The weekend and Monday, June 18th.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Roger Stone’s Undisclosed Meeting
- The Washington Post: Trump associate Roger Stone reveals new contact with Russian national during 2016 campaign
- Roger Stone suddenly admits to meeting with a Russian national to seek dirt on Hillary Clinton
- Mueller examining previously undisclosed meeting between Roger Stone, Russian
- Roger Stone’s and Michael Caputo’s damningly false denials of contact with Russians
- Roger Stone On Revelations He Met With Russian: ‘I Just Didn’t Remember’
Michael Caputo sent Roger Stone to have a meeting with a Russian who claimed to have dirt on Hilary Clinton in May 2016. Roger attended this meeting with a Russian and a Ukrainian. The Ukrainian claimed to have emails from the Democrats and HRC. The Russian was a former FBI informant.
Roger, who completely forgot about this meeting until the press reminded him of it, said that nothing came of it. Then that nothing happened. After hearing that the Russian was a former FBI informant, he then claims it was a sting operation against him.
Caputo, who also completely forgot about this meeting in testimony to Congress and likely the FBI, recited the same tired excuses.
Mitch vs. Decency
- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Turns On Mueller
- Democrats: Start Defending Mueller Right Now. It’s Only the Future of the Republic That’s at Stake.
Mitch McConnell is turtleneck deep in this shit. Remember his wife Elaine Chao is a member of Trump’s Cabinet.
Paul Manafort is in Jail
- Paul Manafort “VIP” in Virginia Jail
- Locked Him Up: here are the ugly details on where and how Paul Manafort is being held in jail – Palmer Report
This morning, Paul Manafort woke up and stared a grey concrete ceiling. Just as he will for every day for the rest of his life, until he dies or flips.
How Many Russian Contacts?
- Marshall Cohen(CNN): At least 14 Trump Admin members had Russian contacts
- At least six people close to Trump almost certainly knew about offers from Russians of dirt on Clinton
- Trump says it doesn’t matter if he misled the media about a Russia meeting at Trump Tower
- Rinat Akhmetshin: Low-Hanging Fruit for Trump-Russia Investigators | Just Security
I’m going to make an article about all of the people that had contacts with Russians and other foreigners during the campaign. It might be 87 parts long by the time I’m done with it.
The Nunes-Giuliani-NY FBI Leak
- Schiff: First We Heard About Leaks To Nunes – Talking Points Memo
- The FBI’s New York Office Really Hated Hillary Clinton
- NYCSouthpaw: The NY FBI Office was biased against Clinton
I’ve talked about this for a while, but the New York FBI Office was feeding Rudy intel during the 2016 campaign. Several members of that office hated Clinton, and Rudy exploited his old ties with them to get information he shouldn’t have.
Those FBI agents helped put Trump in office. Whether they were knowing participants in the conspiracy is another matter. I want to give the benefit of the doubt, but I’m fresh out of doubt at this point.
Senate Testimony
- David Wright (CNN): Live tweeting of Senate Hearing
- Trump Explodes After Strzok Agrees to Testify Before Congress
- In nearly 500 pages of answers, Facebook stonewalls some senators’ questions – Ars Technica
This is what Trump is afraid of; having his secrets exposed and the abuse that Strzok endured aired for the world to see.
CHARITY CASE
- New York’s Case Against Trump May Be Prophetic
- Kellyanne Conway’s Husband Says Feds Should Look into Alleged Trump Campaign Finance Violations
The Trump Foundation being sued by New York should be much bigger news in a normal universe.
IMMIGRATION
Detention Centers, Tent Cities, and Concentration Camps
- Hundreds of children wait in Border Patrol facility in Texas
- Separation at the border: children wait in cages at south Texas warehouse
- A young girl separated from her aunt at a Border Patrol facility had to get her diapers changed by other children
- What we’re watching: Hundreds of children in Border Patrol facility
- Stop breaking up families at the border
- Walter Shaub: Do your job, citizens
Hearing the Cries
- Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From… — ProPublica
- Children cry out for “Mama” and “Papi” in heartbreaking audio recorded at a detention center
- Secret audio: Border Patrol agent jokes while migrant kids wail
Whistlblowers
Dems Fight Back
- Sen. Joe Manchin, the Final Democratic Holdout, Signs Onto Bill to Stop Family Separations
- Democrats intensify fight for immigrant children — and bludgeon Trump and Republicans ahead of midterms
- Not one Republican supports bill stopping Trump’s attack on families
- Kaine shares photos of child detention facility: ‘The real Trump Hotel’
- Protesters led by Beto O’Rourke gather outside tents holding immigrant children separated from parents | Immigration
R’s Do Nothing
- Right-wingers kill clean votes on ‘dreamers’ — and bring up two worse bills instead
- Family separation policy starts dividing Republicans
- ‘Moderate’ Susan Collins sides with Trump on family separation
- Paul Ryan’s cheery Father’s Day message is not playing well amid the child detainment crisis
National Guard
- Baker Cancels National Guard Deployment To Border, Citing ‘Inhumane’ Treatment Of Children And Families
- New York won’t send its National Guard to the border
Former First Ladies React
- Michelle Obama on Laura Bush’s op-ed: ‘Sometimes truth transcends party’
- Laura Bush: Separating children from their parents at the border ‘breaks my heart’
- Laura Bush says Trump Putting Immigrant Children in “Cages” is Like WWII Japanese Interment Camps
Stephen Miller
- Stephen Miller: Trump’s Right-Hand Troll – The Atlantic
- Jews Should Disown Stephen Miller, The Architect Of Trump’s Family Separation Disgrace
- Stephen Miller Wants Credit for Breaking Up Families at the Border
- Meet Stephen Miller, the 32-year-old White House adviser who convinced Trump to start separating migrant children from their parents at the border
DHS
- DHS Chief is Confronted With ProPublica Tape of Wailing Children Separated from Parents
- DHS head wades into Twitter maelstrom after denying ‘a policy of separating families at the border’
- Kamala Harris calls on Nielsen to resign over family separation policy
Avenatti
- ‘I am entering this fight’: Avenatti offers his legal services to parents of a children taken at the U.S. border
- Michael Avenatti Offers Legal Services to Parents of Children Taken at Border
- Michael Avenatti: Stephen Miller used ‘fascist zeal’ to sell immigration policy to Trump.
Trump and Staff: The Planning
- Document reveals Trump administration planned on separating migrant families soon after inauguration
- Conclusive proof that it is Trump’s policy to separate children from their families at the border
- How Trump Came to Enforce a Practice of Separating Migrant Families – The New York Times
Trump and Staff: The Handling
- Trump repeatedly blames Democrats for family separation policy he could change right now
- This Mom’s Story Proves the White House Lied About Family Separation at the Border
- Scaramucci: Trump ‘Has To End’ This ‘Atrocious, Inhumane Policy’
- Melania Trump, Conway Pretend Trump Can’t Immediately Stop Family Separations
- Border Patrol ‘Very Uncomfortable’ With Word ‘Cages,’ But Admits It’s Accurate
- Trump’s Immigration Goon Squad Pretends to Be Police in NYC
Religious Leaders Speaking Out
- Bishop suggests ‘canonical penalties’ for Catholics who help carry out Trump immigration plan
- Christian Leaders To Jeff Sessions: The Bible Does Not Justify Separating Families | HuffPost
- Cardinal Dolan: There is no Bible passage to justify family separation – CNNPolitics
World Reaction
- Trump’s Forced Family Separation Policy Has Trashed America’s Reputation Globally
- #TrumpCamps Goes Viral on Twitter to Describe Kids’ Immigrant Centers
- U.N. Rights Chief Tells U.S. to Stop Taking Migrant Children From Parents
Medical Experts Weigh In
- American Academy of Pediatrics president: Trump family separation policy is ‘child abuse’ | TheHill
- Toxic effects of stress on children separated from parents
- ‘America is better than this’: What a doctor saw in a Texas shelter for migrant children
Echoes from the Past
- Family Separation Is Being Compared to Japanese Internment. It Took Decades for the U.S. to Admit That Policy Was Wrong
- Laura Bush says Trump Putting Immigrant Children in “Cages” is Like WWII Japanese Interment Camps
- Nazis separated me from my parents as a child. The trauma lasts a lifetime
COLD WAR 2.0
- Trump threatens new tariffs on $200bn in Chinese imports
- Senate Votes to Reinstate Penalties on ZTE, Setting Up Clash With White House
- ‘Trump is ours!’: Russian state TV celebrates Trump’s suggestion that Crimea is part of Russia
- Chinese media make Trump ‘fool’ jibe
- Iranian fans unfurl banner at World Cup demanding home country allow women to sporting events
- West’s Crackup Reshapes the East
- North Korea isn’t Dismantling Missile Facilities, Satellite Imagery Reveals
- Trump just tweeted that “crime in Germany is way up.” It’s actually at its lowest level since 1992.
- Marco Rubio, Who Blasted Obama’s Castro Meeting, Is Cool With Trump’s North Korea Love Fest
- Former Israeli minister who smuggled ecstasy now accused of spying for Iran – Israel News – Haaretz.com
#NEVERAGAIN
- Fred Guttenberg: What Father’s Day means for a parent of a murdered child
- 22 injured in New Jersey art festival shooting
- Republicans, NRA secretly pressure Citigroup to back off restrictions on gun sellers
- David Hogg: NRA protesting a peace march
- Vote For Our Lives – March For Our Lives
- Shannon R Watts: The NRA Social Media Team is all white
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Seth McFarlane Says Fox News ‘Makes Me Embarrassed to Work for This Company’
- Judd Apatow Calls for Fox Talents to Speak Up Over Fox News Child Separation Coverage
- Ann Coulter Calls Immigrant Children ICE Separated From Their Parents ‘Child Actors’
- Donald Trump Jr. likes tweet suggesting children separated from parents at border are crisis actors
- DDoS attack aimed at Mexican opposition presidential candidate website during debate
- Norway’s PM Says the U.S. Is Losing Global Sway
- How Fox News and Trump’s Lackeys Are Justifying Family Separation
- Kim Jong Un More Popular Than Pelosi Among Republicans: Exclusive Poll Results
GERRYMANDERING CASES
- Supreme Court kicks the can on gerrymandering cases
- Supreme Court doesn’t reach the merits in 2 partisan gerrymandering cases
- Supreme Court sidesteps partisan gerrymandering cases, let maps stand for now – CNNPolitics
The 9-0 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts in a Wisconsin case is a blow to Democrats who argued the Republican-drawn maps prevented fair and effective representation by diluting voters’ influence and penalizing voters based on their political beliefs
While the ruling will let the maps be used, the justices dodged the question of whether they are legal. The Supreme Court has a standard limiting the over-reliance on race in map-drawing, except under the most limited circumstances. The court has not been successful in developing a test concerning the over-reliance on politics.
Democrats had won a challenge in a lower court, but the Supreme Court’s decision Monday would limit who can bring such cases in the future.
The second case was out of Maryland, where Republicans challenged a district map drawn by Democrats. The justices said that a lower court did not act improperly in leaving the map in place.
SPACE
- The Latest: Trump signing directive to clean up space junk
- Space Force and Air Force will be ‘separate but equal’ branches, President Trump says
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Even Scott Pruitt’s Friends Have Given Up on Him
- Lies, China And Putin: Solving The Mystery Of Wilbur Ross’ Missing Fortune
- Wilbur Ross Never Sold Stakes in Companies Co-Owned by China, Report Says
- Sara Danner Dukic: How Shorting Works with Tariffs
- Trump’s likely pick for consumer financial protection bureau has no experience in consumer finance – ThinkProgress
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- The far right is organised and growing. Those Nazi salutes are serious | Claude Moraes
- The Republican Party has lost its mind on immigration
- Republicans give up on Medicare overhaul – POLITICO
- The future of the GOP looks a lot like this fast-growing community in Florida – POLITICO Magazine
- Morning Bits: Have they no decency?
ELECTION 2018
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Texas deputy sexually abused undocumented immigrant girl, 4, sheriff says
- Apple will automatically share a user’s location with emergency services when they call 911
- Trump Tower, one of largest users of Chicago River water, has never met EPA rules for protecting fish, records show
PROGRESS IS PROGRESS
- 100% renewable energy omnibus clears Massachusetts Senate
- Canada’s House of Commons votes to legalize marijuana
RUMOR MILL
- Keep an eye out for trolls
- Claude Taylor: Rolling Billboard in D.C.
- Claude Taylor: Billboard passing by White House
- Zero Tolerance = Trump Emotional Terrorist – Mad Dog PAC
- Spicy Mic: Trump’s Attacks on Immigrants
- Jamesfourm: Details about Michael Caputo’s Company
- Dr Dena Grayson: Not cages? Bullshit.
- Altscalesofjustice: How we’re dangerously close to another Holocaust
- Andrew Laufer: Heightened risk of Rosenstein firing in 3-4 works
- Understanding Provocation – The XX Committee
- Countercheckist: Be wary of “secure” apps Snowden recommends
- Peter Daou: Calling out Democrats
- NYCSouthpaw: The NY FBI Office was biased against Clinton
That’s it for Monday. Finally. Yesterday was emotionally draining and taxing. Tuesday and Wednesday will likely be either combined into one post, late on both days, or only contain the top stories. Most likely, they’ll be late.
Make no mistake about it, we are approaching the a crescendo, an end of an act or season. All of this screams of desperation and distraction. As much as I hate to say it, these are meant to anger and disgust people so much that they don’t see the rest of the story.
Trump’s people are using children as hostages in a negotiation to get their border wall, and just like any other terrorist, they are not to be trusted. There’s no guarantee they won’t do this again, and if they get what they want, they’ll use these tactics again.
My message to the to Democrats in Congress is this: Do not negotiate with terrorists.
As far as everyone else, keep focused on everything else going on. One thing Trump is good at is distraction, and nothing is more distracting than suffering children.
One of my upcoming articles for the Cast of Characters will be a listing of all of the members of Trump’s team that have had known Russian contacts. That might take a while to put together.
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 06/18/2018”