Patterico's Pontifications

9/22/2017

The Magnitsky Act and the Woman Who Met with Trump Jr.: Part Five of a Six-Part Series

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:00 am



This is Part Five of a six-part series on the death of Sergei Magnitsky, what he uncovered before his death, and how it all relates to Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian woman who met with Trump Jr., Manafort, and Jared Kushner in June 2016. The springboard for the series of posts is this Michael Weiss article about Veselnitskaya and how she is connected to the Magnitsky case.

In Part One, I introduced the series and Weiss’s conclusions.

In Part Two, I began setting forth the background of the aggressive tax fraud scheme that Sergei Magnitsky discovered, as set out in Browder’s book Red Notice.

In Part Three, I discussed what Magnitsky did when he uncovered the scheme — and the terrible price he paid as a result.

In Part Four, I discussed the reaction of the Russian government to the Magnitsky Act, and why they hate it so much.

Today, in Part Five, I discuss the connections between Natalia Veselnitskaya and the thieves behind the tax fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.

LAWYER FOR A COMPANY ACCUSED OF STEALING SOME OF THE PROCEEDS OF THE FRAUD DISCOVERED BY MAGNITSKY

In Part Two of this series I discussed the $230 million that was stolen in a tax refund fraud scheme, as uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. In September 2013, the U.S. Attorney in New York, Preet Bharara, filed a suit alleging that a company based in Cyprus called Prevezon Holdings had received “at least $1,965,444 in proceeds from the $230 million fraud scheme.” Many stories describe this as a money-laundering case, but fail to make clear that the money allegedly laundered was from the same scheme that Magnitsky uncovered with his tax-lawyer detective work. The stolen tax money was then invested in expensive Manhattan apartments, the government alleged.

Guess who the lawyer for Prevezon Holdings was? Natalia Veselnitskaya, the lawyer who met with Trump Jr., Manafort, and Kushner.

The money-laundering case was settled in March 2017 for a $5.9 million dollar penalty, two months after Trump fired Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney who had initially brought the case. Lawyer Veselnitskaya described the settlement as a complete victory for Prevezon Holdings. The Hill:

Ms. Veselnitskaya told one Russian news outlet that the penalty was so light “it seemed almost an apology from the government.”

Some Democrats noted that Prevezon had been represented in an appellate matter by Michael Mukasey, whose son Marc had been a rumored replacement for Bharaha. This further fueled suspicions that the settlement with the SDNY U.S. Attorney was so generous because the Trump administration had ensured that the fix was in, by firing Bharara. However, Browder has said that he approves of the settlement, and it did not require DoJ approval, so any conspiracy theories about Bharara’s firing are likely groundless.

Part of the reason the government settled the case was for the protection of witnesses. In what seems like part of a pattern of unfortunate accidents that happen to people who upset Vladimir Putin, a lawyer for Sergei Magnitsky’s family who was going to testify in the Prevezon case oddly fell from a window before his testimony. Business Insider reported:

The Russian government declined to provide the US government with evidence of Russian money flows that would strengthen the case against Prevezon. Nikolai Gorokhov, a lawyer representing Magnitsky’s family, was able to photograph documents contained in a Russian case file targeting two people involved in the $230 million scheme that traced the money to Russia.

Gorokhov mysteriously fell from a window in Moscow just over a month before he was due to testify in the Prevezon case. But the documents he photographed were admitted into evidence just days before Prevezon agreed to settle.

So we have learned that Natalia Veselnitskaya was not just a lawyer interested in adoption. She was, in fact, the lawyer for folks who allegedly participated in the $230 million tax fraud scheme uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. And, as discussed in Part One, she acquired real estate holdings that far outstripped her ability to pay for them, based on Weiss’s investigation into her finances.

Hmmm.

What else do we know about her?

Tomorrow, in the final part of this series, Part Six, I will discuss Veselnitskaya’s relentless propagandizing against Sergei Magnitsky and Bill Browder, and her lobbying against the Magnitsky Act. By the time you are through reading the series, you will understand that her lobbying concerning “adoptions” goes much deeper than a simple concern for Russian children.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

125 Responses to “The Magnitsky Act and the Woman Who Met with Trump Jr.: Part Five of a Six-Part Series”

  1. It’s hard to believe anyone in Russia has the courage to stand up to this danger and corruption.

    DRJ (15874d)

  2. It’s not a pretty picture. That’s why the kleptocrats are so anxious to get themselves and their loot out. Before bigger wolves eat them. And why the Magnitsky Act is such a thorn to them.

    nk (dbc370)

  3. Money laundering is the whole enchilada.

    My hat is tipped to your attempts at reconciling the new Whigs of rudderless journies.

    Ben burn (515793)

  4. Whoops…journeys.

    Ben burn (515793)

  5. Imagine the revenue Mueller could save if Orange Narcissis would just do what every candidate does….release his tax history.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/21/trumps-business-of-corruption/amp

    Ben burn (515793)

  6. I seem to remember reading a news item at the time about Gorokhov’s death and its odd circumstances, but not the details. I’m guessing they’re in the book, which is next on my Kimble list after I finish re-reading Asimov’s “Foundation” cycle, which won’t take long.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  7. Navalny, who ben Judah doesn’t like, yes those sorts of accidents, are like paya’s collision, wi
    which did nothing to discourage Obama and even general Kelley, and scaramucci

    narciso (d1f714)

  8. it’s not a metaphor:

    http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-knight-navalny-russia-putin-20170922-story.html

    again prevezon put up the money behind the dossier, which is why this grishenko dodge has purchase, manafort had been associated with yanukovich and before that deripasha for 10 years,

    narciso (d1f714)

  9. At this point in her life/career, Veselnitskaya could certainly be an important player representing corrupt Russians, but she could not have been an important player when she was younger and just starting out. Someone sponsored her. Was it the lead prosecutor in her region, or does she have prominent Russians in her family, or something else?

    DRJ (15874d)

  10. My impression from reading the Weiss article and this series is that she got in on the beginning of the tax refund conspiracy, possibly as a member of the local prosecutor’s office, and that led to a bigger role. That may have gotten her attention from higher government authoritiues.

    DRJ (15874d)

  11. She strikes me as a mid-level stooge and errand girl.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. Why do bag man and bag lady have such different meanings?

    nk (dbc370)

  13. she’s farther down the flagpole, col. silchenko is a piece of work, in mexico, he’d run the zetas

    narciso (d1f714)

  14. Speaking of Trump Jr. (which is to say, slightly off-topic):

    Through Week 3, NFL attendance is down compared to last year for 21 of the League’s 31 teams. With the conspicuous exception of J.J. Watt’s Harvey charity work, most of the other news about the League has been bad for months upon months now. The commissioner is a very ineffectual and inadequate joke with a bad haircut. (I’m still rooting for Condi Rice to get his job.)

    Worst of all: Television ratings are down again this year!

    NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” in the first two weeks of the regular season is down 7% in viewership compared to last year; ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” is down 5%; and the averages of Sunday afternoon games on Fox and CBS are down 11% and 19% respectively, according to Nielsen data. Also, CBS hasn’t yet had a 4:25 p.m. national game this season, which usually brings in the biggest viewership of the weekend.

    The NFL, in short, is at an historic nadir, and accordingly, uniquely vulnerable to a competitor.

    Look for Donnie Junior, then, to get Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, and the rest of the band back together. Yes, reality TV and retro are like Oreos and milk. “USFL” still has a few bad connotations and it was a completely Trump-run enterprise by its disastrous demise anyway, so let’s just call it the Trump Football League this time — oh, of course that’s a reference to Donnie Junior. To avoid the NFL’s (and the rest of football’s) concussion problems, the new league will feature speed and maneuverability, minimizing collisions, by playing under flag football rules. However, the “Trump League Flags” will not just be cloth streamers attached to each player’s waist, but instead will be longer, silken panels incorporated into the players’ uniforms, all designed with tear-away stitching like the old tear-away jerseys Earl Campbell went through by the dozens in his Heisman Trophy year at Texas (my dad had one, framed).

    Did I mention that this will be a co-ed league? With casinos? Did I mention that Donnie Jr. will blow off the whole spring/fall confrontation between the USFL and the NFL, and that the TFL will operate year-round, internationally from Day One, with teams from the Russian Federation, Cyprus, four Gulf states, and the Falkland Islands?

    Beldar (fa637a)

  15. If you sign up for the Trump Platinum Package, the term “fantasy football” will take on a whole new meaning. Buh-lieb me!

    Beldar (fa637a)

  16. It will also be the first flag football league in history that replaces the after-touchdown conversion with a scrum, conducted in a pit in either end-zone filled with a sponsor’s lubricant of the week — Crisco this week, Jello the next.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  17. i’m left struck by how joyless and humorless this world of russian oligarchs and kleptocrats seems

    with everyone we meet we sense they live and scheme and suffer under the pall of a quiet but unabating sense of desperation

    theirs is a cold world, shadowed and laughterless

    I’m hoping for more character development in chapter 6

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  18. RT NEWS search..Sergei Magnitsky..
    0 results.

    Ben burn (515793)

  19. Let’s say Trump snaps.

    To fire Mueller, Trump would need to order Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein to remove him. But Rosenstein, a career prosecutor with a strong dedication to the values of the Department of Justice, would likely resign his office rather than comply with the order, as would the department’s third-ranking official, Rachel Brand.

    Eventually Trump, moving down the hierarchy, would find someone willing to fire Mueller (as Nixon found Robert Bork, the then-solicitor general, to fire Archibald Cox).

    From there, Mueller could launch a legal challenge to the ouster (potentially with the support of the Department of Justice). It’s by no means clear that Mueller, an ex-Marine of legendary rectitude, would choose to sue. Assuming he did, though, he would need to overcome a series of constitutional arguments by the president’s lawyers that any restrictions on the president’s ability to terminate him would impinge on presidential power under Article II.

    In any event, any pushback from the courts would likely be procedural and incremental. Only Congress is positioned to pass broad judgment on Trump. But a congressional response — for example, a statute to create an independent counsel — would be tempered by political compromise, and would have to withstand a presidential veto. In particular, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which Congress successfully forced Trump to reinstate Mueller.

    https://www.google.com/amp/www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-litman-mueller-firing-20170921-story,amp.html

    Ben burn (515793)

  20. It’s a good series, Patrick.

    Addresses the intricate ‘now’ of it all– especially for younger readers and fresh suckers in the Trump camp who seem oblivious to Putin’s polished embrace of old-style “Soviet” ops– or simply believe they can beat him at his own game. Doubtful. Crimea proved that. As regional powers go, he has served Russian interests well, post USSR, and their people support him. But he’s more or less flotsam; wreckage set adrift from a sunken superpower. He’s in his early 60s now, as well. Consider who comes after him in 10 or 20 years. That’s the Russia the West should be planning to deal with.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  21. Oddly there was little such scrutiny of the last administration.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/TomFitton/status/911319628437164040?p=v

    narciso (d1f714)

  22. On my still fairly modest list of things that Trump has done that I give him credit for: I’m glad he’s in Alabama campaigning for Luther Strange over Roy Moore. I don’t have any particular brief for Strange, but Roy Moore is a dangerous demagogue and an opponent of the Rule of Law, as well as dumb as a damned tree stump. He would become the GOP’s version of Bernie Sanders, but regularly doing vastly more damage than John McCain could ever dream of doing to the Republican Party or the possibility of a useful agenda being advanced in Congress. I assume that’s why Trump’s doing what he’s doing — that is, someone (probably Kellianne) has patiently explained to Trump that “Big Luther is good for the Trump Brand.”

    Do I also think it’s likely that Trump, hedging his bets, gave Ben Carson a private nudge to make pro-Moore noises at the very same moment Trump’s campaigning for Strange. Oh, yeah, that would of course be depraved and stupid, but exactly the kind of chaos that Trump loves to promote, because he can’t stick to one set of principles for more than six minutes in a row without getting bored or at least distracted and forgetful. But we’ll see.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  23. 24

    Wrong thread…

    Ben burn (515793)

  24. Right that oribably the dhs.

    I knows as a member of the bar, you have to speak of the rule of law, but its been put through a quisinatt the lAst eight years. Other institutions like the church and the family have been battered down like a category 5 storm. The instances of malfeasance, are almost beyond measure, and Mueller and comedy enabled much of it. I give the latter partial credit for acknowledging the ferguson affect, hence today’s reception at Howard.

    narciso (d1f714)

  25. @25- re 24: “This is Radio Moscow. The winters are warm in East Berlin.”

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  26. “he has served Russian interests well, post USSR, and their people support him. But he’s more or less flotsam; wreckage set adrift from a sunken superpower. ”

    Considering the Dystopia, I can’t imagine anyone other than Putin following Gorby and Yeltsin. The West had their way with the latter and Putin was charged with revenge we see even now. Comeuppance.

    Ben burn (515793)

  27. I’m sure that Ben Carson and Roy Moore are on the same page on social issues (that’s code for homosexuality). And besides that, Dr. Carson is as quirky in his own way as Trump, I think.

    nk (dbc370)

  28. The siloviki will not be easily dealt with, I can some as yet junior official taking the round, consider back in 89, putin was a cipher. Back in dresden. For a functional? Take on the process, I’ve re commended Alex drydens red to black series

    narciso (d1f714)

  29. Beldar,, at #24: as an American who believes in liberal democracy in the academic sense, I don’t want Roy Moore anywhere near the levers of power.

    As a gay American, I don’t want Roy Moore anywhere near the levers of power; he is my declared enemy, in a very real sense.

    As a Democrat, I’m amused by the prospect of Moore as a public representative of the Republicans in the Senate; he’ll do more to drive the center into the arms of the left than any single other politician in the country.

    My American-ness and my gayness are more important to me than my Democratness; I think supporting Moore because he would have that result would be contemptible and treacherous, and I will not do it. But I’ll laugh if the Alabama Republicans inflict this terror on themselves.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  30. It’s Scattershot Trump Night in Alabama.

    The Captain is a few strawberries sort of a quart this evening; off his meds.

    Even Kelly balked at being dragged on stage and simply gave him a ‘salutee;’– he did Frankie Howerd proud.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  31. Well what does one do with another round of failure theater. That will injure the body po
    Tic, its not metaphorical its how it was designed to make insurance unaffordable through premium increases and unavailable (diminishing of exchanges)

    narciso (d1f714)

  32. america’s way better off with Mr. Moore as a sleazy and feckless republican senator in the do-nothing sleazy mitch senate than if he had a gavel in his hand that’s for sure

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  33. “Big Luther” and “Little Rocket Man.”

    Both oars in the water tonight, eh Captain?!

    Sleep well, America.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  34. Back in 2009, they sanctioned North korea,so lightly, yet they scrutinized James Rosen as if he was Andy dufresne, at shawshank, obama,was writing mash noted to the ayatollahs, that were rewarded with the broken body of sultan on the streets of Tehran, then there was the about out pre ft. Hood, yes we’ll do fine.

    narciso (d1f714)

  35. Big Loofah must not want it as bad as #2 dead man walking Thad Cochran. Or do Alabama primaries have purple thumbprint failsafes?

    urbanleftbehind (b7e902)

  36. Ah yes,the clear and present danger back in the spring of 2009 was little Honduras because chavez mini me had to find other accomodations, interesting that was one of the instances where Obama showed his glass jaw, the other was the failure of the skydragon bill.

    narciso (d1f714)

  37. I’m a few minutes behind in my viewing of Trump’s meandering, mostly-off-script speech at the Luther Strange rally in Birmingham. I’ve heard Trump say at least four times now that Sen. Strange is too new to have even met Mitch McConnell and that McConnell doesn’t even know who he is. Trump just free-forms this stuff, and Strange has to stand there with teeth gritted and pretend it’s anything remotely on-message.

    And now Trump’s veered off onto the NFL and called Colin Kaepernick — not by name but by clear reference — a “son of a bitch” who should be fired. He’s talking about the NFL owners who are all big friends of Trump.

    So are y’all ready for some Trump Football League (#15)? You heard it here first.

    @ aphrael, my friend with whom I’ve not chatted in some time (#32): Yes, I understand your position of course, and we agree that Moore would be easy to rally against, for excellent reasons. Bernie actually got beyond his life-long grumpy contrarian dyspepsia to become quite personally sympathetic to his Democratic supporters, which turned out not to be at all the same thing as re-mobilizing Obama’s base, as Clinton showed when she racked up her delegate totals in her firewall states. Moore obviously knows how to thump a Bible and there’s a constituency for that too, but he’s a charmless lizard even compared to Sanders. I’ve quoted it here before, and you may have seen it then, but it’s worth re-quoting. From now-Eleventh Circuit Judge (then Alabama Attorney General) Bill Pryor’s closing argument before the special commission (oddly called a “court” in Alabama) that hears judicial ethics complaints, and which has twice now found Moore too unethical to be permitted to sit as a judge, despite Moore’s continuing success with Alabama voters:

    The stakes here are high, because this case raises a fundamental question. What does it mean to have a government of laws and not of men? ….
    ….
    Every one of these citizens, and thousands more who come before the courts, must know that the final orders of the courts will decide their disputes, even if that citizen disagrees with that order. Someone has to lose, and virtually always, the losing litigant thinks he was right and the court was wrong. This court must provide the answer that no citizen, whether rich or poor, powerful or weak, is above the law.

    As I mentioned a moment ago, the judicial branch of our government, both our federal government and our state government, as human institutions, are imperfect. They sometimes make mistakes. Even terrible ones. We correct some of those mistakes on appeal. Sometimes the appeals court, even the Supreme Court gets it wrong, too. Fortunately, our Constitution gives us remedies.

    I stand by my remarks from 1997 that we’re called by God to do what is right. But we’re called to exercise our constitutional rights in fulfilling his will.

    We can elect lawmakers, legislatures, to change the law. We can elect presidents to appoint judges faithful to the law. We, the people, can even amend the Constitution itself. That is what our nation did when it abolished slavery with the 13th Amendment, which overruled the abominable decision of the Supreme Court in Dred Scott versus Sanford. But the refusal of a party to comply with a court order, whether the court order is right or wrong, is not a remedy provided by the Constitution.

    Because Chief Justice Roy Moore, despite his special responsibility as the highest judicial officer of our state, placed himself above the law, by refusing to abide by a final injunction entered against him, and by urging the public through the news media to support him, and because he is totally unrepentant, this court regrettably must remove Roy Moore from the office of Chief Justice of Alabama. The rule of law upon which our freedom depends, whether a judge, a police officer, or a citizen, demands no less.

    Judge Pryor was one of two names, along with Judge Dianne Sykes of the Seventh Circuit, whom Trump mentioned by name in the GOP primaries as an example of the kind of judge he’d appoint to the SCOTUS, and re-appeared on the List of 21 that Cruz got Trump to commit to. So if Moore wins the runoff and, likely, the general election for the Alabama seat in the Senate vacated by Sessions, and if Trump were to appoint Pryor to the next opening, then Moore would be among those voting on Pryor’s nomination. I think this might be the sort of matter/anti-matter collision that would run a risk of annihilating our universe, but I’m not much of a physicist, just a believe in the Rule of Law.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  38. How would you feel about the Senate (hypothetically) refusing to seat him under Article I Section 5?

    [I think that would stretch the meaning of the section beyond all recognition, so I would oppose it, but it’s a possible way out.]

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  39. NFL viewership will plummet in November. Protesting the police, crapping on the National Anthem, spoiled players raising their clenched fists after making a sack will decimate a billion dollar business. With half full stadiums across the league and tickets going for the price of a couple of pretzels I am lmao at these overpaid spoiled brat millionaires. The sad thing is thousands of people will be losing their jobs because of these punks.

    mg (31009b)

  40. Name me the last public official, censured or prosecuted for not enforcing current statutes immigration or otherwise, I put it to you the demolition of that monument was precursor to what we have seen in a dozen places in the last few monthes. Its like the claptrap over the Mueller appointment, when it was gross ethical if not criminal breach to further an agenda that actually damages the security of the nation, by sabotaging the legitimate aims secured last November.

    narciso (d1f714)

  41. “[Trump, on-‘prompter:] In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God. Alright? We cherish our magnificent Constitution, and we believe judges must interpret the Constitution, and that includes defending, as I just said, our great Second Amendment. We support the Rule of Law, and we stand strong with the incredible men and women of law enforcement. We protect our citizens, uphold our traditions, and we will always defend our borders. These are Alabama values! [Off-‘prompter:] I understand the people of Alabama. I feel like I’m from Alabama, frankly. Isn’t it a little weird when a guy who lives on Fifth Avenue, in the most beautiful apartment you’ve ever seen, comes to Alabama and Alabama loves that guy?”

    Yes, weird is one word for it. He’s not from Alabama, and Trump couldn’t find the Rule of Law with both hands, a flashlight, a roadmap, Nicholas Cage, and the Archivist of the Library of Congress. You can talk about flawed vessels for important messages. Trump is just a crock.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  42. This further fueled suspicions that the settlement with the SDNY U.S. Attorney was so generous because the Trump administration had ensured that the fix was in, by firing Bharara.

    There were a lot of reasons to fire Preet Bharara, some of which were covered here and at Popehat.

    People entrusted with that kind of power need to respect our rights.

    Frederick (626da3)

  43. I suspect Trump’s definition of Rule of Law is not the same as yours and mine (and Patterico’s and happyfeet’s and narciso’s and, etc etc) and involves a considerable dose of “respect the police because they have a badge”.

    kishnevi (ceb37f)

  44. @ aphrael (#41): No, he’d be seated. How long he’d stay there is an open question, but he’s less likely to be doing anything as consequential on his own as a Senator to be in open defiance of a final unappealable injunction of the federal courts. We haven’t had a senator expelled since William Bount of Tennessee in 1797, the precedent from which is muddy at best.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  45. In my for bailiwock we had a state atty as full of feck as bhaara, the U.S. atty for a time is our labor secretary who has been as quiet as a church mouse.

    narciso (d1f714)

  46. Very cool read about Blount.
    gonna read it again

    mg (31009b)

  47. That sounds like Ted Kennedy or John kerry,

    narciso (d1f714)

  48. Who cares? The US has interfered in plenty of elections, so the Russians have every right to do the same. And if they did interfere and kept the abortion loving rapist wife out of the White House, then so much the better.

    Eric (1664dc)

  49. Sure, but how do you think Trump is going to pay them back for providing him with a steady supply of dominatrixes trained by the KGB?

    nk (dbc370)

  50. The latgrst interference I’ve seen re the election was the dossier, that came from the same prevezon parties to akhmetchin to fusion gaps to steele.

    narciso (d1f714)

  51. Eric did not read the posts.

    nk (dbc370)

  52. quite a visual, nk

    mg (31009b)

  53. Just teasing the drive-by, mg.

    nk (dbc370)

  54. Have you seen the Bond movie, “From Russia With Love”? This was the lady KGB agent.

    nk (dbc370)

  55. Stop ruckrilling us, and show Diana bianchi

    narciso (d1f714)

  56. You know what I meant? Jen Lawrence will be dung a very pale imitation next year in red spartow

    narciso (d1f714)

  57. That was not a rickroll, BTW, it was a Yakov Smirnov joke: “In Russia, we have a saying. Women are like buses. (Pause) That’s it.”

    nk (dbc370)

  58. On my still fairly modest list of things that Trump has done that I give him credit for: I’m glad he’s in Alabama campaigning for Luther Strange over Roy Moore. I don’t have any particular brief for Strange, but Roy Moore is a dangerous demagogue and an opponent of the Rule of Law, as well as dumb as a damned tree stump. He would become the GOP’s version of Bernie Sanders, but regularly doing vastly more damage than John McCain could ever dream of doing to the Republican Party or the possibility of a useful agenda being advanced in Congress. I assume that’s why Trump’s doing what he’s doing — that is, someone (probably Kellianne) has patiently explained to Trump that “Big Luther is good for the Trump Brand.”

    Yeah, about that:

    But even Trump seemed unsure that the endorsement was the right move.

    “I’ll be honest, I might have made a mistake,” Trump told the crowd at one point during his more than 30 minutes of remarks.

    “If Luther doesn’t win they’re not going to say, we picked up 25 points in a short period of time,” he added, referring to the media. “If his opponent wins, I’m going to be here campaigning like hell for him.”

    Gotta be careful giving Trump credit for stuff! He just might do a 180 five minutes later.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  59. Moore is a disaster. But he’s the popular one.

    Funny how that works.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  60. @29. He’s of the Oneoff Dynasty.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  61. Well primakov might have made , followed promptly by luzhkov or some other caretaker, the former was 71, at the time of his race and putin was only 47.

    narciso (d1f714)

  62. @61. By far, best Bond; best Bond girl.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. Hollyweird is already taking a dive with no talent films and activism.
    Americans putting a end to the NFL will hit the T.V. peeps twice as hard.
    Killing their golden egg will decimate the T.V. business
    I hope college players mimic the NFL players and soon start protesting. This should help bring colleges to the point of no money and less liberalism.

    mg (31009b)

  64. The stoipry behind the latest kerfluffle

    https://mobile.twitter.com/drawandstrike/status/910962155587084288

    narciso (d1f714)

  65. An excellent vintage of ‘whine’.

    “I can’t imagine why Speaker Ryan wouldn’t want to get to the bottom of the apparent misuse of the FBI by Barack Obama and his corrupt Department of Justice. But this is what I really don’t understand: the FBI is part of DOJ, which is run–in theory, at least–by the Attorney General. Why doesn’t Attorney General Jeff Sessions simply order the FBI to comply with the House Intelligence Committee’s subpoena, promptly?

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/09/the-fbi-still-stonewalling.php

    Ben burn (96ff85)

  66. The bureau and. Fso, have similar mo of late, acquit the guilty, convict the innocent

    narciso (d1f714)

  67. the national league of brain-damaged pansies for social justice has a butt-hurt what’s aggravated by a surfeit of irony

    “The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture,” Goodell said in a statement.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  68. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-steve-bannon-splits-from-trump-hilarity-ensues-w504732

    Breitbart is hammering Trump’s candidate Strange on a number of fronts, including his involvement in a bent shopping mall development deal involving Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and his investment in a company that doles out visas under the controversial EB-5 program.

    More than anything else, though, Breitbart is ripping Strange for being a tool of the Republican establishment. According to various reports, the Senate Leadership Fund, Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC, has poured as much as $9 million into the Strange campaign.

    Ben burn (96ff85)

  69. Lither is your typical chamber of commerce drone, Bentley chose him before his kerfluffle

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/09/the-week-in-pictures-bitter-end-edition.php

    narciso (d1f714)

  70. The NFL is for people who don’t know what to do with their time and money.

    On the other hand, our high school won its Homecoming Game against a good team 20-9 last night, making 4-0 in the standings. Great defense and great sportsmanship by both teams, and a fun time had by all.

    nk (dbc370)

  71. Even goodell doesn’t deserve to be fake newsed

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKalUO2VAAAGOC8.jpg

    Friends debt get friends take politico seriously

    narciso (d1f714)

  72. Well, actually, the NFL creates divisiveness, pitting fans against fans. Not in Chicago, because we don’t have a professional football team, but in other places like Green Bay, and Indianapolis, and Philadelphia, and New England, and Houston ….

    nk (dbc370)

  73. Yes but nit this foolishness

    https://mobile.twitter.com/alimhaider/status/911421656681402368/photo/1

    So sadden who has greh0g Craig and fits as partners were working with manafirt.

    narciso (d1f714)

  74. plus the NFL encourages domestic violence all up in it to where people beat their womens after watching

    this is considered wrong in many cultures

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  75. Is they say, now the latest thing is cte what of the players that didn’t become ax murderer,

    If were going on this pseudo mccarthyite jag, lets flush out all the parties that took the ruble, do they reallnwant to do that.

    narciso (d1f714)

  76. More TDS. The Betsy DeVos post was a welcome change.

    Mike K (b3dd19)

  77. the only person we know for sure colluded with the Russians to spread disinformation is deranged torture victim war hero pig John McCain

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  78. Ukraine wanted to join the EU, but the asking price too high, by contrast the UK wants out, but may eats to sacrifice the legacy of the UK independence.

    narciso (d1f714)

  79. Is there a Trump Rearrangement Syndrome? That would be futile.

    Ben burn (96ff85)

  80. President Trump on Saturday said the “invitation is withdrawn” for Stephen Curry to visit the White House because the NBA All-Star “is hesitating.”

    “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” he tweeted. “Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!”

    Tenacious Toddler wants his blankie…

    Ben burn (96ff85)

  81. Up yours, Mike K. Yeah, I know you don’t like being addressed rudely. That’s why I’m doing it. Did you even read the f***ing post?

    nk (dbc370)

  82. clown roger has himself a culture war

    mg (31009b)

  83. I likedcit when the mob had a handle on the game, frank rosrbthal and all that.

    narciso (d1f714)

  84. Vintage Vegas

    mg (31009b)

  85. Take whoever hacked the sec, a super magnitsky type heist, which we are just learning about now, add it to the equifax breach

    narciso (d1f714)

  86. the only person we know for sure colluded with the Russians to spread disinformation is deranged torture victim war hero pig John McCain

    This typically inane comment reminded me: Part Six of the series is up at RedState.

    I was going to say more, but I’ll save it for when Part Six publishes here.

    If someone had the capacity to be embarrassed, they would be mortified. But being a mindless Trump drone means never having to acknowledge that you spread bullshit on his behalf.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  87. i stand behind every word cause it’s true like blue

    John McCain needs to be investigated for his involvement in this scheme and if we find out he new the corrupt FBI was going to use his disinformation as a pretext to spy on Obama’s domestic political enemies he needs to be sent back to his cage for the rest of his life

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  88. oops I meant if we find out he *knew* the fbi was going to use his disinformation

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  89. i looked it up guess who would’ve won if President Trump lost

    As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton opposed passage of the Magnitsky Act – a position coinciding with Bill Clinton being paid $500,000 for a Moscow speech on June 29, 2010. While the Magnitsky bill was being formulated, her State Department was asked by lawmakers to deny visas to the Russian officials who were implicated in the Magnitsky matter. Clinton’s State Department denied the request.

    The Russian officials who paid for Bill Clinton’s Moscow speech would have been barred from entering the U.S. if Clinton’s State Department had not denied the request.

    that’s right Hillary Clinton

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  90. More TDS. The Betsy DeVos post was a welcome change.

    I too enjoyed the Betsy DeVos post.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  91. What you’re telling me prevezon as nit the source for steeles that they used akmetchins ring of supplied informants

    narciso (d1f714)

  92. Fake News happyfeet (explanation for moniker forthcoming soon):

    Quite so. Indeed, Browder tells the story in his book of how John Kerry put up silly roadblocks to the passage of the Magnitsky Act. Reading about his obstructionism was infuriating. (I assume you would praise that obstructionism, since you have denigrated the Magnitsky Act here, and you’re nothing if not intellectually honest, right? lol) Why did he try to block this popular bill? Why, it was because the State Department opposed it, and he was positioning himself to be Secretary of State.

    Trump, by contrast, has said he supports the law. Anything Trump says is meaningless, of course, since he reverses himself on every issue constantly. But at least he hasn’t opposed it, and Hillary Clinton has. So, good for him.

    Of course I guess you would criticize Trump for this because you have denigrated the Magnitsky Act here. Trump’s wrong on that, right, Fake News happyfeet?

    Patterico (115b1f)

  93. Because John Kerry is like the aforementioned sen Blount, enemy to all free thinking peoples, from the montagnards to the kurdds, renaissance capital, HSBC all were part of a heist that would have made Danny oceans. Mouth water about 800 million, but no one is going after them, how many lawfirms handled prevezon cash, it would be easier to point out who didnt it.

    narciso (d1f714)

  94. Its a relatively harmless talisman, sanctions law I’ve concluded is really an employment program for lawyerS, I think that realization came saddam palace construction fund, ahem oil for food, because a hermetical sanction is an act of war, how many banks law forms real estate companies depend on the Russian skim.

    narciso (d1f714)

  95. I hate to mention this Mr President, but you’re the son of a b*tch as well.

    Ben burn (96ff85)

  96. Mr. Patterico i think giving these expanded powers to a corrupt federal government tainted by a rogue and lawless intelligence community is unwise, especially given how easily this act could be used in a punitive manner against American citizens (similar to how the Obama Administration used the corrupt FBI and CIA to illegally spy on domestic political enemies.)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  97. So Trump was wrong and Hillary and John Kerry were right, Fake News happyfeet?

    Patterico (115b1f)

  98. To paraphrase an apocryphal Arab saying: Employ punitive measures against a Russian kleptocrat twice a day. If you don’t know why, he does.

    nk (dbc370)

  99. Hillary was just preserving the gravy train for the Clinton Global Criminal Cartel, so yes whe was wrong.

    I honestly never paid attention to Kerry he’s kind of a ponce I’d have to look more into what his role was.

    President Trump’s campaign was right to tell Natalia to eff off back to the cabbage patch, and he was right to want to expand the powers of the presidency being that he was gonna be president and that’s sort of how successful presidents think, but he was wrong in thinking that this Magnitsky Act isn’t a dangerous advance of the trend towards expanding the federal government’s access to non-judicial punitive actions, and if I see him I’m a tell him so.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  100. I am very disappointed in Mike K. In my lifetime of dealing with doctors, some are simply unable to change their opinions no matter what the facts are. I had hoped he wasn’t one of those doctors.

    DRJ (15874d)

  101. Hillary was just preserving the gravy train for the Clinton Global Criminal Cartel, so yes [s]he was wrong.

    So she should have supported the dangerous Magnitsky Act?

    Patterico (115b1f)

  102. But you see she was in a policy making post, like when she allowed Nigeria to be looted by her bffs TurIn and chagiury, which made it prime hunting ground for boko haram, which occasioned that ridiculous #bring back our girls.

    narciso (d1f714)

  103. I am very disappointed in Mike K. In my lifetime of dealing with doctors, some are simply unable to change their opinions no matter what the facts are. I had hoped he wasn’t one of those doctors.

    Not only that, but this post and the others aren’t about Trump anyway, really. They’re not about the Trump end of the meeting, but the Russian end — to demonstrate that it was high-level stuff important to the Kremlin that was being discussed. Whether Trump Jr. or Kushner knew that, I don’t know. I suspect Manafort did. His connections to Cyprian banks remind me of Veselnitskaya’s, Karpov’s, Kuznetsov’s, and Russian oligarchs’ connections.

    Indeed, I actually defend Trump in this post, saying “any conspiracy theories about Bharara’s firing are likely groundless.” I won’t get any credit from Trump drones for that (they’re not big readers anyway) and I’m not looking for it — but it’s worth pointing out, as a matter of actual fact, for those who care about such quaint things.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  104. I suspect Hillary at the time had her own presidential ambitions Mr. Patterico, and yes I’m surprised she wouldn’t have wanted these Magnitsky powers for herself

    this is one measure of how valuable the pay-off must have been for her opposition

    it also aligns Hillary with those what sought to punish President Trump after his campaign spurned the anti-Magnitsy Act effort

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  105. anti-*Magnitsky* Act effort i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  106. Probably, most people in Russia, bank through Cyprus, which had a bustup in 2013, if memory serves, but consider all the coubterparties that received prevezon cash and they are barely touched that wpyld include fusion gps which is partnership with derwick partbers

    narciso (d1f714)

  107. So we have learned that Natalia Veselnitskaya was not just a lawyer interested in adoption. She was, in fact, the lawyer for folks who allegedly participated in the $230 million tax fraud scheme uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.

    It is almost a given that if she was lobbying about adoptions, she had to be involved with the people targeted by the Magnitsky Act or with the Russian government, but I repeat myself.

    Sammy Finkelman (ff268d)

  108. 6. Beldar (fa637a) — 9/22/2017 @ 9:35 am

    after I finish re-reading Asimov’s “Foundation” cycle, which won’t take long.

    I think hat series goes off track with the “Mule”, which is actually rather early in it.

    The ideas Isaac Asimov had later were not at all in his mind in the beginning.

    Sammy Finkelman (ff268d)

  109. @Sammy:I think hat series goes off track with the “Mule”, which is actually rather early in it.

    I would say late, since I don’t consider the books written in the 80s to be canon. He won the Hugo and Nebula for the original trilogy…

    Frederick (a81afc)

  110. 24. Beldar (fa637a) — 9/22/2017 @ 5:13 pm

    I assume that’s why Trump’s doing what he’s doing — that is, someone (probably Kellianne) has patiently explained to Trump that “Big Luther is good for the Trump Brand.” It could be even Mitch McConnell who could have gotten Trump to back Strange (whom he gets along with anyway) How? By arguing that it will be much harder to pass legislation with Moore in there, (and that even be part of the reason the health care bill is back, and tentatively scheduled for a vote the day after the primary) or that some Republican Senators might be scared away from compromises with Democrats after a Moore victory, and Trump knows he needs to deal with Democrats.

    Trump wants McConnell to go along with him and that itself might be enough.

    Do I also think it’s likely that Trump, hedging his bets, gave Ben Carson a private nudge to make pro-Moore noises at the very same moment Trump’s campaigning for Strange. Oh, yeah, that would of course be depraved and stupid, but exactly the kind of chaos that Trump loves to promote, because he can’t stick to one set of principles for more than six minutes in a row without getting bored or at least distracted and forgetful. But we’ll see.

    The go-shead for Ben Carson probably preceded his decision to campaign for Luther Strange, and proably also came from an underrling.

    Sammy Finkelman (ff268d)

  111. 113. Patterico (115b1f) — 9/23/2017 @ 9:37 am

    this post and the others aren’t about Trump anyway, really. They’re not about the Trump end of the meeting, but the Russian end — to demonstrate that it was high-level stuff important to the Kremlin that was being discussed. Whether Trump Jr. or Kushner knew that, I don’t know.

    Actually, that might not have bene the purpose of the meeting – it might really have been to plant some very strong anti-Hillary disinformation with Donald Trump Jr., while at the same time cautioning him not to use it, but when they heard that both Manafort and Kushner were going to be there, they asked for a postponement, and then decided to go ahead basically with the anti-Magnitsky Act propaganda. Donald Trump Jr. had no idea they were going to talk about adoptions.

    I don’t think Donald Trump Sr got the point, either (apparently the idea was first to talk about adoptions, gain their sympathy, and on;y then bring in the Magnitsky Act, because at the time thsi first came out Donald trump noted that Putin had spoken to him privately at the G-20 summit I think it was, he had also spoken about adoptions.)

    I think in both cases the Russians never really got to the point.

    We don’t know hhat, but I spspect that. That is, I suspect that in both cases, the Russians didn’t get around to dropping the other shoe.

    I suspect Manafort did. His connections to Cyprian banks remind me of Veselnitskaya’s, Karpov’s, Kuznetsov’s, and Russian oligarchs’ connections.

    Manafort might have known about this matter, but wouldn’t have bit at any anti-Hillary disinforation. (the Russians didn’t have all that much real information)

    Sammy Finkelman (ff268d)

  112. Remember the foundation is an Rome elite analog, in part, in scientistic garb, so imiv WA trying to grapple with whAT caused Rome to fall, seen that way the mole is attila.

    narciso (d1f714)

  113. Rome fell because it was no longer important, the capital having been moved east to Greece. Well, a split, but one part witheed away and was lost. It was also an unhealthy place.

    Italy was reconquered again by Justinian, but was lost again later, partly because it wasn’t really defended,

    The Roman Empire actually lasted just about exactly 1,500 years (if you include period during it was confined to the northen shore of the Black Sea) but it isn’t called the Roman Empire by modern historians. Gibbon really has it wrong with it falling in the year 476 or so.

    It was still called the Roman – not the Roman Empire – it was called the Roman Republic – in the time of the wars with Persia and the time of Mohammed.

    Sammy Finkelman (ff268d)

  114. 81. nk (dbc370) — 9/23/2017 @ 7:51 am

    Well, actually, the NFL creates divisiveness, pitting fans against fans. Not in Chicago, because we don’t have a professional football team..…

    What happened to the Chicago Bears?

    Sammy Finkelman (ff268d)

  115. Interesting there was a film about the pivotal battle between the roman majentius and constantine how thAT decided the dominance of the byzantine and the furtherance if christianity

    narciso (d1f714)


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