Leak reveals Julian Assange plan was to escape Britain and flee to Russia

A new leak of internal WikiLeaks files reveals that Julian Assange attempted to flee Britain for Russia as authorities closed in on him.

The founder of site - which revealed secret American documents to the world - wrote to the Russian consulate in London in 2010 in the hopes of gaining a visa to the country.

"I, Julian Assange, hereby grant full authority to my friend, Israel Shamir, to both drop off and collect my passport, in order to get a visa," said the letter, which has been obtained and published by the Associated Press.

The letter was leaked to the news agency along with WikiLeaks emails, chat logs, financial records, secretly recorded footage and other documents.

On 30 November 2010, the same day as the letter is dated, Interpol issued a Red Notice seeking Assange's arrest - essentially preventing any relocation to Russia.

AP showed the documents to former WikiLeaks associates and verified non-public details such as bank accounts, telephone numbers or airline tickets to check the authenticity of the files.

Assange's relationship with Russia is of interest to America, with the FBI claiming Russia's military intelligence agency directly gave WikiLeaks stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman and other Democratic figures ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.

(read more) https://news.sky.com/story/leak-reveals-julian-assange-plan-to-escape-britain-and-flee-to-russia-11500550

Trump orders Russia probe documents to be declassified.

Trump has ordered the declassification of a series of highly sensitive documents related to the Russia investigation, the White House announced Monday.

Under the order, classified portions of a surveillance application for former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and "all text messages relating to the Russia investigation" from former FBI Director James Comey and several other top federal officials could become public.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision was made "at the request of a number of committees of Congress, and for reasons of transparency."

The move will please conservatives in Congress who have been clamoring for the documents' release, saying they will back up their argument the Russia investigation has been tainted by political bias.

But it is likely to ratchet up tensions with law-enforcement officials and Democrats who believe such a move is an example of improper interference in an ongoing investigation.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/407103-trump-to-declassify-controversial-text-messages-documents-related-to

Why God is Laughing at Kavanaugh

(article from Politico)

God, it’s sometimes said, has an awesome sense of humor; if so, the Almighty must have been vastly entertained by the turns of fortune on display this past weekend in American politics

Not amused, to be clear, by the sad story of what a middle-aged university professor recalls of an ugly night in high school with future Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and how it echoed in her mind for years. An uproar over this allegation Sunday pivoted quickly from the first question—what’s true?—to an equally vexing one: What is even fair to be debating some 36 years after the fact?

It is on this point that the cosmos may be having a laugh not just at Kavanaugh’s expense but at many other people’s. After decades of competitive moralizing and situational ethics—in which every accuser in due course becomes the accused, and anyone riding a high horse can expect to be bucked off—even the concept of fairness in American politics seemingly is defunct.

Three decades of remorseless ideological and cultural combat—over Robert Bork, over Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, over Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, over Bush v. Gore, and, at last and above all, over Donald Trump—have made the question virtually irrelevant.

Fairness is rooted in the idea of principles, precedent, proportionality. Few people in American life witnessed at closer range than Kavanaugh the modern reality that when things really matter—in the way that the balance of the Supreme Court matters—all these fine notions matter less than the cold, hard exercise of power.

So here was Kavanaugh—who spent his early thirties as a Ken Starr warrior pursuing Bill Clinton for the political and legal implications of his most intimate moral failings—now in his early fifties facing a political crisis over disturbingly vivid, passionately contested, decades-old allegations about Kavanaugh’s own possible moral failings. (read more)
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/09/17/kavanaugh-supreme-court-ford-sexual-assault-219983

Ohio's wealthiest GOP donor quits his party.

The wealthiest supporter of the GOP in Ohio said Thursday that he is no longer a member of the Republican Party.

“I just decided I’m no longer a Republican,” L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner said during a panel discussion at a leadership summit, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Wexner, who said he’s been a Republican since college, added that he is now an independent, before saying that he “won’t support this nonsense in the Republican Party” anymore.

snip

The development came just a day after former President Obama slammed GOP lawmakers during a rally in Ohio for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray.

Wexner called Obama’s visit to Ohio this week a “great moment for the community,” according to the Dispatch.
“I was struck by the genuineness of the man; his candor, humility and empathy for others,” Wexner said. (read more)

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/406822-wealthiest-republican-supporter-in-ohio-quits-party

STFU Susan!

Actor Debra Messing blasted Susan Sarandon on Twitter yesterday over comments the actor made about President Donald Trump during an interview with Variety.

On Wednesday, the outspoken Messing launched a Twitter tirade condemning Sarandon over her remarks interpreted as giving Trump "credit" for encouraging women and minorities to run for elected office.

“STFU SUSAN. Oh yes, PLEASE let’s give Trump CREDIT. I mean how else are you able to walk out on the street. Convince yourself that that this CATASTROPHE of a President who you said was better than HRC IS NOT ripping children away from parents seeking asylum, holding children INDEFINITELY in internment camps with their new policy, DESTROYING all attempts to protect our environment (yes the water you properted [sic] to care about), endangered animals, taking away women’s ACCESS to health care and legal abortion, trying to block POC from Voting with extreme,”

“And LAUD the effect Trump has had,” Messing continued. “Out of DESPERATION & PANIC for the DESTRUCTION of the Soul of our country. But you don’t want to look at THAT part of the equation. Because then you’d have to admit you were dead WRONG running around bellowing that HRC was more dangerous than Trump.”

”


https://www.newsweek.com/what-did-susan-sarandon-say-about-donald-trump-debra-messing-tells-actor-shut-1119308

Activists pledge over $360K to Sen Collins's future opponent if she votes for Kavanaugh!

Activists have pledged more than $360,000 to Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-Maine) future Democratic opponent should the Maine Republican vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

A fundraiser through the political crowdfunding site Crowdpac attracted donations from more than 13,000 people by the second day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. The page, set up by progressive activist Ady Barkan, lists a goal of $500,000.

“The people of Maine have made it clear that they want you to vote NO on Kavanaugh, and we’re counting on you to do the right thing,” the fundraising site reads. “You have the chance to stand up for the people of Maine — and for the entire country — by rejecting this Supreme Court nominee.”

Collins is not up for reelection this cycle, but if she votes for Kavanaugh, Barkan said he will donate the money to whoever runs against her in 2020.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news-campaigns/405204-activists-pledge-over-360k-to-collins-future-opponent

Russia warns it is prepared to attack key base where dozens of U.S. troops are stationed.

Russia has reportedly warned the United States that its military and allied Syrian forces were ready to attack a key US-held base near the border of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, US defense officials said in a CNN report published on Thursday.

The Kremlin, which alleges that the US-led coalition base protects nearby militant troops, reportedly delivered two warnings in the past week, according to US officials. At Tanf, the base where a coalition of dozens of US troops and Syrian rebels launch counter-ISIS operations, is seen as a critical location within the scope of Iranian, Syrian, and Russian influence in the region.

(read more)

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-warns-us-troops-in-syria-at-tanf-base-2018-9

Trumpy just tweeted this morning and is all TeamDictatorKim again!

Trump's tweet : Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims “unwavering faith in President Trump.” Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!


https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-back-on-team-kim

It's official now - Chris King will be Andrew Gillum's running mate here in FL

Maybe we thought Pence was "Anonymous "because Coats wanted it that way?

Many of us thought the author of the NYT piece was Mike Pence because of the word "lodestar" which Pence has publicly used. But my daughter pointed out that perhaps the author just wanted us to think that it was him. But why, I thought? And who would want to make Pence look like Trumpy's betrayer?

And then I remembered a Politico article from a few years ago when Mike Pence actually compared Dan Coats to a Nazi - that might explain the subtle pointing at Pence.....


https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/mike-pence-nazi-essay-225906