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eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,187
13,446
directly above the center of the earth
FBI Wiretapped Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort
Investigators listened in on former Trump campaign chairman's calls before and after 2016 election, CNN reports

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/FBI-Wiretapped-Trump-Campaign-Chairman-Paul-12207538.php

The U.S. government wiretapped the phone calls of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort before and after the 2016 presidential election, according to a report from CNN on Monday.

The surveillance originally stemmed from a 2014 FBI investigation looking into his connections to the government of Ukraine, and was authorized by the highly secretive court which oversees cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The CNN report cited three unnamed sources who said the information collected “sparked concerns among investigators that Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign,” though two of those sources cautioned that the evidence was not conclusive.

urveillance resumed once Manafort became a person of interest in the Justice Department investigation into the Trump campaign’s involvement in the Russian interference of the 2016 election, and continued into early 2017.

Special counsel Robert Mueller was made aware of surveillance when he took over the investigation and was provided details of the evidence collected, according to CNN.

It is unknown if Donald Trump was picked up on the surveillance, but the president memorably tweeted back in March that the Obama administration had ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower. The claim was later denied by the FBI and the Justice Department.

A New York Times report on Monday said Manafort was being aggressively pursued by Mueller’s investigation, and the former campaign official’s home was subject to a surprise FBI raid in July, with investigators seizing documents and computer files.

According to the report, Manafort was warned by investigators to expect an indictment.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,938
13,133
Portland, OR
Getting the band back together!!!

“The president has a very interesting management style,” Gorka told Newsweek Thursday. “He’s comfortable with unusually high levels of creative chaos beneath him because he sees who’s the best fighter and who makes the best argument. But if he feels he’s being poorly served by his lieutenants he allows that frustration to increase until he gets to a point where he takes decisive action. I predict he will take decisive action to get those people around him who are not serving his original platform out of the building and that’s just how he works. I predict that there will be some firings in the near future that come from the president himself when he realizes just how much he needs the old team to be around him.”
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
You know, as a Vet, I would be highly offended if anyone hesitated to exercise the freedoms that myself and my comrades in arms sacrificed for. The flag is simply a symbol of the freedoms we have in the US, it is not a sentient being capable of being offended or disrespected. Those who chose to ascribe such feelings to the flag and give it human characteristics are wasting their breath, just as those who make such a big deal of pledging allegiance to it. (What a waste of time, a feeble minded attempt at brainwashing another generation of cannon fodder for the 1% to send into battle for their benefit. How can one pledge allegiance to an inanimate object anyway? Who defines said allegiance and its left and right limits? What is the return for this blind obedience to an object that cannot return your love and allegiance?)

In a like manner the National Anthem is simply a song, and not a very good one. It was actually a poem, that some clown set to music, and if some guy who is about to get his head bashed in for $$ chooses not to stand to send a message about inequality in this country, it is his privilege, right AND DUTY to do so.
(Side note- my Father, a professional singer, sang the Anthem for years at many sporting events. I think he would find this foolish debate, well...foolish.)

tRump is a douche, and all of this is simply false flag maneuvering designed to distract us from the real shenanigans he and his little cabal of morons are carrying out at and around 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,938
13,133
Portland, OR
Everybody points to the Ranger on the Steelers who was the only Steeler out there for the national anthem. But IMO he took an oath. Much like the pole vaulter that stopped mid sprint to stand at attention. As a vet, I would feel compelled to stand at attention, as I do in respect to the flag I swore to defend. But I would also support my teammates who choose to protest because I agree with their protest and they did not take the same oath I chose to.

But the Donald is nothing but a big middle finger to everything the flag represents.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,851
9,556
AK
I thought my oath was for my term of enlistment? Did it get extended?
Everybody points to the Ranger on the Steelers who was the only Steeler out there for the national anthem. But IMO he took an oath. Much like the pole vaulter that stopped mid sprint to stand at attention. As a vet, I would feel compelled to stand at attention, as I do in respect to the flag I swore to defend. But I would also support my teammates who choose to protest because I agree with their protest and they did not take the same oath I chose to.

But the Donald is nothing but a big middle finger to everything the flag represents.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I didn't know my oath had an expiration date. :confused:
But they don't take an oath to you anymore because the government only really cares about the wealthy as the country has leaned to the right - they've mandated an expiration because they think you matter less than people that want to hoard the wealth and hurt the economy for everyone but the very top.

A have a cousin that was laid off shortly before he could get his pension that everyone rightful deserves and earns.

http://themilitarywallet.com/force-shaping-involuntary-separations/

Edit - forgot to mention that the government, with Monsanto's influence, poisoned my cousin's father with Agent Orange and it took decades for them to admit responsibility. He's been in a vet hospital for years with Parkinson's. Again the government honored no oath to those that served them but instead protected Monsanto for their dangerous products they sold to the government.
 
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Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,261
8,766
Crawlorado
Everybody points to the Ranger on the Steelers who was the only Steeler out there for the national anthem. But IMO he took an oath. Much like the pole vaulter that stopped mid sprint to stand at attention. As a vet, I would feel compelled to stand at attention, as I do in respect to the flag I swore to defend. But I would also support my teammates who choose to protest because I agree with their protest and they did not take the same oath I chose to.

But the Donald is nothing but a big middle finger to everything the flag represents.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/kneeling-for-life-and-liberty-is-patriotic/540942/

I believe that you swore to uphold the ideals that this country was founded on, namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not necessarily to the flag itself which is supposed to be a symbolic representation of those principles. I also don't believe that kneeling is disrespectful in that sense, just like I don't believe standing necessarily means you believe those kneeling are doing so in spite of the men and women who have fought and given their lives for this country.

The fact remains that they are correct, the statistics indicate that black men and women are at a great disadvantage according to almost every single (I can't think of an outlier at the moment) meaningful indicator. In a country that refuses to acknowledge this, I fully support them using their platform to speak out about the societal ills that impact black folks in this country.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,938
13,133
Portland, OR
The fact remains that they are correct, the statistics indicate that black men and women are at a great disadvantage according to almost every single (I can't think of an outlier at the moment) meaningful indicator. In a country that refuses to acknowledge this, I fully support them using their platform to speak out about the societal ills that impact black folks in this country.
:stupid:

My view might change as things get worse for us all, but I still hold true to uphold, support and defend life, liberty, and all that is good in this world. This is why I don't see it as disrespect to kneel, or stay in the locker room, or even leave your hat on. I choose to do what I feel is right for me, and that is to stand, in respect of what I hold true.

But I will fight for others right to not. Freedom, bitches.