Saturday, February 15, 2020

Zelensky to Trump: Stop saying my country is corrupt


Trump spends billions of your tax dollars on a wall that is defeated with $6 of rebar. Brilliant.


Donald Trump Gets Heckled at New Hampshire Diner: 'Enjoy Your Burger, Racist!' - ABC News


Pic caption: “Members of a CBP tactical unit drag away a fellow agent pretending to be an injured protester during a January training exercise in New Mexico. The agency has sent officers and agents trained in SWAT-like tactics to Boston.”


Sounds like US Attorney for SDNY Geoffrey Berman is standing up for the rule of law against Barr’s interference even though he’s also a Trump appointee. Ironic because so many people expected Barr would stand up to Trump and he hasn’t.


Trump punishing New York smacks of retribution, writes the Editorial Board


Nice work from Pam Bondi’s lobbying firm


Trump to deploy SWAT-like units armed w/ stun grenades to 'Sanctuary Cities' incl. NY, Newark, SF, LA, ATL, Houston, Boston, New Orleans & Detroit This action is intended to terrorize communities of color through wholly unnecessary militarized presence


NEW: I've been investigating Trump's interference in the investigation into Turkish-owned Halkbank, and my suspicions were just confirmed. Attorney General Barr — at Trump’s request — was trying to orchestrate a sweetheart deal to please President Erdogan


People familiar with the situation at the DC US attorney's office said other prosecutors have discussed resigning in the coming days following the Justice Department leadership's move in the Roger Stone case.


Sen. Lisa Murkowski @lisamurkowski · Feb 12 Thank you to @USDOT & @SecElaineChao for allocating a $20M Port Infrastructure Development Program grant to the Port of Alaska to help offset the 1st phase costs of the Port’s desperately-needed modernization program, enabling safe, cost-effective, & reliable Port operations.


Everyone got rewarded as promised.


Read @ProfessorShaw’s chilling profile of Bill Barr to contemplate where we’re headed as the prosecutions of Flynn, Stone, and Prince hang in the balance.


We know exactly what to expect from Lavrov and Putin's Russia: lies and atrocities. Why the leaders of the free world sit there and take it and smile with him later is what is incomprehensible.


There is nothing political about recommending a sentence within the range set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. These guidelines are based on data collected from all cases across the country. This deep state conspiracy theory is a lie and undermines our government of the people.


Boston Globe Editorial Board: "William Barr must go. Every member of Congress should be calling for the resignation of the attorney general."


Hi @SenSusanCollins @lisamurkowski @LindseyGrahamSC @senatemajldr @GOPLeader @GOPChairwoman @SenateGOP @realDonaldTrump just called himself King. Either put the safety of America over protecting this man or expect your entire party to collapse. America cannot cave to this


Mike Pompeo had a meeting on Fri. w/Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Pompeo's team is trying to keep hush-hush. American press wasn't notified or allowed to cover the event, while Russia was allowed access and promoted it on Facebook.


Facebook cancels its upcoming San Francisco summit over coronavirus fears.


The U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) is investigating the same guy for corruption with Ukraine who the US Attorney General set up a Department of Justice intake process with for provided information on Ukraine. Government by M.C. Escher.


Nevada Voters Begin Early Caucusing On Saturday. Here's What You Need To Know


"Barr intervened in multiple cases to help the president. The more Trump brags about this, the more controversy, the harder it is for Barr to keep doing it. Barr wants to stop the tweets because he prefers less scrutiny of his misuse of law enforcement."


NEW: Brazilian journalist gunned down in front of wife, kids, just days after Washington Post story


For Europeans at #MSC2020 counting on US Republicans to hold firm against Moscow, take a look at this chart.


Ron Johnson is offering an intervention at a conversation between Zelensky and Christiane Amanpour, and it is clear he doesn't really understand that Russia is the real issue, and basically just said "good luck standing on your own." And he said this as *support*. Good grief.


DOJ independence is essential to our nation’s promise of impartial justice. It is not a tool for POTUS to use for retribution or camouflage. My thoughts here. — Sally Yates


Former PDDNI Sue Gordon: “I was either evil incarnate deep-state who clearly must be gotten rid of — or a great intelligence professional who had stood up and given truth to power." "And the problem was, I didn't want to be anyone's agenda," she said.


Former GOP Deputy AG saying Bill Barr should resign is a pretty big breach of tradition not only in the GOP but in the Beltway in general, which tells you what a hell of a lot of people must really think about Barr.


Bernie bros like @DavidKlion are the new Alt-Right. Prove me wrong.


I’m in Munich watching RUSSIAN propaganda channel RT and they have a whole panel attacking “Wall Street Pete” as a media driven manufactured consensus candidate with no substance. Interesting.


Three traitor Senators in Eastern Europe begging. Pathetic. End this sham. They will never stop betraying the United States


These bastards aren't content to sit in the U.S. Congress, elevated by our votes, paid by our taxes, and betray America. They have to go turn their bellies up IN Eastern Europe. They're scum.


Russians Pressure U.S. Forces in Northeast Syria: Russian troops are engaging in standoffs with U.S. troops guarding oil fields and fighting remnants of the Islamic State


Runs-ins between Russian & American troops dangerously on the rise in northeast Syria after Trump's abrupt pullback order last fall


SCOOP: They are desperate.


"Mike Pompeo met Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Munich on Friday in an encounter the American side apparently wanted to keep under wraps." "The State Dept made no announcement of the meeting, which took place in Lavrov's own dedicated meeting room."


What we are living through as of this week is not a *threat* to the rule of law in the U.S., we are emerging into a reality where we recognize that we have a lack of the rule of law. It is broken. The rule of law is no longer in effect when it comes to the president.


“Trump forever!” “Is America finished?” Russia celebrates Trump's Senate acquittal


Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of Vesti Nedeli, said: “Democrats are openly raging, but while they’re licking their wounds, Trump can now objectively afford to pursue a more positive course of action toward Russia—just as he planned all along...”


He brags about building up the military yet he keeps diverting funds from the military for his fence fund. He claims he respects our military and our vets. He doesn’t.


Call for Crowdsourcing on AG William Barr , Post info under #BuryBarr


Thanks to the Russian government for letting us know what the American government is up to


Andrew Weissmann: Do you know how many times I have experienced or even heard of the attorney general of the United States reaching into a single criminal case to weigh in on the sentencing submission? Maddow: How many times? Weissmann: That would be zero.


22 days ago, DOJ prosecutors in the Mike Flynn case were asking for a sentence of imprisonment. Now they say they're not. What happened in the last 22 days?

ICYMI

Terrified Russian asset meets terrified Russian handler; News at #AWFDY O'Clock


Former GOP Governor Bill Weld: Trump and Barr are trashing the rule of law


Katyal: Barr's defense of DOJ crisis is ‘poppycock’


When Republicans in Washington say they’re “for health care” or claim they’re protecting our essential lifelines, pay attention to what they’re actually doing. Register to vote. We have to strengthen our Majority, win back the Senate and elect a Democratic President of the U.S.


FUN FACT: Trump, via the American taxpayer, has already spent 334 years of his annual Presidential salary on golf.


With love, we join @Fred_Guttenberg in honoring the life of his kind and beautiful daughter Jaime and every precious life stolen from us that tragic day. We will never give up until common sense laws to #EndGunViolence are in place to protect every child in America.


Mike Pompeo met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The US side apparently wanted to keep it under wraps. The State Dept. made no announcement of the meeting. Pompeo's aides did not provide a readout.


Kevin McCarthy took Russian money from Lev Parnas. Why does anyone listen to anything he says?


. @cxemu, an investigative project of @RFERL in #Ukraine, published a story that said Zelensky could have secretly met with a top Russian security official in January. Zelensky is now suing them, calling the report “a clear manipulation of public opinion.”


. @cxemu, an investigative project of @RFERL in #Ukraine, published a story that said Zelensky could have secretly met with a top Russian security official in January. Zelensky is now suing them, calling the report “a clear manipulation of public opinion.


Judge Reggie Walton said that "people at the top" undermined the “integrity of the process."


Elizabeth Warren called the Trump administration’s request to shift nearly $4 billion from the military budget to build the Mexico border wall ‘one more example of Donald Trump thinking he’s above the law.’


A Russian journalist traveling with Lavrov said the U.S. side had requested that there be no press conference or joint statements and that photographers not even be invited to take a picture of the two top diplomats shaking hands


The U.S. Government Accountability Office is opening a review of President Trump’s $28 billion bailout for farmers amid allegations that the money was mismanaged and allocated unfairly


This is abnormal behavior by the State Department. I traveled with three Secretaries of State. When they met with Russian foreign ministers, they always told the American people what they were doing — often in great detail


President Trump asserts in a tweet Friday that he has the "legal right" to involve himself in US Justice Dept. criminal cases, if he wants to do so.


This bodes badly for others involved. Bet Gym Jordan is sweating vodka tonight @thespybrief Ex-Michigan State gymnastics coach found guilty of lying to investigators about Larry Nassar abuse


Wheels up from President Zelensky meeting in Ukraine. Heading to Munich Security Conference (where I will be doing a joint public event with Zelensky).


BREAKING: Another (radical?) court strikes down a Trump administration decision. Unanimous DC Circuit panel finds approval of Arkansas work requirements for Medicaid 'arbitrary & capricious' Opinion by Reagan appointee Sentelle



But they don't care. Because if Bernie bros can't get their Cultural Revolution with Bernie, they'll support Trump's efforts to burn it all down.


FTR I’m so NOT “Team Bloomberg” but even I can admit that @MikeBloomberg presidential social media team continues to push: -hilarious -brutal -accurate -timely campaign ads, others Dems should take a play out of this playbook


Trump mocks prayers of others, but his own beliefs remain opaque. On a president beloved by evangelicals who has accomplished much of what they want but regularly uses god’s name in vain and is not known to be a regular Bible reader or prayer. Our latest:


Why did “porn lawyer” Michael Avenatti become relevant? Perhaps because the President of United States had an affair with a porn star. Then paid her hush money. The media definitely gave Avenatti too much credibility. But Trump’s behavior gave us Avenatti.


Is McCabe going to get his retirement or does he have to sue


That's because removing him from office would've taught him a real lesson @lisamurkowski. Telling him extortion is ok, for some odd reason just emboldened him to crime even more.


“I don’t think I’ll ever be free of this president and his maniacal rage that he’s directed at me and my wife,” Mr. McCabe said. For more than two years, Trump “for absolutely no reason whatsoever” has been “lying about us and defaming me and my family.”


This is a great video from Pennsylvania on how to deal with a Trumper. Ignore his rants and just keep on going ....


Mike Pompeo avoids: Ambassador William Taylor Mike Pompeo secretly meets: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov


"Attorney General William Barr asked the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jeffrey Jensen, to look into Flynn's FBI interview, the people familiar with the inquiry said. The inquiry began within the past month, they said."


"The parallel developments mean that one part of the Justice Department is scrutinizing Giuliani while another is accepting information from him allegedly concerning a political rival of the president."


"Marco Rubio is our great republic’s most overrated senator—which is really saying something, since pretty much everyone in America, left, right, and center, thinks he’s a joke." The Irrelevance of Marco Rubio


Hard not to interpret this as SDNY waving a red flag because they worry Barr is going to shut this down


.@DonaldJTrumpJr, renowned anti-nepotism activist, is doing a fundraiser for my opponent. You can join our team, no relation required:


The @washingtonpost just confirmed what I have been saying for weeks. SDNY investigation into Giuliani, Parnas & Fruman has WIDENED and is getting more serious. Barr is not going to screw w this, its too big and explosive. Much more to come like I said.


Stone requests a new trial for the second time


Few scholarships, big student loans: Why colleges that serve poor students often cost more


WaPo: Prosecutors recently sought information related to Marie Yovanovitch, according to a person familiar with the request. They have also inquired about two companies with ties to Lev Parnas, according to people with knowledge of the queries.


The three Democratic senators who voted to confirm Barr should now call for his resignation:


Trump’s First 3 Years Created 1.5 Million Fewer Jobs Than Obama’s Last 3


Oh? Ya think? "The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top Justice Department officials into the work of career prosecutors."


THREAD: I recently spent some time talking privately with a former Washington DC CBP senior management official. This is what stuck with me: Border Patrol does not believe they are a civilian


Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe: Trump has "maniacal rage" for me


Putin’s lap dog.


BLUF: Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy to Trump: Bug off.


He literally cannot help himself. His narcissism can’t let someone do something — even if it’s illegal — without him getting “credit” for how it illustrates his power and the loyalty others have for him. So translation: “I totally asked Goonda to interfere on a criminal case.”


Hot tub crime machine has some “thoughts”


Bernie bros putting us on a list vs. QAnon Trumpers telling us we're going to GITMO. What could possibly unite them?


China is using its centuries-old traditional medicine on patients affected by the coronavirus disease, a top health official said


These are the images of the deadly novel coronavirus released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the U.S. This is what you need to know about the spreading coronavirus that's killed more than 1,300 in China


The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that its decision to kill an Iranian general was justified because he posed an "imminent threat" to American lives, but that phrase was notably absent in an official White House report sent to Congress


Replacing rule of law violates trust at heart of US life


Trump amplifies risk of standing up for the rule of law


Three ways to help the people standing up for the rule of law


Barr interfering in some cases that are not yet public: NYT


Rule of law already broken where it involves Trump