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The GOP PAC-thetic Effort to Disclaim Cambridge Analytica

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emptywheel
For months, the GOP has insisted that the Trump campaign's ties to Cambridge Analytica didn't last very long (though they occurred during a key part of the Russian operation). But that says nothing about the Mercer PAC's ties to CA and whether the two entities succeeded in maintaining the legally required firewall.
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"DO NOT CONGRATULATE:" Putin Does a Victory Lap -- Over Rex Tillerson

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emptywheel
Yesterday's Russian victory lap over receiving congratulations from Trump doesn't surprise me that much. What surprises me is Putin's victory lap over getting Rex Tillerson fired the day after the Secretary of State condemned Russia for trying to assassinate Sergei Skripal.
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Trump's Legal Team: "If the Law and the Facts Are Against You, Pound the Table and Yell Like Hell”

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emptywheel
Carl Sandberg once said, “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell." Trump's hiring of Joseph Di Genova while pretending he's hiring far better lawyers suggests he's at that terminal table-pounding stage.
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Cambridge Analytica Uncovered and More to Come

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Rayne
A little recap of events overnight while we wait for Channel 4's second video. This is an open thread.
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"What Did the President Do and What Do His Lawyers Claim He Was Thinking?"

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emptywheel
What did the president do and what the fuck was he thinking when he did it are questions not about the cover-up, but about the substantive crime.  And that's the question Mueller's Watergate prosecutor has now posed to the president's lawyers. 
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Duty of Candor: The Timing of the Sessions News

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emptywheel
Republicans in Congress have thus far been cowardly about protecting Mueller, but some folks close to Mueller seem to be calling Jeff Sessions on his hypocrisy.
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Another Shoe Dropped: Cambridge Analytica Used Its Own Kompromat

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Rayne
I did NOT see this coming, a perfect example of blindness based in preconceived notions about technology companies: Cambridge Analytica created and used kompromat in campaign work.
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Two Other Trump Tweet Innovations: "Fraudulent Activities" and "Conflicts of Interest"

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emptywheel
In addition to attacking Robert Mueller by name over the last few days, Trump also used two new terms to describe Mueller's investigation: "fraudulent activities" and "conflicts of interest." As always, Trump's projections serve as a perfect mirror of himself.
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Three Things: Flying Moochin' Mnuchin Air

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Rayne
This time these three things are related and I can't write an individual post on each one because my blood pressure won't handle it, thanks to Moochin' Mnuchin. This is an open thread.
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The Trump Toadies Who Are Worried about Being Unmasked

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emptywheel
An anonymous Trump transition official is FOIAing what seems to be very specific information on 21 Trump transition officials. It's a puzzling effort.
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Facebook Cuts Off Cambridge Analytica, Promises Further Investigation

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emptywheel
The news that Facebook has finally cut Cambridge Analytica off from its data is far more momentous, in my opinion, than the firing of Andrew McCabe. Here's why.
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10 Years Out: What's with the Bear in the Middle?

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Rayne
Ten years ago this week Bear Stearns crashed. It was a surprise to see Bear Stearns' name pop up in the middle of recent HPSCI testimony. Ditto seeing Trump linked to Bear Stearns' bond financing before the 2008 crash. Have we learned nothing?
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In Bid To SLAPP Stormy Daniels, Trump Admits He Fucked Her

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emptywheel
In a bid to silence Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump just admitted he's David Dennison, the guy trying to silence Stormy Daniels.
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The Distinction between Torturing Abu Zubaydah and al-Nashiri and Just al-Nashiri

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emptywheel
The difference between whether Gina Haspel oversaw the torture of both Abu Zubaydah and Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri or just the latter is critical to claims that she only did things authorized by the OLC memo.
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BREAKING! Robert Mueller Would Be Fucking Stupid If He DIDN'T Subpoena Trump Organization

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emptywheel
In the latest edition of MAKING BREAKING CLICKBAIT OUT OF NORMAL DEVELOPMENTS, the NYT has reported that Robert Mueller subpoenaed the Trump Organization.
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The New Russian Hack Sanctions

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emptywheel
We appear to have identified two new people associated with GRU's hacking information, even if the most recent intelligence we admit to having on one dates to the days of the election hack.
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Some Cover-Ups Are More Equal Than Other Cover-Ups

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emptywheel
The same people outraged over HPSCI's laughable cover-up of Trump's dalliance with Russia have themselves been participants in the cover-up of torture.
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Those Trump Panama Hotel Documents? Might Include DOD Grift

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emptywheel
Apparently DOD spent $17,000 at the money laundering vehicle hotel in Panama that Trump just lost control of.
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Lordy, There Were Tapes

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emptywheel
In their memo laying out what HPSCI didn't investigate, the Democrats suggest there were recordings of Trump's meetings with Jim Comey, but they got destroyed, and that there's still a memo memorializing what happened.
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