Official Russian Election Interference Thread (Brexit Edition)

[Newenglanddeac]

Boris Johnson in spotlight as questions raised over Russian influence on UK

Three senior past and present Foreign Office ministers, including the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, were targeted by individuals identified by the FBI last week as central to their investigation into Trump-Russia collusion, the Observer has learned.

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party, called the revelations “extraordinary” and said the government must say whether other ministers were targeted or had meetings. The reports from the US had shocked MPs, he said, and it was vital to know if the Russian state had also sought to influence British politics.

The Observer has learned of meetings and encounters between British ministers and two individuals named in FBI indictments unsealed last week – George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser for Donald Trump’s campaign, and a “London professor” with high-level connections to the Russian state, subsequently identified as a Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud.


https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/04/boris-johnson-brexit-russia-trump

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[ImTheCaptain]

How many O’s, moonz?

 

[06deacon]

Guy named Boris has ties to the Russians? Color me shocked

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[Newenglanddeac]

Boris Johnson pictured with ‘London professor’ from FBI Russia probe

https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-pictured-with-london-professor-from-fbi-russia-probe/

 

[Newenglanddeac]

Theresa May accuses Vladimir Putin of election meddling

"We know what you are doing and you will not succeed. Because you underestimate the resilience of our democracies, the enduring attraction of free and open societies and the commitment of Western nations to the alliances that bind us."

She said as the UK left the EU and charted a new course in the world, it remained absolutely committed to Nato and securing a Brexit deal which "strengthens our liberal values", adding that a strong economic partnership between the UK and EU would be a bulwark against Russian agitation in Europe.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41973043

 

[Newenglanddeac]

Arron Banks, the millionaire businessman who bankrolled Nigel Farage’s campaign to quit the EU, had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, documents seen by the Observer suggest.

Banks, who gave £12m of services to the campaign, becoming the biggest donor in UK history, has repeatedly denied any involvement with Russian officials, or that Russian money played any part in the Brexit campaign. The Observer has seen documents which a senior Tory MP says, if correct, raise urgent and troubling questions about his relationship with the Russian government.

The communications suggest:

• Multiple meetings between the leaders of Leave.EU and high-ranking Russian officials, from November 2015 to 2017.


• Two meetings in the week Leave.EU launched its official campaign.

• An introduction to a Russian businessman, by the Russian ambassador, the day after Leave.EU launched its campaign, who reportedly offered Banks a multibillion dollar opportunity to buy Russian goldmines.

• A trip to Moscow in February 2016 to meet key partners and financiers behind a gold project, including a Russian bank.

• Continued extensive contact in the run-up to the US election when Banks, his business partner and Leave.EU spokesman Andy Wigmore, and Nigel Farage campaigned in the US to support Donald Trump’s candidacy.

...

Towards the end of last year, Banks issued a statement saying his contacts with “the Russians” consisted of “one boozy lunch” at the Russian embassy. Documents seen by the Observer, suggest a different version of events.

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[sailordeac]

The Russians? Merkel caused Brexit.

 

[WFFaithful]

[FoxNews]Everything in Europe is Merkel's fault. People need to focus on the real issues and not irrelevant business deals.[FoxNews]

 

[Milhouse]

lol

 

[ImTheCaptain]

Merkel is the new Hillary

 

[Wakeforest22890]

Weird how conservatives seemingly always fixate on women in power.

 

[vadimivich]

Merkel is a fucking conservative, which is what makes this funnier.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

frau sailor and the merkel derangement syndrome

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[PhDeac]

Dubious.

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

Merkel is a fucking conservative, which is what makes this funnier.

Any European leader who isn't an outright Islamophobic nationalist is "liberal" in the minds of fascists.