COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Dirty Cop, James Comey, Update:

58 comments:

  1. .

    Interesting

    Democrats say they have deal with Trump on young immigrants

    WASHINGTON — The top House and Senate Democrats said Wednesday they had reached agreement with President Donald Trump to protect thousands of younger immigrants from deportation and fund some border security enhancements — not including Trump's long-sought border wall.

    The deal announced by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi following a White House dinner would enshrine protections for the nearly 800,000 immigrants brought illegally to this country as kids who had benefited from former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The program provided temporary work permits and protection from deportation.

    Trump ended the program earlier this month and had given Congress six months to come up with a legislative fix before the statuses of the so-called "Dreamers" begin to expire.

    "We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that's acceptable to both sides," Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.

    It was the second time in two weeks that Trump cut out Republicans to reach a deal with Pelosi and Schumer...


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I fail to see yet evidence of Trump as a great deal maker.

      All I want out of a deal is a tax cut, then I may start to believe.

      Delete
  2. President Trump's top spokesperson said Tuesday that federal prosecutors should consider bringing a case against former FBI Director James Comey.

    White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a press briefing Tuesday that it's up to the Justice Department to prosecute Comey, but said that the move "should be looked at."

    ...

    "I think there is no secret Comey by his own self-admission leaked privileged government information weeks before president trump fired him Comey testified that an FBI agent engaged in the same practice would face serious repercussions," Sanders added. "His actions were improper.

    ReplyDelete
  3. At about the 6:30 mark or so there was some talk of Comey and a 'beard' ?

    I listed twice, each time the word, I think it was 'beard' was mentioned, twice.

    I can't recall anything about Comey wearing a beard.

    Maybe I need a hearing aid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Something about Comey wearing a beard.

      Maybe I'm nuts.

      See if you can make it out.

      Delete

    2. There is no question, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you are certifiably insane.

      Delete
    3. yes, Ms. Rat. That's why you have the hots for him.

      Delete
    4. Ms. rat's sperm count has been undetectable since the woman 'dropped the kid' in USA and fled Ms. rat to seek safety in Central America, and he began living in his mom's basement.

      MOME's sperm count is, like that of Deuce, 'off the charts on the high side'.

      Delete
    5. Jeez, that makes psycho ass the only one here without any sperm count whatsoever.

      So sad.

      Delete
    6. He could buy some from Quirkie, he's got boat loads, but he prolly don't have any money, less he stole it from his mom, and Quirkie isn't runnin' a sperm charity, except what he unloads on me.

      Delete
    7. Beard

      A female or male(though,mainly female) who is used as a cover-up for a homosexual.

      Delete
  4. Damn straight !

    Ted Cruz: Damn right you should have a sex toy in your bedroom if you want one

    ALLAHPUNDIT Sep 13, 2017 8:31 PM

    “Consenting adults should be able to do whatever they want in their bedrooms.


    https://hotair.com/archives/2017/09/13/ted-cruz-damn-right-sex-toy-bedroom-want-one/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mucho bad imagery there, amigo.

      Delete
    2. Any toy and Ted Cruz are bad visuals. You can think of a good visual with Ted Cruz and a sex toy? Whoa, Nellie.

      Delete
    3. Ted Cruz and a sex robot is bad imagery ?

      Well, er, yes, it is.

      Delete
  5. Hillary Clinton has said she believes James Comey swung the election in favour of Donald Trump, saying that the former FBI director “forever changed history”.

    ...

    “It stopped my momentum,” she said, in an interview on CNN to promote her new book, What Happened.

    ...

    "It was hard for me to comfort somebody who was coming to me and saying, 'Oh, I wish I had done more,' or, 'I'm sorry I didn't vote' because I think this was one of the most consequential elections that we have faced in a long time."

    ReplyDelete
  6. What's Truth ?

    RT, Sputnik and Russia’s New Theory of War

    How the Kremlin built one of the most powerful information weapons of the 21st century — and why it may be impossible to stop.
    Читать статью по-русски

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/magazine/rt-sputnik-and-russias-new-theory-of-war.html?smid=tw-share&referer=https://t.co/WPncijc8dz?amp=1

    Pooty once worked chauffeuring Ted Turner around Moscow, Russia.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Department of Justice won’t allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to interview two top FBI officials, Carl Ghattas and James Rybicki, about the circumstances surrounding former FBI Director James Comey’s dismissal in May, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

    ...

    Mueller is also examining a letter written by Trump outlining his reasons for firing Comey that was heavily edited, and ultimately blocked, by White House counsel Don McGahn.

    ReplyDelete

  8. Russia is about to kick off a war game that is freaking out NATO — Here's what we know

    Business Insider

    "People are worried this is a Trojan horse," US Army Gen. Ben Hodges told Reuters in July. "They say, 'We're just doing an exercise,' and then all of a sudden they've moved all these people and capabilities somewhere."

    NorKs feel that way about US/South Korean war games ...
    Seems there is some goose/gander hypocrisy coming home to roost

    http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-about-to-kick-off-a-war-game-that-is-freaking-out-nato-2017-9

    ReplyDelete

  9. Donald Trump: The Wall Is Actually Just Renovation of Old Fences


    Donald J. Trump

    @realDonaldTrump

    The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.
    3:20 AM - Sep 14, 2017


    The president confirmed the fears of many supporters who worry that his campaign promise of a single “great wall” of “hardened concrete” and “rebar and steel” would go unfulfilled.

    Mr Bannon now refers to Mr Trump as ...
    "Amnesty Don"



    ReplyDelete

  10. 'If they have to go higher, they’ll go higher'
    :
    Trump floats a tax increase on wealthy in bipartisan meeting


    http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-taxes-on-rich-higher-rate-individual-2017-9

    "The rich will not be gaining at all with this plan," Trump said.
    "We are looking for the middle class and we are looking for jobs — jobs being the economy. So we’re looking at middle class and we’re looking at jobs."


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A tax cut won't do anything for jh, he's never had any income.

      Might possibly help his mom, tho.

      Delete
  11. September 14, 2017
    Will Hurricane Irma be the death of the Castroite regime? Photos show angry protests starting...
    By Monica Showalter

    Could Hurricane Irma take down the communist military dictatorship in Cuba? Some amazing photos, several of them from the Babalu blog, show thousands of angry Cubans gathering and protesting on the hurricane-ravaged streets of Havana.



    Cuba was slammed by Hurricane Irma, and Cubans have been protesting the failure of the government to give them any assistance after tens of thousands of them lost their shambling homes and all their meager possessions, whereupon they were thrown out on the streets of the already decayed, crumbling capital city. It didn't take much to blow that shambling rat trap of a city over – and Irma was a monster. What's more, news had to have spread through Havana and beyond that the Castroite princelings partied royally with "mojitos, caviar, squid, and salmon," in a church, no less, celebrating Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, Vírgen de la Caridad, while millions of Cubans suffered under the terrifying storm.


    All of this was ignored by the mainstream media, which are under Castro's thumb, refusing to report anything but good news about the regime or else lose their visas.

    It's too soon to say whether such protests really can bring down the hellish communist regime. Protests over nearly 20 years have done nothing for Venezuela's beleaguered citizens under the socialist dictatorship there, and Venezuela is a Cuban satellite.

    All the same, natural disasters have been known to be the beginning of regime change in many places – a relatively recent one was the advent of the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua following a devastating earthquake in 1972. The Sandinista revolution didn't happen overnight, but it did happen.

    The sense of there being nothing better coming and the despair of a slow response often do lead to revolutionary regime change. Cubans as of now have been left to fend for themselves in the rubble. What do they have to lose?

    As Ziva Sahl over at Babalu puts it:

    Imagine:

    No local police to help
    No government support
    No building supplies
    No electricity, some for over a year
    No fresh water
    No Mercy
    No Freedom

    What would you do?

    Go see the photos and reports here.


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/will_hurricane_irma_be_the_death_of_the_castroite_regime_photos_show_angry_protests_starting.html#ixzz4sgSf9iB9

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. here

      Breaking: Cubans take to the street in protest of conditions in Havana
      September 13, 2017 by Ziva Sahl

      Today, Cubans took to the streets in response to the inaction of authorities after spending days without water or electricity in addition to the other shortages. As stated on the Antunez Resistencia Facebook Page:
      “Esta sonada manifestación tuvo lugar hoy en la habana , no contra Irma sino contra el huracán mas criminal y desastroso de todos, el huracán castro comunismo”
      (This protest took place today not against hurricane Irma, but against the most criminal and disastrous hurricane of all, the Hurricane Castro Communism.)


      http://babalublog.com/2017/09/13/breaking-cubans-take-to-the-street-in-protest-of-conditions-in-havana/

      Delete
  12. SKorea delegation asks Washington for nuclear weapons....DRUDGE

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/09/14/a-south-korean-delegation-asks-washington-for-nuclear-weapons/?utm_term=.bdc80555b47f

    ReplyDelete
  13. September 14, 2017
    Photo evidence: Media hyping hurricane damage to the Keys
    By Russ Vaughn

    ....The way I know this is that NOAA has posted high-resolution satellite photography on the web that allows Keys homeowners to check out their property. Using this tool, I have been up and down the Keys, an area I know fairly well, having worked there for years, and the damage I have found is far from the total devastation being described by the media. There is plenty of marine damage, as is to be expected from any hurricane, but the home damage is limited. And if you go down to Key West, the population center of the Keys, you will see even less destruction.

    Doubt me? See for yourself: NOAA High Resolution Aerial View of Florida Keys. Use the plus and minus and your mouse or arrow keys to navigate the map.


    One caveat: This satellite view does not include Cudjoe Key, which is reportedly heavily damaged, but I remain skeptical. From what we can see, there are lots of boats blown about, carried ashore by wind and storm surge, but that's expected from even small hurricanes. There is indeed total destruction of some mobile homes, but even there, more mobile homes in the same parks are still intact and standing. Look at site-built homes, and you will find only roof damage, although I'm sure there are missing shutters, fences, and decks washed away. The point is, there is absolutely nothing in those Keys that constitutes the total devastation the media are hawking.

    A lesson learned decades ago: never, ever trust the mainstream media on politics or hurricanes.



    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/photo_evidence_media_hyping_hurricane_damage_to_the_keys.html#ixzz4sge8mmrm

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nurses admired the size of a dead patient’s genitals — then opened a body bag to look

    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article171482987.html#storylink=related_inline

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheered me up so much I came back to life.

      Delete
  15. Patient with item stuck in genitals was photographed by ‘ton’ of hospital workers, report says

    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article173319536.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Miami Herald leaves us with an unidentified 'item', frustrating millions across the USA.

      Very poor reporting.

      Delete
    2. Who, what, when, where, how.....

      Delete
    3. Quirk's School of Journalism, LLC, teaching out of Detroit, Michigan on line, always insists on drumming into it's graduates heads -

      The bloody details, Ladies and Gentlemen, the bloody details sell copy

      Delete
    4. More good news for Quirk -

      STUDY: Bald Men More Attractive, Dominant....DRUDGE

      http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/09/14/bald-attractive-dominant-study/

      "perceived as more attractive, dominant"

      Delete
  16. Raindrops, dry streets:

    https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/downtown-truckee-california

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very light melty sleet.

      I saw a lone pedestrian using the cross walk !

      Wow !

      Delete
    2. You do get lucky from time to time.

      Delete
    3. Two pedestrians just crossed the right side cross walk, then stopped and are jawing for awhile.

      People are nice in Truckee.

      Delete
    4. Very heavy pedestrian day in Beautiful Downtown Truckee.

      Delete
  17. Hillary is a sicko -

    September 14, 2017
    Hillary's disorder: Why is no one admitting the obvious?
    By Patricia McCarthy

    As Hillary Clinton makes the rounds to sell her book on any television program or venue that will have her, it becomes clearer and clearer that by electing Donald Trump, the country saved itself from certain disaster. So why is no one saying what is patently obvious? Mrs. Clinton is a classic narcissist. She has narcissistic personality disorder.

    There's a reason narcissists don't learn from mistakes and that's because they never get past the first step which is admitting that they made one. It's always an assistant's fault, an adviser's fault, a lawyer's fault. Ask them to account for a mistake any other way and they'll say, 'what mistake?'" –Jeffrey Kluger

    As she is interviewed by one person after another, she blames countless other people for her 2016 election loss. Her list of reasons that she lost is endless, but she is not on it. The extent to which she holds others responsible is mind-numbing, and yet her interviewers sit there listening to her never-ending grievances against others and pretend the woman is sane. She clearly is not.

    There are nine essential traits of a narcissist, each of which describes HRC to a tee:

    1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance.
    2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
    3. Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
    4. Requires excessive admiration [regularly fishes for compliments and is highly susceptible to flattery].
    5. Has a sense of entitlement.
    6. Is interpersonally exploitative.
    7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling [or, I would add, unable] to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
    8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
    9. Shows arrogant, haughty [rude and abusive] behaviors or attitudes.


    Two additional traits are that the things a narcissist most desires are money and power.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those old enough to have followed Mrs. Clinton's career from the beginning know that all of the symptoms above are part and parcel of her personality. As first lady of Arkansas, as first lady of the U.S., and as secretary of state, she exhibited each of the traits listed above. She took for granted that she would win the election. It never crossed her mind that Donald Trump could or would defeat her. She had no concession speech prepared. She was to deliver her acceptance speech under the real and metaphorical glass ceiling of the Javits Center the night of her victory. Fireworks were deployed over the Hudson River that night to celebrate.

      There was, in her mind and the minds of her supporters, not a chance she would lose. Then she did. Her behavior since has been appalling. She has not a gracious bone in her body. Why? Because narcissists are never grateful for anything or to anyone. They are entirely self-focused and toxic.

      So now she is speaking out anywhere and to anyone who will listen to her grumbling, accusatory complaints about those she blames for her loss. The woman is pathetic in every sense of the word. She is both deplorable and pitiable. Her disorder is so obvious with every successive interview that it is a wonder that so far, not one of these so-called journalists has challenged her. She dismisses her many breaches of the law as insignificant because she believes she is above the law. Matt Lauer did ask if her own self-inflicted wounds were enough to cause her loss; she said no! She may well be the most self-unaware woman on the planet.

      President Obama was a classic narcissist himself and often as self-unaware as Ms. Clinton. But she has, since her loss, put her disorder on public display in a manner that is truly embarrassing. She complains about the tragedy of Benghazi hurting her politically without mentioning those who died, a classic lack of empathy. Those victims do not enter her mind beyond being inconvenient to her campaign.

      She indicts the media, who were wholly on her side; Bernie Sanders, who was the most docile primary opponent she could have wished for; and James Comey, who was determined to keep her out of legal jeopardy. She blames sexism, misogyny, even white supremacism! It is a sad spectacle. Why is no one within her family or circle of friends stopping her? They must see what everyone else sees: a woman so convinced of her own superiority that she is entirely comfortable blaming a host of outside factors for her loss. She actually seems to believe she won but for Russia, Comey, Fox News, etc. etc.

      Thankfully, Hillary lost the election because she was terrible candidate without a defined set of policies. Obama's policies were her policies, and Obama's policies did terrible damage to this country. Hillary's agenda is the promotion of Hillary – that and nothing more. She cares not one bit about the American people or the nation as founded. She even reveals in her book that she completely missed the point of Orwell's 1984. She thinks it is a paean to the justifiable authoritarianism of an elite leadership class, that its meaning is to trust big government! That is how not bright Mrs. Clinton is.

      On her book tour, she is demonstrating to all that the United States dodged a nuke when they did not elect her.

      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/hillarys_disorder_why_is_no_one_admitting_the_obvious.html


      Delete
  18. Things are becoming serious -

    KIM LAUNCHES ANOTHER OVER JAPAN
    SOUTH MAKES CASE FOR NUKES
    WORLD WAR 3 FEARS RISE....DRUDGE RED HEADLINES

    ReplyDelete
  19. BORIS Johnson vowed punish Kim Jong-un who has “defied the world” as he met America’s top diplomat for crunch talks about North Korea.

    The tough talk came as the rogue state threatened to “sink” Japan with a nuke.

    ...

    Tensions in the region heightened after a North Korean committee said: “The four islands of the Japanese archipelago should be sunken into the sea by a nuclear bomb.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another Johnson -

      You Tube:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnk0tIqsbYM

      One should always live on a continent, it's much safer.

      Islands suck.

      Delete
    2. I'm not a Johnson.

      Delete
  20. Perhaps...perhaps....we should start thinking about sinking four or so Nork submarines right after the sun goes down and the wind is blowing when they are undersea in a deep part of the ocean ?

    In a plausibly deniable way.

    They are attempting to put, or already have put, missiles on them.

    The Donald is speaking at the UN next week.

    Should be an interesting speech.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Perhaps we should give the nukes to the S. Koreans they have been asking of us, too.

    ReplyDelete
  22. O Canada !

    Trudeau: Opposition to “anti-Islamophobia” motion is sexism

    SEPTEMBER 13, 2017 3:09 PM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that some of the opposition to Islamophobia legislation was an example of sexism.

    It could not be further from the truth that sexism is in any way involved in opposing MP Iqra Khalid’s anti-Islamophobia motion M-103.


    A private member’s motion was passed in March by female Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid, that identified a “public climate of hate and fear” in Canada and demanded that Islamophobia be treated as a hate crime and be subject to prosecution under the Canadian criminal code.

    Scrutiny and criticism of any religion has never been deemed a crime in the West. If Islam is to be treated equally, then it should not be immune from criticism. Given the global crimes against humanity committed by jihadists and Islamic supremacists today, it is fundamental to scrutinize Islam. The Indonesian Muslim scholar Yahya Cholil Staquf, general secretary of the 50-million-member Nahdlatul Ulama, stated:

    “Stop pretending that orthodox Islam and violence aren’t linked…The West must stop ascribing any and all discussion of these issues to “Islamophobia.” Or do people want to accuse me — an Islamic scholar — of being an Islamophobe too?”

    The inconvenient truth is that Islamic supremacists globally are persecuting Christians on a genocidal scale; killing other Muslims deemed not Muslim enough (over 11 million since 1948); abusing minorities and women; seeking to obliterate the Jewish state of Israel; and infiltrating Western nations (which they consider part of the House of War). Infidels are beheaded, an alarming number of “white girls” in the U.K. are raped and abused by Muslim grooming gangs because of their race and creed; gays are thrown off rooftops; beheadings and stonings are still sanctioned for crimes in Sharia states; women are worth less than men under the Sharia; FGM is practiced routinely worldwide; it is blasphemy to criticize or mock Muhammad; and it is illegal to challenge the Sharia, as it is regarded as divine law.

    Questioning and public scrutiny of Islam are not the same as attacking all Muslims, and to criminalize so-called “Islamophobia” is an affront to democratic principles; free speech is a cornerstone of any free society. Canadians are not hatemongers, but are generally peaceful, accepting and tolerant. To impose anti-Islamophobia motion M-103 is a sad commentary on what the Trudeau government thinks of Canadians.

    If Iqra Khalid’s Motion M-103 had been presented explicitly as an anti-Muslim bigotry motion, chances are high that Canadians would have accepted this motion, despite the fact that Jews and blacks are the biggest targets of hate crimes; but Khalid was rigid on that motion being an “anti-Islamophobia” one; thus dividing a once peaceful country. “Anti-Muslim bigotry” is prejudice and intolerance against Muslims; “Islamophobia” has been used in the same way, but also to refer to criticism of Islam. The claim is that to have any concern about any aspect of Islam (however justified) is to target Muslims; therefore one must not criticize it. M103 also declares Islam to not be connected to violence, intolerance and hate. It is important also to recall that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has an entire Observatory aimed at compelling Western states to criminalize “Islamophobia.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is not sexism against her to oppose motion M-103. To suggest such a thing is grasping at straws.



      “Trudeau: Opposition To ‘Islamophobia’ Law An Example Of Sexism”, by David Krayden, Daily Caller, September 12, 2017:

      Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that some of the opposition to Islamophobia legislation was an example of sexism.

      Speaking Friday to a Women in the World conference in Toronto, Trudeau took aim at the official opposition Conservatives and accused them of not recognizing gender equality.

      A private member’s motion was passed in March by female Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid, that identified a “public climate of hate and fear” in Canada and demanded that Islamophobia be treated as a hate crime and be subject to prosecution under the Canadian criminal code.

      “Women who have made it, who have succeeded, who have gotten elected are now two years into it and wondering ‘Is this really what I signed up for?’ because of the nastiness, because of the negativity,” Trudeau said, according to the Canadian Press.

      He said the Toronto-area Liberal MP “ended up experiencing death threats and a level of online violence and commentary and viral videos against her that were quite terrifying.”

      Khalid went through a “very difficult time” and considered resigning as an MP, Trudeau said. Critics of her motion said it would be a threat to free speech in Canada.

      Trudeau also suggested that the Conservatives are also exhibiting more “pushback” than are U.S. negotiators to the prime minister’s insistence that gender equality and climate change issues be enshrined in a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement.

      “The pushback we’re getting is actually not from south of the border, the pushback we’re getting is from Canadian Conservatives who said ‘Oh no this is about economics, it’s about jobs. … It’s not about rhetorical flourishes of being good on environment or being good on gender,’” Trudeau said.

      Trudeau suggested the Conservatives are a “supposedly responsible political party…that still doesn’t get that gender equality is a fundamental economic issue”……

      https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/09/trudeau-opposition-anti-islamophobia-motion-sexism

      Delete
  23. NORTH Korea has launched an unidentified missile eastwards from its capital city, Pyongyang.

    Japanese authorities put out an emergency alert saying the missile flew over Hokkaido just after 8am AEST.

    ...

    South Korean and US militaries are analysing details of the launch, and the South’s presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security meeting following the launch.

    Seoul’s military carried out a ballistic missile drill of its own on Friday in the East Sea, Korea’s name for the Sea of Japan, the Yonhap news agency reported.


    ReplyDelete
  24. :):):) - The roots in D.C. are deep, and entangled - :):):)

    Mueller work for Flynn-linked company not listed on ethics disclosure....DRUDGE

    Mueller briefly did legal work for a company involved with Flynn

    By Evan Perez, CNN Justice Correspondent
    Updated 5:28 PM ET, Thu September 14, 2017

    STORY HIGHLIGHTS
    A spokesman for Mueller told CNN that Mueller did litigation work last year for IronBridge
    It's not clear whether the legal work for IronBridge would constitute a conflict for Mueller's handling of the Flynn investigation


    Washington (CNN)Special Counsel Robert Mueller briefly did some legal work for a company that was part of a Middle East energy and arms project pushed by Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who Mueller is now investigating as part of the Russian meddling probe.

    A spokesman for Mueller told CNN that Mueller did litigation work last year for the entity, called IronBridge, while Mueller was a partner at the WilmerHale law firm. He said the IronBridge work wasn't listed in Mueller's ethics disclosure form released last month by the Justice Department because it didn't meet the threshold for which disclosure is required. Mueller's filing listed multiple major legal clients including Facebook, Apple, Sony Pictures and the National Football League.

    "The reporting requirement for public financial disclosure reports requires that you report any source that paid more than $5,000 for your personal services in any calendar year," said Peter Carr, a spokesman for the Special Counsel. "In June 2016 while at Wilmer Hale, Mr. Mueller spent less than half an hour on an IronBridge litigation matter that was handled by another partner. That amount did not meet the reporting requirement."

    An attorney for Flynn declined to comment.

    IronBridge was one of several consulting companies that were working on the proposed business deal, partnering with the Saudi government and Rosatom, Russia's government-run nuclear energy agency, to build nuclear energy plants in Saudi Arabia.

    An attorney representing IronBridge CEO Michael Hewitt didn't immediately respond to a request seeking to clarify whether Mueller's work for IronBridge was connected to the Middle East energy project.

    Democrats in Congress this week sent a letter to Mueller accusing Flynn of failing to disclose a trip he took to push the project, which they alleged would be a legal violation. Mueller has not responded and it is not clear whether the nuclear plants are part of the special counsel investigation.

    Hewitt's attorney sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers in July, saying "our clients are not aware of any monetary payments made by IronBridge Group, Inc. or IP3 Corporation to Lieutenant General Michael Flynn."
    IronBridge was formed in June 2016, according to Hewitt's attorney, around the time that Mueller did the IronBridge litigation work.

    It's not clear whether the legal work for IronBridge would constitute a conflict for Mueller's handling of the Flynn investigation.

    The Justice Department has said it reviewed Mueller's past work at WilmerHale and didn't find any conflicts related to his appointment as special counsel. It's not clear whether the IronBridge work was part of that review....

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/politics/mueller-flynn-legal-work-ironbridge/index.html

    ReplyDelete
  25. Tucker and VIPS

    Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

    Former NSA Official: Dems' Russia Hacking Story Likely Bogus

    http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/08/14/russian-hacking-2016-election-nsa-member-says-trump-story-false

    ReplyDelete