Flotsam and Jetsam - Back on Track

Well, our visitors left early this morning, and life is back to near normal. I\ll miss the grandkids, but not the furor.

Buck Throckmorton at Ace's MORNING RANT: About that “Bad” Jobs Report Last Week: Private-Sector Jobs Increased, Government Jobs Decreased "This headline from Bloomberg was typical, but at least it did note that concurrent with lost jobs, the unemployment rate actually fell: “U.S. Employers Unexpectedly Shed Jobs; Unemployment Rate Falls” ... This CNBC piece further explains that ”The main reason for the red headline number was a loss of 53,000 government workers.”... Here are a few more headlines about who is losing their jobs in the “Trump economy”..." We need to be careful not to get swayed by headlines that conflate foreigners and government workers losing their jobs with what is going on regarding private-sector hiring of U.S. citizens. There is good news on that front, and it’s getting better."

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, "UPDATE: Geraldo Rivera just got brutally exposed as a massive HYPOCRITE after he said President Trump sending Haitians back to Haiti is "sending them straight to hell" Geraldo Rivera, 2018: "Trump should apologize for calling countries sh*t holes!" Calls Haiti "hell.." gets mad at Trump for basically saying the exact same thing. Liberals have no standards!" Western Lensman @WesternLensman, "Anderson Cooper may take issue with your harsh assessment of Haiti, Geraldo. He did tell Conan how “amazing,” “incredible” and "culturally rich" it is, and that he likes to spend his weekends and vacations there, after all." John Sexton at Hat Hair hears Trump Gets a Win in Lawsuit Against BBC.

From Ace, Trump Settlels In for Long Siege of Iran, "I had hoped for a more "kinetic" operation with Iran done and dusted a year before the mid-terms. But that's now impossible, of course, so a long slow strangulation will do." James E. Thorne@DrJStrategy, "Hormuz Miscalculation Sec Bessent gets it. Iran has mistaken a tactical threat for a durable advantage. By repeatedly signaling its willingness to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran hasn’t strengthened its hand, it has accelerated the market’s exit. Capital does not tolerate chokepoints; it routes around them..." Steve Richards at JTN, As Iran war strains high-end munition stocks, Trump administration works to jump start production. "While the Pentagon disputes critical munitions supply concerns, it is working to significantly boost production of the high-end systems and seek out mass produced alternatives." RBe @RBPundit, "Here's the straight answer: "We're not going to tell Iran or anyone else how long they may or may not have to hold out against us." Quote Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty, "Can We Get a Straight Answer on Our Critical Munitions Stockpiles?" Nick Arama at RedState swears Iran's 'Proof of Life' Video for Supreme Leader Blows Up in Its Face. John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz, "All that's left is the leader's nose. Time to check the cell structure!" Quote Raylan Givens @JewishWarrior13, "JUST IN: Multiple sources inside Iran confirm that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been rushed to the hospital and is in critical condition."

PJM's Stephen Kruiser says I Liked the Dems Better When AOC Was Their Craziest Commie. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair cites AOC: I Don't Know What to Do With That Hat Tossing and Frozen Eggs. Kyle Beckley @Kyle_Beckley, "“The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change. Just kidding, freezing my eggs because I got all the time in the world"" Quote New York Post @nypost, "AOC starts process of freezing her eggs, hints at 2028 mindset: 'I think it's badass.' At Althouse, "I'm not sure why WaPo covered this, but ignored trump wearing a wig that is styled like his mother's hair during her last year of life." "That's the top-rated comment (by far) on the WaPo article, "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she’s freezing her eggs/The Democratic congresswoman, 36, said she made the decision to undergo the fertility procedure to 'feel more in control of my life'" (gift link)." Andrew Kerr @AndrewKerrNC, "“Why isnt AOC married after being engaged to Riley Roberts after 4+ years?” She’s hiding his finances from the public. That’s why. So long as they remain legally unmarried, Roberts’ stock trades remain secret."

Politico whines that Trump and the GOP have a new bogeyman, "Days after Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in the Michigan primary, Trump is homing in on his progressive policies, calling him a “communist” and “man of hate.”" From Ace, Abdul El-Sayed Has Repeatedly Endorsed Book Which Praises Left-Wing Violence and the Nihilistic Destruction of the "Summer of Love;" Also Refuses to Even Stop Campaiging with Hasan "Kill Rick Scott" Piker, "I'm starting to think this son of a terrorist might be pro-terrorism.Jon Levine of Free Beacon..." Sundance at CTH hosts Susan Kokinda Reviewing Abdul El-Sayed From Michigan. From the Victory Girls, Mamdani’s Anti-Rent Advisor Faces Eviction Over Four Years Of Unpaid Rent. Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt, "They’re all like this, BTW. Every single one is a disappointing nepo baby. DSA is if “I HATE YOU DAD” were a political party. Commies are all scammers." Quote New York Post @nypost, "Anti-rent radical and Mamdani pal who is 'squatting' in Brooklyn is Grammy nepo baby." John Sexton at Hat Hair reports a Judge Grants TRO on Mamdani's Pied-À-Terre Tax. AG @AGHamilton29, "An incredibly consistent overlap between the categories of communist activist and privileged rich kids who never held real jobs and have defined their entire lives by their desire to rebel against their rich families." RedState's Sister Toldja hears a New Dem Talking Point on the DSA Emerges, and Francesca Hong Just Demonstrated Why It Won't Work. Ryan King at NYPo reports Talarico previously fought against Texas legislation banning predators from getting cashless bail. Justine Bateman @JustineBateman, "I’ll tell you something about Karen Bass. Three months after she was elected, she spoke at one of the guilds. She clearly knew nothing about the film industry, I mean nothing. It was shocking. At one point she asked that film productions give jobs to homeless people—that this “would really help her out.” What kind of idiot walks into a room of mostly out-of-work people, in an industry that is collapsing upon itself, that does productions with limited time and money where a mistake from an inexperienced worker can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and suggest that unskilled, perhaps drug-addled, clueless homeless people should be employed instead of qualified guild members? ..." LI's Mike LaChance hears from a Former DNC Fundraiser: Major Democratic Donors are Done With Kamala Harris, “Kamala Harris is living in fantasyland… [thinking] that big donors would bet on her again.” At TownHall Matt Vespa hears (and posts) a Black Georgia Voter Tells NYT Reporter What's Wrong With the Dems. It's Brutally Accurate: "I feel like the Democratic people, they just fake. "They tried to do the Megan Thee Stallion thing. That was HORRIBLE. When Harris got Megan Thee Stallion ... What was that!? People can see through the bullsh*t!" Joshua Reed Eakle @JoshEakle, "Oh my God. Watch this interview with Dr. Frances Gill of the Democratic Socialists of America's national political committee. I'm sorry. But putting these people in charge of the Democratic Party will usher in a century of fascist rule."

Sundance reports the FBI Declassifies Investigation of Former AG Jeff Sessions, Codename “March Toll” and Senator Ron Johnson Reveals Fauci Texts and Horrific Vaccine Induced Abortion Rate Hidden Within the Data. From Ace, Fauci Privately Acknowledged the Fake Vaccine Could Cause Miscarriages -- But Denied Any Such Risk Publicly "This is close to murder." "The authors claimed a miscarriage rate of 12.6%, but the raw data revealed an 82% miscarriage rate in women vaccinated during the first trimester. This is consistent with the 81% miscarriage rate noted in the Pfizer 5.3.6 post-market data. These figures mirror the effects of chemical abortion drugs such as RU-486." Among Alex Berenson's Unreported Truths, Tony Fauci appears to have misled Congress in 2024 about his efforts to avoid federal records laws, "Joe Biden's final-day presidential pardon of Fauci will protect him from any potential criminal jeopardy for the episode, but it shows why he may be so reluctant to testify now." At Da Caller, Rand Paul Fires Back After Progressive Writer Questions His Medical Credentials. "You know who isn't a doctor? Rand Paul isn't, and RFK Jr isn't, you stuporous dope. https://t.co/bICmflrCuF— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) August 7, 2026" "Paul answered directly the following day. “I’m literally an MD. I operate on eyeballs,” the senator wrote on his verified account."

At Law and Liberty, Josh Blackmun tells A Tale of Two Chiefs "There is Chief Justice Roberts, the institutionalist, who strategically guides the Supreme Court by not deciding more than is necessary to decide. Then there is Chief Justice Roberts, the institutionalist, who strategically guides the Supreme Court by deciding more than is necessary to decide. Which Roberts do we get in each case? This tale of two chiefs depends entirely on whether Roberts determines the decision will lead to the best of times or the worst of times. If the Chief fears rough roads ahead, less will be decided. If the Chief sees smooth sailing, more will be decided. No more, no less."

From Fox, DHS reports over 1.4M illegal alien departures since January 2025. Jason Cohen @JasonJournoDC, "NEW: John Fetterman to WaPo: "Without a doubt, the Democratic Party, we DESTROYED our border! 11 million migrants thru the Biden Admin. When you have 300,000 showing up at the border, that's the size of Pittsburgh .... EVERY month! And Democrats pretended that it's all good." Balmer Sun, Judge reinstates Howard County ICE facility permit. "Judge says county’s ban on private immigration detention centers cannot be enforced." From PM, Iranian sex offender able to vote without ID in Michigan: OMG, "O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) journalists reportedly investigated two Michigan registered voters whose noncitizen status was identified through Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records." Hat Hair's Beege Welborn say aww, The Euro Mean Girls Are Ganging Up on Pedro Sanchez.

At UnHerd, Jason Arday taught me. Here’s what I learned "The song lyrics were the first red flag. The way he’d ramble about Tinie Tempah or Eminem, or how black artists like Beyoncé were sexualized by white men, without offering any evidence to substantiate his claims. Or else there were the film clips, from Fish Tank and Kidulthood, which he’d tell us to discuss without offering guidance on how to do so. And this was if he was even in the classroom at all. He often arrived late and left early, once teaching for a single hour when four were scheduled." Ace, Surprise! Jason Arday Was Also a Shit "Teacher;" Did Not Teach Actual Academic Subjects, Just Riffed About Racism and Popular Music In Every "Class." John McWhorter @JohnHMcWhorter, "My take on the Arday debacle. Elevator pitch version: 1) Arday is typical of a thriving alternate-universe academia elevating performance art over curiosity; 2) the "anti-racist" people who supported him are either bigots or caught up in recreational tribalism."Saul Sadka @Saul_Sadka, "My advance copy of Professor Jason Arday’s new book just arrived, courtesy of Simon & Schuster. Can’t wait to dig in, but here’s a taste from the first page to whet your appetite: “All this happened, more or less. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times: a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again, where Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself—for Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins, my sin, my soul. But 124 was spiteful, full of a baby’s venom. I am a sick man. I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man.”" At Ombre de Oliver, The Racists Who Enabled Jason Arday, "Can you say "soft bigotry of low expectations." Eric Rasmusen at Ras-Stak, Who Hired the Ridiculous Jason Arday at Cambridge? I Have the Names. "This is not a lightweight panel. Zembylas has the most citations; all have a proper scholarly record in education, sociology, history. So did they read the work? And if they did how could they persuade themselves it was of the level appropriate for a Cambridge chair?" Saul Sadka @Saul_Sadka, "The greatest secret of the social sciences is that nobody reads any of this stuff. It's all just busy work to keep a giant grift going, so you can have typos in the title of your PhD dissertation and nobody will notice until you have a plagiarism scandal." As I've said all along.

From Campus Reform, Trump administration defends Harvard funding freeze as ACLU-led coalition backs university on appeal, "The administration argues Harvard failed to address anti-Semitism and other institutional concerns before nearly $2.2 billion in federal research funding was frozen." Graphs about Religion finds Finance Majors Go to Church. English Majors Don't. "The Stereotypes About Which Majors Are Religious and Conservative Turn Out to Be Mostly True." 

Ace, Black WNBA Thug Who Clotheslined Sophie Cunniningham Says Her Ejection for the Flargrant Foul Is Just "White Privilege;" Male NBA Stars Announce They're Gals Now and Intend to Try Out for the WNBA "It's "white privilege" to eject someone for a flagrant foul because, of course, blacks are permitted to take Street Reparations against white people when they feel like it." Matt Vespa sees Dijonai Carrington Tried to Explain Her 'White Privilege' Tweet. It Didn't Go Well. Virginia Kruta at Da Wire, Sophie Cunningham Smacks Down Opponent’s ‘White Privilege’ Comment. "There's no reason to even play that card." Stephen Kruiser thinks Sophie Cunningham Triggered an Avalanche of Bluff-Calling for the WNBA. Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog, "It really is incredible that there’s just outright racial violence happening in the WNBA. Every men’s professional sports league has black and white players and they aren’t having these problems. Remember this the next time a feminist tells you women should rule the world because they’re more peaceful and empathetic or whatever." Julie Frost--That Werewolf Writer @JulieCFrost, "Kareem might have a point if anyone could name a single other WNBA player." Quote Farm Girl Carrie @FarmGirlCarrie, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says calling Caitlin Clark the “Face of the WNBA” is disrespectful to those who've paved the way. Do you agree with his point of view or is he flat out wrong here? What say you?" Well, at least they've found a way to make the WNBA mildly interesting.

Talk about a segue, at Da Mail, Trans American who fled to Europe claiming asylum from Trump makes humiliating return after being placed in a refugee center… but she's already complaining about life in the US. Hollywood in Toto has The Joke that Sparked Death Threats for Arynne Wexler "Wexler said she was shocked that another joke from her repertoire drew little outrage. She has compared Muslims to pit bulls, suggesting the majority of both groups aren’t violent, but..." Beege Welborn, UK Muslim 'News' Org Seems to Want to Make Sure Its Delightful Readers Have Someone to Protest. Aja @AjaTheEmpress, "Well this sounds like a threat. @BrumPolice @gmpolice @BrantfordPolice, @WYP_LeedsCity "You might want to keep an eye on this because letting John Cleese get hurt in your city isn't gonna be a good look." At ToI, UK probes major Muslim charity after director charged with funneling aid to Hamas.

Linked at The Right Way in Top of the News. The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Another Rough Start up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

A Small Smattering of Russiagate

Not much as seeped through the weekend, but this one is a good one. Andy McCarthy explains how New Disclosures Confirm: Trump Himself Was the Target of Obama Administration’s Russia Probe Nothing really new here, but a great 30,000 ft view of their means and motives.

Among the most significant of the newly declassified documents is a memorandum written by FBI agent Joe Pientka III, the case agent on Trump-Russia. It was Pientka who, at the FBI’s New York City headquarters on August 17, 2016, purported to brief Trump and two top campaign surrogates — the aforementioned General Flynn and then–New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who was slated to run the transition if Trump won.

In reality, Pientka and the FBI regarded the occasion not as a briefing for the Republican presidential nominee but as an opportunity to interact with Donald Trump for investigative purposes. Clearly, the Bureau did that because Trump was the main subject of the investigation. The hope was that he’d blurt things out that would help the FBI prove he was an agent of Russia.

The Obama administration and the FBI knew that it was they who were meddling in a presidential campaign — using executive intelligence powers to monitor the president’s political opposition. This, they also knew, would rightly be regarded as a scandalous abuse of power if it ever became public. There was no rational or good-faith evidentiary basis to believe that Trump was in a criminal conspiracy with the Kremlin or that he’d had any role in Russian intelligence’s suspected hacking of Democratic Party email accounts.

You didn’t have to believe Trump was a savory man to know that. His top advisers were Flynn, a decorated combat veteran; Christie, a former U.S. attorney who vigorously investigated national-security cases; Rudy Giuliani, a legendary former U.S. attorney and New York City mayor who’d rallied the country against anti-American terrorism; and Jeff Sessions, a longtime U.S. senator with a strong national-defense track record. To believe Trump was unfit for the presidency on temperamental or policy grounds was a perfectly reasonable position for Obama officials to take — though an irrelevant one, since it’s up to the voters to decide who is suitable. But to claim to suspect that Trump was in a cyberespionage conspiracy with the Kremlin was inane . . . except as a subterfuge to conduct political spying, which Obama officials well knew was an abuse of power.

So they concealed it. They structured the investigation on the fiction that there was a principled distinction between Trump himself and the Trump campaign. In truth, the animating assumption of the probe was that Trump himself was acting on Russia’s behalf, either willfully or under the duress of blackmail. By purporting to focus on the campaign, investigators had the fig leaf of deniability they needed to monitor the candidate.

Just two weeks before Pientka’s August 17 “briefing” of Trump, the FBI formally opened “Crossfire Hurricane,” the codename for the Trump-Russia investigation. The Bureau also opened four Trump-Russia subfiles, related to Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos and Flynn.

There was no case file called “Donald Trump” because Trump was “Crossfire Hurricane.” The theory of Crossfire Hurricane was that Russia had blackmail information on Trump, which it could use to extort Trump into doing Putin’s bidding if Trump were elected. It was further alleged that Russia had been cultivating Trump for years and was helping Trump’s election bid in exchange for future considerations. Investigators surmised that Trump had recruited Paul Manafort (who had connections to Russian oligarchs and pro-Russia Ukrainian oligarchs) as his campaign manager, enabling Manafort to use such emissaries as Page to carry out furtive communications between Trump and the Kremlin. If elected, the theory went, Trump would steer American policy in Russia’s favor, just as the Bureau speculated that Trump was already corruptly steering the Republican party into a more pro-Moscow posture.

Besides obtaining FISA surveillance warrants against Page, the Bureau’s favored tactic — a common one in criminal investigations — was to create or exploit situations in which the suspects would be at ease. Either the settings would not seem investigative or, in Trump’s case, repeated assurances were provided that he was not under investigation. With no notice that the FBI was trying to catch them and even prompt them into making incriminating statements, Trump and his campaign advisers would be invited to talk about Russia. Agents parsed their statements and scrutinized their demeanor, searching for any indication of pro-Russia sentiment or uneasiness about the topic — anything that could be portrayed as incriminating. If the Bureau’s contacts with Trump officials were not covertly recorded (as they were, for example, when informants interacted with Papadopoulos), agents would generate written reports about them, the kind of reports the FBI routinely writes when building a criminal case.

This is exactly what Pientka did in connection with the August 17 “briefing,” under the supervision of Kevin Clinesmith, the rabidly anti-Trump FBI lawyer later found by the Justice Department’s inspector general to have tampered with a key email, and Peter Strzok, the rabidly anti-Trump counterintelligence agent who was later fired.

Pientka’s significantly redacted seven-page memo is worth reading. The point of it is not the national-security information provided to the candidate; that is just context for the Bureau’s documenting of statements made by Trump in response. For example, when the topic is differences in methodology between Russian and Chinese espionage, Pientka carefully notes that Trump asked, “Joe, are the Russians bad? Because they have more numbers [of FBI cases] are they worse than the Chinese?” After all, maybe we’ll find out he was reporting back to the Kremlin. When the topic turned to signals intelligence, Pientka notes that Trump interjected, “Yes I understand it’s a dark time. Nothing is safe on computers anymore,” and elaborated that his then-ten-year-old son had broken the code for access to a computer — you know, just the kind of badinage you’d expect from a co-conspirator in a Russian hacking scheme.

Pientka then recounts that when other intelligence-agency briefers took over to continue the briefing on other topics, Pientka did not leave; he stayed in the room “actively listen[ing] for topics or questions regarding the Russian Federation.” Here, in a classified report they figure no one will ever see, there is no pretense: FBI agents are monitoring Trump. Pientka notes that when one briefer said the U.S. was the world’s leader in counterterrorism, Trump interjected, “Russia too?” And when the discussion turned to cheating by Russia and China on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, “Trump asked, ‘Who’s worse?’” When the briefer replied, “They are both bad, but Russia is worse,” Pientka took pains to relate, “Trump and Christie turned toward each other and Christie commented, ‘Im shocked’” [sic].

You’re thinking, “So what?” Yeah, well, that’s the point. They had nothing, but the agents were exploiting the U.S. political process to try to turn nothing into a federal case. And would any public official voluntarily attend a security briefing, ostensibly meant to help him perform his public-safety mission, if he thought the FBI might be spying on him and writing reports with an eye toward portraying him as a hostile power’s mole?

Just as we’ve seen in the Flynn investigation, Pientka’s official FBI report is marked in bold capital letters: “DRAFT DOCUMENT/DELIBERATIVE MATERIAL.” Why deliberate over a draft when the purpose is to document a suspect’s statements? After all, he said whatever he said; there shouldn’t be a need to edit it. Drafts and deliberations are necessary only if a report is being massaged to fit the perceived needs of the investigation. Observe that, although the briefing was August 17, the memo is dated August 30. Nearly two weeks later, and it’s still in the form of a deliberative draft, meaning they’re not done yet.

This is not materially different from the Obama administration’s plan on January 6, 2017. That is when the FBI’s then-director, James Comey, “briefed” Trump in New York City. This briefing came just a day after Comey met with his Obama-administration superiors — the president, Vice President Biden, national-security adviser Susan Rice, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. They discussed withholding information about the Russia investigation from President-elect Trump and his incoming team.

Consistent with this White House strategy session, Comey did not actually brief Trump about the Russia investigation; he buzzed Trump with an allegation that the Putin regime might be in possession of blackmail material — the pee tape — that it could hold over Trump’s head in order to get him to do the Kremlin’s bidding.

The point was not to give information. It was to get information: to provoke Trump into making incriminating or false statements, or statements evincing consciousness of guilt. Outside Trump Tower was an FBI car equipped with a laptop so Comey could immediately write an investigative report. The director and his team treated this as an investigative event, not a briefing. Comey memorialized Trump’s statements, as well as his physical and emotional reaction to the suggestion that Moscow might have video of the soon-to-be president cavorting with prostitutes. If a case had ever been made on Trump, Comey could then have been a witness, with his investigative report available to refresh his recollection about Trump’s comments and comportment.

That is one of the main reasons such reports are done.

Insty responds, IT WAS A SEDITIOUS POLITICAL HIT JOB, BY CORRUPT LEADERS IN THE FBI, THE DOJ, AND ELSEWHERE IN THE GOVERNMENT: New Disclosures Confirm: Trump Himself Was the Target of Obama Administration’s Russia Probe. "And it counted on support from a corrupt press, which it got."

Anything else? Not much, and even then, pretty tangential. First, a reminder from John Solomon at JTN that the Obama/Biden administration long tilted towards the Russians, and didn't really give a flying fuck if they spied or meddled in our elections, Tech hub Obama, Biden and Clinton helped Russia build set off U.S. intelligence alarms DOD, FBI warned of Skolkovo espionage operation by Russia before 2016 election, according to new book.

Skolkovo was perhaps the Kremlin’s boldest maneuver yet. Envious of America’s technological success, the Russians sought to re-create the West Coast high-tech industrial hub in the suburbs of Moscow. But unlike the bottom-up innovation that defines Silicon Valley, where computer geniuses like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs pinched their pennies and built the first personal computers in their garages, Skolkovo was a top-down state-run project that sought to replicate decades of trial and error seemingly overnight.

It was also a ploy to steal American intellectual property and transfer technological secrets to the Kremlin.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy described the Skolkovo scam best: “The project was like an espionage operation in broad daylight, openly enhancing Russia’s military and cyber capabilities.” Indeed, multiple Defense Department (DOD) agencies and the FBI condemned Skolkovo as an espionage front that posed a clear and present danger to U.S. national security.

In 2012, the U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Program at Fort Leavenworth examined the security implications of Skolkovo and concluded that Skolkovo was an apparent “vehicle for worldwide technology transfer to Russia in the areas of information technology, biomedicine, energy, satellite and space technology, and nuclear technology.”
. . .
The Kremlin and the Obama State Department praised the civilian endeavors of Skolkovo and its “clusters”—information, energy, biomedical, and even space technology (among other seemingly innocuous initiatives). The promoters of Skolkovo in Moscow and Washington conveniently neglected to mention the military applications.

WaFreeBee, Former U.S. Marine Sentenced to Nine Years in Russian Prison

Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed was sentenced by a Moscow court to serve nine years in prison on Thursday, the New York Times reported.

Already imprisoned for 11 months, Reed was sentenced on charges of assaulting and endangering the lives of two Russian police officers. Reed, his supporters, and his family denied the charges, describing them as politically motivated.

"I think anyone who has eyes and ears and who has been in this courtroom knows that I’m not guilty," Reed said. "They didn't ask me anything about fighting police, they asked me where I served in the Marine Corps, what deployments I was on…. Everything about this case is political."

I rather expected him to be traded for Maria Butina, but apparently she wasn't worth that much since we gave her back for free. Could we trade him for Clapper, Brennan or Comey, or perhaps all three?

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links.

Russiagate Still Stoned

At Town Hall, Byron York reminds us of all the reasons There's Nothing New About Roger Stone Clemency, while at AmSpec, Jeffrey Lord reminds us of the The Unhistoric Corruption of Mitt Romney "The cynical senator ignored Carter/Clinton/Obama pardons." The hatred is strong in that one, because Trump succeeded where Romney failed. Chuck Ross at Da Caller on how Mueller Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann Calls For A Roger Stone Re-Do

Writing in The New York Times, Weissmann also pushed a false claim about the criminal charges against Stone, whose prison sentence Trump commuted on Friday.

Weissmann, who is currently an MSNBC analyst, asserted that Stone was convicted on charges of “lying to Congress about the coordination between the Trump 2016 campaign, Mr. Stone, WikiLeaks and Russia.”

Stone was convicted on five counts of making false statements to Congress, an obstruction charge and a witness tampering charge, none of which involved allegations of coordination between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, or anything to do with Russia.

The special counsel’s report said that no Trump associates were found to have coordinated with the Kremlin or to have taken part in the hacking or release of emails that WikiLeaks published.

Speaking of Andy Weissass and the Mueller team, a new favorite, "shipwreckedcrew" (apparently an anonymous former federal prosecutor) from Red State dismantles their case against Stone in The Drafting of the Indictment Against Roger Stone Shows The Duplicity Of Mueller’s Special Counsel Prosecutors. This is long, detailed and lawyerly and worth every word, but I'll pull a single example:

I’ve read through Roger Stone’s indictment several times. The first time I read it I was struck by the fact that I had trouble following the connection between the “facts” and the charged offenses. After I read it again I became convinced that the confusion was purposeful. The indictment was written in such a way that the nature of the relationship between the “facts” and the charged offenses would be convoluted. In my opinion, the purpose behind the drafting was to “tie” Stone to the nefarious actions of the Russians about which he had no involvement. This was accomplished by “suggesting” such an involvement purely as a result of Stone’s lies to Trump campaign officials about those nefarious actions – statements presented in the indictment in a fashion suggesting they are true when the SCO knew the statements were false.

Rather than be forthright in the indictment and acknowledge that Stone was lying when he engaged in certain conversations with third parties, the indictment is silent about the truth or falsity of Stone’s statements to others, and merely lays out what he was alleged to have said. They do this by employing the kind of “qualifiers” I mentioned above. When you know what you are looking for, these qualifiers jump out and make you take a closer look what the indictment is really saying reading “between the lines.”

By using Stone’s words in this fashion, the indictment spins a story which is factually false but tells it in such a way that the reader is going to at first glance conclude Stone statements constitute “facts” themselves suggesting that the story is true. But the SCO knew it was false, but nevertheless wrote the indictment in such a way as to make it easy to misconstrue the story told as being true.

Here are some examples of what I’m referring to:

5. During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about [Wikileaks] and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton campaign.

The SCO admits in the indictment with the bolded language that in the summer of 2016 Stone didn’t know what Wikileaks had – his conversation with other campaign officials is speculation about Wikileaks might have, not facts about what Wikileaks had. The indictment had to be written that way because the SCO knew that Stone had NEVER been able to make contact with Wikileaks/Assange prior to October, 2016, and the first contact they could find was one of antagonism after Wikileaks had made a public comment that it had no association with Stone. But the indictment doesn’t clarify – as was true – that in the summer of 2016 Stone, in fact, had no knowledge or information about Wikileaks beyond that which had appeared in the press.

But with the language in the indictment appearing the way it did, the former SCO members now, and their fellow-travelers in the press, continue to push the narrative that Stone was sharing information with the Trump Campaign in the summer of 2016 about what Wikileaks had, supporting the false innuendo that Stone had been in contact with Wikileaks/Assange in the same time frame in order to acquire that information.

That is all false.

The whole purpose of pursuing Stone was to attempt to keep the Russia collusion narrative alive, and to hurt Trump. Andy Weissass is still at it.

 Sundance at CTH, Keep Hammering – Devin Nunes Keeps Mueller Fraud in Tight Focus…



Nicholas Ballsy at JTN, Susan Rice says Obama admin. was 'absolutely' not spying on Trump campaign, just like the Benghazi attack was a spontaneous demonstration in response to a video.

"Absolutely no, it did not happen. That is false. That is another lie designed to deflect from the president's own very bizarre relationship with Russia; to distract from the much validated reality that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump," Rice said during a discussion with Washington Post Live.

Sundance, DOJ Spox Kerri Kupek Discusses “Operation Legend”, China and The John Durham Investigation…

Smart and fierce DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupek discusses DOJ Operation Legend, an organized and focused effort by the federal government to reduce crime and violence stemming from Antifa and other violent extremists.

Additionally, Ms. Kupek discusses the DOJ taking a stronger approach toward the corrupt influence of China within various U.S. systems (economic, political and social). Lastly @4:30 Kerri outlines the status of John Durham’s ongoing investigation: “the restoration of that one-tiered system of justice.”

Tristan Justice at Da Fed, House Judiciary Republicans Refute Democratic Narrative On Fired US Attorney

House Republicans made four primary points in their Monday memo refuting the Democratic narrative:

I. Berman stubbornly resisted the Attorney General’s attempts as an amicable transition for Berman out of his position in favor of a Senate-confirmed United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
II. Berman did not testify that any specific wrongdoing, misconduct, or other impropriety occurred during his dismissal by the Attorney General
III. Berman believed himself to be independent of supervision from superior officers in the Executive Branch and immune from removal from his position
IV. Berman’s purported concerns about the Attorney General’s actions are unfounded, vague, and lacking specific evidence.

Read the Republican memo here: GOP Memo On House Judiciary Interview of Geoffrey Berman 

The Peacock whines that White House officials sent document to Pentagon criticizing Vindman after impeachment testimony. When you strike at the king . . .

On the downfall of Russiagate alum Jeff Sessions, Jazz Shaw at Hot Air thinks Sessions Went Down Fast, Hard, And… Gracefully  EBL says Jeff Sessions, Goodbye 👋

Jeff Sessions was just over his head and not up for this fight. I do not vilify him for recusing himself, he was blocked in by the Democrats, but he should have seen that trap coming and never let himself be set up as he was. That is true for Michael Flynn too (and for that matter Donald Trump). The problem is none of them anticipated how dirty and corrupt the FBI and the Democrats really were.

So why I don't think the President should dump on Sessions as much as he does, I recognize why he does so. Flynn was loyal and fought. Stone and Manafort stayed loyal and fought back. They all suffered terrible losses doing so. Sessions basically stepped back and did not have the President's back.Sessions could have been more effective than he was.

Some Hump Day Russiagate

Elle Johnson likes Hump Day

People are still talking about Roger Stone, I see. Including Roger Stone; Roger Stone credits president Trump with saving his life by commuting his prison sentence 'I was facing what I really believed was a near-death sentence,' Stone said during the interview. Well, maybe. It seemed like an awful lot of legal firepower to go after a political prankster. Mark Hymen at AmSpec compares Clinton’s Pardons - By comparison, President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for his. Especially now that you can get a Nobel Prize for something you haven't done yet.

It had gotten so wild in the final months of the Clinton presidency that Roger was cold-calling applicants offering to get them clemency in return for cash. One applicant, who wishes to remain anonymous, wondered how Roger Clinton knew they applied for clemency and how he got their private cell phone number. Bill must have given the information to Roger, the unsuccessful applicant speculated. The applicant refused to pay Roger the requested six-figure fee and never received a pardon.

Matt Vespa at Town Hall finds a  Liberal Reporter who says Yes, The Mueller Probe's ‘Hysterical Fallacies' Is Cause For Roger Stone's Commutation. This has a great twitter thread. A taste:

Roger Stone was convicted of crimes stemming from a Special Counsel investigation that was fundamentally predicated on hysterical fallacies and fake conspiracy theories, so yes that is legitimate grounds for a commutation

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 11, 2020

CNN whines that Mueller considered speaking up earlier against Trump and Barr's attacks, sources say. Of course he wants to protect his work product, that's only natural, but he might want to be careful not to bring it under too much scrutiny. Sundance at CTH, More of This Approach – Devin Nunes Goes Hard After Mueller Team…



Twitchy, He NEVER learns! Kayleigh McEnany once again makes Jim Acosta her BIATCH during presser when he asks about Russia Russia Russia

Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany: "No one's been tougher on Russia" than President Trump. pic.twitter.com/qdkSOKNUJT

— The Hill (@thehill) July 13, 2020

Intersectionality in the news, Sundance points out that Bari Weiss, who is in the news for writing a scathing resignations letter to the NYT regarding the cancel culture in their staff, is also the same NYT editor who was playing games with the Carter FISA warrant that was leaked from the Senate Select Intelligence Committee: New York Times Editor, Who Received Leaked Wolfe FISA Application From March 17, 2017, Resigns…. If you weren't aware, Sundance has a special hatred for the SSIC, likely justified: The Mysterious Journey of an FBI Leak Investigation…

So does Lorena Bueri

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Graham Working To Declassify Memo Of FBI Interview With Steele Source Who Undermined Dossier. Still waiting for Lindsey 3.0, you know, the version that actually gets something accomplished.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said Tuesday he is working to declassify a memo regarding an FBI interview conducted with the primary source for Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote the infamous anti-Trump dossier.
Graham revealed new details about the memo in an interview with former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy. He said that the document is 40 pages in length and covers information that Steele’s source provided the FBI over the course of three days in January 2017.

The Justice Department’s office of the inspector general revealed in a report released Dec. 9 that the source, who has not been identified, disputed many of Steele’s allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The source told the FBI that Steele misrepresented or embellished the claims by passing off rumor as fact in the 35 page dossier. The inspector general’s report revealed that the FBI failed to disclose the information in two applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.

The FBI relied heavily on Steele’s information in applications for the FISAs. The Justice Department deemed two of the four FISA orders against Page to be invalid because of omissions about Steele’s source.

and Demi Rose

Henry Rodgers at Da Caller reports that  House Judiciary Committee To Host Second DOJ Whistleblower Hearing Before Attorney General Barr Testifies

In a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the committee, ripped Nadler for refusing to release the names of witnesses that are scheduled to appear at a hearing on July 23. In the letter, Jordan told Nadler he expects the witnesses to consume the committee’s time by attacking Barr before he testifies on July 28 about politicization at the DOJ.

“We understand that you intend to convene a hearing of the Committee on July 23, 2020, to provide yet another public platform for presumably disgruntled witnesses to attack Attorney General William P. Barr. Your oddly personal obsession with attacking the Attorney General— and using the Committee’s limited time and resources to do it—has sadly become a vanity project. In feeding your vanity, you have declined to use Committee time and energy on issues of bipartisan significance that can truly help our constituents and instead chosen to focus the Committee on your fruitless partisan pursuits,” Jordan wrote in the letter to Nadler.

So did you hear, Russiagate alum Jeff Sessions loses Alabama Senate runoff to Tommy Tuberville? (Sauron's eye). AllahPundit, Live Results At 8 P.M. ET: Sessionsdammerung. Sundance probably says it best in Tuberville Crushes Sessions in Alabama Primary Senate Race…

Done is done. No time for gloating. Thank you Jeff Sessions for everything you have done throughout your career (sans AG). As a former Senator Mr. Sessions was a valuable supporter for the MAGA agenda and a kind person. Done is done. Now we move on.

Unite the clans. We’ve got a general election to win.

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Toni McBride ready at The Other McCain.

Russiagate: Roger Stone Still Free

And still in the news, as lefties and never-Trumpers continue to fulminate. The AP whines Trump’s defiant help for Stone adds to tumult in Washington. The editors of the never-Trump National Review call it An Indefensible Commutation. DNYNUZ moans Trump’s Clemency Came After Displays of Loyalty by Stone. Andy Weissman Wants Roger Stone Hauled Before Grand Jury in New York, (Law and Crime), while the trial judge Amy Berman Jackson is looking for a loop hole in the commutation,  Stone Judge: I Need To Review Trump’s Commutation (Capt. Ed, Hot Air). Chris Christie says I wouldn't have commuted Roger Stone sentence. You're also not the President, after several attempts.

Meanwhile Roger Stone continues his plan to drive libs batty as he Says he plans to campaign for Trump. I would say he has succeeded. At Red State, "shipwreckedcrew" tells of how David French Reveals The Depth Of Intellectual Dishonesty Needed For The NeverTrumpers’ Vituperation of Roger Stone. Well, somebody has to read what David French writes, I suppose. Better him than me.

George Papadopolous tells an innocuous “half-truth” by providing an inaccurate date, and he’s forced to eat a “false statement” charge. Why? He was a Trump campaign advisor.

Gen. Michael Flynn omits information from answers to FBI agents, and he’s forced to eat a “false statement” charge. Why? He was Trump’s National Security Advisor.

Roger Stone is convicted for lying to Congress where his “lies” are almost exclusively related to covering up the fact that he had not been honest with Trump and campaign officials about a connection to Assange and Wikileaks — he had none — and the SCO seeks an 87-month sentence. Why? Because he’s been a 30-year friend and advisor to Trump.

Jerome Corsi is none of those things. Even though his lies to the SCO are set forth in the Report, and he’s given a plea agreement to sign but he refuses to do so, and the SCO drops the matter rather than indict him.

If you want proof of a “two-tiered” justice system under the SCO, there it is. If there was narrative value in nailing your scalp to the wall, the SCO did it — even when they knew they could not prove the underlying crime — Gen. Flynn. When there was no narrative value, they dumped you off on the nearest street corner with cab fare to get you home.

Via Powerline, Two Standards of Justice:

Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany: "There really are two standards of justice in this country." pic.twitter.com/ASbT6g2NCx

— The Hill (@thehill) July 13, 2020

But wait, there's more as from Dan Chaitin at WaEx, Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann says 'We could have done more' in Russia investigation. Throw a few more Trump supporters in jail for alleged crimes created by your investigations? Probably. And not shockingly, Former Mueller prosecutor writing book on investigation. I think we already know the plot of this piece of fiction.

Remember, as John Solomon at JTN reminds us, Michael Flynn bombshell: FBI believed he was 'forthcoming' and 'telling truth,' notes show and yet Weissman and his band of liberal lawyer thugs forced him to plead guilty by bankrupting him and threatening to put his son in prison.

FBI agents told senior DOJ officials at a Jan. 25, 2017 meeting that Flynn was “telling truth as he believed it” and that he "believe[d] that what he said was true," according to handwritten notes taken by then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tashina Gauhar that were belatedly turned over to Flynn's defense this month.

The agents also believed Flynn was “being forthright” during his interview and simply didn't remember some facts from his calls with the Russian ambassador during the post-2016 election transition, Gauhar wrote in the notes. A separate DOJ memo described Flynn as "very open and forthcoming" during the interview.

You can read the notes here:

Doc 237 Flynn SUPPLEMENT by Michael T. Flynn re [198] Motion to Dismiss Case (Attachments Exhibit A.pdf

Copies of the notes from Gauhar, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who led the Russia collusion case, and former DOJ and FBI official Dana Boente were made public in a court filing over the weekend, adding to a large body of belatedly released evidence that suggested the FBI did not believe it had grounds to charge Flynn with a crime as news media were reporting at the time.

In fact, Boente stated in handwritten notes dated in March 2017 that the FBI had concluded Flynn wasn't an agent of Russia. "Do not view as source of collusion," Boente wrote.

Likewise, the notes show DOJ did not believe it could prosecute Flynn under the Logan Act, lone of the laws that was leaked as a possible Flynn liability in the media. "No reasonable pros to Logan Act," one of the entry in the notes declared. The notes also confirm previously released evidence showing the FBI planned on Jan. 4, 2017 to close down its investigation of Flynn but then reversed course.

Remarkably, the FBI claimed to DOJ the reason it kept the Flynn probe open and interview him was because a news media leak of a classified transcript of his call with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

A leak that someone in the FBI or DOJ likely initiated.

Scott Johnson at Powerline pens The Steele Defamation

Among other things, following trial, the London court has found elements of the Steele Dossier false and defamatory as to two plaintiff Russian oligarchs. We may have the makings of a Robert Ludlum novel here. Call it The Steele Defamation.

The London case barely scratches the surface of the dossier’s defamatory falsehoods. Moreover, the London court’s findings do not exactly come as a shock to those of us who have been following the biggest scandal in American political history. The basic facts of the case have long since been established in other proceedings here.

Solomon’s story nevertheless draws attention to their corroboration in the case brought against Steele in London. The court’s lengthy Approved Judgment is posted on Scribd. It includes an award of £18,000 in damages to each of two plaintiffs.

The Wall Street Journal is among the media that have noted the London court’s judgment. This was Steele’s defense, according to the Journal: “Mr. Steele has argued that he compiled the dossier and circulated it to a limited audience, but never intended for its publication in full by the website BuzzFeed.” It’s almost funny.

Among other media that took note of the court’s judgment are FOX News, Bloomberg News, and the Washington Examiner. I can’t find any notice taken by the New York Times or the Washington Post.

At every step along the way, the Times and the Post acted as co-conspirators with the perpetrators of the collusion hoax inside the Clinton campaign, the FBI, and the Obama administration. You can understand why they might not be inclined to look back or confess and repent their wrongdoing. They look forward to the Biden Ministry of Truth depositing it down the memory hole.

Jon Swan at Axios is pissed, Scoop: How the White House is trying to trap leakers, thereby threatening their business model.

President Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has told several White House staffers he's fed specific nuggets of information to suspected leakers to see if they pass them on to reporters — a trap that would confirm his suspicions. "Meadows told me he was doing that," said one former White House official. "I don't know if it ever worked."

Capt. Ed,  White House Chief Of Staff Leading Good Old-Fashioned Mole Hunt

. . .That’s why the first rule of Mole Hunt Club is not to talk about Mole Hunt Club. So why is Meadows being “unusually vocal” about it? Two reasons come to mind. Meadows wants to disincentivize leaking internally, of course. However, he might also want to reduce or eliminate any credibility leakers have with their contacts in the media. After all, reporters don’t want to get caught with their pants down passing along false information, especially if it’s easily disproven.

An elephant never forgets. Sundance at CTH, President Trump Tweets Support for Tommy Tuberville on Eve of Alabama Primary…

Jeff Sessions was an abject failure as U.S. Attorney General. After spending two years targeted by a fraudulent special counsel investigation as a result of Sessions’ recusal; there will forever be a strong dislike by President Trump toward Jeff Sessions..

For those who have forgotten just how bad it was, it’s worth revisiting Jeff Sessions testimony to congress (November of 2017) when he admitted there were approximately ten ongoing investigations -that he knew of- that he was recused from.

Jeff Sessions recommended Rod Rosenstein. Rod Rosenstein recommended Chris Wray. Three years of abject misery was the result.

Russiagate: Stone Still Free

As you might imagine, the commutation of Roger Stone's prison sentence is generating lots of commentary. EBL, Roger Stone Free

Convicted of covering up for the Preisdent is how NBC describes it. Which translates to he didn't squeel like a little bitch, like Michael Cohen did. Democrats are unfairly targetting anyone associated with the President. Roger Stone fought back. Which is why Roger Stone is not going to prison, but Cohen is back in prison. And guess who will ultimately get a pardon?

NYPo,  Trump defends Roger Stone commutation, blasts ‘illegal Witch Hunt’, and Althouse breaks down his comments in "Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.". From the comments, Drago:

Robert Barnes sums it up nicely.  Robert Barnes@Barnes_Law

The Cliffs Notes:
Selective prosecution;
Dubious materiality to false statements;
Venue manipulation;
Judicial assignment manipulation;
Excessive raids;
Unconstitutional gag orders;
Discovery suppression;
Partial, prejudiced jury;
Disparate sentencing.

As you might imagine, others are not as happy. Sundance at CTH, I Try Hard Not to Hate – Mitt Romney Makes it Hard…. Bronson Stocking at Town Hall, Pelosi Suffers Meltdown After Learning of Roger Stone Commutation. WaPoo, Robert Mueller: Roger Stone remains a convicted felon, and rightly so. Did you have Andy Weissmann write that statement for you? Let's give his appeal a chance. WaPoo itself, Trump confidant Roger Stone leaped over thousands of inmates seeking clemency. Sundance, Rod Rosenstein Steps-Up To Assist Mueller Attack Trump Over Roger Stone Commutation…. David Frum at the Atlantic, Stone Walks Free in One of the Greatest Scandals in American History. How's that for hyperbole?
OK, enough for Stone. Dan Chaitin at WaEx fills us in on what's happening in the Flynn fracas in Appeals court stays decision ordering judge to dismiss Michael Flynn case. Short summary, more waiting. Meanwhile Politico whines that Trump allies push for a new campaign opening act: Michael Flynn "After a prolonged battle against Robert Mueller's prosecutors, Flynn’s status in MAGA world as a deep state-fighting warrior has grown."

“Great surrogate — lots of people would come to see him,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally. “He’s the perfect example of deep state victimization. Pretty powerful.”

Three people affiliated with the campaign said they would welcome Flynn back — perhaps reprising his role as an opening act at Trump rallies or a TV surrogate — between now and Election Day, although a Trump campaign official said the campaign has not approached Flynn about taking a formal position.

The move would bring Flynn back to where it all started in 2016, but this time emboldened by his journey — from little-known campaign surrogate, to White House national security adviser, to indicted Russia probe target, to, potentially, the man who defeated Robert Mueller’s prosecutors.

Probably not a good idea to get involved before it gets settled, if it ever does. And that seems to be the point of "the resistance" delaying it.

In a case they want to move faster, WaPoo, New York judge gives Trump deadline in lawsuit over tax returns following major Supreme Court ruling

A federal judge in Manhattan has given lawyers for President Trump a Wednesday deadline to say whether he will further challenge a subpoena for his tax documents, part of an ongoing investigation by local prosecutors here into hush money payments made during the 2016 election season.

The order by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero follows Thursday's highly anticipated Supreme Court ruling in favor of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who had been seeking the president's tax records as part of a probe into the Trump Organization's role in the payments. In its ruling, the high court said Trump did not have "absolute immunity" from the state court-level criminal subpoena.

Trump could, however, further contest the grand jury subpoena outside of the presidential immunity question. The subpoena was issued Aug. 29 and has been tied up in appeals as part of a lawsuit brought by Trump since shortly thereafter.

Of course, the president can be subpoenaed, but it should be for something other than a fishing expedition. YaHoo! Michael Cohen rushed back to upstate New York prison after refusing to sign Trump book gag order

Cohen, 53, has been placed in solitary confinement to isolate for two weeks as consistent with the prison’s coronavirus protocols, Levine said.

The BOP did not return a request for comment.

The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump was released from the Otisville prison on May 21 to serve out the rest of his three-year sentence in home confinement as part of a Justice Department effort to thin out inmate populations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s serving time for pleading guilty to a range of financial charges, including campaign finances crimes that implicate Trump.

But, on Thursday afternoon, he was arrested at a probation office in downtown Manhattan after declining to sign a home confinement contract that required him to promise he wouldn’t speak to any journalists, use social media or publish a tell-all book about Trump for the duration of his sentence.

He arrived at the probation meeting expecting to have an electronic surveillance bracelet fitted to his ankle so he could return to home confinement, Levine said.

Levine, who was with Cohen when he got arrested, said his client at first balked at the de facto gag order when his probation officer presented it because he believed it violated his First Amendment rights.

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air, Why Trump Is Continuing To Oppose Sessions. In short, Trump is still pissed that Sessions rolled over for the resistance, and I don't blame him. It doesn't hurt that it looks like Sessions might lose the primary; Trump likes to back winners.

Memorial Day Russiagate Debris

We're mostly dealing with stuff left over, no particularly new issues have arisen since the last post. Everyone went to the beach for the long weekend except a few unlucky writers left behind to fill pages and collect clicks.

Seth Barrett Tillman at the New Reform Club asks What the Media will not ask, but what I already asked

Will anyone in the media inquire from: Judge Sullivan, John Gleeson, Beth Wilkinson, and the Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and ask:

If Gleeson’s work and Wilkinson’s work is pro bono or paid?

If paid, then paid by whom?—Sullivan or the Treasury (or other)?

If the Treasury, then through what fund or under what specific legal authority?

Good questions, still. From sundance at CTH, Sunday Talks: Former AAG Matt Whitaker Discusses Flynn Case and Sketchy Judge…



Monte Kuligowski at AmThink says The Flynn Frame-Up: Everything Was Done by the Book, if "by the book" means Machiavelli's "The Prince" or Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals." But it was not limited to Gen. Flynn, Susan Quinn at Ricochet reminds us of The Revolting Inquisition of K.T. McFarland, Flynn's deputy.

Andy McCarthy at NR says Flynn Was Not Masked because the FBI Framed Him as a Clandestine Agent of Russia. Not fair to say "the FBI". It was Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and Pientka, with a little assistance from Sally Yates and Lisa Page at DOJ. We can make a crime out of this if we try hard enough. That's how this works. Sundance Sunday Talks: Andy Biggs Discusses “Why Now” as Chris Wray Initiates an FBI Investigation…



I expect to hear soon that Joe Pientka has resigned, making him the last of original top level coup originators to sneak out of range to be hired by CNN as a law commentator.

Keep in mind there are dozens of currently employed FBI officials, agents, analysts and administrators who participated in the effort. As a result of USAO Jeff Jensen reviewing the activity; and in combination with DNI Ric Grenell declassifying and releasing the information to the public; FBI Director Chris Wray has no choice.

Remember, despite his involvement FBI supervising agent David Archey was promoted and now leads the Virginia field office. Additionally, one of the key actors, FBI Agent Joe Pientka, was transferred to San Francisco. Both Archey and Pientka are part of a much larger network of FBI officials that remain currently employed and have never been held accountable.

Agent’s Pientka and Archey were coordinating their corrupt operations with several dozen FBI officials and staff.

Hopefully his last days are as productive as the rest of his tenure, from Chuck Ross at Da Caller, ‘Those Are Coming’: Grenell Says He Is Working To Declassify More Flynn Documents. Zing!

Schiff, a Democrat, requested the call transcripts as well as records related to 39 so-called “unmasking” requests that Obama administration officials made for intelligence reports that mentioned Flynn. Grenell declassified that list earlier this month, and it was released on May 13.

“Those are coming,” Grenell wrote to Swalwell. “It’s very important for the public to see ALL of them.”

He then took a swipe at the Democratic congressman, writing that “for too long the public has been misled.”

“Just compare your committee’s transcripts to your public statements!”

Fox reports Grenell stepping down as ambassador to Germany following DNI stint, Politico, U.S. ambassador to Germany reportedly stepping down. No word on whether he has his eye on another post closer to the action, but the articles give no clue. I hope he finds one where he can continue the work he started as acting DNI.

BPR, President Trump tells Sharyl Attkisson: ‘I have a chance to break the deep state,’ in exclusive interview. I saw this part of the interview last night. A good start.

WATCH: President Trump on coronavirus, China, Russia and much more https://t.co/pIBUHfKH3n pic.twitter.com/2rywQEgkzG

— Sharyl Attkisson🕵️‍♂️ (@SharylAttkisson) May 25, 2020

From Matt Mayer, as Spectator USA, Obama should apologize to Trump "Most of what has transpired over the last three years could have been avoided" Yes, he should, but he won't. He achieved part of what he wanted; tying Trump up and smearing him. So should the media, for the same reason. More to the point, they should also reveal who the sources are that gave them fake news for political purposes. Newsbusters, Why Doesn't CNN Care When Anonymous Sources Give Them Fake News?

Far too much Washington journalism is reliant on anonymous sources, and the public has no earthly idea of the agendas and ideologies of the "senior government officials" or just "sources" who can be used to ruin a presidency or a congressional career.

Larry O'Connor at Townhall threw a strong headline at Team Zucker: "CNN Was Used to Spread Lies And They're Just Fine with That." He began:

When an anonymous source gives bad information to a journalist, that source should no longer be protected by the cloak of anonymity. And the angriest people involved in the entire scenario should be the reporter who passed on the bad information and the company that broadcast or published it.
So, why is CNN so complacent about one of the biggest fake stories in the entire Russian Collusion affair?

O'Connor referred to a story posted on September 18, 2017 by Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, and Pamela Brown using anonymous sources to claim the FBI had a FISA warrant to wiretap Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort before and after the 2016 election.

That story may have spurred judicial action: "It appears as though the press reports of the FISA warrant may have compelled the judge overseeing the Manafort grand jury to make a ruling that compelled Manafort's lawyer to testify (an apparent breach of attorney/client privilege)."

It turned out that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz emphatically stated in his report that not only did the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team not seek a FISA on Manafort, they never even “seriously considered” FISA surveillance of Manafort! This was a serious Fake News moment.

Well, because then that source would never give them fake news again! And that's their product.

John Fritze at USA Today, 'You should drop out': Trump spars with ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions amid battle for Alabama Senate seat. He should forgive and forget Sessions, who was a good man promoted beyond his capabilities. He was too easily cowed by the "Deap Staters."

Speaking of fake news, or at least news that is being deliberately misinterpreted, sundance says about those 16,000 Unmasking Requests in 2018 They Say – While They Simultaneously Ignore The Special Counsel… So, Mueller's Weissman's goons were unmasking left and right? Makes sense.