EYE_ON_THE_BALL: What we know.

This is what we know. 

The pseudo-scandal (reminiscent of BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI!) that Trump had his "wires tapped" and that National Security Adviser Susan Rice was actually involved in a counter-espionage investigation into the Russians (what in hell ELSE is she supposed to do?!) - as well as the Midnight Ride of Rep. Nunes, being summoned to the White House so he can be show classified documents by the White House so he could rush over in a panic the next day to brief the White House ON THE VERY MATERIAL THEY JUST SHOWED HIM) - will all come out in the FBI and Senate investigations.


#1: The FBI is engaged in a counter-espionage investigation of Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election, including possible connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. (Source: FBI Director James Comey)


#2: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was fired for lying to the Vice President regarding the content of his communications with the Russian ambassador.(Source: Donald Trump)

"President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he asked for the resignation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn because he was not happy with the way he had communicated information to Vice President Mike Pence. 

""I don't think he did anything wrong. If anything, he did something right" in talking to Russian officials, Trump told a news conference. "The thing is, he didn't tell our vice president properly and then he said he didn't remember."" (Reuters, Feb 16, 2017)

Trump says sought Flynn's resignation over statements to Pence (Reuters)


#3: The content of transcripts of Flynn's wiretapped calls to the Russian ambassador - in which American citizen Flynn's identity was "unmasked" - were illegally leaked by "American" / "Federal" officials with knowledge of their content. (New York Times, Feb 9th, 2017)

"...current and former American officials said that conversation — which took place the day before the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia over accusations that it used cyberattacks to help sway the election in Mr. Trump’s favor — ranged far beyond the logistics of a post-inauguration phone call. 

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During the Christmas week conversation, he urged Mr. Kislyak to keep the Russian government from retaliating over the coming sanctions — it was an open secret in Washington that they were in the works — by telling him that whatever the Obama administration did could be undone, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified material.

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"Federal officials who have read the transcript of the call were surprised by Mr. Flynn’s comments, since he would have known that American eavesdroppers closely monitor such calls. They were even more surprised that Mr. Trump’s team publicly denied that the topics of conversation included sanctions."

Flynn Is Said to Have Talked to Russians About Sanctions Before Trump Took Office (NYT)