Friday Trump shenanigans

[WanderingWinoZ]

Trump is very motivated & excited to do something after this shooting....about mental health & school safety - both f which he/GOP has cut funding for recently.
Don't forget the NRA was one of his biggest, earliest, staunchest supporters even after the Access Hollywood tape


www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-efd838bf-afcb-4b9b-93dd-20e698d653ea.html?chunk=0&utm_term=emshare#story0

[WanderingWinoZ]

Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity: One woman’s account of clandestine meetings, financial transactions, and legal pacts designed to hide an extramarital affair," by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker:

www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-a-playboy-model-and-a-system-for-concealing-infidelity-national-enquirer-karen-mcdougal

"[H]er account provides a detailed look at how Trump and his allies used clandestine hotel-room meetings, payoffs, and complex legal agreements to keep affairs — sometimes multiple affairs he carried out simultaneously — out of the press."

[ECB]

Feb 16, 2018 9:00:45 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Trump is very motivated & excited to do something after this shooting....about mental health & school safety - both f which he/GOP has cut funding for recently.
Don't forget the NRA was one of his biggest, earliest, staunchest supporters even after the Access Hollywood tape


www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-efd838bf-afcb-4b9b-93dd-20e698d653ea.html?chunk=0&utm_term=emshare#story0

youll notice his speech didn’t mention guns at all. Just mental health.

[ECB]

Feb 16, 2018 9:00:45 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Trump is very motivated & excited to do something after this shooting....about mental health & school safety - both f which he/GOP has cut funding for recently.
Don't forget the NRA was one of his biggest, earliest, staunchest supporters even after the Access Hollywood tape


www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-efd838bf-afcb-4b9b-93dd-20e698d653ea.html?chunk=0&utm_term=emshare#story0

his words mean absolutley nothing. The hypocrisy doesn’t even register for me because his words are always totally meaningless.

[mbcdefg]

He also immediately kept tweeting complaints about DACA and Democrats after offering his paltry condolences.

Ass.

[miniroller]

Feb 16, 2018 9:06:00 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

He also immediately kept tweeting complaints about DACA and Democrats after offering his paltry condolences.

Ass.

Re: his “condolences” I honestly don’t think he knows what the words that he read from the teleprompter meant when put together. He was just reading from his script of this POTUS gig.

[WanderingWinoZ]

This dropped late late night- so I will repost it.
I still think we need to figure out what this lady & her 2 month old firm id for $26M for the inauguration.
(as a point of comparison, on rachel last night, the firm that typically sub contracts all the vendors for inauguration got paid $25M & presumably did most of the actual work)

nypost.com/2018/02/15/trump-inaugural-committee-paid-melania-pals-firm-26m/

President Trump’s inaugural committee shelled out almost $26 million to a company formed just weeks before the event by a pal of first lady Melania Trump — while donating about $5 million to charity.

Tax filings show that the cash went to WIS Media Partners of Marina del Rey, California, which was created by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff in December 2016, the New York Times reported.

[mbcdefg]

Feb 16, 2018 9:13:57 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Feb 16, 2018 9:06:00 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

He also immediately kept tweeting complaints about DACA and Democrats after offering his paltry condolences.

Ass.

Re: his “condolences” I honestly don’t think he knows what the words that he read from the teleprompter meant when put together. He was just reading from his script of this POTUS gig.

Oh, I know. I'm sure he doesn't give a shit.

I *would* say that maybe he'd care if it was his own grandkids or something, but even that gives me pause. I was thinking on the ride into work this morning about whether he actually has any concept of what "love" is.

ETA: I'm also sure that he's absolutely thrilled that this tragedy is taking the heat off of his latest wrongdoings.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Aklso, what are the ramifications of Gates taking a plea deal? I heard chatter about there being more charges.

So....we (the public) can see there was tons more illegal activity? He pleads guilty to it & give Mueller more info on Trump?
There weren't many people higher than gates (from campaign to inauguration to WH).

[hopecounts]

Feb 16, 2018 9:23:16 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Aklso, what are the ramifications of Gates taking a plea deal? I heard chatter about there being more charges.

So....we (the public) can see there was tons more illegal activity? He pleads guilty to it & give Mueller more info on Trump?
There weren't many people higher than gates (from campaign to inauguration to WH).

If Gates is getting a plea deal it’s because he is giving Mueller something useful.

I would think the options of who/what he is giving up info on is fairly limited since as you said there weren’t many higher then him and that’s pretty much all he could hand over that would be worth it to Mueller to deal.

Mueller is building this case just like his Enron and crime family cases,
Start low tier and build your way up, leveraging what you learn against the next tier until you get to the top.
Gates is fairly high tier so things are progressing.

[ECB]

Feb 16, 2018 9:21:56 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Feb 16, 2018 9:13:57 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Re: his “condolences” I honestly don’t think he knows what the words that he read from the teleprompter meant when put together. He was just reading from his script of this POTUS gig.

Oh, I know. I'm sure he doesn't give a shit.

I *would* say that maybe he'd care if it was his own grandkids or something, but even that gives me pause. I was thinking on the ride into work this morning about whether he actually has any concept of what "love" is.

he absolutley doesn’t know what love is. I have no doubt of that.

[aurora]

Feb 16, 2018 9:02:16 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity: One woman’s account of clandestine meetings, financial transactions, and legal pacts designed to hide an extramarital affair," by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker:

www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-a-playboy-model-and-a-system-for-concealing-infidelity-national-enquirer-karen-mcdougal

"[H]er account provides a detailed look at how Trump and his allies used clandestine hotel-room meetings, payoffs, and complex legal agreements to keep affairs — sometimes multiple affairs he carried out simultaneously — out of the press."

Reading this, even though I knew few of the details beforehand, feel like a confirmation of what I knew about him beforehand. (In an "of course that's what happened" sort of way)

Of course Melania likes to keep a separate room
Of course he assumes that a woman who has sex with him wants money.
Of course he sleeps with as many women as possible at a time.
Of course he likes them if they remind him of Ivanka.

etc.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Any guesses on what type of "arrangement" he has with Melania or what's in the prenup? Does she HAVE to stay with him? Would she get $0 if she leaves or if SHE cheats?

[pitta12]

Feb 16, 2018 9:23:16 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Aklso, what are the ramifications of Gates taking a plea deal? I heard chatter about there being more charges.

So....we (the public) can see there was tons more illegal activity? He pleads guilty to it & give Mueller more info on Trump?
There weren't many people higher than gates (from campaign to inauguration to WH).

Maddow had Barbara McQuade on her show last night (former US Atty) and she said that he could be giving info on the campaign itself due to his role as vice chair, or he could be giving dirt on Manafort in order to pressure him to cooperate. Either has big implications for 45.  Also, she said that the type of interview he recently had with the Mueller team (they described it as a "Queen for a Day" interview in one article) is intended to be one in which he lays all his cards on the table in exchange for a deal.  Anything he doesn't talk about or lies about can be subject to further charges later, so he has a strong incentive to spill it all.

[Bernadine]

And this woman is or was an advisor to Melania.

[mbcdefg]

VA secretary David Shulkin's chief of staff retiring amid travel report findings


www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/16/va-secretary-david-shulkins-chief-staff-retiring-amid-travel-report-findings/344810002/

The third most senior official at the Department of Veterans Affairs is stepping down amid findings she misled ethics officials to secure approval for VA Secretary David Shulkin’s wife to accompany him on taxpayer-funded trip to Europe.



Viveca Wright Simpson, Shulkin’s chief of staff, told colleagues Friday morning that she is retiring after 32 years at the agency and more than two years as Shulkin's most senior aide.



The announcement came two days after the VA inspector general released recommendations that she be disciplined for doctoring an email to an ethics lawyer to show Shulkin was getting special recognition or an award during the trip to Denmark and London last year, the criteria for clearing his wife’s flights on the public’s dime.



Shulkin confirmed the move to USA TODAY and said he intends to continue in his post and remains commited to fulfilling President Trump’s agenda in overhauling the VA.





He apologized earlier this week for mistakes he and his staff made in planning and taking the trip last July. He reimbursed the government for his wife’s airfare and is seeking to reimburse a British veterans’ advocate for Wimbledon tickets he and his wife accepted improperly.

[WanderingWinoZ]

so wait...why is his secretary retiring/resigning & not HIM!?!?

[mrsd2006]

Feb 16, 2018 10:55:55 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

so wait...why is his secretary retiring/resigning & not HIM!?!?

Right??!! That is unbelievable. He needs to go. Price got fired for the same thing. Then Zinke  needs to be next. 

[pixy0stix]

This is a funny way to drain the swamp.

More than 40 percent of Trump’s first Cabinet-level picks have faced ethical or other controversies

www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/16/more-than-40-percent-of-trumps-cabinet-level-picks-have-faced-ethical-or-other-controversies/?utm_term=.562e4a4b324d

[ESF]

On Rachel Brand —

I learned something interesting about Brand yesterday from a civil rights lawyer.

Before Brand joined DOJ last year, she was an attorney for the US Chamber of Commerce. Right before she resigned, she issued a memo that severely weakened DOJ’s enforcement powers. Some info here:

www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-brand-memorandum-doj-restricts-20550/

The memo is basically a large corporation wet dream.

Then she went to Walmart.

So it looks to me like her resignation had nothing to do with Russia or Mueller. She was nothing but a corporate shill sent in to deliver a Christmas present to the country’s biggest companies, and then quit to collect her payday.

This is why the GOP loves the Russia scandal. It leads us to believe that people like Brand are victims, and we don’t notice their truly scandalous behavior.

Fuck everything.

ETA I’m trying to find better links about her memo

www.healthlawdiagnosis.com/2018/02/brand-memo-from-the-u-s-department-of-justice-reading-between-the-lines/

mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/us/politics/legal-violations-federal-rules.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

[miniroller]

I hadn’t seen this posted, sorry if it’s a repeat:
Trump Calls For Mental Health Action After Shooting; His Budget Would Cut Programs
www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/15/586095437/trump-calls-for-mental-health-action-after-shooting-his-budget-would-cut-program
The budget blueprint also slashes spending for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration by $665 million. Additionally, Bloomberg reported the National Institute of Mental Health would see a 30 percent reduction in funding — a half a billion dollar decrease — in 2019.

I do think it’s important that we all remember a couple of these points/ numbers to bring up when in future discussions with “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” fools.

[mbcdefg]

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a meeting at the White House on March 5, two U.S. officials said on Friday.

www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-israel/trump-israels-netanyahu-to-meet-at-white-house-march-5-officials-idUSKCN1G01U4


****************

Mark Corallo, former spokesperson for Trump’s legal team, spoke with Robert Mueller’s team on Thursday for over two hours, two people familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast.
 From Wolff’s book: "Mark Corallo [former spokesman for Trump's personal legal team] ... privately confiding [to Wolff] that he believed the meeting on Air Force One represented a likely obstruction of justice — quit."

www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-has-interviewed-trump-legal-teams-former-spokesman

[WanderingWinoZ]

Feb 16, 2018 11:52:14 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a meeting at the White House on March 5, two U.S. officials said on Friday.

www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-israel/trump-israels-netanyahu-to-meet-at-white-house-march-5-officials-idUSKCN1G01U4


****************

Mark Corallo, former spokesperson for Trump’s legal team, spoke with Robert Mueller’s team on Thursday for over two hours, two people familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast.
 From Wolff’s book: "Mark Corallo [former spokesman for Trump's personal legal team] ... privately confiding [to Wolff] that he believed the meeting on Air Force One represented a likely obstruction of justice — quit."

www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-has-interviewed-trump-legal-teams-former-spokesman

he likes dining with criminals...

[miniroller]

Callous RNC staffers try to drown out rally for shooting victims
shareblue.com/callous-rnc-staffers-try-to-drown-out-rally-for-shooting-victims/

(Sorry that it’s ShareBlue, which is admittedly very left, but it includes a video- I’m horrified.)

As Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and activists from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee spoke, the RNC staffers tried to drown them out, chanting “Crumbs! Crumbs! Crumbs!” — an attempt to mock House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said any changes in compensation workers were receiving as a result of the GOP tax scam are “crumbs.”
——
Do they even know why they’re shouting crumbs?! It makes no sense! Like they’re blaming Nancy for correctly identifying employee “bonuses” as crumbs..?

[mbcdefg]

Any idea what this might be about?


Reuters Politics
@reuterspolitics


UPDATE: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to make law enforcement announcement at 1:15 pm ET

[mbcdefg]

Reuters Politics @reuterspolitics

JUST IN: Federal grand jury indicts 13 Russian nationals, three Russian entities accused of interfering with U.S. elections and political processes: U.S. Special Counsel's Office


www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download 

[MrsAxilla]

Feb 16, 2018 12:51:48 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Reuters Politics @reuterspolitics

JUST IN: Federal grand jury indicts 13 Russian nationals, three Russian entities accused of interfering with U.S. elections and political processes: U.S. Special Counsel's Office


www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download 

I just did a happy dance and my kid asked if Trump is going to jail. Not yet, baby. Not quite yet.

[heat40]

alright alright alright!!

[WanderingWinoZ]

Feb 16, 2018 12:51:48 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Reuters Politics @reuterspolitics

JUST IN: Federal grand jury indicts 13 Russian nationals, three Russian entities accused of interfering with U.S. elections and political processes: U.S. Special Counsel's Office


www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download 

Now Trump can 't say "THERE WAS NO INTERFERENCE!!!"  People are being indicted for it....

[pitta12]

MSNBC is saying that this "names and shames" the individuals and organizations involved (in a way that the administration refuses to), and establishes criminality for the actions. It could be the basis for sanctions here or elsewhere.