May 12, 2017

Lawrence just now: Warner & Burr left hearing today to meet with Rosenstein; Warner not confident

Brief presser after Burr and Warner met with Rosenstein; Warner said he doesn't have confidence in Rosenstein and we need special prosecutor. Burr disagrees. It seemed really awkward.

May 12, 2017

Sen. Wyden's aide told me not to give up hope because...

because there are a lot of really good people working on this in DC and a lot going on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

Watching Rachel tonight and hearing Wyden and Swalwell and the others like Schiff that she has on - seeing their intelligence, integrity and dedication gives me hope. I feel that even though the bad guys abound, we are in good hands.

Also there has been some extraordinary reporting happening. The media is not all being lap dogs.

May 12, 2017

Sen. Wyden places hold on Treasury Dept. nominee until release of Russia-Trump info

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, announced a hold on the nomination of Sigal Mandelker to the position of Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence on Thursday.

Wyden said the hold will stay in place until the Treasury Department provides "any information that relates to financial connections between Russia and President Trump and his associates," to the Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate Finance Committee. Wyden is on both committees.

"I have stated repeatedly that we have to follow the money if we are going to get to the bottom of how Russia has attacked our democracy," Wyden said in a statement.

Wyden's hold would effectively put a halt on Mandelker's nomination process. However, holds expire at the end of a Congress.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner also said that he will not support Mandelker until the administration provides the information Wyden requested.

In addition, Warner announced that the Committee had made a request to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is responsible for sharing intelligence in order to combat illicit financial behavior.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-wyden-places-hold-on-treasury-dept-nominee-until-release-of-russia-trump-info/

Good to know they have some ability to shut down business as usual even though they are in the minority.

May 11, 2017

Rosenstein threatened to quit after being cast as impetus of Comey firing, which was already decided

snip

Back at work Monday morning in Washington, Trump told Vice President Pence and several senior aides — Reince Priebus, Stephen K. Bannon and Donald McGahn, among others — that he was ready to move on Comey. First, though, he wanted to talk with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his trusted confidant, and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, to whom Comey reported directly. Trump summoned the two of them to the White House for a meeting, according to a person close to the White House.

The president already had decided to fire Comey, according to this person. But in the meeting, several White House officials said Trump gave Sessions and Rosenstein a directive: to explain in writing the case against Comey.

The pair quickly fulfilled the boss’s orders, and the next day Trump fired Comey — a breathtaking move that thrust a White House already accustomed to chaos into a new level of tumult, one that has legal as well as political consequences.

Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation, said the person close to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Lots more:
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?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&tid=a_breakingnews&utm_term=.7e017f7c6b36

May 10, 2017

Why Are the Times, the Post, and MSNBC on a Conservative Hiring Spree? (Slate)

MSNBC announced Monday that it has hired George F. Will as a contributor, adding yet another conservative talker to its rapidly expanding roster of them. Two weeks ago, the cable news network gave former George W. Bush adviser Nicolle Wallace a 4 p.m. show. Former Fox News star Greta Van Susteren took over its 6 p.m. slot in January. And it has reportedly offered talk radio host Hugh Hewitt a show, as well. MSNBC is giving out shows to conservative pundits like Oprah giving out G6s.
Will Oremus Will Oremus

Remember when the network embraced its liberal reputation with the tagline “Lean Forward”? These days it’s running ads suggesting that people might accuse it of conservative bias—and it’s only half-joking.

MSNBC isn’t the only major media organization that’s tacking rightward lately. The New York Times’ opinion section infuriated its liberal loyalists last month by giving the former Wall Street Journal never-Trumper Bret Stephens an op-ed column, which he promptly used to question climate science and criticize clean-energy policies. In a sign that demand for prominent conservative pundits has surpassed supply, the same Hewitt that MSBNC is pursuing also landed a major op-ed column two months ago, signing on with the Washington Post.

The realignment would make perfect sense if media outlets whose audiences skewed liberal were struggling in the Trump era. But it’s just the opposite. MSNBC just posted its highest-ever quarterly ratings, beating centrist CNN in prime time. The Times reported record-breaking subscriber growth. The Post is aggressively expanding amid record online traffic and ad revenue. The last two have been running PR campaigns aiming to capitalize on discontent with Trump’s election. And they’re all getting pushback from the left on each conservative hire, with some even publicly canceling their Times subscriptions to protest Stephens.

So what’s behind the conservative-commentator craze? Let’s consider the possibilities:

Lots more:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/05/why_are_the_nyt_wapo_and_msnbc_on_a_conservative_hiring_spree.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=589dfd6ebcb59c58118b45d5

May 10, 2017

Senator Suggests a New Job for James Comey: Trump-Russia Investigator (Mother Jones)

As the fallout from the unexpected firing of James Comey on Tuesday continues to rock Washington, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) suggested a new job for the ousted FBI director: leading the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia.

"I think the intelligence committee ought to hire James Comey to direct our investigation," King said during a Wednesday morning appearance on CNN's New Day. "I'm going to float that today and see what kind of reaction I get."

King, who sits on the committee, argued that Comey would be a good fit for the position. "Already got his clearances," he said. "Knows the subject. Man of integrity."



As the fallout from the unexpected firing of James Comey on Tuesday continues to rock Washington, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) suggested a new job for the ousted FBI director: leading the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia.

"I think the intelligence committee ought to hire James Comey to direct our investigation," King said during a Wednesday morning appearance on CNN's New Day. "I'm going to float that today and see what kind of reaction I get."

King, who sits on the committee, argued that Comey would be a good fit for the position. "Already got his clearances," he said. "Knows the subject. Man of integrity."

Comey was scheduled to speak before the committee on Thursday. With his abrupt termination, it is unclear if he will still appear.

In the hours since Comey's firing was first announced, Senate Democrats have suggested that the president's decision was motivated by the FBI's ongoing Russia investigation and have called for a special prosecutor or counsel to take over the investigation in Comey's stead. Some Senate Republicans have also voiced their discomfort with the timing of Comey's dismissal, although top Republican leadership has yet to join calls for an independent investigator.

King acknowledged that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein—who sent the memo that advised the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire Comey—does have the ability to appoint a special counsel to handle the investigation, but he said he is unsure if an appointment from the Justice Department "rises to the level of restoring public confidence in this process."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/senator-angus-king-has-found-new-job-james-comey

May 10, 2017

Sally Yates said in hearing Monday she has confidence in Rod Rosenstein...think she still does?

Graham specifically asked if she knew him and had confidence in him. She said yes. What do you all make of that? I just got online and haven't seen anything since yesterday evening so don't know what might have happened since last night, but I would love to know what she thinks now.

May 10, 2017

Rachel just did whole show w/o any breaks; now Lawrence keeping her on.Anyone ever seen that before?

Not a single break tonight. I've never seen that - anyone else? And she and Lawrence have been discussing Comey since her show ended ten minutes ago. Lawrence just asked Rachel to stay on to ask questions of guest experts. Still no breaks.

Asking what is indefensible to GOP?

Mark Warner on soon.

Edited to add: O'Donnell kept her on first 15 minutes.

May 10, 2017

Rachel comment thread here! All about Comey. Link here to watch if you don't have cable/WiFi.

Go here to watch live streaming if you don't have cable or WiFi.
http://www.livenewschat.eu/politics/

May 10, 2017

We have Rachel in 50 minutes...we should have a Rachel watching comment thread. Who's in?