Sean Hannity just now: "I talked to Julian Assange, he says it's not Russia. I just spoke to @DanaRohrabacher and he believes him."
— Yashar Ali ?? (@yashar) September 6, 2017
Per Reuters:
President Donald Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., will testify privately to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as it investigates allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Trump Jr. had been invited to testify in public in a hearing in July, but reached an agreement to speak privately with committee staff.
“We look forward to a professional and productive meeting and appreciate the opportunity to assist the committee,” Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr., said in a statement on Wednesday…
Separately, Susan Rice, who was national security adviser for former President Barack Obama, testified on Tuesday before the House Intelligence Committee for about four hours.
Erin Pelton, a spokeswoman for Rice, said she had met voluntarily with the committee as part of its investigation. “Ambassador Rice remains fully supportive of bipartisan efforts to determine the extent and scope of Russia’s outrageous efforts to interfere in the 2016 election,” she said in a statement.
Rice had been subpoenaed by the committee as it looked into Republican concerns about whether anyone from the administration of Obama, a Democrat, had asked to “unmask” names of Trump campaign advisers picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts…
The Repubs will be all too eager to gin up more misogynistic/racist bullshit about Rice, but outside of the Fox-bubble, the real news will be how much Donny Junior gives away during / after his “private conversation”. I’ll bet the unfortunate Secret Service agents assigned to look after him are individually and collectively reconsidering their career choices, possibly over a few dozen adult beverages.
Big Daddy’s personal lawyer seems to be feeling some strain, too also…
NEW: Ty Cobb says in leaked emails that he&Kelly are the "adults in the room"—and explains why he's repping Trump https://t.co/dFoOIrHwOU
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 6, 2017
Mother Jones explicates:
In a bizarre late-night email exchange, President Donald Trump’s top White House lawyer working on the Russia scandal, Ty Cobb, said that he was serving in the White House because “more adults” were needed there and noted that he had made a financial sacrifice in order to take the job.
Cobb, a high-profile Washington, DC, lawyer well-known for defending companies and individuals facing government investigations, was put on the White House payroll by Trump in July. His mission: to serve as counsel handling matters related to the assorted Russia investigations under way…
Cobb’s interlocutor was, improbably, the owner of a Washington noodle shop called Toki. This restauranteur, Jeff Jetton, has been something of a mixer or an amateur investigator in the Russia scandal… On Tuesday evening, Jetton emailed Cobb out of the blue, having figured out Cobb’s White House email address. The two had never met or corresponded…
Not gonna try to summarize the ensuing tsuris, but believe me: it’s worth reading the whole thing.
And to finish the Three Stooges trilogy, remember this mook, Devin Nunes?
Nunes vents anger at Sessions over subpoena, threatens to hold AG, FBI chief in contempt – CNNPolitics https://t.co/f7htze6d36
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 6, 2017
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week in a letter where he threatened Sessions with a public grilling if he doesn’t produce documents about the Russia dossier to the House intelligence committee.
Nunes, who despite stepping aside from directing the House Russia investigation has been leading his own separate investigation, accused Sessions and the FBI of stonewalling him repeatedly in a September 1 letter obtained by CNN. In the letter, he threatened to drag Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray before the committee for a public grilling and hold them in contempt of Congress — a jailable offense — if they don’t hand over the documents…
In the letter, which was signed only by Nunes and no other members of the House intelligence committee, Nunes explained that he was extending the deadline for responding to the subpoenas to September 14. But he capped it off with a sharp threat…
Asked to comment, Nunes told a CNN reporter Tuesday evening: “I’m not talking to you guys.”…
But Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the panel, said the pair of subpoenas were issued over his objections last month and are designed to “undermine” the claims about the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
The subpoenas seek information about what the FBI knows about the compilation of the Russia dossier and coincides with a push by the committee to bring in Steele, the report’s author and a former British spy…
Russiagate Open Thread: A Circle of JerksPost + Comments (186)