I have watched most, maybe all, of James Comey’s interviews, from Stephanopoulos to Colbert to Maddow to Jake Tapper and on and on and on.
My take: He is truthful and flawed in an era of confirmation bias where so many Americans who find merit, honor and truth fake news, because they would rather hear lies about how elites like Comey are out to get them. I wish him well but I think the better counter argument for his kind is to convince aggrieved people that progressives are the ones who are best counted upon to protect them from the bad people they believe are out to get them.
Trump hires Miami mob lawyers … https://t.co/YnBiQSBHaY
the hill via msn: Trump claims vindication after release of Comey memos
President Trump late Thursday night trumpeted the release of a series of memos written by former FBI Director James Comey, claiming they exonerated him of allegations that he obstructed justice and colluded with Russia.
[…]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) was forced to hand over the memos to Congress on Thursday or face a subpoena from House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). He and other Republicans, including Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), have been investigating alleged anti-Trump bias at DOJ in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Following the release of the memos, which mostly contained details already known to the public thanks to Comey’s testimony on Capitol Hill and leaked excerpts from his autobiography, the three Republicans released a statement saying the memos provided clear evidence there was no obstruction of justice.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, meanwhile, claimed they “provide strong corroborating evidence of everything [Comey] said about President Trump” and show a “blatant effort to deny justice.”
In his tweet, Trump also alluded to the fact that Comey had provided one unclassified memo to a friend who then gave it to the New York Times. Comey did so in order to trigger the appointment of a special counsel in the Russia probe.
Trump has repeatedly railed against the probe, frequently referring to it as a “witch hunt.” He has also stepped up his attacks on Comey in recent days, as the ex-FBI director mounts a media blitz in order to promote his new book.
courtesy of ms wino last night: Get yer comey memos here…from Lawfare.
and to put your minds to rest, from the guardian:
No, the world will not end on Monday, says conspiracy theorist cited in reports
Reports that the world will end on Monday are incorrect, according to the man reported to have said the world will end on Monday.
Numerous news organizations reported this week that the world would be destroyed on 23 April, citing David Meade, a Christian conspiracy theorist who has made a number of incorrect predictions about the end of the world.
But in an interview with the Guardian, Meade described these reports as “fake news”.
Meade, who has written 14 books – mostly focused on the end of the world or the mysterious planet Nibiru, thought by some to be on a collision course with Earth –said he does not in fact believe the world will end on 23 April.
Instead Meade believes that the rapture – when Jesus will appear and save his followers but reject the rest – will occur at some point between May and December of this year. He would not be drawn on a specific date.
But even the rapture will not signify the end of the world, Meade said.
Meade said the rapture will merely bring in seven years of “tribulation”, followed by 1,000 years of “peace and prosperity”, before the world is destroyed.
“So the world isn’t ending anytime soon – in our lifetimes, anyway!” Meade said.
The British newspaper the Daily Express, which regularly cites Meade in news stories about the end of the world, appears to have been the source for the 23 April date. The Express has written more than a dozen stories about the world’s demise in the past week.
Other news organizations then picked up on the story, some debunking it.
[….continues…]
also from today’s guardian:
Comey memos: Trump said Michael Flynn had ‘serious judgment issues’
According to former FBI head, president complained about his first national security adviser, who was later fired
Will today be a good indictment Friday? I hope so. We have not had a decent law enforcement thing since Cohen opened his office, home and hotel room to SDNY. Kushner does have a problem though, but not a Mueller problem (yet).
Comey’s memos just support his interviews (and, I assume, his book). Trumpsky is still a self-absorbed baboon with tied to folks just as undesirable as he.
Repugz were trying to give comfort to Trumpsky/Putin (aka the enemy) by accessing Comey’s memos. Why? It doesn’t really matter. They failed.
I hope BB is correct and indictments are coming quickly. I hope Cohen flips. I hope they nab Jared on something…and he flips. The more trouble Trumpsky has, the less power he has to last this thing out, the more folks will start being interested in their own well-being, no longer tying it to his.
The glowing review of Trumpsky’s new mob lawyers by Suck-low was quite telling. Honor among thieves, I suppose.
Maybe it’s time to go back to using our mob names. What say you, Twenty Eyes?
Kushner Cos. subpoenaed by Feds, claims it has “nothing to hide” https://t.co/LHYz4iRr6b
A happy 420.
A couple of days ago, the raw story reported — the daily kos.
“I see the Republican Party, as near as I can tell, reflects now entirely Donald Trump’s values,” Comey explained. “It doesn’t reflect values at all. It’s transactional, it’s ego-driven, it’s in service to his ego. And it’s, I think, consoling itself that we’re going to achieve important policy goals — a tax cut or something.”
“The Republican party has left me, and many others,” Comey said, explaining his abandonment. “I just think they’ve lost their way and I can’t be associated with it.”
“These people don’t represent anything I believe in,” he said of the GOP.
The cannabis/marijuana freedom movement is spreading like a soothing cbd cream over the US and last week, the trump admin switched sessions’s course on marijuana. FDA approves marijuana ingredient for treatment. I have witnessed an incredible change in the acceptance of pot in its many forms over my lifetime. Finally, in the sunlight and in full view…many imprisoned and many in the shadows for using marijuana…those days easing in many states. schumer to introduce legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession.
Today in my state, a medical marijuana state, the dispensaries are celebrating with specials and events. A few weeks ago it was announced that NM has over 50,000 registered users — our total population is 2.088 million (2017). Colorado which has about double the population? On a revenue munchie binge. For such small populated states? It is a money maker, new career opportunity for many young humans. I imagine the cannabis industry money in the populated state of California? Staggering.
bw, given the powers that be seem to want a dumbed down citizenry who don’t question the state newspeak, you’d think they would be putting pot in every pot and pushing opiates to the max to dull the senses even more. quell the resistance with Quaaludes. kill the opposition with numbing kindness. anything to keep us quiet.
visualizing twit & co as ugly Sirens and us as Odysseus’s crew
Remember when giuliani was too conflicted to be sos?
bolton, kudlow and giuliani replace outgoing kelly. comey’s mention of kelly’s phone conversation with him after he was fired? The ‘dishonorable’ comment made by kelly is another reason to dump the general. I have watched a vid of trump deliberately stopping short, turning around and chest bumping kelly. An aggressive move from the head gorilla. Just like that leader of scientology, miscavige, who physically abused his staff.
Imagine how nikki haley felt being downgraded by kudlow…an old corporate technique by the ‘hole in the head’ gang. Can it get any worse? You betcha!
Just because Comey has left the Republican Party does not mean he is a Democrat or a Progressive. However, if he did what you suggest Craig, IMO, that would make him just one more political hack. I’ve only seen the Stephanopoulos interview and the last 10 minutes of Maddow’s interview last night. From what I’ve seen, he is trying to tout what should be the independent nature of the FBI and the Justice Dept. IMO, for him to actually shill for one side would make that point moot and he would lose all credibility.
fascinating discussion by rachel and larry on comey as a writer aside from effect of the memos themselves and on her reaction to the interview with comey.
Patd, although it’s all medicine to me, many goppers feel immigrants, humans of color have brought us the wicked weed. As with most things, money will drive this industry forward and the greed of many goppers will change the minds of their flock from persecution to use. Like the mormons and gambling.
here’s the part in interview re Giuliani
Former FBI Director James Comey talks with Rachel Maddow about Rudy Giuliani’s boasts of apparent foreknowledge of Comey’s announcement about the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mails led Comey to start an investigation into leaks from the FBI’s New York office and elsewhere.
ny times via msn: 6 Takeaways From the Comey Memos
I found comey to be gossipy like wolff and I do appreciate that. His contempt for Loretta and admiration for Holder? Very telling. His recollection of why he went public, twice, about Clinton? And McCabe? Something is missing and comey leaked (as a private citizen, he claims) to get the special prosecutor as he did not trust rosenstein and sessions. Just like McCabe and his leak. comey is a bit too sanctimonious for my blood. But, like Stormy? One who has the power to take down trump.
Ah, the golden showers of the trump years.
Now we know how Barron got his name! From John Miller to John Barron? trump is always the john.
While compiling the Forbes list of the 1980’s wealthiest —
Greenberg broke the news in a Washington Post story. He wrote that when he was compiling the magazine’s list of the richest people in America in the 80s, Trump had called him posing as “John Barron,” a purported executive with The Trump Organization.
BW
The Asshole in
Chief only promised they would not pursue marijuana cases in Colorado in response to one of the Republican senators Noregard has already said they are not going after small amounts (under and oz)
Also never under any circumstances put anything in the mail
It appears trump will stay in his lair at Mar-a-lago, skipping the bush celebration of life. Abe, a beleaguered official, did not get any agreement during his visit to MAL —
“President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday they had failed to reach a deal that would exempt Japan from new U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, as Abe had wanted.”
trump plans to militarize japan and the UAE by selling them everything boeing? During every leader visit? trump brags about the purchases each country is making from boeing. His global shrinking strategy. His tariffs already killing jobs, nationally. Will boeing have enough cheap steel and aluminum?
RR, I’m not suggesting Comey take sides, just see him as an example of why Trump wins so many fights. Stormy’s lawyer gets as close as anyone I’ve seen to out-trumping Trump.
The references to ‘putin and hookers’ by trump to comey? Denying the reports of prostitutes and golden showers by trump like it is was some mythical unicorn? It must be remembered, the body guard/pimp spoke about ‘five women putin offered to trump while in moscow.’
Trump does not win – people give up and the media enables him
he is a compulsive liar and he doesn’t win he just has a bunch of people who want to believe him regardless the rest of us think he stinks and remember goopers it is a permanent stinlk
Re: BW’s 10:24, and the Trump/Abe trough (opposite of ‘summit’):
Trump is going to fuck over a 70-year-ally (Japan) while sanctioning secret meetings with murderous dictators (North Korea) and brown-nosing the new Bourgeois Commies (China)? If it’s “laugh or cry”, today, i’ll choose “laugh”. What a fucking dick.
I got a friend request from someone whose name I did not recognize but figured out it was someone from grade school/hs. She wrote to me because she had recently attended a seder and the last one she went to was at my parent’s house when we were in grade school. It is a big deal holiday for me and the attendance at our seder is around 30 people. We’ve been celebrating together since 1975. Over the years the Haggadah we use has changed and the focus of our discussions and mostly our lives have changed but it is always a wonderful event.
I’m glad she came looking. She is a nurse but is now working doula. I hope if she looks through my facebook page she will come away as impressed as I am with what she had done with her life.
Craig… Avenatti is making quite the name for himself. If I needed a lawyer that would truly fight for me, I’d hire him in a New York second.
I want to be associated with Bink’s 11:01 comment.
Generate your Mob Name
Just a hint
“With A Twist” White
“I want to be associated with Bink’s 11:01 comment“
Aw, shucks, i would have worded it more tactfully had i known associations would be formed with it. Our President’s conduct is just so disgusting, every day…
Even worse are the Congressional Republican Weasels, aiding and abetting what has got to be one of the greatest heists in Western history. Traitors, all.
My mob name would be “Landfill Eddie”, ‘cuz my mouth would have landed me in a hole by now, if i was mobbed-up. No generator needed.
Dems suing Trump campaign, WikiLeaks & Russia. Can you sue an entire country?
Does this help protect what Mueller has already discovered in some way?
Sturge the “Saw”
”Tenderloin” Crawford
Renee the “Spider”
Flatus the “Guv’na”
…bah, i could do this all day, but i won’t. Keep your loins girded.
“Dems suing Trump campaign, WikiLeaks & Russia.”
-so sorry you weren’t included.
I’m “The Shiv” and I own the speakeasy
Hickenlooper might criminalize pot, again, except that it’s been cash cow for the state. Crime on the rise in Colorado. Some of the economic benefit gets off-set by costs of law enforcement for other crimes, especially violent crimes. Quality of life also goes down the tubes for anyone living there who isn’t a dirty, higher-than-a kite, pothead. The smell alone, gag. ~Surprise.~ Drugs and crime go hand in hand.
Swaziland has been renamed The Kingdom of eSwatini to avoid confusion with Switzerland. So, now it sounds like a cocktail.
Pamela “Widow Maker”
You are The Mob Wife
Occupation: Mob Wife
Racket: Nothing, I don’t get involved in my husband’s work
Idol: Kay Adams, Michael Corleone’s wife
You’re a woman who knows more than she lets on when it comes to your husband’s work. You don’t ask a lot of questions, but you’re no slouch—you know what kind of business he’s in. You play your cards close to the vest and they underestimate you, but you use that to your advantage.
What actually happened to violent crime after Washington legalized marijuana
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/marijuana/article163750293.html
Is Marijuana Responsible for Colorado Crime Increase?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/marijuana-responsible-colorado-crime-increase/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/14/legal-marijuana-medical-use-crime-rate-plummets-us-study
^Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall
Why let data get in the way of a perfectly asinine post, eh?
hi ho hi ho
a RICOing we will go
civilly of course
tho’ criminal our foe
wapo:
Democratic Party files lawsuit alleging Russia, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks conspired to disrupt the 2016 campaign
The Democratic National Committee filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit Friday against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and the WikiLeaks organization alleging a far-reaching conspiracy to disrupt the 2016 campaign and tilt the election to Donald Trump.
The complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, alleges that top Trump campaign officials conspired with the Russian government and its military spy agency to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and help Trump by hacking the computer networks of the Democratic Party and disseminating stolen material found there.
“During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s campaign,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement.
“This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency,” he said.
The case asserts that the Russian hacking campaign — combined with Trump associates’ contacts with Russia and the campaign’s public cheerleading of the hacks — amounted to an illegal conspiracy to interfere in the election that caused serious damage to the Democratic Party.
[…]
Suing a foreign country may present legal challenges for the Democrats, in part because other nations have immunity from most U.S. lawsuits. The DNC’s complaint argues Russia is not entitled to the protection because the hack constituted a trespass on the party’s private property.
The lawsuit argues that Russia is not entitled to sovereign immunity in this case because “the DNC claims arise out of Russia’s trespass on to the DNC’s private servers . . . in order to steal trade secrets and commit economic espionage.”
The lawsuit echoes a similar legal tactic that the Democratic Party used during the Watergate scandal. In 1972, the DNC filed suit against then-President Richard Nixon’s reelection committee seeking $1 million in damages for the break-in at Democratic headquarters in the Watergate building.
The suit was denounced at the time by Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell, who called it a case of “sheer demagoguery” by the DNC. But the civil action brought by the DNC’s then-chairman, Lawrence F. O’Brien, was ultimately successful, yielding a $750,000 settlement from the Nixon campaign that was reached on the day in 1974 that Nixon left office.
The suit filed Friday seeks millions of dollars in compensation to offset damage it claims the party suffered from the hacks. The DNC argues that the cyberattack undermined its ability to communicate with voters, collect donations and operate effectively as its employees faced personal harassment and, in some cases, death threats.
[….long story continues naming names and dates… as sh*t loads many a pant …no wonder he’s staying in mal ego]
excerpts from wiki ‘s discussion of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
[…]
RICO also permits a private individual “damaged in his business or property” by a “racketeer” to file a civil suit. The plaintiff must prove the existence of an “enterprise”. The defendant(s) are not the enterprise; in other words, the defendant(s) and the enterprise are not one and the same.[3] There must be one of four specified relationships between the defendant(s) and the enterprise: either the defendant(s) invested the proceeds of the pattern of racketeering activity into the enterprise (18 U.S.C. § 1962(a)); or the defendant(s) acquired or maintained an interest in, or control of, the enterprise through the pattern of racketeering activity (subsection (b)); or the defendant(s) conducted or participated in the affairs of the enterprise “through” the pattern of racketeering activity (subsection (c)); or the defendant(s) conspired to do one of the above (subsection (d)).[4] In essence, the enterprise is either the ‘prize,’ ‘instrument,’ ‘victim,’ or ‘perpetrator’ of the racketeers.[5] A civil RICO action can be filed in state or federal court.[6]
Both the criminal and civil components allow the recovery of treble damages (damages in triple the amount of actual/compensatory damages).
[….]
Art Cohen vs. Donald J. Trump[edit]
Art Cohen vs. Donald J. Trump was a civil RICO[37] class action suit filed October 18, 2013,[38] accusing Donald Trump of misrepresenting Trump University “to make tens of millions of dollars” but delivering “neither Donald Trump nor a university.”[37] The case was being heard in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, No. 3:2013cv02519,[39] by Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel.[38] It was scheduled for argument beginning November 28, 2016.[40] However, on November 18 and shortly after Trump won the presidential election, this case and two others were settled for a total of $25 million and without any admission of wrongdoing by Trump
click here for wapo link to the actual lawsuit document of
The DNC’s lawsuit against the Russian government, Trump campaign and WikiLeaks
The complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, alleges that top Trump campaign officials conspired with the Russian government and its military spy agency to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and help Trump by hacking the computer networks of the Democratic Party and disseminating stolen material found there.
la times:
A federal judge postponed a ruling on a request by President Trump and his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a 90-day delay of a lawsuit filed against them by porn star Stormy Daniels, noting that Cohen is now the subject of a federal investigation.
U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero took the request under submission Friday, saying that the FBI’s recent raids on Cohen’s New York office, home and hotel room suggest he may be facing a criminal indictment.
“It is substantially likely there is going to be criminal action to follow,” Otero said, given that the warrant was approved by a federal judge. Cohen’s lawyers were clearly correct to advise him of his rights to avoid self-incrimination, he added.
The judge said he would look at potentially severing a defamation complaint by Daniels against Cohen — a move that would allow him to hear a motion by Cohen’s lawyers to dismiss that part of the lawsuit.
Otero gave Cohen until Wednesday to file a declaration stating whether he plans to assert his 5th Amendment rights in the Daniels’ case. A final decision will follow.
Lawyers for the president and Cohen argued the raids on Cohen’s home and offices are part of a criminal investigation that overlaps Daniels’ suit, which seeks to void a contract that bars her from talking publicly about what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. Federal authorities have not publicly revealed the focus of their investigation.
If the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court proceeds without delay, Cohen would be forced to choose between defending himself in deposition testimony or exercising his 5th Amendment rights, his attorneys argued.
[…continues…]
Although a pretty spring day, it is ten degrees F below normal, and we have winds from the North. Bah.
For fun I used my new GoPro camera for the first time. These things are cool. Not the results of a thousand dollar video camera, but very good for the price. With the camera on a selfie stick, and walking around, it is like having an interview with the paparazzi. Although primarily for fun, it has the second use to document objects in my life so there is a record of my boats and other possessions. My genes should get me into my nineties, my body is on it’s second (or fifth) life and not the best one to make it twenty-two more years. So I can add records to my will. Cool stuff.
Indictment Friday is not going well. Hopefully those celebrating 4:20 enjoy the day. The more important is the Columbine anniversary. My spouse occasionally worked with the mother of one of the killers. There is nothing anyone can say to comfort her. I am finding the school systems threatening to punish the students who walk out is deep in irony. To tell those students to not continue their work on bringing change to schools only reinforces the need to walk out.
Hmm. Cohen is requesting a stay in the Stormy case, but that might be difficult to support without incriminating himself in something more.
No nuke north korea!
I found an interesting article in the Des Moines Register about branstad the ambassador to china — this appeared before the news about kim suspending his nuclear program.
From the article —
This latest phone call took place before Wednesday’s news that Branstad’s presumed next boss at the State Department, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, had a secret meeting in North Korea with Kim Jong-un to discuss denuclearization.
I already had planned to grill Branstad on the subject, since during our last meeting in September he had called the nuclear standoff the “biggest threat to humankind.”
“We’ve been working very closely with the Chinese through the U.N. Security Council, and I think the resolutions have really begun to have an impact economically on North Korea,” Branstad said. “And I think we have at least the best opportunity in a long time. …
“The North Koreans have said there will be no additional provocations, and there have been no more nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches. So those are all encouraging things.”
On the gossipy side…
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and his wife, Sheena, in September were guests of Branstad at the ambassador’s residence in Beijing. Now Greitens has been consumed by the scandal of an alleged sex assault that may oust him from office.
bw, ap reports greitens is in even more trouble now
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis prosecutors on Friday charged Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens with a felony for his use of a charity donor list for his 2016 political campaign, adding to the first-term governor’s legal woes.
The charge of tampering with computer data is in addition to an earlier charge alleging Greitens took and transmitted a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an extramarital affair in 2015. The new charge accuses Greitens of obtaining the donor list from The Mission Continues without permission from the St. Louis-based charity that Greitens founded. He previously paid a small fine to the state Ethics Commission for failing to report the list as a campaign contribution.
Greitens has been facing increasing pressure to resign — including from fellow Republicans — since a special House investigative committee’s report released April 11 that detailed allegations from the woman with whom he had the affair…. […continues…]
the twit probably sees this as a two-fer
wapo via msn:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently told the White House he might have to leave his job if President Trump fired his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the exchange.
Sessions made his position known in a phone call to White House counsel Donald McGahn last weekend, as Trump’s fury at Rosenstein peaked after the deputy attorney general approved the FBI’s raid April 9 on the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.
Sessions’s message to the White House, which has not previously been reported, underscores the political firestorm that Trump would invite should he attempt to remove the deputy attorney general. While Trump also has railed against Sessions at times, the protest resignation of an attorney general — which would be likely to incite other departures within the administration — would create a moment of profound crisis for the White House.
In the phone call with McGahn, Sessions wanted details of a meeting Trump and Rosenstein held at the White House on April 12, according to a person with knowledge of the call. Sessions expressed relief to learn that their meeting was largely cordial. Sessions said he would have had to consider leaving as the attorney general had Trump ousted Rosenstein, this person said.
Another person familiar with the exchange said Sessions did not intend to threaten the White House but rather wanted to convey the untenable position that Rosenstein’s firing would put him in.
[…continues…]
Blue Bronc,
Very touching that your spouse worked with the mother of one of the Columbine killers. What do you do? Say? How does one live with the guilt of knowing a loved one committed such horror? Unfortunately the sane survivors understand how awful this action was, which is their life sentence.
All of this marijuana talk reminded me of the Yippie flag my brother kept on his bedroom wall. I thought it was cool.
How many saws could a Sturgeone ssee if a Sturgeone could see saws?
Why not (share a cool vid, not speculate groundlessly ;))?
Holy cow- 105 million views. CSN+Y it’s not, but it’s not 1969, either.
This is, though, even though it’s still not:
Ever wonder why, Blue? Didn’t think so.
“Got a thousands point of light for a homeless man, got a kinder gentler machine gun hand…”
I’ll take that guy’s advice, any day:
(Okay, that grooves more than rocks; close, enough.)
Big ups to tonyb- dig that guy’s resolve!
Did that cut my hair song quite a bit back then……..
Costly Pills, Hash, and Tongue