Friday, April 13th. Bad day to be a Knights Templar.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION: COHEN WAS IN PRAGUE, ROSENSTEIN AT PEACE, COHEN UNDER SURVEILLANCE FOR MONTHS, TRUMP CALLED COHEN BEFORE HEARING
Mueller’s team had a busy day. First, let’s recap what we know…
- Mueller has interviewed Senior FBI official Dana Boente, who may prove pivotal in the obstruction case surrounding Trump
- Sally Yates: If Trump doesn’t talk to Mueller he doesn’t have ‘moral authority to lead’
Mueller interviewed Boente, and Trump’s backing out. But Mueller doesn’t need
- Mueller has evidence that Trump confidant went to Prague, despite denials | McClatchy Washington Bureau
- Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier
- Trump fixer’s secret trip reveals most damning evidence of collusion yet An explosive new report puts Michael Cohen in Prague during the summer of 2016, confirming a key part of the Steele dossier and providing the st… shareblue.com
Remember in the Steele Dossier when Michael Cohen went to Prague, or somewhere in Central Europe? Mueller has proof that Cohen was there. This directly ties Michael Cohen, the personal lawyer for the President of the United States, to a mission from before the election in which he was acting on orders from Trump to coordinate treasonous activities with a rogue hostile state in Russia.
Robert Mueller has the receipts. Literally.
- A Former Russian Spy Worked On A Trump Moscow Deal While Trump Was Running For President
- Trump ‘pee tape’ alibi contradicted by testimony of his personal bodyguard
Of course, no matter what happens, as soon as the Steele Dossier is mentioned, people ask “what about the pee pee tape?” Wait for it. While it’s flying around the Twitterverse, we’ll probably see it after Cohen realizes how ultimately fucked he truly is.
The 12-page document, which appears to have been signed by Broidy, outlines his role as providing “political advocacy” on behalf of a now sanctioned Russian bank, VTB.
The deal was apparently dated June 12, 2014, just weeks before VTB Bank was blacklisted by the United States and European Union as a key Kremlin asset following Russia’s invasion of Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin is guest of honour at VTB Bank’s investor conference every year.
The document raises serious questions about whether Broidy is in breach of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law that has gained prominence following the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller into foreign meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his aide Rick Gates have both been charged as a result of their work in Ukraine.
What is it with all of these high level Republicans stewarding Russian assets?
Elliot Broidy, first introduced on Daily Check-In 03/05/2018, was knee-deep in Thailand and the Middle East, joins Paul Manafort as “People Ukraine want to put in the stretching rack.”
He’s dirty AF, but don’t worry, his day gets worse. Much worse. Check out the GOP section for how he’s fucked.
Pun Jar total is $14. You’ll see why.
Comey’s press tour begins, and the attacks against him have begun
- Comey: It’s ‘possible’ Trump was with prostitutes in Russia
- Trump blasts Comey amid book drama, says he should be prosecuted
- Why is the NRA even talking about James Comey?
- James Comey’s FBI memoir: Six claims about Trump – BBC News
- Almost no one in James B. Comey’s new book comes off as virtuous — except maybe Obama
Comey writes that Obama sat alone with him in the Oval Office in late November and told him I picked you to be FBI director because of your integrity and your ability. I want you to know that nothing — nothing — has happened in the last year to change my view.”
On the verge of tears, Comey told Obama, “Boy, were those words I needed to hear . . . . I’m just trying to do the right thing.”
“I know,” Obama said. “I know.”
Comey’s book will take a lot of the focus next week, and rightly so. Expect some weird shit.
Cohen’s New York Shit List
- Lawyers for Trump’s Personal Attorney Set for Friday Court Appearance
- Hearing scheduled regarding Michael Cohen raids
- Hearing related to FBI raid at Trump lawyer’s office is set
- Trump lawyer Cohen trying to block materials found in FBI raid
- FBI raid sought information on taxi owners linked to Trump’s lawyer
- Prosecutors: Cohen isn’t cooperating with investigation
- Trump lawyer Michael Cohen under criminal investigation for several months, phone calls and emails were under surveillance.
- Trump Called Michael Cohen as Their Lawyers Went to Court Over Seized Trump Documents – The New York Times
- Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Negotiated $1.6 Million Settlement for Top Republican Fundraiser – WSJ
Interesting thing about the hearing was that a lawyer hired by Trump on Wednesday night was at this hearing. There was no mention that I saw of other clients’ sending an attorney to the hearing to fight for protecting the attorney-client privilege.
Oh, and Cohen set up a hush money payment? I’ll have more details below in the GOP section.
Rosenstein
- Trump’s firing of Rosenstein and Sessions is reportedly imminent
- ‘Here I stand’: Rosenstein tells confidantes he’s prepared to be fired
- EXCLUSIVE: Rosenstein consulted with ethics adviser at DOJ on Russia probe
Ever work a job where you know you’re getting fired? Eventually, a calmness overtakes you. No matter what you do, you know you’re gone, so you might as well do what you need to do, and pull the Halide switch on the way out.
How are they going to make the case to fire him? Leave it to Dipshit Cowpoke Devin Nunes (House Intelligence), Bob Goodlatte (House Judiciary), and Trey Gowdy (House Ethics).
So, while the President is under investigation, the heads of the three largest committees in the House, two of which have announced their retirements, are demanding evidence from an ongoing criminal investigation in which at least one of the three is a known accomplice to the target subject of said investigation?
That’s how they plan on getting rid of Rosenstein. He can either hand over evidence to the committee heads who will give that shit immediately to Trump, or ignore it and watch as they hold him in Contempt of Congress, then Trump uses that as an excuse to fire him.
But, in the few minutes since I typed those paragraphs, I realized something…Trump is calling the shots, and he’s not aware of what Rosenstein knows. He thinks that all they have is Comey’s memo’s, because that’s all he hears. He wants the memos so he can attack Comey with his own notes, but Trump doesn’t realize that Mueller and Rosenstein have a fuckton of evidence against Trump, not just the memos. So, giving them the memos might not be terrible. Bad, but not case-destroying.
Besides, Nunes is an idiot. He’s setting himself up for an indictment of Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice. Not that he hasn’t sealed that shit before, but Rosenstein can use this as a trap. He gives them the information they ask for, but not the actual info. He gives them a canary in the coal mine. Nunes takes this, gives it to Trump, and ipso facto, proof that Nunes et al obstructed justice.
Or, Rosenstein could drop some indictments on Monday. Especially against some Russian hackers and their American coconspirators.
Trump’s Anger
- Trump lashes out at James Comey, calling former FBI director an ‘untruthful slime ball’ in response to reports about his new book
- ‘Pissed, flailing and upset’: White House source warns CNN Trump’s anger is ‘beyond what anyone can imagine’
News flash, overgrown toddler has temper tantrum.
Ready to act
- Majority of Americans support Mueller’s probe of Russia, Trump campaign
- Time to protect Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, too
- Dem lawmaker: I’ll introduce impeachment article if Trump fires Rosenstein
- ‘Just To Be Clear,’ Say Groups, ‘If Trump Fires Rosenstein That Absolutely Triggers the Nationwide Protests’
Be ready, and stay frosty.
COLD WAR 2.0: AIR STRIKES IN SYRIA, THE PROXY WAR HEATS UP
- U.S. conducts military strike against Syrian government targets in response to suspected chemical attack in Damascus suburb
- U.S.-Led Coalition Launches Attacks On Syria
- Russia tested nerve agent on door handles before Skripal attack, UK dossier claims
- Russia says Syria chemical attack staged, calls for emergency UN meeting to ‘avert danger of war’
- Russia accuses the U.K. of ‘staging’ suspected chemical attack in Syria
- Russia says US military action shouldn’t hinge on Trump’s morning mood
- Russia hacked Yulia Skripal’s emails for five years, bombshell intelligence dossier reveals.
- Russian lawmakers want to fight U.S. sanctions by stealing American intellectual property — Meduza
- Israel is determined to stop Iran from establishing bases in Syria – The other Syrian conflict
- U.S. Says Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons at Least 50 Times During War – The New York Times
Like I said on Daily Check-In 04/09/2018, we have a Wag the Dog scenario. However, France and Britain also took part in the strikes as well. Let’s see if these attacks are one-off’s, or if this is the beginning of a war.
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Alex Jones Greatly Exaggerates How Many Radio Stations He’s On — Knowledge Fight
- Fox & Friends suggests Trump could bomb Syria to distract from Comey’s book release
- White House telling allies to attack Rosenstein on TV to build case for firing him: report.
- Watchdog alleges Trump, The National Enquirer publisher violated campaign finance law
- Trump asked source to go on TV to call on him to fire Robert Mueller
- White House telling allies to attack Rosenstein on TV to build case for firing him: report
Sources familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal that the White House has been urging Trump’s allies to lash out at Rosenstein, so that if Trump moves to fire him it won’t look like an effort to interfere in the Russia investigation.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we call a criminal conspiracy. No if’s, ands, or but’s about it.
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK
- Revealed: Aleksandr Kogan collected Facebook users’ direct messages | News | The Guardian
- Facebook CEO Zuckerberg says hate speech stumps AI
- Democrats: Cambridge Analytica CEO misled Congress in secret testimony
SCOOTER LIBBY PARDONED
- The Washington Post: Trump pardons ‘Scooter’ Libby, former Cheney chief of staff who was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury
- Coincidence? Scooter Libby case involved James Comey, ‘witch hunt’ claims and a vilified special prosecutor.
- Pelosi: Libby pardon shows that ‘obstructing justice will be rewarded’ by Trump
- Dem rips Trump over Comey attack: You’re about to pardon a leaker
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- It’s All Symbolic Votes From Here on Out
- Ethics panel calls on former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold to repay $84,000 harassment settlement
- Millennial women leaving the Republican Party in droves:
- Suspected White Supremacist Died Building ISIS-Style Bombs
- Cohen negotiated $1.6 million settlement for GOP donor over claims he impregnated model
- The Washington Post: Trump lawyer negotiated $1.6 million settlement for GOP donor with Playboy model
- RNC finance official resigns after acknowledging payment to Playboy model | TheHill
- The Reagan revolution is officially over
- GOP lawmaker: ‘A lot of the attractive children are not making it to the border’ as they’re getting abducted and trafficked into sex slavery, per GOP Congressman
- RNC deputy finance chair resigns after reports of $1.6 million payment to Playboy Playmate
Michael Cohen is one of the Deputy Finance Chairs of the Republican National Committee. His shit was raided and seized by the FBI on Monday. One of the things they found evidence of was Cohen setting up a hush money payment between a Playboy Model and Elliot Broidy. Cohen facilitated a payment late last year between Broidy, a 60 year old married man, and a model that he knocked up and urged to get an abortion. She was paid $1.6 million in quarterly payments over 2 years, starting last December.
Elliot Broidy resigned earlier today, but there are three things that make this a big story in my mind.
- The FBI was on this for months, and knew about this a long time ago.
- The fact that the Right Wing isn’t tearing their hair out about this man paying for an abortion screams of hypocrisy. The “Pro-Life Party” is suddenly silent.
- If the FBI was on this for months, there’s a very good chance that the money either came from, or at least passed through, the Republican Party. That is a severe violation of probably a half a dozen campaign finance laws, money laundering, wire fraud, and bank fraud at least.
RNC Finance Committee Members:
- Steve Wynn – Chair – Resigns amid sexual assault allegations
- Michael Cohen – Deputy Chair – Under criminal investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations
- Elliot Broidy -Deputy Chair – Resigns for paying $1.6M to a playboy bunny to cover up an affair and under criminal investigation in Ukraine for financial crimes
BLUE WAVE
- Democrats’ Chances Of Winning The Senate Are Looking Stronger
- Look To California For The Future Of Politics, Demographer Says
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Emails Show EPA Staff Were Concerned that Pruitt Kept Repeating False Information
- Donald Trump’s presidency is collapsing
- Trump Is Threatening American Democracy – The Atlantic
- Kakistocracy, a 374-year-old word that means ‘government by the worst,’ just broke the dictionary
#NEVERAGAIN
- Cops: Elementary kids find loaded gun teacher left in Pennsylvania school bathroom – CBS News
- A Parkland school board member compared David Hogg to a Nazi
- BASF, One of Laura Ingraham’s Last Advertisers, Drops Out
- Ace Hardware Reverses Course, Resumes Advertising on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News Show
Too bad, I really liked the local hardware store that Ace bought out and franchised a few years ago.
SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY
- The US may have missed its chance to rejoin the TPP
- Trade war backfire: Steel tariff shrapnel hits U.S. farmers
- Trump Wants Back Into the TPP. Not So Fast, Say Members.
- Mitch McConnell — yes, that Mitch McConnell — just introduced a bill to legalize hemp
- Wells Fargo says it faces $1 billion penalty for mortgage, auto business misdeeds – The Washington Post
RED STATE TEACHER STRIKES
- These charts show why America’s teachers are fired up and can’t take any more
- Arizona Governor Agrees To 20 Percent Raise For Protesting Teachers
CLIMATE CH..CH..CH..CHANGES
- Dangerous climate tipping point is ‘about a century ahead of schedule’ warns scientist.
- World May Hit 2 Degrees of Warming in 10-15 Years Thanks to Fracking, Says Cornell Scientist
STORMYWATCH, FROM THE STORMCENTER 6000 METEOROPORNOLOGICAL CENTER
CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?
RUMOR MILL
- Ale’s thread on Prague
- Pace: GOP Chairwoman In Deep Shit
- Renato Mariotti: What firing Rod Rosenstein could mean
- Spicy Mic: Pardon me? No really Pardon me…UPDATED – Mad Dog PAC
- Spicy Mic:Hacker back, back to U.S. Update X 2 Facebook Twitter Update 3/30/18 Defenant Nikulin made his first appearance in Federal Court, it appears he is being represented by a Pu… maddogpac.com
That’s it for today. There was so much shit, I need to do a quick breakdown…
Mueller has proof that Michael Cohen was in Prague, directly on orders from Trump, to work with the Russians.
Michael Cohen organized a payoff between Elliot Broidy, who’s now under investigation in Ukraine for his ties to a Russian bank under sanctions, and a Playboy model he impregnated and urged to get an abortion. The likelihood that this money came from the RNC is pretty damn high.
The FBI Investigation into Michael Cohen was separate from Robert Mueller’s work, but they are cooperating with each other.
Trump pardoned Scooter Libby as a “fuck you” to James Comey, whose book comes out next week.
Rosenstein knows he’s probably getting fired, and has a plan, as do thousands if not millions of Americans.
Trump is coordinating with Fox News and other Right Wing Media to create a message to push for Mueller’s and Rosenstein’s firings.
The United States, Great Britain, and France launched an air strike against Assad-held positions in Syria that are points of their chemical weapons infrastructure.
Climate change is fucking our shit up.
Kids keep finding guns school bathrooms because people are stupid.
Trump can’t win a trade war with China because a trade war is a stupid idea.
Instead, he’ll try to start a real one to distract from how much of a criminal scumbag he is.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
5 thoughts on “Daily Check-In 04/13/2018”