Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Largest Iowa newspaper calls on Steve King to resign


U.S. tax agency to bring 46,000 furloughed workers back


Schumer: Treasury proposal to relax sanctions on Russian firms is a sham


Trump Picks Mitch McConnell’s Brother-In-Law, Gordon Hartogensis, To Lead Pension Agency


The evidence that President Trump has acted as an agent of the Russians — either wittingly or unwittingly — is overwhelming


New filing in United States v. Manafort: Response to Order of the Court


“If I were a bad actor, this would be a very tempting time to do some mischief.”


Harris asks Barr if Trump violated the Presidential Records Act when he reportedly took his interpreter's notes from his Putin meeting.


NEW: Special Counsel Robert Mueller issues more subpoenas to associates of former Infowars D.C. bureau chief Jerome Corsi, @ABC News has learned. Corsi is connected to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone.


Mueller's submission on evidence that Manafort lied is a 31-page sworn declaration from FBI agent Jeffrey Weiland, accompanied by a few hundred pages of exhibits. Lots of redactions.


Lots of stories coming out of the NSC (translator notes, NATO). Hello, McMaster?


Why is the Trump Administration proposing to reduce sanctions on Putin and his cronies? Show me the behavior from Putin that warrants such relief!


Why does our would-be attorney general keep saying Russia “attempted” to interfere? And why aren’t any democrats asking him about it?


NEW: In an email I reviewed, NBC News standards sent guidance to staffers this morning that they shouldn't directly refer to Steve King's comments as racist. Instead they said reporters should say, "what many are calling racist’ or something like that."


In Barr hearing, Sen. Grassley just attacked Mueller investigation for costs. He forgot to say that Mueller could actually turn profit for taxpayers based on fines & property from wealthy criminals: Mueller probe could turn a profit, thanks to Manafort


EPA hits a 30-year low in 2018 in the number of pollution cases it referred for criminal prosecution, US Justice Dept. data show.



Barr on religious liberty: "I believe in the separation of church and state, but I am sometimes concerned that we not use governmental power to suppress the freedoms of traditional religious communities in our country."


Ignorance of the Constitution of the United States, should make a candidate ineligible for the Attorney General of the United States. Especially when a President is about to be sued and or indicted for violating the Constitution of the United States!


Asked about Acting AG Whitaker's shady business dealings, Barr says, "first, I don't think there was anything wrong done."@SenWhitehouse pushes back, "If the department's money laundering folks looked at this operation, they would see it as almost amateurish."


um. does Barr actually believe most of the Fentanyl is coming in across the Southern border, or is he mobbed up too?


Sen. @amyklobuchar asks Barr “will the DOJ jail reporters for doing their jobs” Barr said he is aware of guidelines in place & could think of situations where, as a last resort, somebody could be held in contempt. Klobuchar asked for Barr to respond in writing to the question.


I honestly believe EWTN is largely responsible for getting Trump elected. I wish more people would pay attention to this conglomerate, because what it does affects us all.


Survivors are flooding Betsy DeVos' inbox with infuriating stories


German spies to launch anti-extremism probe into far-right


#TheView goes off the rails on "racist" Republicans, leaving Meghan McCain shouting she can't be racist because she's "John McCain’s daughter!" by the end

Guess again princess...

You must have the integrity, the strength, and the fortitude to tell the president no, regardless of the consequences. In short, he must be willing to defend the independence of the Justice Department. —@SenFeinstein to Trump Attorney General nominee William Barr


There are three lawsuits against @realdonaldtrump under the emoluments clause. Two of these are in discovery. DOJ is defending all three at taxpayer expense. William Barr had better study up fast if he wants to be AG!


.@SpeakerPelosi told her leadership team she didn't care if Dems went to Trump lunch today: “They can see what we’ve been dealing with. And they’ll want to make a citizen’s arrest.”


The evolution of kook-right shills


Credit to @SenatorLeahy for noting that Barr recommended that GHW Bush pardon Iran-contra criminals convicted by an independent counsel. (And Bush lied to cover up his own role in the scandal.) This should disqualify Barr, period.


'We've never seen lines so long,' air travelers say as shutdown grinds on


Lindsey Graham Invokes Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories While Grilling Trumps AG Pick William Barr


Barr’s commitment to seek but not necessarily follow the advice of ethics officials is the Whitaker standard and falls short of what Holder, Sessions, Rosenstein, and Yates all committed to - to follow that advice. It’s obviously deliberate that he’s breaking precedent.


U.S. homeland security chief seeks legislation to pay Coast Guard amid shutdown


Speaking to reporters, Dems say they need make clear they’re not satisfied with Barr testimony so far. Dems don’t believe he’s been firm enough on allowing Mueller probe to proceed or allowing the report to be released.


Here you go: @LindseyGrahamSC is quoting Strzok-Page text messages re: Trump to Barr.


Sen. Leahy asks attorney general nominee Mr. Barr about pardons. Barr says POTUS could not pardon someone in a quid pro quo re prosecution. But Barr did support pardons the 1st time he was AG


The Nazi slogan was, 'Don't buy from Jews!' Today's far right declares: Don't buy from Muslims!


Nobody has yet asked Bill Barr whether he would fire Mueller without cause if President Trump directed him to do so. Richardson resigned in a similar situation, but Barr’s public views suggest he wouldn’t. He must be asked that question


Trump shares op-ed saying furloughed workers should "find other work, never return and not be paid"


Barr testimony here makes no sense. He says he wrote memo to tell the lawyers not to focus on obstruction b/c theory wrong. But if so, why give the memo only to Trump lawyers and not to Mueller? If you wanted to prevent prosecutors from using a bad theory,you tell the prosecutors


Sen. Graham opened questioning in Barr’s confirmation hearing by doubling down on attacks on those who would hold POTUS accountable, asking Barr to look into & report back on any agents who may have opened a counter intelligence investigation into whether POTUS is helping Russia.


Feinstein: “Has anyone given you nonpublic information about the Mueller investigation?” Barr: “I don’t -- I don’t recall get any confidential information about the investigation.”


The First Daughter, who backed Mike Flynn for National Security Adviser, is helping pick the next World Bank presiden


Amid reports that the President has mulled withdrawing from NATO, a reminder why we defend Europe:


Barr tries to qualify this position by saying that the "times have changed" which is fine and all but those times have also changed to incarcerating large swatches of asylum seekers and immigrants, especially for profit, and so far there's not been a peep about that connection


"I don't believe Mr. Mueller to be involved in a witch hunt," says Bill Barr, breaking with President Trump. Barr also breaks from Trump by discussing Jeff Sessions' recusal: "I think he probably did the right thing."


The Facebook investment ultimately led to Yuri Milner, a close Trump confidant, owning 8 percent of the shares.


So @SenMajLdr has a sealed military record after 37 days in the boot camp in 1967. There are reports of an possible Art 125 infringement (Sodomy) due to a sexual liaison with another male. Seems a big league Sen stepped in to save Mitch. Is this what Russia has on him ?


William Barr says that he has not researched the emoluments clause. "I couldn't even tell you what it says."


Watch live: William Barr's attorney general confirmation hearing


Feinstein criticizes Barr for reaching conclusions before knowing the facts.


For those wondering, What has NATO done for us lately: Greg Miller's important book on Trump-Russia .... points out it was Dutch intell that first detected Russian hack of DNC servers in aid of Donald Trump


Trump’s Nominee to Replace Kavanaugh Questioned Date Rape, Discrimination, and Climate Change


Chris Christie accuses Jared Kushner of political 'hit job' in explosive new book


Under Attorney General William Barr, 310 Haitian immigrants became prisoners of the world’s first detention camp for refugees with HIV


Trump tweets boast about serving fast food in White House with typo and lie


BREAKING: Judge Furman blocks the citizenship question to the #2020Census on the grounds that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act.


The FBI’s willingness to investigate Trump shows we still have the rule of law


Time for the Senate to mutiny against McConnell. The Senate is a body, not a dictatorship. Start with the GOP senators whose states are begging them to end the shutdown.


President Trump Sells First Manhattan Condo In Nearly 2 Years


Donald Trump: The Russia File. Americans deserve to know what the president and Vladimir Putin are talking about


BREAKING: Trump administration doubles estimate of shutdown cost to economy from original forecast, source tells CNBC.


After Trump declared victory against ISIS, the military decided to hide the strikes that are still happening


IT IS PROBABLE THAT TRUMP WILL CONTINUE TO WEAKEN NATO — THE CENTRAL ALLIANCE SECURING US NATIONAL SECURITY. HE IS PUTTING AMERICA IN DANGER. Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia


CBO Suggests Raising Tricare Fees, Cutting Veteran Benefits to Slash Deficit


#Russia's state TV: Tatyana Parkhalina: "I never thought I’d live to see this—neither the USSR nor Russia, who tried many times to drive the wedge between transatlantic allies, but Washington is doing everything to break down the foundations of transatlantic alliance & unity."©️


What needs to happen @SenateGOP to remove @senatemajldr? What do you need to make it happen. He’s aiding treason. He’s helping @POTUS destroy our federal government. What do you need to stop the attack on America? Send smoke signals or whatever you need to do but let America know


SEDITION


Find me a journalist who has gotten an actual leak from Mueller.


Does Kevin Hassett think people struggling to survive is some kind of joke?


Wrong. He never says “report should be made public.” He says it’s “very important that the public & Congress be informed of the results of the SCO’s work.” That’s not the same thing. The pledge he should make is to release the unclassified version of the report in full. Period.


I’m not saying the timing of both of these caravans is highly convenient, but the timing of these caravans is highly convenient


Ret. Adm. James Stavridis said an American withdrawal from NATO by Trump would be "a geopolitical mistake of epic proportion." "Even discussing the idea of leaving NATO — let alone actually doing so — would be the gift of the century for Putin."


Barr should recuse, and he should not be confirmed if he is unwilling to commit to follow the guidance of career ethics officials.


CODA: Journalists and pundits (of all POVs) need to step back and consider that the FBI and IC know things about Trump and his Kremlin connections that are not, ahem, in the public eye yet.