March 25, 2019

The biggest lesson from the Mueller probe? It's about character. John Podesta

Beyond the president’s well-practiced braggadocio, what have we actually learned from Robert S. Mueller III’s 674-day investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the president’s conduct and approach to national security once in office?

Well, we know that Russia’s campaign to help elect Donald Trump was a multimillion-dollar sophisticated campaign directed by the Kremlin and carried out by, among others, senior members of Russian military intelligence. Mueller indicted 26 Russian nationals and three Russian entities in that effort.We know that the Trump campaign and transition team were in contact with Russia-linked operatives more than 100 times and had at least 28 meetings.

We know that in July 2016, candidate Trump called on the Russians to continue to break U.S. law and, as uncovered by Mueller, we now know that they promptly did. Notwithstanding those facts, Mueller concluded that he could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Trump campaign and the Russians engaged in a criminal conspiracy. The public must await the release of the full report to understand Mueller’s reasoning on why the many contacts and the encouragement still fell short of criminal conspiracy.

Still, the biggest immediate lesson people can take away from this investigation is about the character of the two protagonists. Mueller conducted his service to the American public with the highest level of nonpartisan professionalism, integrity, respect for the rule of law and concern for our country’s national security. And then there is Trump. The American people would do well to remember the difference if Trump’s name is on the ballot in 2020.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/25/biggest-lesson-mueller-probe-its-about-character/?utm_term=.5fc427b67377

March 25, 2019

Gary Kasparov on why proving collusion with Russia is hard.

https://twitter.com/kasparov63/status/1109957146249187328?s=21

The private-state nature of corrupt criminal dictatorships like Putin's Russia confounds law enforcement the way hybrid war confounds traditional military response.

Putin uses his oligarchs as emissaries to corrupt, cultivate, and compromise foreign business people and politicians. But they aren't officially state actors. It's a mafia using a nation for cover.

So Trump's campaign manager sharing data with a Ukrainian loyal to the Kremlin or a billionaire crony of Putin isn't "conspiring with Russia" only in the most technical, least accurate sense.

This pattern has repeated all over. Loans to Western politicians & parties with Russian backing, millions in donations from private citizens. Technically very little of it is "Russia," but it's always Putin.

Defending will require transparency, unity, and a commitment to strengthening the institutions Putin exploits so easily. It will also require fighting back on terms a mafia responds to.

As with Trump's power grabs post-election, there is a lot of work to do so that the letter of the law matches the spirit of the law. If winning an election after asking for and receiving the aid of a hostile foreign power isn't illegal, it sure as hell should be.

Campaign finance reform, full financial disclosure, eliminating potential conflicts of interest. Running for office or running a country for personal gain must be proscribed if real democracy is to survive.

Putin and his imitators are good at finding the gray areas of public/private, legal/illegal, media/propaganda, and they exploit every gap. Legal systems & news orgs in the free world are bound by strict rules & traditions of fair play.

*************************************

There was an op ed in the NYT last year by exFBI agent Clint Watts on this subject. He wrote that Russia has decades of experience using influence campaigns and they always build in plausible deniability. They would never use an intelligence agent or state actor to approach a high profile person like Trump but businessmen, lawyers etc. This way if they’re discovered , it’s not the “Russian state “ that can be accused of doing the influencing.

March 24, 2019

Trump is still a corrupt, shit tier human being and nothing will change that.

Still a lot of investigating to do. Even without the Russia stuff there are plenty of reasons that prove that Trump is the worst President in my lifetime and shouldn't hold the office.

March 24, 2019

Barr was in a rush to shape public view of this report

https://twitter.com/AriMelber/status/1109914588701777920


Barr’s rush to use this short letter to shape public views of what Mueller found — *without* releasing *what Mueller found* — sheds more light on his unusual “this weekend” timeline

March 22, 2019

Sen Blumenthal said high probability of additional indictments of Trump's family

maybe not through the DOJ but in other districts. He's on Ari Melber right now.

March 22, 2019

Barr sent a letter to Congressional leaders saying he may be able to advise them of conclusions

Barr notified congressional leaders in a letter that said he is "reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel's principle conclusions as soon as this weekend."


https://twitter.com/nprpolitics/status/1109201034101080064



Barr also says he intends to consult with Mueller and with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "to determine what other information from the report can be released to Congress and the public consistent with the law."

March 22, 2019

Peter Carr of the Special Counsel says they haven't provided any guidance on timing of report

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1109144574533029888


Just to spell this out, the spokesman for the special counsel's office says they haven't provided any guidance on the timing of their report. Either someone has gotten a shop that doesn't leak to leak, or it's coming from other sources with undisclosed motivations.

March 20, 2019

Damn, Pete Buttigieg is impressive

He was just being grilled on Morning Joe and had well thought out policies and explained the pathways he'd use to get those policies passed. I didn't pay that much attention to him at first but the more I listen to him the more I like him.

March 14, 2019

Stacey Abrams met with Joe Biden today

https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/1106299015811993608






Stacey Abrams met with Joe Biden today; she did not respond to questions about the 2020 presidential race or her meeting with Biden - @alivitali

March 13, 2019

The Ethiopian pilots received additional training after Indonesian crash

in how to handle the plane as mandated by Boeing for all pilots.


In remarks to local media, Tewolde also revealed that pilots received additional training from Boeing to fly the 737 Max after an Indonesian domestic Lion Air flight crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff last year.

“After the Lion Air crash, questions were raised, so Boeing sent further instructions that it said pilots should know,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Those relate to the specific behavior of this specific type of aircraft. As a result, training was given by Boeing, and our pilots have taken it and put it into our manuals.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/canada-grounds-boeing-737-max-8-leaving-us-as-last-major-user-of-plane/2019/03/13/25ac2414-459d-11e9-90f0-0ccfeec87a61_story.html?utm_term=.7446b5cb607d