Presidents* Trump & Putin bromance

[Vrede too]

The plot thickens.

The woman behind the story behind the Trump Twitter storm

Funny how her anti-Trump & Putin bromance allegations got twisted into being anti-Obama by Liarbart, et al.

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Poll: Investigating Contact Between Russia and Trump

Special prosecutor needed - 65%
Congress is capable - 32%
No opinion - 3%

Source: CNN/ORC. As of March 4, 2017.

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Trump Knows the Feds Are Closing In on Him

... The New York Times was first out of the gate that evening with a story reporting: “American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.”

The Times story would have been big news were it not almost immediately overshadowed by a Washington Post article with an even more alarming finding: “Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general.”

Smaller but still significant revelations followed the next day. The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump Jr. “was likely paid at least $50,000 for an appearance late last year before a French think tank whose founder and his wife are allies of the Russian government in efforts to end the war in Syria.” (What could Trump Jr. say that would possibly be worth $50,000?) J.D. Gordon, Trump’s national security advisor during the campaign, admitted that, contrary to his earlier denials, he had directly intervened at Trump’s instigation to remove the language in the 2016 Republican platform which had called on the United States to arm Ukraine against Russian aggression. And campaign advisor Carter Page admitted that, contrary to his earlier denials, he had met with the Russian ambassador at the Republican National Convention. It is hard to imagine why so many people would lie if they didn’t have something pretty significant to cover up.

Out of all of these revelations it was the news about Sessions — which may open him to perjury charges — that was the most significant. In response to the Post report, the attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Kremlingate inquiry, much to the fury of President Trump, who was not consulted about this decision. This is what led to Trump’s wild-eyed rants on Twitter, designed to distract from the real scandal and to convince his more credulous followers that he is the victim of a plot by his predecessor.

But why would Sessions’ recusal make Trump so unhinged? The president must have felt relatively confident that the “Kremlingate” probe would go nowhere as long as it was in the hands of Trump partisans such as Sessions, Rep. Devin Nunes of the House Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But with Sessions out of the picture, the way is now clear for the deputy attorney general — either the current placeholder, career Justice Department attorney Dana Boente, or Trump’s nominee to replace him, Rod Rosenstein, another career government lawyer — to appoint a special counsel because of the “extraordinary circumstances” surrounding this case....

There is a good reason why Trump and his partisans are so apoplectic about the prospect of a special counsel, and it is precisely why it is imperative to appoint one: because otherwise we will never know the full story of the Kremlin’s tampering with our elections and of the Kremlin’s connections with the president of the United States. As evidenced by his desperate attempts to change the subject, Trump appears petrified of what such a probe would reveal. Wonder why?

Hey Sessions, better look up the statute of limitations on perjury charges. Then, consider how long you think the GOP will keep covering for you and President* Trump.

[O Really]

I think it's entirely possible, if not likely, that Sessions' meetings with the Russians was within his scope as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee or whatever he's on. And it's also possible that at the time he had those meetings, he didn't know about the upcoming Russian-ruckus. If not, maybe it didn't occur to him that it wasn't a good idea to meet with the Russians during the time he was actively helping the Trump campaign. Having now gone out of the way to give him the benefit of the doubt, when he went for his confirmation hearing he absolutely had to know about the Russian-ruckus. And, unless he's even more dense than he sounds, he had to know that he wouldn't be able to pass off a "routine" meeting as nothing if he admitted them. So he had choices: (a) answer the actual question Franken asked, which was "what would you do if you found out a campaign person talked to Russians; (b) answer that "there are a lot of reasons to speak with the Russians - I met with the Ambassador twice this year to discuss the best vodka to drink with borscht,but as AG, if I knew somebody had colluded, I would prosecute them.: (c) lie and hope nobody notices.

I'll take door C, Al.

That was pretty stupid for a "so-called" lawyer.

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I think the perjury makes it more likely that the campaign was discussed and to me it's hard to imagine that it didn't come up, even if the main topic was within his scope as a member of the Armed Services (I had to look it up) Committee. After all, the 2nd meeting happened after the Russian hacking was known. Being rightwing Republicans on a mission to Make America Fascist Again, they underestimated patriotic Americans.

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Sessions in Peril as 3rd, Unreported Contact with Russian Ambassador Surfaces

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.

57 paths to Putin

I started writing this because I thought it was important to have a clear list of what the hell is going on with the Trump – Russia connections. Some of these are just rumors or probably mean nothing (1, 22, 25, 31) but the sheer amount of Russian mobsters who have lived at Trump tower and the fact that 3 people have had to resign over connections to Putin is pretty alarming.

Honestly the thing that surprised me the most is the Abramoff connection. I’m beginning to think that the Russians partnered with the Republican party in the 1990s in order to build an alliance for reasons not yet known....


(larger view at link)

Note that NC's Sen. Burr gets his own top middle box in the web.

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Spicer says 'massive difference' between CIA WikiLeaks leak and Podesta email leak

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that even though Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign -- when it released troves of damaging emails from a key Hillary Clinton adviser -- he does not necessarily hold the same warm feelings for the anti-secrecy organization in light of the leaks of alleged CIA documents....

"As you can imagine from the president’s previous comments [on leaks,] he is extremely concerned about this," Spicer said.

"Make no mistake about it, I think the president has talked before that anybody who leaks classified information will be held to the highest degree of law," he said.

Amidst swirling questions about Russia's interference in the 2016 election and alleged Trump associate contacts with suspected Russian officials during the campaign, Trump has decried leaks to the press and pushed for investigations into them.

That appears to strike a different tone from a campaign rally when Trump said "I love WikiLeaks!"

"There's a big difference between disclosing John Podesta's Gmail accounts about a back and forth and his undermining of Hillary Clinton and his thoughts on her on a personal nature and the leaking of classified information," Spicer said today.

Spicer added that the president's concerns likely stem from the threats that the information could pose to national security....

This would be funny if it weren't so serious. There is no "national security" more critical than elections free from covert foreign influence, period.

ACLU files complaint against Jeff Sessions over Russia testimony

... In launching the complaint against Sessions, the ACLU hopes that the Alabama State Bar will prod the Sessions testimony further.

"I urge the Alabama Bar to investigate this complaint and the statements made by Mr. Sessions to determine whether he violated the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct," read the complaint, which was authored by Anders.

It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to "engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation," according to Alabama State Bar rules.

[O Really]

That may fall more into the category of harassment than anything else. I don't think having an active law license is a legal requirement to be AG, and being chastised by the Alabama Bar would be pretty small peanuts compared to the many other offenses of Trump appointees. Hell, the Alabama Bar would probably give him a commendation for lying to them damyankee politicians.

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I'm fine with all honest and nonviolent tactics. This one with admittedly possibly little practical effect would at least force the hearing on the facts that we may not see otherwise and would be a huge embarrassment to Sessions if he was disbarred - a first for a sitting US AG? Plus, I imagine it will be a big boost for the AL ACLU - I'm sure they need each one they can get.

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March 8, 2017 - U.S. Voters Say Sessions Lied And Should Resign, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For Immigrant 'path To Citizenship' At New High

American voters say 52 - 40 percent that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearings and say 51 - 42 percent that he should resign, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

Voters disapprove 54 - 32 percent of the way President Donald Trump is handling U.S. policy towards Russia, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

American voters support 66 - 30 percent an "independent commission investigating potential links between some of Donald Trump's campaign advisors and the Russian government." The only listed party, gender, age or racial group opposed is Republicans, opposed 64 - 30 percent.

A total of 61 percent are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about President Trump's relationship with Russia. A total of 62 percent of voters say alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election is a "very important" or "somewhat important" issue.

"The gavel comes down hard on Attorney General Jeff Sessions," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"He lied and he should quit because of it, say Americans, who are clearly very concerned about the Russian affair and all the administration personnel involved with it."

[rstrong]

...would be a huge embarrassment to Sessions if he was disbarred - a first for a sitting US AG?

But not for Trump & Friends.

"I'm Leninist. Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that's my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today's establishment...
- chief Trump strategist Steve Bannon, to a Daily Beast reporter in 2013

Their cabinet appointments and other decisions have been entirely consistent with that goal.

Rick Perry, who wants to do away with the Department of Energy, put in charge of it. Betsy DeVos, who wants to do away with public education, as Education Secretary. Delusional and entirely unqualified people like Ben Carson put in charge of other departments. Open war with the intelligence community and federal courts and the press. And of course Donald Trump as President.

A disbarred AG? The new normal.

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Did Trump Ex-Adviser Paul Manafort Play a Role in 2014 Ukraine Massacre?
As the court in Kiev puts police on trial for the Maidan slaughter, the big question is who ordered the killing.

Moscow paid $45,000 for Flynn’s 2015 talk, documents show

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Special Report: Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings, records show

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Casual lie by Trump White House can’t derail FBI’s Russia probe

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Russian mafia boss still at large after (2011-13) FBI wiretap at Trump Tower

Trump Tower is a crime ridden neighborhood.

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Petition to Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente: Demand a special prosecutor on Sessions and Russia

Reince Priebus' FBI contacts suddenly look even worse

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"Most honest people I know are not under FBI investigation, let alone two."
-- Kellyanne Conway tweet, late October 2016
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kellyanne-con ... 00125.html

... Social media users were quick to point out the irony saying Conway's tweet "did not age well".

Celebrity gossip columnist Perez Hilton tweeted: "A lot can change in 5 months, isn't that right @KellyannePolls?"

Another Twitter user wrote: "What a difference five months makes, eh?

Kellyanne, most of the people you work for are under FBI investigation.

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Latest Trump Tweet:
Why isn't the House Intelligence Committee looking into the Bill & Hillary deal that allowed big Uranium to go to Russia, Russian speech....
(Liked by 8975 idiots.)

Because you're the one that won (with Russian help), moron, and it's largely wingnut invention, anyhow.

Russian to Judgment
Allegations of a "quid pro quo" deal giving Russia ownership of one-fifth of U.S. uranium deposits in exchange for $145 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation are unsubstantiated.

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Opinion: Trump spreads more fake news on Hillary’s ‘uranium deal’
The U.S. is a bit player in the worldwide market for the radioactive metal

President Trump, there’s a very good reason Congress isn’t investigating Hillary Clinton’s “big uranium deal” with Russia.

It’s because the story is absolute crap — as you well know.

• No, Hillary Clinton didn’t “sell America’s uranium.” She didn’t own it, or control it, and never had. This entire accusation is a farce....

• No, Hillary didn’t “approve” the sale, either. She was just one of 14 — count ’em, 14 — people who sat on a U.S. government committee that might, in theory, have intervened but didn’t.

• There is a very good reason none of those people or organizations tried to halt the deal. It wasn’t controversial. And if it weren’t for Trump’s cynical demagoguery, it wouldn’t be now.

America is a bit player in worldwide uranium production, and the amount involved was about half a percent — yes, really — of global supply.

Furthermore, uranium has been a drag on the international markets for years. There’s too much of it around. Miners are giving it away for less than it costs to dig up. There was no reason to think of it as an especially precious resource....

• Finally, it’s worth remembering that this entire “story” was whipped up like a meringue by Peter Schweizer, a far-right hack at Breitbart. And, like a meringue, it’s almost all air.

[rstrong]

Also:

- Uranium One was a Canadian company, and the deal was done in the Canadian stock market.

- The 20 percent is production capacity, not uranium in stock. (It's about 0.5% of the global supply.)

- The company has no license to export uranium. So exactly 0.00% was "given to Russia."

- The deal was more likely about Uranium One’s assets in Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer.