Trump, May 2017: 100 days of [unintelligible]

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Flynn's been served.

BREAKING: the Senate Intel Cmte has issued a subpoena to Michael Flynn for Docs related to their Russia Investigation: pic.twitter.com/TrNcyMJbn7

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) May 10, 2017

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:42 (seven years ago) link

Per a Senate historian, this is the 1st subpoena Senate Intel has issued since their 9/11 joint inquiry --> https://t.co/Zw4lVI4bfg

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) May 10, 2017

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:44 (seven years ago) link

LOCK HIM UP!!!!

frogbs, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:44 (seven years ago) link

Here's some weirdness

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/10/white-house-lawyers-warned-trump-stay-away-from-michael-flynn

White House lawyers have had to warn President Donald Trump repeatedly against reaching out to his fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, two people familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:07 (seven years ago) link

those subpoenas went out yesterday

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:08 (seven years ago) link

Ah no, read closer. This isn't Flynn's associates -- this is Flynn himself, specifically.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:10 (seven years ago) link

hmm earlier ones might've just been to "Flynn associates"

righto
xp

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:10 (seven years ago) link

Meantime I noticed this earlier:

Interesting: A few GOP Senators now privately discussing what they can do, beyond mere statements. Eg, withhold votes for Trump nominees...

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 10, 2017

And shrugged it off as the usual. But:

.@BenSasse & @SenJohnMcCain just announced their opposition to Pres. Trump's nominee to be U.S. Trade Rep, Robert Lighthizer

— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) May 10, 2017

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:11 (seven years ago) link

huh that *is* odd

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:12 (seven years ago) link

Meanwhile in GOP townhallville

MacArthur after a furious question about Trump: "Folks, I didn't come here to defend the president tonight."

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) May 10, 2017

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:13 (seven years ago) link

Oh, was this finally the uncrossable line? I won't believe it but it's welcome.

Download this Man With Hamburder And Mug (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:16 (seven years ago) link

if there's one thing americans won't countenance it's backstabbing the man who stole you an election

Mordy, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:20 (seven years ago) link

Did Russia act independently in support of Trump or did the Trump campaign actively collude with them in attempting to win the election? pic.twitter.com/8LrHOejLgw

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 10, 2017

Mordy, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:23 (seven years ago) link

White House lawyers have had to warn President Donald Trump repeatedly against reaching out to his fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, two people familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast.

He's been talking with fucking Roger Stone as well, who urged him to can Comey. He's also implicated in the fucking investigation!

officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:26 (seven years ago) link

I love this picture that Bloomberg News ran with the story of Trump sending a "certified letter" to Lindsey Graham asserting that he's got no connections to Russia. He looks like Elvis the day before (or the day after) his death.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_adw-NUMAAj7ym.jpg

Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:34 (seven years ago) link

David Roberts otm but sort of common knowledge? Most journalists gave up on the "mind" angle long ago and went to Bannon or the neocons for that. I feel that even the right wingers know that he's a void. They just like what he's doing for now.

gospodin simmel, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:35 (seven years ago) link

xp Greil Marcus should do something with that analogy!

gospodin simmel, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:35 (seven years ago) link

David Roberts otm but sort of common knowledge?

yeah Roberts' point isn't news, which is why he first made it nearly a year ago, when it was becoming increasingly obvious

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:37 (seven years ago) link

Sorry, didn't catch that.

gospodin simmel, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:38 (seven years ago) link

He looks like Elvis the day before (or the day after) his death.

OTM.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/7f/f6/4c/7ff64c00578b2eac5d43f8300c41f851.jpg

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:44 (seven years ago) link

It's mollifying to imagine that the GOP might eventually turn on Trump because he violated some sacrosanct moral principle and betrayed both the American people and the fundamental ideals of our great nation, but because he already does that four or five times a week at this point, I'm much more inclined to believe they might throw him under a bus because he's violated the sanctity of a cush ten-year federal-level appointment or somesuch.

Download this Man With Hamburder And Mug (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:46 (seven years ago) link

Updates from that townhall:

room just erupted in a chant of "single payer" https://t.co/WYhcCeZXIX

— noah kulwin (@nkulw) May 10, 2017

Bio-Digital Jezza (kingfish), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:49 (seven years ago) link

"let the congressman finish!" one constituent yells

"he's finished in 2018" another shoots back

this is how this is going

— E McMorris-Santoro (@EvanMcS) May 10, 2017

Bio-Digital Jezza (kingfish), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:52 (seven years ago) link

Am enjoying the twitter embed feature, btw. Thanks to Stet or whoever coded it in

Bio-Digital Jezza (kingfish), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:52 (seven years ago) link

How do you do it?

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 23:53 (seven years ago) link

Just paste the URL in the post box, gets converted.

Let's see if it works for mobile with this poll:

https://mobile.twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/862444742583267328

Bio-Digital Jezza (kingfish), Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:06 (seven years ago) link

That'd be a no.

Who should be the special prosecutor?

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) May 10, 2017

Bio-Digital Jezza (kingfish), Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:06 (seven years ago) link

instructions in "formatting help" below.

new noise, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:08 (seven years ago) link

Cagily phrased, this letter.

First on CNN: In ltr to FBI staff, Comey says he's "long believed a president can fire an FBI director for any reason or no reason at all" pic.twitter.com/AxKWwyk1PZ

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) May 11, 2017

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:38 (seven years ago) link

my fav Sinatra song

Charles "Butt" Stanton (Neanderthal), Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:39 (seven years ago) link

Meantime, the current US Ambassador to Qatar (appointed 2014)

Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions.

— Dana Shell Smith (@AmbDana) May 10, 2017

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:39 (seven years ago) link

Separately, Kevin McCarthy (House Majority Leader) seems a hair confused

.@GOPLeader: In Washington, "we serve at the pleasure" of the president.."if we lose the confidence,'' then we can lose our jobs

— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) May 11, 2017

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:41 (seven years ago) link

Ah, turns out he's in town here tonight. I don't know what he was thinking when he asked this:

When @GOPLeader asks SF audience who else in the crowd voted for Trump -- just one or two hands go up at #PlaybookExchange

— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) May 11, 2017

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:42 (seven years ago) link

someone's been watching "The Apprentice" long enough to believe it

xpost re McCarthy

the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:42 (seven years ago) link

If you go for a walk in the park early enough, you can see the sunrise and hobos washing their balls in the drinking fountain.

— Del Freaky (@iAmDelFreaky) May 9, 2017

sleepingbag, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:43 (seven years ago) link

Strange way to describe House Leadership

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:44 (seven years ago) link

Meanwhile:

Daily adventures of cocaine Rab pic.twitter.com/uaISASdS5v

— Jacob Welna (@WelnaJacob) May 10, 2017

sleepingbag, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:50 (seven years ago) link

Leakers be leakin

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-trumps-anger-and-impatience-prompted-him-to-fire-the-fbi-director/2017/05/10/d9642334-359c-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html?utm_term=.3e295015c33b

Key bit:

But the private accounts of more than 30 officials at the White House, the Justice Department, the FBI and on Capitol Hill, as well as Trump confidants and other senior Republicans, paint a conflicting narrative centered on the president’s brewing personal animus toward Comey. Many of those interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to candidly discuss internal deliberations.

Trump was angry that Comey would not support his baseless claim that President Barack Obama had his campaign offices wiretapped. He was frustrated when Comey revealed in Senate testimony the breadth of the counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s effort to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election. And he fumed that Comey was giving too much attention to the Russia probe and not enough to investigating leaks to journalists.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:56 (seven years ago) link

Also:

Many employees said they were furious about the firing, saying the circumstances of his dismissal did more damage to the FBI’s independence than anything Comey did in his three-plus years in the job.

One intelligence official who works on Russian espionage matters said they were more determined than ever to pursue such cases. Another said Comey’s firing and the subsequent comments from the White House are attacks that won’t soon be forgotten. Trump had “essentially declared war on a lot of people at the FBI,” one official said. “I think there will be a concerted effort to respond over time in kind.”

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:58 (seven years ago) link

*tongue click* shouldnna kicked the Stasi

ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:02 (seven years ago) link

cue Glenn Greenwald smirkin'

the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:02 (seven years ago) link

Elsewhere...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article149836319.html

Various bits about expanding the probe to other former campaign officials, but I was most interested in this:

Some career investigators may not take kindly to the political pressure, said Alex Whiting, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at Harvard Law School.

“If they feel like this was designed to push them back, they will be emboldened,” Whiting said, and may confront Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who has taken the reins of the Russia probe because Attorney General Jeff Sessions withdrew from involvement in the inquiry after it was disclosed that he met twice with Russia’s ambassador last year.

Whiting said he believes Rosenstein “is very weakened” as a result of his role in Comey’s “orchestrated firing,” and will soon feel pressure from senior Justice Department officials to name a special counsel to take over the Russia influence investigation.

“It’s very possible that in the next few days, the political pressure will be so intense that he’ll have little choice,” Whiting said.

He said many career Justice Department officials care deeply about its image and the perception that it remains free of political meddling.

“Any time that there’s a perception that the independence of the Justice Department may have been compromised by a political decision, that’s very damaging to the institution,” Whiting said. “And it’s a lasting damage.”

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:02 (seven years ago) link

And in this story:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-comey-had-requested-more-money-for-fbi-s-russia-investigation-before-being-fired-u-s-official-1494433061

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.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:04 (seven years ago) link

Fun stuff all over the place tonight!

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

The anger behind Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday had been building for months, but a turning point came when Comey refused to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony to a Senate panel, White House officials said.

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.

"It gave the impression that he was no longer capable of carrying out his duties," one official said. Previews of congressional testimony to superiors are generally considered courteous.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:12 (seven years ago) link

When Conway was dragged from cold-storage:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oKIPxRuQQtVbQz35S/giphy.gif

baby, we don't love you baby, we don't love you baby, yeah (Sanpaku), Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:18 (seven years ago) link

what's the rationale on 4chan for why the president of the united states met in the oval office with a representative of the russian government (allowing russian press in, but not US press) less than a week after the russian government hacked the french election?

reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:23 (seven years ago) link

i don't know but it has something to do with penises

Karl Malone, Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:24 (seven years ago) link

Meanwhile, direct from a meeting in my former hometown:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article149829784.html

News of the Comey firing broke just as the Republican National Committee’s spring meeting was getting underway at a luxe oceanfront resort here near San Diego. In interviews with current and former top RNC members on Wednesday, veteran Republicans called the timing politically problematic, with some warning of potentially serious consequences for the 2018 midterms.

“It worries me for the midterm elections,” said a Republican national committeewoman who called the optics “bad” and the timing “odd” and “inconsistent.” “It looks like we’re shooting from the hip all the time with no real rhyme or reason. If people can’t figure out the logic about what we’re doing, how can they support it?”

Agreed a former top RNC member: “If he wears the base down where eventually they say, ‘Maybe I can’t defend this so much anymore,’ and all of the enthusiasm is on the Democratic side in 2018—I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but it could be a wipeout kind of year for us. I think we need to be more careful about that.”

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 May 2017 01:25 (seven years ago) link


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