Tuesday, January 15, 2019
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Manafort & Kilimnik
- Mueller backs up claim that ex-Trump campaign chief Manafort lied to investigators
- Mueller confirms Kilimnik a focus of grand jury investigation
- Mueller just released nearly 200 pages of evidence against Manafort. Read it here.
- Manafort claimed to be placing people in Trump administration: filing
- Mueller: Manafort worked with alleged Russian agent even after criminal charges
- Emptywheel: So from ~10 days after WL released the DNC emails until just before he went to jail, Manafort was still working to push a “peace” dealing giving RU what it wanted in Ukraine. But he’s sure he had nothing to do with the platform change.
- Read: Mueller Releases Filing On Why Manafort Broke Plea Agreement
- Scott Stedman: The Mueller/Manafort filing is several hundred pages long. Heavily redacted. THREAD
- From /u/iamnotanevilwitch: Here is what Mueller’s new document says.
This newest filing includes the evidence that Mueller has collected that proves that Manafort lied to them so often that they felt they had no choice bu to take that plea deal and throw it in the shredder.
The filing is 31 pages long with almost 200 pages of evidence. A lot of the evidence came from his computers, where he used the password “bond007”. He didn’t give them the password, the FBI guessed it on the first try. They had the length, the hint was “Secret Agent”, and his wife’s maiden name is Bond. Not exactly an IT expert.
Aside from the comedy, this filing lays out in detail how Manafort lied, how he committed his crimes, and how fucked he is. At least, that’s what we assume is under the black bars. There’s so many redactions the pages look like levels of Donkey Kong.
Barr
- Barr fields questions on Mueller probe, independence from Trump at attorney general confirmation hearing
- Barr Will Be Grilled About ‘Unusual’ Memo on Mueller’s Obstruction Probe
- Barr Won’t Commit To Transparency On Changes He Makes To Mueller Report
- Tea Pain: William Barr claims “I will act with the same integrity as I did with the George H. W. Bush administration.” That’s the problem. Barr advocated the pardonin’ of every scoundrel in the Iran-Contra scandal.
- William Barr reveals Donald Trump met with him in 2017, wanted to know his thoughts on Mueller’s ‘integrity’
- William Barr Was an Ardent Champion of Mass Incarceration
- William Barr’s Secret Pro-Trump Memo Keeps Getting More Suspicious
- AG nominee sent memo on Mueller probe to Trump’s lawyers
I’m not trusting this guy. Everything about this guy screams cover-up puppet.
Deripaska
- Belarusan model who touted evidence of Trump-Russia ties pleads guilty in Thailand
- Julia Davis: “Nastya Rybka” — Belarusan escort who touted evidence of Trump-#Russia ties —pleads guilty in Thailand, should be released in a matter of days. #Deripaska
- Republicans Break Ranks Over Move to Lift Sanctions on Russian Oligarch’s Firms
Gates
- Mueller asks to delay ex-Trump aide Gates’ sentencing because he is cooperating in ‘several’ probes
- Josh Campbell: NEW: Mueller’s work does not appear finished. The Special Counsel tells judge it is not yet time to sentence former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, as he “continues to cooperate with respect to several ongoing investigations…” Request update in 2 months.
Corsi
- Mueller Now Apparently Looking at Jerome Corsi’s Stepson over ‘Scrubbed’ Computer
- Mueller plows ahead, issuing more subpoenas to associates of conservative commentator
Nunes
Kushner
- Chris Christie claims Jared Kushner enacted ‘hit job’ as revenge for prosecuting father
- Jared Kushner Told Donald Trump That Firing Comey and Flynn Would Help End Russia Probe, Chris Christie Says
Pooty Calls
- Alarm rises as Trump behavior aligns with Putin’s fondest wishes
- Clapper: ‘Americans should be very concerned’ about lack of notes from Trump-Putin meetings
- Donald Trump has been compromised by Russia
- Donald Trump is not ‘unwitting agent’ to Russia, ‘knows exactly what he is doing’ says House Intelligence
- How the big new New York Times scoop changes our understanding of the Trump-Russia probe
- More and more, it looks like Donald Trump has something big to hide.
- Trump and Putin Have Met Five Times. What Was Said Is a Mystery.
- Trump Is A Clear And Present Danger To The National Security Of The United States, Former Doj Chief Says
Coming Up
- Adam Schiff hiring full-time team to investigate Trump’s Russia connections
- Senate Democrat: We’re ‘Moving Toward Indictment And Charges’ Against Trump
- John Schindler: US IC has long known that WikiLeaks is an RIS front. Trump’s statement “I love WikiLeaks” (10 OCT 2016) — that ALONE was sufficient to panic our CI community and give cause for an investigation (again, CI not criminal). This is USG #reality. Which upsets Trumpers. SAD!
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION
- ‘The essence of involuntary servitude’: Federal unions sue the Trump administration to get paid for shutdown work
- The shutdown is giving some Trump advisers what they’ve long wanted: A smaller government
- The White House thinks the shutdown will be twice as bad for the economy than expected
- Trump and lawmakers paralyzed over shutdown as both sides remain dug in
- Trump, Congress Job Approval Mostly Steady Amid Shutdown
- TSA Strike? As Trump and GOP Refuse to End Shutdown, Call Grows for Federal Workers to Rise Up
- 42,000 Coast Guard members miss first paycheck due to government shutdown
- ‘Anonymous Trump Official’ Celebrates Shutdown As Pathway To Government Destruction
- Close the National Parks Now – Leaving them open during the shutdown is causing long-term damage that we may not be able to fix.
- Delta CEO: Government shutdown will cost the airline $25 million this month
- Jamie Dimon says shutdown could reduce economic growth to zero this quarter if it continues
- McConnell blocks House bill to reopen government for second time
- McConnell: Senate won’t override Trump veto on shutdown fight
- Kaz Weida: Mitch McConnell and the Republicans own the longest shutdown in US history. In 658 days he and other GOP senators will be up for re-election. Don’t let them forget it.
- Mitch McConnell Blocks Government Spending Bill And Blames Democrats for the Shutdown
- Mitch McConnell should do the obvious right thing, reopen the government
- Rank-and-file Democrats reject Trump’s invitation to shutdown talks, back Pelosi in opposition to border wall
- Shutdown has kept Trump off golf course for longest stretch of his presidency
- Credit Where It’s Due: Democratic Leaders Have Not Caved Like a Bunch of Weenies on the Border Wall
- Trump points to new caravan coming from Honduras as impasse over wall funding continues
- No, Trump family did not donate $1 billion to border wall fund
- Federal judge rules against Trump administration’s push for citizenship question on 2020 Census, case likely headed to Supreme Court
- Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Adding Citizenship Question To The Census
- Judge Orders Trump Administration To Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question
- Christina Wilkie: BREAKING: Federal court blocks citizenship question from 2020 census. “The evidence is clear that Secretary Ross’s rationale was pretextual…the court can not sustain agency action founded on a pretextual or sham justification that conceals the true “basis” for the decision.” It’s 277 pages, but the most relevant section, the court’s opinion of Wilbur Ross’ motives and actions, begins on page 207.
- 2019-01-15-574-Findings%20Of%20Fact.pdf
- U.S. Will Fail to Release Key Economic Report at Critical Moment
- Schumer: ‘We Haven’t Heard From’ Trump Since He Stormed Out Of White House Meeting
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1
- Rank-and-file Democrats reject Trump’s invitation to shutdown talks, back Pelosi in opposition to border wall
- Credit Where It’s Due: Democratic Leaders Have Not Caved Like a Bunch of Weenies on the Border Wall
- Angry White House Staffer: They must not have wanted leftover McDonald’s
- Shutdown has kept Trump off golf course for longest stretch of his presidency
- Dem rep: Trump pulling US from NATO grounds for ‘impeachment or the 25th amendment’
- Trump is doing immense damage. He has a hidden helper.
- Trump tried to bypass Nancy Pelosi and negotiate with members of her caucus. None of them showed up.
- Trump’s tweet about “hamberders” illustrates just how effortlessly he lies
- Trump’s Presidency Should Have Been Over After Helsinki
- Trump Has Repeatedly Floated The Idea Of U.S. Leaving NATO: NYT
TRAITOR TOTS
- Old land deal quietly haunts Mick Mulvaney as he serves as Trump’s chief of staff
- Head of Democratic Super PAC says Lindsey Graham is being blackmailed with a ‘serious sexual kink’
Lindsey Graham is a 63 year old “confirmed bachelor” who has never married and has no kids. The rumor mill has it that his being gay is an open secret, even though he’s so far deep in the closet he found Narnia. The thing is, no one really cares about him being gay in 2019, unless there were something else to that.
We’ve talked about before Daily Check-In 09/26/2018 and Daily Check-In 09/18/18 when Dr. Melissa Kester described what intel she had on Senator Graham:
Affair with a married man who plays straight, is a political operative and has young kids. That’s what they got. Have we not discussed this yet, Ellis? We need to.
I hate playing the speculation game when it comes to a person’s private life, but when that gets used against them and they turn on everything they once held close, to the point of almost crossing the line to treason, that’s when speculation becomes fair game.
FIGHTING BACK
- Indicting and Prosecuting a Sitting President
- Opposing Trump is making Nancy Pelosi more popular
- Protesters Flip Script On Trump At Farmers Convention: ‘Lock Him Up’
- Maggie Haberman: ‘Disgusted’ Republicans Now Privately Admitting They Regret Supporting Trump
- Obstruction Is Collusion
RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM
- Des Moines Register calls on Steve King to resign
- King rips GOP leadership after criticism over ‘white supremacist’ remarks
- Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, says Steve King should ‘find another line of work’
- Report: Rep. Tlaib’s Profanity Received 5 Times More Coverage Than Rep. King’s White Supremacy Remarks
- Judge voids Alabama law protecting Confederate monuments
KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA
SCOTUS & COURTS
- Federal judge rules against Trump administration’s push for citizenship question on 2020 Census, case likely headed to Supreme Court
- Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Adding Citizenship Question To The Census
- Judge Orders Trump Administration To Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- Gloria Allred Likens R. Kelly to Trump, Cosby and Weinstein as She Alleges Victim Intimidation
- Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, wants out of criminal case
- Women’s magazines are dying. Will we miss them when they’re gone?
COLD WAR 2.0
- Brexit vote: Britain is on tenterhooks as it awaits result of historic day in Parliament
- Brexit vote: British Parliament rejects Theresa May’s Brexit deal, leaving withdrawal from E.U. and prime minister’s political future in doubt
- PostimusMaximus: Time to UnBrexit
- After Trump Declared Victory Against ISIS, the Military Decided to Hide the Strikes That Are Still Happening
- Rogue Senior White House Advisor: Crazy how close British politics mirror ours at the moment. Just like here, a useless dimwit is being propped up by a parasitic conservative ruling class because they’re more afraid of liberal rule than the certain failure their own will lead to. Pure impotence.
- Gunfire and explosions rock Nairobi hotel in attack claimed by Somali militants
#NEVERAGAIN
- Shannon Watts: Helpful to point out that the neighbors didn’t actually use the guns against the kidnapper, but also that the girl’s parents were murdered – and she was kidnapped – in the middle of the night by a 21 year old man with a gun.
- Shannon Watts: .@NRA gunsaleswoman paid by gun manufacturers (and maybe Russia) claims guns make women safer, when data shows the opposite – especially women in abusive situations. Evil exists, but US women are 16 times more likely to be fatally shot than our peers in high income countries.
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- 20 Examples of Social Proof in Action
- Sara Danner Dukic: I’ve talked about this before, but I’m bringing it up again because I don’t think we’re getting it: social proof. Here’s a good primer – with examples – on social proof: THREAD
- Thread by @saradannerdukic: “I’ve talked about this before, but I’m bringing it up again because I don’t think we’re getting it: social proof. Here’s a good primer – wit […]”
- John Schinder: BAD TAKE ALERT
John Schinder: BAD TAKE ALERT: While I have praised @NRO for its even-handedness (and then some) regarding Trump, this anti-FBI screed from @RichLowry (FYI the NR EIC — who, let me say, I usually enjoy reading) needs to be called out. How, I ask you, is the FBI “trampling our political order” by conducting a counterintelligence investigation? Not a criminal investigation (you know, possible arrests), CI. That’s, ahem, the Bureau’s job. Is POTUS above scrutiny? That seems to be the point of this piece. /2 Says @RichLowry: “US presidents over the decades have made many foolhardy decisions that have undermined our security; never before have they been deemed a fit subject for an FBI investigation.” Yes, this is true; but it omits the key fact here…. /3 Namely that we’ve never before Trump had a POTUS who plausibly might be considered a pawn (witting or not) of a hostile foreign power. This is a big uncharted ocean for USG. Since @RichLowry thinks the FBI had no business conducting a CI inquiry into President Trump, ok…. /4 Either POTUS is inherently above investigation (mmmmmkay…neat authoritarian take there) or @RichLowry thinks it should not be done by the FBI — you know, USG’s lead CI agency. Maybe we should have the Nat’l Park Service do it? How about Dept of Agriculture counterspies? /5X CODA: Journalists and pundits (of all POVs) need to step back and consider that the FBI and IC know things about Trump and his Kremlin connections that are not, ahem, in the public eye yet. /6XX
- No, Trump family did not donate $1 billion to border wall fund
- Ask the Trump White House for comment and you might get a non-denial denial
- Roku Pulls InfoWars Channel After Attracting Social Media Scorn – Updated
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- Trump lauds footballers who ate ‘over 1000 hamberders’ at White House banquet, in early morning twitter outburst
- ‘Trump has turned the White House into a White Castle’: President roasted for serving Clemson fast food
- Clemson Quarterback Dismisses Fake Quote Calling White House Fast Food Dinner ‘Best Meal We Ever Had’
- Sarah Huckabee Sanders blames Democrats for Donald Trump serving McDonald’s, fast food to Clemson Tigers
- Burger King mocks Trump over misspelled tweet: ‘We’re all out of hamberders’
- A Crime A Day: 21 USC §610(d), §676 & 9 CFR §319.15(b) make it a federal crime to sell raw meat called “hamburger” if it contains more than 30% fat.
TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY
- The White House thinks the shutdown will be twice as bad for the economy than expected
- Jamie Dimon says shutdown could reduce economic growth to zero this quarter if it continues
- U.S. Will Fail to Release Key Economic Report at Critical Moment
- Ocasio-Cortez Forced to Explain Marginal Tax Rates to ‘Far-Right Former Governor’ Scott Walker
- Ocasio-Cortez to join House panel overseeing financial sector
- Poll: A majority of Americans support raising the top tax rate to 70 percent
- Ivanka Trump to Help Choose New World Bank President
STUDENT ISSUES
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says ‘teachers shouldn’t have to sell their own blood to make rent’
- Indiana Anti-Evolution Bill Would Indoctrinate Students in Creationism | Center for Inquiry
- Karen Pence Is Working At A School That Bans Gay Employees
- Karen Pence Works at School That Bans Gay Employees and Students
- More companies want to pay off your student loan debt
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- ‘To Catch a Predator’ host charged with bouncing checks to Stamford merchant
- Hackers broke into an SEC database and made millions from inside information, says DOJ
- Spicy Mic: Oh…so NOW we are finally going to report on that SEC hack? Awesome sauce I’m pretty sure that this isn’t isolated and it was part of a much larger & complex cybe-warfare. But meh…I’m just a mic
- Kobach grand jury process to begin next week in Douglas County
- APNewsBreak: Feds say ‘star’ DEA agent abroad stole millions
- Sacklers Directed Efforts to Mislead Public About OxyContin, New Documents Indicate
- El Chapo Trial: Former Mexican President Peña Nieto Took $100 Million Bribe, Witness Says
- NH bill would revoke police authority to use deadly force during arrest
- Judge rules law enforcement can’t force suspects to unlock their iPhone with Face ID or Touch ID
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
CONGRESS
THINKING AHEAD
- Kirsten Gillibrand enters 2020 presidential race
- Caroline Orr: #BREAKING: Per @CNN, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand just announced that she is running for president in 2020.
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand enters the Democrats’ 2020 presidential race with a pitch that puts gender front and center
- Republicans are preparing for a 2020 Sherrod Brown Campaign
- Sherrod Brown is going on tour to the first four early presidential states
IN OTHER NEWS…
- Carol Channing, Larger-Than-Life Broadway Star, Dies at 97
- 2018 was the greatest year in superhero cinema
- “Trust the Rich Less, Trust Each Other More”
RUMOR MILL
- Countercheckist: The evolution of kook-right shills: – 2017: Russia hoax! No collusion! – Mid-2017: Russia hoax! Collusion isn’t a crime anyway! – 2018: Russia hoax! No evidence of collusion! – Mid-2018: Still no evidence! – 2019: FBI shouldn’t have been allowed to find evidence of collusion!
- Angry White House Staffer: Barr will probably be confirmed, there’s really no debating that. Prior to his anti-Mueller OpEd, I would have possibly even supported him; he did good work for DOJ previously. But this hearing is a disaster already. How would a former AG *not* know the emoluments clause?
- John Schindler: US IC has long known that WikiLeaks is an RIS front. Trump’s statement “I love WikiLeaks” (10 OCT 2016) — that ALONE was sufficient to panic our CI community and give cause for an investigation (again, CI not criminal). This is USG #reality. Which upsets Trumpers. SAD!
- Angry White House Staffer: If you missed the news that the Trump legal team refused a second — this time in-person — interview with Mueller, this is all appears to be a stall tactic. They’re at the point now where they know POTUS is fucked, so they want to drag out the investigation.
- Spicy Mic: Oh…so NOW we are finally going to report on that SEC hack? Awesome sauce I’m pretty sure that this isn’t isolated and it was part of a much larger & complex cybe-warfare. But meh…I’m just a mic
- Tea Pain: William Barr claims “I will act with the same integrity as I did with the George H. W. Bush administration.” That’s the problem. Barr advocated the pardonin’ of every scoundrel in the Iran-Contra scandal.
- The Dinner of Kings – Rogue WH Snr Advisor – Medium
- Ming: Why and what groups would specifically dislike Strzok? Do those groups overlap? Targeting Strzok was supremely poor decision.
That’s it for Tuesday. Once again, I ran short on time on this article. I should be back to normal in the next couple days.
One spoiler for Wednesday: Nancy Pelosi has uninvited Trump from the Capitol for delivering the State of the Union address. She told him he can either send over a written version, reopen the government, or wait until the government is reopen to deliver his speech.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 