***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[whywesteppin]

Wow at the failing New York Times putting out a story that Trump's tweets contain grammatical errors on purpose. Fake news!!

These errors are not on purpose. They are on accident. NYT is lying to the public, again.

Yikes.

 

[chao7]

Taking money from children's health insurance programs. These people are monsters.

 

[Based Jesus]

Not sure if I believe he said this, it's so succinct.

As soon as I saw 'demean' I knew this was a paraphrase.

 

[Belgium]

Looks like Scott Snowflake is taking some extraordinary steps to stay in his safe space.
Excerpt:
Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building. When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/05/22/us/politics/ap-us-pruitt-epa-the-latest.html
The Latest: EPA Bars AP, CNN From Summit on Contaminants

9:55 a.m.
The Environmental Protection Agency is barring The Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants.

The EPA blocked the news organizations from attending Tuesday's Washington meeting, convened by EPA chief Scott Pruitt.

EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox told the barred organizations they were not invited and there was no space for them, but gave no indication of why they specifically were barred.

Pruitt told about 200 people at the meeting that dealing with the contaminants is a "national priority."

Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building. When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.



9:25 a.m.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt says dealing with a widespread contaminant in drinking water is a "national priority."

Pruitt spoke Tuesday as he opened a hearing on the contaminants, known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl. The chemicals were used in items like nonstick coating and firefighting foam and have contaminated some water systems nationwide. The compounds are linked to developmental defects and other health problems.

Pruitt has faced criticism in recent weeks over emails showing the EPA sought to intervene in a critical study on the contaminants.

Convening Tuesday's session, Pruitt is pledging to work on establishing a maximum allowable level for the chemicals in drinking water.

Representatives of states, tribes, the chemical industry, environmental groups and others are attending the session.

 

[IATT]

 

[elpablo21]

 

[milestailsprowe]

Its all part of the fake media hoax. None of these are real federal cases, plea deals and indictments. All of this is a Democratic lead effort by a Republican, appointed by a Republican who was hired by a Republican.


Fake media right ?

 

[whywesteppin]

Its all part of the fake media hoax. None of these are real federal cases, plea deals and indictments. All of this is a Democratic lead effort by a Republican, appointed by a Republican who was hired by a Republican.


Fake media right ?

Democrats playing that 4D tic-tac-toe.

 

[frink85]

So nuclear talks with Kim Jong Un and trade talks with China are falling apart. Who would’ve guessed. Too many winning.

 

[Belgium]

He will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations in exchange for no jail time. Wonder what kind of nothingburgers he'll start flipping
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-taxi-cooperation.html
Michael Cohen’s Business Partner Agrees to Cooperate as Part of Plea Deal
A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Under the agreement, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time, and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Mr. Cohen’s conduct was initially examined by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating the 2016 election that led to Mr. Trump’s victory, and then referred to the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Last month, federal agents carried out search warrants at Mr. Cohen’s home, his office and a hotel room where he was staying, seeking documents related to his business associates and accountants.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have been resigned to the strong possibility that the investigation of Mr. Cohen’s businesses could lead him to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

That likelihood could become greater with a business partner of Mr. Cohen’s cooperating with law enforcement.

Mr. Freidman has been Mr. Cohen’s partner in the taxi business for years, managing cabs for him even after New York City regulators barred Mr. Freidman last year from continuing to manage medallions.

Mr. Freidman, who was disbarred earlier this month, had been accused of failing to pay more than $5 million in taxes and faced four counts of criminal tax fraud and one of grand larceny — all B felonies. Each carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

Instead, he appeared in court in Albany on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a single count of evading only $50,000 worth of taxes; he faces five years of probation if he fulfills the terms of his agreement, the judge, Patrick Lynch of Albany County court, said during the roughly 20-minute proceeding.

“Do you understand the nature of the benefit your attorneys have accomplished on your behalf?” the judge asked Mr. Freidman during the proceeding on Tuesday.

“I greatly understand that and appreciate it,” Mr. Freidman replied.

After Mr. Freidman’s guilty plea, his lawyer, Patrick J. Egan of Fox Rothschild, declined to comment. But earlier this year, he said his client “considers Michael a very good friend and a great client.”

 

[IATT]

Wonder how she got in this position...

 

[Belgium]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/22/fbi-informant-meeting-doj-gop-democrats-white-house-603275
Democrats not invited to DOJ briefing on FBI informant
The White House has invited two senior House Republicans — and no Democrats — to a Thursday briefing to facilitate access for lawmakers to information about an FBI informant involved in the investigation of Russian contacts with President Donald Trump's campaign.

The briefing, coordinated by White House chief of staff John Kelly, was agreed to Monday when Trump met with FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to discuss Congress' demands for these classified documents.


Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have demanded that Democratic lawmakers be included in any private discussions over access to details about the informant. Trump has suggested, without evidence, that the informant may have actually been a spy planted in his campaign to undermine his White House bid — an allegation that has enraged Democrats.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday told reporters that Democrats will not be included in the meeting because they didn't specifically ask for details about the FBI's informant.

"My understanding is they haven't been the ones requesting this information," she said, adding that it's unclear why Democrats would "consider themselves randomly invited to see something they never asked to."

Still, Sanders left the door slightly open to including Democrats: "We'll keep you posted."

Schumer immediately lashed out in response to Sanders' remarks.

"The only thing more outrageous than this meeting occurring at all is the fact that it’s now partisan," the New York Democrat said in a statement.

House Intelligence ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told reporters late Tuesday that he expects — but has not yet been informed of — a separate briefing for Democrats and their staff.

"This is another serious abuse of power," he tweeted.

Historically, Republicans and Democrats have been granted similar access to information provided by the Justice Department and intelligence community. Often, this process occurs through briefings to the so-called Gang of Eight, which includes the leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, as well as the top Republicans and Democrats on each chamber's Intelligence Committee.

"There’s a bipartisan mechanism called the Gang of 8," Schiff tweeted. "They need to use it."

Sanders said no White House officials would attend the meeting — Kelly's role was entirely to arrange it.

In addition to Wray, the meeting will include two House chairmen — Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes and Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy — as well as Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and DOJ official Ed O'Callahan.

No senators were included on the list — though it's unclear if they were invited — nor was Rosenstein. Sen. Mark Warner, the top Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat, had not been invited as of late Tuesday afternoon, his office said.

Nunes has been seeking documents connected to the FBI informant but has so far been denied. The Justice Department shot down his request earlier this month, claiming that revealing the information would endanger lives and national security. But after Trump's meeting with Wray and Rosenstein on Monday, the White House said an agreement had been reached to provide some classified information to Congress.

In his statement, Schumer chafed at Nunes' role in the whole endeavor.

"It is crystal clear that Chairman Nunes’ intent is to interfere with the investigation, and [House] Speaker [Paul] Ryan is allowing it to happen," he said.

Sanders declined to detail the breadth of information that will be made available, referring the question to DOJ. A DOJ official said there were no additional details about the briefing to confirm yet.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump refused to answer a question about whether he still has confidence in Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling and whether there was any potential collusion with the Trump campaign.

 

[appleheaddmv]

man.... all of this stuff going on is history we are witnessing... too bad it's gonna be a horrifying history... feel so bad for my 10 year old daughter and her generation... gonna be a super F'd up society they left wit... Smh

 

[gry60]

He will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations in exchange for no jail time. Wonder what kind of nothingburgers he'll start flipping
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-taxi-cooperation.html
Michael Cohen’s Business Partner Agrees to Cooperate as Part of Plea Deal
A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Under the agreement, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time, and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.

****...

If only Uber/Lyft hadn't taken off, he would've still had his medallions.

Then again, if he had instructed his cabbies to pick up more black folks, maybe they wouldn't have run to Uber/Lyft?

 

[IATT]

 

[gry60]

 

[gry60]

Republicans are masters at using the passive voice.

Maybe Giuliani's financial credentials should be put in the public domain. Let's see how he likes it.

 

[Belgium]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel...-campaign-firm-cambridge-analytica-1527030765
Israeli Intelligence Company Formed Venture With Trump Campaign Firm Cambridge Analytica
Psy-Group is owned by entrepreneur Joel Zamel, who has been questioned by special-counsel investigators

A company owned by Joel Zamel, an Israeli entrepreneur whose work has drawn the scrutiny of special counsel Robert Mueller, formed a strategic partnership with a data firm for President Donald Trump’s campaign in a joint bid to win business from the U.S. government and other clients after the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Psy-Group, one of Mr. Zamel’s firms, signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambridge Analytica LLC, these people said, a digital media firm that helped propel Mr. Trump to the presidency. Facebook Inc. in March suspended Cambridge over allegations that it improperly harvested the data of millions of Facebook users, accusations that in part led to the firm’s closure earlier this month.

The Dec. 14, 2016 memorandum, as described to The Wall Street Journal, outlines a partnership whereby the two firms could cooperate on a case-by-case basis to provide intelligence and social-media services, or pitch business to an array of clients.

A person familiar with the work of Psy Group, a private intelligence firm, said the partnership was intended in part to help win government contracts—something that Cambridge and its parent company, SCL Group, were aggressively seeking to do as their allies in the Trump administration took power, according to people familiar with the efforts.

The existence of the memorandum of agreement is an example of how the president’s allies sought to gain entry and influence in Washington after the election.

SCL Group won a $500,000 contract from the State Department starting in February 2017 aimed at providing “target audience research,” according to federal records. No government contracts have been awarded to the Psy-Group, according to public records, though not all government contracts—for example, in the arena of intelligence and foreign policy—are publicly disclosed.

A spokesman for SCL and for Cambridge Analytica didn’t respond to requests for comment. Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for Mr. Zamel, said his client “had nothing to do with Cambridge Analytica.” He has previously said investigators have told him Mr. Zamel isn’t a target of the Mueller investigation. A person familiar with the memo between Cambridge and Psy-Group, which was first reported by Bloomberg, said it was signed without Mr. Zamel’s involvement. It was unclear whether Mr. Zamel was aware of the deal at the time it was reached.

Mr. Zamel has met with Mr. Mueller’s investigators, who appear to have expanded their inquiries to questions about the influence of a Gulf monarchy during the 2016 election, the Journal has previously reported. Mr. Mueller is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election. Mr. Trump denies colluding with Russia, and Moscow denies that it meddled in the election.

In the months before the 2016 election, Mr. Zamel met with Donald Trump Jr. , Mr. Trump’s eldest son, at Trump Tower along with George Nader, a top adviser to the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates, to discuss an offer from Mr. Zamel and Mr. Nader to help boost the campaign, the Journal has previously reported. Mr. Zamel is said to be close to top officials in the U.A.E. The U.A.E. has been engaged in a costly campaign, in conjunction with its ally Saudi Arabia, to isolate its regional rival Qatar, and has ramped up its lobbying in the U.S. over the past year to win the Trump administration’s backing for its efforts.

Cambridge Analytica earlier this month announced it was shutting down its operations, along with its U.S. and U.K. affiliates SCL Group and SCL Elections. The firm is liquidating its assets, an administrator for the firm said Tuesday.

Cambridge Analytica faced mounting legal fees in the U.K.’s investigation of the Facebook allegations and was rapidly losing clients, according to people familiar with the matter. In March, it suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after undercover journalists at British broadcaster Channel 4 released a video that depicted him describing campaign tactics he said the company had used, among them entrapping political opponents with bribes and sex.

In the video, Mr. Nix said Cambridge Analytica used Israeli companies in its campaign efforts. “We use some British companies, we use some Israeli companies,” he said. “From Israel. Very effective in intelligence gathering.” Mr. Nix has said he regretted his role in the video, and Cambridge Analytica has said it didn’t use the tactics he described.

One person familiar with the work of both firms said Mr. Nix in the video appeared to be referring to Psy-Group, which does work that tracks closely with Mr. Nix’s description. The intelligence firm’s website says the company’s motto is “shape reality.” According to Psy-Group’s marketing materials, which the Journal reviewed, the firm offered clients an array of services—including “honey traps,” a term used by spy agencies for an intelligence-gathering tactic using romantic or sexual relationships to extract information.

 

[chao7]

Balking so hard at the conclusion that the intent of Russians was to help Trump is quite telling.

I mean, besides consciousness of guilt, why would that fact in and of itself incriminate the Trump people anyway?

Shooting themselves in the foot, forever and always.

 

[MalcolmNewton]

 

[elpablo21]

 

[elpablo21]

 

[the qbz]

Now is the time to be a crappy boss or be on some ponzi schemes


Just the other day i found out that my uncle was a nigerian prince and left me some money

Look at god nt brethern

 

[Mr.Guy]

Now is the time to be a crappy boss or be on some ponzi schemes


Just the other day i found out that my uncle was a nigerian prince and left me some money

Look at god nt brethern

How much did he leave you?

 

[Mark Antony]

...