By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor
I decided to watch some republican lite MSNBC. I combined that with a bit of a read of the political section of WashPo, and a bit of online news sites. There is so much happening that it is hard to separate major focal points and links between.
I think a reporter would be good to create silos (not my favorite model) of the corruption, the actors involved and the links if any between them. Generally silos are considered to prevent organizations from sharing data and creating inefficiencies. But, under the deliberate chaos of the simpleton administration the various actions are combined like a pile of spaghetti causing all to lose track of what is going on. By breaking out the various crimes, actions and actors we have a clear view of all of the individual issues.
Looking at the guy and his government shutdown as one silo, the actors are WH players, McConnell and Speaker Pelosi. The silo contains national and international economies; federal employees, contractors, and local businesses (eateries, fuel stations, trains, clothes cleaners etc); federal agencies. What does it link to? Mueller, yes if his investigation runs out of money. Maybe contracts to something about border security.
But overall there are few solid links to anything beyond the WH and Congress because the shutdown was an isolated action. Beginning and ending the shutdown does not change what the Russians have done or are doing. It does not affect court cases such as the Cohen’s.
Another silo could be money laundering by Trump Jr. Another would be emoluments cases by the illegitimate president. There are many other actions which if separated from the scrum we would see them and who is involved.
also add a silo called “jared” – a very big silo nbc news: Jared Kushner’s application for a top secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him — but their supervisor overruled the recommendation and approved the clearance, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The official, Carl Kline, is a former Pentagon employee who was installed as director of the personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President in May 2017. Kushner’s was one of at least 30 cases… Read more »
and another rather rusting silo called “the gop” from wapo: Republican senators clashed with one another and confronted Vice President Pence inside a private luncheon on Thursday, as anger hit a boiling point over the longest government shutdown in history. “This is your fault,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) at one point, according to two Republicans who attended the lunch and witnessed the exchange. “Are you suggesting I’m enjoying this?” McConnell snapped back, according to the people who attended the lunch. […] The argument was one of several heated moments in a lunch… Read more »
nbc news: Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller and arrested Friday on charges of obstruction, giving false statements and witness tampering. Stone has been under the microscope of Mueller over his alleged connection to WikiLeaks and hacked Democratic emails released by the site during the 2016 presidential campaign. He has repeatedly denied any collusion with WikiLeaks. Nearly a dozen Stone associates have been summoned by Mueller to appear before his Washington grand jury, sources told NBC News in November. This is a breaking news story. Please check back for… Read more »
The morning is beginning with a smile as SFB friend Roger Stone is arrested. I did not take Roger as an early morning person. Considering that Mueller might run out of funds tonight he might want to run out a few more indictments today, just to have them on the books in case something upsets his future budget. patd – There will be a lot of separate silos, a few hard linked, such as SFB jr and money laundering through the country owned bank which is linked to SFB silo. But, is sounds like the jr also has… Read more »
nytimes:
WASHINGTON — Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime informal adviser to President Trump who has spent decades plying the dark arts of scandal-mongering and dirty tricks to help influence American political campaigns, was indicted Friday in the special counsel investigation.
Mr. Stone was charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering, according to the special counsel’s office.
The indictment is the first public move in months by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates.
[continues]
Ah, Roger. I’m sure SFB sleeps soundly knowing you’ll never cooperate and never testify in a way that will harm him. Money and the threat of jail sometimes changes the minds of the most steadfast.
Update/correction – it is not the Mueller team which runs out of funding, it is the federal courts. With any luck the charging judge will decide to let Stone enjoy the comfort of a secluded life until . . . eh, maybe forever.
from MSNBC in nov. 2017 a little background on the arrestee du jour
Is Roger Stone Donald Trump’s political Svengali? Joy Reid discusses ‘Get Me Roger Stone,’ the compelling Netflix documentary on a reportedly central member of the president’s brain trust, with the filmmakers.
good comment at 3:20 in above video: “when you’re looking at roger stone you’re pretty much seeing donald trump”
roger’s not the only one to appear in a court today. buddy paul also will have his turn in the judicial barrel wapo: Paul Manafort is set to appear in federal court Friday to face a U.S. judge weighing whether President Trump’s former campaign chairman breached his plea agreement by lying repeatedly to prosecutors in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. A finding that the 69-year-old Manafort “intentionally provided false information” after pleading guilty in any of five areas alleged by prosecutors could subject him to months or years… Read more »
WH spokesperson and terrible liar SS said that Roger Stone was a coffee boy on the campaign for a week and SFB never knew him.
off subject, but could the Pompeo/trump bluster-f**k last night about calling the non-essentials & family home from Venezuela be a “wag the dog” move with Maduro in the role of the tail? talk about distraction! wow
bbronc, cbs news report seems to agree with you about sarah. bless her little heart. 🙂
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, appearing on CNN’s “New Day, said, “This has nothing to do with the president and certainly nothing to do with the White House.”
[…]
On CNN, Sanders would not directly answer whether Mr. Trump did or did not ask senior Trump campaign officials to inquire about WikiLeaks, saying she isn’t a lawyer and hasn’t had time to read the indictment, but insisting the charges against Stone have nothing to do with the president.
BlueB and patd… thanks for the interesting reading this morning.
From Vox… Roger Stone’s Arrest and Indictment Explained
news reports that search warrants also issued and are being executed in both of his residences.
obviously they suspect destruction of evidence likely
Now that he has his jumpsuit will Roger flip?
Craig – I have been wondering that for a year. Is he “strong” in the sense of taking a bullet? Or is he a lying weasel and ready to flip? I cannot believe Stone will be either. He may be at the age of getting his story and the truth mixed up in his head, but he is no where off his rocker. I tend to think he will be like Manafort and getting ready to spend the rest of his life surrounded by walls, and ceilings, and bars, while spewing strange tales.
Jennifer Rubin’s column this morning about the Senate votes yesterday is well worth the few minutes it takes to read. Senate Republicans and President Trump may look back on Thursday as the day their relationship fundamentally changed. Both heretofore stalwart Trump defenders and skeptical, moderates joined forces to embarrass the president. To get the ball rolling Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave up on the canard he could not bring up anything for a vote Trump would’t sign. That was aimed at protecting McConnell from being undercut (again) but also at shielding Trump from an embarrassing display of disloyalty. He… Read more »
I suspect that Stone knows enlightened self interest when it hits him up side the head. Will he flip? I’m betting he will. When Suckabee describes him – who is being described in reputable media as a long time trump political consultant – as a coffee boy for the campaign for a few days, what does he owe to that “organization’?
After Donnie’s disastrous encounter with the Speaker Pelosi he is probably happy to have this distraction. After all with his base “Donnie getting punked by a girl” is much worse than another campaign staffer doing the perp walk.
Jack
The FBI was at his door at 6 frickin’ thirty, that is a serious statement in its self. It is not a question of did he flip, it is did he flip before or after getting clean underwear from shitting all over himself.
Jack
I’m not really comfortable with the ‘silos’ thing. It just makes me think of Trump’s last erection.
Flatus – now I have to look at a picture of SS to cleanse my eyes.
FAA announcing ground stops at LaGuardia and other airports. Just announced is a regional center short staffed, which affects from Philly to D.C. Although other regions can pick up the flights it does affect a larger area than a single airport. Flight controllers tend to have sixty hour weeks, so they need a day off every now and then.
Hey, XR, I have this nagging memory of Mr Reagan standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate when he admonished Khrushchev to, “…tear down this wall.” I had visions of the magnificent Gate crashing to the ground.
Public Domain
Flatus – Stormy would probably dispute any association between silos and SFB erections. Mushrooms and silos don’t have a lot in common.
Pogo, I simply assumed that any silo in Trump’s possession would be a hollow facade.
Well, without a doubt your assumption would be borne out in fact.
People are saying when Roger Stone was arrested he said, “Pardon me?”
What scum suckinng asshole he is – I hope he has to share a cell with Manipedi
Earlier this year he tried to horn in on the legal marijuana campaigns by saying he could deliver SFB.
*
trump’s silo is a codpiece. The ‘shroom is inside somewhere.
XR, ?
so if the shutdown is over (as all are reporting to be the case come rose garden presser) for next 3 weeks, does this mean twit gets to do his SOTU as scheduled?
politicususa: Panic Hits the White House As Bannon Is Implicated in Stone Arrest […] CNBC reported that the detailed indictment describes communications between Stone and high-ranking campaign officials, including former campaign CEO Bannon. It alleges that Stone spoke often with top Trump campaign aides about his efforts to get published the Democratic emails stolen by Russian hackers. The emails, which were very damaging to Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton, were put on the internet by WikiLeaks. Stone lied about his contacts with the Trump campaign to federal investigators and also during his testimony under oath before Congress. CNBC’s report states… Read more »
patd, good question. BTW, Nancy’s tha bomb. Reopen government and keep SFB’s balls in your hand. (Sorry for that image, Nancy).
XR, a la Ian Anderson perhaps?
OMG… good thing I wasn’t drinking anything while reading you guys comments on “silos”.
I just came down from my studio…. it’s obvious time to put on MSNBC or CNN as it’s getting more and more interesting by the hour with the Mueller probe.
BTW…. Ann Coulter is going to be on Bill Maher’s show tonight. Can’t wait to see what she has to say about trump caving into Democratic demands of reopening the government but no funding for “the wall”.
cbsnews Trump says he’ll sign bill to reopen government for 3 weeks – live updates President Trump announced Friday he’ll back a move to reopen the government for a few weeks, so government workers can get paid while the debate over border security continues. “I am very proud to announce that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government,” Mr. Trump said in an address from the White House Rose Garden, adding that he had the opportunity to declare a national emergency to build the wall but decided not to do so at… Read more »
Nancy & co can live with “smart wall” can’t they?
The Venezuela situation provides another opportunity to disrupt oil drilling and transport, pushing the price up. Whatever happens, don’t let anyone talk you into believing that the Powers-That-Be want to grab cheap oil. Those Powers only want to prevent oil from becoming cheap.
“Ann Coulter is going to be on Bill Maher’s show“
Are you some sort of masochist? If you’re going to watch HBO, make it “Brexit” with Benedict Cumberbatch.
nbc reports coulter up to her usual hatefulness again – tweeting:
Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States.
3,816
2:55 PM – Jan 25, 2019
I do so hope the bush boys (including bill) give her what-for for that dig at their dad.
she also deserves being dumped on bigly for prodding the twit to cause the nation unnecessarily 5 weeks of pain to begin with.
Looks like we have to go back to work Monday. I am not sure about a three week tour though. Will a compromise be created? Yes. That was already done last session. Will SFB sign it? Maybe. Three weeks is far long enough for him to forget everything about a Mexican Wall. He may even pretend he never asked for one. What I think he is finally starting to realize is he is not a real dictator and he may find himself sleeping on a rack in a place surrounded by many walls. That has shaken him enough now. He… Read more »
Kansas Lawmakers Defect to Democrats as G.O.P. Struggles in Suburbs
Four moderates from the Kansas City metro area have changed parties in the last month, reflecting a national realignment on a key partisan battleground.
back to roger charges from politico: [….] Stone peppered Credico with intimidating texts, according to the court document, including “If you turned over anything to the FBI, you’re a fool,” and “I’m not talking to the FBI and if your [sic] smart you won’t either.” Conversely, the indictment says Credico urged Stone to revise his testimony, telling him in a message, “You should be honest w fbi.” Stone allegedly reacted angrily to the advice, calling Credico “a rat” and “a stoolie” and telling him in an April 2018 email: “Prepare to die [expletive].” Ultimately, at Stone’s urging,… Read more »
As roger stone spoke to the assembled cameras, I noticed a fella in a red knit shirt just behind him. That fellow must be dick nixon’s long lost son, he looks so much like the dirty rat.
Lock ’em ALL up !
I also noticed a photographer was wearing a Surly Brewing Company cap. Good taste.
Speaking of Nixon, what’s up with Roger Stone’s “I am not a crook” pose? Is he suggesting that he actually is a crook?
he he…
Trump’s remarks sound like the warm up to his state of the union speech. Not surprising when you consider that his position on the shut down changed rather quickly when Pelosi canceled his invitation. In the end his moment in the spotlight was more important than the wall. To his core supporters it will be seen as a prelude to a sell out.
Wondering how many media types read Trail Mix. Three times today there was a reference to splitting the various investigations and other actions apart to clarify the actions. Chuck Todd was the latest. Accidentally left the connection on to to republican lite MSNBC, instead of my computer to watch YouTube, so I am watching a little of it while I do some research.