Russiagate on Another Dreary Day

Just waiting for a rain. From Twitchy, ‘Sweet backpedal’: CNN legal analyst (ex prosecutor) says Mueller report will ‘almost certainly disappoint’ (and GUESS whose fault it’ll be)

The Backtrack begins.

Rosenstein's Aug. 2 revised Scope of Investigation & Definition of Authority memo to Mueller specifically authorizes collusion.

Allegations that Manafort:

Committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian Government Officials.https://t.co/geFIC2EpQf https://t.co/5yyPu0qxZz

— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) March 2, 2019

Scott Johnson at Power Line on The future of a collusion

In one important respect Cohen’s testimony was helpful to President Trump. Unless you were watching, however, you probably missed it. I refer to Cohen’s denial that he had been to Prague during the campaign, a key component of the so-called Steele Dossier. Cohen supposedly went to Prague to work out the details of the Trump campaign’s collusion with the friends of Vladimir Putin.

I gave Greg Gordon and Peter Stone of McClatchy News my award for the fakiest news of 2018 in recognition of their story on Cleta Mitchell. I think that Gordon and Stone deserved extra credit for “Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier” (April 13, 2018) and “Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting” (December 27, 2018). I doubt it, but we shall see.

The people who spent 2+ years screaming nonstop about "collusion" are going to pivot and say collusion was never really the issue, and they're going to get away with it because there is zero accountability in elite media

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 1, 2019

A video from CPAC where Trump Unloads on Mueller: ‘They’re Trying to Take You out with Bullshit’. Unfortunately, it's Grabien, so I can't embed it.

Daniel Chaitlin at WaEx, Devin Nunes wants public to see full extent of Mueller's arsenal: Emails, wiretaps, and warrants. Yep, at this point cleaning the swamp in DC is more important than hiding secrets. Out with it! From the woman with 30,000 secrets, Bless Her Heart! Hillary Wants Congress To Do More On Mueller’s Russia Investigation (Karen Townsend, Hot Air).

Mostly Hillary is just irritated that Mueller’s investigation isn’t leaking more to the public. She doesn’t think most Americans know what obstruction of justice means. The woman still doesn’t understand why the media was so focused on her corrupt use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but She-Who-Should-Have-Been-President is also shocked that Russia tried to interfere in our election. Are we to believe she was so naive after her time at the highest levels of public service, including her husband’s presidency for crying out loud, that she was really surprised about Russian meddling? Between Russia and the Chinese, this sort of activity has been going on for years. She still thinks everyone is too dumb to realize it.

And good news for Robert Mueller (and a reason to hurry up), If He Returns to Big Law, Robert Mueller Will Make an Obscene Amount of Money  "The special counsel can potentially count on an eight-figure payday."

Althouse reads NYT because you won't "Mark Penn, Ex-Clinton Loyalist, Visits Trump, and Democrats Are Not Pleased." "That's the headline for a column by Annie Karni in the NYT. Excerpt. . . ." Like Reagan, the party left him.

From Julie Kelly at American Greatness, Where Is House Ethics Probe into Adam Schiff?

During his grudge-airing, redemption-seeking spectacle on Wednesday, Michael Cohen admitted he was in cahoots with Democratic lawmakers prior to giving his congressional testimony.

“We spoke with Chairman [Elijah] Cummings and the [Democratic] Party,” Trump’s former lawyer confessed to Representative Jody Hice (R-Ga.). “We spoke with Chairman [Adam] Schiff and his people as well.”

Under further questioning by Rep. James Jordan (R-Ohio), Cohen acknowledged he “spoke to Mr. Schiff about topics that were going to be raised at the upcoming hearing.” Jordan clarified that rather than simply discuss the logistics of the hearing, Schiff coached the witness on “what [he was] going to talk about.”

It wasn’t the only attempt by Schiff to influence Cohen’s testimony: In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” last Sunday, the Southern California congressman signaled that he expected Cohen to disclose information about alleged crimes committed by the president, including money-laundering and obstruction of justice.

It all amounted to the latest ethical misstep by the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee; unfortunately, none of Schiff’s bad behavior has caught the attention either of the media or congressional watchdogs. Unlike his predecessor, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who was subjected to a fruitless, eight-month House Ethics Committee investigation in 2017, Schiff continues to escape scrutiny for lying to Congress, misleading the public about imaginary crimes related to Russian collusion, and now, witness-tampering.

Republicans continue to take the high road; the one without any oxygen. From Da Hill, Poll finds 37 percent found Cohen testimony credible. So, pretty much, the Democratic base. As if it wasn't obvious, from Daniel McCarthy at NYT: The Real Reason for the Michael Cohen Hearing,  "The public testimony was sleaze for the sake of pure partisan pleasure, not a serious attempt at uncovering lawbreaking."

From the Peacock, House Democrats prepare case to request Trump tax returns Because they want them really badly?