Patterico's Pontifications

10/14/2020

Giant Unmasking Scandal Comes to Nothing — So We Have a New October Surprise Instead

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:29 am



#JEFFBEZOSFAKENEWSPOST:

The federal prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to review whether Obama-era officials improperly requested the identities of individuals whose names were redacted in intelligence documents has completed his work without finding any substantive wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the matter.

The revelation that U.S. Attorney John Bash, who left the department last week, had concluded his review without criminal charges or any public report will rankle President Trump at a moment when he is particularly upset at the Justice Department. The department has so far declined to release the results of Bash’s work, though people familiar with his findings say they would likely disappoint conservatives who have tried to paint the “unmasking” of names — a common practice in government to help understand classified documents — as a political conspiracy.

Me, in May: “Unmasking” Is Routine, and the Effort to Portray It As Sinister Is Very Stupid Propaganda:

Over 10,000 unmasking requests a year. And that’s during the Trump administration.

If you’re uninformed enough to be taken in by the propaganda suggesting that the mere act of asking for the “unmasking” of someone (whose identity you do not know by definition which is why you are asking) is somehow sinister, you must think the Trump administration is a hotbed of corruption. (Which it is, but this is not evidence of that. At all.)

If you’re arguing that it was improper to make a request to unmask someone who turned out to be Flynn with respect to the Kislyak call, you’re simply not arguing in good faith. Full stop.

Always trust content from Patterico!

Well, this fizzled and the Durham thing is going nowhere before the election, so the New York Post has the last best attempt at a fishy October surprise:

Hunter Biden introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company, according to emails obtained by The Post.

The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the email reads.

. . . .

Photos of a Delaware federal subpoena given to The Post show that both the computer and hard drive were seized by the FBI in December, after the shop’s owner says he alerted the feds to their existence.

But before turning over the gear, the shop owner says, he made a copy of the hard drive and later gave it to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello.

An October revelation that the FBI is investigating emails relating to Trump’s opponent, found in a newly discovered (OK not really) trove of emails on a laptop! Hey, it worked before!

That email does not really clearly say the meeting happened, actually; it could be that Hunter had simply promised one. In any event, the story goes that Hunter brings a waterlogged computer to this service place, which identifies it as a Biden-related laptop from sticker relating to Beau, decides to dig around the data on its own, and send the laptop to the FBI after making a copy for Rudy Giuliani. I mean that makes perfect sense to me. But as Columbo said: I have just one more question. Actually, a few:

We’ll see what comes of this, if anything. I suspect it will fizzle like the unmasking, but get excited about it while you can.

256 Responses to “Giant Unmasking Scandal Comes to Nothing — So We Have a New October Surprise Instead”

  1. BUT HIS EMAILS!

    Patterico (115b1f)

  2. Comfortably Smug
    @ComfortablySmug
    ·
    Blue Check logic:

    Last Month: LEAKED TAPES OF TRUMP TALKING TO WOODWARD!

    Last Week: HERE ARE TRUMPS LEAKED TAX RETURNS!

    Today: We will not report leaked Biden corruption emails.
    __ _

    Saagar Enjeti
    @esaagar
    ·
    The people who accepted the Steele dossier without question have some thoughts on sourcing today

    __ _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  3. and those russian bounties, and the memorial day ‘revelations’ and the saudi sourced bezos tapes, (came straight from the mistress)and so and so on…

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  4. I’ll bet Maggie Haberman is worried her love letters to the Biden campaign will show up on the same laptop, like Assange found in the Podesta hack.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  5. Good effort, harkin. You’re a credit to the Trump team.

    Problem is we already know Hunter used his connections for a pay day. It’s no defense that Ivanka and Jared got the same but took thousands of Americans to the grave. Hunter did wrong. But we already knew it last year.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  6. The people who accepted the Steele dossier without question have some thoughts on sourcing today

    And the people who have mercilessly criticized the reporting on the Steele dossier suddenly have no concerns about sourcing. Funny how that works.

    (Not That) Bill O'Reilly (6bb12a)

  7. And the people who have mercilessly criticized the reporting on the Steele dossier suddenly have no concerns about sourcing.

    I’ll express concern after the Biden administration is gummed up by two years of investigations, which would be more concern than we’ve ever heard regarding the pee dossier.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  8. I’ll express concern after the Biden administration is gummed up by two years of investigations

    O yes, because the GOP never used baseless investigations to stymie the Obama administration!

    (Not That) Bill O'Reilly (6bb12a)

  9. I’ll express concern after the Biden administration is gummed up by two years of investigations

    O yes, because the GOP never used baseless investigations to stymie the Obama administratio

    ALIA (c25359)

  10. This is why I’m not voting for Hunter Biden.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  11. Admittedly, the unmasking efforts was likely not to go anywhere as it was an authorized practice.

    That doesn’t mean it wasn’t abused.

    That goes into many “abuses of powers” do not align with breaking statutory laws. As, by design, much of the alleged “abuses of powers” can only be mitigated by political acts.

    I don’t know what Durham is going to do and I hope there’s some sort of accounting over this. But, I’m really disturbed that the likes on this board, including the host, remains uninterested in the massive abuses of power perpetuated by the previous administrations and holdover Obama staff.

    Because, if there’s no accounting for that, then it becomes an open invitation for the next administration to engage in that same practice. Just entertain the scenario that it’s the Trump administration doing the same things that the Obama administration did to him to the incoming Biden/Harris administration?

    Do you not see how damaging that is and will be?

    As I mentioned in the other thread, the whole Hunter laptop story at NYPost screams “October Surprise” to me… such that, I’d want more authentication.

    whembly (7c17c7)

  12. But, but, Obamagate!! Worst scandal in history!!
    The biggest tell is that Mr. Bash chose to quit the DOJ instead of move on to the next assignment. He may well have been told or hinted that “you’ll never work in this town again!” if he didn’t produce the results Trump wanted.

    Patterico, the NYP says “the shop owner couldn’t positively identify the customer as Hunter Biden”, which only raises more questions. The shop owner took the person’s number because he tried to call him, so he must’ve taken his name, too, right? He didn’t say.
    Couldn’t that number be traced to a person’s phone? If it was a burner, then only more suspicions arise.

    The conspiracy theorist in me posits this: Someone took a sticker from Biden’s foundation and slapped it on the laptop, then filled it with as much publicly available information on Hunter as possible, maybe hacked into his Facebook account, and inserted a stream of phony baloney emails. Bannon is involved in this, and I wouldn’t put it past him.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  13. Right on schedule, obama taking to the campaign trail to yell at people to get out and vote for the basement riden biden. lmao, reminds me of 4 years ago when he did the Hillary blitz. With dozens of stoned voters attending biden and HuH gatherings, things look outa sight.

    mg (8cbc69)

  14. The people who accepted the Steele dossier without question have some thoughts on sourcing today

    Who “accepted the Steele dossier without question”?

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  15. @12

    But, but, Obamagate!! Worst scandal in history!!
    The biggest tell is that Mr. Bash chose to quit the DOJ instead of move on to the next assignment. He may well have been told or hinted that “you’ll never work in this town again!” if he didn’t produce the results Trump wanted.

    Paul Montagu (77c694) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:02 am

    I doubt that… Bash is getting a cushy job making hella money now at a prestigious law firm. Which happens a lot in these scenarios.

    whembly (7c17c7)

  16. @14

    The people who accepted the Steele dossier without question have some thoughts on sourcing today

    Who “accepted the Steele dossier without question”?

    Paul Montagu (77c694) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:03 am

    Just about every Trump critics.

    Funny… the dossier was non-existent in the Mueller report.

    What would you make of that?

    whembly (7c17c7)

  17. “You’re a credit to the Trump team”
    __ _

    Still pointing out hypocrisy.

    Still not voting for Trump.

    Still the same poster I was in 2015, unbroken (unlike so many) by ridiculous politics.

    Still not suggesting smiling teenagers needing to be punched.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  18. That email does not really clearly say the meeting happened, actually; it could be that Hunter had simply promised one.

    Even in the doubtful event this isn’t a more sophisticated version of the Killian memos (and Putin’s people are surely capable of much more convincing work than the random crank who made a fool of Dan Rather), there is nothing unambiguously incriminating in what I’ve seen.

    What they have released is presumably the worst they could find. So where are all the emails between Hunter and his father discussing Burisma?

    Dave (1bb933)

  19. one should think about taking a stand over killing babies at birth and harvesting the body parts

    mg (8cbc69)

  20. how will you people sleep at night?

    mg (8cbc69)

  21. I’m impressed by the skepticism expressed here, from people who had it stuffed in a dusty box behind the holiday decorations at the farthest recesses of their attic the past four years.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  22. how will you people sleep at night?

    After November 3, much better.

    Dave (1bb933)

  23. like the zinoviev letter, which fusion tool luke harding, cites in his first trawl, of steele’s flush,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  24. “ I’m impressed by the skepticism expressed here, from people who had it stuffed in a dusty box behind the holiday decorations at the farthest recesses of their attic the past four years.”
    __

    They not only refuse to own it, they project their faults onto anyone pointing it out.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  25. I’m just appalled at how subpar our grifters are.

    The Ukraine fabrication blew up in their faces already; those with long memories might remember a little impeachment was held about 700 years ago. Did no one think to gin up a backup plan? They keep trying to activate the Q nutters with pedo nonsense, but they’ll need to develop that resource for a while yet.

    I’m personally embarrassed for them, and our country. We used to produce George Parkers and Lou Blongers and Soapy Smiths! And the best we we can do now is Donnie and his Ensure-swilling vacation rental scammers.

    john (cd2753)

  26. Just about every Trump critics.
    Funny… the dossier was non-existent in the Mueller report.
    What would you make of that?

    I don’t know any Trump critics who took Trump’s alleged pee episode without question. The critics I’ve seen have well acknowledged that much of the information was unverified and unverifiable.
    However, the information in the Steele reports was not “non-existent” in the Mueller report. The Russian email hacks were verified, Page’s trip to Russia was verified (but not the other stuff), Manafort’s malfeasance was verified, all of which were in both the Steele and Mueller documents.
    The Mueller report confirmed that the “Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP…”
    The Mueller report confirmed that “Russia has extensive program of state-sponsored offensive cyberoperations.”
    The Mueller report confirmed that “TRUMP associate admits Kremlin behind recent appearance of DNC e-mails on WikiLeaks, as means of maintaining plausible deniability.” See Roger Stone.
    Memo 95 from Steele said this: This [coordination] was managed on the TRUMP side by the Republican candidate’s campaign manager, Paul MANAFORT, who was using foreign policy advisor, Carter PAGE, and others as intermediaries.” Steele was wrong about Page but right about Manafort, where the Mueller report confirmed that Manafort shared internal polling data with a Russian spy. Mueller could not conclude with confidence the criminal conspiracy.
    The Mueller report confirmed that “Top level Russian official confirms current closeness of Alpha Group-PUTIN relationship. Significant favors continue to be done in both directions… and [Petr] AVEN still giving informal advice to PUTIN, especially on US.” It is a fact that Aven was a go-between for Putin and Trump.
    The Mueller report confirmed that “The Kremlin had more intelligence on CLINTON and her campaign but he did not know the details or when or if it would be released.”
    The Mueller report confirmed that “Russians do have further kompromat on CLINTON (e-mails) and considering disseminating it after Duma (legislative elections) in late September.”

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  27. The charge of insufficient skepticism is typical projection.

    I’ve doubted every word Donald Trump has said for more than four years.

    The meeting between Trump’s campaign manager, son and son in law was documented in emails his son released.

    Russian interference in the election to benefit Trump is documented by the intelligence and law enforcement community. Trump’s attempts to cover-up that interference are documented in his own public confessions.

    The attempt to extort political dirty tricks from the President of the Ukraine using foreign aid was documented in a summary of the call that Trump released.

    Trump’s lies to the American people about the pandemic are documented in tapes recorded with his knowledge and permission.

    Dave (1bb933)

  28. They not only refuse to own it, they project their faults onto anyone pointing it out.

    Genuinely curious what the rule is supposed to be here. The media’s handling of the Steele dossier was unconscionable and counterproductive; is the lesson that all journalistic standards should be thrown to the wind? Does Trump just get one free shot before we’re then supposed to disarm?

    I’ve yet to see anyone defend the NYPost reporting as even plausibly accurate and vetted, so those promoting it seem to be admitting they don’t actually care about the (lack of) journalistic standards that led to the dossier reporting.

    (Not That) Bill O'Reilly (6bb12a)

  29. If the Trump team ever told the truth, even only once, about anything, this patently false frame-up might have gotten some legs. For a day or two, anyway.

    nk (1d9030)

  30. Robby Soave
    @robbysoave
    ·
    A lot of people are asserting the NY Post story on Hunter Biden is so obviously false that it’s wrong to even share it (really?). And a lot of other people are treating it as confirmed truth (also, really?). I think all your certainties are misguided!
    __ _

    Stephen L. Miller
    @redsteeze

    The rush to suppress the story is far more interesting than anything in the story.

    Except the crack pics
    __ _

    Wonder if this will be vanished as fast as the debate moderator collusion tweet.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  31. Here’s a report on FISA courts.

    Page 21 shows that the Trump administration has increased the number of people unmasked from the benchmark of 2016.

    Bottom line, Trump has done nothing to improve civil liberties be reducing unmasking.

    Time123 (89dfb2)

  32. the rizzotto tree conveyor belt/journolist is still in effect, devon archer’s partner went up for 2 years for 20 years of trafficking in nuclear secrets,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  33. Harkin, I read about this in bloomberg news, Patterico is quote a lead NYT reporters twitter feed talking about it. NYP published the story this morning. Your complain that this isn’t being covered is silly.

    Time123 (89dfb2)

  34. I don’t know how this will play, so close to the day, but she may serve more time than one Kyle Rittenhouse…

    https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/amy-cooper-appears-in-court-on-false-report-charge/

    And to think, at dinner time Memorial Day, this was going to be the rile-up event for BLM.

    urbanleftbehind (a36e46)

  35. I can’t wait for the other dozen or so October Surprises that are coming our way in this awful election season.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  36. I can’t wait for the other dozen or so October Surprises that are coming our way in this awful election season.

    JVW (ee64e4) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:51 am

    The funny thing is, most of them will be mostly or somewhat accurate. Biden’s family is probably crooked, Trump’s is crooked, Biden’s out of his element and has flip flopped, Trump is the same. Anyone who can be persuaded to dislike either candidate already dislikes them. It’s only a matter of deciding you dislike one of them, or are so scared of one of them, that you must accept the problems with the other.

    This is not a recipe for a stable democracy. A lot of people are throwing their hands up at the system.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  37. Desperate times call for desperate lies. And poor, broke Donald with bankruptcies and indictments looming in his future to the farthest unobstructed horizon is desperate.

    nk (1d9030)

  38. like the access hollywood tape, that revealed the sop at nbc and other networks,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  39. was peter dobbins, a 20 year asset, yuk chang, one who may have worked for the chinese as long as wu tai chan, unmasked, silly rabbit they cave them top security clearances,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  40. like the access hollywood tape, that revealed the sop at nbc and other networks,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:54 am

    This is a great example. Trump actually bragged, as an old creepy rich guy, that if he wants, he can touch your mom, daughter or sister, anywhere he wants, whenever he wants, and she will probably let him because of his power. That bragging was released by people who do not like Trump, therefore we shouldn’t care. Because Team R forever.

    Meanwhile, I can’t even remember what the problem was with Christine O’Donnell, but whatever that was, it’s one of the most important issues in modern history to Narciso (in good faith, btw).

    We all have issues that seem so important to us, for me that tape, for Narciso, O’Donnell, that we wind up rationalizing away, ignoring, and frankly sanctioning with our vote. I think things are so bad, Trump’s gotta go.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  41. I can’t wait for the other dozen or so October Surprises that are coming our way in this awful election season.

    Most of the dead people have already mailed in their ballots for Joe, so I don’t think it’s going to matter.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  42. Most of the dead people have already mailed in their ballots for Joe, so I don’t think it’s going to matter.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:59 am

    Most of the living have voted for Joe too, and you know that. Of course, you’re right that doesn’t matter. Most of the living voted for Hillary last round. Didn’t matter.

    Your boy was shutting down as much of the postal system as he could, overtly to screw with the election. He’s so happy to tell you that’s why he did it. He won’t even promise a peaceful transition of power. Those are the actions of a strong man in some despotic wasteland, and Americans prefer winners.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  43. If Kamala needed a baby sitter for her step kids, she’d call the Trump kids first before even considering Biden’s.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  44. Chuck Ross
    @ChuckRossDC

    A source familiar confirms @CBS_Herridge scoop that Bruce Ohr resigned from DOJ before being fired over findings in the IG report. Source says he resigned within past couple of weeks.
    __ _

    BG Harlow
    @bg_harlow
    ·
    Will he secretly be practicing law in the San Francisco area like Joe Pientka’s wife Melissa Bristow Pientka has been doing since Wray sent them to SF to hide/flee from spygate?
    __ _

    Jeannie
    @ljuly1989
    ·
    Sorry but that’s not enough consolation. They tried to steal our election. They tried to delegitimize a candidate that WE voted for, both before and after the election. What about justice for us? Where is the justice for the American voter/taxpayer?
    __ _

    T-Covfefe
    @MyPlace4U
    ·
    How many weeks until his tell all book comes out?

    __ _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  45. whembly (7c17c7) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:06 am

    Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.

    frosty (f27e97)

  46. Lol–even the hackiest Trump hacks are already shouting “squirrel!” to distract from how badly Rudy and co. bungled this frame-up.

    (Not That) Bill O'Reilly (6bb12a)

  47. Jonothan Chait has some questions about the veracity of this story.

    Now, what about the Delaware computer-shop origin story? The best thing you can say is that this account is not physically impossible, in that it does not violate any laws of of nature or require any discontinuity in the space-time continuum. It is not, however, a very plausible account.

    To begin with, if you were a computer-repair shop in Delaware, and you had a Biden-owned computer that you repaired but weren’t paid for, why would your first step be to reach out to Rudy Giuliani’s attorney? Why wouldn’t you go to the Bidens — who are fairly well known and easy to find in Delaware — to get paid? And why would the FBI even be allowed to investigate this computer without a search warrant?

    Time123 (53ef45)

  48. If it appears in an fbi report, its almost automatically dubious.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  49. The media’s handling of the Steele dossier was unconscionable and counterproductive

    How was it unconscionable?

    Reputable media outlets refrained from reporting it for a month or more, because it was largely unconfirmed. One small, far-left publication reported on the dossier before the election; the story got no traction and wasn’t picked up by major organizations.

    In January 2017, another minor, bottom-feeding online operation, sensing the opportunity to make a big $plash, broke the story and published everything (albeit noting prominently that the information was unconfirmed). Other organizations who had held back in caution criticized the decision.

    So claiming “the media’s” handling was unconscionable seems to me painting with too broad a brush.

    Dave (1bb933)

  50. If it appears in an fbi report, its almost automatically dubious.

    What is your default position on statements that come from Donald Trump, or any of his spokesmouths?

    Radegunda (bb2719)

  51. Dave (1bb933) — 10/14/2020 @ 10:21 am

    In January 2017

    That’s in interesting place to stop the summary. If the story actually stopped there you might have a point.

    Other organizations who had held back in caution criticized the decision.

    Dateline 1949: In other news witnesses near Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945 reported a slight increase in the ambient temperature.

    frosty (f27e97)

  52. More from the Chait article:

    The author of the Post’s stories on the stolen Hunter Biden emails, Emma-Jo Morris, is a former Hannity segment producer-booker who has written a total of three articles, all of them covering the Biden story and published today.

    Well, this looks totally legit!

    Will the story fall apart even before Hannity can furrow his brow while interviewing Rudy tonight?

    Dave (1bb933)

  53. 35.I can’t wait for the other dozen or so October Surprises that are coming our way in this awful election season.

    Awful?!? It’s a win/win either way!

    Glorious.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  54. Awful?!? It’s a win/win either way!

    Glorious.

    For senile degenerates who exalt in our country’s degradation, yes.

    Dave (1bb933)

  55. 2.

    Last Month: LEAKED TAPES OF TRUMP TALKING TO WOODWARD!

    Last Week: HERE ARE TRUMPS LEAKED TAX RETURNS!

    There was also this:

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/10/us/trump-properties-swamp.html

    IT WAS SPRINGTIME at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, and the favor-seekers were swarming….But once Mr. Trump was in the White House, his family business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream: people who wanted something from the president. An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration. Nearly a quarter of those patrons have not been previously reported.

    And this:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/politics/trump-amy-dorris-accusation.html

    Three weeks ago, a news story caught the attention of Dawn Capp, a Texas math teacher. A former model had accused President Trump of assault, the latest in a long line of sexual misconduct complaints against him. At the United States Open tennis tournament in 1997, the woman told The Guardian, he groped and forcibly kissed her.

    Ms. Capp voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. But she immediately believed the story, she said in a telephone interview, because she had heard it more than two decades ago from Amy Dorris, the woman making the allegation and one of Ms. Capp’s oldest friends.

    The year makes sense – Trump was between girlfriends at the time. That she met him seems to be confirmed and maybe even that he pursued her.

    In phone interviews, Ms. Dorris recounted meeting Mr. Trump during a strange, star-filled long weekend nearly a quarter-century ago. At the time, she was 24 years old, a Florida-based model and aspiring actress who was also working as a bartender to make rent. One night in Miami, she met Jason Binn, who was just a few years older but already had a magazine and a network of celebrity friends. After they had dated for two weeks, he whisked her off to New York.

    The days were a blur of splashy events and celebrity encounters. Ms. Dorris met Leonardo DiCaprio and attended a memorial for the fashion designer Gianni Versace. Mr. Binn and Mr. Trump, then 51, seemed especially close. But as the new couple spent time with the real estate developer in his box at the U.S. Open, at Trump Tower and in limousines, he wouldn’t leave her alone, she said. He told her to picture herself living with him in Trump Tower. He tried to impress her with Trump-branded water and other gear. His hands wandered repeatedly to her waist and her legs, she said.

    “It was like he claimed me — that’s how it felt,” she said.

    On a Friday afternoon, he crossed a more serious physical line, Ms. Dorris said. During the tennis matches, Ms. Dorris excused herself to use a bathroom behind the box’s private seating area. When she emerged, Mr. Trump was waiting. He told her that she belonged with him and moved toward her, she said.

    “It started as him trying to kiss me,” Ms. Dorris said. She said she had told him to stop, first with giggles, and then in a more serious tone. He had “a tiger grip — he wasn’t letting me go,” she said. Mr. Trump was shoving his tongue into her mouth, she said. “I couldn’t get loose from him,” she said. “His hands were all over me.” As she extracted herself, she pushed against his chest in protest, she said.

    She returned to her seat, embarrassed, and pretended nothing had happened, but soon phoned her mother and a friend for counsel. (In phone interviews, both confirmed Ms. Dorris’s account of the calls.) Ms. Dorris said she had asked Mr. Binn for help in fending off Mr. Trump, but she doubts that she told him about the specifics of the encounter. “I didn’t process what was going on,” she said. “I don’t think I even understood it.”

    The next day, as she and Mr. Binn sat with Mr. Trump in a limousine, her new boyfriend told the future president to back off from making advances to her, she said. Mr. Trump replied by laughing and telling Mr. Binn that Ms. Dorris was out of his league, she said.

    Ms. Capp, the math teacher, said that soon afterward, her friend had told her the same story about Mr. Trump that she later told publicly. Kerri Whitfield, another friend, echoed those recollections, saying that Ms. Dorris had shared the story privately in the autumn of 1997. Neither friend has previously spoken publicly; both say they are confident of Ms. Dorris’s truthfulness.

    Mr. Binn said that while he remembered the weekend, he had no recollection of Mr. Trump’s making any advances toward Ms. Dorris. The publication of the Guardian article was the “first time I heard or saw anything,” he said in a phone interview.

    Over the years, Ms. Dorris held on to traces of that weekend: ticket stubs, photographs of her with Mr. Trump. She encountered Mr. Trump a few times, once at Mar-a-Lago, but moved on with her life, taking small acting roles, working in marketing and rearing twin daughters…

    She says she didn’t go public in 2016 partly for the sake of her daughter and because her husband was reluctant. But now her daughters are older and she is in the process of getting a divorce.

    She’s been talking to the Guardian for over a year.

    The question is, did she “improve” the story?

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  56. More Chait. Less Hannity.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  57. Biden’s family is probably crooked, Trump’s is crooked.

    Plagiarist JoeyBee is a Swamp Creature suckling at the government teet nearly half a century; Trump is merely a Reagan Creation: a capitalist.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  58. OT: Russia probe figure Bruce Ohr retired from DOJ as disciplinary review decision loomed, spokeswoman says
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/russia-probe-figure-bruce-ohr-retired-from-doj-as-disciplinary-review-decision-loomed-spokeswoman-says

    The OPR lookings like is bringing down the hammer, and Ohr retired to avoid much of the disciplinary results.

    Again, the upper level of FBI management under Obama administrations, and former officials are a disgrace and I’d like to reiterate that it’s amazing that many don’t seem animated about this.

    whembly (7c17c7)

  59. He probably joined his wife at fusion or belling the cat.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  60. Emma-Jo Morris, is a former Hannity segment producer-booker who has written a total of three articles, all of them covering the Biden story and published today.

    Hey, every journalist had a first story, right? And what says “journalistic integrity” more than an association with Hannity?

    Radegunda (bb2719)

  61. * her daughters (plural)

    Did she spice up the story so that Guardian would print it? Or did a sexual assault happen that she only told two girlfriends and she told her rich (but young) boyfriend just the minimum and her boyfriend forgot even about Trump pursuing her because it’s 20 years and Donald Trump backed off?

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  62. @54. For senile degenerates who exalt in our country’s degradation, yes.

    LOL! Conservative whine; bitter dregs.

    Glorious.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. @Whembly, I’ve lost track of what Ohr is accused of doing. Isn’t being forced to retire about the 2nd worst thing they can do? Fired for cause being the highest level of non-criminal discipline?

    Time123 (53ef45)

  64. It doesn’t say he was forced to retire. It says he retired as the decision on disciplinary action “loomed”.

    Dave (1bb933)

  65. @64. Same thing. They let you retire and keep your retirement benefits (if any) but you have to retire.

    You can chose not to, but if you do they’ll try to fire you. There’s risk and cost on both sides of a firing.

    Time123 (89dfb2)

  66. Dave (1bb933) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:08 am

    there is nothing unambiguously incriminating in what I’ve seen.

    I think they are trying to claim that Joe Biden was in on it.

    But I already concluded that Mychola Zlochevsky’s aim was probably to create the appearance of corruption. That the American government was secretly backing him. For the sake of people in Ukraine. So everybody would assume the game is rigged.

    This would not have been real corruption unless you want to believe that Barack Obama was running a criminal operation and taking a percentage of what Hunter Biden got. Joe Biden was the vice president He couldn’t do anything without Obama.

    Now people in Ukraine, in 2015 and 2016, could believe that Obama, like a Mexican president, was corrupt. That was the goal behind all of this probably. To convince people in Ukraine that Zlochevsky and Burisma were untouchable.

    Now they are because they’ve convinced people that ding anything against them means Ukraine wold be siding with the Republicans and they need bipartisan support in Washington.

    What they have released is presumably the worst they could find. So where are all the emails between Hunter and his father discussing Burisma?

    No place, which probably means they are genuine and Russian intelligence didn’t fake them – there’d be grammatical and other errors too if they did, and additional implausibilities thrown in.

    At the same time this means this was not a peek into Joe Biden’s corruption, but a peek into Zlochevsky trying to create the impression in Ukraine that the Obama Administration was on the take from him and his friends.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  67. Yes i dubbed him chaitred for that reason.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  68. They let you retire and keep your retirement benefits (if any) but you have to retire.

    I understand that’s something that could happen, but there is no evidence that it did happen.

    It would mean a decision in the disciplinary proceedings had been reached, not that it was “looming”.

    Dave (1bb933)

  69. If Kamala needed a baby sitter for her step kids, she’d call the Trump kids first before even considering Biden’s.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/14/2020 @ 10:04 am

    I think this is an amazing comment that really captures how differently we see these people.

    I don’t think any sane parent would involve their kids with the perverts in the Trump family. These folks praised Ghislaine, and Trump has sexualized his own daughter and groped a lot of women. The idea of leaving an innocent child with them instead of Biden, who has at least appeared to be pretty good with kids, is absolutely bonkers to me.

    Yet the other side sees Joe give awkward shoulder rubs and they see things the opposite of me.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  70. They let you retire and keep your retirement benefits (if any) but you have to retire.

    I understand that’s something that could happen, but there is no evidence that it did happen.

    It would mean a decision in the disciplinary proceedings had been reached, not that it was “looming”.

    Dave (1bb933) — 10/14/2020 @ 11:20 am

    There won’t be clear evidence. The ambiguity is part of the deal. Orh get’s to act like he left on his own terms. The DOJ get’s to act like the pushed him out for bad behavior.

    Time123 (89dfb2)

  71. I now see the CBS report goes further in claiming Ohr was about to be fired. The FoxNews article did not make that claim.

    Dave (1bb933)

  72. These folks praised Ghislaine, and Trump has sexualized his own daughter and groped a lot of women.

    Don’t forget that Uday’s girlfriend is a confirmed sexual predator and abuser too. So she’ll fit right into the family, at least until Jr recycles her for a younger version in a few years.

    Dave (1bb933)

  73. Chait also mentions that Russian operatives hacked Burisma emails. If those hacks were on that computer, then Giuliani/Bannon could be credibly accused of consorting with Russians to influence an American election. The final paragraph:

    If that story is not true, then Trump’s lawyer is cooperating with Russian intelligence operatives on a hack-and-leak operation to influence the presidential campaign. But that would never happen, would it?

    I think we need to know the identity of computer repair guy.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  74. OK, you leave your kids with the crack and hooker/stripper dude. I’m totally swayed.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  75. Dave, the runt had younger Rican before KG…AOC had to earn her hush money.

    urbanleftbehind (a36e46)

  76. I think we need to know the identity of computer repair guy.

    Yeah, like you all needed to know the identity of Mr. Whistleblower, who the media is still protecting.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  77. OK, you leave your kids with the crack and hooker/stripper dude. I’m totally swayed.

    You are asserting that Trump’s kids would pass a drug test? Are you serous? You’re asserting Trump doesn’t involve himself with strippers and hookers?

    Why do Trump fans project so obviously? Is it a surprise this stuff isn’t working?

    Dustin (4237e0)

  78. 43. 70. Not Biden, but Biden’s kids, by which beer ‘n pretzel means Hunter, versus Trump’s kids.

    On that same laptop, there was (the New York Post reports) a video of what apears to be Hunter smoking cocaine and having sex with an unknown women, as well as other sexually explicit images (without the cocaine)

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  79. Trump’s kids had mothers too.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  80. It took years and years for Don Jr to get to this point.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  81. Yeah, like you all needed to know the identity of Mr. Whistleblower, who the media is still protecting.

    His identity has been the worst-kept secret in DC for a year.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  82. “Joe Biden used the term “sexual preference” as recently as last May. Not only that, the sainted Justice Ginsburg, whom Hirono described as “our champion,” used it in 2017.”

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/10/speech-police-alert-judge-barrett-said-sexual-preference-but-so-did-biden-and-ginsburg.php?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sw&utm_campaign=sw
    __ _

    You’re only a Nazi Handmaid if you said it this week.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  83. Paul Montagu (77c694) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:33 am

    The Mueller report confirmed that “The Kremlin had more intelligence on CLINTON and her campaign but he did not know the details or when or if it would be released.”

    The Mueller report confirmed that “Russians do have further kompromat on CLINTON (e-mails) and considering disseminating it after Duma (legislative elections) in late September.”

    How could they confirm that?

    I;m guessing but this sounds like Russian claims to somebody. Untrue claims probably although the emails could be those of Podesta, where the penetration into his GMail account was discovered and stopped in August and the emails released in October, 2016.

    . What’s the context?

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  84. just like kyle griffin, who tracked in every piece of trash they conjured up about kavanaugh, yet he wants to restrict this story, just like the ‘taliban bounties’ the bogus memorial day conversations, et al,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  85. ….it’s amazing that many don’t seem animated about this.

    Because most people a) it’s seen as political payback by Trump; and b) don’t know who Ohr is, and also don’t care.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  86. How could they confirm that?

    It was confirmed by the very release of those emails, Sammy. The Steele claim was that Russians held intelligence that could hurt Hillary, and then they released emails that hurt Hillary.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  87. The Russian agents wanted various people they were talking to think they had Hillary’s deleted emails.

    What they released was something different and they released it only after the hack was discovered and stopped.

    They continued reading Podesta’s GMail account and released emails from there only after it, too was discovered and stopped.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  88. His identity has been the worst-kept secret in DC for a year.

    Who, Montagu? Who are you talking about?

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  89. The “whistleblower” in the Ukraine aid withholding scandal.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  90. Gimme a name.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  91. say his name then, a member of the ukraine country team, that covered for the looting of privat bank, eric ciamarella,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  92. @63

    @Whembly, I’ve lost track of what Ohr is accused of doing. Isn’t being forced to retire about the 2nd worst thing they can do? Fired for cause being the highest level of non-criminal discipline?

    Time123 (53ef45) — 10/14/2020 @ 10:48 am

    He was the “Back channel” for Steele into the FBI/DOJ and he wasn’t forthwright about that relationship to his superiors (ie, mostly Rosenstein).

    whembly (c30c83)

  93. At the risk of posting something that is actually relevant to the current Presidential campaign, rather than re-hashing the last three years:

    Conservative think tank: Biden proposals would cut taxes for most in 2021

    The tax proposals of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would raise $2.8 trillion over 10 years and reduce taxes for most households in the near-term, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

    “Overall, Biden’s tax proposals would make the US tax code more progressive,” AEI researchers said in their paper.

    Biden has offered a number of tax proposals aimed at raising taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations. These include undoing portions of President Trump’s 2017 tax-cut law that cut taxes for people making over $400,000, subjecting earnings over $400,000 to Social Security taxes, raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and changing how U.S. companies’ foreign profits are taxed.
    …….
    In 2021, Biden’s proposals would increase taxes for households in the top 5 percent of income but reduce taxes for those in other income groups, according to the analysis. Taxpayers in the top 1 percent of income would see their after-tax incomes reduced by 14.2 percent, while those in the bottom 10 percent would see their after-tax incomes increase by 11.3 percent. The sizable tax cut for low-income households “is primarily due to the large, temporary expansion of the child tax credit,” AEI said.
    ……
    AEI estimated that Biden’s proposed higher effective tax rates on wealthy individuals and businesses would reduce gross domestic product (GDP) in the short run when compared to the baseline, but that Biden’s plan would increase GDP in the medium-term because of a reduction in debt.

    “In the long term, his plan would not raise enough to stabilize debt-to-GDP and would lead to a 0.18 percent smaller economy,” AEI said.
    >>>>>>>>>>
    AEI’s analysis.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  94. Giuliani is such a disgrace. We was remembered for being there when Bill Bratton cleaned up NYC, took way too much credit for that and for saving the day on 9/11. But because he craved access he traded lies. Giuliani claims to have had his surprise info all through the actual impeachment, when he hid that, and fed it to a tabloid 20 days before an election.

    The idiocy from Trump’s supporters ignores that Trump’s own kids have been incredibly corrupt, ripped off our states and hospitals of medical supplies, 200,000 Americans died, largely from their awful conduct. They got patents from China while the president secretly offered to forgive concentration camps. Jared, Ivanka, Donald Jr, they had no business up there and the price was dear to our freedoms and our lives.

    I think Hunter Biden was the same kind of bad, but it’s a diluted version that no one can take seriously. If the entitled children of the president shouldn’t be involved in our affairs, then Trump’s gotta go. All morally thoughtful arguments end with that conclusion. Trump’s gotta go.

    This story should really be about Rudy and the NY Post, why they are repeating the sins of 2016.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  95. you see it doesn’t really matter if you waste the bureau’s resources, if you defame a three star general, and a american intelligence asset, while you ignore actual russian and chinese assets in the same bureau and the cia, while a fully integrated terrorist network is allowed to enable the deaths of hundreds of police officers, the devastation of thousands of businesses, and conservatively 2 billion dollars in damages,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  96. Who, Montagu? Who are you talking about?
    You were talking about the whistleblower who blew the lid on Trump-Zelensky conversation, no?
    Worst. Kept. Secret.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  97. I’ll try it again.
    Worst. Kept. Secret.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  98. Dustin (4237e0) — 10/14/2020 @ 11:42 am

    Why do Trump fans project so obviously? Is it a surprise this stuff isn’t working?

    and you think

    The idea of leaving an innocent child with them instead of Biden, who has at least appeared to be pretty good with kids

    is? Come on man!

    frosty (f27e97)

  99. The Hunter Biden story wouldn’t have actually done anything but now twitter and facebook just quadrupled the focus on it by censoring it is something else.

    Big Tech is dun f’ing up here.

    whembly (c30c83)

  100. The speed with which the MAGA right has abandoned even pretending the NYPost story is legit to laser-focusing on the unforced error of Twitter/Facebook censorship strongly suggests they knew it was a hoax, given that smearing Biden is way more important than winning a news cycle against Big Tech.

    If I imagined them capable of such strategic thinking, I might half suspect the story was deliberately drafted by the MAGA right in such a shoddy manner as to invite the overreaction from Twitter/Facebook.

    (Not That) Bill O'Reilly (6bb12a)

  101. ‘October surprises’ to watch for:

    -World Series ratings up; a head and ball scratcher to be sure.

    -Biden Covid

    -Melania separates

    -Random mass shooting [ sadly, w/holidays coming, we’re due for another one 🙁 ]

    -Putin dies

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  102. New York Post
    @nypost

    China and Russia win seats on UN human rights council
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  103. Last week: “Unconfirmed reports suggest that President Trump is on his death bed and his doctors are lying about his health”

    Facebook/Twitter: “This is fine.”

    Today: “Emails from Hunter Biden prove that he sold access to Joe Biden.”

    Facebook/Twitter: “SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY.”

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    whembly (c30c83)

  104. It will be an interesting WS…Cholos v. Cheaters II or a first time all-Dixie matchup – took 55 years in MLB; the relative lack of Southern franchises v. the other 3 leagues didnt help.

    Biden, likely, but they will hide it until Nov. 4

    Melania, perhaps…I could see a domestic disturbance in the weekend before the election.

    You will get something close to an early polling place, but neither the shooter or vics will be partisans.

    …not of natural causes – dude looks too buff for that scenario, although maybe from accidental poison ingestion whilst administering it to an enemy?

    urbanleftbehind (a36e46)

  105. I’m guessing you could post the contents of the pee dossier on FB with no problem.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  106. you can spread libel all the live long day, but speaking the truth is a revolutionary act,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  107. Twitter/Facebook: We can’t publish this until it’s fact checked.

    Patterico: Yeah, unlike the hopelessly politicized persecution of Gen. Flynn, I’m gonna go right into
    “no big deal” mode.

    Brendan (782967)

  108. Lots of things are going to change with the media when it comes to the Biden administration:

    1. COVID – doomsday pieces will be gone. At minimum, you’ll see “funemployment”-type pieces. More likely though you’ll see pieces on how great Biden is doing at stopping the spread, even though it will more likely be from the advent of spring.

    Vaccine? All kudos will go to Biden.

    2. Court packing – will be presented as a historically cool thing to do. Have to prep the people for getting another 3-5 justices on the court.

    3. DC/PR Statehood – same. Will talk about how those Americans don’t have a voice (even though they do) but fail to tell readers it is just a ploy to get four blue Senators elected.

    There will be more, including many of the garden variety think pieces that we saw during the early Obama years.

    Hoi Polloi (7cefeb)

  109. I mean, this Biden laptop story has just as much, if not more smoke than just about anything that the Trump-Russia conspiracists has pushed.

    We just got confirmation that Delaware USAO is holding that laptop and that they’re refusing to comment on any/if investigation on this (per protocol). At this point, we’re not likely to know anything that DOJ is doing with this for quite some time.

    To my Trump critics: Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    whembly (c30c83)

  110. The media’s reflex when it comes to story about a Democrat’s dirt – protect.
    The media’s reflex when it comes to a story about a Republican’s dirt – publish.

    It’s really that simple.

    Remember – we would have never heard about Clinton’s Oval Office proclivities if it were not for Matt Drudge. Every other media outlet was burying it.

    But hey – the press isn’t biased.

    Hoi Polloi (7cefeb)

  111. I mean, this Biden laptop story has just as much, if not more smoke than just about anything that the Trump-Russia conspiracists has pushed.

    We just got confirmation that Delaware USAO is holding that laptop and that they’re refusing to comment on any/if investigation on this (per protocol). At this point, we’re not likely to know anything that DOJ is doing with this for quite some time.

    To my Trump critics: Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    whembly (c30c83) — 10/14/2020 @ 2:11 pm

    Yes, extremely curious.

    3 big differences.
    1. The DNC server was hacked and all of the evidence available at the time, and now, points to the Russian government as being responsible.
    2. Trump fired the head of the FBI and then told a national TV audience he did it in part to stop the investigation of thatcrime.
    3. The thing Biden is accused of doing, firing the Ukrainian prosecutor, was US policy at the time. NO ONE has come forward to say that this wasn’t policy, or to say that this policy was the result of personal influence by Joe Biden.

    Time123 (53ef45)

  112. @63
    @Whembly, I’ve lost track of what Ohr is accused of doing. Isn’t being forced to retire about the 2nd worst thing they can do? Fired for cause being the highest level of non-criminal discipline?
    Time123 (53ef45) — 10/14/2020 @ 10:48 am

    He was the “Back channel” for Steele into the FBI/DOJ and he wasn’t forthwright about that relationship to his superiors (ie, mostly Rosenstein).

    whembly (c30c83) — 10/14/2020 @ 12:34 pm

    That’s right. He probably shouldn’t be working there any more….does forcing him to resign feel like an appropriate punishment to you? Or do you think he should have been fired?

    Time123 (53ef45)

  113. Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    It’s right up there with this.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  114. @114, I don’t know if its right up to that level… it’s obvious bunk as the SealTeam6 are still alive.

    whembly (c30c83)


  115. Alex Thompson
    @AlxThomp
    ·
    Wow. twitter going even further than FB and is no longer letting ppl tweet the NYPost story. This is what pops up if you try. twitter.com/alxthomp/statu…
    __ _

    Glenn Greenwald
    @ggreenwald
    ·
    You’re seeing the immense, unchallengeable, unaccountable power of Silicon Valley giants over the flow of information. Imagine if Google joins in.

    What’s so amazing is that they never wanted this role. It was foisted on them by people, led by journalists, demanding they censor
    __ _

    Abigail Marone Flag of United States
    @abigailmarone
    ·
    That awkward moment when you forget about your laptop at a computer repair shop and it contains emails that prove your dad lied about never talking to you about business when he was VP and that you used his position to leverage more pay for yourself.
    __ _

    Donna Holden
    @CyberDonna
    ·
    Twitter really is censoring the @nypost
    Biden Secret Emails story. I tried to post the link as test and it wouldn’t let me. His email was not “hacked.” Legally obtained via his laptop, which was left as unclaimed item at repair store. The new owner gave the info to authorities.

    __ _

    Straight reporting is now like dancing in that Footloose movie.

    Biden/Harris is what they want.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  116. @115-

    It right up with this.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  117. Trump Touts Falconer’s Benghazi Blood-Sacrifice Conspiracy Theory
    President Donald Trump backed a budding conspiracy theory on Tuesday that four Americans were killed in the 2012 Benghazi attack to cover up the blood-sacrifice of Navy SEALs and the “fact” that Osama Bin Laden is still alive, marking what is perhaps the president’s strangest brush yet with far-right conspiracy theories.

    Trump’s promotion of the new Benghazi conspiracy theory, which is fast gaining traction on the far right, came in the form of a retweet of a QAnon believer pushing the claim. The president’s backing helped push the tweet about Benghazi above 14,000 retweets. Trump retweeted another video about the conspiracy theory later on Tuesday night, marking the second time he had promoted the Benghazi claims on Twitter.

    Hiden Biden and Obama may have had Seal Team 6 killed! EXPLOSIVE: CIA Whistleblower Exposes Biden’s Alleged Role with the Deaths of Seal Team- Claims to have Documented Proof. RETWEET!!! https://t.co/uA6VAjiw35

    — Oscar the Midnight Rider 1111 (@The171111) October 12, 2020

    The bizarre theory, which is outre even by the standards of the right’s usual Benghazi claims, also alleges that Osama Bin Laden’s body-double, rather than the terrorist mastermind himself, was killed in 2011.

    All those claims come from a falconer who says he uncovered secrets about Al-Qaeda, Iran, and U.S. intelligence in his work as a falconer for Middle Eastern power players.
    ……..
    (Alan) Parrot claims that Biden cut a deal with Iran to set up Bin Laden’s 2011 death in Pakistan. But when Iran double-crossed the United States and switched in a Bin Laden body double, in Parrot’s telling, Biden and Clinton arranged for a Navy SEAL helicopter to be shot down to keep the truth about the raid from getting out— a reference to a real-world helicopter attack in Afghanistan that killed 38 people, including 25 Navy SEALs.

    “Vice President Biden paid with the blood of Seal Team 6,” Parrot said in the video. “He spent their blood like currency.”
    …….
    …..Trump’s endorsement shot it to national prominence, fueling the bizarre allegations about blood sacrifice and Bin Laden body doubles. The tweet Trump reposted linked to an article about Parrot’s claims on a little-known website called “DHJH Media,” written by blogger Kari Donovan, who describes herself as an “ex-Community Organizer” who writes about “cultural marxism.”
    …….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  118. @117 The SealTeam6 “falconer” story is ridiculous. I don’t know a whole lot about it, only that the SealTeam6 are still alive.

    The Biden laptop story from the NYPost seems more credible, as the Delaware USAO acknowledged the possition of the laptop, and the company servicing that laptop admitted to sharing a cloned harddrive to others.

    whembly (c30c83)

  119. The Democrats are having a nice week with embarrassing information.

    They no longer try lame excuses, they just make the bad info go away:

    Washington Examiner
    @dcexaminer
    .
    @andrewcuomo: “There was never a directive that said: ‘We will send COVID positive people back to nursing homes.’”

    __ _

    meanwhile……

    Washington Examiner
    @dcexaminer

    Evidence Cuomo’s order mandating that nursing homes accept individuals diagnosed with the coronavirus has been deleted from the New York State Department of Health’s website.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  120. @119 meant to say that the UBL SealTeam6 are still alive.

    whembly (c30c83)

  121. The SealTeam6 “falconer” story is ridiculous. I don’t know a whole lot about it, only that the SealTeam6 are still alive.

    Apparently Trump believes it, or it is pretty stupid to retweet something you don’t believe.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  122. To my Trump critics: Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    There are questions about the veracity, lots of ’em. Absent satisfactory answers, the story can’t be said to be verified. Personally, I don’t have an opinion about “Big Tech trying to suppress” an unverified story. It’s their business, and it’s not as if there aren’t other outlets out there.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  123. “The SealTeam6 “falconer” story is ridiculous. I don’t know a whole lot about it, only that the SealTeam6 are still alive.”

    These people are broken.

    *Checks retweet list*

    Davethulhu (1ebef9)

  124. @123

    To my Trump critics: Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    There are questions about the veracity, lots of ’em. Absent satisfactory answers, the story can’t be said to be verified.

    So…..Actual photos and emails are flimsy, while 4 anon sources with “knowledge of the persons thinking” are A-OK. Is that where you’re at Paul?

    There’s literally a copy of the receipt that shows that repair shop of this laptop that ALSO mentions copying the contents of the harddrive as SOP. The DE AUSO confirmed that they have this laptop. We just don’t know, if any, investigations was done…as they shouldn’t as they don’t publicize ongoing investigation.

    Personally, I don’t have an opinion about “Big Tech trying to suppress” an unverified story. It’s their business, and it’s not as if there aren’t other outlets out there.
    Paul Montagu (77c694) — 10/14/2020 @ 3:03 pm

    A heartfelt thanks to both Twitter & Facebook for raising awareness of the Hunter Biden story while simultaneously shooting themselves in the foot.

    I mean, I was at the “shruggie” stage this morning about this NYPost Hunter story…. as, it’s du jour for the kind of political crap we’re used to seeing in Presidential election Octobers.

    But, the fact there are concerted efforts by Big Tech Inc to trying to suppress this? No matter that if this is true or not, it’s indisputably problematic for Big Tech to suppress this.

    But, hey… Trump-critics, like yourself refuse to consider any possible mis/malfeasance against Trump, and any mere suggesting there was merit to it was too much for you, such that Trump-critics even trashed Devin Nunes for his skepticism and efforts at oversight even though we now know HE WAS RIGHT!

    But, nothing to see here.

    whembly (c30c83)

  125. I’m ded… ded!

    Senate Republicans
    @SenateGOP
    · 47m
    see you soon, @jack.

    whembly (c30c83)

  126. To my Trump critics: Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    20 days before an election people who claimed they had this material during the impeachment failed to share it. It’s a transparent effort to undermine democracy, once again tied to Russia.

    Trump had his chance to defend himself from impeachment. Though he failed, his buddies in the Senate said the American people do not deserve any better than this nastiness. I guess we’ll find out if we deserve any better in 20 days.

    It is shocking that Trump insulting the US Navy today in its success taking out Osama Bin Laden, without tons and tons of evidence.

    We’ll get another dozen of these lies over the next couple of weeks, lots of warnings from the GOP that places like Twitter need to let Russia and Rudy do their thing.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  127. @127

    To my Trump critics: Aren’t you at least curious about the veracity of this and what do you think of Big Tech trying to suppress this information??

    20 days before an election people who claimed they had this material during the impeachment failed to share it.

    It *was* shared with the proper authority, last December.

    It’s a transparent effort to undermine democracy,

    Hence why *I’m* interested in more veracity.

    once again tied to Russia.

    Okay… Mr. McCarthy.

    Want me to check for the Rooskies underneath your bed before you go to sleep?

    –I’m responding to your churlish childish Russia, Russia, Russia hysteria, with my own childish response. 😉

    Trump had his chance to defend himself from impeachment. Though he failed,

    Objectively, he did not fail. Hence the impeachment failed.

    his buddies in the Senate said the American people do not deserve any better than this nastiness. I guess we’ll find out if we deserve any better in 20 days.

    Indeed, the political process with figure that out, as it should.

    It is shocking that Trump insulting the US Navy today in its success taking out Osama Bin Laden, without tons and tons of evidence.

    Yeah, I’m with you there. WTF his this BS.

    We’ll get another dozen of these lies over the next couple of weeks, lots of warnings from the GOP that places like Twitter need to let Russia and Rudy do their thing.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 10/14/2020 @ 3:47 pm

    Where was this concerns for the last 4 years of the Trump era?

    Devin Nunes was right about the FISA abuses, and yet you and the host on this board regularly impugned his credibility, because ya’ll couldn’t stand the idea that SOME efforts against Trump may not have been on the level. I get the sense that you’d pay ANY price for Trump not being in the Whitehouse.

    Careful what you wish for bruh… you may not like the medicine you’d be forced to take.

    whembly (c30c83)

  128. We know why it’s waited until now, of course. Because this type of dirt dump is best done just before the election. It’s also best done by some “concerned citizen” rather than a campaign, so that people actually think it’s legit.

    It’s the same reason that the Democrats sat on W’s drunk driving conviction until a week before the 2000 election, then pretended some guy dug it up and sent it to all the right reporters on his own.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  129. And the funny thing is that some of this crap will be true, but in the mix no one will care. And hey, where is the report on Cruz’ dad and the JFK assassination?

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  130. @128-
    People would take Nunes more seriously if he stopped filing frivolous lawsuits against anonymous and non-anonymous critics.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  131. I don’t know a whole lot about it, only that the SealTeam6 are still alive.

    A goodly number of ST6 were reported killed in a Taliban ambush/trap in 2011, which some families blamed on bragging at the WH. But none of the dead had been involved in the bin Laden raid.

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

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  132. @132 But the allegations doesn’t make that distinction… unless, I missed it.

    I realize that the operators in ST6 during the UBL killing may be different than other years. That’s the fault of that crazy story.

    whembly (c30c83)

  133. “ We’ll see what comes of this, if anything.”
    __ _

    Alex Thompson
    @AlxThomp

    Appears the @nypost’s acct is still locked. No tweets for over 5 hours now.
    __ _

    Nothing to see here, move along.
    __

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  134. Let me see if I’ve gotten this straight. If we entirely disregard the fishy circumstances and, with extreme credulity, assume it’s 100% God’s honest truth, everyone is overset over an email from a coworker that basically says “Hey, thanks for the visit, it was cool to meet your dad?”

    Nic (896fdf)


  135. Henry Rodgers
    @henryrodgersdc
    ·
    NEW: Twitter has locked the personal account of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany for sharing a New York Post article.
    __ _

    House Judiciary GOP
    @JudiciaryGOP
    ·
    Since @kayleighmcenany can’t share the New York Post’s article, we’ll do it on her behalf.

    Check it out here. https://republicans-judiciary.house.gov/press-release/smoking-gun-email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-businessman-to-vp-dad/
    __ _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  136. @136 she tweeted 39 minutes ago. I don’t think her account is locked.

    Nic (896fdf)

  137. Deaths from all causes up 20% in the USA. You would think, if all this prevention for COVID was overkill, deaths would be reduced. Fewer wrecks, fewer cases of all communicable disease, but no, it’s way up.

    I realize that the operators in ST6 during the UBL killing may be different than other years. That’s the fault of that crazy story.

    whembly (c30c83) — 10/14/2020 @ 4:35 pm

    Look, I know you aren’t a bad person, but this is wrong. You are carrying water for the administration to blame anyone but Trump for giving any juice to such an extreme and insane conspiracy theory that Osama Bin Laden was not killed and Obama made it all up and murdered a bunch of SEALs.

    Trump is lying. He has access to far more information than we have. IF he really thought this was happening he could easily know everything there is to know about it. He is lying.

    Carrying water for people who disrespect us with these lies, just because the election is now and he needs to claw at our nation’s stability to change things up, it’s not right.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  138. I’m ded… ded!

    Senate GOP might not be dead soon, but they will probably be a little less alive. Less of them will exist, in fact.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  139. Hunter explodes; Nancy implodes.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  140. jack
    @jack

    Our communication around our actions on the
    @nypost article was not great. And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable.
    __ _

    Peter J. Hasson
    @peterjhasson
    ·
    It was the lack of context that was the problem, not the censorship?
    __

    pleb.hodl
    @btcplebeian
    ·
    Enough with these explanations, Jack. You guys danced around this the entire episodes on JRE: it only happens to the right. It’s indefensible… the left is never censored like this.

    You can point to your rules all you want but it doesn’t change that enforcement is selective.
    __ _

    Lawrence Betterini
    @LBetterini
    ·
    no hacking, read abandoned property laws. This is a BS excuse, Jack, and you know it.
    – disappointed shareholder
    __ _

    Kim Brittain
    @Billybeeswife
    ·
    And yet….the BUZZFEED article about alleged Trump dossier remained. It is going to be very hard for
    @jack to explain to Congress that he is not interfering in the election when 3 weeks prior, he locks out the President’s spokeswoman.
    __ _

    Captain Jeff W (Starfleet)
    @Jeffmw
    ·
    This is what they do in China

    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  141. Pittsburgh-area mail carrier under investigation is apparent QAnon conspiracy theorist
    Yesterday, the Baldwin home of Sean Troesch was raided by special agents from the United States Postal Service, who confiscated eight large garbage bags of suspected undelivered mail, according to KDKA.

    KDKA also reported that the post office said this latest haul didn’t contain any discarded mail-in ballots, but neighbors told the station trash bags “have been put outside Troesch’s house almost every Sunday night for Monday morning pickup.”
    …….
    “Special Agents recovered several different classes of mail, including business mail, flats, and small amount of first class mail. We expect to perform a piece count of the mail tomorrow, and make arrangements to have the mail delivered to customers as soon as feasible,” the statement said.

    According to screenshots of a Facebook page apparently belonging to Troesch, the mail carrier has been trafficking in conspiracy theories related to QAnon for at least the last several months…….
    …….
    One screenshot from Troesch shows a cartoon meme implying the mainstream media is ignoring a huge child trafficking and pedophilia ring in favor of covering Black Lives Matter protests. ……
    …….
    In July, Troesch shared a post from (Liz Crokin, a conspiracy theorist and self-declared follower of QAnon) about the now-debunked conspiracy theory that online shopping site Wayfair was somehow involved in a child trafficking ring. Troesh’s account has also shared posts about Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that Hillary and Bill Clinton were somehow involved in his death.
    …….
    The USPS Inspector General office is turning its findings on the Troesch raid over to the U.S. Attorney’s office for a criminal investigation.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>
    Hello…..Newman!

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  142. So…..Actual photos and emails are flimsy, while 4 anon sources with “knowledge of the persons thinking” are A-OK. Is that where you’re at Paul?

    There’s enough to question the story, whembley. Chait laid out the holes in it better than I could.
    The Biden campaign has no record of a meeting with the Ukrainian guy, and the characters in this drama are all sketchy (Giuliani, Bannon, and one of the Post writers is an ex-producer for Hannity). Yes, Giuliani is sketchy for his hobnobbing with a Russian spy (Derkach) who literally went to spy school, along with his associations with a cast of other pro-Russian and non-credible Ukrainian misfits.
    The other sketchy character is the computer shop owner, who’s a QAnon nut who can’t get his story straight.
    And there’s more, among them (1) Hunter Biden lives in LA, (2) he has the resources to take three MacBooks to an Apple store instead of some mom-and-pop storefront in Wilmington, (3) it’s implausible that he would not return to pick up three laptops with personal information on it, machines are worth way more than the $85 fee, (4) the emails are screenshots, so no one can examine the metadata.
    This is going to be one of those stories that, the more it’s dug into, the more it stinks.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  143. “On Wednesday, Joe Biden called yet another early lid on his day’s activities. For months, he has refused to answer questions about Hunter, Burisma and Ukraine. There is nothing to see or hear of Biden — as usual.

    There is nothing to see because Facebook doesn’t want you to see it and Twitter won’t let you share it. On Wednesday, Andy Stone, who runs ‘communications’ at Facebook, announced that the New York Post’s story was ‘eligible to be fact checked by Facebook’s third-party checking partners’. While Facebook’s faceless and unaccountable partners checked the facts, the site, Stone said, would be ‘reducing’ the story’s ‘distribution’. Stone used to work Democratic senator Barbara Boxer, Democratic congressman Jerry McNerney and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

    Twitter, meanwhile, stopped its users from forwarding or privately sharing the Post’s article for a couple of hours. Now when you click on the story, Twitter gives you a disclaimer, as if you are ‘proceeding to an unsafe site’. It is, however, still possible to read and circulate the Steele dossier on Twitter, and to read and circulate the racist drivel of the Iranian regime’ leaders.

    https://spectator.us/hunter-biden-big-tech-information-coup/
    __ _

    Read it all
    __ _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  144. Nunes was right about one thing, the Carter Page FISA warrant application. Problem is, he’s been wrong about practically everything else, including his “unmasking” accusations which were dubious to begin with and are now completely disintegrated. And in honor of the guy, I give you this.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  145. Robby Soave
    @robbysoave
    ·
    Twitter is now claiming it was the images in the NY Post article that raised alarm bells, which strikes me as a completely ex post facto justification

    _

    lol
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  146. Twitter Safety
    @TwitterSafety
    ·
    The policy, established in 2018, prohibits the use of our service to distribute content obtained without authorization. We don’t want to incentivize hacking by allowing Twitter to be used as distribution for possibly illegally obtained materials.
    https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2018/an-update-on-our-elections-integrity-work.html
    __ _

    Josh Jordan
    @NumbersMuncher
    ·
    The Trump tax records were obtained by the New York Times without Trump’s authorization and yet not a single story about them has been blocked.
    __ _

    John Hayward
    @Doc_0
    ·
    Boy, I bet Brett Kavanaugh wishes this new “total suppression of stories that haven’t been 100% solid-gold verified” standard had been in effect during his confirmation hearings.

    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  147. The definition of Trumpery:

    noun, plural trump·er·ies.
    1. something without use or value; rubbish; trash; worthless stuff.
    2. nonsense; twaddle:
    His usual conversation is pure trumpery.
    3. Archaic. worthless finery.
    adjective
    of little or no value; trifling, worthless; rubbishy; trashy.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  148. So they interviewed the computer repairman.

    He changed his story multiple times during the interview and said a number of very … remarkable things.

    Mac Isaac appeared nervous throughout. Several times, he said he was scared for his life and for the lives of those he loved. He appeared not to have a grasp on the timeline of the laptop arriving at his shop and its disappearance from it. He also said the impeachment of President Trump was a “sham.” Social media postings indicate that Mac Isaac is an avid Trump supporter, and voted for him in the 2016 election.

    Mac Isaac said he had a medical condition that prevented him from actually seeing who dropped off the laptop but that he believed it to be Hunter Biden’s because of a sticker related to the Beau Biden Foundation that was on it. He said that Hunter Biden actually dropped off three laptops for repair, an abundance of hardware that he chalked up to the Biden son being “rich.”

    Throughout the entire interview, Mac Isaac switched back and forth from saying he reached out to law enforcement after viewing the files in the laptop to saying that it was actually the Federal Bureau of Investigation that reached out to him. At one point, Mac Isaac claimed that he was emailing someone from the FBI about the laptop. At another point he claimed a special agent from the Baltimore office had contacted him after he alerted the FBI to the device’s existence. At another point, he said the FBI reached out to him for “help accessing his drive.”

    Mac Isaac referenced the infamous Seth Rich conspiracy theory—which holds that a DNC staffer who police say was murdered in a botched robbery was actually killed off by Clinton allies because he leaked committee emails—as reason for his paranoia. He said he made a copy of the hard drive for purposes of personal protection.

    “They probably knew I had a copy because I was pretty vocal about not wanting to get murdered,” he said, “so I’m going to have a copy.”

    Mac Isaac refused to answer specific questions about whether he had been in contact with Rudy Giuliani before the laptop drop-off or at any other time before the Post’s publication. Pressed on his relationship with Giuliani, he replied: “When you’re afraid and you don’t know anything about the depth of the waters that you’re in, you want to find a lifeguard.”

    Seeming to realize he’d said too much, he added: “Ah sh*t.”

    So, Rudy was your lifeguard, the reporters asked. “No comment,” he replied.

    My god.

    Dave (1bb933)

  149. I suspect that Twitter knows more about the spreading of дезинформация (dezinformatsiya), and how to avoid being a tool for it, than the comrades who are criticizing Twitter’s actions do. Get your own propaganda outlet, comrades!

    nk (1d9030)

  150. Maybe the “Obama Murdered Seal Team Six” operation will turn out better.

    Dave (1bb933)

  151. Dave (1bb933) — 10/14/2020 @ 6:22 pm

    It’s worth pointing out that this guy can be a paranoid schizophrenic and for these to be Biden’s emails.

    An interesting element of the DNC emails was that no one alleged them to be false. They just yelled Russia as loud and as often as they could.

    frosty (f27e97)

  152. So twitter was acting as a publisher. When dems dirty laundry is on the line, thats when they get scruples when it comes to diplomatic communications, signal traffic not so much.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  153. I also believe that Zero Dark Chocolate was 100% fiction. Osama bin Laden died from kidney failure some time during the Bush Presidency. There was no compound, no SEAL team, no raid, nobody killed.

    I am only mildly surprised that it took Trump this long to spill the beans. Even if the military had tried to brief him with the truth, and not actively concealed it from him as is more likely, he would have interrupted them to talk about French-style military parades.

    nk (1d9030)

  154. Another reason to question the email in the NYP story.

    “I was with the vice president in all of his meetings on Ukraine,” said Michael Carpenter, Biden’s foreign policy adviser in 2015. “He never met with this guy. In fact I had never heard of this guy until the New York Post story broke.”

    The New York Post article also cites an email from Pozharskyi to Hunter Biden saying he was “going to share this information with the US embassy here in Kyiv, as well as the office of Mr Amos Hochstein in the States.”

    “I know for a fact he never contacted me or my office,” said Hochstein, who at the time worked closely with Biden as special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs. “I provided every record to the Senate investigation and no mention of this guy was ever made, no emails, no correspondence. I know almost every player in the energy sector in Ukraine. I never met this guy.”

    Carpenter said that the vice president wouldn’t have had a meeting with a company executive. “He was the vice president of the United States,” he said. “He met with prime ministers.”

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  155. “Instead of simply asking pertinent questions, or debunking the Post’s reporting, a media blackout was initiated. A number of well-known journalists warned colleagues and their sizable social-media audiences not to share the story.

    By the afternoon, Twitter had joined Facebook in suppressing the article, not only barring its users from sharing it with followers, but barring them sharing it through direct messages as well. It locked the accounts of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the Post, and many others for retweeting the story.

    There is no credible reason for this kind of targeted suppression. Over the past five years there have been scores of dramatic scoops written by major media outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN that were based on faulty information provided by unknown sources that turned out to be incorrect. Not once has Facebook or Twitter concerned itself with the sourcing methods of reporters. Not once did it censor any of those pieces.

    Even today, Twitter users are free to share stories that rely on the Steele Dossier, which includes the Donald Trump “pee-tape” myth, despite the fact that we now know it was likely disinformation dropped into the media stream by a foreign power.“

    Twitter and Facebook’s Shameful Repression of the New York Post ’s Hunter Biden Story

    https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-facebook-shameful-repression-york-010644456.html.

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  156. reposted to more appropriate thread.

    O.o

    @MattWolking

    Politico: “Biden’s campaign would not rule out the possibility that the former VP had some kind of informal interaction with Pozharskyi”

    whembly (c30c83) — 10/14/2020 @ 7:16 pm

    whembly (c30c83)

  157. Dammit, keep posting in wrong thread. But, here’s the verification of that email address:https://blog.intelx.io/2020/10/14/an-osint-investigation-into-the-alleged-hunter-biden-email/
    The Vadym Pozharskyi email has historical data dating back to 2014 and is registered to the address of Burisma.

    whembly (c30c83)

  158. The Streisand Effect even works here. Try to censor something and you just make everyone look.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  159. Word.
    https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/10/twitter-and-facebooks-shameful-repression-of-the-new-york-posts-hunter-biden-story/

    Whatever the case, it’s all in the public record now. A healthy democracy with a properly functioning and independent press would debate, investigate, and rigorously factcheck new information. They wouldn’t work to squelch a story. It’s certainly not the job of giant tech companies who claim to function as neutral platforms to decide what news consumers can or can’t handle.

    The most generous reading of Twitter and Facebook’s actions is that the rules are evolving, messy, and inadvertently unfair. A less generous — but more plausible — reading is that the tech giants single out specific stories damaging to progressives’ preferred presidential candidate.

    It will backfire. For one thing, it further damages the reputation of Big Tech. For another, it renders the industry more susceptible to a new regulatory regime already being championed by some in Congress. Mostly, however, it just makes the story they’re trying to suppress a far bigger deal.

    whembly (c30c83)

  160. It is likely that the internal operation of these tech giants is run collectively by well-indoctrinated youngsters, products of the enforced conformity of thought called “diversity.”

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  161. We were told nothing to see here, however were still looking for the pony in the moscow hotel suite that doesnr exist.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  162. @162 The press covered the story. In case you didn’t notice, it was all over the press. I realize that it is difficult for people to understand given they don’t bother with getting news from actual news sources any more, but facebook and twitter are not the press.

    Nic (896fdf)

  163. The first was to dismiss it, look russians then ban any one who shared it.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  164. The press covered the story.

    With a rug, mostly.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  165. They deem what is legit coverage and what isnt from the ap to the times to the post

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  166. @168 If you just search googleNews you get 87,700 hits on the story in everything from Fox to Politico to your local news station. You have mistaken blanket coverage with covered with a rug.

    Nic (896fdf)

  167. Whats at the top of the banner, and what gets pushed down by algorithm

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  168. How often does the real purpose of the thiusand currents tides foundation propagabda is mentioned.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  169. @172 Top 5 results in order: Fox news, NY post, WaPo, Wall street journal, Yahoo News.

    Nic (896fdf)

  170. Ap leads every paper from augusta maine to san diego.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  171. @175 Proved you wrong, so you had to find another metric. That’s super honest brokerage there.

    Nic (896fdf)

  172. Nic (896fdf) — 10/14/2020 @ 8:16 pm

    Makes you wonder why twitter and facebook think we need to be “protected” from the information.

    frosty (f27e97)

  173. And yahoo is the same kind of garbage explainer ask carter page

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  174. In the sanford matter neither abc msnbc the atlantic the new york times the huffington post got anywhere near the truth for weeks.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  175. @177 Mostly it continues to make me wonder why people think they can get their news from facebook and twitter.

    Nic (896fdf)

  176. @177

    Nic (896fdf) — 10/14/2020 @ 8:16 pm

    Makes you wonder why twitter and facebook think we need to be “protected” from the information.

    frosty (f27e97) — 10/14/2020 @ 8:22 pm

    That’s the point. Either they do have influence over their users, or they don’t.

    They need to pick an argument and stick with it.

    Frankly, this blind faith in the pure sanctity of private corporations is starting to get on my nerves.

    I sometimes think they’d go happily to the camps, so long as they were run by The Oppression Inc.™ and not the government.

    Newsflash… not all regulations are bad.

    whembly (c30c83)

  177. I point out the three dead tree media outlets i could mention gannett but why bother

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  178. @180

    @177 Mostly it continues to make me wonder why people think they can get their news from facebook and twitter.

    Nic (896fdf) — 10/14/2020 @ 8:27 pm

    Because social media is a force multipliers. It’s the platinum trough for consumers to get their news.

    whembly (c30c83)

  179. You heard of the journolist, it never went away in fact it expanded

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  180. Tell us of your homeworld usul

    https://mobile.twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1316559860188819457

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  181. @182 No, you only pointed out the AP and assumed all the rest would just use the AP story. None of the locals I looked at have rolled to tomorrows stories yet, but we already know that some of the most widely read papers are not using the AP article. The big political story though is still Barrett, which is probably the correct choice.

    @183 I cannot help anyone who gets burned time and time again on social media “news” and continues to go to the same source only to get burned again. You can fool some of the people all of the time, I guess.

    Nic (896fdf)

  182. Comrades, you are missing the forest for the trees in your discussion. Which is that whether Twitter and Facebook are right or whether Twitter and Facebook are wrong, persons who rely on them deserve everything they get.

    nk (1d9030)

  183. @187 I mean, if you just do a google search for techcrunch, it’s bound to come up first. On the other hand, if you search for the actual story, techcrunch doesn’t come up in the first 5 pages of stories. In fact, I can’t figure out what you searched to get techcrunch to come up first. No combinations I tried other than search techcrunch itself even put it within the first 5 pages. EVERYTHING comes up before techcrunch.

    Nic (896fdf)

  184. nk (1d9030) — 10/14/2020 @ 9:07 pm

    persons who rely on them deserve everything they get.

    Well, it’s sort of turtles all the way down. People who rely on foxnews or cnn deserve everything they get. Or people who rely on the New York Times deserve everything they get.

    Do mind the propaganda. It’s only a problem because you pay attention to it. Don’t worry if the waters clean. It’s only a problem if you drink it.

    I don’t use Twitter or Facebook but I still recognize the effect it has.

    frosty (f27e97)

  185. Ah padawan why would i do that ijust pushed hunter, not even the house of scranton.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  186. @191 You must have a very very very strange search history. Under News searching just Hunter gets me fox news, the national review and fox again. In regular google it gets me Hunter boot (which appears to be a british company that sells galoshes) an email verification website called Hunter, and then the NY post story then the National review then Fox news. Techcrunch does eventually come up, but it’s on page 2.

    Nic (896fdf)

  187. Top 5 results in order: Fox news, NY post, WaPo, Wall street journal, Yahoo News.

    Yeah, and I looked at the WaPo story and it was all deflection, obfuscation and doubt. As I said, with a rug.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  188. Jake Tapper seems to think Twitter fracked up.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  189. @193 4 of the 5 top stories not a deflection, one deflection and that’s a coverup? Are you kidding?

    Nic (896fdf)

  190. But, here’s the verification of that email…

    All it verified is that the email addresses were valid. There was no metadata and no opinion on the validity of the email contents.
    It wasn’t that long ago that Russians hacked Burisma.

    The Times reported last January that Burisma had been hacked by the same Russian GRU unit that was one of two groups that hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016. Last month, United States intelligence analysts contacted several people with knowledge of the Burisma hack for further information after they had picked up chatter that stolen Burisma emails would be leaked in the form of an “October surprise.”

    Among their chief concerns, according to people familiar with the discussions, was that the Burisma material would be leaked alongside forged materials in an attempt to hurt Mr. Biden’s candidacy — as Russian hackers did when they dumped real emails alongside forgeries ahead of the 2017 French elections — a slight twist on Russia’s 2016 playbook when they siphoned leaked D.N.C. emails through fake personas on Twitter and WikiLeaks.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  191. There’s another bizarre element in the computer guy’s story.

    He claimed he contacted the person who brought in the laptops and told them he needed a disk to store the recovered data on. And he claims they brought one to the store. So this mysterious client was in the store not once, but twice.

    And it couldn’t have taken more than a day or so to transfer the data off three (yes, there were three) laptops.

    But having brought in the laptops, and then dutifully returned with a disk drive, the mysterious client apparently lost all interest and became completely unreachable during the time it took to copy a terabyte or two of data.

    Dave (1bb933)

  192. I just read a tweet asking if Trump approved Rudy Giuliani’s plan to distribute nude images of his opponent’s son and unknown women. I don’t want to dig into that, but did Trump’s team really release that kind of material? I know Trump has always gone below the belt against his opponent’s family, accusing Cruz’s dad of murder or claiming all sorts of stuff about Obama’s mom, but that’s a new low.

    Romney’s going to be the next GOP nominee.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  193. @199, Why it looks like about 30% of the GOP loves this because it embarrasses their political enemy. It’s totally what they want.

    Time123 (ca85c9)

  194. That’s the point. Either they do have influence over their users, or they don’t.

    They need to pick an argument and stick with it.

    Frankly, this blind faith in the pure sanctity of private corporations is starting to get on my nerves.

    I sometimes think they’d go happily to the camps, so long as they were run by The Oppression Inc.™ and not the government.

    Newsflash… not all regulations are bad.

    whembly (c30c83) — 10/14/2020 @ 8:29 pm

    They built it. They own it. They can use it as they please. No one is forcing you to use Twitter or Facebook. GAB, Parlor and Myspace are all options. It’s like the neighbor that puts up ugly holiday decorations. Or puts up a huge play house in their backyard for their kids. As long as they’re not breaking the law they can do as they please with their lawn. You can make the internet into an HAO run by a touchy Karen. But I think we’ll all like that a lot less. I know I would.

    In 2012 NO ONE used twitter. If they make a huge mess of it people will move to something else.

    Time123 (ca85c9)

  195. 162.

    The most generous reading of Twitter and Facebook’s actions is that the rules are evolving, messy, and inadvertently unfair.

    The most generous reading is that they respond to complaints ostly, ad to avoid being exploited, the exact rules are not really public, the Democrats know what they are, and the rules are being exploited by the Democrats. Who sometimes try to push a s round peg into a square hole. The Democrats and leftists know what words in a complaint triggers immediate action.

    It was NOT hacked material. As for the private email addresses, I noticed that too but I assumed the New York Post checked that rhbiden@icloud.com is no longer active, any more than hdr22@clintonemail.com is. And while you can say that when the New York Times published information from his incme tax retrns they didn’t show his tax returns themselves, I think the New York Times published some private documentary smaterial from Donald Trump.

    A less generous — but more plausible — reading is that the tech giants single out specific stories damaging to progressives’ preferred presidential candidate.

    It will backfire. For one thing, it further damages the reputation of Big Tech. For another, it renders the industry more susceptible to a new regulatory regime already being championed by some in Congress. Mostly, however, it just makes the story they’re trying to suppress a far bigger deal.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  196. 201. Time123 (ca85c9) — 10/15/2020 @ 4:38 am

    In> 2012 NO ONE used twitter. If they make a huge mess of it people will move to something else.

    Anthony Weiner was using Twitter in 2911 and so was Donald Trump. I think you mean 2009.

    The problem is that there are network effects and Twitter is kind of like a monopoly. And their growth was premised on being very much like a common carrier, except for the exceptions provided by the Communications Decency Act.

    And the would be censors come up with good cases for censorship (sometimes only n their eyes, and sometimes actually bad cases – nonexistent threat of violence)

    But as saying goes: Good cases make bad law.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  197. What crime to you feel was committed?

    Time123 (ca85c9)

  198. facilitating money laundering, the collapse of the major bank in the ukraine,

    https://spectator.org/hunter-biden-laptop-new-york-post/

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  199. A less generous — but more plausible — reading is that the tech giants single out specific stories damaging to progressives’ preferred presidential candidate.

    No they don;’t. They respond to complaints, especially complaints that use secret “magic words.”

    I think also they may have some poltical partisans working for them (but because they also pay attention to political correctness, the people n charge of censorship are mostly Democrats)

    It will backfire. For one thing, it further damages the reputation of Big Tech.

    Will it backd=fire f Joe Biden is selected and the senate gets a Democratic majority.

    It will backfire in the sense of a loss of trust in mainstream voices, and greater poltical divisiveness. But the censors don;t care about that because they want tio censor things that don;t deserve to be censored.

    We see lot of censorship on medical issues. Yes, there is a lot of false anti-vaccine propaganda but sometimes the medical dissenters are right. You can’t say nobody is allowed to contradict the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration or the Centers for Disease Control. If that’s the way it is, they’ll be wrog even more often and for a longer periods of time till corrected.

    If nobody is allowed to contradict “science” people will die and the economy can be greatly damaged.

    Thw trolls from Russia and other places are actually looking for this effect. They don;t ewant people circulating things against the Russian state or examples of corruption.

    Corrupt people in the United States are also. The goal of political correctness is, I think, in the end, to protect political corruption and influence peddling.

    For another, it renders the industry more susceptible to a new regulatory regime already being championed by some in Congress.

    think there’s a hidden agenda for some people. Only on Team D, because only the left has some hope of getting control of the censorship. They are already doing with mobs and the like on college campuses.

    But the aeed control of the Supreme Court to make what they want to do legal. Focusing on campaign contributions and speech about candidates.

    Now some on Team R are trying to exploit rules too – trying to argue that Twitter and Facebook, by trying to squelch the circulation of this (actually misleading – it has gaping holes in logic) New York Post story, are making an in kind contribution to the Biden campaign, but it is being done mostly to stop Team D from censoring.

    Mostly, however, it just makes the story they’re trying to suppress a far bigger deal.

    That actually may be true, because the major media weren’t covering it so much. I meaa, would CBS mention it otherwise? So it may reach people outside the conservative media bubble, albeit with the implication that the story is false or unfair. I think it will get a few more people to look into the “conservative” media bubble.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  200. “A less generous — but more plausible — reading is that the tech giants single out specific stories damaging to progressives’ preferred presidential candidate.

    It will backfire. For one thing, it further damages the reputation of Big Tech. For another, it renders the industry more susceptible to a new regulatory regime already being championed by some in Congress. Mostly, however, it just makes the story they’re trying to suppress a far bigger deal.“
    __ _

    As damaging as this apparently is to Biden, the suppression is even more damaging for Big Tech, as it should be.

    This is flagrant censorship for purely political purposes from companies that still boast that they are unbiased and neutral.

    This is the kind of tech suppression they do in China.

    The most amazing thing about this is we’ve all seen it to a lesser extant before with shadow banning and algorithms that for some strange reason always seem to tilt one-way politically, but media keeps telling us not to believe our lying eyes.

    Wonder if we’ll get a post here expressing the concern and outrage we all should feel.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  201. facilitating money laundering, the collapse of the major bank in the ukraine,

    Prove that Hunter Biden is guilty of this.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  202. Remarkable that they still haven’t produced a single business-related communication between Hunter and Joe Biden, which is the only thing that would make any of this relevant even if it were genuine.

    On day two, they’ve released emails from 2017 and 2018 about a Chinese deal that never happened and could have involved no influence on US policy, improper or otherwise (since Joe Biden was out of office by then).

    Dave (1bb933)

  203. Prove that Hunter Biden is guilty of this.

    After four years, suddenly proof is the standard.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  204. 210. Dave (1bb933) — 10/15/2020 @ 6:57 am

    Remarkable that they still haven’t produced a single business-related communication between Hunter and Joe Biden, which is the only thing that would make any of this relevant even if it were genuine.

    The fact that they haven’t tends to prove that it is genuine!

    They even included something that tends to show that Joe Biden (in 2014) was unaware of what Hunter was doing. (But don’t realize it because examining the details?)

    Robert [Hunter] Biden to Devon Archer on April 13, 2014 at 12:43 am

    https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/hunter-biden-emails-show-leveraging-connections-with-dad-to-boost-burisma-pay

    “The announcement of my guys [sic] upcoming travels should be characterized as part of our advice and thinking- but what he will say and do is out of our hands.”

    Emphasis mine.

    The Democrats don;t want to go who’s go into the weeds because it still not complementary to Joe Biden that he has nor distanced himself from his son, or rebuked him, and that he let this happen.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  205. I just read a tweet asking if Trump approved Rudy Giuliani’s plan to distribute nude images of his opponent’s son and unknown women.

    That Adam Schiff tried to obtain nude photos of Trump from what he thought was a Russian source didn’t seem to make him any less of an impeachment hero here.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  206. Prove that Hunter Biden is guilty of this.

    After four years, suddenly proof is the standard.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/15/2020 @ 7:14 am

    It’s always been a standard…with 1 exception (Clinesmith) every credible examination of the events has failed to find any wrongdoing by those who investigated Trump. You just can’t give up on your conspiracy theory.

    Time123 (ca85c9)

  207. “After four years, suddenly proof is the standard”
    _

    Even more telling is the seemingly complete ignorance of the big tech censorship.

    Probably still too concerned about Trump’s authoritarian Handmaid camps.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  208. Because “obtaining” information about the President of the United States and “distributing” information about his relative are the same thing…

    Dave (1bb933)

  209. Whose hero is Adam Schiff here? Show of hands? Come on! Step up and speak up! Anybody?

    nk (1d9030)

  210. Nobody? Ok, then, could you at least take one minute to estimate how many people know your “verified email address”?

    nk (1d9030)

  211. It’s always been a standard…

    I hope Barr hasn’t lowered the DOJ standards such that the Biden campaign is getting away with not being surveilled.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  212. tsar becket adams
    @BecketAdams
    ·
    not sure how twitter can say this with such confidence considering biden is on tape bragging about doing exactly what twitter says he didn’t do.

    coupled with twitter’s one-sided overreaction to the NY Post story certainly gives the impression that someone is tilting the scale.
    __ _

    tsar becket adams
    @BecketAdams
    ·
    “biden played no role in pressuring Ukraine officials into firing the prosecutor.”

    “but biden said he did”

    “yeah, well, who are you going to believe??”
    __ _

    capitalismandfriedman
    @capitalismandf1
    ·
    Shokin wasn’t investigating Hunter; he was investigating the head of Burisma, Zlochevksy, and Hunter got “his guy” to help shut down the investigation.

    A subtle, but important difference.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  213. The fact that they haven’t tends to prove that it is genuine!

    I agree, at least in the sense that they have not fabricated that one key piece of evidence.

    OTOH, the computer store narrative has so many implausible elements that I strongly suspect the information – if genuine – was obtained illegally through Rudy’s Russian spies.

    It’s also possible that they will generate whatever additional material they want as Election Day draws closer.

    Dave (1bb933)

  214. Twitter has suspended the Trump campaign account for violating its rules.

    Dave (1bb933)

  215. It looks phonier than Giuliani’s teeth to me, Mr. Dave.

    nk (1d9030)

  216. It’s always been a standard…

    I hope Barr hasn’t lowered the DOJ standards such that the Biden campaign is getting away with not being surveilled.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/15/2020 @ 7:29 am

    Biden’s a master criminal whose gang of geniuses doesn’t get drunk and brag to foreign diplomats about working with the Russians on criminal acts. But only 1 in a billion are smart enough not to do that.

    Time123 (306531)

  217. but to president donald its as sexy as his pushup bra or ivankas leather corset mr nk

    Dave (1bb933)

  218. Twitter has suspended the Trump campaign account for violating its rules.

    Rules it only applies to the Trump campaign. Links to his tax return info are still there.

    As a publisher, Twitter has every right to do what it pleases.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  219. Twitter has suspended the Trump campaign account for violating its rules.

    Dave (1bb933) — 10/15/2020 @ 7:36 am

    That’s hilarious. Best part is everyone sucks here so no matter who loses it’s a good thing.

    Time123 (306531)

  220. Biden’s a master criminal whose gang of geniuses doesn’t get drunk and brag to foreign diplomats about working with the Russians on criminal acts.

    Getting drunk. Doing crack. You’re splitting hairs.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  221. As a newsstand, cigar store, and bookstore employee for five years, I had a right to stock whatever newspapers and magazines I wanted, obscene material excluded.

    nk (1d9030)

  222. @228 And Biden was smart enough not to put him on his 2020 campaign. I keep hearing about how diminished Biden is but there are so many examples of him being smarter then Trump. Can you believe Biden hasn’t once asked a foreign government to Hack his political opponents email? How does Biden avoid traps like that?

    Time123 (ca85c9)

  223. Time123 (ca85c9) — 10/15/2020 @ 7:21 am

    Prove that Hunter Biden is guilty of this.

    After four years, suddenly proof is the standard.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/15/2020 @ 7:14 am

    It’s always been a standard…with 1 exception (Clinesmith) every credible examination of the events has failed to find any wrongdoing by those who investigated Trump. You just can’t give up on your conspiracy theory.

    Well, yes and no. I see what you did there. It’s always been “a” standard but it certainly hasn’t been “the” standard.

    The standard over the last four years for allegations against Trump has been whether it could be true, i.e. plausible. This routinely shows up here in comments and posts. The standard for allegations by Trump has been unassailable evidence. I’m not sure a conviction would do since his critics would say it’s all rigged.

    frosty (f27e97)

  224. Twitter showed its true colors when it did not intervene in that New York lawsuit which found it to be a governmental town hall and therefore Trump could not block hecklers. Unbelievable abandonment of the brand, just because they didn’t like Trump.

    (Not that I ever respected it in the first place.)

    nk (1d9030)

  225. Trump threatens Twitter with a lawsuit and “things that can happen that are very severe”:

    Trump appeared surprised by the news of his campaign account’s suspension in a Fox Business interview on Thursday morning.

    “Well, I haven’t heard that, but if it is, it is,” he said. “But it’s going to all end up in a big lawsuit. And there are things that can happen that are very severe that I’d rather not see happen. But it’s probably going to have to.”

    Dave (1bb933)

  226. “It’s always been a standard…with 1 exception (Clinesmith).“
    _
    Lisa Murkowski’s statement that she believed Kavanaugh was a “good man,” but she was going to vote against him because the Supreme Court is larger than one individual would like to differ.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  227. Trump standing up against censorship……..

    the horror!
    _

    Biden/Harris working alongside Twitter/Facebook etc. will fix all this surely.
    _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  228. QAnon was on YouTube? How is that possible? At the very least, you need to provide a verifiable email address.

    nk (1d9030)

  229. “The standard for allegations by Trump has been unassailable evidence.”

    Trump and those around him are liars.

    Davethulhu (1ebef9)

  230. I have a new post up about the Twitter and Facebook bans on the article.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  231. After four years, suddenly proof is the standard.

    It’s my standard. What’s yours?
    Why do you disagree with the notion that a commenter should back up what he/she says?

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  232. FAKENEWSBEZOSPOST debunks one of the three NYPost stories from yesterday:

    A separate article, about another email, claims that a public relations company that worked for Burisma was allowed to take part in a conference call about an upcoming visit by Joe Biden to Ukraine. But there was nothing secret about this call, and the transcript was released publicly and posted on the White House website.

    Diabolical!

    Dave (1bb933)

  233. The case against Joe Biden is based upon a few additional “facts” that are not included in evidence: (that come from outside the emails)

    1. That Joe Biden was in charge of U.S. policy toward Ukraine. (A huge exaggeration. Made by Joe Biden)

    https://www.cfr.org/event/foreign-affairs-issue-launch-former-vice-president-joe-biden

    … I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine. And I remember going over, convincing our team, our leaders to—convincing that we should be providing for loan guarantees.

    2. That Joe Biden was responsible for firing the Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

    Joe Biden strongly implied that.

    But he lied.

    Joe Biden continuing at that forum at the Council on Foreign Relations, January 23, 2018:

    And I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn’t.

    So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I’m not going to—or, we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You’re not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.

    There is not a single shred of evidence, anywhere, to support that story of a cancelled, or almost cancelled, press conference in Kiev where Biden was going to announce loan guarantees And you can’t fit that anywhere into the timeline.

    Bud the Biden campaign and Democrats who understand or know that Biden made the whole story up can’t defend him that way. Instead they say, that this trip took place in December, 2015, and that Joe Biden was merely carrying out U.S. policy set bu Obama and members of Congress. But removing the Prosecutor General was not a crucial to U.S. policy on the Ukrainian Parliament passing a whole package of anti-corruption legislation was, and only they finally did in June 2016. (Viktor Shokin was forced to quit in March and replaced in April) was the $1 billion in loan guarantees announced. At a press conference in Kiev where Joe Biden was not present but the then outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Ross Pyatt, was.

    3.That the fired Prosecutor General was seriously investigating Burisma, the company that was paying a great deal pf money to Hunter Biden, both as a bighly overpaid member of the Board of Directors and as a consultant.

    Thuswas said by some Ukrainian businessmen, who were probably put up to it by Russian intelligence contacted Rudolph Giuliani through Lev Parnass, (who had gotten close to Giuliani by contributing money, that was not his but was probably ultimately laundered money from Russia, to many Republican causes – and then had hired Giuliani as a private lawyer and then brought him all kinds of inside dope on Ukraine) ….Some Ukrainian businessmen and later Viktor Shokin himself said that, before he was fired, was seriously investigating Burisma.

    But they lied

    Nobody else familiar with the situation had that impression.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  234. I hope Barr hasn’t lowered the DOJ standards such that the Biden campaign is getting away with not being surveilled.

    If there is a predicate that Putin is meddling in an American election to help Biden win, I’d like to see it, but that’s not what the FBI Director has testified to, under oath.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  235. A separate article, about another email, claims that a public relations company that worked for Burisma was allowed to take part in a conference call about an upcoming visit by Joe Biden to Ukraine. But there was nothing secret about this call, and the transcript was released publicly and posted on the White House website.

    That looked like it might be some indication of successful use of connections by Hunter Biden.

    That was he December 2015 trip which defenders of Joe Biden now say is when the events that Joe Biden described in January 2018 took place.

    The New York Post does not describe what that agenda was.

    It was almost certainly either to announce loan guarantees nor to encourage Ukraine to fire the prosecutor.

    That would prove Biden lied to the CFR, but they’d rather have it that Biden got the prosecutor fired to protect, or enrich, his son. (Rudolph Giuliani says members of Biden’s family gave money to him or helped him buy his house, and that may be true, but it is probably not true of Hunter Biden who spent money on alcohol, women and illegal drugs, some of which he got from Russia, (the widow of te mayor of Moscow) at a time when Joe Biden was considering running for the Democratic nomination n competition with Hillary Clinton

    Yes, before Vladimir Putin was for Trump, he was for Biden.

    Anybody but Hillary, whom he didn’t trust, and whom he blamed for the Ukrainian revolution in February 2014 because he thought Victoria Nuland was one of Hillary’s women.

    Do you have alink to the trasncript

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  236. Shokin wasn’t investigating Hunter; he was investigating the head of Burisma, Zlochevksy, and Hunter got “his guy” to help shut down the investigation.

    This lie just keeps getting repeated over and over, like the NY Post did yesterday.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  237. https://www.newsweek.com/hunter-biden-received-35-million-payment-ex-moscow-mayors-wife-republican-report-says-1533834

    Hunter Biden Received a $3.5 Million Payment From Ex-Moscow Mayor’s Wife, Republican Report Says

    BY JASON LEMON ON 9/23/20 AT 10:41 AM ED

    …Democrats have dismissed the Republican report, which was released Wednesday, as playing up Russian misinformation, and the 87-page document did not demonstrate that Hunter Biden’s financial entanglements impacted U.S. policy. But it emphasized that government officials flagged concerns about potential conflicts of interest and that the former vice president’s son’s financial interests with foreign governments “accelerated” during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

    “Hunter Biden received a $3.5 million wire transfer from Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of Moscow,” the Republican report, which was the result of an investigation led by GOP Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, explained as one of its “key findings.”

    Baturina, a billionaire, was previously married to Yuri Luzhkov, who served as mayor of Moscow but was fired for alleged corruption in 2010. The report details how Biden’s business received a $3.5 million payment from Baturina in February 2014, which was described to be for “consultancy” work. In 2015, Biden also received several payments of several hundred thousand dollars from Baturina, several of which were listed as part of a “loan agreement.”

    The money was probably mostly used for sex workers. It would have relieved Joe Biden of a problem and made it easier for him to run for president.

    Elena Baturina is ariously decribed as the wife or the widow of Yuri Lushkov. Yuri Lushkov died last December. He was close to Putin, but Dmitry Medvedev was president of Russia in 2010 and fired him and this could have been one of his independent acts. Elena Baturina was his second wife.

    he payments to Hunter Biden continued past the time when Joe Biden announced he was not running for president (through December 2015) but at that time. I would guess Vladimir Putin was hoping for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo because some money that went to something Hunter Biden was associated with went to something .. Buffalo something – that Andrew Cuomo was friendly with. But I don;t know if that happened between October and December 2015..

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  238. it was a piece in the financial times two years ago,,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  239. It wouldn’t matter if Shokin was investigating Hunter Biden or if he was investigating Hunter Biden’s gravy train, Burisma. The thing is that Viktor Shokin wasn’t investigating (in a serious way) either of them, nor was Hunter Biden about to be called as a witness. But this has been supplied as a reason why Joe Biden would have wanted to force Ukraine to fire the prosecutor.

    And Joe Biden’s own words have been cited as proof. Now the thing is, Joe Biden lied about his crucial, independent role in getting the prosecutor fired as I quoted @242. But he couldn’t say
    that! Vladimir Putin must have considered this slander beautiful for that reason. All he had to do to do was add a few “facts” and Biden was hoist by his petard.

    Now Guiliani at least thought that Joe Biden had concealed from his audience the all important “fact” that the prosecutor he (notionally) got fired had been investigating something that Hunter Biden didn’t want investigated.

    But Donald Trump, who viewed at least some of the videotape, didn’t pick up on the fact that, regardless of what somebody had told him before he viewed the tape, Biden never said that the prosecutor had been investigating Burisma or Hunter!

    And therefore he marveled:

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-president-zelensky-ukraine-bilateral-meeting-new-york-ny

    PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think that somebody, if you look at what he did, it’s so bad — where his son he goes to China, he walks away with a billion and a half dollars. He goes to Ukraine and he walks away with $50,000 a month and a lot of money in addition to that. And the whole thing with the prosecutor in Ukraine.

    And he’s on tape. This isn’t like “maybe he did it, maybe he didn’t.” He’s on tape doing this. I saw this a while ago. I looked at it and I said, “That’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that.” Now, either he’s dumb, or he thought he was in a room full of really good friends, or maybe it’s a combination of both, in his case.

    Earlier, on that famous July 25 phone call, Donald Trump had said:

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Unclassified09.2019.pdf

    it works out it goes:

    The other thing: There’s a lot of. talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it [the words Burisma and recording are here according to Alexander Vindman] … It sounds horrible to me.

    Biden of course did not go bragging that he stopped a prosecution. He bragged that got a corrupt prosecutor fired. The idea that he stopped a prosecution was probably supplied by Vladimir Putin.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  240. Biden can’t argue that, in reality, he got a corrupt prosecutor fired because he made up the whole story.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  241. 247. Can you link to it or something?

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  242. Yes, before Vladimir Putin was for Trump, he was for Biden.

    Of course. Putin tried to win Obama over, tried to win Hillary, was able to purchase Trump.

    Trump has that Sam’s Choice vibe to him. I guess he’s more affordable.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  243. Errata: Important correction to what I write at 244:

    The New York Post does not describe what that agenda was.

    It was almost certainly neither to announce loan guarantees nor to encourage Ukraine to fire the prosecutor

    I left out the first letter “n” of neither.

    I added: That would prove Biden lied to the CFR, but they’d rather have it that Biden got the prosecutor fired to protect, or enrich, his son.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  244. The money was probably mostly used for sex workers. It would have relieved Joe Biden of a problem and made it easier for him to run for president.

    This claim that Hunter Biden received $3.5 million Ms. Baturina is unproven.

    Hunter Biden’s lawyer George Mesires said Biden did not get $3.5 million and that the report has a key error.

    “Hunter Biden had no interest in and was not a co-founder of Rosemont Seneca Thornton, so the claim that he was paid $3.5 million is false,” Mesires said in an email.

    Bottom line, Ron Johnson didn’t bother to verify the ownership of the LLC, just went with a news report and called it good. And this.

    “Democratic staff has reviewed all known information on file with the committees, however, including the confidential document cited by the Republicans (in the report), and are aware of no information in the committees’ possession showing Hunter Biden had any financial interest in this entity or transaction,” they said in a statement.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  245. I would have hoped they checked basic facts. It was people he was associated with who received the $3,5 million.

    We asked Mesire if he could share documents to show that Hunter Biden was not a co-founder, and he did not respond.

    We asked Republican Senate staffers if they could show proof that Biden had a stake in Rosemont Seneca Thornton, and they also declined to respond.

    The Senate report cites a Oct. 9, 2019, Financial Times story that says Hunter Biden was a co-founder, but the reporters don’t say in the story how they substantiated that — no source is cited. An email query to the Washington-based reporter on the story went unanswered….

    ….Hunter Biden co-founded a firm called Rosemont Seneca in 2009, but the partnership with Thornton — even though it uses the Rosemont Seneca name — could exist without other partners in Rosemont Seneca having a stake. A business partner could have created this entity on his own. Without the ownership documents of Rosemont Seneca Thornton — which are not public — we simply can’t know.

    …Democratic staff on the Finance and Homeland Security committees said the Republican paper trail doesn’t lead back to Biden.

    “Democratic staff has reviewed all known information on file with the committees, however, including the confidential document cited by the Republicans (in the report), and are aware of no information in the committees’ possession showing Hunter Biden had any financial interest in this entity or transaction,” they said in a statement.

    We asked Republican staff whether Hunter Biden was named in any suspicious activity report. They did not respond.

    That that money wasn’t for Hunter Biden personally actually makes more sense. $3.5 million is more than anyone would need for strippers. And if Hunter Biden got that, he wouldn’t have needed to do anything else for money.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)

  246. Why do so many people think a rich guy with a crack addiction would not leave computers behind?
    Hunter goes on a binge and he is lucky the strippers don’t pull the gold cap off his molar while he is passed out in the hotel room. He has probably woke up several times unable to remember a thing.
    No wallet, no phone, familiar rash beginning to blossom

    steveg (43b7a5)

  247. 255. Me too. There’s nothing strange about Hunter Biden abandoning the laptop (after all, he did not know it was repaired)

    Somebody else yes maybe he wouldn’t ant data available. Maybe he didn’t understand how politically interesting what he did was. He wasn;t actually back then – the Ukraine scandal broke in September, 2019.

    He doesn’t need to be still using cocaine in April, 2019 for that.

    Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7)


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