emptywheel

Roger Stone's first instinct when seeing himself described in an indictment of those who illegal helped Trump get elected was to say he couldn't be the guy described in the indictment because he only speaks to Trump. Now he's backtracking on that.

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The Russian Hack

155 Comments

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July 13, 2018

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emptywheel

A working thread on the Russian hack indictment.

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2016 Presidential Election, Law, Mueller Probe

Today Is Robert Mueller's Merrick Garland Day

54 Comments

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July 13, 2018

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emptywheel

Today is the day when Robert Mueller has been investigating as long as Mitch McConnell kept open Scalia's seat to ensure a conservative ideologue occupied it rather than a respected centrist judge.

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emptywheel

Legal Ethics in Trumplandia

27 Comments

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July 12, 2018

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Ed Walker

Every single person who carried out the inhuman policy of snatching children from their immigrant parents is complicit in a depraved policy.

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

Judge Ellis Compares Paul Manafort to Domestic and Foreign Terrorists and Spies and Traitors in Pulling his VIP Privileges

131 Comments

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July 11, 2018

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emptywheel

In refusing to let Paul Manafort choose in which jail he awaits trial, Judge TS Ellis invoked the foreign and domestic terrorists, spies and traitors he'll share space with.

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

Peter Strzok Is a Sideshow to Information that Directly Implicates the President

69 Comments

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July 11, 2018

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emptywheel

The House Judiciary Committee will spend all day tomorrow flogging Peter Strzok. But all that flogging cannot change the fact that key evidence in Mueller's possession--evidence that implicates the President directly--has no tie to Strzok.

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The Text about Flynn Wasn't the Substantial Role in the Russian Attack -- It Just Linked the Grand Bargain to It

114 Comments

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July 10, 2018

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emptywheel

Contrary to some conclusions drawn from my deliberately oblique post, the text I published in my post on going to the FBI had nothing I understood to do with the primary reason I went to the FBI. Rather, it just seemed to establish a link between the attack on the US and the grand bargain Trump will likely deliver over the next two weeks.

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The President's Lawyer Had Better Review His Conspiracy Theory

28 Comments

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July 9, 2018

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emptywheel

Rudy as much as admitted that Don Jr violated ConFraudUs in the June 9 meeting.

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CC BY 2.0

emptywheel, Leak Investigations, Press and Media

It's Called a Spine, not a Conscience

90 Comments

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July 9, 2018

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Peterr

If burning sources that lie to you is not a cardinal rule of journalism, it damn well ought to be. I suspect that Marcy's honest sources will respect her more for this, and her dishonest ones will be very very nervous. Isn't that something that all journalists ought to strive for? Sullivan lauded Marcy for being a journalist with a conscience -- which she is, but that's not the point here. The point is that Marcy is a journalist with a spine.

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Graphic: Quino Al via Unsplash (mod by Rayne)

Department of Justice, Domestic Policy, Trump Administration

Three Things: Call, Call, Call!

8 Comments

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July 9, 2018

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Rayne

It's Monday morning; do you know where your phone is? Good. Get dialing.

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

Trump Is Willing to Pay for Joint Defense for Hope Hicks, But Not for France

24 Comments

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July 9, 2018

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emptywheel

Trump's demanding that NATO members all start paying their own way for our mutual defense. But he is willing to make sure that those protecting him get paid (even if he's not willing to pay himself).

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2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The State of Trump's Anti-Mueller Strategy

26 Comments

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July 8, 2018

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emptywheel

The Trump team went to great lengths to spend their limited Sunday Morning political capital on rolling a purportedly new Mueller strategy which basically still amounts to refusing to cooperate.

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2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe

Some Issues of Timing Revealed by Manafort's Filings

68 Comments

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July 7, 2018

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emptywheel

On Tuesday, Mueller's team gave Paul Manafort the contents of Rick Gates' electronic devices for the first time. Yesterday, after receiving another large dump of evidence, Manafort asked to delay his July 25 trial.

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Foreign Policy

Putin Just Set Up Trump To Be Humiliated by the Most Loathed Man in the World

36 Comments

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July 7, 2018

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emptywheel

Vladimir Putin just set up Trump to be humiliated by Kim Jong Un.

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Left Theory

Democracy Against Capitalism: Capital In A Fiat Money World

41 Comments

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July 5, 2018

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Ed Walker

In Democracy Against Capitalism the Marxist scholar Ellen Meiksins Wood says that the driving force of capitalism is the urgent desire to accumulate more capital. As we know, and not just from Marx, capitalist only expends capital in the expectation…

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2016 Presidential Election, Cybersecurity, Mueller Probe

The Tea Leaves on Mueller's Hand Off

117 Comments

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July 5, 2018

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emptywheel

As part of writing this post, I confirmed for the first time that the prosecutor I spoke with regarding the Russian attack is not and never has been part of the Mueller team (among other things, I think that means Peter Strzok never got within…

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Culture

Happy Fourth of July: Remembering the Why

31 Comments

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July 4, 2018

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Rayne

America's founders didn't set out to create a summer holiday when they signed what for all intents and purposes was their death warrant.

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Dragons Caught in the Crossfire: On the Genealogy of the Current and Future Mueller Investigation

Hybrid or Ambiguous, Asymmetric Warfare is Here to Stay

As the Summit Arrives, Keep in Mind that Putin Manages Trump with Carrots and Sticks

Yesterday, Roger Stone Answered, then Backtracked, on a Question Mueller Has Already Posed to Trump

The Russian Hack

Dragons Caught in the Crossfire: On the Genealogy of the Current and Future Mueller Investigation

Hybrid or Ambiguous, Asymmetric Warfare is Here to Stay

As the Summit Arrives, Keep in Mind that Putin Manages Trump with Carrots and Sticks

Yesterday, Roger Stone Answered, then Backtracked, on a Question Mueller Has Already Posed to Trump

The Russian Hack

Today Is Robert Mueller's Merrick Garland Day

Legal Ethics in Trumplandia

Judge Ellis Compares Paul Manafort to Domestic and Foreign Terrorists and Spies and Traitors in Pulling his VIP Privileges

Peter Strzok Is a Sideshow to Information that Directly Implicates the President

The Text about Flynn Wasn't the Substantial Role in the Russian Attack -- It Just Linked the Grand Bargain to It

The President's Lawyer Had Better Review His Conspiracy Theory

It's Called a Spine, not a Conscience

Three Things: Call, Call, Call!

Trump Is Willing to Pay for Joint Defense for Hope Hicks, But Not for France

The State of Trump's Anti-Mueller Strategy

Some Issues of Timing Revealed by Manafort's Filings

Putin Just Set Up Trump To Be Humiliated by the Most Loathed Man in the World

Democracy Against Capitalism: Capital In A Fiat Money World

The Tea Leaves on Mueller's Hand Off

Happy Fourth of July: Remembering the Why

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