Tuesday, May 29th.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- The FBI warning Trump received, ignored, and apparently forgot about
- Manafort Loses Skirmish With Mueller Over Two Search Warrants
- Special counsel Mueller initiates sentencing process for 2nd cooperating defendant
For the second time in six days, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has moved to begin the process for sentencing a cooperating defendant in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, this time a California man charged with a Russian Internet trolling operation in February.
Richard Pinedo, 28, of Santa Paula, Calif., pleaded guilty Feb. 12 in Washington to creating hundreds of bank accounts, often using stolen identities, and selling some to unidentified offshore users, including suspects connected to the Russia probe.
- Mueller’s agents asked about Roger Stone, Trump supporter Ted Malloch says
- Rubio: FBI didn’t investigate Trump campaign
And when individuals like that are in the orbit of a major political campaign in America, the FBI, who is in charge of counterintelligence investigations, should look at people like that,” Rubio said. “But they’re not investigating the campaign, they’re investigating those people.”
Read that last sentence again. They’re investigating the people.
Here’s a question that Trump’s team has never answered. Why did his campaign have at least four foreign agents working on it?
- Trump says investigation of 2016 election interference is now interfering with 2018 elections
- Trump: Mueller’s team is ‘meddling’ in midterm elections
- Trump says, without proof, that Mueller team will meddle in midterm elections
- Trump is no patriot — and we all should say so
- Kremlin says Mueller’s Russia investigation is pointless | Article [AMP] | Reuters
- Trump’s Political Survival Plan: Blame Obama For Everything
- Trump Asked Sessions to Retain Control of Russia Inquiry After His Recusal The attorney general is a key witness in the investigation into whether Mr. Trump tried to obstruct the Russia inquiry itself. nytimes.com
“Mr. Trump, who had told aides that he needed a loyalist overseeing the inquiry, berated Mr. Sessions and told him he should reverse his decision (to recuse from the Russia investigation), an unusual and potentially inappropriate request.”
Yeah, anyone who’s wondering, that’s not the reaction of an innocent man.
Arkady was shot and killed in Kiev earlier today.
PUERTO RICO DEATH TOLL
- Trump once favorably compared Puerto Rico’s death toll to Katrina’s. A study now says twice as many died in Puerto Rico.
- Puerto Rico hurricane death toll 70 times higher than official government estimate
- At least 4,645 people died in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria, study says
- Nearly 6,000 Died In Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria, A Harvard Study Says. The Government Still Claims 64 People Died.
- Harvard study estimates thousands died in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria
- Hurricane Katrina killed 1,833 people. Hurricane Maria killed at least 4,645.
COHEN: FOLLOW THE MONEY
- The ex-Playmate and the Latin American political operative: An untold episode in the push to profit from an alleged affair with Trump
- Avenatti Unearths Email to Cohen that Shows Media ‘Had the Story’ Before the Election
- Michael Avenatti escalates battle with Wall Street Journal, releases emails he claims show the publication sat on Stormy Daniels story before 2016 election
Michael Avenatti, the attorney for the adult-film actress known as Stormy Daniels, released emails on Tuesday that he claims show that The Wall Street Journal sat for months on a story about the $130,000 hush-money payment made to his client days before the 2016 presidential election.
The emails were between Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Palazzolo — one of two reporters to break the story on the Daniels payment earlier this year — and Keith Davidson, Daniels’ initial attorney who had negotiated the agreement between Daniels and President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen.
…
In sharing the emails between Palazzolo and Davidson, Avenatti wrote that The Journal “had the story in the closing days of the campaign but sat on it” and “Davidson lied to them and conspired with Mr. Cohen in 2016.”
“This is why we have demanded to see all of Davidson’s” documents for months “and will sue if need be,” he tweeted.
The email exchange showed that Palazzolo reached out to Davidson just before the 2016 election to ask him about women he was representing in connection to Trump. Palazzolo did not make any mention in the email of Daniels, a hush-money agreement, Cohen, or women such as Karen McDougal, a Playboy model whom Davidson had represented in a similar hush-money agreement before the 2016 election.
- ‘Special master’ in criminal probe of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen bills more than $47,000 for six days’ work
- Court-Appointed Special Master Gives Data On Cohen’s ‘Privilege’ Claims
The special master assigned in the criminal case against Michael Cohen announced Tuesday that Cohen, President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization had made 252 claims of privileged or “highly personal” material out of the initial items reviewed.
Investigators seized the materials during raids on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room on April 9.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
- Inside the Pro-Trump Effort to Keep Black Voters From the Poll
- Breitbart, Trump Campaign Pushed Bernie Sanders Activist to Tell Black Voters to Stay Home
WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?
- Jeff Sessions orders migrant families who approach the border (including asylum seekers) to be separated from their children. Trump blames Democrats.
- ‘Zero tolerance’ at the U.S. border means child shelters are filling up fast
- Donald Trump’s grandfather wrote letter begging not to be deported. Here it is
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- EPA used disavowed research to justify putting dirtier trucks on the road
- Trump administration refuses to consider that 97% of climate scientists could be right
- Trump climate policies to cost U.S. economy $6 trillion, new study finds
- Where Is Melania Trump? Concerns for First Lady After She Hasn’t Been Seen Publicly in 18 Days
She might be in New York for good. Check the Rumor Mill for more details.
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- Mitt Romney: I wouldn’t point to Trump as ‘a role model for my grandkids’
- Donald Trump’s Twitter assault on the English language weakens him and America
- Fewer Republicans say moral leadership ‘very important’ for president: Gallup
- Supreme Court to rule soon on partisan gerrymander cases: Last, best chance for fair elections?
- Harvard study: Black defendants get longer sentences from GOP-appointed judges
- Retired General Slams Trump: There’s Nothing ‘Happy’ About Memorial Day
- Sen. Lankford: President not a role model for my kids
- Fewer Republicans say moral leadership ‘very important’ for president: Gallup
- Supreme Court to rule soon on partisan gerrymander cases: Last, best chance for fair elections?
- Harvard study: Black defendants get longer sentences from GOP-appointed judges
- Biden: Republicans show ‘phony populism,’ ‘fake nationalism’
- Scott Pruitt Tried to Give Men “Property Rights” Over Fetuses – Mother Jones
#NEVERAGAIN
- David Hogg Suggests Trump Tower ‘Die In’ Following Success of Publix Protest
- Porn Leads To School Shootings, GOP Congresswoman Says
- Florida Police Officer Suggests David Hogg Get Hit by Car After Latest NRA Protests at Publix Stores
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE: THE “ROSEANNE BARR IS RACIST” EDITION
- Roseanne Barr targets former Obama adviser in racially charged tweet
- Wanda Sykes Says She’s Not Returning to Roseanne After Roseanne Barr Racist Twitter Tirade
- Roseanne Barr Starts Storm With Racist Twitter Post About Ex-Obama Adviser
The tweet came early in the morning. The anger on Twitter was palpable by lunchtime. How long will it take ABC, the network airing Roseanne’s show, to respond?
- ABC cancels ‘Roseanne’ after the show’s star, Roseanne Barr, goes on a vitriolic and racist Twitter rampage
- ABC cancels ‘Roseanne’ after Roseanne Barr compares black Obama aide Jarrett to an ape
Well, that was quick. By early afternoon, a couple hundred people were fired from their jobs because the star, creator, and executive producer of their show is a racist pig.
- Fox News’ Shep Smith firmly dismantles Trump’s unfounded claims about ‘Spygate’
- With Trump Ally At Helm, TMZ Ditches Celebrity Gossip For MAGA Messaging
- Trump worried that using the term ‘deep state’ would make him sound like too much of a crank — until he saw that it played well in conservative media
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: MISSOURI GOVERNOR GREITENS RESIGNS
- Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens resigns amid allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign fundraising violations
- Missouri Gov. Greitens resigns
We’ve covered Missouri politics a little bit here, but
SAN FRANCISCO—A 23-year-old man who hacked into Gmail accounts on behalf of Russian intelligence was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday, less than the government sought in a case trumpeted as a warning to cybercriminals and foreign intelligence services alike.
Karim Baratov, a Canadian citizen born in Kazakhstan, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and identity theft charges last November in connection with a black market no-questions-asked hacking service he operated from 2010 until his arrest in March 2017. Baratov charged customers about $100 to obtain another person’s webmail password, using phishing attacks that tricked users into entering their passwords into a fake password reset page. He cracked more than 11,000 accounts in Russia and the US before he was caught.
One of Baratov’s clients was an officer with Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, who used an alias to commission hacks on 80 targets in all, including people in other Russian agencies, and government officials in neighboring Eastern European nations. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of seven years, 10 months in prison, in part to make other hackers think twice about offering their skills—knowingly or unknowingly—to hostile intelligence agencies.
- Supreme Court won’t take up challenge to restrictive Arkansas abortion law
- Supreme Court rejects challenge to Arkansas law restricting medication abortion
- Morgan Freeman’s Lawyer Demands CNN Retracts Story Accusing Actor of Harassment – Variety
COLD WAR 2.0
- Trump to move ahead with tariffs on Chinese goods, add limits on tech investment
- Ivanka’s China Dealings Likely Just Regular Corruption, Not ZTE-Related
- Was Black Cube was hired to dig up dirt by Trump?
- Top North Korean official on his way to U.S. for talks on Trump-Kim summit
- Trump announces tariffs on China, tech crackdown ahead of key trade meeting
- Ivanka Trump abruptly exits White House conference call after questions on Chinese trademarks
OPIODS
- Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused
- Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused by Late ’90s
- Congress Is ‘Too Scared’ of the AMA to Really Attack Opioids
RUMOR MILL
Pace has had a couple interesting tweets over the past weekend about Melania Trump’s whereabouts.
According to Pace, Melania left D.C. for New York at least a week ago. She spent the last couple days at the Waldorf Astoria, and spent today looking for a new condo.
He has a source that’s a recently retired Secret Service agent. Considering he is one, and has posted proof in the past backing up this claim, that part is feasible. I’m not making any claims on the accuracy of them, simply reporting what’s being reporting. I’m also not inferring that Melania left the Dotard.
But, I wouldn’t surprised if she’s finally had enough.
- Here’s How the FBI Investigation Into Russia and Trump Campaign Actually Started – Observer
- Spicy Mic on Cohen Warrant
That’s it for today. Most of Washington is still on break, so it’s a bit of a “slow news day.” Ok, by the new definition of slow, in which we get to watch the complete collapse of a cultural icon in less time than it takes to make chili in a CrockPot, the death toll in Puerto Rico is about two orders of magnitude greater than originally told, enough details come out about Trump trying to obstruct the Russian Investigation that there’s no doubt about his guilt, Mrs. Trump hasn’t been seen in public in two weeks, and a corrupt governor resigned right before he got bitchslapped by his own party.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
2 thoughts on “Daily Check-In 05/29/2018”