Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

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

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The revolution will be supervised.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

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

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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“Squeaker” McCarthy

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Open Thread: Did Papadopolous Read Too Many Spy Novels? Or Not Enough?

Open Thread: Did Papadopolous Read Too Many Spy Novels? Or Not Enough?

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The Daily Beast makes his entrapment sound like something out of a Spy-vs-Spy parody:

Days after becoming a foreign policy advisor for the Trump campaign in 2016, George Papadopoulos started meeting with a woman he believed to be Vladimir “Putin’s niece,” according to a newly unsealed indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller.

The woman, along with a Kremlin-connected, London-based professor, wanted to help Papadopoulos arrange meetings between representatives of then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Maybe, the woman said, she could even get the two men to meet face-to- face.

“I have already alerted my personal links to our conversation,” she later emailed. “As mentioned we are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump. The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced.”

But the woman was not, in fact, Putin’s relative. Papadopoulos had, in a sense, been catfished—and then lied about catfishing to federal investigators…

Papadopoulos was living in London when he was named a foreign policy advisor to Team Trump in March 2016. Approximately eight days after accepting the job, Papadopoulos met another Londoner: a Russian professor who “claimed to have substantial connections with Russian government officials,” the indictment reads.

One of those connections was of particular interest to Papadopoulos. On March 24, the professor invited Papadopoulos to a meeting with a Russian woman, whom he introduced as a relative of Russian president Vladimir Putin. After the meeting, Papadopoulos wrote an email to the Trump campaign, stating that he had just met with the professor, whom he described as a “good friend,” and the alleged “niece.”

Papadopoulos said “Putin’s niece” and the professor had offered “to arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump.”

The woman also allegedly promised to introduce Papadopoulos to the Russian Ambassador in London, but never made good on the offer.

But Trump campaign staffers praised Papadopoulous’s new connections. “Great work,” an unnamed campaign supervisor replied to the email. The supervisor shied away from making any early commitments to a meeting, but promised to “work it through the campaign.”…

***********
He was arrested July 27 in Dulles International Airport, according to his indictment. Since his arrest, which remained secret until now, Papadopoulos has met with investigators to answer more questions—and cooperate with Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe of ties between Trump Tower and the Kremlin…

So — if I’m reading this correctly — the first arrest was made three months ago. Points to Bobby Three Stick’s team for not sharing this news until the time was right!

And speaking of people who don’t share what they know…

Why, yes, that is Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III at the foot of the table…

Reader Interactions

184Comments

  2. 2.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    For those who are not religious, today is an Arrestivus for the rest of us.

  4. 4.

    SFAW

    @rikyrah:

    That’s Attorney General White Citizens Council at the head of the table.

    Foot of the table, you mean. Because Lying Littledick would never allow Liddle J-Bo to be at the head — that’s only for The Boss!

  6. 6.

    lollipopguild

    The fact that Papa was arrested in July and the story never broke????????. Mueller made him disappear.

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    @lollipopguild: Not to mention, the speculation that “proactively cooperating” means “was wearing a wire for these last several months”. Another fun question: How many _other_ B-level underlings are under the gun or have already flipped?

  13. 13.

    sibusisodan

    Does Mueller get extra points for style if he dismantles the entire Trump clown car by only using info presented in Trump’s Twitter feed?

  16. 16.

    SFAW

    @Ohio Mom:

    Don’t joke! That is my big fear, Trump will fire Mueller. Then what?

    Well, if that happens, then he will have, finally, gone too far, and then the House will file a bill of impeachment PDQ.

    Oh, wait, you said DON’T joke. Sorry.

  19. 19.

    Hungry Joe

    I’m having trouble disassociating him from Gnossos Pappadopoulis, the protagonist/hero of Richard Farina’s 1966 novel “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.” Gnossos, aka “Paps,” was the coolest, savviest guy around — maybe the coolest, savviest guy EVER — so I hate it that his name, even with a slightly different spelling, has been sullied.

  21. 21.

    lamh36

    I swear that I will enjoy the possible perp walk of the KKKebbler Elf the most of all the players, even more than a possible Trump per walk.

  22. 22.

    Adam L Silverman

    Has anyone thought to ask the Marshal of the Supreme Court for an official comment about today’s events?

  23. 23.

    SFAW

    @debbie:

    Where is this Bobby Three Sticks reference coming from?

    What’s a little scary is that I was wondering the same thing, at around the same time you asked.

    @FlipYrWhig:
    Thanks for edumacating me/us.

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    @lollipopguild:

    The fact that Papa was arrested in July and the story never broke????????. Mueller made him disappear.

    It doesn’t sound that way. Some of the information suggests he was talking with other people under investigation while wearing a wire. Anyone who’s talked to him since his arrest had damn well better get a lawyer.

  26. 26.

    jl

    @Ohio Mom: As I said in previous thread, pairing indictments with news of guilty please might be a good insurance policy for Mueller. And this guilty plea goes to the heart of the main point of the investigation: cooperation with foreign power to influence the election.

    The idea that HRC’s deleted personal emails were out there someplace, and were really contained explosive evidence of crooked policy and corruption, clearly drove GOP and Trumpster completely insane.

    Dems are pointing out that pardons intended to obstruct justice are clearly impeachable offenses that merit conviction and removal from office. But, then the guys like James Madison who said things like that are cucks by Trumpster standards, so I guess they will be attacked too, eventually.

  28. 28.

    jl

    @jl: Can’t edit my own comment, so ‘guilty please’ has to stand. I hope future events will promote that typo to nationally renowned meme.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    @dmsilev:

    Another fun question: How many _other_ B-level underlings are under the gun or have already flipped?

    There are apparently four sealed indictments between Manafort’s and Gates’s. You do the math.

  34. 34.

    Anne Laurie

    @debbie: Word is that Mr. Mueller earned respect from the Mob-connected criminals he spent years putting away (many for financial crimes). They called him ‘Bobby Three Sticks’ as a sign of… respect for a worthy opponent.

  37. 37.

    SFAW

    @Anne Laurie:

    Word is that Mr. Mueller earned respect from the Mob-connected criminals he spent years putting away (many for financial crimes).

    Meanwhile, the “Mob-connected criminals” also have their own nickname for Shitgibbon: “That Fuckin’ Mook.”

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    @lamh36:

    It’s now almost certain Papadopoulos *wore a wire* during the last 90+ days. Here are the implications.

    FSM does not love me that much.

  42. 42.

    burnspbesq

    By the time this is done, the Russia-ordered assasinations are going to look like mercy killings.

  44. 44.

    bemused

    I’ve been busy with projects today so I haven’t had time to brush up on which people directed Trump to put Papadopolous on his national security team or the rest of the Russian connected guys for that matter. So much going on all at once.

    Interesting how I got more enthusiastic about finishing my projects today just when things are looking up but pretty sure it was due to my uplifted mood. Hard to pump up my spirits to do my normal and fun stuff when every day in what seems like forever drops more trump shit upon shit.

    I can’t imagine how Rachel Maddow will do her show tonight. She’s not good at condensing her segments as it is.

  47. 47.

    lamh36

    @SFAW: Check out the thread…cause if even a bit of it is true…then the implications are such that we may WELL see a perp walk from KKKeebler Elf after all!!!

  54. 54.

    jl

    @Miss Bianca: Remember, if Mueller keeps up this kind of performance, and the Trumpsters go, we deal with operators like Pence, Ryan and McConnell. So, God loves us enough to tamp down risk of nuke catastrophe over nothing, But not as much as we’d like.

  56. 56.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    I wonder how many Las Vegas call girls will now change their stage names to Putin’s niece.

    Not many, since there aren’t going to be a lot of rich Republicans hanging around there any more.

  57. 57.

    burnspbesq

    @Miss Bianca:

    God loves us enough that the district court ruled that the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies to communications between Manafort and the lawyer that advised him on Foreign Agent Registration Act matters, so that said lawyer has to testify before the grand jury.

    My PACER account is going to get a workout.

  58. 58.

    Cermet

    @Ohio Mom: As I understand the special council law, the president can’t fire Mueller; only the (currently acting) attorney general can. That said, no one has tested the law – the dolt 45 could still fire him via thuggery and force him out; then the oily two recourse’s is: congress has to act (LOL) and/or the inferior court must take the case and rule on the authority issue. So, no the small handed sex predator can’t by law but that can’t stop the president … so, my guess is, if mueller does indict or looks to indict tRump Jr, he will fire mueller and let the chips fly … .

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Trump cannot fire Mueller. Only Sessions can. Sessions apparently won’t, and Trump won’t fire Sessions. The mystery of WHY these things are so interests me greatly.

    Sessions has formally recused himself, so he’s effectively delegated responsibility to Rosenstein, who isn’t going to fire Mueller absent a literal gun to his head. Trump doesn’t want to fire Sessions because a) he’s doing Trump’s bidding otherwise and b) somebody is smart enough to realize it’s going to be very hard to confirm his replacement.

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Trump cannot fire Mueller. Only Sessions can. Sessions apparently won’t, and Trump won’t fire Sessions.

    If Mueller has a indictment with Session’s name on it, Sessions literally can’t fire Mueller.

  61. 61.

    Redshift

    @schrodingers_cat:

    BTW I got my first jury duty summons. I am a tad nervous.

    Don’t be. I’ve gotten called multiple times over the years, and it’s almost always really boring.

    Except that time when I was in the jury pool for the Zacharias Moussaoui terrorism trial…

  63. 63.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat:

    BTW I got my first jury duty summons. I am a tad nervous.

    99% chance you will not have to do anything other then call in.

    if there’s actually a trial 95% chance you will be rejected as a juror by one side or the other.

  65. 65.

    MCA1

    @bemused: I know it’s too good to be true, but I think I might die and go to heaven if it turned out Jared’s been a cooperating witness all this time. They probably have their hooks into him on both state and federal fronts for his financial shenanigans just as much as they did Manafort. So it’s at least plausible, if unlikely.

    On a totally separate note, I hope to see a reasonably well-circulated newspaper with a front page headline tomorrow that reads: “MAN(afort) DOWN!!!”

  66. 66.

    hueyplong

    @burnspbesq: Yeah, my next quarterly PACER statement will say I owe them some money.

    One possible and maybe intended effect of today’s Popadoc announcement is that Trump and his cronies will be afraid to talk to one another. Trust amongst the Trumpkins is probably at a bit of a low right now.

  69. 69.

    Suzanne

    @lamh36: More even than Vanilla ISIS / Ralph Lauren of Arabia / Secretary of Everything / Fashionista Jared??

    I’m sorry. I’m terrible.

  73. 73.

    Heywood J.

    Added fun: that Schmitz character to Papadopoulos’ left is Joe Schmitz, former Blackwater exec, son of the nutbag John Bircher OC congressman, and brother of teacher-of-the-year Mary Kay Letourneau.

  77. 77.

    Redshift

    @jl: Pence was in charge of the transition, and was picked for VP by Manafort, from what I’ve read. So I wouldn’t assume he’s in a safer category than the rest of them.

  78. 78.

    BC in Illinois

    From the Washington Post:

    Probe shakes both parties as Tony Podesta,
    whose brother led Hillary Clinton’s campaign,
    leaves his lobbying firm

    Both sides are shaking today.

    ETA: Campaign Manager / / Campaign Manager’s brother (unconnected to the campaign) – – – same thing!

  79. 79.

    Miss Bianca

    @jl: And you really think – you really, really think – that if Mueller keeps going as he is, that Pence, Ryan, and McConnell will somehow escape being caught in the net? That it won’t be shown that they are involved in the Russian affair(s)? I wouldn’t take any bets on it, myself.

  81. 81.

    Roger Moore

    @jl:

    Remember, if Mueller keeps up this kind of performance, and the Trumpsters go, we deal with operators like Pence, Ryan and McConnell.

    I wouldn’t bet on those three being completely innocent. Pence was brought in by Manafortr, and Ryan and McConnell covered for Trump when Obama wanted to inform the public about signs of Russian interference before the election. God only knows how else they’re tied into this business.

  82. 82.

    hueyplong

    @schrodingers_cat: You can add me to those who are fairly sure you’ll be cut.

    I once served on a case involving domestic violence after revealing that I had spent a summer working in a prosecutor’s office and had once lived with a woman who had a protective order on her ex. Also on the jury was my former paralegal, who had disclosed her work at a battered women’s shelter.

    Why on earth were we let on? Because the defense atty used all his strikes on AA women, that’s why.

  84. 84.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Considering all the harassment nonsense out of Hollywood and Trump is a celebrity, I wonder if Trump is just thinks the Federal government = the studio and it’s the studio’s job to hush his nonsense.

  90. 90.

    Redshift

    @TenguPhule:

    99% chance you will not have to do anything other then call in.

    Depends on what type of court and the locality. I think I’ve always had to at least go in and waste an afternoon, even if the follow-up filtering is a call-in process.

  93. 93.

    jl

    @Baud: I think the news this morning reveals the wisdom of the Baud operation in using tipsy gossip as the primary means of communication.

  96. 96.

    TenguPhule

    @jl:

    I think the news this morning reveals the wisdom of the Baud operation in using tipsy gossip as the prime means of communication.

    Wasn’t it lipstick on cocktail napkins?

  97. 97.

    jl

    @Baud: After I got the car running, i managed to pay off the parking tickets. I promise.

    @TenguPhule: lipstick, cocktail napkins? I think you have an incorrect understanding of the Baud campaign’s financial situation.

  99. 99.

    Ohio Mom

    @schrodingers_cat: There is a lot of waiting around with jury duty. I remember going downtown to the courthouse every morning for a week, and the first four days being sent home after a couple of hours because the parties in whatever case I was going to be assigned to had settled at the last minute.

    The last day, I got to go up to a courtroom. There were many more of us potential jurors than needed, and I had a relatively high number. A few of the people with low numbers were dismissed for various reasons (one of them was a cousin of the person being sued, she was waving wildly at him the minute she saw him), and then all of who were left over were dismissed.

    Now my husband actually got to sit on a few juries. But lots of people have experiences like mine.

  102. 102.

    smintheus

    That’s a really impressive April Fools’ “National Security Meeting”. They even have matching plastic water bottles. And one of those tall pepper mills.

  103. 103.

    Roger Moore

    @TenguPhule:

    if there’s actually a trial 95% chance you will be rejected as a juror by one side or the other.

    This. I saw some statistics on the jury pool, and here in LA County it works out that less than 10% of prospective jurors wind up on a jury. You’ll always hear people say they never get selected for a jury because they’re in category X, Y, or Z that one kind of lawyer or the other doesn’t like to have on juries. In reality, it’s because most people get rejected and their luck has just kept them off a jury so far.

  104. 104.

    TenguPhule

    “There’s clear evidence of the Clinton campaign colluding with Russian intelligence,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders proclaimed at Monday afternoon’s briefing, after the indictment by Mueller of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a colleague.

    W-T-F.

  105. 105.

    Millard Filmore

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I am more worried about winter driving and icy road conditions than ICE. It is to the north of where I am and In January.

    Most courts will allow a potential jurist to delay serving. You could ask to wait until spring.

    Or you could ask to serve right away, before the bad weather starts.

  106. 106.

    mike in dc

    I’m beginning to think that even “inconsequential” players like Carter Page and Roger Stone are going to get pinched, sooner or later. If you flip enough minor players, you likely wind up with as much damning testimony as that from key players.

  108. 108.

    ruemara

    @jl: Pence would be compromised, FYI. Ryan and McConnell too, based on McTurtle’s performance when the intel was revealed to him prior to the election. This is a massive stink bomb cloud.

  109. 109.

    Suzanne

    @TenguPhule:

    cocktail napkins

    This reminds me. All of the Trump-humping press loves to talk about the eeeeevil urban elites who, in their telling, do nothing but attend cocktail parties. (Then, of course, they elected a rich schmuck with a society wife who probably ***does*** attend a fair share of cocktail parties.) This stereotype blows my mind.

  110. 110.

    moops

    @lollipopguild:

    not disappear. My guess is he’s been wearing a wire for quite a while now. Operating in plain sight. That would imply that Mueller’s team is extremely good at leak control. In fact, people like this are exactly why leak control is extremely critical in collusion and conspiracy and obstruction prosecutions.

    The Reservations of Allocations section of PD’s plea agreement are not explicit in this, but it has the correct language for a flipped witness providing additional aid to an ongoing investigation as a means of reducing a sentence. I don’t think his testimony up to this point would make him this important to bring in on the same day as Manafort. I suspect that PD’s usefulness as a wired operative dropped to zero once Manafort’s attorneys got a look at the charges and other disclosures. Hence, pulling their rat in now.

  114. 114.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    @Roger Moore: Also, I think Congress may have successfully impressed upon the Shitgibbon that if he fires Attorney General White Citizens’ Council, that means war. I think that might even be true. They see the Racist Keebler Elf as one of their own for whatever reason, and I doubt they’d take him being Saturday Night Massacred lying down.

  115. 115.

    bemused

    @MCA1:

    Very funny!
    Me too on Jared and a long list of their close associates. I want to see a slew of them indicted, charged and convicted, sent to jail, their bank, their millions severely depleted and business prospects in the toilet.

  116. 116.

    Hungry Joe

    I’ve been called seven or eight times, and was always dismissed when the prosecution found out I was a journalist. Last time, as a semi-retired writer, I was empaneled, and served on a preposterous two-day soliciting for prostitution trial. The whole thing was ridiculous from opening to closing statements, but everyone on the jury settled in and took it seriously. It never should have gone to trial, but there we were. It took us about 40 minutes to convict, but only because we sat around for the first 15 minutes thinking that the bailiff was going to come back and give us more instructions.

  117. 117.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: A gazillion thanks for that link. Bootsy Collins just makes me happy. I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times and he is one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve met. He treats everyone as if they were valued friends even if it’s the first time he’s met them.
    The history of King Records, where Bootsy started and James Brown recorded, is fascinating. The former President of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland said Cincinnati could have claimed the title of birthplace of rock and roll but it never fought for it.

    Here’s link to an article that summarizes the importance of King in musical history. Up until about 10 years ago Cincinnati shunned King’s legacy. Most natives are unaware of its history. Bootsy and his wife are part of a group that’s trying to restore the building and create a museum. It’s a long read but if you’re interested in history and music I think you’ll enjoy it.
    http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/citywiseblog/the-king-is-dead-long-live-the-king3/

  119. 119.

    Peale

    Ot: my little Nissan is no more. A sad rear-ending to a short life. I now have ten days to find a new car that I didn’t plan on looking for until 2021. I just want to scream. I need something between a 1997 Volvo with 375,000 miles on it and a new Bentley. This should not be so difficult.

  120. 120.

    Suzanne

    @bemused:

    I want to see a slew of them indicted, charged and convicted, sent to jail, their bank, their millions severely depleted and business prospects in the toilet.

    I want to see them disinvited from every cocktail party, every society function, every Met Ball…..EVAR.

  122. 122.

    debbie

    @Kathleen:

    Thanks, I’ll take a look. As you can tell from the interview, Bootsy’s joy is infectious. I had a very horrible day, and I swear that interview got me driving while grinning. That’s not permitted around here!

  123. 123.

    Roger Moore

    @Ruviana:

    You’re also smart–I believe you have graduate degrees. They hate that!

    That doesn’t always keep you off the jury, though. Our department chairman is currently serving on a jury. My brother, who like Schroedinger’s Cat has a PhD in physics, wound up serving on a murder two trial.

  124. 124.

    moops

    The dangerous part of all this for Trump is Cyrpus shell banks used for money laundering. They got the records in the no-knock raid on Manafort’s place and there is no doubt in my mind that Trump property was also used for money laundering techniques for Russian oligarchs. There is dirty Russian money all over Trump’s empire and most likely on his campaign.

    Is there Russian money in Session’s campaigns? Paul Ryan’s?

    First on the block with be Rohrabacher.

  125. 125.

    Gerald Parks

    Dotard 45 has been in office 9 months …and has finally given birth …Russians ….yes …RUSSIANS …The ONLY nation the USA has signed SALT 1, SALT 2, START 1 and START 2 with to prevent “mutually assured destruction” with nuclear weapons aimed at US(America)!
    17 of this Nation’s national security departments has stated that these very same Russians have tampered with and enfluenced the 2016 election for POTUS in favor of the GOP/Republican Party’s nominee AND today we learn that ANOTHER member of that team CONFESSED and THEN plead GUILTY to lying to the FBI about attempting to meet WITH a Russian contact to get “dirt” on Democrats nominee.
    Don Jr.????
    Then …. Ukraine!
    And what about Ukraine?
    Mr Manafort …what about Ukraine?
    Money laundering????
    LOL …more to come!!!

  128. 128.

    Aleta

    @bemused: Surely the local police depts should be allowed to cash in Manafort’s homes and belongings, since they’re related to his crimes.

  129. 129.

    bemused

    @Suzanne:

    Oh yeah, that too.
    I want to see them dumped by their hair stylers, designers…”no service for you” at all the shops and restaurants they frequent. I want them to get the stinkeye from strangers and people they know everywhere they go.

  131. 131.

    Gin & Tonic

    My son informed me that apparently Carter Page is going to be on the Chris Hayes show, live. That is astoundingly stupid on Page’s part. But since I have no power and no TV since last night’s storm, somebody will have to give the blow-by-blow.

  132. 132.

    Steeplejack

    @Anne Laurie:

    That’s a great story that borders on hagiography. Would love to see a citation for that. What is much more likely is that it was given to him ironically by DOJ colleagues in joking reference to mob nicknames.

  133. 133.

    raven

    @Roger Moore: I’ve been on at least 6 juries in the past 20 years. The last one is the only one I didn’t get picked for. It was a case involving some rough stuff and they had group interviews. When they asked if anyone had ever been in a fight I was the only one out of 30 people who raised my hand. The dude asked me to tell him about it and I said “how much time do you have”? I got dismissed.

  134. 134.

    Mary G

    @schrodingers_cat: @TenguPhule: If you are highly educated and keep up with the news, you are likely to be challenged by one side or the other. One side can have sense and reason on its side and the other is hoping for emotion or ignorance to appeal to, or they’re both crazy.

    Jury duty is mostly boring, but there are a few moments, like getting put on a panel with a good judge who explains why you are so important, that make it worthwhile.

    Check your purse for anything that can be construed as a weapon – I used to carry a fork when I worked because they always got stolen out of the lunchroom at my office, and it got confiscated by the marshals at the metal detectors at the door. They had a whole box of pocket knives they threw it into.

  136. 136.

    H.E.Wolf

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Re: jury duty: I agree with your concerns about driving in bad winter weather. Here’s hoping that the courts in your area believe in bad-weather closures. (It’s a public safety issue, so the odds are good.)

    That said, the one time I served on a jury (homicide in the course of a revenge kidnapping), it was absolutely fascinating from the selection process all the way through to the verdict. All the parts of the judicial system worked the way they were supposed to, which was inspiring.

    The whole thing could have been made into a novel or a film: the two brilliant female attorneys on opposite sides of the case, the judge who was a dead-ringer for Colonel Harry Potter on “M*A*S*H*”, the off-duty cop who witnessed the crime, the defendant’s elderly grandmother testifying through a court interpreter, the jury-room friendship between the elderly white grandma type and the 18-year-old African-American grocery bagger, the engineer on the jury who couldn’t reason from A to B and had to be tactfully re-led through all the evidence during deliberations, the court bailiff who read sport-fishing magazines at his desk in the courtroom….

  140. 140.

    Ohio Mom

    @Peale: I got rear-ended a month ago at a red light. The guy behind me let his foot off the brake. Just a little 5 mph tap did $1,000 worth of damage. Cars are designed to crumple. Immediately and thoroughly.

  142. 142.

    Corner Stone

    Former Congresswoman Nan Hayworth is just crazier than a shithouse rat. And probably just as mean as well.

    God damn. She’s baring her teeth at Tweety like she’d like to sink her teeth into his neck and not let go til they taze her.

  143. 143.

    TenguPhule

    @Peale:

    I need something between a 1997 Volvo with 375,000 miles on it and a new Bentley.

    So between $500 & $181,000.

    This should not be so difficult.

    /coughing fit.

  145. 145.

    Roger Moore

    @Aleta:

    Surely the local police depts should be allowed to cash in Manafort’s homes and belongings, since they’re related to his crimes.

    I think it would be the Feds rather than local police, but yes, they ought to start civil asset forfeiture proceedings forthwith. If they don’t, it’s a sign Manafort has already cut a deal.

  148. 148.

    raven

    @H.E.Wolf: @H.E.Wolf: I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve been on. I was on a really horrible rape case where they put two little kids on the stand to testify against this dude who had raped their older sister. They used what is called “similar transaction”, they let other women he had assaulted testify about their experience. My lawyer friends don’t like similar transaction but I don’t think we would have found him guilty without it. He had a seven year ago in his record and there were several people who thought he had “reformed” over that time. I said “you people are nuts, he was in the slammer for that time”. After the trial I ran to get the local paper and, damn straight, that was the story. The judge gave him life plus 140 and the dude didn’t bat an eye. Three hots and a cot.

  150. 150.

    Gravenstone

    @lollipopguild: Mueller made it exceedingly clear what the consequences would be if Papadopoulus breathed a single word about his arrest to anyone while he could be of use to Mueller’s investigation.

  151. 151.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: It is! He has a very sweet energy. My pick up is James Brown’s Love, Power and Peace, recorded live with the JB’s (including Bootsy and his brother Catfsh) in 1971 in Paris. I swear it’s the best album ever made.

  157. 157.

    Mary G

    WaPo’s latest story is hilarious: Upstairs at home, with the TV on, Trump fumes over Russia indictments.

    The initial euphoria over it only being Manafort and Gates is ruined when the Papadopoulos news arrives. And at the end, poetic justice from the FSM:

    On Sunday, Trump had attempted to seek refuge from the political squall with another round of golf at his Virginia club. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) were set to join him, according to two people briefed on the plans — an afternoon of camaraderie and talk about his tax proposal.

    It was not to be. Rainy weather forced the White House to cancel the outing — yet another disappointment, beyond the president’s control.

  159. 159.

    Corner Stone

    Mueller already has Trump’s tax returns. He couldn’t possibly have gotten this far without requesting them.
    Mueller knows everything. That’s what today was about.

  161. 161.

    FlyingToaster

    @schrodingers_cat:

    BTW I got my first jury duty summons. I am a tad nervous.

    Don’t be.

    Here in the Commonwealth, it’s “One day or One trial”; if you’re seated on a jury, even if they settle before you hear evidence, deliberate, or pass judgment, they don’t call you again for 3 years. If you go and spend your 8-1:30 (usually) in the jury room, with a break and lunch, you can be called again after a calendar year.

    You phone into a announcement line the day before; if there’s a weather issue, Massachusetts does close courts rather than get the judges killed on black ice.

    I get called about once every 7 years, and have always been dismissed. However, HerrDoktor gets called about every 3 years and has served on two juries (both lawsuits) so far.

    Check with the courthouse and make sure you can bring electronics; some are set up for it and at least one isn’t (GRRRR).

    I sympathize with the going north problem; the last time I was called I had to drive from here in Southern Middlesex up to effing Lowell. Even counter-commuting, that’s an hour plus in good weather.

  162. 162.

    Roger Moore

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m not sure what else Carter Page could have to say at this point?

    The man can’t keep his mouth shut, so nobody knows what’s going to pop out of it. I think that’s why they want to interview him; the interviews where something unexpected might come out are always more interesting.

  163. 163.

    raven

    @FlyingToaster: My wife was an alternate on a trial that lasted three weeks and she was not allowed to bring anything into the holding room. NOTHING! No books, magazines, or anything else.

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    That was crazy. Tweet tried to shut her down, but she would have none of it. I think they had to hose down her set after all the shit she smeared on the walls.

    And then at the very end she chirps to Tweety: “Congratulations on your book!” Like the whole thing was a party game. Ugh.

  167. 167.

    FlyingToaster

    @raven: Massachusetts isn’t that backwards. Before I could bring my laptop/tablet, I used to bring notebooks of draft documentation to mark up. One time I brought a David Foster Wallace novel. This is back when there was still the noxious courthouse in Cambridge (Sullivan Courthouse, still standing empty while they figure out how to tear it down without infecting the adjacent residential neighborhood).

    If you’re seated on a jury, you’re given a locker to put your stuff in; you’re not allowed to have anything with you in the jury box or deliberation room. HerrDoctor would grab his phone on every break and text me: “still alive. but still in Lowell”. 3-5 days of that.

    Several of the smaller “district” courthouses still ban electronics, so you’d better have driven (and have a car to lock them in) or else you’re hosed. Waltham, I’m looking at you.

  168. 168.

    Bill

    I was seated on a jury to hear a DUI case, AFTER telling the judge that I had been falsely charged with DUI by cops that manufactured evidence while I was watching them, and that although my charges had been dismissed, I would be highly unlikely to side with Law Enforcement if there was any question as to the validity of the evidence. He asked if I could manage to keep an open mind, I just stared at him, and was seated on the jury.

  170. 170.

    mike in dc

    @Steeplejack:
    Just watched that. Hilariously, eye-rollingly bad. I hope, going forward, that at least some prime time talking heads start bouncing these bobbleheads from their show when they start up Distraction Bingo.

  171. 171.

    Kathleen

    @eclare: That stop on a dime transition between Brother Rapp and Ain’t It Funky. Gives me chills. I first heard about this CD at Roy Edroso’s site when there was a thread devoted to James Brown’s death. One commenter said that transition made him either want to practice bass 24 hours a day or throw it in the dumpster. The first time I met Bootsy at a King Records event at the library I told him that story and he got a huge kick out of it.

  174. 174.

    H.E.Wolf

    @raven:
    Yes; though I agree with you that the cases themselves can be horrific, and that part of it is not great. But watching the wheels of justice turn? That is amazing.
    The folks who sit on juries where the process is truncated (plea deal, hung jury, etc.) seem to find it a less positive experience. I know it would frustratee me to put in the work as a juror, and not get the reward (a chance to decide on, and issue, a verdict).

  175. 175.

    Nora

    @Corner Stone: Former Congresswoman Nan Hayworth used to be my congresswoman, and I was so delighted when I got redistricted (is that the right verb?) out of her district and into Nita Lowey’s.

    Nan Hayworth is in fact crazier than a shithouse rat and I loathed her — absolutely loathed her — as long as she was my supposed representative.

  177. 177.

    Feebog

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Wow, Hayes has obviously established a rapport with Page. Apparently Page has not even hired a lawyer, and has been interviewed without representation.

  178. 178.

    Anne Laurie

    @Steeplejack: Oh, I’m sure you’re right about that… except that, from what I read in the papers, the capos have at least as sarcastic a sense of humor as the fibbies!

  179. 179.

    Anne Laurie

    @Ohio Mom:

    Cars are designed to crumple. Immediately and thoroughly.

    In the designers’ defense, to some degree, it’s been decided that it’s safer to treat car bodies as the equivalent of protective packing material around the passengers. Although I could have done without the metaphor “better the metal than the meat”...

  183. 183.

    Mike in Pasadena

    @Hungry Joe: I have read that book (Been down so long it looks up to me) at least three times and re-read other major sections often. It is on my night table next to the head of my bed even as I write this (along with a dozen other books, reference books). I’m glad to see somebody else recalls that book fondly. And I had a similar reaction.

  184. 184.

    J R in WV

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Welcome to Citizenship, fellow citizen!!! We all get called to Jury Duty from time to time. Many jobs pay workers just as if they were on sick leave or vacation while on a jury. My employer did that, which was good, one year I did 6 weeks on 3 trials.

    Don’t worry about it, the lawyers and bailiffs keep close tabs on the jurors, will bring around a coke if you need it. And the judge explains everything to the jurors, in detail.

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