Tuesday, July 24th.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- Pro-Confederate Birther Introduced Maria Butina’s Handler to NRA Chief
- Maria Butina was the ultimate NRA Cool Girl
- Who Whitewashed the Wiki of Alleged Russian Spy Maria Butina?
- Who Is Maria Butina? The Story of Accused Russian Spy Who Infiltrated the NRA Before ’16 Election
- Mueller plans to call IRS, FBI, FinCen witnesses at Manafort trial
- Religious Right Amplifies Trump Attacks On Mueller Investigation
- WATCH: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Joins “Lock Her Up!” Chant – Rantt
- A small bank with ties to Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Michael Cohen, and Trump’s business is suddenly under increased scrutiny — and the bank feels ‘abused’
COHEN
- Trump recorded discussing paying for Playboy model’s story
- The Trump-Michael Cohen tape transcript, annotated
TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please!
COHEN: They don’t have a legitimate purpose, so —
TRUMP: And you have a woman that doesn’t want this.
COHEN: Correct.
TRUMP: Who you’ve been handling.
COHEN: Yes. And —
TRUMP: And it’s been going on for a while.
COHEN: About two, three weeks now.
TRUMP: All you’ve got to do is delay for —
COHEN: Even after that, it’s not ever going to be opened. There’s no, there’s no purpose for it. Um, told you about Charleston. Um, I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David, you know, so that — I’m going to do that right away. I’ve actually come up and I’ve spoken —
TRUMP: Give it to me and get me a [UNINTELLIGIBLE].
COHEN: And, I’ve spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with …
TRUMP: So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?
COHEN: … Funding . . . Yes. Um, and it’s all the stuff.
TRUMP: Yeah, I was thinking about that.
COHEN: All the stuff. Because — here, you never know where that company — you never know what he’s —
TRUMP: Maybe he gets hit by a truck.
COHEN: Correct. So, I’m all over that. And, I spoke to Allen about it, when it comes time for the financing, which will be —
TRUMP: Wait a sec, what financing?
COHEN: Well, I’ll have to pay him something.
TRUMP: [UNINTELLIGIBLE] pay with cash.
COHEN: No, no, no, no, no. I got it.
TRUMP: Check.
[Tape cuts off abruptly. Separate recording begins.]
MALE: Hey Don, how are you?
Allen Weisselberg is the CFO of Trump Organization. David is either the pseudonym David Dennison, the one Cohen and Trump used in their NDA’s, or more likely David Pecker, Owner of AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer. Karen McDougal sold her story to the Enquirer for $150,000. (Daily Check-In 01/12/2018)
Just reading this transcript makes my brain hurt. Trump is a dipshit, a bull in a china shop with no understanding or concept of reality. Cohen’s trying to come off as all slick and sly, using euphemisms and talking about “our friend, David” and “financing”, and Trump just blurts everything out like the dumbest fucking criminal on Earth.
As former prosecutor, 3 things notable about Cohen tape:
1) Clear Giuliani was untruthful when he said Trump didn’t know
2) Goal was to kill story before election, so campaign motivated
3) Regardless of cash or check, whole point of phony corp. was to hide campaign expenditure
- Rudy Giuliani Says ‘Don’t Quote Me On That’ In Middle Of Live TV Interview | HuffPost
- Special master in Cohen’s case to release hundreds of documents to prosecution
- CNN obtains secret Trump-Cohen tape
- Lanny Davis On Trump-Cohen Audio: ‘The Truth Is On Our Side’
- Aaron Rupar: Live Tweeting the McDougal Tape
- Manu Raju: McDougal Tape released
- Trump recorded discussing paying for Playboy model’s story
- Trump Tape Released: Trump Suggests Pay With ‘Cash,’ Contradicting Giuliani’s Claim
- Burr breaks with Nunes: ‘Sound reasons’ for judges to approve FISA warrant
- Russia slams US general Joseph Votel, says he ‘discredited’ Trump – CNNPolitics
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET
- Trump to veterans: Don’t believe what you’re reading or seeing
- Trump Told Supporters Not To Trust What They See Or Read, And People Are Wondering If George Orwell Wrote His Speech
- ‘What you’re seeing… is not what’s happening.’ People are comparing this Trump quote to George Orwell
- Trump’s latest demand is straight out of the pages of ‘1984’
- 51% of American voters believe Russia has something on Trump
- Donald Trump tweets Russians “definitely don’t want Trump,” days after Putin said he wanted Trump
- Kremlin: Russia not ready to accept Trump invite to Washington | TheHill
- Opinion | Without the Russians, Trump wouldn’t have won
- Trump White House cuts Putin support for Trump out of transcript
- Trump: I’m ‘concerned’ Russia may interfere in midterms to help Democrats
- Without evidence, Trump claims Russia ‘will be pushing very hard for the Democrats’ in 2018 midterms
TRAITOR TOTS
- The Republican Congress Isn’t Even Pretending to Do Its Job
- Now we know for sure: Devin Nunes lied about everything
- Congress to ease Russia sanctions amid clamor for tougher measures
FIGHTING BACK
- Congressman Coffman crosses party lines, proposes reversal of FCC net neutrality repeal
- Trump’s approval dips below 40 percent
- Montana governor sues Trump administration to block IRS policy ending some donor disclosures
- Ivanka Trump shuts down her namesake clothing brand, which became politicized during the presidential campaign
- Ivanka Trump’s Clothing Company Shutting Down
- Eric Trump mocked for celebrating poll finding that a majority of Americans disapprove of his dad
- Caroline Orr: No more read outs of calls with foreign countries is a bad idea
- Corker: Trump considering revoking security clearances is ‘banana republic kind of thing’
IMMIGRATION
- More than 450 migrant parents may have already been deported without their children
- New York pizza delivery man to be freed as judge questions motive to deport him
- Homeland Security Advisory Council Members Resign Over ‘Repugnant’ Family Separations | HuffPost
- Read: A DHS advisor’s fiery resignation letter blames the agency for “utter depravity”
- Separated, then reunited, migrant families wonder what’s next
- Trump voter says she’s ‘ashamed’ to be American after daughter-in-law is deported
- Deportations take unique toll on blended American families
- Justice Department: Use ‘illegal aliens,’ not ‘undocumented’ – CNNPolitics
- Alt Immigration: What the U.S. is doing is kidnapping
COLD WAR 2.0
- Bill Browder: Link to torture video by Russian prison guards
- Offshore owners of British property to be forced to reveal names | Business | The Guardian
#NEVERAGAIN
TRADE WAR: THE FARMER WELFARE EDITION
- Trump Tries to Offset Damage From Tariffs With Welfare for White People
- GOP lawmaker fires back at Trump: ‘Tariffs are taxes’
- GOP senator on Trump tariffs: He is making America ‘1929 again’
- Taxpayers will pay for $12 billion in aid to farmers to cover losses caused by Trump’s tariffs
- Trump: “Tariffs are the greatest.” Also farmers need $12 billion in aid because of tariffs.
- Republican Senators: Trump’s Farmer ‘Welfare’ Won’t Work
- Harley-Davidson Predicts Trump’s Trade War Will Cost it Big
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Why Fox News’ Scare Pieces About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Keep Turning Into Ads for Democratic Socialism
- Fox Is Horrified at the Idea of Americans Leading Dignified Lives
- Facebook Said Alex Jones’ Threatening Rant Against Robert Mueller Doesn’t Violate Its Rules
- Alex Jones Should Be Cross-Examined in Front of the Nation
- Alex Jones threatens to shoot Robert Mueller in his latest video. YouTube seems fine with that
- Russia slams US general Joseph Votel, says he ‘discredited’ Trump – CNNPolitics
- A reporter went undercover as a Facebook moderator and was trained not to delete certain racist memes and images of child abuse
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Sean Spicer confirms Trump’s pro-LGBTQ stance during convention speech was all a scam
- Spotting CNN on a TV Aboard Air Force One, Trump Rages Against Reality
- Trump lashed out at aides after seeing Melania’s Air Force One television tuned to CNN: report
- White House stops announcing calls with foreign leaders
- The Sean Spicer Comeback Tour Isn’t Going as Planned
- BBC interviewer to Spicer: ‘You have corrupted discourse for the entire world’
- “America First”? Chinese factory claims it’s making Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign flags
SCOTUS
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- Georgia lawmaker refuses to resign after “ridiculously ugly” appearance on “Who is America?”
- Georgia lawmaker who came under fire after yelling ‘n-word’ on ‘Who Is America?’ says he’ll quit
- BREAKING: Ga. lawmaker who used racial slurs in TV show resigns
- Jamil Smith: It Used to Matter When a Politician Yelled ‘N-gger’
- Religious Right Amplifies Trump Attacks On Mueller Investigation
- The Republican Congress Isn’t Even Pretending to Do Its Job
- Trump Is Turning The GOP Into Everything They Hated About Obama
- Analysis | Only a quarter of the country identifies as Republican. There are two reasons the party keeps winning anyway.
- America’s electoral system gives the Republicans advantages over Democrats
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: SEX CRIMES DIVISION
- The Anti-Defamation League Issues First-Ever Policy Recommendation to Deal with Misogyny
- Cheri Jacobus: Trump was in Epstein’s Little Black Book
- From May 9 2016: 7 Things You Need To Know About Trump And Sex Slave Island | Daily Wire
- Seagram’s heiress used family fortune to finance sex cult: feds (NXIVM)
Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman used her family fortune to buy an entire island, the private plane to get there — and, the feds say, to bankroll a sex cult.
On Tuesday, the 39-year-old — who is worth roughly $200 million — was busted on racketeering chargesfor her role in running Nxivm, alongside three other high-ranking members.
The arrests are part of an ongoing federal investigation into the group’s leader, Keith Raniere, and his right-hand woman, former ”Smallville” star Allison Mack.
Raniere and Mack are charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy for allegedly coercing women into joining a secretive master-slave society within Nxivm— where “slaves” were forced to pleasure Raniere, have his initials permanently branded onto their skin and perform free labor.
In Brooklyn federal court Tuesday, a gaunt Bronfman pleaded not guilty to allegations she conspired with Raniere to steal email passwords from his “perceived enemies,” racked up charges on the credit card of his dead ex-girlfriend and laundered money to help a non-citizen fraudulently gain entry to the US.
Bronfman was part of an “inner circle” of loyalists who “committed a broad range of serious crimes from identity theft and obstruction of justice to sex trafficking, all to promote and protect Raniere and NXIVM,” U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement.
She faces up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty — a stunning change in circumstances for a woman who could have had anything in the world she wanted.
Bronfman and her older sister, Sara, are the daughters of late Canadian billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr. and a British barmaid-turned-socialite 20 years his junior. She was his third of four wives — and they were the youngest of his seven kids.
ELECTION 2018
- Poll: House Dem Conor Lamb holds double-digit advantage over GOP rival
- Vote in the Midterms—or Be Part of the Problem
- TMZ: Rep. Maxine Waters’ District Office Evacuated Over ‘Anthrax’ Package
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
- Outright Nazis are running as Republicans, so don’t worry about the Democratic left [Opinion]
- Why Fox News’ Scare Pieces About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Keep Turning Into Ads for Democratic Socialism
- Fox Is Horrified at the Idea of Americans Leading Dignified Lives
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Markets need to work for more than just the rich
RUMOR MILL
- Counterchekist: Mueller knows what they did, and they know he knows
- Eric Garland: Remember Ivanka’s Vancouver Money Laundering?
- Lincoln’s Bible: The Manchurian Mobster
- Pace: Trump’s Rally Venue Moved
That’s it for Tuesday. I’m cutting it short today as I’m reaching way too late in Wednesday to be talking about Tuesday. SecState Pompeo is set to testify before the Senate, and there are rumors of Cohen flipping, but I still think he’s trying to play both sides against each other.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
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