You know who I love? Congressional Democrats.
Really, some of them are too far left for me. Some are too far right. Some talk too much. Some don’t talk enough.
But I still love them. Each and every imperfect one of them.
Since we took the House, week after week, I find story after story about AMAZING things they are doing with their power. I just could not be happier with them.
And you know who else I love? YOU! I love you for all the donating of time and money you did so we could win the election. I love you for the postcards you sent and the letters you wrote and the calls you made and the people you encouraged to vote.
So pat yourself on the back! Pour yourself a delicious beverage! Treat yourself to a great book or a night on the town or BOTH. You are awesome! You are saving democracy! Way to go, YOU! Keep it up!!!!
And hey, this is going so well, let’s do it again in 2020! We’ll add the Senate and WH to our To-Do lists as well!!!!
Now on to the good news:
Mueller is Still Coming
Big news came out last night about an interview with Erik Prince.
You know Prince — giant Trump supporter, financial contributor, and colossal a-hole. Brother to the stupidest member of trump’s cabinet (and I say this know that Rick Perry is still there). Blackwater A-hole.
Also likely a target in Mueller’s investigation.
There was already a lot of reason to believe that he lied about a DIFFERENT meeting to congress. Check out this old article: Erik Prince may have lied to Congress about his Seychelles meeting:
A shady meeting in Seychelles between a Trump associate and a Russian businessman is emerging as a focus in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — and raising questions about whether one participant lied to Congress about it.
Erik Prince, a Trump booster who is the founder of the private security firm Blackwater, met with Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian wealth fund manager with ties to President Vladimir Putin, on January 11, 2017, in Seychelles, an island chain off the coast of East Africa. When the encounter was first reported last April, sources claimed the meeting’s purpose was to establish a back channel between the Trump team and Russian officials.
Prince denied that allegation, and in November, he testified under oath to Congress that he traveled to Seychelles to pursue a business opportunity “with potential customers” from the United Arab Emirates, who had suggested afterward that he meet with Dmitriev. He described it as an impromptu and short sit-down at the hotel bar and insisted he did not travel there on behalf of the Trump team.
But Prince’s story is now beginning to crumble. Reporting by the Washington Post and the New York Times indicates that Mueller now has new evidence and a cooperating witness who is allegedly testifying the Seychelles meeting was preplanned to set up communications between the Trump team and Moscow.
Well, now it turns out that he lied about ANOTHER meeting to congress as well. Check out this amazing video:
I love the crowd reactions. And his face when he realizes the mess he is in.
Also, does he think it is GOOD that he hasn’t talked to Mueller in 9 months? You are either informing Mueller’s investigation or a target of it buddy. Sounds like you are in camp number 2
What does Congress think of this?
Had you forgotten about Prince until this? I would understand that as there is just so much to this insane scandal. But Mueller has a lot of people helping him and has lots of info we don’t have. The truth will come out about these dealings.
Check out this summary of these scandals from Axios which doesn’t even cover all of it:
The biggest political scandal in American history
The "biggest" realization might strike Trump supporters as overblown or plain wrong. But consider what we already know about actions of Trump and his associates:
Scandal 1: Trump secretly paid hush money to two mistresses on the eve of his presidential victory, and lied about it. His longtime personal lawyer is going to prison after carrying out the scheme on his behalf.
- The historical parallel: Bill Clinton was impeached (but acquitted by the Senate) for lying under oath about an affair with a White House intern.
- Clinton impeachment Article 3, passed by the House, was obstruction of justice.
- Earlier presidents, or their friends, had also been known to pay off mistresses.
Scandal 2: During the presidential campaign, Trump confidantes continued negotiating for a tower in Moscow, potentially one of Trump's most lucrative deals ever. He hid this from the public and lied about it. His lawyer is going to prison for making false statements to Congress about the deal.
- The historical parallel: None.
Scandal 3: Russian officials had more than 100 contacts with Trump associates during the campaign and transition, including his son, his closest adviser, his lawyer, and his campaign manager. The Russians offered assistance in undermining Hillary Clinton. The FBI and other government authorities weren't alerted about this effort to subvert our election.
- The historical parallel: None.
Scandal 4: Michael Flynn was national security adviser at the same time U.S. intelligence officials believed he was compromised by the Kremlin. He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts.
- The historical parallel: None.
Scandal 5: Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, and told NBC's Lester Holt it was at least in part because of the Russia investigation: "[T]his Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story."
- The historical parallel: In the "Saturday Night Massacre" of 1973, Nixon tried to stop the Watergate investigation by abolishing the office of Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox; and accepting the resignation of Attorney General Elliot Richardson, and firing Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, when they refused to fire Cox.
Scandal 6: Trump overruled the advice of his lawyers and intelligence experts, and granted his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a top-secret clearance. This so alarmed his White House chief of staff John Kelly that he recorded his opposition in a memo. Trump and his family repeatedly denied he had interfered.
- The historical parallel: None.
The big picture: Presidential historian Jon Meacham tells us that this "transcends scandal — it’s a national crisis in the sense of a period of elevated stakes, high passions, and possibly permanent consequences."
- "We’re in the midst of making history more than we are reflecting it."
And Trump is certainly NOT acting like an innocent person in all this:
But will justice prevail? Yes, my dear friend. It will. Mueller has been quiet but that just means he has a LOT of work that he is doing (and passing on to other law enforcement branches):
MUELLER HAS MORE DISCOVERY ON ROGER STONE ALONE THAN THE ENTIRE TRUMP CAMPAIGN TURNED OVER
According to Stone’s lawyers, there are already 2.23 million pages of documents in discovery ready to go, with terabytes more still being prepared for review.
You know who is turning into exactly the kind of thorn in Trump’s side that we knew he would be? Michael Cohen. Check this out:
WHICH CAME FIRST: THE INDEMNITY FAIL OR COHEN’S COOPERATION CURIOSITY?
Michael Cohen is suing Trump Organization for refusing to fulfill an indemnity agreement they had. By itself, the suit offers the promise that these shitholes will rip each other apart in court. Discovery could be awesome, especially since the suit names Eric and Don Jr.
I’m acutely interested in the timeline the lawsuit draws out for what it says about Trump’s efforts to cover-up his own criminal actions, laid out below. As you can see, Trump’s spawn were happy to pay Cohen’s legal bills so long as he continued to tell the agreed upon lies.
Oh, and this → Cohen Gives House Panel Docs Showing Alleged Edits to His False Statement to Congress
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney and longtime “fixer,” on Wednesday gave the House Intelligence Committee documents showing alleged edits to the false written statement he delivered to Congress in 2017, The Daily Beast confirmed.
and this little piece of oh so honest behavior → Lawyers claiming ties to Rudy Giuliani approached Michael Cohen after FBI raids; investigators looking at contacts
In the weeks following the federal raids on former Michael Cohen's law office and residences last April, President Donald Trump's former lawyer and confidant was contacted by two New York attorneys who claimed to be in close contact with Rudy Giuliani, the current personal attorney to Trump, according to sources with direct knowledge of the discussions.
The outreach came just as Cohen, who spent more than a decade advocating for Trump, was wrangling with the most consequential decision of his life; whether to remain in a joint defense agreement with the president and others, or to flip on the man to whom he had pledged immutable loyalty. The sources described the lawyers' contact with Cohen as an effort to keep him in the tent.
So even though it has been quiet, don’t worry. Justice is coming. Even for Manafort:
Manafort Got Off Easy for Now but Mueller’s Not Done Yet
for anyone reading between the lines in the Russia investigation, Mueller’s still got plenty to work with.
Manafort cannot rest easy just yet. Next week, he will face sentencing from Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the District of Columbia, where Manafort pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts encompassing violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, money laundering, tax fraud, and obstruction of justice.
Mueller may still find evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and Manafort or other Trump campaign officials to attack the 2016 presidential election. After the sentencing, Manafort’s lawyer said that the case exposed no evidence of “collusion with any government official from Russia.” The specificity of that statement begs several questions—was there collusion with Russians who were not government officials? Was there collusion with government officials from other countries? Is “collusion” the word of choice because collusion in this context is not a crime? The fact that Manafort’s case is over does not mean that Mueller is done investigating all of his activities or the activities of others relating to Russia. In fact, the redactions from Mueller’s recent court filings in the Manafort case, as well as redactions in filings in the case against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, indicate that Mueller’s investigation regarding Russia is ongoing.
Manafort’s cooperation and even his sentencing did not go as Mueller likely had hoped, but Manafort’s willingness to forgo Mueller’s recommendation for a reduction in sentence suggests there is more that he’s hiding. And if it can be found, there should be no doubt that Mueller will find it.
And really, don’t be too sad about the outrageously small sentence Manafort got:
Even Bad News Has A Silver Lining
Rich White guys getting lenient sentences from other rich white guys is a story as old as rich white guys (old).
The good news about this is that it is pushing a discussion that we NEED to have
Manafort’s ‘mind-boggling’ 47-month sentence prompts debate over judicial system’s ‘blatant inequities’
Paul Manafort’s lenient 4-year sentence — far below the recommended 20 years despite extensive felonies and post-conviction obstruction — is a reminder of the blatant inequities in our justice system that we all know about, because they reoccur every week in courts across America,” said Ari Melber, a legal analyst for NBC News, in a Thursday-night tweet.
The sentencing inspired a flood of lawyers to dig through news clips and their own recent cases. What they found was dozens of examples of defendants who, in their view, were nowhere near as fortunate as Manafort.
and most of the good news continues to come as a result of our super hard work getting the House in 2018. Here are just SOME of the great things our party has been up to:
18 Reasons Democrats Were Awesome This Week
1.
2. DHS Secretary Nielsen’s first public hearing before the new Congress was a disaster (for her and her awful policies)
Elections have consequences.
Tasked with defending the indefensible, Nielsen is in an impossible position. But if Wednesday is any indication, with Democrats now in control of the House and eager to conduct oversight, she’s in for more grueling hearings over the next couple years.
There are indications that Nielsen knew she would be in for a tough time on Wednesday. CBS reported that committee Chair Thompson had threatened to subpoena Nielsen to compel her to testify before she agreed to appear voluntarily. Democrats, of course, didn’t have that power prior to flipping 40 seats and taking control of the House following November’s elections.
3.
This legislation is the Democratic answer to Trump’s corruption and plutocracy
The bill that Democrats voted on today would drain that swamp. It would require major presidential candidates to release 10 years of tax returns and require that presidents and vice presidents divest to avoid financial conflicts of interest. It would bolster transparency on campaign spending and fortify ethics rules constraining lobbyists in all kinds of ways. It would thwart voter suppression and extreme gerrymanders while making participation easier. Political scientist Lee Drutman has described the bill as “the most transformative pro-democracy package in decades.”
The GOP Senate will, of course, refuse any vote on the bill. But in so doing, as Jacob Levy says, Republicans will demonstrate that they don’t believe their ideas can triumph without “election-rigging.” And they will leave behind Democrats as the sole party of real reform.
4.
5. Democrats have united around a plan to dramatically cut child poverty
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Wednesday unveiled the latest version of their American Family Act — in my view, likely to be the single most important bill of the 116th Congress for the country’s poorest residents.
The bill, whose House counterpart is sponsored by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA), almost certainly won’t pass this session. It comes from the Democratic Senate minority and might not get any Republican support. But if enacted, the bill would slash child poverty in the United States by over a third in a single stroke. Passing it would enact a child allowance in the United States, bringing us in line with our peers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and most of the rich world in guaranteeing a basic payment for the care of children.
6.House passes bill to require presidents to disclose their tax returns
The House on Friday passed legislation that would require presidents to disclose their tax returns, as Democrats have made obtaining President Trump’s tax returns one of their top priorities.
The tax return disclosure requirement was included in House Democrats’ wide-ranging election reform bill, known as H.R. 1, which passed on a party-line vote of 234-193. H.R. 1 is not expected to receive a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Under the legislation, presidents, vice presidents and major-party nominees for those positions would be required to disclose 10 years of tax returns to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). That agency would then make the returns publicly available.
7.
8.
9 — Jerry Nadler Is Ready to Dig In—and Trump Should Worry
The House Judiciary Committee chairman’s legal reasoning has always been precise and unassailable. With Trump now in his sights, the defense of the Constitution finally begins.
10. Adam Schiff Hires a Former Prosecutor to Lead the Trump Investigation
Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has hired a veteran prosecutor with experience fighting Russian organized crime to lead his investigation of the Trump Administration. Last month, according to a committee source, Daniel Goldman, who served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2017, joined the committee’s staff as a senior adviser and the director of investigations.
The hiring of Goldman, who will be joined by two other former federal prosecutors on Schiff’s staff, underlines Schiff’s decision to conduct an aggressive investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia during the 2016 Presidential campaign.
11
12. Democrats are set to take a big step toward impeaching Trump
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the New York Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, is set to demand documents from more than 60 people related to President Trump and his businesses. As Nadler puts it, this is necessary because Trump has been “directly implicated” in “various crimes,” including some allegedly committed while president.
Yet Nadler is aggressively downplaying the notion that Democrats are moving toward impeachment. He told ABC News that “we don’t have the facts yet,” and so “impeachment is a long way down the road.”
But make no mistake: In taking this step, Nadler, is, in fact, taking a big step toward launching formal impeachment hearings.
13.
14. White House leak to House Dems on Jared and Ivanka's clearances
From a White House source, the House Oversight Committee has obtained documents related to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's security clearances that the Trump administration refused to provide, according to a senior Democratic aide involved in handling the documents.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's problems with leaks will now benefit Congress, making it harder for the White House to withhold information from Democratic investigators.
15.
16.
17.
18. The good news about the Democrats’ resolution on anti-Semitism
The resolution in the House of Representatives in response to comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has created a great deal of angst and turbulence among Democrats, particularly for a measure that merely expresses the sense of the House.
But although this whole affair showcases many real divisions in the party, it is reaching a conclusion that, dare we say it, may be good news for Democrats.
After a searing debate, Democrats produced a final version of the resolution. Although much coverage has been of the “Dems in disarray!” variety, this appears to have displayed a party able to resolve its internal conflicts without allowing Republicans to set the terms of debate.
The updated resolution ends by saying that the House
encourages all public officials to confront the reality of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry, as well as historical struggles against them, to ensure that the United States will live up to the transcendent principles of tolerance, religious freedom, and equal protection as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the first and 14th amendments to the Constitution.
Nobody’s going to say that this process wasn’t painful, but Democrats managed to work it out. And in the end, the framing that Republicans had hoped to impose on the debate was basically cast aside.
Nothing the press loves more than a Dems in disarray story, AmIRight?!! But we AREN’T in disarray. Know who is???
REPUBLICANS are in disarray
Republicans manage to get Democrats out of a jam — by showing the GOP’s true colors
The voting began, and Republicans started voting “no” — on a declaration condemning hate. No, really. Republican dissenters included a member of the House leadership (Rep. Liz Cheney) and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who fancies himself a friend of Israel, as well as veteran crackpots such as Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.). Once more, Republicans snatched back the mantle of racial and religious insensitivity, announcing to the world that they couldn’t possibly be against both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Twenty-three Republicans voted no.
Pelosi had just been trying to disband the circular firing squad and get back to business (e.g., voting on the Democrats’ massive ethics bill). Maybe she knew Republicans would blow themselves up once again. Maybe she got lucky. However, she wound up demonstrating a point: Democrats are far from perfect. They have an extremist fringe in their party (supported in this case by three presidential candidates), but there are plenty of adults willing to speak out, plenty who have seen the example of the GOP and know that in letting tribalism and extremism run amok they will destroy themselves. It is essential that this recognition guide them in selecting their presidential nominee.
GOP wants Trump to back off on emergency
Senate Republicans are sending a pointed message to President Trump to back off from his national emergency declaration, arguing that he has $6 billion currently available from multiple funds — more than he requested — to build border barriers.
The eleventh-hour effort to persuade Trump to rescind his declaration will probably not work, but it reveals the growing anxiety within Republican ranks about a looming vote to rebuke the president’s move. It’s a tough spot for many Republicans who both don’t want to publicly cross Trump and also believe the emergency sets a bad precedent.
As many as 15 Senate Republicans have serious misgivings over Trump’s declaration and are threatening to vote for the disapproval resolution, say GOP senators.
GOP Panics as Trump Sh*t Gets Serious
the Republicans are in obvious panic, and before this is all over, they’re going to turn this into one of the ugliest episodes in this country’s history.
The Republican game plan is twofold. First, nail down the base; make sure they’re in a constant state of fury. This is what Sean Hannity is for. Second, keep independents confused enough that they don’t blame Donald Trump for the most grotesque attack on the Constitution in the country’s history but instead blame both sides for partisan bickering that they can’t quite sort through.
That explains the rage. But here’s the panic part.
The panic part is that I bet they all know, deep down, that Trump might be guilty of everything people say he’s guilty of. Start with this notion. If you would have asked Sanders or McCarthy or Lindsey Graham or any of them five years ago what they thought of Trump, I’d bet my mortgage that they’d have said, in no special order: a coarse buffoon; a shady New Yorker tied up with crooks and mobsters; a political illiterate; and, by those to whom that really matters, a horrible Christian.
And it follows from that set of assumptions that, again deep down, they fear the absolute worst, despite all the public avowals to the contrary. They issue those avowals to stay in the president’s good stead, like those T-Mobile losers who racked up those ginormous Trump Hotel bills in the hopes of currying Dear Leader’s favor during merger talks.
But they know. They know what a gangster the man is. They know, I’d bet, that we don’t have the slightest idea yet what this man has done in his life, the crimes he may have committed in the past and the crimes he may well be committing right now.
And Trump is in the BIGGEST Disarray of all
President Trump's bad week
this is by Andrew P. Napolitano (of FoxNews!) in the right wing Washington Times:
The president has serious and powerful tormentors whom he cannot overcome by mockery alone. He needs to do more than demean them with acerbic tweets, because many of those tormentors can legally cause him real harm. He needs to address these issues soberly, directly and maturely. Can President Trumpsurvive all this? Yes — but not if he has another week like the last one.
Dude, all his weeks are like this and they will continue to be like this and if you think, after two years of this shit show, that the moron you helped to elect is all of a sudden going to start handling things better…. then I have a bridge to sell you. Too bad Chris Christie closed it down before you could get there 😆 😉
And just when you think every possible investigation has already started, the investigations KEEP COMING
Trump Organization’s Insurance Policies Under Scrutiny in New York
New York State regulators have issued an expansive subpoena to the Trump Organization’s longtime insurance broker, the first step in an investigation of insurance policies and claims involving President Trump’s family business, according to the company and a person briefed on the matter.
Gosh, its almost like he lived his entire life as a giant criminal and now its all coming to light… weird!
Trump Fussed Over Tablecloths and Rockettes for the Inauguration
Despite White House denials that he played a role, the president was actively involved in planning an event that’s now under scrutiny from federal prosecutors.
hmmm…. sounds like that investigation may be closer to him than SHS led us to believe. shocking!
Bill Shine Lasted Only 8 Months as Trump's Comms Czar
behind the amicable statements, sources said, there lies the usual discontent between both parties.
One former Fox executive told The Daily Beast that Trump had complained in recent months about Shine’s seeming inability to get more positive press coverage for his administration. “Trump loves a yes-man,” the source said, “but he loves good press more.”
The former exec added: “He feels he was sold a bill of goods by Hannity,” referring to how Shine was introduced to the president via the Fox News primetime star who has long acted as an unofficial Trump adviser. “But Trump needs Hannity and so he will never attack him publicly.”
And it wasn’t just Trump who appeared frustrated with the current state of affairs. According to another source familiar with the situation, Shine had recently expressed that the eight months in the Trump White House had been extremely stressful for him.
When even Bill Shine isn’t slimy and sneaky enough to make you look good… you know nothing will!!
“TRUMP HAS BEEN CALLING HIM BILL ‘NO SHINE’”:
“Trump needs someone to blame for his bad press,” said a former West Wing official.
Bill was iced out,” a Republican close to the White House told me, echoing the view of multiple sources that the president had been souring on the former Fox News co-president for months. “Trump has been calling him Bill ‘No Shine,’” one source briefed on the conversations told me.
In December, Shine told friends his days could be numbered. (As I previously reported, he even debated re-signing the lease on his Washington, D.C., apartment.) Late last month, Shine was left off the trip to Vietnam for Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un, a crucial media moment if there ever was one. Instead, he attended CPAC with his wife, Darla.
One theory being discussed is that Trump pushed Shine out now because House Democrats are looking to investigate the White House’s ties to Fox. Jane Mayer reported this week that Trump directed then-economic adviser Gary Cohn to instruct the Justice Department to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger. Cohn reportedly didn’t act on it.
Ultimately, Shine’s departure will have little effect on the White House message operation.
Let’s end with the amazing Sen Flowers and a debate she WON by getting one of the Rs to vote against “stand your ground”:
That is it for today. I remain so proud, lucky, and JOY-FILLED to be in this with all of you! ❤️ ✊ ❤️