Trump at Kavanaugh’s ceremonial swearing-in…
“On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. Those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of personal and political destruction based on lies and deception. What happened to the Kavanaugh family violates every notion of fairness, decency and due process. In our country, a man or a woman must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. And with that, I must state that you, sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent.”
huffpo:
Twitter Users Erupt After Trump Apologizes To Kavanaugh ‘On Behalf Of Our Nation’
People tell the president: You don’t speak for me.
[…]
At the White House swearing-in, Trump obscenely made the occasion a purely partisan one with his ludicrous claim that Justice Kavanaugh had been “proven innocent” and his misogynistic apology for the Senate’s even having listened to Dr. Blasey Ford.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) October 8, 2018
[…]
Judge Garland is still waiting for his apology!
— Ken Chance (@KenChance5) October 9, 2018
[….continues…]
new York times:
Trump Campaign Aide Requested Online Manipulation Plans From Israeli Intelligence Firm
WASHINGTON — A top Trump campaign official requested proposals in 2016 from an Israeli company to create fake online identities, to use social media manipulation and to gather intelligence to help defeat Republican primary race opponents and Hillary Clinton, according to interviews and copies of the proposals.
The Trump campaign’s interest in the work began as Russians were escalating their effort to aid Donald J. Trump. Though the Israeli company’s pitches were narrower than Moscow’s interference campaign and appear unconnected, the documents show that a senior Trump aide saw the promise of a disruption effort to swing voters in Mr. Trump’s favor.
The campaign official, Rick Gates, sought one proposal to use bogus personas to target and sway 5,000 delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention by attacking Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Mr. Trump’s main opponent at the time. Another proposal describes opposition research and “complementary intelligence activities” about Mrs. Clinton and people close to her, according to copies of the proposals obtained by The New York Times and interviews with four people involved in creating the documents.
A third proposal by the company, Psy-Group, which is staffed by former Israeli intelligence operatives, sketched out a monthslong plan to help Mr. Trump by using social media to help expose or amplify division among rival campaigns and factions. The proposals, part of what Psy-Group called “Project Rome,” used code names to identify the players — Mr. Trump was “Lion” and Mrs. Clinton was “Forest.” Mr. Cruz, who Trump campaign officials feared might lead a revolt over the Republican presidential nomination, was “Bear.”
There is no evidence that the Trump campaign acted on the proposals, and Mr. Gates ultimately was uninterested in Psy-Group’s work, a person with knowledge of the discussions said, in part because other campaign aides were developing a social media strategy. Psy-Group’s owner, Joel Zamel, did meet in August 2016 with Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Trump’s eldest son.
Investigators working for Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia’s campaign to disrupt the 2016 election and whether any Trump associates conspired, have obtained copies of the proposals and questioned Psy-Group employees, according to people familiar with those interviews.
The scope of the social media campaigns, essentially a broad effort to sow disinformation among Republican delegates and general election voters, was more extensive than the work typically done by campaign operatives to spread the candidate’s message on digital platforms. The proposal to gather information about Mrs. Clinton and her aides has elements of traditional opposition research, but it also contains cryptic language that suggests using clandestine means to build “intelligence dossiers.”
[… goes into more detail here…]
Former Psy-Group employees said that, in anticipation of the Trump Tower meeting, Mr. Zamel asked them to prepare an updated version of the third proposal. A lawyer for Mr. Zamel said that Mr. Zamel had not personally discussed specific proposals with Donald Trump Jr. or anyone else from the Trump campaign.
“Mr. Zamel never pitched, or otherwise discussed, any of Psy-Group’s proposals relating to the U.S. elections with anyone related to the Trump campaign, including not with Donald Trump Jr., except for outlining the capabilities of some of his companies in general terms,” said the lawyer, Marc Mukasey.
Mr. Nader and Mr. Zamel have given differing accounts over whether Mr. Zamel ultimately carried out the social media effort to help the Trump campaign and why Mr. Nader paid him $2 million after the election, according to people who have discussed the matter with the two men.
The reason for the payment has been of keen interest to Mr. Mueller, according to people familiar with the matter.
It is unclear how and when the special counsel’s office began its investigation into Psy-Group’s work, but F.B.I. agents have spent hours interviewing the firm’s employees. This year, federal investigators presented a court order to the Israel Police and the Israeli Ministry of Justice to confiscate computers in Psy-Group’s former offices in Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv.
The company is now in liquidation.
To the media – stop normalizing SFB. The old guy is off his rocker. He is a nasty, low intelligence, stinking old fool. He is not normal. He acts like a puppet with only the last thing he was told on his mind.
so, Donald, “no collusion” didn’t include Israel – only meant no collusion with Russia?
with friends like these, who needs enemies
will be interesting to see if those NYT reporters on the Israel collusion story will be ostracized…. lest we forget what happened to Helen Thomas for a lesser sin.
Proven innocent…a concept foreign to our legal system. What a dumbass.
F-ing sociopath.
.
BiD, this one’s for you from wapo:
“Tough as Texas,” the reelection slogan of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), might stoke images of the state’s cultural identity, from jacked-up trucks and 10-gallon hats to red meat and the shooting range. It’s a canny appeal that Cruz has repeatedly played up, claiming facetiously that his Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, wants to ban barbecue and that liberals nationwide hope to turn Texas into California, “right down to tofu and silicon and dyed hair.”
But if Cruz really was as Texas tough as he claims, a new ad by legendary movie director Richard Linklater suggests, he would have dragged President Trump “out by the woodshed” for insulting his wife and father.
Paid for by the Fire Ted Cruz PAC, which was founded by a Dallas lawyer and Democratic donor, the 32-second commercial was released on YouTube on Monday night.
[….]
“Somebody left something on my door the other day that says, ‘Ted Cruz, tough as Texas,’” he says, laughing. “I mean, come on.”
The older man — actor Sonny Carl Davis — looks into the camera with a deadpan stare. His baseball hat is embroidered with a cannon and the words “Come and take it,” a symbol of Texas pride and defiance.
“If someone called my wife a dog, and said my daddy was in on the Kennedy assassination, I wouldn’t be kissing their ass,” Davis says with a slight drawl.
He points emphatically at the camera, leaning forward in his seat.
“You stick a finger in their chest and give ’em a few choice words. Or you drag their ass out by the woodshed and kick their ass, Ted.”
He settles back down, his voice laced with contempt and derision, and grabs his mug again.
“Come on, Ted,” he says, grimacing.
[….]
The Fire Ted Cruz PAC has raised about $500,000 so far, founder and Dallas lawyer Marc Stanley told the Dallas Morning News. While Cruz has bombarded O’Rourke with attack ads arguing that the El Paso congressman is too liberal for Texas, O’Rourke has tried to stick to positive messaging. And some supporters think he could fight back a little harder. “Beto O’Rourke needs to smack Ted Cruz in the mouth, figuratively,” argued a Monday op-ed in the Morning News.
The Fire Ted Cruz PAC, which operates independently of O’Rourke’s campaign, is intended to supply exactly that kind of metaphorical punch in the face.
“It’s not in Beto’s DNA to be negative,” Stanley told the Morning News. “That’s one of the reasons that we started Fire Ted Cruz PAC, so that we could tell people how awful Ted Cruz is.”
He clearly thinks turning Kavanaugh into some kind of poster child for white male fear, hate and anger is the key to surviving the midterms.
(CNN): Hillary Clinton early Tuesday said the White House’s public swearing-in ceremony for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a “political rally” that “further undermined” the high court. “What was done last night in the White House was a political rally,” Clinton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “It further undermined the image and integrity of the court. And that troubles me greatly, it saddens me, because our judicial system has been viewed as one of the main pillars of our constitutional government.”
So SFB is trying to reach out to black voters – he’s having Kanye West for lunch Thursday. What a load.
Yeah, that ought to do it. Kanye grew up in Chicago but he lives where? LA?
candy rapper
Sturg, you crack me up.
cbs news: Nikki Haley resigns as UN ambassador – live updates
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told pool reporters in a statement, “President Trump and Ambassador Nikki Haley will meet in the Oval Office at 10:30 a.m. this morning” in an event open to cameras and the press pool, meaning only a handful of journalists will be present.
Axios first reported Haley’s resignation.
Hillary, You gave cover to the predator you’re married to, so maybe don’t comment on the KavaNope matter.
nikki will be available now for a 2020 run — maybe flake will be her veep
Nikki Hayley is leaving!
🙂
Well well well……Nikki takin’ it on the lam?
If he knew 6 months ago, is the timing of this announcement meant to take heat offa the KavaNope’s confirmation?
I feel the timing to be odd aka Trumpian.
From twitterer TeaPain
Nikki will replace Lindsey
and is lindsey replacing noregard? musical chairs in trumpland
I smell a little snark in the NY Times story announcing her resignation:
[…]
A March 9 article in Foreign Policy magazine, in an article titled “Candidate Haley,” portrayed her as a “retail politician turning U.N. diplomacy into a ticket to the White House.”
Earlier this year, Republicans close to the White House whispered about the possibility that Ms. Haley and Vice President Mike Pence run as a ticket together as early as 2020. However, Mr. Trump plans to run for re-election.
While Ms. Haley was among the few women in Mr. Trump’s cabinet, she is far from the first United States woman to hold the United Nations ambassador position. She succeeded Samantha Power and Susan E. Rice, who both worked for former President Barack Obama.
Other women envoys from the United States to the world body have included Madeleine Albright, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Anne Patterson, Rosemary DiCarlo and Michele Sison.
[….continues..]
Truth be told, Nikki was laughing too.
Maybe Kavanagh can invite the rest of the justices over for getting to know you kegger.
Here’s one that frosts my butt. FEMA is putting PR generators in storage.
It goes on – it is typical of what we’ve come to expect from the trump “administration” when it comes to helping people who don’t vote for him.
Nasty Nikki is leaving because she is about to be caught up in one of those Trump admin scandals where you pretend you are rich on taxpayer money —private use of a plane paid for by public funds
I wonder if they made a deal not to pursue it if she quit
Hey Susan Collins remember the name Carol Mosley Braun and I hope you are ready to retire you stupid ignorant bushy-league gooper
meanwhile, from vox :
New reports over the past two days have brought new attention to three long-simmering subplots in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
First, the Wall Street Journal revealed new details about GOP operative Peter W. Smith’s quest to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers during the 2016 campaign — including that he raised at least $100,000 for the effort and then pitched in $50,000 of his own money. (Smith was found dead last year, and local authorities ruled his death a suicide.)
Second, the New Yorker revisited the question of mysterious online communications between a Russian bank and a domain tied to the Trump Organization. This topic came up during the campaign and was received skeptically, but now the New Yorker quotes experts who’ve reviewed the data and still suspect there’s something there.
Third, the New York Times revealed that an Israeli firm called Psy-Group pitched its “social media manipulation” services to Trump campaign aide Rick Gates in early 2016, but that Gates didn’t hire the firm. Mueller’s team has been investigating Psy-Group closely for months for reasons that are not entirely clear but seem to be about whether the firm did in fact do work on behalf of Trump’s campaign.
All three of these storylines could be quite consequential — or they could have relatively innocuous explanations. But as former Justice Department official Matthew Miller observed on Twitter, all this news should remind us of the staggering complexity of the Mueller investigation, and that there’s still so much we don’t know about what he’s found.
Peter W. Smith: what happened when he sought Hillary Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers?
What we already knew: During the 2016 campaign, 80-year-old GOP operative Peter W. Smith recruited a team to try to obtain Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 deleted emails from “dark web” hackers — including hackers he thought were “probably around the Russian government.” It’s not clear if Smith had any success, but we know he tried because he freely admitted all this to reporter Shane Harris in May 2017.
Then, 10 days after Smith told his story to Harris (but before it published), he was found dead in a Minnesota hotel, with a plastic bag over his head and a source of helium attached. Per the Chicago Tribune, an accompanying note said Smith was taking his life because of a “RECENT BAD TURN IN HEALTH SINCE JANUARY, 2017,” and because of “LIFE INSURANCE OF $5 MILLION EXPIRING.” The note stated that “NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER” was involved in his death. Local authorities ruled his death a suicide.
Since Smith’s death, we’ve learned that he name-dropped Michael Flynn a lot during the email quest, and that Smith distributed a document suggesting “Trump campaign” involvement. Harris also reported that US intelligence reports describe Russian hackers talking about how to get Clinton emails to Flynn through an intermediary. Mueller’s team started looking into the matter last year.
What’s new: On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal’s Byron Tau, Dustin Volz, and Shelby Holliday reported several fascinating new details about Smith’s operation and investigators’ interest in it.
First off, they described how Smith communicated with some associates about the project. He and others had access to a Gmail account with the name “Robert Tyler.” Sometimes, rather than sending emails, they would simply type messages in the “drafts” folder to try to avoid a paper trail. (The other person could then log in and see the draft.)
Second, they revealed that a large amount of money was involved. They describe an October 11, 2016, email in the account from an unknown person called “ROB” to Smith, mentioning in an apparent code that “$150K” will “allow us to fund the Washington Scholarship for the Russian students.” The code is somewhat undercut by the subject line (“Wire Instructions — Clinton Email Reconnaissance Initiative”) and a mention that “the students are very pleased with the email releases they have seen” (WikiLeaks had begun posting John Podesta’s emails a few days earlier).
Finally, the Journal reporters say that Mueller’s team has remained quite focused on John Szobocsan, a business associate of Smith’s who was involved in the email operation, was interviewed by the special counsel’s team three times this year, and went before a grand jury in August.
The questions remaining: Did Smith’s operation come up with nothing in the end, as he claims? After all, Clinton’s deleted emails were never released. Was he operating independently (as he claimed to Harris), or was the Trump campaign involved somehow (as his document claimed)? And, uh, are local authorities correct that he killed himself?
Smith may be dead, but Flynn is alive and cooperating with Mueller, so he may have provided some answers. But the fact that a grand jury was hearing testimony about this as recently as August suggests it’s still very much under scrutiny.
[…continues to explore the other 2 stories…]
patd… thanks for that vox piece. I’m over Kavanaugh… and Collins can’t be replaced until 2020. I’m keeping my eyes on the mid-terms and Mueller.
at least a 1000 words
The event doesn’t have to have occurred or be successful for it to count as collusion
The Mueller investigation is a jigsaw puzzle of immense difficulty.
Hoping he can fit all the pieces together. There must be an end game somewhere but it is a long time coming.
https://www.fitsnews.com/2018/10/08/washington-ethics-group-wants-probe-of-nikki-haleys-plane-flights/
Haley in particular “should have been conscious of the appearance concerns surrounding her acceptance of gifts of private luxury air travel at a time when her colleagues in the administration were making news with their own lavish air travel,” the complaint from the group noted.
Trump has already lost one of his cabinet members – former Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Tom Price – to a scandal involving improper use of private jets and military aircraft. Several other Trump appointees have also been criticized for their travel practices.
“By accepting gifts of luxury private flights, Ambassador Haley seems to be falling in line with other Trump administration officials who are reaping personal benefits from their public positions,” CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement. “Our ethics laws are clearly written to prevent even the appearance of corruption and improper influence. We’re calling on the State Department’s inspector general to further investigate the nature of these gifts, determine whether they are in line with ethics rules, and ensure that employees like Ambassador Haley are fully trained on the application and importance of ethical standards.”
They only filed the complaint 15 hours ago. She knows she is guilty
KGC,
I am sure that Haley is just another politician looking to ‘spend more time with her family.’She has higher ambitions and she knows that it will take longer than two years to wash off the stink from her Trump association . Whatever her reasons, good riddance to her.
Damn, unless Michael veers west huckleberry’s place won’t be a victim of storm surge waters or the brunt of the winds.
Jace
sooner than you think — so the plan is Lindsay Graham gets Noregards job and Nikki gets his. And really ewww Ivanka gets Nikki’s job. I think that would make every Democrat lift off and orbit the planet and I think the speed and unexpected nature of her departure is due to the CREW complaint.
Lindsay Graham denies wanting to leave the senate
KGC,
That secenero is just too frightening. Just in time for Halloween.
Lindsay Graham just two years removed from urging republicans to look for the ‘off ramp’, he is now driving the Trumpmobile on cruise control. What a putz.
So I heard some lame ass reporter say it can’t be the CREW thing because her resignation letter is dated last week is that a postmark? What a marooooon This is the Trump administration they lie about everything
Regarding the investigation confirming the Trump/campaign and now the administration’s illegal relationship with Russian citizens. I hope Michael Cohen did pay off the Russian hackers maybe not in Prague but somewhere.
renee, you’re welcome.
have to remind myself to focus. focus. focus. can’t let those shiny baubles twit dangles and tweets about distract. must keep eyes on the prize.
pogo, noaa latest re storm surge assured for hucksterbee:
Michael is expected to produce storm surges in normally dry areas near the coast. If peak surge is during high tide, the water could reach heights of 8-12 feet in Indian Pass, FL to Cedar Key, FL; 6-8 feet in Cedar Key, FL to Crystal River, FL; 6-9 feet in Okaloosa/Walton County Line, FL to Indian Pass, FL; 4-6 feet in Crystal River, FL to Aripeka, FL; 2-4 feet in Aripeka, FL to Anna Maria Island, FL (including Tampa Bay) and in the Alabama/Florida border to Okaloosa/Walton County Line, FL.
[…]
Storm Surge Warning
Okaloosa/Walton County Line Florida to Anclote River Florida
According to NHC: “A Storm Surge Warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours in the indicated locations. For a depiction of areas at risk, please see the National Weather Service Storm Surge Watch/Warning Graphic, available at hurricanes.gov. This is a life-threatening situation. Persons located within these areas should take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions. Promptly follow evacuation and other instructions from local officials.”
Has Pat Robertson had any kind of beef with Huckabee lately?
Sturg… ROFLMAO!
Geez… that Michael looks like bad news. So glad to be here in the northeast where we get fat squirrels and the occasional bear that get at the bird feeders. I’ll take a snowstorm any day.
nikki to State and linsey to AG ? pompey may be too competent to remain in a trump adman-istration.
Nothing is as it seems.
It’s all slight of hand.
…
What I don’t get about the nikki-to-senate-seat-vacated-by-graham-to-AG scenario is why would she need to resign now to make that happen? Makes more sense to me she wants out of the administration before Mueller tears it apart, a preemptive cleansing of the stench.
The only reason to leave her job so unexpectedly is to avoid a prolonged conversation about those 7 luxury flights paid for by NC fat cats or something worse
Lindsay doesn’t have to quit being in the senate and no one else in that weird little chain does either.
The question is why now? And there are a lot of guesses. Those go from possible criminal activity, ie travel perks. To running in 2020/2024/? To high tailing it before the ceiling falls in. To want to make a lot of money. To tired of the strain (she is a politician and this is a laugher) of politics. To a secret deal to not run for 2020/2024. And a lot more.
I think she has a combination of things happening, one part is to bail before SFB and his cult are taken down and she can protect her virginity from charges. Another is that she is a key witness for Mueller or some other prosecutor (my favorite) and SFB heard about it and is giving her a chance to shut up and go out in a nice way. And, she is running in 2020 and wants to get out before she is seen for her real self, a far right tea party freak.
Time to drop politics for a moment. You can vote in the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees? Have fun.
Lindsey to Daily Caller: “I’m gonna run again … I have ZERO interest in serving in President Trump’s cabinet. I like him. I want to help him. I think I can do more good for the country and help President Trump more effectively by being in the Senate.”
Nikki called JaRRed a “hidden genius.” Hidden, evil. POtato, poAto.
patd, that may make my day. NOAA updated the storm surge map at the bottom of this article from WaPo. Huckleberry’s place is in the 6-9′ zone. High tides aren’t much along the Gulf Coast – nothing like on the Atlantic – but because of the lack of slope on the beaches a little water goes a long way up the beach. They don’t have data for Santa Rosa Beach, but they do have it for Blue Mountain a mere 4 1/2 miles away. The low-high difference is less than 2 feet. Huckleberry’s house has what looks to be a 6 or so foot retaining fence and it sits up pretty high so it might not get hit too hard, but a boy can dream…and there’s always the wind.
pogo, I give that cheesy fence and dredged faux dune viability against the tide+surge+rain until noon tomorrow at the latest. from then on each lapping wave begins to undermine huckmansion
make that 6:00 AM
hello, huck hovel by Thursday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bopo-53BvzV/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=12iahvz2atdgi
~a scary time for boys~
Oooh, ooh. Patd, I hope you’re right. That pic looks much more vulnerable than the one i saw. Camera angles can mean everything.
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