It should be….
The “Unmasking” Diversion
Over at Fox News, they use the word “unmasking” a lot. To me, it looks like they haven’t realized it is a common practice in the intelligence community. They just use the word a lot so that their low-information viewers will think it is bad. “Unmasking”, of course, is the process whereby a redacted name of an American citizen is … Read More
Jared And The Russian Backchannel – It Happened, Didn’t Happen, But He Didn’t Do It, But So What If He Did?
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner sought to create a secret line of communication between Donald Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin during a meeting with Russian diplomats in December. On Saturday, national security adviser H.R. McMaster said at a news conference that he “would not be concerned” about such an arrangement and added that “we have back-channel … Read More
Congressional Investigation Committees Go for Trump’s Personal Lawyer, Michael Cohen
President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has received requests for information from the Senate and House intelligence committees as part of their probes into Russian interference in the U.S. election. The request ;letters were the same ones sent to former Trump aides Carter Page, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn and others. Those letters sought information about Russian contacts, … Read More
The Smoking Gun?
Another bombshell from the New York Times. If this is true, Trump not only revealed classified information to Russians, but he also admitted to firing Comey because of the investigation: WASHINGTON — President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a … Read More
Document Dump: Appointing Mueller
From my reading, Mueller’s “jurisdiction” would include any and all allegations of obstruction of justice.
Trump Is Delusional About How He Got Here
Boy, does WaPo get this right or what? This comes from The Plum Line about how Trump has no idea what just hit him: Trump unleashed two tweets Thursday morning responding to the news of the appointment, which was made by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein after days of deafening criticism. Trump claimed: “With all of the illegal acts that … Read More
Here’s A Good Place For Mueller To Start
Reuters is reporting that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and other Trump campaign advisers “were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race.” That news stands in contrast to what Trump transition team chair-turned-Vice President Mike Pence said in January, when … Read More
Day 118. Hot Mess
1/ Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Bob Mueller to oversee the investigation of Russian interference in election. Mueller will take command of the prosecutors and FBI agents who are working on the far reaching Russia investigation. Trump said that he expects the probe will find no collusion between his 2016 White House campaign and foreign countries, calling the Russia … Read More
How We Got Here
I have been out of town and/or recuperating from being out of town, so the events of earlier this week caught me off guard. Nothing to say, and yet so much to say, and yet so much has already been said. Clearly though, this appears to be the beginning of the end for Trump. We are in impeachment territory, and … Read More
Day 116. Jeopardized.
1/ Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats during their Oval Office meeting last week, which has jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. Trump’s decision to disclose information risks cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. A US official said Trump “revealed more information to the Russian … Read More
Day 117. Wow.
1/ Trump asked James Comey to shut down the Michael Flynn investigation in a February memo he wrote shortly after meeting with Trump. “I hope you can let this go,” Trump told Comey. The request is the clearest evidence that he tried to directly influence the Justice Department and FBI investigations. Comey kept detailed notes of his meetings with Trump, … Read More
Trump Fires Comey
It’s been an amazing 16 hours. The comparisons to Watergate’s “Saturday Night Massacre” can’t be helped. Let’s be clear about this: Trump has fired the head of the investigation into his campaign’s contacts with the Russians. The reason? Because of the way Comey handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server. Almost nobody is buying that rationale, or the timing. … Read More
Yikes! Yates!
Sally Yates is a career civil servant in the Justice Department. She was hired under the first Bush administration, promoted during the Clinton administration, promoted again during the second Bush administration, and yet again under the Obama administration. Two years ago she was named deputy attorney general, the second ranking position in the department, and then became acting attorney general … Read More
Day 104: Nauseous.
1/ James Comey said he’s “mildly nauseous” at the suggestions he swayed the election. The FBI director defended his “painful” decision on the Clinton email probe during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. “This was terrible,” Comey said. “But honestly, it wouldn’t change the decision,” because failing to inform Congress would have required an “act of concealment” which would … Read More