Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bark louder, little dog.

Let there be snark.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Let’s finish the job.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

He really is that stupid.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Yates testimony open thread

Yates testimony open thread

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Former Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates is due to testify at 2:30 PM EST on many things including what she told the Trump Administration about how the Russians had their hooks in deep (allegedly of course) into their National Security Adviser.

Open thread….

Here is the live stream:

Reader Interactions

348Comments

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    Trump appears to be tweeting like a muthafucka about Yates in advance of her testimony. Somebody on MSNBC (I think) with Wolf Blitzer said that this might be witness tampering.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    I guess Spicer had a difficult time today. Yes, Obama fired him, but it was his fault that Trump hired him. Now we now know that Flynn was suppose to receive additional clearance, but never received it. fun times

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    Waiting to see how many clouds of ink butthurt the R Senators are going to squirt out.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    I want to hear what Yates has to say but the chance that she drops DA BOMB in this hearing is vanishingly small.

  7. 7.

    PhoenixRising

    @Brachiator: it is more fascinating every day just what a President unburdened by knowledge of the law, let alone a bar membership, thinks is appropriate.

  9. 9.

    hovercraft

    So Lindsey starts by saying that yes Russia did all the bad things the IC says they did, BUT, there is no evidence they hacked any voting machines or changed any tallies, or if their activities changed any minds. So the media will say he’s a “honest” broker. Then spends a couple of minutes bloviating about “unmasking”. So I assume that will be the focus of the republicans questions, Susan Rice.

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    Uh oh. The hearing has a big checklist with boxes to be checked off. They.Mean.Business.

  12. 12.

    TenguPhule

    Reposted from Golden Visa Open thread.
    Scott Pruitt needs to go DIAF immediately, now if not sooner.

    Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, has chosen not to renew the terms of nine of the 18-member board of scientific counselors, which advises the EPA on the quality and accuracy of the science it produces. The group, largely made up of academics, is set to be replaced by representatives from industries that the EPA regulates.

    The damage, it is escalating.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    @hovercraft:

    Then spends a couple of minutes bloviating about “unmasking”. So I assume that will be the focus of the republicans questions, Susan Rice.

    I hope he tries it. Because even though Clapper is a pos, he will smack that “unmasking” BS talking point outta the building.

  15. 15.

    SFAW

    BOMBSHELL!!!

    Yates reveals that Crooked Hillary was the mastermind behind the disappearance of Judge Crater!!!!!
    Must credit Cilizza Drudge!!

    At least, that’s how I expect the MSM, especially morons like Cilizza, will report things.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    @hovercraft:

    So Lindsey starts by saying that yes Russia did all the bad things the IC says they did, BUT, there is no evidence they hacked any voting machines or changed any tallies, or if their activities changed any minds. So the media will say he’s a “honest” broker.

    “Yes, it was a horrible crime but the bitch had it coming to her because she wore a miniskirt and made the criminal think he had chance with her by not running away screaming when he approached her.”

    /Channeled Lindsay Graham

  19. 19.

    Brachiator

    @PhoenixRising:

    it is more fascinating every day just what a President unburdened by knowledge of the law, let alone a bar membership, thinks is appropriate.

    Equally fascinating that the Republican Congressional majority looks the other way whenever their president apparently violates the law. In their eyes, it seems, ignorance of the law is a great excuse.

    And I swear to Zeus that Trump supporters are quick to come out with, “he’s a businessman, not a politician. Leave him alone.” I remember reading about “the divine right of kings” in history class. It’s been replaced by a willing populace acknowledging the divine right of Trump.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    @TenguPhule: God, no. Not unless you have a home version stomach pump. Because I can already see that every single box on that damn thing is aching to be checked off. It’s like if a big talking point prop could exude sexual tension. It is *dying* for you to take a marker to it, and do what you will!

  22. 22.

    Served

    The fact that some of the most damaging things that Yates could testify to are all getting leaked today is very very interesting. She doesn’t have to say a word or toe the line on national security matters. It’s all out there already now.

  24. 24.

    clay

    Someone OT, but can anyone explain to me what Carter Page thinks he’s up to*?

    This is what prompted the question, but it’s only the latest in a series of contradictory and inexplicable behavior.

    *I know, I know… the question implies rational thought, which might not be in evidence.

  25. 25.

    TenguPhule

    @Brachiator: Every Republican tugs their forelock.

    /I got it from the British, best metaphor for the Republican proles I’ve ever come across that’s not expletives.

  26. 26.

    germy

    @hovercraft:

    “Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to—

    (1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;

    (2) cause or induce any person to—

    (A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official proceeding;

    (B) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding;

    (C) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in an official proceeding; or

    (D) be absent from an official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process; or

    (3) hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer or judge of the United States of information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense or a violation of conditions of probation supervised release, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings;
    shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.”

  27. 27.

    Aleta

    (Reposting because I’m mad.). High time for Trump to testify under oath; that tweet today about Yates should require calling him.

    Also that “senior Trump administration official” who (I believe) is out there downplaying what Obama said (“not a fan of Michael Flynn”) should be called to testify under oath too. And the one who said “Obama’s remark seemed like it was made in jest.” They are probably too cowardly to identify themselves though, since they’d have to repeat their lies under their real names.

  29. 29.

    zach

    @hovercraft: Graham was won over to Team Trump by 57 cruise missiles. His lust for any war, ever was pretty quick to overwhelm his seemingly sincere refusal to accept Trump’s legitimacy.

  32. 32.

    TenguPhule

    @Aleta:

    High time for Trump to testify under oath

    Trump will not testify short of anything less then an actual gun being held to his temple to compel him to do so. Any court order will be ignored.

    /hypothetical but accurate example

  36. 36.

    TenguPhule

    @germy: And the chances of getting that through Congress or the Supreme Court are effectively zero.

  37. 37.

    Spanky

    @germy: If the President does it, it’s not illegal. Plus also too, he can just pardon himself. Nyah nyah nyah!

  39. 39.

    zach

    Weird bit of Clapper’s intro: he claims he’s limited by Trump’s executive privilege claims even though he resigned before Trump was inaugurated… how does that work? Can Trump protect information from previous administrations??

    Edit: from the transcript “Because of both classification and executive privilege strictures requested by the White House, there are limits to what I can discuss. And, of course, my direct, official knowledge of any of this stopped on January 20th, when my term of office was, happily, over.”

  40. 40.

    tobie

    @zach: There’s never been a military campaign Lindsay Graham didn’t like, so maybe the 59 Tomahawks that bombed Syria won him over. I wonder, though, whether the Russians have collected intelligence on him which Trump is using to blackmail him. He really changed his tune regarding the whole Russian involvement in the election/Trump collusion in the past two weeks. His change of heart, in other words, came sometime after the bombing of Syria.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    @tobie:

    I wonder, though, whether the Russians have collected intelligence on him which Trump is using to blackmail him.

    Its an open secret that Graham has live boys running around in his bed.

  46. 46.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @TenguPhule and tobie: Clapper said that the Russians hacked the Republicans but didn’t release that information. That could explain some of the bizarre behaviors and turnarounds.

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    @Thoroughly Pizzled:

    We’re still waiting for a John Dean to emerge.

    Gonna have to keep waiting…these Trumpovian rats, they’re all willing to go down with the ship.

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    Mercer Sued by Hedge Fund Worker Fired After Blasting Trump
    May 8, 2017, 2:30 pm

    excerpt:
    The dispute started on Jan. 16 when Magerman called Mercer and asked to have a conversation about his support of Trump, according to the complaint. During the chat, Mercer said the U.S. had started going in the wrong direction “after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s,” according to the complaint. Mercer also said that black Americans “were doing fine” in the late 1950s and are the “only racist people remaining in the U.S.,” according to the complaint.

    “Magerman was stunned by these comments and pushed back,” according to the complaint. Reminded of the racial segregation that existed at the time, Mercer allegedly responded by saying those issues weren’t important.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    @Cheryl Rofer: Comey said senators were targeted also. Putin is biding his time until he needs the information. Of course, someone could ask Chaffetz, Ryan and McConnell what they know about it.

  55. 55.

    Jeffro

    @clay:

    Someone OT, but can anyone explain to me what Carter Page thinks he’s up to*?

    This is what prompted the question, but it’s only the latest in a series of contradictory and inexplicable behavior.

    He’s in deep, he knows it, he thinks he can BS his way out of it, and somewhere along the way, he must have heard the phrase “the best defense is a good offense”, not realizing that doesn’t apply in every situation.

    “Show trial” – goodness, Page, you’ve been hanging out with your Russian buddies too much! As the public is about to find out…

  56. 56.

    Corner Stone

    @Aleta:

    Also that “senior Trump administration official” who (I believe) is out there downplaying what Obama said (“not a fan of Michael Flynn”) should be called to testify under oath too. And the one who said “Obama’s remark seemed like it was made in jest.” They are probably too cowardly to identify themselves though, since they’d have to repeat their lies under their real names

    I’ll give you three guesses as to who those people are, and the first two don’t count. Hint, their name rhymes with Ronald Frump.

  57. 57.

    zach

    @Aleta:

    Are these nine scientists allowed to speak freely to the press I wonder?

    Trump will threaten lawsuits claiming all agency communications are covered by executive privilege. Folks won’t risk it, but they might leak anonymously. But probably there’s no fire there other than the obvious… if Trump/Pruitt were really dumb they’d ask for some quid pro quo (keep your job if you get on board!) but it’s a lot easier just to get folks who are with you via the hiring process… of course, the Trump admin seems a little too disorganized to do much hiring.

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    @Jeffro:

    he must have heard the phrase “the best defense is a good offense”, not realizing that doesn’t apply in every situation.

    Unfortunately, it does in politics.

    Otherwise the GOP would have ceased to exist as a party after 2008.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Yates has come a long way since her days as the Santa Barbara police chief on Psych.

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Lindsey Graham is using smaller and smaller knives to split hairs here.

    I hope when this thing blows up he is buried in the collateral damage—if not shown to have participated in outright collusion himself.

  71. 71.

    Corner Stone

    Sen Graham looks like he had a lunch that was either three martinis or something that has really discombobulated his digestive system.

  73. 73.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Steeplejack (phone):
    It is getting easier to tell who in Congress is complicit with the coup.

    Add Miss Lindsey to the list.

    We’re gonna need a bigger tumbrel.

  74. 74.

    TenguPhule

    @Aleta: Well in that case it comes down to personal integrity versus trying to get a job. Because you know Pruitt will blackball them however he can in any career if they do speak out.

  76. 76.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    Here comes the rub from Yates, who notes that “I’m going to be very careful not to reveal classified information.” Clapper notes that he can answer the question “in another setting.”

  77. 77.

    TenguPhule

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Add Miss Lindsey to the list.

    Lindsay has been on the list since 2008. And the tumbrels are on back order. We can’t source enough steel without resorting to China and I refuse to use their crap.

  86. 86.

    rikyrah

    Texas Tribune‏Verified account @TexasTribune

    Breaking: Donald Trump taps Irving Mayor @Bethvanduyne as regional HUD administrator. http://trib.it/2pZ8LgB

    Richard Allen Smith‏Verified account @rockrichard

    Richard Allen Smith Retweeted Texas Tribune

    This is the mayor who led a racist backlash against a child who built a clock.

  87. 87.

    jl

    ” Russians had their hooks in deep (allegedly of course) into their National Security Adviser. ”

    It was mutual hooking, was it not? “Allegedly” of course.

    Why are these Trumpist assholes given so much benefit of the doubt? They are incompetents and crooks.

    Need to make the 2018 midterms scary enough to the GOP, so that if the Dems don’t get majority, the Grifters Only Party think about impeaching the bums, or hemming them in with legislation.

  88. 88.

    clay

    @Thoroughly Pizzled:

    The Senate Republicans are much, much better than the House Republicans. Not that they’re good, but small comforts.

    Only in the sense that if one of my students scored a 50% on a test, and one scored a 10%, the first did much, much better. But they both still failed.

  92. 92.

    bystander

    @PsiFighter37:

    Strange how that has never been an issue so virulently anti-gay marriage like Sweet Lindsay…

    The bitter realization that the rough trade Marines Sweet Lindsay prefers will never meet him at the altar.

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    Christopher Hayes‏Verified account @chrislhayes

    The Kushners only got caught selling their access to the WH bc reporters were there. How many pitch meetings have there been w/o reporters?

    Cody Keenan‏Verified account @codykeenan

    Cody Keenan Retweeted Christopher Hayes

    Our WH Counsel told us we couldn’t use our titles to get restaurant reservations. These grifters use the White House like a piggy bank.

  96. 96.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    Mercer also said that black Americans “were doing fine” in the late 1950s

    i.e., without a clear right to vote or basic civil rights.

    and are the “only racist people remaining in the U.S.,”

    uppity, uppity, uppity.

  97. 97.

    Corner Stone

    Yates just said Flynn was dirty AF and the WH knew it. She didn’t politely parse words, or couch as a maybe.
    Flynn was compromised and the WH knew it.

  98. 98.

    jl

    Yates: “You don’t want your National Security Adviser compromised with the Russians.”

    I look forward tot the Trumpster derp on that statement.
    Maybe a Trumpster lawyer will get a lot of corporate news media time to repeat “Sezhoo?” while some news media diva hack nodes sagely.

  100. 100.

    Elie

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I have always believed that the Republicans are compromised by what the Russians know about them. It explains a whole lot of their behavior. I have absolutely no proof or citation for this, but I believe all the cats are going to get out of the bags — that it could be real hell for our system — but unavoidable. Why do I believe that? Our allies in Europe and elsewhere want to fix the Russian problem that effects them and blowing up this beachhead could help with that. In other words, I will not be up to our Congress or Trump’s regime to reveal information… it will come from other sources that they will be unable to silence…

  101. 101.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    Sally Yates just spelled out exactly how stupid McGann is:

    he wanted to know why it matters to the FBI if one WH official lies to another WH official…
    So we explained to him that it was much more than that.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    David Frum‏Verified account @davidfrum

    David Frum Retweeted Josh Rogin

    Trump was angry because McMaster told the South Koreans that the US would honor a pre-existing deal, not renege as Trump had threatened 4/28

  105. 105.

    Corner Stone

    Sally Yates’ middle initial is Q.
    Let that sink in for a minute…

  107. 107.

    zach

    Why does everyone just accept that Yates was fired because she didn’t play ball on the ban? She was fired in the midst of personally pressuring the White House to axe Flynn… and Flynn wasn’t fired for two more weeks so presumably Trump spent that time trying to figure a way out of this.

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    Seeing that Yates testified that Flynn talked to the FBI without a lawyer, and lied. That’s not very smart.

  109. 109.

    Gravenstone

    @PhoenixRising:

    it is more fascinating every day just what a President unburdened by knowledge

    You know damn well you could have simply stopped here…

  110. 110.

    hellslittlestangel

    Chuck SnakeInTheGrassley: Are either of you snitches trying to hurt my pal Trumpy?

  111. 111.

    clay

    @rikyrah:

    Christopher Hayes‏Verified account @chrislhayes

    The Kushners only got caught selling their access to the WH bc reporters were there. How many pitch meetings have there been w/o reporters?

    Cody Keenan‏Verified account @codykeenan

    Cody Keenan Retweeted Christopher Hayes

    Our WH Counsel told us we couldn’t use our titles to get restaurant reservations. These grifters use the White House like a piggy bank.

    Arrgh!!! Who’s in charge of this shit? Do we have to rely on Congress? Because that ain’t happening.

    Is there some other path to get some effin’ oversight into this? Is it the courts? Do we sue? We can’t use public shaming, because these a-holes are completely shameless. They aren’t even trying to hide anything!

  113. 113.

    Corner Stone

    Grassley now going with the talking point that Trump keeps repeating that the DNC did not allow the FBI to investigate their server.
    What an ink squirter.

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    Eric Boehlert
    ✔
    @EricBoehlert

    [email protected] there aren’t 4 GOPs in the whole House who’d dare show up to debate TrumpCare

    Follow
    Eric Boehlert
    ✔
    @EricBoehlert

    [email protected] it’s on tonight; Rep. Maloney holding healthcare town hall in GOP Faso’s district–b/c Faso won’t; http://bit.ly/2pU2dkY
    11:24 AM – 8 May 2017

    ………………………………

    1. Start with every GOPer in N.Y. and California.
    2. Next, every GOP district that Hillary won
    3. Every GOPer in a state that Hillary won
    4. Every GOPer in A state with a Senate seat up in 2018 -Dem or GOP
    5. Every state with a Governors race in 2017 and 2018
    6. Then pick the GOPers enough to add up to 100 GOP house -winning that should be the target – concentrate on 100 seats to flip

  117. 117.

    Gravenstone

    @TenguPhule: That’s only step one. Step two will be replacing those advisory board members with handpicked petrodollar “scientists”.

  118. 118.

    Chris

    @Major Major Major Major:

    @Doug R: these people are children, they always get mad when mommy doesn’t clean up after them when they throw tantrums about not getting a pony for their birthday.

    This increasingly describes the entire country’s relationship with the Democratic Party.

  119. 119.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    She testified that she called McGann on Monday to tell him the material was available for review. Did they ever review it? “That was my last day at DOJ, so I don’t know what happened after then.”

  121. 121.

    jl

    Was unclear where Grassley was going at the beginning, but obvious now a complete and noxious hack.

  122. 122.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Elie: I think we have to keep in mind the fact that the Republicans were hacked and the information not made public. It tends to die, so I’m glad it was mentioned again today. Devin Nunes’s bizarre behavior comes to mind as something that could have come from a blackmail situation.

  124. 124.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Gin & Tonic: @LAO: The smart criminals get prosecuted successfully much less frequently than the dumb ones…

  125. 125.

    hovercraft

    @zach:
    On msnbc before the hearing started Nicole Wallace and Brian Williams said that at this point no one believes that she was fired because she refused to follow an unconstitutional order, everyone assumes it was over this Flynn stuff.

  127. 127.

    tobie

    Why does everyone assume that Flynn lied to Pence? I’m more inclined to believe that Pence lied to the public on TV. Knowingly lied. Not unknowingly spread misinformation given to him by Flynn.

  129. 129.

    clay

    @Corner Stone:

    Grassley now going with the talking point that Trump keeps repeating that the DNC did not allow the FBI to investigate their server.

    Even if true, which I doubt very much, what in the hell does that have to do with anything? If the investigation is about the Trump team’s ties with Russia, what the DNC did or did not do is immaterial.

  130. 130.

    Corner Stone

    @rikyrah:

    Rep. Maloney holding healthcare town hall in GOP Faso’s district–b/c Faso won’t;

    Holy Balls!

  131. 131.

    rikyrah

    From POU:

    Kennymack1971

    So….

    Black man warns White man not to hire another White man because he’s trouble.

    Arrogant, mediocre White man dismisses the Black man’s warnings and hires the White dude anyway.

    Shit storm ensues and arrogant, mediocre White man has to shit can the White dude he was warned not to hire in the first place.

    Moral of the story….

    Fuck You Mayo Nation.

  132. 132.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Gin & Tonic: True, and sadly, clearly not the case with LTG Flynn. I attribute much of this to arrogance.

  133. 133.

    Jeffro

    @Corner Stone: He and Senator Graham sure do have the GOP party line down: “if we say ‘unmasking’ as many times as possible, and keep asking about who leaked to the Post, we might just get out of this thing only slightly charred (instead of toast)”

  134. 134.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    I hate so much of the enabling media. Trump could say the moon is made of tofu, and someone in the press would point out, with great earnestness mind you, that there IS in fact a moon and isn’t it true that scientists have not explored every bit of the surface?

  136. 136.

    A Ghost To Most

    @tobie:

    Why does everyone assume that Flynn lied to Pence? I’m more inclined to believe that Pence lied to the public on TV. Knowingly lied. Not unknowingly spread misinformation given to him by Flynn.

    Most democrats I know assume that Pence is lying as part of the coverup.

  138. 138.

    clay

    @tobie: I’ve said that all along. Pence was supposedly in charge of the transition; there’s no way he was ignorant of everything.

  139. 139.

    jl

    @rikyrah: Very clear by now that ‘blame the black guy’ is a constant fall back whine of the Trumpsters.

    But why do you say ‘mediocre’ White man? Russians got to you too?

  140. 140.

    Millard Filmore

    @Elie:

    Our allies in Europe and elsewhere want to fix the Russian problem

    I hope that last vote in France gave their IC folks confidence to leak, or even speak up, more aggressively.

  141. 141.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Elie:
    This is a perfectly legitimate theory, but do keep in mind it’s not even necessary. Assume – and I think you’ll agree this is true – that 99% of elected Republicans are hard core racists/misogynists/general bigots. They vary mostly in how polite and educated they can sound about it. From that starting point, they came within a hair’s breadth of having white male power overturned for good, first with Obama and then with Clinton. They need no extra reason to fight tooth and nail to defend a white supremacist president from the party of civil rights. Money from the rich, carrots and sticks from Russia, these are bonuses for what they were already highly motivated to do.

  142. 142.

    Corner Stone

    @Jeffro: The third leg of the ink squirt plan is “incidental collection”. Grassley asked about not only Trump but also any member of Congress. That is almost a guaranteed Yes answer and he fucking knows it. He can then conflate the answer to cover Trump’s yoog ass.

  143. 143.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): nah,they would ask them if they were talking about tofu or tofu cheese because it has not been decided that the moon is in fact not made out of cheese,so it’s possible that Dolt 45 was actually talking about cheese and not tofu.

  144. 144.

    TenguPhule

    @clay:

    If the investigation is about the Trump team’s ties with Russia, what the DNC did or did not do is immaterial.

    Why is Chewbacca on Endor?!

  145. 145.

    zach

    @hovercraft: It’s amazing to read how the Yates’ firing was reported at the time in retrospect: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/30/justice-department-trump-immigration-acting-attorney-general-sally-yates …

    Aren’t Democrats allowed to call any witnesses? Should ask if Flynn matter was considered in the 3 hours it took to fire Yates.

    Also, I’m skeptical if Trump’s team is so sophisticated, but the original order was plainly flawed and not reviewed by State and DOJ as something like this normally would be… it could’ve been an attempt to tie up Yates and DOJ in the Muslim ban controversy to distract from what was going on with Flynn.

  147. 147.

    LAO

    Following his brilliant handling of Sally Yates & Michael Flynn, Trump next plans to deal with Dracula by firing Van Helsing.— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 8, 2017

  149. 149.

    hovercraft

    @raven: I love how she keeps telling them that WH Council asked her why the DOJ cared if one WH staffer lied to another staffer. Seriously what the fuck is wrong with these people!

  151. 151.

    jl

    Scary thing is that the ignorant toxic fool and idiot (see Rikyrah, that’s what you say, none of this ‘mediocre’ stuff.) won’t change. Read in the news this morning that McMaster is in the doghouse because because he tried to clean up some of Trump’s messes behind his back.

    Trump sticking with dingbats like McFarlane and Gorka. The moron in chief better get himself impeached convicted and removed asap, before he drags the country into a disaster.

  152. 152.

    rikyrah

    Bradd Jaffy‏Verified account @BraddJaffy

    Sen. Feinstein wants to end the EB-5 visa program; calls it a “stark conflict of interest for the White House” after Kushner China reports

  154. 154.

    hellslittlestangel

    John Cornyn, right out of the fucking gate: The real criminal here is Susan Rice.

  155. 155.

    tobie

    @A Ghost To Most: @clay: This matters insofar as Sally Yates herself keeps on repeating that she was compelled to warn the White House about Flynn because Pence was “unknowingly” spreading false info on TV. She also said that Pence had been lied to and pointed to his statements on TV as evidence. I could see why she felt she had to approach the White House with her concerns. It’s sloppy for a career prosecutor, though, to make statements about what someone else knows or doesn’t. I’m with you folks. Pence was in on this.

  156. 156.

    TenguPhule

    @clay:

    Is there some other path to get some effin’ oversight into this? Is it the courts? Do we sue?

    Do you want the bad news or the worse news first?

  157. 157.

    MomSense

    Holy shit. Pretty sure they just said that they had intelligence that Russia had kompromat on Flynn. That’s what I have been guessing based on his bizarre behavior to have phone convos he had to have known would be of interest to IC.

  160. 160.

    CM

    The Republicans don’t care about Russian plans and actions or about Americans who may be, either wittingly or even unwittingly, colluding with them. All they care about is “unmasking” and “leaking”.

  161. 161.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @hellslittlestangel: I was shocked. Shocked I tell you.
    Umasking. Drink!

    Tumbrels need to be produced in much greater quantity.

  162. 162.

    TenguPhule

    @CM:

    All they care about is “unmasking” and “leaking”.

    Because how can they commit crimes if some snitch is going to rat them out for it.

  163. 163.

    hovercraft

    @tobie:
    In order to appear non partisan, they are giving the WH the benefit of the doubt, they know Flynn lied, but unless the actually were “tapping” their phones, they have no proof that Pence and the rest knew he about his contacts before they were told. Flynn would have to prove that they knew and are just throwing him under the bus.

  164. 164.

    A Ghost To Most

    @tobie:

    Pence was in on this.

    Of course he was. They are trying to protect him, in case of impeachment.

  166. 166.

    jl

    @hellslittlestangel:

    “John Cornyn, right out of the fucking gate: The real criminal here is Susan Rice.”

    The WH and Nunes did some leaking too, right?
    Oh Lord, now Cornyn goes into smear mode on an unrelated issues. Hack.

  167. 167.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    I’m not watching, but no one is mentioning Dems on the panel… have they not spoken yet?

  168. 168.

    Corner Stone

    That devil witch in black behind Yates is trying to burn holes in the back of Sally’s head.

  169. 169.

    TenguPhule

    Drink for:

    “Unmasking”
    “leaking”
    “grave concerns”
    “unnamed sources”

    Chug:

    “Deep State”
    “emails”
    “DNC Server”

  171. 171.

    rikyrah

    I read Ivanka Trump’s book this weekend. It’s really striking how she (& her dad) try to pretend they are self-made.

    Ivanka Trump’s life of privilege undermines the credibility of her new book’s message
    By James Hohmann May 8 at 9:56 AM

    Ivanka Trump’s new book unwittingly reveals just how out of touch she is with the lives of the working women who she believes she speaks for.

    — President Trump dubiously claimed during the campaign that he was a self-made man. “My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars,” he told NBC during a 2015 interview, which he insisted he paid back with interest. “A million dollars isn’t very much compared to what I built!” During a primary debate, when Marco Rubio claimed that he had received a $200 million inheritance from his father, Trump replied angrily: “I took $1 million and I turned it into $10 billion.”

    Every fact checker faulted Trump for not giving his father enough credit, for downplaying the connections and the resources he received from the family business. Court documents revealed that the candidate was omitting vastly larger loans and gifts he received over the years. His pop also bailed him out when his Atlantic City casinos went bankrupt.

    — The first daughter (now a White House official) also talks at times as if she is a self-made millionaire. “It wasn’t until I built my own business from the ground up that I understood the vastness of launching your own enterprise,” Ivanka Trump, referring to her fashion brand, writes in “Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success.” “Undeniably, one factor in my success has been the doors that my family’s name and privileged upbringing have opened … But they alone didn’t guarantee my success. … Curiosity, passion, hard work and perseverance have enabled me to prove my value to myself and others beyond my surname. … Anyone who knows me knows that I will outwork anyone…

    — For millions of folks in the Rust Belt – the people who delivered the White House to the Trumps – it is not a matter of “curiosity, passion, hard work and perseverance.” Working hard was not enough to keep the General Motors plant open in Janesville, Wisconsin. Being passionate isn’t enough to keep coal mines churning in West Virginia. Curiosity is not going to bring back manufacturing jobs to Ohio. (Those people also don’t have government employees promoting their products on cable and Twitter.)

  173. 173.

    jl

    Cornyn’s office will get a call from someone outside his state notifying him that someone will be sending his next opponent lots of money.

  174. 174.

    clay

    @TenguPhule:

    Do you want the bad news or the worse news first?

    Actually, I’ll just be weeping in the corner.

    Although, as evidenced by the rescinded travel bans, there are some courts that are not subject to partisan hackery. And who knows, the SC may even be among them? I mean, the emoluments clause is pretty straightforward, and I can’t imagine Kennedy or Roberts is thrilled about the Oval Office being used as a flea market.

  177. 177.

    Jeffro

    @CM:

    The Republicans don’t care about Russian plans and actions or about Americans who may be, either wittingly or even unwittingly, colluding with them. All they care about is “unmasking” and “leaking”.

    Yup – it’s almost like they were putting party over country, or something.

    Cornyn can go DIAF, twice.

  178. 178.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @TenguPhule: I’ll be in ICU if I use all those terms. Unless I use V8.

    Oooh, Immigration EO! To which Yates explains her actions thoroughly with a side of shiv, of course. Intent made the order not lawful… Cornyn is disappointed in her. And she explains why he shouldn’t be. Then Durbin sweeps in to note that her determination was agreed with by 3 federal courts.

  179. 179.

    JMG

    The Republican Senators don’t care. Trump’s win has convinced them they’re all bulletproof as long as they make it clear they hate the Others (decent people). They better hope they’re right. The next Democratic administration isn’t going to be as high-minded and forgiving as Obama was. Obstruction of justice, collusion with a foreign power, well, Senators can get indicted, too.

  181. 181.

    Elie

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I agree that these people are ruthless and ideological. Unfortunately for them, we have a very decentralized, chaotic press and media as well as layered governance between the feds and the states. The GOP will have to manage a lot of balls and while cunning about some things, have been clearly not too smart on others. They have a lot of ideologues who have major problems with reality and the arrogance to think it can be ignored or manipulated — the “alternate facts” scheme. That may be true in Russia, but not here – yet. Maybe I am crazy but although things go slowly, I do not believe that they can control all of this — the scope and numerous players involved will make it hard… We’ll see. I think that they are blind to themselves and that blindness causes big slip ups that won’t be easy to quell.

  182. 182.

    TenguPhule

    @clay:

    I mean, the emoluments clause is pretty straightforward, and I can’t imagine Kennedy or Roberts is thrilled about the Oval Office being used as a flea market.

    Bush vs. Gore.

    Citizens United.

    Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

  183. 183.

    Corner Stone

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): It’s been mainly R’s by speaking time. But the D’s have asked some pro forma questions that got a few things in the record. And some other answers were that they could not answer that in this setting.
    The R’s are all following the talking points line to try and confuse what this hearing is about. That’s why we’re yelling about them.

  185. 185.

    rikyrah

    A group of Obama veterans are banding together to invest in tech that can help Democrats win
    The new effort is called Higher Ground Labs, and it’s hoping to help the party in state and local races.
    MAY 8, 2017, 5:00AM EDT

    Hoping to gain new ground after an Election Day disappointment, a group of tech experts who worked with President Barack Obama are banding together to give progressive political candidates a bit of a digital upgrade.

    The effort is called Higher Ground Labs, and it aims to invest in new political technologies so that progressive office-seekers at the state and federal levels can tap the same Silicon Valley-style tools that helped Obama and other nationally inclined Democrats win past races.

    To Betsy Hoover, a former director of digital organizing for Obama’s 2012 team, the problem is that presidential campaigns invest the greatest time and effort into technology to reach and persuade voters — but that “technology typically dies” after the election season ends. Even so, their software can be difficult to adapt to down-ballot candidates, who are seeking to run for congress or their local state house.

  188. 188.

    TenguPhule

    @Elie:

    Unfortunately for them, we have a very decentralized, chaotic press and media as well as layered governance between the feds and the states.

    Which has all been carefully beaten into compliance after 30 years of bullshitting and face slapping. The exceptions are few and far between.

  189. 189.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @rikyrah:

    1. Start with every GOPer in N.Y. and California.

    California has a D supermajority in the State leg that will move heaven and earth and whatever the San Andreas fault leaves nailed down to retain the state version of the ACA (Covered California). CA Repubs and their constituents know that they can vote with their national party with impunity, because their healthcare is safe at least for now and they won’t pay a personal price for being assholes. The GOP motto – “I’ve got mine, fuck you” – may have been invented here.

  190. 190.

    Corner Stone

    @clay: Cornyn tried to slut shame Yates on her decision to not enforce the Muslim Ban and she came back at him by quoting her answers during her initial confirmation hearing. Basically, “you asked me if I would do something the WH asked me to do that I felt was unlawful. And I said I would not.”

  191. 191.

    Corner Stone

    Man, I am missing Alaskan State Troopers on NatGeo for this! This needs to pick up, stat!

  192. 192.

    cckids

    Hi fellow cat people; OT I suppose, but time sensitive: a neighbor’s cat has climbed a tree here in our back yard. He/she is about 25-30 feet up, no easy way down, currently being dive-bombed by crows. I don’t have the funding to call a tree service to get him down.

    I’ve put an open bowl of wet food at the base of the tree. Any other suggestions? My tallest ladder is 10 feet. He’s meowing & seeming frightened, occasionally makes a brief attempt at leaving his little perch, but won’t (so far) be coaxed down. He’s been up there at least 6 hours now. Any clues??

    Thx in advance.

  193. 193.

    rikyrah

    Where’s the empathy for black poverty and pain?
    By Tanzina Vega, CNN

    Updated 11:13 AM ET, Fri May 5, 2017

    (CNN)In the 1890s, sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois noticed something disturbing about how Americans viewed the plight of blacks in Philadelphia who had suffered through unsanitary living conditions, high rates of consumption and back-breaking labor.
    “The most difficult social problem in the matter of Negro health is the peculiar attitude of the nation toward the well-being of the race,” he wrote. “There have, for instance, been few other cases in the history of civilized peoples where human suffering has been viewed with such peculiar indifference.”
    That indifference toward the well-being of blacks, and to a larger extent, people of color in the United States, arguably continues today, particularly in how the media frames the struggles of whites who are suffering from suicide and drug abuse at record rates.

    ……………………

    Today’s empathy gap in how we view white poverty and black poverty is partly the result of the overwhelming, and arguably sympathetic, focus on white working-class Americans by both the media and the current administration.
    Consider the popularity of the podcast “S-Town,” where “race has a weird, sideways manner of appearing,” among its poor, white protagonists, wrote Wesley Jenkins for Buzzfeed.
    An empathy gap also exists in how we view the opioid addiction crisis that has gripped the nation, particularly among white males. I recall growing up in public housing in New York City and seeing heroin and crack ravage our largely poor black and Latino community. Back then, the drug epidemic was considered a crime to be eradicated, rather than a public health issue to be handled with compassion.
    To be sure, poor white Americans are facing a serious crisis, but blacks who still lag far behind them in key metrics of economic success, are rarely seen as deserving of such empathy.
    “Most Americans believe that racism is in the past and that it’s individual, not structural,” said David R. Williams, a professor of public health, African-American studies and sociology at Harvard University. “They believe that the problems minority Americans have are problems they created themselves.”

  194. 194.

    hovercraft

    @Corner Stone:
    That’s going to leave a mark. Or at least it would if he was smart enough or had constituents who would turf the dumb bastard.

  195. 195.

    Tenar Arha

    @A Ghost To Most: I’m going with the theory that Pence in “it” up to his neck. There’s already a letter from Elijah Cummings to Pence on how Flynn might have conflicts of interest on Nov. 18th! Isn’t Pence arguably, the main party responsible for not properly vetting Flynn as head of transition, on top of lack of vetting by 45 during campaign?

  197. 197.

    Mnemosyne

    @JMG:

    The next Democratic administration isn’t going to be as high-minded and forgiving as Obama was.

    For the Iraq debacle, Republicans were careful to get powerful Democrats like Dianne Feinstein knee-deep in the shit, so Democrats didn’t have much motivation to try and prosecute.

    I doubt the current crop of Republicans was smart enough to bring the Democrats in on this whole Russia thing, so the Democrats will have zero incentive to protect their colleagues.

  201. 201.

    Mart

    I almost killed myself getting a neighbors cat down from a tree. Another neighbor came up laughing as I was on the ground stopping the bleeding and said next time leave em up there, they will come down on their own.

  203. 203.

    MomSense

    I fucking hate smarmy Ted’s voice.

    I’m only listening while I do paperwork and wondering where I went wrong in life that I recognize all the Senators by their voices.

  204. 204.

    hellslittlestangel

    Ted Cruz: What about that bitch Huma Abedin?

    What a bunch of jerkoffs.

  208. 208.

    TenguPhule

    @MomSense:

    and wondering where I went wrong in life that I recognize all the Senators by their voices.

    You came here. Case closed.

    /dry wit & black humor.

  210. 210.

    Corner Stone

    Ted Cruz has turned into one puffy fucking toad since Trump kicked his ass.

  213. 213.

    H.E.Wolf

    @cckids:
    Via Google, here’s a free cat-de-tree-ing service in the Seattle metro area:
    1-(877)-721-MEOW

    ETA: I think to be accurate it’s a tree de-catting service. :)

  215. 215.

    germy

    @Mart: The old Steve Martin trick: stay on the ground under the tree and open a can of cat food.

  217. 217.

    D58826

    Well maybe the reason that the Sanders/Clinton campaigns were not under surveillance was because they weren’t talking to the Russians.

  218. 218.

    hovercraft

    @clay:
    He asked her why she refused an order from the president, he said he had voted to confirm her, she pointed out that at her confirmation hearing he had asked her what she would do if she received an order from the president that was unlawful what she would do. At the time she told him she would refuse. He then expressed his disappointment, that she had refused a lawful order, and she came back with I didn’t think it was lawful and that’s why I refused. Unsaid was the 9th agreed.

  220. 220.

    Shalimar

    @Corner Stone:

    Grassley now going with the talking point that Trump keeps repeating that the DNC did not allow the FBI to investigate their server.

    rebuttal question for Grassley: The RNC server was also hacked. Grassley and his staff communicate regularly with the RNC. Did the RNC allow the FBI to investigate their server?

  221. 221.

    Captain C

    @rikyrah: Followed by:

    “White man blames black man for white man’s own hiring of tainted other white man against black man’s advice.”

  224. 224.

    jl

    Ted Cruz is a noxious ass, and getting riled that Yates won’t kiss his ass.

  230. 230.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @rikyrah:

    Who are you expecting sympathy from? If it’s racist assholes, you’ve got a long wait. I don’t know how to eradicate the worst in people, wish I did. We’ll be suffering because of bigotry for a very long time to come.

  233. 233.

    rikyrah

    David Beard‏Verified account @dabeard

    David Beard Retweeted Congcong Zhang

    [email protected] researcher in Beijing, threatened for reporting on US visas-for-cash scheme in China by #Trump son-in-law’s family.

    Congcong Zhang‏ @daphnewelkin5

    Congcong Zhang Retweeted Emily Rauhala

    I was threatened, harassed and forced to delete recordings and photos of The Kushner family recruiting Chinese investors in US Green cards.

  234. 234.

    Applejinx

    @Corner Stone:

    Do the people who got scared off from voting for HRC think she would have dismantled the EPA?

    No. (I did vote for her, but all the same I’ll field that one.) No, she could be trusted with that to an extent. She would loosen up things for fracking, because the USA stands to gain a great deal from pursuing and internationalizing fracking: it’s my understanding that our companies lead in that area. That’s not the same as dismantling the EPA, that’s just bad in its own right and not on the scale of what we’re seeing out of the Trump administration. Call it weakening environmental concerns, call it normalizing bad things, but it’s not the same as this all-out war.

  235. 235.

    TenguPhule

    @MomSense:

    What does it say about here that I was attracted?

    John’s good looks, Dougs! Witty banter and Adam Silverman’s cheerful personality.

  236. 236.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @cckids: @Mart: I had this problem once with my cat – my neighbor, consulted for help/advice, dryly repeated the old saw that you never see any cat skeletons under trees, now do you? Leave kitty there and he’ll figure it out, most likely when you’re not looking up at him and increasing his anxiety level about how much trouble he’s going to be in when he comes down.

  237. 237.

    hovercraft

    @Jeffro: @opiejeanne:
    When her name was floated as a future candidate, I wasn’t sure, but given her performance today, depending on her positions, I’d totally back her.

  239. 239.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    We were concerned with “not the interpretation of some arcane statute but a fundamental right of religious freedom.” And then Cruz shows his lily white Cuban ass.

  240. 240.

    clay

    @opiejeanne:

    I think she’s owning them.

    Gee, it’s amazing how partisan hackery can’t stand up to a clear demonstration of facts and integrity.

  242. 242.

    jl

    Yates said ‘people of goodwill” and implicitly included Gassy, Crony and Crud. But she’s under oath. Perjury?

  243. 243.

    hellslittlestangel

    @germy: Jennifer Rubin, got to give her credit for finding her fundamental decency. Most striking conversion from Republicanism since … I dunno, John Cole?

  244. 244.

    TenguPhule

    @MomSense: Spiked heel! Give him the spiked heel!

    /For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of the movie I heard that from

  250. 250.

    Jeffro

    KLOBUCHAR GOING FOR THE THROAT!! Shell corporations! Money laundering!

    “We don’t want to become a have for shell corporations with nefarious purposes” – Yates, 5/8/17

  252. 252.

    hellslittlestangel

    Thanks, Sen Klobuchar for getting this hearing back on topic: Russian interference in our election.

  253. 253.

    Corner Stone

    Clapper just dissed all the R talking points and ink cloud bullshit, hardcore.

  254. 254.

    Another Scott

    @cckids: He’ll come down on his own, eventually, if there aren’t dogs and things around to keep him treed. Does he like cheese? Fish?

    Having the ladder propped against the tree may help. Standing on the ladder (safely!) may help too, at least in reverse. My dad was working on a ladder once when he heard a bunch of barking coming toward him, then suddenly felt a cat running up his back and up onto the roof…

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  256. 256.

    Jeffro

    OMG Sasse: “how likely that Congressional IT systems are compromised?”

    Clapper: “likely”

    Sasse’s like, “They didn’t get to me, American Public…but they sure got some of the rest of these clowns…”

  258. 258.

    ChrisB

    Jennifer Rubin is correct: Yates absolutely kicked Cruz’s butt. Meanwhile Clapper reminds me of that old guy, Maester Pycelle, from Game of Thrones (with a head nod to Bob Uecker’s color commentator from Major League:

    “Anything to add?”
    “Nope.”
    “He’s not the best in the bigs for nothing, folks.”

  262. 262.

    Jeffro

    @ChrisB: @opiejeanne: I’d be pleased to have ‘normal’ conservatives like Rubin and Sasse running the show on the right, as opposed to the grifters, traitors, and billionaires currently in charge

  265. 265.

    jl

    @Jeffro: Sasse bringing some subtext. He’s young, and if he’s clean, he can be one of the GOPers to be still standing after the wreckage.

    But I don’t know much about him. How awful are Sasse’s policy veiws?

  267. 267.

    Applejinx

    @Gravenstone: The question was:

    Do the people who got scared off from voting for HRC think she would have dismantled the EPA?

    The answer, in my opinion, is ‘no’, and I also explained what those same people think she WOULD have done, which is not the same. I don’t give a fuck about policy websites as I do not trust her and do not trust that her supposed policy statements represent what she’d have done. You seem to: fine, go on believing that.

    It is MOOT. I voted for her as a leap of faith because people like you were so trusting, not because I seriously believed your trust was well founded. She would still have been better than this, and it is moot.

    Look, if you can’t handle the answers, maybe stop asking questions like ‘what do you suppose they were thinking’? That is the way towards reclaiming power, but maybe that’s not what you really want. If you’d rather throw poo at enemies and traitors, knock yourselves out.

  268. 268.

    TenguPhule

    “We began our meeting telling him that there had been press accounts of statements from the Vice President and others that related to conduct that General Flynn had been involved in that we knew not to be the truth,” said Yates. “The vice president was knowingly making false statements to the American public, and General Flynn was compromised by the Russians.’’

    Oh yes.

  272. 272.

    Rob in CT

    Re: Sasse, he’s a 21st century Republican, so his policy views are guaranteed to be awful.

  273. 273.

    Jeffro

    @jl: he’s no “moderate” – pretty down the line Republican, just not the rabid/traitorous kind.

  274. 274.

    Corner Stone

    Why is no one asking Yates why she said Russians likely knew Flynn was lying, and they had “proof” ?

  275. 275.

    Patricia Kayden

    @rikyrah:

    This is the mayor who led a racist backlash against a child who built a clock.

    So the mayor is actually overqualified, I see.

    Seriously, all you need to get into Trump’s graces is be: (1) racist, (2) a Billionaire, (3) a Christianist or (4) a Russian lackey. Bonus points if you fit into more than one category.

  277. 277.

    Corner Stone

    Oooo, Coons just asked about underlying conduct. That’s the zinger!

  278. 278.

    TenguPhule

    @Corner Stone: Apparently it seems this is already common knowledge in Congress.

    Those behind closed door briefings really must have had something solid.

  282. 282.

    Corner Stone

    Sen Kennedy of LA is really floundering. The Muslim Ban is not, in fact, both a dessert topping and a floor wax.

  285. 285.

    Corner Stone

    These R Senators are all such fucking cowards. This is so obviously brutal.

  287. 287.

    SFAW

    @TenguPhule:

    But how do you get the cat to stay still?

    I use the chainsaw on the tree, not the cat, silly.

    For the cat, I use “alternative” methods.

  290. 290.

    SFAW

    @Princess Leia:

    I have found the best is real, oily tuna. Stinkier the better.

    Sounds like you’re talking about Ted Cruz, not a kitty lure.

  291. 291.

    Corner Stone

    He’s already answered that several fucking times!!

    HAHAHAHAHA!!
    Roasted!!

  293. 293.

    hellslittlestangel

    @jl:

    How did this moron get elected to the Senate?

    He ran in the South.

  296. 296.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    G*d damn Sally Yates is gracious. She was deft in her response to “who appointed you to the US Supreme Court?”

  299. 299.

    Jeffro

    Re: the travel ban “…most first-year law students could see it was unconstitutional…”
    – Pat Leahy

  304. 304.

    Corner Stone

    Clapper just nailed Trump on the Russian interference question. Yeah, you could say that helps the Russians.

  305. 305.

    Jeffro

    So, let’s try to count up all the different puffs of smoke and kinds of mirrors we’ve seen on display so far from our illustrious Party-Before-Country Party:

    – the real issue is whomever unmasked Flynn
    – the real issue is whomever leaked to the Post
    – this is all somehow related to Hillary’s emails (OR WORSE YET, A CRIME OF THAT LEVEL!)
    – Russia has tried to interfere in our elections, trying to aid Democrats, back in 1968 and 1984
    – AGs don’t get to defy the president or act like they’re the Supreme Court (which also doesn’t get to defy the president)

    And what this is not about is…Russia actively hacking our parties’ IT networks, disclosing one of those parties’ communications for maximum damage, the outgoing president warning the incoming one about a compromised national security adviser, that adviser lying about his contacts, the president waiting two weeks to fire that adviser, or the entire administration trying to cover all of the above.

    Is that about right?

  308. 308.

    TenguPhule

    @jl:

    Who is this idiot talking now? How did this moron get elected to the Senate?

    I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be a bit more specific when referring to a member of Congress.

  310. 310.

    randy khan

    @Applejinx:

    In summary, you believe she was lying about what she’d do on environmental issues. Just to cut to the chase.

  314. 314.

    JPL

    @sigaba: She lives in GA. Locally there has been suggestions that she run for governor, but so far she hasn’t showed interest.

  319. 319.

    Mike J

    @JPL:

    Locally there has been suggestions that she run for governor, but so far she hasn’t showed interest.

    If she were to express any interest in office, she’d be written off as a partisan politician. Better that she’s not until this is done.

  325. 325.

    Applejinx

    @Cacti: Oh, hush. We can all enjoy this hearing. There’s absolutely nothing being testified about that I didn’t suspect. They’re going down. I like that part. You think I trust the Trump minions? D:

  326. 326.

    A Ghosts to Most

    Jumping ahead; cckids, call the fire department, if you are in a small town.

    Eta: curious what threw this comment into moderation.

  327. 327.

    Patricia Kayden

    In humorous off topic news, Steven Seagal has been banned from Ukraine for 5 years for security reasons. If only we could ban all the obnoxious Rightwing “actors” from this country as well. Scott Baio, Kevin Sorbo, for starters.

  329. 329.

    SatanicPanic

    @Jeffro: It IS an issue of who unmasked Flynn!

    How are we going to know who to award the medal to if we don’t find out?

  330. 330.

    The Moar You Know

    You think I trust the Trump minions?

    @Applejinx: Yes. I do. Your postings certainly allow of no other interpretation.

  331. 331.

    Bailey

    @Applejinx:

    There’s absolutely nothing being testified about that I didn’t suspect. They’re going down. I like that part. You think I trust the Trump minions?

    You’re far more optimistic than I am on this. Given the participation of the GOP Senators today (on the intelligence committee!) it seems quite likely that, if at all, this investigation with start and stop with Mike Flynn, if that.

  332. 332.

    Tenar Arha

    @cckids: Animal Rescue League in Boston area has a couple guys who’ll actually climb the trees (with proper equipment), but I bet they also have a hot line to begin with. You may have a local chapter with similar resources depending on how close to Seattle (?) you are.

  334. 334.

    Betty Cracker

    @Corner Stone: Glad she raised that question. (Don’t know if anyone else did…haven’t been able to watch the whole thing.)

  335. 335.

    Citizen Alan

    @Applejinx:

    A follow-up question. Do you have any tangible concrete evidence that she was planning on loosening restrictions on fracking? Or is that simply the worst thing you could imagine Hillary doing, and therefore you assumed without evidence that she would do so?

  336. 336.

    hellslittlestangel

    If I had cable, I’d be really tempted to see how Fox News covers this hearing. Or am I underestimating the ease with which they can distort a story like this?

  337. 337.

    Aleta

    @cckids: The rescue branch of the fire dep. in our (small) town considers rescuing animals to be good practice drill for rescuing people, they told me. Might be worth a try to call ? Or any local animal rescue outfit for ideas?

  338. 338.

    Turgidson

    @TenguPhule:

    I also find it, uh, interesting that the GOP would want to talk about “election” and “interference” and “1968” in close proximity to each other, when it’s a matter of historical record at this point that Tricky Dick sent Hammerin’ Hank Kissinger to sabotage the Paris Peace Talks.

  339. 339.

    A Ghosts to Most

    Ah, caught up. Had to endure an average hail storm (cherry sized) banging on the skylights. In MD, hail that big would have freaked me out. Here, meh.

    Thanks to all who watched and blogged the freak show. You must be pretty drunk by now.

  343. 343.

    cckids

    @A Ghosts to Most: I’m in Bellevue/Seattle, fire department won’t do it. I called the “Canopy Cat Rescue” a very kind commenter suggested, am waiting on a call-back.

  344. 344.

    Gravenstone

    @Applejinx: Yet you trusted Bernie and his policy* pronouncements? Yeah, pull the other one, it’s got bells on.

    * because Bernie had zero idea bout how to implement his pipe dreams into actual working policy. As had been amply demonstrated over his Washington career.

  346. 346.

    BCHS Class of 1980

    @Mike J: Yates is clearly not a BJer. The height of civility here is only using “fuck” 3 times in a answer. With these guys, my over/under would be 6.

  347. 347.

    Mnemosyne

    Since this is an almost dead thread, I will vent my Facebook spleen:

    So Pantsuit Nation has a new book out about Hillary’s campaign and people’s reaction to it. They sent her a couple of copies, and she sent a very nice and gracious thank-you letter back.

    And OF COURSE the first person who just had to comment was a Sanders supporter calling Hillary “the lesser of the two evils.”

    Fuck these fucking Sanders morons. If they still want to whine about their God losing the nomination fair and square, I don’t fucking want to hear it. Are you 5 years old? Get the fuck over it already, jackass. We don’t have time for you anymore.

  348. 348.

    jonas

    @Cheryl Rofer: My recollection is that they succeeded in hacking some old, defunct email accounts or something, but not the current server at the RNC. Unfortunately, Podesta at the DNC accidentally responded to a phishing email that opened the floodgates there.

    Maybe I’m wrong, though. Did Clapper suggest that current, active servers at the RNC had also been breached?

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