Interesting timing. Russia Republicans give Putin a pass on the same day Britain says he poisoned them.
Donald J. Trump (Twitter):
“THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.”
In-depth? Witnesses assert phony privileges, bank records never subpoenaed, Manafort/Gates not questioned. Kangaroos could do better.
GOP House Intelligence Committee member Tom Rooney (on CNN): “We’ve gone completely off the rails. … We’ve lost all credibilty.”
John Dean (CNN) on House Intelligence Committee report: They “could be very embarrassed. This is what is well known as a whitewash.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D) on House Intel GOP: “Their job is protecting their client, the president, rather than getting to the truth.”
The House investigation was an absolute joke. If they had investigated Manson or Dahmer they might have been your next door neighbor last year.
(Sorry, but the remainder of this comment is a rerun from the last thread)
Jack, when was that Jack-Mrs. Jack -John Prine song fest? If it was before 1982 I’ll bet you were singing along with a cassette.
I remember getting my 1st CD player and playing it through my stereo – high power amp, wonderful ESS speakers. The clarity of the highs and presence of the mids just blew me away. I believe my 1st CD was a Beethoven cd sometime around 1985or ‘86. When cd prices got below $20 (I seem to remember that LPs wee about $15 and cassettes were around $10 at the time) I started buying mostly CDs, although it cost slightly more than vinyl then- and until Sony made portable CD players that didn’t skip affordable my primary car music source was cassette tapes I had recorded from vinyl or CD. About 8 years ago I got my first iPod hand me down from LP. Still have a nano with around 1000 songs on it, icluding “complete” Beatles and Allman Brothers collections and a dozen or so “best of” albums. But now, other than Christmas music i pick up for Mrs. P I just download music to my ITunes account and play through my phone – Bluetoothed to the car. Hell, Mrs. P’s car doesn’t even have a CD player. I have to admit that I miss going to record stores and browsing the LP’s
Rick Saccone is the poster child for the modern Republican asswipe. Says his opponents hate SFB, God and the US. He’s right on one account. I’m sure they hate SFB.
Complicit and clever congrussians close ruskie investigation in time for special election in red PA district? Just in time for the commander-in-thief to type in all caps to stir his base and gotv. Redemption election!
So, I’m not the only one who thinks the poisoning in the UK was a message for those in this side of the pond in cahoots with Moscow. Pute-y is not subtle when sending a message.
California push back continues…after governor calls WH admin a bunch of liars last week.
ICE spokesman resigns over false statement by sessions regarding immigrant arrests.
Bid…bingo!
Just one more day in this Shakespearean tragedy of an administration. The chorus protesteth too much.
Real journalists need to start digging up the dirt on the Repugz on the Intel Commie-tee. Dirty, dirty, dirty.
The collusion continues. Horrible. Sad. Losers. The worst. (Using language Trumpco can understand.)
Maybe Bobby III has something prepared for March 15th. It would be fitting.
BW – And, the Repug-Commies re-acted to it with their disinformation. Very telling. They we’re stupid to get involved and now they are scrambling. None of the softies in the GOP is man enough to piss with the KGB. They are out of their depth and their only hope is to lie & deny.
They are toast, one way or the other.
I continue the Mueller altar and all of my bets are his team to rout-out the bad guys. The trumpence campaign claimed they were ad hoc, crazee busy, not organized, on the fly while after the election kushner claimed their computer operation, embedding with fb, machine learning, superb data manipulation, etc. would revolutionize elections. They weren’t helter skelter, but surgical in their messaging and moving trump in a targeted geographic from rally to rally. Which story is it? I am with Gov Brown…they are a bunch of liars. It was the ruskies who made the election heist possible.
From Raw Story, 2 associates confirm stone met with assange.
The turn of the federal government in this country has me scared. Time for clinging to my humor.
putie says
[Trump is] a grown man, and secondly he’s someone who has been involved with beauty contests for many years and has met the most beautiful women in the world. I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world.
Well, I have a comment back, our porn stars are the best in the world and smarter than trump.
MR. MUELLER PLEASE LOCK-UP THE TRUMPENCE JUNTA AND THROW AWAY THE KEY.
So Tillerson’s out. Imagine.
Tillerson OUT … Pomeo IN
Bet there is an interesting story behind this event today:
Kyle GriffinVerified account @kylegriffin1 15m15 minutes ago
More
Kyle Griffin Retweeted Kyle Griffin
“Mr. McEntee was removed from the White House grounds on Monday afternoon without being allowed to collect his belongings, a White House official said. He left without his jacket, a second White House official said.”
Kyle Griffin added,
Kyle GriffinVerified account @kylegriffin1
Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was escorted out of the White House on Monday, two senior administration officials tell WSJ. The cause of the firing was an unspecified security issue, said a third…
Pute-y is not subtle when sending a message.
Yup… which is why, IMO, Mueller has had no luck in flipping Manafort.
Every city and town in NH today are holding local town elections today. The stupid state legislature has a strangle hold on some old law that says this election MUST be held on the second Tuesday of March… no matter the weather. Course… it didn’t matter in ancient times when you traveled by horse, buggy, sleigh to get anywhere. So we got up early ( only a couple inches of snow at the time) to do our duty. Makes me all the more adamant that it’s time to vote out old farts!
after nikki betrayed trump with her support of accusers, just like vanka in the roy moore case? pompeo snags sos. tillerson had just confirmed russia behind poisoning in Britain.
New cia director, gina haspel.
From the above link —
As a clandestine officer at the Central Intelligence Agency in 2002, Gina Haspel oversaw the torture of two terrorism suspects and later took part in an order to destroy videotapes documenting their brutal interrogations at a secret prison in Thailand.
The C.I.A.’s first overseas detention site was in Thailand. It was run by Ms. Haspel, who oversaw the brutal interrogations of two detainees, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
But years later, when the C.I.A. wanted to name Ms. Haspel to run clandestine operations, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, then the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, blocked the promotion over Ms. Haspel’s role in the interrogation program and the destruction of the tapes.
On Thursday, critics of the C.I.A. questioned the choice of Ms. Haspel.
Mr. Pompeo “must explain to the American people how his promotion of someone allegedly involved in running a torture site squares with his own sworn promises to Congress that he will reject all forms of torture and abuse,” said Christopher Anders, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s office in Washington.
It is rumored tillerson was fired on Friday while in Africa…katrina pierson hired.
And trump can only talk about his wall while the firings and hirings continue.
Mr. McEntee has been thrown out of the White House but has now been hired by the Trump campaign.
Supposedly couldn’t get clearance due to “financial issues”, so they have put him where he can steal funds with impunity.
So, Tillerson wasn’t really sick when he was in Africa?
Well, if Pompeo & HellsBells think so much of torture, well, they probably have a lot to squeal about if it was ever used on them. Good for them they are in positions of power and are safe from their own inhumanity.
The UK poisoning was definitive a message, but if enough of them (being our elected officials and staff) who are in cahoots would all grow a pair and realize it’s not going to end well no matter what they say cuz they’re in too deep…they would at least end up on the right side.
One way or the other, Mueller and/or midterms, the swamp will be drained.
What a resume
Mike Pompeo: pro-torture, Koch whore
Boy Howdy – SFB said Rex will be a lot happier now …truer words have not come out pig face’s mouth.
I wonder if he expects Rex to fly home coach
Rex, the latest escapee. I think he can afford to buy his own first class ticket home – hell, he’ll probably charter a jet.
Pogo
do you think this is a case of ” I quit — you’re fired”
Alexandra shoots, Alexandra scores!
And she NAILS Betsy (know nothing) DeVoss in the process.
KC, or a case of “You can’t fire me; I quit.”
How to get fired by Trump: Rex Tillerson said the poisoning in Britain “clearly came from Russia”
Poobah, didn’t Pompeo say Russia definitely interfered in the election to disadvantage Hillary? If I’m right about that it seems that would have disqualified him in SFB’s eyes.
Pogo, don’t buy that. Pompeo is another Russia Republican appointed by Putin. Tillerson left the reservation.
What to do when you need a distraction from a humiliating loss in Pennsylvania? Fire your Secretary of State.
CIA chief Pompeo met with sanctioned Russian spies, officials confirm
pogo & craig, rex doesn’t have the keys to the cia closet that pompeo does. aside that he may be privy to evidence of pervy or criminal behavior on the twit and can probably say and get whatever he asks for… he can play the old j edgar card.
also pompeo’s graduating 1st in class at west point & sporting a hahvahd law degree gives the twit a lot to brag about internalizing those accomplishments as his own.
Pompeo ordered by Trump to meet with a former U.S. intelligence official who has become an advocate for a disputed theory that the theft of the Democratic National Committee’s emails during the 2016 presidential campaign was an inside job, rather than a hack by Russian intelligence.
whatayawanna bet we’ll be seeing a move on this pretty young thing to head up wh communications now that boss rex is out.
Heather Ann Nauert (born January 27, 1970) is an American journalist who has served as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State since April 24, 2017. She is a former co-host of Fox & Friends and Fox & Friends First, and was previously a correspondent for ABC News.
from ap via msn:
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. officials say the White House has fired one of Rex Tillerson’s top aides after he contradicted the official account of the secretary of state’s dismissal by President Donald Trump.
The officials said Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, was informed of the move shortly after he released a statement in his name saying that Tillerson was “unaware of the reason” for his termination. Goldstein had also told reporters that Tillerson learned of his firing Tuesday morning from Trump’s tweet announcing he was nominating CIA chief Mike Pompeo to lead the State Department.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about personnel moves. Goldstein could not immediately be reached for comment.
After being confirmed, Mr Pompeo will be very close in the Presidential Succession. Food for thought.
Watching the President on the Mexican border, waxing poetically over the beauty of walls, reminded me that Nero burned Rome (then found scapegoats to blame the fire on) so he could have plenty of room for his “rebuilding” projects.
HSI — financial crimes that homeland security might investigate.
HSI’s workforce includes special agents, analysts, auditors and support staff. Its men and women are assigned to cities throughout the United States and to offices around the world. HSI’s international force is the department’s largest investigative presence abroad and gives HSI one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
HSI has broad legal authority to enforce a diverse array of federal statutes. It uses this authority to investigate all types of cross-border criminal activity, including:
Financial crimes, money laundering and bulk cash smuggling;
Commercial fraud and intellectual property theft;
Cybercrimes;
Human rights violations;
Human smuggling and trafficking;
Immigration, document and benefit fraud;
Narcotics and weapons smuggling/trafficking;
Transnational gang activity;
Export enforcement; and,
International art and antiquity theft.
pompeo is perfect for trump’s military junta…a west point man, hillary hater and lately has given russia the heads-up on a terrorism plot.
cnn reports mcentee being investigated by HSI and nbc reports mcentee being investigated by the secret service.
from the hill: McCain: Trump’s CIA pick was involved in ‘one of the darkest chapters in American history’
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday condemned President Trump’s decision to nominate Gina Haspel to become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), saying she was involved in “one of darkest chapters in American history.”
While he expressed confidence in current CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s ability to serve as secretary of State, an appointment Trump announced earlier Tuesday, McCain said in a statement that Haspel needs to explain her stance on torture.
“The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” McCain said. “Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process.”
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration “squandered precious moral authority” to get intelligence, McCain said.
[….]
“Any nominee for Director of the CIA must pledge without reservation to uphold this prohibition, which has helped us regain our position of leadership in the struggle for universal human rights,” McCain said Tuesday.
McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner during in the Vietnam War, has sharply criticized Trump’s support of controversial interrogation policies like waterboarding.
“I know from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good,” McCain said in 2014.
she should have offered to pay back interest along with the 130,000
from the guardian:
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer on Trump missing deadline: ‘Time to buckle up’
“Time to buckle up,” said Stormy Daniels’ lawyer on Tuesday as the deadline set by the adult film star for Donald Trump or his lawyer to respond to her offer to return a $130,000 hush fee in exchange for the freedom to speak about an alleged past affair with Trump came and went.
Michael Avenatti declined to explain the phrase or comment further during a phone call with the Guardian to discuss possible next moves by his client. Daniels is best known by her stage name as a pornographic actor but her real name is Stephanie Clifford.
The full text of the tweet, posted moments after noon, read: “The President and Mr Cohen have purposely ignored our settlement offer, thus doubling down on their efforts to muzzle Ms Clifford and prevent her from telling the American people what happened. #basta.”
Basta is Italian for “enough”.
[….continued…]
from afp via msn:
Russia warns of reprisals if UK acts over spy attack
Russia warned Britain on Tuesday to expect reprisals if it announces sanctions over the poisoning of a former double agent, as the US and other allies joined London in demanding answers on how a Soviet-designed nerve agent was used in the attack.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says Russia was “highly likely” to be behind the attack, giving Moscow until midnight Tuesday to provide answers on the March 4 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted “Russia is not guilty”, saying it was ready to cooperate with Britain but complaining that its request for samples of the nerve agent had been rejected.
[….]
May gave Moscow an ultimatum on Monday to explain whether Skripal’s attempted murder was a state-sponsored attack, or whether it had “lost control” of the nerve agent.
Pharmacology experts said Novichok, a broad category of more than 100 nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union during the late stages of the Cold War, was “more dangerous and sophisticated” than sarin or VX.
May will gather her National Security Council on Wednesday morning “to discuss the response from Russia”, and will then give a statement to MPs, her spokesman said.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson vowed that Britain’s response, if it concludes that Russia was responsible, would be “commensurate”.
[..continues…]
the New Yorker: Rex Tillerson Gets Fired the Day After He Criticized Russia
On Monday, Rex Tillerson, the departing Secretary of State, cut short a visit to East Africa to fly back to Washington. Before he left, he remarked that the nerve-gas attack recently carried out on a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, was a “really egregious act,” but he also said it wasn’t entirely clear who was responsible. Later on Monday, though, the State Department issued a statement in which Tillerson expressed his “full confidence” in the British government’s assessment that the Russian state was almost certainly the culprit. (In the House of Commons on Monday, Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, said it was “highly likely” that Russia was responsible.)
“There is never a justification for this type of attack—the attempted murder of a private citizen on the soil of a sovereign nation—and we are outraged that Russia appears to have again engaged in such behavior,” Tillerson’s statement said. “From Ukraine to Syria—and now the UK—Russia continues to be an irresponsible force of instability in the world, acting with open disregard for the sovereignty of other states and the life of their citizens. We agree that those responsible—both those who committed the crime and those who ordered it—must face appropriately serious consequences. We stand in solidarity with our Allies in the United Kingdom and will continue to coordinate closely our responses.”
This was arguably the strongest condemnation of Russian behavior that the Trump Administration has ever issued. And it turned out to be one of Tillerson’s final official acts as Secretary of State. At 8:44 A.M. on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced Tillerson’s firing on Twitter. “Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State,” Trump wrote. “He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!”
Some of Trump’s aides immediately insisted to reporters that the President hadn’t dismissed Tillerson because of the Russia statement. Citing multiple White House officials, the Washington Post reported that the White House informed the Secretary of State on Friday that he was going to be ousted. Zeke Miller, of the Associated Press, subsequently filled out this narrative, reporting via Twitter, “WH official says chief of staff John Kelly called Tillerson Friday and again on Saturday. Both calls to Tillerson, the official says, warned that Trump was about to take imminent action if he did not step aside. When Tillerson didn’t act, Trump fired him.” In brief remarks to reporters, Trump said he had been thinking about replacing Tillerson for “a long time,” because “We were not thinking the same.” He also said Tillerson “will be much happier now.”
At least one of Tillerson’s aides pushed back against this White House narrative, however. Elise Labott, CNN’s global-affairs correspondent, reported that Tillerson only found out from Trump’s tweet that he was fired. Josh Lederman, of the A.P., reported, via Twitter, “We got off the plane with Tillerson less than four hours ago. There was zero indication on flight home that this was imminent.” The White House reacted quickly to this counter-narrative. By early afternoon, the White House had fired the aide, Steve Goldstein, who contradicted its version of what had happened.
If Tillerson did know that the President was about to can him, his statement on Russia was perhaps a final act of defiance. On Tuesday, the Russian government again denied responsibility for the attack in Salisbury and said it wouldn’t respond to British claims unless it was provided with samples of the nerve agent used. Trump also spoke with May, finally, and, after the call, the White House issued a statement saying he agreed with her “that the Government of the Russian Federation must provide unambiguous answers regarding how this chemical weapon, developed in Russia, came to be used in the United Kingdom.” However, the statement stopped short of saying Trump agreed with the British assessment that the Russian government was very likely responsible.
[…continues…]
Only Donald Trump could make me feel sorry for Rex Tillerson.
Rex’s wife talked him into the job–I wonder what he has to say to her now
…asking the tough questions- a year and a half too late. USA! USA!
These magas just can’t understand how their lives would be improved if they didn’t get their way.
MAGATs…….Make America Great Again [Fill in the blank]
Saccone must not believe in God or he wouldn’t try to leverage voters by taking the Lord’s name in vain, which is exactly what he did. C’mon Conner!
The thought of Mueller just strolling thru an airport is unsettling.
Trump wants to militarize space with a “space force”? Collusion. Confusion. Obstruction. Treason. Get him out of the WH now.
Was Marshall Pêtain a nazi or did he just take a dirty job……..
I nominate Mel Brooks for leader of the Space Force.
sj, you are right – if confirmed Pompeo would be 4th in the line of succession. (VP, SoH, Senate Pres. pro tem. then SoS….
Which is where Craig saw him a couple of months ago. Of course, he’s not a team of one. This is not going away.
Now, if some investigative journalists will get to work and show what info is obtained with just a little digging, out it together in an easily-digestible package, and show the ties between Russia, banking, and, all of those in Congress who are now screwing with banking regulations.
See, Poobah, even SFB doesn’t make me feel sorry for Rex – if he didn’t know the perils of serving in the SFB admin, he’s too stupid to warrant any feelings of sympathy.
I’m thinking that R III is thinking…..”I might better speed this thing along a bit.” I see news forthcoming.
as in, see if you can distract from THIS, you little weasel.
Rex will be just fine…..it’s not jail…………yet.
He’ll want to avoid the polonium milkshakes for awhile, I reckon….
Sturgeone,
Marshal Petain. Veni Vidi Vichy.
C is for coward
O is for oops, I’m screwed this
L is for loser
L is for double loser
A is for a-hole
B is for bought
O is for Oh No history won’t be kind
R is for reviled
A is for au revoir, skippy
T is for tail between legs
I is insane justification
O is for obstruction of justice
N is no need to fight I’m French
I is for ignominious
S is for sell out
T is for treason
Rex will be just fine in either of his multi-million dollar homes in N TX.
Rick “Oops” Perry to head up the VA? (sigh)
Hmmm. T is for Trump and TREASON
New Thread
If you’re interested in the November elections ( and who isn’t?) keep an eye on Allegheny County. It’s the burbs of Pittsburgh. Strong turnout there will make the difference in the race.