October 31, 2017

WH: Media Should Stop Pushing Narrative That We Are 'Racially Charged'

Source: Talking Points Memo




By NICOLE LAFOND Published OCTOBER 31, 2017 3:30 PM

The White House blamed the media for pushing a “racially charged and divided White House” narrative on Tuesday, in response to questions about an interview chief of staff John Kelly gave Monday evening in which he said the Civil War stemmed from a “lack of an ability to compromise.”

When NBC’s Hallie Jackson asked press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders whether the White House acknowledges that Kelly’s “compromise” comments were “deeply offensive to some folks” — because the two sides fought over whether slavery should be legal during the Civil War — Sanders said “no.”

Following the White House’s line — as it relates to the debate over the removal of Confederate monuments — Sanders said just “because you don’t like history doesn’t mean that you can erase it and pretend it didn’t happen.”

“To try to create something and push a narrative that simply doesn’t exist, is just frankly outrageous and absurd. I think the fact that we keep trying to drive, the media continues to want to make this and push that this is some sort of racially charged and divided White House,” she said. “Frankly the only people I see stoking political racism right now are the people in the groups that are running ads like the one you saw taking place in Virginia earlier this week. That’s the type of thing that I think really is a problem.”

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/white-house-media-stop-narrative-racially-charged

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White House Stands By USDA Nom Clovis Despite His Emails With Papadopolous

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published OCTOBER 31, 2017 3:13 PM

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday afternoon indicated that the administration will stand by Sam Clovis as the nominee to be the top scientist at the Agriculture Department, even though court documents and subsequent news reports revealed that Clovis encouraged a Trump campaign staffer to travel to Russia to meet with government officials.

“I’m not aware that any change would be necessary at this time,” Sanders told reporters at the daily press briefing when asked about the status of Clovis’ nomination.

Earlier on Tuesday, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts (R-KS), who oversees USDA nominations, told Politico that his plans to hold Clovis’ confirmation hearing on Nov. 9 has not changed.

“I don’t think he’s a target of any investigation,” Roberts said.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sarah-sanders-white-house-backs-clovis

October 31, 2017

Feinstein Gives Fullest Picture Yet Of The Extent Of Russia's Social Media Push

Source: Talking Points Memo




By SAM THIELMAN Published OCTOBER 31, 2017 3:08 PM

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the social media portion of Russia’s 2016 election interference opened Tuesday with portentous statements from Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the latter of whom rattled off some numbers that gave the fullest picture yet of the extent of the disinformation campaign.

“Facebook has identified 470 accounts tied to the Internet Research Agency,” Feinstein said, referring to a Russian troll farm. “Twitter has identified 2,752 IRA-related accounts and almost 37,000 Russian linked accounts that generated automated election content. From what we’ve seen so far, Russian backed trolls used fake accounts on Facebook for more than 3,000 paid advertisements.”

Reports out Monday said Facebook would tell lawmakers that those advertisements reached approximately 126 million people.

The Twitter revelations, however, are far more significant: The platform appears to have identified not just the accounts run directly by Russian trolls working for the IRA (now the Federal News Agency, or FAN), but 37,000 automated accounts that generated information that would promote Russian interests in the American election.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/senate-judiciary-hearing-extent-russia-social-media-campaign

October 31, 2017

Papadopoulos' Bumbling Effort To Conceal Russia Contacts Did Him In

By ALLEGRA KIRKLAND Published OCTOBER 31, 2017 1:04 PM

Given the lack of savviness with which George Papadopoulos tried to disappear a months-long effort to get Trump campaign officials in a room with Russian government officials who had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, he may as well have been just a campaign “coffee boy.”

According to Papadopoulos’ guilty plea unsealed Monday, the former Trump campaign advisor attempted to conceal that work from the FBI, destroying records and lying to agents. So instead of landing what he billed to other campaign staff as a “history making” meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Papadopoulos’ back-channel dealings landed him federal charges.

His first missteps came during his initial interview with FBI agents in Chicago on Jan. 27. Papadopoulos’ statement of offense makes no mention of any counsel accompanying him to that sit-down, where agents informed him that the interview was “completely voluntary,” that lying to the FBI was a “federal offense” and that he could get “in trouble” for doing so.

Papadopoulos proceeded to tell all manner of falsehoods about the “extent, timing, and nature of his communications” with multiple individuals with close ties to the Russian government, according to the statement. One was that a professor with links to Russian officials who supposedly had “dirt” on Clinton approached him about said dirt before he joined the campaign, when in fact he did so over a month after Papadopoulos joined the Trump campaign.

Nick Oberheiden, a federal criminal defense attorney, told TPM that Papadopoulos’ false statements likely served as the “little mosaic pieces” that provided the FBI with the “slam dunk required to make it over the probable cause hurdle” to obtain a search warrant to dig through his online communications.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/george-papadopoulos-goofy-mistakes

October 31, 2017

Mueller team won battle to force testimony from lawyer for Manafort and Gates

Judge concluded there was substantial evidence attorney was duped into relaying falsehoods to Justice Department.

By JOSH GERSTEIN 10/30/2017 07:01 PM EDT

Prosecutors convinced a federal judge to require a lawyer for Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates to testify before the grand jury investigating Russian involvement in the 2016 election, a court ruling unsealed on Monday showed.

The unusual move is an indication of the aggressiveness of special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution team as they prepared to indict Manafort and Gates on charges of money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents. The 12-count indictment was made public on Monday.

Lawyers for Manafort and Gates fought the prosecution's drive to intrude on attorney-client communications. But Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that an exception, which involves using a lawyer to commit crime or fraud, applied to contacts with an attorney who helped respond to inquiries about why the pair had not filed foreign-agent lobbying registrations with the Justice Department.

The judge's 37-page opinion did not name the attorney prosecutors sought to put before the grand jury. CNN reported in August that Mueller's team was seeking the testimony of Melissa Laurenza, a partner at Akin Gump.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/30/mueller-manafort-gates-testimony-244339

October 31, 2017

In debate over national anthem, black wealth becomes a target

By Vanessa Williams October 31 at 12:29 PM

When A. Scott Bolden appeared on Fox News to defend National Football League players who protest racism by kneeling during the national anthem, he instead found himself under attack.

“You’re wearing thousand-dollar cuff links; don’t give me the victim card!” host Tucker Carlson told Bolden, who is black and a partner in an international law firm. “Those cuff links cost more than my first car!”

After the September appearance, Bolden said racist messages flooded his voice mail and email.

“ ‘You n-word, S.O.B.,’ ” Bolden recounted from one voice mail, censoring the caller’s language. “ ‘You’re making millions as a lawyer while I’m making $10 an hour, and you have the audacity to complain about racism in this country.’ ”

President Trump has said his fight with NFL players is about respecting the flag and honoring veterans — not race. But the president and some conservative commentators have made wealth a part of the debate, inflaming racial resentment among Trump’s white working-class supporters who express no tolerance for black athletes raising concerns about institutional racism while making millions of dollars a year.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/in-debate-over-national-anthem-black-wealth-becomes-a-target/2017/10/30/b63934d2-a55c-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html

October 31, 2017

'I want to quit': Fox News employees say their network's Russia coverage was 'an embarrassment'

Source: CNN




by Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy

October 31, 2017: 1:21 PM ET

Some employees at Fox News were left embarrassed and humiliated by their network's coverage of the latest revelations in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling, according to conversations CNN had with several individuals placed throughout the network.

-snip-

On Monday, it was revealed that President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and another associate Rick Gates had been indicted by a grand jury on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the United States. Unsealed court records also revealed that another Trump associate, George Papadopoulos, had pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI weeks ago.

The revelations jolted through the news media, and Fox News did cover it as its top story. But in contrast with CNN and MSNBC, which aired non-stop rolling coverage throughout the day, Fox News found plenty of time to cover other topics, like the NFL protests, North Korea, and tax reform.

Additionally, Fox News aired segments that questioned Mueller's credibility and many were framed around how Trump and his allies were responding to the news. On Fox News' homepage, the lead story at one point was focused on Trump slamming the indictment. Another lead story cited Manafort's lawyer, and asked, "Mueller's 'ridiculous' claims?"

"This kind of coverage does the viewer a huge disservice and further divides the country," one Fox News personality told CNN.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/media/fox-news-employees-russia-mueller-coverage/index.html?iid=hp-toplead-dom

October 31, 2017

Twitter Removes 2,752 Accounts Linked to Russian Operatives

POSTED BY: CHASE SANDERS OCTOBER 31, 2017

Over the course of the last several months, we have learned quite a lot about just how much influence Russian operatives working for the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency really had over last year’s election. In fact, many of the accounts created in 2015 and 2016 had still been posting as recently as this month. While Facebook had found thousands of fake accounts pushing fake news in September, Twitter said that they only found 201 accounts themselves.

As both Facebook and Twitter get set to appear in front of multiple committees on Capital Hill this week, both companies have revised their findings, showing just how widespread this Russian social media presence really was. While Facebook stated that as many as 80,000 posts, seen by up to 126 million Americans, were made by accounts connected to Russian operatives, Twitter revised their findings quite a bit as well. Since September they have found an additional 2,551 Russian accounts, bringing their total up to 2,752.

“State-sanctioned manipulation of elections by sophisticated foreign actors is a new challenge for us – and one that we are determined to meet,” Twitter said in written testimony, according to the source.

While Twitter’s findings still pale in comparison to perhaps Facebook’s, I have a feeling that more accounts will continue to be found and suspended in the days, weeks and months ahead. To this very day there are clearly hundreds, if not thousands of additional accounts which appear to be set up in order to breed discourse in American politics. Just by being an avid Twitter user myself I am able to see that new pro-Trump, anti-Clinton trending hashtags and phrases usually begin during the hours of 11:30 PM and 4:30 AM EST. This is usually when those in the US are sleeping, but of course it’s the heart of the day in and around Moscow.

Clearly both Twitter and Facebook need to do more in order to rid their services of fake Russian accounts. The only question is, will they? Let’s hear your thoughts on this story in the comments section below.

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http://ir.net/news/politics/128054/twitter-removes-2752-accounts-linked-russian-operatives

October 31, 2017

Trump Won't Visit DMZ On Asia Trip Because It's Becoming 'Cliche'

Source: Newsweek Magazine




BY JOHN HALTIWANGER ON 10/31/17 AT 12:45 PM

President Donald Trump will reportedly be skipping the infamous demilitarized zone between North and South Korea during his Asia tour next month — because it's "cliche."

A White House official confirmed Tuesday that Trump won't make the DMZ part of his 11-day tour, flouting a visit that has been a tradition for past presidents. He will instead visit Camp Humphreys, a military base about 40 miles south of the South Korean capital, Seoul. Trump is so far only the second commander-in-chief in three decades who hasn't gone to the zone.

Trump's team decided the DMZ visit is "becoming a bit of a cliche, frankly," a White House official told a Washington Post reporter, explaining the decision. Trump had apparently been flirting with the idea of checking out the DMZ, where he would have been stared down by North Korean soldiers. His visit would have likely been a significant event in his ongoing feud with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Kim and Trump have been trading threats of destroying each other's countries through most of the year, and have never spoken personally.

The DMZ is an enduring symbol of North Korea's antagonistic attitude toward other countries. It has separated North and South Korea for more than half a century, and keeps nearly all visitors outside of Kim's hermetic empire.

https://twitter.com/DavidNakamura/status/925371978407608321





Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/trump-not-visiting-dmz-asia-trip-because-its-becoming-cliche-white-house-says-697459

October 31, 2017

While Mueller probe plays out, Republicans shouldn't forget Trump is unfit

By Jennifer Rubin October 31 at 12:15 PM

By day’s end on Monday, a few prominent Republicans gingerly stepped forward to support special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. You had to squint to see it, but they issued what passes for a warning to the president.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) in a written statement said: “The Judiciary Committee is continuing its work to ensure that the Justice Department and FBI are functioning free from inappropriate influence, consistent with our constitutional oversight responsibility.” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), meanwhile, said through a spokesman, “Sen. Hatch believes that it’s in the best interest for all parties involved to allow Bob Mueller to conduct a full and vigorous investigation. There will be procedural milestones, like today’s announcement, along the way, but that doesn’t change the basic equation that the special counsel needs the time and support necessary to get to the bottom of things.” And Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) added in his own statement: “I fully support Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s continuing investigation and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that the system of checks and balances, the system of separation of powers in the federal government, is upheld.”

They might have been too subtle for the president, but surely Trump’s lawyers will receive the message: Don’t think about pardoning anyone or firing Mueller.

While the legal investigation plays out, members of Congress should not lose track of an equally, if not more, compelling issue — namely, Trump’s inability to uphold his oath. The jaw-dropping evidence of manifest recklessness, incompetence and contempt for the rule of law cannot be ignored.

Trump hired as a campaign chairman someone who had known ties to dictators and Moscow’s stooge in Ukraine, fired him only after he became a nuisance in the media, and then kept aide Rick Gates in his camp. (Gates acted as a bridge on behalf of the campaign to the Republican National Committee, and later served on the inauguration committee and helped fund-raise for a new pro-Trump lobbying outfit.) Consider the cosmically rotten management and judgment in hiring two men who worked for foreign tyrants and keeping Gates on even after evidence surfaced that the FBI was investigating Manafort, who worked hand in hand with the Trump team.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/10/31/while-mueller-probe-plays-out-republicans-shouldnt-forget-trump-is-unfit/?utm_term=.ba7617a0c66a

October 31, 2017

Why Staying Silent May Backfire on GOP Lawmakers

October 31, 2017 at 9:08 am EDTBy Taegan Goddard

David Frum: “You need to wonder whether the avoidance of blowback from Fox News in November 2017 is worth the risks hurtling at you in the weeks ahead. The Trump administration’s authoritarian moment is on the verge of materializing. The president seems likely to openly stake a claim to use his position as head of the executive branch to exempt himself from all law enforcement. If the president can never obstruct justice, he can use the pardon power to protect himself and his associates from any investigation into criminal wrongdoing.”

“By speaking out today, you may dissuade the White House from staking the whole Republican Party to an authoritarian, anticonstitutional position. At a minimum, you protect yourself from answering for it. Nobody’s asking you to be a hero. Just think ahead beyond the next 10 minutes and 10 days to your own interests and future.”

Ezra Klein: The cowardice of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/10/31/staying-silent-may-backfire-gop-lawmakers/