Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Books are my comfort food!

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

When we show up, we win.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Goddamned Traitors / Buzz-Sted

Buzz-Sted

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Guys, I’m starting to think there’s something to this Buzzfeed story about Trump suborning perjury and obstructing justice:

Hold up, Gidley — let a pro show you how to deflect:

Except last week Trump said actual supermarket tabloid rag The National Enquirer is more credible than The Washington Post, and The National Enquirer was running interference for Trump during the 2016, as we now know.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the only one who remembers the go-to strategy of straight-up lying:

Well, lying is her full-time job. Anyhoo, I hesitate to say it, but this feels something like a turning point. We’ll see.

Reader Interactions

189Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    Gingrich dismisses Buzzfeed News as a “grocery store tabloid” after bombshell Cohen story

    Also Gingrich: “Did you see that National Enquirer headline about Hillary Clinton’s terminal illness?”

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    Her staff conveniently listed it on her agenda under Recipes, so yes, it is categorically false. //

  7. 7.

    chopper

    i actually know the founder/owner of buzzfeed and as much as i like to fuck with him over all the bullshit listicle stuff they’re always putting out, they actually honestly give a solid shit about the news section. this is some solid reporting and they’re not going to back off it.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    I hope your instincts are better than mine. When the republican senate voted to lift the sanctions against Russia I lost hope.
    We know that Russia hacked into the RNC and other emails, but we still don’t know what they got.

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    Feels like a turning point to me too, as certainly several people around trumpov would have known/heard/been present when trumpov has told Cohen (and probably many others) to lie for him. And Mueller would have all of that – he’s talked to most of those ‘many others’, and he has Cohen’s tapes and testimony.

    One thing I want to point out, noted first by Josh Marshall at TPM: trumpov appears to be playing a game of chicken with Cohen and in today’s tweet (about ‘look at his father in law!’) he upped the ante. He clearly wants Cohen to either recant or to pay a heavy price for bringing him down.

    …I want to discuss some details in the background of that new Buzzfeed reporting about Trump, Cohen and the Trump Tower Moscow deal. It’s more a matter of deduction, inference and some speculation. But you can’t understand what’s happening between Trump and Cohen without this part of the story.

    As noted in last night’s post, the most logical source of this story is federal law enforcement centered out of New York City. But Michael Cohen also appears to be talking extensively to congressional investigators. In any case, President Trump obviously knows whatever it is he himself did. He doesn’t need to hear about it from Buzzfeed or sources on Capitol Hill. For all these reasons, President Trump clearly has a lot to fear from Michael Cohen, about topics that go far beyond the details of his hush money payments and campaign finance law violations. Trump wants to punish Cohen and shut him up.

    Next consider that ABC News reported yesterday that Cohen was thinking of rolling back his congressional testimony because he feared President Trump’s escalating attacks are endangering his family. I checked in on this and Cohen’s worries seem to be two-tiered. One is the standard and understandable fear that the President’s railing could trigger some unhinged person to do something violent and rash. But it’s hard to figure where Trump’s comments are more likely to do that this week than they were last week or last month. The other concern – I suspect the driving concern – is that Cohen worries that Trump is trying to endanger his family, specifically his father-in-law, either legally or through violence.

    This requires closer attention

    So…what does trumpov know about Cohen that makes Cohen vulnerable at this point? What’s Josh referring to here? (Frankly, I dunno…I couldn’t get through the paywall! LOL) But I can hazard a guess at two things. One, trumpov knows Cohen is all mobbed up…and as far as I can tell, that is the part where Cohen’s cooperation with Mueller does not extend. Cohen is willing to talk about trumpov, but not his mob connections. Trumpov surely senses this, and thinks that somehow disclosing this, or threatening to, will save him.

    Second, as Josh hinted at, trumpov may well be trying to incite violence against Cohen and Cohen’s family…not just from mobsters who want Cohen to keep quiet, but from Putin’s people as well. (Not that there isn’t significant overlap between the two anyway). And he so very badly lacks restraint that between now and Feb 7th, it would not shock me terribly to see trumpov hinting even more strongly at this.

    We’re going to see some amazing things happen in the weeks to come. But at this point I have no doubt that trumpov won’t even finish his term.

  12. 12.

    jl

    If the Buzzfeed story is accurate, we have something that could very credibly be put on a bill of impeachment that has very serious historical precedent for being very seriously impeachment-worthy crime (Nixon).

    What we also had in Watergate was the crimes that explained why it was necessary for Nixon to order his flunkies to lie to Congress. I think that created what Congress considered to be an acceptable popular consensus that impeachment was justified. I don’t think we have a clear picture of a larger crime that explains why Trump ordered Cohen to lie. There may not be one, at least not one Trump is personally involved in. Trump just might be that complete an idiot. But I’d guess not, there is some larger thing that explains the lie.

    So, we are at a turning point in that our asinine and corrupt corporate national news outlets feel they have permission now, or gives them courage in face of reactionary Trumpist attacks, to take seriously the idea that Trump is first and foremost a crook, and that is an actual issue, real ‘news’.

    I don’t think we have a clear enough picture of what the larger crime was, or is, yet. That will be the real turning point, and maybe one that can tell us exactly how implicated national GOP power structure is involved in Russian pay-for-play. We need more details on the larger crime, if there is one.

    Or it may just be a series of blatant, but ad hoc, Trump emolument clause violations, and we just have to get a clearer list of countries.

    That is my two cents.

  15. 15.

    MattF

    @kindness: I think the big question is who leaks when the report is finished. Everyone is more or less assuming that it will leak ASAP— but who knows.

  16. 16.

    Mike in NC

    Mueller is gonna need the proverbial bigger boat to land not only the Trump Crime Family, but all of the peripheral players and enablers like Hannity, Gingrich, Sanders, Giuliani, McConnell, Ryan, Christie, Dershowitz, etc.

  17. 17.

    wvng

    @jl: the larger crime would be an agreement between Trump and Russia that he would end sanctions on the Russian banks that were lined up to finance the Trump branded building.

  18. 18.

    jl

    @Jeffro: Multiple reports place Cohen’s statements in the role of providing confirmation, tying together pieces that would have been tied together sooner or later anyway. They got Cohen’s trove of cell phones and records, after all.

    So, use of Cohen’s statements and testimony was more for efficiency in wrapping the investigation up in a timely way. Not critical to the ultimate findings. Cohen ‘relenting’ won’t do much at this point. But, we already know Trump is a vast and endless fool.

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    @MattF: This may have already been posted but apparently Ivanka issued a statement through her spokesperson that she knew nothing about any of this, not even minimally involved, etc etc.

    Peeps, I do believe the rats are about to start eating each other. Something like that, anyway.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @wvng: Looking more and more like that. Buzzfeed report also seems to confirm that the ROI on the Trump Russian hotel deal was unjustifiably immense. One deal worth more than a decade of Trump hotels deals combined. If true, that would explain a lot. That would be one, but perhaps not the only, big cash flow for Trump’s pay-off.

  22. 22.

    laura

    Shit’s getting real.
    There’s a palpable tectonic shift occuring.
    I have to believe that Republicans are starting to weigh the benefits of abandoning him in hopes of saving their skins. What the “news” media does is unknown except for those like the Atlantic and Charlie Pierce who are calling upon Congress to begin bringing Articles of Impeachment as part of their Article I duties to protect the nation.
    Here we go…

  23. 23.

    Baud

    Obstructng Justice
    Suborning perjury
    Harboring terrorists
    Committing treason
    Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

    The possibilities are endless.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    While it is true the whole country knows that everyone Trump hires is a liar, we’re all thinking Mueller has more than Cohen- he would need more than Cohen because…we all know that everyone Trump hires is a liar.

    That goes without saying. They can just roll that into anything that is revealed going forward- they’re all liars. We know.

    If it was just another Trump hire lying about something it would be “one of them opening their mouths” therefore not news.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    @MattF: I’m not sure about Ivanka, but Mueller can definitely be brought up on state charges. I think he’s more concerned about Putin.

  30. 30.

    GregB

    This is all a distraction. We should be thanking Trump for totally destroying ISIS who are currently leaving their prayer mats at the US border with Mexico.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    Incidentally this is true in all criminal enterprises. They’re all criminals. If the fact that cooperating witnesses were themselves often also criminals scuttled investigations we wouldn’t have any investigations at all. They’re not honest. That’s why they were inside the criminal enterprise. There won’t be any honest, upstanding witnesses to the operations of Trump Inc. People like that don’t work there.

  37. 37.

    joel hanes

    @Jeffro:

    trumpov may well be trying to incite violence against Cohen

    Cohen’s arm currently in a sling; he’s got a shiner, and his hand has abrasions.

    He “fell”, I suppose. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

  39. 39.

    Kay

    Why did Donald Trump tell Cohen to lie about Donald Trump’s meetings with Russians?

    “Meeting with Russians about a business deal” isn’t illegal. Promoting his sleazy business enterprises while president isn’t illegal either, apparently, since the whole Trump family have done it since the moment he took office.

    So why lie?

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack

    @jl:

    So, use of Cohen’s statements and testimony was more for efficiency in wrapping the investigation up in a timely way.

    Cohen’s testimony may be an important way to get certain facts on the record without compromising intel “sources and methods.” I.e., “We knew this before, but we’d prefer not to say how we knew.”

  41. 41.

    jl

    @debbie: I didn’t know. I could not imagine Trump was that childish, stupid and ignorant. I thought he was a smart enough swindler to ride what previous administrations have built and get hundreds of millions that way, through ‘honest graft’. But, my God, the guy is an idiot. A lethally dangerous idiot in his current position, but still a pathetic idiot.

  44. 44.

    piratedan

    @Kay: c’mon Kay… you know…. after publicly stating and his campaign publicly stating and his transition committee publicly stating that he had no dealings with Russia it was a way to paint HRC as a liar and the IC lackeys as liars and it also allowed Vlad to laugh up his sleeve, so it served its purpose at the time and in return, Vlad and his buddies have the money tap turned back on and DJT and his family get to wet their collective beaks….

  45. 45.

    jl

    @Steeplejack: But even so, getting Cohen to ‘relent’ somehow is useless at this point. Trump is really stupid to draw public attention to even more dirt that he’s been involved in. But, hey, let Trump proceed as he sees best. I’m fine with it, personally.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    @chopper: And the “Choose Toppings for This Pizza and We’ll Tell You How Tall Your Future Spouse Is” crap keeps the yoots visiting that site, so maybe they absorb a little news too. It’s not a bad thing! :)

  49. 49.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Another song comes to mind for Trump. Maybe someone can arrange to play it for him at some venue?

    Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
    Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
    Subtle innuendos follow
    There must be something on the inside

  52. 52.

    Yarrow

    @Jeffro: Kremlin Barbie is a liar and a traitor. It’ll be her turn in the barrel soon. Emitting vacuous word salad while sitting very still and twisting her face into something resembling a smile isn’t going to save her this time.

  55. 55.

    Raven

    @zhena gogolia:

    James Norton is still keen to reprise his role on Happy Valley, but says “nothing’s guaranteed” when it comes to a third series.

    Back in 2016, series lead Sarah Lancashire – who plays tortured copper Catherine Cawood – revealed that she’d agreed to return for a “very final ending”.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    @Mike in NC:
    This is one time I encourage incarceration at a facility operated by a prison industry corporation. All of them can savor the free market cost-effectiveness.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    wouldn’t this be the ideal time to subpoena his tax returns, while he’s already reeling and losing support?

    I don’t get why it wasn’t done as soon as the new congress convened (assuming it hasn’t)

  61. 61.

    Quinerly

    @joel hanes: I read that Cohen had previously scheduled shoulder surgery. The blackeye is questionable. He has bags under his eyes/dark circles. Think it was the NY Post that had a mention of shoulder surgery.

  63. 63.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Obstructng Justice
    Suborning perjury
    Harboring terrorists
    Committing treason
    Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

    “Litt’rin’ [and they all moved away from me on the Group W bench] … and creatin’ a nuisance” [and they all moved back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench]

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Raven: Josh Marshall has put his piece on Cohen’s FIL behind the paywall, but as I recall the old man was trump’s first connection to the Russian mob, that’s how trump met Cohen. I kind of doubt that’s a thread he really wants people pulling on, but all he knows is to lash out.

  72. 72.

    Quinerly

    @Raven: been meaning to ask… How was the Spotted Cat? Did you make it to Checkpoint Charlie’s? When I was going to NOLA 2-3 times a year the Cat was my favorite hangout. Love that little area around Frenchman.

  73. 73.

    JPL

    @zhena gogolia: Is he returning to Happy Valley?
    That was quite the transformation from Tommy to Sydney.

    I hadn’t seen Raven’s comment yet, and I just don’t know how many times you can flip back and forth.

  74. 74.

    Yarrow

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Rolling Stone has a pretty good summary of Cohen, his family and the family he married into. This section is about his uncle and his father-in-law:

    He grew up on Long Island, the son of a physician who survived the Holocaust in Poland, and like Tom Hagen spent a childhood around organized crime, specifically the Russian Mafiya. Cohen’s uncle, Morton Levine, was a wealthy Brooklyn doctor who owned the El Caribe Country Club, a Brooklyn catering hall and event space that was a well-known hangout for Russian gangsters. Cohen and his siblings all had ownership stakes in the club, which rented for years to the first Mafiya boss of Brighton Beach, Evsei Agron, along with his successors, Marat Balagula and Boris Nayfeld. (Cohen’s uncle said his nephew gave up his stake in the club after Trump’s election.)

    I spoke to two former federal investigators who told me Cohen was introduced to Donald Trump by his father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ukraine who arrived in the U.S. in 1975. Shusterman was in the garment business and owned a fleet of taxicabs with his partners, Shalva Botier and Edward Zubok – all three men were convicted of a money-laundering related offense in 1993. “Fima may have been a (possibly silent) business partner with Trump, perhaps even used as a conduit for Russian investors in Trump properties and other ventures,” a former federal investigator told me. “Cohen, who married into the family, was given the job with the Trump Org as a favor to Shusterman.” (“Untrue,” Cohen told me. “Your source is creating fake news.”)

  75. 75.

    Gravenstone

    @trollhattan: No thanks. Too easy to bribe someone to let them run (or let other prisoners have access to them). Supermax or bust. Or I could be convinced to convert Gitmo to Club Fed – Republican edition.

  78. 78.

    Bill Arnold

    @jl:

    Looking more and more like that. Buzzfeed report also seems to confirm that the ROI on the Trump Russian hotel deal was unjustifiably immense.

    I recall noticing a behavior shift by DJT toward Putin immediately after the Cohen guilty plea and the subsequent Peskov reveal of related emails:
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-30/russia-s-peskov-shares-2016-emails-from-ex-trump-lawyer-cohen
    It was like this (Trump Tower Moscow dates) was one of Putin’s main leverage (blackmail) items on DJT, and it was revealed/Cohen destroyed it.
    Does anyone recall more, or similar? Trying to find the relevant news items.

  80. 80.

    JPL

    I assume trump is resigning tomorrow because he tweeted this

    I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the

  84. 84.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the

    ? Gold plated crapper?

  86. 86.

    piratedan

    @Ella in New Mexico: my guess is he’ll double down and declare a national emergency any-fucking-way and will say something stupid like the government will stay closed until the wall is completed.

  87. 87.

    Ruckus

    @Gravenstone:
    l agree. I’ve been to Gitmo and it’s a swell place. That was prior to the lavish accommodations built in the last 20 or so years, but I can’t imagine that ruined the ambiance much at all. And running? Yeah that’s not really an option. Unless one is a really good swimmer. And I mean really, really, really long distance fucking good. And swimming is by far your best option.

  88. 88.

    smintheus

    I really wish Democrats would be a lot more circumspect about this report by Jason Leopold because he has massive problems of credibility. I take all his claims with a huge grain of salt. If the facts are as he claims, then that info will come out soon enough…either confirmed by more credible reporters or in any case revealed by Mueller. If the facts are not (fully) as reported, then the road to impeaching Trump becomes a lot more difficult because Democrats are going to feel that they have already been burned.

    In fact, Leopold and Cormier can’t seem to get their story straight today about which evidence if any they have seen to back up their 2 sources’ claims. Cormier says he has seen no evidence. Leopold, slippery as ever, says or implies that he kinda sorta has seen some (hand wave) sort of evidence.

    Long before Leopold made his click-bait claim back in 2006 about Karl Rove’s supposed indictment, I had learned not to trust him. Sometimes, maybe often, he tells the truth and has the goods. But ‘sometimes’ isn’t good enough.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    @JPL:
    He doesn’t know the next move, he thinks he knows the next move. And he thinks he can bully the chessmen to do whatever he wants because for him there are no rules, other than cheating is accepted. But it’s not his game, his board, his men, his rules, or his turn.

  91. 91.

    Dmbeaster

    What the press should also stress in pressing Trump people for a response. Whether or not Trump directed him to lie, he knew Cohen was lying to Congress, and what did he do about it? Happily accepted the benefit of Cohen’s lie, as did all the other members of his family.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    Gingrich dismisses Buzzfeed News as a “grocery store tabloid” after bombshell Cohen story

    Except last week Trump said actual supermarket tabloid rag The National Enquirer is more credible than The Washington Post

    Exactamundo!

    These shameless criminal goobers need to be thrown under the goddam jail.

  93. 93.

    different-church-lady

    @germy: Ah yes, I remember when respected conservative gossip bauble of record Drudge Report was completely wrong about the blue dress…

  94. 94.

    Jeffro

    @joel hanes: I think I read where he had shoulder surgery (which explains the sling and hand – that’s where they put the IV in) and the shiner was a trick of the light? But let’s see

  95. 95.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    , but this feels something like a turning point.

    The shut down is the turning point, this just allows to not look like they are upset they aren’t getting their white welfare.

  96. 96.

    JPL

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: As of now Sunday Morning News Shows would cover obstruction of justice. Trump is a master of changing the subject, so he will declare a national emergency. The republicans will kiss his ass in praise.

  97. 97.

    Bill Arnold

    @chopper:

    i figure if all that shit pays for the real journalism then hell yes.

    Sort of like how, in reverse, the WSJ real news pages pay for their editorial page.

  100. 100.

    Sebastian

    Serious question: Can Congress force Sarah Huckabee-Sanders to appear and testify under oath?

    Because by golly, I’d pay good money to see that.

  102. 102.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Yarrow: US media massiively betrayed public by failing to publicize widely and often the sleaze of US and Russian mob ties Trump is covered with!!

  106. 106.

    Seanly

    Trump just has to limp past this weekend and the remainder of his term won’t count as full term for purposes of Pence finishing it. And what a complete shitshow it would be if Trump resigned in the middle of a Federal shutdown.

    I’ve thought one scenario was that the Republicans only hang with Trump until he’s President for 2 years and a day. The next 2 years won’t count as a term for President Pence. The Republican fever dream would be 10 years of President Pence. Now I don’t think Pence would be able to get elected to his first full term in 2020, but Republicans probably think they can do that.

  108. 108.

    Martin

    @Seanly:

    Now I don’t think Pence would be able to get elected to his first full term in 2020, but Republicans probably think they can do that.

    No, they don’t. While I have no doubt they would be thrilled to have him as President, they aren’t so deluded as to think he could get elected.

  109. 109.

    Mary G

    @Ruckus: Comments like this make me wish for ability to upvote it. Exactly not his turn. He’s a two-year-old playing chess with Gary K.

  110. 110.

    JPL

    @chopper: It could work. Federal employees get paid and all is good in the world. The republicans will once again kiss his ass. Dictator in chief.

  112. 112.

    Martin

    So, we’re either getting our national emergency, or Trump is outsourcing operation of the country to Mexico.

  117. 117.

    Quinerly

    Mrs. Pompeo be traveling with her hubby. Unpaid staffers making the arrangements. “At a time when most State Department staff weren’t allowed to travel for work and some weren’t even allowed to use their work phones, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s wife Susan embarked on an eight-day trip with her husband, requiring unpaid staffers to prepare and support her across the Middle East.”
    https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/01/18/politics/pompeo-wife-middle-east-trip/

  118. 118.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @jl:

    Mini-mikes in the ceiling,
    Cameras in spy-holes –
    (& Muller said) Watch them all convict themselves
    From their own pie-holes.
    Down in Fat Bastard’s bunker
    They gather for the viewing.
    They spin lies with their spitting tongues
    But this soap opera’s not renewing…

    ..

  125. 125.

    MisterForkbeard

    @smintheus: I get what you’re saying here, but this doesn’t logically follow:

    In fact, Leopold and Cormier can’t seem to get their story straight today about which evidence if any they have seen to back up their 2 sources’ claims. Cormier says he has seen no evidence. Leopold, slippery as ever, says or implies that he kinda sorta has seen some (hand wave) sort of evidence.

    If Leopold says he may have seen evidence and Cormier says he hasn’t, there’s no contradiction and no “story to get straight”. But you’re kind of barking up the wrong tree here – most Democrats (especially elected ones) have said “If this is true, Trump needs to be resigned or get impeached.” The ‘IF” is very important there.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Natalie Brand @ NatalieABrand
    “A senior administration official told MajorCBS that President Trump will present what the White House believes could be a deal to end the shutdown The deal was largely influenced by talks between VP Pence, Senate Maj. Leader McConnell and Jared Kushner”

    what about Ann Coulter and trump’s friend Jim who’s afraid to go to Paris?

  129. 129.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    I assume trump is resigning tomorrow because he tweeted this

    I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the

    Is he feeling frisky enough to try for his “national emergency” Hail Mary?

    Fox News and the Sunday pundit shows must be happy as pigs in slop to get more crap to bloviate about.

  130. 130.

    Mandalay

    As far as I know, there had never been any running event at any distance in which a woman has run faster than any man. Well that has changed:

    It is Britain’s most brutal running race – 268 miles non-stop along the Pennine Way, from Edale in Derbyshire to the Scottish Borders, in January. Jasmin Paris, who is still breastfeeding her 14-month-old daughter Rowan, and was expressing milk along the way, this week beat 136 other competitors – including 125 men – from 15 different countries, to win the Montane Spine Race outright. In the process, on Wednesday, she smashed the men’s course record by more than 12 hours.

    I realize that there is no Olympic event for running 268 miles, and the race is not run that often, but a woman now holds the record, and she beat 125 men to win. And she’s a working mom who didn’t even start running until she was 25. It’s a mind boggling achievement to me.

  132. 132.

    divF

    @Quinerly:

    …requiring unpaid staffers to prepare and support her across the Middle East.

    They are serving as bearers for her palanquin.

  133. 133.

    Seanly

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Hmmm, there is a notable lack of input from the House of Representatives. I would bet that they try to pin this major failship on Democrats. “We put forward a bill with the money Trump wanted and Democrats voted against it. They must hate America and our Federal workers.”

  134. 134.

    JPL

    @Brachiator: That was my second guess because he needs to change the subject for the Sunday Morning Talk Shows. This lawbreaking crap is not helping him. the national emergency thing is probably lawbreaking also.

    Erin Burnette said the pres is trying to change the subject.. duh and Pompeo’s wife is accompanying him on travels.

  135. 135.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Chris Megerian @ ChrisMegerian
    -Who saw Michael Cohen’s false testimony before he gave it to Congress?
    Rudy Giuliani tells me it was shared with the president’s lawyers ahead of time.
    John Dowd, the president’s lawyer at that point, says he didn’t give it to Trump.

    -But did the president talk to Michael Cohen about his testimony?
    “I don’t know if the president had an individual conversation with him,” Rudy Giuliani told me.

    -It’s clear that all of this has drawn scrutiny from Robert Mueller.
    In a court filing, the special counsel said Michael Cohen “described the circumstances of preparing and circulating his response to the congressional inquiries.”

    I’ve heard other people advise caution about Leopold, and no other networks are confirming the story, but if we’re talking about prepared testimony, I can easily imagine our phone-addicted president discussing it with Cohen

  136. 136.

    Martin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “A senior administration official told MajorCBS that President Trump will present what the White House believes could be a deal to end the shutdown The deal was largely influenced by talks between VP Pence, Senate Maj. Leader McConnell and Jared Kushner”

    Oh good lord is Pelosi going to twist the knife on that crew.

  139. 139.

    Jeffro

    @Martin: It is kinda funny…kinda…how Pence is like Even Dumber Ford, and trumpov is like Extremely Dumber and Corrupt Nixon

  140. 140.

    Martin

    @JPL: I’m guessing they’re going to propose cutting off federal funding to California or some idiotic shit like that. Build us a wall or we’ll set the atmosphere on fire. This is like a live action Pinky and the Brain extended episode.

  141. 141.

    smintheus

    @Ladyraxterinok: Yes. Leopold claimed while the investigation was still ongoing that he had sources who knew that Karl Rove had already been indicted. It was absurd.

    @MisterForkbeard: If they’re working together, they should both be aware of the supposed evidence seen. Cormier’s response to a question implies he knew nothing about any such evidence. Leopold was vague and sketchy. That seems like a clue something isn’t quite solid here. Also the fact that the range of accompanying details you’d expect in a well reported story are absent.

    I do think far too many Democrats are rushing toward the shiny object. We first need a credible investigation to determine whether that shiny object actually exists. I’m pleased that the media and Democrats in DC are suddenly more willing to treat impeachment as a valid path forward, but I’m afraid that if that willingness is tied too closely to Leopold’s report then the momentum for impeachment could be lost if it turns out to be another of his phantasms.

  143. 143.

    Redshift

    @Martin:

    No, they don’t. While I have no doubt they would be thrilled to have him as President, they aren’t so deluded as to think he could get elected.

    Republicans in general probably aren’t, but I bet evangelicals are.

  144. 144.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Can we start a GoFundMe page to hire some constitutional lawyers to draft articles of impeachment? You know, help move this thing along?

  145. 145.

    Mandalay

    @joel hanes:

    Cohen’s arm currently in a sling; he’s got a shiner, and his hand has abrasions. He “fell”, I suppose. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

    That reminds me of a much more innocent time, back in 2008 when Charlie Rose had a shiner. Rose’s story was also that he fell (when trying to catch a dropped laptop), and his bullshit story was generally accepted.

    With hindsight, I find it far more likely that Rose was trying to rape someone, who hurled the nearest object she could find at him. And no, I am not joking. There’s no way Rose’s face ended up looking like that after trying to catch a laptop.

  146. 146.

    TS (the original)

    @Martin: Maybe trump is going to ask McConnell to bring a bill to the floor – to show he is the adult – and will allow the workers to be paid. The media will then – of course – say “THIS is when he became presidential”

  149. 149.

    trollhattan

    @BruceFromOhio:

    That fucking reptile needs a good stomping.

    I am objectively pro Newt-stomp. Let’s make this happen, then collect Ken Starr, Giuliani and Dersh for Stomp #2, Liars’ Boogaloo.

  151. 151.

    Jeffro

    So what do we think this “deal” made…between GOP preznit* and GOP turtle and Jared will consist of? Why do I have a feeling it’s something like

    “Give us everything we want, and we’ll let Nancy fly to Afghanistan…TWICE!”

    or

    “Bow to all our demands x eleventy, and we will stop caging kids”

    Shorter: it’s going to be laughable on its face.

    The Turtle’s mind must be on overload trying to figure out how trumpov goes down (possibly pulling the GOP with him) without taking ol’ ruble-loving Mitch down with him as well.

  152. 152.

    TS (the original)

    @Martin:

    they aren’t so deluded as to think he could get elected.

    They didn’t think trump would get elected.

  153. 153.

    Suzanne

    Twitter sez that the Suborner-in-Chief will declare a state of emergency in order to distract from today’s bad news.

  155. 155.

    The Dangerman

    @trollhattan:

    Dear lord, the collective IQ of a mid-priced toaster oven.

    I’m calling shenanigans on “mid-priced”; we’re talking bargain bin stuff here.

    ETA: Maybe one of those Easy Bake Ovens, but no better than a 40 watt bulb

  156. 156.

    Suzanne

    @Jeffro: Pelosi has been amazing so far, much respect.

    I don’t know what Dems can do if/when a state of emergency is declared.

  159. 159.

    Quinerly

    @JPL: Robert Mueller’s office is disputing BuzzFeed News’ story: “BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate”

  160. 160.

    Geoduck

    Only slightly related, but speaking of tabloids- while in the checkout line I was interested to note that the Globe has a headline piece slagging, of all people, Rush Limbaugh. Maybe they view him as Just Another Celebrity, but it would seem to be taking a chance with angering the sort of people who actually pay for tabloids.

  163. 163.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Mandalay:

    There’s no way Rose’s face ended up looking like that after trying to catch a laptop.

    Sure there is: The laptop slips off the far edge of the desk, you instinctively jump up from the chair to catch it, your foot slips out from under you, & your eye socket bangs into the lip of the desktop. Near-instant shiner, especially for an auld phart who probably breaks capillaries when he blinks.

    NOT saying that’s what happened, just that it’s not all that ridiculous a possibility. I have many times banged into a kitchen cabinet door left half-open when my face was too close to trigger the ranging facility of binocular vision.

  169. 169.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: so the Buzzfeed story is the new pee tape, the reed they cling to while braying about fake news and false accusations. Donnie Jr still typed “I love it!” when told (reminded?) of the Russian gov’t’s desire to aid the trump campaign

  170. 170.

    Mike in Pasadena

    I realize this thread is old and I couldn’t get to it earlier and still haven’t read all of it because the rain finally stopped in So Cal so you know, yard work intervened. Here’s the question that may have been discussed. Was this release of information planned to take the wind out of the sails of Cohen’s testimony on this subject? Who benefits from this news being released? Does the release of this info now, before Cohen returns to testify before the House and before Mueller’s report is submitted to the AG, help or hurt action based on the Mueller report? Shorter version: What impact is the release of this information going to have on the progress of Mueller’s work and an investigation by the House? Okay, back to the thread….

  171. 171.

    Yarrow

    @Quinerly: Doesn’t actually surprise me. I am skeptical when a second news organization can’t confirm a big story like that by the end of the next day. Also, the reporters could have got played. We’re in hall of mirrors territory and they could be pawns in the Active Measure game.

  172. 172.

    Jeffro

    @Cheryl Rofer: NOTYET NOTYET NOTYET YOU BOZOS WE’RE ABOUT TO DROP THE MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS ON THIS CLOWN!!!! LET’S NOT LET SOME DUMB COHEN STORY SPOIL THE EPIC-EST EVER OF EPIC STORIES IN THE HISTORY OF EPICS!
    -Mueller and Co. who have been working on this crap for two years non-stop and can’t get Twitler to quit committing MORE crimes long enough to wrap up the report

  175. 175.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Ever since I saw Barr’s performance before Congress, and found out he is BFFs with Mueller, I suddenly have doubts about Mueller.

    Why would he allow his office to go public now, especially for this?

    What the hell is going on?

  177. 177.

    TS (the original)

    @Quinerly: Probably discovered that the marriage isn’t all she thought it would be – and having the Davos trip cancelled – another step towards the end.

  179. 179.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @The Midnight Lurker: trump had a similar reaction

    Kaitlan Collins @ kaitlancollins
    New — President Trump was startled as he watched Bill Barr describe his warm relationship with Robert Mueller, bristling at his glowing remarks and telling people he didn’t realize how much their work overlapped.

  180. 180.

    jl

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks, That does cast some doubt on the story. However, it’s not an explicit or specific denial of the substance of the story, it is a denial about the accuracy of sourcing of the evidence to the Special Counsel.

    We don’t know who the two investigator who were sources for the story are, or who they work for.There is SDNY FBI and NY State investigators. We don’t know whether or how they shaded some details to keep their anonymity.

    Hopefully we’ll get further information that further supports or debunks the Buzzfeed story soon.

  183. 183.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @TS (the original):

    The media will then – of course – say “THIS is when he became presidential”

    Haven’t they pretty much stopped that? The worm really has turned, just so slowly it’s been hard to notice. As far as I can tell, the current Narrative is, “He can’t be as stupid as he acts, right?”

    @Jeffro:

    Give us everything we want, and we’ll let Nancy fly to Afghanistan…TWICE!”

    If they had her a fake deal, Nancy is smart enough to be totally direct and answer publicly with “We didn’t agree to this last time. Why does he think we will now?”

    The Turtle’s mind must be on overload trying to figure out how trumpov goes down (possibly pulling the GOP with him) without taking ol’ ruble-loving Mitch down with him as well.</blockquote
    McConnell is not stupid. He's not the mastermind his reputation suggests, but he's not stupid. He ought to be able to tell whether what they're offering is dead in the water. What I'm not sure is whether he cares.

  186. 186.

    Gex

    @Jeffro: I wish they had put this out there earlier before the big announcement of tomorrow’s big announcement. Now the big mess Trump makes to change the subject will be foisted upon us for no reason.

  189. 189.

    Mike in Pasadena

    @jl: You are right. The SC does not say, “The story is false” or “There is absolutely no truth in the Buzzfeed story.” The SC says that two things “are not accurate” — (1) description of specific statements, and (2) characterization of documents and testimony.
    Interesting. Descriptions and characterization are not accurate. Okay. A less then definitive denial, or declaration of falsity. It is not an unambiguous statement that there is nothing truthful about Buzzfeed’s story. No doubt someone else has written the same thing. If so, I agree.

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