Sanders: Trump considering letting Russia question Americans who exposed Putin abuses

[BmorePat87]

What's going on?

In Helsinki, Putin proposed giving the US access to interviewing the Russians accused of hacking if Russia was given access to a number of people associated with the Magnitsky Act, which prompted Trump to call it "an incredible offer".

Sarah Huckabee Sanders went so far as to say that Trump is considering it.


What's the background?

The Magnitsky Act punishes Russians who violate human rights by freezing their assets and barring them from entering certain countries. It was in response to the jailing and murder of Sergei Magnitsky who, after discovering massive government fraud in Russia, was accused of being the one responsible for the fraud, jailed, denied medical treatment, and beaten to death.

Bill Browder, a former American investor (now British), employed Magnitsky as his accountant and became a human rights champion after he was killed. Since then, he has been accused by Putin of evading taxes, being a serial killer, and stealing from the IMF.

He, along with some American citizens (including a congressional aide, some State Dept staffers, and a former ambassador), are wanted by Putin because of their work to write and help pass the Magnitsky Act.


Why is this so important?

Putin's response to the act was to limit adoptions to the US and has accused Browder of funneling $400,000,000 into Hillary Clinton's campaign (later lowered to only $400,000). The Magnitsky Act was at the center of the infamous Don Jr-Trump Tower meeting with Russians the summer before the election, in which Russians with connections to the Kremlin offered Don Jr "dirt" on Hillary and brought up the issue of Russian adoptions.

Beyond that, the idea that an American President would compliment and entertain letting Russians have access to government employees for their role in advancing our nation's goal of promoting and protecting human rights is disgusting, especially when the justification is a series of outlandish and baseless accusations.

[GMDino]

(07-19-2018, 08:25 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: What's going on?

In Helsinki, Putin proposed giving the US access to interviewing the Russians accused of hacking if Russia was given access to a number of people associated with the Magnitsky Act, which prompted Trump to call it "an incredible offer".

Sarah Huckabee Sanders went so far as to say that Trump is considering it.


What's the background?

The Magnitsky Act punishes Russians who violate human rights by freezing their assets and barring them from entering certain countries. It was in response to the jailing and murder of Sergei Magnitsky who, after discovering massive government fraud in Russia, was accused of being the one responsible for the fraud, jailed, denied medical treatment, and beaten to death.

Bill Browder, a former American investor (now British), employed Magnitsky as his accountant and became a human rights champion after he was killed. Since then, he has been accused by Putin of evading taxes, being a serial killer, and stealing from the IMF.

He, along with some American citizens (including a congressional aide, some State Dept staffers, and a former ambassador), are wanted by Putin because of their work to write and help pass the Magnitsky Act.


Why is this so important?

Putin's response to the act was to limit adoptions to the US and has accused Browder of funneling $400,000,000 into Hillary Clinton's campaign (later lowered to only $400,000). The Magnitsky Act was at the center of the infamous Don Jr-Trump Tower meeting with Russians the summer before the election, in which Russians with connections to the Kremlin offered Don Jr "dirt" on Hillary and brought up the issue of Russian adoptions.

Beyond that, the idea that an American President would compliment and entertain letting Russians have access to government employees for their role in advancing our nation's goal of promoting and protecting human rights is disgusting, especially when the justification is a series of outlandish and baseless accusations.

He doesn't understand....he doesn't care.

For every foreign policy SNAFU he just tweets that the economy is the best ever in history and democrats want immigrants, excuse me "illegal immigrants" building tent cities in our yards and the sheep fall right back into the pen.

They are all afraid.  Why else would they keep saying they needs a "strong man" to protect them?  They need their weapons and they neede the military at the border and they need big, tough talking Trump to protect them.

So beta.

[*michaelsean*]

I'm going to take a big no on Russians interviewing Americans. Or even coming in the country. I sure as hell would hope any American they wanted to question would tell them to eff off.

[*bfine32*]

So what are folks thoughts on the proposal? Should we allow Russians access to interview our guys in exchange for interviewing theirs?

[*michaelsean*]

(07-19-2018, 01:52 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So what are folks thoughts on the proposal? Should we allow Russians access to interview our guys in exchange for interviewing theirs?

Nope.  Probably always no but especially when the supposed crime is writing a law.

[Benton]

(07-19-2018, 01:52 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So what are folks thoughts on the proposal? Should we allow Russians access to interview our guys in exchange for interviewing theirs?

Nope. Turning over Americans to be questioned by a foreign power whose military/intelligence was recently proven to condone cyber attacks/ propaganda efforts on the US? That shouldn't even be considered. When the offer was made, the POTUS should have said "Tell you what, it's obvious your military is directly involved in messing around with us. We aren't going to give you anything other than 30 days to conduct your own legitimate investigation and either prosecute those responsible, or send them to us for a fair trial."



As to the OP:
If I'm reading this Brad Thor novel correctly: Putin's political enemies/obstacles normally end up dead. Browder is either incredibly lucky, has a file of all the money he laundered on behalf of the administration/mob, or there's a huge pile of rubles somewhere in Russia and he's the only one with the key to getting them. 

[samhain]

Browder's a British citizen anyway. Why would a US president have any right to detain him for Russian interrogation?

From what I understand, Browder is one of the big things that Putin wanted access to all along.

[BmorePat87]

(07-19-2018, 01:52 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So what are folks thoughts on the proposal? Should we allow Russians access to interview our guys in exchange for interviewing theirs?

No, because our guys didn't commit crimes. They worked on legislation that would punish people who violated the human rights of others.

[BmorePat87]

(07-19-2018, 03:21 PM)samhain Wrote: Browder's a British citizen anyway.  Why would a US president have any right to detain him for Russian interrogation?

From what I understand, Browder is one of the big things that Putin wanted access to all along.

Yea, he had an op-ed on Time.com pointing out that Putin was asking the wrong person. 

[BmorePat87]

Update: On the heels of a Senate effort to officially condemn Putin's "incredible offer", Sanders says that Trump now "disagrees" with the "proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin".

[*PhilHos*]

(07-19-2018, 03:43 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: No, because our guys didn't commit crimes. They worked on legislation that would punish people who violated the human rights of others.

This. 

[Griever]

(07-19-2018, 03:52 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: Update: On the heels of a Senate effort to officially condemn Putin's "incredible offer", Sanders says that Trump now "disagrees" with the "proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin".

this whole admin is just playing it by ear, because they have no clue what they are doing

[Benton]

(07-19-2018, 03:58 PM)Griever Wrote: this whole admin is just playing it by ear, because they have no clue what they are doing

Which — if anyone in it did collude with Russia — is brilliant. You can't be accused of planning with a foreign government when you obviously haven't ever planned anything.

[Vas Deferens]

(07-19-2018, 04:00 PM)Benton Wrote: Which — if anyone in it did collude with Russia — is brilliant. You can't be accused of planning with a foreign government when you obviously haven't ever planned anything.

Michael McFaul Baffled That White House Wouldn’t Defend Him Against Kremlin Questioning

Quote:“The president is going to meet with his team, and we’ll let you know when we have an announcement on that,” was the response from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday when The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman asked whether the U.S. would allow questioning by Russian officials. “There was some conversation about it, but there wasn’t a commitment made on behalf of the United States.”

Maybe Daddy should have 'sat down with his team' before sitting on Granddaddy's lap in Helsinki for an off the record, minimally prepared for conversation with the county's top adversary.

Just a thought.  I'm sure a full transcript is coming. 

[GMDino]

(07-19-2018, 03:43 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: No, because our guys didn't commit crimes. They worked on legislation that would punish people who violated the human rights of others.

Isn't punishing the Motherland of Russia a crime under this administration yet?

[*bfine32*]

(07-19-2018, 03:43 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: No, because our guys didn't commit crimes. They worked on legislation that would punish people who violated the human rights of others.

Well to be fair, I don't think anyone has been convicted of a crime. But I agree with the premise that we should not give up our guys and give Putin the opportunity to confront his accusers. Nor do I think we should expect Putin to turn his folks over to us. 

[Dill]

(07-19-2018, 03:43 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: No, because our guys didn't commit crimes. They worked on legislation that would punish people who violated the human rights of others.

So harsh Bpat!  The Trump hate on this thread is strong.

Both sides are responsible for the bad state of affairs between our nations, you know. I hate to tell you but they are not the only killers. And Putin's proposal seems more than fair, since we would be questioning TWELVE of his people on whom the FBI has collected detailed evidence over the last year, and Putin would only be questioning ELEVEN of ours, on whom I'm sure they could whip up mounds of alternative evidence by tomorrow if they wanted, including many critical things said of Putin.

Straight reporting of what Trump says and does, before the White House staff has had a chance to filter it, just creates ammunition for "the left." Couldn't we at least wait and see the president's "team" says about turning over an ambassador to the Russians?  If he didn't do anything wrong then what is there to hide?  

Maybe it's time we stopped letting "the left" write Trump's agenda and let Pu . .er,  Trump do it.