Let's Play Whack-A-Mole With Mooch!

The White House leaks. Always. IIRC Bush 43 had a brief, early run of iron discipline, but that was unusual.

Comments

[jimmyk on iPhone]

First!

[Porchlight]

TM,

It always leaks, but this level is unprecedented.

Also the rate/manner in which it is reported varies, especially by party of incumbent.

[Porchlight]

Reposting from prior thread:

Here is my tally so far for July 27th:

--Awan arrest/DWS - potentially hugest story in years, touches every Democrat including the Obama administration, admittedly broke a day early but is blowing up nicely

--Scaramucci all but fingers Priebus as a leaker; has discussed leakers with Sessions who he says will be launching a DoJ probe

--Close Comey buddy James A. Baker is being investigated by the FBI for leaking

--House resolution to go after assorted Dem villains including Clinton, Comey, Lynch

--Bill Browder testifies before Congress that Fusion GPS was paid by Russia; MSM has NO QUESTIONS on Russia at the press beating for the first time in months

Pretty nice.

Remember, WH anon said that "it begins" today, not that it will be accomplished today. Also talked about the "Slingshot Effect" - you use their momentum of attack against them.

So, "muh Russia" has flipped against the Dems with the new information about Fusion GPS.

Leakers are being exposed and investigated.

And it turns out the biggest election hackers of them all are criminal Pakistani nationals employed by the chair of the DNC.

[jjm]

Well, Porchlight, :) -- you have summed it up nicely.

[Clarice]

BRava Porch

[maryrose]

Porch:
Excellent summary, I love all of it!
To whom it may concern:
Calista Gingrich is a devout catholic.
I wouldn't dream of questioning her morality.Besides there is new thinking on divorced Catholics.

[Extraneus]

So, "muh Russia" has flipped against the Dems with the new information about Fusion GPS.

And Sarah shoved it up their butts the same day.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

maryrose,

I didn't question Callista's morality. I think Newt's indiscretions were with others. And since he has been to Reconciliation, I am sure he has rectified those with penance.

MY point about Newt was that since he was the target of the ruthless Clintons, he should by now understand that being nice and subtle doesn't get the message across with the criminal gang which is the current democrat part.

And yes, I am a convert. I did it of my own free will.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Porchlight,

Excellent summary! My good friend who is as interested in this stuff as I am will call m tomorrow and that will give me the template to get her up to speed!

She retires in September and will be much more able to keep up.

Boy, it's pouring rain outside again!

[jjm]

I call bullshit on the politico Whack-a-Mole article. There were several good comments throughout but the supporting comments are often weak nonsense. For example, here's one supposed profound statement:

"If Trump wants loyalty from his Cabinet and staff, he must recognize that loyalty is a two-way street and show them more respect than he has to date. With his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he’s demonstrating precisely the opposite: Even his most loyal supporters cannot expect loyalty in return."

Okay, so he's given AG Sessions at least six solid months of public loyalty. How does this past week of justifiably aggravated tweets prove he's disloyal. Total bs comment from the Republican strategist. Hmmm, the article was written by a Rubio strategist. Phfft!

And it would rankle me if my AG had appointed a putz who wrote such a wide-ranging and unlimited scope for SP Mueller to rampage with.

[joan]

jjm is joan. :) I keep forgetting to change it when I'm on my computer in the family room.

However, I shouldn't tell you all (after re-reading the last paragraph in the 6:05 comment. Not very coherent. I get so aggravated about the investigation my anger takes over.)

[maryrose]

MM:
It has been my experience that converts are a wonderful addition to the Catholic faith and keep the rest of us lifers on our toes.
I wasn't addressing you .
It was the slam against her being chosen as the ambassador to the Vatican which I was Concerned about.
I was delighted she was chosen for the post.Two of my nephews have married girls who have converted.
Forgiveness is a cornerstone of our faith.
Standing in judgment of others is not advocated

[henry]

The moles getting whacked today include the House staff on the Dem side. Possibly the House on the Dem side. Whatever charades are going on in the White House are fluff in comparison.

[maryrose]

Joan:
I totally agree with you.
The article is from Politico.
Nuff said.
Graham's law about recess appointments won't fly.
It is a love/ hate relationship with these former candidates and President Trump.
One day they are with him- the next day not so much.
As for me: He won the election. He can do what he wants.

[pagar, a bacon, ham and sausage supporter]

http://madworldnews.com/democrats-it-staffers-meeting/

A 7 hr meeting in the WH?

You can't make this stuff up. Well, you could but no one would believe it.

[joan]

Distinguished FBI General Counsel under investigation for leaking.

FBI General Counsel James A. Baker is purportedly under a Department of Justice criminal investigation for allegedly leaking classified national security information to the media, according to multiple government officials close to the probe who spoke with Circa on the condition of anonymity.

https://www.circa.com/story/2017/07/26/politics/james-a-baker-fbi-general-counsel-is-allegedly-under-an-investigation-for-leaking-classified-information-to-the-media

Baker and Comey worked together at Bridgewater Associates
James Comey - general counsel at Bridgewater 2010-2013
James A. Baker - Assoc General Counsel at Bridgewater 2012-2014

[maryrose]

Everything Comey touches turns to stone.
He is like Obama in that way.
Baker had a distinguished career.
Now this happens.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

maryrose,

I am wondering if people like Baker got convinced by that fake dossier that Trump was in bed with Russia.

Turns out that the Russians fed Fusion GPS the fake stories and then paid them, as well as paying the people who showed up in Don Jr's office.

This is a real concern. I think that fake intel has been fed to a lot of people so no one knows who is a traitor and who is simply a dupe.

[henry]

Miss M, assume there is no baby in the bath water and toss it all. Can always get a new uninflected baby. The bath water will kill us all if it remains.

[henry]

Uninfected (stupid autospell must be a Russian plot).

[Extraneus]

Everyone see the Drudge pic? I could only find a big one.

[maryrose]

In the end , Sessions will do a better job because he has been put on notice.
President Trump did this all the time on the "Apprentice"

[Extraneus]

Sorry, here's the link to the pic:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFxICr1XkAAJhvy.jpg

[exdemocrat]

joan - re your 6.05. if i were DT, what would have me po'd is what Andy McCarthy wrote today - that the procedure for appointing Mueller was improper. as a result of that basic legal error, Sessions over-recused himself, and Rosenstein over-authorized Mueller. (Indeed, absent articulation of a specific crime to be investigated, there should have been no appointment and no recusal either.)
There's not much excuse for work that shoddy regarding a matter of such importance.

[henry]

Richard Engel is going full Adm Akhbar... "It's a trap!!!"

A sophisticated trap laid by Russia for Trump to stumble into and for the press to find bad stuff about Trump.

Press hooked and in the boat, Trump avoided the bait. So now the press plays the "it's not our fault " card. Perhaps the slingshot thing is real.

https://mobile.twitter.com/RichardEngel/status/890668041557626880

[Extraneus]

That New Yorker piece was pretty interesting.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-to-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-and-steve-bannon

[Skoot]

Sen Graham sure is making a lot of demands today. Trump should announce he's withdrawing the appeal to Boehner's suit and zero the subsidies out tomorrow. Let Linsey stomp his feet about that. The whole Senate can suck on that. Zerocare is dead one way or another.

[Momto2]

That guy quoted in the Daily Caller is a wealth of information. I hope they find him and he is a witness or at least is consulted as they proceed with this investigation.

"One Democratic IT staffer said Awan “would come in and only help the member — he’d tell me this — because staff come and go. There was one staffer whose computer was broken and said, ‘I’m not going to pay my invoices until you fix my computer,’ and Imran went to the member, and they fired [the staffer who complained] that day. Imran has that power.”

The Awans “had [members] in their pocket,” and “there are a lot of members who could go down over this.”

I recommend reading the entire article: (posting again if it's been posted before)
http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/21/house-it-aides-fear-suspects-in-hill-breach-are-blackmailing-members-with-their-own-data/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Guys! Guys! This is from a comment on the Reddit site!

[–]ericdimwitMA 12 points 58 minutes ago

Robert kraft owns N616RK. He is donald trumps best friend. The FBI, mainly Comey has been using his jet for the past two years since The 25 of September 2015, when Kraft changed ownership of the jet from AIRKRAFT ONE TRUST (of Foxboro, MA, home of the New England patriots) to Roya (shell company in concord ma) to TENAX (kraft shell company).

Ahem.

"Comey better hope there's no tapes."

[maryrose]

Momto2:
It is a very explanatory article with details that ring true.

[Threadkiller]

Yes we can!

[maryrose]

Tonight Repubs will pass skinny bill with the caveat that House and Senate will go to conference on it.

[maryrose]

WRT the New Yorker article:
This is how guys talk.

[exdemocrat]

Boom:

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/344226-intelligence-chairman-accuses-obama-aides-of-hundreds-of-unmasking?amp

[henry]

And just like that "neither repeal nor replace" is what we're stuck with. Assholes.

[maryrose]

Exdemocrat:
Nunes has the goods and is loaded for bear.
Dems won't know what hit them.

[maryrose]

Henry:
In conference, they will get there.

[Jane]

Scaramucci's comments tonite are not helpful to either him or the White House. Everybody's concerned about the ongoing ridiculous disarray. President Trump really needs to get a handle on this. Plus it completely disrupted all the news I wanted to hear about.

[henry]

Exdem, the story is there because Nunes letter leaked. Classic.

[Threadkiller]

Normally the news is not full of distractions.

[Threadkiller]

Normally the news is not full of distractions.

[henry]

Maryrose, the house bill doesn't get rid of the bad parts of ACA. The Senate skinny bill doesn't get rid of anything. We are being played.

[maryrose]

Republicans voted against single payer today and Dems wimped out by voting present.
Henry:
You can't always get what you want in my singing voice.

[Barbara]

Just now looking at the Substitute Amendment for House Res. 446 posted by daddy a thread or two ago. It appears that the President is directing the squeamish AG Sessions to do what he wants done and this Resolution not only compels him to do just that, it puts Sessions in the proverbial box.

With the Awan/DWS scandal about to break over their heads, the President has all the leverage he needs. The Senate can hold all the Pro Forms sessions it wants, and it won't matter. The President is in charge of this, and it looks like he's going to unleash hell on all of them.

[Janet the expert 🚬]

This is good -

http://www.dailywire.com/news/19054/combat-vet-gives-powerful-testimony-against-trans-amanda-prestigiacomo

[jimmyk on iPhone]

I increasingly think the way to get rid of the ACA is not by repealing it, which seems to be above the pay grade of Republicans in Congress, but by adding amendments like Cruz's that will hasten its collapse. Just add more freedom.

[Barbara]

Everybody's concerned about the ongoing ridiculous disarray. President Trump really needs to get a handle on this.

Jane,

It may appear uncoordinated, but the President is waging war against the establishment at every level. I believe he knows just what he's doing.

[henry]

Jimmyk, that would be great. Won't happen in conference though. We'll get bupkis on freedom, the issue will be declared fixed and off limits for the next decade as they expand Medicaid to all but the super rich and congress (who still get concierge care).

[DrJ]

Doesn't what comes out of conference have to pass both the House and Senate? And still conform to the "rules" around reconciliation?

I see nothing good coming out of this. The parliamentarian ruled against the Cruz amendment, IIRC.

[Extraneus]

I believe he knows just what he's doing.

So do I. Did you see that video interview with Brokaw from when he was 33 yrs old? Are people really thinking he lost a step after 37 more years of fame and fortune?

[exdemocrat]

absolutely right, Barbara.

and henry - yes, classic, huh? so a letter to Coats gets immediately leaked. how hard is it really to discover who the leaker was?
did you also notice how The Hill tries to minimize the damage here with this close: "The change [Obama's 2011 move to enable his flunkies to unmask his enemies] has been criticized by liberal groups like the ACLU and conservatives like Nunes because of the privacy implications."
rrright: its just a privacy issue - not a case of domestic political espionage.

[Jane]

Barbara, I know you do but I disagree. I love Trump but I think he's making some very bad errors right now. And if he knew what he was doing he wouldn't be screwing up his message on a daily basis.

[DebinGA]

Paul Ryan, #2 Kevin McCarthy, #3 Steve Scalise, #4 the odious Patrick McHenry, my GA Rep and probably a majority of other Rs, all require you provide a 9 digit zipcode before the email message box appears. However, Rep. Devin Nunes has kept the simple, direct contact procedure that they all used until fairly recently. Unlike Nunes, Ryan and his cowardly cohorts obviously don't want to hear from us.

[henry]

Yes exdem, leak for a first stab at the narrative. Someone needs life breaking rocks for that.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Extraneus,

This is so true. I have repeatedly said people need to view old interviews on YouTube. Here is the one that struck me the most, as he does over half an hour without notes:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4539626/donald-trump-2005-un-testimony

People totally miss his intelligence and how he views things. He is not at all as the press has deliberately crafted an image of him as a buffoon, and as someone who is stupid.

Very far from the truth. He likes being underestimated, he likes creating distractions, and he like making the press dance to his tune.

[maryrose]

DrJ:
Why did the parliamentarian rule against the Cruz amendment?
I thought they just voted it down.

[DrJ]

MR,

See here:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/449919/senate-parliamentarian-important-obamacare-repeal-provision-not-allowed

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jane,

Do you remember during the campaign where he said he would have a statement on the birth certificate, and made the press sit through both a tour of his new hotel AND an endorsement by a bunch of high-level ex-military, and then just said "Barack Obama was born in the United States" and then left?

That was one of the greatest things I have ever seen a candidate do. The press was so mad that it was hilarious to read their comments.

He's creating distractions so that there is an air of chaos, the press is running in 20 different directions, and people in the Deep State are getting paranoid.

It's not what we are used to in politics, but to me it isn't a mistake. It's a deliberate strategy and I am fascinated because I wonder what's going on - hopefully Assange is right aand DWS is under indictment. I would be super happy if the odious Andre Carson (my rep) gets caught in the net as well.

You will really see me doing a happy dance if I get to see the Egg McMuffin guy hauled away in handcuffs.

[DrJ]

Now that I read the link in my link, I'm not sure:

http://www.businessinsider.com/senate-byrd-rules-gop-healthcare-bill-vote-skinny-repeal-2017-7

[DrJ]

Ah! Not quite right:

Speaking of Cruz, the parliamentarian’s rulings all involved the June 26 version of the Senate Trumpcare bill, and thus did not include the Texas senator’s controversial amendment allowing insurers to offer cheap and less comprehensive individual policies — one of the keys to conservative support for the latest version of the bill. If the Cruz Amendment is included in the bill actually offered by Mitch McConnell, it could be challenged on the Senate floor for Byrd Rule compliance, and no one knows what would happen then.

From NY Mag, FWIW.

[exdemocrat]

Worthy of note, i think, is that James Baker is not 'an FBI lawyer', he's the FBI's General Counsel.
He is also - based on a prior position - an expert on the process of obtaining FISA warrants:
(see here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/interviews/baker.html)
today's events are not unconnected.

[Barbara]

exdemocrat,

After re-reading the Substitute Amendment, I could almost believe that it was written by the White House.

[Jane]

I know you think that this MM, and frankly I don't think there is one thing that Trump could ever do that you would not completely praise and agree with. He's lucky to have that kind of support. I just don't think it's the best thing for the country to create chaos everywhere. And I certainly do not think the latest outburst by scaramucci was planned or approved by Trump. YMMV

[exdemocrat]

"President Obama's U.N. ambassador Samantha Power has a date tomorrow [July 28] with the Senate Intelligence Committee as it continues its investigation into the extent of Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. elections."

- convenient timing given the leak of Nunes' letter today, no?

[exdemocrat]

ya think, Barbara? ;-)

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jane,

That's ok. Sometimes I cringe about stuff but then later on I see the point.

I am probably too supportive of him because I realize how few friends he has in DC. I never forgot Plouff's comment that Trump not only had to be defeated, he had to be destroyed, so that his kind shall not rise again.

That's what they intended to do to him if he lost. It's also what they are trying to do now. He took great personal risk in running. I am loyal because of that, and so I probably sound like a groupie.

It's ok if people want to think of me that way.

This is a death match.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Feminists Shout 'VAGINA' in Public for Planned Parenthood. WTF.

[Barbara]

The White House has wanted Sessions to look into these matters since his appointment as Attorney General. Again, I'm guessing but I believe that Sessions, in the manner of the ineffective Senate from which he came, was reluctant to do this. He just wanted "his dream job" - as lurkersusie so aptly described it last evening.

Sessions is more comfortable with the pseudo decorum of the Senate where one speaks cordially of their "friends across the aisle." The President, for all his education and experience, can fight like a junkyard dog. If Sessions refuses to fight with and for the President, he will be reduced to a figurehead. Moreover, since Sessions is the one who promoted Rosenstein who then appointed Mueller, the President is going to hang that whole catastrophe around his neck until it weighs him down so far, he will not have any option but to resign and take Rosenstein with him.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Plouffe et al don't want Trump's kind to never rise again because he's gauche, incompetent and embarrassing.

He understands progs and is not afraid to try and destroy them.
What Plouffe means is they can never allow a Rep who refuses to play by Dem, heads-I-win-tails-you-lose rules again.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Ignatz,

Plouffe was more concerned about results than decorum, if you ask me. Plouffe was an Obama guy, and I think they were concerned about not only a Republican, but a true outsider achieving the White House.

The normal Republican, beholden to donors, special interests, and unseen political loyalties and scandals, they knew how to deal with.

Trump was an enigma, and he still is, for most of them.

I think Plouffe was most concerned about the jig being up, sources of revenue evaporating, and the forgotten people getting a voice.

[Janet the expert 🚬]

Well, I just do NOT miss the days of polite nothingness.

...the MFM & liberal advocacy orgs. running the show, Republicans sitting quietly, being polite & "bipartisan" & doing nothing for their base, & the Democrats slandering Republicans & Americans & treating us like dirt.

Nobody cares when the Dems & the MFM slander Americans & call us names.
Where is the outrage & worry about inappropriate comments when it is American citizens being targeted? Where are those articles?...those headlines?

[Skoot]

Interesting article arguing Mueller is unsupervised and therefore his appointment is likely unconstitutional (on a number of fronts).

I thought at the jump; Mueller has to re-submit a budget in a year. If Rosenstein is not doing proper oversight (as it appears he is not), Trump can shut the whole thing down. Any indictment that ever comes from this sham will be appealed to SCOTUS and tossed , I believe, as does Prof Kmiec - Pepperdine.

Mueller may be illegally appointed

[Janet the expert 🚬]

On FB - "A funny friend of mine posted this on FB: "I hope the man who invented autocorrect burns in Hello!"

[narciso]

Ah professor Kmiec back from Malta, I see the huntress drive him crazy, it was a short drive.

[henry]

Janet, lol!

[narciso]

Can I have an amen?

[exdemocrat]

skoot - combine that article with the one by Andy McCarthy today

[lurkersusie]

Another lying journalist

Chuck Ross @ChuckRossDC
Turkish Reporter Admits Fabricating Kushner Quote That Praised Erdogan w/ https://t.co/NKARbD2cLi?amp=1

[lurkersusie]

Yes you did.

Anthony Scaramucci @Scaramucci
I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

We gotcher housing bubble rightchere.

[Skoot]

thx exdem, had not seen the McCarthy piece yet. He seems to be arguing along the same lines.

(you can get an amen from me, narc! u da man :)

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Total Government And Personal Debt In The U.S. Has Hit 41 Trillion Dollars ($329,961.34 Per Household)

[Gentlejim]

I don't think President Trump is creating chaos. The chaos was already in action after eight years of 404. The restoration of law and order that the President has undertaken just seems chaotic. Want an omelet? Break some f'in eggs. MAGA

[Barbara]

ya think, Barbara? ;-)

Posted by: exdemocrat

:)

[exdemocrat]

hah: https://archive.is/vkt4h

[Dave (in MA)]

I got another webcam Masshole tonight, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oRcdn0Imtw

[lurkersusie]

Letter to AG Sessions & Deputy Rosenstein by @HouseJudiciary calling for 2nd Special Counsel. https://t.co/Qbg2yLS37g?amp=1

[Neo]

New York City's Cabaret Law outlaws dancing inside any establishment that does not have a cabaret license. Out of the 25,000 bars and restaurants in New York, about 100 actually have one, effectively making dancing illegal in almost all of the city that never sleeps.

The law was passed in 1926, a prohibition-era tool for the city to go after mostly-black jazz clubs during the Harlem Renaissance.

[exdemocrat]

Power's defenders suggest her need to unmask was driven by her role on the NSC. However, she quit that role in 2013 when she became ambassador to the UN. So that role has nothing to do with her unmasking efforts in 2016.
On the contrary, those efforts have more to do with her Russaphobia on full display here:
https://qz.com/887274/un-ambassador-samantha-power-goes-out-with-a-blistering-attack-on-russia.

- along with her lifelong intoxication in Franz Fanonesque anti-westernism.

[Ralph L]

The Circa article about Baker's leak investigation is based on leaks. At least it was multiple sources.

[lurkersusie]

That didn't take long. Spicer meets with the William Morris Agency today. Potential for 7-figures easy when combining TV and book $$$

[Dave (in MA)]

Oops, sorry. https://youtu.be/_JbrpDFRmuM

[henry]

The defenders can only misdirect, however weakly. Trump needs to unleash a General Sherman to march through the deep state Georgia and utterly destroy everything in his path.

[lurkersusie]

Same group that asked for special counsel

Thomas Paine @Thomas1774Paine
Sources: House Judiciary Committee Chair Goodlatte and comm members have asked Mueller to come in for private sit down ASAP.

[Tom Maguire]

On FB - "A funny friend of mine posted this on FB: "I hope the man who invented autocorrect burns in Hello!"

YOLO. Grrr, LOL.

[Buckeye]

Just read the article Iggy linked about the VaginaChallege.

I ain't goin' there:)

[Tom Maguire]

Interesting article arguing Mueller is unsupervised and therefore his appointment is likely unconstitutional (on a number of fronts).

This came up during the Fitzgerald/Libby debacle. Argument didn't carry then. Facts may be different enough now, but color me skeptical.

[henry]

Scott Adams says Trump is now on the warpath. Friend or foe, get out of his way. https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/6q0604/scott_adams_the_big_shift_this_week_is_that/

Also The_Donald is noting the press talking about:

1. Awans gave info to Muskim Brotherhood et al

2. Awans and DWS conspired to cheat The Bern.

[exdemocrat]

great stuff, susie

[exdemocrat]

lol https://twitter.com/dmichaelbowman/status/890741871143776256