Wednesday, December 11, 2019

JUST IN: Michael Cohen asks judge to cut his prison sentence, says Attorney General Barr is biased against him


The Department of Justice inspector general's office is still investigating alleged leaks from the FBI's New York field office regarding the Hillary Clinton email investigation to Rudy Giuliani in the final days of the 2016 campaign, the IG testified


Hey @GOPLeader seems as if Putin pays someone else too.


.@realdonaldtrump has now paid the $2 million in damages he was assessed by a NY judge, for misusing money in a charity Trump controlled. Extraordinary punishment for a sitting president


Trump’s children must undergo mandatory training to learn how to avoid defrauding charities


Lindsey Graham begins the Horowitz hearing by claiming the FBI was "able to stop" the Russian interference campaign against the Clinton campaign. That's a lie.


Horowitz, following 40 min opening rant by Graham: "so I encourage everyone to read the actual report"


HUGE: Leahy asks ab leaks from NYC FBI, forcing Comey to make disclosures ab Clinton email investigation days before the election. “We were very concerned about that” and had charts “showing all the contacts.” STILL INVESTIGATING THAT TODAY


Horowitz says the IG's office is "very concerned" about leaks to Rudy Giuliani from the FBI's New York field office, and those contacts are being investigated


IG Horowitz just made clear that it is DEAD WRONG to give interviews about ongoing investigations. AG Barr, if you’re listening . . . oh wait, that’s exactly what you did yesterday. Hoping AG Horowitz soon turns his investigative attention to Barr’s misconduct.


This passage from the IG report tells you quite a lot about George Papadopoulos.


17 former Watergate special prosecutors: "We investigated the Watergate scandal. We believe Trump should be impeached.


Has Facebook told the SEC that it may be responsible for 66% of global child pornography trafficking? Seems important for investors.


no puppet, no puppet


.@GretaThunberg is TIME's 2019 Person of the Year

I’m old enough to remember that the president ran a fake charity...


How many flushes will it take?


The story about the FBI "spying" on the Trump campaign is another load of bull. Facts are facts. Bull is bull. And if we don't learn to recognize bull when we see it, our republic is in trouble. Big trouble.


I took a lot of crap from conservatives for arguing for voting against the Republicans right down the line, but without a Dem win in 2018, Nunes would still be chairman of HPSCI and all this would have been buried without trace.


Chairman Engel: "The last time President Trump welcomed Lavrov to Washington, he handed the Russians classified information, undermining our national security ... With President Trump, all roads lead to Putin. The American people deserve to know what happens at this meeting."


Jersey City gunmen targeted Jewish grocery for lethal attack: mayor


An internal Saudi government report is said to show the Pensacola Naval Air Station shooter may have been radicalized as early as 2015


When Trump was caught discriminating, Roy Cohn accused the DOJ and the assisting FBI of “Gestapo-like tactics.” He labeled their investigators “undercover agents” and “storm troopers.” The judge called all of it “totally unfounded.” Roy Cohn meet Bill Barr.


Exclusive: China tried to get the World Bank to fund surveillance in Xinjiang. In 2017, World Bank-funded schools there requested tens of thousands of $$$ for facial recognition tech, night-vision cameras, etc. Read my investigation for @axios here:


Estimates for how much carbon the Arctic is emitting range from 300 up to 600 million tons. Those emissions mean the Arctic isn’t just being impacted by the climate crisis. It’s now contributing to it.


This would explain why just YESTERDAY the GOP Senate blocked a House bill to prevent Russia from meddling in our elections?


JUST POSTED. My latest: How Bill Barr is mounting a dangerous disinformation campaign that shields Trump (and assists Russia). Please read, RT, and share.


People across our country are having trouble paying for their prescription drug medications. It *doesn't and it shouldn't* have to be this way. That's why House Democrats are taking action to #LowerDrugCosts.


BREAKING: We're urging a federal court to block Rep. Nunes' efforts to unmask the identity of @DevinCow. The First Amendment guarantees the cow's right to speak anonymously.


I’ve had enough of Republican leadership blocking legislation to protect our elections and spinning Putin’s talking points. That’s why I’m on the floor with @SenSchumer to demand the passage of the bipartisan DETER Act. We can’t afford to wait any longer.


Secret Pentagon document shows U.S. entering “rare earth” business to build weapons and electronics and fight off China trade war


If so many Americans believe Russia is an ally, China is a good business partner, and terrorism isn’t worth fighting anymore, how can the world count on the United States for global security?


"Nobody can figure out who the eff she is or how she got in there,” a friend of Giuliani said. Seriously?


State lawmakers in South Carolina are proposing changes to how lower-court judges are selected after a Post and Courier-ProPublica investigation. The probe found a system that places connections over qualifications.


While Washington focuses on impeachment, West Wing aides are buzzing about the vicious battle between two top Trump health aides


Turkey threatens to deny US access to military bases if sanctions imposed


Fact Checker: A guide to the misleading spin on the IG report


CNN panel crushes Bill Barr’s Ukraine lies with live fact check: ‘He doesn’t have a right to his own opinion’


Too bad you didn’t do shit, Mr. Flakey. Did you learn something here?


What does Turkey think "respond positively" means? What exactly has the US gotten to show for its capitulations to Erdagon? Time for the US to stop being blackmailed by Turkey.


“The loudest critics of the measure were Jews themselves, who say referencing Jews as a nationality will only further fuel anti-Semitic sentiment.”


Well, lookie here! What say you, @GOPLeader McCarthy?


Apart from anything else, presidents don't usually meet with foreign ministers. Why is this unusual honor being bestowed on this one?


Durham’s statement is unprecedented and inappropriate. In the 30 year history of the DOJ IG, no prosecutor working on a related matter has ever issued a statement designed to contradict or undermine IG findings. It is grounds for a disciplinary referral.


I've worked in government ethics for years and have reviewed the facts. There is absolutely nothing to the Biden-Ukraine story. It's even more ridiculous than the Hillary email story. Voters who fall for this BS are playing right into Trump's hands


"The Moscow informant was instrumental to the C.I.A.’s most explosive conclusion about Russia’s interference campaign: that President Vladimir V. Putin ordered and orchestrated it himself."


“I sued the Department of Justice and FBI today,” Lisa Page wrote on Twitter. “I take little joy in having done so. But what they did in leaking my messages to the press was not only wrong, it was illegal.”


On the same day that a federal judge blocked Trump's plan to spend billions of military dollars on his wall, he claims, "we're building it and it's fine and we have the military money coming in from the military. Believe me ... we started winning in court."


For any whataboutists out there who say “the US is just as bad as Russia” have a read of this story about a low level Russian FSB agent was found with $100 million of illicit cash in his home in shoeboxes. This is one of many of these stories in Russia


New: During a summer 2019 hunting trip, Donald Trump Jr. killed a rare argali sheep. The Mongolian government issued him a hunting permit retroactively and he met with the country’s president


Oh, you know. Just the most powerful man in the world making shit up.


The "travesty" is William Barr


So McConnell wants to hold USMCA hostage so the impeachment trial can be depicted as the obstacle to a bipartisan trade deal. So the turtle is a snake.


It is really, *really* frightening for us to be defined as a nationality. The trope of "dual loyalism" is classic antisemitism. It encourages people to view American Jews as professing greater loyalty to Israel than to the United States-- thereby making us untrustworthy.


The Republicans can no longer win a national election without cheating and they know it. Sadly, they would rather give up their fredom in a democracy rather than their power even if it means living in a state of fascism, beholden to a psychopathic madman bent on destruction.


The President of the United States **STOLE** money that was intended for KIDS WITH CANCER and VETERANS. He did this. This happened. This is not "fake news" This is the depravity that is @realDonaldTrump.


Year-end performance review


From the Editorial Board: It is our view that more than enough proof exists for the House to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Here is a summary of the evidence


SOME TIME in the not-so-distant future—and perhaps as soon as Friday, when SCOTUS at its conference may decide the fate of the Mazars case—Donald Trump’s tax returns & underlying financial documents will be released to the proper authorities.


Democrats charge Trump with two impeachment articles, setting up historic vote


Putin’s proxy — Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov — enters the West Wing of the White House. En route to meet and conspire with the most valuable Russian asset in history — Donald J. Trump. Reprehensible beyond description.


OMG! This is the reason everyone Trump invited the Russians on our soil. Simply to lie about involvement in the 2016 election. Unbelievable.


Bill Barr is the worst of the traitors. The republic will not be safe until he is impeached, removed, indicted, and imprisoned


"...American intelligence officials informed senators and their aides in recent weeks that Russia had engaged in a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election..."


Trump is being impeached and his first meeting is with the Russian Foreign Minister. Coincidence or instinct? How many other foreign ministers has he met with like this?


No president has ever called the FBI “scum”, unless, of course, it was the president of Russia.


Houston's Police chief slams McConnell, Cornyn: "I don't want to see their little smug faces about how much they care about law enforcement when I'm burying a sergeant because they don’t want to piss off the NRA. Make up your minds, whose side are you on?"


While the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France were negotiating ways to end #Russia’s war against #Ukraine in Paris, this war claimed the lives of another 3 Ukrainian soldiers.


Turnout will be crucial in this once-in-a-lifetime U.K. election


I thought it was about time I share my holiday gift list — a few practical items, all $10 or less. The best one? Health care for you or somebody you care about. The deadline to sign up is December 15. Go to https://t.co/ob1Ynoesod and get covered.


Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the person who Bill Barr today named as the mastermind of a plot to destroy democracy.


BREAKING: Federal judge blocks use of billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build Trump’s border wall


Why would a network agree to let a pedophile and trafficker set the agenda? They ignored my reporting that Maxwell and #JeffreyEpstein worked as agents for Israeli military intel and were blackmailing US politicians, and can justify this?


Exclu: One America News tried to help a Ukrainian multimillionaire get a visa to the US so he could help w their Burisma reporting. Then he got arrested.


William Barr is not only dishonest but also dangerous. His roots in authoritarianism and concealment run deep. William Barr Is Neck-Deep in Extremist Catholic Institutions


Never heard of the Haavara Agreement? Better learn now. It started with the notion that Jews were a separate nationality.... The Transfer Agreement: The Untold Story of the Secret Pact Between the Third Reich and Jewish Palestine


President Trump: Your treatment of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands is egregious. Congress appropriated these funds long ago to help families recover from disastrous hurricanes. You are required to release them. Do it now.


Why do voters across the country want the blue wave to continue? Because they see House Democrats keeping our campaign promises and working hard #ForThePeople. Republicans, on the other hand, are refusing to #LowerDrugCosts and honor their oath


The Russian foreign minister has now done one more press briefing on US soil than @PressSec


uhhhh I'm just going to say as a jew I always believed my nationality was American and this makes me very uncomfort


Being a Jew in the Soviet Union meant having “Jewish” stamped in your passport as a nationality. Pushing Judaism as a nationality is as antisemetic as it gets—it assumes your home is elsewhere, and you will never belong


A quick refresher about Trump-Lavrov. Trump met Russia foreign minister Lavrov in the Oval Office on May 10, 2017, the day after he fired FBI James Comey. Trump exulted to the Russians that the FBI pressure upon him had been "taken off."


Britt McHenry Sues Fox News and Tyrus, Claims Network Retaliated Over Sexual-Harassment Claim


Yeah go ahead, fire the @FBI director maybe then the Senate will remove you You’re going to be impeached You are going to either be removed or crushingly defeated in an election And then You are going to jail Along with your three eldest kids.#FVEY know what you did.


Schiff: "The argument, 'why don't you just wait?' amounts to this: 'Why don't you just let him cheat in one more election. Why not let him cheat just one more time. Why not let him have foreign help, just one more time.'"


Trump publicly threatening to fire another FBI Director for not selling Russian talking points in the middle of his impeachment for helping Russia in their war w/ Ukraine on the day he meets with the Russian Foreign Minister at the WH is exactly why he needs to be impeached.


I'm now following Lisa Page v. Justice Department, No. 1:19-cv-03675 in D.D.C..


Rights groups filed a new friend-of-the-court brief warning that Rep. Devin Nunes’ lawsuit against a parody cartoon Twitter cow can threaten First Amendment freedoms.


The Japan Self-Defense Forces and Ministry of Defense officially participated in @NATO cyber exercise, Cyber Coalition, for the first time.

If the GOP goes to the wall for Trump in the Senate Trial, it will be nigh unto impossible to separate themselves from Trump in the event of future illegal acts comin' to light. When Trump goes down, he'll take every Republican with him.


Yesterday, the Washington Post revealed that the U.S. government systemically lied to the American people about the war in Afghanistan, wasting a trillion dollars and causing young soldiers to die needlessly. Today, the story has almost completely vanished


China's army of "fangirls" are defending the country online against Hong Kong's protesters and other critics


OLIVER FUCKING NORTH says FBI/CIA reputation tarnished? If you listen to this guy, and believe him, despite HIS past - you're officially a stupid fucking moron, I don't care who you are, or who you support, or what political party you claim to be yours.


Trump is slurring heavily


Lawrence on how Trump ‘betrayed the nation’


Holy crap. According to federal prosecutors, Gates was promised “monetary assistance” if he did not cooperate? By who?? That’s a lay-down-your-hand obstruction case.


Another visit with Russia? Lavrov got up and lied about election interference. @SecPompeo did nothing. What is wrong with you people? Why hasn't Ukraine been invited? You're corrupt to the core. And compromised. Putin owns you. Your impeachment cannot come soon enough.


FBI Agents Assoc.: "The IG report found that the FBI's investigation was supported by sufficient evidence to meet legal requirements, and that there was no 'documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias' ... influenced the Bureau's decision to open the investigations."


OH MY GOD I'm in the Bingbong lawsuit!!! — Rick Wilson


Jewish people are of many different nationalities. The notion that a Jewish citizen of the United States (or a Jewish citizen of Germany) is of a different nationality than fellow Americans (or Germans) is lunacy. Been there, done that. Didn't end well


Did the White House really invite a Russian diplomat to deny Russian election interference FROM THE WHITE HOUSE???


Not crazy, perfectly healthy


Lavrov’s visit, photo with Trump, and appearance with enfeebled Pompeo send a clear signal: the Trump Administration is doing away with any remaining pretenses about its alignment with Moscow. They’re going to normalize this treacherous relationship for shared corrupt purposes.


Did he not see the video of all the world leaders laughing at him?


BREAKING: President Trump made a baseless claim at a rally that Peter Strzok and Lisa Page had a restraining order, despite having no evidence


The Perverse Servility of Bill Barr


Judaism is a religion and should not be intertwined, in any way, with Israeli nationalism, restrictions on free speech, or hatred towards other minority groups. This is not good for Jews and not good for US


"On September 16, 1919, Hitler issued his first written comment on the so-called Jewish Question. In the statement, Hitler defined the Jews as a race and not a religious community..."


Colin Powell: The Republican Party Needs To 'Get a Grip' and Stand Up to Trump


Dirty cops? That’s defamation. — Devin Nunes’ cow


Everyone is asking why Marvel doesn't sue Trump for the Thanos video. This is why. This is Ike Perlmutter, chairman of Marvel Entertainment meeting with Donald Trump. Ike Perlmutter is one of the Mar-a-Lago 3 who have been steering policy in the Department of Veterans Affairs.


"The attorney general of the United States is a Fox News bot," says Jeffrey Toobin, adding, "[He] keeps demanding investigation after investigation until he gets the results that he wants? That's something that happens in the Soviet Union, not in the [US]"


Asked if he's open to voting to convict Trump, Mitt Romney told me: “I'm keeping an open mind until that process is completed."


This is how disinformation works. The president invents conspiracy theories which are amplified by Fox News & Republicans trying to get on Fox News. Then, a neutral report debunks the conspiracy theories, but they all just lie and pretend it vindicates them instead. Rinse, repeat


.@FrankFigliuzzi1 on AG Barr: "He's shopping for outcomes, not searching for facts."


Here in the Senate, certain members of the Grand Old Party are forming their own “conspiracy caucus.” These conspiracies aren't harmless. They're sinister, insidious, & damaging to our country. They erode our fidelity to the truth. They help Putin sow discord in our democracy.


The Barr interview today is even more frightening than many Americans imagine. It seems clear that he will do or enable anything to keep Trump in office. And Trump will do anything to stay there. Suspension of the election, negation of the results, declaration of martial law


LAVROV STUNT: Russian Foreign Min Sergei Lavrov says he's read the Mueller Report and there is no proof of collusion. He offers to release secret 2016 communications when he says the Kremlin attempted to resolve the cyberattacs with the Obama White House


Breaking: federal judge issues nationwide injunction blocking Trump admin from using military construction money for the border wall.


We would be delinquent in our duties if we failed to #DefendOurDemocracy and Constitution. This is about patriotism. This is about the future of our country.


Why did Russia’s Lavrov get a White House visit while Ukraine’s President still hasn’t had one? Putin is just laughing at us now.


The facts are laid out in an indictment against 12 GRU officials, 13 Russian nationals, and 3 Russian companies filed in federal court


Full Interview: Barr Criticizes Inspector General Report On The Russia Investigation | NBC News

Barr must be impeached too

"We will examine, among other issues, what they are doing at the border, what training they received, and whether their use complied with applicable law, DoD policy, and operating guidance,"


About 3,900 active-duty service members and 2,600 National Guardsmen are deployed to the border. There has been a US troop presence there since October 2018.


Today Jews and Doctors marched to Border Patrol HQ in San Diego. To demand that Border Patrol allow doctors in to give flu vaccines to immigrants. And the army was brought out to arrest them. This is where this administration has brought our country


THREAD: The sweeping report from the Justice Department IG debunked several key claims and conspiracy theories that President Trump has repeatedly used to attack the Russia investigation. Here's my comprehensive breakdown:


I think people have Bill Barr all wrong. He’s not representing Trump. Trump is just the convenient vessel, the useful idiot. Barr wants to destroy our democracy and replace it with an autocracy run exclusively by white men of a certain heritage. Check what’s on his bookshelves


"The disclosure to the Russians by the President, though not about the Russian spy specifically, prompted intelligence officials to renew earlier discussions about the potential risk of exposure, according to the source directly involved in the matter."


Trump betrayed his oath of office by putting his own personal political interests over our national interest.@RepAdamSchiff is right—doing nothing would mean being complicit in Trump's betrayal. We have no choice but to impeach.


Can’t imagine what FBI staff listening to Barr today thinks. Not sure how the FBI recovers from these continued attacks.


The specific intent here may be a worthy one, but “effectively interpret Judaism as a nationality” is the way Jews were discriminated against in the Soviet Union, not protected. “Othering” is the term today, I believe.


This Russian Mob/intel conspiracy is so subtle that their dipshit puppet in America got impeached, their banks are sanctioned, their drug mule/politicians get arrested, and their idiot foreign ministers traipse around Washington bragging about how they failed at attacking NATO.


Durham’s statement is unprecedented and inappropriate. In the 30 year history of the DOJ IG, no prosecutor working on a related matter has ever issued a statement designed to contradict or undermine IG findings. It is grounds for a disciplinary referral.


Stengel: Russian Foreign Minister toying with Trump


I've worked in government ethics for years and have reviewed the facts. There is absolutely nothing to the Biden-Ukraine story. It's even more ridiculous than the Hillary email story. Voters who fall for this BS are playing right into Trump's hands.


"The Moscow informant was instrumental to the C.I.A.’s most explosive conclusion about Russia’s interference campaign: that President Vladimir V. Putin ordered and orchestrated it himself."


“I sued the Department of Justice and FBI today,” Lisa Page wrote on Twitter. “I take little joy in having done so. But what they did in leaking my messages to the press was not only wrong, it was illegal.”


On the same day that a federal judge blocked Trump's plan to spend billions of military dollars on his wall, he claims, "we're building it and it's fine and we have the military money coming in from the military. Believe me ... we started winning in court."


A federal judge has ordered Georgia @GovKemp to answer questions about his statements on minority voter registration and his oversight of election investigations.


EXCLUSIVE: @OANN, the Trumpiest of TV channels, tried to bring a peddler of Biden dirt to America. The Ukrainian went to jail instead.