Over the weekend, as CNN’s Brian Stelter recaps, Fox seized on anti-Trump texts sent by a Mueller investigator — which, while newsworthy, are being appropriately handled by Mueller — to launch attacks on federal law enforcement that are truly hallucinatory. We were told by one on-air figure that this is “potentially one of the biggest scandals in American history.” Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway insisted “the fix is in” … Read More
The Scandal That Is Not
Benjamin Witte writes about the story that is the subject of Fox almost every day — that an FBI agent was removed from the Mueller team because he had exchanged private emails with another FBI agent — his girlfriend, that were gloriously anti-Trump. The right wing news and establishment think this is a scandal, but of course, this means nothing. … Read More
Politifact’s Lie Of The Year
2017 Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a ‘made-up story’ No, it’s not. We don’t know the extent of Russian interference, or whether anyone in the Trump campaign colluded in the interference, but it is not a “made up story”. Politifact has made this assertion the “lie of the year”: A mountain of evidence points to a single … Read More
Sexual Harassment Allegations Come To Doorstep of White House
This morning, three women who have accused Trump of sexual assaulting them appeared on Megyn Kelly’s talk show, sharing new details of what they say was abuse at the hands of the president. They are among at least 14 women who accuse Trump of sexual assault. In response, the White House issued a statement claiming these women are lying. Notably, the White House claims … Read More
If Trump Told Flynn To Lie To The FBI, That’s The Ballgame
As NBC reports: “Trump’s legal team and senior White House aides are refusing to say when and how the president first learned that Flynn had lied to the FBI.” After the news broke that Flynn had made a plea deal admitting to these lies, Trump tweeted that he’d fired Flynn because he lied to the FBI, suggesting he knew of this lying at the time, though … Read More
Hope Hicks In The Spotlight
The New York Times is breaking two separate pieces of news regarding White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. First is that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team finally has conducted its much-anticipated interview with Hicks, meeting with her Thursday and Friday. Second is that the F.B.I. warned Hicks that Russian operatives had been trying to make contact with her during the transition: There is no evidence … Read More
Trump Hits New Low In Pew Polls
President Donald Trump has hit rock bottom again in a new poll. The Pew Research Center finds that only 32 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, the lowest level in any Pew poll measuring his job approval since he took office in January. Sixty-three percent disapprove. Trump’s approval rating has declined slightly since October when it was 34 percent, and … Read More
Trumps Worked Directly With Wikileaks During Campaign
CNN has today’s blockbuster: Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were emailed a decryption key and website address for documents hacked by WikiLeaks in the fall of 2016, CNN reported Friday. Congressional investigators are seeking to determine whether the Sept. 4 email to the Trumps, which was turned over by the Trump Organization, is the latest example of entities or individuals associated … Read More
The Republican Machine and Fox’s pro-Trump Hosts Are Working Hard To Discredit Robert Mueller
Yesterday left no doubt: Fox News and Trump Republicans are willing to destroy America’s institutions as long as it keeps them in power. It starts with Fox News. It starts with Sean Hannity, who’s hearing that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is “illegitimate and corrupt.” That it’s led by a “band of merry Trump-haters” who are trying to reverse the … Read More
Pretty Sure You Need To Have An Attorney To Claim Attorney-Client Privilege
Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. cited attorney-client privilege and refused to discuss a phone call he had with his father about how to handle the fallout from his June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer. He told the House Intelligence Committee that a lawyer was in the room during the call. Adam Schiff, the top … Read More
Whistleblower Says Flynn Was Excited For Russia Plans To Build Nuclear Plants In Mideast
Full letter below: The Democrats are now asking Gowdy to sign off on subpoenas for various White House officials, associates of Flynn’s and others involved in the nuclear project. “If you choose to continue blocking our Committee’s investigation of General Flynn and allowing the White House to defy our bipartisan requests, the Oversight Committee will be faced with allegations of … Read More
Watch This Space
It’s probably nothing but….. #BREAKING: FBI confirms there is currently court authorized law enforcement activity in the DC region involving state and federal agencies. No further information is being released at this time. The #FBI plans to release more information later this afternoon. — WUSA9 (@wusa9) December 6, 2017 UPDATE: It’s gang-related.
The Abramson Theiory
I’ve been following, and also quoting, Seth Abramson, a University of New Hampshire professor — also a lawyer and criminal defense attorney — and his prolific (arguably TOO prolific) tweets about Trump and the Russian Collusion scandal. The Washington Post did an expose on Abramson, and his sometimes sensible, sometimes not, theory: As Seth Abramson tells it, Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with … Read More
Corrections And Updates And Backtracks To Last Week’s Bombshells
As I posted here last week, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition last December. Flynn is the fourth Trump associate to be charged in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. As I also posted, Flynn promised “full cooperation” with Mueller’s investigation and … Read More
Flynn Pleads Guilty* In Trump-Russia “Witchhunt”
* Well, he’s about to plead guilty… 10:30 am today. Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed court documents Friday indicating that he was bringing charges against former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn for lying to FBI agents about his Russian contacts. The information charges Flynn with one count of making a false statement. Here is the court filing – Seth Abramson … Read More