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DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#240126: Apr 27th 2018 at 12:01:34 PM

The Republican committee report is interesting in that, while they found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia (hard to find what you are not looking for), they did concede that Russia intervened in our election, that the FBI response to that was insufficient, and that the Trump campaign team should not have met with a Russian lawyer.

Not fake news anymore, eh?

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#240127: Apr 27th 2018 at 12:25:37 PM

That's stuff they blame on Obama (barring the lawyer bit, obviously). Of course they'll bring that up.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#240128: Apr 27th 2018 at 12:50:46 PM

Granted, this isn't really new, and I sort of wish the media would stop treating it like it was. They announced this outcome a while back, and this is just a continuation of that.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#240129: Apr 27th 2018 at 1:31:51 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/04/27/day-463/

Day 463: Very sick or very dumb.

1/ The House Intelligence Committee found "no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government" in the 2016 election. The 253-page report criticized both the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns for "poor judgment and ill-considered actions" in their dealings with Russia-related figures. Democrats on the committee accused the Republicans of prematurely closing the investigation in a "a systematic effort to muddy the waters and to deflect attention away from the President" and asserted that Trump associates willingness to accept Russian assistance suggest "a consciousness of wrongfulness, if not illegality." The report accused the intelligence community of "significant intelligence tradecraft failings," suggesting that Russia's main goal was to sow discord in the United States and not to help Trump win the election. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/27/house-intelligence-committee-issues-russia-report-557413

2/ Minutes after the committee's report was released, Trump tweeted "Wow!" the Russia investigation is "A total With Hunt!" and "MUST END NOW." (The Hill)

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385167-trump-russia-probe-must-end-now

3/ Natalya Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign officials at Trump Tower in 2016, was an informant for for Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. "I am a lawyer, and I am an informant," she said in newly released emails. "Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general." Veselnitskaya insists that she met withTrump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and others in a private capacity – not as a representative of the Russian government. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/us/natalya-veselnitskaya-trump-tower-russian-prosecutor-general.html

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley wants to release interview transcripts from the Trump Tower meeting. The committee anticipates releasing written responses from Natalia Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort following some redactions. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/26/trump-tower-meeting-russian-transcript-grassley-557153

4/ Trump tweeted that James Comey is "either very sick or very dumb" for having "illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION." Comey is not under federal investigation for leaking classified information or lying. Trump added that Comey "lied all over the place" and "doesn't understand what he did or how serious it is." Comey wrote a series of contemporaneous memos documenting his interactions with Trump, which he leaked after being fired in May. "That memo was unclassified then," Comey said, and "it's still unclassified." (New York Times / The Guardian / Washington Post)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/27/donald-trump-james-comey-memo-row-very-sick-dumb

Five months' worth of text messages between FBI special agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were recovered. The messages span December 2016 to May 2017 and capture the immediate reactions to Trump's decision to fire James Comey, as well as the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. The cache of messages were originally thought to be missing, but the Justice Department's inspector general recovered them using forensic tools. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/politics/missing-strzok-page-text-messages/index.html

5/ Trump thanked Kanye West for his support, tweeting that the rapper has "performed a great service to the Black Community." Earlier this week, Kanye tweeted that "the mob" could not stop him from loving Trump. He then shared a photo of himself in a Make America Great Again hat. Trump thanked West for the support, tweeting "very cool!" Trump also thanked Chance the Rapper for tweeting that "Black people don't have to be democrats." Trump Jr. also thanked Chance for "breaking with convention," but then confusingly included basketball emojis in his tweet. Chance released a statement distancing himself from Trump, saying "I'd never support anyone who has made a career out of hatred, racism and discrimination." (The Hill / Washington Post / VICE News / Daily Beast)

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385151-trump-thanks-kanye-west-for-praising-him-hes-performed-a-great

6/ Trump has asked aides if he should invite Kanye West to the White House for dinner and a photo-op. A source close to Trump said they couldn't tell if Trump was "kidding" or not, but reiterated that Trump enjoys that West has "always said wonderful" things about him. (Daily Beast)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-thinking-about-inviting-kanye-to-the-white-house-for-dinner-aides-say

Notables.

North and South Korea agreed to end their seven-decade war following a meeting between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in. The deal includes promises from both leaders to pursue "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Penninsula. Trump hailed the peace effort on Twitter, saying "KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!" (Bloomberg / New York Times / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/north-korea-south-korea-summit-intl/index.html

Federal prosecutors seized as many as 16 cell phones during the raids on Michael Cohen's office, home, and hotel room. Prosecutor Thomas McKay intends to hand over the seized materials to Cohen's attorneys by May 11. (New York Post)

https://nypost.com/2018/04/26/feds-seized-more-than-a-dozen-of-michael-cohens-phones/

A federal judge dismissed Paul Manafort's civil suit challenging Robert Mueller's authority. Manafort's attorneys asked to throw out all charges against Manafort, arguing that Mueller had exceeded his authority by bringing charges unrelated to Russian election interference. (CBS News / Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/27/paul-manafort-civil-suit-dismissed-557465

Paul Ryan said he fired Chaplain Patrick Conroy because members felt like House members' "pastoral needs" were not being met. Conroy said Ryan asked him to resign two weeks ago, a request that he complied with but was never given a reason for. (The Hill / New York Times)

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/385159-ryan-explains-decision-to-dismiss-house-chaplain-in-closed-door-meeting

Scores of vacant positions in the Trump administration are causing problems for the federal government. The number of unfilled positions is at an all-time high and the staff shortages have halted pay raises for thousands of federal workers, stalled legislation to help home buyers with their mortgages, and prevented the IRS from pushing out regulations related to the new tax law. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/27/trump-deserted-government-552971

Trump warned countries to not oppose the U.S.'s bid to host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada. "It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don't support us (including at the United Nations)?," Trump tweeted. (The Hill)

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385115-trump-warns-countries-against-opposing-2026-world-cup-bid

The White House medical unit allowed senior officials to "grab and go" prescription drugs. "You need to just give people these meds when they ask for it," multiple former medical unit employees said. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/27/politics/ronny-jackson-medical-unit-ambien/index.html

Trump will visit the UK on July 13th. The trip is being billed as a "flying visit" rather than an official state one, which would have seen Trump hosted by the Queen. (BBC / Sky News)

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43913414

The US economy grew at a rate of 2.3% in the first quarter, slower than the 2.9% pace in the fourth quarter of 2017, but above Wall Street analysts' forecasts of 2%. (CNN Money / Washington Post)

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/27/news/companies/economy-economic-growth/index.html

Trump would like to regularly appear on "Fox and Friends," according to Kellyanne Conway. "The president has said he would like to perhaps come once a month and as news breaks," which caught the show's hosts off guard, who asked her to clarify that she meant. (The Hill)

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/385154-kellyanne-conway-tells-fox-friends-that-trump-wants-to-come-on-once-a-month

edited 27th Apr '18 1:32:54 PM by sgamer82

Mario1995 The Dishonorable from Atlanta Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
The Dishonorable
#240130: Apr 27th 2018 at 1:34:43 PM

Something that was buried in yesterday's poll concerning whether or not people believe Trump or Comey.

51% of Republicans, yes, 51%, believe that the news media is an enemy of the people.

And yet who is willing to bet that they're all watching Fox News, which is part of, wait for it, the news media?

"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam Gallagher
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#240131: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:00:49 PM

Doublethink is more or less required for one to support the Republican party, so yeah.

i'm tired, my friend
KazuyaProta Shin Megami Tensei IV from A Industrial Farm Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Shin Megami Tensei IV
#240132: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:17:25 PM

That makes internal sense actually, the new media is bad except for Fox News.

Watch me destroying my country
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#240133: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:27:57 PM

The "all media but Fox/Breitbart/Infowars has a liberal bias" thing has been around for a long time.

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#240134: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:31:43 PM

[up]+[up]x2 Actually, a poll from Manmouth (that recently played on Fox) showed that people who watch Fox News trust it the least of all people who watch the news. And they still trust it more then Trump. I posted that link a few weeks ago; I'll have to find it again.

So even Fox isn't safe from Republicans thinking News Stations and Reporters are bad, which would make me worry if I were Fox News...

KazuyaProta Shin Megami Tensei IV from A Industrial Farm Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Shin Megami Tensei IV
#240135: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:34:51 PM

It don't surprise me, a lot of them have that strong desire of being the Chaotic Good lonely heroic ranger that rise above the sheeple.

Watch me destroying my country
danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#240136: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:50:24 PM

Seriously? Trump is now mobster-threatening the world over who gets to host FIFA?

Also, stop claiming any sort of credit for the Korean peace talks, you had literally less than nothing to do with them.

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#240137: Apr 27th 2018 at 2:56:34 PM

[up] Yeah, Reddit is filled with people comparing it to Nixon's visit to China. Except while Nixon directly played a hand in the defrosting of the relationship, in this case it was a combination of a destroyed testing site and Moon Jae-In that led to the talks, not Trump.

edited 27th Apr '18 2:56:52 PM by Grafite

Life is unfair...
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#240138: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:08:20 PM

It won't stop him from taking credit for it, though.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#240139: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:14:21 PM

I mean, it doesn't help that the South Korean president directly claimed that Trump was a big part of it, regardless of how true it is.

I've read speculation that it was less to do with Trump's diplomacy skills (or lack thereof) than it was South Korea being scared that Trump's belligerent threats towards North Korea indirectly put them in the crosshairs so they wanted to prevent that.

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#240140: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:14:22 PM

[up]+[up][up]x3 I don't even believe this is like China-US Relations; this isn't the first time N. Korea said 'We want peace', only to then restart their Nuclear Weapons Program after they got a couple million dollars in aide. I have a bad feeling everyone is being played by Kim Jong-Un, just as the world was being played by Kim Jong-Il.

And I also find it very hypocritical that Trump wants peace with North Korea, and yet wants to basically go to war with Iran; especially since a) Iran is complying completely with the Nuclear Agreement, and b) I trust the Iranian Government to keep their promise way more then the North Korean one.

edited 27th Apr '18 3:15:10 PM by DingoWalley1

Wariolander Since: Nov, 2017
#240141: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:14:44 PM

[up][up][up][up] Most Americans don't even care about Soccer, why does he?

edited 27th Apr '18 3:15:16 PM by Wariolander

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#240142: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:16:55 PM

So a federal judges has put a stay on the Stormy Daniels Civil Lawsuit. [1]

A federal judge has put Stormy Daniels' lawsuit against President Trump and his personal attorney Michael Cohen on hold for 90 days after Cohen said he would invoke his Fifth Am. rights.

"While the exact scope and breadth of the criminal investigation remains unclear, both the gov't and Mr. Cohen indicated that the subject matter of the criminal investigation and the documents seized, in some part reference the $130,000 payment made to Ms. Clifford."

The judge presiding over Stormy Daniels' lawsuit says the FBI raid on Michael Cohen "is no simple criminal investigation; it is an investigation into the personal attorney of a sitting President," and that an indictment is "likely."

edited 27th Apr '18 3:18:20 PM by megaeliz

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#240143: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:18:01 PM

[up]I don't think he does, I think he's just trying to act like a strongman again

edited 27th Apr '18 3:18:25 PM by BearyScary

Do not obey in advance.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#240144: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:24:10 PM

[up][up] here's a bit more on that:

1/ The federal judge correctly freezed the Stormy Daniels lawsuit. Cohen is facing serious criminal jeopardy that is closely related to the Stormy Daniels lawsuit, and he has a constitutional right to take the Fifth.

2/ The judge was required to balance the potential harm to Cohen with prejudice to Daniels, who filed this suit to be freed from the NDA that prohibited her from telling her story.

3/ As the judge notes, Daniels is not prejudiced by a stay because Daniels (and her attorney, @Michael Avenatti) have told her story on national television and she has not been deterred from speaking.

4/ On the flip side, forcing Cohen to take the Fifth would have severe consequences for him. Taking the Fifth could be used against him in the civil lawsuit, while not taking the Fifth would open him up to questioning that would hurt him in the criminal investigation.

5/ If Daniels and Avenatti had remained silent and appeared to be deterred from speaking by the NDA, this would have been a closer call for the judge, but the result may have been the same given the very significant issues at stake for Cohen.

6/ This freeze of the case does not affect the underlying lawsuit at all other than to delay it. Civil cases are often frozen (the legal term is "stayed") when there is a closely related criminal investigation.

7/ It happens often when the SEC (civil) and Justice Department (criminal) both investigate and charge the same person. Typically in that situation, the civil case is stayed until the entire criminal case is completed.

8/ This is obviously a different circumstance because Daniels is a private person who is allegedly suffering harm, which is why the judge carefully weighed the factors and only granted a 90-day stay for now. /end

ADDENDUM: Some journalists have noted that the judge concluded that Cohen will "likely" be indicted. That is a common sense conclusion by the judge—when the FBI executes search warrants at your home and office, you are likely going to be indicted.

Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#240145: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:54:08 PM

Moon crediting Trump is standard ingratiating himself because South Korea needs us, and it costs him nothing to throw Trump a bone and keeps him on his side.

Playing nice because we are still the biggest stick.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#240146: Apr 27th 2018 at 3:57:01 PM

I think we should ask Trump to trade the US Presidency for presidency of FIFA.

Then we get a good president picked by the international community while FIFA's corruption will go down....5 to 10%

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#240147: Apr 27th 2018 at 4:22:02 PM

So I guess what you guys are saying the issue is, is that people are treating public debt like private debt, when it's not?

That's exactly what they're saying.

The National Debt became a popular right-wing bogeyman in an effort to justify cutting social programs. The Right has successfully convinced a not-insignificant portion of the population that China could, at any time, foreclose on America and then suddenly we're a Third-World slave state subservient to their government.

Like, one day Chinese soldiers are just going to show up going, "Aha! We own the Deed to 37 states now! Your freedoms belong to us!"

This is baseless garbage, but so are many Right-Wing scare tactics.

edited 27th Apr '18 4:24:57 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#240148: Apr 27th 2018 at 4:37:29 PM

[up] Does anyone know anything about the committtee for a responible federal budget?

edited 27th Apr '18 4:46:08 PM by megaeliz

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#240149: Apr 27th 2018 at 4:39:03 PM

Foreclose? No.

Severely impact our economy by taking their ball and leaving with it? Yes.

Which would be insane but China has made some crazy decisions lately and so has America with it's frequent shutdowns.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#240150: Apr 27th 2018 at 4:44:50 PM

[up][up] Nixon-era "entitlement reform" taking the shape of deep cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. They were also funded by the tobacco industry to oppose heath care initiatives in the 90s.

They get a large amount of their funding from Peter G. Peterson, which should tell you everything you need to know.

edited 27th Apr '18 4:46:27 PM by archonspeaks

They should have sent a poet.

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