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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUPDATED: Very interesting Mueller-related FB post by Heather Cox Richardson
Last edited Mon Dec 31, 2018, 08:54 PM - Edit history (3)
A public post by political historian/author Heather Cox Richardson:
(feel free to share)
Over the holiday, someone asked me to explain what is happening with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russian government's attempt to interfere in the 2016 election. Perfect timing, because I stumbled across something a few weeks ago that frames the whole investigation nicely.
In 2011, when Mueller was FBI Director, he gave a speech in New York. He explained that globalization and modern technology had changed the nature of organized crime. Rather than being regional networks with a clear structure, he said, organized crime had become international, fluid, sophisticated, and had stakes in the multi-billion dollar range. Its operators were cross-pollinating across countries, religions, and political affiliations, sharing only their greed. They did not care about ideology; they cared about money. They would do anything for a price.
These criminal enterprises, he noted, were working to corner the market on oil, gas, and precious metals. And to do so, Mueller explained, they "may infiltrate our businesses. They may provide logistical support to hostile foreign powers. They may try to manipulate those at the highest levels of government. Indeed, these so-called 'iron triangles' of organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders pose a significant national security threat."
To combat that threat, Mueller said, the FBI had shifted focus "from a law-enforcement agency to a national security service that is threat-driven and intelligence-led."
It appears that various members of the 2016 GOP campaign were part of such an iron triangle.
Donald Trump had sought Russian business since 1996, but his financial connections with Russians really took off in 2008, when wealthy Russians poured money into Trump's US properties at a time when few others were interested in working with Trump. In September 2008, Don Jr. told a reporter: "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.... We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Trump pursued the idea of a Trump Tower in Moscow, and in 2013, took the Miss Universe pageant there.
Then, in 2014, in response to Russian efforts to destabilize and absorb Ukraine, the US put sanctions on a number of Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, freezing their assets and denying them visas. (Interestingly, at the time, GOP congresspeople complained that President Obama did not hit Putin more harshly.)
Now, it appears that Russia offered to help Trump get elected in 2016 in exchange for-- among other things-- an end to sanctions. And a Russian spy, Maria Butina, has recently admitted to infiltrating the NRA, which poured more than $400 million-- an unprecedented sum-- behind GOP candidates in the 2016 election.
It is this iron triangle of business, government, and criminals that Mueller is chasing down. It is taking a huge amount of time as he and his staff look at money laundering, cyber-hacking, blackmail, and what is popularly (but not legally) known as treason. It seems to me that he is aiming not at any one person, but rather at a criminal organization that is attempting to destroy NATO and turn the world over to an international cabal of oligarchs.
Mueller is spreading his evidence out in the court records he is filing, making it almost impossible for the president to stifle his discoveries, and he is spreading out cases amongst different agencies for similar reasons. And he is getting results. As of November, Mueller had indicted 33 people or entities, and 7 of them have pled guilty (5 were aides to Trump). There are also more than 3 dozen sealed indictments at the DC federal court, and it is likely that many, or most, or all, of them are related the Mueller investigation.
Mueller is the man who took down the Gambino crime family when no one else could make anything stick. He is thorough and he is tough. Sadly, I expect his final conclusions are going to be shocking: it seems to me that we will discover that not simply administration officials, but also a number of congresspeople and prominent business leaders are part of that iron triangle of international criminality Mueller warned about back in 2011, when the rest of us were still naive.
https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/posts/over-the-holiday-someone-asked-me-to-explain-what-is-happening-with-special-coun/1725414477602611/
Heather Cox Richardson is a political historian who uses facts and history to make observations about contemporary American politics. She is the author, most recently, of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.
Biography
I'm from rural Maine, was educated at Exeter and Harvard, and am now a professor of history at Boston College. I write books about the American past, and write articles about modern politics. The past informs my work on the present, not the other way around.
ON UPDATE:
***From the FBI archives: Robert Mueller's speech on Jan. 27, 2011***
But the playing field has changed. We have seen a shift from regional families with a clear structure, to flat, fluid networks with global reach. These international enterprises are more anonymous and more sophisticated. Rather than running discrete operations, on their own turf, they are running multi-national, multi-billion dollar schemes from start to finish.
We are investigating groups in Asia, Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East. And we are seeing cross-pollination between groups that historically have not worked together. Criminals who may never meet, but who share one thing in common: greed.
They may be former members of nation-state governments, security services, or the military. These individuals know who and what to target, and how best to do it. They are capitalists and entrepreneurs. But they are also master criminals who move easily between the licit and illicit worlds. And in some cases, these organizations are as forward-leaning as Fortune 500 companies.
This is not The Sopranos, with six guys sitting in a diner, shaking down a local business owner for $50 dollars a week. These criminal enterprises are making billions of dollars from human trafficking, health care fraud, computer intrusions, and copyright infringement. They are cornering the market on natural gas, oil, and precious metals, and selling to the highest bidder.
More at link:
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/speeches/the-evolving-organized-crime-threat
vlyons
(10,252 posts)I came to the same conclusion about 6 months ago that an international crime syndicate was trying to rule the world.
pnwmom
(108,995 posts)diane in sf
(3,919 posts)common interests in keeping the world on oil and run in a top down, non-Democratic way.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)"...And a Russian spy, Maria Butina, has recently admitted to infiltrating the NRA, which poured more than $400 million-- an unprecedented sum-- behind GOP candidates in the 2016 election. "
Gore1FL
(21,152 posts)pnwmom
(108,995 posts)Girard442
(6,085 posts)You have to assume that most of the people who voted Republican in the recent election are somewise OK with that. I can't imagine how.
pnwmom
(108,995 posts)a worldwide criminal network.
salin
(48,955 posts)was tied to the Panama Papers leak which she a lot of light on financial malfeasance on some folks very, very close to (and possible funneling money through to) Putin.
I have read that Putin blames the US for that leak/exposure - and very much wanted to destabilize the US elections and institutions as a result. I think folks often forget/overlook that connection to this interlocking mess of corruption.
Personally I don't think they (Putin/GRU) started out thinking that they could actually get Trump elected - but as time went on in the campaign - it is clear that became a desired end goal.
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)And that any alternative is preferable.
Beartracks
(12,821 posts)========
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)I have a hunch they won't like the reality so much when they're actually there.
calimary
(81,500 posts)You can be REAL Russian citizens over there, instead of being subjects of a mere Russian pawn installed over here. Why not go all out? Take the direct route. Or relocate to Ukraine or Crimea where more of the action is.
czarjak
(11,296 posts)Last edited Tue Jan 1, 2019, 05:07 PM - Edit history (1)
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)And if we look at the Trump family as a crime family, Trump's behavior makes sense.
malaise
(269,181 posts)I'm sending it all over - should have 500 recs.
Happy New Year!
spanone
(135,880 posts)Danascot
(4,694 posts)He showed up at the right time in our nations' history.
MyOwnPeace
(16,938 posts)may be the most salient point of this posting - the right man at the right time!
OMGWTF
(3,976 posts)erronis
(15,336 posts)Some of us don't want to have our personal details slurped even more.
Rhetorically: Why should I have to create a facebuck account to read a post?
I understand paywalls for newspapers and journals (and don't like them either), but when someone creates some article that should be public, garnering my personals is invasive.
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)pnwmom
(108,995 posts)erronis
(15,336 posts)I really appreciate you copying the text. I try to do that when I'm citing a reference that requires login. Of course, there's some limit to how much we can legitimately cut-n-paste.
The other issue is that any conversations on that platform are also hidden. Just like at DU, some of the jewels are not in the OP but in the responses.
pnwmom
(108,995 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,439 posts)moondust
(20,006 posts)Last edited Mon Dec 31, 2018, 10:06 PM - Edit history (1)
K/R
I suspect some idiots who get caught up in globalized crime syndicates may develop God complexes and start to believe they're too superior to get caught by the dumb little cops. That could help explain Trump, Manafort, and others now finding out otherwise and not handling it well because...they're still idiots.
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)RobertDevereaux
(1,858 posts)TSheehan
(277 posts)House of Roberts
(5,186 posts)To combat that threat, Mueller said, the FBI had shifted focus "from a law-enforcement agency to a national security service that is threat-driven and intelligence-led."
Our whole intelligence service needs remodeling to combat this.
Owl
(3,644 posts)Leghorn21
(13,526 posts)Mike Nelson
(9,968 posts)
great for sharing on Facebook!
triron
(22,022 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)It's tough to get hard evidence of the ones at the top. It's much easier to get the direct fixers and doers of the deeds.
But I hope.
I am just so thankful that Rosenstein chose Mueller to be the Special Counsel. If the evidence can be gotten, he and his team will get it.
peggysue2
(10,839 posts)Of what I've been reading for months on end. The 'conspiracy' is global in nature and those involved are mobster-linked, people recruited, compromised and/or willingly complicit in destroying the western democracies & Rule of Law while gobbling up wealth, influence and power for themselves. The tentacles are everywhere: Heads of State, other government officials, business men/women, financiers, lobbyists, PR agencies and players, journalists and news agencies, various organizations (think NRA), any means and/or conduit that could further the spread of corruption, deception and absolute dominance.
So when we hear complaints about how long Mueller is taking or in Giuliani's words, "Put up or shut up," it's important to remember the sheer scale of the investigation which--if Richardson and those I'v been reading are correct--will go down as the most extensive criminal investigation in history. And, if Mueller and his dedicated team are successful in blowing this global network apart, destroying it at the root? They'll go down in history as the Heroes of Democracy, akin to a whole team of George Washingtons.
It's also a chilling reminder: this is how close we came to losing everything.
Mr. Ected
(9,670 posts)No doubt he hit the ground running the moment he was named Special Counsel. Imagine how much data was already known to the FBI before the investigation officially began!
America-centric thought at this juncture is limiting. This is a global phenomena, and our leadership has been compromised, but the head of the beast must be decapitated. Trump is not the head of the beast. He's that mushroom-looking skin deformity that will also need to be excised.
Cha
(297,692 posts)Gracias for all these reports, pnwmom!
Vinca
(50,308 posts)Not only was their obvious obstruction by a member of Congress (Nunes), it's likely Russian money fell on their heads like raindrops. I wouldn't be surprised to find the Turtle turned into soup.
yardwork
(61,712 posts)This is now a proven, known fact.
Response to pnwmom (Original post)
elocs This message was self-deleted by its author.
yardwork
(61,712 posts)I believe that other political campaigns received Russian funding as well, whether the candidates know or not.
dlk
(11,578 posts)It is definitely a new day for organized crime as we witness events unfold in the Trump administration. Who could have ever imagined...
triron
(22,022 posts)Woodycall
(259 posts)Most, if not all, of the bad things that have been visited upon humanity throughout history (other than those with purely natural causes) had behind them, some form of organized crime. Any form of Monarchistic governing is a form of organized crime. The Church at various periods was rife with corruption and criminal ulterior goals. When we think about the Nazis, the Holocaust is always first and foremost but if you look a little deeper, their equally great crime was stealing. Stealing land (the source of all wealth), stealing possessions, stealing the gold out of their victims teeth. Schindler's List did an excellent job of illustrating that. The profits of any war have never escaped the attention of the sinister criminals among us. You can carry this on to other things as well. Predatory lending and indeed the entire banking cabal is a form of organized crime. The colluding pharmaceutical "industry" is really just organized crime. Seeking government office as path to wealth invites organized crime into the structure of government.
This is what I sent to my son a few days ago:
https://prospect.org/article/it-was-vulture-capitalism-killed-sears
Explain to me how this is any different than what "Big Paulie" did to the restaurant in Good Fellas. Organized crime. Our planet's biggest problems are not, and never have been, resource problems, technology problems, economic problems, or enthusiasm problems. It's biggest problems are criminal problems. And that has ALWAYS been the primary problem.
I get a great sense of vindication from this article/post as I have been preaching the same to anyone who will listen for several years now.
KT2000
(20,588 posts)that is how unregulated capitalism works. Consolidation and collusion leave just a few to rule over a cannibalized state.
Grasswire2
(13,571 posts)Saudi Arabia, Russia, UAE, Qatar, Israel, US.
This (below) is what the entire Trump-Russia investigation is now about. Please share this image widely, as it will be *the* crucial information in the months ahead, now that Prince and Nader's cover is wholly blown. More on all of this in PROOF OF COLLUSION.
[link:https://screenshots.firefox.com/2vmyRRVeMsDrK9Vo/twitter.com|
Pacifist Patriot
(24,654 posts)dalton99a
(81,594 posts)calimary
(81,500 posts)Good find, pnwmom! No - OUTSTANDING find! Thanks for posting it here
pnwmom
(108,995 posts)malaise
(269,181 posts)but many are now in prison and were shut down by the FBI and others watching the kleptocracy and criminality.