It was Jason Chaffetz of Utah, who gladly no longer serves in Congress. But sadly works for Fox now.

Mueller's office responds to Flynn's sentencing memo where he was asking for no prison term, and made it pretty clear when Flynn was lying and how someone with his experience should have ever met the FBI without a lawyer present, or known not to lie to the FBI at all:


Special counsel Robert Mueller's team: FBI interview did not lead Michael Flynn to 'make false statements' - ABC News

Well add another job to Mike Mulvaney's Trump resume-Acting Chief of Staff:


I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....

This after Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Mark Meadows, and almost any Republican out there turned him down.

How will he have time to get his Learned League answers in?

Staffers

It seems to me that this has potential to be big (or huuuuuuuuuuge) news

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/h...xas-judge.html

You shop around enough, eventually someone offers you a good deal.

Maybe, but the someone at the WH understands the shit show this would lead to both in terms of the health care system and the political future of the GOP.

Oh great. Another 2 years of this at least. Surprised this didn't happen before in the past 2 years.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/polit...uit/index.html

To be fair, it's only ruled unconstitutional because the administration took away the provisions that protect people, and stopped enforcing the individual mandate.

Kind of hard to drive a car when you take the air out of the tires and put a hole in the gas tank.

Zinke is gone under the cloud of another scandal.

Only the very best people.

Very glad to see this. He rivaled Scott Pruitt in corruption, but will have surpassed him in terms of legacy-his/Trump's policies towards things like land use is beyond frightening.

Yeah the reporting on this is not very good.

NY Times saying Mick Mulvaney openly lobbied for the job and used this as his convincer-only person leading an agency who hasn't been mired in scandal. Which is just a pathetic way to lobby for a job.

I'm so old I remember when the idea of this was a ridiculous conspiracy theory. How long until Giuliani says working with Wikileaks and the GRU isn't a crime?

dola

The biggest religious schism in centuries just happened. The Russian Orthodox Church has split from global orthodoxy after Ukraine's split from the Russian patriarch.

Didn't that happen in October? I'm not I understand all the technical distinctions, but it does seem like tensions are rising again in Eastern Ukraine. The world already showed it's colors when the Crimea annexation happened, so I'm more surprised Russia hadn't just kept pushing earlier.

Not expecting anything from "free" media, just kind of lamenting what has happened here. You see long-time, reputable, subscription newspapers go the free media route based on ad clicks. That's what I'm sad about. And most people get their news from such sites these days, instead of really thinking about their news sources.

A good reason Michael Flynn deserves some jail time-his role in lobbying for Turkey-including getting enemies of the Turkish State extradited back to Turkey:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.d54eb9b0e7bb


kind of being forgotten in all of his plea deals with Mueller

A lot of the reputable subscription newspapers have gone pay to read though - New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, LA Times, etc.

Holy shit! This place is still going? :lol:

Another day of big losses in the market. Down for the year now.

Also we're borrowing money from China to pay farmers that got screwed over by the trade war with China.

Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. I have authorized Secretary Perdue to implement the 2nd round of Market Facilitation Payments. Our economy is stronger than ever–we stand with our Farmers!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2018

Trump's good for business around here )

I'd guess so. Hopefully everyone is living the dream in Trumptopia!

I forget this all the time. My work (university) has subscriptions to all of the major newspapers that automatically pass IPs in our range, so pretty much any article I want to read, I'm just silently passed through to read it. It's only when I'm at home that I go, "Oh, that's not free?"

So something happened with the Flynn sentencing today-whole lot of legal stuff that I don't know much about, but the judge ordered some documents released, mostly unredacted as the judge feels the public deserves to know what's in them.



This got the legal minds on twitter in an uproar, mostly against Flynn and his lawyers, and many think the judge may go above Mueller's recommendations tomorrow and give Flynn more jail time than expected. Here's one guy's thoughts:


Mike Flynn Steps in It: In a Bid to Feed the Frothy Right, He Leads to Release of Damning New Details Showing He Lied to Protect Trump | emptywheel

I don't think we're going to end our long standing tradition of rich, powerful men being immune from going to prison.

Just the kind of advice you expect from a guy that couldn't turn a profit with a casino.

The stock market is on pace for the worst December since 1931, during the Great Depression.

The guy that shows up with a fire hose to extinguish the blaze he started then demands a heroes reception.

He doesn't need to demand it. Farmers are singing his praises for coming through on his promises. And when somebody points out that it's a problem he started, they are labeled unpatriotic. Russia good, China bad.

So we didn't even talk about this yesterday-the Senate Intelligence Committee did their job and reported in a bipartisan way on Russian inflence in the 2016 election and after-targeting Mueller. Shouldn't really be a surprise at what they found:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/techn...=.277d4eb24336


https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.ca20107a9794

Flynn sentencing around 11 am today

Funny thing that it dovetails with Trump's approach all along. Hmmmm?

Trump Admin signals its backing down on its shutdowm threat and Sarah Sanders says they have found other ways to fund the wall. I'm sure all of which are legal and not ethics violations.

New York AG announces That Trump has agreed to shut down its charity:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1f5dcbf50e02

And as Flynn is getting sentenced, the White House releases its Christmas portrait.

Flynn admits to judge that he knew lying to the FBI was a crime and he does not want to challenge the means by which the FBI questioned him. Flynn's attorney forced to do so as well.

Judge asks Mueller's lawyers if Flynn could have been sentenced under the indictment unsealed yesterday against Flynn's business partners-they say yes-looks like the judge is not happy with either side here

Trump Admin moving to ban bump stocks-boy he's really trying to take away coverage of the Flynn sentencing

"Arguably, you sold your country out," Sullivan said. "The court's going to consider all that. I cannot assure you that if you proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration."

He went on:

"I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense."

Judge really going after Flynn hard, arguably "you sold out your country"

Must be destroyed or surrendered to the government?

Well, there's another lawsuit Trump will lose.

And I'm sure the NRA will be out with their jackbooted government thugs rhetoric soon.

Judge asks Mueller's team if there was any other laws like the Logan Act he could have been charged with and be charged with treason for interfering with Obama's sanctions against Russia-Mueller's team didn't want to go there...and now they are in recess until 12:30 at Flynn's lawyers request. Good I can go eat lunch now

Don't know-I didn't get distracted by the Flynn sentencing to see :)

The DJT Foundation, unlike most foundations, never paid fees, rent, salaries or any expenses. 100% of money goes to wonderful charities!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2016

I think someone here is lobbying for a higher job...

Gave him a stern lecture and then sent him home. Justice served!

Since the day Trump began slapping tariffs on products (January 22nd), the Dow Jones has dropped over 2,600 points (10%). The S&P 500 is also down 10% and the Russell 2000 (small caps) is down 14% since that day.

"Trade wars are good and easy to win."

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) December 18, 2018

Just want to add to this that no one on the right demanding these farmers take drug tests to receive their welfare checks. Odd.

And don't even get me started on Bitcoin!

A little bit of info came out on the mystery subpoena case last week-no names yet-but its a company owned by a country. Court dismissed "company A's" attempt to quash the subpoena, and held them in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena-they have a daily fine for each day they don't.

Thought about dabbling this time last year but never did. Are you a hodler?

So CNN has given Trump another reason to hate them. Chris Cuomo on his show tonight was talking about a letter of intent to move forward on the Moscow Trump Tower. People have known about this document since last year I think. The only problem was that it wasn't signed by anybody. Not sure how he got his hands on it, but tonight Cuomo has a copy of the letter of intent signed by Donald Trump:


Chris Cuomo Shows Signed Intent Letter for Trump Tower Russia

No no no.

I still don't understand what value Bitcoin has outside of a speculative investment, so I'll be having none of that, thank you.

Bitcoin has been split a zillion times now. It seems like the decentralized wet dream just results in constant splits. Disagreement arises and the group that loses starts their own Bitcoin. I never stuck a penny in Bitcoin. I've done well on my XRP and XLM investments. Now, if I would've stopped there...... but I invested in a bunch of shit coins in the middle of the bull run. I've since converted them all to XRP and XLM. XRP has some interesting use case in moving money around (and saving banks money in the process). XLM is similar to XRP and has done some work with IBM.

I thought the platforms might be worthwhile but they seem to only be platforms for others to create their own shit coins.

BitCoin is the worst, fuck that noise. Environment in the shitter? Let's double down and use all the electricity to make a fake currency that only criminals use. Good job, humanity.

This is also how I understand Bitcoin, which is probably overly simplistic. I know I could pay my Dish Network bill with it if I wanted, or play poker with it, but other than that I don't know what use there is for it.

Meanwhile..


Yesterday the WH gave it's first 'daily' press briefing in 3 weeks, and it lasted all of 15 minutes, with next to nothing outside of just basic statements and generic answers.

SC and NH are looking to curtail or cancel their GOP presidential primaries. Trump can't lose a primary if their aren't any primaries!

Trump apparently is leaving Syria and this afternoon decided that Rusal, a Russian aluminum company will no longer be subject to sanctions.

Somebody's scared that Daddy Putin is going to reveal everything.

My memory does not go back before Reagan, but I can't think of one of the two major parties being more beholden to its leader than the current GOP is to Trump. I mean, as a party, you want to support your President. But the idea of canceling your primaries just to avoid any chance of a challenge to him? Not even Reagan or Obama got that kind of treatment.

dola:

And put me in the camp of parties are private actors and can do what they want. There is nothing "illegal" or "undemocratic" about choosing to pick a nominee through something other than voting. I'm more interested in it as a symbol of how top-down the GOP has become in the age of Trump.

Bitcoin is good for funding my sportsbook and getting money out because this country won't let me bet on a football game.

Looks like we are getting out of Syria:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/u...gtype=Homepage

Though saying "We have defeated ISIS in Syria" seems like something that would bite someone in the ass.

I found someone who is supportive of the decision to retreat from #Syria https://t.co/SlNs9hrXLG

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 19, 2018

GoFundMe Page For Donald Trump’s Border Wall Raises More Than $900K in 3 Days

UPDATE: $1,374,544 raised as of this post.

I can assume that the people funding the wall are Mexicans like Trump promised right?

I mean, if his supporters want to give money to build it, have at it. HOpefully some of them are rich and can kick in a sizable chunk. Big gap between $5B and $1.37M.

I really try to keep the outrage and the hyperbole with Trump to a minimum, but between leaving Canada completely out to dry while talking about coming to an agreement over the Huawei affair (ironically talking about using it to ease the Chinese sanctions while leaving the Canadian ones in place) and pulling out of Syria against pretty much everyone's advice allowing Russia and Iran to fill the power void (and Turkey to slaughter the Kurds most likely) I have no idea who the hell our allies are any more. Feels like the US has gone from the world benevolent policeman to a crooked cop willing to change direction daily based on the direction of a rich mafia boss.

Technology behind it could be incredibly usefull though once you figure out a way to curb the energy demands.

Actually, further digging shows that the SC GOP cancelled its primary for W. Bush's re-election. So this may be more of a case of normal things happening around Trump, but because he's Trump, they become newsworthy.

But circumstances matter. In 2004 there was no hint of a credible primary opponent to W. In 2020 there will almost certainly be a decent name running against Trump. I would still expect Trump to win, but I'd be shocked if there isn't a credible challenge.

I’m so embarrassed to live in a country where after the last two years we have had it’s a cinch Trump is going to win the primary.

Lindsey's using every tool he has, even TWEETING!

Serious question, as I have not dug into the options here. What CAN Congress do about this one that's reasonable and doesn't set a hideous precedent? I mean, I don't want them declaring war or using the 25th amendment over this. Are there other options better than putting public pressure on Trump?

I think that a future President will be able to undo a lot of the damage that Trump caused.

What I don't think that any President will be able to do is convince the rest of the world that we won't elect another Trump to re-do all the damage. Even now, 45% of the country is happy he's President and hopes to re-elect him.

I am supportive of us getting out of Syria and don't think anyone here would disagree. I don't think Trump should have done it unilaterally (seemingly surprising everyone) but the ultimate end goal is good.

Its a no win situation there.

• Assad is still in power (part of that blame goes to Obama)
• ISIL is pretty much defeated although their tentacles remain (and Obama gets some credit and also some blame, I'll give most of the credit to Obama for defeating ISIL from Iraq)
• Syria has been in Russia's sphere of influence for a while and has Russian support (the opportunity to topple Assad is long gone) and don't see it as a big con that Russia continues their influence

With that said, what would you have the US do? It seems leaving is better than another endless low-intensity conflict that we have in Afghanistan.

My best guess is Trump will back off from a complete withdrawal eventually after consulting with allies - Jordan, Israel, and SA.

Every single person that Trump listened told him not to withdraw(including Mattis), all of the GOP has come out against it, all our allies have come out against it, most of these people have said it's worse than Obama's withdrawal from Iraq. Unilateral is an understatement. Has anyone said it's a good idea other than Russia?

So no, I don't agree. Assuming this goes forward, I can't any longer say this buffoon is all bark and no bite.

So what do you think is a realistic end game here?

Just shut it already Rubio. He's gone along for the ride at every single turn.

Show me something with action first other than just the wasteful gum flapping.

You seriously believe this was the case pre-2016? I will even leave '08-'16 Obama out of it due to the liberal slant of the board (even though without question it wasn't a benevolent foreign policy) So I will just ask this... W. Bush was leading the benevolent policing of the world? Oh my.

Define benevolent: well meaning and kindly, serving a charitable rather than a profit-making purpose.

So now he's not going to sign the budget Gap hey

Maybe benevolent wasn't at all the right word, but I'll stand by the intent. Enabling Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey to murder children and China to arrest Canadian citizens over a request that came from the US State Department in the first place is a startling departure from previous US policy.

Even under W, and I hold the second Iraq war in about as much disdain as I possibly could.

I don't know if there is one immediately apparent, but keeping a relatively small number of US boots on the ground and the threat of US air strikes is a pretty small price to pay for not allowing children and families to be gassed in their homes or a minority group that has been allies of the US for the last 20 years to be slaughtered in a third country by a country with history of genocide.

That's even before considering the message this sends to the rest of the world, firstly that Russia now pretty much owns US foreign policy and secondly that if you run into any issues, look to Russia and China before us because unless it's in our president's interest we couldn't give two flying fucks.

On the House floor, leaders scrambling to see if they can pass $5 billion in wall funding as Republicans say they want President Trump to tweet before they say “yes.”

“That’s what the fuck serving in Congress has come to,” one GOP member of Congress tells me.

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) December 20, 2018

I'll admit it's difficult. With any other President they could threaten to withhold X,Y, or Z unless the policy was reviewed and/or changed, but I'm not sure there's anything Trump would give a damn about losing or not getting passed. I expect the only things with teeth involve investigations, and the GOP loses too if Trump goes down in flames.

So, yeah, it's hard, but threatening to tweet is about the least useful option.

dola

Shutting down the government and running off to play golf at Mar-a-Lago is the perfect visual for this GOP.

edit: But I'm sure he'll give in tomorrow. Everybody now knows he's all bark and no bite.

Jim Mattis retiring in February.

Resigns the day after the Syria decision. Just add Mattis as Exhibit 1,253,021,186,151 to the list of examples on how this is a one-man show in the White House that nobody can control. And one where the Republican party is wholly responsible for as they have been spineless for the 2 years where they had control and could have reigned this in a bit.

His resignation letter:

Katherine Faulders on Twitter: "! This line of Mattis resignation letter (h/t @Elizabeth_McLau): “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.�… https://t.co/uA6cpfvhxA"

The Mattis letter is forceful. It's not a good day for the country.

Trump tweeting something nasty about Mattis in 3,2,1...

Markets took another bath today. Don't look at your retirement accounts if you want a nice holiday.

Yeah, that thing reads as "I believe in honor, loyalty, respect, wisdom, courage, etc. You don't, and you deserve someone like you in this position."

I'm thinking it'll be tomorrow, unless he watches TV tonight. He won't understand how harsh Mattis's letter is until the talking heads say it.

As someone ignorant to politics, I don't get it. He's one man. If no one supports him how can he get anything done? I know he's the president and he has certain powers, but hell man, no one help the guy out, everyone stand up to him and let's move on.

Not that simple?

No, because he has the rabid, undying support of (pick a number between 20 and 40) percent of the electorate, and people are terrified that standing against him means they don't get those votes for the next 20 years. Combine that with nearly all politicians being willing to do pretty much whatever it takes to get elected again, I don't think it's a hard equation to figure out.