Tuesday, September 4, 2018
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- Mueller Will Accept Some Written Answers From Trump – The New York Times
- Mueller tells Trump’s legal team that he will accept written answers on campaign questions
- Jed Shug: Why would Mueller allow Trump to give written answers on Russian conspiracy questions, but not obstruction? It makes a ton of sense to me. Thread…
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III told President Trump’s lawyers in a letter Friday that he will accept written answers from Trump to questions about whether his campaign coordinated with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in his favor, according to two people briefed on the communication.
Mueller did not rule out interviewing the president as part of his wide-ranging inquiry. His Friday letter indicated that he may revisit his long-running request to pose questions to Trump directly about Russia’s activities during the campaign after reviewing his answers.
And the special counsel left open the possibility that he may still try to press Trump in person about a second piece of his investigation: whether the president has sought to block the probe since taking office.
On potential obstruction-of-justice issues, “he said he’d assess it down the road,” said one person familiar with Mueller’s letter who requested anonymity to discuss private communications. “They’re essentially saying, ‘We’ll deal with this at a later date.’”
Before diving into this, I need to clarify something. This story was originally broken by Maggie Haberman at the New York Times. I’ve covered Maggie’s “access journalism” before. (Daily Check-In 01/25/2018, Daily Check-In 07/26/2018)
This is an interesting development. While I’m not completely surprised by this move, I wasn’t expecting it, either. This letter was delivered on Daily Check-In 08/31/2018. That was the day that Sam Patten was charged with a FARA violation and right after George Papadopoulos confirmed that Trump gave his approval for his Russian activities.
From what I’m seeing, there are a few different arguments to be made about why this is happening. I’ve seen responses ranging from “Mueller’s toast” to “Trump is so screwed Mueller doesn’t need anything.”
Here’s what I think. If Mueller is still negotiating with Trump’s lawyers, it means he wants or needs their input. He might need it to complete his investigation, to at least give the appearance that they’re only getting around to this now. It could also be a delaying tactic. Once Mueller interviews Trump, or if the possibility no longer exists, there will be immense pressure to finish this investigation as soon as possible. But, by keeping this in a state of limbo, Mueller’s team continues their work on other fronts.
As much as we like to talk about how much Mueller knows, their team is a black box. Nothing escapes from their cone of silence. Nobody knows what they’re doing. All of the information we’ve received over the past year and a half has been from following the court cases and from second and third hand accounts of interviews. We know some of the people they’re working with, or getting evidence from, but that’s it. We assume that they have a ton more information than what has appeared in the press, but we’re still on the outside looking in.
Plus, this was a Maggie Haberman story. There’s a pattern to how these stories go…
- Something bad happens to Trump or the White House.
- Trump needs to bitch about something or get a story to the press to distract from it.
- Trump calls his frenemy Maggie Haberman.
- They talk for a while, and she gets him to tell her some juicy info that he’s purposefully leaking.
- Maggie confirms it with another source or asks another journalist to confirm what she heard.
- Maggie publishes Trump’s distraction piece.
I’m wondering what Trump’s trying to cover up.
- Jury selection begins for second Paul Manafort trial
- How Robert Mueller Outfoxed Donald Trump
- The Trump Foundation’s biggest donation was to refurbish a fountain outside his own hotel
- Mueller Persists Despite Trump Team’s Claim That the Clock Has Run Out
SCOTUS
- We Need Everyone to Take Action to Keep Brett Kavanaugh Off the Supreme Court
- The Still-Secret Brett Kavanaugh Documents Are a Scandal
- Whitehouse Reveals Kavanaugh’s Pro-Corporate, Right-Wing Record in SCOTUS Hearing Opener
- Who is Brett Kavanaugh?
- Shannon Watts: Based on what we already know, the judicial record of Brett Kavanaugh shows he has applied a dangerous interpretation of #2A when determining whether a law is constitutional, and demonstrates an extreme view of the Second Amendment that elevates gun rights over public safety.
- ‘This process is illegitimate’: MSNBC’s Morning Joe says Democrats should walk out of Kavanaugh hearings
- 22 Protesters Arrested So Far During Kavanaugh Hearing
- 70 people were arrested for protesting Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing
- Brett Kavanaugh Is a Lifelong Republican Operative and Will Rule Like One
- Brett Kavanaugh is a threat to women, workers, and the environment
- Dems interrupt Kavanaugh hearing, asking that it be adjourned
- Fred Guttenberg: Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg’s dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.
- Harris: ‘We cannot possibly move forward’ with Kavanaugh hearing
- Judge Kavanaugh’s hearing must be delayed
- Kavanaugh hearing: Democrats cry foul over documents, seek to delay proceedings
- McCain’s death didn’t teach Republicans anything. The Kavanaugh hearing proves it.
- Parkland Dad Escorted Out of Hearing After Trying to Shake Kavanaugh’s Hand
- Parkland Dad: Kavanaugh Refused to Shake My Hand
- Parkland father: Kavanaugh asked security to kick me out of hearing
- Protesters dress as ‘handmaids’ for Kavanaugh hearings
- Proving Process a ‘Charade’ and ‘Absurd,’ GOP Claims It Reviewed 42,000 Kavanaugh Documents in Three Hours
- Sen. Durbin: Kavanaugh Lied to Me About His Role in Bush’s ‘Enemy Combatant’ Policy
- Senate Democrats Are Trying to Blow Up the Kavanaugh Hearings and It Might Be Working
- Republicans Who Didn’t Even Hold Hearing on Merrick Garland Complain That Democrats Are Destroying Norms
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET
Corruption
- The Daily 202: Trump shows fresh disdain for the rule of law as the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing begins
- Kellyanne Conway’s Husband Retweets Post Saying Donald Trump is Abusing His Office For ‘Corrupt Aims‘
- Trump suggests protesting should be illegal
- Trump again calls for reexamining NBC’s TV license, despite the fact it doesn’t have one
- Toobin: Trump tweet attacking Sessions over indictments ‘may be an impeachable offense’
- Well, I Guess the President Is Openly Pro-Corruption Now
Fear
- President Trump is unfit for office. Bob Woodward’s ‘Fear’ confirms it.
- Bob Woodward’s new book reveals a ‘nervous breakdown’ of Trump’s presidency – The Washington Post
- Bernstein: Trump presidency a national emergency
- Steve Bannon Screamed At Ivanka Trump: ‘You’re A Goddamn Staffer’ And ‘You Act Like You’re In Charge,’ Woodward Book Says
- Transcript: Phone call between President Trump and journalist Bob Woodward
- Audio and transcript of the phone call between Trump and Bob Woodward
- Trump called Attorney Jeff Sessions a ‘traitor,’ and said ‘Everybody’s trying to get me’ after Mueller appointed, according to explosive Woodward book
- Trump called Sessions ‘mentally retarded’: Woodward book
- Trump Said Condemning White Supremacists Was ‘Biggest F—ing Mistake I’ve Made’: Woodward Book
- Woodward book hits No. 1 on Amazon
- James Mattis Reportedly Ignored Trump’s Order To ‘F**king Kill’ Bashar Assad
- Donald Trump called Jeff Sessions a ‘dumb southerner,’ showing apparent disdain for people who voted for him in 2016
- Lawyer Told Trump He’s Going to Jail if He Testifies to Mueller: Woodward Book
- Ex-Trump Lawyer Told Mueller Trump is too Dumb to Testify
Here we go, here’s what Trump wants to distract from. Bob Fucking Woodward. He has a new book coming out next week called Fear, about the inner workings of the Trump White House, and how insanely stupid everything is.
If this story sounds familiar, think Fire and Fury, but by one of the reporters who took down Nixon by reporting on Watergate. Bob interviewed EVERYONE, and has hundreds of hours on tape. All of it, from the low-level staffers to the senior members of the administration, all point to the same conclusion: Trump is unfit to serve as President.
I know, right. This comes as a shock to… like 4 people at this point, but the amazing levels that the staff go to just to keep Trump from causing an active crisis every day is astounding. Here are some examples mentioned in the book:
- Trump wanted to cancel all trade with South Korea, and almost did until one of his advisers took the letter from his desk and hid it.
- Trump called his speech repudiating the Neo-Nazis at Charlottesville the “biggest fucking mistake of my life.”
- Trump repeatedly called Jeff Sessions a retard, a moron, and would make fun of his accent, his height, and the way he dressed.
- Trump ordered the assassination of the Syrian President (a big no-no), and when he hung up on SecDef James Mattis, Mattis calmly said to everyone in the room “We’re not going to do any of that.”
And it’s not like most of the staff look good in the book, either. The descriptions fall into three categories.
- People trying to keep the government working for the good of the country.
- People along for the ride who can’t figure out what they do.
- People trying to abuse the system to get what they want out of it.
The first group consists of people like Jim Mattis, H.R. McMaster, and to an extent John Kelly. This also includes the nameless staffers who keep the wheels of government spinning.
The second group are people like Ivanka and Jared, or Omarosa. They’re there, but no one knows what they were doing. They helped Trump get elected, but now just take up space.
The third, and most vile, are the opportunists like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller. They are actively perverting their positions to push their corrupt, hate-filled agendas. Accounts like these will help sort the collaborators from the witnesses.
TRAITOR TOTS
FIGHTING BACK
- 22 Protesters Arrested So Far During Kavanaugh Hearing
- 70 people were arrested for protesting Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing
- Adam Parkhomenko: 51 Days and counting #KremlinAnnex
- David Frum: Still marveling at how very, very odd it is for an American president to complain about US intelligence trying to recruit informants inside a hostile foreign regime. Incredibly odd. Uniquely odd.
- Jerry Springer slams President Trump: ‘He took my show and brought it to the White House’
NFL
- Nike Debuts Colin Kaepernick Ad, Conservatives Protest by Burning Their Own Gear
- Nike takes on Trump by naming Colin Kaepernick the face of 30th anniversary of ‘Just Do It’
- Denzican Grimes: I’ve seen no fewer than 25 conservatives vowing to buy Converse instead of Nike because of the their decision to make Colin Kaepernick the face of their new campaign, and I REALLY want to tell them, but also I REALLY don’t want to tell them.
- People are destroying their Nike gear to protest Colin Kaepernick’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign
- Tea Pain: Due to the #ColinKaepernick Nike deal, Trumpers are “boycottin’” Nike by settin’ their shoes on fire. Thousands were hospitalized over the weekend because they forgot to take ‘em off first.
- As new NFL season begins, national anthem controversy drags on with no clear solution
- Pat Tillman’s Widow Doesn’t Want Her Husband Used for Anti-Kaepernick Stunts
- ‘He would be the first to kneel’: Pat Tillman exploited to attack Kaepernick, biographer says
- Man in the hoody: these people smashed their keurigs to support a pedophile so im not surprised they are burning their nike stuff to support police brutality. in like 2 years they are all going to be naked and starving trying to eat their ar-15’s
- Rogue Senior White House Advisor: Nike is smart, but this was inevitable. Eventually every brand & business will come to realize that there’s more value in promoting freedom & equality than capitulating to neo nazis & knuckledraggers. Let them wear unbranded junk – they’ll be even less noticeable.
I really hope that these racist white pieces of shit don’t try to adopt Converse as the footwear of choice for their klan rally. Not only is Converse owned by Nike, but they’ve already co-opted hand signs, white polo shirts, khakis, tiki torches, bald heads, and being a fat white guy. There’s not much left for the rest of us.
IMMIGRATION
COLD WAR 2.0
- James Mattis Reportedly Ignored Trump’s Order To ‘F**king Kill’ Bashar Assad
- Amid illiberal revolution in Hungary, a university with U.S. roots fights to stay
- Turkey’s woes could be just the start as record global debt bills come due
#NEVERAGAIN
- Shannon Watts: An Arkansas woman with a concealed carry license pointed her gun at children on school grounds. This member of our well regulated militia is being held on bond at a local detention center.
- Police: Local Woman Admits Pointing Gun At Kids – Fort Smith/Fayetteville News | 5newsonline KFSM 5NEWS
- Shannon Watts: Based on what we already know, the judicial record of Brett Kavanaugh shows he has applied a dangerous interpretation of #2A when determining whether a law is constitutional, and demonstrates an extreme view of the Second Amendment that elevates gun rights over public safety.
- Fred Guttenberg: Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg’s dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.
- Parkland Dad Escorted Out of Hearing After Trying to Shake Kavanaugh’s Hand
- Parkland Dad: Kavanaugh Refused to Shake My Hand
- Parkland father: Kavanaugh asked security to kick me out of hearing
TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY
- Amazon becomes the country’s second $1 trillion company
- Bernie Sanders to introduce legislation to tax Amazon, Walmart for workers’ welfare benefits
- There’s one simple explanation for the wage stagnation ‘puzzle’ confounding top Fed officials
TALKING ABOUT RACE
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- North Carolina’s unconstitutional gerrymandered map will be used in midterms
- Republicans Who Didn’t Even Hold Hearing on Merrick Garland Complain That Democrats Are Destroying Norms
- Arizona governor expected to appoint ex-senator Jon Kyl to fill McCain’s seat
- Bill Kristol: The Democrats would be crazy not to put a major national buy behind an ad quoting sleazy details from the Collins and Hunter indictments and pointing out they still serve as GOP members of Congress and Trump embraces them. The punch line: Drain the swamp! Vote Democratic in 2018.
- Want to save the GOP, Republicans? Vote for every Democrat on this year’s ballot.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Police: Local Woman Admits Pointing Gun At Kids – Fort Smith/Fayetteville News | 5newsonline KFSM 5NEWS
- We gathered data on every confirmed, line-of-duty police killing of a civilian in 2014 and 2015. Here’s what we found.
- The secret operation to deport America’s last living Nazi defendant
#METOO
- USA Gymnastics CEO resigns amid doctor’s sex abuse fallout
- NBC News chairman, under fire, defends losing blockbuster Weinstein story
PRIESTS
- As crisis envelops Catholic Church, is Pope Francis facing a ‘watershed moment’?
- Pope Benedict, in retired seclusion, looms in the opposition to Pope Francis
ELECTION 2018
- North Carolina’s unconstitutional gerrymandered map will be used in midterms
- Ron DeSantis trailing Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum in Florida: Poll
- Ted Cruz wants you to know that Democrat Beto O’Rourke uses bad words
- A ‘jaw-dropping’ 15 million super-environmentalists don’t vote in the midterms
- Bill Kristol: The Democrats would be crazy not to put a major national buy behind an ad quoting sleazy details from the Collins and Hunter indictments and pointing out they still serve as GOP members of Congress and Trump embraces them. The punch line: Drain the swamp! Vote Democratic in 2018.
- Want to save the GOP, Republicans? Vote for every Democrat on this year’s ballot.
- Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Has Plunged and so Have Republicans’ Midterm Chances, New Poll Indicates
- Energized against Donald Trump, Democrats reach +14 in the midterms
- Voters want a check on this lawless, raging president. This new poll confirms it.
- Georgia voters watch their ballots mysteriously switch
- Voting precincts closed across Georgia after election oversight lifted
- Heavily spliced Ted Cruz video falsely depicts Beto O’Rourke saying he’s ‘grateful’ for flag burning
- Massachusetts voters to settle Democratic Party brawls
RUMOR MILL
- Countercheckist: We have been presented with a rare opportunity. This attack on our institutions has opened the door for us to come together and rebuild our country to what it deserves to be. Thread
- Rick Wilson on Steve Bannon, and how he can go fuck himself.
- Lincoln’s Bible: Today is a good day to remind everyone that Bannon tried like hell to be a screenwriter. It was his dream, & he lapped up to people like me for approval – licking every “Hollywood” boot he could find. It was an epic FAIL b/c he’s the worst writer in all history. #SycophantHack
That’s it for Tuesday. Kavanaugh’s hearing is taken most of the oxygen out of the room, and it’s a little depressing to be honest. Watching this shitshow proceed from the most corrupt political party this side of the old Soviet Union makes my skin crawl. Grassely and the Republicans are trying to ram Kavanaugh through this nomination with no remorse, no compunction of decency, and no respect for their own rules. Kavanaugh is corrupt, lacks all basis of ethics, and the fact that he holds the views that a President is above the law and yet was nominated by an unindicted co-conspirator to a lifetime position for the highest court in the land makes me sick. There is an active cover-up going on at this point to railroad him onto the court.
I am honestly afraid at this point for what comes next. Removing a Supreme Court Justice is the same process for removing a President: Impeachment and trial in the Senate. I’m worried that someone, thinking they’re on the right side of history, will see him and try to pull a Pelican Brief move of their own. In a future post, I’ll recommend how to fix the courts in the future, but for right now, I’m nervous.
One thing that does help is stepping back and looking at everything in the large picture. There are multiple investigations into Trump’s world from several jurisdictions, the blatant corruption is on display for the world to see, and the old white men in power will, sooner rather than later, die of natural causes and be replaced by younger, darker, smarter men and women.
It’s just hard to remember that from a distance.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 