Monday, February 18, 2019
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
McCabe
- Andrew McCabe: The full 60 Minutes interview
- Andrew McCabe Stunned By ‘Remarkable’ Number Of Russian Contacts In Trump’s Circle
- Fired acting FBI Dir. McCabe sounds the alarm on Trump’s ties to Putin
- Spicy Mic: Remember the FBI “cleared” Acting Dir FBI McCabe book. This man se4ved our Country for 2+ decades. No offense @realDonaldTrump I will take Andy’s word over yours ANY day. THREAD
- Aaron Rupar: Former FBI director McCabe explains that Trump believed Putin over US intel about NK missiles: “Intel officials [told Trump his position] was not consistent with any of the intel our govt possesses. To which POTUS replied, ‘I don’t care. I believe Putin.'”
Stone
- Roger Stone posts photo of federal judge in his case featuring cross-hairs symbol despite gag order
- Stone Posted A Picture Of The Federal Judge On His Case With Crosshairs
- Jon Swaine: Roger Stone now directly attacking the federal judge presiding over his case and posting a pic of her head beside crosshairs
- ‘Random’ Photo of Judge That Was Posted on Stone’s Instagram Can Easily Be Found on Pro-Russian Sites
- ‘This. Is. Not. Okay’: Legal Experts Say Roger Stone’s Judge-Crosshairs Stunt Could Land Him Behind Bars
- Roger Stone’s Lawyers Formally Apologize for Instagram Photo of Federal Judge Next to Crosshairs
- ROGER J. STONE’S NOTICE OF APOLOGY
- Spicy Mic: JUST IN 😂😂😂STOP…EeeeeT😂😂😂BEST. MONDAY. EVER… Bless me father for I have sinned xo Stone. THREAD
- Jay McKenzie: In what world does Roger Stone’s new book *not* prejudice potential jurors in his upcoming criminal trial? THREAD
- Andrew Laufer, ESQ: Roger Stones most recent antics threatening the presiding judge,Amy Berman, in his criminal prosecution with a crosshairs over a picture of her is a prima facie, prime example, violation of 18 USC 115. He will see more charges b/c of this & will most likely have his bail revoked.
The countdown to Stone getting sent to prison is on. Judges don’t take kindly to death threats.
Cambridge Analytica
- Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report
- David Carroll: Here’s the @CommonsCMS report. #CambridgeAnalytica
- Thread by @profcarroll: “Here’s the @CommonsCMS report. publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cm… On 18 March this issue and many others will be […]” #CambridgeAnalytica #six4three #TheGreatHack
- Democrats seek tech company probe as part of election protection
- Carole Cadwalladr: NEW: Cambridge Analytica employee who worked on Brexit is subpoeaned by Robert Mueller. This is BIG. Brittany Kaiser – who sat next to @arron_banks at LeaveEU launch – becomes subject of Mueller inquiry into Trump-Russia collusion 💣🔥🎆. THREAD
- Thread by @carolecadwalla: “NEW: Cambridge Analytica employee who worked on Brexit is subpoeaned by… Thread by @carolecadwalla: “NEW: Cambridge Analytica employee who worked on Brexit is subpoeaned by Robert Mueller. This is BIG. Brittany Kai to @arron_banks at LeaveEU launch – becomes subject of… threadreaderapp.com
Rosenstein
- Rosenstein plans to leave Justice Department next month
- Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein expected to leave Justice Department in mid-March
We’ve talked about this before, and the timing of mid-March lines up with previous reports, but it also lines up with the rumors about part of the Mueller report being released, and Rod’s statement that he wouldn’t leave until it was released.
- Lawmakers launch new probe into ‘complex web’ of alleged ties between NRA, Russians
- Trump Keeps Tweeting About the ‘Illegal’ Mueller Probe, Which Can Mean Only One Thing
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- The fixer’s secret agenda
- New York investigators could ‘indict’ Donald Trump while he’s still president, Watergate prosecutor says
SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION & EMERGENCIES
- White House defends Trump’s emergency declaration as lawsuits and political battles mount
- States file federal lawsuit claiming Trump’s national emergency declaration is unconstitutional
- 16 states sue President Trump over border wall
- Trump golfs third day in a row since declaring national emergency on border
- Trump Violates Constitution and Undermines America’s Safety with Emergency Declaration
- Emptywheel:Is ICE so problematic bc: 1) Immigration due process is arbitrary and capricious 2) Bigots running the country have unleashed it 3) Hiring standards are lower than for FBI 4) Legacy of white supremacy
- Protests to be held across Maine in response to Trump’s national emergency declaration
- Sen. Tammy Duckworth says Senate has enough votes to put forth resolution to rescind Trump’s national emergency
- Trump’s emergency declaration may have laid the groundwork for his impeachment
- 40+ national security professionals to declare the border does not meet test of an emergency
- Coalition of states sues Trump over national emergency to build border wall
- DC protests planned over President Trump’s national emergency declaration
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A INDIVIDUAL-1
- Trump Accuses McCabe and Rosenstein of Plotting Treason Against Him
- “I don’t care. I believe Putin”: Trump rejected U.S. intel and listened to Moscow, says McCabe
- ‘Something bizarre and sinister’ about Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia, CNN legal analyst warns
- Donald Trump ‘May Have Committed Treason,’ National Security Expert Warns
- Trump Forgot the First Rule of Asking Someone to Nominate You for a Nobel Prize ; You’re not supposed to tell anyone about it.
TRAITOR TOTS
- How Mitch McConnell Enables Trump – He’s not an institutionalist. He’s the man who surrendered the Senate to the president
- Trump appoints son-in-law of new attorney general as legal adviser, prompting conflict of interest fears
- William Barr’s Son-in-Law Just Landed a Job Advising Trump on “Legal Issues”
- Graham: KY Kids Would Be Better Off If School Funds Are Diverted To Border Wall
- Former Trump Officials Are Supposed to Avoid Lobbying. Except 33 Haven’t.
FIGHTING BACK
- Trump must be removed with 25th amendment because he is ‘not well at all mentally’, former White House ethics chief says
- Warren: If officials believe Trump cannot fulfill duties, they must invoke 25th Amendment
- Warren: Officials have ‘constitutional’ duty ‘to invoke 25th amendment’ if they think Trump can’t fulfill job
- Record number cite poor leadership as US’s greatest problem
RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
COLD WAR 2.0
- Trump warns Venezuelan military leaders they could ‘lose everything’ over socialism
- European leaders hit at Trump’s demands that they take back ex-ISIS citizens from Syria
#NEVERAGAIN
- Florida Paper Publishes List of the 1,200 Child Gun Violence Victims Since Parkland: ‘This is the Real National Emergency’
- Gun violence, police reform loom over Chicago election
- David Hogg: Things that will end gun violence. -Allyship between every community effected by violence -Attacking the sources of evil not each other -Treating violence as a disease Things that will NOT end gun violence -Militarizing our schools -Over policing our youth -Arming teachers
- David Hogg: No one with a history of domestic violence should ever be able to purchase a firearm. The NRA disagrees with that because… -Because they want to sell more guns -Because they profit off of mass shootings that cause gun sales to skyrocket. Also if you are a domestic abuser you do not count as a law abiding gun owner. Lastly, anyone with a history of domestic violence should not be allowed to be in law enforcement, ever.
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- The White House says Pence was greeted with applause after mentioning Trump in a speech. He wasn’t.
- Trump calls for ‘retribution’ against ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Alec Baldwin wonders about his safety
- Alec Baldwin says Trump’s latest attack on Saturday Night Live is ‘a threat to my safety’
- Baldwin on Trump ‘Saturday Night Live’ attacks: I wonder if this qualifies as ‘threat to my safety?’
TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, & ECONOMY
- W.Va. teachers’ unions call for strike over education bill
- Who Else Might Like Medicare for All? Retired Coal Miners Who Just Had Their Health Benefits Ripped Away
- The Sacklers have donated millions to museums. But their connection to the opioid crisis is threatening that legacy.
- Americans can’t decide how much to tax the rich — but they want to tax the rich
- A $300 billion business tax break meant to raise wages is instead helping companies replace workers with machines, study says
STUDENT ISSUES
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- Trump’s repeal of light bulb standards will increase pollution, cost billions
- It’s time to get tougher on anti-vaxxers
ELECTIONS
- North Carolina Election Board Finds Evidence Of Significant Fraud To Help GOP Candidate
- N.C. election officials: Harris operative collected and falsified ballots, then tried to obstruct state investigation
- Dowless Instructed Workers To Fill Out Absentee Ballots With GOP Candidates
- GOP Campaign Worker in NC Admits to Filling in Republican Votes on Absentee Ballots, Claims She Was Told to Lie
Republican Mark Harris initially appeared to have defeated Democrat Dan McCready by a razor-thin 905-vote margin on election night last November. That apparent victory was never certified, however, due to allegations that the GOP cobbled together their win through the use of absentee ballot fraud. At the center of those allegations is GOP campaign operative McCrae Dowless.
At a Monday evidentiary hearing conducted by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), a campaign worker employed by Dowless detailed several aspects of the Republican campaign’s alleged efforts to steal the election for Harris in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. The same woman also said that when the alleged scheme was discovered, Dowless instructed her to lie about their efforts.
Lisa Britt was the first witness to give testimony at the NCSBE hearing. In her opening statement, Britt admitted that she did not tell the truth to a local news station about unlawfully collecting absentee ballots in violation of state law. During this interview–which was conducted in Dowless’ kitchen–Britt said that she and others employed by Dowless did nothing illegal during the 2018 midterm election. During Monday’s hearing, Britt walked all of that back.
Britt began working for Dowless in June or July of 2018 and said that she was paid according to the number of people she registered for absentee ballot request forms–and when she picked up absentee ballots. For every 50 ballots requested or obtained, Dowless would pay Britt and others between $125-175, she said.
“I took the signed, sealed ballot,” Britt said during her testimony about one specific ballot entered into evidence. “That ballot was turned back in with the other ballots I had collected that day.”
Britt said that she and other members of the Dowless team collected several unsealed ballots and opened them to ascertain who voters had selected. When voters had left certain races blank, Britt said, she and others would fill those races in for the Republican candidate. Britt also said that she was instructed to make copies of all absentee ballot request forms and that she kept them in a folder. The original forms, she said, were given to Dowless. Additional copies were also allegedly made for Bladen County Improvement Association PAC’s Lola Wooten–who Britt says was in Dowless’ office at least once a week.
THINKING AHEAD
- Elizabeth Warren To Unveil Sweeping Plan For Universal Child Care
- Kamala Harris Says She’d Support Changing “Columbus Day” To “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”
IN OTHER NEWS…
- George Mendonsa, identified as ‘kissing sailor’ in WWII victory photo, dies at 95
- Frederick Douglass died Feb. 20, 1895, just hours after his public makeup with Susan B. Anthony
- Two moms, one invitation to Mother’s Day tea. Was the school being fair?
RUMOR MILL
- Tea Pain: Dang! Trump: “I don’t care [what our intelligence says], I believe Putin.” Kinda says it all, don’t it?
- Tea Pain: Trump is more triggered than we’ve ever seen tonight. Seems like he’s shook because he just learned big stuff is about to happen. Agreed?
- Countercheckist: The Washington Monument is more than an obelisk. It’s a towering reminder of duty we have to the Republic. All Americans stand on the shoulders of giants who came before us. Pick yourselves up, and remember what we’re fighting for.
- Bill Kristol: What triggered Trump tonight on Mueller? What did he learn when he returned from golfing that has him so upset?
- Jeet Heer: 1. Trump is promoting a call for “the investigators” (i.e. Mueller & his team) to be arrested. This is why I can’t go along with @CoreyRobin’s argument that Trump is not an authoritarian threat. These are dangerous words even if not acted on. THREAD
- Angry White House Staffer: Ooooh now we’ve made it to treason projection.
- Thread by @counterchekist: ““The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now… Thread by @counterchekist: ““The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is ae edifice of your real independence, the support of your… threadreaderapp.com
- Ming: Ming point out whether Rod mention wire or not seem kinda irrevelent. This tell Ming DOJ and FBI knew trump was doing something traitorous or illegal and they only wanted stronger evidence.
- Tea Pain: FUN FACT: King George thought the Constitution was “un-Constitutional.”
- Ming: Would it surprise you to know Ming has enough experience with small arms and can easily recoginize subsonic?
That’s it for Monday. Tuesday’s got some interesting things happening. I have another reason to not like Bernie Sanders, Roger Stone has a new court date, and the House Democrats release a report on the Saudi Nuclear Deals that Mike Flynn worked on.
Looks like I should really work on that Grand Bargain story to tie things together.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 
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