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Ha, Beep Beep
Mueller isn’t telling Whitaker anything. Count on it. Roadrunner vs. Coyote.
Author: craigcrawford
Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
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64 thoughts on “Ha, Beep Beep”
wonder how many other “secret” filings are out there guardian:
Julian Assange charged in secret, mistake on US court filing suggests
Court filing submitted by US authorities in an unrelated case mentioned existence of criminal charges against someone named ‘Assange’
[…]Earlier on Thursday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US was making preparations to prosecute Assange and was confident of being able to detain him and make him stand trial. The court filing, written by assistant US attorney Kellen Dwyer, did not specify the nature of any charges against Assange. It was submitted to the federal court in the eastern district of Virginia, which handles many cases involving national security.WikiLeaks is under investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, for publishing tens of thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. US intelligence agencies concluded that the emails were taken by Russian government hackers as part of an operation aimed at helping the campaign of Donald Trump. The filing was a motion asking the court to seal charges, meaning they are kept secret from public view. It argued that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged”.It later said: “The complaint, supporting affidavit and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter.” Legal analysts said the error was likely to have been caused by prosecutors copying and pasting from sealed documents outlining charges against Assange. Prosecutors are known to copy text from past court filings to make similar arguments in new cases, typically changing names and other relevant details accordingly. Assange and his supporters have frequently claimed US authorities had filed secret criminal charges against him.A spokesman for the Justice Department in Virginia’s eastern district would not directly address the question of whether the document meant Assange had already been charged by the US. “The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing,” the spokesman, Joshua Stueve, said in an email. WikiLeaks said on Twitter that the filing “reveals existence of sealed charges (or a draft for them) against WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange”.[…continues…]
pogo, on that signature match requirement: mine rarely matches and has changed over the years.
what about those folks with progressive infirmities such as Parkinson’s? what about where one’s sitting or standing or in a hurry or have a sore/arthritic hand or using a cumbersome writing implement at the time?
Happened to not change from Morning Joe and his republican friends to streaming anything on Netflix, Hulu or Prime to catch the discussion about Orange County, CA going solid blue. It was not that interesting, but listening to republicans talk about it was fun.
That wikileaks guy is indicted is not surprising. He might have been one of the first to be looked at because he was the public source and the GRU/FSB/SVR/KGB link was very obvious. Ecuador is probably ready to hand him his walking papers, just to get him out of their world.
I am sure that the question going up in the Roger stone Donald Trump legal campuses what do you mean sealed indictment? Not hard to see where the Assange indictment could lead. Heheheheheh.
Oh, and I’d like to associate myself with Sturg’s comments in the prior thread – every one of the perjoratives he listed.
If Nancy loses the 17 she would need 3 or 4 pugn votes to become Speaker. Heavy lift.
As sturg said, idiots, assholes (I added that one) … Dems have apparently forgotten how to govern themselves.
Reiterating sturg’s List: stupid sons of bitches.
idiots, imbeciles, and morons.
Poobah, no one can accuse you of being ageist. ?
pogo, isn’t there some sort of loop hole that changes the tally dynamic when critters vote “present” in the speaker election? a majority of the whole house or a majority of only those voting yea/nay?
Pog…..this part was more important to me than the list of foulnesses:
If someone who has worked tirelessly for you is in trouble for no good reason, you support them. And there is NO good reason to focus on Nancy rather than on the republicans.
Or you can be a backstabbing weasel and go along with the assholes trying to bring her down.
Patd, beats me. Poobah would know that.
And this part, for good measure:
This might be a good time for blocks, stones, and worse than senseless things to read or re-read
THE MARCH OF FOLLY
by Barbara W Tuchman.
if you find yourself getting wobbly on the pins, you owe it to yourself to read that book.
patd – there are some clues in the court records. Early on when Manafort was indicted observers noted there were several (maybe a dozen?) subpoena numbers between his and one of the others indicted in the D.C. court records. Who is doing the research is outside of what I have been following.
We can guess that SFB and his spawn have numbers in at least one federal court, probably two or three others. D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Florida and New York states might have some ready to go too. We do know N.Y. already has SFB and family indicted for the charity/non-profit fraud. And there is the emoluments trial going on in Greenbelt.
Then SFB has his separate cases from the women he messed with.
[…]
But count us among those who believe that the silence from the Russia probe is about to end. For starters, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi have been talking about upcoming indictments against them.
What’s more, Trump rage-tweeted at Mueller on Thursday…
[…]
And Mueller was on Trump’s mind when the conservative Daily Caller interviewed the president on Wednesday and asked him about acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
“…[Whitaker] is just somebody that’s very respected. I knew him only as he pertained, you know, as he was with Jeff Sessions. And, you know, look, as far as I’m concerned this is an investigation that should have never been brought. It should have never been had. It’s something that should have never been brought. It’s an illegal investigation. And you know, it’s very interesting because when you talk about not Senate confirmed, well, Mueller’s not Senate confirmed.”
Hmmmmm. If Mueller is on the president’s mind, you have to wonder if the special counsel is about to make some news.
[…continues…]
On MoJo this morning they pointed out that all 6 congressional districts in Orange County (the heart of Reagan County) went blue this time. Trump did what no combination of Dems could accomplish in the last 50 years.
WaPo has a hilarious Fact Checker on IMPOTUS’ interview with the Daily Caller. I haven’t listened to the interview, but it strikes me that the Fact Checker could have been very short – by listing what he said that was true. In fact, it could have possibly occupied 0 column inches. I particularly liked this one:
“You know, it’s very interesting, because when you talk about not Senate confirmed, well, [special counsel Robert] Mueller’s not Senate confirmed. He’s heading this whole big thing; he’s not Senate confirmed.”
Trump is responding to assertions that he violated the Constitution by appointing the Justice Department’s chief of staff, Matthew G. Whitaker, as acting attorney general. The chief of staff post is not subject to Senate confirmation, unlike the deputy attorney general, who ordinarily would fill the vacancy.
But there is no expectation that a special counsel would be subject to Senate confirmation, as he is an “inferior officer” who reports to someone who has been confirmed. (The former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had recused himself, so Mueller previously had reported to the deputy attorney general.)
In other words, Trump’s point is nonsensical.
The “unconstitutional” link in the passage from FC is a link to the Katyal & Conway op-ed at NYT explaining the unconstitutionality of the appointment of Whitaker, which is certainly worth a 2nd read.
Plus, as some dude called Pogo1951 (c’est moi) noted:
While Special Counsel are not Senate confirmed, FBI Directors are. The Senate unanimously confirmed Mueller as FBI director on August 2, 2001, voting 98–0 in favor of his appointment. So while he’s not been Senate confirmed as SC, he has been Senate confirmed…unanimously.
Ahhhh…. woke up to 6 inches of beautiful pristine snow.
Pogo…. me too… I want to associate myself with Sturg’s comments on Nancy P. Notice how repugs just can’t stand powerful Democratic women.
Sturg… have not read that book. Now I have a reason to go to the local independent bookstore and peruse their used book shelves… thanks.
Renee, I knew you would. I almost said that I felt sure I could note your concurrence but thought that might be a little too presumptuous. ?
oh my SFB is coming to California and I just saw a 6.0 earthquake is being predicted for the area –hmmm
Judge orders White House to return Jim Acosta’s press pass
(CNN)CNN’s Jim Acosta will return to his post at the White House on Friday following a court ruling that forced the Trump administration to reinstate his press pass.
The ruling by federal judge Timothy J. Kelly was an initial victory for CNN in its lawsuit against President Trump and several top aides. The suit alleges that CNN and Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated by last week’s suspension of his press pass.
Kelly did not rule on the underlying case on Friday. But he granted CNN’s request for a temporary restraining order. And he said he believes that CNN and Acosta are likely to prevail in the case overall.
[….]
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders acknowledged the court’s ruling in a statement and said “we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass.” But she added, “We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future. There must be decorum at the White House.”
Kelly made his ruling on the basis of CNN and Acosta’s Fifth Amendment claims, saying the White House did not provide Acosta with the due process required to legally revoke his press pass.
As Kelly began to offer his view on the components of CNN’s request, he said that while he may not agree with the underlying case law that CNN’s argument was based on, he had to follow it.
“I’ve read the case closely,” he said. “Whether it’s what I agree with, that’s a different story. But I must apply precedent as I see it.”
He left open the possibility that the White House could seek to revoke it again if it provided that due process, emphasizing the “very limited” nature of his ruling and saying he was not making a judgment on the First Amendment claims that CNN and Acosta have made.
Sanders framed it this way in her statement: “Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House.”
In court, Kelly said that Sanders’ initial claim that Acosta had inappropriately touched the White House intern who was attempting to take the microphone from him at the news conference was “likely untrue” and “partly based on evidence of questionable accuracy.”
Kelly was appointed to the bench by Trump last year, and confirmed with bipartisan support in the Senate.
[…continues…]
21 million dollars to provide security for Betsy DeVos taxpayer money
no other cabinet member except one drug czar
Count me out of the gang beating. There are a few good reasons to replace Ms Pelosi as the Speaker, however just not enough, in my opinion. The most salient is that she is old, and therefore not the best face to represent the party if it wants to gain the youth vote. There are two arguments against this. One is that we just went through an election and Ms Pelosi’s age was no issue. Second, we aren’t having an election for two years, and Ms Pelosi’s face isn’t going to play a big part in that election until Labor Day, 2020.
The second reasonable objection to Ms Pelosi is that she is not a great impromptu speaker. The cure for that is for Ms Pelosi to do what midge mcconnell does : keep in the background and let someone like trained litigator lindsey graham speak for her. Eric Swalwell comes to mind.
Ms Pelosi is not a minority. That is no reason to unseat her. She is a woman, and that gives her credentials to care for the interests of 52% of the population, and 52% of the minorities.
All that said, there is no purpose served by insulting those in the party who want a new face.
Because sometimes I’m petty and childish…
If I were Jim Acosta, when I was handed back my WH press pass, I would tear it up, drop it on the floor, stamp on it with a dirty shoe, and go find somewhere else to ply my trade.
I wouldn’t spit on it though. My mom taught me never to spit like that.
betsy isn’t worth the expense.
Looks like Pelosi foes in Dem caucus don’t have a plan or a candidate, just gripes.
stone, corsi, and trumpjr are all just millimeters away from indictment, if they haven’t been already. assange has been indicted. I am curious about bannon, sessions, jared, ivanka, pence, and the big porker, himself. How long will we have to wait before the tumbrels roll ?
Travis, my mother always got on me for spitting. I didn’t really listen to her then and don’t think I’d take her advice if I were Jim Acosta. The pleasure I’d get from spitting on it as the last gesture after everything you listed would justify the rebuke from the grave I’d get. And it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission.
Sanders framed it this way in her statement: “Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House.”
Succabee shows that she ain’t no lawyer. The judge made no such ruling – that basis for the TRO was not squarely addressed because the Court (a SFB appointee, BTW) granted the TRO sought by CNN on the basis of the 5th Amendment so it needed not address the First Amendment claim. That is left for the trial. She’s as dishonest as her boss and her dad.
Pogo – In my younger years, the spitting prohibition used to confuse me. I played football, and it was ok to spit out that first swig of water before I swallowed some of it to hydrate. But it was never ok to spit any other time.
Now that I’m a grown up, it’s much more clear. Spitting out that first swig of water gets the dry, nasty, gunky taste out of one’s mouth. So spitting on that press pass…oh…wait. What?
Hmmmmm.
Might need a judge’s ruling on this one.
The marriage between George & Kelly Anne Conway is bizarrely fascinating.
This way to the egress —>
travis & pogo, after all the money CNN is paying for lawyer fees I don’t think they’d look too kindly if Acosta did as you suggest.
the hill: President Trump said Friday he has completed answering written questions for special counsel Robert Mueller, but has not yet submitted them to the man leading the Russia investigation.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he personally wrote his answers, a critical step in the ongoing probe into Moscow’s interference in 2016 and possible ties to the Trump campaign. But the delay in turning them in indicates Trump is still consulting with his legal team.
“I’ve answered them very easily,” the president said. “The questions were very routinely answered by me.”
But Trump also expressed concern about how the special counsel’s team plans to use his answers, saying some questions appear to be “tricked up” and designed to catch him in a perjury trap.
“You always have to be careful when you answer questions with people that probably have bad intentions,” he said.
Trump chalked up the delay to the fact he is “busy.”
“I haven’t submitted them,” he said. “I just finished them.”
Trump did not say when he plans to hand over his answers to Mueller. After a lengthy negotiation, the special counsel’s office has reportedly indicated it is willing to accept written answers from Trump about possible collusion with the Kremlin.
But Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told The Washington Post this week that he finds some questions problematic.
“There are some that create more issues for us legally than others,” Giuliani said, calling some “unnecessary,” others “possible traps” and several “we might consider … as irrelevant.”
Trump has spent several hours this week meeting with his lawyers as they go over the questions, but said he is the one who calls the final shots.
“I write the answers. My lawyers don’t write answers,” he said.
The president revealed the steps intended to cooperate with the special counsel’s requests even as he continued to denounce the probe as unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
He denied that a string of fiery tweets accusing Mueller’s team, without evidence, of “screaming and shouting” at witnesses and “horribly threatening” them during testimony, was based on his fear of what the special counsel might find.
“I’m not agitated. It’s a hoax,” Trump said, adding that he is “very happy” because of the strong economy and other White House accomplishments.
With the midterm elections over, Washington is anticipating the next moves in Mueller’s sprawling investigation. Cable news networks have speculated about whom the special counsel might charge next and whether it could be a member of Trump’s inner circle.
“I write the answers. My lawyers don’t write answers,”
yeah, yeah, and pigs are flying over a frozen hell.
After his tweets regarding the CA wild fires, I can’t imagine that Trump will receive a very warm welcome. Hoping that Jerry Brown and other officials have other plans for that day.
Craig,
I think you are right. The anti Pelosi crew are not well led and seem to have little more to say other than it is time for a change. No real reasons other than perceived shortcomings on Pelosi’s part and ego on the part of a couple of members. They can’t or won’t explain what change will look like. They will have to do better than that.
The White House is giving Freedom Medals to 7 people, including antonin scalia, ‘Babe’ (George H.) Ruth, and Elvis Presley. I predict that at least 43% of the Medal winners won’t show up to receive their awards. Kinda like taking a knee.
”President Trump said Friday he has completed answering written questions for special counsel Robert Mueller, but has not yet submitted them to the man leading the Russia investigation.“
…still being transcribed from the original crayon. They were legible but the KFC napkins wouldn’t fit in the envelope.
Bink – I was wondering if the man-child used all four colors in the crayon pack.
When I heard that SFB said he’s writing the answers to Mueller’s questions it brought to mind a cartoon of Reagan standing at a podium addressing a crowd and his staff were panicking and climbing over each other to try and get to him to pull him away from the microphone. I’ve looked and can’t find it, but I see SFB handing the answers to Mueller and his lawyers climbing all over each other trying to get the document out of SFB’s hand before it gets into Mueller’s.
Katie Hobbs (D) is the Secretary of State elect for the state of Arizona.
Huzzah!
Alabama in 2017. Arizona in 2018. Tennessee and Texas in 2020.
Blue baby Blue
XR you been drinking the Kickapoo joy juice?
If Mueller’s questions couldn’t be answered with a tweet, Trump didn’t answer them.
Stacey Abrams concedes governors race. Shit!!
Seeing the reference to Kickapoo Joy Juice couldn’t help but think of the SFB
Jace
At least she made it obvious how much voter suppression is in Georgia and there are all sorts of court cases as a result. I fully expect Georgia to be bright purple if not blue by 2020 as long as people keep pushing on the obvious racism involved.
Jamie,
I hope you are right. I felt confident that she could win a run off if she could it that far.
Hopefully we haven’t heard the last of her. I really liked her.
TravisC,
Dems in AZ should very good about their election results. Congrats!
I used to forewarn republicans that were they to somehow to magically make all democrats disappear, the GOP would soon split into left (or green) gop and right (or blue) Gop
cf BELISARIUS
Know what I mean, Gene?
Cc Title of that picture is
“In The Weeds”
The story is…..whenever you see a boat in someone’s yard while yer going down the road if you should stop and ax em what they’ll take for the boat (no matter what condition it’s in) they’ll say: Boat’s not for sale. I’m going to fix it up.
“So let’s be clear — this is not a speech of concession, because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper,” she said. “As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that. But, my assessment is the law currently allows no further viable remedy. Now, I can certainly bring a new case to keep this one contest alive, but I don’t want to hold public office if I need to scheme my way into the post. Because the title of governor isn’t nearly as important as our shared title — voters. And that is why we fight on.”
-Stacey Abrams
Okay, according to the CIA, the ‘crown prince’ of the Saudi crime family ordered the hit on Kashoggi. Very embarrassing for donald blimp.
Exclusive still frame from footage i can’t embed for some reason of Mike Pompeo’s reaction
According to the good folks at MSNBC trump is asking around to learn if pence is loyal. This can mean only two things. Either the usurper is wondering if pence will pardon him, or he’s worried that pence will invoke the 25th Amendment. Or both.
If pence won’t pardon him, he’ll have to either flee abroad or commit suicide if he hopes to avoid prison. If pence invokes the 25th Amendment, trump probably will not be free to flee abroad, but will be a sitting duck when the US Marshal arrives.
Mr Bink, no doubt pompey reacted that way. I presume he’ll need physical therapy after that.
Bink,
Thank you for sharing the Abrams quote. She is a quality candidate who has preserved her viability for another day. We have not heard the last of her.
TRUE GEOGRAPHY PART 1
Kickapoo Joy Juice was distilled in the southwestern hills and bluffs of cartoonist Al Capp’s beloved Wisconsin. Check the road map, and when you find the Kickapoo River, you have found the water that is used by denizens of Skunk Holler to make Joy Juice. When you find the town of Avalanche, Wisconsin, you’ve found the template for Dogpatch.
XR,
Of course Pence is not loyal. He is every bit as slimy and dangerous as Trump if not more so. The possibility that Trump even has to ask shows just how little he knows about the folks around him. No amount of loyalty is going to save this presidency it is circling the drain and the worst is still to come. Mueller time is just around the bend and it is going to be neither calm or refreshing.
Question. Would invoking the twenty fifth amendment be the same thing as a coup?
jace, another question, considering the 25th requires more than one actor conspiring/consulting/agreeing: coup or mutiny?
bink, thanks for finding the abrams’ quote. this part deserves extra repetition:
I don’t want to hold public office if I need to scheme my way into the post. Because the title of governor isn’t nearly as important as our shared title — voters
bye bye, gina wapo:
The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The CIA’s assessment, in which officials have said they have high confidence, is the most definitive to date linking Mohammed to the operation and complicates the Trump administration’s efforts to preserve its relationship with a close ally. A team of 15 Saudi agents flew to Istanbul on government aircraft in October and killed Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate, where he had come to pick up documents that he needed for his planned marriage to a Turkish woman.
In reaching its conclusions, the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence. Khalid told Khashoggi, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post, that he should go to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve the documents and gave him assurances that it would be safe to do so.
(….continues…)
wonder how many other “secret” filings are out there
guardian:
Julian Assange charged in secret, mistake on US court filing suggests
Court filing submitted by US authorities in an unrelated case mentioned existence of criminal charges against someone named ‘Assange’
[…]Earlier on Thursday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US was making preparations to prosecute Assange and was confident of being able to detain him and make him stand trial. The court filing, written by assistant US attorney Kellen Dwyer, did not specify the nature of any charges against Assange. It was submitted to the federal court in the eastern district of Virginia, which handles many cases involving national security.WikiLeaks is under investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, for publishing tens of thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. US intelligence agencies concluded that the emails were taken by Russian government hackers as part of an operation aimed at helping the campaign of Donald Trump. The filing was a motion asking the court to seal charges, meaning they are kept secret from public view. It argued that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged”.It later said: “The complaint, supporting affidavit and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter.” Legal analysts said the error was likely to have been caused by prosecutors copying and pasting from sealed documents outlining charges against Assange. Prosecutors are known to copy text from past court filings to make similar arguments in new cases, typically changing names and other relevant details accordingly. Assange and his supporters have frequently claimed US authorities had filed secret criminal charges against him.A spokesman for the Justice Department in Virginia’s eastern district would not directly address the question of whether the document meant Assange had already been charged by the US. “The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing,” the spokesman, Joshua Stueve, said in an email. WikiLeaks said on Twitter that the filing “reveals existence of sealed charges (or a draft for them) against WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange”.[…continues…]
pogo, on that signature match requirement: mine rarely matches and has changed over the years.
what about those folks with progressive infirmities such as Parkinson’s? what about where one’s sitting or standing or in a hurry or have a sore/arthritic hand or using a cumbersome writing implement at the time?
Happened to not change from Morning Joe and his republican friends to streaming anything on Netflix, Hulu or Prime to catch the discussion about Orange County, CA going solid blue. It was not that interesting, but listening to republicans talk about it was fun.
That wikileaks guy is indicted is not surprising. He might have been one of the first to be looked at because he was the public source and the GRU/FSB/SVR/KGB link was very obvious. Ecuador is probably ready to hand him his walking papers, just to get him out of their world.
I am sure that the question going up in the Roger stone Donald Trump legal campuses what do you mean sealed indictment? Not hard to see where the Assange indictment could lead. Heheheheheh.
Oh, and I’d like to associate myself with Sturg’s comments in the prior thread – every one of the perjoratives he listed.
If Nancy loses the 17 she would need 3 or 4 pugn votes to become Speaker. Heavy lift.
As sturg said, idiots, assholes (I added that one) … Dems have apparently forgotten how to govern themselves.
Reiterating sturg’s List: stupid sons of bitches.
idiots, imbeciles, and morons.
Poobah, no one can accuse you of being ageist. ?
pogo, isn’t there some sort of loop hole that changes the tally dynamic when critters vote “present” in the speaker election? a majority of the whole house or a majority of only those voting yea/nay?
Pog…..this part was more important to me than the list of foulnesses:
If someone who has worked tirelessly for you is in trouble for no good reason, you support them. And there is NO good reason to focus on Nancy rather than on the republicans.
Or you can be a backstabbing weasel and go along with the assholes trying to bring her down.
Patd, beats me. Poobah would know that.
And this part, for good measure:
This might be a good time for blocks, stones, and worse than senseless things to read or re-read
THE MARCH OF FOLLY
by Barbara W Tuchman.
if you find yourself getting wobbly on the pins, you owe it to yourself to read that book.
patd – there are some clues in the court records. Early on when Manafort was indicted observers noted there were several (maybe a dozen?) subpoena numbers between his and one of the others indicted in the D.C. court records. Who is doing the research is outside of what I have been following.
We can guess that SFB and his spawn have numbers in at least one federal court, probably two or three others. D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Florida and New York states might have some ready to go too. We do know N.Y. already has SFB and family indicted for the charity/non-profit fraud. And there is the emoluments trial going on in Greenbelt.
Then SFB has his separate cases from the women he messed with.
.
..
chuck todd at nbc news:
[…]
But count us among those who believe that the silence from the Russia probe is about to end. For starters, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi have been talking about upcoming indictments against them.
What’s more, Trump rage-tweeted at Mueller on Thursday…
[…]
And Mueller was on Trump’s mind when the conservative Daily Caller interviewed the president on Wednesday and asked him about acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
“…[Whitaker] is just somebody that’s very respected. I knew him only as he pertained, you know, as he was with Jeff Sessions. And, you know, look, as far as I’m concerned this is an investigation that should have never been brought. It should have never been had. It’s something that should have never been brought. It’s an illegal investigation. And you know, it’s very interesting because when you talk about not Senate confirmed, well, Mueller’s not Senate confirmed.”
Hmmmmm. If Mueller is on the president’s mind, you have to wonder if the special counsel is about to make some news.
[…continues…]
On MoJo this morning they pointed out that all 6 congressional districts in Orange County (the heart of Reagan County) went blue this time. Trump did what no combination of Dems could accomplish in the last 50 years.
WaPo has a hilarious Fact Checker on IMPOTUS’ interview with the Daily Caller. I haven’t listened to the interview, but it strikes me that the Fact Checker could have been very short – by listing what he said that was true. In fact, it could have possibly occupied 0 column inches. I particularly liked this one:
The “unconstitutional” link in the passage from FC is a link to the Katyal & Conway op-ed at NYT explaining the unconstitutionality of the appointment of Whitaker, which is certainly worth a 2nd read.
Plus, as some dude called Pogo1951 (c’est moi) noted:
Ahhhh…. woke up to 6 inches of beautiful pristine snow.
Pogo…. me too… I want to associate myself with Sturg’s comments on Nancy P. Notice how repugs just can’t stand powerful Democratic women.
Sturg… have not read that book. Now I have a reason to go to the local independent bookstore and peruse their used book shelves… thanks.
Renee, I knew you would. I almost said that I felt sure I could note your concurrence but thought that might be a little too presumptuous. ?
oh my SFB is coming to California and I just saw a 6.0 earthquake is being predicted for the area –hmmm
perhaps he won’t come or perhaps he will come ……
https://twitter.com/quakeprediction?lang=en
Judge orders White House to return Jim Acosta’s press pass
(CNN)CNN’s Jim Acosta will return to his post at the White House on Friday following a court ruling that forced the Trump administration to reinstate his press pass.
The ruling by federal judge Timothy J. Kelly was an initial victory for CNN in its lawsuit against President Trump and several top aides. The suit alleges that CNN and Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated by last week’s suspension of his press pass.
Kelly did not rule on the underlying case on Friday. But he granted CNN’s request for a temporary restraining order. And he said he believes that CNN and Acosta are likely to prevail in the case overall.
[….]
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders acknowledged the court’s ruling in a statement and said “we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass.” But she added, “We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future. There must be decorum at the White House.”
Kelly made his ruling on the basis of CNN and Acosta’s Fifth Amendment claims, saying the White House did not provide Acosta with the due process required to legally revoke his press pass.
As Kelly began to offer his view on the components of CNN’s request, he said that while he may not agree with the underlying case law that CNN’s argument was based on, he had to follow it.
“I’ve read the case closely,” he said. “Whether it’s what I agree with, that’s a different story. But I must apply precedent as I see it.”
He left open the possibility that the White House could seek to revoke it again if it provided that due process, emphasizing the “very limited” nature of his ruling and saying he was not making a judgment on the First Amendment claims that CNN and Acosta have made.
Sanders framed it this way in her statement: “Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House.”
In court, Kelly said that Sanders’ initial claim that Acosta had inappropriately touched the White House intern who was attempting to take the microphone from him at the news conference was “likely untrue” and “partly based on evidence of questionable accuracy.”
Kelly was appointed to the bench by Trump last year, and confirmed with bipartisan support in the Senate.
[…continues…]
21 million dollars to provide security for Betsy DeVos taxpayer money
no other cabinet member except one drug czar
Count me out of the gang beating. There are a few good reasons to replace Ms Pelosi as the Speaker, however just not enough, in my opinion. The most salient is that she is old, and therefore not the best face to represent the party if it wants to gain the youth vote. There are two arguments against this. One is that we just went through an election and Ms Pelosi’s age was no issue. Second, we aren’t having an election for two years, and Ms Pelosi’s face isn’t going to play a big part in that election until Labor Day, 2020.
The second reasonable objection to Ms Pelosi is that she is not a great impromptu speaker. The cure for that is for Ms Pelosi to do what midge mcconnell does : keep in the background and let someone like trained litigator lindsey graham speak for her. Eric Swalwell comes to mind.
Ms Pelosi is not a minority. That is no reason to unseat her. She is a woman, and that gives her credentials to care for the interests of 52% of the population, and 52% of the minorities.
All that said, there is no purpose served by insulting those in the party who want a new face.
Because sometimes I’m petty and childish…
If I were Jim Acosta, when I was handed back my WH press pass, I would tear it up, drop it on the floor, stamp on it with a dirty shoe, and go find somewhere else to ply my trade.
I wouldn’t spit on it though. My mom taught me never to spit like that.
betsy isn’t worth the expense.
Looks like Pelosi foes in Dem caucus don’t have a plan or a candidate, just gripes.
stone, corsi, and trumpjr are all just millimeters away from indictment, if they haven’t been already. assange has been indicted. I am curious about bannon, sessions, jared, ivanka, pence, and the big porker, himself. How long will we have to wait before the tumbrels roll ?
Travis, my mother always got on me for spitting. I didn’t really listen to her then and don’t think I’d take her advice if I were Jim Acosta. The pleasure I’d get from spitting on it as the last gesture after everything you listed would justify the rebuke from the grave I’d get. And it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission.
Succabee shows that she ain’t no lawyer. The judge made no such ruling – that basis for the TRO was not squarely addressed because the Court (a SFB appointee, BTW) granted the TRO sought by CNN on the basis of the 5th Amendment so it needed not address the First Amendment claim. That is left for the trial. She’s as dishonest as her boss and her dad.
Pogo – In my younger years, the spitting prohibition used to confuse me. I played football, and it was ok to spit out that first swig of water before I swallowed some of it to hydrate. But it was never ok to spit any other time.
Now that I’m a grown up, it’s much more clear. Spitting out that first swig of water gets the dry, nasty, gunky taste out of one’s mouth. So spitting on that press pass…oh…wait. What?
Hmmmmm.
Might need a judge’s ruling on this one.
The marriage between George & Kelly Anne Conway is bizarrely fascinating.
This way to the egress —>
travis & pogo, after all the money CNN is paying for lawyer fees I don’t think they’d look too kindly if Acosta did as you suggest.
the hill:
President Trump said Friday he has completed answering written questions for special counsel Robert Mueller, but has not yet submitted them to the man leading the Russia investigation.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he personally wrote his answers, a critical step in the ongoing probe into Moscow’s interference in 2016 and possible ties to the Trump campaign. But the delay in turning them in indicates Trump is still consulting with his legal team.
“I’ve answered them very easily,” the president said. “The questions were very routinely answered by me.”
But Trump also expressed concern about how the special counsel’s team plans to use his answers, saying some questions appear to be “tricked up” and designed to catch him in a perjury trap.
“You always have to be careful when you answer questions with people that probably have bad intentions,” he said.
Trump chalked up the delay to the fact he is “busy.”
“I haven’t submitted them,” he said. “I just finished them.”
Trump did not say when he plans to hand over his answers to Mueller. After a lengthy negotiation, the special counsel’s office has reportedly indicated it is willing to accept written answers from Trump about possible collusion with the Kremlin.
But Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told The Washington Post this week that he finds some questions problematic.
“There are some that create more issues for us legally than others,” Giuliani said, calling some “unnecessary,” others “possible traps” and several “we might consider … as irrelevant.”
Trump has spent several hours this week meeting with his lawyers as they go over the questions, but said he is the one who calls the final shots.
“I write the answers. My lawyers don’t write answers,” he said.
The president revealed the steps intended to cooperate with the special counsel’s requests even as he continued to denounce the probe as unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
He denied that a string of fiery tweets accusing Mueller’s team, without evidence, of “screaming and shouting” at witnesses and “horribly threatening” them during testimony, was based on his fear of what the special counsel might find.
“I’m not agitated. It’s a hoax,” Trump said, adding that he is “very happy” because of the strong economy and other White House accomplishments.
With the midterm elections over, Washington is anticipating the next moves in Mueller’s sprawling investigation. Cable news networks have speculated about whom the special counsel might charge next and whether it could be a member of Trump’s inner circle.
“I write the answers. My lawyers don’t write answers,”
yeah, yeah, and pigs are flying over a frozen hell.
After his tweets regarding the CA wild fires, I can’t imagine that Trump will receive a very warm welcome. Hoping that Jerry Brown and other officials have other plans for that day.
Craig,
I think you are right. The anti Pelosi crew are not well led and seem to have little more to say other than it is time for a change. No real reasons other than perceived shortcomings on Pelosi’s part and ego on the part of a couple of members. They can’t or won’t explain what change will look like. They will have to do better than that.
The White House is giving Freedom Medals to 7 people, including antonin scalia, ‘Babe’ (George H.) Ruth, and Elvis Presley. I predict that at least 43% of the Medal winners won’t show up to receive their awards. Kinda like taking a knee.
”President Trump said Friday he has completed answering written questions for special counsel Robert Mueller, but has not yet submitted them to the man leading the Russia investigation.“
…still being transcribed from the original crayon. They were legible but the KFC napkins wouldn’t fit in the envelope.
Bink – I was wondering if the man-child used all four colors in the crayon pack.
When I heard that SFB said he’s writing the answers to Mueller’s questions it brought to mind a cartoon of Reagan standing at a podium addressing a crowd and his staff were panicking and climbing over each other to try and get to him to pull him away from the microphone. I’ve looked and can’t find it, but I see SFB handing the answers to Mueller and his lawyers climbing all over each other trying to get the document out of SFB’s hand before it gets into Mueller’s.
Katie Hobbs (D) is the Secretary of State elect for the state of Arizona.
Huzzah!
Alabama in 2017. Arizona in 2018. Tennessee and Texas in 2020.
Blue baby Blue
XR you been drinking the Kickapoo joy juice?
If Mueller’s questions couldn’t be answered with a tweet, Trump didn’t answer them.
Stacey Abrams concedes governors race. Shit!!
Seeing the reference to Kickapoo Joy Juice couldn’t help but think of the SFB
Jace
At least she made it obvious how much voter suppression is in Georgia and there are all sorts of court cases as a result. I fully expect Georgia to be bright purple if not blue by 2020 as long as people keep pushing on the obvious racism involved.
Jamie,
I hope you are right. I felt confident that she could win a run off if she could it that far.
Hopefully we haven’t heard the last of her. I really liked her.
TravisC,
Dems in AZ should very good about their election results. Congrats!
I used to forewarn republicans that were they to somehow to magically make all democrats disappear, the GOP would soon split into left (or green) gop and right (or blue) Gop
cf BELISARIUS
Know what I mean, Gene?
Cc Title of that picture is
“In The Weeds”
The story is…..whenever you see a boat in someone’s yard while yer going down the road if you should stop and ax em what they’ll take for the boat (no matter what condition it’s in) they’ll say: Boat’s not for sale. I’m going to fix it up.
“So let’s be clear — this is not a speech of concession, because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper,” she said. “As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that. But, my assessment is the law currently allows no further viable remedy. Now, I can certainly bring a new case to keep this one contest alive, but I don’t want to hold public office if I need to scheme my way into the post. Because the title of governor isn’t nearly as important as our shared title — voters. And that is why we fight on.”
-Stacey Abrams
Okay, according to the CIA, the ‘crown prince’ of the Saudi crime family ordered the hit on Kashoggi. Very embarrassing for donald blimp.
Exclusive still frame from footage i can’t embed for some reason of Mike Pompeo’s reaction
According to the good folks at MSNBC trump is asking around to learn if pence is loyal. This can mean only two things. Either the usurper is wondering if pence will pardon him, or he’s worried that pence will invoke the 25th Amendment. Or both.
If pence won’t pardon him, he’ll have to either flee abroad or commit suicide if he hopes to avoid prison. If pence invokes the 25th Amendment, trump probably will not be free to flee abroad, but will be a sitting duck when the US Marshal arrives.
Mr Bink, no doubt pompey reacted that way. I presume he’ll need physical therapy after that.
Bink,
Thank you for sharing the Abrams quote. She is a quality candidate who has preserved her viability for another day. We have not heard the last of her.
TRUE GEOGRAPHY PART 1
Kickapoo Joy Juice was distilled in the southwestern hills and bluffs of cartoonist Al Capp’s beloved Wisconsin. Check the road map, and when you find the Kickapoo River, you have found the water that is used by denizens of Skunk Holler to make Joy Juice. When you find the town of Avalanche, Wisconsin, you’ve found the template for Dogpatch.
XR,
Of course Pence is not loyal. He is every bit as slimy and dangerous as Trump if not more so. The possibility that Trump even has to ask shows just how little he knows about the folks around him. No amount of loyalty is going to save this presidency it is circling the drain and the worst is still to come. Mueller time is just around the bend and it is going to be neither calm or refreshing.
Question. Would invoking the twenty fifth amendment be the same thing as a coup?
jace, another question, considering the 25th requires more than one actor conspiring/consulting/agreeing: coup or mutiny?
bink, thanks for finding the abrams’ quote. this part deserves extra repetition:
I don’t want to hold public office if I need to scheme my way into the post. Because the title of governor isn’t nearly as important as our shared title — voters
bye bye, gina
wapo:
The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The CIA’s assessment, in which officials have said they have high confidence, is the most definitive to date linking Mohammed to the operation and complicates the Trump administration’s efforts to preserve its relationship with a close ally. A team of 15 Saudi agents flew to Istanbul on government aircraft in October and killed Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate, where he had come to pick up documents that he needed for his planned marriage to a Turkish woman.
In reaching its conclusions, the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence. Khalid told Khashoggi, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post, that he should go to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve the documents and gave him assurances that it would be safe to do so.
(….continues…)