Russiagate: Some Serious Schadenfreude

So do we start with the most serious, or the most fun? Well, it's my blog, and I'm going with the most fun. So did you hear, Feds bring new charges against lawyer Michael Avenatti for misappropriating nearly $300,000 from former client Stormy Daniels.

Federal prosecutors in New York charged Michael Avenatti with additional financial crimes Wednesday, including allegedly forging the signature of his former client Stormy Daniels and diverting nearly $300,000 owed to her for a book advance into his own account, according to court records filed on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said that he then used money he took from Daniels to make monthly payments on his Ferrari, as well as to cover airfare, dry cleaning, hotels and restaurant bills, as well as payroll and insurance costs for his law firm's employees.

Jazz Shaw, Hot Air, More Avenatti Charges, This Time For Stealing Stormy Daniels’ Money?

Not for nothing, but if there’s anyone else out there who has ever been represented with this guy, you might want to go back and do an audit of your books. Just saying…

Instapundit, SCHADENFREUDEMANIA:

Avenatti’s “charged with ripping off both Nike and Stormy Daniels? That’s perfect: ‘Just Do It’ and ‘Just Do Me,’” Jim Treacher writes at the PJ Mothership, and he’s just getting started: Michael Avenatti Is in Profonda Merda.

MRC TV recalls when CNN compared him to the second coming,  Ana Navarro Compares Stormy Daniels' Lawyer to the Holy Spirit and Madeline Osburn at the Federalist details How CNN And MSNBC Made Shakedown Artist Michael Avenatti A Household Name

Vanity Fair: “I FLEW TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN. NO QUESTION. ICARUS”: INSIDE THE EPIC FALL OF MICHAEL AVENATTI.

Stormy Daniels’s former attorney is a hyper-aggressive narcissist with shadows in his past—which made him a perfect adversary for Donald Trump. For a few months, the #Resistance hero even thought he could be president. Then the past caught up with him.

Remember, all suspects remain innocent until convicted in the court of public opinion. And speaking of convictions, WaPoo (30 day pass), Unsealed court filings reveal how Mueller quickly zeroed in on Michael Cohen

And now, on to "Spygate." At CTH, Sundance catches Doug Collins thinking what I'm thinking "Doug Collins: “Democrats want the work of Mueller, but don’t want to talk to Mueller”…  (with video). Capt. Ed at Hot Air, Hmmmm: Schiff, DoJ Cut A Deal For More Access To Mueller Materials.

John Solomon at Da Hill, Christopher Steele's nugget of fool's gold was easily disproven — but FBI didn't blink an eye. It was too good to check. Scott Rasmussen, 64% Think FBI Knew The Dossier Was Unreliable When They Applied for Search Warrant Against Trump Campaign, and 36% are deluded. John Solomon, speaking to Hannity Reports: Bucket Five Release Within 7 to 8 Days… (via Sundance).

Journalist John Solomon reports the first batch of documents to be declassified in the next seven to eight days will surround “bucket five“:

Bucket Five – Intelligence documents that were presented to the Gang of Eight in 2016 that pertain to the FISA application used against U.S. person Carter Page; including all exculpatory intelligence documents that may not have been presented to the FISA Court.

Presumably this would include the recently revealed State Dept Kavalac email; and the FBI transcripts from wiretaps of George Papadopoulos (also listed in Carter Page FISA).

Byron York, WaEx, Republicans seek release of secret Papadopoulos transcripts. Sundance also looks at Trump's schedule for a Declassification Directive and Current Event Timeline…

While anything is possible…. diplomatically speaking, it would say a great deal about the overall opinion of the administration toward the U.K. if President Trump declassified documents prior to the British state visit considering U.K. involvement might very well be outlined within them.

From Margot Cleveland at Da Federalist, Carter Page: Obama’s FBI, DOJ May Have Spied On Trump Admin, Not Just Campaign. Almost certainly, in fact. She also has Obama-Era State Department Official Provides More Evidence Of FISA Abuse "Kathleen Kavalec’s notes provide at least four more pieces of proof to the already-conclusive case of FISA abuse and wrongful government targeting."

Michael Thau at AmGreat, Obama’s Other Intelligence Operation

Much attention has been paid to Crossfire Hurricane and rightly so. But it’s well past time that Congress and the Department of Justice began looking into the other higher-level shadow investigation into Russia’s alleged efforts to put Trump in the White House. Americans deserve to know what information was shared between the two efforts, if the operation directed by Brennan also involved any spying on Trump’s campaign, and whether it was justified by the utterly discredited, Clinton-funded Steele dossier.

At Breitbart, Spygate: Obama Admin Cut Situation Room's Video Feed During Meetings on Russia Investigation Too secret for even Obama's underlings to know about. Daniel Greenfield, Front Page Mag, Documents Show Russia Wanted to Recruit Black Nationalists, Not Trump. More evidence, as if we needed it, that Putin's main goal was to spread racial discord in the US.

Despite media lies and Democrat conspiracy theories, a Senate report on the so-called Russian election interference showed that Russia targeted black people, not Republicans.

It also reveals that the Russians bought over 1,000 ads targeting African-Americans and less than 300 targeting conservatives. There were 81 social justice ads and only 24 patriotism ads, 66 pro-gun ads and 70 LGBT ads, 43 veteran ads and 57 Muslim ads, not to mention 143 Latin American culture ads.
The African-American ads also produced over 1.5 million clicks while the conservative ads produced well below 500,000. The former ads also racked up over 15 million impressions while the conservative ads scored below 6 million. Not only did the Russians seem to spend less time and achieve fewer result by targeting conservatives, but they produced more clicks, 548,139, by targeting Latinos.

The Russians have a big problem with racial tensions, and naturally, they think that's a good way to attack others.

Roscoe Davis, About James Comey seems there are a few crusaders that want to make a patsy out of him and defend all he’s done. Let’s take a deep dive into James Comey and peel back the layers. I will make this as thorough as I can, fair and balanced.

At PJ Media, Mark Ellis asks Will the Deep State Conspirators Ever Be Held Accountable?

But even given all we now know, and are learning from Hannity’s “boomerang” extravaganza each day, it would be irresponsible to categorically state that yes, this person, those people, will ever be charged or brought to trial, let alone hear the clank of a cell door closing behind them. Due to the labyrinthine depths, interconnectivity, and power inherent in a Deep State that has shocked a nation aghast at the reach of rogue bureaucracies, no one can say for certain whether any of those who concocted this conspiracy will ever be brought to justice.

A few big fish may be chastised, even lose their jobs, or even more unlikely, go to jail, but the ocean they swam in will remain the refuge for a new year class of wannabes.

Bill Whittle Describes “Cold Anger” – Fear and Justice…



Jazz at Hot Air, Here We Go. Pelosi Calls Meeting On Impeachment This Morning and WaPoo, (30 day pass) Trump angrily walks out of meeting with Democrats after Pelosi says he is ‘engaged in a coverup’. Roger L. Simon, No, Nancy. It's the Dems Who Are Engaged in a 'Cover-Up'. The surest way to know what Democrats are doing is to think about whatever they're accusing you of.

Conrad Black, Democrats Are Painted Into a Corner

Everyone knows that the prospects of a successful move to impeach and remove the president from office by two thirds of the Senate finding that he has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt to have committed high crimes and misdemeanors, as the Constitution requires, are less than zero.

CR, House Freedom Caucus unanimously condemns Amash’s impeachment campaign, more at Human Events, Does ‘Impeach Trump’ Amash Have Financial Interests in China? An honest politician is one who stays bought.

The impeachment impresario’s 2017 Financial Disclosure Report details the congressman reported between $100,001 and $1,000,000 in income from a company called Michigan Industrial Tools, which in turn is owned by Dynamic Source International, based in China. Dynamic Source International manufactures products overseas and sells them in the United States via Michigan Industrial Tools (MIT).

With the tensions between the United States and China rising in recent weeks amidst talks of trade deals and tariffs, the Amash family could take a financial hit.