Wednesday, January 9, 2019
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Rosenstein
- Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller probe, to leave Justice Department
- Rod Rosenstein expected to leave the Justice Department if attorney general nominee is confirmed, but timeline is unclear
- Rosenstein expected to leave Justice Department within weeks
- Rosenstein leaving DOJ after Barr confirmation: reports
- Rosenstein Plans to Stay Until Mueller Submits a Report
- Claude Taylor: Rod Rosenstein’s watch is ending. There is no cause for panic. Mueller and the SDNY are too far out of the gate to be stopped.
- Angry White House Staffer: This is why I didn’t comment on the Rosenstein news this morning — don’t stress guys. Remember a couple weeks ago when I told everyone Mueller’s investigation was way too far along to be derailed now? Rod’s got this. Also, when the public learns of all the shit Rosenstein has put up with behind the scenes and what he’s done to keep the investigation from being derailed, I sincerely hope he never has to pay for another beer in the DC area for the rest of his life.
According to reports, Deputy Attorney General will be leaving his office shortly. This is where the reports get confusing. One source said that he would leave shortly after William Barr is confirmed as Attorney General. Other sources report that he won’t leave until either after Robert Mueller submits a report, or is so close that nothing could stop it.
People are putting two and two together and concluding that this means that Mueller will submit at least part of his report in the coming weeks.
Нет сговора! That’s “No Collusion!” in Russian.
- There Is No Question Anymore Whether the Trump Campaign Was in Cahoots With the Russians
- Trump Campaign Consultants Cambridge Analytica Found Guilty of Breaking Data Laws
- Trump’s team had over 100 contacts with Russian-linked officials, report shows
WASHINGTON – Members of President Donald Trump’s campaign and transition team had more than 100 contacts with Russian-linked officials, according to a new report.
The milestone illustrates the deep ties between members of Trump’s circle and the Kremlin. The findings, tracked by the Center for American Progress and its Moscow Project, come amid reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is nearing the conclusion of the two-year investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by the president.
“This wasn’t just one email or call, or one this or that,” said Talia Dessel, a research analyst for the left-leaning organization. “Over 100 contacts is really significant because you don’t just have 100 contacts with a foreign power if there’s nothing going on there.”
The organization used publicly available court documents and reporting to tally up the number of contacts with Russian-linked officials, which includes those with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and others tied to Russian intelligence, banks and politicians.
The organizations counted each meeting and message as a separate contact.
The number of contacts was raised to 101 this week after it was reported that Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, a former campaign aide, shared polling data with Manafort’s former Russian business partner Konstantin Kilimnik.
Over 100 contacts. 100. We’re well past the coincidence stage at this point. A couple meetings is one thing, but we’re in triple digits now. With a lot of them coming AFTER they were warned by the FBI.
Manafort
- Fmr Fed Prosecutor: It Doesn’t Get Much More ‘Collusive’ Than Manafort Sharing Poll Data with Kilimnik
- Manafort Claims He Can’t Be a Witness to Trump’s Conspiracy with Russia because He Managed the Campaign | emptywheel
- Caroline Orr: Per @nytimes (tonight), the polling data that Paul Manafort (and Rick Gates) gave to Konstantin Kilimnik ultimately went to Oleg Deripaska, a Putin ally to whom Manafort was deeply indebted. At one point, Manafort offered to give Deripaska private briefings on the campaign.
- Tea Pain: In two years we’ve gone from “No meetings with Russia whatsoever” to “supplying polling data to Russians that helped us get elected is not collusion.”
- The ‘Collusion’ Debate Ended Last Night
- The Moscow Project: The latest GOP defense: Sure, they colluded, but it’s fine, because they knew the people they colluded with before they colluded.
- PostimusMaximus: An important question to ask about tonight is “What use would Trump’s polling data be to the Russians?” Any answer you can think of tends to be interesting.
- Sara Danner Dukic: Tad Devine, Bernie’s Campaign Manager worked for Paul Manafort
Today is a good day to remember that Tad Devine, Bernie’s chief strategist, worked with Paul Manafort for many years. In Ukraine. Paul Manafort – the guy who handed over our data to GRU.
Devine went directly from working with Manafort to Bernie’s campaign. Sanders was a long-time client of Devine’s. Devine was doing work with Manafort in June 2014, and by November it was announced that he’d be doing Bernie’s campaign.
Have you ever done contract or consulting work? If you have, you know that the work + communications on a project rarely end when the contract does. There are always loose ends to tie up. Especially if you’re working with someone who’s a long-time collaborator/friend/client.
On top of that, while you’re working on one project, you’re likely also in negotiations for the next project. And big projects – such as a presidential campaign – take a lot of negotiation, meetings, calls, proposals, strategizing, and so on.
When it was announced that Devine was working for Bernie, it’s not as though Bernie called him that day and said “hey, wanna work for me?” and Devine was like, “yeah! Let’s call Politico and tell them right now!” There were likely months of negotiations beforehand.
Or at least that’s been my experience. Even with people who know me well and have worked with me many times in various capacities. Because it’s not just me and the other person involved – it’s us, plus boards, plus VIPs, plus key team members + …
And that’s just for low-stakes (compared to preserving our democracy, anyway) performing arts events.
My point: I don’t see how there wasn’t overlap, whether that particular year, or in the years prior when Devine was working for Manafort and also interacting with his longtime client and friend, Bernie (Devine’s words).
Overlap, while Devine was working for Manafort, and Manafort was working with GRU. To me, it’s an impossibility that Devine could work with Manafort for many years, and not know/understand that Manafort was also working with Russia.
So the same person who spent years working with Paul Manafort in Ukraine up until their client fled decided to work with Bernie Sanders. Bernie, the same one who had Russian bots push his story on the internet, who cried foul at HRC even though he lost by millions of votes, and stood by while the DNC mails were released to the public.
“I had a 17-inch laptop that was dying and it needed new space. I also turned over the time machine application with the hard drive backup that had all e-mails, whether I’d erased them or not, and I knew they were all there. I was trying to keep an old computer running because I liked that 17-inch. To do so, I had to erase e-mails. It was not a plan to erase evidence.”
There are several things that are shady AF about this story, and having an IT background, very little of what he said makes sense.
His first explanation, in the same interview with Ari Melber, was that his wife wanted a computer to work on and he was going to give her this one. He then asked his son to clean it up so that she would have a fresh machine to work with. Then he said it was dying and on its last legs and he need to make space.
Deleting mail from a laptop to save space is like throwing out pizza boxes from a hoarder’s house. Unless there’s a literal ton of them, it’s not making a big difference.
Next, he mentions Time Machine. He didn’t say backup, he said Time Machine. That implies an Apple computer. The only 17 inch laptops made by Apple in the last decade and a half are MacBook Pro models. Those are their top of the line workhorses, designed for video editing and 3D modeling. They can take a pounding.
It’s possible that the stories line up, but both at the same time feels like bullshit. If my wife asked me to get her a new laptop, I’m not giving her a refurb that’s a decade old. I might use that as an excuse to get a brand new one and give her my current one, but only a dick would give his wife a dying laptop.
Then again, he is friends with Roger Stone.
This isn’t news to anyone who’s been paying attention, but it does need brought up from time to time.
Mueller knows EVERYTHING.
- Senators renew attempt to protect special counsel Mueller
- GOP rep says US campaigns shouldn’t be cooperating with Russia
- House Democrats demand Treasury explain rollback of sanctions on Russia oligarch
- Congress Summons Mnuchin to Explain Russian Sanctions Removal
- House Dems to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. first in Russia probe
When they drag Donnie Jr. in front of Congress, I hope to fuck it’s an open session broadcast live across the world. I want to see him squirm.
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
A RICO conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1961 hinges on proof that the underlying offenses demonstrate a “pattern of racketeering activity.” The statute delineates several hundred or so predicate acts that can contribute to a pattern of racketeering activity. Conduct may be charged under RICO as part of a pattern of racketeering activity even when the defendant has previously been convicted and sentenced for that conduct. As such, prior criminal convictions and civil suits relative to individual predicate acts do not inure against a RICO prosecution. This is key.
Further, RICO allows for a pattern of activity to encompass up to 10 years with regard to the underlying predicate counts as long as the last one falls within the statute of limitations. For example, should a federal prosecutor seek to charge mail or wire fraud counts against the Trump Organization in 2017, then the prosecutor could go back as far as 2007 to capture the full scope of the pattern of activity. This is also crucial.
The RICO statute allows for asset forfeiture actions to be initiated early in order to prevent criminal assets from being transferred beyond law enforcement’s reach. The government can take various legal actions to freeze assets upon indictment while the criminal prosecution unfolds.
Trump Foundation. Trump Organization. Trump University. Trump SoHo. Trump’s hotels across the world. Trump’s branding opportunities. Every aspect of his life is covered in criminal ties.
Also, remember that there’s Criminal RICO and Civil RICO. The criminal part puts people in jail, while the civil part takes their shit. Only the criminal part can be pardoned, and a civil case can use accepting a pardon as evidence of guilt.
If I were to write emoticons on this blog, this is where a super big grin would go.
SHUTDOWN
- Trump cuts short shutdown negotiation meeting, calls it ‘total waste of time’
- Trump walks out of shutdown meeting with top Democrats, calling it ‘total waste of time’
- As shutdown continues, so does damage to U.S. science
- Coast Guard families told they can have garage sales to cope with government shutdown
- David Farenthold: US govt to Coast Guard: While you’re working without pay, why not sell your possessions for a little extra cash?
- Fitch warns of possible downgrade to U.S. AAA credit rating if shutdown persists
- Mitch McConnell is the reason we still have a shutdown
- Mitch McConnell Owns the Government Shutdown, Too
- Pelosi says Trump doesn’t get shutdown’s effect on workers: ‘He thinks maybe they could just ask their father for more money’
- Schumer: President Stormed Out of Shutdown Talks in a “Temper Tantrum”
- The Government Shutdown Is Starting To Cause Major Problems At Airports
- The government shutdown spotlights a bigger issue: 78% of US workers live paycheck to paycheck
- The Note: Trump losing sway in his own GOP over government shutdown
- The partisan warrior leading the White House’s shutdown response
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1
- Trump cuts short shutdown negotiation meeting, calls it ‘total waste of time’
- President Trump says he’s cutting off FEMA money for California fires
- Donald Trump Delivers a Wet Fart Oval Office Address
- Trump used the Oval Office to try to create a border crisis
- Fact-checking President Trump’s Oval Office address on immigration
- TV Ratings: Democrats’ Response to Trump Speech Outdraws President in Early Numbers
- Donald Trump outdoes himself: Even more racist lies than critics feared
- More People Tuned In To Watch Dem Rebuttal Than Trump’s Address
- Trump administration official admits that taxpayers, not Mexico, will fund border wall
- Trump Demands That Reports on Waste and Fraud in Afghanistan Be “Locked Up” – The move would end a government watchdog’s decadelong public accounting of reconstruction funds.
- Trump Interrupts the Nation to Bloviate, Fearmonger, and Make Zero News
- Trump is the real ‘national emergency,’ Harvard law professor says
- Trump is turning America into another bankrupt casino
- Trump suggests he ordered FEMA to send ‘no more money’ to California if there are forest fires, in angry misspelled tweet
- Trump Threw ‘Temper Tantrum’ After Dems Refused Border Wall, Schumer Says
- Rogue Senior White House Advisor: If you consider the idea of Donald Trump as a Russian agent whose sole purpose is to destabilize the United States then this government shutdown begins to make a whole lot more sense. also if you consider that spy programs don’t operate like james bond but more methodical, snake-in-waiting terms than it makes even more sense. you need more than just the agent to create chaos. you need an opportunity.
FIGHTING BACK
- Riotwomennn: An episode of the 1950s western TV series “Trackdown” featured a snake oil salesman named “Trump” who promised to build a wall to save the world. People followed Trump like sheep. Next tweet, Snopes entry on this #BoycottTrumpsAddress. Snopes says – yes. It happened. There is an episode of the 1950s western TV series “Trackdown” featuring a snake oil salesman named ‘Trump’ who promised to build a wall in order to prevent the end of the world.
- FACT CHECK: Did a 1950s TV Episode Feature a Character Named Trump Who Offered to Build a Protective Wall?
- More People Tuned In To Watch Dem Rebuttal Than Trump’s Address
- Why Does Donald Trump Keep Sniffling? An Investigation
RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM
- ‘All of a sudden Trump became president and all the hateful people just came out’: Utah refugees talk about life since the 2016 election
- Racist school bullying has risen in areas that voted for Trump, study finds
- Tarrant County GOP set to vote on whether to remove vice-chairman because he’s Muslim
- Ocasio-Cortez called Trump a racist. The White House response may have proved her point.
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
IMMIGRATION
- Spicy Mic: Let’s be clear here. Trump is like an arsonist Trump lights a zippo & tosses it on gasoline soaked wood Trump then pours gasoline on a bonfire Trump then calls the fire department Media then hails Trump as a hero. TRUMP MADE THE HUMANITARIAN crisis at OUR southern border Get it?
- The U.S.-Mexico border, where Trump wants a wall: Here’s what you need to know
- Crime Along the Mexican Border Is Lower Than in the Rest of the Country
- 4,000 Suspected Terrorists Stopped at the Mexico Border, Says White House. Actually, It’s More Like Six, Reports U.S. Customs
- Can Trump declare an emergency and start building a wall? Maybe.
#NEVERAGAIN
- Shannon Watts: The @NRA is being disingenuous – background checks are not required on unlicensed gun sales, which is how hundreds of thousands of guns are sold in America at gun shows and online. In 1994, lawmakers never imagined today’s online marketplace. It’s time to #UpdateBackgroundChecks.
- Multiple polls show vast support for background checks. NRA’s Dana Loesch says none of them count.
- Pastor Who Praised Pulse Nightclub Gunman Resigns After Allegedly Paying for Sex
- David Hogg: The greatest threat to national security isn’t refugees, it’s the GOP’s proximity to the NRA.
FIXING THE INTERNET
- US telcos caught selling your location data again: Senator demands new laws
- Trump Campaign Consultants Cambridge Analytica Found Guilty of Breaking Data Laws
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds
- You can blame your baby boomer parents for spreading fake news
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- White House Owes Millions in Unpaid Water Bills, DC Board Spox Says Shutting Water Off Is ‘Interesting Idea’
- Treasury Department Chaos Leads to Exodus of Key Staffers
TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY
- The government shutdown spotlights a bigger issue: 78% of US workers live paycheck to paycheck
- Report: AT&T plans layoffs despite claiming tax cut would create 7,000 jobs
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
PRIESTS & RELIGION
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- As shutdown continues, so does damage to U.S. science
- President Trump says he’s cutting off FEMA money for California fires
- Pelosi: Trump FEMA threat insults memory of Americans killed in wildfires
CONGRESS
ELECTIONS
- Amendment 4: ‘A day of celebration’ in Florida as 1.4 million ex-felons have voting rights restored
- Colorado’s Jared Polis Sworn In, Making Him America’s First Openly Gay Governor
THINKING AHEAD
- Kamala Harris praises Ocasio-Cortez: Her ideas ‘should be discussed’
- Kamala Harris: Ending the ‘failed war on drugs’ starts with legalizing marijuana
IN OTHER NEWS…
- Jeff Bezos and wife to divorce after 25 years of marriage
- Self-rolling suitcases and roll-up TVs: CES 2019’s craziest and coolest gadgets
RUMOR MILL
- David Measer: Polling Data
- Thread by @dmeaser: “THREAD: I’m just an advertising guy, but thought I’d put a marketing lens on the news of Manafort sharing “polling data” with a Russian oper […]”
THREAD: I’m just an advertising guy, but thought I’d put a marketing lens on the news of Manafort sharing “polling data” with a Russian operative.
Seems benign in the grand scope of everything, right? It’s not.
Like politics, the goal of advertising is persuasion. And like politics, we call our efforts a campaign.
At the heart of any campaign, big or small, is data. Data about the market, people, the competition. In politics, this is called “polling.” Same thing.
Data is the raw material in the battle that brands fight to win hearts and minds, and get people to choose one product over another. To vote with their wallets.
Gleaning the data is very expensive, it’s labor intensive, and it takes a LOT of time.
Big companies will spend hundreds of millions on various versions of this undertaking, and employ thousands of people. The results of all this data, and the way it’s sliced and diced, is kept behind firewalls, under lock & key, privileged access.
Data (polls) is one of the most valuable resources a company has.
Anyone who works for a major company knows that Big Data is the business battle of our time.
What do we do with the data? We use it to decide who to target. To position the brand as distinctive from other brands. To develop messaging and ads. To de-position and conquest the competition (and lots more).
Back to Manafort. Sharing polling data with anyone is opening a door to collaborate with them. It’s allowing them to use your raw materials, your valuable resources, your manpower.
It’s like arms dealing, except the weapons can’t be tracked because no one knows they’re explosive except for the collaborators.
Sharing polling data means you’re working together. Conspiring. Making decisions together. Working to destroy the competition.
Imaging for a moment if Apple and Microsoft collaborated on pooling their data resources in an attempt to bring down Samsung…
But there’s SOMETHING EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO THE STORY. To continue the analogy, imagine that Apple and MSFT then together hacked into Samsung’s servers and stole some of their proprietary data, in the form of emails about their data…
Then it’d be game over.
So, if you’ve got Manafort sharing valuable and proprietary data with a Russian intelligence operative, and you’ve got a Russian hacking operationg stealing the competition’s (the DNC’s and the Clinton campaign’s) data…then you’ve got it all.
Everything you need to destroy the competition. Not so benign anymore. You know who knows a lot about this? @KellyannePolls— someone should ask her.
- Alex Finley: Now might be a good time to remember that the FBI gave Trump & his team a counterintelligence briefing, & warned them that they should report any approaches/contacts with Russia. Every one of them not only failed to do so, but lied about it when asked. Probably just an oversight.
- Countercheckist: There is no stopping this freight train, patriots. Mueller knows everything. 🙂 “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” — Sun Tzu
- Louise Mensch: Let me say something now that isn’t a popular opinion, yet, but I predict will soon become received wisdom: the Senate will vote to convict Trump and it won’t even be close. The media still doesn’t grasp the enormity, and clarity, of the treason Mueller’s report will make public.
- Rogue Senior White House Advisor: I know we talk about all kinds of Trump’s lies but I still can’t get over the one about him only weighing 239lbs. Dude is shaped like a duffel bag filled with ground beef & fishing tackle. He’s easily 350.
- Ming: Ming begining to think trump conned #maga rubes about beloved and nobel wall.
- PostimusMaximus: An important question to ask about tonight is “What use would Trump’s polling data be to the Russians?” Any answer you can think of tends to be interesting.
- Rogue Senior White House Advisor: If you consider the idea of Donald Trump as a Russian agent whose sole purpose is to destabilize the United States then this government shutdown begins to make a whole lot more sense. also if you consider that spy programs don’t operate like james bond but more methodical, snake-in-waiting terms than it makes even more sense. you need more than just the agent to create chaos. you need an opportunity.
- Angry White House Staffer: This is why I didn’t comment on the Rosenstein news this morning — don’t stress guys. Remember a couple weeks ago when I told everyone Mueller’s investigation was way too far along to be derailed now? Rod’s got this. Also, when the public learns of all the shit Rosenstein has put up with behind the scenes and what he’s done to keep the investigation from being derailed, I sincerely hope he never has to pay for another beer in the DC area for the rest of his life.
- Tea Pain: In two years we’ve gone from “No meetings with Russia whatsoever” to “supplying polling data to Russians that helped us get elected is not collusion.”
That’s it for Wednesday. I’ll be back on Thursday. Hopefully things don’t go too far off of the rails by then.
I updated The Indicted to include Natalia Veselnitskaya’s Obstruction indictment from yesterday. (Daily Check-In 01/08/2019). Out of all of the names I’ve put on that list recently, hers was the most satisfying. Sure, she may never see the inside of a prison cell, but the fact that from now on everywhere she goes, she’ll have to check to see if her connecting flight goes to a country with an extradition treaty to the United States warms my heart. The same way it stays warm realizing that Paul Manafort will likely never taste freedom.
Once again, that’s where the grin emoji would go.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
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