March 22 to March 27, 2019.  My last post before this was Daily Check-In 03/22/2019 right after news broke that Mueller submitted his report to the Department of Justice.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Barr Submits His Summary

• Nadler says he will call on Barr to testify over DOJ handling of Mueller report
• READ: Barr’s letter to Congress summarizing Mueller findings
• Reuters Live Updates: What is in the Mueller report?
• Attorney general issues key findings from Mueller’s Russia report
• Attorney General delivers summary of special counsel’s report.
• House Democrats to call on Barr to testify about Mueller report
• Mueller did not find Trump conspired with Russia
• Why Did Barr Share Only Four Incomplete Sentences From the Mueller Report?
• Who is Attorney General Barr, the man deciding what parts of the Mueller report to release?
• William Barr Did What He Was Hired to Do
• “A Crime in Public View”: How William Barr Pardoned Donald Trump
• A former prosecutor explains why Barr’s hasty obstruction conclusion should raise red flags
• Barr Authored Memo Last Year Ruling Out Obstruction of Justice
• Barr is wrong: Obstruction of justice doesn’t require another underlying crime
• Has “Cover-Up General” William Barr Struck Again? Barr’s history of helping Republican presidents in legal crises may explain why Trump brought him back in to head the Justice Department
• Hiding the Full Mueller Report Is Another Gift to Vladimir Putin
• Holder: Barr burying Mueller report, just ‘beginning’ obstruction
• Mueller did not find evidence the Trump campaign conspired with Russia, attorney general says
• Mueller Report Emboldens Russia, Increases Chance Of 2020 Election Interference, Experts Argue
• Mueller report fallout: Trump, Russia, others react to Barr summary
• Pelosi says Barr believes Trump is ‘above the law’
• Pelosi: No Reason To Trust Barr, That Boot-Licking Hack 
• Preet Bharara: Mueller Aimed To ‘Punt’ To Congress, Barr Snagged Ball To Spin For Trump
• The “Barr Summary” Is Meaningless. Release the Entire Report.
• The White House will get the Mueller report before the public does in case it wants to make redactions, Barr says
• Here’s what Rep. Nadler says about Mueller report
• Special Counsel: No Russia Collusion ‘Despite Multiple Offers’
• Special Counsel did not find any evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election
• President Trump on Mueller report findings: ‘This was an illegal takedown that failed’
• Mueller report finds no evidence that Trump campaign colluded with Russia: Justice Department
• House Judiciary chair vows to haul in the attorney general for questioning over the Mueller report
• Robert Mueller Report Attorney General Barr Part II
• Renato Mariotti: Well, now we know what Attorney General Barr was doing for the last two days. He was “engaged in discussions” with DOJ officials to make a hasty decision about obstruction of justice because Mueller decided not to make one.
• Katie Brenner: Per a DOJ official: #Mueller was not consulted in the creation of this letter to Congress, nor was he at the department today. It was the product of Barr, Rosenstein and advisors including from the office of legal counsel.

Welcome to the crazy spin and deflection part of the investigation.  William Barr, Attorney General for Trump, released a summary that Mueller didn’t find evidence of collusion with Russia, nor did he find enough evidence for an obstruction of justice indictment.

So yeah, the fix is in.

Barr’s summary, which was less than four pages, contains no quotes from Mueller’s report longer than a sentence fragment, has minimal sourcing, and is designed to obfuscate and distract.  It defines collusion so narrowly that only direct and knowing coordination between the Trump Campaign officials that were members of the campaign at the time and direct members of the Russian government, the Internet Research Agency, or the GRU count.  This would not include Roger Stone, who talked with Wikileaks and the GRU since he was not an official member of the campaign at the time.  This doesn’t include Erik Prince or George Nader’s work since they weren’t members of the campaign at the time.  This doesn’t include Paul Manafort or Rick Gates working with Konstantin Kilimnik, since “Kostya from the GRU” isn’t an active member of the GRU.  Their work with Oleg Deripaska doesn’t fit this definition since he isn’t a member of the Russian Government.

So, actions that meet the legal definition of a criminal conspiracy don’t fit for Barr’s definition of collusion.

As far as obstruction goes, Mueller left that to Barr to choose whether to charge Trump.  Barr, who has gone on the record many times saying that a President cannot obstruct justice, did not elect to charge Trump.

Any idea that William Barr is not a bad actor went flying out the window with the appearance of the rule of law.

 

Tweets and stories from before the summary was released

• Mueller’s Findings Will Remain Confidential at Least Another Day
• President Trump spends the first 24 hours after the Mueller probe ends in Twitter silence
• After claiming ‘no collusion’ 231 times, Trump says nothing about the end of the Mueller investigation
• Tea Pain: Congratulations, @realDonaldTrump. With the Mueller probe over, you’re now only under 17 criminal investigations!
• Bob Bensch: (UPDATE) The minimum number of *active* investigations targeting Trump, many involving pre- and post-election multinational collusion: ✅SDNY✅EDNY✅EDVA✅USDC-DC✅NYCDA✅NYAG✅NJAG✅MDAG✅DCAG✅SCO*✅FBI✅CIA✅HPSCI✅SSCI✅HJC✅HOC✅HFSC✅HWMC *Ongoing cases.
• John Dean: Trump and his minions think they dodged a bullet. I have a notion — only a recurring thought — that Mueller delivered a bomb to AG Barr, who is now trying to figure out how to tell Trump in a way that doesn’t cause him to start World War III. Barr knows he works for a psycho.
• Ming: Is Barr taking heart medicine yet?
• Caroline Orr: The summary is just the first step, and it’s only delivered to congressional leaders. After that, Barr will consult with Rosenstein and Mueller regarding what information to release to Congress and the public. That’s where to focus.
• Caroline Orr: #BREAKING: Per @NBCNews, Attorney General William Barr will NOT be submitting a summary of the Mueller report to Congress today. (From Saturday)
• MSW Podcast: It seems like all trump supporters have collectively forgotten that a couple of weeks ago, Mueller team member Von Grack was appointed to head a new FARA enforcement unit at the DoJ. They probably weren’t aware.
• Medhi Hassan: Imagine, just imagine, if Mueller had been silent for past 2 years, held everything back, & then on Fri evening, announced 37 (!) indictments, including of Trump’s lawyer, national security adviser & campaign manager. We’d be in shock. The White House would be in chaos & crisis. THREAD
• PostimusMaximus: If we are being realistic, Kushner/Ivanka crimes seem less Mueller more “Whoever is handling the saudi/qatar/china/financial stuff. Jr you could say the meeting to get dirt was a crime maybe? That would depend on a few things. And Trump himself wouldn’t be indicted.
• Kaz Weida: You know what the Mueller report anxiety feels like? It’s like midterm elections. It took a while for the scope of the wave to take shape. Because the Resistance had high expectations, the slow trickle win didn’t take the shape of the crashing wave we were expecting. (THREAD)
• MSW Podcast: Barr will not submit the Mueller report summary conclusions today according to the DoJ. Interesting…
• PostimusMaximus: Hope everything is less crazy today. Though we are still probably stuck in bad-takesville.

Narrator: We’re still stuck in bad-takesville.

 

Shock and Confusion

• James Comey says he is confused by Mueller’s decision on obstruction
• Comey: Imagine if it was Obama and Iran, not Trump and Russia
• Comey: Trump’s Comments On Firing Me Sounded Like Obstruction Of Justice
• Rachel Maddow Lists The Questions ‘Driving Me Nuts’ About Barr’s Summary Of Mueller Report

 

The Cover-Up

• McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly
• Mitch McConnell blocked a resolution to release the full Mueller report, 3 days after saying he wanted ‘openness and transparency’ about it
• Mitch McConnell Blocks Resolution to Release Full Mueller Report
• Mitch McConnell tries gaslighting on Obama, Russia
• Mitch McConnell Wants to Bury the Mueller Report, Of Course
• McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly
• McConnell blocks resolution calling for release of Mueller report for second time 
• McConnell blocks vote on release of Mueller report for 2nd time 
• McConnnell blocks resolution to release full Mueller report
• Caroline Orr: Mitch McConnell may not just be covering for Trump here — he may be covering for himself, and for the Republican Party.
• Thread by @RVAwonk: “Mitch McConnell may not just be covering for Trump here — he may be covering for himself, and for the Republican Party. We already know tha […]”
• MSW Podcast: When we get the full Mueller report, MSW is going to read it in it’s entirety as a podcast.
• Twitter reacts to Mitch McConnell blocking resolution to release full Mueller report: “Trump is guilty”
• Tea Pain: BREAKING: Mitch McConnell moves to block release of Mueller Report. To paraphrase Leonard Cohen, “There’s a leak in everything. That’s how the truth gets out.”
• Angry White House Staffer: This is why I’m so damn confused / pissed at Barr right now. I have other reporter contacts telling me they’re hearing exactly the same thing. If true, they won’t be able to sit on this forever.
• Virginia Heffernan: Good Source (Thread of screenshots from a source describing how bad the report is for Trump)
• Trinity Resists: June 2018—AG Barr wrote an unsolicited 19 page memorandum to DAG Rosenstein called Mueller’s “Obstruction” Theory on why a sitting POTUS should not be indicted. 👉https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/549-june-2018-barr-memo-to-doj-mue/b4c05e39318dd2d136b3/optimized/full.pdf … Barr never would’ve found obstruction on Trump. He did exactly what Trump wanted him to do.
• Look at All the Weasel Words Bill Barr Used to Protect Trump
• ArsonCrafts: “Collusion” (at least per Barr’s letter) appeared to be narrowly defined-down to two things: 1. Agreement or coordination with Internet Research Agency 2. Agreement or coordination with GRU (particularly, with respect to the “hacking” component, not necessarily distrubution). What about “collusion” in the sense of any quid pro quo, such as Trump Tower Moscow in exchange for easing sanctions??? If Barr’s definition of collusion is all Mueller could look at, much had to be farmed out by Mueller elsewhere.
• Opinion | Trump won with illicit help. He abused his power. His AG is blocking a full reckoning.
• Caroline Orr: #BREAKING: Citing “national security concerns,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just blocked a non-binding resolution to make special counsel Mueller’s full report publicly available. The non-binding resolution to release the full Mueller report was brought forth by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The House version passed unanimously. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are the only senators who objected to the measure.
• Angry White House Staffer: Make no mistake about this selective “leaking” from DOJ. This is just Barr authorizing people to speak to reporters on background — you know, the thing McCabe supposedly got fired for — to push the narrative.
• Tea Pain: The Mueller Report was filed almost 72 hours ago and we’ve yet to see a single complete sentence from it. #ReleaseTheFullMuellerReport
• Nadler: Barr Won’t Commit To Releasing Unredacted Mueller Report And Evidence 
• The longer the Mueller report is hidden, the bigger the political problem 

Remember the names of those blocking the release of the report.

 

Congressional Reactions

• ‘Undoubtedly there is collusion’: Trump antagonist Adam Schiff doubles down after Mueller finds no conspiracy
• Adam Schiff Threatens to Subpoena Mueller’s Evidence If Necessary
• Attorney General Barr Faces Bipartisan Pressure To Make Mueller Report Public
• Attorney General Expected to Miss Deadline for Giving Mueller Report to Congress, Will Not Commit to Releasing It In Full
• Bill Barr agrees to testify on “very substantial” Mueller report
• Democrats demand Barr release full Muller investigation report
• Dispute erupts over Mueller’s findings on Trump, Russia and obstruction of justice
• House Democrats Request Mueller’s Full Report Be Sent by April 2
• Key Democrat says Mueller report summary puts matters ‘squarely in Congress’ court’
• Republicans and Democrats brace for renewed battles over Mueller report
• Republicans block U.S. Senate Democrats’ move on making Mueller report public
• Sen. Hirono on Mueller report: “There’s more to come”
• Sen. Whitehouse statement on Barr Summary: “Now is not the time for a cover-up”

 

We Want To See The Report

• Democracy Requires a Public Mueller Report 
• Democratic chairmen call on Barr to submit Mueller report to Congress by April 2
• Trump’s attorney doesn’t want Trump’s ‘confidential’ written responses to Mueller released
• Watchdog sues for full release of Mueller report
• Release the Report
• Privacy Advocates Sue Justice Department, Seeking to Compel Full Public Release Of Mueller Report
• National security expert: No point in DOJ covering up Mueller report because staffers will just leak it anyway
• Nobody Has Actually Seen the Mueller Report
• Pelosi calls Mueller report summary ‘insufficient,’ seeks full report
• Poll: 84 percent want Mueller report made public
• If Mueller’s report is great news for Trump, why can’t we see it?
• I wrote the special counsel rules. The attorney general can — and should — release the Mueller report.

 

Reactions from the Rumor Mill and Beyond

• George Conway: Mueller report must have ‘something pretty damning’ if it can’t exonerate Trump
• ‘If. F******. Only’: Monica Lewinsky Imagines Life if Ken Starr’s Report Got Mueller Treatment, Released as AG Summary
• It’s Mueller time but don’t forget: Trump has undermined the very idea of America
• Liberal Redneck – Mueller Report Schmueller Report – YouTube
• Majority of Americans Say Trump Interfered in Mueller investigation: Fox News Poll
• Michael J. Stern: “No indictments doesn’t mean no evidence.”
• Monica Lewinsky: ‘If only’ the Starr report was handled like Mueller’s 
• Mueller report ‘undoubtedly’ proves conspiracy, obstruction: Judge Napolitano
• Reaction to the Mueller Report News Has Been a Goddamn Embarrassment
• Two covers off the New York Times, 45 years & 3 weeks apart.
• Watergate Figure John Dean Suspects Barr May Be Hiding Something ‘Fairly Ugly’.
• Adam Schiff: Mueller spent two years investigating obstruction of justice and found evidence that “does not exonerate” Trump. Barr took two days to set aside that evidence. The entire report must be published and evidence provided to Congress so the American people can judge for themselves. Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy, notwithstanding Russian offers to help Trump’s campaign, their acceptance, and a litany of concealed interactions with Russia. I trust Mueller’s prosecutorial judgement, but the country must see the evidence.
• Rick Wilson: Trump fluffers trying to dunk on me, begging for a reply. Bless your hearts. Y’all enjoy your day.
• Greg Olear: Barr did a book report on War & Peace and concluded it’s not about Russia. Maybe we should reserve judgment until we read what Tolstoy wrote?
• 911corlebra777: It would seem IC ain’t buyin it. I don’t know what Barr’s motivations are, but one thing is clear to me, his summary has further divided America & runs contrary to the evidence that was in front of our own eyes, & that we know US & Allied IC hold
• Renato Mariotti: It’s not that Mueller couldn’t make a decision about obstruction. It’s that he didn’t want to, possibly because he is cautious and understood its potential impact on the nation. Yet Barr took it upon himself to do, in two days, what Mueller was unwilling to do after two years.
• Tea Pain: Let’s be clear. Bob Mueller did not “exonerate” Trump. William Barr did.
• Alyssa Milano: Well, if there was nothing in the report why won’t they just release it? If the report fully exonerated him or his family, he’d have it all out in seconds. Wouldn’t he?
• Andrew Laufer, ESQ: Ok folks. What ‘Barr’s Brief’ of Mueller’s report barely touches upon are the prosecutions which have been farmed out to a number of USAOs. It also doesn’t mention any state AG actions which were also coordinated with Mueller’s team. Further, it doesn’t discuss prosecutions /1. THREAD
• Thread by @lauferlaw: “Ok folks. What ‘Barr’s Brief’ of Mueller’s report barely touches upon are the prosecutions which have been farmed out to a number of USAOs. […]” #MuellerReport
• Joe Walsh: Unanswered questions: 1. Why did everybody on Team Trump lie about Russia? 2. What is the obstruction that Mueller found? 3. We know Russia was trying to help the Trump campaign. Did Trump himself know that Russia was helping? The whole Mueller report must be made public.
• Emptywheel: Folks, this letter doesn’t even clear Trump of “collusion,” or even “conspiracy.” FAR from it.
• Greg Olear: I’m not gonna lie: with the possible exception of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, yesterday was the worst I’ve felt since Election Day 2016. I barely slept, tossing & turning & doubting my own sanity. Which is EXACTLY what these traitors want. Some thoughts: [THREAD]

Check the Rumor Mill for the full text of this thread.

• PostimusMaximus: Ok you know my thoughts. Going to avoid toxic hellscape twitter again for the rest of the day. (You should do the same!) All I can really say is to breath, the world isn’t ending, we are stuck where we’ve been looking for answers. Our battle continues onward.
• Countercheckist: Let. The. Process. Play. Out. All of it.
• John Schindler: Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Bluto knew. So does @RepAdamSchiff. Dems taking the House in NOV means this is far from over. The fight’s just been kicked to the Hill now. But Trump clearly knew what he was doing when he appointed Barr AG.
• Louise Mensch: Thread: Yes, I see what Barr says. I do not resile from any of my reporting. I believe my sources. I trust @SpeakerPelosi to get the report. I trust Mueller. Let’s see his report. Now let’s examine what the letter says, ideally calmly. THREAD
• Thread by @LouiseMensch: “Thread: Yes, I see what Barr says. I do not resile from any of my reporting. I believe my sources. I trust @SpeakerPelosi to get the report. […]”
• Caroline Orr: As you evaluate information & reporting on the Mueller report over the next few days, remember that everything we are hearing is based on what Attorney General Barr is telling us. In other words, the guy who was hand-picked by Trump is now hand-picking the info you’re getting.
• Walter Shaub: No. Trump asked Comey to let Flynn go; had McGahn tell Yates to buzz off and pry into a FISA warrant; fired Comey; fired Sessions; and, with help from Congress, attacked DOJ & FBI. What kept him from shutting it down were his own incompetence and the will of the American people.
• MSW Podcast: Anyone who tells you there is NO evidence of coordination or obstruction is wholly incorrect. That is not what this summary says.
• Angry White House Staffer: I’m going to add Barr to my wall of shame, right next to Kavanaugh. I know many of you probably feel like I let you down — I do too, and I’m sorry. I still want to see the full report. This stinks. Mueller didn’t spend two years indicting people for lying about Russia for this.
• Joe Walsh: EVERYBODY on Trump’s team who had contacts with Russia lied about those contacts with Russia. EVERYBODY. Including Trump. I sure hope the Mueller Report tells us WHY everybody on Team Trump lied about Russia.
• Tea Pain: Trump is “happy” to… 1) Release his tax returns 2) Sit down with Mueller 3) Release the Mueller Report Which should we expect first?
• Joe Walsh: We all need to accept the results of the Report, but we can’t do that until we all see the Report.
• For Democrats, the Mueller report turns their politics upside down

 

The Beat Goes On…

• After Mueller: The Ongoing Investigations Surrounding Trump
• Don’t Believe Trump or Barr. The Investigations Are Just Beginning.
• Um, no, the Mueller investigation wasn’t a waste — and it definitely wasn’t a hoax
• FBI expected to brief House and Senate ‘Gang of 8’ on Mueller’s counterintel findings
• Fox’s Judge Napolitano: ‘There Is Something There’ on Conspiracy in Mueller Report
• Robert Mueller Deferred Obstruction Decision Because ‘Special Counsel Regulations Are Defective,’ Ex-Mueller Assistant Says
• The Critical Part of Mueller’s Report That Barr Didn’t Mention
• The Mueller Investigation| FRONTLINE 2019 – Part one goes inside the president’s confrontations with the Department of Justice and the FBI in the early days of the Russia investigation.
• Andrew Laufer, ESQ: The OSC isn’t permanent. This is exactly why Mueller has been passing off matters, like Michael Cohen, to other USAOs. Awfully quiet at Mar-a-Lago this weekend…..
• Shimon Prokupecz: Rick Gates’ case before Judge Amy Berman Jackson will be handed off to the DC US Attorney’s Office, the special counsel’s office said on Saturday. @kpolantz
• Countercheckist: Pay attention, patriots. OSC’s investigation has morphed into an octopus w/ tentacles spanning DC, SDNY, EDNY, EDVA etc etc. This ensures said cases can’t be killed, and doesn’t rest everything on a single court case in a single venue. Relax. Let the process play out.
• Andrew Laufer, ESQ: No. Not at all. Rick Gates is still cooperating on multiple investigations and Mueller has seeded numerous prosecutions with other USAOs, like Michael Cohen, since the OSC isn’t permanent.
• Julia Ainsely: Breaking: @KenDilanianNBC reports that the FBI is prepared to brief the Gang of 8 on the findings of Mueller’s counterintelligence investigation into Trump (i.e. whether the president is under the influence of a foreign power)
• Angry White House Staffer: (I told you we weren’t close to done) Patience, folks. This was always going to be Congress’ job one way or another. I say again: for there to be enough derogatory information in Mueller’s report that Trump’s partisan AG acknowledged no exoneration, there’s way more coming. Reminder: Barr’s summary mentioned NOTHING of CI at all. Other than perhaps alluding to “other cases”
• Christopher Wylie: Whatever this report says, here’s what I know: when I was at Cambridge Analytica, the company hired known Russian agents, had data researchers in St Petersburg, tested US voter opinion on Putin’s leadership, and hired hackers from Russia – all while Bannon was in charge.
• Mmpadellan: There are PLENTY of instances where murderous gangsters and thugs were not convicted because of insufficient evidence. It doesn’t make them innocent. FUN FACT: Al Capone, known gangster and murderer, was convicted of tax evasion. #ReleaseTheFullMuellerReport
• Evidence Suggests Trump Definitely Committed Bank Fraud
• Ex-Trump aide: Hope Hicks threatened to conceal documents on Trump Tower statement
• AOC tweets ‘But his WhatsApp’ at Kushner news. Hillary Clinton responds, ‘Tell me about it’
• Graham encouraged McCain to turn Trump-Russia dossier over to FBI
• Grand jury in Russia probe is ‘continuing robustly’ 
• Let’s not lose sight of the real scandal: Trump was elected with Russia’s help
• Mass Protest Vowed If Demand for Public Release of Mueller Report Not Met 
• Majority in Fox News poll says Trump has tried to interfere in Russia investigation
• Most Americans believe Russia has ‘kompromat’ on Trump 
• Prosecutors left a trail of breadcrumbs about Trump’s finances, and House Democrats are now digging deeper
• Seth Abramson: “What we call the “Trump-Russia” investigation is a web of criminal, counterintelligence, and Congressional investigations… Mueller is part of the “criminal” investigation… And here’s the key: all three of these investigations are ongoing.”
• Why so many of President Donald Trump’s aides lied to protect him in Russia investigations
• Forget Mueller. Forget Impeachment. A Million People Should Surround the White House and Demand Trump’s Resignation

We still haven’t seen the report, but it’s important to remember that there is a ton of other work going on.  Including the grand jury investigating Russia, multiple states investigating the Inaugural Committee, 4 or 5 Congressional investigations, and enough work in the state of New York to drown Trump and his family for decades.

 

Supreme Court

• Supreme Court rejects foreign company’s bid to review Mueller subpoena
• U.S. top court rebuffs mystery company in Mueller subpoena fight
• Steve Herman: #SCOTUS refuses to hear a bid by an unidentified company owned by a foreign government to contest a grand jury subpoena related to the special counsel’s investigation.
• Brad Heath: The Supreme Court said today it won’t hear the case of a mystery company, owned by a mystery country, challenging a subpoena from Mueller’s grand jury.
• Adrienne Cobb: SCOTUS will not consider overturning the appeal of the mystery company fighting a grand jury subpoena. This means the company will continue to be fined $50k a day until it complies with the subpoena.

 

CONGRESS

• Kyle Griffin: Judiciary Committee member Ted Lieu tells @MSNBC that House Democrats have sent document preservation letters to the Justice Department to make sure that all of Robert Mueller’s work is preserved.
• Waters: Deutsche Bank providing Trump financial records for House probe
• Deutsche Bank Providing Donald Trump Financial Records as Investigations Continue after Mueller Report
• Deutsche Bank turns over records on Donald Trump’s business to Maxine Waters’ committee 
• Elijah Cummings Seeks 10 Years of Trump’s Financial Records 
• Elijah Cummings: The White House hasn’t turned over a single piece of paper to my committee
• Cummings: We could be headed toward constitutional crisis
• House Oversight Committee requests 10 years’ worth of Trump’s financial records to answer questions raised by Michael Cohen’s testimony
• Nadler: DOJ withholding underlying evidence of Mueller report would be ‘equivalent to a cover up’
• Nadler: Trump Has No Right To Executive Privilege Over ‘Evidence Of Wrongdoing’
• Democrats are ‘absolutely’ willing to go to the Supreme Court if full Mueller report is not released, Nadler says
• Schiff brushes off calls for resignation: ‘I am more than used to attacks by my GOP colleagues’
• Schiff defiant: ‘Undoubtedly, there is collusion’ 
• Whether Trump Obstructed Justice Isn’t the Attorney General’s Call to Make. It’s Congress’ Decision.
• Ocasio-Cortez mocks Sen. Mike Lee: ‘If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything’
• Sanders, Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez hang transgender pride flags in Congress
• Senate Democrats push to match House’s ethics and election reforms

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

• FBI releases documents on Trump Organization after years of resistance
• As Mueller Report Lands, Prosecutorial Focus Moves to New York 
• Greg Olear: “Reports…about Trump’s son Don Jr. being aware he was ‘going to be indicted’…have been floating for weeks. No report indicated that it was only going to be Mueller to indict him…state charges were always the only alternative guaranteeing justice would be served….”
• Line crossed: Three SDNY chiefs say Trump can be indicted
• Lawyer Who Bested Roy Cohn Tapped for Big Gig in SDNY
• ‘We know how to do this better than anybody’: Southern District of NY on the job after Mueller probe ends
• Federal Prosecutors in California Are Now Looking Into Trump’s Inaugural Committee
• “She Was Not Involved”: E-mails Show Ivanka’s Lawyer Asked for changes to Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony 

 

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

• Caroline Orr: Speaking to reporters moments ago, Trump called the Mueller report a “complete and total exoneration.” The report literally says: “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
• Walt Shaub: Yesterday, Trump claimed Mueller’s report exonerated him totally and completely, found no wrongdoing whatsoever, held him and his team entirely blameless. Today, Trump and McConnell are doing all they can to hide that report from you.
• Trump Aided and Abetted Russia’s Attack. That Was Treachery. Full Stop.
• Trump: Mueller Probe ‘Would Not Have Happened’ If Barr Had Been AG Then
• Trump Accuses FBI Officials Who Investigated Him of Treason
• Trump administration asks court to completely invalidate Obama’s Affordable Care Act
• Trump Could Be ‘Useful Idiot’ Who Has Been Victim Of ‘Greatest Collection Of Coincidences,’ Congressman Suggests
• Trump Fed Pick Stephen Moore Owes $75,000 to IRS, Court Document Says 
• Trump Is Bullying the Media Into Falsely Exonerating His Russia Corruption
• Trump ‘Pathologically Incapable Of Telling The Truth.’ Schiff Says Mueller Shouldn’t Have Accepted Written Response From President
• Trump rips McCain, says he gave Steele dossier to FBI for ‘very evil purposes’
• Trump said “he trusted an ex-KGB agent” over FBI and “lied” about “connections with Russia,” MSNBC’s Scarborough reminds viewers 
• Trump surprises Republicans — and pleases Democrats — with push to revive health-care battle
• Trump wants to give 62 cents of every dollar to the military. That’s immoral
• Kid Rock and “down to earth” Donald Trump enjoy Florida golf resort trip that probably cost taxpayers millions
• Trump won with illicit help. He abused his power. His AG is blocking a full reckoning.
• With Mueller gone, can Trump pursue his dream of a Russian reset?
• With Mueller’s probe finished, Trump faces question of whether to pardon aides caught up in it
• Donald Trump is very committed to taking away your health insurance 

 

TRAITOR TOTS

• Graham delivers laughs — and loyalty — at Mar-a-Lago dinner
• Bill Kristol: “Graham did not mention Trump’s repeated criticism of his longtime friend, the late Sen. John McCain.” I hope when each of us is gone our longtime friends will not to be too timid to defend our honor in the presence of our enemies.
• Jon Cooper: BREAKING: GOP Rep. Devin Nunes paid $148,979 to a political consultant who’s worked for candidates and political parties in Russia. This same consultant was also in Russia in 2016, and appeared on the Russia Today propaganda network in July of 2017. Uncovered by @TheDemCoalition.
• Betsy DeVos Took Money From the Special Olympics to Enrich Herself 
• Five Trump trips to Mar-a-Lago would cover Betsy Devos’s proposed Special Olympics cuts 
• ‘Shame On You’: Betsy DeVos Slammed For Trying To Defund Special Olympics 
• Big Show passionately rips Betsy DeVos apart for her Special Olympics budget cut
• Devin Nunes Event Axed After Planned ‘Cattle Call’ Protest To Honor Cow Twitter Account
• Kellyanne Conway is no ‘badass’ – and she’s certainly no feminist

 

CULT 45

• Amy Walter: The Benghazi report/FBI report on the email server did not exonerate Hillary Clinton in the minds of many Rs (‘lock her up’)including Trump. Why would anyone expect that the Mueller report would or should do so for Trump?

 

FIGHTING BACK

• Julia Ainsley:People are asking about reading the Barr letter while this guy carried on in the background. Yes it was aggravating, but the same rights that protect his behavior also protect my right to deliver the news. As long as they stay peaceful, I have no problem with protesters. 
• Opinion | George Conway: Trump is guilty — of being unfit for office
• Ralph Nader: Americans Should Be Demanding Trump’s Resignation
• Dear Colleague: The American People Have a Right to the Truth, The Watchword is Transparency
• Democrats largely give up on impeachment in wake of Mueller report
• Warren reintroduces bill requiring presidential divestment
• We need to stop giving Trump a pass on his ignorance

 

PUERTO RICO

• ‘Enough with the insults’: Puerto Rico’s governor says Trump won’t meet about Hurricane Maria recovery
• Puerto Rico faces food-stamp crisis as Trump privately vents about federal aid to Hurricane Maria-battered island
• Trump complains to senators that Puerto Rico is getting too much hurricane relief funding
• Trump says hurricane-hit Puerto Rico has received too much aid 

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN, & IMMIGRATION

• House fails to override Trump veto on southern border emergency
• Pentagon announces $1 billion transfer for border barriers, angering Democrats
• Trump says barbed wire ‘can be a beautiful sight.’ Many border communities disagree 
• House Armed Services chairman denies $1 billion transfer for Trump wall 
• Thousands of Immigrant Children Said They Were Sexually Abused in U.S. Detention Centers, Report Says 
• Man stopped by ICE uses “know your rights” training, prevents immigrants’ arrest
• U.S. has hit ‘breaking point’ at border amid immigration surge, Customs and Border Protection commissioner says
• Gay, transgender detainees allege abuse at ICE facility in New Mexico
• ‘This is not Mexico’: Texas official criticizes county judge for speaking Spanish
• After a fight with Hispanic men, he shot the first Hispanic man he saw, police say. His victim was a cop.
• Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism
• Facebook says it will now block white-nationalist, white-separatist posts

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM

• Man who toppled over 100 headstones at Jewish cemetery in St. Louis sentenced to 3 years probation – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
• Mali violence: Men disguised as hunters kill at least 134 Muslim farmers
• Undercounting hate: FBI will not report its hate crime numbers again this year as required by law
• Neo-Nazi sympathizer pleads guilty to federal hate crimes for plowing car into crowd of protesters at ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville
• Omar: White supremacist attacks are rising because Trump publicly says ‘Islam hates us’
• Self-professed neo-Nazi who drove into Charlottesville crowd pleads guilty to federal hate crimes
• U.S.’s biggest Christian charity reportedly channeled $56.1 million to purported hate groups
• GOP congressman quotes Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ to slam Trump’s adversaries as liars
• Charlottesville students walk out of class after racist threat closed schools
• Omar requests ‘accountability’ for GOP lawmaker who quoted Hitler on House floor
• Rep. Omar: Gay Conversion Therapy Is ‘Torture’
• The untold story of Roseanne Barr’s explosive tweet — and what came next

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

• Steve Herman: #SCOTUS refuses to hear a bid by an unidentified company owned by a foreign government to contest a grand jury subpoena related to the special counsel’s investigation.
• Brad Heath: The Supreme Court said today it won’t hear the case of a mystery company, owned by a mystery country, challenging a subpoena from Mueller’s grand jury.
• Adrienne Cobb: SCOTUS will not consider overturning the appeal of the mystery company fighting a grand jury subpoena. This means the company will continue to be fined $50k a day until it complies with the subpoena.
• North Carolina GOP Bragged About Gerrymandering. It Still May Not Be Enough To Convince SCOTUS. 
• The Supreme Court is seizing power from the presidency because Donald Trump is stupid
• The U.S. Deserves Its Own Nuremberg Trials
• Judge blocks Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky, Arkansas

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Epstein

• Judge overseeing key Jeffrey Epstein-related suit dies
• Lincoln’s Bible: Fresh hell. Judge overseeing key Jeffrey Epstein-related suit dies https://politi.co/2TXOdqZ via @politico

 

• Why NASA’s historic all-female spacewalk isn’t happening
• Women who say they were sickened by breast implants demand FDA action: ‘I was not warned.’
• FDA wants women to get breast-density information along with mammogram
• Women need better information on breast implants, panel says
• Teen boys rated their female classmates based on looks. The girls fought back.

 

COLD WAR 2.0

• Garry Kasparov: The private-state nature of corrupt criminal dictatorships like Putin’s Russia confounds law enforcement the way hybrid war confounds traditional military response.
• Thread by @Kasparov63: “The private-state nature of corrupt criminal dictatorships like Putin’s Russia confounds law enforcement the way hybrid war confounds tradit […]”
• Travis Atkins died smothering a suicide bomber’s blast in Iraq. Now he’ll receive the Medal of Honor.
• Assad loyalists are turning on Syria’s government as living standards deteriorate
• Egyptian singer banned after claiming lack of free speech
• In Ukraine’s bizarre presidential race, one long-shot candidate is looking for a spouse
• John Brennan: North Korea ‘Duped’ Trump Into ‘Mindlessly’ Quashing Sanctions

 

BREXIT

• Brexit: Theresa May bows to pressure and suggests she will resign if her deal passes
• No majority for any of Brexit options
• ‘One million people’ on march to demand second EU referendum
• Theresa May says she will resign as prime minister after she ‘delivers Brexit’

 

#NEVERAGAIN

Parkland

• Parkland student dies in ‘apparent suicide’, police say
• David Hogg: How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government / school district to do anything? Rip 17+2 🧡😭
• Shannon Watts: The aftershocks of the Parkland shooting tragedy continue to reverberate throughout the community, and the death toll from that day is still rising more than a year later. Today is the one-year anniversary of the March for Our Lives. Congress owes it to our children to ACT.
• Starving for attention in order to stop gun violence | Opinion
• Emma Gonzalez: Please give this article a few moments of your time, the Hunger 9 in our own Liberty City is doing a hunger strike to bring attention to the gun violence they face
• David Hogg: Stop saying “you’ll get over it.” You don’t get over something that never should have happened because those that die from gun violence are stolen from us not naturally lost. Trauma and loss don’t just go away, you have to learn to live with it through getting support. Also putting a msd strong sticker on everything and acting like everything is fine while everyone is in pain yet no one is talking about it is not how we stop this.
• ‘Heartbreaking’: Sandy Hook Father Dies in Apparent Suicide
• Three tragic deaths reverberate across U.S. amid steady rise in suicides
• No guns for teachers, American educators say, demand mental health resources instead
• Study suggests mass shootings can inadvertently promote the idea of using guns to empower oneself

 

NRA Australia Interference

• 911corlebra777: The PM has spoken. One Nation repeatedly met with NRA officials & Koch industries officials.I don’t know what US law covers the American side, but the fact they agreed to meetings with One Nation, a far right political party, is horrific
• Scott Morrison: Reports that senior One Nation officials courted foreign political donations from the US gun lobby to influence our elections & undermine our gun laws that keep us safe are deeply concerning. Australia’s gun laws are world’s best thanks to John Howard & we will not be changing them. Thankfully our Gov has also made laws to criminalise taking foreign political donations so foreign lobbyists cannot seek to influence our politics. It took a Coalition Gov to do both.

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

• Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism
• Facebook says it will now block white-nationalist, white-separatist posts
• How Microsoft found a Huawei driver that opened systems to attack
• Bill That Would Restore Net Neutrality Moves Forward Despite Telecom’s Best Efforts to Kill it
• Spam has taken over our phones. Will we ever want to answer them again?

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

• Adrienne Cobb: Yet again, the GOP and Russia are pushing the same narrative
• Julia Davis: Even before seeing the #MuellerReport, the Russians are triumphant, believing that the Special Counsel’s investigation “against #Russia and Trump” did not yield any evidence of “collusion.”
• Trump ramps up attacks on the media following Mueller report summary
• Trump’s campaign asks networks to ban guests who’ve made misleading claims. Uh, guys?
• ‘I am pissed off’: Hannity and other Fox News hosts rage at Democrats, media over Mueller report
• Rudy Giuliani Falsely Claims Robert Mueller Was Paid $30 Million for Probe, Fox News’ Sean Hannity Doesn’t Correct Him

 

737

• Boeing and FAA near completion of 737 Max 8 flight control system overhaul
• Flight cancellations mount as FAA keeps Boeing 737 Max planes grounded
• They didn’t buy the DLC: feature that could’ve prevented 737 crashes was sold as an option
• Boeing rejects calls for broader oversight of flight safety Global aviation industry converges on Renton, Wash., as Boeing details 737 Max software fix
• Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max makes emergency landing in Orlando
• Global aviation industry converges on Renton, Wash., as Boeing details 737 Max software fix

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, & ECONOMY

• As more museums say no to Sackler donations, family trust halts its giving
• As opioid crisis explodes, few youths get drug treatment — especially youths of color
• How Billionaires Are Using Hate to Divide Us – The only way to deal with them is with solidarity 
• GoFundMe CEO Says His Site Has Revealed Massive Problems With US Healthcare 
• ‘Jesus Christ himself isn’t worth 500 times his median workers’ pay’: Disney heiress criticizes CEOs for high salaries
• Leaked Audio Exposes Oil & Gas Execs Laughing With Joy Over Cozy Access to Trump Officials 
• Massive charges $227,000 haunt woman after emergency, out-of-network OHSU stay for heart attack 
• Purdue Pharma, state of Oklahoma reach settlement in landmark opioid lawsuit
• Trump’s ‘economic illiteracy’ caused the US-China trade war, says professor 
• Trump’s tariffs are costing Americans $1.4 billion each month
• U.S. Posts The Biggest Monthly Budget Deficit In American History 
• We Already Spend More Than Medicare for All Would Cost Us 
• Sanders: ‘You’re damn right’ health insurance companies should be eliminated
• House GOP leader McCarthy sought to deter Trump from pursuing destruction of Obamacare
• Elizabeth Warren comes out in support of a national right-to-repair law for farm equipment 
• Analysis | Ocasio-Cortez’s righteous — and accurate — anger about poverty and the environment

 

STUDENT ISSUES

• Yale rescinds admission of student linked to scandal involving soccer coach
• David Hogg: It’s crazy how the bathrooms in Congress literally look better than almost every classroom in the United States.
• Report: U.S. government wasted up to $1 billion on charter schools and still fails to adequately monitor grants

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

• ‘WTF Is Wrong With Them’: Republicans Horrified as Trump Goes After Obamacare Again 
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Removing Trump Won’t Fix Problem With GOP Or ‘Dark Money That Funded Him’
• America’s Corruption Is a National Security Threat
• Barbara Bush failed to grasp how the Bushes helped pave the way for Trump 

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Avenatti Charged

• Michael Avenatti is accused of trying to extort Nike
• Attorney Michael Avenatti charged with extortion by federal prosecutors in New York
• PostimusMaximus: Avenatti is totally helpful and going to become President though guys. Reddit told me so!
• He’s defended Michael Jackson and Colin Kaepernick. Now Mark Geragos is tangled up with the Avenatti case.

 

• A brutal attack almost killed her husband. It transformed Abby Maslin into a different person.
• Charges dropped against ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of lying about a hate-crime attack, his attorney says
• Why prosecutors dismissed the charges against Jussie Smollett
• Duke settles research misconduct case, agrees to pay U.S. government $112.5 million
• An unsolved homicide haunted a city for decades. Officials say the killer was there all along.

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

• Joel Osteen’s protégé says the devil is trying to ‘mute’ him after his mistress releases suggestive voicemails
• A Secret Database of Child Abuse
• What caused the clergy sex abuse crisis? Catholic universities are pushing for debate on the answer.

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

• Why NASA’s historic all-female spacewalk isn’t happening
• Women who say they were sickened by breast implants demand FDA action: ‘I was not warned.’
• A cruise ship sailed into an intense cyclone. These warning signs showed trouble was brewing at sea.
• Hangover-free alcohol could be available in just a few years
• How 3-D Printing Could Break into the Building Industry
• In blow to climate, coal plants emitted more than ever in 2018
• In the 1970s, the U.S. Army went to war with an unlikely foe: Starlings
• This anxiety-inducing fitness test purports to tell you how long you’ll live. We investigated.
• Welcome to Babcock Ranch, the Sunshine State’s first solar-powered town
• Florida neighborhood besieged by thousands of poisonous toads ‘covering every square inch’
• Male Birth Control Pill Passes Human Safety Tests
• A helicopter landed in a California poppy field during the super bloom, and officials are furious
• A senator’s argument against the Green New Deal: A machine gun-toting Ronald Reagan riding a velociraptor
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Tears Into Republicans Painting Green New Deal as “Elitist” – “Tell that to the kids in the south Bronx…tell that to the families in Flint.” 
• An HIV treatment cost taxpayers millions. The government patented it. But a pharma giant is making billions.
• Butterflies were symbols of rebirth. Then they started disappearing.
• Senate defeats Green New Deal, as Democrats call vote a ‘sham’
• The White House And Federal Scientists Are Pushing The Myth That Marijuana Is Laced With Fentanyl 
• He won the lottery 14 times using math. But his biggest jackpot still came down to luck.

 

ELECTIONS

• Florida agreed to let felons vote. Now Republicans are trying to limit who is eligible.
• It’s Time to Kill the Electoral College, One of America’s Original Sins 
• Poll: Voters prefer popular vote over Electoral College 
• Majority of Americans support getting rid of the Electoral College 
• North Carolina GOP Bragged About Gerrymandering. It Still May Not Be Enough To Convince SCOTUS. 
• Obama cautions freshman House Democrats about the price tag of liberal policies
• Voter Turnout Is Surging — And Mitch McConnell Is Terrified

 

THINKING AHEAD

• New Fox News Poll Has Biden Unseating Trump
• Denzican Grimes: Friendly reminder that in 2020, the Senate seats of Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell are up for grabs. Voting out Trump, Graham and McConnell in the same year would be wonderful.
• Report: Election administration failures affected 278000 voters in Texas in 2018. That is larger than the margin of Cruz over Beto.
• Beto calls for nationwide marijuana legalization: ‘Why are we still arresting and jailing people?’ 
• Beto O’Rourke is getting all the attention, but Elizabeth Warren’s economic policy proposals are leading the 2020 pack 
• Buttigieg surges to third place in new Iowa poll 
• Buttigieg: ‘I do not approve’ of Chick-fil-A’s politics, but ‘I kind of approve of their chicken’ 
• Buttigieg: Trump ‘should never have been able to come within cheating distance of the Oval Office’ 
• Openly Gay, Openly Christian Buttigieg Challenges the Religious Right
• Kamala Harris makes a point in Houston: It’s not just O’Rourke and Sanders who can draw crowds
• Elizabeth Warren Says America Should ‘Never Elect A Man Like Donald Trump Again’
• Elizabeth Warren says she doesn’t trust William Barr’s judgment on Donald Trump, Mueller report obstruction decision 
• Win-win? Trump and 2020 Democrats both argue the end of the Mueller probe offers advantages.
• 2020 Democrats Are Calling for Abolishing the Electoral College—It Nearly Happened a Few Decades Ago 
• Joe Biden on Anita Hill: ‘To this day, I regret I couldn’t come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved’
• Stacey Abrams predicts female or minority candidate will prevail as Democratic presidential nominee

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

• NJ approves bill allowing terminally ill patients to end their lives
• Veterans talking veterans back from the brink: A new approach to policing and lives in crisis
• Kliff Kingsbury plans to give Cardinals ‘cellphone breaks’ because they need ‘that social media fix’

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

• Apple auditions for Hollywood: The making of a streaming service
• Apple’s ‘show time’ event puts the spotlight on subscription services
• Looking for Cinderella? Check out Anteaters and the South
• Review | Apple now wants to be your cable provider, newsstand, credit card and arcade. But will it save you money?
• The Rapper And The Billionaire: How Ice Cube And Jeweler Carolyn Rafaelian Got Together To Bid For A $10 Billion Chunk Of Disney
• What is ‘Us’ about? Winston Duke is ready to tell you.
• Review | ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ finds a little life left in the mockumentary format
• Review | Ariana Grande reached the height of her fame by making heavy feel light

 

RUMOR MILL

• Eric Garland: The gaslighting will increase. Defy it. The truth about treason is in front of everyone’s face. THREAD.
• Greg Olear: I’m not gonna lie: with the possible exception of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, yesterday was the worst I’ve felt since Election Day 2016. I barely slept, tossing & turning & doubting my own sanity. Which is EXACTLY what these traitors want. Some thoughts: [THREAD]

I’m not gonna lie: with the possible exception of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, yesterday was the worst I’ve felt since Election Day 2016. I barely slept, tossing & turning & doubting my own sanity. Which is EXACTLY what these traitors want. Some thoughts: [THREAD]

1/ Obvious: Barr’s summary is NOT the full report. People much smarter than me pointed out all the strange things about it:

Greg Olear added,

2 Ari Melber notes there is not a single full sentence quote from Mueller. Neal Katyal tore it to pieces on MSNBC. Barb McQuade said “I’ve never seen anything like this before”. Unbelievably, Mueller was not even consulted about the letter. …

2/ The likeliest explanation is that Barr is a bad actor. I mean, he DID write that asinine attack on the OSC, which prompted Trump to hire him. Maybe he really does feel that way. At best, Barr was a very conservative establishment Republican. At worst? He’s a traitor.

3/ Barr’s absolution does not change the facts on the ground. Trump & his minions REALLY DID meet with Russians—many, many, many times—during 2016. If those meetings don’t constitute coordination/conspiracy/collusion, then what do those words even mean?

4/ At the time, Steve Bannon said they couldn’t collude with the GOP in Pennsylvania, let alone the Kremlin. So: Trump’s excuse for all the Russia meetings is that he’s a stupid, disorganized, ineffectual dipshit. If that’s the case, this is almost worse than him colluding.

5/ But let’s look at what Barr asks us to believe…and Mueller, too, if Barr’s summary winds up being delivered in good faith. [Note: there were reports last week of a squabble between Barr & Mueller…now we can guess why].

6/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Trump hired Paul Manafort, well known to him as a Russian mob actor, to run his campaign.

7/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Dimitri Simes, a top FSB agent, recruited Jared Kushner and organized the Mayflower Hotel event of 27 April 2016, so Candidate Trump could meet Sergei Kislyak in person.

8/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Maria Butina, a Russian spy, infiltrated the NRA’s leadership and slept her way through lower-rung GOP.

9/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Junior, Jared & Manafort met at Trump Tower with two Russian agents and a money laundering expert to discuss “adoptions.” (Bonus: IT WASN’T OBSTRUCTION when Junior and Trump both lied about it).

10/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Carter Page, one of Trump’s foreign policy advisers, spoke at the New Economic School in Moscow, meeting with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister (!) and the CEO of Rosneft (!!).

11/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chair, shared US polling data with a Russian spy.

12/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Kislyak met with Jeff Sessions, JD Gordon, and Carter Page at the RNC in Cleveland—or when they changed the language in the Republican platform, at Trump’s request, to align the GOP position on Ukraine w/Putin’s own position.

13/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Michael Cohen went to “Prague” (or someplace near there) to pay off Russian hackers.

14/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Jeff Sessions, the first Senator to endorse Trump, met with Kislyak in his Senate offices. IT WASN’T OBSTRUCTION when Sessions lied about this meeting to Congress.

15/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Kushner and Mike Flynn snuck Kislyak into Trump Tower for a secret meeting, and IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Kush suggested having a backchannel through the Russian embassy, so Trump & Putin could communicate privately.

16/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when a big-wig at a Qatari shell company met with Trump, Flynn, and Cohen at Trump Tower, in the wake of the Rosneft deal mentioned in the Steele dossier. (Qatar helped facilitate the deal w/the Russian company).

17/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Kushner met Sergei Gorkov, VEB president, at Newark Airport in December 2016, even though VEB was on the sanctions list. IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Gorkov left the meeting and flew directly to Putin to report back.

18/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Erik Prince and Elliott Broidy, shadow reps of Trump, met with a Russian wealth fund manager in the Seychelles.

19/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Cohen and Felix Sater met with a Putin agent at the Loews Regency in NYC in January 2017 to negotiate the lifting of sanctions.

20/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION OR OBSTRUCTION when Trump met with Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov, the chief FSB spy in the US, in the Oval Office the day after he fired James Comey for Russia-related reasons—and at Kushner’s urging.

21/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Roger Stone coordinated with WikiLeaks, a Russian intelligence cut-out, to help Trump in the election. Junior and Senior Trump extolling WikiLeaks was also not coordination.

22/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when the Trump campaign worked with Cambridge Analytica (#CamAnal) to sabotage the election. Or when Trump ordered Bannon to bring Brittany Kaiser from Cambridge Analytica to the US immediately (h/t @TomJChicago).

23/ IT WASN’T COORDINATION when Trump went on TV and begged Russia to hack HRC’s emails.

24/ The obstruction examples are even MORE egregious, and I won’t bother with them here.

25/ Any document, whether authored by Barr, Mueller, or the reincarnated spirit of Otto von Bismarck, can’t JUST tell us there wasn’t coordination. It MUST explain why ALL of these examples listed here ARE NOT coordination. If it can’t, it’s just Vichy PR.

26/ The bad guys are going to gloat today. It’s going to be awful. It’s going to make you want to vomit. Try not to take it in. Try to ignore it.

This is NOT over, no way, no how. The traitors WILL pay for their crimes. SDNY, EDVA and the NY AG are ready to roll. OSC still has Stone, Gates, Flynn to handle. Justice deferred is still justice. WE SHALL PREVAIL. [END]

• Thread by @gregolear: “I’m not gonna lie: with the possible exception of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, yesterday was the worst I’ve felt since Election Day 2016. I bar […]” #CamAnal
• Truth Takes Time
• Alias Vaughn: I finally wrote my 1st piece on the Mueller investigation. This should have happened months ago, but the tragedy of my mother’s cancer and her passing prevented me from posting on my page on The Maven, a great site I’ve been cooperating with. I now start.
• Tea Pain: “We all assumed Bob Mueller would swoop in, carpet-bomb the Trump Treason Team with dozens of indictments, mount his trusty steed “Justice,” and ride off into the sunset.”
• Post | Tea Pain USA | @TeaPainUSA | All aboard the Tea Pain Train!
• PostimusMaximus: Its pointless to argue with people acting in bad faith online, but its important to keep making something clear : Everything that was reported by actual news outlets, and by the indictments, still happened. So regardless of what @ggreenwald ‘s dumb ass wants to say, it matters.
• Ming: I only concede that I have not worked hard enough. Trump and the foreign influence that birthed and sustains him must go.
• Tea Pain: Republican snowflakes are demandin’ we apologize to Trump, so here goes…. “Donald Trump, we are truly sorry the interactions with the Russians you lied about don’t amount to criminal conspiracy.”

 

That’s it for the last few days.  More like the past week.  Like I said in my last post, I’ve got my hands full dealing with some family issues.  I hope to get back to a somewhat regular schedule soon, but we’ll have to see how things go.  My father had a massive stroke at some point last week.  I don’t want to go into too many details now, but there’s a lot that I have to deal with.  My brother and I have to take over his finances and care, but he sure as shit didn’t set himself up for success.  I would like to thank everyone that has reached out and offered to help.  Where and whenever possible, I’ll take it.

As much as I’d like to promise to get back to daily updates, I can’t.  Not only do I not promise anything, I also know that there’s so much on my plate now that I have to take some time off here and there to get caught up with those issues.  For example, I now have to take care of his budget while handling mine, and I have to do it while keeping all funds separate.  I don’t want to accidentally pay one of his bills from my account then get put on the hook for it.

It also makes me realize how much I need to do and set up for my family.  If something happens to me, I need to make sure they’re taken care of.  Nothing is promised to us but the here and now.  Tomorrow is just a promise that will one day be broken.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen on any front.  I feel like I’ve missed the last big game with an injury.  I know I could have and should be on the line fighting this battle, but I just can’t stay focused for too long.  It probably also doesn’t help that in the last week I’ve had maybe 4 hours of downtime combined.  I’ve also spent a lot of time on a new subreddit, /r/raisedbynarcissists.  It’s helping me cope with a lot fo stuff I’ve gone through and am going through right now.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Friday, March 22, 2019 and the early part of Saturday.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Mueller Report Submitted

• Mueller report sent to attorney general, signaling his Russia investigation has ended
• Breaking: Robert Mueller has completed his report
• Mueller Delivers Report on Russia Investigation to Attorney General
• Letter from U.S. attorney general to lawmakers on Mueller report

Dear Chairman Graham, Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Ranking Member Collins:

I write to notify you pursuant to 28 C.F.R. 600.9(a)(3) that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has concluded his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters. In addition to this notification, the Special Counsel regulations require that I provide you with “a description and explanation of instances (if any) in which the Attorney General” or acting Attorney General “concluded that a proposed action by a Special Counsel was so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued.” 28 C.F.R. 600.9(a)(3). There were no such instances during the Special Counsel’s investigation.

The Special Counsel has submitted to me today a “confidential report explaining the prosecution or delineation decisions” he has reached, as required by 28 C.F.R. 600.8(c). I am reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the Special Counsel’s principal conclusions as soon as this weekend.

Separately, I intend to consult with Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Special Counsel Mueller to determine what other information from the report can be released to Congress and the public consistent with the law, including the Special Counsel regulations, and the Department’s long-standing practices and policies. I remain committed to as much transparency as possible, and I will keep you informed as to the status of my review.

Finally, the Special Counsel regulations provide that “the Attorney General may determine that public release of” this notification “would be in the public interest.” I have so determined, and I will disclose this letter to the public after delivering it to you.

Sincerely,

William P. Barr

Attorney General

 

• ‘If you took it all in in one day, it would kill you’: What Mueller’s investigation has already revealed
• A key Mueller question is answered: The Justice Department didn’t block any investigations
• Mueller has “more indictments coming,” John Dean speculates
• Mueller Has Delivered His Final Report, Here’s What We Know
• Review | Every report on past presidential scandal was a warning. Why didn’t we listen?
• Robert Mueller has ‘more indictments coming’ and ‘there’ll be a general conspiracy indictment,’ says former watergate counsel John Dean
• We Already Know There Was Collusion
• With Mueller’s work concluded, what will the people be told?
• Rick Wilson: D.C is full of chatter that Mueller is wrapping it today, that the report will exonerate Trump, and that no one else is getting indicted. Not one of the reports comes from Mueller. Not. One. He. Does. Not. Leak. Getting played by the Trump WH/DOJ is a bad look.
• Tea Pain: FUN FACT: Any rumor you hear sayin’ no more indictments didn’t come from the Special Counsel’s office and is 100% on message with what the White House is pushin’.
• Tom Jones: 1 MSM reporters have repeatably been fooled over the last month by dunces like Matt Schlapp & Trump. MSM should do some self reflection & reverse engineer their phony leads to figure out who played them & how. It clearly benefits team Trump/Putin to say Mueller is wrapping up. THREAD
• Greg Olear: This. He’s right. Mueller doesn’t speak, leaving the airwaves open for Trumpist spin. When indictments fly and the report comes out, and the good guys can actually speak, everything will change in a hurry.
• Countercheckist: I see the despair trolls are hard at work today. Their Chicken Little routine of: – Rosenstein can’t be trusted! – Mueller can’t be trusted! – They won’t prosecute anyone! – Mueller will be fired! – Putin conquered the DOJ! … has never once proven accurate. Relax, patriots. 🙂
• Tea Pain: Tea’d bet a six-pack of Milla Light that Mueller has weeks and weeks of work ahead and this “Mueller Report any moment” mania was spawned from Trump loyalists in key positions leakin’ to the press. This is designed to create “Mueller Fatigue” and lack of trust in the press.
• Andrew Laufer, ESQ: Been seeing much despair and deza floating around twitter lately which also seems somewhat coordinated. Don’t listen to it. Believe that our country will repel this chekist inspired plague of corruption. The WH is under an FBI counterintelligence investigation. POTUS is a 1/. THREAD
• Natasha Bertrand: 🤔as we await Mueller’s report: A lawyer for Andrew Miller, the longtime Roger Stone associate, tells me today that Mueller’s office still wants Miller to testify before the grand jury. (Miller has been fighting the subpoena since last summer.). As for Jerome Corsi, who was apparently given a draft indictment by Mueller’s office late last year—he tells me he hasn’t heard from the Mueller team since November.
• PostimusMaximus: Congrats to all the journalists out there who only took about 4 months of saying it was ‘this friday” every friday to finally be correct.
• Angry Staffer: Well, here we go. Mueller’s report is in. Guys — a point of order: just because Barr has the report doesn’t mean there are no more indictments coming. Mueller had to submit a report of who he charged and why, and who he didn’t charge and why. Some of those he charged could very well still be under seal. Congress may get the report as soon as tomorrow. I trust Adam Schiff to get the whole truth out of the report. He has the means to force a briefing on the material, particularly the counterintelligence portion of the investigation. 
• Adrienne Cobb: Keep in mind it’s likely to take at least a week for Barr to review the report
• Scott Stedman: Word of caution: Could be days or weeks before congress sees the report. But word is that Barr has the report.
• Justin Fishel: Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s much-anticipated report — the product of nearly two years of investigation — has now been handed to the Justice Department for Attorney General Bill Barr’s review, and Congress has been notified of the transfer, a DOJ spokeswoman just announced.
• Louise Mensch: Once again Twitter seems to be all out of big-boy pants. #MuellerReport It’s all going to work out fine, except for the traitors. Mini-thread.
• ThreadReader for Louise
• Mueller report sent to attorney general, signaling his Russia investigation has ended
• PostimusMaximus: I’m gonna try to relax for a bit, but a few last things : – We don’t know what’s in the report. – No indictments from Mueller does not mean no wrongdoing occurred, and it also doesn’t mean SDNY or someone won’t indict for other crimes – Lots and lots of loose ends to cover. Mueller’s job was to do Mueller’s job. It wasn’t his job to do SDNY’s job, or to do Congress’s job. I’m looking forward to some Mueller open Congressional hearings though.
•  Louise Mensch: Yes, I see people quoting the ‘senior DoJ source’ that there are “no further indictments”. What I think it means is that all the indictments already exist under seal, which is what I reported. It could also mean ‘because Mueller has referred them elsewhere’. Or, it’s just wrong. And, it’s possible that all my sources are wrong and nobody else, not Jerome Corsi, not anybody else whomsoever, is going to be indicted. And if that is the case, I will stay on here and take all the kicking everybody can give me. But I don’t believe it. At all.
• John Schindler: I told you this day was coming. In March, even. So did Brennan and Cockburn. Today, DoJ announced they have received Mueller’s SCO report. When, exactly? 🙂 We’re dissecting all this over at @thespybrief. Cheers to Team Mueller for almost 2 years of hard work for our country.
• Dan Rather: In other news… Oh, never mind, Just kidding. I’m waiting with the rest of you.
• Tea Pain: Mueller forwarded evidence to 11 other investigations, many leadin’ to indictments such as Butina and Cohen, so why are folks jumpin’ outta windows because his office didn’t issue conspiracy indictments? This ain’t the end of Trump’s troubles. It’s just the beginnin’.

The Mueller Report has been delivered.  That is all we know with certainty.  Everything else is either speculation, disinformation (deza), or a mix of the two.  That especially includes the self-congratulatory reports that Mueller did not find evidence of collusion or will not bring any more charges.  Like I mentioned yesterday (Daily Check-In 03/21/2019), Mueller’s team doesn’t say shit.  I saw a lot of trolls coming out of the woodwork celebrating this like they just won the lottery.  The exact same thing happened with the Nunes Memo, the House Report, and every other piece that was ripped to pieces.  Hell, it was the same people that are celebrating now that did it then.  At this point, they’ve moved the goalposts so far back that anything that doesn’t include a perp walk out of the Oval Office as a victory.

By the way, that unnamed source close to the investigation that was the primary source for the stories saying that there would be no more indictments came from Trump’s team.  Probably Rudy Giuliani himself.

Mueller’s Report will likely contain his actions, his findings, why he did what he did and didn’t do what he didn’t do, why he charged who he charged and why he didn’t charge who he didn’t charge.  This is where the spin will come in.  I fully expect Team Trump to celebrate things like “We didn’t prosecute Person X” while ignoring the second half of the sentence “because we referred their multiple investigations to other jurisdictions.”  If you want to know where those jurisdictions are, look at The Justice League and see where those attorneys came from.  Many of them have returned to their home offices, like Zainab Ahmed to the Eastern District of New York.  Odds are those attorneys are waiting for the signal to push forward on their cases.

The big question is what happens now?  Well, we wait.  We wait until Barr sends his report to Congress.  If his report doesn’t include the full report, expect the House Intel and House Judiciary committees to subpoena the report and Robert Mueller to testify.  If it does include a copy of the report, will it be redacted or not?  If so, who will see the unreacted copy?

According to rumors I’m hearing on Saturday afternoon, Barr is working with Rosenstein and Mueller today and could have something submitted tonight.  This, along with what I have to say in the Coda is why I’m publishing this on a Saturday.

 

• Democrat compares Jared Kushner’s WhatsApp use to seeking a Russian back channel: What’s he trying to keep ‘secret’?
• Jared Kushner Using WhatsApp for White House Business Is ‘Far More Egregious’ Than Hillary Clinton’s Emails, Cyber-security Expert Says
• Opinion | So will we ‘lock up’ Ivanka and Jared for violating government email policy?
• The Crown Prince of Trumpistan Jared Kushner is even worse than you think.

 

• Roger Stone Is Still Doing Interviews, Takes the Opportunity to Call Another Investigation a ‘Fishing Expedition’
• Zoe Tillman: The govt and banks Paul Manafort owes money to are still negotiating how to handle the forfeiture of his assets, per new status report. This case is being handled by Mueller’s office and DOJ Criminal Division (report is signed by the Crim Division atty) This is one example of cases that came out of Mueller’s investigation where they’ve been working with other DOJ units for a while now, laying the groundwork to smoothly spin them off whenever Mueller is done (and I *do not know* when that will be) the US attorney’s office in DC. At several early hearings, the DC prosecutors, not Mueller’s lawyers, took the lead in the proceedings
• 3-22-19-Manafort-Forfeiture-Status-Report.pdf

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

• Trump Has Slapped His Brand On Images Of The White House To Sell At His Trump Store
• Trump profiting from presidency by selling White House-branded merchandise via his ‘Trump Store’
• Why Have So Many Trump Officials Used Private Messaging for Government Business?

 

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

• Trump abruptly reverses Treasury’s North Korea-related sanctions on Chinese shippers
• With One Reckless Tweet, Trump Just Upended His Already Incoherent North Korea Strategy
• Trump says he’s bucking Treasury, reversing NKorea sanctions
• Trump will remove new North Korea-related sanctions because he ‘likes’ Kim Jong Un
• President Trump cancels new sanctions targeting North Korea in stunning tweet that overrides his Treasury Dept.  
• John Schindler: I’m definitely tired of all the #WINNING now. It’s official: USG no longer has a foreign policy system, it has Cheeto Jesus (who, btw, has no idea what he’s doing). Just like in all the other banana republics, politics is personal to the maximum leader.
• This was the last week of the Trump presidency as we know it – CNN Politics
• Trump administration losing 94 percent of lawsuits over illegal policy changes
• Trump Nominates Famous Idiot Stephen Moore to Federal Reserve Board
• Trump said America is more united than ever. A majority of Americans disagree.
• Trump warns ‘people will not stand’ for Mueller report if it portrays him badly
• President Bone Spurs Continues His Assault on Dead War Hero John McCain and Even His Base Doesn’t Like It
• Conway: Trump ‘thinks he needs to be reelected to avoid indictment’
• Donald Trump Just Picked A Laughingstock For A Huge Federal Reserve Job | Stephen Moore is a joke in the economics profession.
• Donald Trump Seems To Be Greeting Journalists With “No Collusion” Instead Of “Hello” Now

 

TRAITOR TOTS

• Ricky Davila: Traitor Devin Nunes 264 Clovis Avenue Suite 206 Clovis, CA 93612 I’ll be mailing quite a few pictures of many different types of cows. What about you? ☺️

 

CULT 45

• Rick Wilson: I can always tell when one of a handful of Trump fluffers go after me on Twitter. My timeline fills with messages so grammatically absurd and spelling errors so egregiously obvious that it confirms the failure of our public education system at every turn

 

FIGHTING BACK

• Explainer – Why Trump’s legal woes go beyond the Mueller report

 

CONGRESS

• Adam Schiff Threatens to Subpoena Mueller’s Evidence If Necessary
• Oversight Chair Demands Kushner’s Secret WhatsApp Messages With ‘Foreign Leaders’ | HuffPost
• Sen. Schumer warns Trump not to interfere with release of Mueller report

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

• 9-Year-Old Girl Detained for 32 Hours by Border Patrol
• CBP Detains 9-Year-Old US Citizen For 36 Hours, Accuses Her 14-Year-Old Brother Of Sex Trafficking
• Complaint: ICE Gave Muslim Detainee Only Pork Sandwiches
• ICE frees ‘Dreamer’ flight attendant, a Texas A&M grad, who was locked up after Mexico flight

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

• 8chan looks like a terrorist recruiting site after the New Zealand shootings. Should the government treat it like one?
• Counties that hosted a 2016 Trump rally saw a 226 percent increase in hate crimes
• Giuliani spreads misleading video alleging Ilhan Omar took classes in terrorism
• Hate crimes increased 226% in places Trump held a campaign rally in 2016, study claims
• Steve King Has Water Thrown At Him While Dining In Iowa, Day After Criticizing Katrina Survivors
• Why far-right attackers aren’t charged as domestic terrorists
• Trump’s rhetoric does inspire more hate crimes

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

• MSW Podcast: Let me see if I have this right. Republicans want to be able to have sex with 16 year old girls, but they don’t think they’re grown enough to vote? That pretty much sums up what they think of young women. #Epstein #Dershowitz #Trump

 

COLD WAR 2.0

• Dr. Dena Grayson: WOW….massive turnout in London for a march to demand a NEW #Brexit vote.🇬🇧#PutItToThePeopleMarch #PeoplesVote
• Trump’s decision on Golan Heights met with international condemnation
• Responding to Trump, France says Israeli sovereignty over Golan breaks international law

 

#NEVERAGAIN

• Shannon Watts: The woman who says she was the real Parkland victim: An @NRA gun saleswoman. Dana Loesch compares her CNN town hall appearance – which the @NRA hoped would boost gun sales, but ended up backfiring – to the Salem witch trials. 🤔
• Former East Pittsburgh officer found not guilty in fatal shooting of unarmed teenager
• Pennsylvania officer who fatally shot Antwon Rose in East Pittsburgh is acquitted
• Shannon Watts: Pro-tip: If you’re running for President – as a Democrat or Republican – @MomsDemand volunteers will be at every single stop you make in every single city to ask you about your gun violence prevention policies and priorities. We’re in the red shirts. 👋

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

• 80 percent of Americans support reinstating net neutrality

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

• Julia Davis: Turn on #Russia’s state TV. Listen to the Russian translation of Glenn Greenwald bashing the Mueller investigation on Fox News. Ponder the meaning of life. Wait for another #IndictmentFriday
• Andrew Laufer, ESQ: Wait, @ggreenwald on Fox News bashing the Mueller investigation while being translated into Russian and broadcast on Russia’s state TV. Unpossible! Get it now, people? 
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Blames Right-Wing Media For Daily Death Threats
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reminds Us the Halls of Congress Are Crawling With Fox News Grandpas
• Dan Rather Issues Chilling Warning About Fox News And Radio Moscow
• Dan Rather: Fox News ‘Closest We’ve Come to State-Run Media’
• Fox News has normalized a lie about the origins of the Russia investigation
• Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Wants To Know When Roger Stone Is Getting Pardoned
• Ocasio-Cortez blasts Fox News: Why are ‘grown men just obsessed with this 29-year-old?’
• Quillette, Ben Shapiro, and the Myth of Conservative ‘Facts’
• Trouble In Paradise? Trump Glares At Fox News’ John Roberts After McCain Questions.

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

• FEMA data breach hits 2.5 million disaster survivors

 

BOEING

• NASA rocket becomes Boeing’s latest headache as Trump demands moon mission
• Nikki Haley, who fought union effort at Boeing S.C. plant, nominated to jet maker’s board

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

• Billionaires May Pose the Single Greatest Threat to American Democracy
• Dow falls 460 points as US recession indicator flashes red
• Recording Reveals Oil Industry Execs Laughing at Trump Access
• U.S. Posts Largest-Ever Monthly Budget Deficit in February
• Wall Street wins again as Trump administration plans quiet rollback of pension protections | Lump-sum looting is coming back.
• Finland’s health-care system is ranked among the best in the world. Someone tell Nikki Haley.
• Trump’s own economists now agree: GOP tax cuts are failing to spark growth
• Why should my bad credit score impact my car insurance? Rashida Tlaib’s bill fixes that.
• Trump administration plan to offer lump-sum payout to private pension holders is a Wall Street scam: Lump-sum looting is coming back.

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

• Rick Wilson: My newest piece: Profiles in Chickenshit from the Grand Old Party as Trump Spits on John McCain’s American Greatness Contains strong language for all you delicate MAGA snowflakes and your soft feels. 
• Profiles in Chickenshit From the Grand Old Party as Trump Spits on John McCain’s American Greatness

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

• Former East Pittsburgh officer found not guilty in fatal shooting of unarmed teenager
• Pennsylvania officer who fatally shot Antwon Rose in East Pittsburgh is acquitted
• OxyContin Maker Sackler Family Sued by 500 Cities, Shunned by Tate Galleries

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

• GoFundMe Bans Anti-Vaxxers Who Raise Money to Spread Misinformation
• McConnell aims to use Green New Deal to divide Democrats, but party is unifying against his show vote
• Only 12% of Republican Fox News viewers believe climate change is man-made
• Ocasio-Cortez: Green New Deal ‘narratives are manipulated’ to make us ‘give up’

 

ELECTIONS

• An election all about our Gilded Age levels of inequality
• Following Citizens United, foreign-owned corporations funnel millions into US elections
• Gov. Tony Evers removes Scott Walker’s appointees as legislators seek to reinstate lame-duck laws
• Wisconsin Dem governor removes 82 Scott Walker appointees added during lame-duck session

 

THINKING AHEAD

• CREW Calls on All 2020 Candidates to Release 10 Years of Tax Returns – CREW
• Kamala Harris pitches big increase in teacher pay
• Countercheckist: Just like the midterms; defeating tRUmp/GOP in 2020 is a national security imperative. If Democrats really want to save the Republic, they’ll focus on finding a candidate who’s electable nationwide. To change govt policies & the civic discussion, first you have to win elections.
• Shannon Watts: Pro-tip: If you’re running for President – as a Democrat or Republican – @MomsDemand volunteers will be at every single stop you make in every single city to ask you about your gun violence prevention policies and priorities. We’re in the red shirts. 👋

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

• Poll: Younger voters want universal basic income while older ones reject it overwhelmingly
• San Antonio City Council drops Chick-fil-A from airport concession deal over anti-LGBTQ donations
• Michigan will no longer fund adoption agencies that refuse gay parents

 

RUMOR MILL

• John Schindler: Not a single peep out of @realDonaldTrump yet today (who usually tweets like a madman at Mar-A-Lago. Because silence when he’s been “vindicated” is totally Trump’s style. 🙂
• Ming: Ming good, just waitin… Ming thinking report so bad Barr couldn’t hold off on it…. ❤
• Andrew Laufer, ESQ: Hearing the same. Been told things are going to get very messy in DC.
• Countercheckist: Minutes after news broke of the report being delivered, the tRUmpers were celebrating “no collusion.” They haven’t read one f—king sentence of the report. Did tRUmp’s behavior starting last weekend seem like it came from someone expecting vindication? Let the process play out.
• Greg Olear: Before dawn on the East Coast, I’ve now slept on the Mueller Report news. A few thoughts: [THREAD]
• Thread by @gregolear: “Before dawn on the East Coast, I’ve now slept on the Mueller Report news. A few thoughts: [THREAD] 1/ Trump is famously a sore loser & t […]”
• Tea Pain: Still scratchin’ your noggin’ over why Mueller brought no conspiracy indictments? A tiny piece of news you may have missed tonight could unlock the mystery. Tea Pain games out “Mueller’s Final Move.”
• Post | Tea Pain USA | @TeaPainUSA | All aboard the Tea Pain Train!
• Tea Pain: BOOM! #SDNY just hired Audrey Strauss, the attorney that beat Trump’s original fixer, Roy Cohn, to lead the investigation against Trump’s inner circle. This may explain why Mueller didn’t indict Don Jr. in D.C. Tea Pain games out “Mueller’s Final Move.”

 

That’s it for Friday.  Well, mostly.  This timeline is kicking me in the teeth right now.  I don’t want to go into too many details, but yesterday we discovered my dad had a stroke earlier this week.  I’ll go into more details down the road, but the most “but wait, there’s more” moment of the whole thing is while I’m at the ER giving them information on his health history, I get the notification that the Mueller Report was submitted.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I make jokes about bad timing all the time, but this might actually be the most Fuck You case of bad timing I’ve ever had.  I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’d be lying.

Needless to say, things will be nuts for the foreseeable future.  I’ll update when I can, but I’m being pulled in about 90 different directions.  I’ll make time when I can, and I’m still in the fight.  I just have to take care of getting an elderly stroke victim to stop screaming obscenities at his nurses.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Busy

• Mueller team cites ‘press of other work’ in seeking delay until April 1 over request to open Manafort records
• Mueller’s Team Asks For Deadline Extension, Cites Large Workload

This is likely getting blown out of proportion, but media loves nothing more than speculation.  Well, maybe a tragedy involving a white girl.

This came in yesterday (Daily Check-In 03/19/2019), but the short version is that the Washington Post filed a FOIA request for Paul Manafort’s records that were sealed.  This is standard procedure for any major case that the press is interested in.  The Special Counselor’s Office was reaching the deadline for when they had to respond to this request.  They filed an unopposed brief with the court that WaPo signed off on stating that they would like to meet this request, but need some more time due to a heavier than normal workload, and would like until April 1 to meet this request.

This is where the speculation begins.

There are many reasons why they’re busy, and why they picked two Mondays from now for when they could meet this request, but most of the mundane reasons were overlooked for the “OMG The Report is COMING!!! Everyone is getting indicted!!!” response.

Personally, I don’t think this is main reason, but I’m keeping my eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary.  This workload backlog could be as simple as a couple lawyers are on vacation or they’re working on something else that’s due next week, but this is the first time that I can recall that Mueller’s team has asked for a delay like this.

 

Butina’s Legal Bills

• Alexander Ionov, the Enigmatic Russian Paying Maria Butina’s Legal Bills
• Maria Butina’s Legal Bills Are Being Paid by a Russian Who Has Supported Texas Independence 

This is a friendly reminder that ALL secession movements in America have a Russian pumping it in the background.  All of them.

 

• BBC scores first interview with one of 13 ‘Russian trolls’ indicted by Robert Mueller last year — Meduza
• Due to Math ‘Error’ Manafort Owes Even More Money in Restitution, But He’s Not Signing Off On it 
• Indicted Oligarch Dmytro Firtash Praises Paul Manafort, Says Trump Has Third-Grade Smarts (mentions Mogilevich)

 

 

• Trump just nixed a major argument against releasing the Mueller report
• ‘Let them see it’: Trump says he doesn’t mind if public sees Mueller report
• Author says ‘you can’t underestimate the dangers’ of Ivanka Trump, Kushner
• Ivanka and Jared used government as “piggybank” and “pose a very serious threat to our security,” author claims
• Poll: 62% confident Mueller probe being conducted fairly 
• Poll: 87% Say Mueller Report Should Be Made Public 

 

CONGRESS

• Eric Swalwell: Indictments are coming… We’re working to extend the statute of limitations, so that NO ONE is above the law.
• Tea Pain: Q: Do you reckon Brother Eric @RepSwalwell would be sayin’ this if he wasn’t sure? A: NO
• House Democrats to question former business associate of Trump as part of probe
• Congressmen urge FBI to investigate bots targeting veterans with fake news
• Democratic senators send letter to Saudi Arabia demanding release of political prisoners
• Elijah Cummings Comes With Receipts, Claims the White House Is Involved in ‘Unprecedented Level of Stonewalling’ 
• Elijah Cummings Says Donald Trump Involved in ‘Unprecedented Level of Stonewalling, Delay and Obstruction’ in House Investigations
• Opinion | Elijah Cummings: The White House hasn’t turned over a single piece of paper to my committee
• Former Trump confidante Hope Hicks to cooperate with House Democratic probe into Trump
• Opinion | Veterans can restore trust in Congress. That’s why we created a new caucus.
• White House ignores House panels’ requests for documents, Democrats say

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

• Trump Has Now Shifted $1.3 Million Of Campaign-Donor Money Into His Business
• Claude Taylor: Non billionaire Trump Has Now Shifted $1.3 Million Of Campaign-Donor Money Into His Business
• Julia Davis: Trump has charged his own reelection campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging & other expenses since taking office. Outsiders have contributed more than $50 million to the campaign, but the billionaire president hasn’t handed over any of his own cash.
• Caroline Orr: NEW: Donald Trump has charged his own reelection campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging and other expenses since taking office, according to a Forbes analysis of the latest campaign filings.
• Mysterious Buyer Pumps $2.9 Million Into President Trump’s Coffers
• Troubled Vice Unit in Ohio That Arrested Stormy Daniels Is Shut Down 
• NYC official accuses Kushner Cos. of illegally operating buildings without certification 

 

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

• Trump misunderstands NATO so badly, he thinks Brazil could be part of it
• The Unbearable Machismo Of Trump And Bolsonaro’s Bromance | The twin presidents of the United States and Brazil are linked most closely by the insecure, tough-guy grievance politics that fuel them both.
• Trump smirks as Brazil’s far right president says they are united against LGBTQ people
• Trump on his campaign: No collusion. Trump on Democrats: Yes collusion — lots and lots of collusion.
• Trump retweets QAnon conspiracy theorist, via Larry the Cable Guy, to slam the TSA
• Trump launches furious tirade against Mueller on White House lawn as he calls Comey a ‘bad cop’ 
• Donald Trump erroneously says Lordstown workers could have saved plant by lowering union dues – Dues that Union employees themselves pay 
• Donald Trump is running for president as a flat-out racist 
• America’s days as a superpower may be numbered — because of Trump 

 

McCAIN

• Trump attacks McCain again, saying he didn’t get a ‘thank you’ for approving late senator’s funeral
• EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Johnny Isakson Stands Up for McCain; Unloads on Trump – The Bulwark
• Tea Pain: The news ain’t that 1 GOP Senator speaks up. It’s that 52 others stay quiet!
• ‘The McCain family deserves better,’ Republican senator says as Trump continues to lash out
• Johnny Isakson delivers the indictment of Trump’s McCain-bashing that Lindsey Graham wouldn’t
• Loyal Republican Senator Johnny Isakson Goes Off on Trump for McCain Attacks
• Republicans begged him to stop, but Trump escalated attacks on McCain
• Trump Is Still Pissed He Didn’t Get an Invite to John McCain’s Funeral 
• Trump attacks McCain again, saying he didn’t get a ‘thank you’ for approving late senator’s funeral
• Laurence Tribe: Herr Trump now claims credit for the McCain funeral! He says “as president” he had to “approve” it. BS! Lying in state at the Capitol was up to Congress, not POTUS. This despot has the gall to say a hero’s burial is within his control. What a putz.
• Rick Wilson: Trump just dumped on McCain again at the Ohio rally to dead silence. Got some boos against McCain when he mentioned the dossier. But the line fell totally flat.
• Angry White House Staffer: That’s a twist that I admittedly didn’t expect. The GOP is privately (and some publicly) more pissed at Trump over his continual disparagement of John McCain than anything else he’s done so far. The dam continues to crack, folks.
• Fox’s Shep Smith calls out Trump for attacking ‘dead war hero’ John McCain 
• Denzican Grimes: Republicans: “Colin Kaepernick is so disrespectful to the military and veterans by kneeling during the anthem.” Also Republicans when Trump attacks John McCain, a war hero: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Kurt Eichenwald: I have to get this off my chest. A cheating sleaze who grifts his way through life attacks a deceased great American, John McCain. The grifter’s cult then attacks McCain family, including widow @cindymccain and daughter @MeghanMcCain. Trump is a pig. And his cult is evil.
• Rick Wilson: Once again, Trump’s obsession with McCain is never going away. He’s going to obsess over it, let it chew on his mind all the time.
• Joe Walsh: In 20 months, we’ll look back and we’ll point to these ugly, obsessive, personal attacks against a dead American hero as THE point at which Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
• Schumer to introduce bill naming Senate office building after McCain amid Trump uproar
• Tim Hogan: Media still clueless why @realDonaldTrump attacks #JohnMcCain. Simple. McCain was Putin’s enemy & Trump is degenerate traitor. Every member of @SenateGOP who has not denounced Trump is a traitor too. Nobody gets a pass. Especially @LindseyGrahamSC whose FISA intercepts are coming

Any normal, non-malignant narcissist would realize that attacking the memory of a dead man less than a year after his death and beloved by the only people that could protect you from the onslaught of impeachment and removal from office would be a bad idea.  Like, a monumentously bad idea.  Like ‘let’s piss on an electric fence’ level of bad idea.  Like ‘let’s invade Russia right before Winter’ level of bad idea.

But Trump isn’t normal.  He’s a malignant narcissist with the emotional maturity of an infant.  He’s incapable of recognizing other people’s needs, and empathy is an alien concept to him.  This also means that he’s incapable of introspection or self-revelation.  He also demands that he be the greatest need of other people’s lives.

What does this have to do with John McCain?  Once again Grandpa was sundowning, and bitching about how McCain was getting love from people.  Probably because stories about the Steele Dossier keep coming up, and John McCain was the first member of Congress to get their hands on it.  Trump heard McCain’s name, and went off.  He went so far over the line of decency that he was getting booed at his own rally.  Some of his own cult were booing him.

 

TRAITOR TOTS

“Dipshit Cowpoke” Devin Nunes

• Nunes Lawsuit Backfires: ‘Cow’ Account Soars To 300K Followers Overnight
• Opinion | Devin Nunes is having a cow
• Angry White House Staffer: Guys. These Nunes cow puns are getting uddery ridiculous. I understand that everyone wants to milk this wave, but it’s time to moove on. Ok, guys. I’ve herd you. I now realize this teet was a serious misteak. To be honest, @DevinCow is one of the most legendairy things to happen to twitter. Really remarkabull
• Renato Mariotti: I just saw that @DevinCow now has more followers than @DevinNunes. Trying to limit someone’s speech usually backfires!
• John Schindler: Right now @devinnunes has 394K followers while @DevinCow has 373K. I know there are 21K people on Twitter ready to do this. #LajesBoy #FTW
• Rick Wilson: When Devin Nunes filed this lawsuit, did he think for even a hot second that it would beclown him so thoroughly that he will go down in Internet history as a cautionary tale of self-ownage?

 

CONWAY

• ‘Husband from hell!’: Trump escalates feud with spouse of Kellyanne Conway
• The Man Who Allegedly Slept With a Porn Star During His Marriage Calls George Conway The ‘Husband From Hell’ 
• Kellyanne Conway defends Trump after he attacks her husband
• Melissa Kester: I think KA may have flipped and they are playing this out in public to get more people aware of this issue of his mental health – specifically his diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The play fight gets it into public sphere.
• Tea Pain: Trump calls George Conway a “husband from Hell.” Melania, Marla and Ivana could not be reached for comment.
• Rick Wilson: Every one of Kellyanne Conway’s children are old enough to hear what Mommy’s boss says about Daddy.

 

FIGHTING BACK

• James Comey: “The fact that even James Comey can be optimistic makes me optimistic.” – William and Mary’s The Flat Hat quoting a student after I spoke on campus about my faith that the core values of this country will prevail.
• Vietnam veteran demands Trump show his bone spurs 

 

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

• Thieves mock Trump by stealing border razor wire to protect homes in Mexico 
• ACLU Demands Investigation Into Migrant Medical Care Practices After Fourth Migrant Dies In CBP Custody: ‘These Tragedies Cannot Continue’
• Alarm over leaked US database targeting journalists and immigration activists
• Dem lawmaker: Trump’s language on immigrants ‘same type of propaganda that we heard in the 1920’s’ against Jews
• ICE Has Been Wrongly Detaining U.S. Citizens In Florida Jails, Says ACLU | The agency is unlawfully detaining Americans and threatening them with deportation — not just in Florida, but nationwide, according to a report. 

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

• Ghosts of the Balkan wars are returning in unlikely places | Spectator USA
• John Schindler: My latest ===> “Why is the Christchurch far-right terrorist obsessed with the crazy-haired Serb that the UN just sentenced to life in prison? How Balkan war criminals became idols to Western extremists is a bizarre story that shouldn’t be real, but is.”
• Dem lawmaker: Trump’s language on immigrants ‘same type of propaganda that we heard in the 1920’s’ against Jews
• The New Zealand attack ratchets up pressure on Europe’s anti-immigrant right
• New Zealand bans military-style rifles, prime minister says just six days after 50 killed in mosque attacks
• Biker gangs stand guard by NZ mosques at first Friday prayers
• Fewer than 200 people watched the New Zealand massacre live. A hateful group helped it reach millions
• First victims of Christchurch shootings laid to rest, as police say gunman had planned another attack
• In New Zealand, a soul-searching question: Are we as open minded as we think we are?
• Opinion | Recep Tayyip Erdogan: The New Zealand killer and the Islamic State are cut from the same cloth
• Opinion | The U.S. needs to treat white supremacism as the worldwide killer it is
• Trump shut down programs that could help stop the next white nationalist attack
• Donald Trump doesn’t think white nationalism is on the rise. Data shows otherwise
• ‘I don’t have an answer for that’: Rep. Steve King sidesteps when asked if a white society is superior
• Elizabeth Warren calls to remove Confederate monuments ‘and put them in museums where they belong’
• Beto O’Rourke Slams Benjamin Netanyahu, Saying Israeli Has “Openly Sided With Racists” 
• U.S.’s biggest Christian charity reportedly channeled $56.1 million to purported hate groups 

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

• The Time Has Come for Democrats to Impeach Brett Kavanaugh – And no, ‘he’s just not worth it’ is not an acceptable excuse.
• Trump is losing so much in court that allies are getting tired of it
• Supreme Court examination of jury discrimination prompts rare question from Clarence Thomas

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

• Renato Mariotti: Prosecutors lied to the judge handling pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s plea deal, according to an attorney for some of his victims. Needless to say, if true, that is a major ethical violation. It is shocking that this did not come to light until now.
• Mystery parties seek secrecy in Jeffrey Epstein-related suit
• Two mystery parties try to restrict release of documents in Jeffrey Epstein civil suit
• She was the victim in Jeffrey Epstein’s secret plea deal. She didn’t even know it
• A mom gave birth to a 15-pound baby and ‘felt like I had been hit by two tractor-trailers’
• First drug specifically for postpartum depression is approved
• As Zika danger wanes, travel warnings are eased for pregnant women
• Patriots owner Robert Kraft will not accept a plea deal offered in the Florida day spa case, a source says
• Superfans are rushing to the defense of Michael Jackson and R. Kelly. Why?

 

COLD WAR 2.0

Brexit

• The 400-year-old legal precedent that might break Brexit
• The Brexit mess gets messier as the deadline nears
• Britain’s May asks European Union for a three-month Brexit delay

 

• ‘Have respect for the dead’: Ari Fleischer faces backlash after defending Bush on Iraq War anniversary
• George W. Bush really did lie about WMDs, and his aides are still lying for him 
• Suspected militants detained in Syria attack that killed four Americans
• A new political party in Thailand, led by an athletic billionaire, rattles ruling junta

 

#NEVERAGAIN

• New Zealand bans military-style rifles, prime minister says just six days after 50 killed in mosque attacks
• Proposal to arm teachers delayed in Florida Senate
• Shannon Watts: YES! “A Florida senate committee postponed public testimony Wednesday on a proposal to allow teachers to be armed. At least 20 members of @momsdemand traveled to Tallahassee. People packed the room. Spectators stood along the walls of the meeting room with every chair filled.”
• False alarms, real fear: Even without gunfire, active shooter alerts create terror

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

• Eric Trump accidentally advocates for net neutrality protections his father killed in 2017
• Snapchat owner considers steps to block underage kids from using the app
• Google fined nearly $1.7 billion for ad practices that violated European antitrust laws
• Facebook agrees to overhaul targeted advertising system for job, housing and loan ads after discrimination complaints

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

• Trump again accuses social media companies of censoring conservatives
• Trump can’t afford to lose his state TV 
• Opinion | I disagreed with Obama. But what Trump has done makes those differences insignificant.
• Laura Ingraham And Guest Mock ‘Anastasio’ Ocasio-Cortez For Doing ‘The Latina Thing’ — Conservative lawyer Joe diGenova mimicked the way in which the freshman congresswoman pronounces her name.
• Is Trump changing his tune on Fox News?

 

737

• Pentagon inspector general opens probe into Shanahan’s links with Boeing
• Pentagon to Probe if Shanahan Used Office to Help Boeing
• Trump to nominate Stephen M. Dickson to head the Federal Aviation Administration
• Europe and Canada Just Signaled They Don’t Trust the FAA’s Investigation of the Boeing 737 MAX 

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

• A month of coffee for $5? That’s Burger King’s plan to rule breakfast.
• Former DEA official now working for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma
• How the free market, and not Wall Street, can ensure more Americans share in prosperity

 

STUDENT ISSUES

• A Trojan horse: USC was the most frequent target in alleged admissions scheme
• Opinion | Here’s how to fix the college admissions system. Warning: You might hate this.
• Parents caught in the college admissions scandal are turning to this convicted felon for advice on life in prison
• USC names its next president: Former UNC chancellor Carol Folt

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

• Daughter of President Ronald Reagan says he’d be ‘horrified’ and ‘heartbroken’ by Trump and the GOP

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

• Harvard accused in lawsuit of retaining and profiting from images of slaves
• Millions watched her kids on YouTube. Off-screen, she was beating and starving them, police say.
• Police said a millionaire’s murder was a robbery. The truth led to an international hunt for ‘The Black Widow.’
• Woman used T-shirt cannon to launch drug-filled care package into prison yard, officials say
• He conned Bernie and Beto supporters, then used the money to buy a Mercedes, prosecutors say
• Bill would make it illegal to ask federal job applicants about convictions early in the process

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

• Catholic priest accused of groping woman during last rites
• Opinion | Catholic sex abuse victims deserve justice. They’re now getting more time to seek it.
• Pope Won’t Accept Resignation of Cardinal Convicted of Ignoring Child Sex Abuse
• These LGBT refugees came to Kenya seeking freedom. Now they say they’ve been imprisoned and abused.

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

• Leading anti-vax figure hospitalised with chickenpox 
• Donald Trump is using Stalinist techniques against climate science
• ‘It was too late’: Hundreds are dead as rescue efforts stall in Mozambique and ZimbabweAn endangered orangutan was shot 74 times. She’s blind but survived — her baby did not.
• An Oklahoma sheriff quit in protest over dangerous jail conditions. So did all the deputies.
• Cyclone Idai could be the Southern Hemisphere’s deadliest storm
• Federal judge casts doubt on Trump’s drilling plans across the U.S. because they ignore climate change
• Federal judge demands Trump administration reveal how its drilling plans will fuel climate change
• Judge halts drilling plan, says Interior must consider climate change 
• Ruined crops, salty soil: How rising seas are poisoning North Carolina’s farmland
• God, country and chickenpox: How an outbreak entangled one school in a vaccine showdown
• Is something missing from my stable relationship? Why a little bit of boredom is a good sign.
• No timetable for end to fire at Texas chemical facility
• Seattle is experiencing a truly remarkable winter heat wave, hitting 79 on Tuesday
• Students to press Congress for common-sense laws on climate change
• The smallest and farthest worlds ever explored by NASA are really, really weird
• The spring equinox arrives Wednesday evening. Here’s everything you need to know.
• Trump’s EPA Head Said Climate Change Is Not a Top Threat Because It’s ’50 to 75 Years Out’
• Trump’s budget slashes science. Here’s what would be lost.
• USDA is turning lab cats into cannibals by forcing them to eat feline meat, watchdog says
• Weird weather saved America three times

 

ELECTIONS

• Gillum to launch Florida voter-registration campaign to trip up Trump
• Florida Republicans Are Sabotaging a Constitutional Amendment That Gave Felons the Right to Vote 

 

THINKING AHEAD

• Buttigieg: We need generational change in politics
• ‘It’s going to be really easy:’ Trump says his 2020 debate strategy will be all about the economy
• A Bernie Sanders supporter (and journalist) had a relationship he kept from his readers
• Beto O’Rourke’s $6.1 million came from 128,000 donors, averaging $47 each
• Candidates reach for the ticket to Democratic debates: 65,000 donors
• Democratic Candidates Embrace The Risk Of Radical Ideas
• Donald Trump once called the electoral college ‘a disaster for democracy.’ Now he says it’s ‘far better for the U.S.A.’
• O’Rourke might have won the early money race, but Harris dominated on voter curiosity
• Opinion | Beto O’Rourke is a loser
• Opinion | Can voters forgive Elizabeth Warren?
• Opinion | Democrats have to decide what to do with the two old men
• Opinion | Joe Biden could solve a lot of problems by choosing a running mate early
• Opinion | Trump has given rich candidates a bad name
• Pete Buttigieg is the human rebuttal to everything Mike Pence stands for
• Sanders and Warren are talking a lot about civil rights. Not many blacks are listening.
• Trump could be left off some states’ ballots in 2020 if these bills become law
• Caroline Orr: When did it become A Thing that a presidential candidate’s first 24 hours of fundraising are used as some sort of indicator of their viability as a candidate? Can we not do that?

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

• Conrad Hackett: NEW: 2019 World Happiness Ranking 1 Finland 2 Denmark 8 NZ 9 Canada 15 UK 17 Germany 19 US 24 France 25 Taiwan 28 Saudi Arabia 58 Japan 68 Russia 79 Turkey 85 Nigeria 93 China 117 Iran 137 Egypt 140 India
• World Happiness Report 2019
• PostimusMaximus: Sure does seem like these places with slightly higher taxes but affordable/free healthcare and college are way happier. Who could have seen this coming?
• A record 61% of Americans now want weed to be legalised across the US, with support rising in every age group
• Patrick Stewart Uses Marijuana Every Day to Treat Painful Arthritis: ‘I Have No Negative Side Effects’

Toke up every day? Make it so.

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

• A Texas man found a ‘few’ rattlesnakes under his home. Watch a snake catcher remove 45.
• Opinion | Anti-Irish bigotry is mostly gone. But we shouldn’t forget the gift of being Irish.
• This couple enjoys Texas Roadhouse so much they trained themselves to eat almost nothing else, day or night

 

RUMOR MILL

• Countercheckist: tRUmp is certainly not worried about anything. Nope, all is well in Orange Judas land. No unhinged freak outs or other bizarre behavior to speak of… (he’s terrified).
• Tim Hogan: 3 or 4 Conspiracies

IMO there are 3 or 4 major conspiracies that are part of Mueller mandate but yet to be handed down or unsealed. Everyone wanders blindly not knowing what Trump did & what Mueller will find. He will find Russian money in 2016 Trump & GOP campaigns & indict many RNC + attorneys.

Mueller has yet to describe how the Internet Research Assoc content was projected via micro-targeting. I suspect this will include indictments of Parscale and @facebookrelated parties. @twittermay dodge that bullet.

@BernieSanders‘ 2016 team had to know Kremlin was helping him and I expect Tad Devine is a Mueller target. He may have already been indicted. The missing documents in Manafort docket may support that conclusion.

The Russian/Flynn/Emeratti plutonium proliferation conspiracy will finish off the Trump family, DeVoss, Prince, Mercers, Bannon and a number of others. They’re all looking at life in prison & asset seizures & will turn them on each other to survive.

Possible that Mueller will describe the @realDonaldTrumprole in some or all of these charge documents but he may file a final charge that describes Trump’s role in everything in a single all-encompassing denouement: The script for @SpeakerPelosishould she chose to use it.

 

• Tea Pain: Trump’s defense against the Mueller report is now “a man who never got a vote writes a report.” Next time a cop pulls you over, ask him which election he won. If he can’t tell you, just drive off.
• Tim Hogan: Media still clueless why @realDonaldTrump attacks #JohnMcCain. Simple. McCain was Putin’s enemy & Trump is degenerate traitor. Every member of @SenateGOP who has not denounced Trump is a traitor too. Nobody gets a pass. Especially @LindseyGrahamSC whose FISA intercepts are coming
• Sara Danner Dukic: Legal question: if the FBI has a warrant for emails/communications pertaining to certain matters, but during the search process happen to also see several other items that would be evidence of other crimes, would that be considered “plain view” and/or fair game?

 

That’s it for Wednesday.  I’m going to try to take it a little easier over the next couple days.  I’ll still post, but I feel pretty worn out.  Aside from a short span last summer, I’ve posted and worked on this site every day for almost 2 years.  That can take a lot out of a person.  I’m going to try to do less over the next couple days.  Of course, every time I say that, something crazy happens.

I have several stories that I want to work on.  I think I’ll do some of them this weekend.  Hopefully.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Cohen’s Search Warrant

• Records show FBI was probing Michael Cohen long before raid

NEW YORK (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller began investigating President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for fraud in his personal business dealings and for potentially acting as an unregistered foreign agent at least nine months before FBI agents in New York raided his home and office, according to documents released Tuesday.

The series of heavily redacted search warrant applications and other documents revealed new details about the timing and depth of the probe into Cohen, who ultimately pleaded guilty to tax fraud, bank fraud, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress.

The records show the inquiry into Cohen had been going on since July 2017 — far longer than previously known— and that a big part of its focus was Cohen’s taxi businesses and misrepresentations he made to banks as part of a scheme to relieve himself of some $22 million in debt he owed on taxi medallion loans.

Prosecutors were also interested in money that was flowing into Cohen’s bank accounts from consulting contracts he’d signed after Trump won office. Some of those payments were from companies with strong foreign ties, including a Korean aerospace company and Columbus Nova, an investment management firm affiliated with Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.

Cohen was ultimately not charged with failing to register as a foreign agent.

Many sections of the records dealing with the campaign-finance violations Cohen committed when he paid two women to stay silent about alleged affairs they had with Trump were redacted. A judge ordered those sections to remain secret after prosecutors said they were still investigating campaign finance violations.

Lanny Davis, an attorney for Cohen, said the release of the search warrant “furthers his interest in continuing to cooperate and providing information and the truth about Donald Trump and the Trump organization to law enforcement and Congress.”

 

• Special counsel began investigating Michael Cohen’s phone and digital data in mid-2017, months before FBI raid, warrants show
• Lincoln’s Bible: Lots of money laundering, wire fraud, & bank fraud in that Cohen search warrant. Reminder: He was doing all that on behalf of Trump Org. Smells mobb-y. Wut you think?
• Angry White House Staffer: This should surprise exactly nobody. You don’t just show up at someone’s — much less the President of the United States personal lawyer’s — house and work like “SURPRISE! we’re here to take all your stuff!” without a really good reason.
• Bradley Moss: Donald Trump should be utterly terrified that there are 19 pages of completely redacted material from the first Cohen search warrant that exclusively concern “the illegal campaign contribution scheme”.
• Application for a Search Warrant
• Local PDF of the Search Warrant
• Emptywheel: Here’s the powerful part of a Google warrant that no one really thinks through.
• Natasha Bertrand: Wondering if the probable cause for this was the payment Cohen received from Columbus Nova. It’s technically an American investment firm, but sanctioned Russian company Renova Group–controlled by Vekselberg–has previously listed it as an affiliate investment manager.
• Dr. Dena Grayson: 🚨BREAKING🚨Newly released search warrant affidavit in Michael Cohen’s case reveals that Mueller had sufficient probable cause *in July 2017* that Cohen was illegally working as an unregistered FOREIGN AGENT, laundering cash through his LLC.
• 19 blacked-out pages of Cohen search warrant suggest legal peril for Trump
• Cohen warrant materials have been released
• Mueller sought Cohen emails in mid-2017, months before FBI raid, warrants show
• National Security Lawyer: ‘Trump Should Be Utterly Terrified’ by Newly Released Cohen Search Warrant Docs
• New report implicates Trump in same crime that’s sending Michael Cohen to jail
• Records show FBI was probing Michael Cohen long before raid
• Michael Cohen’s Emails Were Sought by Special Counsel in July 2017, Records Show
• What’s in the Cohen warrant documents: Live updates
• Erica Orden: As SDNY was trying to obtain Michael Cohen’s emails, President Donald Trump signed a law that enabled prosecutors to get even greater access than they could before. 
• Caroline Orr: omg. Federal prosecutors used a new law signed by Trump to gain access to Michael Cohen’s emails, attachments, address book, and files stored on Google Drive.
• Michael Cohen search warrants show federal probe began nearly a year earlier than known
• Countercheckist: Told you. 🙂

Oh boy.  I wonder if this is what drove Twitler over the edge this past weekend. (Daily Check-In 03/15/2019)

This won’t be a surprise to many readers here, but we finally received confirmation that Mueller was looking heavily into Michael Cohen’s work immediately after the Special Counselor’s investigation began.

This release shows that Mueller investigation into Cohen initially grabbed onto Cohen’s taxi medallion company that was essentially committing fraud to stay afloat, and that led to the campaign finance violations, FARA violations, and all of the other crimes that he took part in.  Taxi medallions are used in major cities to denote “official” career cab drivers, and are a racket.  Literally, they are barely legal on the best days.  A cab driver would pay tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a medallion, then sell that to the next driver.  This worked well until a couple years ago when Uber and Lyft entered the picture.  Michael Cohen ran companies that owned these medallions, sort of like a broker.  The problems came when the value of the individual medallions dropped like a rock, but he owed loans based on the original values.  Think of it like being underwater on a car loan, but a lot worse.

The scariest part of this is once again what we don’t see.  19 pages of redacted text going into explicit details about the campaign finance scheme.  This is what Cohen’s going to jail for.  Why redact it?

As the judge said, it’s part of an ongoing investigation.  If Cohen pled guilty, he’s no longer being investigated.  The only things left are his co-conspirators and their companies.  Per previous reporting, that list is the following people.

Trump, Trump Jr., Allan Weisselberg, David Pecker, Dylan Howard, Keith Davidson, Trump Org, and the Trump Campaign.  Allan, the Trump Org CFO, was granted limited immunity for his testimony and evidence against Cohen.  The same with David Pecker and Dylan Howard of AMI.  Keith Davidson was the lawyer that represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, but has said he’s willing to provide all of the information he has on this situation to investigators.  That only leaves people and groups with Trump in the name.  And keeping a file redacted like this is exactly what a court would do if there were sealed indictments on file.

What makes this brilliantly ironic is that the first attempt to get Cohen’s mails from Google didn’t work.  Even though Cohen’s in America, and he’s using Gmail, his account information was stored on servers overseas.  Because of that, Google refused to hand over his information.  This would have stayed this way until Trump signed one of the bills to prevent a shutdown.  Buried in the spending bill was a law that would allow law enforcement to get electronic information on Americans from overseas servers.  As soon as that was passed, Mueller’s team applied for a new warrant, and they saw ALLLLLLLLLL of Cohen’s illegal activities.

Trump signed the very piece of legislation which will destroy him.  Beautiful, ain’t it?

 

Rosenstein Sticking Around

• Natasha Bertrand: Breaking: Rod Rosenstein is staying longer at DOJ, per NBC’s Pete Williams.
• Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to stay longer at Justice Department
• Rosenstein Extending Stay At DOJ Indefinitely
• Clint Watts: I disagree with the framing of “Mueller report delivery” currently being repeated…Why do we believe Barr hasn’t already received a report? How would we know? At a minimum I imagine Barr has been briefed in detail. I see Rosenstein staying as a sign. THREAD

I disagree with the framing of “Mueller report delivery” currently being repeated…Why do we believe Barr hasn’t already received a report? How would we know? At a minimum I imagine Barr has been briefed in detail. I see Rosenstein staying as a sign.

Mueller report delivery is likely a little anti-climatic as to how its being discussed publicly, it won’t be carried on a chariot into the DoJ with a big ceremony. AG Barr took office a month ago, after getting settled, I’d imagine he wanted a FULL update on the SCO investigation

I’d guess by week 3/4, Barr in discussions with SCO types of reports to be delivered, see here for good perspective https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/17/why-there-may-be-much-less-much-more-mueller-report-than-people-expect/?utm_term=.4d8b97239298… we’ve already seen key departures SCO in both investigators & prosecutors, signs SCO investigation splintered into multiple jurisdictions

AG Barr if he’s not already received some form of report, I imagine would see it soon, & then he needs and deserves the right to think through what to do about 1 of the most important investigations in our nation’s history. I’d think a month at least to review & think it through

Barr has to make huge decisions affecting institutions & national security, how much to reveal publicly vis-a-vis Russia, what to further investigate, whether a conspiracy charge should be levied or not, and has 3 audiences (POTUS, Congress, Public) all wanting different things

I don’t think anyone right now, to include AG Barr, knows exactly closure of Mueller investigation will be, when report revealed, but a guess might be. Report delivered AG = now or soon, AG decides strategy = April, Congress demands see it = May/June, Public sees “some” = summer

in conclusion, I hope we let our institutions and their leaders take their time, so they can do what’s right. Barr, Rosenstein and Mueller are the only ones that know all the details to make the best decision for the country. Let’s hope, whatever the outcome, they get it right

Regarding Rosenstein staying as a sign, I see it as, Rosenstein offered to leave let Barr pick his own team (normal) & cause he’s seen enough crossfire. Barr arrives, reviews facts 1st time & situation (“wow, this is complicated”) sees need Rosenstein stay help sort things out

Sure Barr criticizes Mueller appointment, Rosenstein said Barr hadn’t seen all the facts, now he has, & unlike our President and Congressmen – Barr, Rosenstein, Mueller are professionals & can disagree at times but still work with each other for the common good

• Angry White House Staffer: Interesting. He originally said he wasn’t leaving until he was positive Mueller’s work was in good hands. I really think Trump misplayed his hand with Barr — Rosenstein and Barr are friends too. Trump didn’t know. In response to a lot of the questions I’m getting: I’m told Barr asked Rod to stay on until his replacement is confirmed. To me, this shows. Barr doesn’t give a damn what POTUS thinks — we all know how he feels about Rod.

The non-conspiratorial part of me thinks that this is pretty standard.  Barr’s DAG nominee hasn’t been confirmed yet, so the job would go to someone to act as DAG until they’re approved by the Senate, so why go through that hassle for a few weeks or a couple months?

The other part of me thinks that Barr wants Rosenstein to stick around until this mess is further along.  He knows he’ll need a fall guy when the shit hit the fan, and what better fall guy than Rod, the man that led the investigation from the beginning?

 

Deutsche Bank

• Trump Lied About Assets, Worth to Get Deutsche Bank Loans: Report
• Trump received more than $2bn in loans from Deutsche Bank despite being ‘deemed untouchable’, report claims
• ‘If you get this done, you’ll all be my guests at Mar-a-Lago’ — The highlights of Trump’s $2 billion in debts to Deutsche Bank
• Deutsche Bank loaned over $2 billion to Trump: report
• Deutsche Bank Loaned Trump Billions After He Lied About Wealth: Report
• All of Trump’s Humiliating Financial Lies Are About to Be Exposed
• All of Trump’s humiliating financial lies are about to be exposed, starting with the whoppers he told to get $2 billion from Deutsche Bank. 

Trump is a malignant narcissist who built his entire image around being rich and powerful.  Those lies fuel his cult.  When his lies are exposed for what they are, and he’s shown to be the charlatan that he is, how many of his cult will stick around?

Daily Check-In 03/18/2019 showed some of the lengths that DB went to to continuously give Trump more and more money.

• A Russian ‘troll slayer’ went undercover at a troll factory and found that hundreds of Russians were working as paid trolls in rotating shifts

 

• Congressman believes Trump colluded with Russia
• Do Americans think Mueller’s probe is a witch hunt? Depends on how you ask.
• Donald Trump Jr. is in legal “jeopardy” with Robert Mueller, ex-U.S. attorney Preet Bharara warns

 

Mueller’s Team

• Robert Mueller’s team says it will be very busy in the coming days 
• From March 14 2019: Andrew Weissmann Stepping Down From Special Counsel Robert
• Zainab Ahmad, senior prosecutor, leaves Robert Mueller’s team, the latest sign Russia investigation is wrapping up

The Justice Department says a senior prosecutor is leaving Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, the latest sign that Mueller’s probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government is winding down. Special Counsel spokesperson Peter Carr confirmed to CBS News that Zainab Ahmad, a top terrorism prosecutor, concluded her detail with the Special Counsel’s office. Ahmad will continue to represent the office on “specific pending matters that were assigned to her during her detail.”

Ahmad, until recently an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has prosecuted more than a dozen international terrorist suspects, traveling all over the world to find witnesses and gather evidence. She has yet to lose a single case she has pursued against an international terrorist suspect.

Zainab Ahmad is returning to the Eastern District of New York.  Remember what I said about the Justice Hydra? (Daily Check-In 04/03/2018)  This is what it looks like.  US Attorneys going to different jurisdictions with their knowledge and likely with their case loads.

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

• Trump hotel emoluments case is at federal appeals court as president asks for it to be thrown out
• David Farenthold: Weird trend at @realdonaldtrump’s company: for 2nd yr in row, they paid their Fla. property taxes weeks later than usual, missed early-bird discounts, and paid more. Cost themselves about $24,500. Not big money. But it’s an own-goal that they never did before ’18.
• Tim O’Brien: Taxpayers have footed the bill for about $91,000,000 in expenses related to President Trump’s golf outings at his own clubs in Florida and NJ on at least 161 occasions since his inauguration. https://trumpgolfcount.com/ 
• Trump Lied About Assets, Worth to Get Deutsche Bank Loans: Report
• Trump received more than $2bn in loans from Deutsche Bank despite being ‘deemed untouchable’, report claims
• All of Trump’s humiliating financial lies are about to be exposed, starting with the whoppers he told to get $2 billion from Deutsche Bank. 

 

CONGRESS

• White House misses Democrats’ deadline to turn over docs 
• Judiciary Committee chairman says he has received tens of thousands of documents in Trump investigation
• GOP: Few targets met House deadline on Trump corruption probe docs
• Elijah Cummings Says Donald Trump Involved in ‘Unprecedented Level of Stonewalling, Delay and Obstruction’ in House Investigations
• Elijah Cummings: The White House hasn’t turned over a single piece of paper to my committee
• House Democrat says Trump appeared to influence Whitaker in Cohen case
• ‘McConnell Is Afraid of Democracy’: Progressives Push Senate Majority Leader to Stop Blocking Vote on HR1 
• Lawmaker: Bill would extend the statute of limitations if a president is charged with a crime. “I don’t think any person should be above the law,” Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said. 
• Donald Trump impeachment more likely if Republicans have a secret ballot, Democrat congressman says
• Civil liberties groups urge Judiciary Committee to press NSA on surveillance programs

 

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

• The political ‘twins’: Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump 
• Trump tells fake story about US general slaughtering 49 Muslims using bullets dipped in pig’s blood, in resurfaced video
• The Donald Trump Bible — Do you really want your Bible signed by the guy who separates mothers from babies, had an affair while his wife was home with a baby and is currently doing his best to take food and healthcare away from poor people?
• It must be Tuesday: Trump complains about, shares fake news

 

TRAITOR TOTS

“Dipshit Cowpoke” Devin Nunes

• Devin Nunes parody accounts spike in Twitter followers after Congressman’s lawsuit
• Devin Nunes sued a parody account with about 1,000 followers. Guess how many it has now 
• Devin Nunes Sues Twitter for Allowing Accounts to Insult Him
• The ridiculousness of Devin Nunes suing ‘Devin Nunes’ cow’ — and what it really signals
• Devin Nunes’ lawsuit backfires as parody cow account racks up followers 
• Devin Nunes’s Ridiculous Lawsuit Is a Masterpiece of Republican Grievance
• Julia Davis: It’s no easy feat to be the most thin-skinned man in American politics these days, especially given that the country is run by a short-fingered vulgarian who compulsively tweets about every real & perceived slight. But Devin Nunes has done the impossible.

Not only is parody an accepted and protected form of speech, but Devin Nunes is, unfortunately, a public person.  That makes the bar for defamation so ridiculously high that this will get laughed out of court.

As far as the ‘shadowban conspiracy’ goes, Twitter has cracked down repeatedly on bots.  They do a bot purge every so often.  When they do, there is a direct correlation between accounts that were supported by those bots seeing a drop in their retweets and likes.  This is because the bots that were retweeting them were deleted.

Devin Nunes is the perfect cross between an old person who can’t tech, someone who bought into their own manufactured press hype, and a precious right-wing snowflake who got his feelings hurt.  Twitter will show that Devin’s account was supported by Russian bot farms that were deleted, and once they were deleted, no real people were sharing his tweets.

• Ivanka Trump reportedly used a workaround to get access to Air Force planes after being rejected. 68% of Americans surveyed think someone who uses the same workaround should be punished.

 

CONWAY

• ‘A total loser!’: Trump lashes out at George Conway, who has been questioning his mental health
• George Conway: Congratulations! You just guaranteed that millions of more people are going to learn about narcissistic personality disorder and malignant narcissism! Great job!
• Trump’s letter to George Conway
• Iron Stowe: #BREAKING @washingtonpost obtained a letter #Trump sent to George Conway in 2006, praising his skills as a lawyer and thanking him for his assistance in a condo board dispute. Read the full letter here:
• Cheri Jacobus: do not ever doubt me. I told you the Conways are pulling a con. After decades in the shadows, George steps into the spotlight as NeverTrump to get NT support for Kavanaugh (his longtime pal and fellow Federalist Society) and other Trump judicial picks. Be careful w/the Conways. The reason NeverTrump high profile establishment types RT George & build him up is they’ve known him for years. It’s hard to give up that final link to their former “insider” status. They know the Conways are pulling a con but they just want to belong & not be left out post-Trump
• Amanda Carpenter: Trump makes Republicans choose him or their principles. Makes Lindsay Graham choose him over his dear friend John McCain. Makes Kellyanne Conway choose him or her husband. The loyalty tests never, ever end. And the choice shouldn’t even be hard.
• Cheri Jacobus: Kellyanne obviously knows it looked suspicious that Trump never attacks George, so she choreographed this. It’s barely a scratch. George got NeverTrump support for fellow Federalist Society member Kavanaugh. Trump is very grateful to George. Good boy, George! (pat on head)

The Conway’s are trying to play both sides against the middle.  They’re trying to keep both their MAGA and NeverTrump street cred.  I don’t buy it.

 

FIGHTING BACK

• Angry White House Staffer: It’s true that sometimes Trump tweets out crazy things to try and change the news cycle, but not always. Sometimes, when he tweets like a crazy, deranged, guilty, narcissistic criminal, it’s just because he’s a crazy, deranged, guilty, narcissistic criminal.
• Thread by @EvanMcMullin: “A few excerpts from George Washington’s farewell address in 1796 are as though he wrote them specifically for us: “The disorders and miserie […]”
• Kurt Eichenwald: It is easy to figure out how delusional a group is by listing those they think are in a conspiracy against them. Here is the list for conservatives: 1. Twitter 2. Google 3, Facebook 4. The Media 5. Universities 6. Scientists 7. Hollywood… …List more. Put ’em all here…. …I have to include in this list… 8. The FBI 9. The CIA 10. The NSA 11. The Justice Department …keep going, folks. the list is massive….
• Andrew Gregor: In a first, Germany is requesting the removal of the Trump appointed ambassador to Germany, #RichardGrenell. They consider him to stoke racism and fascism on the country. That’s where we’re at, folks. The Germans want the American gone, because he’s a Nazi.
• Cheri Jacobus: Trump & Don McGahn Tried To Get Me To Sign NDA To Silence Me
• A Judge Has Ruled That Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Can’t Take Effect Yet After All
• Opinion | I pushed to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ The transgender ban defies our values.
• Saying Impeaching Trump Isn’t Worth It Is Like Saying He is Above the Law
• ‘The View’ co-host Joy Behar says Lindsey Graham ‘needs to find his testicularity’
• Obama’s presidency will be hailed as transformative. Trump’s will be viewed with scorn.
• Opinion | Trump is right. This is a witch hunt!

EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION

• The U.S. government has reportedly been using off-the-book shelters to detain unaccompanied immigrant children
• US government uses several black-site shelters to detain immigrant children
• Kaz Weida: These detained youth being held at clandestine sites have behavioral and mental health issues. At least 5 sites AR, FL, OK, PA and VA are holding at least 16 boys & girls, some as young as 9 years old. Blacksites for children. Dear God this is madness.
• The Supreme Court’s liberals are very worried about indefinite detention of immigrants
• The Supreme Court’s 5-4 Ruling on Indefinite Detention of Noncitizens Is Appalling 
• Pentagon sends Congress list of military construction projects that could be delayed to free up money for wall

I included the list in yesterday’s post. (Daily Check-In 03/18/2019) Under Wall Project PDF.

• Trump’s border wall may strip money from a $65 million water treatment plant at a Marine Corps base with a history of contaminated water
• Opinion | Trump’s travel ban couldn’t stop their love. Others may not be as lucky.

 

RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM

• Fox Host: ‘No Question’ That White Supremacists See Trump ‘On Their Side’
• New Zealand response to massacre puts us to shame
• New Zealand’s Prime Minister Says Social Media Can’t Be ‘All Profit, No Responsibility’
• ‘You will never hear me mention his name’: New Zealand’s Ardern vows to deny shooter notoriety
• Accused gunman in Christchurch terror attacks denied newspaper, television and radio access
• Their fellow congregants died in Pittsburgh. Now Jews are supporting Muslims in New Zealand.
• U.S. lawmaker says tech companies must quickly remove violent content after New Zealand
• Steve King posts meme warning that red states have ‘8 trillion bullets’ in event of civil war
• Opinion | French Islamophobia goes global
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Donald Trump is signaling to white supremacists that he’ll ignore their violence
• Elizabeth Warren calls to remove Confederate monuments ‘and put them in museums where they belong’
• How Trump talks about attacks targeting Muslims vs. attacks by Muslims

 

SCOTUS & COURTS

• The Supreme Court’s liberals are very worried about indefinite detention of immigrants
• The Supreme Court’s 5-4 Ruling on Indefinite Detention of Noncitizens Is Appalling 
• The Trump administration has lost in court at least 63 times. Here’s why.
• Judge’s ruling allows protesters’ suit against Turkey over D.C. attack to proceed

 

#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS

• Prosecutors will drop charges if Kraft admits he’d be proven guilty
• Black female Democrats responded to abortion legislation with a bill requiring men 55 and older to report to local police whenever they “release sperm from their testicles”
• Married Pennsylvania State Republican Rep Resigns After Being Accused of Sexual Assault

 

COLD WAR 2.0

• The political ‘twins’: Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump 
• ACLU: The U.S. Is Acting Like an Authoritarian Regime by Barring ICC Officials Probing War Crimes 
• German politicians call Trump’s ambassador a “brat,” “total diplomatic failure” and demand immediate expulsion

 

#NEVERAGAIN

• New Zealand response to massacre puts us to shame | Editorial
• Shannon Watts: “Congress’ support for protecting the @NRA and gun advocates who value an interpretation of the Constitution above human life is shameful.”
• A man was shot at a Lake Wylie restaurant. Here’s why the gun owner won’t be charged
• Shannon Watts: A permitted gun owner was eating breakfast at a South Carolina restaurant last weekend when his loaded pistol fell out of his sweatpants pocket and shot another customer. He won’t be charged because being an idiot isn’t a crime, apparently. #scpol

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

• U.S. lawmaker says tech companies must quickly remove violent content after New Zealand
• What the huge loss of old Myspace music means for Internet culture
• Facebook agrees to dismantle targeted advertising system for job, housing and loan ads after discrimination complaints
• Nate Silver: Facebook’s audience evolved from being pretty left-leaning in 2012 to more or less down the middle in 2016. Not unreasonable to assume it will be right-leaning by 2020, especially for news, as right-leaning content has been overperforming there since last algorithm tweaks. Something related to think about: the sum total of all *curated* news content on the Internet (i.e. anything that goes through human editors) likely leans center-left, since that reflects the median proclivities of the editors at major publications as well as their readers. Facebook picks up on the shadow/residual of whatever content there’s latent demand for, but which isn’t promoted by curators/editors. That means some on the left, but more on the right—especially the far right. Also, lots of sensational content that editors would tamp down.

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

• Fox Corporation Emerges as Standalone Entity, Paul Ryan Joins Board
• Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan joins board of Fox Corporation
• Fox Corp. Adds Paul Ryan to Board
• Murdoch family launches a new Fox; former House Speaker Paul Ryan joins company’s board
• Fox Host: ‘No Question’ That White Supremacists See Trump ‘On Their Side’
• Fox News’ Sean Hannity wing is apparently worried the Murdochs are dumping Trump
• C-SPAN Turns 40 – Starting on March 19, 1979, the cable television industry started C-SPAN as a public service providing unfiltered, unbiased coverage of Congress and the nation’s politics. Forty years later we continue to be your unfiltered view of government.

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

• Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne Among Student Interns Listed On WH Economic Report

 

TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY

• Historian who confronted Davos elite says higher taxes for super-rich is ‘just common sense’
• Trump Promised 3 Percent Growth. His Economists Quietly Admitted It Won’t Happen.
• Wells Fargo CEO gets raise to $18.4 million the day after being scolded by Congress
• Yes, Americans spend a ton on health care, and the outcomes aren’t so good

 

STUDENT ISSUES

Operation Varsity Blues

• Accused fraudster Rick Singer wrote college guide books. Here’s a peek inside ‘Getting In.’
• Is it finally time to get rid of the SAT and ACT college admissions tests?

 

Stupid Ideas About Student Loans

• Hotel Heiress Ivanka Trump Proposes Cutting Student Debt By Making Student Loans Harder to Get
• White House proposal to cap student loans would mean only rich people can afford elite schooling
• ‘Why Educate the Public When You Can Give Billionaires Tax Cuts’: Trump Budget Would Slash All Federal Funding for Media, Arts, Libraries, Museums

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

• Ronald Reagan’s Daughter: Trump GOP ‘Bears No Resemblance’ To My Father’s

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

• A Grateful Dead fan was crushed by a bulldozer during a police chase over 10 pot plants. Now his family is suing.
• Former Mississippi Gulf Coast officer says she had sex while child was dying in hot car
• Guest Post: The end of the death penalty in America as we know it
• Massachusetts state troopers reported to have set ticket quotas
• NYPD said it captured a cop killer who fled justice 20 years ago. Turns out, the cop is still alive.

 

PRIESTS & RELIGION

• Catholic diocese and former bishop in W.Va. knowingly employed pedophiles, according to suit filed by state attorney general
• West Virginia accuses Catholic diocese and former bishops of sex abuse cover-up in unusual consumer protection lawsuit

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

• ‘It was a little surreal’: Forecasters flee as tornado and flood target National Weather Service offices
• ‘Maybe it’s a sign from God.’ Midwest floods devastate Nebraska farmers.
• Fears of massive toll as Mozambique, Zimbabwe survey damage of Cyclone Idai
• Federal investigators looking into Boeing 737 Max following 2 crashes in less than five months
• Hundreds die after cyclone in southern Africa; fears grow that final toll could be higher
• Most of Nebraska under state of emergency as ‘historic’ floodwaters ravage Midwest
• No, CBD-infused jelly beans definitely won’t get you high. Here’s why.
• Politician who opposes mandatory chickenpox vaccinations contracts chickenpox
• Sunscreen bans aimed at protecting coral reefs spark debate — among scientists
• The disconnect between the Trump administration and reality on climate change keeps growing
• These images reveal the historic and horrific flooding in Nebraska and nearby states
• Whales keep eating plastic and dying. This one’s stomach had 88 pounds of calcifying trash.

 

ELECTIONS

• Elizabeth Warren calls for ‘right to vote’ constitutional amendment, abolishing electoral college
• Elizabeth Warren Calls for Ending Electoral College
• To Ensure Every Vote Counts, Elizabeth Warren Says Amend the Constitution and ‘Get Rid of the Electoral College’

 

THINKING AHEAD

• 2020 Democratic candidates to participate in debate focused on LGBT issues
• A video of Beto O’Rourke’s wild hand gestures went viral. Does distinctive body language help or hurt a candidate?
• Beto O’Rourke’s early campaign: Upbeat sentiments absent many specifics
• Cory Booker blasts ‘senators bragging about their pot use’
• Elizabeth Warren calls for ‘right to vote’ constitutional amendment, abolishing electoral college
• Elizabeth Warren Calls for Ending Electoral College
• To Ensure Every Vote Counts, Elizabeth Warren Says Amend the Constitution and ‘Get Rid of the Electoral College’
• How Andrew Yang Could Win The 2020 Democratic Primary
• The politics of Amy and Beto O’Rourke’s marriage

 

Bernie Sanders

• Briahna Joy Gray from September 2016: @realDonaldTrump is right. The dems pushed the “Russia did the hacking” angle b/c it was politically advantageous for them. #debatenight
• Scott Stedman: This is Bernie’s new press secretary? Really? As a fervent Bernie supporter last time around this is extremely disappointing. Russia hacked the DNC and Podesta and leaked their emails to help elect Trump. It’s not a difficult equation.
• Molly McKew: Bernie’s new press sec is a person who promoted Kremlin propaganda by calling for votes for Kremlin-shill Jill Stein; she also doesn’t believe Russia hacked the DNC. Any more questions about what Bernie is or do we need to keep pretending?

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

• Chicago’s new mayor will be a black woman. Can she bridge the city’s divides?

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

• China’s goths protest after woman told to remove ‘distressing’ make-up on subway
• It’s not enough for J.K. Rowling to say her characters are queer. Show it to us.
• Mike Trout, Angels finalizing a record 12-year, roughly $430 million extension

 

RUMOR MILL

• Pace: Trump supporters are trying to sign their kids up for the non-existent space force via recruiting stations according to DoD. You can’t make this up.
• Ming: “conservatives are being silenced” TRANSLATION: The feds have uncovered the vast criminal GOP internet-enabled cybercrime enterprise.
• MSW Podcast: Beans: the open and ongoing investigation is Cohen funneling foreign money into the GOP. That’s what he helped Mueller with. And that’s why Mueller didn’t give him any jail time. It was redacted in his sentencing memo. It’s redacted in these warrants.
• Nick Pappas: The main reason Trump went on a Twitter tirade this weekend was that the Deutsche Bank story states he lied about his net worth. They concluded he’s worth $788 million, not much more than what he inherited. His entire life is based on a lie.

 

That’s it for Tuesday.  Damn, another crazy day.  Remember when 2 big stories breaking in a day was a cause for freakout?  Pepperidge Farms Remembers.

I want to address something real quick about editing tweets.  Ever since I decided to copy the content of the tweet into the links I post, I’ve always been at odds with how to address edits and changes to them.  Typically, what I’ll do is leave the original as is, but there is the occasional edit I’ll make, but only for typos that the original poster pointed out themselves.  For example, the tweet from Kaz listing the states where the immigrant blacksites are located originally said AK (Alaska) instead of AR (Arkansas).  She corrected herself in a reply, but I edited the tweet itself.  Going forward, I think I’ll notate where and when I make corrections.

For the record, I think I’ve done that less than a dozen times in the past two years, but it still bothers me when I do that.  I feel like I’m changing their words without their permission, even though they admitted it.  I’ll mark the tweet somehow going forward.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur