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The Capricious Non partisan Government Arbitrary Action thread.
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buzzdog
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Flynn will sing like a canary to save his own ass.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
gourimoko
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Well.. there's not many ways around doing business with a bank under sanctions... This could turn into a real problem:
aol.com
Report: Russian bank whose CEO met secretly with Jared Kushner helped finance Trump's Toronto hotel
AOL Staff
20-26 minutes
A Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions, whose CEO met with President Donald Trump's son-in-law in December, helped financed the construction of the president's 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, according to a new report.
The bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), bought $850 million of stock in a Ukrainian steelmaker from billionaire Russian-Canadian developer Alexander Schnaider, who was constructing the hotel at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Shnaider initially purchased the stock via his company, Midland Resources Holding, for about $70 million after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to the Journal.
The money from the sale of that stock to VEB — which the Journal said went through while Russian President Vladimir Putin was chairman of VEB's supervisory board — was then used to help finance the construction of the Toronto hotel tower "at a key moment for the project."
From the Journal:
"After Mr. Shnaider and his partner sold their stake in the steelmaker, Mr. Shnaider injected more money into the Trump Toronto project, which was financially troubled. Mr. Shnaider's lawyer, Symon Zucker, said in an April interview that about $15 million from the asset sale went into the Trump Toronto project. A day later, he wrote in an email: 'I am not able to confirm that any funds' from the deal 'went into the Toronto project.'"
Symon Zucker, Shnaider's lawyer, did not immediately respond to request for comment from Business Insider. But he told the Journal that Midland Resources "has never had any relationship with VEB" and "does not dictate where their purchasers borrow funds."
The Trump Organization has distanced itself from the Toronto project, which faced financial difficulties last year. The company "merely licensed its brand and manages the hotel and residences," the Organization told the Journal in a statement.
The project was initially a joint venture between Trump and Schnaider, who approached Trump in 2004 asking to license the Trump name for the 65-story tower. Trump said at the time that he would "manage the hotel's operations," according to the Journal, while Shnaider and his business partner, Val Levitan, focused on the development.
Trump's son-in-law and a top adviser, Jared Kushner, met with the Vnesheconombank CEO Sergey Gorkov in December 2016, The New York Times reported in late March. Gorkov was appointed by Putin in January 2016 as part of a restructuring of the bank's management team, according to Bloomberg.
Kushner's meeting with Gorkov, the struggling bank's CEO, came as Kushner was trying to find investors for a Fifth Avenue office building in Manhattan that is set to be heavily financed by Anbang Insurance Group, a firm with ties to the Chinese government.
White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the publication at the time that the "Kushner Tower" project wasn't discussed during his meeting with Gorkov, and a White House official said in a statement that Kushner took the meetings as part of his role as "the official primary point of contact with foreign governments and officials."
But the meeting was reportedly orchestrated by Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — who also met with Kushner in December — and caught the eye of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has invited Kushner to testify about his meetings with Gorkov and Kislyak. The committee is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether any members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also appeared to signal during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month that the intelligence community was scrutinizing Trump's business ties to Russia.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terror, asked Clapper if he ever found "a situation where a Trump business interest in Russia" gave him "concern."
"Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence community's assessment," Clapper said.
Graham pressed Clapper on whether he had ever come across such a situation, to which Clapper replied, "I can't comment on that because that impacts an investigation."
As Trump praised and defended Putin along the campaign trail, many questioned whether the real-estate mogul had any financial incentives — including business ties or outstanding debt — to seek better relations with Moscow.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
aol.com
Report: Russian bank whose CEO met secretly with Jared Kushner helped finance Trump's Toronto hotel
AOL Staff
20-26 minutes
A Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions, whose CEO met with President Donald Trump's son-in-law in December, helped financed the construction of the president's 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, according to a new report.
The bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), bought $850 million of stock in a Ukrainian steelmaker from billionaire Russian-Canadian developer Alexander Schnaider, who was constructing the hotel at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Shnaider initially purchased the stock via his company, Midland Resources Holding, for about $70 million after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to the Journal.
The money from the sale of that stock to VEB — which the Journal said went through while Russian President Vladimir Putin was chairman of VEB's supervisory board — was then used to help finance the construction of the Toronto hotel tower "at a key moment for the project."
From the Journal:
"After Mr. Shnaider and his partner sold their stake in the steelmaker, Mr. Shnaider injected more money into the Trump Toronto project, which was financially troubled. Mr. Shnaider's lawyer, Symon Zucker, said in an April interview that about $15 million from the asset sale went into the Trump Toronto project. A day later, he wrote in an email: 'I am not able to confirm that any funds' from the deal 'went into the Toronto project.'"
Symon Zucker, Shnaider's lawyer, did not immediately respond to request for comment from Business Insider. But he told the Journal that Midland Resources "has never had any relationship with VEB" and "does not dictate where their purchasers borrow funds."
The Trump Organization has distanced itself from the Toronto project, which faced financial difficulties last year. The company "merely licensed its brand and manages the hotel and residences," the Organization told the Journal in a statement.
The project was initially a joint venture between Trump and Schnaider, who approached Trump in 2004 asking to license the Trump name for the 65-story tower. Trump said at the time that he would "manage the hotel's operations," according to the Journal, while Shnaider and his business partner, Val Levitan, focused on the development.
Trump's son-in-law and a top adviser, Jared Kushner, met with the Vnesheconombank CEO Sergey Gorkov in December 2016, The New York Times reported in late March. Gorkov was appointed by Putin in January 2016 as part of a restructuring of the bank's management team, according to Bloomberg.
Kushner's meeting with Gorkov, the struggling bank's CEO, came as Kushner was trying to find investors for a Fifth Avenue office building in Manhattan that is set to be heavily financed by Anbang Insurance Group, a firm with ties to the Chinese government.
White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the publication at the time that the "Kushner Tower" project wasn't discussed during his meeting with Gorkov, and a White House official said in a statement that Kushner took the meetings as part of his role as "the official primary point of contact with foreign governments and officials."
But the meeting was reportedly orchestrated by Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — who also met with Kushner in December — and caught the eye of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has invited Kushner to testify about his meetings with Gorkov and Kislyak. The committee is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether any members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also appeared to signal during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month that the intelligence community was scrutinizing Trump's business ties to Russia.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terror, asked Clapper if he ever found "a situation where a Trump business interest in Russia" gave him "concern."
"Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence community's assessment," Clapper said.
Graham pressed Clapper on whether he had ever come across such a situation, to which Clapper replied, "I can't comment on that because that impacts an investigation."
As Trump praised and defended Putin along the campaign trail, many questioned whether the real-estate mogul had any financial incentives — including business ties or outstanding debt — to seek better relations with Moscow.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
buzzdog
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Okay, I'm good now.
buzzdog
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Move along now, nothing to see here....Well.. there's not many ways around doing business with a bank under sanctions... This could turn into a real problem:
aol.com
Report: Russian bank whose CEO met secretly with Jared Kushner helped finance Trump's Toronto hotel
AOL Staff
20-26 minutes
A Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions, whose CEO met with President Donald Trump's son-in-law in December, helped financed the construction of the president's 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, according to a new report.
The bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), bought $850 million of stock in a Ukrainian steelmaker from billionaire Russian-Canadian developer Alexander Schnaider, who was constructing the hotel at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Shnaider initially purchased the stock via his company, Midland Resources Holding, for about $70 million after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to the Journal.
The money from the sale of that stock to VEB — which the Journal said went through while Russian President Vladimir Putin was chairman of VEB's supervisory board — was then used to help finance the construction of the Toronto hotel tower "at a key moment for the project."
From the Journal:
"After Mr. Shnaider and his partner sold their stake in the steelmaker, Mr. Shnaider injected more money into the Trump Toronto project, which was financially troubled. Mr. Shnaider's lawyer, Symon Zucker, said in an April interview that about $15 million from the asset sale went into the Trump Toronto project. A day later, he wrote in an email: 'I am not able to confirm that any funds' from the deal 'went into the Toronto project.'"
Symon Zucker, Shnaider's lawyer, did not immediately respond to request for comment from Business Insider. But he told the Journal that Midland Resources "has never had any relationship with VEB" and "does not dictate where their purchasers borrow funds."
The Trump Organization has distanced itself from the Toronto project, which faced financial difficulties last year. The company "merely licensed its brand and manages the hotel and residences," the Organization told the Journal in a statement.
The project was initially a joint venture between Trump and Schnaider, who approached Trump in 2004 asking to license the Trump name for the 65-story tower. Trump said at the time that he would "manage the hotel's operations," according to the Journal, while Shnaider and his business partner, Val Levitan, focused on the development.
Trump's son-in-law and a top adviser, Jared Kushner, met with the Vnesheconombank CEO Sergey Gorkov in December 2016, The New York Times reported in late March. Gorkov was appointed by Putin in January 2016 as part of a restructuring of the bank's management team, according to Bloomberg.
Kushner's meeting with Gorkov, the struggling bank's CEO, came as Kushner was trying to find investors for a Fifth Avenue office building in Manhattan that is set to be heavily financed by Anbang Insurance Group, a firm with ties to the Chinese government.
White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the publication at the time that the "Kushner Tower" project wasn't discussed during his meeting with Gorkov, and a White House official said in a statement that Kushner took the meetings as part of his role as "the official primary point of contact with foreign governments and officials."
But the meeting was reportedly orchestrated by Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — who also met with Kushner in December — and caught the eye of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has invited Kushner to testify about his meetings with Gorkov and Kislyak. The committee is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether any members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also appeared to signal during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month that the intelligence community was scrutinizing Trump's business ties to Russia.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terror, asked Clapper if he ever found "a situation where a Trump business interest in Russia" gave him "concern."
"Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence community's assessment," Clapper said.
Graham pressed Clapper on whether he had ever come across such a situation, to which Clapper replied, "I can't comment on that because that impacts an investigation."
As Trump praised and defended Putin along the campaign trail, many questioned whether the real-estate mogul had any financial incentives — including business ties or outstanding debt — to seek better relations with Moscow.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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Well.. there's not many ways around doing business with a bank under sanctions... This could turn into a real problem:
aol.com
Report: Russian bank whose CEO met secretly with Jared Kushner helped finance Trump's Toronto hotel
AOL Staff
20-26 minutes
A Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions, whose CEO met with President Donald Trump's son-in-law in December, helped financed the construction of the president's 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, according to a new report.
The bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), bought $850 million of stock in a Ukrainian steelmaker from billionaire Russian-Canadian developer Alexander Schnaider, who was constructing the hotel at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Shnaider initially purchased the stock via his company, Midland Resources Holding, for about $70 million after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to the Journal.
The money from the sale of that stock to VEB — which the Journal said went through while Russian President Vladimir Putin was chairman of VEB's supervisory board — was then used to help finance the construction of the Toronto hotel tower "at a key moment for the project."
From the Journal:
"After Mr. Shnaider and his partner sold their stake in the steelmaker, Mr. Shnaider injected more money into the Trump Toronto project, which was financially troubled. Mr. Shnaider's lawyer, Symon Zucker, said in an April interview that about $15 million from the asset sale went into the Trump Toronto project. A day later, he wrote in an email: 'I am not able to confirm that any funds' from the deal 'went into the Toronto project.'"
Symon Zucker, Shnaider's lawyer, did not immediately respond to request for comment from Business Insider. But he told the Journal that Midland Resources "has never had any relationship with VEB" and "does not dictate where their purchasers borrow funds."
The Trump Organization has distanced itself from the Toronto project, which faced financial difficulties last year. The company "merely licensed its brand and manages the hotel and residences," the Organization told the Journal in a statement.
The project was initially a joint venture between Trump and Schnaider, who approached Trump in 2004 asking to license the Trump name for the 65-story tower. Trump said at the time that he would "manage the hotel's operations," according to the Journal, while Shnaider and his business partner, Val Levitan, focused on the development.
Trump's son-in-law and a top adviser, Jared Kushner, met with the Vnesheconombank CEO Sergey Gorkov in December 2016, The New York Times reported in late March. Gorkov was appointed by Putin in January 2016 as part of a restructuring of the bank's management team, according to Bloomberg.
Kushner's meeting with Gorkov, the struggling bank's CEO, came as Kushner was trying to find investors for a Fifth Avenue office building in Manhattan that is set to be heavily financed by Anbang Insurance Group, a firm with ties to the Chinese government.
White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the publication at the time that the "Kushner Tower" project wasn't discussed during his meeting with Gorkov, and a White House official said in a statement that Kushner took the meetings as part of his role as "the official primary point of contact with foreign governments and officials."
But the meeting was reportedly orchestrated by Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — who also met with Kushner in December — and caught the eye of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has invited Kushner to testify about his meetings with Gorkov and Kislyak. The committee is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether any members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also appeared to signal during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month that the intelligence community was scrutinizing Trump's business ties to Russia.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terror, asked Clapper if he ever found "a situation where a Trump business interest in Russia" gave him "concern."
"Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence community's assessment," Clapper said.
Graham pressed Clapper on whether he had ever come across such a situation, to which Clapper replied, "I can't comment on that because that impacts an investigation."
As Trump praised and defended Putin along the campaign trail, many questioned whether the real-estate mogul had any financial incentives — including business ties or outstanding debt — to seek better relations with Moscow.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Snarly
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So the left and the FBI and everyone with a bigger voice it trying to get Trump out when we have no idea what is really going on? Do any of us know any of these people personally or is this a desperate attempt to get someone who does not play by their rules out. Anyone who trusts any major news outlets are being fooled both ways but when I just want to read sports scores and I force fed how bad and how hard they want Trump out it makes me think like the DNC this is way over the top and blown up like the left always try to do.
Bottom line he is office he has ties to (Russia) we already knew that, his politics hurt a few but does not make us rely on them like the Democrats do. There are jobs opening up in terms of blue color jobs. I mean and I say this with no intent to piss anyone off here. HOW THE FUCK if firing the chief of the FBI a bad thing when Hillary said she would have done the same? Now all this shit happens... it is all bullshit.
Mostly governments are the ones you have to worry about still in terms of over all living. I do get those who do not like Trump and I do not either he passed a bill I was pissed about but so be it. As long as I can eat and work and sleep and do what I do with out worry I am good. This system as been crooked for years just look at what happened before Trump got in. This is not a sports league like both parties are treating this and this divide is stupid. I am done here and again my opinion and I know many of you will hate it and so be it.
Bottom line he is office he has ties to (Russia) we already knew that, his politics hurt a few but does not make us rely on them like the Democrats do. There are jobs opening up in terms of blue color jobs. I mean and I say this with no intent to piss anyone off here. HOW THE FUCK if firing the chief of the FBI a bad thing when Hillary said she would have done the same? Now all this shit happens... it is all bullshit.
Mostly governments are the ones you have to worry about still in terms of over all living. I do get those who do not like Trump and I do not either he passed a bill I was pissed about but so be it. As long as I can eat and work and sleep and do what I do with out worry I am good. This system as been crooked for years just look at what happened before Trump got in. This is not a sports league like both parties are treating this and this divide is stupid. I am done here and again my opinion and I know many of you will hate it and so be it.
BMAN
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What the fuck are you talking about?
Snarly
Count Duckula.
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This is how my mind works... So as I said my opinion was made clear that as well is known. Now I will respond your question and simple as possible. I am tired of high school drama, that is all most politics are these days.
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I wonder the result of a special counsel had been brought in - as it should have been - to investigate Hillary's emails.
Difference is no pressure by the press for one, despite direct tainting of the AG herself.
Difference is no pressure by the press for one, despite direct tainting of the AG herself.
-Akronite-
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Serious question: Has there been ANY sort of response from this administration in regards to Erdogan's bodyguards attacking AMERICAN protestors in our nation's capital? Because that's fucked to the Nth degree and I haven't seen anything yet. Like, Trump is all America first and wants to present this image of strength like he can protect us. Is he doing something about this?
and I wondered how this would get twisted back the trying to condemn the left no matter how irrelevant the thought process.
I don't understand the impulse to play 'let's pretend this isn't happening" but I see that it is real.
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Uh oh....
Donald Trump's campaign made contact with Russia at least 18 times during his presidential race, according to a new report.
Conversations between members of Trump's team and high-ranking officials including setting up a special backchannel for communications between the President and Putin, Reuters reported. That would allow the two talk without involving US national security officials.
Everyday this get more and more unbelievable. Like I said, only two outcomes, and one is already happening.
1) Impeachment/resignation
2) Loss of all political capital, agenda is "swamped", primaried in 2020.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...kchannel-michael-flynn-campaign-a7742231.html
Donald Trump's campaign made contact with Russia at least 18 times during his presidential race, according to a new report.
Conversations between members of Trump's team and high-ranking officials including setting up a special backchannel for communications between the President and Putin, Reuters reported. That would allow the two talk without involving US national security officials.
Everyday this get more and more unbelievable. Like I said, only two outcomes, and one is already happening.
1) Impeachment/resignation
2) Loss of all political capital, agenda is "swamped", primaried in 2020.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...kchannel-michael-flynn-campaign-a7742231.html
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Irrelevant? If the press holds one side to a much higher standard than the other, it distorts our political processes. Heck, she almost got elected after being given a pass by the Justice Department.
It's a big reason why some of us push back on this so hard - it seems as if the press, not voters, choose the President.
We get it. You hate the press. You hate Hilary.
When are you going to step up and stop doubling down on Republican talking points? Like, what do we have to reach for that to happen?