2018

Tuesday February 27th, and it’s been a busy day.

The U.S. Intelligence Community has confirmed the Russians compromised, or got into, the voter registration websites and/or voter rolls of the following states:

Alaska
Arizona
California
Florida
Illinois
Texas
Wisconsin

Once again, compromised means that the IC has proof that the Russians got into the systems. They won’t say that they have that any information was changed, but I’ve covered in Voter Rolls – The Easy Target what and how they could have made changes without getting caught.

KUSHNER LOSES TOP SECRET ACCESS

Jared Kushner, White House Senior Advisor and son-in-law of Donald Trump, has lost his Top Secret Intelligence Access. This means that he can no longer have access to the Presidential Daily Briefing, nor be involved in high level tasks that require that access.

KUSHNER FAMILY ATTEMPTS TO BUY OUT PARTNERS FOR 666 FIFTH AVENUE

This part was pretty interesting…

Kushner Cos. had sought financing from a Chinese insurer with ties to the ruling Communist Party early last year, drawing criticism from government ethics experts and Democrats in Congress who worried the Chinese could use any deal as leverage with the Trump administration. The Kushner Cos. also sought money from a South Korean government fund, a French billionaire and a Saudi investor.

Kushner has a $1.2 Billion debt that comes due next January. How in the Crystal Pepsi Flavored Fuck would they get the money?

KUSHNER FOREIGN CONTACTS RAISE CONCERNS

Particularly Manipulable. That’s how Jared Kushner is described. He’s in debt up to his ears, is not qualified to meet with foreign diplomats, and has been caught describing his personal business with representatives from Mexico, China, United Arab Emirates, and Israel, among others.

H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, learned that Kushner had contacts with foreign officials that he did not coordinate through the National Security Council or officially report. The issue of foreign officials talking about their meetings with Kushner and their perceptions of his vulnerabilities was a subject raised in McMaster’s daily intelligence briefings, according to the current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

…

Officials in the White House were concerned that Kushner was “naive and being tricked” in conversations with foreign officials, some of whom said they wanted to deal only with Kushner directly and not more experienced personnel, said one former White House official.

Jared Kushner is being accused of using his official position for personal gain in an effort to relieve his family’s debt. In doing so, he’s selling America’s interests down the river.

THE PROFESSOR AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV ARE FRIENDS, PER BABY MOMMA

Remember Joseph Misfud, the professor that took an interest in George Papadopoulos after learning about his ties to Trump? After George’s plea deal, the Professor disappeared.

He’s disappeared so well even his baby momma doesn’t know where he’s at, and she wants to know.

She provided a journalist with screenshots of WhatsApp conversations where he claimed to have dinner with his friend Sergei Lavrov. You know, the Russian Foreign Minister.

She also showed a message saying that he talked with the FBI.

It’s been a couple months since she’s heard from him. At this point, Misfud is either on the run, in protective custody, or dead.

NO HOPE OF HICKS ANSWERING QUESTIONS FOR HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE

Okay, that’s a bad pun. As I expected, she refused to answer questions, and the Republicans on the Committee won’t do a damn thing about it.

But don’t worry, she did talk to Mueller…

Angry Hope Mueller

So, here’s hoping that works out…

NSA DIRECTOR HAS NOT RECEIVED ORDERS FROM TRUMP OR SECDEF TO DEFEND AGAINST RUSSIAN CYBERATTACKS

Neither President Trump nor Secretary of Defense Mattis has ordered the NSA to enact the protocols set forth to protect the United States from another attack from Russia. Mattis cannot unilaterally act without orders from Trump.

NRA’S NON-DENIAL DENIAL RESPONSE TO SENATOR WYDEN’S LETTER

Back in Daily Check-In 02/02/2018 I mentioned that Senator Wyden sent a letter to the NRA asking for financial documents relating to Russia. They responded today by attacking Wyden for going after the Second Amendment and some of their other talking points.

They didn’t deny that Russia gives the NRA money, and they didn’t deny that they don’t have to disclose where the money they donate comes from.

TRUMP PANAMA HOTEL STANDOFF

This one’s a bit weird. The Trump Panama Hotel is a money laundering front that now sits mostly empty because of all of the scrutiny now being shone on it.

The majority owners want Trump’s team out, and they’re asking the Panamanian government for help.

Trump’s team locked themselves in an office and the server room. Yesterday, they spent the whole day shredding documents. Today, the security guard was arrested and removed from the building.

INFOWARS ONE STRIKE AWAY FROM PERMANENT YOUTUBE BAN

Fuck Alex Jones, he deserves every horrible thing that can come his way.

After releasing a video where InfoWars attacked the Parkland students, YouTube blocked their account for two weeks, and sent them a little warning.

IW YouTube Warning

This is their second strike, and they’re blocked for the next two weeks. If they get another one in the next three months, no more InfoWars on YouTube.

Please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please, earn that third strike mother fucker.

TRUMP NAMES BRAD PARSCALE 2020 CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Brad Parscale, of Cambridge Analytica and Trump’s digital guru through the 2016 election was named the reelection campaign manager.

Brad has already been interviewed by Mueller, and Cambridge Analytica is knee deep in Russian shit.

I wonder how long until he’s tied to some more shady ass shit.

PARSCALE CONNECTED TO COMPANY INVOLVED IN PENNY STOCK FRAUD SCHEME

Oh, for fucks sake, that was like twelve minutes.

Parscale sold his marketing company to a firm that is involved in felony stock fraud crimes. They’re a penny stock company that pumped their stock values for a quick buck.

Penny stocks are low value stocks worth less than a dollar that are usually very volatile. They are very easy to manipulate for a quick pump and dump. Buy 100,000 shares at $0.01 for $1,000 then create a demand to get the value to $0.10, $0.50, or even $1.00 per share, then sell at its peak and walk away with $100,000.

Check out the movie Boiler Room. This was the main scheme they used to generate money.

MUELLER DROPS CHARGES AGAINST GATES

Robert Mueller recommended that 20 plus charges that he filed against Rick Gates be dropped due to his cooperation. They’re also letting Rick go on spring break to Boston.

Hot damn. Mueller would only do this if he liked what Rick gave him.

By the way, Rick worked with Brad Parscale on the America First policy company.

WISCONSIN GOVERNOR SCOTT WILSON SUED FOR NOT HOLDING SPECIAL ELECTIONS

Democrats sued Scott Wilson for not holding special elections to fill empty seats in the state legislature for fear of losing seats to Democrats.

OBAMA CALLS OUT GOOGLE, FACEBOOK

Obama said they “have to have a conversation about their business model that recognises they are a public good as well as a commercial enterprise.”

Yes, yes we do need to have that conversation. We should be having conversations about regulating Social Media, and to what scope. Personally, I’m in favor of verifying identities to these companies, but allowing anonymity amongst the users. I’m okay with arguing online with someone named BigDickNickFoles, as long as I know that BigDickNickFoles is a real human.

MELANIA SEVERS TIES WITH ADVISER CAUGHT UP IN INAUGURATION SCANDAL

This was in response to the news that came out about her friend and adviser making $26 million for very little work. The explanation makes sense, but I’m not buying the “Melania is innocent” routine.

CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS DEMAND SCOTT PRUITT’S TRAVEL INFORMATION

Pruitt’s expenses have been under scrutiny, now it’s under investigation. The only original cabinet members who haven’t had scandals are SecDef James Mattis, Agriculture Sonny Purdue, HHS Secretary Alex Azar (he’s new, replacing Tom Price who resigned for abusing travel expenses) and HUD Secretary Ben Carson.

BEN CARSON AND THE $31,000 DINING ROOM TABLE

Yep. I wondered when that was going to happen.

Ben’s wife ordered a dining room table for $31,000, and looked for a way for it to be ordered without requiring approval. This came on the heels of budget cuts in the Housing and Urban Development.

CAN TRUMP BE INDICTED AS PRESIDENT?

Short answer: We don’t know, but likely yes.

ROGER STONE TEXTS AND DM’S TO WIKILEAKS CONTRADICT PUBLIC STATES, LIKELY TESTIMONY AS WELL

Soon, it’ll be Roger’s time in the barrel.

CARTER PAGE SPY DETAILS BURIED IN THE FOOTNOTES

One of the footnotes talks about a case where the FBI flat out called Carter Page a spy.

NASTYA RYBKA ARRESTED IN THAILAND, OFFERS INFORMATION ON DERIPASKA AND MANAFORT FOR HER RELEASE

Nastya was the woman in the video that leaked from Oleg Deripaska’s boat which Alexei Nalvany posted showing a connection between Deripaska and the Russian Government, and how this was connected to the attack on America.

She’s scared and she wants to talk.

JEFF SESSIONS ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO NUNES MEMO CLAIMS

The Keebler Nazi announced this as the news about Jared Kushner came out. Jeff Sessions is running interference for Trump.

RUMOR MILL: LONG LOST SOURCES

From Claude earlier tonight…

Claude Old Source

This would explain why Mueller’s okay with Gates going on a trip to Boston.

Remember, take the above with a grain of salt.

That’s it for today. It’s been a bit crazy, and will get crazier going forward. With Kushner under a microscope and looking like a virus, Roger Stone’s ties to Julian Assange and Russia coming to the foreground, and both of them tied to Manafort and Gates, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Roger being the next principal that gets indicted.

Maybe tomorrow will be a little less chaotic. That being said, I’m ready to drink from the fire hose.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 02/26/2018

Here’s a couple things that happened over the weened and today, Monday February 26th.

DEMOCRATIC REBUTTAL TO NUNES MEMO RELEASED

Holy Dogshit. This is a complete and total teardown of Devin Nunes’s attempt at discrediting the Russian Investigation and the FBI.

Here’s the short, short version…

The FBI started their investigation not because of the Steele Dossier, but because of George Papadopoulos’s bragging to an Australian diplomat that he had had contact with the Russians.
Carter Page is a Russophile. He’s more connected to Russia than is being let on.
The FBI has been up Page’s ass with an electron microscope for years.
At least four people in the Trump Campaign were under investigation during the campaign.
The FBI verified a bunch of stuff in the Steele Dossier, and they saw the dossier as independent verification of their worst fears regarding Trump.
The FBI told the FISA court that the Dossier was politically motivated, and it was still reliable enough to be seen as corroborating.
The Peter Strozk/Lisa Page texts from the Nunes Memo were cherry picked to make them appear very partisan. Nunes ignored all of the ones where they were critical of Clinton and the Democrats.
Strozk advised Comey on the reopening of HRC’s email investigation announcement.
The timing was dubious. It was released on Saturday, just as Devin Nunes was taking the stage at CPAC.

HOPE HICK TO TESTIFY BEFORE THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE TOMORROW

I don’t hold out much hope on Hope talking. Nunes and his accomplices are letting the Trump team get away with Obstruction of Congress, Lying to Congress, and just flat out refusing to answer. Daily Check-In 12/08/2017 mentioned that the FBI had talked to her about Russia, emails, her role in the cover-up of the June 9th meeting.

SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO HEAR DACA CASE

This case has yet to go through Appeals court, and SCOTUS will not take a case unless it is of the highest importance. The last two times this happened was when Nixon refused to hand over his tapes, and during the Iran Hostage Crisis.

The fucked up thing is, what Trump did in ending DACA through Executive Order in and by itself is perfectly legal, and would have passed through the lower courts, if he had kept his mouth shut and not said that DACA was illegal and other such nonsense. By doing that, he made it an unconstitutional order.

Trump’s biggest enemy is Trump’s mouth. Like Napoleon Bonaparte said “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

MANAFORT FACING BANKRUPTCY IN LOS ANGELES

Here’s what I’m most interested in…

Reuters has also learned that over the past several months Mueller has begun focusing on Jeffrey Yohai, Manafort’s former son-in-law and his partner in four California property deals that failed and were placed in bankruptcy, as a potentially valuable witness in his probe.

They’re looking into Manafort’s family. If Paul doesn’t make a deal, they’ll go after anyone and everyone he might care about, know, or ever worked with. This is part of Mueller’s playbook; apply pressure where it hurts.

TRUMP MIGHT BE ‘TOO BUSY’ TO TALK TO MUELLER, PER TRUMP’S LAWYERS

Maybe Mueller should wait for Cheeto Mussolini at one of Trump’s golf courses. Unlike Trump, Mueller strikes me as the kind of man who would work on a weekend to get the job done.

NEPOTISM, THY NAME IS TRUMP

When it’s all said and done, our children and grandchildren will see a whole shitload of laws passed in the aftermath of Trump. Among those will be a several that explicitly spell out that what relationships are banned from positions of influence, regardless of pay.

PARKLAND STUDENT EMMA GONZALES HAS MORE FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER THAN NRA JUST DAYS AFTER JOINING

If you’re on the Twitter machine, give @Emma4Change a follow. I’ve been following her and retweeting her message as much as possible.

She has been thrust into extraordinary circumstances. 17 of her classmates and friends were murdered, in cold blood, by a psychopath using a weapon of war. Instead of accepting “thoughts and prayers”, she’s standing up and fighting against corruption, entropy, and violence.

I really like what she says, and we have the same haircut.

RUMOR MILL: SAUDI NUCLEAR REACTORS, PART TWO

Remember the discussions about the Saudi Nuclear Reactor deal that Mike Flynn was working on? I discussed it on Daily Check-In 12/08/2017, which I referenced earlier.

Well, it looks like Trump’s asking Rick Perry, his corrupt AF Secretary of Energy to cancel a planned trip to India to go to London to negotiate with the Saudis on building nuclear reactors.

Think about that for a second. They’re trying to push through the same plan that Mike Flynn has briefed Robert Mueller on. That’s like trying to pull a trick play in a football game against the team that hired the guy who wrote the playbook.

That’s it for today. I think. This has been one of those nights where I’ve got a few things going on and I need to wrap things up a little quicker. Of course, that was a few hours ago, and now it’s almost midnight.

Things are gonna get pretty crazy in my life over the next few months. I don’t like to give too much personal info here, but let’s just say I’ve got a lot coming up by the summertime. If there’s a day or two I don’t make an update, I’ll catch up the day after. Writing is like working out, it’s much easier to do it on a schedule.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Scandal Speed Run

One of the interesting things with the Trump Presidency is the sheer speed at which their scandals are unravelling and coming out. Not only are they coming out in rapid fire, but they’re coming out early in the administration as well.

It’s almost like they’re doing a speed run. How fast can they get through all of the worst scandals in history?

I wanted to compare Trump to the 7 Worst Presidential Scandals, per U.S. News, and see where The Dotard lined up, in terms of speed, scale, and overall corruption. And, to see if there’s anything they haven’t done yet.

BILL CLINTON: MONICA LEWISNKY

Short Version: Bill Clinton got a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky, an intern at the White House. Kenneth Starr, the Special Prosecutor investigating Whitewater, heard about this and investigated it. He subpoenaed Bill Clinton, who lied under oath about getting a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky. After several years of investigation, the only thing that Starr pulled up was a perjury charge. Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 along very partisan lines, but was not removed from office.

Time: The blowjob took place in the last year of Bill Clinton’s first term. He was impeached in the second year of his second term.

Comparison: This is a two-for. We have Trump obstructing justice and paying off a porn star to keep her quiet during the election. Just because of Watergate, I’ll use Stormy Daniels here. It took a little over a year for his sex scandal to come to the foreground.

SEX SCANDAL LEVEL STARTED IN ONE YEAR.

RICHARD NIXON: WATERGATE

Short Version: A bunch of crooks with ties to the CIA and the Republican Party broke into the headquarters for the Democratic Party, located in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. The crooks got busted, Nixon was implicated in the cover-up, and he eventually had to resign.

Time: The break-in took place in the last year of his first term, and he left office in his second year of his second term.

Comparison: Trump has already helped with a break-in into the DNC email system, and is well on his way to an Obstruction of Justice charge, which is what took Nixon down.

BREAK-IN LEVEL STARTED BEFORE TAKING OFFICE

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE LEVEL STARTED IN ONE WEEK

WARREN G. HARDING: TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL

Short Version: Harding’s Secretary of the Interior used government resources to obtain oil fields in Wyoming, then awarded them to a company in a no-bid contract that had given him bribes, loans, and payoffs. Harding’s Interior Secretary became the first Cabinet member to be indicted and convicted while in office.

Time: The Teapot Dome scandal started in 1922, the second year of his presidency.

Comparison: Trump’s Cabinet is corrupt AF. His Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, has abused travel for personal use, and likely had a no-bid contract awarded to an unqualified company to provide power restoration to Puerto Rico.

TEAPOT DOME LEVEL STARTED IN NINE MONTHS

U. S. GRANT: THE WHISKEY RING

Short Version: In 1875, Grant’s personal secretary was implicated in a bribery and corruption scheme where Whiskey manufacturers complained about the taxes they had to pay. It turns out that a few of them were bribing officials at the IRS and the Treasury Department, and keeping the money for themselves.

Time: 1875 was the next to last year of Grant’s presidency.

Comparison: This one’s hard to compare. Not for the lack of criminality, but that it required cooperation with the government. That being said, if we’re looking for a straight bribery charge, an emoluments violation, or his staff being involved in some shady shit, we’ve had them all. They’re close enough, I’ll count them.

BRIBERY LEVEL STARTED IN FIRST TWO MONTHS

EMOLUMENTS LEVEL STARTED IN ONE WEEK

STAFF CORRUPTION LEVEL STARTED IN ONE WEEK

ANDREW JOHNSON: THE FIRST IMPEACHMENT

Short Version: Andrew Johnson was a dick who only became President because Abraham Lincoln had a bad night at the theater. Johnson was a Right Wing Democrat answering to a Left Wing Republican Congress who was trying to bring the country back together. They passed a law saying that Johnson couldn’t fire any Cabinet members. Johnson said “Eat a dick” and fired the Secretary of War. The House impeached him, and he came within 1 vote of being removed from office.

Time: Johnson was a bit of a dick from word one, but his impeachment took place in the third year of his presidency.

Comparison: Trump has already ignored laws passed by Congress in refusing to enact the Russian sanctions. He hasn’t been impeached for that yet, but the first Articles of Impeachment included the sanctions in it.

JOHNSON LEVEL STARTED IN EIGHT MONTHS

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS: DIDN’T WIN THE POPULAR VOTE AND A CORRUPT BARGAIN

Short Version: The Election of 1824 was a clusterfuck. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote and the electoral college, but did not have a majority. That forced the House of Representatives to vote on the Presidency between the final three candidates. The one that missed out was Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House. Clay also hated Andrew Jackson with a passion. Clay struck a deal with John Quincy Adams, which became known as the “Corrupt Bargain” by Jackson’s supporters. Clay helped create a coalition that let Adams win, and Clay was named Secretary of State. Jackson’s supporters used this to spur him on to create his own party for the 1828 election.

Time: The Corrupt Bargain took place at the beginning of John Quincy Adam’s first and only term, and was 4 years before Jackson took office.

Comparison: This is a very hard one to compare to, but there are two examples I can think of that directly correlate. The first was the Mayflower Meeting, and the second being the RNC meeting in Cleveland. In both situations, Trump’s team asked the Russians for help. In Cleveland, the GOP Leadership was involved. And neither of these were a last-chance scenario like the Corrupt Bargain, but were both performed earlier in the campaign.

CORRUPT BARGAIN LEVEL STARTED MONTHS BEFORE TAKING OFFICE

CONCLUSION

Out of the 7 worst scandals in United States Presidential History, Donald Trump has managed to have his own version of each and every one of them, and far faster than anyone else in history. This is a level of corruption that we’ve never seen before in this country. Hell, most banana republic dictators are less corrupt than Donald Trump. Of course, most of them are not neck deep in Russian Mafia, or a money laundering device for the world’s most evil and corrupt organizations.

Keep in mind, we’re only 13.2 months into the four year term. We’re just getting started with the corruption, grift, greed, and criminality of Donald Trump. We’re going. to find out a whole hell of a lot in the next year.

Thank you, and have a good one.

Daily Check-In 02/23/2018

Friday, February 23rd.

GATES TO PLEAD GUILTY, WILL COOPERATE WITH MUELLER

I’ve talked about this rumor for a while, but if the Washington Post is reporting it, it’s happening. He is pleading guilty to Conspiracy and Lying to the FBI.

Here’s a copy of his plea deal.

Gates, who was once the Deputy Campaign Chairman, worked with the Trump team throughout the campaign, transition, and was Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Inaugural Committee. He continued to visit the White House through the Summer of 2017.

Over the last couple days, there was some screwiness with his deal, his legal team, and whether he would or wouldn’t cooperate. Manafort, by all accounts, is putting his money on receiving a pardon from President Trump. Gates probably bet on the same hope, right until the 32 charges came in yesterday from EDVA. Whatever deal he was fighting against yesterday looked REAALLL nice all of a sudden.

In his Lying to the FBI charge, the deal says that he lied about a meeting with Manafort, a Lobbyist, and a member of Congress. My first guess is that it was Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of ~~Moscow~~ California.

Rick Gates is looking at 31 counts of white-collar crime. There are enough charges here that if he were convicted, he would grow very old and likely die in prison. His kids won’t know their father. Working with Mueller is his last, best hope to avoid that.

MUELLER’S TEAM HAS INDICTED 19 PEOPLE ON OVER 100 CHARGES

Here’s the list as of 09:30 EST, courtesy of the Washington Post:

The campaign team

Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman. 27 counts in total.

Conspiracy against the United States (1 count, contained in October indictment)
Conspiracy to launder money (1 count, October)
Bank fraud (4 counts, February indictment)
Bank fraud conspiracy (5 counts, February)
Subscribing to false tax returns (5 counts, February)
Making false statements (1 count, October)
Failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts (4 in October, 4 in February)
Unregistered agent of a foreign principal (1 count, October)
False FARA statements (1 count, October)

Rick Gates, former Trump campaign staffer. 31 counts in total.

Conspiracy against the United States (1 count, October)
Conspiracy to launder money (1 count, October)
Bank fraud (4 counts, February)
Bank fraud conspiracy (5 counts, February)
Subscribing to false tax returns (5 counts, February)
Assisting in preparation of false tax documents (5 counts, February)
Subscribing to false amended tax returns (1 count, February)
Making false statements (1 count, October)
Failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts (3 in October, 3 in February)
Unregistered agent of a foreign principal (1 count, October)
False FARA statements (1 count, October)

Michael Flynn, former campaign staffer. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, December)

George Papadopoulos, former campaign adviser. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, October)

The Russians

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, controlled Concord Management and Consulting. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Mikhail Bystrov, general director of Internet Research Agency. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Mikhail Burchik, executive director of Internet Research Agency. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Aleksandra Krylova, director of Internet Research Agency. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Anna Bogacheva, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Sergey Polozov, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Maria Bovda, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Robert Bovda, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Dzheykhun Aslanov, Internet Research Agency employee. 8 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

Vadim Podkopaev, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Gleb Vasilchenko, Internet Research Agency employee. 8 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States. (1 count, February)
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

Irina Kaverzina, Internet Research Agency employee. 7 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

Vladimir Venkov, Internet Research Agency employee. 7 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

The other people

Richard Pinedo, businessman who sold bank account numbers allegedly used by the Russians as part of their efforts. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, December)

Alex van der Zwaan, attorney who helped develop a report benefiting Manafort’s client in Ukraine. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, October)

Comparing that information to this chart from Daily Kos, Trump is already well ahead of every President in number of Indictments and fourth in number of convictions with 3.

**Executive Branch Criminal Activities by Presidential Administration**
President	Party	Years in Office	Criminal Indictments	Criminal Convictions	Prison Sentences
Barack Obama	Democratic	8	0	0	0
George W. Bush	Republican	8	16	16	9
Bill Clinton	Democratic	8	2	1	1
George H. W. Bush	Republican	4	1	1	1
Ronald Reagan	Republican	8	26	16	8
Jimmy Carter	Democratic	4	1	0	0
Gerald Ford	Republican	2.4	1	1	1
Richard Nixon	Republican	5.6	76	55	15

5 NEW CHARGES FOR PAUL MANAFORT FROM DC SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT

Here it is. A couple hours after Rick Gates pleaded guilty, a superseding indictment was unsealed against Paul Manafort.

Here’s the new charges:

Conspiracy Against the United States
Conspiracy to Launder Money
Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal
False and Misleading FARA Statements
False Statements

MANAFORT LEFT PAPER TRAIL BECAUSE HE COULDN’T CONVERT WORD DOC TO PDF

Why is it that it’s always some tiny, stupid, insignificant little thing that ends up leading investigators to unravel a massive conspiracy?

In this case, Manafort needed help converting a Word file to a PDF. Even though there are literally dozens of ways for someone to do this themselves, Paul either couldn’t or wouldn’t figure it out.

Manafort, who is at or near 70 years old, asked a coconspirator at Lender D (Federal Savings Bank in Chicago, IL) for him to send a file to him in a Word file so that he could doctor it. Manfort then sent this to Rick Gates, who sent back a PDF file. All he had to do was ask for a copy of the Word file, spend 2 minutes doing a Google search, and he could have done the work himself. Instead, his laziness likely cost two people their freedom and is a likely catalyst for them to turn on him.

STEPHEN CALK’S WORK WITH MANAFORT BROUGHT UP IN DIVORCE FILING LAST YEAR

Speaking of Federal Savings Bank, Stephen Calk’s wife/ex-wife to be Donna knew about Paul Manafort and Stephen’s working with him.

I’m wondering how long ago someone from Mueller’s office spoke to Donna.

CONOR LAMB RUNNING NECK AND NECK DESPITE GETTING OUTSPENT 17-1

With redistricting coming up later this year, if Lamb can pull of the upset in PA-18, that would set it up nicely for the future.

The seat Lamb is running for is heavily gerrymandered. It splits parts of the city and closest city suburbs and dilutes their large Democratic influence with voters three counties away in Pennsyltucky. Pennsyltucky is the heavily rural, white, and sparsely populated areas in the state between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. More than half of the state’s population lives in and around those two cities.

If Lamb wins PA-18 in the Special Election, he’ll go into November with a new district, a new map, and a more centralized constituency.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT PROPOSES TO RAISE GUN PURCHASE AGE TO 21

Republican Sen. Bill Galvano, the next Senate president from south Tampa, has been working on similar legislation that he planned to present with House and Senate leaders later Friday. Though he has been a supporter of the NRA’s legislative efforts in the past, Galvano said Thursday that the group’s opposition to raising the age for semiautomatic rifle purchases would not change his focus.

“It doesn’t complicate my efforts,” he said after a committee hearing in the Capitol. “I think the desire to act and do something meaningful right now seems to be what’s going to win the day.”

We’re finally starting to see some change. Too bad it took yet another senseless tragedy to get this to happen.

ANOTHER REPORT ABOUT THE FBI INVESTIGATING THE NRA

As I’ve said before and I’ll say again, Fuck the NRA.

This is something I’ve talked about before, but this piece does add some info to the puzzle, like that the NRA spent $55 million in the 2016 campaign, and $30 million of that went to Donald Trump. That $55 million was a record for them.

Alexander Torshin is a Russian Oligarch, a former member of their Parliament, and a Lifetime Member of the NRA.

RNC PAYING RENT FOR AN APARTMENT IN TRUMP TOWER

After the Republican National Committee stopped paying the legal fees for Trump’s family, they immediately started paying Trump for rent on an apartment in Trump Tower, at a rate of $37,500 per month.

Over a year, that comes out to $450,000, being paid to Trump’s company. Smells pretty rotten.

TRUMP SAYS KELLY WILL DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS WITH KUSHNER’S CLEARANCE

This story came out this morning. For the last, well, ever, we’ve been asking how in the Crystal Pepsi Flavored Fuck does Jared Kushner still have a Top Secret clearance?

Remember last week or two weeks ago when John Kelly said that all Interim Security Clearances would be cancelled by today? And how Jared’s camp in the White House felt that this was an attack directed at him?

Well…

TOP JUSTICE DEPT. OFFICIAL ALERTED WHITE HOUSE 2 WEEKS AGO TO ONGOING ISSUES IN KUSHNER’S SECURITY CLEARANCE

Two weeks ago, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein informed the White House that there was a “significant information requiring additional investigation would further delay the security clearance process of senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to three people familiar with the discussion.”

This came directly from Rod. You know, the guy that Bob Mueller reports to for the Russian Investigation? Yeah, that guy.

What happened two weeks ago?

If I could make that last one a big, flashing, obnoxious blinking link, I would.

Two weeks ago, Steve Bannon spent half a week interviewing with Robert Mueller and his team. He told them EVERYTHING. He told them about all of the crazy shit that Jared and Ivanka pulled in the White House. He told Mueller about Kushner’s debts, his habits, his coconspirators, and why he’s accessing so much classified intel.

I finished listening to “Fire & Fury” yesterday. I’ll do a review on it soon, but two things stand out about Steve Bannon; he knows a lot of shit and is a vindictive son of a bitch.

There was a 3-way battle in the White House for who would be the real power behind Donald Trump. Steve Bannon represented the Nationalists, Reince Priebus represented the Republican Party, and Jared Kushner represented… his own self-interests. They all schemed against each other, but eventually Reince and Bannon teamed up against Jarvanka (Jared-Ivanka). Problem was, Trump would not let his kids get fired. The kids were behind firing Comey, the Trump Jr. statement about the June 9th meeting, and the horrendous idea of letting Trump interview Maggie Haberman from the New York Times where he pulled that “red line” bullshit.

Bannon spoke to the author a lot about Kushner, Ivanka, and Hope Hicks. He described Kushner’s very close ties to Israel, money laundering through diamonds, and how screwed his family is on 666 Fifth Avenue. (If that building sounds familiar, I mentioned it on Daily Check-In 10/30/2017.)

If Bannon told this much to a journalist, just imagine what he told to Robert Mueller.

So, what conclusion am I drawing from this?

Steve Bannon told Robert Mueller some shit about Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that strongly implies that they should never, EEVER, be allowed anywhere near classified intel. Mueller told Rosenstein, and Rosenstein told the White House.

Jared’s gonna have a very rough year.

RUMOR MILL: CALLS FOR UNITY AND THE ONCOMING STORM

This article is already pretty long, and with all the news today, there were two main messages today.

We need to come together as Americans and lovers of Freedom, and resist the calls for divisiveness, since they’re likely coming from our enemies.

A lot of bad people are going to have a very bad time soon. Things are speeding up.

That’s it for today. CNN has a graphical page describing all of the different lawyers on The Justice League. I think I might update my page with any missing attorneys. I like CNN’s look. All I want to say is…

I DID IT FIRST!

Ok, I’m done being petty. I’ll update my version with the new information soon.

I’ll see you next time.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur