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 02/23/2018

Friday, February 23rd.

GATES TO PLEAD GUILTY, WILL COOPERATE WITH MUELLER

I’ve talked about this rumor for a while, but if the Washington Post is reporting it, it’s happening. He is pleading guilty to Conspiracy and Lying to the FBI.

Here’s a copy of his plea deal.

Gates, who was once the Deputy Campaign Chairman, worked with the Trump team throughout the campaign, transition, and was Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Inaugural Committee. He continued to visit the White House through the Summer of 2017.

Over the last couple days, there was some screwiness with his deal, his legal team, and whether he would or wouldn’t cooperate. Manafort, by all accounts, is putting his money on receiving a pardon from President Trump. Gates probably bet on the same hope, right until the 32 charges came in yesterday from EDVA. Whatever deal he was fighting against yesterday looked REAALLL nice all of a sudden.

In his Lying to the FBI charge, the deal says that he lied about a meeting with Manafort, a Lobbyist, and a member of Congress. My first guess is that it was Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of ~~Moscow~~ California.

Rick Gates is looking at 31 counts of white-collar crime. There are enough charges here that if he were convicted, he would grow very old and likely die in prison. His kids won’t know their father. Working with Mueller is his last, best hope to avoid that.

MUELLER’S TEAM HAS INDICTED 19 PEOPLE ON OVER 100 CHARGES

Here’s the list as of 09:30 EST, courtesy of the Washington Post:

The campaign team

Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman. 27 counts in total.

Conspiracy against the United States (1 count, contained in October indictment)
Conspiracy to launder money (1 count, October)
Bank fraud (4 counts, February indictment)
Bank fraud conspiracy (5 counts, February)
Subscribing to false tax returns (5 counts, February)
Making false statements (1 count, October)
Failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts (4 in October, 4 in February)
Unregistered agent of a foreign principal (1 count, October)
False FARA statements (1 count, October)

Rick Gates, former Trump campaign staffer. 31 counts in total.

Conspiracy against the United States (1 count, October)
Conspiracy to launder money (1 count, October)
Bank fraud (4 counts, February)
Bank fraud conspiracy (5 counts, February)
Subscribing to false tax returns (5 counts, February)
Assisting in preparation of false tax documents (5 counts, February)
Subscribing to false amended tax returns (1 count, February)
Making false statements (1 count, October)
Failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts (3 in October, 3 in February)
Unregistered agent of a foreign principal (1 count, October)
False FARA statements (1 count, October)

Michael Flynn, former campaign staffer. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, December)

George Papadopoulos, former campaign adviser. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, October)

The Russians

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, controlled Concord Management and Consulting. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Mikhail Bystrov, general director of Internet Research Agency. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Mikhail Burchik, executive director of Internet Research Agency. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Aleksandra Krylova, director of Internet Research Agency. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Anna Bogacheva, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Sergey Polozov, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Maria Bovda, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Robert Bovda, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Dzheykhun Aslanov, Internet Research Agency employee. 8 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

Vadim Podkopaev, Internet Research Agency employee. 1 count in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)

Gleb Vasilchenko, Internet Research Agency employee. 8 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States. (1 count, February)
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

Irina Kaverzina, Internet Research Agency employee. 7 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

Vladimir Venkov, Internet Research Agency employee. 7 counts in total.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States (1 count, February)
Aggravated identity theft (6 counts, February)

The other people

Richard Pinedo, businessman who sold bank account numbers allegedly used by the Russians as part of their efforts. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, December)

Alex van der Zwaan, attorney who helped develop a report benefiting Manafort’s client in Ukraine. 1 charge to which he pleaded guilty.

Making false statements (1 count, October)

Comparing that information to this chart from Daily Kos, Trump is already well ahead of every President in number of Indictments and fourth in number of convictions with 3.

**Executive Branch Criminal Activities by Presidential Administration**
President	Party	Years in Office	Criminal Indictments	Criminal Convictions	Prison Sentences
Barack Obama	Democratic	8	0	0	0
George W. Bush	Republican	8	16	16	9
Bill Clinton	Democratic	8	2	1	1
George H. W. Bush	Republican	4	1	1	1
Ronald Reagan	Republican	8	26	16	8
Jimmy Carter	Democratic	4	1	0	0
Gerald Ford	Republican	2.4	1	1	1
Richard Nixon	Republican	5.6	76	55	15

5 NEW CHARGES FOR PAUL MANAFORT FROM DC SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT

Here it is. A couple hours after Rick Gates pleaded guilty, a superseding indictment was unsealed against Paul Manafort.

Here’s the new charges:

Conspiracy Against the United States
Conspiracy to Launder Money
Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal
False and Misleading FARA Statements
False Statements

MANAFORT LEFT PAPER TRAIL BECAUSE HE COULDN’T CONVERT WORD DOC TO PDF

Why is it that it’s always some tiny, stupid, insignificant little thing that ends up leading investigators to unravel a massive conspiracy?

In this case, Manafort needed help converting a Word file to a PDF. Even though there are literally dozens of ways for someone to do this themselves, Paul either couldn’t or wouldn’t figure it out.

Manafort, who is at or near 70 years old, asked a coconspirator at Lender D (Federal Savings Bank in Chicago, IL) for him to send a file to him in a Word file so that he could doctor it. Manfort then sent this to Rick Gates, who sent back a PDF file. All he had to do was ask for a copy of the Word file, spend 2 minutes doing a Google search, and he could have done the work himself. Instead, his laziness likely cost two people their freedom and is a likely catalyst for them to turn on him.

STEPHEN CALK’S WORK WITH MANAFORT BROUGHT UP IN DIVORCE FILING LAST YEAR

Speaking of Federal Savings Bank, Stephen Calk’s wife/ex-wife to be Donna knew about Paul Manafort and Stephen’s working with him.

I’m wondering how long ago someone from Mueller’s office spoke to Donna.

CONOR LAMB RUNNING NECK AND NECK DESPITE GETTING OUTSPENT 17-1

With redistricting coming up later this year, if Lamb can pull of the upset in PA-18, that would set it up nicely for the future.

The seat Lamb is running for is heavily gerrymandered. It splits parts of the city and closest city suburbs and dilutes their large Democratic influence with voters three counties away in Pennsyltucky. Pennsyltucky is the heavily rural, white, and sparsely populated areas in the state between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. More than half of the state’s population lives in and around those two cities.

If Lamb wins PA-18 in the Special Election, he’ll go into November with a new district, a new map, and a more centralized constituency.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT PROPOSES TO RAISE GUN PURCHASE AGE TO 21

Republican Sen. Bill Galvano, the next Senate president from south Tampa, has been working on similar legislation that he planned to present with House and Senate leaders later Friday. Though he has been a supporter of the NRA’s legislative efforts in the past, Galvano said Thursday that the group’s opposition to raising the age for semiautomatic rifle purchases would not change his focus.

“It doesn’t complicate my efforts,” he said after a committee hearing in the Capitol. “I think the desire to act and do something meaningful right now seems to be what’s going to win the day.”

We’re finally starting to see some change. Too bad it took yet another senseless tragedy to get this to happen.

ANOTHER REPORT ABOUT THE FBI INVESTIGATING THE NRA

As I’ve said before and I’ll say again, Fuck the NRA.

This is something I’ve talked about before, but this piece does add some info to the puzzle, like that the NRA spent $55 million in the 2016 campaign, and $30 million of that went to Donald Trump. That $55 million was a record for them.

Alexander Torshin is a Russian Oligarch, a former member of their Parliament, and a Lifetime Member of the NRA.

RNC PAYING RENT FOR AN APARTMENT IN TRUMP TOWER

After the Republican National Committee stopped paying the legal fees for Trump’s family, they immediately started paying Trump for rent on an apartment in Trump Tower, at a rate of $37,500 per month.

Over a year, that comes out to $450,000, being paid to Trump’s company. Smells pretty rotten.

TRUMP SAYS KELLY WILL DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS WITH KUSHNER’S CLEARANCE

This story came out this morning. For the last, well, ever, we’ve been asking how in the Crystal Pepsi Flavored Fuck does Jared Kushner still have a Top Secret clearance?

Remember last week or two weeks ago when John Kelly said that all Interim Security Clearances would be cancelled by today? And how Jared’s camp in the White House felt that this was an attack directed at him?

Well…

TOP JUSTICE DEPT. OFFICIAL ALERTED WHITE HOUSE 2 WEEKS AGO TO ONGOING ISSUES IN KUSHNER’S SECURITY CLEARANCE

Two weeks ago, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein informed the White House that there was a “significant information requiring additional investigation would further delay the security clearance process of senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to three people familiar with the discussion.”

This came directly from Rod. You know, the guy that Bob Mueller reports to for the Russian Investigation? Yeah, that guy.

What happened two weeks ago?

If I could make that last one a big, flashing, obnoxious blinking link, I would.

Two weeks ago, Steve Bannon spent half a week interviewing with Robert Mueller and his team. He told them EVERYTHING. He told them about all of the crazy shit that Jared and Ivanka pulled in the White House. He told Mueller about Kushner’s debts, his habits, his coconspirators, and why he’s accessing so much classified intel.

I finished listening to “Fire & Fury” yesterday. I’ll do a review on it soon, but two things stand out about Steve Bannon; he knows a lot of shit and is a vindictive son of a bitch.

There was a 3-way battle in the White House for who would be the real power behind Donald Trump. Steve Bannon represented the Nationalists, Reince Priebus represented the Republican Party, and Jared Kushner represented… his own self-interests. They all schemed against each other, but eventually Reince and Bannon teamed up against Jarvanka (Jared-Ivanka). Problem was, Trump would not let his kids get fired. The kids were behind firing Comey, the Trump Jr. statement about the June 9th meeting, and the horrendous idea of letting Trump interview Maggie Haberman from the New York Times where he pulled that “red line” bullshit.

Bannon spoke to the author a lot about Kushner, Ivanka, and Hope Hicks. He described Kushner’s very close ties to Israel, money laundering through diamonds, and how screwed his family is on 666 Fifth Avenue. (If that building sounds familiar, I mentioned it on Daily Check-In 10/30/2017.)

If Bannon told this much to a journalist, just imagine what he told to Robert Mueller.

So, what conclusion am I drawing from this?

Steve Bannon told Robert Mueller some shit about Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that strongly implies that they should never, EEVER, be allowed anywhere near classified intel. Mueller told Rosenstein, and Rosenstein told the White House.

Jared’s gonna have a very rough year.

RUMOR MILL: CALLS FOR UNITY AND THE ONCOMING STORM

This article is already pretty long, and with all the news today, there were two main messages today.

We need to come together as Americans and lovers of Freedom, and resist the calls for divisiveness, since they’re likely coming from our enemies.

A lot of bad people are going to have a very bad time soon. Things are speeding up.

That’s it for today. CNN has a graphical page describing all of the different lawyers on The Justice League. I think I might update my page with any missing attorneys. I like CNN’s look. All I want to say is…

I DID IT FIRST!

Ok, I’m done being petty. I’ll update my version with the new information soon.

I’ll see you next time.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 02/22/2018

Thursday, February 22nd. I’m spending most of this time talking about the first story, so the rest will get short write-ups today.

MUELLER UNSEALS 32 INDICTMENTS AGAINST MANAFORT, GATES

Jesus Fucking Christ. A superseding indictment from Eastern District of Virginia containing 32 indictments against both Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.

According to the indictment, they laundered $75 million, committed a fuck ton of bank and mortgage fraud, and a shitload of tax evasion.

Here’s a PDF of the indictment.

It’s a pretty long list, so I’ll see you in a couple screens.

Count	Charge	Defendant
1	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2010) (26 U.S.C. §7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
2	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2011) (26 U.S.C. §7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
3	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2012) (26 U.S.C. §7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
4	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2013) (26 U.S.C. §7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
5	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2014) (26 U.S.C. §7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
6	Assisting in the Preparation of False United States Individual Income (2010) (26 U.S.C. §7206 (2))	Gates
7	Assisting in the Preparation of False United States Individual Income (2011) (26 U.S.C. §7206 (2))	Gates
8	Assisting in the Preparation of False United States Individual Income (2012) (26 U.S.C. §7206 (2))	Gates
9	Assisting in the Preparation of False United States Individual Income (2013) (26 U.S.C. §7206 (2))	Gates
10	Assisting in the Preparation of False United States Individual Income (2014) (26 U.S.C. §7206 (2))	Gates
11	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2011) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
12	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2012) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
13	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2013) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
14	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2014) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Manafort
15	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2010) (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Gates
16	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2011) (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Gates
17	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2012) (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Gates
18	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2013) (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Gates
19	Subscribing to False United States Individual Income Tax Returns (2014) (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Gates
20	Subscribing to a False Amended United States Individual Income Tax Return (2013) (26 U.S.C. §7206(1); 18 U.S.C. §2)	Gates
21	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2011) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. § 2)	Gates
22	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2012) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. § 2)	Gates
23	Failure To File Reports Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (2013) (31 U.S.C. §5314 and §5322(a); 18 U.S.C. § 2)	Gates
24	Bank Fraud Conspiracy (Lender B/$3.4 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §1349)	Manafort Gates
25	Bank Fraud (Lender B/$3.4 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §§1344, 2)	Manafort Gates
26	Bank Fraud Conspiracy (Lender C/$1 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §1349)	Manafort Gates
27	Bank Fraud (Lender C/$1 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §1344, 2)	Manafort Gates
28	Bank Fraud Conspiracy (Lender B/$5.5 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §1349)	Manafort Gates
29	Bank Fraud Conspiracy (Lender D/$9.5 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §1349)	Manafort Gates
30	Bank Fraud (Lender D/$9.5 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §§1344, 2)	Manafort Gates
31	Bank Fraud Conspiracy (Lender D/$6.5 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §1349)	Manafort Gates
32	Bank Fraud (Lender D/$6.5 million loan) (18 U.S.C. §§1344, 2)	Manafort Gates

This all started back in Ukraine. They stole a bunch of money while Yakunovich was President, until about 2015. From 2015 until January 2017, they allegedly played a shell game with multiple banks to try to drum up some cash to keep them running until their next scheme takes off. They’re lying to banks, altering profit & loss sheets, lied about their stated incomes, lied about rental properties, and lied about all of this on state, local, and federal taxes.

Notice the dates, 2015 to 2017. This overlaps their time on the Trump Campaign.

I can’t get a credit card increase for $500 without 38 references, and these pricks got millions of loans in a few months.

By the way, Lender D is likely Federal Savings Bank from Chicago, Illinois. I talked about Stephen Calk yesterday in Daily Check-In 02/21/2018. He gave these loans to Manafort in a Quid Pro Quo for a position in the White House, likely the Secretary of the Army. Reportedly, him or someone in his bank is working with Mueller.

But, now the $64,000 question. If Gates flipped, why’s he still getting indicted?

There was some confusion this afternoon about his legal representation. Looks like Tom Green is still his attorney. No, not the Tom Green that had a TV show back on MTV from the late 90’s who had testicular cancer, but the Tom Green who was a lawyer during Watergate.

There’s two hypotheses about this. First, he’s not flipping on Manafort, or he doesn’t have enough new evidence. Second, these indictments include enough criminal activity by both of them together, and they were indicted together.

Either way, this sends a message to Paul Manfort. Deliver Donald Trump or die in prison.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK TO END THEIR NRA VISA CARD

The boycott of the NRA begins.

Time to add Enterprise Holdings to that list. They own Enterprise, National, and Alamo rental car companies.

NRA AT CPAC CONFERENCE IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO EVERYTHING

Wayne LaPierre went off on everything from blacks to socialism to video games, and blamed all of them for mass shootings.

You know, it’s everyone else’s fault, but his.

Fuck him.

TRUMP CRIES ‘FAKE NEWS’ ON CNN AND NBC SAYING HE’D ARM TEACHERS, THEN SAYS ARMING TEACHERS WOULD ‘SOLVE THE PROBLEM INSTANTLY’

The only reason I’m mentioning a Trump tweet is to illustrate his inability to keep a coherent thought for more than 30 seconds. I’ll address the stupidity of arming teachers in the Rumor Mill section.

MISSIOURI GOVERNOR TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

Republican Governor of Missouri Eric Greitens was indicted and arrested on felony invasion of privacy. He allegedly took pictures of his mistress without her permission as she was bound, gagged, and semi-naked on her bed, then threatened to blackmail her with them if she spoke out about the affair.

TRUMP LEGAL FUND RECIPIENTS UNCLEAR; FLYNN SAYS NO THANKS

This fund is supposed to be for people around Trump that can’t afford their own legal bills, like low-level staffers.

There was an argument making the rounds of the Fringe RWM that the Government doesn’t have a case against Flynn and he should fight it. Flynn said “No Thanks.”

RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY DETAINED IN MOSCOW, AGAIN

Once again, this shows how weak Putin really is. Nalvany is protesting the sham practice known as the 2018 Russian Presidential Election.

PUTIN ALLY SAID TO BE IN TOUCH WITH KREMLIN, ASSAD BEFORE HIS MERCENARIES ATTACKED U.S. TROOPS

In intercepted communications in late January, the oligarch, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, told a senior Syrian official that he had “secured permission” from an unspecified Russian minister to move forward with a “fast and strong” initiative that would take place in early February.

Yevgeniy was indicted last week as the Oligarch in charge of the IRA. His forces attacked U.S. troops in Syria, but were routed when the Americans attacked them from the air.

Yes, Russian mercenaries that report to ‘Putin’s Chef’ attacked American troops.

GUILTY PLEA DOESN’T PROHIBIT CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE TO CONVICTIONS, SUPREME COURT RULES

This has nothing to do with Russia so far, but I thought it was an interesting ruling.

RUMOR MILL: TEACHERS WITH GUNS AND MANAFORT’S CONNECTIONS

One of the stupidest things I’ve heard come from the NRA “enthusiasts” is that the solution to gun violence and mass shootings is if more “good guys” were armed. Their thinking, if you can call it that, is that more armed people will offset and outshoot the bad people with guns. Their recommendation to stop school shootings is to arm teachers.

Outside of a bad Hollywood movie, this is by far the dumbest, least thought out, and wildly horrible ideas since… well, I one time heard of Orange Juice and Toothpaste flavored potato chips.

Let’s talk first about the realities of gunfights.

Trained professionals who spend years perfecting the art of shooting are not very accurate in live fire situations. The NYPD has an 18% accuracy rate. Soldiers are about the same rate. That means, even in a great situation, 4 out of every 5 bullets will miss its target. In a shooting range, that miss is going to hit a wall, or a dirt mound. In a school, that bullet is flying into a kid.

Next, let’s think about who teachers are. They are overworked, underpaid, and stressed out. In a lot of schools, they move from class to class, and that’s most of their exercise all day. So, on a good day, their nerves are only slightly frayed. Let’s throw guns into that mix, and students who know that they can beat up a teacher to steal their gun, or take it out of an unlocked drawer.

Also, who the fuck’s gonna pay for this? We don’t pay the teachers enough as it is, and a lot of schools have problems paying for essential supplies like pencils and staplers. Who’s gonna pay for range time and ammo?

Finally, teachers know their students. Do you know who the most likely shooters are in a school? Angry boy students. Those boys are either current or former students. This idea of arming teachers implies that they’ll have to shoot and kill people they know. Imagine, for a moment, the kind of mindfuck that puts a person through.

Soldiers train to kill by dehumanizing their enemies. It’s the only way they can get through their tour of duties. Listen to some veterans talk about being in combat, and if they describe fighting at all, they’ll use some pretty denigrating and racist terms to describe who they fought and what they did. Are they racists? No, not really. This is the only way they can sleep at night without ending up a sobbing pile on the floor.

Law Enforcement Officers who fire at and kill people in the line of duty have to go through counseling for the rest of their careers just to cope with what they did. Often times, the dehumanizing traits occur.

Think about that, then think about the people who say that teachers should train with guns, just in case they need to be ready to kill one of their students, a kid they spend months teaching and mentoring.

I wasn’t the only person who thinks that arming teachers is a terrible idea. There are literally ~~dozens hundreds thousands~~ millions of us on Twitter who feel the same way.

Finally, Countercheckist has been rather critical of Bernie Sanders recently. Okay, ever since I started following him. He was one of the first to point out that the same bots that were pushing Trump’s message were also pushing Bernie’s message, and they both seemed to have the same reaction to tales of Russian interference. They blamed Obama.

He’s also shown over time how well connected Paul Manfort is to every single shady mutha fucka that does shady shit. At this point, I’m half expecting to find out that my elementary school bullies were funded by Paul Manafort.

In a tweet earlier today, Countercheckist alluded to ties between Paul and Bernie. I don’t know how, and as much as I’d like to say it ain’t so, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised.

That’s it for today. Keep in mind, it’s not even Friday, and we’ve had 5 days of court activity from Robert Mueller in a row. Manafort is Manafucked.

I have to do the math on this, but there have been over 100 criminal charges filed on 19 people from the Special Counselor’s Office.

And we’re just warming up.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur