Thanks to an intrepid White House pool videographer, we have footage of the President meeting with his cabinet today.
Open thread!
Footage of the President Meeting With (What’s Left of) His CabinetPost + Comments (71)
by Adam L Silverman| 71 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, Crazification Factor, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Humorous, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Not Normal
Thanks to an intrepid White House pool videographer, we have footage of the President meeting with his cabinet today.
Open thread!
Footage of the President Meeting With (What’s Left of) His CabinetPost + Comments (71)
by Adam L Silverman| 81 Comments
This post is in: America, Crazification Factor, Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, General Stupidity, Not Normal
The brave resistance fighters in the War on Christmas have risked life and limb to smuggle out this footage from War on Christmas detainee camp #6, also known by its official name of Camp Kringle. The conditions in the war on Christmas detainee camps are worse than anyone could have imagined…
The resistance informs me that since Camp Kringle is full, new detainees are being sent to Camp Sugar Plum Fairies (Camp 17), Camp Sleigh Bells (Camp 72), and Camp Lords a Leaping (Camp 134). All resistance units should be on alert for infiltrators and informants!
Stay Frosty. Just like those three guys in the front row the between the Santas…
Open thread!
by Adam L Silverman| 173 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, Ammosexuals, Crazification Factor, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Gun nuts, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Clown car, Not Normal
Who wants to tell her?
Since everyone is just now realizing his staffers role in the #RussiaHoax We have been asking questions! John McCain Still Refuses to Answer Questions About His Role in the Dossier https://t.co/acsVdH1GTq
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) December 21, 2018
She might want to try using one of these:
Don’t be like Katrina Pierson!
Open thread.
Yes, I know the article she’s linked to is from 2017, but the tweet is from today.
There’s Dumb and Then There’s Katrina Pierson Dumb!Post + Comments (173)
by Adam L Silverman| 166 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, Domestic Politics, Foreign Affairs, Military, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, Not Normal
Here’s Secretary Mattis’s resignation letter. Professional, polite, cutting.
If we’re very, very lucky we’ll get GEN (ret) Keane as the next Secretary of Defense. If we’re not, we’ll get Senator Cotton.
Edited to Add: I have never seen a Marine sign a letter without either “Semper Fi” or “S/F” over their signature. I have former Marine teammates from when I was at USAWC who finish their informal emails to me with “S/F”. This is a tell!
Open thread!
Secretary Mattis’s Resignation Letter: That’s Going to Leave a Mark!Post + Comments (166)
by Adam L Silverman| 251 Comments
This post is in: America, Crazification Factor, Criminal Justice, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, Clown car, Not Normal
FLYNN LAWYER NOW SEEKS TO DELAY SENTENCING.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
Wants a sentencing delay to get the "last modicum" of cooperation benefit from EDVA case.
— Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) December 18, 2018
A status report on whether Flynn is ready for sentencing will be due by March 13 at noon
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018
This morning’s sentencing hearing are not going well for LTG Flynn or his lawyers. Judge Sullivan, a jurist whose rise to the Federal bench would be impossible in today’s politics, is not amused!
Not that this should matter but Judge Sullivan was first appointed to judicial positions by President Reagan and then President George H.W. Bush.
He was later made into a federal judge by President Bill Clinton.
A liberal Deep State mole he is not.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan started off displeased and moved to furious over the course of the morning’s hearing.
Judge requires Flynn to answer questions under oath, saying, "Mr. Flynn's brieifng concerned the court, as it raised issues that may affect or call into question his guilty plea, or at the very least his acceptance of responsibility….
— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) December 18, 2018
Sullivan reminded Flynn that lying while under oath could get him into “more trouble,” then asked Flynn at the time of the Jan. 24, 2017, interview, “Were you not aware that lying to FBI investigators was a crime
“I was aware,”Flynn said..
— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) December 18, 2018
Kelner also answered in the negative when asked by Sullivan if he contended that Flynn's rights were violated by the fact that no lawyer was present, that Flynn may have been dissuaded from a having lawyer present, at the Jan. 24, 2017 FBI interview…
— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan: Is Mr. Flynn still cooperating?
Gov: It “remains a possibility” that he’s still cooperating.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan: So Flynn could’ve also been charged in that indictment unsealed in Virginia yesterday, right? Gov: Yes.
Judge Sullivan: “Exposure to Mr. Flynn would have been significant?” Gov: Yes.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan to Michael Flynn: “Arguably, you sold your country out."
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan: “I’m not hiding my disgust, my distain for this criminal offense.”
Says he can’t guarantee he’s going to avoid incarceration. Gives Flynn yet another opportunity to speak with his lawyers.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan even asked the government whether Flynn could have been charged with treason for interfering in Russian sanctions imposed by Obama administration. Government didn’t want to go there.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018
Also, Eli Lake is still an idiot and a useless idiot to boot:
Michael Flynn is Owed an Apology https://t.co/Gb9ZFzB0s2
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) December 18, 2018
Don’t lie to the FBI, its rude and upsets their feelings. Don’t have your lawyers play silly semantic games in their sentencing recommendation memos, its rude and upsets the judge’s feelings.
On their very best day, the very best federal judge is still that kid who might wish you away into the cornfield at any second https://t.co/vaNco3UD0P
— NotOutlandishHat (@Popehat) December 18, 2018
I seriously hope that this train wreck wasn't a complete surprise to General Flynn — that SOMEBODY warned him that it might go this way, and that the signs were that the judge was mad. A client getting blindsided because nobody told him the truth is unacceptable.
— NotOutlandishHat (@Popehat) December 18, 2018
Unfortunately we are now doomed to three more months and dozens more posts at The Federalist; hot takes by Flynn’s conspiratorial minded supporters led by Flynn Jr, who is also a useless idiot; and Fox News hosts and commentators, like the Blue Footed Booby of Budapest (also a useless idiot) asking if Flynn was set up, if he actually committed a crime, if this is not part of the actual “real” investigation that will bring down the Deep State and the global pedophile ring they’re running.
Now we will get months more of pieces at @FDRLST and broadcasts by Hannity and Pirro about how Flynn will take down the Mueller probe at his final FINAL sentencing hearing
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) December 18, 2018
Open thread!
Update at 1:15 PM
If anyone is interested, I’ve uploaded the Flynn 302s, which the Special Counsel’s Office released with redactions last night.
Breaking News: LTG Flynn’s Sentencing Is????Post + Comments (251)
by Adam L Silverman| 114 Comments
This post is in: America, Ammosexuals, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Gun nuts, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, All Too Normal
In Anne Laurie’s post earlier today, one of the embedded tweets is from Adam Weinstein. As is the case for those doubly blessed to be named Adam and from Florida, he asks an excellent question:
https://twitter.com/AdamWeinstein/status/1073267024414064641
While Mig Greengard’s response below was good, I think there is, if not a better explanation/answer, a complementary one.
Of course not, and with good reason. 1) They only cared about the money. 2) The Putin regime isn’t against guns *in America*, but really only cared about the NRA as a conduit to the GOP and Trump, which the NRA likely understood and ignored due to point one. https://t.co/35JkhwoK4f
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) December 13, 2018
As some of you are aware, I have something of a hobby of staying current with the “armed intelligentsia”. This is a combination of two things. The first is they do really good gear reviews for outdoors equipment. The second is left over from my early, first career in academia where I did comparative research into domestic American extremists, contrasting them with those in other countries. These days I’m just largely interested in how Americans understand the history of and around the 2nd amendment and how it has changed over time. As I’ve indicated several times in comments, the best real history book on the topic is Saul Cornell’s A Well Regulated Militia. I also highly recommend his edited volume dealing with the history of modern American 2nd amendment jurisprudence. However, if you want to see what gun enthusiasts – from sport shooters to hardcore 2nd amendment absolutists – you need to read the comments. It may come as a surprise to some people reading this, but it is amazing what people will write and post as a comment when using a pseudonym. I know you’re all just shocked, shocked that such a thing could happen…
I’m not looking to pick a fight with anyone, but here are the links to the heaviest trafficked firearms website/blog on the Internet and how they covered Mariia Butina, her organization Right to Bear Arms, and gun rights/issues in Russia. Take a gander into the comments, do you notice anything? A lot of wishful thinking about how “the natural, civil, and constitutional” right to keep and bear arms might just be catching on and spreading to Russia. The truth is it isn’t. But what these comments tell provide us with an answer to Adam’s excellent question. It points us back to what Rick Perlstein wrote about several years ago in The Baffler (emphasis mine).
It would be interesting, that is, to ask Coulter about the reflex of lying that’s now sutured into the modern conservative movement’s DNA—and to get her candid assessment of why conservative leaders treat their constituents like suckers.
The history of that movement echoes with the sonorous names of long-dead Austrian economists, of indefatigable door-knocking cadres, of soaring perorations on a nation finally poised to realize its rendezvous with destiny. Search high and low, however, and there’s no mention of oilfields in the placenta. Nor anything about, say, the massive intersection between the culture of “network” or “multilevel” marketing—where ordinary folks try to get rich via pyramid schemes that leave their neighbors holding the bag—and the institutions of both evangelical Christianity and Mitt Romney’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
And yet this stuff is as important to understanding the conservative ascendancy as are the internecine organizational and ideological struggles that make up its official history—if not, indeed, more so. The strategic alliance of snake-oil vendors and conservative true believers points up evidence of another successful long march, of tactics designed to corral fleeceable multitudes all in one place—and the formation of a cast of mind that makes it hard for either them or us to discern where the ideological con ended and the money con began.
The conservative movement, and the political party that it is currently attached to, have so closed their informational system – from what sources are acceptable to what information is automatically deemed incorrect – that they are basically propagandizing themselves at this point. They only speak to each other, whether it is on Fox News, talk radio, social media, comments sections, what have you; they have imbued the language and terminology of American civic discourse with a special meaning that only really makes sense to themselves; and, as a result, they are susceptible to a variety of grifts. Once you’ve convinced yourself that the real reason for the 2nd amendment was to explicitly enumerate the natural and civil right for self defense – against both individuals and the state – in order to protect and safeguard all the other enumerated and unenumerated rights, you’ve also made yourself susceptible to believing that everyone else should be doing this too. And so when a somewhat attractive young woman shows up and tells you that a movement to establish the right that you think is the most important is taking root in Russia, you’ve already set yourself up to buy into the con. Because all of the resources that would quickly disabuse you of this notion are outside of the informational sources that you have been conditioned to find acceptable, all of the actual information that could be used for a reality check is going to be ignored, if it was even looked for at all. This is why Ben Carson thinks the 2nd Amendment has something to do with the Holocaust. It doesn’t. It is why the “armed intelligentsia” is convinced that Israeli teachers are armed. They’re not. The reason that conservatives in general, and the 2nd amendment absolutist community in specific, fell for this Russian active measure is that like with so much else, they’ve conned themselves.
Open thread.
An Answer to Adam Weinstein’s Question Regarding Mariia ButinaPost + Comments (114)
by Adam L Silverman| 125 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, Not Normal
For almost two years an important question has gone unanswered: what happened to all that money that was raised for the President’s inauguration? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York is now officially seeking answers. (emphasis mine)
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether President Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee misspent some of the record $107 million it raised from donations, people familiar with the matter said.
The criminal probe by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which is in its early stages, also is examining whether some of the committee’s top donors gave money in exchange for access to the incoming Trump administration, policy concessions or to influence official administration positions, some of the people said.
Giving money in exchange for political favors could run afoul of federal corruption laws. Diverting funds from the organization, which was registered as a nonprofit, could also violate federal law.
The investigation partly arises out of materials seized in the federal probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s business dealings, according to people familiar with the matter.
In April raids of Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents obtained a recorded conversation between Mr. Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to Melania Trump, who worked on the inaugural events. In the recording, Ms. Wolkoff expressed concern about how the inaugural committee was spending money, according to a person familiar with the Cohen investigation.
The Wall Street Journal couldn’t determine when the conversation between Mr. Cohen and Ms. Wolkoff took place, or why it was recorded. The recording is now in the hands of federal prosecutors in Manhattan, a person familiar with the matter said.
The inaugural committee has publicly identified vendors accounting for $61 million of the $103 million it spent, and it hasn’t provided details on those expenses, according to tax filings. As a nonprofit organization, the fund is only required to make public its top five vendors.
The committee raised more than double what former President Barack Obama’s first inaugural fund reported raising in 2009, the previous record.
Federal prosecutors have asked Richard Gates, a former campaign aide who served as the inaugural committee’s deputy chairman, about the fund’s spending and its donors, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Gates has met with prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office and special counsel Robert Mueller’s office.
Mr. Gates, who served as deputy in the inaugural fund, in February pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the U.S. involving foreign political consulting work unrelated to the campaign. The case was brought by Mr. Mueller’s office. Mr. Gates agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department in ongoing investigations.
The committee was headed by Thomas Barrack Jr., a real-estate developer and longtime friend of Mr. Trump. There is no sign the investigation is targeting Mr. Barrack, and he hasn’t been approached by investigators since he was interviewed by the special counsel’s office last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Mueller’s investigators, who are probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, asked Mr. Barrack only a handful of questions about the inaugural fund, the person said.
Mr. Mueller has also probed whether any foreign money flowed to the inaugural fund, which is prohibited from accepting foreign funds. In August, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, on a referral from Mr. Mueller, obtained a guilty plea from a Washington consultant who admitted he used a U.S. citizen to serve as a “straw purchaser” so that a “prominent Ukraine oligarch” could attend the inauguration. The names were never disclosed.
Much more at the link.
I have been thinking my way through a post on Thomas Barrack for the past week, but today’s Wall Street Journal reporting has sort of forced my hand. Not only was Barrack the chair of the President’s inaugural committee, he appears to be a key central bridging node between a number of the Gulf Arab states, like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and useless idiot Jared Kushner. Barrack advises the Emirati Crown Prince, who is himself the mentor of the Saudi Crown Prince. And Barrack is the person who recommended Paul Manafort to the President for his campaign. Barrack is a key node, if not the key node, into and out of the foreign influence campaigns – from Russia to the Emirates to Saudi – and the Trump administration and campaign. Which is why Special Counsel Mueller has expanded his investigation into these other foreign contacts and connections with the President’s 2016 campaign, his transition and inauguration, and his administration. Specifically those from the Middle East.
We are off the looking glass and through the map.
Open thread!