British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia

>It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US.

>The issue of GCHQ’s role in the FBI’s ongoing investigation into possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Moscow is highly sensitive. In March Trump tweeted that Barack Obama had illegally “wiretapped” him in Trump Tower.

>The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, claimed the “British spying agency” GCHQ had carried out the bugging. Spicer cited an unsubstantiated report on Fox News. Fox later distanced itself from the report.

>The claims prompted an extremely unusual rebuke from GCHQ, which generally refrains from commenting on all intelligence matters. The agency described the allegations first made by a former judge turned media commentator, Andrew Napolitano, as “nonsense”.

>“They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored,” a spokesperson for GCHQ said.

>Instead both US and UK intelligence sources acknowledge that GCHQ played an early, prominent role in kickstarting the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, which began in late July 2016.
...

>One source called the British eavesdropping agency the “principal whistleblower”.

>The Guardian has been told the FBI and the CIA were slow to appreciate the extensive nature of contacts between Trump’s team and Moscow ahead of the US election. This was in part due to US law that prohibits US agencies from examining the private communications of American citizens without warrants. “They are trained not to do this,” the source stressed.

>“It looks like the [US] agencies were asleep,” the source added. “They [the European agencies] were saying: ‘There are contacts going on between people close to Mr Trump and people we believe are Russian intelligence agents. You should be wary of this.’

>“The message was: ‘Watch out. There’s something not right here.’”

>According to one account, GCHQ’s then head, Robert Hannigan, passed material in summer 2016 to the CIA chief, John Brennan. The matter was deemed so sensitive it was handled at “director level”. After an initially slow start, Brennan used GCHQ information and intelligence from other partners to launch a major inter-agency investigation.
...

>In late August and September Brennan gave a series of classified briefings to the Gang of Eight, the top-ranking Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. He told them the agency had evidence the Kremlin might be trying to help Trump to win the presidency, the New York Times reported.

>One person familiar with the matter said Brennan did not reveal sources but made reference to the fact that America’s intelligence allies had provided information. Trump subsequently learned of GCHQ’s role, the person said.

>The person described US intelligence as being “very late to the game”. The FBI’s director, James Comey, altered his position after the election and Trump’s victory, becoming “more affirmative” and with a “higher level of concern”.

>Comey’s apparent shift may have followed a mid-October decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court to approve a secret surveillance order. The order gave permission for the Department of Justice to investigate two banks suspected of being part of the Kremlin’s undercover influence operation.

>According to the BBC, the justice department’s request came after a tipoff from an intelligence agency in one of the Baltic states. This is believed to be Estonia.

>The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the same order covered Carter Page, one of Trump’s associates. It allowed the FBI and the justice department to monitor Page’s communications. Page, a former foreign policy aide, was suspected of being an agent of influence working for Russia, the paper said, citing US officials.

>The application covered contacts Page allegedly had in 2013 with a Russian foreign intelligence agent, and other undisclosed meetings with Russian operatives, the Post said. Page denies wrongdoing and complained of “unjustified, politically motivated government surveillance”.
...

>Late last year Comey threw more FBI resources into what became a far-reaching counter-intelligence investigation. In March he confirmed before the House intelligence committee that the agency was examining possible cooperation between Moscow and members of the Trump campaign to sway the US election.

>Comey and the NSA director, Admiral Michael Rogers, said there was no basis for the president’s claim that he was a victim of Obama “wiretapping”. Trump had likened the unproved allegation to “McCarthyism”.

>Britain’s MI6 spy agency played a part in intelligence sharing with the US, one source said. MI6 declined to comment. Its former chief Sir Richard Dearlove described Trump’s wiretapping claim on Thursday as “simply deeply embarrassing for Trump and the administration”.

>“The only possible explanation is that Trump started tweeting without understanding how the NSA-GCHQ relationship actually works,” Dearlove told Prospect magazine.

>A GCHQ spokesperson said: “It is longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters”.

>It is unclear which individuals were picked up by British surveillance.

>In a report last month the New York Times, citing three US intelligence officials, said warning signs had been building throughout last summer but were far from clear. As WikiLeaks published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, US agencies began picking up conversations in which Russians were discussing contacts with Trump associates, the paper said.

>European allies were supplying information about people close to Trump meeting with Russians in Britain, the Netherlands and in other countries, the Times said.
...

>There are now multiple investigations going on in Washington into Trump campaign officials and Russia. They include the FBI-led counter-espionage investigation and probes by both the House and Senate intelligence committees.

>Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House committee, has expressed an interest in hearing from Christopher Steele, the former MI6 officer whose dossier accuses the president of long-term cooperation with Vladimir Putin’s Moscow. Trump and Putin have both dismissed the dossier as fake.

>One source suggested the official investigation was making progress. “They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion,” the source said. “This is between people in the Trump campaign and agents of [Russian] influence relating to the use of hacked material.”

>>131948
Shut up already, this Russian hacking story has always been balogne. Give some real proofs or fuck off.

>>131963
Let me guess, and the Obama wiretap isn't fake we just have to trust Trump on this one?

>>131966
It was a "wiretap" ya dingus. There's a reason he put it in quotes!

>>131963
Haha. Nice one Mr Putin.

See, the thing is, a bunch of Republicans that work with Trump have already stepped down or got the boot from the investigations alone. Some are even wanting immunity in return to testify.

Have fun worrying about some old lady's emails while the Russians take over America, France, and every other 1st world country on the face of the Earth.

>>131963
>Stop investigating! Nothing to see here!!
You know this just makes people want to investigate more, right?

So a half dozen other countries say say something is up and yet somehow we just need to trust trump.

Barbarossa Operation.

Only a stupid man or a insane man can do this. Remenber me

>>131953
>>131952
>>131951
>>131950
>>131949
>>131948

What is the evidence? Oh yeah, it's from the ass.

Fake news again. More evidence of batboy and the return of Elvis.

>>132013
>if I pretend the article doesn't have any evidence then maybe it will go away!
Did you even bother to read the article?

>>132014
>no evidence

They didn't cite one bit of evidence, just opinions of allegations.

That doesn't count as evidence.

If I say "In my opinion, and judging from the clear content of your post, you're a faggot.", does that count as evidence you are one?

>>132016
lol you're adorable.
> “They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion,” the source said. “This is between people in the Trump campaign and agents of [Russian] influence relating to the use of hacked material.”

>>132016
You are right that at this point there is no direct proof that Donald J. Trump himself colluded with the Russians to influence the campaign. There are plenty of allegations and anonymous sources saying he did, but no proof.

That said, there IS proof that Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Roger Stone, Eric Prince, and Donald Jr. & Eric Trump, all met with the Russians on behalf of the campaign. The only question remaining is to what extent. The fact that so many in his campaign/transition/administration were confirmed to have done these things, some even bragging admittedly so, DOES count as circumstantial, tangentially related evidence against Donald J. Trump himself that he knew these things were going on and done on his behalf. The proof has been extensively reported on in media on both the left and the right and posted on /news/, including in OPs article, and frankly if you can't find it you're either retarded or paid to pretend like it's not there.

That doesn't even get into how Trump, Bannon, and Conway were bought and paid for by The Mercer family, but that's a topic for another thread and probably not related to Russians.

>still being /pol/cucked after the recent Syria Fiasco
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa
They don't understand that the rest of us grew out of our /pol/ phase a long time ago. They think they have some secret knowledge we don't understand ahahahahahahahahahahaha

>>132026
> Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Roger Stone, Eric Prince, and Donald Jr. & Eric Trump,
forgot Jared

>>131963
Stop being such a treasonous little bitch. This story is going nowhere but forward. If he has nothing to hide, you're free to whack it to your snake oil lord and savior.

>>131976
I honestly lol'd at your statement

>>132081
I don't think you know what 'pariah' means.

>>131966
Pretty safe bet considering we live in a surveillance state.

>>132026
>That said, there IS proof that Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Roger Stone, Eric Prince, and Donald Jr. & Eric Trump, all met with the Russians on behalf of the campaign.
[citation needed]
Especially on the "on behalf of the campaign" part.

>The only question remaining is to what extent.
So you don't actually have proof and are still actually trying to find proof to even determine the alleged "extent."

>but that's a topic for another thread where I'm not being questioned and asked to back up my claims with something other than sources citing sources citing anonymous sources banking on appeals to authority.
FTFY

Same shit, different thread.

>>132097
>[citation needed]
What the hell do you think the OP article is? Jesus Christ its like this board is full of purposely obtuse shitheads.

>>132127
>If you don't copypaste 40 news articles from the last 4 months that prove what you're then saying it means it didn't happen!
I'm not copypasting 40 news articles for you when you should have been paying attention in the first place. Read the sources on the wikipedia page and stop pretending like there isn't any proof.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_United_States_elections#Links_between_the_Trump_campaign_and_Russian_officials

>>132127
>Trump dindu nuffin!
>He a good boi!
This is what you sound like.

Trump and his people are dirty as fuck in this situation. You're going to have to accept this eventually, it's only getting worse the more time goes by and the more that gets revealed. The OP article proves GCHQ was investigating Trump's people for colluding with the Russians independently from Americans. Do you know what probable cause is?

torpedoing that airbase confirms he is not in cahoots with russia

>>132135
I didn't make Trump and his people collude with the Russians, Anon, but nice try at trying to make it personal.

Keep up the good work lads.

>>132179
His campaign manager for six months just registered as a foreign agent as a result of his many years advocating for a putin puppet. If the shoe were on the other foot you trumpets would be screaming to high heaven.

>>132179
>ridiculous conspiracy
I think the idea that the intelligence services were out to get Trump is a ridiculous conspiracy theory.

They watch the agents of foreign potentially hostile governments.

That's their job and whoever those agents are meeting gets noted down and added to the big database of shady goings on.

They have record on all sorts of people that have done nothing wrong meeting with shady characters.

The people on Trump's team were probably just going about their lawful business and it happened to be with people the intelligence guys like to watch.

>>132179
So It's not as important as Hillary's E-mail fiasco.

>>132199
>bait.

You do that for fun, don't you?

It as if you want to paint MAGA in a negative light.

>>132201
I think you're a little behind on messaging, it's now MASTR.

>>132239
>We
Who do you think you represent?

>>132252
The winners, the ones who will take back America and see it rise to greatness.

>>132289
America is already great, numbnuts, you don't represent anybody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGS90uRQOpY

>>132296
>For Fascism, the growth of Empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is an essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence. Peoples which are rising, or rising again after a period of decadence, are always imperialist; any renunciation is a sign of decay and of death. Fascism is the doctrine best adapted to represent the tendencies and the a people, like the people of Italy, who are rising again after many centuries of abasement and foreign servitude. But Empire demands discipline, the coordination of all forces and a deeply felt sense of duty and sacrifice.

>"The Doctrine of Fascism"

>>132029
Are you from /pol/? Or no?

>>132135
Not the same anon but, your honestly grasping some straws here.

>>132301
>insane globalism
What exactly is it you think Trump is going to do to combat this? Slap a 25% tariff on everything WalMart sells from China? Do you honestly think he's going to repeal NAFTA?

Don't reply to bait troll, he just wanted to live in his Nationalist Free Market Fantasy.

>>132308
We will expand; invade other countries to take their resources as the great empires did in the past.

>>132300
Fascism and socialism are literally the same thing. And the only socialists in the USA are the Democrats, more aptly named the Democratic Socialist party.

Both systems are effectivley the government controlling the economic orders of a country through regulatory planning and wealth redistribution. For some reason people think fascism means "nationalistic dictatorship" which is not correct.

>>132318
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-right_politics
>The term is also used to describe ideologies including Nazism,[5] neo-Nazism, fascism, neo-fascism and other ideologies or organizations that feature extreme nationalist, chauvinist, xenophobic, racist, or reactionary views,[6] which can lead to oppression and violence against groups of people based on their supposed inferiority, or their perceived threat to the nation, state[7] or ultraconservative traditional social institutions.[8]

>>132320

“It is obvious what the fraudulent issue of fascism versus communism accomplishes: it sets up, as opposites, two variants of the same political system; it eliminates the possibility of considering capitalism" - Rand

“We are socialists, we are enemies of today’s capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are determined to destroy this system under all conditions.” - Hitler

"Fascism is the stage reached after communism has proved an illusion." - Hayek

You got duped son

>>132324
Hitler's a National Socialist, which is very orthodoxy once you think about it.

Also, it's as if you believe Capitalism does nothing wrong.

>>132329
It's as if you believe it does nothing right

>>132331
So you do admit that capitalism have its flaws.

>>132332
So you admit socialism is garbage

>>132333
So you also admit that you're a Free Market Shill.

>>132334
Try to be a little more subtle next time ya commie

>>132318
>Fascism and socialism are literally the same thing.
They are related but not they same and in many ways opposites.

The two most famous early fascists regimes where both a form of state planned capitalism. Both had socialist elements. Hitler even called his part the National Socialist Party of Germany, but the things they did that distinguish them from the more common socialist parties was embrace big business.

The things they did that made them fascist was the authoritarian nationalism. They set themselves as diametrically opposed to the common socialist feeling of the day which often tended toward internationalism and anti-capitalism. Mussolini's Italy may have been the source of the fascist label but it's Hitler who will always be remembered as the archetype for taking the authoritarian nationalism to they extreme and declaring pretty much anyone he didn't like an enemy of the state on the grounds of being not German enough or having the wrong ideology.

Socialism is about collective actions and while some socialist regimes may be authoritarian and nationalistic in the extreme and could quite fairly described as fascist, DPRK for instance, most are no more fascist that the USA. The stereotype of the modern liberal European socialist democracy is about as far from fascism as you can get having embraced much of the laissez faire capitalism, rejected by the fascists as wealth making by money lenders and speculators, and that they believed could be better directed by the state in cooperation with the captains of industry. Of course their socialist ethic prevents them from ever being truly laissez faire, there are always enough rules to prevent individual acting against the interests of the community.

Of course I haven't mentioned the other type of socialism, the type that only wear the label of socialism becuase they stand in opposition to whose who call themselves the right. but it seems I've run out of space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi5j7jjhm4M

>>132340
same to you Free Market Shill.

>>132341
I don't think it's really consequential. It's like the same principals and end result, just with different motivations.

Hitler literally conjoined the government war machine with the market by only utilizing Nazi party member players. It's a different mode di operandi than socialism, but it's end result is the same. Big business became symbiotic with big government, and party members got preference in economic pick - the higher up the party chain the better. Essentially the same as stalinism, socialism is a oligarchical hegemony of unified economic regulation, stifling free market creativity and personal individuality.

Communists typically pray to the state, a unified structure of like minded surrogates of a psuedo nationalist cult surrounded around a figure head. Fascists also pray to the state, or rather the "great mission" of the state, typically a more zealous stance on racial or intellectual superiority. The end result looks almost identical.

The free market is not perfect, and it never will be, nor is it meant to be, nor will any system ever hope to be - but it is and forever will be the basis of a free society, which is why it's worth protecting.

>>132343
Communism, where the state and big business are one and the same.
Fascism, where the state and big business march in lockstep.
And true laissez faire capitalism gives us the third in our unholy triumvirate, where the state is gone and big business is all that's left to fill it's void.

Oh great Scotts... Those anti Trump Soroscrats are at it again... Here have some Play-Doh and go sit in the corner quietly.

>>132963
Said the Pro-Bannon Koch shill.

>>132026
>at this point there is no direct proof that Donald J. Trump himself colluded

Therein lies the rub. According to not only the piece below, but a few others I've seen, focusing solely on Russia as the means of taking down Trump might be a mistake. The piece compares Iran-Contra, which might have been an open-and-shut case of high crimes, except even though people right next to Reagan were imprisoned, Reagan himself was never directly implicated as saying "I know this is going on and I approve." Without that smoking gun or an ironclad opposition majority at the time, there was no possibility of impeachment.

www.thenation.com/article/obsession-with-the-russia-connection-is-a-high-risk-anti-trump-strategy/

So even if Trump's entire administration gets canned or even imprisoned and his governance is effectively paralyzed for years, he might still sit pretty against impeachment. Then again, the essential "rules" of impeachment change every decade -- see Clinton, Johnson, Harding, etc. The other question is should the Dems focus instead on using this mess for their 2018 strategy, which is essential to redrawing districts?

>>132975
nice try CTR libshit

>>132980
LOL!

Your anger is delicious.

>>132979
It's a valid opinion, but to be fair, nobody thinks Clinton is magically going to become president through somehow finding a smoking gun that confirms Trump is guilty of collusion. Further, you will find few liberals who willingly want to help Mike Pence become president.

But that said, Trump has earned every bit of this continuing investigation on many fronts by hiding his shady financial history while thrusting himself into a position of ostensibly serving the public. He getting exactly what he asked for.

>The other question is should the Dems focus instead on using this mess for their 2018 strategy, which is essential to redrawing districts?
"He who controls redistricting controls the Congress." - Karl Rove, and republicans control redistricting in about 2/3rds of all the states. It doesn't look like libs are going to be in the majority anytime soon until this changes.