Wednesday, April 4th. This post will be very light on the writing. I’m getting a late start tonight. I’m hoping this doesn’t become a pattern, but sometimes life happens.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION: MUELLER STOPPING SUBJECTS IN AIRPORTS
- Mueller Reportedly Is Making A List Of All The Stuff Trump Has Done In Office
- Mueller is putting together a report in the obstruction case that could be as damaging to Trump as an indictment
- Mueller told Trump he’s not a criminal target in the Russia probe. That may not mean what you think.
- Obstruction Report Coming in June or July
One argument I ran into on Reddit about this was someone saying that Trump and Pence would recreate history, a la Nixon and Ford.
This assumes that Pence would give Trump a pardon, he isn’t neutered in the process, and that he’s still VP when this goes down.
I’m having a hard time nailing down Pence’s loyalty, but he doesn’t strike me as willing to sacrifice himself to save Trump, especially if Trump is looking down the barrel of serious charges against the state.
Next, the political costs would be too great for Mike to pardon Trump, or anyone in the administration. Commutation of some sentences might be acceptable for a few people, but assuming the worst, pardoning people charged with Conspiracy Against The United States, Espionage, and Treason would destroy his presidency.
Plus, Pence was the head of the Trump Transition Team, the same group that Mike Flynn was working for when Flynn was caught on tape with the Russian Ambassador. Pence’s only defense at this point is that he didn’t know what his subordinates were doing. If even one of the cooperating witnesses fingered Pence, he’s done for. Remember, there is no constitutional protection guarantee for a Vice President. Spiro Agnew was indicted while in office and forced to resign.
The last option of Pence leaving office before Trump is far-fetched, but goes to show how screwed up things are. The fact that this is even a possibility that must be entertained is absurd. But, here we are.
Mueller’s team is having the FBI stop people of interest as they cross through customs, where there’s a bit of a no man’s land of legal rights. They’re stopping these people, interviewing them, digging into their connections to Trump and American politics, and either making copies of their electronic devices or seizing them outright.
The article doesn’t name the oligarchs, but there’s some info in the Rumor Mill.
- Everyone Is Painting GOP Congressman Dana Rohrabacher as Putin’s Puppet
- Stone, on day he sent Assange dinner email, also said ‘devastating’ WikiLeaks were forthcoming
Roger Stone appeared on the InfoWars radio show the same day he sent an email claiming he dined with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — and he predicted “devastating” upcoming disclosures about the Clinton Foundation.
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Fox’s Shep Smith and John Roberts destroy Trump’s lies about Amazon hurting the Post Office
- Sinclair producer in Nebraska resigns to protest ‘obvious bias’
- Sinclair broadcasts must-run segment praising Trump’s tariffs
- Internal Memo Shows Sinclair Threatening Employees to Keep Mouths Shut About ‘Must-Read’ Scripts
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK
- Facebook: Data on 87 million people shared with Cambridge Analytica
- Zuckerberg says most Facebook users should assume they have had their public info scraped
- The Washington Post: Facebook said the personal data of most of its 2 billion users has been collected and shared with outsiders
#NEVERAGAIN
- A Parkland student shielded others with his body — and is the last to leave the hospital alive
- Twitter’s CEO told Trump to stop praying after shootings and do something to stop them instead
- 10 FL Cities want to regulate Guns. So they sued the State – MadDog2.0
- Father of suspected YouTube shooter told police she was angry
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS: McMASTER RESISGNS, PRUITT MAKES CASE FOR MOST CORRUPT CABINET OFFICIAL
- President Trump Is Still Posing as Anonymous Source to Leak Favorable News to Reporters: New Book
- McMaster blasts Putin in last speech as national security adviser
- H.R. McMaster Warns ‘The Kremlin’s Confidence is Growing’—and U.S. Has Failed to Impose Sufficient Costs
- Pruitt ‘dumbfounded’ that renting condo linked to top lobbyist is controversial
- Rob Porter is now working for Trump’s re-election campaign
- Lawsuit Claims Saudis Bought Out Jared Kushner, White House is Compromised
- Trump’s daily briefing (a.k.a. ‘Fox & Friends’) warns him not to pull out of Syria
- Trump instructs military to begin planning for withdrawal from Syria
- Trump agrees to keep U.S. troops in Syria for undetermined period of time to defeat ISIS
IMMIGRATION: TRUMP HATES BROWN PEOPLE
- Mattis said immigrant veterans should not be deported. ICE is trying anyway.
- The Washington Post: Trump to sign proclamation to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border
SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY
- Stock futures plunge, with the Dow set for a nearly 550 point drop, after China announces tariffs
- The tax cuts were supposed to be ‘rocket fuel’ for the economy. Since they passed, the markets are down.
- Chamber of Commerce after Trump Amazon attacks: ‘Inappropriate’ for officials to attack an American company
- Kimmel on Trump v Amazon: ‘He’s jealous because Jeff Bezos is actually a billionaire’
- McConnell ‘nervous’ Trump tariffs will hurt the country
RED STATE TEACHER STRIKES
- Gov. Mary Fallin to CBS News: Teachers wanting raise is ‘kind of like having a teenage kid that wants a better car’; mentions ‘antifa
- ‘I just didn’t think that our legislature would hate us this much’: Oklahoma teachers speak out
CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?
- Rebecca Dallet beats Michael Screnock in race for Wisconsin Supreme Court
- The Washington Post: The four days in 1968 that reshaped D.C.
- Female candidates take on taboos in new campaign ads – POLITICO
RUMOR MILL: WHO WAS STOPPED AT THE AIRPORT?
From the thread…
Oleg Deripaska’s M-SAWO 2/28/18 Moscow-Teterboro. Something is happening in NY… Vekselberg’s P4-MIS flew from Thailand, Abramov’s D-ALEX from Moscow to Newark, Abramovich’s LX-GVI from LA to Teterboro and Blavatnik’s N671LE from Europe to Teterboro, all on the same day, 2/28
We already know Oleg Deripaska, but who are the others?
Viktor Vekselberg, owner and president of Renova Group, personally worth $13.6 billion.
Alexander Abramov, owner of Russia’s largest steel producer, personally worth $4.3 billion.
Roman Abramovich, owner of Millhouse LLC investment company and Chelsea Football Club, personally worth $10.8 billion
Len Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries, Russian-born American and British citizen, major philanthropist, personally worth $21.2 billion.
So, we have 4 billionaires landing in New Jersey. 3 in Teterboro right outside of New York, and 1 in Newark, all on the same day, all on a Wednesday.
Why? What happened that day?
Daily Check-In 02/28/2018 saw Paul Manafort appear in court, and several stories aired about Russian trips during the campaign. Daily Check-In 03/01/2018 let it out that Mueller was looking to indict the Russian hackers at Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, working for the GRU.
I’m not exactly sure why they met in New York (maybe they had Hamilton tickets?), but it sounds like Mueller’s team was waiting for them.
Remember, this is all rumor and supposition, but if these four met for some nefarious reason, and used their cell phones or laptops to communicate, getting stopped in customs by the FBI makes for a very bad day. It’s like going through a DUI checkpoint followed by a colonoscopy. No matter how it goes, it ends with a sore ass.
That’s it for today. Like I said, it’s late, and I’m tired. Let’s see how Thursday goes. I might be offline for most of Friday night, but I’ll try to gather some stories earlier in the day. I don’t like to talk about personal details here, but I might be unable to write that night. I’ll see what happens.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
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