StrangeSox

what a giant wet fart Page has been on the FBI's radar for years going back to 2013. This was far more useful to the GOP as a way to level vague but unchallengable accusations against anyone and everyone rather than, as one Rep. put it, a middle school term paper written at 1 am the night before it's due.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 11:15 AM) Dan Lipinski is in trouble. Gillibrand's coming in for Newman, too. Planned Parenthood is supposedly going to endorse soon. EMILY'S List backed her, too. My wife's cousin did a meet-and-greet for her at their house a little while back. There's a lot of progressive energy behind her, hopefully it's enough.

Memo being released with zero redactions. Fox news getting exclusive first details. They'll probably use this to fire rosenstein, jeopardizing Mueller.

Looks like Robert Gates is getting ready to cut a plea deal. Brought a lawyer known for federal deals on recently, and just now his other there lawyers filled to be removed from the case. https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/959191427090706435 The witch hunt snags it's third guilty plea.

An Israeli investigative reporter says Trump shared more information with Russian diplomat/suspected spy Kislyak than has been publicly disclosed so far

The FBI and DOJ aren't just concerned about the propaganda aspect of this memo. They're also concerned that the memo itself exposes classified information, means and methods. Once sensitive information is out there, there's no putting that genie back in the bottle. They have instead asked that they discuss this in classified settings with the House as would be the normal procedure, but that wouldn't help the GOP political narrative. There's also going to be a limit in exactly how far anyone can go to respond given that the claims in the memo rely on information that will still be classified (and which, again, Nunes hasn't even read!). Democrats and FBI/DOJ won't be able to publicly lay out a logical counter-claim to Nunes' claims without exposing classified information.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 03:11 PM) The existence of this memo came out weeks ago. Schiff and others were trying to stifle it's release. You don't see the irony here? The memo hasn't been released. Trump is waiting on the veracity to be confirmed. If this was so partisan and ridiculous, they would have released it with a bunch of anonymous sources that can't be verified. Trump is allowing the FBI insight on redactions and his team is making sure it's factually accurate. I rarely support him but seems like he's doing the right thing here. Nothing rash. Wray not wanting it to be released does not matter one bit. He's in the FBI. If anything, him not wanting it to be released would confirm that it would create a black eye on the FBI. The FBI has stakes here. It's not shocker their head would be for protecting their interests. 1) Trump has publicly said he's going to release it, Kelly's said so, and they confirmed again today. 2) Trump has said he wants it released because it'll damage the Russia probes. 3) Trump isn't waiting for "veracity." The WH is 'reviewing' the memo over national security concerns. There's zero concern for accuracy here, and it's hilarious that anyone would believe otherwise from the Trump WH.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 03:00 PM) This is hilarious. The memo has not been released yet. You have no idea whether it's misleading or not because you haven't seen it. Your reaction shows youre afraid of it because you're running damage control before there has even been a release of the potentially damaging memo. There's been lots of reporting on what the memo contains from sources who have read it. There's been public statements by the FBI. There have been public transcripts of House hearings around the concerns about this memo and the Republican efforts to block the Democrats' response. There has been plenty of reporting surrounding the transparent politics around this. Given Nunes' own history and how many in the GOP are already trying to play this as a defense of Trump/attack on Mueller, it seems pretty clear what's going own. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Nunes, who it should be noted has not read the underlying classified material himself, has discovered a scandal "bigger than Watergate." Given that his previous claims have turned out to be fabrications, it seems fair to expect more of the same. You never did respond to earlier questions about why you'd place any trust in Nunes given his track record, or what you thought about Greenwald's take on this. I'm scared that the GOP will continue to subvert and undermine our system of government and any notion of a non-partisan justice department, and that they'll use propaganda to undermine Mueller's investigation. I'm scared that they've already trampled on so many norms and standards that our system of government relies upon to function that some of the damage is permanent. I'm scared that so many Americans are willingly going along with the propaganda and willing to turn a blind eye to the unprecedented levels of corruption. Meanwhile, here's a good piece from a fellow at CATO: Nunes's memo is a stunt. But surveillance does need more scrutiny.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 02:39 PM) The republicans actually ran this through the proper channels to get released. Now Trump is waiting for the alterations to get cleared out. Seems like they didn't botch the handling this time. The left wouldve just leaked it. Whether the followed procedure in a party line vote to get a misleading memo released says nothing about the legitimacy of the memo itself. I don't know why you thought "they followed procedure!" was at all responsive to that post.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 12:47 PM) Has StrangeSox? Have you? Republicans say it's bad for Democrats. Democrats are saying it's inaccurate. How it is it disingenuous? The day the story broke no one around here mentioned it (can't imagine why) and I brought it up. I didn't make any personal claims. I didn't say anything partisan. StrangeSox is shooting down every aspect of the memo when it hasn't even been released yet. I don't know what the gossip column at Salon is pumping into his head but I am going to wait until it's released to make any judgement. It would seem like you would need the actual document to judge it but sometimes the partisan stuff gets in the way for people. QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 12:53 PM) If the claims are true and the memo exposes corruption by the IC (more of the same from them), should the current administration just ignore that? If the claim are true, do you really find it "catastrophically moronic" for the government to reign in the unwieldy power of the corrupt intelligence agencies? I can't even believe I am reading this stuff. When did the left become the lap dogs of IC that blindly follows and defends everything they do? People are more interested in partisan team play than what is good for the country. So you're continuing to either misrepresent or misunderstand what's actually been going on here. Some Republicans are saying that it's bad for various members of the IC who happen to be key people in the Russia investigations. Some of the people making these claims have made outlandish claims to provide cover for Trump in the past that turned out to be false. Others have already had to walk back parts of their claims. The allegations aren't against "Democrats," and the main target appears to be the Deputy AG Rosenstein, who is part of the Trump administration. Democrats, along with the IC, are saying that the claims are misleading and that releasing the memo unredacted would cause serious harm. The guy who's staff put together, Nunes, hasn't even read the underlying intelligence information. Pro-Trump media and congressional members are already using the mere existence of a memo compiled by Nunes to call for an end to the Mueller investigation. Trump himself has been bragging about how this may provide an opportunity to remove Rosenstein (and thus Mueller). At the same time, Democrats have prepared their own rebuttal memo detailing the misleading and lies-by-ommissions nature of Nunes' memo, but the Republicans voted against releasing that memo publicly at the same time as theirs. They've also rejected having the DOJ and FBI come in to discuss and review the concerns and accusations prior to a public release, knowing that the concerns goes to sources and methods that are broadly applicable and not limited solely to Carter Page. Portraying this is some sort of non-partisan, earnest investigation or oversight of FBI methods is fundamentally dishonest. It's a political move designed to provide cover for Trump.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 12:47 PM) Has StrangeSox? Have you? Republicans say it's bad for Democrats. Democrats are saying it's inaccurate. How it is it disingenuous? The day the story broke no one around here mentioned it (can't imagine why) and I brought it up. I didn't make any personal claims. I didn't say anything partisan. StrangeSox is shooting down every aspect of the memo when it hasn't even been released yet. I don't know what the gossip column at Salon is pumping into his head but I am going to wait until it's released to make any judgement. It would seem like you would need the actual document to judge it but sometimes the partisan stuff gets in the way for people. you could bother to actually check out where the links I'm posting are to before making more lame personal attacks

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/all-30-m...he-2018-season/

No? It's a revised estimate based specifically on a decrease in incoming revenues due to the tax law changes.

Senator Urges Fellow Republicans to Heed Warnings on Releasing G.O.P. Memo

Trump administration strips consumer watchdog office of enforcement powers in lending discrimination cases

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 11:40 AM) Hey guess what...1 week away again. Also, thanks to the tax cuts, the government is projecting that we'll hit the debt ceiling in early March rather than late March/early April

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 11:50 AM) So have people attention to the stuff that has come out that this group at the Baltimore police department was doing, their "Gun task force"? The police will probably go to jail but they'll go to jail for defrauding the city by charging them too much overtime and stealing drug and money evidence. The other stuff is the kind of stuff that would make you question an entire department. Some of their tactics included finding crowds of african american men on the street, flooring their accelerators at the crowds, opening their doors, and chasing and arresting whoever ran away from the cars driving straight at them. They picked out certain cars, particularly hondas, as cars they'd make up excuses to pull over to search for drugs. Stopping african american males for carrying bags and arresting them if they didn't allow a search. They all also apparently carried fake guns to plant on suspects. The testimony coming out of the trial has been wild. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/...0129-story.html http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/...0130-story.html and a big twitter thread from earlier in the case here https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/955901888939032582

It's more about the transparent political motivations behind it. The Real Aim of the Nunes Memo Is the Mueller Investigation edit: it's just an obvious setup for a Saturday Night Massacre where he purges out Rosenstein and then Mueller

It was already pretty obvious that it's the whole reason it was put together, but lol that they're just going to explicitly confirm it Trump sees Nunes memo as a way to discredit the Russia investigation But Paul Ryan insisted it has nothing to do with the Mueller investigation! Weird how the entire GOP keeps lying to everyone constantly.

The Nunes memo is complete bulls***, you say? Why, how unexpected!! Former Trump Aide Carter Page Was on U.S. Counterintelligence Radar Before Russia Dossier Court documents, testimony show foreign-policy adviser was known to authorities as early as 2013

The memo almost definitely does not have accurate, damaging information on the FBI and DOJ, though. That seems pretty obvious given both their responses so far (consider that both are led by Trump appointees, not Obama-era people), and that the people who are making the accusations are known liars. I mean, these two sentences: can very easily be applied to Nunes and co., too. They've shown incentive to lie for Trump in the past, and how they're going about things now is very shady and overtly political.

Wow it's almost like all of these attacks on anyone investigating Trump are being done by proven liars in bad faith, who could have ever seen that coming?? I'm guessing these leaks are coming ahead of Nunes' memo, which the FBI all but called fabricated bulls*** and the DOJ called extremely reckless, being made public later this week in yet another attack to provide cover for Trump.

Finally: The Indians Are Replacing Their Racist Mascot Chief Wahoo With A White Woman Wearing A Native American Halloween Costume

Exclusive: Trump asked Rosenstein if he was 'on my team'

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 22, 2018 -> 03:06 PM) Itd be almost impossible for SCOTUS to get involved as the State Supreme Court is the highest court that interprets its own state laws. It can happen, but its rare. don't need SCOTUS to get involved if the President Pro Tem of the Penn. Senate just tells the court he'll ignore their ruling. https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default...26.18-Order.pdf