July 12, 2017

Trump-Russia investigators probe Jared Kushner-run digital operation

Source: McClatchy

By Peter Stone and Greg Gordon

McClatchy Washington Bureau


Investigators at the House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are examining whether the Trump campaign’s digital operation – overseen by Jared Kushner – helped guide Russia’s sophisticated voter targeting and fake news attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Congressional and Justice Department investigators are focusing on whether Trump’s campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in key states – areas where Trump’s digital team and Republican operatives were spotting unexpected weakness in voter support for Hillary Clinton, according to several people familiar with the parallel inquiries.

Also under scrutiny is the question of whether Trump associates or campaign aides had any role in assisting the Russians in publicly releasing thousands of emails, hacked from the accounts of top Democrats, at turning points in the presidential race, mainly through the London-based transparency web site WikiLeaks.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told McClatchy he wants to know whether Russia’s “fake or damaging news stories” were “coordinated in any way in terms of targeting or in terms of timing or in terms of any other measure … with the (Trump) campaign.”



Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article160803619.html

July 12, 2017

Rancor at White House as Russia Story Refuses to Let the Page Turn

Source: New York Times


WASHINGTON — If President Trump emerged from his meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week hoping he had begun to “move forward” from the controversy over the Kremlin’s election meddling, as advisers put it, his flight home the next day made clear just how overly optimistic that was.

As Air Force One jetted back from Europe on Saturday, a small cadre of Mr. Trump’s advisers huddled in a cabin helping to craft a statement for the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to give to The New York Times explaining why he met last summer with a lawyer connected to the Russian government. Participants on the plane and back in the United States debated about how transparent to be in the statement, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Ultimately, the people said, the president signed off on a statement from Donald Trump Jr. for The Times that was so incomplete that it required day after day of follow-up statements, each more revealing than the last. It culminated on Tuesday with a release of emails making clear that Mr. Trump’s son believed the Russian lawyer was seeking to meet with him to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

The Russia story has become the brier patch from which the president seemingly cannot escape. It dominated his trip to Europe last week and, after he leaves on Wednesday night for a couple of days in France, it may dominate that trip as well. Every time Mr. Trump tries to put the furor behind him, more disclosures thrust it back onto the Washington agenda.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/russia-trump.html

July 11, 2017

Wait, What? There's an email?!

"Wait, What? There's an email?!"

July 4, 2017

God Emperor cannot find large automobile parked in front of him with the door open.

http://content.jwplatform.com/previews/4RgRRVW3-OwlNfjNX

June 27, 2017

US warns it has identified 'potential preparations' for chemical weapons attack in Syria

Source: 9news.com.au

The United States has warned the Assad regime in Syria may be making preparations for another chemical weapons attack on civilians.

In a statement from the Press Secretary today, the United States said it "has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children".

The statement warned Bashar al-Assad and his military "will pay a heavy price" if he conducts another "mass murder attack using chemical weapons" like the one on April 4, 2017.



Read more: http://beta.9news.com.au/national/2017/06/27/11/55/us-warns-assad-regime-potential-preparations-chemical-attack

June 13, 2017

Watch testimony of Rosenstein, McCabe and Coats live here:

Live:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?428833-1/deputy-attorney-general-testifies-justice-department-budget-russia-probe&live



edit - this is last week's testimony:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/watch-live-rosenstein-mccabe-senate-intel-officials-testify-comey-hearing/

June 13, 2017

IVANKA TRUMP: There's a level of viciousness in Washington I did not expect.

Jcinky • 20 minutes ago


IVANKA TRUMP: There's a level of viciousness in Washington I did not expect.
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http://www.eschatonblog.com/2017/06/he-already-said-this.html#comment-3356952595

June 9, 2017

Malcolm Nance says if it were him, he would cop a plea.

Malcolm Nance tonight on All In With Chris Hayes on MSNBC, discussing the Steele dossier:


"There's one interesting point about what Trump said, you know calling him [Comey] up and saying you know, "It's not me and hookers", but he never ... I mean this thing alleged that there was a $19 billion dollar payoff if Russian sanctions are lifted in there. It alleges that Trump administration people said that they would conduct surveillance against Russian oligarchs in the United States for the Russian government

There are many things in that dossier that, if I took one look at it, I would be just swearing to God I didn't do any of that, and copping to the hookers."

June 8, 2017

Reality To Plead Not Guilty

(I just had to post that headline )

http://radaronline.com/celebrity-news/reality-winner-not-guilty-nsa-leaks-russia-intercept-publication/

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June 6, 2017

Cancel Trump state visit, says Sadiq Khan, after London attack tweets

Source: Guardian

London mayor says US president is wrong about many things and that state visit to Britain should not go ahead


Monday 5 June 2017 18.39 EDT
First published on Monday 5 June 2017 07.55 EDT

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has called on the British government to cancel a planned state visit by Donald Trump after being criticised in two tweets by the US president.

Trump initially criticised Khan for his response to the London Bridge terrorist attack; though, in doing so, he misquoted London’s mayor. Khan’s office pointed out Trump’s error later but the president responded by accusing London’s mayor of making a “pathetic excuse”.

Appearing on Channel 4 News on Monday evening, Khan said Trump was wrong about “many things” and that his state visit should not go ahead.

“I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” he said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/05/donald-trump-attack-courts-travel-ban-london