The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Trump/Barr/WH/DoJ Corruption IX

    By PeraclesPlease on Sun, 08/30/2020 - 5:30pm |

    Comments

    nine threads, it's a record, I think.


    by artappraiser on Sun, 08/30/2020 - 6:04pm

    By Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor of The Post. He is an editorial writer specializing in foreign affairs and writes a biweekly column that appears in print on Mondays. Useful in that it includes a laundry list of why he holds this opinion.


    by artappraiser on Sun, 08/30/2020 - 9:40pm

    If this report can be firmly validated, it puts Rosenstein in the obstruction of justice category as clearly as the stuff Barr is doing. 

    The figure of Mueller becomes stranger in the background, lurking in dark corridors, performing mime before congressional committees.

    Wil the Durham team roll out something for October? The Senate report is a firm finger in the eye to the Nunes face of hysterical expectation. Fans are going to want refunds.


    by moat on Mon, 08/31/2020 - 5:43pm

    Rosenstein already was, long ago. Just a bit craftier. A number of people reported him as a shill a while back, the seeming adult in the room.


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 08/31/2020 - 8:05pm

    Being central to so many operations, perhaps he was wrong thinking he could slip out of the room unnoticed.


    by moat on Mon, 08/31/2020 - 9:15pm

    I don't know if any of these people expected to go undetected or simply unpunished, maybe promoted. Barr's getting along fine.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 09/01/2020 - 3:09am


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 08/31/2020 - 8:28pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 09/01/2020 - 9:39am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 09/01/2020 - 7:44pm

    I'm sure the Republicans will correct this stonewalling for the next Dem president


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 09/01/2020 - 8:42pm

    but wait there's more


    by artappraiser on Tue, 09/01/2020 - 11:38pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 09/02/2020 - 7:18am

    Off the bench just in time for the collusion season.


    by moat on Wed, 09/02/2020 - 10:47am

    James Comey op-ed @ WaPo, Aug. 25


    by artappraiser on Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:45am

    This thread certainly sounds like how one could generalize southeast Wisconsin voters to me as regards Trump scandals and approval rating. (I found this thread retweeted by Daniel Drezner; I don't follow him but happened to check his feed about the Trump/military thread.)

    I have spent the last three days speaking to almost every person I've seen on the streets in Kenosha and Racine and folks... I hate to break it to you... but nobody gives a shit about any of the scandals you're tweeting about

    — Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) September 4, 2020

     


    by artappraiser on Fri, 09/04/2020 - 1:15am

    Black Trump lobbying group


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 09/04/2020 - 8:39am

    It can also be reported:

    • Mr Trump pushed back hard on Theresa May’s pleas to expel Russian diplomats after the Skripal poisoning, saying “I would rather follow than lead”
    • The US president wondered why there was so much “hatred” in Northern Ireland and asked Mrs May during a lunch why Mr Johnson was not prime minister
    • Mr Johnson built close working relationships with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and adviser Stephen Miller, while forging ties with the Trump inner circle
    • The president was at times "hectoring" towards Mrs May in "nightmare" phone calls and would ask other world leaders what they thought of her
    • Mr Trump cancelled his planned first visit to Britain as president at the last minute over the schedule and scrapped a call with Mrs May due to a foreign policy clash.​

    from

     

    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/05/2020 - 5:11pm

    Nice chart:


    by artappraiser on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 2:30am

    Strzok: Compromised

    Of course one reason Dems chose to proceed with a half-loaded gun on impeachment was cuz Trump successfully delayed legal actions in the courts, with Barr successfulky lying about official documents and classifying unclassified info. Bolton wouldn't even speak to Congress. Suddenly every gov official had "executive privilege". The FBI and Counterintelligence never saw his taxes, and I don't think Vance has them yet(?). 

    While some current wisdom was that Pelosi didn't play things hard enough, shouldn't have pushed the charges early, Trump was acquitted on Feb 6. It's likely that a delay of 1 month would have completely swallowed impeachment in Covid and then the protests. And a huge issue she had was the public is really horrid at tracking more than 1 or 2 crises or scandals at a time - Trump by himself is 20 at a time.


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 8:51am

    Yes, the sheer volume of bad stuff worked in his favor, as do the intricacy of the cases. It needs to be a simple single story for everyone to get interested and to have an opinion, i.e., did you or did you not have sexual relations with Miss Lewinsky? Where's the outrage? Too complicated to spend the time to get outraged about it. Look at right now, everyone has an opinion about dissing the troops, many are outraged. On the other hand, billing the Secret Service for staying at one of his hotels, not enough to get outraged; throw in all the other emoluments issues and it gets too complicated...


    by artappraiser on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 12:59pm

    & as the abused HK 12-yr-old shows, not enough for *any* sex or child scandal - has to fit a certain mold to qualify for outrage. 1 million Uighurs? Sux to be you. West Virginia coal worker? Come on down!!!


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 3:06pm

    Postal Hatch Act Violations

    https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5f55a5cfc5b6946f3eb4081e


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 9:08am

    Trump's illegal emoluments


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 11:43am

    Strzok on Trump/Russia


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 09/08/2020 - 7:49am

    Ken White:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/09/2020 - 9:14pm

    Neal Katyal:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/09/2020 - 9:21pm

    Keith Schiller's payout


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 10:22am

    Ken Vogel staking out Giuliani:

     


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 9:13pm

    that was fast!


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 9:19pm

    Well now, "I'll run around messing with dubious Russian types in foreign lands, but how would I know if they're KGB/GRU agents or assets?" The idea that that's a core part of his muckraking/fixer job is lost in him, except he knows he's lying, and he's actively engaging with all sorts of compromised creeps. Flynn a bit similar - General "career in intelligence" wrote an op-ed for a foreign entity without doing a background check, but it's somehow wrong for US intelligence to consider him a loose cannon who could be easily used by Russian or Turkish handlers. Bring on the fellow travelers.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 10:59pm

    Barr's CounterIntel End-around


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 09/11/2020 - 6:53am

    Glennzilla pimps for Russia


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 09/12/2020 - 1:55pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 1:32am


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 09/12/2020 - 3:01pm

    Dennehy jumping off the burning ship also points toward the end of the Nunes dream that the evil deep state plot will be uncovered with photos and transcripts.

    Nothing the DOJ does on this level happens without a lot of people with real jobs leaving their positions. At this point, they should just stop. If nothing can rise above innuendo then just stick with the innuendo.


    by moat on Sat, 09/12/2020 - 7:06pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 09/13/2020 - 6:50pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 11:56am


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 2:17pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 8:38pm

    The accusation is always the important thing. Proof is for losers. Who would confirm or deny an assertion? A person in a job? They would only do what was expected of them. The truth is outside of circumstances.


    There is my bus. I will board now.


    by moat on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 9:12pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 9:16pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 6:48am

    The Justice Department is opening an investigation into John Bolton's book.

    The DOJ "has convened a grand jury, which issued a subpoena for communications records from Simon & Schuster, the publisher" of Bolton's book, "The Room Where It Happened," which was released in June.

    The purity tests to find the miscreants are becoming direct criminal investigations.


    by moat on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 4:50pm

    Michael Cohen...said Wednesday that he believes the primary reason the president has fought tooth-and-nail to keep his tax returns away from investigators in Congress and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is that the documents may lead to criminal tax fraud charges...


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/16/2020 - 8:26pm

    I also see Cohen is tweeting:


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 12:59am