July 20 and 21, 2017


News and Views


THIS IS A PAINFUL STORY. I AM JUST NINE YEARS YOUNGER THAN JOHN MCCAIN, AND I REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS RESCUED IN NORTH VIETNAM, 1973. HE’S A GOOD MAN, AND A STATESMAN. SEE THE FOLLOWING TWO ARTICLES, ONE ON HIS DIAGNOSIS AND ANOTHER ON HIS CAREER.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mccain-says-hell-be-back-soon-after-brain-tumor-diagnosis/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS July 20, 2017, 12:19 PM
John McCain says he'll be "back soon," after brain tumor diagnosis

Sen. John McCain on Twitter Thursday announced he will be "back soon" in Congress, after his brain tumor diagnosis shook Washington, D.C., Wednesday night.

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John McCain ✔ @SenJohnMcCain
I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!
11:25 AM - 20 Jul 2017
14,202 14,202 Retweets 71,547 71,547 likes

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The announcement from the Arizona Republican's office, family and the Mayo Clinic Wednesday that he has glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, devastated many of his colleagues, including members of the opposite party. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said he was "in tears" when he heard the news.

John McCain receives messages of love, support from both sides of the aisle
McCain was home in Arizona for surgery on a blood clot above his eye when doctors discovered the tumor. The next step in treatment is likely chemotherapy and radiation, the senator's primary brain doctor said.

What is glioblastoma, the brain cancer John McCain has been diagnosed with?
McCain's diagnosis comes as the Senate is fighting over the future of health care legislation, with President Trump pushing the Senate to pass a bill before leaving for August recess. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday said the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed with health care legislation next week. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), one of McCain's good friends in the Senate, was uncertain whether McCain would return before August recess.

"They're going to spend the next few days figuring out medical options," Graham said Thursday morning. "I talked to John twice yesterday, the truth of the matter is no one saw this diagnosis coming."

"If he's physically possible he'll be back as soon as possible," Graham added. "He's got to make a decision here about quality. Showing up is important but I think we all want him here where he can deliver a message. And he wants to come back in the worst way."

Many in Washington describe McCain as a Senate institution, and one of the body's most powerful members. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), noted that McCain was in the Senate when he arrived in the city as an intern.

"I came here to the Senate in 1987 as an intern, and he was here then," Flake said. "I've never known the Senate without John."



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/07/20/sen-john-mccain-faced-death-twice-as-a-navy-fighter-pilot-and-survived-brutal-years-as-a-pow/?utm_term=.06f29d25295f
Retropolis
John McCain faced death twice as a Navy fighter pilot and survived brutal years as a POW
By Michael E. Ruane July 20 at 11:30 AM

Photograph -- Sen. John McCain was released from being held as a prisoner of war on March 14,1973 after serving as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam war. (AP)
Watch McCain's 1973 P.O.W. release, 1:02

Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has been diagnosed with a deadly form of brain cancer, told his best friend in the Senate, “I’ve been through worse.”

Much worse. Fifty years ago, the future presidential candidate faced down death repeatedly as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War.

On July 29, 1967, he was sitting in his jet on the deck of the USS Forrestal, an aircraft carrier, when a rocket from another aircraft accidentally fired, struck a nearby plane and ignited a fire that threatened to engulf McCain’s. He scrambled out of the cockpit to safety, seconds before the fire set off bombs that had fallen off another plane.

A chain reaction of explosions ensued. McCain saw a fellow pilot whose clothes were on fire. “I ran toward him,” he told the New York Times the next day. “He was 50 feet in front of me. I got closer and then the first bomb exploded. I was knocked back about 10 feet. I never saw him again.”

Three months later, on Oct. 26, 1967, McCain was flying a mission over Hanoi when an antiaircraft missile blew the right wing off his jet and he had to eject. Both arms and a leg were broken. He landed in a lake and was beaten and bayoneted by those who captured him.

[A young photographer took this harrowing image of the Vietnam War. He didn’t live to see it published.]

He was taken to the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison, where he was further brutalized, repeatedly tortured and kept in solitary confinement for two years. The ordeal would break his body and mind, drive him to attempt suicide and make him a national hero.

McCain’s capture generated news across the United States. His picture ran on the front page of The Washington Post with the headline “Held in Hanoi.” He was filmed in an enemy hospital, and a copy of the footage was shown to his anguished parents. His father, McCain said in a 2007 interview with The Post, “got down every night and prayed.”

A few months into McCain’s imprisonment, his father, Adm. John S. McCain Jr., was named the Pentagon’s commander in chief for the Pacific, a job that essentially put him in charge of prosecuting the Vietnam War. His father insisted that his change-of-command ceremony be held aboard the USS Oriskany, the carrier from which his son had flown.

Throughout McCain’s imprisonment, his father never wrote him a letter, knowing that the enemy would use it for propaganda. But every Christmas, the elder McCain would fly to Vietnam and visit Marines near the demilitarized zone that then separated North and South Vietnam. At some point, the admiral would walk off by himself and look out to the north over the frontier, as if searching for his son.

Early in McCain’s captivity, the North Vietnamese, well aware of who their prisoner was, offered to release him. He refused, sensing it would shame his father and demoralize his comrades.

In 1972, the admiral was called on to implement B-52 bombing raids on Hanoi, where he knew his son was being held. “B-52s in those days were not exactly totally precision bombing,” McCain said. “There was never a doubt in his mind what he would do. But still, you know your kid’s there, and you’re ordering the bombing of the area.”

McCain and his fellow POWs rejoiced at the bombings. “Thank you!” the Americans shouted as the ground shook and their guards scrambled for cover.

[‘Killed’ in Vietnam and buried with comrades, one Marine returned from the dead]

By then, their ordeal was almost over.

Peace accords ending the war were signed in January 1973, and McCain was released in March. His father, who had already retired and was in failing health, was invited to the welcome-home ceremony in the Philippines. He asked whether the parents of other POWs were invited. Told they were not, he declined.

John McCain is escorted to the airport in Hanoi after his release in 1973. (Horst Faas/AP)

Father and son were reunited a few weeks later in Jacksonville, Fla. “It was a very touching reunion,” McCain said, between the war-weary, old-school admiral and the son he might have killed.

On May 26, 1993, McCain spoke to the Naval Academy’s graduating class. He had just been elected to a second term in the Senate. Friends from around the country had come to hear his speech at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

[What John McCain learned from Ted Kennedy on challenging his own party]

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It was a warm, breezy day and a triumphant moment.

“For much of my life,” McCain told the crowd, “the Navy was the only world I knew. It is still the world I know best and love most.

“Here we learned to dread dishonor above all other temptations,” he said. He reviewed the achievements of past Navy heroes — pilots and gunners and submariners — and then spoke of his own ordeal.

“I have watched men suffer the anguish of imprisonment, defy appalling human cruelty . . . break for a moment, then recover inhuman strength to defy their enemies once more. All these things and more, I have seen,” he said. “And so will you. My time is slipping by. Yours is fast approaching. You will know where your duty lies. You will know.”

Read more Retropolis:

Unsealed 75 years after the Battle of Midway: New details of an alarming WWII press leak

Six Nazi spies were executed in D.C. White supremacists gave them a memorial — on federal land.

Gen. George Patton’s wife put a Hawaiian curse on his ex-mistress. She was dead within days.



IS THIS USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS CRIMINAL, OR IS IT ALLOWED?

VIDEO ONLY -- http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-2020-campaign-donors-paying-for-family-s-lawyers-1002218051715?cid=eml_mra_20170718
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/17/17
Trump 2020 campaign donors paying for family's lawyers
Rachel Maddow shares reporting on how Trump re-election campaign money is being used to pay for lawyers, including for Donald Trump Jr., and attempts to sort through some of the contradictory announcements made about changes in the Trump team's legal representation. Duration: 5:25



THIS NEXT STORY ABOUT THE EVER-PRESENT PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP, AND BIG MONEY IS QUIRKY AND ENTERTAINING. THE HINT OF A QUID PRO A QUO IS THERE, AS WELL AS A PROBABLE CASE OF CORRUPTION. OF COURSE, I TEND TO VIEW ALL BACK-HANDED, SECRET DEALS AS CORRUPT.

THE HEAD OF THIS SMALL BANK (A MR. STEVE CAULK) WANTED TO BE DONALD TRUMP’S SECRETARY OF THE ARMY. RIGHT! I CAN SEE WHY TRUMP HAS DEMANDED THAT MUELLER NOT DIG INTO HIS PERSONAL FINANCIAL AFFAIRS. THERE’S TOO MUCH INTERLINKED MATERIAL JUST IN THIS REPORT ALONE. RACHEL MADDOW’S REPORT SOUNDS LIKE TRUMP’S AFFAIRS MAY BE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF A MAFIA DON. TRUMP SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH REFUSING TO SUBMIT HIS TAX RECORDS.

WE NEED TO HAVE STRICT REQUIREMENTS THAT REQUIRE ALL POLITICIANS, NOT JUST THE PRESIDENT, TO HAVE A TRANSPARENTLY CLEAN FINANCIAL HISTORY AND DETACH HIMSELF FROM HIS BUSINESSES DURING HIS TIME IN OFFICE. THAT’S TRUE IN OTHER WAYS ALSO. A MAN WHO HAS TOUCHED A WOMAN IN THE DISGUSTING WAY HE BRAGGED ABOUT DOING (EVEN BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED!) SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR SUCH AN OFFICE AS PRESIDENT. WEALTH DOES NOT GUARANTEE VIRTUE OF ANY KIND, AND BASIC DECENCY IS IMPORTANT IN A HEAD OF STATE.

WHEN WE LET THESE OFFICES GO TO THE WEALTHY AND POWERFUL WITHOUT CHECKING THEM OUT A GREAT DEAL MORE THOROUGHLY THAN WE NOW DO, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING SOMEBODY LIKE THIS INTO OFFICE. THE AVERAGE CITIZEN IS IN NO POSITION TO CHECK SUCH THINGS, SO THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO IT. I SUGGEST THAT THE TIME FOR THAT IS BEFORE THE ELECTION, AND EARLY ENOUGH THAT THE PRESS CAN PUBLISH THE RESULTS IN TIME FOR THE PUBLIC TO ABSORB THE INFORMATION AND WEIGH THE MATTER BEFORE GOING TO THE POLLS.

WHENEVER I SAY THINGS LIKE THIS, I DON’T FOR A MOMENT EXPECT LEGISLATORS WHO CAN’T AGREE ON ANYTHING AT ALL TO PASS SUCH A LAW, BUT THERE ARE PROBLEMS I SEE DAILY THAT COULD USE SOME ATTENTION TO THE LEGALITIES INVOLVED, AND THE PROBLEMS MIGHT AT LEAST BE REDUCED. IT’S JUST LIKE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. IT’S USELESS AND SOMETIMES KEEPS THE MAN/WOMAN WHOM THE PUBLIC HAS CHOSEN FROM BEING DECLARED THE CANDIDATE. IT IS YET ANOTHER OF THOSE LITTLE DARK CORNERS IN THE LIFE OF OUR COUNTRY WHERE BRIBERY ALMOST CERTAINLY OCCURS, TO CAUSE ELECTORS TO “CHOOSE” SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE POPULARLY ELECTED CANDIDATE.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/ny-subpoenas-records-on-huge-manafort-loans-from-small-bank-wsj-1002210883819?cid=eml_mra_20170718
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/17/17
NY subpoenas records on huge Manafort loans from small bank: WSJ
Rachel Maddow relays a report from the Wall Street Journal that the Manhattan district attorney's office in New York has issued a subpoena to a Chicago bank run by a Trump adviser over $16 million in loans to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Duration: 6:21



IN THE UNMAPPED SPACE OF THE INTERNET LURK CREATURES THAT ARE DANGEROUS AND SHOCKING. THERE ARE ANONYMITY APPS NOW BEHIND WHICH THE BAD GUYS CAN AND DO HIDE. IF I UNDERSTAND THIS ARTICLE CORRECTLY, THAT IS THE “DARK” NET. IT SOUNDS LIKE MATTER VS ANTIMATTER.

DARK NET ALPHABAY NETWORK CRIMINAL SITE TAKEN DOWN – I DO LOVE THE INTERNET, BUT CERTAIN ASPECTS OF IT ARE TOTALLY INSCRUTABLE TO THE AVERAGE USER, AND OUT OF CONTROL EVEN TO OUR GOVERNMENT CYBER FORCES. WE ARE AT THE MERCY OF TECHIES WHO ARE EITHER A “BLACK HAT” OR A “WHITE HAT.” THE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYS BOTH KINDS, IF NCIS CAN BE BELIEVED. IT IS IN THIS AREA THAT THE USA AND RUSSIA AND NORTH KOREA AND CHINA AND MAYBE ISRAEL AND IRAN, ETC., ARE RIGHT NOW HAVING A WAR.

I CAN’T HELP THINKING IT’S MUCH BETTER THAN A TOTAL NUCLEAR MELTDOWN OF ALL THINGS HUMAN, BUT IT’S VERY PERILOUS. IN THAT DARK ZONE OF THE NET MOST OF THE BAD GUYS INCLUDING SELLERS OF PERVERTED SEXUAL IMAGES, THE SO-CALLED “SNUFF FILMS,” HOSTILE BOTS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PREDATORS OF CHILDREN WHO HAPPEN TO BE THEIR HIGH SCHOOL PEERS; SO I DO CARE WHETHER OR NOT OUR GOOD GUY GOVERNMENT CONTROLS MY OWN PERSONAL INTERNET EXPERIENCE BY KEEPING ME FREE OF RANSOMWARE.

AT THE SAME TIME, I DON’T WANT THEM CUTTING OFF MY SERVICE FOR CRITICIZING THE GOVERNMENT IN A REASONABLE WAY. IF I CAN COMPLAIN WITHOUT MAKING THREATS OR USING PROFANITY OR OTHER HIGHLY OBJECTIONABLE THINGS, I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO SO. I’M GLAD TO SEE THAT SESSIONS’ PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN DOWN A NETWORK OF TRUE OUTLAWS! CONGRATULATIONS, AND THANK YOU!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-announces-takedown-of-alphabay-the-largest-dark-web-market/
CBS/AP July 20, 2017, 10:19 AM
Justice Department announces takedown of AlphaBay, the largest dark web market

Photograph -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tue., June 13, 2017. REUTERS

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other Justice Department officials announced a takedown of an internet marketplace for drugs, counterfeit goods, weapons, hacking tools and other illicit items.

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Prosecutors say AlphaBay had 200,000 members and 40,000 vendors before it was taken offline. They say it was the largest of many illegal marketplaces that operate in hidden corners of the internet.

The site operated on the Tor network, which helps users browse the internet anonymously. Visitors to the online marketplace paid through digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Officials say hundreds of vendors advertised either fentanyl or heroin.

"The dark net is not a place to hide," Sessions said at a news conference Thursday.

The takedown was part of a larger international effort to take down dark web sites, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said at the news conference.

The 26-year-old founder of AlphaBay, Alexandre Caze, was taken into custody by Thai authorities in early July, according to media reports. The Bangkok Post reported that shortly after his arrest, he was found dead in his cell. Thai authorities believe he committed suicide.

Adylkuzz hack, called larger than WannaCry, slows computers across the globe

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other federal officials announced an indictment in California on Thursday of a suspected administrator of the site, and the Justice Department filed a forfeiture complaint to seize assets connected to the operation.



THIS ISN’T THE FIRST SITUATION I’VE SEEN SINCE JANUARY 20 THAT SHOWS PRESIDENT TRUMP DOES NOT “UNDERSTAND” HOW OUR GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE WORKS. I STILL HAVE A FEELING, HOWEVER, THAT TRUMP REALLY HAD IN MIND FROM THE BEGINNING NOTHING LESS THAN A KIND OF COUP, AND THAT (SO FAR) MOST OF HIS PLANS HAVE BEEN FORESTALLED BY THE BUREAUCRACY THAT HE SO HATES.

FROM THE VERY AGGRESSIVE WAY THAT HE BEGAN IN JANUARY, I FEARED THAT HE MIGHT BE MUCH FARTHER AHEAD BY NOW. I’M AFRAID HE HAS IN MIND THAT HE IS/SHOULD BE/COULD BE THE NEXT NAPOLEON OR HITLER; AND THAT FOR HIM TO SIMPLY WALK IN AND METHODICALLY DECONSTRUCT EVERYTHING OF VALUE TO A DEMOCRATIC WAY OF LIFE -- ALL OF WHICH HE DOESN’T CARE FOR AT ALL -- IS HIS PERSONAL RIGHT AND PRIVILEGE. THOSE WHO OPPOSE HIM OUTRIGHTLY ARE BEING “UNFAIR,” AND OF COURSE, ALL THOSE UNPLEASANT NEWS STORIES ARE “FAKE.”

WATCH THE STORIES ABOUT HIS EXECUTIVE ORDERS, ETC., AND CHECK ON WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO DO. IN AT LEAST FOUR OR FIVE CASES THAT I’VE SEEN, HE SEEMS TO BE ENDANGERING IMPORTANT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS, EITHER BY ACCIDENT OR ON PURPOSE. I TEND TO BELIEVE THAT IT IS INTENTIONAL, AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WELFARE OF THE US PUBLIC, THE “GREATNESS” OF OUR COUNTRY, NOR EVEN THAT OF THE AMERICAN OLIGARCHS, BUT THAT IT IS INSTEAD ABOUT HIS OWN EVER-INCREASING PERSONAL IMPORTANCE AND POWER. HE’S CLEARING AWAY THE ROADBLOCKS.

HE IS ATTACKING THE USA THE WAY A WOLF ATTACKS A LARGE HOOFED ANIMAL. A WOLF KNOWS BETTER THAN TO RUN UP TO A 300 LB. EIGHT POINT BUCK FROM THE FRONT. IT RUNS ALONG BEHIND UNTIL IT CAN JUMP UP AND BITE THE LEG TENDON CALLED THE HAMSTRING, WHICH QUICKLY THROWS THE ANIMAL DOWN. THE WOLF THEN “GOES FOR THE THROAT.” BEWARE. THIS MAN APPEARS IN CERTAIN WAYS TO BE DECIDEDLY LESS THAN “BRILLIANT,” AS HE CROWS THAT PUTIN HAS CALLED HIM; BUT AS AN UNPRINCIPLED INSIDE FIGHTER, HE IS DEFINITELY DANGEROUS.

IN MY VIEW HE IS INTELLIGENT IN THE WAY THAT ALL MANIPULATORS ARE, BUT IS ALMOST LACKING IN SCRUPLES. HE DID, I REMEMBER, REFER TO THE FIRST HOUSE BILL TO REPEAL AND REPLACE OBAMACARE AS BEING “MEAN,” BUT AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF EFFORTS TO WRITE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE VOTED IN BY ALL REPUBLICANS, HE WENT TO “REPEAL WITHOUT REPLACEMENT” IN ORDER TO GET HIS SIGNATURE ON ANOTHER BILL OF SOME KIND -- SO MUCH FOR SCRUPLES. SO FAR THAT HASN’T HAPPENED, AND PROBABLY WON’T BEFORE RECESS.

VIDEO ONLY -- http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/podesta-trump-doesn-t-understand-the-role-of-attorney-general-1004487235646
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS 7/20/17
Podesta: Trump doesn’t understand the role of Attorney General
John Podesta, former chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, defends Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the ongoing Russia investigation, saying Sessions “only had one course to follow.” Duration: 1:17



I THINK THE FBI AND DOJ SHOULD BE SEPARATE FROM THE PRESIDENT, NEITHER FILLED BY A PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT, NOR SUBJECT TO BEING “FIRED” BY THE PRESIDENT. I THINK THE LEGISLATURE SHOULD APPOINT THOSE, AND PERHAPS EVEN HAVE THEM BE A PART OF THE COURTS SYSTEM RATHER THAN THE EXECUTIVE. THEY ARE MOST CLOSELY LINKED BY LOGIC TO THE COURTS SYSTEM THAN TO THE OVAL OFFICE. AFTER ALL, A PRESIDENT ISN’T SUPPOSED TO USE THE DOJ OR FBI FOR PERSONAL OR OFFICIAL “PUNISHMENT,” OR SHOULD I SAY VENGEANCE? SO, HE SHOULDN’T HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO SOMETHING THAT IS BASICALLY IMPROPER, SHOULD HE? IT’S LIKE THE DECLARATION OF WAR. IT’S TOO POWERFUL A TOOL FOR ONE PERSON. THAT’S HOW IT SEEMS TO ME, ANYWAY.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/yes-trump-s-attacks-his-justice-department-are-huge-problem-n784741
POLITICS JUL 20 2017, 8:41 AM ET
Yes, Trump’s Attacks on His Justice Department Are a Huge Problem
by CHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY and CARRIE DANN

Video -- Trump lashes out at Jeff Sessions in explosive new interview 3:01

Yes, Trump’s attacks on his Justice Department are a huge problem.

If you were outraged — legitimately so — by Bill Clinton’s tarmac meeting with former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch, then your jaw must be on the floor after reading The New York Times’ interview with President Trump.

In that interview, the president of the United States attacks Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself in the Russia investigation. (“Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else... Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have — which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president.”)

He questions Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein because he lived in Baltimore. (“There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any.”) And he said special counsel Robert Mueller would be crossing a red line if Mueller looked at his finances unrelated to Russia. (“I would say yes. By the way, I would say, I don’t — I don’t — I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I don’t make money from Russia.”) And asked if he’d fire Mueller for doing that, the president replied, “I can’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

The reason why so many were aghast at Bill Clinton’s meeting with Lynch was because it APPEARED that a person of influence (a former president) was butting into an investigation that Lynch’s Justice Department was leading (into Hillary Clinton’s emails), even if they never discussed the matter.

But in this New York Times interview, you have the current president criticizing his own attorney general for recusing himself; questioning the political motivations of the deputy attorney general; and warning the special counsel what he may or may not investigate — all while there is a federal investigation into his campaign’s ties/contacts/interactions with Russian entities. And it raises this question: If Trump has nothing to hide in this Russia investigation, why is he so concerned about it?

The current state of play on health care: It’s still alive — but barely

This summary, via HuffPost’s Matt Fuller, captures where things stand on health care. “A day after just about everyone on Capitol Hill declared the Senate health care bill dead, the legislation once again seemed to have the tiniest bit of life, with Republicans staying late into the night Wednesday to discuss whether there was a path forward.”

More: “If Collins is a no vote on any form of the legislation and Paul won’t support a replacement, and Capito and Murkowski won’t support the repeal-only approach, and Lee and Moran won’t support the replacement, and it’s unclear if McCain will be back next week ... Republicans simply don’t have the votes throughout all the confusing scenarios. And that’s to say nothing of Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who has been cagey all along on any form of the legislation.”

Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer; lawmakers unite in support Play Facebook Twitter Embed
Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer; lawmakers unite in support 2:57

Rooting — and praying — for John McCain’s recovery

But the story on the top of our minds this morning is the sad news that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was diagnosed with brain cancer. Your authors have covered McCain for decades — his presidential bids, his long career in the Senate — and he’s one of the most original and authentic politicians this nation has ever produced.

McCain’s friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., summed up our feelings: "This disease has never had a more worthy opponent," Graham said last night, per MSNBC’s Garrett Haake. Added former President Barack Obama, who ran against McCain in 2008: “John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John.”

Why that Trump-Putin meeting raises so many red flags

NBC’s Robert Windrem: “President Donald Trump's just-disclosed hour-long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit — using a Kremlin translator, with no national security staff present — may have damaged U.S. interests, according to some national security experts. With no other witness or note-taker of the sort normally present on the American side, there's no guarantee that Trump or Putin's words were translated correctly — or that Trump didn't give away more classified information, as he did when top Russian officials came to the White House in May. Experts who spoke to NBC News also said the impromptu tête-à-tête in Germany, while not unprecedented, represented a break with protocol. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss said he can only recall one instance of a U.S. president letting a Russian handle translation duties — Richard Nixon, in a May 1972 summit with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.”

Kris Kobach: 'May never know' if Clinton won popular vote Play Facebook Twitter Embed
Kris Kobach: 'May never know' if Clinton won popular vote 7:05

It’s not a positive when the vice chair of the election-integrity commission can’t say who won the popular vote in 2016

“You know, we may never know the answer to that," said Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State, who serves on Trump’s Presidential Commission on Voter Integrity, after he was asked by MSNBC’s Katy Tur whether he thought Clinton "won the popular vote by 3 to 5 million votes," per NBC News. “We will probably never know the answer to that question," he added.

Actually, Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 election by approximately 2.87 million votes.

According to the certified Federal Election Commission* records, Clinton received 65,853,516 votes and Trump got 62.984,825. Kobach did not provide any evidence to support his statement. There have been no instances of widespread fraud reported in last year's election.

When Tur followed up with, "How do you say we may never know the answer to that question?" Kobach explained his rationale: "What I'm saying is, let's suppose that the commission determined that there were a certain number of votes cast by ineligible voters. You still won’t know whether those people who were ineligible voted for Trump or for Clinton or for somebody else…"

Kobach then admitted that some of the votes Trump received in November could be called into question, too. "So are the votes for Donald Trump that led him to win the election in doubt as well?" Tur asked. "Absolutely," Kobach said.


FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION* -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Election_Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in federal elections.



ON THE SUBJECT OF “MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL VOTERS” GIVING CLINTON THE POPULAR VOTE, WHAT DOES TRUMP DO WHEN HE SUSPECTS THAT A GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATIC ENTITY WITHIN EACH STATE WILL SIMPLY FOLLOW THE TRUTH AS THEY SEE IT, RATHER THAN SAYING WHAT TRUMP WANTS THEM TO SAY LIKE A PARROT? “SUCH GROUPS ARE DANGEROUS.” SO, HE INVENTS A NEW COMMISSION FOR HIS PURPOSES, HENCE THE “PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON VOTER INTEGRITY.” AND OF COURSE, AS FAR AS I’VE HEARD, THOSE MYSTERIOUS “ELECTORS” ARE NOT TESTED AND VETTED TO SEE WHETHER ANY OF THEM WERE PAID BY A CANDIDATE TO VOTE FOR TRUMP OR ANY OTHER CANDIDATE IN THEIR SACRED SECRET ELECTION CHAMBER. OF COURSE, THEY’RE SUPPOSEDLY ALL THE MOST UPSTANDING CITIZENS. WEALTHY AND IMPORTANT PEOPLE WOULD NEVER CHEAT TO GET ANOTHER BUCK, WOULD THEY?

HE THEN HEADS IT UP WITH A MAN WHOM HE THINKS IS CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH TO BACK UP WHATEVER HE SAYS, KRIS KOBACH; ONLY HE ISN’T, AS IT TURNS OUT. HE’S A TOUCH TOO CLEVER AND HONEST. SEE HIS COMMENTS IN THE NEXT ARTICLE WHEN QUESTIONED BY A REPORTER. AS FOR THE TRUE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMISSION, IT FRIGHTENS ME BECAUSE OF IT’S POSSIBLE “UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.” LOOK NOT AT WHAT TRUMP SAYS THE ORDER WILL DO, BUT AT WHAT IT ALREADY IS DOING, UNDER THE HAND OF KRIS KOBACH. MAYBE DONALD TRUMP ISN’T GOING FOR THE THROAT OF THE NATION HERE, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, MAYBE HE IS. HE’S A SHAPE-SHIFTING WOLF, SO IT’S HARD TO BE SURE. IT IS SMARTER IN SUCH A CONTEST TO GO FOR THE HAMSTRING.

THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON VOTER INTEGRITY INSIDE AND OUT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/07/19/pence-tries-his-best-to-keep-unsaid-what-trump-then-says-about-election-integrity/?utm_term=.346c9dadf01a
Politics Analysis
Pence tries his best to keep unsaid what Trump then says about election integrity
By Philip Bump July 19, 2017

Screen grab and video -- President Trump made remarks on July 19 at the first meeting of his commission investigating his allegations of voter fraud during the 2016 election. (Reuters)

Shortly before a planned lunch with Republican senators during which he hoped to twist some arms on the issue of health care, President Trump stopped by the inaugural meeting of his Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to offer a few words of support.

The commission was formed in May, when Trump signed an executive order calling for a body that would “study the registration and voting processes used in Federal elections” with an eye toward “enhanc[ing] the American people’s confidence in the integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections” and identifying “vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for Federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting.”

All of that was executive-order-speak for the investigation Trump actually sought: An effort to suss out any and all examples of people demonstrably — or possibly — having voted illegally.

Before the 2016 election, Trump warned ominously of the threat of illegal votes, a long-standing boogeyman on the right that was often used as an excuse to impose new voting restrictions that had the not-always-accidental side effect of making it harder for Democrats to vote. (There is, we hasten to note, zero evidence of even relatively frequent illegal voting.) Trump raised this ghoulish specter because, it’s safe to assume, he wanted a fail-safe in the event that he lost: It wasn’t that he was not the choice of the American people, he could argue, it was that the other side cheated. (It’s certainly the case, though, that a man whose media diet slants heavily toward the far right and the conspiratorial may actually have believed the argument he was making.)

Then something weird happened: He won and lost the election. He would be president, but the votes indicated that the country actually preferred the other candidate by a pretty wide margin. So Trump, oddly, embraced the idea that there was rampant fraud in the election anyway, despite it yielding the result he wanted. He championed a random guy’s tweet that claimed to prove that millions of votes were cast illegally — a figure that would make Trump, not Hillary Clinton, the choice of real Americans.

Hence the commission: Prove that Clinton’s victory wasn’t what it appeared.

[Here’s how rare in-person voter fraud is]

Vice President Pence, though, knows the political world better than that. Trump’s commission faced hostility out of the gates, as Democratic states realized that it could be the first step in rolling back access to the polling place. So Pence’s introduction at the first meeting of the commission that he chairs was careful to paint a picture that was broader than just Trump’s concerns.

Play Video, Pence says voter fraud commission will 'enhance' confidence in elections, 3:05 -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/pence-says-voter-fraud-commission-will-enhance-confidence-in-elections/2017/07/19/c993624e-6c97-11e7-abbc-a53480672286_video.html

Vice President Pence opened the first meeting of President Trump's voter fraud commission at the White House on July 19, and thanked the president and vice chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. (Reuters)

“President Trump knows that the integrity of our electoral system transcends party lines,” he said, “and I’m grateful this commission has brought together a bipartisan group from the federal, state and local level. Together, this bipartisan group will perform a truly nonpartisan service to the American people.”

All well and good. And then he introduced his vice chair: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

For those unaware, this is a bit like a wolf standing up and giving a speech about how predators and prey will work together to establish peace on the prairie, and then introducing his vice chair, a bobcat.

Kobach made a national name for himself fighting the scourge of voter fraud in Kansas — a fight which has resulted in a handful of actual convictions. He’s never been able to demonstrate any significant voter fraud but has continued to make the case that it exists nonetheless, like a frustrated gold prospector returning to a fruitless mine time and time again.

Pence continued. He explained that the commission had “been charged to study the registration and voting processes used in federal elections” and that it would “identify the laws, rules, policies, activities, strategies and practices that will enhance the American people’s confidence in the integrity of our electoral system.” Oh, and also? It would “explore the vulnerabilities in our system that could lead to improper voter registration and even improper voting.”

He made a sweeping promise:

This commission — let me be clear — this commission has no preconceived notions or preordained results. We’re fact-finders. And in the days ahead, we will gather the relevant facts and data, and at the conclusion of our work, we will present the president with a report of our findings.

Evenhanded. About election integrity. About protecting the vote. No preconceptions at all — except that Kobach argued last November that there were more illegal votes cast for Clinton than her margin of victory.

After Pence was done, Trump appeared from behind an American-flag backdrop and offered his view.

This commission is tasked with the sacred duty of upholding the integrity of the ballot box and the principle of one citizen, one vote. Every time voter fraud occurs, it cancels out the vote of a lawful citizen and undermines democracy. Can’t let that happen.

Any form of illegal or fraudulent voting, whether by noncitizens or the deceased, and any form of voter suppression or intimidation must be stopped. I’m pleased that more than 30 states have already agreed to share the information with the commission and the other states that information will be forthcoming.

If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what they’re worried about. And I ask the vice president and I ask the commission: What are they worried about? There’s something. There always is.

This issue is very important to me because throughout the campaign and even after, people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies and irregularities which they saw, in some cases, having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states.

Emphasis added, since we should look at each of these claims.

To the first bit, about how there’s “always something”: Trump is stoking the fires of his slow-burning conspiracy theory that Democrats in Democratic-run states used illegal voting to undercut Republican candidates, including himself. Why would a state not acquiesce to a simple data request* from the federal government unless they were terrified that the feds were about to uncover their fraudulent voting systems?

Well, one reason was offered by the secretary of state from Mississippi, who responded to the commission’s request for data by saying that his state had the “right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral process.” He further invited the commission to “go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Mississippi, students of politics will recall, is not a particularly liberal state. The “something” at the heart of its decision to reject the original data request — a decision shared by most other states — was an interest in protecting resident privacy.

Now the second bit.

Trump said that “throughout the campaign and even after, people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies and irregularities which they saw.” Well, sure. Trump was using his campaign megaphone to say “this thing exists,” and people would come up to him and say “I saw it, too!” Having written about this subject repeatedly, I will often receive emails from people who claim to have witnessed fraud. In no case was any actual voter fraud witnessed; instead, people often point to wisps in the air, declare them to be smoke and announce that they’ve spotted a fire.

If there were rampant fraud observable by random individuals, it’s hard to understand why that fraud wouldn’t be rooted out. In fact, there have been efforts to uncover pervasive fraud in the past, including by the George W. Bush administration. When contesting a voter recount effort in Michigan, in fact, Trump’s campaign lawyers admitted that there was no evidence of fraud in the election. But people tell Trump what he wants to hear and then he relays those comments as evidence in support of what he wants to do.

After the comments above, Trump quoted Teddy Roosevelt on election integrity (eliding the salient detail that, in Roosevelt’s era, the situation was very different). He then praised the “bipartisan panel consisting of both Republican and Democratic leaders and experts on voter integrity,” which itself glosses over the fact that the panel includes a few token Democrats and a lot of more-prominent Republicans and people who have spent years focused on unearthing alleged fraud.

“I’ll share your report as soon as I can and as soon as possible with the American people so the full truth will be known and exposed if necessary in the light of day,” Trump concluded, strongly hinting at the preconceived notion he of course doesn’t have.

Trump, as he often does, had said the thing he wasn’t supposed to say. The meeting was not supposed to be about his conspiracy theory. It was supposed to be about an evenhanded look at voting systems, a lot of chin-stroking academics who were weighing the evidence impartially.

So Pence was given the microphone and did a little cleanup.

This is a bipartisan group that will perform a nonpartisan service to the American people. Our goal, as the executive order asserts, is to help promote free and honest federal elections. Our charge is to study the registration and voting process used in federal elections, and our charge is to explore vulnerabilities in the system that could lead to improper voter registration and improper voting.

Let me reiterate the point I made earlier, now that we’re on the record. We have no preconceived notions or preordained results. Our duty is to go where the facts lead and to provide the president and the American people with a report on our findings that can be used to strengthen the people’s confidence in our electoral system.

Over the course of the 2016 campaign, we saw two Trumps: The one speaking off the cuff and the one reading from the teleprompter. As the election wound down, Trump figured out a balance; he’d read some remarks from the prompter and then riff on them a bit.

But that bifurcation remains within the administration. Trump is the guy who says what he wants. Pence is the guy who reads the stuff that goes on the teleprompter.

There’s a reason that so many voters preferred Trump’s way of communicating: At least it matched with what he really believed.


NOW, ABOUT THIS “SIMPLE DATA REQUEST”* -- LIKE THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND VOTING HISTORIES FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS ON EACH VOTER IN THE STATE – NOTHING ILLEGAL OR UNETHICAL THERE, SOME SAY. IT DOES MAKE THE HAIR STAND UP ON THE BACK OF MY NECK, HOWEVER. ANY OF YOU WHO OWNS A DOG OR CAT UNDERSTANDS THAT COMMENT. IF AN ANIMAL IS REACTING THAT WAY, DON’T GO NEAR IT UNTIL IT CALMS DOWN. ABOUT THESE SIMPLE REQUESTS, ADD THIS TO THE FACT THAT IN SEVERAL (PROBABLY MANY) STATES, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO SEND OUT A FORM LETTER OR CARD TO EVERY CITIZEN IN CERTAIN SPECIFICALLY UNDERPRIVILEGED (BLACK AND HISPANIC) CITY AREAS, STATING THAT THEY MUST RETURN IT WITH THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION. IF, FOR ANY REASON – SUCH AS THEY FELT TOO TIRED TO OPEN THEIR MAIL OR THREW IT IN THE TRASH AS SOON AS THEY READ IT – THE POLITICAL PARTY IN QUESTION, (THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE REPUBLICANS LATELY, BUT MORE LIKELY DEMOCRATS IN THE JIM CROW YEARS); THEN THE PARTY IN POWER RUTHLESSLY ELIMINATED THOSE NAMES OF PEOPLE WHO DID NOT SUCCESSFULLY RESPOND WITHIN "THE DEADLINE" FROM THE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST. THIS HAS MEANT THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE GET TO THE POLLS TO CAST THEIR BALLOT AND FIND THAT THEIR NAME IS NOW UNLISTED, AND THEY HAVE TO FILL OUT A PROVISIONAL BALLOT AND REREGISTER. THERE WAS AN ARTICLE ON THIS CULLING PROCESS WHICH SAID THAT IN SOME CASES ABSENTEE AND PROVISIONAL BALLOTS ARE NEVER EVEN OPENED IF A CANDIDATE ALREADY SEEMS LIKELY TO WIN. THIS IS SIMILAR TO THE SITUATION ON ELECTION NIGHT WHEN A NEWS CHANNEL DECIDES TO "CALL THE ELECTION" BEFORE THE POLLS ACROSS THE NATION HAVE ALREADY CLOSED. THAT PRACTICE IS NO LONGER ALLOWED, I DON'T BELIEVE. THERE ARE LOTS OF VOTERS WHO, IF THEY THINK THEIR CANDIDATE IS ALREADY LOSING, WON'T EVEN BOTHER TO GO DOWN TO THE POLLING PLACE AND GIVE HIM A BOOST WITH THEIR VOTE.

THIS TYPE OF PURGE OR “CULL” IS JUSTIFIED ON THE PRETEXT THAT SUCH UNRESPONSIVE VOTERS ARE DEAD OR THAT THE NAMES ARE FALSIFIED. SOMETIMES IT IS DONE AROUND THE USE OF HISPANIC OR EXOTICALLY SPELLED (OFTEN BLACK) NAMES. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT TRUMP WOULD JUST LOVE TO “PURGE” LARGE NUMBERS OF SUCH ALMOST CERTAINLY DEMOCRATIC VOTERS BY SOME SIMILAR METHOD. SUCH VOTERS, WHO OFTEN LIVE IN UNDERPRIVILEGED NEIGHBORHOODS, ON MARTIN LUTHER KING AVENUE, FOR INSTANCE, ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY BLACK OR OF SOME OTHER ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED BACKGROUND, BECAUSE THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS RENT OR, IF OWNED, ARE VALUED AT A SMALLER AMOUNT THAN ANY HOMES IN MORE GENTEEL AREAS. THEY ARE ALMOST EQUALLY LIKELY TO BE DEMOCRATS. OF COURSE, BEFORE A TRUMP OR SOME OTHER CANDIDATE PURGES, HE HAS TO BE REASONABLY SURE WHO THEY MAY BE. HE WOULDN’T WANT TO ELIMINATE, MISTAKENLY, ANY LIVING REPUBLICANS. HOW DO THEY SELECT ONE GROUP FROM THE OTHER? THEY DON'T SEND THAT CARD OR LETTER OUT TO THE MIDDLE CLASS OR WEALTHIER NEIGHBORHOODS. SUCH CULLS ARE PRODUCTIVE OF GREAT SUCCESS IN WEEDING OUT BLACK AND ETHNIC VOTERS.

BUT BACK TO THE POINT. KOBACH’S LETTER TO THE STATES DEMANDED THAT THEY ADHERE TO SOME ALMOST CERTAINLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND PROSCRIBED METHODS OF TRIMMING THEIR STATES’ VOTER REGISTRATION ROLLS TO SUIT THE TRUMP VIEW OF LIFE. I HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO FIND A VERBATIM COPY OF THE LETTER, BUT ABOUT 30 STATES REFUSED TO COMPLY COMPLETELY ESPECIALLY ABOUT ALL THE PERSONAL AND PRIVATE DATA; AND I LOVE THE MISSISSIPPI OFFICIAL’S SUGGESTION THAT THEY SHOULD GO JUMP IN THE GULF OF MEXICO! I WOULD HAVE SAID THAT THEY SHOULD PUT IT IN THE ROUND FILE.

THERE ARE A LOT OF TRULY “CONSERVATIVE” PEOPLE WHO HATE SUCH SHENANIGANS AS VOTER INVALIDATION WHETHER THEY HAIL FROM THE RIGHT OR FROM THE LEFT, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN THE CONSTITUTION IN A RELATIVELY PURE FASHION, AND NOT MERELY AS A TOOL FOR CYNICS TO ENGINEER THINGS AWAY FROM THE COMMON GOOD TO THEIR SPECIFIC GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL DESIRES. A LOT OF US WHO GREW UP BETWEEN 1945 AND 1965 ARE IN THAT CATEGORY. THAT IS WHY SO MANY IN CONGRESS AND THE SENATE AND AROUND THE STATE HOUSES ARE ACTIVELY OPPOSED TO TRUMP'S METHODS AND EVEN TO HIS VIEWS. WE BELIEVE IN INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM AND THE NEEDS OF THE MANY AS WELL, AND THAT NEWCOMERS ARE TO BE WELCOMED -- THE MELTING POT, AS IT WAS CALLED IN MY TEXTBOOKS. HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW MUCH TROUBLE HE HAS BEEN HAVING GETTING BILLS PASSED? OF COURSE, NOT ALL MEMBERS OF EITHER PARTY ARE UNIFORM IN THEIR VIEWS, BUT I THINK IT’S RESISTANCE AMONG THE REPUBLICAN RANKS AND A VIRTUAL FIREWALL AMONG THE DEMOCRATS. INDEPENDENTS DO TEND TO BE A WILD CARD, AND THEY ARE MORE OFTEN RIGHT OF CENTER RATHER THAN LEFT, LIKE BERNIE SANDERS.

AS FOR MYSELF, NOT BEING A CONSTITUTIONAL FUNDAMENTALIST, I BELIEVE IN THE MOST LOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS, WHICH GIVE THE MOST FREEDOM AND FAIRNESS TO ALL, AND A DECENT STANDARD OF LIVING FOR ALL. I ALSO UPHOLD THE RIGHT OF THE SUPREME COURT TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT INTERPRETATIONS, EVEN THOUGH RESULTS LIKE THE CITIZENS UNITED DECISION ARE DEVASTATING TO OUR WAY OF LIFE. THE REAL PROBLEM WHICH CAUSES SO MANY BIZARRE DECISIONS IS THAT THE LANGUAGE OF THE CONSTITUTION IS BOTH TOO OLD (ENGLISH HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST THREE HUNDRED YEARS) AND TOO IMPRECISE. IN LEAVING IT TOO WIDE OPEN TO GIVE SOME WIGGLE ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION AND FLEXIBILITY OVER TIME (A GOOD THING UP TO A POINT), THE WRITERS HAVE ALLOWED UNACCEPTABLE LAWS TO BE CREATED AND PASSED. A DECISION THAT ALLOWS STATES TO GO BACK TO MAKING RIDICULOUS LITTLE “TESTS” OF WHO IS OR SHOULD BE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE. THE COURT JUSTICES THOUGHT THAT THE US CITIZENS TODAY WOULD NOT TRY TO BRING BACK JIM CROW, BUT THEY WERE SO VERY WRONG. PEOPLE FOLLOW LAWS AS LONG AS THEY HAVE TO, BUT NOT USUALLY IN UNISON UNLESS SOMETHING DISTURBING IS GOING ON IN THE NATION, SUCH AS A STRANGE, UNRELIABLE AND POSSIBLY INSANE PRESIDENT. THAT’S WHY NOTHING IN MY BEING WOULD ALLOW A FORM OF ANARCHY TO TAKE HOLD HERE, AS THE TRUMP-FOLLOWING CROWDS OF AMORAL BUMPKINS, FOR INSTANCE. BUT THEN, I DIDN’T VOTE FOR HIM.

I DO ALSO BELIEVE WE NEED TO TWEAK THE CONSTITUTION TO UPDATE ITS’ USEFULNESS AND FAIRNESS, BUT ONLY IN A BIPARTISAN AND REGULARIZED WAY. WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO AROUND ROBIN’S BARN TO CONVENE SUCH AN ASSEMBLY? EVERY TWENTY YEARS OR LESS ON A REQUIRED BASIS WOULD BE GOOD, AS NOT ONLY THE LANGUAGE CHANGES, BUT THE LAWS AND SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATIONS DO ALSO. AND IF SOME STATES CHOSE TO ABSTAIN, THEY COULD SUBMIT A NOTARIZED STATEMENT TO THAT EFFECT THAT IS SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR AND PERHAPS TWO OTHER SUCH TRUSTED OFFICIALS THE HEADS OF BOTH HOUSES OF THE LEGISLATURE, FOR INSTANCE -- SOMETHING TO MAKE IT NOT ONLY OFFICIAL, BUT FAIR AND RATIONAL. IF THEY DO ABSTAIN, HOWEVER, THEY SHOULD AGREE TO ACCEPT THE CONSENSUS THAT OCCURS IN THE MEETING – A BIT LIKE BREXIT.

TRUMP DOESN’T LIKE TO LOOK AT THIS, BUT A GOOD MANY REPUBLICANS ARE NOT ON HIS SIDE, AFTER ALL. DIRTY IS DIRTY TO AN HONEST REPUBLICAN AS WELL AS TO THE HONEST DEMOCRATS. AFTER ALL, NOT ALL REPUBLICANS ARE RACIST AND CLASSIST IN THE WAY THEY VALUE HUMAN LIFE, AND WOULD CHOOSE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS TO BE TREATED FAIRLY. TRUMP IS DOING THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WILL CAUSE HIM TO BE FEARED AND HATED, AND THEREFORE QUITE LIKELY UNELECTED, POSSIBLY SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. FORGIVE ME FOR MY LACK OF CHARITY, BUT I CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. FINALLY, THIS IS A PATRIOTIC STATEMENT ON MY PART, AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I DO LOVE MY COUNTRY. THAT’S WHY I DON’T WANT HER BEST ACHIEVEMENTS TO BE REVERSED OR POLLUTED.

ENOUGH ABOUT TRUMP’S “DATA REQUESTS,” AND ON TO THE OTHER TRUMP NEWS OF THE DAY – THE SUDDEN DISPLACEMENT OF SPICER. NOW, I DON’T CARE FOR SPICER, BUT TRUMP DOESN’T WANT TO LET ANYONE STAY IN HIS SEAT AND DO HIS JOB. I THINK HE’S GETTING EDGY AND THINKS “A CHANGE WOULD BE GOOD.” THAT KIND OF THING DOESN’T COMFORT ME, BECAUSE JUST ANY OLD CHANGE IS LIKELY TO BE WORSE INSTEAD OF AN IMPROVEMENT.

ABOUT THE RESIGNATION OF SEAN SPICER AND RELATED THINGS, SEE WIKIPEDIA BELOW ON SCARAMUCCI WHO REPLACES SPICER. HE IS WELL QUALIFIED FOR A FINANCIALLY RELATED POSITION, BUT IS BEING APPOINTED INSTEAD AS HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS IN THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE. THAT’S MORE THAN A TAD ODD IN MY VIEW. SPICER, WHO HAS MILDLY (OR SO IT SEEMS) PUT UP WITH A LOT SO FAR, AND NOW IS BEING DISCARDED FOR NO SPECIFIED REASON, IS UNDERSTANDABLY UNHAPPY. I ALSO WILL MENTION THAT SCARAMUCCI WAS FIRST MENTIONED FOR DIRECTOR OF THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF PUBLIC LIAISON AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS. BUT, ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA BELOW, THE APPOINTMENT APPROVAL “WAS REPORTEDLY DELAYED BY AN EXTENDED REVIEW OF HIS FINANCES BY THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS.” IT’S INTERESTING TO ME THAT THE INTERLINKING OF THE USA WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTS, AND PERHAPS AN UNACCEPTABLY TANGLED MONETARY HISTORY IN RELATION TO POLITICS OR ETHICS, WAS PRESENT IN BOTH TRUMP’S AND SCARAMUCCI’S CASES. TRUMP EVENTUALLY APPOINTED GEORGE SIFAKIS, INSTEAD. STILL, SCARAMUCCI’S NAME COMES UP AGAIN. THEY PROBABLY HAVE A PERSONAL TIE -- A PROMISE, PERHAPS. AS I HAVE LEARNED TO SUSPECT, CONCERNING MOST OF THE HUMAN CONNECTIONS THAT TRUMP MAKES, MONEY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SIMILARITIES – A LA SOME DEGREE OR TYPE OF RIGHTISM -- ARE IMPORTANT IN THE CHOICE. THE BREITBART (ALT-RIGHT) STEVE BANNON IS A CASE IN POINT. SO, I’M GOING TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT SCARAMUCCI AND HIS OTHER CONNECTIONS.

SIFAKAS SOUNDS VERY INTERESTING TO ME, AND MORE OF A “STRAIGHT ARROW,” – A WRITER, CAPABLE OF GETTING ALONG WELL WITH HIS WIFE, AND A MEMBER OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH. I LOVE THE GREEK ORTHODOX ART AND THE PRIESTS’ COSTUMES, AND I USED TO HAVE LUNCH AT WORK WITH A GREEK ORTHODOX WOMAN. THEY’RE VERY INTERESTING TO ME. I ALSO ATTENDED AN ORDINATION CEREMONY AND BANQUET AFTERWORD WITH HER. I ENJOYED MEETING HER AND HER SON. IT WAS VERY LONG, TOTALLY IN GREEK, AND I HAD TO STAND ON MY FEET DURING THE WHOLE CEREMONY, BUT IT WAS VERY BEAUTIFUL. THE MUSIC SOUNDS EXOTIC AND HOLY AT THE SAME TIME. I REALLY ENJOYED IT.

BUT, ON SIFAKIS, WIKIPEDIA SAYS:

“SIFAKIS IS GREEK ORTHODOX.[2] HE RECEIVED HIS BA FROM RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE AND ATTENDED NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY. HE RECEIVED HIS MS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE FROM THE SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT. SIFAKIS ALSO ATTENDED THE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL OF LAW. . . . WITH HIS WIFE, ADRIANA, HE FOUNDED IDEAGEN, CONVENING THE WORLD'S LEADING COMPANIES, PUBLIC SECTOR AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. . . . . SIFAKIS WAS A MEMBER OF THE GEORGE W. BUSH WHITE HOUSE AND FOCUSED ON CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS.[3] . . . . SIFAKIS IS MARRIED TO ADRIANA SIFAKIS. THEY HAVE THREE CHILDREN AND LIVE IN ARLINGTON.[2] SIFAKIS AND HIS WIFE ADRIANA WROTE THE 2014 NOVEL S.W.A.K.: A NOVEL OF ULTIMATE BETRAYAL, WHICH FEATURES A SECOND GENERATION IMMIGRANT FAMILY WITH AN OVERBEARING MATRIARCH WHO MAKES HER THREE CHILDREN MISERABLE.[2]”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sean-spicer-resigned-white-house-press-secretary-161152671.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=dd114874-7083-393e-8bf1-0ac1f74868c1&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Sean Spicer resigns as White House press secretary
Hunter Walker Yahoo News July 21, 2017

Photograph -- Sean Spicer in a White House briefing. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned on Friday amid changes to President Trump’s communications shop.

The news of Spicer’s resignation was first reported by the New York Times. A White House staffer subsequently confirmed it to Yahoo News.

According to the Times, Spicer departed because “he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.” Multiple sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Yahoo News that Scaramucci was given that position on Friday morning.

This story is developing.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Kris Kobach pushes debunked theory on illegal votes: ‘We may never know’ who won
The not-so-radical Trump presidency



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anthony Scaramucci (born January 6, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, financier, political figure, and author.[1] In June 2017, he became a senior vice president and chief strategy officer at the U.S. Export-Import Bank,[2] and on July 21, 2017, President Donald Trump appointed him the White House Communications Director.[3]

On January 12, 2017, President-elect Trump announced his intent to appoint Scaramucci Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs.[4] Scaramucci's swearing-in was reportedly delayed by an extended review of his finances by the Office of Government Ethics,[5][6] although the ethics office denied that clearance was necessary before making White House appointments.[7] Ultimately, George Sifakis was appointed instead.[8]

Following the 2016 election, Scaramucci served on the Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee.[9] In 2005, Scaramucci founded global investment firm SkyBridge Capital,[10] serving as co-managing partner before selling the company in early 2017[11] to take a role in the Trump administration.

Scaramucci also previously served as host of a financial television show Wall Street Week[12] and contributor to the Fox News Channel.[13]


FINALLY, DONALD TRUMP WANTS A BIG AUDACIOUS MILITARY PARADE GOING DOWN PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE – JUST LIKE FRANCE’S, AND PERHAPS PUTIN’S. HE NEEDS MORE GRANDEUR IN HIS LIFE. EVERYTHING I READ ABOUT HIS VIEWS MAKES ME MORE NERVOUS.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/15-remarkable-moments-trumps-nyt-interview-135917019.html
15 remarkable moments from Trump’s NYT interview
Dylan Stableford and Gabby Kaufman 1 hour 54 minutes ago .

Image -- (Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Martinez Monsivais/AP, Andrew Harnik/AP, AP, Jacquelyn Martin/AP, AP, NYT)
Donald Trump. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Trump says the meeting had no effect on his campaign
Photograph -- Vladimir Putin. (Kay Nietfeld,Pool/Reuters)
Jeff Sessions. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)


President Trump lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former FBI Director James Comey, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and independent counsel Robert Mueller in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Times reporters Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman in the Oval Office, Trump sounded off on topics ranging from the Russia investigation to presidential handshakes.

Here are some of the notable moments from the president’s interview with the newspaper he likes to describe as “failing.”

Trump wants to have a military parade on Pennsylvania Avenue like the one he saw in Paris

Trump: It was one of the most beautiful parades I have ever seen. And in fact, we should do one one day down Pennsylvania Ave.

Haberman: I wondered if you were going to say that.

Trump: I’ve always thought of that.

Haberman: Really?

Trump: I’ve always thought of that. I’ve thought of it long before. … The Bastille Day parade was — now that was a super-duper — O.K. I mean, that was very much more than normal. They must have had 200 planes over our heads. Normally you have the planes and that’s it, like the Super Bowl parade. And everyone goes crazy, and that’s it. That happened for — and you know what else that was nice? It was limited. You know, it was two hours, and the parade ended. It didn’t go a whole day. They didn’t go crazy. You don’t want to leave, but you have to. Or you want to leave, really.

These things are going on all day. It was a two-hour parade. They had so many different zones. Maybe 100,000 different uniforms, different divisions, different bands. Then we had the retired, the older, the ones who were badly injured. The whole thing, it was an incredible thing.

Trump explains his extended handshakes with French President Emmanuel Macron

Haberman: He was very deferential to you. Very.

Trump: He’s a great guy. Smart. Strong. Loves holding my hand.

Haberman: I’ve noticed.

Trump: People don’t realize he loves holding my hand. And that’s good, as far as that goes.

Trump talks about invading Russia

Trump: Well, Napoleon finished a little bit bad. But I asked that. So I asked [President Macron], so what about Napoleon? He said: “No, no, no. What he did was incredible. He designed Paris.” [garbled] The street grid, the way they work, you know, the spokes. He did so many things even beyond. And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death. How many times has Russia been saved by the weather? [garbled]

Same thing happened to Hitler. Not for that reason, though. Hitler wanted to consolidate. He was all set to walk in. But he wanted to consolidate, and it went and dropped to 35 degrees below zero, and that was the end of that army.

But the Russians have great fighters in the cold. They use the cold to their advantage. I mean, they’ve won five wars where the armies that went against them froze to death. … It’s pretty amazing.

So, we’re having a good time. The economy is doing great.

Trump says the first lady of Japan, Akie Abe, who gave a speech in English in 2014, couldn’t even say “hello”

Trump: So, I was seated next to the wife of Prime Minister Abe [Shinzo Abe of Japan], who I think is a terrific guy, and she’s a terrific woman, but doesn’t speak English.

Haberman: Like, nothing, right? Like zero?

Trump: Like, not “hello.”

Haberman: That must make for an awkward seating.

Trump: Well, it’s hard, because you know, you’re sitting there for ——

Haberman: Hours.

Trump: So the dinner was probably an hour and 45 minutes.

Trump says his unscheduled chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit was about “Russian adoption”

Trump: [Melania] was sitting next to Putin and somebody else, and that’s the way it is. So the meal was going, and toward dessert I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin. Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about — things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption.

Haberman: You did?

Trump: We talked about Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting. Because, you know, he ended that years ago. And I actually talked about Russian adoption with him, which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don [Trump Jr.] had in that meeting. As I’ve said — most other people, you know, when they call up and say, “By the way, we have information on your opponent,” I think most politicians — I was just with a lot of people, they said [inaudible], “Who wouldn’t have taken a meeting like that?”

Trump believes Comey was seeking “leverage” over him by sharing the dossier about allegations that the Russian government had compiled incriminating information on him

Trump: When he brought it to me, I said this is really made-up junk. I didn’t think about anything. I just thought about, man, this is such a phony deal. … I said, this is — honestly, it was so wrong, and they didn’t know I was just there for a very short period of time. It was so wrong, and I was with groups of people. It was so wrong that I really didn’t, I didn’t think about motive. I didn’t know what to think other than, this is really phony stuff. … In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there.

Schmidt: As leverage?

Trump: Yeah, I think so. In retrospect.

Trump says a special counsel “should never have been appointed”

Trump: I have done nothing wrong. A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case.

Trump says he regrets choosing Sessions as attorney general

Trump: Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else.

Haberman: He gave you no heads up at all, in any sense?

Trump: Zero. So Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have — which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, “Thanks, Jeff, but I can’t, you know, I’m not going to take you.” It’s extremely unfair, and that’s a mild word, to the president. So he recuses himself. I then end up with a second man, who’s a deputy. …

What Jeff Sessions did was he recused himself right after, right after he became attorney general. And I said, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Trump appears to think the FBI director reports to him

Trump: And nothing was changed other than Richard Nixon came along. And when Nixon came along [inaudible] was pretty brutal, and out of courtesy, the F.B.I. started reporting to the Department of Justice. But there was nothing official, there was nothing from Congress. There was nothing — anything. But the F.B.I. person really reports directly to the president of the United States, which is interesting. You know, which is interesting. And I think we’re going to have a great new F.B.I. director.

Trump’s granddaughter makes a surprise appearance

Trump: Hi baby, how are you?

Arabella Kushner: [enters room] Hi, Grandpa.

Trump: My granddaughter Arabella, who speaks — say hello to them in Chinese.

Kushner: Ni hao.

[laughter]

Trump: This is Ivanka. You know Ivanka.

Ivanka Trump: [from doorway] Hi, how are you? See you later, just wanted to come say hi.

Trump: She’s great. She speaks fluent Chinese. She’s amazing.

Baker: That’s very impressive.

Trump: She spoke with President Xi [Jinping of China]. Honey? Can you say a few words in Chinese? Say, like, “I love you, Grandpa” —

Kushner: Wo ai ni, Grandpa.

Baker: That’s great.

Trump: She’s unbelievable, huh?

[crosstalk]

Trump: Good, smart genes.

Trump gives a curious explanation of how health insurance works

Trump: Pre-existing conditions are a tough deal. Because you are basically saying from the moment the insurance, you’re 21 years old, you start working and you’re paying $12 a year for insurance, and by the time you’re 70, you get a nice plan. Here’s something where you walk up and say, “I want my insurance.” It’s a very tough deal, but it is something that we’re doing a good job of.

Trump claims he is not under FBI investigation

Trump: The bottom line is this. The country’s doing well. We are, we are moving forward with a lot of great things. The unemployment is the lowest it’s been in 16 years. The stock market is the highest it’s ever been. It’s up almost 20 percent since I took office. And we’re working hard on health care. Um, the Russian investigation — it’s not an investigation, it’s not on me — you know, they’re looking at a lot of things.

Trump calls his son’s meeting last year with a number of Russians offering information to use against Hillary Clinton “standard political stuff”

Trump: I didn’t look into it very closely, to be honest with you.

Baker: O.K.

Trump: I just heard there was an email requesting a meeting or something — yeah, requesting a meeting. That they have information on Hillary Clinton, and I said — I mean, this was standard political stuff.

Schmidt: Did you know at the time that they had the meeting?

Trump: No, I didn’t know anything about the meeting.

Schmidt: But you didn’t——

Trump: It must have been a very important — must have been a very unimportant meeting, because I never even heard about it.

Trump: I don’t think I added anything much different than I had been doing. … I’ve made some very strong speeches about the corrupt emails. The 33,000 emails being deleted and bleached, and all of the things she was doing. I would make those speeches routinely. … There wasn’t much I could say about Hillary Clinton that was worse than what I was already saying. … I mean, I was talking about, she deleted and bleached, which nobody does because of the cost. How she got away with that one, I have no idea. 33,000 emails. I talked about the back of the plane, I talked about the uranium deal, I talked about the speech that Russia gave Clinton — $500,000 while she was secretary of state — the husband. I talked about the back of the plane — honestly, Peter, I mean, unless somebody said that she shot somebody in the back, there wasn’t much I could add to my repertoire.

Trump warns Mueller not to look into his family’s finances beyond Russia, but declines to say whether he would fire him for doing so

Trump: I don’t — I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I don’t make money from Russia. In fact, I put out a letter saying that I don’t make — from one of the most highly respected law firms, accounting firms. I don’t have buildings in Russia. They said I own buildings in Russia. I don’t. They said I made money from Russia. I don’t. It’s not my thing. I don’t, I don’t do that. Over the years, I’ve looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there eight, nine years [crosstalk].

Schmidt: But if he was outside that lane, would that mean he’d have to go? …

Trump: I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia. So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company. And actually, when I do my filings, peoples say, “Man.” People have no idea how successful this is. It’s a great company. But I don’t even think about the company anymore. I think about this. ’Cause one thing, when you do this, companies seem very trivial. O.K.? I really mean that. They seem very trivial. But I have no income from Russia. I don’t do business with Russia. …

Haberman: Would you fire Mueller if he went outside of certain parameters of what his charge is? …

Trump: I can’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s going to happen.

After Trump rebuke, Sessions shows up for work, will stay ‘as long as that is appropriate’

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein dodged questions about their future with the Department of Justice following criticisms from President Trump.

In an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday evening, Trump said that he would not have appointed Sessions as attorney general if he knew Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Trump also criticized the former Alabama senator’s answers at his confirmation hearing, which some Senate Democrats have said could amount to perjury.

Speaking at an event on cybercrime, Sessions said he loved his job and would continue serving “as long as that is appropriate.”

“We in the Department of Justice will continue every single day to work hard, to serve the national interest, and we wholeheartedly join in the priorities of President Trump,” said Sessions when asked if he had considered resignation. “He gave us several directives. One is to dismantle Internet transnational criminal organizations. That’s what we are announcing today. The dismantling of the largest, dark website in the world by far. I congratulate our people for that. I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It’s something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself. We love this job. We love this department. I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate.”

Sessions was then asked how he could continue to effectively serve without the confidence of Trump.

“We are serving right now,” said Sessions. “The work we are doing today is the kind of work we intend to continue. Just last week, we announced the largest health care [fraud] takedown ever in the United States. We had all the major law enforcement leaders in my office yesterday to talk about our unified efforts to improve our crime fighting with state and local officials. I’m totally confident we can continue to run this office in an effective way. I really would like for you to focus now on the work of the individuals behind me that have helped put this case together so that we can celebrate and affirm.”

Reporters asked Rosenstein about Trump’s remark that he is from Baltimore and “there are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any.” Rosenstein is originally from Philadelphia but served as a U.S. attorney in Maryland.

“As the attorney general said, we are working here every day to advance the priorities of the Department of Justice and the administration,” said Rosenstein. “I was proud to be here yesterday, proud to be here today. I’ll be proud to work here tomorrow, and we are spending every minute working to advance the interests of the department.”

Trump said in his Times interview that Sessions gave him “zero” heads up about recusing himself from the investigation into potential ties between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Sessions recused himself in March after reports surfaced of his meetings with Russian officials while working with the Trump campaign. In May, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Bob Mueller to serve as a special counsel to handle the investigation. As Sessions and Rosenstein were taking questions, news broke that Mueller’s investigation had expanded to look into Trump’s businesses.

The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia in last year’s election is examining a broad range of transactions involving Trump’s businesses as well as those of his associates, according to a person familiar with the probe.

The president told the New York Times on Wednesday that any digging into matters beyond Russia would be out of bounds. Trump’s businesses have involved Russians for years, making the boundaries fuzzy so Special Counsel Robert Mueller appears to be taking a wide-angle approach to his two-month-old probe.

More from Bloomberg.com: Trump's Honeymoon With China Ends as Dialogue Turns Frosty

FBI investigators and others are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a controversial SoHo development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008, the person said.

Agents are also interested in dealings with the Bank of Cyprus, where Wilbur Ross served as vice chairman before he became commerce secretary, as well as the efforts of Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law and White House aide, to secure financing for some of his family’s real estate properties. The information was provided by someone familiar with the developing inquiry but not authorized to speak publicly.

More from Bloomberg.com: Trump Travel Ban Must Exempt Grandparents After Supreme Court Rebuff

The roots of Mueller’s follow-the-money investigation lie in a wide-ranging money laundering probe launched by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara last year, according to the person.

FBI agents had already been gathering information about Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, according to two people with knowledge of that probe. Prosecutors hadn’t yet begun presenting evidence to a grand jury. Trump fired Bharara in March.

The Bharara probe was consolidated into Mueller’s inquiry, showing that the special counsel is taking an overarching approach to his mandated investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Altogether, the various financial examinations constitute one thread of Mueller’s inquiry, which encompasses computer hacking and the dissemination of stolen campaign and voter information as well as the actions of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

More from Bloomberg.com: France Says ‘We Want Our Money Back’ as Brexit Talks Crawl On

Joshua Stueve, Mueller’s spokesman, declined to comment, as did Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Kushner and a Manafort spokesman.

Spokesmen for the White House, Trump Organization and Ross didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mueller’s team is looking at the Trump SoHo hotel condominium development, which was a licensing deal with Bayrock Capital LLC. In 2010, the former finance director of Bayrock filed a lawsuit claiming the firm structured transactions in fraudulent ways to evade taxes. Bayrock was a key source of capital for Trump development projects, including Trump SoHo.

The 2013 Miss Universe pageant is of interest because a prominent Moscow developer, Aras Agalarov, paid $20 million to bring the beauty spectacle there. About a third of that sum went to Trump in the form of a licensing fee, according to Forbes magazine. At the event, Trump met Herman Gref, chief executive of Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank PJSC. Agalarov’s son Emin helped broker a meeting last year between Trump’s son and a Russian lawyer who was said to have damaging information about Hillary Clinton and her campaign.

Another significant financial transaction involved a Palm Beach, Florida estate that Trump purchased in 2004 for $41 million, after its previous owner lost it in bankruptcy. In March of 2008, after the real estate bubble had begun losing air, Russian fertilizer magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the property for $95 million.

As part of their investigation, Mueller’s team has issued subpoenas to banks and filed requests for bank records to foreign lenders under mutual legal assistance treaties, according to two of the people familiar with the matter.



TRUMP RUSSIA BUSINESS – THERE IS MORE INFORMATION HERE ABOUT TRUMP’S ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIA AND HOW FAR BACK THEY GO AND WHO WAS INVOLVED THAN I WANTED TO READ, BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE TRACKING THIS CLOSELY LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE, HAVE AT IT. IT IS A GOOD ARTICLE. I CAN SEE THAT THE LINKS WITH RUSSIA ARE HUGE, AND THERE COULD EASILY BE BLACKMAIL, BRIBERY, COLLUSION OF VARIOUS KINDS, AND CERTAINLY DELICIOUSLY DIRTY AND LUCRATIVE DEALS THAT SHOULD BE EXAMINED. SUCH IS THE LIFE OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS! THIS COMMENT FROM THE ARTICLE SUMMARIZES MY INTEREST: “OVER THE YEARS, TRUMP’S BUSINESS, PERSONAL, AND POLITICAL TIES TO RUSSIA BECAME SO EXTENSIVE THAT POLITICO NEEDED SEVEN CHARTS TO MAP THEM OUT.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/how-trump-russia-ties-led-to-don-jr-meeting-russian-lawyer.html
July 11, 2017 6:21 am
How Trump’s Russian Business Ties Led to Don Jr. Meeting a Kremlin-Linked Lawyer
By Margaret Hartmann

Image -- Donald Trump, Aras Agalarov, and Emin Agalarov on the red carpet of the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow. Photo: Victor Boyko/Getty Images
The Trumps attend the Trump Soho Launch Party with Alex Sapir and Julius Schwarz of the Bayrock Group on September 19, 2007. Photo: Mark Von Holden/WireImage
Donald Trump, Aras Agalarov, Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo, and Emin Agalarov at the 2013 Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Michael Stewart/WireImage


The revelations about the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya raise a number of questions. Does taking the meeting constitute illegal collusion with a foreign entity? What exactly was discussed? What did then-candidate Trump know?

There’s another question that’s fundamental to understanding how we even got here: why would Trump Jr. accept a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer whose name he didn’t even know? The short-but-stunning answer, according to a Times report on Monday and backed up by emails that Trump Jr. himself tweeted out on Tuesday, is that Trump Jr. agreed to take the meeting after music publicist Rob Goldstone told him Veselnitskaya’s had dirt on Hillary Clinton, which was part of a Russian government effort to help his father’s campaign. The long answer starts three decades ago, and involves Trump’s hopes for a Trump Tower Moscow, a beauty pageant, and a Russian pop star.

Trump's Early Efforts to Do Business in Russia
Donald Trump’s attempts to bring his business to Russia date back to at least 1986, when he was seated next to Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin at a luncheon. “One thing led to another,” Trump wrote in his 1987 book The Art of the Deal, “and now I’m talking about building a large luxury hotel across the street from the Kremlin in partnership with the Soviet government.”

Trump and then-wife Ivana, who speaks Russian, traveled to Moscow to scout out potential sites and “met with a lot of the economic and financial advisers in the Politburo,” according to Trump’s spokesman.

Nothing came of that project, but throughout the ’90s Trump proposed other building projects in Russia, filed at least eight trademarks in the country, and sold many condominiums in Manhattan’s Trump World Tower to “wealthy people getting their money out of what had been the Soviet Union,” as Bloomberg reported. Over the years, Trump’s business, personal, and political ties to Russia became so extensive that Politico needed seven charts to map them out.

Donald Trump Jr. first appears in the timeline of Trump’s Russia ties in 2006, when he traveled to Moscow with his sister Ivanka to meet with potential business partners. They were shown around by Felix Sater, a Russian-American businessman with mob ties who worked with the Trump Organization for many years, though Trump has testified that he barely knew him.

Sater was a partner in Bayrock Group, a Trump Tower tenant founded by former Soviet official Tevfik Arif. Bayrock was a key partner for Trump in the 2000s, working with him on several real estate development projects, including Trump SoHo, and scouting out deals in Russia and elsewhere.

In June 2008, Trump Jr. told investors in Moscow that the Trump Organization wanted to build housing and hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sochi, and license the Trump name to other developers. At a real estate conference in New York several months later, Trump Jr. said he had made about half a dozen trips to Russia in the past 18 months. He said it “really is a scary place”:

It is definitely not an issue of being able to find a deal – but an issue of ‘Will I ever see my money back out of that deal or can I actually trust the person I am doing the deal with?’ As much as we want to take our business over there, Russia is just a different world. Though the legal structure is in place for what we have today, and even 99 percent is covered, that 1 percent not covered could be 100 percent covered over there because it is a question of who knows who, whose brother is paying off who, etc.

However, Trump Jr. added: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

Trump Brings Miss Universe to Moscow
In June 2013, Trump announced that the next Miss Universe beauty pageant, which he owned, would be held in Moscow. The move stemmed from Miss Universe 2012’s appearance in Russian pop star Emin Agalarov’s music video “Amor.” Miss Universe representatives then visited Moscow, and introduced Trump to Emin and his father Aras Agalarov, a billionaire Russian real estate developer. Aras has been called the “Donald Trump of Russia,” as he has a similarly ostentatious style and likes to put his name on buildings.

In an interview with Forbes shortly after the November 9, 2013 pageant, the Agalarovs explained that they were eager to bring the pageant to Moscow to raise the profile of Crocus City Hall, a concert hall they had opened four years earlier. They said it cost them $20 million to host the pageant, and about a third of that was the licensing fees paid to Trump.

Trump said he wanted to take the pageant to Russia because “Moscow right now in the world is a very, very important place,” and noted “one of the great families in Russia is our partner in this endeavor.” Trump was likely eager to develop relationships that could help him achieve his longtime goal of expanding his business in Russia. As Politico notes, Trump seemed particularly excited about potentially meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?
11:17 PM - 18 Jun 2013
71,227 71,227 Retweets 55,009 55,009 likes

Putin didn’t show up to the pageant, and according to Aras Agalarov, he canceled a meeting with Trump at the last minute, though he sent him a note and a decorative box as a gift. (Trump has publicly contradicted himself on whether he ever met Putin prior to last week’s G20 summit.) He did manage to strike up a friendship with Aras Agalarov, who has won several contracts from the Kremlin and received Russia’s Order of Honor from Putin in 2013.

After returning to New York, Trump bragged to Real Estate Weekly that “The Russian market is attracted to me,” and, “I have a great relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were in the room.” He also gave the Agalarovs a special thank you on Twitter:

11 Nov 13
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
@AgalarovAras I had a great weekend with you and your family. You have done a FANTASTIC job. TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next. EMIN was WOW!
Follow
emin-music ✔ @eminofficial
@realDonaldTrump Mr. Trump thank you for brining #missuniverse to us we had an awesome time TRUMP tower Moscow - lets make it happen !
5:37 AM - 12 Nov 2013
713 713 Retweets 173 173 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy
Later that month Emin released his video for “In Another Life,” in which he falls asleep during a board room meeting, dreams about Miss Universe contestants frolicking in his apartment, then wakes up to an angry Donald Trump. He delivers his signature line at the time: “You’re fired.”

The Trumps' Friendship With the Agalarovs

The Trumps continued their relationship with the Agalarovs long after the pageant. In March Emin told Forbes that he performed for Trump at one of his golf courses and was in his New York office shortly before he launched his campaign. After Trump won the presidential election, Emin congratulated him on Instagram and posted a video he sent him in 2014 for his 35th birthday.

eminofficial Verified Crocus Group

Emin said Trump sent him and his father handwritten notes thanking them for their congratulatory messages, and claimed he’d exchanged messages with Trump Jr. in January.

He also said they planned to build a Trump Tower right next to an Agalarov Tower in Moscow, and had picked out the land and signed a letter of intent with the team in New York. But the campaign thwarted Trump’s longtime dream. “He ran for president, so we dropped the idea,” Agalarov said. “But if he hadn’t run we would probably be in the construction phase today.”

<b>Rob Goldstone

The last piece in the puzzle is Rob Goldstone, who’s confirmed that he set up the meeting between Trump and attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya. He is a former British tabloid reporter who says he’s worked with Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Cyndi Lauper, and James Taylor.

He currently represents Emin Agalarov, and has freqently traveled between Russia and the U.S. According to the Guardian, his Instagram shows he made at least 19 visits to Russia since the spring of 2013, and he once described Moscow as his second home. His posts show he was in Moscow ten days before the Trump Tower meeting.

9 Jul
Jon Swaine ✔ @jonswaine
Rob Goldstone, the Donald Trump Jr. acquaintance who brokered the meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, the day after the 2016 US election: pic.twitter.com/20bMLUvDiH
Follow
Jon Swaine ✔ @jonswaine

Trump Jr. associate Rob Goldstone was in Moscow less than 2 weeks before the June 9 meeting at Trump Tower, then went back for most of July: pic.twitter.com/GxLRiDwK9I
8:27 PM - 9 Jul 2017


“I reached out to Donald Trump Jr. and he agreed to squeeze us into a very tight meeting schedule,” Goldstone said in a statement. “At the meeting, the Russian attorney presented a few very general remarks regarding campaign funding and then quickly turned the topic to that of the Magnitsky Act and the banned U.S. adoption of Russian children — at which point the meeting was halted by Don Jr. and we left. Nothing came of that meeting and there was no follow up between the parties.”

Image -- Emin Agalarov, Rob Goldstone, and Sheila Agalarova attend a New Year’s Eve party in Miami Beach, Florida on December 31, 2014. Photo: Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for Irina Agalarov

Veselnitskaya’s clients include several Russian state-owned businesses and the son of a senior government official. She has been lobbying against the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which the U.S. passed to punish those suspected of being involved in the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered a tax-fraud scheme that implicated several Putin allies. Russia retaliated by barring Americans from adopting Russian children.

She said in a statement that “nothing at all about the presidential campaign” was discussed during the Trump Tower meeting, and she has “never acted on behalf of the Russian government,” or discussed the issues she raised “with any representative of the Russian government.”

It’s a colorful cast of characters, but apparently they didn’t make much of an impression on Trump Jr. In March he told the Times that he never participated in any campaign-related meetings with Russian nationals.

“Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did,” he said. “But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”



TRUMP MADE AN OPEN THREAT TO MUELLER ON WHAT HE IS “ALLOWED” TO DO. THIS MAY OR NOT BE LEGAL, BUT IT IS DESPICABLE BULLYING.

http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/nyt-trump-warns-mueller-don-t-delve-in-finances-unrelated-to-russia-1003834947856
HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS 7/19/17
NYT: Trump warns Mueller don't delve in finances unrelated to...
In a wide ranging interview with the New York Times, Trump also said he wouldn't have appointed Jeff Sessions to AG if he was going to recuse himself. Duration: 5:54


PAR FOR THE COURSE

http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/james-clapper-trump-is-making-russia-great-again-1003822147975
HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS 7/19/17
James Clapper: Trump is making Russia great again
Fmr. DNI James Clapper called the Donald Trump Jr meeting "classic, textbook Soviet and now Russian trade-craft." Duration: 11:45