Those who have read the Mueller report, all three of you, already know that Donald Trump’s lawyer floated pardons to Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen to dissuade them from cooperating with the government. Now CNN reports:

The Justice Department on Friday released a more complete transcript of a voice mail from Donald Trump’s attorney John Dowd to Rob Kelner, the lawyer for Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, where he sought information about Flynn’s discussions with the special counsel on the eve of his cooperation deal.

. . . .

The release of the transcript — and lack of the other release of transcripts — came following Judge Emmet Sullivan’s unusual order last week seeking public disclosure of documents used in Flynn’s case as he heads toward sentencing Flynn for lying to investigators.

Overall, the voice mail highlights a call that special counsel Robert Mueller investigated as potential obstruction of justice by the President. Dowd had made the call on November 22, 2017, after Flynn’s team said it could no longer communicate with the White House, just before Flynn pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in Mueller’s investigation.

In the voice mail transcript, most of which was previously documented in the Mueller report, Dowd said it “wouldn’t surprise me” if Flynn was about to make a deal, but if it “implicates the President, then we’ve got a national security issue, or … some issue … not only for the President, but for the country.” He then asked for a “heads up,” according to the transcript. Dowd also wanted to remind Flynn about “the President and his feelings towards Flynn.”

The call “could have had the potential to affect Flynn’s decision to cooperate, as well as the extent of that cooperation,” Mueller wrote in his report on potential obstruction of justice by the President during the investigation. “We do not have evidence establishing whether the President knew about or was involved in his counsel’s communications with Flynn’s counsel.” Mueller credited Flynn for turning over the voice mail to investigators so they could investigate possible obstruction of the probe, according to a previous court filing.

If you think Dowd did that on his own without talking to Trump, you are naive. Here’s the text of the voice mail:

Hey, Rob, uhm, this is John again. Uh, maybe, I-I-I’m-I’m sympathetic; I understand your situation, but let me see if I can’t … state it in … starker terms. If you have … and it wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve gone on to make a deal with, and, uh, work with the government, uh … I understand that you can’t join the joint defense; so that’s one thing. If, on the other hand, we have, there’s information that. .. implicates the President, then we’ve got a national security issue, or maybe a national security issue, I don’t know … some issue, we got to-we got to deal with, not only for the President, but for the country. So … uh … you know, then-then, you know, we need some kind of heads up. Um, just for the sake of … protecting all our interests, if we can, without you having to give up any … confidential information. So, uhm, and if it’s the former, then, you know, remember what we’ve always said about the President and his feelings toward Flynn and, that still remains, but-Well, in any event, uhm, let me know, and, uh, I appreciate your listening and taking the time. Thanks, Pal.

This is not subtle. An accurate paraphrase: if you’re thinking of making a deal, remember Trump still likes your client and could pardon him.

When Justin Amash said Trump “engaged in impeachable conduct” he was right. This is just one example of many.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

[guest post by Dana]

When these absurdities pop up, it reminds me yet again that there are none so closed-minded as those who loudly proclaim their open-minded progressivism while simultaneously dropping the authoritarian hammer on everyday Americans.

Two ambitious and hard working young women, and I have to mention that they are white because those are the rules, ran a small business in Portland known as Kooks Burritos. Due to accusations of “cultural appropriation,” Kooks Burritos is no longer in business.

Although the business had been operational for several months, and become increasingly popular, the hoopla began when the Williamette Week recently published an article about owners Kali Wilgus and Liz “LC” Connelly wherein they described how a trip to Mexico inspired them to learn how to replicate the unique and tasty tortillas of Puerto Nuevo when they got back home:

“In Puerto Nuevo, you can eat $5 lobster on the beach, which they give you with this bucket of tortillas,” Connelly says. “They are handmade flour tortillas that are stretchy and a little buttery, and best of all, unlimited.”

“I picked the brains of every tortilla lady there in the worst broken Spanish ever, and they showed me a little of what they did,” Connelly says. “They told us the basic ingredients, and we saw them moving and stretching the dough similar to how pizza makers do before rolling it out with rolling pins. They wouldn’t tell us too much about technique, but we were peeking into the windows of every kitchen, totally fascinated by how easy they made it look. We learned quickly it isn’t quite that easy.”

“On the drive back up to Oregon, we were still completely drooling over how good [the tortillas] were, and we decided we had to have something similar in Portland,” Connelly says. “The day after we returned, I hit the Mexican market and bought ingredients and started testing it out. Every day I started making tortillas before and after work, trying to figure out the process, timing, refrigeration and how all of that works.”

When they returned, they set up shop in a inside the Tight Tacos food cart in Portland. Tight Tacos describes itself as “an authentic street taquero”. The man behind Tight Tacos is Reggie Ballesteros, “a Hawaii transplant” who lived in California before landing in Oregon. Because “he couldn’t find tacos like the ones he ate growing up,” he opened Tight Tacos. And he apparently didn’t have a problem with two white girls using his food truck to make their popular breakfast burritos. (Q: Does this make Ballesteros an accomplice to two white girls’ cultural appropriation?)

Back to Wilgus and Connelly. After their interview in the Williamette Week, the aggrieved began their campaign of hate:

“Because of Portland’s underlying racism, the people who rightly own these traditions and cultures that exist are already treated poorly,” an article in the Portland Mercury reads. “These appropriating businesses are erasing and exploiting their already marginalized identities for the purpose of profit and praise.”

Mic.com also offered commentary: “In less than six months, Wilgus and Connelly have managed to build a business. And depending on how you look at it, their methods are either genius or the latest example of white folks profiting off the labor of people of color.”

Interestingly, Mic.com writer Jamilah King, who is black (remember the rules), also said this in her report on Kooks:

The problem, of course, is that it’s unclear whether the Mexican women who handed over their recipes ever got anything in return. And now those same recipes are being sold as a delicacy in Portland.

That’s right, Jamilah. Because it’s unclear, you don’t know what transpired, and neither does anyone else. But sure, let’s infer, and assume the worst – privileged white girls stole from poor Mexican women. King, along with those whose attacks compelled the owners to shut down the business, have no clue what took place. Maybe the business partners paid a huge amount of money to the Mexican women, maybe they offered and were turned down. Maybe two American girls showing such a level of admiration, appreciation, interest and respect for the craft was enough for these tortilla makers. Why does King, or anyone else, assume that they would want compensation? Isn’t that projection of the worst kind? They’re a poor brown people in a poor land, pride in their workmanship isn’t enough, they want money!

Further, how aggravating that King chose not to focus on a tremendously noteworthy aspect of this report: Two gutsy young women built a successful business in a tough town for businesswomen in a mere six months! What a significant achievement. One that should have been cheered about by women of every color everywhere. Especially in Portland:

A new report on women owned businesses finds that Portland is one of the worst cities in the country. The data from America Express OPEN’s new report ranks Portland in the bottom ten cities in the country out of 100.

A commenter at The Mic left this fitting observation:

Sooooooo, let me get this straight. Are you all suggesting that Andy Ricker close Pok Pok? Should John Gorham close Toro Bravo? What about Expatriate? Should we force Kyle to stop serving Laotian tacos? Are you going to try and convince me you’ve never stood in line at Por Que No? Um, Bollywood Theater anyone? If learning how to make a food from another culture and selling it is now considered cultural appropriation, then why not take this issue up with the sucessful PDX businesses that have been doing this at a much larger scale for years, and stop harassing these two women struggling to start a small business.

Interestingly, Portland is home to 5 Taco Bells. Taco Bell was founded by [the very white] Glen Bell who learned how to make Mexican food by watching the cooks at of a nearby Mexican restaurant:

According to Gustavo Arellano, author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, Bell watched long lines of customers at a Mexican restaurant called the Mitla Cafe, located across the street, which attracted a dedicated customer base for its hard-shelled tacos.[4][5] Bell began eating there regularly, attempting to reverse-engineer the recipe, and eventually won the confidence of the proprietors such that they allowed him to see how the tacos and other foods were prepared.[4][5] In late 1951 or early 1952, he took what he had learned and opened a new stand, this time selling tacos under the name of Taco-Tia.[4][5]

Over the next few years, Bell owned and operated a number of restaurants in southern California including four called El Taco. Bell sold the El Tacos to his partner and built the first Taco Bell in Downey in 1962.

But, don’t worry. If you are in Portland and want to only patronize eateries where there is no cultural appropriation taking place, then here’s a convenient list for you: (Alternative To) White-Owned Appropriative Restaurants in Portland

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

I waited all night for JohnReid9 to provide some publishable context for some of this. But I never heard from him. So, we’ll just let the documents speak for themselves.

Documents like this:

and this:

And this:

And many more. Keep reading.

First, some developments since last night. Gennette Cordova has already verified parts of last night’s document dump. To take one example (there are others), she confirmed that these DMs were written by her:

Her claim is that she was participating in a type of surveillance of Nikki on behalf of Weiner:

And yes, I did. It was a week and a half in, I knew why this person was engaging me but they hadn’t brought him up yet.
So I got the ball rolling.
Now, I’ve given that information to someone else already so it’s not exclusive but there you go:)

In other words, she says she told Nikki these things, but had not really said those things to Weiner.

I express no opinion on the truth of that claim, just as I express no opinion on the authenticity of JohnReid9 or his documents. I will speak of “Reid” and “Nikki” in this post as if they are real people because it is easier to tell the story that way, but that does not mean I am giving an opinion. As I have said, whether JohnReid9 is a concerned father or an Internet hoaxster is for the reader to decide. You are already aware that he has provided fake IDs to Tommy Christopher and that the Nikki Reid and Marianela Alicea accounts had fake pictures attached to them. But you also know that Gennette Cordova has authenticated aspects of the material he has sent out. And he may offer his story yet. So stay tuned.

What you are about to see is text cut and pasted from DMs forwarded to me by Reid. I took some screenshots of some of the more interesting ones and will be including them at the end. Because these are e-mail notifications of DMs from other people, you are getting only one side of the conversation. In some cases the nature of the other side will be clear; in other cases it will not.

I tried to place them in chronological order and edit out Ethel’s name. Otherwise, you’re seeing what I received.

I am asking Gennette Cordova by e-mail to confirm or deny the authenticity of the DMs purporting to be from her. [UPDATE 12:26 a.m.: In a comment, she has largely confirmed the communications that came from her, and has failed to object to any as inauthentic.]

Whether JohnReid9 is Concerned Father or Internet Prankster, this is news. And it’s breaking here.

Here we go.

Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:51:46 +0000
From: [Twitter Postmaster]
Subject: [Ethel] is now following you on Twitter!

[Ethel] (@[Ethel]) is now following your tweets (@starchild111) on Twitter.

____________________________________________________________________________________

sickening.
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 6:51 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

People seriously think it doesn’t matter. Like it affects your life everyday. I cannot believe those guys sit around and try to make people
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 6:54 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

feel bad. yet they’re sayin repweiner is the criminal….
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 6:54 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

they’re so sick. like are you that bored with your life that you’re grown men staring at a computer screen all night….. idiots.
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 6:57 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah I’m trying not to. I tried to be as politically correct as possible and not call them “fucking assholes” or anything. Just to make them
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:03 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

When I asked for the followback he just said , “done. anything else i could do for you?” and it was so cool because when i visited the house
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:07 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

gallery, he was there speaking. so i followed him on twitter and I LOVE HIS TWEETS. like they all say exactly what i am thinking.
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:07 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

My history teacher emailed Chris Coons (my senator) and asked for tickets. It was great. Except the senate wasn’t in session so i like cried
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:10 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

and he asked John Carney (my rep) for house tickets!
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:10 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Best day of my life.
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:14 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Uhm…………….. that’s quite a hike. Totally worth it.
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:16 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I def recommend it!
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 7:25 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ty!
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 13, 9:30 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Remember Ethel’s public tweets around this time:

Ethel: @RepWeiner I’m in love with you
13 Apr

Ethel: Watchin @RepWeiner on cnn <3 13 Apr Ethel: Seriously talking to Representative Weiner from New York right now! Like is my life real? 13 Apr patriotusa76: "@repweiner talking to high-school girls now. Freak." Ethel: @sclancy cause representative weiner followed me back today and some sickos are trying to make a thing of it. 04/13/2011 Ethel: Seriously depressed that @RepWeiner doesn't follow me anymore. Yesterday was a great day! 15 Apr

Which seem to show Weiner unfollowed her due to the efforts of the crew led by Dan Wolfe. Ethel’s reaction is reflected in these DMs to Nikki:

I’m so sad 🙁
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 14, 11:15 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Probably publicity reasons which I understand but still 🙁
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 14, 11:19 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I told everyone at school! Sorry to ruin it 🙁
Direct message sent by [Ethel] (@[Ethel]) to you (@starchild111) on Apr 14, 11:21 PM.

About a month later, Gennette DMs to Nikki:

And I’m glad I could make you smile! You’re so sweet.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 4:38 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

That sounds so cool! You’re awesome for thinking to invite me:) hopefully I can make it, that would be amazing.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 4:43 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah my sister used to act like that with me. Lol. I totally get it!
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:03 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, well I’m in college and my friends STILL do that to me! It’s crazy how unconcerned they are.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:17 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

They’ll talk about the Bachelor for hours but when I bring up politics they have nothing to say. I think it’s sad.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:18 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

but boys, politics or anything else you want to talk about, I’m here to listen.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:22 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

It’s hard when no one around you cares about the things that you care about:(
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:22 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

That’s a good idea, connecting with people who have similar views as you, especially for you because you live in such a conservative area!
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:33 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I go to school in Bellingham. The next town over gave Glenn Beck the key to the city. The teaparty us huge up here, so I know how you feel.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:35 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Wow. I’m so sorry:( People can be so extreme sometimes. It’s ridiculous.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:43 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Hello! I thought I’d check up and see how you were doing. I hope all is well with you:)
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 12, 3:43 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I agree 100%. It’s so closed minded.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 5:53 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ahhh! I wish! There’s nowhere to surf around here its so lame. I tried in Hawaii once, I was awful. Lol.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 13, 6:04 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Hey girl:) I did!! Hope you did too!
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 15, 10:31 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Lol! I’ll watch the shows with her if she gives me a surfing lesson. That’s a fair trade… sort of. Haha.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 15, 11:15 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Lol!
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 15, 11:19 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Lol. Im so jealous that you live in Cali. Even though you’re around a bunch of conservatives all the time. Haha.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 15, 11:57 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Sunshine surfing and hot boys. Sounds wonderful. Lol.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 15, 11:57 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I wish! Somewhere on the beach would be great. But I think I’m moving to DC after school. Which places are you considering?
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:07 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Oh yeah, NYU would be great. I’ve also heavily considered New York. I want to do political journalism. Have you picked an area of study?
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:14 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I started out doing international relations. It was great! You’ll love either one.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:34 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I did AP Eng in highschool, I was always into English. But I didn’t want to major in Lit because I didn’t know what I’d do with that degree.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:40 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Then I got more and more into politics and journalism seemed like a perfect fit.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:40 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Oh my god! Lol. I love him. There aren’t too many politicians that I LOVE but he’s one of them. For sure.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:45 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I agree!
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:50 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

It will be hard. It’ll be different for you though. I moved across the state for college and it was great. You meet a lot of great people.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:59 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I’m sure you’d have no problem making friends.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 12:59 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I feel the same way. It’ll be a culture shock leaving the westcoast. I love it here.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:05 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

That’s true. But DC is the epicenter of the political world. Then again LA would be so much more exciting and glamorous.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:14 AM.

I can’t vouch for this because I have only half of the conversation, but it looks like Gennette is the one who brings up Weiner:

Lol! That’s funny. Hey did you say one of your friends was [Ethel]?
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:18 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry. That was totally random but I just saw that this politician just started following her today and he follows me. Small world.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:19 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah! It is. I love him. Just ask. Maybe he will, who knows? Haha. I think I’m gonna hit the sack. I have an early class. Lame:(
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:24 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Oh, I just looked. He’s doing this hashtag thing and following people I guess? Idk. I never asked him to follow me.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:25 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Night:)
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 1:28 AM.

Notice that these are being sent on May 16, just after midnight — and Gennette says she noticed Weiner started following Ethel “today” — which would have to be May 15. Now remember Ethel’s public tweets from that time:

Ethel: @RepWeiner you used to follow me don’t forget me!!! #weineryes
13 May

Ethel: SERIOUSLY LOVING LIFE AGAIN BUT I GOTTA KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT OR ELSE……….
15 May

. . . .

Ethel: I love today. I really do.
17 May

Ethel: I’m in love with married men, #thatswhyimsingle
17 May

Interesting, isn’t it?

Here is where things get interesting — when Weiner starts messaging Nikki:

Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 12:18:39 +0000
From: [Twitter postmaster]
Subject: Anthony Weiner is now following you on Twitter!

Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) is now following your tweets (@starchild111) on Twitter.

____________________________________________________________________________________

you’re welcome! have a good day at class.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:03 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

do you follow me? (its only fair)
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:07 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ah. Ok. well that is why I wanted to follow more – to get new followers.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:15 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I’m flattered. Thanks for the follow
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:21 AM.

I’m not sure what prompted the following, but remember that Nikki wanted to take him to prom:

Sounds like fun! I’m a bit old for high school.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:28 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ill think about it. You should focus on your finals.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:38 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

You pretty popular at school?
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:39 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

well lets say you and me change that. See if you can get all your friends to follow me here and on fb.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:47 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

a hs girl that has a crush on me and doesnt follow me or know im on fb. some crush.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 9:51 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

you should start a twitter campaign to get me to go to the prom with you. im trying to get to 50k followers. so ill try anything.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:04 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

if you give me some good reasons and the country rallies around a good young progressive like you, sure.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:08 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

start by urging everyone on your twitter to follow me. and tell the world why you are a progressive and not a republican troll
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:09 AM.

Gennette approves:

Ahhh! He followed you! Lol. Cool. When I said maybe he’d follow you I didn’t think he’d do it overnight. Hope that made your day a little.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:11 AM.

And Weiner is back:

im gonna see if you do what we agreed. you post on twitter yet?
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:12 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

come up with a clever hashtag so people can join in!
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:19 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

we want to spread the word about our progressive ideals and to make fun of all the trolls who may be watching very very closely
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:21 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

i find it very amusing. i love fucking with them.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:26 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

ok, next frontier is your fb page.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:29 AM.

Remember the public tweets I already published from Nikki from this time:

starchild111: Tweeps my progressive idol @RepWeiner is following me! Today is the best day ever!
May 16 from Twitter

starchild111: Today also marks day one of my campaign to get @RepWeiner to be my prom date. Will you be my prom date @RepWeiner?
May 16 from Twitter

starchild111: Everyone please please follow @RepWeiner and tell him to be my prom date!
May 16 from Twitter

starchild111: Tweeps please tweet and follow @RepWeiner and tell him to be my prom date and use#RepWeinerBeNikkisDate
May 16 from Twitter

starchild111: Follow the best progressive Congressman @RepWeiner he is a democrat who fights for us & against Republican trolls! #RepWeinerBeNikkisDate
May 16 from Twitter

And Dan Wolfe and his crew saw and tried to intercede:

patriotusa76: RT starchild111: Please tweet and follow @RepWeiner & tell him to be my prom date>>Poor girl. We should warn her. @goatsred @tamale102280

And then Gennette asks:

OMG. Prom?
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:45 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Lol! I retweeted it. Make sure to tell your ex a congressman is following you on Twitter! Haha.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:50 AM.

____________________________________________________________________________________

🙂
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 10:54 AM.

Back to Weiner (no idea what prompted this):

oh i feel terrible. you did? ok ill go back and look. my bad! forgive me?
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 2:03 PM.

great! im soooo excited.
Direct message sent by Anthony Weiner (@RepWeiner) to you (@starchild111) on May 16, 2:08 PM.

And Ethel follows again:

Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 19:10:42 +0000
From: [Twitter Postmaster]
Subject: [Ethel] is now following you on Twitter!

[Ethel] (@[Ethel]) is now following your tweets (@starchild111) on Twitter.

That’s all I have at this point. We’ll see if I get more.

Meanwhile, here are some of the more interesting screenshots from the e-mails I received:

In light of what we know about him, I find these creepy. If we wrote them.

Anyone want to ask him?

[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.  Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

Big Update: Angry Black Lady tweeted back and…  apologized.  Yes, really.

Which meant that I owed her an apology for thinking she would never say that, and I did tweet back an apology while accepting hers.  I guess you get so used to dealing with unreachable partisans you forget that there are people who can be persuaded.  Which is doubly stupid on my part because, well, haven’t I been telling people never to give up on convincing at least some of the people?

As she wrote back, “see? civility isn’t dead! it’s just mostly dead. :)”  Is it wrong that I thought of that scene in Monty Python?  Well, I guess not, because she was thinking The Princess Bride.

Joking aside that makes some of what I say below inappropriately harsh.  But I generally don’t “memory hole” my mistakes, big or small, so it will stay as is.

Anyway, here’s the original post…

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Sometimes interesting topics seem come in on a common theme.  Today’s theme is, well… stupidity.

For starters, we come to Newt Gingrich.  As some of you know, Gingrich had an interview on Meet the Press last weekend that most people consider to have been a complete disaster for the Republicans and the ex-Speaker’s candidacy.  If you didn’t know this, Greta Van Susteren actually sums up the controversy and how it might have struck a mortal blow to Gingrich’s fledgling presidential run quite well, in the video at this link.  (Indeed this might be why he was heckled hilariously in Iowa.)  And in the process of trying to walk his comments back on Greta’s show, he actually says this whopper:

Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood, because I have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate[.]

Update: And here’s video of Gingrich’s idiotic comment:

That is right, he is trying to say it is unfair of people to take a recording from that day and play it, because you see he didn’t really mean it.  Of course Joe Biden was quoted as saying, “you can do that?”

Seriously imagine what a great rule that would be for politicians.  Obama can pretend he never said he wanted to redistribute wealth to Joe the Plumber; or that he visited 57 states; or that he doesn’t mind high gas prices as long as the rise is gradual; or that he is not allowed to use military force unless 1) we are attacked, or congress authorizes it (by the way, we are past the 60 day mark and no one seems to care).  Kerry could pretend he never said that bit about voting for it before he voted against it, or about needing to pass the “global test” before going to war.  Indeed, come to think of it, I think the majority of the people in the remaining items will change their minds eventually and want to pretend they never said what I am about to make fun of them for saying…

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Brad Friedman doubles down (by this point, it’s like he octuples down or something) on the notion that James O’Keefe never posed as a pimp at ACORN. And he adds a new bonus lie: Hannah Giles (he claims) admitted that the entire concept of O’Keefe as a pimp was grafted onto the videos after the fact.

Friedman’s view is: repeat a lie often enough and it will become the truth.

Do I just stand by and watch, or do I wearily mobilize to fight for the truth once again?

Well, you know me. (Sigh.) So here we go again.

For the sake of those with short attention spans and/or who have read similar posts before, let me first focus on Friedman’s newest lie before I move to the repetition of the old ones. Remember: Friedman’s thesis is that O’Keefe never even pretended to be a pimp at ACORN. He claims this in his title: “No, NYT, O’Keefe Didn’t ‘Pose as a Pimp’ Either.” Watch agog as he claims that Hannah Giles actually conceded this very point to Dave Weigel:

[I]n mid-February of this year, after we’d called out O’Keefe as a liar for misrepresenting himself, Giles admitted to Washington Independent reporter Dave Weigel that the “pimp” concept was added-on with footage that was shot later and edited in. The “gaudy” costume seen in the videos was meant to convey “the whoring out of the American people,” she told him Weigel [sic].

“We never claimed that he went in with a pimp costume,” Giles admitted, “that was b-roll. It was purely b-roll. He was a pimp, I was a prostitute, and we were walking in front of government buildings to show how the government was whoring out the American people.”

In other words, as Giles admitted, and as O’Keefe’s own unauthenticated text-transcripts show, the entire “pimp” concept was added on as an afterthought, and edited in later.

You follow what he is saying, right? Friedman is telling his gullible readers that O’Keefe never even pretended to be a pimp. He was always nothing but the nice boyfriend trying to save Hannah from the pimp. What’s new today is his claim that the entire concept of O’Keefe even being a pimp at all was made up entirely after the fact — and Giles admitted this to Weigel!!!

Of course, as you have already guessed, Giles said no such thing. Instead, she told Weigel that they never claimed O’Keefe was dressed as a pimp:

I asked Giles about a criticism that’s often been leveled against them — that they hyped up the video by wearing outrageous clothes in promotional materials and the videos’ introductions that they didn’t wear in the actual stings.

“We never claimed that he went in with a pimp costume,” said Giles. “That was b-roll. It was purely b-roll. He was a pimp, I was a prostitute, and we were walking in front of government buildings to show how the government was whoring out the American people.”

I suspect Weigel, who is lefty but pretty honest, would be surprised that he is being cited by Friedman for the concept that Giles admitted the entire pimp concept was created and inserted after the fact. I may write him about this, actually.

Now let’s move from the new lie to the old, familar one: that O’Keefe never posed as a pimp at ACORN.

Our friend daleyrocks put it nicely in comments here, and his articulation of Friedman’s dishonest methodology is worth quoting here:

[Friedman] and [Media Matters writer Eric] Boehlert have concocted an absurd and fabulist rewriting of actual events documented by audio and text records which most people, including the NY Times, do not find credible. It relies on cherry picking portions of transcripts and ignoring other portions, convoluted interpretations of commonly understood words and good old fashioned bald-faced lies.

Yeah, that’s about it. Here is how Friedman articulates this tired lie today:

But the Times correction still made the point to include the false notion that, while O’Keefe didn’t dress as a pimp in ACORN offices, he stilled [sic] “represented himself” as one, by “posing” as a pimp.

Well, no, as we’ve shown time and again, he didn’t do that either. He posed as the law school student (or sometimes a banker or politician) boyfriend to Hannah Giles who was dressed similarly to a prostitute. During the secretly-taped interviews, they both told the low-level ACORN and ACORN Housing workers they were trying to save her from an abusive pimp who had attempted to stalk and kill her.

The italicized words are Friedman’s own — designed to fool you into ignoring the fact that O’Keefe was setting up a house of child prostitution, from which he intended to profit.

As usual, Friedman tells you only half the story, and then confidently assures you that the other half never even happened.

Yes, Brad, O’Keefe posed as Giles’s boyfriend, who was trying to save her from an abusive pimp. That is indeed one part of the story.

But O’Keefe also said he also wanted to set up a house for Giles and underage girls to turn tricks in the house and give the proceeds to O’Keefe for his Congressional campaign.

Let’s go through the transcripts one by one — first quoting Friedman’s half-truth, and then rounding it out with the part he is trying to hide. We’ll go city by city, just as he does.

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How can you know something about whether Harriet Miers is the best pick for the Supreme Court? Look at what her friends have to say about her:

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