Friday.

Trump is being Trump. Talking a big game about North Korea, and even Venezuela. Avoiding Putin like there's no tomorrow.

All bluster at this point.

Rachel Maddow is doing a special episode on Trump.

The Rumor Mill was rather quiet today.

After the bombshell of Manafort's FBI wake-up call earlier this week, everyone is holding their breath. There's a feeling that something big is about to happen, but it feels like the timing is off.

Everyone in the government is on vacation next week, so don't expect anything like an indictment or impeachment proceedings to start.

Instead, more stuff will leak out about financial crimes. Trump's, Manafort's, Kushner, the whole bunch. This will cause Trump to act even more ridiculous.

It's gonna be a long week.

It’s Thursday.

Trump’s once again trying to pick a fight with North Korea.  There’s a lot of bluster and chest pounding involved, and this could end up in a shooting war if the grown-ups in the room don’t put him in timeout.  Personally, I think he’s trying to distract from how close and how big the Russian Investigation is getting, but I’m honestly not sure he has the ability to think ahead like that.  It’s more likely something is getting close, and he’s lashing out.

Trump suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  His NPD is to such a severe grade that he cannot self-actualize.  Why do his handlers treat him like a child?  Because he has the mental development of an infant.  Sure, he can process language and some other basic tasks, but he suffered some severe trauma at such a young age, that his mind split.  I’ll go into more detail later, but the short of it is that everything he does is about himself.  I’m not sure he can separate out his family.

But enough with my armchair psychology for today.

Robert Mueller has subpoenaed Paul Manafort’s banking records.  Reportedly, Paul’s son-in-law is cooperating with the feds.  Paul could use a really good lawyer right now.

Oh, that’s right.  Manafort’s lawyers from WilmerHale have left him, and he’s seeking new counsel.  They sited a “conflict of interest” as the reason, but it’s being reported that it could be that Paul wasn’t 100% forthcoming with this legal team.  Because of this, he put his legal team in some muddy waters, and they filed a motion to separate from their client.

Remember last week when Vladimir Putin expelled 755 U.S. diplomats from Russia last week.  The following is an actual quote from the President of the United States:

“I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Trump told reporters at his Bedminster, N.J. golf club.

“There’s no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United State,” he continued. “We’re going to save a lot of money.”

What in the actual fuck?  We’re well past the point of Trump possibly working in cooperation with the Russians.  We are in full-blown, Trump is a fucking agent of the Russians.  This is the kind of shit that if Obama or Clinton, or even one of the Bush’s said it, they would have a half-dozen investigations coming after them by the end of the week, and would talk of Impeachment would be the conversation of the day.

Speaking of Impeachment, I’m going to post an article soon about how that whole process works, but here’s the short version.  An Impeachment is like an indictment.  The House of Representatives submits a bill called Articles of Impeachment, which lay out the charges against the person.  This can be any member of government, not just the President.  But the articles are submitted to the House Judiciary Committee, who reviews and votes on them.  If they pass, the articles go to the floor of the House, where a vote is cast.  A simple majority on one charge in the Articles of Impeachment means that the person is impeached.

The confirmed charges then go to the Senate, where a trial is held, overseen by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  The Senate serves as the jury.  The person is put on trial, there’s a prosecution and defense argument, then the Senate votes.  Two thirds of the Senators must vote Yea on at least one charge to remove the person from office.

Why did I just give an Impeachment 101 lesson in the Daily Check-In?  Because Trump is a dumbass and keeps attacking Mitch McConnell.

Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader, and quite possibly the most powerful person in a functioning government.  He controls the largest voting block in the Senate, and is a Republican.  The only way that Trump survives an Impeachment and doesn’t lose his office is if less than 19 of the 52 Republican Senators vote Yea to remove him from office.  Mitch could possibly deliver that.  Mitch is Trump’s lifeline.  And Trump keeps shitting all over him.

Trump’s career will likely be in Mitch McConnell’s hands sooner than later.

HSIOW. Holy Shit, It's Only Wednesday!

Today's big story, the FBI executed a search warrant on Paul Manafort's home in Alexandria, VA., on July 26th. This raid was conducted at 02:frigging-early, before the sun came up. This was the day after he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. According to the report from the Washington Post, Mueller's team didn't trust that Paul would hand over all of his documents.

Yes, Robert Mueller's team executed the warrant.

The theory being thrown around is that Mueller's team is coming after Manafort for other crimes, and will use that leverage against Trump. This could be a possible Ponzi scheme involving his son-in-law, tax matters, financial disclosure issues, or just some unpaid parking tickets.

The National Enquirer attacked Paul Manafort. Why is that even a thing? The family that owns the NE? Kushner. Yep, that Kushner. On top of that, Trump uses the tabloid to attack everyone from HRC to Kim Jong-Un. What does this mean? I think it means that he's cutting Paul loose, letting him twist in the wind.

North Korea is still a thing. Following yesterday, that's a good sign.

Per Rachel Maddow, Trump is trying to fill Eastern New York US Attorney with a partner of Mark Kasowitz, and Southern New York with a partner of Rudy Giuliani.

Back to Manafort. The search warrant was executed on July 26th. That was the morning of the Transgender Military Ban tweets. Also that morning, Trump bitching about how Acting FBI Director McCabe should have been fired.

A couple nights ago, a story broke about how two Republican Congressional staffers were sent to Britain to find Christopher Steele. None of the Congress members on the Intelligence Committee investigating Russia knew about this trick. Turns out it was Devin Nunes. One of Special Agent Dipshit Cowpoke's staffers authorized the trip, using committee funds. Devin is making it Mueller's case on him pretty easy. These are the actions of a conspirator attempting to obstruct an investigation.

A major climate change article was leaked to NYT. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, let alone comment on it. I hope to soon.

A large chicken with a bad combover was inflated behind the White House.

Recently, Jeff Flake, the other Republican Senator from Arizona, released an op-ed lambasting the Republican Party and its embrace of Trump. Flake has been a constant target of Trump's bullying, and is up for reelection in 2018. Trump's team has already threatened to "primary" him. Flake could simply be doing the math about whether dealing with Trump's bullshit is worth it, or this could be the signal that the GOP needs to separate itself from the MAGA crowd.

Remember, it's only Wednesday.