening to collect the same information for the same purpose.

    I know that at least one doctor, Bernard Slepian (?), was murdered thanks to the doxxing information that forced birthers posted about him in their database. I believe that’s also how George Tiller’s murderer found him.

  140. 140.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    @divF: oh, I thought you were criticizing.

  141. 141.

    ? Martin

    January 6, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Right. But the idea is that they will release personal information on these individuals – finances, medical history, stuff like that.

    This is part of a well known tactic to silence critics by pushing them out of the public space by making it embarrassing for them to be public. Make it so that anytime they are trying to be critical of someone, they are drowned out by questions regarding whatever was released.

  142. 142.

    Chip Daniels

    January 6, 2017 at 3:21 pm

    I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t someone within the IRS, or Trump Tower with access to Trump’s taxes, and motive to leak.

  143. 143.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    January 6, 2017 at 3:21 pm

    @El Caganer: I still don’t have the recipe, only his response to an email about it. Halp, please. His name ends in a vowel, so he seems to have the ancestral cred for it to be a good one.

  144. 144.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    From Russia With Love: How Republicans Willingly Joined Forces with Three Foreign Adversaries to Undermine American Sovereignty

    Trevor LaFauci
    January 6, 2017

    The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    On the night of Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, roughly 15 Republican congressmen and party officials met in the Caucus Room, a high-end Washington, DC establishment, to begin what would be an eight-year battle against President Barack Obama and the Democratic agenda. It was this very meeting that would set the tone for the duration of President Obama’s presidency and would lead unprecedented levels of obstruction, the likes of what our country had never seen. Time and time again, Republicans placed party ahead of country while simultaneously earning back representation, first by retaking the House of Representatives in 2010 and then retaking the Senate in 2014. These tactics earned the ire of Democrats and progressives but Republicans were never in the business of making friends. They simply wanted to do everything in their power to ensure that the country’s first African-American president would be as unsuccessful as possible.

    Including working with our enemies, both foreign and domestic.

    Now, to openly work with our adversaries is outright treason. But Republicans know the power of information and more importantly misinformation in the 21st century. In knowing this, they began embracing a policy of deliberately undermining President Obama in an effort to weaken him and his administration. This policy became clear in 2013 when disgruntled NSA employee Edward Snowden decided to steal 1.7 million documents and distribute classified information to a trio of journalists including notorious Obama critic, Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian while he fled to Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong, Snowden came on the radar of Vladimir Putin who allowed him to meet with Russian representatives and eventually plot safe passage out of Hong Kong. Thanks to financial assistance from Julian Assange in June, Snowden was able to depart Hong Kong to find refuge in Russia, accompanied by Sarah Harrison, a Wikileaks journalist.

  145. 145.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    @Chip Daniels: Not much of a reason to at this point, unless those taxes show him definitively in hock to Russian state interests up to his ears. Combined with other recent disclosures, that could actually force some change.

    Though the “change” in this sense wouldn’t be Trump getting fired, it’d be him selling off his properties or getting his debts otherwise under control.

  146. 146.

    Spanky

    January 6, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @raven: Old Fart.

  147. 147.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    What a punk ass bytch

    Paul Ryan Unleashes Security Guards To Prevent Planned Parenthood From Delivering Petitions
    By Jason Easley on Fri, Jan 6th, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    Planned Parenthood tried to deliver 87,000 petitions to Speaker of The House Paul Ryan’s office, but they were greeted by six security guards as the leader of “The People’s House” closed his office and refused the petitions.

    The Planned Parenthood Action Fund Twitter account detailed the events:

  148. 148.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @? Martin:

    Make it so that anytime they are trying to be critical of someone, they are drowned out by questions regarding whatever was released.

    It worked like a charm against Hillary, so why not keep doing it? Nobody cares that the “damning” DNC emails had been stolen by Russian hackers, or that they weren’t even her emails.

  149. 149.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    You Wanted Evidence on the Russians?
    by Martin Longman
    January 6, 2017 1:20 PM

    If you we’re paying attention through the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, you probably can’t think of too many people less credible than Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, former CIA Director James Woolsey, or really any neoconservative who was outspoken at the time. That makes it difficult for a lot of progressives to accept them as allies in a dispute with Donald Trump over the quality of the Intelligence Community’s product when assessing Russia’s role in getting Trump elected. That’s totally understandable, and maybe Woolsey quitting the president-elect’s transition team in disgust doesn’t impress you in the least.

    If you need more evidence, try reading Jeremy Ashkenas’s piece in the New York Times. It looks pretty cut and dry that Russian hackers were responsible for the phishing attack against John Podesta. The same accounts were used to hack into the DNC. Most of their activity outside the United States was against targets “in Russia and states formerly in the Soviet Union.” Most of the authors and journalists who were targeted “wrote about Russia, Ukraine and global affairs.” Their nonpolitical targets were mainly military, mostly in the United States, but also in NATO and Syria.

    These aren’t the types of targets that a 14-year-old hacker would come up with, nor a primarily criminal group of operators.

    This doesn’t answer every question, but it settles a lot.

    Now, the next thing to know is if these Russian hackers are the ones who shared this information with Wikileaks. And that appears to be the case, although here we have to go on faith until the IC shows us their work.

    US intelligence has identified the go-betweens the Russians used to provide stolen emails to WikiLeaks, according to US officials familiar with the classified intelligence report that was presented to President Barack Obama on Thursday.

    It stands to reason that the organization that successfully hacked into the DNC and Podesta’s email would be the organization to share the pilfered information with Wikileaks, but it definitely helps to know the actual couriers. The public would like to see more on how they identified them, but that may be something a little too sensitive to divulge. We’ll see what’s in the declassified version of the report when we get it next week. Some people are just inclined to give more credibility to Julian Assange than to our own Intelligence Community, and I can sympathize with that disposition. But you should look deeper in Assange’s record with Russia. Take a look at the long piece by Zack Beauchamp at Vox, for example.

    The next step is to ask whether the Russians tried to get Trump elected or if they they were just looking to cause us embarrassment and hurt our global reputation. Everyone seems to agree that Putin holds a grudge against Hillary Clinton from her time as Secretary of State, but was there a deeper reason than spite and revenge?

    That needs to be explored, but the most damning evidence is in clear sight. It’s what Trump has said, what he has done, who he has hired, the policies he’s proposed, and who he defends, attacks, and chooses to believe or disbelieve.

    In every case, his actions are more in line with what Putin would want than what an American president would want.

    We don’t need to believe the CIA or the NSA or John McCain to believe our own eyes and ears.

  150. 150.

    Chip Daniels

    January 6, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:
    And the odds of a tangle of Russian debts are pretty good, I think.

  151. 151.

    trollhattan

    January 6, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    @rikyrah:

    What a punk ass bytch

    Damn, your restraint here is laudable. Young Dreamypants thinks gurls are icky. Just great, mister speaker. Wonder if he’ll give Trump the reacharound after, or during his inaugural address?

  152. 152.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    Trump Meets With Intelligence Community Then Lies To Protect Russia
    By Jason Easley on Fri, Jan 6th, 2017 at 3:26 pm
    President-elect Trump met with the intelligence community on Friday and then released a misleading statement that verged on baseless lies to protect Putin and Russia.

    President-elect Trump met with the intelligence community on Friday and then released a misleading statement that verged on baseless lies to protect Putin and Russia.

    Here is the statement from Trump about the meeting:

    I had a constructive meeting and conversation with the leaders of the Intelligence Community this afternoon. I have tremendous respect for the work and service done by the men and women of this community to our great nation.

    While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines. There were attempts to hack the Republican National Committee, but the RNC had strong hacking defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful.

    Whether it is our government, organizations, associations or businesses we need to aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks. I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office. The methods, tools and tactics we use to keep America safe should not be a public discussion that will benefit those who seek to do us harm. Two weeks from today I will take the oath of office and America’s safety and security will be my number one priority.

    Keeping America safe is Trump’s number one priority. Unless the attacks come from Russia and help Trump, then he is going to defend the attackers who weakened American democracy while looking the other way.

    Trump’s claim that the Russian cyber attacks didn’t influence the election is based on nothing but his own opinion. The Russian attacks did influence the election because the hacked emails dominated the media coverage and melded with Republican conspiracies about Hillary Clinton’s emails to drown out any serious discussion for months on end.

  153. 153.

    J R in WV

    January 6, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @Kay:

    Not vague, specific and alarming!

  154. 154.

    randy khan

    January 6, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @raven:

    In fairness, I know of some airports where there are big gaps between terminals. At Heathrow, terminals 2 and 3 are next to each other, but 4 is nowhere near them and 5 is off in its own place, also separated from the others.

  155. 155.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 6, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @rikyrah: A public release of personally identifying information (PII) in an attempt to threaten, harass, and/or harm or to allow others to threaten, harass, and/or harm.

  156. 156.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Trump Attacks on Clinton and CIA Director Brennan Lead us Down a Slippery Slope
    By Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Fri, Jan 6th, 2017 at 8:06 am

    This is a slippery and dangerous slope down which Trump and his surrogates have embarked. This is how dictatorships function, not democracies

    With Donald Trump as their guidepost, there isn’t much Trumpists will hesitate to say. When Sean Hannity used Wikileaks to claim Russian hacking isn’t the scandal but rather “how corrupt the liberal news media is,” he took his cue from Donald Trump.

    Roger Stone, no doubt inspired by Trump’s denigration of US intelligence services is claiming CIA Director John Brennan is a Saudi mole. He tweeted Brennan’s alleged Muslim Brotherhood sympathies back in December with a call to jail him, and what better time to do it than when it is looking more and more like Donald Trump is a Russian mole:

    Obama CIA Director ,pro-Muslim Brotherhood Islamist John Brennan- a proven liar with NO proof of Russian hacking of the 20016 election #jail

    — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) December 17, 2016

    Appearing on Alex Jones’ InfoWars, he repeated the claim and again called for the jailing of the CIA director, saying Brennan is the “progenitor of” Russian hacking claims and that Brennan “is a mole, a Saudi mole.” It is no coincidence that this claim comes at the same time Trump is saying he will gut the nation’s intelligence agencies, including the CIA.

    …………………………

    This is a slippery and dangerous slope down which Trump and his surrogates have embarked, where facts are punished and lies are the basis of criminal charges. This is how dictatorships function. It is not how the world’s first modern liberal democracy was meant to function.

    Remember, Donald Trump isn’t just suggesting Brennan & Co. are wrong, but that they are inventing the Russia connection out of whole cloth to delegitimize he, Donald Trump. He isn’t accusing Brennan of incompetence. He is accusing him of what amounts to the old charge of Lèse-majesté – of plotting against the reigning monarch.

    This is scary territory for a democracy and people should be fully aware of just how terrifying a spectacle it is as a precedent.

    Donald Trump is just as willing to destroy that democracy to further his ambitions as he is the careers and lives of the people who get in his way, and his followers like Roger Stone, are willing to zealously push any insane scheme to accomplish those goals.

    Remember, witch hunts don’t require evidence either. They require only an accusation.

  157. 157.

    Lizzy L

    January 6, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    Breaking news from the NYT:

    President-elect Donald J. Trump acknowledged the possibility on Friday that Russia had hacked a variety of American targets, including the Democratic National Committee, after an almost two-hour meeting with the nation’s top intelligence officials.

    In a statement issued after the president-elect was briefed by senior American intelligence and law enforcement officials, Mr. Trump said: “While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyberinfrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.”

  158. 158.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 6, 2017 at 3:40 pm

    @Lizzy L: So his response is “Maybe they did it, but they totally didn’t hack the RNC and there’s no proof, and even if there was it didn’t affect the election AT ALL.”

    So… basically, the same thing he’s always said. What a tool.

  159. 159.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    January 6, 2017 at 3:45 pm

    Doxxing is really monstrous stuff. People have been forced to leave their homes. They’ve had SWAT teams called on them. They’ve lost their jobs.

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 3:47 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    And don’t you love how they just can’t stop themselves from reflexively saying “Democrat” instead of “Democratic” even when it’s part of a proper name? Assholes.

  161. 161.

    Millard Filmore

    January 6, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @rikyrah:

    There were attempts to hack the Republican National Committee, but the RNC had strong hacking defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful.

    Here I am, the Not A Security Expert, stepping into this mess again. About that “strong hacking defenses” thing … if you have an “oopsie” on a phishing attack, aren’t you essentially hosed? No matter how string your defenses are?

  162. 162.

    aimai

    January 6, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @Chip Daniels: Its too late to matter, surely?

  163. 163.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    @Millard Filmore: Also, do we know anything about RNC “hacking defenses,” or do we just not have any leaked information to scrutinize in the manner experts have been able to scrutinize the Podesta and DNC dumps from Wiki-whatever?

  164. 164.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    @Spanky:

    Wasn’t that in British Pounds back in the Colonial era?

    Groats.

  165. 165.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @Millard Filmore: maybe they use 2-factor authentication. I doubt it, but that’s the easiest anti-phishing defense I can think of other than location monitoring.

  166. 166.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @Millard Filmore: Or, to put it another way, if someone breaks into your neighbor’s house by copying the key, while you just leave your front door unlocked — but the burglar doesn’t happen to try it — whose house would you say has the bigger security problem?

  167. 167.

    El Caganer

    January 6, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): It’s probably been retroactively marked “Classified.”

  168. 168.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 6, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Democrat National Committee

    Oh FFS.

  169. 169.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: It is impossible for me to conceive that Corey Lewandowski, Jeffrey Lord, and all their other campaign goobers are just too savvy to get punked by an official-looking email. They’re not exactly immune to being duped.

  170. 170.

    Millard Filmore

    January 6, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    do we know anything about RNC “hacking defenses,”

    That type of information if typically never disclosed. For years I have been attentive to security breaches in the news, like credit card or Social Security number leaks. Details about anything related to the event are rare.

  171. 171.

    J R in WV

    January 6, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Documenting all the details of your life and publishing them on the thing called the Internet. Things like your name, photos of you, address, work name and address, phone numbers, SSN, car make/model/license plate number, email address, family members names, schools where you kids go, sexual preferences, hobbies, parents names and addresses, all the things that might be in a database they can acquire. That’s Doxxing.

    Quite an innocent sounding nickname for what it really is. Then they suggest to Nazis that you should be prevented from interfering with the progress of White Supremacy and Theocracy.

  172. 172.

    coin operated

    January 6, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    @Millard Filmore: Except, there is strong evidence that the RNC was in fact hacked.

    ETA…dammit…my link-fu sucks.

  173. 173.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 4:04 pm

    Because I can be an unfeeling jerk sometimes, I am now feeling amused at my suspicion that the CIA/IC wanted to punish Hillary for Benghazi (which happened partly because of the ongoing conflict between the CIA and the State Dept), but they fucked up and didn’t realize the Russians were as heavily invested in defeating Hillary as they were. So now the CIA managed to install a Russian operative as president because they overreached to try and bring Hillary down.

    You gotta admit, it’s plausible. The CIA really sucks at covert ops even though they’re convinced they’re geniuses.

  174. 174.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Lewandowsky probably has his own log-in to the Kremlin’s intranet — no hacking needed.

  175. 175.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 6, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Trump:

    There were attempts to hack the Republican National Committee, but the RNC had strong hacking defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful.

    This is going to come back to bite him in the ass.

  176. 176.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 6, 2017 at 4:07 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): We can only hope.

  177. 177.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 6, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: even Podesta knew enough to ask the IT guy first.

  178. 178.

    geg6

    January 6, 2017 at 4:13 pm

    @rikyrah:

    The cowardly Ryan.

  179. 179.

    geg6

    January 6, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Agreed.

  180. 180.

    Miss Bianca

    January 6, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne: When they stick to information analysis, they are geniuses. They really do attract great talent as analysts. When they try covert ops, they seem to get deluded cowboy types who scare the shit even out of other CIA operatives – not with how badass they are, but with how dangerously loony they are.

    Or so I’ve heard from friends of mine who TOTALLY DON’T work for the company, nosiree, they just know a lot about *how* it works.

  181. 181.

    Mnemosyne

    January 6, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    I have a friend who was doing “research” in Macedonia post-USSR collapse.

    I’ve never asked the question, because I’m pretty sure he would be required to lie to me anyway.

  182. 182.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 6, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    @Kay: Libertarians are neo-feudalists. Fuck them all.

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