‘An indictment is coming’: Ex-DOJ official concludes Michael Cohen about to be arrested
President some rich asshole and Michael Cohen, composite image. (Photo of the rich asshole by Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Former Deputy Assistant General Harry Litman joined MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” on Friday to dissect the latest judicial opinions issued in the legal cases surrounding President some rich asshole.
Litman explained the appointment of a special master in Michael Cohen’s case as “someone who will be reviewing the documents and try to call out which are privileged, which seem to have indicia of advice from a lawyer.”
“Which, we’re told by the United States are fairly few, they expect and have represented to the court that Cohen really wasn’t so much a lawyer as a kind of businessman, fix-it guy and if they’re right, there won’t be that many documents that the special master will identify,” Litman noted. “But the special master will have the first — she’ll have the first crack at it and will report to the court in the collaboration with the parties.”
“Harry, it seems to me that one of the subtexts of the judicial rulings in the civil case against Michael Cohen is, ‘this dude is going to get indicted,'” Hayes observed. “That is very much between the lines, my sense, from reading what this — the judge in that civil suit says.”
“That’s not the subtext, that’s the text!” Litman replied with a chuckle. “The text says, ‘I think an indictment is coming.'”
“You know, in both of these rulings, and all the stuff I’ve been parsing, it’s like, you can see the shadow of the shoes yet to drop sort of cast over the entire proceedings,” Hayes concluded. “It’s really, really ominous in the language.”
Watch:
the rich asshole biographers reveal the rich asshole’s tendency to drive businesses into the ground and destroy the staff along with it
the rich asshole biographers Jack O'Donnell and Michael d'Antonio (Photo: Screen captures)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
A duo of biographers of President some rich asshole appeared on CNN Friday evening to explain that his businesses and professional life typically result in failures once he takes hold of them.
The discussion addressed the recent New York Times interview with Tony Schwartz, co-author of The Art of the Deal.
“People are not people to him, they are instruments of his ego,” Schwartz, told The Times. “And when they serve his ego, they survive, and when they don’t, they pass into the night.”
He added: “Ultimately, the fate of anyone who casts their lot with the rich asshole is — you are passing through. And I just can’t think of anybody for whom it is not true.”
He’s not the only one to notice the problematic relationships. the rich asshole biographer Michael d’Antonio rattled off several businesses that the self-described billionaire ran into the ground.
“At about the time the rich asshole was pursuing his casino developments, he opened the rich asshole Airways,” d’Antonio recalled. “He burned through executives there. Actually, you know The Times headline about people crashing? He would say terrible things about airline safety and they would beg him, ‘Please, listen to us, we know what we’re doing.’ And he ran that company into the ground.”
Jack O’Donnell, the former president and COO of the rich asshole Plaza Casino, agreed, noting that when the rich asshole has CEOs for his businesses, they do well. Once the rich asshole takes them over, however, everything changes.
“We were pretty stable,” O’Donnell said. “But as soon as Donald took control and he had direct reports is when he started burning through people. So, I think what Tony Schwartz described is absolutely true in the latter part of my experience and we’ve seen this, of course, in the administration as well.”
Substitute host John Berman explained that it isn’t only that the rich asshole burns through them, as Schwartz described it, the rich asshole leaves them bloodied on the side of the train tracks. There’s no greater example than Michael Cohen, according to d’Antonio.
“There is a risk in all of this for the president,” he explained. “You can’t just humiliate people continuously and expect them to remain loyal, as someone like Cohen has been. The coverage of that case must be excruciating for him to watch. At some point, men and women do stand up and say, ‘I’m not going to take this anymore.'”
Watch the full conversation below:
Bill Maher wants Barack Obama and James Comey to ‘start penalizing liars’ like the rich asshole with lawsuits
Real Time panel (Photo: RealTime/Twitter)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
The opening panel discussion on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host brought up the women suing President some rich asshole for defamation by saying that they lied about what he allegedly did to them. Maher wants to see this go to a totally different level so that American politics can stop people from openly lying.
the rich asshole’s interview with “Fox & Friends” this week resulted in the president setting a new record for the most number of lies in a single sentence. Maher wants the lies to stop, but more than that, he wants liars to be prosecuted.
“I swear to God, he was talking about CNN, he goes, ‘I don’t watch it at all. I watched it last night,'” Maher cited the president.
“He did it within a breath!” noted Ana Marie Cox.
Maher explained that those are the lies expected from the rich asshole and Americans have come to normalize it. He brought up the Sandy Hook parents, who are now suing Alex Jones and InfoWars as well as the rich asshole accuser Summer Zervos, suing for the rich asshole’s claims against her.
“The most important thing we have to do in America right now is start penalizing liars,” Maher said. “Because we are driving further and further away from a place where truth matters…I’m just that [former FBI director James] Comey should sue the rich asshole. [Former President Barack] Obama should sue the rich asshole for saying that he wire-tapped him. I’m just saying that I don’t think we can leave this in the court of public opinion anymore.”
Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer argued that the rich asshole lies authentically while Hillary Clinton had to manufacture something to somehow encase the lie. Cox broke in to note that the difference was that the rich asshole can actually lie without conscious. That look of discomfort Clinton had when she lied was because she actually had one.
John Podhoretz explained that the rich asshole can do whatever he wants because it’s been shown that there are no consequences for his lies. Maher noted that’s exactly why he wants to see more people take action against the rich asshole’s lies.
Watch the segment below:
Bill Maher calls BS on claim VA scandal is ‘distracting’ the rich asshole: ‘All he does is play golf, watch TV and eat’
Real Time host Bill Maher -- HBO screen grab
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
During his Friday evening “Real Time” host Bill Maher mocked President some rich asshole for complaining that the so-called “attack” on Dr. Ronny Jackson, who the president nominated to lead the Veterans Administration. After he withdrew from considering, the right went on cable news to claim he was the casualty of “character assassination.”
“We didn’t know a lot about Ronny Jackson,” Maher explained. “But then when the rich asshole became president, Dr. Ronny gave him a clean bill of health, remember that? He was in grate shape and not obese at all. And we all said, ‘Is this guy high?’ And, yes, is the answer.”
When it came to the claim that the allegations against Jackson, the White House tried to claim that it has become a distraction to the president.
“A distraction?” Maher questioned. “All he does is golf, watch TV and eat. How can there be a distraction? Unless you’re a sand trap, a commercial or a chicken bone you’re good! Distraction? He’s calling ‘Fox & Friends’ in the morning!”
Watch the full opener below:
‘Big hoax by the Democrats’: the rich asshole rants about special counsel ‘witch hunt’ as Mueller closes in
some rich asshole during CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
In a Friday night tweet, President some rich asshole continued to play the victim when it comes to the investigation into possible Russian collusion.
“House Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the rich asshole Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Councel [sic] appointed. Witch Hunt!” the rich asshole tweeted
Friday it was revealed that the lawyer that the rich asshole campaign met with was an informant for the Russian government.
Thus far 13 Russians and three Russian entities have been indicted for involvement in the 2016 campaign. The investigation has also discovered that those indicted had contact with members of the campaign. the rich asshole then turned to sanction Russia from these findings. So, the idea that it is a hoax doesn’t entirely hold water from his own admission.
The former chair of the rich asshole campaign has also been indicted as well as his deputy.
This tweet also marks the first time the rich asshole has spelled the word counsel “Councel.” In past tweets, he’s spelled it “council,” meaning an assembly of people or advisors.
‘the rich asshole has never once discriminated’: Conservatives demand blacks and Muslims apologize to the president
some rich asshole speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Minorities in America owe President some rich asshole an apology — and even thanks — according to a new column posted on Newsmax.
The apologies were demanded by former the rich asshole campaign advisor Jeff Ballaborn, writing with Bruce Abramson for the website owned by the rich asshole confidante Christopher Ruddy.
“The leadership of America’s Jewish community owes President the rich asshole — and America’s Jews — an apology,” they wrote. “In a world of rationality and justice, American Jews would be grateful to President the rich asshole.”
“Will these mainstream Jewish leaders ever apologize to, much less thank, President the rich asshole?” they asked. “Don’t hold your breath.”
They used identical language to argue for the other groups that must apologize to the commander-n-chief.
“The leadership of America’s Black community owes President the rich asshole and African Americans a similar apology,” they wrote. “In a world of rationality and justice, African Americans would be grateful.”
And they didn’t stop there.
“The leadership of America’s Muslim community also owes President the rich asshole and Muslim Americans an apology,” they continued. “In a world of rationality and justice, American Muslims would be grateful.”
The Newsmax column continued listing everyone they believe should apologize.
“Still, it’s unfair to single out America’s Jewish, Black, or Muslim leadership. The leadership of American immigrant, LGBT, Asian, and feminist communities have been little better,” they argued.
“President the rich asshole has never once discriminated among Americans,” they concluded. “Imagine that. An American President who puts Americans first. An American leader who refuses to pander to or exacerbate divisions among Americans.”
Major Conservative Publication Just Purged Everyone Who Doesn’t Like the rich asshole
The purges have begun. Salem Media, owner of what was previously one of the less trashy conservative outlets, RedState, shocked many on Friday when they got rid of everyone who doesn’t like some rich asshole.
Writers were locked out of their accounts as the company completed the purge, which targeted those who have been critical of some rich asshole, fired writer @Patterico confirmed:
Former editor and right-wing crazypants Erick Erickson also confirmed the “mass firing,” which he called “very sad to see” but “not surprising.”
“It’s OrangeState now,” says terminated blogger Susan Wright.
Today's #FridayReads wont be anything I do over at @RedState. Feel free to follow me over @resurgent
Early Friday morning, one of the site’s lead editors, Caleb Howe, tweeted that “there’s a right way to do something and a fucked up way.” He threatened consequences an unnamed person did not return his phone call.
“They fired everybody who was insufficiently supportive of the rich asshole,” one writer told CNNMoney, adding, “how do you define being ‘sufficiently supportive’ of the rich asshole?”
But support of the rich asshole was not the only reason. The company had decided to fire many who were receiving more money-per-click — but mostly it was about the rich asshole.
“A number of those fired had older contracts making more money-per-click,” Erickson says. “But [RedState] kept all the pro-the rich asshole ones. Of those they fired making the lower amount per-click, the ones who were regularly critical of the rich asshole were fired—even if they generated solid traffic.”
“They canned someone who brought in 700k to 800k page views per month,” a writer told The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity. “Lately that would be around 10 percent of monthly traffic.”
This decision is not popular among slightly less stupid than normal conservatives:
We have driven 1000’s of clicks to @RedState.
But when you treat decent conservatives, good people, talented writers like crap just because they refuse to do propaganda instead of journalism, you will do without our support.
Salem has previously been criticized for punishing those who don’t spend much time with their tongues inserted firmly into some rich asshole’s gigantic orange anus. There has for some time been fear among RedState staff that “this was going to happen at RedState” — and on Friday, it happened.
While it’s easy to laugh at these people, it’s important to remember that this is intended to send a message to other conservatives: do what the rich asshole wants and praise him, or get out.
As things become worse and worse for the rich asshole, will we see more of these purges?
MSNBC analyst reveals the rich asshole’s lack of loyalty means staff end up in one of three unfavorable categories
some rich asshole speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Gage Skidmore/ Flickr)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
MSNBC analyst Howard Fineman explained the pattern of loyalty being a “one-way superhighway” for some rich asshole, during a Friday appearance on The Beat with Ari Melber.
“A veritable dumpster fire of top the rich asshole campaign officials with serious problems,” Melber noted at the beginning of the segment. “The big theme: a staff that may reflect a tone from the top, visible throughout the rich asshole’s business career, and this goes back years.”
“Howard, do you see an echo in the cabinet’s problems and the way some rich asshole actually ran the company that many voters on his side of the aisle saw as a plus in making him president?” Melber asked.
“Well, no doubt,” Fineman replied. “This is his whole career pattern.”
Fineman suggested President the rich asshole groups people into three categories, but shows loyalty to none of the groups.
“If I can use an analogy, it’s the row boat on the lake situation. okay? And who gets in it and who doesn’t come back,” Fineman said, referring to the famous Lake Tahoe execution scene in The Godfather II. “Those are the dupes, the disloyal, the dumb, and so on. They get in the row boat and get in the lake and don’t come back.”
“There’s another category of people that he has to distance himself from, but that he doesn’t completely reject because they may be useful or dangerous to him,” he continued. “Right now those are people like Corey Lewandowski or Paul Manafort of Michael Cohen.
“Then there are people that he rejects, makes fun of, and sometimes brings back in a cold-blooded transaction like Rudy Giuliani, who he dismissed and who is now back at his side,” Fineman explained of the third category.
“The only people who have stayed in the house and never gone in the row boat right now in this administration, as I take it, are Kellyanne Conway, Roger Stone down in Florida, Brad Parscale, the chairman of the 2020 campaign, and his personal business friends Tom Barrack and Harold Hamm,” he concluded.
“That’s the pattern with the rich asshole, it’s not only a one-way street, it’s a one-way superhighway,” Fineman added.
Watch:
Michael Cohen Once Bragged That He’s A Member Of The Russian Mob
Is Michael Cohen a member of the Russian mob? Probably not, but he seems to think so.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Cohen — President* some rich asshole’s longtime personal lawyer — once bragged at a former friend’s wedding that he was a member of a Russian criminal organization. The friend, Gregory Ehrlich, says that he doesn’t believe Cohen has any such ties but the fact that the rich asshole’s “fixer” would say such a thing is important given his involvement in The rich asshole’s criminal enterprise.
In 2015, Cohen was a huge part in the rich asshole’s attempt to secure a deal to build a gigantic tower in Moscow. The deal fell through, but Cohen had a close relationship with Russian criminal Felix Sater during the 2016 presidential campaign. Sater bragged to Cohen in emails obtained by the New York Times that he was close with Putin and that he could “get all of Putins team to buy in” on the deal.
“Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Sater wrote to Cohen, who describes the incredibly suspicious interactions as “business as usual and nothing more.”
This may be “business as usual” for Team the rich asshole, but the rest of us wonder how far Cohen went on his behalf to “engineer” his “victory” against Clinton.
Cohen is currently under criminal investigation by the FBI as The rich asshole continues his not-so-proud tradition of distancing himself from every single one of his associates who gets busted doing something horrible. By next Tuesday, we expect the rich asshole to claim his former personal attorney was just a part-time coffee boy.
Flynn Junior defends meeting Russian spymaster: ‘So what does this have to with Russian collusion?’
Michael Flynn Jr., left, with his father Michael Flynn (Screen cap).
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
The son of disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn failed to see the significance of a newly-reported private meeting with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Ambassador Kislyak was known as the top Russian spymaster in America at the time of the meeting.
Now Michael Flynn, Jr is wondering what the reports matter, lashing out on the topic on Twitter.
MFLYNNJR
Internet Erupts In Mockery After the rich asshole’s Latest Unhinged Dumbass Tweets
President Stable Genius once again kicked off his day Friday by tweeting incoherent ravings and (as usual) embarrassing the living hell out of our country.
“Is everybody believing what is going on. James Comey can’t define what a leak is. He illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION but doesn’t understand what he did or how serious it is. He lied all over the place to cover it up,” the rich asshole tweeted. “He’s either very sick or very dumb. Remember sailor!”
There’s certainly a lot going on in the rich asshole’s latest moronic tweet. Naturally, no one can believe what’s going on. We have a “President” who can’t string together enough words to form a sentence that doesn’t sound like it was written by a drunk second grader with severe head trauma.
Legal experts have confirmed that James Comey didn’t “illegally” leak anything, as the memos in question were unclassified at the time the former FBI director made them available to the press through a friend. “It’s still unclassified,” he pointed out in an interview on Fox News recently. Comey didn’t lie “all over the place” (or anywhere) to “cover it up.”
While our President* is “very sick or very dumb,” the same can not be said for James Comey.
The phrase “Remember sailor” references a sailor who was jailed for taking photos illegally of classified areas inside a submarine. the rich asshole pardoned him despite the fact that his conduct was (unlike Comey’s) illegal.
Naturally, this mishmash of dumbassery gave Americans a lot to laugh about.
(Zorro P Freely)
Is everybody believing what is going on. James Comey can’t define what a leak is. He illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION but doesn’t understand what he did or how serious it is. He lied all over the place to cover it up. He’s either very sick or very dumb. Remember sailor!
REMEMBER SAILOR pic.twitter.com/cLFITaw5Hb
the rich asshole is growing increasingly unhinged by the day. It’s time to get him out of office before he gets us all killed.
French first lady Brigitte Macron told Parisians why she pities Melania the rich asshole: report
Brigitte Macron (Youtube)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
French First Lady Brigitte Macron praised American First Lady Melania the rich asshole, but offered sympathy for the constraints of the White House, during a post-state visit interview with Le Monde in Paris, The Guardian reported.
Macron said the rich asshole was “actually really fun. We have the same sense of humour. We laugh a lot together.”
However, Macron also showed pity for her American counterpart, who “cannot do anything.”
“She can’t even open a window at the White House,” Macron noted. “She can’t go outside.”
“She’s much more constrained than I am,” Macron continued. “I go out every day in Paris.”
The Obama family was known for getting out and about around Washington, D.C. Michelle Obama was spotted incognito shopping at Target. She and President Obama would also visit local restaurants.
“It is not uncommon for the First Lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates,” said Kristina Schake, communications director for the Michelle Obama, in 2011.
Stormy Daniels lawyer says she may file new claim against the rich asshole
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 04/27/18 09:04 PM EDT
Stormy Daniels’s lawyer Michael Avenatti said Friday that the adult film star may file a new claim or lawsuit against President the rich asshole for libel.
During an interview on CNN, Avenatti referenced the rich asshole having shared a tweet about a sketch of a man whom Daniels claims threatened her for discussing her alleged affair with the president, referring to it as a “con job.”
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! twitter.com/shennafoxmusic…
“He called my client a con or suggested that she lied to the American people,” Avenatti said Friday on CNN. “We may be bringing that claim shortly.”
The lawyer first publicly suggested earlier this month that Daniels could file a defamation lawsuit against the rich asshole over the tweet.
Avenatti made his comments Friday shortly after a judge ordered a 90-day stay on Daniels’s lawsuit against the rich asshole and his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen.
U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero ordered the stay over a criminal investigation into Cohen, saying there could be overlap between the two cases.
Avenatti quickly promised to appeal the stay.
While we certainly respect Judge Otero’s 90 day stay order based on Mr. Cohen’s pleading of the 5th, we do not agree with it. We will likely be filing an immediate appeal to the Ninth Circuit early next week. Justice delayed is justice denied. #basta
He also said on CNN that the stay could be extended beyond the three-month period.
“We don't know how long that’s going to take and we just don’t want to be on ice during the interim time period,” Avenatti said.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing the rich asshole to formally void the nondisclosure agreement she signed shortly before the 2016 election that she says was used as part of an effort to keep her from discussing an alleged affair with the rich asshole in 2006.
The actress argues the deal is void because the rich asshole didn’t sign the document.
She is also suing Cohen for defamation for suggesting that she’s lying about the alleged affair.
Cohen announced this week that he would plead the Fifth Amendment in the lawsuit.
Judge puts porn star’s lawsuit against the rich asshole lawyer Michael Cohen on hold for 90 days
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President some rich asshole's personal lawyer Michael Cohen exits a hotel in New York City, U.S., April 11, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Adult-film star Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit against President some rich asshole’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, will be put on pause of 90 days, the federal judge in the case ordered on Friday, saying that Cohen’s constitutional rights could be endangered if the lawsuit proceeds while he is under criminal investigation.
“The Court finds that there is a large potential factual overlap between the civil and criminal proceedings that would heavily implicate Mr. Cohen’s Fifth Amendment rights,” U.S. District Judge James Otero wrote in the order, referring to the Constitution’s protection against self-incrimination.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has alleged that Cohen paid her $130,000 to buy her silence about having sex with the rich asshole.
Reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech
POLITICS
Judge Agrees To Delay Stormy Daniels’ Lawsuit Against Michael Cohen
The case will be put on hold for 90 days.
April 27 (Reuters) - Adult-film star Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit against U.S. President some rich asshole’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, will be put on pause for 90 days, the federal judge in the case ordered on Friday, saying that Cohen’s constitutional rights could be endangered if the lawsuit proceeds while he is under criminal investigation.
“The court finds that there is a large potential factual overlap between the civil and criminal proceedings that would heavily implicate Mr Cohen’s Fifth Amendment rights,” District Judge James Otero wrote in the order, referring to the Constitution’s protection against self-incrimination.
Cohen has admitted paying $130,000 to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to secure her silence about having sex with the rich asshole, which he denies. Cohen said the payment was legal, and Daniels has sued to end her nondisclosure agreement.
Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti promptly pledged to fight the stay, writing on Twitter he would file an immediate appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California, which could ultimately lead the Supreme Court to have to weigh in.
Cohen said earlier this week he would invoke the fifth amendment and refuse to answer questions in the lawsuit after the FBI raided his home, office and hotel room two weeks ago.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that no individual can be “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”
Daniels had countered that the lawsuit should proceed, with Cohen invoking the amendment only for specific questions that might lead to self-incrimination.
But Otero wrote that approach could lead to Cohen not answering any questions, rendering a deposition useless.
The stay is warranted “to determine that the scope and context of the FBI investigation and potential criminal proceedings will not substantially interfere with this action,” Otero wrote. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech and Rosalba O’Brien)
Russian oligarch that set up Don Jr’s infamous meeting sent the rich asshole an expensive painting — and he thanked him for it
some rich asshole (left) and Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov (right) at the 2013 Miss USA pageant. Image via Ethan Miller/AFP.
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Aras Agalarov, the Russian oligarch that arranged the infamous June 2016 the rich asshole Tower meeting, gave President some rich asshole an expensive painting for his birthday following the confab — and the president later sent him a message thanking him.
This anecdote was, as CNN noted Friday, one of the new pieces of information contained in a report released by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee dissenting from the document released by the GOP majority at the end of their Russia investigation. The information came from an email sent by British producer Rod Goldstone, the man who organized the meeting itself. It was sent to the rich asshole’s personal assistant, Rhona Graff.
“There are few things better than receiving a sensational gift from someone you admire,” the rich asshole told Agalarov a week later. “And that’s what I’ve received from you.”
Agalarov — a real estate tycoon and patriarch of a family The Guardian called “the Trumps of Russia” — is known for his ties to the Kremlin. The two collaborated on bringing the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013, and Agalarov’s son Emin, a pop singer represented by the British producer Goldstone, was also integral in planning the meeting between members of the rich asshole’s family and campaign and Russians who professed to have “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
POLITICS
GOP-Led House Panel Ends Its Russia Probe By Claiming To Clear the rich asshole
The document, which Democrats say is politically tainted, also repeatedly criticizes Hillary Clinton.
WASHINGTON ― The Republican-controlled House intelligence committee released its final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election Friday morning, arguing it found no evidence of collusion between President some rich asshole’s campaign and Moscow, and prompting immediate recriminations from Democrats.
Citing interviews, reviews of documents and other investigative steps, the 253-page document states that “the Committee did not find any evidence of collusion, conspiracy, or coordination between the rich asshole campaign and the Russians.”
“While the Committee found that several of the contacts between the rich asshole associates and Russians ― or their proxies, including Wikileaks ― were ill-advised, the Committee did not determine that the rich asshole or anyone associated with him assisted Russia’s active measures campaign,” the report says.
The report’s authors attempt to equate the actions of the rich asshole and Clinton campaigns in terms of helping the Russian meddling, faulting both for “poor judgment and ill-considered actions.” When, for instance, they criticize the rich asshole campaign links to WikiLeaks and a June 2016 the rich asshole Tower meeting with Russians who claimed to have damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, they try to balance that out with criticism of Clinton associates who paid former British spy Christopher Steele to investigate the rich asshole-Russia links, noting that Steele appears to have communicated with Russian government sources.
The document also bashes Obama administration officials for failing to alert the rich asshole campaign to counterintelligence investigations during election season, particularly of pro-Russia the rich asshole adviser Carter Page.
And the report attempts to rebut the widespread view that the rich asshole and his associates were deliberately going easy on Russia. It contends that a rich asshole-driven change in the Republican Party platform ― to remove an endorsement of arming Ukraine in its yearslong conflict with Russian-backed separatists ― actually led to a stronger U.S. policy on the crisis. As for efforts to create a secret channel between Moscow and the rich asshole team after the election, it says they don’t show secret dealings, but instead prove the two sides did not have significant contact before the rich asshole’s victory.
Additionally, the report calls for Congress to consider repealing the Logan Act, a law barring unauthorized contact between Americans and foreign governments in disputes with the U.S. that the rich asshole critics say the president’s associates may have violated.
Begun in a bipartisan fashion after the U.S. intelligence community publicly accused Russia of intervening in the election to help the rich asshole, the House intelligence committee’s investigation devolved into mudslinging as the panel’s chairmain, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), sought to shift its focus to alleged Obama administration misdeeds. Nunes grew close to the White House and continued to drive important decisions about how the panel conducted its work even after he publicly committed to taking a step back.
the rich asshole praised the document on Twitter soon after it was released, highlighting the Clinton mention and lobbing an attack at other ongoing investigations of potential collusion with Russia. Two Senate committees are still looking into the issue, as is special counsel Robert Mueller at the Justice Department.
Democrats slammed the report. The House intelligence committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), issued a statement calling its findings “superficial and political.” He criticized how the Republican line changed over time ― citing the way GOP members first disputed the intelligence community’s claim that Moscow wanted to help the rich asshole and hurt Clinton, and then avoided making that case in their final product.
“Throughout the investigation, Committee Republicans chose not to seriously investigate — or even see, when in plain sight — evidence of collusion between the rich asshole campaign and Russia, instead adopting the role of defense counsel for key investigation witnesses,” Schiff said. He cited pro-the rich asshole postings by Russian-run social media accounts and the Russian-linked released of hacked materials from Democrats.
Republicans did not allow the panel to interview all witnesses it sought to before formally ending the probe last month, he added.
Schiff said the Democratic minority on the panel is continuing to investigate and received new materials from a witness just this week. Democrats also issued their own 98-page document rebutting several pro-the rich asshole arguments in the majority-controlled report. They noted defects like its downplaying of the role of George Papadopoulos, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of Mueller’s inquiry.
The Republican report says Papadopoulos “made minor contributions” and “often acted on his own without the official backing of the rich asshole campaign.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who previously worked on the rich asshole campaign, testified that he “pushed back pretty sharply” when Papadopoulos said he could engage with Russia on behalf of the campaign, the report adds.
Some material in the majority report sheds new light on how the rich asshole associates say they were assessing the Russian interference as it became clearer in 2016. It says the decision to use material from WikiLeaks was the subject of debate within the campaign. “I remember making a decision that it [a trove of hacked emails] was in the public domain, and it would be silly not to use it,” Sessions told the House panel. “So I used it, although I could understand somebody else not wanting to.”
And it addresses what has become one of the president’s personal fixations: the charge, made in Steele’s dossier, that he paid Russian prostitutes during a Moscow trip in 2013. “The Committee found no evidence to support these allegations,” the report says.
Much of the report is redacted, including, notably, the number of the rich asshole associates that law enforcement began investigating during the election. In a statement after the release, Nunes expressed the GOP’s unhappiness about those cuts ― which were likely demanded by national security officials ― and said the panel will issue “a less redacted version in the near future.”
This story has been updated with additional details about report and a Democratic rebuttal.
CNN’s Kamau Bell reveals how the rich asshole’s border policy is ‘hurting Americans’ more than they know
Kamau Bell visiting the U.S border (screenshot from video)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Comedian and TV host Kamau Bell recently visited the U.S. Border to speak with immigrants who have just been deported.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Bell said that he met with a ton of people who had established lives in the U.S.
He also mentioned that American’s don’t have a full understanding of how the rich asshole’s immigration policy and broader wall plans are actually hurting the lives of many Americans.
“People in America don’t realize that the rich asshole’s border control actually hurts Americans more.”
He also mentioned that people at the border are more focused on living their daily lives than keeping up with the rich asshole.
Watch his full interview below.
No comments:
Post a Comment