Wednesday, October 3, 2018
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- Special counsel’s office has radio interviews between Roger Stone and alleged WikiLeaks ‘back channel’
- Erik Prince’s Russian Connection Trawled Trumpland for ‘Boss’ Putin
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- Trump reportedly tried to rewrite his father’s will but his dad thwarted the effort, saying ‘this doesn’t pass the smell test’
- Trump sister, a Federal Judge, implicated in alleged Trump tax scheme
- The New York Times destroyed Trump’s origin story — and the White House didn’t deny it
- The creation myth of the billionaire businessman Donald Trump just imploded
- Seriously, we need to see Donald Trump’s tax returns
- Republicans Rigged the System to Enable Crimes Like Trump’s Tax Evasion
- New York Times reporter ‘not at all’ concerned by warning of defamation suit after report on Trump taxes
- New York Times: Trump engaged in ‘outright fraud’ to avoid taxes
- If ‘Times’ is right, Trumps could face $400M state tax bill
- De Blasio says NYC is ‘looking to recoup’ money from Trump after bombshell tax story
- Did the New York Times Just Uncover Why Trump Abruptly Switched to All-Cash Deals in the 2000s?
- Donald Trump is a classic gaslighter in an abusive relationship with America
- Donald Trump will have to pay back any money he “owes” New Yorkers from dodging taxes, mayor declares
- A financial disclosure from Donald Trump’s sister led to The New York Times report on his taxes
I would just like to remind everyone that Donald Trump is a cheat, a fraud, and a con man. Along with being a traitor, rapist, racist, alleged pedophile, and a bad dresser.
Also, I’d like to remind everyone that both his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is a convicted felon who is cooperating with EVERY law enforcement agency, as well as his bookkeeper Allen Weisselberg.
SCOTUS & #METOO
Five days after the FBI began its investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the sexual assault allegations made against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the probe is over. Though the White House is already exonerating him, it remains to be seen what kind of information senators can glean from the investigation. One thing that is clear though is that many Senate Democrats won’t be satisfied with the narrow scope of the probe.
According to the Washington Post, FBI agents only spoke to six people as a part of the investigation. Five of them were connected to Dr. Ford and her story of a 1982 sexual assault at the hands of Kavanaugh. Somehow, neither Kavanaugh, nor Ford, were among those interviewed:
Instead, the bureau interviewed three people who Ford said attended the party: Mark Judge, Patrick Smyth and Leland Keyser. The FBI also talked to two other friends of Kavanaugh’s who were listed as attending a gathering during the same summer that Ford alleged she was assaulted: Chris Garrett, who went out with Ford for a time, and Tim Gaudette.
The FBI has only briefly looked into the other allegations against Kavanaugh. While an interview was conducted with Deborah Ramirez, who said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at Yale, investigators did not, as far as Ramirez’s legal team knew, speak to any of the 20 people she said may be able to corroborate her story. Julie Swetnick, who implicated Kavanaugh in a pattern of sexual assaults, was also not interviewed.
I’m trying to stay positive, but it is hard AF right now. This investigation is a complete and total shitshow if they only interviewed a few witnesses, and only those that were pre-approved by a group with an obvious bias to get a favorable result.
This is how corruption works.
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska gave an impassioned speech on sexual assault and the #MeToo movement on the Senate floor Wednesday night.
Sasse also dropped a bombshell about where he stands on Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s second nominee to the Supreme Court.
“I urged the president to nominate a different individual. I urged the president to nominate a woman,” Sasse said.
He recounted the experiences of two personal friends he said were raped, adding that the #MeToo movement has been “complicated,” but also a “very good thing.”
And then Sasse turned back to Trump: “We all know that the president cannot lead us through this time.”
Kavanaugh, once seen as having a clear path to the nation’s high court, has become the subject of multiple sexual misconduct allegations, leveled against him by former high school and college classmates.
I’m more amazed that we aren’t getting more GOP Senators speaking out. Not out of shock or patriotism, but just basic self-preservation. Out of 51 of them, the only one that did anything was Jeff Flake, and he’s eyeing a 2020 presidential run. I’ve always gambled on self-preservation being a politician’s best friend, but supporting Kavanaugh is a dangerous move. The optics are terrible for anyone who even remotely backs him. Every ad will be a version of “XXXXX voted to put a liar and a rapist on the Supreme Court.”
- Bring Back Senate Filibuster? Schumer’s Idea Is Not So Bad – Bloomberg
- ‘Just plain wrong’: Flake, Collins and Murkowski criticize Trump for mocking Kavanaugh accuser at political rally
- 100,000 U.S. Christian Churches Demand Withdrawal of Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Nomination
- All 100 senators will be able to read FBI report – ABC 36 News
- An opinion by Connie Chung: I, too, was sexually assaulted — and it’s seared into my memory forever
- Angry White House Staffer: “Any girls we can beg to stay are welcomed with open…” “This week has big potential (interpret as wish)” Yeah. He wasn’t a horny teenager trying to fuck anything with legs, or anything. Also: “Are you Bart?” “You’d have to ask Mark Judge.” This also confirms he was lying about the meaning of ‘FFFFF…’ which we already knew. The original (disgusting) interpretation seems to be correct.
- As FBI Wraps Up Investigation, Republicans Push for a Vote on Kavanaugh
- Avenatti: We still haven’t heard from the FBI
- Before hearing on sex abuse in sports, Richard Blumenthal condemns Trump mocking Blasey Ford
- Brett Kavanaugh lied brazenly and repeatedly under oath. Any law student knows he cannot sit on the Supreme Court.
- Dozens of potential sources of information have not been contacted by the FBI in Kavanaugh investigation
- Dr. Dena Grayson: Connie Chung to Dr. Ford: “I, too, was sexually assaulted—not 36 years ago but ~50 years ago. I kept my dirty little secret to myself. Silence for 5 decades…The exact date & year are fuzzy. But details of the event are vivid—forever seared in my memory.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/dear-christine-blasey-ford-i-too-was-sexually-assaulted–and-its-seared-into-my-memory-forever/2018/10/03/2449ed3c-c68a-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c39b48494864&__twitter_impression=true …. Thread
- EPIC – National Archives Confirms Existence of Numerous Kavanaugh Records on Surveillance Programs
- EPIC Calls on Senate Leaders to Postpone Vote on Kavanaugh Pending Release of White House Emails on Surveillance Programs
- Everyone expects Murkowski and Collins to do the right thing. That lets Republican men off the hook
- FBI Lacks White House Approval to Talk to Kavanaugh and Ford, Sources Say
- FBI Says It Lacks White House Approval to Talk to Kavanaugh and Ford
- FBI Wrapping Up Kavanaugh Probe Without Interviewing Key Witnesses
- Feinstein Casts Doubt On FBI Investigation If Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh Not Interviewed
- Flake calls Trump’s comments on Ford ‘appalling’
- Ford attorneys ‘profoundly disappointed’ in FBI’s Kavanaugh investigation for not interviewing Ford, witnesses
- Former Classmate ‘Shocked’ That Kavanaugh Testified ‘Devil’s Triangle’ Wasn’t About Sex
- GOP senators call for Kavanaugh FBI findings to be released publicly
- Hatch: Trump ‘may have to give up’ tax returns
- Horrified Assault Survivors Swarm Washington to Protest Kavanaugh
- How can we make sure our daughter will open up to us?
- I was Brett Kavanaugh’s college roommate. He lied under oath.
- Kavanaugh Described Himself And Friends As ‘Loud, Obnoxious Drunks’ In 1983 Letter Signed ‘Bart’
- Kavanaugh’s Partisan Rage Was Disqualifying – Even If He’s Innocent
- Kavanaugh’s Yale classmates say they’ve struggled to connect with FBI
- Letter to Chairman Grassley-October 3, 2018.pdf
- Lindsey Graham booed for saying ‘Kavanaugh was treated like crap’
- Lindsey Graham gets booed while defending Kavanaugh
- Lindsey Graham says Trump’s mocking Kavanaugh accuser Ford was nothing like the ‘trailer park’ slurs of the Clinton era
- McConnell takes key step toward vote on Kavanaugh nomination
- Murkowski says people are flooding her phone lines to voice their opinions on Kavanaugh
- National Council of Churches calls for Kavanaugh’s nomination to be withdrawn
- New witness comes forward claiming she saw Brett Kavanaugh spike drinks during parties
- Opinion | The Senate Should Not Confirm Kavanaugh. Signed, 650+ Law Professors (and Counting). – The New York Times
- Poll: Majority of Republicans want Brett Kavanaugh confirmed even if assault accusations are true
- Poll: More Believe Ford Than Kavanaugh, A Cultural Shift From 1991
- Republicans Will Rue The Day They Stood Behind Brett Kavanaugh
- Russian trolls and bots are flooding Twitter with Ford-Kavanaugh disinformation — Quartz
- Schiff: There is legal precedent for impeaching sitting officials over prior criminal conduct
- Senate moves ahead on Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination with a procedural vote expected Friday
- Shannon Watts: “It’s a scary time for young men in America; you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of.” Trump called for the execution of teen boys falsely accused of raping a woman in Central Park. He said they were guilty even after they were exonerated.
- Sick of Being Confronted, McConnell Vows GOP ‘Will Not Be Intimidated by These People’ (aka Engaged Constituents Opposed to Kavanaugh)
- Spicy Mic: EPIC : National Archives Confirms Existence of Numerous Kavanaugh Records on Surveillance Programs Kavanaugh sent 11 e-mails to John Yoo, 227 e-mails about “surveillance” programs and the “Patriot Act;” and 119 e-mails concerning “CAPPS” Enjoy🔻http://epic.org/2018/10/national-archives-confirms-exi.html … #privacy
- Steve Schmidt: Graham has been ‘corrupted by ambition’ | TheHill
- The Daily 202: Trump’s mockery of Christine Blasey Ford underscores his scorn for the #MeToo movement
- The F.B.I. Ignores Testimonies from Kavanaugh’s Former Classmates
- The Latest Republican Rhetoric Around Brett Kavanaugh’s Accusers Is Grotesque
- The Latest: Flake says Trump’s mocking of Ford ‘appalling’
- The Latest: McConnell nixes Dems’ request for FBI briefing
- Trump’s Mocking of Christine Blasey Ford and the Dark Laughter of His Audience
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET
- Trump Delays More Federal Transit Funds
- Trump Does Favors for His Rich Friends, Part Infinity
- FAA Funding Bill Passed by Senate Ignores Drone Surveillance Risks
TRAITOR TOTS
- Dana Rohrabacher’s health care platform is lying to his constituents – ThinkProgress
- These Representatives just voted to keep Trump’s sketchy tax practices hidden from the public
- Bolton say U.S. reviewing all agreements that expose it to World Court.
FIGHTING BACK
- The news this week confirms it: Donald Trump is the worst person ever to be president
- The New York Times destroyed Trump’s origin story — and the White House didn’t deny it
- Hirono, 14 Senators Call for Inspector General to Investigate Political Interference in Science at the Department of the Interior
- Bring Back Senate Filibuster? Schumer’s Idea Is Not So Bad – Bloomberg
FIXING THE INTERNET
- Wikipedia Editors: Breitbart ‘Should Not Be Used, Ever’ as a Reference for Facts
- Apple’s Tim Cook: ‘Don’t believe’ tech companies that say they need your data
- Schiff: There is legal precedent for impeaching sitting officials over prior criminal conduct
- First UEFI malware discovered in wild is laptop security software hijacked by Russians
IMMIGRATION
- Judge blocks Trump administration from ending protections for some immigrants
- Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from ending TPS
COLD WAR 2.0
- UK and Australia blame Russian unit GRU for cyberattacks
- 911corlebra777: BOOM💥Australia has officially blamed Russia for attacking the 2016 United States Presidential Election. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WAS TARGETING HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON’S CANDIDACY 😱
- US to offer cyberwar capabilities to NATO allies
- White House terminating 1950s treaty with Iran after UN court ruling
- Carole Cadwalladr: Ooh, you’re not going to like this @Arron_banks. The @AtlanticCouncil is asking all sorts of inconvenient questions again about your “wealth”. Didn’t you threaten to sue them last time? http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Democracy_in_the_Crosshairs_.pdf …. Thread
- Atlantic Council – Democracy in the Crosshairs
- Bolton say U.S. reviewing all agreements that expose it to World Court.
#NEVERAGAIN
- Shannon Watts: In states where background checks are required on every gun sale – including unlicensed sales – civilian shootings of police are cut almost in half: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN18W1YO … Florence
- Florence County, South Carolina, shooting of police officers: what we know
- U.S. police chiefs call for background checks for all gun purchases | Article [AMP] | Reuters
- Shannon Watts: Does this mean the @NRA leaders support 900 hours of police training for every gun owner? Because their lobbyists have worked to strip mandatory training for gun owners from state laws. In fact, the NRA helped pass permitless carry in 13 states so far…
- A year after the Las Vegas shooting, Congress still hasn’t banned bump stocks
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Trump’s favorite show, “Fox & Friends,” criticizes him for mocking Christine Blasey Ford
- Darth MAGA: Study Reveals Racist Star Wars Fans Mad About the Black Stormtrooper Are Trump Trolls and Russian Bots
- Donald Trump’s Favorite Fox News Gets 0 Emmys While MSNBC, Obama NBC Episode win Awards
- White House can’t explain disconnect between Trump’s views of Kavanaugh versus Central Park Five
- Sanders Refuses Q’s On Trump’s Different Standards For Kavanaugh, Central Park Five
- White House claims Trump was “stating facts” when mocking Ford
PRESIDENTIAL ALERT
- You, and Everyone Else in the Whole Country, Just Got an Unsolicited Text From President Donald Trump
- Region’s cell networks disrupted after Presidential text alert
- Cellphone users nationwide just received a ‘Presidential Alert.’ Here’s what to know.
TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY
- Employers are courting less-educated workers — finally — but they aren’t offering pay increases
- Amazon’s hourly workers lose monthly bonuses and stock awards as minimum wage increases
- US government debt costs may soon eclipse military spending
- Sen. Sanders wants to break up JP Morgan, Berkshire Hathaway and other large financials
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- Republicans Rigged the System to Enable Crimes Like Trump’s Tax Evasion
- Republicans Will Rue The Day They Stood Behind Brett Kavanaugh
- “We Need to Destroy the Republican Party”: A Conservative Luminary Calls for a Clean Start
David Corn: In the book, you write, “Only if the GOP as currently constituted is burned to the ground will there be any chance to build a reasonable center-right political party out of the ashes.” So your position now, Max, is burn, baby, burn. It sounds like the old Marxists.
Max Boot: I respect some of my friends trying to work on reforming the Republican Party, but at least for the time being, I think it’s a lost cause. So my hope is that the Republican Party will suffer massive and repeated drubbings at the ballot box. That’s why I urge everybody to vote straight-ticket Democratic even though I have a lot of disagreements with Democrats. I’m not a Democrat; I’m an independent. But for the health of our republic, I think we need to destroy the Republican Party. We need congressional oversight of Donald Trump, which you’re never going to get out of Republicans. I think you need to punish the Republicans for taking these appalling positions, abusing minorities, championing white nationalism, isolationism, protectionism. The only way to wean them from that is to punish them electorally.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Suspected ricin-laced letters did not contain finished form of poison
- Republicans Rigged the System to Enable Crimes Like Trump’s Tax Evasion
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- More than 250 people worldwide have died taking selfies, study finds
- Hirono, 14 Senators Call for Inspector General to Investigate Political Interference in Science at the Department of the Interior
- Experts say Trump’s EPA moving to loosen radiation limits
- EPA excluded its own top science officials when it rewrote rules on scientific studies
ELECTION 2018
- Beto O’Rourke Leads Ted Cruz by Three Points in U.S. Senate Race, New Poll Finds
- Man tells black grandmother campaigning for Beto O’Rourke to go ‘back where you came from’
- Russian hackers target Beto, Cruz and Manu
- Young people who came of ‘political age’ during Trump era likely to be Democrats, says pollster
- Midterms Show You Can Teach an Old Democratic Party New Tricks
- Georgia is being sued for purging minority voters ahead of the midterm elections
PROGRESS IS PROGRESS
- Christina Wilkie: As Kavanaugh battle rages, this feels like a ray of sunshine: Senators just came together to pass, 98 to 1, sweeping legislation to combat the opioid epidemic.
- Sen. Lee Votes Against Unaccountable Opioid Spending
- Senate easily passes sweeping opioids’ legislation, sending to President Trump
RUMOR MILL
- Alt Scales of Justice: Hearing all the people who wanted to talk to the FBI but weren’t interviewed, could that be a hint? If FBI concludes there was no evidence to support Ford, the veracity of their reports will be attacked. But if FBI already had enough damning info, they wouldn’t have been needed
- Countercheckist: This November, there are no Democrats & Republicans; liberals & conservatives. There’s only patriots & partisans. Partisan hackery got us into this mess. Rededicating ourselves to rational, reasonable, and effective governance will get us out. Work together to save our Republic
- Lincoln’s Bible: S-E-M-I-O-N M-O-G-I-L-E-V-I-C-H
- Louise Mensch: Glad to see my statement here on MConnell from May 2017 is corroborated today by @gregpmiller, looking forward to reading his book. #TreasonTurtle. I haven’t asked about McConnell much. I do hear he is detested by USIC for interfering in @BarackObama attempt to warn US electorate
- Ming: Kavanaugh looking like mole on DC circuit to Ming, risk to national security.
- Ming: Mybe house freedom caucus Run Boehener out cuz they are tresaon caucus?
That’s it for Wednesday. It’s kind of a fucked up day, and I’m not sure what else is around the corner.
Part of me keeps thinking about writing more singular topic posts, like one about BK, the Party Scene, and how #MeToo works into all of this. Or what are the implications of a Blue Wave in the long run. Or wargame out an actual war.
That being said, I’ll probably have time for that in about… 10 years. Give or take 9.99 of them.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur