Thursday, January 3, 2019. First day of the new Congressional Session.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- Mueller’s office may have dropped a hint about the mystery grand-jury subpoena case that has Washington enthralled
- US: Active grand jury probe tied to Russian social media
- Leave-to-File-Document.pdf
- Incoming House judiciary chairman to reintroduce bill protecting Mueller
- New House speaker Nancy Pelosi says there is a possibility Mueller could indict Trump while he’s still in office
Guthrie: Should the special counsel honor and observe the Department of Justice guidance that states a sitting president should not be indicted?
Pelosi: Do I think that that is conclusive? No I do not.
Guthrie: So you think it’s possible that special counsel Mueller could legally indict a sitting president?
Pelosi: Let’s just see what Mueller does. Let’s spend our time on getting results for the American people.
Guthrie: As you well know, there is longstanding DOJ guidance that states a sitting president should not be indicted. But it is not the law.
Pelosi: It is not the law. Everything indicates that a president can be indicted after he is no longer president of the United States.
Guthrie: What about a sitting president?
Pelosi: Well, a sitting president, when he is no longer president of the United States.
Guthrie: A president who is in office? Could Robert Mueller come back and say, “I am seeking an indictment”?
Pelosi: I think that that is an open discussion. That is an open discussion in terms of the law.
- Pelosi breaks with Justice: Trump can be indicted
- Nancy Pelosi says she won’t rule out indictment, impeachment for Trump
- New Congress targets 10 years of Trump’s tax returns
- Denied A Visa Twice, Butina Finally Received One After The NRA Vouched For Her
- Ethics watchdog sues FBI over leak to Giuliani
- Adam Parkhomenko: in case you are wondering Corsi has lost in court.
From Russia With Espionage Charges
- American charged with espionage in Russia has an unlikely background for a spy
- Bill Browder: Mike, if certain investors haven’t figured out that Russia was a bad place to invest after Sergei Magnitsky was tortured and killed its hardly likely they will figure it out now. Having said that, from my vantage point 98% of western investors won’t touch Russia with a bargepole
- Michael McFaul: Not a great foreign investment promotion strategy to arrest an American without explanation. Who in their right mind would invest in Russia right now if they had a choice to invest elsewhere?
- Venture Capital: The Stolen Valor Former Staff Sergeant Turned Private Turned Russian Spy Paul Whelan
BREAKING NEWSPaul Whelan was discharged from the Marines because he submitted HIMSELF for various awards -Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medaletc via the online awards system of the Commanding General of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing.
BOOMWhelan’s attempts to fraudulently secure awards for himself through a system he had admin access to, was caught when the poorly written forms were flagged by the Commanding General’s staff.
Paul Whelan also falsified orders so he would not have to return to his primary unit in Michigan and he could stay at Miramar. He was also drawing BAH and Commuted Rations pay while living in an apartment in LaJolla when he lacked orders that he was stationed there
He was convicted at a special court-martial in January 2008 as a Staff Sergeant on several charges related to larceny and was given a bad-conduct discharge in Dec 2008 at the rank of Private- subsequently he gets no veterans benefits
Here’s my take… a Marine that would fake acts of bravery and service for commendations and awards he didn’t earn and would rather go to Russia on leave then be w family and friend is a perfect mark for the FSB to recruit. Kelly Services made a huge error in hiring him
If Whelan can lie about his record, falsify forms for pay, has zero honor or integrity -than he’s very capable of selling out to the Russians. As a global security expert he was privy to a lot of secrets, key cards, passwords, key codes, access to cameras
Perhaps Putin was telling the truth. Maybe Whelan was apprehended while on a ‘spy mission’- EXCEPT- he was on the mission so Putin could trade” him for Butina. CrazySure. But hasn’t it been insane for the last few years
Well… apparently Whelan was caught red handed at the Metropol Hotel w a USB drive he obtained from a Russian citizen. It’s data contained info on the makeup of staff of Russian Intel and Agencies. He’s in Lefortovo prison which is known for its very harsh conditions
Paul Whelan is in a “dungeon”.
A key goal will be to drum up as much concern for Whelan’s well being as possible so that the public outcry for the trade of Butina for Whelan is massive. Expect Russian bot and # hashtag participation in drumming up support for this “ex” marine
Putin and Trump did not realize that we would find out that the ex marine is not a patriot and that it would undermine our sympathy for him. He was basically attempting his own version of “stolen valor” by falsifying docs to make himself out to be a hero. It’s despicable
In addition, Whelan also used someone’s social security number and wrote bad checks, according to military court documents. A military judge also found him guilty of attempted larceny and three specifications of dereliction of duty
Russia is claiming that Whelan has spent 10 years cultivating acquaintances and friends through social sites in order to gather RU secrets- this time a flash drive w names of Russian spies at various agencies
The translation is rough, but it’s weirdly interesting…
No Honey pots for Paul Whelan… Russian intel services note that “it was striking that Whelan was not at all interested in pretty RU women, preferring to drink w male acquaintances of the Internet”
Paul Whelan’s lawyer in Moscow, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said his client “is confident and has a great sense of humor and hopes for objectivity of the investigation”
Vladimir Zherenbenkov, Whelan’s defense attorney, has represented some interesting defendants
Whelan‘s atty also represented Andrei Kovalchuk, charged with organising large-scale trafficking in cocaine from Argentina to Russia
Whelan, accused formally of espionage by Russia, has 59 friends on his VK page, including former students at the Military University of the Russian Ministry of Defence. He met w one VK friend in 2008
We aren’t the only ones curious that Ambassador Huntsman rushed to see Whelan. It was called a “rookie mistake” by a RU foreign policy analyst. “It esculates the situation…” Was it really a ‘mistake’ or part of a pre-arranged plan?
Whelan’s brother David isn’t aware if his brother Paul is still a Canadian citizen… Canada was briefed when Paul was detained that they had an Ottawa man in custody. My question: did Whelan use a Canadian passportWhy would Canada be notified
BREAKING NEWSWhelan’s attorney, Zherebenkov, is talking about a prisoner exchange”I myself hope that we can RESCUE and bring home one Russian SOUL” He’s talking about Maria Butina…
JFCNo self respecting lawyer or RU intel officer would refer to a male spy as a ‘Russian soul’ or use the term “rescue”… This ruse is becoming more transparent by the minute
Luckily, for Whelan, Vladimir Zherebenkov, his defense defense atty, is very familiar w extradition cases
Can anyone help me find the rest of Paul Whelan’s Court Martial
Venture Capital added,
Venture Capital @kelly2277
Here is the first page of Whelan’s Court Martial
This must have been planned by a mastermind C’mon, did Whelan really arrange a transfer of a classified USB in the Metropol hotel – the same day of his friend’s wedding and where he and other guests were stayingHe couldn’t have gone to a park? https://metropol-moscow.ru/en/offers/546/
The irony… it’s like when we found out Manafort was using 007 for his password. The Metropol was the hotel that Count Rostov lived in under house arrest in this novel
@detroitnewsadded that Whelan’s duties at Kelly Services put him in contact w an FBI division embedded in embassies overseas. That’s odd given that he was court martialed and discharged from the Marines. Why was he given these critical responsibilities at Kelly Services
- American Paul Whelan charged with espionage in Russia, news agency reports
- Bill Browder: BREAKING: Paul Whelan formally charged with espionage by the Russian government. Looks like Putin is moving at breakneck speed to create a negotiating position to swap for Maria Butina
- Greg Olear: Butina for Whelan straight up? No effing way. That’s like trading Anthony Davis for Ron Baker. Offer me Snowden, Kislyak, Lavrov & Simes—all alive—and we’ll think about it.
- From July 30: Argentina-Russia Cocaine Plot Suspect Extradited From Germany, Jailed In Moscow
- American Paul Whelan charged with espionage in Russia, news agency reports
- Andrew Laufer, ESQ: Please. This guy is a Russophile, has connections to the Russian military, and is a huge Trump/NRA supporter. This is a farce. No way should we trade Butina for this loser who would rather live in Russia anyway.
- Mysterious tale of Paul Whelan, American man accused of spying in Russia, steeped in contradictions
- Russia has formally charged Paul Whelan, an American citizen, with espionage, Interfax news agency reports
- Russia officially indicts U.S. citizen Whelan for spying – source (Part 2) – Interfax
- Ming: Ming think trade for Whelan not possible. Russia pretty good at reading tea leaves and maybe expect many hundreds of Russian citizens will be charged with levying war against US. Ming think this panicked and weak play by putin.
CONGRESS
- 116th Congress convenes with Democratic majority in House, most diverse group of lawmakers ever, and over 100 women
- Nancy Pelosi Elected Speaker as Democrats Take Control of House
- Nancy Pelosi is sworn in as Speaker of the House
- Nancy Pelosi reclaims House speaker’s gavel as Democrats prepare to take on Trump
- Pelosi defends vacation jabs at Trump: Maybe he doesn’t realize Hawaii is in US
- Pelosi quotes Reagan, calls out GOP for not clapping
- Pelosi Returns To Speakership As Dems Take House Control
- The 15 Democrats who voted against Pelosi
- Pelosi says Democrats will give ‘nothing for the wall’
- Pelosi supports holding congressional hearings on ‘Medicare for all’
- Pelosi, House Democrats to Hold Press Event on Introduction of H.R. 1, For the People Act
- Shannon Watts: Elections have consequences: Speaker Pelosi vows to “keep our sacred promise to the victims and survivors and families of gun violence by passing common sense bipartisan background check legislation.”
- House Democrats prepare vote to reopen government, as cracks appear within GOP
- House retains chaplain who survived earlier, messy fight
- Senate will not consider House Democratic bills to end shutdown: Republican McConnell
- Greg Olear: It’s become increasingly evident that McConnell is deeply compromised. If the goods are there, Mueller should indict him first. #traitor #sedition
- House Democrats plan to hold hearings on Medicare for All
- Now That Everybody Is for Medicare for All, Opponents Say Let’s Dilute It
- House Speaker Pelosi invites Trump to deliver State of Union address on January 29
- Pelosi Invites President Trump to Deliver State of the Union Address
- Kyrsten Sinema swears in to Congress using law book instead of religious book
- Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Took Her Oath of Office on a Lawbook, Not the Bible
- Rashida Tlaib to be sworn in on Thomas Jefferson’s Koran
- Gowdy: ‘I Will Not Be On The Ballot Ever Again’
- A eulogy for the most incompetent House majority in modern history – Let us all give thanks for the miracle of Republican ineptitude.
- A video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing in college leaked. The Internet finds it adorable.
- ‘I love this’: bid to discredit Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with college dance video backfires
- Ocasio-Cortez after being booed voting for Pelosi: ‘Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me’
- DC delegate in Congress again introduces statehood bill
- In one of first acts by Democratic majority, House passes bills to re-open government without funding border wall
The first day of the new Congress, and the first day of the beginning of the end of the Trump Presidency.
I said I’d go into more detail, but the big points are covered already. Nancy Pelosi, the boogeywoman of the Right Wing World, is now the Speaker of the House. That makes her the second person in the Chain of Succession for the President of the United States. In the normally-unlikely event that both the Pres and VP leave office around the same time, she would become the President.
It was a needlessly ugly fight, but I’d like to point out something. In a span of about three weeks, she was able to whip together enough votes from the “No way we’ll vote for her” crowd and built enough of a coalition to win, while also giving enough wiggle room for the handful of candidates who ran on the “I won’t vote for Nancy” platform to not vote for her. Plus, she hit the big hits on her acceptance speech, and within the first night passed the exact same spending laws that the Senate passed last year to reopen the government.
Will it always be smooth sailing? Oh, hell no. But, for the first time in a long time, there’s a sense of hope that part of the government will DO IT’S FUCKING JOB!
SHUTDOWN
- House Democrats prepare vote to reopen government, as cracks appear within GOP
- House Democrats vote to reopen government, defying Trump’s veto threat
- The new Congress: Pelosi retakes House gavel as shutdown continues
- As Trump Holds Firm on Shutdown, He Never Mentions One Group: Federal Workers
- The Government Is Shut Down Over Trump’s Ego, Not a Wall
- Trump rejects proposal by Pence to end shutdown
- We’re in Week 2. How long did the longest government shutdown stretch? 21 days
- Don Lemon Says Trump’s 2013 Call For Obama To Be ‘Fired’ Over Shutdown Is ‘Priceless’
- GOP Senator Calls on Congress to End Shutdown Without Border Deal
- Of Course Trump’s Washington Hotel Is Getting Special Treatment During the Shutdown
- Raising ‘All Manner of Conflict of Interest Questions,’ the Only National Park Site Reopening Amid Shutdown Is in Trump Hotel
- House Democrats vote to reopen government, reject Trump’s demand for wall funding
- House passes bill to end government shutdown without border wall money
- Senate will not consider House Democratic bills to end shutdown: Republican McConnell
- McConnell Faces Pressure From Republicans to Stop Avoiding Shutdown Fight
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- House Democrats Start Investigating Trump This Morning
- Undocumented Worker Says Trump Resort Shielded Her From Secret Service
- Powerful Chicago City Council Member Ed Burke Charged With Attempted Extortion
- Chicago Alderman Who Was Trump’s Tax Lawyer Faces Up To 20 Years In Prison
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1
- Why did Trump endorse old Soviet talking points on Afghanistan?
- Why Is Trump Spouting Russian Propaganda?
- Trump curiously well versed in specific Russian talking points
This video from Rachel Maddow is definitely worth watching. Using multiple instances she asks a very simple question.
How is it that Donald Trump, an ignorant, bloated, lazy, idiotic waste of space pulls obscure Russian propaganda out of his ass and says it so well that he might as well work for the Politburo?
This isn’t a new thing for Trump. After his trip to Moscow in 1987, the notoriously cheap man spent his own money on an Anti-NATO ad in the New York Times. I covered him reciting their stuff on the campaign trail a couple days ago (Daily Check-In 01/01/2019), and this video brings up a couple weird Russian talking points, like blaming Poland for invading Belarus when it was Russia, or repeating Russia’s claims on how dangerous Montenegro could be if they joined NATO. Then, Trump pulls the “They invaded Afghanistan to stop terrorism” spiel that is actually Putin’s ploy to rewrite history. (Daily Check-In 01/02/2019)
Considering that Trump is semi-literate at best, he’s probably not reading this in some obscure book on Eastern European history, so he’s getting this fed to him somehow.
Who’s feeding him the Russian talking points?
- Of Course Trump’s Washington Hotel Is Getting Special Treatment During the Shutdown
- Raising ‘All Manner of Conflict of Interest Questions,’ the Only National Park Site Reopening Amid Shutdown Is in Trump Hotel
- Trump’s New Catchphrase: ‘Presidential Harassment’
- What to expect from the second half of Donald Trump’s first term
- Trump Approval More Stable Than Approval for Prior Presidents
TRAITOR TOTS
- Mike Pompeo Is The Spineless Personification Of Donald Trump’s Nihilist Foreign Policy
- Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker grovels before President Trump at first Cabinet meeting.
- QAnon Believers See a Promise in Trump’s Game of Thrones Poster (Because of Course)
FIGHTING BACK
- 2019 will be the worst year of Donald Trump’s life
- Angry White House Staffer: Trump has absolutely no idea what’s coming. He understands that DC is about to change, but he’s never experienced — and he’s vastly unprepared for — real oversight. Welcome, Madam Speaker.
- Countercheckist: Good morning, patriots. 🙂 Today is the day Congress begins functioning again as a check on the executive. Make our founders proud, @HouseDemocrats.
- Dem introduces bills to eliminate electoral college, stop presidents from pardoning themselves
- Dem Lawmaker to Introduce Articles of Impeachment Against Trump on First Day of New Congress
- Democrat Plans Impeachment Articles for Donald Trump on Day 1 of New Congress
- Democrats waste no time, announce first oversight measures of the new Congress
- Top Finance Dem reintroduces bill that would require Trump to release tax returns
- Trump Finally Gets Checked As Dems Officially Take House Control At Noon
RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM
- A Database Showed Far-Right Terror on the Rise. Then Trump Defunded It.
- The Trump administration is planning a far-reaching rollback of civil rights law
KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- Two in Three Military Women Say They Have been Sexually Assaulted
- Bernie Sanders Responds To Allegations Of Sexism, Harassment By Aides During 2016 Race
IMMIGRATION
- Spicy Mic: Hiya @SecNielsen True story I’m friends with a few of your Senior Staff. Last week during brunch they dragged you and I quote: “She’s in way over her head..has no idea what she’s doing” I am doing to drag you in to the sunlight with nothing but facts.
- Thread Reader: Spicy Mic on DHS Secretary Nielsen
- Unaccompanied Minors by the Numbers and States
- Trump’s Homeland Security Chief Tried to Shame Democrats for Not Asking Her to Testify About the Border, and a Democratic Congressman Just Perfectly Shut Her Down
COLD WAR 2.0
- Mike Pompeo Is The Spineless Personification Of Donald Trump’s Nihilist Foreign Policy
- N Korea ambassador to Italy ‘disappears’
#NEVERAGAIN
- Oklahoma man opens fire at Taco Bell after staff forget his hot sauce
- Shannon Watts: “Staff at an Oklahoma Taco Bell were forced to hide out in a locked bathroom in on New Year’s Eve when a man fired a gun through a drive-thru window over a missing portion of hot sauce.” The @NRA wants us to believe this is an acceptable price to pay for “freedom.”
- Parkland dad helps old photo of Russian spy, NRA vice president go viral
FIXING THE INTERNET
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- The 36 wackiest lines from Donald Trump’s totally bizarre Cabinet meeting
- Stable President Holds Bait-and-Switch Press Briefing to Peddle Border Wall Propaganda
- Joe Scarborough: Press Conference Proof Enough To Declare Trump Unfit For Office
- Donald Trump Gives a Fake Press Briefing Because Nancy Pelosi Was Getting All the Attention
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Justice Department probing Trump’s former Interior chief Zinke: Washington Post
- Justice Dept. investigating whether Zinke lied to inspector general
TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY
- Global markets shudder after Apple lowers sales estimates in China
- Apple cut its sales forecasts for its key end of year period on Wednesday, citing the unforeseen “magnitude” of the economic slowdown in China
- Apple just lost a Facebook: Market value decline since peak exceeds value of nearly any US company
- Google shifted $23 billion to tax haven Bermuda in 2017: filing
- Companies from Apple to Gucci are flashing warning signs about the Chinese economy
- Mike Dorning: BREAKING: Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett predicts “a heck of a lot of” U.S. companies will join Apple in announcing lower than expected earnings because of trade war, per @ToluseO
- More coal plants shut down in Trump’s first two years than in Obama’s entire first term
- The One Issue the Left and Right Can Agree On: The Pernicious Impact of Monopolies in the U.S.
- Trump Took Credit for Stock Market Records. Does He Deserve Blame for the Plunge?
- U.S. factory activity hits two-year low, casts shadow over economy
- US national debt reaches a new high under Trump
- Wolf Blitzer: The U.S. Treasury Department says that the national debt has increased by $2 trillion ($2,000,000,000,000) since President Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017. That’s with Republicans in control of the House and Senate. The national debt is now almost $22 trillion.
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- Federal Judge Dismisses North Carolina Republicans’ Latest Effort to Preserve Their Gerrymander
- James Comey: Looks like the Republican tent is too small to fit integrity. Today, Republicans attacked a Senator for truthfully calling out the President for his lack of character, while staying mute as he proved it by lying about Jim Mattis and approving the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
PRIESTS & RELIGION
- Pope Francis acknowledges sex abuse scandals have damaged Catholic Church
- The Ugly Nihilism of Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Comments About Why It Doesn’t Matter if Trump Is Immoral
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- China’s Moon Landing: Lunar Rover Begins Its Exploration
- ‘Fox & Friends’ Guest: Fossil Fuels ‘Actually Improve the Environment’
- ‘The existential threat of our time’: Pelosi elevates climate change on day one
ELECTIONS
THINKING AHEAD
- Warren brushes off Trump tweet mocking her DNA test
- Warren responds to Trump tweet: He should spend ‘his time getting the government back open’
- Warren: Trump is a “grifter and a scammer” who gives “giant tax giveaways to the billionaires”
- Elizabeth Warren Comes Out Swinging Right at Joe Lieberman’s Sleazy Old Lobbyist Face
- Don’t Underestimate Elizabeth Warren and Her Populist Message
RUMOR MILL
- 911corlebra777: You know, I would really like to know the names of the two redacted FBI agents in this letter, and if they were still at the FBI NY office in 2016 and personally knew Rudy Giuliani 🙂
- 911corlebra777: Jensen & Associates are the law firm that is all through Roger Stone’s FEC filings for his 2016 PAC. Seems Jensen is part of Roger’s ratf*cking crew. They certainly did a number on Eliot Spitzer in 07′. “Adult Themed Club” is Roger’s local sex club😂
- Countercheckist: Good morning, patriots. 🙂 Today is the day Congress begins functioning again as a check on the executive. Make our founders proud, @HouseDemocrats.
- Greg Olear: It’s become increasingly evident that McConnell is deeply compromised. If the goods are there, Mueller should indict him first. #traitor #sedition
- Ming: “That fruitcake Gorka was wearing a leather tunic” -M. Butina
- Tea Pain: The House of Representatives now has powerful oversight over the massively corrupt Trump administration. Tea Pain luvs the smell of subpoenas in the mornin’!
That’s it for Thursday. I’ll see whether I’ll post Friday by itself or with the weekend. Partly, it depends on how much happens and when I get time to write.
A spoiler for tomorrow, one story that I’m seeing is that 5 reps, 4 Democrats and a Republican, have just moved forward a resolution to create an amendment to the Constitution overturning Citizens United. Hopefully I can go into more details on my next post.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
