4 Trump is willing to see go to prison for Putin-Gate-by Alex CampbellAt some point on Sunday while most Americans were enjoying a pleasant weekend afternoon, a week long conference started all the way across the globe at a tony golf resort called Millbrook located in Invercargill, New Zealand. No one knows what the subjects covered at the conference will be. And the participants at the conference won't even confirm that is happening and who is in attendance. The prime minister of New Zealand, Bill English, has said publicly that it is a meeting of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance and said to Radio New Zealand on Monday that it is "one of the regular conferences that they have, we work with the other four countries, combating terrorism, protecting our citizens around the world."The Five Eyes alliance is comprised of the intelligence agencies of the five English speaking countries of the world--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The information sharing network was born out of the alliance formed in World War II between the U.S. and UK and after the war was officially expanded to include the other three Anglophone countries. In the spy community and intelligence circles, it is regarded as the closest alliance of intelligence agencies amongst countries. And the relationship between the UK and the U.S. agencies is especially close as reported by Buzzfeed last month when they covered Trump's "wiretapp" allegations and the subsequent fallout.
"The US and UK’s intelligence cooperation is so deep that neither country’s signals intelligence-- material harvested from communications networks across the world-- is capable of operating independently. GCHQ and the NSA rely on each other’s code, access points, physical sites and staff to maintain their surveillance. GCHQ and NSA staff work from the same buildings, within feet of each other, at sites in the UK and across the world. It is by far the closest and most significant intelligence relationship for both nations-- and now that relationship is strained."
On April 13, The Guardian reported that it was British spies who were the first to spot Trump team's links to Russia and turned that information over to American authorities:
"GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added. Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said. The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence-- known as sigint-- included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said. Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors. It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US."
We don't have a confirmed list of participants for the meetings in New Zealand but we do know FBI Director James Comey arrived over the weekend due to local reporting as there is a photograph of him disembarking. And CIA Director Mike Pompeo is rumored to be there as well-- a Gulfstream jet with a registration number linked to the CIA was also spotted arriving at the Queenstown airport.The Five Eyes intelligence network has done a lot of the heavy lifting in the Trump/Russia affair, if the leaks to the press so far are even half accurate. So lets hope that Russia is a major topic at this conference. This morning it was reported that the Senate's Intelligence Committee investigation into Russia and the election is possibly being slow walked by Trump toadie Republican Senator Burr. Is anyone surprised by this? Recall that Burr was asked by Priebus in February to push back on reports that there was an FBI investigation into Trumpland on Russia and also remember that Burr was an advisor to the Trump campaign and ask yourself why anyone thought Burr wouldn't impede an investigation? At this point the FBI and the Five Eyes alliance might be our only hope to shed light on the truth between what really happened between Putin and Trump. Because it is becoming obvious that Republicans are putting party over country.There are a lot of rumours out there about what is going on with the Trump/Russia investigation. And there are coordinated efforts to take out and discredit people promulgating those rumours. The White House is still worried, as evidenced by the Devin Nunes affair and the active GOP smear campaign to blame the Obama administration for spying on Trump. Flynn and Manafort have supposedly lawyered up and aren't talking to anyone. Carter Page is talking to everyone unconvincingly. And the latest rumour is that Rudy Giulani is embroiled in this affair and is seeking a deal but has been turned down by James Comey. Giulani, who never met a camera or microphone he didn't like, has been noticeably absent from the airwaves of late, so I tend to give that rumour some credence. I saw it first mentioned by Claude Taylor on twitter @TrueFactsStated, who is a Beltway insider and worked in the Clinton administration.Something is happening under the surface, but the only people who really know are at a golf resort in New Zealand. Let us hope that at this golf course, some actual work gets done, unlike with the Cheeto-in-Chief's weekend visits to the golf courses in his fiefdom.
