Month: May 2018

Daily Check-In 05/01/2018

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:

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.

“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.

DOCTOR, DOCTOR

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

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

GOP:  THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IN DEAD

BLUE WAVE

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

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

RUMOR MILL: WHO OWNS WHAT?

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

Daily Check-In 04/30/2018

Monday April 30th and the weekend.  This was supposed to be a shorter post,

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION: NYT HAS THE QUESTIONS MUELLER WANTS TO ASK TRUMP

The New York Times got their hands on a series of questions that Mueller’s team wants to ask Donald Trump in their interview, and it’s likely that Jon Dowd, or someone from his office, gave these questions to the press.

Back in March, Jon Dowd was Trump’s lead lawyer, but fought hard against his client’s desire to interview Robert Mueller. (Daily Check-In 03/22/2018).  He knew, like every sane person, that Trump would lie his ass off and incriminate himself in a matter of seconds.

Let’s take a look at the questions.  The following is from Reddit /u/McIgglyTuffMuffin

What did you know about phone calls that Mr. Flynn made with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, in late December 2016?

What was your reaction to news reports on Jan. 12, 2017, and Feb. 8-9, 2017?

What did you know about Sally Yates’s meetings about Mr. Flynn?

How was the decision made to fire Mr. Flynn on Feb. 13, 2017?

After the resignations, what efforts were made to reach out to Mr. Flynn about seeking immunity or possible pardon?

What was your opinion of Mr. Comey during the transition?

What did you think about Mr. Comey’s intelligence briefing on Jan. 6, 2017, about Russian election interference?

What was your reaction to Mr. Comey’s briefing that day about other intelligence matters?

What was the purpose of your Jan. 27, 2017, dinner with Mr. Comey, and what was said?

What was the purpose of your Feb. 14, 2017, meeting with Mr. Comey, and what was said?

What did you know about the F.B.I.’s investigation into Mr. Flynn and Russia in the days leading up to Mr. Comey’s testimony on March 20, 2017?

What did you do in reaction to the March 20 testimony? Describe your contacts with intelligence officials.

What did you think and do in reaction to the news that the special counsel was speaking to Mr. Rogers, Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Coats?

What was the purpose of your calls to Mr. Comey on March 30 and April 11, 2017?

What was the purpose of your April 11, 2017, statement to Maria Bartiromo?

What did you think and do about Mr. Comey’s May 3, 2017, testimony?

Regarding the decision to fire Mr. Comey: When was it made? Why? Who played a role?

What did you mean when you told Russian diplomats on May 10, 2017, that firing Mr. Comey had taken the pressure off?

What did you mean in your interview with Lester Holt about Mr. Comey and Russia?

What was the purpose of your May 12, 2017, tweet?

What did you think about Mr. Comey’s June 8, 2017, testimony regarding Mr. Flynn, and what did you do about it?

What was the purpose of the September and October 2017 statements, including tweets, regarding an investigation of Mr. Comey?

What is the reason for your continued criticism of Mr. Comey and his former deputy, Andrew G. McCabe?

What did you think and do regarding the recusal of Mr. Sessions?

What efforts did you make to try to get him to change his mind?

Did you discuss whether Mr. Sessions would protect you, and reference past attorneys general?

What did you think and what did you do in reaction to the news of the appointment of the special counsel?

Why did you hold Mr. Sessions’s resignation until May 31, 2017, and with whom did you discuss it?

What discussions did you have with Reince Priebus in July 2017 about obtaining the Sessions resignation? With whom did you discuss it?

What discussions did you have regarding terminating the special counsel, and what did you do when that consideration was reported in January 2018?

What was the purpose of your July 2017 criticism of Mr. Sessions?

When did you become aware of the Trump Tower meeting?

What involvement did you have in the communication strategy, including the release of Donald Trump Jr.’s emails?

During a 2013 trip to Russia, what communication and relationships did you have with the Agalarovs and Russian government officials?

What communication did you have with Michael D. Cohen, Felix Sater and others, including foreign nationals, about Russian real estate developments during the campaign?

What discussions did you have during the campaign regarding any meeting with Mr. Putin? Did you discuss it with others?

What discussions did you have during the campaign regarding Russian sanctions?

What involvement did you have concerning platform changes regarding arming Ukraine?

During the campaign, what did you know about Russian hacking, use of social media or other acts aimed at the campaign?

What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?

What did you know about communication between Roger Stone, his associates, Julian Assange or WikiLeaks?

What did you know during the transition about an attempt to establish back-channel communication to Russia, and Jared Kushner’s efforts?

What do you know about a 2017 meeting in Seychelles involving Erik Prince?

What do you know about a Ukrainian peace proposal provided to Mr. Cohen in 2017?

edited to include questions in case someone can’t access the article for any reason

There’s about 4 dozen questions here, and I’d put real money down that Mueller’s team has the answers to all of them.  A good prosecutor doesn’t ask a question in an interview they don’t already know the answer to.  And we’re talking about The Justice League.

Need more proof that they know the answers?  Look at Cooperating Witnesses.  More than half of those questions involve people on that list.  The rest involve law enforcement officials like James Comey, Sally Yates, and Andrew McCabe, who were cooperating with Robert Mueller from Day 1.  (Daily Check-In 9/8/2017, Daily Check-In 03/19/2018)

COHEN:  FBI MET WITH RUSSIAN MMA STAR

The FBI has interviewed a Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter with ties to President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, The Associated Press reported on Sunday.

Affliction Entertainment  was an MMA company started by the Affliction clothing brand.  The UFC banned their equipment when they learned that Affliction was starting up their own company.

Affliction partnered with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.  Their primary shareholder was Donald Trump, and their COO was none other than Michael Cohen.

The fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, is a multi-time MMA champion who also happens to be one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite fighters.  Affliction made Emelianenko their star attraction.

Affliction had two pay per views in 2008.  Their third was cancelled less than two weeks beforehand due to one of the fighters popping a piss test for steroids, and they couldn’t find a replacement for the main event in time.

Trump demands the spotlight everywhere he goes, and all of his business ventures look more like efforts at Money Laundering than actual business ventures.  What makes this look even more ridiculous is what we’ve learned in the past couple years about Trump’s business ties, his desires to work in Russia, and the general shadiness and corruption surrounding sports.

There are so many ways to launder, lose, and find money in sports, it should be criminal.  Actually, many of them are.  For example, fixing fights, outsourcing the fight promotion to a subsidiary of the parent company, or throwing VIP Only parties that hide and mix the cash flow can all be used as methods of cleaning dirty money through sports.  And I haven’t even talked about endorsements, sponsorships, or media access rights yet.

So, we have a known Russophile and alleged money launderer, and his fixer, running a sports business that had deep ties to the betting community (read: organized crime), who’s star attraction has ties to the head of the country he’s been trying to work with since the 1980’s.  And, it’s an interesting enough connection that the FBI thought it was worth looking into.

This is gonna get interesting.

$20 says that the FBI found incriminating evidence against AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer.

STORMYGATE

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER: SWINE CLUTCHING AT PEARLS, A SPECIAL TWIST ON “THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE”

Hey mags! All these jokes were about her despicable behavior. Sounds like you have some thoughts about her looks though?

I’m not going to fan the flames on this one.  This is another case of faux outrage by the same people that enable Trump and his ilk to attack democracy and decency every day.  It’s like accusing someone of being bigoted against bigots.  “How dare you be mean about the meanest person alive?  How dare you say a known liar and racist is a liar and a racist?  That makes you just as hate-filled as them”. Fuck those people and that line of thought.  One group is enabling a liar, thief, racist, and rapist.  The other is calling out the enablers.

MEANWHILE, IN MICHIGAN HIDING FROM MEAN COMEDIANS…

Seriously.  That just fucking happened.  Donald Trump admitted that the Russian Lawyer was working for the Russian Government, and he said it’s coming out now because Putin was afraid of how tough he was.

Sometimes, I can’t even.

#NEVERAGAIN

Wait, the NRA won’t let guns in the hall for the Vice President’s speech?  After all that bullshit they cried about how only good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns, and we need more guns for safety, they want to ban guns from their convention.

Fuck the NRA.

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

CARL ICAHN

Carl Icahn is a corrupt asshole.  Daily Check-In 8/18/2017 described his efforts to set up these exemptions, and Daily Check-In 03/02/2018 show him engaging in insider trading.

GOP:  THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

COLD WAR 2.0

PARIS (AP) — The French president’s office says there’s nothing mysterious about the disappearance of an oak tree he planted on the White House lawn.

It was put in quarantine, like other plants or animals brought into U.S. territory.

The sapling was a gift from French President Emmanuel Macron for his state visit to U.S. President Donald Trump last week.

An official in Macron’s office said Monday that Trump insisted on holding a symbolic planting ceremony alongside Macron despite the quarantine requirement. The official said both sides knew all along that the tree would go later into quarantine.

A pale patch of grass now covers the spot.

The oak originally sprouted at the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood in northern France, where about 2,000 U.S. troops died fighting a German offensive.

For once, nothing nefarious happened.

SAY GOODBYE TO THE ECONOMY

BLUE WAVE

TRUMP ORG AND CORRUPTION, FROM THE WATER IS WET DEPARTMENT

SCIENCE, BITCHES

RUMOR MILL

Look forward to this when I eventually bend space and time, and get around to writing my piece on Maggie Haberman.

That’s it for today.  Remember on Daily Check-In 04/27/2018 I said I was going to write about the House Intel Report?  Well, I did.  I spent 5 hours working on that Sunday night. Then another hour with tech support trying to recover the post that magically disappeared.  2800 words disappeared into the ether.  More than 50 links, gone.  All that work, just…

Was I upset?  Yeah.  But this ain’t my first rodeo.  I’ve lost work before, and it’ll happen again.  I adjust my workflow to avoid a catastrophic failure, and move on.  Shit happens, it’s how we deal with it when the Poop Parade comes to town.

I’m going to redo that piece, work on it over the next several days, and republish it.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur