Russiagate Ramblin' On

A bad week for Comey in the media, but probably a good week for book sales: Anderson Cooper Grills Comey: Let’s Face It, You’re A Leaker. Comey defines leaking a something someone else does. Of course, the big interview: Bret Baier confronts Comey:

But if you can't sit still through that, Bret Baier boils it down:



Joe DiGenova via Ace: "Breathtaking Duplicity:" Comey's Claims vs. Reality, NewsBusters:
Tour De Force: FNC’s Baier Grills Comey Over Dossier, E-Mail, Leaks in Epic Interview, Daily Wire: Comey Makes Surprising New Claims In Disastrous Fox News Interview, Byron York: Is Comey telling the truth about his memos? The truth seems very pliable in James Comey's world.

A lot of people are asking this question lately: American Thinker: Why Hasn't Mueller Questioned Natalia Veselnitskaya? Don't turn on the lights 'cause I don't want to see!

Interestingly, it was Manafort's home, hotel, and office that were raided at the behest of Mueller, whose team admitted in a court filing that the Veselnitskaya meeting was a motive for the Manafort raid . . .

Records Sought on Obama’s Role in Setting Up Ambassador Event Was Session's recusal the result of a set-up to catch him in a "Russian trap?"

One of the curious aspects of the “meeting” between Sessions and Kislyak — beyond the fact that chatting in a crowded room after a speech hardly qualifies as a meeting — is that President Barack Obama’s administration helped organize the event.

Sessions defends Trump’s power to pardon without consulting Justice Dept. Of course it's his power, it existed before the DOJ. Bipartisan: Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Legislation To Protect Mueller From Trump. And just who do they expect to sign it? Fox News Poll: Mueller likely to find Trump offenses, Trump likely to fire him. A businessman cannot avoid committing crimes given the number of offenses on the books, and a determined prosecutor can basically create a crime out of daily actions, so, it's possible. As for firing? I doubt it. Giuliani Meets With Mueller, Tries to Determine If He Has an ‘Open Mind’ Again, I doubt it. Neo-Neocon addresses Andy McCarthy's piece on Trump: guilty till proven innocent…

Byron York’s Washington Examiner column takes up the question of whether, where Donald Trump is concerned, the “generally accepted standard of justice has been turned on its head.” The matter at issue is the so-called Steele dossier, the Clinton-campaign-sponsored compilation of opposition-research memos that the author, former British spy Christopher Steele, masqueraded as intelligence reports. Byron collects commentary from left-leaning political, academic, and media doyens, all arguing that the dossier’s sensational allegations carry a degree of credibility because, though unverified, they have not been proven untrue.

It is a depressing fact that most people who hate and fear Donald Trump would see nothing wrong with that sort of argument. After all, they want to “cut down every law” to “get after the Devil.” And Trump is the Devil.

IBD: FBI Scandal: Deep State Corruption Of FBI, Justice Was There From Very Start Of Hillary Email Probe, Michael Walsh:  Donald Trump and the Star Chamber of Horrors

From Hillary Clinton to James Comey to Robert Mueller to Stormy Daniels, to various minor federal judges, to CNN and MSNBC, the list of Trump’s enemies continues to grow.

Their tactics are breathtakingly simple—and amazingly brazen. As the past year-plus of Robert Mueller’s tedious investigation has proven, there is no very great crime behind Trump’s very great fortune of having been elected the 45th president of the United States. The entire notion of Russian “collusion” (not in itself actionable in the first place) was cooked up in the witches’ cauldron that was Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The resulting brew was liberally dispensed to the cadres of media operatives pretending to be dispassionate reporters in order to assuage the failed candidate’s rage over losing what she thought—what she was assured by her friends at the CIA and the FBI—was a fixed fight.

And so the Big Lie—that Trump had collaborated with Vladimir Putin to change the course of an American election—was born.

 And there are a bunch of Cohen complications: Trump got on Fox and Friends and ran his mouth. Uh Oh: Actually, Michael Cohen Did Represent Me On The Stormy Daniels Deal, Says Trump, Oh oh really? Was there ever any doubt? Fixers fix. Trump begins distancing himself from Cohen after FBI raid. Fixers are supposed to provide distance. Ask Sydney Blumenthal. Michael Cohen’s Fate Hinges on This 32-Year-Old Corruption Fighter Young and ambitious and with an ax to grind? Just what you'd expect.  Prosecutors use Trump's comments to claim Cohen docs 'unlikely to contain' much privileged info but are we going to take their word for it? No, Federal judge appoints special master to review material seized from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

A federal judge on Thursday appointed a special master to review material seized from the office and residences of President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, acceding to his request that an independent party review the material before federal prosecutors can access it.

The decision, a win for Cohen, came after prosecutors quickly pounced on comments Trump made Thursday morning that the lawyer performed little legal work for him, to undercut Cohen’s argument that much of the material was protected by attorney-client privilege.

U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood appointed retired federal judge Barbara S. Jones to serve in the special-master role to assess whether the documents include any confidential communications between Cohen and his legal clients, including Trump.

Feds seized more than a dozen of Michael Cohen’s phones. Why didn't he hammer them like Hillary; I'm sure Mueller and the Southern District of New York would find him without intent /sarc.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Bikini Barrel Racing?" up and running at The Other McCain.