Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

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

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

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

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

He really is that stupid.

We still have time to mess this up!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

The willow is too close to the house.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Breaking: Special Counsel Mueller Has Subpoenaed The Trump Organization For Documents Related To Russia

Breaking: Special Counsel Mueller Has Subpoenaed The Trump Organization For Documents Related To Russia

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From The New York Times reporting:

WASHINGTON — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has subpoenaed the Trump Organization to turn over documents, including some related to Russia, according to two people briefed on the matter. The order is the first known time that the special counsel demanded documents directly related to President Trump’s businesses, bringing the investigation closer to the president.

The breadth of the subpoena was not clear, nor was it clear why Mr. Mueller issued it instead of simply asking for the documents from the company, an umbrella organization that oversees Mr. Trump’s business ventures. In the subpoena, delivered in recent weeks, Mr. Mueller ordered the Trump Organization to hand over all documents related to Russia and other topics he is investigating, the people said.

The subpoena is the latest indication that the investigation, which Mr. Trump’s lawyers once regularly assured him would be completed by now, will drag on for at least several more months. Word of the subpoena comes as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his investigation to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. Trump’s political activities. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned witnesses, including an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, about the flow of Emirati money into the United States.

Neither White House officials nor Alan S. Futerfas, a lawyer representing the Trump Organization, immediately responded to requests for comment. The Trump Organization has typically complied with requests from congressional investigators for documents for their own inquiries into Russian election interference, and there was no indication the company planned to fight Mr. Mueller about it.

Much more at the link, but the real outstanding question is why use the subpoena rather than the normal investigator to corporate legal counsel request letter or letters. The reason for the Special Counsel’s decision to go this route is unclear and/or unknown at this time.

Stay frosty!

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

283Comments

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    I could be wrong, but I thought there was reporting recently that Mueller had ASKED the Trump Org for documents. Now they’ve issued a subpoena. Hmmm. I’ll see if I can find that reporting I saw earlier…

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    anybody live near the Justice Department HQ? Let us know if you see a Bekins truck backing up to the door

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    Mueller is playing hardball to win. This may be why Twitler’s so eager to fire Andy McCabe. Revenge must be taken. Now the gloves will come off and the bareknuckled brawl will commence, because this was the red line the investigation must not cross.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    Much more at the link, but the real outstanding question is why use the subpoena rather than the normal investigator to corporate legal counsel request letter or letters. The reason for the Special Counsel’s decision to go this route is unclear and/or unknown at this time.

    Rule #1 of BJ jackal commenting must be adhered to! What is the worst possible take we can infer from this news?

  8. 8.

    But her emails!!!

    Much more at the link, but the real outstanding question is why use the subpoena rather than the normal investigator to corporate legal counsel request letter or letters. The reason for the Special Counsel’s decision to go this route is unclear and/or unknown at this time.

    Umm. Because Panama?

  9. 9.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Adam L Silverman: is this for the Ninja Otter Project that isn’t happening and that you have nothing to do with?

    (This Chris Whipple guy never misses a chance to plug his book on WH CoS’s on the TeeVee)

  10. 10.

    kindness

    Don’t you think Mueller went the subpoena route because that makes 1) a better statement of intent and 2) warns the subject everything is on the record because Donnie Two Scoops probably thinks he can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it.

  11. 11.

    MP

    Well, this sounds like it happened around the same time someone in the know stated that Mueller was not an unguided missile.

  14. 14.

    BGinCHI

    I’m guessing they used the subpoena because they don’t trust Trump’s team to respond honestly or thoroughly. Plus this puts it in the public record.

    Also, the Trump team is corrupt and dishonest.

  16. 16.

    mai naem mobile

    Can i add the obligatory ick tock motherfuckers? I cannot wait for this Orange Monster Asshole to go down in exploding flames.

  20. 20.

    mapaghimagsik

    Doesn’t it make is slightly harder for Trump to fire Mueller? It might be legal, but it sure would look worse.

    And yes.

    Tick.

    Motherfucking.

    Tock.

    Hmm testing.

    casino.
    viagra
    cialis

    BWAHAHAHAHA

  23. 23.

    Corner Stone

    Looks like Adam is needed at his alma mater FIU STAT.

    Pedestrian bridge collapse with possibly multiple cars caught underneath. Looks awful.

  25. 25.

    mapaghimagsik

    Okay, last comment got labeled as spam because I tested edits. How eeemtneresting.

    Okay. So does the subpoena make firing Mueller just a little harder?

    And yes.

    Tick.

    Motherfucking.

    Tock

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Listening to the Slate podcast on Watergate (which I highly recommend) it was the Saturday Night Massacre that finally got people mad about Watergate. I’ll defer to people who remember first hand or who have read more.

    I knew a little about WG, but damn I had no idea how much of a story Martha Mitchell was.

  28. 28.

    schrodingers_cat

    OT good news from India.
    The ruling BJP lost two Loksabha by-elections (special elections) decisively in Uttar Pradesh, the politically important state in the Hindi heartland.

  29. 29.

    different-church-lady

    I know Meuller’s reputation for being thorough, but it really feels like he’s calculating it so that it stretches and lingers and intensifies ever so sloooooooooooowly… like torturing someone on the rack.

  34. 34.

    Frankensteinbeck

    but the real outstanding question is why use the subpoena rather than the normal investigator to corporate legal counsel request letter or letters.

    I think he wants to be ready with marshals to make arrests when they start destroying those documents, which they will do because they’re ignorant dipshits.

  40. 40.

    piratedan

    well this is obviously a last ditch desperate attempt to try and find something, anything with which to smear this administration. After months of exhaustive, irritatingly invasive assaults on our President’s personal affairs, now we have to endure this “fishing expedition” as well. After all, we’ve only had 5 guilty pleas over the last 14 months of people of little or no consequence who only served on the periphery of this administration and while they may be outliers of a sort, they in no way reflect upon the integrity and earnestness of this administration and their desire to serve Vladimir Putin.

  41. 41.

    randy khan

    The reason for the subpoena has to be either message sending or that a nicer request was met with stonewalling. (I don’t think there’s any reason why voluntarily provided records couldn’t be used as evidence so long as you could establish that they were authentic.)

  42. 42.

    GregB

    That pedestrian bridge was reportedly just put in place on Saturday.

    Some construction companies and engineers are going to be in some real deep shit.

  43. 43.

    rumpole

    Reason for a subpoena is that failing to produce documents in the absence of privilege (e.g., atty-client) is a crime. The government doesn’t generally do that with people or organizations that it trusts to be straight with them. (Note-subpoena is not the same as a warrant-you don’t need a judge to issue it–only an empaneled grand jury).

    Bill Kristol’s been spreading rumors that Beauregard’s about to get fired and Pruitt’s going to take his place. At which point, the wholesale resignations will (or had better) begin. If that’s true, buckle up. Terra incognita.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: Holy crap! That looks terrible. None of that stuff was there when I was a grad student at FIU. Those are all new dorms and apartments for the students.

  47. 47.

    rk

    @Mary G:

    Now the gloves will come off and the bareknuckled brawl will commence, because this was the red line the investigation must not cross.

    Trump cannot fight. He’s an idiot, will send angry tweets, lash out, do something stupid and will be ultimately defeated. He use to be able to intimidate little people with his threats of litigation and he got by with using third rate lawyers. Now he’s dealing with people who are way above the level of his two penny hack lawyers. He has no skill set to handle the situation. Only thing he knows is how to be a loud mouth bum. Funny thing is that he would have totally got away with everything had he even been a little bit smart. Republicans in congress and senate and the media were willing and desperate to cater to him and his moron voters. Every time he showed five minutes of sanity they were ready to call him “presidential” and bow down. All he needed to do was to show a bare minimum of self control. But he’s incapable. Incapable of a single coherent thought, let alone strategy.

  48. 48.

    randy khan

    @EBT:

    From what I can tell, the bridge was still under construction, but it also sounds like it landed on top of at least a few cars. So not as bad as it could have been, but still pretty bad.

  50. 50.

    Adam L Silverman

    @schrodingers_cat: This was in South Florida where they still Elmer’s glue roofs on houses despite Hurricane Andrew. Most likely defective building materials and/or construction.

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    , but the real outstanding question is why use the subpoena rather than the normal investigator to corporate legal counsel request letter or letters.

    I’m going to take a wild guess and say that it looks like Mueller doesn’t expect them to be cooperative with his requests.

    Silk hiding steel.

  57. 57.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @LAO: Warp speed light speed in fact. We probably have a slightly different perspective given our experience of how long these things can take – I think it’s easy for people not to appreciate how quickly this is going.

  59. 59.

    TenguPhule

    @piratedan: You’ve just distilled the essence of every fucking conservative commentor on every fucking newspaper in the country.

  60. 60.

    SmokeyB

    How likely is it (in your opinion) that Mueller’s report makes it past Rosenstein? (If he hasn’t been replaced as well).

  63. 63.

    SFAW

    @JPL:

    and Paul Ryan would say the Nunes committee found no collusion.

    He’d also say that Devin “Fellow Traveler” Nunes and Lying Littledick “are learning.”

  65. 65.

    Mandalay

    @rumpole:

    Bill Kristol’s been spreading rumors that Beauregard’s about to get fired

    In the unlikely event that Kristol is actually correct, wouldn’t that be a highly plausible motivation to get the subpoena on the record first? It would seem to make firing Sessions even more difficult for Trump.

  66. 66.

    No Drought No More

    Why the subpoena instead of a pretty please? I assume that people who might otherwise shred documents would think long and hard before defying a subpoena from Mueller Inc.

    By the way: is Mueller’s investigation currently on that 60 day clock? I refer to the proposal made by Trump’s attorney’s last week as a being reasonable compromise on the president’s*(*) behalf. Because if it is, Mueller probably made a mistake in agreeing to the deal, and he should think again..

    Age does have its rewards. I fondly recollect The Trickster’s plaintive wailing to the peanut gallery for Johnny Law to cease and desist as the noose tightened around his neck, too.

    **(“*” TM C.P. esq)

  67. 67.

    Mary G

    @rk: I wasn’t thinking so much of Trump as of the whole Republican establishment. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Lindsay Graham seem awfully eager to make the subject of Russia go away. I think it’s because following the money will lead to their door.

  68. 68.

    TenguPhule

    @Corner Stone:

    Rule #1 of BJ jackal commenting must be adhered to! What is the worst possible take we can infer from this news?

    Evidence destruction in progress.

  69. 69.

    Adam L Silverman

    @randy khan: @rumpole:

  71. 71.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Mary G:

    this was the red line the investigation must not cross.

    I’ve heard that a million times. As far as Trump’s feelings are concerned, they crossed that line when the investigation started. He’s no more motivated today than he was yesterday to fire Mueller or stop this. Something is stopping him. Until it gets out of the way, no provocation will be enough because Trump is already at 100%. We just don’t know what that thing stopping him is, why it has stayed in place so long, or what would remove it. My guess remains ‘Sessions was the first to sell out to Mueller, and is protecting the investigation to protect himself.’

  72. 72.

    jonas

    No idea if this is relevant, but IIRC, the Russian lawyer and accompanying goons who arranged the Trump Tower meeting with Don Jr. in 2016 were offering information they claimed would show that Hillary Clinton (or the Clinton Foundation or the DNC perhaps) had received illegal/shady money from Russian sources. Don Jr. leaped at the idea, as we know, but evidently — as far as we know — no such information was ever actually produced. I wonder, though, if the reason that Trump people would be especially interested in this kind of info is because it provided an opportunity to defend themselves against the same accusation…should it ever come up. (“If we can show that Hillary is just as compromised by Russia as we are, then it’s off the table as a campaign issue”)

  73. 73.

    TenguPhule

    @No Drought No More:

    I assume that people who might otherwise shred documents would think long and hard before defying a subpoena from Mueller Inc.

    I see the fatal flaw in this assumption.

    Thinking is not these fellows strong suit.

  74. 74.

    Chyron HR

    This is just a big fat perjury trap. Muller’s trying to trick Trump into not releasing documents that someone else already gave him copies of. Trump shouldn’t comply at all.

    Source: I went to Upper Middlestate Law College Place.

  80. 80.

    Yarrow

    @Mary G: You are exactly correct. All of the top GOP leadership are traitors. They knew about the money-laundering and did nothing. There’s a reason Paul Ryan shut down McCarthy and tried to keep the conversation “in the family” and it isn’t because he loves his Republican “family” so much.

  81. 81.

    TenguPhule

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    no provocation will be enough because Trump is already at 100%

    Fairly certain he has never exerted himself beyond 47%. 31% on average.

    Low energy. Sad.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rumpole: Bill Kristol’s been spreading rumors that Beauregard’s about to get fired

    Which reminds me, twitter can be good

    Bill Kristol
    This is RUMINT, but pretty credible RUMINT: Trump preparing to fire Sessions, name Pruitt Acting AG (which he can be since he already holds a Senate confirmed position), and Pruitt fires Mueller. And McMaster likely to be replaced by Bolton. Shulkin also on way out, FWIW.

    Jason Linkins @ dceiver
    you can just say “rumors” my guy there’s no need to pretend you’re a CIA analyst

  88. 88.

    TenguPhule

    @Chyron HR:

    This is just a big fat perjury trap.

    Can we please stop using the GOP bastardization of the term? Words are supposed to mean something.

  89. 89.

    jonas

    @Frankensteinbeck: Trump hates the Russia/Mueller investigation for two reasons. The first, most obviously, is that he’s scared shitless that evidence of financial crimes, tax evasion, etc. will come to light. But even before Mueller started sniffing around his business dealings, Trump was furious that all this attention to Russian meddling delegitimizes his yoooge election victory.

    Also, it was probably not a good idea to say out loud “Mueller had BETTER NOT start snooping around my business affairs!”

  90. 90.

    TenguPhule

    @rk:

    But he’s incapable. Incapable of a single coherent thought, let alone strategy.

    But he’s an incapable idiot with far too many buttons available for him to push.

    And lots of people close to him who are desperate enough to goad him into pushing them.

  91. 91.

    Jack the Second

    So here I think is the GOP problem.

    They (modulo Dana) didn’t know they were being funded by the Russians.

    There was something about the NRA being the primary laundering service between illegal Russian money and Trump. But the NRA doesn’t just funnel money to Trump. I’m willing to bet every elected GOP member, at the Federal level and half the state houses, relies on NRA support.

    Now they find out a good chunk of that money is Russian.

    Do they:
    1. Decry it publicly and vow to return the money.
    2. Just accept that the NRA’s help will be going away once this is public and they’ll have to get by on their own charisma.
    3. Own up to being compromised by a hostile foreign government.
    4. Try to shut that whole thing down.

    I mean, from the Russian end this is spycraft 101. The best way to turn someone is first to trick them into compromising themselves without knowing it, then using that handhold to pull them in deeper.

  92. 92.

    Annie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I was in college during Watergate and remember it pretty well and at the time Martha Mitchell was regarded as rather silly, but not someone who actually knew anything.

    IIRC it really began to light up when it was discovered that one of the tapes that Nixon’s secretary had supposedly been transcribing had an 18-minute gap.

    Interesting side note: the public library in Jacksonville, Florida, where I lived at the time, placed every single book about the Nixon Administration in the true Crime section. Even those that dealt with topics other than Watergate.

  93. 93.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SmokeyB: I don’t think Rosenstein or Mueller are going anywhere any time soon. The GOP controlled Senate, specifically Senator Grassley, has made it very clear that he will not make committee time to schedule hearings for a replacement for AG Sessions. McGhan has leaked like a sieve to keep the President from firing Sessions. Is it possible that the President will do so in a fit of pique? Sure. Is it probable? Perhaps. I have no way to handicap that probability and neither does anyone else. The DOJ and FBI are already on a knife’s edge in terms of being alienated from the President and the AG. The reported shenanigans regarding Deputy Director McCabe this week only cement that reality. Unless they completely blow up the HR process at DOJ/FBI, which is set by Federal regulations rooted in Federal law, there is no way to fire McCabe before he retires. There is simply not enough time between now and Sunday to do this in a legal way. Firing the AG, which will be perceived as looking to further screw with the DOJ and FBI and their work, will only make things worse. Mueller is beloved in the FBI from his time as director, as well as at DOJ from his time as a prosecutor. All out war with the DOJ and the FBI is not the way to go.

  94. 94.

    Mandalay

    @TenguPhule: You obviously missed the bit at the end: “their desire to serve Vladimir Putin”. That is hardly “the essence of every fucking conservative commentor on every fucking newspaper”.

  100. 100.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Unless they completely blow up the HR process at DOJ/FBI, which is set by Federal regulations rooted in Federal law, there is no way to fire McCabe before he retires

    So he’s gone by Monday.

  101. 101.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jonas: The Russian lawyer works for the Russian government and is a not for cover Russian intelligence asset. The “translator” they brought (Kavalazde) is a former Russian intelligence officer. The younger Agalarov was there and his dad is Putin’s builder and the President’s Russian business partner. And Goldstone was there. He is the younger Agalarov’s promoter.

  104. 104.

    different-church-lady

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Trump preparing to fire Sessions, name Pruitt Acting AG (which he can be since he already holds a Senate confirmed position), and Pruitt fires Mueller. And McMaster likely to be replaced by Bolton….

    …and Trump resigns before the calendar year is out.

    Go ahead, Donnie: tempt history to repeat itself.

  105. 105.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I have no way to handicap that probability and neither does anyone else.

    Yep. We know he hasn’t in the face of considerable provocation. We can only guess at why, so we can only guess as to whether things will stay this way. Still, whatever it is, I don’t think it will be ‘Now Trump really wants Mueller gone!’

  111. 111.

    Aleta

    Not sure why you say the decision to subpoena this information is unclear or unknown? Mueller seems to consistently follow the (usual) pattern of requesting information first, then delivering a subpoena if they don’t comply, and I believe the request was reported a while ago. The administration lawyers drag out their responses as much as they can. Perhaps stalling is their best or almost only strategy.

    I see BC is already checking on this. (Maybe she should receive that intern. : ) )

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wait till somebody tells Vanessa she can keep the jewelry and any joint accounts if she cooperates

    On Wednesday, “Page Six” reported that “friends” of Donald Trump Jr. and his wife, Vanessa, say the couple have been living separate lives and are considering divorce.
    “The problems have been there for a long time, the couple had hoped to stay together during the president’s time in office, but it is getting harder to resolve their issues. He’s never there,” one source said.

    ETA:@Adam L Silverman: I’m just happy to see somebody mock Bill Kristol, as content as I am to have him as a co-belligerent for the moment

  115. 115.

    LAO

    O/T: If you are in need of a laugh, here is (IMO) the greatest twitter thread ever:

    So I have…*looks around**looks under keyboard**under desk**outside the window*No deadlines.— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) March 15, 2018

  116. 116.

    MomSense

    I’d love to know what all is included in the definition of documents. There are some servers that might be of interest.

  119. 119.

    patrick II

    If the Trump team does not answer the subpoena promptly, will we see any doors knocked down?

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jonas:

    The first, most obviously, is that he’s scared shitless that evidence of financial crimes, tax evasion, etc. will come to light.

    AG Schneiderman has already been prepped on this stuff and is waiting to go if necessary. If necessary means if Mueller is fired or Federal pardons are preemptively issued.

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Annie:

    Interesting side note: the public library in Jacksonville, Florida, where I lived at the time, placed every single book about the Nixon Administration in the true Crime section. Even those that dealt with topics other than Watergate.

    I love those librarians!

  123. 123.

    LAO

    @MomSense: We should have great faith that Mueller and his team (1) knows what to subpoena and (2) covers all of the bases. In a run of the mill investigation, I shudder when a client receives an federal subpoena.

  127. 127.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    Yeah, back when Florida was still part of our territory, I used to work with some FIU faculty on Canadian Studies.

  128. 128.

    trollhattan

    Florida bridge incident is horrid. How does a design-build go that wrong in 2018? I can’t even.

    Those poor people. At least there’s heavy equipment already on site. (Lemons, lemonade, etc.)

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    Trump hotel managers say food writers are giving the place the cold shoulder

    Via Wapo

    Can I pass the hat for the world’s smallest violin?

  131. 131.

    Adam L Silverman

    @TenguPhule: His retirement takes effect Sunday AM. So he’s definitely gone by Monday. That said, he should be safe. The legal jeopardy that the AG would accrue in the lawsuit over this from McCabe will be brutal. Specifically, discovery will be brutal. Especially given the President’s tweets about both McCabe and Sessions. And I’m sure FBI Director Wray has made it clear to the AG that if he does this, he might as well never expect anyone in the FBI to do anything for him. Ever.

  132. 132.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @patrick II:

    If the Trump team does not answer the subpoena promptly, will we see any doors knocked down?

    Do Ceiling Cat, the FSM, and Baby Jeebus combined love us that much? Ohplz ohplz ohplz ohplz ohplz….

  134. 134.

    rumpole

    @Mandalay: That makes a lot of sense. Given how this investigation has generally worked up from the bottom, there might well be evidence -already- implicating the trump organization. (In other words, the FBI might well already have some of the docs that were sent -to- particular people, and now wants to see what else is in the file cabinets.).

  136. 136.

    Mary G

    The bridge that collapsed in Florida was the first of its kind. From the university’s press release:

    “FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “We are filled with pride and satisfaction at seeing this engineering feat come to life and connect our campus to the surrounding community where thousands of our students live.”

    The 174-foot, 950-ton section of the bridge was built adjacent to Southwest Eight Street using Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods, which are being advanced at FIU’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC). This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions. The main span of the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge was installed in a few hours with limited disruption to traffic over this weekend.

  138. 138.

    Brachiator

    Breaking: Special Counsel Mueller Has Subpoenaed The Trump Organization For Documents Related To Russia

    Well, it’s been a wild week. This just adds to the fun.

    I got no predictions or speculations. Just sitting back and watching the developments.

  140. 140.

    Feebog

    I think Bill Kristol may be right. Trump is certainly seriously contemplating firing Sessions and appointing Pruitt as acting AG. But instead of immediately firing Mueller they may try to constrain the investigation. At this point anything is possible.

  141. 141.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: There was a rumor about two months back that she was worried that Jr had been having an affair. Can’t find the reporting or remember who it was, but it was a story for a day or two.

  142. 142.

    different-church-lady

    @Mary G:

    This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians

    Oops.

  143. 143.

    JohnO

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:

    I’m curious about this because it is my assumption that since the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia more or less turned into an oligarchic free-for-all, which made so much of their money dirty, which The Boy King and Co. has been up to his ears in for…10 years? more?…and all the complexities of all those transactions over all that time make unwinding it all in any “reasonable” (before the midterms?) time frame difficult if not impossible if you’re looking at “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

    IANAL, but I have some familiarity with trying to wade through the bureaucratic details of decades (allegedly!) of financial and legal shenanigans. How many people does RM have working for him directly?

    I also have the sense now that Mueller is perhaps a little bit more sophisticated from a politics POV than I would’ve guess months ago. I think he’s trying to get around the pardon conundrum.

  144. 144.

    TenguPhule

    On a day when tens of thousands of students across the county walked out of classes to protest gun violence, the sister of notorious mass killer Dylann Roof was arrested in South Carolina after allegedly carrying a knife and pepper spray on school property.

    Via Wapo.

    SMH. That gene pool obviously contaminated.

  145. 145.

    TenguPhule

    @Feebog:

    I think Bill Kristol may be right.

    Get ahold of yourself! Are you feeling okay?! Think about what you just said!!

  146. 146.

    NCSteve

    There are just the three possible reasons he would issue a subpoena:

    a) He asked for them and they’re stonewalling.
    b) He’s afraid they are destroying or will destroy them.
    c) He’s asked for them, they’re stonewalling and he’s afraid they are destroying or will destroy them.

    I’m gussing a) because if it was b) or c), he wouldn’t be subpoening them, he’d have gotten a search warrant.

  147. 147.

    JMG

    The twitter person NYCSouthpaw, who is an attorney, has posted that use of a subpoena instead of a request is not rare, and it is used to protect those subpoenaed from NDA agreements about transactions, which are not binding in case of subpoena.

  148. 148.

    different-church-lady

    @JohnO: A guy who spent his life investigating people vs. a guy who spent his life sticking his dick in as many porn stars as he could buy. You know who the safe money is on in that one.

  151. 151.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Trickety trickety tock:
    Shitgibbon in the dock!
    The clock strikes twelve;
    He perjures himself;
    Tickety. Tickety. TOCK.

  152. 152.

    ? Martin

    Interesting. Its a prefab bridge segment that was installed Saturday. Usually, those are quite structurally reliable (looks like a nice design overall). But it looks like it may have slipped off one of the piers based on how one end is still attached to a pier and there is no apparent debris left on the other pier. I wonder if they were still in the process of securing it or something like that.

    A lot of structural failures occur at the interface between contractors. This looks like it might fall in that category. I hope that project is much larger than it appears because it shouldn’t take anywhere near a year to get a prefab bridge put up.

  154. 154.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @LAO: That was awesome sauce. Like Scalzi level surreal. Thanks!

    No, I have no assigned matters, nor any pending and I’ve completed CLE for this reporting period, yet I have to be in the office because reasons. Why do you ask?

  155. 155.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’ve been thinking, not without satisfaction, about the kind of stress Don Jr. must be experiencing right now, what with massive legal and marital problems.

    But I was actually talking about his brother Eric. We really haven’t heard that much about him, but he is co-director of the Trump Organization (with junior) and he strikes me as someone with a lot of back-alley cunning. And there was all that stuff recently about vast sums of money moving from the Eric Trump Foundation (to help sick children at Saint Jude’s, FFS!) to the Trump Organization. It’ll be very interesting to watch Mueller pick all that apart.

    T
    T
    M
    F

  156. 156.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jack the Second: That theory makes a lot of sense. Like you said, the NRA funded lots of Republicans, so most of them are compromised to some degree or another. It would also not surprise me if the Russians used other lobbying organizations / wingnut affinity groups in addition to the NRA as conduits. The Mercers, perhaps, who knowingly bankrolled outreach to Nazis on Breitbart’s behalf, so it’s not like they’d shrink from funneling cash from Russian oligarchs.

  160. 160.

    Mandalay

    @NCSteve:

    There are just the three possible reasons he would issue a subpoena…

    Well I can think of a couple more:
    – He already has all the documents he’s asking them to hand over, and wants to see what they actually provide.
    – He wants that subpoena on the record ASAP.

  162. 162.

    ? Martin

    @JMG:

    The twitter person NYCSouthpaw, who is an attorney, has posted that use of a subpoena instead of a request is not rare, and it is used to protect those subpoenaed from NDA agreements about transactions, which are not binding in case of subpoena.

    Right. That’s why the Buzzfeed situation is so interesting. Cohen is suing Buzzfeed for libel against the President due to the publication of the Steele dossier. Cohen also has the NDA against Stormy Daniels. Buzzfeed has now subpoenaed Stormy to preserve any documents related to her affair with Trump presumably to rebut the libel suit. That subpoena gets her out of the NDA, and she can choose to publicly release any subpoenaed information. If it works, it’s quite clever.

  163. 163.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: and he strikes me as someone with a lot of back-alley cunning.

    Interesting. I’ve agreed with the conventional wisdom that both Large Adult Sons were Fredo. That kind of playing dumb has a movie/TV reference, doesn’t it? I, Claudius? I can think of another example but don’t want to spoil a twenty-plus year old movie
    ETA: And I just wanted to get the Fredo/Vanessa news back online out of sheer spite and Schadenfreude. Eric’s wife thinks apparently thinks she can supplant Ivanka. Silly creature.

  165. 165.

    TenguPhule

    If it turns out that Trump org has a private email server that they don’t turn over in this subpoena I may hit peak schadenfreude.

  167. 167.

    germy

    This is RUMINT, but pretty credible RUMINT: Trump preparing to fire Sessions, name Pruitt Acting AG (which he can be since he already holds a Senate confirmed position), and Pruitt fires Mueller. And McMaster likely to be replaced by Bolton. Shulkin also on way out, FWIW.

    — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 14, 2018

    Done and done, libs.

  171. 171.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @JohnO: Mueller is extremely sophisticated politically and has about half a metric sit -ton of extremely skilled and specialized prosecutors working for him. Specifically, folks who have been prosecutors, which is kind of a niche area in law.(Full disclosure: been there). But your extremely talented M&A killer legal ace would be totally out of her element with these folks.

    Plus, Mueller’s more publicized cases include Enron, the Gambino and (I think) Genovese families. So this is a formidable team on this investigation.

  172. 172.

    EBT

    @raven: I see where I got my error from. The segment that fell had just been put in it’s final place, and I took that to mean bridge done.

  174. 174.

    No One of Consequence

    @? Martin: By the Holy Marinara Sauce! DiaphukingBOLICAL! OhpleaseOHpleaseOHpleaseOHplease…

    By any legal means necessary. I think we can all agree on that. Sooner or later, people will realize the danger we have placed ourselves in, and seek to extricate our collective glutiuses (gluti..II?) ((a bumble of gluti…)) from yon handbasket…

    – NOoC

  175. 175.

    Jay S

    @Yarrow:

    Evangelical churches and organizations have also been laundering Russian money.

    That would be an interesting way to extract a tithe. Is there a supporting link for that assertion?

  178. 178.

    LAO

    @JohnO: @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: Here’s a list of (most of) Mueller’s team from wikipedia. My money is on them:

    Special Counsel Robert Mueller
    Upon his appointment as special counsel, Mueller resigned his position at the Washington office of law firm WilmerHale, along with two colleagues, Aaron Zebley and James L. Quarles III.[38][39] On May 23, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice ethics experts announced they had declared Mueller ethically able to function as special counsel.[40]

    Politico proposed that the “ideal team” would likely have six to eight prosecutors, along with administrative assistants and experts in areas such as money laundering or interpreting tax returns.[41] By August 1, 2017, Mueller, who has an active role in managing the inquiry,[42] hired 16 lawyers,[43] and had a total staff of over three dozen, including investigators and other non-attorneys.[44]

    Members of the team include:[41][45][46][47][48][49][50]

    Zainab Ahmad: assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, specializing in terrorism cases[49]
    Greg Andres: former deputy assistant attorney general, managed foreign bribery division[50]
    Rush Atkinson: trial attorney in the DOJ fraud section[49]
    Peter Carr: team spokesman, a veteran DOJ spokesman[51]
    Ryan K. Dickey: a veteran cyber prosecutor from the Justice Department’s computer crime and intellectual-property section[52]
    Brock W. Domin: FBI Special Agent.[53][54]
    Michael Dreeben: Deputy Solicitor General, who oversees the Justice Department’s criminal appellate docket; an expert in criminal law[55][47][49]
    Kyle Freeny: attorney for the money laundering unit at the Department of Justice[56]
    Andrew D. Goldstein: former leader of the public corruption unit, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York[57][49]
    Adam Jed: Attorney in the DOJ Civil Division, appellate section[58]
    Robert Mueller: team leader; Special counsel for the United States Department of Justice
    Lisa C. Page (departed): DOJ trial attorney in the FBI’s Criminal Division Organized Crime Section; formerly an attorney in the office of the FBI general counsel.[48] Her departure from the team was reported in late September 2017.[59]
    Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar: Assistant with the Solicitor General’s office; fluent in Russian; former law clerk to Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan[60][49]
    James L. Quarles III: former assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force[49]
    Jeannie S. Rhee: Partner at WilmerHale, specializing in white-collar crime; a former attorney in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia[49]
    Brian M. Richardson[61]
    Peter Strzok (departed): a veteran counterintelligence investigator. He departed from the team in late July 2017, reportedly for exchanging anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton text messages with a colleague prior to Mueller’s investigation.[62][63][64]
    Brandon Van Grack: United States Department of Justice National Security Division Prosecutor[49]
    Andrew Weissmann: Chief of the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section[41][49]
    Aaron Zebley: former chief of staff to Mueller at the FBI[49]
    Aaron S. J. Zelinsky: an attorney on detail from the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland[65][66]

    PS — I’ve personally dealt with 3 members of the team and they are all “grade A assholes” — which in this case, is a positive.

  179. 179.

    Chip Daniels

    This could be some epic brawl, a Constitutional crisis between the Executive and Judicial branches.

    Or, following Trump’s Razor, (the stupidist possible explanation), Trump Organization may just send them the electronic files with the names of all the folders marked “DO NOT OPEN THIS FOLDER!!!” and bask in the adulation of the Gateway Pundit commenters for being so clever.

  181. 181.

    MoxieM

    Wow that photo of Mueller makes him look haggard. Can’t imagine why–something about the actual weight of the world on his shoulders, expectations and so on.

  182. 182.

    Mandalay

    @LAO:

    I’ve personally dealt with 3 members of the team and they are all “grade A assholes”

    Interesting! Assholes in what respect? Humorless? Hostile? Rude? Condescending? Dismissive?…

  183. 183.

    JohnO

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:

    Thank you!

    For me there’s a critical race on right now between catastrophic Trumpian and Co. stupidity (I put WWIII odds around 25% now and have baked in a Depression to my financial future in my 20-30 remaining years) and Mueller’s progress, sense of urgency, staffing, and the unbelievable amount of corruption and malfeasance I suspect is there for the proving if there is time and resources.

    It’s all very unsettling.

  185. 185.

    LAO

    @Mandalay: Very professional, by-the-book, humorless, uptight and quite certain that they were “on the side of angels.” In other words, exactly what we want in this prosecution team

  186. 186.

    Gex

    @Yarrow: Is that your conclusion or have you read about that somewhere? Brief Google didn’t turn anything up, but I’m very interested in this point.

  187. 187.

    catclub

    @TenguPhule: The Trump org has every expectation of using a private email server, it is a private corporation.
    The GWBush admin had public employees emails go through a private server at the RNC – then they ‘lost’ all those emails. Bygones!

    When we find out that Trump admin employees (Jared Kushner, DJTrump) used that private server for their official email,
    then we will have the repeat, not as farce.

  189. 189.

    randy khan

    @EBT:

    Actually, not opened. From the same press release:

    Construction of the bridge began in the spring of 2017 and is expected to be completed in early 2019. When it is finished, the bridge will be 289 feet long and 109 feet tall. The 32-foot-wide bridge will also serve as study and gathering space.

    That press release – with the glowing description of how they used a new construction technique developed at FIU – reads a lot differently now than it did last Saturday.

  191. 191.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yarrow:

    Lara Trump has her own ties to questionable activities.

    Ooooh, like what f’rinstance? I know her brother was given a job in one of the agencies — something in Energy? — but given the breadth and variety of Trumpian grift, this seems nugatory.

  193. 193.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @LAO: IOW, regular AUSAs.? This is exactly the kind of folks we want doing this. This team seems heavy on experience in some, ah, specialized areas that could be important in this specific case.

  194. 194.

    catclub

    @Timurid: For the Ides of March, both cats decided to poop outside the box. Amusing.

    Beware the cat poop of the Ides of March!

  199. 199.

    randy khan

    @? Martin:

    I don’t recall the specifics of this NDA (which was an attachment to the lawsuit), but the usual way NDAs I’ve seen work is that a disclosure under compulsion of law does not end your obligation to maintain confidentiality unless the information actually becomes public as a result (e.g., becomes evidence in a trial). Usually the NDA also requires you to take any reasonable action to get the court to protect the information even if you’re required to disclose it.

  200. 200.

    Just one more canuck

    @Baud: humourless and uptight describes some members of our legal community, LAO excepted of course

  203. 203.

    Gin & Tonic

    Prime Minister of Slovakia has resigned in the aftermath of the assassination of an investigative journalist and his girlfriend.

  204. 204.

    Mnemosyne

    @OGLiberal:

    Best it didn’t happen while operational with kids walking back and forth across it …

    That’s the nightmare scenario that I’m sure will be keeping students and parents up for weeks to come.

  207. 207.

    Corner Stone

    Speaking of the horrors of the Ides of March, Google has finally forced its long threatened switch to their new Finance interface. I had been holding on to the older version as long as it was available but it’s now been disabled from what I can tell. I sent them a scorching feedback letter I am sure top executives will take heed shortly.

  209. 209.

    danielx

    The reason for the Special Counsel’s decision to go this route is unclear and/or unknown at this time.

    This may have already been covered, but I would imagine Trump’s lawyers told Mueller where he could stick his polite request. So Mueller said okay, we’ll do this another way.

  210. 210.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Just one more canuck:

    humourless and uptight describes some members of our legal community, LAO excepted of course

    At first I was offended, but then I realized you couldn’t be talking about me because I’m “humorless” rather than “humourless”.

    Whew—close call!

    Uptight? Well, I yam what I yam.

  212. 212.

    HeleninEire

    @LAO: Have you ever encountered Patrick Fitzgerald professionally? That is exactly how he was described during the Libby trial. In fact one of the defense attorneys said “He needs to get out more.”

  213. 213.

    lgerard

    @randy khan:

    The agreement that the victims of trump’s Soho scam signed in order to get their money back had a clause requiring them to refuse to cooperate with any criminal investigation arising from the project.

    made me laugh

  214. 214.

    Steve in the ATL

    @randy khan:

    press release – with the glowing description of how they used a new construction technique developed at FIU

    And almost immediately, engineering firms cancelled their OCIs at FIU.

  217. 217.

    Ruckus

    @JPL:
    When did the republicans have any honerable members?
    The closest I can remember would be Ike and who was his VP? That’s right, Nixon

  218. 218.

    LAO

    @HeleninEire: Not personally. My law partner, before we partnered up, tried a terrorism case against him. My partner, who is fairly humorless, has nothing but praise for Fitzgerald. He really respected Fitzgerald.

  220. 220.

    Steve in the ATL

    @LAO:

    I’ve personally dealt with 3 members of the team and they are all “grade A assholes” — which in this case, is a positive.

    Years ago I gamed out what I would do if I personally needed the services of a plaintiff’s side employment lawyer. I originally picked a very reasonable and well respected guy in town. Later I realized my stupidity and replaced him in my Rolodex with the biggest prick in the plaintiff’s bar, the lawyer that every company and defense firm hates dealing with. That’s the way to go!

    I hope these prosecutors are as mean as snakes and as thorough as…my wife when cataloging my faults as a husband.

  222. 222.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Just one more canuck: Omnes, burnsie, and eemom aren’t normally around this early so you’ll need to repost that on an evening thread.

    (Confidential to Omnes, burnsie, and eemom: zing!)

  224. 224.

    Corner Stone

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Later I realized my stupidity and replaced him in my Rolodex with the biggest prick in the plaintiff’s bar, the lawyer that every company and defense firm hates dealing with. That’s the way to go!

    You know what they say about an attorney who represents himself…

  225. 225.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Lyrebird: we swing both ways, but no one ever asks me about the cats! Who are presently sleeping (of course) in my not-yet-unpacked suitcase, trying to foil my plan to dress only in golden retriever-colored clothes, which was intended to end my massive support of the lint roller industry.

    Who doesn’t love pics of sleeping cats?

  226. 226.

    Brachiator

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Prime Minister of Slovakia has resigned in the aftermath of the assassination of an investigative journalist and his girlfriend.

    Wow. This technically brings down the government. I guess that sometimes protests DO matter:

    President Andrej Kiska said he would ask Deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini to form a new government.

    Mr Fico had offered to resign on Wednesday if the ruling coalition was allowed to finish its term.

    The death of reporter Jan Kuciak has shone a spotlight on corruption in Slovakia, prompting nationwide protests.

    The 27-year-old was working on a story linking high-level political corruption in Slovakia with the Italian mafia when he was killed in late February.

    His fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, was also murdered in an attack at their home.

    On 9 March tens of thousands of Slovaks joined a protest rally in the capital Bratislava, in what is thought to be the largest demonstration in the country since the fall of Communism in 1989.

  228. 228.

    catclub

    @Corner Stone: yesterday afternoon I thought the old version had disappeared – which I also liked.
    Nothing worked to get it back.

    Now it is back today ( so far).

  229. 229.

    Lyrebird

    @Steve in the ATL: The cats I have known would never stand for leaving my clothes unadorned. So-called grey tiger cats actually can shed the full range of white to grey to black hairs to be sure to be noticed against any color!

  230. 230.

    grammypat

    @efgoldman: *IF* the span was designed with post-tensioned concrete, the failure could have happened during the “pulling of the cables” phase. *Big if, but one pic I’ve seen looks like it may have this detail. Post-tensioning is common in long span concrete.

  231. 231.

    HeleninEire

    WOO HOO. 36 hours till my niece gets here from Boston. Haven’t seen her in 2 years. She’s my favorite (shhhhh). Can’t wait.

  233. 233.

    JGabriel

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I knew a little about WG, but damn I had no idea how much of a story Martha Mitchell was.

    Believe it or not, Martha Mitchell’s involved in the Trumpspriracy too, despite being dead since 1976. Trump gave the guy who beat and kidnapped Mitchell (on her husband’s behalf) to keep her quiet, Steve King, an ambassadorship to the Czech Republic.

  237. 237.

    Aleta

    A little good news, in the Austin Statesman today:

    A Travis County grand jury has indicted three Austin police officers, including two SWAT team members, in connection to two unrelated encounters in which they are accused of using excessive force — one in which prosecutors say a man was unjustifiably subjected to a stun gun.

    Officer Robert Pfaff, who has been with the department for about 11 years, was charged with aggravated perjury, assault with bodily injury, abuse of official capacity and official oppression in his response to a downtown shooting in which he used his stun gun on a man at the scene. Officer Donald Petraitis, who was with him, was charged with assault bodily injury, abuse of official capacity and official oppression.

    In a separate case, grand jurors indicted Officer Nathaniel Stallings on charges of assault with bodily injury involving official misconduct and abuse of official capacity for an incident Oct. 6.

    The indictments, obtained by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV Thursday, mark the second and third cases in which District Attorney Margaret Moore and a civil rights unit she put in place a year ago has sought indictments against officers in cases that did not involve lethal force. It follows years of complaints by some in the community that prosecutors did not vigorously pursue criminal charges against officers when they believed evidence justified doing so.

    I looked two of the three up, and yes they had some history in the community.
    (Will post it below.)

  238. 238.

    kelvin

    failing to comply with a subpoena probably has more severe consequences than failing to comply with a polite request. Because Robbie knows they won’t comply…

  239. 239.

    Aleta

    @Aleta:

    Some history for Robert Pfaff. (His perjury in the indictment today makes me question the ‘reports’ in 2015 and his ‘witness testimony’ in 2013.) These incidents are unrelated to today.
    1. May 2015

    Cassandra Bolin died after Austin police SWAT sniper Robert Pfaff shot her during a standoff at a North Austin apartment building where police say she pointed a gun at officers. Bolin’s boyfriend had told police that she was suicidal when police were called.
    https://apps.statesman.com/homicides/suspect/robert-pfaff/

    Dec 22 2015
    A Travis County Grand Jury decided Austin Police Department Officer Robert Pfaff would not face charges for the May 25, 2015 shooting death of Cassandra Bolin. The Grand Jury spent almost seven hours reviewing evidence and hearing testimony from seven witnesses.

    Authorities said on the morning of May 25, police responded to Bolin’s apartment near Lamar and Brentwood after her boyfriend, Jacob Johnson, called 911 to do a welfare check after Johnson said he received alarming text messages from Bolin. According to reports, on May 25, 2015 Officer Robert Pfaff, a SWAT Team member, shot Bolin three times after Bolin pointed a gun at herself and then police.

    2013. If I read it correctly, a court of appeals ruling upheld a conviction of a woman he stopped and arrested on a misdemeanor, sentence was 14 days in jail. Whole document is at the link.

    A jury convicted appellant Colette Michalec of the Class B misdemeanor offense of interference with the duties of a public servant. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 38.15 (West 2011). The trial court assessed her punishment at confinement for 14 days in the county jail. See id. § 12.22 (West 2011). Appellant argues five points of error on appeal complaining about the denial of her motion to dismiss, the denial of her motions to suppress, a denial of due process, and insufficient evidence. We affirm the judgment of conviction.

  240. 240.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @grammypat: The engineer for this bridge is Figg, which is well known for their post-tensioned designs. IIRC, they specialized in it in the ’80s.

    I assume the new thing in this construction involves the span length.

  242. 242.

    celticdragonchick

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Agree. Senator Grassley was clear that he will NOT make time to confirm a replacement. If Trump want to start ordering interim director’s to fire Rosenstein and Mueller, he will face a line of resignations.

  245. 245.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Mary G: I think by now “red lines” are meaningless with transactional Donny. Trump will just fire more of his staff until he feels better.

  246. 246.

    celticdragonchick

    @Aleta:

    They will be found not guilty. Officer uses of force while on duty are almost never subject to a conviction in a court.

  247. 247.

    PPCLI

    @Yarrow: @SiubhanDuinne: if I am remembering right, in some TV interview she said things that indicated she knew things she shouldn’t know at that point. Knew about some game changer coming a few days before the Podesta emails started appearing on Wikileaks or something like that.

  248. 248.

    randy khan

    @lgerard:

    The agreement that the victims of trump’s Soho scam signed in order to get their money back had a clause requiring them to refuse to cooperate with any criminal investigation arising from the project.
    made me laugh

    Yeah, good luck enforcing that clause.

  250. 250.

    lgerard

    Kudlow, who will replace Gary Cohn, last served in government in 1985. He asked Cohn — himself a novice — for a quick refresher course.

    “I said, ‘Gary, this is a really dumb question, but look, what do you do? What’s your day like? What do you do?”‘ Kudlow said.

    Off to a quick start!

  251. 251.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @PPCLI:

    she said things that indicated she knew things she shouldn’t know at that point. Knew about some game changer coming a few days before the Podesta emails started appearing on Wikileaks or something like that.

    Wait, now, so you’re telling me Lara Trump is actually Roger Stone? Wow!

  252. 252.

    Aleta

    @Aleta: Some past incidents for Stallings.
    The first one was no longer on the news site, so link is to cache. The 2nd link is to a .gov document that doesn’t copy but is revealing. (Why this guy was allowed to continue as a SWAT officer ….) Both of these are unrelated to the charge he was finally indicted for today.

    1. Nov 2015 and May 2016

    According to a disciplinary memo, sent to Officer Stallings on May 6, 2016 by APD Chief Art Acevedo, he is being suspended for his actions in November 2015 during a pursuit of a suspect.
    The memo states, Officer Stallings was involved in a 13-minute chase with a suspect, who fled after being pulled over for a suspected DWI, that reached speeds around 100 MPH.

    APD said Officer Stallings violated the following policies during the course of the chase:
    * Running stop signs and a red light multiple times.
    * Driving the wrong way on a one-way road multiple times.
    * Driving on the wrong side of the road, driving at excessive speeds when it was not safe.
    * Pursuing the suspect through a parking lot, engaging in a lengthy pursuit for a misdemeanor.
    * Failing to advise a supervisor that he was driving on the wrong side of the roadway.

    The department has disciplined Stallings in the past: Once in 2014 for violating Austin police’s pursuit policy and twice the same year for violating policies regarding the operation of department vehicles. Any future violations will result in his firing.

    One of the 2014 incidents is described here.That one too is a reckless pursuit based on a suspicion, in which he didn’t even communicate what he was doing, and why, to the APD.

  253. 253.

    Corner Stone

    @lgerard:

    “I said, ‘Gary, this is a really dumb question, but look, what do you do? What’s your day like? What do you do?”‘ Kudlow said.

    “Larry, I spend a lot of time revising my letter of resignation. And then day drinking. That’s pretty much my day.

  255. 255.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lgerard:

    “I said, ‘Gary, this is a really dumb question, but look, what do you do? Where’s the men’s room? What’s your day like? How do the light switches work? Is the cafeteria food any good, or should I bring my own lunch? What do you do?”‘ Kudlow said.

  257. 257.

    grammypat

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Okay, engineers do tend to stick with “tried-and-true.” So they went with what they knew. but modified or adapted it to accommodate something altogether new for FIU. The length of the span may have been a factor, but I tend to think that the problem was somewhere between design and implementation. As was mentioned earlier, low-bid contracts can always be considered a suspect.

  259. 259.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @piratedan: Here! Here! Valdimer Putin is new being a president in a democracy. We need to give the man a chance to learn the job.

  262. 262.

    rikyrah

    @? Martin:

    Right. That’s why the Buzzfeed situation is so interesting. Cohen is suing Buzzfeed for libel against the President due to the publication of the Steele dossier. Cohen also has the NDA against Stormy Daniels. Buzzfeed has now subpoenaed Stormy to preserve any documents related to her affair with Trump presumably to rebut the libel suit. That subpoena gets her out of the NDA, and she can choose to publicly release any subpoenaed information. If it works, it’s quite clever

    This sounds like the movie Spotlight. The attorney got the information on the record that the church was stonewalling against through using another discovery motion. I’m not an attorney, but, if anyone’s seen Spotlight, does my reasoning sound in the ballpark?

  269. 269.

    Mnemosyne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I think the preferred spelling around here is “nekkid.”

    I’m not really a spelling Nazi, it’s just what I do in my spare time from being a grammar Nazi.

  271. 271.

    burnspbesq

    @TenguPhule:

    Evidence destruction in progress.

    Which now gets you 20 years. Congress’ reaction to Enron and Andersen’s shredding was to make the penalty for shredding equal to the penalty for attempted murder of a witness. It was part of Sarbanes-Oxley.

  272. 272.

    TenguPhule

    @burnspbesq:

    Which now gets you 20 years. Congress’ reaction to Enron and Andersen’s shredding was to make the penalty for shredding equal to the penalty for attempted murder of a witness. It was part of Sarbanes-Oxley.

    You have to remember we’re not dealing with people who believe in long term planning.

  273. 273.

    Steve in the ATL

    @rikyrah:

    I’m not an attorney, but, if anyone’s seen Spotlight, does my reasoning sound in the ballpark?

    Ask Baud

  274. 274.

    Mnemosyne

    @Aleta:

    Interesting tidbit that came out of the DoJ investigation of Michael Brown’s shooting: the officer called for backup, but decided to get out of his car and confront Brown before they arrived, for reasons he could not adequately explain. He should have been fired just for that, because if he had stayed in his car and waited 3 minutes for the backup to arrive, Brown would still be alive.

  278. 278.

    MisterForkbeard

    @lgerard: This isn’t even a really dumb question, properly asked. Asking your predecessor what their job involved on a day-to-day is a good question. Asking like this (“Hey man! Does this job involve things? I heard it had stuff.”) is remarkably stupid.

  279. 279.

    Mnemosyne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    As someone who spent a lot of her career working as a temp, I always make sure any new people (including temps) know where the bathroom is. Because there’s nothing worse than being the new person wandering around trying to figure that out without having to ask.

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