Tuesday, May 1st. May Day.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
This is an interesting development.
In a tense meeting in early March with the special counsel, President Trump’s lawyers insisted he had no obligation to talk with federal investigators probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
But special counsel Robert S. Mueller III responded that he had another option if Trump declined: He could issue a subpoena for the president to appear before a grand jury, according to four people familiar with the encounter.
Mueller’s warning — the first time he is known to have mentioned a possible subpoena to Trump’s legal team — spurred a sharp retort from John Dowd, then the president’s lead lawyer.
“This isn’t some game,” Dowd said, according to two people with knowledge of his comments. “You are screwing with the work of the president of the United States.”
Trump’s team threatened to not talk to Robert Mueller’s team, and Mueller responded with a threat to subpoena his ass.
We’ve known this was a possibility, even a likelihood, since the rumors of interviews started, but it’s all been hypothetical, not much basis in reality. Now, it hasn’t only entered the realm of reality, but hangs in the air like Damocles’s Sword.
Bobby Three Sticks wouldn’t make this threat lightly. He wouldn’t threaten a subpoena without sign-off from DAG Rosenstein, a team looking at privileged information and where it falls, investigators review every possible angle and the legal team has gone through all of their evidence with a fine-toothed comb.
Dropping this bomb is like threatening divorce. It’s not done lightly, and once it’s used, everything changes.
By the way, we’ve got a good idea where the questions came from…
After investigators laid out 16 specific subjects they wanted to review with the president and added a few topics within each one, Sekulow broke the queries down into 49 separate questions, according to people familiar with the process.
Jay Sekulow’s notes. That explains the following stories:
- Mueller’s former assistant says grammatical errors prove leaked questions came from Trump
- Experts: Mueller questions leaked by Team Trump
The leaked questions had some grammatical errors that those close to Mueller claim he wouldn’t make. So Jay took the subjects, wrote a few questions out of those, then what?
What happened March 5? Daily Check-In 03/05/2018 Sam Nunberg went nuts. Daily Check-In 03/06/2018. George Nader flipped, Mueller was looking into Cohen’s activities, and Stormy sued Trump. The legal teams meet, and two weeks later Jon Dowd nopes the fuck out of Team Trump. Probably because he saw his actions in the list. (Dangling a pardon for Flynn Daily Check-In 03/28/2018)
Here’s some more articles about those questions.
- Comey Says Mueller Should Get ‘Open-Ended’ Interview With Trump
- James Comey: FBI had ‘basis for investigating’ possible ties between Trump and Russia
- Trump bizarrely claims Mueller doesn’t plan to ask him about colluding with Russia
- Russians followed up on Trump Tower meeting after election, Democrats say
- Nixon White House counsel: It could be obstruction if Trump team leaked Mueller questions
- Mueller’s questions for Trump have leaked. Here are three big takeaways.
- The 7 most intriguing questions Robert Mueller wants to ask Trump – The Washington Post
- If Team Trump Leaked Mueller’s Questions, It’s Bound to Backfire
- Trump claims Mueller has ‘no questions on collusion.’ Here are 13 of them.
- Robert Mueller Likely Knows How This All Ends
“There have been people who have been making threats privately & publicly against me for quite some time & I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted.”
COHEN
Michael Cohen, already under pressure from a federal criminal investigation into his business and financial dealings, has been hit this month with more than $185,000 in new state warrants for unpaid taxes on his taxicab companies.
Added to his previous tab, that brings the total to $282,000 owed to New York state by 16 taxi medallion-holding companies owned by Cohen or members of his family, including Mad Dog Cab Corp., Smoochie Cab Corp., Golden Child Cab Corp. and N.Y. Futon Taxi Corp. A lawyer for Cohen declined to comment.
- Michael Cohen Hit With New Taxi Taxes, Owes New York $282,000
- Trump camp paid Michael Cohen legal fees, possibly violating laws
- Michael Cohen Claimed He Talked With Trump the Day of the Stormy Daniels Deal
DOCTOR, DOCTOR
- Trump Bodyguard Took President’s Personal Medical Files in ‘Raid’ After Inauguration, Doctor Says
- Trump doc says Trump bodyguard, lawyer ‘raided’ his office, took medical files
In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump’s longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump’s New York doctor without notice and took all the president’s medical records.
The incident, which Dr. Harold Bornstein described as a “raid,” took place two days after Bornstein told a newspaper that he had prescribed a hair growth medicine for the president for years.
In an exclusive interview in his Park Avenue office, Bornstein told NBC News that he felt “raped, frightened and sad” when Keith Schiller and another “large man” came to his office to collect the president’s records on the morning of Feb. 3, 2017. At the time, Schiller, who had long worked as Trump’s bodyguard, was serving as director of Oval Office operations at the White House.
“They must have been here for 25 or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos,” Bornstein said, who described the incident as frightening.
A framed 8×10 photo of Bornstein and Trump that had been hanging on the wall in the waiting room now lies flat under a stack of papers on the top shelf of Bornstein’s bookshelf. Bornstein said the men asked him to take it off the wall.
Bornstein said he was not given a form authorizing the release of the records and signed by the president known as a HIPAA release — which is a violation of patient privacy law. A person familiar with the matter said there was a letter to Bornstein from then-White House doctor Ronny Jackson, but didn’t know if there was a release form attached.
“He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter,” Bornstein told CNN on Tuesday. “I just made it up as I went along.”The admission is an about face from his answer more than two years when the letter was released and answers one of the lingering questions about the last presidential election. The letter thrust the eccentric Bornstein, with his shoulder-length hair and round eyeglasses, into public view.
Here’s a video, even better hearing his passion.
COLD WAR 2.0
Remember this, then think back to Brexit and the fallout from that. Part of the backlash to Brexit was a reinvigoration of the Scottish independence movement. Which, guess who pushed the propaganda for that? Ding ding ding! If you guessed Russia, give yourself two points.
#NEVERAGAIN
- The Secret Service Will Ban Guns for a Day at the NRA Convention. You Know, for Safety.
- Republican Candidate Brian Kemp Points a Shotgun at a Teen in a Campaign Ad
- Father of Parkland shooting victim sues ‘coward’ school resource officer, among others
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Federal Probe Demanded After Trump’s Billionaire Pal Carl Icahn Receives EPA Waiver Worth Tens of Millions
- Pruitt’s head of security resigns
- The Washington Post: Lobbyist helped broker Scott Pruitt’s $100,000 trip to Morocco
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IN DEAD
- Crimes are no longer a disqualification for Republican candidates
- Top Republican In California Senate Race Called For Government ‘Free From Jews’
- Donald Trump to Be Met with Mass Drag Queen Protest When He Visits Britain
- Anonymous White Nationalists May Have Their Identities Exposed In Lawsuit Over Charlottesville, Virginia, Violence
- The most damning line from the Correspondents’ Dinner? ‘Flint still doesn’t have clean water’
BLUE WAVE
- Beto O’Rourke wants to debate Ted Cruz 6 times, including twice in Spanish
- Democrats need just one more senator (and then a miracle) to reverse US net neutrality death
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- No Time to Pretend: The courts and the press are putting themselves at risk by treating Donald Trump like a normal president.
- Trump slams ‘disgraceful’ leak of Mueller questions
- Trump’s tweets suggest he doesn’t understand his legal jeopardy
- CNN’s Cuomo Grills Jill Stein About Withholding Russia Docs; She Responds by Complaining About U.S.
- After Attacking Michelle Wolf, Reporters Return to Politely Minding President Who Called Africa a Shithole
- Comcast aims to combat cord cutting by limiting major internet speed increases to cable subscribers
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Democrats Tell Judge ‘Emoluments Clause’ Applies to Trump
- Death row inmate eats an entire Bible as his last meal
The Bible he ate wasn’t cooked, marinated, or even slathered in ketchup. He just ate it straight up.
Eating that much pulp and fiber could really mess up his digestive system long term. If he doesn’t change his diet, he’ll never make it to be an old man.
Oh, shit… Nevermind.
Did Roy Moore not pay attention to a fucking thing that happened to Bill Cosby? Suing his accusers led to discovery, which led to even more shady ass shit.
The number of reported sexual assaults is up 15%, but they’re claiming this as a victory on two fronts. First, more people are coming forward to report sexual assaults, and less assaults are happening.
SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY
- The U.S. Just Borrowed $488 Billion, a Record High for the First Quarter
- Trump’s former health secretary: Americans will pay more because GOP weakened Obamacare
- Republicans Promised to Cut the Deficit. It’s Only Getting Worse
RUMOR MILL: WHO OWNS WHAT?
- Eric Garland thread on who owns The Hill
- Rantt Rundown: Robert Mueller’s Sights Are Set – Rantt Media
Here’s a good roundup of what happened throughout the day. They’re doing a similar thing to what I’m doing, but look better and have a staff. Not exactly rumors, but I don’t have a section for them yet.
That’s it for today. For the last couple days I’ve been listening to “Thug Notes” on audiobook. It’s a pretty good book. It describes literary classics in gangsta terms. Which leads me to another issue.
I have a tendency to write like what I’m reading or listening to. Whether it’s music or a book, I mimic what I’m exposed to. So, if my writing gets a little crass, or I start talking like I’m a straight up gangsta, or start flexing, that’s why.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
When you wrote “Here’s a good roundup of what happened throughout the day”, what were you referring to? Did you forget to include the link?
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That comment referred to the Rantt Media link right above it. I should have formatted that better.
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