Yeah, the whole thing was put together by Seth Abramson on his Twitter account. I mean, I still think the whole idea is so cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs that I was rolling my eyes when I first read it, but Trump's entire presidency has been so fucking surreal that I don't know what to believe anymore.
Edit: Whoops, beat'd by Arc!
TFW you start to wonder whether your entire reality is actually the product of a roomful of hack television writers.
- Trump and his team held a private gathering/fundraiser paid for by a Russian-linked PAC; this is true and not disputed
- Trump, Kushner, Sessions, and others are rumored to have met privately with Kislyak and ambassadors from countries who were part of the Rosneft oil deal
- After the deal went through, Trump stood to make millions from liquidated shares in Rosneft
nothing about it seems to far-fetched
The actual kicker of the story is the claim that Russia "sold" Trump 0.5% of the oil/gas company in exchange for lifting sanctions.
If that's true, and anyone ever finds proof of it... but it could also just be a made up accusation.
The current story link is that Sessions did not disclose to Congress that he met with Kislyak at the Mayflower.
Everything about the Mayflower thing just looks suspicious and sketchy.
The only real "conspiracy theory" bit of the Mayflower thing is the idea that a deal was struck. Because that's essentially unprovable without insider information.
The meetings pretty clearly actually took place, from what I understand at this point.
- Trump and his team held a private gathering/fundraiser paid for by a Russian-linked PAC; this is true and not disputed
- Trump, Kushner, Sessions, and others are rumored to have met privately with Kislyak and ambassadors from countries who were part of the Rosneft oil deal
- After the deal went through, Trump stood to make millions from liquidated shares in Rosneft
nothing about it seems to far-fetched
The actual kicker of the story is the claim that Russia "sold" Trump 0.5% of the oil/gas company in exchange for lifting sanctions.
If that's true, and anyone ever finds proof of it... but it could also just be a made up accusation.
The current story link is that Sessions did not disclose to Congress that he met with Kislyak at the Mayflower.
Everything about the Mayflower thing just looks suspicious and sketchy.
In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an escalating problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be tracked by the State Department, were going missing.
The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would eventually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was found on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one particularly bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber optics cables tend to run.
It’s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude the Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States’ telecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity to disrupt it.
Wait, I just remembered something. Anyone remember back when allegations first started against Russia, Obama had a bunch of Russian diplomats ejected from the country? People had said it was rather premature since it was all allegations at the time, but now I wonder if this is related.
+2
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HakkekageSpace Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered Userregular
The only real "conspiracy theory" bit of the Mayflower thing is the idea that a deal was struck. Because that's essentially unprovable without insider information.
The meetings pretty clearly actually took place, from what I understand at this point.
Well, we don't know what meetings actually happened. We just know that the Mayflower Hotel is equipped with private rooms for private conversations, whereas the previous venue (the National Press Club) is not. The stated reasoning for the move was because there was "overwhelming interest" in the speech, but Abramson asserts that this makes no sense because the Mayflower is a smaller venue.
In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an escalating problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be tracked by the State Department, were going missing.
The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would eventually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was found on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one particularly bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber optics cables tend to run.
It’s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude the Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States’ telecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity to disrupt it.
Wait, I just remembered something. Anyone remember back when allegations first started against Russia, Obama had a bunch of Russian diplomats ejected from the country? People had said it was rather premature since it was all allegations at the time, but now I wonder if this is related.
You mean those ejected from the very same facility Trump tried just yesterday to give back to the Russians?
The April 2016 meeting was moved just 24 hours prior to the scheduled speech event to the Mayflower hotel because it had private, secured VIP areas for private meetings.
The people at the Mayflower hotel meeting were:
Donald Trump
Jared Kushner
Jeff Sessions
Corey Lewandkowski
Paul Manafort
Bud McFralane, a pro-Russia advocate and wants to get Russian oil access
The Ambassador of the Philippines, expansion target for Rosneft business
The Ambassador of Singapore, holding company in Singapore was the buyer in the Rosneft deal, owners impossible to trace
The Ambassador of Italy, Italian bank was financing the Rosneft deal
The Ambassador of Russia, Sergey Kislyak, who is also allegedly a Russian spy
The meeting was supposedly to discuss the sale of portions of Rosneft which owns a large portion of Russian oil reserves. Putin would make billions off the sale. According the the UK spy dossier that started this, Carter Page was offered the brokerage commission on the sale of 19% of Rosneft if he could get US sanctions on Russia lifted. Trump allegedly was to be given 0.5% of Rosneft and aid in getting elected in exchange for lifting sanctions on Russia. Rosnoft eventually sold 19.5% of its assets to unknown persons. When the Rosneft deal closed in December 2016, at the same time, another meeting took place at Trump Tower with Donald, McFralane, and supposedly Kislyak.
The Mayflower meeting was just prior to Trump's first foreign policy speech where he said we needed to be closer friends with Russia and the need to "make deals" with them.
Jeff Sesssions did not disclose the Mayflower meeting during his confirmation hearings for AG, despite the perjury accusations. Kislyak has also denied the Mayflower meeting took place.
SiliconStew on
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
+13
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an escalating problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be tracked by the State Department, were going missing.
The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would eventually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was found on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one particularly bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber optics cables tend to run.
It’s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude the Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States’ telecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity to disrupt it.
Wait, I just remembered something. Anyone remember back when allegations first started against Russia, Obama had a bunch of Russian diplomats ejected from the country? People had said it was rather premature since it was all allegations at the time, but now I wonder if this is related.
You mean those ejected from the very same facility Trump tried just yesterday to give back to the Russians?
... COOL looks like I wasn't just throwing out a random thought afterall. Come the fuck on, Trump.
In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an escalating problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be tracked by the State Department, were going missing.
The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would eventually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was found on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one particularly bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber optics cables tend to run.
It’s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude the Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States’ telecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity to disrupt it.
Wait, I just remembered something. Anyone remember back when allegations first started against Russia, Obama had a bunch of Russian diplomats ejected from the country? People had said it was rather premature since it was all allegations at the time, but now I wonder if this is related.
You mean those ejected from the very same facility Trump tried just yesterday to give back to the Russians?
... COOL looks like I wasn't just throwing out a random thought afterall. Come the fuck on, Trump.
I swear Trump is following a step-by-step guide for "How To Look Guilty".
- Trump and his team held a private gathering/fundraiser paid for by a Russian-linked PAC; this is true and not disputed
- Trump, Kushner, Sessions, and others are rumored to have met privately with Kislyak and ambassadors from countries who were part of the Rosneft oil deal
- After the deal went through, Trump stood to make millions from liquidated shares in Rosneft
nothing about it seems to far-fetched
The actual kicker of the story is the claim that Russia "sold" Trump 0.5% of the oil/gas company in exchange for lifting sanctions.
If that's true, and anyone ever finds proof of it... but it could also just be a made up accusation.
The current story link is that Sessions did not disclose to Congress that he met with Kislyak at the Mayflower.
Everything about the Mayflower thing just looks suspicious and sketchy.
So I am extra dubious of any claim that actually tries to put a number on it.
This is a good article, and at least makes it clear that a deal of the sort described is possible if currently not provable due to financial paperwork shenanigans. Also possible it's completely unrelated, I'm sure there are many things worth hiding in international oil deals with countries under sanctions.
My shot in the dark is that some Kushner LLC (fun fact from his financial disclosure: he's technically the president/head of hundreds of LLCs) owns, through god knows how many layers of remove, some portion of Rosneft stock that was acquired within the past year. No backing for that beyond suspicion and ongoing news, but it would fit with what we do know. Of course, lots of things would.
Whether Trump knows about any of this somehow remains an open question.
Edit: My wife and I decided to put together a crazy conspiracy board about all this for a laugh, so forgive me if that kind of thinking is getting to be a little too natural. I blame it on reality.
"The Mayflower Conspiracy" just sounds right, you know? Feels like that name has staying power. Bold, serious sounding, like a book chapter heading.
It's even the name of a hotel. Maybe if that brings Trump down we can start calling all scandals XFlower instead of XGate.
Nah we will call it Mayflowergate.
"Mayflowers brought golden showers?"
(Actually that could happen if the tape is real)
Mx. Quill on
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
edited June 2017
Author: Ok, so this conspiracy basically begins the end of America.
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mayflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
august on
+86
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
Author: Ok, so this conspiracy basically begins the end of America.
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mqyflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
"I mean how do you even pronounce that? Mackyflower?"
Author: Ok, so this conspiracy basically begins the end of America.
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mqyflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
Get outta here, Tom Clancy, that's just not believable!
Author: Ok, so this conspiracy basically begins the end of America.
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mqyflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
Get outta here, Tom Clancy, that's just not believable!
If Tom Clancy wrote this story, it'd be 50 pages long, large print
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – When vandals sliced a fiber-optic cable in the Arizona desert last month, they did more than time-warp thousands of people back to an era before computers, credit cards or even phones. They exposed a glaring vulnerability in the nation’s Internet infrastructure: no backup systems in many places.
Because Internet service is largely unregulated by the federal government and the states, decisions about network reliability are left to the service providers. Industry analysts say these companies generally do not build alternative routes, or redundancies, unless they believe it is worthwhile financially.
The result: While most major metropolitan areas in the U.S. have backup systems, some smaller cities and many rural areas do not.
Let's all just take a moment to remember how - and why - the internet was invented in the first place.
Author: Ok, so this conspiracy basically begins the end of America.
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mqyflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
Get outta here, Tom Clancy, that's just not believable!
It was Barron controlling the strings all along. Ivanka was powerless to stop him.
( < . . .
0
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
Author: Ok, so this conspiracy basically begins the end of America.
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mqyflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
Get outta here, Tom Clancy, that's just not believable!
It was Barron controlling the strings all along. Ivanka was powerless to stop him.
"The Mayflower Conspiracy" just sounds right, you know? Feels like that name has staying power. Bold, serious sounding, like a book chapter heading.
It's even the name of a hotel. Maybe if that brings Trump down we can start calling all scandals XFlower instead of XGate.
I seem to recall that some Republican talking head or other was the one who popularized calling everything a "gate", and his goal was to attempt to trivialize Watergate by watering it down because everything is a "gate" now. Arguable how successful he was, but the last thing I would want is to water down Trump's wrongs by naming everything after his greatest scandal.
Peace to fashion police, I wear my heart
On my sleeve, let the runway start
Am I reading this wrong or did Sessions just unambiguously admit to perjury
The president of the united states basically admitted to obstruction of justice wrt this investigaion on national television with Lester Holt, so nothing would surprise me at this point.
Posts
TFW you start to wonder whether your entire reality is actually the product of a roomful of hack television writers.
The actual kicker of the story is the claim that Russia "sold" Trump 0.5% of the oil/gas company in exchange for lifting sanctions.
If that's true, and anyone ever finds proof of it... but it could also just be a made up accusation.
The current story link is that Sessions did not disclose to Congress that he met with Kislyak at the Mayflower.
Everything about the Mayflower thing just looks suspicious and sketchy.
The meetings pretty clearly actually took place, from what I understand at this point.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
The thing with the Rosneft deal is that no one knows shit about it.
So I am extra dubious of any claim that actually tries to put a number on it.
Well, we don't know what meetings actually happened. We just know that the Mayflower Hotel is equipped with private rooms for private conversations, whereas the previous venue (the National Press Club) is not. The stated reasoning for the move was because there was "overwhelming interest" in the speech, but Abramson asserts that this makes no sense because the Mayflower is a smaller venue.
Contemporaneous news report: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/277308-trump-to-give-foreign-policy-speech-at-national-press-club
NNID: Hakkekage
You mean those ejected from the very same facility Trump tried just yesterday to give back to the Russians?
Well yeah
otherwise it's just
well it's just not right
The April 2016 meeting was moved just 24 hours prior to the scheduled speech event to the Mayflower hotel because it had private, secured VIP areas for private meetings.
The people at the Mayflower hotel meeting were:
Donald Trump
Jared Kushner
Jeff Sessions
Corey Lewandkowski
Paul Manafort
Bud McFralane, a pro-Russia advocate and wants to get Russian oil access
The Ambassador of the Philippines, expansion target for Rosneft business
The Ambassador of Singapore, holding company in Singapore was the buyer in the Rosneft deal, owners impossible to trace
The Ambassador of Italy, Italian bank was financing the Rosneft deal
The Ambassador of Russia, Sergey Kislyak, who is also allegedly a Russian spy
The meeting was supposedly to discuss the sale of portions of Rosneft which owns a large portion of Russian oil reserves. Putin would make billions off the sale. According the the UK spy dossier that started this, Carter Page was offered the brokerage commission on the sale of 19% of Rosneft if he could get US sanctions on Russia lifted. Trump allegedly was to be given 0.5% of Rosneft and aid in getting elected in exchange for lifting sanctions on Russia. Rosnoft eventually sold 19.5% of its assets to unknown persons. When the Rosneft deal closed in December 2016, at the same time, another meeting took place at Trump Tower with Donald, McFralane, and supposedly Kislyak.
The Mayflower meeting was just prior to Trump's first foreign policy speech where he said we needed to be closer friends with Russia and the need to "make deals" with them.
Jeff Sesssions did not disclose the Mayflower meeting during his confirmation hearings for AG, despite the perjury accusations. Kislyak has also denied the Mayflower meeting took place.
I swear Trump is following a step-by-step guide for "How To Look Guilty".
This is a good article, and at least makes it clear that a deal of the sort described is possible if currently not provable due to financial paperwork shenanigans. Also possible it's completely unrelated, I'm sure there are many things worth hiding in international oil deals with countries under sanctions.
My shot in the dark is that some Kushner LLC (fun fact from his financial disclosure: he's technically the president/head of hundreds of LLCs) owns, through god knows how many layers of remove, some portion of Rosneft stock that was acquired within the past year. No backing for that beyond suspicion and ongoing news, but it would fit with what we do know. Of course, lots of things would.
Whether Trump knows about any of this somehow remains an open question.
Edit: My wife and I decided to put together a crazy conspiracy board about all this for a laugh, so forgive me if that kind of thinking is getting to be a little too natural. I blame it on reality.
Watergate for a new generation, basically.
It's even the name of a hotel. Maybe if that brings Trump down we can start calling all scandals XFlower instead of XGate.
Nah we will call it Mayflowergate.
Xflowergate
"Mayflowers brought golden showers?"
(Actually that could happen if the tape is real)
Editor: Does this conspiracy have a name?
Author: The Mayflower Conspiracy.
Editor: Oh come on.
"I mean how do you even pronounce that? Mackyflower?"
Get outta here, Tom Clancy, that's just not believable!
PSN: ShogunGunshow
Origin: ShogunGunshow
If Tom Clancy wrote this story, it'd be 50 pages long, large print
Let's all just take a moment to remember how - and why - the internet was invented in the first place.
Wait, no, the other thing.
Predictable.
It was Barron controlling the strings all along. Ivanka was powerless to stop him.
No that's Orson Scott Card.
I seem to recall that some Republican talking head or other was the one who popularized calling everything a "gate", and his goal was to attempt to trivialize Watergate by watering it down because everything is a "gate" now. Arguable how successful he was, but the last thing I would want is to water down Trump's wrongs by naming everything after his greatest scandal.
On my sleeve, let the runway start
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Insufferable indie band.
Mayflowerghazi
-ghazi is for non-scandals. -gate is for the real thing.
Mayflowery Mcmayflowerface?
...What are you reading?
What specifically are you reading? Because re: Senate confirmation, yes he admitted to not admitting to two known contacts with Kislyak.
This would be a third that was not known of at the time, and I've not seen a comment from him on it.
The president of the united states basically admitted to obstruction of justice wrt this investigaion on national television with Lester Holt, so nothing would surprise me at this point.
reading that in what?