2018

Wednesday February 28.

MUELLER LOOKING INTO RUSSIAN TRIPS BEFORE CAMPAIGN STARTED,TRUMP’S ATTEMPT TO FIRE SESSIONS LAST SUMMER,AND DID TRUMP KNOW ABOUT THE HACKED EMAILS

Three things that I’ve learned covering the Trump-Russian Investigation.

Mueller’s team is airtight. This ship doesn’t leak.
The information we do get is at least a few weeks old, if not a month or two.
Prosecutors don’t ask questions they don’t already have the answers to.

In a span of a day, maybe day and a half, we have confirmation that Mueller isn’t just looking into an Obstruction of Justice charge, or money laundering performed by Paul Manafort, or lying about a press briefing, or just what the Russians did.

Robert Mueller’s coming for all of it. All of them. For everything. He knows what they did, who did what, and how they did it.

When a prosecutor asks a question in a formal interview, they’ve already seen the evidence. They’ve heard the tapes, read the transcripts, and read the email chains.

So, when they ask a staffer “Did prostitutes visit Donald Trump’s suite?” or “Did Trump say that he wanted to fire Jeff Sessions because he couldn’t protect him from Mueller?” or “Did Donald Trump know about the DNC emails from Russia?”, they’re not asking for new information, they’re asking to confirm what they already know.

KUSHNER’S BUSINESS GOT LOANS FROM COMPANIES AFTER WHITE HOUSE MEETINGS

Jared Kushner’s business received loans from Apollo Global Management and Citigroup, but only after they had meetings with Jared Kushner in his official capacity as Senior Advisor.

This is a full-blown, super-duper, someone’s going to jail scandal, but it gets worse.

According to this Twitter thread, Apollo Global also owns Xe Services a.k.a. Academi.

Don’t recognize that name? Neither did I. Years ago, they used to be called Blackwater. Yes, Blackwater, the private “security” firm owned by Erik Prince, brother of Betsy DeVos and a supposed Chinese Intelligence Asset.

One of Apollo’s largest investors is Qatar.

So, we have a White House advisor, in debt by over a billion dollars, unable to get a permanent security clearance, reading the most sensitive intelligence that the country has, meeting with foreign officials in private settings, then receiving loans following these meetings.

The next part of the story will be what he gave up for that money. I’m afraid that he put people’s lives in danger by selling out national security secrets.

NEW YORK STATE ASKS BANKS FOR INFORMATION ON KUSHNER BUSINESS TIES

This is New York state coming for Jared’s financial information. Outside the jurisdiction of a Presidential Pardon.

HOPE HICKS RESIGNS

I guess you could say that the White House lost all Hope.

The White House has No Hope Left.

All Hope is lost.

The Communications Director is a Hope-less job.

Okay, okay, that’s enough puns. I swear.

This comes on the heels of Hope’s 9 hours of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, during which she said that she sometimes lies for Trump. This didn’t go over well as Trump reportedly berated her today.

Maggie Haberman from the New York Times says that this move was planned months ago, and has nothing to do with the testimony, Hope’s multiple meetings with Mueller’s team, Trump’s tirade, or that if she doesn’t flip, she’ll spend her 30’s in Federal prison.

Yeah, and I wear hats because they look cool, and not because I’m bald and trying to protect my scalp from sunburn.

Then again, there’s no Hope for some people. 🙂

DICK’S SPORTING GOODS TO STOP SELLING ASSAULT STYLE RIFLES, RAISE PURCHASE AGE TO 21

Sometimes I love Dick’s. Wait, that came out wrong, let me try again.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, which also owns Field & Stream, announced today that effective immediately, they will no longer sell assault style rifles like the AR-15, and are raising the age for firearms and ammunition purchases to 21.

Walmart followed suit in the afternoon.

MANAFORT PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO NEW CHARGES, TRIAL DATE SET FOR SEPTEMBER 17

I love it, especially later in the summer.

Sorry, I said I was done with the puns earlier, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

Assuming that Paul Manafort doesn’t plead guilty and cop a deal beforehand, this trial, which the prosecution predicts will take 20 days just for their side, will put this case in the national spotlight during the midterm election season. Each and every day, from Mid-September through October, Trump’s Campaign Manager will be front page news. Right along advertisements for Democrats running for office, showing how their opponents supported a corrupt President Trump.

1974 saw a Blue Wave due to Watergate, as many of Nixon’s staff went on trial before the election. We could easily see the Stupid Watergate version of this.

SPEED ROUND!

A STUDY INTO HOW CONSPIRACY THEORIES FORM ONLINE

SOMETHING’S FUNNY ABOUT THE NRA

GET READY FOR JAVANKA/KELLY ‘DEATH MATCH’

CONCEALED CARRY LEADS TO 15% INCREASE IN VIOLENT CRIME

TRUMP PANAMA HOTEL

SEC TO LAUNCH PROBE INTO CRYPTOCURRENCY IPO’S

ZINKE MEETINGS UNDER INVESTIGATION, ESPECIALLY HIS MEETING WITH THE NRA

RICK WILSON WRITES ABOUT JARED KUSHNER

OBAMA: ‘REAGAN WOULD ROLL OVER IN HIS GRAVE’ IF HE SAW HOW MANY REPUBLICANS APPROVED OF PUTIN

SESSIONS, ROSENSTEIN, FRANCISCO HAVE DINNER IN SHOW OF SOLIDARITY AGAINST TRUMP

TEACHER TRAINED TO CONCEAL CARRY FIRES HANDGUN IN SCHOOL

STUPID WATERGATE: TRUMP’S ENEMIES LIST

30 TOP SECRET CLEARANCES PULLED

RUMOR MILL: POSTIMUS MAXIMUS POST ON TRUMP TIES TO RUSSIA

I’ve described before how much PostimusMaximus’s work has meant. He was the first person that I saw online that was able to put many of the pieces together and tied everything up in a nice little package. Well, as nice as possible considering the size, scope, and just general clusterfuckery of the whole situation.

Very early in the morning, he (I assume he’s a he, but could be a she, it, both, other, or a sentient shade of the color blue) posted a point-by-point breakdown of the CNN story about Mueller asking about Trump’s time in Russia from before he announced his candidacy.

As I said, PM broke this down piece by piece. Everything from Trump’s history with Russians running a gambling ring out of Trump Tower to the type and amount of komprmat on Donald Trump, and even catching Donnie Jr.’s reaction to the Goldstone email wasn’t shock or outrage, but pleasant surprise, like finding out your crush is DTF. (That’s down to fuck for us old heads). He covers all of it.

I highly recommend reading his work.

That’s it for today. At least, that’s all I have time for today. I may start cutting down on some of the stories that I cover, or engage in more speed rounds.

We are entering a new phase of the investigation. The narrative of Mueller coming after Trump is finally being laid out in the main stream press. This will take months as the smaller fish flip on bigger fish, but three groups have to be addressed before Mueller vs. Trump takes place.

First, the conspirators that helped the Russians attack America. I think this will be next since they were mentioned in the Russian indictments.

Next will be the propagandists, the ones that spread the Russian message and protected Trump from reality, and have pushed so many people against their fellow citizens.

Next are the benefactors, those that profited from the chaos. I wanted to put them before the propagandists, but they use them as a shield and a weapon.

After those three are addressed, then we can get to the main event.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 02/27/2018

Tuesday February 27th, and it’s been a busy day.

SEVEN STATES COMPROMISED BY RUSSIA

The U.S. Intelligence Community has confirmed the Russians compromised, or got into, the voter registration websites and/or voter rolls of the following states:

Alaska
Arizona
California
Florida
Illinois
Texas
Wisconsin

Once again, compromised means that the IC has proof that the Russians got into the systems. They won’t say that they have that any information was changed, but I’ve covered in Voter Rolls – The Easy Target what and how they could have made changes without getting caught.

KUSHNER LOSES TOP SECRET ACCESS

Jared Kushner, White House Senior Advisor and son-in-law of Donald Trump, has lost his Top Secret Intelligence Access. This means that he can no longer have access to the Presidential Daily Briefing, nor be involved in high level tasks that require that access.

KUSHNER FAMILY ATTEMPTS TO BUY OUT PARTNERS FOR 666 FIFTH AVENUE

This part was pretty interesting…

Kushner Cos. had sought financing from a Chinese insurer with ties to the ruling Communist Party early last year, drawing criticism from government ethics experts and Democrats in Congress who worried the Chinese could use any deal as leverage with the Trump administration. The Kushner Cos. also sought money from a South Korean government fund, a French billionaire and a Saudi investor.

Kushner has a $1.2 Billion debt that comes due next January. How in the Crystal Pepsi Flavored Fuck would they get the money?

KUSHNER FOREIGN CONTACTS RAISE CONCERNS

Particularly Manipulable. That’s how Jared Kushner is described. He’s in debt up to his ears, is not qualified to meet with foreign diplomats, and has been caught describing his personal business with representatives from Mexico, China, United Arab Emirates, and Israel, among others.

H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, learned that Kushner had contacts with foreign officials that he did not coordinate through the National Security Council or officially report. The issue of foreign officials talking about their meetings with Kushner and their perceptions of his vulnerabilities was a subject raised in McMaster’s daily intelligence briefings, according to the current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

…

Officials in the White House were concerned that Kushner was “naive and being tricked” in conversations with foreign officials, some of whom said they wanted to deal only with Kushner directly and not more experienced personnel, said one former White House official.

Jared Kushner is being accused of using his official position for personal gain in an effort to relieve his family’s debt. In doing so, he’s selling America’s interests down the river.

THE PROFESSOR AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV ARE FRIENDS, PER BABY MOMMA

Remember Joseph Misfud, the professor that took an interest in George Papadopoulos after learning about his ties to Trump? After George’s plea deal, the Professor disappeared.

He’s disappeared so well even his baby momma doesn’t know where he’s at, and she wants to know.

She provided a journalist with screenshots of WhatsApp conversations where he claimed to have dinner with his friend Sergei Lavrov. You know, the Russian Foreign Minister.

She also showed a message saying that he talked with the FBI.

It’s been a couple months since she’s heard from him. At this point, Misfud is either on the run, in protective custody, or dead.

NO HOPE OF HICKS ANSWERING QUESTIONS FOR HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE

Okay, that’s a bad pun. As I expected, she refused to answer questions, and the Republicans on the Committee won’t do a damn thing about it.

But don’t worry, she did talk to Mueller…

Angry Hope Mueller

So, here’s hoping that works out…

NSA DIRECTOR HAS NOT RECEIVED ORDERS FROM TRUMP OR SECDEF TO DEFEND AGAINST RUSSIAN CYBERATTACKS

Neither President Trump nor Secretary of Defense Mattis has ordered the NSA to enact the protocols set forth to protect the United States from another attack from Russia. Mattis cannot unilaterally act without orders from Trump.

NRA’S NON-DENIAL DENIAL RESPONSE TO SENATOR WYDEN’S LETTER

Back in Daily Check-In 02/02/2018 I mentioned that Senator Wyden sent a letter to the NRA asking for financial documents relating to Russia. They responded today by attacking Wyden for going after the Second Amendment and some of their other talking points.

They didn’t deny that Russia gives the NRA money, and they didn’t deny that they don’t have to disclose where the money they donate comes from.

TRUMP PANAMA HOTEL STANDOFF

This one’s a bit weird. The Trump Panama Hotel is a money laundering front that now sits mostly empty because of all of the scrutiny now being shone on it.

The majority owners want Trump’s team out, and they’re asking the Panamanian government for help.

Trump’s team locked themselves in an office and the server room. Yesterday, they spent the whole day shredding documents. Today, the security guard was arrested and removed from the building.

INFOWARS ONE STRIKE AWAY FROM PERMANENT YOUTUBE BAN

Fuck Alex Jones, he deserves every horrible thing that can come his way.

After releasing a video where InfoWars attacked the Parkland students, YouTube blocked their account for two weeks, and sent them a little warning.

IW YouTube Warning

This is their second strike, and they’re blocked for the next two weeks. If they get another one in the next three months, no more InfoWars on YouTube.

Please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please, earn that third strike mother fucker.

TRUMP NAMES BRAD PARSCALE 2020 CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Brad Parscale, of Cambridge Analytica and Trump’s digital guru through the 2016 election was named the reelection campaign manager.

Brad has already been interviewed by Mueller, and Cambridge Analytica is knee deep in Russian shit.

I wonder how long until he’s tied to some more shady ass shit.

PARSCALE CONNECTED TO COMPANY INVOLVED IN PENNY STOCK FRAUD SCHEME

Oh, for fucks sake, that was like twelve minutes.

Parscale sold his marketing company to a firm that is involved in felony stock fraud crimes. They’re a penny stock company that pumped their stock values for a quick buck.

Penny stocks are low value stocks worth less than a dollar that are usually very volatile. They are very easy to manipulate for a quick pump and dump. Buy 100,000 shares at $0.01 for $1,000 then create a demand to get the value to $0.10, $0.50, or even $1.00 per share, then sell at its peak and walk away with $100,000.

Check out the movie Boiler Room. This was the main scheme they used to generate money.

MUELLER DROPS CHARGES AGAINST GATES

Robert Mueller recommended that 20 plus charges that he filed against Rick Gates be dropped due to his cooperation. They’re also letting Rick go on spring break to Boston.

Hot damn. Mueller would only do this if he liked what Rick gave him.

By the way, Rick worked with Brad Parscale on the America First policy company.

WISCONSIN GOVERNOR SCOTT WILSON SUED FOR NOT HOLDING SPECIAL ELECTIONS

Democrats sued Scott Wilson for not holding special elections to fill empty seats in the state legislature for fear of losing seats to Democrats.

OBAMA CALLS OUT GOOGLE, FACEBOOK

Obama said they “have to have a conversation about their business model that recognises they are a public good as well as a commercial enterprise.”

Yes, yes we do need to have that conversation. We should be having conversations about regulating Social Media, and to what scope. Personally, I’m in favor of verifying identities to these companies, but allowing anonymity amongst the users. I’m okay with arguing online with someone named BigDickNickFoles, as long as I know that BigDickNickFoles is a real human.

MELANIA SEVERS TIES WITH ADVISER CAUGHT UP IN INAUGURATION SCANDAL

This was in response to the news that came out about her friend and adviser making $26 million for very little work. The explanation makes sense, but I’m not buying the “Melania is innocent” routine.

CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS DEMAND SCOTT PRUITT’S TRAVEL INFORMATION

Pruitt’s expenses have been under scrutiny, now it’s under investigation. The only original cabinet members who haven’t had scandals are SecDef James Mattis, Agriculture Sonny Purdue, HHS Secretary Alex Azar (he’s new, replacing Tom Price who resigned for abusing travel expenses) and HUD Secretary Ben Carson.

BEN CARSON AND THE $31,000 DINING ROOM TABLE

Yep. I wondered when that was going to happen.

Ben’s wife ordered a dining room table for $31,000, and looked for a way for it to be ordered without requiring approval. This came on the heels of budget cuts in the Housing and Urban Development.

CAN TRUMP BE INDICTED AS PRESIDENT?

Short answer: We don’t know, but likely yes.

ROGER STONE TEXTS AND DM’S TO WIKILEAKS CONTRADICT PUBLIC STATES, LIKELY TESTIMONY AS WELL

Soon, it’ll be Roger’s time in the barrel.

CARTER PAGE SPY DETAILS BURIED IN THE FOOTNOTES

One of the footnotes talks about a case where the FBI flat out called Carter Page a spy.

NASTYA RYBKA ARRESTED IN THAILAND, OFFERS INFORMATION ON DERIPASKA AND MANAFORT FOR HER RELEASE

Nastya was the woman in the video that leaked from Oleg Deripaska’s boat which Alexei Nalvany posted showing a connection between Deripaska and the Russian Government, and how this was connected to the attack on America.

She’s scared and she wants to talk.

JEFF SESSIONS ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO NUNES MEMO CLAIMS

The Keebler Nazi announced this as the news about Jared Kushner came out. Jeff Sessions is running interference for Trump.

RUMOR MILL: LONG LOST SOURCES

From Claude earlier tonight…

Claude Old Source

This would explain why Mueller’s okay with Gates going on a trip to Boston.

Remember, take the above with a grain of salt.

That’s it for today. It’s been a bit crazy, and will get crazier going forward. With Kushner under a microscope and looking like a virus, Roger Stone’s ties to Julian Assange and Russia coming to the foreground, and both of them tied to Manafort and Gates, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Roger being the next principal that gets indicted.

Maybe tomorrow will be a little less chaotic. That being said, I’m ready to drink from the fire hose.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 02/26/2018

Here’s a couple things that happened over the weened and today, Monday February 26th.

DEMOCRATIC REBUTTAL TO NUNES MEMO RELEASED

Holy Dogshit. This is a complete and total teardown of Devin Nunes’s attempt at discrediting the Russian Investigation and the FBI.

Here’s the short, short version…

The FBI started their investigation not because of the Steele Dossier, but because of George Papadopoulos’s bragging to an Australian diplomat that he had had contact with the Russians.
Carter Page is a Russophile. He’s more connected to Russia than is being let on.
The FBI has been up Page’s ass with an electron microscope for years.
At least four people in the Trump Campaign were under investigation during the campaign.
The FBI verified a bunch of stuff in the Steele Dossier, and they saw the dossier as independent verification of their worst fears regarding Trump.
The FBI told the FISA court that the Dossier was politically motivated, and it was still reliable enough to be seen as corroborating.
The Peter Strozk/Lisa Page texts from the Nunes Memo were cherry picked to make them appear very partisan. Nunes ignored all of the ones where they were critical of Clinton and the Democrats.
Strozk advised Comey on the reopening of HRC’s email investigation announcement.
The timing was dubious. It was released on Saturday, just as Devin Nunes was taking the stage at CPAC.

HOPE HICK TO TESTIFY BEFORE THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE TOMORROW

I don’t hold out much hope on Hope talking. Nunes and his accomplices are letting the Trump team get away with Obstruction of Congress, Lying to Congress, and just flat out refusing to answer. Daily Check-In 12/08/2017 mentioned that the FBI had talked to her about Russia, emails, her role in the cover-up of the June 9th meeting.

SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO HEAR DACA CASE

This case has yet to go through Appeals court, and SCOTUS will not take a case unless it is of the highest importance. The last two times this happened was when Nixon refused to hand over his tapes, and during the Iran Hostage Crisis.

The fucked up thing is, what Trump did in ending DACA through Executive Order in and by itself is perfectly legal, and would have passed through the lower courts, if he had kept his mouth shut and not said that DACA was illegal and other such nonsense. By doing that, he made it an unconstitutional order.

Trump’s biggest enemy is Trump’s mouth. Like Napoleon Bonaparte said “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

MANAFORT FACING BANKRUPTCY IN LOS ANGELES

Here’s what I’m most interested in…

Reuters has also learned that over the past several months Mueller has begun focusing on Jeffrey Yohai, Manafort’s former son-in-law and his partner in four California property deals that failed and were placed in bankruptcy, as a potentially valuable witness in his probe.

They’re looking into Manafort’s family. If Paul doesn’t make a deal, they’ll go after anyone and everyone he might care about, know, or ever worked with. This is part of Mueller’s playbook; apply pressure where it hurts.

TRUMP MIGHT BE ‘TOO BUSY’ TO TALK TO MUELLER, PER TRUMP’S LAWYERS

Maybe Mueller should wait for Cheeto Mussolini at one of Trump’s golf courses. Unlike Trump, Mueller strikes me as the kind of man who would work on a weekend to get the job done.

NEPOTISM, THY NAME IS TRUMP

When it’s all said and done, our children and grandchildren will see a whole shitload of laws passed in the aftermath of Trump. Among those will be a several that explicitly spell out that what relationships are banned from positions of influence, regardless of pay.

PARKLAND STUDENT EMMA GONZALES HAS MORE FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER THAN NRA JUST DAYS AFTER JOINING

If you’re on the Twitter machine, give @Emma4Change a follow. I’ve been following her and retweeting her message as much as possible.

She has been thrust into extraordinary circumstances. 17 of her classmates and friends were murdered, in cold blood, by a psychopath using a weapon of war. Instead of accepting “thoughts and prayers”, she’s standing up and fighting against corruption, entropy, and violence.

I really like what she says, and we have the same haircut.

RUMOR MILL: SAUDI NUCLEAR REACTORS, PART TWO

Remember the discussions about the Saudi Nuclear Reactor deal that Mike Flynn was working on? I discussed it on Daily Check-In 12/08/2017, which I referenced earlier.

Well, it looks like Trump’s asking Rick Perry, his corrupt AF Secretary of Energy to cancel a planned trip to India to go to London to negotiate with the Saudis on building nuclear reactors.

Think about that for a second. They’re trying to push through the same plan that Mike Flynn has briefed Robert Mueller on. That’s like trying to pull a trick play in a football game against the team that hired the guy who wrote the playbook.

That’s it for today. I think. This has been one of those nights where I’ve got a few things going on and I need to wrap things up a little quicker. Of course, that was a few hours ago, and now it’s almost midnight.

Things are gonna get pretty crazy in my life over the next few months. I don’t like to give too much personal info here, but let’s just say I’ve got a lot coming up by the summertime. If there’s a day or two I don’t make an update, I’ll catch up the day after. Writing is like working out, it’s much easier to do it on a schedule.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Scandal Speed Run

One of the interesting things with the Trump Presidency is the sheer speed at which their scandals are unravelling and coming out. Not only are they coming out in rapid fire, but they’re coming out early in the administration as well.

It’s almost like they’re doing a speed run. How fast can they get through all of the worst scandals in history?

I wanted to compare Trump to the 7 Worst Presidential Scandals, per U.S. News, and see where The Dotard lined up, in terms of speed, scale, and overall corruption. And, to see if there’s anything they haven’t done yet.

BILL CLINTON: MONICA LEWISNKY

Short Version: Bill Clinton got a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky, an intern at the White House. Kenneth Starr, the Special Prosecutor investigating Whitewater, heard about this and investigated it. He subpoenaed Bill Clinton, who lied under oath about getting a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky. After several years of investigation, the only thing that Starr pulled up was a perjury charge. Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 along very partisan lines, but was not removed from office.

Time: The blowjob took place in the last year of Bill Clinton’s first term. He was impeached in the second year of his second term.

Comparison: This is a two-for. We have Trump obstructing justice and paying off a porn star to keep her quiet during the election. Just because of Watergate, I’ll use Stormy Daniels here. It took a little over a year for his sex scandal to come to the foreground.

SEX SCANDAL LEVEL STARTED IN ONE YEAR.

RICHARD NIXON: WATERGATE

Short Version: A bunch of crooks with ties to the CIA and the Republican Party broke into the headquarters for the Democratic Party, located in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. The crooks got busted, Nixon was implicated in the cover-up, and he eventually had to resign.

Time: The break-in took place in the last year of his first term, and he left office in his second year of his second term.

Comparison: Trump has already helped with a break-in into the DNC email system, and is well on his way to an Obstruction of Justice charge, which is what took Nixon down.

BREAK-IN LEVEL STARTED BEFORE TAKING OFFICE

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE LEVEL STARTED IN ONE WEEK

WARREN G. HARDING: TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL

Short Version: Harding’s Secretary of the Interior used government resources to obtain oil fields in Wyoming, then awarded them to a company in a no-bid contract that had given him bribes, loans, and payoffs. Harding’s Interior Secretary became the first Cabinet member to be indicted and convicted while in office.

Time: The Teapot Dome scandal started in 1922, the second year of his presidency.

Comparison: Trump’s Cabinet is corrupt AF. His Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, has abused travel for personal use, and likely had a no-bid contract awarded to an unqualified company to provide power restoration to Puerto Rico.

TEAPOT DOME LEVEL STARTED IN NINE MONTHS

U. S. GRANT: THE WHISKEY RING

Short Version: In 1875, Grant’s personal secretary was implicated in a bribery and corruption scheme where Whiskey manufacturers complained about the taxes they had to pay. It turns out that a few of them were bribing officials at the IRS and the Treasury Department, and keeping the money for themselves.

Time: 1875 was the next to last year of Grant’s presidency.

Comparison: This one’s hard to compare. Not for the lack of criminality, but that it required cooperation with the government. That being said, if we’re looking for a straight bribery charge, an emoluments violation, or his staff being involved in some shady shit, we’ve had them all. They’re close enough, I’ll count them.

BRIBERY LEVEL STARTED IN FIRST TWO MONTHS

EMOLUMENTS LEVEL STARTED IN ONE WEEK

STAFF CORRUPTION LEVEL STARTED IN ONE WEEK

ANDREW JOHNSON: THE FIRST IMPEACHMENT

Short Version: Andrew Johnson was a dick who only became President because Abraham Lincoln had a bad night at the theater. Johnson was a Right Wing Democrat answering to a Left Wing Republican Congress who was trying to bring the country back together. They passed a law saying that Johnson couldn’t fire any Cabinet members. Johnson said “Eat a dick” and fired the Secretary of War. The House impeached him, and he came within 1 vote of being removed from office.

Time: Johnson was a bit of a dick from word one, but his impeachment took place in the third year of his presidency.

Comparison: Trump has already ignored laws passed by Congress in refusing to enact the Russian sanctions. He hasn’t been impeached for that yet, but the first Articles of Impeachment included the sanctions in it.

JOHNSON LEVEL STARTED IN EIGHT MONTHS

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS: DIDN’T WIN THE POPULAR VOTE AND A CORRUPT BARGAIN

Short Version: The Election of 1824 was a clusterfuck. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote and the electoral college, but did not have a majority. That forced the House of Representatives to vote on the Presidency between the final three candidates. The one that missed out was Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House. Clay also hated Andrew Jackson with a passion. Clay struck a deal with John Quincy Adams, which became known as the “Corrupt Bargain” by Jackson’s supporters. Clay helped create a coalition that let Adams win, and Clay was named Secretary of State. Jackson’s supporters used this to spur him on to create his own party for the 1828 election.

Time: The Corrupt Bargain took place at the beginning of John Quincy Adam’s first and only term, and was 4 years before Jackson took office.

Comparison: This is a very hard one to compare to, but there are two examples I can think of that directly correlate. The first was the Mayflower Meeting, and the second being the RNC meeting in Cleveland. In both situations, Trump’s team asked the Russians for help. In Cleveland, the GOP Leadership was involved. And neither of these were a last-chance scenario like the Corrupt Bargain, but were both performed earlier in the campaign.

CORRUPT BARGAIN LEVEL STARTED MONTHS BEFORE TAKING OFFICE

CONCLUSION

Out of the 7 worst scandals in United States Presidential History, Donald Trump has managed to have his own version of each and every one of them, and far faster than anyone else in history. This is a level of corruption that we’ve never seen before in this country. Hell, most banana republic dictators are less corrupt than Donald Trump. Of course, most of them are not neck deep in Russian Mafia, or a money laundering device for the world’s most evil and corrupt organizations.

Keep in mind, we’re only 13.2 months into the four year term. We’re just getting started with the corruption, grift, greed, and criminality of Donald Trump. We’re going. to find out a whole hell of a lot in the next year.

Thank you, and have a good one.