Russiagate, Russiagate, Rah, Rah, Rah!

#FakeNews! NBC announced that Feds are monitoring phones of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, and spotted one call with White House - NBC News, but oopsy, NBC corrects bombshell report saying Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was wiretapped

Citing three senior U.S. officials, the corrected report from NBC News instead claims Cohen’s phones were being monitored using a device called a pen register, which records numbers called from a certain phone line and the duration of calls. But that device doesn't listen into the calls.

NBC News initially reported federal investigators tapped Cohen’s phone lines and intercepted at least one call between Cohen and the White House.

Among the calls logged was at least one between one of Cohen’s phone lines and the White House, according to the corrected article.

Ace on the case: #FakeNews: Media Retracts Claim Michael Cohen Was "Wiretapped;" Now Says Only The Numbers Coming In Or Dialing Out Were Captured

This means that Mueller could not have learned that "Cohen was about to destroy evidence," unless he can psychically infer that from a phone number. . . . By the way: Giuliani predicted this.

American Spectator Banana republic behavior is infra-dig against Trump — what if his name were Hillary?   So the scandal of the day is that either Trump called his lawyer, or his lawyer called him.  Tucker Carlson: Feds’ Michael Cohen Investigation Tactics ‘Orwellian’ — ‘A Grotesque Violation of Civil Liberties’ Rush tries to explain Why Rudy Brought Up the Cohen Payment to Stormy:

What this is all gonna boil down to once again is was this payment that Cohen made to the porn star, was it actually to help Trump win the presidency, or was it essentially to protect Trump’s marriage? And if it was made to protect Trump’s marriage, there’s nothing illegal about this, it doesn’t even involve the campaign. And everybody I’ve spoken to today says it would be practically impossible to actually get a conviction anywhere on this payment having anything to do with violating campaign finance laws.

But you see the law doesn’t matter. We’re now in the court of public opinion. The effort here is to designed to convince low-information voters, potential jurors, whoever, that Trump broke campaign finance laws and that Rudy just admitted it. So that’s what they’re all focused on now. Of everything said by Caputo, everything said by Rudy, that’s all the Drive-Bys are focused on today.

 Allahpundit at Hot Air: Giuliani Again: It’s Time For Jeff Sessions To Investigate The People Investigating Michael Cohen , The Hill: Giuliani calls for Sessions to 'step in' on Cohen investigation and a little bit of crosstalk with Comey:

Giuliani also hit back at criticism — including from fired FBI Director James Comey — about his use of the term “stormtroopers” in relation to the FBI raids last month on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room.

On Twitter, Comey wrote: “I know the New York FBI. There are no 'stormtroopers' there; just a group of people devoted to the rule of law and the truth. Our country would be better off if our leaders tried to be like them, rather than comparing them to Nazis.”

Giuliani countered that he had not made a Nazi comparison, arguing, “there are stormtroopers all over.”

But, he added, “If you don’t like it, don’t act that way.”

Rudy Giuliani’s media blitz provides ammunition for Trump foes  Watchdog: Rudy Giuliani's Stormy revelation grounds for Justice Department investigation Maybe he's trying to get ahead of it. Please put all you payments to blackmailers on line 6357 of the FEC form 1303. Porn Star Payment Likely Not Illegal, Says Former FEC Chairman,  Just one Minute: Giuliani Engaging In Ex Post Rationalization The world is full of fuzzy lines.

If I wrote a check for $130,000 I would know where it went and why. But if I were a billionaire with a long time fixer whose role was to make problems go away, I might well have gotten out of the habit of asking where the money was going and why. Plausible deniability was not invented by Trump. Nor was implausible deniability.

"Tyrus" was on "The 5" the other night, talking of his time as Snoop Dogs "body guard" and fixer. He explained fixers as "Did you make the problem go away?" "Yes." No mention of how, or how much.

But enough about Giuliani and Cohen, on to Mueller! Manafort lawyers: Mueller “has not produced any materials” showing Manafort contacts with Russians Russian? Russiagate is about Russia? Who knew? But Mueller is clearly not through torturing and trying to break Manafort: Robert Mueller files request for 70 blank subpoenas in Paul Manafort’s Virginia case. Blank subpoena's are a thing? Who knew?

A blank subpoena means the party serving the subpoena, in this case the federal government, can fill in the name later, as long as it is done so before the subpoena is served.

The document says each recipient “must also bring with you the following documents, electronically stored information or objects” — but what follows the colon is under seal.

Giuliani says decision on Trump-Mueller interview 'several weeks away',  Terms of Entrapment: Trump Should Demand Hillary's Deal,

Trump should insist on an interview limited to just two hours and at which staff members past and current can be present, like Mike Flynn, Carter Page, and Paul Manafort.  They should be given immunity deals, as were the likes of Cheryl Mills at Hillary's interview.  His interviewer should be as pro-Trump as Peter Strzok, who conducted Hillary's interview, was pro-Clinton.  He should be allowed to say, "I don't recall" or its equivalent 39 times, as Hillary did.  Prior to the interview, Mueller should have a press conference listing the charges against Trump and then exonerate him, explaining why no reasonable prosecutor, which Mueller is not, would take the case.

Believe Mueller’s Still Looking At Collusion

. . .two main stories emerge from Carlson’s debriefing of Caputo just after his interview with Mueller’s team. The first, which occupies only the first minute or so of the conversation, is that Robert Mueller remains very much interested in potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence. The second is that Caputo says he’ll never work on a Republican campaign ever again, accusing Democrats of weaponizing prosecution as a political tool. . .

Trump should insist on an interview limited to just two hours and at which staff members past and current can be present, like Mike Flynn, Carter Page, and Paul Manafort.  They should be given immunity deals, as were the likes of Cheryl Mills at Hillary's interview.  His interviewer should be as pro-Trump as Peter Strzok, who conducted Hillary's interview, was pro-Clinton.  He should be allowed to say, "I don't recall" or its equivalent 39 times, as Hillary did.  Prior to the interview, Mueller should have a press conference listing the charges against Trump and then exonerate him, explaining why no reasonable prosecutor, which Mueller is not, would take the case.

Flynn Sentencing Delayed for at Least Two Months 'Due to Status of Investigation'  Robert Mueller Likely Knows How the Trump Russia Investigation Ends. Newest Mueller Prosecutor Donated To Hillary Clinton. Of course, you can't swing a dead cat in Washington D.C. without hitting a lawyer who donated to Hillary. Levin: It’s time for Congress to put Mueller in his place, speaking of which Rep. Louie Gohmert has 40 Questions Special Counsel Robert Mueller Needs to Answer Now:

1.) Why did you hire only lawyers with backgrounds as Democratic Party donors for your investigative team? Were there no Establishment Republicans willing to help railroad President Trump? . . .

Did Comey Learn His Monkey Trick from Adam Schiff?

How the heck do they do it, Comey and Schiff? Each can deliver a string of half-truths, contradictions, outlandish obfuscations, distortions, misrepresentations, and even preposterously self-serving whoppers in a way – and here's the monkey trick – that makes him seem, on balance, and taken as a whole...reasonable.

Weirdly, it seems to work: they come off as reasonable guys, giving reasonable answers in good faith and with innocent intention. Somehow, the fact that none of it hangs together and all of it is self-serving fails to register. As such, they get a pass.

A laundry list of problems at Mueller's FBI.Time: The FBI Is in Crisis. It's Worse Than You Think. You think the past two directors had anything to do with that? Hot Air:

They’re losing credibility in courtrooms not just because of politics but because of their own behavior. A few years ago, the FBI laboratory was forced to acknowledge that they fudged results in hundreds of cases, many of which resulted in convictions that later DNA evidence contradicted. More recently, Lichtblau points out, the FBI has been caught along with prosecutors in violating the discovery process in trials, most recently in the Cliven Bundy prosecution, which blew up in large part because the jury decided they couldn’t trust testimony from the bureau’s agents. Those issues are systemic enough to suggest that leadership at the bureau is the problem, even if it has nothing to do with politics.

More FBI misconduct? Were Strzok-Page texts deleted? Sources say IG flagged gaps in record, or maybe just a lovers quarrel. Insty subscribes to the WSJ so you don't have to: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIALIZES: Rod Rosenstein Protests

His choice of the word “extorted” is illuminating. Mr. Rosenstein is right to say Justice and FBI aren’t obliged to “just open our doors to allow Congress to come and rummage through the files.”

But that isn’t happening here. In the cases at hand, Congress is acting through its committees as a separate and co-equal branch of government—the branch that funds Justice and has the right and obligation to exercise oversight. Congress is making specific requests regarding specific questions and documents.

As for the articles of impeachment, these too are expressions of Congress’s power. The practical worth of contempt and impeachment actions is less about removing an official from power than leverage to encourage cooperation. We had a demonstration of how this works in January, when Mr. Rosenstein and the new FBI director, Christopher Wray, tried to make an end run around the House Intelligence Committee’s subpoenas for information about the Steele dossier on Donald Trump. Only when Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress would hold them in contempt if they didn’t comply did they turn over the documents.

Mr. Rosenstein’s irritation might be warranted if the documents produced so far demonstrated that Congress’s demands were frivolous or imperiled national security. But remember how Justice warned the Intelligence Committee that making public its report on FISA warrants would be “extraordinarily reckless”? Instead, it provided the public with welcome (but still incomplete) insight about what went down in the 2016 election.
. . .
Justice can legitimately withhold information from Congress that might jeopardize specific criminal cases. But that doesn’t seem relevant here. We don’t want to see Mr. Rosenstein fired or impeached, but he and the FBI need to recognize Congress’s constitutional authority.

And then theres's the rest of the "intelligence" crowd.   Michael Ledeen at Frontpage Mag: Former CIA Chief Blames Trump for Creating "Post-Truth" World "But the intelligence world is totally complicit." 

Many years ago, Daniel Patrick Moynihan called for the abolition of CIA.  He thought we needed to reconstruct the whole thing.  He was right then (the early sixties, as I recall) and the advice applies with greater force today.

As a general policy, no agency should be allowed last more than 20 years due to the accretion of garbage and self-dealing careerists in its ranks. Clapper Claims He Didn’t Leak Info On The Dossier To CNN. I think he's parsing words very carefully if not outright lying (again). What he almost certainly leaked was the fact that Trump was briefed on the "Steele Dossier" which was the news hook that press needing to make it public.

Via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 05.03.18" the  Victory Girls bring us: CIA Wrong on Russian Pro Trump Interference

The Washington Times has reported that former CIA Director John Brennan’s conclusion that Russia interference was to ensure a Trump victory in the 2016 Election was flawed. “Tradecraft” is being blamed.

John Brennan is a vocal Obama supporter. The Washington Times article reports:

U.S. intelligence agencies’ far-reaching conclusion that Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 presidential election to specifically help Donald Trump was flawed by “tradecraft failings,” says a House report.
The conclusion was written by the CIA then under the direction of Obama loyalist John O. Brennan.
The report said the CIA’s Putin-Trump analysis violated standards for analyzing intelligence products and noted that one guideline is to “be independent of political considerations.”

Oops! Invalid. Did Russia try to interfere in the 2016 Election? Yes. Always. The Russians always want to undermine our confidence in our Republic. The only interference regarding Trump was from the Deep State to ensure his loss.

 Whew!

Paging Dr. Frankenstein!

Or should that be Dr. Frankensteen: Scientists Hope Mammoth 'De-extinction' Will Save Earth H/T Watts Up With That

Scientists hope to create a genetically engineered elephant-mammoth hybrid and send it to the Arctic to prevent a so-called “methane time-bomb,” which could cause widespread environmental devastation.

The team at Harvard University believes the hardy animals could one day be released in the vast tundra and boreal stretches of North America and Eurasia. They plan to publish their first paper on the subject in the coming months, The Telegraph reported.

May I suggest introducing them to Central Park in New York first, as a trial run?

Scientists fear that the absence of large mammals pressing down and scraping back thick layers of winter snow in the region prevents the cold from penetrating the soil. Combined with warmer summers, the Arctic permafrost is melting. As a result, the frozen soil, packed with leaves and other organic materials that haven't decayed, will become exposed, releasing carbon into the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gasses carbon dioxide and methane.

The so called Arctic Time Bomb hypothesis is  highly implausible; Dr Judith Curry:

"The plausibility of Wadhams’ scenario rests on two assumptions:

• the ‘spiral of death’ loss of arctic sea ice
• connection of the sea ice loss to a massive release of methane hydrates into the atmosphere on the time scale of a decade

Each of these assumptions is highly implausible, based upon my understanding; the combination of these two assumptions into a single scenario seems impossible to me."

This threat is widely known as the “methane timebomb," which would create levels of carbon equivalent to burning all of the world’s forests two-and-a-half times over.

As part of a research project world-renowned Harvard geneticist George Church has led for over a decade, the team has taken 44 mammoth genes that became uncovered when ice melted in Siberia.

Genes were uncovered? Heck, they have entire frozen and or mummified mammoths. They ought to be able to get a lot more than 44 genes. By comparison, humans have 19,000 - 20,000 genes, so 44 is a drop in the bucket.

These will be spliced into the Asian elephant genome. Scientists hope the result, which is still many years away if possible at all, will be an elephant with mammoth traits, including blood adapted to the cold, long hair and thick layers of fat that will allow it to live further north.

So, it's not really going to be mammoth, it will be an Indian Elephant with a few modifications that make it look and behave kind of like a mammoth

In other parts of the world, the hybrid animal could save ecosystems threatened by the potential extinction of its close relative the Asian elephant. To prevent poachers from targeting the creature it will be edited to not grow tusks, and will also be able to stomach a wider variety of plants, Professor Church told The Telegraph.

I doubt a mammoth without tusks would be viable ecologically. All the elephants have them, it's pretty clear that evolution has found that they are important to the niche these animals fill.

Paging Dr. Frankenstein!



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Fish Visit Baltimore, Die

Mystery Surrounds Fish Kill in Baltimore Harbor

Few of those enjoying the nice weather at Fort McHenry today noticed the dead fish washing up along the sea wall.

They'll notice in a few more days.

"I am concerned about it. Of course, when I'm up on the sidewalk, I couldn't even see it," said Susan Tjornehoj of Federal Hill, "Yes, I am concerned about it. I live right here."

Maryland's Department of the Environment now reports an estimated 30,000 herring, a species called the Atlantic Menhaden, have died and are washing up along the Patapsco River and Back River, yet researchers have not yet pinpointed a cause.

Plenty of possibilities. We had a big rain recently. Did it wash in a toxin off the streets or an industrial site? Disease from all the sewage? Cold snap a while back (the fish may not die right away)?

We're told they have collected tissue samples from distressed fish and are still awaiting results of those tests, while ruling out low oxygen levels in the water or algae build up that normally would point to pollution as the culprit.

At a time when the Chesapeake Bay has shown renewed signs of life, the fish kill has raised concerns here.

"I've been working on building the oyster scene, so we can replace the oysters to clean up this area," said Tjornehoj, "I've been really, really excited about that and so that's why I think, since they say it's about a disease that's very believable to me."

It's bewildering to my how the state and feds continue to coddle Baltimore's pollution problem while attempting to blame the Chesapeake's woes on anybody else, agriculture, rural septic systems, or Conowingo dam.

Who's Gonna Pick Your Pretty Little Crabs?

Crab crisis: Maryland seafood industry loses 40 percent of work force in visa lottery

Maryland's seafood industry is in crisis: Nearly half of the Eastern Shore’s crab houses have no workers to pick the meat sold in restaurants and supermarkets.

They failed to get visas for their mostly Mexican work force, including many women who have been coming north to Maryland for crab season for as long as two decades. The Trump administration for the first time awarded them this year in a lottery, instead of on a first-come, first-served basis.

“This is going to cause the price of crab meat to go out of sight,” said Harry Phillips, owner of Russell Hall Seafood on Hooper’s Island. “There’s not going to be hardly any Maryland crab meat.

“It looks like it’s a matter of time before they’re going to shut all of us down.”

Visa shortages have been a perennial issue for the crab industry since the last generations of Eastern Shore women who once picked crabmeat aged out of the tedious seasonal work. In the 1980s, crab houses started bringing workers from Mexico through a program that lets them live and work in the United States during the warmer months and then return home in the winter, when watermen are prohibited from crabbing.

Of course, crab picking used to be a job for Americans, predominantly black women, who picked crabs in summer, and went on unemployment in winter. I wonder why they stopped? Is it that foreign workers were cheaper or welfare is easier? Both? You can do like everybody else, either pay well enough to hire Americans to do the job, or build a robot that's smart enough to do it.

The Revolving Door of Russiagate

The news du jour is that Rudy Giuliani is now speaking on behalf of the President. And what is he saying? Comey,  Trump repaid Cohen $130K for payment to porn star, well, good for him. "Giuliani also described the payment to Daniels as "a very regular thing for lawyers to do."" Trump says money for his lawyer Cohen "not from the campaign", he certainly has enough money floating around to do the job. Rudy Giuliani Says Trump Paid Back Stormy Daniels’ Hush Money, Rips ‘Pervert’ 

Stormy!

An incredulous Hannity—outed in a federal courthouse last week as one of Cohen’s clients—interrupted: “They funneled it through the law firm?”

Giuliani barreled on: “Funneled through the law firm, and then the president repaid it.”

You mean like when Hillary Clinton paid for the Steele Dossier through a law firm? I think it's wrong to use law firms that way, but if it's going to happen it has to be legal for everybody.

This was litigated in the John Edwards case, and the government lost on the notion that hush money to mistress was a campaign contribution. But that won't stop Mueller, who has an elastic concept of what the law covers, from alleging that again.

Jared Kushner is 'disposable' as far as Rudy Giuliani is concerned. Well, men are the disposable sex, after all.

Ivanka!

Hannity asked what might happen if her husband, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, becomes a target. Giuliani praised Kushner as "a fine man, you know that, but men are disposable. But a fine woman like Ivanka? Come on."

Some anonymous source says Trump’s New Lawyer Likely to Cut Him Off From Mueller Interview: 

“Mueller finally has somebody who’s his match,” that person said. “You’ve got a fair fight now.”

By way of Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 05.02.18" Tom McGuire at One More Minute says Take The Fifth (And Pass Another Over Here)

Should Trump agree to an interview with Mueller? If I am reading this Times story correctly, no sane lawyer would let him. Here we go on the genesis of this list of questions for Trump from Mueller:

Mr. Dowd had argued that Mr. Trump was too busy running the country to sit for an interview, especially if he was not a target of the investigation, according to a person briefed on the encounter.
Mr. Mueller replied that he had to question Mr. Trump to determine whether he had criminal intent when he took actions like firing Mr. Comey and raised the possibility of subpoenaing Mr. Trump to appear before a grand jury, the person said. News of Mr. Mueller mentioning the subpoena was first reported by The Washington Post.

If Mueller can't make the case without talking to Trump what sane lawyer would agree to an interview? Of course, the Secret Service won't let Trump's legal team handcuff him to his desk and the political advisors may have a different take, but still.

As to a grand jury subpoena, the political scuffling over that would be epic. And if Trump ends up in front of the grand jury (with none of his lawyers present, if normal rules apply) can he just invoke combinations of the Fifth Amendment and executive privilege and refuse to answer anything? And then what - if a judge rules he must testify, they jail him for contempt?

Or would Trump be disciplined enough to keep quiet? It's very easy to imagine him rising to his feet and shouting "Do you want the truth?"

Well. Go long popcorn.

But  Special counsel interview with Trump 'not off the table': outgoing White House attorney Ty Cobb says. But there is a reason he's "outgoing." Can Trump be forced to testify? Legal precedents suggest yes. But not without a lot of legal fuss. Trump escalates GOP's clash with Justice Department

A standoff between Justice Department officials and GOP lawmakers escalated Wednesday as President Donald Trump waded into a controversy over demands to release a highly sensitive document outlining who and what is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller III.

The Justice Department has refused to turn over the document, known as a "scope memo," citing its own independence and longtime precedent that it doesn't disclose the details of ongoing investigations.

"A Rigged System - They don't want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal "justice?" At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!" the president tweeted Wednesday morning.

So basically, the DOJ won't tell their bosses (the President and Congress) what orders they're acting under? He should just publicly order Rod Rosenstein to release the memo. If he doesn't comply, well, that's a firing offense. Why firing Mueller won't end the Russia investigation? Because at this point, the "Deep State" has decided that nothing will come between them and getting Trump.

“Bureaucracies are complicated animals, and this one has metastasized beyond the Mueller investigation,” said Benjamin Wittes, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and editor in chief of the blog LawFare. “That’s the thing that functionally protects the investigation.”

Robert Mueller: Gone Fishing

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s strategy may be to try to lure Donald Trump into perjury when Mueller can already get all the answers to his questions from the NSA, say Ray McGovern and Bill Binney.

After a year of investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has, in effect, admitted that he has hit a dry well.  He is under strong pressure to keep the charade going until the November elections, however, so he and his high-priced legal brain-trust have devised a new tactic.

One would think they could come up with something less transparent.  After all, Mueller was FBI Director from 2001 to 2013 and knows where the bodies are buried, so to speak.  But it does not appear likely that he is going to get his man this time. So, rather than throw in the towel, he is making a college try at cajoling President Donald Trump into helping him out.

Rep. Louis Gohmert has another long list of Mueller misadventures, including some I hadn't heard before: MONUMENTAL: The Naked Truth About Robert Mueller

During my first term in Congress, 2005 to 2006, Congressman Curt Weldon delivered some powerful and relentless allegations about the FBI having prior knowledge that 9/11 was coming. He repeatedly alleged that there was documentary evidence to show that 9/11 could have been prevented and thousands of lives saved if the FBI had done its job. He held up documents at times while making these claims in speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives.
. . .
In 2006, the Robert Mueller-led FBI took horrendously unjust actions to derail Curt Weldon’s reelection bid just weeks before the vote—actions that were later described as a “hit job”: “Each of Weldon’s 10 previous re-elections had been by sizable margins. Polls showed he was up by 5-7 points [in the fall of 2006]. Three weeks prior to the election, however, a national story ran about Weldon based upon anonymous sources that an investigation was underway against him and his daughter, alleging illegal activities involving his congressional work. Weldon had received no prior notification of any such investigation and was dumbfounded that such a story would run especially since he regularly briefed the FBI and intelligence agencies on his work.

A week after the news story broke, alleging a need to act quickly because of the leak, FBI agents from Washington raided the home of Weldon’s daughter at 7:00AM on a Monday morning… Local TV and print media had all been alerted to the raid in advance and were already in position to cover the story. Editor's note: Sound familiar?

Within hours, Democratic protesters were waving “Caught Red-Handed” signs outside Weldon’s district office in Upper Darby. In the ensuing two weeks, local and national media ran multiple stories implying that Weldon must also have been under investigation. Given the coverage, Weldon lost the election… To this day, incredibly, no one in authority has asked Weldon or his daughter about the raid or the investigation. There was no follow up, no questions, no grand jury interrogation, nothing.

One year after the raid the local FBI office called Weldon’s daughter to have her come get the property that had been removed from her home. That was it…The raid ruined the career of Weldon and his daughter.”

America's secret police strike again. Suspicious things do seem to happen around Mueller. But then, to be fair, they tend to happen around the FBI regardless of who is in charge.

Is Mueller messing with foreign policy? Allahpundit: Did Ukraine Stop Cooperating With Mueller In Order To Get Missiles From Trump?

There’s no hard proof of a deal, just an isn’t-this-interesting coincidence. It’s possible that the Ukrainian government seized the initiative to stop cooperating with Mueller as a way to win Trump’s favor, without any request by him or the White House to do so. If you lay awake at night in Kiev worried that the new Russia-friendly American president will abandon you to Moscow, you’re naturally looking for splashy ways to keep him on your side. Telling Bob Mueller to buzz off with his “witch hunt” is one way.

If Trump doesn't confront Russia, it's proof that he's in their pocket.

If Trump confronts Russia, it's proof he's covering up that he's in their pocket.

And let's not even talk about the Finland thing.https://t.co/NdcsjRrkjf https://t.co/IntCzSnbjy

— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) May 2, 2018

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Crash Test Girl" and "FMJRA 2.0: Mexican Radio" up and running at The Other McCain.

Morning Music - "Stacy's Mom"

I couldn't find anything appropriate, so how about something inappropriate?



Stacy's Mom was Rachel Hunter:

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Crash Test Girl" up and running at The Other McCain.

Et Tu Texas?

University of Texas to treat masculinity as a 'mental health issue'

A new program at the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center will promote "healthy masculinity" through "public events, educational workshops, and other forms of student involvement."

The goal is "to impact campus culture to increase acceptance of gender diversity, promote healthy relationships with an emphasis on consent, and prevent interpersonal violence."

PJ Media:

The program is predicated on a critique of so-called “restrictive masculinity.” Men, the program argues, suffer when they are told to “act like a man” or when they are encouraged to fulfill traditional gender roles, such as being “successful” or “the breadwinner.”
Though you might enjoy “taking care of people” or being “active,” MasculinUT warns that many of these attributes are actually dangerous, claiming that “traditional ideas of masculinity place men into rigid (or restrictive) boxes [which]... prevent them from developing their emotional maturity.”
“If you are a male student at UT reading this right now, we hope that learning about this helps you not to feel guilty about having participated in these definitions of masculinity, and instead feel empowered to break the cycle!” the program offers.

Please. Make it stop.

Forget it Jake, it's Austin. It Isn’t Men Who Are Toxic. It’s Women.

Fishing Interruptus

Watermen tending a pound net

Pete asked if I would be the 4th on group of fishermen who were going today. One was an old friend from the Air Force (Pete was a Master Sergeant until he retired to become a full time fishing guide), and two of his current co-workers.  We left Solomons around 6 AM for the islands on the Eastern side.

It was a glorious weather day. Warm, sunny, not windy, and the marshes on the other side are starting to green up, although the marsh grass isn't high yet.

 Apparently the good weather sent the fish on vacation as well. We hit most of the familiar places, but catching was only so-so and mostly small fish.

Around noon, one of the fliers got a text (cell reception is sketchy in the islands), and suddenly they needed better cell reception. It turns out they work in air flight safety, and they were just notified of the crash of the WC-130 in Georgia. What little they told me contradicts some of the news reports that I've seen since then. Anyway, we had to pack up and go home so they could go to work.

God speed.

44 Questions of Russiagate

REVEALED: Dozens Of Questions That Mueller Wants To Ask Trump

On Monday, a new report from The New York Times revealed dozens of questions that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wants to ask President Donald Trump if he agrees to an interview for the Russia probe.

The Times reports that Mueller wants to ask the questions so he can learn more about Trump's connections to Russia and to determine if he committed obstruction of justice. The questions are designed to "penetrate the president’s thinking," so that Mueller can try to understand the motivation behind some of Trump's actions, including the firing of former FBI Director James Comey and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. . . .

I don't see how you can expect truth about what someone is thinking.  Ann Althouse: 

I cannot imagine trying to answer questions about what was going on in my mind at all these precise points in the past. Do you have access to the contents of your mind like that? Even when an interaction is happening, I don't have a clear, precise view of my own motivations and intentions. Thinking about it immediately afterwords, I might puzzle about it, even when I'm under no pressure and it's only one incident. But I would never be able — even if I believed I deserved no criminal punishment — to sit down to a high-stakes questioning about many interactions that occurred over the course of many months and purport to tell the truth about what I was thinking on all those occasions. There would be no way not to lie. Continually.

Mueller has long list of questions for Trump, Mueller Outlined Over 40 Questions for Trump in Potential Interview Ace: New York Times Publishes Lists of Mueller's Questions for Trump, Presumably Leaked by Member of Office of the Special Counsel

This list of questions seems to have two obvious purposes and one sneaky one.

The obvious purposes:

To get Trump to provide evidence against himself which Mueller's team has failed to gather from other sources. Obviously, Trump should not answer questions with this purpose.

To get Trump in a perjury trap in which his answer disagrees, if only slightly and arguably, from an answer of another interviewee, in which case Mueller will proclaim the other interviewee to be obviously telling the truth (even if that "truth" was obtained in exchange for immunity or a light plea deal) and claim Trump has committed perjury. Obviously, Trump should not answer questions with this purpose.

Alan Derschowitz proposes a sneaky angle to the questions: That they have been constructed to not be answered by "Yes" or "No," but have been constructed to invite open-ended answers and digressions, to encourage Trump to ramble on and wind up talking about things not even asked about or even much thought about, for which they can then charge him with perjury.

Alan Dershowitz: Robert Mueller's questions aimed at tripping Trump up

"If they were to ask him direct, tough questions to which he can answer yes or no, that might not give them the advantage they are seeking," he continued.
. . .
Dershowitz also advised Trump's personal attorneys to respond to as many queries as possible in writing, if permitted by Mueller, in order to prevent the president from making statements that could expose him to legal risk.

While most of the questions were predictable, Dershowitz added the line of inquiry about Trump's business transactions before he was elected could pose a problem.

"He can refuse to answer questions based on executive privilege that focus on reasons why he engaged in activities that are covered by Article II of the Constitution," Dershowitz said. "The problem is those are the easy questions and he can answer those whereas the hardest questions, the one about his financial dealings, he has no executive privilege."

Then let him take the 5 th on any questions about his business. Prove it, copper! Why Answering Mueller’s Questions Could Be A Minefield For Trump, Cobb Out After Suggesting Mueller Interview “Not Off The Table”, WH hires lawyer who represented Clinton in impeachment

Mueller raised possibility of presidential subpoena in meeting with Trump's legal team. "This isn't some game," Dowd said, according to two people with knowledge of his comments. "You are screwing with the work of the president of the United States." Take it to the Supreme Court if necessary.  Message For Mueller? Obstruction Allegations “Setup & Trap,” Trump Tweets, Mueller still mulling Trump campaign collusion with Russians, but can't point to any.  Roger Simon: Worse than Beria? Mueller Could Damage the World

If only Comrade Beria had had such power. He would never have dared to subpoena Stalin. But never mind. The frightening part is the timing of this escalation of this endless witch hunt. (Yes, Trump is accurate in his characterization.)

At this very moment the United States is about to enter into negotiations with North Korea and to consider whether to continue the Iran Deal. These issues are titanic, affecting literally billions of people across the globe in an effort to avoid nuclear Armageddon.

But Bob Mueller seeks to distract the president of the United States from giving these issues full attention with his endless investigation that was once about collusion with Russia but is now about obstruction of justice in the investigation of a collusion that never happened.

Comrade Beria lives! Show me a Carter Page and I'll find you a crime!

Mueller requests Flynn's sentencing be delayed at least two more months Does he need more time to plant testimony on Flynn?

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Tuesday requested that sentencing for former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn be delayed by at least two months.

Mueller’s team and attorneys for Flynn submitted that Flynn is not ready for sentencing “due to the status of the special counsel’s investigation,” according to a court filing in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

A judge should step in and free Flynn from his guilty plea, based on the impeachment of many of the people who collected evidence against him (McCabe, Strzok, Page to name a few).

The real reason Mueller hasn’t called Ivanka Trump, The special counsel seems to be leaving the president's children for last. Bring Chelsea Clinton before Congress to testify on the Clinton Foundation.

Calling in Ivanka Trump for an interview, former Justice Department officials and legal experts said, would be risky primarily for two reasons: It would give the public the perception that the prolonged investigation has reached the point of harassing the president’s family members, giving Trump more ammunition to decry how unfairly he and his family are being treated in an investigation he has already deemed a “witch hunt.”
And it would carry with it the very real possibility that the reactive president would “go nuclear,” according to a former federal prosecutor, once again raising the possibility of pardons or toying with the idea of firing the special counsel altogether.

Top prosecutor 'won't be extorted' over Republican threat,  Rod Rosenstein: People Are Threatening Me, Privately And Publicly, But The DOJ Won’t Be Extorted,  Rosenstein On Impeachment Threat: The DOJ ‘Is Not Going To Be Extorted’ Call his bluff or theirs, I don't care. Did President Trump Just Send Rod Rosenstein And Jeff Sessions A Message?

A Rigged System - They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2018

Michael Caputo slams Senate intel panel in interview The process is the punishment.

Via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 05.01.18", Power Line has The Comey Conundrum (With Clarification)

Robert Mueller’s team, if it decides not to prosecute President Trump, will almost certainly produce a report. That report may well resemble Comey’s statement on Clinton in the sense that it will lay out incriminating facts but go on to explain why, for technical reasons, the case should not be prosecuted.

Hillary Clinton wasn’t the president, but she was going to be the Democratic nominee for president. James Comey wasn’t a special counsel, but the matter he investigated was a perfect example of a case that should be handled by a special counsel, rather than the DOJ, if special counsels weren’t such a bad idea.

Comey Keeps Claiming That Reports That the FBI Found Michael Flynn to be Truthful Are #FakeNews-- But Republicans Say They'll Release a Less-Redacted Transcript of His Testimony Making That Same Claim, Who are ya gonna believe, Jim Comey our Jim Comey's lyin' mouth? Show me the tapes. Comey: I Don’t Think President Hillary Would Have Fired Me Show me your shocked face!

Are NBC and CNN Paying Off Top Spies Who Leaked Info With On-Air Jobs? Magic 8-ball says "Signs Point to Yes."

Ace's Morning Report 5/2/18 : Report: Mueller Warned of Action He Might Take if PDT Refused to be Interviewed, Mueller's Leak: Deep State Doubles Down on Collusion with Democrats, Did Obama's DoJ Tell FBI to End Clinton Foundation Investigation?,  Rod Rosensteinpenis Suggests Effort to Impeach Him Amounts to "Extortion", DiGenova Sees "Fireable Offense" in Rosensteinpenis Blocking Congress, Clinton Fixer's "Second Dossier" Was Met with Skepticism, Rush: Flashback - Obama Himself Told Us the Russians Couldn't Rig an Election

First World Problems

"You are one of the white people sweetie"/"No. I am Not."

That "No. I am Not" comes from the recording artist Halsey (née Ashley Nicolette Frangipane), who came up for widespread criticism/mockery last week when she tweeted, "I’ve been traveling for years now and it’s been so frustrating that the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienates people of color. I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo. Neither can 50% of ur customers. Annoying."

Looking at pictures of Halsey, you might assume she's white. (The previous post is about a performer who is white, but is mistakenly seen as black.) But Halsey has a black father and a white mother and identifies herself as black, WaPo reports.

I think she needs to take a DNA test.

“I’m white-passing. I’ve accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that’s not mine,” Halsey said in August 2017 to Playboy. “I look like a white girl, but I don’t feel like one. I’m a black woman.”

Now, some people think the shampoo question is trivial, whether it's raised by a black person or a white person, but the complaint seems different if you think someone is raising it on behalf of other people who are not talking about it themselves.... doesn't it?

As to whether the hotel shampoo problem is trivial, here are some more Halsey tweets:

The point is that mass production of those products as the standard is part of a greater problem of disenfranchisement. If white ppl can enjoy the luxury/convenience, there should be an option for everyone to. Its an “insignificant” example of a bigger problem. That’s all!...

When u make white products the standard, it makes white the “normal”. I was only trying to provoke some thought about the way these things impact our perception. That’s all....

It’s not just hotels. I stayed in a psychiatric hospital as a teenager and they didn’t have hair products for any patients who were POC. It’s hard enough being in there as it is, but then ur gonna too feel ugly and dry n frizzy too? Nah. Anyways. Y’all still missing the point lol....

It’s about being made to feel unincluded. Which is, obviously, a far greater problem than shampoo. I never wanna talk about soap ever again lol.

Bring your own damn shampoo, like most people do.



Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Crash Test Girl" up and running at The Other McCain.

Went Fishin'

Sight!

The weather here is (finally) gorgeous. Sunny, not too windy, temperature in the low 70s off the water, low 60's on.  What to do? Go fishing, of course.

Surface!

Fortunately, Ron texted last night looking for a partner, so I didn't even have to burn my oown gas!

Almost ready to land

It was pretty good fishing, lots of fish in the mid to upper 20 inches

One of the better ones.

Going again tomorrow,  to the islands with Pete. Wish me luck!

Dr. Ronny Jackson Attacker Identified

Sara Carter has the story: VP Pence Physician Behind Ronny Jackson Attacks

According to four administration officials, the main allegations were brought forth by Vice President Mike Pence’s Army physician Dr. Jennifer Pena, who is assigned to Pence by the White House Medical Unit and does not work directly for the office of the Vice President. Those officials contend Pena has held a long-time grudge against Jackson because of his continuing promotions in the White House. She began her career at the White House during the Obama administration. According to the officials, Pena, who is still active military and assigned to the White House Military Office, did not follow proper protocol to report on the allegations. Instead, she went directly to the Senate with the support of some current and former White House medical staff who were her loyalists. None of the allegations she allegedly brought forth have been substantiated.

Pence’s spokesman, Deputy Assistant Jarrod Agen could not be reached immediately for comment. Pena, who was appointed to the White House Medical Unit during the Obama administration, did not return several calls for comment. According to Democrats with the Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee the bombshell allegations were allegedly backed by 23 individuals, but the committee did not release the names of those individuals bringing the allegations.

Jackson, who served in the White House under three administrations, withdrew his nomination for Veteran’s Affairs and stories contending he is no longer the President’s physician are only partially accurate. Jackson had abdicated his role as the President’s physician when he was nominated by Trump for the Veteran’s Affairs Administration but as of Monday, he continues to work in the White House Medical Unit.

Interestingly, when I google Dr. Jennifer Pena, this is one of the links at the top of the list:  Department of Defense Inspector General Refuses to Investigate Army Doc Whistleblower’s Complaint which appears to link Dr. Pena to a similar series of complaints back when she was a Dr. at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. There are a lot of danger flags on this story. Mostly,  it is  just a blogspot blog (I know, I know), with a single post in 2010, this one. Could it be a recent hit job? As far as I know, it is possible to pre-date a blogspot post, so it could have been created yesterday. The author is completely anonymous, but seems to have good access to social media pictures of the characters involved. And the pictures of Dr. Pena in the post seem to be a younger version of the same woman as her Linkedin page. So with a giant grain of salt, lets jump in:

In March 2009, 4 months before starting his new position, Dr. Czr wrote a private letter to Congressman Silvestre Reyes relaying his concerns about the inadequate care that the local Veterans Affairs was providing to its patients. In this letter, Dr. Czr called for the termination of a federal employee, retired Colonel Mary Ancker, who was the liaison between the VA hospital and the military hospital. Ms. Ancker obtained a copy of his private letter and emailed a copy several hospital leaders at William Beaumont Army Medical Center including Dr. Czr’s supervisor, Dr. Kent DeZee on April 7, 2009.  In this email, Ms. Ancker demanded a public apology for Dr. Czr’s private letter.

Immediately, Dr. Kent DeZee then circulated Dr. Czr’s private letter to several other physicians in the hospital and to the residency committee in an effort to remove Dr. Czr from starting his position as chief of medical residents. In his own sworn statement, Dr. DeZee stated he and the committee wanted to “fire” Dr. Czr for his congressional letter but they could not because of the federal whistleblower’s act.  According to Dr. Czr, Dr. DeZee stated that “everyone up to the hospital commander”, the military equivalent of the Hospital CEO, had seen his letter.  The hospital commander at this time was Colonel (Dr.) James Baunchalk.  Dr. Czr requested the notes from this meeting through the Freedom of Information Act, but Colonel Baunchalk and his lawyers have refused to comply.  Dr. Czr also requested the email correspondence between Dr. DeZee and other physicians in the hospital to include Dr. Baunchalk through the Freedom of Information Act, but again Dr. Baunchalk and his lawyers have refused to comply.

When Dr. DeZee would not “fire” Dr. Czr from starting his position, the secretary of the residency program, Ms. Linda Palomarez, told Dr. Czr that he should resign because of the controversy in his congressional letter.  Soon after several senior physicians in the residency program also told Dr. Czr to resign from his future position as the chief resident to include the chief of the Department of Medicine, Colonel Wayne T. Frank.  Dr. Czr refused to resign.

Dr. Pena

So where is Dr. Pena in all this?

After Dr. DeZee failed to fire Dr. Czr, to force his resignation, and to create a petition to have Dr. Czr removed he then ordered an intern to file a sexual harassment claim against him.  On May 26, 2009 (less than 2 months before Dr. Czr would have started his position as chief resident), Dr. DeZee ordered Captain (Dr.) Jennifer Marie Pena, an intern who was transferring to Walter Reed in less than 2 months, to file a sexual harassment claim.  Dr. DeZee also transferred to Walter Reed at the beginning of July 2009.

Sexual Harassment Investigation

According to the subsequent investigation, Dr. Pena had unsuccessfully sought a romantic relationship with Dr. Czr while she was engaged to her first fiancé.  However, during the investigation, she falsely claimed she wanted nothing but a professional relationship with Dr. Czr and that she had rejected his advances numerous times. Yet she had divulged personal matters in her life such as her induction into Yale’s Skull and Bones Society, her mother losing her job, and her fiancé’s infidelity. In addition, Dr. Pena shared with Dr. Czr a childhood story when her father, a formal army pharmacist, asked the judge at a custody hearing why should he pay child support when he knew his daughters would grow up to be prostitutes. Finally, records show that Dr. Czr and his wife reported that Dr. Pena was pursuing to break up Dr. Czr’s marriage and had bought Dr. Czr a gift during this same time period that Dr. Pena was allegedly sexually harassed.  In the investigation, Dr. Czr stated that Dr. Pena began making frightening comments to him such as she hoped that his wife would have something “bad happen” so she could be with Dr. Czr and that Dr. Pena claimed she could be a better mother than his wife.

Colonel Baunchalk and his lawyers then influenced the investigation and falsely represented the findings of the investigation. Despite Colonel Baunchalk’s request to extend the investigation, he failed to interview 4 of 7 witnesses requested by Dr. Czr.  One of these witnesses later wrote that she had witnessed Dr. Pena pursuing a relationship with Dr. Czr.  Colonel Baunchalk also ignored Dr. Czr’s photographic evidence of Dr. Pena’s text messages from her to him that solicited him for a sexual/romantic relationship.

 Dr. Pena’s transfer to Walter Reed was known since December 2008 and her stated reason was to be near her first fiancé, a civilian anesthesiology intern, who lived on the East Coast. Unknown to the program and to the investigating officer was that Dr. Pena’s first fiancé ended the engagement in December 2008.  However, Dr. Pena continued to lie about her engagement to avoid having her transfer canceled.  During the investigation, Dr. Pena continued to claim she was engaged to her first fiancé but denied the investigating officer access to him.  Records show that Dr. Pena was actually engaged to Major Christopher Flaugh, a physical therapist at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at or near the time of her sexual harassment claim. Major Flaugh would soon transfer to Walter Reed after Dr. Pena’s transfer in July 2009.  Colonel Baunchalk’s lawyers also refused to interview Major Christopher Flaugh at the request of Dr. Czr.

Records also show that Dr. Pena was well-known for her lewd, hypersexual behavior and sexually-explicit comments. In a statement by Dr. Czr’s wife, Dr. Pena had once asked her and several other women during a social dinner if they preferred to spit or swallow in reference to oral sex. One of the people interviewed in the investigation reported how Dr. Pena had snuck into his bed after he had fallen asleep while she was engaged to her first fiancé. In addition, Dr. Pena was also dating a medical student in El Paso while she was engaged to her first fiancé.  Later, Dr. Czr would reveal that Dr. Pena had sexually assaulted him in call room in November 2008.  The Criminal Investigative Division of the Army is currently investigating Dr. Pena for this sexual assault.

Dr. Casey Danielsen and Dr. Pena were 

involved in federal prescription fraud.

Colonel Baunchalk then falsely substantiated Dr. Pena’s claim of sexual harassment “by the majority of the witness statements and phone records”.  The investigation showed that only 5 of the 15 witnesses interviewed had allegedly seen any evidence of sexual harassment.  Dr. Pena showed a partial phone record where she had blacked out all phone calls except those received from Dr. Czr.  Dr. Pena’s complete phone records later showed she had called Dr. Czr 43 times and texted him 130 times during the period she was allegedly being sexually harassed.  Dr. Czr presented evidence that these five witnesses had cut and pasted their statements from Dr. Pena’s written statement.

The 5 witnesses

The five witnesses had previous grievances against Dr. Czr and ulterior motives. Dr. Nathalie Paolino, who was a friend and fellow intern of Dr. Pena, was also transferring to Walter Reed with Dr. Pena and is now living in the same apartment complex. Dr. Casey Danielsen, another intern and friend of Dr. Pena, committed federal prescription fraud when she illegally prescribed Dr. Pena Digoxin, a heart failure medication, so that Dr. Pena could give the medication to a family member. Dr. Robert Gayle, another intern who also sought for the removal of Dr. Czr for his congressional letter, was illegally prescribing Dr. Pena antidepressants during the time of the investigation. Dr. Gayle at this time did not have a medical license nor was he credentialed at his hospital to practice medicine independently. These three witnesses who claimed to have knowledge of Dr. Czr’s alleged harassing behavior were all voluntarily present at Dr. Czr’s house in November of 2008, during the time that Dr. Pena claimed she was allegedly being sexually harassed. This provocative video shows the personal and sexually explicit relationships between Dr. Pena and her witnesses. . .

So it may be Dr. Pena accusing Dr. Jackson of the same crime that she engaged in, prescription abuse.

I've got to go, but these charges, if true, are serious. Certainly someone in the real media, with reak resources ought to follow up?

Linked at Nourishing Obscurity in "Monday."

More Random Russiagate

From non-partisan CNN, non-partisan James Comey calls House GOP's Russia probe 'a wreck'

Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether the committee served "a good investigative purpose," Comey responded: "Not that I can see," adding that the probe became politicized "and it wrecked the committee, and it damaged relationships with the FISA Court, the intelligence communities. It's just a wreck."

From the man who wrecked the FBI. Indictments Are Comey...er, Coming

In going after Trump, the left ensnared itself.

Should be indicted, but probably won't be:

• Barack Obama – Mishandling of classified information (18 USC §798) and obstruction of a criminal investigation (18 USC §1510) with respect to emails sent to and received from Hillary personal server. Obstruction of a criminal investigation (18 USC §1510). (When I heard that Obama had made a deal with Netflix, all I could think of was, "Great: Now, in ten years, Netflix will have a nuclear weapon!" But I digress.)
• Hillary Clinton – Mishandling of classified information (18 USC §798), conspiracy (18 USC §371) (the Uranium One deal), violations of campaign finance laws (the funneling of funds through a law firm to pay Glenn Simpson to pay Christopher Steele for the Steele dossier).
• Bill Clinton – Conspiracy (18 USC §371) and obstruction of a criminal investigation (18 USC §1510) (with Lynch) in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
• Robert Mueller – Obstruction of a criminal investigation (18 USC §1510) and conspiracy (18 USC §371) in the Clinton Foundation (Uranium One) investigation.

Probably will be indicted, but maybe not:

• James Comey – Making false statements under oath (18 USC §1001) and mishandling of classified information (18 USC §798) (memos shared with Daniel Richman and Patrick Fitzgerald). Unauthorized disclosure (leaking) of sensitive FBI information (26 USC §7213).
• Daniel Richman – Mishandling of classified information (18 USC §798).
• Patrick Fitzgerald – Mishandling of classified information (18 USC §798). . .

Probably wishful thinking. They all still have enough powerful friends to skate.  Sara A. Carter: Did CNN's Hiring Of It's Illegal-Leak Source Violate Journalistic Ethics? They have ethics? Who knew? Mollie Hemingway: The New York Times’ Hatchet Job On Devin Nunes Is Riddled With Errors Who is surprised. Speaking of journalists and ethics, Ace takes Billy Kristol to school over his support for the bill to "protect Mueller" Ahoy, Matey: Life Comes At Bill Kristol Fast.

Daniel John Sobieski at the American Thinker reminds us that Comey, Fitzgerald, Mueller are Partners in Crime long before Russiagate. Trump slams former intel chief Clapper: ‘Lying machine’ He does have a way with words.  Sebastian Gorka at The Hill: There was no Trump-Russia collusion, but Putin achieved his goal

As succinctly as possible, these are the facts:

The Trump campaign never colluded with Moscow. However, Moscow inserted its lies into documents paid for by the other campaign during a presidential election. That propaganda was used to justify spying on Americans. Illegally. And a serving director of U.S. intelligence helped to make Russian propaganda look real as he leaked the fact that it had been briefed to the newly elected president to the media company that would later hire him.

To that end, Vladimir Putin, the former KGB colonel, with the help of James Clapper, Jim Comey, members of the media and other Americans, achieved his goal: to "sow discord in American society and undermine our faith in the democratic process."

Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels sues Trump for defamation over 'con job' tweet - She says she was harmed by a Trump tweet that accused her of 'a con job'. Stormy is making money hand over fist from guys who want to see an aging pornstar who had sex with a president before he was in office strip. She should be giving him a cut instead. Why Is The National Enquirer Running Hit Pieces On Michael Cohen?

Trump is buddy-buddy with David Pecker, the head of the Enquirer’s parent company, AMI, as you probably know after two years of reports about it. Their relationship’s under the microscope lately because of the “catch and kill” suspicions surrounding the Karen McDougal and Dino Sajudin stories. In both cases, AMI cut big checks to people who said they had dirt on candidate Trump and in both cases the stories never made it to print. In Sajudin’s case, the Enquirer claimed that his story simply didn’t check out — although that raises the question of why they paid top dollar for it and why, if Ronan Farrow’s sources are to be believed, they seemed highly unmotivated to investigate his claim. McDougal’s account of an affair with Trump seems much more credible but the paper never went to press with that either. Only this month, under intense media scrutiny, did AMI finally cut her loose from their “catch and kill” arrangement.

Karen McDougal

Burying stories that Trump might want buried is only one apparent service AMI performs for him. They run relentlessly flattering stories about him (which puts them squarely in the mainstream of conservative media, admittedly) and have also dropped well-timed hit pieces on his enemies. It was the Enquirer that ran the half-assed “expose” on Ted Cruz during the 2016 primaries accusing him of serial adultery and then followed up with the infamous story, later cited by Trump himself, that tried to link Cruz’s father to Lee Harvey Oswald. Last year Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski claimed that “top White House staff members warned that the National Enquirer was planning to publish a negative article about us unless we begged the president to have the story spiked.”

That’s what makes the new attack on Cohen interesting. If it’s the case that POTUS is laundering smears of his political enemies through the Enquirer, the fact that Cohen is a target this week would seem to suggest that he’s now in the “enemy” category.

Not really Russiagate, but interesting: CIA emails to journalists don't have to be released to public, judge rules.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Adam Johnson, a freelance reporter, who was represented by a first amendment lawyer in New York City, Daniel Novack.

“The Director of Central Intelligence is free to disclose classified information about CIA sources and methods selectively, if he concludes that it is necessary to do so in order to protect those intelligence sources and methods, and no court can second guess his decision,” McMahon ruled.

McMahon ruled that such communication is not part of the public domain, and that the CIA was within its rights to discuss protected information in emails to reporters of certain media outlets, just as the media outlets are protected by law when sued to divulge anonymous sources.

The ruling may lend itself to concern in some heated corners of the national debate about possible complicity between a select group of reporters and the national security establishment. But one expert said such an interpretation would be wrong.

“It might make people wonder whether the agency is planting stories or manipulating reporters in a self-serving way. I don’t think that’s what’s going on here,” said Steven Aftergood, head of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy.

Weird; so the CIA can leak to the press, but not have those leaks subject to FOIA? I wanna recount.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Crash Test Girl" and "FMJRA 2.0: Mexican Radio" up and running at The Other McCain.

In New York, Pussy Grabs You

or at least your eye: Graphic 1916 Painting of Female Genitalia Appears on Giant NYC Street Ad

Kids, teens, and their possibly red-faced parents strolling through New York City's heavily foot-trafficked Soho neighborhood are getting an eyeful today.

A large hand-painted mural of Egon Schiele's 1916 "Reclined Female Nude" appears on the side of a building at 220 Lafayette Street in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan this week. Measuring approximately 10 feet by 15 feet, the startlingly graphic mural is being used by the Vienna Tourist Board to promote 100 years of the "Viennese Modernism" art movement:

Egon Schiele, Self Portrait, 1912

Clearly visible to the public, the mural appears to be in violation of the relevant state law: New York Penal Section 245.11 -- Public Display Of Offensive Sexual Material.

However, local government apparently approved it.

Via email, PJMedia asked the Vienna Tourist Board if New York City "agreed to allow" the mural. Ava Rollins of Ava Rollins & Associates -- the PR agency representing the Vienna Tourist Board on this campaign in New York -- answered affirmatively:

This screenshot, taken from Google Street View, shows how prominently the mural might appear to passersby. Pictured, top left, is a similarly sized mural on the same spot in 2017:

The Schiele Family

New York City transit locations weren't the only places that refused to show the advertisements uncensored. According to the campaign site, cities around the world did:

In New York, too, Schiele stimulates a discourse on the freedom of art. After the UK and Germany, the Viennese Modernism campaign is now continuing in the United States from mid-April to mid-May and shows that here, too, the handling of art in advertising is a controversial topic."Still too daring" are the 100-year-old works for New York subway and bus stations, in which not even painted female nipples may be shown, while magazines like "The New Yorker" see no reason to deprive their readers of the world-famous nudes.

Especially spectacular: the uncensored depiction of Schiele's "Lying Woman" in the public space, which would previously only be permitted in Vienna, can be seen on a large façade painting in New York's SoHo. This mural stands in contrast to the sometimes allegedly more open-minded European metropolises, which rejected the motif even in censored form.

It certainly can be seen on a large facade painting in Soho. But what does New York law say about placing it there?

According to an attorney who responded to PJMedia, the mural violates the law. But finding a court willing to enforce it -- if the city was sued for a First Amendment violation based on the mural being "art" -- is another matter.

Not coming to St. Leonard anytime soon. See what we're missing?

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Crash Test Girl" up and running at The Other McCain.