Month: November 2018

Daily Check-In 11/23/2018

Friday, November 23, 2018.  Including Thanksgiving Thursday and the weekend.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

But as the Jan. 27, 2018, date neared and Mueller provided the topics he wanted to discuss, Trump’s lawyers balked. Attorney John Dowd then fired off a searing letter disputing Mueller’s authority to question the president. The interview was off.

Notice the date of the scheduled meeting.  January 27th, 2018.  Let’s think back to what happened in the days preceding it.

Daily Check-In 01/25/2018 & Daily Check-In 01/26/2018 had one of the most important stories in the Russian Investigation break, and it was buried by a story from Maggie Haberman that was at least 6 months old.  At first, I thought that story was leaked to Maggie to distract from direct evidence of the Russians interfering in the 2016 election.  Given this new information, I’d like to update my hypothesis to include that the leak was to distract mostly from him and his team bailing on the meeting with Mueller.

Think about it.  His lawyers give a last look at the questions, know that Trump will lie and likely perjure himself, so they cancelled.  Since Trump’e ego is more fragile than a Faberge egg, he had to get the news out there that he was in charge no matter what, before it leaked that his team was afraid to answer some tough questions.  So he calls his frenemy Maggie, and tells her that he can fire Mueller any time he wants, but he doesn’t want to, but he tried back in June, and that’s the story she ran with.

 

Go to jail you traitorous idiot.

 

 

Comey Don’t Play That

 

 

Speculation Time: Anger at Judges

This next part is complete speculation on my part, but I wonder if Trump got a bad ruling against him in an appeals court, and he’s lashing out on Twitter.

Remember over the past few weeks I’ve talked about the secret sealed Mueller Grand Jury Subpoena that’s under challenge before the DC Circuit Court? (Daily Check-In 11/20/2018) Keep that in mind.

Trump’s twitter tirade against judges isn’t new.  He’s a petulant man-child who lashes out when he doesn’t get his way.  He does this with EVERY court case that he loses.  That’s not a surprise.  What’s different this time is that there isn’t an obvious case for him to scream about losing.  Sure, he’s getting his ass handed to him in several other cases, but nothing that would require him to lash out at the entire DC Circuit Court.

Nothing publicly, anyway.

Here’s my speculation; Donald Trump is personally involved in the secret sealed Mueller case 18-3071, and he just received a legal beatdown.  When he asked which judges ruled against him, his lawyers told him which ones, and since at least one of them was an Obama judge.  Tangering Tojo then goes on Twitter, and here we are.

Like I said, that part is pure speculation.

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

 

TRUMP VS. THE MILITARY

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

WHITAKER

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM

Extremist gang leader Gavin McInnes claims that he’s “quitting” the Proud Boys, then admits he’s only saying so because his jailed followers might get easier sentences

My favorite part is when Gavin McInnes says the Proud Boys don’t have ties to white supremacists and that journalists got that info from a police report. Dude half your body guards are straight up neo-Nazis, we don’t need police reports to tell us that

Claiming that you’re done inciting violence and committing acts of gang harassment and attacks doesn’t mean you didn’t do all of that

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

 

IMMIGRATION

 

SCOTUS 

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

 

COLD WAR 2.0

BREAKING: Ukraine says Russia opens fire on Ukrainian navy ships in Kerch Strait near Crimea, one of them damaged.

Ukraine’s president to convene emergency meeting of the military’s top brass amid Russia tensions near Crimea.

Ukraine says number of boats hit by Russian fire increases to 2, 2 crew members wounded; both vessels seized by Russia.

The spokesman for Ukrainian President Poroshenko says that the leader is convening an emergency meeting of the military’s top brass amid tensions with Russia near the Crimean Peninsula.

The Latest: Ukraine military brass to meet over Russia MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on Russian-Ukrainian naval tensions near Crimea (all times local): 10:40 p.m. The spokesman for Ukrainian Presid… apnews.com       

Remember when Paul Manafort lobbied on behalf of the Trump campaign to remove a provision from the GOP platform that would have provided lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine? You know, weapons meant to serve as a deterrent to Russian aggression? Now is a good time to remember that

And remember when Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails? You know what else he said during the same press conference? That he’d look into recognizing the occupied territory of Crimea as belonging to Russia, not Ukraine. Now is a good time to remember that.

This language that Manafort lobbied to have removed from the GOP platform ahead of the 2016 Republican National Convention also called for greater coordination with NATO to constrain Russian aggression. (Ukraine is not part of NATO).

Not surprisingly, the GOP-led House intel committee dismissed this in its report. But special counsel Mueller didn’t. Per NYT’s list, Mueller planned to ask Trump: “What involvement did you have concerning platform changes regarding arming Ukraine?”

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

Shine

 

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, & ECONOMY

 

STUDENT LOANS

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

We have an outbreak of E. Coli O157:H7 which makes you vomit blood, have bloody diarrhea, and even pee blood as you lose your kidneys. It’s all because Trump overturned Obama-era rules to test our farm water. Farmers save $12 million so that we pay $108 million in medical costs.

This strain of E. Coli creates a Shiga toxin that stops our cells from producing the proteins they need to live, exactly like how the deadly poison ricin works. Cow don’t have the Shiga toxin receptor in their intestines so they can have E. Coli O157:H7 without any symptoms.

Overuse of antibiotics in our farm animals encourages the growth of this deadly strain of E. Coli over other bacteria, causing these cows to shed huge amounts of it in their feces which then contaminates the water farmers use to water our crops like Romaine lettuce.

We are a first world country yet we don’t have basic food safety because of first world problems like the overuse of antibiotics. So in essence the FDA under Trump encourages the spread of E. Coli O157:H7 in livestock and discourages testing the water contaminated by their feces.

 

CONGRESS

 

ELECTION 2018

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

Thanksgiving

 

 

RUMOR MILL

I am thankful. There is still beauty in the world. There are loved ones. There is kindness. There are delicious flavors and interesting textures. There are dogs. I am thankful. For all of you. The funny creators. The angry warriors. The resolute professionals… /1

2/ The persistent voices for what is true and good to prevail. You are wonderful.

3/ I am thankful. For music. For artistry. For truth. For story. For every crazy asshole who picked up a guitar, a brush, a pen – and knew what to do with it.

4/ I am thankful. For innovation, compassion, conservation, and the amazing warriors who have shown me what is worthy of my fight. There is so much good being done in the world. There is. I am thankful that I still believe in it. I am thankful that you do too. I am thankful.

The Founders warned us about aspiring tyrants using identity politics to destroy our Republic: “The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people… 1

…and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion. Tired at length of anarchy, or want of government, they may take shelter in the arms of monarchy for repose and security… 2

… When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits—despotic in his ordinary demeanour—known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty… 3

—when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity—to join in the cry of danger to liberty—to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion—to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day… 4

—It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may “ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.” — Alexander Hamilton, 1792 5/x

That last tweet by Ming was posted a couple hours before the tear gas stories broke, but right after Russia opened fire on Ukranian ships.

 

That’s it for the last few days.  Things were relatively calm before the Russian attack on Ukraine and the U.S. Customs Border Patrol started launching tear gas into a crowd of women and children.  If this is how Sunday rolls, expect the week to be completely nuts.

Coming up over the next few weeks, my posts might be a little irregular.  I start a new shift where I have to be in at 02:FuckingEarly.  Last year at this time of year, I missed a few days, but tried to collect them into larger days.  If that happens again this year, I might just skip and post unsorted news for those days.  Sorting out a couple hundred news stories each day takes about an hour or so.  I might just highlight a few big stories, then put the rest in a pile.  I hope it doesn’t come to that.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

 

Daily Check-In 11/21/2018

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

George Papadopoulos is a fucking idiot, part 838

George Papadopoulos’ lawyers jst filed a one paragraph request to delay his surrender date until the court rules on his motion to continue his bail while a challenge to Mueller’s appointment is pending — he’s due to report to the Bureau of Prisons on Monday, 11/26

For background on what’s happening with Papadopoulos, here’s this thread from last week:

George Papadopoulos’s new lawyers seek an order continuing his bail pending the outcome of Andrew Miller’s appeal challenging Mueller’s authority, asserting it could “directly impact the validity of Mr. Papadopoulos’s prosecution and conviction.”

The special counsel’s office is due to respond to Papadopoulos’ motion to continue his bail while the Mueller challenge is pending by 11am this morning. The motion filed this morning is basically just in case the judge doesn’t rule on the bail continuation motion before Monday

Special counsel Mueller’s office is, unsurprisingly, opposed to George Papadopoulos’ motion to delay his prison surrender date (which his Monday)

GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO CONTINUE BAIL

Prosecutors wrote that although Papadopoulos admitted lying to the FBI, after his sentencing hearing “he made a variety of public statements that appear to be inconsistent with his stated acceptance of responsibility”

Special counsel’s office argues Papadopoulos had plenty of time to bring a challenge to Mueller’s appointment, and the fact that someone else is doing it elsewhere is not a reason to upend a case where he got a “favorable” deal and that’s pretty much over

There’s also some footnote action of note from the special counsel’s office, re: Papadopoulos’ tweets after he was sentenced to two weeks in prison

What’s next? The judge didn’t include an opportunity for Papadopoulos to file a reply to the government’s response to his request to delay his surrender date in the briefing schedule, so now we’re just waiting on an order

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

…But, Her Emails!!!

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

Trump is a Russian asset, a mob money launderer installed by his mob whoremasters to sow chaos and weaken the US & our allies. EVERY SINGLE THING HE’S DONE since taking office is to achieve those purposes—that and to enrich himself personally. [THREAD]

1/ His entire family is part of this. Melania is a fucking crook. Ivanka is a fucking crook. Junior and Gums are fucking crooks. They will all die in prison, except for Kushner, who, if he really *did* trade US intel for money, should be executed for espionage.

2/ Why do you think Trump installs uniquely corrupt & awful people to Cabinet positions? Pruitt, Zinke, Betsy, Rex/Pompeo, Wilbur “Melting Nazi Face” Ross. They are not there to serve us. They are not there to drain the swamp. They are there to BURN THE REPUBLIC DOWN.

3/ Trump steals. He takes taxpayer money—your money and mine—and lines his pockets with it. He exploits his office to make himself richer. This is all he cares about. Why are Republican citizens, you “fiscal conservatives,” not more angry about this? Riddle me THAT, #MAGA.

4/ Matt Whitaker, the human dildo and “acting AG,” was illegally installed to throw a monkey wrench in the Mueller investigation. That’s why they won’t release his financials. He’s fucking bought and sold. He’s going to prison for obstruction.

5/ Kavanaugh was rammed through for similar purposes. He’s compromised, there to rubber-stamp Trump’s autocratic BS, and he should be impeached and removed as soon as Nadler gets the gavel. We never did find out where he got all his money:

6/ Sessions met with Russians multiple times in his role as Trump surrogate and lied about it under oath. Fuck that racist Keebler elf, too. Also Pence. Fuck Mike Pence. Jesus doesn’t love you, Mike. He draws the line at you.

7/ We enjoy mocking Roger Stone, but he is the godfather of ratfuckery. He was careless this time & it will cost him. He’s getting indicted any day now, & he will go to prison w/ his ex-partner Manafort, & he’s old, so he’ll fucking die there. Stone in jail is good for America.

8/ TRUMP AND KUSHNER ALLOWED THEIR SAUDI BENEFACTOR TO BRUTALLY ASSASSINATE A US RESIDENT WHO WROTE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST. Not because of oil. Not because of US policy. Because MbS gave them money.

9/ There is a whitewashing of Michael Cohen happening these days, because he’s cooperating and tweeting normal things. Guess what? He’s a fucking mobster. And he’s a fucking rat.

10/ Whatever the fuck Lindsey Graham did, I hope it was worth it, because he couldn’t be more of a Russian puppet if Putin’s fist was up his ass.

11/ Mitch McConnell is the worst American since the Civil War. I read that his kids hate him. Good. I don’t know if he’ll be scathed by Trump/Russia, but I wish nothing but ill upon him. He is, in no uncertain terms, a traitor to the country. Period.

12/ Sarah Suckupabee Sanders is a joke of a human being. I think she just may be smart enough to realize this. I hope so. I hope she experiences social shunning and shame for the rest of her days.

13/ I haven’t forgotten about Stephen Miller, and everyone else actively involved in separating kids from parents. That’s Nazi shit right there. If you do this, you are a Nazi.

14/ TREASON is the operative word here. Spare me your precious legalese fuckery. I don’t care what the legal definition is. You try to actively destroy my country, you’re guilty of treason. And these Trumpists are ALL guilty of that. From 45 to the asshole who took Acosta’s mic.

You think I’m being hyperbolic? You think I’m using strong words I don’t really mean? Bullshit. The Trumps, all of them, are traitors. They are ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE. And to paraphrase Robert Plant, their time is gonna come. SOON. WE SHALL PREVAIL. [END]

 

 

TRUMP VS THE MILITARY

 

TRAITOR TOTS

WHITAKER

Where did this $904K come from? Donors Trust was used intentionally to conceal the donor. The Mercer family? Kochs? Saudi Arabia? Russia? If the Senate had confirmed him we would know. The House will have to find out in January. This guy could be a mole.

The entire point of Donors Trust is to conceal the identity of the donor. It’s a (unfortunately legal) way to launder charitable contributions. Originally it was used by the Kochs and other Americans. But these days who knows?

FACT? Very low profile. This is a huge amount of money for a group that doesn’t do much. It’s not a large scale active group like Heritage and Fed. Soc. Sounds like a conduit for payoffs.

So the next question becomes, what was he getting paid off for?

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

*Deep breaths* It’s easy to get lost in the grief and outrage over Trump siding Saudi regime that thinks nothing of butchering peaceful journalists in consulates. But hope is not all lost. Congress must act, and the American people can still help. Here’s a thread

1. Trump has basically chosen to ignore the CIA’s “high confidence” conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered ’s murder. As and note, Dem oversight can help flesh out the CIA’s conclusions

2) the Former CIA chief, has said that Congress should move to declassify the CIA intelligence on the Saudis, Mohammed bin Salman, and the murder. Congress must move in that direction.

Congress must investigate Trump’s and Jared Kushner’s financial dealings with Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman and resulting conflicts of interest. MbS once reportedly bragged about having Kushner “in his pocket”

4) Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Ambassador to D.C. (brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) was named by the CIA in the plot to lure away from Washington. He was part of the cover-up, spreading falsehoods to reporters. He should be formally expelled from Washington.

5) + have now called for Trump to specifically make a determination on whether the administration believes that Mohammed bin Salman was involved in ’s murder, under the Magnitsky Act. Trump has 120 days to reply.

6) Also as reported earlier, Rep. Eliot Engel, the incoming chair of the House Foreign relations committee, may investigate whether the Trump administration went along with the Saudi regime’s attempts to whitewash ’s murder.

7) There is talk that the Saudis may choose a woman ambassador (Princess Reema) to come to Washington. Women shouldn’t be used to whitewash brutality Especially as long as Saudi Arabia is jailing, torturing, + sexually abusing women’s rights activists

8) This tragedy is not just about Jamal , as painful as his murder is. The United States should press Saudi Arabia for the release of jailed reformers. Jamal wrote about many of them. First name: Women’s rights activist Loujain al Hathloul.

9) A big part of Mohammed bin Salman’s expensive charm offensive in the West was his ending the ban on women driving. The West ate it all up. Little did we know, that MbS jailed many of the women who campaigned to drive. Now they are being tortured.

10) 29 year old women’s rights activist Loujain Hathloul was kidnapped from Abu Dhabi in the UAE and transferred to Saudi Arabia where she has been sitting in prison. Americans should press for Loujain’s release, and the release of other women campaigners from Saudi prisons.

And of course, it is time to end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s brutal war in Yemen. In the last piece we worked on together while he was alive, called for his country to end Yemen’s “cruel war”

10) The United States and the UK must push for an end to the atrocious war in Yemen. As former Obama WH coordinator for the Middle East Philip Gordon writes,” on almost every measure, Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen has failed.”

11) If the United States can help save the lives of other brave reformers imprisoned and tortured in Saudi Arabia — or if we finally move to help stop the bloodshed in Yemen, the bittersweet truth is will have done more in death than he did in life.

12) And of course, people all around the world can help by reading and sharing Jamal ‘s work at the . Teachers and professors can include his articles in their coursework. You can find his work in English and Arabic here:

Jamal wanted to live in Washington so that he could be free. And for a year, he was. It is why the fight for is global— its about the freedom for peaceful people and journalists to express themselves without fear of imprisonment and death.

*Hops off her soapbox* Thank you for coming to my ThEaD talk.

 

 

SCOTUS 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s description of a judge who ruled against Trump’s new migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”

It’s the first time that the leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has previously blasted federal judges who ruled against him.

Roberts said Wednesday the U.S. doesn’t have “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” He commented in a statement released by the Supreme Court after a query by The Associated Press.

Roberts said on the day before Thanksgiving that an “independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Last year, the president used the term a “so-called judge” after the first federal ruling against his travel ban.

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

 

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

 

STUDENT LOANS

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

CONGRESS

 

ELECTION 2018

 

THANKSGIVING

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

 

That’s it for Wednesday.  It’s light on the editorializing because I’m running late making Thanksgiving dinner.  Also, don’t expect a Thursday only post.  I’ll likely combine that with Friday’s.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the United States, and a Happy Thursday to those outside the States.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

Daily Check-In 11/20/2018

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Rumor Mill Reactions

Washington Post confirms that Trump refuses to answer questions about the transition period from November 2016-January 2017.

Scott Stedman added,

Matea GoldVerified account @mateagold

Trump’s legal team was going to submit answers to Mueller last week, but there were “questions raised about the legitimacy of the investigation that we had to discuss and look into,”

What happened in that time period? Here’s a quick list. 1. Erik Prince and George Nader flew to the Seychelles and Prince met a Russian banker in an attempt to set up a secret backchannel to the Russian govt.

George Nader paid Joel Zamel of Psy Group $2,000,000. We still don’t know why.

Michael Flynn called the Russian ambassador and talked about sanctions, something he later lied about.

KT McFarland wrote in an email that Russia “has just thrown U.S.A. election to [Trump]”

The Rosneft deal went through. Christopher Steele alleged that Carter Page and other members of the Trump campaign were offered a brokerage fee of the transaction.

Michael Cohen met with the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg at Trump Tower.

Maria Butina and top Russian official Alexander Torshin discuss the upcoming selection of the US Sec of State. Christopher Steele would write that Russian officials told the Trump team not to select Mitt Romney.

Jared Kushner met with the head of a sanctioned Russian bank to attempt to set up a secret backchannel.

A flood of Russians, including Vekselberg and Shustorovich donate to the Trump inauguration.

Arron Banks met with the Russian Ambassador to the UK and passed contact information for the Trump team to the Ambassador.

Carter Page, while under a VISA warrant, flew to Russia and spent at least 5 days there.

I’m gonna stop here but you get the point. The transition is an ESSENTIAL part of the Russia investigation. Trump doesn’t want to answer questions about it.

To be honest, I’m surprised this happened as fast as it did.  When Trump said they would submit the answers by Thanksgiving, I assumed he was lying like usual.  But no, his team actually submitted their answers.

Well, some of them.

They’re refusing to answer questions about the Transition Team.  You know, the time when Mike Flynn talked to the Russian Ambassador about sanctions, when Jared Kushner lobbied the U.N. on behalf of Ben Netenyahu, when they had multiple meetings in Trump Tower with oligarchs about setting up a backchannel, and when Erik Prince and George Nader went to the Seychelles for their meeting with Putin’s banker.

The Rumor Mill was pretty excited about this because Trump submitting his answers on this front is seen as the last impediment to the Oncoming Storm.  After scrutinizing these answers, they’re expecting the Justice Train to roll into town.  I tend to agree, but I’m still a little skeptical about the timing.

How long would it take them to review Trump’s answers?  It depends.  If he listened to his lawyers and they wrote the answers, then they’ll be longer and in legalese, phrased in a way to prevent them from being used as an obvious lie.  If Trump really did answer them himself, it might take longer as they debate whether or not crayons are an acceptable writing utensil for legal questions.

 

Special counsel Robert Mueller just filed a new and extensive motion that is being kept under seal for the grand jury, according to Politico reporter Darren Samuelsohn.

The reporter posted a screen capture from the update showing Mueller made the November update as part of “Case Name: In re: Grand Jury Subpoena.” It explained, “The following transaction was entered on 11/20/2018 3:49:22 PM EST and filed on 11/20/2018.”

Another NEW sealed motion just filed — apparently from Mueller — in the mystery grand jury subpoena case we’ve been tracking here at – This one is 3,074 words.

3:52 PM – 20 Nov 2018

To put 3,000 in perspective, an average 12 point Times New Roman font page will be 250 words when double spaced.  3,000/250 = 12 pages.  That’s a decent length document.  This post with all of the links will be between 5,000 to 6,000 words, but it’s mostly links, and not written by an attorney.

 

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

…But, Her Emails!!!

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

It’s a Maggie Haberman story.  That means keep an eye out for what else is coming on the horizon.  There’s a good chance this story was leaked to her to cover up something worse.

 

TRUMP VS. MILITARY

The fact that created mass hysteria over the caravan and then wasted $220M but more importantly thinks OUR Armed Forces are his “play toys”. Fork you, you forking mother forker. How about Trump calls the VA & push for the GI bill paychecks. Oh wait…

Sept 2018, “340,000 students attending school using the GI Bill received slightly smaller housing payments in August”

October 2018 if actually CARED & RESPECTED OUR Military and our Veterans. 1) he’d pick up the goddamn phone and light a fire (bad pun) 2) he’d call the VA & Congress into the WH & demand immediate actions 3) THIS IS BULLSHIT

FTR the Forever GI bill was set to take effect on August 1, 2018, it was delayed until Sept 4th. I wish the MSM would call OUT on the INSANE levels of vacancies within his administration. HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT or lack of

I very rarely highlight the good OR decent Member of the But has long been a vocal champion for our Veterans & occasionally knows exactly what to say. Supporting our Veterans should transcend all party lines = hence bipartisanship

Also I’ve tried to write a blog about how Trump uses our Military like play toys but each time (4 attempts) I’ve gotten so mad I had to walk away The fact the LIED and defended unseemly attack on Admiral McCraven is just despicable

 

WHITAKER

Did Matthew Whitaker share confidential information about Mueller’s investigation with President Trump? Inspector General must investigate now.

 

Hold my Red Bull

Let’s take page 3, I’ve highlighted the two items that warrant scrutinizing 1) claimed only paid him $500,000 THATS A DEMONSTRABLE LIE

Here this thread shows you IRS990 They paid $626,000 Unless Whitaker is saying FACTDC filed a false IRS990s

Matthew G Whitaker PC he shows 2018 administrative dissolution👇🏻

Really that’s what you’re going with you didn’t claim any income or liabilities for MEM or Lincoln Saving Bank Lord one of two

This is BONKERs he didn’t disclose the City of Des Moines HUD backed loan or Lincoln Savings Bank WTFINGF

 

 

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

 

Pompeo: Accessory to Murder After The Fact

holy hell. Mike Pompeo reportedly hand-delivered a plan to Saudi King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) outlining a roadmap to help MbS shield himself from the fallout of the Jamal Khashoggi murder scandal. (h/t )

Pompeo handed Riyadh a plan to shield MBS from Khashoggi fallout: Source US Secretary of State gave Mohammed bin Salman a roadmap to insulate himself from the scandal, a senior Saudi source tells MEE middleeasteye.net       

The plan includes an option to pin Khashoggi’s murder on an innocent member of the ruling family in order to insulate those at the very top. That person hasn’t been chosen, & Saudi leaders are reserving the plan in case pressure on MbS becomes too much.

Pompeo’s trip to the Gulf kingdom came exactly two weeks after Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. A source told that Pompeo went to Riyadh to **advise the Saudis on how to handle the fallout**

The day after his meeting with MbS, Pompeo told journalists that the Saudis didn’t want to talk about the facts in Khashoggi’s case and neither did he. “I don’t want to talk about any of the facts,” Pompeo said. “They didn’t want to either.”

The State Department did not answer ‘s repeated requests for comment today (Monday) regarding the nature of Mike Pompeo’s visit to Riyadh (when he met with MbS).

So if this report is accurate, the US Secretary of State hand-delivered a plan to the Saudi ruling family to help them cover up the murder of a US journalist at the behest of the Saudi crown prince. “wow” doesn’t quite cut it here.

Pompeo’s plan for the Saudi leadership included several steps, a source said. When Pompeo declared on Oct. 18 that Saudi Arabia should be given “a few more days” to complete its investigation into the case, he was giving them time to begin implementing his plan, the source said.

“They [the Saudi leadership] have done everything [Pompeo] wanted to execute,” the source said.

Remember when Rex Tillerson was fired as Secretary of State for not being loyal enough? (Daily Check-In 03/13/2018) Apparently that loyalty means covering up a kidnapping, torture, and murder.  If you’re suspect of the source, the Middle East Eye originally broke the Khashoggi killing, as well as many further updates in the case.  Let’s see if this gets picked up by other sources over the next couple weeks.

 

SCOTUS 

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

 

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

Dr. Tamara O’Neal, a physician in Chicago At Mercy Hospital, was shot six times today and killed by her ex-fiancee.

Chicago police officer Samuel Jimenez was shot and killed today responding to the shooting at Mercy Hospital. He was married with three children.

Dr. Dayna Less just graduated from a pharmacy program last spring and was planning a June wedding. She worked at Mercy Hospital as a pharmaceutical assistant and was shot dead as she exited an elevator.

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

LGBT+

 

PUFF, PUFF, PASS

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

CONGRESS

 

ELECTION 2018

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

Those last two links from Seth is like the early version of the Grand Unifying Theory of Collusion.  It starts to lay out exactly how large the scope of this is, but even this doesn’t cover the whole thing.  My guess is that there’s at least a third to a half that’s missing out of this.  Seth’s thread ties together the entire Middle East Clusterfuck with Russia, but he doesn’t go into the deep ties in this thread between organized crime, terrorist organizations, and their associations to rogue states like Russia, and how those connected to shady businesses in the U.S., of which Trump was a part.

I don’t want to sound like a nutter when I say “It’s all connected”, but it’s all connected.  Every time a new sliver of news comes out that shouldn’t be connected in any way to a vast global international conspiracy, some at-first-tenuous link arrives which then turns that sliver into another round of the most corrupt version of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon ever played.

For example, Jamal Khashoggi.  A reporter went missing at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.  That should be a pretty open and shut case, right?  Something happened to him when he visited, and when the Saudi’s couldn’t produce proof of life, he was assumed dead.  Then, things get weird.  Trump jumps up to defend MBS like he was accused of sexually assaulting a minor in an Alabama Senate election, and each day a new story element comes out connecting Trump to Saudi Arabia.  Kushner, Nader, Broidy, Prince, MBS, Zamel, MBZ, and so on.  Everyone and their mother accuses MBS of orchestrating this brutal murder except Trump.  Why?  Because it’s connected to the Russian Investigation.

Another example was NEXIVM.  A few months back I saw some crazy ass stories about a Self-Help MLM turned Sex Cult involving B and C level celebrities, and the leaders of that group were charged with sex trafficking, kidnapping, and human trafficking charges.  That’s pretty crazy, but shouldn’t have any connection to this clusterfuck.  Instead, guess who was a former member of that group, and tried using it to gain dirt on his enemies? Roger Fucking Stone.

And all of this shit doesn’t even include things like Intelligence background connections, media moguls with ties to the mob, or dumb kids with even dumber parents.

Yes, it’s all connected.  No, I don’t own a corkboard covered in cut out pictures tied together with red yarn. But that would be a nice Christmas gift…

 

That’s it for Tuesday.  I’ll try to post something for Wednesday on Wednesday night, but I make no promises.  Thursday is Thanksgiving in the U.S., and most people have off on Friday.  However, it’s not a Federal holiday, which means that government offices like the Special Counselor’s Office are still open.  I don’t know if anything will come out this weekend, but I’ll try to cover it if it does.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 11/19/2018

Monday, November 19, 2018

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Emma Briant, an academic expert on disinformation at George Washington University, has unearthed new e-mails that appear to reveal the earliest documented role played by Bannon in Brexit. The e-mails, which date back to October of 2015, show that Bannon, who was then the vice-president of Cambridge Analytica, an American firm largely owned by the U.S. hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, was in the loop on discussions taking place at the time between his company and the leaders of Leave.EU, a far-right nationalist organization. The following month, Leave.EU publicly launched a campaign aimed at convincing British voters to support a referendum in favor of exiting the European Union. The U.K. narrowly voted for the so-called Brexit in June, 2016. The tumultuous fallout has roiled the U.K. ever since, threatening the government of the Conservative Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Bannon did not respond to requests for comment. But his name and private e-mail address appear on the chain of three e-mails in October, 2015, between Brittany Kaiser, the director of program development at Cambridge Analytica, and Arron Banks, who headed the Leave.EU campaign and referred to himself in the title of his memoir as one of “The Bad Boys of Brexit.” Banks could not be reached for comment regarding the e-mails, which were first published Saturday by the British Web site openDemocracy.

The precise role played by foreign entities in promoting and possibly funding Brexit has been clouded in mystery and controversy. British law forbids foreign contributions to its political campaigns—just as U.S. law bars foreign campaign contributions. The laws are designed to prevent international manipulation of domestic affairs. Executives working for Cambridge Analytica, which filed for bankruptcy this spring, have categorically denied that the firm was paid to do any work for the Leave.EU campaign. The new e-mails do not contradict that, but show that, even if the firm was not paid for its services, it laid some of the early groundwork for the Leave.EU campaign. The e-mails show that Banks and others in the Leave.EU leadership met with Cambridge Analytica executives in 2015, and discussed what Banks called a “two-stage process” that would “get CA”—Cambridge Analytica—“on the team.”

In an e-mail dated October 24, 2015, Banks also discussed tasking Cambridge Analytica with helping him raise funds through the U.S. for the Leave.EU campaign. In a note to the Cambridge Analytica executives with whom he had met, Banks wrote, “It’s clear that major donors are sitting on the fence, but we aim to do something about that.” Banks returns to the topic later in the note, adding, “We would like CA to come up with a strategy for fund raising in the states and engaging companies and special interest groups that might be affected by TTIP”—the pending Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Banks did not address the potential illegality of direct foreign donations, but suggested a strategy that might circumvent the letter of the campaign-finance laws, if not their intent. Banks suggested enlisting Cambridge Analytica’s help in reaching out to Americans “with family ties to the UK.” Evidently, by targeting Americans with British relatives, the hope was that they could avoid campaign-finance-law violations. He suggested that Cambridge Analytica, which boasted of having access to two hundred and thirty million Americans’ voter-registration data, as well as other personal information, could be solicited “to raise money and create SM [social media] activity.”

The following day, a Cambridge Analytica staffer sent an e-mail back to Banks, again with Bannon included on the chain, suggesting that the firm was on board with the idea of developing a proposal that would include “US-based fundraising strategies.”

This is pretty interesting, and helps remind us of how much things are tied together.  I know I’ve covered similar things before, but it’s time I do a quick refresher.

Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway worked for Cambridge Analytica, the company that helped microtarget political ads over social media, as well as specialize in other political dark arts.  (Daily Check-In 12/14/2017) Their clients seem to lean towards populist, nationalist, and autocrats looking to shore up their election results. (Daily Check-In 03/19/2018) Cambridge Analytica was owned by Robert Mercer until November 2017, when he gave control of the company to his daughters.  (Daily Check-In 11/2/2017) One of them, Rebekha Mercer, was romantically linked Steve Bannon before Bannon spent time testifying before the Special Counselor back in early 2018.

Before CA worked with Trump, they worked with Leave.EU on the Brexit campaign.  Brexit is where they fine tuned a lot of their tactics that they used in the U.S. in 2016.

Steve Bannon was included on at least 3 email chains discussed in this story.  At least one of those chains discussed bypassing the law to launder U.S. money into the U.K. for use in the Brexit campaign.

This is why I cover Brexit news.  The people involved with that are neck deep in the Russian Investigation.

What’s more interesting (though not at all controversial) is that Mueller maintains he still has the full authority of a US Attorney.

Similarly, by regulation, the Special Counsel has and continues to “exercise, within the scope of his or her jurisdiction, the full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions of any United States Attorney.” 28 C.F.R. § 600.6; see United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 695 (1974) (“So long as [a] regulation is extant it has the force of law.”).

He relies on US v. Nixon to lay out what it will take to withdraw that authority: changing the regulations he operates under.

Perhaps most important, though, is that Mueller argues that Whitaker’s appointment cannot change the validity of the subpoena (and, one would assume by extension, anything else) that occurred before Whitaker’s appointment.

Because the subpoenas here issued under the signature of the Special Counsel’s Office long before the change in the identity of the Acting Attorney General, that change cannot affect the validity of the subpoenas. And the designation of a different Acting Attorney General while the case is on appeal cannot vitiate the district court’s order holding Miller in contempt.

This would seem to suggest that if Mueller has anything banked — sealed indictments or complaints — then he holds that nothing changes their validity or the DC District’s authority to preside over them.

He also maintains that he retains the authority to appear before the Court.

Second, the change in identity of the Acting Attorney General has no effect on the Special Counsel’s authority to appear in this case. The Special Counsel continues to hold his office despite the change in the identity of the Acting Attorney General.

This would be what he would need to unseal any existing indictments.

None of that is that controversial. But it does make it clear that he views his authority to continue unchecked even with Trump’s hatchet man in place.

Ok, so what does this legalese mean?  It means that as long as Mueller is still the Special Counselor, there ain’t a damn thing that Whitaker can do to stop him.  He can’t stop sealed indictments, he can’t bury the investigation, he can’t do anything to halt anything that has been worked on in the last 18 months.  Changing the Acting AG over the case does not invalidate any of the work done to this point.

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

…But Her Emails!!!

Once again, the corpse of Irony is being abused.

In what can only be considered Trump-level stupidity, Ivanka used her personal email to conduct White House business.  While her father was screaming from the campaign podium that it was “the worst thing a person can do.”

If this sounds familiar, it is. (Daily Check-In 10/3/2017).  This is once again coming to the forefront because several news organizations noticed her email address in forms that they received through FOIA requests.

There isn’t a current investigation into this yet.  Expect that to start in January when the new House Oversight Committee is sworn in.

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

Just as a reminder to Tangerine Tojo, that “little schitt” will have subpoena power come January.

 

TRUMP VS. MILITARY

Remember when talking shit about a war hero was frowned upon by the Republicans, and it was a sign of “not supporting the troops”?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.

 

TRAITOR TOTS

Wohl vs. Avenatti

 

WHITAKER

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

 

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

Acosta’s Hard Pass

 

White House Correspondents Dinner

 

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

CONGRESS

 

ELECTION 2018

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

 

TURKEY DAY

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

Well, 2B fair, Bush & Clinton weren’t laundering vast sums of money 4 Semion Mogilevich at the time. You were. So, yes – you knew all about Mogilevich’s biz partner, OBL. BTW – was it your Genovese or Gambino masters who gave Semion the WTC blueprints (out of port authority)?

I’ve had enough of this guy. Zero f*cks left. Here you go. Two threads: 1.

Port Authority, was it? Wonder what’s up with them?

LB’s 9/11 Thread

3. And this thread is for you, dotard. Recognize anything?

The Belly Button Thread. It’s worth digging into.

Ok, that last one got pretty weird.  Even weirder than the 9-11 threads. (Daily Check-In 09/11/2018)  But it shows how deep the Russian Mob hole goes, and she names a lot of names.

 

That’s it for Monday.  We’re coming up on a short work week this week, so I don’t know how much will break in the next couple days.  My guess is things will be relatively quiet on the Mueller front until Tuesday or Wednesday next week.  Now that I’ve said that, I apologize in advance if things go sideways this week.

We’re coming up on the anniversary of Mike Flynn’s flip, which happened the week after Thanksgiving.  I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if something massive struck then.  There’s already a report of Mueller’s team meeting with Randy Credico next week, likely to strike some kind of deal.  I’m getting confused with all of Roger Stone’s shady ass friends.  I should write something to keep them organized.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur