Monday, January 28, 2019
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Roger Stone
- Roger Stone claims he’s been treated worse than Osama bin Laden — who was shot dead, dumped in the ocean
- Key Mueller witness outs Stone for attempted Wikileaks collusion
- Roger Stone Reveals Defense Against Indictment: He Forgot About All Those Texts and Emails
- Trump Camp Pushed Stone for More Wikileaks Info at Key Moment in 2016
- Ricky Davila: The FBI has raided a third location in relation to Roger Stone. 😁
- Countercheckist: I’m enjoying “tough guy” Roger Stone’s new found image as a helpless victim of the big mean FBI. We’re a long way from the days of “snowflake” taunts, “f—k your feelings” and “lock her up!” chants, aren’t we?
- Eric Garland: The only person looking more concerned than this (Pic of Roger Stone) is the 2000 US politicians and business people who partied with him. Because what was on those hard drives they dragged out? I’ll bet it’s not his MP3 collection. But it is audio. And video. Of anybody we know? I’ll bet we’ll find out. 😈
- Roger Stone met with Trump associates hours before raid — and the FBI probably caught it all: CNN’s April Ryan
- Mueller team signals to Stone associate another indictment may be in the works
A defense attorney for Andrew Miller, who’s fighting a subpoena from Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, learned Monday afternoon that the special counsel still wants witness testimony for a federal grand jury.
Paul Kamenar, the defense attorney, says the assertion from Mueller’s team made clear to him that Mueller and the Justice Department are considering an additional indictment of Roger Stone or have plans to charge others.
As I mentioned yesterday Daily Check-In 01/22/2019, things are going to get crazy from here on out. There’s a couple directions this could go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Stone’s associates get charged next, on the way to making the connection to Julian Assange.
Whitaker
- Mueller investigation is ‘close to being completed,’ acting attorney general says
- Tea Pain: Tea Pain takes anything the “manly toilet” salesman says with a grain of salt.
Deripaska
- As Sanctions Lift, Russian Oligarch’s Company Adds Trump Transition Member To Its Board | HuffPost
- A Trump insider got a board position right after the US lifted sanctions on a Russian company
According to bios released by En+, they include Nicholas Jordan, former co-CEO of Goldman Sachs’s Russia business; Carl Hughes, ex-vice chairman of Deloitte’s global energy and resources division; Joan McNaughton, who served as the UK’s director general of energy; and Christopher Bancroft Burnham, chairman and CEO of Cambridge Global Capital LLC, a private investment advisory firm with offices in San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, DC.
“Mr. Burnham is a globally recognised expert in the implementation of accountability and transparency, and the implementation of best practice in government, corporations, and inter-governmental organisations, having served as Under Secretary General for Management of the United Nations [where he worked alongside Trump’s current national security adviser John Bolton] and Under Secretary of State for Management (acting),” the En+ release says. “Mr. Burnham is a former Vice Chairman at Deutsche Bank Asset Management and co-founded and led Deutsche Bank’s direct private equity group, RREEF Capital Partners. Mr. Burnham is also a former Assistant Secretary of State for Resource Management and Chief Financial Officer of the US Department of State.”
The En+ release makes no mention of one other notable position Burnham also held: member of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team.
Burnham’s office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Deripaska’s. OFAC directed Quartz to a statement posted on its website but declined to provide further details about Burnham’s appointment.
Sounds a hell of a lot like a Quid Pro Quo to me. Immediately after the sanctions are released, a member of the Trump Transition Team gets named to the board.
- Judge abruptly cancels ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort’s sentencing in Virginia case
- Caroline Orr: #BREAKING: A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would require special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on the Russia investigation to be turned over to Congress — a step closer to the transparency we need.
- Senators introduce bill to require special counsel report be made public
- Dem lawmaker suggests Erik Prince and Trump Jr. lied to Congress
- ‘I fired Flynn. It’s over’: Trump thought firing solved ‘Russia thing,’ Christie writes
- Kushner’s Clearance Was Denied Due To Foreign Contacts…But He Got It Anyway
- New York Times finds Trump campaign aides, and Trump, too, had plenty of contact with Russians
- Trump AG pick says he’s discussed Mueller probe with Pence
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- Michael Cohen agrees to testify February 8 behind closed doors, House Intel chairman says
- Trump’s fantasy claim that Michael Cohen’s hush-money payments were no crime
- Worker fired from Trump golf course says Trump knew undocumented people were employed
SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION
- ‘It feels like we are still hostages’: Federal contractors who lost health insurance during shutdown remain in limbo
- Backlogs, deadlines and a massive bureaucratic reboot await federal workers after shutdown’s end
- Joshua Tree Suffered ‘Irreparable’ Harm During Shutdown, Could Take 300 Years to Recover: Former Supervisor
- Pelosi Statement on CBO Report on Devastating Economic Impacts of the Trump Shutdown
- The government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, including a permanent $3 billion loss, Congressional Budget Office says
- Post-shutdown negotiations look brutal for Trump
- Trump will secure border ‘with or without Congress,’ Mulvaney says
- AOC: One of these days, I hope people realize that the idea that ICE should be scrapped isn’t so crazy after all. ICE jails children in for-profit detention centers funded by private equity grps. Kids are dying w/ 0 accountability. If that’s not totally broken, I don’t know what is.
- Comedian says Border Patrol agents pulled him off a bus, accused him of having fake asylum papers
- Trump Is Destroying His Own Case for a National Emergency
- Former interpreters for U.S. troops wait out the State Department — and the Taliban — as visas decline
- Ex-Trump aide: Stephen Miller said he’d be happy if no refugee ever again set foot in US
- Stephen Miller May Have Cost Trump the Wall
- Why did it take a month of shutdown to understand that 800,000 federal workers are our neighbors?
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A INDIVIDUAL-1
- The Trump administration gave up on federal oversight of police agencies — just as it was starting to work
- Trump administration announces sanctions targeting Venezuela’s oil industry
- Trump Administration Sits on Hands As Chechnya Disappears LGBT People
- Trump advocates for ‘Bible literacy classes’ in US schools
- ‘I’m Told This Is Where Bill and Monica…’: Trump is Giving White House Tours Because He Doesn’t Have Anything Else to Do
- ‘Want to see the Lincoln bedroom?’: Trump relishes role as White House tour guide
- Trump tells White House visitors Obama ‘watched basketball all day’ in dining room
- As Trump slides in new poll, he retreats deeper into Fox News fantasyland
- Trump Rages at Random California Teen on Twitter for ‘Fake News’
TRAITOR TOTS
CONGRESS
- Pelosi invites Trump to deliver State of the Union on Feb. 5 in the House chamber
- Pelosi invites Trump to hold State of the Union on February 5
- GOP lawmaker: Trump can’t claim emergency ‘whenever Congress doesn’t legislate the way he wants’
- Trump’s Worst Twitter Enemy Is Joining the Team Investigating Him – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and two of her freshmen colleagues have been named to the House Oversight Committee.
- Caroline Orr: #BREAKING: A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would require special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on the Russia investigation to be turned over to Congress — a step closer to the transparency we need.
- Senators introduce bill to require special counsel report be made public
FIGHTING BACK
- Midway through first term, Trump is not meeting the public’s modest expectations for his job performance, poll finds
- Nearly half of Americans say they have no confidence ‘at all’ in Trump: poll
- Ocasio-Cortez: If Trump was gone tomorrow, it wouldn’t change ‘systemic injustices’
- Trump Is a Fraud
RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM
- Ex-Trump aide: Stephen Miller said he’d be happy if no refugee ever again set foot in US
- Racial purity is “scientifically meaningless,” say 8,000 geneticists
- Harris County GOP draws fire for post blaming “leftism” for the Holocaust
- Bishop Talbert Swan: So, @facebook blocked me from posting for the next three days because I exposed the bigots who sent me racist inboxes calling me n*gger and other vile things. It’s amazing that I got blocked for posting what they sent to me but they didn’t get blocked for sending them. WTH?!
- Ann Coulter Rages At ‘Disgraced Politician’ Gingrich After He Tells Trump To Ignore Her
SCOTUS & COURTS
- “These Are Not Normal Nominees”: As Trump Stacks Courts With Far-Right Judges, Dems Urged to Recognize Depth of Crisis
- Ginsburg won’t attend State of the Union address
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- FBI investigates R. Kelly for flying underaged Azriel Clary over state lines.
- R Kelly being investigated by FBI: Report
Azriel Clary, one of Kelly’s alleged victims featured in the Lifetime series Surviving R Kelly, was reportedly flown from Palm Springs to Phoenix to Orlando in May 2015. At the time, she was only 17 years old. Clary’s family says the flights were arranged by Kelly’s personal assistant. The family has not heard from Clary since 2016 and believe she may be Kelly’s “sex slave.”
If the allegations are true, Kelly would be in violation of the Mann Act — the federal law that makes it illegal to transport a minor across state lines for purposes of sex, debauchery or prostitution. Punishment for such a crime is up to 10 years in a federal prison.
R. Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, denied to TMZ that Kelly violated the law and said he was unaware of any investigation. Representatives for the singer also point to a handwritten note from Clary’s mother in which she gave Kelly’s assistant consent to care for her daughter.
The FBI has also been in touch with the family of Jocelyn Savage, another one of Kelly’s alleged sex slaves, TMZ reports.
Since the airing of Surviving R Kelly, there’s been renewed scrutiny over Kelly’s alleged misconduct. While his attorneys maintain that the singer is innocent of all allegations, Kelly himself has ben hiding out in Chicago’s Trump Tower and was recently admitted to the hospital with panic attacks. He’s also been dropped by his longtime record label, and his manager was arrested for making terroristic threats against Kelly’s accusers.
COLD WAR 2.0
- Bill Browder: This is a very ugly development that makes no sense. Letting Deripaska off the hook is a huge gift to Putin at a time when Putin is spreading chaos and crime around the world
- Eric Garland: Boom. Huawei Device USA Inc. and Huawei’s Iranian Subsidiary Skycom Also Named Defendants | Other Charges Include Money Laundering, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Obstruction of Justice and Sanctions Violations
- Chinese Telecommunications Conglomerate Huawei and Huawei CFO Wanzhou Meng Charged with Financial Fraud
- Justice Dept. charges Huawei with fraud, ratcheting up U.S.-China tensions
- 911corlebra777/: If I was an American in China, I would be heading for the nearest airport home right about now
- Order! Order! The sharp-tongued speaker of the House of Commons is changing the rules — and maybe Brexit.
#NEVERAGAIN
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Sarah Huckabee Sanders Bravely Emerges From Her Crypt for the 1st White House Press Briefing in 41 Days
- Fox News anchor defends colleagues after criticism from Trump: ‘This is NOT right’
- CNN anchors mock Fox News hosts insisting Trump didn’t cave: You can tell ‘who still wants to go to Mar-a-Lago’
- Julia Davis: Putin’s popularity ratings are falling, #Skripal poisoners have been ID’d as GRU/GU agents, massive protests are taking place in Magas, Ingushetia over a border deal with Chechnya – guess what they’re talking about ALL DAY on #Russia’s state TV? #Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.
TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, & ECONOMY
- The government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, including a permanent $3 billion loss, Congressional Budget Office says
- Trump Economy Lags Clinton’s, Obama’s, Reagan’s and Even Carter’s
- U.S. Treasury Set to Borrow $1 Trillion for a Second Year to Finance the Deficit
- Why Trump’s $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut Hasn’t Sparked Hiring or Investment
- $1.5 trillion tax cut had no major impact on business spending
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 70 Percent Tax on the Rich Isn’t About Revenue, It’s About Decreasing Inequality. Progressive taxation should work as a corrective tax, like tobacco taxes or a carbon tax, fixing the problems created by exploitative capitalism
- Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost
- Citing $750 Million Tax Break for Amazon While Students Suffer, Teachers Walk Out in Virginia
- Top GOP senators propose repealing estate tax, which is expected to be paid by fewer than 2,000 Americans a year
- Elizabeth Warren Does Teddy Roosevelt – Taxing the superrich is an idea whose time has come — again.
- Rubio Debuts Bill to Block Non-Competes in Low-Skill Industries
- A Year After ‘One of the Greatest Heists in US History,’ Survey Confirms Corporate Tax Cuts Didn’t Lead to Hiring and Raises for Workers
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- House Republicans don’t have an agenda beyond supporting Trump and building the wall
- Have Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party Deserted Democracy?
- Opinion | Memo to Republicans: ‘Trump first’ is not the same thing as ‘America first’
- New Jersey state senator leaves GOP, giving Dems largest majority in decades
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- ‘Greed’ fueled Insys founder’s opioid bribe scheme: prosecutor
- Justice Dept. charges Huawei with fraud, ratcheting up U.S.-China tensions
- Amazon facial-identification software used by police falls short on tests for accuracy and bias, new research finds
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- Racial purity is “scientifically meaningless,” say 8,000 geneticists
- LSD-Tripping Brains Reveal How the Drug Creates the Psychedelic Experience
- Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost
- The 10,000-step goal isn’t based on science, but it’s still a decent idea
- Trump mocks climate change as polar vortex threatens Midwest
- Exclusive: Trump EPA won’t limit 2 toxic chemicals in drinking water
- Kamala Harris endorses Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’
THINKING AHEAD
- Harris on health care: “We need to have Medicare-for-all”
- Kamala Harris endorses Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’
- Hillary Clinton advisers keep floating another run in 2020. It would be nearly unprecedented in the modern political era.
- The Last Thing America Needs Right Now is a ‘Centrist Independent’
- Michael Bloomberg Says A Third-Party Candidate Would Help Re-elect Trump
- Howard Schultz Heckled at Book Event: ‘Don’t Help Elect Trump, You Egotistical, Billionaire A**hole’
- Howard Schultz Gets Shouted Down At Book Event: ’Don’t Help Elect Trump!’
- We Don’t Need Another Billionaire Businessman Candidate
- Howard Schultz’s amateur-hour politics: Please God, not another egotistical billionaire
- Howard Schultz’s Appearance on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Podcast Should Tank His Presidential Candidacy
PROGRESS IS PROGRESS
IN OTHER NEWS…
- Lifestyle guru B. Smith has Alzheimer’s. Her husband has a girlfriend. Her fans aren’t having it.
- SAG Awards: 10 things to know, from John Krasinski’s tears to Patricia Arquette thanking Robert Mueller
- Atlanta was a nightlife ‘mecca.’ Then the Super Bowl murders involving Ray Lewis happened.
RUMOR MILL
- Thread by @mgranville1: “BREAKING: @SenSanders like you’ve never seen him!! Bernie and Jane on their honeymoon in Russia singing “This land is Your Land” with their […]”
- Chris Vickery: I’m a little hesitant to point out this next item, but we need to brainstorm defenses. If you think the West has seen the power of combined foreign troll armies with domestic collaborators, take a seat. You haven’t seen anything yet. THREAD
- Thread by @VickerySec: “I’m a little hesitant to point out this next item, but we need to brainstorm defenses. If you think the West has seen the power of combined […]”
- Democratic House hints that it’s targeting Mitch McConnell over Kremlin money
- Countercheckist: I’m enjoying “tough guy” Roger Stone’s new found image as a helpless victim of the big mean FBI. We’re a long way from the days of “snowflake” taunts, “f—k your feelings” and “lock her up!” chants, aren’t we?
- Eric Garland: The only person looking more concerned than this (Pic of Roger Stone) is the 2000 US politicians and business people who partied with him. Because what was on those hard drives they dragged out? I’ll bet it’s not his MP3 collection. But it is audio. And video. Of anybody we know? I’ll bet we’ll find out. 😈
- Ming: Ming bet Dir Brennan know a lot more than that Russian pussy Whitaker.
- Tea Pain: Tea Pain takes anything the “manly toilet” salesman says with a grain of salt.
That’s it for Monday. After the last couple days, it’s nice to get a little bit of a breather. And by that, I mean that it wasn’t a complete and total clusterfuck.
Now that we’re in Phase III, expect to see some weird shit. We’re about to see some historic levels of flailing around. Not just from Trump, but also from those that benefit from him and the GOP policies.
Take Howard Schultz for example. Here’s another rich guy who labels themselves as a “Centrist Independent” and is contemplating running, but won’t make up his mind until later. If he runs, it’ll be as a third party candidate, and most likely against a Democratic nominee like Warren or Harris. You know, one of those “evil lefty socialists” who think that rich people should pay their fair share of taxes. The nightmare scenario is the “Centrist” (Read: Corporate Shithole) declaring a third party run and trying to siphon votes off of Warren/Harris, which would allow Trump to win. Of course, this assumes a hell of a lot, like Trump will run in 2020. I personally think that has a very small chance of happening, like less than 25%.
I’m not sure what’s coming around the corner, but I will always remember this phrase from a poster I had as a kid:
The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train.
I’m just one giant fucking ray of sunshine, aren’t I?
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 