Daily Check-In 02/08/2019

Friday, February 8, 2019 and the weekend.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

• Fired FBI deputy director: Trump directed Rosenstein to write Comey memo
• Trump ordered Justice Department to draft memo advising firing of Comey, former deputy FBI director claims | Andrew McCabe memoir compares US president and his entourage to ‘criminal brigade’ 
• Rosenstein did not want to write memo justifying Comey firing – new book

The deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, privately complained that he was ordered by president Donald Trump to write the notorious memo justifying the firing of the FBI director James Comey, according to Comey’s former deputy.

Andrew McCabe writes in a new book that Rosenstein, who has publicly defended the memo, lamented that the president had directed him to rationalise Comey’s dismissal, which is now the subject of inquiries into whether Trump obstructed justice.

Rosenstein made his remarks in a private meeting at the justice department on 12 May 2017, according to McCabe’s memoir, which also accuses Trump of operating like a criminal mob boss and of unleashing a “strain of insanity” in American public life.

McCabe recalls Rosenstein being “glassy-eyed”, visibly upset and sounding emotional after coming to believe the White House was using him as a scapegoat for Comey’s dismissal.

“He said it wasn’t his idea. The president had ordered him to write the memo justifying the firing,” McCabe writes. Rosenstein said he was having trouble sleeping, McCabe writes. “There’s no one here that I can trust,” he is quoted as saying.

McCabe’s book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, is due on sale later this month. A copy was obtained by the Guardian prior to its release.

• EXCLUSIVE: Sessions Ordered Two Comey Memos; Rosenstein Will Not Recuse Rod Rosenstein asked by Jeff Sessions to write two memos on Comey – good and bad. Rosenstein won’t recuse patribotics.blog       
• Louise Mensch: Today, accounts of former FBI Director Andy McCabe’s book confirm my exclusive report of last year: Rod Rosenstein was ordered to write the memo giving the reasons for firing @Comey. The order is described as coming from Trump, so would have been delivered via @jeffsessions. Rosenstein as I reported almost *two years ago* was directly ordered to provide ‘negative side’ reasons for firing @Comey, then his memo was used as the excuse. That is why DAG Rosenstein considered resignation and that is why patriots scrambled to stop him. Fortunately his anger passed and was replaced with resolve. Details in my exclusive, above.

One of the long lasting threads that has been begging to be pulled ever since this mess started was why did Rod Rosenstein write the memo that justified firing James Comey?  Why would he voluntarily do that?

Turns out, just like was surmised earlier, he was ordered to.

According to a new book by Andrew McCabe, DAG Rosenstein told him that he was ordered to write a memo about James Comey that gave a justification to fire him.  This lines up with a report Louise broke almost two years ago where she said that Rosenstein was ordered to write two memos, so as to not draw too much suspicion from him.  The first was a recommendation to keep Comey on board, while the other was a justification to fire him.  Trump used the justification memo and fired Comey, putting Rosenstein in the middle of the shit sandwich.

 

Manafort

• Manafort May Have Lied to Boost Chance at Pardon, Mueller Says
• Here’s why Mueller is so interested in Paul Manafort’s time on Trump’s campaign

 

Stone

• Roger Stone argues against gag order, says he’s no Kim Kardashian
• Roger Stone says he shouldn’t be subject to a gag order because he’s less popular on Instagram than Kim Kardashian 
• Roger Stone to Federal Judge: Don’t Gag Me, and Get Off My Case 
• Roger Stone tried to induce ‘heart attacks and strokes’ on Corsi: lawsuit
• Mueller: It’s time to gag Roger Stone 

 

Butina & Erickson

• Maria Butina Isn’t Done Cooperating With U.S. Prosecutors
• Accused Russian spy Marina Butina wants 14 more days to square her account with US investigators
• The NRA Welcomed Maria Butina—Even As She Worked to Arm Anti-American Thugs Abroad
• Indicted political operative Paul Erickson appeared in unlikely places

 

• Donald Trump Jr. ‘Expects to Be Indicted’ and is in ‘More Immediate Jeopardy’ than Jared Kushner, Journalist Says 
• Trump Administration Still Hasn’t Explained Decision to Ease Russia Sanctions Targeting Vladimir Putin Ally 
• Adam Schiff: Our investigation will make sure that the President is working in the national interest, not acting because of any pecuniary interest or fear of any compromise. That he’s looking out for the American people, and not his bank account. That’s what our investigation is about.

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

Inauguration

• Trump inaugural committee spent $175k per day for event space at Trump hotel: report 
• Eric Umanski: Scoop from @JustinElliott & WNYC’s @ilyamarritz — who’ve found: 1. The Trump inauguration paid the Trump hotel an “egregious” amount of $$. 2. The deal may violate the law against self-dealing.
• New Evidence Emerges of Possible Wrongdoing by Trump Inaugural Committee
• David Farenthold: Damn! Trump’s inaugural was paying @realDonaldTrump’s Hotel $175,000 PER DAY for event space.
• Asha Rangappa: This has to be an obvious pattern to everyone by now. Fred Trump built his empire by basically paying himself marked-up “expenses” for his apartment buildings and evading taxes. Trump Foundation used charitable donations as a personal slush fund. THIS FAMILY IS A SLEAZEFEST. BTW, would love for this to actually get some attention at some point, since it got buried in all of the Kavanaugh nonsense — amazing reporting and shows how the whole family is built on a scam.
• Spicy Mic: PURPOSE: I am going to walk you through the methodology and various steps I use when sourcing receipts via Open Source Data. At all relevant times I will link to the original data source. Knowledge is power and sharing is caring. Trump’s Inauguration Fund 🇷🇺THREAD 🇷🇺
• Thread by @SpicyFiles: “PURPOSE: I am going to walk you through the methodology and various steps I… Thread by @SpicyFiles: “PURPOSE: I am going to walk you through the methodology and various steps I use when sourcing receipts via Open Sourc relevant times I will link to the original data source…. threadreaderapp.com       
• Eric Garland: $730,000 for bands? Did Tom Barrack dig up Michael Jackson and have him re-animated? Holographic Frank Sinatra with CGI Led Zeppelin? What in the ass is this expense?
• Spicy Mic: I mean Trump’s inauguration artist list was: 3 Doors Down Toby Keith Big & Rich Jackie Evancho members of the Rockettes $729,217 Goddamnit I’m removing 3Doors down from my playlist, the other “artist”…who da frick are they😂🤣😂
• Eric Garland: CRITICAL THREAD: Anonymous donors, $700,000 for bands for only three balls, $25,000,000 for new LLCs – the Trump Inauguration
• Eric Garland: They set up those sweet contracts for the companies, some brand new. Also, $4 million for TICKETING? Were the invites on silk with gold stitching?

Cavalier Consulting. 1701 West 31st Street in Austin, TX. 78703.  $3,999,585 for ticketing services?  This smells like financial crimes.

Remember what I said a few days ago about round numbers in the real world? (Daily Check-In 02/04/2019). That applies here.  That number is $415 shy of 4 million.  And a lot of other purchases and expenses that come out to very round numbers.  Smells like money laundering.

 

Illegal Immigrants Working for Trump

• ‘My whole town practically lived there’: From Costa Rica to New Jersey, a pipeline of illegal workers for Trump goes back years
• Analysis: Trump once advocated a ‘huge financial penalty’ for those employing undocumented workers
• Pipeline of illegal workers for Trump goes back years

 

• Firm owned by Trump’s longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller has received $225,000 from Republican National Committee 
• New Trump Probe Looks a Lot Like a RICO Investigation

 

THE ULTIMATE COCKFIGHT: BEZOS’S PECKER VS. DAVID PECKER

• Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of ‘Extortion and Blackmail’
• Bezos Could Put National Enquirer Brass in Jail
• Attorney claims National Enquirer threat to publish Bezos photos was ‘journalism,’ not blackmail
• Federal prosecutors reviewing Bezos’s extortion claim against National Enquirer, sources say
• Federal Prosecutors to Review National Enquirer’s Conduct Regarding Bezos
• Jeff Bezos accuses the National Enquirer (not us) of blackmail | TheINQUIRER 
• Jeff Bezos essentially accused the National Enquirer of having a political motive for exposing his affair, and insinuated a Trump connection
• Jeff Bezos, long known for guarding his privacy, faces his most public and personal crisis
• Jeff Bezos’ Damning Medium Post Pulls Back the Curtain on Something Much Larger The Amazon CEO’s dick-pic-blackmail story about the ‘National Enquirer’ might, in the end, involve President Trump
• Jeff Bezos’ Extortion Claim Said to Be Under Review by Prosecutors
• Former National Enquirer editor: David Pecker ‘may end up doing time’ 
• Others who tangled with National Enquirer say its tactics are not new
• Private Eyes Detail Inner Workings of National Enquirer ‘Blackmail’ Machine
• The National Enquirer Picked the Wrong Man to Bully 
• The National Enquirer’s tactics have been revealed. But they’re not new.
• National Enquirer’s parent says it will ‘thoroughly investigate’ extortion allegations made by Jeff Bezos
• From last week: Roger Stone denies hacking Jeff Bezos’ phone even though no one asked if he did

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is personally funding an investigation into how his texts ended up in the hands of the National Enquirer — and an associate of Roger Stone’s is now being questioned.

The Daily Beast reports that the investigation has questioned Michael Sanchez, the brother of Bezos’ mistress, Lauren Sanchez. Bezos’ personal security consultant, Gavin de Becker, confirmed as much on the record. Equally interesting, though, is that Sanchez is an associate of numerous individuals in President Trump’s orbit, including former advisers Roger Stone and Carter Page.

When reached for comment by The Daily Beast, Stone denied hacking Bezos’ phone, despite not actually being asked if he had done it. When this was pointed out to him, Stone replied, “You are busted. You are not a journalist. No one believes anything you write.” Stone had previously gone on InfoWars to claim he was about to be accused by The Daily Beast of hacking Bezos’ phone, which, again, the publication never suggested.

Investigators are leaning toward the belief that the leaking of Bezos’ texts to the Trump-friendly National Enquirer was politically motivated, the report says. Bezos owns The Washington Post and has been a frequent target of Trump’s, and de Becker says “strong leads point to political motives.” Documents reportedly show Sanchez discussing theEnquirer‘s reporting on Bezos’ affair with Stone and Page after it was published. But Sanchez himself has apparently insisted to investigators that the “deep state” was probably responsible for the leak. Naturally, they have “not taken that possibility seriously.” Brendan Morrow

• Ronan Farrow: I and at least one other prominent journalist involved in breaking stories about the National Enquirer’s arrangement with Trump fielded similar “stop digging or we’ll ruin you” blackmail efforts from AMI. (I did not engage as I don’t cut deals with subjects of ongoing reporting.)
• National Enquirer says it will ‘thoroughly investigate’ extortion allegations made by Jeff Bezos
• What happens when billionaires battle gossipmongers? Prepare for explosions.
• John Schindler: Bezos’ security guru de Becker is said to have fingered a “government agency” behind the leak of private text messages to AMI. Note he did not specify which country’s spy agency. Developing….more shortly.
• Inside the Spy Scandal at the Heart of Jeff Bezos’ War With the National Enquirer
• Tea Pain: Will Trump go down with Pecker?
• Lincoln’s Bible: Alright. I’m going to do it, b/c everyone else in this damn town is too stupid or too afraid to do so. MSM is all a buzz about Sanchez’s brother’s links to Page & Roger Stone. But he’s not the one who took $400 million from Mohammad Bone Saw, & a shit ton more via SoftBank. Btw – divorced parents with kids still in school, how’s it go in your house? You still see your ex?
• Patrick Whitesell, the Husband of Lauren Sanchez, Is One of the Most Powerful Men in Hollywood
• Juliette Kayyem: A few notes on Bezos’ security apparatus. The guys I knew at FBI and Secret Service often ended up in VIP Protection, a lucrative post-government position where salaries can be in the high 6 digits. It’s a serious job, especially to protect the richest of the rich. THREAD
• Thread by @juliettekayyem: “A few notes on Bezos’ security apparatus. The guys I knew at FBI and Secret Service often ended up in VIP Protection, a lucrative post-gover […]”
• Bill Kristol: The Saudi-Pecker scandal could be a more sordid but also more serious version of the Iran-Contra scandal, because it could implicate the sitting president directly.
• Rick Wilson: Oh, I know you’re already steaming, @realdonaldtrump, but I also want to remind you that your *actual* net worth is rounding error for Jeff Bezos.
• Claude Taylor: This is the big story. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bought Trump. Kushner’s the bag man. Trump has been selling US Foreign Policy since day 1.
• Trump biographer says president had him investigated to get him to back off: “The whole model is extortion” 
• Reporter: Bezos investigator believes ‘government entity’ may have obtained texts
• Saudi official denies kingdom was involved in leak of Bezos’ private texts
• Reddit: Was Israeli spyware “Pegasus” how AMI hacked Bezos?

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1

Failure to Follow the Global Magnitsky Act

• Trump accused of breaking law after refusing to report to Congress on Khashoggi’s brutal killing 
• Trump has done everything he can to avoid implicating the Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi’s killing. Today, the Senate could force him to act
• Trump Defies Congressional Deadline on Khashoggi Report
• Bill Browder: Very worrying development. Trump administration defies bipartisan call of congress to provide response to official congressional request for implementation of the Global Magnitsky Act on Mohammed Bin Salman over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
• MSW Podcast: Trump is now in violation of The Magnitsky Act.
• Venture Capital: 🔥Isn’t this interesting⁉️The White House refused to meet the Senate deadline on sanctions for the Khashoggi killing. Trump’s excuse⁉️ He “maintains his discretion to decline to act on congressional committee requests when APPROPRIATE”. 😳WHOA

 

Physical

• Trump’s doctor says he is in ‘very good health’ after exam by 11 specialists
• Trump in ‘very good health,’ physician says
• Yet another Trump doctor has contracted Trumpitis
• Obama health official blasts Trump’s physical exam: ‘No doctor can predict someone’s future health’ 
• Dr. Dena Grayson: 👇🏼EXACTLY👇🏼Medical propaganda coming from the WH Physician about @realDonaldTrump’s future “health.” NO ONE can predict a person’s health 2 years from now (let alone next month) with such “certainty.”🙄
• Jim Acosta: WH Physician: Trump “in very good health… will remain so for the duration of his Presidency, and beyond.”
• Angry White House Staffer: Well… They can throw this bullshit straight in the trash with the “healthiest individual ever elected to the Presidency” crap that Trump had his personal doctors dictate
• Ronald Klain: No doctor can predict someone’s future health. This is a disgrace to an office with a great tradition of professionalism. Just another institution turned into a joke by a President determined to make anyone willing to submit an instrument of his lies

 

• Trump biographer says president had him investigated to get him to back off: “The whole model is extortion” 
• Trump blames Senate for not approving nominees but ignores his poor record
• Trump campaign paid legal fees to firm representing Jared Kushner
• Trump Jr. Proves the Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree, Praises Dad for Wildly Inappropriate Trail of Tears of Jab 
• Trump says Democrats ‘cannot legitimately win’ 2020 presidential election 
• Trump’s odd, half-hearted pitch for infrastructure legislation
• Trump’s top 5 State of the Union policy proposals, ranked from ‘might happen’ to ‘absolutely, definitely not’
• Trump Administration Wants to Deny Health Care to LGBTQ People 

 

TRAITOR TOTS

Whitaker

• Matt Whitaker Headed To Trump Hotel After Hearing And People Are Talking 
• Matt Whitaker: Ex-FBI official says he’s “interviewed terrorists who are more cooperative and respectful” 
• Matthew Whitaker’s five minutes are up 
• Whitaker Admits DOJ Didn’t Track Children Separated From Parents, Gets Asked, ‘Do You Understand The Magnitude Of That?’
• Whitaker Attempts To Use Five-Minute Rule To Avoid Nadler Question
• ‘Mr. chairman, I see that your 5 minutes is up’: Matthew Whitaker’s very shaky start
• Whitaker says he did not discuss Mueller investigation with Trump
• Acting AG Matthew Whitaker was spotted at Trump’s hotel hours after testifying to Congress about his oversight of the DOJ
• Democrat angrily rebukes Whitaker’s dodging questions: “We are not joking here, and your humor is not acceptable” 
• Former top FBI official Chuck Rosenberg says Whitaker testimony “disgraceful”
• Ex-DOJ official: Whitaker testimony ‘an embarrassment to the Department of Justice’
• Nadler Says He Needs More Answers From Whitaker And May Issue Subpoena 
• Acting attorney general won’t discuss communications with Trump at hearing
• Caroline Orr: Acting Attorney General Whitaker just referred to fentanyl as a non-prescription illicit drug. It’s not. It’s a synthetic opioid pain reliever, approved by the FDA for treating severe pain — typically advanced cancer pain.
• MSW Podcast: We’ve always referred to the Acting Attorney General as Matthew Fucking Whitaker, but I love @MollyJongFast calling him Hot Tub Crime Machine.
• Manu Raju: Whitaker won’t say to @tedlieu if he agrees there’s nothing in the Constitution that says a sitting president can’t be indicted. Whitaker instead points to DOJ policy saying a president can’t be indicted. It goes on like that for a bit, then Lieu submits Constitution for record
• The Moscow Project: Sounds like Matt Whitaker’s having some trouble remembering the numbers in the Russia investigation. Maybe he should stop by our office and check out the stats on our big board.
• Walter Shaub: Whitaker: “I did not receive any written advice from the career ethics officials.” Make a note of this claim. I sincerely hope that any ethics official in possession of an email containing recusal advice to Whitaker will immediately supply that email to DOJ’s Inspector General.

 

• Ivanka Trump claims President had ‘zero’ involvement in security clearances for her, Jared Kushner
• Ivanka Trump says she knew ‘almost nothing’ about Trump Tower Moscow project
• Ivanka Trump SLAMS art exhibit called ‘Ivanka Vacuuming
• Melania Trump’s Friend Reportedly Told Her That Be Best ‘Sounded Illiterate’ 

 

FIGHTING BACK

• Congress is already considering impeachment — but won’t admit it 
• It’s Time to Impeach Trump 
• Why the Moscow Tower Deal is an Impeachable Offense 
• Protesters Raise Funds To Transport Trump Baby Blimp In Time For President’s El Paso Rally 
• GoFundMe group reaches fundraising goal to bring ‘Trump baby’ blimp to El Paso 
• Mexico’s former president drops F-bomb in describing Trump’s approach to the world 

 

CONGRESS

• After being waylaid by the shutdown, House Democrats are moving ahead on health care, guns and the environment
• New Documents Show Acting Attorney General Failed to Pay Back Funds After Company Charged with Bilking Consumers
• New Documents Show Acting Attorney General Failed to Pay Back Funds After Company Charged with Bilking Consumers
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out Trump in five-minute corruption game 
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Exposes The Dark Side Of Politics In 5 Incredible Minutes
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “lightning round” on money in politics goes viral
• Video: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Plays Scathing ‘Corruption Game’: ‘It’s Already Super Legal for Me to Be a Bad Guy, So It’s Even Easier for the President’
• Watch: This Viral Video of Ocasio-Cortez Explaining “Fundamentally Broken” US Democracy Has Been Viewed More Than 16 Million Times 
• Texas councilman calls Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a ‘bimbo’ before apologizing and deleting account 
• A Texas council member called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a ‘bimbo’ on Twitter. He has deleted his account.
• Ocasio-Cortez hits at ‘Fox & Friends’ hosts: ‘I actually care about my community’ 
• Ocasio-Cortez tears into ‘intellectually bankrupt’ GOP over ‘targeted rumors’ 
• The many investigations into the administration of Barack Obama

 

SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

• Border talks at impasse as shutdown looms Friday, officials say
• Legal Expert: Trump Engaged in a ‘Multi-State Criminal Conspiracy’ to Violate Immigration and Human Trafficking Laws 
• This petty poster war says everything you need to know about the immigration debate in Congress
• Trump once advocated a ‘huge financial penalty’ for those employing undocumented immigrants
• Gearing Up for Possibility of Another Trump Shutdown, Airport Workers Ready Mass Protests in 80 Major Cities 
• Shutdown Leaves Trump With Worst Monthly Approval Rating in His Presidency 
• Trump border wall could split SpaceX’s Texas launchpad in two
• O’Rourke to lead anti-wall march during Trump Texas rally 
• Beto O’Rourke to join anti-wall march in El Paso as Trump holds a rally for it one mile away
• Trump to spotlight El Paso as proof that walls lower crime. Statistics — and Beto O’Rourke — say otherwise.
• Republican El Paso mayor says he will “absolutely” tell Donald Trump he’s wrong about crime in his city 
• Trump’s troop deployment strung ‘lethal’ razor wire on the border. This city has had enough.

 

VIRGINIA

• Va. Gov. Ralph Northam says he wants to focus rest of his term on racial equity
• Calls mount for Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax to resign after second sex assault accusation
• Democrats call for Va. Lt. Gov. Fairfax to resign amid new sex assault allegation
• In his first TV interview since blackface scandal Va. Gov. Northam vows: ‘I’m not going anywhere’
• Second woman accuses Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault
• She spoke out on sex assault long before she accused Va.’s lieutenant governor
• They were 12 when they made Virginia history. On the day that should have been celebrated, the focus turned to blackface.
• Virginia lieutenant governor embattled by new sex allegation
• ‘Just say you’re wrong’: Virginians weigh futures of Northam, Fairfax, Herring
• Northam blackface scandal forces Virginians to talk about what redemption for racism should look like
• On Virginia’s rural Eastern Shore, Northam’s views of race took root
• Black voters struggle with racism in both the Democratic and Republican parties
• Blackface is white supremacy as fashion — and it’s always been in season
• Blackface Scandal Spreads to Mississippi and Its Republican Gubernatorial Candidate 
• Fairfax calls on FBI to investigate sexual assault allegations against him 
• Key supporters tell Justin Fairfax to step down after 2nd sexual assault allegation
• Was everyone terrible 30 years ago?

 

RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM

• Conservatives Give Trump a Pass for Referencing Genocide to Mock Elizabeth Warren — They’ll jump through hoops to excuse his racism 
• Donald Trump Jr. applauds racist Native American jokes, calls father’s joke about Elizabeth Warren ‘savage’ 
• Blackface is white supremacy as fashion — and it’s always been in season
• Blackface Scandal Spreads to Mississippi and Its Republican Gubernatorial Candidate 
• Fox News pundit says Trump’s too ignorant to make racist ‘Trail of Tears’ taunt 
• Trump supporter spreads fake news about NC governor, yearbook photo
• One of Trump’s most vocal black supporters seemed to defend Hitler in a recent speech

 

Trail of Tears

• ‘He’s Making Fun of Genocide’: Trump Appears to Joke About Trail of Tears in Tweet Mocking Elizabeth Warren 
• Donald Trump Appears to Joke About Native American Genocide In Tweet Mocking Elizabeth Warren 
• Donald Trump Thinks the Trail of Tears Is Worth a Joke 
• Trump and Don Jr. Seem to Think That the Genocide of Native Americans is Funny 

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

• Warnings of Trumpism ‘Forever’ as Senate GOP Rams Through 44 Lifetime Judges in One Day
• SCOTUS Ignores First Amendment, Allows Alabama to Force Muslim Man to Have Protestant Chaplain at Execution 
• ‘We Won’t Forget’: New Digital Ad Campaign Targets Susan Collins Over Kavanaugh Vote. “Collins promised to protect women’s rights. It was all a sham.” 
• ‘Paging Senator Collins—This Is on You’: Efforts to Oust Maine Republican Intensify After Kavanaugh’s Anti-Abortion Vote – “Brett Kavanaugh has declared war on Roe, and Susan Collins is the one who made it possible.” 
• The Only Human Surprised by Brett Kavanaugh’s Abortion Vote Is Susan Collins 
• Susan Collins Attracts Lots of Out of State Cash After Confirming Brett Kavanaugh 
• Susan Collins Intentionally Misled the Public about Kavanaugh: She Must be Held Accountable for Kavanaugh’s War on Roe
• Brett Kavanaugh Is Already Done Pretending He Respects Abortion Rights – And Susan Collins is to blame. 
• Brett Kavanaugh Just Declared War on Roe v. Wade
• Kavanaugh Just Showed How He’d Roll Back Abortion — Without Overturning Roe v. Wade

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

• Military women report they are being denied access to birth control for ‘ridiculous’ reasons that may violate Pentagon policy
• How President Trump is trying to sensationalize abortion

 

COLD WAR 2.0

• Prominent Uyghur musician tortured to death in China’s re-education camp
• Report: U.S.-Based Plane Caught Bringing Arms into Venezuela
• The accidental leader: How Juan Guaidó became the face of Venezuela’s uprising
• Trump announces that he and Kim Jong Un will meet in Hanoi, Vietnam
• Donald Trump once praised China’s crackdown at Tiananmen Square as showing ‘the power of strength’ 
• In Syria, U.S.-backed forces launch battle for last Islamic State foothold

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

• Saudi Arabia ‘Asked Vice for Help’ to Create Pro-Saudi Network: WSJ
• Saudi Arabia Sought Vice’s Help to Build a Media Empire
• Bill Browder: According to the NY Times, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was discussed by the Crown Prince a year before it was carried out. If this can be proven, there is no reasonable excuse not to sanction him under the Global Magnitsky Act ASAP.
• Ken Dilanian: New: Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir on Jamal Khashoggi: “Mistakes happen. We acknowledge that this was a huge mistake.” Per @JoshNBCNews
• Renato Mariotti: A mistake is when you forget to turn off the oven, not when you brutally murder a journalist and hack his body into pieces.

 

#NEVERAGAIN

• David Hogg: Matt Gaetz is the Steve King of Florida. Be a leader and put country over party @GOPLeader take action and remove Matt Gaetz.
• GOP lawmaker condemned for inviting Holocaust denier to State of the Union
• CNN’s Chris Cuomo blasts Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on gun violence, ‘you guys have never done a damn thing’
• CNN’s Chris Cuomo to Rep. Matt Gaetz: You Use Murder Victims for Political Convenience
• Shannon Watts: Imagine being a Congressman from Florida and using your twitter feed to target a teen gun violence survivor from Parkland just days before the one year commemoration of the mass shooting. #flapol
• Shannon Watts: BREAKING: Lawmakers demand documents about @NRA President Wayne LaPierre after reporting by The Trace’s shows gun lobby group used shell companies to support Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and some Senate races.
• His brother gunned down 17 people. But he’s the only family Zach Cruz has left.
• Washington voters said yes to tough new gun law; at least 13 county sheriffs say no to enforcing it 

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

• Democrat Proposes Jail Time For Tech Companies Who Steal Your Data – The Ring of Fire Network
• ‘There’s going to be a fight here to weaken it’: Inside the lobbying war over California’s landmark privacy law

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

Foreign Influence on the Internet

• Google ‘agrees deal with Russia to censor Government-banned websites’
• Bill Browder: Google, the company who’s motto is “don’t be evil” does a deal with Russian government to ban websites that Putin doesn’t like, including anti corruption exposes, from its searches. That seems pretty evil to me.
• Bill Browder: Just after Google agrees to a major Russian censorship deal to operate in Russia, Reddit takes $210m from China’s Tencent. The ability to challenge dictators on the Internet is being challenged from all sides
• China’s censored atrocities exposed

 

• Opinion | How viral moments and memes are masking and normalizing Trump’s bigotry
• Fox & Friends host says he hasn’t washed hands in 10 years: ‘Germs are not a real thing — I can’t see them’
• Fox News pundit says Trump’s too ignorant to make racist ‘Trail of Tears’ taunt 
• Fox News’ Chris Wallace Hits GOP for Complaining About Investigations: Remember Benghazi?
• Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Gets Fact-Checked On Own Show Over Green New Deal 
• A former Fox News reporter will take over the State Department’s effort to counter foreign propaganda. 

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

• White House aggressively hunting “executive time” leaker who embarrassed Trump by revealing empty schedule 
• White House hunts for ‘executive time’ schedule leaker

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

• Facing opposition, Amazon reconsiders NY headquarters site, two officials say
• Amazon could be reconsidering its NYC headquarters site due to local opposition
• Amazon is reconsidering its New York headquarters site because of local opposition
• ‘People Shouldn’t Be Going Bankrupt and Dying’: Nationwide Week of Action Aims to Build Mass Movement Behind Medicare for All
• Billionaires are storing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of art on superyachts 
• Federal Reserve chair calls income inequality the biggest challenge in next 10 years
• Millions of Americans won’t get a tax refund and might have to pay 
• Raise the Wage Act 2019: House bill would raise the minimum wage to $15 
• Schumer announces fentanyl sanctions bill before China talks 
• Study Shows Richest 0.00025% Owns More Wealth Than Bottom 150 Million Americans 
• Tax code changes leave Americans asking, ‘What happened to my refund?’
• Wealth concentration near ‘levels last seen during the Roaring Twenties,’ study finds 
• Wealth concentration returning to ‘levels last seen during the Roaring Twenties,’ according to new research
• Average tax refund down 8.4 percent in first filing week 
• Illinois Senate passes bill raising minimum wage to $15
• Most Americans Support Warren’s ‘Ultramillionare Tax’
• Senator’s offer to help patient get cheap insulin goes nowhere
• The vanishing jobs the Labor Department can’t track anymore

 

STUDENT ISSUES

• At these schools, later start times get an A-plus for youths needing more sleep

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

• Warnings of Trumpism ‘Forever’ as Senate GOP Rams Through 44 Lifetime Judges in One Day
• Bill Maher: Stop saying both parties are equally to blame for the mess we’re in. Congress isn’t broken, the Republican party is broken. VIDEO
• GOP Warns That Releasing Trump’s Taxes Could Lead to More Transparency
• Wisconsin GOP billing taxpayers almost twice as much as Democratic governor for lawyers in lame-duck lawsuits 

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

• Angry over being kicked out, he shot his grandfather — then tried to cut off the 84-year-old’s head
• Matt Golsteyn planned to join the CIA and go to Iraq. Now he faces a murder charge.

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

• Amid wavering support from his base, Trump doubles down on evangelicals
• In revering Trump, the religious right has laid bare its hypocrisy 
• Caroline Orr: “since 1998, roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders & volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct…They left behind more than 700 victims, many of them shunned by their churches…Some were urged to forgive their abusers or get abortions.”
• 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

• Measles is deadly. Vaccines are not. We need our laws to reflect this reality 
• Another measles outbreak: A pediatrician answers your vaccine questions
• Anti-vaxxer movement fueling global  resurgence of measles, say WHO
• Amid Measles Outbreak, Washington State Legislators Consider Bill To Remove Personal Belief As Reason To Forgo MMR Vaccine
• ‘It will take off like a wildfire’: The unique dangers of the Washington state measles outbreak
• Washington measles outbreak draws crowd to hearing on vaccine law
• Rogue Senior White House Advisor: All the people saying the Green New Deal isn’t feasible bc of how much it will cost are the same people who said we needed to spend billions on redundant fighter jets. Hypocrisy, it’s the lifeblood of the Right.
• Kamala Harris: World-renowned climate scientists have warned us. We either act now to radically combat climate change or we will face major global climate catastrophes. We can no longer make excuses — we need to fight to preserve our future.
• Once flat and wide on the old frontier, Western cityscapes are now rising tall and sleek
• The U.S. really could end AIDS — if the Trump administration gets out of the way: Scientists and experts need money, not ideology, from the White House.
• Athletes love icing sore muscles, but that cold therapy might make things worse
• Hawaii could soon ban killing sharks in pioneering law
• This photographer documented Syria’s ancient monuments, unaware they would be ravaged by war
• What happened when I told Marie Kondo I have a better, higher-tech method of tidying up

 

ELECTIONS

• A grandma helped her boyfriend register to vote. She was just sentenced to prison for it.
• An Ohio city did what the US should do: make Election Day a day off work
• Colorado Senate passes bill to essentially eliminate Electoral College 
• Liberals eye 2020 takeover of Wisconsin Supreme Court
• The Founders Created the Electoral College to Prevent a Foreign-Influenced Candidate From Winning—It Didn’t Stop Trump, So Let’s Scrap It 
• This Austin Resident Was On Texas’ List Of Potential Illegal Voters. Now She’s Suing. 
• Thousands of Black Votes in Georgia Disappeared and No One Can Explain It 

 

THINKING AHEAD

• Why Sherrod Brown isn’t shying away from calling Donald Trump a racist: analysis
• ‘He’s a winner’: Iowa voters warm to Corey Booker as Democrat field heats up | US news
• Is America Ready for a Single President?
• Elizabeth Warren announces her presidential run 
• Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential bid announcement has rattled Donald Trump – and the pressure will only mount from here
• Warren: Trump ‘may not even be a free person’ by 2020 
• Warren: Trump ‘May Not Even Be A Free Person’ By 2020 
• A surprising number of Republicans want Trump off the ticket in 2020
• Forget their records. 2020 Dems will leverage the Senate to build their brand 
• Rep. Tim Ryan Is Heading To Iowa And New Hampshire As He Considers Running For President
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota joins Democratic race for 2020 
• Trump says Democrats ‘cannot legitimately win’ 2020 presidential election 

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

• Dem senator introduces S. 420 bill that would legalize marijuana 
• James Madison U. names dormitory after Founding Father’s enslaved servant
• Ocasio-Cortez Not Phased by Can ‘Democratic Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ Coexist Question – Democratic socialism, the Congresswoman from New York explained, is “not about government takeover, it’s about how much of a say do workers have.”
• Why Ford needs to grapple with its founder’s anti-Semitism

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

• ‘Aerosmith had never heard of Run-DMC’: The path to the groundbreaking hit ‘Walk This Way’
• A country music artist navigates an art form altered by America’s poisoned politics
• Bare walls, little furniture and big dreams: A year inside D.C.’s esports house
• Britain’s Prince Philip, 97, surrenders his driving license weeks after crash
• The Grammys are the latest casualty of this tumultuous award season
• What if there were only one Grammy?
• You might not care about ‘Modern Family’ anymore, but it helped change TV

 

RUMOR MILL

• Greg Olear: Let’s talk about organized crime. Because it’s not just Jared & Junior we’re up against here. [THREAD]
• Thread by @gregolear: “Let’s talk about organized crime. Because it’s not just Jared & Junior we’re up against here. [THREAD] 1/ The mob developed in Sicily &a […]”
• Greg Olear: Yesterday, I shared a thread about organized crime—our real enemy. Trump, I said, is merely a cog in the Big Russian Mob Machine. Though long, that thread was hardly exhaustive. [THREAD]
• Thread by @gregolear: “Yesterday, I shared a thread about organized crime—our real enemy. Trump, I said, is merely a cog in the Big Russian Mob Machine. Though lon […]” #BoyPlunder
• Countercheckist: It’s not just tRUmp— the politics of confrontation and division must be relegated back to the dark fringes of our political discourse. This isn’t a fight for America’s culture. It’s a fight for the survival of liberal democracy. The role you play in this fight, is up to you.
• Ming: Ponderable: if local LE, state LE and national agencies have disparate investigations in social media how would a private group help in natsec investgations? they wouldn’t.
• Lincoln’s Bible: GUESS WHAT?! Saving the world is sh*t pay. Meh. Worth it. (psst… those who are genuinely fighting for us aren’t profiting a dime. especially the journalists. support them.)
• Angry White House Staffer: So… I had a crazy busy day today and haven’t been on much. I see that is NOT the case for POTUS. My favorite batshit crazy Tweet of the day is the one where he linked his former campaign manager to more crimes just to dig at Hillary. Stable genius at work
• Ming: welp, butterbean is going to jail.
• Ming: Ming wonder what flipped putin into pedophile? Was it watching kompromat or did Vova always like to fuck kids?
• Tea Pain: Trumpublicans believe if you’re talkin’ while committin’ a crime, you’re protected by the First Amendment.
• Ming: NGL David Pecker and a lot of republican will only survive in US Marshal witness protection. Personally Ming not give shit.
• MSW Podcast: How it went in my head: Mueller: Hey, Schiff! Could you not interview Cohen about Trump Tower Moscow until I indict the others? I think it could leak, even from behind closed doors, and mess shit up. Schiff: Sure. How long do you need? Mueller: February 28th should do it.
• Claude Taylor: Donald Trump Jr. ‘Expects to be Indicted’ and millions of us are standing by with popcorn gifs.
• Stone Cold 2050: I wanted to see what would happen if I took the natural skin color from around his eyes and applied it to the rest of his face and took away the comb over and hair dye. So I guess this is what donald would look like if he was a normal man.

He still looks like an evil ass, but less cartoonish this way.

 

That’s it for the last few days.  It’s been pretty busy, and there are a lot of threads I’d like to follow up on.

For starters, who is Cavalier Consulting?

Did the Saudis use Pegasus to get the Bezos pics?

Why do I suck so much at time management when posting the weekend and Friday article?

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur