April 29, 2018

Perfect tweet for the today...

Let me help folks out here: the difference Wolf’s words at dinner and Trump’s actions and words is the difference between someone toilet papering my trees, and someone knocking my house down, threatening my children, and poisoning my trees.

https://twitter.com/matthewjdowd/status/990587646882742272

April 29, 2018

Comey was not alone -2 witnesses -listened in on Comey's side of phone calls with Trump...

Comey was not alone

New info:

Two witnesses—then-FBI General Counsel Baker and then-FBI Director's chief of staff Rybicki—listened in on Comey’s side of phone calls with President Trump when President attempted to alter course of Russia investigation.

https://twitter.com/just_security/status/990585940782518272

The Minority report contains information that adds to the substantive allegations of obstruction, and also to the range of corroborating evidence.

One of the most important revelations is that the FBI General Counsel and FBI Director’s chief of staff listened in on James Comey’s side of at least some phone conversations with the president, in which Mr. Trump reportedly engaged in efforts to alter the course of the Russia investigation. As the Minority report states, “(Jim) Rybicki and Baker also heard Comey’s side of phone conversations with the President, in real time.” It is, however, not clear which particular phone conversations with the president they were able to hear in this manner. Comey testified to Congress that he had six separate phone conversations with Trump.

Both the FBI Director and Deputy Director interpreted one of the president’s phone calls as threatening Comey if he did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation. In a phone conversation on April 11, Trump said he wanted Comey to lift the cloud, “because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal; we had that thing you know,” according to Comey’s written testimony and contemporaneous memo. But why would the president refer to his loyalty to Comey rather than Comey’s “honest loyalty” to the president?

McCabe testified that the FBI Director and he “weren’t 100 percent sure what that was” but interpreted it as “a veiled threat.” Rep. Adam Schiff (D.-Calif) asked McCabe to clarify:

SCHIFF: And in this case the veiled threat would be against Director Comey?

MCCABE: That’s correct.

SCHIFF: Along the lines of, I the President have been very loyal to you. I want you to lift the cloud. Otherwise I might be less loyal to you. Is that the—

MCCABE: That’s correct.

SCHIFF: That was the impression of Director Comey?

MCCABE: It was his and my impression.

Second, the FBI Director and Deputy Director were also concerned that the president was threatening to take action against McCabe if the FBI Director did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation. According to Comey’s testimony and contemporaneous memos, Mr. Trump repeatedly brought up McCabe in these conversations about the Russia investigation. McCabe testified that he and Comey were concerned that the president “was bringing it up as some sort of an almost a veiled threat.”

Rep. Schiff once again asked McCabe to clarify:

SCHIFF: That if the Director didn’t lift the cloud of the Russian investigation, that he would take action against you?

MCCABE: That’s correct. That was my concern, and as I understand it, that was Director Comey’s concern as well.

the restL
https://www.justsecurity.org/55479/evidence-obstruction-justice-house-minority-intelligence-committee-report/

April 29, 2018

Thoughts and prayers to the GOP victims of cruel Michelle Wolf.

I only hope they can pull together the pieces of their shattered lives and get back to the good work of cutting taxes for the rich.





https://twitter.com/mileskahn/status/990461614515216384

April 29, 2018

Vulgarities

The annual press dinners with a comedian are always a useful lesson about what really upsets our access journalists.



from:
http://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/04/vulgarities.html#disqus_thread

April 29, 2018

Donald Trump has no reason to be angry. He has said much worse about other people at his rallies.

https://twitter.com/DearAuntCrabby/status/990424710667173888

April 29, 2018

This was thug behavior.

"I know things about Tester that I could say, too. And if I said them, he'd never be elected again."
— Donald Trump

Trump knows nothing about Jon Tester.

I do.

Tester’s a family farmer who went into politics to fight for farmers, workers and vets.

He knows which side he’s on.



https://twitter.com/joanwalsh/status/990394946829111296

April 28, 2018

Lawrence Tribe: "Bingo! Putin is showing a little leg".

Bingo! Putin is showing a little leg. He’s reminding Donald how easily he could bring @POTUS down and is thereby adding to the evidence that our president is dangerously beholden to our major foreign adversary



https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/990320092897529858

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

If she didn’t have approval her statement would be a death wish.


Important point made today by @sam_vinograd: Kremlin agent Natalia Veselnitskaya would not have gone on American television admitting to being tied to Putin, something obvious to those of us not brainwashed, if Putin had not approved her to do that.



https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/990110651266813953

April 28, 2018

SATER:"I can not only get Ivanka to spin in Putin's Kremlin chair on 30 minutes notice-I can also.."

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/990328155717160961

http://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-putin-chair-felix-sater-russia-2017-8


update to add PAGE 51:

possesses – Sater wrote, “Buddy our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer
it. I will get all of Putin’s team to buy in on this.”166 When the deal slowed in early 2016, Cohen
took matters into his own hands, attempting on January 14, 2016 to contact Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov via email to move the project forward. However, like so many others, the deal
did not materialize.

The Majority, however, addresses few of Trump’s attempted Moscow business deals,
questionable funding sources, and ongoing business relationships with Russian oligarchs close to
President Putin. Instead, it offers a perfunctory reference to the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant,
claiming simply that the Committee “found no evidence that President Trump’s pre-campaign
business dealings formed the basis for collusion during the campaign.”167

As with so many of the Majority’s findings, the Majority did not uncover evidence because it
refused look for any. The Majority expended little effort in investigating whether Trump’s
business deals may have been part of Moscow’s effort to entangle business and political leaders
in corrupt activity, and they actively blocked Minority requests to follow this thread. The
Majority rejected numerous appeals by the Minority to request or subpoena Trump financial
records from Deutsche Bank, interview pertinent witnesses from the financial entity, and seek
testimony or production from other individuals and entities with knowledge of Trump’s business
projects in Moscow. The question of whether Trump’s financial vulnerability, reliance on lenders
of last resort with illicit ties to Russia, or decades-long desire to secure a real estate deal in
Moscow led Russia to hold of leverage against him remains an unexplored but critical
investigatory question.


ALL OF IT:
https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/House_minority.pdf

April 28, 2018

Michael Cohen makes the National Enquirer

https://twitter.com/jackshafer/status/990275300108963844

April 28, 2018

Tester put veterans above politics-If Trump is confident in Jackson, re-nominate him & let truth out

Montana's Jon Tester put veterans above politics. If Trump is confident in Jackson, re-nominate him and let the truth come out at the hearings. Otherwise, let's thank Jon tester for standing up to the WH bully.




https://twitter.com/RonaldKlain/status/990234651959681025
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/28/17295454/jon-tester-trump-twitter-ronny-jackson-va-secretary-montana