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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Hylarn (Don’t ask)
#262976: Nov 27th 2018 at 8:54:58 PM

They don’t spend that much to make the hammer, they spent that much to design and test a hammer that can be safely used in crazy situations.

The hammer was more accountancy weirdness

Edited by Hylarn on Nov 27th 2018 at 8:55:25 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#262977: Nov 27th 2018 at 9:54:32 PM

Sorry to be a bit late with this:

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/11/27/day-677/

    Day 677: Gone rogue 
1/ Paul Manafort violated his cooperation agreement with Robert Mueller by repeatedly lying to federal investigators, according to a court filing by the special counsel's office. Prosecutors claim Manafort's "crimes and lies" about "a variety of subject matters" relieve them of any promises made to Manafort as part of the plea agreement. Manafort cannot withdraw his guilty plea and without a deal, he now faces at least a decade in prison after pleading guilty in September to conspiring to defraud the U.S. and conspiring to obstruct justice. In August, a federal court jury in Alexandria, Va., convicted the former Trump campaign chairman on eight felony counts and deadlocked on 10 others. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / ABC News / CNN)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/26/mueller-manafort-plea-deal-lying-1017278

2/ Manafort allegedly held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Manafort met with the Wiki Leaks founder around March 2016 – about the same time he joined Trump's presidential campaign. Several months later, Wiki Leaks published the Democratic emails stolen by Russia. Manafort also met with Assange in 2013 and 2015. It's unclear why Manafort met with Assange or what they discussed. Manafort and Wiki Leak both denied that Manafort had met with Assange. [Editor's Note: Something about this story doesn't smell right.] (The Guardian / CNBC)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/27/manafort-held-secret-talks-with-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy?CMP=share_btn_tw

Jerome Corsi emailed Roger Stone two months before Wiki Leaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, saying "Word is (Julian Assange) plans 2 more dumps…Impact planned to be very damaging." On July 25, 2016, Stone emailed Corsi, directing him to "Get to (Assange) [a]t Ecuadorian Embassy in London and get the pending (Wiki Leaks) emails." Corsi passed the directive along to conservative author Ted Malloch. Eight days later, Corsi emailed Stone saying that Wiki Leaks had information that would be damaging to Clinton's campaign and planned to release it in October. (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/mueller-has-emails-stone-pal-corsi-about-wikileaks-dem-email-n940611

Corsi claimed he received "limited immunity" from Mueller in order to talk about a "cover story" he crafted for Stone to help explain Stone's Aug. 21, 2016, tweet saying it would "soon be [the] Podesta's time in the barrel." Corsi also claimed he has a joint defense agreement with Trump. (Daily Caller / Slate)

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/11/jerome-corsi-trump-joint-defense-agreement-mueller-immunity-deal.html

Corsi rejected a deal offered by Mueller to plead guilty to one count of perjury, saying: "They want me to say I willfully lied. I'm not going to agree that I lied. I did not. I will not lie to save my life. I'd rather sit in prison and rot for as long as these thugs want me to." Corsi, who is associated with Roger Stone, said he was offered a deal on one count of perjury. (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/26/jerome-corsi-mueller-investigation-plea-deal-rejected

Mueller's team has been investigating a meeting between Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017. They're specifically asking if Wiki Leaks or Julian Assange were discussed in the meeting. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/politics/paul-manafort-julian-assange-meetings/index.html

A federal judge appeared reluctant to unseal a criminal complaint against Assange due to the government's "compelling interest" in keeping the records under wraps until he is arrested. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/politics/brinkema-defers-assange-ruling/index.html

3/ Trump attacked Mueller after Manafort was accused of lying. Trump called the special counsel a "conflicted prosecutor gone rogue" and claimed Mueller is doing "TREMENDOUS damage" to the criminal justice system. Trump also accused the special counsel team of forcing witnesses to lie. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, said she was not aware of any discussions about a potential presidential pardon for Manafort. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/27/trump-mueller-russia-probe-1017370

4/ The Senate could vote on a bill to protect Mueller. Jeff Flake has said he will oppose all of Trump's judicial nominees until there is a vote on a bill to codify some protections for special counsel investigations. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said Republicans are willing to hold a vote "if that's what it's going to take" to get more of Trump's nominations through the Judiciary Committee. (Roll Call / Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/27/mueller-vote-lameduck-1017535

Notables.

Trump threatened to cut subsidies for GM after the company said it was planning to cut up to 14,800 jobs and end production at several North American factories. (Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Bloomberg)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/27/general-motors-shares-fall-after-trump-threatens-to-cut-subsidies-for-company.html

Fox News coordinated its interview questions before on-air interviews with Scott Pruitt. In one instance, the EPA approved part of the show's script. (Daily Beast / Slate / Think Progress)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-and-friends-fed-interview-script-to-trumps-epa-chief-emails-show

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said "it's awfully tough" for Ivanka Trump to comply with government email rules. Bob Goodlatte suggested that Ivanka's use of a personal email account to conduct government business was "very different" from the private email server Hillary Clinton used during her time as secretary of State. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/26/bob-goodlatte-ivanka-trump-emails-hillary-clinton-1017364

House Republicans are meeting with Trump today in an attempt to avoid a government shutdown on Dec. 7. Republican leaders promised Trump that they would fight to secure more funding for his border wall after the midterms. Democrats, however, say Trump's $5 billion price tag is too high. Senate GOP leaders have discussed the possibility of spreading the $5 billion out over two years. Trump hasn't ruled the idea out, but it's not clear whether Democrats will concede. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/26/congress-government-shutdown-house-republicans-trump-1017136

House Republicans released a 297-page tax plan they hope to pass during the lame-duck session. The bill would impact Americans' retirement savings, multiple business tax breaks, and would redesign the IRS. The House Republicans could vote on the proposal as early as this week. (Politico / CNBC / Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-brady-idUSKCN1NW07W

The White House is preventing the CIA director from briefing the Senate on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Gina Haspel won't take part in a Senate briefing by Mike Pompeo and James Mattis on U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia behind closed doors on Wednesday. (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/27/jamal-khashoggi-murder-senate-briefing-saudi-arabia-gina-haspel-white-house

Edited by sgamer82 on Nov 27th 2018 at 10:55:28 AM

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#262978: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:01:00 PM

[up]

House Republicans released a 297-page tax plan they hope to pass during the lame-duck session. The bill would impact Americans' retirement savings, multiple business tax breaks, and would redesign the IRS. The House Republicans could vote on the proposal as early as this week. (Politico / CNBC / Reuters)

How easy would it be for the Dems to undo this come January?

Edited by kkhohoho on Nov 27th 2018 at 12:01:12 PM

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#262979: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:02:47 PM

[up]They'd need the approval of the Senate and the President.

(No dice, in other words.)

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#262980: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:04:46 PM

[up]Damn.

In that case, how likely is it that the Senate will actually vote on this before January? Seeing as according to the article, they have a bunch of other shit to deal with first.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#262981: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:08:35 PM

Ah that’s a new weirdness, the process I was talking about is how internally created things go (with each item sharing some of the burden of the production cost, thus showing a big price because the teams aren’t produced in insane amounts) this is something different.

It looks like the hammer didn’t cost $435, instead the DOD paid $847,000 for a company to provide all the stuff their guys need, when you spit that total out between each singular item provided you get $435, for both the hammer with a real value of $5 and for the high tech radio thingy with a real value of over a thousand dollars.

It’s an accounting trick, the DOD isn’t buying hammers, it’s buying a giant bundle of stuff and if you do stupid accounting games (which the DOD does for some reason) you can make it look like the hammer has a cost of $435.

The DOD didn’t buy a hammer for $435, it bought a bunch of stuff for $847,000, which included some hammers.

[up] Can’t the Dem’s just filibuster it? Or am I missing something?

Edited by Silasw on Nov 27th 2018 at 6:09:39 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
TheRoguePenguin Since: Jul, 2009
#262982: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:21:15 PM

It's not going anywhere. They need Dem help to pass it and there's no way it's getting through in a lame duck session.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#262983: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:23:36 PM

[up]Doesn't the current House still have a Republican majority?

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#262984: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:24:35 PM

Sure but it can’t just pass the House, it also has to pass the Senate, where the Dems can block it with a filibuster.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#262985: Nov 27th 2018 at 10:26:34 PM

Oh yeah, brilliant fucking idea there - give the corporations more tax breaks when GM just laid off 1,500 employees the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, Trump's asinine tariffs are partly to blame, but the "Job Creators!" line should be fucking dead and buried, rather than an Undead Horse Trope.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#262986: Nov 28th 2018 at 2:06:00 AM

[up][up][up]But not majority enough to punch through filibuster and they can't use reconciliation this year again

"You can reply to this Message!"
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#262987: Nov 28th 2018 at 2:16:22 AM

Isn't Trump threatening to yank GM's subsidies unless they cancel the layoffs his tariffs caused?

"Yup. That tasted purple."
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#262988: Nov 28th 2018 at 2:22:16 AM

Yes (see his Twitter feed). Never mind that this is Congress's bailiwick, not his. Again. To be fair, he's far from the only American under this misconception.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#262989: Nov 28th 2018 at 2:30:58 AM

I thought we'd established that Trump thinks Congress is supposed to do whatever he tells them.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#262990: Nov 28th 2018 at 5:49:52 AM

His latest twitter rant, presumably brought on by Manafort getting caught in another lie.

While the disgusting Fake News is doing everything within their power not to report it that way, at least 3 major players are intimating that the Angry Mueller Gang of Dems is viciously telling witnesses to lie about facts & they will get relief. This is our Joseph Mc Carthy Era!

....The Fake News Media builds Bob Mueller up as a Saint, when in actuality he is the exact opposite. He is doing TREMENDOUS damage to our Criminal Justice System, where he is only looking at one side and not the other. Heroes will come of this, and it won’t be Mueller and his.......terrible Gang of Angry Democrats. Look at their past, and look where they come from. The now $30,000,000 Witch Hunt continues and they’ve got nothing but ruined lives. Where is the Server? Let these terrible people go back to the Clinton Foundation and “Justice” Department!

Watching him have a breakdown on Twitter is great.

Edited by megaeliz on Nov 28th 2018 at 8:54:53 AM

Friendperson Since: May, 2018
#262991: Nov 28th 2018 at 5:57:03 AM

It'll be interesting once his presidency is over and all his tweets are compiled to see his direct thoughts on current events or policy decisions in a book or something. With a marker every time a direct falsehood is told.

Edited by Friendperson on Nov 28th 2018 at 5:57:29 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#262992: Nov 28th 2018 at 6:13:12 AM

It'd be simpler to Mark the times a falsehood wasn't told

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#262993: Nov 28th 2018 at 6:13:32 AM

[up][up][up]Best part is that, thanks to seizing Manafort's ill gotten assets, the Mueller probe has actually made money for the government.

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Nov 28th 2018 at 10:19:22 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#262994: Nov 28th 2018 at 6:14:31 AM

[up][up][up]Not sure if that's such a good idea. There would be so many markers that it would be borderline unreadable.

Edited by kkhohoho on Nov 28th 2018 at 8:14:44 AM

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#262995: Nov 28th 2018 at 6:24:02 AM

Which is why we ought to do [up][up][up] instead.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#262996: Nov 28th 2018 at 6:27:17 AM

[up][up][up]That's actually hilarious. Crimefighting does pay. :D

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
TechPriest90 Servant of the Omnissiah from Collegia Titanica, Mars, Sol System Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Servant of the Omnissiah
#262997: Nov 28th 2018 at 8:10:51 AM

You get the feeling we're seeing an IRL Villainous Breakdown, combined with This Cannot Be! with Trump's Tweetstorms?

I pretty much stopped watching reality shows - Trump's been providing all the entertainment needed through his online handle.

I hold the secrets of the machine.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#262998: Nov 28th 2018 at 8:56:53 AM

I wish I could find Trump's tantrums "entertaining", but I cringe. This guy is our president. He has power. Someone who behaves like that with power (and with plenty of sycophant yes men backing him up) is dangerous.

Edited by speedyboris on Nov 28th 2018 at 11:02:49 AM

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#262999: Nov 28th 2018 at 9:02:44 AM

[up][up] If only they were that prescient and it wasn't just senile ravings.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#263000: Nov 28th 2018 at 9:59:20 AM

If I ever form a band, we're calling ourselves Angry Mueller Gang of Dems.

i'm tired, my friend

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