Nervous much? The WITCH HUNT one is my favorite. It’s just so raw. Maybe he’s unhinged, or maybe it’s a distraction from this, reported by CNN’s White House correspondent: Trump appears to be backing away from his support for 21 year age limit for assault weapons purchases, sources tell us tonight. — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 27, 2018 Anyway, it’s … Read More
Is The NRA In Bed With Russia?
Earlier this month, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) issued a pair of letters demanding information on any financial links between the NRA and Moscow, or between the NRA and Russian nationals. The questions came after McClatchy reported: January 18, 2018 05:00 AM WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle … Read More
Belated Post: Oh Look — The Democratic Response To The Nunes Memo
A few weeks after the Nunes memo, the Democrats on the House Intel have finally been allowed to release their response memo. It eviscerates the Nunes memo of course, and is heavily sourced, although much of the sources lie in classified documents. It also questions, as it should, the motives of Devin Nunes. Here is the memo: The President was … Read More
Washington State Governor Calls Out Trump On His Stupid Armed Teachers Idea (and Tweeting)
President and Armchair Warrior Trump writes a script of what he THINKS — without talking to experts or the people effected. He gets taken down, and he doesn’t like it (arms folded) Armchair Warrior, you ask… Why yes. Trump: I would have run into the school with no weapon https://t.co/UZadMQzY34 pic.twitter.com/Jp6BBmA7TV — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 26, 2018
Superseding Manafort/Gates Indictment
Mueller’s team just dropped, literally minutes ago, its superseding indictment on Manafort and Gates. You can just look at the cover page to see who is indicted for what. 32 counts, mostly dealing with financial transactions and bank fraud and tax fraud (money laundering, basically) all before Manafort was Trump campaign manager. I did a search for “Trump” — his … Read More
Oh I Do NOT Like How This Sounds
Reuters Exclusive: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of a federal agency who has helped U.S. states protect election systems from possible cyber attacks by Russia or others is being removed from his post by Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House. Matthew Masterson, currently chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and a former Ohio state … Read More
Gun Debate Continues
Last night’s “town hall” on CNN was riveting. The students asked better questions than the adults, and I’m not the only one to note that they would not allow the responder to filibuster or waiver. For example, student Emma Gonzalez asked NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, “Do you believe that it should be harder to obtain the semi-automatic and – – … Read More
Mueller Prosecutor List
I discovered this at emptywheel and I’m, well, I’m stealing it. With each development in the Mueller investigation, Marcy Wheeler* at emptywheel has been tracking which of Mueller’s 17 prosecutors show up on which dockets, as a way of understanding how little we know about the case. This information is accurate as of 2/17/2018 Manafort docket: Andrew Weismann (1) Greg … Read More
Trump Attacks His Own AG In Russia Tweet This Morning
Say what? (In a now-deleted tweet, he misspelled “Sessions”, and wrote “Session”) It looks like Trump is reviving his offensive on Mr. Sessions, whom he once called “beleaguered,” and continued his days-long Twitter comments on the ongoing special counsel’s investigation into Russian meddling. The idea that Obama didn’t do something about meddling is, once again, ridiculous. While some former Obama administration officials have said they could … Read More
Sarah Sanders Press Conference – 2/20/2018
Her first press conference since the shooting — Sarah Sanders is reading her statement about the Parkland massacre like it’s a book report she really doesn’t want to deliver. — Matt Novak (@paleofuture) February 20, 2018 “It’s very clear that Russia meddled in the election. It’s also very clear it didn’t have an impact in the election,” Sarah Sanders says … Read More
Trump’s Behavior Continues To Offend And Baffle
In the days following the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland Florida, and with Mueller clearly breathing down Trump’s neck, his behavior has been frenzied and offensive. Here’s how Time described it: The weekend began with what many considered a victory of the smallest order. The typically chatty President bypassed the reporters to board his waiting helicopter without … Read More
Another Mueller Indictment
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged Dutch lawyer Alex Van Der Zwaan with making false statements to FBI investigators. Van Der Zwaan, who was officially charged on Feb. 16 in a federal court in Washington, has a plea hearing scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. EST. According to the indictment, the false statements came when Mueller’s team probed Van Der … Read More
Grand Jury In Mueller Probe Hands Down Indictment Against 13 Russian Nationals And Three Russian Entities
13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities are accused of violating U.S. criminal laws in order to interfere with U.S. elections and political processes. “The indictment charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft,” Mueller says. The indictment … Read More
Details Of Another Trump Affair Shows How Trump Attempts To Keep His Transgressions Secret
A report out from the New Yorker Friday morning about President Donald Trump’s alleged affair with model Karen McDougal more than a decade ago shows how Trump’s allies paid women who had affairs with him to stay silent. Trump and McDougal began an affair in 2006 after he met her at a party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, where he … Read More
Trump’s Inaugural Committee Money
A lingering question of the Trump Administration is the money that was raised for his inauguration. There was A LOT raised, and plenty left over. From NPR in April 2017: An inauguration is an expensive party to throw, and President Trump got plenty of help putting his on. Financial Election Commission disclosures released on Wednesday show that some uberwealthy donors … Read More