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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Stupid Watergate Open Thread: The President’s Blame Is Missing (The Most Likely Suspect)

Stupid Watergate Open Thread: The President’s Blame Is Missing (The Most Likely Suspect)

by Anne Laurie|  May 18, 20189:53 pm| 143 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republicans in Disarray!, Russiagate, Assholes, Clown car, Go Fuck Yourself

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Constantly pointing out that your campaign sent up more red flags than a Beijing parade is a good defense strategy. pic.twitter.com/MqpEBY31XN

— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 18, 2018

With all due respect, Mr. President @realDonaldTrump, I think you may be confused. Remember. The informants involved with your campaign were sent by the Russian, not the US government. Speaking of which, anyone know where Joseph Mifsud is these days?

— Jennifer Taub (@jentaub) May 18, 2018

Yeah, let’s be honest even if that’s impossible for Republicans: The person most probably responsible for the worst leaks from this Oval Office Occupancy is named, shall we say, “John Barron”. Or maybe “Meredith McGiver”.

They’ve reached intermediate-stage Watergate levels of paranoia and we’re not even at the first midterms. Nixon is supposed to have wandered around the White House late at night, talking to the portraits of former presidents. Trump doesn’t even drink, and he’s probably already talking to the (newly installed surplus of) gilded mirrors…

Rudy Giuliani just now to @ChrisCuomo: “We don’t know for sure – nor does the president – that there really was” an informant. “We’ve been told that” by people “off the record.” He added, “we don’t know if they’re right or not.” https://t.co/Iiio3C49p8

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 18, 2018


Rudy also acknowledges Trump didn’t have proof despite his assertions Trump Tower was wiretapped by Obama

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 18, 2018

This spy thing seems really stupid. When that purported detail initially came out—wasn’t it in the Steele Dossier?—I assumed it meant there was at least one person in the campaign who knew about collusion w Russians & acted more as an American than a Trumper.

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) May 18, 2018

The current biggest scandal in American politics is that the FBI had credible, multi-sourced information that the Trump campaign may have been infiltrated by a Russian spy and had the absolute gall to properly investigate it for the good of democracy. pic.twitter.com/ZGQ5m7tn6M

— zeddy (@Zeddary) May 18, 2018

It’s weird that the FBI has this big conspiracy to take down the Trump campaign but then forgot to say anything about it until after the election, while repeatedly making damaging statements about Hillary Clinton.

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) May 18, 2018

“Trump’s campaign was under investigation for consorting with spies but because he’s a Republican, the FBI should have done literally nothing about it” is a pathetic take, but it is the consensus take of the movement right. https://t.co/OCTFQB46m7

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) May 18, 2018

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Previous Post: « Friday Night Open Thread
Next Post: GOP Miscreants Open Thread: I’m Not Alone… »

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  1. 1.

    Ruckus

    May 18, 2018 at 10:01 pm

    “I didn’t do it, I wasn’t there, even though there is news footage, it’s not my beer even though it’s in my hand and I just took a swig from the bottle, I don’t know what you are talking about even though I just told you that I knew…….. d drumpf to the judge in court after being sworn in, the dishonorable rudy gullianus attorney of record.

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    May 18, 2018 at 10:01 pm

    Fuck James Comey. Fuck him up his stupid ass.

  3. 3.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    May 18, 2018 at 10:02 pm

    Remember the days when Republicans were all paranoid about insidious Russian infiltration?

    Good times, good times.

  4. 4.

    Jay

    May 18, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-muellers-first-year-compares-to-watergate-iran-contra-and-whitewater/

    STFU ammo for wingnuttery,……….

    Can we buy “FU your feelings” t- shirts, but in blue?

  5. 5.

    Ruckus

    May 18, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @Snarki, child of Loki:
    Not even sure one has to be of voting age to have been around in those days.
    Things change fast when money and grifters are involved.

  6. 6.

    Viva BrisVegas

    May 18, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    So why is the media taking seriously a tweet from Trump supposedly from anonymous sources with regards to unknown matters?

    Have they not been following Trump’s tweets for the past two years? How do they not know that they are worth less than spit?

  7. 7.

    Jay

    May 18, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    Treason Tribbles twats generate profits for the MSM.

    That’s all they care about.

  8. 8.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    I always like to look at the bright side. And here, that would be….
    …. that would be….

    OK, as long as Trump thinks this pathetic BS will have any effect on the 65% to 70% of the population that is sane, (that is, not a die-hard Trumpster), he’ll keep busy with that. It will take a long while for him to figure out it is useless, since he’ll bask in the applause for this tripe that he’ll get from his base. So, will keep him out of doing more mischief with DOJ and Mueller probe.

  9. 9.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 18, 2018 at 10:18 pm

    @Corner Stone: It’s all your fault if Comey comes here, declaring that YOU are the ball lickers, etc..

  10. 10.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 18, 2018 at 10:20 pm

    I love the twitter comments! “This is a breakdown of the institutions that protect us!”

    Uh, no, using an informant is perfectly lawful. See, you might remember, that *before* that amendment you think is the only one that matters, there’s another one that says “yeah, if someone does something illegal right in front of your face, you’re allowed to tell someone about it.” Free Speech Mother F**cker – do you speak it?

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    May 18, 2018 at 10:21 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo: Don’t fuck with the Jedi Master, son.

  12. 12.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 18, 2018 at 10:25 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo:
    Free speech for me but not thee. Haven’t you been paying attention? Any perceived inconsistency in conservative values and how they are applied can be explained by the raw and rank desire for absolute supremacy over everyone else by conservatives.

  13. 13.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:25 pm

    I was thinking of doing a post on this situation, but a) It’s pretty complicated and b) I have some reservations about saying some of the things I might say.

    Basically, Devin Nunes and Donald Trump have been wanting to out a counterintelligence asset (not a spy!). Nunes has a theory that this will blow up all claims that Trump ever did anything wrong. I think I am starting to see the outlines of that argument, but, like all Nunes arguments, it’s a dumb one. Anyhow, tonight the New York Times and the Washington Post have outed that person. They did not give the name, but it’s not hard to figure it out for those who have been watching carefully. That’s as much as I am comfortable saying. I’m sure the name will come out in the next day or so, but I don’t want to be the one who does it.

  14. 14.

    Ruckus

    May 18, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    @Viva BrisVegas:
    I’m sure that not all the media does think his tweets are worthless.
    And like it or not, he is the president.
    This is like the airline pilot’s 3 yr old child being allowed to fly the plane because otherwise he pulls down his pants and shits on the floor.

  15. 15.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 18, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: lol, the WaPo article has a big picture of Carter Page right under the headline SECRET FBI SOURCE

    ETA I see the article is merely related to him. But my first thought was that it had not a lot of subtlety

  16. 16.

    Lapassionara

    May 18, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: But can you talk about the latest on North Korea summit? Or have you already done a post that I missed?

  17. 17.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    Asha Rangappa has a good explainer about informants.

    But Trump and his backers are wrong about what it means that the FBI reportedly was using a confidential source to gather information early in its investigation of possible campaign ties to Russia. The investigation started out as a counterintelligence probe, not a criminal one. And relying on a covert source rather than a more intrusive method of gathering information suggests that the FBI may have been acting cautiously — perhaps too cautiously — to protect the campaign, not undermine it.

    As a former FBI counterintelligence agent, I know what Trump apparently does not: Counterintelligence investigations have a different purpose than their criminal counterparts. Rather than trying to find evidence of a crime, the FBI’s counterintelligence goal is to identify, monitor and neutralize foreign intelligence activity in the United States. In short, this entails identifying foreign intelligence officers and their network of agents; uncovering their motives and methods; and ultimately rendering their operations ineffective — either by clandestinely thwarting them (say, by feeding back misinformation or “flipping” their sources into double agents) or by exposing them.

    The person was more of an observer than anything else, gathering information on what the Russians might have been doing.

    Understanding that the FBI may have been using an intelligence source — not a criminal “informant” — also explains the Justice Department’s concern about the purported source’s safety. To obtain information about Russia’s intentions and methods, the FBI would have had to use someone who would not raise red flags if their interactions with campaign officials got back to Russia. So there is a high likelihood that this person is someone already familiar to Russian intelligence, and possibly someone who was already in Russian business or organized crime circles, which all have links back to Russian President Vladimir Putin — which means the source would be in potential danger if discovered.

    And from what has been said elsewhere, the person probably was engaged in current operations, which are hastily being rolled up.

    There’s more in her op-ed about the possible strategy and the ever-present issue that all this was happening so close to the election. Very worth reading.

  18. 18.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: No, it’s not Carter Page. He was one of the people suspected of having Russian connections, for the reasons we’ve discussed before.

  19. 19.

    tobie

    May 18, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @Lapassionara: Copy that. @Cheryl Rofer: It would be great to hear your thoughts on the news that the US canceled its joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan today.

  20. 20.

    Dev Null

    May 18, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @Corner Stone: Amen, bro.

  21. 21.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @Lapassionara: Adam and I were chewing that over last night or the night before. Got a particular question or concern?

  22. 22.

    Dev Null

    May 18, 2018 at 10:37 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s in the Constitution. Not even in the William O’Rights.

    er, ~snark~

  23. 23.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 18, 2018 at 10:37 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: yeah I gleaned that upon actually reading.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    May 18, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    What a nerve that FBI has, spying on Russians!

  25. 25.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 18, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Will Trump withdraw American troops from the ROK/Japan as well as remove the nuclear umbrella we provide for the region just so he can get his meaningless summit with Dear Leader Kim?

  26. 26.

    Platonailedit

    May 18, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    The traitor’s last gasp attempts to discredit Mueller’s findings. The rw media will scream it and the corrupt msm (fynyt) will dutifully amplify it.

  27. 27.

    Dev Null

    May 18, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Wait, wut?!?

    What did I do to deserve polonium tea?!?

    ~snark~

  28. 28.

    Brachiator

    May 18, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    They’ve reached intermediate-stage Watergate levels of paranoia and we’re not even at the first midterms. Nixon is supposed to have wandered around the White House late at night, talking to the portraits of former presidents. Trump doesn’t even drink, and he’s probably already talking to the (newly installed surplus of) gilded mirrors…

    This is not going to end well. Paranoia and conspiracy theories come naturally to Trump. From the beginning, he has seeded the lie that there is a liberal dominated deep state set against him, and that even the intelligence agencies are disloyal and cannot be trusted. His gullible supporters believe this and the Republican Party eagerly go along with this.

    Trump is pulling the government down around his pathetic head.

    It will take a lot to clean this shit up once Trump is swept from office, and the stink that he has created may last for a long time.

  29. 29.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @tobie: I’m a little confused on that, been away from the intertubes most of today. I’ve read conflicting things about whether that was planned. My best understanding is that besides the main exercise, there was an additional one with B-52s. The North Koreans hate, hate, hate B-52s more than almost anything, because they can carry nukes or lots of nasty conventional bombs. It looks like that part of the exercise has indeed been canceled, although the bigger part is still scheduled.

    If we had an administration that does strategy, they might have canceled that part of the exercise earlier and told everyone that we were doing it in the service of peace and friendship, with the summit coming up. By waiting for Kim to demand it, we now look like we’ve caved. But Trump counteracted that yesterday by saying that if North Korea denuclearized, we would give them security guarantees. Actually he said we would “protect them,” which is kind of weird, given that we’re allied with South Korea. He didn’t want too much kumbiyah, though, so he immediately followed that with a threat that if they didn’t denuclearize, they would be “decimated,” as Libya was in 2011.

    That gives Kim something to chew on. I suspect that if he responds, it will be early Sunday our time. The North Koreans like to mess up our weekends.

  30. 30.

    Dev Null

    May 18, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @Snarki, child of Loki: So, OK, take this to its logical conclusion.

    Why are Goopers copasetic with Russian infiltration?

  31. 31.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: That is a real possibility that a lot of us are worried about.

  32. 32.

    Lapassionara

    May 18, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: What to say. My worry is that Trump’s tweets suggest a “my way or the highway” end to the summit, meaning he will threaten war if things don’t go his way. Bolton seems to think Trump can just take military action against North Korea without involving congress. Is that on our horizon?

    My iPad is not a great vehicle for expressing all my thoughts on this subject. I hope this gives you enough to understand my concern.

  33. 33.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: No, nothing like that. Trump said he’d just make NK strong and protect them, send arms. No biggie. We’ll see if Cheryl disagrees.

    Edit: CR didn’t give Trump’s brilliant plan an A+. Clearly, she’s one of those critics Trump don’t like.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    May 18, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Basically, Devin Nunes and Donald Trump have been wanting to out a counterintelligence asset (not a spy!). Nunes has a theory that this will blow up all claims that Trump ever did anything wrong.

    Jesus. This sounds like Valerie Plame all over again.

    The Republicans believe that they can discredit Mueller and the FBI without any negative consequences or blow back.

  35. 35.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 18, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Can Congress stop him from doing this? Would Trump fucking dare remove troops that have been stationed in that region for over 60 years?

  36. 36.

    tobie

    May 18, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks for giving us your take. My sense was that it looked like Kim’s calling the shots. It doesn’t take a genius to see that Trump will do just about anything to get a deal that he can play to his uncritical base as a “win.”

  37. 37.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    Predicting Trump is easy. Just think of an addicted person who bought some supply on the street, of uncertain quality, and has stashed it in little bits in safe places around the house. Consider to ups and downs as he needs some, but can’t find it right now, or takes too much, or whatever, or is charge up to the max, or on a blissful plateau right before he starts to crash. Easy to predict how the guy will act.

  38. 38.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Trump says what he thinks will work in the moment. A concept like “dare remove troops” comes from another dimension. He could get angry and call Kim “Little Rocket Man” to his face. He could walk out. There was a report in Time yesterday that he is not preparing at all for the summit, figures he will size up Kim when he looks into his eyes. We know how that worked for George W. Bush.

    Tune in for next week’s exciting episode!

  39. 39.

    Millard Filmore

    May 18, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    @Dev Null:

    Why are Goopers copasetic with Russian infiltration?

    I think Kay wrote about this maybe a week ago. The Russians align with the USA right wing on policy. Both want to protect white power, white privilege, keeping women and darkies in their place, and of course the Russians position themselves as the champion of White Jesus.

    Its the close alignment of policy.

  40. 40.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 18, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The Republicans believe that they can discredit Mueller and the FBI without any negative consequences or blow back.

    I take it you can’t see the brilliance of their plan? I hope it blows up so badly in their faces.

  41. 41.

    Doug R

    May 18, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    @Ruckus:

    This is like the airline pilot’s 3 yr old child being allowed to fly the plane because otherwise he pulls down his pants and shits on the floor.

    Well, I think the next Air Force One pilot can be found in the parking lot of the Tim Horton’s in Downtown Langley, BC.

  42. 42.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Dayam. Swear to heck, I thought Carter Page as I read some news blurbs about the situation. OTOH, who how many plausible candidates are left? Got a fifty fifty chance just by process of elimination due to internal exile, firings, resignations, plea deals and indictments removing other possibilities.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    May 18, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    @Millard Filmore:

    And hating gays. The current Russian government loves to use LGBT people as convenient scapegoats.

  44. 44.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Trump will dub Kim Little Un-yun? Or Kim-gee?

  45. 45.

    J R in WV

    May 18, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    @tobie:

    It would be great to hear your thoughts on the news that the US canceled its joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan today.

    No it wouldn’t. They only canceled the B-52 flyovers as part of the exercises. Which is no big deal compared to canceling major troop movements, or even Navy ships moving about.

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    May 18, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Warning – Politico:

    The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee warned Friday that his colleagues could be committing a crime if they obtain the identity of a secret FBI source and use it to undermine the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

    Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) raised the alarm in a Friday evening statement, as Republican allies of President Donald Trump have pressed the Justice Department for details about a source believed to have aided the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Trump campaign contacts with Russians.

    “It would be at best irresponsible, and at worst potentially illegal, for members of Congress to use their positions to learn the identity of an FBI source for the purpose of undermining the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in our election,” Warner said. “Anyone who is entrusted with our nation’s highest secrets should act with the gravity and seriousness of purpose that knowledge deserves.”

    […]

    “You get an indictment, and You get an indictment, and You get an indictment…”

    [ eta: via Memeorandum ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    May 18, 2018 at 10:56 pm

    @Snarki, child of Loki: Makes me wonder how long has the projection been going on.

  48. 48.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    Word on the twitter is that the fed informant inside the Trump campaign is some guy named Stefan Halper.

    @realbradadkins
    his identity is all over the rw blogs and trump tubes. pretty much right after nunes was briefed.
    https://twitter.com/realbradadkins/status/997660732052291586

  49. 49.

    Doug R

    May 18, 2018 at 11:00 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: This is why I think the South Koreans are working hard to hammer out details so they can present trump with a handy set of “accomplishments”. It’s really their neighborhood anyway. Plus China and Japan.

  50. 50.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 18, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    @Millard Filmore:
    Kay has talked about this. That meddling in the election wasn’t just because the crap in Ukraine or American sanctions on Russian oligarchs’ piggybanks; I worry that this is also ideological. Destabilising the West doesn’t just allow Russia more room to pursue it’s foreign policy goals; it also means exporting Putin’s brand of autocracy which allows him and his oligarch’s to amass even more wealth without opposition; spreading neo-fascist values that the Russian right love is a bonus.

  51. 51.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    @Another Scott: The WaPo and NYT articles I linked upthread essentially give the identity of the person. I am a bit confused about this, however, because it has been possible to put some things together since about March and come up with his (I’ll go that far) identity. I was musing about this last night on Twitter, and another person effectively told me who it was. Official confirmation, of course, is a big step, which tonight’s articles effectively are.

    Ben Wittes is furious and said he will write something in the next day or so. I’m looking forward to what he has to say.

  52. 52.

    Millard Filmore

    May 18, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    Breaking news: Updated–Breaking: Multiple people shot at Mt. Zion High School, police say

    https://www.ajc.com/news/crime–law/breaking-multiple-people-shot-mount-zion-high-school-police-say/fKmGV5rP6tZA1QthMTtyCN/
    https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142062649

  53. 53.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    May 18, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    @Brachiator:

    He has no capacity to control himself, even when it’s in his own interest. He’s a seething ball of neuroses and insecurities. He can’t help himself. He’ll end up fucking himself up the ass so hard he’s going to need Michael Cohen to secretly pay him $130,000 of his own money.

    He’s gotten away with all kinds of truly awful shit his whole life because he was a two bit con man with a lot of money putting up buildings in New York, and nobody much gave a shit. Now that he’s president, people care. They care a whole hell of a lot, and his inability to rein himself in is going to take him down. It’s this crippling psychological sickness of his that’s going to save us all in the end, I think, even as it fucks things up in the meanwhile. I feel hopeful that we’ll come out of this all right, though. It’s going to take a long time and a lot of work to put things back to rights, but we’ll make it.

  54. 54.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 18, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    Edited: What if this is partly being done sincerely because the Russians want to spread their culture, values, and system of government?

    Are the Russians employing a strategy of autocracy promotion?

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    May 18, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Understood, but the implication I get from Warner’s comment is that his name is coming out because someone in Congress – presumably Nunes – deliberately leaked the information to someone with the expectation – no, the implicit demand – that it be published to damage the FBI and Mueller’s investigation. Trump and Nunes and their minions are daring Mueller and the rest of the CI establishment to do anything about it.

    We’ll see what happens…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  56. 56.

    jl

    May 18, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: If it is this Halper person, looks like Nunes leaked it as soon as he walked out of the briefing. I’ll head down to Fresno and do some GOTV work against him. I have one (1, exactly 1) non-Trumpster kin down there where I can bunk. The others, I’d have to do it under cover, or they’d kick me out.

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    May 18, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    I take it you can’t see the brilliance of their plan? I hope it blows up so badly in their faces.

    These dopes don’t have a plan. They decided to back Trump no matter what. But they are bringing the special sauce, the lie that only Republicans are the real patriots, that they are the only ones who care about the country.

    But I can’t believe that they don’t know that Trump is Putin’s poodle. At some point, the GOP will fall into a hole they can’t get out of. It will be fun to watch it happen. Painful for them, and maybe for the country. But damn fun.

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    May 18, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    @Millard Filmore:

    I’m not sure if it makes it better or worse that it was adults who got into a beef with each other after the graduation ceremony. Yes, let’s make sure that everyone is armed at all times so every stupid argument can end in tragedy! What a great idea!

    Given the location, I will not be surprised if it turns out to be family members arguing with each other. Graduations can be very fraught, especially between divorced couples.

  59. 59.

    tobie

    May 18, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    @J R in WV: If we had an administration interested in policy and invested in strategy, I would agree that canceling this portion of the exercise could be seen as a symbolic, goodwill gesture. As Cheryl pointed out, an able administration would announce the cancelation on its own (a) to give its take on the move first and (b) not to look like the US was pressured to do so by NK. Nothing this administration does is well thought out in advance. It looks like the US caved to North Korea’s demands because it’s desperate. That strikes me as significant.

  60. 60.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    @Another Scott: Looks that way.

    @jl: One way or another, getting Nunes out of Congress is a very good idea.

  61. 61.

    NotMax

    May 18, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    Open thread foodie moment.

    Know full well there are some who turn up their noses at it, but lurve me a leg o’ lamb slow roasted in the oven.

    Now have an alternative method so can switch off from time to time. Played with an Instant Pot recipe found somewhere and the result is also yummy, however a completely different texture. So tender that no knife is necessary; one can readily cut it with a fork. And made the gravy in the same pot – only one vessel to wash!

    Was skeptical as the recipe called for a whopping 90 minutes at high pressure, but that turned out perfectly done meat.

  62. 62.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 18, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    @Brachiator:

    But I can’t believe that they don’t know that Trump is Putin’s poodle.

    They do know, but it makes sense if you think that only white people, especially white Christian men, are Americans. Under that belief system, it is 100% patriotic to cut deals with another white supremacist nation to extend white power, especially after the election of a black man to the highest elected office showed how shaky your control is.

  63. 63.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 18, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    I’m packing it in now. Maybe I’ll write a post after Ben Wittes or someone else with more Washington connections than I have does.

  64. 64.

    Platonailedit

    May 18, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    FBI Dir. Wray: "The day that we can’t protect human sources is the day the American people start becoming less safe… Sources in particular who put themselves at great risk… have to be able to trust that we’re going to protect their identities and in many cases their lives."— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 19, 2018

  65. 65.

    Chet Murthy

    May 18, 2018 at 11:40 pm

    Ding dong, a witch is dead

    In 1976, he led a group of military and foreign-policy experts, known as Team B, in an ultimately pessimistic analysis of the Soviet Union’s military strategy and foreign policy and the threats they posed to the United States.

  66. 66.

    opiejeanne

    May 18, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @J R in WV: You were asking earlier about tours in Europe and I tried to give you a link to the Rick Steves site. I know that in 2014 there was a walking tour in the Alps and it sounded great. The prices compare pretty favorably with less good ones, which is not to say they are cheap but reasonable for what you got, which was a lot of expertise, great guides, and decent housing plus some meals. They limit the groups to 20-25 people while almost all other tours have about 40

    Tours

  67. 67.

    mike in dc

    May 18, 2018 at 11:47 pm

    Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is the House and Senate, for Paul Manafort to flip, and for conspiracy indictments to start rolling in.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 18, 2018 at 11:48 pm

    @Millard Filmore:

    Aw fuck. Every one of these incidents is terrible, but they take on an added resonance when they’re this close to home.

  69. 69.

    glory b

    May 18, 2018 at 11:58 pm

    So, I’ll give everyone something to smile about. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have asked that, in lieu of gifts, people make donations to their favorite charities. One that she selected is called the Myna Mahila Foundation. Its goal is to assist poor women in third world countries with education about menstrual hygiene and it employs women in Mumbai making sanitary pads.

    In a Glamour magazine article, the founder describes meeting Markle and her visit to the slum there, saying she sat on the floor in their group meeting, readily ate the food they made and insisted the photographer take pictures of the women there, rather than concentrating on her.

    She said that sh was surprised at the extent to which Markle had educated herself about the problem (one I’m ashamed to say I never thought of), and was very interested in their ideas.

    And, she has invited the woman who founded the organization and several of the women from the slum to the royal wedding. some of these women have never left Mumbai. The founder, Suhani Jalota, praises her highly and is hapy about how excited the women are to be going to the royal wedding. Kind of impressed with Harry’s decision to marry her.

    Just another example of how black girls rock.

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    May 19, 2018 at 12:04 am

    @glory b:

    Did you see that Markle is going to be walked down the aisle by her future father-in-law, Prince Charles? Her mother is not very comfortable being in the public eye, so she decided not to do it and to instead do the usual mother-of-the-bride thing. It seems to be yet another gesture from the royal family showing that they love and approve of Markle. ?

  71. 71.

    Niles

    May 19, 2018 at 12:10 am

    Old and busted: “There was no spy. Trump is lying.”
    New and hot: “Of course there was a spy. He was there to protect Trump. He should be grateful.”

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    May 19, 2018 at 12:11 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    But I can’t believe that they don’t know that Trump is Putin’s poodle.

    They do know, but it makes sense if you think that only white people, especially white Christian men, are Americans. Under that belief system, it is 100% patriotic to cut deals with another white supremacist nation to extend white power, especially after the election of a black man to the highest elected office showed how shaky your control is.

    Still doesn’t make sense to me. The United States has been a racist nation, sometimes fighting against itself, but I am not sure that its leaders have willingly surrendered to another nation. And the US does not need Russia to be totally racist. Hell, under the old racist categories, Anglo Saxons we’re superior to Slavs.

    Trump needs Putin. I don’t see that it does much for anybody else.

    I’m not totally convinced, but I understand what you are saying. Still, the GOP are dopes. You can’t make a deal with the devil and expect Satan to play fair. So, Putin will never accept Americans as equal partners. Similarly, Netanyahu is a fool if he thinks that white supremacists will set aside their hatred for Jews and accept him in their club. And I’m just using him as an example.

    Perhaps Republicans and their running buddies really are that stupid. I know Trump is.

  73. 73.

    Mary G

    May 19, 2018 at 12:12 am

    Art Acevedo, Houston chief of police comes out strong for gun control on his personal FB page. So well written:

    To all my Facebook friends. Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger.

    I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do. My feeling won’t be hurt if you de-friend me and I hope yours won’t be if you decide to post about your views and I de-friend you.

    I have never accepted the status-quo in anything I do and I’ve never accepted defeat. And I won’t do it now. I will continue to speak up and will stand up for what my heart and my God commands me to do, and I assure you it he hasn’t instructed me that gun-rights are bestowed by him.

    The hatred being spewed in our country and the new norms we, so-called people of faith are accepting, is as much to blame for so much of the violence in our once pragmatic Nation.

    This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and Inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).

    I close by saying, I wish those that move on from this page the best. May God Bless you and keep you.

  74. 74.

    Mnemosyne

    May 19, 2018 at 12:13 am

    @Niles:

    I was wondering when our little Trump troll would show up. Interesting how you think that spying on the Russians and spying on Trump are exactly the same thing. Why would you think that?

  75. 75.

    Mnemosyne

    May 19, 2018 at 12:15 am

    @Brachiator:

    You can’t make a deal with the devil and expect Satan to play fair.

    They think they can cheat the devil and walk away unscathed. Unfortunately for them, that’s not how it works.

  76. 76.

    Brachiator

    May 19, 2018 at 12:20 am

    @glory b:

    In a Glamour magazine article, the founder describes meeting Markle and her visit to the slum there, saying she sat on the floor in their group meeting, readily ate the food they made and insisted the photographer take pictures of the women there, rather than concentrating on her.

    Damn. Harry seems to be marrying a woman whose sprit is much like his mother’s.

    Wish them much success and happiness and hope they can avoid the trap which might turn them into frivolous, crappy Royals.

  77. 77.

    Aleta

    May 19, 2018 at 12:23 am

    What a great one he was.
    Doug Sahm – Anymore (Tribute To Johnny Ace)

  78. 78.

    Niles

    May 19, 2018 at 12:25 am

    Obama’s FBIsp@Mnemosyne: Obama’s FBI illegally spied on Trump’s campaign. After he won they used their own activities to trigger a special persecutor. I’m sure there will be lots more coming as this unfolds.

    They didn’t expect him to win. If Hillary had won none of this would have seen the light of day. They fucked up.

    This is way worse than Watergate. I know you don’t believe it, but you’ll see. I feel very confident that Obama was involved but they’ll never prove it. Comey and his friends are going to prison.

    The ironic part is that everyone assumed Trump was dirty. They were wrong.

    Tonight we have confirmation that there was indeed a spy. In the GOP nominee’s campaign. During an election. There ain’t no way to buff that turd.

  79. 79.

    glory b

    May 19, 2018 at 12:28 am

    @Mnemosyne: That’s great! It looks like our loss and Britain’s gain.

    Although I read somewhere that, before Harry asked her to marry him, she was thinking of moving to Canada until the end of Trump’s presidency.

    Suits is filmed there, and she figured she’d just stay.

    Can’t blame her.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    May 19, 2018 at 12:32 am

    @Niles:

    Obama’s FBI illegally spied on Trump’s campaign.

    The FBI was spying on the Russians, not on Trump. Again, why do you think of those as the exact same thing, hmmmm?

    After he won they used their own activities to trigger a special persecutor. I’m sure there will be lots more coming as this unfolds.

    So a candidate for President of the United States was working closely and secretively with a hostile foreign power and you don’t find that alarming at all? You think that the real problem here is that the FBI was spying on the Russian agents who were working with the Trump campaign, and not that the Trump campaign was working with Russian agents?

    I’m surprised you can type at all with your head so far up your own ass.

  81. 81.

    Brachiator

    May 19, 2018 at 12:36 am

    @Niles:

    Obama’s FBI illegally spied on Trump’s campaign.

    You really need to take this stupid shit somewhere else.

  82. 82.

    efgoldman

    May 19, 2018 at 12:38 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    why do you think of those as the exact same thing, hmmmm?

    It’s
    a
    fucking
    TROLL
    (Although it uses too many words to be a bot. Probably a Wilmer fan)

  83. 83.

    MisterForkbeard

    May 19, 2018 at 12:40 am

    @Mnemosyne: Oh god, you fed it. And it’s now drunk on it’s own righteous ridiculousness.

  84. 84.

    Chet Murthy

    May 19, 2018 at 12:42 am

    @Niles: Pie, bitch. PIE! [thank you again, Cleek!]

  85. 85.

    Brachiator

    May 19, 2018 at 12:49 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    They think they can cheat the devil and walk away unscathed. Unfortunately for them, that’s not how it works.

    A case in point. The Republicans cannot deny that they have emboldened racists and antisemites. From HuffPo.

    Supporters of a neo-Nazi running as a Republican in California’s Senate race released anti-Semitic robocalls attacking incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) this month.

    The robocalls have also been made outside California, including to The Hill.

    The message left for The Hill backs Patrick Little’s campaign, and accuses Feinstein of being an Israeli citizen and calling her a “traitorous Jew.”

    “He’s [Little] going to get rid of all the nation-wrecking Jews from our country, starting with Israeli Citizen Dianne Feinstein,” the call says of Little.

    This stuff is sickening.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 12:54 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: He was actually outed by The Daily Caller in summer 2016.

  87. 87.

    Aleta

    May 19, 2018 at 1:00 am

    @Brachiator: I’ve had that thought too—what you said about maintaining his mother’s spirit.

    I was impressed when I read about the garden that her two sons had put in ‘at their place’ last year. Sure it may be relatively effortless for them to have a garden put in, but at the same time there’s something moving about sons making sure her memory is a presence where they live. More so especially for them to make the point inside the place she wasn’t welcome as herself.
    (Found an article from a year ago, ABC)

    A memorial garden has opened at Kensington Palace to mark the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death and to honor her life. A team of six gardeners and a number of volunteers spent 18 weeks planting (snip) more than 12,000 bulbs over the winter to create a garden outside the home that Diana’s oldest son William, shares with his wife Kate, and their two children, and the cottage where Diana’s youngest son, Prince Harry, lives. The gardeners wanted to create something “very elegant, simple but also joyful” to reflect Diana’s spirit, according to head gardener Sean Harkin.

    Kensington Palace has announced a number of events to commemorate Diana’s life this year. Her sons, William, 34, and Harry, 32, have also commissioned a statue on the grounds of Kensington Palace to honor Diana.

    “Our mother touched so many lives,” William and Harry said in a statement earlier this year announcing the statue. “We hope the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on her life and her legacy.”

    “We will do everything we can to make sure that she’s never forgotten and carry on all the special gifts, as such, that she had and that she portrayed while she was alive,” Harry said in the March 2016 interview.

  88. 88.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:01 am

    @jl: The informant provided information on 3 people who would eventually become involved with the President’s campaign and/or his administration. The first was LTG (ret) Flynn, who the informant observed at a conference in England in 2014. Was concerned based on what he saw. And reached out to his contacts in the US intelligence community. The second and third were Page and Papadapolous in 2016. He also, apparently, reached out to Sam Clovis in mid 2016 as well.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:03 am

    @Another Scott: @jl: Vladek is a professor at UT Law. He specializes in national security issues and is a contributor at Lawfare.

    Dear @DevinNunes:

    Just a friendly note to remind you that leaking the identity of an FBI informant in the context of a foreign counterintelligence investigation is a felony in violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982:https://t.co/Ohppx9jBLK pic.twitter.com/kludMTWVED

    — Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 19, 2018

    Here’s 50 U.S.C. § 3121(b):https://t.co/um5VHHxSaq pic.twitter.com/wm2uHUaJUU

    — Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 19, 2018

    He can go to the floor of the House and identify the informant and be immune from prosecution, but we all know that he won’t. Anything else that leads to the disclosure of the identity is a felony.

    — Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 19, 2018

  90. 90.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:04 am

    @jl: Yep.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    May 19, 2018 at 1:06 am

    @Brachiator:
    I said in another post that with our jungle primary that there are a lot of names to go through to find the person to vote for. Well I looked at the ballot and what do you know, if you take out all the republicans, all the minor parties and all the unidentified the numbers get much smaller. My only quibble is that DiFi is running again and I think she is too old. I’d like someone new, younger than way, way older than dirt. (And don’t forget that I am officially older than dirt. Only just but still.)
    Anyone from CA got any ideas on who is running for senator who might possibly be worth electing, or do we just go with the too much experience?

  92. 92.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:06 am

    @Millard Filmore: Not exactly. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution article you linked to:

    One person has died and another has been shot in a parking lot across the street from Mt. Zion High School, police said. The two people shot were not students.

    There was a graduation ceremony happening across the street at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center, Channel 2 Action News said. The shooting happened after the graduation concluded.

    The graduation was for the Perry Learning Center, an alternative school in Jonesboro, Channel 2 reported.

    Both people shot were adult women, Channel 2 reported. One was shot in the leg and the other was shot three times. It is unclear if they were attending the graduation or not. The woman shot in the leg was transported to a local hospital.

    Police told the news station an argument led to the shooting.

    A Clayton County Police Department spokesperson said via email the incident occurred on school property and the department is investigating.

    No arrests have been made, but Channel 2 reported investigators are searing for at least one suspect.

    No other details have been released.

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    May 19, 2018 at 1:08 am

    @Aleta:

    Harry and Meghan will continue living at Kensington after they marry (though they’ll get to upgrade to a palace suite, not a bachelor cottage) and will presumably raise their children there like William and Kate are doing.

    My mother died when I was quite young (7), so I think it’s really sweet that they decided that they wanted a nearby place that both of them will be able to be able to show to their children that is dedicated to the grandmother they will never be able to meet. ?

  94. 94.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:09 am

    @NotMax: Excellent! Bone in or bone out?

  95. 95.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:11 am

    @Chet Murthy:

    In 1976, he led a group of military and foreign-policy experts, known as Team B, in an ultimately pessimistic incorrect analysis of the Soviet Union’s military strategy and foreign policy and the threats they posed to the United States.

    Fixed it for you!

  96. 96.

    Platonailedit

    May 19, 2018 at 1:14 am

    @Niles: Moron.

  97. 97.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:15 am

    @Brachiator: It has been reported that the former Ukrainian legislator that Mueller has had in front of the grand jury has told people he was asked about Michael Cohen, the President’s campaign, Republican members of the House and Senate, members of the administration, etc. This is the guy that sent the President a peace proposal for Ukraine and Russia via Michael Cohen who supposedly hand delivered it to Flynn.

  98. 98.

    Chet Murthy

    May 19, 2018 at 1:15 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you sir!

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    May 19, 2018 at 1:21 am

    @Ruckus:

    Anyone from CA got any ideas on who is running for senator who might possibly be worth electing, or do we just go with the to much experience?

    I think that Kevin de Leon is the popular insurgent choice, but I have not had time to study the ballot more.

    The trick is making sure that no republican gets second spot on the ballot, and I’m reading that James Bradley is neck and neck with de leon in recent polls.

  100. 100.

    Anne Laurie

    May 19, 2018 at 1:21 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks, Cheryl… main reason I post stuff like this, instead of waiting for informed analysis from you and/or Adam, is that all I know is what I read in the media. I figure I can’t do harm by repeating what’s already in the Washington Post or on CNN — but if the occasion should arise when I’m wrong about that, by all means pull down the post!

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    May 19, 2018 at 1:24 am

    @MisterForkbeard:
    @efgoldman:

    It’s currently 8:22 am in Moscow.

    Just sayin’.

  102. 102.

    Aleta

    May 19, 2018 at 1:25 am

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah, a garden the kids can run around in and know it’s a space that means their grandmother. I’ll plant something by the river here in memory of your mother. (If you have a request, let me know sometime this week.)

    The prince-palace-carriage thing is all so weird, but it still makes me angry that a 17-19 year old woman was sought out and used without scruples or morals, just because they needed a woman in a role. It’s moving that her sons are trying to right some of the wrong. Hope Merkle isn’t harmed.

  103. 103.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:26 am

    @Niles: Your foot placement on the clean and jerk needs adjusting. You’re good on the clean, but you’ve got a step problem on the jerk.

  104. 104.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 19, 2018 at 1:27 am

    @Brachiator:

    This stuff is sickening.

    It’s much worse, his occupation on the ballot is “Civil Rights Advocate”.

  105. 105.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 19, 2018 at 1:30 am

    @Adam L Silverman: LOL.

  106. 106.

    Anne Laurie

    May 19, 2018 at 1:35 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: Okay, having read both those articles & some of the newest Wingnut Wurlitzer “exposes”… I immediately thought of one name, but it’s *not* the name RedState et al are touting. Goes to show how confusing this Hall of Mirrors is, for us non-professionals!

    (Don’t worry, I’m happy waiting till tomorrow for the MSM to let us all know.)

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:39 am

    @Anne Laurie: Honestly he’s been pretty much hiding in plain sight. There has been significant reporting about him in relation to folks in the President’s orbit, especially LTG (ret) Flynn, for the past two years. So it wasn’t hard to piece it together.

    That said, this is going to be bad. As was the case with the President telling Lavrov and Kislyak last year about the Israel op, this is going to make it much, much harder for the US to both recruit informants or sources or to have people sympathetic to the US’s interests volunteer to become informants or sources. Moreover, it is going to cause our allies and partners to have even further concerns about the US’s ability to protect their sources and methods, which will likely negatively influence their cooperation with our intelligence community.

    When Mueller figures out who leaked this, and I’m guessing it is one of the two or three of Nunes senior staffers who do his dirty work, that that individual and Nunes are prosecuted under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:40 am

    @Mnemosyne: Idaho.

  109. 109.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:41 am

    @Aleta: She was the jubilee sacrifice. As were several of her Spencer ancestors.

  110. 110.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:42 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I doubt the troll finds it funny. If he’s not careful, based on the videos he posted, he’s going to do some serious ligament damage.

  111. 111.

    Anne Laurie

    May 19, 2018 at 1:43 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    He also, apparently, reached out to Sam Clovis in mid 2016 as well.

    Sam Clovis is someone else I wouldn’t mind seeing come to a bad end, frankly.

  112. 112.

    jl

    May 19, 2018 at 1:46 am

    @Adam L Silverman: It wasn’t me, copper. I ain’t the stoolie. Hey, was just I was reading the twitter and I just said stuff I saw there, see? What’s the fuzz doing coming down an little nobody like me was just reading the twitter, huh? Don’t youse guys go some real criminals to catch?

  113. 113.

    hervevillechaizelounge

    May 19, 2018 at 1:47 am

    @Brachiator:

    The key to understanding the Russia-republican alliance is acknowledging we (coastal elites) have become the real enemy.

    RWNJ media runs on fear, and for quite a while Russia was no longer a worthy adversary—even the rubes didn’t believe Russia poised to overthrow the US five or ten years ago.

    So Faux et al decided to demonize liberals. And when you accept that we’re the enemy the republican alliance with Putin makes perfect sense. The Cletus corps has been indoctrinated to believe we’re trying to destroy America—we got into bed with Stalin to defeat the Nazis, and they’re getting cozy with the Ruskies to defeat us.

    Putin’s racism and anti-gay bias is just gravy, IMHO.

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:50 am

    @Anne Laurie: Eventually someone out hunting wild boar will bag him.//

  115. 115.

    jl

    May 19, 2018 at 1:51 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Weight was too heavy, lost his form. Needs to lighten it up a notch.

  116. 116.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:51 am

    @jl: That wasn’t directed at you, it was a partial response to your comment by someone who knows the law on this stuff much better than I do.

  117. 117.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:52 am

    @jl: You saw the video he posted too?

  118. 118.

    jl

    May 19, 2018 at 1:55 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah, sure, Tell it to the Marines. I’m calling my lawyer.

    I didn’t see any videos. I was out doing stuff, then I came back. I got Trumpster relatives who send me videos, high octane Alex Jones stuff, knock your block off. Can’t scare me with no videos.

  119. 119.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 1:59 am

    @jl: My comment is intended to subtley signal the troll. I was attempting to be subtle. I apologize for that confusing everyone.

  120. 120.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 2:00 am

    @jl:

    Yeah, sure, Tell it to the Marines.

    All my USMC friends/colleagues have families with young kids. I’m sure they’re all asleep at this hour.

  121. 121.

    jl

    May 19, 2018 at 2:03 am

    @Adam L Silverman: I was not confused. I was joking. Except I missed the videos, so I don’t understand all the details of the intrigue going on here at BJ blog tonight. I’ll read the book on it when it comes out.

  122. 122.

    Anne Laurie

    May 19, 2018 at 2:07 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Is there a bounty for feral hogs, these days? Cuz the meat won’t be worth cooking — old boar’s eaten too much garbage to be palatable even after aging & marination.

  123. 123.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 19, 2018 at 2:08 am

    @jl:

    I was not confused.

    Sure, sure; I believe you.

  124. 124.

    magurakurin

    May 19, 2018 at 2:11 am

    @Mnemosyne: why do you bother? At least post it in Russian so they can read it. seriously.

  125. 125.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 2:12 am

    Executive time this weekend is going to be lit!

    Trump, originally scheduled to go to Camp David this weekend, is not going. Schedule for this weekend has him at White House. "No public events scheduled."

    — Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 18, 2018

  126. 126.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 2:13 am

    @jl: You don’t need to know. Trust me on this one.

  127. 127.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 2:13 am

    @Anne Laurie: Is he Snowball or Napoleon?

  128. 128.

    Anne Laurie

    May 19, 2018 at 2:13 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Speaking of Terry Prachett’s Discworld (which some of us were, this morning), one of his recurring characters is a long-dead empire builder who coins the motto I can see your house from here. General Tacticus!

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 19, 2018 at 2:20 am

    @Anne Laurie: I wasn’t speaking of Discworld. Never read any of them.

  130. 130.

    jl

    May 19, 2018 at 2:23 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Way past your bed time, young man.

  131. 131.

    Anne Laurie

    May 19, 2018 at 2:44 am

    @Adam L Silverman: You’d probably like Pratchett’s second-favorite character, Sam Vimes.

    From everything you’ve written on this blog, you’d almost certainly like Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.

    But I figured you’d recognize the old “joke”, regardless!

  132. 132.

    NotMax

    May 19, 2018 at 3:48 am

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Boneless, netting removed.

  133. 133.

    J R in WV

    May 19, 2018 at 4:30 am

    @Niles:

    You are a TERRIBLE troll. You have facts wrong, you have un-natural English errors that look as if English is your third language and make it clear that you don’t live in America.

    Why do you care, as a foreigner, who is president of the US? Who could possibly believe that one news item will turn around the Trump-Russian influence investigation? After all the guilty pleas and indictments already in the books!!!

    Like a child, writing in the 6th grade about something she hasn’t studied yet, and won’t study for years, making it look like real writing, with no there, there. Not well enough educated to even know there’s so much wrong it doesn’t make any sense. Doesn’t know what she doesn’t know yet, or ever. Like Trump’s twits.

    Thanks for trying! If that’s the best you can do, I’m sorry, you need to go back to school and learn it this time.

  134. 134.

    Spaniel

    May 19, 2018 at 4:36 am

    Rudy Giuliani just now to @ChrisCuomo: “We don’t know for sure – nor does the president – that there really was” an informant. “We’ve been told that” by people “off the record.” He added, “we don’t know if they’re right or not.”

    Interesting about the echo-chamber talk, something will get amplified. I thought it was that great legal mind Andrew McCarthy who started all of this informant speculation a few weeks ago. By great legal mind, I meant to say polemic water-carrier for the Republican party.

  135. 135.

    Bobby Thomson

    May 19, 2018 at 5:40 am

    Trump doesn’t even drink

    Why do people keep spreading this myth that Trump is a teetotaller? He lies about literally everything, and the entire country has seen him coked to the gills.

  136. 136.

    Bobby Thomson

    May 19, 2018 at 5:45 am

    @Another Scott:

    You get an indictment, and You get an indictment, and You get an indictment…

    That’s the problem. Our system of government isn’t designed to deal with a lawless legislature.

  137. 137.

    Thoughtful David

    May 19, 2018 at 6:22 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    Well, to be fair to Niles, he has a little tiny pinhead, so it’s easy to get it that far up his add.

  138. 138.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 19, 2018 at 7:41 am

    @Adam L Silverman: That was part of my Twitter conversation Thursday night. I’m still uncomfortable being the one who puts it all together.

  139. 139.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 19, 2018 at 7:46 am

    @Anne Laurie: Noted. This story is a particularly complicated situation, but it’s not the only time I want to step back and see how things go before I write a post. Interestingly, I’m just not seeing a lot since the NYT and WaPo stories dropped. I suspect that others share my reticence.

    ETA: I also wanted to explain as much as I could of the story, which was developing as you posted. As you can see, that was a good idea because I beat out Niles with their disinformation.

  140. 140.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 19, 2018 at 9:00 am

    What exactly is Mueller going to ask Trump that Trump isn’t going to tell the entire world via twitter?

  141. 141.

    Another Scott

    May 19, 2018 at 10:21 am

    @Bobby Thomson: Yes and no. There are examples like Cong. Jefferson from Louisiana. Congressmen don’t have the (traditional) protections against prosecution that Presidents do.

    But, in general, you’re right. Our system of 3 co-equal branches of government doesn’t work when people in positions of authority don’t follow the rules and norms and traditions of their office.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  142. 142.

    jc

    May 19, 2018 at 11:45 am

    I thought I read a year or so ago that there was an unholy group of hard right guys in the FBI in NY and Rudy was tight with them. For some reason, this story reminds me of that.

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    May 19, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: It looks like GG joyfully let the cat out of the bag over at The Intercept. At least that’s my reading of the excerpt at Memeorandum. I haven’t been over to give him a click.

    Because of course he did.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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