May 30, 2018

Mueller team moves another case toward sentencing

By JOSH GERSTEIN 05/29/2018 04:18 PM EDT

Special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors indicated Tuesday that they're ready to move toward sentencing of another defendant who pleaded guilty in the ongoing probe of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

Prosecutors asked a federal judge to order a pre-sentencing report for Richard Pinedo, a Santa Paula, California, man who admitted in February to a felony identity fraud charge relating to the sale of bank account numbers that apparently helped Russian internet trolls pay for social media ads related to the U.S. presidential race.

Mueller's team and Pinedo's attorneys have said he did not know who he was dealing with when he sold the bank account numbers. A statement of facts Pinedo accepted as part of his plea said that he knew many of his customers were abroad and that he “willfully and intentionally avoided learning” about the stolen identities.

The joint request for the probation-office report on Pinedo's background and his crime suggests that his case could move to sentencing in the next two or three months.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/29/mueller-russia-probe-sentencing-richard-pinedo-610843

May 30, 2018

China vows to protect its interests from 'reckless' U.S. trade threats

Source: Reuters




MAY 29, 2018 / 8:31 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Michael Martina, Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - China lashed out on Wednesday at renewed threats from the White House on trade, warning that it was ready to fight back if Washington was looking for a trade war, days ahead of a planned visit by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

In an unexpected change in tone, the United States said on Tuesday that it still held the threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China unless it addressed the issue of theft of American intellectual property.

Washington also said it will press ahead with restrictions on investment by Chinese companies in the United States as well as export controls for goods exported to China.

Its tougher stance comes as President Donald Trump prepares for a June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose key diplomatic backer is China, and as Washington steps up efforts to counter what it sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/china-says-will-protect-interests-from-reckless-u-s-trade-threats-idUSKCN1IU1GQ

May 30, 2018

Analysis: Pelosi, Clinton Factor Big in Trump's Midterm Strategy

President tries to lend a hand in Senate race that Democrat leads over GOP’s Blackburn

Posted May 30, 2018 6:53 AM
John T. Bennett
@BennettJohnT

President Donald Trump showed a few cards in his midterm election hand Tuesday night, trying to attach a competitive Democratic Senate candidate in a state he easily won to Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.

The Republican president did call the Republican candidate for the Senate seat being vacated by GOP Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, “a great woman.” And he called her on stage to say a few words, during which she opted to praise him. But, for the most part, Trump’s message in Nashville was all about Trump in a preview of the rallies he plans across the country where close races will decide which party controls the House and Senate for the rest of his current term.

Blackburn used her brief remarks to thank Trump for “everything you are doing” — both in Washington and on the midterms campaign trail to help the GOP’s incumbents and other congressional candidates. She credited him for putting Neil Gorsuch on the U.S. Supreme Court, filling many other federal court seats, slashing taxes, and “standing up to China and North Korea.” The latter got one of the night’s loudest rounds of applause.

“Let me tell you that is what you call getting the job done,” Blackburn said. “Tennessee needs a senator who is going to support President Donald Trump, and I am going to be there to stand with President Donald Trump and take your Tennessee values to Washington, D.C.”

more
https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/analysis-pelosi-clinton-factor-big-trumps-midterm-strategy

May 30, 2018

Fox News' Judge Napolitano Calls Trump's 'Spygate' Claims 'Baseless': There's No Evidence Whatsoever

May 30, 2018

Trump bragged about classified Syria skirmish at fundraiser

Source: Politico




By ELIANA JOHNSON 05/29/2018 09:17 PM EDT Updated 05/29/2018 11:00 PM EDT

The White House has tried to avoid discussing a February skirmish between U.S. troops and Russian mercenaries in Syria, but that didn’t stop President Donald Trump from bragging about the Pentagon’s performance at a recent closed-door fundraiser.

The details of the battle remain classified, but speaking to donors in midtown Manhattan last Wednesday, Trump said he was amazed by the performance of American F-18 pilots. He suggested that the strikes may have been as brief as “10 minutes” and taken out 100 to 300 Russians, according to a person briefed on the president’s remarks, which have not previously been reported.

Trump often makes unscripted comments at fundraisers, and he revels in the exploits of the U.S. military. At a Republican National Committee fundraiser last fall, he told the crowd that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had “never lost a battle,” and he has bragged about the country’s nuclear superiority in confrontations with North Korea.

American officials have long feared that a clash with Russian forces in Syria would add tension to the already strained relationship between the two countries, and they intentionally avoided Russian targets last month when they bombed the country in response to Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons. According to The New York Times, which last week provided the first detailed description of the battle, the confrontation lasted four hours and left between 200 and 300 pro-Assad forces dead.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/29/trump-bragged-about-classified-syria-skirmish-at-fundraiser-611599

May 30, 2018

Independents Now Outnumber Republicans In California

May 30, 2018 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

“Independents have surpassed Republicans to become the second-largest voting bloc in California, according to a firm that analyzes county voter registration information for campaigns,” the Sacramento Bee reports.

“Political Data Inc. on Tuesday released its latest count showing that voters registered with no party preference now outnumber Republicans by about 73,000 in California. The company regularly collects raw voter files from county registrars to maintain an updated database of the state’s 19 million voters.”

Playbook: “California Republicans have been sliding into obscurity for some time. But this seems particularly ominous in the long term for House Republicans, who have 14 seats in California.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2018/05/30/independents-now-outnumber-republicans-in-california/

May 29, 2018

The end must truly be at hand...

MSNBC just ran a commercial for walk-in baths... featuring an 83 year old Pat Boone doing the sales pitch. The commercial closes with Boone in the tub singing about the walk in tub. LOL.

May 29, 2018

Here's the game Kellyanne Conway and the Trump team are playing on 'collusion'

By Aaron Blake
May 29 at 2:29 PM

Rudolph W. Giuliani went on TV and blurted out the Trump team's Russia investigation strategy this weekend.

“It is for public opinion,” Giuliani said on CNN, “because, eventually, the decision here is going to be impeach/not impeach. Members of Congress, Democrat and Republican, are going to be informed a lot by their constituents. So, our jury is the American — as it should be — is the American people.”

Everything the Trump team does should be viewed through this prism. And it's increasingly clear that the whole thing is aimed at casting doubt not just on any actual crimes that may have been committed but also on the validity of the investigation that uncovered them in the first place.

Case in point is the strategy to call into question the entire “collusion” premise.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday became the latest to argue that “collusion” isn't really, technically, a thing. “So much is happening that has nothing to do with this phony-baloney talking about the 2016 election,” Conway told Fox News. “Every time people talk about this phony Russia collusion — collusion doesn’t even have legal significance. ...”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/29/heres-the-game-kellyanne-conway-and-the-trump-team-are-playing-on-collusion/

May 29, 2018

Giuliani says Trump won't sit for Mueller interview unless all FBI source documents can be reviewed

Source: The Washington Post




By Josh Dawsey and John Wagner

May 29 at 3:12 PM

President Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani said Tuesday that Trump will not agree to an interview with the special counsel until prosecutors allow the president’s legal team to review documents related to the FBI’s use of a source to interact with members of Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“We need all the documents before we can decide whether we are going to do an interview,” Giuliani said in an interview with The Washington Post, using Trump’s term “spygate” to refer to the FBI actions, which former officials have said were well within bounds.

Giuliani’s latest demand further ratcheted up the pressure that Trump and his lawyers are trying to place on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team as his investigation into alleged coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russia reaches a key juncture.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump lashed out at the “Rigged Russia Witch Hunt” on Twitter, casting Mueller’s probe as partisan and saying it could amount to “MEDDLING” to the detriment of Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/giuliani-says-trump-wont-sit-for-mueller-interview-unless-all-spygate-documents-can-be-reviewed/2018/05/29/38abc456-6372-11e8-a768-ed043e33f1dc_story.html

May 29, 2018

Elizabeth Warren Battles Meghan McCain on Missing Migrant Children: This is 'On Donald Trump's Head'

by Ken Meyer | 2:04 pm, May 29th, 2018

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Meghan McCain mixed it up today when the senator appeared on The View to talk about President Trump‘s policy allowing the division of migrant families detained at the U.S. southern border.

The conversation gravitated around the HHS statements regarding the 1,500 children who they’ve been unable to keep track of after Trump Administration policy separated them from their parents. Warren argued that Trump could allow these families to stay together if he wants to, but “the fact that children are being torn out of the arms of their mothers, is on Donald Trump’s head and nobody else’s.”

McCain challenged Warren afterwards by noting that Barack Obama‘s presidency allowed immigration officials to separate migrant family members too. The senator countered by calling for systematic change while re-stating that Trump decides the rules on this issue.

“Let’s not go backwards in the blame game,” Warren said. “If you think it’s wrong, change it, and if you don’t think it’s wrong, if you’re not willing to change it, then own it.”

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https://www.mediaite.com/tv/elizabeth-warren-battles-meghan-mccain-on-missing-migrant-children-this-is-on-donald-trumps-head/

Video at link, above. Don