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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Now They’re Just Screwing With Us! High End Russian Prostitution Ring Edition

Now They’re Just Screwing With Us! High End Russian Prostitution Ring Edition

by Adam L Silverman|  July 19, 20181:32 pm| 217 Comments

This post is in: America, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Election 2018, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, All Too Normal

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Husband-and-wife duo busted in high-end Russian hooker ring https://t.co/3fa4q1pifJ pic.twitter.com/CMGIojxWUU

— New York Post (@nypost) July 19, 2018

From The New York Post (emphasis mine):

A flamboyant husband-and-wife pimp team orchestrated a high-end prostitution ring through a website called Russian Dolls, Manhattan authorities said Wednesday.

Yevgen Rizanov and Ksenia Khodukina, both 29, flew women from Russia to New York as part of a “sophisticated long-term operation promoting prostitution,” said Assistant District Attorney James Lynch.

The couple and a third defendant, Arkadiy Bashkatov, housed the sex workers in Brooklyn and dispatched them on jobs throughout New York, booking their hotels and hiring drivers, from June 2015 to June 2018, according to Manhattan prosecutors.

“The defendants split the money with the women but dictated the percentage they could keep,” the ADA said.

The Russian nationals were picked up last week in Miami at their tony beachfront pad inside the Trump Towers III*, where they allegedly ran their illicit enterprise remotely.

They moved from Brighton Beach to Florida a few months earlier, according to their attorney.

I don’t know who thought this script was going to fly, but they need to have their head examined and it needs to be sent back to rewrite.

Never before have the Balloon Juice categories of domestic affairs and foreign affairs been so literally applicable to a post. Yeah us!!!!

Open thread!

* You can find excellent reporting on all of the Russian criminal activities being run out of the President’s properties, both owned and branded, here and here. Surely a series of coincidences…

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Reader Interactions

217Comments

  1. 1.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 19, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    Just…please…stop…

  2. 2.

    David Anderson

    July 19, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    Giggity Giggity

  3. 3.

    John PM

    July 19, 2018 at 1:35 pm

    I think DIck Wolf is focusing too much on Russia in this season of Law and Order:SVU.

  4. 4.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:35 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I am merely the messenger…

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    July 19, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    Russian Dolls? Please tell me that the specialty of the house is a hooker inside a hooker inside a hooker.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    With all this Russian swag being thrown around I am left to wonder how high up of a job does someone need to have to get “honeypotted”? Asking for that guy over there. No, the other one.

  7. 7.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 19, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    For a little variety on an open thread –

    Umm, guys…

    Robert Mueller just submitted his list of evidence for the Paul Manafort trial and look whose name is all over the first 30 items.

    Tad Devine.

    Bernie Sanders' Chief Strategist. pic.twitter.com/EmFMp7dTVB

    — The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) July 19, 2018

    Tad Devine showed up a couple of weeks ago in a photo with Manafort’s Russian friend Konstantin Kilimnik.

  8. 8.

    piratedan

    July 19, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    well since this following the script of The Equalizer reboot, when can we send Denzel Washington abroad to smoke Putin’s ass in a tragic electrocution event that involves a bathtub?

  9. 9.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: What did you do?

    A Virgin Mary statue has been "weeping" olive oil. Church leaders can’t explain it. https://t.co/XWzcVSLtJ1

    — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 18, 2018

  10. 10.

    feebog

    July 19, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    Russians buying condos in Trump properties. Where have I heard about that before?

  11. 11.

    Baud

    July 19, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Well, well, well…

  12. 12.

    MJS

    July 19, 2018 at 1:41 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: See, both sides.

  13. 13.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 1:41 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: If I were the publisher, I send this draft back to the author. The plot is too unbelievable at this point.

  14. 14.

    hitchhiker

    July 19, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    And the deplorable Kristin Neilsen just said that she has seen no evidence that Putin’s goal was to help Donald Trump.

    Seriously.

  15. 15.

    MJS

    July 19, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Obviously extra virgin.

  16. 16.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    @Corner Stone: I’m sure it’s above the pay grade for the “other guy over there”.

  17. 17.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    @dmsilev: Hookerception!

  18. 18.

    oatler.

    July 19, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    @MJS: first cold press or GTFO

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    The Yelp reviews are in:
    “Trump Tower Natasha 3 is a spectacular companion who also plays chess. Four stars.”
    “Trump Tower Natasha 5, the redhead, can recite Pushkin and is very bendy. Five stars.”
    “Trump Tower Natasha 2 is surly and refused to call Reagan a personal hero. Two stars.”

  20. 20.

    The Thin Black Duke

    July 19, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: This brought a smile to my face that I’ll probably wear for the rest of the day. Maybe longer.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    Breaking News: CEO of horrible media behemoth is horrible person. Film at 11.
    /Zuckerberg

  22. 22.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:46 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: My guesstimate is that Devine has been cooperating for a very long time with the Special Counsel’s Office. Which is why his name is almost never officially mentioned.

  23. 23.

    Origuy

    July 19, 2018 at 1:46 pm

    @Corner Stone: A long time ago, I worked for a company that had defense contracts and also sold to the Soviet Union. I wasn’t working on either, but I still had to get the training on how to avoid a honeytrap. As a single guy, I wondered how blackmail would work if no one cared if I got some Russian tail. Unfortunately, I never got to find out.

  24. 24.

    p.a.

    July 19, 2018 at 1:46 pm

    Trump is such filth it wouldn’t surprise me if he allows his properties to be used for everything from treason down to auto repos.

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    @hitchhiker:
    Three-year-old Guatemalans–a threat to our democracy.
    Russian autocrat with vast hegemonic intentions and murderous methods–our new best friend.

  26. 26.

    Eljai

    July 19, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    @MJS: Of course!

  27. 27.

    noncarborundum

    July 19, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    @dmsilev: I think the technical term is “whorducken”.

  28. 28.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: A man has to have ambitions. Would you deny a man his dream of being ensnared in a scheme involving hostile foreign intelligence operations in exchange for a little rough stuff?

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @p.a.:
    Not just repos, chop shops. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump doesn’t have a side gig shipping stolen luxury cars and SUVs to Russia in containers. It’s a thing, and a lucrative one.

  30. 30.

    dmsilev

    July 19, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Hookerducken.

  31. 31.

    danielx

    July 19, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    Once again…you can’t make this shit up.

  32. 32.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @hitchhiker: She also did the both sides thing in regard to a question about Charlottesville.

  33. 33.

    Miss Bianca

    July 19, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    Did you mean “screwing with us” literally or figuratively? I know, I know…por que no los dos? ; )

  34. 34.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    @MJS: First, cold press! Right now Rachel Ray is preparing to go on pilgrimage to Las Cruces.

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Well now, am sure that’s just a co-ink-ee-dink.

  36. 36.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    Ah jeez. Lol.

    @Cheryl Rofer: @Adam L Silverman: ah jeez.

  37. 37.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That would be amusing. Wonder what Bernie thinks of all this.

  38. 38.

    Kelly

    July 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @Corner Stone: If you have to ask you’re not upper crust enough.

  39. 39.

    Death Panel Truck

    July 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    And if you think this is as tawdry as it gets, well – the child pornography shoe will be the next to drop. In a scandal of this magnitude, child porn is always in the mix somewhere.

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @LAO: If I were the publisher I would demand they stop being lazy gits and get ahead of the game. Russian high end hookers being run out of a property owned by the president is just the first few pages. Where are the South American drug lords supplying the coke? The Israelis with the illicit firearm distribution? C’mon, you gotta amp this up a little if you want to stay ahead of the real world!
    I’d probably also throw in a Secret Service agent that has WH duty and is also embroiled up to her naughty bits.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    July 19, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Do you think he’s one of the five people with immunity? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  42. 42.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: perhaps Devine is one of the recipients of the immunity orders the government requested.

  43. 43.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    @noncarborundum: Solid LOL! Glad no-one was in the office; ty!

  44. 44.

    Mike in NC

    July 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    Trump properties must be run like “Westworld”. Any of your fantasies can be indulged for the right price. Roll in the hay with a Russian hooker (or two), gamble to your heart’s content, and snort nose candy with a $1000 bill.

  45. 45.

    Miss Bianca

    July 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    @trollhattan: OK, I feel like I really, really, shouldn’t be laughing at this as hard as I am right now…

    I think that #RussianhookerYelpreviews should totally be a thing on that Twitter thing, btw…

  46. 46.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I understand this is related to the election of a new papa john.

    ETA: election not sitting. no excuses. just tired.

  47. 47.

    MisterForkbeard

    July 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    @hitchhiker: Maybe a member of our Press Corpse could ask her if she was aware Donald Trump had been shown texts, emails and other communications two weeks before the inauguration that… you know what? Nevermind. She’s awful and the entire administration is awful.

    The fact that reporting on this stuff isn’t immediately prefaced with “In a blatant lie, Secretary X said….” is an indictment of our entire media establishment.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 19, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    @Death Panel Truck: George Nader already filled in that part, and if the media has forgotten about him, I suspect the final Mueller report will remind people

  49. 49.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 19, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    So the Russians “screwed the election” isn’t just a metaphor.

  50. 50.

    John PM

    July 19, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    @hitchhiker:

    “And the deplorable Kristin Neilsen just said that she has seen no evidence that Putin’s goal was to help Donald Trump.”

    It’s hard to see anything when you are wearing blinders.

  51. 51.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    @Corner Stone: Listen they’re writing about the news, not the script for True Lies 2. /s

  52. 52.

    James E Powell

    July 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    What are the chances that Manafort’s trial doesn’t go forward?

    For whatever reasons, continuance, plea, anything else.

  53. 53.

    Kristine

    July 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: It’s been my understanding that Devine was the one who pushed BS to label HRC as corrupt. After hearing he had been an associate of Manafort, I was wondering if his name would show up.

    In other news. phoned Senators and Rep this morning to voice my horror over the Ambassador McFaul matter. Young woman who answered my call to Rep told me that they had been receiving many calls about it.

  54. 54.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    @LAO: Tad’s not stupid, I’m sure he got in early.

  55. 55.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    For the third consecutive day, another walk back from the White House@PressSec now says @realDonaldTrump disagrees with Putin's proposal to have Russians interview the 12 indicted Russians.The president had called it "an incredible offer"Here's the statement just released pic.twitter.com/ifCSoB65a4— Cecilia Vega (@CeciliaVega) July 19, 2018

  56. 56.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: My understanding of what Devine did in Ukraine makes him small fry compared to Manafort. But he would also, likely, have a very good understanding of what went down and who was connected to who. And given that I don’t think Devine is interested in actually doing serious and/or significant damages to the US, him quietly coming in from the cold and providing everything he had would make sense.

  57. 57.

    Kelly

    July 19, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    @noncarborundum:

    whorducken

    Cleaning coffee off my screen

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    @Origuy:

    As a single guy, I wondered how blackmail would work if no one cared if I got some Russian tail. Unfortunately, I never got to find out.

    “Now, my dahlink, we have you on tape making the naughty with a Russian spy! You will tell us about the supply chain or this will find its way to the authorities!”
    ME: “Hey! Can I get a couple copies of that? Or maybe you can just post it to my Instagram feed? It’s under 30 seconds so it should work. Thanks, comrade!”

  59. 59.

    p.a.

    July 19, 2018 at 2:01 pm

    OT but LG&M cuts Fred Hiatt a new one- from the nape of his neck to his perineum:

    http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/07/fred-hiatt-commissions-white-nationalist-write-egregiously-dishonest-article-advocating-ethnic-cleansing

  60. 60.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 19, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: Seconded. Tying Devine into this is a cherry on top.

  61. 61.

    Death Panel Truck

    July 19, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Nader’s conviction was in 2003. I’m talking about something more recent, something involving Russia, something so large and involved that it will dwarf Nader’s crimes.

  62. 62.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    I found myself mildly disappointed by this. I was certain it would unleash some sort of plague or whatnot.

    Big mysterious sarcophagus opened, sucks https://t.co/RdJRMEt6zC pic.twitter.com/SScnK4OtEh— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) July 19, 2018

  63. 63.

    ChrisS

    July 19, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    @Origuy: Dumb white guys, virile manly man, love them some T & A. Just look at where the advertising budget is spent with regards to cheap beer, sports, and cars.

    I follow some hunting related companies on instagram and it seems like suddenly all these women hunters started becoming insta-famous for posting pictures of themselves in yoga pants or short shorts shooting bows in their backyard. “Giggle, my new [$1k] bow from manufacturer X just arrived and I’m so excited to shoot it, kisses, giggle”

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @Origuy:@Corner Stone:
    Serious high-five material on the golf course.

    “So then they showed me a stack of 8x10s and I thought to myself ‘Man, I’m overdue for a haircut.’ Then I asked for her phone number; I’m telling you, she was haw to the T.”

  65. 65.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Where are the South American drug lords supplying the coke?

    Trump Panama.
    https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-panama/
    https://www.newsweek.com/trump-drugs-corruption-panama-hotel-money-laundering-714891

    The Israelis with the illicit firearm distribution?

    Black Cube.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/07/israel-intel-firm-black-cube-trump-obama-iran-nuclear-deal

    Any other questions?

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @Leto: Yeah but no one wants to read a Ken Burns documentary right now. We gotta Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer this MF’er!

  67. 67.

    Steve in the STL

    July 19, 2018 at 2:06 pm

    @ChrisS: it’s all fun and games until the Amazons take over the country

  68. 68.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    @Baud: @LAO: No. Those all have a very specific type of limited immunity, which LAO or one of our other legal fleagles can explain. My guess is that Devine has been cooperating from the get go and was either fully immunized from the start or was never in any jeopardy and is just doing the right thing.

  69. 69.

    Steve in the STL

    July 19, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: @Corner Stone: need an evil Iran angle too. It’s de rigeur with the right wingers these days.

  70. 70.

    Roger Moore

    July 19, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    @Origuy:

    As a single guy, I wondered how blackmail would work if no one cared if I got some Russian tail. Unfortunately, I never got to find out.

    There’s more to sex as a tool for spies than blackmail. They’re worried you’re going to get so excited by the sex you let the wrong head do the thinking. Guys have been known to do that and they wind up doing all kinds of stupid shit to make sure the girl keeps wanting to sleep with them.

  71. 71.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 2:09 pm

    @LAO: That already happened when Universal released the rebooted “Mummy” with Tom Cruise.

  72. 72.

    Steve in the STL

    July 19, 2018 at 2:09 pm

    @Origuy: @Corner Stone: chick who cuts my hair is Russian and smokin’. Shit, I may have been compromised….

  73. 73.

    Steve in the STL

    July 19, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    @Roger Moore: just ask David Petraeus

  74. 74.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Maybe. But the feds only, ever offer derivative use immunity (not transactional immunity). I’m assuming (which isn’t a great thing to do) that the government has agreed to DPs (Decline to Prosecute) with a number of witnesses — but that isn’t the same as immunity — whose criminal exposure is minor. If Devine is cooperating, the feds will make his plead guilty to some criminal conduct, if he hasn’t already under seal.

  75. 75.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 19, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    I give up on trying to process all the Russian news. I feel flattened by the stampede of it .

  76. 76.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 19, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    I’m still shocked the House GOP voted to zero out election security funding. I mean, how do they even begin to justify this in light of recent events? It makes them look guilty and power-mad.

    Wait, forget the Russia stuff. What sane nation would ever cut funding for election security? It boggles my mind.

    I hope this won’t impede the active measures campaign the NSA seems to be starting.

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @ChrisS:

    Dumb white guys, virile manly man, love them some T & A. Just look at where the advertising budget is spent with regards to cheap beer, sports, and cars.

    This pertains to almost all men, not just the kind who like to play at manly status. Vendors at a conference I attend every year finally figured this out right before the Recession of 2008. Then the budget drain struck hard and vendors had to go back to having boring people who knew actual details about their product again.

  78. 78.

    kd bart

    July 19, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    “All they got from Trump was protection from other guys looking to rip them off. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what the FBI can never understand – that what Trump and the organization offer is protection for the kinds of guys who can’t go to the cops. They’re like the police department for wiseguys”

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    @Steve in the STL: And the problem with that is?
    https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/wonder-woman-justice-league-costumes.png?w=800
    https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20171014/rs_1024x600-171114112842-1024-amazonians-wonder-woman-justice-league.jpg?fit=inside|900:auto&output-quality=90

  80. 80.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    @Steve in the STL:
    https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-iran-business-ties-trump-didnt-disclose

    Anything else?

  81. 81.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @Steve in the STL:

    it’s all fun and games until the Amazons take over the country

    Yes, but the prices are great.

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @LAO: You’re the defense attorney, you’ll know better than I.

  83. 83.

    Peale

    July 19, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: is it eternally virgin olive oil?

  84. 84.

    Gelfling 545

    July 19, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    @hitchhiker: Yeah. She shuts her eyes every time they put it in front of her.

  85. 85.

    Teddys Person

    July 19, 2018 at 2:19 pm

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

    It makes them look guilty and power-mad.

    They are guilty and power-mad, and it seems they think they can get away with it. Or at least hang in there until the stack the courts, gut regulations, give tax dollars to the rich, and relagate non-white, female, and LBGTQ Americans to second-class citizenship.

    edit: not meant to a complete list of their shitty policies.

  86. 86.

    Roger Moore

    July 19, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    @LAO:

    For the third consecutive day, another walk back from the White [email protected] now says @realDonaldTrump disagrees with Putin’s proposal to have Russians interview the 12 indicted Russians.The president had called it “an incredible offer”

    Clearly, Trump was using “incredible” in the sense of “not credible; hard to believe; unbelievable” to mean that he can’t believe Putin would expect us to countenance such a thing. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it… at least until Trump changes his mind again.

  87. 87.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    @Corner Stone: “You see Michael, the reason why my explosions are bettah is that they go to 11. Your previous guy, his only went to 10. I mean, that’s all well and good for Transformers, but we’re doing a propah shoot here. This is Trump! This is bigly! You’re going to want the biggest evah! You’re going to want that 11.”

    @Roger Moore: From the way back machine, 1987:

    Marine Sgt. Clayton Lonetree was convicted of espionage and 12 other charges Friday for slipping secrets to the KGB while guarding the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Vienna, and could be sentenced to life in prison.

    Lonetree is the first Marine court-martialed for espionage, and the only Marine to face espionage charges in the so-called sex-for-secrets scandal.

  88. 88.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    @Peale: Yes. of course.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: They’re counting on it 1) being under reported, 2) where it is reported, that it is buried by other issues that will overwhelm it in the coverage, 3) most Americans never actually hearing about it.

  90. 90.

    GeoGuy

    July 19, 2018 at 2:25 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Devine doing the right thing? That will be a first!

  91. 91.

    Kay

    July 19, 2018 at 2:25 pm

    CBS NEWS POLL: Only a third of Americans approve of the way President Trump handled his summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin

    The 33% :)

    Honestly I bet he lost some Republicans not because they give a shit about Russian interference but because he looked weak. He looked subservient. Justin Amash, the fake-hipster libertarian R from western Michigan used the word “subservient”

    I have never seen anything like it. Even if there weren’t collusion with Putin (and there is) Trump is cowed and impressed by Putin. It was like baby brother and big brother. I don’t think they can gloss that over.

    That must just kill the manly-men of the Right. Clinton wouldn’t have been subservient. Not a chance.

  92. 92.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 19, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    @Teddys Person:
    I don’t think they will. Their plans hinge on people obeying the Courts. If they hand down shitty decision after shitty decision that flies in the face of what the majority wants and makes people’s lives materially worse, they’ll quickly find out what happens when the rule of law breaks down

  93. 93.

    Miss Bianca

    July 19, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Well, I’ve been doing my best to spread awareness about it in *my* little circle of influence…

  94. 94.

    hueyplong

    July 19, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    Four months from now, cut to Tad Devine, getting his morning paper in a faceless, cardboard cutout housing development in Arizona:

    “I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody.”

  95. 95.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Maybe the Democrats should turn the volume up on this and get it on the local news.

  96. 96.

    germy

    July 19, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    2014.06.19 Email T. Devine to K. Kilimnik re Can u resend the talking points

    I wonder what that’s about?

  97. 97.

    Just One More Canuck

    July 19, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    @James E Powell: Frank Pentangeli in Godfather II?

  98. 98.

    NotMax

    July 19, 2018 at 2:28 pm

    @Roger Moore

    Yup indeedy. (audio only clip)

  99. 99.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 2:29 pm

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

  100. 100.

    Roger Moore

    July 19, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    My guess is that Devine has been cooperating from the get go and was either fully immunized from the start or was never in any jeopardy and is just doing the right thing.

    Anyone betting on Tad Devine cooperating because he wanted to do the right thing deserves to lose every cent they own.

  101. 101.

    MomSense

    July 19, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    Is this real life?

  102. 102.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 19, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    It shows how little confidence they have in both the American people and their own political platform. That democracy is only a means to an end and can be discarded when inconvenient. It’s absolutely disgusting and I’m upset that the media isn’t treating the GOP as the authoritarian and un-American party they have become. I mean, maybe it’s just beginning, but I haven’t seen that much to show that they have realized that American democracy is at risk.

  103. 103.

    pat

    July 19, 2018 at 2:31 pm

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

    I think they just refused to appropriate more, because there supposedly is still a few million left in the budget that hasn’t been used. But yeah it sucks.

    Repubs know they can’t win a totally free and honest election.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    July 19, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    Their lawyer asked Justice Melissa Jackson to release Khodukina, a licensed aesthetician, without bail.

    Mommy, what’s an aesthetician?

  105. 105.

    Teddys Person

    July 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    @MomSense: Well a minority of the American public wanted a reality show president.

  106. 106.

    Haroldo

    July 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    Hi, Adam. I am primarily a lurker (of long standing!) and realize my question is somewhat (tho’ not completely) off topic.:

    What is the relationship of LaRouche, et al, to the Putin / Trump nexus? Or is LaRouche just too nuts to be of consequence?

    Thanks.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    July 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    I felt like I knew there would be a Democrat (or more than one) tied to Manafort but I wouldn’t have picked the Bernie Sanders campaign.

    This is the most amazing political story of my lifetime and they ALL missed it while it was happening :)

    A billion dollar political coverage industry and they missed it. It doesn’t count if they report it after the election! Timing is everything :)

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    And now a word from the Home Office!

    Breaking: In speech to Russian diplomats in Moscow, Putin says summit with Trump was "successful overall and led to useful agreements." pic.twitter.com/hK6K7CjBpf

    — Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) July 19, 2018

    In first part of speech broadcast live on state TV, Putin doesn't go into any detail about agreements reached. The second part is closed to press.

    — Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) July 19, 2018

    Putin: "Let's see how things develop, given that certain forces in America are trying belittle, disavow the results of the Helsinki meeting."

    — Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) July 19, 2018

    Putin departs from prepared remarks: "We see that in the US there are forces ready to sacrifice Russian-American relations for their own domestic political ambitions."

    — Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) July 19, 2018

    Putin: "In the US we see that there are forces that put their narrow partisan interests above the common national interest."

    — Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) July 19, 2018

  109. 109.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Like I said, houses on Block Island are very expensive. I suspect Tad wants to keep his.

  110. 110.

    Wyatt Derp

    July 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    @MJS:

    Obviously extra virgin.

    Today you own the internet!

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    July 19, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    “You have the wrong place. The Slovenian hookers are on the fourth floor. Have a nice day, dahlink.”

  112. 112.

    Teddys Person

    July 19, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: The talking points have been delivered. Let the games begin!

  113. 113.

    LAO

    July 19, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Wait, what?

    SCOOP: Putin tells his diplomats he made ANOTHER offer to Trump — hold a referendum in Crimea on its future. Trump asked Putin NOT to disclose it so that he could consider it.https://t.co/Vi5ZDJTf8T— Kevin Whitelaw (@KevinWhitelaw1) July 19, 2018

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Peale: You’ll have to ask Mother Superior Rachel Ray of Our Lady of EVOO.

  115. 115.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 19, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Death Panel Truck: Like say “Trump Modeling Agency” staffed mostly by 14 year olds?

  116. 116.

    Kay

    July 19, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    Remarkable: DHS Sec Nielsen doubles down and says “I haven’t seen any evidence” Russian election interference was intended to help Trump, contradicting IC assessment

    Can we please get rid of this person? FIRE HER. It isn’t fair to voters that we have such a ridiculous hack in charge of election interference mitigation. She’ll fuck it up. That’s a guarantee. There’s no excuse for forcing us to have such a low quality hire in such a crucial job. I don’t want to pay her anymore.

  117. 117.

    Roger Moore

    July 19, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Unfortunately, mass spectrometer vendors don’t seem interested in booth babes. I’m not sure if it’s because there are too many women mass spectrometrists for it to sell, or if the buyers are too interested in technical specs to be suckered by good looks alone. Booze and swag, however, are still considered viable sales tactics.

  118. 118.

    NotMax

    July 19, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    There’s ample room for a joke about a high rise sex club, am too logy to refine the details at the moment.

  119. 119.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 19, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    “In the US we see that there are forces that put their narrow partisan interests above the common national interest.”

    This is rich coming from the guy who apprently doesn’t care what happens to his country after he croaks, just that his pockets get filled with rubles.

    And fuck Putin for claiming that the GOP is doing this for the greater good.

    Putin departs from prepared remarks: “We see that in the US there are forces ready to sacrifice Russian-American relations for their own domestic political ambitions.”

    Oh, you mean real American patriots and not puppets, right?

  120. 120.

    Retr2327

    July 19, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: he’s also a likely candidate for the guy who went to the feds over Manafort’s witness tampering efforts. . .

  121. 121.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    @Kay:

    I have never seen anything like it. Even if there weren’t collusion with Putin (and there is) Trump is cowed and impressed by Putin. It was like baby brother and big brother. I don’t think they can gloss that over.

    That must just kill the manly-men of the Right. Clinton wouldn’t have been subservient. Not a chance

    Nope.

    And, we have the picture of 44 all up in Vlad’s face, not backing down one little bit.

  122. 122.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    @Roger Moore: @LAO: @Baud:
    I was wrong, Devine has a problem!

    Adding to this as I process it…

    Mueller's evidence in a criminal trial includes communications between Tad Devine, Paul Manafort and a Russian connected to Putin up through JUNE OF 2014.

    In NOVEMBER OF 2014, Devine joined Bernie's campaign.https://t.co/x4DZn7hnfk

    — The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) July 19, 2018

    The Russian Devine was communicating with is Konstantin Kilimnik.

    Kilimnik is already under indictment by Mueller.

    Bernie's Chief Strategist was in touch with Manafort's shady Putin-connected pal right before joining Bernie's campaign… Uh-oh.https://t.co/vqq2720SZv

    — The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) July 19, 2018

  123. 123.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    @NotMax: I came for an argument.

  124. 124.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes they should.

  125. 125.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    @Kay:

    I felt like I knew there would be a Democrat (or more than one) tied to Manafort but I wouldn’t have picked the Bernie Sanders campaign.

    I said before..

    when it’s all said and done, HILLARY will be the CLEAN ONE.

    and, yes, the overwhelming majority missed this story.
    Or, rather, they refused to connect the dots that they had in front of them.

    Professional malpractice. Period.

  126. 126.

    Captain C

    July 19, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: Apparently that actually happened with President Sukarno of Indonesia. He went on a diplomatic trip to Russia, and was sent some lovely young women to play with. When he was about to leave, the Soviets showed him the films, expecting that he would be suitably compliant. Instead, he smiled, and asked for copies to show his friends and associates back in Indonesia.

  127. 127.

    NotMax

    July 19, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    Must chime in, Adam, that am mightily impressed at your restraint in not saying full penetration.

    ;)

  128. 128.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 19, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: The Russians also released a video, mostly animation, of their deadly tsunami-creating nuclear underwater drone! I’ll see if I can find it.

    Also, breaking: This is why you have note-takers at a meeting like this.

    That said, I think that VVP is overdoing it a little. But let’s see how Trump responds.

    SCOOP: Putin tells his diplomats he made ANOTHER offer to Trump — hold a referendum in Crimea on its future. Trump asked Putin NOT to disclose it so that he could consider it.https://t.co/Vi5ZDJTf8T

    — Kevin Whitelaw (@KevinWhitelaw1) July 19, 2018

  129. 129.

    John Revolta

    July 19, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @Kay: Clinton would’ve been shrill. Way worse.

  130. 130.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 19, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    @rikyrah:

    HILLARY will be the CLEAN ONE.

    …but…but….her emails.

  131. 131.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 19, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    So SINCERE, that Vladimir!

    The White House says Trump "disagrees with" Putin's joint investigation proposal — though Sarah Sanders says the absurd offer was "made in sincerity by President Putin." pic.twitter.com/LvrJlPQfnu

    — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 19, 2018

  132. 132.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I came for an argument.

    No you didn’t.

  133. 133.

    Barbara

    July 19, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @James E Powell: Chance of a Manafort plea is still as high as 50/50 IMO. There are lots of people for whom the fog lifts only at the last moment, after all the procedural tricks and games have been exhausted. For a professional used to being on top of the world, it can take a lot of shaking up to realize that yes, you might really be convicted of a crime.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @Haroldo: Good question, there are some visible links, but I honestly don’t know enough details to do anything else but post them.
    This article lays out a lot of connections, but the overall argument of the author is, as we now know, wrong:
    https://thinkprogress.org/how-russia-wooed-american-white-supremacists-and-how-it-fell-apart-8a8cf6e3b814/

    Here’s some more:
    http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-ties-michael-flynn-dossier-2017-2
    http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.com/2015/06/sergey-glazyev-and-american-fascist-cult.html

  135. 135.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    @NotMax:

    Must chime in, Adam, that am mightily impressed at your restraint in not saying full penetration.

    Maximum Penetration achieved with minimal effort.

  136. 136.

    raven

    July 19, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    Eat, Drink and see Mary in Conyers Ga 1990

    Hundreds of pilgrims flock to her farm here on the 13th of every month, when Mrs. Fowler has said she is visited by Mary and Jesus. The worshipers pray and sing, and aim their camcorders at the sky, hoping to record the flickering of the sun or perhaps the opening of the door to heaven.

    They have been coming since 1990, when Mrs. Fowler, a 47-year-old Georgia housewife, first revealed that she regularly conversed with an apparition of Mary. On Oct. 13 of that year, Mrs. Fowler began to explain the first of Mary’s special messages, filled with predictions of floods and war and entreaties to embrace her son.This week, 40 people arrived in a tour bus from Chihuahua, Mexico, after a 30-hour drive. On the journey, several women said, they saw the Virgin Mary in a shadow on the bus window.

    One woman, Hortense Morales, a 34-year-old lawyer from Chihuahua, brought along a bottle of olive oil and two cartons of salt, believing that “the Holy Mother will bless it.”

  137. 137.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 19, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    Here’s the Poiseidon video.

    Океанская многоцелевая система «Посейдон» — принципиально новый вид подводного оружия, основанный на применении беспилотных подводных аппаратов.На предприятиях промышленности выполнена проверка совместной работы и надежности всех систем и конструкций https://t.co/D4FYWL5Qoj pic.twitter.com/032SzviXIa

    — Минобороны России (@mod_russia) July 19, 2018

  138. 138.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @MomSense:

    Is this real life?

    Sadly yes.

    /Seriously considering getting and staying drunk for the rest of the week

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    July 19, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    That said, I think that VVP is overdoing it a little. But let’s see how Trump responds.

    Vladdy, bubby! You’re killing me here! I just went for the full out rope a dope walk in, walk back, walk in routine to distract these mindless press idiots. You can’t be dropping new agreements on me like this, it’s too early in the flim flam cycle!”
    VVP: “Crimea a river you little (insert Russian term for insignificant shit weasel)”

  140. 140.

    Barbara

    July 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @LAO: Well, it was an incredible offer, but probably not the way Trump meant.

  141. 141.

    germy

    July 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    2014.06.19 Email T. Devine to K. Kilimnik re Can u resend the talking points

    Was Kilimnik sending Devine talking points, or was Devine sending Kilimnik talking points?

    The “re” has me unsure.

    Either way, I’m sure there’s an innocent explanation //

  142. 142.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @LAO: First I’ve heard, but Putin already did that shortly after he scarfed up Crimea. The rigged results ratified Putin’s invasion.

  143. 143.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @rikyrah: You mean the hundreds of thousands of hours spent on investigating HER EMAILZ!?!?!/the Clinton Foundation/Beghanzi was a total waste, and that just about everyone around her during the campaign (and before) were the problem? This is my shocked face. Totally shocked. =I

    The blind hatred of all things Clenis/Hitlary continues to be a mighty force. I’m about 99% certain that zombie Hilary stories are going to be a thing. Hillary’s control of the Dems from beyond the grave! People 20 years from now will be like, who? But Talibangicals will still be frothing at the mouth about the 4 killed, while LTT will still be shouting, “Superpredator!”

  144. 144.

    Haroldo

    July 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you.

  145. 145.

    Doug R

    July 19, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @James E Powell:

    What are the chances that Manafort’s trial doesn’t go forward?

    For whatever reasons, continuance, plea, anything else.

    That’s why he’s not singing yet-a few years in the can vs death by poison or falling off his balcony.

  146. 146.

    Jeffro

    July 19, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    @trollhattan: “very bendy”

    LOLing all over the place here

  147. 147.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    @Doug R:

    vs death by poison or falling off his balcony.

    Are you implying that Manafort would not commit suicide of his own free will?

  148. 148.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Yep.

  149. 149.

    Calouste

    July 19, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Kay: The Ukrainian connection between Manafort and Devine has been extensively mentioned on this blog.

  150. 150.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Russians aren’t big on subtlety.

  151. 151.

    Brachiator

    July 19, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Origuy:

    @Roger Moore:

    As a single guy, I wondered how blackmail would work if no one cared if I got some Russian tail. Unfortunately, I never got to find out.

    There’s more to sex as a tool for spies than blackmail.

    Yep. The East Germans, in particular, used to focus efforts on lonely and romantic people, especially women who had access to intelligence information.

    In the 1950s, Wolf dispatched an agent called Felix to Bonn, who befriended a woman called Norma employed in the office of the German Chancellor – by waiting at her bus-stop. They even married, and he got to know many of her colleagues. Then one day, she came home and he was gone – pulled back to the East after Wolf got wind of an investigation by West German intelligence services.

    Marianne Quoirin, author of “The Spies Who Did It For Love,” tells the story of another West German woman who as a former nun refused to have sex with her “Romeo” until they were married. So the Stasi staged a wedding, providing both priest and mother-in-law. The Stasi would do detailed research on targets, examining their previous relationships and hobbies.

    One Stasi agent, Gerhard Beier, worked in West Germany for nearly 20 years before the Berlin Wall came down. “I was fulfilling my patriotic duty, and it wasn’t unpleasant,” he said later in an interview. Altogether some 40 German women were prosecuted for passing secrets to East German Romeos.

    And sometimes an attempt at basic blackmail backfires:

    When Indonesian President Sukarno visited Moscow in the 1960s, the KGB sought to take advantage of his renowned sexual appetite, sending a batch of glamorous young women posing as air hostesses to his hotel. When the Russians later confronted him with a film of the lurid encounter, Sukarno was apparently delighted. Legend has it he even asked for extra copies.

  152. 152.

    Fair Economist

    July 19, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Script rejected for implausibility, part the 1000.

  153. 153.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    @Leto:

    I’m about 99% certain that zombie Hilary stories are going to be a thing. Hillary’s control of the Dems from beyond the grave!

    Hillary has abducted Elvis and now lives with him in Las Vegas, where she forces him to perform cheap weddings to pay for her crack addiction! //

  154. 154.

    Kelly

    July 19, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    @rikyrah: If I recall correctly Obama is all DOWN in Vlad’s face. Kinda towered over him.

  155. 155.

    Boris, Rasputin's Evil Twin

    July 19, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: This is a slight variation on the “weeping icon” scam that’s been around since Peter the Great exposed some holy grifters.

    Has anyone else noticed all this Trump/Russia madness has taken place around the 100th anniversary of the Imperial Russian Family’s assassination? “Anastasia still screams in vain.”

  156. 156.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    I don’t know who thought this script was going to fly, but they need to have their head examined and it needs to be sent back to rewrite.

    Writers union went on strike so the producers have decided that unscripted live action is the next big thing.

  157. 157.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    This is what you call Twitter Truth:

    This is why Bernie never makes much noise about Putin or Russia, and making noise is his only political skill. Trump, Sanders, Stein, were all assisted by Putin. In 2016, there was only one candidate for president who scared the hell out of Putin: Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/QqbxWI6kF1

    — Spandan @ TPV (@thepeoplesview) July 19, 2018

  158. 158.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    Ya think?

    Ex-DOJ official reveals hidden meaning of bombshell NYT report: US intel agencies fear Trump is a double agent https://t.co/hWx2SVFP8H

    — Raw Story (@RawStory) July 19, 2018

  159. 159.

    Teddys Person

    July 19, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    @Brachiator: Who knew The Americans was a documentary.

  160. 160.

    Wapiti

    July 19, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    So is engaging in prostitution a violation of a tourist visa? How about pandering? Asking for a network of friends.

  161. 161.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    @raven: I was at Oxford College when this happened during my sophomore year. Just down the road. My housemate, the Polynesian Pentecostal (his dad moved to the mainland when he got out of the Army, his mom 15th generation Georgia cracker, they met when he was assigned to Benning), went to see this.

  162. 162.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    @Brachiator:

    used to focus efforts on lonely and romantic people

    That’s how they got Marine Sgt. Clayton Lonetree, my comment at 87.

  163. 163.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    Also the FTFNYT has an article about a Trump appointee in waiting trying to screw unions even further by attempting to get a case up to the SC that would retractively force unions to refund non-member dues going back a decade or more. Per the analysis in the article, the hostility against unions by 5 corrupt traitors could result in yet another accepted norm of “good faith compliance with the law at the time” being tossed into the flaming dumpster.

    Is it five o clock somewhere yet?

  164. 164.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    @Boris, Rasputin’s Evil Twin: Yep and yep.

  165. 165.

    raven

    July 19, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    Oh [email protected]Adam L Silverman: Oh yea!!!

  166. 166.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @rikyrah: And in other news, water is still wet! More at 11.

  167. 167.

    Yarrow

    July 19, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I knew it! Devine is in it up to his neck too. Whassup, Bernie? We see you!

  168. 168.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    @Kay:
    That’s not her only whopper.

    When asked about Trump’s comment that there were “fine people on both sides” in Charlottesville, Sec. Nielsen seemingly doubled down. “it’s not that one side was right and one side was wrong” #AspenSecurity

    Yes you piece of human garbage, one side is wrong. Where and whenever there are nazis and klan, they are wrong. This is not rocket surgery and you are ill-suited to have any national security role whatsoever because you clearly do not understand this.

  169. 169.

    Roger Moore

    July 19, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    @TenguPhule:
    Amazing how originalists can find all kinds of constitutional principles that never existed before when it serves their political interests.

  170. 170.

    Brachiator

    July 19, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    @Leto:

    The blind hatred of all things Clenis/Hitlary continues to be a mighty force. I’m about 99% certain that zombie Hilary stories are going to be a thing. Hillary’s control of the Dems from beyond the grave!

    Hillary Clinton is the only person that John Wick fears.

  171. 171.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    @Kelly:

    @rikyrah: If I recall correctly Obama is all DOWN in Vlad’s face. Kinda towered over him.

    You are correct. There was no fawning over Vlad from 44 :)

  172. 172.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 19, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    @raven: He was a hoot. His Mom would send us home made cookies every week. The week in 89 or 90 where that evangelical preacher had predicted that the rapture was going to happen, the night before the prophesied date, she called to tell my house mate she’d see him in heaven the next day. Wished me a pleasant stay in limbo. The next day nothing happened. The next week the cookie shipments restarted.

  173. 173.

    rikyrah

    July 19, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Yes you piece of human garbage, one side is wrong. Where and whenever there are nazis and klan, they are wrong. This is not rocket surgery and you are ill-suited to have any national security role whatsoever because you clearly do not understand this.

    simply loathe her.

  174. 174.

    Baud

    July 19, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    @Brachiator: I heard John Wick 3 is coming out. That would be an awesome ending to the series.

  175. 175.

    Leto

    July 19, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    @Brachiator: You mean, Mama Yaga?

  176. 176.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:18 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Amazing how originalists can find all kinds of constitutional principles that never existed before when it serves their political interests.

    There’s a morbid fascination watching them reduce rule of law to nature red in tooth and claw.

  177. 177.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 19, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: his mom 15th generation Georgia cracker,

    Yowza! A proud descendant of a transportee? edited

    ETA: and what I came to say…. I heard Rand Paul ranting about “trump derangement syndrome” about the vote to tell Putin to fuck off in re McFaul. I know he’s always been somewhat tentatively isolationist, especially compared to his old man, but he’s really off the rails, or as one of his fellow GOP Senators liked to say, off in cloud cuckooland. McCain must really be in bad shape if he hasn’t gotten a plane to bitch about trump, Putin and Rand Paul on the floor.

  178. 178.

    The Thin Black Duke

    July 19, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: How long before Bernie says that Devine was nobody special, “just the guy who went out for coffee”?

  179. 179.

    raven

    July 19, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Not a mormon huh?

  180. 180.

    Mike in DC

    July 19, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I think a stealth drone that can accurately fire a sniper rifle would scare Putin more than the doomsday torpedo will intimidate us.

  181. 181.

    Nicole

    July 19, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    @Kay: Bernie was the other candidate who refused to release his tax returns.

  182. 182.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    @Mike in DC:
    A Dalek. “Take me to Vlad. I need to see Vlad. Bring me Vlad.”

  183. 183.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 19, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    Hey look! A Republican Senator figured they actually own their votes and can do things!

    Alex Bolton @ alexanderbolton
    Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the only African-American member of Senate GOP conference, tells leaders that he can’t vote for 9th Circuit Court nom Ryan Bounds because of racially insensitive remarks. Told leaders he need more time to review Bounds. McConnell withdraws nomination.

    In all fairness, good for Scott. Or at least partial credit, because apparently he was okay with this guy

    @ CollinsWatch
    Susan ‘I’m powerless to stop Trump’ Collins cast the tie-breaking vote yesterday to put a 39 year-old on the federal bench. Nominee refused to say he backs Brown v. Board of Education. Confirmed 50-49. #mepolitics

    I didn’t know about Collins Watch. I hope she knows about it and hates it.

  184. 184.

    NotMax

    July 19, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    @Adam L. Silverman

    his mom 15th generation Georgia cracker

    Good trick.

    Figuring a generation is twenty years, 15 of them would be 300 years.

    George III’s charter designating the colony was issued in 1732, first British settlers arrived in 1733, so the 300-year anniversary of its existence as Georgia hasn’t happened yet.

    /history pedant

  185. 185.

    Baud

    July 19, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the only African-American member of Senate GOP conference, tells leaders that he can’t vote for 9th Circuit Court nom Ryan Bounds because of racially insensitive remarks.

    The remarks must have been pretty bad if Scott couldn’t vote for him.

  186. 186.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:32 pm

    @NotMax:

    Figuring a generation is twenty years, 15 of them would be 300 years.

    Georgia’s minimum legal age is 16.

  187. 187.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 19, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Listening to MSNBC: trump called Obama a “patsy” today? Specifically wrt to Russia?

  188. 188.

    Yarrow

    July 19, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    @Nicole:

    Bernie was the other candidate who refused to release his tax returns

    Yep. What’s he hiding?

  189. 189.

    Origuy

    July 19, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    It’s under 30 seconds so it should work.

    Thirty seconds? Give me some credit! Although, which this was happening, I was a lot younger.

  190. 190.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    Trump criticizes Fed, breaking long-standing practice

    Trump just attacked the Federal Reserve. I’m sure Wall Street is thrilled.

  191. 191.

    Nicole

    July 19, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    @Yarrow: Rubles? Lots of rubles?

  192. 192.

    The Dangerman

    July 19, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    @Death Panel Truck:

    …the child pornography shoe will be the next to drop.

    It’s parallel was hinted at yesterday when it was thought that Donald’s weakness was an underage Ivanka look alike.

    ETA: And if that was it, nobody would care except for Ivanka and maybe Jared.

    ETA2: Maybe it was a Jared look alike (yes, say it, he came to…)

  193. 193.

    Barbara

    July 19, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    @TenguPhule: Are you talking about this guy?

    GOP leaders withdrew President Donald Trump’s choice for a Ninth Circuit vacancy, federal prosecutor Ryan Bounds, shortly before a Senate vote Thursday, rather than have the nomination fail.

  194. 194.

    NotMax

    July 19, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @NotMax

    Land disputes with the Spanish about who held claim to what between what we know know as Florida and South Carolina eventually led to one of the more memorably named hostilities in the history books, the War of Jenkins’ Ear.

  195. 195.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @NotMax:
    To be fair, it doesn’t specify which Georgia.

  196. 196.

    MCA1

    July 19, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    @Mike in NC: Knock twice, rap with your cane.
    Feels nice, you’re out of the rain.
    We’ve got your Russian whore,
    Here at the Trump Tower.

    Steely Dan songs seem like the most easy to apply to any scenario in the Trump era. Donald Fagan somehow had his pulse on the all-out moral depravity growing in America 40 years before it came to full flower. Same song nails the Dotard, too: “In the night you hide from the madman you’re longing to be. But it all comes out on the inside, eventually.”

  197. 197.

    Roger Moore

    July 19, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Trump just attacked the Federal Reserve. I’m sure Wall Street is thrilled.

    Trump just attacked the Federal Reserve for wanting to raise interest rates. Wall Street may indeed be thrilled; they love cheap money.

  198. 198.

    tybee

    July 19, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Georgia’s minimum legal age is 16

    well, now it is.

  199. 199.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    @Barbara: No. This guy.

    Jonathan F. Mitchell.

    He was a Supreme Court clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia; worked at the Justice Department under President George W. Bush; taught at several law schools, including Stanford; and spent more than four years as the solicitor general of Texas.

    After the 2016 election, he served as a volunteer attorney on the Trump transition team, where he helped review future executive orders. In September, Trump nominated him to head the Administrative Conference of the United States, a small federal agency that advises the government on improving its inner workings. His nomination awaits action by the Senate after the Judiciary Committee approved him on a party-line vote in March.

  200. 200.

    TenguPhule

    July 19, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Wall Street may indeed be thrilled; they love cheap money.

    Nobody ever accused them of being long term thinkers.

  201. 201.

    Gelfling 545

    July 19, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
    “What sane nation would ever cut funding for election security? “
    What does that have to do with the US these days?

  202. 202.

    Dan B

    July 19, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    Once you’ve run hookers you’ll never go back. Or if grandad did. Reminder Granpa Drumpf ran hotels in Vancouver and Seattle that featured women of the night. It earned him eniugh to return to Bavaria but didn’t impress the Bavarians who booted his tax and military evading (is this an echo or a choice?) a$$ out of the country.

  203. 203.

    Aleta

    July 19, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    Remember the stories before the election about a short-lived modeling organization T had with someone else, based in NYC, and maybe LA too. They offered young women in Eastern Europe modeling jobs in the US. The legal problems that ended the company were over visas. The stories hinted at prostitution and possible trafficking.

    Before T I had never thought about how perfect the giant ‘luxury’ hotel biz could be as a place to trade arms, layover with drugs, launder money, and pimp people. Owning the franchise but not the turf would be safer too.

  204. 204.

    retr2327

    July 19, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    @Teddys Person: I don’t know if you caught Maddow’s show the other night, but Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who testified in front of Congress, was the agent who tracked the real-life Russian agent couple that inspired the Americans. True story!

  205. 205.

    retr2327

    July 19, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    @NotMax: in Georgia, a generation can be only 15 years . . .

  206. 206.

    Gelfling 545

    July 19, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    @rikyrah: I’m sure he is but I doubt he realuzes it.

  207. 207.

    Gelfling 545

    July 19, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    @raven: Had a cousin who used to go around to see these things. Even went to a couple of out of the way places in eastern Europe. Made many scrapbooks with extensive notations maintaining the veracity of these “appearances”. Fortunately, she seems to have gotten over it.

  208. 208.

    Yarrow

    July 19, 2018 at 4:30 pm

    @Nicole: Yes. Laundered rubles.

  209. 209.

    trollhattan

    July 19, 2018 at 4:36 pm

    @retr2327:
    Cool! So Strzok’s real name is Beeman.

  210. 210.

    D58826

    July 19, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    So Der Fuhrer has invited Putin to DC to turn over the keys to the WH and AF1.

  211. 211.

    Captain C

    July 19, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    @Yarrow: Probably that he’s one of those million-aihs that he keeps deriding.

  212. 212.

    Miss Bianca

    July 19, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    @rikyrah: And like I said – and you’ve said – those of us who supported Hillary from the first…

    …are those of us who are the only ones who won’t be shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, when it comes out that those emails between Devine and Manafort include high-fives to each other for doing what their Russian paymasters wanted…GET HILLARY CLINTON.

    And we will still be pissed as hell. And we will be carrying RECEIPTS, motherfuckers.

  213. 213.

    Kathleen

    July 19, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    @John PM: L&O SVU has featured many episodes about Russian mobs and prostitution throughout the years. L&O episodes also used Russian in their plot lines. While watching those reruns I marvel at how prescient the writers were.The subject of Russians is not new to the L&O franchises.

  214. 214.

    Kathleen

    July 19, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I think both he and Bernie are rodent copulators extraordinaire Slanders’ voting record, refusal to release tax returns, hacking of the DNC , his behavior after he was eliminated and his tacit support of the hecklers at the Dem convention, his constant attempts to undermine Democratic candidates. He is a menace and I think his hands are dirty.

  215. 215.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 19, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @Kelly: Co-sign. “Hookerducken” sounds like an exit on the Garden State Parkway.

  216. 216.

    wjs

    July 19, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    How many reporters from the New York Times were assigned to this story after the NY Post got wind of it? Seven or eight?

    If this had happened “somewhere near” the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, the boost to the local hotel and bar economy in that fine American city would be enough to get everyone through the Christmas holidays.

  217. 217.

    Amir Khalid

    July 19, 2018 at 10:18 pm

    @Captain C:
    Yep, that definitely sounds like Bung Karno. He was married to nine women over his life, including one from whom he did not get divorced even after he had married a subsequent wife. (He was Muslim, so he could do that without scandal.) He took considerable pride in being a ladies’ man. (If anyone’s curious, Bung was/is Indonesian for “bro”.)

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