Monday, April 1, 2019
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Clearance Reversals
- White House whistleblower says 25 security clearance denials were reversed during Trump administration
- GOP Downplays Whistleblower’s Clearance Concerns: She Said ‘Only 4-5’ People Posed ‘Very Serious’ Problems
- John Bolton may have been denied a White House security clearance
- Republicans: Relax, Trump Only Endangered National Security 4–5 Times, Tops
- Trump White House security clearance crisis: “Kushner problem” getting worse fast
- Whistleblower says Ivanka, Jared got security clearance over experts’ advice
- Whistle-Blower Tells Congress of Irregularities in White House Security Clearances
- White House Insists That Trump Really Is Dumb Enough to Close the Border
- White House Whistle-Blower Did the Unexpected: She Returned to Work
- Angry White House Staffer: I’ve gone over this pretty extensively, but this is outrageous. 25 security clearance denials have been overridden by the Trump administration. Security experts denied these 25 clearances due to fear of blackmail, foreign influence, financial entanglements, etc. They were approved anyway because nepotism is very legal and very cool. Reminder: Tricia Newbold also suffers from a rare form of dwarfism. As retaliation for her disclosure, her boss, Carl Kline, suspended her without pay, and moved her files to a shelf she couldn’t reach. Because that’s where we’re at now.
- Whistle-Blower Tells Congress of Irregularities in White House Security Clearances
- Natasha Bertrand: A whistle-blower working inside the White House told the House Oversight Committee that senior Trump administration officials granted security clearances to at least 25 individuals whose applications had been denied by career employees…
- Asha Rangappa: This is insane. The background check process is a safeguard to prevent against undue foreign influence (like the electoral college, congressional oversight, and counterintelligence investigations) — this is like the Titanic when every compartment in the hull got breached
- Tim Mak: The whistleblower who raised concerns about White House security clearances, Tricia Newbold, was suspended w/o pay for 2 weeks. The stated reason? Failure to follow a new policy to scan documents in separate pdf files instead of a single pdf file
- ThreadReader from Tim Mak about Newbold’s abuse
- The Trump People Didn’t Even Craft a Decent Lie About the Security Clearances
We talked about the clearance overrides before on Daily Check-In 01/31/2019, but the scope of the problem is finally coming into view. At least 25 security clearances that were denied for various reasons were overridden. The whistleblower who raised this issue and told the press about it also told Congress about it, too. This included several senior White House officials
These people shouldn’t be anywhere near secret information, let alone the most sensitive secrets this country has.
Mueller Report
- “This Is Spy-Hunting”: Inside the Dark Heart of the Mueller Report
- Democrats to authorize subpoena for full Mueller report
- Don’t Wait For a Redacted Mueller Report | The law is clear: The House Judiciary Committee is entitled to the full 400 pages.
- Here Come The Subpoenas: Welcome To The Rest Of The Trump Administration.
- House Democrats could subpoena for full Mueller report this week
- House Democrats Will Subpoena Mueller Report
- We can’t trust William Barr to decide how much of Mueller’s findings we see
I’m going to say this everyday until we see the report, but let’s wait before we see the full report before we hit the “Everything is terrible” button. (Daily Check-In 03/22/2019)
One thing I’ve gotten pretty good at over the last two years is reading legal documents. It doesn’t take 400 pages to say “We ain’t find shit.” Plus, Barr’s Summary was a prime example of lawyerball. (The Last Few Days – 03/27/2019). He’s been described as a “Lawyer’s Lawyer.” In other words, the lawyer that a lawyer calls when they’re in such deep shit they need a lawyer.
- Chris Vickery: If Cambridge Analytica (and its co-conspirators) ran 100s of thousands of iterations of the same advertisement and recorded reactions for each down to the individual level in order to cause behavior change, how’s that different from no-consent medical experimentation? It’s not. THREAD
- Thread by @VickerySec: “If Cambridge Analytica (and its co-conspirators) ran 100s of thousands of iterations of the same advertisement and recorded reactions for ea […]”
CONGRESS
- House Judiciary plans to authorize subpoenas for Mueller’s full report
- Kyle Cheney: BREAKING: House Judiciary Committee planning to authorize subpoenas Wednesday for the full MUELLER report. Will also vote on subpoenas for MCGAHN, BANNON, HICKS and REINCE. Vote would give Nadler authority to issue subpoenas at any time. Story TK w/ @dsamuelsohn
- Angry White House Staffer: Big boom. Turns out Nadler wasn’t playing around when he gave Barr an April 2 deadline.
- Here Come The Subpoenas: Welcome To The Rest Of The Trump Administration.
- Congress must find out how reckless the White House has been with security clearances
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- Friendly reminder: We still haven’t seen Trump’s tax returns
- Davis says evidence shows Trump Jr. could be indicted
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A INDIVIDUAL-1
- Trump Got No Bump From Mueller. He Should Worry.
- The Trump People Didn’t Even Craft a Decent Lie About the Security Clearances
- The president is now making 22 false claims a day. Media coverage has got to reflect that.
SAUDI ARABIA
- Energy Secretary Rick Perry Approves Deal to Sell Nuclear Technology to Saudi Arabia
- It’s been six months since Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, and Trump has done nothing
- Khashoggi children have received houses in Saudi Arabia and monthly payments as compensation for killing of father
- Walter Shaub: I don’t know what to make of Bezos’ claim SA hacked his phone. *If* true, ties to Trump would be stunning: SA funnels cash to T via hotel T covers for SA murder of WaPo writer WaPo criticizes T & SA T bashes WaPo owner B SA & Trump fixer AMI attack B T pushes nuclear tech for SA. Again I don’t know if it’s true that SA hacked his phone. What I do know is that FBI needs to investigate this claim. But this highlights why Trump’s congressional allies attacking FBI for investigating Trump is so dangerous. Their message is “back off Trump, he’s above the law.” Correction: The claim comes from the Gavin de Becker, the security expert Bezos hired to investigate this matter.
TRAITOR TOTS
- After Years Of Blocking Obama’s Nominees, McConnell Slams Dems’ ‘Historic Obstruction’
- Trump’s Choice of Rick Scott to Build a Republican Healthcare Plan Shows the Henhouse Is Full of Foxes
CULT 45
FIGHTING BACK
- Dan Rather: Sort of curious to see how President Trump handles April Fools Day on Twitter… Does he tell the truth?
- Ocasio-Cortez fires back at Liz Cheney: ‘You get your news from Facebook memes’
EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN, & IMMIGRATION
- AP sources: Trump considers adding ‘immigration czar’
- Adrienne Cobb: Trump considering adding ‘immigration czar’ He has 2 potential candidates: Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli — both far-right conservatives with strong views on immigration
SCOTUS & COURTS
- Bernie Sanders floats modified term limits for Supreme Court justices
- The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Just Legalized Torture
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- Rick Wilson: If you don’t smell a gigantic rat with this Lucy Flores interview I can’t help you. as somebody who’s done a hell of a lot of media training I can tell when somebody’s been prepped for an interview to within an inch of their life. And she was prepped af for that interview.
- Joe Walsh: So if Biden now has women problems, then what does Trump have?
COLD WAR 2.0
- Turkey’s Erdogan says his party may have lost Istanbul mayorship
- Russia Ordered a Killing That Made No Sense. Then the Assassin Started Talking.
#NEVERAGAIN
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, & ECONOMY
- America would run out of avocados in three weeks if Trump shuts down the U.S.-Mexico border | Nearly half of all imported U.S. vegetables and 40 percent of imported fruit are grown in Mexico.
- Average Americans can’t afford a home in 70 percent of the country
- Buffalo airport drops planned Chick-fil-A
- California accounted for nearly three-quarters of US jobs added in February
STUDENT ISSUES
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Private Prisons Are a Failed Experiment
- Rapper Nipsey Hussle killed in shooting outside his L.A. store
ELECTIONS
- Ohioans might vote on issue to give presidency to national popular vote winner
- Sen. Ted Cruz Is Suing To Get Rid Of Limits On How Much Money He Can Raise To Repay Himself For Campaign Loans
THINKING AHEAD
- Rick Wilson: If you don’t smell a gigantic rat with this Lucy Flores interview I can’t help you. as somebody who’s done a hell of a lot of media training I can tell when somebody’s been prepped for an interview to within an inch of their life. And she was prepped af for that interview.
- Joe Walsh: So if Biden now has women problems, then what does Trump have?
- Beto O’Rourke Pledges Executive Order Requiring Monthly Town Halls for Cabinet Members
RUMOR MILL
- Lincoln’s Bible: The White House & @GOP enablers are getting set to push an INSANE position thru the MSM hellscape. As w/ the Barr memo swallowers, pay attn to who entertains the following INSANE argument: “Any foreign influence over Trump or Kushner disappeared when they took the White House.”
- Countercheckist: NYC has successfully integrated generations of immigrants into our social fabric. It’s a city built on the American dream. That dream sent skyscrapers towards the heavens, and later sent astronauts beyond them to the moon. We’re capable of great things when we dream big.
- Eric Garland: No, it’s the partnership with Russian organized crime and spy agencies to attack American democracy that won’t be tolerated. Oh, and partnership with the Chinese Communist Party and the Triads. That’s out, too. BTW, such good luck your father-in-law was so generous to you just before the crash of 2008.
- Lincoln’s Bible: THREAD. We’re heading into the most highly-weaponized, information landscape in political history. Very sophisticated techniques/tools are now in the hands of everyday campaign operatives. These operatives & their “ops” share a singular aim: DIVIDE & CONQUER. Some thoughts…/1
- Thread by @LincolnsBible: “THREAD. We’re heading into the most highly-weaponized, information landscape in political history. Very sophisticated techniques/tools are n […]”
- Thread by @saradannerdukic: “We’re at a very critical point right now. Alongside the attempt to degrade our trust in what we’ve seen with our very own eyes, they also wa […]”
That’s it for Monday. At least, this is all I grabbed. I’m still trying to get things under control around everything else. I’d like to get back in the swing of things, but I’m tired. I don’t know if I’ll do a Daily post each day this week, just because of how much I have to deal with.
Like I said yesterday (Daily Check-In 03/29/2019), I’m in the middle of a whole bunch of stuff. I don’t like feeling this tired all of the time. The hardest part is trying to keep up appearances. I’ll spare the long story for now, but I didn’t have the greatest childhood. Dealing with him is bringing a lot of those old problems back to the forefront. I need to decompress after dealing with him. Which, of course, is right when the rest of the family asks questions about how he’s doing today. I’m glad they text, because that gives me a chance to vent and say what I really want to say before I type a polite response.
Here’s a tip: set up your will and power of attorney before you get sick. It’s a lot less of a pain in the dick for whomever has to clean up your mess.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 