Foreign “opposition research” okay— President Trump

SimplyMe said:

Then perhaps that foreign government should release the information directly, or even second hand... I'm sure they can find a friendly journalist to publish the report without even naming the country that gave them the information.

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Like WikiLeaks, for example?

SoldierOfTheKing said:

Like WikiLeaks, for example?

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I was thinking more of traditional media, but why not WikiLeaks? Of course, there could be issues if a campaign tries to "work with" or coordinate with WikiLeaks.

So, assuming for the sake of argument than Mueller's contention that it was Russian intelligence that hacked the DNC's servers to obtain those embarrassing internal emails exposing how the DNC rigged the primary in favor of Hillary Clinton, was WikiLeaks an appropriate forum for the Russians to release those emails?

Why all the hysteria over the matter then?

SoldierOfTheKing said:

It is not. The truth is the truth. Whether the source is domestic or foreign is irrelevant, even if foreign meddling in US elections were in itself illegal, which it isn't.



The truth, by its nature, does not belong to any particular government. It's not something that anyone can claim ownership on.

On the other hand, if the research isn't true, than it can't be called something of value.

As I've said before, if you have access to opposition research on a political opponent, it's ridiculous to be expected not to take it. Whether it comes from Russia, China, ISIS or Satan himself - what matters is what it contains.

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Oh my.....he drags everyone down with him, doesn’t he...?

You really need to check your laws...

SimplyMe said:

So the question becomes, why is the foreign government wanting to give the information directly to a Presidential candidate, and not just release this truth that they know directly to the public?

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In this case, the most likely answer is because he asked for it on live TV.

Allandavid said:

Oh my.....he drags everyone down with him, doesn’t he...?

You really need to check your laws...

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Or scruples.

-Sasha- said:

If a Chinese (or whoever) government official comes to Biden offering information on Trump having nefarious dealings with Russia (for example), ought Biden listen to the information, and if it's true, use it to win? Or should the official be reported to the FBI so it might never become public knowledge?

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Reported, of course. Reporting it doesn't preclude it from becoming public knowledge.

Donald is truly holds himself above the law.

SoldierOfTheKing said:

So, assuming for the sake of argument than Mueller's contention that it was Russian intelligence that hacked the DNC's servers to obtain those embarrassing internal emails exposing how the DNC rigged the primary in favor of Hillary Clinton, was WikiLeaks an appropriate forum for the Russians to release those emails?

Why all the hysteria over the matter then?

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Because apparently Roger Stone, while employed by Donald's campaign, may have worked with Wikileaks in coordinating the selective release of the information.

Pommer said:

Please don’t derail the thread with “but her emails” bovine waste, thanks.

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They're not her emails they're the DNC's emails, and it's Trump's critics who can't seem to shut up about them - even though they're not even classified...

...but they are opposition research, so they're quite relevant to the thread.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

While I doubt that Democratic candidates would accept dirt on Trump, and while I am horrified that the mountains of dirt already revealed by the press have failed to horrify his hardcore supporters, I hope that Trump's invitation for "dirt" will result in every nation on earth who find Trump unacceptable (most of them) will IMMEDIATELY make public every bit of dirt they have on HIM.

Let's have the big reveal. Trump truth tellers around the world unite. Let's bury his hardcore supporters in a pile of dirt so huge they will have to acknowledge the truth.

Pommer said:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump says he would listen if foreigners offered dirt on opponents

"I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening," Trump continued. "If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent' -- oh, I think I'd want to hear it."

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Hillary will be either proud or upset because she paid 12,000,000 for her opposition research from a foreign national.

It would be the height of hypocrisy to condemn the President for saying he would look at it and then make excuses for a former First Lady, congress member and Secretary of State for not just listening, but paying for it.

hislegacy said:

Hillary will be either proud or upset because she paid 12,000,000 for her opposition research from a foreign national.

It would be the height of hypocrisy to condemn the President for saying he would look at it and then make excuses for a former First Lady, congress member and Secretary of State for not just listening, but paying for it.

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Lets get fact straight. HRC didn’t pay money to Christopher Steele, a British National, HRC paid the money to Fusion GPS , which is a US Law Farm based in DC. Fusion GPS outsource the work to Steel. By the way , the work Steel did was end up in FBI hand. HRC didn’t use Steel report and tell American that Candidate Trump was working with Russian . So your analogy is completely wrong here.

Lol. 12,000,00 paid for operation research that ended with an unsubstantiated dossier that the foreign national operative could even back up.

It listening to a phone call is wrong.

That’s ok

It’s an amazing time we live is.

hislegacy said:

Lol. 12,000,00 paid for operation research that ended with an unsubstantiated dossier that the foreign national operative could even back up.

It listening to a phone call is wrong.

That’s ok

It’s an amazing time we live is.

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Again you are ignoring the facts – HRC didn’t pay anything to any foreign national. And the report did end up in FBI hand and also in Congress. HRC didn’t use that report. Listening to Phone call is not illegals as long as you have warrant. If you don’t like Gov listening to US citizen conversation then you should complain about Patriot Act which was implemented by a Republican President, and later renewed by President Obama. I was against this policy but came to accept it as norm.

QFT

SimplyMe said:

So the question becomes, why is the foreign government wanting to give the information directly to a Presidential candidate, and not just release this truth that they know directly to the public? What benefit do they expect to get from "giving" the information to a political candidate?

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SimplyMe said:

I was thinking more of traditional media, but why not WikiLeaks? Of course, there could be issues if a campaign tries to "work with" or coordinate with WikiLeaks.

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Personally, I have some issues with WikiLeaks and no longer trust them to be wholly objective, mainly stemming from this staff AMA. Specifically concerning are their statements that they publish information "according to [their] promise to [their] sources for maximum impact" and only publish data that "adheres to [their] editorial strategy."

To back that up, Assange claimed to have information on the Trump campaign, but said it wasn't interesting, so he wasn't going to publish it. You can't say that you'll release everything uncensored, then not release stuff just because you claim it isn't interesting.

Fantine said:

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

While I doubt that Democratic candidates would accept dirt on Trump, and while I am horrified that the mountains of dirt already revealed by the press have failed to horrify his hardcore supporters, I hope that Trump's invitation for "dirt" will result in every nation on earth who find Trump unacceptable (most of them) will IMMEDIATELY make public every bit of dirt they have on HIM.

Let's have the big reveal. Trump truth tellers around the world unite. Let's bury his hardcore supporters in a pile of dirt so huge they will have to acknowledge the truth.

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Trump's loyal supporters have excused and dismissed his behavior for a long time now. After all, he said “They say I have the most loyal people, where I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It's like incredible" (Donald Trump: They say I could ‘shoot somebody’ and still have support). He also said that he has a great relationship with the Evangelicals. I think he certainly knows how to woo his loyal voting base. I don't think there's any reason to think that his loyal supporters would ever stop supporting and defending him, no matter what he says or does. I think his supporters have demonstrated that quite well since before he was even elected to the presidency. However, I also think that he wouldn't have had their loyal support if he had campaigned and won the election as a Democrat. I think they would have condemned him.