Russia communicated with US Treasury officials through a backchannel during 2016

[Borealis]

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/422319-russia-communicated-with-us-treasury-officials-through-gmail

The Russian government reportedly communicated with U.S. Treasury Department officials through a Gmail back channel as it attempted to gain financial documents about its
enemies in places such as America.

BuzzFeed News, citing documents, reported that this correspondence arose during the final year of the Obama administration. The news outlet notes that this communication
occurred during a time period when Moscow tried to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.

Agents from Russia asked Treasury officials for private financial documents on at least 24 dissidents, academics, private investigators and American citizens, according to BuzzFeed
News. The news outlet highlights that Russia requested documents on Dirk, Edward and Daniel Ziff, investors whose relationship with the Kremlin had soured.

The request happened only weeks before a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Kremlin-connected lawyer who promised "dirt" on 2016 Democratic
presidential nominee Hillary Clinton

The lawyer also offered the campaign intelligence about Clinton’s supposed connections to the Ziffs, according to BuzzFeed News. BuzzFeed noted that while these requests were
being made, Treasury officials were utilizing government emails to communicate with a network of private Hotmail and Gmail accounts set up by Russians.

The government officials communicated this way instead of using a secure network normally utilized when exchanging information with foreign nations. Despite the repeated
warnings, staff at the department continued to use the Gmail backchannel into 2017, according to the report.

[Sitkero]

The BuzzFeed article is one hell of a meaty read. Unsettling, too

[Da Big Man]

Imagine how many state secrets the Trump administration has sold Russia in the past couple years :/

[Borealis]

Extradite every Russian state thug and oligarch for every secret lost. Or give them some polonium tea

[Zakk]

Why just the russians? Hang the fuckers that gave them the secrets.

[CultureShocker]

Really starting to wonder what the "smoking gun" is going to be.

Look at all the evidence we already have

[bat/hacker]

Trump could come out tomorrow, admit to everything, endorse his own arrest and conviction, and his supporters would believe it's a mind-controlled body double the Clintons grew in their secret deep state reptilian lab.

[Firgof Umbra]

Or that it's a secret sting operation to catch Hillary Clinton and send her to prison because 'you know she'd be there for that'.

[Euskalduna]

I mean I would too, because the very thought of Trump having any kind of self-awareness is beyond the capabilities of this universe