Daily Check-In 03/11/2019

Daily Check-In

Monday, March 11, 2019

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

As I reported yesterday (Daily Check-In 03/08/2019), Erik Prince tried to blame the transcript.  I was curious about how that would work and how the transcripts were made, and I was lucky enough to stumble along a Reddit comment thread  with user /u/horseandeggshells.  The posts here and here highlight how ridiculously difficult it would be to forget an entire sentence.

So, about that transcript. There was one person there stenoing, one person offsite doing something called “scoping,” i.e., basically going over the transcript and fixing any errors and cleaning up code.

It would then go to production, where a third person would look for any mistakes (without audio, except where necessary).

But here’s the best part: It then goes to GPO, who go over it again.

And sometimes, a proofist, or “beta,” is used to listen to the whole thing again, start to finish. This would occur before the production phase.

The possibility of something that significant being missing from the transcript is impossible.

EDIT: It is also possible that attorneys involved in the case would be given a chance to review the transcript, as well, and would provide an errata sheet. If everyone agrees, the fixes are put into the transcript; if not, it can either be ignored or placed as an addendum Exhibit if one party protests enough.

This is where I counted up the people involved.

So, before it would ever gets released, it goes through 3 or 4 congressional employees, a member of the GPO, and the lawyers involved for all parties to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

I was corrected on one of my points.

Members, plural. At least two: one to do the full listen and proof, one to do word count to pay the stenographer (and perform similar functions to the production process) and properly mark and insert all exhibits that were entered into the record during the hearing.

And I’m not sure if this is the case with this Committee, but every Committee I am familiar with removes contractions. In other words, “I’m” will be changed to “I am.”

Now, I’m going by memory on this, but I’m pretty sure it dates back to back when the telephone industry got broken up. A “can” got through the proofing process, when it should have been “can’t.” This had significant ramifications to the policy being written.

I’m not saying that, even with all this due diligence, that something like “the the” won’t pop up every once in a while. What I am saying is there is literally no way a full sentence could be omitted.

If every possible thing went wrong, i.e. GPO accidentally deleted a line right before final submission, it would still get caught because the contracted production team always matches its word count to that of the GPO, using the same calculation software. The count would be off and GPO would have to start over.

I’ve worked in an ancillary position to the Senate for 15 years and I am not aware of that ever happening, and it is something I would almost certainly have direct knowledge of.

The GPO, the U.S. Government Publishing Office, has multiple sets of eyes on these transcripts, so it’s not just Congress handling these.  By the time a transcript gets released, it has to go through a stenographer, a person doing scoping, a third person in production looking for mistakes, at least two people in the GPO, a proofist to verify accuracy, then likely the legal teams of everyone involved in the hearing.  By the time the transcript is official, at least 7 people have gone over it, and at least one of them represents the witness.

7 people sign off on the transcript before it becomes official.  So either 7 people who do this for a living all made the exact same mistake, or Erik Prince is full of shit.  The simplest explanation is the latter.  Of course, that won’t stop the MAGA crowd from screaming “the transcripts are bad” from their parents basement or their motorized scooters on their way to Walmart.  This will be the next ‘Deep State’ controversy, but I want to kill it before it grows.

 

 

CONGRESS

1/ Pelosi is doing absolutely the right thing viz impeachment. It’s the right politics and it’s the right policy.

2/ The symbolism of impeaching in the House is meaningless unless the Senate convicts. It’s not going to happen.

3/ so why not use the investigation process if it was meant: to hold Trump accountable across-the-board. All the benefits, none of the inoculation.

4/ Set a fire that burns and burns and burns until his empire of shit is reduced to ashes. Don’t give him one fight of impeachment/not impeachment.

As of right now, she knows it can’t lead to a conviction with Senate.

Alright, let’s all calm the fuck down.  Deep breath, deep breath.

No, I’m not going to do an all caps rant.  I think this might be the best move for now.  Here’s why…

As far as Impeachment goes, there are four main crowds.  The first is the group that wants Trump out of office yesterday for the crimes that he’s committed both before and during his time in office.  This is where I’m at.  The next group are those that want to impeach him because they don’t like him.  The third are those that are holding judgement until ‘hard evidence’ comes in of actual crimes.  The fourth doesn’t want anything to do with impeachment.  Most Republicans in the Senate fall into the third and fourth categories, and they’re needed for removal from office.

Nancy’s statement is designed to kill the idea of a political impeachment.  We’ll get one shot at this, and we don’t need a repeat of the Bill Clinton debacle.  Also, this buys time for the committees to do their work.  Not to say the fourth crowd will shut the fuck up, but at least there’s this statement.

This will piss off the first and second groups, but we’ll be here when the shoes drop from the centipede and Impeachment becomes necessary.

 

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

You don’t say…

The New York attorney general’s office late on Monday issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for records relating to the financing of four major Trump Organization projects and a failed effort to buy the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League in 2014, according to a person briefed on the subpoenas.

The inquiry opens a new front in the scrutiny of Deutsche Bank, one of the few lenders willing to do business with Donald J. Trump in recent years. The bank is already the subject of two congressional investigations and was examined last year by New York banking regulators, who took no action.

The new inquiry, by the office of the attorney general, Letitia James, was prompted by the congressional testimony last month of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, the person briefed on the subpoenas said. Mr. Cohen testified under oath that Mr. Trump had inflated his assets in financial statements, and Mr. Cohen provided copies of statements he said had been submitted to Deutsche Bank.

The inquiry by Ms. James’s office is a civil investigation, not a criminal one, although its focus and scope were unclear. The attorney general has broad authority under state law to investigate fraud and can fine — or in extreme cases, go to court to try to dissolve — a business that is found to have engaged in repeated illegality.

The state of New York is working double time to give Tangerine Tojo a heart attack.  Last week, the Financial Regulatory Board asked Trump’s insurance brokers for financial documents to investigate cases of fraud.  Now, the state attorney general is going after bank records from Deutsche Bank for some refinancing projects and his attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills.

During Cohen’s testimony (Daily Check-In 02/27/2019), he described a common practice of Trump over valuing his assets to qualify for loans and get better insurance premiums, and then under valuing them for tax purposes.  Cohen provided evidence of this to the Oversight committee.  Now the state AG is investigating.

Remember, state crimes and lawsuits are outside of pardon range.

 

Stormy Daniels

 

This story is less than a day old, and I’m afraid that it’s already out of date.  It’s like they’re trying to fill up a punch card.  “Get investigated 20 times, get a free steak dinner.”

 

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

Budget

Yes, this looks like doom and gloom, and it is.  Fortunately, this has as much chance of getting off the ground as a model airplane made of cement.

The President can suggest a budget, but it is up to the House to craft the budget.  They don’t have to listen to a god damned thing Dotard says.  This is designed for the Fox News  viewers and Donors to eat up.  At least, until they realize it will hurt them directly.

 

“Tim Apple”

 

Excessive Costs

 

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Florida Sex Rings

Mob.  Sex rings = Mob.  Whether it’s La Cosa Nostra, Vor, Triad, Yakuza, Cartels, or a combination of all of the above, they’re all organized crime.  The separation between Epstein and Mogilevich is 1-2 degrees.  Epstein’s girlfriend/friend/madame and recruiter was the Brainy Don’s business partner’s daughter.  That’s not far enough away to even pretend that they didn’t know.  Plus, it’s never been disclosed whose money Epstein is managing.  I’m not saying it’s mob, but it makes sense.

As far as the documents go, I’m looking forward to it.  I assume there will be a ton of redactions for the names, or they’ll be changed to things like Person 1 and Shitbag 3, but it won’t take too long to piece things together.  Especially if the descriptions include things like “Shitbag 3 was a lawyer representing the defendant and worked as a professor at Harvard”.  That’s Alan Dershowitz.

Something I didn’t catch with the  Chinese Parlor ring was that some of these women would visit clubs like Mar-a-Lago to work for the day, and this has been going on for a while.  Think about that.  Trafficked women were being sent to a club owned by the President.  And it’s not the only sex ring connected to the club.  Many of the girls recruited by Epstein’s crew were working at Trump’s club at the time, or were recruited from the grounds of the club over a long time.  The only way that management wouldn’t hear about this was either blatant incompetence or willful ignorance.

 

It’s a funny segment, but Pete made a good point and brought up an even better idea.  It is possible to separate the art from the artist, but if we’re going to continue listening to their music or watching movies starring Kevin Spacey or produced by Harvey Weinstein, then we should give money to charities that support sexual abuse survivors.

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

Tucker Carlson

 

 

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

 

STUDENT ISSUES

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTIONS

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

RUMOR MILL

 

That’s it for Monday.  It’s been a crazy week so far and it just started.  Mainly because I didn’t get a day to relax over the weekend.  I went to two expos this week, and the longest time I sat down was in a tattoo booth.

Yes, I got a new tattoo.  It’s not my first, and won’t be my last.  I was already designing my next one while waiting for this one.  But I got to thinking about how much time and energy I’ve spent on this project, and if I would ever get any tattoos related to this stuff?  I want to say no, but that’s only because we’re neck deep in the shit right now.  If/when we come out of this in one piece, and if those responsible get the punishments they deserve, I thought about getting the docket number of their case with ‘Sic Semper Tryannis’ underneath.  ‘Thus always to tyrants.’  Hopefully, I’ll have better ideas over the years.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Published by noneofthisisnormal

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One thought on “Daily Check-In 03/11/2019”

  1. Pingback: Daily Check-In 03/13/2019 – None of this is Normal

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