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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Russiagate Open Thread: Hey, Remember That Jared Kid?…

Russiagate Open Thread: Hey, Remember That Jared Kid?…

by Anne Laurie|  February 23, 20186:26 pm| 107 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Goddamned Traitors, Open Threads, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel, Not Normal

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Breaking –> Top Justice Dept. official alerted White House two weeks ago to ongoing issues in Kushner’s security clearance. A @carolleonig @costareports @jdawsey1: exclusive https://t.co/wBiUAVltIj

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) February 23, 2018

Yet another shoe from the Trump Crime Cartel millipede…

… The Feb. 9 phone call from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to White House Counsel Donald McGahn came amid growing public scrutiny of a number of administration officials without final security clearances. Most prominent among them is Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, who has had access to some of the nation’s most sensitive material for the last year while waiting for his background investigation to be completed.

A week after the call from Rosenstein, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly announced that staffers whose clearances have not been finalized will no longer be able to view top-secret information — meaning that Kushner could stand to lose his status as early as Friday…

In his phone conversation with McGahn, Rosenstein intended to give an update on the status of Kushner’s background investigation. He did not specify the source of the information that officials were examining, the three people said.

Justice Department officials said Rosenstein did not provide any details to the White House about the matters that need to be investigated relating to Kushner.

“The Deputy Attorney General has not referenced to the White House any specific concerns relating to this individual’s security clearance process,” spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement…

There are conflicting accounts about whether Rosenstein discussed with McGahn the significance of the information and its possible impact on Kushner’s clearance. Two people said the deputy attorney general told McGahn the Justice Department had obtained important new information, suggesting it could be an obstacle to his clearance process. One other said Rosenstein did not discuss the nature of the ongoing investigation.

Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel in the Obama administration, said administration officials should view Rosenstein’s alert as a strong reason to revoke Kushner’s interim top-secret access…

Ordinarily, security clearance experts said, the failure to completely disclose all contacts would jeopardize an applicant’s chances of obtaining final clearance.

In addition, Kushner’s actions during the transition have been referenced in the guilty plea of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who admitted he lied to the FBI about contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Prosecutors said Flynn was acting in consultation with a senior Trump transition official, whom people familiar with the matter have identified as Kushner…

“That sounds bad. Is that bad, Dad?”

At CPAC, this very morning:

Trump making sure everyone knows that his daughter and son-in-law don't get a salary for their work in his administration. This after a question about Kushner's security clearance – which Trump says is up to CoS Kelly.

— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) February 23, 2018

The massively in debt WH employees with no government experience and can't pass a background check are working on spec so everybody can stop worrying. https://t.co/jaeLmog7WQ

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) February 23, 2018

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Reader Interactions

107Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    February 23, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    This seems to be an impediment to bringing peace to the Middle East.

  2. 2.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    Today the president said that Jared’s a good boy, and that is a sign that the next shoe is gonna drop.

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    WTF is going on with Mueller charging Manafort with obstructing the Mueller probe while in office?

  4. 4.

    Raoul

    February 23, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    Would a soon-to-drop indictment be reason enough to end Kush’s interim clearance?
    It would be irresponsible not to speculate!

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    February 23, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    So Trump says that Jared’s clearance is up to Kelly, which I guess we can parse as ‘give him a clearance or you’re out’.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    February 23, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    The COS doesn’t give out Security Clearances.
    The President does.??

  7. 7.

    Davebo

    February 23, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    @trollhattan: Not if your only job in the peace process is to say “What Bibi said” over and over.

  8. 8.

    debbie

    February 23, 2018 at 6:43 pm

    @trollhattan:

    A bigger impediment is that they’ve moved up the date for moving the embassy to Jerusalem. It will now be sometime in mid-May.

  9. 9.

    BGinCHI

    February 23, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    This movie would be better if the bad guys were smart.

  10. 10.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    @debbie:

    The trial of Netanyahu promises to be epic.

  11. 11.

    ruemara

    February 23, 2018 at 6:55 pm

    I just want a bucket of popcorn to enjoy this show.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    February 23, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    It would be very well deserved.

  13. 13.

    RobertDSC-iPhone 6

    February 23, 2018 at 7:13 pm

    I can’t imagine the train wreck if Kelly sticks to his guns and removes Jared & Ivanka.

    Gross.

  14. 14.

    Aleta

    February 23, 2018 at 7:16 pm

    Thinking that Kushner will leave for a gift consulting job, or with a PAC.

  15. 15.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 23, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    Just saying – In my experience, trying to set up backchannel communications with the Kremlin via the Russian embassy would end most people’s chances at a security clearance. But there seems to be something else as well.

  16. 16.

    dmsilev

    February 23, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    @RobertDSC-iPhone 6: It would be glorious.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    February 23, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    @debbie

    Related.

    Will it have banks of blinking slots and a lounge act as well?

    The Trump administration is considering an offer from Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for at least part of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, four U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

    Lawyers at the State Department are looking into the legality of accepting private donations to cover some or all of the embassy costs, the officials said. The discussions are occurring as the administration plans a ribbon-cutting for a scaled-down, temporary embassy that will open in May — more than a year ahead of schedule.
    [snip]
    It’s not clear if there is any precedent, nor whether government lawyers would give the green light to accept Adelson’s or anyone else’s donations.

    Kathy Bethany, the former cost management director for the State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, said she couldn’t recall the U.S. government ever accepting donations to build embassies during her tenure, which ended in 2014.

    “I don’t know how well that would work,” Bethany said. “Would we be beholden to putting their name on the building? I’ve never heard of that.” Source

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    This is clearly Kelly / McMaster telling Trump it’s them or Jared https://t.co/Z620ioP6b0

    — Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) February 23, 2018

    “There have been running battles between Trump and his generals,” said one of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Kelly is a retired Marine general and McMaster an Army lieutenant general.

    “But the clearance business is personal, and if Trump sets special rules for family members, I‘m not sure if Kelly and McMaster would salute,” the official said.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    February 23, 2018 at 7:25 pm

    @NotMax:

    You just know “Trump Embassy” will be emblazoned across the front of the building in golden lights.

  20. 20.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 7:25 pm

    @NotMax: Why not just open a casino?

  21. 21.

    dmsilev

    February 23, 2018 at 7:26 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: If it comes down to that, Trump would pick his family, no contest. He wouldn’t have the guts to fire either general, he’d just overrule them and see if they were willing to follow through on a “I quit” ultimatum.

  22. 22.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:26 pm

    @NotMax: @debbie: @JPL: They’re going to name it The Trump Temple Mount Sponsored by Sheldon Adelson. There will be YUUGE! neon signs.

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    @dmsilev: This has been leaked to try to keep him from doing so. It will look bad enough if he has to pick his 3rd National Security Advisor or 3rd Chief of Staff in a year. Both would be devastatingly bad PR.

  24. 24.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 23, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t believe Kelly/McMaster have the balls.

  25. 25.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 7:34 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    But there seems to be something else as well.

    It would sadden me but I hope it comes out that JarJar is on tape having sex with an underage boy.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I am envisioning a Massive Saturday Night Massacre where Trump fires everyone around him and is left alone with JarJar and Ivana Jr.

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 23, 2018 at 7:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I agree it would look bad, more straw on the camel’s back for (I fervently hope) 2018, but trump only sees the short term, the hoots and whoops and hollers of his base, and the impotent brow-furrowing of the Republicans. I suspect he gets as much pleasure from the latter as the former, knowing all he has to do is invite Lindsey Graham, or better yet do a rally in South Carolina, and put the little preener in his place. In the meantime, I suspect McM’s replacement would be worse, and all the instability is not good for the country.

    Graham’s bete noire, Susan Rice, has responded to the Graham-Grassley letter. Twitter seems to think it’s quite the brushback

  28. 28.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 23, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: yep.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I know! How is that not the biggest red flag of all? And we knew about that almost right away. Our institutions are failing us.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I think Trump saying “it’s up to Kelly” is his cowardly way of saying he won’t go out on a limb and give Jared clearance anyway, which I believe he is able to do.

    It just gives Trump deniability – Jared, don’t be mad at me, it was General Kelly who made the decision. TOTAL FUCKING COWARD.

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: A year ago I would have said yes without hesitation. Especially in regard to LTG McMaster. Now I have no idea.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 7:44 pm

    @dmsilev: I almost always agree with you, but not on this one. Trump is completely unwilling to take the heat for granting Jared clearance even though he can’t get it through normal channels.

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    Hmmm….

    A CDC employee was last seen 11 days ago, when he left work early after complaining that he felt unwell, Atlanta police say. https://t.co/0ph6F1hjZu

    — NBC News (@NBCNews) February 23, 2018

  34. 34.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:46 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: They will definitely have trouble finding anyone who isn’t a complete hack to replace LTG McMaster. Pretty much the same for Gen (ret) Kelly.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 7:47 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I tried googling with no success. Do you have a link that could get me started?

  36. 36.

    Walker

    February 23, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman

    Isn’t that the start of The Stand?

  37. 37.

    mike in dc

    February 23, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    Don’t they have to either revoke Jared’s clearance by midnight tonight or close of business Monday, or else resign? It would make them look impotent to set that deadline and then do absolutely nothing about the worst, most prominent offender.

  38. 38.

    MomSense

    February 23, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    Does it bother anyone else that all of these people who couldn’t get clearances received top secret intelligence for months and may now leave knowing all of this intelligence they weren’t trustworthy enough to possess?

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: I’ve seen what happens when LTG McMaster gets pissed. It is not a pretty sight.

  40. 40.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    @Walker: Close. The Stand starts at a military base where they were testing a modified flue for either bio weapons or bio weapons antidote.

    At this point, as callous as it sounds, at this point you just hope he got run off the road and killed in a road rage incident and his body is in one of those woody road side drop offs near a hairpin turn that are in a lot of places in Atlanta.

  41. 41.

    dopey-o

    February 23, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: link please

  42. 42.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 23, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    @WaterGirl: Natasha Bertrand has a screen shot of it (I hate those…) that is fairly readable if you click on it

    @Adam L Silverman: I think the smartest person (that I know of) they could get for CoS is probably Christie– and if I really have to say it, I despise that boorish, bullying and I believe thoroughly corrupt fuckface, but he’s not stupid. But because of who were dealing with, there’s the whole soap opera aspect of it. There are rumors about Kevin McCarthy, whose stupidity and malleability would of course suit trump, Jared and the Trumplings. That video of him saying trump was on the take from Moscow might make things awkward…

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    @mike in dc: Despite the President’s remarks today, the final adjudication of a clearance is not up to Kelly. It is up to the adjudicator. For a White House appointment, that should be in the White House Security Office. They take all the information from the background investigation and the polygraph, if the latter is required, review it, and make a decision known as an adjudication. Being read on, meaning being given access to, specific classified areas or compartments, is determined by Kushner’s front line supervisor, which is Kelly as the Chief of Staff, in consultation with the White House Special Security Officer who handles the clearance indoctrinations. My understanding from the reporting is that Kushner’s investigation is not complete because he either keeps amending his forms, as he did with his financial disclosure forms a couple of weeks ago, and/or because the investigators keep finding new things that raises flags, concerns, and/or questions. This is all on Jared. To get the clearance you have to fully disclose. The fact that he can’t or wont means that the investigators keep finding stuff he didn’t disclose, which then seems to require him to amend his disclosures. This would not normally be allowed.

  44. 44.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    @MomSense: Yes it does.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:01 pm

    @MomSense: Just as it did the senior people in the Obama Administration:

    SUSAN RICE’s lawyer explains why she drafted the email to herself on Jan. 20, 2017:

    Obama team was afraid of sharing classified intel with FLYNN. She wrote email on advice of WH counsel. pic.twitter.com/IM2xbxv9ml

    — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 24, 2018

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 8:03 pm

    @MomSense: Me! It worries the hell out of me. Jared may be working for “free” but he could sell or could have sold a lot of top secret information to make some $.

  47. 47.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:04 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Graham’s bete noire, Susan Rice, has responded to the Graham-Grassley letter. Twitter seems to think it’s quite the brushback

    She was smart enough to get top cover from the White House Counsel. Senator Grassley and Graham struck out.

  48. 48.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 8:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    They will definitely have trouble finding anyone who isn’t a complete hack to replace LTG McMaster. Pretty much the same for Gen (ret) Kelly.

    Flynn and Priebus, From the earth ye came and to the earth you shall return. If the earth is a pool of stupid hackatry.
    McMaster lost so much of his credibility months ago. Kelly has zero left. Hire Ted Nugent for either position at this point.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s not going to give up the million dollar contributor gig he’s got at whichever network gave it to him to become COS. He’s not stupid. He’s just obnoxious.

  50. 50.

    chris

    February 23, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Graham’s bete noire, Susan Rice, has responded to the Graham-Grassley letter. Twitter seems to think it’s quite the brushback

    Which letter? Whose Twitter?

    ETA Never mind, got it.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    @mike in dc: Taking any bets?

  52. 52.

    eric

    February 23, 2018 at 8:07 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: They have forgotten what happens when you deal with competence.

  53. 53.

    mike in dc

    February 23, 2018 at 8:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: Well, I’m not stupid. The logical/rational response usually only happens after all other options have been exhausted. I do think this is going to become a recurring question at press conferences, though.

  54. 54.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @chris: Adam posted it at his comment 45

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @eric: Actually they believe the bullshit their side spews about the other side. That they’re all stupid, incompetent, or both.

  56. 56.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    @mike in dc: One wonders why they stopped asking about Trump’s taxes?

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    @chris: Do you have a link where the letter is readable? Because I couldn’t read it from the letter Jim, Foolish Literalist provided.

  58. 58.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 8:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Do you have the feeling that someone will finally rein Trump in, preferably with cuffs.
    I remember Watergate and what Trump and his cronies have done is much worse.

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    @JPL: I click on that but the letter is not readable. It’s way too small and I can’t even see the whole thing. What trick do I not know?

  60. 60.

    mike in dc

    February 23, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    @Corner Stone: I assume there’s a point of diminishing returns to asking questions that get the same deflection over and over. Maybe 8-9 times?

  61. 61.

    Gravenstone

    February 23, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @NotMax: Can we inter Adelson in the foundation pour, then not build the actual embassy?

  62. 62.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @WaterGirl: If you click on each page, it does enlarge it somewhat. The second page is easier to read, but it’s the third paragraph in the first page that high lights the concerns about Flynn.

  63. 63.

    chris

    February 23, 2018 at 8:17 pm

    @WaterGirl: Click on the screenshot.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    @JPL: WRONG! FAKE News! Sad!

  65. 65.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    @JPL: If/when the Democrats take over one or both chambers of Congress, then some of the institutional checks and balances will be turned back on and start running. The Federal courts are doing a bit, but the action is going to be in Congress until Mueller finishes doing what it is he’s doing.

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 23, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    Marshall’s story about this is behind his paywall, but this is the first I’ve heard of suicide threats

    Josh Marshall @ joshtpm
    At the end of 2015, Manafort was desperate for money, pleading to save his marriage, owed millions to a mobbed up oligarch. He told family he was considering suicide. Six weeks later he was asking Tom Barrack to hook him up with Donald Trump.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 23, 2018 at 8:24 pm

    Deleted

  68. 68.

    Miss Bianca

    February 23, 2018 at 8:24 pm

    @NotMax: Their name on a fucking EMBASSY building??!

  69. 69.

    Shana

    February 23, 2018 at 8:24 pm

    @MomSense: Yes, it does. A lot.

  70. 70.

    Roger Moore

    February 23, 2018 at 8:25 pm

    @MomSense:

    Does it bother anyone else that all of these people who couldn’t get clearances received top secret intelligence for months and may now leave knowing all of this intelligence they weren’t trustworthy enough to possess?

    It bothers me, but Jared honestly bothers me more than the rest of them put together. The other people who were denied clearances look like people who might be susceptible to bribery or blackmail. Jared looks like somebody who will sell to the highest bidder. I would say he deserves to wind up in the cell next to his father, but his father isn’t in SuperMax.

  71. 71.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    @WaterGirl: I haven’t read this article yet, but it is from the same person who posted the letter

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/23/susan-rice-lawyer-obama-administration-classified-intelligence-michael-flynn-trump-423437
    now I’ll go read it

  72. 72.

    Timurid

    February 23, 2018 at 8:27 pm

    @Walker:

    Or suicide.

  73. 73.

    JPL

    February 23, 2018 at 8:33 pm

    @JPL: This is the key paragraph in the response to Grassley

    “President Obama and his national security team were justifiably concerned about potential risks to the Nation’s security from sharing highly classified information about Russia with certain members of the Trump transition team, particularly Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn,”

    Today we found out from the Washington Post article on Jared, that Jared’s security clearance is being held up, because of Flynn.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:33 pm

    Dumbest Bond villain ever!

    Asked at CPAC whether he sold Tarkanian his endorsement, Gorka bristled. “No, because that would be illegal,” he said in his English accent, taking care to emphasize each word. “I was given an honorarium.” https://t.co/3cSu4qTP34 @PhilipWegmann

    — Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) February 22, 2018

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 23, 2018 at 8:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: O, the would-be Dragon Of Budapest! (stolen from Rick Wilson) I hope Chris Hayes brings back his Gorka impersonation, it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen him do.

  76. 76.

    David Anderson

    February 23, 2018 at 8:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: anyone competent won’t take the job.

    Why guarantee yourself a hell work environment and expensive legal risk for a disloyal grifter

  77. 77.

    Ohio Dad

    February 23, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    @MomSense: I’m not worried about Jared knowing classified stuff. The super-secret stuff tends to be things that everyone knows (but are “plausibly” denied), embarrassing deeds that are being hidden — mainly from Americans, and technology with military and intelligence value that is also available in unclassified academic works. Most information that can harm the US if in the hands of an adversary (like military positions and movement) has a low level of classification and would not be of interest to Jared. The highly classified identities of intelligence assets abroad could be an exception to this, except that there has been a tendency of late to violate this security for partisan gain (see Plame, Valerie and others).

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    February 23, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    He’s not going to give up the million dollar contributor gig he’s got at whichever network gave it to him to become COS.

    If Trump were to abandon Jared, Christie would be a very reasonable choice, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if Christie took it. I honestly think Christie would A) want the power, B) want to serve his party and his country (in that order), and C) understand that serving in the White House would enhance his future wingnut welfare potential. But there’s just no way Trump is going to bring Christie in if the main thing he’s looking for in a new COS is willingness to protect Jared. There’s just too much bad blood to make it work.

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That is the Dragonfly of Budapest.

  80. 80.

    J R in WV

    February 23, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I see that they- the family, found his keys. wallet, ID, car and dog at home – no son on site. Very scary for the family.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 8:41 pm

    @J R in WV: Yep.

  82. 82.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 23, 2018 at 8:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Ha!

  83. 83.

    Manyakitty

    February 23, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Wow, I hope he’s okay.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 23, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Jared may be working for “free” but he could sell or could have sold a lot of top secret information to make some $.

    Yep. And dog knows he needs the $. Makes him especially dangerous.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 23, 2018 at 9:01 pm

    @eric:

    They have forgotten have never known what happens when you deal with competence.

    Fixed for accuracy.

  86. 86.

    Corner Stone

    February 23, 2018 at 9:04 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    And dog knows he needs the $. Makes him especially dangerous.

    I’m thinking at this point he needs the Safe Havens more than money.

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 23, 2018 at 9:11 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Dumbest Bond villain ever!

    Actually, “Sebastian Gorka” is a pretty damned good Bond villain name.

  88. 88.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    @Manyakitty: I just hope he’s not a zombie or something worse.//

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 23, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Good name, bad villain.

  90. 90.

    RedDirtGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I love how they are both still referred to as “the adults in the room”.

  91. 91.

    RedDirtGirl

    February 23, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Yikes!

  92. 92.

    Another Scott

    February 23, 2018 at 9:57 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: That was such a gigantic, er, red flag at the time. It’s good to see that I’m not the only one who thought so. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 23, 2018 at 10:05 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I concur.

  94. 94.

    Another Scott

    February 23, 2018 at 10:06 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Dunno.

    After firing Comey blew up in his face he (or someone around him) whimpered (something like) “the Democrats wanted Comey fired, too!!1” He had no idea that it would be such a firestorm. He thought he could do it, look like BMOC, steal the Democrats’ thunder, make everyone else in the government cower, and have nothing but sunshine and roses going forward as the Russia investigation ended on Comey’s exit from the JEH building. Instead…

    We know Trump’s a coward – especially after that. He won’t fire anyone – he’ll just try to force them out if he (or Javanka) wants them to go.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Beauregard is still in the house…”)

  95. 95.

    Another Scott

    February 23, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    @MomSense: One potentially saving grace is that more than a clearance is required to be able to see stuff. There’s also the requirement to have a specific Need to Know. Bannon and Javanka and all the rest couldn’t look at anything they wanted – they had to have the specific need to know.

    But, of course, just having the interim clearance is bad enough… Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    sukabi

    February 23, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: back channels, hidden assets, failure to disclose foreign contacts on security forms (x 100)….given all those things that are known it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t get the Carter Page treatment with a FISA warrant…maybe Mueller will be able to indict on everything from money laundering to treason.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 23, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    @Another Scott:

    One potentially saving grace is that more than a clearance is required to be able to see stuff. There’s also the requirement to have a specific Need to Know. Bannon and Javanka and all the rest couldn’t look at anything they wanted – they had to have the specific need to know.

    Like Trump gave a shit about that.

  98. 98.

    Scotian

    February 23, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    @SiubhanDuinne: Good name, bad villain.

    The scary part for me reading this was that I could see it easily/clearly enough, yet in both Bondian and Austin Powers settings/flavours equally well,. Gorka is one of those I find a mystery as to why anyone can take him seriously. Yet look at where he has managed to be and the access it has afforded him and you cannot but also see the very sinister ugliness of a true Bond level villain there too. Not that I truly think he is any such thing, except in imitation, not originality, and without the latter the former is a limited, if not always less dangerous to the rest of reality. A bad villain indeed, Honestly he reminded me a bit too much of some of the old Cold Warrior wannabes from the tail end of that period, say last 15-20 years from the fall of the Wall. These days I’m not sure what I make of him, aside from I still find him utterly contemptible in his own right, but he in many ways feels the most slippery and enigmatic of the secondary characters that have floated through the inner circles of power in TrumpWorld since the campaign days. I keep wanting to dismiss him as low level even in my own head, and yet I know I cannot, if only because of the access he has had in shaping the dynamics that appear to be dominant in “the Trump Base” view of the rest of the world and reality. This creates its own power, especially given how driven this President of the United States of America (formality appro sadly) is by satisfying that base view whenever he gets it in his “Executive Time” FOX and other media part of his regular days. So Gorka freaks me out on a lot of levels, and your comment really reminded me of that fact, and felt I had to share with the rest of the class…*chuckle*

    Seriously, I do find Gorka one of the more fascinating characters in his own right, which with this cast of characters in this orbit over the last couple of years is no small feat to be managing. He is so out of a series of bad tropes and cliches vibe and yet he has been where he has been. A reminder that no matter how bad fiction can get, reality can always be worse than anything the mind of a human can manage….*sigh*.

    Thanks for both a chuckle and a shiver at once, be it ever unintended. Hard to manage in this area of matters these days, even black/morbid humour has become too much like parody with this reality for my tastes. The shivers alas on their own, not so hard to come by, the chuckles, well…

  99. 99.

    Honus

    February 23, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: this. Most people don’t realize you get to be a general by not fucking, not by having balls. If you had real balls and convictions you washed out long before then.

  100. 100.

    jonas

    February 23, 2018 at 11:27 pm

    Most prominent among them is Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, who has had access to some of the nation’s most sensitive material for the last year while waiting for his background investigation to be completed.

    Gosh, I thought potentially mishandling classified information — say, by not having the proper clearances, or I dunno, using a private email — was the worstest crime against humanity ever. Oh well.

  101. 101.

    Wag

    February 23, 2018 at 11:31 pm

    @jonas:

    Only if you’re a Dem. IOKIYR

  102. 102.

    jonas

    February 23, 2018 at 11:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    “But the clearance business is personal, and if Trump sets special rules for family members, I‘m not sure if Kelly and McMaster would salute,” the official said.

    Please. If Kelly and McMaster were concerned about this shit, they would have resigned a year ago. They’re not. They’re true believers. I mean hell, Kelly was willing to just completely tell a baldfaced lie about a war widow and a member of Congress just to make Trump look good and McMaster watched Trump tell the Russians about a top secret Israeli antiterror operation in the fucking Oval Office and didn’t really seem to give a shit. I think they can overlook lil’ Jared not having all his paperwork in order. Or at least be willing so smear a war widow make it look like he does.

  103. 103.

    jonas

    February 23, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    @Wag: That too. At the end of all of this, it will be shown that Trump did everything he accused Clinton or Obama of doing, only 100x worse. As has been observed many times, with these clowns it’s always projection. Always.

  104. 104.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    February 24, 2018 at 3:18 am

    @Scotian:

    Gorka is one of those I find a mystery as to why anyone can take him seriously.

    Hungarian Nazis were weird. They somehow convinced themselves that Magyars would count as honorary Aryans in the new dispensation, and that if they sent enough Jewish and Romany families off to death-camps, this would somehow save them from being next on line.
    Hungarian neo-Nazis are even weirder,
    IIRC, Gorka reckons that he isn’t a Nazi himself, he just wears his father’s Nazi lapel badge because Heritage.

  105. 105.

    JGabriel

    February 24, 2018 at 3:44 am

    WaPo:

    “I will let General Kelly make that decision, and he’s going to do what’s right for the country,” the president said during a news conference. “And I have no doubt that he will make the right decision.”

    These guys just can’t stop themselves from sounding like characters in a bad mob film:

    I’m sure you’ll make the … right decision … John. The right decision for the country, for the administration, for your career, for your family …

  106. 106.

    JGabriel

    February 24, 2018 at 4:13 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Just saying – In my experience, trying to set up backchannel communications with the Kremlin via the Russian embassy would end most people’s chances at a security clearance.

    Which raises the question, why are so many military and former military leaders willing to work with an administration that would try to do that? Perhaps I’m wrong, but it seems self-evident now that Kelly and McMaster are true believers, so any argument that they’re staying to “protect the country” lacks credibility at this point.

    I mean, why spend a career ostensibly working to defend the US, then serve in an administration so obsequious to the country which has been our most consistent adversary for the past seven decades plus?

  107. 107.

    JGabriel

    February 24, 2018 at 4:28 am

    AP via NotMax:

    The Trump administration is considering an offer from Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for at least part of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, four U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

    JPL:

    Why not just open a casino?

    Because it wouldn’t have diplomatic immunity.

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