tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91896307028850726402024-01-29T08:32:24.101+00:00Elroy's HomeworkElroy Jetson's 21st Century History HomeworkUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-25565999598165981142023-06-03T06:44:00.001+01:002023-06-03T06:44:13.154+01:00First post in years:INSIDE THE MELTDOWN AT CNN CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">INSIDE THE MELTDOWN AT CNN</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?</span></p><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-e47f0a59-7fff-7992-aa0e-23c695e57853" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Tim Alberta</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JUNE 2, 2023, 9 AM ET</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Updated at 8:30 p.m. ET on June 2, 2023.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“How are we gonna cover Trump? That’s not something I stay up at night thinking about,” Chris Licht told me. “It’s very simple.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the fall of 2022. This was the first of many on-the-record interviews that Licht had agreed to give me, and I wanted to know how CNN’s new leader planned to deal with another Donald Trump candidacy. Until recently Licht had been producing a successful late-night comedy show. Now, just a few months into his job running one of the world’s preeminent news organizations, he claimed to have a “simple” answer to the question that might very well come to define his legacy.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The media has absolutely, I believe, learned its lesson,” Licht said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sensing my surprise, he grinned.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I really do,” Licht said. “I think they know that he’s playing them—at least, the people in my organization. We’ve had discussions about this. We know that we’re getting played, so we’re gonna resist it.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seven months later, in Manchester, New Hampshire, I came across Licht wearing the expression of a man who had just survived a car wreck. Normally brash and self-assured, Licht was pale, his shoulders slumped. He scanned the room with anxious eyes. Spotting me, he summoned a breezy chord. “Well,” Licht said, “that wasn’t boring!”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were standing in the lobby of the Dana Center, on the campus of Saint Anselm College. Licht, the 51-year-old chair and CEO of CNN Worldwide, had spent the past hour and a half inside a trailer behind the building, a control room on wheels from which he’d orchestrated a CNN town hall with Trump. Licht had known the risks inherent to this occasion: Trump had spent the past six years insulting and threatening CNN, singling out the network and its journalists as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people,” rhetoric that had led to death threats, blacklists, and ultimately a severing of diplomatic ties between Trump and CNN leadership.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But that had been under the old regime. When he took the helm of CNN, in May 2022, Licht had promised a reset with Republican voters—and with their leader. He had swaggered into the job, telling his employees that the network had lost its way under former President Jeff Zucker, that their hostile approach to Trump had alienated a broader viewership that craved sober, fact-driven coverage. These assertions thrust Licht into a two-front war: fighting to win back Republicans who had written off the network while also fighting to win over his own journalists, many of whom believed that their new boss was scapegoating them to appease his new boss, David Zaslav, who’d hired Licht with a decree to move CNN toward the ideological center.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One year into the job, Licht was losing both battles. Ratings, in decline since Trump left office, had dropped to new lows. Employee morale was even worse. A feeling of dread saturated the company. Licht had accepted the position with ambitions to rehabilitate the entire news industry, telling his peers that Trump had broken the mainstream media and that his goal was to do nothing less than “save journalism.” But Licht had lost the confidence of his own newsroom. Because of this, he had come to view the prime-time event with Trump as the moment that would vindicate his pursuit of Republican viewers while proving to his employees that he possessed a revolutionary vision for their network and the broader news media.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump had other ideas.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For 70 minutes in Manchester, the former president overpowered CNN’s moderator, Kaitlan Collins, with a continuous blast of distortion, hyperbole, and lies. The audience of Trump devotees delighted in his aggression toward Collins, cheering him on so loudly and so purposefully that what began as a journalistic forum devolved into a WWE match before the first voter asked a question. Vince McMahon himself could not have written a juicier script: Trump was the heroic brawler—loathed by the establishment, loved by the masses—trying to reclaim a title wrongly taken from him, while Collins, standing in for the villainous elites who dared to question the protagonist’s virtue, was cast as the heel. “She’s not very nice,” Trump told the studio audience, pointing toward Collins while she stood just offstage during the first commercial break.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump could be excused for thinking this was exactly what Licht wanted. The famously transactional ex-president had wondered aloud to his top aides, during their negotiations with CNN executives, what the network stood to gain from this production; when CNN made the decision to stock the auditorium with Republicans, the only thing Trump could figure was that Licht wanted a prime-time spectacle to resuscitate the network’s moribund ratings. The two men spoke only briefly backstage. “Have fun,” Licht told him. Trump obliged. He demeaned the woman, E. Jean Carroll, whom a jury had one day earlier found him liable for sexually abusing. He repeated disproved fictions about election fraud and suggested that he would separate families at the southern border again if given the chance. He insulted Collins, calling her “a nasty person” as the crowd hissed in agreement. At one point, when she and Trump assumed their marks onstage after another commercial break, Collins politely reminded him not to step past the giant red CNN logo in front of them. Trump responded by gesturing as though he might stomp on it. The crowd roared in approval.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the September 2022 issue: Caitlin Dickerson on the secret history of the Trump administration’s family-separation policy</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht had not wanted this. Sure, he was chasing ratings; in nearly 20 years as a showrunner, ratings had been his currency. But Licht had come to Manchester with bigger ambitions than lifting CNN out of the viewership basement for a single evening in May. He believed that Trump owed his initial political ascent in part to the media’s habit of marginalizing conservative views and Republican voters. That needed to change ahead of 2024. Licht wasn’t scared to bring a bunch of MAGA enthusiasts onto his set—he had remarked to his deputies, in the days before the town hall, about the “extra Trumpy” makeup of the crowd CNN was expecting—and he damn sure wasn’t scared of Trump. The way to deal with a bully like Trump, Licht told his journalists, was to confront him with facts.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collins tried to do just that. She was, however, no match for the environment she’d been thrust into. Squaring off one-on-one against the country’s most accomplished trickster is difficult enough, but this was 300-on-one. The result was a campaign infomercial: Trump the populist champion, slaying his old nemesis and asserting to televised fanfare his claim to the presidency.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Does CNN count that as an in-kind campaign donation?” the longtime broadcaster Dan Rather tweeted.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rather’s comment was gentle compared with the torrent of criticism aimed at CNN. “Ready to call it: This was a terrible idea,” the conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru tweeted, just nine minutes into the event. “CNN should be ashamed of themselves,” tweeted Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “This is an absolute joke,” tweeted former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger. “Chris Licht is rapidly becoming the Elon Musk of CNN,” tweeted The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Licht found me in the lobby, commenting on how not boring the night had been, it wasn’t clear how much of the blowback he’d already seen. What was clear was that Licht knew this was bad—very, very bad. Republicans were angry at CNN. Democrats were angry at CNN. Journalists were angry at CNN. The only one who wasn’t angry, it seemed, was Trump, most likely because he’d succeeded in disgracing the network on its own airwaves.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I felt for Licht. Having spent long stretches of the past year in conversation with him as he attempted to build “the new CNN,” I often found myself agreeing with his principles of journalism. Some media figures had trashed Licht for hosting the town hall in the first place, arguing that nothing good could come from “platforming” a man who’d tried to sabotage the peaceful transition of power. Licht disagreed—and so did I. Trump was the runaway favorite for the GOP nomination and a decent bet to occupy the White House in two years. The media had every obligation to scrutinize him, interview him, and, yes, platform him.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I’d settled into my seat in the Saint Anselm auditorium, however, I had been startled by my surroundings. This was no ordinary collection of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, as CNN had claimed it would be. Most of them were diehards, fanboys, political zealots who were likelier to show up at a rally with a MAGA flag than come to a coffee shop with a policy question. These folks hadn’t turned out to participate in some good-faith civic ritual. They were there to celebrate Trump’s continued assault on the media.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht’s theory of CNN—what had gone wrong, how to fix it, and why doing so could lift the entire industry—made a lot of sense. The execution of that theory? Another story. Every move he made, big programming decisions and small tactical maneuvers alike, seemed to backfire. By most metrics, the network under Licht’s leadership had reached its historic nadir. In my conversations with nearly 100 employees at CNN, it was clear that Licht needed a win—a big win—to keep the place from falling apart. The Trump town hall was supposed to be that win. It had to be that win. And yet, once again, the execution had failed.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pulling me into a darkened corridor just outside the auditorium, Licht tried to compose himself. He and I had spent many hours discussing what he described as “the mission” of CNN. I asked Licht whether the town hall had advanced that mission. He bit his lip.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Too early to say,” Licht replied.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During our first interview, over breakfast last fall, Licht made a point of assuring me: David Zaslav had his back.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht was off to a slow start—understandably so. CNN was still staggering from the forced resignation of Zucker, a beloved figure who had been defenestrated for sleeping with his second in command, and the firing of Chris Cuomo, the prime-time star who, in addition to shattering ethical standards by advising his politician brother, had a #MeToo problem. (Zucker declined to comment for this article; Cuomo has denied allegations of sexual misconduct.) Meanwhile, the ownership change that preceded Licht’s arrival—AT&T spun off WarnerMedia, which then merged with Discovery Inc. to create Warner Bros. Discovery—had been messier than expected. Thanks to shaky balance sheets, followed by an inflation crisis, Warner Bros. Discovery saw its stock price drop by half within months of its launch. Days before Licht assumed control of CNN, its new parent company announced the termination of CNN+, a streaming platform that had been hailed as the future of the company.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was never going to be much goodwill between Warner Bros. Discovery and the journalists at CNN. In November 2021, not long after the corporate takeover was announced, John Malone, a right-wing billionaire who stood to become a major shareholder on the new Warner Bros. Discovery board, said that CNN could learn a few things from the reporters at Fox News. “I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing,” Malone told CNBC. After Zucker was sacked, Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, exacerbated these tensions by choosing Licht without interviewing any of CNN’s internal candidates. Zaslav told numerous people that he needed an outsider to revamp CNN’s journalistic practices because Republican politicians had told him they were no longer willing to come on the network—a rationale that worried staffers there.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CNN rank and file were nonetheless excited by the arrival of Licht, who had earned the reputation of a boy-genius producer from his work on Morning Joe and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. But things went sideways fast. A few weeks into his tenure, Licht instructed his producers to downplay the first hearing of the January 6 committee—an event that MSNBC treated like a prime-time special, earning monster ratings that infuriated the CNN staff. Licht expressed regret to some top editorial personnel the day after the hearing. Still, the incident proved unnerving. Journalists at the network already had reason to question the motives of Malone and Zaslav; now they were wary of Licht, too. When the new CEO began making public confessions of CNN’s past sins—which sometimes came across like an endorsement of Trump’s attacks on the network—the wariness gave way to wrath. Top talent began to turn on Licht. Rumors of a spoiled honeymoon spread through the industry. By the time Licht announced forthcoming layoffs to his employees—there would be more than 300 in total—in an email sent two days before our October breakfast, CNN was spiraling.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drinking from a glass of iced coffee, Licht shrugged it all off: the internal leaks, the external media swarm, the printed columns and whispered anecdotes accusing him of remaking CNN into Fox News Lite. “This is too important for me to be worried about what someone’s calling me or suggesting I’m trying to be,” Licht said. “This is so mission-driven and so important. I genuinely am—I get mad, I get frustrated, but it doesn’t, like, affect me. Does that make sense?”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It didn’t make sense. Matt Dornic offered to translate. Dornic, who was accompanying us in his capacity as CNN’s senior vice president of communications—and, I would learn, as a mainstay of Licht’s small entourage—explained that what upsets the new boss isn’t harsh coverage of him personally, but rather bad press about CNN’s journalists. Dornic cited recent reports about how Jake Tapper’s experimental show in the 9 p.m. hour—the slot vacated by Cuomo, which had yet to be permanently filled—was drawing anemic numbers. Licht pointed a finger at Dornic.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What drives me nuts,” he said, “is that has the potential to throw my group off the mission.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked Licht to explain that mission to me, as plainly as possible.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Journalism. Being trusted. Everyone has an agenda, trying to shape events or shape thought. There has to be a source of absolute truth,” he told me. “There’s good actors, there’s bad actors, there’s a lot of shit in the world. There has to be something that you’re able to look at and go, ‘They have no agenda other than the truth.’”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Journalism was Licht’s first love. Raised in Connecticut, the son of a doctor and a physician assistant, he anchored make-believe newscasts in his basement as a grade-schooler. He studied broadcasting at Syracuse University then moved to Los Angeles, where, after a right-place, right-time chance to cover the O. J. Simpson trial, he got hooked on producing news. With a boyish tousle of blond hair and that bottomless supply of self-confidence, Licht talked his way into bigger and more consequential jobs, eventually finding himself back on the East Coast.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was Licht’s relationship with Joe Scarborough, the onetime Florida congressman turned television personality, that opened the biggest doors. First on MSNBC’s Scarborough Country, a prime-time success that featured sharp conservative punditry on all things political and cultural, and then on Morning Joe, Licht distinguished himself as a top-notch executive producer, someone known to run through walls (and run over people) to make great television. Mike Barnicle, a Morning Joe contributor, nicknamed Licht “Captain Intense.” But the intensity caught up with him. Licht suffered a brain hemorrhage at 38 and began to reassess his life and career. A few years later, Licht left MSNBC to run the morning show at CBS, and then left the news business altogether, joining Stephen Colbert as the showrunner of The Late Show.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht had a superlative arrangement with Colbert: more money, fewer headaches, better hours. Only one job, he told me, could have justified leaving that life and returning to the grind of journalism. And then the offer came: Zaslav, who had been courting Licht informally long before the WarnerMedia–Discovery merger was complete, asked him in early 2022 to lead the new CNN.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht knew “immediately” that he had to accept. Yet he was not oblivious to the challenges that awaited. His wife, Jenny Blanco, had worked for CNN as a producer. He knew some of the premier on-air talent. Both Colbert and Scarborough warned him not to take the job, and Licht understood their reservations. He had watched, over the previous five years, as the network became more polarizing. When I asked Licht what he’d thought about CNN—as a viewer, and as a seasoned journalist himself—while working on Colbert’s show, he hesitated, searching for the words.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I thought, I’m having a tough time discerning between ‘How much are we getting played as an audience by Trump?’ and how much of it’s actually …” He trailed off.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht said Trump had done “really bad shit” as president that reporters sometimes missed because they were obsessing over more sensational stories. Trump had goaded the media with “outrage porn,” provoking journalists to respond with such indignation, so often, that audiences began to tune out. “When everything is an 11” on a scale of 10, Licht said, “it means that when there’s something really awful happening, we’re kind of numb to it. That was a strategy. And I felt like the media was falling for that strategy.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht recalled how, early in the Trump administration, a particular reporter hadn’t been allowed into a press gaggle because of a feud with the White House. During a subsequent meeting with his fellow board members at Syracuse’s Newhouse school of journalism, one of them suggested taking out a full-page ad in The New York Times denouncing this affront to the First Amendment. “And I’m like, ‘Guys, keep your powder dry. This is nothing. It’s gonna get much worse,’” Licht said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I felt that there was such a mission—” He stopped himself.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The mission was to go after this guy—” He stopped again.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Right or wrong. I’m not saying he’s a good guy. He’s definitely not,” Licht said of Trump. “But, like, that was the mission … Sometimes something should be an 11; sometimes it should be a two; sometimes it should be a zero. Everything can’t be an 11 because it happens to come from someone you have a visceral hatred for.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I told Licht that while I agreed with his observation—that Trump had baited reporters into putting on a jersey and entering the game, acting as opposing players instead of serving as commentators or even referees—there was an alternative view. Trump had forced us, by trying to annihilate the country’s institutions of self-government, to play a more active role than many journalists were comfortable with. This wasn’t a matter of advocating for capital-D Democratic policies; it was a matter of advocating for small-d democratic principles. The conflating of the two had proved highly problematic, however, and the puzzle of how to properly cover Trump continued to torment much of the media.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht didn’t understand all the fuss. “If something’s a lie, you call it a lie. You know what you’re dealing with now,” he said. “I think he changed the rules of the game, and the media was a little caught off guard and put a jersey on and got into the game as a way of dealing with it. And at least [at] my organization, I think we understand that jersey cannot go back on. Because guess what? It didn’t work. Being in the game with the jersey on didn’t change anyone’s mind.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The new boss told people inside CNN that Tapper’s 4 o’clock show, The Lead, was the model: tough, respectful, inquisitive reporting that challenged every conceivable view and facilitated open dialogue.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht emphasized certain exceptions to this approach. He would not give airtime to bad actors who spread disinformation. His network would host people who like rain as well as people who don’t like rain. But, he said, CNN would not host people who deny that it’s raining when it is. This was no small caveat: More than half of Republicans in Congress had voted to throw out the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania based on lies. Meanwhile, plenty of Republicans who weren’t election deniers didn’t want to come on CNN anyway. Sensing this predicament, Licht had traveled to Capitol Hill early in his tenure, meeting with Republican leaders and promising them a fair shake under his leadership.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What Licht viewed as a diplomatic visit, his skeptics portrayed as an apology tour. The narrative taking hold in elite media circles—that CNN’s new boss was a scheming, ruthless Roger Ailes wannabe—went into overdrive. Licht was amused at first. But he soon lost his sense of humor. He called Robert Reich and rebuked him after the former labor secretary wrote a Substack post criticizing CNN. He vowed to friends that he would “destroy” Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist, for a disparaging Los Angeles Times column. Licht seethed about what he saw as a coordinated attack from liberals who feared long-overdue journalistic scrutiny of their ideals.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You have a certain segment of society that has had an unfettered megaphone to the leading journalistic organization in the world,” he said. “And at the slightest hint that that organization may not be just taking things that are fed to them from that segment of the population, it must be that a fascist is running the network and he wants to move it to the right … The fact that I want to give space to the [argument] that this thing everyone agrees with might be not right doesn’t make me a fascist right-winger who’s trying to steal Fox viewers.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht was no fascist. But he was trying to steal viewers from Fox News—and from MSNBC, for that matter. To succeed, Licht said, CNN would need to produce more than just great journalism. Reporting the news in an aggressive, nonpartisan manner would be central to the network’s attempt to win back audiences. But television is, at its essence, entertainment. Viewers would always turn on CNN in times of crisis, Licht told me. What he needed to find out was how many would turn on CNN for fun.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the March 2023 issue: Megan Garber on how everything became entertainment</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Picture of the CNN This Morning set in at the CNN New York Headquarters in Hudson Yards</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A CNN studio in New York (Mark Peterson / Redux for The Atlantic)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht frowned and folded his arms, irritation curdling his voice.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m going to tell Don, the biggest mistake is commenting after every single story for the sake of commenting after every single story,” he said, talking to no one and everyone all at once. “Don’t tell me, ‘Oh, that’s horrible.’ We know it’s horrible. If you’ve got a specific insight into something, if you can add something, tell us. But don’t comment on every single fucking story.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht had wedged a rolling office chair in between the first and second rows of Control Room B, a darkened space that featured scores of monitors being manipulated by two dozen people in hooded sweatshirts and headsets. Everyone looked tense. They were 96 hours from Election Day 2022, when they would launch CNN This Morning, Licht’s first big swing as the network’s head honcho, and the show looked terrible.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I want more movement. Lots of movement,” he told Eric Hall, the new program’s executive producer, who sat in the center of the first row. “What do I hate the most?”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hall and a younger producer named Zachary Slater responded in unison: “Boxes.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht nodded. “Boxes,” he said, referring to the Brady Bunch look on cable-news screens. “I don’t want it to be frenetic, but please make sure there’s movement. We need to see these people.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Making good TV is difficult under even the best of conditions. These were not the best of conditions. Eager to put his imprint on CNN, Licht had started with what he knew best—mornings—and hounded his team to get the program ready for Election Day. Rehearsals had been rushed. The co-hosts—Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins—were struggling to gel, in part because they had practiced so little together. (On this day, Collins was reporting in Georgia.) Licht had created this trio, created this new show, in hopes of injecting some flavor into CNN’s lineup. He thought partnering Lemon, the opinionated, gay, Black southerner, with a pair of hard-hitting female news reporters could be the “fun” viewers needed. But Licht, I sensed, was not having fun.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the rehearsal went to break, a collective exhale gusted through the room. Licht leaned back, took out his phone, and started scanning a Variety story about his decision to eliminate the CNN documentary unit in the layoffs. After he uttered a few choice phrases—but before we could discuss the article—the show started back up, with the cameras centered on Lemon. He had changed into a white jacket, the collar made of fur, with a turtleneck underneath.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What the fuck is he wearing?” Licht blurted out. Nervous chuckles echoed around us.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The shot began zooming out, slowly at first to incorporate the guests, and then rotating around the glass table in the middle of the set. “Good. I love that,” Licht told Hall. “Just slow it down, make it steady.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A little while later, the younger producer spoke into Lemon’s earpiece: “Don, uhh, we’re not too crazy about the jacket in here.” Lemon looked miffed. Licht fought back a smirk. “Why are you guys so mean to Don?” he asked.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The joke wasn’t lost on anyone. Clearly, Licht had dwindling patience for Lemon—his outfits, his ad-libbing, his opinions. None of this should have come as a surprise. Lemon was one of the most polarizing figures in media, someone with undeniable talent and unregulated instincts. Given Licht’s down-the-middle mantra, people inside the network were mystified by his decision to hitch the success of the new morning show to CNN’s chief provocateur. Some believed that Licht had been ordered by Zaslav to remove Lemon from his 10 p.m. slot (Licht denied this). Others sensed that Licht, who had already gotten rid of other “off mission” staffers, including the media reporter Brian Stelter and the White House correspondent John Harwood, would have axed Lemon too, if not for his being one of the lone Black voices on a very white network. Whatever the particulars, the careers of these two men were now intertwined.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the show emerged from another break, Lemon, sans jacket, took his place in front of an enormous studio display. At the center were the words an inconvenient truth. Licht asked Hall what this segment was about. Hall replied that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, had been saying crazy, hateful things for a long time, but corporate America had never abandoned him; only now, after his anti-Semitic rantings, were companies like Adidas dropping him. Lemon was going to ask: Why did those sponsors stick with Ye after his offensive remarks about slavery and other topics, but choose to bail now over his anti-Semitism?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht looked skeptical. “Where would you envision this running?” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Probably the back half of the show,” Hall replied.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Do you think if I’m on my way to work, at 7:40 in the morning, I have time to absorb this?” Licht asked.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just then, the segment began—and Lemon straightaway butchered the opening line. Hall let out an exasperated grunt. “How does that happen?”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht grimaced. “Read the fucking prompter,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After steering the segment by whispering instructions to Hall—“full … move left … back out …”—Licht glanced over at Ryan Kadro, a top executive who’d worked with Licht at CBS and knew him better than anyone else in this room. Kadro was shaking his head. “Way too long,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Way too long—and it’s fucking morning time,” Licht said, motioning toward the screen, which had displayed a graphic image of a tortured slave next to Lemon during his monologue. “This is morning television.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rehearsal wrapped, and Licht quickly made his way onto the set, cornering Lemon at the anchor desk. Licht gave his candid feedback—some things had worked, but the Ye segment had not. He wanted less commentary. Above all, he wanted Lemon—and the others—to keep things light in the mornings. Lemon looked hesitant. “I don’t want to be preachy in the morning, but I do want to hold people accountable,” he said. Licht nodded and said he understood. Then he repeated himself: The Ye idea had missed the mark.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Licht left, I sat down with Lemon and Harlow—as well as Dornic, the omnipresent communications executive. Sensing some lingering tension from the earlier exchange, I asked Lemon whether his approach to news meshed with Licht’s. Specifically, I mentioned our “outrage porn” conversation. Lemon squinted at me.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Some people may want to qualify it as ‘outrage porn.’ But there was a lot to be outraged for these last few years,” he said. “There was a tweet or a statement or an action or something that was outrageous a few times a day for five, six years … What we were doing is, we were fighting for democracy. We were fighting to set the record straight on us being attacked and called ‘fake’ … That may have put us back on our heels and made us a bit more aggressive with calling it out, but it doesn’t mean that it was ‘outrage porn.’”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harlow saw things somewhat differently—perhaps because of her straight-news background—but Lemon wasn’t having any of it.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A lot of people are Monday-morning-quarterbacking about what happened” at CNN, Lemon told me. “You have to remember the time that we were in. Every single day, we were being attacked by the former administration. And that’s not hyperbole … We had bombs sent to this very network.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, Harlow was live on the air when the bomb was detected. She had to evacuate to the street, where she continued broadcasting. It was a traumatic ordeal for all of CNN—and that was Lemon’s point. He had been swamped with threats during Trump’s presidency, followed down the street by menacing figures, given a 24-hour security detail at certain points. Not that it was all about him. What of the unceasing vitriol against women and minorities, public officials and private citizens? It was all outrageous. Was he supposed to pretend to not be outraged?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dornic jumped in. “I don’t think that’s what Chris is even saying—” He paused.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is not about you versus Chris,” Dornic continued. “I think his perspective is: Under a normal administration, those would have been 11s. But you had to recalibrate, because if you make the outrageous thing about women an 11, then what happens when he actually does something completely insane and undermines democracy?”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harlow, now cast in the role of peacemaker, told Lemon that this seemed like a legitimate point. Just recently, she said, she had told her children the story of the boy who cried wolf. She did worry about Trump’s destruction of norms, but she also worried about a lack of self-awareness displayed by some in her profession. Lemon looked ready to contest that point. Then, perhaps in deference to Harlow, he decided to drop it.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we continued chatting, the bond between Lemon and Harlow was evident. She said her husband had advised her to switch roles only if it would mean becoming partners with Lemon; Lemon said he wouldn’t have moved to the mornings alongside anyone else. Less clear was where Collins fit into this mix. Barely in her 30s, Collins had in a few years’ time zoomed from entertainment writer at The Daily Caller to chief White House correspondent at CNN. She had serious reporting chops and a deep roster of sources. Everyone at the network could see that Collins was the future of the brand—a next-generation star who could be synonymous with CNN for decades to come. So why take away her prized reporting post and sit her behind a desk with two co-anchors?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one really knew. Licht spoke of chemistry and character, of dynamic personalities and geographic diversity. (Lemon is from Louisiana, Harlow from Minnesota, and Collins from Alabama, making them symbolic of a forgotten America that Licht was determined to reach.) But this was mostly game theory. The truth is, Licht didn’t know if it would work. What he did know was that CNN was falling farther behind in the ratings, and that without a daring move, something that could rouse a lethargic network, the discontent would grow louder. Licht remembered what Joe Scarborough used to tell him: “Scared money never wins.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht was ready to gamble. He asked Lemon to take the lead, trusted Harlow to be the stabilizer, and hoped Collins could adjust in a hurry. Licht’s formative experience in television had come from watching Scarborough learn to check his ego and build an inclusive, engaging, highly entertaining program. He hoped Lemon could do the same.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I feel like the senior of the group,” Lemon told us, sitting on the set. He instantly sensed that this was unwise to say out loud. “Yeah, yeah,” said Harlow, giving him a look. “But lift us up.” Lemon grabbed her hand: “I’m going to lift you up. I’m not going to try to bigfoot you.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She smiled politely. “There’s none of that on this show.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was 6:07 a.m. and sweat dripped from Licht’s nose.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He pumped his arms and legs on a machine inside a workout studio two blocks from the Hudson River. Joe Maysonet, a former boxer who wore polka-dot pajama pants, a green oxford shirt, and a peach-colored beanie, stood with his arms crossed, chirping at his client: “Did I say stop? No, I did not!”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three years ago, Licht weighed 226 pounds. Worried that he was losing control of his lifestyle, he went all in. No more breakfast. No drinking during the week. No more carbs or sweets. (“I’m a fucking machine,” Licht told me one day, when I asked why he was skipping a meal.) He also found Maysonet, whose gym, J Train, caters to New York’s elite—actors, athletes, business tycoons. On this morning, in March 2023, the CNN boss was down to 178 pounds.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht jumped off the machine. At Maysonet’s instruction, he squatted down to grab a long metal pole lying flat on the ground. “Zucker couldn’t do this shit,” Licht said through clenched teeth, hoisting the pole with a grunt.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Working in the shadow of Jeff Zucker, a hugely popular figure who had overseen the highest-rated, most profitable years in CNN’s history, was never going to be easy. But Licht had made it harder than it needed to be. Among the first things he did, after taking over, was turn Zucker’s old office on the 17th floor—across from the bullpen, right near key studios and control rooms—into a conference room. Then he decamped to the 22nd floor, setting up in a secluded space that most staffers didn’t know how to find. It became symbolic of Licht’s relationship to his workforce: He was detached, aloof, inaccessible in every way.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The comparisons with Zucker were inevitable, and Licht hated them. Whereas the old boss was gregarious and warm, giving nicknames to employees and remembering their kids’ birthdays, Licht came across as taciturn, seemingly going out of his way to avoid human relationships. At a holiday dinner for his D.C.-based talent, Licht went around the private room at Café Milano, shook hands and spoke briefly with each of the journalists, then sat down and spent much of the dinner looking at his phone. Not only did he say nothing to address the group—as they all expected he would—but Licht barely interacted with the people seated near him. It became so awkward that guests began texting one another, wondering if there was some crisis unfolding with an international bureau. When a pair of them caught a glimpse of Licht’s phone, they could see that he was reading a critical story about him in Puck.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chris Licht at CNN’s New York headquarters (Mark Peterson / Redux for The Atlantic)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The negative press had been building—and Licht, whatever his insistence to the contrary, had become consumed by it. Leaks from inside his own house especially angered him. Licht knew that many people remained loyal to his predecessor; some of his top executives, as well as on-air personalities, spoke with Zucker regularly. That hadn’t particularly bothered him at first. Over time, however, it became obvious that those conversations were finding their way into media stories scrutinizing his leadership of CNN. Licht told friends he was convinced that Zucker—whose legacy he was undermining daily with rhetorical recriminations about past damage to CNN’s brand—was retaliating by pushing hit pieces on him. In particular, Licht felt certain that Zucker was using Puck’s Dylan Byers, an ex-CNN employee who was pummeling Licht multiple times each week in his newsletter, to foment narratives of a mutiny at the network.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht and Zucker knew each other, having worked together at NBCUniversal. Zucker told friends that he’d found it unusual—but hardly threatening—when, a few years earlier, with buzz building around a potential WarnerMedia–Discovery merger, Licht began attending David Zaslav’s annual Labor Day party, an exclusive gathering in the Hamptons. Licht wasn’t exactly the type of VIP who attended these events. When the merger began to appear inevitable, in the fall of 2021, Zucker got a call from Zaslav. He assured Zucker that his position atop CNN was secure. Then he asked his opinion of Licht. Zucker would later recall to friends that, at that moment, the endgame was clear. Within a few months, Zucker was out, Licht was in, and a cold war was underway. Attempts were made to broker a peace. In August 2022, Jay Sures, an agent who represents some of CNN’s top talent, arranged a meeting at Zucker’s vacation home. It was cordial enough, but suspicions ran deep between the two men. Both soon began peddling competing versions of what had gone down.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However self-serving his criticisms of Zucker, Licht had legitimate reasons to be wary of his predecessor’s approach. CNN had produced some terrific reporting during the Trump years, but it had also embarrassed itself, and the industry as a whole, on more than a few occasions. The use of paid contributors such as Jeffrey Lord and Corey Lewandowski, the latter of whom appeared on air while still being paid by the Trump campaign, served no defensible journalistic purpose. The incurious tone of the network’s COVID-19 coverage—its steady deference to government officials, paired with its derision toward those who held heterodox opinions on school closings and other restrictions—did a disservice to viewers. All the while, Zucker’s buddy-buddy rapport with the talent bred a lack of accountability that ultimately created rogues. Chris Cuomo smashed ethical norms and repeatedly lied to management about it. Jim Acosta routinely made himself the story while covering Trump’s White House, specializing in lectures and snarky commentary instead of questions and source reporting. (One viral exchange with Trump, in which Acosta refused to surrender the microphone to a press aide, then stood to interrupt a colleague’s question, came to epitomize the late stages of the Zucker era.) Licht had inherited a culture of loose rules and lax standards. For this, justifiably, he blamed Zucker.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht could not, however, blame Zucker for what had become his biggest problem: Don Lemon.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the middle of February, several weeks before I joined Licht for his morning workout, Lemon set social media ablaze—and infuriated Harlow and Collins, his co-hosts—by asserting that 51-year-old Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime.” A woman is only in her prime, Lemon explained, “in her 20s, 30s, and maybe her 40s.” This was just the latest in a string of offenses. For months, Lemon had been making the control room cringe with half-baked opinions, irritating Harlow and Collins by forcing his way into every segment, and angering Licht by adding the sort of superfluous commentary the boss had explicitly warned against. Tensions were already high when, one day in December, Collins started to interrupt Lemon during a news report. Lemon continued speaking and held up a finger to shush her—“stand by, one second,” he said—and then, after the segment, berated her in front of the crew. Their relationship would never recover. By the time Lemon made the “prime” remark, Licht was confronting the reality that his morning show might be a bust.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was no neat solution to the Lemon problem. Top executives urged Licht to fire him; Licht, knowing it would be seen as a response to the Haley episode, worried about setting a harsh precedent. Lemon pitched an attempt at damage control—a prime-time special on misogyny, which he would host with a roundtable of women—and Licht rejected it. Then, a staffer close to Licht told me, Lemon began telling allies that Al Sharpton, Ben Crump, and other Black leaders would rally to his defense if he were fired, making his dismissal a referendum on CNN’s whiteness. (A spokesperson for Lemon denied this and accused Licht’s team of spreading rumors about him to distract from Licht’s failures at CNN.)</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The burden of this—of everything—made Licht’s workouts at J Train indispensable. Licht called Maysonet his “therapist” and “coach” and “one-man focus group.” He was among the few people Licht trusted. This gym was Licht’s sanctuary; nothing and no one was allowed to disrupt him here. Except Zaslav. To the annoyance of his trainer, Licht told me, Zaslav liked to call him at 6:30 a.m. Sometimes those calls came when Zaslav was on the West Coast, meaning it was 3:30 a.m. for him. When Licht told me this, he twisted his face into a pained expression.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assuming a side-plank position, Licht told me that Maysonet “is super fucking liberal” and not sold on his plans for CNN. Maysonet pressed his foot into Licht’s shoulder. “Rachel Maddow, now that’s my chick,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht rolled his eyes. Maysonet kept goading him. “By the way, you see my boy Jamie Raskin on MSNBC the other day?” he asked, referring to the Democratic representative from Maryland. Maysonet began shuffling his feet like a prizefighter. “Wiping the floor with your Republican boys!”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They’re not my boys,” Licht groaned, collapsing onto his back.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maysonet motioned for Licht to flip onto his other side. Then he turned to me, his voice abruptly becoming serious. “I’ll tell you what I do like about his vision,” Maysonet said. “He wants to create a conversation where we can talk to each other again. We can debate anything, but not if we’re not talking to each other.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked him to elaborate. Maysonet explained that after countless hours of conversation with Licht over the past few years—through the murder of George Floyd, the spread of COVID-19, the election of Joe Biden, the siege of the Capitol—he came away convinced that his client was uniquely capable of facilitating a national dialogue on some of the country’s toughest, most divisive issues. Perhaps Licht had spent too much time promoting the return of Republicans to CNN, and not enough time advertising that forum for conversation. “I think that’s the part people don’t know about him, and that’s the part that could make CNN thrive,” Maysonet said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht, now half-standing, hands on his knees, started to clarify that this was precisely what he’d attempted to do with his morning show. Maysonet pretended not to hear him, instructing Licht to go across the room and fetch a large, weighted sleigh. A minute later, as his client pushed the hulking object across the room, growling with every forward lurch, Maysonet mentioned some news from the sports world: The Brooklyn Nets, who had built their franchise around three all-star players, had just traded away the last of them, a catastrophic end to a once-promising experiment.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“All that talent,” Maysonet said, “but no chemistry.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Astudio audience of Licht’s employees looked on as Audie Cornish, CNN’s top audio journalist, probed her boss with questions that he didn’t seem keen on answering.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The purpose of this springtime company town hall was for Licht to quell concerns and rally the troops, laying out his plan for the new CNN. Addressing a few dozen staffers who sat in black stackable chairs—and thousands more watching from their cubicles, couches, and reporting outposts around the world—Licht stressed the opportunity at hand. Americans were starving, he argued, for a network without perceived partisan loyalties; for a source of authoritative, follow-the-facts reporting; for a place that could foster a “national conversation.” CNN could be all of that. But first, Licht suggested, people had to fall in line. They needed to recognize that “the brand has taken a hit over the past few years” and unite around his editorial strategy as “one team.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What made unity so elusive was that CNN’s newsroom was splintered into at least three factions. Some of Licht’s journalists were dead set against him, believing his approach was a recipe for false equivalency. Others were lukewarm, open to a change in direction yet confounded by his ill-defined denunciations of the work they’d done in recent years. Even those who were fully on board—people who had hailed Licht’s theoretical objective for the network—expressed bewilderment at his lack of specifics. He had talked a big game when he came aboard 10 months earlier, but since then—and especially after CNN’s botched coverage of the first January 6 hearing—had largely kept out of sight, leaving producers and hosts to reimagine their programs off interpretations of Licht’s innuendo. His move to the 22nd floor had become a serious liability. CNN staffers didn’t just wonder where the boss was; they wanted to know what, exactly, he was doing. There was still no permanent host for the lucrative 9 p.m. hour. Licht’s signature initiative—Lemon and the morning show—had become an industry punch line.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every employee I spoke with was asking some variation of the same question: Did Licht have any idea what he was doing?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cornish seemed determined to find out. In a Q&A session that grew slightly uncomfortable, she quizzed Licht on these issues and more: the “culture and morale” of the company, the confusion over his plans, the “tough decisions” pertaining to certain employees who hadn’t gotten with his program. Licht began to look and sound restless. At one point, highlighting his recent guidance to refrain from bashing Fox News—and his wooing of Republicans to come on air—Cornish asked Licht about the perception that CNN was tacking deliberately to the right.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He fought a smirk. The network’s coverage of the Fox News story to date had been textbook, he said, presenting the damning facts of what had emerged from the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit—namely, that Fox had knowingly misled its audience—and sparing viewers the hysterical analysis found on CNN’s chief rival, MSNBC. As for platforming Republicans, “I think it’s incredibly important, if we’re going to understand the country,” Licht said. “I actually want to hear from these Republicans. And to do that, it has to actually be a place where they know they’re going to get a tough interview, but it’s going to be respectful.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After underscoring the “fears” people had internally—that CNN was enabling bad actors with a both-sides approach to journalism—Cornish asked him about the company’s reputation. She, like so many of her colleagues, wanted to know what Licht meant by that nebulous word: brand.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What I believe has happened in the past, to put it bluntly, is that sometimes the tone of our coverage has undercut the work of our journalism. And we’re just trying to eliminate that and win that trust back,” Licht said. “Trust is that you’re getting to the truth without fear or favor. We have seen the data that shows there’s been a marked erosion of trust—”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cornish cut him off. “Because of tenor and tone?”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah,” Licht said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the hallway a few minutes later, as we waited for an elevator, Licht asked what I thought of his performance. I told him that he looked on edge—like he was struggling to remain diplomatic in the face of questions that annoyed him.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. At one point, I wanted to just say, ‘We’re not going to turn into BuzzFeed, okay?’” Licht said. “But that probably wouldn’t have helped.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Probably not. Settling into a conference room—his assistant ordered us Sweetgreen salads for lunch—I asked Licht whether he understood the anxiety that permeated his organization.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I think wherever there’s uncertainty, there’s anxiety,” he said. “These are journalists, so there really isn’t anything you can say that will ease anxiety. You have to show them. So the whole purpose of today really is like, ‘Hey, there is a plan. This is what we’re going to be doing. This is how it’s going to involve you. This is the sense of purpose. This is the strategy.’”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The company, he said, had been reeling ever since the firing of Chris Cuomo, which had set in motion the ousting of Jeff Zucker. “This uncertainty and anxiety, you don’t want it to become the new normal,” Licht told me. “And it has, to a certain extent.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of this angst at CNN, Licht argued, stemmed from skepticism about whether his vision would succeed in bringing back viewers. He acknowledged that it very well might not—or, at least, that it might take a long time. Licht was visibly bothered whenever someone brought up the network’s bad ratings. But, he assured me, David Zaslav cared more about other metrics. Success would be measured differently at CNN than it had been in the past. “This is a reputational asset for the company. It is not a profit-growth driver,” Licht said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked him to define “reputational asset” in the context of an enormous, publicly traded, for-profit corporation.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“CNN, for Warner Bros. Discovery, is a reputational asset,” he said, emphasizing the phrase. “My boss believes that a strong CNN is good for the world and important to the portfolio.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if it’s not making nearly the money it once did?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So I’m told,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This sentiment struck me as particularly guileless coming from a newsman. Whatever Zaslav’s worldview, steering CNN toward the center was a business decision. In an age of fragmented media, Zaslav was convinced by Licht, among others, that broadening the network’s appeal to reach an exhausted majority of news consumers was good for the bottom line (and, perhaps as a bonus, good for America). It’s unclear whether Zaslav still believes that model is viable. There had been doubts from day one as to whether Warner Bros. Discovery planned to keep CNN; plenty of industry insiders believed Zaslav’s plan was to stabilize the network, cut costs to stop the bleeding of revenue, then flip it for a gain.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any event, the health of CNN’s business was but one source of anxiety. I told Licht—based on my conversations with his employees, as well as the questioning from Cornish earlier in the day—that there seemed to be even greater insecurity about the journalistic ethos itself. When he’d warned Cornish about taking a “condescending tone” toward Republicans, surely it sounded to some reporters like he wanted them to coddle the crazy right-wingers who would use their platform to destabilize the country’s democratic institutions.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht looked annoyed. “We are not an advocacy network. And if you want to work for an advocacy network, there are other places to go,” he told me. “You can find any flavor of advocacy in a news organization that suits your need. We are providing something different. And when the shit hits the fan in this world, you’re not gonna have time for that advocacy anymore. You need an unbiased source of truth.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I told him that some journalists, myself included, believe that truth itself needs to be advocated for.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No one is suggesting in any way that we shy away from the truth,” he replied.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Do you believe in absolute truth?” I asked.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s a weird question,” he said, rumpling his brow.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t that weird. He had used the phrase in one of our prior interviews, but, it seemed, hadn’t given much thought to its usage in the context of modern media. “Absolute truth. Hmmm,” he said, stroking his chin. Finally, he shrugged. “It’s that analogy again, right? Some people like rain; some people don’t like rain. You can’t tell me it’s not raining [when] it’s raining.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If only it were that simple. A few weeks earlier, The New York Times had descended into open conflict after a group of contributors and staffers signed a letter condemning the paper’s alleged “editorial bias” in its coverage of the transgender community. Another letter, signed by a number of prominent Times reporters, rebuked what they saw as an effort to silence legitimate journalistic inquiry. Both parties, I told Licht, believed that they were standing for the truth.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He leaned across the table. “Your beliefs can be different, but there’s only one truth,” he said. “And we have to be able to ask questions and have conversations that help people understand what’s happening … We have completely lost the ability to have difficult conversations without being demonized or labeled. It’s okay to ask questions, to have difficult conversations. You can strongly believe in something at your core, but that doesn’t affect the truth.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht emphasized that although he would show employees grace for certain missteps, he had no tolerance for efforts to chill reporting on controversial topics. He noted that Zucker, fearing the COVID-19 “lab-leak theory” was a xenophobic gambit that endangered Asian Americans, had essentially banned discussion of the topic on the air. This was not dissimilar, Licht suggested, to the surgeon general of the United States telling citizens at the beginning of the pandemic that wearing masks wouldn’t help them—not because it was a fact, but because the government wanted to prevent a run on the masks needed for first responders.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They didn’t tell us the truth about something, because they were worried about an outcome,” Licht said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He leaned back in his chair. “So, yes, I believe in absolute truth.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later that day, while riding the Acela from New York to Washington, Licht expanded on his media polemic. Specifically, he wanted to keep talking about COVID-19. Like Trump’s presidency, Licht told me, the pandemic had exposed the degree to which his network had lost touch with the country.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“In the beginning it was a trusted source—this crazy thing, no one understands it, help us make sense of it. What’s going on?” he said. “And I think then it got to a place where, ‘Oh wow, we gotta keep getting those ratings. We gotta keep getting the sense of urgency.’”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He slapped his palms on the table between us, mimicking the feverish pace of an imaginary broadcaster. “COVID, COVID, COVID! Look at the case numbers! Look at this! Look at this!” Licht said. “No context. And, you know, the kind of shaming. And then people walked outside and they go, ‘This is not my life. This is not my reality. You guys are just saying this because you need the ratings, you need the clicks. I don’t trust you.’”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Were they wrong?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They were not,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a man widely perceived to be carrying out the orders of his bosses on the board of Warner Bros. Discovery, Licht held some awfully strong views of his own. Certainly, he was under pressure to conform CNN to the whims of Zaslav; Licht told top staffers that he was continually fighting to “protect” them from editorial interference at the corporate level. Licht had heard the talk about his being a glorified errand boy. Perhaps because it contained some trace of truth, he seemed determined in our conversations to map out his own distinct worldview.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht insisted that his media critiques were not ideological; that he was rebuking not a liberal slant on the news, per se, but rather a bias toward elite cultural sensibility, a reporting covenant in which affluent urban-dwelling journalists avoid speaking hard truths that would alienate members of their tribe. When we returned to the question of covering transgender issues—specifically, the science around prepubescent hormone treatments and life-altering surgeries—he suggested that the media was less interested in finding answers and more worried about not offending perceived allies.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We’ve got to ask tough questions without being shouted down for having the temerity to even ask,” Licht said. “There is a truth in there, and it may not serve one side or the other. But let’s get to the truth. Some of this is right, some of this is wrong; some of this is wrong, some of this is right.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He paused. “And I will add, this is where words matter. You immediately force some people to tune out when you use, like, ‘person capable of giving birth.’ People tune out and you lose that trust.” He took another pause. “Do not virtue signal. Tell the truth. Ask questions getting at the truth—not collecting facts for one side or collecting facts for another side. Ask the tough questions. It’s an incredibly sensitive, divisive issue of which there is a Venn diagram that this country can agree on, if we get there with facts.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht argued that the media’s blind spots owe to a lack of diversity—and not the lack of diversity that he sees newsrooms obsessing over. He wants to recruit reporters who are deeply religious and reporters who grew up on food stamps and reporters who own guns. Licht recalled a recent dustup with his own diversity, equity, and inclusion staff after making some spicy remarks at a conference. “I said, ‘A Black person, a brown person, and an Asian woman that all graduated the same year from Harvard is not diversity,’” he told me.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A minute later—after noting how sharing that anecdote could get him in trouble, and pausing to consider what he would say next—Licht added: “I think ‘Defund the police’ would’ve been covered differently if newsrooms were filled with people who had lived in public housing.” I asked him why. “They have a different relationship with their need with the police,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht glanced over at his assistant. “Now I’m in trouble,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wondered if he wanted to get in trouble—if he savored barreling through the boundaries of mannerly media conversation. It had become apparent, from my reporting, that Licht’s circle was small and getting smaller. He obviously felt that he couldn’t trust some of the people around him—folks who were loyal to Zucker, or leaking to undermine him, or both. That distrust begot a certain foreboding—yet also a certain liberation. Whereas he was guarded with CNN employees, our many hours of conversations began to feel like therapy sessions for Licht, safe spaces in which he vented grievances and admitted fears and chased an elusive breakthrough.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had heard from former colleagues how, in the early days of Morning Joe, when the C-suites at NBC treated his start-up show like a joke, Licht had adopted a me-against-the-world mentality, hunkering down and swearing to make the 30 Rock establishment pay for its contempt. It occurred to me that Licht was doing the same thing now. The difference, of course, was that he no longer represented the ragtag rebel alliance. He was the chair and CEO of CNN Worldwide. He was the empire.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we cruised past Wilmington, Delaware, I asked Licht if there were people at CNN who wanted him to fail.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m sure,” he said, nodding, visibly weighing what to say next. He opted to play it safe. “But it’s certainly a very small part, a very small pocket of the organization. So I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then his voice changed. Suddenly, Licht was animated. “But I would say that for anyone who does want me to fail—what are you going for? Who would you want in this seat? You want a journalist? You want someone who has a direct line to the corporation and can make a phone call and go, ‘Hey, what the fuck?’ Do you want someone who’s done the job? Who’s done a lot of the jobs? Who understands exactly what it takes to do what I’m asking? Someone who believes that our future is based on executing great journalism? Maybe they don’t like my style or whatever, but I’m not quite sure what you’re going for—if you want me to fail.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht looked out the window. “So I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it,” he repeated.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Focusing on his “style” seemed like a cop-out. I told Licht that in my conversations with his employees, they had three main beefs. The first was that he relentlessly attacked the previous iteration of CNN without ever really specifying—as he’d been doing in our interviews—what he disliked about the coverage or what he would have done differently. Licht countered this criticism by explaining that he didn’t want to call out particular journalists, especially “when they were being rewarded for that behavior by the boss before me.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht told me that bad behavior had been addressed with certain individuals directly. Without identifying Jim Acosta by name, Licht said: “There was one person I had dinner with who was very much perceived as [having] the wrong tone, the old way of doing it. People just assumed they didn’t fit in my world. And I had dinner with that person, and I said, ‘Can I assume that this was fog of war? That sometimes we do things during war that isn’t who we are?’ And he said, ‘You absolutely can assume that. What do you need from me?’ We haven’t had an issue.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This brought us to the second beef with Licht: His approach seemed consistently inconsistent. Acosta was spared while Brian Stelter got axed; John Harwood was pushed out because he didn’t fit the “brand,” but Don Lemon was given a huge new contract and a promotion to anchor Licht’s morning show. After disrespecting his colleague and making asinine comments on the air, Lemon still had his job—for the time being—confounding even those CNN employees who considered him a friend.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Behavior and branding aside, Lemon’s morning show was bad. Hence the third beef Licht’s employees had with him: Wasn’t he supposed to be a producer extraordinaire? A television genius? How was it that so much of the content he put on the air was so unwatchable? I reminded him of what Joe Maysonet, his trainer, had said about the Brooklyn Nets: Big stars and big egos had ruined the team’s chemistry, leaving management no choice but to trade them away and start over. I asked Licht if, four months into the morning show, he was nearing that point.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Jury’s out,” he replied.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then I asked Licht if, looking back, there were things he wished he had done differently. He said yes—“100 percent”—but seemed reluctant to say more. When I pressed, Licht conceded that his biggest mistake had been blazing into the place, determined to prove he was in charge, bellowing, in his own synopsis, “I’m gonna be a much different leader than Jeff,” rather than learning the place, including what Zucker had gotten right.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I was intent on trying to draw a line of difference between the old regime and the new regime,” Licht said. “I should have just sort of slowly come in, without making these grand pronouncements of how different I was going to be.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those grand pronouncements had alienated Licht from much of his workforce. He now realized as much. But, he promised me, there was time to turn it all around. His mission was accelerating. Big moves were in the works. Soon, he said, the world was going to get a look at the new CNN.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A newsroom at CNN’s New York headquarters (Mark Peterson / Redux for The Atlantic)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Chris was absolutely, positively, without question the right choice for CNN,” the teacher told his students, motioning toward the man seated in front of them. “There is nothing more important in America today than trust. I’m praying that Chris is successful. I want him to have this job for 10 years. Because anything less than 10 years will not give him the opportunity to make the most important changes to the most important news source on the face of the Earth. I have every faith that he will succeed, and every fear for this country if he doesn’t.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He turned to face Licht. The teacher’s eyes were watery. His voice was choked with emotion. “My hopes and dreams are embodied in you,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was quite an introduction, especially considering the man who gave it: Frank Luntz.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For 30 years, Luntz, the pollster and focus-group guru, had been the maestro of messaging for a Republican Party that systematically attempted to delegitimize the news media. Luntz had no particular regrets about this. Though he broke from his party over its subjugation to Donald Trump, he still believed the press had done as much damage to the country as any politician in his lifetime, which explained his exuberance over the selection of Licht to run CNN. Since meeting him more than a decade ago, back in the Morning Joe days, Luntz had become certain that Licht was especially well equipped to frame the sort of smart, fair, nuanced discussions the voting public deserved. With Zucker out of the picture, Luntz went into lobbying mode, pleading with Licht to pursue the job, unaware that it had already been offered and accepted.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht had never gotten a fair shake, Luntz told the group of University of Southern California students sitting in a semicircle in his D.C. apartment. The critics had come for him within weeks of his taking the job.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Days!” Licht said, cutting him off. Luntz nodded in agreement. Licht told him that was just fine. His boss, David Zaslav, thought in terms of years, not months. Licht had a plan to see CNN through to the other side of its identity crisis—and Zaslav possessed the patience to let that plan work. Luntz winced. He noted that NFL owners were famous for saying this very thing about their coaches—that there was a vision in place, that it would take time—before firing them. He told Licht he was praying that would not happen.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That CNN’s chieftain would enjoy such enthusiastic support from a famed Republican operator—and that Licht would pay this early-spring visit to Luntz’s home, a place where House Speaker Kevin McCarthy keeps a bedroom—likely confirms the left’s worst fears about him. (When I asked Licht if he is a conservative, he replied, “I would never put myself into a category. I think it depends on what we’re talking about.”) In truth, Licht wasn’t here for Luntz. The night before, when the old friends had run into each other at an event honoring Ted Turner, Luntz had sprung an idea. He was teaching a class to visiting USC students and would be hosting them at his apartment the next day; what if Licht made a surprise appearance to answer their questions about the media?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most executives would never entertain such a haphazard scheduling request. To his credit, Licht—now very much in the barrel at CNN, rumors about job security shadowing his every move—did so and then some. The next day, he showed up at Luntz’s apartment and spent an hour with the group of 16 students. It struck me, yet again, as exactly the type of open interaction he’d been avoiding with his own employees. With the students, Licht was blunt and authentic to a fault; once, during a word-association game, when a young woman called CNN “liberal,” Licht made no effort to mask his irritation, quizzing her for specifics until she admitted defeat, confessing that her answer was more about perception than reality.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of her classmates raised his hand. He asked Licht how CNN could recover from being the face of “fake news.” Licht replied that the network needed to “double down” on a facts-only approach. “It’s so easy to ruin a reputation—and it just takes a lot of time to win it back,” he said. Licht told the students that his organization had little margin for error: Every story on the CNN website, every chyron on the airwaves, every comment on his reporters’ social-media accounts was going to be scrutinized. “It all matters,” he said. “Because the second you give ammunition to the other side, they exploit it.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then Licht said something I’d never heard before. “I don’t want people to think of CNN, Fox, and MSNBC in the same sentence,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht told students that MSNBC was using the all-outrage, all-the-time model that CNN had invented; “one show in particular,” he noted, seemed to use a breaking news banner on virtually every segment. (He was referring to Nicolle Wallace’s program at 4 p.m., a competitor to Jake Tapper’s show in that time slot.) That tactic produces a bump in ratings, Licht said—but he called it irresponsible on the part of his former employer.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was—justifiably, but still surprisingly—much harder on Fox News. After all, Licht had repeatedly warned his staff not to “get over their skis” while covering Rupert Murdoch’s network. He stressed that they were “not in the business of freaking out over everything Laura Ingraham says,” because “it’s not news.” What we were witnessing now, Licht said, was news. Tucker Carlson had been trashing Trump in text messages while providing him cover in prime time. Ingraham and Sean Hannity had dismissed the election-fraud crusade in private while selling it to the base. In fact, the evidence that had emerged from the Dominion lawsuit showed that “a major media organization was knowingly misleading people, and it had actual real-world consequences,” Licht said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using this example, Licht sought to differentiate CNN from both networks—slamming Fox News for being a duplicitous propaganda outfit, and rebuking MSNBC for trafficking in hysteria. “If every day we were hammering Fox, it all sounds like noise,” Licht told the students. “But if you’re watching CNN right now, you’re going, ‘Wow, this is actually important, because they never talk about Fox.’”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right on cue, one of Luntz’s students asked Licht about the trap of false equivalency. She seemed less interested in litigating the respective crimes of Fox News and MSNBC—though that played into her question—and more concerned with Licht’s overall attitude toward the news. There is, she reminded him, “one truth” on some fundamental questions facing the country. Trump had lost the 2020 election; Barack Obama had been born in the United States; we know how many deaths have been caused by COVID.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht pounced. “Wait a second. We don’t know how many deaths there were from COVID,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She frowned at him.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No, really, we don’t,” Licht said. As the son of a doctor, he believed there were “legitimate conversations” to be had about the death toll attached to COVID-19. Perhaps some patients had been admitted to hospitals with life-threatening illnesses before the pandemic began, then died with a positive diagnosis, Licht postulated. “Where we run into trouble is when you say, ‘No. Come on. We’re not even having that conversation,’” he told the students. “That goes to trust as much as anything else. If you’re solid on your facts, then you should be able to entertain that discussion.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht conceded that mollifying the right with a both-sides approach was “the biggest concern in my own organization.” But he wasn’t backing down. It had been unfair, he said, to paint everyone who had questions about the accuracy of death counts as “COVID deniers.” It was dishonest to frame the final pandemic-era bailout as “You’re either for this rescue bill, or you hate poor people.” He gave them his favorite analogy: We can debate whether we like rain or we don’t like rain, as long as we acknowledge when it’s raining outside.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The final question was straightforward. A young woman asked Licht how, given his harsh critiques of CNN’s past performance, the network planned to cover Trump this time around.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I get asked that question all the time,” Licht said, looking bemused. “I will give you a very counterintuitive answer, which is: I am so not concerned about that.” He explained that Trump was now a recycled commodity; that his “superpower” of dominating the news cycle was a thing of the past. If anything, Licht added, he would love to get Trump on the air alongside his ace reporter Kaitlan Collins.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The students appeared startled by his nonchalance.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You cover him like any other candidate,” Licht told them.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next time I saw Licht was two months later in Manchester.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CNN newsroom had been stunned by the news of the May 10 town hall. Internally, questions about whether the network would platform Trump in the run-up to the 2024 campaign had felt very much unanswered. Almost no one—not even CNN’s leading talent, people who had long-standing relationships with Trump and his top aides—knew about the negotiations to host a town hall. When it was announced, Licht made a forceful argument to his employees about the merits of a live event. The campaign was under way; Trump was the front-runner and needed to be covered. Rather than giving him unfiltered access to their viewers via rallies, Licht said, CNN could control the presentation of Trump with its production decisions, its questioning, its live fact-checking. To varying degrees, his skeptics told me, they bought in.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But anxieties grew as the town hall approached. Employees found it strange that none of the CNN anchors who’d interviewed Trump—Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Erin Burnett, Wolf Blitzer, Chris Wallace—was invited to play a role in preparing for the event, whether by shaping questions, suggesting best practices, or simply advising Collins. Trump speculated on social media about the town hall turning into a disaster, prompting fears among executives that he might stage a stunt by walking off the set, which in turn prompted fears among staffers about what, exactly, the network would do to keep Trump on the set. In the final days before the event, concerns about the audience makeup spiked as Licht’s description of the crowd—“extra Trumpy”—wound its way through Slack channels and text-message threads.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these concerns, it turned out, were warranted. Preparation was clearly an issue. Collins did an admirable job but was steamrolled by Trump in key moments; her questions, which came almost entirely from the candidate’s ideological left, served to effectively rally the room around him. Not that the room needed rallying: The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Trump, and because CNN wanted an organic environment, it placed few restrictions on engagement. The ensuing rounds of whole-audience applause—I counted at least nine—disrupted Collins’s rhythm as an interviewer. So did the ill-timed bouts of laughter, such as when Trump mocked E. Jean Carroll, and the jeering that accompanied Collins’s mention of the Access Hollywood tape. By the end of the event, it was essentially indistinguishable from a MAGA rally. People throughout the room shouted, “I love you!” during commercial breaks and chanted “Four more years!” when the program ended.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As attendees emptied into the lobby, it felt as though fans were celebrating the home team’s victory over a hated rival. People I talked with lauded Trump and loathed CNN in equal proportion. Christopher Ager, the state party chair, captured their sentiments best: “We knew that CNN had new leadership. It seemed like they had a different tone, like they were going to be fair to Trump, fair to Republicans. But I didn’t see that tonight,” he said. “This was the old CNN.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two hundred fifty miles away, on the set in New York, CNN staffers were perplexed. The initial plan had called for Scott Jennings, a Republican who is less than enamored of Trump, to join his familiar grouping of pundits on the postgame show. CNN had flown Jennings to New York for the occasion. However, hours before the town hall, a switch was announced internally: Byron Donalds would be substituted for Jennings (who wound up coming on the air with another panel much later that night). Donalds, a Republican congressman from Florida, is an election denier—someone who, to use Licht’s language, says it’s not raining in the middle of a downpour. It was enough of a problem for some CNN staffers that Trump, the original election denier, was flouting Licht’s oft-repeated standard. But why was Donalds on CNN’s postgame panel?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This wasn’t the only peculiar personnel move. Sarah Matthews, a Trump-administration official who’d turned critical of her former boss, had been slated to appear on the pregame show. But she was abruptly nixed in favor of Hogan Gidley, a former White House staffer who remained devoted to Trump.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live television is a volatile thing. People and sets and scripts are always being changed for all kinds of reasons. Still, CNN employees had reason to be suspicious. They wondered if some sort of deal had been cut with Trump’s team, promising the placement of approved panelists in exchange for his participation in the town hall. At the least, even absent some official agreement, it seemed obvious that CNN leaders had been contorting the coverage to keep Trump happy—perhaps to prevent him from walking offstage. At one point during the pregame show, when the words sexual abuse appeared on the CNN chyron, one of Licht’s lieutenants phoned the control room. His instructions stunned everyone who overheard them: The chyron needed to come down immediately.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the town hall ended, two postgame panels kicked off concurrently, giving network executives the flexibility to switch between reporting and analysis. One panel, anchored by Tapper, was a roundtable of journalists picking apart Trump’s lies. The other, led by Cooper, featured partisan pundits—including Donalds—debating one another. According to the mission that Licht had articulated for me, Tapper’s panel should have starred that night. But it didn’t. Licht made the call to elevate Cooper’s panel (a fact first reported by Puck). This decision may or may not have come from the very top: In the days after the town hall, Zaslav told multiple people that Tapper’s Trump-bashing panel reminded him of Zucker’s CNN. Yet even that MAGA-friendly version wasn’t good enough for Donalds. After criticizing the network on-air, the congressman stepped off the set and then, in full view of the crew as well as his fellow panelists, grabbed his phone and started blasting CNN on Twitter.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht was still coming to terms with the ferocity of the backlash later that night when CNN’s popular Reliable Sources newsletter landed in his inbox. He read the opening line in disbelief: “It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening,” Licht’s own media reporter, Oliver Darcy, wrote.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht could handle being ridiculed by his media rivals. But being publicly scolded by someone on his own payroll—on the biggest night of his career—felt like a new level of betrayal. Licht, who just hours earlier had expressed ambivalence to me about how the event played, went into war mode.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning, he began the 9 o’clock editorial call with a telling choice of words: “I absolutely, unequivocally believe America was served very well by what we did last night.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lots of CNN employees on that morning call disagreed with Licht. They thought his execution of the event had been dreadful; they believed his tactical decisions had essentially ceded control of the town hall to Trump, put Collins in an impossible position, and embarrassed everyone involved with the production. These opinions were widely held—and almost entirely irrelevant. Everyone at CNN had long ago come to realize that Licht was playing for an audience of one. It didn’t matter what they thought, or what other journalists thought, or even what viewers thought. What mattered was what David Zaslav thought.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was looking forward to finding out. For months, Zaslav’s head of communications, Nathaniel Brown, had been shielding his boss from participating in this story. He first told me that Zaslav would speak to me only without attribution, and any quotes I wanted to use would be subject to their approval. When I refused—telling Brown that quote approval was out of the question, and that I would meet Zaslav only if he allowed on-the-record questioning—he reluctantly agreed to my terms, but then tried running out the clock, repeatedly making Zaslav unavailable for an interview. Finally, after false starts and a painstaking back-and-forth, the interview was set. I would meet Zaslav on Wednesday, May 17—one week after the Trump town hall—at his office in New York.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Tuesday evening, less than 24 hours before that meeting, Brown called me. “We’re going to keep this on background only, nothing for attribution,” he said. This was a brazen renege on our agreement, and Brown knew it. He claimed that it was out of his hands. But, Brown tried reassuring me, “with everything going on,” Zaslav thought “he could be most helpful to you by explaining some things on background.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wasn’t entirely surprised. Over the previous year, people who knew Zaslav—and who had observed his relationship with Licht—had depicted him as a control freak, a micromanager, a relentless operator who helicoptered over his embattled CNN leader. Zaslav’s constant meddling in editorial decisions struck network veterans as odd and inappropriate; even stranger was his apparent marionetting of Licht. In this sense, some of Licht’s longtime friends and co-workers told me, they pitied him. He was the one getting mauled while the man behind the curtain suffered nary a scratch. I declined Brown’s offer. I told him this was Zaslav’s last chance to make the case for Licht’s leadership—and his own. If he wanted to explain things, he could do so on the record, as we had agreed. Zaslav refused.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The night before the publication of this story, Zaslav sent a statement through Brown saying “while we know that it will take time to complete the important work that’s underway, we have great confidence in the progress that Chris and the team are making and share their conviction in the strategy.” Brown also offered his own statement alongside it, saying that he’d only canceled our on-record interview because “it became clear over a period of months between the initial request and the planned meeting that the premise of that meeting had changed.” (It had not; in an email two days before the scheduled meeting, Brown had written that they would see me Wednesday for “on record” conversation.)</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The day after that canceled meeting, I sat down with Licht for the final time, at a restaurant overlooking Hudson Yards. I told him about the perception that Zaslav doesn’t let him do his job. Licht looked temporarily frozen.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t feel that at all,” he said. “I feel like I have someone who’s a great partner, who has my back and knows a lot about this business.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Do you feel like you’ve been able to be yourself on this job?” I asked.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Where does that question come from? What are you getting at? Like, myself?” he asked, looking incredulous. Licht chewed on his lip for a moment. “I think it’s very different—a CEO job is just very different. Every word you say is parsed. Every way you look at someone is parsed. It’s just different. So I try to be as much of my authentic self as possible within the natural confines of the job.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I explained where the question was coming from. People at CNN think he’s “performative,” I told Licht, as though he’s projecting this persona of a bulletproof badass because that’s what Zaslav wants to see. His staffers also think he’s become so bent on selling this image that it’s crushed his ability to build real, meaningful relationships with key people there who want him to succeed.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CNN employees had asked me, again and again, to probe for some humility in their leader. If nothing else, they wanted some morsel of self-awareness. They hoped to see that he knew how poorly his tenure was playing out, and why. But Licht would not bite. At one point, I asked him whether he regretted moving his office to the 22nd floor. Licht sat in silence for more than a minute—cracking his neck, glancing around, appearing at one point as though he might not answer the question at all.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, he exhaled heavily. “I didn’t mean for it to become a thing. And it became a thing. So, sure.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Only because it became a thing?” I asked.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sure,” he replied.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht wasn’t going to give me—or, more accurately, his employees—the satisfaction of admitting this error. He certainly wasn’t going to acknowledge everything else that had gone wrong. Even with CNN falling behind Newsmax in the ratings two nights after the town hall, Licht was unperturbed. Even with his employees in open revolt—a week after Darcy’s newsletter, Christiane Amanpour, perhaps the most accomplished journalist in CNN’s history, chided Licht in a speech at Columbia’s journalism school—he was staying the course.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked Licht whether there was anything he regretted about the event. The “extra Trumpy” makeup of the crowd? (No, Licht said, because it was representative of the Republican base.) Devoting the first question to his election lies? (No, Licht said, because nothing else, not even the E. Jean Carroll verdict, was as newsworthy as Trump’s assault on the ballot box.) Allowing the audience to cheer at will? (No, Licht said, because instructing them to hold their applause, as debate moderators regularly do, would have altered the reality of the event.) The lone point he ceded was that the crowd should have been introduced to viewers at home—with a show of hands, perhaps, to demonstrate how many had voted for Trump previously, or were planning to support him in 2024.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He gave no ground on anything else—not even the presence of Representative Donalds on the postgame show. Licht told me it probably didn’t make sense to seat a congressman on the pundits’ panel, but said he otherwise had no regrets, even after I pointed out that Donalds was an election denier who used his place on that panel to question the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had CNN struck a deal with Trump’s team, I asked, that required seating guests like Donalds and Gidley?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Absolutely not,” Licht replied. “I can unequivocally say there was no agreement, no deal. Nothing.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I shared with him a more popular theory of what had gone down. Lots of CNN employees believed there’d been no formal agreement, but rather an understanding: If Trump showed good faith in coming on CNN, the network needed to show good faith in booking some unusually pro-Trump voices for the pregame and postgame shows. I noted to Licht that many of his people believed this would have been agreed to without his knowledge, because he was focused on the bigger picture of producing the town hall. Was it possible, I asked, that his lieutenants might have reached that understanding with Trump’s team?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Nnnno,” he said, dragging out the word, buying himself some time. “But I can—I mean, anything’s possible. But I would imagine it’s more along the lines of ‘If we are completely one-sided in our analysis, then that doesn’t serve the audience.’” He paused. “Like, [one] of the biggest misconceptions about that town hall is that I did it for ratings. It’s a rented audience”—that is, most viewers were not CNN regulars—“so I didn’t do it for ratings. I certainly didn’t do it for a profit, because it cost us money. And I certainly didn’t do it to build a relationship with Trump. So that would by definition preclude a lot of the conspiracy-theory dealmaking.”</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe it was a conspiracy theory. But over the past year, so many things that Licht’s employees had predicted—speculation he’d dismissed as wrong or shortsighted or unhinged—had proved true. Lemon was a disaster on the morning show. (Licht finally fired him in April.) Collins wasn’t better co-anchoring in New York than starring at the White House. (Licht gave her the 9 o’clock hour beginning this summer.) Licht had been fixated on the negative press about him. (He confronted Dylan Byers at a party in March, Licht admitted to me, and raged at the reporter about his coverage.) Zaslav did turn out to be comically intrusive. (In one incident, a day after the New York Post reported that Licht might soon be fired, Zaslav dropped into a CNN managerial meeting and declared to Licht’s underlings, “This is our rendezvous with destiny!”)</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht had told me that he and Zaslav figured the “gut renovation” of CNN would require two years of work. But there was reason to believe that timeline was accelerating: Not long after our final interview, Warner Bros. Discovery announced the installation of CNN’s new chief operating officer, David Leavy, a Zaslav confidant whose hiring fueled talk of an imminent power struggle—and potentially, the beginning of the end for Licht.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fairness, Jeff Zucker’s first few years at CNN were also brutal. There were layoffs and programming flops, and viewership was in decline. It wasn’t until Zucker found a rhythm with what CNN staff called his “swarm strategy,” which threw reporting resources at the hottest trending stories—disappearing planes, the “Poop Cruise,” and, ultimately, Trump’s candidacy—that CNN became a ratings behemoth. Licht’s poor start did not preclude a comeback. There was, he and his stalwarts told me, still time for him to be successful.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And yet, little in Licht’s first-year record indicated that success was on the way. His biggest achievement—luring Charles Barkley and Gayle King to co-host a show—was hardly going to revive CNN’s prime-time lineup. The program, “King Charles,” would air only once a week, leaving Licht still in search of the win he needed to juice CNN’s ratings—and perhaps save his job.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Near the end of our interview, I asked Licht to put himself in my shoes. If he were me, could he possibly write a positive profile of CNN’s leader?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He spent a long time in silence. “Absolutely,” Licht finally said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the answer was “absolutely,” I asked, why did he need so long to think about it?</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I wanted to be very sure,” he replied.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was not the same man I’d met a year earlier. Once certain that he could tame Trump single-handedly, Licht still tried to act the part of an indomitable CEO. Yet he was now stalked by self-doubt. That much was understandable: Licht lived on an island, surrounded by people who disliked him, or doubted his vision for the company, or questioned his competency, or were outright rooting for his ruin. He had hoped the Trump town hall would make believers out of his critics. Instead, it turned his few remaining believers into critics. I had never witnessed a lower tide of confidence inside any company than in the week following the town hall at CNN. Some staffers held off-site meetings openly discussing the merits of quitting en masse. Many began reaching out to rival media organizations about job openings. More than a few called Jeff Zucker, their former boss, desperate for his counsel.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we sipped our coffee, Licht tried to sound unflappable.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t need people to be loyal to Chris Licht. I need people to be loyal to CNN,” he said.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The only person whose loyalty he needed, I pointed out, was Zaslav.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licht nodded slowly, saying nothing. Then, just as he started to speak, his wrist began buzzing and flashing. Licht glanced down at his smartwatch. Zaslav was calling him. He looked up at me. Seeing that I’d noticed, Licht allowed a laugh—a genuine laugh—then stood up from the table and answered his phone.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story has been updated to incorporate details of a statement from David Zaslav and his spokesperson.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tim Alberta is a staff writer at The Atlantic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter</span></p><p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-10329840316992060602019-04-21T22:53:00.003+01:002019-04-21T22:55:20.479+01:00Mueller Report - original redacted version<div style="display: block; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto;">
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<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="null" data-auto-height="true" frameborder="0" height="600" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/406726026/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true&access_key=key-qYm8I8J3v3MXwDfOac34" title="Mueller report" width="100%"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-28638996943949118712018-06-03T18:59:00.001+01:002018-06-03T19:05:37.398+01:00Defaults and Privacy<div class="moat-trackable pb-f-theme-normal pb-f-dehydrate-false pb-f-async-false full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-article-body" data-chain-name="no-name" data-feature-id="article/article-body" data-feature-name="no-name" data-pb-fingerprint="0fKnqbKcTqW" id="f0NHWzaiD7McTq" moat-id="article/article-body" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; float: left; font-family: franklinpro, franklinitcprolight, "franklin gothic medium", "franklin gothic", "itc franklin gothic", "apple sd gothic neo", "myriad set pro", "helvetica neue", "helvetica neue light", helvetica, arial, "lucida grande", sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 629.531px;">
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Using my librarian superpower of being able to ignore copyright in a single bound, </div>
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this info is important enough.</div>
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<a class="kicker-link" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Switch</a><span class="section-label" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="section-label-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Review</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Hands off my data! 15 default privacy</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />settings you should change right now</span></h2>
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</section><section class="col-xl-9 col-lg-8 col-md-8 col-sm-12 col-xs-12 col-xs-offset-0 col-sm-offset-0 col-md-offset-0 col-lg-offset-0 layout" id="main-content" style="background-image: url("//www.washingtonpost.com/pb/resources/img/spacer-gray.png"); background-position: 94% center; background-repeat: repeat-y; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: none; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 89.9219px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 719.453px;"><div class="moat-trackable pb-f-theme-normal pb-f-dehydrate-false pb-f-async-false full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-article-deck" data-chain-name="no-name" data-feature-id="article/article-deck" data-feature-name="no-name" data-pb-fingerprint="0fenqbKcTqG" id="fLINQp1iD7McTq" moat-id="article/article-deck" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 629.531px;">
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Say no to defaults. A clickable guide to fixing the complicated privacy settings from Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.</h2>
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<span class="pb-byline" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="byline-role" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; vertical-align: baseline;">By </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/geoffrey-a-fowler/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span itemprop="name" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">Geoffrey A. Fowler</span></a></span><span class="pb-timestamp" content="2018-06-01T12:59-500" itemprop="datePublished" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">June 1</span></div>
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On the Internet, the devil’s in the defaults.</div>
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You’re not reading all those updated data policies flooding your inbox. You probably haven’t even looked for your privacy settings. And that’s exactly what Facebook, Google and other tech giants are counting on.</div>
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They tout we’re <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/04/12/no-mark-zuckerberg-were-not-really-in-control-of-our-data/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“in control” of our personal data</a>, but know most of us won’t change the settings that let them grab it like cash in a game show wind machine. Call it the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/01/default-settings-change-phones-computers" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rule of Defaults</a>: 95 percent of people are too busy, or too confused, to change a darn thing.</div>
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Give me 15 minutes, and I can help you join the 5 percent who are actually in control. I dug through the privacy settings for the five biggest consumer tech companies and picked a few of the most egregious defaults you should consider changing. These links will take you directly to what to tap, click and toggle for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/01/hands-off-my-data-15-default-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-now/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a7ba79ec6#facebook" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Facebook</b></a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/01/hands-off-my-data-15-default-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-now/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a7ba79ec6#google" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google</b></a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/01/hands-off-my-data-15-default-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-now/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a7ba79ec6#amazon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon</b></a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/01/hands-off-my-data-15-default-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-now/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a7ba79ec6#microsoft" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Microsoft</b></a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/01/hands-off-my-data-15-default-privacy-settings-you-should-change-right-now/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a7ba79ec6#apple" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Apple</b></a>.</div>
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Some of their defaults are just bonkers. Google has been saving a map of everywhere you go, if you turned on its Assistant when you set up an Android phone. Amazon makes your wish list public — and keeps recordings of all your conversations with Alexa. Facebook exposes to the public your friends list and all the pages you follow, and it lets marketers use your name in their Facebook ads. By default, Microsoft’s Cortana in Windows 10 gobbles up … pretty much your entire digital life.</div>
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My inspiration for poring over the fine print was the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/25/why-youre-getting-flooded-with-privacy-notifications-in-your-email/?utm_term=.d5410ad86d2b" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">European General Data Protection Act, or GDPR</a>, that recently went into effect and prompted all those privacy policy emails. I asked the largest tech companies what they’d changed —<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/24/new-privacy-rules-could-spell-the-end-of-legalese-or-create-a-lot-more-fine-print/?utm_term=.9ebbae9a819d" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> other than their legalese</a> — about default settings or the amount of data they collect on us. The shocking answer: almost nothing. (Facebook is also <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/privacy-shortcuts/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">rolling out new privacy controls</a>, but not actually changing your options … or even taking away many clicks.)</div>
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My suggestions are small acts of resistance — there are further settings, privacy-minded apps and Web browser add-ons that could take you on a deeper dive. (I’d love to hear what else has worked well for you.) Changing the defaults I list here mean you’ll get less personalization from some services, and might see some repeated ads. But these changes can curtail some of the creepy advertising fueled by your data, and, in some cases, stop these giant companies from collecting so much data about you in the first place. And that’s a good place to start.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OBL7Z3ISXAZBRLA7BIRCKPBCNY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><img class="_3-to-2 hi-res-lazy courtesy-of-the-lazy-loader" data-hi-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/80zONTmJQQQkG6Qs-rOlKiyMn5w=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/OBL7Z3ISXAZBRLA7BIRCKPBCNY.jpg" data-low-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/tz5tnQ4MBU7fWD_PZnn3H2f7wkg=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/OBL7Z3ISXAZBRLA7BIRCKPBCNY.jpg" data-raw-src="https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/OBL7Z3ISXAZBRLA7BIRCKPBCNY.jpg" data-threshold="480" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/80zONTmJQQQkG6Qs-rOlKiyMn5w=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/OBL7Z3ISXAZBRLA7BIRCKPBCNY.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 629.531px;" /><br />
<span class="pb-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6e6e6e; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the weeks ahead, Facebook will pop up in your News Feed with a call to review some settings. It won’t change your defaults — but it’s a good reminder you should change them by tapping manage data settings. (Facebook)</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="facebook" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 27.83px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a>Facebook</h2>
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Like skinny jeans, Facebook makes you share more than perhaps you ought to. It’s time to hard look at what you’re putting out there.</div>
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(Note: Facebook is rolling out n<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/03/28/facebooks-makes-its-privacy-controls-simpler-as-company-faces-data-reckoning/?utm_term=.ed1c1020cbaa" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ew privacy settings on its mobile apps</a> — but you may have not gotten them yet. They change the location of some controls on your phone, but don’t change your choices.)</div>
<ul data-elm-loc="12" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyone can see all your Facebook friends and all the weird pages you follow. That includes employers, stalkers, identity thieves and quite possibly your mother.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On your phone’s Facebook app, tap the button with three lines, then scroll to Settings & Privacy, then tap Settings, and then Privacy Settings. Or use <a href="https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=privacy" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this link on the Web</a>. Then switch <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Who can see your friends list</b> from <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Public</b> to <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Friends</b> — or, even better, <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Only me</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do the same <a href="https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=privacy" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">on that same page</a> with a separate setting for <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Who can see the people, Pages and lists you follow.</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: Strangers being able to hunt you down or discover your interests.</li>
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<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I know what you did last summer … because when people tag you in a photo or post, it automatically shows up on your timeline.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Facebook app under Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Timeline and Tagging (or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">at this link on the Web</a>) switch <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On</b> the option <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Review posts you’re tagged in before the post appears on your timeline.</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: Letting others post on your behalf — at least until you approve each post.</li>
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<ul data-elm-loc="14" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Your face belongs to Facebook. By default, it scans all the photos and video you share to create digital face IDs — unless you tell them hands off your mug.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Facebook app under Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Face Recognition (or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=facerec" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">at this link on the Web</a>) switch to <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No</b> under <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos?</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: Facebook won’t recommend tagging you in photos, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/12/19/facebook-wants-your-face-data-in-the-name-of-privacy-it-says/?utm_term=.1e5f17440187" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">won’t give you a heads up when someone else posts a photo of you</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-left horizontal-photo" data-elm-loc="15" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; float: left; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0.7em 20px 10px 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="XT43A7PGKUYMLLTGNDFFLJ2KRM" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><img class="_3-to-2 lo-res-lazy courtesy-of-the-lazy-loader" data-hi-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/jxLUPr_xTBXtrgeU9R8t817hhBs=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XT43A7PGKUYMLLTGNDFFLJ2KRM.jpg" data-low-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/f7AUmSHoc_vWhcAW6nstoKIFEpA=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XT43A7PGKUYMLLTGNDFFLJ2KRM.jpg" data-raw-src="https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XT43A7PGKUYMLLTGNDFFLJ2KRM.jpg" data-threshold="480" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/f7AUmSHoc_vWhcAW6nstoKIFEpA=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XT43A7PGKUYMLLTGNDFFLJ2KRM.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /><br />
<span class="pb-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6e6e6e; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Turn off these three settings that let Facebook advertisers use even more data to target you. (Facebook)</span></div>
<div data-elm-loc="16" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Don’t give it all away to Facebook advertisers, either. Reminder: Each member in North America was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/04/05/what-if-we-paid-for-facebook-instead-of-letting-it-spy-on-us-for-free/?utm_term=.0bd359d4d36a" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">worth $82 in advertising to Facebook in 2017</a>.</div>
<ul data-elm-loc="17" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Advertisers can use very personal data to target you, making Facebook ads even creepier than they have to be.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Facebook app’s Settings & Privacy menu, tap Settings, then Ad Preferences (or use <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this link on the Web</a>). Then tap open the section called Your information. There, switch <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Off</b> ads based on your <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">relationship status</b>, <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">employer</b>, <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">job title</b> and <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">education</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While you’re in Ad Preferences, head down to Ad settings and switch to <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not allowed</b> for <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ads based on data from partners</b> and <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere.</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: More “relevant” ads, which is more of a problem for advertisers than for you</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul data-elm-loc="18" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Surprise, you’re starring in Facebook ads! Did your check not arrive in the mail? Oh right: Just by “liking” a page, you give Facebook advertisers permission to use your name in ads they show your friends — and you don’t get a dime.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On your phone under Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Ad Preferences (or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">at this link on the Web</a>) tap open Ads Settings and switch to <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No One</b> the setting for <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ads that include your social actions</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: Use of your name by a company you might not actually care very much about.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-elm-loc="19" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="google" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 27.83px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a>Google</h2>
<div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-left horizontal-photo" data-elm-loc="20" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; float: left; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0.7em 20px 10px 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="NGQWVDMD2A7KNGXFZDVJVI6TGU" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><img class="_3-to-2 lo-res-lazy courtesy-of-the-lazy-loader" data-hi-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/JZ1yam0cpRE4cdHyWPYFyLYT0BY=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NGQWVDMD2A7KNGXFZDVJVI6TGU.jpg" data-low-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/ChB-5beuYN8QHL-roVC2y9vrqyk=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NGQWVDMD2A7KNGXFZDVJVI6TGU.jpg" data-raw-src="https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NGQWVDMD2A7KNGXFZDVJVI6TGU.jpg" data-threshold="480" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/ChB-5beuYN8QHL-roVC2y9vrqyk=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NGQWVDMD2A7KNGXFZDVJVI6TGU.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /><br />
<span class="pb-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6e6e6e; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By default, Google's keeping a list of everything you search for — and every website you visit. Turn that off under Activity controls. (Google)</span></div>
<div data-elm-loc="21" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Google is the giant black hole of the tech world, sucking up as much personal data as it can get away with.</div>
<ul data-elm-loc="22" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google is keeping track of every phrase you ever search for, every site you’ve visited and every YouTube video you’ve watched … including the embarrassing ones.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the Web, use this link to <a href="https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google’s activity controls</a> to turn off <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Web and App Activity</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While you’re there, scroll down and also turn off <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">YouTube Search History</b> and <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">YouTube Watch History</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: You won’t be able to dig back up websites and videos you once visited, and Google’s systems won’t get to know you as well.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul data-elm-loc="23" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google makes a map of everywhere you go that would make the CIA envious.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the Web, at the same link for <a href="https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google’s activity controls</a> to turn <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">off</b><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Location History.</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are several ways you might have turned on Location History. Google tells me that in the future, it will stop asking to turn on this function when you initially set up its Assistant an Android phone. (Imagine that: a tech giant actually scaling back some data collection.)</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up:</em> You won’t be able to walk down memory lane, and Google’s recommendations based on your travels won’t be as good.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div data-elm-loc="24" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
While you’re at it, you can stop oversharing with Google’s advertisers.</div>
<ul data-elm-loc="25" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google helps marketers target you on Google-owned sites such as YouTube and Gmail.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the Web, use <a href="https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this link for Ads Settings</a> to turn <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">off</b> <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ads personalization</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: You may see less “useful” ads, a concern for nobody anywhere ever.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-elm-loc="26" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="amazon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 27.83px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a>Amazon</h2>
<div data-elm-loc="27" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Amazon has grown from a bookstore to an everything store — to the maker of devices that listen and watch what’s happening around the house. (Amazon CEO Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post, but I review all tech with the same critical eye.)</div>
<div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-normal horizontal-photo" data-elm-loc="28" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="LBZ3I5UI3AZK7B6L2AN6PK3I3Q" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><img class="_3-to-2 hi-res-lazy courtesy-of-the-lazy-loader" data-hi-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/aJRloruPYiLDQiskoFY1oBY3i7E=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LBZ3I5UI3AZK7B6L2AN6PK3I3Q.jpg" data-low-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/2aYGPRkoKEmtGu6GvjWa2XiKfWg=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LBZ3I5UI3AZK7B6L2AN6PK3I3Q.jpg" data-raw-src="https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LBZ3I5UI3AZK7B6L2AN6PK3I3Q.jpg" data-threshold="480" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/aJRloruPYiLDQiskoFY1oBY3i7E=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LBZ3I5UI3AZK7B6L2AN6PK3I3Q.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 629.531px;" /><br />
<span class="pb-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6e6e6e; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Inside the Alexa mobile app, you can see, and delete, recordings of your conversations. Tap Settings, then History, then pick a conversation and tap Delete Voice Recordings. (Amazon)</span></div>
<ul data-elm-loc="29" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon keeps a recording of everything you’ve ever said to its talking artificial intelligence Alexa — and also, we’ve learned recently, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/24/hey-alexa-come-clean-about-how-much-youre-really-recording-us/?utm_term=.e36a47218783" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">some things you didn’t intend to say to Alexa</a>.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can listen to what Amazon recorded by going to the Alexa app, then tapping Settings, then History. There you can delete individual entries.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can delete whole bunch of recordings at once by logging in to your Amazon account on the Web, then looking under Account and Lists settings and finding at finding <a href="https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/myx#/home/devices/1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">manage your content and devices (or, just use this link)</a>. Find your Echo or other Alexa device in the list, then click manage voice recordings.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon’s settings don’t offer as much as you might want: there’s no setting to stop Alexa from saving recordings in the future.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up</em>: An audio history of all your goofy questions for Alexa … or your children asking her to help with homework.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul data-elm-loc="30" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s a fun idea next time you’re at a house party: Go up to an Echo speaker, and order its owner a 10-pound bucket of sea salt. Surprise! Anyone with access to your Echo speaker can order products on Amazon.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Alexa app on your phone, under Settings, scroll to <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Voice Purchasing</b> and turn it <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">off</b> — or at least put a <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">voice code</b> in place that your kids (or terrible friends) won’t guess.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up: Super quick product ordering to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/31/why-you-cannot-quit-amazon-prime-even-if-maybe-you-should/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">feed your Prime addiction</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-normal horizontal-photo" data-elm-loc="31" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="GVZGSNXYE42IBBAHCTATCJUMWI" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><img class="_3-to-2 hi-res-lazy courtesy-of-the-lazy-loader" data-hi-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/fUZNvylrRcd76SkolRLd9rj49X0=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/GVZGSNXYE42IBBAHCTATCJUMWI.jpg" data-low-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/aS9KuNUeM1nMmU84fDedB2O366M=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/GVZGSNXYE42IBBAHCTATCJUMWI.jpg" data-raw-src="https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/GVZGSNXYE42IBBAHCTATCJUMWI.jpg" data-threshold="480" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/fUZNvylrRcd76SkolRLd9rj49X0=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/GVZGSNXYE42IBBAHCTATCJUMWI.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 629.531px;" /><br />
<span class="pb-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6e6e6e; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Your Amazon wish list is public by default. Open your list, then under share list, find the manage list setting and change it to private. (Amazon)</span></div>
<ul data-elm-loc="32" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Your Amazon “wish list” is open to the public by default. Yes, it’s nice to buy someone a gift — but I’m doubtful everyone understands it’s open to everyone. You can search people by name at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/search.html/ref=cm_wl_search_wlv_hz?type=wishlist" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the link here</a>.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Set your list to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/newwl?&sort=default" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">private by using this link</a> clicking on your wish list, then clicking on the three dots next to share list, then tapping manage list, then changing <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Privacy</b> to <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Private</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up: Surprise presents you actually want from people who don’t really know you well enough to just ask.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul data-elm-loc="33" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon knows more than Santa about what you’d like for Christmas. It keeps a log of every Amazon product you look at — not just the ones you buy.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stop Amazon from tracking you by going clicking Browsing History on Amazon’s homepage and clicking View and Edit (or just use <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/history/ref=nav_timeline_view_history" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this link</a>), then clicking on <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Manage history</b>, and turning it <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Off</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up: Personalized recommendations for product categories you may or may not want your family members to know you were looking at.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-elm-loc="34" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="microsoft" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 27.83px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a>Microsoft</h2>
<div data-elm-loc="35" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Windows 10 isn’t just an operating system used by 700 million devices: It’s a training school for Microsoft’s less-well-known A.I., Cortana.</div>
<ul data-elm-loc="36" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When you set up Windows 10, it suggests turning on Cortana — which means letting Microsoft collect your location, contacts, voice, speech patterns, search queries, calendar and messaging content.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you don’t plan to use Cortana, <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">decline</b> it when you first set up your computer. Turning it off after the fact is much more complicated. There’s no single button, and some PCs put settings in different places. On most, open Cortana and click on her settings, then <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Permissions & History</b>, and then individually turn off everything. Also turn off what’s listed under <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Manage the information Cortana can access from this device</b>. Then go to Cortana, click on the Notebook icon, then click on your Microsoft account and <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">log out</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That stops Cortana from collecting future data, but to delete what it already knows, point your Web browser to your <a href="https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Microsoft Privacy settings page</a> and click <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">view and clear</b> on various types of data it has collected. Also go to the Cortana tab and tap <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Clear Cortana data</b>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up: another talking virtual assistant.</li>
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<ul data-elm-loc="37" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Windows helps advertisers track your PC using an anonymous ID.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Go to Settings, then Privacy, then General, and turn <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">off Let apps use advertising ID to make ads more interesting to you based on your app usage.</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up: “More interesting” ads that probably weren’t going to be very interesting in the first place</li>
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<div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-left horizontal-photo" data-elm-loc="38" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; float: left; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0.7em 20px 10px 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="NVTW5TLBBUY2TIKQEXI4GJZRYI" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><img class="_3-to-2 lo-res-lazy courtesy-of-the-lazy-loader" data-hi-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/tPjdlbeaQDEfNoA7vdkGHfvl8rw=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NVTW5TLBBUY2TIKQEXI4GJZRYI.jpg" data-low-res-src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/nwlvTY8KgXHBg7lWxYd7r3XRT54=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NVTW5TLBBUY2TIKQEXI4GJZRYI.jpg" data-raw-src="https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NVTW5TLBBUY2TIKQEXI4GJZRYI.jpg" data-threshold="480" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/nwlvTY8KgXHBg7lWxYd7r3XRT54=/480x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NVTW5TLBBUY2TIKQEXI4GJZRYI.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /><br />
<span class="pb-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6e6e6e; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Apple)</span></div>
<h2 data-elm-loc="39" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="apple" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 27.83px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a>Apple</h2>
<div data-elm-loc="40" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Apple has a carefully-honed reputation for respecting privacy. But it still makes accommodations for online ad targeting — and you have to know where to look to stop it.</div>
<ul data-elm-loc="41" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The iPhone shares an anonymous ID for advertisers to target you.<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To stop it, go to your iPhone’s Settings, then Privacy then Advertising and switch on <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Limit Ad Tracking</b></a><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</b></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This will impact Apple-made apps, ads served via Apple’s advertising system, and apps that use the iPhone’s Advertising Identifier.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What you give up: You might get less “relevant” ads, and possibly some repeated ones.</li>
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<div data-elm-loc="42" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Read more tech advice and analysis from Geoffrey A. Fowler:</strong></div>
<div data-elm-loc="43" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/04/25/the-new-gmail-sends-self-destructing-emails-and-nudges-you-to-reply-to-mom/?utm_term=.d92d9acbdee8" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here's what you need to know about the new Gmail</em></a></div>
<div data-elm-loc="44" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/31/why-you-cannot-quit-amazon-prime-even-if-maybe-you-should/?utm_term=.64a05ed8337a" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why you cannot quit Amazon Prime — even if maybe you should</a></em></div>
<div data-elm-loc="45" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/08/google-wants-to-cure-your-smartphone-addiction/?utm_term=.fc57ff20f5fc" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c6cb4; font-size: 18.7905px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google wants to cure your smartphone addiction</a></em></div>
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<img class="" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/MP2jnRRhIqdoJOHwpZOJVPxj_04=/180x180/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/washpost/059a0168-736b-43cb-9473-20e8b42e454f.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 104.922px;" /></div>
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Geoffrey A. Fowler is The Washington Post’s technology columnist based in San Francisco. He joined The Post in 2017 after 16 years with the Wall Street Journal writing about consumer technology, Silicon Valley, national affairs and China.</div>
<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=geoffreyfowler" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="fa fa-twitter" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span> Follow @geoffreyfowle<br />r</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-32035514952753574232017-10-30T22:42:00.002+00:002017-10-31T02:02:33.243+00:00Seth Abramson on Sanders Presidential Presser - 10/30/2017 - By Tweet<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump has no intention or plan to fire Mueller. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Trump told the NYT that if Mueller crosses a certain "red line" he could be fired.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The charges and plea announced today had "nothing to do with the President's campaign or campaign activity." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And here's why:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Manafort lied to the FBI *while Trump's Campaign Manager* and used his illegally gotten, Putin-linked funds to work for Trump "for free."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· So Trump was the direct beneficiary—to the tune of saving *many millions* in consulting fees—of the fact Manafort got money from Russia.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· All Papadopoulos' lies—which he's pled to—involved high-ranking Trump officials, Trump campaign activity, and protecting Trump himself.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"There's clear evidence" Clinton colluded with Russian intelligence. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is false on almost too many grounds to mention. A start:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Clinton's camp *continued* payments started by *Republicans* to a firm that contracted with *another* firm whose sources were *non-FSB*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dossier "influenced" the election. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Barring 1 article, the dossier wasn't reported on in any significant way until January '17.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dossier "smears" the President. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Every piece of information in the dossier that can be confirmed so far *has* been confirmed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Clinton's camp didn't know what research they would receive and had nothing to do with its collection. And—the FBI believes the dossier.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's been no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Not only is the Papadopoulos plea a smoking gun—Sessions' perjuries were too.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Indeed—both the ongoing secret sanctions negotiations between Trump and Russia and the GOP platform change were the result of collusion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Papadopoulos is in trouble only for not telling the truth.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The WH implies the underlying activities were all okay. They were not.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Papadopoulos plead to Making False Statements so that he *wouldn't* have to plead to greater charges and *could* cooperate with the FBI.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's no "official capacity" in which the campaign was involved with Papadopoulos' acts.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—his actions were *campaign-sanctioned*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Manafort/Gates indictments deal with crimes in a time "well before" the Trump campaign existed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Both were ongoing in 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Papadopoulos had a "limited" campaign role. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. He was a top adviser and a primary liaison to other nations on Trump's Russia policy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Papadopoulos went overseas for Trump and was one of the *only* NatSec team members kept on when the team disbanded in late July of 2016.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Papadopoulos was giving interviews on Trump's Russia policy to Russian media as late—possibly later—than *late September of 2016*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· All told, George Papadopoulos worked for Trump for *at least* seven months of the eleven-month campaign primary/general "voting" season.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Papadopoulos' outreach on the Kremlin's behalf was "repeatedly denied." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. At all turns he was openly, clearly encouraged by emails.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Papadopoulos had no role in extra-campaign outreach. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—he went to Israel for Trump, talked to Russian media for Trump and much else.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· And of course we know from his sworn plea docs that "high-ranking campaign officials" authorized him to speak to (other) Kremlin agents.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"We expect Mueller to conclude his work soon." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Recent articles confirm Trump and his lawyers are battening down for a long haul.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders says Trump's last Manafort contact was in February. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>TRUE/FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? In this case it doesn't matter—because it's damning. Here's why:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· We were told Manafort called Priebus just before the inauguration—to urge Trump to release dirt on HRC—because he couldn't access Trump.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· The campaign wanted to distance Trump from Manafort *and the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting* by saying Manafort *could not access* Trump.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Today Sanders inadvertently revealed that Manafort was still able to talk to Trump—and we know his subject was "HRC dirt"—in *February*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders now says that Donald Trump can't recall *anything* about his March 31st, 2016 meeting at Trump International Hotel in DC.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Trump is always lauding his perfect memory and appears to have excellent recall for (for instance) any person who has ever slighted him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Moreover, others at the TIHDC meeting have excellent recall: they told The Daily Caller Trump was "flattered" by Papadopoulos' proposal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders says she's had "no conversations" with Trump on pardons.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We know Trump has discussed the pardon power with his top aides.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders: it's "not clear how Sessions could be said to be involved" in the Papadopoulos case. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—Sessions was the kid's *supervisor*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Moreover, Sessions received at least some—maybe all—of Papadopoulos' March (and April, and May) emails. And he *heard him at the TIHDC*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders says she's not sure when Trump first heard of the stolen emails.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> Possibly TRUE, </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but Papadopoulos implies it was in *April 2016*.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders: the indictments/plea "don't have anything to do with us." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> See preceding tweets—this is, simply put, an *outrageous* lie.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Papadopoulos "volunteered" for Trump's NatSec Advisory Committee.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He was recruited by Sam Clovis; he didn't come out of nowhere.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Papadopoulos was *chosen* by Trump's team, then *featured* by Trump in print/pictures, then *promoted* by Trump to a larger Russia role.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump's NatSec Committee "met only once"? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> They were in constant contact via email threads—so this is a *deeply* misleading claim.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"He [Papadopoulos] wasn't responded to in any way when he reached out"—</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—for *months* he was responded to *throughout* the campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders says the dossier is "fake information" and the Clinton campaign knew that. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The dossier is substantially verified *and*...</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· ...everyone who's looked at the dossier, including Steele, Fusion GPS, FBI, and others in law enforcement have *believed it to be true*.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· So the idea the Clinton campaign was in a position to know "false" a dossier that (a) is *true* and (b) the FBI believed true, is crazy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump was "without a lot of reaction" when he learned of Mueller's indictments. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And—uh—I'm just going to post this picture here: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4oirU_mjflFuOaC6OZUdfimPkEeoH498BilObX1HiAmgN2SWpjlPdicQ935me5AjfP67snv65_xdm8hLpJwpCBziJe8GY_wIoDyiMHbdWRW_u0f59OZ08XmnqGaaWqQ_irLEtLtpNPw/s1600/DNaNwqTWAAEj_pt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="589" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4oirU_mjflFuOaC6OZUdfimPkEeoH498BilObX1HiAmgN2SWpjlPdicQ935me5AjfP67snv65_xdm8hLpJwpCBziJe8GY_wIoDyiMHbdWRW_u0f59OZ08XmnqGaaWqQ_irLEtLtpNPw/s640/DNaNwqTWAAEj_pt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SHS says when Trump hired Papadopoulos, the latter was a "seasoned operative."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE. </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All accounts say he lacked meaningful credentials.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"We have indications" the probe will wrap up soon, Sanders says.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> They're relying on Christie, it seems, who has/cites no sources.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump called Papadopoulos an "excellent guy" in a pro forma way. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He said his team was the best, and "sold" Papadopoulos as such.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· The other possibility is that he was lying about knowing who Papadopoulos was—which he was claiming to—but that's *not* the WH line now.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders says she's "not aware" of Trump aides speaking with Papadopoulos about Kremlin meetings. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—she read Papadopoulos' affidavit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders: "we haven't asked for any leak investigations." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Trump has done precisely this on Twitter in the past, and she knows it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sanders: "I don't know" if Trump thinks Mueller has overstepped. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>FALSE.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Trump calling the probe a "witch hunt" makes exactly that claim.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-deb76262-6f62-4e5a-8f43-b0845f0ceda4"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So those are all the lies Sanders told America—on the most important federal criminal probe of our lifetimes—in a *very* short briefing. As Americans, we mustn't just expect but be *prepared for* at *least* that many lies from the White House on this—every day—from now on. It already was a massive disinformation op, but we have to understand that now the WH press office is acting to undermine legal process. When a complex criminal investigation is unfolding, *any* disinformation can obstruct or otherwise impede the work of law enforcement. So the cynicism that causes us to say, "Oh, every White House lies!"—true enough—must be set aside in these extraordinary circumstances. The appropriate thing for the White House press office to do—if it's otherwise going to lie—is to say it has "no comment" on the probe. And make no mistake, Huckabee Sanders isn't saying "no comment"—which would be easier than lying—because Trump is *pressing* her to lie. In other words it's not just the volume of Huckabee Sanders' lies, but the fact she's lying at *all* that is enormously newsworthy. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-43672799593047288332017-08-11T17:35:00.002+01:002017-08-11T17:35:22.263+01:00<h1 class="post-title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(167, 169, 171); box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #1a1718; font-family: Tiempos, georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 3.875rem; margin: 0.65rem 0px 0px; padding: 1rem 0px 0.5rem; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1718; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/the-game-is-over-and-north-korea-has-won/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1718; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Game Is Over, and North Korea Has Won</a></span></h1>
<h1 class="post-title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(167, 169, 171); box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #1a1718; font-family: Tiempos, georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 3.875rem; margin: 0.65rem 0px 0px; padding: 1rem 0px 0.5rem; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
Foreign Policy --- by Jeffrey Lewis</span></h1>
<ul style="background-color: white; border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(167, 169, 171); box-sizing: border-box; color: #262526; display: inherit; font-family: Solido, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; height: 1px; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 28px; list-style: none outside; margin: 0px auto 25px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 20px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline; width: 878.625px;">
<li class="date" style="border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 1px solid rgb(167, 169, 171); border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 35px; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0.3rem 0.75rem; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><time datetime="2017-08-09T16:59:43-04:00" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">AUGUST 9, 2017</time></li>
</ul>
<div style="-webkit-margin-after: 1em; -webkit-margin-before: 1em; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Tiempos, Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 2.05rem; margin: 30px auto 25px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 615.037px;">
<span style="font-family: "solido" , "tahoma" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Donald Trump can whine all he wants, but we're now living in a world where American power is less relevant than ever.</span></span></div>
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The <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Washington Post</em> reported yesterday that North Korea has a large stockpile of <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/08/trump-threatens-north-korea-with-fire-and-fury-the-world-has-never-seen" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">compact nuclear weapons</a> that can arm the country’s missiles, including its new intercontinental ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting the United States. That’s another way of saying: game over.</div>
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Also: I told you so.</div>
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There are really two assessments in the <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Post</em>’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/north-korea-now-making-missile-ready-nuclear-weapons-us-analysts-say/2017/08/08/e14b882a-7b6b-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">report</a>. One, dated July 28, is that the intelligence community — not just the Defense Intelligence Agency, contrary to what you may have heard — “assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles.” The other assessment, published earlier in July, stated that North Korea had 60 nuclear weapons — higher than the estimates usually given in the press. Put them together, though, and its pretty clear that the window for denuclearizing North Korea, by diplomacy or by force, has closed.</div>
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These judgments are front-page news, but only because we’ve been living in collective denial. Both intelligence assessments are consistent with what the North Koreans have been saying for some time, for reasons I outlined in a <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/09/north-koreas-nuclear-program-is-way-more-sophisticated-and-dangerous-than-you-think" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">column here at <span class="fp-red" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Foreign Policy</span></a> immediately after the September 2016 nuclear test titled, “North Korea’s Nuke Program Is Way More Sophisticated Than You Think: This is now a serious nuclear arsenal that threatens the region and, soon, the continental United States.”</div>
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Authors rarely get to pick titles, and almost never like them, but I think the editors at <span class="fp-red" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">FP</span> got this one about right. It is about as subtle as a jackhammer, although even so the message didn’t seem to sink in.</div>
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Let’s walk through the evidence.</div>
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North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests. That is really quite a lot. Looking at other countries that have conducted five nuclear tests, our baseline expectation for North Korea should be that it has a nuclear weapon small enough to arm a ballistic missile and is well on its way toward testing a thermonuclear — yes, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/53280-hydrogen-bomb-vs-atomic-bomb.html" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">thermonuclear</a> — weapon.</div>
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A lot of people got the wrong idea after North Korea’s first nuclear test failed, and subsequent nuclear tests seemed smaller than they should be. There was a common view that the North Koreans, well, kind of sucked at making nuclear weapons. That was certainly my first impression. But there was always another possibility, one that dawned on me gradually. According to a defector account, North Korea tried to skip right toward relatively advanced nuclear weapons that were compact enough to arm ballistic missiles and made use of relatively small amounts of plutonium. That should not have been surprising; both Iraq and Pakistan similarly skipped designing and testing a more cumbersome <a href="http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fission/Fission9.shtml" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Fat Man-style</a> implosion device. The disappointing yields of North Korea’s first few nuclear tests were not the result of incompetence, but ambition. So, while the world was laughing at North Korea’s first few nuclear tests, they were learning — a lot.</div>
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And then there is the issue of North Korea’s nuclear test site. North Korea tests its nuclear weapons in tunnels beneath very large mountains. When my research institute used topography data collected from space to build a 3-D model of the site, we realized that the mountains are so tall that they may be hiding how big the nuclear explosions are. Some of the “disappointments” may not have been disappointments at all, and the successes were bigger than we realized. I think the best interpretation of the available evidence is that North Korea accepted some technical risk early in its program to move more quickly toward missile-deliverable nuclear weapons.</div>
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The fact that North Korea’s nuclear weapons used less fissile material than we expected helps explain the second judgment that North Korea has more bombs than is usually reported. The defector claimed that North Korea’s first nuclear weapon contained only 4 kilograms of the limited supply of plutonium North Korea made, and continues to make, at its reactor at Yongbyon. (For a long while, experts claimed the reactor was not operating when thermal images plainly showed that it was.) The North Koreans themselves <a href="http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/602073/saving-kims-blushes/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #eb1414; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">claimed</a> the first test used only 2 kilograms of plutonium. Those claims struck many people, including me, as implausible at first. But they were only implausible in the sense that such a device would probably fail when tested — and the first North Korean test did fail. The problem is North Korea kept trying, and its later tests succeeded.</div>
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We also must take seriously that North Korea has perhaps stretched its supply of plutonium by integrating some high-enriched uranium into each bomb and developing all-uranium designs. North Korea has an unknown capacity to make highly enriched uranium. We’ve long noticed that the single facility that North Korea has shown off to outsiders seems smaller than North Korea’s newly renovated capacity to mine and mill uranium; we naturally wondered where all that extra uranium is going. (My research institute thinks it might be fun to estimate how much uranium North Korea enriches based on how much it mills, if you know anyone with grant money burning a hole in her pocket.)</div>
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Unless the intelligence community knows exactly where North Korea is enriching uranium and how big each facility is, we’re just guessing how many nuclear weapons the country may have. But 60 nuclear weapons doesn’t sound absurdly high.</div>
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The thing is, we knew all this already. Sure, sure it isn’t the same when I say it. I mean, I am just some rando living out in California. But now that someone with a tie and real job in Washington has said it, it is news.</div>
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The big question is where to go from here. Some of my colleagues still think the United States might persuade North Korea to abandon, or at least freeze, its nuclear and missile programs. I am not so sure. I suspect we might have to settle for trying to reduce tensions so that we live long enough to figure this problem out. But there is only one way to figure out who is right: Talk to the North Koreans.</div>
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The other options are basically terrible. There is no credible military option. North Korea has some unknown number of nuclear-armed missiles, maybe 60, including ones that can reach the United States; do you really think U.S. strikes could get all of them? That not a single one would survive to land on Seoul, Tokyo, or New York? Or that U.S. missile defenses would work <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">better </em>than designed, intercepting not most of the missiles aimed at the United States, but every last one of them? Are you willing to bet your life on that?</div>
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On a good day, maybe we get most of the missiles. We save most of the cities, like Seoul and New York, but lose a few like Tokyo. Two out three ain’t bad, right?</div>
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I kid — but not really. Welcome to our new world. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-24256776647628668192017-05-24T23:30:00.000+01:002017-05-24T23:30:03.605+01:00Trump's Scam is Revealing Itself<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: PostoniWide, Georgia, serif; word-spacing: -1.04px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The enormity of Trump’s scam is coming into view</span></span></strong></h2>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Washington Post </strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="pb-byline" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/greg-sargent/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; cursor: pointer !important; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span itemprop="name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Greg Sargent</span></a></span><span style="font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;"></span><span class="pb-timestamp" content="2017-05-24T10:15-500" itemprop="datePublished" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.1em; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;">May 24 at 10:15 AM</span></strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">THE MORNING PLUM:</strong></div>
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The Congressional Budget Office will release its score of the GOP health-care bill today, and whatever the details, it will confirm once again that the Republican plan would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, leaving many millions uncovered. This, plus continued discussion of President Trump’s budget — which would heap a whole array of other cuts on top of that — will demonstrate that Trump is fully committed to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/politics/budget-food-stamps-poverty.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; font-size: inherit; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">truly transformative downsizing of social programs</a>that help lower-income people, packaged with an enormous tax cut for the rich.</div>
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But the evidence is mounting that Trump’s economic blueprint — whatever considerable harm it would do to people who didn’t vote for Trump — is also likely to hurt untold numbers of people who did vote for him.</div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia;">First, I’ve obtained some new polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows large numbers of Trump voters and their families rely on Medicaid, and large numbers of them oppose cutting the program. Click to enlarge:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia;">This polling, which comes from Kaiser’s February tracking poll and was broken down at my request, shows that 42 percent of Trump voters, and 51 percent of people who approve of Trump, say Medicaid is somewhat or very important to them and their families. More to the point, only 24 percent of Trump voters and 20 percent of people who approve of Trump want to decrease spending on Medicaid, while majorities of both want to keep it the same and many more want to increase it. (A recent Quinnipiac poll also found that 54 percent of Republicans oppose cutting Medicaid.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia;">Trump’s budget would transform the structure of Medicaid and cut spending on the program by hundreds of billions of dollars on top of the GOP health-care plan’s hundreds of billions in cuts to the Medicaid expansion over 10 years. This would chop down the program by nearly half. It’s hard to know how many Trump voters would be hit by these cuts, but judging by Kaiser’s polling, we’re talking about a lot of them.</span></div>
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Meanwhile, other data suggests many Trump voters in the Rust Belt would be hurt by the Trump budget’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/politics/budget-food-stamps-poverty.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">huge cuts</a> to other social programs. Ron Brownstein <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/trump-budget-snap-social-security/527799/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">reports on a new analysis finding</a> that in four key Rust Belt states that flipped from Barack Obama to Trump, large percentages of those who benefit from food stamps and Social Security Disability Insurance — both of which would get slashed by Trump — are non-college whites, a core Trump constituency. Those states are Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/blue-collar-whites-obamacare/512159/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">Other data shows</a> that large percentages of those who stand to lose health coverage under the GOP health plan in those states are also blue-collar whites. Many of them are likely on Medicaid, and this toll would undoubtedly be made worse by the Trump budget.</div>
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Trump took great pains to distinguish himself from Paul Ryan and limited-government Republicans by vowing no cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, staking out an ideologically heterodox posture that likely helped boost him among working-class white voters. Obviously, that’s no longer operative.</div>
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The White House has an explanation for Trump’s reversal on Medicaid. Asked <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/866840775224643584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewrepublic.com%2Farticle%2F142864%2Fwill-republican-lies-catch-ruin-peoples-lives" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">by John Harwood</a> to explain the flip, budget director Mick Mulvaney <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/05/22/camera-briefing-fy18-budge-omb-director-mulvaney" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">claimed</a> the promise was supplanted by Trump’s promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. This is nonsense: As <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/142864/will-republican-lies-catch-ruin-peoples-lives" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">Brian Beutler explains</a>, Mulvaney “layered a lie of his own on top of Trump’s,” because Trump’s budget cuts to Medicaid “go hundreds of billions of dollars beyond phasing out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.”</div>
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I’d go further still: There are <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">numerous</em> Trump lies being forced out into the open right now. Trump claimed he would not touch Medicaid <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">and</em> simultaneously that he’d repeal Obamacare and replace it with something better for all. It was a lie for Trump to claim he wouldn’t touch Medicaid; it was a lie to suggest preserving Medicaid and repealing Obamacare were compatible; it was a lie to claim that his repeal-and-replace plan would result in better coverage for everybody. If anything, the White House’s justifications only throw the scale and audacity of these intertwined scams, lies and betrayals into even sharper relief.</div>
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The scam may end up running even deeper than this. One might argue that Trump promised his voters something better than safety-net protections: good jobs with benefits. Indeed, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2017/05/23/trumponomics-the-philosophy-that-it-doesnt-suck-enough-to-be-poor/?utm_term=.76cf49e59d1b" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">as Catherine Rampell reports</a>, the White House is defending its cuts by arguing that the true measure of success is “the number of people we get off of those programs.” This is compatible with Trumpism’s promise to restore an old economic order via a revival of manufacturing and coal — jobs are better than government help, and surely many of his voters made this calculation. But what if those jobs <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">don’t ever materialize</em>? Trump’s renegotiated trade deals and his infrastructure plan are a long way off. If this promise of Trumpism never comes to pass, all that would be left behind is the massive downsizing of the safety net, justified by conventional GOP rhetoric about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/paul-ryan-welfare-reform_n_1368277.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">freeing people from Ryan’s version of the safety net</a>, the dreaded “hammock” of “dependency.” This isn’t what Trumpism was supposed to be about, on many levels.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* GET READY FOR THE BIG CBO SCORE:</strong> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/upshot/how-to-read-the-cbo-score-of-the-health-bill-like-an-expert.html?_r=0" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">Margot Sanger-Katz previews what to look for: Will it increase the deficit? How many would be uninsured? And this</a>:</div>
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The hardest job for the C.B.O. is estimating the effects of the MacArthur Amendment, which allows states to waive several insurance regulations … the office’s economists must … estimate how many states will decide to pursue the waivers, how many people live in those states, and which rules they will choose to waive … Some experts have said the waivers will be unpopular, and only a few states will pursue them. Others have argued that they are likely to become widespread. Our panel estimated a wide range of effects, saying as few as 10 percent of Americans would be affected or as many as half.</div>
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One big question: what the CBO will project on how many states will waive the prohibition on jacking up rates on preexisting conditions. This could make the bill politically more dangerous.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* TRUMP PRAISES PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT:</strong> The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-calls-kim-jong-un-a-madman-with-nuclear-weapons-according-to-transcript-of-duterte-call/2017/05/23/211d1474-3fe8-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.bfc4f99881c4" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">has obtained a transcript of a call that Trump held with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte</a>, and this is notable:</div>
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In their call he praised Duterte for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” … “Many countries have the problem, we have the problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that,” Trump said, according to the transcript.</div>
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Duterte has been <a href="https://www.cfr.org/interview/human-rights-and-dutertes-war-drugs" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">criticized by human rights observers</a> for killing thousands in his war on drugs, and this praise fits into a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-keeps-praising-international-strongmen-alarming-human-rights-advocates/2017/05/01/6848d018-2e81-11e7-9dec-764dc781686f_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.8aabed7a3b82" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">broader pattern of Trumpian affection for authoritarian strongmen</a>.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* SCHIFF: WE MAY TRY TO FORCE FLYNN’S COOPERATION:</strong> Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the probe of the Russia affair, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/23/politics/adam-schiff-michael-flynn/index.html?sr=twpol052417adam-schiff-michael-flynn1000AMVODtopLink&linkId=37944311" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">tells CNN that his committee is considering new steps</a> to force Michael Flynn to turn over relevant documents, as he has refused to do:</div>
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“It was our preference initially to get these documents and testimony voluntarily,” Schiff said. “It’s now going to be necessary to subpoena it, and if the General refuses and does so without a good legal basis, then I think we do have to explore the use of contempt.”</div>
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The Senate Intelligence Committee is <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/23/senate-intelligence-panel-to-subpoena-michael-flynn-businesses.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">now taking similar steps</a>. Yesterday <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/05/23/the-walls-are-closing-in/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">I laid out some of the options</a> that investigators can deploy to try to compel Flynn’s cooperation.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* TRUMP LAWYERS UP:</strong> The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/23/trump-retains-outside-lawyer-marc-kasowitz-to-help-with-russia-investigations/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_outside-lawyer-920pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.678c9e44dcee" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">reports that Trump has hired attorney Marc Kasowitz</a>, who has known him for decades and represented him numerous other times, to “help him navigate” the various Russia probes:</div>
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In recent days, Trump has been looking at pulling together a unit of lawyers outside the White House to guide him as he responds to the ongoing federal probe and to congressional investigations … The outside legal team would be separate from the White House Counsel’s Office, which is led by Donald F. McGahn, who served as the Trump campaign’s attorney.</div>
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Bright spot: Because Joe Lieberman is senior counsel at Kasowitz’s firm, picking him as director of the FBI (which is probing the Russia affair) could present a conflict, so it might not happen.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* INFRASTRUCTURE ‘PLAN’ IS IN THE WORKS:</strong> The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/trump-advisers-call-for-selling-off-old-assets-to-build-new-infrastructure/2017/05/23/657aa2c6-2f53-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-low_privatize-0829pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.16239480a81a" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">reports:</a></div>
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The Trump administration, determined to overhaul and modernize the nation’s infrastructure, is drafting plans to privatize some public assets such as airports, bridges, highway rest stops and other facilities, according to top officials and advisers … two driving themes are clear: Government practices are stalling the nation’s progress; and private companies should fund, build and run more of the basic infrastructure of American life.</div>
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The big question here will be whether his plan will actually involve a substantial public expenditure designed to create jobs. This suggests the opposite. And whether this can pass is anyone’s guess.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* TRUMP VOWS TO READ POPE’S TRACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE:</strong> Trump met with Pope Francis this morning, and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pope-idUSKBN18K001" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">per Reuters, this happened</a>:</div>
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Francis also gave Trump a signed copy of his 2017 peace message whose title is “Nonviolence — A Style of Politics for Peace,” and a copy of his 2015 encyclical letter on the need to protect the environment from the effects of climate change.</div>
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“Well, I’ll be reading them,” Trump said.</div>
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Whether he reads them or not, in Trump’s imagination, climate change will forever remain a hoax, or more precisely, not worth spending much time thinking about.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">* AND REPUBLICANS FEAR HAVING ZERO ACCOMPLISHMENTS:</strong> Axios’ Jonathan Swan <a href="https://www.axios.com/new-gop-fear-nine-months-of-failure-2420113108.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">reports on the gloom settling in among Republicans as they realize that “total control” could result in “nine months of failure”</a>:</div>
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Republican leaders are coming to the bleak conclusion they will end summer and begin the fall with ZERO significant legislative accomplishments … they see the next four months as MORE troublesome than the first four. They’re facing terrible budget choices and headlines, the painful effort to re-work the healthcare Rubik’s Cube in the House (presuming it makes it out of the Senate), a series of special-election scares (or losses) — all with scandal-mania as the backdrop.</div>
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Are you tired of all the winning yet?</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-81650699554037881812017-05-12T04:42:00.000+01:002017-05-12T04:42:06.151+01:00The Dinner<div class="story-body-supplemental" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: flex; font-size: 16px;">
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Washington Post</div>
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In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred.</h1>
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<span class="byline" itemid="https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-s-schmidt" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-right: 12px;">By <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-s-schmidt" style="color: black; outline-offset: -2px; outline: -webkit-focus-ring-color auto 5px;" title="More Articles by MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT" data-twitter-handle="NYTMike" itemprop="name" style="white-space: nowrap;">MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT</span></a></span><time class="dateline" content="2017-05-11T22:12:13-04:00" datetime="2017-05-11T22:12:13-04:00" itemprop="dateModified" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 11, 2017</time></div>
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<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story-meta-footer " data-author="By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT" data-description="James B. Comey’s associates say he now believes his unwillingness to pledge personal loyalty led President Trump to fire him as the F.B.I. director." data-media="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/05/12/us/12comey1/12comey1-jumbo.jpg" data-publish-date="May 11, 2017" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="facebook,twitter,email,show-all,save" data-title="In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred." data-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/us/politics/trump-comey-firing.html" id="sharetools-story-meta-footer" role="group" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
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<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">WASHINGTON — Only seven days after</span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"> </span><a class="meta-per" href="http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per" style="color: #326891; font-size: 1.0625rem;" title="More articles about Donald J. Trump.">Donald J. Trump</a><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"> </span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">was sworn in as president, James B. Comey has told associates, the</span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"> </span><a class="meta-org" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_bureau_of_investigation/index.html?inline=nyt-org" style="color: #326891; font-size: 1.0625rem;" title="More articles about the Federal Bureau of Investigation.">F.B.I.</a><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"> </span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">director was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with the new commander in chief.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">The conversation that night in January, Mr. Comey now believes, was a harbinger of his downfall this week as head of the F.B.I., according to two people who have heard his account of the dinner.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">Mr. Comey declined to make that pledge. Instead, Mr. Comey has recounted to others, he told Mr. Trump that he would always be honest with him, but that he was not “reliable” in the conventional political sense.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
The White House says this account is not correct. And Mr. Trump, in an interview on Thursday with NBC, described a far different dinner conversation with Mr. Comey in which the director asked to have the meeting and the question of loyalty never came up. It was not clear whether he was talking about the same meal, but they are believed to have had only one dinner together.</div>
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By Mr. Comey’s account, his answer to Mr. Trump’s initial question apparently did not satisfy the president, the associates said. Later in the dinner, Mr. Trump again said to Mr. Comey that he needed his loyalty.</div>
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Mr. Comey again replied that he would give him “honesty” and did not pledge his loyalty, according to the account of the conversation.</div>
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But Mr. Trump pressed him on whether it would be “honest loyalty.”</div>
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“You will have that,” Mr. Comey told his associates he responded.</div>
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Throughout his career, Mr. Trump has made loyalty from the people who work for him a key priority, often discharging employees he considers insufficiently reliable.</div>
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As described by the two people, the dinner offers a window into Mr. <span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">Trump’s approach to the presidency, through Mr. Comey’s eyes. A businessman and reality television star who never served in public office, Mr. Trump may not have understood that by tradition, F.B.I. directors are not supposed to be political loyalists, which is why Congress in the 1970s passed a law giving them 10-year terms to make them independent of the president.</span></div>
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Mr. Comey described details of his refusal to pledge his loyalty to Mr. Trump to several people close to him on the condition that they not discuss it publicly while he was F.B.I. director. But now that Mr. Comey has been fired, they felt free to discuss it on the condition of anonymity.</div>
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A White House spokeswoman on Thursday disputed the description of the dinner by Mr. Comey’s associates.</div>
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“We don’t believe this to be an accurate account,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary. “The integrity of our law enforcement agencies and their leadership is of the utmost importance to President Trump. He would never even suggest the expectation of personal loyalty, only loyalty to our country and its great people.”</div>
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At the dinner described by Mr. Trump in his interview with NBC, the conversation with Mr. Comey was quite different. Mr. Trump told NBC that Mr. Comey requested it to ask to keep his job. Mr. Trump said he asked the F.B.I. director if he was under investigation, a question that legal experts called highly unusual if not improper. In Mr. Trump’s telling, Mr. Comey reassured him that he was not.</div>
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Mr. Trump did not say whether he asked Mr. Comey for his loyalty. Asked at Wednesday’s White House news briefing whether loyalty was a factor in picking a new F.B.I. director, Ms. Sanders said Mr. Trump wanted someone who is “loyal to the justice system.”</div>
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The dinner described by Mr. Comey’s associates came in the early days of Mr. Trump’s administration, as the F.B.I. was investigating Russian meddling in the election and possible ties to Mr. Trump’s campaign. That investigation has since gained momentum as investigators have developed new evidence and leads.</div>
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Mr. Trump had met Mr. Comey for the first time in January, during the transition, when, along with the intelligence chiefs, the F.B.I. director presented him with evidence of that intervention. Mr. Comey was tasked by his fellow intelligence directors to also pull Mr. Trump aside and inform him about a secret dossier suggesting that Russia might have collected compromising information about him.</div>
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The dinner at which the conversation Mr. Comey related took place was on Jan. 27, almost a month later.</div>
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Mr. Comey’s associates said that the new president requested the dinner he described, and said that he was wary about attending because he did not want to appear too chummy with Mr. Trump, especially amid the Russia investigation. But Mr. Comey went because he did not believe he could turn down a meeting with the new president.</div>
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During the meal, according to the account of the two associates, Mr. Comey tried to explain to Mr. Trump how he saw his role as F.B.I. director. Mr. Comey told Mr. Trump that the country would be best served by an independent F.B.I. and Justice Department.</div>
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In announcing Mr. Comey’s dismissal on Tuesday, the White House released documents from the attorney general and the deputy attorney general that outlined why Mr. Comey should be fired.</div>
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Mr. Trump said in the NBC interview, “Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.”</div>
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“In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,” Mr. Trump said.</div>
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Peter Baker and Maggie Haber<span data-macro="discretionary_hyphen" data-mce-contenteditable="false"></span>man contributed reporting.</div>
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</footer>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-34019359479008921722017-05-05T02:03:00.002+01:002017-05-05T02:03:36.927+01:00WaPo on the GOP's "Health-Care" Bill<section class="col-lg-12 col-md-12 col-sm-10 col-xs-10 col-xs-offset-1 col-sm-offset-1 col-md-offset-0 col-lg-offset-0 layout" id="top-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213) !important; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 40px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; width: 1010.39px;"><div class="pb-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both !important; margin: 0px auto !important; max-width: 1440px !important; width: 1010.39px;">
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Every Republican who<br />voted for this abomination must be held accountable</h1>
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<span class="pb-byline" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; padding-right: 5px;">Washington Post (please subscribe)</span></div>
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<span class="pb-byline" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; padding-right: 5px;">By Paul Waldman</span><span style="font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="pb-timestamp" content="2017-05-04T02:45-500" itemprop="datePublished" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.1em; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;">May 4 at 2:45 PM</span></div>
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Here at the Plum Line, we write a lot about the mechanics of politics — the processes of governing, the interplay of political forces, the back-and-forth between citizens and lawmakers, and so on. We do that because it’s interesting and because it winds up affecting all our lives. But there are moments when you have to set aside the mechanics and focus intently on the substance of what government does — or in this case, what government is trying to do.</div>
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I won’t mince words. The health-care bill that the House of Representatives passed this afternoon, in an incredibly narrow 217-to-213 vote, is not just wrong, or misguided, or problematic or foolish. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">It is an abomination</em>. If there has been a piece of legislation in our lifetimes that boiled over with as much malice and indifference to human suffering, I can’t recall what it might have been. And every member of the House who voted for it must be held accountable.</div>
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There’s certainly a process critique one can make about this bill. We might focus on the fact that Republicans are rushing to pass it without having held a single hearing on it, without a score from the Congressional Budget Office that would tell us exactly what the effects would be, and before nearly anyone has had a chance to even look at the bill’s actual text — all this despite the fact that they are remaking one-sixth of the American economy and affecting all of our lives (and despite their long and ridiculous claims that the Affordable Care Act was “rammed through” Congress, when in fact it was debated for an entire year and was the subject of dozens of hearings and endless public discussion). We might talk about how every major stakeholder group — the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the AARP, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, and <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leading-patient-advocacy-groups-stand-together-to-oppose-american-health-care-act-300448714.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; text-decoration-line: none; zoom: 1;">on and on</a> — all oppose the bill.</div>
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All that matters. But the real problem is what’s in the bill itself. Here are some of the things it does:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Takes health insurance away from at least 24 million Americans; that was the number the CBO estimated for a previous version of the bill, and the number for this one is probably higher.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Revokes the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid, which provided no-cost health coverage to millions of low-income Americans.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Turns Medicaid into a block grant, enabling states to kick otherwise-eligible people off their coverage and cut benefits if they so choose.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Slashes Medicaid overall by $880 billion over 10 years.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Removes the subsidies that the ACA provided to help middle-income people afford health insurance, replacing them with far more meager tax credits pegged not to people’s income but to their age. Poorer people would get less than they do now, while richer people would get more; even Bill Gates would get a tax credit.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Allows insurers to charge dramatically higher premiums to older patients.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Allows insurers to impose yearly and lifetime caps on coverage, which were outlawed by the ACA. This also, it was <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/little-noted-provision-of-gop-health-bill-could-alter-employer-plans-1493890203" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; text-decoration-line: none;">revealed today</a>, may threaten the coverage of the majority of non-elderly Americans who get insurance through their employers.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Allows states to seek waivers from the ACA’s requirement that insurance plans include essential benefits for things such as emergency services, hospitalization, mental health care, preventive care, maternity care, and substance abuse treatment.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Provides hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for families making over $250,000 a year.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Produces <a href="https://www.axios.com/why-deductibles-would-rise-under-gop-plan-2322246232.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; text-decoration-line: none;">higher deductibles</a> for patients.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Allows states to try to waive the ACA’s requirement that insurers must charge people the same rates regardless of their medical history. This effectively eviscerates the ban on denials for preexisting conditions, since insurers could charge you exorbitant premiums if you have a preexisting condition, effectively denying you coverage.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Shunts those with preexisting conditions into high-risk pools, which are absolutely the worst way to cover those patients; experience with them on the state level proves that they wind up underfunded, charge enormous premiums, provide inadequate benefits and can’t cover the population they’re meant for. Multiple analyses <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/04/gops-obamacare-replacement-bill-would-protect-just-5-percent-of-people-with-pre-existing-conditions-analysis.html" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1955a5; text-decoration-line: none;">have shown</a> that the money the bill provides for high-risk pools is laughably inadequate, which will inevitably leave huge numbers of the most vulnerable Americans without the ability to get insurance.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Brings back medical underwriting, meaning that just like in the bad old days, when you apply for insurance you’ll have to document every condition or ailment you’ve ever had.</li>
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It is no exaggeration to say that if it were to become law, this bill would kill significant numbers of Americans. People who lose their Medicaid, don’t go to the doctor, and wind up finding out too late that they’re sick. People whose serious conditions put them up against lifetime limits or render them unable to afford what’s on offer in the high-risk pools, and are suddenly unable to get treatment.</div>
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Those deaths are not abstractions, and those who vote to bring them about must be held to account. This can and should be a career-defining vote for every member of the House. No one who votes for something this vicious should be allowed to forget it — ever. They should be challenged about it at every town hall meeting, at every campaign debate, in every election and every day as the letters and phone calls from angry and betrayed constituents make clear the intensity of their revulsion at what their representatives have done.</div>
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Perhaps this bill will never become law, and its harm may be averted. But that would not mitigate the moral responsibility of those who supported it. Members of Congress vote on a lot of inconsequential bills and bills that have a small impact on limited areas of American life. But this is one of the most critical moments in recent American political history. The Republican health-care bill is an act of monstrous cruelty. It should stain those who supported it to the end of their days.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-38937756844931582902017-03-21T01:16:00.000+00:002017-03-21T01:16:13.468+00:00Special Edition: Full Transcript House Intelligence Hearing March 20, 2017 - Comey Public Hearing<section class="col-lg-12 col-md-12 col-sm-10 col-xs-10 col-xs-offset-1 col-sm-offset-1 col-md-offset-0 col-lg-offset-0 layout" id="top-content" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213) !important; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; width: 1080.8px;"><div class="moat-trackable pb-f-theme-normal full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-article-topper" data-chain-name="no-name" data-feature-id="article/article-topper" data-feature-name="no-name" id="f0KtCedRsda3eq" moat-id="article/article-topper|politics" style="border-bottom: none; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; padding: 10px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; width: 1080.8px;">
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;">The full transcript from the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. </em></div>
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NUNES: The committee will come to order.</div>
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I would like to welcome our witnesses, director of the FBI, Jim Comey and director of the National Security Agency, Admiral Rogers. Thank you both for being here today.</div>
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Before we begin, I would like to remind our members and witnesses that this is an open hearing. I recognize the challenge of discussing sensitive national security issues in public. However, as part of this committee's investigation into Russian active measures during the 2016 election, it is critical to ensure that the public has access to credible unclassified facts and to clear the air regarding unsubstantiated media reports.</div>
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To our guests in the audience, welcome. We appreciate you being here. I also expect that the proper decorum will be observed at all times today and that disruptions during today's proceedings will not be tolerated. I now recognize myself for five minutes for the purpose of an opening statement.</div>
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The Putin regime has a long history of aggressive actions against other countries, including the outright invasion of two of its neighbors in recent years, as well as its brutal military action in Syria to defend the Assad regime. But it's hostile acts take many forms, aside from direct military assaults.</div>
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For example, the Kremlin is waging an international disinformation campaign through the RT propaganda network which traffics in anti-American conspiracy theories that rivaled the extravagant untruths of Soviet era Pravda (ph). Russia also has a long history of meddling in other countries, election systems and launching cyber attacks on a wide range of countries and industries.</div>
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The Baltic's and other Russian neighbors have long decried these attacks. But their warnings went unheeded in far too many nations' capitals, including our own. The fact that the Russia — that Russia hacked U.S. election-related databases comes as no shock to this committee. We have been closely monitoring Russia's aggression for years.</div>
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A year ago, I publicly stated that our inability to predict Putin's regime plans and intentions has been the biggest intelligence failure that we have seen since 9/11 and that remains my view today. However, while the indications of Russian measures targeting the U.S. presidential election are deeply troubling, one benefit is already clear. It has focused wide attention on the — on the pressing threats posed by the Russian autocrat.</div>
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In recent years, committee members have issued repeated and forceful pleas for stronger action against Russian belligerents. But the Obama administration was committed to the notion against all evidence that we could reset relations with Putin. And it routinely ignored our warnings. I hope today's hearing will shed light on three important focus points of the committee's investigation on Russia active measures.</div>
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First, what actions did Russia undertake against the United States during the 2016 election campaign and did anyone from political campaign — a political campaign conspire in these activities? Number two, were the communications of officials or associates of any campaign subject to any kind of improper surveillance? The intelligence community has — has extremely strict procedures for handling information pertaining to any U.S. citizens who are subject even to incidental surveillance. And this committee wants to ensure all surveillance activities have followed all relevant laws, rules and regulations.</div>
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Let me be clear, I've been saying this for several weeks. We know there was not a physical wiretap of Trump Tower. However, it's still possible that other surveillance activities were used against President's Trump and his associates. Number three, who has leak classified information? Numerous current and former officials have leak purportedly classified information in connection to these questions. We aim to determine who has leaked or facilitated leaks of classified information so that these individuals can be brought to justice.</div>
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I hope that this committee's bipartisan investigation will result in a definitive report on the Russian actions taken during the election campaign. To that end, we encourage anyone who has information about these topics to come forward and speak to the House Intelligence Committee. I again think the witnesses for helping shed light on these issues.</div>
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And I will let recognize Ranking Member Schiff. He's asked for 15 minutes for his opening statement, so I will go ahead and give him 15 minutes for his opening statement.</div>
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Mr. Schiff?</div>
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SCHIFF: Mr. Chairman, I thank you. And I also want to thank Director Comey and Admiral Rogers for appearing before us today as the committee holds its first open hearing into the interference campaign waged against our 2016 presidential election.</div>
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Last summer at the height of a bitterly contested and hugely consequential presidential campaign, a foreign adversarial power intervened in an effort to weaken our democracy and to influence the outcome for one candidate and against the other. That foreign adversary was of course Russia and it activated through its intelligence agencies and upon the direct instructions of its autocratic ruler Vladimir Putin, in order to help Donald J. Trump become the 45th president of the United States.</div>
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The Russian active measures campaign may have begun as early as 2015, when Russian intelligence services launched a series of spear fishing attacks designed to penetrate the computers of a broad array of Washington based Democratic and Republican party organizations, think tanks and other entities. This continued at least through the winter of 2016.</div>
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While at first the hacking may have been intended solely for the collection of foreign intelligence. In mid-2016 the Russians weapon eyes the stolen data and used platforms established by the Intel services, such as D.C. leaks in existing third-party channels like WikiLeaks to dump the documents. The stolen documents were almost uniformly damaging to the candidate Putin despised, Hillary Clinton. And by forcing her campaign to constantly respond to the daily drip of disclosures, the releases greatly benefited Donald Trump's campaign.</div>
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None of these facts is seriously in question. And they're reflected in the consensus conclusion of our intelligence agencies. We will never know whether the Russian intervention was determinative in such a close election. Indeed, it is unknowable in a campaign to which so many small changes could have dictated a different result. More importantly, and for the purposes of our investigation, it simply does not matter.</div>
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What does matter is this, the Russians successfully meddled in our democracy and our intelligence agencies have concluded they will do so again. Ours is not the first democracy to be attacked by the Russians in this way. Russian intelligence has been simile interfering in the internal and political affairs of our European and other allies for decades.</div>
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SCHIFF: What is striking here is the degree to which the Russians were willing to undertake such an audacious and risky action against the most powerful nation on Earth. That ought to be a warning to us that if we thought that the Russians would not dare to so blatantly interfere in our affairs, we were wrong.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />And if we do not do our very best to understand how the Russians accomplished this unprecedented attack on our democracy and what we need to do to protect ourselves in the future, we will only have ourselves to blame. We know a lot about the Russian operation, about the way they amplified the damage their hacking and dumping of stolen documents was causing through the use of slick propaganda like R.T., the Kremlin's media arm. But there is a lot we don't know.</div>
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Most important, we do not yet know whether the Russians have the help of U.S. citizens including people associated with the Trump campaign. Many of the Trump's campaign personnel, including the president himself, have ties to Russia and Russian interests. This is of course no crime. On the other hand, if the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it aided or abetted the Russians, it would not only be a serious crime, it would also represent one of the most shocking betrayals of democracy in history.</div>
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In Europe, where the Russians have a much longer history of political interference, they've used a variety of techniques to undermine democracy. They employed the hacking and dumping of documents and slick propaganda as they clearly did here. But they've also used bribery, blackmail, compromising material, and financial entanglement to secure needed cooperation from individual citizens of targeted countries.</div>
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The issue of U.S. person involvement is only one of the important matters that the chairman and I have agreed to investigate and which is memorialized in the detailed and bipartisan scope of investigation that we have signed. We'll also examine whether the intelligence community's assessment of the Russian operation is supported by the raw intelligence, whether the U.S. government responded properly or missed the opportunity to stop this Russian attack much earlier and whether the leak of information about Michael Flynn or others is indicative of a systemic problem.</div>
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We have also reviewed whether there is any evidence to support President Trump's claim that he was wiretapped by President Obama in Trump Tower and found no evidence whatsoever to support that slanderous accusation. And we hope that Director Comey can now put that matter permanently to rest. Today, most of my Democratic colleagues will be exploring with the witnesses the potential involvement of U.S. persons in the Russian attack on our democracy. It is not that we feel the other issues are less important; they are very important, but rather because this issue is least understood by the public. We realize of course that the witnesses may not be able to answer many of the questions in open session.</div>
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They may or may not be willing to disclose even whether there is an investigation. But we hope to present to you directors and the public why we believe this is a matter of such gravity that it demands a thorough investigation not only by us as we intend to do but by the FBI as well.</div>
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Let me give you a short preview of what I expect you'll be asked by our members. Whether the Russian active measures campaign began as nothing more than an attempt to gather intelligence or was always intended to be more than that, we do not know and is one of the questions we hope to answer. But we do know this; the months of July and August 2016 appear to have been pivotal.</div>
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It was at this time the Russians began using the information they had stolen to help Donald Trump and harm Hillary Clinton. And so the question is, why? What was happening in July, August of last year and were U.S. persons involved? Here are some of the matters drawn from public sources alone since that is all we can discuss in this setting that concern us and we believe should concern all Americans.</div>
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In early July, Carter Page, someone candidate Trump identified as one of his national security advisors, travels to Moscow on a trip approved by the Trump campaign. While in Moscow, he gives a speech critical of the United States and other western countries for what he believes is a hypocritical focus on democratization and efforts to fight corruption.</div>
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According to Christopher Steele, a British — a former British intelligence officer, who is reportedly held in high regard by U.S. intelligence, Russian sources tell him that Page has also had a secret meeting with Igor Sechin, CEO of the Russian gas giant, Rosneft. Sechin is reported to be a former KGB agent and close friend of Putin's.</div>
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According to Steele's Russian sources, Page is offered brokerage fees by such an on a deal involving a 19 percent share of the company. According to Reuters, the sale of a 19.5 percent share of Rosneft later takes place with unknown purchasers and unknown brokerage fees. Also, according to Steele's Russian sources, the campaign has offered documents damaging to Hillary Clinton which the Russians would publish through an outlet that gives them deniability like WikiLeaks.</div>
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The hacked documents would be in exchange for a Trump administration policy that de-emphasizes Russia's invasion of Ukraine and instead focuses on criticizing NATO countries for not paying their fair share. Policies which even as recently as the President's meeting last week with Angela Merkel have now presently come to pass. In the middle of July, Paul Manafort, the — the Trump campaign manager and someone who was a long on the payroll of Pro Russian- Ukrainian interests attends the Russian — the Republican Party Convention. Carter Page, back from Moscow, also attends the convention. According to Steele, it was Manafort who chose Page to serve as a go-between for the Trump campaign and Russian interests.</div>
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Ambassador Kislyak, who presides over a Russian Embassy in which diplomatic personnel would later be expelled as likely spies, also attends the Republican Party Convention and meets with Carter Page, and additional Trump advisors J.D. Gordon and Walid Phares. It was J.D. Gordon who approved Page's trip to Moscow.</div>
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Ambassador Kislyac also meets with Trump national campaign chair, National Security Campaign Chair and now attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Sessions would later deny meeting with Russian officials during his Senate confirmation hearing. Just prior to the convention, the Republican Party platform is changed, removing a section that supports the provision of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, an action that would be contrary to Russian interests.</div>
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Manafort categorically denies involvement by the Trump campaign and altering the platform, but the Republican Party delegate who offered the language in support of providing defensive weapons to Ukraine states it was removed at the insistence of the Trump campaign. Later, J.D. Gordon admits opposing the inclusion of the provision of the time it was being debated and prior to its being removed.</div>
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Later in July and after the convention, the first stolen emails detrimental to Hillary Clinton appear on WikiLeaks. A hacker who goes by the moniker, Guccifer 2.0, claims responsibility for hacking the DNC and giving the documents to WikiLeaks. A leading private cyber security firms including Crowdstrike, Mandiant and ThreatConnect review the evidence of the hack and conclude with high certainty that it was the work of APT 28 and APT 29 who are known to be Russian intelligence services.</div>
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The U.S. intelligence committee also later confirms that the documents were in fact stolen by Russian intelligence and Guccifer 2.0 acted as a front. Also in late July, candidate Trump praises WikiLeaks, says he loves them and openly appeals to the Russians to hack his opponents emails telling them that they will be richly rewarded by the press.</div>
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On August 8th, Roger Stone, a long time Trump political advisor and self-proclaimed political dirty trickster, boasts in his speech that he has communicated with Assange and that more documents would be coming, including an October surprise. In the middle of August, he also communicates with the Russian cut out Guccifer 2.0 and authors a Breitbart piece denying Guccifer's links to Russian intelligence.</div>
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Then later, in August, Stone does something truly remarkable. When he predicts that John Podesta's personal emails will soon be published, trust me he says, it will soon be Podesta's time in the barrel, #crookedHillary. In the weeks that follow, Stone shows remarkable prescience. I have total confidence that WikiLeaks and my hero, Julian Assange will educate the American people soon, he says, #LockHerUp. Payload coming, he predicts and two days later it does.</div>
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WikiLeaks releases its first batch of Podesta emails. The release of John Podesta's emails would then continue on a daily basis, up until the election. On Election Day in November, Donald Trump wins. Donald Trump appoints one of his high-profile surrogates, Michael Flynn, to be his national security advisor. Michael Flynn has been paid by the Kremlin's propaganda outfit RT in the past, as well as another Russian entity.</div>
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In December, Michael Flynn has a secret conversation with Ambassador Kislyak, about sanctions imposed by President Obama on Russia over attacking designed to help the Trump campaign. Michael Flynn lies about the secret conversation. The vice president unknowingly then assures the country that no — no such conversation ever happened. The president is informed that Flynn has lied and Pence has misled the country. The president does nothing.</div>
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Two weeks later, the press reveals that Flynn has lied and the president is forced to fire Mr. Flynn. The president then praises the man who lied, Mr. Flynn, and castigates the press for exposing the lie.</div>
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Now, is it possible that the removal of the Ukraine provision from the GOP platform was a coincidence? Is it a coincidence that Jeff Sessions failed to tell the Senate about his meetings with a Russian ambassador, not only at the convention, but a more private meeting in his office and at a time when the U.S. election was under attack by the Russians?</div>
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Is it a coincidence that Michael Flynn would lie about a conversation he had with the same Russian Ambassador Kislyak, about the most pressing issue facing both countries at the time they spoke, the U.S. imposition of sanctions over Russian hacking of our election designed to help Donald Trump? Is it a coincidence that the Russian gas company, Rosneft, sold a 19 percent share after former British intelligence officer Steele was told by Russian sources that Carter Page was offered fees on a deal of just that size?</div>
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Is it a coincidence that Steele's Russian sources also affirmed that Russian had stolen documents hurtful to Secretary Clinton that it would utilize in exchange for Pro Russian policies that would later come to pass? Is it a coincidence that Roger Stone predicted that John Podesta would be a victim of a Russian hack and have his private emails published and did so even before Mr. Podesta himself, was fully aware that his private emails would be exposed?</div>
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Is it possible that all of these events and reports are completely unrelated and nothing more than an entirely unhappy coincidence? Yes, it is possible. But it is also possible, maybe more than possible, that they are not coincidental, not disconnected and not unrelated and that the Russians use the same techniques to corrupt U.S. persons that they employed in Europe and elsewhere. We simply don't know, not yet. And we owe it to the country to find out.</div>
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Director Comey, what you see on the dais in front of you in the form of this small number of members and staff is all we have to commit to this investigation. This is it. We are not supported by hundreds or thousands of agents and investigators with offices around the world. It is just us and our Senate counterparts.</div>
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In addition to this investigation we still have our day job which involves overseeing some of the largest and most important agencies in the country. Agencies which by the way are trained to keep secrets. I point this out for two reasons and I'm — I'm wrapping up Chairman. First because we cannot do this work alone and nor should we. We believe these issues are so important that the FBI must devote its resources to investigating each of them thoroughly, to do any less would be negligent in the protection of our country.</div>
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We also need your full cooperation with our investigation so that we may have the benefit of what you know and so that we may coordinate our efforts in the discharge of both our responsibilities. And second, I raise this because I believe that we would benefit from the work of an independent commission that can devote the staff resources to this investigation that we do not have. And it can be completely removed from any political considerations.</div>
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This should not be a substitute for the work that we, in the intelligence committee, should and must do. But as an important complement to our efforts, just as was the case after 9/11. The stakes are nothing less than the future of our democracy and liberal democracy. Because we're engaged in a new war of ideas, not communism versus capitalism, but authoritarianism versus democracy and representative government. And in the struggle, our adversary sees our political process as a legitimate field of battle.</div>
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Only by understanding what the Russians did can we inoculate ourselves from further Russian interference that we know is coming. Only then can we protect our European allies, who are as we speak, enduring similar Russian interference in their own elections.</div>
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And finally, I want to say a word about our own committee investigation. You will undoubtedly observe in the questions and comments that our members make during today's hearing that the members of both parties share a common concern over the Russian attack on our democracy. But bring a different perspective on the significance of certain issues or the quantum of evidence we have seen in the early — earliest stages of this investigation. This is to be expected.</div>
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The question most people have is whether we can really conduct this investigation in the kind of thorough and nonpartisan manner that the seriousness of the issues merit or whether the enormous political consequences of our work will make that impossible.</div>
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The truth is, I don't know the answer, but I do know this, if this committee can do its work properly, if we can pursue the facts wherever they lead, unafraid to compel witnesses to testify, to hear what they have to say, to learn what we will. And after exhaustive work reach a common conclusion, it would be a tremendous public service and one that is very much in the national interest. So let us try.</div>
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I thank you, Mr. Chairman and I yield back. NUNES: Thank you. Gentleman yields back.</div>
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With that that, Admiral Rogers, you're recognized for five minutes.</div>
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ROGERS: Thank you sir.</div>
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Chairman Nunes, Ranking Member Schiff and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of the men and women of the National Security Agency.</div>
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I'm honored to appear besides my teammate Director Comey to discuss Russia's activities and intentions regarding the 2016 U.S. election. And want to assure the committee that my team is doing its best to fulfill the various requests of this committee to support your ongoing investigations into this subject.</div>
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ROGERS: Over the past weeks, NSA has been working closely with the committee to provide you the information that you require for your investigation and I can assure you we will continue to do so. When we last met in January, we discussed the classified version of the January intelligence committee — community's assessment on assessing Russian activities and intentions in the recent U.S. elections.</div>
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Today, more than two months after we issued this assessment, we stand by it as issued. There is no change in our confidence level on the assessment. Of course, the specifics of this assessment need to remain classified to protect sensitive sources and methods so today I will limit my discussion to information in the public domain, that of the publicly released intelligence community assessment.</div>
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I hope you will understand that there are some issues I cannot discuss in an open session, nor will I be able to provide specifics in some areas. As the committee fully knows, the intelligence community has a long-standing policy of not discussing surveillance targeting information, in particular cases, as to do so would invariably open the door to compel further disclosures and litigation or the release of classified information, all of which would be harmful to our national security.</div>
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Like the committee, we are also greatly concerned about leaks of classified information as they can reveal the sources and methods we employ to provide intelligence to American policymakers and warfighters and generate advantage for our nation while protecting its citizens and interest and their privacy. I also want to assure the committee that we take very seriously that obligation to protect U.S. persons' privacy. This applies to all stages of the production of foreign intelligence, but I'd like to emphasize one area in particular; the dissemination of U.S. person information.</div>
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We at NSA have strict procedures in place to make sure that our reporting and the contents of our reporting are disseminated only to those that have strict need-to- know for valid purposes which primarily means support of the development of foreign policy and to protect national security. I do want to specifically mention that among the collection and authorities that we have to target foreign actors in foreign spaces, FISA Section 702 and Executive Order 12333 have been instrumental in our ability to produce the intelligence made available to the committee and others in gathering the SIGINT facts of foreign activity in this election cycle.</div>
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It would be difficult to overstate the breadth and scale of malicious cyber activity occurring today. Our adversaries including nation states have not rested in trying to penetrate government systems, steal our private industries' intellectual property, and make even greater strides towards the development and achievement of cyber attack capabilities. We have a hard-working and dedicated team at NSA that works every day to generate insights on this activity and to thwart its effectiveness. But cyber defense is a team sport and one of NFA — NSA's strongest partners in this effort is Director Comey's team at the FBI.</div>
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And I'm glad to be able to describe here today how we are working together to help protect the nation and our allies to include providing a better understanding of Russian intentions and capabilities. In light of the I.C. assessment and findings, I welcome your investigation into overall Russian activities targeting the previous U.S. elections. NSA continues to employ rigorous analytic standards, applying them in every aspect of our intelligence reporting.</div>
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Our analysts have consistently proven to be reliable and thorough in their technical and analytic efforts and providing our policymakers and warfighters with SIGINT ammunition to make informed decisions to protect our nation's freedom and ensure the safety of its citizens. They are diligently continuing to monitor for additional reflections of Russian targeting of U.S. systems and those of our friends and allies around the world to share that information with our I.C. colleagues and foreign counterparts and to share that information with our I.C. colleagues and foreign counterparts and to produce unbiased, unprejudiced and timely reporting of SIGINT facts in their entirety.</div>
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I look forward your questions. Thank you, sir.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you, Admiral Rogers.</div>
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Director Comey, you're recognized for five minutes.</div>
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COMEY: Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Schiff, members of the committee, thank you for including me in today's hearing. I'm honored to be here representing the people of the FBI.</div>
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I hope we have shown you through our actions and our words how much we at the FBI value your oversight of our work and how much we respect your responsibility to investigate those things are important to the American people. Thank you for showing that both are being taken very seriously.</div>
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As you know, our practice is not to confirm the existence of ongoing investigations, especially those investigations that involve classified matters, but in unusual circumstances where it is in the public interest, it may be appropriate to do so as Justice Department policies recognize. This is one of those circumstances.</div>
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I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.</div>
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Because it is an open ongoing investigation and is classified, I cannot say more about what we are doing and whose conduct we are examining. At the request of congressional leaders, we have taken the extraordinary step in coordination with the Department of Justice of briefing this Congress' leaders, including the leaders of this committee, in a classified setting in detail about the investigation but I can't go into those details here. I know that is extremely frustrating to some folks. I hope you and the American people can understand. The FBI is very careful in how we handle information about our cases and about the people we are investigating.</div>
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We are also very careful about the way we handle information that may be of interest to our foreign adversaries. Both of those interests are at issue in a counterintelligence investigation. Please don't draw any conclusions from the fact that I may not be able to comment on certain topics. I know speculating is part of human nature, but it really isn't fair to draw conclusions simply because I say that I can't comment.</div>
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Some folks may want to make comparisons to past instances where the Department of Justice and the FBI have spoken about the details of some investigations, but please keep in mind that those involved the details of completed investigations. Our ability to share details with the Congress and the American people is limited when those investigations are still open, which I hope makes sense.</div>
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We need to protect people's privacy. We need to make sure we don't give other people clues as to where we're going. We need to make sure that we don't give information to our foreign adversaries about what we know or don't know. We just cannot do our work well or fairly if we start talking about it while we're doing it. So we will try very, very hard to avoid that, as we always do.</div>
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This work is very complex and there is no way for me to give you a timetable as to when it will be done. We approach this work in an open-minded, independent way and our expert investigators will conclude that work as quickly as they can but they will always do it well no matter how long that takes. I can promise you, we will follow the facts wherever they lead. And I wanna underscore something my friend Mike Rogers said, leaks of classified information are serious, serious federal crimes for a reason...</div>
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(AUDIO GAP)</div>
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COMEY: ... they should be investigated and where possible prosecuted in a way that reflects that seriousness so that people understand it simply cannot be tolerated.</div>
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And I look forward to taking your questions.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you, Director Comey.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, first I wanna go to you. On January 6th, 2017, the intelligence community assessment assessing Russian activities and intentions in recent U.S. elections, stated that the types of systems Russian actors targeted or compromised were not involved in vote tallying.</div>
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So my question as of today, Admiral Rogers, do you have any evidence that Russia cyber actors changed vote tallies in the state of Michigan?</div>
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ROGERS: No I do not, but I would highlight we are a foreign intelligence organization, not a domestic intelligence organization. So it would be fair to say, we are probably not the best organization to provide a more complete answer.</div>
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NUNES: How about the state of Pennsylvania?</div>
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ROGERS: No, sir.</div>
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NUNES: The state of Wisconsin?</div>
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ROGERS: No, sir.</div>
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NUNES: State of Florida?</div>
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ROGERS: No, sir.</div>
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NUNES: The state of North Carolina?</div>
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ROGERS: No, sir.</div>
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NUNES: The state of Ohio?</div>
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ROGERS: No, sir.</div>
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NUNES: So — so you have no intelligence that suggests, or evidence that suggests, any votes were changed?</div>
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ROGERS: I have nothing generated by the national security industry, sir.</div>
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NUNES: Director Comey, do you have any evidence at the FBI that any votes were changed in the states that I mentioned to Admiral Rogers?</div>
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COMEY: No.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you. Admiral Rogers, I know that there was a leak of information regarding Director Clapper and Former Secretary of Defense Carter, were looking at relieving you of your — of your duty.</div>
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Are you aware of those stories?</div>
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ROGERS: I'm aware of media reporting to that.</div>
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NUNES: And those stories were leaked as soon as you had visited with President-elect Trump. Is that correct?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir, I was asked if I would be prepared to interview with the Trump administration for a position, which I did.</div>
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NUNES: Did the leak of that information at all — at all impact your ability and your assessment that you did for the intelligence community's assessment on January 6th?</div>
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ROGERS: No sir, if I spent time in this job worrying about un- sourced media reporting, I'd never get any work done.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you, Admiral.</div>
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Director Comey, I remain extremely concerned about the widespread illegal leaks that you just referenced in your — in your testimony. Just for the record though, I wanna get this on the record.</div>
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Does the unauthorized disclosure of classified information to the press violate 18 USC 793, a section of the Espionage Act that criminalizes improperly accessing handling or transmitting national defense information?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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NUNES: Would an unauthorized disclosure of FISA-derived information to the press violate 18 USC 798, a section of the Espionage Act that criminalizes the disclosure of information concerning the communication and intelligence activities of the United States?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, in addition to being a breach of our trust with the FISA Court that oversees our use of those authorities.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you, Director.</div>
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At this time, I'm gonna yield to Mr. Rooney, who chairs our NSA cyber committee, for questions.</div>
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ROONEY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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I'd like to direct my questions, first and foremost, to Admiral Rogers to convey my thanks to the many men and women for their dedication at the NSA for keeping our country safe. As well as I want to talk about the recent media stories, it may have led to confusion in the public about what the NSA is and is not legally collecting in. And the safeguards the NSA has put into place to protect personal data.</div>
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So I'd like to clarify is the chairman of the subcommittee on the NSA, I recently got to meet your deputy admiral last week out at the NSA and we visited and spoke of some of these things. And what — what we can talk about your today publicly, if you could go into, if you can't, you can't. But I think that this is important for the people in the room and — and listening outside understand.</div>
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Is it true that the NSA would need a court order based on probable cause to conduct electronic surveillance on a U.S. person inside the United States?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir.</div>
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ROONEY: And just to be clear, the section of the FISA that is expiring later this year, that's 702, which will be talking about a little bit, cannot be used to target U.S. persons or persons in the United States, is that correct?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir.</div>
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ROONEY: Section 702 focuses on non-U.S. persons outside the United States, primarily correct?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir.</div>
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ROONEY: Do you believe that the section 702 is important and valuable for U.S. national security?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir.</div>
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ROONEY: So it's safe to say that without having this tool, it would be a threat to our national security?</div>
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ROGERS: It would significantly impact my ability to generate the insights that I believe this nation needs.</div>
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ROONEY: In the media, there's a lot of reporting about something called incidental collection. Can you talk about what incidental collection is?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir. Incidental collection is when we are targeting a valid foreign target, for example, in the course of that targeting we either get a reference to a U.S. person or suddenly a U.S. person appears as part of the conversation. That's what we call incidental collecting.</div>
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ROONEY: And — and what you do when it went something like that happens, if there's a U.S. person part of an incidental collection, what kind of safeguards are put in place to make sure that...</div>
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ROGERS: So it depends specifically on the legal authority that we're using to execute the collection in the first place. But in broad terms, realizing again, it varies little bit by the specific authority that we're using to conduct the collection. We step back and we ask ourselves first, are we dealing with a U.S. person here? Is there something that we didn't expect to encounter that we've now encountered?</div>
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We'll ask ourselves what leads us to believe that it is a U.S. person. If we come to the conclusion that it is a U.S. person and we ask ourselves are we — are we listening to criminal activity, are we seeing something of imminent threat or danger, for example, or are we just receiving something that has nothing to do with any of our valid collection authority? Based on that, we'll then take a series of actions.</div>
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In some case, we will just purge the collect, make no reporting on it, not retain the data. It's incidental collection, it has no intelligence value and it wasn't the purpose of what we were doing. In some cases then if we believe that there is intelligence value, for example, whether it's a reference to a U.S. person, as an example in a scenario.</div>
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In our reporting then we will mask the identity of the individual. We use a phrase like U.S. person one or U.S. person two. And I would remind everyone that for our purposes, U.S. person is defined very broadly. That is not just a U.S. citizen, that is a U.S. corporation, that is a ship or aircraft that is registered in the United States, that is an Internet protocol address, for example.</div>
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So it's not just a particular individual, if that makes sense. The term for us is much broader because designed to ensure our protections of U.S. persons.</div>
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ROONEY: And this -- the procedures and protections you talked about are required and approved by the FISA court, is that correct?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir, and the attorney general.</div>
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ROONEY: And you mentioned in your opening statement that for that kind of information to be disseminated outside of your agency and the NSA that that dissemination would be strictly on a need-to-know basis, is that -- is that correct?</div>
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ROGERS: We use two criteria; is there a need to know in the course of the person or group that is asking for the identification, is there a valid need to know in the course of the execution of their official duties?</div>
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ROONEY: So like, who would that be?</div>
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ROGERS: It could be another element with the intelligence community, it could be another element within NSA, it could be a military customer, for example, who's reading some of our reporting. It could be a policymaker.</div>
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I apologize, there was one other point I wanted to make, but I've lost the thread in my mind. I apologize if I jump in at a moment...</div>
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ROONEY: I'm sorry, I cut you off.</div>
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ROGERS: I'll try to make...</div>
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ROONEY: Let's get back to masking briefly.</div>
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You spoke about masking and trying to keep a U.S. person's identity concealed. And when it is disseminated, you -- we often talk about in the intelligence community about the exceptions to how -- if somebody's masks, how you unmask them. What would the exceptions to that masking be before it's disseminated?</div>
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ROGERS: So again, we use two criteria; the need to know on the person requesting us in the execution of their official duties and the second part was, is the identification necessary to truly understand the context of the intelligence value that the report is designed to generate? Those are the two criteria we use.</div>
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ROONEY: Is that identity of a U.S. person communicating with a foreign target? Is that ordinarily disseminated in a masked or unmasked form? ROGERS: No. It is normally disseminated, if we -- if we make the decision that there's intelligence value and we're going to report on it, it is normally disseminated in a masked form. I would -- again, as I said, we use a reference, U.S. person one, U.S. person two...</div>
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ROONEY: Right.</div>
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ROGERS: I would highlight, if you look at the total breadth of our reporting, reporting involving U.S. persons at all is an incredibly small subset in my experience of our total reporting.</div>
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ROONEY: Who normally in the NSA would make the decision to unmask?</div>
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ROGERS: There are 20 individuals including myself who I have delegated this authority to approve unmask requests.</div>
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ROONEY: And does the level of approval change depending on the reason for unmasking? If it was something or somebody, say, really important would that matter or could it be...</div>
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ROGERS: Not -- it's not necessarily designated in writing that way, but certainly by custom and tradition, at times requests will be pushed up to my -- I'm the senior-most of the 20 individuals. Requests will be pushed to my level, say "hey, sir, we just want to make sure that you're comfortable with this."</div>
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ROONEY: Right. So 20 people, that -- you know, what procedures or safeguards are put in place to make sure that those 20 people are not unmasking wrongly?</div>
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ROGERS: So they retrieve specific training, there are specific controls put in place in terms of our ability to disseminate information out of the databases associated with U.S. persons.</div>
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ROONEY: OK. Let's run through the exceptions quickly through a following hypothetical. If the NSA collects a communication where a target under surveillance is talking to a U.S. person, how would the NSA determine whether disseminating the U.S. person information is necessary to understanding the foreign intelligence or assess its importance?</div>
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ROGERS: So first of all, try to understand the nature of the conversation. Is this truly something that involves intelligence or a national security implication for the United States or is this just very normal, reasonable conversations, in which case we have no desire to have any awareness of it, it's not applicable to our mission.</div>
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In that case, normally we'll purge the data. We'll ask ourselves, is there criminal activity involved, is there a threat, potential threat or harm to U.S. individuals being discussed in a conversation for example.</div>
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ROONEY: If there was criminal activity involved, what would you do then? ROGERS: If when we disseminate -- if we decide we need -- if it's criminal activity, we'll disseminate the information and if the FBI or other criminal activities are on the reporting stream, in some cases I also will generate a signed letter under my signature in specific cases to Department of Justice highlighting that what we think we have is potential criminal activity, but because we are not a law enforcement or justice organization we're not in a place to make that determination.</div>
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ROONEY: OK. Based on that, again, hypothetically, if the NSA obtained the communication of General Flynn while he was communicating with the surveillance target legally, would you please explain how General Flynn's identity could be unmasked based on the exceptions that we discussed?</div>
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ROGERS: Sir, I'm not going to discuss even hypotheticals about individuals, I'm sorry.</div>
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ROONEY: If I could make reference to a Washington Post article that I have here from February 9 which states -- do you -- let me say what it is and I'll ask if you've read it or -- or -- or if you've seen it. Which states national security under Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the country's ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office.</div>
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Contrary to public assertions by Trump officials current and -- and former U.S. officials said. The article goes on to say that nine current or former -- former officials who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the call spoke under the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. Did you read this article?</div>
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ROGERS: I apologize, sir. It's not -- an article that references nine particular individual -- it doesn't necessarily ring a bell. I've certainly seen plenty of media reporting that but again, I'm not going to comment on specifics.</div>
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ROONEY: Just basically under the breath of that article, when we when we hear that nine former, current -- or current officials had spoken to the press under the condition of anonymity, and we heard our director Comey and the Chairman speak of this is a potential crime -- a serious crime -- under the Espionage Act, assuming if this article is accurate, who would have the -- who would be in a position to request the unmasking of General Flynn's identity? Would that be you?</div>
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ROGERS: I would have the authority to do that.</div>
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ROONEY: Who else would?</div>
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ROGERS: The 19 other individuals.</div>
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ROONEY: Would that include director Comey?</div>
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ROGERS: I'm talking about...</div>
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ROONEY: In the NSA... ROGERS: ... within the National Security Agency and we're talking about NSA reporting.</div>
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ROONEY: But -- but would people like Director Comey also be able to request that?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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ROONEY: And the attorney general and Director Clapper, are those type of people also on this list?</div>
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ROGERS: Again, I'm not going to -- in general, yes, they would be...</div>
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ROONEY: Generally speaking, not with regard to...</div>
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ROGERS: I'm not going to talk about...</div>
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ROONEY: OK.</div>
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ROGERS: ... of an individual or hypothetical scenarios.</div>
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ROONEY: Well, here's what I'm trying to get at. If -- if -- if what we're talking about is a serious crime as has -- as has been alleged, in your opinion, would leaking of an -- a U.S. person who has been unmasked and disseminated by intelligence community officials, would that leaking to the press hurt or help our ability to conduct national security matters?</div>
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ROGERS: Hurt.</div>
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ROONEY: OK. If -- if it hurts -- so this leak, which through the 702 tool, which we all agree is vital -- or you and I at least agree to that -- do you think that that leak actually threatens our national security? If it's a crime and if it's unveiling a masked person, and this tool is so important that it can potentially jeopardize this tool when we have to try to reauthorize it in a few months.</div>
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If this is used against the ability of us to reauthorize this tool and we can't get it done because whoever did this leak, or these nine people that did this leak, create such a stir, whether it be, you know, in our legislative process or whatever, that they don't feel confident that a U.S. person under the 702 program can be masked successfully and not leaked to the press, doesn't that hurt, that leak hurt our national security?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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ROONEY: Can you think of any reason why somebody would -- would want to leak the identity of a mass person?</div>
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ROGERS: No sir, I -- I mean I have raised this directly with my own workforce over the -- over the course of the last few months to remind everyone, part of the ethics of our profession, not just the legal requirement but the ethics of our profession as intelligence professionals is we do not engage in this activity.</div>
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And I've also reminded the men and women of the National Security Agency, if I become aware of any such conduct, there is no place for you on this team. It's unacceptable to the citizens of the nation that one would engage in this.</div>
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ROONEY: Well, I think that, you know, as we move forward, obviously, you know, I think that what you're speaking of is this sacred trust that the intelligence community has with the American people and with the people that are representing them here on this dais.</div>
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And if we -- I think that it's vital that for those who break that sacred trust, if they are not held accountable whether it by the NSA internally or by the FBI through conviction or investigations/prosecution and conviction through the attorney general's office of that crime, it is very difficult for us to be able to keep that sacred trust to know that what we're doing is -- is -- is valid and what we're doing has no nefarious motivations. And -- and -- and to us to be able to keep America safe without violating the constitutional protections that we all enjoy.</div>
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Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure how much more time I have left. I just wanted to...</div>
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ROGERS: Congressman, can I make one comment if I could, I apologize.</div>
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ROONEY: Yes, sir.</div>
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ROGERS: It comes to my mind based on your question, I just wanna remind everyone and in general. FISA collection on targets in the United States has nothing to do with 702, I just wanna make sure we're not confusing the two things, here, 702 is collection overseas against non-U.S. persons.</div>
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ROONEY: Right and -- and what -- and what we're talking about here, is incidentally, if a U.S. person is talking to a foreign person that we're listening to, whether or not that person is unmasked...</div>
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ROGERS: I just wanna make sure we all understand the context, that's all.</div>
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ROONEY: Right, right, and -- and whether or not somebody in the intelligence community that we put the trust in, is going to leak that information to the press, for whatever reason. And I'm not even gonna get into the gratuitous, you know, what that reason may be.</div>
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But it's really gonna hurt the people on this committee and you all on the intelligence community, when we try to retain this tool this year. And try to convince some of our colleagues that this is really important for national security, when somebody in the intelligence community says you know what? The hell with it, I'm gonna release this person's name because I'm gonna get something out of it.</div>
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We're all gonna be hurt by that if we can't reauthorize this tool, do you agree with that?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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ROONEY: Mr. Chairman, do I -- do I have enough time to talk about the letter the committee sent?</div>
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NUNES: Sure.</div>
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ROONEY: The committee sent to you on March 15th, a letter -- yeah, to Admiral Rogers and to Director Comey. Have you had a chance to look at this letter? I think that you've actually...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir, I in fact have given you a reply on the 17th.</div>
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ROONEY: Just real -- real quickly because I don't want to take up any more time. Can you give us a sense of how many unmasked U.S. persons identities were disseminated by the NSA from June 2016 to June 2017?</div>
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ROGERS: No sir. As I have indicated where the process of compiling that information. I will provide it to the committee. But until that work is done, I am not gonna comment.</div>
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ROONEY: Can you tell us whether any of those disseminations broadly were involved U.S. people relating to presidential candidates Donald J. Trump or Hillary Clinton, and their associates in 2016?</div>
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ROGERS: I won't answer until I complete the research sir.</div>
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ROONEY: Assuming that the NSA disseminated unmasked U.S. persons information relating to the Trump or Clinton campaigns, would that have been a reason for such unmasking?</div>
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ROGERS: I apologize. I don't truly understand the question.</div>
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ROONEY: Let me just move on to the next one.</div>
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Along those lines, if the NSA had wanted disseminate unmasked U.S persons information related to either the presidential campaign, who in the NSA would have approved such dissemination's?</div>
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ROGERS: Again, it would've been one of the 20 and I provided that in my initial response to the committee. I have outlined the procedures, I've outlined the specific 20 individuals.</div>
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ROONEY: Thank you, Admiral. I appreciate your -- your answers. I look forward to working with you on the subcommittee moving forward.</div>
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And Mr. Chairman, I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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Mr. Gowdy is recognized.</div>
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GOWDY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Director Comey, we will begin on this line of questioning, then we'll finish it the next round. FISA and other similar related counterterrorism programs have been described, even this morning, as vital, critical and indispensable to our national security. And many of us on both sides of the aisle believe FISA and similar counterterrorism programs prevent terrorist attacks and save American lives.</div>
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But FISA and other surveillance programs are intentionally designed to preserve the privacy of U.S. citizens. They are intentionally designed to ensure the information is collected and used only for legitimate national security and criminal investigative purposes.</div>
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There are statutory safeguards, there are warrants based on probable calls, there is a FISA court that is involved, there are audits on the backend and we think so highly of this material. It is a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison to unlawfully disseminate it. All of this was done to make sure this information gathered remains protected as it relates to U.S. citizens.</div>
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The way I view it, Director Comey, the American people have an agreement with their government. We are going to give you the tools to keep us safe, even if it infringes on our privacy Psalm (ph). We're going to give you the tools. And government in return promises to safeguard the privacy of U.S. citizens. And when that deal is broken, it jeopardizes American trust in the surveillance program.</div>
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So let me ask you, do you agree FISA is critical to our national security?</div>
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COMEY: I do.</div>
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GOWDY: Do you agree programs like FISA were intentionally designed to safeguard the identity of U.S. persons?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, there are other -- other important elements of it but that's a primary goal, I believe.</div>
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GOWDY: It wasn't an afterthought, it wasn't an accident. These are intentional safeguards that we put in place to protect U.S. citizens, is that correct?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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GOWDY: Do you agree much of what is learned from these programs is classified or otherwise legally protected?</div>
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COMEY: All FISA applications review by the court collection by us pursuant to our FISA authority is classified.</div>
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GOWDY: The dissemination of which is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison?</div>
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COMEY: Sure, dissemination -- unauthorized dissemination. GOWDY: Unauthorized dissemination of classified or otherwise legally protected material punishable by a felony up to 10 years in federal prison.</div>
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COMEY: Yes. Yes, as it should be.</div>
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GOWDY: All right.</div>
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In January of this year, the Washington Post reported, according to a senior U.S. government official, a named U.S. citizen -- and I will not use the name -- a named U.S. citizen phoned the Russian ambassador several times on December 29.</div>
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In February of this year, the Washington Post reported nine, nine current and former officials who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the call, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters and that officials began pouring over intelligence reports, intercepted communications, and diplomatic cables.</div>
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In February of this year, the New York Times reported a U.S. citizen, whose name I will not use, discusses sanctions with the Russian ambassador in a phone call according to officials who have seen a transcript of the wiretapped conversation. And again in February of this year, the New York Times reported on a phone call involving a U.S. citizen including significant discussions of phone records, intercepted calls, intercepted communications, and reported the NSA captured calls and then asked the FBI to collect as much information as possible.</div>
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My time is up so I will say this for this round. I thought it was against the law to disseminate classified information. Is it?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, sir. It's a serious crime. I'm not going to comment on those particular articles because I don't want to, in any circumstance, compound a criminal act by confirming that it was classified information but in general, yes, it's a serious crime and it should be for the reasons you said.</div>
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GOWDY: We'll take it back up next round, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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I'll now yield 15 minutes to Mr. Schiff.</div>
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SCHIFF: Director Comey, I want to begin by attempting to put to rest several claims made by the president about his predecessor, namely that President Obama wiretapped his phones. So that we can be precise, I want to refer you to exactly what the president said and ask you whether there is any truth to it.</div>
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First, the president claimed, quote, "Terrible. Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism," unquote.</div>
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Director Comey, was the president's statement that Obama had his wires tapped in Trump Tower a true statement?</div>
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COMEY: With respect to the president's tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI. The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components. The department has no information that supports those tweets.</div>
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SCHIFF: The president accused Mr. Obama and presumably the FBI of engaging in McCarthyism. As you understand the term McCarthyism, do you think President Obama or the FBI was engaged in such conduct?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not to try and characterize the tweets themselves. All I can tell you is we have no information that supports them.</div>
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SCHIFF: Were you engaged in McCarthyism, Director Comey?</div>
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COMEY: I try very hard not to engage in any isms of any kind, including -- including McCarthyism.</div>
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SCHIFF: The president second stated quote "Is it legal for a sitting president to be wiretapping a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by a court earlier, a new low," unquote.</div>
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Director Comey, can you answer the president's question? Would it be legal for present Obama to have ordered a wiretap of Donald Trump?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not going to characterize or respond to the tweets themselves.</div>
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I can tell you in general, as -- as Admiral Rogers and I were just saying, there is a statutory framework in the United States under which courts grant permission for electronic surveillance either in a criminal case or a national security case based on a showing of probable cause, carefully overseen. It's a rigorous, rigorous process that involves all three branches of government, and it's one we've lived with since the late 1970s. That's how it works.</div>
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So no individual in the United States can direct electronic surveillance of anyone, it has to go through an application process, ask a judge, the judge can I make the order.</div>
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SCHIFF: So President Obama could not unilaterally order a wiretap of anyone?</div>
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COMEY: No president could.</div>
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SCHIFF: Mr. Trump also asserted in that tweet that he was -- that the application -- or the president's order was turned down by a court. Was there any request made by the FBI or Justice Department to wiretap Donald Trump turned down by a court?</div>
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COMEY: That's one of those subjects I can't comment on one way or another. Please don't interpret that in any way other than I just can't talk about anything that relates to the Pfizer process in an open setting.</div>
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SCHIFF: Third, the president stated, I bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October just prior to the election.</div>
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Director Comey, you're a good lawyer. Can you make out a great case that president Obama wiretapped Mr. Trump's phones just prior to the election in light of the fact you've said there is no evidence of that?</div>
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COMEY: All I can say is what I said before, that we don't have any information that supports those tweets.</div>
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SCHIFF: Well, in my view then, you would not be a great, but very unethical lawyer to make up such a case. And finally, the president made the following accusation. How low has president Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process? This is Nixon-Watergate. Bad or sick guy.</div>
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Director Comey, the president has compared Mr. Obama to Nixon and purported wiretap of Trump phones as another Watergate. What was the gravamen of the offense by Nixon and his operatives during Watergate? A lot of people who may be watching may be too young.</div>
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SCHIFF: To understand what Watergate was about, what was the gravament of that offense?</div>
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COMEY: Well, as I recall it then, I was a kid, but I've studied it quite a bit in school. The gravament of it was an abuse of power including break-ins, unlawful wire taps, obstruction of justice, sort of the cycle of criminal conduct.</div>
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SCHIFF: There was a break-in of the democratic headquarters by operatives of the president, was it not?</div>
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COMEY: That's my understanding is that's how it began -- the investigation began.</div>
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SCHIFF: It also involve the cover up by the president.</div>
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COMEY: Yes, as I said.</div>
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SCHIFF: Now here, I think you've said there's been no evidence of an illegal wiretap by president Obama, is that right?</div>
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COMEY: I've said the FBI and the Department of Justice have no information to support those tweets.</div>
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SCHIFF: But there is evidence, is there not, of a break in of the democratic headquarters by a foreign power using cyber means?</div>
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COMEY: Yes there was, as the -- as the intelligence community report, the un-class report, said in January, the Russian intelligence services hacked into a number of enterprises in the United States, including the Democratic National Committee.</div>
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SCHIFF: And there was an effort by the Russians to cover up their break-in of the Democratic Party headquarters, by using cutouts like WikiLeaks to publish the stolen material, isn't that right?</div>
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COMEY: Certainly to cover up their -- that they were the ones releasing it.</div>
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SCHIFF: Director Rogers, in an effort to explain why there was no evidence supporting the president's claim that Obama had wiretapped him, the president and his spokesman, Sean Spicer, have suggested that British intelligence through its NSA or GCHQ wiretapped Mr. Trump on President Obama's behalf.</div>
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Did you ever request that your counterparts in GCHQ should wiretap Mr. Trump on behalf of President Obama?</div>
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ROGERS: No sir, nor would I, that would be expressly against the construct of the Five Eyes agreement that's been in place for decades.</div>
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SCHIFF: And the Five Eyes are some of our closest intelligence partners and Britain -- Britain is one of them?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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SCHIFF: Have you seen any evidence that anyone else in the Obama administration made such a request?</div>
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ROGERS: No sir, and again, my view is the same as Director Comey, I've seen nothing on the NSA side that we engaged in any such activity, nor that anyone ever asked us to engage in such activity.</div>
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SCHIFF: And if you were to ask the British to spy on America, that would be a violation of U.S. law, would it not?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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SCHIFF: Our relationship with British intelligence is one of the closest we have with any foreign services, isn't that true?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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SCHIFF: Now, the British allies -- our British allies have called the president's suggestion that they wiretapped him for Obama nonsense and utterly ridiculous. Would you agree?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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SCHIFF: Does it do damage to our relationship with one of our closest intelligence partners for the president to make a baseless claim that the British participated in a conspiracy against him?</div>
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ROGERS: I think it clearly frustrates a key ally of ours.</div>
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SCHIFF: Certainly wouldn't endear the British intelligence services to continue working with us, would it? ROGERS: I believe that the relationship is strong enough, this is something we'll be able to deal with.</div>
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SCHIFF: But it's not helpful...</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir...</div>
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SCHIFF: ... you would agree?</div>
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ROGERS: ... that -- that...</div>
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SCHIFF: Director Rogers, President Trump recently met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint press conference, the president suggested that they both had something in common, that they had both been wiretapped by President Obama.</div>
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Director Comey has just demonstrated why the claims by the president about his being wiretapped by Obama were unsupported by any evidence. But the claim he made about wiretapping directed at Merkel referred to something that came up in the context of the Snowden disclosures.</div>
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I'm not going to ask you to comment on whether the Chancellor was the subject of any eavesdropping. But I would like to ask you whether the Snowden disclosures did damage to our relationship with our German ally and whether the Chancellor herself expressed her concern at the time.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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SCHIFF: In light of this, is it helpful to our relationship with the Chancellor or our relationship with German intelligence, to bring this up again in a public forum?</div>
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ROGERS: It certainly complicates things. But again, I'd like to think that our relationship is such we're gonna be able to deal and keep moving forward.</div>
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SCHIFF: So our relationships with the British and the Germans, you hope, are strong enough to withstand any damage done by these comments?</div>
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ROGERS: By anything in general, sir. We have foundational interest with each other, we need to keep working together.</div>
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SCHIFF: This time, Director Comey, let me ask you a few questions you may or may not be able to answer. Do you know who Roger Stone is?</div>
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COMEY: Generally, yes.</div>
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SCHIFF: Are you aware that he was a partner of Paul Manafort?</div>
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COMEY: Mr. Schiff, I'm worried we're going to a place I don't want to go, which is commenting on any particular person. And so I -- I don't think I should comment. I'm aware of public accounts but I don't want to talk more than that.</div>
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SCHIFF: Are you aware that he has publicly acknowledged having directly communicated with (inaudible), someone that the intelligence community has assessed was a person of Russian intelligence?</div>
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COMEY: I've read media accounts to that effect. I don't wanna hurt anybody's feeling in the media. I don't know whether that's accurate or not.</div>
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SCHIFF: If Mr. Stone acknowledged Mr. Podesta's time in the barrel was coming in August 2016, would that have been prior to the public release of stolen e-mails of Mr. Podesta's?</div>
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COMEY: I believe that's the correct chronology.</div>
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SCHIFF: Do you know how Mr. Stone would've known that Mr. Podesta's e-mails were going to be released?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I can comment on.</div>
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SCHIFF: Do you know that Mr. Podesta has said that at the time he was not even aware whether his e-mails had been stolen would be published?</div>
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COMEY: That's nothing something I comment on.</div>
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SCHIFF: At this point Mr. Chairman, I'm going to yield to Mr. Himes.</div>
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HIMES: Thank you to the ranking member. And gentlemen, thank you for being with us today.</div>
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Let me -- when I get my own time I'll -- I'll -- I'll have some follow-up questions. But let me start with a point that the chairman brought out I think very specifically which is that there's no evidence that votes were technically changed in any of the jurisdictions that he named.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, thanks for confirming that, but am I correct, that the -- when we say Russian hacking what we are referring to is the fact that the intelligence community believes that the Russians penetrated the networks of the DNC, of John Podesta, and other individuals, stole information and then disseminated that information. Is that a fair characterization of the -- of the conclusions of the intelligence community?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir.</div>
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HIMES: And did the intelligence community ever do an analysis as to whether the dissemination of that adverse information in a closely fought election had any effect on the American electorate?</div>
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ROGERS: No sir. The U.S. intelligence community does not do assessments ...</div>
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HIMES: Of course not. (CROSSTALK)</div>
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ROGERS: ... U.S. opinion.</div>
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HIMES: That's -- that's -- that's not your job.</div>
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ROGERS: No sir.</div>
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HIMES: The fact is, those of us who go through campaigns know that's actually something we probably have a little bit more understanding of. Let me just ask this question then. Was there any equivalent dissemination of adverse information stolen from the RNC or individuals associated with the Trump campaign?</div>
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COMEY: No.</div>
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HIMES: Thank you.</div>
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Director Comey, in -- in the remaining minutes here. I appreciate your frankness on the topic of an ongoing investigation and appreciate your inability to go too much further than you went. But I do want to ask you a question to try to clear up some confusion.</div>
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This committee, of course, is engaged in investigation about links, as you said, between the Trump campaign and the Russians, should there be any possible collusion. We've had a number of statements very early in the investigation that there was no evidence of collusion. This is still very early in our investigation, is it fair to say that you're still relatively early in your investigation?</div>
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COMEY: It's hard to say because I don't how much longer it will take. But we've been doing this -- this investigation began in late July, so for counterintelligence investigation that's a fairly short period of time.</div>
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HIMES: So, you used the word coordination which to me suggests that you are in fact investigating whether there was coordination between U.S. persons and the Russians. Is it fair for me to assume that we shouldn't simply dismiss the possibility that there was coordination or collusion between the Russian efforts and U.S. persons as an investigatory body?</div>
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COMEY: Well all I can tell you is what we're investigating which includes whether there was any coordination between people associated with the Trump campaign and the Russians.</div>
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HIMES: OK. Thank you, I'll yield the remaining time to the ranking member.</div>
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SCHIFF: I will yield the remaining time this period to Representative Sewell.</div>
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SEWELL: Thank you.</div>
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So, with respect to the coordination, Director Comey, I just wanted to continue this line of questioning, can you say with any specificity what kinds of coordination or contacts you're looking at in your investigation generally when confronted with something like this?</div>
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COMEY: I can't.</div>
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SEWELL: Can you discuss whether or not there was any knowledge by any Trump- related person and the Russians?</div>
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COMEY: I can't.</div>
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SEWELL: So with respect to any ongoing investigation, whether the specificity of the person, U.S. person or otherwise, you can't comment on any of that.</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SEWELL: OK. Can you characterize what the nature of your investigation generally, wouldn't -- when you do an investigation of this sort, can you talk a little bit about the process, generally?</div>
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COMEY: Not a whole lot. I can tell you we use our great, great people, we coordinate with our brothers and sisters in other parts of the intelligence community to see what they may know from around the world that might be useful to us and we use all the different tools and techniques that we use in all of our investigations. That's probably the most -- I'm not sure that's useful to you, but that's the most I can say.</div>
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SEWELL: How long does a counterintelligence investigation like this usually take? You said that it started in July.</div>
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COMEY: There is no usually. It's hard -- it's impossible to say, frankly.</div>
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SEWELL: I yield back my time.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you, Ms. Sewell. We'll go back to -- I'll yield myself 15 minutes and we'll go back to Mr. Gowdy.</div>
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GOWDY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Director Comey, you and I were discussing the felonious dissemination of classified material during the last round. Is there an exception in the law for current or former U.S. officials who request anonymity?</div>
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COMEY: To release classified information?</div>
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GOWDY: Yes sir.</div>
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COMEY: No.</div>
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GOWDY: Is there an exception in the law for reporters who want to break a story?</div>
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COMEY: Well that's a harder question as to whether a reporter incurs criminal liability by publishing classified information and one probably beyond my ken. I'm not as good a lawyer as Mr. Schiff said I used to be.</div>
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GOWDY: Well, I don't know about that but the statute does use the word published, doesn't it?</div>
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COMEY: It does, but that's a question I know the Department of Justice has struggled with through administration after administration.</div>
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GOWDY: I know the department struggled with it, the 4th Circuit struggled with it, lots of people have struggled with it but you're not aware of an exception in the current dissemination of classified information statute that carves out an exception for reporters.</div>
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COMEY: No, I'm not aware of anything carved out in the statute. I don't think a reporter's been prosecuted certainly in my lifetime though.</div>
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GOWDY: Well, there've been a lot of statutes that bore on this investigation for which no one's ever been prosecuted or convicted and that does not keep people from discussing those statutes, namely the Logan Act. In theory, how would reporters know a U.S. citizen made a telephone call to an agent of a foreign power?</div>
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COMEY: How would they know legally?</div>
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GOWDY: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: If it was declassified and then discussed in a judicial proceeding or congressional hearing. Something like that.</div>
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GOWDY: And assume none of those facts are at play, how would they know?</div>
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COMEY: Someone told them who shouldn't have told them.</div>
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GOWDY: How would a reporter know about the existence of intercepted phone calls?</div>
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COMEY: Same thing. In a -- in a legitimate way, through a appropriate proceeding where there's been declassification. In any other way, in an illegitimate way.</div>
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GOWDY: How would reporters know if a transcript existed of an intercepted communication?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer. It -- it -- the only legitimate way would be through a proceeding -- appropriate proceeding, the illegitimate way would be somebody told him who shouldn't have told them.</div>
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GOWDY: What does the term mask mean in the concept of FISA and other surveillance programs?</div>
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COMEY: As Director Rogers explained, it's our practice, approved by the FISA court, of removing the names of U.S. persons to protect their privacy and their identity unless it hits certain exceptions. So masking means, as Mike Rogers said -- I'll often see a intelligence report from NSA that will say U.S. person number one, U.S. person number two, U.S. person number three and there's no further identification on the document.</div>
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GOWDY: Admiral Rogers said there are 20 people within the NSA that are part of the unmasking process. How many people within the FBI are part of the unmasking process?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know for sure. As I sit here, surely more, given the nature the FBI's work. We come into contact with U.S. persons a whole lot more than the NSA does because we may be conducting -- we only conduct our operations in the United States to collect electronic surveillance -- to conduct electronic surveillance, so I don't -- I can find out the exact number, I don't know it as I sit here.</div>
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GOWDY: Well, I think, Director Comey, given the fact that you and I agree this is critical, vital, indispensable, a similar program is coming up for reauthorization this fall with a pretty strong head wind right now. It would be nice to know the universe of people who have the power to unmask a U.S. citizen's name. Because that might provide something of a roadmap to investigate who might've actually disseminated a masked U.S. citizen's name.</div>
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COMEY: Sure. The number is relevant but what I hope the U.S. -- the American people realize is the number's important, but the culture behind it is in fact even more important. The training, the rigor, the discipline. We are obsessive about FISA in the FBI for reasons I hope make sense to this committee but we are -- everything that's FISA has to be labeled in such a way to warn people this is FISA, we treat this in a special way.</div>
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So we can get you the number, but I want to assure you the culture of the FBI and the NSA around how we treat U.S. person information is obsessive and I mean that in a good way.</div>
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GOWDY: Director Comey, I am not arguing with you and I do agree that culture is important, but if there are 100 people who have the ability to unmask and the knowledge of a previously masked name, then that's 100 different potential sources of investigation and the smaller the number is, the easier your investigation is.</div>
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So the number is relevant. I can see the culture is relevant. NSA, FBI, what other U.S. government agencies have the authority to unmask a U.S. citizen's name?</div>
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COMEY: I think all agencies that collect information pursuant to FISA have what are called standard minimization procedures, which are approved by the FISA court that govern how they will treat U.S. person information. So I know the NSA does, I know the CIA does, obviously the FBI does. I don't know for sure beyond that.</div>
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GOWDY: How about the department of -- how about Main Justice?</div>
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COMEY: Main Justice, I think does have standard minimization procedures.</div>
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GOWDY: All right, so that's four. The NSA, FBI, CIA, Main Justice. Does the White House have the authority to unmask a U.S. citizen's name?</div>
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COMEY: I think other elements of the government that are consumers of our products can ask the collectors to unmask. The unmasking resides with those who collected the information.</div>
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And so if Mike Rogers's folks collected something and they sent it to me in a report and it says U.S. person number one and it's important for the FBI to know who that is, our request will go back to them. The White House can make similar requests of the FBI or of NSA but they can't on their -- they don't own their own collect and so they can't on their own unmask. I got that about right? ROGERS: No, that's correct.</div>
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COMEY: Yeah.</div>
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GOWDY: I guess what I'm getting at, Director Comey, is you say it's vital, you say it's critical, you say it's indispensable. We both know it's a threat to the reauthorization of 702 later on this fall. And by the way, it's also a felony punishable by up to 10 years.</div>
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So how would you begin your investigation, assuming for the sake of argument that a U.S. citizen's name appeared in the Washington Post and the New York Times unlawfully. Where would you begin that investigation?</div>
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COMEY: Well, I'm not gonna talk about any particular investigation...</div>
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GOWDY: That's why I said in theory.</div>
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COMEY: You would start by figuring out, so who are the suspects? Who touched the information that you've concluded ended up unlawfully in the newspaper and start with that universe and then use investigative tools and techniques to see if you can eliminate people, or include people as more serious suspects.</div>
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GOWDY: Do you know whether Director Clapper knew the name of the U.S. citizen that appeared in the New York Times and Washington Post?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say in this forum because again, I don't wanna confirm that there was classified information in the newspaper.</div>
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GOWDY: Would he have access to an unmasked name?</div>
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COMEY: In -- in some circumstances, sure, he was the director of national intelligence. But I'm not talking about the particular.</div>
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GOWDY: Would Director Brennan have access to an unmasked U.S. citizen's name?</div>
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COMEY: In some circumstances, yes.</div>
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GOWDY: Would National Security Adviser Susan Rice have access to an unmasked U.S. citizen's name?</div>
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COMEY: I think any -- yes, in general, and any other national security adviser would, I think, as a matter of their ordinary course of their business.</div>
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GOWDY: Would former White House Advisor Ben Rhodes have access to an unmasked U.S. citizen's name?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know the answer to that.</div>
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GOWDY: Would former Attorney General Loretta Lynch have access to an unmasked U.S. citizen's name? COMEY: In general, yes, as would any attorney general.</div>
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GOWDY: So that would also include Acting AG Sally Yates?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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GOWDY: Did you brief President Obama on -- well, I'll just ask you. Did you brief President Obama on any calls involving Michael Flynn?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not gonna get into either that particular case that matter, or any conversations I had with the president. So I can't answer that.</div>
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GOWDY: Well, Director Comey, there's been some speculation this morning on motive. I'm not all that interested in motive -- first of all, its really hard to prove.</div>
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Secondarily, you never have to prove it. But I get that people wanna know, I get the jury all wants -- always wants to know why. I think you and I can agree there are a couple of reasons that you would not have to unlawfully, feloniously, disseminate classified material. It certainly wasn't done to help an ongoing criminal investigation, because you already had the information, didn't you?</div>
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COMEY: Again, I can't answer in the context of this particular matter.</div>
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GOWDY: How about in theory? Is -- is -- is there something a reporter would have access to that the head of the FBI would not?</div>
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COMEY: It's hard for me to answer, I would hope not when it relates to the FBI...</div>
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GOWDY: I would hope not too, since its part of our surveillance programs. I would hope that you had access to everything as the head of the world's premier law-enforcement agency. I would hope that you had it all. So if you had it all, the motive couldn't have been to help you, because you already had it. And Admiral Rogers, the motive couldn't have been to help you, because you already had it.</div>
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So in the universe of possible motives for the felonious dissemination of classified material, we could rule out wanting to help the intelligence and the law enforcement communities. Those are two motives are gone now. That leaves some more nefarious motives. Is the investigation into the leak of classified information -- has it begun yet?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say because I don't want to confirm that that was classified information.</div>
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GOWDY: Well, I'm -- I don't want to quarrel with you Director Comey and I -- I do understand that you cannot ordinarily confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. But you did it this morning, citing DOJ policy given the gravity of the fact pattern. Would you not agree that surveillance programs that are critical, indispensable, vital to our national security, some of which are awful reauthorization this fall, that save American lives and prevent terrorist attacks also rises to the level of important?</div>
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COMEY: I think those programs are vital and leaks of information collected pursuant to court order under those programs are terrible. And as I said in my opening statement should be taken very, very seriously.</div>
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What I don't ever want to do is compound what bad people have done and confirm something that's in the newspaper. Because sometimes newspaper get it right, there's a whole lotta wrong information about --allegedly about classified activities that's in the newspaper. We don't call them and correct them either. That's another big challenge but we just don't go anywhere near it because we don't want to help and compound the offense that was committed.</div>
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GOWDY: I understand that Director Comey. And I'm trying really hard not to get you to discuss the facts at bar (ph). But some of the words that appeared in this public reporting, include the word transcript which has a very unique use in the matters that you and I are discussing this morning. That is a very unique use of that word, wiretap has a very specific meaning. The name of a U.S. citizen that was supposed to statutorily be protected, is no longer protected.</div>
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So some of this reporting -- let's assume 90 percent of it is inaccurate, that other 10 percent is still really, really important. And to the extent that you can rely on the dates in either the Washington Post or the New York Times, we are talking about February of this year is when the reporting first took place. So we are -- we're a month and a half or two months into something that you and I agree, is incredibly important and also happens the felony.</div>
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So I'm just simply asking you to assure the American people, you've already assured them you take it really seriously. Can you assure them that it is going to be investigated?</div>
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COMEY: I can't but I hope -- I hope people watching know how seriously we take leaks of classified information. But I don't want to confirm it by saying that were investigating it. And I'm sorry I have to draw the line, I just think that's the right way to be.</div>
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GOWDY: Well I'm not argue with you Director Comey but it is -- we're going to discuss a lot of important things today. Whether Russia attempted to influence our democratic process is incredibly important. Whether they sought to influence it as a separate analysis, incredibly important.</div>
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The motive behind that interference and influence, incredibly important. Our U.S. response, incredibly important. Some of that may rise to the level of the crime, some of it does not rise to level of a crime. One thing you and I agree on is the felonious dissemination of class -- classified material most definitely is a crime.</div>
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So I would ask you and I understand some of the procedures that you are up against. I would -- I would humbly ask you to -- to seek authority from whomever you need to seek authority from. Because I'm going to finish the same way I started. This is an agreement between the American people and its government. We are going to -- we the American people give certain powers to government to keep us safe.</div>
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And when those powers are misused and the motive is not criminal investigations or national security, then I'll bet you my fellow citizens are rethinking their side of the equation. Because that U.S. citizen could be them next time. It could be you. It could be me. It could be anyone until we start seriously investigating and prosecuting what Congress thought was serious enough to attach a 10- year felony to.</div>
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With that, I would yield back, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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COMEY: Can I -- can I just add a response to what you said? I agree with you, Mr. Gowdy. Two things folks at home should know; first, an unauthorized disclosure of FISA is an extraordinarily unusual event so be assured we're going to take it very seriously because our trust, the American people, and the federal judges that oversee our work, is vital.</div>
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And second, that this conversation has nothing to do with 702. Folks often mix them together. 702 is about targeting non-U.S. persons overseas. Pursuant to the FISA statute, the FBI can apply to collect electronic surveillance in the United States but it's a different thing from 702. The conversation you and I are just having is about this which is vital and important, but I just didn't want to leave folks confused.</div>
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GOWDY: Director Comey, you are 100 percent correct and I am 100 percent correct in saying that that is a distinction that doesn't make a difference to most of the people watching television. You are exactly correct. What we are reauthorizing this fall has nothing to do with what we are discussing other than it is another government program where the people consent to allow government to pursue certain things with the explicit promise it will be protected.</div>
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So you're right, they're different but in the eyes of people watching, it is the U.S. government officials' leaking the name of a U.S. citizen and if it can happen here, it may happen there. Trust me, you and I both want to see it reauthorized. It is in jeopardy if we don't get this resolved.</div>
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NUNES: Our time is expired, I'll yield 15 minutes to Mr. Schiff.</div>
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SCHIFF: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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I just want to follow up with a few questions about Roger Stone that I had started with earlier before I passed it to my colleagues. Director Comey, are you aware that Roger Stone played a role in the Trump campaign?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not going to talk about any particular person here today, Mr. Schiff. SCHIFF: I'm going to continue to ask these questions because among other things, I want to make sure you are aware of these facts whether you're able to comment on them political dirty tricks?</div>
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COMEY: I'll give you the same answer, sir.</div>
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SCHIFF: I mentioned before that Mr. Stone was in direct communication with a creature of Russian GRU, Guccifer 2.0 and that's something the intelligence assessment talked about, the role of Guccifer 2.0.</div>
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Mr. Stone on August 17, are you aware, received communication from Guccifer 2.0 that said, quote "I'm pleased to say that you are great. Please tell me if I can help you any how. It would be a great pleasure to me." Are you aware of that communication from essentially Russian GRU through Guccifer to Mr. Stone?</div>
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COMEY: I have to give you the same answer.</div>
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SCHIFF: Are you aware that Mr. Stone also stated publicly that he was in direct communication with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SCHIFF: Are you aware that Mr. Stone also claimed that he was in touch with an intermediary of Mr. Assange?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SCHIFF: This is a question I think you can answer. Do you know whether the Russian intelligence service has dealt directly with WikiLeaks or whether they too used an intermediary?</div>
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COMEY: We assessed they used some kind of cutout. They didn't deal directly with WikiLeaks. In contrast to D.C. Leaks and Guccifer 2.0.</div>
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SCHIFF: In early October, are you aware that Mr. Stone tweeted I have total confidence that my hero, Julian Assange will educate the American people soon. Are you aware of that tweet?</div>
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COMEY: I'm back to my original same answer.</div>
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SCHIFF: And are you aware that it was only days later that WikiLeaks released the Podesta e-mails?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SCHIFF: I'm going to yield now to Mr. Himes.</div>
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HIMES: Thank you, Mr. Schiff.</div>
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I know that we're going through the 90 minute mark in this hearing so let me step back a second and just review the topics because there's a lot on the table and I think my friends on the Republican side will get no argument from this side on the importance of investigating, prosecuting leaks.</div>
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Leaks are a threat to our national security whether they're perpetrated by Edward Snowden, whether they're perpetrated by people outside the White House or perhaps as we have seen in the last 60 days, maybe from people inside the White House.</div>
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But Mr. Comey, if I can use your phrase, intense public interest. There is intense public interest in the fact that our new president will attack anyone and everyone. He will attack the cast of Hamilton, he will attack Chuck Schumer, he will attack our allies, Mexico, Australia, Germany, he will attack the intelligence community, which you lead. Associating you with McCarthyism and Nazism.</div>
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But there's one person in one country which is immune, which is inoculated from any form of presidential attack no matter what the behavior. No matter if there's a violation of the INF nuclear treaty, no matter if Vladimir Putin kills political opponents, the new president defends, obfuscates, does not attack. And the people around the president, Michael Flynn, Jeff Sessions, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, have an odd connection to Russia. A series of odd connections. We all campaigned.</div>
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I don't think any of our campaign people have connections with a foreign power, much less one that is an adversary of the United States. And further, apart from these weird links, without exception, the individuals I've quoted have dissembled or misled, maybe even lied about the nature of those -- those connections until the political pressure has gotten to a point where they have been fired or recused, in the case of the Attorney General.</div>
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So I want to look briefly at one of these individuals -- and Director Comey, I understand your constraints but -- but let me ask a couple of questions regardless. Paul Manafort, who is Roger Stone's business partner and former -- and Trump's former campaign manager, I want to ask you a few questions about him.</div>
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First, Director Comey, can you tell me what the Foreign Agents Registration Act is?</div>
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COMEY: Sure. Not in an expert way, but it's a statute that requires people who are acting as agents of a non-U.S. government to register with the United States.</div>
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HIMES: Right. So the National Security Division of the Department of Justice writes -- this is their manual. The purpose of FARA, as it is known, is to ensure that the U.S. government and the people of the United States are informed of the source of information and the identity of persons attempting to influence U.S. public opinion, policy, and laws. Unquote.</div>
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Would you agree that guarding against foreign espionage or foreign influence measures falls under this heading?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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HIMES: In general, is willful violation or failure to register pursuant to this law in some circumstances a crime?</div>
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COMEY: I believe it is. I'm not an expert on FARA, but I believe it is.</div>
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HIMES: And it could lead, certainly, to counterintelligence concerns, right?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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HIMES: Now, Paul Manafort, as reported in the New York Times and other outlets and his deputy, Rick Gates ran a campaign in Washington to lobby government officials and push positive press coverage of pro Russian-Ukrainian officials. Paul Manafort began officially working for former Ukrainian President Yanukovych at least as far back as 2007, according to the Washington Post.</div>
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The lobbying was only discovered by Ukraine's new National Anti- Corruption Bureau, which found secret ledgers in Kiev, indicating almost $13 million in undisclosed cash payments from Ukrainian government coffers (ph), to Paul Manafort for lobbying done between 2007 and 2012, for Mr. Yanukovych -- Yanukovych.</div>
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Director Comey, did Paul Manafort ever register as a foreign agent under FARA?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I can comment on.</div>
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HIMES: Whether he registered or not is not something that you can comment on?</div>
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COMEY: No.</div>
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HIMES: OK. Paul Manafort was, however, Donald Trump's campaign manager in July of 2016, correct?</div>
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COMEY: Mr. Himes, I really don't wanna get into answering questions about any individual U.S. person.</div>
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HIMES: OK...</div>
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COMEY: Look, I'm -- it's obvious from the public record. But I don't wanna start down the road of answering questions about somebody.</div>
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HIMES: OK. Well, I think the facts would show that he never did register. But as the ranking member pointed out, it perhaps should come as no surprise that the Republican platform, which was drafted at the Republican Convention in July of 2016, underwent a pretty significant change with respect to the American response to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and their aggression in that country.</div>
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It appears, from our standpoint, that we had -- we had perhaps somebody who should've registered under FARA pulling the strings, there. There's more though and I don't know how much you'll be able to comment on this. But I wanna just explore for a second, the nature of the Russian government, because oftentimes the question becomes, was there contact with Russian officials. And I want to read you a brief quote from a book on Putin's government. This is by Professor Karen Dawisha who wrote, "Instead of seeing Russian politics as an inchoate democratic system being pulled down by history, accidental autocrats, popular inertia, bureaucratic incompetence, or poor Western advice, I conclude that from the beginning Putin and his circle sought to create an authoritarian regime ruled by a close-knit cabal -- who used democracy for decoration rather than direction."</div>
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Mr. Comey, is it fair to say that the line that exists in the United States between government officers and government officials, is blurred in Russia? That there may be oligarchs or other individuals who on the surface appear to be private citizens, but who have connections to this close-knit cabal who might be agents of influence or might be doing the Kremlin's bidding in contact with others?</div>
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COMEY: That's fair to say and one of our counterintelligence missions is to try to understand who are those people and are they acting on behalf of the Russian government, those Russian citizens.</div>
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HIMES: Is it generally true that there is a category of Russian oligarchs that are likely part of this close-knit cabal?</div>
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COMEY: In a general sense.</div>
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HIMES: And if they go way back with Vladimir Putin, do the chances increase that they might be connected with the KGB, as is asserted by Professor Dawisha?</div>
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COMEY: The longevity of the association can be a consideration.</div>
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HIMES: And the KGB was the Russian intelligence service under the Soviet Union, right?</div>
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COMEY: Correct, former...</div>
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HIMES: And the Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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HIMES: Right. I'll just observe, Renault Akhmetov, a steel and iron (ph) or a magnate or oligarch, is the richest man in Ukraine and a strong Putin ally. He was the one who reportedly recommended Paul Manafort to Yanukovych.</div>
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Mr. Comey, last set of questions from me, I have a report that appeared in CNN yesterday. The headline is, "Former Trump Campaign Chief Paul Manafort Wanted for Questioning in Ukraine Corruption Case." And I -- I raise this with you because the story is told of Paul Manafort acting on behalf of Ukraine's former justice miniature -- minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych, which who was the justice minister under the previous pro-Russian regime who -- and I'll just read a segment from the story here.</div>
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Who was involved in jailing the former Prime Minister Tymoshenko who was the main political rival of the Kremlin backed President Viktor Yanukovych who Manafort advised until he was deposed in 2014. Tymoshenko was released from jail at the same time that Yanukovych was ousted. Many saw her sentencing as politically motivated by the pro- Russian government.</div>
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In response to the deterioration international climate, Ukrainian prosecutors say Manafort drafted a public relations strategy that included hiring Skadden Arps, an American law firm, to review the Tymoshenko case. And show the conviction had a sound legal basis. The story goes on to talk about the transfer of over $1 million, potentially, illegally from Ukrainian coffers (ph) to Skadden Arps.</div>
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And the reason I bring all this up with you is because the story also says and it appears to have been confirmed by the Department of Justice that the current Ukraine regime, hardly a friend of the Russians. And very much targeted by the Russians has made seven requests to the United States government's -- the United States government for assistance under the MLA treaty in securing the assistance of Paul Manafort as part of this on anti-corruption case. And in fact, the story says that you were presented personally with a letter asking for that assistance.</div>
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So my question Director Comey is, is that all true? Have you been asked to provide assistance to the current Ukrainian government with respect to Paul Manafort? And how do you intend to respond to that request?</div>
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COMEY: It's not something I can comment on. I can say generally, we have a very strong relationship and cooperation in the criminal and national security areas with our Ukrainian partners, but I can't talk about the particular matter.</div>
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HIMES: The story says that the DOJ confirmed that there have been requests for assistance on this matter. You can't go as far as -- as confirming that in fact there have been these requests made?</div>
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COMEY: If they've done that, I would need them to do it again. I -- I can't comment on it.</div>
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HIMES: OK. Well, I appreciate that and with that I will yield back the remainder of my time to the ranking member.</div>
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SCHIFF: And I yield to Terri Sewell.</div>
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SEWELL: Thank you Mr. Ranking Member.</div>
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My questions this morning really revolve around the resignation of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn.</div>
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Director Comey, much as been made about Russia's historical interference with political elections around the world meant to cause discord and -- and -- and disunity especially in Western alliance's. Does the FBI generally assume that Russian ambassadors to the United States like Ambassador Kislyak, are at least overtly, collecting intelligence on influential Americans, especially political leaders.</div>
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COMEY: Ms. Sewell, that's not something I can answer in an open setting.</div>
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SEWELL: Am I right that in the -- that in the Russian playbook -- that it's in the Russian playbook to use diplomats and business people and Russian intelligence officers, whether declared or not to, collect intelligence on influential Americans for the purpose of affecting U.S. policy?</div>
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COMEY: I can answer as a general matter. Nation states that are adversaries of United States use traditional intelligence officers, sometimes used intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, use people we call co-opties (ph), maybe a private citizens, students, academics, business people, all manner of human beings can be used in a -- in an intelligence collection operation. But I'm not gonna talk about the particular.</div>
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SEWELL: Would someone like Ambassador Kislyak Play that type of role for Russia?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say here.</div>
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SEWELL: The declassified January intelligence community assessment report that your agency helped to draft, the report that's entitled assessing Russian activities and intentions in the recent U.S. elections specifically states that, quote, "Since the Cold War, Russian intelligence efforts related to the United States elections have primarily focused on foreign intelligence collections that could help Russian leaders understand a new U.S. administration's plans and priorities," end quote.</div>
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So knowing what we know about Russia's efforts and the role of the Russian ambassador, Director Comey, would you be concerned if any one of your agents had a private meeting with the Russian ambassador?</div>
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COMEY: If an FBI agent had a private meeting with a Russian government employee of any kind, it would be concerning and I assume by private, one that's not disclosed or part of their operational activity, yes.</div>
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SEWELL: That's right. And would you expect that agent to report that meeting?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SEWELL: Admiral Rogers, similar question. If -- would you be concerned if one of your intelligence officers had a private meeting with the Russian ambassador? And would you expect that intelligence officer to report that meeting?</div>
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ROGERS: Disclosures of interactions with foreign governments is a requirement for all our employees to include myself, for example.</div>
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SEWELL: I ask these questions because on at least four occasions that I can count, Mr. Flynn, a three-star general and a former intelligence officer, someone with influence over the U.S. policy and someone with knowledge of state secrets and the incoming national security advisor, communicated with and met with the Russian ambassador and failed to disclose it.</div>
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So I ask you directors, if you wouldn't stand for your own staff to do this, why should we, the American people accept Michael Flynn doing it?</div>
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COMEY: Ms. Sewell, I'll let Mike Rogers take it next but I -- I don't -- I can't speak to what the disclosure obligations are for other people in the government so it's hard for me to answer that. I can answer and I answered, I hope accurately with respect to one of the FBI special agents.</div>
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ROGERS: And I likewise would answer the same way in terms of the NSA.</div>
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SEWELL: I yield back...</div>
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NUNES: ... gentleman's time -- gentleman's time has expired. I'll yield myself 15 minutes.</div>
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Director Comey, you announced this morning that there'll be an investigation into Trump associates possible and President Trump and anyone around the campaign and any association with the Russian government.</div>
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If this committee or anyone else for that matter, someone from the public, comes with information to you about the Hillary Clinton campaign or their associates or someone from the Clinton Foundation, will you add that to your investigation? They have ties to Russian intelligence services, Russian agents, would that be something of interest to you?</div>
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COMEY: People bring us information about what they think is improper unlawful activity of any kind, we will evaluate it. Not just in -- not just in this context. Folks send us stuff all the time. They should keep going that.</div>
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NUNES: Do you think it's possible that the Russians would not be trying to infiltrate Hillary Clinton's campaign, get information on Hillary Clinton and try to get to people that are around that campaign or the Clinton Foundation?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not prepared to comment about the particular campaigns but the Russians in general are always trying to understand who the future leaders might be and what levers of influence there might be on them.</div>
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NUNES: I just hope that if -- if information does surface about the other campaigns, not even just Hillary Clinton's but any other campaigns, that you would take that serious also if the Russians were trying to infiltrate those campaigns around them.</div>
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COMEY: Of course we would.</div>
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NUNES: OK. I yield to Mr. Conaway.</div>
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CONAWAY: Thanks, Chairman. Gentlemen, thanks for being here.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, you'd mentioned analytic standards earlier in the conversation. Are those standards the same for all intelligence analysts across the various agencies?</div>
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ROGERS: There's a broad set of intelligence community promulgated standards for all of us and then there are specific issues associated, for example, with a particular authority that you're using to collect the information in the first place.</div>
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CONAWAY: So, gentleman, same thing your -- your agency -- your analysts would have I think similar type standards?</div>
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COMEY: Correct. That's one of the really good things that's happened since 9/11, especially since 2004 is the adoption of a common set of tradecraft provisions.</div>
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CONAWAY: So, on a CPA and we have generally astounded -- generally accepted accounting standards which are promulgated across a variety of things. Are those same standards publicly promulgated as -- but generally disseminated through all of your analysts, I would assume would have some sort of a test that they know those standards?</div>
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ROGERS: I think the specifics of the IC promulgated standards are classified but I could take that one for the record.</div>
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CONAWAY: When the IC attributes a hacking to a particular actor, you do that through generally forensic evidence. But when it comes to try to determine intent foreign leaders, can you walk us through how the NSA does that or the FBI does that?</div>
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ROGERS: We assess the range of information that we've collect -- collected in an attempt to generate understanding as to not only what has occurred, but part of the intelligence professional -- profession is also trying to understand why, what was the intent. We'll use the range of information we have available to us, while we're primarily a single source organization.</div>
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It's one reason why organizations like CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, which take multiple sources try to put together a complete picture. So we're just one component of a broader effort.</div>
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CONAWAY: Director Comey, anything different than that?</div>
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COMEY: No, it's about putting together a puzzle. Sometimes from forensics alone, you can get a pretty good indication as to what they must be intending to accomplish, other times requires human sources and additional a signals intelligence to give you that sense.</div>
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CONAWAY: So both you agree, though, it's rarely a precise art -- or a precise science of determining intent of any foreign leader.</div>
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ROGERS: That's correct.</div>
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COMEY: All of intelligence work requires judgment. That's at the at the center of it.</div>
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ROGERS: But I will say in some cases, it's a much clearer case than in others. There are some...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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CONAWAY: It depends on the sources you have inside a particular foreign leader's shop.</div>
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ROGERS: I'm not going to get into specifics.</div>
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CONAWAY: Just in general. If you have somebody whose next door neighbor -- never mind. Pivoting to the January 7 -- January 6 intelligence community assessment, both your agencies agree with the assessment that the Russian's goal was to undermine the public faith in U.S. democratic process. Is that still your assessments?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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CONAWAY: Same assessment said that the Russian's goal was to -- wanted to denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency and that Putin wanted to discredit Secretary Clinton because he publicly blamed her since 2011 for insighting mass protests against his regime in late 2011, early 2012. You both still agree with that assessment?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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CONAWAY: And then finally, Admiral Rogers, that assessment went on to say that president Putin and the Russian government aspired to help president -- I guess he would have been candidate Trump at the time -- but president-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton. You had a lower...</div>
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ROGERS: Confidence level.</div>
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CONAWAY: ... confidence level. Is that still the case?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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CONAWAY: Can you tell the group why you were... ROGERS: I'm not going to get into specifics in an unclassified forum but for me, it boiled down to the level and nature of the sourcing on that one particular judgment was slightly different to me than the others.</div>
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COMEY: To be clear, Mr. Conaway, we all agreed with that judgment.</div>
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ROGERS: We all agreed with the judgment.</div>
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CONAWAY: Right, right, right. But you really agreed and he almost really agreed.</div>
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COMEY: Not term out folks use, but I...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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CONAWAY: Director Comey, in terms of laying out those three assessment and whether or not the IC was consistent in its view of those three assessments across the entire campaign. And we walked through kind of the FBI's walk down that path.</div>
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Did -- as of early December of '16, did the FBI assess that the active measures were to undermine -- by the Russians were to undermine the faith in U.S. Democratic process as you come to that conclusion by early December?</div>
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COMEY: I think that's right, December of last year.</div>
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CONAWAY: Sixteen, yes sir.</div>
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COMEY: I think we're at that point, yes.</div>
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CONAWAY: And then active measures conducted against Secretary Clinton, to denigrate her, hurt her campaign and also undermined her presidency?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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CONAWAY: All right. And then, the conclusion that active measures were taken specifically to help President Trump's campaign, you had that -- by early December, you already had that conclusion?</div>
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COMEY: Correct, that they wanted to hurt our democracy, hurt her, help him. I think all three we were confident in, at least as early as December.</div>
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CONAWAY: OK. The -- the paragraph that gives me a little concern there, in terms of just the timing of when all of that occurred because I'm not sure if we went back and got that exact same January assessment six months earlier, it would've looked the same. Because, you say, when we further assessed Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.</div>
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Any idea when that clear preference in the analysis, when did that get into the lexicon of whether you talk back and forth among yourselves on a -- on a classified basis?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know for sure, but I think that was a fairly easy judgment for the community. He -- Putin hated Secretary Clinton so much, that the flipside of that coin was he had a clear preference for the person running against the person he hated so much.</div>
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CONAWAY: Yeah and that and that my work on Saturday afternoon when the -- my wife's Red Raiders are playing the Texas Longhorns. She really likes the Red Raiders. But all the rest of the time, I mean the logic is that because he really didn't like president -- the Candidate Clinton, that he automatically liked Trump. That assessment's based on what?</div>
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COMEY: Well, it's based on more than that. But part of it is and we're not getting into the details of it here, but part of it is the logic. Whoever the Red Raiders are playing, you want the Red Raiders to win, by definition, you want their opponent to lose.</div>
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CONAWAY: I know, but this says that -- that you wanted both of them -- you wanted her to lose and wanted him to win. Is that what you were saying?</div>
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COMEY: Right, they're inseparable -- right, it's a two -- it's a two person...</div>
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CONAWAY: Right, right.</div>
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COMEY: ... event.</div>
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CONAWAY: I got you. So I'm just wondering when you decided you wanted him to win?</div>
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COMEY: Well, logically when he wanted her to lose, wanted...</div>
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CONAWAY: No, no, no, I'm not talking about him, Putin, I got that. I got that. But the question is, we're on this clear -- well let me finish up then.</div>
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So we go through that sentence about the clear preference for Donald Trump. And we don't know exactly when you guys decided that was the case. Then it says, when it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election, the Russian influence campaign then focused on undermining her expected presidency.</div>
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So -- and then election then says, the government -- the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump election chances. So when did they not think she was going to win?</div>
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COMEY: Well, the assessment of the Intelligence Committee was, as the summer went on and the polls appeared to show that Secretary Clinton was gonna win, the Russians sort of gave up and simply focused on trying to undermine her, it's your Red Raiders, you know they're not going to win.</div>
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So you kind of hope key people on the other team get hurt so they're not such a tough opponent down the road. And so there was at some point...<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />(CROSSTALK)</div>
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CONAWAY: Sir, do you believe that the FBI was consistent through early December and on that that was the case. That they -- they assessed that they really wanted Trump to win it and were working to help him win and her lose.</div>
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COMEY: Yes, our analysts had a view that I don't believe changed, from late fall through to the report on January 6 that it had those three elements.</div>
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CONAWAY: All right. So then on December the 9th, well in advance of the January 6th deal, the -- the Washington Post, put out an article. Their least sentence was that this -- and again, CIA, they're not here today but we'll hopefully have them next week, concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the '16 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency rather than to undermine the confidence in the electoral system. Rather than just undermine it, they don't mention Mrs. Clinton at all.</div>
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And then it says to help Trump elected, the U.S. senior briefed on the intelligence position -- that the U.S. -- that U.S. official briefed by -- briefed on intelligence presentation to U.S. Senators said that's the consensus view. How much did it -- this is written by name Adam Intas Elaine (ph) something and Greg Miller. Do they have drafted you last -- the January 6th document for the Intel Committee.</div>
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COMEY: I'm sorry.</div>
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CONAWAY: Did those writers from the Washington Post help you write the January 6 assessment?</div>
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COMEY: No, they did not.</div>
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CONAWAY: I wonder how they got almost the exact language on December the 9th.</div>
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COMEY: It hadn't been written yet. I don't know. This is the peril of trying to comment on newspaper articles that report to report classified information. I can't say much about them, they're often wrong. CONAWAY: You mentioned earlier in one of our hearings that when anybody uses -- the I can't talk because I'm bound by position anonymity or whatever, that really is code for breaking the law generally, right?</div>
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When somebody says I'm talking to a reporter, I'm declassifying secret information, you can't tell -- the reporter can't tell who it is because, as Mr. Gowdy was saying earlier, speaking on condition of anonymity. That really should be interpreted because I'm breaking the law and I don't want to be ousted. It that a fair statement?</div>
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COMEY: Sometimes. I think there are other motives behind people requesting anonymity but that can be one of them.</div>
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CONAWAY: So it's you're statement to us then that the FBI was consistent in it's assessment that they integrate the U.S. electoral process, hurt Hillary and her potential and current across all of that across all of that, that they intended to help Trump, that's your testimony this morning?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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CONAWAY: Thank you. I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: Mr. King?</div>
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KING: Thank you Mr. Chairman.</div>
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If you could yield me a few minutes into the next round -- I'll just start with this -- make the comment.</div>
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First of all, let me thank Director Comey and Admiral Rogers for being here today. And for what I believe it's been the cooperative you've always given this committee. So thank you very much for that, for your service.</div>
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Director Comey, I think we're in a predicament here today. I understand your situation where you can't comment on the investigation. And yet we've can have various scenarios laid out which can go on for months and months and months without anyone be able to disprove them until the investigation is completed.</div>
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I just like to use the example, for instance we could've said that in 2012 President Obama was overheard on microphone telling Medvedev that I'm reelected, tell Vladimir we can work out better arrangements. We know that he ridiculed candidate Romney in the 2012 election when Romney said that he thought Russia still a threat.</div>
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And then in 2013 we saw that basically President Obama invited the Russians into Syria when they've been pretty much removed from the Middle East 40 years before. And also as far as aid to Ukraine, far as I recall, the Obama administration always refuse to give the lethal aid to Ukraine and it can be argued that the Republican platform in 2016 was actually stronger than the Democratic platform on that.</div>
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So again if we -- if there was investigation going on with the Obama administration, we can lay out all these scenarios and say well that proves something or it might prove something. Until the investigation was completed, that type of almost possibly slanderous comments could be made.</div>
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So I would just, again, if -- I'm not asking you to hurry the investigation along, you have to do what you have to do. But I guess I could ask you just in the remaining moments I have in this round, I know that -- I guess it was just two weeks ago that Director Clapper said that as far as he knows, all the evidence he's seen, there's no evidence of any collusion at all between the Trump campaign and the Russians.</div>
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Now obviously a detailed, exhaustive report was put out talking about Russian influence in the campaign along with the intelligence apparatus had input into that. Do either you or Admiral Rogers have any reason to disagree with the conclusion of General Clapper that there's no evidence of collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign.</div>
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COMEY: Mr. King, it's not something I can comment on.</div>
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ROGERS: Likewise, I'm not going to comment on an ongoing investigation's conclusions.</div>
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KING: But again, you're not going to disagree with General Clapper, you're just not going to comment. And the reason I'm pointing that out is, that's sort of the situation, you know, the other way around that you can't comment on something, often there's inference out there that because a person's name is brought up, because he may have worked with somebody at a certain time, that there's a guilt implied in that so that's one problem.</div>
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I'm not in any way being critical of either of you, I'm just saying this is a situation I think can be damaging to the country and does advance the Russian interest of trying to destabilize democracy and cause a lack of confidence in our system.</div>
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And with that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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I recognize Mr. Schiff for 15 minutes.</div>
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SCHIFF: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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I just have a couple of follow-up questions before I pass to Representative Sewell. It wasn't simply that the Russians had a negative preference against Secretary Clinton, they also had a positive preference for Donald Trump, isn't that correct?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SCHIFF: And I won't ask you to say whether this is an accurate characterization of Mr. Trump, I won't put you in that spot, but would it be logical for the Kremlin to prefer a candidate that disparaged NATO to be president of the United States? COMEY: You're not going to put me in that spot, you said?</div>
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SCHIFF: Yes.</div>
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(LAUGHTER)</div>
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COMEY: I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that.</div>
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SCHIFF: I'm not going to put you in the spot of answering whether this is an accurate characterization of Mr. Trump's views, but it would be logical for the Kremlin to want someone who had a dim view of NATO. Is that right?</div>
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COMEY: All kidding aside, I don't think that's something I should be answering. That's beyond my responsibilities.</div>
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SCHIFF: Well, what is the Russian view of NATO. Do they like NATO? Do they want to see NATO strong?</div>
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COMEY: Again, I'm sure you have already spoken to people who are greater experts than I but yes, they don't like NATO. They think NATO encircles them and threatens them.</div>
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SCHIFF: And would they have a preference for a candidate that expressed an openness to repealing the sanctions over Ukraine?</div>
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COMEY: Again, I don't want to get into business of commenting on that. I know...</div>
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SCHIFF: Then let me ask you this way, Director. Would they like to see the sanctions on Ukraine go away?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SCHIFF: Would they have a preference for a candidate who expressed open admiration for Putin?</div>
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COMEY: Can I help you reformulate the question? Mr. Putin would like people who like him.</div>
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SCHIFF: Would they have a preference for a candidate who encouraged Brexit and other departures from Europe? Would they like to see more Brexits?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SCHIFF: And have the Russians in Europe demonstrated a preference for business people as political leaders with the hope that they can entangle them in financial interests or that they may allow their financial interests to take precedence over the interests of the countries in Europe they represent?</div>
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COMEY: In our joint report, we recount that the Russians -- that President Putin has expressed a preference for business leaders in leading other governments and mentions Gerhard Schroder and -- I'm going to forget one. Berlusconi because he believes they're people that are more open to negotiation, easier to deal with.</div>
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SCHIFF: At this point, let me yield to Representative Sewell.</div>
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SEWELL: I'd like to continue my questioning -- the line of questioning on Michael Flynn.</div>
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I'm sure you can understand my concern that Mr. Flynn not only failed to disclose the contacts with the Russian ambassador, but he said he did not remember whether he discussed sanctions against Russia with that ambassador and I find that really hard to believe. And wouldn't you think that at the height of our concern about Russian hacking, that Mr. Flynn would have remembered meeting with the Russian ambassador and would have been --and would have told him to stop meddling in our affairs, but that didn't happen, did it?</div>
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COMEY: Mrs. Sewell, that's not something I can answer.</div>
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SEWELL: Not only did Mr. Flynn not remember talking to the Russian ambassador and not only did he not remember what they talked about, he also appeared to have lied to Vice President-elect Mike Pence all about it.</div>
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Now, Mr. Comey, do you think that Mr. Flynn's failure to disclose the communication and contact he had with the Russian ambassador and their topic of conversation along with a blatant lie to Vice President Pence meet the standard for an investigation by the FBI?</div>
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COMEY: I have to give you the same answer, I'm not going to comment.</div>
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SEWELL: Now, I know, Director Comey, that you probably can't comment on this as well but I think it's really important that we review a short timeline and -- that's based on press reportings because we need to get this for the public record, I think.</div>
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So on December 25, 2016, Mr. Flynn reportedly exchanged text messages with the Russian ambassador. On December 28, 2016, Mr. Flynn reportedly spoke on the phone with the Russian ambassador. By then, it was pretty clear that the Obama administration was going to take actions against Russia. On December 29, 2016, Mr. Flynn reportedly spoke on the phone with the Russian ambassador again.</div>
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That day, the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian operatives from the United States and announced new sanctions. We also know from press reportings that sometime in December, Mr. Flynn met in person with the Russian ambassador at Trump Tower and that Mr. Trump's son- in-law, Jared Kushner was also there. The purpose of the meeting was to quote "Establish a line of communication" end quote, with the Kremlin.</div>
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I should add that the White House and Mr. Flynn didn't disclose this December face-to-face meeting until this month. On January 20 -- January 12, sorry -- 2017, press reported that Mr. Flynn contacted the Russian ambassador again.</div>
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And on January 15, 2015 vice President-elect, Mike Pence stated on several Sunday morning shows regarding Mr. Flynn's conversation with ambassador quote, "What I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions," end quote.</div>
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On January 26, the -- the acting Attorney General, Sally Yates reportedly told president Trump's White House counsel, who immediately told President Trump that Mr. Flynn was vulnerable to Russian blackmail because of discrepancies between Vice President-elect Pence's public statement and Mr. Flynn's actual discussions.</div>
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On February 10, President Trump denied knowledge of this, telling reporters on Air Force One, quote, "I don't know about that," end quote, in response to questions about Mr. Flynn's conduct. The White House also publicly denied that Mr. Flynn and the Russian ambassador discussed sanctions. And of course on February 13, 2017, Mr. Flynn resigned as national security advisor.</div>
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Now, Director Comey, all of these accounts are open source press reportings. Given Russian's long-standing desire to cultivate relations with influential U.S. persons, isn't the American public right to be concerned about Mr. -- Mr. Flynn's conduct, his failure to disclose that contact with the Russian ambassador, his attempts to cover it up and what looks like the White House's attempts to sweep this under the rug.</div>
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Don't we, as the American people, deserve the right to know and shouldn't our FBI investigate such claims?</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment. I -- I understand people's curiosity about our work and intense interest in it, and as Mr. King said, oftentimes, speculation about it. But we can't do it well or fairly to the people we investigate if we talk about it. So I can't comment.</div>
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SEWELL: I'd like to turn to another topic about Mr. Flynn, his failure to disclose until pressured last week, by my colleagues on the House Oversight and Government Relations Committee, Government Reforms Committee, payments he received from Russia for his 2015 trip to the 10th anniversary Gala of RT, the Russian owned propaganda media outlet.</div>
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According to the January 2017 declassified IC assessment report, RT's criticism of the United States was quote, "The last facet of its broader and long-standing anti-U.S. messaging likely aimed at undermining viewer's trust in the U.S. Democratic procedures," end quote. This January assessment points out that this was a strategy that Russia employed, going back to before, the 2012 elections, according to the IC assessment.</div>
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So Admiral Rogers, am I right that the RT is essentially owned by the Russian government? And how long has the intelligence community been looking at RT as an arm of the Russian government?</div>
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ROGERS: So we're certainly aware and have been for some period of time of the direct connections between Russian government and RT individuals, we're aware of monetary flow and other things. We have been...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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SEWELL: And how long have you known about that, a few months, a few years, I mean how long has the United States...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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ROGERS: Some number of years, I apologize ma'am, I just don't know off the top of my head.</div>
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SEWELL: Aren't I right to assume then, that the former Director of DIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency Mr. Flynn, would have been aware that RT's role as an anti-U.S. Russian propaganda outlet when he agreed to speak at their anniversary Gala in 2015. Isn't it reasonable to assume that he would know?</div>
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ROGERS: I'm not in a position to comment on the knowledge of something else from another person, ma'am.</div>
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SEWELL: Director Comey, would be unusual for a foreign government official to be -- to get paid by a foreign adversary to attend such an event? And would it be unusual and raise some questions at the FBI, if that person failed to disclose the payments received for that trip?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know in general and as to the specific, I'm -- I'm just not gonna comment.</div>
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SEWELL: Yes, sir. I understand that you can't comment. But I'd like to read an exchange between Mr. Flynn and a Yahoo news correspondent from July 2016 regarding his trip to Russia, during the RT event. The correspondent asked, "Were you paid for that event?" Then, there was back and forth for a bit. And then Mr. Flynn said, quote, "Yeah. I didn't take any money from Russia if that's what you're asking me," end quote.</div>
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So Director Comey, isn't it true that the House Oversight Committee last week, received information and released publicly that Mr. Flynn accepted nearly $35,000 in speaking fees and traveling fees from RT, this government -- Russian government owned media outlet.</div>
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COMEY: I believe I've seen news accounts to that effect.</div>
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SEWELL: Moreover, isn't it also true that according to the emoluments clause of the United States Constitution, a person holding any office of profit or trust cannot accept gifts or payments from a foreign -- from a foreign country.</div>
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And doesn't the DOD, the Department of Defense prohibit retired military officers from taking any consulting fees, gifts, traveling expenses, honorariums, a salary from a foreign government, including commercial enterprises owned by or controlled by a foreign government like RT?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I can comment on. SEWELL: Can you -- can you speak to whether or not the emoluments clause would apply to someone like Mr. Flynn, a retired three-star general?</div>
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COMEY: I can't.</div>
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SEWELL: So isn't is -- I just find be really hard to believe that given the emoluments clause does apply to retired officers like Mr. Flynn. I can't believe that Mr. Flynn, a retired military officer would take money from the Russian government in violation of the United State Constitution. And I believe that such violations worthy of a criminal investigation by the FBI.</div>
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What level of proof do we need in order for us to have a criminal investigation by the FBI of Mr. Flynn?</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment on that.</div>
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SEWELL: Shouldn't the American people be concerned what -- I think that it's really hard for us to fathom that he wouldn't know that he should've disclosed that he received $30,000 as a part of -- of a speaking engagement to RT, the Russian U.S. anti-propaganda outlet.</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment on that Ms. Sewell.</div>
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SEWELL: My final line of questioning is in regard to Mr. Flynn working as an agent of a foreign power.</div>
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Now Director Comey, following on Mr. Himes's line of questioning, am I correct that the Foreign Agents Registration Act requires that individuals who lobby on behalf of a foreign government must register with the United States government?</div>
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COMEY: I believe that's correct. I know keep saying I'm not an expert. The reason I'm saying that is, I don't know exactly how they define things like lobbying in the statute. But as a general matter, if you're going to represent a foreign government here in the United States, touching our government, you should be registered.</div>
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SEWELL: And isn't it true that just last November 2016, Mr. Flynn was working as a foreign agent doing work that principally benefited the government of Turkey and yet reported until just last week?</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment on that.</div>
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SEWELL: Isn't it true that Mr. Flynn was reportedly paid over half $1 million for this work?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SEWELL: And isn't it true that the Trump White House, on at least two occasions, was asked by Mr. Flynn's lawyers whether he should report that work, the work that he was doing on behalf of the Turkish government. And yet the administration didn't give him any advice to the contrary.</div>
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Do you know anything about that?</div>
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COMEY: I have to give you the same answer.</div>
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SEWELL: So Director Comey, I know you I cannot discuss whether any investigations are ongoing with U.S. persons, and I respect that. I think it's important though that the American people understand the scope and breath of what, in public open source press reportings of Mr. Flynn's actions that led to his resignation.</div>
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And while we can't talk about whether there are an investigation, I believe that we here at HPSCI, at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence must put those facts into the public domain. And they are one, that Mr. Flynn lied about his communication with the -- with the Russian ambassador.</div>
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Secondly, That Mr. Flynn lied about taking money from the Russian government and thirdly, that Mr. Flynn at a minimum did not disclose work as an agent of a foreign -- of a foreign power and that the White House did not help in this concern.</div>
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So gentlemen, it's clear to me that Mr. Flynn should be under criminal investigation. And I know you cannot comment but I believe it is my duty as a member of this committee to comment to the American people that this -- that his engagement of lying and failure to disclose really important information and contacts with a foreign ambassador do rise to the level of -- of disclosure and to me, criminal intent.</div>
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So I say this to say that the American people deserve to know the full extent of Mr. Flynn's involvement with the Russians and the extent to which it influenced the 2016 election. I believe our democracy requires it.</div>
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Thank you, I yield back to my ranking member.</div>
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NUNES: Time's expired. Recognize myself for 15 minutes.</div>
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Mr. Comey and Mr. Rogers, you both said that the Russians had -- they favored Donald Trump, the selection. And you made that change, from the beginning of December it was not that they were trying to help Donald Trump, but that changed by early January. Mr. Conaway talked about that. Do -- do Russians...</div>
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COMEY: I don't -- I don't agree with that. I want to make sure I didn't misspeak earlier. We didn't change our view from December to early January. We, the FBI -- and I don't know that anybody else did on the I.C. team.</div>
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ROGERS: Me, from my perspective, we didn't have a fully formed view until the end of December...</div>
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NUNES: At some point -- at some point, the assessment -- at some point, the assessment changed from -- from going from just trying to hurt Hillary Clinton to no, that they were actually trying to help Donald Trump get elected. That was early December as far as I know and then by January, you had all changed your mind on that.</div>
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COMEY: Well that's not my recollection.</div>
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ROGERS: That's not my recollection either, sir.</div>
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NUNES: OK. So is it -- do Russians historically prefer Republicans to win over Democrats?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know the answer to that. I don't know the answer to that.</div>
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NUNES: Did the Russians prefer Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in 2012?</div>
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ROGERS: I don't know that we ever did -- drew a formal analytic conclusion.</div>
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NUNES: Did the Russians prefer John McCain in 2008 over Barack Obama?</div>
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ROGERS: I never saw a U.S. intelligence community analytic position on that issue.</div>
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NUNES: Don't you think it's ridiculous to say that -- for anyone to say that the Russians prefer Republicans over Democrats?</div>
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ROGERS: I didn't think that that's what you just heard us say, I apologize, sir.</div>
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COMEY: I hope you didn't hear us to say that. We don't know in those particular races and I'm not qualified enough...</div>
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NUNES: I'm just asking a general question. Wouldn't it be a little preposterous to say that historically, going back to Ronald Reagan and all that we know about maybe who the Russians would prefer, that somehow the Russians prefer Republicans over Democrats?</div>
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COMEY: There is -- I'm not going to discuss in an unclassed forum, in the classified segment of the reporting version that we did, there is some analysis that discusses this because remember this did come up in our assessment on the Russian piece. I'm not going to discuss this unclassified forum.</div>
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NUNES: Mr. -- Mr. King.</div>
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KING: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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And I would just say on that because again, we're not going into the classified sections, that indicating that historically Russians have supported Republicans, and I know that language is there, to me puts somewhat of a cloud over the entire report. It seems to indicate the direction it was going in, but anyway, let me just say this for the record, and I know what your answer's going to be, but I have to get this statement on the record.</div>
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On March 15, former acting director of CIA, Mike Morell, who was the acting director under President Obama and put on the record I've had differences with Mike Morell in the past but he was asked about the question of the Trump campaign conspiring with the Russians and his answer was there's smoke but there is not fire at all. There's no little camp fire, there's no little candle, there's no spark.</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment, Mr. King.</div>
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KING: Admiral Rogers.</div>
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ROGERS: I'm not going to comment on an ongoing investigation.</div>
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KING: I understand that. That was my way of getting on the record, so I appreciate that. You were talking about the significance of leaks and how important it is we stop them. And to me -- and I've been here a while -- I've never seen such a sustained period of leaks.</div>
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Going back to December where, not the Intelligence Committee, but the Washington Post was told the conclusion of the report -- a similar one -- what it was going to be. We have situations in the New York Times where they talk of meetings, they talk about transcripts, they talk about conversations.</div>
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There was one in particular that spoke about Trump campaign individuals meeting with Russian intelligence agents and again, Director Comey, I don't know if you can comment on this, but the White House chief of staff, said against that day, on the next day that Mr. McCabe from your office you went to him at the White House and told him that that story was BS.</div>
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Is there any way you can comment on whether or not Mr. McCabe told that to Mr. Priebus?</div>
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COMEY: I can't, Mr. King, but I can agree with your general premise. Leaks have always been a problem. I read over the weekend something from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln complaining about them. But I do think in the last six weeks, couple of months, there's been at least -- apparently a lot of conversation about classified matters that's ending up in the media.</div>
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Now, a lot of it is just dead wrong, which is one of the challenges because we don't correct it, but it does strike me there's been a lot of people talking or at least reporters saying people are talking to them in ways that have struck me as unusually active.</div>
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KING: I fully understand the media's fascination with palace intrigue, with which faction of the White House is trying to outdo the other, that's all -- to me, that's all legitimate, that goes with the game. But if you're talking about leaking classified information, if you're talking about leaking investigations, I mean -- you've stated today that there is an FBI investigation going on. So if the New York Times can be believed, I would think there would have to be somebody from the FBI who is telling them about these purported meetings, which Mr. McCabe said was BS, with the Russian intelligence agencies. Somebody who's familiar with that investigation spoke to the New York Times. And so I'll use that as an example and also, one where there's a small universe.</div>
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I think it was on January 6, when yourself, Admiral Rogers, Director Brennan, and General Clapper went to Trump tower to meet with President Trump. The media reports are that at the end of that meeting, Director Comey, you presented president-elect Trump with a copy of the now infamous or famous dossier. And I don't know how many people were in the room, but within hours, that was leaked to the media and that gave the media the excuse or the rationale to publish almost the entire dossier.</div>
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Do you -- does that violate any law? I mean you were at a classified briefing with the president-elect of the United States and it had to be a very, very small universe of people who knew that you handed them that dossier and it was leaked out within hours. Are you making any effort to find out who leaked it and do you believe that constitute a criminal violation?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say, Mr. King except I can answer in general.</div>
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KING: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: Any unauthorized disclosure of classified conversations or documents is potentially a violation of law and a serious, serious problem. I've spent most of my career trying to figure out unauthorized disclosures and where they came from. It's very, very hard.</div>
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Often times, it doesn't come from the people who actually know the secrets. It comes from one hop out, people who heard about it or were told about it. And that's the reason so much information that reports to be accurate classified information is actually wrong in the media. Because the people who heard about it didn't hear about it right. But, it is an enormous problem whenever you find information that is actually classified in the media.</div>
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We don't talk about it because we don't wanna confirm it, but I do think it should be investigated aggressively and if possible, prosecuted so people take as a lesson, this is not OK. This behavior can be deterred and its deterred by locking some people up who have engaged in criminal activity.</div>
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KING: Well, could you say it was -- obviously, Admiral Rogers was in the room, you were in the room, General Clapper was in the room and Director Brennan was in the room. Were there any other people in the room that could've leaked that out?</div>
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I mean this isn't a report that was circulated among 20 people. This is an unmasking of names where you may have 20 people in the NSA and a hundred people in the FBI, its not putting together a report or the intelligence agency. This is four people in a room with the president-elect of the United States. And I don't know who else was in that room and that was leaked out, it seemed within minutes or hours, of you handing him that dossier and it was so confidential, if you read the media reports that you actually handed it to him separately.</div>
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So believe me, I'm not saying it was you. I'm just saying, it's a small universe of people that would've known about that. And if it is a disclosure of classified information, if you're going to start with investigating the leaks, to me that would be one place where you could really start to narrow it down.</div>
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COMEY: And again, Mr. King, I can't comment because I do not ever wanna confirm a classified conversation with a president or president-elect. I can tell you my general experience. It often turns out, there are more people who know about something you expected.</div>
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At first, both because there may be more people involved in the thing than you realized, not -- not this particular, but in general. And more people have been told about it or heard about it or staff have been briefed on it. And those echoes are in my experience, what most often ends up being shared with reporters.</div>
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KING: Well, could you tell us who else was in the room that day?</div>
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COMEY: I'm sorry?</div>
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KING: Could you tell us who else was in the room with you that day?</div>
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COMEY: No, because I'm not going to confirm that there was such a conversation because then, I might accidentally confirm something that was in the newspaper.</div>
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KING: But could you tell us who was in the room, whether or not there was a conversation?</div>
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COMEY: No, I'm not confirming there was a conversation. In a classified setting, I might be able to share more with you, but I'm not going to confirm any conversations with either President Obama or President Trump or when President Trump was the President-elect.</div>
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KING: Well, not the conversation or even the fact that you gave it to him, but can you -- can you tell us who was in the room for that briefing that you gave?</div>
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COMEY: That you're saying later ended up in the newspaper?</div>
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KING: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: So my talking about who was in the room would be a confirmation that was in the newspaper was classified information, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to help people who did something that -- that is unauthorized.</div>
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KING: Yeah, but we all know that the four of you went to Trump Tower for the briefing, I mean that's not classified, is it?</div>
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COMEY: How do we all know that, though?</div>
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KING: OK.</div>
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(LAUGHTER)</div>
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COMEY: Yeah.</div>
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KING: You know, you can -- you see the predicament we're in, here.</div>
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COMEY: I get it. I get it. But we are duty-bound to protect classified information, both in the first when we get it, and then to make sure we don't accidentally jeopardize classified information by what we say about something that appears in the media.</div>
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KING: Well, if they're listening, I would just advise that Director Clapper and Director Brennan, we'll be asking them the same questions last week -- next week and perhaps, they can give us some answers.</div>
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Mr. Chairman, I -- I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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KING: Thank you. Thank you for testifying.</div>
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NUNES: Mr. Lobiondo is recognized.</div>
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LOBIONDO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Director Comey, Admiral Rogers, thank you for your service and thank you for being here. Understanding that what both of you have been saying about the classified nature of the investigation, the classified nature of the topics we're talking about, can you give us any indication of when we, the committee, may in a classified setting know something from you. Would we have ongoing updates?</div>
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COMEY: Mr. LoBiondo, I don't know how long the work will take. I can't commit to updates, as you know. I have briefed the committee as a whole on some aspects of our work and I've briefed in great detail the chair and the ranking.</div>
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I don't know -- I can't -- I can't predict or commit to updates. But as your work goes on, we're in constant touch with you and we'll do the best we can, but I can't commit to that as I sit here.</div>
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LOBIONDO: So as the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee are conducting our bipartisan investigations and looking wherever it may lead with individuals or circumstances.</div>
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If you, through the FBI investigation, come across a circumstance with an individual or a situation would we be made aware of that under normal course of business?</div>
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COMEY: Not necessarily, but it's possible.</div>
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LOBIONDO: OK. So can you, either Director Comey or Admiral Rogers, tell us what we are doing or what we should be doing to protect against Russian interference in future elections or any meddling with our government or for that matter any state sponsor Iranians, North Koreans, Chinese, with any -- any meddling they may be doing?</div>
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ROGERS: So first, I think a public discussion and acknowledgment of the activity is a good positive first step because it shines us a flashlight on this, if you will. It illuminates a significant issue that I think we all have to -- have to deal with. There's a variety ongoing efforts both within the government, as well, in the private sector.</div>
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In terms of how we harden our defenses, I think we also need to have a discussion about just what for example, does critical infrastructure meeting in the 21st-century. I don't think we traditionally would have thought of an election infrastructure as critical. We traditionally viewed critical infrastructure as something that generated an industrial output, aviation, electricity, finance, I don't think we've traditionally thought about it and informational kind of dynamic.</div>
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I think that's a challenge for us coming ahead and then continued partnership between the elements within the government, as well is in the private sector, that's the key to the future to me.</div>
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LOBIONDO: So just for the record, I also had a whole list of specific questions about individuals and/or circumstances that don't want to be repetitive and have you say, I can't comment on them. But I would anticipate when we move to classified session that this committee will be able to explore some of those -- some of the situations in a little more depth.</div>
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I have a couple of other questions about the -- about the -- the Russian intervention. But I don't have enough time to get into it right now.</div>
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Mr. Chairman, if you could give me a couple minutes when we get to the next round.</div>
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NUNES: (OFF-MIKE)</div>
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LOBIONDO: OK. So very briefly the -- if you can describe the elements of the Russia's active measures in the campaign in the 2016 election. We've only got 35 seconds, but that's the first thing I want to get into about exactly what they were doing if you can tell us anything about that.</div>
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ROGERS: So we saw cyber used, we saw the use of external media, we saw the use of disinformation, we saw the use of leaking of information, much of which was not altered.</div>
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I mean, we saw several, if you will, common traits that we have both seen over time as well as I would argue that the difference this time was that the -- the cyber dimension and the fact that the release of so much information that they had extracted via cyber is a primary tool to try to drive an outcome.</div>
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LOBIONDO: So in this setting, can you talk to us at all about what tools they used?</div>
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ROGERS: I'm not going to go into the specifics of how they executed the hacks. I apologize, no sir.</div>
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LOBIONDO: We'll try to get into that in classified. I'll hold off for now, thank you.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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Mr. Schiff's recognized for 15 minutes.</div>
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SCHIFF: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had a couple follow-up questions.</div>
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Director Comey, can you tell me what an SF86 is?</div>
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COMEY: SF86?</div>
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SCHIFF: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: It's the standard background clearance form that all of us who are hired by the federal government and want to have access to classified information fill out.</div>
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SCHIFF: Would someone who is an incoming national security advisor have to fill out an SF86?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, I think so.</div>
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SCHIFF: Would that SF86 require that the applicant disclose any payments received from a foreign power?</div>
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COMEY: I think so. I mean, the form is the form. I think so and foreign travel as well.</div>
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SCHIFF: I'd make a request through you to the Justice Department or whatever IC component would have custody of Mr. Flynn's SF86, I'd make a request that that be provided to the committee.</div>
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And I yield now to Mr. Carson.</div>
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CARSON: Thank you, Ranking Member.</div>
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I'd like to focus my line of questioning on Russia's views toward Ukraine. In March 2014, Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea beginning a conflict which has effectively yet to be resolved.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, can you please briefly describe, as you understand it, sir, how Russia took Crimea?</div>
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ROGERS: I would argue the insertion of military force. They occupied it and physically removed it from Ukrainian control.</div>
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CARSON: Sir, we've heard terms like little green men and hybrid warfare. Can you please explain how these relate to Russia and Ukraine?</div>
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ROGERS: So on the Ukraine side, what we saw was over time, rather than the kind of overt kind of activity we saw to such a degree on the Crimea side, what we saw was a much bigger effort on the influence and attempts to distance Russian actions from any potential blowback to the Russian state, if you will, and hence the use of the little green men surrogates in military -- unmarked military uniforms, the flow of information, the provision of resources to support forcible separation of the Ukraine.</div>
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CARSON: Admiral, has Russia returned Crimea back to Ukraine, sir?</div>
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ROGERS: No. CARSON: Do they have intentions to?</div>
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ROGERS: They publicly indicated that they will not.</div>
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CARSON: Admiral, why does Russia even care about Ukraine?</div>
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ROGERS: I'm sure in their view they view this is a primary national interest for them. It's on the immediate periphery of the Russian state.</div>
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CARSON: Am I right, sir, that they see it as a part of their broader objective to influence and impact Russia's -- Ukraine's desire for self-determination?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes. I think that's part of it.</div>
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CARSON: Sir, as Russia tried to claim stolen territory in Ukraine, the U.S. and the rest of the world saw the annexation for what it was; a crime. Shortly after Russia invaded, the United Nations essentially declared it a crime in a nonbinding resolution. In our own government, recognizing the seriousness of the event instituted new sanctions against Russia, is that right sir?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes sir.</div>
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CARSON: Now this was a time where much of the world was united but Russia invaded another country and illegally annexed it's territory as we all stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine. Now one person who didn't see it that way, however, was president Donald Trump.</div>
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On July 30, in an interview with ABC News, Mr. Trump said of Putin, and I quote, "He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand, he's not going into Ukraine, all right?" end quote.</div>
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Now, Admiral, hadn't Putin already gone into Ukraine two years before and hadn't left?</div>
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ROGERS: We're talking about the Crimea and influence on the Ukraine generally, yes, sir.</div>
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CARSON: And he still hasn't left, correct, sir?</div>
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ROGERS: Now we're starting to get into some very technical questions about are the Russians physically in the Ukraine, is it surrogates that the Crimea is a very example of to me. They outright invaded with armed military force and have annexed it.</div>
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CARSON: But are they effectively still in Ukraine?</div>
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ROGERS: They're certainly supporting the ongoing effort in the Ukraine to split that country.</div>
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CARSON: We'll get back to Mr. Trump in a minute. First, tell me sir, what would it mean to Russia and to Putin to have sanctions lifted? ROGERS: Clearly, even easing of economic impact, greater flexibility, more resources.</div>
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CARSON: Now according to NATO analysis, the Russian economy shrunk by as much as 3.5 percent in 2015 and had no growth in 2016 in big part because of western sanctions, especially those against the oil and gas industry.</div>
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Now, we're talking about a loss of over $135 billion just in the first year of sanctions. That's a huge sum of money and sanctions aren't meant to push their economy over a cliff, but to put long-term pressure on Putin to change his behavior. Putin, himself, said in 2016 that sanctions are severely harming Russia. So we know they've had success in putting pressure on the Kremlin.</div>
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Admiral, what would it mean geopolitically? Would it help legitimate Russia's illegal land grab?</div>
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ROGERS: Sir, I'm not -- I'm not in a position to talk broadly about the geopolitical implications. I mean we have stated previously, from an intelligence perspective, we tried to -- we have tried to outline to policy makers the specifics of the Russian invasion on Crimea, the specifics of the continued Russian support to separatists in the Ukraine that Russians continue to -- to pressure and the keep the Ukraine weak.</div>
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CARSON: Would it help cleave the United States from her allies?</div>
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ROGERS: If we remove the sanctions?</div>
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CARSON: There's a lot of steak -- there's a lot at stake here for Russia. This is big money, big strategic implications. If they can legitimate their annexation of Crimea, what's next? Are we looking at a new iron curtain descending across Eastern Europe? You know, most in our country recognize what is at stake in how the United States, as the leader of the free world, is the only check on Russian expansion.</div>
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So back to Mr. Trump and his cohort. At the republican convention in July, Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and Trump himself changed the republican party platform to no longer arm Ukraine. So the same month that Trump denied Putin's role in Ukraine, his team weakened the party platform on Ukraine and as we have and will continue to hear, this was the same month that several individuals in the Trump orbit held secret meetings with Russian officials, some of which may have been on the topic of sanctions against Russia or their intervention in Ukraine.</div>
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Now this is no coincidence in my opinion. In fact, the dossier written by former MI6 agent, Christopher Steele alleges that Trump agreed to sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue, which is effectively a priority for Vladimir Putin. There's a lot in the dossier that is yet to be proven, but increasingly as we'll hear throughout the day, allegations are checking out. And this one seems to be as accurate as they come. In fact, there is also one pattern I wanna point out before yielding back, Manafort, fired, Page, fired, Flynn, fired. Why? They were hired because of their Russian connections, they were fired. However, because their connections became public, they were effectively culpable. But they were also the fall guys. So I think after we hear Mr. Quigley's line of questioning, we might guess who could be next.</div>
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Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, I yield back.</div>
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SCHIFF: I yield the balance to Representative Speier.</div>
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SPEIER: Thank you, Ranking Member. Thank you gentlemen for your service to our country.</div>
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You know, I think it's really important as we sit here that we explain this to the American people in a way that they can understand it. Why are we talking about all of this? So my first question to each of you is, is Russia our adversary? Mr. Comey?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SPEIER: Mr. Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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SPEIER: Is -- do they intend to do us harm?</div>
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ROGERS: They intend to ensure, I believe, that they gain advantage at our expense.</div>
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SPEIER: Director Comey?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, I wanna be -- harm can have many meetings. They're an adversary and so they wanna resist us, oppose us, undermine us, in lots of different ways.</div>
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SPEIER: So one of the terms that we hear often is hybrid warfare. And I'd like to just stand give a short definition of what it is. It blends conventional warfare, irregular warfare and cyber warfare. The aggressor intends to avoid attribution or retribution.</div>
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So would you say that Russia engaged in hybrid warfare in its effort to undermine our Democratic process and engage in our electoral process? Director Comey?</div>
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COMEY: I don't think I would use the term warfare. I think you'd -- you'd wanna ask experts in the definition of war. They engaged in a multifaceted campaign of active measures to undermine our democracy and hurt one of the candidates and -- and hope to help one of the other candidates.</div>
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ROGERS: I'd agree with the director.</div>
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SPEIER: All right, well, thank you both. I actually think that their engagement was an act of war, an act of hybrid warfare and I think that's why the American people should be concerned about it.</div>
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Now, in -- in terms of trying to understand this, I -- I think of a spider web, with a tarantula in the middle. And the tarantula, in my view, is Vladimir Putin, who is entrapping many people to do his bidding and to engage with him. And I would include those like Roger Stone and Carter Page and Michael Caputo and Wilbur Ross and Paul Manafort and Rex Tillerson.</div>
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I'd like to focus first on Rex Tillerson in the three minutes I have, here. He was the CEO of Exxon Mobil. In 2008, he said that the likelihood of U.S./Russia businesses was, in fact, a poor investment, that Russia was a poor investment climate, that was in 2008. In 2011 he closed the $500 billion deal with Rosneft Oil. The CEO of Rosneft is Igor Sechin, who is a confident of President Putin, second most powerful man in Russia and probably a former KGB agent.</div>
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The deal gives Exxon access to the Black Sea and the Kara Seas and Siberia for oil development. Rosneft gets minority interest in Exxon in Texas and the Gulf. Rex Tillerson calls Sechin a good friend. In 2012, Mr. Tillerson and Mr. Sechin go on a road show here in the United States to talk about this great deal that they had just consummated.</div>
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Also in 2012 there's a video of President Putin and Mr. Tillerson toasting champagne at the deal. And in 2013, Mr. Tillerson receives the Russian Order of Friendship and he sits right next to President Putin at the event.</div>
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So my question to you Director Comey is, is it of value to President Putin knowing what you know of him and that his interest in doing harm to us, is it of benefit to Mr. Putin to have Rex Tillerson as the Secretary of State?</div>
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COMEY: I can't answer that question.</div>
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SPEIER: Admiral Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: Ma'am I'm not -- I'm not in the position answer that question.</div>
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SPEIER: All right. So in 2014 at Igor Sechin is sanctioned and he laments that he no longer will be able to come to the United States to motorcycle ride with Mr. Tillerson. Could you give me an understanding of what are some of the reasons that we impose sanctions, Direct Comey?</div>
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COMEY: On Sechin?</div>
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SPEIER: Well, just in general.</div>
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COMEY: Again, you'd have to ask an expert, but from my general knowledge it's to punish activities that are criminal in nature, that involve war crimes, that involve violations of U.N. resolutions or United States law in some other way, it's to communicate and enforce foreign policy interests and values of United States of America. That's my general sense, but an expert might describe it much better.</div>
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SPEIER: Admiral Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: I would echo the Director's comments. It's also a tool that we use to attempt to drive and shake the choices and actions of others.</div>
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SPEIER: So in the case of Igor's session, who was sanctioned by the United States, in part to draw attention to the fact that Russia had invaded Crimea. It's an effort to try and send a very strong message to Russia, is that not true?</div>
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COMEY: I think that's right.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes ma'am.</div>
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SPEIER: With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back for now.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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I'm going to yield myself 15 minutes and now yield to the general lady from Florida Ms. Ros-Lehtinen.</div>
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ROS-LEHTINEN: Thank you so much Mr. Chairman.</div>
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It's never acceptable, we can all agree, for any foreign power to interfere with our electoral process and this committee has long been focused on Russia's reprehensible conduct. And we will remain focused on the threat emanating from Moscow. And I agree with you Director Comey, when you say this investigation that is ongoing, we will follow the facts wherever they lead on a bipartisan level and there will be no sacred cows.</div>
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There are many important issues at stake, as you gentlemen have heard. There is bipartisan agreement on the danger of illegal leaks and our ability to reauthorize important programs upon which our intelligence community relies. But I want to assure the American people that there's also bipartisan agreement on getting to the bottom of Russian meddling in our election which must remain the focus of this investigation and yours.</div>
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So Admiral Rogers, I agree in what you said that a public acknowledgement of this foreign meddling to be a problem is important as we move forward. And following on Congressman LoBiondo's questions and based on this theme, I'd like to ask you gentlemen if you could describe what, if anything, Russia did in this election that to your knowledge they did or they didn't do in previous elections, how -- how it was -- were their actions different in this election than -- than in previous ones.</div>
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ROGERS: I'd say the biggest difference from my perspective was both the use of cyber, the hacking as a vehicle to physically gain access to information to extract that information and then to make it widely, publicly available without any alteration or change. COMEY: The only thing I'd add is they were unusually loud in their intervention. It's almost as if they didn't care that we knew what they were doing or that they wanted us to see what they were doing. It was very noisy, their intrusions in different institutions.</div>
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ROS-LEHTINEN: And what specifically based on this loudness did the FBI or the NSA do to prevent or counter this Russian active measure that we read about in the intelligence community assessment? As loud as they were, what did we do to counter that?</div>
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COMEY: Well, among other things, we alerted people who had been victims of intrusions to permit them to tighten their systems to see if they couldn't kick the Russian actors out. We also, as a government, supplied information to all the states so they could equip themselves to make sure there was no successful effort to affect the vote and there was none, as we said earlier.</div>
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And then the government as a whole in October called it out. And I believe it was Director Clapper and then-secretary Jeh Johnson issued a statement saying this is what the Russians are doing, sort of an inoculation.</div>
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ROS-LEHTINEN: And the loudness to which you refer, perhaps they were doing these kinds of actions previously in other elections but they were not doing it as loudly. What -- why do you think that they did not mind being loud and being found out?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know the answer for sure. I think part -- their number one mission is to undermine the credibility of our entire democracy enterprise of this nation and so it might be that they wanted us to help them by telling people what they were doing.</div>
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Their loudness, in a way, would be counting on us to amplify it by telling the American people what we saw and freaking people out about how the Russians might be undermining our elections successfully. And so that might have been part of their plan, I don't know for sure.</div>
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ROGERS: I've -- I agree with Director Comey. I mean, a big difference to me in the past was while there was cyber activity, we never saw in previous presidential elections information being published on such a massive scale that had been illegally removed both from private individuals as well as organizations associated with the democratic process both inside the government and outside the government.</div>
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ROS-LEHTINEN: And this massive amount and this loudness, now that it's become public knowledge, now that we have perhaps satisfied their -- their -- their thirst that it has become such a huge deal, do you expect their interference to be amplified in future U.S. elections?</div>
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Do you see any evidence of that in European elections or do you think that this public acknowledgment would -- would tamper down the volatility?</div>
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COMEY: I'll let my -- maybe I'll just say as initial matter they'll be back. And they'll be in 2020, they may be back in 2018 and one of the lessons they may draw from this is that they were successful because they introduced chaos and division and discord and sewed doubt about the nature of this amazing country of ours and our democratic process.</div>
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It's possible they're misreading that as it worked and so we'll come back and hit them again in 2020. I don't know but we have to assume they're coming back.</div>
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ROGERS: I fully expect them to continue this -- this level of activity because I -- our sense is that they have come to the conclusion that it generated a positive outcome for them in the sense that calling into question the democratic process for example is one element of the strategy.</div>
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We're working closely, we -- our FBI teammates, others working closely with our European teammates to provide the insights that we have seen to try to assist them as they, themselves, France and Germany for example, about to undergo significant national leadership elections over the course of the next two months.</div>
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ROS-LEHTINEN: And in terms of the European elections, what -- what have you seen or any information that you can share with us about the Russian interference in that process?</div>
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ROGERS: So you see some of the same things that we saw in the U.S. in terms of disinformation, fake news, attempts to release of information to embarrass individuals, you're seeing that play out to some extent in European elections right now.</div>
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ROS-LEHTINEN: I look forward to continuing with you.</div>
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Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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NUNES: Gentlelady yields back.</div>
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Mr. Turner is recognized.</div>
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TURNER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Mr. Comey, Admiral Rogers, thank you for being here today and for your -- what appears to be attempts at being forthcoming with the committee. I also want to thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member Schiff. This is a bipartisan effort.</div>
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I think as you've looked to what this committee is undertaking, everyone wants answers and everyone want answers to all of the questions that are being asked because this does go to such an important issue concerning our elections.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, I'm going to begin with a question to you concerning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Now Admiral, as you know that the foreign service -- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provides the circumstances or the authority under which the intelligence community may collect or intercept the communication of a foreign person located outside of the United States, or as Mr. Comey's indicated a person who is covered under a FISA court order.</div>
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Now, with Mr. Rooney and Mr. Gowdy you discussed the minimization procedures under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and those minimization procedures are supposed to protect the privacy rights of U.S. citizens. Specifically, it's geared toward the communications of those who maybe inadvertently or incidentally collected as a result of the intelligence community's lawful collection of communications of others.</div>
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So Mr. Rogers, is the intelligence community required to cease collection or the interception of communications if the result of the collection or interception includes the communications of an incoming U.S. administration official, the president-elect or the president- elect's transition team.</div>
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ROGERS: It depends under what authority work, as I said early on, there's a series of questions we go through, was there criminal associated activity, does the conversation deal about threats to U.S. persons, breaking of the law. So there's no simple yes or no, there's a series of processes we have in place.</div>
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TURNER: Mr. Rogers, is there any provision of minimization that requires you to cease collection? Because that is my question, are you under any circumstances required to cease collection if the collection results in the either inadvertent or incidental collection of an incoming U.S. administration official, the president-elect or the president-elect's transition team?</div>
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ROGERS: Purely on the basis of exposure, I wanna make sure I understand the question, is -- is...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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TURNER: Are you required to cease, if you are -- are undertaking lawful collection under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of a person or individual, either because they're a foreign person located outside the United States or the person that you're collecting against, is the subject of a FISA Court order.</div>
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If incidental to that collection or inadvertently, the collection results in the collection of communications of an incoming U.S. administration official, the president-elect or the president-elect's transition team, are you required under the minimization procedures, to cease collection?</div>
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ROGERS: Not automatically.</div>
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TURNER: Thank you. So the answer's no, correct?</div>
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Well, the reason why this is important is because intuitively, we would all know that incoming administration would have conversations with those that the intelligence community may be collecting against, either by making phone calls to them or receiving phone calls to them.</div>
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And so it's important for us to understand that the minimization procedures that are intended to collect the privacy rights of Americans, do not inherently include the -- a prohibition of the intelligence community incidentally or inadvertently, collecting the communications of an incoming administration.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, sir.</div>
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TURNER: Yep.</div>
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Mr. Comey, are you aware whether or not the Director of National Intelligence Director Clapper, ever briefed the President of the United States, then President Obama, concerning the possible inadvertent or incidental collection or interception by the U.S. intelligence community of any communication of members of the incoming Trump administration?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I can comment on.</div>
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TURNER: And then why not, Mr. Comey.</div>
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COMEY: A couple of reasons, it might involve classified information, it might involve communications with the president of the United States. On both of those grounds, I can't talk about it here.</div>
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TURNER: Mr. Comey, have you previously discussed your conversations with President Obama with this committee?</div>
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COMEY: I don't remember. I may have with the chair and ranking, I don't remember with the full committee.</div>
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TURNER: Well, we'll have to refresh your memory on those conversations, then.</div>
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Mr. Comey, did and am used to combing. I did President Obama ever acknowledge to you of having been briefed, concerning possibly inadvertent or incidental collection or interception by the intelligence community of any communications of members of the incoming Trump administration?</div>
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COMEY: I have to give you the same answer, Mr. Turner.</div>
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TURNER: Well, Mr. Comey, the first question related to whether or not Mr. Clapper had briefed the president of the United States and we'll certainly be following up with him. He is going to be appearing before us next week and we'll certainly be directing the question to him also.</div>
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So Mr. Comey, are you aware of any evidence that General Flynn prior to the inauguration, ever communicated to the Russian government or a Russian government official that the Trump administration in the future would release, resend, or reverse U.S. sanctions against Russia or ever made any offer of a quid pro quo for releasing resending or reversing U.S. sanctions against Russia. Are you aware of any evidence?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I can comment on, Mr. Turner.</div>
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TUNER: And why's that?</div>
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COMEY: I'm trying very hard not to talk about anything that relates to a U.S. person, or that might rule in or rule out things, might be investigating. I'm trying to be studiously vague here to protect the integrity of the investigation.</div>
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So please don't -- as I said in the beginning please don't interpret my no comment as meaning this or meaning that. I just can't comment.</div>
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TURNER: Well, Mr. Comey, there are statutes, guidelines and procedures concerning the what does it take for the FBI to open up a counterintelligence investigation into a U.S. citizen.</div>
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It is not just subject to discretion. You can't just say well let's go look at somebody, you have to have a basis. You've now informed us that you've opened a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, members the Trump campaign, concerning Russia in July of 2006 (sic). Now we're trying to get a picture of what does it take to tip over for investigation?</div>
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Now previously people have said that there been individuals who attended a meeting with Russian officials, individuals who -- a member who was paid to attend a conference, a picture that was taken, traveled to a foreign place. There many people both in -- in all of our administrations and sometimes, you know, certainly members who have left Congress who would all qualify for that. What -- what is the tipping point? I mean it can't just be that. Don't you need some action or some information besides just attending a meeting, having been paid to attend a conference, that a picture was taken, or that you traveled to a country before your open to investigation for counterintelligence by the FBI?</div>
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COMEY: The standard is, I think there's a couple different at play. A credible allegation of wrongdoing or reasonable basis to believe that an American may be acting as an agent of a foreign power.</div>
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TURNER: Well the reason why we're with this, Mr. Comey, is that we obviously have the statements of Mr. Clapper that there is no evidence of collusion with Russia and he just left the intelligence community. And as you are aware, we now sit because this is you said, Admiral Rogers, you know, the Russians wanted to put a cloud over our system.</div>
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And Mr. Comey, by your announcement today, I mean, there is now a cloud that undermines our system. There is a cloud that where we're sitting with Mr. Clapper who was obviously in a very important position to know, who stated to us that there is no evidence of conclusion, and you will not give us evidence or -- or -- or give us any -- any substantive evaluation of it.</div>
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We now sit with this cloud and it's important that -- Mr. Chairman I have a few additional questions if I might when we regain time.</div>
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NUNES: We'll get back to Mr. Turner.</div>
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Mr. Schiff's recognized for 15 minutes.</div>
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SCHIFF: Thank you Mr. Chairman.</div>
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I recognize representative Jackie Speier.</div>
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SPEIER: Thank you Mr. Schiff.</div>
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Again, let's go back to this tarantula web. So Mr. Tillerson, in 2014, started to lobby the United States government asking them to shifter or lift the sanctions. Now in his -- his confirmation hearing he says he's -- as he said, I have never lobbied against sanctions, personally, to my knowledge, Exxon Mobil never directly lobbied against sanctions.</div>
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And yet there is lobbying reporting that shows that Exxon Mobil actually paid over $300,000 to lobbyists in 2014. And that Mr. Tillerson visited the White House five times in 2014 and treasury with Secretary Lew, seven times.</div>
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Is -- is there something disconcerting about a U.S. CEO attempting to undermine The sanctions imposed by our government against another country for acts that we find to be disadvantageous to the world order. Director Comey?</div>
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COMEY: That's not a question I can answer. For a variety of reasons, I'm not qualified to answer and I shouldn't be answering questions like that.</div>
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SPEIER: All right. OK. How about this then? Is it disconcerting to you as the director of the FBI that a U.S. CEO would say publicly that he is very close friends with President Putin and has had a 17-year relationship with him?</div>
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COMEY: That's not a question I can answer.</div>
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SPEIER: Would it raise any red flags?</div>
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COMEY: That's not a question I can answer.</div>
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SPEIER: Admiral Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: Ma'am, lots of American corporations do business in Russia. I have no knowledge of the specifics you're talking about, I am in no way qualified or knowledgeable enough to comment on this.</div>
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SPEIER: All right, let's move on to someone else in that web. His name is Michael Caputo. He's a PR professional, conservative radio talk show host. In 1994, he moved to Russia and there he was working for the agency for international development. He was fired from that job because he refused to follow a State Department position.</div>
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He then opened a PR firm in Moscow and married a Russian woman. He subsequently divorced her and in 1999 his business failed. Roger Stone, a mentor to him, urged him to move to Florida and open his PR firm in Miami which is exactly what Mr. Caputo did. And then in 2000 he worked with Gazprom-Media to improve Putin's image in the United States.</div>
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Now, do we know who Gazprom-Media is? Do you know anything about Gazprom, Director?</div>
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COMEY: I don't.</div>
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SPEIER: Well, it's a -- it's an oil company. In 2007, he began consulting the Ukrainian parliamentary campaign. There he met his second wife.</div>
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So I guess my question is, what possible reason is there for the Trump campaign to hire Putin's image consultant? Any thoughts on that Director Comey?</div>
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COMEY: No thoughts.</div>
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SPEIER: Admiral Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: Likewise, ma'am.</div>
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SPEIER: All right. Do either of you know what Michael Caputo is doing for the Trump effort today?</div>
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ROGERS: I have no idea.</div>
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COMEY: And I'm not going to talk about U.S. persons.</div>
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SPEIER: All right, let's move on now to Carter Page.</div>
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Carter Page was the founder of Global Energy, it's an investment fund. He has only one partner and that partner is Sergei Yatsenko who's the former executive of a Russian state-owned Gazprom oil company. Before that, from 2004 to 2007, he worked for Merrill Lynch in Moscow.</div>
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In March of 2016, Then-Candidate Trump referred to Carter Page as his foreign policy advisor to the Washington Post. The next day, Page asserts that he's an advisor on Russia and energy. But then subsequently, Candidate Trump says he doesn't know him.</div>
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SPEIER: On September 26, he takes a leave of absence from the campaign and then Page publicly supports a relationship with Russia, criticizes U.S. sanctions and NATO's approach to Russia, saying -- and then subsequently says he's divesting his stake in Gazprom in August. In 2014, he writes an article criticizing the U.S. sanctions, praising Sechin in an article and global policy and then rebuked the west for focusing on so-called annexation of Crimea.</div>
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In July of 2016, he gives a graduation speech at the new economic school, denies meeting with the prime minister, Christopher Steele, in his dossier, says he met with, again, Igor Sechin, offering a 19 percent interest in Rosneft. It becomes the biggest transfer of public property to private ownership.</div>
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Now, Carter Page is a national security adviser to Donald Trump. Do you believe that -- why do we -- I guess, again, here's another company that has had sanctions imposed upon it. Could you again clarify why we impose sanctions on companies?</div>
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COMEY: Admiral Rogers did it better than I, so I'm going to (inaudible) him.</div>
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SPEIER: OK.</div>
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ROGERS: I apologize. I don't remember the specifics of my answer, but I'll stand by my answer...</div>
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COMEY: Which was excellent.</div>
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SPEIER: All right.</div>
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I think at that point, I will yield back, Mr. Chair.</div>
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SCHIFF: I now yield to Mr. Quigley.</div>
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QUIGLEY: Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member.</div>
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Gentlemen, thank you for your service. Thank you for being here. We've talked a little bit about the Russian playboook, right? Extortion, bribery, false news, disinformation, they all sound very familiar, correct? Well, as we talk, without thinking about anybody in the United States, just generally the Russian playbook and how it's worked in particularly Eastern Europe and Central Europe, a lot of it involves trying to influence individuals in that country, correct?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes. QUIGLEY: So what we've talked about a little bit today seems so -- be sort of a black and white notion of whether there was collusion, but does a Russian active measure attempting to succeed at collusion -- does the person involved have to actually know? I mean, does it have to involve knowing collusion for there to be damage?</div>
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COMEY: I can answer generally. In the world of intelligence, oftentimes there are people who are called co-optees, who are acting -- don't realize they're dealing with agents of a foreign power and so are doing things for someone they think is a friend or a business associate, not realizing it's for that -- the foreign government. So it can happen, it's actually quite a frequent technique.</div>
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QUIGLEY: Is it beyond that sometimes to include things where the -- the actor doesn't necessarily know what they're doing is helping that other government?</div>
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COMEY: Exactly.</div>
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QUIGLEY: And what are instances, just examples of what that might include in a generic sense, in Europe and so forth?</div>
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COMEY: Oftentimes, a researcher here in the United States may think they're dealing with a peer researcher in a foreign government and not knowing that that researcher is either knowingly or unwittingly passing information to a foreign adversary of the United States.</div>
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QUIGLEY: And can you explain and elaborate how this sort of -- problems with defining what collusion is -- the differences that might be involved with explicit or implicit collusion?</div>
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COMEY: Collusion is not a term, a legal term of art and it's one I haven't used here today, as we're investigating to see whether there was any coordination between people associated with the campaign...</div>
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QUIGLEY: Explicit or implicit coordination?</div>
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COMEY: I guess implicit, I -- I would think of it as knowing or unknowing. You can do things to help a foreign nation state, as I said, without realizing that you're dealing with. You think you're helping a buddy, who's a researcher at a university in China and what you're actually doing is passing information that ends up with the Chinese government. That's unwitting, I don't know whether it's same as your implicit.</div>
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Explicit would be, you know, I'm sending this stuff to this researcher in China and I'm doing it because I wanna help the Chinese government and I know he's hooked up with the Chinese government.</div>
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QUIGLEY: Admiral Rogers, would you give other examples of what you witnessed in your career?</div>
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ROGERS: Sometimes, U.S. individuals would be approached by other individuals connected with -- with foreign connections who will misrepresent what not just the researcher, they'll assume an identity if you will, hey I want you to think that I'm actually working for a business, exploring commercial interests, those kinds of things. Create a relationship and then it turns out, there really is no commercial interest, here they're acting as a direct extension of a foreign government...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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COMEY: And romance can be a feature. Somebody dating someone to create a close relationship and the U.S. government person thinks that they're in love with this person and -- and vice versa and the other person's actually an agent of a foreign power, that's sort of a classic example.</div>
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QUIGLEY: You describe this as naive acquiescence?</div>
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COMEY: I don't -- I'm not sure I know what that means, exactly (ph).</div>
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ROGERS: I don't know what that really means (ph).</div>
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QUIGLEY: You're -- you're going along with it and without really acknowledging, understanding in your mind or being naive about the issue.</div>
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COMEY: Sure, that can happen.</div>
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ROGERS: Yeah, you see that at times.</div>
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QUIGLEY: OK.</div>
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Going on to things that you -- you probably can't comment upon which is of equal concern. We're all, at this point, very familiar with Mr. Sessions's testimony before the United States Senate in which he specifically said he had -- he wasn't one who had this contact with the Russians. And then there was the amended, I guess, testimony in which he acknowledged I believe two such testimonies. The first was in July during the convention and then later in September afterwards.</div>
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All the while, that the issues that we are talking about today, the hacking, the dumping of materials were taking placing and certainly, someone in the position of Mr. Senator Sessions would've been aware of this. Perhaps, would've remembered these conversations or might've mentioned or asked the Russian ambassador to knock it off. But apparently, none of those things happened or at least he didn't remember that they happened. Unfortunately, what we're reading now is that there was a third meeting as early as April of last year in Washington, D.C., a meeting which Candidate Trump was present and the Russian ambassador was present.</div>
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At some point in time, this goes well beyond an innocent, under the best of circumstances, oh I forgot sort of thing, or that doesn't count. When you correct your testimony in front of the United States Senate, you're still under oath and you're swearing to the American people that what you're saying is true. Well, the third time is well beyond that and is quite simply perjury. So as we look at this as we go forward, gentlemen, I ask that you take that into consideration. This is far more than what we have talked about just in the general sense, did the Russians hack or not and the scope of this too, a concerted effort and plan to lie to the American public about what took place and what the motivations were beyond these -- this process. Again, I thank you for your service.</div>
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And I yield back to the ranking member.</div>
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SCHIFF: I yield to Mr. Swalwell of California.</div>
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SWALWELL: Thank you, Director Comey and Admiral Rogers.</div>
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Director Comey, you've served time in a courtroom as a prosecutor and I'm wondering if you remember the instruction that is read to juries every day that if you decide that a witness deliberately lied about something significant in this case, you should consider not believing anything that witness says.</div>
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COMEY: Yes, that's familiar to me.</div>
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SWALWELL: And your testimony at the beginning of this hearing was that President Trump's claims that former President Obama had wiretapped him is false.</div>
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COMEY: I said we have no information that supports them.</div>
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SWALWELL: Thank you.</div>
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With respect to Donald Trump, do you remember the other instruction relating to truthfulness of a witness or a defendant? If the defendant makes a false or misleading statement relating to the charged crime knowing the statement was false or intending to mislead that conduct may also show he or she were aware of their guilt.</div>
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COMEY: Yes, familiar to me from my distant past.</div>
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SWALWELL: I want talk about the Kremlin playbook and there are a number of ways that a foreign adversary can seek to influence a person, do you agree with that?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SWALWELL: Financial?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, that can be one.</div>
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SWALWELL: Romance you said is another.</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SWALWELL: Compromise?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SWALWELL: Setting up a compromise? COMEY: Sure, to execute on a compromise, yes.</div>
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SWALWELL: How about inadvertently capturing a compromise, meaning they have vast surveillance and you stumble into that surveillance and are caught in compromise?</div>
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COMEY: And then they take that information, try and use it to coerce you? Yes, that's part of the playbook.</div>
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SWALWELL: I'll yield back, Chair, and continue once I'm back with us. Thank you, Director.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman's time's expired.</div>
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We'll go back to Mr. Turner.</div>
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TURNER: Thank you.</div>
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I want to go back to the issue of -- Admiral Rogers indicated that the goal of the Russians is to put a cloud on our system to undermine our system. And -- and I would think, certainly today, Mr. Comey, with your announcement of an investigation that the Russians would be very happy with that as an outcome because the cloud of their actions and activities continues and will continue to undermine and until your finished with whatever your investigation is currently in the scope of.</div>
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I want to go back to the issue of how does one open an investigation because again, I'm -- I'm a little confused by -- by some of the things that we hear as to the basis of an investigation. Now, Mr. Comey, if -- if an individual attends a meeting with a foreign leader is -- is that enough to open a counter intelligence investigation?</div>
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COMEY: Without more that somebody met with somebody, no.</div>
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TUNER: No. OK. Without more than if they had their picture taken with a foreign leader, is that enough?</div>
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COMEY: It would depend upon where they were, who took the picture.</div>
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TURNER: Well, assume that they're in would (ph) that -- the foreign country, and in that foreign leaders government offices or facilities, if they're having a picture taken with them, is that enough to open a counterintelligence investigation?</div>
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COMEY: It would depend.</div>
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TURNER: On -- on what? Because I'm saying if there's just a picture. Because I can tell you certainly there's lots of people who have had lots of pictures.</div>
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COMEY: Yeah.</div>
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TURNER: Is it enough that a person who has just had their picture taken with a foreign leader at the foreign leaders government official offices or place of residence?</div>
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COMEY: The reason I said it depends is it would depend. Did the person sneak over to the foreign country and meet them clandestinely, did -- was the picture -- reveal something else about the relationship? It just hard to...</div>
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TUNER: Well, let's say it's not clandestine. Let's say it's open, that the person has -- as -- has attended an event and has gone over to meet with the foreign person, foreign government official and is at their foreign government official facility or their official residence and has a picture taken and has no intention of covertly being present with the foreign person, is that picture enough to open a counterintelligence investigation?</div>
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COMEY: Tricky to answer hypotheticals, but I think my reaction to that is that doesn't strike me as enough. And I know your next question's going to be deeper into hypos.</div>
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TURNER: No, no, I'm not getting deep into hypos. These are pretty straightforward. So what if you're paid, you know, to attend a conference in a foreign -- in a foreign country and you're paid to attend that conference not directly by the foreign government, but nonetheless payment does occur for you to attend a conference? We know President Bill Clinton attended many such conferences and spoke and received payment.</div>
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Is receiving payment by attending to speak at a conference -- again, it's not covert, it's open. They're attending to speak at a conference, they receive payment for the purposes of speaking, is that enough to open a counterintelligence investigation?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say as I sit here. It would depend upon a lot of different things.</div>
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TURNER: If you had no other information or evidence other than the fact that they attended, is that enough for you, for the FBI to open a counterintelligence investigation of a private U.S. citizen?</div>
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COMEY: I can't answer the hypothetical because it would depend upon a number of other things.</div>
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TURNER: I limited it to where there would be no other things, Mr. Comey. I said only, if the only information that you had was that they had intended an event in which they were paid which was a conference and it was not covert, is that only sufficient information to open an investigation against a private U.S. citizen?</div>
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COMEY: Who paid them? Did they disclose it? What did they discuss when they were there? Who else was sitting with them? There's lots and lots of other circumstances that make that -- even that simple-seeming hypo difficult to answer.</div>
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TURNER: Well, let's say that they've traveled to a foreign country and they openly traveled, wasn't covert. Is traveling there enough?</div>
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COMEY: Just traveling around the world, no.</div>
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TURNER: OK, well I'm very concerned, Mr. Comey, about the issue of how an investigation is opened and -- and how we end up at this situation once again where Mr. Clapper, had (ph) the director of national intelligence, just said that when he left there was no evidence of collusion and yet, as Admiral Rogers said, we're sitting now where the Russians' goal is being achieved of causing a cloud or undermining our electoral process. So I certainly hope that you take an expeditious look at what you have undertaken because it affects the heart of our democracy.</div>
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Mr. Comey, I have a question against -- again concerning classified information. Now, I know that if I attend a classified briefing and I receive classified information and I go and tell someone that classified information, if I leak it, I release it, then I've committed a crime. But what if someone goes to a classified briefing, walks out of that briefing, and openly lies about the content of that briefing? Because it's unclear to me what happens then.</div>
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And it's important because, as you know, this committee and certainly both of you gentlemen have handled a lot of classified information and recently, more recently, the purported classified information is put out in the press, The Washington Post, The New York Times reports information. And you know and I know and we all know, having handled classified information, that some of that information is not true. Are the sources of that classified information, if they come out and lie about the content of classified information, have they committed a crime?</div>
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COMEY: That's a really interesting question. I don't think so. If all they've done is lie to a reporter, that's not against the law. If they've done it, I don't wanna break anybody's hearts with that but that's not against the law. But it is not and the reason I'm hesitating is, I can imagine a circumstance where it's part of some broader conspiracy or something, but just that false statement to a reporter is not a crime.</div>
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TURNER: And I just wanna underscore that for a -- just for a second, because I agree with you. I think it's no crime. And so every reporter out there that has someone standing in front of them and saying oh, I'm taking this great risk of sharing with you U.S. secrets, besides them purporting to be a traitor, are committing no crime if they lie to them. So all of these news articles that contain this information that we know is not -- not the case, are being done so at damage to the United States but without the risk of a crime.</div>
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And my next aspect of your question to Mr. Comey, is this. What is the obligation of the intelligence community to correct such falsehoods? Some of this information that we read in the Washington Post and the New York Times, is extremely false and extremely incendiary and extremely condemning of individuals and certainly, our whole system. What is your obligation, Mr. Comey, to be that source to say I can't release classified information, but I can tell you, it's not that? COMEY: Yeah, it's a great question, Mr. Turner, because there's a whole lot out there that is false. And I suppose some of it could be people lying to reporters. I think that probably happens. But more often than not, it's people who -- who act like they know when they really don't know. Because they're not the people who actually know the secrets, they're one or two hops out and they're passing along (ph) things they think they know.</div>
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There is -- we had not only have no obligation to correct that, we can't, because if we start calling reporters and saying hey, this thing you said about this new aircraft we've developed, that's inaccurate actually, it's got two engines. We just can't do that because we'll give information to our adversaries that way and it's very, very frustrating but we can't start down that road. Now, when it's unclassified information, if a reporter misreports the contents of a bill that's being debated in Congress or a policy, we can call him and say hey, you ought to read it more carefully. You missed this or missed that. We cannot do that with classified information.</div>
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It's very, very frustrating because I have read a whole lot of stuff, especially in the last two months, this is just wrong. But I can't say which is wrong and I can't say it to those reporters.</div>
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TURNER: Mr. Comey, if you could help us on this issue, I would greatly appreciate it because what happens, is that you come into a classified briefing with us and you tell us, perhaps what something that is absolutely false, it really shouldn't be classified because you're telling us it's not true. But yet, we can't go tell it's not true because you told us in a classified setting. If there's a way that we can at least have some exchange as to what's not true so the American people don't listen to false stories in The Washington Post and The New York Times that we all know are not true, that would be helpful.</div>
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COMEY: Yeah, I don't...</div>
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TURNER: If you could think about how you could help us with that.</div>
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COMEY: I'd love to invent that machine, but we can't because where do you stop that on that slope?</div>
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TURNER: Well, false is false, Mr. Comey.</div>
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COMEY: Because then, when I don't call The New York Times to say you got that one wrong, bingo, they got that one right. And so I -- it's just an enormously complicated endeavor for us. We have to stay clear of it entirely.</div>
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TURNER: Thank you, Mr. Comey, one last question. So we all read in the press that Vice President Pence publicly denied that General Flynn discussed sanctions with Russia. And I'm assuming that you saw those news reports. Did the FBI take any action in response to the vice president statements?</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment on that, Mr. Turner.</div>
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TURNER: Mr. Comey, The New York Times reported on February 14th, 2017, that General Flynn was interviewed by FBI personnel. Is that correct?</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment on that, Mr. Turner.</div>
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TURNER: Mr. Comey, I do not have any additional questions, but I thank you both for your participation. And again, I thank for the -- the chairman and ranking member for the bipartisan aspect of this investigation.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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Dr. Wenstrup is recognized.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Thank you gentlemen for being here, I appreciate your endurance in this effort today. One question, how long has Russia or the Soviet Union been interfering or attempting to interfere with our election process?</div>
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ROGERS: In the report we've feebly (ph) talked about, we have seen this kind of behavior to some degree attempting to influence outcomes for decades.</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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WENSTRUP: Going back to -- going back the Soviet Union...</div>
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ROGERS: Right. Not to the same level necessary, but the basic trend has been there.</div>
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WENSTRUP: So I'm curious also about what triggers a counterintelligence investigation of a government official. And in some ways, I'm asking for myself. For example, last week I spoke at an event on form policy with Atlantic Council. Unbeknownst to me, the Iraqi ambassador of the United States was there. He comes up to me afterwards, introduces himself and says he'd like to meet with me at some time. So this isn't a theoretical, this is real and this is what I'm asking is this.</div>
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Will be in trouble or under investigation if I meet with him?</div>
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COMEY: This is the slope I tried to avoid going down with Mr. Turner. Dr. Wenstrup, I -- I don't think I should be answering hypotheticals. The question is...</div>
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WENSTRUP: It's not hypothetical because I'm asking you in advance because I want to know if I can meet with him and be under investigation or not and I don't think that's an unrealistic question. This is real. This is right now.</div>
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COMEY: I get that. The FBI does not give advisory opinions, and so if you're asking about your particular case, I just can't do that.</div>
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WENSTRUP: So you'll tell me afterwards?</div>
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COMEY: No, I'll -- I'll never tell you.</div>
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(LAUGHTER)</div>
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WENSTRUP: Well, you might. Somebody might, somebody might tell the press, right? And that's where I'm going next because I want to know what -- what can I discuss? What am I allowed to discuss? And what -- what triggers the investigation is really what we're trying to get to in general. You know, maybe not with the Iraqi ambassador, but what about with the Russian ambassador? What are my obligations? What am I -- do I need to advise someone that I'm meeting with them? Do I have to discuss the agenda before I meet with them?</div>
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You know, just so we're clear. I mean, this is really what it's coming down to, is a lot about what we're talking about. You know, so I don't think it's unnecessary or ridiculous for me to ask that. And so in intelligence reporting, if the identity of a U.S. official is disseminated to those on an as needed basis -- or those that need to know basis. Does that generally lead to a counterintelligence investigation of that individual?</div>
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So in -- in general, if a U.S. official is -- is -- is in this report and it's disseminated, does that lead to an investigation of the individual?</div>
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COMEY: No, not in general, not as a rule. No.</div>
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WENSTRUP: OK. That answers...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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COMEY: It would depend on lots of the circumstances.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Next, I want to go to the article from February 14 in The New York Times which I believe we're all familiar. And you may not be able to answer any of these, but the article sites four current and former American officials. Do you know -- know the identity of those four officials?</div>
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COMEY: Not going to comment on an article.</div>
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WENSTRUP: OK. Well, it's not necessarily on the article, but OK. Do you know for a fact that the four current and former American officials provided information for the story?</div>
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COMEY: I have to give you the same answer.</div>
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WENSTRUP: OK. With or without an investigation going on, has anyone told you that they know who leaked the information or who leaked any information on Russian involvement in the U.S. elections or Russian involvement with the Trump election team?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not going to comment on that.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Is it possible that The New York Times misrepresented its sourcing for this February 14 article? Possible.</div>
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COMEY: I can't comment on that.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Is it possible that The New York Times was misled by individuals claiming to be current or former American officials.</div>
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COMEY: I'll give you the same answer, Dr. Wenstrup.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Can I ask why you can't comment on that?</div>
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COMEY: I think a number of reasons. I'm not confirming that the information in that article is accurate or inaccurate. I'm not going to get in the business of -- that we talked about earlier...</div>
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WENSTRUP: OK. Is it -- then let me ask you this.</div>
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COMEY: And there's other reasons.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Sure.</div>
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COMEY: That I'm also not going to confirm whether we're investigating things, and so if I start talking about what I know about a particular article, I run the risk of stepping on both of those landmines.</div>
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WENSTRUP: I guess one more question before the time is up and we'll come back to me, but I am curious, is it possible -- and nothing to do with this article. Is it possible that a so-called source to a media outlet may actually be a Russian advocate? Nothing to do with this story per say, just is it possible that a Russian surrogate could actually be the source that a newspaper is relying on?</div>
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COMEY: In general, sure, somebody could always be pretending to be something they're not.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Thank you.</div>
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And I yield back at this time.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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Mr. Schiff's recognized for 15 minutes.</div>
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SCHIFF: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Just a couple follow-up questions and then I'll pass it to Mr. Quigley for entering something into the record.</div>
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COMEY: Mr. Chairman, can I ask you for an estimated time? I'm not made of steel, so I might need to take a quick break.</div>
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NUNES: Would you like to do that now?</div>
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COMEY: If you can, I didn't know how much longer you planned to go.</div>
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NUNES: I think we want to keep going until the members have asked all their questions.</div>
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COMEY: OK. Just a quick rest stop?</div>
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NUNES: Yes. So we'll break for about 10 minutes.</div>
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COMEY: That's plenty.</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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(RECESS)</div>
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NUNES: I'm gonna call the hearing back into order after a brief recess. I wanna get on with questions. I'm gonna yield 15 minutes to the gentleman from California, Mr. Schiff.</div>
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SCHIFF: Director Comey, just a couple follow-up questions before I pass it to Mr. Quigley to enter something in the record. You've been asked a number of questions today about is it enough to open an investigation because someone travels or is enough because they have their photograph taken or enough because they attend a conference. I would imagine that you get so many leads, so many people writing to you with information that they're convinced shows (ph) a crime that if you investigated everything that people sent you, you would be squandering your investigative resources in a way you can't afford to do.</div>
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My understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that in order for you to open an investigation, you need to see credible information or evidence that someone has either committed a federal crime or become an agent of a foreign power. Is that an accurate understanding?</div>
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COMEY: Yeah, that's a fair statement. And as you said, Mr. Schiff, we have to also choose which -- we get a lot of referrals, which ones align with the threats that the FBI is trying to prioritize because we have limited resources.</div>
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SCHIFF: Exactly. So even when those criteria are met, that enough may not be -- that in and of itself may not be enough because you have so many other cases you need to investigate and you have to prioritize.</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SCHIFF: I also wanna ask you, you mentioned that it wouldn't be appropriate for you to be telling reporters that stories they're writing are accurate or inaccurate when they may involve an investigation. That's not an appropriate thing for you to do.</div>
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COMEY: Correct, especially if the story involves classified information.</div>
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SCHIFF: And that's because you would either be disclosing classified information potentially in what you're confirming, or by rebutting a story that was inaccurate, you may be suggesting other stories that contain classified information or then (ph) accurate?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SCHIFF: Now, it's inappropriate for you to be batting down inaccurate stories. Would you also agree it's -- if it's inappropriate for you to be batting down inaccurate stories, would you also agree it's inappropriate for the White House to be asking the FBI to be rebutting stories they don't like?</div>
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COMEY: Yeah, that's when I don't wanna answer, Mr. Schiff, because I don't wanna talk about communications within the executive branch. I can speak for the FBI, that's not something the FBI can or should do.</div>
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SCHIFF: And if you were appearing up before the Senate for confirmation and they asked you as director of the FBI, if you were asked by the White House to refute or acknowledge press stories that they liked or didn't like, what would you tell the Senate in your confirmation hearing? Would that be appropriate for your office?</div>
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COMEY: I would figure out what was the right thing for the FBI to do and then do that thing.</div>
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SCHIFF: And that right thing would be not to be in the business of confirming or denying stories about classified information?</div>
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COMEY: Correct, that's what -- that's with the right thing is for the FBI.</div>
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SCHIFF: Let me recognize Mr. Quigley for purposes of entering something in the record.</div>
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QUIGLEY: Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member. As I do that, I'm reminded of what Hugo Black said, "Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." I respectfully ask to enter a March 8th article entitled, "Jeff Sessions Likely Met Russian Ambassador a Third Time."</div>
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SCHIFF: I now yield to Mr. Swalwell.</div>
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SWALWELL: Thank you to our ranking member.</div>
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And thank you again to -- to our director and Admiral Rogers. Director, would you agree that the FBI, when it's considering the counterintelligence investigation, views contacts between U.S. persons and say Russia differently than it would view contacts between U.S. persons and the U.K. or France or Germans?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, very much so.</div>
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SWALWELL: And that's because they're a foreign adversary? COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SWALWELL: And so to land on Russia's radar as somebody that they may want to recruit, would you agree that being a businessperson, a prominent business person is something that would be attractive to them?</div>
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COMEY: Could be. Might depend upon what industry you're in.</div>
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SWALWELL: Could it also -- could also being a politician be something that would be attractive to them?</div>
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COMEY: Sure.</div>
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SWALWELL: And how about somebody who does business with Russians, would that be attractive to them?</div>
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COMEY: Could be. It would depend upon other things as well though.</div>
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SWALWELL: And we were starting to discuss this, efforts to recruit include investing in a U.S. person, is that correct?</div>
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COMEY: Efforts by Russia to invest typically?</div>
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SWALWELL: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: In their tradecraft, that can be one of the ways in which they cultivate a relationship, sure.</div>
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SWALWELL: And if you are a U.S. person with a business, could it also include investing in your business or being a partner in some of your endeavors?</div>
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COMEY: Lots of different ways someone could try and establish a relationship.</div>
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SWALWELL: And going back to compromise, can we assume that any prominent U.S. person traveling to Russia would probably be covered by Russian surveillance?</div>
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COMEY: Depend upon how you define prominent, but they have an extensive surveillance operation of foreign visitors. So no matter who you are, you ought to assume it, but whether that's true in reality is harder for me to answer.</div>
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Or do you want to answer that differently?</div>
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ROGERS: No, I agree.</div>
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SWALWELL: And Russia is attempting to recruit and persuade individuals that we've discussed before, just as other foreign adversaries are because they want to get something out of them, is that right?</div>
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COMEY: Correct. SWALWELL: And in many cases, it could be if that person is ever in a position of power that they could be in a position to influence policy in the United States.</div>
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COMEY: To influence policy or to supply them with information that's useful to them and maybe other purposes.</div>
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SWALWELL: Now, with respect to your counterintelligence investigations, would be important for you if you were concerned that a U.S. person had financial entanglements with a foreign adversary to see that persons tax returns?</div>
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COMEY: That's a hypothetical I really want to avoid answering, but the answer is it would depend really. It would depend upon a whole lot of circumstances.</div>
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SWALWELL: That would be one of the pieces of evidence that you would consider looking?</div>
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COMEY: Maybe, maybe. You -- you might be able to get the picture you need from other financial records that are more readily available.</div>
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SWALWELL: And you're aware director that President Trump has refused, breaking with tradition of the past 40 years to show the American people his tax returns?</div>
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COMEY: Not something I want to comment on. I'm aware of it from the media.</div>
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SWALWELL: Now, Russia also in their efforts to recruit individuals and develop individuals, praying on or following someone's financial distress is also an avenue number may pursue, is that right?</div>
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COMEY: Potentially, if it offers an avenue for leverage on someone.</div>
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SWALWELL: And Director, would you consider six bankruptcies that an individual may have as been a point of leverage?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say. I don't know.</div>
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SWALWELL: And Director, you're aware that President Trump is at six prior bankruptcies?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I'm going to comment on.</div>
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SWALWELL: And Director, when your agents are conducting a counterintelligence investigation with respect to a foreign adversary in their efforts to recruit or cooperate with a U.S. person, would you look at the U.S. person's travel to that country?</div>
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COMEY: As part of evaluating whether there is an illicit relationship?</div>
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SWALWELL: Yes. COMEY: Sure.</div>
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SWALWELL: And are you familiar that President Trump has traveled at least three times to Russia?</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I'm going to comment on.</div>
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SWALWELL: Are you aware that his son, Donald Trump Jr., has traveled at least six times to Russia?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Donald Trump has said a number of times that he has had nothing to do with Russia and I want to ask you, Director, if you're familiar with Deutsche Bank and its $300 million loan to Donald Trump and his organization.</div>
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COMEY: That's not something I'm going to comment on.</div>
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SWALWELL: Director, are you aware that Deutsche Bank has been investigated and fined over $400 million by New York State for failing to stop the corrupt transfer of more than $10 billion out of Russia?</div>
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COMEY: I think generally from press accounts.</div>
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SWALWELL: So an individual's association with the bank that has had dealings with Russian money laundering, that would be something that would be a red flag for a counterintelligence investigation I would assume.</div>
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COMEY: That's a hypo I don't want to answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Director, would a U.S. businessperson who is associated with a foreign adversary having tenants in their office building that do business with that foreign adversary, would that be a red flag that a counterintelligence agent would look at?</div>
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COMEY: I can't answer that.</div>
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SWALWELL: Are you aware that in Trump Tower were two tenants, Vadim Trincher and Anatoly Golubchik, who ran a high-stakes illegal gambling ring that was run out of Trump Tower?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: And are you aware that the prosecutor in that case was U.S. attorney Preet Bharara?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Are you aware, Director, that that U.S. attorney was recently fired?</div>
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COMEY: Yes.</div>
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SWALWELL: By the president of the United States? COMEY: Well, I don't know who fired him. I know from press accounts that he was asked to leave.</div>
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SWALWELL: Director, are you aware of Felix Sater, a former Soviet official and adviser to the Trump Organization?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not going to comment on it.</div>
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SWALWELL: And Director, outside of Mr. Sater's relationship with the Trump Organization, are you aware that the FBI knew of Mr. Sater because of a $40 million stock fraud case that was prosecuted by the federal government?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Director, would a U.S. person having multiple trademarks in addition to the other relationships that I just described be a red flag for a counterintelligence investigation if those trademarks were in Russia?</div>
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COMEY: Multiple trademarks?</div>
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SWALWELL: Yeah, registering trademarks in a foreign adversary's country.</div>
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COMEY: I don't know what to make of that.</div>
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SWALWELL: OK. Were you aware that Donald Trump had six trademarks in Russia?</div>
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COMEY: Not going to comment on that.</div>
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SWALWELL: Were you aware that Donald Trump tried to market his Trump Vodka brand in Russia?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Were you aware that Donald Trump ran Ms. Universe 2013 out of Moscow?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Are you aware that Donald Trump Jr. said on a number of occasions that Russian money is pouring into the Trump Organization and that there is a disproportionate cross-section of the company's revenue coming from Russian money?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer, Mr. Swalwell.</div>
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SWALWELL: So hypothetically speaking though, would a foreign adversary and its oligarchs having a disproportionate cross-section of a company's revenue coming from that country, would that be a red flag for a counterintelligence agent?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not -- I'm trying to be helpful, but I'm not going to answer that hypo... SWALWELL: I understand. Thank you, Director. Director, are you familiar with a 2004 home purchase by President Trump in Palm Beach County for about $40 million?</div>
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COMEY: Not going to comment on that.</div>
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SWALWELL: Are you familiar with a 2008 sale of that same property for 129 percent increase at about $98 million?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Are you aware that the buyer in 2008 was a Russian businessman?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: And under the earlier hypothetical, would a foreign adversary's oligarch purchasing a home in the United States for 129 percent more than the home was purchased four years before. Would that be a tool that a foreign adversary would use to try and recruit, develop or bring somebody onto their side?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer as before.</div>
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SWALWELL: You said that it's likely or somebody should assume they're being surveilled when they were in Russia. Would you assume that Donald Trump was being surveilled in 2013 when he was in Moscow?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not gonna answer. I -- I was trying to confine my answer to prominent people should assume, not you know, students and all those people who might go there for a brief holiday, I don't think I'd ask them to assume that.</div>
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SWALWELL: Right. Would it be safe to say that if Donald Trump was doing something he shouldn't have been doing while he was in Russia, the Russians probably saw it?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer as before.</div>
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SWALWELL: Would it be safe to assume that if a prominent person was doing something they shouldn't have been doing while they're in Russia, the Russians probably saw it?</div>
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COMEY: Yeah, I would stick to what I said before about prominent people should assume.</div>
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SWALWELL: Mr. Director, was Donald Trump under investigation during the campaign?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer as before. I'm not gonna answer that.</div>
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SWALWELL: Is he under investigation now?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not gonna answer that. Please don't over interpret what I've said as -- as the chair and ranking know, we have briefed him in great detail on the subjects of the investigation and what we're doing, but I'm not gonna answer about anybody in this forum.</div>
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SWALWELL: Director, from our perspective on the committee, the dots continue to connect. President Trump, his team, people in his orbit, to Russia. And the questions that we have, it's quite simple. Are these merely 100 different coincidences or is this a convergence where you're seeing deep personal, political and financial ties, meeting Russia's interference in our campaign?</div>
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So I'm wondering, Director, with your extensive counterintelligence expertise and in view of the Russian intelligence campaign to influence the election in which Donald Trump was candidate, do you consider this -- these number of connections between well-connected Russians and Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, the Trump family and the Trump campaign, to be a coincidence or a convergence?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not gonna answer, Mr. Swalwell.</div>
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SWALWELL: From your perspective, Director, have you ever seen in the history of American politics or at least since you've been alive, any political candidate have this many connections, personal, political and financial, to a foreign adversary?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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SWALWELL: Mr. Director and Admiral Rogers, this past election, our country was attacked. We were attacked by Russia. It was electronic. It was nearly invisible. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women who serve in our intelligence community, we know that the attack came from Russian. It was ordered by Vladimir Putin. He sought to help Donald Trump and to take down Hillary Clinton. The most disturbing finding for me and my fellow committee members is that Russia intends to do this again.</div>
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And I see this as an opportunity for everyone on this committee, Republicans and Democrats, to not look in the rearview window but to look forward and do everything we can to make sure that our country never again allows a foreign adversary to attack us. Because I think, Director, you and Admiral Rogers would agree that it's not only Russia that is sharpening the knives to go back at us or to go at our allies. It's also other countries who have similar capabilities. And so, I think the best thing we can do now is unite around this investigation, have also a parallel, independent commission to make sure we get to the bottom of what happened, why we were so vulnerable and to assure the American people we'll never let this happen again.</div>
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And I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: Dr. Wenstrup?</div>
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WENSTRUP: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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If I can, gentlemen, go back to what we were talking about a little bit before with interference from the Russians possibly in through our media. Have Russians or Soviets historically attempted to spread this information through the U.S. media? As (ph) you -- you mentioned they've been there in over decades trying to interfere, they use media as a resource.</div>
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ROGERS: We see them use media writ large as a resource to disseminate disinformation, false information.</div>
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WENSTRUP: And is that -- been pretty much regardless of who's in the White House?</div>
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ROGERS: It doesn't seem to tie to a particular political party, that tactic, if you will.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Thank you.</div>
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Mr. Comey, have you ever formed -- this is going back to the article from February 14 in the New York Times, have you ever formed an articulated opinion about the article from February 14 in the New York Times?</div>
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COMEY: Have I ever formed and articulated opinion?</div>
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WENSTRUP: Formed an opinion or articulated an opinion on that article?</div>
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COMEY: I don't want to say, Dr. Wenstrup.</div>
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WENSTRUP: OK. Thank you. When I look at your jobs and thank you for being there and doing your jobs. And I mean that sincerely, your job, you -- you observe and you investigate and you assess and you try to predict and you sometimes have to act, would that be correct?</div>
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COMEY: Sure.</div>
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WENSTRUP: In what you do. My question is, as far as predictions and actions, Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election for the United States presidency. Which certainly most had predicted, I would conject (ph) that even the Russians predicted that she would win. What -- what were the Russians planning for November 9 and beyond that had she won. You mentioned before, and the reason I ask that -- you mentioned before you said they'll be back.</div>
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My question is have they left? Because I -- I would contend they haven't left. This isn't something they their turning on and off. This is a constant. So any -- any idea what -- what may have happened November 9 and beyond that had she won?</div>
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COMEY: Hard to say.</div>
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WENSTRUP: The pattern has been to interrupt us regardless of who is in the White House.</div>
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COMEY: Yes. They want to mess with us and in a continuing and general way. It's hard to answer the counterfactual. I assume they would've continued their efforts to undermine President-Elect (sic) Clinton as they had begun doing during the summer, especially with European allies to create a divide there and probably lots of other things. What I meant by they'll be back is, they're not going away. But in the -- in the -- I mean that that in the sense of their next opportunity to mess with our election is two years from now and in four years. That's what I meant by back.</div>
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WENSTRUP: Thank you. I think your job is -- is difficult because there's a lot of conjecture about any relationship with Russians in general and questions from me and others about, can I meet with the Russian ambassador? Does that get me investigated? Business ties here and there, you know, I mean currently we share a space station with Russians. We buy engines from the Russians for -- for our rockets and in the '90s we had joint military exercises with the Russians. It gets a little bit tough as -- for you guys decide what and -- and when do we investigate and I appreciate you taking the time with us today.</div>
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And I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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Mr. Stewart?</div>
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STEWART: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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And to the witnesses, thank you both. You know, I'm impressed. I was a B-1 pilot, when I took off one of the first certain (ph) thoughts I had was how long is it going to be until I get to go to bathroom? You guys went almost 4 hours. Our plan was to keep you here until you are in such pain that you would just answer all of our questions.</div>
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(LAUGHTER)</div>
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I have a list of questions here but I want to divert a little bit and -- and follow up on some of things that have been said here today. Mr. Comey, you confirmed that there's an investigation in the Trump campaign officials. The fact that there is an open investigation does not indicate guilt though, does it? COMEY: Certainly not.</div>
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STEWART: And in fact many times in an investigation may find that there is no wrongdoing.</div>
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COMEY: That's one of the reasons we don't talk about it, so we don't smear people who don't end up charged with anything.</div>
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STEWART: I appreciate that and I would say that is especially likely to have, when I say especially talking about have the finding of no wrongdoing when there is a political motive. And if there's one thing that we've seen here today, I think, from some of the line of questions is clearly been a certain political motive in some of the questions that have been asked to you.</div>
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Mr. Clapper, the former DNI, and we all know who he is, this is someone who should know. I want to read what he said just a few weeks ago. Mr. Clapper then went on to say that to his knowledge there was no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. We did not conclude any evidence in our report and when I say "our report," that is the NSA, FBI, and CIA with my office, the director of national intelligence said anything -- any reflection of collusion between the members of Trump campaign and the Russians, there was no evidence of that in our report.</div>
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Was Mr. Clapper wrong when he said that?</div>
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COMEY: I think he's right about characterizing the report which you all have read.</div>
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STEWART: Well, I want you to know I agree with Mr. Clapper. And at this point, everyone on this dais should agree with Mr. Clapper because we in the committee have seen no evidence, zero, that would indicate that there was collusion or criminal wrongdoing between any members of the previous administration or campaign and Russian officials.</div>
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And I'm going to comment very quickly on the leaks. You've said very clearly that it is a crime, both of you have said that, you've indicated it endangers national security which I certainly agree with. It makes it hard for us to reauthorize very important tools that we will need in order to protect our national security and many times, it's inaccurate.</div>
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And I would ask you then if someone in intelligence community has some concerns, if they feel like there's been an overreach or the government is doing something they shouldn't be doing, any government official, is there a process they can go to where they could make that known and express their concerns?</div>
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COMEY: Yes. All of us, the intelligence community have robust whistleblower provisions that we educate our folks on and part of the whistleblower track is they can bring information to the appropriate committee of Congress.</div>
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STEWART: That's exactly right and are both of your agencies capable of handling accusations agree with me on that. I'd like to shift quickly if I could to the integrity of the report which the previous DNI when he determined along with your acquiescence, I might add, both of you, that Russia developed a clear preference for Mr. Trump and this is a huge deal. I mean, think about this story the American people have been told and some believe that our president was elected maybe because of the influence of a foreign government.</div>
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And I love you guys, you know that, and I defend you and we respect what you do but I do need to make this point and that is the intelligence community is not perfect, is it?</div>
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COMEY: Not perfect?</div>
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STEWART: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: Certainly not.</div>
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STEWART: Certainly not. We...</div>
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COMEY: I can speak for me, I don't -- he might be perfect.</div>
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(LAUGHTER)</div>
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STEWART: Mr. Rogers, I'll allow you to answer the same question.</div>
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ROGERS: I am not -- same as the Director.</div>
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STEWART: And as has been indicated here, and look again, that's not a criticism, it's just the human endeavor. We sometimes make mistakes as do agencies sometimes make mistakes and all of us can think of examples of that including meaningful mistakes, by the way. Mistakes that had clear implications for our policy. And as has been indicated here as well, there's a difference in the level of confidence.</div>
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Now, Mr. Comey, you have a higher degree of confidence in this report than you do, don't you Mr. Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: To be specific, a different level of content on one specific assessment or judgment...</div>
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STEWART: Understanding (ph)...</div>
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ROGERS: But a concurrent overall, in that judgment.</div>
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STEWART: But that one judgment, that one is in a very important part of this report. And if I could make just this last point and this is an important point, I think. And that is the difficulty of determining motive. I mean, we can go back, we can look at facts. We can look at what happened. We can often determine who did it, who they did it with, when they did it. But to determine motive, you've got to crawl inside someone's head. And that's much, much more difficult.</div>
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And in fact, quoting from the preamble in this report, talking about a leader's intentions. It says, this objective is difficult to achieve when seeking to understand complex issues in which foreign actors go to extraordinary lengths to hide and obfuscate their activities. Once again, we're trying to determine motive, which is very different -- difficult. Do you agree with that? The determining motive is one of the most difficult challenges when it comes to an intelligence analysis?</div>
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COMEY: I -- I do Mr. Stewart. And I should -- I should emphasize something that Admiral Rogers said earlier, we made no judgment on whether the Russians were successful in any way and having an impact on the election, I just wanna be clear. That -- that's not in report because we didn't opine on it. We didn't -- that's not within our -- our...</div>
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STEWART: I understand that, but we're looking at Russian activities. And we're making a conclusion of why they did that. In this case, that they preferred one -- one candidate over the other. I was in Moscow last August. I came home and I did some media interviews and talked to some folks. And I said, they're gonna mess with our elections. And that wasn't based on any intelligence analyst or specific information, this was just based on history, we knew that they would. And I was always asked, well, who do they want to win?</div>
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And I said then, I don't think they care. I don't think they A, could believe they could determine who would win and others (ph), as we've said here a number of times, they just want to break down the foundation, they just want to break the trust in our institutions. They want to take away that faith we have in our electoral process. And by the way, the intelligence community agreed with us, with me, on that analysis. For a long, long time, up until December. And then suddenly, they didn't.</div>
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And was when the president asked for this report and he asked for it to be concluded very quickly and then the analysis changed entirely. And -- and it went from no, no, no, they don't really care to no, no, they want Mr. Trump to win. And I think there's another plausible explanation, which is what I want to talk about in the few minutes that I have remaining. Let me begin by asking you, do you think that the Russians expected Secretary Clinton to win the election?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, as of August certainly, August, September.</div>
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STEWART: OK.</div>
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Mr. Rogers?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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STEWART: OK. Well, look, Mr. Comey you indicated as of August, September, do you believe they ever came to a conclusion that you know what? Mr. Trump's going to win.</div>
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COMEY: No, our -- the assessment of the intelligence community was that early on, they thought he might have a shot. And so they wanted to mess with our election, hurt our country in general, that's always the baseline. They hated her, Secretary Clinton, wanted to harm her and thought they might have a chance to help Mr. Trump. And then later, concluded that Mr. Trump was hopeless and they would focus then on just trying to undermine Secretary Clinton, especially with the European allies.</div>
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STEWART: Got that, so up -- up until summer and through the fall, they believe that Secretary Clinton would win, is that true?</div>
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COMEY: I think the assessment was, late in the summer, they concluded based on the polling I think a lot of people were reading, that Mr. Trump didn't have a chance. And they shifted to just focusing on just trying to undermine her.</div>
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STEWART: And I tell you, if you were to tell me and I know you didn't but I'm just saying, if anyone were to tell me that they concluded Mr. Trump is going to win. I'd just say they're nuts, because there was no one in the world who thought that. Every media organization, every political organization, every government organization that I'm familiar with last fall thought that Secretary Clinton would be the next President of the United States.</div>
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COMEY: I think the Russians agreed.</div>
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STEWART: I -- absolutely they did agree. Then this is the point and this is such a fine line, but it's such an important point, and that is how can you know for certain if the Russians were motivated by hurting the person they thought in fact, fully expected was going to be the next President of the United States and comparing that with a mode (ph) of this kind of a Hail Mary pass. You know what, maybe this guy's got a shot. Let's try and help him get elected because those motives would be -- and that's -- that' again coming back to my original point, determining motives is very difficult.</div>
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You have to either have very direct information or you have to be able to get inside someone's head and really figure out what it is that's driving them. And knowing the Russians expected Secretary Clinton to win, would you see that some of those things that they've done would be consistent with undermining her presidency, not necessarily because they thought Mr. Trump was going to win and they wanted help.</div>
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COMEY: Again, I think it's too close related sides of the same coin. I mean, to put it in a homely metaphor, I hate the New England Patriots and no matter who they play, I'd like them to lose. And so I'm at the same time rooting against the Patriots and hoping their opponent beats them. Because only two teams on the field but what the intelligence community concluded was early on, the hatred for Mrs. Clinton was -- was all the way along.</div>
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When Mr. Trump became the nominee, there was some sense that it'd be great if he could win, be great if we could help him. But we need to hurt her to matter what and then it shifted to he has no chance so let's just focus on undermining her. That was the judgment of the intelligence community.</div>
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ROGERS: Well, I'd also if I could highlight, I acknowledge the challenge at times about trying to understand intent, but the level -- we're not going to go in any specifics in an open unclassified forum. But the level of sourcing, the multiple sources we had, which were able to independently corroborate the judgment. And there's a reason why we were high confidence in everything, except just one issue.</div>
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STEWART: Yeah.</div>
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ROGERS: To include the intent.</div>
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STEWART: I understand. I spent some time out at the CIA last week. I went -- was with the staff as best we could, through the 2000 some odd pages and by the way, not many people did. And some people are casting, you know, aspirations (ph) and not making the effort to go out there and actually look at that.</div>
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But I'm telling you that having done that, I think a reasonable person could say what I've said here today, that there is another -- another element to this. That there is another, as you said Mr. Comey, another side of the coin. And this is a very, very difficult to, in my opinion, thing to say with high levels of confidence. Which is why, once again the intelligence community isn't perfect sometimes. And we do make mistakes.</div>
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And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. I'd like to come back for just a few minutes if we could after.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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Mr. Schiff's recognized. SCHIFF:</div>
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Thank you. Just a couple of quick follow up questions by myself and Mr. Himes and then we'll go to Mr. Castro.</div>
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Director, you were asked about the Director Clapper's comments and I think your response indicated that they were correct as far as the unclassified intelligence assessment goes.</div>
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COMEY: Yes. I understood the question to be about the report itself.</div>
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SCHIFF: I want to make it clear to people though the intelligence assessment -- the unclassified intelligence assessment doesn't discuss the issue of U.S. person coordination with the Russians. And I assume that's because at the time of the report in January of this year that was under an investigation that you have now disclosed, is that right?</div>
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COMEY: Correct. The counterintelligence investigation is the FBI's business. The IC report was about what the intelligence community had about what Russia had done. So there is nothing in the report about coordination writing like that. It's a separate responsibly the FBI to try and understand that, investigate it and -- and assess it.</div>
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SCHIFF: So we shouldn't read Mr. Clapper's comments as suggesting that he takes a different view of whether you had sufficient -- sufficiently credible information and evidence to initiate a FBI counterintelligence investigation.</div>
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COMEY: I don't know exactly what he meant. All I can say is what -- what the fact is which as we just laid out. There's the report and then there's our investigation.</div>
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SCHIFF: And the report doesn't cover the investigation?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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SCHIFF: Mr. Himes?</div>
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HIMES: Thank you, Mr. Schiff.</div>
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Gentlemen, in my original questions to you, I asked you whether the intelligence community had undertaken any sort of study to determine whether Russian interference had had any influence on the electoral process and I think you told me the answer was -- was no.</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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ROGERS: Correct, we said the U.S. intelligence community does not do analysis or reporting on the U.S. political process or U.S. public opinion, that is not our...</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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HIMES: OK. So thanks to the modern technology that's in front of me right here, I've got a tweet from the president an hour ago, saying the NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence the electoral process so that's not quite accurate, that tweet?</div>
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COMEY: I'm sorry, I haven't been following anybody on Twitter while I've been sitting here...</div>
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HIMES: I can read it to you. It says the NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral -- the electoral process. This tweet has gone out to millions of Americans, 16.1 million to be exact. Is the tweet, as I read it to you, the NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence the electoral process. Is that accurate?</div>
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COMEY: Well, it's hard for me to react to that, let me just tell you what we understand the -- the state of what we've said is. We've offered no opinion, have no view, have no information on potential impact because it's never something that we looked at.</div>
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HIMES: OK. So it's not too far of a logical leap to conclude that your -- that the assertion that you have told the Congress that there was no influence on the electoral process is not quite right?</div>
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COMEY: Right, it wasn't -- it certainly wasn't our intention to say that today because we don't have any information on that subject. And that's not something that was looked at.</div>
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HIMES: Right. Admiral Rogers, before I -- before I yield back to the ranking member, there's another tweet that says NSA Director Rogers tells Congress unmasking individuals endangers national security. My understanding was, as a member of the committee, that there is a lengthy and very specific process for the unmasking but that it does not inherently in of itself endanger national security.</div>
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ROGERS: I assume the comment is designed to address the leaking of such information, but again, I -- I have not read what you're saying to me so I'm not in a position to comment on it, sir.</div>
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HIMES: Thank you, I'll yield back to the ranking member.</div>
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SCHIFF: Mr. Castro?</div>
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CASTRO: Thank you. And thank you gentlemen for your service to the nation and for your testimony today. I wanna take a moment to turn the Christopher Steele dossier, which was first mentioned in the media just before the election and published in full by media outlets in January. My focus today is to explore how many claims within Steele's dossier are looking more and more likely, as though they are accurate. First, let me ask you, can you describe who Christopher Steele is?</div>
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COMEY: No, I'm not gonna comment on that.</div>
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CASTRO: Are you investigating the claims made in the dossier?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not gonna comment on that, Mr. Castro.</div>
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CASTRO: OK. Well, the reputation of the author, Christopher Steele is a former accomplished British intelligence officer with a career built on following Russia is important. This is not someone who doesn't know how to run a source and not someone without contacts. The allegations it raises about President Trump's campaign aids connections to Russians, when overlaid with known established facts and timelines from the 2016 campaign are very revealing. So let's begin.</div>
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In general, as my colleagues have discussed before, is it true that a large number of oligarchs and wealthy businessman in Russia have profited from their continuing close relationships or cooperation with the Kremlin?</div>
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ROGERS: Can you say that one more time sir...</div>
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CASTRO: Sure.</div>
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ROGERS: I want to make sure I understand.</div>
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CASTRO: Have oligarchs and wealthy folks in Russia profited from their connection to the Kremlin?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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CASTRO: And, there are no free lunches in Russia. If you get wealthy under Putin, it's because you support Putin and are expected to support him. Is that fair to say?</div>
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ROGERS: I would assume there's a perception of his banage (ph), but I would assume it also varies by the specifics and the particular...</div>
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CASTRO: Sure.</div>
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ROGERS: ... individual and relationship we're talking about.</div>
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CASTRO: OK. But Putin never distrusts, he verifies, right? As a former KGB man, he wants to keep tabs on his wealthiest citizens, especially those that could ever pose a challenge to him. Is that right?</div>
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ROGERS: I assume he maintains knowledge of the situation around him to include particular centers of influence within Russia. CASTRO: Thank you. So, is it likely that the Kremlin would accept or actively trade favors or other valuable or sensitive information, intelligence from foreign figures about Russian oligarch or wealthy businessmen living abroad?</div>
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ROGERS: Is it possible? Yes, but again, it depends on the particulars of the situation. I don't know that I would make a flat statement...</div>
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CASTRO: But it's certainly a possibility.</div>
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ROGERS: It's a possibility.</div>
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CASTRO: OK. Well, the dossier definitely seems right on these points. A quid pro quo relationship seems to exist between the Trump campaign and Putin's Russia.</div>
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A July 19, 2016 entry for example asserts that Russians were receiving intel from Trump's team on Russian oligarch and their families in the United States. An entry from June 20, 2016 states quote, "Trump and his inner circle have accepted regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his democratic and other political rivals," which is something for something.</div>
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A July 30 entry likewise states that a source close to the Trump campaign confirms a regular exchange with the Kremlin has existed for at least eight years, including intelligence being fed back to Russia on oligarch activities in the United States. Is it generally true that Moscow actively seeks and supports, whether through the oligarch, overt Russian officials or undeclared intelligence officers, sympathetic or cooperative foreign figures abroad, whether through business dealings or political backing or a combination of the two.</div>
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COMEY: (OFF-MIKE)</div>
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ROGERS: Generally, it's a tactic we have seen over time, but again, I would caution us -- we're talking about very specific cases theoretically here and I'm not prepared to get into any of the specifics.</div>
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CASTRO: And I know that my colleagues have touched upon this, but I think it's important in the context of Christopher Steele's dossier to bring it up again. So, my question is, is it likely or plausible that the Russians might seek out Americans for Moscow's purposes.</div>
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COMEY: It is one of the focuses of our counterintelligence mission to try to understand the ways in which they try to do that, that's at the core of their intelligence gathering, is trying to coop recruits -- Americans -- to give them information.</div>
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CASTRO: So, the dossier states in an entry dated August 10, 2016, that a quote "Kremlin official involved in U.S. relations" suggested that Moscow might offer assistance to quote "sympathetic U.S. actors." Does this sound like a plausible tactic out of the Russian playbook? COMEY: I'm not going to comment on that, Mr. Castro.</div>
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CASTRO: OK. Now, let's get even more specific. Among the U.S. actors, this Kremlin official mentions a Carter Page and Michael Flynn, whom my colleagues have already discussed at length and which the dossier describes as quote "examples of successes by the Kremlin official."</div>
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We know that Carter Page went to Moscow on July 7 to give a speech to the new economic school. We're in possession of the slide deck from his speech there. And we know Carter Page obtained approval from the Trump camp from Trump campaign manager at the time, Corey Lewandowski, as reported in Politico, citing national security campaign official, J.D. Gordon.</div>
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CASTRO: Now, let me ask you another question with respect to somebody else. Is it correct that Igor Sechin, the president of Russian oil giant, Rosneft, is a former member of Russian intelligence and a long-time aide and confident of Vladimir Putin.</div>
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COMEY: Not going to answer that, Mr. Castro.</div>
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CASTRO: In an October 18, 2016, entry, the dossier states that, during Page's visit to Moscow, he met with Igor Senchin, offering, quote,"Page and Trump's associate, the brokerage of up to 19 percent stake in Rosneft," which Page conferring (ph) that, quote, "If Trump were elected U.S. President, sanctions on Russia would be lifted."</div>
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And although fortunately the White House hasn't been so naive as to (inaudible) unilaterally lift sanctions on Russia, it was widely reported that on January 27th of this year, Rosneft sold a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft in what Reuters calls, quote,"one of its biggest privatizations since the 1990s." Furthermore, Reuters reported that, quote, "Public records show the ownership structure of the -- of the stake ultimately includes a Cayman Islands company whose beneficial owners cannot be traced." What a coincidence.</div>
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Is this the subject of your investigation? One of the subjects of your investigation?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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CASTRO: OK.</div>
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COMEY: Meaning -- meaning I'm not going to comment.</div>
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CASTRO: I understand.</div>
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So, let's move to WikiLeaks for a moment, who played such a prominent role in the 2016 election. As has established before and reestablished at this hearing, WikiLeaks was at a minimum an unwitting pawn and, at a maximum, an active co-conspirator of the Kremlin's in publishing stolen DNC and senior Democratic officials' e-mails. And so you agree this was done in order to offer Moscow some measure of separation as to mask its hand in having hacked and stolen the data in the first place, but so it could still have it publicly posted to inflict damage on the Clinton campaign?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, I think that's fair.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes. CASTRO: OK. An entry from July 19, 2016, in the dossier states that a Trump associate knew that the Kremlin was using WikiLeaks in order to maintain quote, "plausible deniability of its involvement." Three days after this entry, WikiLeaks carries out the Kremlin's wishes and publishes upwards of 20,000 stolen DNC e-mails, and 8,000 associated e-mail attachments, and the rest, as they say, is history.</div>
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Another entry dated August 17th has Carter Page and a Russian associate discussing WikiLeaks publishing e-mails in order to swing Sanders' supporters away from Clinton and to Trump. And again, from a September 14th entry in the dossier, quote, "Kremlin has further compromising material on Clinton in form of e-mails and considers disseminating after parliamentary elections in late September." And on October 7th, WikiLeaks publishes John Podesta's hacked e-mails. So the coincidences keep piling up.</div>
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Let's turn, in the few minutes that I have remaining, again to Paul Manafort, as a follow-up to Mr. Himes' questioning. Suffice it to say, Paul Manafort was a major part of the Trump campaign, including serving as its chairman, convention manager, and chief strategist, before departing the campaign in disgrace in August 2016. It's also established the fact that Paul Manafort was a long-time official adviser to pro-Russian Ukrainian political leadership.</div>
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Is Paul Manafort -- Manafort a subject in your investigation?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not going to comment on that.</div>
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CASTRO: All right. Director, can you describe to the American people the Russian concept of kompromat?</div>
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COMEY: It's a technique that they use to gather information on people that may be embarrassing or humiliating, and using it to coerce cooperation.</div>
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CASTRO: In your career, have you known instances where that has been successfully leveraged?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, I believe our counter-intelligence division has encountered it a number of times.</div>
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CASTRO: Does that include private places, including places such as hotels that are wired for audio and video?</div>
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COMEY: I don't think I remember enough about the particulars to say, but in theory, sure.</div>
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CASTRO: Thank you.</div>
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I yield back. I yield back to Ranking Member Schiff.</div>
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SCHIFF: I recognize Mr. Heck.</div>
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HECK: Admiral Rogers, before I get into my main body in my remarks, I want to go back to your earlier comment about that there is no evidence to indicate that there was a successful Russian hacking of voter results or tabulations. What I did not hear you say is whether or not there had been any attempts to hack into election systems of any kind.</div>
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ROGERS: Yes.</div>
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COMEY: I can answer that because the FBI's responsibility's in the United States. We saw no indication of that. We saw efforts to penetrate voter registration databases, state Boards of Elections, at that level. We saw no efforts aimed at the vote itself.</div>
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HECK: But you did see efforts to penetrate registration roles?</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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HECK: Did you see efforts to penetrate any other portions of election systems, other than registrations? In this country it's a highly-decentralized system and, as a consequence, you will recall, then-Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, indicated that election systems should become a part of our critical infrastructure for cybersecurity purposes.</div>
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COMEY: Their efforts were aimed at the voter registration systems in various states, and it takes different forms in various states. Sometimes there's a private vendor, sometimes it's state. But it -- that's where it was focused, and not on the -- the vote itself, vote machines, vote tabulation, vote transmission, that we've seen.</div>
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HECK: Thank you. I yield back to the Ranking Member (inaudible).</div>
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SCHIFF: Time's -- time's expired, but let me go quickly to Mr. Turner.</div>
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TURNER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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There's been a lot of statements that have been made up here that is opposed to questions. And we don't certainly feel the need to clarify all of them, but there is one aspect that does need to be clarified because it's also involved both of your testimonies.</div>
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There's been discussion up here concerning the statements by James Clapper and, rather than do the conjecture as it has been made, I'm going to just read it. Chuck Todd said, "Let me ask you this. Does intelligence exist that can definitively answer the following question whether there were improper contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials?" James Clapper said, "We did not include any evidence in our report.</div>
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I say 'our,' that's NSA, FBI, and CIA, with my office and the Director of National Intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report." Chuck Todd followed up. "I understand that, but does it exist?" James Clapper answered, "Not to my knowledge." So the text is not merely related to the report. I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: Mr. Crawford's recognized.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Thank you, gentlemen, for being here today. I'll start with Director Comey. Despite your expressed disdain for the New England Patriots, I think that Tom Brady would probably like to express his gratitude for the FBI's assistance in recovering his stolen Super Bowl jersey, so I'll do that on his behalf now.</div>
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COMEY: Thank you. By the way, I -- if I'm honest with myself, the reason I don't like the Patriots is they represent sustained excellence and, as a Giants' fan, that drives me crazy.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Director Comey, are you familiar with an article, July 18, 2016, from The Washington Post entitled "Trump Campaign Guts GOP's Anti-Russia Stance on Ukraine"?</div>
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COMEY: I'm not familiar with that article. I don't -- I don't remember it.</div>
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CRAWFORD: I'd ask (you) now to consent to add this to the record, just for your edification, Director. There's an allegation contained in that article that at a National Security Committee platform meeting Trump staffers wrote an amendment to an amendment that stripped out platform's call -- call for providing, quote,"Lethal defensive weapons," and replace it with softer language, calling for, quote, "Appropriate assistance."</div>
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Are you familiar with a March 18, 2017, story in the Washington Examiner entitled "How Pundits Got Key Parts of the Trump Russia Story All Wrong"? Are you familiar with that?</div>
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COMEY: I don't think I am.</div>
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CRAWFORD: I'd ask you now to consent to add that to the record, and also for your edification I'll go to some of the -- the meat of that story. There -- are you aware of an allegation that Trump staffers gutted the Ukraine plank of the platform?</div>
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COMEY: Am I aware of the article on that?</div>
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CRAWFORD: Are you aware of any -- anything of that nature, the article or any -- any activity that -- that (inaudible)?</div>
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COMEY: Do you want to talk about anything -- I'm willing to comment on whether I've seen different things in the media. I don't want to talk about anything beyond that.</div>
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CRAWFORD: OK. So, then, say you're not aware of the final platform that retained all of the language from the original platform, plus the portion of the amendment offered by the platform committee member?</div>
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COMEY: I don't want to comment.</div>
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CRAWFORD: OK. Then I'll go through -- I know that you're limited on what you comment on. I'll go through some of the -- some of the -- as I said, the meat of this. Reading from the platform, it says, quote, "We will meet the return of Russian belligerence with the same resolve that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We will not accept any territorial change in Eastern Europe imposed by force in Ukraine or elsewhere, and we'll use all appropriate measures to bring to justice the practitioners of aggression and assassination," end quote.</div>
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Does that sound to you as a -- like a pro-Russian or a pro-Putin statement, in your assessment?</div>
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COMEY: That's not for me to comment on.</div>
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CRAWFORD: OK. Further, in the platform it says quote "We support maintaining and if warranted increasing sanctions together with our allies against Russia and less and until Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored. We also support providing appropriate assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and greater coordination with NATO defense planning." And again, that sounds like fairly clear language in their relationship to Russia.</div>
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Would you agree?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer Mr. Crawford.</div>
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CRAWFORD: OK, thank you.</div>
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The final language I'll get to here in just a second -- there was -- there was an amendment but the final language regarding that plank of a platform with regard to national security relating to Russia. It says "we support maintaining and if warranted, increasing sanctions together with our allies against Russia and less and until Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored. We also support providing appropriate assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and greater coordination with NATO defense planning."</div>
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And again, that -- to me that sounds fairly clear and straightforward that that is not conducive to a Putin administration. Would you agree?</div>
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COMEY: Give you the same answer, Mr. Crawford.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Thank you, sir.</div>
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It's also important to note that that platform was adopted in coordination with and in concert with the Trump administration as they met at the convention and they went through the platform process. The Trump campaign agreed to the platform condemning Kremlin belligerence, calling for continued and perhaps increased sanctions against Russia as I indicated in the text of that platform. For the full restoration of Ukrainian territory, for refusing to accept quote "any territorial change in Eastern Europe imposed by force, Ukraine or elsewhere and pledging to aid Ukraine's armed forces."</div>
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So I -- I bring that up just to -- just to highlight and note the fact that none of that appears to be pro-Putin or pro-Russian language.</div>
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NUNES: Mr. Crawford, will you yield that to me?</div>
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CRAWFORD: Yes.</div>
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NUNES: So, Mr. Comey, I just want to make sure -- I know you're not going to comment on this, but I hope that you'll take this back to your investigators because there seems to be the -- the line out there that somehow the Republican Party watered down it's platform. And that's not true. That didn't happen, and in fact, what happened is -- is that the platform was actually increased. Increased its certainty against what the Russians were up to and it actually amended the platform to make it stronger than what it initially was.</div>
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So, you know, I know there's a lot of circumstantial evidence out there about all these supposed people that knew -- that knew the Russians, but the reality is and remains the case, Republican Party had a very strong platform that was against the Russians and it was increased in its -- its strength not decreased like has been reported. So I know that you won't comment, but I hope that at least you will -- we'll provide this to your investigative team so that we can at least get this off the table. Will you -- will you take this back?</div>
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COMEY: Sure.</div>
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NUNES: OK, we'll give it to you.</div>
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Sorry, Mr. Crawford. We'll go back.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Not at all. Thank you, Mr. Comey, I appreciate that.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, would you like to make a comment about the New England Patriots before I move forward?</div>
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ROGERS: I'm a Chicago Bears guy, born and (inaudible).</div>
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CRAWFORD: Admiral, our employees -- you mentioned this before but I just want to go through this list. Are employees of intelligence community -- intelligence community agencies required to disclose visits with foreign nationals?</div>
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ROGERS: Yes, broadly, although I'd be the first to admit not all foreign international interactions are the same. Interactions with the British, for example, are in a very different place than other countries for example.</div>
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CRAWFORD: OK, appreciate that clarification. To your knowledge, are elected officials required to disclose contact with foreign nationals?</div>
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ROGERS: I don't know what the specifics are across the federal government because clearly in many jobs, that's part -- interaction with foreign counterparts is part of your job. I'm the first to acknowledge that. I interact with foreign counterparts as does Director Comey, regularly, in the course of our duties.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Are federal campaign employees required to disclose contacts with foreign nationals to your knowledge?</div>
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ROGERS: I apologize, I just don't know.</div>
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CRAWFORD: OK. Are private citizens required in any way to disclose or to report contact with foreign nationals? That you know of?</div>
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ROGERS: I don't know.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Is it customary for transition teams for a presidential campaign -- for transition team members to meet with foreign nationals to your knowledge? Is that customary?</div>
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ROGERS: It's an area I just don't have any knowledge.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Is that unusual?</div>
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ROGERS: I don't have any -- I don't have any knowledge on it.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Has it happened before?</div>
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ROGERS: I've never been part of a transition team. I don't know.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Are transition team members required by law to disclose contacts with foreign nationals?</div>
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ROGERS: I apologize, I don't know the law there.</div>
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CRAWFORD: Thank you.</div>
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I yield back to the Chairman.</div>
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NUNES: Thank you Mr. Crawford.</div>
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Ms. Stefanik's recognized.</div>
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STEFANIK: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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Thank you, Director Comey and Admiral Rogers for your testimony today. My first set of questions are directed at Director Comey. Broadly, when the FBI has any open counter-intelligence investigation, what are the typical protocols or procedures for notifying the DNI, the White House, and senior Congressional leadership?</div>
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COMEY: There is a practice of a quarterly briefing on sensitive cases to the chair and ranking of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. And the reason I hesitate is, thanks to feedback we've gotten, we're trying to make it better. And that involves a briefing of the Department of Justice, I believe the DNI, and the -- some portion of the National Security Council at the White House...</div>
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STEFANIK: So if that's quarterly...</div>
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COMEY: ... to brief them before Congress is briefed.</div>
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STEFANIK: So it's quarterly for all three then, senior congressional leadership, the White House, and the DNI?</div>
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COMEY: I think that's right. Now that's by practice not by rule or by written policy which is why, thanks to the chair and ranking giving us feedback, we're trying to tweak it in certain ways.</div>
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STEFANIK: So since, in your opening statement, you confirmed that there is a counter-intelligence investigation currently open and you also referenced that it started in July. When did you notify the DNI, the White House, or senior congressional leadership?</div>
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COMEY: It's a good question. Congressional leadership, some time recently. They were briefed on the nature of the investigation in some detail as I said. Obviously the Department of Justice has been aware of it all along. The DNI, I don't know what the DNI's knowledge of it was because we didn't have a DNI until Mr. Coats took office and I briefed him his first morning in office.</div>
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STEFANIK: So just to drill down on this, if -- if the open investigation began in July and the briefing of congressional leadership only occurred recently, why was there no notification prior to the recent -- to the past month?</div>
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COMEY: I think our decision was it was a matter of such sensitivity that we wouldn't include it in the quarterly briefings.</div>
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STEFANIK: So when you state our decision is that your decision? Is that usually your decision what gets briefed in those quarterly updates?</div>
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COMEY: No, it's usually the decision of the head of our counter- intelligence division.</div>
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STEFANIK: And just again, to get the detailed -- on the record, why was the decision made not to brief senior congressional leadership until recently when the investigation had been open since July? A very serious investigation -- why was that decision to wait months?</div>
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COMEY: Because of the sensitivity of the matter.</div>
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STEFANIK: Stepping back more broadly, in the case of Russia, we know that cyber hacking is just one tactic that's typically part of a broader influence or information warfare campaign and we know the Russian government is ready and willing to employee hacking as but one of many tools in their toolkit to obtain information for use against the United States. Is there any evidence that Russia tried to hack other entities associated with the 2016 presidential campaign in addition to the DNC or the Clinton campaign operatives?</div>
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COMEY: Yes, many others.</div>
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STEFANIK: Can you specify those others? Did that include the RNC? Did that include any of the other campaigns of candidates in the primaries, either Democrats or Republicans?</div>
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COMEY: I think what we can say in an unclassified setting is what we have in the report that there were efforts to penetrate organizations associated with the Republican party and that -- I think that is what we said in the report. And that there were not releases of material taken -- hacked from any Republican associated organizations.</div>
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STEFANIK: But the hacking -- the use of cyber tools as part of their broader, whether you call it hybrid warfare or information warfare campaigns, it was done to both parties.</div>
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COMEY: Correct.</div>
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STEFANIK: Thank you. Taking a further step back of what's been in the news recently, and I'm referring to the Yahoo! hack, the Yahoo! data breech, last week the Department of Justice announced that it was charging hackers with ties to the FSB in the 2014 Yahoo! data breech. Was this hack done to your knowledge for intelligence purposes?</div>
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COMEY: I can't say in this forum.</div>
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STEFANIK: Press reporting indicates that Yahoo! hacked targeted journalists, dissidence and government officials. Do you know what the FSB did with the information they obtained?</div>
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COMEY: Same answer.</div>
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STEFANIK: OK, I understand that. How -- how did the administration determine who to sanction as part of the election hacking? How -- how familiar with that decision process and how is that determination made?</div>
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COMEY: I don't know. I'm not familiar with the decision process. The FBI is a factual input but I don't recall and I don't have any personal knowledge of how the decisions are made about who to sanction.</div>
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STEFANIK: Looking forward -- and this is for both of you -- what is the NSA and the FBI doing to keep Americans safe, to keep campaign entities -- to keep any entity associated with a major campaign, save from aggressive Russia cyber measures that were utilized in this past election?</div>
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ROGERS: So, we continue to maximize the insights. We're generating about an activity -- for example, this started with the NSA initially gaining access, in the summer of '15, we became aware of that activity, shared it with our FBI teammates. That continues, we try to make sure that the insights we generate our shared with our law enforcement teammates, who then re-interact with the private sector.</div>
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We're trying to work broadly across the U.S. government to increase cybersecurity, as you heard discussed -- on-going discussions about what's the role of the voting infrastructure in the United States, in terms of critical infrastructure. Do we need to bring that within the critical infrastructure framework? I know that topic has been ongoing for some period of time.</div>
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STEFANIK: Director Comey?</div>
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COMEY: Yeah, I think that's right and just making sure that we are sharing information when we get it that someone's being hit, but more importantly we're showing people what we've learned from this cycle, so they can tighten up.</div>
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STEFANIK: Thank you. It seems to me in my first line of questioning, the more serious a counterintelligence investigation is. That would seem to trigger a need to update not just the White House, the DNI, but also Senior Congressional Leadership. And you stated, it was due to the severity. I think moving forward, it seems that the most severe and serious investigations should be notified to the Senior Congressional Leadership. And with that, thanks for the lenience, Chairman, I yield back.</div>
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(CROSSTALK)</div>
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COMEY: That's good feedback, Ms. Stefanik. The challenge for us is sometimes we want to keep it tight within the executive branch, and if we're going to go brief congressional leaders, the practice has been, then we brief inside the executive branch. And so, we have to figure out how to navigate that in a good way.</div>
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NUNES: We may have to update the law on that. Gentlelady (ph) yields back.</div>
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Mr. Schiff is recognized for 15 minutes and I think -- then we'll come back to our side for 15 and that should be it.</div>
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SCHIFF: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple of questions before I hand it back to Mr. Heck.</div>
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Do the Russians favor the United States provision of lethal, defensive weapons to Ukraine, Admiral?</div>
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ROGERS: No.</div>
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SCHIFF: They would strongly oppose such an idea, would they not?</div>
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ROGERS: They've been opposed to it to date.</div>
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SCHIFF: And I can tell you that the idea of providing lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine has bipartisan support here on the Hill, including Senator McCain, certainly myself, I would imagine many members of this committee.</div>
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There was an effort at the convention to strengthen the platform by including a provision that would provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine. That was defeated. The campaign manager for the Trump campaign at the time, Paul Manafort, denied the campaign was involved in defeating that amendment. But the delegate who offered the amendment later disclosed to the press that in fact it was dropped at the insistence of the Trump campaign.</div>
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J.D. Gordon, a national security adviser for the Trump campaign was forced later to admit that in fact, he had weighed in against the amendment that would have provided that the U.S. should give lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine.</div>
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So, I would join my chairman in asking you to look into this, particularly since we know that Ambassador Kislyak attended the convention and if there was any communication between the Russians and the Trump campaign, that had the effect any coordination that resulted in the defeat of an amendment that was against Russian interests, the committee would certainly like to know and we welcome that inquiry.</div>
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Mr. Heck?</div>
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HECK: Thank you, Ranking Member. There a lot of emotions kicking around in this room today. I perceive anger and outrage and subdued somberness, one I feel overwhelmingly is sadness. We've heard nothing but terribly disturbing evidence of what has happened to our country at the hands of arguably our greatest advisory.</div>
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And what's worse, the evidence we've heard so far all seems -- all seems to lead to the conclusion that they help from the inside. That this was, in part, an inside job from U.S. persons -- willing American accomplices or terribly naive ones, or probably both -- who helped the Russians attack our country and our democracy.</div>
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We're both still at the early stages of our investigation. We're not indicting anyone, merely laying out some of the evidence and the facts, dirty though they be, sleazy though they be. And no matter what, we can safely conclude at this point that never in the modern era has a President and his Administration had so many foreign entanglements.</div>
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Entanglements that continue to push American foreign policy away from its core roots -- beliefs, interests and alliances towards unprecedented positions that only Putin himself could approve of. How else can we explain the modification to the Republican Party platform in such a decidedly pro-Russian way.</div>
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Republicans who are always so strong against geopolitical foes like Russia, I know my colleagues on this committee take the Russia threat very seriously. Why wouldn't the people who inhabit the White House? How else can we explain an Administration that beats up our oldest allies, like Australia and Britain, and our strongest and most sacrosanct alliance, like NATO, but never, ever say a bad word about Putin. In fact, they say a lot of good words about Putin.</div>
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An administration that we have heard decisively makes up baseless wiretapping charges against a former United States President, equates our intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany, and argues moral equivalents between a repressive, authoritarian states with an abhorrent human rights record like Russia in our free and open democracy. And yet, this Administration never, ever utters any criticism of Russia.</div>
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Let's be clear though. This is not about party. It's not about relitigating the election. It's not as if anything we do here will put a President from a different political party in the Oval Office. So, I hope that it's clear that it's about something much more important. And no, it's not about political motivation, to my friend who said and suggested that earlier, this is about patriotism, about something way more important than party.</div>
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This is about country and the very heart of what this country is built on, which is open, free, fair, trusted elections. We don't take our investigation lightly and I know you don't. Indeed, you go through a process to even decide to do that, whether to extend the resources, to begin with credible allegations and reason to believe that there's something that warrants it. And I no doubt believe you've talked to lawyers in and out of the prosecution divisions about whether or not this warrants an investigation. I know you don't take this lightly.</div>
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What we have seen is damning evidence today of what Russia did. We've also seen damning evidence of how they did it. Russia has a history of using active measures, many of which we have heard about today. Let's recap them, we're getting near the end.</div>
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Hacking and dumping information to damage or embarrass their enemies. We heard about this, of course, with respect to WikiLeaks and Guccifer 2.0. Using third-party and cutouts, business people, oligarchs (ph) and other ostensibly private individuals to cultivate relationships.</div>
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We've discussed Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, CEO Igor Sechin, and of course, Vladimir Putin himself. We're also heard about Russia's use of companies like (inaudible), the Bank of Cyprus, (inaudible) and a confusing web of offshore shell companies used it would seem to hide or to launder money.</div>
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We've also heard how Russia released disinformation to spread rumors and confused the public and to sow distrust and the ability to even know truth objectively, using propaganda, media outlets, whether they're owned directly by Russia or not, to release such disinformation in order to claim plausible deniability of Russia's hands.</div>
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Here again, we see WikiLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, but we also see the use of propaganda outlets like RT. And of course, the use of U.S. persons of influence. Whether through active collision or coordination or naive acquiescence, we don't yet know the full extent to further Russia's attempts to undermine our elections and ultimately, weaken our democracy.</div>
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HECK: On that last point, we've heard about quite a few individuals in the Trump orbit who feel somewhere on that spectrum from mere naivete, disturbing enough if this naivete is a feature of those who are supposed to be running our country and foreign policy, to unwitting Russian dupes, to willing blindness, to active coordination. This rogues galleries includes those already fired -- Roger Stone, adviser to Donald Trump; Paul Manafort, adviser to Donald Trump; Michael Flynn, national security adviser to Donald Trump; Carter Page, adviser to Donald Trump.</div>
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But the cloud of deep suspicion in Russian entanglements extends to those still in power. Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State to Donald Trump; Michael Caputo, adviser to Donald Trump; Jeff Sessions, Attorney General for Donald Trump; and members of the Trump family itself.</div>
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This matters. It's serious. Our battleships weren't sunk and our towers didn't collapse a la 2011 (sic). But make no mistake, 2016 is a year that we should mark on our calendars, and it's still going on. The attack didn't end on Election Day. And it will continue as you have suggested unless we, all of us in this room, stop it.</div>
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Admiral Rogers, you've proudly worn that uniform your entire career. I am proud of your service and grateful for it. But I would ask you, sir, not even with respect to this specific investigation, to use your own words as someone who no doubt has been in theater, who's lost brothers and sisters in combat, to explain to me, but more importantly to the American people -- don't assume they know the answer. Tell them in your words why we should care about Russia's active measures campaign aimed as destabilizing our democracy and that of our allies. In your words, sir, why should they care?</div>
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ROGERS: I don't think it's best interests of our nation for any external entity to attempt to manipulate outcomes, to shape choices. That should be the inherent role of a democracy.</div>
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The investigation we're going through I think is a positive in the sense it will help illuminate to all of us, regardless of party, what are the implications here and what does it mean for us. Because I think our conclusion and that of the intelligence community broadly here is, this absent some change, this behavior is not likely to stop. Absent some change in the dynamic, this is not likely to be the last time we'll be having these discussions about that kind of activity. I don't think that's in anybody's best interest for us as a nation.</div>
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HECK: Director Comey, parallel question. Again, in general terms, not with respect to the specific investigation you have revealed here today, not asking you to go into specifics on any individuals, but please, explain briefly to me, and more importantly to the American public, why we should care about Russia's use of U.S. persons of Americans helping Russia destabilize our democracy.</div>
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COMEY: Well, like Admiral Rogers, I truly believe we are shining city on a hill, to quote a great American. And one of the things we radiate to the world is the importance of our wonderful, often messy, but free and fair Democratic system and the elections that undergird (ph) it. And so when there's something by a foreign nation state to mess with that, to destroy that, to corrupt that, it's very, very serious, threatens what is America.</div>
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And if any Americans are part of that effort, it's a very serious matter. And so you would expect the FBI to want to understand, is that so? And if so, who did what? But again, I want to be very careful to people who over0interpret my words, to preserve our ability to answer those questions, we're not talking about our work.</div>
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I'm not here voluntarily. Right? I would rather not be talking about this at all. But we thought it was important to share at least that much with the committee and the American people, and now we're going to close our mouths to do our work to see if we can answer those questions, because the answers matter.</div>
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HECK: They do indeed. I thank you both for those answers. And I thank you both for your service to our country. I would like to think that we can turn this from a sad event into a positive one. This country has stood up and fought on behalf of its own health and welfare and that of its citizens and met any number of challenges throughout our nation's history. The worst thing we could do is underestimate the nature of this challenge before us today.</div>
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HECK: With that, ranking member, I would appreciate it if I could yield to my friend from Texas, Mr. Castro, briefly.</div>
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SCHIFF: Mr. Castro.</div>
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CASTRO: I thank you. One more question with respect to Lee (ph) because I know that's been a big topic of the line of questioning and of course is a concern to all of us. Regardless of political party. But I want to ask you director, is it possible that some of those leaks could come from not the intelligence community, but from members of the White House staff for example?</div>
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COMEY: Sure it could come from lots of different places. And it's often one of the things that is challenging as I said about a leak investigation. You think it's going to be a small circle, but it turns out a lot of people either knew about it, or heard echoes of it and it's stories to tell to journalists about it. So in my experience trying to figure these things out for decades, it's often coming from places you didn't anticipate.</div>
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CASTRO: No and the reason I asked the question is because the President has berated the FBI and the intelligence community on the issue of leaks. And others have berated the intelligence community in the press because of these leaks. But I think it's worth considering that it's quite possible that there are folks who have a kind of political Munchausen by proxy syndrome, where they leak information because they want to be the savior once it blows up. You know they're all sorts of individual's that serve on political staff and I think that we ought to consider the possibility that perhaps it is somebody at the White House.</div>
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Thank you. I yield back.</div>
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NUNES: (inaudible). The gentleman yields back.</div>
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The gentleman yields back to Mr. Hurd.</div>
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HURD: Thank you, Chairman.</div>
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And gentlemen, thank you all for being here. And thank you for your continued service to your country. I've learned recently the value of sitting in one place for a long period of time and listening and today I'm has added to that understanding and I'm going to try to ask questions that y'all can answer in this format and are within your areas of expertise. And Director Rogers, my first question to you -- the exploit that was used by the Russian's to penetrate the DNC, was it sophisticated? Was it a zero day exploit? A zero day being some type of -- for those that are watching, an exploit that has never been used before?</div>
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ROGERS: In an open unclassified forum, I am not going to talk about Russian tactics, techniques or procedures about how they executed their hacks.</div>
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HURD: If members of the DNC had not -- let me rephrase this, can we talk about spear fishing?</div>
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ROGERS: Sure, in general terms, yes sir.</div>
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HURD: Spear fishing is when somebody sends an email and they -- somebody clicks on something in that email...</div>
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ROGERS: Right, the user of things (inaudible) they're receiving an email either of interest or from a legitimate user, they open it up and they'll often click if you will on a link -- an attachment.</div>
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HURD: Was that type of tactic used in the...</div>
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ROGERS: Again, I'm not in an unclassified forum just not going to be...</div>
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HURD: Copy, I apologize. Director Comey, when was the first time the FBI notified the DNC of the hack? Roughly.</div>
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COMEY: I think august of 2015.</div>
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HURD: And was that prior to information being leaked to -- being sent on -- put on WikiLeaks?</div>
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COMEY: Yes the -- the first Russian directed releases where middle of June of the next year by D.C. leaks and this Guccifer 2.0 persona and then that was followed by Wikileaks. So about a year. A little less than a year really.</div>
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HURD: So there was about a year between the FBI's first notification of some potential problems with the DNC network and then that information getting on -- getting on Wikileaks.</div>
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COMEY: Yes, sir.</div>
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HURD: Have you been able to -- when did the DNC provide access for -- to the FBI for your technical folks to review what happened?</div>
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COMEY: Well we never got direct access to the machines themselves. The DNC in the spring of 2016 hired a firm that ultimately shared with us their forensics from their review of the system.</div>
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HURD: Director Rogers, did the NSA ever get access to the DNC hardware?</div>
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ROGERS: The NSA didn't ask for access. That's not in our job...</div>
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HURD: Good copy. So director FBI notified the DNC early, before any information was put on Wikileaks and when -- you have still been -- never been given access to any of the technical or the physical machines that were -- that were hacked by the Russians.</div>
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COMEY: That's correct although we got the forensics from the pros that they hired which -- again, best practice is always to get access to the machines themselves, but this -- my folks tell me was an appropriate substitute.</div>
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HURD: The -- at what point did the company and the DNC use -- share that forensic information to you?</div>
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COMEY: I don't remember for sure. I think June. I could be wrong about that.</div>
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ROGERS: The company went public in June of 16, with their conclusions. I would assume it was around that time.</div>
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COMEY: I think it was about the time -- I think it was a little bit before the announcement, but I'll say approximately June.</div>
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HURD: So -- so that was -- how long after the first notification of -- that the FBI did of the DNC?</div>
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COMEY: Ten months.</div>
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HURD: Ten months? So the FBI notified the DNC of the hack and it was not until 10 months later that you had any details about what was actually going on forensically on their network?</div>
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COMEY: That's correct, assuming I have the dates about right. But it was -- it was some months later.</div>
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HURD: Knowing what we know now, would the FBI have done anything different in trying to notify the DNC of what happened?</div>
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COMEY: Oh Sure.</div>
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HURD: What -- what -- what measures would you have done differently?</div>
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COMEY: We'd have set up a much larger flare. Yeah we'd have just kept banging and banging on the door, knowing what I know now. We made extensive efforts to notify, we'd have -- I might have walked over there myself, knowing what I know now. But I think the efforts we made, that are agents made were reasonable at the time.</div>
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HURD: Good copy. And do you have a ball park of the number of private sector entities that you have to notify of these types of breaches?</div>
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COMEY: Hundreds and thousands. In this particular case we had to notify hundreds, I think maybe more than 1,000 entities that the Russians were hitting at the same time. HURD: Admiral Rogers, do you have anything to add to that?</div>
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ROGERS: No, because as we pass the information to the FBI, what started all this was a pretty massive effort on the part of our Russian counterparts.</div>
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HURD: I've said this many times. The outcome of grizzly staff (ph), what the intelligence community as the Russian hacking, has been the wedge, whether real or perceived between the executive branch, the intelligence community and the public.</div>
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And this is an asymmetrical tool, that the Russians are using to destabilize liberal democratic institutions. And I think it is important that we do everything we can to review this, which I fully believe federal law enforcement, is doing as y'all have talked to here. And I would like to end before yielding back to the chairman, that my colleague from California, the Ranking Member said in his opening statement, the question that most people have is whether we can really conduct this investigation, in the kind of thorough nonpartisan manner that the seriousness of the issues merit, or whether the enormous political consequences of our work will make that impossible.</div>
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And he adds, the truth is, I don't know the answer. I do. We must. The American people demand this. The future of our democratic institutions demand it and I'm glad we have two people like y'all involved in this. Mr. Chairman I yield back my time to you.</div>
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NUNES: Gentleman yields back.</div>
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And Mr. Gowdy's got a follow up.</div>
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GOWDY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Chairman I want to thank you and Ranking Member Schiff for having this. Here Mr. Chairman you were talking about Russia far before it became -- long before it became fashionable to talk about Russia. If memory serves me correctly, you referred to Russia as possibly our greatest national security threat post 9/11. And as you know Chairman I come from a state with a fellow name Graham, who is also no fan of Russia.</div>
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So Director Comey, Admiral Rogers, people in your line of work are incredibly respected both your current line of work and the work that you came from and people in my line of work are not and there's a reason. The justice system is respected and the political process is not. So this is -- while this hearings important. What's really important is what you do after this hearing.</div>
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GOWDY: And I want you to go find every single witness who may have information about interference, influence, motive, our response, collusion, coordination, whatever your jurisdiction is, wherever the facts may take you, though the heavens may fall, go do your jobs because nature abhors a vacuum. And right now you can't answer most of the questions, either by policy, by law, or because the investigation has not been complete. Therefore, a vacuum exists which people in my line of work are more than happy to fill. So I need you to fill. I need you to do it with all deliberate speed.</div>
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Director Comey, I think it's also important for my fellow citizens to take note of why the system that you come from, the one that I come from, is respected, and this system that I'm in now is not.</div>
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What is hearsay?</div>
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COMEY: Information you don't know of your own personal knowledge but learn from someone else.</div>
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GOWDY: It's an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted.</div>
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COMEY: I was trying to be a little less lawyerly.</div>
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GOWDY: All right. Well, we'll go with your answer. And it is almost never admissible in court. How about anonymous sources? When you were in the southern district could you ever call on an anonymous source to testify in one of your proceedings?</div>
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COMEY: No.</div>
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GOWDY: You couldn't even use hearsay, unless there was some widely accepted exception. It would never -- a newspaper article would never, ever be admitted as evidence in a courtroom. So the system we respect would laugh you out of court if you came in armed with a newspaper article. But in the political process, that's enough.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
Let me ask you this. Cross examination. Why are you able to cross examine witnesses in trial? Why do we have a right to confront witnesses?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
COMEY: Well, it's embedded in our Constitution, and the reason it makes great sense is, it's the crucible out of which you get truth. GOWDY: It is the single best way to elucidate the truth -- to test and to probe and to challenge, and to test someone's personal exposure to the facts. Cross examination's the best tool that we have. How do you cross examine an anonymous source? How do you cross examine hearsay? I hope that you go find every single witness that you need to talk to, and examine every single document.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
People are counting on you two and your line of work to find the facts. And people are welcome to draw whatever conclusions they want from the facts. But when I hear the word evidence, as I've heard lots and lots this morning, let me ask you this, Director Comey, did you ever -- are you familiar with any trials where one witness may have said the light was red and one witness may have said the light was green?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
Has that ever happened?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
COMEY: Yes, that's why you have a trial.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
GOWDY: Does it ever happen where one bank teller said the assailant was 5'10" and one said the assailant was 6'2"?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
COMEY: Sure.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
GOWDY: So that's evidence. You've got evidence he's 6'2" and evidence he's 5'11", he just can't be both. The light can't be red and green. So the word evidence, while fancy and legal, the reality is you find facts and then the finder of the fact can draw conclusions and inferences from those facts.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
So I wish you luck as you begin this process. It is all important. The fact that someone may have had a line of questions about leaks does not mean that they're not interested in all aspects of Russia. And vice versa, the fact that they may not have asked questions about leaks doesn't mean they're not interested in them.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
You have jurisdiction over all of it. So, God bless you as you go on this journey for the facts. And then people can draw whatever conclusions they want. I hope that you will fill (ph) the vacuum that is created when you all are not able to answer questions.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
With that, I will yield back to the chairman.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
NUNES: The gentleman yields back.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
Mr. Comey, this is my final list of questions here. I just want to make sure we get this on the record. Do you have any evidence that any current Trump White House or administration official coordinated with the Russian intelligence services?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
COMEY: Not a question I can answer.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
NUNES: I figured you were going to say that, but I just wanted to make sure we got it on the record. How about counselor to the president, Kellyanne Conway? COMEY: It's the same answer. And as I said earlier, I constantly want to ask people, don't over interpret the fact that I say I can't comment. I'm not going to comment on anybody.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
NUNES: Well, I think -- I understand that. But here's the challenge. Is that you've announced that you have this big investigation, but now you've got people that are involved in our government that are -- the Secretary of State, for example -- these are important players. And the longer this hangs out here, the bigger the cloud is.</div>
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<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
And I know that you're not going to tell me whether or not you have any evidence, but I can tell you that we don't have any evidence. And we're conducting our own investigation here, and if you have some -- if you have evidence I'd -- especially as it relates to people in the White House that are working in the White House or the administration, I mean, that would be something that we really should know about and we should know about quickly.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
And so if you can't give it to the entire committee, I hope you can at least give it myself and Mr. Schiff because you know, there is a big gray cloud that you have put over people who have very important work to do to lead this country. And so the faster you can get to the bottom of this, it's going to be better for all Americans.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
COMEY: I understand. Thank you.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">
NUNES: All right. With that, I want to thank the members today and especially our witnesses. It was a long day, but I think a good discussion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</article></div>
</div>
</section>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-37595373936595114992016-09-30T15:24:00.001+01:002016-09-30T15:25:31.127+01:00He’s a billionaire who acts like a thousandaire<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 5.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
From Washington Post<br />
<br />
Donald Trump’s charitable foundation — which has been
sustained for years by donors outside the Trump family — has never obtained the
certification that New York requires before charities can solicit money from
the public, according to the state attorney general’s office.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Under the laws in New York, where the Donald J. Trump
Foundation is based, any charity that solicits more than $25,000 a year from
the public must obtain a special kind of registration beforehand. Charities as
large as Trump’s must also submit to a rigorous annual audit that asks — among
other things — whether the charity spent any money for the personal benefit of
its officers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 5.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
If New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) finds that
Trump’s foundation raised money in violation of the law, he could order the
charity to stop raising money immediately. With a court’s permission,
Schneiderman could also force Trump to return money that his foundation has
already raised.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment
Thursday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Schneiderman’s office declined to comment on whether it was
investigating the lack of registration for the Trump Foundation. Schneiderman
had previously launched an investigation of the foundation in the wake of
reports by The Washington Post that Trump used his charity’s money to make a
political gift, to buy paintings of himself and to settle legal disputes
involving his forprofit businesses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Tax filings show that in each of the past 10 years for
which there are records, the Trump Foundation raised more than $25,000 from
outsiders. Tax records alone do not reveal whether the donations amounted to
solicitations under New York law, but in several cases there is strong evidence
that they did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
For instance, the foundation has received more than $2.3
million from companies that owed money to Trump or one of his businesses — but
that were instructed to pay the foundation instead, according to people
familiar with those transactions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 15.3pt; margin-top: 0in;">
In the most obvious example of a public
solicitation, the Trump Foundation set up a website early this year to collect
smalldollar donations that it promised to pass along to veterans. In all, the
website said, the Trump Foundation took in $1.67 million through that site.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
But, as of this week, the Trump Foundation had not obtained
the state registration required to ask for donations, according to a spokesman
for Schneiderman.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Experts on charity law said they were surprised that
Trump’s foundation — given its connections to a wealthy man and his complex
corporation — did not register to solicit funds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
“He’s a billionaire who acts like a thousandaire,” said<u> James J. Fishman</u>, a professor at Pace
University’s law school in White Plains, N.Y. He said Trump’s foundation seemed
to have made errors, including the lack of proper registration, that were more
common among very small family foundations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
“You wouldn’t expect somebody who’s supposed to be
sophisticated, and brags about his business prowess, would run his foundation
like this,” Fishman said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
The Trump Foundation was established by Trump in 1987 to
give away the proceeds of his book “The Art of the Deal.” Trump is still the
foundation’s president.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
For many years, Trump was the foundation’s sole donor: He
gave a total of $5.4 million between 1987 and 2006.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Under state law, the foundation during that period was
required to have only the
leastdemanding kind of certification, referred to as “EPTL,” because it
is governed by the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Under that registration, the Trump Foundation filed annual
reports with the Internal Revenue Service and the state. But the state did not
require an independent audit to ensure that the charity was handling its funds
properly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
But starting in the early 2000s, Trump’s foundation began
to change. It began to take in donations from other people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
At first, it happened a little bit at a time. In 2004, for
instance, an autograph seeker sent $25 to Trump Tower, along with a book he
wanted Trump to sign. The book came back signed. The money was deposited in the
Trump Foundation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Then, the gifts began to get larger.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
In 2005, Trump’s wife, Melania, was named “Godmother” of a
new ship launched by Norwegian Cruise Lines. As part of its agreement with
Melania Trump, the cruise lines said, it gave $100,000 to the Trump Foundation.
The Trump campaign has not responded to requests for comment on the gift.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 5.7pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
In the meantime, Trump himself drastically
reduced his gifts. After 2008, tax records show he stopped giving altogether.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 5.7pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Since then, according to tax records, the Trump Foundation
has received all of its incoming money — more than $4.3 million — from other
donors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Under state law, charities that solicit donations from
others in New York must register under a different law, called “7A” for its
article heading.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 14.85pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In that law, the definitions of “solicit” and “in New York”
are both broad. Solicit means “to directly or indirectly make a request for a
contribution, whether express or implied, through any medium.” The requirement
covers any solicitation that happened in New York or involved a donor who was
in New York when somebody called them and asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 19.4pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
“The only thing it wouldn’t cover is somebody giving money
without being asked,” said Pamela Mann, a former head of the New York State
charities bureau, who is now in private practice at Carter Ledyard &
Milburn. “The law says that soliciting from the public in New York, without
being registered to do so, is an illegal act.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 16.05pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The Trump Foundation has received more than $25,000 from
people other than Trump in all of the past 10 years shown in tax records. In
some cases, the donors have declined to comment, so it is not clear whether the
donations were actually solicited and, if so, whether the solicitation happened
in New York.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
But, in several cases, The Post’s reporting has indicated
that the Trump Foundation or Trump himself did help bring in the money.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
In 2011, for instance, Trump was the star of a televised
“roast” on Comedy Central in New York. He directed his $400,000 appearance fee
to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, according to a Trump campaign staffer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Between 2011 and 2014, the Trump Foundation also received
nearly $1.9 million from a New York businessman named Richard Ebers, who sells
highend tickets and oneofakind experiences to wealthy clients.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Two people familiar with those transactions told The Post
that Ebers bought tickets and other goods and services from Trump, and was
instructed — by Trump or someone at his company — to pay the Trump Foundation
instead.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Trump’s campaign has neither confirmed nor denied The
Post’s reporting about the nature of the donations from Ebers. Ebers has
declined to comment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 17.9pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 13.4pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Then, this year, Trump skipped a Republican primary debate in
Iowa and instead held a televised fundraiser for veterans’ causes. As part of
that effort, he set up a website, donaldtrumpforvets.com, which took donations
via credit card — and sent them to the Donald J. Trump Foundation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
“Over 1,670,000 raised online,” said the thankyou message
from the Trump Foundation, after The Post made a $10 donation in March.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
The most important consequence of not registering under the
more rigorous “7A” level was that the Trump Foundation was not required by the
state to submit to an annual audit by outside accountants. In such an audit,
charitylaw experts said, the accountants might have checked the Trump
Foundation’s books — comparing its records with its outgoing checks, and asking
whether the foundation had engaged in any transactions that benefited Trump or
his busi nesses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
In recent years, The Post has reported, Trump’s foundation
does appear to have violated tax laws in several instances.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.4pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
In 2013, it gave a donation to a political group supporting
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) — despite a ban on nonprofit groups
making political gifts. The Trump Foundation then filed an incorrect tax
filing, which omitted any mention of that gift, and said incorrectly that the
money had gone to a charity in Kansas. Trump paid a $2,500 penalty tax for that
political gift this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: -.15pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
In two other instances, Trump’s foundation has made
payments which appeared to help settle legal disputes involving Trump’s
forprofit businesses. In 2007, Trump’s foundation paid $100,000 to settle a
lawsuit involving his MaraLago Club in Florida. And in 2012, the foundation
paid $158,000 to the charity of a New York man named Martin Greenberg on the
day that Greenberg settled a lawsuit against one of Trump’s golf courses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Those two cases are under investigation by Schneiderman.
Just this week, his office requested that a Florida attorney provide a copy of
the foundation check that Trump had sent to settle the MaraLago case.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.1pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Trump’s son Eric has his own foundation, also headquartered
in New York, which raises money from the public through an annual golf
tournament.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 155%; margin-bottom: 52.2pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 5.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Unlike his father’s charity, however, the Eric Trump
Foundation has registered to solicit funds in the state and files an annual
audit report. The two Trump foundations share an accountant, Donald Bender of
the firm WeiserMazars. A spokeswoman for the firm declined to comment on
Thursday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 31.25pt; margin-left: 15.4pt; margin-right: 15.1pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 109%;">David A. Fahrenthold
covers the 2016 presidential campaign for The Washington Post. He has been at
the Post since 2000, and previously covered Congress, the federal bureaucracy,
the environment, and the D.C. police. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 109%;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 109%;"> Follow
@Fahrenthold</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-52616276420614140802015-12-01T23:55:00.001+00:002015-12-01T23:55:39.614+00:00America's big spending on healthcare does not pay off. <hgroup class="typog-content-header main-content-header" style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/2015/11/articles/body/20151121_USC504_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="118" itemprop="contentUrl" src="http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/2015/11/articles/body/20151121_USC504_4.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 595px;" title="" width="200" /></a></div>
<h1 class="headline" itemprop="headline" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #4a4a4a;"><span style="line-height: 4rem;">America’s big spending on health care doesn’t pay off</span><span style="line-height: 64px;"><br /></span></span></span><time class="date-created" datetime="2015-11-16T00:00:00+0000" itemprop="dateCreated" style="color: #7b7b73; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 1.6rem;">Nov 16th 2015</time><span class="source" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #7b7b73; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></h1>
</hgroup><div class="main-content" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #4a4a4a; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; line-height: 2.3rem; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">AMERICA remains the world’s most profligate spender on health care, according to a report published on November 4th by the OECD, a club of 34 mostly rich countries. In 2013 the United States spent, on average, $8,713 per person—two and a half times as much as the OECD average. Yet the average American dies 1.7 years earlier than the average OECD citizen. This longevity gap has grown by a year since 2003. Americans have the same life expectancy as Chileans, even though Chile spends less than a fifth of what America spends on health care per person.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-3886560686396734952015-11-29T23:11:00.003+00:002015-11-29T23:27:59.944+00:00ISIS After Paris<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">ISIS AFTER PARIS by Steve Coll - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">from the New Yorker, November 30, 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the week since the attacks on Paris, there has been a great deal of talk about waging war on the Islamic State, but scant clarity about how such a war might succeed. In a season when the improvisations of Vladimir Putin shape geopolitics, and those of Donald Trump shape American politics (Trump has remarked that Putin is “getting an A” for leadership), it is perhaps unsurprising that public discourse about what comes next has been informed by opportunism and incoherence. Yet even the sober, often stirring rhetoric of the French President, François Hollande, has often elided the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">main problem, which involves aligning aims with realistic means. “France is at war,” Hollande told his parliament last week, as French jets struck Raqqa, Syria, the Islamic State’s self-declared capital. He vowed to “eradicate” the organization. But how, and how long will it take?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2004, James D. Fearon, a political scientist at Stanford, published a study, “Why Do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer Than Others?,” in which he and a colleague analyzed scores of civil wars fought between 1945 and 1999. Some of the findings were intuitive: civil wars end quickly </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">when one side has a decisive military advantage over the other; poor countries with natural resources to export often have long internal wars, because whoever controls the resources also controls the national treasury. Other findings were novel, such as the fact that wars following coups d’état tend to be short. In another study, “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War,” Fearon and the political scientist David D. Laitin discovered that even though in nations with exceptional ethnic pluralism, like Syria and Iraq, lines of conflict may be defined by ethnic identity, pluralism itself is not a notable predictor of civil war; poverty is a much more significant factor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rereading these works in light of the infuriating problem of the Islamic State, two discouraging findings stand out. In 1945, many civil wars were concluded after about two years. By 1999, they lasted, on average, about sixteen years. And conflicts in which a guerrilla group could finance itself—by selling contraband drug crops, or by smuggling oil—might go on for thirty or forty years. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been around since 1964, sustained in no small part by American cocaine consumption.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Islamic State is an oil-funded descendant of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a branch of the original Al Qaeda, which was formed in 1988. According to the C.I.A., ISIS has at least twenty thousand armed fighters; some estimates put the number much higher. It controls large swaths of territory, including major cities, such as Mosul. It is unusually barbarous, and good at Twitter. Its millenarian ideology of hatred and extermination poses a threat across borders. Yet its army and its sanctuary, in Iraq and Syria, are not, in a structural sense, exceptional.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> From the American intervention in Somalia, in 1992, through the French intervention in Mali, in 2013, industrialized countries have been able to deploy ground forces to take guerrilla-held territory in about sixty days or less. The problem is that if they don’t then leave, to be replaced by more locally credible yet militarily able forces, they invite frustration, and risk unsustainable casualties and political if not military defeat. This has been true even when the guerrilla forces were weak: the Taliban possesses neither planes nor significant anti-aircraft missiles, yet it has fought the United States to a stalemate, and the advantage is now shifting in its favor.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If President Obama ordered the Marines into urgent action, they could be waving flags of liberation in Raqqa by New Year’s. But, after taking the region, killing scores of ISIS commanders as well as Syrian civilians, and flushing surviving fighters and international recruits into the broken, ungoverned </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cities of Syria and Iraq’s Sunni heartland, then what? Without political coöperation from Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, Turkey, the Al Qaeda ally Al Nusra, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and others, the Marines (and the French or NATO allies that might assist them) would soon become targets for a mind-bogglingly diverse array of opponents.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Syrian rebels overwhelmingly regard Assad’s regime as their main enemy, and for good reason: his forces have killed more Syrians than anyone else has. In the absence of a political agreement with Assad or his removal from office, it is impossible to conceive of a Muslim-majority occupation force that would be able and willing to keep the peace after the Marines departed. Some may argue that it would be worthwhile, nonetheless, to wipe out the Islamic State on the ground and deal with the fallout later. After Paris, such an approach may hold emotional appeal. After Afghanistan and Iraq, however, it is not a responsible course of action.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Analyses like James Fearon’s suggest that there are perhaps two ways to end, or at least to contain, long wars. One is to accept that success will be a long time coming, and to adopt a posture of military and diplomatic patience and persistence. That may yet lead to the FARC’s disarmament. The other is </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to negotiate aggressively to form international alliances, which will allow for a rapid, decisive use of force on the ground. The European Union activated a mutual-defense compact after the Paris attacks; NATO could broaden the alliance by invoking Article 5 of its treaty, as it did after 9/11. Such coalitions can be swiftly efective. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, George H. W. Bush and James Baker pulled together an unexpected military alliance to force his retreat. In Afghanistan, George W. Bush overthrew the Taliban with worldwide support. Both actions eliminated the immediate threat, but neither resolved the targeted country’s underlying instability, or assured durable international security. (On Friday, Islamist terrorists staged a murderous raid on a hotel in Mali’s capital, Bamako, almost three years after the French-led intervention in that country.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barack Obama has all but ruled out a ground intervention in Syria or Iraq. Instead, last week he promised “an intensification” of the strategy he is already pursuing: Special Forces raids, air strikes, and diplomatic conferences to try to resolve the Syrian war, perhaps by declaring ceasefires or insuring Putin’s coöperation. “A political solution is the only way to end the war in Syria and unite the Syrian people and the world” against the Islamic State, the President said. Unfortunately, right now that looks no more realistic than a prolonged American occupation of Raqqa. Obama’s caution in the Middle East since the Arab Spring is a reminder that there are perhaps as many risks attendant upon inaction as upon action. The dilemmas suggested by Fearon’s research won’t evaporate; they will be on the desk of Obama’s successor.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">—Steve Coll</span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-23441972816570901052015-08-05T14:15:00.001+01:002015-08-05T14:30:23.777+01:00Vidal - Buckley Debate 1968<br />
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The Fight That Changed Political TV Forever</h1>
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Half a century ago, William Buckley and Gore Vidal brilliantly castigated each other on air. It’s been downhill ever since.</div>
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By ROBERT GORDON ---- Politico</div>
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<time datetime="2015-08-04" style="box-sizing: border-box;">August 04, 2015</time></div>
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They came loaded for bear. William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, representing the political poles in America, sat in front of the ABC News cameras in 1968 and, though hired to discuss the events of each party’s political conventions and their path toward their presidential tickets, these men each arrived with the intention of taking down the other. For the good of the nation.<br />
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During the summer 1968 Republican and Democratic conventions, the United States was in turmoil, the chasm between youth culture and the establishment widening as the war in Vietnam dragged on, killing kids, killing civilians, killing hope. In March of that year, two weeks after the My Lai Massacre, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek reelection. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated two months later. Riots raged across the United States, in cities large and small. Major publications gave serious consideration to the possibility of a new U.S. civil war.</div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: x-small;">“As far as I’m concerned,” Vidal told him, “the only pro- or crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: purple;">“Now listen, you queer,” Buckley said, “stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in you goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.”</span></span></div>
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Unlike now, conventions in those days were not a stage play with the outcomes predetermined. In 1968, neither party went in with a clear candidate. Actual politics would be conducted.<br />
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For the previous several conventions, the three television networks had made it their journalistic duty to cover the proceedings “gavel-to-gavel,” meaning from late afternoon until whenever business was concluded, usually before midnight, but, if there were a floor fight, well into the night.<br />
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Of the three networks—there were only three then, plus the precursor to PBS—ABC was a distant third. It had been founded later, was less funded, had fewer affiliates. It had neither the resources nor the personalities to draw viewership, and, in 1968, the ABC network chiefs decided they couldn’t afford gavel-to-gavel coverage. It wasn’t that live coverage was expensive; rather, they needed the income that their primetime programming would generate. While NBC and CBS would broadcast political speeches, ABC offered instead <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Flying Nun</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bewitched</em>, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Batman</em> and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Land of the Giants</em> (giving a new meaning to TV as escapism). Then, after its regular nightly news, ABC would offer 90 minutes of what it termed “unconventional convention coverage,” a five-segment nightly summation of the day. They’d open with a synopsis of the day’s events and close with an update. In between was “Correspondents’ Caucus,” a roundtable discussion from the leading ABC reporters; “Closeup” an in-depth analysis of the day’s major events; and “A Second Look,” which featured Buckley and Vidal and was described in a press release: “William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal will ‘discuss,’ in their usually irreverent fashion, the men and issues. Astute and articulate observers of the political scene, the conservative Buckley and outspoken liberal Vidal are expected to disagree occasionally.”<br />
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ABC was ridiculed by news organizations from all media for forsaking its journalistic responsibility, but the results of their desperate measure surprised everyone.<br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Both Buckley and Vidal had already developed</strong> large public personae, including a renowned dislike for each other. Their first confrontation had been in print in 1961, a series of Associated Press columns, each presenting opposing sides on current affairs. Then in 1962 Vidal, already a favorite guest of TV talk show host Jack Paar, made fun of Buckley and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">National Review</em> for rejecting Pope John XXIII’s encyclical <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mater et Magistra</em>, which called on Catholics to embrace social progress. Buckley learned of this televised insult as he was departing the country and he left a telegram with his office to send to Paar that, according to Buckley, included the line: PLEASE INFORM GORE VIDAL THAT NEITHER I NOR MY FAMILY IS DISPOSED TO RECEIVE LESSONS IN MORALITY FROM A PINK QUEER.<br />
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His office did not send it, and instead Buckley demanded time for a response, garnering his first national TV appearance. There he surprised Paar by speaking intelligently and precisely from a conservative viewpoint when Paar was expecting the prejudiced and crude talk associated with the John Birch Society, the group that had long emblematized the political right. But Buckley had been actively re-branding the conservatives, distancing the movement from what he called “the kooks and the anti-Semites,” positioning himself as a spokesman for a thoughtful, reasoned political stance. Buckley handled himself well on television and, like Vidal, understood the power of the medium to reach into broad swaths of America personally, with a message undiluted.<br />
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Despite political differences, the two men seemed cut from the same cloth: Their mid-Atlantic speaking accents were haughty, their demeanors were aloof, they exuded breeding and education. However, for each, these airs had been cultured; they were not born into the Eastern establishment, and didn’t have the usual New England prep school backgrounds (though each did attend elite academies, Buckley at Andover and Vidal at Exeter). Vidal came from Oklahoma and Tennessee stock and was raised in the U.S. Senate where his blind grandfather served, developing a political education by reading aloud to him the Congressional Record and other necessary documents. Buckley’s family was wealthy, but nouveau, their Catholicism keeping them outside the WASPish circle of their Connecticut bluebloods neighbors. Tutored from an early age, Bill went on to Yale while Vidal opted not to pursue college—each angling for his own route of attack on the culture’s dominant forces. Vidal published his first book in 1946 but became an enfant terrible with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The City and the Pillar</em> in 1948, a novel that dealt unapologetically and sympathetically with a homosexual protagonist. Buckley published his first book three years later, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">God and Man at Yale</em>, a controversial attack on an institution that he proclaimed was leaning too far left, promulgating communism, and attacking religion. Their positions staked, we can look back and see these polar opposites being slowly drawn toward each other.<br />
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As outsiders with atypical establishmentarian backgrounds, they were comfortable moving to television at a time when the boob tube was still disparaged as déclassé. On September 23, 1962, they appeared together on the syndicated David Susskind program, a tête-à-tête that proved them equally matched for wit, though polarized in world views. Apparently neither felt like they’d completed what they set out to do at that meeting, and they appeared again with Susskind on July 15, 1964, from the San Francisco Republican National Convention. There, the sparring continued, an undercurrent of loathing gradually surfacing, and afterward Buckley informed Vidal he wanted to never see him again, the rare statement from Buckley with which Vidal could agree.<br />
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Enter ABC and 1968. As the press release reveals, ABC knew that bringing the two together could create friction and that the sparks could attract more viewers. In fact, when Buckley was hired, the network asked him, perhaps slyly, whom he’d like as an opponent from the liberal side, and then asked him for names he’d prefer not to debate. Buckley, as he later recounted in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Esquire</em>, said that as a matter of principle he’d not debate a communist, and also not Gore Vidal “because I had had unpleasant experiences with him in the past and did not trust him.” Vidal, who also claimed he was hired first, says he asked not to face Buckley because he didn’t want to lend him any credibility or create opportunity for him to spread his message. Nonetheless, each assented when he learned who his opponent would be, drawn no doubt by the power of the national audience he’d have and also, not insignificantly, by the $10,000 fee (approximately $70,000 in 2015 currency). Their tasks also included filming commentaries inserted into the newscasts prior to the conventions and appearing in November on election night.<br />
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Coverage began two days prior to each convention. Within minutes of their first conversation, these high-minded individuals took the low road. After Vidal contemns the Republicans as the party of greed, Buckley turns personal, assaulting Vidal and his most recent novel, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Myra Breckinridge</em>, which Vidal once described as about “a man who becomes a woman who becomes a man”—scandalous for its time and quickly a bestseller. Though Buckley was first in shifting from the political to the personal, Vidal had come prepared to do just that, having hired researchers to create a dossier on Buckley and pre-scripting pages of insults to hurl at his opponent. (My favorite is describing Buckley as “the Marie Antoinette of the right-wing.”) Buckley, who had opened a dossier on Vidal in 1965, makes frequent insinuations about Vidal’s homosexuality, saying in the first debate, “We know your tendency is to be feline, Mr. Vidal.”<br />
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Not unlike the way exposure to the natural elements destroys old paper and paintings, the national camera and its bright lights serve to degrade wit, erudition and commitment to political thought. Before these debates were over—in the penultimate meeting, as if scripted by a Hollywood writer—Buckley and Vidal were reduced to schoolyard name-calling, an ugly ad hominem attack that had been brewing for years, that night after night the klieg lights had warmed until ready to serve. Vidal called Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” Buckley called Vidal a queer and threatened physical violence. They each knew the single term that could pierce the other’s psyche.</div>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/william-buckley-gore-vidal-debates-1968-121009.html#ixzz3hwi2fRgl" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #003399; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease;">http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/william-buckley-gore-vidal-debates-1968-121009.html#ixzz3hwi2fRgl</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-73167909170856633952015-04-23T22:57:00.000+01:002015-04-23T22:57:00.710+01:00WaPo Bemoans a Climate Debate It Helped ‘Devolve’WaPo Bemoans a Climate Debate It Helped ‘Devolve’<br />
By Peter Hart / Fair.org<br />
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The Washington Post editorial page is stepping forward to send a message: Climate change is real, the crisis is urgent, and it’s time to act. But we shouldn’t forget what the paper has done to make addressing climate change more difficult–by regularly publishing climate deniers.<br />
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Titled “A Climate for Change,” the Post series started in yesterday’s edition (8/25/14) with the paper making the point that the “national debate on climate change has devolved.” While there was at one point hope that politicians would accept the science and move towards some real solutions, “a faction that rejects the science of global warming dragged the GOP into irresponsible head-in-the-sand-ism.”<br />
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All the while, the paper says, the “scientists’ warnings have become more dire.” So the Post explains:<br />
The shape of the climate debate now and through the 2016 election is important. In the coming days we aim to contribute to that debate with a brief series of editorials.<br />
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The piece in today’s print edition (8/26/14) includes the subhead, “The Science Is Clear: Humans Have Caused Climate Change.” It tells readers that political leaders “remain divided on the need to curb greenhouse emissions,” which is simply “mind-boggling” to “mainstream scientists.”<br />
The Post explains what exactly is clear–the planet is indeed warming, and the climate crisis is caused by human activity–and says that “most reasonable climate skeptics accept these findings.”<br />
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Except for some of the people the Post pays to write columns.<br />
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Some of the most high-profile media climate deniers–George Will, Charles Krauthammer and Robert Samuelson–are all Post columnists who have done their part to contribute to the “shape of the climate debate.” Krauthammer most recently (2/20/14) mocked the idea that the science of climate change was “settled,” and wrote that scientists who warn of the disastrous effects of climate change are “white-coated propagandists.” Krauthammer went on TV this year to mock climate change science as “superstition.”<br />
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Will has a long record of distorting climate science; in 2009 he wrote that warming was “allegedly occurring,” and in a 2012 TV appearance scoffed that people were confusing warming for a hot summer: “Get over it.”<br />
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Samuelson used to pooh-pooh climate change: “It’s politically incorrect to question whether this is a serious problem that serious people ought to take seriously,” he wrote in the 1990s (7/9/97), and he praised George W. Bush for rejecting the Kyoto accords (6/21/01). Lately (5/11/14) he seems more equivocal: “There’s enormous uncertainty about how much warming will occur, what changes (for good or ill) it will bring and how easily (or not) we can adapt. (He seems to have become one of those “reasonable climate skeptics” the Post editorialists were referring to.)<br />
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In 2009 (12/9/09), the paper’s op-ed page rather famously turned to noted climate expert Sarah Palin for a piece about how “we can’t say with assurance that man’s activities cause weather changes.”<br />
So if this series is a sign that the Washington Post has truly shifted on climate change, that’s a good thing. But if we’re to take them seriously about “the shape of the climate debate,” perhaps they would like to offer some thoughts about what their paper’s columnists have done to warp that discussion. Whatever the case, the Post isn’t going to stop running anti-science op-eds. As editorial page editor Fred Hiatt told Joe Strupp of Media Matters (8/26/14), “I’m more inclined to take op-eds that challenge our editorials than just kind of join the chorus.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-21112026758904391952015-04-08T01:47:00.001+01:002015-04-08T02:38:26.856+01:00Special Edition of Elroy's Homework: John Oliver interviews Edward Snowden<div class="byline byline-month" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #4d4d4f; line-height: 20px; margin: 15px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 30px;">John Oliver Finds the Real Edward Snowden</span></div>
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<header class="entry-header" style="background-color: white; color: #777777; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom Nichols / The Federalist </span><span class="byline-month" style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">APRIL</span><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: center;"> 7, 2015</span></header><header class="entry-header" style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">John Oliver’s recent interview with Edward Snowden reveals both the weakness of our media and the lies Snowden has made himself believe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The media team and intelligence handlers around Edward Snowden finally committed a major blunder. After fawning tributes, softball interviews, and an Oscar coronation for his celluloid enablers, they made a decision they should have known would go wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">They let Ed talk to John Oliver. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">[This is an appropriate moment to add a visual aid to Elroy's Homework: the interview and segment itself.]</span></div>
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This is nothing short of amazing, and suggests either that the Russian spooks now in control of Snowden’s life don’t watch Oliver’s show, or that they were led to believe Oliver is just another liberal journalist who would allow Snowden to run his usual All-American Kid act. Either way, they had to be disappointed. Oliver, for all of his attempts to be serious, couldn’t help but shove Snowden around, and the interview showed just how uncomfortable someone like Snowden is—and likely has been his whole life—around Cool Kids like John Oliver.<br />
<br />
So, Snowden’s socially awkward, and Oliver is hilarious. This we knew already. But what else did we learn from this interview, and what does it tell us about the Snowden affair in general?<br />
<br />
<b>Edward Snowden’s Handlers Are Losing Their Touch</b><br />
<br />
One observation right off the bat is that both the Russians and Snowden’s other advisers are losing their touch. The people around Snowden have played an expert game for the past two years, especially given the limited material (that is, Snowden himself) they’ve had to work with. They’ve done some good staging, exploited the cooperation of credulous journalists, and avoided hard questions. It is a testimony both to the fecklessness of the media and the competence of the Snowden team that Oliver was the first time Ed’s done anything even close to a real interview.<br />
<br />
Why did the Russians even allow this? Seriously, did Snowden’s handlers think that Oliver, who exudes the perfect combination of mock cowardice and blustery fearlessness that is the mark of a professional smart-ass, wouldn’t open the window and point out that the meeting place was across the street from the headquarters of the Russian intelligence service? Do they not get HBO in Russia? Didn’t anyone do some homework here?<br />
<br />
Snowden himself came prepared, at least initially. (I would love to see the full, unedited version of this one, which I assume is both wildly funny and wincingly uncomfortable.) Right at the start, however, Oliver wasn’t having any of Snowden’s pretentious and practiced responses, and when Oliver decided to have some fun, that’s when we learned more about three important things: the role of Snowden’s ego, the recklessness of Snowden’s actions, and the actual limits on programs Snowden has claimed are nearly omnipotent.<br />
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<b>I’m A Hero, I Really Am!</b><br />
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Like all defectors, Snowden’s ego is heavily invested in his own heroism. Consider the look on Snowden’s face when Oliver deflated Ed’s bloated claims about how his betrayal wasn’t for his own glory, but instead to allow benighted Americans to decide these issues for ourselves. Oliver showed Snowden one clip after another of people in Times Square who had literally zero awareness of the Snowden debacle or of Snowden himself. He then said: “On the plus side, you might be able to go home, because it seems like no one knows who the f*** you are or what the f*** you did.”<br />
<br />
Snowden was visibly distressed. (As Wired wrote the next morning: “Snowden’s face as he watches registers amusement, surprise, and then frank horror.”) This was not what Ed expected, and whether it was something Snowden knew already or only suspected, he didn’t like having it shoved in his face.<br />
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Of course, the right answer at that point, if Snowden were a man polished by repeated interviews and confident in his own actions, would be to smile and say: “John, that’s disturbing, and I’m glad you’re here so we can talk and get the message out more clearly.” Instead, the insecure little boy in Snowden took over: looking away, mumbling, and groping for words. (Here’s a helpful tip, Ed: both gamblers and intelligence analysts know that constantly looking down and away while speaking in a conversation is a “tell.” You should stop doing it.)<br />
<br />
If this had been Snowden’s first week in Moscow, these might have been more understandable reactions. But he’s been doing these dog and pony shows from Russia for nearly two years. Has he really been inside a bubble so thick that no one has told him he’s over in America?<br />
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<b>It’s Not Clear Edward Snowden Has Thought This Through</b><br />
<br />
Oliver, for his part, was just getting started. For the first time, a journalist actually confronted Snowden with the recklessness of his own actions. Others have asked similar questions, and meekly accepted Snowden’s platitudes (or as we could also call them, “lies”) about how he protected the information he stole. Oliver instead did the unthinkable and asked Snowden a direct yes-or-no question: did you read all the documents you handed to others?<br />
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Snowden’s weaselly answer—“I do understand what I turned over”—didn’t fly with Oliver. He cornered Snowden on camera like the captain of a good college debate squad tearing apart the hapless nerd who’d been asked to sub for some guy on the other team. “There’s a difference between understanding what’s in the documents and reading what’s in the documents,” Oliver said. He then added, with deadpan sarcasm: “Because when you’re handing over thousands of NSA documents the last thing you’d want to do is read them.”<br />
<br />
Oliver then pointed out that Snowden’s revelations, fumbled by the New York Times, had done actual damage to U.S. overseas operations. Snowden’s answer? “In journalism we have to accept that some mistakes will be made.” In other words, freedom means risk; you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Without a trace of irony about his current situation, Snowden added that one is only truly secure in a prison.<br />
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But wait. Isn’t that exactly the same answer that proponents of national surveillance programs give? That freedom isn’t perfect, that human beings are fallible? Why is that answer good enough for Snowden’s friends at the New York Times, who’ve done demonstrable harm, but not for the National Security Agency, where the accusations of harm from Snowden and his enablers are—even by Snowden’s own admission to Oliver—entirely notional?<br />
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<b>Hypothetical Versus Real Surveillance Threats</b><br />
<br />
Oliver didn’t pursue this. He does have a comedy show to do, after all, so he instead encouraged Snowden to understand that Americans do not care about foreign surveillance, but rather care only about the security of images of their own genitalia. Snowden eventually got into the spirit of the thing, but he was uncomfortable. Grandiose heroes, after all, do not talk about pictures of men’s penises, especially when Oliver has just shoved a picture of his own penis into their hands.<br />
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When Snowden finally got back to his comfort zone, however, his explanations of how the government might get pictures of your “junk” (to use Ed’s term) actually defeated his own point. Snowden—accurately, for the most part—explained how pictures of one’s, er, John Thomas transiting the global information highways could theoretically get caught up in metadata collection. Having delivered several gut punches already, Oliver this time gamely played along, noting that Americans would be horrified if they knew this was happening.<br />
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Except, of course, there is no evidence (as Snowden admits) that this is actually happening.<br />
Snowden’s explanation showed how far the government would have to go, and how much data it would have to sift, to find such pictures, read texts, and match phone calls. His entire case rests, as it has always rested, on what could happen if someone with evil intent were to try to seize control of a massive bureaucracy and bend it to the goal of finding out whether a random guy in New York sent his girlfriend a picture of Mr. Happy. (Which, as a random guy in New York admitted to Oliver on camera, he did.) In trying to generate more outrage, Snowden inadvertently made the case for calming down.<br />
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<b>Edward Snowden Is a Lost Boy</b><br />
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In the end, what we saw from Moscow was the real Snowden: full of self-regard, fueled by delusions of his own importance, and unwilling—as perpetual adolescents always are—to accept responsibility for the damage his reckless actions caused. Oliver didn’t press Snowden as hard as he could have, to be sure. But when it comes to interviews with defectors, we have to take what we can get.<br />
<br />
Still, even this brief look at Snowden under even the tiniest bit of journalistic pressure should end any pretenses about the inflated claims of a silly young manwho once claimed he was torture-proof. Snowden is a lost boy, in over his head in a dangerous place after doing something he himself didn’t quite understand. If Snowden can’t handle Oliver, you can be quite sure he couldn’t handle his Russian security service interrogators.<br />
<br />
In the end, the Oliver interview is so far the most important addition to what we might call The Snowden Archive. Until now, Snowden’s image has been mediated through mostly useless things like puff pieces from Barton Gellman, cheerleading by Glenn Greenwald, and a make-believe interview with Brian Williams. He has been able to say what he wants to say without fear of contradiction. Oliver may not have intended to pants Snowden in front of millions of people, but sometimes, the Cool Kids can’t help themselves. Good for Oliver, and good for us, now that we’ve had our first glimpse of the real Edward Snowden. <br />
<br />
[Tom Nichols is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and an adjunct professor in the Harvard Extension School. Views expressed here are his own.]<br />
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<br />
LA TIMES<br />
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<span style="font-family: LAHeadline, serif; font-size: 58px; line-height: 56px;">John Oliver turns Edward Snowden interview around, talks nudie pics</span><br />
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<span class="trb_bylines_name_primary" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="trb_bylines_name_author" style="color: #ff5443; display: inline-block; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="trb_bylines_name_author_by" style="color: #666666; padding-right: 3px; text-transform: none;">By </span>PATRICK KEVIN DAY </span><span class="trb_bylines_name_author" style="display: inline-block;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">April 6, 2015</span></span></span><br />
<br />
Since its debut nearly a year ago, "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" has been steadily gaining awareness among viewers for going "The Daily Show" one better by taking complex subjects and tackling them in a comedic way. But on Sunday's show, Oliver seems to have taken the show to the next level, both in comedy and audience respect with his surprise interview with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.<br />
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The longer episode, at 45 minutes, included a 33-minute discussion of the upcoming renewal of the Patriot Act and its implications for the American public. It turns out, at least according to Oliver's random sampling of Americans in New York City's Times Square, that the public is ill informed about the controversy surrounding Snowden and the implications of the information that he leaked.<br />
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Snowden, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "Citizenfour" is in Russia, so Oliver traveled to Moscow to sit down with the computer specialist and explain to him, with video assist, that the American public has no real idea who he is or what he's trying to tell them.<br />
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Oliver also demonstrated the problem with a clip from MSNBC in which host Andrea Mitchell interrupted a congresswoman discussing a key part of the Patriot Act to bring viewers "breaking news" on Justin Bieber's arrest.<br />
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Oliver's interview with Snowden was not a comedy puffball. Though he started off with jokes about Hot Pockets, he quickly began pressing Snowden about his responsibilty for some of the more sensitive information he leaked getting mishandled by the media.<br />
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And when Snowden tried to argue his points about unchecked government surveillance, Oliver brusquely waved him off, the same way people would get bored by an IT guy droning on about computer stuff.<br />
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Instead, Oliver gave Snowden an easily graspable way for the public at large to understand the things he's talking about. Forget surveillance of charities or overseas phone calls. Can the government look at our own private nudie pics?<br />
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The answer, not surprisingly, is yes. And Snowden discussed all the various ways the government could access our nudie pics, all while sitting with a folder containing a nudie pic of Oliver himself on his lap.<br />
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The interview walked a tightrope between comedy and actual journalism; the reaction on Twitter has been overwhelmingly positive.<br />
<br />
With the public's privacy fears boiled down to just one subject very close to home, it seems as if Snowden's message may start to resonate.<br />
<br />
As one viewer wrote, "That's the sound of somebody uncorking a bottle in the White House, because John Oliver."<br />
<br />
"Sinister" screenwriter C. Robert Cargill put it this way: "So in just 18 minutes, the guy who played the drunk professor on COMMUNITY got Snowden to explain the NSA programs in plain English. Woah."<br />
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A Florida law student applauded Oliver's aggression in the interview, commenting, "I love the John Oliver actually challenges Snowden on some of the negative repercussions and takes him to task on those issues."<br />
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</header>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-87005252411013094672015-03-12T04:51:00.002+00:002015-03-12T04:51:40.114+00:00Disney Tech<ul class="center metadata marg-b-25" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; list-style: none; margin: 0px auto 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="byline marg-r-sm inline-block mob-marg-b-sm" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 11px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="link-underline-sm marg-r-sm" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.wired.com/author/cliffkuang/" rel="author" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border-bottom-color: rgb(180, 231, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-shadow: rgb(180, 231, 248) 0px -5px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;">CLIFF KUANG</a></span> <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DESIGN</span></li>
<li class="meta-pubdate marg-r-sm inline-block" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><time pubdate="March 10, 2015" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; letter-spacing: 0.08em; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);">03.10.15</time></li>
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</ul>
<h1 id="post-title" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: ambroise-francois-std, 'Bodoni 72', Didot, 'Hoefler Text', serif; font-size: 80px; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.0075em; line-height: 65px; margin: 0px 0px 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;">
DISNEY’S $1 BILLION BET ON A MAGICAL WRISTBAND</h1>
<figure class="wp-caption landscape aligncenter" data-js="" id="attachment_1748581" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="The Magicband wields access to the park, replacing virtually every transaction you'd make inside." class="size-full wp-image-1748581 cursor-zoom" data-order="0" data-pin-description="Disney’s $1 Billion Bet on a Magical Wristband" data-ui="overlayOpen" height="800" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/disneymagicband2_f.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1200" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Magicband wields access to the park, replacing virtually every transaction you'd make inside. <span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.08em;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.08em;">BOB CROSLIN</span></span></figcaption><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.08em;"><br /></span></span></figcaption><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="lede" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">IF YOU WANT </span>to imagine how the world will look in just a few years, once our cell phones become the keepers of both our money and identity, skip Silicon Valley and book a ticket to Orlando. Go to Disney World. Then, reserve a meal at a restaurant called Be Our Guest, using the Disney World app to order your food in advance.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
The restaurant lies beyond a gate of huge fiberglass boulders, painstakingly airbrushed to look like crumbling remnants of the past. Crossing a cartoon-like drawbridge, you see the parapets of a castle rising beyond a snow-dusted ridge, both rendered in miniature to appear far away. The Gothic-styled entrance is teensy. Such pint-sized intimacy is a psychological hack invented by Walt Disney himself to make visitors feel larger than their everyday selves. It works. You feel like you’re stepping across the pages of a storybook.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
If you’re wearing your Disney MagicBand and you’ve made a reservation, a host will greet you at the drawbridge and already know your name—<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welcome Mr. Tanner!</span> She’ll be followed by another smiling person—<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sit anywhere you like!</span> Neither will mention that, by some mysterious power, your food will find you.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
“It’s like magic!” a woman says to her family as they sit. “How do they find our table?” The dining hall, inspired by <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Beauty and the Beast</span>, features Baroque details but feels like a large, orderly cafeteria. The couple’s young son flits around the table. After a few minutes, he settles into his chair without actually sitting down, as kids often do. Soon, their food arrives exactly as promised, delivered by a smiling young man pushing an ornately carved serving cart that resembles a display case at an old museum.</div>
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It’s surprising how the woman’s sensible question immediately fades, unanswered, in the rising aroma of French onion soup and roast beef sandwiches. This is by design. The family entered a matrix of technology the moment it crossed the moat, one geared toward anticipating their whims without offering the slightest clue how.</div>
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How do they find our table? The answer is around their wrists.</div>
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Their MagicBands, tech-studded wristbands available to every visitor to the Magic Kingdom, feature a long-range radio that can transmit more than 40 feet in every direction. The hostess, on her modified iPhone, received a signal when the family was just a few paces away. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tanner family inbound!</span> The kitchen also queued up: <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Two French onion soups, two roast beef sandwiches!</span> When they sat down, a radio receiver in the table picked up the signals from their MagicBands and triangulated their location using another receiver in the ceiling. The server—as in waitperson, not computer array—knew what they ordered before they even approached the restaurant and knew where they were sitting.</div>
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And it all worked seamlessly, like magic.</div>
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No matter how often we say we’re creeped out by technology, we tend to acclimate quickly if it delivers what we want <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">before</span> we want it. This is particularly true of context-aware technology. Just consider how little anyone seems to mind now that the Google Maps app mines your Gmail. Today, Google Maps is studded with your location searches, events you’ve arranged with friends, and landmarks you’ve chatted about. It’s delightful, and it took hold faster than the goosebumps could. The utility seems so obvious, your consent has simply been assumed.</div>
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The same idea is taking hold at Disney World: <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How did they find our table?</span></div>
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A Friction-Free World</h3>
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<span class="lede" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">WALT DISNEY BORROWED</span> against his own life insurance to pay for Disneyland’s original design, and according to friends and family, he never seemed happier. It was his sandbox. “You will find yourself in the land of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy,” he crowed in early brochures for the park. “Nothing of the present exists.” The expansion of Disney’s empire brought Disney World to life in 1971, and within that world, Epcot was to be the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Disney wanted people to move in and live with technologies the rest of us could barely imagine. In a way, the MagicBands and their online platform, MyMagicPlus, realize that dream. But not in the way he imagined.</div>
<figure class="wp-caption landscape aligncenter fader fade-in-up" data-js="fader" id="attachment_1749283" style="-webkit-filter: none; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); -webkit-transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; filter: none; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 64px auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border-bottom-color: rgb(180, 231, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-shadow: rgb(180, 231, 248) 0px -5px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Caption TK" class="size-full wp-image-1749283 cursor-zoom" data-order="1" data-ui="overlayOpen" height="800" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/disneymagicband8_f.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 482px;" width="1200" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 16px 0px 0px;">The design of the bands themselves teach users how they work. Access points have an encircled Mickey logo which matches that of the bands, showing that they can be touched together for access. <span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/themes/Phoenix/assets/images/gallery-cam@2x.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> MATT STROSHANE/DISNEY</span></figcaption></figure><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
The MagicBands look like simple, stylish rubber wristbands offered in cheery shades of grey, blue, green, pink, yellow, orange and red. Inside each is an RFID chip and a radio like those in a 2.4-GHz cordless phone. The wristband has enough battery to last two years. It may look unpretentious, but the band connects you to a vast and powerful system of sensors within the park. And yet, when you visit Disney World, the most remarkable thing about the MagicBands is that they don’t feel remarkable at all. They’re as ubiquitous as sunburns and giant frozen lemonades. Despite their futuristic intentions, they’re already invisible.</div>
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Part of the trick lies in the clever way Disney teaches you to use them—and, by extension, how to use the park. It begins when you book your ticket online and pick your favorite rides. Disney’s servers crunch your preferences, then neatly package them into an itinerary calculated to keep the route between stops from being a slog—or a frustrating zig-zag back and forth across the park. Then, in the weeks before your trip, the wristband arrives in the mail, etched with your name—<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m yours, try me on</span>. For kids, the MagicBand is akin to a Christmas present tucked under the tree, perfumed with the spice of anticipation. For parents, it’s a modest kind of superpower that wields access to the park.</div>
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If you sign up in advance for the so-called “Magical Express,” the MagicBand replaces all of the details and hassles of paper once you touch-down in Orlando. Express users can board a park-bound shuttle, and check into the hotel. They don’t have to mind their luggage, because each piece gets tagged at your home airport, so that it can follow you to your hotel, then your room. Once you arrive at the park, there are no tickets to hand over. Just tap your MagicBand at the gate and swipe onto the rides you’ve already reserved. If you’ve opted in on the web, the MagicBand is the only thing you need.</div>
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It’s amazing how much friction Disney has engineered away: There’s no need to rent a car or waste time at the baggage carousel. You don’t need to carry cash, because the MagicBand is linked to your credit card. You don’t need to wait in long lines. You don’t even have to go to the trouble of taking out your wallet when your kid grabs a stuffed Olaf, looks up at you, and promises to be good if you’ll just let them have this one thing, please.</div>
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This is just what the experience looks like to you, the visitor. For Disney, the MagicBands, the thousands of sensors they talk with, and the 100 systems linked together to create MyMagicPlus turn the park into a giant computer—streaming real-time data about where guests are, what they’re doing, and what they want. It’s designed to anticipate your desires.</div>
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Which makes it exactly the type of thing Apple, Facebook, and Google are trying to build. Except Disney World isn’t just an app or a phone—it’s both, wrapped in an idealized vision of life that’s as safely self-contained as a snow globe. Disney is thus granted permission to explore services that might seem invasive anywhere else. But then, that’s the trick: Every new experience with technology tends to gently nudge our notions of what we’re comfortable with.</div>
<figure class="wp-caption landscape aligncenter full-width fade-in-up" data-js="fader" data-skip="" id="attachment_1748584" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 64px auto 64px -100px; max-width: calc(100% + 450px); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; width: calc(100% + 450px);"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border-bottom-color: rgb(180, 231, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-shadow: rgb(180, 231, 248) 0px -5px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="The Magicband sports RFID and a radio inside, which allows sensors to locate its wearer. " class="size-full wp-image-1748584 cursor-zoom" data-order="2" data-ui="overlayOpen" height="622" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/magic-band.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 932px;" width="932" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 16px 0px 0px;">The Magicband sports RFID and a radio inside, which allows sensors to locate its wearer. <span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/themes/Phoenix/assets/images/gallery-cam@2x.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> ADAM VOORHES</span></figcaption></figure><h3 style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: brandon-text, 'Gill Sans', HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 50px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;">
Designing the Experience</h3>
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<span class="lede" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">DISNEY SHROUDS ITS</span> creative process in secrecy. This is both strategic and cultural: The company doesn’t want its magic tainted by the messy realities behind the curtain. That’s particularly true of the MagicBands. Piecing together their origin required more than two dozen interviews with executives at Disney and with designers and engineers who worked on the project but could speak only anonymously due to non-disclosure agreements.</div>
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Though the team behind this sprawling platform eventually swelled to more than 1,000 people, the idea started years ago with a handful of insiders. People jokingly called them the Fab Five—an almost sacrilegious reference to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. In 2008, Meg Crofton, then president of Walt Disney World Resort, told them to root out all the friction within the Disney World experience. “We were looking for pain points,” she says. “What are the barriers to getting into the experience faster?” The Fab Five were not just Imagineers, the demigods of fun who create Disney’s attractions. They also included high-level veterans of the company’s sprawling operations division, executives intimately familiar with the gnarly realities of running the park—from catching people trying to scam the ride-reservation system to making sure parents are reunited with lost kids.</div>
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But the Fab Five’s workaday roles belied a grand vision for Disney’s future. “They came back with a drawing of the Magic Kingdom without turnstiles,” Crofton says. But, she adds, there was a “domino effect in making one decision. Everything was wound together.” No one knew this better than John Padgett. He was the project’s most forceful advocate, and his name appears first on more than a dozen patents associated with MyMagicPlus. Within the company, this cascade of new technologies, and the dream of overhauling the park, thrilled some and threatened others, who fretted over the sheer complexity of it all.</div>
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The Fab Five drew particular inspiration from the then-nascent wearables market. The possibilities seemed nearly endless. They were especially intrigued by the Nike SportBand, a FuelBand predecessor that synced with a heart rate monitor and a pedometer in your shoe and fed data to a wrist-mounted display. Nike was using it in virtual events like the Human Race, a global, virtual 10K run that used wearers’ pedometer data. What if Disney did something like that, the Fab Five thought. What if a band could be the key that unlocked everything at Disney World?</div>
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They assembled Frankenstein-like mock-ups using spare parts cribbed from hardware catalogs and torn-down gadgets. The team debated whether visitors would unlock the experience with a band, a lanyard, or even a Mickey Mouse hat. Their vision finally began lurching off the workbench in the first months of 2010, in a decommissioned theater that once hosted the Mouseketeers Live Show. “That lab became the place to showcase the vision,” says Nick Franklin, who with Crofton oversaw the team. “It became the blueprint for the development teams.”</div>
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The Fab Five were stationed in an area of the park designed to evoke a studio backlot. The building itself looked a bit like a small-town movie house in the 1950s, complete with a marquee framed in bright lights. It was fronted with broad windows that had been blacked out, and the place appeared to be closed. The benches out front offered a quiet place where harried parents could rest for a moment, then yell at pouting children: <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We came 3,000 miles to get here, and you will have a good time!</span></div>
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Tucked away in a vestibule behind the glass, within earshot of those unsuspecting visitors, were 30 or so designers and engineers arrayed at makeshift desks, highly stressed and occasionally hung over from a night spent drowning their frustrations. “It was just weeks and weeks of long days and traveling to Orlando,” says one consultant who worked on the project. “At the end of day, the only thing to do was drink with the team.” The oblivious families wandering past offered one of the few diversions from their grueling work schedule.</div>
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The room they shared was maddeningly cold because they couldn’t turn off the AC. Everyone suspected it was part of the same system cooling guests at Toy Story Mania next door. And messing with <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span>thermostat was tantamount to sending a cash cow to the slaughterhouse. So to make up for it, Disney staffers offered mountains of sweatshirts and blankets and gloves from the park’s many gift shops. Despite the conditions, the work inched forward. Great swathes of MyMagicPlus—the MagicBands and their readers, along with pieces of the web portal for making ride reservations—already worked. The bands themselves had been designed, as had the kiosks that would light up with a pleasing chime anytime you swiped.</div>
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That already represented a slew of feats, chief among them the MagicBand’s novel tear-away design that ensured they’d fit nearly every wrist on the planet. The band looks simple enough: a colorful center panel surrounded by a dove-gray border. But if the band is meant for a child, a parent simply peels away that gray outer edge. Adults can wear it as is, intact. “We had models ranging from what we called the Shaq wrist to that of a child, and everything in between,” says another designer. Disney was adamant that the band’s design reinforce two key values: Everyone is equal in the park, and everyone is welcome.</div>
<figure class="wp-caption landscape aligncenter fader fade-in-up" data-js="fader" id="attachment_1749263" style="-webkit-filter: none; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); -webkit-transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; filter: none; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 64px auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border-bottom-color: rgb(180, 231, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-shadow: rgb(180, 231, 248) 0px -5px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Caption TK" class="size-660-single-full wp-image-1749263 cursor-zoom" data-order="3" data-ui="overlayOpen" height="439" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/disneymagicband5_f-660x439.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 482px;" width="660" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 16px 0px 0px;">An illustration of the passes, cards, and maps that the system replaces. <span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/themes/Phoenix/assets/images/gallery-cam@2x.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />KENT PHILLIPS</span></figcaption></figure><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
It took one engineer six months to get the tear-away channel just right: It had to be easy to tear, but it couldn’t inadvertently come apart. Meanwhile, the readers had to be intuitive enough for people to instantly know how to use them. The design has a novel and clever cue: Simply touch the circled Mickey icon on the band to the circled Mickey icon on the reader. When everything works, the reader flashes green and emits a pleasing tone; if something goes wrong, it glows blue—never red. Red lights are forbidden at Disney, as they imply something bad happened. Nothing bad can happen at Disney World.</div>
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Beyond the vestibule, through a set of double doors, was a sound stage with a full-scale demo of the revamped Disney World experience. It was a cavernous space covering 8,000 square feet, with 50-foot ceilings. By 2012 it had been divided into a dozen or so “rooms,” using enormous black curtains that hung from the ceiling. Each room stood in for a stage in a visitor’s trip, from the living room where the family might reserve its rides online to the hotel’s shuttle bus to the hotel check-in to the lines for Space Mountain to the futuristic restaurant-booking system they’d invented. “We were using the interfaces and technologies that would ultimately get deployed,” Franklin says. This was an x-ray version of the Disney World experience—a view directly into the bones of the park’s commercial infrastructure.</div>
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All these vignettes playing out on the soundstage were a way of getting Disney’s board of directors to sign off on the $1 billion cost of deploying the full system. The dress rehearsal worked. People like CEO Bob Iger and Pixar board-member John Lasseter, who was new to Disney and on a path toward reinventing its animation studio, were led through a two-hour tour that unfurled according to a fastidious, continuously refined script. They loved it.</div>
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What followed was two years of grinding work transforming a scripted prototype into a real-world performance, then another 18 months rolling it out in the park. The soundstage became a training ground for Disney’s employees, who are called cast members. Today the soundstage has been disassembled. There are few photos documenting what happened there, due to the secrecy of the project and Disney’s mandate to never show the mess behind the magic.</div>
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By the summer of 2013, when MagicBands first trickled into public tests, they would change almost every detail of the meticulously plotted choreography that rules Disney World itself.</div>
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The Era of Invisible Design</h3>
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<span class="lede" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">TOM STAGGS HAS</span> the ramrod posture, trapezoidal jaw, and friendly face of a former varsity star you encounter at your high school reunion. When we meet in a teleconference, he’s at Disney’s corporate headquarters in Burbank, California, and I’m in a large room hidden within the support wings of Disney World, a continent away. I’m surrounded by charts and graphs, projected onto the wall, displaying all the information constantly flowing in from the park. Here, beneath a speckled drop ceiling, at a long folding table, in a room that looks like its been set for a PTA meeting, you can imagine the park breathing in people in, breathing out data.</div>
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Staggs, now the chief operating officer of the Walt Disney Company as a whole and until recently the chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, is widely thought to be in line to become Disney’s next CEO. He was the one who had to sell Iger and the Disney board on MagicBand. Like many corporate bigwigs, he has a talent for hiding radical ideas in a cloak of suave common sense calibrated to calm Wall Street. But every sentence he utters seems to be a koan that encapsulates years of teeth-gnashing about the ever-expanding borders of high technology.</div>
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Staggs couches Disney’s goals for the MagicBand system in an old saw from Arthur C. Clarke. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” he says. “That’s how we think of it. If we can get out of the way, our guests can create more memories.” He offers a story about how a program called Fast Passes once guaranteed a ride time at premier attractions like Space Mountain. It used to be that those passes were issued at the rides themselves, and stamped with a designated return time. You had to be there when it opened, because passes went quickly and unless you were a scheduling savant, it was hard to hold passes for more than one ride at a time. You’d see families waiting outside for the park to open, then fathers sprinting for a kiosk to get enough passes for everyone in the family. “I used to be that sprinter,” Staggs says.</div>
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You can see why he—and Disney—would be so keen on the bands. Instead of telling your kid that you’ll <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">try</span> to meet Elsa or ride It’s a Small World, Franklin says, “you get to be the hero, promising a ride or a meet-and-greet up front. Then you can be freer to experience the park more broadly. You’re freed to take advantage of more rides.” There is an elegant business logic here. By getting people exploring beyond the park’s top attractions, overall use of the park goes up. People spend less time in line. They’re <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">doing</span> more, which means they’re <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">spending</span> more and <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">remembering</span> more. “The whole system gave Disney a way of understanding the business,” says Franklin, who stepped down last July as Disney’s executive vice president of next-generation experience. “Knowing we need more food here, how people are flowing through the park, how people are consuming the experiential product.”</div>
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It also allows Disney to optimize employees. The goal was to create a system that would essentially replace the time spent fiddling with payments and tickets for moments of personal interactions with visitors. The MagicBands and MyMagicPlus allow employees to “move past transactions, into an interactive space, where they can personalize the experience,” Crofton says. What started as a grand technology platform has inevitably changed the texture of the experience.</div>
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Meanwhile, the digital world—and the ease with which we carry it around in our phones—has filled our lives with new expectations and endless entertainment options. “I can’t think of a business that isn’t affected by more choice and more access to information and an increasing desire for personalization,” says Staggs. So if you’re a theme park, you have a strange dilemma that echoes the dilemmas we face in our digital lives. “Walt Disney World is vast. There’s more to do than you could do in a month,” Staggs says. “That choice is overwhelming.”</div>
<figure class="wp-caption landscape aligncenter fader fade-in-up" data-js="fader" id="attachment_1749282" style="-webkit-filter: none; -webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); -webkit-transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; filter: none; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 64px auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: all 0.35s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border-bottom-color: rgb(180, 231, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-shadow: rgb(180, 231, 248) 0px -5px 0px inset; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: background 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Caption TK" class="size-660-single-full wp-image-1749282 cursor-zoom" data-order="5" data-ui="overlayOpen" height="440" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/disneymagicband7_f-660x440.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 482px;" width="660" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: proxima-nova, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 16px 0px 0px;">The access points glow green when things go as planned, but blue if there’s an exception. You won’t find any alarming shades of red in the Magic Kingdom. <span class="credit" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039); display: inline; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.08em; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.wired.com/wp-content/themes/Phoenix/assets/images/gallery-cam@2x.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> MATT STROSHANE/DISNEY</span></figcaption></figure><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
In fact, it’s called the paradox of choice: You make people happier not by giving them more options but by stripping away as many as you can. The redesigned Disney World experience constrains choices by dispersing them, beginning long before the trip is under way. “There are missions in a vacation,” Staggs says. In other words, Disney knows that parents arrive to its parks thinking: <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We have to have tea with Cinderella, and where the hell is that Buzz Lightyear thing, anyway?</span> In that way, the park isn’t a playground so much as a videogame, with bosses to be conquered at every level. The MagicBands let you simply set an agenda and let everything else flow around what you’ve selected. “It lets people’s vacations unfold naturally,” Staggs says. “The ability to plan and personalize has given way to spontaneity.” And that feeling of ease, and whatever flows from it, just might make you more apt to come back.</div>
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Will the world at large ever become something akin to Disney World, loaded with sensors attuned to our every move, designed to free us? There are signs. It’s already starting to appear on Disney cruise ships, and Staggs says airlines, sports leagues, and sports teams have asked about the technology. “We’re just at the beginning of understanding what to do with this,” he says. What Staggs doesn’t share, but what former team members do, is that Disney already has conceived, designed, and engineered many more features that seem to border on science fiction—features even more ambitious than delivering your food to you without your having to ask.</div>
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The MagicBand contains sensors that let guests swipe onto rides and allow Disney to pinpoint their location. At Be Our Guest, they’re what enable the radios in the table and ceiling to triangulate your location so your server can find you. If Disney decides to install those sensors throughout the park, a new world of data opens up. They could have Mickey and Snow White find <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Exchange SSm 4i', 'Exchange SSm 4r', Georgia, serif; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span>. They might use the park’s myriad cameras to capture candid moments of your family—enjoying rides, meeting Snow White—and stitch them together into a personalized film. (The product teams called this the Story Engine.) But they might also know when you’ve waited too long in line and email you a coupon for free ice cream or a pass to another ride. And with that, they’ll have hooked the white whale of customer service: Turning a negative experience into a positive one. It recasts your memories of a place—that’s why casinos comp you drinks and shows when you lose at the tables.</div>
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Though Franklin wouldn’t comment on the particulars of these possibilities, he did offer an intriguing summary of them. “What people call the Internet of Things is just a technological underpinning that misses the point, ” he says. “This is about the experiential Internet. The guest doesn’t need to know how it happened. It’s about the magic of the food arriving.”</div>
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These are the experiences that many more designers will soon be striving for: invisible, everywhere, and, in a word, mundane. Which is its own kind of magic.</div>
</span></figcaption></figure>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-7889677891601807772015-01-14T02:02:00.002+00:002015-01-14T02:03:59.815+00:00New Antibiotic To Last Us 30 Years<h1 itemprop="headline name">
<span style="font-size: small;">First new antibiotic in 30 years discovered in major breakthrough</span></h1>
<h2 itemprop="alternativeHeadline description">
<span style="font-size: small;">The discovery of Teixobactin could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered.The first new antibiotic to be discovered in nearly 30 years has been hailed as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the fight against the growing resistance to drugs. </span><div class="bylineBody">
<span style="font-size: small;"> By Sarah Knapton Science Editor - The Telegraph</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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Teixobactin has been found to treat many common bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, septicaemia and C. diff, and could be available within five years. </div>
</h2>
<div class="thirdPar">
But more importantly it could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered. <br />
</div>
<div class="fourthPar">
Scientists have always believed that the soil was teeming with new and potent antibiotics because bacteria have developed novel ways to fight off other microbes. <br />
</div>
<div class="fifthPar">
But 99 per cent of microbes will not grow in laboratory conditions <a href="http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/antibiotic-resistance/">leaving researchers frustrated </a>that they could not get to the life-saving natural drugs. <br />
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<br />
Now a team from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, have discovered a way of using an electronic chip to grow the microbes in the soil and then isolate their antibiotic chemical compounds. <br />
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They discovered that one compound, Teixobactin, is highly effective against common bacterial infections Clostridium difficile, Mycobacterium tuberculous and Staphylococcus aureus. <br />
<br />
Professor Kim Lewis, Director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Centre said: “Apart from the immediate implementation, there is also I think a paradigm shift in our minds because we have been operating on the basis that resistance development is inevitable and that we have to focus on introducing drugs faster than resistance <br />
“Teixobactin shows how we can adopt an alternative strategy and develop compounds to which bacteria are not resistant.” <br />
<br />
<br />
The first antibiotic Penicillin, was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and more than 100 compounds have been found since, but no new class has been found since 1987. <br />
The lack of new drugs coupled with over-prescribing has led to bacteria becoming increasingly resistant to modern medicines. <br />
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Dame Sally Davies, the government’s Chief Medical Officer, said antibiotic resistant was ‘as big a risk of terrorism; and warned that Britain faced returning to a 19th century world where the smallest infection or operation could kill. <br />
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The World Health Oganisation has also classified antimicrobial resistance as a "serious threat’ to every region of the world which ‘has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country" <br />
However the new discovery offers hope that many new antibiotics could be found to fight bacterial infections. <br />
<br />
Crucially, the scientists believe that bacteria will not become resistant to Teixobactin for at least 30 years because of its multiple methods of attack. <br />
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Testing on mice has already shown that the antibiotic works well at clearing infections, without side-effects. The team is now concentrating on upscaling production so that it could be tested in humans. <br />
“Right now we can deliver a dose that cures mice and a variety of models of infection and we can deliver 10 mg per kg so it correlates well with human usage,” added Professor Lewis. <br />
The breakthrough was heralded by scientists who said it could prove a ‘game-changer’ in the struggle against antimicrobial resistance. <br />
<br />
Prof Laura Piddock, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham, said: “The screening tool developed by these researchers could be a ‘game changer’ for discovering new antibiotics as it allows compounds to be isolated from soil producing micro-organisms that do not grow under normal laboratory conditions.” <br />
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Prof Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, from the University of Edinburgh added: “Any report of a new antibiotic is auspicious, but what most excites me about the paper is the tantalising prospect that this discovery is just the tip of the iceberg. <br />
“Most antibiotics are natural products derived from microbes in the soil. The ones we have discovered so far come from a tiny subset of the rich diversity of microbes that live there. <br />
“Lewis et al. have found a way to look for antibiotics in other kinds of microbe, part of the so-called microbial “dark matter” that is very difficult to study.” <br />
<br />
Dr Angelika Gründling, Reader in Molecular Microbiology, Imperial College London said the discovery , ‘raises our hopes that new antibiotics can be brought to the clinics in the not too distant future.’ <br />
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<br />
“The great hope is now that many more new antibiotics can be uncovered in a similar manner.” <br />
Public Health England also welcomed the breakthrough. <br />
<br />
“The rise in antibiotic resistance is a threat to modern healthcare as we know it so this discovery could potentially help to bridge the ever increasing gap between infections and the medicines we have available to treat them,” said Prof Neil Woodford, Head of Public Health England’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections Reference Unit. <br />
The research was published in the journal Nature. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-74572180762698304322015-01-07T20:30:00.001+00:002015-01-07T20:30:11.677+00:00Obama To Disband the Marine Corps [oh, and donuts,sprinkles, and stuff]<div class="date">
Thu Jan 01, 2015 at 01:26 PM PST</div>
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<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/01/1355083/-Obama-To-Disband-the-Marine-Corps" id="titleHref">Obama To Disband the Marine Corps</a><span style="white-space: nowrap;"></span></h2>
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<span>by </span><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/SemDem">SemDem</a> Opinion - Daily KOS</div>
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You didn't know this, did you?<br />
<br />
On a flight home I sat in between two individuals, a Marine and boxing promoter. The boxing guy was an older gentleman, and told interesting stories, such as meeting Don King. Both men were very pleasant and that helped make time pass on the flight. We were all combat veterans and all Southerners, so we had a lot in common. Then the discussion, inevitably, turned to politics.<br />
The older guy turned to the Marine and said "You know Obama is getting rid of the Marine Corps, right?"<br />
<br />
The Marine was puzzled. He hadn't heard this news. Neither had I. "Yeah, Eric Holder just had a meeting with the Joint Chiefs. Obama is going to disband them by Executive Order."<br />
Hooooo boy. We are going to do this now, are we? Putting aside for the moment why the head of the DOJ would be involved with restructuring a military department in the DoD, I said: "I don't think any president can just disband a branch of service. Also, this would be pretty big news. Don't you think it would be all over the news instead of a message board?" I assumed it was a message board because I follow GOP conspiracy theories on rightwing sites, and never heard of this one. Even the Marine, who was no Obama fan, agreed this sounded very stupid and we moved on to other topics. <br />
We all parted ways and thanked each other for the talk. I told the Marine I'd see him on my flight back since there soon wouldn't be a base for him to go to.<br />
Sure enough, I got back home and did some checking on the interwebs. Although I couldn't find anything about Obama disbanding the Corps, I did find a story that Obama was going to <a href="http://www.breachbangclear.com/obama-executive-order-disbands-reserves-conscripts-crossfitters/" target="_blank">disband the National Guard and Reserves</a> by fall of this year, a post that <a href="http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6201970882/m/9350043361001" target="_blank">Hillary Clinton is, in fact, going to dismantle the Marine Corps</a>, and various other hysteria/delusions in the mind of a brainwashed conservative. <br />
I thought about the flight and wondered, <strong>how can such a seemingly intelligent, normal man suddenly suspend logic and spout such nonsense?</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
How can, on one hand, we discuss rationally our jobs, our cars, our families, and then BOOM, a switch goes off and <a href="http://www.altnews.info/fema-concentration-camps/" target="_blank">FEMA camps</a>, immigrant take-over, birth certificate <a href="http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread695722/pg1" target="_blank">time-travel</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/sandy-hook-conspiracy-theory-video-debunked_n_2487427.html" target="_blank">Sandy Hook being a hoax</a>, and the ever present secret army of "jack-booted thugs" (you know, the bad kind who take your guns away, not the good kind who shoot unarmed brown people). <br />
Paranoia, fear, contempt... it's disturbing. I think to myself, do you ever listen to <em>how stupid this all sounds?</em> We are coming to the end of Obama's two terms. Gun rights haven't been curtailed in the least. If anything, they've expanded and it's easier to get a gun than ever before. Also, no one was taken into camps and locked up (unless you count the record number of undocumented immigrants Obama allowed that to happen to before deportation).<br />
<br />
Even the conspiracy theories have gotten lamer. It went from all of us being destroyed to Michelle Obama wants to take dessert away. No. Seriously.<br />
<br />
<strong>Fox News <em>just reported</em> that Obama is going to ban doughnuts!</strong><br />
And not just doughnuts. Watch the report. Obama's jack-booted FDA is coming after (and they list these) popcorn, Christmas cookies (ohhh he hates Christmas!), crackers, frozen pizza, and canned frosting. Fox News host Clayton Morris actually said they would be prohibited!<br />
Hoooo boy. I shouldn't have to explain this, but what they are referring to is the FDA ban on trans-fat, which was enacted well over a year ago. Trans-fat isn't needed to make anything, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/your-doughnuts-are-safe-obamas-grasp" target="_blank">has already been eliminated by doughnut companies for years</a>! (This includes the stupid doughnuts Morris was displaying.) In other words, trans-fat is a dangerous, non-essential ingredient that has already been replaced. No one gave flying f***. <br />
<br />
Yet Fox is lying to its viewers, <strong>again</strong>, telling them that their favorite desserts will be BANNED! Cue the outrage--just like when they recently reported that Obama would personally fund a Muslim museum during a government shutdown (their source: a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/06/fox-news-anna-kooiman-obama-parody_n_4053994.html" target="_blank">parody website</a>!) <br />
<br />
Or this past October when they told their viewers that Obama was <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/keith-ablow-obama-ebola-affinities-africa" target="_blank">purposefully letting Ebola in America because his "affiliations and affinities" were with Africa</a>! Sounds incredible? Yes, because you are rational. But you don't win the <a href="http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/16/republicans-fox-news-win-politifacts-lie-year-award-2014.html" target="_blank">LIE of the YEAR award</a> from Politifact for being rationale. This year, Fox News won for spreading false information about Ebola. (It can go with their <a href="http://gawker.com/5814309/jon-stewart-reads-off-laundry-list-of-false-statements-by-lying-dynasty-fox-news" target="_blank">past year awards</a>.)<br />
<br />
And now, at the end of the year, Fox had to cap off their lying streak by reporting that coming soon in 2015, your favorite sugary treats will be taken by the aforementioned jack-booted thugs. As Cenk said in the video, it is pretty much guaranteed that one of your brainwashed relatives will state, matter-of-factly, that Obama is coming after our doughnuts. It was on the "news". <br />
Yet in a few months, when we see that our doughnuts are still on the shelves and no one is trying to take them, the Fox viewer will not once ever stop and say to himself--"Hey, they lied to me!". That is because he will already be outraged at the next lie. The cycle will continue, and I'll keep trying to get through.<br />
<br />
To all of my conservative friends, past, present, and those I'll meet on flights in the future: Can one of your New Year's resolutions be that when you hear something SO INCREDIBLE about your president or, in fact, any politician, that you will put a minimum amount of effort to verifying it is true before you spout it as fact? Just ONE google search will usually do it.<br />
<br />
That's all I ask. You'll seem more normal, less gullible, and you'll find that people will enjoy your company without suddenly questioning your intelligence.<br />
Happy New Year my friends, and Benghazi.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-22626105486499687462014-12-10T07:49:00.003+00:002014-12-10T07:49:20.551+00:00Hundreds of Police Killings Are Uncounted in Federal Stats<h1 class="wsj-article-headline" itemprop="headline" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Chronicle Display', serif; font-size: 40px; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Hundreds of Police Killings Are Uncounted in Federal Stats</h1>
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FBI Data Differs from Local Counts on Justifiable Homicides</h2>
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A WSJ analysis finds hundreds of homicides by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. between 2007 and 2012 are not included in FBI records. WSJ's Rob Barry reports. Photo: iStock/Juanmonino</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><div class="author mobile-scrim hasMenu" data-scrim="{"type":"author","header":"Rob Barry","subhead":"The Wall Street Journal","list":[{"type":"link","icon":"bio","url":"http://topics.wsj.com/person/A/biography/7212","text":"Biography"},{"type":"link","icon":"email","url":"mailto:Rob.Barry@wsj.com","text":"Rob.Barry@wsj.com"},{"type":"link","icon":"twitter","url":"http://twitter.com/rob_barry","text":"@rob_barry"}]}" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="name" itemprop="name" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; color: #0080c3; font-size: 1.4rem; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">ROB BARRY</span> and</div>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><div class="author hasMenu" data-scrim="{"type":"author","header":"Coulter Jones","subhead":"The Wall Street Journal","list":[]}" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span itemprop="name" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">COULTER JONES </span></span></div>
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<a class="comments_header" href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/hundreds-of-police-killings-are-uncounted-in-federal-statistics-1417577504#livefyre-comment" rel="nofollow" style="background: 0px 0px; color: #0080c3; font-family: 'Whitney SSm', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 2.2rem; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">S</a></div>
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WASHINGTON—When 24-year-old Albert Jermaine Payton wielded a knife in front of the police in this city’s southeast corner, officers opened fire and killed him.</div>
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Yet according to national statistics intended to track police killings, Mr. Payton’s death in August 2012 never happened. It is one of hundreds of homicides by law-enforcement agencies between 2007 and 2012 that aren’t included in records kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.</div>
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A Wall Street Journal analysis of the latest data from 105 of the country’s largest police agencies found more than 550 police killings during those years were missing from the national tally or, in a few dozen cases, not attributed to the agency involved. The result: It is nearly impossible to determine how many people are killed by the police each year.</div>
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Public demands for transparency on such killings have increased since the August shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Mo. The Ferguson Police Department has reported to the FBI one justifiable homicide by police between 1976 and 2012.</div>
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Law-enforcement experts long have lamented the lack of information about killings by police. “When cops are killed, there is a very careful account and there’s a national database,” said Jeffrey Fagan, a law professor at Columbia University. “Why not the other side of the ledger?”</div>
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Interactive: Justifiable Homicides by Law Enforcement</h4>
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Police can use data about killings to improve tactics, particularly when dealing with people who are mentally ill, said Paco Balderrama, a spokesman for the Oklahoma City Police Department. “It’s great to recognize that, because 30 years ago we used to not do that. We used to just show up and handle the situation.”</div>
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Three sources of information about deaths caused by police—the FBI numbers, figures from the Centers for Disease Control and data at the Bureau of Justice Statistics—differ from one another widely in any given year or state, according to a 2012 report by David Klinger, a criminologist with the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a onetime police officer.</div>
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To analyze the accuracy of the FBI data, the Journal requested internal records on killings by officers from the nation’s 110 largest police departments. One-hundred-five of them provided figures.</div>
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Those internal figures show at least 1,800 police killings in those 105 departments between 2007 and 2012, about 45% more than the FBI’s tally for justifiable homicides in those departments’ jurisdictions, which was 1,242, according to the Journal’s analysis. Nearly all police killings are deemed by the departments or other authorities to be justifiable.</div>
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The full national scope of the underreporting can’t be quantified. In the period analyzed by the Journal, 753 police entities reported about 2,400 killings by police. The large majority of the nation’s roughly 18,000 law-enforcement agencies didn’t report any.</div>
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“Does the FBI know every agency in the U.S. that could report but has chosen not to? The answer is no,” said Alexia Cooper, a statistician with the Bureau of Justice Statistics who studies the FBI’s data. “What we know is that some places have chosen not to report these, for whatever reason.”</div>
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FBI spokesman Stephen G. Fischer said the agency uses “established statistical methodologies and norms” when reviewing data submitted by agencies. FBI staffers check the information, then ask agencies “to correct or verify questionable data,” he said.</div>
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The reports to the FBI are part of its uniform crime reporting program. Local law-enforcement agencies aren’t required to participate. Some localities turn over crime statistics, but not detailed records describing each homicide, which is the only way particular kinds of killings, including those by police, are tracked by the FBI. The records, which are supposed to document every homicide, are sent from local police agencies to state reporting bodies, which forward the data to the FBI.</div>
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The Journal’s analysis identified several holes in the FBI data.</div>
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Justifiable police homicides from 35 of the 105 large agencies contacted by the Journal didn’t appear in the FBI records at all. Some agencies said they didn’t view justifiable homicides by law-enforcement officers as events that should be reported. The Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, for example, said it didn’t consider such cases to be an “actual offense,” and thus doesn’t report them to the FBI.</div>
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READ MORE</h4>
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<li style="background: url(data:image/png; border: 0px; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; max-width: 580px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="icon none" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/12/03/why-are-so-many-police-killings-not-in-fbi-data-the-short-answer/" style="background: 0px 0px / 30px 30px no-repeat; color: #0080c3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">Why Are So Many Police Killings Not in FBI Data? The Short Answer</a></li>
<li style="background: url(data:image/png; border: 0px; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; max-width: 580px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="icon none" href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/body-cameras-put-new-pressure-on-police-1417565922?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj" style="background: 0px 0px / 30px 30px no-repeat; color: #0080c3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">Body Cameras Put New Pressure on Police</a></li>
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For 28 of the remaining 70 agencies, the FBI was missing records of police killings in at least one year. Two departments said their officers didn’t kill anyone during the period analyzed by the Journal.</div>
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About a dozen agencies said their police-homicides tallies didn’t match the FBI’s because of a quirk in the reporting requirements: Incidents are supposed to be reported by the jurisdiction where the event occurred, even if the officer involved was from elsewhere. For example, the California Highway Patrol said there were 16 instances in which one of its officers killed someone in a city or other local jurisdiction responsible for reporting the death to the FBI. In some instances reviewed by the Journal, an agency believed its officers’ justifiable homicides had been reported by other departments, but they hadn’t.</div>
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Also missing from the FBI data are killings involving federal officers.</div>
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Police in Washington, D.C., didn’t report to the FBI details about any homicides for an entire decade beginning with 1998—the year the Washington Post found the city had one of the highest rates of officer-involved killings in the country. In 2011, the agency reported five killings by police. In 2012, the year Mr. Payton was killed, there are again no records on homicides from the agency.</div>
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D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she doesn’t know why the agency stopped reporting the numbers in 1998. “I wasn’t the chief and had no role in decision making” back then, said Ms. Lanier, who was a captain at the time. When she took over in 2007, she said, reporting the statistics “was a nightmare and a very tedious process.”</div>
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<img alt="" data-enlarge="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BS088B_COPSO_16U_20141202175421.jpg" data-in-at4units-src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BS088B_COPSO_9U_20141202175421.jpg" data-in-base-src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BS088B_COPSO_9U_20141202175421.jpg" data-intent="" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BS088B_COPSO_9U_20141202175421.jpg" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; display: block; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;" title="" /><span class="image-enlarge" style="background: url(data:image/png; border: 0px; bottom: 10px; cursor: pointer; height: 50px; left: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-indent: -9999px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; z-index: 999;">ENLARGE</span></div>
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Ms. Lanier said her agency resumed its reports in 2009. In 2012, the agency turned over the detailed homicide records, she said, but the data had an error in it and was rejected by the FBI. She referred questions about why the department stopped reporting homicides in 1998 to former Chief Charles H. Ramsey, now head of the Philadelphia Police Department. Mr. Ramsey declined to comment.</div>
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In recent years, police departments have tried to rely more on statistics to develop better tactics. “You want to get the data right,” said Mike McCabe, the undersheriff of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan. It is “really important in terms of how you deploy your resources.”</div>
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A total of 100 agencies provided the Journal with numbers of people killed by police each year from 2007 through 2012; five more provided statistics for some years. Several, including the police departments in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Austin, Texas, post detailed use-of-force reports online.</div>
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Five of the 110 agencies the Journal contacted, including the Michigan State Police, didn’t provide internal figures. A spokeswoman for the Michigan State Police said the agency had records of police shootings, but “not in tally form.”</div>
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Big increases in the numbers of officer-involved killings can be a red flag about problems inside a police department, said Mike White, a criminologist at Arizona State University. “Sometimes that can be tied to poor leadership and problems with accountability,” he said.</div>
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The FBI has almost no records of police shootings from departments in three of the most populous states in the country—Florida, New York and Illinois.</div>
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In Florida, available reports from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement don’t conform to FBI requirements and haven’t been included in the national tally since 1996. A spokeswoman for the state agency said in an email that Florida was “unable” to meet the FBI’s reporting requirements because its tracking software was outdated.</div>
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New York revamped its reporting system in 2002 and 2006, but isn’t able to track information about justifiable police homicides, said a spokeswoman for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. She said the agency was “looking to modify our technology so we can reflect these numbers.”</div>
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In 1987, a commission created by then-Governor Mario Cuomo to investigate abuse of force by police found that New York’s reports to the FBI were “inadequate and incomplete,” and urged reforms to “hold government accountable for the use of force.” The spokeswoman for the state criminal-justice agency said it isn’t clear what the agency did in response back then.</div>
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Illinois only began reporting crime statistics to the FBI in 2010 and hasn’t phased in the detailed homicide reports. “We cannot begin adding additional pieces because we are newcomers to the federal program,” said Terri Hickman, director of the Illinois State Police’s crime-reporting program. Two agencies in Illinois deliver data to the FBI: Chicago and Rockford.</div>
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In Washington, D.C., councilman Tommy Wells held two hearings this fall on police oversight. He said he was surprised that the department hadn’t reported details of police killings to the FBI. “That should not be a challenge,” he said.</div>
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More than two years after the knife-carrying Mr. Payton was shot and killed by D.C. police, his mother, who witnessed the killing, said she is still looking for answers. Helena Payton, 59, said her son had many interactions with local police because of what she said was his mental illness. “All the cops in the Seventh District knew him, just about,” she said.</div>
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The officers who arrived that Friday afternoon in August, in response to a call from Mr. Payton’s girlfriend, had never dealt with her son, she said. According to Ms. Payton, her son walked outside holding a small utility knife. As he approached the officers, they fired dozens of bullets at him, she said. He died soon after.</div>
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The U.S. attorney’s office is reviewing the incident, as is customary in all police shootings in Washington. A spokesman for the office declined to comment on the status of the case. The Washington police department, citing the continuing investigation, declined to provide the officers’ names, a narrative of what happened, or basic information usually included in the reports to the FBI, such as the number of officers involved in the shooting.</div>
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The officers involved are back on duty, according to D.C. authorities, but the case isn’t closed.</div>
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<span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Write to </span>Rob Barry at <a class="icon " href="mailto:rob.barry@wsj.com" style="background: 0px 0px / 30px 30px no-repeat; color: #0080c3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">rob.barry@wsj.com</a> and Coulter Jones at <a class="icon " href="mailto:Coulter.Jones@wsj.com" style="background: 0px 0px / 30px 30px no-repeat; color: #0080c3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Coulter.Jones@wsj.com</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-59314958020071632842014-11-28T17:08:00.000+00:002014-11-29T03:24:56.329+00:00Black Friday Deals Not Worth the Trouble<h2 class=" region-cat" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.4rem; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/search?article-doc-type=%7BBusiness%7D&HEADER_TEXT=business" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #115b8f; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">BUSINESS</a></h2>
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The Myth of the Black Friday Deal</h1>
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By DANA MATTIOLI Wall Street Journal<br />
Updated Oct. 8, 2012 10:59 a.m. ET<br />
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After crunching two to six years' worth of pricing data for a number of typical holiday gifts, The Wall Street Journal has turned up the best times to go deal hunting — and they almost never involve standing in the freezing cold all night.<br />
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It turns out that gifts from Barbie dolls to watches to blenders are often priced below Black Friday levels at various times throughout the year, even during the holiday season, and their prices follow different trajectories as the remaining shopping days tick down.<br />
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Watches and jewelry, typical last-minute quarry for well-heeled shoppers, get more expensive as the season progresses, according to Decide Inc., the consumer-price research firm that gathered and analyzed the data for this article. Blenders, which might sit around for months if they aren't bought in the holiday window, get much cheaper at the end.<br />
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The results reveal a lot about how retailers plot pricing strategy ahead of the year-end shopping frenzy that can account for a fifth or more of their sales. They also highlight how the industry has managed to use more sophisticated technology to turn Black Friday into a marketing bonanza by carefully selecting items for deep discounts while continuing to price broader merchandise at levels that won't kill profits.<br />
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"In the old days, all of the great deals were on Black Friday, but now you see some great deals on Black Friday and lots of offers throughout the season," says John Barbour, chief executive of electronic-toy maker LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. and a former Toys "R" Us Inc. executive.<br />
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The fast rise of online shopping has presented a wealth of data for researchers looking to uncover retailers' strategies and pinpoint when prices are lowest. Decide aims to use that data to tell its member consumers whether to buy any of a number of products now or wait until later. The company is run by veterans of Farecast, a service that tried to predict whether airfares on specific routes were about to go up or down and was bought by Microsoft Corp. for a reported $115 million in 2008.<br />
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At the request of The Wall Street Journal, Decide tracked the prices of products ranging from flat-screen televisions to Barbie dolls each day for at least two years across a number of retailers and e-commerce websites. The results included the prices at more than 50 retailers, including Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Macy's Inc.<br />
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Decide didn't track in-store prices, which differ from market to market. As a result, its findings don't reflect the "door buster" specials offered during Black Friday on limited quantities of items found only in stores. But online retailers like Amazon have become more aggressive about competing for Black Friday business, so the data still give a good picture of broader trends in pricing.<br />
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Prices for some gifts items are lowest early in the holiday season—meaning now—before retailers begin to gradually raise prices. But Decide's tracking of prices for at least two years produced some surprising conclusions about the best times to buy on average.<br />
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(Periods of lowest price identified in this article, based on averages over at least two years, differ from those in the chart, which is based only on 2011.)<br />
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Decide tracked the price of a Citizen men's black watch from 2008 through 2011 and found that the best time to buy it was early March, when the watch sank to $350 from its $600 list price. The average price for the watch on Black Friday and Cyber Monday was $379.<br />
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If you missed that window, there is still no reason to wait for a bargain. Categories like jewelry and watches become pricier throughout the months leading up to Christmas, according to Decide's data, which showed a steady incline in prices from October through December.<br />
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Ugg boots, typically a winter item, also became pricier as the holiday season progressed. Decide's data show the best time to buy Uggs during the holiday-shopping window is in September or October. The average price for a pair of women's "Classic Cardy" Uggs during those two months was $85, down from the $159.95 list price. On Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the average price jumped about 59% to $135 and $137, respectively.<br />
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Hot items like flat-screen televisions also become more expensive closer to Christmas, Decide's data found. The best holiday-season time to buy a flat-screen television is in October, says Mike Fridgen, Decide's chief executive.<br />
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The average price of a Samsung 46-inch "Professional" LCD television was $1,159 in October, according to Decide. On Black Friday, the same TV's average price was $1,355, the data found.<br />
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The same goes for almost any hot item and popular toys.<br />
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Buying early could help you snag an item before prices rise as supplies become tight.<br />
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The price of a Sesame Street Elmo plush toy increased 31% to $17.78 on Black Friday from its average in September and October, according to Decide's data.<br />
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The late-season price increases for toys that turn into hits can be dramatic. Ron Brawer, a partner at toy maker Maya Group Inc., recalls that his $29.99 Orbeez "Soothing Spa" toy was sold for as much as $90 during last year's holiday season as online retailers raised the price when supplies became limited.<br />
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"It was crazy," Mr. Brawer says. "They spent three times as much for something than if they would have bought it three weeks earlier."<br />
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For other items, it pays to wait until closer to Christmas. The mid-December price of a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, for example, dropped nearly 20% from the month before, according to Decide data.<br />
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Retailers will generally look to reduce inventory levels on items they overestimated or bought too much of in the days before Christmas, rather than having to resort to an even steeper discount on Dec. 26, says Arnold Aronson, a former CEO of Batus Retail Group, which in the 1980s was the parent company of department stores Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshall Field's and Kohl's.<br />
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The retail veteran, now managing director of retail strategies at consultancy Kurt Salmon, says chains have much more insight into margin and sales than they did in years past because of technology, and they're using it to carefully craft Black Friday deals that maximize the promotional benefit without wiping out profit.<br />
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"They have to provide value on the day, but they engineer it in a way that they can control their own destiny rather than fall victim to it," Mr. Aronson says.<br />
<br />
Black Friday may be the best time to find incredibly deep discounts on some select items. But quantities are often limited, making the odds of getting those items slim.<br />
<br />
Retailers use the offerings to get people through their doors, even at the cost of losing money on the sale, in the hopes of drumming up business for other products that aren't priced at such steep discounts.<br />
<br />
The deepest discounts at Sears Holdings Corp.'s Kmart and Sears stores are still offered on Black Friday, says Ron Boire, chief merchandising officer for Sears Holdings. But like other retailers, Mr. Boire said, both stores will tag many items at full price that day.<br />
<br />
Black Friday can offer fleeting bargains on some highly prized items, too. The price of Apple Inc. 's iPad rarely moves up or down. But last year on Black Friday, Apple offered a $41 to $61 discount on its tablet computers depending on the model.<br />
<br />
Apple declines to comment on whether it will have a similar sale this year.<br />
<br />
Videogame systems like Xbox also showed their biggest price drops during Black Friday and the following Cyber Monday, resulting in more than $100 in savings, according to Decide's data.<br />
<br />
But those are exceptions to the rule. The transparency created by online shopping has made pricing much more volatile, says Mr. Fridgen, Decide's CEO. The result is that prices have become much more fluid than in years past, when items were discounted most heavily on Black Friday.<br />
<br />
Vendors and retailers are under pressure from still-frugal consumers and heavy online competition to offer discounts more frequently throughout the holiday season.<br />
<br />
John McCarvel, the CEO of Crocs Inc., says the shoe maker has a big Black Friday planned at its 200 U.S. stores, but he's also planning promotions in early November and after the Black Friday weekend to keep customers shopping. Last year, Crocs sent its customers a mailing with a coupon in the first week of December that drove traffic, he says.<br />
<br />
"I think you have to do more in this marketplace," Mr. McCarvel adds, referring to the need to be aggressive with discounts. "The consumer will shop where they can get a deal, whether it's finding you online or at Amazon and other locations."<br />
<br />
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-3603885657157446782014-11-22T20:51:00.002+00:002014-11-22T21:04:47.141+00:00[Correspondence] craigslist to Consumer Product Safety Commission<div style="color: #333333; margin: 30px 0px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[After an ABC <u>20/20</u> ambush segment with </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">: l</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">etter to Elliot Kaye, Chairman Consumer Product Safety Commission </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">from Jim Buckmaster, CEO craigslist]</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">November 21, 2014</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Elliot Kaye<br />Chairman<br />Consumer Product Safety Commission<br />4330 East West Hwy<br />Bethesda, MD 20814</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Chairman Kaye:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I saw your ABC interview, and let me say first that we agree 100% on the product recall process; it’s broken, and it absolutely must be fixed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You rightly lamented to ABC that for a typical recall, 95% of the recalled items are still in the hands of consumers 5 years after the recall notice. ABC noted in its report that hundreds of new recalls, involving many millions of products, are required each year. These figures are utterly shocking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Imagine our dismay when you and ABC “came out shooting” at craigslist. Last we knew from your representatives, earlier this year, we were taking all appropriate steps to reduce the number of free classified ads for recall items by craigslist users.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Contrary to an assertion you made on ABC, we do not earn any revenue from these free classifieds, and it seems you may have been misinformed as to both our business model and what is involved in moderating free user classified, as opposed to the online retailers to whom you compared us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I invite you to sit down with me here in San Francisco, to discuss how craigslist can further assist the CPSC in addressing product recalls. I will clear my calendar and make support staff available for meeting with you and relevant CPSC staffers. Since you, personally, have been the one leading the criticism, I trust you agree it will be time well spent for you as CPSC chairman, and I as craigslist CEO, to meet in person.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As added incentive for you to make the trip to the Bay Area (although I imagine you are out here regularly in any event), we also have some practical ideas for curtailing the hundreds of times each year you are left trying to “unring the bell” after millions of faulty products have already been sold to consumers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 16.7999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, Craig Newmark has been the victim of completely undeserved criticism by you and ABC, despite our informing ABC – weeks BEFORE they ambushed him – that he has not been involved with managing craigslist for over a decade and is not a spokesperson for the business he founded. This is commonplace at Internet companies. Craig is a dedicated philanthropist, and was unjustly defamed by “Recall Roulette.”</span></span><br />
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<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="line-height: 16.7999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I look forward to meeting you.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.7999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sincerely,</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jim Buckmaster<br />CEO, craigslist<br />jim@craigslist.org</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-17418384578235499032014-10-21T15:08:00.002+01:002014-10-21T15:08:21.808+01:00Reagan Administration and the First Two Years of the AIDS Epidemic<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>White House Press Briefing — Oct. 15, 1982</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement—the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">MR. SPEAKES: What’s AIDS?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Over a third of them have died. It’s known as “gay plague.” (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it’s a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">MR. SPEAKES: I don’t have it. Do you? (Laughter.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: No, I don’t.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">MR. SPEAKES: You didn’t answer my question.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">MR. SPEAKES: How do you know? (Laughter.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">MR. SPEAKES: No, I don’t know anything about it, Lester.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Does the President, does anybody in the White House know about this epidemic, Larry?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s been any—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Nobody knows?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: There has been no personal experience here, Lester.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: No, I mean, I thought you were keeping—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I checked thoroughly with Dr. Ruge this morning and he’s had no—(laughter)—no patients suffering from AIDS or whatever it is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: The President doesn’t have gay plague, is that what you’re saying or what?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: No, I didn’t say that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Didn’t say that?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I thought I heard you on the State Department over there. Why didn’t you stay there? (Laughter.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Because I love you, Larry, that’s why. (Laughter.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: Oh, I see. Just don’t put it in those terms, Lester. (Laughter.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: Oh, I retract that.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I hope so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Q: It’s too late.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>White House Press Briefing — June 13, 1983</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: Larry, does the President think that it might help if he suggested that the gays cut down on their “cruising”? (Laughter.) What? I didn’t hear your answer, Larry.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I just was acknowledging your interest—</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: You were acknowledging but—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: —interest in this subject.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: —you don’t think that it would help if the gays cut down on their cruising—it would help AIDS?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: We are researching it. If we come up with any research that sheds some light on whether gays should cruise or not cruise, we’ll make it available to you. (Laughter.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: Back to fairy tales.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>White House Press Briefing — Dec. 11, 1984</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: Lester’s beginning to circle now. He’s moving in front. (Laughter.) Go ahead.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: Since the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta—(laughter)—reports—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: This is going to be an AIDS question.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: —that an estimated—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: You were close.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: Well, look, could I ask the question, Larry?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: You were close.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: An estimated 300,000 people have been exposed to AIDS, which can be transmitted through saliva. Will the President, as Commander-in-Chief, take steps to protect Armed Forces food and medical services from AIDS patients or those who run the risk of spreading AIDS in the same manner that they forbid typhoid fever people from being involved in the health or food services?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I don’t know.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: Could you—Is the President concerned about this subject, Larry—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: I haven’t heard him express—</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: —that seems to have evoked so much jocular—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES:—concern.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: —reaction here? I—you know—</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: It isn’t only the jocks, Lester. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">Has he sworn off water faucets—</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: No, but, I mean, is he going to do anything, Larry?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: Lester, I have not heard him express anything on it. Sorry.</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: You mean he has no—expressed no opinion about this epidemic?</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: No, but I must confess I haven’t asked him about it. (Laughter.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;">Q: Would you ask him Larry?</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">MR. SPEAKES: Have you been checked? (Laughter.)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-37169076561449411062014-10-19T03:41:00.000+01:002014-10-19T03:41:12.751+01:00A follow-up on claims of "voter fraud" state by state / by flantabulous<div class="title" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: blue; font-family: 'Segoe UI', verdana, Frutiger, 'Frutiger Linotype', 'Dejavu Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-right: 0.4em; outline: none; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<a class="title may-blank loggedin" href="http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/2jltnc/a_followup_on_claims_of_voter_fraud_state_by_state/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: rgb(104, 34, 189) !important; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-right: 0.4em; outline: none; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;" tabindex="1">A follow-up on claims of "voter fraud" state by state.</a> <span class="domain" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #888888; font-size: xx-small; white-space: nowrap;">(<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #888888; display: inline-block; max-width: 19em; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: middle;">self.politics</a>)</span></div>
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submitted <time class="live-timestamp" datetime="2014-10-18T13:40:08+00:00" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;" title="Sat Oct 18 13:40:08 2014 UTC">12 hours ago</time> by <a class="author may-blank id-t2_h4etw" href="http://www.reddit.com/user/flantabulous" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; margin-right: 0.5em; text-decoration: none;">flantabulous</a><span class="flair flair-contributor" style="background: url(http://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/vrd63bWRA4M784wrbf-I2qm3dZoiC6XfRo_4aIPMYs8.png) 0px 0px no-repeat; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: #555555; content: ''; display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; height: 20px; margin-right: 0.5em; margin-top: -1px; padding: 0px 2px; text-align: center; text-indent: -9999px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 20px;" title="Politics 101 Contributor">Politics 101 Contributor</span><span class="userattrs" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"></span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/gilded" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;"><span class="gilded-icon" data-count="3" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #99895f; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.9em; margin: 0px 0px -15px 8px; position: relative; top: -8px; vertical-align: middle;" title="redditors have gifted 3 months of reddit gold to flantabulous for this submission.">x3</span></a></div>
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It is easy to grab headlines with a lurid claim --"TENS OF THOUSANDS MAY BE VOTING ILLEGALLY!"-- but the follow-up, when any exists - is not usually deemed newsworthy.</h2>
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<sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">-</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">From</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">"The</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">Truth</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">About</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">Voter</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">Fraud"</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">by</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">the</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">Brennan</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">Center</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">for</sup> <sup style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">Justice</sup></div>
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*This is my attempt to compile all 'those non-newsworthy follow-ups'.</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">MICHIGAN</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/05/michigan_dead_people_voting_au.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">"DEAD PEOPLE AND PRISONERS CAST 1,500 VOTES"</a></strong></div>
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was the headline in Michigan's two largest papers. <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120516/NEWS15/205160363/State-audit-shows-dead-people-prisoners-cast-1-500-votes" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">1</a> <a href="http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/05/michigan_dead_people_voting_au.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">2</a></div>
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But, Michigan's GOP Secretary of State, was forced to clarify:</div>
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"clerical error is the culprit behind the voting concerns, not voter fraud"... “in every instance where it appears a deceased person or incarcerated person voted... a clerical error was established as the reason.”</div>
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The Claim: 1500.</div>
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The actual number of dead people and prisoners voting: 0.</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">0 out of 8 million total votes.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">MINNESOTA</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/12/felons-voting-illegally-franken-minnesota-study-finds/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">FOX NEWS REPORTS <em style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">HUNDREDS</em> OF CONVICTED FELONS VOTED IN 2008, possibly handing the election to Franken.</a></strong></div>
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An independent audit of tens of thousands of votes <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2012/08/cases-voter-id-election-fraud-found-virtually-non-existent" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">found 10.</a> Since these were instances of ex-felons, using their own identity to vote before their rights had been restored, voter ID would have had no effect.</div>
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NONE were prosecuted as intentional fraud.</div>
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(Fox has yet to correct or retract their story).</div>
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The Claim: Hundreds.</div>
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Actual number of ex-felons improperly voting: 10.</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">10 out of 2.8 MILLION votes -- or 0.00003% of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">WISCONSIN</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/155720605.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">GOP claims Democratic voter fraud in Wisconsin is equal to "1 or 2 percentage points"</a></strong><a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/may/31/reince-priebus/voter-fraud-means-gop-candidates-wisconsin-need-do/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">(PolitiFact: <strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">FALSE</strong>)</a></div>
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From 2008-2012, an Election Fraud Task Force operated with the District Attorneys of the 11 counties republicans most suspected of fraudulent voting. In the end,they found 20 cases, 6 were registrations, not voting. 14 were ex-felons voting before their rights had been restored.</div>
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In Wisconsin's voter ID trial, a federal judge asked the state to provide evidence of 'voter impersonation' - the only type of fraud that voter ID can stop. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/federal-judge-in-wisconsin-looks-for-voter-fraud-finds-none/361403/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">The state could not produce a single known case in Wisconsin history.</a></div>
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The Claim: Up to 43,000.</div>
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Number of actual cases found: 14 (all ex-felons, voting before their rights were restored)</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">14 out of 10.5 MILLION votes, or 0.0001% of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">NORTH CAROLINA</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/03/hundreds-cases-potential-voter-fraud-uncovered-in-north-carolina/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Fox News: Hundreds of cases of potential voter fraud in North Carolina</a></strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.newsmax.com/US/Carolina-voter-fraud-zombies/2014/04/03/id/563542/#ixzz3GAevK6Mj" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">NewsMax: North Carolina Identifies 36,000 Possible Voter Fraud Cases</a></strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2014/04/03/oh-my-evidence-of-massive-voter-fraud-in-north-carolina-n1818137" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">TownHall: Audit Finds Evidence of Widespread Voter Fraud in North Carolina</a></strong></div>
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Earlier this year these headlines echoed through the conservative media.</div>
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<a href="http://www.carolinamercury.com/2014/04/about-those-voter-fraud-numbers/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">But what was the truth behind these claims?</a> Simple; it turns out that when you can't find voter fraud, the easiest thing to do is expand where you look.</div>
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<li style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding: 0px;">
<a href="http://www.southernstudies.org/2014/04/whos-driving-north-carolinas-latest-voter-fraud-hy.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">In 2012 Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach</a> began pushing a new scheme called "Interstate Crosscheck". 25 mostly Republican states are participating. <a href="http://axisphilly.org/article/interstate-crosscheck-voter-program/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">What sets the Interstate Crosscheck program apart from other systems state and local election boards use is the size of its database —in 2012, the program compared more than 84 million voter registration records.</a></div>
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So, in case you are wondering - yes, the claim here is that Bob Smith who voted in NC, is the same Bob Smith who voted the same day in Florida, Alaska and Ohio.</div>
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To date no prosecutions have been brought based on this data.</div>
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The Claim: 36,000</div>
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The actual number of multi-state voters: 0</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">0 out of 4.5 million votes in NC.</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">FLORIDA</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Nearly-200000-Florida-Voters-May-Not-Be-Citizens-151212725.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">2012: "NEARLY 200,000 FLORIDA VOTERS MAY NOT BE CITIZENS".</a></strong></div>
<ul style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 10px 2em; padding: 0px;">
<li style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Based on these claims, Rick Scott ordered a voter purge. When local officials reported badly flawed data, that seemed to single out Hispanics, the Secretary of State ended the voter purge and resigned. His replacement whittled the number down to 2600. After local officials initially found over 500 legal voters they were being asked to remove, <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/07/2838176/county-elections-chiefs-to-state.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">they rebelled and ended the purge themselves.</a> In the end, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/us/politics/florida-agrees-to-let-citizens-mistakenly-purged-from-rolls-to-vote.html?_r=0" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Florida contacted the 2600 people purged and informed them they <em style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">would</em> be allowed to vote.</a> Newspapers asked the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement for all reports of people <a href="http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/258201/0/Report-Voter-fraud-rare-in-Florida" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">arrested on voter fraud charges from 2000-2011. The total was 11.</a></li>
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The Claim: 200,000</div>
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The actual number from 2000 to 2011: 11</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">11 out of approximately 45 MILLION votes - or 0.00002% of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">SOUTH CAROLINA</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/01/23/report-more-than-900-dead-people-voted-in-south-carolina-elections" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">State officials claimed on Fox News that "900 DEAD PEOPLE HAD VOTED"</a></strong></div>
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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-case-of-zombie-voters-in-south-carolina/2013/07/24/86de3c64-f403-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_blog.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">After a year-long state investigation, the actual number of dead people voting turned out to be <strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">ZERO</strong>.</a></div>
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Note: South Carolina only released the results of the study after being sued by the media. They still went on to pass one of the country's strictest voter ID laws "to prevent dead people from voting".</div>
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The Claim: 900</div>
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The actual number of dead people voting: 0</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">0 out of 1.3 MILLION votes.</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">PENNSYLVANIA</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7rkSmdDIIU" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Between Fox News' reports of scary Black Panthers at Philadelphia polls</a> and Sean Hannitys' insistence that <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/11/14/ignoring-history-foxs-hannity-claims-voter-frau/191370" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Romney getting no votes in some Philladelphia precincts was 'mathematically impossible'</a>,</strong></div>
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Those "urban people" areas seemed rife with voter fraud. So the Republican governor and legislature launched an ambitious voter ID law.</div>
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<a href="https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/electionwatcher/conversations/messages/32383" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">(The Philadelphia Inquirer actually sent reporters to scour these precincts, knock on doors of the listed addresses, to find those registered republicans. They mostly came up empty handed. The few that actually existed, voted for Obama.).</a></div>
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Pennsylvania passed a tough voter ID law anyway. When appearing in court to defend it's new voter ID laws, a judge's request for evidence resulted in the state offering the<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/DocJess/applewhite-stipulation" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">"Applewhite Stipulation"</a>; where they acknowledged that Pennsylvania could not produce a<em style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">single known case</em> of in-person voter fraud in its history.</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">0 out of 5.9 MILLION votes.</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">MAINE</strong></div>
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The Maine GOP gave the Attorney General a list of the names 206 college students they believed voted illegally in the state. The AG expanded the investigation to include all types of "voter fraud".<a href="http://bangordailynews.com/2011/09/21/politics/secretary-of-state-finds-no-student-voter-fraud-but-maintains-system-is-vulnerable/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">All the students were cleared, 1 case of a non-resident was discovered.</a></div>
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The Claim: 206</div>
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The actual number of students "illegally" voting out of state: 1</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">1 out of 717,000 total votes, or 0.0001% of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">IOWA</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://theiowarepublican.com/2012/schultz-statement-on-temporary-injunction-by-aclu/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">"3,582 non-citizens may have registered to vote in Iowa, and 1208 voted in 2010", according to GOP Secretary of State Matt Schultz.</a></strong></div>
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Schultz spent two years and $280,000 of federal "Help America Vote" funds chasing voter fraud instead, including hiring a full-time investigator.</div>
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Of the 2+ million votes cast, Schultz said that 238 total cases of "suspected election misconduct" were investigated. <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-politics/2014/05/08/iowa-secretary-of-state-voter-fraud-report-matt-schultz/8858595/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">117 were turned over to prosecutors. 27 ended up in charges, with a total of 6 convictions.</a> The cost to the tax payer was $46,000 per conviction. Five were ex-felons, voting before their rights had been restored. One actually <em style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">was</em> a case of a non-citizen voting - - a German national.</div>
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Interestingly, the investigation also uncovered 20 ex-felons who were illegally <em style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">denied</em> the right to vote. So there were actually three times more ex-felons kept from voting legally, than allowed to vote illegally.</div>
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Schultz is back for more money: <a href="http://thegazette.com/2014/02/04/iowa-secretary-of-state-to-seek-more-funds-for-voter-fraud-investigation/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Iowa secretary of state to seek more funds for voter fraud investigation - Schultz seeking $140,000 in funding</a></div>
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*<a href="http://www.kwqc.com/story/19667851/davenport-woman-targeted-by-iowa-voter-fraud-investigator" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Throwing in a sad little story about one non-citizen who voted and was pursued by the state of Iowa. It's a good read, and also very typical of the real stories behind 'non-citizen voters'.</a></div>
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The Claim: 3,582 non-citizens may have voted.</div>
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Actual number of illegal votes: 6</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">6 out of 2.5 MILLION total votes or 0.0002% of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">TEXAS</strong></div>
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<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20140830-abbotts-houston-raid-didnt-end-with-arrests-but-shut-down-voter-drive.ece" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Gregg Abbot made "voter fraud" a key pillar of his tenure as Texas Attorney General. He raided and shut down non-profit groups that registered poor and minority people in the Houston area.</a></div>
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After conducting extensive investigations over multiple elections, he bragged <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/story/2012-03-19/voter-ID-Texas-fraud/53658158/1" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">in an editorial in USA Today that he had rounded up 50 fraudulent voters</a> from 2004 to 2012.</div>
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<a href="http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2012/apr/17/greg-abbott/greg-abbott-claims-50-election-fraud-convictions-2/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Politifact rates that claim Half-True since only 26 resulted in conviction.</a></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">26 out of approximately 35 MILLION votes over a decade, or 0.00005%.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">OHIO</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/18/non-citizens-caught-voting-in-2012-presidential-election-in-key-swing-state/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Fox News: Non-citizens caught voting in 2012 presidential election in key swing state</a></strong></div>
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According to Fox: "Husted also found that 274 non-citizens remain on the voting rolls. President Obama beat Mitt Romney in Ohio by just 2 percentage points in November 2012".</div>
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Implying one had anything to do with the other.<br style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;" />(BTW 2% of the Ohio vote = 109,780 not 274)</div>
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274 was whittled down to 135, that were recommended to local prosecutors.</div>
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In a great story that really goes right to the heart of what typically happens in all these cases of large numbers of voter fraud claims - a newspaper consortium followed up every one of those cases in a piece entitled: <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/01/potential_voter_fraud_cases_fr.html" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Potential voter fraud cases from 2012 election often dropped as simple mistakes, elderly confusion.</a></div>
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Eventually 17 cases did bring charges, from an old man who thought it was "alright" to vote on 'just the local issues' at one house and the president in another state, to two people who voted absentee for the spouses or friends who died just before the election. One was a nun who voted for another nun who died. There was also one woman who apparently really did commit purposeful voter fraud by voting 5 times. She was given 5 years in prison.</div>
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The Claim 274 non eligible voters.</div>
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Actual number of voter fraud cases: 17.</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">17 out of almost 5.5 million votes or 0.0003% of the vote.</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">COLORADO</strong></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;"><a href="http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/10/scott_gessler_voter_fraud_colorado.php" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">"...how many non-citizens were on the rolls...there's a minimum of 489...but we have this pot of 20,000 that could include non-citizens</a></strong> Said Scott Gessler, another voter ID advocating/voter fraud-sniffing GOP Secretary of State.</div>
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You know the drill by now 20,000 "potential" becomes 489, becomes 155, becomes 35 when checked against voters, of which 14 have never voted, yada, yada. Which leaves us with 21.</div>
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<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/15/2475561/colorado-gessler-zero-illegal-voters/" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">The Boulder/Denver District Attorney "reviewed the 17 names submitted for potential prosecution and found all were easily able to verify their status as eligible voters".</a></div>
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The Claim: 489, up to 20,000 non citizens voting.</div>
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The actual number of non citizens voting: 0</div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important;">0 out of approximately 3 million votes.</strong> </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-48064784500058682732014-10-14T17:01:00.002+01:002014-10-18T18:29:24.162+01:00GOP Crazy and Media Practices<div class="headline-kicker" style="color: #333333; font-family: FranklinITCProBold; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 20px; margin: 10px 0px 7px; text-transform: capitalize;">
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">Plum Line</a></div>
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How the media has helped normalize GOP crazy</h1>
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<span class="pb-byline" style="color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-right: 5px;">By Paul Waldman</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="pb-timestamp" style="color: #aaaaaa; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;">October 10 </span><span class="pb-timestamp" style="display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="color: #444444;">Washington Post</span></span></div>
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The victim of this morning’s pile-on is Kentucky Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes, who was asked in an editorial board meeting whether she had voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Grimes hemmed and hawed a bit, obviously scared to say Yes. That isn’t too surprising — when you run as a Democrat in a red state (just as when you run as a Republican in a blue state), you spend a lot of your time explaining why you aren’t like the national party and its leaders. But some people are outraged, including Chuck Todd, <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/10/10/chuck_todd_alison_lundergan_grimes_has_disqualified_herself.html" style="-ms-zoom: 1; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">who said on Morning Joe</a> (with a look of profound disgust): “Is she ever going to answer a tough question on anything?…I think she disqualified herself. I really do, I think she disqualified herself.”</div>
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No question, Grimes botched this badly, and she should be able to answer a question as simple as this one. But this affair gets at the odd set of unspoken rules that dictate what gets designated a “gaffe” or a serious mistake, and what doesn’t.</div>
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The problem isn’t that one party gets treated more harshly than the other does. There are plenty of Republican candidates who have gotten pummeled for their “gaffes.” Rather, the problem is the standard that reporters use, probably unconsciously, to decide which gaffes are worthy of extended discussion and which ones merit only a passing mention, a standard that often lets GOP candidates get away with some appalling stuff.</div>
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For instance, when Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/joni-ernst-bruce-braley-agenda-21-conspiracy-theory" style="-ms-zoom: 1; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">flirted with the “Agenda 21″ conspiracy theory</a> — a favorite of Glenn Beck, in which the U.S. government and the United Nations are supposedly conspiring to force rural people in Iowa and elsewhere to leave their homes and be relocated to urban centers — national pundits didn’t see it as disqualifying. Nor did they when it was revealed that <a href="http://prospect.org/article/republican-senate-candidate-advocates-revolt-against-us-government" style="-ms-zoom: 1; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">Ernst believes</a> not only that states can “nullify” federal laws they don’t like (they can’t); and, even crazier, that local sheriffs ought to arrest federal officials implementing the Affordable Care Act, which is quite literally a call for insurrection against the federal government. I guess those are just colorful ideas.</div>
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National observers also didn’t find it disqualifying when Tom Cotton, who is favored to become the next U.S. senator from Arkansas, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/07/tom-cotton-terrorists-collaborating-with-mexican-drug-cartels-to-infiltrate-arkansas/" style="-ms-zoom: 1; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">expressed his belief</a> that ISIS is now working with Mexican drug cartels to infiltrate America over our southern border.</div>
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Why do candidates like Cotton and Ernst get away with stuff like that, while Grimes gets raked over the coals for not wanting to reveal her vote and someone like Todd Akin can lose a race over his ruminations on “legitimate rape”? It’s because the standard being employed isn’t “Does this statement reveal something genuinely disturbing about this candidate?” but rather, “Is this going to be politically damaging?” Grimes’ chief area of political vulnerability is that she’s a Democrat in Kentucky, where Barack Obama’s approval ratings are low, so whenever the question of Obama comes up, reporters are watching closely to see how deftly she handles it; if she stumbles, they pounce. Akin got hammered for “legitimate rape” not so much because of how bogus and vile the idea is, but because reporters knew it could have serious consequences among women voters, given both the GOP’s constant struggles with women and the fact that Akin’s opponent was a woman.</div>
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Of course, these judgments by reporters end up being self-fulfilling prophecies: if they decide that a “gaffe” is going to have serious political effects, they give it lots of attention, which creates serious political effects.</div>
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And in the last few years, there’s a baseline of crazy from the right that the press has simply come to expect and accept, so the latest conspiracy theorizing or far-out idea from a candidate no longer strikes them as exceptional. Sure, there are exceptions: For instance, Republicans Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell both saw their candidacies derailed by their crazy or outsized statements. But their utterances were truly, deeply bizarre or comical, so they broke through.</div>
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But during this cycle, Republican crazy just hasn’t broken through at all. It’s almost as if the national press has just come to accept as normal the degree to which the GOP has moved dramatically to the right. At this point so many prominent Republicans have said insane things that after a while they go by with barely a notice. This is an era when a prominent Republican governor who wants to be president can <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/16/texas-governor-says-secession-possible/" style="-ms-zoom: 1; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">muse about the possibility</a> that his state might secede from the union, when the most popular radio host in the country <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/why-limbaugh-cant-stop-talking-about-slavery.html" style="-ms-zoom: 1; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;">suggests </a>that liberals like Barack Obama want Ebola to come to America to punish us for slavery, and when the President of the United States had to <i>show his birth certificate</i> to prove that he isn’t a foreigner.</div>
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So ideological extremism and insane conspiracy theories from the right have been normalized. Which means that when another Republican candidate says something deranged, as long as it doesn’t offend a key swing constituency, reporters don’t think it’s disqualifying. And so it isn’t.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189630702885072640.post-9060181233394406122014-10-10T03:48:00.003+01:002014-10-10T03:48:56.284+01:00War: we used to be more ruthless<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="510" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NbuUW9i-mHs" width="854"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com