Tag: Trump

A mysterious gift from a Russian oligarch

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

Emin Agalarov whose family is close to Vladimir Putin is at the center of the latest controversy

This is a very interesting story:

One day after Trump’s campaign chairman and top brass sat down in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer billed as having dirt on Hillary Clinton in June 2016, Trump received a birthday present. It was from Aras Agalarov, the Azerbaijani-Russian oligarch whose son helped arrange the meeting.

The gift was an expensive painting. And Trump declared himself dazzled.

“I’m rarely at a loss for words, but right now I can only say how much I appreciate your friendship and to thank you for this fantastic gift,” Trump gushed to Agalarov in a thank-you note sent a week later. “This is one birthday that I will always remember.”

The painting and Trump’s response are among fresh details that emerged from a report released Friday by Democrats on the House intelligence committee about Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Specifically, the report suggests preparations for the June 2016 meeting were more involved than Trump’s team has admitted, and that communications between the Trump and Agalarov clans were deeper than previously thought.

Did you know buying expensive art is one popular way to launder money? Curiouser and curiouser…

Is Cheeto a Russian agent?

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

2017 Hot Wheels Spy vs. Spy '66 Dodge A100

John Schindler at The Observer weighs in. Go read the whole thing:

But is Donald Trump actually a Russian agent? To the eyes of a veteran counterintelligence hand, the answer to that question is: Not exactly. Trump is far too psychologically unstable and personally compromised to be deemed a good fit for clandestine work by the KGB (or any serious spy service). However, Trump gives every appearance of being a longtime agent of influence, to use the proper Chekist term, that is a person (often a high-flyer in business or politics) to be exploited as a conduit for pro-Kremlin propaganda.

Agents of influence are frequently not on the Chekist payroll, strictly speaking, though they are often given sweetheart deals by Moscow as payment for services rendered. The classic American case was Armand Hammer, a son of Jewish immigrants from Odessa made good with an impressive business empire, Occidental Petroleum; in fact, Hammer’s start in business was arranged by Kremlin spies, and his KGB sponsorship was barely hidden during the Cold War. He was an unfailing public advocate for Moscow and, embarrassingly, his political connections in Washington, which were substantial, ran through Democratic Senators Al Gore Sr. and Jr., who took significant donations from Hammer that counterintelligence circles believe originated in Moscow. It’s best to think of Trump as a markedly less successful and less intelligent Armand Hammer.

This relationship began no later than the summer of 1987, when Trump visited Moscow and Leningrad, at the Kremlin’s invite, ostensibly to discuss building hotels in Russia (which, three decades on, have never materialized). In fact, Trump’s VIP visit was arranged by the KGB, as all such Cold War sojourns by Western notables were. The KGB invariably assessed whether foreign VIPs might be amenable to secret work for the Kremlin. (Two East Bloc intelligence veterans, one with direct knowledge, confirmed to me that Trump was closely watched for “operational purposes” during his 1987 visit to Moscow and Leningrad.)

Whether the KGB got anywhere with Trump in 1987 remains unknown, but it seems a remarkable coincidence that, barely a month after his return from the USSR, he made a splash by taking out newspaper ads in three major outlets, at a cost of almost $95,000, lambasting America’s allegedly free-loading allies. The plus-sized ads demanded that the United States disband the Western security system altogether, which of course was precisely what Moscow wanted. Trump’s public attacks on America’s allies thus began—and have continued to the present day.

Trump rant puts him in legal jeopardy

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Oh, what fun! Joe Scarborough was interviewing Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti this morning when they got to show a clip of Trump calling into Fox & Friends, just minutes before:

“Do you want to hear what the president said? Take a listen,” Mika Brzezinski said.

F&F: How much of your legal work was handled by Michael Cohen?

TRUMP: A percentage of the legal work, a tiny, tiny fraction, but Michael would represent me, and represent me on some things. He represents me with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal. He represented me and, you know, from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds.

F&F: Then why is he pleading the Fifth?

TRUMP: Because he’s got other things. He’s got businesses. From what I understand, they are, I hope he’s in great shape. Je’s got businesses and his lawyers probably told him to do that. I’m not involved and I’m not — I have been told I’m not involved.

“You brought up a great point. The president just admitted something, he always does this,” Scarborough said. “So, the president just said that Michael Cohen represented him on the Stormy Daniels case.”

“Another gift from the heavens in this case. They keep coming. I don’t know how I’ve fallen into such good luck in this case, but I’m going to take it,” Avenatti said.

“Joe, that’s a very dangerous, hugely damaging admission by the president. According to what he said on Air Force One, he didn’t know about the agreement or about the payoff. Michael Cohen went off and did this on a lark. Mr. Trump knew nothing about it. We now find out, that is bogus, That is a lie on Air Force One. He just admitted and tripped himself up. He admitted that Michael Cohen represented him in connection with the Stormy Daniels situation.”

“When the president contradicts himself like that on Air Force One, how does that affect your case?” Scarborough said. “He is not under oath. Yes, it’s embarrassing for him and we are pointing it out. What does that mean in terms of what you are trying to do?”

Ha, ha! Emperor Caligula trips himself up again. Legal details here.

And here’s the entire half-hour. Note the looks on the faces of the hosts as Trump talks: “Uh oh, we bought a lemon!”

Here’s Charlie Pierce’s take, too.

Buncha weinies

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Seahawks questioned Kaepernick's National Anthem intentions

Of course, the word I want to use isn’t “weinies”:

NFL owners all but agreed they were blackballing Colin Kaepernick to appease President Donald Trump, according to newly released audio recordings.

About 30 owners, players and NFL executives met for nearly three hours in October to discuss the president’s public attacks on the league and its players over silent racism protests during the national anthem, reported the New York Times.
………………………..
According to the leaked audio, players wanted to know why Kaepernick remained unsigned, despite leading the San Francisco 49ers to the 2013 Super Bowl and 2014 NFC Championship game.

“If he was on a roster right now, all this negativeness and divisiveness could be turned into a positive,” said Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Chris Long at the meeting, adding that he wouldn’t “lecture” teams on which quarterback to sign. “We all agree in this room as players that he should be on a roster.”

“The problem we have is, we have a president who will use that as fodder to do his mission that I don’t feel is in the best interests of America,” Kraft said. “It’s divisive and it’s horrible.”

V.A. nominee under fire

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

White Home physician: Trump “has completely no cognitive or psychological points”

You all remember Ronny Jackson — he’s the White House Naval physician who said how healthy Trump is, and declared him free of cognitive impairment! Now we’re getting a broader picture after Trump chose him for VA chief:

https://twitter.com/jmsummers/status/988565860318138374

https://twitter.com/Ziggy_Daddy/status/988594179713331200

Walking colon shits on Native people

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Donald Trump - Caricature

Every day, it gets worse. Every fucking day:

The Trump administration says Native Americans might need to get a job if they want to keep their health care — a policy that tribal leaders say will threaten access to care and reverse centuries-old protections.

Tribal leaders want an exemption from new Medicaid work rules being introduced in several states, and they say there are precedents for health care exceptions. Native Americans don’t have to pay penalties for not having health coverage under Obamacare’s individual mandate, for instance.

But the Trump administration contends the tribes are a race rather than separate governments, and exempting them from Medicaid work rules — which have been approved in three states and are being sought by at least 10 others — would be illegal preferential treatment. “HHS believes that such an exemption would raise constitutional and federal civil rights law concerns,” according to a review by administration lawyers.

The Health and Human Services Department confirmed it rebuffed the tribes’ request on the Medicaid rules several times. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, conveyed the decision in January, and officials communicated it most recently at a meeting with the tribes this month. HHS’ ruling was driven by political appointees in the general counsel and civil rights offices, say three individuals with knowledge of the decision.

Donald Trump, abstinence hero

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Every single time Trump has gotten married, his wives were pregnant.

And he’s famous for cheating on them. Now, keep that in perspective as you read this:

The Trump administration will shift federal funding aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates to programs that teach abstinence.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday the availability of grants through the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, (TPPP) a grant program created under former President Obama that funds organizations and programs working to reduce teen pregnancy rates.

Trump’s HHS announced, however, that unlike under the Obama administration, grants will be geared toward organizations that teach abstinence education to teens instead of the comprehensive sex ed approach the previous administration supported.

WTF is Rudy Giuliani doing on Trump’s legal team?

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

In a statement late yesterday, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow announced that Rudy Giuliani is joining Trump’s legal team, along with two former federal prosecutors, Jane Serene Raskin and Martin Raskin.

Just thought I’d remind you of a story written by the late great investigative reporter Wayne Barrett in September 2016:

Rudy and Donald first got together in the late 1980s shortly before Donald became a co-chair of Giuliani’s first fundraiser for his 1989 mayoral campaign, sitting on the Waldorf dais and steering $41,000 to the campaign. A year earlier, Tony Lombardi, the federal agent closest to then-U.S. Attorney Giuliani, opened a probe of Trump’s role in the suspect sale of two Trump Tower apartments to Robert Hopkins, the mob-connected head of the city’s largest gambling ring.

Trump attended the closing himself and Hopkins arrived with a briefcase loaded with up to $200,000 in cash, a deposit the soon-to-felon counted at the table. Despite Hopkins’ wholesale lack of verifiable income or assets, he got a loan from a Jersey bank that did business with Trump’s casino. A Trump limo delivered the cash to the bank.

The government subsequently nailed Hopkins’ mortgage broker, Frank LaMagra, on an unrelated charge and he offered to give up Donald, claiming Trump “participated” in the money-laundering — and volunteering to wear a wire on him.

Instead, Lombardi, who discussed the case with Giuliani personally (and with me for a 1993 Village Voice piece called “The Case of the Missing Case”), went straight to Donald for two hour-long interviews with him. Within weeks of the interviews, Donald announced he’d raise $2 million in a half hour if Rudy ran for mayor. Lamagra got no deal and was convicted, as was his mob associate, Louis (Louie HaHa) Attanasio, who was later also nailed for seven underworld murders. Hopkins was convicted of running his gambling operation partly out of the Trump Tower apartment, where he was arrested.

Lombardi — who expected a top appointment in a Giuliani mayoralty, conducted several other probes directly tied to Giuliani political opponents, and testified later that “every day I came to work I went to Mr. Giuliani to seek out what duties I needed to perform” — closed the Trump investigation without even giving it a case number. That meant that New Jersey gaming authorities would never know it existed.

You get the gist, right? Trump and Giuliani are old pals.

Now, what the hell is Rudy Giuliani doing on Trump’s legal team, when it’s widely believed he is a material witness in the Mueller probe? Giuliani was representing Reza Zarrab, a Turkish businessman and alleged money launderer, while Mike Flynn was also working on his behalf. He also has extensive ties to Russia.

Not to mention, everyone thought he was under investigation for his role in the October surprise.

Like Michael Cohen, Rudy is basically a fixer — but at a much higher and lucrative level. What does Trump expect Rudy to do? Lobby Congress to fire Rosenstein and Mueller? Rudy told the New York Post that he was joining the team “because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller.”

How can one person have “high regard” for Trump and Bob Mueller? Ha, ha! It’s a puzzle. What do other observers think?

https://twitter.com/ManInTheHoody/status/987090860255756288

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/987097981391392768

https://twitter.com/Anthony/status/987077377900597248

The company Michael Cohen kept — “Trump, Inc.” podcast

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

A federal judge denied Trump’s and Cohen’s request to block the DOJ from reviewing documents seized by the FBI

If you’ve seen video or images of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, they’ve probably been set in locations that exude power and importance: Cohen berating a CNN anchor in a TV studio, for example, or striding across the sleek marbled interior of Trump Tower, or more recently, smoking cigars in front of Cohen’s temporary residence, the Loews Regency Hotel on Manhattan’s Park Avenue. Continue reading “The company Michael Cohen kept — “Trump, Inc.” podcast” →