Discussion: Judge Orders Russian Mariia Butina Detained Until Criminal Trial

Thanks for posting those links. There’s so much inbound that it’s easy to forget what has been sitting in plain sight for years.

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The endless fir forests reminded me of something from (ahem) a while ago, when I was in college and studying Russian. Specifically, a chap named Bulat Okudzhava, and one of his songs, which I always found beautiful, in a kind of haunting way:

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Isn’t he still alive? I did a quick search on google and couldn’t find any news of his demise, and wikipedia doesn’t report it either.

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sometimes a dliplomat is just a diplomat…

Kisalyak is not dead yet, you must be thinking about someone else,

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Former diplomats don’t have to go to Russia and should just ignore the order from Dear Leader. Just because our DL sends an order, we shouldn’t feel it means anything…so resist !

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KGB is now the FSB, federal security service.

The GRU remains the same, their fearsome and remorseless military intelligence under soviet times. Hard to keep track of I realize. But I think it’s important to keep in mind we were attacked by the Russian military, not just regular spies - looking at you, MSM.

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Kisalyak was their allegedly their top KGB recruiter—anyway sorry I meant the UN Ambassador:

Search Russian ambassador dies—the CNN is a good one, but it needs to be updated.

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Sorry I meant the UN Ambassador.

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Why it is not under Mueller, though it may ultimately end up that way.


"Matt Miller, the former spokesperson for the Department of Justice,
explained why the federal indictment against Butina was not filed by the
special counsel.

“If you look at the indictment … if you look at what the activities
it lays out, they are accusing her not of trying to influence the
election, but of trying to cultivate influence in the United States, of
trying to infiltrate the NRA, trying to infiltrate the Republican Party
on behalf of the Russian intelligence services,” Miller explained.
“If you read the pleading the government made public today, they talk
about her trying to trade sex in return for a position inside a special
interest group,” he noted. “You have to believe it’s a conservative
organization, maybe the NRA, maybe somewhere else — another document
talked about her trying to get close to CPAC.”
“So I think the question for all of these groups, is, ‘how were they
so vulnerable to penetration by a Russian intelligence service, by
Russian intelligence agents, and is in the only one?’” Miller wondered.
“We keep seeing, both in the Mueller investigation and now in this
case, a broad Russian conspiracy to influence and infiltrate American
policy making through Republican and conservative organizations, he
continued.
“You can’t not believe she is the only agent,” he concluded."

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I have a hope, that sometimes aspires to the lofty status of a suspicion, that Burr is using his customary low profile, taking positions on few of the atrocities and outrages de jour because he’s hoarding political capital for a denouement he knows ends in impeachment.

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I hope you’re right. We do need 4 or 5 GOPers to break free of this Administration and tell the GOP voters that the jig is up. NC is such a toss-up state that where Rs win b/c of brute force politics. But many can see after the Cooper win that it won’t last for the GOP to be so hard right. It is the kind of place where one might find a Senator willing to take such a stand.

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Burr ran in 2016, proclaiming “there’s no distance between me and Trump.” But the hallmark of his career has been that he surfaces in the election year, says whatever–and I do mean “whatever”–he thinks he needs to say to win and then, having won, vanishes again.

But he also said, way back last summer, after Trump clinched, that this was going to be his last term. An odd thing to say in May of an election year. Unless you’re also the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Tillis, early on, made one comment in public casting doubt about whether Russia was responsible, got his ass blasted from outraged constituents and then just totally STFU. There have been one or two other straws that blew by and suggested to me Burr had suggested to him that he did not want to go any distance at all out onto the Trump limb. And, contrary to what I originally assumed, he’s a pretty smart guy.

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Good points - and didn’t Tillis also cosponsor one of the bills to protect Mueller? Which granted McConnell tried to kill—but still have to wonder if Burr clued him in. Have heard Burr is a patriot btw.

I sure hope you’re right. We need some Republicans looking out for their own self interest (or with an eye on the history books) to break with their party and make congress effective again.

The founders spent a lot of time worrying about a populist demagogue or a charismatic stalking horse for the crown heads of Europe assuming the presidency. What they failed to anticipate when they designed their system of checks and balances was McConnell and Ryan, and the rise of political parties more generally.

Not to mention the entire NRA Board.

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