Scandal Watch

WASHINGTON ― The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the General Services Administration on Friday, arguing that President Donald Trump is in violation of his lease to operate the Trump International Hotel on government property.

Trump’s agreement with the GSA to run a luxury hotel within Washington’s Old Post Office building, which is owned by the federal government, specifically states that the lease cannot be held by an elected official. After Trump announced his plans to only marginally separate himself from his multibillion-dollar business empire on Jan. 11, the GSA issued a statement indicating that it hadn’t been unaware of those plans and declaring that it would not comment until Trump was sworn in as president...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-hotel-lease-gsa_us_5882737de4b070d8cad...

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...NORMAN EISEN (Obama ethics lawyer): Well, once you get into this dialogue of asking for a quid, how long will it be before the other side offers a quo? As soon as he takes office, there's also going to be a constitutional issue under the Emoluments Clause or the no-foreign-gifts-or-bribe clause of the Constitution, which...

STEVE INSKEEP: What's it say?

EISEN: Well, it says that presidents and other federal officials are not allowed to accept presents from foreign sovereigns. There's already reports, for example, that the Trump Hotel here in Washington, D.C. is inviting representatives of foreign embassies to come and do deals with them to the extent they include presents, which is customary as part of these deals. That is a violation of the Constitution. And now we're not only on criminal territory, we're actually moving towards impeachment territory if a president violates the Constitution...

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/23/503108953/conflict-of-interest-possibilities-attra...

margd: I'm not seeing this in the transcript, but I recall either Richard Painter (Bush ethics lawyer) or Norman Eisen (Obama's) saying that they wouldn't be surprised if other DC hotels, losing business to Trump's DC hotel, will be the first to sue Trump. They won't be the last, according to the ethics lawyers.

I have maintained for many years that there is always a Washington scandal. Generally speaking, with Republicans it's money; with Democrats, it's sex. With Trump, it could go either way. Or both. But I predict it'll come.

A new golf course in Scotlland:

...Earlier this week, (Trump Organization) confirmed it wanted to expand at one of its Scottish resorts, including plans to add a golf course. A spokeswoman for the resort said the expansion is just another "phase" of a project outlined in a planning document approved by the local government years ago, and so did not break any Trump promise.

But Richard Painter, chief ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, said every phase of a real estate project is like a new deal, requiring financing and government permits, and allowing foreigners to hold something back that the president might want in hopes he will shape public policy in their favor...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/01/22/us/politics/ap-us-trump-hotel.html?_r...

White House Petition Calling For Release Of Trump’s Tax Returns Gets Over 100,000 Signatures (needed for official response within 60 days)

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/immediately-release-donald-trumps-full...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-house-petition-donald-trump-tax-return...

ETA: ...“The White House response is that he’s not going to release his tax returns,” said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, during an appearance on ABC’S “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “We litigated this all through the election.

“People didn’t care,” Conway added. “They voted for him, and let me make this very clear: Most Americans are -- are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like."

Presidents are not required to release their tax returns, but presidents dating back to Richard Nixon have routinely voluntarily done so.

(The White House petitions page is still live. The top one calls for Trump’s tax returns.)

A Washington Post-ABC poll last week showed that Trump’s continued refusal to release his tax returns continues to be an unpopular decision, with 74 percent of Americans saying he should make the documents public, including 53 percent of Republicans.

Conway was questioned about a petition page on the White House website that allows citizens to ask government officials to take up issues of importance to them. Under former president Barack Obama, the White House would note any actions related to petitions that garnered more than 100,000 signatures online.

As of Sunday morning, a petition for Trump to immediately release his tax returns had received more than 200,000 signatures....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/22/trump-wont-relea...

Foreign Payments to Trump Firms Violate Constitution, Suit Will Claim

A team of prominent constitutional scholars, Supreme Court litigators and former White House ethics lawyers intends to file a lawsuit Monday morning alleging that President Trump is violating the Constitution by allowing his hotels and other business operations to accept payments from foreign governments...

The suit, which will not seek any monetary damages, will ask a federal court in New York to order Mr. Trump to stop taking payments from foreign government entities. Such payments, it says, include those from patrons at Trump hotels and golf courses; loans for his office buildings from certain banks controlled by foreign governments; and leases with tenants like the Abu Dhabi tourism office, a government enterprise....

Mr. Eisen (Chair, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) said the legal team intended to use the lawsuit to try to get a copy of Mr. Trump’s federal tax returns, which are needed to properly assess what income or other payments or loans Mr. Trump has received from foreign governments...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/politics/trump-foreign-payments-constituti...

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Emolument clause of the US Constitution:
No Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them i.e., the United States, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Emolument:
The profit arising from office, employment, or labor; that which is received as a compensation for services, or which is annexed to the possession of office as salary, fees, and perquisites. Any perquisite, advantage, profit, or gain arising from the possession of an office.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Emolument

>4 margd: >5 margd: Just had a thought, how will anyone gauge how much Trump profited during his Presidency with no base line tax statement at the beginning? I bet he more than quadruples his net wealth by the end of his 4 years.

I don't think Conway knows what the word "litigated" means.

Trump Has 2 Events This Weekend — And Both Benefit His Businesses
The president will attend the Red Cross Ball at his Mar-A-Lago estate, and a Super Bowl party at his Palm Beach golf resort.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-business-conflicts-mar-a-lago_us_58952...

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago getaway could cost taxpayers more than $3 million
The president regularly hassled Obama for his travel. Now Trump is about to get a taste of his own medicine.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-mar-lago-taxpayers-234562

Trust Records Show Trump Is Still Closely Tied to His Empire

...records have emerged that show just how closely tied Mr. Trump remains to the empire he built.

While the president says he has walked away from the day-to-day operations of his business, two people close to him are the named trustees and have broad legal authority over his assets: his eldest son, Donald Jr., and Allen H. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer. Mr. Trump, who will receive reports on any profit, or loss, on his company as a whole, can revoke their authority at any time.

What’s more, the purpose of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is to hold assets for the “exclusive benefit” of the president. This trust remains under Mr. Trump’s Social Security number, at least as far as federal taxes are concerned.

...Robert H. Sitkoff, a professor at Harvard Law School, said the new details in the trust documents were unlikely to resolve the apparent legal problems with the Old Post Office site... (leased from the government)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/us/politics/donald-trump-business.html?_r=0

Melania--say it's not so!

Melania Trump reveals plan to leverage presidency to ink ‘multi-million dollar’ endorsement deals
The admission came in a defamation lawsuit the First Lady filed against the Daily Mail.
https://thinkprogress.org/melania-trump-reveals-plan-to-leverage-presidency-to-i...

Trump lashes out at Nordstrom in a tweet for dropping his daughter’s apparel line

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
10:51 AM - 8 Feb 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/02/08/trump-lashes-out-at-n...

And then repeats himself on @POTUS

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/08/news/companies/donald-trump-nordstrom-ivanka/

and Fox News chimes in

@FoxBusiness @IvankaTrump #BoycottNordstom
No more shopping at Nordstrom, they are Anti-American

Conway may have broken key ethics rule by touting Ivanka Trump’s products, experts say
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/conway-may-have-broken-key-ethics-rule-b...

ETA: House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said he will refer White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway for an ethics investigation, after she promoted Ivanka Trump’s fashion line during a Thursday appearance on Fox News.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jason-chaffetz-kellyanne-conway-ivanka-trump...;

National Security Advisor...

National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say

...“They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia,” Pence said in an interview with CBS News last month, noting that he had spoken with Flynn about the matter. Pence also made a more sweeping assertion, saying there had been no contact between members of Trump’s team and Russia during the campaign. To suggest otherwise, he said, “is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy.”

Neither of those assertions is consistent with the fuller account of Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak provided by officials who had access to reports from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies that routinely monitor the communications of Russian diplomats. Nine current and former officials, who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the calls, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

All of those officials said ­Flynn’s references to the election-related sanctions were explicit. Two of those officials went further, saying that Flynn urged Russia not to overreact to the penalties being imposed by President Barack Obama, making clear that the two sides would be in position to review the matter after Trump was sworn in as president.

“Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time,” said a former official.

A third official put it more bluntly, saying that either Flynn had misled Pence or that Pence misspoke. An administration official stressed that Pence made his comments based on his conversation with Flynn.. The sanctions in question have so far remained in place.

The nature of Flynn’s pre-inauguration message to Kislyak triggered debate among officials in the Obama administration and intelligence agencies over whether Flynn had violated a law against unauthorized citizens interfering in U.S. disputes with foreign governments, according to officials familiar with that debate. Those officials were already alarmed by what they saw as a Russian assault on the U.S. election.

U.S. officials said that seeking to build such a case against Flynn would be daunting. The law against U.S. citizens interfering in foreign diplomacy, known as the Logan Act, stems from a 1799 statute that has never been prosecuted. As a result, there is no case history to help guide authorities on when to proceed or how to secure a conviction...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/national-security-adviser...

>14 margd: I'm expecting/hoping that this one will blow up. It's getting a lot of press attention.

This was also in the news today: Jared Kushner a shadow diplomat on US-Mexico talks
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jared-kushner-a-shadow-diplomat-pulls-th...

>12 2wonderY: Nordstrom seems to be benefiting from getting on Trump's bad side: http://theweek.com/articles/679164/getting-president-trumps-bad-side-actually-go...

Not really a scandal, but Trump is finding out that you can't run government like a business: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presiden...

>13 margd: This is beautiful. At a Utah town hall, hundreds of people shout at Jason Chaffetz to "do your job!" http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/02/jason-chaffetz-town-hall-donald-trum...

... the Army as been investigating whether Mr. Flynn received money from the Russian government during a trip he took to Moscow in 2015, according to two defense officials. Such a payment might violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits former military officers from receiving money from a foreign government without consent from Congress. The defense officials said there was no record that Mr. Flynn, a retired three-star Army general, filed the required paperwork for the trip...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/us/politics/donald-trump-national-security-ad...

ETA: The US military usually take such restrictions seriously--if a friend's experience is any guide. A retired US military officer, he required permission to pursue a PhD at the U of Ottawa.

In letter of resignation, Flynn says he misled VP and others about his Russian contacts--does not say that he misled President:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/02/14/michael-flynn-...

Dem: Trump's China trademark looks like a quid pro quo

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Friday expressed concern about China's decision to give President Trump a new business trademark (just days) after Trump announced his support for a pro-China (one-China) policy.

“If this isn’t a violation of the Emoluments Clause, I don’t know what is.”

...The Associated Press on Wednesday reported that Trump currently has 49 trademark applications that are pending and 77 that are already registered in his name. According to the AP, most of the registered trademarks will need to be renewed during his term...

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/320167-dem-senator-trumps-china-trade...

Sun, Sand and Influence: For Mar-a-Lago Members, Proximity Is Power
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, MAGGIE HABERMAN and ERIC LIPTONFEB. 18, 2017

...“Mar-a-Lago represents a commercialization of the presidency that has few if any precedents in American history,” said Jon Meacham, a presidential historian and Andrew Jackson biographer. “Presidents have always spent time with the affluent,” he added. “But a club where people pay you as president to spend time in his company is new. It is kind of amazing.”...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/18/us/mar-a-lago-trump-ethics-winter-white-house

___________________________________________________

Donald J. Trump Verified account
‏@realDonaldTrump

Will be having many meetings this weekend at The Southern White House. Big 5:00 P.M. speech in Melbourne, Florida. A lot to talk about!

____________________________________________________

Leaked Trump tape: 'You are the special people'
Exclusive audio shows how Trump lets loose at his clubs — inviting guests to join him on staff interviews

...last November at a cocktail and dinner reception celebrating longtime members of his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. Deep into the process of meeting potential Cabinet nominees, the president-elect invited partygoers to stop by the next day to join the excitement.

“We’re doing a lot of interviews tomorrow — generals, dictators, we have everything,” Trump told the crowd, according to an audio tape of his closed-press remarks obtained by POLITICO from a source in the room. “You may wanna come around. It’ll be fun. We’re really working tomorrow. We have meetings every 15, 20 minutes with different people that will form our government."

"We’re going to be interviewing everybody — Treasury, we’re going to be interviewing Secretary of State,” he continued. “We have everybody coming in — if you want to come around, it’s going to be unbelievable….so you might want to come along.”...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-leaked-audio-clubs-guests-235161

Russia scandal growing:
-3 resignations so far (Flynn, Manafort, Page)
-FBI probing Cohen, $ flowing to Trump campaign
-Sater emerges again

@Zac_Petkanas

__________________________________________________________
ETA:
A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates

...A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was hand-delivered to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia.

Mr. Flynn is gone, having been caught lying about his own discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador. But the proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-russia.html?...
__________________________________________________________

Learning Eye-Popping Details About Mr Sater (margd: Trump business associate)

...(Felix) Sater is a Russian emigrant who was jailed for assault in the mid-90s and then pulled together a major securities fraud scheme in which investors lost some $40 million. He clearly did something for the US government which the feds found highly valuable. It seems likely, though not certain, that it involved working with the CIA on something tied to the post-Soviet criminal underworld. Now Bayrock and Trump come into the mix.

...What about Salvatore Lauria, Sater's accomplice in the securities swindle? (margd: also present during assault in mid-90s)

He went to work with Bayrock too and was also closely involved with managing and securing financing for the Trump SoHo project. The Times article I mentioned in my earlier post on Trump SoHo contains this ... Mr. Lauria brokered a $50 million investment in Trump SoHo and three other Bayrock projects by an Icelandic firm preferred by wealthy Russians “in favor with” President Vladimir V. Putin, according to a lawsuit against Bayrock by one of its former executives. The Icelandic company, FL Group, was identified in a Bayrock investor presentation as a “strategic partner,” along with Alexander Mashkevich, a billionaire once charged in a corruption case involving fees paid by a Belgian company seeking business in Kazakhstan; that case was settled with no admission of guilt.

...During the time Sater was working for Bayrock and Trump he organized what was supposed to be Trump Tower Ft Lauderdale...typical Trump story of small investors screwed out of their money and winding up in court...

...It seems highly likely that Sater has deep and longstanding ties to at least certain elements of US law enforcement and intelligence. It's clear he worked on their behalf in some capacity and seems quite likely, though not certain, that he aided the US in purchasing black market weapons in Russia and/or Central Asia as a way to skate on his fraud conviction. One could definitely argue that his work in that role - basically being a US operative, in some sense - runs counter to any theory that Sater is some agent of the Russian government or in any way a conduit for Russia capital or advancing Russian interests with Trump. But Sater clearly has many masters or rather works with a bewildering cast of characters in the interests of saving his own neck. So anything is possible. If nothing else, the CIA/arms smuggling story, if true, would suggest he was quite plugged in with the Russian and post-Soviet criminal underworld. So there are many possibilities.

All we can be certain of at the moment is that we should know much more about Sater, his ties to US law enforcement and intelligence, his role organizing and funding Trump's business enterprises, his relationship with Trump and what any and all of it has to do with his now being the conduit for 'peace plans' for Russia and Ukraine which end up in the White House courtesy of President Trump's personal lawyer. (Emphasis margd's)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/learning-eye-popping-details-about-mr-sater

Interesting--I assume Steve Bannon with his Wall St background was screened by FBI?
Trump with his unrevealed tax return, apparent Russian connxns, and sniffles?
Or just the somewhat smaller fish?
____________________________________________________________

Chief digital officer steps down from White House job over background check

White House Chief Digital Officer Gerrit Lansing was among the six staffers who were dismissed from the White House last week after being unable to pass an FBI background check, according to sources.

A source close to Lansing said the issue with the background check was over investments.

...The background check, security questionnaire SF86, must be completed by White House staffers for positions that cover national security.

President Donald Trump's director of scheduling, Caroline Wiles, was also among the six staffers who did not pass the intensive FBI screening.

...She was appointed deputy assistant secretary before the inauguration in January. Two sources close to Wiles said she will get another job in the Treasury Department.

The intensive background check includes questions on the applicant's credit score, substance use and other personal subjects.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/02/gerrit-lansing...

White House adviser asked FBI to dispute Russia reports

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump’s campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official says.

...A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations “only when it is important for the performance of the president’s duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective.” When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

...During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticized a meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trump’s general election opponent. The meeting came as the FBI — which is overseen by the Justice Department — was investigating Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address and personal internet server.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/white-house-adviser-a...

______________________________________________

ETA: Trump's response?

Trump’s Friday tweet didn’t deny accusations that the White House attempted to meddle in the FBI’s investigation, but instead took aim at FBI “leakers” who could have a “devastating effect” on the U.S.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-is-once-again-going-to-war-agai...

Yeah, all those "leakers" are going to hamstring the government. When is the administration going to address a real issue like -"has Hilliary got another laptop in her closet somewhere?" {sarcasm}

Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions under fire over Russia meetings

Attorney General Jeff Sessions met Russia's ambassador twice during Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year, the US government has confirmed.

Mr Sessions, a senator at the time, told his January confirmation hearing that he had had no contacts with the Russians during the campaign.

..The Democrats accused him of "lying under oath" and said he must resign.

They have also called on him to step aside from an investigation by the FBI - which he oversees as attorney general - into alleged Russian interference in the US election, including contacts with Russian officials by those involved in election campaigns.

...Mr Sessions had meetings with more than 25 foreign ambassadors in the course of the year.

But his meetings with Mr Kislyak (Russian ambassador) came while he was a prominent part of Mr Trump's campaign team, and amid growing reports of Russian meddling in the US election.

What did Mr Sessions say?

During his confirmation hearing, Mr Sessions was asked what he would do if there was evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with Russia.

Mr Sessions replied that he was "unaware of those activities".

He went on to say: "I did not have communications with the Russians."

In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Sessions said: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false." ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39136118

Trump, Putin, and the New Cold War
What lay behind Russia’s interference in the 2016 election—and what lies ahead?
(13,000-word article!)

...The working theory among intelligence officials involved in the case is that the Russian approach—including hacking, propaganda, and contacts with Trump associates—was an improvisation rather than a long-standing plan. The official said, “After the election, there were a lot of Embassy communications”—to Moscow—“saying, stunned, ‘What we do now?’ ”

Initially, members of the Russian élite celebrated Clinton’s disappearance from the scene, and the new drift toward an America First populism that would leave Russia alone. The fall of Michael Flynn and the prospect of congressional hearings, though, have tempered the enthusiasm. Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of a leading foreign-policy journal in Moscow, said that Trump, facing pressure from congressional investigations, the press, and the intelligence agencies, might now have to be a far more “ordinary Republican President than was initially thought.” In other words, Trump might conclude that he no longer has the political latitude to end sanctions against Moscow and accommodate Russia’s geopolitical ambitions. As a sign of the shifting mood in Moscow, the Kremlin ordered Russian television outlets to be more reserved in their coverage of the new President.

Konstantin von Eggert, a political commentator and host on Russian television, heard from a friend at a state-owned media holding that an edict had arrived that, he said, “boiled down to one phrase: no more Trump.” The implicit message, von Eggert explained, “is not that there now should be negative coverage but that there should be much less, and more balanced.” The Kremlin has apparently decided, he said, that Russian state media risked looking “overly fawning in their attitude to Trump, that all this toasting and champagne drinking made us look silly, and so let’s forget about Trump for some time, lowering expectations as necessary, and then reinvent his image according to new realities.”

Alexey Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, and a figure with deep contacts inside the Russian political élite, said, “Trump was attractive to people in Russia’s political establishment as a disturber of the peace for their counterparts in the American political establishment.” Venediktov suggested that, for Putin and those closest to him, any support that the Russian state provided to Trump’s candidacy was a move in a long-standing rivalry with the West; in Putin’s eyes, it is Russia’s most pressing strategic concern, one that predates Trump and will outlast him. Putin’s Russia has to come up with ways to make up for its economic and geopolitical weakness; its traditional levers of influence are limited, and, were it not for a formidable nuclear arsenal, it’s unclear how important a world power it would be. “So, well then, we have to create turbulence inside America itself,” Venediktov said. “A country that is beset by turbulence closes up on itself—and Russia’s hands are freed.” ♦

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/06/trump-putin-and-the-new-cold-war#ed...

__________________________________________________________________________

ETA

@delrayser 11h11 hours ago
(Jeff Sessions:) "I did not have international relations with that country."

@NormEisen 11h
Sessions conflicts, failure to recuse, possible false statements to Congress also may put his law license at risk. Expect bar complaints.

@JohnWDean
Hey Donald, a tip: Cover-ups don't get easier as they proceed. Russia tie leaks drown your joint session speech in less than 24 hrs.

@thehill 10h10 hours ago
George W. Bush's ethics lawyer calls Sessions's talks with Russia: "Good way to go to jail" http://hill.cm/KmuMkjO

Thank you Obama for eight wonderful years and for preserving the Russian hacking intel. America's values were preserved during your years in the Oval Office!!!

>28 margd:

But his meetings with Mr Kislyak (Russian ambassador) came while he was a prominent part of Mr Trump's campaign team, and amid growing reports of Russian meddling in the US election.

And of course Kislyak is the same guy that Michael Flynn had extensive communications with regarding the removal of sanctions against the Russians put in place by the Obama administration. Wow. How does all of this not end in the eventual resignation or impeachment of Trump himself?

Jeff sessions: a small mass being sucked under by the Trump-russia black hole? (I think that's the operative metaphor here.)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-gravity-is-strong

I have the feeling this is going to be one very long thread...

It's only been, what, 2 months so far?

Mr Sessions is vulnerable when not wearing his Klan regalia.

>33 madpoet:

I have the feeling this is going to be one very long thread...

Indeed. To steal Nate Silver's phrase, Trump is a "target-rich environment". :)

It's only been, what, 2 months so far?

Yup. Feels like two years.

Trump lawyer pushed pro-Russia deal for Ukraine, politician claims
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/trump-lawyer-ukraine-peace-deal/

____________________________________________________________

Another Trump adviser has significantly changed his story about the GOP's dramatic shift on Ukraine

The Trump campaign's national-security policy representative for the Republican National Convention, J.D. Gordon, told CNN on Thursday that he pushed to alter an amendment to the GOP's draft policy on Ukraine at the Republican National Convention last year to further align it with President Donald Trump's views.

Gordon's remarks represent a dramatic shift from previous comments. In January, Gordon told Business Insider that he "never left" his "assigned side table" nor spoke publicly at the GOP national security subcommittee meeting, where the amendment — which originally called for "providing lethal defense weapons" to the Ukrainian army to fend off Russian-backed separatists — was read aloud, debated, and ultimately watered down to "providing appropriate assistance" to Ukraine...

http://www.businessinsider.com/jd-gordon-trump-adviser-ukraine-rnc-2017-3

____________________________________________________________

President Trump's Untruths Are Piling Up
The need for Congress to figure out why he and his team keep misleading the public about Russia grows more urgent by the day, even if they are ultimately exonerated.

...J.D. Gordon, a former national security adviser to Trump, attended an event with the Russian ambassador at the GOP convention. Trump national-security advisers Carter Page and Walid Phares were there, too. And Jared Kushner and Mike Flynn met with Russia’s ambassador at Trump Tower in December.

...Look again at Trump’s words from his press conference: “I have nothing to do with Russia,” the president said. “To the best of my knowledge no person that I deal with does.”

That is bullshit. Among many other things, Russia’s ambassador clearly made a concerted effort to interact with many on the Trump team and succeeded spectacularly...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/the-untruths-of-president-t...

6 times Sessions talked about perjury, access, special prosecutors — when it involved the Clintons

"In America . . . No one is above the law."

Clinton's acquittal "will weaken the legal system by providing an option for those who consider being less than truthful in court"

"Assure the public the matter will be handled without partisanship."

"The man wanted access to talk about something. This is very important to people, and they have an agenda. They wouldn't be asking for access for nothing."

"If it's different from what he told the Congress in his testimony, and the American people, then he had to correct it."

"A case of this high-profile should have been handled as clean as possible, with the least possible ability for anybody to question what was done."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-jeff-sessions-perjury...

While Donald "the gator" Trump swallows the GOP whole, its members roll over and play dead!!!

Two Republicans sign onto effort demanding trumps tax returns.

Time to double down on all Congress people requesting the same.

Trump is spending his afternoon googling for pictures of Democrats in the same frame as Kislyak and Putin.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-chuck-schumer-russia_us_58b9b65...

and now
@realDonaldTrump

I hearby demand a second investigation, after Schumer, of Pelosi for her close ties to Russia, and lying about it.

We don't have a government anymore; we have an elementary-school playground.

"I know you are, but what am I?"

Tu quoque is the preferred argumentative mode of five year olds.

Untangling Trump and Russia: What we know -- and what we don't

What we know
1. ...the Russian government sought to disrupt the 2016 presidential election by hacking and disseminating thousands of emails stolen from the DNC and Clinton campaign.
2. One purpose...was to damage Clinton. In doing so, the Russians provided a boost to Donald Trump's bid.
3. ...another aim was to undermine core political institutions like the Democratic Party and, more broadly, the US electoral system.
4. During the 2016 election season, multiple current and former intelligence,...Russian officials and agents known to the US were in constant contact with high-level Trump officials.
5. On at least two occasions now, Trump administration officials have been caught either lying or misleading officials about the extent and nature of those conversations.
6. There were other meetings by other Trump advisers -- a number of which have only come to light in the past few days...senior Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner...J.D. Gordon and Carter Page...another national security adviser, Walid Phares...
7. Delegates crafting the GOP platform in Cleveland did not include language calling for military assistance in Ukraine, which has been caught in a prolonged skirmish with pro-Russian separatists on and inside its eastern border.
8. Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman at the time of the convention, resigned in late August after questions arose about his ties to Russia, in particular the Kremlin-backed deposed Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych.
9. 9. None of the people named above have denied these meetings and conversations took place. Several, though, have left their positions after coming under scrutiny...Sessions...Flynn...Page...Manafort

What we don't know
1. Did Trump, as either a Republican primary or general election candidate, discuss the hacks with any Russian agent or official?
2. If so, did he encourage them -- or seek information about the Democrats and Clinton campaign?
3. What specific evidence does the intelligence community have that shows, beyond trying to hurt Clinton, that the Russians actively sought to help Trump?
4. Was Trump aware of the numerous meetings and conversations detailed above?
5. After his meetings with the Russian ambassador were made public, Sessions said through a spokeswoman, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign." Is there a distinction between meeting "to discuss" those matters -- that is, with the express intent of reviewing them -- and simply discussing them in the course of a broader meeting?
6. And finally, the fundamental question: Why have administration officials so consistently misled, muddied or stonewalled questions about their interactions with the Russians?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/04/politics/donald-trump-russia-what-we-know/

_____________________________________________________________

The web of relationships between Team Trump and Russia

known and possible links

Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
The Russian government.
Russian business interests.

Jeff Sessions, attorney general.
Jared Kushner, adviser.
Michael Flynn, former national security adviser.
Donald Trump Jr., son.
Paul Manafort, former campaign manager.
Rex Tillerson, secretary of state.
Wilbur Ross, secretary of commerce.
Roger Stone, longtime adviser.
Carter Page, former adviser.
J.D. Gordon, former adviser.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/03/the-web-of-relationsh...

______________________________________________________________

The definitive Trump-Russia timeline of events
Follow our timeline of events on the Trump administration's ties to Russia.

...June 18 (2103): Trump writes on Twitter: “The Miss Universe Pageant will be broadcast live from MOSCOW, RUSSIA on November 9th. A big deal that will bring our countries together!” | Trump, who owned the pageant at the time, adds later that day: “Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?”...

March 3 (2103): CNN reports on additional meetings that took place between Trump associates and Kislyak...

http://www.politico.com/trump-russia-ties-scandal-guide/timeline-of-events

Trump accuses Obama of ‘wire tapping’ Trump Tower phones
Battling allegations of ties between his campaign and Russia officials, Trump tries to turn scrutiny to Obama.

...Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Trump tweeted, as part of a six-tweet screed.

He went on to ask, “Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!”

“I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!” Trump continued, also tweeting, “How low has President Obama gone to tapp sic my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-obama-wire-tapping-trump-tower-phone....

***************************************

Didn't Trump just hire "a good lawyer"? (Jeff Sessions)

>44 margd: And yet thirty minutes later, he's taking potshots at Arnold Schwarzenegger. I still can't get over that people voted for this man.

>45 sturlington:

Me neither. Every time that infernally stupid face pops up somewhere I feel the same shock.

But this whole Russia circus. Obviously the Rump is neck-deep in business ties with Russia, obviously his election suited Putin, obviously they enjoy bouts of mutual cocksucking as much as pee, but if there were anything substantial to the "Russian asset" angle in the election, how on earth could even an idiot like the Mango Mussolini bring himself to yell in public during his campaign for Russia to hack Clinton?

And if your spooks are now expected to work to save the nation from Trump, why did they let Comey destroy Clinton in the first place?

I'm sorry, but I think this is all real, the work of your democracy and not some wizard behind the curtain.

Trump, Offering No Evidence, Says Obama Tapped His Phones
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/04/us/politics/trump-obama-tap-phones.html?_r=0

And Obama has released a "huh? WTF?" I hear.

>44 margd: Obama wiretapped candidate Trump?

If the Feds Did Wiretap Trump Tower, It’s Not Obama Who Should Worry

...The most detailed account thus far, from the BBC in January, provided a timeline: The Justice Department sought a FISA warrant in June to intercept communications from two Russian banks suspected of facilitating donations to the Trump campaign. The judge reportedly rejected the warrant, as well as a narrower version sought in July. A new judge granted the order in mid-October, according to the BBC.

None of this necessarily makes Trump’s allegations true. Even if a FISA warrant exists, it does not mean Trump Tower is tapped or that Trump specifically is the target. Further complicating things, the existence of a wiretap would not necessarily confirm the existence of a FISA warrant. Almost half of the building’s 58 floors are dedicated to commercial and office space, and any one of them—not to mention the building’s residents—could be the target of an investigation unrelated to international espionage or election tampering.

“If he has evidence that he was wiretapped without a proper FISA order being sought, that would be a huge scandal, and he should produce whatever evidence he’s got,” says (Cato Institute fellow Julian ) Sanchez. “It’s a pretty serious claim, and it’s striking he would make it without anything solid to back it up.”

Republican Senator Ben Sasse called on the president to clarify his claims, stating that “we are in the midst of a civilization-warping crisis of public trust.” Obama spokesperson Kevin Lewis strongly denied extra-judicial surveillance of any US citizens to Politico in response to the claims.

...However strongly Trump feels that he’s right, he’d better hope he’s wrong.

...“You can’t tap the phones of a political candidate for political purposes,” says (former NSA lawyer April) Doss.

What you could tap them for? Acting as a foreign power, or as an agent of a foreign power. In other words, spying against US interests with both knowledge and intent...

https://www.wired.com/2017/03/feds-wiretap-trump-tower-not-obama-worry/

________________________________________________________

yashar
Important to note: POTUS says "Trump Tower" -- Manafort, who is said to be a subject of an investigation, owns an apartment in Trump Tower.

margd: if Manafort was target, Trump's tweet unnecessarily put suspicion on himself?

>44 margd: By recusing himself from any Russian investigations, AG Sessions may have done the Republic (and himself) a YUGE favor!
(Though The Donald is reportedly furious with recusal.)

@costareports
WH counsel's office is looking into what they can learn about possible surveillance of Trump, per multiple officials

Trump: “Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!"

Trump tweets: I also want probe of Pelosi-Russia ties
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/322249-trump-tweets-i-also-want-probe...

Trump calls for investigation of Sen. Chuck Schumer's ties with Russia
http://www.kiro7.com/news/trending-now/trump-calls-for-investigation-of-sen-chuc...

Donald Trump Threatens Hillary Clinton With Special Prosecutor, Jail
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-special-prosecu...

.
.
.

Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis: a "cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice".

With all due respect: just because the whole world around me is going mad doesn't mean I'm going to succumb to the siren's song and join in the chorus.

The Politics Behind ‘Russia-gate’
Exclusive: The hysteria over “Russia-gate” continues to grow – as President Trump’s enemies circle – but at its core there may be no there there while it risks pushing the world toward nuclear annihilation, writes Robert Parry.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/03/04/the-politics-behind-russia-gate/
(The original includes many links, but I'm not going to hyperlink them here.)

There may be a turn-about-is-fair-play element to Democrats parsing the words of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other Trump administration officials to hang them on possible “perjury” charges. After all, the Republicans made “lock her up” a popular chant citing Hillary Clinton’s arguably illegal use of a private email server as Secretary of State and her allegedly false claim under oath that her lawyers had hand-checked each of her 30,000 or so emails that were deleted as personal.

But there is a grave danger in playing partisan “gotcha” over U.S. relations with the world’s other major nuclear superpower. If, for instance, President Trump finds himself having to demonstrate how tough he can be on Russia — to save his political skin — he could easily make a miscalculation that could push the two countries into a war that could truly be the war to end all wars – along with ending human civilization. But Democrats, liberals and the mainstream news media seem to hate Trump so much they will take that risk.

Official Washington’s Russia hysteria has reached such proportions that New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman has even compared the alleged Russian hacking of Democratic emails to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, two incidents that led the United States into violent warfare. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, Friedman demanded that the hacking allegations be taken with the utmost seriousness: “That was a 9/11 scale event. They attacked the core of our democracy. That was a Pearl Harbor scale event. … This goes to the very core of our democracy.”

But what really goes to “the very core of our democracy” is the failure to deal with this issue – or pretty much any recent issue – with the sobriety and the seriousness that should accompany a question of war or peace. Just as Friedman and other “star” journalists failed to ask the necessary questions about Iraq’s WMD or to show professional skepticism in the face of U.S. propaganda campaigns around the conflicts in Libya, Syria or Ukraine, they have not demanded any actual evidence from the Obama administration for its lurid claims about Russian “hacking.”

Before this madness goes any further, doesn’t anyone think that the U.S. intelligence community should lay its cards on the table regarding exactly what the evidence is that Russian intelligence purloined Democratic emails and then slipped them to WikiLeaks for publication? President Obama’s intelligence officials apparently went to great lengths to spread these allegations around – even passing the secrets around overseas – but they never told the American people what the evidence is. The two official reports dealing with the issue were laughably short on anything approaching evidence. They amounted to “trust us.”

Further, WikiLeaks representatives have indicated that the two batches of emails – one from the Democratic National Committee and the other from Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta – did not come from the Russians but rather from two different American insiders. That could be wrong – it is possible that Russian intelligence laundered the material through some American cutouts or used some other method to conceal Moscow’s hand – but Obama’s intelligence officials apparently don’t know how WikiLeaks obtained the emails. So, the entire “scandal” may rest upon a foundation of sand.

No ‘Fake News’

It’s also important to note that nothing that WikiLeaks published was false. There was no “fake news.” Indeed, a key reason why the emails were newsworthy at all was that they exposed misconduct and deception on the part of the Democrats and the Clinton campaign. The main point that the DNC emails revealed was that the leadership had violated its duty to approach the primary campaign even-handedly when instead they tilted the playing field against Sen. Bernie Sanders. Later, the Podesta emails revealed the contents of Clinton’s speeches to Wall Street bankers, which she was trying to hide from the voters, and the emails exposed some of the pay-to-play tactics of the Clinton Foundation.

In other words, even if the Russians did reveal this information to the American people, how does knowing relevant facts regarding a presidential campaign translate into an attack on “the core of our democracy”? Usually, journalists believe that getting the truth out, even if it embarrasses some politician or some political party, is healthy for a democracy. As an American journalist, I prefer getting information from people who have America’s best interests at heart, but I’m not naïve enough to think that people who “leak” don’t often do so for self-interested reasons. What’s most important is that the information is genuine and newsworthy.

Frankly, I found the WikiLeaks material far more appropriate for an American political debate than the scurrilous rumors that the Clinton campaign was circulating about Trump supposedly getting urinated on by Russian prostitutes in a five-star Moscow hotel, claims for which no evidence has been presented.
....
Partisan Interests
....
As the 2016 presidential campaign sank into infamy as one of the ugliest in U.S. history, Clinton hammered Trump over Russia, calling him a Putin “puppet.” But the Russia-bashing didn’t seem to help Clinton very much. Although it was calculated to pull in some “moderate” Republicans, it also alienated many peace-oriented Democrats.

Still, despite the shaky foundation and the haphazard construction, Official Washington is now adding more and more floors to this Russia “scandal.” Obama holdovers slapped together a shoddy pretext for going after Trump’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn – citing the never-prosecuted Logan Act of 1799 and then trapping Flynn because he didn’t have total recall of a phone conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on Dec. 29 while Flynn was vacationing in the Dominican Republic.

Similarly, the mainstream media and Democrats are framing in a “perjury” case against Attorney General Sessions because of a sloppily worded response during his confirmation hearing about contacts with Russians. He had met twice with Kislyak (as many others in Washington have done). The heavy-breathing suspicion is that perhaps Sessions and Kislyak were plotting how the Kremlin could help the Trump campaign, but there is zero evidence to support that conspiracy theory.

What’s actually happening here should be obvious. The Obama administration, the Democrats and the mainstream media were horrified at Trump’s election. They understandably were offended by Trump’s personal behavior and his obvious unfitness for the presidency. Many Clinton supporters, especially women, were bitterly disappointed at the failure of the first female major-party presidential nominee who lost to a lout who boasted about how he could exploit his fame and power by grabbing the genitals of vulnerable women whom he assumed couldn’t do anything to stop him.

There was also alarm about Trump’s policies on the environment, immigration, education and the courts. Among the neocons and their liberal-interventionist sidekicks, there was concern, too, that Trump would not continue their “regime change” strategies in the Middle East and their hostility toward Russia.

So, these anti-Trump forces grabbed at the most potent weapon available, the suspicions that Trump had somehow colluded with Russia. It didn’t matter that the evidence was weak to non-existent. It would be enough to spread the allegations around under the cloak of U.S. intelligence “assessments.”

Nobody important would demand to review the evidence and, surely, with the availability of National Security Agency intercepts, people’s memories could be tested against the transcripts of conversations and be found wanting. Verbal missteps could become perjury traps. There could be a witch hunt against anyone who talked to a Russian. Any pushing back from the Trump people could be construed as a “cover-up.”

Having worked in Washington for nearly four decades, I have seen political investigations before, both in steering away from real crimes of state (such as Nicaraguan Contra cocaine trafficking and Republican collaboration with foreign governments to undercut Democrats in 1968 and 1980) and in fabricating scandals that weren’t there (such as the fictional offenses of Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate, Chinagate, etc. under Bill Clinton who was finally cornered for the heinous crime of lying about sex). So far at least, “Russia-gate” fits much more with the latter group than the former.

What I also have learned over these years is that in Official Washington, power – much more than truth – determines which scandals are taken seriously and which ones are not. “Russia-gate” is revealing that the established power centers of Washington arrayed against Trump – the major news media, the neoconservatives and the Democratic Party – have more power than the disorganized Trump administration.

>50 davidgn: If Trump wanted to, he could put the whole Russia thing to rest right now by releasing his tax returns, stopping the crazy tweeting, and being transparent about all the contacts with Russian officials during the campaign. Instead, Flynn resigns, Sessions recuses himself, Trump goes on tweeting tirades, and they all look enormously guilty of something. If Sessions had nothing to hide, why did he lie in his confirmation hearings? If they're not guilty, then they are completely incompetent buffoons (quite possibly, they're both). It's not a very convincing argument to make that the Democrats and the citizenry should not push for an investigation and get everything out in the open on the chance that it may push a mentally unhinged president into starting a nuclear war. Anything might do that. Remember that Twilight Zone episode?

>51 sturlington:

then they are completely incompetent buffoons

I'm going with this. You are quite right that their response(s)/lack of so far are odd and unsettling--but then they truly are idiots. Trump is an idiot and Bannon is an idiot and everyone in-between is an idiot. (Americans WILL keep mistaking success for proof of brains. But among idiots, it's idiots who succeed.)

>52 LolaWalser: I think it's both. I don't think Trump and Bannon are mastermind manipulators, like some analysts seem to fear, but I do think they are stupid, prone to criminality, and think the law does not apply to them.

>50 davidgn: If, for instance, President Trump finds himself having to demonstrate how tough he can be on Russia — to save his political skin — he could easily make a miscalculation that could push the two countries into a war that could truly be the war to end all wars – along with ending human civilization. But Democrats, liberals and the mainstream news media seem to hate Trump so much they will take that risk.

Talk about victim blaming. Over a series of 9 US presidents and 7 Soviet leaders, despite unbelievably vicious attacks from all over the place on both sides, those 16 people managed to avoid reaching for the big red button. And had LBJ or Nixon done so, history would not have blamed the John Birch Society. But now, should Trump launch the missiles, it will be all the liberals' fault.

to show professional skepticism in the face of U.S. propaganda campaigns around the conflicts in Libya, Syria or Ukraine,

So when the Russians use military force to annex part of a neighboring state, it's A-OK, despite being a gross violation of international law. Rant and rave about propaganda all you want, the simple facts of the matter speak against you.

Indeed, a key reason why the emails were newsworthy at all was that they exposed misconduct and deception on the part of the Democrats and the Clinton campaign.

No professional skepticism there. The emails revealed that the people of the DNC wasn't thrilled about Bernie Sanders; they're humans, and them having an opinion on the matter was sort of inevitable. There were a couple things proposed that shouldn't have been, but what conduct did they expose? What actions did the DNC take?

how does knowing relevant facts regarding a presidential campaign translate into an attack on “the core of our democracy”?

In a contest between the various people running for US President, how is the DNC's actions relevant?

citing the never-prosecuted Logan Act of 1799

It's okay to break a law if it's never been prosecuted? The point of the law is that we don't want private citizens meddling with diplomacy. If you want to claim it's a bad law, then go ahead, but don't act like it's silly to get upset when proposed government officials engaged in law breaking, whether or not that law has been enforced.

because of a sloppily worded response during his confirmation hearing about contacts with Russians. He had met twice with Kislyak (as many others in Washington have done).

So when the DNC makes sloppily worded responses in private email, it's a major crime, but when under oath, a man testifies that "I didn't have — not have communications with the Russians" and he did, it's not his fault. Shouldn't the Attorney General know to avoid sloppily worded responses under oath? If it's so innocuous, why didn't he come forward at the start stating that he met with Kislyak?

>53 sturlington:

Agreed. But I find it most disheartening that Trump's evident conflicts of interest, evident incompetence, horrific cabinet choices (clear and loud SABOTAGE of departments these clowns are put in charge of), to say nothing of his direct warmongering on both foreign countries and residents of the US seem not to suffice to fight him.

While we need to know, I hope there is no "there" there. Washington, Gore--even Nixon--might step aside for good of country, but I don't think Trump would, if found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. Unless Ivanka really IS a Daddy-whisperer or Pence more ruthless than one might have thought...

I'll respond at greater length, but for the moment:

I'd like to have Trump's tax returns, too, and that's something I'd actually be willing to push for. I have no doubt that Trump has reason not want all his business dealings laid out for the world to see, and there may well be actual grounds for impugning him on that basis. Indiscriminate mudslinging (on all sides) may serve to obscure actual crimes, and if that's the end result of this furore, it'll be a shame.

Regarding Sessions, let's have some context here. Someone at PBS did actual legwork on this:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/all-the-ambassadors-jeff-sessions-met-in-201...

A list of meetings provided to the NewsHour on Thursday by the Department of Justice shows Sessions had 30 meetings with ambassadors in 2016. One of them was with Kislyak. Here’s a list of all of those leaders he met in official meetings in his role as senator; it does not include phone calls or unofficial interactions, like the one Sessions had with Kislyak in July.

And here's a piece that's relatively balanced (as they come these days), though it concludes with a leading question:
http://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/why-hide-talks-with-sergey-kislyak

....There is nothing inherently wrong with the fact that Flynn, Sessions, and other Trump advisers talked to the Russian Ambassador. With the Kislyak affair, in which multiple conversations between Trump officials and the Ambassador have been concealed, so far, we have a coverup without a crime.
...
The suggestions that there’s something wrong with speaking to Kislyak is “really sensitive to me because, when I was the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, that’s what the Russian government did to me,” McFaul added. “They really discouraged people to meet with me that were not part of the government, and if there was ever a meeting with someone defined as the opposition it became crazy, awful, page-one news that I was meddling in their internal affairs. We don’t want to become that.”

And yet there was something about their contacts with Kislyak that caused both Flynn and Sessions to conceal them. McFaul, while cautioning against overreacting, said that the amount of contact was unusual, more than he had in 2008, as an Obama adviser. But the denial of contact was even more unusual. “Why are they being so deceptive about it?” McFaul asked. “That makes no sense to me at all.”

I can think of several potential reasons, most of which need not involve anything sinister. He's recused himself from any probes and frankly, barring any further evidence of wrongdoing, that's good enough for me.

>57 davidgn: For me it's simple--if they lie, get rid of them; if it's perjury, make them play ping pong in prison.

Analysis: Does Obama Have Grounds to Sue Trump for Libel?

...past Supreme Court cases have created a basic standard that seeks to answer two legal questions:

Was the statement false?
Did the person know it was false or was he or she reckless about whether it was false?

..."What the plaintiff has to show is that the defendant has said, written or tweeted something that is a false statement of fact that harms the reputation of the defendant, and because Obama is a public official, you have to show that it was done with some sort of intent to harm," said Jay Wexler, a professor of constitutional law at Boston University Law School.

...the White House called for a congressional investigation into illegal wiretapping of the Trump campaign.

...the evidence that Trump's charge is false piles on top of the proof that he did not try to fact-check it...

... Despite the possible case, it is unlikely that Obama would sue Trump for libel. Predecessors tend to give the succeeding president a fair amount of room, and the president is provided some protections from civil suits. The Supreme Court's 1982 decision Nixon v. Fitzgerald found that a president is provided absolute immunity from civil damages and liability while conducting presidential acts.

"President Trump has official immunity from liability and damages," (Benjamin) Zipursky (who teaches defamation law at Fordham University Law School in New York) confirmed but it is not clear that judges would view tweeting a defamatory conspiracy theory, without evidence, as a president carrying out his official duties.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/analysis-does-obama-have-grounds-sue-trump-l...

Trump sons, planning expansion of family business, look to leverage campaign experience

Donald Trump’s adult sons, who are overseeing a nationwide expansion of the family business during their father’s presidency, are envisioning ways that their experiences from the campaign trail can help them establish a footing in dozens of new markets.

...the Trumps’ previously announced new chain, Scion, which is being designed as a less-corporate feeling brand of high-end hotels with a more affordable per-room price point than the Trumps’ five-star properties.

As with many existing Trump-branded property deals, the developers would own the hotels while the Trumps would be paid licensing and management fees.

The company says it has signed at least 17 letters of intent with potential developers. It is targeting an array of cities such as Austin, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville and Seattle — and Trump Jr. said the campaign proved useful in forging relationships with potential new connections.

...Building new hotels, for example, could create issues — tax disputes, allegations of labor violations or environmental violations — that require federal departments to consider cases that could directly impact the president’s finances. And while the Trumps have vowed to sign no new foreign deals, pursuing a raft of new domestic contracts from coast to coast means the Trumps are likely to engage in negotiations with private developers, banks and investors who see additional benefits in doing business with the president’s company.

...Amey, of the Project on Government Oversight, said there were ways for the Trumps to avoid potential domestic conflicts related to the hotel expansion. He said they could put the hotel business under another corporate structure, which does not involve a trust directly owned by the president himself.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-sons-planning-expansion-of-family-...

I liked the fact checking from The Washington Post last evening on the Trump Obama tweets

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/03/05/trumps-evidence-f...

>61 2wonderY: It's a good piece. For more background, see these on the Alfabank server kerfluffle: while the WaPo piece correctly dismisses it, it's not sufficiently clear about precisely how idiotic the whole thing was.

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/01/heres-the-problem-with-the-story-connecting-...
http://blog.erratasec.com/2016/11/debunking-trumps-secret-server.html
ETA: Plus this retrospective out this morning:
http://blog.erratasec.com/2017/03/journalists-how-hacking-details-matter.html#mo...

And as for the Baltic intercept, it could be something or it could be nothing. Based on the information provided, I can't even begin to think about evaluating it.

How ridiculous is it that the entire government is in an uproar and having to spend time and energy because Trump saw something on InfoWars or Brietbart and tweeted it Saturday morning! Authoritarian rule is one thing, but it is absolutely galling that we have lost our country to imbeciles with no critical thinking skills who take conspiracy theories for fact. On top of everything else, as a thinking human being, I just find myself deeply offended by all of this.

*end rant*

>63 sturlington: Ditto for me

Also heard today that Trump's sons have secret service protection while traveling over the world to promote the family business - renting out Trump's name and some management services to hotels. All at taxpayer expense.

The shadow government currently being orchestrated by the former President is very scary and is beginning to damage our government. Never before has a previous President stayed in DC and when his term was over overtly/covertly initiated the downfall of his successor. This is nothing more than a witch hunt for anyone that doesn't agree with the extreme left and to think I used to be a Democrat! Enough said; the swamp doesn't want to be drained.

That has nothing to do with the former President but with the bureaucracy that carries over all administrations. Never before has a new President come into office resolved to blow up the gov't and he is finding that the gov't is actually composed of a lot of people who would rather not be blown up. I don't think that it's a bad thing that the edifice that's been built up over generations can't be toppled in a month solely on the efforts of the executive branch. At the very least drastic changes should only be undertaken in cooperation with the legislature and after a period of careful deliberation.

>43 margd: ff.

What's most interesting to me about the whole Sessions thing is that he appears to have volunteered the information about not meeting with Kislyak (or other Russians) (which of course turned out not to be true) during his Senate confirmation hearing.

Look at this:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004965337/jeff-sessions-testimon...

Why on earth would someone who has been an attorney and/or a lawmaker for decades do that? Guilty conscience? Hubris? Why?

>67 artturnerjr: I watched it, and the following video (which is also important). Doesn't sound good, but at the same time I can't see that a perjury charge would stick. At some point I'll have to go back and watch more of the confirmation hearing to get a better sense of the larger context.

>68 davidgn:

Perhaps Sessions could just say that he didn't recall meeting with Kislyak when he was answering the question; that strategy worked out pretty well for Reagan during Iran-Contra. :)

>65 JaneAustenNut: The shadow government currently being orchestrated by the former President is very scary

Any evidence of this?

This is nothing more than a witch hunt for anyone that doesn't agree with the extreme left

In 2008, 52.9% of the voters voted for Obama; in 2012, 51.1% of them did, and in 2016 48% of the voters voted for Clinton. Neither Obama nor Clinton are extreme with respect to the American voter.

the swamp doesn't want to be drained.

No, it doesn't. But then again, is replacing competent civil servants with the richest cabinet in history, who either have no skills in the area or have resolved to destroy the department they are to head, a productive "draining of the swamp"? In real life, draining swamps is an ecological disaster, and even analogy-wise, many corrupt governments have been swept away to put incompetents in charge, frequently ending up more corrupt than the government they swept.

>69 artturnerjr: Reagan wasn't lying about a damn thing when he said he didn't remember. He read from note cards even in his more intimate meetings and confused reality with movies he was in near the end of his last term.

The shadow government currently being orchestrated by the former President is very scary and is beginning to damage our government.

There is no credible evidence that there is a "shadow government" being orchestrated by the former President. Obama is staying in D.C. until his youngest daughter graduates from high school.

To be honest, the notion that Obama staying in D.C. is some kind of indicator that he is trying to sabotage his successor is shockingly stupid. We live in a modern world where there is no part of the United States that cannot be instantly reached by e-mail or telephone, or by airplane in three or four hours. Anyone who wanted to set up a "shadow government" could do so from New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, or any number of other locations just as easily as they could do so in D.C.

Yet another stupid conspiracy theory that falls apart with the least bit of prodding. Many people seem to prefer the conspiracy theory to boring real life. I blame Dan Brown personally.

If Obama were capable of all this, wouldn't he have just installed Hillary Clinton and saved himself some trouble? After all, he had millions of illegal voters at his disposal.

>71 DugsBooks:

Yeah, you're probably right. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1994; I know from professional experience that people often begin suffering from this disease years before an official diagnosis is made.

Hmm,

Saturday the 4th,
Trump tweets that Obama wire-tapped him before the election.
He can produce no evidence, and seems to be influenced by a Breitbart story. Even Republicans don't take claim seriously.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/07/politics/wiretap-congress-sean-spicer-response/

Tuesday the 7th,
WikiLeaks documents CIA hacking skills.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/world/europe/wikileaks-cia-hacking.html?_r=0

Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

Trump campaign approved adviser's trip to Moscow
Campaign leaders knew in advance of Carter Page's Russia visit in July 2016, former aide says.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/carter-page-russia-trip-trump-corey-lewand...

>75 margd: Probably is, actually. They would have had to have been sitting on those documents for months to redact them and otherwise prepare them for release.

Authorities looked into Manafort protégé
An associate of an ex-Trump campaign chairman is suspected of connections to Russian intelligence.

U.S. and Ukrainian authorities have expressed interest in the activities of a Kiev-based operative with suspected ties to Russian intelligence who consulted regularly with Paul Manafort last year while Manafort was running Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, came under scrutiny from officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Department partly because of at least two trips he took to the U.S. during the presidential campaign, according to three international political operatives familiar with the agencies’ interest in Kilimnik.

Kilimnik, a joint Russian-Ukrainian citizen who trained in the Russian army as a linguist, told operatives in Kiev and Washington that he met with Manafort during an April trip to the United States. And, after a late summer trip to the U.S., Kilimnik suggested that he had played a role in gutting a proposed amendment to the Republican Party platform that would have staked out a more adversarial stance towards Russia, according to a Kiev operative...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-russia-manafort-235850
__________________________________________________________

Rachel Maddow's take on all these threads:

The Rachel Maddow Show 3/8/17
Truth closer on Trump camp pro-Russia influence on GOP platform
Rachel Maddow looks at new information on ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and its influence on the Republican Party platform at the national convention, adding credibility to another piece of the unverified Trump dossier. Duration: 16:38

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

>78 margd:

Maddow has been doing an outstanding job putting together and reporting on all the shady dealings between the Trump campaign/administration and its associates and Russia. Here's hoping she keeps it up.

>79 artturnerjr: I wondered 'what happened to her' (from my distant vantage in Europe) (meaning I am stuck with clips from political shows)...when she first got her big shot I was getting a lot of good clips of her, several easily available weekly, and for the last two years of so very little of her has been posted in the few places I look. I'm glad she's still around and getting some attention.

Better investigate McCain too, then...

http://exiledonline.com/the-mccain-follieri-bang-boat/
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/

OP ...no surprise if other DC hotels, losing business to Trump's DC hotel, will be the first to sue Trump. They won't be the last, according to the ethics lawyers.

Wine bar owners sue President Trump, saying D.C. hotel unfairly takes away business

...Gross and Pitts seek no damages but rather an order barring Trump’s D.C. hotel business from operating while President Trump owns it. Attorneys are representing the couple on a pro bono basis and include Alan B. Morrison, dean of public interest law at George Washington University and co-founder, with Ralph Nader, of the Public Citizen Litigation Group in 1972.

The complaint cites Trump’s appearances at the hotel, its hosting of foreign embassies and White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s comments saying, shortly before the inauguration: “It’s an absolutely stunning hotel. I encourage you to go there if you haven’t been by.”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2017/03/09/wine-bar-owners-sue-pre...

>80 RickHarsch:

I'm glad she's still around and getting some attention.

She certainly is. Her ratings have soared since Trump became president:

http://www.thewrap.com/rachel-maddow-ratings-surge-trump-twitter-feed-stop/

I don't think you see the popular and the meritorious come together all that often these days, but she is certainly an exception; FWIW, I think hers is the best news show on American commercial television.

>83 artturnerjr: It's hard to choose the few sites that aren't bullshit and it's easy to waste time, so I limit the sites I check--perhaps she's just been dropped by the one that usually included her. The solution seems to be, oddly, youtube, as I learned from my son, because he checks every day for something new from Stephen Colbert and John Oliver. That's where I found that Samantha Bee, who I see posted irregularly, is generally found.

Meanwhile, in the emoluments file:

Feb 9, 2017
Trump Tells Xi Jinping U.S. Will Honor ‘One China’ Policy
...The business relationships between some of Mr. Trump’s advisers and leading Chinese companies with close links to the Communist Party may also be strengthening ties...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/world/asia/donald-trump-china-xi-jinping-lett...

Feb 27, 2017
China gives greenlight to dozens of Trump trademarks
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-china-trademarks-idUSKBN16F2JP

Trump did get something for agreeing to 'One China' policy—something for himself
...China actually began the process of moving the trademark to Trump after the election, but put it on hold until … coincidentally, Trump announced policy changes...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/20/1635933/-Trump-did-get-something-for-agr...

In fallout from Conway touting of Ivanka products, White House Counsel asserts that employees of the Executive Office of the President (hundreds of people including NSC staff) are not bound by many ethics regulations:

U.S. Ethics Official To White House: No, These Rules Definitely Apply To You

...White House deputy council Stefan Passantino...: "We note initially that although many regulations promulgated by the Office of Government Ethics ("OGE") do not apply to employees of the Executive Office of the President, the Office of the White House Counsel has instructed all such employees to abide by 3 CFR 100.1," the segment of ethics law that pertains to Executive Office employees.

(OGE director Walter Shaub:)..."I am more concerned about the extraordinary assertion that 'many' of OGE's regulations are inapplicable to employees of the Executive Office of the President. The assertion is incorrect, and the letter cites no legal basis for it. Presidential administrations have not considered it appropriate to challenge the applicability of ethics rules to the entire executive branch."

...George W. Bush ethics official Richard Painter said that OGE is entitled to know which rules the White House believes do and don't apply, as well as what, exactly, the White House is telling employees about the rules.

...A number of ethics rules state that they apply to employees of government "agencies," so this definition is a crucial one in determining which rules apply to whom. Indeed, Passantino had said in a footnote that the White House Office, a subsection of the Executive Office of the President, is not an "agency."...

Obama administration ethics official Norman Eisen(:)..."This is nonsense. There are debates about whether for other purposes the White House is an agency". "Never before for ethics purposes."

...In his own letter to White House Counsel Donald McGahn, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings (top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee) called Passantino's statement "troubling" and asked, among other things, which regulations the White House believes are "inapplicable to employees of the Executive Office of the President" and what its justification is for believing the rules do not apply to EOP employees.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/09/519554307/u-s-ethics-official-...

Trump voters want to live a 20th century life in a 21st century world ~ that scenario is the path to disaster for America. His cult followers don't care one bit about the scandals surrounding him on a daily basis.

Just the fact that someone related to a POTUS can (is in a position to, but also is crass enough to) utter this:

“I think our brand is the hottest it has ever been,” said Eric Trump, who oversees the company’s {golf} courses. Critics say the Oval Office should not be a global advertising platform.

>88 LolaWalser: This is truly all the members of that family care about, and they duped a huge portion of the gullibles here into thinking they cared about the poor working man. I hope they can continue to get their opioids cheap once all semblance of affordable health insurance has been flushed down the toilet.

ETA fixed typo

>89 sturlington:

I think "the poor working man" was just an excuse. By all accounts Trump was voted in more by the haves than the have-nots.

Unless the "having" is understood as referring to morals, brains and hearts. No contest there... Trumpistas sure could do with more.

>90 LolaWalser: I think it is more of a cultural identity than a factor of how much money you actually have.

Hmm, fired US Attorney Preet Bharara busted a Russian spy ring in NYC in 2015...

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/attorney-general-manhattan-us-attorney-and-...

ETA: So Preet's available if an independent prosecutor is needed? :-)

ETA:
...As the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bharara had the ability to investigate Trump’s conflict of interests. A letter from several watchdog organizations (incl Norm Eisen*)sent to Bharara on Wednesday insisted that the attorney look into whether Trump had violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause.

“The Trump Organization has its main offices in New York City, and resides in the Southern District of New York,” the letter reads. “Thus, your office has jurisdiction and is the appropriate arm of the Justice Department to conduct an investigation and take appropriate action in this matter.”...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/preet-bharara-tweet_us_58c5d466e4b0d1078ca77...

*http://www.democracy21.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Group-letter-to-US-Attoney-calling-for-investigation-Trump-Organization.pdf

92 contd. Sean Hannity tells President to fire (US attorneys?) RIGHT NOW??

Did Trump Fire US Attorney For Investigating Him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_47UT-SmII

Fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Said to Have Been Investigating HHS Secretary Tom Price
By Robert Faturechi ProPublica, March 17, 2017, 2:13 p.m.

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was removed from his post by the Trump administration last week, was overseeing an investigation into stock trades made by the president’s health secretary, according to a person familiar with the office...The investigation of Price’s trades by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which hasn’t been previously disclosed, was underway at the time of Bharara’s dismissal, said the person...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fired-us-attorney-preet-bharara-said-to-have...

Geez, could be RUSSIANs spying at Trump Tower and Mara Lago!! How does Secret Service manage?

Report: Russian Elite Invested Nearly $100 Million In Trump Buildings, Records Show
At least 63 individuals with Russian ties have bought nearly $100 million worth of property.

MIAMI/MOSCOW, March 17 (Reuters) - During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump downplayed his business ties with Russia. And since taking office as president, he has been even more emphatic.

“I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia,” President Trump said at a news conference last month. “I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.”

But in the United States, members of the Russian elite have invested in Trump buildings. A Reuters review has found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida, according to public documents, interviews and corporate records....

The tally of investors from Russia may be conservative. The analysis found that at least 703 – or about one-third – of the owners of the 2044 units in the seven Trump buildings are limited liability companies, or LLCs, which have the ability to hide the identity of a property’s true owner. And the nationality of many buyers could not be determined. Russian-Americans who did not use a Russian address or passport in their purchases were not included in the tally....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/report-russian-elite-invested-nearly-100-mil...;

Top Trump Adviser Faces Calls For Resignation After Reports Of Ties To Nazi-Aligned Group
Sebastian Gorka proudly wears a medal from a Hungarian group that collaborated with Nazis during World War II.

A top counterterrorism adviser to President Donald Trump faces growing calls to resign after a series of news reports alleging he has ties to a far-right Hungarian group with historical links to the Nazi party. ...Three Democratic senators on Friday called on the acting deputy attorney general and the secretary of homeland security to investigate whether Gorka, who was born in the United Kingdom, “falsified his naturalization application or otherwise illegally procured his citizenship” by failing disclose membership in the banned Hungarian group. ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sebastian-gorka-vitezi-rend-david-irving_us_...;

>96 margd:
That's rather depressing.
A different situation with Canada's Foreign Minister, of course, but I can't help be reminded of this:
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/03/13/when-disinformation-is-truth/

The thing is, with Gorka, he's probably in the clear technically speaking: the gewgaw was only awarded from 1920 to 1944, so it undoubtedly would have belonged to someone other than himself. What are the laws about wearing Nazi-associated gewgaws to which one is not entitled?

Of course, in the court of public opinion (certainly mine), he's earned a spot on the despicables radar.

ETA:
Worth returning to the original, which is more clear about the legal situation.
https://lobelog.com/why-is-trump-adviser-wearing-medal-of-nazi-collaborators/

ETA: Can anyone more attuned to protocol tell me whether it makes any difference which side Gorka is wearing the thing? I know this is really a British/Commonwealth thing for British/Commonwealth decorations, and I'm not aware of the U.S. protocol for foreign decorations, but since the historical photo of this decoration shows it was properly worn on the left, is there any validity to the notion that a descendant of the recipient should wear it on the right breast (at least in British protocol)? Unless said descendant were claiming entitlement to said decoration of his/her own accord? ... (You see where this is going... )

In any case...

"Gorka’s PhD dissertation lists his name as “Sebestyén L. v. Gorka,” which suggests that he is carrying on his father’s title, albeit in an abbreviated format, according to Balogh."
Hmm.

"Vitezi Rend was banned during the Soviet occupation of Hungary but reestablished in exile. The order was awarded to members of the Hungarian diaspora and individuals in Hungary since 1983."
Hmm.

Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, was paid over $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, according to a letter released on Thursday by congressional investigators.

Among the companies was a cargo airline implicated in a bribery scheme involving Russian officials at the United Nations, an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have ties to Russia’s intelligence services, and RT, the Russian government’s English language TV channel, according to the letter, which was sent to Mr. Trump on Thursday by Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat. Mr. Cummings is the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/politics/michael-flynn-russia-paid-trip.ht...

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/stephen-bannon-fan-french-anti-semit...
"Stephen Bannon, President Donald Trump's chief strategist, recently spoke approvingly of the ideas of an anti-Semitic French intellectual who was sentenced to life in prison for cooperating with the Nazis during World War II."

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/trump-steve-bannon-destroy-eu-eur...
"Since the election, European officials have been combing the internet, including Breitbart’s archives, for clues to Bannon’s worldview and how he might counsel Trump. And what they’re finding is stoking their deepest anxieties. “They have a deep well of psychological reliance on the American-led order,” says Jeremy Shapiro, a Hillary Clinton State Department official now at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London. Now they’re bracing for an American assault on that order."

Two more on Gorka

http://forward.com/news/national/366181/exclusive-nazi-allied-group-claims-top-t...

Sebastian Gorka, President Trump’s top counter-terrorism adviser, is a formal member of a Hungarian far-right group that is listed by the U.S. State Department as having been “under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany” during World War II, leaders of the organization have told the Forward.

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/227733/tale-of-trump-advisors-alleged-nazi-ties-...

Lord knows I’ve had my differences with the Forward before. I have them still, and often. They rarely unsettle me, if only because robust disagreements, especially on things that matter, are what we journalists should seek, not shun. But reading the paper’s exclusive report this morning arguing that Trump aide Sebastian Gorka is an actual crypto-Nazi, I’d like to reach out to my friends and colleagues across town and ask, with clear eyes and a full heart: Have you lost your minds?

This has now been updated:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sebastian-gorka-vitezi-rend-david-irving_us_...

And another:
Dr. Sebastian Gorka May Be a Far-Right Nativist, But for Sure He’s a Terrible Scholar
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/17/dr-sebastian-gorka-may-be-a-far-right-nativi...

Senators Ask Trump Adviser to Preserve Any Russia-Related Documents

Roger J. Stone Jr., an informal adviser to President Trump, has been asked by the Senate Intelligence Committee to preserve any records he may have in connection to a broader inquiry into Russian attempts to interfere with United States elections.

The letter sent to Mr. Stone, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, represents the first public indication of the scope of the committee’s inquiry, and possible connections to Mr. Trump’s campaign...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/us/politics/roger-stone-senate-trump-russia-d...

For TWO years, Ukraine sought help (7X) from FBI (Comey) and Justice Dept (AG Lynch)--per international agreement--in questioning Manafort as witness in corruption case and received NO reply. Wonder why?

With ties to R presidents since Gerald Ford, Manafort was associated with Trump campaign March-August, 2016, manager for the last two months. He was fired after Ukraine ledger uncovered that listed $12 million under his name.

-CNN, Wikipedia

>103 margd: Of course, cf. also >81 davidgn: .
Manafort didn't just suddenly become Manafort upon his association with Trump.

FBI director Comey now responding to questions of House Intelligence committee about Trump's phone being tapped and Russian hacks. Idiot tweets costing the tax payers $$millions in time & money.,

Trump, staff, and Cabinet remind me more and more, not of a swamp (=wetland with dead trees, not necessarily a bad thing), but the Mos Eisley Cantina... :-(

In a nine-minute monologue, Adam Schiff, a Democratic representative from Southern California and ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence summarized pro-Putin payments to Michael Flynn and through another Trump’s aide’s advance notice of John Podesta’s hacked email and through the mysterious struggle over the Republican Party platform on Ukraine, etc.

Rep. Adam Schiff’s short speech crisply lays out the evidence connecting Trump and Russia
Think of it as congressional SparkNotes.
https://thinkprogress.org/this-congressmans-short-speech-crisply-lays-out-the-ev...

“Is it possible that all of these events and reports are completely unrelated, and nothing more than an entirely unhappy coincidence? Yes, it is possible,” Schiff said. “But it is also possible, maybe more than possible, that they are not coincidental, not disconnected and not unrelated, and that the Russians used the same techniques to corrupt U.S. persons that they have employed in Europe and elsewhere. We simply don’t know, not yet, and we owe it to the country to find out.”

Ivanka Trump Brand Sued for Unfair Competition
HELEN CHRISTOPHI March 17, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A beloved San Francisco women’s clothing and accessory company accused Ivanka Trump’s clothing brand of using the White House to boost sales, to the detriment of its competitors.

Modern Appealing Clothing, or MAC, claims in a class action filed in San Francisco Superior Court that sales of Ivanka Trump’s products have “surged several hundred percent” since her father was elected president last November.

That surge, MAC says, isn’t coincidental. It claims that President Donald Trump and his employees, most notably his counselor Kellyanne Conway, have been busy shilling for the Ivanka Trump brand since the election. Thursday’s lawsuit cites President Trump’s Feb. 8 Twitter rant against Nordstrom for dropping the brand and Conway plugging the brand on Fox News a day later, a violation of ethics guidelines.

“My clients just want an even playing field,” said MAC attorney R. Michael Lieberman in an interview Friday...

https://www.courthousenews.com/ivanka-trump-brand-sued-unfair-competition/

This is a brutal takedown following the Comey hearings. I think it's safe to say there is a fire roaring under all that smoke. But her emails, right?

Trump’s Weary Defenders Face Fresh Worries https://nyti.ms/2nubDDg

Given that people inconvenient to Putin have died in suspicious circumstances, people like Paul Manafort and Roger Stone might want to seek out the Dept of Justice's Witness Protection Program...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/paul-manafort-trump-ukraine-russia-236286

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/politics/kfile-roger-stone-wikileaks-claims/index....

Manafort Had Plan to Benefit Putin Government
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (JEFF HORWITZ and CHAD DAY)
March 22, 2017

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics, The Associated Press has learned. The work appears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.

Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work.

"We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success," Manafort wrote in the 2005 memo to Deripaska. The effort, Manafort wrote, "will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government."

Manafort's plans were laid out in documents obtained by the AP that included strategy memoranda and records showing international wire transfers for millions of dollars. How much work Manafort performed under the contract was unclear.

...Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, people who lobby in the U.S. on behalf of foreign political leaders or political parties must provide detailed reports about their actions to the department. Willfully failing to register is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, though the government rarely files criminal charges...

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-22/urgent-manafort-s-plan-to...

>111 margd: 2005... and was he already working for McCain at that point, or not quite yet? I'd have to look it up. ;-)

March 7, 2014
McCain, Manafort, and The Ukraine

...In 2008 Rick Davis became McCain’s presidential campaign manager. Paul Manafort worked closely with Rick Davis for years as they own a lobbying firm together called Davis Manafort and Freedman (out of Arlington, Virginia).

...Vin Weber, Mitt Romney’s foreign policy advisor in 2012, also lobbied for Yanukovych through the European Center for Modern Ukraine.

...Manafort ran Bob Dole’s Republican Convention back in 1996. While Manafort still did provide some political advice to the McCain campaign, he returned to Kiev to devote himself more fully to Yanukovych....

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/03/mccain_manafort_and_the_ukraine....

@KrisHammond 11h11 hours ago
As a former fed investigator, I don't understand why investigator would brief potential target unless... colluding with target. Oh. #Nunes
___________________________________________

@JoshSchwerin 14h14 hours ago
If Nunes was not talking about classified info he should post the docs publicly.
If Nunes was talking about classified info he broke the law

___________________________________________

What Devin Nunes's Bombshell Does and Doesn't Say
The House intelligence committee chair, a Trump ally, muddied waters and gave comfort to the White House, but he provided no evidence of wrongdoing or support for Trump’s “wiretap” claims.

...Representative Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, ... held a brief press conference Wednesday afternoon saying that “on numerous occasions the Intelligence Community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition.” But Nunes’s vague statements raised a host of questions, and his decision to announce them publicly and then go to the White House to brief President Trump, having not informed Democrats on the committee about his new findings, cast a pall of politics over the proceedings.

...As Republicans including Nunes complain about unauthorized leaks of classified information to the press, he has come forward to publicize anonymously obtained intelligence community materials.

...It’s hard to see how that ambiguity, and the way he handled it, make the American public better informed, or strengthen the House investigation or instill faith in it. But by design or not, they brightened the skies over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, at least for a day.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/what-devin-nuness-bombshell...

_____________________________________________
ETA:

The Post's View Opinion
Shut down Nunes’s investigation — and investigate him for leaking

...Mr. Nunes’s antics serve only to underline the urgency of a serious, nonpartisan and uncompromising investigation into Russia’s interference in the election and any contacts between Moscow’s agents and the Trump campaign. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also conducting a probe, may make a useful contribution, but as Mr. McCain said, “no longer does the Congress have the credibility to handle this alone.” It is time to discuss the formation of an independent, nonpartisan commission with full subpoena power, like those that investigated the attacks of 9/11 and the intelligence failures in Iraq. In the meantime, House leaders should put an end to the embarrassing travesty being directed by Mr. Nunes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/shut-down-nuness-investi...

Federal agency rules Trump’s D.C. hotel lease is in ‘full compliance’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2017/03/23/federal-agency-rules-tr...

110 contd. This could affect willingness of potential witnesses to plea bargain? After all, they might be pardoned by outgoing President Trump and live to enjoy any ill-gotten gains?

Here are 10 critics of Vladimir Putin who died violently or in suspicious ways

Not everyone who has a quarrel with Russian President Vladimir Putin dies in violent or suspicious circumstances — far from it. But enough loud critics of Putin's policies have been murdered that Thursday's daylight shooting of a Russian who sought asylum in Ukraine has led to speculation of Kremlin involvement.

...Here are some outspoken critics of Putin who were killed or died mysteriously...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/23/here-are-ten-critic...

Flynn, Turkish officials talked about removal of Erdogan foe from US, former CIA boss says

Retired Army Lt. Mike Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, met last summer with top Turkish officials to discuss removing the cleric Turkey blamed for last year’s failed coup and delivering him to Ankara, a former Central Intelligence Agency director told The Wall Street Journal.

James Woolsey said the meeting occurred in September inside the Essex House hotel in New York. Woolsey told the paper that he arrived in the middle of the conversation, but said the basic idea was a “covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy away.” The group as reportedly refering to Fethullah Gulen.

Woolsey told the paper he found the conversation startling and possibly illegal. But he did not say anything because there were no specifics. Woolsey said he notified Vice President Biden through a mutual friend...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/24/flynn-turkish-officials-talked-about-...

AP Top News: US probe of ex-Trump aide extends to Cyprus

The U.S. government investigation of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, crossed the Atlantic earlier this year to the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, once known as a haven for money laundering by Russian billionaires.

Treasury agents in recent months obtained information connected to Manafort's transactions from Cypriot authorities, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly. The request was part of a federal anti-corruption probe into Manafort's work in Eastern Europe. The Cyprus attorney general, one of the country's top law enforcement officers, was also aware of the American request...

https://www.apnews.com/d43ef4166da6400ab45140978854bbbb

FBI’s Russia Probe Expands to Include ‘PizzaGate’ Threats

The FBI’s widening investigation into Russian subversion is now looking into continuing threats against a Washington, D.C. pizza shop targeted by right-wing conspiracy mongers.

Comet Ping Pong Pizza, a popular, family-oriented shop in an upscale northwest Washington, D.C. neighborhood, came under relentless online attack last year because of its owner’s friendship with senior members of the Hillary Clinton campaign as well as David Brock, founder of Media Matters for America, a website that tracks press coverage critical of the Clintons.

The perpetrators of the harassment alleged—without any evidence—that Comet pizza owner James Alefantis and the Clintons were operating a child-sex ring in the restaurant’s basement. Last December the flood of tweets, supercharged by anonymous online “bots,” motivated a 28-year-old North Carolina man, Edgar Madison Welch, to enter the shop with a loaded automatic rifle and fire off three rounds in search of the nonexistent basement sex chamber. Welch reached a plea deal on March 15 and is scheduled to appear in court Friday for sentencing.

According to McClatchy News, the FBI’s Russian-influence probe agents are exploring whether far-right news operations, including the pro-Donald Trump sites Breitbart News and Infowars, “took any actions to assist Russia’s operatives.” Trump’s ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn and his son, a member of the Trump transition team, were among those who boosted the so-called “PizzaGate” pedophile conspiracy theory...

http://www.newsweek.com/pizzagate-trump-russia-clinton-podesta-comet-ping-pong-p...

More smoke?

National Enquirer brands Flynn a “Russian spy” — Trump just threw Flynn under the bus. Why?
http://americablog.com/2017/03/national-enquirer-brands-flynn-russian-spy-trump-...

@juliettekayyem 21h21 hours ago--3 kids, 1 hubbie, a dog. Founder security company, Harvard prof, CNN analyst, host @TheSCIFPodcast. Former DHS gov stints. Best-selling author of #SecurityMom®
From my sources and what has been openly reported, it increasingly looks like #Flynn may have a deal with the FBI. #trumprussia

Trump official and TV surrogate leaving White House: reports
(Boris Epshteyn lived first 11 yrs in Moscow, advises on e European investments, college friend of Trump son, and was brusque to Fox News?)
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/325808-trump-official-and-tv-surrogat...

Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Is Defending Russia’s Biggest Bank
Marc E. Kasowitz, who has represented Donald Trump for more than 15 years, was recently named a lead attorney in a federal civil lawsuit against Sberbank, which is majority-owned by the Russian government.

Noted, though more hypocrisy than scandal, it WAS perjury...

Oklahoma Bar Asked To Investigate Pruitt

In a new push against former Attorney General and current EPA administrator Scott Pruitt a national environmental group is urging the Oklahoma Bar Association to investigate whether Pruitt lied to senators during his confirmation hearing.

The Center for Biological Diversity and an OU law professor filed a formal complaint with the OBA alleging Pruitt showed “apparent carelessness with the truth,” after he told Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee he did not use a personal email to do state business.

That statement was contradicted by recently released emails...

http://www.news9.com/story/34974428/oklahoma-bar-asked-to-investigate-pruitt

Too many euphemisms for lying are arising

GAO (and Canadian counterpart, AGO) are nothing if not thorough in their audits...

Government watchdog to review Trump’s use of Mar-a-Lago

A government watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, has agreed to review the costs and security precautions associated with President Trump’s travel and stays at Mar-a-Lago after a request for inquiry from leading Democrats on Capitol Hill.

...On Friday the GAO agreed to take up the inquiry, by looking into four areas:

1) What measures are being used to protect classified information and provide secure communications capabilities while the president is away from the White House, and whether a secure communications space has been created at Mar-a-Lago.

2) The type of security screening the Secret Service employs for guests and visitors of Mar-a-Lago.

3) What measures the Secret Service and Defense Department have taken to ensure the fees they are charged for Mar-a-Lago trips are “fair and reasonable.”

4) Whether the U.S. Treasury has received any payments resulting from profits at hotels that are owned or operated by the president.

The final two items relate to the president’s company, the Trump Organization, from which Trump has resigned his positions but where he is still owner. Trump’s adult sons, Eric and Don Jr., run the company and to avoid conflicts of interest the firm pledged recently to donate any profits from foreign companies to the U.S. Treasury at the end of each calendar year while Trump is president....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/03/28/government-watchdog-t...

Trump administration sought to block Sally Yates from testifying to Congress on Russia

The Trump administration sought to block former acting attorney general Sally Yates from testifying to Congress in the House investigation of links between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, The Washington Post has learned, a position that is likely to further anger Democrats who have accused Republicans of trying to damage the inquiry.

According to letters The Post reviewed, the Justice Department notified Yates earlier this month that the administration considers a great deal of her possible testimony to be barred from discussion in a congressional hearing because the topics are covered by the presidential communication privilege.

Yates and other former intelligence officials had been asked to testify before the House Intelligence Committee this week, a hearing that was abruptly canceled by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

...Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said the panel was aware that Yates “sought permission to testify from the White House. Whether the White House’s desire to avoid a public claim of executive privilege to keep her from providing the full truth on what happened contributed to the decision to cancel today’s hearing, we do not know. But we would urge that the open hearing be rescheduled without delay and that Ms. Yates be permitted to testify freely and openly.’’...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-soug...

I saw the term "client privilege" used in one report. The thing is, the President is not the AO's client. She worked for the American people.

House Republicans reject bids to obtain Trump tax returns
By David Morgan | March 28, 2017

A Republican-controlled congressional panel rejected a bid by Democrats on Tuesday to obtain President Donald Trump's tax returns, despite warnings that Trump's business holdings could pose conflicts of interest as Congress turns to tax reform.

At a sometimes fiery 2-1/2-hour hearing that careened from lawmaker concerns over political corruption and national security to privacy rights and tax accounting, the House Ways and Means Committee voted 24-16 along party lines to oppose a Democratic resolution that sought the release of 10 years of Trump's tax returns to the House of Representatives...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-taxreturns-idUSKBN16Z332

NYT: Op-Ed: Devin Nunes Is Dangerous (Frank Bruni)

https://nyti.ms/2nzdV38

“No one is asking {Nunes} to bring the potato salad to the Mensa picnic,” {a Republican insider} said.

***

This Diagram Shows Nunes' Conflict Of Interests In Investigating Trump (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)

https://youtu.be/7niptfGSrhk

"Stephen rolls out the chalkboard--sorry, the Figure-It-Out-A-Tron--to visually express Trump's relationship with his newest latest congressional minion."

Trump’s Silence on Russia’s Corruption Protests Shows Just How Big Putin Won
Daniel B. Baer | March 29, 2017

On Twitter this weekend, people joked darkly about the silence from the Trump administration as large protests — and mass arrests — took place across Russia. The amoral, mercantilist nationalism of Trump’s so-called “America first” policy had already lowered expectations and opinions of the United States. Jokes aside, the administration’s silence — echoing that on Russia’s state-controlled TV — has weakened the United States. Every president in recent history except Donald Trump has understood (as Russian President Vladimir Putin surely does) that America has a strategic as well as a moral interest in standing with democrats around the world, and that America grows stronger and more powerful the more successfully it represents universal values on the world stage.

The silence of Trump and his team on Sunday was exactly what Putin wanted — his investment in Trump’s election paying dividends in the form of what Jake Sullivan, in a piece for Foreign Policy, called Trump’s “unilateral moral disarmament.” Eventually, the State Department put out a statement in the middle of the night Moscow time, only after sharp words from Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebr.) and others about the administration’s damning silence. Press Secretary Sean Spicer leaned on the State Department statement at Monday’s White House press briefing, without addition or embellishment...

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/29/trumps-silence-on-russias-corruption-protest...

____________________________________________

The State Department speaks up against Russia
By Jennifer Rubin March 27

...Throughout the day of arrests by President Trump’s favorite authoritarian regime, the White House was utterly, eerily silent. Would the administration — as it has regarding the recent killings of prominent anti-Putin figures — remain silent, thereby signaling indifference to Vladimir Putin’s thuggery? On Sunday evening, the State Department came out with the administration’s first robust criticism of Russia. Spokesman Mark Toner delivered a stern written statement:

"The United States strongly condemns the detention of hundreds of peaceful protesters throughout Russia on Sunday. Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values. We were troubled to hear of the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny upon arrival at the demonstration, as well as the police raids on the anti-corruption organization he heads."

"The United States will monitor this situation, and we call on the government of Russia to immediately release all peaceful protesters. The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve a government that supports an open marketplace of ideas, transparent and accountable governance, equal treatment under the law, and the ability to exercise their rights without fear of retribution."

And still we have heard nothing directly from the White House about this incident or about Putin’s favorite new, deadly tactic...(murder)

...While late in coming, the condemnation of Russia marks the first real criticism from the administration of any Russian action. It followed statements from prominent GOP and Democratic senators. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tersely rebuked Putin: “Today’s protest shows that corruption, propaganda, and thinly veiled oppression are a weak foundation for a government – even one led by a man as ruthless as Vladimir Putin.” The ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.), put out his own statement: “I strongly condemn the arrest of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators in Moscow and across Russia today. This crackdown is another indication that the space for civil society is rapidly closing inside Putin’s Russia.” He urged Trump to “maintain the United States’ commitment to universally recognized human rights and the democratic principles as laid out in the Helsinki Final Act. Any future dialogue with the Russian government should not diminish the importance of these essential American values.”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/03/27/the-state-departme...

Flynn’s Public Offer to Testify for Immunity Suggests He May Have Nothing to Say
By Alex Whiting | Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 9:54 PM

...The fact that Flynn and his lawyer have made his offer publicly suggests that he has nothing good to give the prosecutors (either because he cannot incriminate others or is unwilling to do so). If he had something good, Flynn and his lawyer would approach the prosecutors quietly, go through the proffer process in confidence, and reach a deal...

https://www.justsecurity.org/39426/explainer-flynns-request-immunity/
.
.
.
.
Nothing to say--or.
instructed by Russians to protect Trump, etc.--OR ELSE? or
Trump will pardon if you hide Trumpian crimes and are yourself prosecuted? or
_________________?

ETA: Nunes accepts the offer, Flynn says nothing, Trump and Flynn both escape?

Paul Ryan gets to be president at least for a year or two? (If not Ryan, McConnell and Tillerson are next in line??)

Rachel Maddow Explains How Mike Pence Is Going To Go Down With Trump For Russia Scandal
By Jason Easley on Thu, Mar 30th, 2017

...Mike Pence had been the head of the Trump transition. As such, he would have been intimately involved with the selection and vetting process for a job as important as national security adviser. Nevertheless, Vice President Mike Pence has professed absolute ignorance of any of the scandals of any of the foreign payments, contacts and all the rest of it surrounding Mike Flynn. Pence was the leader of the transition. As leader of the transition, he was notified in writing by members of Congress about Flynn’s apparent financial ties to the government of Turkey. The transition was also apparently notified twice by Flynn’s own lawyers about his financial relationship with the government of Turkey, but nevertheless, Vice President Mike Pence says he has no idea about any of that...

http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/30/rachel-maddow-explains-mike-pence-trump-r...

Trump Russia dossier key claim 'verified'
Paul Wood | March 30, 2017

The BBC has learned that US officials "verified" a key claim in a report about Kremlin involvement in Donald Trump's election - that a Russian diplomat in Washington was in fact a spy.

...Steele's "dossier", as the material came to be known, contains a number of highly contested claims.

...on this vitally important point - Kalugin's status as a "spy under diplomatic cover" - people who saw the intelligence agree with the dossier, adding weight to Steele's other claims.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39435786

Is the Trump White House Spying on the FBI?
https://tcf.org/experts/barton-gellman/ | March 30, 2017

...Three named officials—two Trump appointees (Ellis and Cohen-Watnick) and arguably his leading defender on the Hill (Nunes)—appear to have engaged in precisely the behavior that the president describes as the true national security threat posed by the Russia debate. Secrecy regulations, including SF312, the Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement, do not permit to distribute sensitive compartmented information through a back channel to Nunes....The offense, which in some cases can be prosecuted as a felony...

...why would a White House lawyer and the top White House intelligence adviser be requesting copies of these surveillance reports in the first place? Why would they go on to ask that the names be unmasked? There is no chance that the FBI would brief them about the substance or progress of its investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections to the Russian government. Were the president’s men using the surveillance assets of the U.S. government to track the FBI investigation from the outside?

https://tcf.org/content/commentary/trump-white-house-spying-fbi/

NYT: 2 White House Officials Helped Give Nunes Intelligence Reports

https://nyti.ms/2oDbOZB

From the article:

Several current American officials identified the White House officials {who gave Nunes intelligence reports} as Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, a lawyer who works on national security issues at the White House Counsel’s Office and was previously counsel to Mr. Nunes’s committee. Though neither has been accused of breaking any laws, they do appear to have sought to use intelligence to advance the political goals of the Trump administration...

Mr. Cohen-Watnick, 30, is a former Defense Intelligence Agency official who served on the Trump transition team and was originally brought to the White House by Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser.

He was nearly pushed out of his job this month by Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, who replaced Mr. Flynn as national security adviser, but survived after the intervention of Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist. (my empahasis)

***

Bannon has a hand in this? Shocking!

Wow, Russia had 15,000 operatives spreading fake news!
With FBI investigations stateside and London, and NSA and CIA gathering intelligence in Rudssia, surely the story , if there is one, on Trump campaign collusion has to come out?

FBI probing whether Trump aides helped Russian intel in early 2016
Jeff Pegues | March 31, 2017

...Now, one year after the Russian operation began, sources say the FBI’s investigation is nowhere near over. It involves dozens of agents in Washington, New York and London. The NSA and CIA are also gathering intelligence from inside Russia.

...According to testimony on Friday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, 15,000 operatives worldwide participated in spreading false news stories and conspiracy theories online. Those activities are also part of the FBI’s investigation - including who paid for them...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-probing-whether-trump-aides-helped-russian-intel...

Boy! Looks like Flynn has been hiding his work for foreign entities (Russia, Turkey), so probably didn't preclear with Defense Dept. At the least his military pension must be at risk?

Michael Flynn left Russian speaking fees off initial financial disclosures
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/31/politics/white-house-financial-disclosures/index.h...

Tom Price intervened on rule that would hurt drug profits, the same day he acquired drug stock
Robert Faturechi — ProPublica | March 31, 2017

On the same day the stockbroker for then-Georgia Congressman Tom Price bought him up to $90,000 of stock in six pharmaceutical companies last year, Price arranged to call a top US health official, seeking to scuttle a controversial rule that could have hurt the firms’ profits and driven down their share prices, records obtained by ProPublica show.

Stock trades made by Price while he served in Congress came under scrutiny at his confirmation hearings to become President Trump’s secretary of health and human services. The lawmaker, a physician, traded hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of shares in health-related companies while he voted on and sponsored legislation affecting the industry, but Price has said his broker acted on his behalf without his involvement or knowledge. ProPublica previously reported that his trading is said to have been under investigation by federal prosecutors...

Price’s personal intervention raises more questions about the overlap between his investments and his work as a member of Congress.

https://www.statnews.com/2017/03/31/tom-price-drug-stock/

Not to mention violating Reagan's 11th Commandment! ;-)

Trump aide accused of Hatch Act violation after urging Amash primary challenge
By Darren Samuelsohn and Rebecca Morin | 04/01/17

...Dan Scavino Jr., director of social media and senior White House adviser, tweeted that Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) is a "big liability" for his state and encouraged a GOP primary opponent to oust him in 2018...

...the Hatch Act, a Depression-era law that regulates campaigning by government officials

...Amash, a four-term congressman, hit back at Trump this past week after the president criticized the Freedom Caucus.

..."It didn't take long for the swamp to drain @realDonaldTrump. No shame, Mr. President. Almost everyone succumbs to the D.C. Establishment," Amash tweeted Thursday....

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/dan-scavino-justin-amash-liability-trump-f....

The LA Times Editorial Board is publishing a four part series regarding the president's troubling traits:

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/#nt=oft02a-2la1

Donald Trump’s pal Roger Stone digs an even deeper hole with Russian hacker Guccifer 2.0
Bill Palmer, April 1, 2017

...During the election, Roger Stone made predictions on Twitter which made clear he had advance knowledge of the emails that were stolen from Donald Trump’s Democratic opposition. He also admitted to communicating with WikiLeaks, which released the emails. But he long denied any contact with the Russian hackers themselves, until his Twitter direct messages with Guccifer 2.0 were exposed by The Smoking Gun (link). He then admitted to the contact, but claimed it as so minimal and incidental that he’d forgotten about it.

Then last weekend Stone slipped up and referred to the hacker as “her” while appearing on ABC News, inadvertently revealing that he knew enough about his Guccifer contact to know her gender. Even after the slip-up made headlines, he never did try to explain it away. But this weekend, Stone appeared on Bill Maher’s HBO show and tried incidentally referring to Guccifer as a man instead.

...Roger Stone has a familiar enough relationship with the Guccifer 2.0 Russian government hacking collective that he’s already revealed his point of contact with the group is a woman. His failure to properly explain this away when it first came to light, followed by his new attempt at pretending the person is a man, merely makes things works. People who keep changing their story tend to have something to hide. Stone knew and communicated with, and possibly conspired with, the Russian election hackers....

http://www.palmerreport.com/politics/donald-trumps-pal-roger-stone-digs-an-even-...

Side-smoke:

Feds accuse Giuliani of undermining officials in Turkish banker case
Kaja Whitehouse, March 31, 2017

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accused former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (together with former federal judge Michael Mukasey) of going over their heads to “other officials in the US government” in an effort to get charges tossed against a wealthy and connected Iranian-Turkish gold trader with ties to Turkey’s president.

...Mukasey’s son Mark Mukasey has been rumored to be a potential replacement for former Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara.

http://nypost.com/2017/03/31/feds-accuse-giuliani-of-undermining-officials-in-tu...

More smoke:

Michael Flynn: new evidence spy chiefs had concerns about Russian ties
US and UK officials were troubled by Moscow contacts and encounter with woman linked to Russian spy agency records
Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Nick Hopkins | Friday 31 March 2017

...One concern (of US intelligence officials) involved an encounter with a Russian-British graduate student, Svetlana Lokhova, whom Flynn met on a trip to Cambridge in February 2014.

At the time, Flynn was one of the top US spies and the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which provides information to the Pentagon about the military strengths and intentions of other states and terrorist groups.

A historian and a leading expert on Soviet espionage, Lokhova has claimed to have unique access to previously classified Soviet-era material in Moscow. She says her forthcoming book makes groundbreaking revelations about Soviet military intelligence operations run by the GRU – Russia’s military spy agency.

...“At least with the FSB and SVR domestic and foreign spy agencies there are places you can apply to view the archives, but with the GRU there’s not even a place to apply,” (a Russian) historian said.

“Maybe two or three military historians have been allowed in. Sometimes there are duplicates in other archives, but getting into the actual GRU archive is basically impossible.”

Flynn and Lokhova were introduced to each other at the end of a dinner attended by 20 guests who included Sir Richard Dearlove – the former head of MI6 – and Prof Christopher Andrew, the official MI5 historian.

Flynn says the meeting with Lokhova was “incidental” and lasted just 20 minutes. However, Andrew has said Flynn invited Lokhova to accompany him on his next official visit to Moscow to help with simultaneous translation. The trip fell through soon afterwards because of Putin’s annexation of Crimea, Andrew wrote in the Sunday Times.

The Guardian understands Flynn and Lokhova remained in email contact, conducted through an unclassified channel. In one email exchange described by Andrew, Flynn signed himself as “General Misha”, Russian for Mike.

Lokhova also listed Flynn as one of four referees who would provide selective endorsements for her book, which is expected to detail how Russian spies penetrated the US atomic weapons programme.

Though there is no suggestion of impropriety, Flynn would have been expected to “self report” any conversation with an unknown person, especially with links to an “adversary” country, such as Russia.

...As DIA chief, Flynn visited the GRU in Moscow in 2013. He was the first US officer ever allowed inside its headquarters, where he gave a lecture on leadership. “It was a great trip,” he told the Washington Post, adding that it was fully approved. Flynn was keen to make a second GRU visit but permission was denied, it is understood...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/31/michael-flynn-new-evidence-spy-c...

Washington Post reports:

Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel

"The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would likely require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions."

Erik Prince (Betsy DeVos's brother) like Michael Flynn, both acting during Obama's 2nd term, might have violated the law against U.S. citizens interfering in foreign diplomacy (Logan Act). Obama's National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, would have been remiss in her duties, if she hadn't requested intelligence agencies unmask Trump transition officials talking to foreign actors, apparently legal for the NSA:

"...The standard for senior officials to learn the names of U.S. persons incidentally collected is that it must have some foreign intelligence value, a standard that can apply to almost anything. This suggests Rice's unmasking requests were likely within the law..."
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-03/top-obama-adviser-sought-name...

I'm amazed Obama, his FBI, etc. were as circumspect about this as they were, seeking only to make sure that the information was not lost to any future investigators.

Reminded again of Mos Eisley Cantina! Not surprised that Chinese President Xi Jinping has chosen to stay elsewhere when meeting with President Trump at Mar a Lago...

Former Trump advisor Carter Page had been in contact with at least one Russian spy working undercover out of Moscow’s UN office in 2013, and passed documents to him "about the energy business". NOT high priority to investigators: “There’s so many people that are more relevant"!!!!

...A court filing by the US government contains a transcript of a recorded conversation in which Podobnyy speaks with one of the other men busted in the spy ring, Igor Sporyshev, about trying to recruit someone identified as “Male-1.” BuzzFeed News has confirmed that “Male-1” is (Carter) Page.

...Podobnyy speaking with Sporyshev about trying to recruit Page. “Male-1 wrote that he is sorry, he went to Moscow and forgot to check his inbox, but he wants to meet when he gets back. I think he is an idiot and forgot who I am. ... He got hooked on Gazprom thinking that if they have a project, he could rise up,” Podobnyy said. “I also promised him a lot ... This is intelligence method to cheat, how else to work with foreigners? You promise a favor for a favor. You get the documents from him and tell him to go fuck himself.”

The revelation of Page’s connection to Russian intelligence — which occurred more than three years before his association with Trump — is the most clearly documented contact to date between Russian intelligence and someone in Trump’s orbit. It comes as federal investigators probe whether Trump’s campaign-era associates — including Page — had any inappropriate contact with Russian officials or intelligence operatives during the course of the election...

It remains unclear how connected Page was to the Trump campaign. He rose to prominence seemingly out of nowhere last summer, touted by then-candidate Trump as one of his foreign policy advisers. Page was quickly cut from the Trump team following reports that federal investigators were probing his ties to Russian officials. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said last month that the campaign had sent Page cease and desist letters last year, demanding he stop associating himself with it.

A US intelligence official said that investigators intend to question Page eventually, but that he was not considered a high priority. ,” the official said....

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alimwatkins/a-former-trump-adviser-met-with-a-russian-s...

More smoke (Trump real estate history w/ Russian “OCGs” – organized criminal groups):

A birthday video call captures a telling moment in Trump’s Russia connections
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article142584709...

Member of House Intelligence Committee, CNN interview: "...my impression is that people will probably be charged and probably go to jail.":

REP JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): I guess I would say this, that my impression is after all of this is said and done that some people end up in jail.

WOLF BLITZER: Really? And how high does that go and in your suspicion? That's all we can call it right now.

CASTRO: Well, that's yet to be determined.

BLITZER: But you think some people are going to wind up in jail, not just one individual, but people plural.

CASTRO: That's my impression.

BLITZER: You want to elaborate on that give us more? Because that is obviously a very intriguing statement.

CASTRO: I wish I could, but I can't at this time.

BLITZER: You're confident that some Trump associates will end up in jail.

CASTRO: If I were betting, yes.

BLITZER: Including some working in the new administration or people who worked or advised the president during the campaign or maybe during the transition?

CASTRO: As you can imagine, Wolf, I will have to comment on that later. But my impression is that people will probably be charged and probably go to jail.

BLITZER: Without sharing the evidence because I know it's classified but do you believe there is enough evidence already, evidence that you've seen that would justify someone going to jail or some people going to jail?

CASTRO: If the claims hold up, most likely.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/rep-people-will-end-up-in-jail

Donald Trump personally profited from missile-maker Raytheon’s stock jump after his Syria attack
Tom Boggioni | 08 Apr 2017

...According to Trump’s financial disclosure reports filed with the FEC in 2015, his stock portfolio includes investments in technology firms, financial institutions and defense firms, including Raytheon.

On Thursday, Trump launched an attack on the al-Shayrat military airfield, used by both Syrian and Russian military forces, hitting it with 59 Tomahawk missiles manufactured by Raytheon. Trump’s attack on Syria was reportedly in response to a deadly gas attack launched by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against his own people earlier in the week.

While the Tomahawk attack did little damage to the airfield — with the Syrian air force continuing to launch assaults from the same base on Friday — investors, sensing an increasing escalation in tensions between two countries and the possibility of war, pushed Raytheon stock up...

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/donald-trump-personally-profited-from-missile-m...

Washington Post: MSNBC host’s conspiracy theory: What if Putin planned the Syrian chemical attack to help Trump?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/08/msnbc-hosts-conspiracy...

I'm not a conspiracy theory guy, but... is this really that inconceivable? The first thing I thought when I saw the news of the missile attack was, "Oh - Wag the Dog."

>143 margd:

Reminded again of Mos Eisley Cantina!

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

>148 artturnerjr: I can see how the idea might sound plausible given the present media climate, but the more steeped you are in the strategic situation, the more nonsensical it sounds. Putin is a good strategist and ruthlessly pragmatic, so To what end would Putin advise his close ally Assad to play right into the Gulf/Israeli/U.S. war party axis's hands by simply handing them the casus belli they so interminably seek, particularly when the war has been going so well for the government side? As far as "helping Trump," he's just managed to saddle himself with a new case for impeachment and to alienate a large portion of his base (particularly the Ron Paul contingent). A few news cycles of positive coverage isn't likely to help him very much, and while he's bought himself a momentary respite from the war party breathing down his neck (at a fairly high price), it's unclear to me precisely how he stands to benefit in the long run.

>149 davidgn:

Thanks for that. I think this incident further emphasizes the importance of knowing precisely what is the nature of Trump's relationship with Putin, about which we still have more questions than answers. Additionally, I would dispute somewhat the notion that a "one and done" military attack against another nation (particularly one as widely despised as Syria) rises to the level of an impeachable offense; there is certainly precedent for past presidents ordering such attacks without suffering these sorts of consequences.

To clarify - I don't necessarily agree with O'Donnell hypothesis here - the Syrian attack could (and most likely is) simply be a product of Trump's infamous impulsiveness and hubris/vanity. But I don't believe we currently don't have sufficient information to rule it out, or to rule out that something similar to the scenario he proposes occurred. It would be nice if we did.

Why are liberals cheering the warmongering Trump? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/09/liberals-donald-trump-syri...

Let us pause for a moment to consider that a major objection given to a woman being president is her supposed emotions taking over in times of crisis. But Trump's heart sways his decision and we're all supposed to say how presidential he is?

Hope our witness protection program is Putin- and Trump-proof:

Russian computer programmer reportedly linked to election hack arrested in Barcelona
Reuters, April 9, 2017
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/russian-programmer-reportedly-linked-elect...

>151 sturlington:

This:

{Trump's} administration gave the Russians notice, who alerted Assad’s forces. Syrian military casualties were minimal, and bombing raids from the targeted military base have now resumed. In that case, it was a meaningless slap on the wrists, mostly designed for a domestic American audience at a time when the president has disastrous polling numbers.

Once again, Trump dangles shiny object in front of American people, news media, et al.; American people, news media, et al. say, "Ooh, look! Shiny!" Tax returns, people; collusion with Russia. These are the important things. I know it's hard to stay focused on them, but I have faith that you can do it if you really try.

Too, I read somewhere that Putin resumed alerting US to its flight plans in Syria, cancelled after US strike. (That didn't take long, though glad he did so.)
Tillerson meets with Putin shortly.
Difficult not to be cynical these days. :-(

>154 margd:

I try not to be cynical, as a general rule. But with Trump? Always, always, always. The man is not going to change.

His numerous cronies, supporters, and enablers also need to be viewed with extreme skepticism. They are at best gullible to a degree that is dangerous (to themselves and others) in adults. And a significant percentage of them are just straight-up evil. We are kidding ourselves if we believe otherwise.

The media should be smarter than this, though. Dan Rather was on Twitter/Facebook this weekend shaking his finger at the lot of them.

>156 sturlington:

The media needs to get its bullshit detectors checked. It's particularly unbelievable that some of them have fallen for the notion that Trump was moved to act out of his compassion for the Syrian people after seeing images of the aftermath of the gas attack. This man has the empathy of a stone.

>150 artturnerjr: there is certainly precedent for past presidents ordering such attacks without suffering these sorts of consequences. Yes, of course that's correct. And the more I think about it, the less likely I think this particular noose is ever going to be tightened. It's not that I would put any level of hypocrisy or tactical whip-sawing past the War Party, but on balance I have the feeling that so long as Trump goes along with their agenda he can do no wrong. Even in the event it becomes clear in rarefied circles that Trump ignored intelligence briefings presenting contradictory evidence and launched this attack based on some combination of incessant pressure, his perceived self-interest, and "the shows," I doubt that this is the one they'll hang him with.

>155 artturnerjr: My experience of U.S. politics has in general consisted of a series of repeated discoveries that I've failed to be cynical enough. I always try to take this into account. Reminds me: it may finally be time for me to bite on that Mark Twain autobiography.

>158 davidgn:

My experience of U.S. politics has in general consisted of a series of repeated discoveries that I've failed to be cynical enough. I always try to take this into account.

It often seems like an endless race to the bottom, doesn't it? I've stopped saying to myself, "Well, it can't get any lower than this", because every time I do, I am proven wrong.

John Oliver is good on that. I won't find the right one now, but back in the Fall he was looking up and pointing to rock bottom, something like that.

A little more than smoke! How could Comey talk about Clinton e-mails pre-election with this bubbling in the kitchen???

FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor Trump adviser Carter Page

...The FBI and the Justice Department obtained the warrant targeting Carter Page’s communications after convincing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that there was probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case Russia, according to the officials.

This is the clearest evidence so far that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents. Such contacts are now at the center of an investigation into whether the campaign coordinated with the Russian government to swing the election in Trump’s favor.

Page has not been accused of any crimes, and it is unclear whether the Justice Department might later seek charges against him or others in connection with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The counterintelligence investigation into Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections began in July, officials have said. Most such investigations don’t result in criminal charges...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant...

Ivanka's biz prospers as politics mixes with business
By ERIKA KINETZ and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO | April 18, 2017

SHANGHAI (AP) — On April 6, Ivanka Trump's company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the world's second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago...

... "Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it," said Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. "For their own sake, and the country's, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters."

Instead, the first daughter and her husband have emerged as prominent interlocutors with China, where they have both had significant business ties. Last year, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments from Anbang Insurance Group, a financial conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese state. After media reports about the deal, talks were called off.

Publicly, Ivanka has taken a gracious, charming approach toward Beijing. During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, her daughter, 5-year-old Arabella stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, for China's president, Xi Jinping. The video, which was lavishly praised by Chinese state media, played over 2.2 million times on China's popular news portal qq.com.

The week of the summit, 3.4 tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records.

Painter, the former Bush administration lawyer, recommended full recusal from issues related to trade with China. That is likely to be difficult because trade is so deeply embedded in the US-China relationship and has been linked with other matters, like North Korea.

"The danger is that with any discussion with the Chinese, one party or the other may try to bring up trade," he said. "That's a slippery slope that may require her or Jared to step out of the room."

Gorelick, Ivanka Trump's attorney, said that Ivanka and her husband would steer clear of specific areas that could impact her business, or be seen as conflicts of interest, but are under no legal obligation to step back from huge swaths of policy, like trade with China.

Under the rules, Trump would recuse herself from conversations about duties on clothing imported from China, Gorelick said, but not broad foreign policy.

"In between, you have to assess it case-by-case," she said...

https://apnews.com/d9e34f23a64947d99e4a7d757012c509

As Trump Inquiries Flood Ethics Office, Director Looks To House For Action
3:23
April 17, 2017
Heard on All Things Considered

Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Director Walter Shaub Jr. is calling on the chairman of House Oversight Committee to become more engaged in overseeing ethics questions in the Trump administration.

...while citizens, journalists and Democratic lawmakers are pushing for investigations, Shaub suggested a similar level of energy is not coming from the House Oversight Committee, which has the power to investigate ethics questions, particularly those being raised now about reported secret ethics waivers for former lobbyists serving in the Trump administration.

...The New York Times, in collaboration with ProPublica, published a story on Saturday saying Trump has been filling the White House and federal agencies with former lobbyists, lawyers and consultants, and has been generously waiving ethics requirements without even posting the waiver information on the Government Ethics website.

But while (Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican) has generally been quiet on Trump-related ethics issues, the public has been hammering OGE with questions and complaints.

How big is the jump in public contacts, such as calls, letters and emails? During the six months between October 2008 and March 2009, as the Obama presidency was taking shape, the OGE got 733 contacts.

During the October 2016 to March 2017 period, it got 39,105 contacts from citizens — an increase of 5,235 percent.

Comparing those same two time periods, the number of Freedom of Information Act requests — typically from journalists and public-interest groups — shot up to 280 from 39. That's an increase of 618 percent...

http://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/524354874/as-trump-inquiries-flood-ethics-office-d...

"The Case for Impeachment" by Allan J Lichtman, book released today, and already an amazon best seller (in General Constitutional law)!
https://www.amazon.com/Case-Impeachment-Allan-J-Lichtman/dp/0062696823/ref=sr_1_...

__________________________________________________

Monday, Apr 17 • 11:18 a.m. (ET)
Truncating Trump: Is Impeachment Plausible?
Listen (35:13): 00:00" rel="nofollow" target="_top">http://the1a.org/audio/#/shows/2017-04-17/truncating-trump-is-impeachment-plausi...

Allan Lichtman, dubbed 'Prediction Professor' for accurately calling every presidential election since 1984, tells us why he's now forecasting the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Betsy's Bro'...

Blackwater Founder Prince Said to Have Advised Trump Team
Keri Geiger and Michael Riley | April 18, 2017

...post-election parade of dignitaries, confidantes and job-seekers filing in and out of Donald Trump’s marquee Manhattan tower...

...According to people familiar with his activities, Prince entered Trump Tower through the back, like others who wanted to avoid the media spotlight, and huddled with members of the president-elect’s team to discuss intelligence and security issues. The conversations provide a glimpse of Prince’s relationship with an administration that’s distanced itself from him since the Washington Post reported earlier this month that Prince had met with a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles in January.

That island encounter was the latest in a series of conversations between Trump advisers and Russians that have come to light as U.S. investigators probe allegations that Russia interfered with the presidential election...

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-18/blackwater-founder-erik-p...

Pruitt allies explore hiring private lawyers to rewrite EPA rule
By Annie Snider | 04/18/17

Industry groups with close ties to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are considering a highly unusual approach to undoing the Obama administration’s most controversial water regulation — pushing Pruitt to hand the job to private lawyers.

Such an approach would help Pruitt bypass the Environmental Protection Agency employees who spent five years writing the Waters of the U.S. regulation — the kinds of career federal bureaucrats whom supporters of President Donald Trump often deride as the "deep state." Trump has ordered the agency to replace the water rule, a sweeping regulation that has stirred up opposition from groups including the agriculture, oil and gas, and development industries.

But legal experts say privatizing the rule-making process in this manner would be almost unheard of. Although it’s likely legally doable, they say, it would raise a host of ethical questions, while probably limiting the public’s view into decisions about which streams, lakes and wetlands get federal protection.

Environmentalists call it alarming that anyone would even seriously discuss the possibility.

“To then say it’s OK for a cabal of industry groups to put some gun for hire in charge of writing the rule, that just seems absolutely, wildly unethical,” said John Rumpler, who directs the clean water program for Environment America. His group supports the 2015 rule, which increased the number of creeks and wetlands that receive automatic protection under the Clean Water Act after two muddled Supreme Court decisions...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/pruitt-water-rules-private-lawyers-237339

State Dept took these down, I think, but apparently embassies were "advertising" Mar-a-Lago:

http://mashable.com/2017/04/24/embassies-mar-a-lago-trump-organization/#GpYKnUJm...

_________________________________________

@maggieNYT 16h16 hours ago

Take out "Mar a Lago" and sub in "Clinton Foundation event" and imagine the reaction if State promoted it

__________________________________________ETA

Ditto Ivanka Trump's new book.

04.25.17
Whitehouse Files Hatch Act Complaint Over Pruitt Participation in Oklahoma GOP Fundraiser

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, filed a complaint today with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel concerning a potential violation on the part Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt of the Hatch Act, the federal law limiting political activities of federal employees. The complaint stems from an invitation to a May 5 Oklahoma Republican Party fundraiser distributed this week, where Pruitt is set to deliver the keynote address. The invitation makes numerous references to Pruitt’s status as Administrator and his actions thus far—a brand of political promotion prohibited by the Hatch Act.

...The Hatch Act, officially known as the Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activity, bars executive branch employees from using their “official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election,” including “activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.” Specifically, the law prohibits executive employees from allowing their “official title to be used in connection with fundraising activities.”

...“Make sure to purchase your Gala tickets so you don’t miss out on Administrator Pruitt’s future plans and how he will continue to Drain the Swamp!” the invitation reads. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so buy your tickets before they sell out!”

In addition to a full investigation, Whitehouse requests that Pruitt not be allowed to attend the fundraiser...

https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-files-hatch-act-compla...

Was Michael Flynn a Russian agent of influence? A modest proposal for how that could have gone down
Reading the ups and downs — and back ups, and down agains — of Michael Flynn, disgraced national security adviser VIDEO
Lucian K. Truscott IV | Saturday, Apr 29, 201

http://www.salon.com/2017/04/29/was-michael-flynn-a-russian-agent-of-influence-a...

Manafort-linked lobbying firm registers as foreign agent; ex-Trump campaign chair backtracks
Jeff Horwitz, Chad Day and Stephen Braun | April 28, 2017

A Washington lobbying firm that worked under the direction of Paul Manafort's firm registered Friday with the Justice Department as a foreign agent — the same day a spokesman for Manafort backed off his previous statement that Manafort had decided to register.

Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, said he was wrong when he told The Associated Press earlier this month that Manafort would register with the Justice Department. Maloni said Manafort, who served as President Donald Trump's campaign chairman, is still considering his options after receiving guidance from the federal authorities about formally disclosing his efforts to influence U.S. policy and public opinion on behalf of a foreign client...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-manafort-lobbying-fir...

Sebastian Gorka to accept role outside White House
Sarah Westwood | Apr 30, 2017

Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Trump, will soon accept a position outside the White House, two sources told the Washington Examiner on Sunday.

Gorka's new role will deal with the "war of ideas" involved in countering radical Islamic extremism, a senior administration official said, and will entail an appointment to a federal agency.

Gorka has served for months on the Strategic Initiatives Group, an internal organization within the White House, and as a national security adviser. His exit from the White House comes amid increased speculation that a reported lack of a security clearance prevented him from fully performing in his job.

But a source told the Washington Examiner that Gorka's role in SIG was always meant to be temporary, and suggested he had been placed there while administration officials created a terrorism-related position for him elsewhere in the government. An official said Gorka has been in a "holding pattern" while he waited for the position, which will not be at the State Department, to be established.

... Democrats and liberal activists have called for Gorka's resignation over alleged ties to a Hungarian political party connected to Nazism. Gorka has strongly denied the accusations and there has been no evidence to suggest that he is an active member of the group....

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sebastian-gorka-to-accept-role-outside-white-h...

The Donald makes nice with leader who said he'd pushed man from a flying helicopter and would do so again.:

Trump Tower Manila raises ethics issues for President who showered praise on controversial Filipino leader
Cameron Joseph | May 2, 2017

...Trump extended America’s highest hospitality to Duterte at a time when a Duterte associate is nearing completion of Trump Tower Manila, a giant $150 million downtown building that licensed the rights for Trump’s name, and Trump-related businesses are awaiting decisions on Philippines patent applications.

Additionally, Duterte has named Jose E.B. Antonio, the head of the company that built Trump Tower Manila, his special envoy to U.S.

The tower’s website includes years-old testimonials from Trump and his two oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and a link to Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line — or at least it did until the site abruptly went down Monday night.

... Trump offered to host the Filipino strongman at the White House during a Saturday phone call the White House described as a “very friendly conversation,” even though Duterte’s regime has reportedly killed 7,500 drug addicts in extrajudicial massacres — which the White House described as the Philippines “fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs.”

Trump had previously praised Duterte for his extralegal killings as doing things “the right way,” Duterte said back in December...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/philippines-tower-raises-ethics-issues-...

>161 margd:

Whoa, Page can plead the 5th, but he can't refuse the House Intelligence Committee request for documents, can he?

Carter Page rebukes Senate Russia investigators in letter
Tom LoBianco and Manu Raju | May 5, 2017

Carter Page brushed back the Senate intelligence committee in a letter Thursday, telling members that if they want details about his communications with Russians, they'll need to ask former President Barack Obama.

The former foreign policy adviser for Donald Trump's campaign, who is being scrutinized by both congressional and FBI investigators, berated the Senate intelligence committee's requests in an April 28 letter provided to CNN for details about his communications and schedule a time to be interviewed by Senate investigators.

The Senate panel has also asked for records of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former Trump adviser Roger Stone as part of its probe. And the panel, sources said, is prepared to subpoena them for the records if necessary...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/05/politics/carter-page-letter-senate-investigators/

The Rachel Maddow Show 4/28/17
Trump (transition) team (led by Christie, then PENCE) did vet Flynn, hired him anyway: NBC News

Rachel Maddow reports a scoop from NBC News that the Donald Trump transition team and the White House did do a background check on Mike Flynn. Also, a source tells NBC News they were aware of Flynn's business ties to Turkey, but hired him to be Trump's National Security Adviser anyway. Duration: 20:00

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-camp-warned-flynn-about-russia-co...

_________________________________________________________________

PENCE lied: Led the Flynn vetting process, knew about foreign ties
Oliver Willis | April 30, 2017

Donald Trump's transition team vetted Michael Flynn and knew about his financial ties to foreign governments, but approved him for a sensitive national security position anyway. And Vice President Mike Pence, who was in charge of the entire process and lied about it afterwards, has finally been implicated in this growing scandal.

http://shareblue.com/pence-lied-led-the-flynn-vetting-process-knew-about-foreign...

_________________________________________________________________ETA

Trump transition raised flags about Flynn Russia contacts
JULIE PACE | May 6, 2017

...The distrust in the other camp was clear months earlier. In late December, as the White House prepared to levy sanctions and oust Russians living in the in the U.S. in retaliation for the hacks, Obama officials did not brief the Trump team on the decision until shortly before it was announced publicly. The timing was chosen in part because they feared the transition team might give Moscow lead time to clear information out of two compounds the U.S. was shuttering, one official said.

While it’s not inappropriate for someone in Flynn’s position to have contact with a diplomat, Obama officials said the frequency of his discussions raised enough red flags that aides discussed the possibility Trump was trying to establish a one-to-one line of communication — a so-called back channel — with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama aides say they never determined why Flynn was in close contact with the ambassador.

Even with the suspicion, the officials said they did not withhold information.

The outgoing White House also became concerned about the Trump team’s handling of classified information. After learning that highly sensitive documents from a secure room at the transition’s Washington headquarters were being copied and removed from the facility, Obama’s national security team decided to only allow the transition officials to view some information at the White House, including documents on the government’s contingency plans for crises.

Some White House advisers now privately concede that the administration moved too slowly during the election to publicly blame Russia for the hack and explore possible ties to the Trump campaign. Others say it was only after the election, once Obama ordered a comprehensive review of the election interference, that the full scope of Russia’s interference and potential Trump ties become clearer.

https://apnews.com/b109774705594ae887a86b337c444e6b/Trump-transition-raised-flag...

Trump and Bannon "personally intervened" to save Seb Gorka
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/05/trump-and-bannon-personally-int...

A nest of vipers without compare.

If you want to know how deeply Russia had its hooks into the Trump campaign, you need to follow the money
Newsweek | 06 May 2017

...the Federal Election Commission ... Created by Congress in 1975, the FEC is an independent commission charged with investigating and enforcing violations of our nation’s campaign finance laws. It has broad investigative powers, including the ability to subpoena witnesses and documents and to compel testimony.

Notably, it is both bipartisan (by law, no more than three of its six members may be from the same political party) and independent (its members do not report to the President nor Congressional leaders).

Federal campaign finance law prohibits a “foreign national” (such as the Russian government) from spending money to influence U.S. elections. And it also provides that if a political campaign “coordinates” with anyone outside the campaign who is spending money to influence the election, then the campaign would have to treat the outside money as in-kind contributions (which, from a foreign government, are illegal), and report them on federal disclosure forms.

In this case, it would violate at least three different campaign finance laws if Trump campaign advisors coordinated with the Russian government.

The issue for the FEC is not whether Trump's campaign made promises in exchange for Russian assistance, nor whether Russian activity swayed the election. The questions for the FEC are much narrower:

(1) Were Russian-funded campaign communications made at the request or suggestion of the campaign, or
(2) did campaign advisors fail to observe a strict 120-day waiting period between working for the Trump campaign and the Russian government?

Either would constitute “ coordination ” of campaign communications under campaign finance law.

...the extent and nature of the investigation is on a scale far beyond what it has handled in the past. And unfortunately, the FEC has itself been the victim of neglect: it is short by one member (a Democrat), and the other five are serving on a temporary basis, years after their original terms expired...

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/if-you-want-to-know-how-deeply-russia-had-its-ho...

Jared Kushner’s Sister Highlights Family Ties in Pitch to Chinese Investors
JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ, CAO LI and JESSE DRUCKER | MAY 6, 2017

BEIJING — Jared Kushner has said that he has stepped away from the day-to-day business of his family’s real estate company while he serves as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Trump.

But Mr. Kushner’s relatives are working feverishly to solicit overseas money for projects in the United States, and they are highlighting their ties to Mr. Kushner as they court investors.

On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Kushner’s sister Nicole Meyer made a pitch to attract $150 million in financing for a Jersey City housing development, known as One Journal Square, to more than 100 Chinese investors gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beijing.

The money would be provided through a much-criticized government program known as EB-5 that awards foreign investors a path to citizenship in exchange for investments of at least $500,000 in American development projects.

Speaking in a ballroom, Ms. Meyer said the project “means a lot to me and my entire family.” She mentioned her brother’s service as chief executive of Kushner Companies, the family business from which he resigned in January, saying he had left to serve in the Trump administration.

...His relatives’ embrace of the EB-5 program may also pose complications for Mr. Kushner. The program has been labeled “U.S. citizenship for sale,” and it has come under scrutiny after a series of fraud and abuse scandals. Watchdogs have noted the program’s lax safeguards against illicit sources of money...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/world/asia/jared-kushner-sister-nicole-meyer-...

_____________________________________________________________________ETA

On to Shanghai:

...Kushner Companies’ China roadshow, promoting $500,000 investments in New Jersey real estate as the path to a residency card in the United States, moved to Shanghai on Sunday after a similar pitch on Saturday in Beijing. Security was tighter in Shanghai than it had been in Beijing, where reporters for The New York Times and The Washington Post briefly attended the event before being kicked out...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/07/business/trump-kushner-china-investors-visas....

_____________________________________________________________________ETA

China pitch by Kushner sister renews controversy over visa program for wealthy
Washington Post | May 7, 2017

A much-criticized visa program that allows foreigners to win fast-track immigration in return for investing $500,000 in U.S. properties was extended in a bill signed by President Trump just one day before a sister of senior White House adviser Jared ....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/china-pitch-by-kushner-sister-renews-con...

Obama Warned Trump Against Hiring Mike Flynn, Say Officials
Kristen Welker, Peter Alexander, Dafna Linzer and Ken Dilanian
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-warned-trump-against-hiring-mike-flynn...

How the White House Explains Waiting 18 Days to Fire Michael Flynn
MICHAEL D. SHEAR | MAY 9, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/michael-flynn-russia.html?_r=0

Comey fired: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192

My god, what a shitshow.

Preet Bharara for special prosecutor!

http://nypost.com/2017/03/17/bharara-was-investigating-trump-cabinet-member-befo...

______________________________________________ETA

@EricHolder 8h8 hours ago

To the career men and women at DOJ/FBI: you know what the job entails and how to do it. Be strong and unafraid. Duty. Honor. Country.

>181 sturlington:
And some of the inside details -
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192

"He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said."

"But several other people familiar with the events said Trump had talked about the firing for over a week, and the letters were written to give him rationale to fire Comey."

"Several (Roger) Stone allies and friends said Stone, who has been frequently mentioned in the investigation, encouraged the president to fire Comey in conversations in recent weeks."

After Trump fired Comey, White House staff scrambled to explain why

Spicer hid in the bushes to avoid reporters and then agreed to talk to them off-camera, in the dark.

Aiyiyi! Must don some pearls to grasp!
(Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov AND Rudy Giuiliani visiting DC.)
ETA: AND Ambassador Kislyak joins Lavrov and Trump at White House..

Giuliani Says He's Not a Candidate for FBI Director
The former New York City Mayor is in Washington in the midst of the drama surrounding the firing of James Comey.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to the press at Trump Tower in January 2017. Mike Segar / Reuters
Rosie Gray | May 10, 2017
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/giuliani-im-not-a-candidate...

________________________________________________________________

High tensions as Russian diplomat visits Washington
Morgan Chalfant | 05/10/17

...The White House announced Wednesday morning that Trump would meet with Lavrov at 10:30 a.m. in the Oval Office. The meeting is closed to the press.

As Tillerson and Lavrov appeared on camera Wednesday to begin their visit, Lavrov was peppered with questions about Comey's firing.

He responded with a joke about the firing. "You're kidding, you're kidding," he said, feigning surprise at the news....

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/332687-high-tensions-as-russian-diplo...

>183 2wonderY: and >184 2wonderY: If this were a novel, I'd never be able to suspend my disbelief.

Here's how a special prosecutor investigating Trump and Russia would get appointed
Madeleine Sheehan Perkins and Harrison Jacobs | May 9, 2017

... A special counsel could be appointed by either Attorney General Jeff Sessions himself or by Congress to investigate potential ties between Trump's inner circle and Russia, said William Banks, a professor and the founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University.

A "special counsel" is a modern day term for a "special prosecutor," according to Banks, and any investigation would likely use the term "special counsel." The term "special prosecutor" was used up through the 1980s, after which the laws around special prosecutors expired and were not renewed, therefore retiring the term.

After revelations of previously undisclosed conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, Sessions recused himself from investigations relating to the 2016 campaign.

If the attorney general recuses himself, it falls to the deputy attorney general to appoint an independent counsel, according to the Code of Federal Regulations. The appointment of a special counsel by the attorney general or deputy attorney general is "unreviewable," according to the Center for Legal and Economic Studies.

Investigations are currently underway in the Senate and House intelligence committees, but Banks said he believes it is unlikely a special counsel would be created until those investigations conclude.

The other way to establish an independent counsel goes through Congress.

Congress could initiate the process to create a different independent counsel for investigations by passing a law, as it did in 1978, when the Ethics in Government Act was passed. The law dictated that a three-judge panel based at the US Court of Appeals in DC would appoint the counsel. The law, which was reauthorized several times until its sunset in 1999, was used more than a dozen times to initiate investigations, according to PBS Frontline. It was used most famously in the 1990s to appoint attorney Kenneth Starr to oversee investigations in to President Bill Clinton.

Such a law would have to be either signed by Trump or, in the event of a presidential veto, overridden by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress. There is precedent, however, for a president to sign an independent counsel law amid scrutiny. Clinton signed a reauthorization of the 1978 law in 1994 with a number of alleged scandals brewing.

Congress could, however, launch its own investigation into the executive branch without legislation because such authority is implicit in the appropriations power, Banks said. If Congress decided to act on its own, it is much more likely that it would establish a commission or committee to investigate, rather than passing ethics legislation, Banks added...

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-special-prosecutor-trump-russia-james-com...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Look on the bright side, Jim! You could've been "fired" by a Putin bullet, or twenty!

Oh, and... LOCK HER UP!!!

ahahahahahahahaha...

Sorry, folks, but if you didn't know already you are living in Trumpistan now, this is as good a moment to cotton onto it as any.

And the way he learned of it! Whether he deserved it or not, to humiliate a person like that isn't right. It has been my experience that one must stay on the good side of certain people like your custodian, the nurse giving you a shot, the server bringing your food, etc. for obvious reasons. I have to imagine that the whole FBI seeing their director treated thusly might justifiably have a hard time being objective with any investigations they might launch.

@jamescomey
Disappointed to leave the FBI, a career I've loved for 27 years. During this difficult time I just want all of America to know that the pee tape is real.

ETA:
No, Fired FBI Director James Comey Didn't Tweet "The Pee Tape Is Real"
The tweet looked like a goodbye statement from the newly fired official. It was a joke, but some people mistook it for the real deal.
Jim Dalrymple II | May 9, 2017

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/no-fired-fbi-director-james-comey-didnt-...
________________________________________

The Latest: Comey asked for more resources for Russia probe
5/10/2017

Three U.S. officials say fired FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers that he asked the Justice Department for more money for the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling.

President Donald Trump fired Comey Tuesday.

The officials say Comey told lawmakers he had made the request to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general.

The Justice Department is denying that Comey asked for more resources...

https://apnews.com/a5237d8c166649f784711a61dd00d2f3?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&...

It always amuses me that Trump sounds exactly the same and posts the same crap on both the POTUS and his "real Donald" Twitter account.

DECORUM!!!

Like his thin-skinned benefactor in the Kremlin, the American clown has taken the path of all dictators, turning the rule of law into a plaything of his ego.

Fox News has a measured and reasonable take on the Comey story:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/10/trump-picks-bad-time-for-meltdown.htm...

Open letter from NYT editorial board to the deputy attorney general: An Open Letter to the Deputy Attorney General https://nyti.ms/2q4vHga

This Washington Post story on the Comey fiasco has 30 sources and says the deputy attorney general threatened to quit. Let the leaking commence! https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-trumps-anger-and-impatience-prompted...

(Senate issues subpoena for Flynn documents. Rosenstein not prime mover in Comey firing.)

...The Senate Intelligence Committee said it issued a subpoena after Mr Flynn rejected its request on 28 April to submit documents relevant to the investigation.

...The rare use of a subpoena by senators makes it clear that the committee is forging ahead with its investigation into the alleged Trump-Russia links

...Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
...Wrote memo detailing "serious mistakes" by Mr Comey, but did not expressly call for his removal
Threatened to resign after White House cast him as the prime mover in the firing, according to an anonymous source quoted by the Washington Post

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39879749

_____________________________________________________________

Days Before Firing, Comey Asked for More Resources for Russia Inquiry
MATTHEW ROSENBERG and MATT APUZZO | MAY 10, 2017

...“I’m told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation, and that a few days afterward, he was sacked,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. “I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives, and this was an effort to slow down the investigation.”

According to the congressional officials, the Senate Intelligence Committee learned of Mr. Comey’s request on Monday when Senators Burr and Warner asked the F.B.I. director to meet with them. They wanted him to accelerate the bureau’s investigation so they could press forward with theirs. Congressional investigators do not have the authority to collect intelligence that agencies like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. possess.

...Late last month, the (Senate Intelligence Committee) asked a number of high-profile Trump campaign associates to hand over emails and other records of dealings with Russians, and the committee’s subpoena of Mr. Flynn on Wednesday made good on its threat to legally compel anyone who failed to voluntarily comply with its request.

Russia’s efforts to meddle in the presidential election are also likely to be a focus of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual hearing on worldwide threats on Thursday, which is ordinarily a wider-ranging and policy-focused event.

Also on Wednesday, Mr. Burr and Mr. Warner asked the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for financial information on Mr. Trump and some of his associates that was relevant to the Russia investigation.

Both Mr. Warner and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon — the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee with jurisdiction over the Treasury Department and also a member of the Intelligence Committee — have said they will block the confirmation of Sigal Mandelker, Mr. Trump’s nominee to be the top Treasury official for terrorism and financial crimes, until the network delivers the information.

...financial intelligence experts, including several former employees of the (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) said its database, which contains more than 200 million records, can be a treasure trove of information about financial ties between individuals and companies for law enforcement agencies pursuing complex investigations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/politics/comey-russia-investigation-fbi.ht...

______________________________________________________

Comey was concerned over possible evidence of Russia collusion, then Trump fired him: WSJ
Xeni Jardin | May 10, 2017

...From the WSJ:

In the weeks before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a federal investigation into potential collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government was heating up, as Mr. Comey became increasingly occupied with the probe.

Mr. Comey started receiving daily instead of weekly updates on the investigation, beginning at least three weeks ago, according to people with knowledge of the matter and the progress of the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe. Mr. Comey was concerned by information showing potential evidence of collusion, according to these people.

...To date, the inquiry has produced no “smoking gun,” these people said, but some investigators are persuaded that the evidence will show more than just casual contacts. One area of particular interest for the committee is Mr. Trump’s business dealings. The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked for information from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, a division of the Treasury Department.

The goal of the financial inquiry is to understand the nature of any financial ties Mr. Trump may have to foreign interests, including Russia, and to determine to what extent, if at all, Mr. Trump or his associates have investments that may be tied to the Russian government, people with knowledge of the inquiry said.

There currently are 11 congressional staff working on the Senate probe, a number that some lawmakers have said publicly isn’t enough to handle the voluminous intelligence reporting and leads that have been generated by the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

https://boingboing.net/2017/05/10/trump-is-crazy-and-comey-knew.html

____________________________________________________ETA

Comey infuriated Trump with refusal to preview Senate testimony: aides
Steve Holland and Jeff Mason | May 10, 2017

...Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had wanted a heads-up from Comey about what he would say at a May 3 hearing about his handling of an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

When Comey refused, Trump and his aides considered that an act of insubordination and it was one of the catalysts to Trump’s decision this week to fire the FBI director, the officials said...

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1862WP

>182 margd: ff.

Wrote my senators (for the first time in twenty years) imploring them to join the call for the appointment of a special prosecutor/counsel to investigate ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. These are scary times in America, and we all need to hold our representatives' feet to the fire and remind them who they work for.

>188 LolaWalser:

Sorry, folks, but if you didn't know already you are living in Trumpistan now, this is as good a moment to cotton onto it as any.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/opinion/america-becomes-a-stan.html

(Paul Krugman)

> 198 Good idea. I will, too.

House Judiciary Democrats Call on Chairman Goodlatte to Hold Hearings on Comey’s Firing
May 11, 2017

Washington, D.C. – Today, all seventeen Democratic Members of the House Committee on the Judiciary sent a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), urging the Chairman to conduct immediate hearings into the firing of James Comey.

In their letter, the Members noted the “decision to abruptly fire Mr. Comey not only undermines the Department of Justice’s investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the recent U.S. elections in possible coordination with the Trump campaign, but also threatens to erode confidence in the Department as a bedrock of independence and integrity within our system of government.” They asked that the hearings include former FBI Director Comey, Attorney General Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and that they be held no later than May 25, 2017...

https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-judiciary-democr...

_______________________________________________________ETA

...deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein...was reportedly so upset about getting pinned as the impetus for Comey's dismissal that he threatened to resign.

He will at least get a chance to clear his name likely early next week. Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer have invited Rosenstein to brief the full Senate on his version of the events leading up to Comey's firing.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-fbi-skeptics-james-comey-investigation-1.4111...

Trump admits Russia probe was factor in firing of James Comey
White House officials had repeatedly said U.S. President Donald Trump fired the FBI director on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general. On Thursday, Trump conceded in an interview that he was going to fire Comey regardless of what the deputy AG said.
Daniel Dale | May 11, 2017

...“In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,” Trump said in an interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt.

....His comments deepen the credibility crisis afflicting an administration that has made lying a habit. And they call into further question the democratic legitimacy of his dismissal of a man conducting a probe with the potential to imperil his career.

U.S. President Donald Trump said 213 false things in his first 100 days. Here are all of them:... (sorted by topic)

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/05/11/trump-just-said-he-was-going-to-fi...

Laurence Tribe: A series of high crimes and misdemeanors
President Donald Trump says he asked former FBI Director James Comey if he was under investigation. Constitutional expert Laurence Tribe takes issue with that and other Trump actions he says are likely impeachable offenses. Duration: 7:25
5/11/17
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/laurence-tribe-a-series-of-high-crimes-...

ETA: Compare Comey-Trump dinner with Bill Clinton's tarmac chat with then-AG Lynch:
Lynch recused herself in HRC e-mail decisions.
Trump fired Comey.

And why do the stories we're told about why something was done change? Because the WH is just too dang busy for everyone to get the correct information!

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/trump-whines-its-not-possible-for-busy-white-hou...

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
8:26 AM - 12 May 2017

https://www.rt.com/usa/388103-trump-comey-press-leaks/?utm_source=rss&utm_me...

______________________________________ETA

Xi was wise to stay elsewhere!

Sources: Donald Trump Listened In On Phone Lines At Mar-A-Lago
Trump had a phone console near his bed that could connect to every phone in the estate, and several former workers said Trump used it to secretly listen in on phone calls in the mid-2000s. Two Trump supporters said the tycoon didn’t eavesdrop.
Aram Roston | June 30, 2016

https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/sources-donald-trump-listened-in-on-phone-li...

_____________________________________ETA

Interesting overview prior to "tapes" tweet:

The Daily 202: Trump’s warning to Comey deepens doubts about his respect for the rule of law
James Hohmann | May 12, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/05/12/daily-...

I will say Trump and his administration has done a bang up job (and almost an impossible task) of turning James Comey into a sympathetic character.

Donald Trump’s Legal Team Won a ‘Russia Law Firm of The Year’ Award
Mahita Gajanan | Jan 11, 2017
http://fortune.com/2017/01/11/donald-trumps-morgan-lewis-russia-award/
________________________________________________

Five Reasons Why the Comey Affair Is Worse Than Watergate
A journalist who covered Nixon’s fall 45 years ago explains why the current challenge to America may be more severe—and the democratic system less capable of handling it.
James Fallows | May 12, 2017

...The underlying offense
...The blatancy of the interference
...The nature of the president
...The resiliency of the fabric of American institutions
...The cravenness of party leaders

...the leaders whose choices matter are all Republicans.

I hope some of their choices, soon, allow them to be remembered as positively as are the GOP’s defenders of constitutional process from the Watergate days. But as of this moment, the challenge to the American system seems more extreme than in that era, and the protective resources weaker.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/comey-watergate/526443/?utm...

>203 margd:

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!

Even by the standards of Trump tweets, this one was a doozy. Michael Corleone meets Richard Nixon. Wow.

197 contd. The Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit will share information requested by the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its investigation into potential ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia

Treasury to share financial info on Trump and Russia for Senate probe: reports
By Brandon Carter - 05/12/17
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/333220-treasury-to-share-financial-in...

Strange. Smoke?

Starting in 2014, Trump Tweeted Nine Times to Deleted Russian Twitter Accounts About Running for President
By Roger Sollenberger | May 9, 2017
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/trump-tweeted-nine-times-to-delet...

A President Pence...maybe more stable, but no more honest with the American people than Trump? Maybe it will be President Ryan? Or if this drags out past the 2018 election, President Pelosi?

Report: Pence, Kushner backed firing Comey
Nikita Vladimirov | 05/10/17

...Vice President Pence...supported the decision to fire FBI Director James Comey

....Trump originally voiced his frustration with Comey to a small circle of his advisers, including Pence, Kushner, Bannon, Priebus and White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/332843-report-pence-kushner-backed-fi...

__________________________________________

Isolated and agitated, Trump rattles White House from within
Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny, Sara Murray and Elizabeth Landers | May 13, 2017

...After Trump told NBC that he'd long planned to fire Comey -- and was not, as Pence declared seven times on Capitol Hill Wednesday, acting on the advice of his Justice Department -- the Vice President found himself again in a position of being contradicted by his boss.

"He's not rattled very often and he was a little rattled" about how the events transpired, a senior administration adviser said.

According to this adviser, Trump made the decision to fire Comey -- and Pence knew the decision was coming before the announcement on Tuesday -- but he wasn't fully briefed on the President's reasoning for firing Comey before he went in front of cameras on Wednesday.

"He went out there without all the information," the adviser said. "It was not an attempt to lie."...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/12/politics/trump-comey-white-house-morale-fallout/in...

Wanted: an FBI Director who is "loyal" to oversee investigation of a man who may not be...

A Look at the Candidates Trump Is Considering to Head the F.B.I.
MAGGIE HABERMAN and JEREMY W. PETERS | MAY 12, 2017

...The candidates are being looked at, White House officials said, with a particular emphasis in mind: a lack of deep ties to Mr. Trump, to avoid the appearance that he wants to install a crony at the top of an agency that is investigating the activities of his presidential campaign.

...Mr. Trump and his advisers have asked some people whether they believe Mr. Kelly, the former New York police commissioner, would be “loyal,” language similar to what he used in questioning Mr. Comey’s effectiveness, according to people briefed on the discussions....

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/us/politics/fbi-interim-director.html?_r=0

Trump must be impeached. Here’s why.
Laurence H. Tribe | May 13, 2017

Laurence H. Tribe is Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School.

The time has come for Congress to launch an impeachment investigation of President Trump for obstruction of justice.

The remedy of impeachment was designed to create a last-resort mechanism for preserving our constitutional system. It operates by removing executive-branch officials who have so abused power through what the framers called “high crimes and misdemeanors” that they cannot be trusted to continue in office.

...It will require serious commitment to constitutional principle, and courageous willingness to put devotion to the national interest above self-interest and party loyalty, for a Congress of the president’s own party to initiate an impeachment inquiry. It would be a terrible shame if only the mounting prospect of being voted out of office in November 2018 would sufficiently concentrate the minds of representatives and senators today.

But whether it is devotion to principle or hunger for political survival that puts the prospect of impeachment and removal on the table, the crucial thing is that the prospect now be taken seriously, that the machinery of removal be reactivated, and that the need to use it become the focus of political discourse going into 2018.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/trump-must-be-impeached-heres-wh...

...President Trump, on his first trip abroad, will travel later this month to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican in an effort to unite Islam, Judaism and Christianity in the common cause of fighting “intolerance” and radical extremism, White House officials said Thursday.

The nine-day trip, during which officials said Trump will meet with Pope Francis, will end with previously announced meetings with NATO leaders in Brussels and the Group of Seven world economic powers in Sicily...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-plans-first-preside...
____________________________________________________

...He met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office last week.

US media said Mr Trump had shared material that was passed on by a partner which had not given permission.

In his tweet early on Tuesday, Mr Trump said: "As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39937258

____________________________________________________

According to NPR, Trump calls Jordan, and the insinuation is that it is to apologize for his loose lips, sharing Jordan's highly classified info which might have put Jordan's agent(s) and methods at risk. Remember, ISIS burned alive that Jordanian pilot? Jordan, one of the most moderate Arab countries which shelters 1.4 million refugees... Why would any country he's to visit wholeheartedly join unrepentant Trump in any fight? Sickening.

ETA: Unless red herring, sounds like Israel was source. ISIS unlikely to be any kinder to Israeli agent than it was to Jordanian pilot... :-(

Israel Said to Be Source of Secret Intelligence Trump Gave to Russians
ADAM GOLDMAN, ERIC SCHMITT and PETER BAKER | MAY 16, 2017

...At least some of the details that the United States has about the Islamic State plot came from the Israelis, said the officials...

...The timing of the episode also threatened to overshadow Mr. Trump’s first trip abroad as president. He is scheduled to leave on Friday for Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium.

....Now, the Americans and Israelis will have to contend with the serious breach of espionage etiquette. Israel had previously urged the United States to be careful about the handling of the intelligence that Mr. Trump discussed, the officials said.

...Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, declined to tell reporters whether the White House had reached out to the ally that provided the sensitive intelligence....

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-trump-classified-inte...

ETA: Emily Tillett CBS News May 16, 2017, 5:03 PM
Former Mossad chief: Israel will "think twice" before sharing sensitive info
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-mossad-chief-israel-will-think-twice-before-s...

ETA____________________________________________________

Bombshell: Initial Thoughts on the Washington Post’s Game-Changing Story
Jack Goldsmith, Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic, Matthew Kahn, Benjamin Wittes, Elishe Julian Wittes
Monday, May 15, 2017

...According to the Post,

In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” Trump said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.

Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States only learned through the espionage capabilities of a key partner. He did not reveal the specific intelligence gathering method, but described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances. Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat.

The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardize important intelligence capabilities.

...First, this is not a question of “leaking classified information” or breaking a criminal law.

...Second, this is not a garden variety breach, and outrage over it is not partisan hypocrisy about protecting classified information.

...Third, it is important to understand the nature of sources and methods information in order to fully understand the gravity of the breach.

...Fourth, it really matters why Trump disclosed this information to Russian visitors.

...Fifth, this may well be a violation of the President’s oath of office.

...Sixth, it matters hugely, at least from an atmospheric point of view, that the people in the room were Russian and one of them was Sergey Kislyak of all people.

...Seventh, Trump’s screw-up with the Russians in the Oval Office raises the stakes for whether he records conversations there.

...Eighth, this episode raises the stakes on the nomination of the FBI Director to replace Comey.

...Finally, Trump’s alleged screw-up with the Russians reveals yet again what we have learned many times in the last four months: The successful operation of our government assumes a minimally competent Chief Executive that we now lack.

...Finally, Trump’s alleged screw-up with the Russians reveals yet again what we have learned many times in the last four months: The successful operation of our government assumes a minimally competent Chief Executive that we now lack.

https://lawfareblog.com/bombshell-initial-thoughts-washington-posts-game-changin...

Another Bomb Drops: Initial Thoughts on Trump Asking Comey to Kill the Flynn Investigation
Helen Klein Murillo, Jack Goldsmith, Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic, Matthew Kahn, Paul Rosenzweig, Benjamin Wittes | May 16, 2017

...As the Times reports:

Mr. Comey had been in the Oval Office that day with other senior national security officials for a terrorism threat briefing. When the meeting ended, Mr. Trump told those present—including Mr. Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions—to leave the room except for Mr. Comey.

Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.

Mr. Trump then turned the discussion to Mr. Flynn.

After writing up a memo that outlined the meeting, Mr. Comey shared it with senior F.B.I. officials. Mr. Comey and his aides perceived Mr. Trump’s comments as an effort to influence the investigation, but they decided that they would try to keep the conversation secret — even from the F.B.I. agents working on the Russia investigation — so the details of the conversation would not affect the investigation.

The memo allegedly reports that President Trump said to Director Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Trump reportedly told Comey that Flynn had done nothing wrong.

Significantly, the Times reports that not only did Comey detail this exchange in a contemporaneous memo, but also that “Mr. Comey created similar memos—including some that are classified—about every phone call and meeting he had with the president.” This was “part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence an ongoing investigation.”

...Obstruction convictions are difficult to obtain. Despite broad statutory language, to obtain a criminal conviction, the government must demonstrate an attempt to “influence, obstruct, or impede” the administration of the law in a pending proceeding. As cited in the prior piece, the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual explains the requirement of proof of three elements: “(1) there was a proceeding pending before a department or agency of the United States; (2) the defendant knew of or had a reasonably founded belief that the proceeding was pending; and (3) the defendant corruptly endeavored to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which the proceeding was pending.”

Here, the first two elements are abundantly clear. Assuming the Times account is correct, there was clearly an investigation, and Trump clearly knew about it...

...he third element of an obstruction charge is the hardest to prove, because it depends on showing an improper motive. A criminal case would require proving that Trump acted corruptly with the specific intent of interfering with the investigation. That’s very hard when you’re dealing with the firing of an FBI director, a subject about which the President may have said all kinds of contrary things. Proving his precise state of mind beyond a reasonable doubt might be very tricky.

On the other hand, in this instance there’s at least prima facie evidence that would tend to support inferences of obstruction. According to the memo, after all, a conversation took place in which the President asked the FBI director to “see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” and, in the Times’s words, “told Mr. Comey that Mr. Flynn had done nothing wrong.” So assuming the memo is accurate, there’s at least an act that a reasonable person would understand as seeking to influence the investigation...

...There are other elements here that also make a case more plausible. For one thing, there’s a contemporaneous memo....

...There are also details in the story that may indicate intent—particularly the Times’ reporting that Trump spoke to Comey alone in the Oval Office after asking Vice President Pence and Attorney General Sessions to leave the room. ... Recall that the dinner with Comey in which Trump pushed for the FBI Director to pledge his loyalty was also one-on-one.

...Writing about President Trump’s assertion that he had directly asked Director Comey whether he was personally under investigation, (former White House Counsel Bob) Bauer suggested that it is also Trump’s pattern of behavior that might open the President up to obstruction charges:

The picture that Mr. Trump has managed to create so far consists of the following:

The admission that he sought repeated assurances about his legal exposure in an ongoing criminal investigation
The pursuit of those reassurances at a time when he was quite actively holding open the possibility that Mr. Comey might not hold onto his job. (Apparently one of these conversations took place over dinner—as it was being served, was the President making it clear that Mr. Comey might have “to sing for his supper”?)
The admission that in firing Mr. Comey, he was moved decisively by his frustration over the FBI's handling of the Russia probe.
The President's repeated very public statements, heard by all, including those charged with investigating the matter, that he views the Russia probe as having no merit. Responsible for the faithful execution of the laws and the integrity of the system of justice, Mr. Trump has chosen to actively dispute the basis for an ongoing FBI investigation that affects his interests.
The repeated adjustments to the story the White House originally told about the circumstances surrounding the decision to dismiss Mr. Comey. As noted in the earlier posting, it is not advantageous to somebody under suspicion to be altering his story—or, in this case, changing it in every material detail.

Now add to all of this already suggestive material the allegation that President Trump actually went a step further and asked the FBI Director to drop a case he didn’t like.

...the immediate question is not whether this pattern of behavior—or any individual component of it—could support a prosecution and criminal conviction for obstruction of justice. It’s whether it would support an impeachment in the House and a removal vote in the Senate.

...Historically, obstruction of justice articles of impeachment do elaborate a pattern of conduct....

The critical point is that impeachment for obstruction of justice is ultimately not just a legal question; it’s also a political question, albeit a political question highly inflected by the law and often discussed in the language of the law. The boundaries of the impeachable offense are not coextensive with the boundaries of the criminal law. There are things that are not criminal that are certainly impeachable, and there are crimes that are generally regarded as too trivial to trigger the Constitution’s standard in Article II § 4 of “Treason, Bribery, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” ...

So the real question boils down to this: Does the pattern of conduct that is emerging, in the view of a majority of the House of Representatives and a two-thirds majority of the Senate, constitute an obstruction of justice of a type that is grounds for impeachment and removal?

https://www.lawfareblog.com/another-bomb-drops-initial-thoughts-trump-asking-com...

_________________________________________________________

Joy Reid‏ Verified account JoyAnnReid 10h10 hours ago

GOP source to me tonight says donors are nearing revolt. That could be what's finally pushing GOPers away from Trump.