Malcolm Nance: Putin Finds Trump ‘An Absolutely Easy Mark To Manipulate’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

Analysis by the CIA reportedly finds Vladimir Putin is likely involved directly in any Russian efforts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, something MSNBC Intelligence Analyst Malcom Nance says is an “easy call” because “you do not attack the entire American electoral process without the leader of your country ordering you to do it.” Aired on 09/22/2020.
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Malcolm Nance: Putin Finds Trump ‘An Absolutely Easy Mark To Manipulate’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

83 comments

  1. At the turn of the 18th century, John Adams, the newly elected president of the United States—only the 2nd in the nation’s then-brief history—cautioned the American people about “the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.” In particular, John Adams pointed to threats from abroad, warning that if a changed election outcome “can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves.” Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he pleaded with the Senate and the House to preserve our Constitution from its natural enemies,” including “the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments.”

    The threat of foreign influence over our elections did not go away in the 220 years since John Adams spoke those words. Today we have a president whose election was aided by the fraud and Malice of a foreign nation. Americans who watched how Trump, in the words of John McCain, “abased himself … abjectly before a tyrant” in Helsinki, cannot be faulted for wondering whether John Adams’s long-ago warning has become a reality.

    US law bans foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns, but they can circumvent the restrictions by routing financial support through anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, and front companies. it is easy to set up a company without disclosing its purpose or the identity of its true owners.
    Foreign adversaries can then use these companies to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections.

    A network of shell corporations could be used to hide the origin of foreign funds pumped into a political action committee, or a social media political ad campaign. The Kremlin has long had expertise in this area. During the Soviet Union’s heyday, the KGB perfected the craft of anonymously moving funds to seed foreign political campaigns. The FSB and the GRU, the KGB successors, are well-versed in these techniques as well.

    Law enforcement and congressional investigations have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel. A Russian American energy tycoon—who boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being “actively involved in Trump’s election campaign”—donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.  And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election. These and other transactions examined throughout the report establish that, during the campaign and presidential transition, Trump had several compromising financial entanglements with actors representing a hostile foreign power.

    Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov’s transferred $20 million to an American bank account just days after a meeting that he organized between Trump senior  campaign officials, including Manafort, Kushner, and a Russian government attorney. Hackers, troll farms, and spies cannot operate without money. Following the money trail helps investigators discover who is funding these entities.

    1. Someday every detail will be laid bare for America to see. Not everyone will believe it and it begs the question of what will America look like in another four years if Trump is reelected by Russia.

    2. Using MSNBC and intelligence in the same sentence is an OXYMORON!! MSNBC and the DEMS want you to believe that 1000’s of FAKE RUSSIAN Ads and stories on FACEBOOK and TWITTER platforms will change ANYBODY’s mind on who to vote for?? You are living in a FANTASY! Don’t you know that the BIGGER influence is the FAKE NEWS generated by the MSM, who are HAMMERING Trump and Pushing Biden DAILY on NATIONWIDE TV and RADIO and INTERNET, whose platforms are 1000 times larger!! So basically, you’re saying that a handful of RUSSIANS will be SUCCESSFUL and give the election to Our Man Trump – and 1000’s of TV, MOVIE and SPORTS personalities SCREAMING and LAUGHING for YEARS about Trump LOSING will NOT be SUCCESSFUL!!! DO YOU HAVE A BRAIN?? When are YOU going to FACE the FACT that WE AMERICANS voted for Our Champion and Chief in 2016 and put him in the WHITE HOUSE and we will vote him in again in 2020, Russia has nothing to do with it! GET OVER IT!!

  2. On April 18, 2019, a redacted copy of Mueller’s report was released to the public. The Mueller report builds on the U.S. intelligence conclusion that there were two campaigns to elect Trump— one run by Trump and one run by the Russian government. The Mueller report clearly identified connections between the Trump campaign and Russia…

    A total of 272 contacts between Trump’s team and Russia-linked operatives were identified, including at least 38 meetings. We now know that at least 33 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisers had or were at least aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition, including Trump himself, Don Jr, Manafort, Flynn, Jared, Papadopoulos,  Rick Gates, and Roger Stone, just to name a few. But what’s worse, is the fact that they all lied about these contacts. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover them up, every single one of them.

    The question every American should be asking is why were there so many contacts(272) between Trump’s people and Russian officials and operatives, and why did Trump and his people lie about those contacts?
    In 2015, Western European intelligence agencies began picking up evidence of communications between the Russian government and people in Donald Trump’s orbit. In April 2016, one of the Baltic states shared with then–CIA director John Brennan an audio recording of Russians discussing funneling money to the Trump campaign. In the summer of 2016, Robert Hannigan, head of the U.K. intelligence agency GCHQ, flew to Washington to brief Brennan on intercepted communications between the Trump campaign and Russia..

    The contents of these communications have not been disclosed, but what Brennan learned obviously unsettled him profoundly. In congressional testimony on Russian election interference, Brennan hinted that some Americans might have betrayed their country. “Individuals who go along a treasonous path,” he warned, “do not even realize they’re along that path until it gets to be a bit too late.” In a 2017 interview, he put it more bluntly: “I think Trump is afraid of the president of Russia. The Russians may have something on him personally that they could always roll out and make his life more difficult.”

    In July 2016, a loose-knit community of computer scientists and cybersecurity experts discovered a strange pattern of online traffic between two computer servers. One of those servers belonged to Alfa Bank in Moscow and the other to the Trump Organization. Alfa Bank’s owners had “assumed an unforeseen level of prominence and influence in the economic and political affairs of their nation,” as a federal court once put it.

    The analysts noted that the traffic between the two servers occurred during office hours in New York and Moscow and spiked in correspondence with major campaign events, suggesting it entailed human communication rather than bots. More suspiciously, after NYT reporter Eric Lichtblau asked Alfa Bank about the suspicious communications between the two servers, but BEFORE he brought it up with the Trump campaign, the server in Trump Tower shut down. The timing strongly implied Alfa Bank was communicating with Trump.

    1. Correct David, the sad thing is most Americans don’t so much as read an owner’s manual never the less the Mueller report. It’s only our country and our beliefs at stake but if you ask friends, they’ve never bothered to read it.

    2. This is a great analysis and summary but remember that trump has already given his cult the cool aid to drink. And trump goes further to manipulate them by saying what you see and ehat you hear is not what ot is. Or his spokepersons speak of ‘alternate factd” and his base those ‘true christians” someone showed a video of a trump supporter stating that if JesusChrist himself came down from heaven and said something is not so, but their orange idol trump said the contrary and said it is so, he stated he would believe trump. That video showed me the control the devil has over trump and his worshippers.

    3. So are you saying that there is PROOF that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 elections and a 2 year investigation and millions of tax payer dollars could NOT find it?? No russian bot here, just a common sense American! By the way, ORANGEMAN was ACQUITTED MORON!! That means NOT GUILTY! any questions???

    1. Using MSNBC and intelligence in the same sentence is an OXYMORON!! MSNBC and the DEMS want you to believe that 1000’s of FAKE RUSSIAN Ads and stories on FACEBOOK and TWITTER platforms will change ANYBODY’s mind on who to vote for?? You are living in a FANTASY! Don’t you know that the BIGGER influence is the FAKE NEWS generated by the MSM, who are HAMMERING Trump and Pushing Biden DAILY on NATIONWIDE TV and RADIO and INTERNET, whose platforms are 1000 times larger!! So basically, you’re saying that a handful of RUSSIANS will be SUCCESSFUL and give the election to Our Man Trump – and 1000’s of TV, MOVIE and SPORTS personalities SCREAMING and LAUGHING for YEARS about Trump LOSING will NOT be SUCCESSFUL!!! DO YOU HAVE A BRAIN?? When are YOU going to FACE the FACT that WE AMERICANS voted for Our Champion and Chief in 2016 and put him in the WHITE HOUSE and we will vote him in again in 2020, Russia has nothing to do with it! GET OVER IT!!

    2. So are you saying that there is PROOF that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 elections and a 2 year investigation and millions of tax payer dollars could NOT find it?? No russian bot here, just a common sense American! By the way, ORANGEMAN was ACQUITTED MORON!! That means NOT GUILTY! any questions???

    1. @Awesome Timeless I have no quibbles with Chris Wallace. In fact, I think he’s excellent. Unfortunately, most of Fox News’ audience members do not watch the news. They watch the hosts like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, the drunk-sounding judge woman and Tucker Carlson.

    2. Zebra Zagadore It is because those hosts are more honest and speak the truth. Also they admit they are on the right side instead of CNN and MSNBC who claim they are not biased.

    3. @Awesome Timeless All I know, is I have seen them either exaggerate, downright lie about and/or completely ignore the facts on the ground. And if you think that’s unbiased, that’s a certain definition of truth that I certainly don’t ascribe to!

    4. Gary –
      I have not been into politics in quite some time, but now with covid lockdowns, I’m poking around.
      Will you please explain to me what is happening and has happened in the last 4 years?
      I had some serious health issues that coincided with the Nov 2016 election. Been out of the loop while I went through treatment and am recovering still.

      I don’t understand what Trump is doing that is of benefit to Putin. What has he dictated for Trump to do?
      I don’t understand the collusion thing. This video has me thinking that Russia bought advertising on social media or set up phony accounts on social media to post opinions about the election.
      Is that some beautiful fairy tale/conspiracy theory to help people feel better about the other half of the country that voted for trump? That there’s no way anyone could vote for him unless they’ve been brainwashed by Facebook and youtube?
      Isn’t this how America works? Freedom of ideas and then Americans vote.
      I don’t understand the cry that we need to protect our democracy from Trump.
      What has he done?
      The only thing I see that remotely looks like degrading democracy and our constitution is the idea democrats have thrown out to get rid of the electoral college, add more seats to the Supreme Court and drastically change the way we vote from secret ballot boxes to fully mailed in.
      I know this post sounds rude or belligerent and I’m sorry. I’m sincerely confused and felt like if I threw a bit of ugliness in there someone will take the bait and help me understand.
      I respect you and want to hear your expertise and knowledge on these things.

    5. @Genevieve R For starters, how is it fair that a sitting IMPEACHED president on the cusp of an election gets to nominate the next Supreme Court justice when our last president, eight months out of an election, was unable to? It is a very unethical power grab. Trump lies ALL THE TIME! He is divisive. He is turning one part of the country on the other. He has done nothing to get these immigrant children out of detention in cages, despite a judicial order. He is lining his family’s pockets by co-mingling personal with government business. He is Individual 1 in the campaign finance violation that sent his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to prison. He is taking pages straight out of a fascist’s playbook, and if you don’t think he can strip away our democracy if given a chance and re-elected for four more years, you are seriously delusional. Number one tactic: lie so much about the same thing that your followers will believe your lies as truth. Number two tactic: Instill mistrust about government insitutiitions. Number three tactic: Denigrate the free press (our fourth estate). Number four tactic: Divide (the people) and conquer. Number five tactic: Instill fear so that people will want an authoritarian figure to lead. Number six tactic: Be above the law by having THE COUNTRY’S attorney general act as your own personal attorney and reinforce the notion that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Number seven reason: Use every single tactic including accepting Russian interference, firing all your enemies and even anyone who spoke out against you, rigging the post office, suggesting that the election is rigged and supporting/encouraging voter suppression to stand in the way of fair and free elections, which is the FOUNDATION OF A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. (and I could go on)

  3. “Kompromat” (compromising material), compromising info collected for use in blackmailing, discrediting or manipulating someone, typically for political purposes. Perhaps it’s tRumps salacious “Pee Pee Tapes” or proof of the billions of dollars DJtRump helped the Russians launder & maybe even both for a double whammy!

    1. Miss Lindsey Graham too. Made a complete turn after he road around the golf course with trump. Trump told him something that completely changed his life. Putin has stuff on a lot of trump’s lap dogs. They don’t fear trump….they fear Putin!

    2. @Lisa Lisa Remember stolen files in 2016? The Wikileaks released DNC files, which caused embarrassment, but there was nothing serious. RNC files were stolen, too, but not released. Putin has more info than we know. Maybe Trump “hinted” that “Miss Lindsey’s” “secret” will be made public….or worse?

  4. “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
    ― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

    1. Look the LEFTY media can dig up all the ACCUSERS they want and make all kinds of ACCUSATIONS against the ORANGE MAN, but none of it matters at all!! They MUST prove it beyond a reasonable doubt or it is WORTHLESS MUD SLINGING!! But, yes we will see if any of this MUD sticks after Trump leaves office, my guess, it won’t! Character assassination is the SPECIALTY of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA and the LEFTY DEM party! Our Man Trump has BALLS of STEEL to put himself through this total BS!

  5. Kanye is being funded by republicans to provide an “alternative” to black people. Hope to God they don’t fall for it!

    1. @Gold Silverstone He’s an easy read. Why would he be used like that? Because he “suddenly” became a millionaire. Right

    1. Judy DeBonis I agree with you. I think the AG at SDNY will indict Trump on November 4th. I suspect he is waiting because he doesn’t want to influence the outcome of the upcoming election. Trump’s time is coming.

    2. I blame the GOP!! Fake 45 was impeached and the corrupt GOP let him walk. They have been enabling him from day one. 200K+ people have died and they still do nothing! They let trump hold rallies for crying out loud… VOTE BLUE ACROSS THE BOARD. Let’s not be ruled by Russia anymore!!! 💙🗽💙

    1. mrdfac Agreed. Malcolm Nance provides the history, going back to the 1970s, of how Russia got its hooks into Donald Trump. Everything Nance predicted in his book has happened so far.

    2. @Akweli Parker It’s scary. If Trump were to become dictator, imagine how he would go after any person who had been a critic or foe. The thought is terrifying.

  6. The Russians have been here since the fifties. They learned a lot through the civil rights movement. . I’m probably one of the few Americans who studied Russian history taught by one of our former state department with Russia being his post. Knowing history and your enemy is just not important to most Americans. But this time our enemy is Donald Trump a Putin asset.

    1. So are you saying that there is PROOF that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 elections and a 2 year investigation and millions of tax payer dollars could NOT find it?? No russian bot here, just a common sense American! By the way, ORANGEMAN was ACQUITTED MORON!! That means NOT GUILTY! any questions???

    1. andrea Perry
      I am a German and I am pretty scared of what’s going on in the US.
      As being in my twenties, I can only know the history and I also know America is
      so important for Europe.
      America failing will feed toxic thoughts into us.
      What if Google and Hollywood will be state controlled in a couple of years if trump wins.

    1. Trump is so dumb he thinks a sycophant is an elephant that is under the weather. He’s so gullible you could take a couple of long underwear union suits, put ’em in a big clothes dryer down at the laundromat, and tell him he’s watching wrestling on TV and he’d believe it. And after he found out vegetarians eat vegetables, he won’t go near a humanitarian.

    1. Yes they’re everywhere and anybody can be a secret russian. YOU might be a russian. I might be a russian. Biden could be a russian. Your dog could be a russian. You people are nuts

    2. Nah. The “division” is more online and social media, which shows projections of our thoughts. Irl, the overwhelming majority of us get along just fine and don’t care to constantly look inside one another’s thoughts before we decide to deal with each other.

    3. Popi ReAL An honest understanding of division is distinct from refusing to look inside. The two are actually antithetical. However, I’m glad that you are able to get along with people on the surface.

  7. I love Malcolm I have so much respect for his intelligence and knowledge. He is an amazing positive truthful perfect individual.

    1. If dems want to win this eleciton..they really need to stop this russia foolishness that was used to explain away Hillary’s failure 4 years…..it didn’t work then..and it doesn’t work now…ask anyone…how is russia interfering…and you literally get ZERO answer..other then they are interfering.
      We did this crap to ourself…trump …we did it…us the american people…we electected thru 70,000 so so votes in swing states thru an electoral process that by republicans to purge and get rid of polling places in strategic places can literally make all the difference.

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