Thursday, May 3rd.
COHEN: TO WIRETAP OR NOT TO WIRETAP
- Feds tapped Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s phones
- NBC News Corrects Story, Says Michael Cohen Wasn’t Wiretapped
- Someone at the White House called Cohen’s phone before he was raided by FBI
- Renato Mariotti on how a wiretap works
I was going to go into this nice, long description of how a wiretap works, but then NBC corrected the story that it wasn’t a wiretap, but a pen register. Now, I’ve got to explain both, and the difference.
A pen register is when law enforcement sees who calls the target, and who the target calls. They can’t monitor what the call was about, but can see how long the call lasted, and how often they called.
A wiretap goes a step above the pen register and actively monitors the calls for content. There are several restrictions on a wiretap. For example, if the call is privileged communication, or after 30 seconds it the call isn’t about anything criminal, then law enforcement has to hang up. If the call goes on for a long time, they can check back in to see if the conversation has turned back to illegal stuff. There’s a scene from Casino where they went through the details. I tried to find it, but after a half hour of searching and not finding the clip, I give up.
I’m not surprised by this, to be honest. The Feds were monitoring Cohen’s emails and phone lines for weeks, if not months before they raided his shit. While checking the phone records, they saw who was calling, and when. But there are two big takeaways from today.
First, a pen register is used when the Feds suspect that a crime is ongoing. If there was a past crime, they would just look at the phone records on file.
Second, at least one of the calls they recorded came from the White House.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION: MUELLER ORDERS 70 BLANK SUBPOENAS, SIDE OF COLE SLAW TO GO
- Mueller Seeks 70 Blank Subpoenas in Manafort Case
- ‘A very steady hand’: New White House lawyer brings deep experience as he enters fray of Russia investigation
- Giuliani: Trump fired Comey because he wouldn’t say he wasn’t a target in the Russia probe
- Michael Caputo says ‘it’s clear’ Mueller investigators focused on Russia collusion
- As Trump Pressure Builds, Spotlight Falls On Solicitor General Noel Francisco : NPR
70 blank subpoenas for July.
STORMYGATE/RUDY CROSSOVER CLUSTERFUCK
- Trump offers explanation on Twitter about how he reimbursed his lawyer to hush porn star
- Ex-White House ethics chief: Trump just admitted filing false financial disclosure | TheHill
- Michael Avenatti Stunned By Rudy Interview: ‘No Way, No How’ Trump Finishes His Term Now | HuffPost
- In One Hannity Interview, Giuliani Blew Up Trump’s Arguments in 3 Legal Cases
- Giuliani follows up disastrous Hannity appearance with equally damaging Fox & Friends spot
- Giuliani calls on Sessions to intervene on Cohen investigation – POLITICO
- The Washington Post: ‘I was going to get this over with’: Inside Giuliani’s explosive Stormy Daniels revelation
- Avenatti: ‘These Guys Make The Watergate Burglars Look Competent’
DOCTOR, DOCTOR
- The media’s 2016 freak out over Clinton’s pneumonia looks really suspect today
- “Now we know the truth: Donald Trump is the unhealthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”
- BREAKING From Trump’s ‘Doctors’: Most Remarkable Physical Specimen of All Time!
COLD WAR 2.0
HAPPY NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Sam Clovis is leaving the USDA
- Sanders: I found out about Trump reimbursement from Giuliani’s interview
- CNN’s Chalian: Sarah Huckabee Sanders ‘has lost credibility with the American people’
- Senators Request Investigation of Mulvaney for Potential Hatch Act Violations
- Pruitt’s Coziness With Lobbyists Includes Secretly Buying a House With One – The New York Times
- A Pruitt Aide’s Attack on Zinke Angers the White House – The Atlantic
- Kellyanne Conway’s husband cites FEC law in tweet during Trump-Giuliani saga
- Pruitt reimbursed himself $65K from AG campaign
- Whoops! Jared Kushner Made Even More Mistakes in His Federal Filings — ProPublica
- EPA chief Scott Pruitt planned foreign trips with significant help from lobbyists, GOP donors and conservative activists
#NEVERAGAIN
- After Dropping Assault Rifles, Dick’s Starts Lobbying for Gun Control
- PA Governor Wolf aims to end gun show exception to background checks
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK
- Cambridge Analytica dismantled for good? Nope: It just changed its name to Emerdata
- Cambridge Analytica just went out of business. Don’t worry, its owners and executives have already started a new company.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Film Academy Expels Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski From Membership
- Illegal Immigration Does Not Increase Violent Crime, 4 Studies Show
- Police in D.C., New York revise shooting policies in response to vehicle ramming attacks
SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY
- It appears China has stopped buying soybeans from the US altogether because of trade fight
- 1,100 economists warn that Trump is repeating one of the biggest mistakes of the Great Depression
RUMOR MILL
- Greg Olear Twitter Thread: Is Cohen Trump’s Handler?
- Michael Cohen: Trump’s Fixer…or His Handler | The Weeklings
Here’s an interesting hypothesis: What if Michael Cohen outranks Donald Trump in the mob? Is that even possible?
I don’t necessarily buy it right now, but it’s 2018. This is the year that a porn star’s attorney is bitchslapping the combined legal expertise of the White House.
That’s it for today. Today is very light on my information. Today was a very busy day, and I didn’t spend nearly as much time as I have on the entry recently. Tomorrow should be back to normal.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 