Mueller Investigation!

[Howl]

7 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

All these people get are slaps on the wrists, if that.

im cynical enough that I don’t believe he’s going to jail despite what he does - she should have done it this time.

Those who follow Sarah Kendzior are getting an earful over the last week or two.  She's furious that these criminals are getting slaps on the wrist or nothing at all -- not even arrested, while continuing to wreak ongoing damage and havoc in our country.  

Jaysus, I am PISSED that Stone gets yet ANOTHER Stay-Out-of-Jail card for something as blatant as that photo.  He was blatantly inviting people to assassinate a Federal judge.  Or is it possible that Stone is being aggressively surveilled and wire-tapped, in hopes that he contacts someone he's not supposed to? 

[fraurosena]

5 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Think it'll be that long?  March is still 8 days away.  That's an eternity for a fuck head like Stone not to trip up. 

You could be right. It will depend on how fast his ass unpuckers, I suppose. He seemed pretty scared today of heading to jail, and was almost obsequious in is fake apologizing. I'm glad the judge didn't fall for it. 

12 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

I kind of am too. Though Manafort did end up in jail, so maybe there is hope that Stone will too. 

Admittedly, I and many others with me, would have liked to have seen him thrown in jail today, but the judge has to rule according to the law. And in this case, that means he gets a second chance. After this though, he's toast if he so much as opens his mouth to breathe if someone's talking about his case. 

[47of74]

Question.  Does it make me a bad person if I had hoped the judge made Stone wear one of these if he goes out in public?

[fraurosena]

3 minutes ago, Howl said:

Jaysus, I am PISSED that Stone gets yet ANOTHER Stay-Out-of-Jail card for something as blatant as that photo.  He was blatantly inviting people to assassinate a Federal judge.  Or is it possible that Stone is being aggressively surveilled and wire-tapped, in hopes that he contacts someone he's not supposed to? 

Oh, you're right! I hadn't thought about this possibility! 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Could you guys spoiler the nsfw stuff?  

Not asking as a mod just a person who was reading this thread and the office creeper saw the pic of the ball gag on my phone

[AmazonGrace]

This transcript is golden https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/21/politics/roger-stone-transcript-gag-hearing/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Famp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org%2F

[Gobsmacked]

15 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Could you guys spoiler the nsfw stuff?  

Not asking as a mod just a person who was reading this thread and the office creeper saw the pic of the ball gag on my phone

I couldn't decide to laugh or send you a hug!! 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

11 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

I couldn't decide to laugh or send you a hug!! 

Both!

[fraurosena]

Although it seems like a subtle difference, this is yuge. And I mean bigly yuge. 

Great explanation why in the clip below.

 

[VixenToast]

2 hours ago, Gobsmacked said:

I couldn't decide to laugh or send you a hug!! 

I sent a Rufus because office creepers suck ass and May Rufus protect you from his/her creeperness.  

 

also  because I love unicorns.

[onekidanddone]

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Although it seems like a subtle difference, this is yuge. And I mean bigly yuge. 

Great explanation why in the clip below.

 

Is not my intent to dismiss this Tweet, but I'm so burnt out on THIS IS ENORMOUS breaking news. Who is this person Tina? What understanding does she have. One person in the Twitter verse may think this is earth shattering and somebody else may not.  I suppose I just see some of these as arm chair experts, and I rather let the dust settle before I make an assumption on the gravity of this letter.

As I said, I worn down by outrage fatigue, 'breaking news', and being warned Trump is going to make some YUGE announcement that will end the world as we know it, but when push comes to shove he just babbles the usual incoherent slime.

I am done, so very done and numb with the past two plus years. 

@fraurosena sweet heart, I love you, and realize my rant looks like a criticize of you. I sometimes blurt things out and then OY! As soon as it comes out of  my mouth I see that it is hurtful. Not an excuse for my misdeeds, just an admission.

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, onekidanddone said:

Is not my intent to dismiss this Tweet, but I'm so burnt out on THIS IS ENORMOUS breaking news. Who is this person Tina? What understanding does she have. One person in the Twitter verse may think this is earth shattering and somebody else may not.  I suppose I just see some of these as arm chair experts, and I rather let the dust settle before I make an assumption on the gravity of this letter.

As I said, I worn down by outrage fatigue, 'breaking news', and being warned Trump is going to make some YUGE announcement that will end the world as we know it, but when push comes to shove he just babbles the usual incoherent slime.

I am done, so very done and numb with the past two plus years. 

@fraurosena sweet heart, I love, and realize my rant looks like a criticize of you. I sometimes blurt things out and then OY! As soon as it comes out of  my mouth I see that it is hurtful. Not an excuse for my misdeeds, just an admission.

Oh, my dear @onekidanddone, you should know you can rant and vent whenever you feel the need. What else are friends for? I did not take that as hurtful at all. It's true that the twitter-verse is filled with armchair experts crying 'breaking' with every tweet, and that twitterer is just a stranger on the internet whom I don't know from Adam.

Her opinion is not why I posted her tweet though. It was because the tweet has that clip embedded in it, and darn, I simply can't seem to be able to post clips directly from MSNBC although I've tried many times. So the tweet was just a handy vehicle for the clip. And it's what's in that clip that is what I was pointing out. What it boils down to is that McCabe admitted that there aren't two separate investigations, one into Russian meddling and one into obstruction of justice. Instead, there is only one investigation, a counterintelligence investigation, and Trump's name was added to it. And if his name was added to a counterintelligence investigation, that amounts to them saying they have reason to believe he's an agent for Russia. I know we've suspected that all along, but for the FBI to acknowledge that is a big deal, because their suspicions are not based on rumor but on facts. And that investigation was handed over to Mueller. So Mueller is conducting a counterintelligence investigation and Trump is a target. But that guest in the clip explains it much better than I can, so you should watch it if you can.

Although there are lots of rumors going round that Mueller's investigation is about to be wrapped up, I don't think it could be at all. I'm basing that thought on the transcript of Stone's appearance in court yesterday, that @AmazonGrace posted above. In it, the judge succinctly pointed out that the special counsels office has ...

... turned over a large volume of material, a huge volume of material to the defense team, and there's a considerable amount to review ...

... and that means the special counsels office (i.e. the Mueller investigation) still has a lot of work to do, if only for the benefit of the prosecution of Roger Stone. But I'm willing to believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg. So Mueller is far from done. And with the adjustments in the reporting about the timeline of Mueller wrapping up (it went from 'within days' to 'next week' to 'within a couple of weeks' I'm really beginning to doubt the rumors. They sound oddly familiar. Like, oh, when Rudy Giuliani said it at the beginning of last year.

[fraurosena]

The Democrats are taking measures to ensure that Bill Barr can't hide any information from the special counsel's investigation.

In light of my above post, here's a quote from the article embedded in the tweet:

Quote

Speculation has swirled that Mueller would be submitting his report to the Justice Department soon, although the department has indicated it’s not expected to happen this week.

 

[fraurosena]

Because of course they are.

Roger Stone's Proud Boys "Volunteers" Have Been Defending Him Online After The Judge Entered A Gag Order

(There are many tweets and pics in the link, which I haven't copied.)

Quote

Questioned in court last week about his recent Instagram post featuring a photo of the judge presiding over his case with what resembled a crosshairs symbol, Roger Stone said under oath that a "volunteer" found the image. He insisted he couldn't recall who exactly, though, and struggled to identify the five or six people he said were serving as his volunteers at the time.

The names he offered after being pressed by the prosecutor underscored Stone's ties to the Proud Boys, a far-right, men-only extremist group that describes its members as "Western chauvinist." The four men identified by Stone are all active on social media, and several continued to post about Stone's case after US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed a strict gag order Thursday — an order that limits not only what Stone can say in public and online, but what his surrogates and volunteers can say on his behalf.

Stone identified Enrique Tarrio, Tyler Whyte, Jacob Engels, and Rey Perez as his volunteers. Tarrio is chairman of the Proud Boys and last week sat behind President Donald Trump during a speech in Miami wearing a t-shirt that said, "Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong!" Whyte leads a Proud Boys chapter in Florida. Engels has been involved in Proud Boys activities, but says he's a journalist embedded with the group, not a member. Perez identified himself on Facebook as a member of the Proud Boys and was at Stone's house in Florida to tape a podcast over cigars and baked ziti just before before the Instagram post imbroglio.

On Friday, the day after Stone's new gag order took effect, Perez tweeted, "As much as the liberal media want to spin #RogerStoneArrested into evidence of #RussianCollusion , it only shows our innocence and their evil deeds, what a bunch of sore losers." Engels tweeted a hashtag that Stone and his supporters have been using since his arrest: "#RogerStoneDidNothingWrong."

A Twitter account linked to Tarrio's name on the Proud Boys's website retweeted a post from the user @CarpeDonktum Thursday night that said, "ROGER STONE DID NOTHING WRONG. SUPPORTING TRUMP IS NOT A CRIME. THE LEFT WANTS US DEAD. THE LEFT WANTS US IN PRISON. THE LEFT WANTS US SILENT."

Jackson's order isn’t a blanket prohibition on anyone posting comments about Stone's case, but it says that Stone can't indirectly comment "by having statements made publicly on his behalf." To the extent his known associates — people he told the judge were doing work for him — continue to go on the attack, it could raise questions about compliance with Jackson's order, even if Stone himself isn't talking.

Engels declined a request to discuss his relationship with Stone, directing BuzzFeed News to an article about him in the Daily Beast titled, "Meet Jacob Engels, Roger Stone's Mini-Me." Tarrio, Perez, and Whyte did not return requests for comment.

Stone has embraced the Proud Boys. He's posted photos on Instagram of himself with various chapters. In December, the Proud Boys website posted a video of Stone with Tarrio delivering a message to the group: "Keep the faith. Don't let them wear you down — the globalists, the two-party duopoly, Robert Mueller, the deep state, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post. They want to wear us down. Never give up the fight. We will prevail."

Although the Proud Boys officially say they aren't white supremacists — their website proclaims that “‘Western chauvinist' includes all races, religions, and sexual preferences" — there is overlap within its member base. The Miami New Times documented racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBT social media posts from Proud Boys members, along with violent misogyny. In October, members of the Proud Boys brawled with far-left "anti-fascist" protesters in New York City.

According to the Daily Beast profile of Engels earlier this month, he first met Stone in 2013 through his work with Young Republicans groups. The two men are close; Engels has come to DC for Stone's appearances. In November, Engels tweeted a photo of himself and Stone at the beach, shirtless, displaying their tattoos — Stone famously has former president Richard Nixon's face in the middle of his back, and Engels has former president Andrew Jackson's face on his right shoulder.

Engels appears on Infowars, and runs a website called the Central Florida Post, which includes a mix of conservative-leaning journalism and articles about movies, television, and pop culture. He's used the site to support Stone — in a Jan. 14 piece noting Stone-focused content on Saturday Night Live, Engels concluded with a pitch for Stone's legal defense fund. The day before Stone’s latest court appearance and the new gag order, Stone posted on Instagram directing his supporters to follow Engels “to get the latest updates on my trial and the fake news assault on me #rogerstonedidnothingwrong#trump #maga #freerogerstone.”

Stone appeared in court Thursday to address a now-deleted Feb. 18 Instagram post that featured a photo of Jackson. In the corner of the image, there was a symbol that resembled crosshairs — Stone said he’d thought it was a Celtic occult symbol, and it appeared to be the logo of another website. In the message of the Instagram post, he criticized Jackson for rejecting his bid to get the case assigned to a different judge. He removed it after fielding questions about whether the image was meant as a threat against Jackson.

Stone insisted that wasn't his intent, and his lawyers filed a written apology with the court. At Thursday's hearing, Stone repeatedly apologized to the judge, saying he was "kicking myself over my stupidity." But Jackson was unimpressed, saying she thought his apology "rings quite hollow." She had previously given Stone leeway to talk about his case, but she imposed a new order barring him from speaking publicly about it or special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Jackson made clear that Stone could still solicit donations for his legal defense fund and proclaim his innocence, and so far Stone has done that on Instagram and Facebook. On Friday, he posted a photo on Instagram of himself and his wife walking hand-in-hand outside the federal courthouse in DC, with the message: "Mrs. Stone and I want to thank so many of you for your thoughts and prayers. it is a very challenging and difficult time for us. I need your help to clear my name. Please visit StoneDefenseFund.com."

Shortly after Stone's hearing before Jackson on Thursday, a Twitter account called @MrRogerStone posted a message denouncing the judge's decision as "absurd." The tweet was later deleted, and Stone told BuzzFeed News that he did not run the account and didn't know who did. The account was eventually removed for impersonation, according to Twitter. Stone was banned from Twitter in October 2017 after going on a profanity-laden rant against CNN.

In court last week, Stone didn't share many details about what his volunteers do for him — he told the judge that they perform "a lot of the clerical work" — but he said Engels had access to his Instagram account, Whyte posted to his Facebook account, and that multiple people had access to his phone. In a recent podcast taping with Stone, Perez said he was managing Stone’s social media accounts. Stone said in court that he couldn't remember who he was with or who besides Engels had his phone on the day he posted the Instagram post of Jackson, saying his house was "like a headquarters."

"People come and go. They're all part of the same group," Stone said. "It's a revolving situation."

 

[Howl]

Quote

What it boils down to is that McCabe admitted that there aren't two separate investigations, one into Russian meddling and one into obstruction of justice. Instead, there is only one investigation, a counterintelligence investigation, and Trump's name was added to it. And if his name was added to a counterintelligence investigation, that amounts to them saying they have reason to believe he's an agent for Russia. I know we've suspected that all along, but for the FBI to acknowledge that is a big deal, because their suspicions are not based on rumor but on facts. And that investigation was handed over to Mueller.

Oy, this is bigly yuge. 

However, the FBI has never adequately explained, at least to my satisfaction, why they withheld information on Russian interference from the public  + Comey coming out just before the election to talk about renewed investigation of Hillary's emails (Anthony Weiner's laptop) gave the election to Trump, IMHO. 

Anyway, my understanding is that FBI opened their investigation around August 2, 2016, after two FBI agents reported on their meeting with the Australian ambassador to discuss the ambassador's account of  a drunken George Papadopoulos spilling the beans on emails. 

The investigation into Hillary's emails was wrapped up a few days before, at the end of July 2016. 

[onekidanddone]

57 minutes ago, Howl said:

 a drunken George Papadopoulos spilling the beans on emails. 

I've drunk dialed my ex's brother and still get squigey with embarrassment when I think about it. I never committed a crime and then admitted it to a foreign power. So all and all my screw up isn't all that bad.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

11 hours ago, Howl said:

However, the FBI has never adequately explained, at least to my satisfaction, why they withheld information on Russian interference from the public

The answer to this part of your question is because McTurtle forbad it. Not directly to the FBI, but he told the WH not to make it public, because election interference, or something like that. I don't remember exactly where I read/heard this though (I think it was on TRMS, but i'm not sure). I'll have to look it up.

[GreyhoundFan]

We all need a little Onion humor:

 

[AmazonGrace]

The Mueller report might yet end up sugarcoating things.

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

If Trunps presidency isn’t proof that our system is so corrupt it’s beyond fixing idk what is.  

Forget the investigations, his own public words and actions should have him impeached for incompetence.  

We have another 6 years of this shit and then it will get even worse.

[fraurosena]

24 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

The Mueller report might yet end up sugarcoating things.

 

The truth is, I don't really know what to make of Rosenstein. He seems to have been instrumental in the firing of Comey. He's a Republican (still, with everything we know about them -- and he assuredly knows much, much more). He was instrumental in the appointment of the special counsel (not sure if he was the one that chose Mueller for the role). So he's pretty contradictory, from what we know of him. I'm very much on the fence with my opinion of him. That said, I don't think this journalist is being fair.

I do not see anything strange or pro-presidunce in that quoted statement in the second tweet. Rosenstein is just stating standard procedures and self-evident facts and isn't even referring to the Mueller report "...not to comment on any particular case." So I'm not attaching any negative judgement on that bit of text. There's a journalistic trick to make something seem. Sentences are bolded and called to your attention, and that makes you draw a certain 'obvious' conclusion. But unbold those sentences and read them in their proper context (maybe the whole speech even) and suddenly that conclusion isn't necessarily that obvious at all.

The quote in the first tweet seems on its face to say the presidunce deserves credit for appointing certain people. Well, that could actually be true. Maybe the presidunce appointed someone who is going to prove to be his downfall. Mueller-pal Barr, perchance? Note that this is my conjecture based on this tiny piece of text only, and it contains quite a bit of wishful thinking. 

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

36 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

The truth is, I don't really know what to make of Rosenstein. He seems to have been instrumental in the firing of Comey. He's a Republican (still, with everything we know about them -- and he assuredly knows much, much more). He was instrumental in the appointment of the special counsel (not sure if he was the one that chose Mueller for the role). So he's pretty contradictory, from what we know of him. I'm very much on the fence with my opinion of him. That said, I don't think this journalist is being fair.

I do not see anything strange or pro-presidunce in that quoted statement in the second tweet. Rosenstein is just stating standard procedures and self-evident facts and isn't even referring to the Mueller report "...not to comment on any particular case." So I'm not attaching any negative judgement on that bit of text. There's a journalistic trick to make something seem. Sentences are bolded and called to your attention, and that makes you draw a certain 'obvious' conclusion. But unbold those sentences and read them in their proper context (maybe the whole speech even) and suddenly that conclusion isn't necessarily that obvious at all.

The quote in the first tweet seems on its face to say the presidunce deserves credit for appointing certain people. Well, that could actually be true. Maybe the presidunce appointed someone who is going to prove to be his downfall. Mueller-pal Barr, perchance? Note that this is my conjecture based on this tiny piece of text only, and it contains quite a bit of wishful thinking. 

 

None of us know how this will shake out, but your posts give me much needed hope.

Thank you.

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

About the NRA:  https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/nra-russia-maria-butina-putin-crimea/