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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Breaking News: The Department of Justice Has Arrested Maria Butina

Breaking News: The Department of Justice Has Arrested Maria Butina

by Adam L Silverman|  July 16, 20183:17 pm| 204 Comments

This post is in: America, Ammosexuals, domestic terrorists, Election 2016, Election 2018, Election 2020, Foreign Affairs, Gun nuts, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, Not Normal

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Russian National Charged in Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the United States https://t.co/6No8kas6Yk

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) July 16, 2018

BREAKING / NBC News: DOJ announces the arrest of Russian National Mariia Butina, age 29, for "infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation."

She was arrested yesterday.

— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) July 16, 2018

From the Department of Justice:

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 16, 2018

Russian National Charged in Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the United States

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Mariia Butina, 29, a Russian citizen residing in Washington D.C., was arrested on July 15, 2018, in Washington, D.C., and made her initial appearance this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was ordered held pending a hearing set for July 18, 2018.

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, from as early as 2015 and continuing through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of a high-level official in the Russian government who was previously a member of the legislature of the Russian Federation and later became a top official at the Russian Central Bank.  This Russian official was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control in April 2018.

The court filings detail the Russian official’s and Butina’s efforts for Butina to act as an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with U.S. persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation. The filings also describe certain actions taken by Butina to further this effort during multiple visits from Russia and, later, when she entered and resided in the United States on a student visa. The filings allege that she undertook her activities without officially disclosing the fact that she was acting as an agent of Russian government, as required by law.

The charges in criminal complaints are merely allegations and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years.  The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes.  If convicted of any offense, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Here’s the link to the complaint and to the affidavit.

This is a huge arrest. Butina was a go between for Alexander Torshin on behalf of Putin and the National Rifle Association. As I wrote in December 2017:

In the Russian case a lot of the penetration that is being reported on and made public appears to have been focused solely on more politically, socially, economically, and religiously conservative sectors, groups, and organizations in the US. The Daily Beast first reported on Russia’s connections to the NRA back in February 2017. This was the first of three articles that delineated the creation of a Russian firearms sporting organization partially led by Marina Butina. Specifically:

Two of Butina’s friendships in particular have raised eyebrows. She started a business with Paul Erickson, a decades-long Republican Party activist. And she served as a special assistant to the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank, Alexander Torshin, a former Russian senator belonging to Vladimir Putin’s political party with alleged ties to the Russian mob world.

 As chilled vodka flowed through an ice sculpture—a bottle imprinted with the Soviet hammer and sickle—she took some time to brag. She brazenly claimed that she had been part of the Trump campaign’s communications with Russia, two individuals who were present said. On other occasions, in one of her graduate classes, she repeated this claim.

Erickson and Butina have been seen in public frequently, at the invitation-only Freedom Ball after Trump’s inauguration; and holding court at Russia House, a Russian-themed bar in Washington, D.C.’s Dupont Circle. At one such gathering in the fall of 2016 Erickson bragged that he was advising the Trump transition team, according to two sources who were present; he is also said to have told a story about introducing Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47, to former NRA president David Keene. (Kalashnikov allegedly inspired the creation of “The Right to Bear Arms,” Butina’s gun rights group.)

The two appear to have gotten close: Erickson formed a limited liability corporation with Butina in February 2016, according to the South Dakota secretary of state. It is unclear what this organization, Bridges, LLC, actually does. (Despite living in Washington, D.C., Butina has a cellphone number with a South Dakota area code.)

In The Daily Beast‘s second report, Tim Mak expands on his reporting from February 2017 by digging into the meeting between members of the NRA and Dmitry Rogozin, one of Putin’s hard line deputies and the head of the Russian Shooting Federation, which would make him either Butina’s partner or boss. The Daily Beast‘s third article on this topic delves even deeper to who was at the meeting with Rogozin. Specifically former Milwaukee County Sheriff, Fox News analyst, extremist anti-US government Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officer Association Sheriff of the Year, campaign proxy and Republican National Convention prime time speaker, and withdrawn nominee for political appointment at the Department of Homeland Security David Clarke. And former NRA President and current board member David Keene.

Here’s Rogozin’s tweet about the event. You’ll notice Clarke’s in the second photo. Keene is in the first standing next to Rogozin.

Butina, and her patron Torshin, were connected to the NRA by long time GOP operative Paul Erickson. Erickson sent the email to Trump campaign official Rick Dearborn, as well as reaching out to now Attorney General Sessions seeking a meeting between then candidate Trump and Torshin at the NRA annual meeting. That meeting was scheduled and then cancelled. Instead Torshin met briefly with Donald Trump Jr at the NRA annual meeting banquet. Erickson set up a LLC in South Dakota to, allegedly, pay for Butina’s doctoral studies in DC.

This arrest and indictment is a very big deal. It, like Friday’s indictments, is further evidence that Special Counsel Mueller’s team has complete visibility on the network around the Russian active measures and cyberwarfare campaign even as this case was brought by the DC office, not the Special Counsel’s. Both the ongoing Russian activities and their involvement in the 2016 campaign. And as was the case with Friday’s indictments. If I was part of the NRA’s leadership or one of the NRA officials who went on the junket to Russia, let alone a host of GOP elected and appointed officials, with ties to Erickson, I’d be very, very nervous right now.

Stay weapons free!

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

204Comments

  1. 1.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    July 16, 2018 at 3:18 pm

    Hope she rides the lightning !

  2. 2.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 16, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    So is the DOJ just trying to make trump look as bad as possible with the timing, Friday and now this?

  3. 3.

    David Anderson

    July 16, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Not gonna happen — but yeah, she is either in talk and piss off her handlers in Mother Russia, wait for a trade or spend several years in a not too pleasant Fed pen.

    If one was an NRA board member, what is the probability that you’ll get through to the FBI fast enough to get a plea deal knowing that multiple other board members are also making the same phone call?

  4. 4.

    joel hanes

    July 16, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    Please, FSM, I seldom ask for anything, but please:
    let Wayne LaPierre be caught in the net and prosecuted and convicted.

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne

    July 16, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    So does Trump pardon her now, while he’s still in Russia, or wait until he’s back in DC?

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    July 16, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Trump makes Trump look as bad as possible, no external help needed.

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    July 16, 2018 at 3:26 pm

    long time GOP operative Paul Erickson

    Out of curiosity, any relation to Erick son of Erick of the house of Erick?

  8. 8.

    piratedan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    will the next shoe to drop involve the Evangelicals?

    here’s to hoping that the arrests and indictments keep on coming.

    sad to see that it took the Helsinki meeting to bring it home that this isn;t just about Liberal bleating about “losing” an election. Regardless when eyes are opened, it’s good to have it being discussed. Now to get some of these hand wringing GOP Senators stand up and shove this fucking agenda of the McConnell/Ryan/Trump triumvirate up their collective asses.

  9. 9.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    @Mnemosyne: He was never in Russia. He was in Finland. The Finns get really touchy about this.

  10. 10.

    Mary G

    July 16, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    I like to think of this as Mueller giving Putin the finger with both hands.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    July 16, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    Tick tock, motherfuckers.

  12. 12.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne: If he were smart, he’d just stay there.

    (Also: he’s in Finland, not Russia.)

  13. 13.

    LAO

    July 16, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Am I crazy, this feels big — not just for Trump but the Republican Party, as well. I skimmed the complaint and it reads like a spy novel.

  14. 14.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: “Life comes at you fast.”

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    July 16, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    I’m a skeptic of the Mueller as Santa Claus framing, but man, this timing sure is fascinating.

  16. 16.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    Mueller’s investigation announcements are timed very nicely, and probably have gotten Putin’s attention.
    NRA has already signaled that they know they are in deep shit with the very non-denial non-denials (after several days of silence, they couldn’t even come up with a good non-denial denial) of news reports of foreign funny money going though them to 2016 US elections.

  17. 17.

    Timurid

    July 16, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Speaking of touchy, why didn’t the Finns intervene when the journalist was assaulted at the presser?

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    @dmsilev:
    Ericks Awry.

  19. 19.

    LAO

    July 16, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Well, she was arrested on Sunday (the 15th), it’s curious that the announcement wasn’t made until Trump was in the air after Helsinki. I’m no believer in conspiracy theories, but the timing is odd.

  20. 20.

    The Dangerman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    I feel the pardon a comin’
    It’s rolling round the bend
    And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when…

    /Johnny Cash

    ETA: Shakes first at the Upstairs post

  21. 21.

    raven

    July 16, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    IN other news Amazon Prime Day is a clusterfuk!

  22. 22.

    p.a.

    July 16, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    Aaaaaahhhhhhh… nothing better than the lead actors who for decades smear the left with shouts of ‘traitor’ being exposed. Projection, all the way down.

    I believe it was Samuel Johnson who pointed out the loudest yelps for freedom [came] from the drivers of slaves. (pace J. Adams etc.)

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    @LAO: Yep. And while it’s being reported that it came out of the main office in DC, I find it hard to believe that this wasn’t spun off of Mueller’s investigation. Let DC put it out, make it look like Mueller’s not involved with this, and then Mueller’s counterintel folks watch what the network around Butina and Torchin and Erickson does.

  24. 24.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    @Betty Cracker:
    I’m convinced every European spy agency is sending Meuller’s team everything it has, and that would be in addition to what the US IC has collected on its own.
    They may have to announce this stuff to keep their piles of evidence from spilling out the windows and on to the street for random passersby to pick up.
    So, it could be coincidence.

    Not Santa Claus, they plug along efficiently and do what they can do. We have to be our own Santa Claus on election day.

  25. 25.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    @raven: Less Amazon = better world.

  26. 26.

    raven

    July 16, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    @different-church-lady: I dunno, I got in early and got a cuisinart at a great price!

  27. 27.

    Baud

    July 16, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    @raven: How so?

  28. 28.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 16, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    @LAO: This is gigantic. I have long suspected that the NRA was the conduit from Russia to All-American Heartlanders like JD Gordon and Sam Clovis, who recommended Carter Page and others to Donald Trump as his foreign policy advisors. I started out wondering how these cleancut Middle America types had contact with folks with strong Russian connections, and then material about Butina, Torshin, and the NRA began to come out. None of that is in the current affadavit, but I suspect it will eventually come out.

    The NRA is the connection to many Republican congresscritters.

    Butina claimed she was a conduit from Russia to Donald Trump.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    Coincidentally, a sentiment shared by thousands of Brazilian loggers, ranchers and road-builders.

  30. 30.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 16, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    @Baud: Network traffic is overwhelming them.

  31. 31.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    @LAO: This is such inside baseball, I doubt the timing of the arrest was intended for some big public PR statement. And timing of an actual arrest maybe can’t be planned to the required level of precision for it to be when president is farting, or in the air, or making a fool of himself in front of cameras or not.

    To the extent there was timing, it’s more of a to ‘those who have ears to hear’, let them hear type of thing.

  32. 32.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    @Betty Cracker: He’s Hannukah Harry. The gifts, for instance socks and underwear, are far more practical, but you won’t appreciate that until you’re an adult and realize that you now don’t have to do laundry as often!//

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    Maria Butina Wayne LaPierre NRA 2014 pic.twitter.com/jM3X1SRdzw

    — Circus Max ? (@ShouldRemain) July 16, 2018

  34. 34.

    feebog

    July 16, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    @jl:

    I’m convinced every European spy agency is sending Meuller’s team everything it has, and that would be in addition to what the US IC has collected on its own.

    Yep. Made that observation in a Facebook post earlier today. Wasn’t it reported that the Dutch were spying on the Russian spys in real time?

  35. 35.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I know what Mueller’s team reminds me of: the scene in Stone’s “Wall Street” where Gekko is at peak Gekko, and then Stone just inserts a single wide shot looking in the window of a watchdog agency as they go about their business. No dialog, no characters, no catchphrases, just the law silently going about being the law. That one shot stands out because it’s in such stark contrast to everything in Gekko-world, and it lets you know that he is doomed without saying a word.

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    Here's Trump in 2015, suggesting to Maria Butina (Russian crime boss Alexander Torshin's special assistant) that he would lift sanctions on Russia.

    "I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin… I don't think you'd need the sanctions."

    /9/ pic.twitter.com/dCXqktvSKs

    — Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) January 18, 2018

  37. 37.

    Mary G

    July 16, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    I like to think of this as Mueller giving Putin the finger with both hands. Never thought I would have such a high opinion of the FBI and DOJ, but they are playing to win and I like it a lot.

  38. 38.

    Mandalay

    July 16, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    The ever pompous Liz Cheney goes rogue and tweets her poutrage:

    As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am deeply troubled by President Trump’s defense of Putin against the intelligence agencies of the U.S. & his suggestion of moral equivalence between the U.S. and Russia. Russia poses a grave threat to our national security.

    She might have a point if she hadn’t constantly looked the other way for the past two years. As one of the comments said in response to her bandwagon drivel:

    “Deeply troubled” is the new “thoughts and prayers.”

  39. 39.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    @raven: Well, that’s TOTALLY worth having one man be in charge of all consumer transactions.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 16, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    So is the DOJ just trying to make trump look as bad as possible with the timing, Friday and now this?

    He doesn’t need help.

  41. 41.

    MagdaInBlack

    July 16, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    This arrest makes me smile =-)

  42. 42.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    @LAO:

    Look at this affidavit. WOW. https://t.co/TCkcoIuab6 pic.twitter.com/PQQ1PkVJ1d

    — Felt (@MrFelt_) July 16, 2018

    Holy crap, this about the GOP/RNC too. LOL @GOP @HouseGOP pic.twitter.com/F3aoGX4h02

    — Felt (@MrFelt_) July 16, 2018

  43. 43.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    @Mandalay: I’m “deeply troubled” by every goddamend thing Liz and her father have ever done.

  44. 44.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    Tick tock, motherfuckers! Traitors will pay.

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Little known fact: she stole those pearls from Barbara Bush shortly after Putin stole the Superbowl ring from Robert Kraft.

    #MariaIsBadass

  46. 46.

    different-church-lady

    July 16, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    @trollhattan: It’s almost like they have something against discounts on premium kitchen appliances!

  47. 47.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    @feebog: I remember a few news stores about different aspects of the Russian operation being completely penetrated in one way or another by several European countries. One (France, Belgium… ?:) was getting emails before the recipients were. Dutch were intercepting every key stroke and had taken control of security cams so they could see whether some one who left off typing went to get coffee or took a bathroom break.

    If all those countries have sent Mueller stuff, he must have mountains of evidence and leads. In addition, of course, to what US has on its own.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    @Mandalay:
    Liz knows the right way to conduct a cold war, damnit. Daddy taught her.

    Thanks again, Wyoming.

  49. 49.

    LAO

    July 16, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    @jl: IDK — she was arrested yesterday, I would expect the complaint to be unsealed at 9:00 am and that she appear before the magistrate immediately and that did not happen. There are 3 main reasons why that may be: (1) there was a proffer session prior to the arraignment (2) her defense counsel wasn’t available to the afternoon or (3) the prosecution intentionally delayed the arraignment for its own reasons. (If it was reason no. 2 — she should fire her lawyer). Who knows what happened — but it would be irresponsible of us not to speculate.

  50. 50.

    LAO

    July 16, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s what I’m talking about. Yikes.

  51. 51.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    Call Congressman Bob Goodlatte at: (202) 225-5431. Tell him it is time to put his Country over his party and begin hearings on the Impeachment of Donald J. Trump.

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 16, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    @joel hanes:

    Please, FSM, I seldom ask for anything, but please:
    let Wayne LaPierre be caught in the net and prosecuted and convicted.

    Amen. Also too, Dana Loesch.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    I’m inside today, not like last weekend spent in the hot sun. Can I stop drinking from this firehose for awhile? Not thirsty.

    Thanks

  54. 54.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    @LAO: It’s always irresponsible for BJ commentrariate not to speculate. I agree there.

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    @zhena gogolia:
    We actually have a dude in congress named “Goodlatte”? Why is he not a bigly Starbucks franchisee?

  56. 56.

    Mike in NC

    July 16, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    Have never really grasped the point of the Russia/NRA relationship (unless they’ll gladly cash a check from anybody, with no questions asked). In the USSR, private gun ownership was basically prohibited, as far as I knew. Doubtful that things have much changed under Vlad. Anyway, this has been an interesting Monday.

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    July 16, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    As chilled vodka flowed through an ice sculpture—a bottle imprinted with the Soviet hammer and sickle—she took some time to brag. She brazenly claimed that she had been part of the Trump campaign’s communications with Russia, two individuals who were present said. On other occasions, in one of her graduate classes, she repeated this claim.

    As I suggested in another thread, I have no doubt that Maria Butina, but she was not very subtle about what she was doing, and left a thread that a blind bloodhound with sinus problems could easily follow. There’s gotta be bigger fish being protected by these little minnows.

    ETA: CNN just played a political ad endorsing the Supreme Court nominee. The pundits can express their surprise and outrage, but political life and commerce must go on.

  58. 58.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    What Ph.D. program was she in?

  59. 59.

    Gvg

    July 16, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: we ordinary folk wait for Mueller (and the elections) but the actual IC and for that matter the Justice department, don’t have to wait, they can investigate themselves. It’s possible Mueller isn’t the source, though he probably is. It would be better if their were multiple investigators, especially if the GOP doesn’t realize it.
    I know Justice is headed by Sessions, but if he doesn’t know, he can’t order an investigation stopped, plus if he does order a stop, that becomes a smoking gun. Just because the top layer of appointees is rotten, doesn’t mean the rest aren’t loyal. But a low profile would be more effective. I also hope several states are looking into things independently.
    I wonder if Putin understood that no President can change certain things like laws or treaties by simple decree? A lot of Americans didn’t seem to understand Obama couldn’t make us Muslim even if he had wanted to.
    I am really happy with this news.

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    @Mike in NC:
    Guessing they grasp (correctly) that NRA is a very efficient conduit who are likewise thrilled to take anybody’s money to do whatever.

  61. 61.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    @jl:

    I’m convinced every European spy agency is sending Meuller’s team everything it has, and that would be in addition to what the US IC has collected on its own.

    Mueller already has everything. Thank you NATO. Thank you Five Eyes.

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne

    July 16, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    So he’ll wait until he returns to DC to issue the pardon? ?

  63. 63.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 16, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    Maria Butina (Russian spy) paid for @SheriffClarke's 2015 trip to Moscow, the same week as the Flynn/Stein RT dinner.

    — Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) July 16, 2018

  64. 64.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    @Mike in NC: IIRC, NRA filled in with money and resources for campaign infrastructure and GOTV after Trumpsters proved themselves incompetent to run a national campaign and were able to do precisely nothing. So, I think Russian govt-NRA connection is more about the former seeing the latter as a good bet to funnel money into US political system that would be put to effective use. Both are basically organizations with deep interest in propping up white power and authoritarian regimes, so enough common interest there.

  65. 65.

    tobie

    July 16, 2018 at 4:05 pm

    I think I’m going to brush the dust off my tinfoil hat. Maybe the Democrats did win in 2016. We will never know for sure but, man, the results are looking suspicious.
    @zhena gogolia: Good advice. I’ll call my awful GOP congressman’s office now.

  66. 66.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    School of International Service, American U.:

    Yulia Melnikova, an exchange student from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations noted that “so far, the trip to Gettysburg has been the first and most fascinating experience of mine in the USA. The fact that we could agree on certain issues and have an argument on the others; listen, understand and teach each other made me believe in feasibility of improvement of mutual relations between our countries. Since in the end, we are the same people, who have similar problems, complaints, aspirations and dreams; whilst conferences like this once again prove it to be true.” SIS MA student Maria Butina put it this way: “Our trip was like a time machine that took us through the present, the future and the past of U.S. / Russia / Ukraine / Belarus / Azerbaijan relations. We had a great time learning about each other – students from all of these countries (and two American universities!) that represented different generations and cultures. It helped us to focus on similarities that unite us more than on the differences that divide us.”

  67. 67.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @joel hanes: Amen. Let it be so…

  68. 68.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @tobie:

    Call Goodlatte. They’re taking messages. He’s Chair of the House judiciary Committee.

  69. 69.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: “Also, Dana Loesch”.

    This too…

  70. 70.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Russian grad students are flushed with money. All the ones I’ve worked with certainly are (ha ha, that is a joke. All the ones I know are flat broke. Earlier this year I would pick one of them ups sometimes for meetings, since his crappy bike kept breaking down)

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    July 16, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    @dmsilev:

    No, Paul is a South Dakota native.

    But get this niblet from his Wikipedia article:

    For a year between his time at USD [University of South Dakota] and Yale, Erickson served as the national treasurer of the College Republicans in Washington, D.C., whose staff at the time included Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, and Jack Abramoff.

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    @jl:

    Every decent Russian person is flat broke.

  73. 73.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    @Steeplejack: It’s traitors all the way down.

  74. 74.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Well, if I am recalling my history readings correctly – always a dubious proposition, Finland was part of Russia.

    Just not recently.

    So M isn’t wrong, only anachronistic.

  75. 75.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 4:13 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I thought the guy was loafing, then he showed me his bike one day, that he repaired on his way to meeting, late by almost an hour. I feared for the guy’s safety after i saw the bike, and admired his ingenuity at keeping the mess running.

    Edit: but, does show how much decent Russians and Americans have in common. Maybe Trump should talk about that to build solidarity of great Russian and American peoples: his fossil fuel economy of the future will fix that problem, and Vlad will be on board.

  76. 76.

    tobie

    July 16, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Done.

  77. 77.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    @jl:

    They used to fix T-34 tanks with twine.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    July 16, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    @Baud:

    Apparently the link for the Prime Day page was broken or overwhelmed.

    Newsweek story.

  79. 79.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    @Steeplejack: Ooooo-la-la, the RatFvcker Caucus!

    This is appalling. Appalling, I say.

    Please don’t let it stop!

  80. 80.

    Elizabelle

    July 16, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    @tobie: I think the Democrats did win in 2016. And I hope that comes out, sooner rather than later.

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 16, 2018 at 4:18 pm

    @jl:

    and admired his ingenuity at keeping the mess running.

    That’s what everybody in the USSR did.

  82. 82.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 16, 2018 at 4:18 pm

    Thoughts and opinions on this?

    No such thing as Bernie Bros: Bernie’s approval rates are women 50%, blacks 70%, latinx 55%; men 46%, whites 43%

    https://boingboing.net/2018/01/22/a-future-to-believe-in.html

    A Quinnipiac poll of 1,212 voters taken last week found that Bernie Sanders was far and away the most viable Democratic candidate (76% approval), beating Oprah (69%) and Gillibrand (25%) — and that moreover, his approval ratings were highest among women and people of color, putting a lie to the stereotype of “Bernie Bros” as young, middle-class white male political radicals who are oblivious to the more moderate preferences of others.

    Either you have a very robust theory of false consciousness to explain this or maybe you should reconsider the idea that Bernie speaks only to and for white bros.

  83. 83.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Trump makes Trump look as bad as possible, no external help needed.

    Ross Douthat Verified account @DouthatNYT

    One difficulty with the “Trump is a Russian asset” theory is that you would expect a real Russian asset to pretend he isn’t one publicly while quietly pursuing pro-Russian policies behind the scenes; Trump has basically done the reverse.

    9:10 AM – 16 Jul 2018

    But then Ross Cardinal Douchehat destroys his own theory with this pithy observation:

    Ross Douthat Verified account @DouthatNYT

    Of course it would also be in character for Trump to be a Russian asset who’s really terrible at the job.

  84. 84.

    Bill

    July 16, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    @trollhattan: If only he had been better friends with Scott Pruitt maybe he could have finagled a franchise

  85. 85.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 16, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    Somebody’s doing yeoman’s work digging up a bunch of these.

  86. 86.

    GeoBoy

    July 16, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    Is it possible that no one has actually typed “Lock her up!” yet?

  87. 87.

    Mandalay

    July 16, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    While a few disloyal Republicans went rogue over Trump’s surrender in Helsinki, Mike Pence went The Onion route:

    Our @POTUS is now on his way home from a historic trip to Europe. And the truth is, over the last week, the world saw once again that President Trump stands without apology as the leader of the free world.

    I remember people were praying that Bush One didn’t come to any harm because it meant Dan Quayle would be running the country. I almost feel the same way about Trump.

  88. 88.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m losing the thread (and neurons) and am too old to put all the connections together, but in the Olden Times, Before There was Mueller, weren’t four-to-six (geo-)offices involved? There was the PA office, there was a Bay Area office, and maybe a Seetle office … and then DC and NY and maybe Boston.

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne

    July 16, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    It’s the white supremacy. They’re both soaking in it.

  90. 90.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    @trollhattan: I doubt that. Barbara Bush would 1) cut a bitch and 2) was a damn good shot!

  91. 91.

    clay

    July 16, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Pfft. That could be ANY gun rights organization and major political party.

  92. 92.

    cmorenc

    July 16, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    That one of the bank of 4 TVs at the front of the workout room at the YMCA I regularly used is tuned to Faux News is an irritant in my regular workout there, which is aggravated by the fact that the time I usually go coincides with Hannity’s show and one of the essential machines for my workout is smack in front of *that* TV. However, tonight may be a rare occasion when it’s actually going to be sort of fun watching Hannity try to spin contortions even a master yoga teacher can’t do trying to explain why Trump’s disastrous summit with Putin today is a glorious success, in the face of so much condemnation from Repulicans today.

  93. 93.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    This article gives a detailed account of the charges, but then says it’s “highly likely” (the words given in English) that it’s a “provocation” by the U.S. intelligence agencies on the occasion of the Helsinki “summit.”

    https://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=3039039

  94. 94.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:30 pm

    @jl: uh, I’ve heard this said about Chinese industrial espionage and US defense contractors, too.

    It’s a fishbowl world!

    Or sumpthin’

  95. 95.

    Mnemosyne

    July 16, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    @Dev Null:

    Nah, I totally spaced and forgot that the meeting was in Finland, not Russia. No delicious Finnish vodka for me!

  96. 96.

    waratah

    July 16, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    The Department of Justice does not seem to be worried about elections thank you very much DOJ.

  97. 97.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    @LAO: Erickson is an attorney. He lives in Nashville (he’s involved with Blackburn’s senatorial campaign to succeed Corker). Maybe she asked for him as her attorney and he had to fly in.

  98. 98.

    Mike in DC

    July 16, 2018 at 4:32 pm

    Can you use the RICO statute to abolish a 501(c) organization? Asking for a friend.

  99. 99.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 4:32 pm

    @Dev Null: You have to admit that a foreign grad student funding trips for Americans to big confabs across the world is a different MO. That was my point, made partly in jest.

  100. 100.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    @LAO: Yep. As with the indictments handed down by Mueller, there are a lot of important details in the actual bodies of the indictments. This is not, as Pete Williams on MSNBC explained an hour or so ago, just about failing to register as a foreign agent under FARA.

  101. 101.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 16, 2018 at 4:34 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Depends on what Vlad asks him to do.

  102. 102.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:34 pm

    @tobie: 80K votes spread across 3 states. An epsilon-delta sorta thing.

    Equally significant, PA and WI narrowly (re-)elected GOP senators who were expected to lose their seats.

  103. 103.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    No idea how good a shot Maria may be but with one of these I doubt you need precision. (from her Facebook page)

  104. 104.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    @zhena gogolia: IR at American University.

  105. 105.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    @Mnemosyne: :-)

  106. 106.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    I do like the directness of BBC headline writers.

    Trump sides with Russia against FBI at Helsinki summit

    We are laughingstock to our best friends and a badly wounded adversary to others. Not a good time.

  107. 107.

    tobie

    July 16, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: My thoughts on this are pretty simple: the most recognizable name in the Democratic Party after Obama is Bernie Sanders. And, Obama is doing the post-presidential thing and keeping a low profile and the Clinton name has been dragged through the mud. So as the perceived alternative to Trump, he’s getting lots of approval. He’s also the only politician who has consistently gotten fawning coverage. I don’t know of any public figure who has been doted on the way he has. I assume that’s because Dems never wanted to attack him and the press loved that he was dividing the party from within. Just look at the hate directed toward an accomplished figure like Pelosi. How many times have I read that her age is disqualifying while nary word is said about Sander’s age?

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    @Steeplejack: This article from Tim Mak in 2017 has a good run down on Erickson’s GOP bio:
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-kremlin-and-gop-have-a-new-friendand-boy-does-she-love-guns

  109. 109.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 4:42 pm

    @Mike in DC: Are you talking about RICO for the RNC? It’s coming. That’ll be fun.

  110. 110.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:42 pm

    @jl: Oh, hunh. I thought you were talking about American / allies penetration into Russian cyber networks.

    When I backtrack the quotes, I get to one of your comments that seems to be saying exactly that.

    But perhaps I misunderstood.

    If I’m wrong, well … not the first time, won’t be the last, I’m sure.

  111. 111.

    Jamey

    July 16, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    Wow. Shit done got real…

  112. 112.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    @tobie:
    Great summary and I think accurate. I had to explain to my 16YO this weekend that Bernie is not a Democrat and yet wanted/wants the party to change their rules and platform in his favor, while running for their ticket. She allows as to how a lot of her friends are Bernie lovers. She, I’m proud to say, was all-in for Hilz. I’m having a little more difficulty getting her to understand California’s new primary system in light of the state party not endorsing DiFi last week. Cat-herding 101.

  113. 113.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: There are a ton of them out there.

  114. 114.

    MomSense

    July 16, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    This is a BFD

  115. 115.

    jl

    July 16, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @Dev Null: As long as it is clear that Russian grad students I’ve personally worked with were NOT offering US bigshots paid trips to foreign conferences, no problem.

  116. 116.

    Patricia Kayden

    July 16, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @joel hanes: @Adam L Silverman:

    Looks like the NRA may be tangled up with this latest arrestee and thus may be taken down a peg if she decides to squeal.

  117. 117.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @zhena gogolia: In my line of (grad school) work, we used duct tape and apiezon (the latter fondly referred to as, er, “monkey poo”).

  118. 118.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I also remember that Rudy Giuliani was supposed to win the Republican nomination in 2008 and he couldn’t even get past the first few states. At this point it means name recognition and is the result of good press. Hillary never really went after him so he got through that campaign with none of his dirt being dug up. That won’t happen again and those polls will change. It means nothing at this point.

    Also, too…Russia. We see you, Bernie.

  119. 119.

    Chyron HR

    July 16, 2018 at 4:47 pm

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

    Weren’t we supposed to throw out the Democratic primary results and give Bernie his coronation because he was the champion of the glorious white working master race and would have won over Republican voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Oklahoma? Was that all a lie?

  120. 120.

    geg6

    July 16, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    @cmorenc:

    I would quit that gym. And tell the management exactly why. No traitors in my eyesight.

    I’m over all of this not stepping on Trumpsters’ fee fees. Fuck that shit.

    ACT UP!

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    @Dev Null: Yep, Different field offices handle different things. A lot of the national security stuff is actually out of the Pittsburgh office if I’m recalling correctly. Not sure why that is, but it is.

  122. 122.

    scott (the other one)

    July 16, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    I’m not normally a big fan of asset forfeiture, but I’d be just fine with the DoJ seizing all of the NRA’s assets—lock, stock and barrel.

  123. 123.

    Shell

    July 16, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    Now that a lot of Republican pols are expressing their (mild) displeasure with Trump’s cow-towing, I wonder if he’s going to go all Caligula on them.

  124. 124.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:50 pm

    @jl: Roger that. :-)

    Not an idea that had occurred to me.

  125. 125.

    Patricia Kayden

    July 16, 2018 at 4:50 pm

    @MomSense: And this is the only place I’m hearing about this arrest. Am watching Nicole Wallace and she hasn’t mentioned this as yet.

  126. 126.

    hueyplong

    July 16, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    You have to like the idea of NRA guys suddenly lining up to cooperate with Mueller.

    “He’ll get ahold of some NRAers and make them SQUEAL. I know the squealers when I see them, and…. [points at screen]”

  127. 127.

    geg6

    July 16, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    @tobie:

    I don’t know who the hell they are talking to in these polls. I don’t know a soul who thinks well of Bernie at this point. Fuck that stupid old man.

  128. 128.

    Mnemosyne

    July 16, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I’m assuming that not endorsing DiFi is just good old-fashioned politicking — De Léon is pretty powerful in Sacto and they don’t want to piss him off, even though he’s probably going to lose.

    Hint for De Léon for next time: try not to use misogynistic attacks against a fellow party member. It pisses off the actual Democratic base even though it thrills your Bros.

  129. 129.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s my recollection too (“Pittsburgh”).

  130. 130.

    Doug R

    July 16, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @cmorenc: Just memorize the TV’s brand, buy a universal remote and try the codes.

  131. 131.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @clay: Actually she and Torshin hosted Alan Gottlieb of the 2nd Amendment Foundation (SAF) in Russia as well. SAF is actually the heavy hitters in 2nd Amendment litigation. They brought Heller and MacDonald, not the NRA. And in both cases the NRA tried to blow up the suits out of fear they’d lose. I’d be very surprised if there weren’t also strong connections with Pratt at Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Brown at National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR). I know that NAGR, Rand Paul, and Thomas Massie share email mailing lists.

  132. 132.

    Chris Johnson

    July 16, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    @tobie:

    Maybe the Democrats did win in 2016. We will never know for sure but, man, the results are looking suspicious.

    No shit we did.

  133. 133.

    Jeffro

    July 16, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @geg6: “get in good trouble “ – John Lewis

  134. 134.

    The Pale Scot

    July 16, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Maria Butina Wayne LaPierre

    Why am I getting a dominatrix vibe from that photo? Le Phew looks exhilarated..

  135. 135.

    Immanentize

    July 16, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @geg6: they polled Russian bots.

  136. 136.

    Chris Johnson

    July 16, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Not the time for that sort of talk.

  137. 137.

    Platonailedit

    July 16, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    bbc summed it up best, imo

    Trump sides with Russia against FBI at Helsinki summit.

  138. 138.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @trollhattan: That’s a large caliber sniper rifle. Basically the Russian equivalent of a Barrett .50 cal. Requires a lot of skill as its a precision weapon in the right hands.

  139. 139.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:55 pm

    @Chyron HR:

    Weren’t we supposed to throw out the Democratic primary results and give Bernie his coronation because he was the champion of the glorious white working master race and would have won over Republican voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Oklahoma?

    One of my close relatives, a BernieBro of the female persuasion, advocated for this outcome. I kept saying to her, “Wait, not all the working class is white, amirite?”

    Not sure she ever heard me.

    But in fairness to her, she supported HRC in the general.

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    July 16, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    @Baud:

    Tick tock, motherfuckers.

    Not Yarrow, but it never gets old.

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    July 16, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    @Mike in NC:
    The National Rifle/Russian/Republican Association will accept money from anyone who is willing to pay them. Unfortunately the only people who want to give them money, are all not friends of democracy, freedom, decency, humanity, POC, women, the poor, etc, etc.

  142. 142.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 16, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    @trollhattan: I’m deeply ambivalent about DiFi– voted for the Iraq War, first round of Bush tax cuts, was always a reliable vote for people like Mukasey long after Bush and his appointees should have lost any benefit of the doubt–, and I’ve seen some good reports about De Leon, but that endorsement struck me as a poorly timed effort to make a point, whatever that point may have been. He won the vote of 65% of 333 delegates who think he “energizes the base!” a few weeks after she beat De Leon by more than 2 million votes, including his home district

    “Kevin de León represents the future of the Democratic Party — a solidly progressive legislator who can see that things like Medicare for all and moving forward on climate justice are the things that really energize our base in the long run,” said Daraka Larimore-Hall, 44, a Santa Barbara community college professor and a member of the executive committee who voted for Mr. de León.

    He has a slogan! Feinstein put out an ad on health care that i thought could be a template for ever Dem Senate candidate, from the “red” states to CA and MA.

  143. 143.

    rikyrah

    July 16, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    @LAO:

    I skimmed the complaint and it reads like a spy novel.

    That’s cause IT IS a spy novel.

  144. 144.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    @scott (the other one): Hahahahahha.

    I am totes stealing this, dude….

  145. 145.

    Roger Moore

    July 16, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Are you talking about RICO for the RNC?

    I think he’s suggesting it for the NRA. 503(c)3 covers what we think of as traditional charities (“Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organizations”) donations to which are tax deductible. Contributions to political organizations are not tax deductible, and explicitly political organizations like RNC are covered under section 527.

  146. 146.

    Steeplejack

    July 16, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I don’t know what program she is/​was in, but apparently the school is American University. (Found via a comment on a sports site, of all things.)

  147. 147.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Civil liberties / national surveillance state?

    Might be getting crosswise with most of the commentariat here (or perhaps not), but I am not a fan of creeping surveillance auth.

  148. 148.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    AU, School of International Service — see heartwarming quotation from her at #66.

  149. 149.

    Roger Moore

    July 16, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    @scott (the other one):

    I’d be just fine with the DoJ seizing all of the NRA’s assets—lock, stock and barrel.

    You’ve been waiting to say that, haven’t you?

  150. 150.

    David Anderson

    July 16, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Pittsburgh gets a lot of the cybersecurity cases because of the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon is a good drunk stumble across a bridge and up the hill.

    The SEI folks are some of the nerdiest hackers and white hats in the world

  151. 151.

    clay

    July 16, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah, but the document says “[GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION] [is] the largest sponsor of the elections to the US Congress”. That narrows it down pretty good (and makes me wonder why they bothered hiding the name).

  152. 152.

    tobie

    July 16, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    @geg6: I don’t know who pollsters are talking to but I wouldn’t be surprised if Sanders is liked as that sort of crazy, cantankerous uncle you see every Thanksgiving who is crabby but lovable. That’s not my impression of him, but I recently had occasion to listen to my pretty-mainstream, once-upon-a-time-Bill-Clinton-loving Democratic family members and the two things that stood out to me were (1) their warmth for Bernie, though they wouldn’t actually want him to be President and (2) their hate for Nancy Pelosi, whom they blame for the Democrat’s loss of power. This is the crap that’s peddled on TV on a daily basis. Propaganda works–the Russians certainly know that.

  153. 153.

    Ruckus

    July 16, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    @tobie:
    Sanders is not a Democrat, has never been one, regardless of what you heard in the last presidential election.

  154. 154.

    Thoughtful David

    July 16, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    @jl:
    Don’t underestimate the NRA’s racism. The “good guy with a gun” can always be read as “the good white guy with a gun.” They’re never out defending the rights of AA or Muslims to own guns.
    They and Putin have common goals.

  155. 155.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    I see it as a thumb in her eye for no good reason. She thumped him in June 44 to 12%. I say this as a non-DiFi fan but De Leon jumped the shark getting in bed with the charter school crowd and is dead to me. The CA Dems have some housecleaning to do.

  156. 156.

    Mary G

    July 16, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: DiFi released the transcript of the testimony of Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS against all rules of comity and whatnot in the Senate. That cut the “witch hunt” theory of the time right out. She is my hero for that. Also, like Mnem says, there is more than a little sexism and ageism in the party against her, and I’m not having that anymore. If she needed it, I would donate to her campaign, but she doesn’t, so I continue to support Senate candidates out of state.

    As for DeLeon, he energizes the base for values of the base equaling “people who think Democrats can provide unicorns and ponies for every garage if they’re just brave enough, and think older women are squicky.”

  157. 157.

    Steeplejack

    July 16, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Inorite. And they’ve been around forever! It’s like finding out that not only does your house have termites, they’ve been there since before you bought it and paid for that expensive inspection that said everything was A-OK. Grr!

  158. 158.

    zhena gogolia

    July 16, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    Butina’s bio on SNOB talks about her forebears being Kuban Cossacks and the first Russian inhabitants of Siberia. Dogwhistle. She also credits herself with exposing Navalny.

  159. 159.

    ruemara

    July 16, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: My thought is, “Fuck Bernie”, my opinion is, “Fuck Bernie & a sample size of 1200 is hardly relevant. What are the crosstabs, the relevant political involvement and likely voter levels? Plus, Fuck Bernie, again?

    Did I mention Fuck Bernie for using Ocasio as a beard to campaign AGAINST a progressive Native American lesbian in KS? Fuuuuuuuck Bernie.

  160. 160.

    tobie

    July 16, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Didn’t the single-payer bill go nowhere in the CA state legislature? I’m trying to remember what made the bill DOA. De Leon was involved with this as the senate president pro tempore.

  161. 161.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    From a WH source: Even those who like Trump no longer like Trump.— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) July 16, 2018

    Sad!

  162. 162.

    MagdaInBlack

    July 16, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    @rikyrah:
    John Le Carre is just shakin” his head at this one.

  163. 163.

    Yarrow

    July 16, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    Mariia Butina, a Russian national, has been charged with acting as a surreptitious Russian agent and establishing a secret back channel with the GOP through the NRA.

    More likely to come on this; no wonder GOP members of HPSCI refused our request to bring her and others in. https://t.co/UWhoxHz3lr
    — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 16, 2018

    Obstruction of Justice, Devin Nunes.

  164. 164.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: She’s not American, that means she’s not subject to FISA requirements for surveillance. They have everything. Every phone call, every text, every Twitter DM, every email. All of it. And they’ve got authorization, to make sure it is kosher under FISA, to unmask all the Americans mentioned in those communications.

  165. 165.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Ali Velshi covered it around 3:20 PM. Unfortunately Pete Williams mangled the details of the indictment when Velshi had him on.

  166. 166.

    Roger Moore

    July 16, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    @tobie:

    Didn’t the single-payer bill go nowhere in the CA state legislature? I’m trying to remember what made the bill DOA.

    The short summary is that Prop 98 killed single payer. It requires a minimum of 39% of all state revenue to be spent on schools, and the legislature can’t get around it. It’s effectively impossible to create a massive new program like single payer if 39% of the new revenues you generate to pay for it will be used for schools instead.

  167. 167.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    @David Anderson: yep. CMU more generally.

  168. 168.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:20 pm

    @ruemara:

    progressive Native American lesbian in KS

    is the name of my alt-folk cover band.//

    More seriously, Davids is an excellent candidate and that irked me too!

  169. 169.

    scott (the other one)

    July 16, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @Roger Moore: As the FSM is my witness, I only decided to add it at the very end. (Both in terms of placement and timing.)

  170. 170.

    Yutsano

    July 16, 2018 at 5:23 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: It’s called cherry picking. They’re trying to show the results in a vacuum instead of in the context of the poll. If you look at the Democratic numbers, of course the Democratic demographics will go for Bernie IF HE’S THE ONLY CHOICE. Terrible framing by the writers but Bernie bros gotta Bernie bro.

  171. 171.

    hueyplong

    July 16, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:There are a lot of GOPers who will suddenly forget their prior FISA and other national security-related votes and start yelping about privacy.

    And to address someone else above, the first thing I thought when I saw that photo with LaPierre was that there might be a second pee tape out there.

  172. 172.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 5:25 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    The WilmerBros will suggest turning schools all into health clinics.

  173. 173.

    Ruckus

    July 16, 2018 at 5:25 pm

    @trollhattan:
    I agree with your take on this.
    We need reasonable turn over, and the old guard to teach the younger, upcoming politicians and retire after decent careers. That’s how progress is made. We all get older, we all lose our edge. Some have such a great edge that even loosing a lot of it is ok.
    So the question is, are we at a CA senator crossroads? Is it time to change? Maybe, so the next question is, this a or the proper replacement?

  174. 174.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    @scott (the other one): As the Filial Unit told the Maternal Unit:

    You’re really quite the wit. Too bad you don’t understand why you’re a wit.

  175. 175.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    @David Anderson: Thanks.

  176. 176.

    hedgehog mobile

    July 16, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    @joel hanes: Ramen.

  177. 177.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 5:29 pm

    @Ruckus: wait, wut?!? You’re suggesting that us 70-yos have lost our edge?!?

    Bring me the smelling salts! Where is the fainting couch?!?

    er, ah … never mind.

  178. 178.

    Steeplejack

    July 16, 2018 at 5:29 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Late to the thread, as usual.

  179. 179.

    Roger Moore

    July 16, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @trollhattan:
    Honestly, I think Prop 98 had laudable aims, and I think California needs to spend more on schools (and less on prisons) than it currently does. But an unfortunate side effect of Prop 98 is that it makes big new social programs very difficult to pull off without a ballot initiative.

  180. 180.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @hueyplong: I’m sure they will. But she’s not American, so FISA doesn’t apply. And she was clearly a covered operative of the Russian government, so any and all Americans she was in touch with are, provided that proper need to know is being demonstrated, subject to unmasking.

  181. 181.

    trollhattan

    July 16, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    I’ve always thought it was problematic in taking too much budgetary authority from the legislature but back then Prop 13 continued to wield disastrous impacts on school budgets and Republicans had a lot more clout, and not in a good way so I understood the intent. Wrong tool.

  182. 182.

    scott (the other one)

    July 16, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    @Dev Null: …well, that was kinda hurtful.

  183. 183.

    ruemara

    July 16, 2018 at 5:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m guessing you play a lot of Indigo Girls covers.

  184. 184.

    MisterForkbeard

    July 16, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: There’s a huge difference between “approval” and “BernieBro”, is where I’d go with that.

    Hell, depending on what day you ask me I “approve” of Bernie in sum, though I think he caused enormous damage during the ’16 election because of his own hubris.

  185. 185.

    Mnemosyne

    July 16, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    @Mary G:

    Yeah, my feeling towards De Léon is like, Hey, if you’ve decided that you don’t need the votes of middle-aged centrist Democratic women, then you do you, boo. I’ll just be over here holding my nose as I vote for DiFi.

  186. 186.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    @ruemara: I know the Indigo Girls. Not well – they wouldn’t know me from Adam and I am Adam, but I have met them.

  187. 187.

    Duane

    July 16, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Saw Rand Paul on CNN a moment ago, discussing Trumpov. Unbelievable. He’s on the traitor side.

  188. 188.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 16, 2018 at 5:49 pm

    @Duane: It’s all the chemicals for the perm. They’ve seeped into his brain!

  189. 189.

    Haroldo

    July 16, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @Duane: And this surprises you why?

  190. 190.

    pluky

    July 16, 2018 at 5:55 pm

    @Steeplejack: Now that is a very tasty tidbit.

  191. 191.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    @scott (the other one): oops, sorry, not intended to hurt.

    Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

    And I’m not even Roman Catholic …

    That description has been lobbed at just about everyone in my two-degrees-of-separation genetic acquaintance.

    Including me.

    Never imagined that you would take it as specific to you.

  192. 192.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 6:06 pm

    @Duane: My LIE-bertarian buds tell me Rand Paul isn’t really a LIE-bertarian, he’s a politician.

    Something like “no true Scotsman”, I guess …

    Or perhaps “libertarian” and “politician” anti-commute.

  193. 193.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    @David Anderson: Well, but …

    I tend to think of MITRE as the focal point of cyber vulns.

  194. 194.

    Tom Q

    July 16, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I think you’re reading this poll incorrectly. (Well, the person writing the post presented it incorrectly; not blaming you.) This is a poll of all Americans, not Democrats. And African Americans are overwhelmingly Democratic, so it’s not surprising they’d give higher approvals to a liberal, even one we think is a faux Democrat, than white folk. Similarly, women lean more Democratic than men do, so having women approve more highly than men just means the parties have a gender gap.

    You’d need to poll Dems only and ask their comparative feelings about various candidates — male, female, different races — to get the kind of conclusion being pushed here.

  195. 195.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @Dev Null: saying “my bad”

  196. 196.

    The Lodger

    July 16, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @Dev Null: And without those downticket Republican votes for the U.S. Senators, politics would be quite a bit different now, wouldn’t it?

  197. 197.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 16, 2018 at 6:22 pm

    @ruemara: maybe my favorite line from 30 Rock
    Jack Donaghy, sarcastically: And which Indigo Girls album provided you with that nugget of wisdom, Lemon?
    Liz Lemon, all wounded sincerity: Vagabonds, Quilts and Moonlight.

  198. 198.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    @The Lodger: I think you’re saying that had Ross Feingold been elected rather than brain-dead cipher Ron Johnson, and/or Kate McGinty, rather than Pat Toomey, “politics would be very different”.

    Yes.

    That was precisely my point.

    Press has focused on the presidential race, but Feingold’s loss in WI was a complete surprise. Not so sure about McGinty, but I think so.

    Russians stole both the presidential election (with, ahem, help from that last honorable Republican, James Comey) and perhaps two senate seats as well.

    Stealing the presidency was the Big Kahuna, but stealing both the presidency and two senate seats was … nukular.

    I think I contributed to McGinty’s campaign. I seem to remember thinking that Feingold was a slam dunk, so why bother … so many more marginal candidates to boost over the edge.

  199. 199.

    hugely

    July 16, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: hoo boy fun times!

  200. 200.

    Kayla Rudbek

    July 16, 2018 at 6:55 pm

    @Doug R: or I can send you my TV-B-Gone

  201. 201.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 16, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    @scott (the other one):

    I’d be just fine with the DoJ seizing all of the NRA’s assets—Glock, stock and barrel.

    FTFY! :^D

  202. 202.

    Dev Null

    July 16, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Glock, stock, and barrel

    :-)

    this, too …

  203. 203.

    J R in WV

    July 16, 2018 at 9:01 pm

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

    This sounds to me like a cherry-picked set of responders. Sanders is a Russian Stooge, from back in the days when they were communists, and so was he. They aren’t any more, and neither is he, he’s a stooge, owned the same way Trump is.

    Seen his tax returns yet?

    Though so!

  204. 204.

    Dev Null

    July 17, 2018 at 8:23 am

    @The Lodger: Perhaps I took your comment too seriously; perhaps you were speaking ironically.

    If so, well, …, sorry. I’m kinda spotty at recognizing dry / ironic humor.

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