Patterico's Pontifications

2 hearts.

Jerryskids (cfad51) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:50 am

Is Trump America’s version of Gorbachev?

Colonel Haiku (16521f) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:56 am

America’s power brokers sure want to be rid of him.

Colonel Haiku (16521f) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:57 am

AW, Pat. You just had to, eh?

Gryph (08c844) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:58 am

A Trump Open Thread seems like a good place to remind some of this wonderful comment from noel:

…Jesus taught the multitudes. He did not require memberships and dues and a refined appearance. He welcomed all, if I read things right.

He forgave the true sinner and challenged the rabbi. He healed.

Would he reject the company of blacks, gays or women? Muslims or Mexicans? The poor or the disabled? The woman who had the abortion? The alcoholic? The liberal or the conservative? The divorced?

I doubt it. They were all on the hillside, listening, as he told those parables. And he fed them too.

noel (b4d580) — 5/14/2018 @ 12:21 pm

Does it apply to Trump?

BuDuh (fc15db) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:03 am

To me, Trump never really landed a direct killing blow to JEB – it was Chris Christie when he emphatically RTGAF about fantasy sports gaming following JEB’s preening on the issue in a 2015 debate.

In a way, the donut disposal machine was vindicated yesterday.

urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:04 am

This is the 5th day that Google News has had a CBS story on its front page about 74-year old Robert Gates saying Trump was a meanie for yelling at the DHS Secretary. CBS payola or dearth of anti-Trump stories?

nk (dbc370) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:08 am

Christie Kreme!

Colonel Haiku (16521f) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:09 am

Twitter delenda est

Gryph (08c844) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:12 am

What’s 11 million between friends

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/05/the_office_of_national_assessment_paid_stefan_halper__why.html

I think that’s too kind to javert

http://thefederalist.com/2018/05/14/record-proves-robert-mueller-clown-prince-federal-law-enforcement

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:18 am

What difference does it make, in the big scheme of things

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/05/14/2_colleagues_contradict_brennan_on_use_of_dossier.html

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:21 am

What do photographs prove anyways, but lets hang greitens in mere suspicion

https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/86440/former-fm-denies-meeting-with-kerry

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:26 am

There must be some new development in the Trump Reality Show that most of you want to talk about

Nothing new much, except the elephant in the room:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/strzok-page-texts-trump-russia-investigation-origins/

Strzok: And hi. Went well, best we could have expected. Other than [REDACTED] quote: “the White House is running this.” My answer, “well, maybe for you they are.” And of course, I was planning on telling this guy, thanks for coming, we’ve got an hour, but with Bill [Priestap] there, I’ve got no control…

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:49 am

By that weekend, as a result of consultations within these government agencies, Strzok was headed to London. While preparing, he teased Page that he’s “partial to any woman sending articles about how nasty the Russians are” — the rest of his text is redacted. After Page’s heavily redacted reply about how the Russians “are probably the worst. Very little I finding redeeming about this. Even in history. Couple of good writers and artists I guess,” Strzok raged in a heavily redacted reply, “f***ing conniving cheating savages. At statecraft, athletics, you name it. I’m glad I’m on Team USA.”

F***ing conniving cheating savages. LOL

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:01 am

Greitens is much a target by the longstanding Repubs in his state and perhaps by the present Presidential administration, at least to encourage him to think 6 years out instead of 2. That message goes double for rural John Slattery.

urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:02 am

Sounds like teh Boobsey Twins were rogue operatives. Or something.

Colonel Haiku (16521f) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:07 am

And then there’s Muellers contracting deripasha, re robert levinson, the reason he had hired Waldman, but carrying on.

narciso (48ecae) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:08 am

I like thinking of God while listening to Bach as I walk through the countryside.

Anonymous (393f9b) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:13 am

Now, even Rush Limbaugh is conjuring up conspiracy theories. The latest is about Papadopoulos being a spy for the FBI. “I now know who the spy is. I know now know who the FBI was running in the Trump campaign.”

What a whacko bunch. Is Rudy feeding another crazy smokescreen to his pals Rush and Sean? I don’t know what is going on but we’ve gotten way beyond crazy now. These guys can somehow overlook all of the indictments and guilty verdicts and Russian bots and money from Oligarchs but they can somehow see these imaginary “Deep State” operatives and a Papadopoulos spy?? I’ve never seen anything in politics that even comes close to this kind of crazy.

I don’t generally listen to conspiracy theories. But here is a question I want to know the answer to. How did Donald Trump, off all people, get Sean, Breitbart, the Enquirer and even Rush, to some extent, to be such solid advocates for him… even during the primary election? A candidate who wasn’t even pretending to be a conservative four or five years earlier. I won’t call it a conspiracy but it sure makes me wonder.

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:30 am

Haha. That is “of all people” not “off all people”. I don’t want to start that rumor.

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:32 am

Is it a wacko theory that the wife of a senior FBI exec was deployed into Fusion GPS and worked there for a few months (on the Trump stuff)? Is it a conspiracy theory that the dossier was paid for by the Clinton campaign? Is it a conspiracy theory that the FISA court said there was a practice of misuse of FISA intel by contractors doing “about” searches for US persons?

Anonymous (393f9b) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:57 am

The same crew who worked the intelligence estimate were the one who told us al queda was dead and Islamic state were the jauvee.

After the ChApman ring was manned there was no sting operation to find out who has been compromised.

narciso (b4022c) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:02 am

Americas best and brightest lawyers have been hijacking the constitution for many years.
Blame it on Trump.

mg (9e54f8) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:05 am

America avoided the biggest pile of sh!t by not electing Miss Jeb Boosh.
As well as sh!tty Mitty.

mg (9e54f8) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:08 am

Some wife of some FBI dude was working for GPS for a few months somewhere, sometime in the vicinity of something. Yea. I get it now.

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:08 am

BUT…. $500,000 funneled from a Russian oligarch to the President’s own personal lawyer escapes you??

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:11 am

Right rhapsody is Putin’s zylophone.

narciso (b4022c) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:15 am

Now, even Rush Limbaugh is conjuring up conspiracy theories. The latest is about Papadopoulos being a spy for the FBI. “I now know who the spy is. I know now know who the FBI was running in the Trump campaign.”

He didn’t say Papadopoulos was a spy for the FBI:

https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2018/05/14/know-name-spy-fbi-put-trump-campaign/amp/

BuDuh (fc15db) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:20 am

Some wife of some FBI dude was working for GPS for a few months somewhere, sometime in the vicinity of something. Yea. I get it now.

“Some FBI dude” was demoted and reassigned for some reason. Aren’t you interested? A special counsel gets unleashed and, voila!, oh lookee here… $500,000. Hmmm… Herr Cohen, what is this? …in your best German accent.

random viking (45621b) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:30 am

I’ve always liked Rush and even went to Dan’s Bake Sale in Colorado back a few years. But how he pretends to know all of the inside facts on the Papadopoulos angle seems real suspect. Is he being fed this stuff from Trump’s lawyers?

And then there is Sean Hannity. A story out yesterday claims he talks to Trump twice a day?

Fine. Talk to Trump all you want but doesn’t a FoxNews host have an obligation to tell us if he is in close constant contact with the President? If they are coordinating messaging? Strategizing?

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 10:31 am

The Nellie Ohr thing is a clear scandal. Shows two sides of the house (Clinton-paid oppo-PR slime firm) and FBI investigation working together. She was specifically deployed and worked on that specific project. Clear conflict of interest. Conflating of law enforcement, intelligence, and Democratic PR slime machine.

Anonymous (393f9b) — 5/15/2018 @ 10:33 am

Is ‘kidney procedure’ NDA language for ‘abortion’ in Trumpworld?

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:09 pm

19. noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:30 am

Now, even Rush Limbaugh is conjuring up conspiracy theories. The latest is about Papadopoulos being a spy for the FBI. “I now know who the spy is. I know now know who the FBI was running in the Trump campaign.”

That is not Papadapolous.

https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2018/05/14/know-name-spy-fbi-put-trump-campaign/

So some months before Papadopoulos was offered this research paper and speech by the informant.

More:

The informant’s an Oxford professor. He’s a typical establishment elitist person in his seventies. He comes from the whole elitist establishment crowd, which would be appalled at somebody like Donald Trump being elected.

He’s got ties to U.S. politics, dual citizenship, has U.K. citizenship and American citizenship and has served in American administrations widely known to American intelligence people and the FBI. And he was asked to perform this mission with Papadopoulos. I think Rush (and others) are maybe assuming that things were planned more than they were.

But what he says is this person arranged for George Papadoupolous to tell Alexander Downer, the Australian ambassador, some secret “information” that he himself has probably planted or knew had been planted by a friend (Joseph Mifsud) with Papadoupolous – to wit, that the Russians had possession of thousands of Hillary emails.

I think in that case he Midfsud was probably acting as a Russian agent – and lying. But he may have been a double agent.

Anyway, after Papadouplous tells this to the Australian Ambassador, who’s pro-Clinton, and thsi anti-Trump, some time passes. This was in May 2016. Of course everybody would have assumed this meant the deleted emails. In July, Downer reported this to the FBI or maybe the FBI took a second look at the report, I don’t know what’s accurate, this time assuming it meant the hacked DNC emails.

This was the basis for suspecting collusion. Look, even this minor guy in the Trump campaign knew about stolen Russian emails. The Trump campaign must be up to ears in spying.

I have to think that maybe the FBI was not so stupid as to think the claim applied to emails the Russians really had and not the emails deleted from clintonemail.gov that everybody was talking about before.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:20 pm

Trump addressed a group of law enforcement officers today:

He added, to loud applause from the audience, “We believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty — bring it forth.”

He neglected to mention that he he promised to institute the death penalty for cop-killers (“as one of the first things I do”) by executive order during the election campaign, and has flagrantly broken that promise:

“One of the first things I do, in terms of executive order if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country — out to the world — that anybody killing a policeman, policewoman, a police officer — anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty. It’s going to happen, OK?”
– Donald Trump, December 11, 2015

Cynically lying to a bunch of cops – just another day at the office for Donald J. Trump.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:24 pm

Mifsud who has ties to mi 6, prince turki (yes that guy) through nawaf obaid, and even Italian intelligence through Claire Smith.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:26 pm

Dave: Cynically lying to a bunch of cops – just another day at the office for Donald J. Trump.

Bush promised to move the embassy in Israel, and you called him out on that cynical lie. Right?

And, yeah Trump is all about coddling cop killers.

random viking (45621b) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:29 pm

Breaking- North Korea halts talks w/South Korea due to ‘joint military exercises’- warns U.S. to ‘carefully consider’ over fate of Trump summit in light of ‘provocative’ drills w/South Korea.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:35 pm

Bush promised to move the embassy in Israel, and you called him out on that cynical lie. Right?

Quote please.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:38 pm

I think you are referring to Carter Page whom Chuck Ross also called an FBI informant. Carter Page was indeed an informant (after having been a target – then later an investigation was started on grounds he lied to the FBI) but he can’t be the septuagenarian Oxford professor with dual British and American citizenship.

So you’re getting the names all mixed up. But then Rush said this was hard to figure out. He said Monday he was working on this since Saturday. He was probably been reading snippets of different versions of the facts, and doesn’t realize it.

back to Rush:

The informant and Mifsud implant the news with Papadopoulos that the Russians have thousands of Hillary emails. He’s hearing this essentially from people working — unbeknownst to him — with the FBI and the DOJ. So he gets drunk one night in a bar with the Australian ambassador, which was also set up and passes that information along as though it’s his own and he knows it as a Trump campaign person. That triggered. That provided an opportunity for the FBI/DOJ to say the Trump campaign knew that the Russians had 3,000 or thousands of Hillary Clinton emails.

More:

Chuck Ross at The Daily Caller has written a lot of this in an article back in March, it turns out

Maybe here it is:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/25/george-papadopoulos-london-emails/

Two months before the 2016 election, George Papadopoulos received a strange request for a meeting in London, one of several the young Trump adviser would be offered — and he would accept — during the presidential campaign.

The meeting request, which has not been reported until now, came from Stefan Halper, a foreign policy expert and Cambridge professor with connections to the CIA and its British counterpart, MI6.

Except we’re talking about earlier in the year!

Chuck Ross says George Papadopoulos’s all expenses paid trip to London plus $3,000 fee came in September, 2016, but the Australian Ambassador reported Papadouplous’ claim in July, saying he had been told in May.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:39 pm

And, yeah Trump is all about coddling cop killers.

He’s more into coddling rapists.

Cop-killers he just exploits to get applause.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:42 pm

37. DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:35 pm

37.Breaking- North Korea halts talks w/South Korea due to ‘joint military exercises’- warns U.S. to ‘carefully consider’ over fate of Trump summit in light of ‘provocative’ drills w/South Korea.

Well, we know that;’s not the reason.

A. Has Kim Jong Un decided that Donald Trump was bluffing about military action?

B. Have his scientists come to him and told him that his button does work?

C. Has he been paid off by Iran?

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:43 pm

@41. More likely he’s pushing to see how far he can go getting something for nothing.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:46 pm

Dave: Quote please.

Because google is just so hard.

George W. Bush, who is seen in 2000, says: “As soon as I take office, I will move the United States ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital.”

https://nypost.com/2017/12/08/trump-mocks-other-presidents-for-being-all-talk-on-jerusalem-promise/

Your denunciation of Bush as a cynical liar will soon follow.

random viking (45621b) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:47 pm

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 8:30 am

But here is a question I want to know the answer to. How did Donald Trump, off all people, get Sean, Breitbart, the Enquirer and even Rush, to some extent, to be such solid advocates for him… even during the primary election? A candidate who wasn’t even pretending to be a conservative four or five years earlier.

By running strongly. That would apply to Rush. Sean was friendly for some time.

The Enquirer may have been hoping to have a weak Republican a candidate since I think the Enquirer is closer to Clinton (I mean they had the same lawyer in the 1990s. I think Bill Clinton wanted Trump to run. There could be a break between the National Enquirer and the Clintons, but then we need to be able to place it in time when it occurred like we can place the brealk between the Clintons and Putin as early 2014.)

Breitbart was more interested in immigration restriction and such than anything else. Trump took the hardest line. Actually I think it was that Robert Mercer told Breitbart what line to take.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:50 pm

42. DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:46 pm

More likely he’s pushing to see how far he can go getting something for nothing.

He’s going to get nothing for nothing.

It’s possible he heard that Trump, or his advisers, admire what Ronald Reagan did at Reykjavík and he doesn’t want to play the villain in the remake.

Or it could be he doesn’t have enough jet fuel to take all of his people to Singapore.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:53 pm

https://hotair.com/archives/2018/05/14/john-oliver-explains-venezuela-things-terrible-socialism-isnt-blame/

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 12:55 pm

@45. Kim’s set up Trump to concede more goodies– or walk; there’s an art to the art of the deal.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:07 pm

32, nah, more like an extreme UTI passed along from some other “host”. That or she started drinking too many Diet Cokes and thence came the stones.

urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:08 pm

Kimberley A. Strassel also said in the Wall Strete Journal that she knew whom the informant almost certainly was but didn’t have anyone willing to confirm it, (even without being named)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/about-that-fbi-source-1525992611

Thanks to the Washington Post’s unnamed law-enforcement leakers, we know Mr. Nunes’s request deals with a “top secret intelligence source” of the FBI and CIA, who is a U.S. citizen and who was involved in the Russia collusion probe. When government agencies refer to sources, they mean people who appear to be average citizens but use their profession or contacts to spy for the agency. Ergo, we might take this to mean that the FBI secretly had a person on the payroll who used his or her non-FBI credentials to interact in some capacity with the Trump campaign….

….Which would lead to another big question for the FBI: When? The bureau has been doggedly sticking with its story that a tip in July 2016 about the drunken ramblings of George Papadopoulos launched its counterintelligence probe. Still, the players in this affair—the FBI, former Director Jim Comey, the Steele dossier authors—have been suspiciously vague on the key moments leading up to that launch date. When precisely was the Steele dossier delivered to the FBI? When precisely did the Papadopoulos information come in?

And to the point, when precisely was this human source operating? Because if it was prior to that infamous Papadopoulos tip, then the FBI isn’t being straight. It would mean the bureau was spying on the Trump campaign prior to that moment. And that in turn would mean that the FBI had been spurred to act on the basis of something other than a junior campaign aide’s loose lips.

We also know that among the Justice Department’s stated reasons for not complying with the Nunes subpoena was its worry that to do so might damage international relationships. This suggests the “source” may be overseas, have ties to foreign intelligence, or both. That’s notable, given the highly suspicious role foreigners have played in this escapade. It was an Australian diplomat who reported the Papadopoulos conversation. Dossier author Christopher Steele is British, used to work for MI6, and retains ties to that spy agency as well as to a network of former spooks. It was a former British diplomat who tipped off Sen. John McCain to the dossier. How this “top secret” source fits into this puzzle could matter deeply.

I believe I know the name of the informant, but my intelligence sources did not provide it to me and refuse to confirm it. It would therefore be irresponsible to publish it.

Probably 73-year Stefan Halper, who teaches at Oxford in the UK and had jobs in 3 Republican Administration. (Nixon, Ford and Reagan)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Halper

But what he did, if anything, is not clear. As Kimberly Strassel says we don’t have dates.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:10 pm

American Thinker article by Thomas Lifson yesterday:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/05/stefan_halper_and_the_origins_of_the_fbi_counterintelligence_investigation_of_the_trump_campaign.html

Acccording to this, the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign was opened on July 31, 2016. (Congress was informed in March, 2017)

Nunes wants to know what led up to the opening of the counterintelligence investigation.

He links to a Clarice Feldman article from the day before:

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/05/the_election_collusion_was_between_our_intelligence_community_and_britain.html

Now this could all be a false leak. And we’re not seeing anything connecting Stefan Halper to the Australian Ambassador or to an earlier trip by George Papadoupolous to Europe.

Or Carter Page. We have Halper inviting Carter Page to a to a Cambridge symposium.

It just might be that his name is leaked as a cover story.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:20 pm

On another ranch entirely:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cia-has-suspect-behind-biggest-leak-in-agencys-history-report

narciso (d0dc97) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:22 pm

47. DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:07 pm

Kim’s set up Trump to concede more goodies– or walk; there’s an art to the art of the deal.

Tll now Trump hasn’t given any goodies — or is it that waiving of sanctions on ZTE?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/business/trump-vows-to-save-jobs-at-chinas-zte-lost-after-us-sanctions.html

That was punishment for dealing with North Korea. The sanctions had already been waived, but the secret trading continued and the executives responsible, instead of being punished were rewarded.

Kim could be taking guidance from China. (So was ZTE)

But how long would it take Trump to understand what’s going on?

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:24 pm

51. Joshua Adam Schulte, who is meanwhile in jail for child pornography. Or is this just because he’s a usual suspect?

Schulkte said it’s only because he left the CIA on poor terms – no actual reason to suspect him.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:27 pm

It is not merely enough to go after greitens Because he showed stupid judgement three years ago. As mtn speech presenter plouffe put it he must be destroyed.

narciso (d0dc97) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:29 pm

@52. Kim’s returned people he literally stole and should have had in the first place and wangled a summit meeting w/an American president. That’s Kim giving up nothing of his own for something; a Kim win so far, Sammy. He’s pushing to see how far he can go w/this; actually using the art of the deal on Trump. Revisit the ZTE thingy; the Chinese government announces it is extending a $500 million loan to a state-owned construction company to build an Indonesian theme park that will feature a Trump-branded golf course and hotels- the day after Trump’s ZTE tweeting. There are no coincidences.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:34 pm

@55. ^should = shouldn’t. Typo.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:36 pm

55. DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:34 pm

@52. Kim’s returned people he literally stole and should have had in the first place and wangled a summit meeting w/an American president. That’s Kim giving up nothing of his own for something; a Kim win so far, Sammy.

Not much of a win when he’s expected to make concessions. He was also promising to denuclearize. He’s getting some win in the form of promises to let him stay in power – a mistake.

He’s pushing to see how far he can go w/this; actually using the art of the deal on Trump.

I think he may be misjudging Trump. Trump’s appointees, even if not Trump, are not going to endorse a bad deal. Trump’s saying he can take it either way.

the thing about ZTE is it may indicate Trump is afraid of carrying things too far.

Revisit the ZTE thingy; the Chinese government announces it is extending a $500 million loan to a state-owned construction company to build an Indonesian theme park that will feature a Trump-branded golf course and hotels- the day after Trump’s ZTE tweeting. There are no coincidences.

Yes, but that may be China pushing all the buttons. Flattery probably works better. He doesn’t need another golf course. And that investment either works or it doesn’t. It might be a way of China trying to get close to Trump.

His sons are making any foreign deals. Old ones continue. This is an old one.

https://steemit.com/politics/@ozphil/the-truth-about-george-papadopoulos-and-alexander-downer

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:47 pm

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/did-alexander-downer-meet-trump-campaign-aide/9689420

ELLEN FANNING: I want to start by asking you: did you meet with George Papadopoulos in the Kensington Wine Bar in May of 2016? And if so, what did he say to you?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, let me be blunt about this. Of course, it has been widely reported that I did.

But I don’t think talking about it is going to help our relationship with the United States or make any contribution that will advance Australia’s interests.

After all, this whole question of Russia and any relationship that Russians may have had at any stage with the Trump campaign team is a toxic issue in American politics. And I don’t think any of us really want to be dragged into that any more than we can help.

ELLEN FANNING: You say you don’t want to talk about it, so it sounds like it did occur. And, as you say, it has been widely reported.

Here is what we think we know about it. It’s information independently verified by the New York Times and by the Sydney Morning Herald: and that is that Mr Papadopoulos told you that he had become aware that Russia had a dirt file on Hillary Clinton, based on hacked Democratic Party emails. Is that what he told you, very simply?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, as I said, I am not going to go into granular detail like that. I am really not, because this issue plays into American politics in a really major way and I have no enthusiasm to play into American politics in the first place.

And in the second place, I mean, I don’t think it’s in Australia’s interests that we do play into American politics, more than is necessary for our country.

ELLEN FANNING: All right. Well, can I ask you this, very simply: have you been interviewed or questioned or expect to be interviewed or questioned by the FBI or the Mueller investigation?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: I mean, it’s exactly the sort of question that I definitely wouldn’t answer.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 1:55 pm

Stormy Daniels is: Porn Director

“I was sexually assaulted by one of her crew members. He groped and grabbed me from behind,” Reign said. “I spoke up immediately because I was in the moment, and I was so proud of myself. She was the director that day, I went straight to her and straight to the man that did it, we had a conversation about it, I went to the owner of Wicked Pictures, I did all the right things. And she did not handle the situation appropriately, respectfully or professionally.

According to Reign’s account, she had just finished getting her makeup done and posing for stills on the second day of filming “The Set Up,” on November 15, 2017. She claims she was asked to fill out some paperwork. While fully clothed in her wardrobe for an upcoming scene, she says she felt two strange hands grab her rear end from behind and a male crew member start groping her and making sexually suggestive moaning sounds.

Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 5/15/2018 @ 2:00 pm

Fine. Talk to Trump all you want but doesn’t a FoxNews host have an obligation to tell us if he is in close constant contact with the President? If they are coordinating messaging? Strategizing?

noel (b4d580) — 5/15/2018 @ 10:31 am

Does it count as a leak? He doesn’t have to disclose his source, or so I’ve heard.

Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 5/15/2018 @ 2:07 pm

Mr Papadopoulos told you that he had become aware that Russia had a dirt file on Hillary Clinton, based on hacked Democratic Party emails. Is that what he told you, very simply?

No, that’s not what George Papadopoulos told him, according to all accounts.

He told him that the Russians had thousands of Hillary Clinton emails, by which anyone would assume was the emails deleted from Hillary Clintons; server.

In July, Alexander Downer related that to the hacked DNC emails and informed the CIA/MI6 or whoever, who informed the FBI. But Papadopoulos did not know about any hacked DNC emails, and they’re not the same thing.

The third man, who arranged for this conversation to take place, was probably not Stefan Halper. He was an associate of Joseph Mifsud.

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 2:18 pm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/01/18/porn-star-stormy-danielss-brief-political-career-as-a-u-s-senate-contender

This was Louisiana in 2009. The unlikely candidate was Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress at the center of the latest allegations against the president…Ultimately Daniels (born Stephanie Clifford) formed an exploratory committee but did not file as a candidate….It started with David Vitter. In 2009, the incumbent Louisiana senator was facing reelection the next year. He was also trying to rehabilitate his image. The Republican, a strict family values conservative, was entangled in the “D.C. Madam” scandal in 2007 after his phone number was discovered in the records of a prostitution ring. However, heading toward reelection, the field seemed clear for his return to Washington.

Then, without Daniels’s knowledge, a “Draft Stormy” campaign was “launched by a few overzealous political science students looking for an adult entertainer to run against Vitter,” the Bayou Brief’s Mitch Rabalais wrote this week. “Their strategy was that Daniels’ mere presence in the race would draw more attention to the Senator’s extramarital activities.”

The pro-Daniels crowd treated her as more than a prop. On their website, the drafters noted the Baton Rouge native had charged hard toward success her whole life, whether as a high school student (editor of her school paper, president of the local 4-H Club) or as an adult entertainer. After first entering the business in 2000, within two years Daniels had inked a major contract with the biggest studio in the game. Two years later she was directing and writing her films. She was also one of the few adult entertainers who could jump into mainstream films such as “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

But as the “Draft Stormy” movement started in early 2009, Daniels was living in Florida and not registered with either political party…

…In May 2009, Daniels officially filed for a limited liability corporation with the state, the Stormy Daniels Exploratory Committee…

….Daniels’s viability as a candidate suffered a blow in July 2009 when she was arrested at her home in Tampa.

According to the police report obtained by the Smoking Gun, Daniels became mad at her husband for the way the laundry was done, and the argument built when she discovered household bills were unpaid. Daniels then hit her husband “on his head with her hands several times,” police said. The charges were later dropped.

In 2010, Daniels announced she was declaring herself a Republican. But in June 2010, she announced she would not run after all.

“To begin with, like Governor Palin, I have become a target of the cynical stalwarts of the status quo,” Daniels said in a statement…

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 2:22 pm

Tom Wolfe RIP

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/obituaries/tom-wolfe-pyrotechnic-nonfiction-writer-and-novelist-dies-at-88.html

Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/15/2018 @ 3:05 pm

Because google is just so hard.

George W. Bush, who is seen in 2000, says: “As soon as I take office, I will move the United States ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital.”

Why do you lie about what is right there on the videotape recording? That’s not what Bush says.

He says “As so as I take office, I will begin the process of moving the United States ambassador to the city…”

Promising to begin the process of doing something is not the same as promising to complete the process. Bush may well have begun the process, but then decided that US national security interests in the War on Terror (including the need for cooperation with other Arab/Muslim countries) required delay. That is responsible leadership. That is putting America first.

Your denunciation of Bush as a cynical liar will soon follow.

Your apology for lying about the video and your denunciation of Trump for lying to the police officers will soon follow.

Eh, who am I kidding.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 3:48 pm

as *soon

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 3:48 pm

Promising to begin the process of doing something is not the same as promising to complete the process.

lol that’s so Bush

this is why even with $150M in his pocket Jeb! couldn’t get a second glance from anybody

happyfeet (28a91b) — 5/15/2018 @ 3:50 pm

Sammy! What have you been browsing on the internet?

nk (dbc370) — 5/15/2018 @ 3:54 pm

Dave, I “lied” by citing the source and quoting it exactly.

Using weasel words is definitely a sign of “responsible leadership”. It clearly impresses you. Bush lied or misled. You choose.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:02 pm

Its like the argument clinic, or sctv’s Nathan thrum.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:04 pm

Good question:
http://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-ivison-if-self-confessed-isil-killer-is-not-held-accountable-who-will-be

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:07 pm

They use big pillows:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5730125/ISIS-leader-responsible-pilot-burned-alive-cage-captured.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:08 pm

Dave, I “lied” by citing the source and quoting it exactly.

So due to failure to verify what you were posting, you made a false claim. Always somebody else’s fault, though, right? You’re true disciple of your leader…

Using weasel words is definitely a sign of “responsible leadership”.

Not weasel words at all. It was honest recognition that moving the embassy is a serious step that would require deliberation, planning and consultation. Bush made a measured commitment that he could be sure of keeping.

Trump flat out lied:

“One of the first things I do, in terms of executive order if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country — out to the world — that anybody killing a policeman, policewoman, a police officer — anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty. It’s going to happen, OK?”

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:20 pm

So due to failure to verify what you were posting, you made a false claim. Always somebody else’s fault, though, right? You’re true disciple of your leader…

Dave, a lie is making a false statement that you know is false. Bush lied with his statement, no matter which source. Just as you lied with your filibuster claim in the other thread. Since I did not lie, I seek no one to blame — unlike you.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:33 pm

Judge b*tch-slaps Manafort’s attempt to get charges dismissed, rules that Mueller’s indictment is perfectly consistent with regulations.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:36 pm

Well, that was for the bottom 13.4 million of the 52 million. (See “Why Real Conversation Has Become Increasingly Impossible” thread for reference.) Every state that has the death penalty makes the killing of a police officer one of the aggravating factors, but Trump could no more do it by executive order than he could give himself a full head of hair by executive order. I doubt that any police officer believed him, or at least I hope that we don’t have police officers who are so stupid and so ignorant of the law so as to believe him.

nk (dbc370) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:38 pm

Dave, a lie is making a false statement that you know is false.

A lie is also making a false statement that you should know is false.

What you’re saying is that if I happen to find some website claiming that you are a child molester, and I repeat that claim, it is not a lie (since I have no direct knowledge of your guilt or innocence, I don’t *know* that the statement is false). You apparently want to claim that my failure to verify that accusation before repeating it would just be an honest mistake.

Also, the filibuster claim was indeed technically incorrect because the senate never took up the nomination; but Garland’s nomination was discussed in the context of a filibuster. I should have said “block” rather than “filibuster”. It would not have altered the point I was trying to make.

Bush did not lie about the embassy, but as usual, the only possible defense Trump’s cheerleaders can offer is “But what about…?” If you believe Bush lied, and you believe it was wrong, why is it OK for Trump to lie?

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:50 pm

Dave, what about the time Democrat William Quantrill raided Lawrence, Kansas and killed 164 Republicans? Nothing to say about that, eh?

nk (dbc370) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:58 pm

Yes William Jefferson’s atty once upon a time. We have to leave it to Ellis to read the actual law.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:58 pm

Meghan must be thrilled, Mr. Feet; the way those congresscritters told off our Captain today to his face by defending Daddy John and demanding a public apology from the WH’s Sadler. They’ll be talking about that kind of courage for hundreds and hundreds of years.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 5/15/2018 @ 4:58 pm

Well, that was for the bottom 13.4 million of the 52 million.

Indeed, many of Trump’s “greatest hits” fall into that category:

1) Mexico to pay for 100% of wall
2) Manufacturing jobs to return en masse
3) National debt paid off in eight years without raising taxes or cutting entitlements
4) Obamacare to be “so easily” replaced with better coverage for more people at “a tiny fraction of the cost”
5) Hillary Clinton to be locked up
6) Bowe Bergdahl to be thrown out of a helicopter without a parachute over Afghanistan

No person with even a middle-school level of education should fall for any of it.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:02 pm

A lie is also making a false statement that you should know is false.

False. What you describe is negligence, not lying. But, if you truly believe that is lying, then Bush lied in getting us into the Gulf War with the WMD claim because he should have known it was false. (In contrast, I don’t think it was a lie.)

If you truly affirm you have transcribed every quote, word for word, from the original audio whenever you’ve cited a quote from a major publication, and commit to do it henceforth, then I will agree I was negligent. Otherwise, stuff it.

What you’re saying is that if I happen to find some website claiming that you are a child molester, and I repeat that claim, it is not a lie

If that claim came from a major publication it would be understandable, you not knowing me from Adam.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:05 pm

Dave, what about the time Democrat William Quantrill raided Lawrence, Kansas and killed 164 Republicans? Nothing to say about that, eh?

I’m afraid you got me, nk. That really puts things in perspective.

“People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?”
– Donald J. Trump, Civil War scholar

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:08 pm

But, if you truly believe that is lying, then Bush lied in getting us into the Gulf War with the WMD claim because he should have known it was false. (In contrast, I don’t think it was a lie.)

Bush could only rely on the agencies of the US government tasked to inform him on the subject. It was not a lie.

Your determination to keep singing the “What about…?” chorus is impressive.

But once again, if lying is bad why is it OK for Trump to do it?

“One of the first things I do, in terms of executive order if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country — out to the world — that anybody killing a policeman, policewoman, a police officer — anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty. It’s going to happen, OK?”

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:13 pm

Maybe he just comes here for abuse,

The truth is they snot want any solution that is not the dissolution of the southern border, the abolition of prisons and firearms in short order and other ergot fueled delusions

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:17 pm

If you believe Bush lied, and you believe it was wrong, why is it OK for Trump to lie?

Maybe you need to read Patterico’s post today about how conversation has become impossible.

You’re claiming I said it was OK for Trump to lie, when I never did.

You, on the other hand, think Bush’s lie is OK. You defend it by claiming it’s not a lie.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:18 pm

The civil war cost 5 million lives in todays number, and it did not solve the problem.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:35 pm

I guess this. Crosses the other thread, but we knew the Libyan nuclear program was finis because there was evidence. We have informed conjecture in the latter instance but no definitive proof.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:43 pm

Maybe you need to read Patterico’s post today about how conversation has become impossible.

You’re claiming I said it was OK for Trump to lie, when I never did.

I’ve never claimed that, at least in this conversation. On the contrary, I don’t think you’ve admitted your double standard.

After you falsely accused Bush of lying, based on a fake quote, I gave you several opportunities to condemn Trump for lying, based on an accurate quote. You have steadfastly refused.

What conclusions should we draw from the fact that you think something Bush allegedly (but not actually) did 18 years ago is a defense for Donald Trump’s cynical exploitation and deception of police officers today?

(And don’t try to accuse me of putting words in your mouth – my justification for saying you think that is because it is how you chose to respond to my original comment)

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 5:59 pm

What conclusions should we draw from the fact that you think something Bush allegedly (but not actually) did 18 years ago is a defense for Donald Trump’s cynical exploitation and deception of police officers today?

Exhibit A of what Patterico has called out in his post. (Though, I’m under no illusions that he would take my side.)

You denounced Trump for lying. I responded in a quest to determine whether your denunciation was based on principle or just because it was Trump. The results are plain as day.

I don’t like lying by presidents, bloggers or commenters. I’m on record on this same blog as acknowledging that Trump has lied. (Go search for it.) I do not defend it. I treat it the same as lies by Bush or Obama.

I temper my denunciation by stating that I will expect political candidates to be morally/ideologically pure when I expect bloggers and commenters to enact legislation. Purity is a luxury of those who aren’t measured by their results.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:15 pm

You denounced Trump for lying. I responded in a quest to determine whether your denunciation was based on principle or just because it was Trump. The results are plain as day.

Indeed, being a relentless seeker of the truth, you responded by dismissing Trump’s lie and falsely accusing someone else of lying.

If you can find an actual example of Bush lying, I will condemn it. If he had said what you falsely claimed, he would be guilty. But he didn’t, and he isn’t.

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:23 pm

Dave, quite simply, if you want to claim Bush never lied then you may as well walk around with a sandwich board that says “I’m with stupid” with an arrow pointing up. I will not search for examples, so don’t ask me. If you want to use that as proof that I’m wrong then run with that.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:35 pm

Dave, quite simply, if you want to claim Bush never lied

I never said that.

I will not search for examples, so don’t ask me. If you want to use that as proof that I’m wrong then run with that.

More whatabout-ism and squirrel-ism. (Yes, squirrel-ism is henceforth a word)

Let’s review.

I started this particular conversation by pointing out a shameless, cynical Trump lie to police officers. You tried to deflect by making it about something Bush said 18 years ago, except Bush didn’t say what you claimed, which left you stuck with no defense for Trump again. So now your defense of Trump’s undisputed lie is (still) that Bush allegedly lied, but you won’t bother to find an actual lie. Which is fine AFAIC, since this is a Trump thread, not a Bush thread, and you’re the one who tried to drag Dubya into it.

Since acknowledging, much less condemning, Trump’s lie is too difficult for you, let’s come at this from a different angle. How does your commitment to constitutionalism comport with a president’s promise to institute the death penalty for state crimes by executive order? Do you suppose Antonin Scalia would approve?

Dave (445e97) — 5/15/2018 @ 6:59 pm

I just finished watching Solomon Kane. It’s good. A little Puritanical. 😉 No REH plot, but character development much superior to Schwarzenegger’s Conan, and it goes without saying the acting too.

nk (dbc370) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:05 pm

How does your commitment to constitutionalism comport with a president’s promise to institute the death penalty for state crimes by executive order? Do you suppose Antonin Scalia would approve?

Clearly Trump falls into the category of “first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory“ instead of “faculty of Harvard University“. If you’ve been paying attention, you know how worrisome this is to me.

As for your “review”, I leave it to others to read the comment history and determine whether it meshes with reality.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/15/2018 @ 7:48 pm

Heh! Kim Jong Lucy just yanked away the football from Charlie Trump.

nk (dbc370) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:09 pm

And the range of a hwasonv missiles extends how far again.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/15/2018 @ 9:15 pm

Heh! Kim Jong Lucy just yanked away the football from Charlie Trump.

Inconceivable!

Dave (445e97) — 5/16/2018 @ 1:52 am

Trump still talks to Hannity twice a day?

I do wonder how often Trump and Hannity, other Fox hosts, Breitbart, and Drudge were communicating and strategizing during the primary election. All the while they were avoiding endorsements and feigning a level of objectivity.

We know Russia was attacking and dividing during the primary and general elections. But to what degree was conservative media in the tank for Trump? Were Republican voters duped…. or was the conservative media just following the lead of the Republican grass roots? It’s a story that I think has yet to be told.

noel (b4d580) — 5/16/2018 @ 4:39 am

Was it Drudge that had Rubio pictured in a high-chair during the primary? Doing Trump’s dirty work. Hardly objective coverage.

noel (b4d580) — 5/16/2018 @ 4:43 am

ConDave… Trump H8ers gonna H8!

Colonel Haiku (43fb26) — 5/16/2018 @ 5:36 am

He does seem terribly concerned, doesn’t he,

narciso (d1f714) — 5/16/2018 @ 5:54 am

Impregnable!

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:00 am

Unbearable!

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:00 am

Nah! Insurmountable and inscrutable.

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:01 am

That was the mindset behind Sherman’s framework.

narciso (d1f714) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:03 am

Like everything else Trump does, the whole Korean thing to date has been a Potempkin village. A false front to fool the Trumprons. Kim Jong Un knows this, and is threatening to blow away the smoke. I wonder how far Trump will bend over to maintain the illusion of “success”. I’m betting more than Clinton did.

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:09 am

He don’t care, it’s the Left Coast and that judge in Hawaii that get hit.

urbanleftbehind (00786c) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:09 am

I suspect that’s why Tillerson was fired and replaced by the Italian-American. He was too realistic about negotiating with North Korea (like he was some kind of experienced international businessman or something), when what Trump wanted was a swarthy cheerleader from Kansas to tout his artful dealing.

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:19 am

He’s not swarthy like those from the outer boroughs, Jersey, LI or Westport. He’s the one who got into Cobra Kai dojo – more of a smart Dana Rohrabacher.

urbanleftbehind (00786c) — 5/16/2018 @ 6:31 am

I’m teasing a couple of commenters whose handles start with H.

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 7:29 am

Now, see, here’s the difference between Trump and a truly strong leader like Putin. http://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-beaten-cat-first-cross-4-billion-crimea-bridge-928537 Putin was not only totally cool with the bridge-builders’ mascot being the first to cross the bridge instead of him; he made it part of the ceremony. Trump would have called it #FakeNews, and called the cat fat and ugly and an embarrassment to its parents, and have had Rudy Giuliani on all the talk shows “proving” that no cat could run for twelve miles.

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 7:49 am

@111: If it were Mueller he would’ve indicted the mascot, and the anti-Trump crowd here would be so very impressed.

random viking (6a54c2) — 5/16/2018 @ 9:11 am

“Like everything else Trump does, the whole Korean thing to date has been a Potempkin village.”

Is that similar to a Potemkin village? If it is, I heartily disagree.

Colonel Haiku (43fb26) — 5/16/2018 @ 9:33 am

Or maybe it’s a temporary village.

Colonel Haiku (43fb26) — 5/16/2018 @ 9:34 am

Of po’ kinfolk…

Colonel Haiku (43fb26) — 5/16/2018 @ 9:35 am

https://amgreatness.com/2018/05/16/mueller-year-one-the-real-heroes-in-journalism/

narciso (d1f714) — 5/16/2018 @ 10:07 am

In the style of Potemkin as envisioned by his student Ivan Trumpkin.

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 3:18 pm

Or you could blame The Moustache. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/05/16/whats-this-libya-model-north-korea-is-so-angry-about/?utm_term=.a7b81302993a

(And, yeah, that’s how I spell moustache.)

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 3:53 pm

Draining the swamp, the Potempkin way:

In just a few weeks on the job, Pompeo has already reversed two heavily criticized Tillerson directives, ending a 16-month hiring freeze and reinstating a program that offers employment opportunities for the spouses of diplomats posted abroad.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-trump-aide-rex-tillerson-says-alternative-realities-are-a-threat-to-democracy/2018/05/16/4d0353f0-594b-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html?utm_term=.8a2b6c3674eb

nk (dbc370) — 5/16/2018 @ 5:30 pm

5/15/2018

Your Trump Open Thread

119 Responses to “Your Trump Open Thread”

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