Looks like Mr. Mueller is asking the right questions about the right people. Via NBC:
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, according to multiple people familiar with the probe.
Mueller’s investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia.
The line of questioning suggests the special counsel, who is tasked with examining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, is looking into possible coordination between WikiLeaks and Trump associates in disseminating the emails, which U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russia.
It would be awesome if that twisted fart-huffer Roger Stone plays a role in bringing the whole Jenga treason tower down. Maybe he could get a tattoo of Trump on his ass to match his Nixon tattoo. More from the report:
At that same July 2016 news conference where he referenced Clinton’s missing emails, candidate Trump said he was open to lifting sanctions on Russia and possibly recognizing its annexation of Crimea in Ukraine. The U.S. and its European allies had sanctioned Russia because of its intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, which the Obama administration refused to recognize.
Investigators have asked witnesses why Trump took policy positions that were friendly toward Russia and spoke positively about Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the probe.
Investigators have also inquired whether Trump met with Putin before becoming president, including if a meeting took place during Trump’s 2013 visit to Moscow for his Miss Universe pageant. Trump has given conflicting responses on when he first met Putin.
At least one witness was asked about Trump’s business interests in Moscow and surmised afterward that the Special Counsel investigation may be focused on business dealings that took place during the campaign.
Maybe it’ll all come to nothing. But it sure seems like Mueller is asking the right questions. And since he’s already flipped some folks, he knows who’s lying.
Trentrunner
True of the entire Mueller investigation. GOP Congress will do nothing, regardless of findings.
Vote.
T S
He’s going to indict some people and write a Comey-esque report publicly castigating Trump for his blowhard habits but stop short of actually indicting him or recommending impeachment, in order to avoid a political (if not Constitutional) crisis. All the minions that did the actual conspiracy and laundering will get indicted, but they’ll let Trump slide. This will be an unfortunate precedent, but at least future minions thinking about dealing with Russia to throw elections might think twice, so it might not all be for naught. However, I think we should just accept that the Trump admin is not going to be taken down by Mueller. Only voting will do that.
Happy to be wrong.
Corner Stone
I wonder if any of those who have been flipped will have enough credibility on the stand, if it comes to that? However, IMO I think that the dropping of some charges against Gates may mean he is bringing actual documentation to the table.
Sebastian
What really fell into the memory hole is that back in 2002 Putin’s girlfriend, Oxana Fedorova, became Ms Universe.
Donnie and Vlad go way back.
rikyrah
I don’t believe he’s asked one question that he didn’t already have the answer to.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I agree.
aimai
I’m hyperventilating over here. But its really because I’m writing a stats paper that is due at midnight and its going very, very, very, badly.
Amir Khalid
Der Müller being how he is, if he’s asking he must already know the answer. And it must be an answer that can get some highly-placed people convicted. Some highly-placed people who are right now frantic with worry.
James E. Powell
Maybe it’s because I’m reading the linked article at work, but I’m not seeing any sources. Who’s leaking the grand jury questions?
Elizabelle
Could the negative nellies plz shut their traps?
It is fucking tiresome.
rikyrah
@aimai:
Wishing you luck that it comes together.
Amir Khalid
@T S:
We have absolutely no idea if he will indeed stop short of indicting Trump to spare the republic. He might as reasonably conclude that not indicting POTUS despite overwhelming proof of guilt would cause irreparable harm to the republic.
LAO
@James E. Powell: I read the article, I’m not sure that these are grand jury questions or preliminary witness interview questions. Either way, an interviewee or a grand jury witness is always free to reveal the questions or contents of their testimony. The secrecy applies to the government, ie. the prosecution can’t reveal the contents of grand jury testimony.
JPL
@Amir Khalid: More harm than Trump is causing the country. How could that be?
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
I wonder what Mueller must think of the Republican party now that its fallen so low.
T S
@Elizabelle: Nope. It’s a constructive coping mechanism. Notice it isn’t hopeless pessimism. I’m just bracing for less than stellar results to have the determination to keep going. Empirically, optimistic people often fall apart when their optimism isn’t predictive.
As for sharing it here… yeah, I guess I don’t have to do that…but at the same time, if you want optimism and positivity…are you even in the right place? Do you remember who is the guy who started this blog?
geg6
@Corner Stone:
Agreed.
geg6
@rikyrah:
Agree with you, too.
Major Major Major Major
@aimai: hang in there!
geg6
@Elizabelle:
Oooo, agreed with you, too. That’s three in a row! It must be my day to be agreeable.
Brachiator
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered …
Collusion, coordination and conspiracy…
Corner Stone
@geg6: Well, it is the last day in February, so March 1st should reset that little buggeroo.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: I’ve had Trent pied for months. Highly recommended.
Adam L Silverman
@T S: There is nothing in Bob Mueller’s history as a prosecutor that would lead one to conclude that is how he will do business.
Amir Khalid
@JPL:
A refusal to indict Trump despite proof of his guilt might effectively set a precedent placing POTUS above the law, which could prove impossible to reverse.
Adam L Silverman
@aimai: It’s always the median. Never the mode.
Adam L Silverman
@James E. Powell: The people who have been interviewed. The leaks ARE NOT coming from within the Special Counsel’s office.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Not to be all negative but I think Brian Klaas said it best in Aug 2017:
“[The] Founding Fathers anticipated a corrupt president; they didn’t anticipate a complicit Congress.”
They’ll never vote to remove him. Now, if the fallout from this results in a massive wave of Dems who not only take control of Congress but can guarantee a conviction in the Senate added with the “best case” scenario of indictments from Mueller, then Dems would most likely move to shit canning the orange shitgibbon.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: Thanks for saying that.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: She’s doing statistics. There is no luck, just average outcomes regressing to the mean.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: You are being mean.
germy
Anybody see Black Lightning last night?
His daughter knocked down a confederate statue. Scared the crap out of a bunch of “You won’t replace us!” protestors.
germy
Corner Stone
Jesus, we’re all going to die.
Link to Daily Beast
“USA Today on Wednesday published an op-ed promoting the idea of arming school teachers with concealed firearms to combat potential school shooters. And while the piece garnered some criticism online, the more controversial aspect for many readers was the author itself.
Jerome Corsi has served as the bureau chief of the far-right conspiracy theory outlet InfoWars since early 2017. “
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: The he needs to order more printer toner for all the indictments he’s going to be printing out.
Adam L Silverman
DiFi looks like she may head slap the President.
Cheryl Rofer
@rikyrah: Smart lawyers never ask questions they don’t already have the answers to.
T S
@Amir Khalid: I’m just spitballing. Maybe it’s wrong. I want to assume something bad though to not be too let down. It helped me survive the election.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I don’t want the Republicans in congress to remove Trump. That crook needs to be front and center for the next 2 elections.
And if Democrats win the house and or senate, I don’t want them to remove Trump either. I want Trump to lose in 2020 and bring down his republican cronies.
Cheryl Rofer
@James E. Powell: It looks like it is the witnesses or their lawyers who are leaking. And it’s not clear whether it’s the grand jury or just the investigators, sounds more like the latter.
patrick II
@Amir Khalid:
Hasn’t that already been done with Nixon the “un-indicted” co-conspirator”?
MJS
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Do you and the other doom-sayers happen to have any insight on the Power Ball numbers for tonight? Because you seem to know a lot about what’s going to happen in the future given circumstances and facts that are completely unprecedented.
waspuppet
Today on “Sentences That Would End Any Other Presidency But For Some Reasons Are Casually Tossed Off As Not a Big Deal When the President Is a Corrupt, Not-Very-Bright Toddler.”
germy
Gin & Tonic
@Corner Stone:
Magic 8-ball says: without a doubt.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: If I had ice cream I could be a la mode.
Cheryl Rofer
Manafort’s trial has been set for September 17. The election is in November, and the government changes in January. Looks like we’ve got the potential for a President Nancy Pelosi if people vote for Democrats in November.
Adam L Silverman
@germy: I’m a couple of weeks behind because of the Olympics, so no spoilers.
schrodingers_cat
@waspuppet: Come on now, he is bright, glow in the dark orange as a matter of fact.
Corner Stone
@Gin & Tonic: True. However, I did not expect the cause to be “fairness”.
T S
@Adam L Silverman: No doubt he will go where the evidence takes him, but I actually don’t think there will be any crimes that Trump was a material player in except for obstruction…and he might even be able to plead ignorance to any actual crimes. I don’t know how that defense floats though. Does obstruction require you to know there was a crime? What if you are in a position as President to *think* there is abuse of power (however delusional that belief may be) and are trying to stop that? Lawyers please inform me.
However, I really don’t think they are going to nail him on anything other than crimes that only exist because there was an investigation (like obstruction). That’s just my hunch. Maybe I’ll be shocked one morning to read about all the money laundering he’s been in on and be happily wrong, but I think he probably has plausible deniability.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: No one gets out of life alive!
LAO
@Cheryl Rofer: I will give up the practice of law if Manafort’s trial actual begins on September 17th. I’m always willing to engage in side bets.
MCA1
“And since he’s already flipped some folks, he knows who’s lying.”
Obligatory “All of them, Katie” response. But especially Roger Stone. No way he wouldn’t lie.
rp
Greenwald’s take is “of course he’s asking those questions! Just standard procedure!”
Adam L Silverman
@T S: Do you know who the only person in the US who has seen the President’s tax returns outside of people that work for him/are dependent on him or that work for the IRS? Bob Mueller and his people. Just the financial criminality from the President’s businesses is going to take years worth of prosecution to unwind. As for obstruction: when you state, unprompted, during an interview on live TV that you fired the guy investigating you because it annoyed you and as far as you’re concerned there was nothing there, that’s pretty much admitting to obstruction.
Cermet
@T S: Mueller NEVER could take the orange fart cloud down since the constitution prohibits that; however, he could indict the asswipe. That is allowed as long as he does not try to bring it to trial. That would be an over step that, while not absolutely prohibited, would end up being destroyed by the right-wing loons on the inferior court.
Roger Moore
@T S:
There is some question about whether a sitting president can even be indicted, so it would take some balls for Mueller to unseal an indictment. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a sealed indictment ready to unseal when Trump leaves office; there might even be one already. And if he thinks there’s anything worth indicting him for, he will almost certainly recommend impeachment. The big question is whether the Republicans in Congress will do anything about it if he does recommend impeachment.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Well I have it on good authority, Ken Starr no less, that Mueller is overstepping his mandate. If any motherfucker ought to know about that it’s Ken Starr. He said it on CNN.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@MJS:
I’m not being doom and gloom, simply realistic in light of the current makeup of the GOP on the Hill.
Plus, I don’t see them doing nothing regardless of what Mueller ends up doing as a bad thing. I agree with J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford about how such inaction by the Repubs will pay far more political dividends to us over the next 2+ years than removing the Popular Vote Loser only to have him replaced with Sharia Mike. Not only would we get to hang the shitgibbon around the neck of every GOP politician, we can hang their total lack of upholding the Constitution around their necks.
Of course this assumes the Popular Vote Loser doesn’t start a thermonuclear war in the meantime.
Kay
Hilarious. So much for gun rights! He’s LITERALLY a gun grabber.
This is gonna be like immigration, isn’t it? Where he shows he has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about?
GregB
I am spit-balling here. If these questions are being reported as being asked, they have been asked and answered.
I think this is essentially softening the ground, underneath Trump’s feet perhaps, because Mueller knows this whole story by now.
germy
@Kay: Reminds me of when he asked Ryan and McConnell “Why can’t we just have Medicare for all? Wouldn’t that be simplest?”
Adam L Silverman
There isn’t a Senator or Representative sitting around that table with the President that looks like they want to be there.
bemused
@Adam L Silverman:
Are Dems there? I’m only half listening and so far I’ve just heard tough guy blather.
MomSense
@aimai:
It’s a really nice day. Can you take a quick walk around the block to let your mind and worries rest? Sometimes a 15 minute breather saves hours of unproductive time. Sending good energy to you!
Cermet
Indictment is allowed – what area of law says that an indicted person has to be taken to trial? Nor does an indictment mean that you have committed any crime – only that a jury says their is enough evidence that a crime might have been done – that can only be proven in court; hence, indictment is certainly allowed as long as a trial is not started while the orange fart is still floating in the white house. An indictment can be done since it does not in any manner infringe upon congress’s power as spelled out in the constitution.
bemused
@bemused:
Now I see there are. Hope someone brings up teacher arrested for firing gun in GA high school today.
piratedan
tbf… while Mueller may have that information/evidence which indicates that this current administration is essentially traitorous, corrupt et al, we also have to remember that the people currently in control of the House and Senate could be just as much so, based on the fact that their agenda is currently being served, country be damned.
Kay
@germy:
I say that too!
People say he’s an old man babbling at a bar but that isn’t it at all- he’s an old man at the head of the table at a country club, boring everyone. And he’s not even drunk.
Adam L Silverman
@bemused: Yep, bipartisan group. DiFi is sitting just too his left and looks like she’s ready to go all St. Louis Obispo on his tuchas.
Senator Nelson (D-FL) was not invited. This is the second or third of these types of things where he should be involved because Florida is involved and he wasn’t invited/included.
The Lodger
@schrodingers_cat: No, Adam’s just being average.
raven
@bemused: Did you see the entire thread about it just to your left?
bemused
@Adam L Silverman:
Pathetic. Too chicken to have FL senator there.
Steve in the ATL
@Cheryl Rofer:
IN COURT. Lawyers ask lots of questions they don’t have the answer to in the process called “discovery “. That said, Mueller is probably asking a lot of questions he knows the answer to in order to set a perjury trap, and maybe use that to flip more witnesses.
All that said, maybe I’m simply not a smart lawyer!
Kay
The wikileaks/theft/Trump issue could be the most interesting part of this, if there’s anything to it. Now THAT woulda been a good story during the campaign. Instead we got server management.
bemused
@raven:
Nope, missed it while doing other things.
Roger Moore
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
IMO, if Mueller recommends impeachment and the Democrats get control of the House, they should impeach him whether or not they think the votes are there in the Senate. I think this is both good governance- they need to do everything in their power to hold the President accountable, even if they can’t get a conviction- and good politics- there’s no better way of hanging this around the necks of the whole Republican Party than forcing them to do it on the biggest stage. If the public is fine with the Republicans sticking with Trump and keep pulling the (R) lever in elections enough to keep them in power, our democracy is over no matter what the Democrats do.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@GregB:
I hope you are correct. I, too, have found myself thinking Mueller is preparing a wary American public for the image if a sitting president to be led out of the White House in cuffs.
Perhaps that From Russia With Love vid shall come to be?!?
zhena gogolia
@geg6:
Then I won’t bring up Elvis :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: I’ve got it muted cause I think these kinds of photo-ops are mostly useless even without a trump involved, but it looked like the body language between trump and Klobuchar got a little tense, maybe even heated.
trollhattan
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:
Why in the name of all that is holy do bookers keep Ken Fucking Starr on their speed dials? He should be hiding in shame, not gracing the airwaves.
PVDMichael
I hate to be a lurker.. and a downer… but the math says that Trump can’t be successfully impeached/removed without Republican votes even after the midterms. The Democrats could win >EVERY SINGLE SENATE< seat up in November (including uphill wins in Nebraska, Mississippi and Wyoming) and still need Republican votes for impeachment conviction.
Until his folks turn on him… it's going to be tough to get rid of him.
Kay
New name, bigger, whatever. Can he go now? Is this gun thing over? He’s missing his shows.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Yep. And, like immigration, he’ll say he’ll sign whatever bipartisan deal gets worked out, and that will be a lie too.
schrodingers_cat
@Roger Moore: Agreed. Ds should impeach him if they do win the House. Even R stooges in the media won’t be able to both-sides that spectacle.
schrodingers_cat
Deleted
bystander
I’ve got a great idea where to locate twitler’s mouth.
catclub
@Gin & Tonic: OTOH,
Jesus has already died and it was great career move!
Jay
From the methodical way Meuller is proceeding, I’m guessing that he paid attention to Nixon’s Treason, and Johnson’s unwillingness to “taint” American’s “faith in Democracy”.
That resulted in The Ususal Suspects Watergate, October Surprise, Iran Contra, S&L, etc.
It looks to me like he’s planning to rip it all out, root and branch, leaving no survivors, even if it takes a decade. It’s actually easier to come up with a list of Nixonian Ratfuckers, Republican Operatives and Republican Financiers not being looked at, than the list he is looking at.
Kay
Josh Barro Retweeted
“Policy details”. They never learn, do they? Donald Trump hasn’t learned anything new since 1978 and he’s not about to start now.
Sm*t Cl*de
@Kay:
The bootlickers are totally down with gun confiscation and violation of 2nd-Amendment rights as long as it is extra-legal and selective, done by men in uniform against members of $OUTGROUP — not codified in law and consistently enforced.
cwmoss
@Adam L Silverman: Ahhh. La mode. Very good.
Gravenstone
@Kay: “Because I said so!” as governing doctrine has not historically worked well, for anyone.
germy
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: I am making carrot halwa in the slow cooker. Ice-cream would be great with that.
T S
@Adam L Silverman: I’m assuming his tax returns have at least passed low order scrutiny for tax evasion since the IRS has seen them and audited him. I’m sure criminals have used the Trump Org for their own purposes, there’s just a question of whether Trump knowingly facilitated that. Maybe. But I assume many billionaires would have a hard time with their finances being scrutinized by a special counsel. Many of them would probably go down for a few months at Club Fed if someone really wanted to throw the book at them. I just don’t think it’s going to reveal a narrative of Trump explicitly promising policy or opportunities for money laundering in exchange for assistance in the election for for loans to stay afloat. I could actually see impeachment, even with this Congress, for that. Minor tax evasion, not so much.
As for the obstruction…if the teevee comments were enough, then it’s a done deal…so maybe Mueller has that indictment already filed in case Trump fires him, but now he’s just fleshing out the details of how much Trump knew about the crimes to add additional charges.
I’m still going to be really surprised in Trump gets indicted or if there is a recommendation for impeachment.
notoriousJRT
It would be awesome if that twisted fart-huffer Roger Stone plays a role in bringing the whole Jenga treason tower down.
So much awesome. Can this become one of the rotating whatzits?
GregB
@schrodingers_cat:
Post the recipe!
dmsilev
@PVDMichael: That’s certainly true. I suspect, though, that if Mueller uncovers proof of something big enough to warrant a criminal indictment of a sitting President and a (Democratic) House successfully impeaches, there are going to be some Republican Senators who would vote for removal just as a way of cutting their losses. They’ll be able to say “Trump is gone, let us all unite under President Pence” and the media for one would leap at the opportunity to go along with that.
schrodingers_cat
@GregB: Its an experiment. I will know this evening how it turned out. I will post the recipe then!
Kay
@Gravenstone:
Obama should have said that. “Just take the guns away! Do I have to draw you people a map?”
Spanky
Well then! That’s that! He ALWAYS carries through on his statements.
(“Breaking” banner @ WaPo)
schrodingers_cat
@Spanky: He will do nothing, based on his past record.
Kay
@germy:
I can say this from extensive personal experience- gun nuts love concealed carry more than anything.
They go on and on about it. “I got my CCW”. It’s a tribal marker. It’s so weird that they love the special gun license, but hate all other regulation.
gvg
@PVDMichael: We already know and have discussed quite a bit. the thing is, it looks to us like quite a few Republican Congressmen are acting just as guilty as Trump. If some of them are arrested, we have special election pickup opportunities plus it may change how the rest of them react. Having several Judas whispering in your ear who you think are your allies, can impact what you think even if you think you are independant. Remove a few Judas and the whispers are different. Then add the public reaction. in the past corruption has caused people to change their votes more than ideology. The 2006 democratic first wave wasn’t just Iraq going sour, it was also several really sleezy republican scandals where that party knew and did nothing about bad actors. This is setting up to me to be another reaction and it’s not just Trump. I have thought Ryan and McConnel were bad before Trump. Watching them protect Trump, and others has convinced me they are both guilty at least of bribe taking from Russia.
I think we need to get some of the Congressmen first. It’ll concentrate the rest of their minds on what their real duty is. I think the NY AG might have to do some of it.
The Moar You Know
@Roger Moore: Best argument for impeaching the sack of crap I’ve ever read. I’ve been against it for a long time. I think you may have just changed my mind.
Jack the Second
Does anyone think someone asked Donald Trump his opinion on strategy?
Mike in DC
Russia–>wikileaksRoger Stone DJT campaign
I assume some of this is already established. If you establish Stone envoying back and forth between WL and the campaign, you have your conspiracy.
Jeffro
People, you can’t have expected a busy bidnessman like Trumpov to know that stealing emails is a crime, that coordinating with agents of a hostile foreign power to undermine the United States is a crime, or that lying about all of it afterwards is a crime. Or that firing the FBI director to halt the investigation into all of that is a crime.
That’s just too much for him to ‘know’, ok?
gvg
@T S: Trump has done business in Russia. Trump dramatically changed GOP policy in favor of Russia in a startling sudden way that was not being pushed on him by Americans. Even if those 2 facts were just coincidence…..well that just isn’t believable. He hasn’t got much for Russia yet because it turns up the public just doesn’t want it. He has tried though and that is not innocent.
Both he and Putin are authoritarians who just don’t get the limits to Presidential powers. I suspect Trump promised what he couldn’t deliver and Putin may be figuring it out or maybe not.
NotMax
Speak softly and carry three big sticks.
Jeffro
Btw it just KILLS me to hear that Trumpov wants Congress to send him “one terrific bill” to end gun violence. Who knew that’s all it would take to solve a complex, multi-faceted problem like gun violence in America? Just “one terrific bill”, signed by Trumpov.
Whew. Next problem!
randy khan
@Corner Stone:
If the superseding indictment tells us anything, it’s that Mueller has a ton of emails. Since these folks don’t seem capable of tying their own shoes, I’d say there’s a very good chance that there are more incriminating emails than you can imagine. It would be ironic, to say the least, if it turns out that emails bring down the Trump Administration.
Kay
I love how they’re all in a row like that.
rikyrah
‘Going rate’ to buy a job in Dorothy Brown’s office is $10,000, employee tells feds
By Jason Meisner
Chicago Tribune
One employee told federal investigators that the “going rate” to a buy a job in Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown’s office was $10,000, to be paid to her personal bagman.
Another said in an FBI interview it was well known that showering gifts on Brown could earn you a promotion, citing a trip Brown took to India that was partially paid for by relatives of one of her top employees.
Financial records appeared to back up the claims, including transactions showing the alleged bagman — who is also a clerk’s office employee — paid $40,000 directly to Brown and a company she controlled. The clerk later deposited $30,000 of those funds into her campaign war chest.
Those allegations are among several startling new details revealed by federal prosecutors in a court filing in the pending case against Beena Patel, one of Brown’s former aides whose relative helped fund the India trip in 2013.
randy khan
Okay, not an open thread, but today the Kennedy Center started the presale for its members for tickets to Hamilton, which is going to have a 3-month run here in D.C. I got in the queue at 9:00, the moment it opened, to get in the pool for tickets, and when they opened sales at 10:00, I was assigned a spot in the 17,000s. (They did a random draw for everyone who was in the queue by 10:00. A friend on Facebook said there apparently were at 48,000 people assigned numbers.) I got to the front of the line around 3:30, by which point there were only single seats and premium (that is, $625 a pop) seats available from the allocation for members. I counted myself lucky to find two single tickets in the same row for a performance at the end of July. I hate to think what it’s going to be like when they make tickets available to the general public in March.
Ruckus
@Kay:
Going to ask a reverse question here, is there anything that drumpf ever talks about where he knows what he’s talking about?
James E. Powell
@Adam L Silverman:
And she wonders why she didn’t get the endorsement.
Shana
@randy khan: I got on at 11 am, and there are still over 45,000 people ahead of me. Not holding my breath here.
scav
@Spanky: Nice thing about EOs is they can be so very easily dumped later when things are calmer, unlike actual legislation. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a few cries of “Look! The Free Market is solving the problem all on its own!” arise as another tactic to prevent any laws getting passed because all those corporations can just as easily lapse back to their old ways once the current spotlight has moved on.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
Russia doesn’t take home any medals.
Just One More Canuck
@zhena gogolia: Did something happen to Elvis?
TenguPhule
@Ruckus:
Chocolate cakes, well done steaks and sexual assault?
Jeffro
@randy khan: I’m going to wait a decade to see HAMILTON, no rush at this point. My 12-year-old can pretty much sing & rap the whole soundtrack anyway. No show is worth paying over $200/seat for, ever.
Corner Stone
@randy khan: RICK GATES: Have you looked here yet? Have you found this yet? Do you know who this person is?
MUELLER: Maybe. Tell us moar…
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
Have you learned nothing over the last year?
R Stooges: Challenge Accepted!
Kay
@Ruckus:
He knows a lot about celebrities. Like, tv celebrities. Middle aged to older ones. Say from 1974 to 1996. He wishes they were talking about Rosie O’Donnell and…Madonna. Oprah. He knows her. Or so he says.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Worse, we got a bunch of boring emails that did not involve Stormy Daniels. Or Playboy.
pluky
@Amir Khalid: exactly! would upvote if i could.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Selective targeting by skin tone and religion. Put money on it.
PJ
@randy khan: @Shana: There are 48,000 people in line at the Kennedy Center?
Jeffro
Btw Faux Snooze covering the important issues of the day today: here’s their top 5 stories right now
5) Native American burial site discovered off Florida coast
4) Attractive young female teacher busted for ‘romps’ with male student – a weekly Fox fave!
3) Cops swarm school where teacher fired shots/barricaded himself in
2) Trump says he “doesn’t have to agree with the NRA on everything”
and
1) “Dems disavow mega-donor after male escort’s death” Um, okay.
Note what is not in there? Anything about anyone losing their security clearances or being susceptible to manipulation from foreign powers…anything about Mueller asking what the prez knew about stolen emails and their release…heck, anything about Dick’s…
Quinerly
Hope Hicks resigning. NYT reporting
Corner Stone
BOOM! See you, Hopester!
jacy
Hope Hicks resigning. That can’t be good. Bwahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah Rats, ship, blah, blah, blah.
Shana
@PJ: Not AT the Kennedy Center, online portal.
TenguPhule
@Steve in the ATL:
Point of order! Do not succumb to Rightwing bullshit on “perjury traps”!
Its not a trap when the stupid fucker CHOOSES to lie.
SiubhanDuinne
WHOA HOLY FUCK IF TRUE!
Just got my phone back so this may well have been mentioned, but MSNBC is quoting Maggie@FTFNYT saying that Hope Hicks is resigning!
Things. Are. Moving. FAST.
TenguPhule
@jacy:
That seems awfully stupid since it removes her from SS protection by proxy.
Manyakitty
@Kay: They almost certainly made the first day back better for everyone. What a great idea!
No One of Consequence
I can smell the flop sweat from Iowa…
As us cornpone round these here parts are fond of saying, “Holeeeeeeee Shit! Storm’s a brewin’!”
– NOoC
Corner Stone
@TenguPhule: Why would she need SS protection? She apparently had no issue dating a multiple time woman beater.
MomSense
@jacy:
Woah.
Fair Economist
Something really juicy must have come up in that closed session Hope Hicks had in Congress yesterday.
PJ
@Shana: Ah, that seems more reasonable.
Mike in NC
News coming out that Hope Hicks will resign.
? Martin
@PVDMichael: What’s key is the extent to which the Presidents flaws become the GOPs flaws. The GOP didn’t want to be thought of as a bunch of crooks so they cut Nixon loose. It wasn’t noble, it was self-preservation. The difference today is that the GOP rank and file voter does want a crook. They want someone who will go on national TV and punch Nancy Pelosi in the face and then laugh about it.
The GOP needs to decide if that’s the party they want to be, and if not, how far are they willing to go to prevent it. The retirements are individuals declaring how far they’re willing to go. Effectively, they’re saying this is unsalvageable. That could take things either way – jump off the bridge and impeach Trump and hope the electorate comes around or jump off the bridge and hold onto him and hope things don’t get worse. Either way they’re jumping off a bridge.
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
Our court system has executed people for lesser comprehension then that.
randy khan
@Shana:
I’m just trying to imagine 48K people in line at the Kennedy Center. The queue would go to Georgetown.
Something strange is going on with the KenCen website – no matter what you try to do, it puts you in the queue for Hamilton tickets, which only is supposed to be for members. I wonder if the actual number of people in the queue is much smaller than it appears. (I went to see if I could figure out whether my seats really are separated by one seat or not.)
Corner Stone
Hope Hicks opens her little notebook and crosses off the name “Hope Hicks”.
Kay
@Manyakitty:
They look so sweet and patient sitting there.
Ruckus
@Kay:
My take is that he really doesn’t know them, he saw them on TV and thinks that makes them exactly like what he saw. He is spoiled asshole child of the 50s.
randy khan
@Corner Stone:
Yep.
trollhattan
Awww, Trumpy loses the company of his second-favorite “piece of tail.” Bye, Hope.
Guess she doesn’t like spending her days (not) testifying.
? Martin
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m guessing her lawyers broke the news to her that she was likely going to prison. Time to look out for #1, I guess.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone: The surest way to make sure she never talks about things she knows. I attribute zero moral values to the entire nest of vipers and that’s before Putin enters the picture. They’ve broken probably every other law of man and nature, one more murder to their benefit doesn’t seem a stretch.
zhena gogolia
@Just One More Canuck:
We just have a difference of opinion about his talent. I have a soft spot for EP, geg6 can’t stand him.
NotMax
@Siubhan Duinne
BFD!
Moving to Fox & Fiends in order to exert more influence over you know who?
? Martin
@trollhattan: I’m assuming Ivanka is his favorite?
danielx
@Amir Khalid:
If he does indict Trump, it might even get rid of the damnable idea that certain people are beyond investigation, prosecution and sentencing.
randy khan
@PVDMichael:
I’ve been saying for about a year that the Republicans will be with him until they’re against him. It’s what happened in Watergate – no slow drip-drip of lost support, but more or less the entire party flipping after the smoking gun tape. I’m not saying it will happen, just that if it does he’ll lose everyone more or less at once.
patroclus
Bye Bye Hope!
randy khan
The AP is reporting that Hicks is gone, too.
I guess this is an opportunity for Sarah Huckabee Sanders to move up.
Manyakitty
@Kay: I’m a devoted cat person, but I’ve met some really sweet doggos lately. Those therapy dogs are tearing down my defenses. ??
Jeffro
@Mike in NC: Just saw that…wow…will the last crook in the White House please put down his cheeseburger and phone, and turn out the lights?
trollhattan
@? Martin:
There can never be another….
Jay
@? Martin:
According to a 56 page “Starr” Memo, compiled by leading US Constitutional Scholars, then lost in the archives,
A) Yes, a sitting US President can be indicted,
B) Yes, they must go to trial.
C) Yes, they can be convicted,
D) No, they can’t pardon themselves.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3899216/Savage-NYT-FOIA-Starr-memo-presidential.pdf
clay
Hey, I don’t know if this is old news or what, but Ta-Nehisi Coates has been hired to write the Captain America comic book! As a long-time Marvel fan, who has been impressed by TNC’s run on Black Panther, this is thrilling news to me. And historic news, as well.
He has a brief post about it over at The Atlantic:
Manyakitty
@clay: Brand new news, and yay!
OldDave
So the Trump Administration has lost Hope.
The Moar You Know
@SiubhanDuinne: Guess she’s finally figured out she’s not going to be Mrs. Donald Trump Jr. #4.
cain
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
And further investigations that will also put Republican members of congress in jail, yes.. then something is going to happen then. There is going to be be a massive course correction if we get all of Congress. We need to be careful not to get Trump out just yet. Calmly keep building the case against not just Trump, but Pence, and Republican leadership and then bring down the hammer hard. Then… take care of Russia. Money that should be going to nuclear weapons gets into cyber security, and cyber war, up the R&D on finding better ways to go after Russia. Then open voting at the federal level, and fucking take down the EC if at all possible.
I would say that we temporarily reduce the power of rural voters for about 10 years as well with a sunset clause. They have become completely crazified by Fox News and right wing propaganda.
Manyakitty
@The Moar You Know: Or decided she’d rather not be.
MisterForkbeard
@schrodingers_cat: Nah, they can do that easily. “Republicans impeach Clinton over lying to Congress (not a blowjob, really!) in the 90s. Now Democrats are taking revenge by impeaching Trump for conspiracy, collusion, bank fraud, and other counts. Both sides just need to get over their partisanship and move on.”
cain
@germy:
I don’t have a TV.. I’ll have to see if I can see it online. But I really hate the commercials. I’m so used to Netflix.
MisterForkbeard
@jacy: Whoah. I wonder what THAT’s about – maybe she decided she didn’t want to be involved in this stuff anymore, but she might be going back to work for the Trump Organization instead.
cain
@Corner Stone:
Really? What is wrong with USAToday? That isn’t fairness. You’re giving the very people who are causing shootings a platform.
danielx
@SiubhanDuinne:
Attention all rats: please don your life jackets.
MisterForkbeard
@Manyakitty: Likewise. We won’t get a dog until our girls are a fair bit older, but I’m considering it more and more as they get older.
Though Dad would be exercising Paternal Authority and insisting on getting a welsh corgi.
cain
@Roger Moore:
Yes, because that worked so well during Nixon’s presidency, right? They reconstituted themselves in less than 10 years. No.. they need be out in the weed for generations! Keep that shit in their pocket and go after members of congress involved in it as well. People need to go fucking jail. They need to be lead in chains, crying their asses off.
cain
@schrodingers_cat:
Interesting! Unfortunately, for some reason carrot halwa is not popular with non-indians. Also, stuff with too much cardamom tends to make them upset as well. I’m assuming this is for Holi?
schrodingers_cat
@cain: Nope. Just trying out different stuff with my slow cooker. When is Holi?
Actually for Holi, we traditionally make puranpoli, which is beyond my level of expertise.
ETA: Trick to making Indian desserts and sweets is cut the sugar that they recommend by half. Add a bit more later if you like.
Manyakitty
@MisterForkbeard: Lolz! I can’t add a dog because it would freak out my Schrodinger kitty. He has many feelings, and all of them got disrupted when he met a dog once. I won’t even get another cat (we have three) while he’s around, and at only 9+ years old, I hope that’s a long time.
Corner Stone
@cain: USAToday has always been very centeristism. But letting an InfoWars editor have op-ed space is about as egregious as it can possibly get.
burnspbesq
@Cermet:
100 percent false.
Doug R
@aimai: I’m hyperventilating over here. But its really because I’m writing a stats paper that is due at midnight and its going very, very, very, badly.
Shana
@randy khan: I thought that was odd too. Perhaps redirecting to another site and not really the KenCen, but it was the actual site.
B
@Kay: and all goldens says the person who currently has 3.
TenguPhule
@danielx:
We’ve replaced the air in the jackets with lead weights.
Let’s see if they notice.
Doug R
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
I can see your point. Let the conspiracies and indictments and convictions fall where they may and TIE THEM TO TRUMP. Make him the most unpopular MFer out there, worse than post watergate Nixon with a Cheney chaser.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Ooh, hadn’t thought of that!
SiubhanDuinne
@The Moar You Know:
That’s not necessarily my takeaway, but I am very interested in (I think it was) yesterday’s speculation that Melania is planning to leave her husband soon (when?) and the $26 mil that was “paid” to her friend Stephanie Winston is actually a nice little cushion for her when she walks out on Trump.
VeniceRiley
Trump must be both indicted and impeached. I say must, so we don’t face a future of presidents “Hey, Trump did worse and he served out his term(s)” from our fellow citizens. And crimers of his ilk MUST be discouraged from even thinking about running for office.