Mueller’s Investigation A Farce: Files Joke Indictment Against Russian Trolls | Zero Hedge | Zero Hedge
Description: If one needed proof that Mueller’s investigation was an utter farce, they were in for a treat this morning when the Attorney General indicted 13 “Russian trolls"

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## Mueller’s Investigation A Farce: Files Joke Indictment Against Russian Trolls

by Elizabeth Lea Vos - Feb 16, 2018 4:34 pm

If one needed proof that Mueller’s investigation was an utter farce, they were in for a treat this morning when the Attorney General indicted 13 “Russian trolls"

## 4 Complaints About Gun Owners Debunked

by TDB - Feb 16, 2018 1:45 pm

People should be thrilled to learn their friends, neighbors, and coworkers are gun permit holders. It means they are in the presence of some of the least likely people in society to commit a crime.

## Why Even Pretend There’s A Debt Ceiling Limit?

by Sprott Money - Feb 16, 2018 4:00 am

The current “debt ceiling” has been suspended until March 2019. The current amount of Treasury debt outstanding is $20.681 trillion.

# Mueller’s Investigation A Farce: Files Joke Indictment Against Russian Trolls

Via Disobedient Media

If one needed proof that Mueller’s investigation was an utter farce, they were in for a treat this morning when the Deputy Attorney General announced the indictment of indicted 13 “Russian trolls,” for allegedly interfering in the 2016 Presidential election by posting on social media accounts.

Laying Mueller’s disregard of the First Amendment aside, the indictment is blatantly hypocritical in light of active social media intervention by pro-Clinton David Brock and his multi-million dollar efforts to ‘Correct The Record.’ Julian Assange tweeted on the matter:

The indictment alleges that: “Beginning in or around June 2014, the ORGANIZATION obscured its conduct by operating through a number of Russian entities, including Internet Research LLC, MediaSintez LLC, GlavSet LLC, MixInfo LLC, Azimut LLC, and NovInfo LLC.”

The indictment further alleges that: “The ORGANIZATION sought, in part, to conduct what it called information warfare against the United States of America through fictitious U.S. personas on social media platforms and other Internet-based media.”

According to the indictment, the co-conspirators “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.”

The indictment represents the latest mutation of Russian interference allegations that have dragged on for over a year. As this author previously noted, the definition of Russian interference has shifted from unsubstantiated claims of Russian hacking, to Russian collusion, and finally to Russian social media trolling. Wikileaks tweeted on the subject:

The Washington Post reported in 2015 that David Brock’s Correct The Record would work directly with the Clinton Campaign, “testing the legal limits” of campaign finance in the process. How did Correct The Record skirt campaign finance law? The Washington Post tells us: “by relying on a 2006 Federal Election Commission regulation that declared that content posted online for free, such as blogs, is off-limits from regulation.” And post online, Brock’s PAC did: “disseminating information about Clinton on its Web site and through its Facebook and Twitter accounts, officials said.”

Time reported the opinion of a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center who characterized Correct The Record as: “creating new ways to undermine campaign regulation.” Meanwhile, The New York Times detailed the “outrage machine” that Brock and fellow Clinton supporter Peter Daou had created:

> “Peter Daou sat with his team at a long wooden table last week, pushing the buttons that activate Mrs. Clinton’s outrage machine. Mr. Daou’s operation, called Shareblue, had published the article on Mr. Trump’s comment on its website and created the accompanying hashtag.“They will put that pressure right on the media outlets in a very intense way,” Mr. Daou, the chief executive of Shareblue, said of the Twitter army he had galvanized. “By the thousands.”

Going further, the New York Times details fervently the $2 million budget of Daou’s Shareblue and admits that the intent of the entire operation is interference in the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election in favor of Hillary Clinton: “Beyond creating a boisterous echo chamber, the real metric of success for Shareblue, which Mr. Brock said has a budget of $2 million supplied by his political donors, is getting Mrs. Clinton elected. Mr. Daou’s role is deploying a band of committed, outraged followers to harangue Mrs. Clinton’s opponents.”

The New York Daily News put the matter most bluntly: “Hillary Clinton camp now paying online trolls to attack anyone who disparages her online.” The LA Times described the active election interference: “It is meant to appear to be coming organically from people and their social media networks in a groundswell of activism, when in fact it is highly paid and highly tactical.”

Despite the millions of dollars poured into a pro-Clinton ‘outrage machine’ bent on her support, Clinton inexplicably lost the election to Donald Trump, a fact which still seems not to have sunk in for the former First Lady and Secretary of State.

But why bring up this apparently old news, in the face of Mueller’s latest mockery of the American judicial process and the First Amendment? Because it reveals in the words of the legacy press that by definition Mueller’s circus has zero interest in campaign or election integrity and is solely interested in getting scalps for Clinton and for the unelected powers she represented.

Despite obvious hypocrisy given the actions of Shareblue and David Brock’s Correct The Record, corporate media ignored all double standards and attempted to report on “Russian twitter trolling” with a straight face. Business Insider wrote: “Russian Twitter Trolls Tried To Bury Or Spin Negative Trump News Just Before Election,” as if that wasn’t what Correct The Record spent millions on doing for the benefit of Clinton.

The double standards applied to Clinton for her benefit goes beyond hypocrisy. Many have claimed that constantly metamorphosing allegations of Russian interference represents an insidious effort to silence dissent and anti-establishment political discourse: for example, by turning third-party, anti-establishment or conservative voices into “Russians” by proxy of their opposition to Clinton.

By converting legitimate American free speech into insidious “Russian bots,” a pretext is created to silence dissent across the board. Without the Russian interference circus, the efforts to breach the First Amendment would be overtly authoritarian and would be inexcusable even by the most corrupt establishment media standards.

The results of such a clamp-down on free and effective speech have manifested in censorship crackdowns across large social media platforms including Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook, with Twitter admitting to actively censoring roughly 48% of tweets that included the “#DNCEmails” hashtag. It seems anyone with an opinion the establishment doesn’t like is liable to be memory-holed.

This article was co-authored with Kenneth Whittle

Tags
Politics
Investment Management & Fund Operators - NEC

## Comments

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Boscovius Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:29 Permalink

These indictments are the worthless filler in your nothingburger. Mueller is covering his ass. That is all.

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gmrpeabody Boscovius Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:36 Permalink

Are these pukes for real..?

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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nmewn gmrpeabody Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:46 Permalink

They seem to be quite pleased with themselves.

Millions of dollars spent, months of the best investigative minds the dimz have to offer (lol) diligently working on, just who stole the election from Hillary! and we get...

...an indictment...of Russian internet trolls...living in Russia...which Putin is sure to extradite...to stand trial...in America?

Because Bob said so. Sure. Ok.

I'm at the point now I want this to go on for another seven years to usher in, yet another seven years, this is better than Oprah running ;-)

In reply to Are these pukes for real..? by gmrpeabody

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DownWithYogaPants nmewn Fri, 02/16/2018 - 21:28 Permalink

Trolly Olly Ohhhhh!

In reply to They seem to be quite… by nmewn

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FEDbuster DownWithYogaPants Fri, 02/16/2018 - 21:44 Permalink

Borat goes to Washington. "Very NICE!"

In reply to Trolly Olly Ohhhhh! by DownWithYogaPants

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are we there yet FEDbuster Fri, 02/16/2018 - 22:20 Permalink

It is time for 'South Park" the TV series by Trea Parker and Mat Stone to have an episode on fake Russia gate. A lot of material for them to make fun of.

In reply to Borat goes to Washington. by FEDbuster

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CuttingEdge are we there yet Sat, 02/17/2018 - 03:15 Permalink

Can we have a virtual standing ovation for our very own Boris avoiding Mueller's attentions (thus far)?

In reply to It is time for 'South Park"… by are we there yet

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CuttingEdge CuttingEdge Sat, 02/17/2018 - 03:25 Permalink

This:

> “The ORGANIZATION sought, in part, to conduct what it called information warfare against the United States of America through fictitious U.S. personas on social media platforms and other Internet-based media.”

What in the statement hasn't been going on since the internet came into existence? The social internet was founded on bullshit personas. When you can open a Faecesbook account, and become an internet sensation as a fucking dog, what about the above doesn't look patently ridiculous?

These twats are living in La La Land, and its getting beyond disturbing.

In reply to Can we have a virtual… by CuttingEdge

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borderdog Boscovius Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:42 Permalink

Mueller is just trying to buy time to keep this bullshit going so they don't start investigating Uranium One.

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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Jung Boscovius Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:29 Permalink

Most of us here are in for indictments, especially when you are not a USA citizen: I have been guilty of not being nice about Hillary, although I did not cover the huge campaign of paying for it: that campaign mentioned spent a total of 0.0038% in dollars on Facebook to make negative remarks about Hillary. SO there you are: with that huge amount of money and 13 people guilty of writing negative remarks it surely deserves death penalties for all those who dare to be unpleasant about her.

This vigor with indictments might also be used with all those guilty of real felonies and crimes: Hillary, Schiff, Mueller, Yates, Brennan, Clapper, Wasserman-S. etc.etc.

All of this is symptom of a declining society, falling apart with no principles or law left, unless the White House dares to actually start indicting these people.

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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NumbersUsa Jung Sat, 02/17/2018 - 01:10 Permalink

It's the murderous warmongering jew supremacists as always clamoring for more & more wars !!

As the murderous jew supremacists love to say "we had a good day"

We the American People Demand that all Dual Citizen Israelis in all capacities (elected, employed or volunteer) be immediately removed from all our Federal, State & Local Governments- NOW !

We also Demand that All Jew Supremacist Foreign Agent Organizations In America be Prosecuted & Shut Down Immediately using the FARA ACT- NOW ! (A Short List: Aipac, Splc, Aclu, Zoa, Adl, Jwc, Jdl, Cfr,... etc...) ​​​​​​​

In reply to Most of us here are in for… by Jung

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Jung Boscovius Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:29 Permalink

When will there finally be real Congress hearings on the DNC criminals? Or will this continue forever until 2020 (and beyond)?

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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WileyCoyote Boscovius Sat, 02/17/2018 - 00:34 Permalink

What a bunch of balderdash. Good grief Mueller that’s all you got? What a joke.

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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zimboe Boscovius Sat, 02/17/2018 - 02:41 Permalink

Waiiit a minute...

Am I THE ONLY GUY that has noticed that if those dern Rooskies wanted to swing the election, they's swing it to the garbage-heads, not to an operator like Trump?

Who would be stronger, Trump"Big Daddy Don",

or Hillary "Wobbles" McWizzleteats?

It don't compute. More black-is-white bafflegab from the traitors.

...

I was told that in America politics is entertainment, but I didn't expect the equivalent of a Three Stooges marathon.

...

Heh. Shemp.

...

Marvel is making a new superhero movie with Hillary Clinton starring as "The Incredible Thud".

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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gregga777 Boscovius Sat, 02/17/2018 - 04:47 Permalink

The G-Weasels would have given these arch-criminal Russian Internet trolls a pass if they only shot up some public schools or a Las Vegas music festival. I'm really grateful that the G-Weasels are protecting us from these dastardly Russian Internet trolls.

In reply to These indictments are the… by Boscovius

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TheEndIsNear Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:30 Permalink

To bad he didn't indict the troll bots that infect ZH.

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Identify as Ferengi TheEndIsNear Sat, 02/17/2018 - 01:42 Permalink

Yeah, but now that we know it's criminal to lie on the internet, I've taken down my Tindr page sayin' I'm young, good-looking and rich. I'll be more responsible. Promise.

In reply to To bad he didn't indict the… by TheEndIsNear

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Umh Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:31 Permalink

If you are bored and want to read about something really absurd. http://www.nbc12.com/story/37526527/richmond-receives-1-proposal-for-co…

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debunker Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:34 Permalink

"By converting legitimate American free speech into insidious “Russian bots,” a pretext is created to silence dissent across the board."

Bullshit. It was presented as real news. People are lazy and they believed it. Ultimately, yes, it's their problem for being stupid and not looking beyond their fb feeds but there should be standards for any organization presenting itself as a news outlet.

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New_Meat debunker Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:04 Permalink

in da bunker, yep, there are standards. In fact, there are double standards, one for the country class, another for the ruling class, of whatever colour persuasion they might have.

In reply to "By converting legitimate… by debunker

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Wild E Coyote New_Meat Sat, 02/17/2018 - 04:22 Permalink

There is no double standards, It is always the same for everyone.

Saudi paid good money to meddle in US elections, immigration policies among others.

Israel arranges payback thru their countless organizations operating and manipulating US.

Hey even the lightweight Ukraine paid good money.

Situation goes up and down based on money paid. Look at Saudi, things starts to go wrong the moment they try challenge US. Same goes for Israel too. But once the account is filled back up, every problem disappear.

Russia stopped payment to Deep State and even dared to try expose Clinton their candidate. Of course Russians got to pay....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XGAmPRxV48

In reply to in da bunker, yep, there are… by New_Meat

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jmack debunker Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:42 Permalink

since when? would you like to hear the litany of fake news that MSM peddles day in and day out? who is going to set these standards? who is going to enforce them? why arent they enforced against nbc, abc, cnn, etc etc?????

In reply to "By converting legitimate… by debunker

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thebigunit debunker Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:56 Permalink

TRANSLATION: "News organizations" and "journalists" should be licensed by the government.

> . . . but there should be standards for any organization presenting itself as a news outlet.

In reply to "By converting legitimate… by debunker

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Mr Hankey Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:39 Permalink

1a in as mortal danger as 2a.

,4,5already effectively dead.

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Mr Hankey Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:43 Permalink

I'm sure doze wascawwy, wascawwy wooskis will turn themselves in peacefully so we don't have to sic Team America,World Police on 'em.

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Reaper Fri, 02/16/2018 - 19:51 Permalink

The truth has no nationality and should be a defense. But, it costs a million dollars to defend against federal government in court. The Rule of Law can only be bought by the rich.

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are we there yet Reaper Fri, 02/16/2018 - 22:30 Permalink

Reaper you are correct that only the rich can fight a federal lawsuit. However, in law school they teach that indigent and very poor people are non suable because lawyers can never get paid for their services and no money can ever be recovered, and it is expensive and pointless to incarcerate an indigent for a judgment not paid. In short it is the middle class that is usually the target of federal and government punishments. Just a fact.

In reply to The truth has no nationality… by Reaper

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Son of Loki Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:02 Permalink

The Clown Show must go on!

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WTFUD Son of Loki Fri, 02/16/2018 - 21:19 Permalink

Mueller's Mutants - the SAME EVIL that dun 9/11 & Front Runners in the War On Drugs/Terror . . . . have thankfully got Our Backs. S.I.C.K.

In reply to The Clown Show must go on! by Son of Loki

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whosyerdaddy Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:16 Permalink

It is part of a CYA cover-up. The Dimms colluded with the Russians, the dossier paid for by the DNC. The investigation has conveniently ignored that. These troll indictments are meant to give cover to obola, Rice, Power, Brennan and the whole rotten gang. It will now be stated there was a "grave threat" and instead of political chicanery these people "saved the Republic".

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Dragon HAwk Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:30 Permalink

Be funny if they were American Trolls pretending to Be Russian Trolls, just saying.

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. . . _ _ _ . . . Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:39 Permalink

If not for this change of course, Mueller would have had to indict himself.

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VideoEng_NC Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:42 Permalink

It’ll be interesting if the blind focus on this investigation is shut down due to whatever ineptness is perceived happening in FL. Public outrage is pretty high & the Dems are once again looking foolish.

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Anunnaki Fri, 02/16/2018 - 20:47 Permalink

So Mueller shot his wad on 13 Russians and no Trumpers? Weak

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wafm Anunnaki Fri, 02/16/2018 - 21:08 Permalink

weak bordering on useless isn't it

In reply to So Mueller shot his wad on… by Anunnaki

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WarPony wafm Fri, 02/16/2018 - 21:59 Permalink

Useless bordering on treason

In reply to weak bordering on useless… by wafm

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WTFUD Fri, 02/16/2018 - 21:12 Permalink

All hail Ming (Hillary-Barry) the Merciless

'You've gone too far this time, Delta House ', err, DNC ( + Publicly Paid/Subsidized, PRIVATE Off-shoots ; HELL, A Whole Sick Parasitical Rat Infested Army of Corrupted Political/Financial & Media LED, Industrial Satanic Complex ).

Time for the TORCHES, the hastily convened Kangaroo Courts with German style Firing Squads.

Pure Evil CONTEMPT.

The twisted little fuck who shot the school up, could've been a HERO turning that Angst/Energy against the VERMIN who'd use PUBLIC FUNDS to train, Arm & Finance Global Proxy Militias/Death Squads in order to Murder & Pillage the Ordinary Working Man's few goods & chattels, in the name of Democracy.

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antidisestabli… Fri, 02/16/2018 - 22:12 Permalink

Where have all the ZH Russian infiltrators gone? It was always so easy to spot them. I guess their work was done after all the dumbasses here started worshiping Putin, no questions asked.

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not dead yet antidisestabli… Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:29 Permalink

Is that you Mueller? Glad you could take time out from your busy day indicting nobodies and has beens to justify your existence. One thing about Putin he cares about his people while jackasses like you and your ilk want to tear about the US for your own glory and headlines.

In reply to Where have all the ZH… by antidisestabli…

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quesnay Fri, 02/16/2018 - 22:13 Permalink

"Mr. Daou’s role is deploying a band of committed, outraged followers to harangue Mrs. Clinton’s opponents."

It might feel good, but how does that help get Clinton elected exactly? Do these fanatics think people can be 'insulted' into voting for their guy? Really? I would think they might get the opposite effect. Stubborn opposition no matter what.

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WillyGroper Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:01 Permalink

nothing is as it appears.

https://qanonmap.github.io/?

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Thom Paine Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:15 Permalink

Mueller indicts everybody on the net for not being nice to Clinton.

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Neochrome Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:18 Permalink

Lol wtf, are they gonna indict 4chan next?

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Catahoula Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:30 Permalink

It is hilarious. Got some Russians on bogus charges

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not dead yet Fri, 02/16/2018 - 23:43 Permalink

With the almost non stop Russian bashing in the US one has to wonder if something else is at play here. Like priming the US psych to cheer on an inevitable war with Russia. If one digs into the revelations it's obvious they are bunk, unless your reading Wapo, New York Times, Time, and other neocon mouthpieces which are full of fiction not facts, but America is a soundbite nation. We stop reading after the headline and the way stories are structured that do have some truth in them never get read.

No matter what the US has done to crash the Russian economy Putin has strengthend it and is working hard to make it impervious to outside forces. Unlike the US where the government and the CEO's can't destroy it fast enough while filling their wallets. The more successful Putin is, especially on foreign policy, the more desperate and dangerous the neocons will become. Remember they have nice luxurious bunkers to wait out the inevitable while you die a slow death.

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Obscene FRN Call not dead yet Sat, 02/17/2018 - 00:28 Permalink

Bunkers make good tombs, too. Just a few yards of concrete 'round the outside should seal it.

In reply to With the almost non stop… by not dead yet

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NumbersUsa Sat, 02/17/2018 - 01:10 Permalink

It's the murderous warmongering jew supremacists as always clamoring for more & more wars !!

As the murderous jew supremacists love to say "we had a good day"

We the American People Demand that all Dual Citizen Israelis in all capacities (elected, employed or volunteer) be immediately removed from all our Federal, State & Local Governments- NOW !

We also Demand that All Jew Supremacist Foreign Agent Organizations In America be Prosecuted & Shut Down Immediately using the FARA ACT- NOW ! (A Short List: Aipac, Splc, Aclu, Zoa, Adl, Jwc, Jdl, Cfr,... etc...) ​​​​​​​

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fiddy pence ha… Sat, 02/17/2018 - 02:03 Permalink

Daou is not just your average troll.

There was an ace troll of him from

the twitter account "Peter Douche"

that used his pic.

Daou got Douche shut down, even

though, under twitter rules, Douche is

not impersonating Daou, just lampooning

him. This shows that twitter can be

manipulated by a troll with the biggest

connections in the D of C.

The satire can now be found at

Peter Douche's Liaison

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BetterRalph Sat, 02/17/2018 - 02:08 Permalink

DEACTIVATE THE FBI

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Pvt Joker Sat, 02/17/2018 - 02:15 Permalink

I love the part of the indictment about the Russians "posing as American citizens ". Isn't that what 12 million illegal immigrants have been doing for decades?

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