Friday, March 30th. Good Friday, for those into that kind of thing. For the non-religious out there, Happy “Good luck trying to get a bacon cheeseburger and not fish for lunch” day.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- A Putin ally’s jet arrived in the US within hours of a meeting between Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a Russian operative
- Russian hacking suspect extradited to United States: Czech justice ministry
- Czechs Extradite Alleged Russian Hacker Nikulin To U.S.
Yevgeny Nikulin was a hacker that was involved in many computer crimes, including a possible link to the Weiner Laptop Drama from shortly before the 2016 election. Louise was on this guy a while back.
- Rick Gates Could Be More Dangerous Than Trump’s Allies Thought
- Roger Stone: Sam Nunberg Is a ‘Lying Asshole’ and ‘Psycho’
Why do I have a feeling that when Roger Stone goes down, he’ll try to make some type of crazy last stand that ends with suicide by cop?
- Andrew McCabe: legal fund for battle with Trump reaches $300,000 in hours
- Trump and His Lawyer May Have Conspired to Obstruct Justice If They Dangled Pardons for Manafort and Flynn
- Paul Manafort, a mysterious Russian jet, and a secret meeting – VICE News
- FBI questions Ted Malloch, Trump campaign figure and Farage ally | US news | The Guardian
This last one was in the Rumor Mill yesterday Daily Check-In 03/29/2018. It’s being reported by multiple outlets like The Guardian, so I’m less skeptical of the story, but it’s basically reporting that Ted Malloch said he was stopped by the FBI. There are no statements from anyone else there. Nothing from the FBI, his family, or any other witnesses. The only reports are from Ted and his friends, who aren’t exactly the most reputable characters.
Plus, there’s a detail I can’t shake. Ted says the FBI confiscated his phones, but he called one of his friends during interview. Then, they took his phones with them as evidence.
Something doesn’t add up on that. For the FBI to confiscate his electronics, they’d need a warrant. There’s no mention that he had a lawyer present, yet they interrogated him pretty hard. Meanwhile, every other instance of the FBI interviewing someone in this case has them going out of their way to not do any activities that could even be slightly interpreted as improper or illegal. When George Nader was stopped (Daily Check-In 03/06/2018), Ted’s story is pretty similar. With George Papadopoulos, his arrest was so by-the-book that the FBI didn’t ask him any questions until after his lawyer showed up.
I’m halfway between misinformation and planted honesty. We’ll see where this goes.
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK
- Criminal complaint filed against Bannon, Trump campaign, Cambridge Analytica and Bolton Super PAC – CREW
- Peter Thiel’s Palantir is investigating employee’s links to Cambridge Analytica
- Facebook Executive In 2016: “Maybe Someone Dies In A Terrorist Attack Coordinated On Our Tools”
- Spicy Mic: Dear John, Meet CLC
#NEVERAGAIN
- No, Emma Gonzalez did not admit to bullying Parkland shooter at a rally
- Atlantis pulls ads from Laura Ingraham’s show
- Advertisers Ditching Laura Ingraham’s Show Over Attack On Parkland Survivor
- Student shot at Madison Schools in Ohio gets detention for school-shooting protest
TEACHER STRIKES IN CONSERVATIVE AMERICA
- Widespread teacher absences close schools across Kentucky in anger over pension bill
- Kentucky Senate passes hastily filed pension reform bill; school districts across the state cancel class hours later
- Oklahoma raises taxes on oil, gas, and cigarettes to give teachers their first raise since 2007
- The red-state teacher rebellions are spreading
- Red-state teacher rebellion hits Oklahoma, grows in Arizona
Following years of anti-union, anti-government, and anti-social policies, teachers in Kentucky, Arizona, and Oklahoma are following West Virginia’s lead with state-wide strikes.
COLD WAR 2.0
- Trump Has Absolutely Nothing To Say About Russia Throwing Out 60 U.S. Diplomats
- Russian ambassador says ‘atmosphere in Washington is poison’
- Russian corruption funds may have gone through AIB and BoI
- Richard Engle ‘On Assignment: Salisbury’
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Senator: Pruitt security included Disneyland, Rose Bowl trips
- Pruitt paid $50 a night to live at condo co-owned by top energy lobbyist’s wife
STORMYWATCH, FROM THE STORMCENTER 6000 METEOROPORONOLOGICAL CENTER
- Stormy Daniels’ lawyer: Case against Donald Trump ‘grows stronger’ due to ‘buffoonery’ of president’s defenders
- Stormy Daniels lawyer rejects settling with Trump: It’s not about money, it’s about truth
- Why Stormy Daniels Is Different
- The payoff to former Playboy model Karen McDougal inches closer to Trump
MEDIA MATTERS, AND WHY MEDIA MATTERS
- Roseanne Keeps Promoting QAnon, the Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory That Makes Pizzagate Look Tame
- Media giant Sinclair hired reporter from Russian propaganda outlet RT who produced “must-run” “Deep State” segment
- Local TV forced to denounce ‘one-sided news’ by America’s largest media company – ThinkProgress
- Trump TV actually hired a broadcaster from Russian propaganda outlet Sinclair Broadcasting has a new tie to Russia Today, a Kremlin propaganda outlet. shareblue.com
Sinclair Broadcasting is forcing local news channels to spread pro-Trump propaganda. There is no reason to pussyfoot around this.
CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?
- Judge denies Roy Moore’s request to dismiss accuser’s lawsuit
- Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation
- Satire: Scientists Baffled by McConnell and Ryan’s Ability to Stand Upright Without Spines
- Biggest Threat to Humanity? Climate Change, U.N. Chief Says
- Judge denies Roy Moore’s request to dismiss accuser’s lawsuit
- AP-NORC/MTV Poll: Young people run from Trump
RUMOR MILL: CHURCHBELLS ARE RINGING
Eric Garland posted Houston megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell insists bonds he sold are legitimate earlier today. Aside from getting a kick out of watching one of these megachurch pastors getting busted on Good Friday, I like it because it reminds me to keep churches in the spotlight.
One of the tools used to funnel Russian money into the Republican Party in 2016 was the church system. Just like the NRA, they were used to infiltrate the party and serve as proxies for Russian interests in the election.
Plus, I personally find the whole idea of the megachurch to be an affront to piety and humility that religion claims as its primary qualities. Nothing says hypocrisy like telling an 80 year old woman living off of her Social Security check that she needs to give more money to a multimillionaire to buy a private plane and third summer home.
That’s it for today. It’s a little short today. Last night was a long one for me, and I’m working on about 3 hours of sleep. I try not to write when I get too tired. I make stupid mistakes, and don’t catch them until it’s too late. Besides, my to-do list is pretty crazy.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 