Mueller team investigating pre-election meeting between Flynn and ‘Putin’s favorite congressman’

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/mueller-team-investigating-pre-election-meeting-between-flynn-and-putins-favorite-congressman-report/

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators is looking into a pre-election meeting that took place in 2016 between then-Trump campaign adviser Michael Flynn and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who has often been described as “Putin’s favorite congressman.”

NBC News is reporting that “the meeting allegedly took place in Washington the evening of September 20” last year and “was arranged by his lobbying firm, the Flynn Intel Group.”

NBC News’ report does not have any information about the nature of the meeting, although it says that it is reviewing emails sent from Flynn’s firm to Rohrabacher’s staff thanking them for arranging the meeting.

Rohrabacher, a California Republican who has become notorious for his efforts to advance Russian interests as a member of the United States Congress, recently had his travel privileges restricted over fears that he has been compromised by Russian intelligence officials.

Daniel Dale? Verified account
@ddale8

Roy Moore is fundraising off of a story alleging he sexually abused a girl.



https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/928751289365876736

Political panic is brewing in the Republican Party after the Democratic sweeps on Tuesday
Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet



CNN’s Cillizza, who used to write the Washington Post’s Fix column handicapping candidates, noted Gillespie’s Trump-like messaging completely failed in the party’s wealthier northern Virginia suburbs, which are like many GOP strongholds across America. David Wasserman, the U.S. House editor for the Cook Political Report, noted that Trump’s messaging also failed in Richmond and the suburbs around Hampton Roads, which are conservative and home to nearby military bases. As a result, six of 10 Virginians told exit pollsters they strongly disapproved of the job Trump is doing—that is, his style, his substance and his accomplishments.

“There’s simply no way to explain the demolition of Gillespie in the suburbs and exurbs other than a strong distaste for Trump among those voters,” Cillizza said. “And, for all of the caveats and the don’t-read-too-much-into-one-race-ism by the ‘smart’ political reporters, the simple fact is that every single Republican politician in the halls of Congress will be paying very close attention to what happened in Virginia Tuesday night and wondering what it all means for them.” He continued:

“What it means—at least as of today—is this: Trump remains a potent and powerful force in Republican primaries. But, he is a potentially toxic taint with the broader general electorate. Which puts Republicans—especially those facing potentially serious primary challenges or who sit in swing districts in the general election—in a no-win position. Run away from Trump and risk losing your primary fight. Run with Trump and risk losing the general election. Badly.”

This no-win frame—that standing with Trump will be an electoral death knell in next November’s federal elections—was also seen in results outside Virginia. In New Jersey, where voters were tired of the antics of another GOP bully, outgoing Gov. Chris Christie, Democrats won a complete lock on legislative and executive branch power. In Maine, where another red belligerent is governor, voters said no to dismantling Obamacare and voted to expand Maine’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/political-panic-is-brewing-in-the-republican-party-after-the-democratic-sweeps-on-tuesday/

President Donald Trump believes the Church of Scientology should have its tax exemption revoked, a longtime family aide and current top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development told an actress and producer in May.

In an unsolicited Twitter message, Lynne Patton, who has worked for the Trump family since 2009, told actress Leah Remini of Trump’s position and said she would interface with the IRS directly to seek more information in an effort to initiate revocation. Remini sent HuffPost copies of Patton’s messages and has declined to comment further.

It’s not clear if Patton ever communicated with the IRS. But if Trump did express an opinion on the church and Patton did contact the IRS about it, as her message suggests, that would be a highly inappropriate level of interference with the IRS by the administration, one expert said.

“For the White House or any administration official to try and influence who the IRS targets, for whatever reason, is wrong and could result in a violation of the law,” said Larry Noble, the former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission who is now a senior director of ethics and general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center. “The IRS must make these decisions independently without any influence by the White House or administration officials.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-scientology-tax-exemption_us_5a04dd35e4b05673aa584cab

“Did I want to do it myself? Did I want to have a band? Did I just want to do songwriting, not even get onstage?” Reed remembered asking himself to Rolling Stone in 1989. “I’m the last person in the world I’d have thought should be on a stage. Some people really like having a spotlight on them. I don’t.”

But in 1971, he signed a record contract with RCA and released his self-titled solo debut the following year. Filled with unreleased Velvets material, Lou Reed flopped – although the LP got some positive press (pretty much the story of Reed’s career so far). But Bowie liked it, as did his Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson, and the pair approached their hero with a plan to collaborate. They were both on the same label anyway, and Bowie was becoming a pop phenomenon with the June 1972 release of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

“I was petrified that he said yes, he would like to sort of work with me in a producer capacity,” Bowie told American Masters, “because I had so many ideas and I felt so intimidated by my knowledge of the work that he had already done. And, even though there was only that [little] time between us, it seemed like Lou had this great legacy of work, which indeed he did have. … But he just gave the whole project over to me and I really hoped I wouldn’t let him down.”

Bowie and Ronson became the project’s co-producers, overseeing the sessions that took place at London’s Trident Studios, where Bowie had made his last four LPs, in August 1972. The duo orchestrated the sound of what would become Transformer, with Ronson on lead guitar, piano and recorder (in addition the string arrangement for “Perfect Day”) and Bowie on keyboards, backing vocals and acoustic guitar. They brought in expert session man Herbie Flowers (bass, tuba), Beatles associate Klaus Voorman (bass), future Rutle John Halsey (drums) and a few others, including female vocal trio the Thunder Thighs.



http://ultimateclassicrock.com/lou-reed-transformer/

Trump Source Explains Why GOP Losses Not Referendum on President
by KRISTEN WELKER and ADAM EDELMAN

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-source-explains-why-gop-losses-not-referendum-president-n819071?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_lw

WASHINGTON — The White House says it's not sweating after a string of losses by Republican candidates across the U.S.

The Democratic victories in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday were "unsurprising," a person familiar with President Donald Trump's political operation said Wednesday.

The person said that "2018 is a long ways away," when asked about the White House's level of fear ahead of next year's midterm elections.

The person familiar with the president's political operation acknowledged that Washington dysfunction played a role in the GOP losses, noting that there is frustration, particularly among pivotal suburban voters, with the "lack of action in Congress."

Paul Buckmaster, a Grammy-winning arranger and artist who worked with Elton John and the Rolling Stones, has died. He was 71.

He started his musical career as a cellist, but soon found work as an in-demand arranger after he worked on David Bowie's "Space Oddity." Since that 1969 session, Buckmaster has collaborated on records by Miles Davis, the Grateful Dead, Heart, Mott the Hoople, Harry Nilsson and many others over the past four and a half decades.

Buckmaster is probably best known for his orchestral arrangements on John's early albums – including Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water – and for his work on the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers (he arranged and conducted the orchestra on Moonlight Mile and Sway). His arrangements can be heard on records like Nilsson's "Without You," Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy.

He also played on, as well as composed, many of the records he helped arranged, and worked with Bowie on The Man Who Fell to Earth score and Nilsson's Son of Dracula soundtrack.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-buckmaster-dead/