Nadler to Democratic Colleauges re: Nunes Memo — From House Judiciary ranking Dem Jerry Nadler (NY), who would run the likely impeachment hearings if Democrats win in November. Worth noting: Nadler is one of a very few members of Congress who has read all of the classified underlying documents for the Nunes memo, including the supporting materials for the Carter Page FISA warrant.
The Nadler Memo
Trump Lashes Out at Schiff Over Russia Probe Memo
[…]
Trump’s attack on California Rep. Adam Schiff came before a planned meeting of the House intelligence panel Monday, where the committee is expected to consider whether to release a Democratic rebuttal memo. Democrats are seeking to push back on the Republican document, which questions the FBI methods used to apply for a surveillance warrant on a onetime Trump campaign associate.
 On Twitter, Trump called Schiff “one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington,” adding that he “must be stopped.”
 Schiff quickly shot back that: “Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or … really anything else.”
The committee did not release the Democratic memo last week, with one Republican member saying revisions were needed so the memo would not endanger national security. Key Democrats are seeking to put out the document, including the Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, who urged Trump to back the public release and said that refusing to do so would show the president’s intent to undermine the Russia investigation.
 Trump would need to sign off on the memo if it contains classified information. A White House official said Monday that if the Democratic memo made it out of the committee, the administration would consider releasing it, subjecting it to a similar review process as the Republican memo. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and sought anonymity to discuss internal thinking.
 House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he supports the release of the Democrats’ memo, if sensitive intelligence information is removed.
[…continues…]
speaker ryan’s admonition re release: “if sensitive intelligence information is removed”Â
so does that mean the Nadler memo you linked that has in it the demo memo has been scrubbed or are we in trouble here releasing classified info?
Patd, my hunch is that this Nadler memo represents at least part of what is in the Intelligence Committee’s Democratic memo.
Nadler is on Judiciary, not constrained by Intel Comm rules. He quietly circulated this among fellow Dems on Saturday night, have not seen much coverage. He is setting forth legal arguments here, obviously not gunning for publicity.
Since succeeding Conyers as ranking Dem on Judiciary this is Nadler’s opening shot on Trump/Russia and I think it shows the legal chops he will bring to the case if he becomes chairman after the midterms. Can’t imagine a smarter lawnaker overseeing the drafting of articles of impeachment.
whaaa? whatsup with these idiots? or is this one of those shiney objects purposely planted to inflame and divert the public attention from trump Russia probe?
Super Bowl anti-terrorism documents left on plane
Craig an impressive memo,
That would have never have happened if Conyers was still there, makes me wonder who else could step up if some of the oldtimers would move on.
Jack
From Column A of the “Things to Think About Instead of Politics” list:Â It’s never too early to start thinking about the Kentucky Derby.
2018 Kentucky Derby Contenders
Next round of qualifying races will begin in March – Right now Good Magic leads the pack, but I’m keeping a close eye on Avery Island
one of the few times when carl is more serious than funny
carl Hiaasen:Â FBI agents are more courageous than Trump will ever acknowledge
The war on the FBI was officially launched two months ago, when President Trump began openly trashing the agency.
Its reputation was “in tatters,” he said. Its conduct was “really, really disgraceful.”
Coming from a character like Trump, whose own reputation doesn’t rise to the level of disgraceful, such comments might be shrugged off. But the man happens to be the president and desperate to shut down an investigation that is creeping uncomfortably close to him and his family.
Republican leaders fell into line, pushing the release of an overhyped memo composed by unnamed GOP staffers on the House Intelligence Committee. It says the FBI used tainted information to obtain a surveillance warrant on a Trump campaign aide for the Russia probe.
The FBI has strongly pushed back, asserting that the memo leaves out key classified facts that “impact [its] accuracy.”
Meanwhile, the agency finds itself maligned in an unprecedented, partisan way. It’s a demoralizing situation that’s also bad for the country, because every insinuation by Trump and other politicians reaches every FBI agent on the street.
They’re not perfect, or above scrutiny, but they don’t deserve this.
The FBI’s regional headquarters in South Florida is a big modern building named for two agents, Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove. Most people driving past the place probably don’t know who they are, or what they did.
The men died on April 11, 1986, during a shootout with bank robbers in a neighborhood then called Suniland, in south Miami-Dade. It was the bloodiest, saddest day in FBI history.
[…here carl recounts the whole bloody episode…]
The stark memory of that day isn’t in tatters, and never will be.
kick a can down the road often enough and long enough, not much is left of the can
politico:
Congress weighs leaving Dreamers in limbo another year
If lawmakers can’t reach a broader deal, they could provide temporary protections for the young undocumented immigrants.
Congress may just end up punting on its Dreamer dilemma.
As lawmakers grasp for a solution for the young undocumented immigrants, one option is a temporary extension — perhaps one year — of their legal protections paired with a little bit of cash for border security
[….]
“I think that that’s misguided,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said. “I think that’s a lazy way out of fixing a problem that we’re on the brink of being able to fix.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he’s heard the chatter about a one-year DACA fix, but he stressed that doing so “will not be ideal.”
“To be back here a year from now, doing this again … that would be like Plan Z,” Rubio said. “Everybody, across the board, is prepared to do something, you know, that gets permanency to elements of this issue.”
[….]
The punting proposal also has other challenges.
Democrats could throw up objections to the idea, considering they’re achieving a mere temporary extension for DACA recipients yet are conceding funding for something they see as permanent, such as a border wall.
And a bare-bones Dreamers bill would be likely to face resistance in the House, where conservative Republicans are already complaining that even the White House framework — which calls for sharp restrictions to the family-based immigration system — is too generous to young undocumented immigrants.
Lawmakers may soon have no choice, however.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) has discussed how a temporary DACA fix could be accompanied by equally short-term measures. Likewise, a more permanent solution, such as a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, would allow for more expansive changes in border security and legal immigration.
“I’d be disappointed in that outcome,” Cornyn said last week of a one-year punt. “I’m still holding out hope for a bill along the lines of the president’s outline.”
Media is running out of gas on year two. Idiot tweets and nothing flares up into pretty flames. Nunes the possible Russian agent is trying to float out five, count them, five more “memo’s”, and that is page birdcage floor. Carter Page is a problem child to SFB. Like rancid peanut butter on his hands, he can’t wipe it off. SFB needs something to distract the world this week. A shutdown?
Patd, it’s DHS. You’d expect more?
Typo: Nader in the body of text after “worth noting”.
Boy Howdy I’m surprised SFB does not have frostbite – the chill coming off Melania looks like quick freeze.
But as they kick it down the road, the make-up of Congresss will be different and maybe it can get taken care of properly.  I don’t see it happening right now, if Repugz can help it.
Paul Ryan is just awful. Â (A non-sequitor that I think I will add to the end of every post.)
Paul Ryan is just awful.
Local political show yesterday said that TX isn’t really a red state. It’s a low-voting state.
Paul Ryan is just awful.
Jamie – Baby Hughy blocked you? Â I bow to you, madame.
Paul Ryan is just awful.
KGC – I am willing to bet that SFB old body and the medications he is taking probably make the freak impotent anyhow. Too bad she can’t be held up as a great example of the abused wife. Her beliefs killed that off a long time ago. Right now is it feed the moron a lot of KFC and cheeseburgers and hope for the will does not go stale before SFB does.
BiD, thanks for typo catch. Fixed.
reuters:Â U.S. Supreme Court allows revamp of Pennsylvania electoral map
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to block a lower court ruling requiring Republican-drawn congressional districts in Pennsylvania to be reworked immediately, boosting Democratic hopes of winning control this year of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Justice Samuel Alito denied an emergency application filed by Republicans to stop the immediate reworking of the electoral district boundaries, preserving a ruling by the state’s top court that they had unlawfully sought partisan advantage over the Democrats in drawing the maps.
The Jan. 22 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling gives Republican legislators until this Friday to submit a revised map to Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, who would have until Feb. 15 to sign off on the changes. If those deadlines pass without an agreement, the state court said it would rewrite the map itself.
Democrats, who hold only five of Pennsylvania’s 18 congressional districts despite its status as a closely divided electoral swing state, must capture at least two dozen seats currently held by Republicans in the Nov. 6 congressional mid-term elections to wrest control of the U.S. House.
A new map potentially could give Democratic candidates a chance to pick up several Republican-held seats in Pennsylvania alone, with national polls showing voters strongly favoring Democrats in 2018 over President Donald Trump’s party.
[…continues..]
*
**
there goes your golden carriage ride, donald
the guardian:
Theresa May rebukes Donald Trump over NHS comments
British PM rejects US president’s claim that pro-NHS marches showed universal healthcare did not work
Theresa May has rebuked Donald Trump over his claim the NHS is failing, publicly backing her health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, after he tweeted disagreement with the US president’s view.
The response from May – who generally seeks to avoid criticising Trump – came after the president condemned Democrat plans for a universal healthcare system by noting in a tweet Saturday’s protest march in London demanding more NHS funding.
@realDonaldTrump
The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!
7:11 AM – Feb 5, 2018
Hunt responded via Twitter by saying that while he disagreed with the opinions of some of Saturday’s marchers, “not ONE of them wants to live in a system where 28m people have no cover”, a reference to the US situation.
He added: “NHS may have challenges but I’m proud to be from the country that invented universal coverage – where all get care no matter the size of their bank balance.”
[….continues….]
az central:Â John McCain offers DACA fix that has no money for Trump border wall
[….]
Trump reiterated that theme in a new Twitter on Monday morning, in which the president wrote that any DACA compromise without “STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time.”
CNN on Monday quoted an unnamed White House official as calling the McCain-Coons bill “worse” than a previously rejected bipartisan compromise negotiated by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
@realDonaldTrump
Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time. March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!
9:36 AM – Feb 5, 2018
[….continues…]
SFB couldn’t see that response coming? Â God, THIS is our “president?”
wapo:
Dow drops more than 1,400 points in second day of significant market sell-off
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 1,400 points in afternoon trading on Monday as volatility returned to the stock market with a vengeance after a year of rare tranquility.
The Dow has retreated more than 1,700 point in the last two sessions, shattering long-term momentum. The index was swinging 100 points in minutes Monday afternoon as Wall Street wags tried to decode events.
One of the big worries is that the Federal Reserve, under new chairman Jerome Powell who was officially sworn in Monday, will accelerate interest rate hikes, stoke inflation and slow the economy. A slowing economy would likely turn the bull market toward bearish.
There was also focus on the 10-year Treasury bond, a closely watched harbinger of investor sentiment. The yield’s rise to 3 percent is widely believed to be a marker for investors to eschew equities for the appetizing stability of bonds.
”If the yield on the 10-year hits 3 percent in the next several days, equities are likely to decline dramatically because of fears of the Federal Reserve aggressively slowing down the economy by raising interest rates,” said James Norman, president of QS Investors.
Bond yields are rising as the Federal Reserve trims its U.S. bond holdings. The U.S. Treasury is also having to borrow more money, partly because of the tax cuts, and issuing more debt tends to raise yields.
Monday’s turbulance came on the heels of Friday’s 666-point Dow decline, the sixth-highest point drop in Dow history but only around 2.5 percent from its lofty highs.
[….continues….]
The market is correcting, maybe a bit exuberant at it, but it was long needed. I think I had mentioned my nervousness about the thing a couple weeks ago. It is fun listening to the experts telling us what is happening, a bit after it happens rather than forecasting. Sure went into the wrong profession, weather prognosticator or Wall Street reporter would have been good. Right or wrong, you just need a good talking voice and a nice personality.
market on wild ride
Hey, SFB, here’s an idea – unchain DACA and the wall. Â Float a wall funding request in the context of a budget deal – after all, it is about how much money to fund for it – whether it will be funded is a foregone conclusion. Let the wall funding bill go through congress – if both houses pass it, sign it. Â Let the bipartisan DACA deal go through congress – if both houses pass it, sign it.
The market will fluctuate
I was at the local Schwab office day trading index options on Bloody Monday/Tuesday Oct 87. Market went down something like 27-%. Network cameras came into the trading room–interviewer jammed mic into my face asking for comment. I gave him the look then said waving my arm, “can’t you see the blood all over the floor?” The look on his face was priceless as terror filled his eyes.
The market will fluctuate
Which comes first… the chicken or the egg. Â SFB comes unhinged… the stock market plummets. Â The stock market plummets… Â SFB comes unhinged.
Actually, I do know that SFB has nothing to do with what is happening to the market… but it’s nice to speculate.
trump can claim his is bigger than anybody’s, goes down in history with largest ever
Dow Tumbles 1,175 Points, Largest Single–Day Point Loss Ever
renee, he took credit for the rise, might as well take it for the fall
Flatus – that was one crummy day. I was in one of the remote offices where everyone had a radio blaring the carnage. My retirement funds took a big hit. Many of my co-workers were not stock or mutual funds holders and were amazed at my attitude on taking a twenty-five percent hit.  Although I took a hit, I was able to explain to them that a drop like that is expected. Unwanted, but not unexpected. Recovery took years. The bush depression did a worse hit on my retirement funds, over thirty percent. Which is why I am working for a living again. Overall, even though I am a human and the stock market is run by computer programs, I do think there is a lot to owning stocks and mutuals.
Pat, citing point gains/losses gives people an inaccurate perspective–always think in terms of percentages.
He’ll say the market’s falling because he’s not getting his way, and Russia, Russia, Russia—-like Pat Robertson blames hurricanes and tornados and floods on sinners in the area…..or whatever area he chooses to exploit…..
He will follow Necessity now until the cows are all home.
It’s an old story.
John Mahoney of Frazier fame has passed away at 77
Swear to God, Jamie, I thought he died years ago.
*********
Meanwhile, things not going too swimmingly for Robert Wagner. Rumors surfacing & floating as to his involvement in Natalie Wood’s death. Curious as to what Christopher Walken knows. Will his testimony sink Wagner … or was he too drunk to remember, his thoughts bobbing along on foggy remembrances drowned by liquor?
The Berlin Wall has been down one day longer than it stood.
sjwny, could be they were covering up a drunken suicide. no insurance payoff if she jumped on purpose to drown herself. unless a credible story could be made that she went overboard out of pique or she was making a dramatic gesture swimming home, a suicide means a lot of money would have to be repaid by the beneficiary.