2713

TheHill: Comey won’t speak to Senate committee next week

Former FBI Director James Comey will not appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week, despite an invitation to speak behind closed doors about getting fired by President Trump.

Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) told MSNBC on Friday afternoon that Comey would not be appearing, but he hoped to have him soon. The invitation had been extended for Tuesday, a week after Trump’s shocking announcement that he was firing the director.

2714

He may be gambling that Grassley, unlike democrats, will not issue a statement contradicting the statement.

Of course, Grassely could be involved in the entire shit show.

2715
2716

It’s entirely possible that Trump is dragging this Russia stuff along just to completely screw with Democrats, since he knows that it enrages them. He’s like the Troll in Chief.

2717

First, for the sake of discussion, I am going to assume that the facts asserted in the letter by Sheri A. Dillon and William F. Nelson are at least narrowly accurate. These are the same lawyers that put together the President’s ethics plan and withdrawal from active management of his businesses. So I’m not sure they have a huge amount of credibility. But if we just assume they’re lying, there’s no point in reading the fine print. Also, I am not a lawyer. So I’ll wait for lawyers and particularly tax lawyers to offer their analysis of the fine print. But there is some factual information I think I can offer based on my own reporting – and a careful review of the reporting of other journalists – about this letter and whether it really covers all the bases we’d like to see covered.

In short, I’d say not close. Here’s the text of the letter. After the letter, I look at where the holes are.

2718
2719

Grassley? Heh.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/told-trump-clear-not-us-key-senators-say-202928995.html

Just hours after White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Trump had received assurances from a key senator that the idea of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia was a “hoax,” a spokesman for the senator, Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, denied any such conversation.

“Sen. Grassley has not spoken to President Trump about what he has learned in briefings related to investigations into Russian interference in our elections, and he has never referred to the notion of collusion as a ‘hoax,’” Grassley’s spokesman, Taylor Foy, emailed Yahoo News. Grassley is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and together with ranking minority member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has been briefed on details of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election.

2720

He denied that the president was threatening Mr. Comey. “That’s not a threat,” Mr. Spicer said. “He simply stated a fact. The tweet speaks for itself. I’m moving on.”

Mr. Comey made no comment, but later in the day he declined a request to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. According to a close associate of Mr. Comey, he is willing to testify, but wants it to be in public.

2721

Keep in mind, all of Trump (et al)'s assertions about statements from senators that “there is no collusion” stem from a willful and/or wishful (at least on the HMIC’s part) misunderstanding of the phrase “I have seen no evidence of collusion” – which of course means nothing of the sort.

I watched the last Spicer presser, and I’m frankly astonished that nobody in the room called him on that when he made the leap.

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*head moron in charge

2722

The New Yorker on how casinos are used for money laundering, and how the Trump Taj Mahal frequently failed to report suspicious transactions over the years, leading it to be fined by the Feds in 2015 (after Trump no longer owned it, but some of the violations go back to when he did.)

The article also makes one of my pet points: even if dimwit Donnie doesn’t seem likely to have been the master planner behind any complex Russian collusion scheme due to lack of brainpower, that doesn’t mean he didn’t violate the law frequently and with gusto.

2723

Dutch tv strikes http://www.alternet.org/video/donald-trumps-financial-ties-russian-oligarchs-and-mobsters-detailed-new-documentary

2724

Does anyone know if it’s at all believable/reputable/backed up by facts? As much as I hate trump, I want facts, not a constructed hit job that gives me false hope.

2725

Read an accompanying article a couple of weeks ago. Interesting stuff.

2726

So, Mensch has gone full nuclear. Or full retard. No one is sure which yet.’

2727

What does that have to do w Mensch (who, along w/ Taylor are claiming there’s a sealed indictment naming Trump). Ah, I get it…Dr. Who reference?

Pretty sweet to think of a Trump taken down by Daredevil, tho.

The problem with this kind of story is who the hell knows what it means. Even if true, might not mean a thing.

2728

Umm, last I checked only the US Congress could impeach the President. Anything else is a flight of fancy.

2729

Isn’t Daredevil busy with Kingpin?

2730

I think that tweet was meant as mockery of her latest conspiracy, which is that a sealed indictment has been granted against Trump .

2731

Why do we care what Louise Mensch says? Has she been right about something before that gives her credibility? Or is she just making shit up on the internet?

2732

We don’t. She is just making stuff up. I’ve no idea why other people take her seriously.