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Monday, August 21, 2017

FBI Raid On Manafort’s Home Shows Aggressiveness Of Russia Probe

August 10, 2017 3:50 am

Does Mueller’s Grand Jury Spell Trouble For Trump?

August 4, 2017 10:22 am

Two Cheers For Sanctions On Russia

August 4, 2017 5:51 am

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Economic sanctions work better as a symbol than as a solution. The United States government imposed them on Cuba’s Castro regime in 1960, and it’s still in power. We imposed sanctions on Saddam Hussein but had to invade Iraq to remove him. We imposed sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear program, which is humming along.

So anyone who expects big results from the legislation putting new ones on Russia for meddling in the 2016 election, which President Donald Trump signed Wednesday, will probably be disappointed. But that doesn’t mean it’s a mistake. Showing Vladimir Putin he can’t attack us with impunity is worth doing regardless.…

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National Memo Russia: Top Posts
In The Shadows, Rogue FBI Agents Deface Democracy
Leaking investigative material is always a violation of rules that protect the rights of all citizens. Violating those rules to achieve a partisan objective before the election is an assault on democracy.
On A Wave Of Anger, Trump Defeats Clinton And Republicans Sweep
A Reuters/Ipsos national Election Day poll offered some clues to the outcome. It found Clinton underperformed expectations with women, winning their vote by only about 7 percent, similar to Obama when he won re-election in 2012.
Whatever Mike Pence Won On 'Style,' He Lost By Shamelessly Lying
During the debate, Mike Pence repeatedly made statements that were easily checked and found to be false -- including his banal slurs against the Clinton Foundation.
CNN: Officials Have Evidence That Trump Associates 'Coordinated With Russians'
Coming two days after FBI director James Comey confirmed that agency has been investigating the Trump campaign’s connections with Russian interference in the election since July 2016, the CNN report is stunning but not surprising. It also follows an Associated Press report on Tuesday that Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chair, had secretly devised a plan as early as 2005 to “greatly aid” the Putin regime by influencing the U .S. government and media.
Trump May Name Iraq War Propagandist John Bolton As Top US Diplomat
Not only did John Bolton support the scheme to attack Iraq, but he actively promoted the official lies and propaganda that led up to the US invasion.
Trump Hit By His Own Lewd Remarks About Women, Caught On Tape
In the recorded conversation, Trump was wearing a microphone and chatting on a bus with NBC's "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush. "I did try and fuck her. She was married," Trump said. "I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn't get there."
5 Trump Cabinet Members Who’ve Made False Statements To Congress
As most of the world knows by now, Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not tell the truth when he was asked during his confirmation hearings about contacts with Russian officials. But Sessions isn’t the only one.
Investigate The Hackers -- And Ignore Trump's Chaff
There can be no doubt that the series of electronic thefts of information from Democrats, released with the obvious purpose of damaging Clinton's campaign, represented major crimes. The serious nature of those offenses is aggravated by their purpose, striking at the heart of the republic.
National Memo Russia: Archive
The Gripping Story Behind The Case For Trump-Putin Collusion
While the Washington press corps and the rest of the world was distracted last week by the antics of the Mooch, Spicey, and the Donald, Bill Browder, an American-born British banker, was relegated to the side stage of C-SPAN3. For the Senate Judiciary Committee and the hard-core cable audience, Browder laid out what NPR called “a terrifying and complex picture of Putin’s Russia."
August 3rd, 2017
Trump Quietly Signs Russia Sanctions Bill
Trump signed the bill without cameras, sending out a statement later in the morning saying that despite his belief that parts of the measure were unconstitutional, he was signing it into law for the "sake of national unity."
August 2nd, 2017
Why Trump Could Never Be A Putinesque Strongman
What did Vladimir Putin think he was getting? Is it possible that he mistook an egotistical buffoon like Donald J. Trump for an apprentice strongman? If so, he badly misunderstands America. It’s not simply Russia with better plumbing. Granted, Trump himself lacks the self-discipline for autocracy. But he also lacks the servile population.
August 2nd, 2017
Trump White House Is Full Of Tabloid Rumors
The White House has devolved over the last six months into a hotbed of intrigue, innuendo and boulder-sized rumors seemingly more appropriate for tabloid newspapers than the rich annals of history. With various administration officials publicly attacking each other, President Donald Trump and his team have seen their dirty laundry thrown around Washington and the world, with few policy accomplishments to show for all their drama.
July 31st, 2017
Russia Says 755 US Diplomatic Staffers Must Leave Country
The expulsions, to take effect Sept. 1, would reduce the number of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia to 455, the same number that Russia has in the United States. In addition to its embassy in Moscow, the U.S. maintains consulates in St. Petersburg, Vladivostock and Yekaterinburg.
July 31st, 2017
Jeff Sessions Deserves No Sympathy
Even if Sessions knew what sort of president Trump would be, though, he probably would have still endorsed him, just as so many other Republicans did later on. Conventional Republicans -- the establishment, if you will -- have an agenda, and they need a Republican president in order to carry it out.
July 28th, 2017
Kremlin Behind Trump Jr. Meeting, Opponent Testifies
Browder is CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, an investment fund and asset management company that specializes in Russian markets. He lobbied Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act in 2012. The law is meant to punish the Russian officials behind the 2009 death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who alleged that Russian officials committed $230 million in tax fraud.
July 28th, 2017
What Sessions Should Tell Trump About Pardons -- Before It's Too Late
July 27th, 2017
The Rule Of Law Has Never Been Weaker In Washington
As President Trump drops increasingly broad hints that he believes he is above the law, Congress and the public face an impending crisis that will test whether the Republican Party is more loyal to Trump or to the rule of law. The crisis is all but certain, and the outcome is very much in doubt.
July 27th, 2017
#EndorseThis: Jeff Sessions (Of A Sort) Responds To Trump Criticism On 'Late Show'
Stephen Colbert allowed "beleaguered" Jeff Sessions onto The Late Show to address his fast deteriorating relationship with President Donald Trump, who has this past week publicly criticized the attorney general for recusing himself on matters relating to the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with the Russian government.
July 26th, 2017
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