Tabloid Publisher’s Deal in Hush-Money Inquiry Adds to Trump’s Danger
Yeah, yeah, and Al Capone was busted for tax evasion. More to the point, Richard Nixon was busted for (among other things) campaign finance irregularities. But for heaven's sake - the Watergate investigation started with irrefutable evidence of a break-in at DNC headquarters, which we all understand to be a crime. Not to mention that Nixon wondering whether the CIA could head off the FBI investigation looked a lot like obstruction and an abuse of Presidential power.
But Trump and Cohen? For better or worse, paying off former Playmates and playmates is not a crime. As to whether the actual mechanism violated campaign finance rules, well, first of all, that is why Trump hired lawyers. Lacking evidence that Cohen advised Trump this was illegal and Trump ordered him to go full speed ahead anyway, where is the criminal intent? And a perceived lack of criminal intent is why Hillary is not serving time for her server shenanigans.
This is a crime so subtle that charging it looks like yet another interminable NFL booth review of a sideline catch, where replay officials host a seance to determine the location of various body parts relative to ground and sideline and then enlist diviners to judge whether the receiver was juggling the ball, had firm possession, engaged in a football move, or whatever.
Even top Democrats admit that this campaign finance thing is iffy:
If the campaign finance case as laid out by prosecutors is true, [incoming House Judiciary Chair] Mr. Nadler said, Mr. Trump would be likely to meet the criteria for an impeachable offense, and he said he would instruct his committee to investigate when he takes over in January.
But he added that did not necessarily mean that the committee should vote to impeach Mr. Trump. “Is it serious enough to justify impeachment?” he asked. “That is another question.”
Democrats can use it as a tack-on to their central charge of "Orange Hair Bad".
Great news peter
Posted by: Rocco | December 13, 2018 at 12:37 PM
Glad to hear it, peter.
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 12:41 PM
Excellent Peter!
Posted by: Jane | December 13, 2018 at 12:41 PM
:-) Jane.
They only do eye orbit surgery through the nose when that approach works. Otherwise they pop your eyeball out and work behind it!
I told if it ever comes to that with me, don't tell me about it until they wake me up about a week later.
Your mistake was waking up and going home the same day...
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 12:42 PM
Today’s news - IG says Strzok’s and Page’s phones have been wiped. And the backups are gone.
Dirty. All dirty.
And I am the crazy one for praying for Mitch Rapp to get off his duff:)
Posted by: Buckeye | December 13, 2018 at 12:43 PM
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bolton-threatens-to-pull-aid-for-unproductive-un-missions-in-africa-vows-reform
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 12:44 PM
Of course, I assumed the toughest circumstance, Peter. Glad all went well.
Posted by: sbwaters | December 13, 2018 at 12:44 PM
IG says Strzok’s and Page’s phones have been wiped. And the backups are gone.
I saw that, but I thought they'd gotten all the texts from the server.
Posted by: jimmyk | December 13, 2018 at 12:45 PM
Glad to hear that, peter.
Posted by: jimmyk | December 13, 2018 at 12:47 PM
Great news peter.
Posted by: Captain Hate | December 13, 2018 at 12:48 PM
Kelly sealed the leaks. Hopefully his successor can do the same.
The rampant speculation surround the White House is a story in itself. How many times was it predicted that Kelly was leaving or that the WH was in chaos or that Sanders was leaving?
That call to #Resist was real and is ongoing. Talk about a propaganda campaign.
Interesting that Strozk & Page wiped their phones clean, isn't it? Who else did? Seems to be catching in our federal bureaucracy.
Posted by: matt - deplore me if you must | December 13, 2018 at 12:48 PM
"Thanks Jeff."
"I LOVE that program too. Scrub it with a cloth, I always say...Can't wait for Dir Wray to get on board to help me with all this house cleaning...I mean, how many HR slots do we have for parking these high dollar guys out of sight until the caravan moves on?"
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 12:49 PM
jimmyk,
The Inspector General used some sort of recovery program. Mueller did not. Therefore the information is in the IG report.
I am assuming that Mueller didn't know such a program existed.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 12:50 PM
I would appreciate prayers for one of the twin grandsons of a friend of mine. He is in the hospital because they cannot get his oxygen level up. He had a bad cold and they are not sure whether he has pneumonia or something else.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 12:53 PM
BTW, YL2, after all this time in the Eye Trauma Room, continues to nag me about throwing away every bungee cord in my garage. Near the top, if not the top, of causes for serious injuries to the eyes.
Clarice do not record this next. Last week I was organizing my shop and climbed on a ladder (which Mrs. OL THINKS I swore to never do without her there to hold the ladder - long story - so that I could retrieve a tool held up there with a long bungee cord. Yes it slipped and went zinging by my face. I'm thinking, in the split second, that if that thing blinds me and I fall off the ladder, I hope it kills me because that would be faster that what MrsOL and YL2 would do to me.
Just saying.
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 12:55 PM
"Feeling good; surgeon said all went well."
Yay.
I propose we remain Peter as Peter-Peter.
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 12:58 PM
They only do eye orbit surgery through the nose when that approach works. Otherwise they pop your eyeball out and work behind it!
OK, this is without any question the most horrifying thing I have ever read.
Posted by: James D. | December 13, 2018 at 01:00 PM
:-) James!
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 01:01 PM
The other day had a friend use an aphorism I hadn't heard before;
So and so couldn't find an anvil in a sandbox.
Dennis Prager had a mother of 5 call in yesterday who said as a child she was embarrassed because all she ever wanted to be was a wife and mother and that was not politically correct, so she had to hide her desire. Dennis had some nice comments/questions and he asked her is she happy and satisfied, and she replied "Yes", that she had a 12, a 10, an 8, a 6 and a 4 year old, and that she couldn't be happier, and then she said "The days are long, but the years are short."
Prager loved that line, and so do I.
Good Morning!
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 01:02 PM
This is pretty funny. Steve Hayward at PowerLine:
SETTLED SCIENCE: THERE REALLY ARE ‘LATTE LIBERALS’
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 01:02 PM
Prayers, MM!
Posted by: James D. | December 13, 2018 at 01:03 PM
A good point regarding the Flynn 302 forms:
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1073226734969995264?s=21
Also, if you read the sentencing memo from Flynn’s legal team, it’s fairly obvious that Mueller shared the exculpatory evidence with Flynn as directed by the judge.
Posted by: Tom R | December 13, 2018 at 01:05 PM
Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
@newtgingrich
·
Dec 10
It would help if Mueller would release the 70 hours of interviews with Michael Cohen. The American people could see how many different stories he told, how much he was threatened and how the prosecutors blackmailed and bargained to get what they wanted. Release the tapes.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 01:12 PM
Eddie Scarry
@eScarry
·
2m
Fox News right now airing an interview with Harris Faulkner and Trump. Eagerly awaiting all the think pieces about his civil engagement with a black female reporter.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 01:12 PM
Listening to Rush go thru the details on the corrupt FBI's dealings with Flynn. He mentions the Ted Stevens corruption since he is also a big fan of that book just out by female author Sydney somebody (I forget her name.)
It reminds me that the one guy we never hear from and that I would like to hear speak out now, is the FBI Rookie Agent in the Ted Stevens case, Chad Guy (IIRC) who was the WhistleBlower in the case and he was hammered very aggressively by the Press and his co=workers for speaking out about all the corruption going on and the difference between how they were supposed to function and how they functioned in actual practice.
To my knowledge we have never heard from him since. He is long gone from the FBI as a consequence of speaking out, but the corrupt bast*rds he worked with got inconsequential handslaps and are still with the Agency. In a just world an intrepid reporter would be digging him up and publicizing his story for the masses. Nice to hear Rush in Hour 1 and Hour 2 discussing Judge Sullivan. Don't know if Rush reads JOM but it wouldn't surprise me.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 01:12 PM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2018/12/13/breaking-doj-ig-report-strzok-and-page-n2537436
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 01:17 PM
Rush hammering Napolitano for being wrong. Rush says Napolitano is dead wrong on his pronouncement on Cohen, then plays Andy McCarthy also saying Napolitano is completely wrong. Hammering Napolitano is par for the course at JOM, so even if Rush doesn't read JOM I'll declare him an honorary JOMer.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 01:19 PM
I’m already seeing people on Twitter jump to conclusion regarding the OIG report today. Let me cheer up everyone here.
Strzok and Page apparently had two government issued cell phones each. They had Samsung’s issues by the DOJ/FBI for their regular jobs. These were the ones where Horowitz was able to forensically recover thousands upon thousands of incriminating text messages, many which have already been publicly released. These phones were issued long before the 2016 election.
Strzok and Page were also issued Apple IPhones once the Mueller SC was formally stood up. In other words, any text messages sent from the Iphones did not occur until after Comey was fired. Anyone who has an IPhone knows that text messages sent between IPhone users uses the IMessage feature, not SMS texts. Therefore, Horowitz/Huber have the capability to recover the IPhone texts sent by Strzok and Page via a search warrant. That is something that falls under Huber’s scope to use as evidence in a trial. Horowitz duty it to identify if the DOJ/FBI complied with federal policy/regulations/processes.
Posted by: Tom R | December 13, 2018 at 01:21 PM
Tom, I posted a link to the OIG report earlier. That does not quite match what it said... (or I missed something in the FBI response). Veriszon claimed it only kept messages for 5-7 days (i assume those are the SMS texts). The reset of the iphones was std procedure. After much searching, they found a lot of the messages.
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 01:26 PM
here is the link to the OIG pdf:
https://t.co/007YZyWr4R
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 01:28 PM
What's to stop a guy being interviewed by the FBI in a one party state from slowly pulling out a device and recording the interview?
FBI liars lying?
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 01:28 PM
It is not a long report... 6 pages have all the details. The FBI response is longer.
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 01:29 PM
gee, I wonder what happened early November?
CNBC @CNBC
16m
Economic optimism has plunged since reaching record highs in October, according to CNBC's All-America Economic Survey. Do you agree with the pessimism?
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 01:31 PM
Started watching "Shetland" on Netflix last night. Opens with an old lady getting killed.
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 10:10 AM
Is it based on an anti Paul Ryan commercial?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnE83A1Z4U
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 01:33 PM
My post at 1:17 discusses the IG finding the "lost" texts of Strzok and Page.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 01:34 PM
The Horde in the holiday mood:
Mika's legs look like those biscuits you make from the recipe on a Bisquick box.
Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at December 13, 2018 01:12 PM (4ErVI)
------------
Like a white kitchen trashbag full of wet oatmeal.
Posted by: Calm Mentor at December 13, 2018 01:15 PM (ffYR/)
Posted by: Captain Hate | December 13, 2018 at 01:35 PM
Heh, OL! How many TM's can I write you down for now!
Posted by: clarice | December 13, 2018 at 01:41 PM
Mika will keep her job. Colbert kept his job after 'cuck holster.' Those were on-air comments. Roseanne for some reason was treated differently for a mere Tweet that had an innocent explanation. Puzzling.
Posted by: jimmyk | December 13, 2018 at 01:43 PM
The Clinton Foundation whistleblowers are supposed to testify at 2PM Eastern.
C-SPAN 3 is going to cover it. Live stream link is on this site:
https://www.c-span.org/networks/?channel=c-span-3
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 01:43 PM
"Heh, OL! How many TM's can I write you down for now!"
Clarice what was that commercial 20+ years ago where the guy said "I liked the product SO MUCH that I bought the company"?
You probably have me up to that territory by now with TM.
Posted by: Old Lurker | December 13, 2018 at 01:48 PM
This is from a CNN reporter:
Jim Sciutto
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
The president has now twice used the threat of terrorism to justify the wall. Facts supplied by DHS don’t back that up.
But wait! CNN NEVER CONTACTED THEM:
Tyler Q. Houlton
@SpoxDHS
·
Dec 12
We are happy to provide the facts -- but you never reached out. In fact, DHS prevented 3,755 known or suspected terrorists from traveling to or entering the U.S. in FY 17. That's in addition to 17,526 criminals, 1,019 gang members, and 3,028 special interest aliens. #FactsFirst
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 01:50 PM
Where MM starts us off with a funny one:
"You know, if those 302's were falsified, that is a pretty serious crime."
Yep. Top Anchorage FBI Agent Mary Beth Kepner, who in the Ted Stevens case pencil whipped 302's two whole years after the fact and lied to other FBI Investigators under oath that the 302's were contemporaneous, was "severely disciplined" and got a cautionary letter of warning in her official FBI jacket!!!
And who was the 6 foot 10 inch tall FBI Agent who severely disciplined her? Go ahead and guess.
FBI Agent 'Severely Disciplined' for Misconduct in Ted Stevens Case, Director Says
...the agent was severely disciplined," Comey said. "The discipline has been imposed." ...
..."On top of that, we pushed out refresher training to the entire workforce, especially about our discovery obligations and how we expect them to conduct themselves during those investigations. So, both broad remedial work was done, and individual discipline was imposed for the agent involved," he said.
She remained the top FBI Agent in Anchorage after that "severe discipline," so possibly a tad less severe than advertised.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 01:55 PM
what was that commercial 20+ years ago where the guy said "I liked the product SO MUCH that I bought the company"?
Pats fans here should know that was Victor Kiam on Remington razors.
Clarice seems more like a female Ron Popeil. "But wait, there's more!"
Posted by: jimmyk | December 13, 2018 at 01:55 PM
Puzzling, indeed, jimmyk. Of course, they are paying for this stupidity.
Posted by: clarice | December 13, 2018 at 01:56 PM
Thanks for posting that MM, I've been wondering about that hearing.
Posted by: Jane | December 13, 2018 at 01:56 PM
this is awful:
Breaking Details: Teen kills himself inside Indiana middle school after shootout with police
https://twitter.com/breaking9111/status/1073290382165843970?s=12
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 01:57 PM
I bet it's global warming scientists:
Two days after a huge cloud of chaff lit up weather radar covering portions Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, as well as social media, more plumes have now appeared over Maine and Florida. We have no official confirmation as of yet, but the formations look very similar in composition to the one that developed in the Midwest.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/25460/now-massive-plumes-of-chaff-are-lighting-up-radar-over-maine-and-florida-too
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 01:57 PM
Jane,
Rats. I can't access the live stream, because we don't have cable TV, only internet.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 02:01 PM
My Cspan 3 at that link has yesterday on.
Posted by: Jane | December 13, 2018 at 02:01 PM
So the FBI takes notes but Mueller records?
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 02:04 PM
New Christmas Tradition …
KFC is now selling a log that smells like fried chicken.
The KFC 11 Herbs and Spices firelog goes on sale on Thursday.
The firelog costs $18.99 and can be purchased online while supplies last.
KFC is kicking off the holiday season with a log that smells like fried chicken.
Posted by: Neo | December 13, 2018 at 02:06 PM
She could shoot a guy twice in the back in Georgetown and her supporters wouldn't abandon her:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0_pd2HYs_A&feature=youtu.be
LIVE: Clinton Foundation U.S. House Hearing Investigation 2pm Eastern
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 02:07 PM
Sorry, Jane.
I tried.
I will see what I can find out on Twitter.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 02:07 PM
Apparently yesterday was Universal Health Coverage Day and the Rock F has funded a documentary. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/health-evolving-story/
If you look at the Roots portion it hypes Eleanor Roosevelt and the UDHR, which is probably linked to the Inequality "What does Eleanor Roosevelt have to do with Black Lives Matter?"
To jimmy's point, that I agree with, Abrams clearly knows what the link is and intends to get an elected office where she can act to fully implement this vision. Dangerous not to recognize the MH vision by function, however, it pitches itself for PR purposes.
Posted by: rse | December 13, 2018 at 02:09 PM
From MM's 01:17
When Page and Strzok left the Special Counsel, their phones were wiped by Special Counsel Records Officer. DOJ maintains this was simply standard procedure in order to give the device to another user.
Samo, samo.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:10 PM
If you have a screw up FBI agent in Anchorage where do you send them to make their life miserable?
I'm not putting down Alaska, daddy. But could you keep her there in the winter and send her to Tierra del Fuego during the Northern Hemisphere Summer so she never sees the sun?
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 02:10 PM
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards gets sober, quits drinking alcohol
Twins at age 69.
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 02:11 PM
Samo, samo.
No kidding. Strzok left because of the text messages.
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 02:14 PM
Am listening to Rush play audio of (Anthoney Weiner's former girlfriend) Kirsten Powers, yesterday say the Election would have been different if Americans had known Trump was hanging out with Playboy Bunnies. She said that since so many Americans get their news from FOX News and Rush, who never talk about Trump hanging with Playboy Bunnies, that Americans were denied the opportunity to know Trump hung out with Playboy Bunnies, but if they had known, then Hillary would have been President..
I suppose Kirsten is correct. If only voters had known about Trump and Playboy Bunnies:(
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:19 PM
Trump Trashes Mika Over Homophobic "Butt Boy" Slur; MSNBC Pulls From Thursday Show
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 02:19 PM
It's Cspan 1
Posted by: Jane | December 13, 2018 at 02:21 PM
Mike Brooks
Verified account @MikeBrooksOKC
#Breaking - @OKCPD say there are about 13 bomb threats in and around the city. Add'l threats in Edmond. They tell Fox 25 it's a national alert with bomb threats coming in thru email. If you get a threat, contact your police department. #Oklahoma #Okla
11:09 AM - 13 Dec 2018
https://twitter.com/mikebrooksokc/status/1073293742914920448?s=12
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 02:22 PM
from Chitown Lurker for maryrose and CH:
https://twitter.com/jwh1895/status/1073297335826952196?s=12
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 02:24 PM
BTW,
Now that Comey is cheerfully telling America that he took pleasure in orchestrating the takedown of Michael Flynn by specifically catching him off guard in the early days of the Trump Administration, I wonder if Comey's actions complied with the specific retraining Instructions he mandated all Agents receive following Agent Kepner's crimes re: Ted Stevens.
It'd be worthwhile laying side by side those instructions Comey issued in 2010 after Agent Kepner's crimes, alongside his exuberant explanation of how he set up Gen Flynn, and see if they agreed with one another.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:28 PM
Suspected jihadists on motorcycles kill 42 in Mali's nomadic Tuareg camps
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 02:28 PM
Well that would have been Mueller, Comey was over at Lockheed at the time, as general counsel
Posted by: Narciso79 | December 13, 2018 at 02:31 PM
If only the Voters had known:(
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:32 PM
I thought Tuareg was a VW platform:
A study more than thirty years in the making found that smoking marijuana permanently lowers intelligence, or IQ. Frequent pot smokers (even those who had given up marijuana) tended to have deficits in memory, concentration, and overall IQ. The reduction in IQ for those who smoked pot heavily prior to age 18 was most pronounced: an average of eight points. An eight point reduction in IQ is enough to have a significant, negative impact upon your life. To put it into context, consider that individuals with an IQ of 110 have an average net worth of $71,000 and individuals with an IQ of 120 have an average net worth of $128,000. It looks like smoking pot can lower your tax bracket.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2015/02/10/new-study-shows-smoking-pot-permanently-lowers-iq/#534ce86c2f5b
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 02:33 PM
Very few showed up for the hearing, and no one in the audience. Dems pushing back hard on how silly any Clinton allegations are.
Posted by: Jane | December 13, 2018 at 02:42 PM
If only the voters had known:(
If only he hadn't worked so hard to keep this under wraps:(
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:43 PM
A 21-year-old Foothill High School graduate, who was attending college in the Netherlands, was stabbed to death Wednesday in Rotterdam, according to friends and published reports.
Sarah Papenheim, who played drums in the school's Jazz band and moved to Minnesota after her 2016 graduation, was killed by a 23-year-old man from Rotterdam. Authorities have arrested him.
https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2018/12/13/foothill-high-school-grad-stabbed-death-netherlands/2299398002/
Posted by: Pinandpuller | December 13, 2018 at 02:45 PM
Nothing raysiss here:
The leader of a South African political party has called for the killing of white women and children in a row over the taxi industry.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6491151/Black-South-African-politician-says-kill-whites-kill-children-women.html
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 02:48 PM
Miss M,
Up here we just had 2 teenagers (19 year olds) shoot each other to death in an argument about a gun selling deal gone wrong.
Instead of it being considered "awful," from the comments it appears about 80% are thankful the 2 offed themselves and saved society the trouble.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:49 PM
So the nitwits running Europe are still running Europe, first May, now Macron:
The Wall Street Journal @WSJ
6m
France's Macron handily survived a "no confidence" vote. Yet his troubles are far from over.
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 02:53 PM
I don't know if I can keep listening to this.
Representative Connolly, the ranking member, is infuriating.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 02:54 PM
Connelly, d international Saudi academy, that guy?
Posted by: Narciso79 | December 13, 2018 at 02:56 PM
Wow! feeling overwhelmed! Ask for a few prayers and get inundated. I have benign prostate enlargement, not cancer, but was feeling very apprehensive because it was a re-do after four other procedures and my doc said because of that it was going to be tricky due to scar formations and strictures. I definitely felt the good wishes and prayers helping me. Now I get to lounge around the house for three days and bingewatch the tube. Another reason I was apprehensive was interesting--I've been taking a huge amount of antibiotics lately and one of the side effects is that they have greatly increased anxiety. It is true what they say--your gut is your second brain; mess with the gut by using anti-biotics and your second brain goes wacky.
Posted by: peter | December 13, 2018 at 02:58 PM
Jane,
C-Span has it on now---Jim Jordan now quizzing Fitton of Judicial watch and just hammered some Obama Flunkie.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 02:59 PM
The previous guy was Mr Hackney and he denied to Jim Jordan that there was any targeting of Conservative Groups by the IRS back in the Lois Lerner days.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 03:03 PM
Yay, peter.
Sad Ahoys for these guys though
http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=378651
Posted by: Captain Hate | December 13, 2018 at 03:06 PM
If only Voters would have known:(
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 03:16 PM
Glad it was the easier stuff, peter.
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 03:18 PM
Italian Minister Salvini: Anyone Celebrating Strasbourg Islamist Christmas Market Shooting Will Be Jailed Immediately
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 03:22 PM
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
2h
If it was a Conservative that said what “crazed” Mika Brzezinski stated on her show yesterday, using a certain horrible term, that person would be banned permanently from television....
....She will probably be given a pass, despite their terrible ratings. Congratulations to @RichardGrenell
, our great Ambassador to Germany, for having the courage to take this horrible issue on!
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 03:25 PM
Narciso,
From my 01:55 link to The Hill:
While Comey did not identify the agent disciplined by name, details of Joy's complaint went public in 2009. Joy made a series of allegations of impropriety against FBI Special Agent Mary Beth Kepner, outlined in a report from the Anchorage Daily News .
Comey told Murkowski that he would look into reaching out to Joy, and that his law enforcement agency's response went beyond dealing with the individuals involved.
"On top of that, we pushed out refresher training to the entire workforce, especially about our discovery obligations and how we expect them to conduct themselves during those investigations. So, both broad remedial work was done, and individual discipline was imposed for the agent involved," he said.
Who is we? Let's see the paperwork.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 03:28 PM
Listening to the Dem women on the panel in the Fitton Hearing is like listening to space aliens.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 03:30 PM
That does not quite match what it said... (or I missed something in the FBI response). Veriszon claimed it only kept messages for 5-7 days (i assume those are the SMS texts). The reset of the iphones was std procedure. After much searching, they found a lot of the messages.
Henry,
What I wrote synchs 100% with what is in the OIG report. I just added in some observations to cover what wasn't mentioned.
The part of the report discussing Verizon and their policy of only retaining SMS text messages for 3-7 days applies to the FBI-issued Samsung Galaxy phones. That is not really that big of a deal because the OIG was able to recover almost all of those text messages via their forensics tool.
The part of this report that could be construed as a potential "coverup" is the part concerning the Mueller SC-issued Apple Iphones. While it may be standard DOJ policy to erase phones and return them to factory standard so that they can be issued out to another employee, you would think that based on the reasons Strzok and Page got fired from the Mueller SC that someone would have confiscated their Iphones before they had the opportunity to erase them.
With that said, since they were Iphones they use the IMessage service to send texts and not SMS. That means any texts Strzok and Page sent using their Iphones got routed thru Apple's servers. Apple likely only keeps Imessages on there servers for 3-7 days like the telecomm companies do for their SMS messages. Here is the kicker though. I am fairly certain the telecoms and Apple make daily backups of everything as part of their disaster recovery procedures. We also know that the Feds also require the telecoms to archive every single phone call made in the US in the event that data is needed for a counterterrorism investigation. I think text and IMessages fall under that category as well. In other words, if Strzok and Page sent IMessages to each other in the short time they had Mueller SC-issued Iphones, I believe that information could be acquired from Apple's servers with a search warrant. It's quite possible a search warrant wouldn't even be required since they were government issued phones and which means the government has the authority to monitor all calls, emails and texts sent by the phone during the course of performing official government duties.
Posted by: Tom R | December 13, 2018 at 03:32 PM
Who say you aren't, red electronics In particular.
Posted by: Narciso79 | December 13, 2018 at 03:33 PM
The part of after "with that said" was not in the OIG report.
Posted by: henry | December 13, 2018 at 03:36 PM
I want this former IRS guy, now a law professor, to be charged for misleading statements and so forth.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 03:38 PM
--..."On top of that, we pushed out refresher training to the entire workforce...--
That would be the "keep on lying, just don't get caught" manual.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | December 13, 2018 at 03:47 PM
The part of after "with that said" was not in the OIG report.
henry,
That is because it is out of scope for the Horowitz IG report.
Federal Inspector Generals focus on compliance with department policies, regulations, rules, etc. They point out when a federal agency/organization is violating federal policy and they can offer recommendations for how the department can fix their internal problems.
If during the course of their investigation there is evidence that a crime is committed, the OIG coordinates with a US Attorney to provide them with the evidence. In this specific case, if Huber believes Strzok/Page committed a crime, then it would be him, not Horowitz, who would work with Apple to get backup copies of any Imessages sent. Whether that happened or not is unknown at this time but regardless of whether it did or didn't it wouldn't be addressed in Horowitz' IG report.
Posted by: Tom R | December 13, 2018 at 03:48 PM
Mark Meadows closes the Hearing segment of Fitton and the Lib Lawyer by reminding that the 2 guys who investigated and cleared something re: Uranium 1, were McCabe and Rod Rosenstein.
Meadows: ...Why would Attorney General Eric Holder not have looked into some of the issues as it related to the Uranium 1 Deal? And why would they have looked the other way, because apparently, according to your testimony, they did not know whether the FBI or the DOJ ever alerted the Committee Members to criminal activity that they uncovered. And that was a quote from your written testimony. The investigation was ultimately supervised by (pauses for effect)
US Attorney Rod Rosenstein, and
(pauses for effect )
Andy McCabe.
Isn't it amazing how these names continue to show up? Isn't it amazing? And with that, if there's no further business for this panel, we will excuse you 2 gentleman...and we'll ask the next panel to be set up.
I take it Meadows don't think Rod R wears a White hat.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 03:53 PM
France24 reports that the Strasbourg murderer is killed by the police.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 03:58 PM
daddy,
Can you get the conclusions these guys are putting forth?
Taxable undertakings, not a charity, closely held family partnership.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | December 13, 2018 at 04:00 PM
I take it Meadows don't think Rod R wears a White hat.
Neither does Jordan or Gohmert. Did you happen to see the White House Hannukah reception, and in particular Trump's shout-out to Rosenstein? Pretty interesting IMO.
Posted by: Extraneus | December 13, 2018 at 04:03 PM
The guys testifying now are forensic analysts who swear they are non-partisan. Say they have worked in Law Enforcement and on Wall Street. Big prelim comments about their nonpartisanship.
Now Moynihan and Dolyle are going to state in bullet form what they found. let me transcribe so you know what I mean:
Moynihan: At this time what we would like to do, in an expeditious fashion, is to state in bullet form, the process we went through, and to state our findings that are in our submission to the IRS. It is a complex issue, a significant amount of information, but let it be said Our Claim is a Tax Claim. It's a claim of probable cause indicating that the (Clinton) Foundation operated outside the bounds of its approval that came from the IRS. That's our claim.
So that's his preamble for what is to follow.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 04:07 PM
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-campaign-finance-11544733632?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb
(Go to outline if you can't read this link)
Posted by: clarice | December 13, 2018 at 04:08 PM
I have benign prostate enlargement
Peter. Glad to hear it is benign.
I have the same issue, but it doesn't seem at all benign on those nights you get up 4 times to take a wizz:)
Hope you heal up quick.
Posted by: Buckeye | December 13, 2018 at 04:08 PM
Bullet Form:
---We went to the 990's...
---we started with the Returns that the Foundation filed...
---These were their revenue sources and their expenses
---we attempted to reconcile all of those donations with expenses.
---The basis of our claim is that we were unable to do that.
Posted by: daddy | December 13, 2018 at 04:10 PM