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william.scherk

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The work history of the folks in the Robert Mueller team is reported on by the Daily Beast's Betsy Woodruff.  For those unspooked by a relatively quiet news front on the special counsel's activities, and for those who are curious about credible/non-credible implications of the activities. And maybe for those who use "Muh Russia" unironically ... (& for those who may have forgotten the details of the inquiry's frame of reference: the Rosenstein order establishing his authority)

The DB article's subheadline slug:

To probe alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, the special counsel has essentially built his own miniature Justice Department. Meet the experts he’s recruited.

Here is an excerpt from the conclusion (emphasis added):

Quote

In conclusion

To be sure, the most interesting parts of Mueller’s investigation are likely happening far from public view. Most of the coverage of the probe has focused on its criminal component. But Mueller’s top priority is likely a counterespionage operation, which James Comey confirmed was underway when he testified before Congress (and before his firing).

Naveed Jamali, a former double agent for the FBI who dealt with Russian espionage in the U.S., said this part of the effort won’t necessarily have to do with criminal charges or court proceedings.

“The goal with a counterintelligence operation is to detect and neutralize threats,” said Jamali, author of How to Catch a Russian Spy. “That’s it. If you apply that to the Mueller probe, anything that was used by the Russians against us during the election is a threat that has to be neutralized. That doesn’t mean that it has to be brought to court.”

Simply proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who interfered with the 2016 election on behalf of Russia and how they did it would be a significant success for the probe, he added.

“The legal part of this is so fucking boring,” he added. “This is a counterintelligence operation first and foremost.”
 

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The man who helped cool Trump's Russia rage
White House lawyer Ty Cobb, a veteran of multiple special prosecutor investigations, helped coach the president on what not to say as Mueller ramps up his probe.

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[...]

Indeed, some of Trump’s attorneys are already facing legal jeopardy. Michael Cohen, one of Trump’s longest serving personal attorneys, has his own lawyer and remains on the radar of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which just postponed a public hearing previously scheduled for Wednesday to examine his role in the Russia probe. McGahn, the Trump White House counsel, has also retained a lawyer and is expected to soon follow his former colleagues Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer for questioning from Mueller’s team about his role in several early moves that have become central parts of the Russia investigation, including the hiring and firing of Michael Flynn, who briefly served as White House national security adviser, and the ousting of Comey.

Several other Trump lawyers – both inside the White House and beyond it – could face more intense questions over their role in the Russia response. Mueller is reportedly interested in speaking with James Burnham, a former senior associate counsel in McGahn’s shop who now works in the Justice Department’s civil division.

Two other McGahn deputies have confirmed roles in the Russia response: Stefan Passantino, who has been a main point of contact for the Office of Government Ethics as it examines the establishment of a legal defense fund for Trump staffers, and Greg Katsas, who last week acknowledged during his Senate confirmation hearing for a seat on a key federal appeals court that he’d given legal advice “on a few discrete legal questions” involving the White House response to the Russia probe.

 

 

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There seems to be a leak of information concerning the Mueller inquiry -- to the effect that his Grand Jury laid charges (under seal) against somebody. 

True? Untrue? Leaked from whom?  I don't know.  Here is FoxNews' take on the reports which first appeared at CNN:

Mueller has filed charges in Russia-Trump associates probe: multiple reports

-- interestingly, only one of the people in Mueller's presumed target list had comment for the record, Carter Page. He gets bonus points for mentioning the "Dodgy Dossier" ...

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On Saturday, Page released a statement to Fox News in response to questions about whether he or his lawyers have been notified about any charges.

Page said in the statement that he has worked with the executive branch and Congress since being contacted in March. But he also suggested that revelations about the Democratic Party having helped finance a dossier to smear Trump has tainted any Russia probe.  

“In terms of ‘charges', I can’t even imagine what might even be considered now that the false evidence from the politically-motivated, big-money-financed Dodgy Dossier that started this extrajudicial disaster has instead been so thoroughly exposed as a complete sham,” Carter wrote in the statement. 

In other, related news, The Wall Street Journal editorial board has called for Mueller's resignation ...
 

faiami-herald-robert-mueller-special-pro

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Breaking tweets from the President. He doesn't mention the rumoured Mueller indictments, nor the feverish speculation that someone will be arrested on Monday, but still. 

 

 

 

"DO SOMETHING!" Like what? 

 

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35 minutes ago, william.scherk said:

"DO SOMETHING!" Like what?

William,

You mean like call for the appointment of an independent counsel to look into Russian collusion with Hillary Clinton as both Secretary of State and candidate for US President to see what, if any, crimes were committed?

:) 

Helpfully.

Michael

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The President wants someone to DO SOMETHING!

22 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:
57 minutes ago, william.scherk said:

"DO SOMETHING!" Like what?

You mean like call for the appointment of an independent counsel to look into Russian collusion with Hillary Clinton as both Secretary of State and candidate for US President to see what, if any, crimes were committed?

"DO SOMETHING!"  is what the President wrote today. I don't know what exactly the President means. You may be right that he wants law enforcement (the FBI-DOJ) to appoint a prosecutor, that he hopes somebody does something along those lines. We'll see what happens. I am sure he could make something happen if he put his mind to it. 

Edited by william.scherk
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The Ultimate Alex Jones Infowars Exclusive: MUELLER'S TENTACLES

Popular conspiracy theorist drops some bombs in the Story Wars. It's a doozy, including everything suspected about 'evil bag of shit' Robert Mueller, as well as commentary on the Derp State, Uranium, attache cases...

TENTACLES! TENTACLES! TENTACLES! Story Wars, Conspirators, Crimes ...

Edited by william.scherk
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How does that old song go? -- "What a difference a day makes ..." What a difference a month and a half makes.

On 10/29/2017 at 9:30 AM, william.scherk said:

Breaking tweets from the President. He doesn't mention the rumoured Mueller indictments, nor the feverish speculation that someone will be arrested on Monday, but still. 

 

 

 

"DO SOMETHING!" Like what? 

 

When President Like Totally Stable Genius commands "DO SOMETHING,"  the wheels begin to turn.  Republican wheels only, but hey.

I noted elsewhere that the DOJ is going to undertake the umpteenth inquiry into Hillary Clinton by way of the dastardly Clinton Foundation (does anyone remember the Trump Foundation?).  Yesterday a letter was sent to Attorney-General Sessions requesting the FBI open a criminal investigation into the author of the 'dodgy dossier,' Christopher Steele.

161220133246-donald-trump-twitter-diplom

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DO SOMETHING!

-- the Stormy Daniels whoop-up, the shooting in Lakeland, the Playboy model affair ruckus, all is swept down the field by a fresh gout of Grand Hoopla.  Memeorandum.com** selects outlets from both conventionally left and conventionally right; I have highlighted a few 'right-ish' outlets and authors below. I respect Chuck Ross's reporting on Daily Caller, and appreciate his hard-nosed (if click-baity) skepticism about the entire Mueller show on Twitter.  Daily Caller has an uncertain relationship to Trump, as do some of the other sites highlighted, including (Ben Shapiro's) Daily Wire -- but at least one can guess which kinds of talking points FoxNews will take in its newsertainment coverage, once that kicks in later today.  

The leftmost outlets are typically drunk on sensation and dot-connecting and "what it all means."

The one interesting story of the lot for the White House may be the Rick Gates whoopup. "Sources say" he is close to a plea deal with the special counsel.

Meanwhile, Indictments galore! Ruskies to a man ...

Quote
RELATED:
i72.jpg The Daily Beast:
Mueller Indicts 13 Russian Nationals for Election Interference, Says They Communicated With Trump Campaign  —  Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election.  The lead defendant is the …
Discussion:

The Atlantic:   The Full Text of Mueller's Indictment of 13 Russians

Ian Mason / Breitbart:   13 Russians Indicted for 2016 Election Interference

Paul Bois / Daily Wire:   BREAKING: Mueller Indicts 13 Russian Nationals For Election Meddling

i84.jpg Bloomberg:30 minutes ago
Mueller Accuses Russians of Pro-Trump, Anti-Clinton Meddling  —  13 Russian nationals, 3 entities indicted in sweeping case  —  Social media, contacts with campaign and staging rallies  —  U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller unveiled the details of a widespread and coordinated campaign …
i85.jpg CNN:15 minutes ago
Grand jury indicts 13 Russian nationals over 2016 election interference  —  (CNN)A federal grand jury has indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential election, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Department of Justice announced Friday.

 Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:   Trump Lawyer: President's ‘Happy’ Mueller Indicted 13 Russian Meddlers10 minutes ago

 CNN: 
Exclusive: A top Trump campaign adviser close to plea deal with Mueller
Discussion:

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:   Former Trump Campaign Official Reportedly Close To Plea Deal With Mueller


** The site allows you to segment out a moment in time, a snapshot of the site. This allows you to see the development of mainstream stories that carry the 'bombshell' tag.  Eg, the URL for the bits above is https://www.memeorandum.com/180216/h1535 -- if you try an earlier snapshot (https://www.memeorandum.com/180216/h1530) all the Mueller indictment histrionics was absent ...

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A note from Twitter. The foulness of the anti-Imperialist Left is apparently an all-purpose ugly stupidity:

 

My quartet of Youtube personalities, David Seaman, Dustin Nemos, Tarl Warwick and Jordan Sather are almost to a man completely captivated by the False-Flag, Double-Gunmen, Deep State, FBI 'crisis actor' bullshit. Seaman is in that state beyond reason where he thinks he is being personally-targeted by Google/Youtube executives. 

And then there is that man of men, David Clarke ...

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And then there is that fellow from Gateway Pundit, who achieves lift-off for his crazy rocket.  Oddly, or not so oddly, the Internet Research Agency was a prime supplier of GP bullshit in the latter days of the 2016 election. Who knew?  The entity sponsoring the Geller panel was disgusted by GP's touting of the 'crisis actor' bullshit ... thus the histrionics.

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   The "fourth most influential conservative news source"? 

[I misposted this in the 'wrong' topic thread. Ah well.]
  

Edited by william.scherk
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2 hours ago, william.scherk said:

The foulness of the anti-Imperialist Left is apparently an all-purpose ugly stupidity:

The Rania Khalek, Ben Norton, Max Blumenthal club of dogmatic cultists has a fair influence in what is sometimes called "the regressive left," or the 'authoritarian left.'  The main line of bullshit they peddle is that the Syrian government did not use Sarin nerve agent on its own people. 

In looking at Jimmy Dore's glib and unconvincing reportage on Syrian issues, it is clear to me that he has swallowed the bullshit whole -- without the least attempt to do his own research into counter-evidence.

jimmyDoreSyriaSarinGLIBNESS.png

  
For a fairly short review of telltales signs of swallowing Sarin bullshit whole: A Litmus Test for Detecting Syria Trolls

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The Mueller thread is getting lonesome. Here to relieve the pain is something snatched from the pages of Gateway Pundit, which I assume is not of the Blob (though the writer quotes from the WSJBLOB, so he is probably just as awful as Richard Spencer, amirite?): 

trumpDealMuellerGatewayPundit.png

Everyone now having forgotten my lousy prediction about a Roy Moore victory, I predict that the Mueller inquiry will end right about the time the next presidential campaign begins in earnest.  

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The last time I featured Bill Mitchell, he was unable to process the Alabama special Senate election results without shock and incomprehension.  Here he uses his special powers to peel back layers of misinformation -- and reveals to Alex Jones his thoughts about the Mueller inquiry.  Would it surprise you that he thinks Mueller's real area of interest is not that given in his appointment letter?

The evidence is ... skimpy.

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If there is "evidence" that President Trump is working with the Mueller investigation to bring down the Cabal™ ...

trumpMarcch18TweetstormViaRedState.png

Image-map From Red State's Carl Arbogast story today ...

And from the irrepressible Infowars ... Hillary Clinton is "about to" be indicted. 

 

 

Edited by william.scherk
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Headlines in the Fake News are Mueller Mueller Trump Trump Sessions.  What about Mueller Trump Mueller Sessions Trump Trump?  Well, there seems to be a difference in opinion.

Quote
share.png Aaron Rupar / ThinkProgress:
In desperate tweet, Trump begs Sessions to end Mueller investigation  —  As the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort begins, President Trump begged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to bring the ongoing criminal investigation of his campaign to an abrupt end.
RELATED:
i46.jpgshare.png Eileen Sullivan / New York Times:
Trump Calls on Sessions to ‘Stop the Rigged Witch Hunt Right Now’  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to end the special counsel investigation, an extraordinary appeal to the nation's top law enforcement official to end an inquiry directly in to the president.

The Prez has made his Mueller displeasure known before, and this is not the first time he has tweeted his displeasure with Sessions the Recuser, but it may be the first time he has asked Sessions to end the dang thing Right Now.  

This too shall pass ... but not right now. 

[Added: tweets]

The President did not write an executive order in the tweet, as far as I see.  Jeff Sessions "should" -- not "MUST" -- end the inquiry.  This is likely just blowing off steam, since the President has the power to order Sessions to order Rosenstein to order Mueller to wrap it up. 

Why he telegraphs his message to the Attorney-General, instead of phoning him or sending him written instructions, I don't know.

Edited by william.scherk
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Need help in understanding why President Trump does not fire Sessions?

On 8/1/2018 at 11:01 AM, william.scherk said:

Why he telegraphs his message to the Attorney-General, instead of phoning him or sending him written instructions, I don't know.

Owen Shroyer and Roger Stone put their heads together ... and almost come to a conclusion:

 

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10 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Need help in understanding why President Trump does not fire Sessions?

Owen Shroyer and Roger Stone put their heads together ... and almost come to a conclusion:

 

I watched this infomercial, up until  after the T-shirt ads, to the video and book shilling, but after that my usually fairly open mind just closed.

If this is a sample of where Jonathan gets his talking points,  I guess I can see how he could call me a racist--hey Lebron! You abandoned Toronto too soon - you might need the underground railroad again, and bring Kaepernick with you. The CFL is way more fun, all things considered. 

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2 hours ago, caroljane said:

I watched this infomercial...

Carol,

I haven't seen the video yet, but you should be aware of why Alex Jones has a store. He was gaining a lot of money from normal ads and normal monetization schemes. But these gradually dried up, one by one, through attacks on sponsors and so forth. Finally, Google and other mainstream ad networks cut Infowars from their platforms entirely.

If you want to see how this works, see the book by Sharyl Attkisson, The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote. She describes and documents how the David Brock machine is behind most of these sorts of efforts when they attack the right, but sometimes he goes after the left. (This is the same machine that used sockpuppets to take out Glenn Beck from Fox--his first, Bill O'Reilly and a few others. They tried to take out Rush Limbaugh, but he put some crack investigators on it and exposed them. More recently, they tried to take out Hannity, but he worked with the same people Rush did and Brock failed. Their MO is to make themselves look like tens of thousands (sometimes more) of a sponsor's customers and threaten a boycott and demonstrations, but they are a dozen or so.)

Rather than fight to get reinstated and use normal commercials, normal TV channels, etc., Alex saw that he needed to spit himself out of the standard form of broadcast and monetization entirely. So he looked around for something to sell to his massive audience that he could control and came up with the idea of funding his operation with nutraceuticals and a few other products. All of the profits from that venture goes into Alex's communication efforts. And he keeps expanding.

You can look down your nose at a businessman trying to survive the best he can through honest commerce if you want. It's your sacred right to be a snob if that rings your ding-a-ling. But snob or no snob, the truth is, the elitists have been unable to take out Alex. Boy have they tried. They've even got CNN doing their bitch work now and making requests to Facebook (and other places) to throw Infowars off the platform. They're also trying legal maneuvers. I guess they lost faith in Brock since Brock couldn't get the job done.

Don't forget, these are the super-intelligent masters of the universe--the ones you look up to as serious people--who keep losing. When they use gatekeepers to block Alex from every avenue they control, he opens up new avenues though good old fashion gumption and creativity. His public comes with him. The elitists have used every dirty trick in the book--including assassination attempts, and they still can't take him out.

They almost managed to poison Roger Stone to death. He was awfully sick for awhile, but recovered. (And, yes, there is medical corroboration that it was poison.)

Do you want to see your own soul? Ask yourself, and be honest, if you would not feel glad if someone murdered Alex Jones. Would you not feel a guilty tingle of pleasure? Or would you feel outraged? Be honest and see what you come up with.

You don't need to say anything in public about it. This is not a virtue signaling thing. This is between you and yourself. Irrespective of what you may say to others, you know what you feel deep inside.

And how about the people who think like you? Wouldn't they like to see the premature death of Alex Jones? Wouldn't that warm their hearts? Or would they take to the streets to protest it?

I don't need to know. Like I said, this is personal for each person. They have to live with themselves, not me.

And therein lies the true nature of your humanity.

Michael

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"Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now" said President Trump ... giving rise to the obvious follow-through:  'Give him a call, talk to him.'  But the problem is, Sessions is not in charge of the Mueller inquiry, his deputy is.  So, how exactly is Sessions supposed to obey or take note of the President's tweets?

Tall blonde humourist Ann Coulter has a brief take on the issue, commenting on a line from a more recent presidential tweet:

Presidential communication: "If we had a real Attorney General, this Witch Hunt would never have been started!"

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"My Doctor Believes I Was Poisoned"

On 8/4/2018 at 11:05 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

They almost managed to poison Roger Stone to death. He was awfully sick for awhile, but recovered. (And, yes, there is medical corroboration that it was poison.)

Kind of ... but not really.  At least, all Roger Stone has shared is a story. Not too convincing, IMHO.

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1 hour ago, william.scherk said:

Roger Stone does an own-goal:

 

wow and wow again. Where is our resident symbol interpreter when you need him? All of those people have children - who knows what other cryptic images are being signalled?

Or perhaps, a false flag we are all too dumb to perceive.

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7 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Roger Stone does an own-goal:

William,

Yeah, right. A tweet from Lawrence O'Donnell's producer is objective, huh?

Gimme a break.

:) 

Here's how I imagined it. Roger saw the meme somewhere, realized it was made as a bash on him but did not notice the swastika. So he re-posted it and said he was proud to be in that company. (This is very typical of him. When someone says they hate him, he always responds that he revels in their hatred. He wears it as a badge of honor. Etc. He's always saying things like that.)

I looked this thing up just to make sure.

See this article at the Washington Examiner.

From the article

Quote

Stone offered an apology for the image Tuesday afternoon.

"I denounce Nazis, White Supremacists Klansmen and violent extremists of the left and right," Stone told the Washington Examiner.

"Last night I posted an image attacking me and other supporters of the President that was sent to me by a hater. I did so to mock them . I did not notice the image had a swastika in the corner . When It was brought to my attention I deleted it...

yawn...

Almost the way I imagined it to a tee.

Some people gotta get their jollies making shit look like what it isn't, I guess. Or applauding those who do...

That's lame.

Michael

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