Russia claims to have transcript of Trump meeting with Lavrov

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/17/politics/russia-us-trump-lavrov-intel/index.html?adkey=bn


(CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready to provide US Congress with a transcript of the talks between President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Speaking at a press conference, Putin said the transcript could be provided "if the US administration finds it appropriate."
Developing story - more to come

 

How did Putin get a tape of that meeting in the first place? There are no American tapes, but there are Russian ones?

Why is Putin stepping in to defend Trump?

If there are tapes of conversations in the WH, are there tapes of conversations between Trump and others?

 

Wow. I wonder if Trump was told to expect that the Russians would record the meeting.
Or if they were searched for recording devices before the meeting (with current recording technology that could be very difficult without being very intrusive).

 

This is absolutely insane anymore.

Can we go 24 hrs without ANOTHER scandal?

 

Try 12 hours.



Update of the story:


Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow is ready to provide US Congress with a transcript of the talks between President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Speaking at a press conferenc in Sochi, Russia, Putin said the transcript could be provided if the White House agreed.


Who was in Trump's meeting with the Russians?
The Trump administration has come under fire over a meeting at the Oval Office with Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak last week, in which he shared security information that two sources described to CNN as classified.
The Washington Post first reported the allegations on Monday, claiming Trump had shared highly classified information in the talks.
Putin denied reports that Trump shared intelligence in the meeting, describing the media reports on the issue as "political Schizophrenia."
"We are prepared to go there and explain our point of view to Congress if necessary," he said.
In two tweets on Tuesday, Trump confirmed he had spoken to the Russian officials about terrorism and airline flight safety, but he did not confirm or deny whether the information was classified.


Timeline: What we know about the Trump campaign, his administration and Russia
He defended his actions, saying it was his right as president to share information on security as he saw fit. The Post reported an official with knowledge of the meeting described Trump as saying: "I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day," just before revealing the intelligence.
In April, CNN first reported that US intelligence and law enforcement agencies believed that ISIS and other terrorist organizations had developed new ways to place explosives in laptops and other electronic devices to evade airport security screening methods.
Officials told CNN at the time that the ban came about following the collection of intercepted material and "human intelligence."
According to US and diplomatic officials, Israeli intelligence was a source for some of the information about ISIS bomb-making capabilities that the President discussed with Russian diplomats.


Trump's meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak came as the White House deals with a series of scandals linking members of Trump's team with Russia. The FBI has confirmed it is investigating these links.
The White House has scrambled to respond to the intelligence scandal, at first denying the story, then arguing that it was "wholly appropriate" for Trump to discuss the information with the Russians.
"At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed and the President did not disclose any military operations that weren't already publicly known," Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters Monday night.
"The premise of that article is false that in any way the President had a conversation that was inappropriate or that resulted in any kind of lapse in national security."

 

This is a total joke and is making a total mockery of our nation.

Putin is winning.

 

It says a transcript. Isn't that a WRITTEN record? Can't they WRITE anything they want to?

 

CNN mentioned tapes on television first. According the television channel, later, Russians altered the story a bit. According CNN at least they deducted the words "tapes" translated out of Russian first, but then the Russians mentioned it would have been stenograms and translation notes, written down to show other Russian officials. I don't know if there is a written source of this; maybe television will repeat it?

 

What is a stenogram?

 

A transcript is a verbatim written record of the words that were used. I don't see how they could create a transcript without a recording.

This puts the White House in a really difficult position.
Does the WH say, "no, we don't want you to give a transcript to Congress". That sounds like they are trying to hide something.
Or maybe they will say, "no, we will provide our own transcript". But if there is something to hide, they won't want to do that. If there is nothing to hide they might be ok with it.
Does the WH admit that it doesn't have a transcript of the discussion? That makes them look like amateurs compared with the Kremlin.

Almost any way you cut this, Putin is winning.

Trump is an imbecile for putting himself in this position. He has nobody to blame but himself. Not that it will stop him from pointing the finger at everyone else ...

 

A court stenographer has that skill.

 

I might have used the Dutch word accidentally? I actually don't know, except it being a written form of communication. Yet, having something on tape, or having something written makes a huge difference.

 

It was probably their WAPO mole.

 

The literal translation of Putin's words was they had a "recording".......LMAO! The Russian propaganda spun it to a "record".

 

As can Comey, see your hypocrisy?

 

Problem is that most, if not all, republican lawmakers on Capital Hill will believe the word of an FBI director, or former FBI director.

 

You mean without another conspiracy theory. And no, they can't.

 

I don't think at this point it's a conspiracy.

I think it's actually happening. And it's not that I think Trump is honestly doing this willingly. I think he just doesn't understand the office, the ethics, or the legal requirements.

I think he's just totally in over his head.

 

So who is behind this conspiracy then eventually? And why are republic representatives and senators taking this seriously then?

 

I expect there had to be a couple of translators there and presume high level diplomatic exchanges would involve stenographic records, this would be standard practice since whatever was agreed would need to be reviewed and officialized in both languages, confirmed diplomatically and memorialized.

I doubt they made any audio recordings, this would be "undiplomatic", it violates protocol.

What amazes me is to hear Democrats question the integrity of whatever transcript Putín would produce, as though it would be easily compared to the transcript the US produced (yes, each side has it's own).

The idea a US president, exercising exclusively executive functions (international relations) must submit records of what he says to foreign ministers and ambassadors for review and consideration by legislators is absolutely ridiculous, never happened before, sets a terrible precedent, one by which foreign governments will avoid any contact with the US president and instead seek to make their deals with legislators Constitutionally precluded from this.

Given that there are transcripts and that these evidently don't show Trump wrongfully disclosing anything he shouldn't or can't, and that such transcripts can be verified comparing them to others simultaneously produced, taking into account that all participants present at the time unanimously confirm there was no wrongful and unwarranted disclosure of dangerously sensitive information in any way contrary to the national interest, how far will Democrats pursue this?

 

He might have been over his head at first, I can admit that, but he's come a long way since November, and chilled out a lot. Nothing at this point has any evidence to back it up, which makes it a conspiracy theory. There's nothing but scandalmongering from the left and it's keeping Americans divided.

 

You mean fake scandal. None of this is actually anything but the crying far left media conjuring up issues to bring down the government. At some point, it will be treason and people will have to pay the consequences.

 

If you're referencing the Russians claiming to have a transcript of the meeting then I'm not talking about this being a conspiracy theory. It qualifies as neither a conspiracy nor a scandal. As far as Trump giving them classified information, however, is unproven and was taken to a second tier news agency that nobody would go to with that kind of information if it were true and had evidence to back it up. That is a conspiracy theory and the WP was very unprofessional in reporting it without facts to back it up. That's what I mean when I say scandalmonger, which is a person who stirs up public outrage toward someone or their actions by spreading rumors or malicious gossip.

 

The Washington Compost has become a tabloid.

 

Just like the NY Times when they hired 20 or 30 people during the campaign season to work all day digging up any and all dirt that they could find on Trump. When they found nothing of use, they interviewed every past GF of his that they could contact, then put out a story about how abusive he was with them. The very first one they interviewed was shocked when she read that story because she said she didn't say anything like that and that she was treated with respect the entire time. I don't know how a person could be so immoral that they'll run a made up story just because they can't find something on a person they hate. It's repulsive.