Daily Check-In 07/18/2018

Wednesday, July 18th

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION:  PUTIN ORDERED THE ATTACK AND TRUMP KNEW; BUTINA WAS A HONEYPOT

• Before inauguration, Trump reportedly saw evidence Putin personally ordered election interference
• From the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin Interfered

WASHINGTON — Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election.

The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation.

…

The Jan. 6, 2017, meeting, held at Trump Tower, was a prime example. He was briefed that day by John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director; James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence; and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and the commander of United States Cyber Command.

The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, was also there; after the formal briefing, he privately told Mr. Trump about the “Steele dossier.” That report, by a former British intelligence officer, included uncorroborated salacious stories of Mr. Trump’s activities during a visit to Moscow, which he denied.

According to nearly a dozen people who either attended the meeting with the president-elect or were later briefed on it, the four primary intelligence officials described the streams of intelligence that convinced them of Mr. Putin’s role in the election interference.

They included stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee that had been seen in Russian military intelligence networks by the British, Dutch and American intelligence services. Officers of the Russian intelligence agency formerly known as the G.R.U. had plotted with groups like WikiLeaks on how to release the email stash.

And ultimately, several human sources had confirmed Mr. Putin’s own role.

That included one particularly valuable source, who was considered so sensitive that Mr. Brennan had declined to refer to it in any way in the Presidential Daily Brief during the final months of the Obama administration, as the Russia investigation intensified.

Instead, to keep the information from being shared widely, Mr. Brennan sent reports from the source to Mr. Obama and a small group of top national security aides in a separate, white envelope to assure its security.

Mr. Trump and his aides were also given other reasons during the briefing to believe that Russia was behind the D.N.C. hacks.

The same Russian groups had been involved in cyberattacks on the State Department and White House unclassified email systems in 2014 and 2015, and in an attack on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They had aggressively fought the N.S.A. against being ejected from the White House system, engaging in what the deputy director of the agency later called “hand-to-hand combat” to dig in.

The pattern of the D.N.C. hacks, and the theft of emails from John D. Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, fit the same pattern.

After the briefings, Mr. Trump issued a statement later that day that sought to spread the blame for the meddling. He said “Russia, China and other countries, outside groups and countries” were launching cyberattacks against American government, businesses and political organizations — including the D.N.C.

Still, Mr. Trump said in his statement, “there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election.”

Mr. Brennan later told Congress that he had no doubt where the attacks were coming from.

“I was convinced in the summer that the Russians were trying to interfere in the election,” he said in testimony in May 2017. “And they were very aggressive.”

For Mr. Trump, the messengers were as much a part of the problem as the message they delivered.

Mr. Brennan and Mr. Clapper were both Obama administration appointees who left the government the day Mr. Trump was inaugurated. The new president soon took to portraying them as political hacks who had warped the intelligence to provide Democrats with an excuse for Mrs. Clinton’s loss in the election.

Mr. Comey fared little better. He was fired in May 2017 after refusing to pledge his loyalty to Mr. Trump and pushing forward on the federal investigation into whether the Trump campaign had cooperated with Russia’s election interference.

Only Admiral Rogers, who retired this past May, was extended in office by Mr. Trump. (He, too, told Congress that he thought the evidence of Russian interference was incontrovertible.)

President Trump, meeting with Mr. Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, said he accepted Mr. Putin’s denial of Russian election intrusions.Doug Mills/The New York Times

And the evidence suggests Russia continues to be very aggressive in its meddling.

I know that this is a giant block of text to open with, but this article, which came out late Wednesday, is behind a soft paywall at the New York Times, and cements down what I’ve suspected for a long time, and what anyone following along at home has likely put together.

Vladimir Putin ordered the attack on the United States 2016 Presidential Election, and Donald Trump has at least known about it since before he was sworn in as President.

He fucking knew.

This isn’t the smoking gun of him knowing early on in the campaign, that’s still to come.  But this article tells me three things.

1. Expect high level Russians to be indicted before too long, possibly even Putin himself.
2. Every time Trump deflected, obfuscated, or denied that the attack was done by Russians, he lied.
3. We’re approaching the end.

After Monday’s clusterfuck where Trump committed treason in front of the world (Daily Check-In 07/17/2018), the Intelligence Community will not stand by any more and watch as Trump tries to destroy this country.

We know that this meeting took place a while back from a few direct sources.  Susan Rice sent herself an email about a meeting in the Oval Office preparing for this meeting ( Daily Check-In 02/12/2018).  James Comey mentioned it in his book, for fucks sake. (Daily Check-In 04/12/2018)  He described who was there and what each person did after receiving the information in the briefing, but didn’t describe the details of the briefing itself, other than it was a highly classified intelligence meeting.  The Trump Team acted weird AF.  From The Indy Star…

“They were about to lead a country that had been attacked by a foreign adversary, yet they had no questions about what the future Russian threat might be,” Comey writes in A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership. “Nor did they ask how the United States might prepare itself to meet that threat.”

Instead, Trump’s team shifted into a strategy session about “how they could spin what we’d just told them.”

“You found there was no impact on the result, right?” Trump asked, according to the book.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper replied that while investigators found no evidence that the vote count was altered, they did not have the ability to analyze how Russia’s involvement affected the race.

Still, Comey writes, Pence was among those debating “how to position these findings for maximum political advantage.”

“I had been in many intelligence briefings with the two previous presidents and had never seen Presidents Bush or Obama discuss communications and political strategy in front of intelligence community leaders,” Comey writes. “There had always been a line.”

Pence has continued to misstate what Clapper says he was told at that meeting, including during a February interview with the news web site Axios.

“Irrespective of efforts that were made in 2016 by foreign powers,” Pence said, “it is the universal conclusion of our intelligence communities that none of those efforts had any effect on the outcome of the 2016 election.”

Clapper told NPR that while “I have great respect for Vice President Pence. … I must respectfully disagree with what he said.”

“The intelligence community has neither the authority nor the capability to make such a judgment as to whether there was or was not impact on the election, and we did not say that,” Clapper said in February.

I’m looking for the text from the book, but I’ve got an audio version, kind of a pain in the dick to convert to text and pull a page number.  But the point of the matter is that upon reading the fucking evidence that Putin ordered an attack on the United States, Mike Pence’s first reaction was how to spin this?

After both the Intel meeting and the Comey meeting, The Moscow Project reminds us that Trump spewed the following statement:

“While Russia, China, other countries, other groups and people are constantly trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our government institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democratic National Committee, there was no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.”

Within three months of this meeting, several Russians with ties to the Intelligence world start dying of “accidents” and “heart attacks.”

Let’s put the pieces together…

We have an outgoing Presidential administration who just witnessed a hostile foreign power attack this country and steal the election for Donald Trump, but they can’t completely cut him out of everything.

We have a cadre of intelligence experts that brings evidence of the attack, including the marching orders from emails of the people involved.

We have one President-Elect who grudgingly accepts the results, but doesn’t act the way that an innocent person acts when shown evidence they were involved in a crime.

We have a Vice President-Elect who tries to see how he can twist this new information around to make it look good for his group.

We have the same President-Elect and Vice President-Elect who both issue statements immediately after this meeting, claiming that Russian didn’t attack the United States, and that said attack didn’t influence the election one way or another.

We have about dozen dead Russian spies over the next few months, all starting after January 6.

We have a President who spends the next several months asking the people at this meeting to go on the record by saying he’s not under investigation, or that it didn’t take place, or if they could make investigations go away.

Ladies and gentleman, these are not the actions of an American Patriot, but those of a Traitor to the United States.

 

This might be worth remembering.  Accessory  after the fact.

18 U.S. Code § 3 – Accessory after the fact

Whoever, knowing that an offense against the United States has been committed, receives, relieves, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the fact.

Except as otherwise expressly provided by any Act of Congress, an accessory after the fact shall be imprisoned not more than one-half the maximum term of imprisonment or (notwithstanding section 3571) fined not more than one-half the maximum fine prescribed for the punishment of the principal, or both; or if the principal is punishable by life imprisonment or death, the accessory shall be imprisoned not more than 15 years.

Think of it like this…

Let’s say Bob robs an ATM.  His roommate Tom was out of town during the robbery, but when he comes home, he finds Bob flush with cash, paying rent, and buying nice things.  Tom figures out that Bob did something, but when he sees a news report of a man matching Bob’s description robbing an ATM, he gets suspicious.  Tom finds evidence of Bob stealing from the ATM.  At this point, Tom decides that instead of calling the cops on Bob, Tom instead helps Bob get out of town and covers for Bob by providing an alibi.

Tom is now an Accessory after the fact.

Each and every time Trump cried out on Twitter “WITCH HUNT” or said “Maybe it was someone else” or said “No Collusion”, he is knowingly breaking the law.

But why are we seeing this story now?  Why not months ago?  Why not after the story was first researched?

My guess is that the IC source that said “run this” knows that we’re fast approaching the next phase of this drama.  We’re getting to the point where spies will be prosecuted and and Americans tried as collaborators.

Speaking of spies…

• Accused Russian agent Mariia Butina tried to trade sex for influence

The gun-loving Russian woman charged with being an unregistered foreign agent and cozying up to politicians to infiltrate the U.S. political system tried to swap sex for influence, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

The “Red Sparrow” scenario was unveiled in a memorandum that laid out reasons why prosecutors believe Mariia Butina, 29, should remain jailed until trial. Butina, who allegedly conspired with a Russian politician and banker to push Moscow’s agenda in the U.S., is due in federal court in Washington on Wednesday afternoon for a detention hearing.

In arguing that Butina is a flight risk, prosecutors said her only tie to the U.S. is a “personal relationship” with an unidentified man — which is branded “duplicitous,” suggesting she was using him for her own means. According to The Washington Post, the man’s description matches that of Republican operative Paul Erickson.

“Butina appears to treat it as simply a necessary aspect of her activities,” the memo says. “For example, on at least one occasion, Butina offered an individual other than U.S. Person 1 sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization. Further, in papers seized by the FBI, Butina complained about living with U.S. Person 1 and expressed disdain for continuing to cohabitate with U.S. Person 1.”

• NRA’s alleged Russian spy ‘offered sex’ for job with ‘special interest organization’: court filing

In a new court filing, the FBI alleges that Butina during her time in the United States cohabitated with an unidentified 56-year-old man as part of her cover while conducting her work in the United States.

“Butina, age 29, and U.S. Person 1, age 56, are believed to have cohabitated and been involved in a personal relationship during the course of Butina’s activities in
the United States,” the filing states. “But this relationship does not represent a strong tie to the United States because Butina appears to treat it as simply a necessary aspect of her activities.”

To back up this assertion, the FBI goes on to claim that “on at least one occasion, Butina offered an individual other than U.S. Person 1 sex in exchange for a position
within a special interest organization.”

It is not known from the filing what job Butina was seeking or whether her offer of sex in exchange for the job was accepted, however.

Butina, who was arrested this week on charges of being an unregistered foreign agent, has worked for years to forge ties between Russia and the National Rifle Association.

Looks like Maria Butina was a honeypot, or Red Sparrow.  A honeypot is a trap used in spycraft that is too enticing to pass up, like an attractive woman used to lure in a middle aged man.  The woman will use her gifts to entice the man to do what she wants, then report back with the information she gathered.

Public Service Announcement: If you stuck your dick in Maria Butina, call a lawyer right away.

• The Washington Post: How an alleged Russian agent gained access to elite conservative circles
• Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina had ties to Russian intelligence agency, prosecutors say
• Here’s what accused Russian spy Maria Butina told ThinkProgress in 2016
• Pro-Russia congressman thinks the indictment of Maria Butina is part of a ‘deep state’ plot against Trump
• Rep. Rohrabacher: Indictment of NRA-linked Russian is ‘stupid’

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Moscow CA ) should know that he has the right to remain silent.

• Court documents provide new details about alleged Russian spy Maria Butina
• Dan Freidman: Maria Butina’s bail denied
• Prosecutors: Butina is flight risk, should stay in jail until trial
• Judge Orders Russian Mariia Butina Detained Until Criminal Trial
• Indictment against Butina

Rachel Maddow had a great segment on this when she was reading the transcripts, and because Butina could go to any consulate or diplomatic vehicle to claim immunity, she is an inherent flight risk.

• Russian Spy Suspect Was Infiltrating Christian Right As Well As Gun Groups
• What Was Maria Butina Doing at the National Prayer Breakfast?

Which really ought to give pause to those who imagine that Russia is sincere in its supposed desire to unite with America’s religious conservatives over a putatively shared variety of Christian values. Why would anyone assume that Mr. Putin means what he says about spiritual matters?

The religious right thinks that it’s using Mr. Putin to advance its aims. But a far more plausible interpretation is that he is using them — to infiltrate, divide and weaken our country.

This is the tie-in I’ve been waiting for; the Religious Right.  Their name is about as Orwellian as the Ministry of Truth.  They are neither right as in correct, right as in conservative in how government works, nor do they follow any actual religious teachings other than twisting Jesus’s words around to fit their existing bigotry.

There will be a lot of Americans tied up in this.

• Renato Mariotti: Russian Collaborator Likely to be arrested
• Spicy Mic: Butina and her religious targets, including the South Dakota link to Paul Erickson
• Seth Abramson: Paul Erickson looks like he’s cooperating
• From Dec. 3 2017: Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties

“Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump,” the N.R.A. member and conservative activist, Paul Erickson, wrote. “He wants to extend an invitation to Mr. Trump to visit him in the Kremlin before the election. Let’s talk through what has transpired and Senator Sessions’s advice on how to proceed.”

…

“The Kremlin believes that the only possibility of a true reset in this relationship would be with a new Republican White House,” Mr. Erickson wrote to Mr. Dearborn, adding, “Ever since Hillary compared Putin to Hitler, all senior Russian leaders consider her beyond redemption.”

…

Congressional investigators obtained the email as part of their inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Mr. Trump’s campaign aided the efforts. It appears to have caught the attention of senators as well. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, penned letters to several Trump campaign foreign policy advisers last week asking for all documents related to the N.R.A., Mr. Erickson, Mr. Torshin, Mr. Clay, Mr. Dearborn and others.

Mr. Erickson, a longtime conservative operative who has been involved in several presidential campaigns, presented himself in the email as a well-connected intermediary to the upper reaches of the Russian government. By “happenstance” and the reach of the N.R.A., Mr. Erickson wrote, he had been put in position to “slowly begin cultivating a back-channel to President Putin’s Kremlin” in recent years.

…

Mr. Erickson has known Maria Butina, a former assistant to Mr. Torshin and the founder of the Right to Bear Arms, a Russian gun-rights group, for several years. Ms. Butina, who helped Mr. Torshin make the request through Mr. Clay, hosted Mr. Erickson at a September 2014 meeting of the group at its Moscow office. And in February 2016, the two incorporated a company, Bridges LLC, together in South Dakota. What the company does is unclear.

…

In the United States, the hospitality was returned. Mr. Torshin and Ms. Butina attended the N.R.A.’s annual convention in 2014 and 2015. Ms. Butina told the conservative news site Townhall that she attended the N.R.A. Women’s Leadership Luncheon as a guest of Sandra S. Froman, a former president of the group. And in 2015, she was given a tour of the N.R.A.’s Virginia headquarters.

Paul Erickson.  Get ready to hear that name a lot in the coming weeks.

 

• Federal Prosecutor on Recently Obtained Wiretaps: ‘Trump’s Son Should be Concerned’

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has received wiretaps obtained by Spanish police which implicate Donald Trump Jr. in a plot to meet with Alexander Torshin, a high-ranking official of Russia’s Central Bank, according to a federal prosecutor in Spain on Friday. And, the prosecutor notes, those wiretaps don’t bode well for the president’s son.

The above information was originally reported in May of this year but is receiving revived interest across social media because Torshin is said to have been the handler of alleged Russian agent Mariia “Maria” Butina. Butina was recently arrested on charges of attempting to influence U.S. politics and policy on the Kremlin’s behalf.

This Torshin-Trump meeting is alleged to have occurred at and during the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky in May of 2016.

Prosecutor José Grinda leads high-profile investigations into Spanish and foreign organized crime operating in Spain. According to Grinda, FBI officials recently requested and received transcripts of wiretapped conversations between Torshin and Alexander Romanov. The latter man, Romanov, was convicted of money laundering–after pleading guilty–in mid-2016.

On one such recording, Romanov apparently refers to Torshin as “El Padrino,” or the godfather.

Yep, Donnie Jr.’s gonna have a real bad time soon.  The Spanish got him trying to arrange a meeting with Alexander Torshin at the 2016 NRA Convention.

How’s the rest of Team Traitor doing today?

• Mueller Team And Attorneys For Roger Stone Aide Meet In Sealed DC Courtroom

Lawyers for Andrew Miller, a former Roger Stone aide who is fighting a grand jury subpoena in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, as well as at least five attorneys from Mueller’s team spent nearly an hour and a half Wednesday in the D.C. courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell.

I fully expect Roger Stone to have his indictment unsealed by the end of the month.

• Judge denies Manafort’s request to suppress evidence | Article [AMP] | Reuters
• FBI director says Russian influence efforts are ‘very active’
• FBI Director Wray hints that he considered resigning, restates belief in Russian election meddling
• Former CIA director says U.S. intelligence agencies might want to withhold information from Trump
• Key GOP lawmaker throws cold water on Rosenstein impeachment | TheHill
• Senator Gardner: “Russia is a state sponsor of terror” 
• Dem Lawmaker Calls Russian Meddling a ‘9/11 Level’ National Emergency

 

HELSINKI FALLOUT/THE RUSSIAN ASSET

• Trump denies Russia is targeting U.S. at Cabinet meeting
• The Washington Post: Trump says Russia is no longer targeting the U.S., contradicting statement from U.S. intelligence chief
• The Washington Post: Trump returns to touting his summit with Putin a day after doing damage control
• Merriam-Webster provides meanings of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ after Trump’s Russia comment
• The Washington Post: How Trump retreats: Grudging apologies, plus a wink and a nod to the original insult

Like I said yesterday (Daily Check-In 07/17/2018), that rebuke didn’t last a full day.  In a few days, he’ll call all the anger against him “fake news.”

• White House says Trump to discuss allowing Russia to question US citizens
• ‘Absurd, crazy’: Trump discussed allowing Putin to interrogate US ambassador
• U.S. Officials ‘at a Fucking Loss’ Over Latest Russia Sell Out
• Ambassador McFaul speaking out
• Keep an Eye on the Magnitsky Act

This is absolutely absurd.  This is some Grade A WTAF.  Any response to a request to send an Ambassador to a dictator for “questioning” that doesn’t begin and end with “Fuck You” is treasonous.  It betrays the men and women who serve this country.  What’s next, handing Marines over to ISIS for interrogation?

• The word “treason” enters the debate as the list of Trump critics grows
• Paddy Power Says Odds of Donald Trump’s Impeachment Went From 20% to 33% After Helsinki Press Conference
• Sen. Merkley says it’s “likely” that Russians have dirt on Trump
• It’s time to impeach the president
• Trump Realized He’d Messed up With Putin When Even Newt Gingrich Criticized Him: Report
• Fox News Host: Trump ‘Sounds Insane’ on Latest Russian Meddling Denial

 

FIGHTING BACK

• Widespread protests on tap after Trump show of servility to Putin
• Protesters to ‘Occupy’ Lafayette Park for Third Night
• It’s Time for a General Strike, Because Trump Treason Demands a Brave Response
• Reporters, Facing a Hostile White House, Try a New Tactic: Solidarity
• Owning People Online Really Is the Left’s Path to Victory
• Father of MH17 victims attacks Trump on crash anniversary – CNN
• NFL: Titans star says he will protest during anthem and take fine
• Rep. Castro calls for ‘cyber NATO’ in response to Russian election attack
• Republican state lawmaker Jason Villalba calls for Trump’s impeachment
• GOP state lawmaker in Texas calls on Trump to be impeached
• Steve Kopack: 3 State Split ballot initiative denied by California Supreme Court

The split ballot was a pure Deza op from Russia.  Same with the secessionist movements.  And yes, we do need to either include Cyber in NATO (which it’s already in there, but needs better enforced), or a separate treaty for Cyber Warfare.

 

PROTECT THE INTERNET

• Caroline Orr: British investigators discovered that Facebook data given to Cambridge Analytica was access in Russia
• Zuckerberg: If someone gets fired for data abuse ‘it should be me’
• The Washington Post: Europe hits Google with record $5 billion antitrust fine over bundling of its apps on Android

 

STORMYGATE

• Michael Avenatti: Next steps in Stormy, Columbus issue are underway
• Police release body-camera video of Stormy Daniels arrest

 

IMMIGRATION

• Trump’s migrant fiasco diverts millions from health programs – POLITICO
• Was propsed CPFB head Kathy Kraninger responsible for Child Separation Policy?

 

COLD WAR 2.0

• The Washington Post: ‘To what end?’: Trump’s disruptive diplomacy inspires fears over U.S. standing abroad.
• Trump fundamentally undermines NATO, suggests ‘aggressive’ Montenegro may attack Russia to start World War III
• John McCain: Russia threat is dead serious. Montenegro coup and murder plot proves it.
• Trump makes it abundantly clear he doesn’t know how NATO works
• Why did Trump choose to parrot Putin on Montenegro? | Spectator USA
• Queen Elizabeth wore brooch from Obamas on the day Trump arrived in the UK: reports
• Russia urges U.N. to mull easing North Korea sanctions as U.S. seeks action
• Iran builds new centrifuge rotor factory: nuclear chief | Article [AMP] | Reuters

 

#NEVERAGAIN

• Shannon Watts: John Bolton, Maria Butina, and the NRA
• Pro-gun rocker Ted Nugent turns away firearms from his Roanoke show
• Shannon Watts: Ted Nugent Concert a Gun-Free Zone
• White mass shooters receive sympathetic media treatment
• David Hogg: NRA propaganda about Great Mills

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

• Trump tells wild lies about Brexit, NATO and Obama, in 57-false-claim week
• Trump: ‘People at the higher ends of intelligence loved’ my performance | TheHill
• Trump Supporter Calls C-Span To Thank Russians For Interfering In 2016 Election
• American Conservatives Played A Secret Role In The Macedonian Fake News Boom Ahead Of 2016
• Donald Trump thinks you’re very, very stupid

 

SCOTUS

• Trump Supreme Court pick: I would ‘put the nail’ in ruling upholding independent counsel
• Judicial Watchdogs Are in Court to Make Brett Kavanaugh’s Entire Record Public

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

• New White House Report Shows Deficit Projections Have Doubled
• No love from Russia: Vladimir Putin’s nation dumped US Treasury bonds ahead of Trump summit
• Trump says may pursue separate trade deal with Mexico

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

• Kushner Has Been Dodging A DNC Lawsuit Service Notice For Months
• Zoe Tillman Update on Kushner avoiding the serve
• Veterans Affairs takes aggressive steps to purge or reassign staffers perceived to be disloyal to Trump before new secretary starts
• Ex-White House stenographer: Trump is ‘lying to the American people’
• Former White House stenographer says Trump avoids being recorded because the truth is his ‘adversary’

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

• What Sacha Baron Cohen taught us about Republicans and Israel
• When It Comes To Trump, “There Is No Such Thing As A Last Straw” For Republicans
• These Trump voters support the U.S. president’s comments on Russia – and his walkback, too

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

• The Washington Post: ‘It’s just not wise’: In past year, Trump’s company repeatedly paid property taxes late
• Germany overhauls chaotic anti-money-laundering unit
• Sheriff Who Once Endorsed Roy Moore Accused Of Having Sex With Underage Girls | HuffPost
• Rep. Jim Jordan Is Named in New OSU Sexual Abuse Scandal Lawsuit

 

ELECTION 2018

• House GOP refuses to renew election security funding as Democrats fume over Russian interference – The Washington Post
• Shots fired through window at Democratic headquarters in Albany
• Lupe Valdez accepts second debate, challenges incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to join
• Janz has raised four times more than every previous Nunes challenger – combined

 

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISAM

• ‘Historic’ Step in Fight for Universal Healthcare: Over 60 House Democrats to Launch Medicare for All Caucus
• Federal Reserve chair: Decline in worker share of national economy ‘very troubling’
• Democrats Need an Unbreakable Presidential Candidate in 2020

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

• The Washington Post: Thai soccer players and coach speak publicly for first time since their rescue from flooded cave
• The Washington Post: Elon Musk apologizes for ‘pedo guy’ comment: ‘The fault is mine and mine alone’
• The Washington Post: The latest company to join the race for flying cars: Rolls-Royce
• The Washington Post: Alabama man walked almost 20 miles to his new job. Then his boss gave him a car.

 

RUMOR MILL

• Eric Garland: What’s coming down the pipeline?
• Pace Lattin: Butina suspected of being a honeypot for several politicians, including Scott Walker
• Tom Arnold: Smoking gun will be a Russian checklist with Trump’s handwritten notes
• John Schindler: Remember when I said an IC friend told me “Trump is going to die in jail” back in early 2017? They were on to something.
• Counterchekist: History will remember the traitors
• Counterchekist: FEATHERS22 and FEATHERS23

Last time there was a FEATHERS takeoff tweet was Daily Check-In 07/11/2018.  The landing tweet came on Daily Check-In 07/13/2018 with the indictments.  Laurie Brenner updated her spreadsheet, but I forgot to include a link.  2018 is a weird year.  I never thought I’d be this excited to see a spreadsheet updated after reading the tweet of an anthropomorphic bird talk about planes and runways.

I wonder if Roger Stone has any plans this weekend?

 

That’s it for Wednesday.  Thursday will be late coming up, but I’ll try to get it up a little sooner.  Thursday includes the list of evidence being used for Paul Manafort’s trial next week.  After a quick look, he is screwed worse than Maria Butina by a fat, middle aged, out of shape white politician.

I missed an article last week about new lawyers that were added to Mueller’s team.  I’ll update them to The Justice League soon.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur