Tuesday, July 17, 2018

SCOOP: Rosenstein gave Trump the choice of whether to issue the Russia hacking indictment before or after the Putin summit. Trump chose before


Trump’s attempt to clean up the Putin event was an insult to America’s intelligence


Handwritten note spotted on Trump's prepared remarks: "There was no collusion"


NYT: Donald Trump Jr. DID meet Maria Butina, along with Alexander Torshin, at the 2016 NRA convention, and "congressional investigators have obtained a photograph of the three at the event"


Russia’s Plan to Buy Off the GOP Began Before the Rise of Trump


EXCLUSIVE: Republican Dana Rohrbacher and Democrat Greg Meeks were the congressional delegation referenced in the charges against alleged Russian spy Maria Butina.


How do we handle a national security crisis in this country when the president *is* the national security crisis?


NRATV spent an entire day defending Trump’s embarrassing press conference with Putin


NEW: The Special Counsel's Office notifies the court that they will seek immunity for up to 5 people to testify under conditions of immunity in the upcoming trial against Paul Manafort in Virginia. They say these people have not been publicly named before in the case.


Trump remarks on Putin summit during Congressional meeting

President Trump holds a meeting with members of Congress, where he is expected to remark on his trip to Helsinki, where he met with Russian President Putin.


Russian state TV boasts that Trump never mentioned Crimea during press conference


EXCL: @realDonaldTrump personally profited by more than £50,000 from his weekend trip to his Turnberry resort in Scotland, with US taxpayers footing the accommodation bill for his two-night stay.


Just out of Trump’s Putin remarks do-over in the Cabinet Room. I asked him three times if he would publicly condemn Putin for election interference. All three times, he said “Thank you” or ignored.


MORE: Trump says he meant to say in Helsinki that he saw no reason why it would not be Russia that interfered in elections


So now we have Russian Spy Marina Butina, Russian Politician Alexander Torshin, Don Jr, Mike Pence, Rand Paul all at this convention. Don Jr has been talking to more Russians than a Black Sea ferry operator & Butina's done half the GOP. Yeah, ok


A judge decides alleged spy Mariia Butina, also known as Maria, should be held in jail until at least her next court appearance. Her attorney argued the Russian national is not a flight risk.


Obama: "Democracy depends on strong institutions. It's about minority rights and checks and balances and freedom of speech ... and a free press, and the right to protest and petition the government, and an independent judiciary, and everybody having to follow the law."


Major reversal coming. I could swear I am already hearing that loud beeping like when a truck backs up. Mr. President, you know you said what you really believe yesterday. After over 3000 documented lies in 18 mos do you really expect us to accept your clean up now? No takebacks.


By publicly kowtowing to Putin and throwing his own spies under the bus, while spouting tinfoil conspiracy theories about Hillary, Trump effectively ended his presidency in Helsinki yesterday.


Ex-FSB chief says "it is obvious the US security services are working against POTUS" This Russian word -- спецслужбы -- includes IC as well.


Critics of Trump Have a New Word in Their Vocabulary: Treason


tick tock


Four years ago today, at this moment, Malaysia Airlines Flight #MH17 took off from Amsterdam at 1231p local time with 283 passengers and 15 crew. 80 onboard were children. In just under three hours, it would be over #Ukraine



Intelligence officials are issuing the same warnings about our election infrastructure as they did before 9/11. The nation must respond.


BREAKING: The Russian authorities want to question former US Ambassador @McFaul along with officers of DHS and the DOJ who were investigating the Magnitsky case as part of the Putin/Trump Helsinki quid pro quo over me and the 12 Russian GRU agents


Trump’s @USTreasury has made it EASIER for anonymous foreign donors to funnel dark money into nonprofits THE SAME DAY a Russian national linked to the @NRA was arrested for trying to influence our elections.


“This was the day an American president stood on foreign soil next to a murderous lying thug and refused to back his own country. Patriots need to stand up and reject the behavior of this president."


Dem lawmaker: Russia "owns" Trump and his family


Sen. Corker on President Putin following summit with President Trump: "He gained a tremendous amount ... I would guess he's having caviar right now."


Obama: "Keep believing. Keep marching. Keep building. Keep raising your voice. Every generation has the opportunity to remake the world. Mandela said, 'Young people are capable when aroused of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.'"


One question has helped perpetuate the #GenderPayGap: "What were you paid at your last job?" Massachusetts has a new equal pay law that stops employers from asking that question and it's making an impact across the US.


The nation’s top voting-machine maker has admitted installing remote-access software on election-management systems, in what one U.S. senator described as “the worst decision for security short of leaving ballot boxes on a Moscow street corner”


Opinion: "This is our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11. In the past, we have risen to the defense of our values, our ideologies and our institutions. It’s time for another fight."


Conservative group drops another $1.4 million to confirm Kavanaugh


Hillary Clinton after Putin summit: "Now we know" which team Trump plays for


“Go back to Russia,” they chant - some with bullhorns & whistles, waiting for Marine One to land on the other side of the White House


TAPPER: Senator, what will you do in terms of expressing in a tangible way, in action, your opposition to what happened today? @JeffFlake: I haven't even arrived at the Capitol yet. I'm still en route from the airport, but I'm certainly going to sit down with my colleagues.


"Fighting hybrid attacks requires an informed, prepared, mobilized population with the will to fight and to understand...The president of the United States...is disarming the American public in what should be the most important fight in our history."


NRA used CA "This year Cambridge Analytica, a voter data firm in which Mercer is a key investor, has worked with the Herald Group, a DC-based consulting firm, to implement the NRA’s “Trigger the Vote” drive to register new voters and get them to the polls."


Trump and Putin vs. America


Meanwhile the Justice Department just charged a woman who tried to set up back-channel meetings between Trump and Putin was just charged with being a Russian agent


After Helsinki at keast the world's past wondering IF Trump if compromised. The only question remaining is what is the kompromat? Financial crimes & sex with more women are nothing burgers to his base. What could be so bad that no one would excuse? Jeffrey Epstein knows. p


‘Who do you believe?’ a reporter asked Trump. His answer was stunning.


Huge @ErinBanco scoop - Seychelles meetings probed by Mueller, at same time period Erik Prince met Kirill Dmitriev & UAE Crown Prince MBZ, reportedly included more than 10 Russians, some linked to the Kremlin, in talks related to Syria, energy & sanctions


Ash Carter: “In my almost 4 decades with national defense starting in the Pentagon under..Reagan, I never saw or imagined so uneven a handover of American security interests and principles with nothing in return at a meeting. It was like watching the destruction of a cathedral.”


Lawrence: Putin made a big mistake in his presser with Trump

Lawrence points out that in the Trump-Putin press conference, Putin admitted that he preferred Trump to win the election and that he ordered officers to help Trump win. Lawrence says that reveal by Putin is a "smoking gun" moment.


Sen. Tammy Duckworth says it's "a very real possibility" that Putin has turned Trump "into a Russian asset.”


Trump closes his interview with @seanhannity by alluding to the possibility of nuclear war with Russia, and lamenting that Paul Manafort, "who is clearly a nice man," is being treated "like Al Capone."


TRUMP is totally delusional & supportive of Putin's idea that Mueller's team should prosecute Russian hackers in Russia.


Hannity puts words in Trump's mouth in attempt to justify his attacks on the media as "enemies of the people."


McFaul: Trump with Putin shows U.S. 'national security crisis'


Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talks with Rachel Maddow about the public reaction to Donald Trump's deference to Vladimir Putin at their Helsinki press conference, and what the appropriate public response is to the realization that Donald Trump is beholden to another country.

Pres. Trump, in joint presser with Vladimir Putin: "What happened to Hillary Clinton's emails? 33,000 emails gone, just gone. I think in Russia they wouldn't be gone so easily."


Dear @KatyTurNBC: Republicans on @HouseJudiciary interviewed Lisa Page, which means we can get another hearing on Hillary's emails. Tomorrow they will hold the 2nd installment of their infamous Diamond and Silk hearing about social media. That's what House Republicans are doing.


On the day a Russian agent is charged with infiltrating the NRA, the Trump administration announces the NRA and similar groups can keep the identity of their donors totally secret


Now that WaPo is suggesting it, I can confirm that Paul Erickson is US Person 1 in the Butina indictment.


Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Jared Kushner were all copied on email communications with Alexander Torshin and Maria Butina during the campaign


Russian theft of DNC data paralleled Trump camp strategy changes

Glen Caplin, former senior national spokesman for the Clinton campaign, talks with Rachel Maddow about the theft of DNC analytics by Russian hackers, and how actions by the Trump campaign suggest they were using insights gained from the attack.


Protesters outside the White House getting pretty loud tonight


NY Daily News


WH sent out these talking points to surrogates. One line from the WH: “For over a year and half, the President has repeatedly said he believes the intelligence agencies when they said Russia interfered in American elections.” (Fact check: this is not believable after Helsinki) pic.twitter.com/qhMZSSacRa


Ex-Republican Governor says Trump should step down.


President Trump has one item on his schedule Tuesday — what appears to be an emergency meeting with members of Congress. It wasn't on his weekly schedule released just before Putin meeting.


Opinion: "This is our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11. In the past, we have risen to the defense of our values, our ideologies and our institutions. It’s time for another fight."


Devin Nunes betrayed his oath of office and his country when he let #MariaButina go! Americans want to know why.


Here’s a photo of @GOP former Senator Rick Santorum with Maria Butina, who was just arrested and charged with being a #Russian🇷🇺 agent for her infiltration of the #NRA.


Crazy day today as Putin wants to swap 12 Russian GRU agents who hacked the US election for me in his meeting with Trump in Helsinki. Here’s my take for @TIME on why I’ve gotten Putin so rattled and what he’s really afraid of


Maddow: Time for Americans to face 'worst case scenario' on Trump

Rachel Maddow notes that what ultimately explains a host of inexplicable developments in the story of the Donald Trump campaign is the worst case scenario that Trump is compromised by Russia, and points to the unfolding legal case as a guide for how to understand what has happened and what to do about it.