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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Enhanced Protest Techniques / Nobody Is Above The Law: Mueller Rapid Response Has Been Activated

Nobody Is Above The Law: Mueller Rapid Response Has Been Activated

by TaMara|  November 7, 20189:35 pm| 96 Comments

This post is in: Enhanced Protest Techniques, Protest Is the New Brunch, Trump-Russia

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I’ve received several requests to post this update. If you signed up for the Rapid Response you’ve probably received an email like this:

Earlier today, Donald Trump installed a crony to oversee special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, crossing a red line.1 MoveOn and our allies are activating the Nobody Is Above the Law network meaning there will be actions around the country tomorrow, Thursday, November 8 at 5 p.m. local time (please confirm at the link to your local event below) and we need to see you, your friends, family members, and neighbors there!

By replacing Rod Rosenstein with just-named Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker as Mueller’s boss overseeing the investigation, Trump has undercut the independence of the investigation. Whitaker has publicly outlined strategies to stifle the investigation, referred to Mueller’s team as a “lynch mob,” and cannot be allowed to remain in charge of it.2 This amounts to a direct assault on the independent Mueller probe which has already produced dozens of indictments, guilty pleas, and guilty verdicts.

You’ve RSVP’d to attend a rapid-response event if Trump crossed one of the red lines and interfered with the Mueller investigation—one of hundreds of events nationwide that will show an immediate, massive rejection of Trump’s interference. Now it’s time we come together to act! These events will take place across the country on Thursday, November 8! Most are at 5 pm

Here are the links to find an event in your area:

https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/

https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events

https://act.moveon.org

Please be aware, all these links are down at the moment. Looks like they are on overload.

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Previous Post: « It ain’t over til it’s over
Next Post: The Mueller Investigation: A Few Thoughts »

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    A Ghost To Most

    November 7, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    Time to mobilize. Shit is starting to get real.

  2. 2.

    J R in WV

    November 7, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    When the demonstration organizing web sites all crash, that’s either enemy action (Trump’s Russian minions?) or way too many would be demonstrators trying to sign up.

    I don’t care which… we’ll be showing up tomorrow.

  3. 3.

    mvr

    November 7, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    Did he replace Rosenstein as that quotation says? I thought it was Sessions and that the replacement oversees Rosenstein.

    Not that I’m against protesting but I do think we want to get our facts straight.

  4. 4.

    zhena gogolia

    November 7, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    @mvr:

    Rosenstein was only in charge because Sessions recused himself. Now that Sessions is out, it’s the “AG” who supervises Mueller. People seem to have forgotten why Rosenstein was involved in the first place. This was the whole point of getting rid of Sessions.

  5. 5.

    mvr

    November 7, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Thanks!

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    November 7, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    I went there an hour or so ago & there were 6 separate events in my area including ones on Nov 20 & 30 and Dec 30 & 31!?
    The two scheduled for tomorrow are at soon to be ex-Congressman Jason Lewis’s office on the other side of the state from me & one that just said “Congressional office” with a zip code. My guess is it is soon to be ex-congressman Ellison’s office which is near me. Not going to get much of a crowd if you can’t get a better location than that. It looked like a disorganized flustercluck operation

  7. 7.

    Mike in DC

    November 7, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    Among the questions that the Framers never anticipated: “Is it still a constitutional crisis if one party refuses to agree that it is a constitutional crisis?”

  8. 8.

    Emerald

    November 7, 2018 at 9:56 pm

    Just signed up for the one in Carlsbad, CA. (It’s at the premium outlet mall if anyone’s interested) So far they expect over 1,000 people. Thanks to Rachel for putting this on her show!

  9. 9.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    November 7, 2018 at 10:01 pm

    Thank God the Democrats won Congress and can conduct independent investigations, make criminal referrals and impeach administration assholes.

    Allah Obama akbar!

  10. 10.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 10:02 pm

    @Emerald:
    Is that where a Tesla charging station is at?

  11. 11.

    Jay

    November 7, 2018 at 10:03 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    That’s actually not clear at this time.

    For other reasons, similar to Session’s, Whittaker should recuse himself and leave Rosenstien in charge.

    Still, the protest is leverage.

  12. 12.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 10:03 pm

    Thanks Tamara. Will be at the StL protest with fellow BJer Lapassionara. Holler if you are in StL and want to join in.

  13. 13.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 7, 2018 at 10:03 pm

    Going to the one at my local county courthouse. Parking will probably be a nightmare though, it’s not great at the best of times. Maybe I’ll try to get there on public transit.

    That courthouse BTW has a worshipful plaque about how St. Ronny spoke there once. During the 1980 campaign I think.

  14. 14.

    TaMara (HFG)

    November 7, 2018 at 10:04 pm

    @Schlemazel: Maybe where you live, but not when I put my zip code in. Looks pretty goddammed organized.

  15. 15.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    We have 300 people in my small little Indiana town. yay!

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @Mike in DC: If James Madison drafts the Constitution in the woods and no one is around, did he draft the Constitution?//

  17. 17.

    Platonailedit

    November 7, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    @Mike in DC:

    Yup. The framers missed out a lot of things. They thought the later generations would be wiser.

  18. 18.

    Schlemazel

    November 7, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    @TaMara (HFG):
    I assume many areas are better than this

  19. 19.

    Lapassionara

    November 7, 2018 at 10:17 pm

    allons, citoyens!

  20. 20.

    laura

    November 7, 2018 at 10:18 pm

    I’m getting a gang together…
    https://youtu.be/VAKo10CYS-4
    Full participation Democracy!
    Who’s in?
    Take it to the street people!
    Power to the PEACEFULL!

  21. 21.

    weasel

    November 7, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    This link seems pretty responsive…
    https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/
    Will be out there at 5 tomorrow, if only to see what there is to see

  22. 22.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    November 7, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    I’m going to the protest in Carbondale, IL.

  23. 23.

    Jackie

    November 7, 2018 at 10:25 pm

    Bring green balloons! You might meet fellow BJ’s

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    I’ve been watching and reading the coverage of this all evening and here’s what I think is likely to happen.
    1) Whitaker will be read on to all or part of the Special Counsel’s investigation.
    2) Specifically either Rosenstein and/or Mueller will read him on to the material that shows his op-ed and remarks on CNN were pure fabrication.
    3) They’ll also include in this whatever info they have on or got from Sam Clovis, who he used to work for and with.
    4) At that point
    a) Whitaker will, himself, either seek a DOJ ethics section opinion on recusal and follow it or he’ll let things alone for the time being.
    b) Whitaker will do whatever he’s going to do to obstruct the Mueller investigation.

    I think it is important for everyone to remember that Special Counsel Mueller has been planning for something like this to happen. As such he has contingency plans in place and for each contingency plan he has multiple sequels (to use DOD planning terminology). I would expect to see a bunch of indictments, either previously sealed ones or ones prepared and waiting to go, to be dropped in short order. I would also expect that whatever could be farmed out to the Federal prosecutorial districts, such as the Southern District of New York or the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as to the state level, such as NY state, Maryland, Virginia, and DC will be handed off to them. Whitaker will have limited ability to interfere handed off/farmed out to the Federal prosecutorial districts and no ability at all to interfere with state or DC prosecutions. I’m in agreement with Cheryl that the President’s response here isn’t strategic, rather they’re reflexive.

    I also expect, just as we saw with Sessions, that a selected leak or two from the intel community will be quickly released as warning shots across Whitaker’s bow. You’ll recall that the intel community leaked very quickly to force Sessions to recuse himself. And it then leaked a second time regarding Sessions when it looked like he might be trying to, if not interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation, then peer into it and see what was going on with the investigation. Both of these were warnings. Sessions recognized them as such and quickly adjusted his behavior accordingly. I expect that whatever there is on Whitaker is being weaponized now and lined up for a quick release if a warning is needed to get Whitaker in line.

    Finally, if Whitaker decides to seriously interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation I expect that our allied and partner’s intelligence communities will start to strategically leak. A lot of them have provided the Special Counsel with the information he needs for the counterintelligence portion of his investigation, they are very, very, very worried about Putin, his intentions, his capabilities, and his behavior, as well as the apparent connections between Putin and the President’s businesses, his campaign, and his administration. They will do what they need to do to protect themselves.

    So strap in, buckle up, and hold on as it’s going to be a crazy ride for the next few days. And remember that while things seem dire, every previous time it seems that the President and his catspaws were coming for Bob Mueller they failed to stop his investigation. That doesn’t mean it is safe this time, but it does mean that Special Counsel Mueller has been paying attention, has his plans in place, and will respond accordingly when he needs to do so. And, as with everything else the Special Counsel does, we won’t really know what those responses are until he makes them. He’s rigged for silent running, he has his targets selected, he’s got his firing solutions dialed in, and he will prosecute those targets on his schedule.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    I’ve been watching and reading the coverage of this all evening and here’s what I think is likely to happen.
    1) Whitaker will be read on to all or part of the Special Counsel’s investigation.
    2) Specifically either Rosenstein and/or Mueller will read him on to the material that shows his op-ed and remarks on CNN were pure fabrication.
    3) They’ll also include in this whatever info they have on or got from Sam Clovis, who he used to work for and with.
    4) At that point
    a) Whitaker will, himself, either seek a DOJ ethics section opinion on recusal and follow it or he’ll let things alone for the time being.
    b) Whitaker will do whatever he’s going to do to obstruct the Mueller investigation.

    I think it is important for everyone to remember that Special Counsel Mueller has been planning for something like this to happen. As such he has contingency plans in place and for each contingency plan he has multiple sequels to use DOD planning terminology. I would expect to see a bunch of indictments, either previously sealed ones or ones prepared and waiting to go, to be dropped in short order. I would also expect that whatever could be farmed out to the Federal prosecutorial districts, such as the Southern District of New York or the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as to the state level, such as NY state, Maryland, Virginia, and DC will be handed off to them. Whitaker will have limited ability to interfere handed off/farmed out to the Federal prosecutorial districts and no ability at all to interfere with state or DC prosecutions. I’m in agreement with Cheryl that the President’s response here aren’t strategic, rather they’re reflexive.

    I also expect, just as we saw with Sessions, that a selected leak or two from the intel community will be quickly released as warning shots across Whitaker’s bow. You’ll recall that the intel community leaked very quickly to force Sessions to recuse himself. And it then leaked a second time regarding Sessions when it looked like he might be trying to, if not interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation, then peer into it and see what was going on with the investigation. Both of these were warnings. Sessions recognized them as such and quickly adjusted his behavior accordingly. I expect that whatever there is on Whitaker is being weaponized now and lined up for a quick release if a warning is needed to get Whitaker in line.

    Finally, if Whitaker decides to seriously interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation I expect that our allied and partner’s intelligence communities will start to strategically leak. A lot of them have provided the Special Counsel with the information he needs for the counterintelligence portion of his investigation, they are very, very, very worried about Putin, his intentions, his capabilities, and his behavior, as well as the apparent connections between Putin and the President’s businesses, his campaign, and his administration. They will do what they need to do to protect themselves.

    So strap in, buckle up, and hold on as it’s going to be a crazy ride for the next few days. And remember that while things seem dire, every previous time it seems that the President and his catspaws were coming for Bob Mueller they failed to stop his investigation. That doesn’t mean it is safe this time, but it does mean that Special Counsel Mueller has been paying attention, has his plans in place, and will respond accordingly when he needs to do so. And, as with everything else the Special Counsel does, we won’t really know what those responses are until he makes them. He’s rigged for silent running, he has his targets selected, he’s got his firing solutions dialed in, and he will prosecute those targets on his schedule.

  26. 26.

    Schlemazel

    November 7, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    @Schlemazel:
    OK, They have fixed things on the site. The events are now all tomorrow so that is better. The location still leaves much to be desired:

    Hosted by Daniel S.
    Congressional Office
    Minneapolis, MN 55411
    2220 attendees

    I am left to guess that is Keith Ellison’s office in Mpls but without an address it may be difficult for some people to figure that out

  27. 27.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    @Jay: Even if Whitaker recuses himself, the White House has said they will give oversight to the US Solicitor Noel Francisco. Whether that is through getting rid of Rosenstein or some other means, they have made clear he (Rosenstein) will not be reassuming oversight.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    November 7, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You sound just like Asha Rangappa.

  29. 29.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @laura:

    I’m getting a gang together…

    Trump’s been warning us about MS-13.

  30. 30.

    lamh36

    November 7, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    Hmmm I wonder what happened to that caravan of migrants that was coming to kill us all in America. Ya know, the one that Chump co used to stoke fear in white voters for the mid terms??

  31. 31.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @Schlemazel: Whelp the only congressional office I can find through googling the 55411 zip is Ellison’s office at 2100 Plymouth Ave N.

  32. 32.

    zhena gogolia

    November 7, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    An actual tweet by John G. Cole: “If, of course, Bob Fosse was actually Nathan Bedford Forrest.”

    Makes sense in context, I guess.

  33. 33.

    Schlemazel

    November 7, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    @Marcopolo:
    Yes, that is where his office is. But why not put that on the announcement to make it clear. It is not just his office, it is a community center & nothing on the outside will tell you he has space there.

  34. 34.

    Jay

    November 7, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    @Marcopolo:

    The White Supremacy House says a lot of bullshit each and every day. 99.99999% of it Is pure bullshit.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @Marcopolo: The White House can’t simply assign it to Francisco. Francisco is Rosenstein’s subordinate, nor in the DOJ chain of command of this. They’d have to go through the US Attorneys before they get to Francisco.

  36. 36.

    Platonailedit

    November 7, 2018 at 10:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: So the house dem majority plays no role in this?

  37. 37.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:37 pm

    @lamh36: Same thing that happened to Ebola after the 2014 midterms.

  38. 38.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:37 pm

    @zhena gogolia: She is much, much better looking than me. I’ve been tuned out a bit as I’m still feeling bleh, so I haven’t been over to her twitter feed to see what she’s been thinking.

  39. 39.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Isn’t that what Nixon did, move down the chain to Bork who was Solicitor General?

  40. 40.

    B.B.A.

    November 7, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: So four years from now it’s going to be an actual threat and nobody will care because it doesn’t fit the GOP campaign narrative?

  41. 41.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    @Platonailedit: Not until the first week in January. The Republicans remain in control of the House until the next Congress is sworn in at the beginning of January 2019.

  42. 42.

    lamh36

    November 7, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    @lamh36:

    Me looking for more news stories on that caravan Chump had white folks (and some dumb azz POC) scared of…they voted for his folk yesterday??:

    https://media1.tenor.com/images/73591b06d6439fa4f63d6440b85c6beb/tenor.gif?itemid=10048968

  43. 43.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I’ve been tuned out a bit as I’m still feeling bleh

    Those Psych-ops folk throw a wild party.

  44. 44.

    Emerald

    November 7, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @cain: Dunno. Don’t get to the place very often.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: He did.

  46. 46.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I noted this in the thread below, but to repeat: what I had read the White House strategy was was to replace Sessions, have that person fire Rosenstein, then have Noel Francisco, the US Solicitor take on oversight of the investigation. If Whitaker were forced to immediately recuse himself would that restrict his ability to fire Rosenstein? Trump would still have the authority to do so as well, right? To be clear, I read about this strategy before Whitaker was appointed to replace Sessions, and folks might remember that Francisco received a special ethics waiver from Don McGahn back in April (don’t remember if it was 2018 or 17) that allowed him to avoid having to recuse himself for his ties to the Days Jones law firm which represents the Trump campaign:

    CREW has uncovered a previously undisclosed ethics waiver that may represent an effort to clear one of the obstacles to Solicitor General Noel Francisco replacing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as the official overseeing the Russia investigation.

    If Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein either resigns or is fired, someone else will have to oversee the Special Counsel investigation. Next in line appears to be Solicitor General Noel Francisco. The problem is that Mr. Francisco has ties to the pending investigation that should preclude his participation.

    For one thing, his former law firm, Jones Day, represents the Trump Presidential Campaign in the Special Counsel investigation. Also, Mr. Francisco has a continuing financial relationship with Jones Day, which owes him more than half a million dollars. In addition, he previously appeared before the Justice Department as a member of a “Landing Team” on behalf of the Presidential Transition Team.

    The first of the three obstacles Mr. Francisco faces – his former employment relationship with Jones Day – raises an issue under the Trump ethics Executive Order. As required by that Executive Order, Mr. Francisco signed an ethics pledge in which he promised that, for two years after joining the government, he would not participate in any investigation in which Jones Day represents a client. That promise means he must stay out of the Special Counsel investigation until at least late January 2019.

    However, CREW has discovered that the Trump administration issued Mr. Francisco an ethics waiver on April 24, 2018. The waiver relieves him from any obligation to honor his ethics pledge to recuse from investigations involving Jones Day. The waiver states only that he is relieved of this obligation and offers no justification whatsoever. It simply waives the obligation, thereby eliminating one of the three obstacles to his overseeing the Special Counsel investigation.

    The waiver is troubling for a couple of other reasons, as well. First, the Office of Government Ethics maintains an online list of all ethics pledge waivers issued by the Trump administration to political appointees serving outside the White House. Notably absent from this list is Mr. Francisco’s waiver. At least one more recent waiver was included in the list, so it is strange that Mr. Francisco’s waiver was left off the list.

  47. 47.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    @B.B.A.: Yeah, I guess unlike my mom, their mom’s never told them the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”.

  48. 48.

    lgerard

    November 7, 2018 at 10:44 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Same thing that happened to Ebola after the 2014 midterms.

    Remember the color coded terror level warnings?
    They disappeared the day after the 2004 election.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:47 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: It was actually fairly tame. Though I didn’t make the after party as the people who were schlepping me around wanted to go home. My longtime friend and colleague at US Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (USACAPOC or just CAPOC), and who was my ride for part of Friday and most of Saturday was coming down with a cold and, now, apparently, so am I.

  50. 50.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 10:49 pm

    @Marcopolo: I’m familiar with the ethics waiver that CREW dug out. My understanding is that despite the waiver, Francisco wasn’t in the chain of command after Rosenstein. Rather, they’d have to go through the US attorneys first before they could try to have Francisco take over.

  51. 51.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 10:49 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Isn’t that what Nixon did, move down the chain to Bork who was Solicitor General?

    Oh yes, the infamous Bork chain. I hear it is doing an amazing job and being recognized more and more. I hear a lot of businesses are piling into it as well.

  52. 52.

    chris

    November 7, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    No idea what this means. Adam?

    Following WH meeting today:DAG Rod Rosenstein has canceled a speech scheduled for Thursday in San Francisco, the Aspen Institute says. Rosenstein was scheduled to speak to the organization's cybersecurity summit. The institute says it wasn't given a reason for the cancelation— Heidi Przybyla (@HeidiPrzybyla) 8 November 2018

  53. 53.

    Platonailedit

    November 7, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: So, the dems reappoint Mueller in Jan with added mandate.

  54. 54.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 10:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Well, when it come to these matters I am mostly a parrot regurgitating what I’ve read without necessarily having a shit-ton of actual constitutional expertise in the DoJ chain of command. That would mean your guess is as good or better than mine or possibly not even a guess.

  55. 55.

    Yarrow

    November 7, 2018 at 10:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Completely agree. It’s going to be a bumpy ride but I have confidence in Mueller.

  56. 56.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Sure, Adam. That’s your story and you’re sticking with it. We believe you.

  57. 57.

    Yarrow

    November 7, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    @lamh36: Like i said, the caravan will disappear from the news starting today. Just like Ebola did after that election. It was so obvious from the beginning.

  58. 58.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    @Yarrow: You left something off there…

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 7, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    @Yarrow: Caravan, what caravan?

  60. 60.

    lamh36

    November 7, 2018 at 10:56 pm

    @lamh36:

    Oh. Ya mean the press got played by Chump co into covering the carazans like they were imminent threats

    https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1060377937755680768?s=21

  61. 61.

    Cheryl Rofer

    November 7, 2018 at 10:57 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I also expect, just as we saw with Sessions, that a selected leak or two from the intel community will be quickly released as warning shots across Whitaker’s bow.

    I look forward to this. At the moment, it looks like something on Sam Clovis might drop. I have long been convinced that he and his proteges, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, are much more key than has been obvious. Of course, it could be something else we haven’t heard about.

    I see 1034 attendees for tomorrow at the Santa Fe Railyard. I’ve got something until 4:30 in another part of town, so we’ll see how that goes.

  62. 62.

    lamh36

    November 7, 2018 at 10:58 pm

    @lamh36:

    I mean, It’s almost as if the caravans was fake news to rule up white voters in time for the midterms. Imagine that!

    https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1060380154046939137?s=21

  63. 63.

    Platonailedit

    November 7, 2018 at 10:58 pm

    @lamh36: The press weren’t played, they are willing participants in propagating rethug lies for decades. Fucking fifth columnists.

  64. 64.

    Yarrow

    November 7, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: My sympathies. I started coming down with this cold very suddenly on Sunday night. Brutal sore throat and yesterday started spiking a fever. Just low grade–barely 100 degrees–but still makes me achy. Take care of yourself.

  65. 65.

    sgrAstar

    November 7, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    Our MoveOn host as emailed that they might postpone until Saturday. Anyone else hearing that?

  66. 66.

    Yarrow

    November 7, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    @lamh36: The press didn’t get played. The press was happy to go along with it. Complicit. Fear works just as well for them as it does for him.

  67. 67.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    Thanks for the reminder.

    Whitaker appears to be a complete hack, conman and a crook. No wonder Trump put him in.

    @jonswaine
    In this Aug 2015 email, Trump’s new AG Matthew Whitaker threatens a victim of the patents scam firm that was paying Whitaker as an adviser. The firm was sued by the US govt and ordered by a court to pay $26m just 6 months ago.
    https://twitter.com/jonswaine/status/1060306289539080202

    Found via Josh Marshall’s twitter. And, if you go to Josh Marshall’s twitter feed this evening, you can see a video of Whitaker trying to peddle hot new takes on hot new hot tub designs as part of the scam.

    So, Whitaker’s strategy might be to chip away at Mueller bit by bit, and try to avoid anything dramatic enough in one day to trigger a mass nationwide demonstration. Until it was too late.

    OTOH, Whitaker might be such a doofus he screws up and everything blows up in his face. But, hope is not a plan, so I hope some people, who are in positions to do something, are planning.

  68. 68.

    opiejeanne

    November 7, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Bob Fosse the choreographer? Or some other Bob Fosse?

    I need to go find the tweet, so that it makes sense, either way.

  69. 69.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    @jl: There’s an even better cite from Marshall’s twitter (at 8:57 pm)of a comment a reader sent to him about Whitaker but I have no idea how to copy it to here. The basic gist is Clovis told Whitaker, a hack lawyer, to get a commenting gig on cable so Trump would notice him. CNN put him on as a legal doofus, Whitaker repeatedly made disparaging comments about the Mueller investigation, then the Trump Admin hired him into the DoJ in May 2017 about the time Comey was fired. He became Sessions Chief of Staff in Sept 2017. You’d have to believe the career DoJ folks do not respect someone with his lawyering pedigree. Also under normal circumstances you’d have to believe someone like him would never make it through a Senate confirmation process. Alas, we live in bizarro Trump world now.

  70. 70.

    Yarrow

    November 7, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @opiejeanne: You need the one before it:

    Cake or Death
    ‏
    @Johngcole

    It’s why our media is failing us so badly when they talk about Trump’s “racial stumbles.” Those weren’t stumbles you fucking idiots. That was a choreographed dance Bob Fosse would have been proud of.

  71. 71.

    Duane

    November 7, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @laura: Tomorrow at 5 in Springfield. Mo. I’ll be there. Whittaker’s another no-quality Trumpov hire. Shouldn’t be any part of DOJ, and certainly not AG. Resist, persist and don’t quit!

  72. 72.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @lamh36:

    Oh. Ya mean the press got played by Chump co into covering the carazans like they were imminent threats

    Or maybe a perfect scope to get their readers to keep staring at the screens. Todays news is all about entertainment. Twitter/BJ is the only way I’m getting my news generally.

    BTW – y’all – Beto’s run continues to have all kinds of side benefits. Harris County, voted out eveyr Republican judge in a clean sweep. That’s 60 judges. At least two we know, accounted for 1/5th of all children sent to state prisons of which 96% er PoC kids. Texas democrats are woke! Beto may have lost, but he’s changed the dynamics of Texas and things I think are going to change.

  73. 73.

    Marcopolo

    November 7, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    @sgrAstar: Nope. Four pop up with my zip. The main one shows 3500 saying they will attend atm.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:12 pm

    @chris: I’m pretty sure it doesn’t mean Adam.

    Most likely he’s got meetings with his new acting boss tomorrow. Also means he doesn’t want to be out of the building and across the country. It’s been reported that he and Whitaker don’t get along at all. And that Rosenstein doesn’t trust him. Rosenstein wants to be in his office and the building all day in case he needs to respond to something in real time. Including getting fired if that were to happen. He doesn’t want what happened to Comey to happen to him.

  75. 75.

    satby

    November 7, 2018 at 11:13 pm

    @cain: there’s almost 800 signed up for downtown South Bend. I will be there!

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:14 pm

    @Platonailedit: That would be a possibility.

    I don’t mean to diminish the import of what is going on, but my outlook on all of this insanity is to be aware of what could happen, be prepared if it does happen, but to not borrow trouble from the future. The President and the people who enable his worst impulses and behaviors want everyone worn out and on edge. It makes their attempts to destroy the US that much easier. So as much as you, or anyone else can, compartmentalize!!!!

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    November 7, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    @lamh36:

    We got ebola’d again.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:17 pm

    I’ve moved my comment at 24 up to the front page.

  79. 79.

    opiejeanne

    November 7, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    @opiejeanne: The choreographer, Bob Fosse. and it does make sense now that I’ve read John G. Cole’s twitter thread.

  80. 80.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:19 pm

    @Yarrow: Thanks. This too shall pass.

  81. 81.

    opiejeanne

    November 7, 2018 at 11:19 pm

    @Yarrow: Thanks. I went and found it. Makes perfect sense, but alone it was very puzzling.

  82. 82.

    danielx

    November 7, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    Harking back to Cheryl’s earlier thread….

    Put aside whether Trump is worried about being found guilty of anything.

    He’s not – firing Sessions is just Trump acting out, totally part of his usual operating mode. Once again – Trump has committed many despicable actions in his life and has never faced any real consequences for any of them. He’s never done a day of time, has never had to worry about having his assets confiscated, never faced a guilty verdict on criminal charges. Guilt, whether personal or legal, is not a concept he understands or even recognizes, nor does he grasp the concept of the consequences of his actions. Everything is about appetites and id for him. Sort of like a four year old without stops.

    Not that I’m not happy to see the KKKeebler Elf out on his ass, except that whoever replaces him will likely be worse.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    @jl: I’ve seen the pics he’s posted of the crossfit stuff he does. I spend a lot time in the gym. We’re dealing with an aging jock meathead in Whitaker. And based on what I’ve seen of those pics and other pics and video of him, I’m not sure he could pass a random urinalysis screening.

  84. 84.

    opiejeanne

    November 7, 2018 at 11:24 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you for helping us/me stay sane. I was seeing all sorts of hand-wringing and weeping and wailing about Rosenstein getting fired, even from Jim Wright, and I came here to find out what was really going on. So, thanks for talking to us and being sensible and explaining things so we can be sensible. The sky is not falling.

  85. 85.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Clovis does seem to leave a bit of a trail…

    Shockingly I just noticed that Clovis's 2014 campaign video justifying the Russia seizure of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine has been taken offline. https://t.co/RkhwcnrfIy via @TPM

    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 8, 2018

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    @MomSense: Actually there’s an ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The response to that outbreak is hampered because the administration has pulled the CDC specialists responding to it out because it’s too dangerous.

  87. 87.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:31 pm

    @opiejeanne: Take anything Chief Wright writes seriously. He’s a sharp guy and has more years of experience working in/with intel than I do.

  88. 88.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 7, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Clovis reminds me of nothing so much as the aging, overweight lech’s you run into in the expat bars of Kyiv, looking for a hot, young Ukrainian chick that would like a green card. You can spot those motherfuckers from a mile away.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 11:40 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: He reminds me of one of these:
    https://agroteca.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/porc-vietnamez-foto.jpg

  90. 90.

    opiejeanne

    November 7, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Sometimes, though, Wright is just too cranky, but the post that bothered me today was “Rosenstein is gone, it’s happening right now!” Dare I call that an overreaction? Sure seems like one to me. I like your analysis better right now. I’ll go back to reading him when he recovers a bit. He lives in Florida now and is not nearly as cheerful as he was when he lived in Alaska.

  91. 91.

    opiejeanne

    November 7, 2018 at 11:46 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: There is a strong resemblance, but those are rumored to be somewhat good-natured creatures.

  92. 92.

    NMgal

    November 8, 2018 at 12:13 am

    @sgrAstar: Yes, our small town protest is delayed — signmaking is scheduled for friday afternoon and Saturday morning, no time announced yet for actual protest but probably around midday Saturday.

  93. 93.

    Ruckus

    November 8, 2018 at 1:36 am

    @lamh36:
    I overheard an old white fart talking about how now that we have a democratic house all those immigrants will come streaming over the border. There really are people as dumb as posts in this world. Unfortunately they vote. Fortunately here in the land of nuts and berries, or is it fruits and berries, we out number them by just a tad. Nancy Pelosi got 85.5% of the vote in her district. My somewhat lackluster rep, Judy Chu, got 78.4%, against a Dem.

  94. 94.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 8, 2018 at 9:07 am

    Nazi Times has decided to go full Fox

    Mueller Was Running on Borrowed Time. Has it Run Out?
    In forcing out Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the president seems to want a lawman he can control.

    NY AG please check their damn finances.

  95. 95.

    Elizabelle

    November 8, 2018 at 9:46 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Agree. David Cay Johnston should work it, or assign it to someone he oversees as he himself keeps eyes on Trump.

  96. 96.

    Spinoza Is My Co-Pilot

    November 8, 2018 at 11:05 am

    “Nobody is above the law”.

    Ah, it would be pretty to think so, wouldn’t it?

    We’re going to find out (in re: Trump) sooner rather than later, though, aren’t we?

    Even if Mueller has the sort of serious shit on Trump most of us believe is there (up to and including money laundering for Russia) and is allowed to put it out there, I fully expect Trump to call it “fake news” and say, essentially, “yeah, you and what army?” to any attempt to bring him to justice. The Republican leadership and the 10s of millions of MAGAts would fully support him in that. That’s the lesson of Watergate for today’s fascists. Then what?

    I know, I know, I’m being an eeyore again. Sorry, I promise to do better.

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