Vamos.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/politics/first-charges-mueller-investigation/index.html

A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.

The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are.

A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment.

Mueller was appointed in May to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Under the regulations governing special counsel investigations, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has oversight over the Russia investigation, would have been made aware of any charges before they were taken before the grand jury for approval, according to people familiar with the matter.

On Friday, top lawyers who are helping to lead the Mueller probe, including veteran prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, were seen entering the court room at the DC federal court where the grand jury meets to hear testimony in the Russia investigation.

Reporters present saw a flurry of activity at the grand jury room, but officials made no announcements.

Shortly after President Donald Trump abruptly fired then-FBI Director James Comey, Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel. Mueller took the reins of a federal investigation that Comey first opened in July 2016 in the middle of the presidential campaign.

Mueller is authorized to investigate "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation," according to Rosenstein's order.

The special counsel's investigation has focused on potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as obstruction of justice by the President, who might have tried to impede the investigation. CNN reported that investigators are scrutinizing Trump and his associates' financial ties to Russia.

Mueller's team has also examined foreign lobbying conducted by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and others. His team has issued subpoenas for documents and testimony to a handful of figures, including some people close to Manafort, and others involved in the Trump Tower meeting between Russians and campaign officials.

Last year, the Comey-led investigation secured approval from the secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor the communications of Manafort, as well as former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, as part of the investigation into Russian meddling.

In addition to Mueller's probe, three committees on Capitol Hill are conducting their own investigations.

Right when they hopped there might be a light in at least the tax cur tunnel, Mueller came in like Snoop in Baby Boy on some, "Fuck yo fort"

who will be the fall guy(s) ????\\\
Anti-gentrification, cheap alcohol & trying to look pretty in our twilight posting years (c) Big Reg


[font size=4 font color="green"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OSLw2ddpM7U

Whenever I hear fall guy I always think of this

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNosoNbQCw

>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OSLw2ddpM7U
>
>Whenever I hear fall guy I always think of this

and I can't wait.

just like he did Arpaio

Remember when he was asking if he could pardon himself?

I believe there will be others.


http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/348989-trump-may-dodge-federal-crimes-with-pardons-but-he-cant?amp

Guess we'll find out tomorrow

Could be someone they need to shore up the case on Manafort. Maybe they will try to flip this person.

Not saying it's gonna be him tomorrow but that would be my best guess. This shit is going to be wild.

Bc I'm not privy to discovery. News reports aren't evidence.

I'm keeping my expectations reasonable based on what I know - which is not much and that's fine.

tomorrow should be interesting.

its about to be Trumpgate and he got his own son singing to the birds.

the shit they say is so disjointed and disconnected from reality.

they just hop from conspiracy to conspiracy that gets disproven and stopped dead in its tracks.

this trump russia probe has a clear linear narrative that builds upon itself. there are new developments that are interwoven and logically connect to previous developments. thats how reality works.

but according to trump supporters...obama was gonna be indicted over illegal wiretapping...then susan rice was gonna be indicted over illegal unmasking...then hillary is gonna be indicted over a uranium deal that 9 different agency heads had to sign off on...and so on. they just discard one flopped conspiracy and move on to the next.

now they think these mueller indictments are being handed down as a distraction from the *real* russiagate involving clinton, the dnc, and the steele dossier lol.

is pure reality that bad for you that you gotta keep constantly searching for the next lie to hang your hopes on?

but when you have the president of the US saying this shit in a tweet, then I wonder where they got that idea...

Its like I get it; the fact the American dream is now only for corporations only you mad, and you blame the darkies and people with vaginas. Cool. Logically since this ship is sinking line your white supremacy behind a Pence/Ryan/Mcconnell and keep it popping.

Shit lets say you're a true Trump believer; id be more apt to blame obstructionist dems and 'swamp' republicans. Regular ass partisan witchhunt.

But these loony ass conspiracies? Niggas loved Clinton and its not as if when he was getting impeached people were like, "Its George Bush covering up for desert storm oil deals! Newt is trying to cover up his secret eyes wide shut sex slave mansion!".

facebook app does this annoying thing where it displays one comment under articles. 90% of the time it's some variation of "Typical libtard trash trying to bring down our president. Why won't the fake news media talk about Hillary and her..."

and I'm forever wondering if it's a bot or someone on a russian troll farm, but at the same time I see identical comments every day from people who I know who are real

but I am nursing a semi right now.

the new Hilary Uranium ish was their move to distract or cause public confusion whenever the shit starts hitting the fan



----------

IG @h_n_z

https://twitter.com/thcobbphc/status/924148979536773120

.

I wonder what made roger stone attack them, and not the thousands of other journalists who've reported on this story?

What a piece of shit.

>I wonder what made roger stone attack them, and not the
>thousands of other journalists who've reported on this story?

sucks. i was enjoying it

I'm imagining him in his apartment getting all wigged out

I’m sad dudes in the Nixon administration didn’t have twitter to leave us records of their breakdowns.

whoa lol

wow.

Hillary.

Rr Bill.

Or Bill Ayres.

Or FDR.

....or a Mueller firing will blow up in 45's face........And the rumor is it's not just one indictment....It's two....

https://tttthreads.com/thread/924451221485756416

THREAD: Why haven’t the lawyers for Manafort and Flynn been notified of an indictment? What does it mean?

1/ Today @dsamuelsohn of @politico wrote about who the upcoming indictment could charge, among other things:
Trump lawyers scramble to prepare for new stage of Russia probe
The president’s lawyers and political aides are bracing for the first charges just five months into the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/28/trump-russia-probe-legal-244270

2/ As he noted, lawyers for Manafort and Flynn have *not* been notified of an upcoming indictment. That is a surprising piece of news. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNRQPpgUIAAtKyq.jpg

3/ Typically, if a white collar defendant is charged, the prosecutor calls the defense in advance to bring the client to court.

4/ This saves both sides the hassle of an arrest while ensuring the defendant is present for an initial court appearance.

5/ The fact that lawyers for Manafort and Flynn haven’t been notified means one of two things. One possibility is neither is charged yet.

6/ The other possibility is that Mueller wants to make an arrest, which is unusual in this kind of case.

7/ It could mean he’s concerned about risk of flight or concerned about how the public would perceive a non-arrest of a prominent defendant.

8/ Either alternative is possible, but the more likely alternative is that Mueller has charged someone else. Some attorneys have speculated: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNRSUsqVwAA8g6e.jpg

9/ One possible defendant could be Flynn’s son, who Mueller is investigating. As I’ve discussed, Mueller could use him to get Flynn to flip.

10/ Flynn could then cooperate on his son’s behalf, which is called “vicarious cooperation.”

11/ The article also discussed who released info on the indictment, quoting me on the subject: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNRS45sVoAADnab.jpg

12/ As I said, my gut is that it’s a leak from the defense, assuming defense counsel was notified in advance.

13/ The story also discussed the incredible speed of the Mueller investigation thus far: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNRTY7GUMAATi5M.jpg

14/ As discussed, Mueller has indicted someone much faster than prior special counsels. Usually investigations like this last years.

15/ But as I’ve discussed before, I don’t believe the investigation is over. This is likely an early indictment to get someone to flip. /end

https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/924451221485756416

just wait it out.

Because it's a sealed indictment

ain't shit gonna come from this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/politics/paul-manafort-indicted.html?_r=0

Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Told to Surrender

Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates were told to surrender to federal authorities Monday morning, the first charges in a special counsel investigation, according to a person involved in the case.

The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, and Mr. Gates, a business associate of Mr. Manafort, were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office.

Mr. Gates is a longtime protégé and junior partner of Mr. Manafort. His name appears on documents linked to companies that Mr. Manafort’s firm set up in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe, records reviewed by The New York Times show.

Mr. Manafort had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying.

Attempts to reach Mr. Gates on Monday were not successful. A spokesman for Mr. Manafort did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

at least when it comes to getting someone higher up the chain.

gates stayed with the campaign even after manafort left.
even through the transition, the inauguration, etc.
then started working at a pro-trump pac building relationships with big donors.
gates had long-time dealings with russian oligarchs like manafort as well.

you put some pressure on him, he could have dirt on more folks than manafort (and over a longer period more relevant to the trump administration).

This is going to be fun.

https://media.giphy.com/media/aWssxFetYLzIA/giphy.gif

Really though. There better be some election related stuff wrapped up in these charges.

I don't think it's a good look for Mueller to be jamming people up on tangential things

and sanctions.

But if it's something that happened in 2011....snooze

https://www.justice.gov/file/1007271/download

Hopefully this is just a starting point in order to get more leads.

Both Gates and Manafort have been charged with conspiracy against the United States among 11 additional charges, which include but aren't limited to money laundering.

It's easy to see these are all money crimes (except for the foreign agent registration)

Conspiracy against the United States for what? The charge is conspiracy to defraud US agencies, Justice and Treasury. I.e. conspiracy to commit tax evasion

https://twitter.com/guardianrover/status/924990636612308993

2. Mueller may use these charges as leverage when trying to get Manafort to flip on someone(s) else.

3. None of this is for your entertainment. If you're bored there are telenovelas on 24/7. Try those.

which means they know accounts, shell companies, and the foreign entities he had relationships with.

also these are probably related to the money laundering probe in sdny that mueller is coordinating with. so they may have been trying to lock down state charges that trump cant pardon before the statute of limitations was up.

mueller just started in may.

this is only the beginning.

>
>this is only the beginning.

It would be an embarrassment on an epic scale if this is as serious as it gets (RE the election)

But don't worry, I think this is just the beginning.

Scary title huh?

but I guess it's not serious.

I'd definitely be trying to cut a deal.

dont forget...they are looking at the same type of activity from trump as well (like overvalued florida house sale to dmitry rybolovlev and lord knows what else directly through trump commercial properties).

if you want to make a case for collusion with a foreign government to a jury...its best to outline relationships with that foreign government where benefits could be sought in exchange for an end goal (ie - manafort joining trump campaign to 'get whole' with clients).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/09/20/paul-manaforts-ominous-email-to-an-aide-how-do-we-use-this-to-get-whole

because one question everyone should be asking themselves:
with all of the shady foreign lobby work and money laundering that most people wanna keep in the dark...why was manafort so hellbent on getting such a high profile/attention gig on a major presidential campaign and offering to work for free? *wink wink*

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/how-did-trump-find-manafort-in-the-first-place

The investigation is about the events of the 2016 election. This guy was at the center of it for a time. The campaign manager.

The first indictment of the investigation is a major player. But it is for something that occurred mainly outside his time within the campaign.

It seems like a logical progression to get lower level folks on crimes like this and work the weave to implicate the bigger fish in something bigger and more directly related to the investigation at hand.

But Mueller got the big fish up front on what seems to be not directly related issues. That makes me think that they have nothing else on the dude

But that's not necessarily true.

This could be a sign to others involved that the fedz are closing in. Manafort walked in the FBI's front door. On camera. I bet he's cooperating. Ppl out there who know what he knows might be shook. This is not the end.

Btw - Jared K ran to Saudi Arabia this weekend. Unannounced.

>
>Btw - Jared K ran to Saudi Arabia this weekend. Unannounced.

I dunno. But I heard that and was like 'oh?' Why now?

An unannounced trip to SA on the weekend when a sealed indictment was secured. JK is a 'trusted' advisor - wouldn't the WH need to close ranks and figure next steps? If so - is that one of them? If JK is off negotiating with a foreign nation as part of his assignment to fix the Mid East - is this the best time? News is full of this info. WH has like 0 power to negotiate internationally today. I'd chill on that today and lay low. But he flew to SA. Unannounced. For what?

because he stayed on the trump campaign longer then manafort, was on the transition, inauguration committee, etc.
all of this while being a known pro-russian lobbyist like manafort.
(read this profile on gates:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/despite-russia-controversy-paul-manaforts-partner-is-still-lurking-around-the-white-house)

so even after manafort left...gates still maintained his relationship with the trump team and could have been an embed/handoff for pro-russian interests.

manafort is the most recognizable name.
but gates could have greater exposure/liability (and more to tell).

as far as manafort goes...they were up against the clock with the statute of limitations and wanted to pin down these charges. finanacial crimes are commonly the most easily traceable/proveable (al capone). mueller intentionally assembled a team that had vast experience with money laundering and corruption. he has a gameplan and this is *exactly* where he wanted to start.

so the story isnt how these charges are unrelated to the campaign (though many in the media will sensationalize it as such because that is the only goalpost trump has them focused on). the real story is how we are only 5 months into the mueller investigation and he has already proven that he is operating with methodical precision.

...Mueller can't file on more charges later. Prosecutors do this all the time: file on the charges they know they can immediately prove, then add more charges as they gather more evidence. The purpose here is to get both of them charged, secure a high bail so that they can keep them locked up, and then run the prisoner's dilemma game on them to get at least one of them to flip. And there's a chance that Flynnn has already flipped.

prolly more on manafort as well.

they were just up against statute of limitations on some of these transactions so they have to get these charges on the books.

While I don't think Trumpito's going to get pulled out in handcuff's there's no way it just stops at Manafort; remember the whole 'we talked about russian orphans' meeting that went down with Kushner which was basically code for 'we need dem sanctions gone cause we need to get this cash outta the russian economy to somewhere its safe?'

While the russian bots/influences on the elections are 'been there, done that' as far as news is concerned we are gonna be in for a ride as far as Russian money laundering is concerned, particularly with people like Flynn and Tillerson were all in the White House.

administration members being charged

or (possibly later) perjury?

dont forget clinton got impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice.

trump can lie to the public all he wants. what happens when he has to answer questions in front of a grand jury?

and 69 people got indicted from watergate. many minor players like lawyers, aides, etc. you think nobody associated with this amateur hour in the wh will get bagged up?

impeachments are political, not judicial
unless the House flips next year (50/50: gerrymandering vs dems gift for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory)
then I don't see nathan happening to 45 with this current batch of spineless noodles and sycophants

because thatruth thinks trump and kush wont catch *anything*.

also why i included the watergate indictment count. plenty people caught shrapnel.

:)

Mueller is not playing with these ppl. And some judge sees it and allowed the fedz to pick his lock and bust through his front door with no warning when he was at home. And he's white and not a drug dealer. He's rich too. The 4th amendment exists for him. Judge okayed that kind of act against him. That is some deep shit. He's fucked.

That's like when all the cousins are gonna get it and big mama gets the first one with a broom handle. The rest are wondering what she's gonna do to them.

niggas want this shit to be wrapped up in the same timeframe as a network show season lol.

niggas expect there to be a smoking gun with 'we have colluded with russia to win the 2016 election' engraved on one of the ejected casings lol.

trump has manipulated people into using his own standard and believing anything short of that one specific outcome is irrelevant.

But all of the real heat hit throughout 1974.

It was a long ride.

This may not be WG-like but the point is it took years for the fedz/press to gather the evidence and then months for Congress to decide on impeachment and when it was clear he was done Nixon walked out. It took a long time.

like i said in a previous reply...mueller intentionally assembled a team of prosecutors with stellar records dealing with money laundering for a reason. this is exactly where he wanted to *start*. gotta tie the noose before you tighten it.

Solid proof. I've worked on a few - the discovery is thorough. Boxes of paper and stacks of discs. Witnesses lined up under subpoena. All i's dotted and t's crossed. They don't even seek the indictment until they have it all ready to go. It's stunning.

and looks like they already have a songbird in george papadopoulos.

feds take down secretive highly organized criminal syndicates. these folks literally sent emails like 'this is part of the russian governments plan to help the trump campaign against hillary clinton'.
people think the feds are gonna be outsmarted by this team of dickheads? lol.

everything moves a lot faster now that people communicate better...

hopefully that will mean we dont have to wait 2 years.

b/c that was an old fashioned break in w/a pay out to a handful of dudes. everything domestic.

this is money laundering, fraud, conspiracy involving a hostile foreign gov't, spies, and a presidential campaign. it takes a lot of proof. and financial crimes are difficult to prove b/c of the number of documents to be secured and the number of subpoenas to be secured if the holders of the dox won't cooperate.

maybe by the middle of next year. but months from now.

for real i suggest paying attention to somethings else and not diving too deeply into this until later (like at the end). b/c it'll drive you mad since the press won't have enough info for you b/c Mueller's team doesn't seem to leak. but the press will pick up little pieces of stuff and blow it up and it may not be anything which may make it seem like Mueller doesn't have anything when for real he and his team could have LOTS but are keeping it secret (as it should be).

you're right though, lol

I just don't want to get my hopes up...

Know what he lied about? This is a big deal.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/court-papers-trump-campaign-aide-george-papadopoulos-pleads-50810400

He's working with the Feds and admits to colluding with the Russian government to obtain dirt on Hillary.


https://twitter.com/20committee/status/925009097275174912

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNZQ1MqUQAARSUG.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNZQVT_UIAAmu3R.jpg

who knows what paper trail any of these numbnuts left floating around...

this shit is definitely 'stupid watergate' (c) john oliver

and the russian ambassador.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNZWzfOW0AA7qt6.jpg

they didnt even have code words? lol.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNZWCKkWsAEd4HK.jpg

these niggas really taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy (c) stringer bell

and it's not just him.

news leaks on friday.
charges coming on monday.
nobody notified to surrender in between time.
massive flurry of weekend communication between trump related people
tryna figure out who is getting indicted.
(mueller still has a packed interview schedule with the administration and those communications will def come up).

distract with the manafort/gates indictments on one hand.
reveal on the other hand that you had a 3rd person snitching since july.
show congress both the money laundering branch and direct collusion branch of the investigation are bearing fruit.
kill all 'witch hunt' talking points.

this nigga mueller bout to be a hood legend.

https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/925030757386653696

Sheesh

Probably someone at the court

theres a whole rack of other shit they got evidence of him being involved in (along with other people) that they didnt list in the official charges.
and he most likely corroborated it as part of the deal.

KAREEEM BROUGHT HIM TO MY ATTENTION!!!! (c) Nino Brown

Seth Abrahamson laying everything out, recently updated to include Papadapolous.

TL;DR version: Both Manafort and Gates are in deep shit, these aren't the only charges Mueller can hit them with, just the airtight ones they have right now, Mueller securing high bail for them is important, Flynn may have already flipped, Papadapolous pleading guilty is huge, and Trump has reason to be worried.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/924988111880417280

i see this being about flipping Manafort.

1. they already have Papadopoulos.

2. Gates came in at the same time.

3. Mueller can use Gates and Papadopoulos as leverage to get Manafort to flip.

4. if that doesn't work the high bond can work.

5. especially when Manafort can't post b/c how can he prove the money he used wasn't the result of the criminal activity alleged in the indictment? he ain't got no job!

damn.

* but for real i wanna know why JK went to SA this weekend. like, why THIS weekend? unannounced.

as in "peace, we out to the middle east!"

trying to set up an out? verifying his out is up and running?
although KSA ain't too kosher
but they did take in Idi Amin...

cause if not, he's going to jail.

And he's not a Trump, he won't be as loyal as the Trump kids are. If Mueller quotes some outrageous possible sentence to JK for his involvement, he might piss himself.
---------------------------------------


---------------------------------------

the United States in order to secure a bail they can't afford, literally leading the list of charges with a sure attention-grabber

Just a more sinister phrasing

It specifically mentions that the conspiracy is against the Treasury Department

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/925029460142944258

imagine what else he has that hasn't been released.

til now.
and if he was wearing a wire? sheeeit.

under investigation. hopefully his dumb ass on tape.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

That's equivalent to 10 and 5 bucks for you and me, so they'll probably be home in time for dinner *kanye shrug*

>That's equivalent to 10 and 5 bucks for you and me, so
>they'll probably be home in time for dinner *kanye shrug*

As said in the twitter thread above, in financial crimes prosecutors can insist that the people charged have to show that the money that they're using for bail isn't "ill-gotten." Considering that they're both charge with money laundering, and Manafort worked for Trump free of charge, proving they legitimately have the money may not be see easy.

https://twitter.com/BySteveReilly/status/925063641870856192

Jared Kushner the same guy that held an expensive dinner that charged $100K per person, numbers might be off for the first time in OKP history, for foreign investors to "seek guidance" on how to better align themselves with US business interests.

It feels so rewarding to see the party that held a years long witch hunt on Hillary Clinton get hit with an indictment with the tagline "conspiracy against the US government". Yes, I'm petty and you would be too after sitting through an 11 hour hearing on emails.

I have a damn hard time believing Trump didn't know about any of this. Gates, Papadoulous, and Manafort should snitch for the sake of democracy. Flynn should roll over as well and have his title taken away regardless of the outcome. He's a disgrace to every general in US history. If Trump gets away with this the prestige of democracy is no longer there.

Jared Kushner left the country to consult with Betsy Devos' brother the guy that founded that PMC responsible for heinous crimes in Iraq, in my opinion.

Who's on your "get hit with these charges" christmas list?

Jared Kushner
Betsy Devos
Mike Flynn
Another Trump subordinate

He's probably got a bat cave hidden with all of the juicy details about what happened during the campaign. He needed to run to SA to get his affairs in order and make a few calls in order to secure his future exit.

Secret Service this is all speculation just in case you're watching.

we'll figure out a charge later

>Who's on your "get hit with these charges" christmas list?

Don Jr
Roger Stone
Jared
Sessions
Flynn
Kellyann
Christie
Mayor Rudy
Hannity
Newt
Bannon
that black sherrif asshole
Melania
Barron
anyone who's ever been on Fox & Friends

...

Here are some other people who might be

Michael Flynn
Mike Flynn Jr
Pence
Bannon
Sessions
Donald Trump Jr
Eric Trump
Ivanka Trump
Roger Stone
Carter Page
Devin Nunes
Podesta
The paypal guy I forget his name
The Mercers

Maybe even Paul Ryan and Sean Hannity.

i sincerely believe if he looked out the window and saw the neighborhood kids beating up his son. he'd wait till they're a block away to run out and pretend to chase them off.

Paypal guy is Peter Thiel.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

I know all their hands are dirty, but I also pray for miller and bannon. Basically any outright white supremacist in the WH.

edit - I know they're pretty much all white supremacist in there, but my prayers are for the dominant ones.

:)


https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/10/30/politics/special-counsel-papadopoulos-small-part-of-large-scale-investigation/index.html

took an (fbi approved) trip to london on 10/25.
took a pic right around the corner from julian assange.
that same day assange admits on twitter that cambridge analytica approached wikileaks to offer help disseminating hacked emails.
assange claims wikileaks rejected the offer.
a lot of coincidences lining up.

https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/925144729548935169

if he did meet with papadopoulos then he prolly detailed another version of the cambridge analytica story.
on wire.

the fact mueller unsealed his arrest and publicly exposed his status as an informant means he already has what he wants.

and selling Breitbart to his daughters. Throws Milo under the bus in his statement. I have a hunch this has something to do with the investigation.

him

Investigation started in 2016...it's now 2018

The fok is the point of charging him for illegal activity during the campaign and term, if he's no longer POTUS

C'mon Mueller, bring it home

Yeah, not against anyone in the Trump administration. They want to charge they guy who first investigated the Russia connections. What he supposedly lied about? And why it took them so long to notice the supposed lies? Sorry, that's classified.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/us/politics/christopher-steele-dossier-judiciary-committee.html

WASHINGTON — More than a year after Republican leaders promised to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election, two influential Republicans on Friday made the first known congressional criminal referral in connection with the meddling — against one of the people who sought to expose it.

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior committee member, told the Justice Department they had reason to believe that a former British spy, Christopher Steele, lied to federal authorities about his contacts with reporters regarding information in the dossier, and they urged the department to investigate. The committee is running one of three congressional investigations into Russian election meddling, and its inquiry has come to focus, in part, on Mr. Steele’s explosive dossier that purported to detail Russia’s interference and the Trump campaign’s complicity.

The decision by Mr. Grassley and Mr. Graham to single out the former intelligence officer behind the dossier — and not anyone who may have taken part in the Russian interference — was certain to infuriate Democrats and raise the stakes in the growing partisan battle over the investigations into Mr. Trump, his campaign team and Russia.

More than a year ago, Republican leaders in Congress agreed that committees in the House and Senate would investigate Russia’s efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. Mr. Graham declared in December 2016, “The first thing we want to establish is, ‘Did the Russians hack into our political system?’ Then you work outward from there.”

Since then, that spirit of bipartisanship has frayed. Congressional Democrats have sought to portray the Trump campaign as eager to take whatever help Russia would provide. Republicans have deflected attention from the central issue and sought to cast doubt on Mr. Steele’s dossier and the political research firm that helped produce it, Fusion GPS, whose work was partly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

The criminal referral appears to make no assessment of the veracity of the dossier’s contents, much of which remains unsubstantiated nearly a year after it became public.

But the dossier has emerged as Exhibit A in Republicans’ insistence that Obama-era political bias could have affected the F.B.I.’s decision to open a counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 into whether Mr. Trump’s associates aided the Russia election interference.

Republicans, including the two senators, have argued that the dossier is tantamount to political opposition research, and claimed that it might have been used by the F.B.I. to open its investigation. They have also said it might have provided the basis for key investigative actions, including a secret court-approved wiretap of a Trump campaign aide.

Current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the investigation say that the federal inquiry did not start with the dossier, nor did it rely on it. Rather, they have said, the dossier and the F.B.I.’s discussions with Mr. Steele merely added material to what American law enforcement and spy agencies were gleaning from other sources.

Mr. Grassley’s decision to recommend criminal charges appeared likely to be based on reports of Mr. Steele’s meetings with the F.B.I., which were provided to the committee by the Justice Department in recent weeks.

It was not clear why, if a crime is apparent in the F.B.I. reports that were reviewed by the Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department had not moved to charge Mr. Steele already.

The circumstances under which Mr. Steele is alleged to have lied were unclear, as much of the referral was classified.

In a short cover letter dated Thursday but transmitted on Friday, the senators wrote, “Based on the information contained therein, we are respectfully referring Mr. Steele to you for investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, for statements the Committee has reason to believe Mr. Steele made regarding his distribution of information contained.”

That section of the federal criminal code refers to knowingly making false or misleading statements to federal authorities.

Mr. Steele had repeated contacts before and after the election with F.B.I. counterintelligence agents who were investigating links between the Trump campaign and Russians. The information he shared was apparently valuable enough that the F.B.I. at one point even considered bringing him on as a paid source. They only backed off the idea after the dossier became public in January 2017 and Mr. Steele’s identity became widely known, leading the bureau to conclude that he would no longer be able to function as a source for its investigation.

More recently, Mr. Steele has been in contact with the Justice Department’s special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who took over the investigation last year.

Anyone can make a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which is not obligated to take up the matter. But a recommendation from a senior senator who runs the committee that has oversight of the department comes with added weight.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the referral. But Fusion characterized the recommendation to charge Mr. Steele as a smear and an attempt to further muddy the inquiry into Russia’s interference.

“Publicizing a criminal referral based on classified information raises serious questions about whether this letter is nothing more than another attempt to discredit government sources, in the midst of an ongoing criminal investigation,” said Joshua A. Levy, the lawyer for Fusion. “We should all be skeptical in the extreme.”

Mr. Grassley is overseeing an array of inquiries related to the F.B.I. and its investigations of both Mrs. Clinton and the Trump campaign. He and Mr. Graham have repeatedly pressed the agency on its handling of the dossier in particular and fought to gain access to key agency witnesses and documents about the matter, reviewing a large tranche of such material in recent weeks.

Fusion GPS hired Mr. Steele, a former officer of Britain’s MI6 with deep connections in Russia, during the spring of 2016 to research Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia. His findings were ultimately compiled into 35 pages of memos outlining a multipronged conspiracy between the Russian government and the Trump campaign to boost his candidacy and hurt Mrs. Clinton, including corrupt business dealings and salacious details alleging an encounter between Mr. Trump and Russian prostitutes.

The firm was first hired by The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website, in May 2016, and its work was later funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign.

This week has seen Mr. Grassley engage in a heated spat with Fusion over the testimony of one of its executives, Glenn R. Simpson. It began when Mr. Simpson and his partner, Peter Fritsch, published an op-ed article in The New York Times accusing Republicans of waging “a cynical campaign” to try to discredit the firm and its findings and calling on the relevant congressional committees to release transcripts of a series of closed-door interviews with the men.

A spokesman for Mr. Grassley, Taylor Foy, shot back, saying that Mr. Simpson had been less than transparent with the committee and had declined to provide public testimony or additional documents and answers requested after the interview. He also said and that “Mr. Simpson and his attorney demanded during the interview that the transcript be kept confidential.” A lawyer for Fusion GPS, Joshua Levy, in turn, disputed that account, and said that upon review, his client now wanted the transcript to be made public — a request Mr. Grassley has denied.

The senator is not the only prominent Republican lawmaker pressing the Justice Department and Fusion GPS for answers on the dossier. Representative Devin Nunes of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has been locked in a standoff with the department over access to documents and witnesses he views as crucial to unraveling what the F.B.I. did with the dossier. And he has aggressively pursued Fusion GPS, subpoenaing the company’s bank records and sending two committee staff members to London last summer to try to meet with Mr. Steele unannounced.

A resolution with the Justice Department appeared to be imminent this week, after Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, paid an unexpected visit to Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. Mr. Nunes, whom Democrats have accused of acting to protect Mr. Trump, said in a statement after the meeting that he expected to gain the access he desired.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/prosecutors-seek-may-14-trial-date-for-manafort-and-gates/2018/01/12/edc4655e-f7d0-11e7-b34a-b85626af34ef_story.html?utm_term=.59c4226b77a1

Prosecutors seek May 14 trial date for Manafort and Gates
By Spencer S. Hsu January 12

Prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III said Friday that they will ask a federal judge to set a May 14 trial date for President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, as well as a business partner, on fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges.

The government stated its intention in a court filing that also summarized how much evidence prosecutors have turned over as required to Manafort’s co-defendant, Rick Gates. The filing comes ahead of a hearing Tuesday to update U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington on the status of the case.

Manafort, 68, and his longtime deputy Gates, 45, have pleaded not guilty and remain under home detention while details are worked out for their release on secured bonds of $10 million and nearly $5 million, respectively.

They were indicted Oct. 30 in connection with Manafort’s secret lobbying for a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine, in the first publicly disclosed criminal charges in Mueller’s investigation of possible Russian influence in U.S. political affairs.

Separately, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump campaign foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about their foreign contacts and are cooperating with investigators.

On Friday, Mueller’s team said that it had turned over more than 590,000 records to Gates, among them emails, financial and corporate records — including 2,200 designated by prosecutors as “hot” or high-priority — and copies of information on 87 electronic devices such as laptops and phones collected through 19 search warrants. Thirty-five of the devices were seized from Manafort’s house, the filing says.

The number of records in the case has ballooned since prosecutors made a similar disclosure Dec. 8, when they gave both defendants some 400,000 items, including contents of 36 memory devices, and disclosed 15 warrants.

The latest four-page filing states that the government’s investigation has continued and that on Friday, the government turned over a sixth batch of records, including foreign bank records obtained since the two men were charged.

In a footnote, prosecutors noted that they are not turning over to Gates records that they obtained from Manafort that are not relevant to Gates’s case, and vice versa. They also wrote that “electronic evidence seized from Manafort’s residence was previously made available to Manafort earlier this year (to the extent that the FBI was able to access the devices/media seized at that time).”

The special counsel’s office recently added a veteran cyber-prosecutor to its team.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Ryan K. Dickey was assigned to Mueller’s team in early November from the Justice Department’s computer crime and intellectual-property section, joining 16 other lawyers.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/politics/manafort-gates-trial-midterms/index.html

Manafort, Gates trial could come days before midterm election
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

Updated 11:47 AM ET, Tue January 16, 2018


Washington (CNN)The midterm elections this year might be haunted by allegations of Russian meddling in Donald Trump's presidential campaign, after a federal judge said Tuesday that Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates may face their criminal trial just before November.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson suggested at a hearing Tuesday morning that the trial could start in September or October, meaning it could potentially end weeks or days before the midterm election.

Prosecutors from Robert Mueller's special counsel office asked for three weeks to present their side of the case at the trial.

The judge refrained from setting a firm date. Previously, Berman Jackson and the prosecution had sought a May start for the trial. That date was too soon, she said, because Mueller's office was still turning over evidence to the defense team -- some 640,000 documents and other items as of this week, prosecutors said.

Statements from the defense teams addressing their indictments will be due by the end of February, and both sides will argue about them through March, the judge said.

The men face a total of 12 charges related to money laundering and falsifying records. Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty.

Gates released from house arrest

Berman Jackson also said in court that Gates could be released from house arrest Tuesday, a change in his bail that he'd sought for months. Bates will live in Richmond, Virginia, under a nightly curfew, will wear a GPS monitor and won't be allowed near airports, train stations and bus stations. He will post more than $5 million as collateral for his bail.

Manafort is still not out from house arrest. "The keys to his release lay with him," Berman Jackson said, while noting she still awaited paperwork from Manafort to secure his $10 million bail.

She noted that his doctor had sent her a note related to his house arrest. "While he is subject to home confinement, he's not confined to his couch. I believe he has the opportunity to exercise," Berman Jackson said.

Repeating gag order

Berman Jackson also warned Gates about making public statements, especially to journalists and through spokespeople, after he filmed a video that thanked potential legal defense fund donors at a gathering in late December.

This was the second time Berman Jackson warned one of the defendants about violating the court's gag order on the case, which is meant to prevent both sides from influencing public opinion. She previously warned Manafort after he worked on an op-ed that defended his political consulting work in Ukraine and was submitted to a Ukrainian newspaper.

The judge set two upcoming hearings for Manafort and Gates: on February 14 and on April 17.

to the congressional committee is a bit of a turning point..

it's Trumps first attempt to stop testimony by one of his top people..

Bannon's gonna give Mueller some major dirt....

and apparently answered every question they gave him. Gates has flipped. Don Don is in trouble.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/15/politics/rick-gates-plea-deal-mueller-russia-investigation/index.html?sr=twCNN021518rick-gates-plea-deal-mueller-russia-investigation0618PMVODtop

This gets to the Russia interference part of the investigation. Don't know if this directly ties into to Trump though

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/russians-indicted-in-special-counsel-robert-muellers-probe.html

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said Friday that a grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections, during which they boosted the candidacy of Donald Trump.

The indictment says that the defendants by early to mid-2016 were "supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump ... and disparaging Hillary Clinton."

The indictment said "the organization," known as the Internet Research Agency LLC, "sought, in part, to conduct what it called 'information warfare against the United States of America' through fictitious U.S. personas on social media platforms and other Internet-based media."

"By in or around May 2014, the organization's strategy included interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with the stated goal of "spread distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general," the indictment said.

An announcement from Mueller's office said that the government accuses all the defendants of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Three defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

Five defendants are charged with aggravated identity theft.

just to make their narratives work lol.

https://twitter.com/ScottPresler/status/964561770332545025

Also he's so young that he SHOULD know better.

but the whole time while you're in his house drinking his scotch he says shit like

"...I should know, my girl is black, thats why I can say stuff like that. It's true. Jasmine, tell me I'm wrong."

a job interview

but please ask yourself

....how many of them predicted this, today, before it happened?

apply that information to their speculation of what will happen next.

(they don't know, no matter how long and detailed their thread is)

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/964594780088033282


advisor to the minister of economic development of the russian federation. jan 22 2014.
https://twitter.com/AlferovaYulyaE/status/426103699572678656

just to be sure we got all of 2014 covered.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/16/mueller-manafort-bank-fraud-accusations-416509

even more than usual. he feels the walls closing in.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-rick-gates-plea-deal-20180218-story.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/politics/new-charges-manafort-and-gates/index.html

So part of the reason Manafort got busted is because he didn't know how to convert a PDF into a MS Word file. So, instead of using Google, or fucking Clippy, he e-mailed the PDFs to Gates so he could do it for him. Gates would do the fact, send them back to Manafort, who would then alter them and e-mail them back to Gates to be reconverted into PDFs.

And, of course, left an electronic paper trail.

Morons.


https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/paul-manafort-couldnt-convert-pdfs-to-word-documents.html

Jesus...this is Shamrock levels of taking notes on a criminal fuckin conspiracy (c)

wanting to convert a pdf into word format. I wouldn't know how to do that off the top of my head, but I never use Word. Like he said, though, Google would have helped me.

EDIT: Oh, but then Manafort didn't know how to "Print to PDF" and sent it back AGAIN. So yeah, it sounds like Mueller got the document at every stage of the fraud. People are idiots.

And why do that when you’ve got millions of dollars to launder?

do you have a paypal account? have you read the indictments? Mueller knows everything, they have plenty of evidence.

I don't doubt that the charges on him might stick. But life? For money laundering? Nah

This is the internet, soooo I'm not betting anything. But I'm happy to give my worthless opinion

He was working against the United States. He’s done.

A

He might not have too many years left in him

But I doubt his sentence is anything close to the years we typically consider close to a life sentence

https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/world/read-the-special-counsels-indictment-of-paul-manafort-and-rick-gates/2783/

Fits him with 2 GPS monitors

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/13/judge-manafort-could-face-rest-of-life-in-prison-460302

https://media.giphy.com/media/1h3QOlNQp1L20/giphy.gif

I'M SNITCHING off gp. Give me a wire right now after getting hit with 32-count indictment. These are white collar crimes so snitching doesn't mean the same anyways. Call me Troy Ave because I'm taking the stand with my middle finger pointed straight at Trump.

He must have been Pavarotti in that interrogation room?

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/968516999545573377?s=09

He's nervous. I think the Kush man gets indicted soon.

Everytime 45 goes off on Twitter an affidavit gets filed

I wonder why.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/27/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgrade-427178

https://twitter.com/MrRobotCodeBrkr/status/968602700052037633

There’s this too

https://t.co/wqBC1kGf4a

they leaked that to let him know they got much more on surveillance.

its interesting that united arab emirates also has an investigation into diamonds from ivankas jewelry line being used in a money laundering operation.

letting Kush know nowhere's safe

UAE: has spent trillions on American weapons, aircraft, all that shit. When I was in the Navy we frequently stopped in Dubai. Anti-Iranian hardliner country.

Israel: America's 51st state.

China: All that tough guy trade deficit talk by 45 went out the window real quick when Kush probably reminded him he's been trying to drum up biz there

Mexico: They will never pay for the fucking wall (c) and if the leftist gets elected in July...

Whoever leaked this is telling Kush "nobody can save you"

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/968594223099449345

guess we know what the morning rant was all about.

https://twitter.com/PaulBegala/status/968660389633445888

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/politics/trump-russia-investigation/index.html

in advance. My guess is Mueller already knows the answer and wants more witnesses. Trump is going down, it's just a matter of time.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mueller-asking-what-trump-knew-about-hacked-emails-n851941

this wasnt exactly the tightest run ship and bobby is already right outside the captains quarters.

dude is moving fast af.

Interesting.
The big story out of that "private" hearing was that she said she occasionally tells "white lies" for the administration.

3/ I'm put in mind immediately of things that leave sinking ships

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/968964834053287936

http://www.businessinsider.com/hope-hicks-trump-pants-2017-12

the alleged quid pro quo from the dossier seems to have fallen through.

https://www.axios.com/exxonmobil-to-cut-ties-with-russias-rosneft-ad34cde1-dac9-4b16-bce6-97d571de428e.html

i wonder if everyone knows something is coming down the pike. sessions, gowdy, thornberry...they seemed to take a hard turn against trump.

Check this out.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cefc-probe/chinas-cefc-chairman-taken-in-for-questioning-for-suspected-economic-crimes-source-idUSKCN1GD3O9

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/business/jared-kushner-apollo-citigroup-loans.html

>https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/business/jared-kushner-apollo-citigroup-loans.html

smh...

one of these loans is from this past November...

did this fool honestly think this wouldn't be a red flag considering the fact that he was under investigation when he was getting these loans..

Honestly we should be thankful they are all so dumb. If Trump doesn’t fire Comey they might have all gotten away with this. Or at least it would have taken longer. Good article from a conservative about Kushner yesterday.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-deep-state-takes-out-the-white-houses-dark-clown-prince

He said that the Comey firing was going to prove to be the biggest mistake.

you really just gotta be paying attention

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/mueller-team-asking-if-kushner-foreign-business-ties-influenced-trump-n852681

back in season 1. along with damn near half the appointed department heads like pruitt, zinke, etc.

the fact that repubs are completely okay with the open/blatant opportunism and grifting and their party still votes for them is crazy.

but to do something, we shall see. I'm hoping there's some republicans who are secretly against Trump and doing things behind the scenes. This administration is so corrupt, it's crazy.

Fuck them all. Supporting or defending even a sliver of this bullshit administration's agenda is reason enough for all of them to have to look for new careers.

It's actually unbelievable that there's someone worse than Bush. I thought America would never let anyone get even CLOSE to W again, but instead we got worse.

Shithole country.

cause I seriously doubt white America goes this hard for a guy like Trump if Obama wasn't in office.

Its simple both are polar opposites to their predecessors..It's just reactions
----------

IG @h_n_z

they meant it when they said shit like 'we will let the people of alabama decide' in regards to the roy moore shit. their moral compass only has 2 directions...win and loss.

they have been flagrantly tearing down democratic norms and values at the state and federal level since obama got elected and havent faced any dramatic electoral consequences. in fact they have been rewarded for it by sweeping victories from their voters.

when our governmental checks on power fail...the ultimate check is supposed to be the vote of the people. once we reach the point that a large segment of our population is completely supportive of greed and corruption as long as its their tribe doing it...im not even sure a democracy can sustain.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/special-counsel-wants-documents-trump-numerous-campaign-associates-n853386

Special counsel wants documents from Trump, numerous campaign associates
by KATY TUR and ALEX JOHNSON
MAR 4 2018, 10:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON — The grand jury investigating alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign has issued a subpoena seeking all documents involving the president and a host of his closest advisers, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by NBC News.

According to the subpoena, which was sent to a witness by special counsel Robert Mueller, investigators want emails, text messages, work papers, telephone logs and other documents going back to Nov. 1, 2015, 4½ months after Trump launched his campaign.

The witness shared details of the subpoena on condition of anonymity. The news site Axios reported Sunday that a subpoena was sent to a witness last month.

NBC News reported last week that Mueller's team is asking pointed questions about whether Trump knew about hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign before the public found out. The subpoena indicates that Mueller may be focused not just on what Trump campaign aides knew and when they knew it, but also on what Trump himself knew.

In addition to the president, the subpoena seeks documents that have anything to do with these current and former Trump associates:

Steve Bannon, who left the White House as chief strategist in August.

Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for Trump who testified before congressional investigators in October.

Rick Gates, Trump's former deputy campaign manager, who pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and lying to the FBI.

Hope Hicks, who resigned last week as Trump's communications director.

Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager until June 2016.

Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager and Gates' business partner, who pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and making false statements last week.

Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.

Keith Schiller, a former bodyguard for Trump who left as director of Oval Office operations in September.

Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political operative and Trump campaign adviser who sources have told NBC News is the focus of investigators interested in his contacts with WikiLeaks during the campaign.

Once Hicks' resignation takes effect in the next few weeks, Cohen will be the only person listed in the subpoena who hasn't left the employment of Trump or of the White House.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/05/ex-trump-aide-nunberg-will-refuse-mueller-subpoena.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/05/politics/sam-nunberg-analysis/index.html

Sing like the birds

Go to jail for snubbing the special council like it was parent requestinf those emails

Or he kills himself on some Markinsons in A Few Good Men shit lol

----------

IG @h_n_z

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/06/politics/sam-nunberg-robert-mueller-backtracks-will-cooperate/index.html

what a goof.

on Tuesday

It seriously defies all explanation.

Like, they've been put in a position where they should excel, because no one really cares how corrupt they are, and they still manage to fuck it up?

>It seriously defies all explanation.
>
>Like, they've been put in a position where they should excel,
>because no one really cares how corrupt they are, and they
>still manage to fuck it up?

FYI, if I was white I'd be 1 million times worse, ESPECIALLY ON OKP, than any of these guys. I'd be on white privilege shit all the time.

Their base won't make them accountable so none of this matters. Ethics don't matter. The prestige of their respective positions don't matter. Literally do anything say anything and get away with it.

You see Kellyanne violated the Hatch Act twice and nothing comes of it.

If you confess to a crime while drunk/high/trippin balls/whatever
does it count?

Where does the "of sound mind and body" come in?

None of what he said was "under oath" while he was on trial or in front of Congress. Nor was it said in front of some sort of Law Enforcement body, like local PD, FBI, etc.

So I'm guessing he could argue to the FBI that when he said that shit in on TV he was drunk/angry/not in his right mind, so he didn't really mean it. It makes him look bad, but it alone isn't enough proof to "convict" or whatever.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-campaign-big-macs-screaming-fits-and-constant-rivalries/2017/12/02/18bcfa30-d6bd-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?utm_term=.a643d8ecf2e8

"In another episode, Lewandowski describes how staffer Sam Nunberg was purposely left behind at a McDonald’s because Nunberg’s special-order burger was taking too long. “Leave him,” Trump said. “Let’s go.” And they did."

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

We will probably never see this much comedy again from the White House once their time is done.

... of "WTF ?!??!!" and being able to tell what's real and what isn't.

45*'s admin isn't funny anymore because it's so over-the-top and non-stop that it's impossible to keep up. Shit, South Park can't even figure out how to skewer them.

>"In another episode, Lewandowski describes how staffer Sam
>Nunberg was purposely left behind at a McDonald’s because
>Nunberg’s special-order burger was taking too long. “Leave
>him,” Trump said. “Let’s go.” And they did."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/06/politics/george-nader-robert-mueller/index.html

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/13/judge-manafort-could-face-rest-of-life-in-prison-460302

talked of being in contact with julian assange throughout the campaign and said he had knowledge of stolen emails in spring 2016 (before the stolen emails were released).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/roger-stone-claimed-contact-with-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-in-2016-according-to-two-associates/2018/03/13/a263f842-2604-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html

nunberg just turned over all emails he had with roger stone (during the campaign) to a grand jury last week.

stone *publicly* bragged about having a backchannel with wikileaks and said podestas time in the barrel was coming (before the emails were released). he has since walked back those comments with some looseleaf bullshit excuses.

thank god these dudes are complete idiots. lord knows what folks could pull off on america if they had their shit together.

I love how he said publicly that he was communicating with Assange then he says well I didn't mean I was actually communicating with Assange.

he was skinning and grinning right along with roger stone






also- racist teeth

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/us/politics/trump-organization-subpoena-mueller-russia.html

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/democrats-may-seek-prosecution-of-witnesses-who-misled-house-intelligence-committee/

Democrats May Seek Prosecution of Witnesses Who Misled House Intelligence Committee

Erik Prince, Carter Page, and Roger Stone are among their top targets.

DAN FRIEDMAN AND ANDY KROLLMAR. 16, 2018 2:13 PM


Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are reviewing transcripts of interviews conducted during the panel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and plan to refer any witnesses who lied to the panel to the Justice Department for prosecution.

“We’re gonna be going through the transcripts and analyzing them for any concerns we have with the greater body of information we have,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) tells Mother Jones. “We’ll discuss it with the majority and ask whether they’ll join us in a referral, or, if we think one is warranted, then we reserve the right to make a referral even if they don’t.”

According to a source close to the committee, Democrats firmed up their plans to pursue criminal referrals this past week after their Republican colleagues abruptly announced they were ending the panel’s investigation. Democrats would send the referrals to the Justice Department and potentially directly to special counsel Robert Mueller.

Schiff and other Democrats have recently questioned the truthfulness of the testimony provided by three witnesses: Erik Prince, the former head of the security firm Blackwater and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; Carter Page, a former Trump campaign national security aide; and Roger Stone, a longtime Trump political adviser.

Prince said during a November 30 committee interview that a United Arab Emirates-brokered meeting he had in the Seychelles with a Russian fund manager close to Russian President Vladimir Putin was unplanned. But recent reports suggest Mueller has information showing the meeting was part of an effort by Trump’s transition team to set up back-channel communications with the Kremlin.

In his testimony to the committee last fall, Page first denied and then downplayed meetings with Russian officials during a July 2016 trip he took to Moscow. In a memo last month, Schiff said the FBI has information that contradicts Page’s claims.

Stone, meanwhile, reportedly told the panel last September that he had no direct contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. But recent reports have cast doubt on Stone’s denial.

Prince, Page, and Stone maintain they testified honestly. “I never ever have represented as anyone from the Trump transition, and the only reason I went to the Seychelles was to see” Mohammed bin Zayed, the United Arab Emirates’ crown prince, Prince told Fox News last week. “No one from the Trump transition team knew I was going,” Prince added.

Members of Congress are granted no special power to send criminal referrals to the Justice Department. Anyone can make one. But a referral by lawmakers would draw public notice and perhaps extra attention in Mueller’s office. Prosecutors there have already used false statement charges to win cooperation from three witnesses: Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser; Dutch lawyer Alex Van Deer Zwaan; and former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort also faces charges of making false statements to the Justice Department.

In January, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a senior Judiciary Committee member, sent the Justice Department a referral letter suggesting the prosecution of former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who authored the infamous memos alleging Trump was compromised by the Kremlin and that his campaign colluded with Russia. Grassley and Graham claimed that Steele had lied to the FBI about his contacts with the media, though critics say their referral is legally meritless and an act of political retribution.

Schiff says he is “not sure that any referral is necessary” for false claims that Prince and Page may have made. Transcripts of those interviews are public, so Mueller’s team already has the ability to review and assess those witnesses’ claims against information they have gathered. A transcript of Stone’s September 26, 2017, interview, however, has not been made public.

Committee Democrats have no specific timeline for issuing referrals, Schiff notes. Because Republicans did not force many witnesses to turn over banking, phone, and other records that might support or contradict their claims, he says, “we can’t tell who is telling the truth in many cases.”

But new reports that contradict the truthfulness of witnesses testimony could result in referrals down the road. “As additional things come to light, if there are reports of witnesses saying things that are inconsistent with what has been said to the committee, that list could grow,” Schiff says.

Democrats say they remain open to Republicans joining them in referrals to Mueller, though Republicans would likely oppose such efforts. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), a senior committee member, dismissed Democrats’ potential efforts to refer witnesses for prosecution: “Those guys just keep trying.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-lone-dnc-hacker-guccifer-20-slipped-up-and-revealed-he-was-a-russian-intelligence-officer

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mueller/mueller-issues-grand-jury-subpoenas-to-trump-advisers-social-media-consultant-idUSKCN1IH2OB

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/16/5-things-we-just-learned-from-the-trump-tower-meeting-transcripts/?utm_term=.a1af5894840a

More indictments to come, Kush man is going too.

the base can't be moved, can't be bothered.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/manafort-attempted-to-tamper-with-potential-witnesses-u-s-special-counsel-idUSKCN1J1043

Manafort attempted to tamper with potential witnesses: U.S. special counsel

JUNE 4, 2018 / 7:46 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who has been indicted by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, attempted to tamper with potential witnesses, Mueller said in a court filing on Monday.

Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, asked the judge overseeing the case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to revoke or revise an order releasing Manafort ahead of his trial.

--

Reuters: MANAFORT CALLED, TEXTED AND SENT ENCRYPTED MESSAGES TO TWO PEOPLE IN FEBRUARY TO "INFLUENCE THEIR TESTIMONY AND TO OTHERWISE CONCEAL EVIDENCE" - FBI STATEMENT FILED BY MUELLER

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1003802344927227910

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-manafort-judge-jail-20180615-story.html

i wasnt born with a silver spoon in my mouth MISS HAWKINS!!!!!!!!!!

Changes time zones. Stays awake for 27 hours. Travels 9000 miles. Changes time zones.
Then tries to get up for a real job within the next day or two.

People dive into his psyche but don’t also confront his faculties.

if it were someone else... they may get a pass for age, health , etc...

We're just not used to a high level politician acting this way.

To me, he sounds pretty calculating in these "crazy" episodes. He repeats the same lies over and over, and the people he is trying to reach eat it up.

If you check conservative spaces, they are talking about how the IG report completely exhonerates him in Mueller's investigation (it doesn't even touch on that).
They're talking about how the Democrats are the cause of the child separation issue (it's not, it a new Homeland security policy).

He sets the narrative for his people. You and me are not the audience

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/donald-trump-brain-health

Watch the video.

Making sure some players get the message loud and clear

“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” the former New York mayor told the Daily News.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-rudy-muller-pardons-trump-manafort-20180615-story.html

In one of his most forceful attacks on the special counsel yet, Rudy Giuliani on Friday claimed the Russia investigation could get “cleaned up” with pardons from President Trump in light Paul Manafort being sent to jail.

“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” the former New York mayor told the Daily News.

Giuliani’s stunning remark came hours after a Washington, D.C., judge revoked Manafort’s bail and ordered him to remain behind bars while awaiting his September trial. The ruling came after Robert Mueller’s investigators alleged Manafort had attempted to tamper with witnesses in the Russia investigation.

Giuliani, who worked as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade, claimed he had seen no evidence to warrant Manafort being sent to jail.

“I don’t understand the justification for putting him in jail,” Giuliani, 74, said. “You put a guy in jail if he’s trying to kill witnesses, not just talking to witnesses.”

thats going to look real Presidential..not like he cares but still

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-15/mueller-remains-trump-s-biggest-threat

New York’s Case Against Trump May Be Prophetic

Why the complaint involving the president’s foundation is a road map for Mueller.

By Francis Wilkinsin
June 16, 2018, 9:00 AM CDT

The report released by the inspector general of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday painted a vivid picture of the past. It shows that in 2016, James Comey, then the FBI director, inexcusably broke the rules in advertising his department’s investigation into Hillary Clinton while simultaneously following the rules in keeping its investigation of Donald Trump under wraps.

Trump has already mischaracterized the report, in the way Trump routinely does. But it’s unclear, ultimately, how much all this history matters politically.

For a more prophetic vision of the future, you should read the complaint against Trump, his children and his foundation by New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

Why prophetic? Because it’s likely a preface to the report or complaint that special counsel Robert Mueller will bring. The alleged crimes described by Underwood are not similar to those being investigated by Mueller. But the behavior is.

One stumbling block to public understanding of the Mueller probe, in addition to a steady stream of propaganda and lies designed to undermine it, is that it’s hard for even a cynic to accept the premises of what is being investigated.

U.S. history simply doesn’t offer a lot of reference points for a major-party political candidate who so casually subverts the law and sells out the nation’s highest values. How many Richard Nixons are there?

To believe the accusations that Trump colluded with Russia, laundered vast amounts of money and/or put American foreign policy on the auction block in return for the enrichment of his family requires an awkward leap of faith. You have to believe this leader is both profoundly corrupt -- far more so than Nixon -- and staggeringly sloppy -- again more so than Nixon.

This is essentially the portrait that Underwood paints in the detailed accusations against the head of the Trump Foundation: that of a shady huckster who engages in “persistently illegal conduct” and is buffoonishly sloppy along the way.

To give credit where it’s due, the New York attorney general is building on the case built in 2016 by Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold, whose search for legitimate charitable activity by Trump’s foundation consistently left the reporter comically empty-handed.

What Fahrenthold detailed was Trump’s utter disregard for the law in taking in tax-deductible contributions to his foundation and proceeding to spend the money on his personal and business needs.


New findings, for instance, show that the Trump Foundation’s largest-ever gift — $264,631 — was used to renovate a fountain outside the windows of Trump’s Plaza Hotel.

Its smallest-ever gift, for $7, was paid to the Boy Scouts in 1989, at a time when it cost $7 to register a new Scout. Trump’s oldest son was 11 at the time. Trump did not respond to a question about whether the money was paid to register him.


Take a moment to savor that last detail. A man claiming to be worth billions of dollars -- and who certainly flaunted the lifestyle -- appears to have illegally diverted $7 from a charitable foundation to pay his son’s Boy Scouts registration fee.

Trump’s foundation is organized “exclusively for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes either directly or by contributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code."

Instead, as Underwood’s complaint shows clearly, he used it to pay settlements incurred in business lawsuits and to advance his 2016 political campaign. The foundation took in millions in donations for veterans. His campaign then directed the foundation to issue checks to Iowa veterans groups in advance of the Iowa caucuses as he sought to curry political favor.

How does Underwood know campaign personnel were involved in spending decisions? Because the Trumpsters are so recklessly contemptuous of rules that they left a trail of this blatant violation of campaign-finance law on their emails. At least one email thread included Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski weighing in on where he wanted the foundation’s tax-deductible funds directed.

The foundation also made a $25,000 contribution to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who subsequently determined that fraud charges against Trump’s university were not a proper matter for her office. The foundation listed the contribution as going to a Kansas nonprofit with the same name as Bondi’s political committee.

“The Foundation has no credible explanation for the false reporting of grant recipients to the IRS and the State of New York,” Underwood concluded.

Trump will likely claim he was uninvolved and unaware. But Underwood’s complaint has that covered, too.


Mr. Trump, who was the sole signatory on the Foundation's bank accounts, approved all grants and other disbursements from the Foundation. Accounting staff for the Trump Organization had responsibility for issuing checks from the Foundation, and issued the checks based solely on Mr. Trump's approval before presenting the checks to Mr. Trump for signature.


Indeed, the foundation’s board didn’t provide much of a check on Trump’s personal whims, owing to the fact that, in violation of the law, it “has not met since 1999 and does not oversee the activities of the Foundation in any way.”

It took the attorney general’s office months to investigate this narrow corner of the Trump universe – even though the evidence was lying around in plain sight. Mueller’s investigation is far broader and more consequential. His complaint may yet take a while. But it should be a doozy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/manafort-had-10-million-loan-from-russian-oligarch-court-filing-idUSKBN1JN2YF

Manafort had $10 million loan from Russian oligarch: court filing
JUNE 27, 2018 / 3:07 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Reuters Staff

(Reuters) - A search warrant application unsealed on Wednesday revealed closer links than previously known between President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin.

In an affidavit attached to the July 2017 application, an FBI agent said he had reviewed tax returns for a company controlled by Manafort and his wife that showed a $10 million loan from a Russian lender identified as Oleg Deripaska.

The application to search Manafort’s Virginia apartment was granted, providing key evidence for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictments of Manafort as part of his investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Mueller has been investigating the financial links between Manafort and Deripaska, a metals magnate who is known to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Deripaska was among the Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the United States in April.

Mueller also has indicted Konstantin Kilimnik, a political operative who sometimes served as an intermediary between Manafort and Deripaska. In court filings Mueller’s prosecutors have said Kilimnik has ties to Russian spy agencies, which Kilimnik denies.

The affidavit unsealed on Wednesday also disclosed that Deripaska had financially backed Manafort’s consulting work in Ukraine when it started in 2005-2006, citing information from a source whose name was redacted, a sign that a former Manafort associate may have cooperated with the investigation.

On Tuesday a federal judge in Virginia dealt a blow to Manafort by rejecting a motion to dismiss the case on the argument Mueller did not have the mandate to prosecute him.

Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign manager during part of his 2016 presidential campaign, has been indicted in Washington and Virginia on charges ranging from conspiring to launder money, bank and tax fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent for the pro-Russia Ukraine government.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty. His Virginia trial starts in July and his Washington trial is scheduled for September.

The search warrant application also confirmed that Mueller has been investigating Manafort’s role in a June 9, 2016, meeting that he attended at the Trump Tower in New York between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer and self-professed Kremlin informant who purportedly was carrying damaging information on Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president.

The FBI sought “communications, records, documents and other files involving any of the attendees of the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump tower, as well as Aras and Amin Agalarov,” said the application, which misspelled the first name of Emin Agalarov.

Aras Agalarov is a Russian oligarch close to Putin who joined the elder Trump in staging the 2013 Miss Universe contest in Moscow. His son, Emin, is a popular singer.


Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-inconvenient-legal-troubles-that-lie-ahead-for-the-trump-foundation

The Inconvenient Legal Troubles That Lie Ahead for the Trump Foundation
By Adam Davidson June 27, 2018

Barring an unexpected change, the Donald J. Trump Foundation will be defending itself in a New York courtroom shortly before this fall’s midterm elections. The proceedings seem unlikely to go well for the institution and its leadership; President Trump and his elder children, Ivanka, Donald, Jr., and Eric, are being sued by New York’s attorney general, Barbara Underwood, for using the charity to enrich and benefit the Trump family. On Tuesday, the judge in the case, Saliann Scarpulla, made a series of comments and rulings from the bench that hinted—well, all but screamed—that she believes the Trump family has done some very bad things.

The judge seemed frustrated, even confused, that the Trumps were fighting the case at all. At one point, she told a lawyer for the Trump children that they should just settle out of court and voluntarily agree to one of the sanctions: a demand by the Attorney General that they not serve on the boards of any nonprofits for one year. (The case will be tried in civil court, and the Trumps aren’t facing any criminal charges.) That’s far from the worst sort of punishment, but to accede to it would be a public embarrassment and an acknowledgement that the family did, indeed, use the foundation as something of a private slush fund to enrich themselves and reward their cronies. Judge Scarpulla made clear that she felt the children should agree to the sanction now, and that, if they don’t, she will probably impose a similar restriction “with or without your agreement.”

The case against the Trumps appears damning. Charitable foundations are governed by a crucial compromise: they can operate without paying taxes on the condition that their leadership insures that all money spent is spent in pursuit of the public good. The case brought by Attorney General Underwood shows that the Trump Foundation was neither well-managed nor focussed on what would generally be considered the public good. Its operations were shockingly sloppy; at least one of the organization’s official board members said that he had no idea he was on the board and that the board had never met, to his knowledge. No surprise, then, that the other controls that normally govern nonprofits were absent. As David Fahrenthold, of the Washington Post, exposed in a series of stories in 2016, the Foundation did virtually none of the charitable things it claimed to be doing.

In recent years, the only “contributions” to the charity seem to have been payments from business partners, not from the Trumps or the Trump Organization. The charity’s spending appears to have benefitted the Trumps themselves, not the public welfare. The organization had been operating this way for years, but, according to Underwood, in 2016 the Trump Foundation became an arm of the Trump political campaign, cutting checks to Trump’s political allies in key states just before the election. If true, this would mean that the Trump Foundation evolved from a mere tax-avoidance scheme into an instrument for carrying out potential acts of campaign-finance fraud. The Attorney General made clear that her evidence could support criminal cases against the Trumps, but she has no jurisdiction to bring such charges, since tax and campaign fraud are federal matters. She referred the case to federal officials, though it seems unlikely that the I.R.S. or the Federal Election Commission would choose to prosecute a sitting President or his children.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the Trump Foundation’s lawyer, Alan Futerfas, asked that the trial not commence in October, because it was so close to the midterms. Judge Scarpulla laughed in response, did not change the trial date, and hinted that she is likely to require the President to testify. It is not clear, however, that such a trial would dramatically change how people vote; it was clear during the 2016 Presidential election, thanks to Fahrenthold’s reporting, that the Trump Foundation was almost certainly engaged in systematic fraud.

The case might not shift voting patterns, but it will provide one of the clearest views yet of the inner workings of the Trump Organization. Most private companies keep their internal financial information secret. The Trump Organization, though, is unusually opaque. Even now, despite all of the scrutiny it has faced, there is much we don’t know about how it raises funds, spends money, and functions internally.

A series of subpoenaed e-mails and a fascinating deposition offer a glimpse into the work of a mysterious figure, Allen Weisselberg, who has handled Donald Trump’s finances for as long as he’s had any. First hired by the President’s father, Fred Trump, Weisselberg has been the one steady presence in the Trump Organization for the entire period that Donald Trump has run the company. I have spoken to many current and former Trump Organization employees who have shared the same description of the company: it is a chaotic mess, in which projects are randomly distributed to in-house staff. A lawyer might be asked to negotiate a real-estate deal, an executive might be tasked with setting up a product-licensing arrangement. While there are traditional titles, such as general counsel or senior vice-president of operations, there is no standard business hierarchy. Trump, before he became President, would tell people what they should do with no clear regard for consistency. The currency of the place was always one’s proximity to the big boss, Donald Trump, so people didn’t tell colleagues which projects they were handling, out of fear that those colleagues might undermine them. I heard, repeatedly, that there were only two people who knew about every deal the company made: Trump himself and Allen Weisselberg. However, Trump, rather famously, rarely concerned himself with details and often forgot who had received which assignments and how different deals were structured.

Weisselberg’s testimony in the trial, then, could prove revealing. He is perhaps the only non-family member who knows the inner workings of the Trump Organization. Michael Cohen will be a key figure in understanding Trump’s recent business relationships with several overseas partners suspected of potentially engaging in money laundering, corruption, and sanctions violations. (A federal criminal investigation of Cohen includes more than four million business files that will soon be turned over to investigators and are likely to shed light on the company’s operations during the ten years that Cohen was involved.) But it is only Weisselberg who can recount the essence of the Trump Organization from the beginning of Donald Trump’s involvement: in the nineteen-seventies, when the company first discriminated against African-Americans; in the eighties, when Trump appears to have been in business with the New York mafia; in the nineties, when Trump’s casino was in violation of anti-money-laundering laws; and through the aughts, as Trump developed ties to many Russian and former-Soviet oligarchs and political figures.

The Trump Foundation case may have already revealed a potential rift between Weisselberg and the family. His deposition in the case is fascinating reading. Weisselberg makes it quite clear just how sloppy an operation the foundation was, with no meetings and no careful accounting. In a compelling exchange, Weisselberg describes how he flew to Iowa with a checkbook to give money to political allies of Trump, then a Presidential candidate, and he makes it clear that he did this because his boss told him to. It is a damning statement, and the first evidence I have seen that Weisselberg, when cornered, may be willing to shift blame to the President. Judge Scarpulla will continue pushing the Trumps to settle. Trump-watchers, though, will likely hope that the family chooses to fight. We will learn much more if Weisselberg and others take the stand.

Mueller's office files motion opposing effort to delay Manafort trial saying "extra accommodations" have been made for him to use a personal laptop and cellphone:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dh1xWrCW0AMRBLg.jpg

https://twitter.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/1017093733999923201



Mueller filing also notes Manafort himself says he is being treated like a "VIP" with his own bathroom and shower and a personal workspace to prepare for trial:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dh1xyWmXkAI5d1-.jpg

https://twitter.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/1017094209248092160



Mueller filing also says despite not being allowed to send/receive emails, Manafort has developed a "workaround" by drafting emails on a second laptop that is "shuttled in and out" of jail:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dh15tvqXUAEjD4G.jpg

https://twitter.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/1017103104586764288

"care"givers not allowed to touch them
literally lost in the system
women having miscarriages cuz of no medical attn


this shtt is ridiculous

that shit is like $1000+ in DC or NYC

For hacking, including hacking the DNC.

Not just Russian citizens. Russian government officers.

Press conference is live.

Odds that this will come up at the Trump/Putin meeting? Probably pretty slim.


(Meanwhile: this doesn't deserve its own post, but this is the first time I've ever felt sad for, and protective of, the Queen of England.)

It's basically a "watch what you say to Putin, we're listening" indictment

to the agenda (c) Bobby Swan

at the bare minimum (even though Putin ain't handing over shit)
but just for the record, for the media, for fuckin appearances
on some
"this indictment alleges a serious breach of our electoral process, those named must stand trial, justice must prevail, bla bla bla"

All we're gonna get is Putin cock slurping by 45

>at the bare minimum (even though Putin ain't handing over
>shit)
>but just for the record, for the media, for fuckin
>appearances
>on some
>"this indictment alleges a serious breach of our electoral
>process, those named must stand trial, justice must prevail,
>bla bla bla"
>
>All we're gonna get is Putin cock slurping by 45


and the GOP not saying shit about it....

we been at war with russia for 40 years at least in some form or fashion and nobody saying shit...but they love to praise reagan......shits crazy doggg...

12 Russian Intelligence Officers Indicted in Hacking Tied to the Clinton Campaign https://nyti.ms/2Lg7Yld

Also, now the deputy AG is openly pleading with Republicans to take the indictments seriously. It's a fucking disgrace.

(c) Some republican congressman in the next hour or so.


>
>Also, now the deputy AG is openly pleading with Republicans to
>take the indictments seriously. It's a fucking disgrace.
>

this is part of the process to prove conspiracy. Mueller knows exactly what he's doing. some are saying roger stone may have flipped, which makes sense.

Point 22, page 7: "on or about July 27, 2016, the Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a third-party provider and used by Clinton’s personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses at the domain for the Clinton Campaign."

Apparently that was the same day that Trump made his "Russia, if you're listening..." comment.

Could be a coincidence, but it certainly doesn't look good for Trump, and might imply one part of how this eventually comes back to the US.

or nah?

I think you may be confused. The private server she used while at the state department was not hacked, at least as far as anyone knows.

The point here is that they started to attempt to spearphish campaign servers on July 27.

Second, I don't know how you might define a "shitty" server, but the whole point of spearphishing is that it works around the server-side security. You could spearphish a Gmail account just as easily as a 10-year-old unpatched Linux box. In fact most of these, including Podesta's, were Gmail accounts.

We are living in TERRIFYING times. It's almost pathetic how quickly Trump folks are "fake news!"ing this shit too. Guys the evidence is in front of our faces. Why people are willing to torpedo the well-being of the country and possibly the world for this reality TV star continues to blow my mind. People are so fucking stupid.

https://twitter.com/_cingraham/status/1017813203256930304?s=21


>Point 22, page 7: "on or about July 27, 2016, the
>Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first
>time email accounts at a domain hosted by a third-party
>provider and used by Clinton’s personal office. At or around
>the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses
>at the domain for the Clinton Campaign."
>
>Apparently that was the same day that Trump made his "Russia,
>if you're listening..." comment.
>
>Could be a coincidence, but it certainly doesn't look good for
>Trump, and might imply one part of how this eventually comes
>back to the US.
>

for what they don't understand.”

.

Anti-gentrification, cheap alcohol & trying to look pretty in our twilight posting years (c) Big Reg
http://Tupreme.com

reaching out to Guccifer.

the indictment mentions 3 unnamed co-conspirators.

we know roger stone and political operative chuck johnson communicated with guccifer. chuck johnson has been proven to actually have received stolen material directly from guccifer.

roger stone is looking likely to be indicted.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mueller-team-pushing-information-roger-stone-wikileaks-sources/story?id=56509716

both of them are real cool with matt gaetz.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbQFxUbX0AAI9Ve.jpg

gaetz even took chuck johnson to the last state of the union address.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-congressman-invited-infamous-troll-chuck-johnson-to-trumps-state-of-the-union

there are so many people on my wish list.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1017650505043140609

What a country

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/13/house-republicans-rod-rosenstein-impeachment-719816

It's called projection.

indictment mentions other unnamed people one of whom is supposedly Scott Stedman, former president of the NRA. Boom.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-kremlin-and-gop-have-a-new-friendand-boy-does-she-love-guns

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1080761/download

in alot of trouble..including Ryan and MCconnell... basically any mofo that took campaign money from the NRA

as much chaos as there is every day on the media side...on the law side, with the most recent indictments and this development, it looks like things are methodically proceeding to their logical conclusion.

when Trump was gonna nominate Mitt Romney for Sec of State. Oh Shit. This is according to Christopher Steele.

these bumbling clowns who use unsecured phones, texts, emails etc.. are a piece of cake

I have a feeling Mueller's days as SC are numbered in low digits

Dope

imagine how blind we would be flying without it.

suspicions or complaints that I kept hearing was that there was just too much (compromising) information in it. That intelligence gathering was difficult and most of it succeeds on small wins and tips that can lead to other small things, that eventually can give something conclusive or actionable, and that this dossier had so much info that it was like a piece of spy fiction.

My thought at the time is that might usually be the case because spies are typically dealing with other sophisticated actors who really know what they're doing. I thought the whole thing was true or at least extremely plausible right away because the people they investigated are clueless, arrogant idiots.

we are so used to people being meticulous, calculating, and subtle with their crookedness to avoid suspicion. when it stares us right in the face sometimes we dont even believe our own eyes.

like a lot of the corruption/collusion has been so blatant, flagrant, obvious, and in broad daylight that it couldnt possibly be true lol.

The Australians, the Dutch, the Brits, etc have all shared intelligence with us.

at 'FreedomFest'

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1018935983667138560

Which isn’t a shock.

https://twitter.com/scottmstedman/status/1018961456098828289?s=21

a lot of times they are ahead of the mainstream media beat.

there was so much out there that didn't get talked about.

from the indictment:
-----------
31. On October 4, 2016, U.S. Person 1 sent an email to an acquaintance. The email covered a number of topics. Within the email, U.S. Person 1 stated, “Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I’ve been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key POLITICAL PARTY 1 leaders through, of all conduits, the .” Based on my training, expertise, and familiarity with this investigation, I believe that this email describes U.S. Person 1’s involvement in BUTINA’s efforts to establish a “back channel” communication for representatives of the Government of Russia.
-----------

political party 1 = republican party.
key leaders = ?

adam schiff says repubs on his committee refused to even bring this chick in.
https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1018949426386219009

Watching tv today after binge watching ken burns Vietnam this weekend

Its so clear we have a puppet president installed just like we installed in south vietnam...

Shits crazy

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/legal-experts-say-manafort-could-be-cutting-plea-deal-as-judge-suddenly-delays-proceedings/

.

Anti-gentrification, cheap alcohol & trying to look pretty in our twilight posting years (c) Big Reg
http://Tupreme.com

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/17/mueller-asks-for-immunity-for-five-witnesses-in-manafort-case.html

Judge grants immunity for five witnesses in Manafort case; trial delayed until July 31

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/23/politics/manafort-witnesses-immunity/index.html

Gates gave up a lot.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/alleged-russian-agent-maria-butina-had-ties-to-russian-intelligence-agency-prosecutors-say/2018/07/18/a1a4042c-8a01-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?utm_term=.5ee12a509c9d

The government's argument to keep Maria Butina in pretrial detention includes this section.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DiZchyfW0AIQPW8.jpg

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1019604162445651970

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/18/630094267/maria-butina-was-in-contact-with-russian-intelligence-feds-say-in-new-documents

"The FBI said it has determined that even though Butina had a personal relationship with someone described in court papers as Person 1 — identified by NPR as political fundraiser Paul Erickson — she "offered an individual other than Person 1 sex in exchange for a position with a special interest organization. Further, in papers seized by the FBI, Butina complained about living with Person 1."

The organization is not identified in the court documents. Butina and Torshin sought to build bridges with American political leaders via the National Rifle Association, but it isn't clear whether that is the entity to which the government alluded in its court filing.

Erickson cited the "sometimes international reach" of the NRA as part of a pitch he made in 2016 to members of Donald Trump's campaign. He and the Russians sought to use the imprimatur of the NRA in order to arrange meetings between U.S. political leaders and Trump, citing a "back channel" Erickson had forged with the Kremlin.

The Trump campaign did not agree to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2016 as Erickson proposed, but Donald Trump Jr. did meet Torshin briefly that year at the NRA's convention in Louisville.

The NRA has so far made no comment this week about the charges against Butin or the Torshin connection.

The FBI said it saw Butina and Person 1 at a U-Haul truck facility on July 14, a day before she was arrested. Butina had boxes in her apartment the following day when the FBI arrived.

www.thedailybeast.com/feds-target-butinas-gop-boyfriend-as-foreign-agent

Feds Target Butina’s GOP Boyfriend as Foreign Agent
Paul Erickson served as accused Kremlin spy Maria Butina’s guide as she penetrated the American conservative movement. Now he’s under investigation as a Russian agent, too.

Betsy Woodruff,
Erin Banco
12.05.18 8:00 AM ET

Paul Erickson, a longtime Republican politico whose Russian girlfriend is in jail on charges she acted as a covert foreign agent, has been informed that he may face similar accusations. The Daily Beast reviewed a “target letter” that federal investigators sent Erickson’s lawyer, which said they are considering bringing charges against him under Section 951 of the U.S. code—the law barring people from secretly acting as agents of foreign governments.

The letter also said the government may bring a conspiracy charge against Erickson, who is the boyfriend of accused foreign agent Maria Butina. The letter, which was sent in September by investigators working out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, does not accuse Erickson of any crimes or guarantee that he will face charges.

If prosecutors bring the charges named in the letter, Erickson would be the first American embroiled in the 2016 Russia investigation charged under a statute that Justice Department lawyers describe as “espionage-lite.”

“Charging an American under 951 in the context of the Russia investigation is especially serious because that statute is generally reserved for espionage-like cases, such as intelligence-gathering on behalf of a foreign government,” said Ryan Goodman, a former Defense Department attorney who now teaches at the New York University School of Law.

“Essentially what it would say is that an American was acting to advance the interests of a foreign power, contrary to the interests of the United States of America,” said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor.

A person familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast that federal law-enforcement officers have interviewed people in Erickson’s orbit, some of whom provided statements to the FBI. Law-enforcement officials asked those sources about the former political insider’s business dealings and his reputation in conservative political circles, according to that person. As The Daily Beast previously reported, several of Erickson’s former business partners have claimed he defrauded them. The U.S. attorney’s office in South Dakota is leading an investigation into those claims.

Justice Department investigators aren’t the only ones interested in Erickson. Staffers with the Senate intelligence committee, which is probing Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections, have also asked to speak with him. But a lawyer for Erickson told them he would plead the Fifth Amendment if subpoenaed to testify, a source familiar with those communications confirmed to The Daily Beast. Investigators will not force Erickson to appear just to take the Fifth. William Hurd, who is representing Erickson on the Senate intelligence committee matter, declined to comment.

According to The New York Times, Erickson wrote an email to the Trump campaign in May 2016 offering to set up a back-channel meeting between the candidate and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump,” Erickson wrote, the Times reported. “He wants to extend an invitation to Mr. Trump to visit him in the Kremlin before the election.”

By then, Erickson had known Butina for years. Butina, a gun-rights activist from Russia, attended grad school at American University while building relationships in the U.S. conservative movement, with Erickson often serving as her guide.

The pair made no secret of their affinity for Russia. As The Daily Beast previously reported, at her birthday party, she dressed as a Russian empress and he dressed as Rasputin. Guests drank vodka from a bottle emblazoned with a hammer and sickle.

And as Butina built relationships with conservative leaders, Erickson didn’t exactly keep his role under wraps. According to court documents filed by the prosecutors charging Butina, someone called “Person 1” and widely believed to be Erickson boasted that he was involved in “securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin” and the Republican Party.

The two also worked together on various other projects, including a deal to secure Russian jet fuel for an American middleman. Erickson and Butina worked on the failed business venture with Donna Keene, the wife of former NRA President David Keene, in 2017.

William Hurd of Troutman Sanders, a lawyer for Erickson, declined to comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. declined to comment as well.

The U.S. Attorney’s Manual recommends that prosecutors send target letters to alert people they are in the feds’ sights.

“At the least, it’s a preliminary determination that they’re going to proceed to indictment,” said Sol Wisenberg, the co-chairman of the white-collar practice at Nelson Mullins.

Wisenberg said that while people can generally expect to be indicted within a few months of receiving a target letter, there’s no firm rule on how quickly any indictment should follow, if at all.

If investigators charge Erickson under Section 951, he could be the first American publicly accused of acting (or trying to act) as an agent of a foreign government in connection with Russia’s 2016 interference. Other Americans roped up in Russia investigations—including former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and lobbyist Sam Patten—have faced charges for illegal lobbying, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. But 951 is different. It’s a rare charge, and the Justice Department’s inspector general wrote in 2016 that prosecutors in its elite National Security Division describe it as “espionage-lite.”

“ Section 951 case generally involves espionage-like or clandestine behavior or an otherwise provable connection to an intelligence service, or information-gathering or procurement-type activity on behalf of a foreign government,” the inspector general wrote.

Prosecutors in the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office charged Butina with violating Section 951.

Butina said on several occasions that she helped facilitate communications between the Trump campaign and Russia, multiple sources told The Daily Beast for a February 2017 story. In July, the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office charged her with acting as a covert foreign agent and conspiring to commit a crime. Both those charges are also identified in the Erickson target letter.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is not handling Butina’s prosecution. A spokesperson for his office declined to comment on why that is.

Butina is currently in an Alexandria, Virginia, jail. Erickson visits her there regularly, two individuals with knowledge of the meetings told The Daily Beast.

Images of Paul Manafort’s multimillion-dollar houses and elegant suits, along with his tax filings, loan documents and summaries of money from foreign sources, will be displayed to jurors when he goes on trial this month. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in a filing late Wednesday, listed 436 exhibits that his prosecutors may present at the trial of President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman as they seek to prove that he financed his lavish lifestyle through bank fraud and tax crimes.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-17/mueller-asks-manafort-judge-to-give-immunity-to-five-witnesses

as long as he keeps his mouth shut.

It sounds like these charges are big enough that he'll have to go to jail even if he flips.

Everytime it gets upped I want to punch something. Not because of Trump shit but because I think it was ike's last post.

█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃
Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

What happen to Ike ?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/us/politics/trump-tweets-mueller-obstruction.html

#nottheonion

https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1022649069079089158

https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1022648779743420416

shit is accelerating.

its bout to be a hot august.

not to mention these house fucks tried to impeach Rosenstein this week

Those have been between his second and fifth favorite things to tweet about since he started this shit.

https://twitter.com/politico/status/1022898235910832129

i feel like this is gonna become an iconic photo.

Mueller's office has filed its witness list for ex-Trump aide Paul Manafort's upcoming trial. Prosecutors plan to call 35 people.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DjI5hhYV4AAYDfS.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DjI5lfPXgAAVZFK.jpg

https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1022943424889217024

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/31/politics/donald-trump-rudy-giuliani/index.html

The secret Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani know about the Russia probe
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 11:19 AM ET, Tue July 31, 2018

(CNN)The biggest misconception surrounding the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election is that it will likely end in some sort of legal proceeding involving President Donald Trump. It won't -- for a bunch of reasons, the most important of which is that Robert Mueller, who is running the investigation, doesn't seem to believe a sitting President can be indicted.

The much more likely outcome is that Mueller releases the findings from his investigation sometime this fall — and lets the chips, as they relate to Trump, fall where they may. Which means — and this is what Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have understood for months — that, ultimately, this isn't a legal fight, it's a public relations one.

Giuliani tipped his hand on that strategy Monday in an interview with CNN's Alisyn Camerota. "I'll be here with my version of the report and they'll have their version of the report and the American people, in that sense, are going to decide it," Giuliani said of the Mueller investigation.

"My version" vs. "their version." What that construct from Giuliani misses, of course, is that one of the "versions" will be the result of a Justice Department-commissioned investigation led by the former head of the FBI that has already spanned more than a year. The other "version" will be Giuliani's cable TV appearances and President Trump's tweets.

That is, on its face, an apples-and-oranges comparison. But remember what Giuliani and Trump know: The debate over whether and how much Trump did wrong (if anything) is almost certain to be decided in the court of public opinion, not an actual court. And in the court of public opinion -- particularly given the fealty that rank-and-file Republicans have shown (and continue to show) to Trump, the comparison is far more favorable to Trump's side.

Quick, do this thought experiment: Name the first 10 words that come to mind when someone says "Mueller probe." If you are being honest with yourself, my guess is that the words "no collusion," "witch hunt" and maybe even "13 Angry Democrats" made it into that top 10. What that means is that even if you roll your eyes when you hear "no collusion," it seeps into your consciousness — and that's a win for Trump.

Especially when you consider that lots and lots of people aren't rolling their eyes when Trump unleashes a tweet blasting the allegedly partisan bias of Mueller's team or how the whole probe is based on false pretenses. In a CBS News poll released earlier this week, 70% of Republicans described the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt." That same poll showed that more than nine in 10 "strong Trump supporters" trust Trump for "accurate information" as compared to 63% who trust "family and friends" and 11% who trust the "mainstream media."

Need more? In March, roughly three in 10 Republicans approved of Robert Mueller in CNN polling. By May, that number was down to 17% approval. That data is backed up by other polls. Last July, a Politico/Morning Consult survey showed that 27% of Republicans had an unfavorable view of Mueller. By this June, that number was 53%.

Those numbers speak to the effectiveness of the PR campaign against Mueller (and his team) by Giuliani and Trump. It also speaks to the fact that this is largely a one-sided conversation. Mueller himself never speaks in public. The special counsel's office has released only a handful of statements since it was created. Mueller is, rightly, focused on running an effective and thorough investigation. But that leaves him and his team uniquely vulnerable to the campaign-style attacks by Trump and Giuliani. An attack unresponded to, in the context of politics, is an attack believed by some chunk of the voting public. Again, that isn't Mueller's concern. He is focused on drawing fact-based conclusions and releasing them in a report. He's not planning to run for anything.

Trump, on the other hand, is running for a second term. And the President has shown time and time again he is willing to say and do whatever it takes to win an argument in the court of public opinion. Which is what he has set about doing over the past six months or so.

Mock all the "no collusion" and "collusion isn't even a crime" comments if you want. But remember that a big chunk of people already believe — before Mueller has released a single final finding — that his whole probe is a partisan witch hunt that should never have been started in the first place. Short of Mueller producing an email from Trump saying "Yes, let's collude with Russia ASAP!" those people will not change their view — either on Mueller or Trump. (In truth, even if Mueller did produce an email from Trump that clearly showed collusion with the Russians, I'm not sure that would change the base's view.)

That's the secret Trump and Giuliani know -- and have been executing against for months. And like it or not, it's working.

I don't recall Mueller ever saying anything on this topic one way or the other.

Pretty much that this is all headed towards Mueller releasing his findings, which will likely implicate Trump, and then it will be up to Congress to impeach Drumf or not. And that's what the pundits have been battling it out over.

This dude has the country fooled so if there are no legal charges I ain't confident Congress will do shit. Especially if we don't take over in Nov.

he says that the "most important reason" is that Mueller doesn't seem to think he can indict a sitting president. Well, it seems that he just made up the most important reason in his article. his basic argument is that Trump's base will support him no matter what he does, which we already knew.

Whether or not you can indict a sitting president. Hope to god you can.

this situation is unprecendented. what I do know is that Trump is panicking and that Mueller has lots and lots of evidence.

It's getting to the point where I feel like the damage he's doing to us and the world is nearly irreversible. It's total and complete damage, too. Like I can't think of a single aspect of politics, American life, foreign policy, finance, health, etc etc etc etc etc that he hasn't negatively impacted thus far, or hasn't tried to.


>what I do know is that
>Trump is panicking and that Mueller has lots and lots of
>evidence.

aint even been in office 2 years and look how much damage he has done.

now imagine 2 more years. or (god forbid) 6 more.

if dems dont come up big in the midterms...i dont even know man. we could get a much less moderate republican caucus with still a majority in both chambers that just decides to nuke the legislative filibuster and pass voter suppression bills (trump is already fanning the flames around national voter id) and continue to stack the courts with even more extreme right wing judges (and theyll have their next supreme court justice in place) who will just greenlight everything.

i keep trying to tell people what is at stake in nov but a lot of the responses i get are disheartening. i see some folks that seem more mad at corporate dems who take a little bit of big pharma money than they are at actual racists and fascists.

from probably the most important election of our lifetime and I don't feel like there's any momentum. In fact the only momentum I feel is hard fucking right momentum. The more bold 45* becomes, the more he lies, the more he torpedoes everything the US stands for in broad daylight ... the more support he seems to get. It's insane.

Like beyond what you said about people being more mad at dems being normal-politician-corrupt than they are about Nazis and shit, people also seem to find a way to be more upset about the media's COVERAGE of 45* than they are at the fact that he's a true piece of shit human being.


>RE: fam he aint even halfway through his 1st term yet.
>aint even been in office 2 years and look how much damage he
>is done.
>
>now imagine 2 more years. or (god forbid) 6 more.
>
>if dems dont come up big in the midterms...i dont even know
>man. we could get a much less moderate republican caucus with
>still a majority in both chambers that just decides to nuke
>the legislative filibuster and pass voter suppression bills
>(trump is already fanning the flames around national voter id)
>and continue to stack the courts with even more extreme right
>wing judges (and theyll have their next supreme court justice
>in place) who will just greenlight everything.
>
>i keep trying to tell people what is at stake in nov but a lot
>of the responses i get are disheartening. i see some folks
>that seem more mad at corporate dems who take a little bit of
>big pharma money than they are at actual racists and
>fascists.

once you get past our general apathy to voting...we just do shortsighted shit to hand over elections to republicans again and again.

like im helping work on a campaign in ny district 19 for this brilliant brotha named antonio delgado. we got a great opportunity to unseat repub john faso. theres so much energy and organization on our side. but 4 fucking left-leaning independents joined the race. all running on a platform that includes some common progressive stance (delgado doesnt support medicare 4 all because this is a rural slightly conservative district). so you know they are gonna grab some dem progressive voters. one of them is the typical green party spoiler. another is a fucking ditsy ass law and order svu actress named diane neal who is basically just running as a vanity project. she isnt even mounting a serious campaign but she has name recognition and hollywood friends boosting her.

this district hasnt had a 3rd party candidate in 16 years. but all these niggas wanna hop in the one year we actually have a chance to win smh.

and i have feeling cynthia nixon is gonna get beat in the dem primary for ny gov then stay on the ballot in the general via the workers family party. and end up siphoning votes from cuomo (along with an upstate dem running as independent too). in a year where we *absolutely* need a dem governor of ny to pass a bill closing the double jeopardy loophole so trump or his associates can be prosecuted for crimes they get federal pardons for (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/schneiderman-double-jeopardy/558389/).

and these fucking people are hell bent on own-goaling a republican win smh.

i have no idea why we cant see the bigger picture and move maturely/strategically like repubs fam.

>once you get past our general apathy to voting...we just do
>shortsighted shit to hand over elections to republicans again
>and again.
>
>like im helping work on a campaign in ny district 19 for this
>brilliant brotha named antonio delgado. we got a great
>opportunity to unseat repub john faso. theres so much energy
>and organization on our side. but 4 fucking left-leaning
>independents joined the race. all running on a platform that
>includes some common progressive stance (delgado doesnt
>support medicare 4 all because this is a rural slightly
>conservative district). so you know they are gonna grab some
>dem progressive voters. one of them is the typical green
>party spoiler. another is a fucking ditsy ass law and order
>svu actress named diane neal who is basically just running as
>a vanity project. she isnt even mounting a serious campaign
>but she has name recognition and hollywood friends boosting
>her.
>
>this district hasnt had a 3rd party candidate in 16 years.
>but all these niggas wanna hop in the one year we actually
>have a chance to win smh.
>
>and i have feeling cynthia nixon is gonna get beat in the dem
>primary for ny gov then stay on the ballot in the general via
>the workers family party. and end up siphoning votes from
>cuomo (along with an upstate dem running as independent too).
>in a year where we *absolutely* need a dem governor of ny to
>pass a bill closing the double jeopardy loophole so trump or
>his associates can be prosecuted for crimes they get federal
>pardons for
>(https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/schneiderman-double-jeopardy/558389/).
>
>and these fucking people are hell bent on own-goaling a
>republican win smh.
>
>i have no idea why we cant see the bigger picture and move
>maturely/strategically like repubs fam.

I think that's a symptom of progressives' general ideology to a certain extent. In other words a lot of the platforms that progressives push have to do with a general optimism, and a general belief that all people are inherently good and trustworthy. So they trust that if they just keep doing the right thing and pushing the "right" platforms/ideas, eventually the chips will fall into their rightful places.

But conservatives prove that even if they are in the minority, they're willing to work harder, and work OVERTIME to achieve their white supremacist, bigoted, outdated bullshit goals and the left/progressives almost stubbornly refuse to try and keep up. Hence why we keep spinning our wheels in terms of progress.

I'm not necessarily saying that the left needs to go dive headfirst into the dirt with Repugs, quite the opposite. Just that we need to be far better at, as you rightfully said, seeing the big picture, being strategic, supporting/backing the folks who *can* win even if we may not fully agree with them, and not stepping on our own toes.

>I'm not necessarily saying that the left needs to go dive
>headfirst into the dirt with Repugs, quite the opposite. Just
>that we need to be far better at, as you rightfully said,
>seeing the big picture, being strategic, supporting/backing
>the folks who *can* win even if we may not fully agree with
>them, and not stepping on our own toes.

just making the smart decision based on whats actually feasible. repubs are signaling that theyre gonna make another run at repealing obamacare wholesale in 2019. lefties gotta be aware that if you sit out or vote 3rd party because the dem doesnt support medicare 4 all...you are essentially passing on someone who will at least protect the healthcare millions currently have...and help elect someone who will rip healthcare away from those same people.

i keep tryna remind folks about ralph nader. not only was he responsible for ushering in the global catastrophe of the bush administration...but he was the green party candidate on a lot of state ballots. so greenies tanked gore...who had an aggressive international climate change agreement ready to go back in the late 90s! he would have been a global leader on climate and the environment. instead we got president texas tea.

then in 2016 we had hillary clinton ready to continue/extend the paris climate accord after obama. but greenies voted for jill stein. now you see what we got.

history doesnt repeat itself but it often rhymes (c) mark twain

I don't support or like the 2 party system at all, however it's our reality to have to play the game for now.

Agree with everything you said re: Nader and Stein.


>just making the smart decision based on whats actually
>feasible. repubs are signaling that theyre gonna make another
>run at repealing obamacare wholesale in 2019. lefties gotta
>be aware that if you sit out or vote 3rd party because the dem
>doesnt support medicare 4 all...you are essentially passing on
>someone who will at least protect the healthcare millions
>currently have...and help elect someone who will rip
>healthcare away from those same people.
>
>i keep tryna remind folks about ralph nader. not only was he
>responsible for ushering in the global catastrophe of the bush
>administration...but he was the green party candidate on a lot
>of state ballots. so greenies tanked gore...who had an
>aggressive international climate change agreement ready to go
>back in the late 90s! he would have been a global leader on
>climate and the environment. instead we got president texas
>tea.
>
>then in 2016 we had hillary clinton ready to continue/extend
>the paris climate accord after obama. but greenies voted for
>jill stein. now you see what we got.
>
>history doesnt repeat itself but it often rhymes (c) mark
>twain
>

All of this noise works great for deflection. If there wasn't so much noise about this investigation, and all the blatantly terrible shit he says and does that makes decent people so (rightly) furious, then we'd all have more time to focus on his subpar performance -- how he hasn't accelerated economic growth like he promised, how he's only made health care worse, how he hasn't built the stupid wall he promised, how he hasn't made any of the international "deals" that he claimed he was uniquely capable of making, and how he's replaced real historic ones (the Iran nuclear deal, TPP) with vacuous gestures (the NK summit, vague statements about reducing tariffs right after he caused everyone to raise them).

I click on pretty much every story I see about the Mueller investigation, and I laugh at Rudy's antics just like everyone else. But Trump's part in all this really could just be trolling. Homer Simpson's phrase "stupider like a fox" comes to mind every time I hear Rudy say something blatantly false and supposedly damaging to Trump's case.


As for whether a President could be indicted, it's true that there's a lot of reasonable debate, but I'd agree with the common view that this Justice Department probably won't. It's been semi-official J.D. policy since the Clinton years that they can't, and Rosenstein has shown no signs that he would revise that guidance (and Sessions obviously won't).

James Comey broke from long-standing Justice Department guidance with all those vague announcements about the Clinton investigation. So obviously none of this is set in stone. But we all saw how well it went for Comey to break with that guidance, in the end.

I did find it interesting to learn that everyone's current favorite "founding father", Alexander Hamilton, explicitly said that you have to wait until the president is out of office (either by removal or end of term). In the 69th Federalist paper (not a legal document, obviously), he said presidents "would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law.” The "ordinary course of law" only comes in after the president is out of office. (To be clear, we give way too much deference to the Founding Fathers in this country. It's silly. But this shit comes up when you try to interpret the Constitution.)


I see the Mueller investigation as just an effort to compile a summary report. *If* that document is ever even released (and it's very possible that it wouldn't be -- again that's the standard policy) then it helps us vote him out of office in 2020. That's the only scenario I see that isn't hopelessly complicated. The good news is: then, a real indictment comes in 2021.

>Whether or not you can indict a sitting president. Hope to
>god you can.


The earliest Trump would be indicted is spring/summer 2019. Trump will make motion of delay/appeal. It will eventually have to make its way to the Supreme Court (late 2019/early 2020). If Kavanaugh is confirmed to SC, Trump wins case that a sitting president can't be indicted. It's a matter of impeachment then removed from office then indictment.

We're fucked.

And THEN he gets indicted.

I don't look forward to two more years with this motherfucker any more than you do, but that's the only way this kind of question truly gets settled in this country. Trump's voters already feel like they're the victims of "elites." If their standard-bearer gets indicted they're not gonna just shrug their shoulders and decide they backed the wrong guy.

Not only is a stunning percentage of the country behind this serpent already, but gerrymandering, voter suppression, the current lack of any visible democratic/progressive candidate, etc. ... I have precisely zero confidence in this piece of shit country voting him out.

theres a large slate of ballot measures to be voted on in a bunch of states that deal with gerrymandering (independent redistricting), automatic voter registration, ending felon disenfranchisement etc in important places like mi, oh, mo and fl.

but theres also some intentional voter suppression measures on the ballot in places like nc and ar.

this is truly the most important election of our lifetime. we could do a lot to alter the course of our history in one single election (for better or worse).

Sending the opposition to jail once you get in power is some third world, corrupt shit that was a terrible idea when they were chanting "Lock Her Up" and a terrible idea for Trump as well.

I think it would only be possible if there were overwhelming evidence of a Major crime being committed AND there is an overwhelming public agreement that the President should go to jail. That won't happen with Trump.

I would be satisfied if he gets run out of office and his brand gets toxic enough that he loses all of his money....and maybe Jared goes to jail.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

>I would be satisfied if he gets run out of office and his
>brand gets toxic enough that he loses all of his money....and
>maybe Jared goes to jail.

I wanna see this fucker broke, embarrassed, and irrelevant; ranting in YouTube vlogs with steadily dwindling viewership. Even if he deserves to go to jail (and I assume he does), if he's in jail, then he matters for something. Mattering is what he wants, and it's only when he matters that he can hurt people.

>Sending the opposition to jail once you get in power is some
>third world, corrupt shit that was a terrible idea when they
>were chanting "Lock Her Up" and a terrible idea for Trump as
>well.

It was a terrible idea to chant "Lock her up!" because Clinton hadn't actually committed a crime. Meanwhile, money laundering, collusion with a foreign power, and possibly treason are major crimes. And the idea that the country should just let the guy get away with it because he was elected president is asinine.


>I think it would only be possible if there were overwhelming
>evidence of a Major crime being committed AND there is an
>overwhelming public agreement that the President should go to
>jail. That won't happen with Trump.

Doesn't mean he shouldn't be prosecuted if necessary. By either federal and/or state courts.

>I would be satisfied if he gets run out of office and his
>brand gets toxic enough that he loses all of his money....and
>maybe Jared goes to jail.

That's a good start. But if there's evidence that he did all that other shit, prosecute him to fullest extent of the law.

>>Sending the opposition to jail once you get in power is
>some
>>third world, corrupt shit that was a terrible idea when they
>>were chanting "Lock Her Up" and a terrible idea for Trump as
>>well.
>
>It was a terrible idea to chant "Lock her up!" because Clinton
>hadn't actually committed a crime. Meanwhile, money
>laundering, collusion with a foreign power, and possibly
>treason are major crimes. And the idea that the country should
>just let the guy get away with it because he was elected
>president is asinine.
>
>
>>I think it would only be possible if there were overwhelming
>>evidence of a Major crime being committed AND there is an
>>overwhelming public agreement that the President should go
>to
>>jail. That won't happen with Trump.
>
>Doesn't mean he shouldn't be prosecuted if necessary. By
>either federal and/or state courts.
>
>>I would be satisfied if he gets run out of office and his
>>brand gets toxic enough that he loses all of his
>money....and
>>maybe Jared goes to jail.
>
>That's a good start. But if there's evidence that he did all
>that other shit, prosecute him to fullest extent of the law.

that he committed.

>And the idea that the country should
>just let the guy get away with it because he was elected
>president is asinine.

Trump heard something about the investigation that has him scared to death.

I think this may be finally ramping up.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/trump-urges-attorney-general-sessions-to-stop-mueller-probe-right-now.html

if Manafort were to somehow walk, i don't even want to contemplate the ramifications.

https://twitter.com/therickwilson/status/1024696480987267072?s=21

https://abcnews.go.com/US/special-counsel-mueller-president-obstruction-justice-sources/story?id=56973384

dont worry Jr. i'll get you the BEST attorneys!!!!

how people continue to believe them after they eventually admit to lying about *everything* is beyond me.

like even otherwise intelligent folks are still giving the benefit of the doubt to the notion that they just intended to collude but nothing was actually exchanged. after every single version of the story up til now has been confirmed as a lie.

the goalposts are out in the parking lot at this point.

he is incriminating himself by tweeting and you know that everyone around him is telling him not to tweet but he really can't help himself. that's scary.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/witness-in-mueller-probe-refuses-to-appear-before-grand-jury/2018/08/10/73e27130-9ca4-11e8-843b-36e177f3081c_story.html?utm_term=.775ae0daf1e4

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/peter-w-smith-hillary-clinton-emails-trump-flynn-money

GOP Operative Made "Suspicious" Cash Withdrawals During Pursuit Of Clinton Emails

Peter W. Smith withdrew $4,900 in cash the day after he finalized a plan to work with “dark web” hackers.

Jason Leopold
Anthony Cormier
Posted on August 10, 2018, at 5:22 p.m. ET

In one of the most intriguing episodes of the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican activist Peter W. Smith launched an independent effort to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails to help defeat her and elect Donald Trump. His quest, which reportedly brought him into contact with at least two sets of hackers that he himself believed were Russian, remains a key focus of investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.

Now, BuzzFeed News has reviewed documents showing that FBI agents and congressional investigators have zeroed in on transactions Smith made right as his effort to procure Clinton’s emails heated up. Just a day after he finished a report suggesting he was working with Trump campaign officials, for example, he transferred $9,500 from an account he had set up to fund the email project to his personal account, later taking out more than $4,900 in cash. According to a person with direct knowledge of Smith’s project, the Republican operative stated that he was prepared to pay hackers “many thousands of dollars” for Clinton’s emails — and ultimately did so.

Smith is dead, and his lawyer, former business partner, and wife did not respond to numerous requests for an interview. The White House did not immediately return a message seeking comment, but the president has frequently denied colluding with Russia and denounced special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe as a partisan witch hunt. Smith said in a press interview that he was not part of the Trump campaign and was working independently.

The money trail, made public here for the first time, sheds new light on Smith’s effort, in which he told people he was in touch with both Russians on the dark web and Trump campaign officials — particularly Michael Flynn, who was then a top adviser to the Trump campaign and later served as national security adviser before having to resign after misleading White House officials about his meetings with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Intelligence agencies have given the FBI information that Russian hackers talked about passing Clinton’s emails to Flynn through a cutout, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the matter. It is not known if that cutout was in any way connected to Smith.

The Wall Street Journal, which spoke with Smith about 10 days before he killed himself last year, broke the story about his operation to obtain Clinton’s emails and his alleged connections to Flynn. Smith’s obsession with the Clintons dates back at least to the 1990s, when he spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to expose Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs. His attempt to procure Hillary Clinton’s emails apparently began in the summer of 2016, around the time Trump secured the Republican nomination.

Smith reached out to various people he thought could help track down or authenticate the emails Clinton had routed through a private server in her home. One of those people was Matt Tait, a former information security specialist in Britain’s spy agency GCHQ, who was writing publicly about a different email hack, that of the Democratic National Committee.

In a phone call in August, Smith told Tait that he believed Clinton’s private server had been hacked by the Russian government and others, and that a person from the dark web had contacted him, claiming to have some of Clinton’s emails. Smith wanted Tait to help verify the emails, something Tait said he refused to do.

As Labor Day approached, Smith assembled a group of people including experts in technology, lawyers, and even a Russian-speaking investigator to figure out how to obtain Clinton’s emails, according to the Journal. On the Friday before the Labor Day weekend, Smith incorporated a company called KLS Research. In a proposal Smith put together describing the effort to obtain the emails, he named the company as the “preferred vehicle” for the research into Clinton’s email, and Smith would tell Tait that KLS Research would also help “avoid campaign reporting.”

Smith and his longtime business partner, John Szobocsan, were the two signers for a bank account linked to KLS Research. The men were partners in other private equity ventures, and had known one another for decades. Tait wrote that Szobocsan joined at least one of the calls with Smith. Neither Szobocsan nor his lawyer returned detailed messages seeking comment.

Soon after Labor Day, Smith appears to have finished an operational plan, which included the names of top Trump campaign officials, some of whom have denied speaking with Smith anytime during the campaign. Smith’s report is dated Sept. 7.

The next day, Smith withdrew $9,500 from the KLS Research account and deposited it into his personal bank account, both held at Northern Trust. From there, Smith took out a little more than $4,900 in cash and sent checks to an accountant and an LLC controlled by a private real estate company. Later in September, Smith made withdrawals of $500 and $700 from KLS Research.

These transactions came to light after Northern Trust received a subpoena from the FBI for Smith’s records last December. The subpoena specifically sought information about the $9,500 withdrawal from KLS Research’s account.

After scouring nine accounts that Smith controlled, Northern Trust turned over documents showing 88 suspicious cash withdrawals totaling about $140,000 between January 2016 and April 2017, including a $3,000 withdrawal six days after the election. Northern Trust found these transactions suspicious because officials could not determine the purpose of the withdrawals and because some of them took place over the time Smith was engaged in his project to obtain Clinton’s emails. Many of the cash transactions, the bank noted, were less than $10,000, small enough not to trigger an automatic alert to the government. After receiving the subpoena, the bank sent a report to Treasury’s financial crimes unit, which shared its findings with the FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller, and Senate Intelligence Committee investigators.

By law, bankers must alert Treasury to transactions that bear hallmarks of money laundering or other financial misconduct. Such suspicious activity reports can support investigations and intelligence gathering — but by themselves they are not evidence of a crime, and many suspicious activity reports are filed on transactions that are perfectly legal.

A spokesperson for Northern Trust declined to comment.

Now, according to the three US law enforcement officials, Smith remains an important figure in the government's investigation. FBI and Senate Intelligence Committee investigators are trying to follow the money to learn whether Smith paid anyone connected with the Russian government. The FBI suspects Smith used some of the cash to fund his operation and paid hackers who provided him emails, according to two bureau sources who told BuzzFeed News that view is based on a close review of his banking activity and interviews with other people.

Separately, investigators working for special counsel Mueller have also interviewed people who Smith tried to recruit and others who worked on his operation to obtain Clinton’s emails, according to the three law enforcement sources and a fourth person with direct knowledge of the interviews. Mueller’s team has also tried to determine if Flynn assisted Smith in his operation, according to two FBI agents. They added that Smith’s suspicious financial transactions are key to that effort.

Flynn and his attorney did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment. Kelsey Pietranton, an FBI spokesperson, declined to comment, noting that it’s the bureau’s policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation. A spokesperson for Mueller’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

In a first-person account published on the website Lawfare last year, Tait, the former GCHQ information security officer, said he warned Smith about the Clinton email operation.

“If this dark web contact is a front for the Russian government, you really don’t want to play this game. But were not discouraged. They appeared to be convinced of the need to obtain Clinton’s private emails and make them public, and they had a reckless lack of interest in whether the emails came from a Russian cut-out,” he wrote. “I never found out who Smith’s contact on the ‘Dark Web’ was. It was never clear to me whether this person was merely someone trying to dupe Smith out of his money, or a Russian front, and it was never clear to me how they represented their own credentials to Smith.”

Smith, in his only press interview before he died, told the Journal that he and his team found five groups of hackers who claimed to have Clinton’s emails, including two groups he said were Russians.

Smith also told the newspaper that he never intended to pay for emails obtained by hackers — a contention the person with direct knowledge of Smith’s plan disputed, saying Smith did pay for what he was told were Clinton’s emails. This source also said that Smith purposely omitted any mention of paying hackers from his written plan for the operation.

Smith’s quest to find Clinton’s emails appears to have fizzled. He never released any of the email samples he reportedly received, because he could not verify them. About 10 days after being interviewed by the Journal, Smith went to a Minnesota hotel room and killed himself.

Investigators do not believe there was any foul play. They discovered that Smith had been in failing health and was concerned about an expiring life insurance policy. Inside his room, the Chicago Tribune reported, authorities discovered that Smith left behind carefully curated files and a receipt for an item used in the suicide.

today. On to closing arguments.

Trump doesn't want that.

Jury reaches verdict on 8 counts in criminal trial of Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/21/paul-manafort-verdict.html

MANAFORT GUILTY ON 8 COUNTS; JUDGE DELCARES MISTRIAL ON 10 COUNTS

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1032003982456184833

Or is it too late for him to do so?

...counts that the jury deadlocked on. So, if he wants to save himself the trouble and the expense, he can probably still flips.

Paul Manafort has been found guilty on 8 felony counts:

• 5 counts of tax fraud
• 1 count of failing to file a foreign bak account
• 2 counts of bank fraud

(The judge declared a mistrial on the other 10 counts.)

@KenDilanianNBC reports on @MSNBC

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1032004648935284736

Has a rally tonight, maybe he'll just announce it there.

EDIT: Not Cohen, I guess

if 50 shades of grey started as twilight fan fiction, i wonder what kind of crazy trumpian national treasure shit is out there being written

His plea specifically says he was working "in coordination with" and "at the direction of" a candidate for federal office.

The plea is made under oath.

There ain't gonna be a pardon for him.

Ever feel like the walls are closing in (c) Trumpster's tanning bed

But this dude is teflon. Largely because Repugnantcans are spineless pieces of shit, the lot of them. In other words outside of winning in November I don't see this shit, or really anything, moving the needle at all.

racist, and ethically bankrupt. and trump/america should be overtly covered that way with no sugarcoating or euphemizing.

they are willing to abandon their moral/spiritual foundation, their previous political principles, their own health/well-being, basic reality, etc just to allow this man to cling to power.

the real question is why the media isnt explicitly taking the majority of white americans to task for supporting a compulsive liar, criminal, idiot, and tyrant. the media has essentially created a new standard for trump where anything that works for the base is a political win and thus worthy of its own merit on that sole standard alone.

could you imagine how the media would be reacting if kwame kilpatrick became president and the black community never left his side? lol. theyd be talking about repealing the 13th amendment and overriding the civil rights act until we collectively learn how to be constructive american citizens again lol.

He was voted in because of exactly what you're talking about.

But then my point still stands that the folks who have the power to do something about it post-election, namely Repugnantcans in Congress, are backing his every move and making excuses for him. They represent that majority of white americans that you speak of ... but they are "supposed" to be morally above the majority of white americans, though we know that has never been the case.

So yea we're saying the same things here basically.

i was moreso just providing additional texture.

we def see things the same.

republicans know their rotten ass base will support their rotten ass politicians. so they continue to act accordingly.

>i was moreso just providing additional texture.
>
>we def see things the same.
>
>republicans know their rotten ass base will support their
>rotten ass politicians. so they continue to act accordingly.

^^^ yup. It's actually surprising that it took this long for a Trump-like candidate to get voted in.

I have not laughed harder in a long time.

i still worry this is going to be a reason situation and many people are never going to get how bad this is.

he's worse, but....c'mon!

https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/1032080049980272640

basically what we all know is the logical conclusion to all of this.

literally everything theyve been accused of (and initially deny) turns out to be true.

Just like Comey did to Hillary.

Seems to be heading that way.

a nice cohen leak out of sdny or a new revelation from the next manafort trial in sep could have some impact too.

convicted so far. To closer his back gets to the wall, the more I see him just doing whatever he feels like doing to begin with.

In an interview on Fox News, Manafort juror says there was a SINGLE holdout for the 10 counts that ended in a mistrial. The final votes were 11-1 for guilty. (They convicted Manafort on the other 8 counts of tax and bank fraud.)

https://twitter.com/MarshallCohen/status/1032463982408425472

The juror spoke on Faux News and is a 45 supporter. She even said she wanted Paulie to be innocent but the evidence was overwhelming.

If a 45 supporter could vote guilty on all counts (I assume she wasn't the only 45er, it is NOVA)
Then I think the lone dissenting juror is a plant

the possibility they're just a fucking incompetent is always there

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

i tried to look into the counts to see if there was anything in particular about the ones that were a mistrial. nothing jumped at me but i didnt spend much time on it.

i also did not know that all jurors had to agree in a criminal trial. some movies might make more sense to me now lol

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

lol that was one that popped in my head. i know i just tuned out that film. jury duty with pauly shore as well

haha

Like maybe 6 years ago I heard of a similar case and was like "WAIT JUST ONE PERSON ....... oh yea. Shit." haha.

>i also did not know that all jurors had to agree in a criminal
>trial. some movies might make more sense to me now lol

Doesn't seem fishy at all. I'm sure this one person out of 12 people was just not convinced of his guilt and didn't have any other motivations.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-23/graham-says-he-expects-trump-to-oust-sessions-after-elections

Key Republicans Signal Trump May Fire Sessions After Election
By Steven T. Dennis
August 23, 2018, 10:58 AM CDT Updated on August 23, 2018, 12:11 PM CDT


Two key Republican senators signaled to President Donald Trump that he could replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the midterm elections in November, a move that would open the way for firing Robert Mueller or constraining his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“The president’s entitled to an attorney general he has faith in, somebody that’s qualified for the job, and I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who may be in line to head the Judiciary Committee next year, told reporters Thursday. “Clearly, Attorney General Sessions doesn’t have the confidence of the president.”

Sessions defended his performance in a statement Thursday, saying “we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President’s agenda.” He added, “While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”

Graham warned against acting against Sessions before the election, calling that possibility “a nonstarter.” That “would create havoc” with Senate efforts to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and with the midterm elections in November, he said.

That represents a significant shift from Graham’s stance a year ago, when he warned Trump publicly that if he fired Sessions “there will be holy hell to pay.”

Senator Chuck Grassley, the current Judiciary chairman, also changed his position on Thursday, saying in an interview that he’d be able to make time for hearings for a new attorney general after saying in the past that the panel was too busy to tackle that explosive possibility.

The two senators spoke as two federal investigations are drawing closer to the president. Mueller’s probe is newly energized after the conviction of Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Trump potentially faces a separate Justice Department investigation into campaign violations sparked by the guilty plea of his former lawyer Michael Cohen.

Mueller Probe

Trump often takes aim at Sessions, a former Republican senator he has attacked and ridiculed for recusing himself from the investigation into Russian interference election that’s now being run by Mueller. Trump has called the inquiry into whether anyone close to him conspired with the Russians a “witch hunt” and mocked “the Jeff Sessions ‘Justice’ Department”’ on Twitter.

Graham has provided a sometimes confounding mix of criticism and praise for Trump, who occasionally invites the senator to golf at one of his resorts. It wasn’t clear why Graham would publicly predict Trump will take such a politically explosive action even as the senator said it should be delayed.

Graham’s comments could be sending a message that Mueller faces a deadline to finish his Russia investigation before November’s election that will determine whether Republicans continue to control the House and Senate.

If Trump replaces Sessions -- who has so far resisted Trump’s very public hints that he should resign -- a new attorney general could take over the investigation and fire Mueller or cripple his probe.

Trump wouldn’t need to wait until his new choice for attorney general was confirmed by the Senate, which would be a difficult fight. He could install an interim attorney general directly after ousting Sessions, although some legal experts argue that the powers of such an interim appointee would be limited.

“We have somebody who they seem to go after a lot of Republicans,” Trump said of Sessions in an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday, adding that the inability of his attorney general to "control" his department was "a regrettable thing."

Grassley Has Time

Asked about a possible replacement for Sessions, Grassley took a different position from a year ago, when he warned the White House he didn’t have time to do another confirmation hearing that year.

“I do have time for hearings on nominees that the president might send up here that I didn’t have last year,” Grassley of Iowa said Thursday. Grassley has clashed with Sessions this year because of the attorney general’s intense opposition to Grassley’s efforts to pass a criminal justice overhaul.

Grassley said, though, that Kavanaugh’s confirmation would take precedence over any other nominees Trump might send to the Senate.

Grassley declined to comment specifically on the fate of Sessions when asked about Graham’s prediction the president will replace him after the election.

— With assistance by Chris Strohm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-privately-revived-the-idea-of-firing-sessions-this-month-according-to-people-familiar-with-the-discussions/2018/08/28/13e84a6c-aa40-11e8-a8d7-0f63ab8b1370_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.618b811d0857

Trump privately revived the idea of firing Sessions this month, according to people familiar with the discussions
By Carol D. Leonnig ,
Josh Dawsey and
Gabriel Pogrund
August 28 at 6:15 PM


President Trump, who levied extraordinary public attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions in recent weeks, has privately revived the idea of firing him in conversations with his aides and personal lawyers this month, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

His attorneys concluded that they have persuaded him — for now — not to make such a move while the special-counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign is ongoing, the people said.

But there is growing evidence that Senate Republicans, who have long cautioned Trump against firing Sessions, are now resigned to the prospect that he may do so after the November midterm elections — a sign that one of the last remaining walls of opposition to such a move is crumbling.

“We wish the best for him, but as any administration would show, Cabinet members seldom last the entire administration, and this is clearly not an exception,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said in an interview Tuesday.

“Nothing lasts forever,” Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) told The Washington Post, describing the Trump-Sessions dynamic as “a toxic relationship.”

Added Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a longtime defender of the attorney general: “My sense is the fix is in.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores declined to comment.

Trump’s latest threats illustrate the depths of his hostility toward one of his earliest political supporters, who as attorney general has carried out parts of the president’s agenda most popular with his base.

But Trump has said he views Sessions as disloyal and has repeatedly blasted him for recusing himself from the Russia inquiry — a move that led to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein’s decision to appoint special counsel Robert S. Mueller III last year.

If Sessions leaves the Justice Department and the Senate confirms a new attorney general, that person probably would assume oversight of the investigation — as well as the ability to determine what material from the inquiry is shared with Congress and the public.

At least twice this month, Trump vented to White House advisers and his lawyers about the “endless investigation” of his campaign and said he needs to fire Sessions for saddling his presidency with the controversy, according to two of the people.

One such discussion occurred in early August, during the trial of Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman. On Aug. 1, the second day of the trial, Trump tweeted that Sessions should end the special counsel investigation.

“This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further,” Trump wrote. “Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!”

In subsequent talks with his lawyers and advisers, Trump said what he really wanted to do was fire Sessions, the people said.

His attorneys, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, advised him that Mueller could interpret such an action as an effort to obstruct justice and thwart the investigation — already a major focus of the inquiry, the people said.

Giuliani confirmed that he and Trump have discussed Sessions’s possible removal, but declined to offer details of their talks.

“If there is any action taken, the president agrees with us that it shouldn’t be taken until after the investigation is concluded,” Giuliani said. Sekulow referred questions to Giuliani.

White House aides have tried to convince Trump that firing Sessions could trigger more problems than it would solve. A senior White House official said the goal was to delay a firing, because Trump’s advisers do not think that stopping it is possible.

Others are urging the president to jettison current Justice Department leaders.

“He needs to fire Sessions, he needs to fire Rosenstein,” said Doug Deason, a major Republican donor. “They haven’t represented him or us well.”

Sessions’s friends and advisers have tried to buck him up in recent days, reaffirming his decision to defend his position and telling him that if Trump were willing to face the political and possibly legal consequences of firing him, he would have done so by now, according to an ally of the attorney general.

Sessions, who served as a senator from Alabama for 20 years, continues to have a strong support from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told reporters Tuesday he has “total confidence in the attorney general.”

“I think he should stay exactly where he is,” McConnell said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who said last week that he could find time to hold hearings on a new nominee later this year, declined to comment Tuesday. A year ago, Grassley had said there was “no way” there was time in the schedule to confirm a new attorney general pick.

Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, told reporters Tuesday that several senators urged Sessions to stay in his post during a breakfast they held with him last week, as was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

“I told him what I just told you, that I thought it was important to the department, important to the country and important to the president that he stay strong,” Cornyn said.

“He’s only human, and it can’t be much fun, and so we were offering him our support and encouragement,” he added. “And I think he appreciated it. Hopefully it’ll make a difference.”

But several Republican senators on Tuesday appeared to be resigned to Sessions’s removal — casting it as a matter of when, not if.

“At the end of the first two years, changes happen because people are ready to leave, sometimes because their boss is ready for them to leave,” Blunt said.

“Trump doesn’t like him,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) told reporters Tuesday. “This relationship has soured, and I’m not blaming Jeff. It can’t go on like this.”

Corker said he thinks Sessions could be pushed out after the midterm election.

“They’d do it before, but they’re worried about the effect it would have on the midterms themselves,” he said in an interview, adding: “It’s about the investigation, and I think the Mueller investigation ought to go on unimpeded.”

Graham told NBC News on Tuesday that the president’s anger with Sessions goes beyond his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. “It’s a pretty deep breach,” he said, declining to elaborate.

Later, Graham told reporters that any replacement for attorney general must “support the idea that Mueller should be able to do his job without interference.”

But Senate Democrats scoffed at the idea that Trump would appoint an attorney general who would give the special counsel independence.

“I wouldn’t trust this president to put someone in place wouldn’t an hour after he’s sworn in fire Mueller,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio).

Trump has repeatedly berated Sessions publicly in an apparent effort to force him to quit. Last year, Sessions submitted a resignation letter, which the president did not accept. Mueller is examining that episode and others to determine whether they amount to obstruction of justice.

Last week, in an interview on Fox News Channel, Trump again faulted Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation , asking, “What kind of man is this?”

“I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department. Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department. It’s sort of an incredible thing,” Trump said.

Sessions fired back in a rare public rebuttal, saying he “took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in” and adding that the department will not be “improperly influenced by political considerations.”


Devlin Barrett, Tom Hamburger, Philip Rucker, Sean Sullivan, John Wagner and Erica Werner contributed to this report.

🚨🚨🚨 Trump "agreed" to pardon Manafort after the special counsel investigation is over

https://twitter.com/justinjm1/status/1032719501815623686



Trump sought his lawyers’ advice weeks ago on possibility of pardoning Manafort, Giuliani says

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-sought-his-lawyers-advice-weeks-ago-on-possibility-of-pardoning-manafort-but-they-counseled-against-it-giuliani-says/2018/08/23/17dce5c6-a70a-11e8-8fac-12e98c13528d_story.html?utm_term=.26e5da3b891e

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/24/trump-manafort-pardon-white-house-aides-795712

Two sources told me that Trump continues to raise the possibility of a pardon for Manafort, his former campaign chairman. Trump has been clashing with White House counsel Don McGahn, who, sources said, is strongly against granting Manafort a pardon. (A lawyer for McGahn did not respond to a request for comment.) Trump has told people he’s considering bringing in a new lawyer to draft a Manafort pardon, if McGahn won’t do it. “He really at this point does not care,” a former official said. “He would rather fight the battle. He doesn’t want to do anything that would cede executive authority.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/donald-trump-nuts-rejects-war-council-intervention-goes-it-alone

whoo-ahh!

everybody is going to jail

im super skeptical anything resembling fairness will happen. each drip gives me new hope followed by realization that its really up to the GOP for anything meaningful to happen.

get in the way..they going too... its about to be some RICO shit going down..Mueller has dealt with the Gambinos... these niggas is kindergarten shit

I will say that just Mueller's face in pictures makes me think I'd never wanna fuck with him. Ain't nobody gonna outsmart him.


>RE: nah..this is going to go deep into some NY shit plus fed.. if any GOP
>get in the way..they going too... its about to be some RICO
>shit going down..Mueller has dealt with the Gambinos... these
>niggas is kindergarten shit

these trump niggas is like a day sparring at the dojo

not because hes clever, or muller wont have enough on him. simply because the only way to remove him is impeachment which is not based on how big of a crime he has committed.

yes, many people around him will go down. by any reasonable measure trump should already be done.

its very close to the point where the only thing keeping him out of jail is the presidency

>its very close to the point where the only thing keeping him
>out of jail is the presidency

just with the information that is public he should be out on bail right now. i cant imagine how much stuff muller still is keeping private.

im not so sure he isnt reelected. i dont know how he avoids jail after his second term but sadly, crazier things have already happened in his presidency.

As the FEDS rushed him
Coming through U.S. Customs
Now look who's on the witness stand singin'
A well-known Soprano
A smash hit from Sammy Gravano

https://www.wsj.com/articles/manafort-sought-deal-in-next-trial-but-talks-broke-down-1535404819

Manafort Sought Deal in Next Trial, but Talks Broke Down
Negotiations stalled after Mueller raised issues

By Aruna Viswanatha
Aug. 27, 2018 5:20 p.m. ET

Paul Manafort’s defense team held talks with prosecutors to resolve a second set of charges against the former Trump campaign chairman before he was convicted last week, but they didn’t reach a deal, and the two sides are now moving closer to a second trial next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

The plea discussions occurred as a Virginia jury was spending four days deliberating tax and bank fraud charges against Mr. Manafort, the people said. That jury convicted him on eight counts and deadlocked on 10 others. Prosecutors accused Mr. Manafort of avoiding taxes on more than $16 million he earned in the early 2010s through political consulting work in Ukraine.

The plea talks on the second set of charges stalled over issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, one of the people said. It isn’t clear what those issues were, and the proposed terms of the plea deal couldn’t immediately be determined.

Representatives for Messrs. Manafort and Mueller declined to comment.

The talks were aimed at forestalling a second, related trial for Mr. Manafort, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 17 in Washington.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers have been arguing over how to describe that case to the jury and what evidence can be presented at trial. They are scheduled to discuss those issues at a hearing Tuesday morning before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

Mr. Manafort faced two separate trials on related allegations in neighboring districts because he declined to let prosecutors combine the charges into one case. From a defense perspective, such a move can force prosecutors to fight two battles and divide resources.

The plea discussions on the Washington case represent a softening in posture for Mr. Manafort, who has fought charges brought by Mr. Mueller’s 15-month investigation longer and more aggressively than other defendants in the probe.

Three other former Trump campaign aides, including former Manafort business associate Richard Gates, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and other crimes not core to Mr. Mueller’s mandate of examining Russian interference in the 2016 election. Twenty-five Russians have also been charged with hacking and other crimes. Moscow denies any election meddling.

The Virginia indictment charged Mr. Manafort with filing false tax returns between 2010 and 2014 and misleading multiple U.S. banks to obtain millions of dollars in loans in 2016, after his Ukraine income allegedly dried up.

Prosecutors have said the tax fraud charges against Mr. Manafort could result in a prison term of eight to 10 years, but some other tax-related sentences have fallen well below that.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, who oversaw Mr. Manafort’s Virginia case, last year sentenced a retired business school professor to seven months after he pleaded guilty to hiding $220 million in foreign accounts and not paying $18 million in federal and state taxes.

Unlike Mr. Manafort, that defendant had previously paid a $100 million penalty to the U.S. Treasury and cooperated in the investigation.

After Mr. Manafort’s Virginia conviction last week, a juror said the vote on the other 10 counts was 11-1 in favor of conviction. The juror, a self-described Trump supporter, told Fox News the evidence was “overwhelming,” and that the other jurors had tried to convince the lone holdout to switch her vote.

Prosecutors have until Wednesday to report whether they plan to retry Mr. Manafort on the deadlocked counts. For now, both sides appear to be preparing for the Washington trial.

In that case, prosecutors accuse Mr. Manafort of not registering in the U.S. for his lobbying work for the Ukrainian government between 2008 and 2014, and of conspiring to launder millions of dollars in income from that work to hide it from U.S. authorities.

In June, prosecutors added charges accusing Mr. Manafort of trying to influence the testimony of potential witnesses. That prompted Judge Jackson to send Mr. Manafort to jail as he awaited trial.

In a filing late Friday, prosecutors said they expected to take 10 to 12 days to present their case. Last week they turned over to Mr. Manafort’s team more than 1,500 exhibits they plan to present.

Mr. Manafort’s attorneys said they weren’t sure if they would present a defense, but if they did, it could take three or four days. They said they were in the process of identifying expert witnesses who could testify on money-laundering and foreign-lobbying registration rules.

Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos will spend 14 days in prison, pay a $9500 fine, and perform community service, a federal judge ordered Friday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/eorden/status/1038165346283409408

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tentative-deal-reached-manafort-special-counsel-sources/story?id=57809113

Tentative deal reached between Manafort and special counsel: Sources
By KATHERINE FAULDERS, TRISH TURNER, JOHN SANTUCCI MATTHEW MOSK Sep 13, 2018, 5:43 PM ET

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming trial, sources familiar with the negotiations tell ABC News.

The deal is expected to be announced in court Friday, but it remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or is simply conceding to a guilty plea, which would allow him to avoid the stress and expense of trial, according to three sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Manafort and his most senior defense attorneys spent more than four hours Thursday in discussions with a team of special prosecutors who are involved in the ongoing investigation into whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

ABC News spotted the team arriving in a dark SUV Thursday morning, pulling into a secret entrance out of public view at the building where Special Counsel Robert Mueller is based.

Word of the agreement comes as Manafort's second trial was slated to begin later this month in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Just under a year ago, the 69-year-old veteran GOP operative was charged in Washington, D.C., with several counts of fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent by the special counsel. A second case was opened in Virginia earlier this year on related charges that ended with a jury finding Manafort guilty on eight counts out of an 18-count indictment, facing a maximum of 80 years behind the bars, though under sentencing guidelines the term is likely to be closer to seven years. He has not been sentenced in that case.

Manafort has been held in jail for the last several months after prosecutors accused him of witness tampering.

He joined the president's campaign in March 2016 and became campaign chairman in May, and left the campaign in August days after the New York Times and the Associated Press ran reports that he had been tied to alleged undisclosed foreign lobbying practices in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Manafort and a representative for the special counsel’s office both declined to comment.

everyone who entered into a cooperation deal with prosecutors has terminated their joint defense agreement with trump lawyers beforehand. manafort hasnt done that (also gives him and trump an ongoing backchannel).

he talkin.....mueller isnt no clown....hes getting info or no deal...i guarantee they dont announce any concrete time hes getting right away...his time is gonna be based on his snitch level...

tampering and obstruction shit (like they did w/ manafort earlier this year, which hemmed him up even more).

i agree, no way mueller is letting this ni&&a plea with no cooperation. maybe with no *communication* of cooperation. that's different.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

Manafort will plead to one count of conspiracy, a count of witness tampering and will forfeit assets. He will also admit to everything the government has charged him with from money laundering conspiracy to illegal foreign lobbying, but won’t be pleading to all the charges.

https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1040597525164699649

Start snitching Paulie.

https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1040622626924883968?s=21

And

https://twitter.com/shimonpro/status/1040632968799244290?s=21

...the "effort" of going to trial. He had Manafort's ass dead to rights. Only way he's negotiating is if he's getting something in return.

waiting for that trump tweet...

Oh wait...this was a looooooong time ago (3 weeks)

"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. “Justice” took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to “break” - make up stories in order to get a “deal.” Such respect for a brave man!"

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1032256443985084417

The president’s legal team put out an initial statement that said: “the President did nothing wrong and Paul Manafort will tell the truth.” Minutes later, they put out a new statement that said simply: “the President did nothing wrong.”

https://twitter.com/EamonJavers/status/1040631124681207808

https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1040641471748169728

damn dude is about to go in.

funny how his daughter just changed her last name and basically disowned him. imagine having to call her up like 'baby *we* need to move to *******'.

https://static.rogerebert.com/redactor_assets/pictures/scanners/goodfellas-and-badfellas-scorsese-and-morality/gfnobody-thumb-510x287-41652.jpg

https://twitter.com/JoshWeber2/status/1040624750186430468

these folks got their own little lego world going on.

i say let 'em keep thinking that's the prize

because they basically dont believe in any polls or news about big dem enthusiasm/turnout. they think the trump movement is unstoppable and liberals/blacks are walking away from the dem party in droves.

i see these conservatives on twitter tryna warn folks 'theres no red wave!'...'dont listen to fox news!'...'go out and vote or everything comes crashing down!'...etc.

former breitbart editor is tryna warn people and trumpers are in his mentions basically calling him dumb/delusional.
https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1040044239122522117

even cernovich is tryna talk sense to them lol
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1040046754970791936

even anti-establishment steve bannon is telling conservatives to go out and vote for rinos lol.
https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/1023075479199404033

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1040705520317984768

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/14/manafort-probe-russia-trump-pardon-825751

Manafort's deal reins in a pardon's impact

Several aspects of the Mueller Russia probe's latest bombshell plea deal could stymie any pardon granted by the president. But Trump may not care.

By JOSH GERSTEIN 09/14/2018 09:25 PM EDT


The plea deal special counsel Robert Mueller granted to Paul Manafort on Friday appears built to be pardon-proof.

That doesn’t mean President Donald Trump won’t try to legally absolve Manafort anyway, a step the president has considered taking for months. But Friday‘s events mean Trump’s ability to contain the legal damage from his former campaign chairman is now severely limited.

Two new factors appear to stymie the impact of a potential Trump pardon for Manafort.

The first is that Manafort is already talking. One obvious rationale for a pardon would be to reward Manafort for holding out against Mueller’s pressure for cooperation in building a case against the president or those close to him. But Manafort’s lead lawyer said Friday his client has already cooperated with Mueller’s team, and Friday’s plea agreement says that Manafort "shall cooperate fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly with the Government and other law enforcement authorities identified by the Government in any and all matters to which the Government deems the cooperation relevant.”

Even if Trump might have hoped to stop Manafort from singing, Friday’s plea suggests he has already reached the first chorus.

The pivotal questions Mueller’s lawyers want to ask — including about a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians attended by Manafort along with Donald Trump Jr. and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner — have likely already been asked and answered with Manafort’s testimony locked in.

"Mueller likely already has all of Manafort's information," former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara tweeted Friday. "You get the information before you offer the agreement."

Some attorneys also believe the deal Mueller gave Manafort — accepting a guilty plea to just two of seven charges he was facing — signals that the former Trump campaign chief didn't just agree to answer prosecutors' questions but produced answers Mueller's team found useful to some aspect of a case it is actively pursuing.

"It certainly seems like Manafort had to give up something to prosecutors," Fordham law professor Jed Shugerman said. "One way or another, Manafort has given information significant enough to get a deal that would benefit him."

Second, Mueller managed to get concessions from Manafort that limit the value of any pardon. Manafort admitted guilt on virtually all of the charges he faced in both Washington, D.C., and Virginia, including a slew of bank fraud charges. Each of those admissions could give state or local prosecutors a potential charge against Manafort that would survive even in the event of a Trump pardon, since he can pardon only federal offenses.

"By admitting to all of the facts in both indictments, the conviction is pardon proof in the sense that if Trump ever pardoned Manafort, a state attorney general could take Manafort’s admissions in the plea and use them to indict Manafort for state charges," former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman said.

The steps Mueller's lawyers have taken mean a pardon won’t likely be a particularly effective way of discouraging Manafort from offering Mueller whatever Manafort has that might be incriminating toward Trump, Trump Jr., Kushner or others.

However, if Trump wants to pardon out of mercy or spite, he will still have the power to do so. Such a move could immediately trigger Manafort’s release from jail and relieve him of the duty to turn over tens of millions of dollars in property and bank accounts to the government. State authorities may catch up with Manafort, but precisely how that will play out is uncertain.

Even wording a pardon to relieve Manafort of not just any federal prison sentence but also his agreed forfeitures of property and cash could be complicated.

"A full and unconditional pardon ought by rights cover any court-imposed penalty, but it would be advisable if it specifically addressed the financial penalties that have been levied. It may not be necessary but it would certainly be prudent," said Margaret Love, who served as the Justice Department's top pardon attorney under President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. "If this were my client, I would want this all nailed down right in the pardon document."

Some observers believe Trump's lawyers may consider a Manafort pardon such a bad idea that they would be unwilling to go to those lengths to craft one, particularly because Mueller and Democrats in Congress could see the move as obstruction of justice.

"I don't think Trump has the legal skill to do it himself," said Shugerman. "And if you're Don McGahn or Emmett Flood, there's a certain line you don't want to cross."

During a 35-minute presentation to U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson as Manafort sat listening nearby, prosecutor Andrew Weissmann seemed to highlight the mundane fact that the former Trump campaign chair had agreed he was guilty of the seven bank fraud charges the jury had deadlocked on in the Virginia case.

"There are other parts of the statement of offense that don't relate to a plea of guilty here, but are admissions by the defendant to all of the remaining bank fraud counts on which the jury was hung in the Eastern District of Virginia," Weissmann said. "They are set out in writing."

Manafort's agreement on that point could be critical to pursuing state cases against him if Trump grants a federal pardon. Many of the other charges against Manafort, like money laundering, were incorporated in the broad "conspiracy against the United States" charge he pleaded guilty to Friday. Because of laws in some states aimed at preventing state and federal prosecution for the same crimes, that wording might be enough to block some states from prosecuting him over those issues.

However, as Weissmann emphasized, Manafort's admission to the bank fraud allegations was not part of any specific charges he pleaded guilty to Friday.

"It seems to preserve those charges and create an opportunity for future state prosecution," Shugerman said. "It preserves Illinois, California, New York, Virginia as well as Florida as potential jurisdictions to go after him on state charges."

Other uncertainties remain about a potential pardon. It might nullify Manafort's obligation under the deal to cooperate with the feds, but a pardon could also make it easier to force him to testify in front of a grand jury since there would no longer be a threat of federal criminal prosecution. However, the state prosecution threat would likely still be viable. It's unclear whether a federal judge would force Manafort to testify under those circumstances. It seems likely he would be required to testify, with the consequence for any state prosecution to be sorted out later.

It could also be tricky for Trump to block any forfeitures of property or money Manafort has agreed to. Experts say the forfeitures don't usually kick in formally until a defendant is sentenced. Manafort's sentencings could be months or years away. Language in Manafort's plea documents seems to leave open the possibility that prosecutors could bring civil litigation to take the funds and property even if the criminal proceedings come to an abrupt end.

Some experts say Trump can use executive clemency to block that, too.

"The pardon power does in fact extend to any sort of penalty imposed by the government, civil or criminal. A lot of early cases involved pardons to release ships that had been forfeited in what we would now regard as civil process," Love said.

But others say Trump's authority to do that through clemency is less clear. He might have to order his Justice Department to abandon such an effort.

"Where the assets are subject to civil forfeiture, it's not clear a pardon would immediately expunge that part of the plea," Shugerman said. "We're in uncharted territory. ... There is no precedent for this."

Another question is whether it's ethical for prosecutors to try to structure a plea deal in a way that seems intended to frustrate the president's constitutional power to issue pardons.

One prominent legal ethicist, New York University law professor Stephen Gillers, called such crafting "entirely appropriate." He noted that the Supreme Court declared more than 80 years ago that prosecutors' duty is to ensure "that guilt shall not escape nor innocence suffer."

"I think Mueller can insist on sworn admissions that would establish a violation of state as well as federal law," Gillers said. "It is important that the plea deal include conspiracy to launder money and lots of it, to the point of kleptomania. The charge is supported with abundant factual detail, which I think will make it very hard to suggest that Manafort is an innocent man."


Darren Samuelsohn contributed to this story.

https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/1044198082823540736

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/31/has-robert-mueller-subpoenaed-trump-222060

Has Mueller Subpoenaed the President?

A careful reading of court filings suggests the special counsel hasn’t been quiet. Far from it.

By NELSON W. CUNNINGHAM October 31, 2018

Nelson W. Cunningham has served as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York under Rudolph Giuliani, general counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-chair Joseph R. Biden, and general counsel of the White House Office of Administration under Bill Clinton.


These months before the midterm elections are tough ones for all of us Mueller-watchers. As we expected, he has gone quiet in deference to long-standing Justice Department policy that prosecutors should not take actions that might impact pending elections. Whatever he is doing, he is doing quietly and even farther from the public eye than usual.

But thanks to some careful reporting by Politico, which I have analyzed from my perspective as a former prosecutor, we may have stumbled upon How Bob Mueller Is Spending His Mid-Terms: secretly litigating against President Trump for the right to throw him in the grand jury.

As a former prosecutor and Senate and White House aide, I predicted here last May that Mueller would promptly subpoena Trump and, like Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr back in 1998, bring a sitting president before his grand jury to round out and conclude his investigation. What Trump knew and when he knew it, and what exactly motivated his statements and actions, are central to Mueller’s inquiry on both Russian interference and obstruction of justice.

As the summer proceeded, we certainly heard a great deal from Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, about purported negotiations with Mueller’s office about the propriety and scope of Trump’s potential testimony. On August 15, Giuliani said Trump would move to quash a subpoena and went so far as to say, “e’re pretty much finished with our memorandum opposing a subpoena.”

And then—nothing. Labor Day came and went without a visible move by Mueller to subpoena the president, and we entered the quiet period before the midterms. Even the voluble Giuliani went quiet, more or less. Mindful of the time it would take to fight out the legal issues surrounding a presidential subpoena, and mindful of the ticking clock on Mueller’s now 18-month-old investigation, many of us began to wonder if Mueller had decided to forego the compelling and possibly conclusive nature of presidential testimony in favor of findings built on inference and circumstantial evidence. A move that would leave a huge hole in his final report and findings.

But now, thanks to Politico’s reporting (backed up by the simple gumshoe move of sitting in the clerk’s office waiting to see who walks in and requests what file), we may know what Mueller has been up to: Since mid-August, he may have been locked in proceedings with Trump and his lawyers over a grand jury subpoena—in secret litigation that could tell us by December whether the president will testify before Mueller’s grand jury.

The evidence lies in obscure docket entries at the clerk’s office for the D.C. Circuit. Thanks to Politico’s Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn, we know that on August 16th (the day after Giuliani said he was almost finished with his memorandum, remember), a sealed grand jury case was initiated in the D.C. federal district court before Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell. We know that on September 19, Chief Judge Howell issued a ruling and 5 days later one of the parties appealed to the D.C. Circuit. And thanks to Politico’s reporting, we know that the special counsel’s office is involved (because the reporter overheard a conversation in the clerk’s office). We can further deduce that the special counsel prevailed in the district court below, and that the presumptive grand jury witness has frantically appealed that order and sought special treatment from the judges of the D.C. Circuit—often referred to as the “second-most important court in the land.”

Nothing about the docket sheets, however, discloses the identity of the witness. Politico asked many of the known attorneys for Mueller witnesses—including Jay Sekulow, another Trump lawyer—and every one denied knowledge of the identity of the witness. (What, of course, would we expect a lawyer to say when asked about a proceeding the court has ordered sealed?)

But for those of us who have been appellate lawyers, the brief docket entries tell a story. Here’s what we can glean:


The parties and the judges have moved with unusual alacrity. Parties normally have 30 days to appeal a lower court action. The witness here appealed just five days after losing in the district court—and three days later filed a motion before the appellate court to stay the district court’s order. That’s fast.

The appeals court itself responded with remarkable speed, too. One day after getting the witness’s motion, the court gave the special counsel just three days to respond—blindingly short as appellate proceedings go. The special counsel’s papers were filed October 1.

At this point an unspecified procedural flaw seems to have emerged, and on October 3, the appeals court dismissed the appeal. Just two days later, the lower court judge cured the flaw, the witness re-appealed, and by October 10 the witness was once again before appellate court. Thanks to very quick action of all the judges, less than one week was lost due to a flaw that, in other cases, could have taken weeks or months to resolve.

Back before the D.C. Circuit, this case’s very special handling continued. On October 10, the day the case returned to the court, the parties filed a motion for expedited handling, and within two days, the judges had granted their motion and set an accelerated briefing schedule. The witness was given just 11 days to file briefs; the special counsel (presumably) just two weeks to respond; and reply papers one week later, on November 14 (for those paying attention, that’s 8 days after the midterm elections). Oral arguments are set for December 14.


At every level, this matter has commanded the immediate and close attention of the judges involved—suggesting that no ordinary witness and no ordinary issue is involved. But is it the president? The docket sheets give one final—but compelling—clue. When the witness lost the first time in the circuit court (before the quick round-trip to the district court), he unusually petitioned for rehearing en banc—meaning he thought his case was so important that it merited the very unusual action of convening all 10 of the D.C. Circuit judges to review the order. That is itself telling (this witness believes his case demands very special handling), but the order disposing of the petition is even more telling: President Trump’s sole appointee to that court, Gregory Katsas, recused himself.

Why did he recuse himself? We don’t know; by custom, judges typically don’t disclose their reasons for sitting a matter out. But Judge Katsas previously served in the Trump White House, as one of four deputy White House counsels. He testified in his confirmation hearings that in that position he handled executive branch legal issues, but made clear that apart from some discrete legal issues, he had not been involved in the special counsel’s investigation. If the witness here were unrelated to the White House, unless the matter raised one of the discrete legal issues on which he had previously given advice, there would be no reason to recuse himself.

But if the witness were the president himself—if the matter involved an appeal from a secret order requiring the president to testify before the grand jury—then Judge Katsas would certainly feel obliged to recuse himself from any official role. Not only was the president his former client (he was deputy counsel to the president, remember) but he owes his judicial position to the president’s nomination. History provides a useful parallel: In 1974, in the unanimous Supreme Court decision US v Nixon requiring another witness-president to comply with a subpoena, Justice William Rehnquist recused himself for essentially the same reasons.

We cannot know, from the brief docket entries that are available to us in this sealed case, that the matter involves President Trump. But we do know from Politico’s reporting that it involves the special counsel and that the action here was filed the day after Giuliani noted publicly, “We’re pretty much finished with our memorandum opposing a subpoena.” We know that the district court had ruled in favor of the special counsel and against the witness; that the losing witness has moved with alacrity and with authority; and that the judges have responded with accelerated rulings and briefing schedules. We know that Judge Katsas, Trump’s former counsel and nominee, has recused himself. And we know that this sealed legal matter will come to a head in the weeks just after the midterm elections.

If Mueller were going to subpoena the president—and there’s every reason why a careful and thorough prosecutor would want the central figure on the record on critical questions regarding his knowledge and intent—this is just the way we would expect him to do so. Quietly, expeditiously, and refusing to waste the lull in public action demanded by the midterm elections. It all fits.

Anyway I'm still not holding my breath for this to amount to anything but at least we know there has been activity during all the silence.

The mystery appellant in this Mueller grand jury subpoena case @joshgerstein & I wrote about here at @politico last month just filed a sealed 6,487-word brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals. Once again, let the speculation on who it is begin....

https://twitter.com/dsamuelsohn/status/1062770927421870080

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/donald-trump-jr-expecting-to-be-indicted-by-mueller-soon.html

Donald Trump Jr. Expecting to Be Indicted by Mueller Soon
By Jonathan Chait
9:58 A.M.

Last year, Donald Trump Jr. testified that he never informed his father of a meeting with Russian officials promising “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. It seemed hard to believe that the ne’er-do-well son would neglect to seek credit for his expected campaign coup from the father whose approval he so obviously craves. And now it seems that Robert Mueller has obtained proof that it is not in fact true. The Trump family lies all the time, of course, but doing it under oath is a crime.

Two days ago, Gabriel Sherman reported that White House officials are concerned about Donald Jr. “I’m very worried about Don Jr.,” a former West Wing official told Sherman, who fears Mueller will be able to prove perjury. Deep in a report about Trump’s 2020 campaign plans, Politico drops the news this morning that Trump Jr. “has told friends in recent weeks that he believes he could be indicted.”

If it’s what you’re saying, we love it.

The details of the expected indictment remain to be seen. But if Trump Jr. did lie under oath, the obvious question is why. He had a lawyer, who presumably informed him of the dangers of perjury. Why take the risk of perjury to deny having informed his father about a meeting with Russian officials if the contacts produced absolutely nothing?

Russian oligarch who bought a Florida mansion from Trump for $95 million, and a New York condo for $88 million, has been arrested in Monaco on corruption charges.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1059877489105948672

^^^Read this twitter thread.

like everything else Trump related, nothing sticks nor turns the tide. We need all branches of government on board with this impeachment.

We also need the MAGA maniacs to see their leader for what he is and not scorch the earth when he is kicked out and embarrasses the party. The power he holds over these people is scary. They will shoot/blow shit up at the drop of a dime on his command. After Trump is purged, we have to get rid of his domestic terrorist cells. These people are a threat to this nation on top of everything else.

A President under investigation for *firing the FBI Director* & obstructing justice who recently watched guilty pleas & flipping by his personal lawyer, campaign chair, deputy chair & national security adviser just fired his handpicked AG & replaced him with a loyalist.

https://twitter.com/AriMelber/status/1060287175877685249


^^^More evidence of obstruction of justice by the president.

Difference being that Congress had a spine w/Nixon. Today's Repugnantcans seem dead set on backing this serpent all else be damned.

https://twitter.com/nytmike/status/1060546430656491520

this is the same reporter that broke the story about rosenstein asking (joking...according to most other reputable outlets) if he could wire tap the president. that led to the chaotic meeting/non-firing of rosenstein.

i cant think of a more arrogant group of assholes right now than nytimes reporters.

Like, is this what they envisioned when they chose their major back in the day? Simply becoming an arm of propaganda, entertainment, etc?

I hope it's true.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/668625222/maria-butina-accused-of-being-a-russian-agent-may-be-in-talks-for-plea-deal

Maria Butina, Accused Of Being A Russian Agent, May Be In Talks For Plea Deal
November 16, 20181:07 PM ET
CARRIE JOHNSON

Prosecutors are negotiating a potential plea agreement with the Russian woman who was charged over the summer with being a clandestine foreign agent.

The U.S. attorney's office for Washington, D.C., said in a court filing that its lawyers are in talks with counsel for the woman, Maria Butina, who also was charged with alleged conspiracy.

Her lawyers have said she is simply a naive young woman who was "jabbering" about her efforts to influence U.S. politicians.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the filing because the case remains pending.

The judge in the case also has imposed a gag order on all parties involved after some earlier comments to journalists.

Butina was arrested in July in Washington, D.C., as she was preparing to move away, prosecutors said. She has been linked with a number of attempts to influence the political establishment in the United States, many using her long-standing support of gun rights.

In 2016, for example, Butina's boyfriend, Republican fundraiser Paul Erickson, contacted people on Donald Trump's presidential campaign with an offer to set up a back-channel relationship with the Russian government via the National Rifle Association.

Butina appears to have reported back to a Russian government official, Alexander Torshin, who also spent years cultivating relationships with the NRA and Republican politicians.

Torshin was placed under sanction by the Treasury Department and is now barred from returning to the United States.

Butina also sought relationships with other important figures in the world of conservative politics, including the National Prayer Breakfast, and she attended Trump's inauguration in early 2017.

Accused Russian spy Maria Butina appears to have reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Her attorneys and prosecutors have filed a two-page request for a "change of plea" hearing as soon as Tuesday.
https://t.co/SZOf4s58K0?amp=1

https://mobile.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1072189205504319488

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/maria-butina-accused-russian-agent-reaches-plea-deal/story?id=59719083

Maria Butina, accused Russian agent, reaches plea deal with prosecutors that includes cooperation
By PETE MADDEN, KATHERINE FAULDERS MATTHEW MOSK
Dec 10, 2018, 5:48 PM ET

Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist who stands accused developing a covert influence operation in the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and cooperate with federal, state and local authorities in any ongoing investigations.

She admits, as part of the deal, according to a copy obtained by ABC News that is expected to be filed to the court, that she and an unnamed “U.S. Person 1,” which sources have identified as longtime Republican operative Paul Erickson, with whom she had a multiyear romantic relationship, “agreed and conspired, with a Russian government official (“Russian Official”) and at least one other person, for Butina to act in the United States under the direction of Russian Official without prior notification to the Attorney General.”

Based on the description, the “Russian Official” appears to be Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under his direction, the agreement said, she “sought to establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics.”

The agreement, which Butina signed on Saturday, Dec. 8, also notes that the conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, but the deal could see Butina receive a lesser sentence, depending on the level of her cooperation, before likely being deported back to Russia.

It is unclear what Butina’s cooperation might entail, but federal prosecutors have reportedly notified Erickson that he is a target of an ongoing investigation. The target letter sent to Erickson is from federal prosecutors in Washington, sources familiar with the case told ABC News, and separate from any South Dakota-based federal fraud investigation into his business dealings that has been the subject of earlier media reports.

Butina’s attorney, Robert Driscoll, declined to comment. Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, declined to comment. An attorney for Erickson declined to comment.

Butina was arrested in July and accused of ensnaring Erickson in a “duplicitous relationship,” using him for cover and connections as she developed an influence operation designed to “advance the agenda of the Russian Federation.” She pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and failure to register as a foreign agent.

But now, according to the agreement, Butina has acknowledged that with U.S. Person 1’s assistance, she drafted a proposal called “Description of the Diplomacy Project” in March of 2015 which was later sent to the Russian Official, in which she said that she had already “laid the groundwork for an unofficial channel of communication with the next U.S. administration” and requested $125,000 from a Russian billionaire to attend conferences and meetings to further develop those ties. The Russian Official, the agreement said, confirmed that her proposal would be at least partially supported.

The government has alleged that U.S. Person 1 “worked with Butina to arrange introductions to U.S. persons having influence in American politics,” including high-ranking members of the National Rifle Association and organizers of the National Prayer Breakfast, that would ultimately give her a surprising level of access to conservative politicians, including — in one memorable interaction captured on video — to then-candidate Donald Trump.

Most notably, Butina’s Russian gun rights group “Right to Bear Arms” hosted a delegation of former NRA presidents, board members and major donors in Moscow in 2015, where she appears to have succeeded in arranging a meeting between NRA insiders and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, raising the prospect of a discussion between conservative political operatives and a powerful member of Russian President Putin’s inner circle in the midst of a presidential campaign.

After that now infamous meeting, the agreement said, Butina sent the Russian Official a message, which was translated as saying “We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later.”

It would appear that, even as Erickson was helping Butina forge those connections, he may have been aware of the political implications.

“Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns,” Erickson wrote in an October 2016 email to an acquaintance that was later obtained by the FBI, “I’ve been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key leaders through, of all conduits, the .”

And during an FBI raid of Erickson’s South Dakota home, investigators discovered a handwritten note suggesting Erickson may have been aware of a possible job offer from Russian intelligence services: “How to respond to FSB offer of employment?” Erickson scratched, an apparent reference to the Russian equivalent of the CIA.

Butina’s attorney Driscoll has described her as a promising graduate student whose career has been derailed by this case, but prosecutors claimed that was just a “cover while she continued to work on behalf the Russian Official.”

Butina allegedly maintained that cover with the assistance of Erickson. He supported her financially, telling McClatchy DC he established a South Dakota-based company Bridges LLC with Butina in order to help defray her educational expenses, and according to court filings, assisted with her coursework “by editing papers and answering exam questions.”

Meanwhile, prosecutors claim, Butina “appear to treat as simply a necessary aspect of her activities” and privately expressed “disdain” for continuing to live with him.

Driscoll, however, had insisted that Butina and Erickson, despite the government’s claims to the contrary, were engaged in a mutual and genuine cross-cultural romance.

“I think in some ways it’s a classic love story,” Driscoll said. “I think are filling in a lot of the gaps with a lot of spy novels.”

Russian Maria Butina pleads guilty in case to forge Kremlin bond with U.S. conservatives

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/russian-maria-butina-pleads-guilty-in-effort-to-forge-kremlin-bond-with-us-conservatives/2018/12/13/c27f2d26-fe4f-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dozens-sealed-criminal-indictments-dc-docket-mueller/story?id=59249030

There are dozens of sealed criminal indictments on the DC docket. Are they from Mueller?
By MATTHEW MOSK ALLISON PECORIN Nov 16, 2018, 3:37 PM ET

More than three dozen sealed criminal indictments have been added to the federal court docket in Washington, D.C. since the start of 2018.

Sealed criminal court files are assigned a case number, but do not indicate the identity of the parties or the nature of the charges, so it is impossible for the public to discern what those sealed cases contain.

But several legal experts told ABC News the number of sealed cases awaiting action right now is unusual. Fourteen were added to the docket since late August alone, a review by ABC News has found, just as the midterm elections were drawing near and longstanding Justice Department policy precluded prosecutors from taking any public action that could appear to be aimed at influencing political outcomes.

And the inadvertent discovery on Thursday night of what appear to be secret charges pending against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has drawn fresh attention to the mystery. Legal experts told ABC News that the sealed cases could be tied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possibly part of a quiet effort to protect his investigation from any premature effort to shut it down.

“I assume that Mueller knew that once the election was over, there could be an existential threat to his investigation,” said Matthew Miller, a former senior Justice official under former Attorney General Eric Holder. “He knew the best thing to do was act before that.”

A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment on the investigation or the uptick in sealed indictments.

Sealed indictments are often used in cases where a defendant is overseas and U.S. prosecutors don’t want to tip off their target before they have a chance to make an arrest. But they can also be used to pressure someone to flip on a more important target, according to Kendall Coffey, who served as U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida in the mid-1990s, “especially if there was someone who presented the hope of providing proactive assistance – undertaking conversations, especially recorded conversations with other suspects in the investigation.”

Mueller has used a sealed indictment before. The case against unpaid Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos remained a secret for three months before charges of lying to investigators were eventually made public in October 2017. Only then, after Mueller's team secured a cooperation agreement, did the public learn the one-time foreign policy advisor would be the first from Trump’s campaign to plead guilty in the probe.

Brett Kappel, a veteran political law expert said he calculated that 16 percent of all the criminal cases filed thus far in 2018 remained under seal, a number he considered “unusually high.” And those were kept under seal much longer than usual, he said.

“They normally only remain sealed until the person who has been indicted has been apprehended,” he said. “The other major reason why a case is initially sealed is that publicly revealing the name of the accused would impede an ongoing investigation.”

Coffey said he did not know if the stack of secret charging papers had any ties to Mueller. But if they did, he said, they would have enabled the special counsel’s team to keep cases moving ahead of the midterms.

“If indeed Mueller had prepared cases for prosecution but did not want the announcement to impact on pending elections then a sealed indictment might have been the preferred method,” Coffey said.

And there was good reason, Miller said, for Mueller to lock in charges before the midterms.

Mueller can only indict someone with the approval of the Attorney General, and once the indictments have been approved and filed, any effort to withdraw charges would involve a judge.

At the time, those approvals fell to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein because Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from the Russia matter. But President Trump had sent strong signals he planned to replace Sessions after the elections with someone who might be more willing to curtail the probe into Russian election interference and possible collusion.

The day after the elections, Trump appointed acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who has previously denounced the Mueller probe. A Justice Department spokeswoman said this week that Whitaker “is fully committed to following all appropriate processes and procedures at the Department of Justice, including consulting with senior ethics officials on his oversight responsibilities and matters that may warrant recusal.”

“You can’t prevent a new AG from blocking new indictments,” Miller said. “But if you were ready to move on cases, you could return a bunch of indictments under seal. If the stumbling block is approval from Mueller’s supervisors, you get that approval while you still have a supervisor who approves of your work.”


ABC News' Ali Dukakis and Soorin Kim contributed to this report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/stone-associate-jerome-corsi-is-in-plea-negotiations-with-special-counsel-according-to-a-person-with-knowledge-of-the-talks/2018/11/23/29765b3a-eaa5-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.b2b20d5053b1&noredirect=on

Stone associate Jerome Corsi is in plea negotiations with special counsel
By Rosalind S. Helderman, Josh Dawsey and
Manuel Roig-Franzia
November 23 at 2:23 PM

Conservative writer and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi is in plea negotiations with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, according to Corsi and another person with knowledge of the talks.

The talks with Corsi — an associate of President Trump and GOP operative Roger Stone — could bring Mueller’s team closer to determining whether Trump or his advisers were linked to WikiLeaks’ release of hacked Democratic emails in 2016, a key part of his long-running inquiry.

Corsi provided research on Democratic figures during the campaign to Stone, a longtime Trump adviser. For months, the special counsel has been scrutinizing Stone’s activities in an effort to determine whether he coordinated with WikiLeaks. Stone and WikiLeaks have repeatedly denied any such coordination.

Stone has said that Corsi also has a relationship with Trump, built on their shared interest in the falsehood that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

Corsi confirmed the plea negotiations after they were first reported by The Washington Post Friday. “It’s true. Your story is accurate,” he said, declining to comment further except to say there may be further developments next week.

David Gray, an attorney for Corsi, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mueller. An attorney for Trump declined to comment.

Stone said in a statement that he was not aware of any plea discussions involving Corsi, describing him as an investigative journalist “whose activities I would think would largely be covered under the First Amendment.”

The deal is not yet complete and could still be derailed. Last week, Corsi said his efforts to cooperate with prosecutors had broken down and that he expected to be indicted on a charge of allegedly lying. He described feeling under enormous pressure from Mueller and assured his supporters that he remains supportive of the president.

In a webcast and a series of interviews, Corsi said he had spoken to prosecutors for 40 hours and feared that he could spend much of the remainder of his life in prison.

After two months of interviews, Corsi, 72, said he felt his brain was “mush.”

“Trying to explain yourself to these people is impossible . . . I guess I couldn’t tell the special prosecutor what he wanted to hear,” he added.

At that time, he gave no indication that he intended to plead guilty, instead casting himself as an unfairly targeted victim of a Mueller campaign against Trump.

Then, Corsi abruptly fell silent, canceling a scheduled Nov. 13 interview with NBC. Gray, his attorney, told NBC that he had just spoken to the special counsel’s office and had advised Corsi to cancel.

Since then, Corsi has resumed talks with Mueller’s team about a possible deal that could result in him agreeing to plead guilty in exchange for leniency, according to the person familiar with the situation.

Stone said in his statement Friday that “my friend Dr. Corsi has been under a tremendous amount of pressure and it is beginning to affect him profoundly. He has stated publicly that he is being asked over and over to say things he simply does not believe occurred.”

It is not clear what information Corsi could leverage to get a deal with prosecutors. However, he told the Daily Caller last week that prosecutors are focused on whether he had developed a source with inside information about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s plans.

Corsi said he did not have a direct source to the group. Instead, he said he developed a theory that Assange had access to hacked emails belonging to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and that WikiLeaks would release them in October 2016.

He told the Daily Caller that he shared his prediction with many people, including Stone.

If Mueller could prove that Corsi learned about Podesta’s emails from Assange or another person in contact with him, he could try to link WikiLeaks’ releases to Stone or others in Trump’s world.

Stone told the publication that Corsi never relayed such information.

“He never told me that he had figured out or believed that John Podesta’s emails had been stolen,” Stone said.

On Aug. 21, 2016, Stone tweeted “it will soon the Podesta’s time in the barrel.” He has insisted his tweet had nothing to do with any plan by WikiLeaks and that it was based on research Corsi had provided to him about work Podesta and his lobbyist brother Tony had done involving Russia.

“He simply told me of their Russian business deals in banking gas and uranium,” Stone said in a text message this week to The Washington Post. “There was NO WikiLeaks context.”

Stone told the House Intelligence Committee in September 2017 that his Podesta tweet was “based on a comprehensive, early August opposition research briefing provided to me by investigative journalist, Dr. Jerome Corsi, which I then asked him to memorialize in a memo that he sent me on August 31st, all of which was culled from public records. There was no need to have John Podesta’s email to learn that he and his presidential candidate were in bed with the clique around Putin.”

Stone has since said that the information in the Aug. 31 memo — which he received 10 days after his now-infamous tweet — was similar to information that Corsi had relayed to him verbally before the tweet.

The prediction that Corsi said he made that Assange would publish Podesta’s emails was correct: on Oct. 7, 2016, WikiLeaks began publishing 50,000 emails stolen from Podesta’s account, releasing them in batches of a few thousand at a time each day leading up to the November election.

Corsi told the Daily Caller that he based his prediction on public sources of information, including the fact that Podesta was not among the Democrats whose emails had been published by WikiLeaks when the group released Democratic National Committee correspondence in July.

He said he concluded that WikiLeaks must be holding back Podesta’s correspondence to make a bigger splash later in the campaign.

Podesta did not work for the DNC and the emails were stolen from his private Gmail account, not an address linked to the Democratic Party.

Corsi told the Daily Caller that Mueller’s prosecutors did not believe his explanation and pressed him to name his WikiLeaks source. They were especially interested, he said, in a trip he took to Italy with his wife that he said coincided with his realization about the Podesta emails.

“They said they wanted me to tell the truth, but when I did tell the truth they told me it was preposterous, and they wouldn’t accept it,” Corsi said.

Stone is under scrutiny because he made a series of comments during the campaign that suggested he was in contact with Assange and knew of WikiLeaks’ plans.

Since then, Stone has vigorously contended that his comments were exaggerations based on public information, as well as tips from New York radio host and comedian Randy Credico.

Stone has also told The Post that Corsi had a relationship with Trump and spoke directly with the Republican candidate during the campaign.

Stone said the two men became friendly after Corsi published a book in 2011 advancing the false theory that Obama was not qualified to hold office because he was not born in the United States. Trump became a leading proponent of that falsehood.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/mueller-says-manafort-lied-after-pleading-guilty-should-be-sentenced-immediately/2018/11/26/61c76d5a-f18d-11e8-aeea-b85fd44449f5_story.html?utm_term=.0c4772c778fa&noredirect=on

Mueller says Manafort lied after pleading guilty, should be sentenced immediately
By Spencer S. Hsu and
Rachel Weiner
November 26 at 7:05 PM


Prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III said Monday that Paul Manafort breached his plea agreement by lying repeatedly as they questioned him in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Manafort denies doing so, and both sides agree that sentencing should be set immediately.

The apparent collapse of Manafort’s cooperation agreement is the latest stunning turnaround in his case, exposing the longtime Republican consultant to more than a decade behind bars after pleading guilty in September on charges of cheating the Internal Revenue Service, violating foreign lobbying laws and attempting to obstruct justice.

The court filing indicated Mueller’s team also had suffered a potential setback, after gaining access to a witness with potential knowledge of several key events relevant to the probe during his tenure with Trump’s campaign from March to August 2016, including a Trump Tower meeting attended by a Russian lawyer and the Republican National Convention.

“After signing the plea agreement, Manafort committed federal crimes by lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Special Counsel’s Office on a variety of subject matters, which constitute breaches of the agreement,” prosecutors wrote. The government will file a detailed sentencing submission to the Probation Department and the Court in advance of sentencing that sets forth the nature of the defendant’s crimes and lies.”

Prosecutors did not elaborate on areas where they contend Manafort lied.

Manafort disputes that characterization; his attorneys write in the joint filing that he “has provided information to the government in an effort to live up to his cooperation obligations.”

Manafort pleaded guilty on Sept. 14 days before trial in Washington, D.C., to two charges — conspiring to defraud the United States and conspiring to obstruct justice — admitting to years of financial crimes related to his undisclosed lobbying work for a pro-Russian political party and politician in Ukraine.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Manafort faces a maximum prison sentence of about 10 years, not counting a sentence for his August conviction in Virginia for bank and tax fraud. He was ordered to forfeit an estimated $15 million he hid from the Internal Revenue Service, but permitted to keep some property held with family members.

Before the plea, Manafort’s defenders had long insisted that he would not cooperate with Mueller .

But in plea papers, Manafort agreed to cooperate “fully and truthfully” with the investigation conducted by the office of special counsel, including participating in interviews and debriefings, producing any documents in his control, testifying, and agreeing to delay sentencing until a time set by the government.

In return for his cooperation, Manafort hoped to have prosecutors recommend leniency, possibly slicing years off his term of incarceration.

The filing came after Manafort talked in detail to prosecutors before his plea, and despite numerous visits by him and his lawyers since to prosecutors’ offices.

Kevin Downing, an attorney for Manafort, said at the time of Manafort’s plea that it included a full cooperation agreement. “He wanted to make sure his family remained safe and live a good life,” Downing said outside the courthouse doors. “He has accepted responsibility.”

This makes sense, and will be awesome if true.


https://twitter.com/thatshockratees/status/1067210591536902145?s=21


https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1067218309928665088?s=12

and what's not, without a lot of the hype from other places (cough abramson cough)
www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-rips-robert-mueller-as-prosecutor-gone-rogue-after-paul-manafort-complaint/ar-BBQ9CSK?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=AARDHP

Mueller set these boys up sweet.

Like I hope he has each of these creatures caught in several easily provable lies and embarrasses each of them at the highest possible level. And leaves negative room for any of the freaks still somehow supporting them to scream "FAKE NEWS" or any of the other bullshit.

I smell blood and I want it all.

shit is gonna be great

like dont even address it. Your base is going to believe you over Mueller no matter what. But now you look like an idiot trying to keep your house of cards from blowing over and a Tornado is coming. All of your stupid attempts to remind everyone of your innocence is doing the opposite. Its all going to come crumbling down. So ignore and keep trying to destroy the country and build your wealth while you can.

guess hes realizing it now since Manaforts agreement was scrapped. he goin off today on erything... he knows he fucked. as for building wealth.. they bout to take alla dat..

probably made dat plea..manafort is also held in solitary....they know dem russian stitches comin fo dem snitches

https://www.thedailybeast.com/accused-russian-agent-maria-butina-held-in-solitary-confinement-lawyers


Accused Russian Agent Maria Butina Held in Solitary Confinement: Lawyers
AFP/Reuters

Maria Butina, the alleged Russian agent accused of connecting the Kremlin to American gun-rights activists, is being held in solitary confinement, according to a new court filing. The filing, from her lawyers, says she was put in solitary on Nov. 21 and has been held there for 22 hours a day ever since. Jail staff told Butina’s attorney that they moved her there because she gave her lawyer’s phone number to another inmate, according to the filing. “It is the opinion of the undersigned that prolonged depravation of human contact and interaction is starting to have a profound psychological impact on Ms. Butina,” her lawyers wrote. “Unless the court intervenes, she will continue to be held in this manner and ultimately require the attention of mental health professionals.”

—Betsy Woodruff

Bye, bitch.

Hopefully he sets a trend. AKA they all die.

This woman's thread is great.

https://twitter.com/page88/status/1067947746064244736

No DOUBT in my mind.

https://twitter.com/11thHour/status/1068000652989730817

my man painter said..manafort and trumps lawyers now need lawyers...

everyone is going to jail . corsi was right. he know he goin

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-russia-mueller.html

that dossier is becoming true. stay tuned for pee tapes... LMAO..plus Deutche Bank was raided this morning ...this shit is waay off the rails..trump is about to jump on a plane to the G20. he might never come back...He know its a wrap

I didn't really even think of that with this guilty plea.

I *did* think that this is the clearest evidence yet (among a bunch of pretty fucking clear evidence) that this shit is for real for real. Meaning they obviously colluded. Like big time.

House of cards is bout to crumble. I cannot fucking wait.

At his lawn presser, Trump just admitted to doing biz with Russia while campaigning and then tried to justify it..

I was just speaking with someone this morning about how amazing it is just how brazen and blatant he and his goon squad have been throughout the entirety of this bullshit. My example was his twitter reaction to Cohen's guilty plea in August and Manafort's earlier this year.

Manafort plead guilty, but word is that he was sorta kinda plotting to try and be a mole in the Mueller probe (what an idiot) ... so Trump, knowing that Manafort planned to lie and stay loyal, mostly tweeted shit like "Manafort is a great man and I know he will tell the truth - NO COLLUSION!"

Meanwhile after Cohen flipped and *really* planned to flip, Trump's reaction was that he ain't shit, knows nothing, is stupid, etc. Hahaha. I mean jesus christ could they be more blatant. Giuliani too. It's so obvious.

The friend I was speaking with brought up a good point. As stupid as it seems, it may not be that at all but instead, *knowing* that they are all fucked up and down the river, they may just be trying in a last ditch effort to drum up support from their rabid, miserable, stupid base and the stupid general public so that when the inevitable "uhhh yea no shit they colluded" evidence and final report(s) come out from Mueller's squad, they can go fucking straight up kamikaze and get the animals rioting and shit. Not out of the realm of possibility with this piece of shit.

I mean if anyone even thought that Trump was going to get away with this shit they are crazy... Lmao at mofos thinking an amateur like Whitaker makes a difference, when Mueller is 10x his senior.

>At his lawn presser, Trump just admitted to doing biz with
>Russia while campaigning and then tried to justify it..

I'm in a meeting but desperate to keep up with this haha.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/29/business/deutsche-bank-police-raid/index.html


they probably did that to protect funds

Can't go retrieve it right now but all I can picture is the Dark Knight "and. here. we. go." gif. Shit is POPPIN OFF.

>LMAO..plus Deutche Bank was raided this morning

Whoa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYZf-lBF_U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZhpgzIz6Sk

I think you can watch on iTunes as well.

Trump will hold a "brief impromptu" meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit, despite his claim that he canceled the official meeting due to the ongoing Russia/Ukraine crisis.

There will be no press conference following or reporters allowed in the meeting.

https://twitter.com/TopRopeTravis/status/1068505851953115137

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1068527129883742208

https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/1068181852001890304?s=12

And

https://twitter.com/ranttmedia/status/1068166840952791040?s=21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhD3I_AZJMY

Source says feds showed up this am, asked everyone to leave and put brown paper on the doors.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtLtp9XUUAAjMBw.jpg

https://twitter.com/fspielman/status/1068177373684817923


Burke’s law firm had done tax work for @realDonaldTrump 🤔

https://twitter.com/ChrisDeLuca/status/1068188206816993280

This exposing a nation-wide political-business mafia net.

Almost asked about you earlier in this post to make sure someone had heard from you.

Walls are closing in my friend !

Let's gooooooooooooo

I could be off, but I think we (I'm thinking mostly of me, you, and Reeq) get really high or really low.

At least for my own sanity, I'm trying to level out.

But I dunno. I feel like with the recent bombs have been really, really telling in terms of how things are going. I may be making leaps like always (reading into Trump's behavior, tying the Deutsche raid and tax lawyer raid to the Mueller probe) but I really objectively feel like *these* leaps are shorter and safer than the leaps of faith I'd been taking back when all we knew was that Pap, Manafort, Cohen, etc. were all "flipping" and pleading guilty, when a lot of assumptions had to be made.

This stuff seems more centralized and connected. Manafort caught lying. Cohen being charged by Mueller directly; Cohen being the one person who may know all of Trump's shady behavior, whose testimony (over 70 hours from what I've seen) could have directly or indirectly led to the money laundering raid of Deutsche Bank as well as the raid of the tax lawyer's office. Trump's outright refusal to ever give up his tax returns. Etc. It all just makes *too* much sense.

But again, you're right, I could be dreaming and still making leaps in logic. So I def need to quell my excitement. But it's hard. Haha.


>I could be off, but I think we (I'm thinking mostly of me,
>you, and Reeq) get really high or really low.
>
>At least for my own sanity, I'm trying to level out.

It could take a while to process and analyze everything they are seizing today.

So, while it feels like a big step in the process, I'm not sure of the immediate impact. Long term, Trizzy and company are pretty fucked so hopefully there will be a glorious day of reckoning in the not too distant future.

I was on that roller coaster early on, but had to cut out Twitter, cuz it made me insane.

... to continue to remind myself. Cause like Stadiq said I/we have the tendency to get super high and super low each time something is reported. For instance today I'm sitting in meetings glued to my phone every like 30 seconds hoping some new info will drop.

...... but more likely than not it'll be another couple months before another major bomb drops so I have to outright force myself to chill.

you can kind of see it if you squint into the horizon though.

i just want the constant stream of developments from mueller and the upcoming dem house investigations to wear trump down and leave him battered and bruised enough to drag down his approval consistently into the 30s heading through 2020.

i want him to go out the old fashioned way. being soundly rejected by a large majority of american voters.

>i want him to go out the old fashioned way. being soundly
>rejected by a large majority of american voters.

I can totally understand your position here but I'm the exact opposite. I want this serpent and all his goons to go down in flames, every single one of them cuffed individually and embarrassed/shamed via a long perp walk out of the WH or whatever facility they operate out of.

I want ALL the drama. And why I want that, is because I truly don't trust the country anymore. In other words I don't believe that enough people would soundly reject him, as you say. Because if they were going to do so it should've happened a long, long time ago.

this is going to about much more than collusion and obstruction ...hes going to be facing all kinds of laundering and tax charges..dude is going to prison...this is going to extend to alot more people than the trumps...mueller isnt some joke ass prosecutor....cohen was the RNC deputy FINANCE chair ...he was in that position bcz he was a "fixer"...and he isnt trying to spend a day in prison if he can help it... why do you think the GOP isnt saying shit? not one thing..nada...you think trump has that much control? nope

Trump in shackles makes for pleasing memes, but him choking on an egg mcmuffin or dying on the toilet is probably a far more of a realistic possibility

>i just want the constant stream of developments from mueller
>and the upcoming dem house investigations to wear trump down
>and leave him battered and bruised enough to drag down his
>approval consistently into the 30s heading through 2020.
>
>i want him to go out the old fashioned way. being soundly
>rejected by a large majority of american voters.

birdmanhandrub.gif

has approved over a billion dollars of loans to Trump. Yeah its getting deep..Who thought Whitaker was stopping this train of justice? Kavanaugh wont be able to stop it either..Its going to be too ugly...They goin WAAAY back like Just-Ice with this justice

Like a regular degular FBI throwing mobsters in the feds case.

Trump's peoples about to be locked up with 6ix9ine.

They don't gotta unravel some wild ass Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy shit no more.

They just following the money like Lester Freamon.

that's exactly what he is. He launders money for the mafia. And he's going to go to jail. I am throwing a party and you are all invited.

i was thinking I could give a rundown of what's happened so far, and link this thread for reference.

Some slower bandwidths, this post is a chore to fully load.

Appreciate you taking the time to put that together, if you end up doing it. Think it would be a good way to recap the events thus far as it really appears we're moving into new territory and the second half of the probe at this point.

I've got a decent developing story (which I'm sure many of you have heard) to jump start the new thread as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqAfg8pRRg


i beg ya

Can't believe it's already been almost 3 weeks. Feels like we just had this discussion last weekend.

it's just that so much has happened, it will take me a little time. i'll try to put something together this weekend.

https://twitter.com/danpfeiffer/status/1068285170401239041

.

Right after the election my ass was glued to all news sites...ok, well it still is

but then I also started spending time multiple times a day in the ask_the_donald sub and the trumpsupporters sub - I can never go the_donald. That place is FUCKING crazy and holds no footing on reality. We talking about Cohen flipping and they STILL talking about locking up Hilary and Seth Rich's death.

I've been watching them with the idea of some eventual pay off in the form of schadenfreude but that shit aint happening.

these fools are like a kid who wont eat his veggies. just, "NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! Not gonna even engage in your FAKE NEWS BULLSHIT, nope, nu-uh, what Trump REALLY meant when he said...."


The fucking pee tape could leak and they would still find a way to twist that shit

The tape could drop showing Trump wearing a BLM shirt while saying "I did it, I did all of it" and they would still be like "Give America Hell Donald!"



But thats just a part of me.


I want this nightmare to end.

This is exactly why, as I said above, I *NEED* this probe to result in nothing less than each and every one of these criminals in cuffs, doing the perp walk. Because if there's no legal finality, there's no way the public uproar will be loud enough to force resignation or force Repugs to grow a spine, like happened with Watergate.

The stupid neanderthals of this country are too far gone. They're hopeless. We *need* legal finality to clean up this mess, otherwise we may be doomed.

Mueller memo on Flynn sentencing.



17/ Robert Mueller says Flynn should get no jail-time because he provided the government with "substantial assistance."

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1070130264247070720


18/ "Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range—including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration—is appropriate and warranted."

This is very bad news for Trump.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1070130504924626944

Flynn has aided in several investigations, including an unnamed criminal investigation

https://twitter.com/pbump/status/1070131880962473984

Federal prosecutors recommend ‘substantial’ prison term for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

https://twitter.com/postpolitics/status/1071161772428677120

Prosecutors said "was motivated to do so by personal greed, and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends. Now he seeks extraordinary leniency - a sentence of no jail time - based principally on his rose-colored view of the seriousness of the crimes."

im guessing they refused to enter into an agreement with him as a cooperating witness because he only (voluntarily) gave up info on a few criminal behaviors (like the stormy payment) but he wasnt willing to give up information on past criminal behaviors.

dude expected to get leniency just based off that. but that aint how shit works lol.

he is prolly talking to his lawyers right now about coming clean on *everything* now that he got real jail time in front of him.

and see how long he keeps those other secrets close to the vest

but then again, I'm not the one facing the time lol


I can see a weasel like Cohen doing whatever he can to avoid it.

Absolute savage

Also tells me Muller has everything he needs to allow SDNY to publicly cook dude like this.

they obviously know theres a lot more he could be providing information on.

dude can either do a few years or set up that proffer session.

SC is playing no games, either you come forward and get rewarded like Flynn, or you "Cohen" to prison.

All the while, piecing together the evidence and sorting out the bodies for the REAL report that is coming next year.

The level of anxiety and worry within the trump circle must be more intense than anything I can imagine.

especially if he wasnt gonna go all the way in.

so now you gave up incriminating info about yourself and got nothing in return for it.

i assume he thought they would pat him on the head for being a good boy and let him off easy. but i also think he thought that if he admitted to the petty shit they already knew about...they would just stop snooping around and not find any of the major shit he obviously doesnt wanna talk about lol.

he can still shave time off by talking some more......

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dt2JW8iVAAAenpp.jpg

if anyone still had any doubts who individual 1 is.

hes going to prison when its over.

ass soon as he steps out of that office...or possibly before hes going to prison. if he was a mayor , governor, or any other citizen he would be going right now...read the evidence...and theres alot more to come..why dont you tell mt whats going to keep him out of prison...because from what im looking at..hes going...its not happening overnight..

he has pardon power. his successor (if he resigns) has pardon power.

he can fire mueller or appoint someone to fire him.

he can fire the us attorney for sdny and appoint someone willing to kill that investigation.

all of this is within his authority.

you think hes just gonna sit by and let things play out and not continue to escalate from firing comey, then sessions, then...

brought so far...essentially naming him as directing a criminal conspiracy (and we aint done yet)...if cohen got prison time for being involved..what do you think the director of the conspiracy is getting?? if he fired mueller that would be a nail in his coffin bruh....shits waay past that..all he gon do is twit fury knowing his ass is cooked. why dont you give me his defense?? pardon power..please bro... everybody lyin??? OK...nobody is stopping this train bruh..Once Barr get a whiff of what Mueller got..you can expect him to step the fk back too...

fyi..you need to pay attention to what Mueller focused on with Flynn..the transition team...who lead the transition team? Pence.. he wont be pardoning anyone anytime soon...hes lawyering up like everyone else..

:(

like i believe hes really wrong but i want him to be really right.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/

the podcast is very good: https://www.lawfareblog.com/topic/lawfare-podcast

here is the episode discussing the latest regarding Michael Cohen's cooperation and what it means: https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-special-edition-michael-cohens-trump-tower-moscow-plea

https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1071170955085524994

dude is intent on shitting away every ounce of his professional credibility huh?

https://twitter.com/npfandos/status/1071190944307994624

you cant make this shit up.

Documents Point to Illegal Campaign Coordination Between Trump and NRA
Trump and the gun group used the same consultants to spearhead their TV ad blitzes at the height of the 2016 election, likely in violation of federal law.

https://www.thetrace.org/2018/12/trump-nra-campaign-coordination/

that should tell you a lot.


https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/420460-barr-turned-down-defense-attorney-job-with-trump-report


President Trump's pick to be the next attorney general, William Barr, was previously offered a position as Trump's defense attorney, Yahoo News reports.

Trump met privately with Barr in the spring of 2017 and asked if he would serve as his defense attorney to defend him against special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation, according to the news outlet.

Barr reportedly said he had other obligations, indicated his answer was no, but said he would think about it.


Yahoo News reports that Trump and his top advisers discussed hiring Barr again earlier this year after Trump's lead personal attorney handling Mueller's investigation, John Dowd, resigned.

The discussions ceased once Trump hired Rudy Giuliani this past summer to take Dowd's place.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for confirmation of the report.

Trump on Friday said he would nominate Barr to be the next attorney general.

"He was my first choice since day one," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "He'll be nominated."

If confirmed, Barr would take over after the exit of Jeff Sessions, who resigned at Trump's request in early November.

The president long criticized Sessions for not keeping a tighter leash on Mueller.

Barr is expected to face a tough confirmation battle in the Senate. Trump said Friday that he hoped the process will "go very quickly."

there's a reason Trump wanted Barr for his lawyer, and there's a reason he turned it down. now that he's offered a position that gives him actual power over the investigation, he's in.

not good.

Mueller brought in Manuel Noriega... Once Barr sees everything Muller has on Trump...hes going to be on board...dude isnt a Trump lackey like Trump thinks..

you might have too much faith in people, bro. We would all prefer it will play out like you said, but the idea that he's either some trojan horse of law and order, or man of integrity who will see the light once he sees Mueller's hand is overly optimistic. It's more likely he's just another old white asshole like most people who would want to join the Trump administration.

at this point?? that shit is like a train going downhill...why would a dude want to just risk everything hes accomplished bcz hes "joining the Trump administration".....dude wants to be AG...i get that..and I'm pretty sure hes not going to jeopardize that by being a lackey for a downhill vessel.. and possibly risking his own freedom.. if anything dude is about to help prosecute this fool...

Cmon dogg..Youre smart...How do you not know that Trump is playing himself again like he always does...You banking on Trump making the right call just once??


>you might have too much faith in people, bro. We would all
>prefer it will play out like you said, but the idea that he's
>either some trojan horse of law and order, or man of integrity
>who will see the light once he sees Mueller's hand is overly
>optimistic. It's more likely he's just another old white
>asshole like most people who would want to join the Trump
>administration.

Not sure why that is so hard for you to get.

No one- literally no one- is claiming Trump is smart or making good moves.

In fact, things have gotten this far precisely because Trump and his people are dumb as f*ck. Stupid Watergate.

Trump is and has always been dumb as fuck. He's still rich, famous, and POTUS. Being dumb didn't stop any of that.


Again, this is about being a WHITE, RICH, POWERFUL man in Amerikkka.


We'd all like you to be right, but we look at history. Those types rarely get what's coming.

AND

It is highly unlikely a sitting President could/would be indicted.

Which leads us to when he is out of office...

Do you think the FBI will be waiting by his car on inauguration day in 2021 (when a Dem hopefully wins)?


As far as William Barr, I agree he doesn't seem like a Trump lackey.

BUT


He is certainly a GOP loyalist. You think Barr is going to be the first Republican official to turn on Trump?

You think he is taking the job to investigate the guy who gave it to him?? lol

Cmon B. He is taking it to further the GOP agenda on everything from surveillance, to border, to crime, to drugs, etc.

He would take the job for his party. Trump just happens to be the Republican in charge right now.

Again, in a country ran by rich white men, where one of the major political parties is completely brazen with their disregard for norms or even rule of law...and the other major party has historically shown a lack of spine....

Most of us are going to bet that the POTUS isn't going to end up in prison.

Saying that he is going to prison is the more unlikely and radical position to take.

To take that position, you should have more than "Trump dumb, Mueller smart"

well "historically" nobody has ever attempted to do the shit Trump is doing...conspiracy, obstruction, laundering, tax evasion, pushing against free press, (and whatever else they find out) at this level of govt in this country. Watergate doesnt hold a candle to the shit Trump has going on. Once the FBI is on you they arent letting up. theres a whole lotta snitching going on. Dude is being investigated from about 5 angles. Once all the evidence comes out and the GOP and whoever else gets a whiff of it. Dude is toast. And yes once hes out of office hes pretty fair game for prosecution hell he might still be indicted as a sitting president...I dont know why nobody thinks this cant happen..its not a law. Theres about to be alot of shit happening that you aint never seen before bro.

Those of us who doubt he will go to prison have things we can point to in order to support our skepticism.

All you can really say is "Trump dumb...FBI good...Mueller smart"

For things to go down the way you are saying they will, several prominent Republicans (from whoever ends up being his AG - most likely Barr- to McConnell to other Senators) need to turn on Trump.

That isn't going to happen IMO.


Hell, some of them may be caught up in this.


Or, Trump probably has dirt on them as well.


** Don't forget that Trump's stupidity could technically be used as a defense. They have to prove Trump knew he was acting illegally. Saying "nah judge, my client is dumb AF and didn't know" is actually pretty plausible if you want to find a way to defend him. AND the GOP can certainly make the defense publicly- they already have on other things.

"Trump is new to politics, he didn't know this was illegal...he's an outsider...etc" and his mouth breathing base will eat it up.

The GOP doesn't want to lose their base- the most hardcore Trumpians.

Basically, Republicans have a lot to lose and nothing really to gain.



At the end of the day, most of us expect rich, white, powerful men to continue to act like rich, white, powerful men.


You think they will somehow change their character.


I know its because you think the FBI has something ground breaking. But you also have to assume they care. I don't think they do.

Hell, hasn't Barr himself said in the past that a President is above the law?


Fast forward to after he is out of office? Maybe something happens. I still think its unlikely because democrats typically lack spine, and my guess is Amerikkka will be tired of the story by then.

Let's say he's not and as you said, he'll do a 180 once he sees all the dirt Mueller has on Trump, the fact that he's critical of the investigation at THIS point, should set off alarms on what type of person Barr is.

Again, too much faith lol

should be investigated, and has a history of working with Presidential pardons (Contra)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/opinion/william-barr-trump-roy-cohn.html


People really, really, really want to believe there are decent Republicans who will step up.

Nah.

The Senate won't do shit.


Barr won't do shit. Best case scenario at this point is Barr, if/when confirmed, just lets the Mueller investigation play out, some of Trumps people go to jail...and that's it.

Maybe, MAYBE, Trump gets impeached by the house....then acquitted by the Senate.

Trump = GOP

No Republican official, cabinet member, or senator is going to turn on him.

I don't think an ex-president gets indicted, but I guess we will see at that point.

Congress is gonna start tinking about political jeopardy for one.. and we got a lotta ball game left player....that whole NRA shit is going to start making some people start copping some pleas or getting the fk on out.. ..


>
>should be investigated, and has a history of working with
>Presidential pardons (Contra)
>
>https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/opinion/william-barr-trump-roy-cohn.html
>
>
>People really, really, really want to believe there are decent
>Republicans who will step up.
>
>Nah.
>
>The Senate won't do shit.
>
>
>Barr won't do shit. Best case scenario at this point is Barr,
>if/when confirmed, just lets the Mueller investigation play
>out, some of Trumps people go to jail...and that's it.
>
>Maybe, MAYBE, Trump gets impeached by the house....then
>acquitted by the Senate.
>
>Trump = GOP
>
>No Republican official, cabinet member, or senator is going to
>turn on him.
>
>I don't think an ex-president gets indicted, but I guess we
>will see at that point.

who will do the right thing when it comes down to it.
but Trump ain't picking such a person, and such a person ain't trying to work under Trump

Oh hes gonna choke the funds... (that aint happening bcz Mueller paid for this shit when he seized millions from Manafort)....Oh well hes going to just stop the whole thing..nah wait hes gonna withhold info...Listen once these dudes see that paperwork...the redacted shit and all...they aint stopping shit...Especially Barr...sure he made comments ...but hes still a respected AG and I'm sure respects the law and doesnt want to find himself on the other side of it... See all yall are speaking on what these guys "CAN" do to stop shit...I'm speaking on what Mueller is DOING right now. Barr knows Mueller isnt to be fkd with..He'll be on board when he sees all that paperwork

for the SDNY.....Weisselberg who basically ran the Trump foundation and got full immunity to stay out of prison...Its going to get uglier for Cheeto..

>Oh hes gonna choke the funds... (that aint happening bcz
>Mueller paid for this shit when he seized millions from
>Manafort)...

The seized assets go into a general pool with the DOJ or the Treasury. Mueller isn't funding his investigation with the Manafort money lol

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1072244175544963073


Trump said it- he could shoot someone in the face and not lose GOP support.


Just in quick talks with only two of these shitball senators, there is

"yeah, but Cohen is a liar"


"Democrats will do anything to hurt Trump"


"yeah, but the economy is good"


"yeah, but that was before he was president"


Oh, and maybe the most impressive- "well sure, but anything is a crime these days..."



LOL


I'm sure there are at least 5 other defenses that have been poll tested.


And to be clear, I don't expect either of these guys to say anything else. It is, however, a preview of how all GOP officials will be answering these types of questions moving forward.

The GOP only cares about staying in power.

The White House is adopting what one official termed a “shrugged shoulders” strategy for the Mueller findings, calculating that most GOP base voters will believe whatever the president tells them to believe.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/siege-warfare-republican-anxiety-spikes-as-trump-faces-growing-legal-and-political-perils/2018/12/08/679b785a-fa59-11e8-863c-9e2f864d47e7_story.html?utm_term=.57db2d47b1a0&__twitter_impression=true&noredirect=on

Orrin Hatch on Donald Trump directing Michael Cohen to commit a federal crime: “I don’t care.”

Orrin Hatch on Bill Clinton lying under oath about having sex with Monica Lewinsky: “Perjury and obstruct justice ... rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.”

https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/1072254543520514055

Here is my latest on one fail-safe way to make sure evidence on potentially indictable offenses make their way from Mueller to Congress -- and potentially to the public
https://t.co/SEQDeuYnlU

https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1073199536103931904

and then go after Trump....hes going to be indicted..

transition team....who was the leader of the transition team?
Mueller has all the emails from the transition team. Pence lied about knowing what Flynn was up to.

I thought you niggas knew how snitching worked.

I know it's a .000000001 % chance of that happening
but indulge me for a second
Pence indicted and resigns
swiftly implicates 45, who is also indicted and forced to resign

Madam Speaker is now POTUS
just imagine Faux news heads exploding live on air

you got the Butina talkin, Weisselberg still talkin, Rick Gates still talkin....the whole political landscape could change after all these snitches finish. Butina could bust open the whole GOP. Weisselberg got full immunity and hes CFO of Trump Org. The new NY AG bout to get all up in the business. I dont know if Pelosi makes it to the WH.. but DJT is going to prison.

Pence also wanted to sit down with Mueller. but that aint happen. Mueller also hasnt called Pence as a witness. You do know what that means?

I asked a simple fucking question. Asshole.

Anyway. Pence wanted to sit down with Mueller ? When ?! Feel like this would've been MAJOR news. Provide a link, or something.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/405745-pence-more-than-willing-to-sit-down-with-mueller

“No way I don’t want to talk to Mueller”??

Of course he’s going to act like he has
nothing to hide and cooperative.

Lol he dropped this link as if it was proof that
Pence is dying for a way out....if misreading
this simple stuff is all he has? Shiiit.


Homeboy’s positivity would be a lot easier to
believe if he could ever back it up, if he hadn’t
already been wrong on big stuff, and if he wasn’t
such a condescending asshole.


It’s really weird to debate someone you hope
is right though. Haha

what the problem? Pence wanted to speak with Mueller like i said. Bcz he know wtf is up...Trying to clear himself...Mueller like nah..im good...If you arent a witness you are a target....I mean...who dont know this shit?..i guess im wrong about that too..Like i was wrong about Whitaker...Like i tol you..WHITAKER AINT DOIN SHIT...i said he would recuse or shut the fuck up..and thats what hes doing...Now wait til you see what Barr does...All this shit is out on the net or in the news...I aint dropping nothing groundbreaking..

YA GOOGLES BROKE TOO NIGGA??? yo so adamant to make me be a liar..or some shit...nigga i aint gotta come here and lie...this is whats cookin....you think jus bcz "white men" in power have gotten away with shit..aint nothing happening..you need to pay attention

Mueller has been keeping an eye on Trump since he busted John Gotti...He knows hes crooked and been crooked..So the FBI is going to dig hard on Trump...like "former tax attorney gets raided twice in two weeks in Chicago hard"..Trump has never been clean and once you open the floodgates with the FBI..They dont close until its finished. Mueller is the best at what he does and Trump is the worse. Hes going to prison playboy.

Showing a plate with some cookie crumbs and calling it "the goods."

>Mueller has been keeping an eye on Trump since he busted John
>Gotti...He knows hes crooked and been crooked..

^^^ ? Any evidence to back that up ?


>So the FBI is
>going to dig hard on Trump...like "former tax attorney gets
>raided twice in two weeks in Chicago hard"..Trump has never
>been clean and once you open the floodgates with the FBI..They
>dont close until its finished. Mueller is the best at what he
>does and Trump is the worse. Hes going to prison playboy.

J/P

Dude really is starting to approach "Mueller is really after Obama and the Clintons" territory.

Not that bad, of course. But he can see that line from where he currently stands.

Just huge, sweeping statements with nothing to back it up. And you WANT it to be true, but goddamn.


I'm starting to think he really doesn't see the difference between "Mueller has done this a ton, he knows exactly what he is doing, and in my opinion he has enough on Trump that things will go down eventually" and "Mueller has been after Trump since the early 90s and it is obvious he is about to jail the entire Trump family, anyone who worked for them, and anyone who looks like them. Anyone who questions that is a bitch."


You can have faith, but you can't have your own reality.


It is also curious how Mueller (and FBI) can be so good at this job, but a random OkayPlayer poster knows exactly what will happen, who they are talking to, and how it is all going to go down.

Some lawyers better holla at him.

put alot of this with...Mueller didnt want to talk to Pence.


https://www.politicususa.com/2018/12/06/mueller-hints-that-mike-pence-may-be-indicted-soon.html

THU, DEC 6TH, 2018 BY LEO VIDAL
Opinion: Mueller Hints That Mike Pence May Be Indicted Soon

Mike Pence thought he could avoid controversy, and stay far enough away from Trump’s criminal scandals to inherit the presidency after Trump’s ouster. He even thinks that is God’s will.

The problem with this thinking is that it would mean Pence had to avoid not just controversy, but also criminal behavior. But it seems it hasn’t worked out that way.

By associating himself with Donald Trump, Pence got his hands very dirty, and now many more people have figured that out, thanks to Robert Mueller.


Special Counsel Mueller released his heavily redacted 13-page sentencing memo for Michael Flynn on Tuesday night, he did NOT redact one key piece of information. The memo clearly states that the Trump transition team was heavily involved in Flynn’s illegal dealings with Russia.

And, as everyone now remembers, the person in charge of that transition team was none other than vice president-elect Mike Pence.

Earlier this year Mueller obtained all of the transition team’s emails, and that’s when the speculation started that both Pence and Jared Kushner — another transition team member — were in deep trouble.

Now that we know Flynn has sung like a canary to Mueller about all the dirty deeds of the transition team, things have gotten even worse for both Pence and Kushner.

Many people are now also remembering when the new vice president went on national television and declared to the world that Michael Flynn was clean as a whistle, and innocent of all charges.

However, before Pence did this, Congressman Elijah Cummings had notified Pence in writing that Flynn had committed perjury and lied about his contacts with foreign governments, especially Turkey.

Thanks to Mueller’s memo we know that Pence, while defending Flynn on TV, knew that the new National Security Adviser had also committed perjury and lied about his contacts with Russia.

In other words, the vice president has been caught in numerous lies, not only to the American people, but also to federal law enforcement authorities. It is very likely that the redacted portions of Mueller’s memo mention the name Mike Pence, and not in a good way.

Michael Flynn committed numerous crimes, and Mike Pence did everything possible to cover up those crimes, possibly because he was implicated in them also. In fact, Pence could face the same criminal charges that Mueller brought against Flynn.

Since Flynn met with Mueller’s team of crack prosecutors 19 times, there is nothing they don’t know about Flynn’s — and Pence’s — possible criminal behavior.

So what does all this mean? The implications might be much greater than most people realize. As one commentator said on Twitter:

“You know, if Mueller takes out Trump and Pence, we won’t have to worry about the GOP anymore. All their heads will simultaneously implode the first time they have to say “President Pelosi.”

Although most of it was kept secret from the American public, Mueller’s sentencing memo for Mike Flynn communicated very clearly that Donald Trump and everyone around him is in some very, very deep trouble. It could destroy not only his presidency, but the entire Republican Party as we know it today.

Editor’s Note: The title has been updated with “Opinion” because the conclusion is supposition based on redacted parts of Mueller’s filing.

lol @ them falsifying those article share numbers.

>RE: Right. What else would Pence say?
>“No way I don’t want to talk to Mueller”??
>
>Of course he’s going to act like he has
>nothing to hide and cooperative.
>
>Lol he dropped this link as if it was proof that
>Pence is dying for a way out....if misreading
>this simple stuff is all he has? Shiiit.

Haha right. I saw that and was like ... oh. That. Yea. Haha.


>Homeboy’s positivity would be a lot easier to
>believe if he could ever back it up, if he hadn’t
>already been wrong on big stuff, and if he wasn’t
>such a condescending asshole.

^^^ pretty much. We're all on the same team here and this dude treats us like we're all below him. V strange.



>It’s really weird to debate someone you hope
>is right though. Haha

RIGHT. I am constantly fighting with myself about how to respond, or if I should at all ... cause I'm like, well, fuck I hope to god he's 100000% right but goddamn he's being an asshole. Haha.

on some well how you know that? or you crazy this shit never happens..which is fine ...but its all out there .....im putting shit together....too many people are snitching to take one person down and save their own asses....the only one on g code was manafort and he got fucked bcz they already had enough to know he lied...they have tapes , emails , texts all implicating one guy..they are raiding shit in other states...getting them on their own dirt that they been letting ride...just to get them to snitch on one person...trump would be indicted yesterday if he wasnt president. they are about to dig hard on NY shit and his money... tax fraud , money laundering all kinds of shit...the GOP isnt saying shit bcz they all got dirt on them...this shit is going to be bigger than trump..but hes in some dirt...alot of it will be his own shit.

That's an interesting perspective. A wrong perspective. I just asked you to elaborate, my dude.

Stop. Stop being an asshole in response to simple questions/inquiries. If you're so confident in what you're saying you should be confident enough to provide supporting evidence without all the extra bullshit.

And for the record the below isn't elaboration. It's just regurgitation of the definitive shit you've been saying all along. You're connecting dots that may or may not ultimately connect. Would I like them to connect ? Absolutely. Is it possible that they could ? Definitely. But it's not a certainty like you're always stating it is. The raids may or may not be connected to the Mueller probe. I hope that they are, and there's definitely good reason to believe they may be. But they are not DEFINITELY tied to the probe, yet. So.


>on some well how you know that? or you crazy this shit never
>happens..which is fine ...but its all out there .....im
>putting shit together....too many people are snitching to take
>one person down and save their own asses....the only one on g
>code was manafort and he got fucked bcz they already had
>enough to know he lied...they have tapes , emails , texts all
>implicating one guy..they are raiding shit in other
>states...getting them on their own dirt that they been letting
>ride...just to get them to snitch on one person...trump would
>be indicted yesterday if he wasnt president. they are about to
>dig hard on NY shit and his money... tax fraud , money
>laundering all kinds of shit...the GOP isnt saying shit bcz
>they all got dirt on them...this shit is going to be bigger
>than trump..but hes in some dirt...alot of it will be his own
>shit.

when its all out there..i dont know how you want it bro. you clearly arent paying attention, if you asking me what they have on Pence. Its obvious after Flynn got no jail time for talking about the transition team which Pence headed.. did i say it soft enough that time for you? if you know how snitching works, its obvious they hitting people on other shit and then get them to snitch on Trump or others. I keep repeating the same shit bcz its happening right before your eyes and you act like you dont see it..but you keep saying you want it to happen..which is really strange.. this is some unprecedented shit.



>That's an interesting perspective. A wrong perspective. I
>just asked you to elaborate, my dude.
>
>Stop. Stop being an asshole in response to simple
>questions/inquiries. If you're so confident in what you're
>saying you should be confident enough to provide supporting
>evidence without all the extra bullshit.
>
>And for the record the below isn't elaboration. It's just
>regurgitation of the definitive shit you've been saying all
>along. You're connecting dots that may or may not ultimately
>connect. Would I like them to connect ? Absolutely. Is it
>possible that they could ? Definitely. But it's not a
>certainty like you're always stating it is. The raids may or
>may not be connected to the Mueller probe. I hope that they
>are, and there's definitely good reason to believe they may
>be. But they are not DEFINITELY tied to the probe, yet. So.
>
>
>>on some well how you know that? or you crazy this shit never
>>happens..which is fine ...but its all out there .....im
>>putting shit together....too many people are snitching to
>take
>>one person down and save their own asses....the only one on
>g
>>code was manafort and he got fucked bcz they already had
>>enough to know he lied...they have tapes , emails , texts
>all
>>implicating one guy..they are raiding shit in other
>>states...getting them on their own dirt that they been
>letting
>>ride...just to get them to snitch on one person...trump
>would
>>be indicted yesterday if he wasnt president. they are about
>to
>>dig hard on NY shit and his money... tax fraud , money
>>laundering all kinds of shit...the GOP isnt saying shit bcz
>>they all got dirt on them...this shit is going to be bigger
>>than trump..but hes in some dirt...alot of it will be his
>own
>>shit.

>RE: all i did was give you the goods... im not going to drop 20 links
>when its all out there..i dont know how you want it bro. you
>clearly arent paying attention, if you asking me what they
>have on Pence.

It's not all out there, nor have you provided anything beyond a link from March indicating that Pence said he's willing to speak with the Mueller team. Which, as Stadiq correctly pointed out, is exactly what he *would* and *SHOULD* say in his position. Had he come out publicly and said nah, I won't cooperate ... how would that make him look ?


>Its obvious after Flynn got no jail time for
>talking about the transition team which Pence headed.. did i
>say it soft enough that time for you?

LOL. Ironic. Look at this motherfucker acting like *I'm* the sensitive one after claiming I "came at him crazy" by ... asking what Mueller has on Pence. In very plain terms. LOL. You're a funny dude.

Anyway - it's obvious that Flynn provided some good info, yep. That's obvious. What's NOT obvious is that "THEY'RE ALL GOING TO JAIL YOU JUST WATCH," just based on the Flynn situation. Nope. That ain't obvious at all. As you said, this is all very unprecedented ... and what's THE MOST unprecedented is rich, powerful white people EVER paying for the crimes they commit.


>if you know how
>snitching works, its obvious they hitting people on other shit
>and then get them to snitch on Trump or others.

Yes. No one has disputed anything about the snitching part. We're all very aware of and on top of those stories and what they mean.

What they DON'T mean, though, at least yet, is that "they're all going to jail" or even that Trump is going to jail. Like not even close. There's no precedent for that. Ever. In history.


>I keep
>repeating the same shit bcz its happening right before your
>eyes and you act like you dont see it..but you keep saying you
>want it to happen..which is really strange.. this is some
>unprecedented shit.

I act like I see what's there, in actuality. What I'm looking for is more evidence to support your absolute assertion that they're all going to jail. That's all any of us have been asking for. And to date you've provided nothing that would lead anyone to outright believe that they're all going to jail, or even that just Trump may be going to jail.

That's all this is about. The most recent example being you saying, definitively, that they got Pence on some shit and he's going to jail. I asked for what they had on Pence (aka "came at you crazy" hahahah). And the only evidence you could provide was a link to an article from March where Pence said what the fuck he's SUPPOSED to say, that he'd be willing to talk to Mueller ... but Mueller hasn't interviewed him. And your massive leap in logic from there is that he's "going to jail". That ain't enough playa. Again, we all want you to be right. I desperately want you to be right. But I'm not getting my hopes up for any jailtime just based off that.

Mueller under oath.

And we know how that went.

https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/1073356558510317569

prolly has nothing to do with Trump right now..but Snitching: 101 tells me different.If dude is dirty and he has dirt on Trump. Curtains


https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/ed-burke-alderman-feds-raid-u-s-attorney-finance-city-hall/



Federal agents returned to the City Hall offices of Ald. Ed Burke on Thursday, two weeks after they carried out unprecedented raids on the longtime alderman’s downtown and ward offices, sources said.

Federal investigators were looking for information they didn’t find during the first raid, sources said. The nature of the information sought was unknown.

On Nov. 29, federal investigators descended on Burke’s ward and City Hall offices and covered the windows with brown butcher paper. At City Hall, investigators spent at least five hours inside and left with boxes of records and computers.



They also showed up at the home of political operative Peter Andrews Jr., the longtime head of Burke’s ward organization. They seized Burke’s cellphone.

Sources at the time told the Sun-Times that the initial raid was not triggered by Burke’s administration of the city’s $100 million workers compensation program, nor was it tied to Burke’s property tax appeals work for the Trump Tower.


However, what triggered the raids remains a mystery.

Burke could not be reached for comment Thursday night. Officials with the FBI could not be reached. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago would not comment.

After the initial raid, Burke denied wrongdoing.

“As you are aware, there have previously been several other investigations such as this. In every instance we cooperated fully. And in every instance nothing has been found,” Burke told reporters then.

“So once again we will be cooperating fully and I am completely confident that at the end of the day nothing will be found amiss in this instance either.”

The second raid was first reported by NBC5 political editor Carol Marin.

Over 50 years in politics, the 14th Ward alderman has faced — and survived — other investigations. Burke will celebrate his 75th birthday on Dec. 29.





:)

https://twitter.com/juliadavisnews/status/1073653983988891649?s=21

(c) trump supporters

is someone who specializes in cases involving extradition and arab language translation.

the grand jury witness fighting the subpoena could be a foreign-related target having something to do with this recent reporting:
https://www.salon.com/2018/12/13/mueller-will-tie-trump-to-unsavory-middle-east-operatives-in-new-filings-report_partner/

plus...the way trump allies legal teams have joint defense agreements and share information...and the way they have been leaking (basically where we get 90% of mueller reporting that isnt official court filings)...kush, don jr, pence, etc would prolly be headlines by now.

i could be wrong tho.

attorneys vigorously fighting subpoena ... this whole flynn thing is about the transition team, flynn business associated indicted this morning. but the head of the transition team is gonna skate??

LMAO!! really doe?

a lot of this recent onslaught of scoops and revelations damaging to trump could have easily been drip fed right before the midterms. but the prosecutors in each office (and sadly some reporters) held off on pulling the trigger so it wouldnt influence the election. so instead of trump getting pummeled with corruption stories...we get him completely controlling the narrative with non-stop rallies, the caravan, troop deployment, etc.

which makes it even more egregious that james comey saw no problem with interjecting himself into a presidential election against the *explicit* directives of both longstanding doj policy *and* guidance from doj leadership.

theres zero excuse for what he did no matter how much he tries to spin himself as a good guy in a bad spot.

nevermind the fact that he wouldnt even be in that bad spot if he didnt *previously* defy both longstanding doj policy and guidance from doj leadership to publicly grandstand with his clinton email investigation summary performance.

My friend and I have been talking about this clown in these terms since the day the election-sealing e-mail news dropped. Fuck Comey forever.


>a lot of this recent onslaught of scoops and revelations
>damaging to trump could have easily been drip fed right before
>the midterms. but the prosecutors in each office (and sadly
>some reporters) held off on pulling the trigger so it wouldnt
>influence the election. so instead of trump getting pummeled
>with corruption stories...we get him completely controlling
>the narrative with non-stop rallies, the caravan, troop
>deployment, etc.
>
>which makes it even more egregious that james comey saw no
>problem with interjecting himself into a presidential election
>against the *explicit* directives of both longstanding doj
>policy *and* guidance from doj leadership.
>
>theres zero excuse for what he did no matter how much he tries
>to spin himself as a good guy in a bad spot.
>
>nevermind the fact that he wouldnt even be in that bad spot if
>he didnt *previously* defy both longstanding doj policy and
>guidance from doj leadership to publicly grandstand with his
>clinton email investigation summary performance.

https://twitter.com/JasonOverstreet/status/1072999738947956736

same shit i been saying...nobody is skating from this...its going back too far....and who said Tish James wasnt going to be a factor?? Its curtains for the Trumps and whomever else gets caught up

... it still proves nothing.

and im pointing it out to you as it happens. Donny just summed it up for you...but im pretty sure he dont know wtf hes talking about either.. lol

https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1074623888766713857?s=21

I get not wanting to get your hopes up but he’s in big trouble.

>https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1074623888766713857?s=21
>
>I get not wanting to get your hopes up but he’s in big
>trouble.

... based on history. And to that end, I still don't see how this all undoubtedly = LA's definitive, no-other-possible-outcome declaration that "they're all going to jail."

That's been my overarching point all along. Yes I understand that there are a ton of investigations into 45* and his team and his orbit and his criminal activity. But I still want direct evidence which would lead one to believe that the entire squad is going to be locked up. I'm/we're yet to see it. It may be there, there are a lot of logical dots that can be connected to make it so. But it's still a pretty massive leap of faith considering the history of this country and powerful folks like 45* getting their way and all the roadblocks currently in the way. Not the least of which being the fact that he is in the oval office with a senate majority and a bunch of Repugnantcan honks who will do his bidding.

Hopefully that's all changing. It seems like it may be. But as it stands I still do not feel comfortable definitively saying and believing that they're all going down in a cloud of smoke.

shit...between official legal proceedings, well sourced reporting, and circumstantial/logical deduction...we have already seen plenty of it (with plenty more to come).

what most of the skeptics on here are doubting...is whether trump and his fam will receive any proportionate amount of punishment for their crimes.

its less about the competence/validity of the investigations and more about the legal power/authority that is granted to a very specific target of these investigations (the president).

... for explaining my thoughts far better than I ever do around here haha.


>shit...between official legal proceedings, well sourced
>reporting, and circumstantial/logical deduction...we have
>already seen plenty of it (with plenty more to come).
>
>what most of the skeptics on here are doubting...is whether
>trump and his fam will receive any proportionate amount of
>punishment for their crimes.
>
>its less about the competence/validity of the investigations
>and more about the legal power/authority that is granted to a
>very specific target of these investigations (the president).
>

>shit...between official legal proceedings, well sourced
>reporting, and circumstantial/logical deduction...we have
>already seen plenty of it (with plenty more to come).
>
>what most of the skeptics on here are doubting...is whether
>trump and his fam will receive any proportionate amount of
>punishment for their crimes.
>
>its less about the competence/validity of the investigations
>and more about the legal power/authority that is granted to a
>very specific target of these investigations (the president).
>

SHUTDOWN!! dat train of justice aint gon stop rolling player


https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1075057547072233473

but the government forced him to keep it open while under investigation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/12/24/donald-trump-plans-to-shut-down-his-charitable-foundation-which-has-been-under-scrutiny-for-months/

the only notable part in this new order is that ny state will get to determine how the funds are dispersed.

just like i tol you last week

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/mike-pence-nailed-mueller-robert/14789/

Robert Mueller has Mike Pence nailed
Bill Palmer | 9:09 am EST December 18, 2018
Palmer Report » Analysis

The events of the past twenty-four hours have sealed it: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has Mike Pence nailed. We received a pretty strong hint two weeks ago when Mueller used his Michael Flynn sentencing memo to make a point of not redacting the fact that the Trump transition team was dirty. The head of the transition team? Mike Pence, of course. It sure sounded like Pence had a problem – we just didn’t know precisely what that problem was. But now it’s become much more clear.

Yesterday we saw the arrest of Michael Flynn’s business partner, Bijan Kian. The two of them took a half million dollar payment from a Turkish government representative in exchange for targeting a guy in Pennsylvania named Fethullah Gulen. It’s clear in hindsight that Flynn gave up Kian more than a year ago, when he first cut his cooperation deal. So why wait until now to finally bust this guy?

The only reason to wait this long to bust a low level guy like Bijan Kian is if you’re building a larger case against larger targets involved in that same crime, and you don’t want to give away your gameplan too early. So who would be the bigger targets here? It turns out Bijan Kian was a member of the – get this – Trump transition team.


That’s right. When Michael Flynn was in the midst of criminally conspiring with Turkey and Russia against the United States, Mike Pence hired Flynn for a key role in the Trump transition team. Then Pence hired Flynn’s shady business partner for the transition team. Then Pence hired Flynn’s idiot son. Then Pence was notified by Congress that Flynn was dirty on Turkey, and Pence nonetheless opted to keep Flynn, his son, and his partner on the team. Then after Flynn got caught conspiring with Russia, Pence lied to the American people about it. Pence also lied about having hired Flynn’s son.


Mike Pence was willing to risk his political future, his reputation, and even potentially his freedom, all so he could bend over backward to coddle Michael Flynn, and ultimately to cover up Flynn’s crimes against the United States. No one ever goes to that extent to cover for an underling unless they’re personally beholden to that underling, or they’re in on the underling’s crimes, or both. It gets worse.


It was long ago widely reported that Robert Mueller did an end-around to obtain copies of every email sent to or from every Trump transition team member. That’s in addition to the testimony and evidence that Michael Flynn provided a year ago. So Mueller already knows what really went down with the Trump transition team crime spree. He wouldn’t have waited all this time to make a move on a peon like Bijan Kian unless it was necessary in order to preserve the integrity of a related criminal case he was building against a bigger fish.


In the past few weeks Robert Mueller has finally sent Flynn off to sentencing, and finally arrested Kian. They’re both signs that Mueller is now just about ready to make his move against the big fish in the Flynn-Kian criminal conspiracy. On the Trump transition team, Mike Pence is the big fish.

you need to hear it on CNN first?? LMAO!!!

you get your updates from louise mensch, claude taylor, etc. still waiting patiently for the 'grand marshall of the supreme court' to haul trump away at gunpoint.

Maybe an all-time top ten tweet ever. It's still up, like a year and a half later. And don't forget Steve Bannon. Supreme Court-imposed death penalty for him too. With the astonishingly beautiful chaser: "I am pro-life and take no pleasure in reporting this."

Absolute perfection. We're all wasting our lives every moment we're not posting like that.

shes the perfect bizarro version of a fox news grifter on the left. backstory and everything.

then i googled her

Biased/suspect at least.

Prob thought Trumps own cabinet would
impeach him a year ago.

Hell he probably thought the electoral college
was going to vote in Clinton

>
>Biased/suspect at least.
>
>Prob thought Trumps own cabinet would
>impeach him a year ago.
>
who would think that nephew when people were already being indicted and everyone was crooked...i know how snitching works... youre a funny guy


>Hell he probably thought the electoral college
>was going to vote in Clinton

She probably did for all you know. We already know there was Russian interference in the election. Or we dont know that yet? huh? Are you trying to sound smart or somethin? Nigga You didnt think Trump would win..Hell he didnt either even tho he cheated.

woulda had me less confused a long time ago about why he posts how he posts lol.

>Biased/suspect at least.
>
>Prob thought Trumps own cabinet would
>impeach him a year ago.
>
>Hell he probably thought the electoral college
>was going to vote in Clinton

exactly what i said last week...i said all that before it was written...im putting shit together just like they are...LMAO at you waiting for me to post a link so you can say..OH i get it...lmao silly rabbit..

.

like you see nothing wrong with getting your news from these janky ass wordpress blogs?

they seriously look credible to you?

is Trump is going to prison at some point. Im just posting shit supporting what i already said myself. LMAO at you thinking..im just reading left leaning sites to get info.....i get info from everywhere....im looking at the facts bro..and how they are picking this mans life apart...everybody is telling... You need to tell me how hes staying out of prison. ...the only way i see.. is him resigning and running to Russia.

can be hard to discern for folks

wont stop them from cooking up the next conspiracy but that was beautiful to witness.

into cooperating with an as-yet-to-be-unsealed investigation into...


hillary clinton.


https://twitter.com/mitchellvii/status/1075089623456604163
https://twitter.com/mitchellvii/status/1075090755134332929

and hes not fucking around

for the next 20 days
.
.
Current Favorite Song: https://youtu.be/8v_KFHnPImY

"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

this judge wouldnt even take a recommendation of no time from the special counsel... go back and snitch some more...BEFORE i send you to jail....shits serious....Trump goin too.

specifically a company *owned* by a foreign government.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/mueller-mystery-grand-jury-appeal/

i thought people (even reputable journalists) were being irresponsible with that story...almost all but assuring it was somebody high up in the trump circle that deserved an unprecedented amount of security/secrecy.

i mentioned here why it was likely a foreign target (and likely middle eastern) instead of one of the american big fish.
http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=13206640&mesg_id=13206640&page=#13302257

*we* have to be careful not to have our vision clouded by desirable outcomes and fall victim to wishful speculation like they do on the right. a lot of well-meaning folks prematurely got their hopes up because that story was spun out of control by people who normally know better.

>
>*we* have to be careful not to have our vision clouded by
>desirable outcomes and fall victim to wishful speculation like
>they do on the right. a lot of well-meaning folks prematurely
>got their hopes up because that story was spun out of control
>by people who normally know better.

I think that's why I go so hard at LA...he is starting to sound like folks on the right who just KNEW Obama would be impeached or just KNEW that Clinton was going to jail, etc.

And I want to scream "we are supposed to be better than this!"

Facts matter. Context matters. Precedent, yes, matters.

Sources matter.


Its also just wise in general not to get our hopes up. I was SURE Bart wasn't going to get confirmed for a minute.

SURE

That day was the worst since Nov 9th for me, because (like Nov 9th), I was legit surprised.


Can't let ourselves be surprised by these assholes.

yeah hows that working out??? my sources are everywhere player..plus looking at the facts spread across the board...knowing how snitching works...and knowing how DJT been a criminal for 30 years...once the FBI is digging...and they find criminality its over...he got too many people snitching on him and his businesses not to be going to prison...oh...robbing charities??? bernie madoff did that....where is he???

Also said the secret indictment was Pence.


You just gotta chill, pump the breaks a little, and
question some of those folks you’re following

nah nigga...

you pick and choose your sources based on confirmation bias and have the impulse control of 45 when deciding what to believe

https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/1075018854194143233

not legally but with his rep destroyed. (it would have been funny if he has secretly been kissing up to trump for a pardon tho).

once the press smells blood on these types of stories...things start snowballing.

i keep saying trump will prolly skate off relatively untouched. but him becoming president will be the worst thing to happen to everyone else around him lol.

>

https://images.haarets.co.il/image/upload/w_727,h_422,x_0,y_0,c_crop,g_north_west/w_857,h_482,q_auto,c_fill,f_auto/fl_any_format.preserve_transparency.progressive:none/v1543421327/1.6698918.3150563458.JPG

if it is these veteran swamp dwellers bout to clean ya boys clock.

>RE: Barr appt. smells like a set up
>if it is these veteran swamp dwellers bout to clean ya boys
>clock.

-Barr 68 - why does he need or want this job?
-turned down job to be Trumps attorney
-been friends with Mueller for 30yrs
-their wives hang together
-Barr is a Bush boy (certified swamp dwellers)

Everyone knows how shallow Trump is. Mueller couldve easily had Barr write and distribute that memo in an effort to pull Trump toward Barr is all im saying. We all know Trump is a live sucka and Mueller catches live suckas for a living. Is there an 80/90s era republican that wouldnt want the opportunity to lockup a known Russian asset?


https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/15/trump-russia-mueller-barr-friends-1102244

>-Barr 68 - why does he need or want this job?
>-turned down job to be Trumps attorney
>-been friends with Mueller for 30yrs
>-their wives hang together
>-Barr is a Bush boy (certified swamp dwellers)

Haha I didn't know any of this - interesting. I mean I'm still not fully on board with all of your absolutes/eventualities but this is an incredibly intriguing theory. Imagine.


>Everyone knows how shallow Trump is. Mueller couldve easily
>had Barr write and distribute that memo in an effort to pull
>Trump toward Barr is all im saying.

I mean this is still a leap IMO, because what was the guarantee that he'd take the bait ... but again - intriguing as hell.


>We all know Trump is a
>live sucka and Mueller catches live suckas for a living. Is
>there an 80/90s era republican that wouldnt want the
>opportunity to lockup a known Russian asset?

LOLOL.


>https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/15/trump-russia-mueller-barr-friends-1102244

Russian assets, conspirators, treasoners, money launderers, tax evaders, etc usually end up in prison. especially if youre trying to test the rule of law over fbi vets.

...you do realize Trumpster could fire him...yes?

if this is a set up..then these dudes are waay past that...when would he fire him after he finds out hes been played?? too late then.. player.. so when?

batshit crazy, with absolutely nothing to back it up but a history of hoping really hard and FBI stannery?


lol


You're too nice sometimes, Brew.


Like Reeq said, party over country. Why would Barr be the first/only GOP player to not only turn on Trump...but play a huge role in the final act of Hustla's fantasy movie?

I have more fun when I actually get to read his works of likely fiction.


>batshit crazy, with absolutely nothing to back it up but a
>history of hoping really hard and FBI stannery?
>
>
>lol
>
>
>You're too nice sometimes, Brew.
>
>
>Like Reeq said, party over country. Why would Barr be the
>first/only GOP player to not only turn on Trump...but play a
>huge role in the final act of Hustla's fantasy movie?
>
>
>
>
>

you dont bring shit to the table ever.. so basically your lame responses are irrelevant.
he thought it was intriguing bcz... it is... you just a fucking clown with absolutely nothing to offer.. all you have to offer is most rich white men dont go to prison.. so everything i say is batshit to,you.. open your mind clown.. tell.me how trump us staying out of prison..Remember Whitaker? yeah nigga.. me neither... the Mueller train is still rolling with the govt shutdown..

Why would Barr turn on Trump?? When the fk was he ever with him bro? post a link.. Mueller is also a republican.. what the fk are you even talking
about? you in here suckin off Reeq at least he bringing something to the table..

>
>batshit crazy, with absolutely nothing to back it up but a
>history of hoping really hard and FBI stannery?
>
>
>lol
>
>
>You're too nice sometimes, Brew.
>
>
>Like Reeq said, party over country. Why would Barr be the
>first/only GOP player to not only turn on Trump...but play a
>huge role in the final act of Hustla's fantasy movie?
>
>
>
>
>

You're in this post looking like Carrie off her meds

http://images.nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2011/tv111212_clairedanes_560.jpg

Mueller is actually investigating the Dems?


Dude went from reading into updates to inventing his own shit.

and blow up the iran contra investigation while undermining other related trials.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/section/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224_big.gif

party before country fam. these repubs love power more than they hate trump (and they dont even truly hate trump).

>and blow up the iran contra investigation while undermining
>other related trials.
>
>https://static01.nyt.com/images/section/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224_big.gif
>
>party before country fam. these repubs love power more than
>they hate trump (and they dont even truly hate trump).

im glad the peanut,gallery finally showed up... trump can be played by anyone... why wouldn't two justice vets play a moron?

of course they got crookedly pardoned.... but if you think after Trumps long ties with Russia, him basically shitting on everyone in sight who dont agree or help him cover up, and most importantly testing the rule of law at every turn isnt tasty for a couple of longtime friends who are basically Bush DOJ swampdwellers.. i dont know what to tell you..

what in the fox news era has shown you otherwise?

and give a 'full and credible account' of his work for trump.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/michael-cohen-testify-trump-congress.html

LETS FUCKING GO!!!!

May have to take the fucking day off lol

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/michael-cohen-says-trump-s-threats-against-his-family-will-n961816

Michael Cohen says Trump's 'threats against his family' will delay his testimony before the House

"This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, said.

Jan. 23, 2019, 12:47 PM CST
By Rebecca Shabad

WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, is delaying his public testimony before Congress "due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump" and members of his legal team, Cohen attorney Lanny Davis said in a statement Wednesday.

Cohen, 52, was set to appear voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., on Feb. 7.

Davis cited threats from Trump and Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, "as recently as this weekend," as well as Cohen's "continued cooperation with ongoing investigations" as central to the decision to postpone his testimony.

"Mr. Cohen wishes to thank Chairman Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight Committee and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time. This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first," Davis said.

Davis did not elaborate on the nature of the threats.

In December, Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in prison for what a Manhattan federal court judge called a "veritable smorgasbord" of criminal conduct, including making secret payments to women who claimed they had affairs with Trump, lying to Congress about the president's business dealings with Russia and failing to report millions of dollars in income.

New: Adam Schiff says that Michael Cohen has agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Intelligence Committee "for closed testimony on February 8, 2019."

"We will continue to work with Mr. Cohen and law enforcement in order to protect Mr. Cohen and his family."

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1090010810716512256

JUST IN: Michael Cohen's House Intel testimony has been postponed. “In the interests of the investigation, Michael Cohen’s testimony has been postponed until February 28th," says @RepAdamSchiff.

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1093157187680174082

President Trump’s actions so alarmed the FBI after James Comey’s firing that it began investigating if he was working on behalf of Russia
https://t.co/3w00Xx7Bhu

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1083897477940563969

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1084170673189056518?s=21

yeah you know where I was going with that. The Press Failed Miserably.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

https://twitter.com/CuomoPrimeTime/status/1085725959653871616

basically the new goalposts now are simply 'the president didnt conspire with the russians to hack the dnc' lol.

if youve been paying attention...rudy has been consistently shifting the narrative on several fronts and continually trying to get out ahead out of the evidence that he has already been made aware of.

he just *publicly* admits to what investigators have discovered (and credibly proven) behind the scenes.

he knows people in the campaign colluded. he knows trump had knowledge of it (prolly even explicitly approved of it). he is basically saying the only action trump could be criminally liable for is orchestrating the unauthorized access and theft of dnc property. thats prolly the only crime he knows trump didnt have a hand in lol.

>he just *publicly* admits to what investigators have
>discovered (and credibly proven) behind the scenes.

It didn't really work for Pete Rose. Though, in an impressive example of our weird priorities, the guy who just wants to be in the baseball Hall of Fame isn't the outcome that's going to depend on a popularity contest. That's the guy who wants to be president.

President Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/trump-russia-cohen-moscow-tower-mueller-investigation

FLASHBACK:

Klobuchar: "A president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction. Is that right?"
Barr: "Yes."

Klobuchar: "You also said that a president — or any person — convincing a witness to change testimony would be obstruction. Is that right?"
Barr: "Yes."

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1086114743922905089


Another FLASHBACK:

@LindseyGrahamSC: "If there was some reason to believe that the president tried to coach somebody not to testify or to testify falsely that could be obstruction of justice?"

William Barr: "YES”

https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1086124446258221058

>FLASHBACK:
>
>Klobuchar: "A president persuading a person to commit perjury
>would be obstruction. Is that right?"
>Barr: "Yes."
>
>Klobuchar: "You also said that a president — or any person
>— convincing a witness to change testimony would be
>obstruction. Is that right?"
>Barr: "Yes."
>
>https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1086114743922905089
>
>
>Another FLASHBACK:
>
>@LindseyGrahamSC: "If there was some reason to believe that
>the president tried to coach somebody not to testify or to
>testify falsely that could be obstruction of justice?"
>
>William Barr: "YES”
>
>https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1086124446258221058

https://twitter.com/KenDilanianNBC/status/1086288568371286016

mueller got everything on everybody! theyre all going down!

*fires machine gun into the air*

Was just saying to a buddy of mine (and this is obviously getting a little ahead of myself, but ...) that I wish it was constitutionally established that an impeached or disgraced president's appointments, legislation, etc., would be wiped out once he's gone from office.

It would be too convoluted to implement. It's fantasyland. But man. Even if we get rid of the lot of them, we're still left with a FUCK ton of shit to clean up from the past 2 years.