RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN 2016 US ELECTION & SPIN-OFF INVESTIGATIONS

[Maggot]

Hats off to Levin.

I see that Rosenberg and Mueller are acting assistant Attorney General because Sessions recused himself from any investigation involving Russian collusion in the 2016 election but did not recuse himself from any other investigation NOT involving collusion in the election. Neither Rosenberg or Mueller have the authority to act as the attorney general in any other aspect of anything that Sessions recused himself for. A sticky issue that will come up.

[HairOfTheDog]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is featured on the cover of TIME magazine.

In the TIME interview, he defends his decision to recuse himself from the Russia Interference Investigation. To me, that decision is a "well, duh". It requires no explanation or defending to anyone who's been following the story, with the exception of President Trump.



Senator Sessions was Trump's first political endorser. He campaigned for Trump and denied meeting with Russian officials during that time (which was proven to be false, therefore essentially forcing him to recuse himself due to obvious conflicts of interest).

President Trump, who is looking for personal loyalty above factual objectivity from the Justice Department, has been disparaging Sessions ever since his recusal. Sessions is a career politician, however, and doesn't seem to be one of the many Trump-appointees who is willing to sigh with relief and ride off into the sunset to appease the Commander-N-Chief. He's playing the player and has a better public hand, in my opinion.

Today, Attorney General Sessions announced his decision to deny the request from Trump and company to appoint an independent investigator to investigate the FBI's participation in the existing independent investigation led by Robert Mueller. Sessions instead affirmed his decision that an internal department investigation, along with an investigation by the Inspector General, is appropriate and sufficient.

Stay tuned.

[BigMark]

* loony tuned

[HairOfTheDog]

* loony tuned

Yep, that's about it.

Will Trump blow his stack and try to sack Sessions again?



I bet so, but Sessions is a seasoned and sneaky pro -- it looks to me like he's playing both offense and defense to protect his AG position.

[BigMark]

It must be very disheartening to see him do so good for the country when his cabinet is such a mess.

[HairOfTheDog]

Disheartening to whom? I would like to see both the President and his appointed cabinet do good for the country myself.

In any case, President Trump personally chose his cabinet -- "all the best people" he said.

If his cabinet is a mess, that's a direct reflection on the President himself -- same as with any other President.

[BigMark]

Or a reflection that the people chosen must perform, unlike the cronyism that prevented underperformers from being dismissed in the past. Like that "nurse" you employ who always calls in sick before a holiday.

[HairOfTheDog]

Or a reflection that the people chosen must perform, unlike the cronyism that prevented underperformers from being dismissed in the past. Like that "nurse" you employ who always calls in sick before a holiday.

Well, it's a little bit more involved than that.

I understand your analogy though. I take responsibility when my employees fail to perform or come through for my clients, however. It's always a reflection on me and my business, obviously. The buck stops here.

Anyway, poor performance and no-shows aren't the causes or stated reasons behind the bootings and bailings of most of the many departed Trump-appointees.

[HairOfTheDog]

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired last month, after nearly a year of President Trump disparagingly tweeting about him and his wife.

Trump's tweets claimed that McCabe's investigation into the Clinton server scandal was compromised because McCabe's wife, Jill McCabe, an ER pediatrician in Virginia, had accepted a $500,000 donation from a Clinton ally (Terry McCauliff) during her 2014 campaign for Senate.

From there, the President claimed the entire FBI was out to get him during the Russia Interference investigation.

The McCabes aren't lying down about it now that they're free to speak out. In just a few days, they collected a million dollars on GoFundMe to launch their public defense and fight back.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

Jill McCabe wrote an op-ed which appears in the Washington Post today. In it, she explains how she ran for Senate primarily because of her strong support for Medicare expansion and desire to help people. She also talks about the harm caused to herself and her family by Trump's false claims.

Trump and other Republicans claimed the donations were Clinton's way of attempting to sway the FBI's investigation into her email server. 'This could not be further from the truth,' Jill McCabe said.

Mrs McCabe pointed out that her husband's involvement in the Clinton email investigation happened after the $500,000 in contributions were made and also occurred after she lost her race in November 2015.

Now, I'm more curious than ever to see the internal FBI docs and the Inspector General report which reportedly show cause for Andrew McCabe's firing

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/...b1fc6108d6

[BigMark]

She's attractive, okay I believe her.

[HairOfTheDog]

If this comes to pass, hopefully it will deter and inhibit Russia's illegal interference in other countries.

The United States plans to sanction Russian oligarchs this week under a law targeting Moscow for meddling in the 2016 US election, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

This would potentially be the most aggressive move so far against the country's business elite.

The action, which could affect people close to President Vladimir Putin, reflects Washington's desire to hold Russia to account for allegedly interfering in the election - which Moscow denies - even as US President Donald Trump holds out hope for good relations with Putin.

(HOTD note: National Security Advisor McMaster's last public remarks in his role strongly asserted that some countries, including the United States, have not taken sufficient action against Russia's aggression in the U.S. and other countries.)

Trump has faced fierce criticism for doing too little to punish Russia for the election meddling and other actions, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller is probing whether his campaign colluded with the Russians, an allegation the president denies.

The sanctions, which two sources said would be announced as early as Thursday, would follow the March 15 US decision to sanction 19 people and five entities, including Russian intelligence services, for cyber attacks stretching back at least two years.

While the steps were the most significant taken against Moscow since Trump took office in 2017, his decision at the time not to target oligarchs and government officials close to Putin drew criticism from U.S. lawmakers in both parties.

Four sources said the sanctions would be imposed under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, also known as CAATSA, which was passed by Republicans and Democrats seeking to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, involvement in the Syrian civil war and meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...urces.html

[Duchess]

Four sources said the sanctions would be imposed under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, also known as CAATSA, which was passed by Republicans and Democrats seeking to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, involvement in the Syrian civil war and meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

I was listening to a conversation about this and it gave me pause because apparently imposing something is quite different than enforcing something. It sounds good and would appease a ton of people but it's pretty much worthless much in the same way kicking out the Russians was worthless because they are allowed to send 60 back in.

[Donovan]

The story I was listening to said the biggest thing that will piss off Putin is that they outed his daughter by name. Apparently a guy who likes to poison the families of his enemies gets a bit edgy when it comes to his own, and Putin is notoriously closed-mouth about his ex wife and kids. Trump is gonna get yelled at...

[Midwest Spy]

Poisoning looks like a shitty way to go.

[Duchess]

The story I was listening to said the biggest thing that will piss off Putin is that they outed his daughter by name.

Woooo. I hadn't heard that!

[Duchess]

Poisoning looks like a shitty way to go.

Yeah, frothing at the mouth n'shit.

[Midwest Spy]

Poisoning looks like a shitty way to go.

Yeah, frothing at the mouth n'shit.

We’ve been watching a few Netflix series that are period pieces from 16^th and 17^th centuries.

Poisoning was apparently a very popular way to kill people and it looks very unpleasant.

[Duchess]

I've only ever seen King Joffrey die from poisoning. It was fabulous.

[Jimbone]

That was a satisfying death. He was such a cocksucker.