General Discussion

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,185 posts) Thu Apr 26, 2018, 10:53 AM Apr 2018

The "Day Trip to Moscow" bit was a Russian trial balloon. Trump passed that balloon to Comey.

Here's what Comey contemporaneously recorded in his memos following his dinner with Trump:

He said he had spoken to people who had been on the Miss Universe trip with him and they had reminded him that he didn’t stay over night in Russia for that. He said he arrived in the morning, did events, then showered and dressed for the pageant at the hotel (he didn’t say the hotel name) and left for the pageant. Afterwards, he returned only to get his things because they departed for New York by plane that same night.

Now, compare that with a January 20, 2017 article from The Daily Beast that features an interview with Yulya Alferova, a Russian woman who met with Trump in Moscow in 2013:

“I posted a comment on Trump’s Twitter asking when he was coming to Moscow,” Alferova, an elegant brunette, recalled in an interview at a tower restaurant in the Moscow-City business district. “To Emin’s and my surprise, Trump retweeted my post and responded, ‘On November 9.’”

To prove it, Alferova pulled out a screenshot of Trump’s post. “See, he came on November 9, worked all day, partied all night, and left. I am not even sure if he spent the night at the Ritz,” Alferova insisted.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/she-met-donald-trump-at-the-moscow-ritz-not-that-way

Now, let me tell you there's a lot that can be said about Alferova (and anyone who's read my posts here has seen that I've mentioned her multiple times). I could mention how in 2013 she was married at the time to Artem Klyushin, a shady Russian figure who claimed he helped Trump get elected. I could mention how she spent Election Night 2012 on Twitter talking with the infamous Russian propagandist Konstantin Rykov specifically about Donald Trump. I can tell you about how just two months after Miss Universe she started promoting Donald Trump as a presidential candidate over social media.

But let me just stay focused about her claims about Trump's visit in 2013.

Because her job in Moscow in November 2013 was very specific. She was nothing less than the social media coordinator for Aras and Emin Agalarov, who hosted the Miss Universe pageant for Trump in Moscow (and would later arrange the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Russian agents and Don Jr., Kushner and Manafort). So as social media coordinator, you would think she'd be aware of social media posts such as this one:

https://www.facebook.com/nobumoscow/photos/a.163105327043858.30788.158786840809040/656802097674176/?type=3&theater

....showing Donald Trump with her boss Emin Agalarov at a Moscow restaurant with the very clear date of November 8, 2013 on it.

So, in short:

1. The Russians knew Trump didn't just spend a day in Moscow but provided that false talking point to the media to throw off suspicion of possible extracurricular activities by Trump in Moscow in 2013.

2. Trump knew he didn't just spend a day in Moscow provided that false talking point to Comey to throw off questions raised in the Steele Dossier about said possible extracurricular activities.

3. Comey don't play that game.

4. Trump this morning backtracks, claims Comey is lying about what he told him about his visit to Moscow which was in and of itself a documentable lie.

In other words, Trump passed on Russian talking points to the head of the FBI in an attempt to throw off suspicion against him of being compromised by the Russians.