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Yorkie Mom

Yorkie Mom's Journal
Yorkie Mom's Journal
January 29, 2018

Just today:

Just today: Trump admin declined to impose new Russia sanctions,
a top FBI official probing Trump&Russia was forced out,
and House Intel R's voted to release a classified memo that purports to undermine Russia probe.
Also, DOJ/FBI are officially under investigation by HPSCI R's.

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/958121487805878275


Adam Schiff in press conference: "According to the majority, the FBI is under investigation and so is the Department of Justice. This is a wholesale broadside against two of our respected institutions."

January 29, 2018

Trump admin notified Congress sanctions not needed - NOT a joke. This is real

The story isn't up yet, but here are some excerpts.

The Trump admin has notified Congress that last year’s bipartisan Russia sanctions bill is serving as a “deterrent” and as such, specific sanctions aren’t needed at this time. From a State Dept spox:
https://twitter.com/eschor/status/958110759489294336

More on Russia sanctions from State Dept spox. “When and if we have sanctions to announce, we will do so. ... should sanctions be imposed, they would primarily be on non-Russian entities that are responsible for significant transactions w/Russia’s defense & intelligence sector.”
https://twitter.com/eschor/status/958112721576300545



January 29, 2018

'Dossier' firm says U.S. senator's leaks endanger its employees

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - The research firm behind the so-called Trump “dossier” accused U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Monday of endangering its employees by ignoring “multiple” requests not to publicly disclose their names.

In a letter to Grassley, which also criticized Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, lawyers for Washington-based Fusion GPS said the firm had twice reported unspecified “threats” to the police and had tried to keep its employees’ names confidential “because of well-founded concerns about their public safety.”

... snip

Fusion’s lawyers complained that the names of Fusion employees were publicly disclosed in six letters issued last week by Grassley and Senator Graham, a judiciary subcommittee chairman, although the company’s lawyers “on multiple occasions” had asked committee staff members to avoid doing so.

“Ignoring our requests, your office knowingly put these people in danger, by releasing their names to the public,” the Fusion lawyers argued. “These leaks are unauthorized and unethical.”

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fusion-letter/dossier-firm-says-u-s-senators-leaks-endanger-its-employees-idUSKBN1FI2OH?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

January 29, 2018

NBC confirms Trump is a toddler.

Trumps gripes against McCabe included wifes politics, Comeys ride home
Source: NBC News

WASHINGTON — The day after President Donald Trump fired James Comey, he became so furious watching television footage of the ousted FBI director boarding a government-funded plane from Los Angeles back to Washington, D.C. that he called the bureau’s acting director, Andrew McCabe, to vent, according to multiple people familiar with the phone call.

Trump demanded to know why Comey was allowed to fly on an FBI plane after he had been fired, these people said. McCabe told the president he hadn’t been asked to authorize Comey’s flight, but if anyone had asked, he would have approved it, three people familiar with the call recounted to NBC News.

The president was silent for a moment and then turned on McCabe, suggesting he ask his wife how it feels to be a loser
— an apparent reference to a failed campaign for state office in Virginia that McCabe’s wife made in 2015.

McCabe replied: “OK, sir.” Trump then hung up the phone.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-gripes-against-mccabe-included-wife-s-politics-comey-n842161?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
January 29, 2018

POTUS, Sessions, and yet another inappropriate conversation

Sessions is supposed to be recused from all things Russia

Why was the President discussing this with the AG who is recused from the Russia investigation? Hell, why is the President having this discussion at all with the AG and Director Wray given that it’s the subject of an ongoing IG investigation?
https://twitter.com/BradMossEsq/status/958072105215676416


From the article here:

On Flight to Davos, Trump Erupted Over DOJ Role in Russia Probe

*President is said to be angered by Justice Department warning
*Kelly reproached officials in meetings, calls last week


President Donald Trump’s frustrations with the Russia investigation boiled over on Air Force One last week when he learned that a top Justice Department official had warned against releasing a memo that could undercut the probe, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Trump erupted in anger while traveling to Davos after learning that Associate Attorney General Stephen Boyd warned that it would be “extraordinarily reckless” to release a classified memo written by House Republican staffers. The memo outlines alleged misdeeds at the FBI and Justice Department related to the Russia investigation.

For Trump, the letter was yet another example of the Justice Department undermining him and stymieing Republican efforts to expose what the president sees as the politically motivated agenda behind Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

Trump’s outburst capped a week where Trump and senior White House officials personally reproached Attorney General Jeff Sessions and asked White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to speak to others -- episodes that illustrate Trump’s preoccupation with the Justice Department, according to two of the people.

Trump warned Sessions and others they need to excel at their jobs or go down as the worst in history, the two people said.

More: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/on-flight-to-davos-trump-erupted-over-doj-role-in-russia-probe
January 29, 2018

Important clip explaining FISA extensions. Rosenstein doesn't have authority to extend surveillance

The judge does.

Here is my clip from @CNN with @JohnBerman this morning, explaining the procedural context of approving FISA extensions, which is not up to DAG Rosenstein (as the Nunes Memo reportedly alleges)

https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/958009093704376320
January 25, 2018

DOJ says Rep. Nunes has not seen the classified materials on which his "FISA abuses" memo is based

Notable: DOJ says Rep. Nunes has not seen the classified materials on which his "FISA abuses" memo is purportedly based.

https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/956340234735833088


Brad HeathVerified account
@bradheath

Investigative reporter for @usatoday covering law and justice.

January 24, 2018

Trump asked Andrew McCabe, acting FBI director, whom he voted for during Oval Office meeting

Trump asked the acting FBI director whom he voted for during Oval Office meeting
Source: Washington Post

Shortly after President Trump fired his FBI director in May, he summoned to the Oval Office the bureau’s acting director for a get-to-know-you meeting.

The two men exchanged pleasantries, but before long, Trump, according to several current and former U.S. officials, asked Andrew McCabe a pointed question: Whom did he vote for in the 2016 election?

McCabe said he didn’t vote, according to the officials, who like others interviewed for this article requested anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive matter.

Trump, the officials said, also vented his anger at McCabe over the several hundred thousand dollars in donations his wife, a Democrat, received for her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate bid from a political action committee controlled by a close friend of Hillary Clinton.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-asked-the-acting-fbi-director-whom-he-voted-for-during-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/23/2cb50818-0073-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html?utm_term=.d74acc854c30


https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/955965771405975552

January 24, 2018

Trump asked the acting FBI director whom he voted for during Oval Office meeting

Source: Washington Post

Shortly after President Trump fired his FBI director in May, he summoned to the Oval Office the bureau’s acting director for a get-to-know-you meeting.

The two men exchanged pleasantries, but before long, Trump, according to several current and former U.S. officials, asked Andrew McCabe a pointed question: Whom did he vote for in the 2016 election?

McCabe said he didn’t vote, according to the officials, who like others interviewed for this article requested anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive matter.

Trump, the officials said, also vented his anger at McCabe over the several hundred thousand dollars in donations his wife, a Democrat, received for her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate bid from a political action committee controlled by a close friend of Hillary Clinton.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-asked-the-acting-fbi-director-whom-he-voted-for-during-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/23/2cb50818-0073-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html?utm_term=.d74acc854c30



https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/955965771405975552

The stories keep coming today...
January 23, 2018

BREAKING: Felix Sater subpoenaed; Newly cooperative in New York money laundering case against Trump

BREAKING: Felix Sater subpoenaed; Newly cooperative in New York money laundering case against Trump’s Kazakh business associates

https://twitter.com/ScottMStedman/status/955938099988594688


Felix Sater subpoenaed; Newly cooperative in New York money laundering case against Trump’s Kazakh business associates

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s FMBE Bank records request is likely tied to Sater’s involvement in wire transfers from the Cyprus-based bank to the US. Previous to January 12th, Sater had refused to comply with the subpoena.

By Erin Lankau and Scott Stedman

Former Trump adviser and business partner Felix Sater has been served with subpoenas in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) relating to a high-profile money laundering case. The two subpoenas were issued on October 27, 2017, and required Sater to produce documents and sit for a deposition.

The two plaintiffs in the Manhattan case are Kazakh government entities — BTA Bank and the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan. The defendants include three fugitive Kazakh officials who allegedly laundered hundreds of millions stolen from BTA through U.S. real estate deals. One of those deals included the 2013 purchase of three condos in the Trump Soho Hotel.
Two subpoenas issued to Felix Sater from SDNY on October 27, 2017.

According to court filings, Sater had been refusing to comply with the subpoenas and a motion to compel him was entered into the court record on January 8th. The subpoenas were issued by a lawyer representing Nicolas Bourg, a Brussels-based real estate investor who is both a co-defendant and cross-defendant in the case. As of January 12th, Bourg’s lawyer had issued a motion to stay, indicating Sater is now willing to cooperate with the discovery and deposition requests.

The SDNY case was filed in 2015 and names former BTA Bank Chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov, former Mayor of Almaty Viktor Khrapunov, and his son-in-law Ilyas Khrapunov among the defendants. The City of Almaty and current BTA representatives claim that Ablyazov used his position at the bank to issue loans to dozens of his own shell companies. The Kharapuvos purportedly conspired on the scheme and helped funnel some of the stolen money out of the country to enrich themselves.

More: https://medium.com/@Erinlank/felix-sater-subpoenaed-newly-cooperative-in-new-york-money-laundering-case-against-trumps-kazakh-d865281454fc

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