 This weekend, a number of people (myself included) noticed that President Trump’s Twitter account seemed to have a large number of new followers. Many of these followers had blank profiles (just the blue background and blank silhouette) and names that were strings of numbers and letters. The website Twitter Audit (https://www.twitteraudit.com/) gives an estimate of how many of a user’s followers are real, versus bots, automated, algorithm-created fake accounts designed to boost a user’s popularity. Sunday evening the count on Trump’s account showed about 51 percent of his followers are real/49 percent fake. That was a big difference from the last time I checked, in April, when he had about 67 percent real/33 percent fake. Today, Newsweek reported on the sudden uptick in fake accounts following the president. This evening, McClatchy DC covered the story, but focused on Twitter’s official position, which is that Twitter Audit has a faulty algorithm, and that only about 5 percent of Twitter accounts are bots. I checked some accounts (about two dozen), and I decided that most of the blue, silhouette accounts are indeed bots. Of course real people can become followers of the president. No doubt many people join Twitter every day, and many of them might want to follow the Tweeter-in-chief. However, it seems unlikely that large numbers of people would have exactly 21 followers, no Tweets, and have opened their accounts in May 2017. The 12 accounts below appear to be bots. They are just a sample of the accounts I looked at.  Common accounts followed by the “users” also following Trump:
The majority of the new accounts I studied followed most of the accounts above. Most had 21 followers, no Tweets, and were opened in May 2017. A few followed more accounts, and some had a profile photo (all of which seemed like screengrabs rather than true profile pics). Why would this new activity show up all of a sudden? Some Twitter users who track social media activity had ideas:
It is also possible that the padded popularity is just designed to be a distraction from the string of bad news reports the White House continues to generate. Today it was reported that the the Kyiv and Odesa offices of Russian Internet giant Yandex were searched by Ukrainian security services, as part of a treason investigation, which found that company management had ‘illegally collected’ personal data on local citizens. I am not sure whether or how this is related to the sudden surge in bots. Since Breitbart has been shown to link to Yandex on its pages (which is something none of the other news-related sites I have checked do), I think this is pretty interesting information. Stay tuned for new developments. The article from Radio Free Europe about the search of Yandex's offices can be found here. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-yandex-sbu-raids/28516331.html The Newsweek article can be found here. http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-twitter-followers-fake-617873 The McClatchy DC article can be found here. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article153467119.html A piece of the source code for the Breitbart website, showing the Yandex tag, can be seen below.  UPDATE 6/6/2017: The lastest check of Twitter Audit shows @realdonaldtrump at 47% real followers. The number was 51% last week. There has been no explanation from representatives of the White House about why the number of bot accounts following the president is going up. 
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Financial Trouble for Kushner’s Businesses - Potential Conflict of Interest in the White House5/28/2017  Jared Kushner, senior advisor to President Trump, is under scrutiny by the FBI for meetings and conversations with officials and representatives of the Russian government, all of which he neglected to detail in his application for a security clearance (which, if done knowingly, is a felony under 18 USC 1001).
One of the interactions he failed to disclose was a meeting with Sergey Gorkov in December. Gorkov is head of VneshEconomBank, (VEB), was appointed to the position personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is a graduate of the Russian academy of the Federal Security Service, which trains people to work in Russia's intelligence and security forces. (In other words, he graduated from spy school for the Russian Intelligence Services.) The article about Kushner’s meeting with the Russian banker can be found here. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/kushner-meeting-russian-banker-tied-to-putin/index.html Kushner has not commented publicly about why he met with a Russian banker, or why he tried to set up an extra-governmental communication channel with the Kremlin, based in the Russian Embassy. (The Russians declined his bizarre and troubling offer.) Kushner’s financing of a building at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which he bought in 2007 just before prices plummeted, has drawn attention in recent months. Kushner’s company lost a lot of money and nearly became insolvent as a result of the purchase. The Chinese company Anbang called off talks about redeveloping the office building in March of 2017. There has been speculation that talks with the Russian bank, which is currently under sanctions due to Russia’s incursion into Crimea, may be related to a need for financing for Kushner’s business. An NPR story about the ending of financing talks can be found here. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/world/asia/jared-kushner-sister-nicole-meyer-china-investors.html Kushner’s sister in May 2017 received criticism for presentations she made in Beijing, offering a fast track to entrepreneur visas in the United States for individuals willing and able to invest at least $500,000 in Kushner’s building projects. While U.S. reporters were barred from the event, photos taken through the open doorway show that President Trump's photo featured prominently in the presentation, suggesting that perhaps close ties to the White House might lead to faster processing of visas for wealthy investors. A New York Post article about the China presentations can be found here. http://nypost.com/2017/05/07/jared-kushners-sister-woos-chinese-with-u-s-green-card-program/ A new report by New York Times Magazine and ProPublica features interviews with tenants of low-income housing in Baltimore managed by a company of Jared Kushner’s, JK2Westminster. Over the last five years JK2 Westminster and affiliated businesses have filed hundreds of cases against some of the residents of the 8,000 apartments and townhouses owned and managed by subsidiaries of Kushner Companies, which until recently was run by Jared Kushner. The ProPublica article can be found here. https://www.propublica.org/article/the-beleaguered-tenants-of-kushnerville It is becoming clear that Kushner’s business ties were not severed at the time of his acceptance of a job in the Trump administration. Reporters are becoming interested in Kushner’s business dealings, and their potential for influencing U.S. foreign policy and national security. Jared Kushner Is In Big Trouble, Whether Or Not He Tried To Make a Deal With the Russian Government5/28/2017 Photo Credit: Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff/Flickr)  Friday the Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to President Trump, proposed setting up a secret channel within the Russian embassy for private communications with the Kremlin. The conversation took place in December, during the transition period when Barack Obama was president. Kushner’s contact, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, was so taken aback by his request that he discussed it with his superiors in Moscow. Kislyak ultimately turned down the offer. Michael Flynn, advisor during the transition, who was fired as National Security Advisor for lying to the Vice President about his conversations with the Russian government, was also present during the conversation. Mr. Kushner is in big trouble, no matter what his reasons were for attempting to set up a secret channel of communication, outside the prying ears of the National Security Agency. He failed to disclose this conversation on this SF 86, the security form used for investigations necessary to earn a security clearance. When confronted with the omission on his SF 86, his attorney stated that he had forgotten to disclose the contact. Since then, it has been reported that there were additional conversations between Kushner and the Russian government, also not disclosed on the SF 86, as early as April of 2016. The attempted channel, relying on Russian government communications within the Russian embassy, would have gone far beyond any “back channel” communications set up during any other administration. (The proposed secret channel was to circumvent surveillance before Inauguration, so there is no credible explanation that Kushner was acting as a representative of a sitting president.) “Back channel” normally refers to private conversations between a representative of the president and members of a foreign government. A legitimate back channel would not be set up before Inauguration, using Russian communications systems. Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, suggested in a Twitter message Saturday: “When are back channels suspicious? When proposed by president-elect's son-in-law using Russian comms w/ no clear national security purpose.” Regardless of the reasons for this attempt at circumventing U.S. intelligence monitoring (and I can think of none that are not nefarious), it is felony to knowingly fail to disclose contacts with foreign nationals on the SF 86 (18 USC 1001). By the normal procedures followed in such cases, Kushner’s security clearance should be suspended pending further investigation, and he should be suspended from his job as senior advisor to the president. The Washington Post article about the attempt to set up the secret channel, published May 26, can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-ambassador-told-moscow-that-kushner-wanted-secret-communications-channel-with-kremlin/2017/05/26/520a14b4-422d-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?utm_term=.b31b0a061659 The Reuters article about Kushner’s conversations before and after the election, published May 27, can be found here. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fbi-kushner-exclusive-idUSKBN18N018 An article from Solomon Wisenberg, attorney specializing in white collar felony defense, describing how to avoid going to jail for violating 18 USC 1001, can be found here. http://www.wisenberglaw.com/Articles/How-to-Avoid-Going-to-Jail-under-18-U-S-C-Section-1001-for-Lying-to-Government-Agents.shtml Bill Kristol's Tweet:  The certification from the form is shown below.  The SF 86 form can be found here.
file:///C:/Users/Lisa/Downloads/SF86-10.pdf  Friday was a very busy news day. President Trump began his first official trip to visit the Middle East and Europe, with many of his White House staffers and his wife in attendance. Not long after Air Force One took off for Saudi Arabia, The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN released disturbing revelations about his own behavior and the actions of his current and former advisers.
The New York Times reported that President Trump told Russian officials when he met with them last Wednesday (see my previous post) that firing the F.B.I director the day before had "relieved great pressure” on him. According to a written summary of the meeting read to reporters, the President said: “I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job … I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off … I’m not under investigation.” The New York Times article can be found here. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0 The Washington Post published a story revealing that a current White House official close to the President has been identified as a “significant person of interest” in the criminal investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. The Washington Post article can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russia-probe-reaches-current-white-house-official-people-familiar-with-the-case-say/2017/05/19/7685adba-3c99-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.9d1070322021 CNN reported this evening that during the Trump campaign, U.S. intelligence officials picked up conversations between Russian officials bragging that they had a strong relationship with General Michael Flynn, and that they considered him to be an ally. The conversations were alarming to U.S. intelligence, and Flynn was viewed as a potential national security problem. Intelligence officials caution, however, that the Russians may have been overstating their influence over General Flynn. The CNN video and article can be found here. http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/politics/michael-flynn-donald-trump-russia-influence/ The White House contingent traveling to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Vatican City, Belgium, and Italy was reported by Rachel Maddow tonight on MSNBC. The reported passengers aboard Air Force One: President of the United States - Donald Trump First Lady - Melania Trump White House Chief of Staff - Reince Priebus Senior Policy Adviser - Stephen Miller Senior Adviser - Jared Kushner Chief White House Strategist - Steve Bannon Adviser to the President - Ivanka Trump National Security Adviser - H.R. McMaster White House Press Secretary - Sean Spicer Deputy Press Secretary - Sarah Huckabee Sanders National Security Council Spokesman - Michael Anton White House Director of Strategic Communications - Hope Hicks National Economic Council Director - Gary Cohn Deputy National Security Adviser - Dina Powell Director of Communications for the Office of American Innovation - Josh Raffel Vice President Was Informed of Michael Flynn's Lobbying for Turkey and Ongoing Conflicts of Interest5/18/2017  Ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter dated November 18, 2016 to Mike Pence, Vice President-elect and head of the Trump transition team. The letter requested documents related to Michael Flynn's vetting for the position of National Security Adviser.
The letter can be found on the House Committee's website, here. democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/cummings-requests-documents-relating-to-michael-flynn-s-apparent-conflicts-of President Pence has denied knowing about Flynn's connections to Turkey and Russia. A CNN examination, which aired today, of what Pence may have known and when, can be found here. www.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/mike-pence-michael-flynn-trump-russia/ Politifact has covered other false statements made by Vice President Pence in the nearly 4 months since the inauguration. That article can be found here. www.politifact.com/personalities/mike-pence/statements/byruling/false/ A March 9 story from CBS News about Flynn's firing and Vice president Pence's comments can be found here. www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-pence-says-turkey-ties-are-affirmation-of-decision-to-fire-michael-flynn/ Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press  Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press The day before the Inauguration, January 19, 2017, The New York Times reported that Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was under investigation by multiple federal agencies:
Manafort worked for the Trump campaign for only a few months, from early spring 2016 until August. He steered the Trump campaign through the Republican National Convention and the nomination. In August, when a ledger was found in Ukraine showing payments to Manafort by deposed president Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Kremlin leader who raided the country’s coffers before fleeing in February 2014 and settling in Russia.  Yanukovych's mansion in Ukraine. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press Manafort was a business partner of Trump longtime friend Roger Stone. The two had a lobbying firm from 1980 until 1996, when Manafort left to form Davis, Manafort, and Freedman. Manafort clients have included the presidential campaigns of George H.W. Bush and Robert Dole, as well as a number of dictators – Jonas Savimbi of Angola, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire. He has lobbied for a number of countries – Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, and Nigeria. His work for regimes accused of human rights abuses has led Manafort’s firm to be among “the top five lobbying firms receiving money from human-rights abusing regimes” in the Center for Public Integrity report The Torturer's Lobby. The New York Times reported in August 2016 that the Ukrainian government is also investigating Manafort in connection to $12 million in money that he received as payment from deposed president Viktor Yanukovych, which was likely stolen from taxpayers. Manafort denies being paid by Yanukovych, even though his firm worked for Yanukovych from 2006 and 2012. While Manafort worked for Yanukovych, he purchased at least four pieces of real estate in the U.S., worth a total of $11 million. Since 2012 Manafort has taken out 7 home equity loans, worth about $19.2 million, on three New York properties owned by holding companies registered to Manafort and his son-in-law Jeffrey Yohai. (In 2016 Yohai’s limited liability corporation declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.) Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign in August in the wake of the reports of ties to Yanukovych and his Kremlin-connected kleptocratic regime in Ukraine. Trump campaign team members have told reporters that Manafort remained a consultant to Trump after the announcement of his resignation. The August 2016 New York Times article about the ledger can be found here. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html?_r=1 The January New York Times article can be found here. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html The report from the Center for Public Integrity can be found here.  Photo: Getty Images/TASS
A recent post described the meeting between President Trump and Russian government officials in the Oval Office. The Washington Post reported today, confirmed by several other newspapers, that during that meeting, President Trump shared highly classified information ("'code-word information,' said a U.S. official familiar with the matter, using terminology that refers to one of the highest classification levels used by American spy agencies.") This information was gathered by a U.S. ally, not our own intelligence agencies, and is sensitive enough that it has not been shared with our allies. The Washington Post story can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.3dba6d84bd5b The New York Times, through their own sources, confirmed the Post's reporting. Their story can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.3dba6d84bd5b National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster denied the story, carefully choosing his words to state, "At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed, and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known." The Post story did not report that sources or methods had been revealed. McMaster did not deny the facts presented in the story. The photos of the President's meeting with the Russian officials were taken by Tass, the Russian state media outlet. American press was kept out of the meeting. The NPR story, with McMaster's statement, can be found here. http://www.npr.org/2017/05/15/528511980/report-trump-gave-classified-information-to-russians-during-white-house-visit Since the President can declassify information if he chooses to, this security breach was likely not unlawful. However, since the information shared was obtained from one of our allies, there could be serious implications for our relationships with allies. They will likely be reticent to share information with the U.S. if they cannot rely on the President to treat their information appropriately. The release of sensitive national security information could be a violation of the President's oath of office, which he took on January 20, 2017: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." If the President is unable or unwilling to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, he must resign or be removed from office. UPDATE (5/15/2017, 8:30 pm PDT): This story has been confirmed by 5 major news outlets: Washington Post New York Times Buzzfeed Reuters Wall Street Journal UPDATE (5/15/2017, 8:40 pm PDT): The Washington Post has another article, explaining how McMaster's non-denial denial confirms the facts reported in the original story. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/15/the-white-house-isnt-denying-that-trump-gave-russia-classified-information-not-really/?utm_term=.b059a3b72860  Monday, May 8: Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified in an open hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She was clear in her testimony that White House Counsel Don McGahn had been briefed about concerns that Michael Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail for his activities having to do with Russian officials. The FBI had interviewed Flynn on January 26 and become concerned. She testified that it was unclear what, if any, steps McGahn had taken after the briefing.
Tuesday, May 9: James Comey, director of the FBI, was fired. At a press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer asserted that the firing was prompted by recommendation from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Wednesday, May 10: President Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. The regular press pool was barred from entering, but photos taken by a TASS photographer were disseminated through wire services. The White House made a statement asserting that they did not realize the photos would be released. No mention was made in the readout from the meeting of the fact that Kislyak was present. The White House press briefing was conducted by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, while Sean Spicer served Naval Reserve duty. Her account of the firing of Director Comey conflicted with the previous day's account. Huckabee Sanders made a statement asserting that Comey as FBI Director had committed "basic atrocities." Thursday, May 11: President Trump admitted in an interview with Lester Holt of NBC News that the investigation into Russian connections to the Trump campaign and the Trump administration had been on his mind when he fired James Comey. Friday, May 11: President Trump sent a Tweet in which he alluded to tapes of his conversations with Director Comey. Multiple investigations have been ordered into the firing of the FBI director. If there are tapes of conversations between President Trump and Director Comey, they will likely be subpoenaed as part of the investigations. A Washington Post article summarizing the Senate hearing can be found here. www.google.com/search?q=wednesday+May+10&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS586US586&oq=wednesday+May+10&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.4409j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 CNN reports about the press briefings during the week can be found here. http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/10/media/sean-spicer-white-house-press-secretary-job/ http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/10/politics/sarah-huckabee-sanders-james-comey-atrocities/  President Trump’s team of lawyers have asserted in a letter that his income tax returns do not show income from Russian sources or debt owed to Russians, except for some exceptions – $95 million paid by a Russian billionaire (Dmitry Rybolovlev) for an estate in Florida, and $12.2 million he received for holding the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.
The letter, addressed to President Trump and dated March 8, was sent by lawyers Sheri A. Dillon and William F. Nelson of the law firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius. The president mentioned the letter in an interview with Lester Holt that aired on NBC Thursday. Besides the Florida real estate and the Miss Universe pageant, the letter states that Trump had received undisclosed payments over 10 years from Russians for goods and services at Trump hotels, golf courses and for products like wine, ties, and mattresses. These transactions would not appear on his tax returns. The letter refers only to the period of time that the law firm has represented the president and the Trump Organization. It does not address whether he or his cpanies received income or loans connected with Russian individuals, from entities owned by Russians but registered elsewhere, or whether he received income from partnerships, with foreign individuals from Russia or elsewhere, that file their own tax returns. The New York Times article about the letter can be found here. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/us/politics/trump-russia-tax-returns.html?_r=0 A Talking Points Memo article, with the letter, can be found here. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-trump-tax-returnrussia-letter-is-full-of-holes The NBC News interview with Lester Holt can be found here. http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/pres-trump-s-extended-exclusive-interview-with-lester-holt-at-the-white-house-941854787582 More Than One Reason It Might Not Be a Good Idea to Let Russian Press Into the Oval Office5/10/2017  http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-photos-trump-meeting-ambassador-kislyak-lavrov-2017-5 Photos: TASS Wednesday, in a characteristically idiotic and autocratic display of naiveté, the Trump administration hosted the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, in the White House. Indeed, this is the same Ambassador Kislyak who has had numerous communications with the Trump team before the election, during the transition, and likely after the Inauguration. It is by now established that more than one member of the team discussed lifting sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak. It has also been reported (though not confirmed) that Kislyak is a spymaster for the KGB. The U.S. press corps was not given access to the meeting in the Oval Office, but Lavrov brought his “official” photographer – who also works for TASS, Russia’s largest state sponsored news organization. Photos were soon posted to various sites, including the Russian Embassy Twitter feed. All photos in all news outlets worldwide were provided by TASS. This happened the day after Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, possibly because he refused to back off multiple investigations into the Trump team’s connections to Russia. Several former intelligence officials expressed dismay on Twitter and in interviews about the inadvisability of allowing a state-run Russian news agency into the Oval Office, where it would be possible to plant listening devices for later use. After the Lavrov meeting had ended, press were allowed into the Oval Office. They found the President sitting with Henry Kissinger, former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon. Prior to the meeting with Trump, Lavrov met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. When asked by a reporter for his reaction to the news that Comey had been fired, Lavrov responded, "Was he fired? You're kidding." Lavrov and Tillerson's exchange, and the Washington Post article about the White House meeting, can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-to-meet-russian-foreign-minister-at-the-white-house-as-moscows-alleged-election-interference-is-back-in-spotlight/2017/05/10/c6717e4c-34f3-11e7-b412-62beef8121f7_story.html?utm_term=.583aab6bf7ca Another Washington Post article about the meetings can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/10/the-strange-oval-office-meeting-between-trump-lavrov-and-kislyak/?utm_term=.57607a1f2ba4 A Business Insider article about the meetings can be found here. http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-photos-trump-meeting-ambassador-kislyak-lavrov-2017-5 The NPR story about the meetings, which describes the meeting with Kissinger, can be found here. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/10/527755991/trump-meets-with-russias-lavrov-at-the-white-house-today  Source: Twitter A 2010 article from Russia Behind the Headlines, written by Yuri Kobaladze, describes his experience as a journalist and KGB agent. He traveled the world working for TASS and Russian intelligence. That article can be found here. https://www.rbth.com/articles/2010/12/22/my_good_life_in_london_as_a_kgb_agent_friends_fun_and_jolly_fine_whisky.html
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